Excerpts Young Adult Read an Excerpt From Rachel Hartman’s Among Ghosts In the world of Seraphina, a boy on the run from a dragon—among other dangers—seeks refuge in a haunted abbey… By Rachel Hartman | Published on December 5, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Among Ghosts, a new young adult fantasy novel by Rachel Hartman set in the same world as Seraphina, out from Underlined on June 24, 2025. A few things to know about the town of St. Muckle’s: It’s too out-of-the-way to interest greedy lords, and too damp and muddy for marauding dragons to burn. And anyone, from a humble serf to a runaway nun, may earn their freedom by living for a year and a day within the town walls. Seven years ago, Charl and his mother fled to St. Muckle’s and made it their safe-haven, building a new life in this so called Peasant’s Paradise. But when Charl sees something impossible—a ghost—soon the embers of his past are threatening to engulf his world in flame. A tragic accident is quickly followed by murder, a deadly plague, and a mercenary dragon. Charl manages to escape to an abandoned abbey outside of town, but finds no safety within those ruined walls. A treacherous nun, a chorus of murdered girls, and the fearsome Battle Bishop await, ready to ensnare him in a complex web of history, magic and fate. For some things should never be forgotten, however much they haunt us, and Charl will need all his wisdom and resiliency if he is to fight for the world he knows… and the people he calls home. A brief introduction to the excerpt from author Rachel Hartman: Once upon a time, a pandemic left me feeling haunted. Maybe you’ve felt it, too.When lockdowns hit, I decided it was the perfect time to finally read The Decameron. Was I not holed up against the plague, desperate for stories to distract me while the world burned? I didn’t get far, partly because Bocaccio’s tales have not all aged well, but mostly because an idea soon caught me: what if I borrowed this conceit for a book set in the world of Tess and Seraphina? I started writing about a boy and an elderly nun, hiding in a haunted monastery, telling each other folktales.That’s not where Among Ghosts ended up, however. I quickly discovered that while folktales were fun, I was much more interested in everything Charl and Mother Trude had gone through to get to that monastery—treachery, plague, and dragon fire—to say nothing of the abbey’s ghosts.There had never been ghosts in Goredd before; Seraphina and Tess didn’t believe in them, and frankly, neither did I. Maybe I had to come humbled and pre-haunted to finally see them. Maybe I had to experience that same helplessness, trapped between the living and the dead, unwilling to remember and unable to forget, before I could hear their voices. I’m glad I finally did, because they became the (un)living heart of this book. I hope they shine for you like they shine for me.(And if you’re wondering what became of all the folktales, well, some made the final cut and some did not. The ones that didn’t fit now have a home of their own at my Patreon, Fake Folktales.) 1 The Old Abbey North of St. Muckle’s, overlooking the muddy valley of the Sowline River, the crumbling Abbey of St. Ogdo’s-on-the-Mountain hulked darkly in the predawn mists. The monks had abandoned the place long ago, and the forest had moved in to reclaim it. Even if you didn’t believe in ghosts—and what sensible person did?—it looked haunted. The jagged remains of broken towers poked into the eye of the sky, vines slithered over the thick stone walls, and the wind, blasting down from the craggy heights, moaned and sighed among the ruins. Into this desolate place came three lads. Finding the front gates locked, they set about climbing the ivy-tangled walls. The first to the top was a tall, handsome fellow, leader of this covert expedition—Rafael, called Rafe, the son of Lord and Lady Vasterich. He paused upon the battlements, rubbing ivy sap off his hands, trying to catch his breath and gauge how much time was left until sunrise. About an hour, by his reckoning, but broody, low-hanging clouds obscured the sky and made it hard to tell. The clouds spat drizzle at him. Rafe wiped his face with his fine linen sleeve and pretended he wasn’t furious. But he was. If he’d wanted to wallow in the mud, he could have stayed in St. Muckle’s. He’d come here to fight a duel at dawn, and the sky was supposed to be a dramatic red. The ruins spread below him, within the encircling arms of the wall. Dragon-fighting warrior monks had once lived in this abbey, led by the notorious Battle Bishop, back before dragon fighting had become the exclusive domain of knights. Hence the battlements. They’d built this place to last. Even so, after two hundred years most of the roofs had collapsed, as well as some of the smaller buildings. A grove of pale birch trees had pushed through the broken flagstones of the courtyard; vines and weeds choked every other available space. Hardly anyone came here anymore. From St. Muckle’s, nestled among muddy turnip fields in the armpit of the valley, it was a several-hour hike up the mountainside; from Fort Lambeth, on the north side of the mountain, it was even farther. This isolated ruin was the perfect place to kill someone, although not—Rafe had learned—ideal for hiding the body. Rafe had selected his two comrades, Wort and Hooey, for size and strength; they were only now reaching the top of the wall. They flopped onto the battlement, gasping like fish out of water. “You didn’t tell us we were going to have to climb the blasted ivy,” cried Wort when he had recovered enough to speak. He was a well-muscled lad, good for landing a punch, but apparently not so nimble on a vertical surface. “Someone locked the gates,” said Rafe disdainfully. “They weren’t locked the last time I was here.” “It was probably the Busybody Brigade, trying to keep people out after that boy fell down the well,” offered Hooey. He was narrower, wiry, and trying very hard to grow a goatee, which made his face look smudged from a distance. “Remember that boy who drowneded a couple years ago? John Eel-Hook?” Rafe glared across the ruin and didn’t answer. He remembered that boy, more vividly than either of these louts possibly could. Rafe remembered him screaming. Without another word to his companions—they weren’t friends; he didn’t have friends—Rafe turned and strode along the battlements until he found stairs down to the courtyard. The other lads scrambled to keep up. “I remember John Eel-Hook,” Wort was saying. His mess of curls made him look like a sheepdog. “He’d been dead a week before they found him.” They—the people who’d found John Eel-Hook’s body—had been a convoy of traveling Porphyrian merchants. Apparently, they made a habit of stopping at the Old Abbey to water their horses before the last leg to St. Muckle’s. The horses had shied away from corpse water. Horses