Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a stop on her book tour interrupted when anti-Israel protesters began heckling her, forcing host Katie Couric to pause their interview for a short time. Pelosi was speaking with Couric at the New York City cultural center 92NY when protesters began shouting at them from the crowd, prompting the California congresswoman to push back, calling for a moment of prayer for the hostages who still remain in the hands of Hamas terrorists. WATCH: Raucous scene during Nancy Pelosi's book tour as anti-Israel protestors interrupt the event for multiple minutes. Nancy Pelosi responds by asking for a prayer for the hostages in Israel: Katie Kouric: "I'll wait a second to continue." Nancy Pelosi: "Let us bow our heads, for… pic.twitter.com/jbjuoLV4it — Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 11, 2024 Pelosi was in the midst of explaining to Couric that part of the inspiration behind her book, “The Art of Power,” had been her “grave disagreement” with then-President George W. Bush on the Iraq War, and protesters used that to pivot to their own message. “Nancy I’m glad you disagreed with the Iraqi war, but you do not disagree …” someone shouted from the audience, but the crowd began to boo, briefly drowning out the protester. A short time later, the same person could be heard shouting, “There’s children dying in Gaza.” Pelosi waved off the criticism, saying, “Don’t worry about that, I’m from San Francisco, I’m used to this. They’ll get what they want, because all the press will say that I got interrupted.” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE The former House Speaker then called on the audience to pray for the safe return of the hostages remaining in Gaza, in the custody of Hamas terrorists: “Let us bow our heads for the hostages, and be prayerful about the hostages, which they never mention.” Pelosi has been heckled by anti-Israel protesters on several occasions, and has continued to defend President Joe Biden’s policies regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. “He has been very concerned about a two-state solution for the region. He has been such a strong supporter of humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza,” Pelosi said in Massachusetts, despite the fact that Hamas has repeatedly stood in the way of any two-state solution and is the reason that much of the aid sent to the region does not get to the people of Gaza. “We don’t want any children killed. There has to be a resolution of conflict that is not as savage as war,” she continued.

Parrots can be amazing pets, but they can also talk back like a teenager. A healthy bird needs daily interaction, enrichment activities, and toys. But not just any toy will do. When this bird owner tried a chicken toy with his sassy parrot, the bird handled the new toy a bit briskly. @pubity I think she was a bit jealous #RoadTo16Million #Pubity (N via ViralHog) ♬ original sound – Pubity We’re unsure if the bouncy little interloper annoyed the parrot or if she yeeted it to eliminate the competition. The speed with which she nabbed and tossed the little toy was impressive. She was not in the mood to play at all. A longer clip shows the same parrot brutally assaulting a little white toy bird after yeeting the yellow one. It might be annoyed at the constant clicking. Not all parrots are so violent in welcoming new “friends.” This sassy parrot slides up like Tom Cruise in “Risky Business” when he sees the toy. It’s not always easy to make new friends, though. @pet_spark Bro, let’s play together!#parrot #parrots #parrotsoftiktok #parrotslover #parrotlove #parrotsworld #pet #pets #petsoftiktok #petslover ♬ 原聲 – Pet Spark This guy is either really good at entertaining himself or a few crayons short of a full box. @zihqgyorsoz #parrot #parrotsoftiktok #parrots #parrotlover #parrotlife #parrotchallenge #parrottok #parrotlovers #parrotmom #parrotlover #petparrot #parrotrescue #parrottrainer #parrotcare #parrot #parrotparent #parrotfamily #lovelyparrot #parrotmeme #cussingparrot ♬ A Musica Mais Fofa do Mundo – Bruno Portinho Trilhas para filmes Parrots can offer years of enjoyment for their caretakers. With more than 402 species, there are a wide variety of parrots. They can learn several words, using them in context with practice. They can imitate sounds and bark like a dog, beep like a microwave, or yell, “Virginia! Get up and make the coffee!” As with any animal, adopting a bird is a commitment. Smaller parrot species can live five to 15 years. Larger parrots can live 20 to 80 years and longer. They learn by hearing sounds repeatedly. If you want to teach a parrot to speak, plan to spend some time working with them. Please share these adorable, sassy parrots. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Sassy Parrot Has Perfect Reaction To Adorable Little Toy Chicken appeared first on InspireMore.

