Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-leaders of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), present their sweeping plans for government reform to Congress on Thursday. By…

Photo by nrkbeta, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is considering a move that would make her the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight…

Photo by European Parliament, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Justin Trudeau spent the past several years waging an all-out war on individual liberty in Canada.…

Last week, this writer told you about the LPGA and its mulling over the rules about who should and shouldn't get to compete in Ladies' golf. Hundreds of women asked the organization to limit participation…

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on the deep state, solar power, fitness, foraging in winter, stomach viruses, real egg nog, guerrilla gardening, Bitcoin hitting 100K and more. Make sure if you submit content for … Continue reading →

#preparedness #survival #selfreliance #collapse #shtf #teotwawki Links to the Patreon channel: https://www.patreon.com/integrativepreparedness Order My Books or T-Shirts Through the Stonemont Website: https://www.stonemont.us Links to my books on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Steven-C.-Smith/e/B076G2J5NG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Stonemont channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZhO7pBb12UQkhqfaCdHtw American Reversion Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR80GXOrQgU Stonemont Church Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@stonemontchurch1761

Christmas is just around the corner, and the clock is ticking! Cody is pulling out all the stops to get the cozy cabin ready for family visitors in time for the holidays. With only 16 days left, this homesteading project turns into a race against time. From DIY construction to creative problem-solving, watch as Cody transforms this rustic retreat into a warm and inviting holiday haven. In this video, you'll see the challenges and triumphs of prepping a cabin for Christmas, all while embracing the true spirit of hard work, family, and the holiday season. Whether you're a fan of DIY construction, homesteading adventures, or simply looking for some festive inspiration, this video has something for everyone. ? Are you working on a holiday project? Share your ideas in the comments—we’d love to hear from you! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you never miss a Wranglerstar video. Let’s make this Christmas one to remember! #CozyCabin #ChristmasPreparation #DIYConstruction #HomesteadingProject #Wranglerstar

Concerts in support of latest album 'Dark Matter' start in April. Continue reading…

Smoother than butter. 'Tis the season to fire up the Christmas carols. While Christmas music might not be everyone's cup of tea, we can all agree that a few songs get us in the holiday spirit. One of those songs for me is Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas." "Hard Candy Christmas" was recorded by the legendary singer in 1982 for her role in the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and made an appearance in the top ten of the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs chart in 1983. If you've never seen the movie, Dolly was BRINGING it. https://twitter.com/NotablePhotos/status/1751072764377633152 It's a Christmas classic, although Parton does not consider it a Christmas tune. “It’s kind of funny that people think it’s a Christmas song, and it’s really not. It’s really just about people having hard times and saying, ‘It’s like a hard candy Christmas,’ like when you’re so poor that all you get for Christmas is a piece of hard candy.” While Parton did not pen the tune, Carol Hall wrote it; she related to the lyrics of not getting much other than a box of hard candy because you were living in poverty hit home. “In the early days we didn’t have electricity so we used to go out I the woods with my Dad in the afternoon, find the best tree that we could and we’d take it back in the house and decorate it with whatever Mamma could (find). Buttons and popcorn, anything that we could have which was great, those days were great. Momma would always tell Christmas stories, read the Bible, then we’d go out to the barn and they would tell us that at midnight the cattle would kneel, like in honor. But we never could stay awake long enough to see it. We could never see that happen. But we always had a little something…. It didn’t matter what we got… it was great for us.” While Dolly's version will always hold the number one spot in my heart, Zach Top covered the track last year, and it's pure country gold. Over the years, "Hard Candy Christmas" has been covered by a handful of artists, including Reba, Caylee Hammack, and more. However, the majority of covers have been by fellow female artists, so when Zach Top dropped his take on the song, my ears immediately perked up. Released as part of his For You For Christmas project, Top did Parton justice with this cover. The lyrics cut a little deeper coming from Top, who often sings about a broken or lonely heart. The soft melody is a change of pace from the honky tonk jukebox melodies we typically see from the Washington native, which allows his vocals to shine. "Hey, maybe I’ll buy some smokes Or Maybe I'll just lie low Maybe I'll hit the bars Maybe I'll count the stars until the dawn Me, I will go on Maybe I'll settle down Maybe I'll just leave town Maybe I'll have some fun Maybe I'll meet someone and make her mine Me, I'll be just..." Zach Top's smooth-as-silk vocals coat your ears, and during the entire song, listeners are dialed in. Since he released this cover, I have found myself reaching for it more than Dolly's version. It's that good. Zach Top does not miss, and this is a cover that Dolly Parton would approve of. If you like a sad Christmas song, fire up this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdEyIcBaJPs Without Dolly Parton's version of the song, we would not be able to enjoy this stellar cover, so listen to hers while you're here, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzi-gD7-ts