could always tell. Those same Porphyrians were probably the ones who’d locked the gates, in fact, and not the Concerned Busybody Brigade of St. Muckle’s (accursed meddlers). Rafe scanned the courtyard from the bottom of the steps and saw that the Porphyrians seemed also to have put a wooden cover over the mouth of the well, to stop anyone else from stumbling into it by accident. Everyone had assumed John Eel-Hook had drowned. His body had been so bloated that not even that dragon doctor (disgusting person) could make out his cuts and bruises. And, to be fair, the boy’s death had been an accident. Rafe had only meant to teach him a lesson about respecting his betters. Things had gotten out of hand. Charl’s death wasn’t going to be an accident, though. Buy the Book Among Ghosts Rachel Hartman Buy Book Among Ghosts Rachel Hartman Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget “So what’s the plan?” said Hooey, strolling out from under the birches into the weedy half of the courtyard. He dropped his rucksack and rolled his shoulders. “There’s a sally door in the gate,” called Wort, who had wandered that way. He meant the smaller door set into one of the larger wooden gates. That entrance wasn’t padlocked, merely barred from the inside. Wort unbarred it without asking permission. “I’ll leave it a bit ajar,” he said, “so the kid won’t have to climb the wall.” Rafe gritted his teeth at this show of unnecessary consideration. Wort had no business taking such initiative—and how dare he call Charl a kid? That so-called kid was not some artless innocent. He wasn’t a child; he was thirteen years old, albeit short for his age. Kid suggested that Wort (soft-hearted imbecile) sympathized with him, and sympathy was trouble. It made people balk from doing what was necessary. Not for the first time, Rafe questioned his decision to bring these two clowns (boneheaded peasants). They seemed as likely to be a liability as an asset. But if he did this right, they’d feel too guilty to talk. They’d be implicated in everything, and they’d be highly motivated to give him an alibi. “What’s the plan?” Hooey repeated. “Smack him around? Scare him a bit?” “I mean to challenge Charl to a duel,” said Rafe archly. “With swords.” Wort and Hooey burst out laughing. Rafe bristled like a cat. “What swords?”asked Hooey, gesturing extravagantly at Rafe’s waist, where no sword belt hung. “Did you leave them at home?” “They’re in the sanctuary.” There was only one sword in the sanctuary, in fact, but these louts didn’t need to know that. “Isn’t this the kid who beat you at swords once already?” said Wort, sitting on a rock that looked uncomfortably pointy. “Guess I won’t feel too sorry for him, then.” “Those were just wooden swords,” said Rafe through clenched teeth. “Besides, his mother was standing right there. I couldn’t very well go after him with my full strength.” That wasn’t quite what had happened, though. In fact, Rafe had wanted nothing more than to see Charl’s mother weep— that meddlesome woman, that foreign interloper who’d turned the rightful order of things upside down. She’d been a constant thorn in his family’s side. Rafe had kept an eye on her all tournament long. Whenever her precious little Charl was in a skirmish, she had covered her eyes, hardly daring to peek through her fingers. Rafe moved up the tourney ranks and did what he could to make sure Charl also advanced. It had meant sabotaging one lad’s handgrip and another’s pants, but none of that put the slightest crimp in Rafe’s conscience. He’d had a loftier goal: to face Charl in the final and “accidentally” put out his eye. Charl’s mother, that busybody innkeeper, Eileen, would collapse screaming. She’d take her precious baby and go back to Samsam, and everything would revert to the way it was supposed to be. The Vasteriches would be on top again; the low-born would remember their place. Alas, it had all gone wrong. Eileen (redheaded witch) had been joined by her friend the ex-nun (obnoxious know-it-all), who’d bolstered and cajoled her into watching without her hands in front of her face. And Eileen’s face—damn her to the Infernum—had proven too great a distraction for Rafe. He’d wanted to catch her eye, to smile right at her as he popped her precious son’s eyeball from its socket. He’d wanted to watch her melt into agonized grief and savor every moment of her pain. So intent had Rafe been on keeping the mother in his sights that he had vastly underestimated the son, who’d slipped through his defenses and won the match. And, of course, everyone in town took it as emblematic of the new order of things. The heir of the landed gentry (Rafe) bested by the brat of the incorrigible idealists who were turning St. Muckle’s into a peasants’ paradise. The rabble had taken Charl up on their shoulders and paraded him through the streets, hooting and cheering. No matter.Let the pathetic fool keep his pathetic victory.There was one thing Charl still didn’t have that he desperately wanted. Even supposing someone of his class could afford such a thing, his idealistic mother (laughable pacifist) would never let him have it. A real sword. That was how Rafe had lured him up here. Meet me at the Old Abbey at dawn, and I will show you what I found. The sword of the Battle Bishop himself, lost for two hundred years. Rafe hadn’t added, And then I will stab you dead with it. That part would be a surprise. “So, what’s the win condition for this duel?” Hooey was a gadfly, buzzing in his ear. “Will you use corked sword tips and fight to five touches?” “Or uncorked tips, fighting to first blood?” Wort interjected, ghoulishly cheerful. That was the kind of bloodthirsty enthusiasm Rafe had been hoping for. “Uncorked, until he learns some respect for his betters. Until he’s in ribbons, if that’s what it takes.” Wort and Hooey exchanged a sidelong glance, suddenly looking wary. Rafe did not understand why they should. It was probably the word betters. Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that, in front of these two. Certainly, their families were well off—almost as comfortable as his, at the moment, although that would surely change. The Potters and the Tilers were respected artisans in town, but everyone knew they came from dirt-common peasant stock. Three generations as free townsfolk (what a joke) didn’t change their essential natures. “There are plenty of ways to scare him without slicing him to ribbons,” said Hooey at last. “I bet he’d poop his pants in terror if he fell down the well where John Eel-Hook died.” Again, treating Charl like a little kid. “He’s not a baby,” snapped Rafe. “Oh, cack!” cried Wort, using a childish word of his own, a peasant’s idea of cursing. He sounded relieved, though. “D’you think John’s ghost is still down there?” Three generations in town hadn’t driven all the foolish peasant superstitions out of their heads, either. “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” said Rafe sternly. “I know,” said Wort, squirming in his clothes. “I was joking.” “We’ll need a rope, to pull him out when he’s had enough,” said Hooey, hands on his hips, looking around for one. It was still too dark to see much. “Wort, help me with this lid.” Rafe, disgusted, left them struggling with the well cover. This was turning out worse than he could have imagined. Not only were they unexpectedly shying away from bloodshed, but they were coming up with alternative plans of their own. Rafe needed them to understand what a blight Charl was upon the natural order of things. That he needed to be put down. “You can’t just come to St. Muckle’s and become anything you want,” Rafe grumbled to himself. “People are born to their proper stations, and should accept that.” Rafe walked the perimeter of the courtyard until he found what he was looking for: wagon tracks leading deeper into the ruin. It had occurred to him that the Porphyrian traders who’d stopped here for water might also store things here, and since one of the things they imported to St. Muckle’s was spirits— liquor, that is, not ghosts—it was worth checking to see if they’d stashed any away. Wort and Hooey (intemperate clods) were not the sort to say no to a drink. It wasn’t Rafe’s fault if it was stronger than they were used to. With a little pisky in them, they’d be more biddable. They’d do things they wouldn’t do under normal circumstances. They’d be ashamed, afterward, and would never tell anyone what had happened. The tracks led to a sturdy cellar door of new construction, like the well cover. Rafe grinned joylessly. This was the place. He flung open the door and descended some wooden steps. The cellar was full of crates, and each crate held a dozen ceramic jugs, stoppered with corks. Enough pisky to pickle every liver in town twice over. Well, not Rafe’s. He would never allow himself to be impaired in such way. He didn’t even like the smell of pisky. He lifted a jug and carried it back to the lads. They’d been busy in his absence. They’d dragged the well cover off to one side, located the bucket and draw-rope, and then—absurdly—built themselves a cheery little campfire. The courtyard looked set for a picnic, not a deadly duel. Rafe swallowed his rage and reminded himself that everything would be back under control once these buffoons were drunk enough. He wrestled his expression into a smile—which felt wrong, and hurt a bit—raised the jug, and called out, “Look what I’ve found!” Wort and Hooey were at the edge of the birch grove, trimming slender birch switches for themselves. Rafe could not imagine what they intended to do with those twigs. Trip Charl, so that he fell into the well? Whip at him futilely? Anyway, the lads looked up when Rafe called, and grins spread slowly across their faces as they realized what he had. “There’s a welcome sight!” said Wort, stepping toward Rafe. “Toss it here,” said Hooey, holding up his hands. Rafe lobbed the jug softly to Hooey. It was not a bad throw, but something happened as the jug arced through the air. A pair of eyes glinted from the open sally door behind them. And a woman stepped out of the birches, so pale she was almost transparent, wearing a mournful expression and an old-fashioned gown. She walked right through Hooey as if she hadn’t noticed he was there. Hooey froze, a horrified look on his face, and failed to close his hands around the jug. The jug landed at his feet and exploded into a massive fireball. It completely engulfed Hooey. Hooey was gone in a flash. Flaming liquid spattered all over the courtyard. Some hit the nearest birches and set them on fire. Some spattered onto Wort, who started screaming. He dropped to the ground and rolled in the weeds, but that didn’t extinguish the flames. It only spread them. This wasn’t the sort of fire you could put out that way, Rafe recognized dimly. The jugs weren’t full of pisky after all. They were full of pyria—the sticky, highly flammable oil that knights used for killing dragons. Wort ran toward Rafe, trailing flames and screaming. Rafe cringed, flinging his arms up around his head like a coward, but Wort wasn’t coming for him. Wort, in desperation, flung himself down the well. You couldn’t extinguish pyria that way, either. Rafe, shocked and sickened, stood at the lip of the well and watched the flames rage under the water. The water boiled. Nausea roiled in Rafe. He turned his back on these horrors and staggered off. “I didn’t know,” he muttered. The flaming courtyard raged behind him. “I didn’t do it. He should have caught it.” Unseeing, he stumbled deeper into the ruins. “They were too stupid to live. They were going to ruin everything.” Ahead of him, between the hulking shadows of the ruined buildings, a little light shone. Twinkled. A welcoming light, unlike the towering inferno he’d left behind him. Rafe walked toward it, drawn like a moth. “They were just peasants,” he whispered. Come closer, the light whispered back. It was a candle flame, he could now see, set up in the window of the sanctuary. The whole monastery lay crumbling around him, but the sanctuary still had glass in its windows. It still had its big wooden doors. They opened soundlessly at Rafe’s touch. He’d been here before, he recalled vaguely, but it hadn’t looked like this. Now every lamp and candle was lit, dazzling his eyes. The wooden trim was newly lacquered, the gold leaf restored, the cobwebs cleared away. Bishop Marcellus’s cadaver tomb no longer had ivy crawling all over it but gleamed alabaster white. Rafe didn’t question these changes; they seemed to make sense, the way a dream makes sense. He entered like a sleepwalker and stepped toward the altar, where the candles burned brightest. Someone was there, a bulky, shadowy figure kneeling in prayer. Rafe’s heart turned to ice, but he kept walking, because he could not stop. “I didn’t mean to kill them,” said Rafe as he neared the altar. So, who did you mean to kill? said a voice that made his insides ripple like water. The figure rose. It was a smoke-colored blur, a smudge in the air, except for the eyes. The eyes were two dark pits that seemed to lead downward forever, down to someplace cold. Rafe felt himself teetering, as if he were standing on the edge of a precipice. As if he might fall into those bottomless pits. “They were idiots,” whispered Rafe, trying to delay the inevitable. “People get what they deserve.” I agree. But tell me: What do you deserve? Rafe whimpered, too terrified to speak. Two shadowy hands reached out and grasped Rafe’s head. The icy fingers pressed deeply, pressed all the way into his mind, and he screamed. And screamed. Outside, the petulant clouds burst forth in rain. Excerpted from Among Ghosts, copyright © 2024 by Rachel Hartman. The post Read an Excerpt From Rachel Hartman’s <i>Among Ghosts</i> appeared first on Reactor.