An image shared on X claims to show the alleged CEO shooter on YouTube. Luigi Mangione gives ominous message via pre-recorded YouTube video, “All is scheduled, be patient. Bye for now.” Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/oNMvvV4Uvj — AF Post (@AFpost) December 9, 2024 Verdict: False The YouTube account is tied to a different person, not to the […]

'There will be a response'

A viral image shared on X claims Amazon has sold over 100,000 Super Mario Brothers Luigi beanies following the arrest of Luigi Mangione. y’all are so unserious? pic.twitter.com/AFxV5d5nSn — Deep Singh Badhesha (@DeepNotShallow) December 10, 2024 Verdict: False The Amazon listing is fake. According to an archived version of the listing, over 100 of the beanies […]

'An exemplary candidate for this vital position'

Needless to say, Caitlin Clark has lost conservatives

'You're setting folks up for shame'

Books Poetry 12 Poems That Break the Silence on Disability and Illness Exploring the complexities of living with chronic illness and disability. By Holly Kybett Smith | Published on December 12, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share November 14th through December 2oth marks Disability History Month in the UK, where I’m writing from. As a chronically ill writer myself, I thought this would make a fine opportunity to share and celebrate poems that centre disability and illness in their themes. These poems are earnest, brutal, and sometimes hard to read. But they’re incredibly important, communicating experiences that are often talked-over and ignored. If you’re disabled or chronically ill yourself, you may resonate with what they have to say. (Or you may not—everyone experiences illness differently.) If you aren’t, I hope that these grant you insight into our lives. Frequently, it isn’t pity we are looking for: it’s empathy, and the right to take up space. “I’m rewatching the She-Ra episode where Glimmer gets sick for the first time” by Arianna Monet and I keep mistaking the screen for a mirror. By which I mean, I too was onceadolescent and unconquerable:purple hair; a body unmarked by pain.Then, the bright unholiness of onset… I haven’t watched She-Ra (yet), but the experience at the crux of this poem is one I can relate to intimately, as a young person whose health unexpectedly started to decline. There’s a kicking-and-screaming sort of defiance to the narrator’s words, a refusal to be happy about the situation, which simultaneously makes me feel heard and optimistic about carrying on. “It’s going to hurt” by Sandra Simons “Brave soul,” says the radio“Beauty,” says the radio“It had to be like this,” says the radio… A more melancholy poem than the first, Simons’ verse follows its narrator in second-person through an unspecified and vaguely-alluded-to illness. Despair approaches, and is held at arm’s length with dark and speculative imagery. “ANAMNESIS” by Leslie McIntosh Hidden chambers in the blood.The staircase haunted by my own ghoststhat treat me lovingly, like a guest,a family member from far away… There’s a certain sense of reification—unfamiliarity with and estrangement from one’s own body, despite being unable to escape it—that McIntosh evokes beautifully in this poem. Anamnesis—the process of recollection—becomes an experience on a cellular level for the poem’s narrator. “The Moon and the Yew Tree” by Tory Dent This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary.The trees of the mind are black. Their irregular branches,like broken arms backlit from MRI dye, offset by yearning… Written in dialogue with the poem of the same name by Sylvia Plath—utilising excerpts and replying to them—Dent’s poem narrates in haunting verse the anxiety of a fatal illness. Diagnosed with HIV at 30, Dent knew this experience intimately and wrote of it extensively. Her second poetry collection, HIV, Mon Amour, pays it particular focus. “Self-Portrait as Self-Care Mantra” by Elizabeth Theriot Head tilted back, eyes to the light, I squeeze single tears of moisturizer from the glass jar: forehead, cheek, cheek, a cross, martyr mystic blessing that promises to unblemish me… We’re often told to take care of ourselves when we’re sick. But when you’re always sick, the tenets of self-care grow blurry and complex, identity-forming and identity-robbing. Theriot—who has an Ehlers-Danlos syndrome—explores the nuance