In nearly every measurable way, 2024 was a banner year for country music. Not only was the genre immensely popular (just take a look at Spotify Wrapped data) but all things considered, the overall quality of music was pretty great. Of course, independent (or independent adjacent) artists lead the charge but even in the mainstream things were solid. Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson, and Megan Moroney all took home hardware at the CMAs and, though they didn't win, Zach Top and The Red Clay Strays were nominated for awards, which is a sign that the Nashville industry may be finally acknowledging that fans want something real in a bad way, as shown by the popularity of Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, and Sturgill Simpson. While we can talk about the music all day long, another reason that people love country so much are the crazy stories that seemingly always come from the genre, with some of the biggest names also being the wildest characters. Willie Nelson used to shoot bibles on his tour bus, Merle Haggard was a true criminal who spent plenty of time behind bars, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings spent upwards of $1,000 a day on drugs while living together, heck even America's sweetheart Dolly Parton claims to have fought the woman "Jolene" was written about, and that barely scratches the surface on the incredible number of nearly unbelievable stories country artists have given us throughout the years. Today's crop of artists may not be quite as unhinged but there's certainly still a few wildcards out there, so I want to take a look back on the craziest moments in country music this year, starting with its biggest star and the commotion he caused in downtown Nashville this Spring. Eric Church Opens Nashville Bar Back in April, Morgan Wallen once again found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Eric Church had just recently opened his 6-story Nashville bar name Chief's and Morgan and crew decided to go check it out for themselves. A security guard said he saw Wallen come in through the front door (which was unusual since they have a specific entrance for VIPs) and immediately head up to the rooftop bar. Less than 30 minutes later, he got a call on his radio that somebody had thrown a chair off the rooftop and it had landed just a few feet away from some police officers that were standing outside. He and other bouncers raced upstairs, located the person who threw it, and escorted them out before turning them over to Nashville Metro Police. That person was, of course, Morgan Wallen. The security guard said there was no altercation beforehand and nothing that would have caused him to do this, other than maybe a little bit of liquor talking: "They just say he was being an idiot and just threw it. There really wasn’t no argument or nothing about it. Just him being drunk I feel like. He wasn’t in the right state of mind." @micheal_phillips #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ original sound - micheal Phillips Will Morgan Wallen Go To Jail? To this day we still don't know why he threw the chair but his little lapse in judgement ended with three charges of reckless endangerment and one of disorderly conduct. After an initial hearing on May 3rd (which Morgan did not attend), the follow-up court date originally scheduled for August 15th was pushed back to December 12th. It was unclear why the hearing was moved but we should get some answers next Thursday when Wallen (who is expected to be present) stands before a judge. We shouldn't expect everything to get wrapped up next week unless his attorneys are able to work out some sort of plea agreement; if the case does go to trial we won't get a resolution until well into next year. "Inside sources" told Life & Style Magazine that Wallen and his attorneys are preparing to spend some time behind bars: "It’s looking bleak at this point. He’s likely to spend time behind bars… I don’t think the prosecutors want him to skate away with no time because people will think it’s because of his celebrity status. Morgan is being told the best scenario is a 30- to 60-day sentence.” I wouldn't be so sure about that... Wallen has been silent on many things of late (like winning Entertainer of the Year) but he did release an official statement a while back to address these allegations: "I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility. I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change. -MW" Fingers crossed we'll get some more details on what lead up to the moment the chair was thrown because it still just doesn't make any sense to me. Let's also be extremely grateful that it didn't actually land on the officers below because a heavy chair falling 60 feet would cause immense damage, if not death, and we'd be having a much different conversation about what's going to happen to Morgan Wallen. @elizabeth.linerIykyk ? ♬ Last Night (Morgan Wallen vs Chainsmokers Last Night Roadhouse x Skillz ReMix) - Morgan Wallen