In August, the nation’s second-largest school district announced a major policy shift that caused the soon-to-be-unemployed minds at The Los Angeles Times editorial board to collectively explode last month. Why? Because in the wake of a federal civil rights complaint filed by Parents Defending Education in 2023, the U.S. Department of Education forced the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to open up its $120 million Black Student Achievement Plan tutoring program to all students with academic need—no longer conditioning participation on skin color alone. Read that again: a public school system—underwritten by public tax dollars—is no longer allowed to discriminate on the basis of race. In 2024. The horror! Just what was this program, though? Depending on a learner’s skin color, totally different courses were offered. For example, during the 2020-2021 school year, students of color were given exclusive resources including a “Black Cultural Arts Passport,” “STEM Makerspace Labs,” and “Parent Workshops and Community Fairs.” Students of other racial backgrounds, however, were left out of these learning opportunities altogether. Change black to white and this system would be something the KKK would applaud. How, exactly, was such an obviously illegal program able to take root? Look no further than AFT/NEA affiliate the United Teachers Los Angeles, which bragged that “as part of our last contract fight, we successfully pushed the district to codify [Black Student Achievement Plan] into our 2022-25 contract, winning agreements for more resources, staffing, and professional development for BSAP schools.” To be clear, the program hasn’t been shuttered: As Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the Los Angeles Times, “Our solution is one that preserves the funding, the concentration of attention and resources on the same students and same schools … . We were able to reformat the program without sacrificing impact.” Yet far too many see the end of the race-based program—which should be considered a civil rights victory—as a defeat, exposing their own support for racial discrimination in K-12 schools. Students protested at an October school board meeting, while an online campaign demanded not only the expansion of the program, but also a formal apology. Sure, excluding students from educational programming based on race is—and has been—illegal since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and immoral since … forever. Yes, proficiency scores for all children of all races in LAUSD are below the national average. And yes, the Supreme Court ruled in 2023’s Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision that “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.” Man, that pesky Constitution and its insistence on “equality before the law.” LAUSD’s revision of the race-based grant program frees up the $120 million in funding for use among needy students or those suffering from genuine socioeconomic disadvantages—of whom there are many. In 2023, more than half of California students were unable to meet grade-level reading standards, setting them up for a lifetime of failure. It would be far more beneficial to students if LAUSD’s grant was directed toward actually improving subject matter proficiency for all students—and now, it can be. This is a momentous achievement coming from LAUSD, which has an otherwise shameful track record of centering racial differences in nearly every student interaction. Much to the chagrin of DEI activists, the program was revised in a way that brings it into compliance with federal antidiscrimination law—and not simply given a cosmetic lift, as so many similar programs receive when they are challenged outside of court. As the saying goes, “the price of eternal liberty is vigilance”—and in Los Angeles and other cities, ensuring that the program doesn’t backslide will be an ongoing effort. In an interview with The 74, a nonprofit news outlet covering U.S. education, University of Southern California education professor Julie Slayton noted, “They’ll take away the language of ‘black.’ But it doesn’t have to change, profoundly, the way that they’re thinking about the distribution of these resources and the schools that will receive them.”  Meanwhile, the much-aggrieved Los Angeles Times editorial board asserted, “There are grounds to defend the program, even in California, which bans affirmative action in the public sector. … [G]overnment agencies are constitutionally allowed to use ‘race-conscious remedies’ to make up for past race-based discrimination. District leaders certainly should be able to do this.” But remember: This complaint was resolved by a Biden administration Office for Civil Rights—which has loudly and clearly telegraphed its support for identity politics over the past four years, but still found LAUSD’s program to be a bridge too far. The incoming Trump administration is likely to have far less tolerance for taxpayer-funded discrimination in America’s public schools. Let the administrators beware. Originally published at RealClearEducation.com The post Nation’s Second-Largest School District Revises Race-Based Grant Program appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Although Donald Trump’s election was widely seen as a rebuke to the Left’s obsession with race, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to “Trump-proof” his state, and that likely applies to the Democrat’s ongoing plans to give race-based handouts. This year alone, Newsom signed a slate of reparations bills into law. And although California won’t be handing out checks, its laws are sure to spark more calls from California liberals to take money from Hispanic, Asian, and white Californians and give it to black Californians. Here’s what California has done so far, including four related laws. Formal Apology for Slavery Some 59 years after the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery, California—which entered the Union as a free state—issued a formal apology to African slaves and their descendants. The apology, issued Sept. 26, stems from a recommendation by the California Reparations Task Force, a group commissioned to propose a comprehensive state reparations plan. The apology lists the ways in which the state allegedly was complicit in the perpetuation of slavery, from enforcing fugitive slave laws to enacting poll taxes and literacy tests. No one disagrees that slavery and racial segregation are evil and unjust. In fact, the state of California beat the federal government to outlawing discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and disability status with the Unruh Civil Rights Act of 1959.   