of these feelings in this poem. In her essay “Common Surfaces,” published in the Crab Orchard Review, she says, “I want to keep up. I want to indulge in the full experiences of my life without injury or embarrassment. I don’t want to miss out, though I feel that I often have—that a sort of gilded normalcy exists right beyond the reach of my fingertips.” This is a sentiment I—and I’m sure many others with chronic health conditions—can relate to. “The Man with Night Sweats” by Thom Gunn I wake up cold, I whoProspered through dreams of heat  Wake to their residue,  Sweat, and a clinging sheet… In simple, spare verse, Gunn evokes a uniquely isolating experience that comes with being ill: waking up alone and in pain. The title places distance between the narrator and his identity—“The Man with Night Sweats” sounds as though it refers to someone else—but that distance shrinks with every line. “Emerald Spider Between Rose Thorns” by Dean Young How absurdto still have a body in this rainbow-gored,crickety world and how ridiculous to be given onein the first place, to be an objectlike an orchid is an object, or a stone,so bruisable and plummeting… In contrast with “The Man with Night Sweats,” “Emerald Spider with Rose Thorns” is baroque and maximalist in its use of language. Published in 2013, two years after its author received a heart transplant, there’s an air of disbelief and celebration in each word. But at the same time, a sharpened sense of vulnerability. “bad road” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Some times everything    everythingeverything    every thinghurtslike a church belllike a call to prayerand it calls me to praythis painbreathing into any place that doesn’t hurt… There’s a particular anguish that comes when a loved one wants to help you with your chronic pain, only to realise that they can’t make it magically go away. Unlike an acute injury, there’s no remedy that will cause the symptoms to vanish; only methods of mediation and compromise that make getting through the day a little easier. On the loved one’s end, there can be denial. A desire to research, to say “well, maybe if you tried this…?”—because it’s hard to accept that sometimes things are just the way they are. And on the chronic person’s end, there’s almost a feeling of guilt: of failure, because these things haven’t worked and now their loved ones feel bad. It’s a complex situation, and Piepzna-Samarasinha captures that complexity beautifully. “Monster” by Jason Irwin Priestsand soothsayers were summonedwith their incantations and blessings.But the monster lived, consumed our lives,and became something other —a manifestation of our fears. This striking poem makes use of Gothic imagery to explore the fear that comes with being seriously ill. The titular monster is a shifting thing, appearing wherever the narrator looks as the locus of his anxieties. “blood·sugar·canto” by ire’ne lara silva this is what they will not tell youand this is what you must knowif you hear nothing else i sayhear thisyou cannot live in fearyou cannot heal in fearfear will never make you stronger Diabetes—according to these 2021 stats from the CDC—affects an estimated 11.6% of the U.S. population. Despite that, it’s a topic rarely explored in poetry. In bleak yet defiant verse, silva discusses the harsh financial realities that come with chronic illness—finding a hopeful note to end on. “Earth, You Have Returned to Me” by Elaine Equi Can you imagine waking upevery morning on a different planet,each with its own gravity? Sometimes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A new medication proves effective after years of fruitless trial and error; symptoms go into remission; an accessibility measure is granted that immediately improves your quality of life. “Earth, You Have Returned to Me” captures that feeling in exquisite fashion. “A Body’s Universe of Big Bangs” by Leslie Contreras Schwartz Even while the body sleeps, a jaw slackenedinto an open dream, inside is the dramaof the body’s own substances meeting Examining the body on a cellular level, Contreras Schwartz meditates on the million complexities that allow us to exist, however imperfectly, as humans in the world. This poem is a reminder that the body is a miraculous thing. [end-mark] The post 12 Poems That Break the Silence on Disability and Illness appeared first on Reactor.