But the apology assumes that past discriminatory practices—in place decades, if not centuries ago—have influenced the present outcome of African Americans, committing to “restore and repair” those affected by slavery and racial discrimination with “actions beyond this apology.” DEI for Doctors The California State Legislature found that the maternal mortality rate for black women is three to four times higher than white women. By passing a bill known as AB 2319, the Legislature assumed that the cause of the higher maternal and infant mortality rates was discrimination and that antibias trainings were the solution.   The Legislature doesn’t consider the possibility that higher maternal and infant mortalities could be caused by other factors, but recent scholarship has. A study found that higher infant mortality rates for black babies were attributed to the baby’s weight rather than the color of the baby’s doctor. California disregards this research and instead requires its doctors to spend time checking their biases rather than increasing their education in specialized and high-risk pregnancy cases. The law requires “implicit bias” training and testing for all health care workers in perinatal care. The training forces professionals to identify unconscious biases and misinformation, “identify barriers to inclusion,” and consult local leaders from “marginalized communities.” The new law is supposed to identify and eradicate all bias, especially for transgender individuals. Noncompliant organizations will face fines of $15,000 or more and other penalties that the state attorney general deems fit to force health care workers into compliance. Hairstyle Discrimination The Legislature also passed a bill, AB 1815, to expand the definition of race in California’s original Unruh Civil Rights Act by including “protective hairstyles” such as braids, dreadlocks, and twists. But existing federal and state civil rights law already prevents “hairstyle discrimination.” The Unruh Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race and the “particular characteristics” associated with that race. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires those hearing the complaint to determine  whether discrimination based on hair reveals an underlying form of racial, sexual, or religious discrimination. AB 1815 lacks a balance between legitimate reasons to prohibit hairstyles in the workforce and valid claims of racial discrimination. Existing civil rights law recognizes that some hairstyles may be prohibited in certain cases, but also provides exceptions. Instead, AB 1815 relies on racial hairstyle and texture stereotypes and assumes that all hairstyles are acceptable in all cases. The California legislation also raises several thorny legal questions. For example, what is the burden of proof to show that a hairstyle is protected? And if a person of one race wears a hairstyle that California stereotypes as being another race’s, is the hairstyle still protective? Such questions find no answers in AB 1815, which will be a boon to trial lawyers and engender confusion among regulated Californians. Racial Preferences in Schools A third bill passed by the Legislature, SB 1348, creates a new designation for California colleges and universities called “California Black-Serving Institutions.” To earn the designation, at least 10%, or 1,500 students, at an institution must be black. And an institution must try to create equal outcomes among racial groups—what the law calls “equity.” To keep the designation, institutions must show an increase in the number of black students staying in school and graduating and a decrease in the time it takes black students to graduate. California Black-Serving Institutions must facilitate special outreach and academic services to black students, including affinity centers and “culturally relevant” staff training. Similarly, a fourth bill signed into law by Newsom in September, AB 1929, requires community colleges and technical education programs to separate student data by race and gender. The Legislature assumes that discrimination is the cause of all outcome differences in education. California fails to account for other factors—including cultural differences, morals, and an individual’s motivation—that shape outcomes. In doing so, state lawmakers perpetuate the same arbitrary racial preferences already deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. It seems that California is concerned with the outcome of only one racial group, because it is oddly silent about the graduation rates of Latinos and other minorities. Although reparations proposals are a high priority for Newsom and California’s Legislature, they are growing increasingly unpopular with Californians. One study reveals that less than half of Californians have a favorable view of the reparations task force; another survey shows that 59% of Californians say they oppose cash payments as a form of reparations. Nevertheless, “this is just the beginning,” says California state Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat.   With California preparing to mount a full-blown resistance to Trump’s anti-woke agenda, Californians likely can expect a lot more race-obsessed policy out of Sacramento.   The post California Isn’t Giving Up on Reparations appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Berries and worms and bears… oh my! Follow our easy step-by-step elderberry gummies recipe and learn how to turn nutrient-rich elderberry syrup into homemade gummies for natural immune support. They’re delicious, fun, and easy to make! Plus, the kids will love these healthy and adorable little snacks.RELATED: Looking for more immune-boosting recipes? Don’t miss our homemade elderberry syrup recipe, easy fire cider recipe, or fermented garlic honey!Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Benefits of Elderberry GummiesLoaded with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, elderberry gummies offer amazing natural immune support! Studies show that elderberries have potent antiviral and antimicrobial properties, helping to prevent illness as well as shorten and alleviate symptoms of the common cold. The gelatin in this recipe adds a welcome boost of protein and nutrients too. This elderberry gummies recipe is kid-friendly*, and a fun way to encourage your kiddos to take elderberry syrup if they don’t usually like spoonfuls of liquid. Who doesn’t love gummy bears and worms?NOTE: It is not recommended for children under 2 years old to consume honey, which is often in elderberry syrup. Also please note that I am not a medical professional nor is this intended to be medical advice.SuppliesGummy molds of choice. We love the high-quality silicone gummy molds from The Modern Gummy. They have classic small bears, medium bears, worms and more. If you don’t have gummy molds, you could pour the mixture into a wide shallow tray or container and then cut them into small gummy squares once they set. 2-cup liquid measuring cup Small saucepan or pot Droppers or a mini baster (our gummy molds came with a handy dropper!) Baking sheet, tray, or platter large enough to hold the gummy molds, but small enough to fit in the refrigeratorThe amount of bears you’ll get from this elderberry gummies recipe depends on the molds you use. The recipe yields about 400 to 425 mL of liquid total. That will fill just over three of these classic gummy bear molds or make about 180 small gummy bears. I filled one medium-sized gummy bear mold and one worm mold, yielding 55 larger gummies total. Since they only last a couple weeks in the fridge, feel free to halve the recipe!Ingredients1 cup of elderberry syrup, either homemade or store bought. See our easy step-by-step elderberry syrup recipe here, or buy our favorite organic elderberry syrup here. At least 1/4 cup of the elderberry syrup must be cool or cold, so refrigerate some as needed. 1/2 cup water or natural fruit juice to make sweeter elderberry gummies – especially if your kids don’t like the flavor of elderberry syrup on its own. Apple, grape, pomegranate, or cherry juice work great and add to the beautiful color. 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) of gelatin powder, such as this high-quality grass fed gelatin. To make vegan elderberry gummies, you can substitute with 4 to 5 teaspoons of agar agar powder instead (though most elderberry syrup also contains honey). Optional: 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (to help extend the shelf life). However, the lemon juice will make the gummies more sour, so you may want to use fruit juice instead of water in the recipe! Since it’s acidic, using fruit juice also helps to lower the pH and make them last longer.If you’re looking to buy elderberry syrup, you can save 15% off TC Elderberry with code “deannacat”. My friend Sarah runs this small woman-owned business, and she makes the BEST fresh organic elderberry syrup around! She also offers easy all-in-one DIY kits with dried elderberries and spices to make your own.Gelatin vs Agar AgarThis elderberry gummies recipe requires a thickening agent to turn elderberry syrup into delicious squishy gummies, such as gelatin or agar agar.Gelatin is a protein made from animal collagen, so it adds a welcome boost of protein and nutrients to homemade elderberry gummies. It comes as a powder and is easy to work with. I highly recommend using a grass-fed gelatin for this recipe. Agar agar is a great plant-based substitution for gelatin. Derived from seaweed, you can use agar powder to make vegetarian or vegan elderberry gummies. However, agar agar is a stronger thickening agent so you usually only need about one-third to one-half of the amount. As a general rule of thumb, 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of agar agar is equivalent to 1 Tbsp of gelatin.Instructions1) Prepare SuppliesFirst, get all of your supplies and ingredients out and ready. Once the elderberry syrup is mixed with gelatin and removed from the heat, it will start to set – so you’ll want to be prepared to work fairly quick! If you are using silicone gummy molds, put them on a baking sheet, platter, or tray that will fit inside the refrigerator. This makes it much easier to move the otherwise floppy molds once they’re full of liquid.2) Gently Heat Elderberry Syrup and WaterCombine 3/4 cup of elderberry syrup and 1/2 cup of water (or fruit juice) in a small pot on the stovetop on medium-low heat. Do not use a full cup of elderberry syrup; reserve 1/4 cup for the next step. Do not boil the mixture. Heat until very warm, but not boiling.3) Mix GelatinIn a separate small bowl or a 2-cup glass measuring cup, mix 1/4 cup gelatin powder with the remaining 1/4 cup of cold or cool elderberry syrup. Stir until combined. Allow the thick paste to sit for a few minutes. This process is called “blooming” or moistening the gelatin, and should be done with cool liquid, not hot. It helps to fully dissolve the gelatin and ensure the final mixture doesn’t have lumps. If you’re using agar agar, skip this step and mix it directly into the hot elderberry syrup and water (or juice) mixture on the stove.4) CombineNext, combine the hot (not boiling*) elderberry syrup and water with the gelatin mixture. You can do this in the pot on the stovetop, or pour the content of the pot right into the glass measuring cup with the gelatin. Stir or whisk until the mixture is completely smooth. Finally, add the optional lemon juice and stir well.*NOTE: Boiling gelatin can deactivate or ruin it’s gelling abilities. 5) Pour and RefrigerateWhile it is still warm, carefully pour the mixture into your gummy molds, filling each cavity to the top. Using a dropper or mini baster helps a lot! If the mixture starts to set, I found it helps to place the glass measuring cup (or small bowl) inside a bowl of hot water to keep it warm while I work. Transfer the baking sheet of gummy molds to the refrigerator to chill for an hour or two, or until they become firm. Now pop them out of the molds and enjoy your homemade elderberry gummies! See storage tips below.Keeping the measuring cup contents warm while I work by setting it in a bowl of hot waterStorageStore your homemade elderberry gummies in the refrigerator in an air tight container, such as a glass food storage container with a tight-fitting lid. If left at out room temperature, gelatin can soften, degrade or spoil. To prevent them from sticking together, store the gummies in single layers between parchment paper or waxed paper. See notes about use and serving size below.Shelf Life How long do homemade elderberry gummies last? When stored under ideal conditions (in the fridge in an air-tight container), homemade elderberry gummies will stay good for about two weeks. Adding acidic lemon juice and fruit juice can help extend their shelf life. Discard if mold develops. Serving SizeThe recommended serving size for our homemade elderberry gummies recipe depends on the size molds you use, ranging from 1 to 3 gummies per day for kids 2 and over. Adults could consume almost double the amount: 2 large gummies or up to 6 small gummies per day. Aren’t they adorable?Well friends, I hope you enjoy this easy homemade elderberry gummies recipe as much as we do. Please feel free to ask any questions, and be sure to leave a review a below! Thank you for tuning in today. Have fun and stay healthy!You may also enjoy: Preserving Apples: How to Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Easy Lip Balm Recipe (How to Make Homemade Lip Balm) How to Make Medicinal Herb Infused Oil: Two Ways Print Easy Elderberry Gummies Recipe Learn how to make homemade elderberry gummies for natural immune system support with our easy elderberry gummies recipe. Options for vegetarian or vegan gummies included too! Keyword elderberry gummies recipe, homemade elderberry gummies Prep Time 5 minutes minutesCook