“I love the fashion sense of Melania Trump. I love the fashion sense of Michelle Obama. I love the idea that these iconic women did something for America, whether good or bad or influential.  I love all of them.”  That’s what self-described gay Asian American celebrity fashion designer Andre Soriano told The Daily Signal about his new designs more than a month after the tiny town of Occoquan, Virginia, forced him to take down Trump-for-president signs from his storefront, Fox Business reported.  Soriano is the designer of the iconic “Make America Great Again” gown that singer-songwriter Joy Villa wore at the 2017 Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, drawing considerable national attention, along with controversy and death threats, according to Fox Business.   Conservative pro-Trump singer Joy Villa models an updated version of Soriano’s MAGA dress on the steps of the CrystalView Weddings & Events venue at Glitz and Glamour: A Charity Gala in Fairfax, Virginia, on Nov. 22. (Binh Le/BK Photography) “As an American designer, you know, I designed for all people of humanity,” Soriano told The Daily Signal. “When I made a Trump dress, I felt like I was kind of, just like … pushed aside by half of Americans because of my support for President Trump.” “And essentially, this is how I can weave the country together,” he continued. “I designed for Democrats, Republicans, pink, red, blue, and all feminists, and all women of this great nation and the world.” Soriano says he doesn’t like being treated as an outcast by some due to his personal political beliefs.  “I think, in the land of the free, we are allowed for freedom of artistic expression, regardless,” he said. “You know, that’s why we’re here in America … I believe in our Constitution … . That’s how I feel about it as an Asian American.” Soriano starred in Hollywood’s fashion reality show “Style to Rock,” executive produced by singer Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty. His work has also been featured in renowned fashion magazines, such as Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Elle, and his designs have drawn praise from prominent celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Courtney Love, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Macy Gray, according to GlitzandGlamour.org. Soriano designed a collection called “FLOTUS,” honoring 25 of the first ladies of the United States. The collection includes the wives of presidents on both sides of the political aisle, not just Republicans or conservatives. Sydney Walters models a dress inspired by former first lady Michelle Obama and designed by Soriano at the Nov. 22 gala in Fairfax, Virginia. (Afshin Amir/Afshin Photos)  That collection was featured at Glitz and Glamour charity gala’s most recent event, partnering with beneficiaries We Will Survive Cancer and Children’s National Hospital.  Join us at The Glitz & Glamour Charity Gala, to celebrate the life of Papa Tom, who we lost to cancer, #CharityGala #WeWillSurviveCancer #andresoriano #fashion #FLOTUSCollection ????Glitz & Glamour: A Charity Gala | Where Elegance Meets Purposehttps://t.co/3POH0MJWpT pic.twitter.com/1khV88foI9— Andre Soriano (@andresoriano) October 13, 2024 Glitz and Glamour is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making a difference and bringing hope to the less fortunate, according to one of its founders, Michelle Nguyen. The three founders of Glitz and Glamour, from left: Mrs. DC America 2022 Gift Thongpia Hughes, Andre Soriano, and Michelle Nguyen pose at the gala. (Binh Le/BK Photography) “We host events that bring people together to have fun, celebrate, and embrace glamour,” Nguyen told The Daily Signal. “But our true focus is supporting nonprofit organizations in maximizing their impact. It’s all about helping those in need.” The first ladies featured in Soriano’s “FLOTUS” collection are Mary Lincoln, Francis Cleveland, Nancy Reagan, Lou Hoover, Edith Wilson, Pat Nixon, Michelle Obama, Lucretia Garfield, Florence Harding, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rosalynn Carter, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Bess Truman, Grace Coolidge, Jackie Kennedy, Betty Ford, Mamie Eisenhower, Barbara Bush, Helen Taft, Edith Roosevelt, Lucy Hayes, Dolley Madison, Eliza Johnson, and Melania Trump. A spokeswoman for Soriano explained that the absence of current first lady Jill Biden there was not intended as a slight. “The event was put together so quickly, and the document that Andre was working off had only the first ladies up till Melania 2020, so it wasn’t showing Jill.  The document had pictures of all the previous first ladies in their iconic dresses so Andre could create a modern version of the dresses,” the spokeswoman told The Daily Signal. “Jill also has great fashion. It wasn’t left out intentionally, actually.”  Lucy Denkes models a dress inspired by former first lady Mary Lincoln at the charity gala. (Afshin Amir/Afshin Photos)  Emily Abrom models a dress inspired by former first lady Nancy Reagan at the Nov. 22 event. (Sarosh Mir/Sarosh Photography)   Alexandra Shaye models a dress inspired by former first lady Frances Cleveland at the Glitz and Glamour event. (Sarosh Mir/Sarosh Photography)   “Each first lady represents a cause and a purpose, and all of them did something great in our great nation,” Soriano said. “For instance, … Dolley Madison brought glamour to the White House. All of these women are very important. That’s why I use this as a platform, because they’re very iconic.” Kanruthai “Muk” Thasabu of Thailand, a Miss Universe third runner-up, models a dress inspired by former—and soon to be again—first lady Melania Trump at the gala. (Sarosh Mir/Sarosh Photography)   Soriano said that his next collection will be for men and will be called “The American Dream.” He says it was inspired by, among others, tech giants Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and President-elect Donald Trump.?  The post MAGA Fashion Designer Aims to ‘Weave the Country Together’ With First Ladies Dress Collection  appeared first on The Daily Signal.