Time 5 minutes minutesChilling Time 1 hour hour Servings 180 classic small gummy bears EquipmentGummy molds of choiceGlass measuring cup or small bowlSmall pot or saucepanDropper or mini basterBaking sheet, tray or platter that fits in the refrigerator (to hold the gummy molds) Ingredients1 cup elderberry syrup (1/4 cup needs to be cool or cold)1/2 cup water or natural fruit juice (apple, cherry, grape or pomegranate recommended)1/4 cup grass-fed gelatin powder, or substitute with 4 to 5 teaspoons of agar agar powder to make vegan gummies2 Tbsp lemon juice (optional, to extend shelf life – but will make the gummies more sour) InstructionsGet all your supplies out and ready, and place the gummy molds on a baking sheet or tray that will fit inside the refrigerator. Combine 3/4 cup of elderberry syrup and 1/2 cup of water (or fruit juice) in a small pot on the stovetop on medium-low heat. Heat, but do not boil.In a separate small bowl or a 2-cup glass measuring cup, mix 1/4 cup gelatin powder with the remaining 1/4 cup of cold or cool elderberry syrup. Stir until combined. (If you're using agar powder, skip this step and mix it directly into the hot elderberry syrup and water (or juice) mixture on the stove.) Next, combine the hot (not boiling) elderberry syrup and water with the gelatin mixture. You can do this in the pot on the stovetop, or pour the contents of the pot right into the glass measuring cup with the gelatin. Stir or whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.Add optional lemon juice and stir well.While it is still warm, carefully pour the mixture into your gummy molds. Using a dropper or mini baster helps a lot! Transfer the baking sheet of gummy molds to the refrigerator to chill for an hour or two, or until they become firm.Pop them out of the molds and enjoy your homemade elderberry gummies!Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container with a lid between layers between parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together. Homemade gummies generally stay good for about two weeks in the refrigerator. If you used lemon juice + fruit juice, they should last a bit longer. Discard if mold develops. NotesThe recommended serving size depends on the size molds you use, ranging from 1 to 3 gummies per day for kids 2 and over. Adults could consume almost double the amount: 2 large gummies or up to 6 small gummies per day. Did you enjoy this article? Want to hear more? Stay in touch! Sign up below to receive weekly updates on new posts from Homestead and Chill. The post Easy Elderberry Gummies Recipe (How to Make Elderberry Gummies) appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

Liberal Pundits Made Fools of Themselves Defending the Hunter Biden Pardon

How young is too young to sexually confuse and mutilate your child? In a normal world, the answer would be that it’s unacceptable at any age. Tennessee has recognized the practice of pumping a child full of artificial hormones or cutting off their healthy body parts as child abuse. But in the name of tolerance and acceptance, the Alphabet mafia is challenging the state in the Supreme Court to make child abuse the new norm. Related: Ontario Mayor Says He Won't Pay $5K Fine For Not Declaring 'Pride Month' On Wednesday, I spoke with gender-deluded militants outside SCOUTS who are protesting for the right to groom and mutilate children.. Tune into my latest video to see what they have to say for themselves!   Follow MRCTV on X! MRCTV's @Justine_Brooke interviewed a pro-trans protestor who claimed that the same surgery for cancer patients is "just as medically necessary" for children who want to change their gender pic.twitter.com/H4NxV31JHi — MRCTV (@mrctv) December 5, 2024

A city council in Michigan has decided not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during meetings any more after one member seemed to suggest it took up too much time.Last week, the issue was discussed at an organizational meeting for the City Council of Ypsilanti, a city of about 20,000 residents and the home of Eastern Michigan University. That meeting stretched late into the night, and members decided to revisit the issue at a meeting on Tuesday, WEMU reported.'If anybody doesn’t want to say it, I feel like we just individually take the stance to not say it.'Council member Desirae Simmons then introduced a resolution to end the practice, claiming, in WEMU's words, that "the pledge takes up space on their agenda.""I know I don’t feel comfortable pledging allegiance to a flag. And so I don’t participate in that, so I wanted to bring it up as a formal change to our agenda," Simmons explained in a statement."Really, our role is to our residents here in the community, here in the city of Ypsilanti," she further added, according to MLive. "And so I guess that’s what I took my oath of office to, and I think that that’s sufficient."Simmons and four other members voted in favor of dropping the pledge. Only one member, Roland Tooson, voted to keep it."If anybody doesn’t want to say it, I feel like we just individually take the stance to not say it," Tooson said. "I don’t think we should just take it off the agenda completely."During the meeting, members discussed possible alternatives to the pledge, including "breathing exercises or other 'grounding' practices," according to MLive. They also discussed a moment of silence, which is already a regular agenda item."I would just like to maintain the few moments that we have for us to center ourselves," said Mayor Nicole Brown. "... I do enjoy the quiet for a second. For me, I feel like I need that."While council members may make suggestions about possible replacements for the pledge, the mayor ultimately sets the agenda, City Manager Andrew Hellenga told MLive.H/T: Dave BondyLike Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy headed to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with lawmakers about President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Department of Government Efficiency.While walking through the Capitol with one of his children, 4-year-old X, perched on his shoulders, Musk told reporters, "I think we should be spending the public's money wisely."'A serious mandate from the American people.'Musk has stated that he aims to eliminate at least $2 trillion in wasteful government spending.On Thursday morning, Musk took a brief meeting with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) ahead of a bicameral meeting hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).Musk and Ramaswamy are slated to speak to Republican lawmakers during the event, which Johnson described as a "brainstorming session" intended to gain a clearer understanding of the DOGE's plans.Johnson stated that he intends to discuss "major reform ideas" to "achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings." He said he hopes to revive "the principle of limited government."Musk previously stated that he plans to cut the total number of government agencies from 428 to 99. During an interview with Fox News, Johnson was asked whether he believes the DOGE will be able to accomplish that mission. "We certainly hope so," Johnson responded. "We have the ingredients; we have the conditions right now to actually be able to make really dramatic change."Ramaswamy replied to Johnson's comments, stating, "The time for action is now."In addition to its goal to reduce three-letter agency bureaucracy, the DOGE also appears to be setting its sights on ending lenient remote work policies for federal employees. Billions in taxpayer funds have been squandered to maintain and power buildings that are either partially empty or entirely vacant.In a Thursday post on X, Musk stated, "If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!""Almost no one," Musk remarked.Johnson replied, "Unbelievable. This is EXACTLY why we need the Department of Government Efficiency."Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) declared her intent to introduce legislation that aligns with the waste reduction objectives of the DOGE."My DOGE Act will freeze federal hiring, begin the process to relocate agencies out of the D.C. swamp, and establish a merit-based salary system for the federal workforce," Blackburn said.Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), who is slated to chair a DOGE subcommittee, said she anticipates there will be "some friction" in implementing the department's cost-cutting measures."But I honestly think that there's been a serious mandate from the American people, and I think that will give, hopefully our side of the aisle, tremendous courage to do the right thing," she stated.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

On Tuesday, December 4, at approximately 6:45 a.m., United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside the Hilton Midtown hotel in New York City in what authorities suspect is a targeted attack. From the assassin-like shooter to the reason that brought Thompson to New York, the circumstances surrounding his death are eerie, to say the least. Dave Landau and the “Normal World” cast, along with guest Derek Richards, discuss the harrowing details of the murder. “Police have released images of the suspect, who is described as a skinny man, standing about 6’1” and wearing all black,” Dave reads from a report. Currently, the shooter is still on the loose. While the suspect himself looks like an average man, the weapon he used to shoot Thompson was certainly not average. “He had a silencer” on the gun he used and an attachment that “[caught] the shells,” says Dave, who plays the actual footage of the shooting (viewer discretion advised). Viewers can see Thompson walking to the Hilton, when the shooter walks calmly into the video frame from what appears to be the street, where police say he was likely lying in wait. He aims his weapon and shoots Thompson with precision multiple times before darting back across the street and disappearing. The gunshots are “so quiet, [bystanders] don’t even know. Cars keep going,” says Dave. Garrett agrees, “That is professional.” “To do it literally right there in Manhattan is insane,” adds Richards, who also assumes that this was no random act of passion by an angry person who was denied coverage, as Thompson was hit with "Hilary Clinton precision.” If the crew is right in the prediction that this was indeed a targeted attack, then the next question is obviously why? This is where the story gets even juicier. According to reports, Thompson was in New York to attend “an investors' conference that UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, was scheduled to host on Wednesday at the Hilton.” “What was he going to disclose at the shareholders' meeting?” asks Dave. Further, “Brian Thompson was facing a Department of Justice probe for insider trading,” says Angela. “He was obviously trading and dealing with somebody, and they didn’t want that getting out,” Dave theorizes. Garrett agrees, adding, “It couldn’t just be somebody got pissed and pulled a gun, because that would be sloppy,” but “this was so professional, so it’s gotta come from somebody that’s higher-level.” To hear more details of the story and see the footage of the shooting, watch the episode above. Want more 'Normal World'?To enjoy more whimsical satire, topical sketches, and comedic discussions from comedians Dave Landau and 1/4 Black Garrett, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Officials of a New Jersey town now say that a ban on "props" at public comments during hearings does not apply to the Constitution and U.S. flags after the issue led to nationwide outrage and controversy. As Blaze Media previously reported, Edison Township made national headlines when a man was escorted by police out of a hearing for carrying a small American flag while arguing against the decorum ban. While the ban doesn't mention the Constitution or flags, township officials claimed that both fell under the designation of "props" banned during comments made at council hearings. 'We are all proud Americans who believe in the principles, morals, and values the American flag represents.' On Tuesday, the council changed their minds. Township Council President Nishith Patel apologized and claimed that the uproar was a misunderstanding. "Let me be very clear, the Edison Council has never, nor will we ever, ban the American flag from our public meetings," Patel said, a week after kicking a man out of a hearing over his small American flag. "Our nation's flag as well as our state’s flag are both prominently and honorably displayed in our council chamber. We proudly and humbly begin each council meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag, reaffirming our commitment and loyalty to our country and the history and values upon which it stands," he added. Mayor Sam Joshi reiterated the point. “Our nation’s flag has never, ever been banned, nor will it ever be banned in our municipal complex or any government building that we solely operate. We are all proud Americans who believe in the principles, morals, and values the American flag represents," he said. However, the decorum ban is still in place. Officials simply say now that it does not apply to the Constitution or U.S. flag. Council members who were opposed to the ban said Patel clearly meant to include flags under the rule. "I was there in the room. It was very apparent that he [Patel] banned the flag as a prop if you were holding it," said Councilwoman Margot Harris. Edison is in Middlesex County, which voted heavily for the Democratic Harris-Walz ticket over the Republican Trump-Vance ticket, 52.3% to 44.3%, respectively. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!