Formed in Los Angeles in 1964, The Byrds are one of the most influential bands in rock history, blending folk music with rock and achieving massive commercial and critical success. Over their career, The Byrds released 12 studio albums, with hits such as “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “Eight Miles High.” The group underwent numerous lineup changes, with more than a dozen musicians joining and leaving the band over the years. Despite their disbandment in 1973, their legacy endures, with the band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and leaving a profound The post Complete List Of The Byrds Band Members appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

A pregnant motorist was recently saved from plunging into a lake when her brakes failed. Shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday, 911 received a call from a distressed woman saying her car would not stop. Moving at approximately 30 miles an hour, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office deputies eventually reached her on Old Route 13 near […] The post Missouri Deputies Save Pregnant Driver Whose Runaway Car Was Heading Straight for a Lake appeared first on Good News Network.

Books post-apocalyptic fiction Five SF Stories About Rebuilding After a Cataclysmic Event Rising from the ashes of civilization, determined to build a new world. By James Davis Nicoll | Published on December 5, 2024 Image Credit: NASA/Don Davis Comment 1 Share New Share Image Credit: NASA/Don Davis Tiring for a brief moment of science fiction and fantasy’s endless calamities, averted and otherwise, I recently turned for solace to non-fiction. Specifically, the text I fished out of my teetering Mount Tsundoku1 was Riley Black’s 2022 The Last Days of the Dinosaurs. I see some skeptical faces out there. How can a book about a global-scale apocalypse be in any sense heartening2? The answer is simple. The Last Days of the Dinosaurs’ subtitle reads “An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World.” The cataclysmic end of the Mesozoic is only the beginning. Having documented the demise of the old order, Black leads the reader through the early stages of the recovery, from the very early days when opportunistic survivors dominated, to the era a million years after impact, when the ecologies that dominate our world began to take shape. The clear moral here is that a chapter ended, but the story itself continued. Of course, I could just as well have turned to science fiction for that moral. Exploring the worlds that rise out of the ruins of the previous order is a popular pastime in science fiction. Consider these five works. “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét (1937) (Collected in Cities of Wonder) The lands to the north, the west, and the south are treasured hunting grounds to John’s people. To the east, the Great Burning left only the Dead Places, which are taboo to all save the priests who retrieve metal from the cursed lands. The demon-haunted Place of the Gods is forbidden to all, even priests. The son of a priest and a future priest himself, John is well aware of the law. Nevertheless, something draws John towards the Place of the Gods. There he discovers the true nature of the Place of the Gods, and perhaps, just perhaps, takes the first step back towards civilization3. This short tale may seem entirely conventional save for two details related to the date it was published. First, this story helped establish the conventions of the after-the-end narrative. Second, while many details might lead readers to the conclusion that the Great Burning was a nuclear war, the story pre-dates the first atom bomb by eight years. Second Ending by James White (1961) World War Three killed nine out of ten people, but enough infrastructure survived to support reliable hibernation. This is good news for terminally ill Ross. He can be placed into suspended animation until a cure is found for his disease. The results are a mixed success. Ross wakes, now healthy, to discover that humans have, during his long slumber, not only annihilated themselves but almost all life on Earth. Fortune smiles on Ross. First, life may be (mostly) dead but there is an army of robots to carry out his orders. Second, thanks to the upturned cuffs of the clothes he wore on his way to cold sleep, a few seeds survived the apocalypse. Third, thanks to suspended animation, Ross has all the time he needs to oversee Earth’s terraforming… although he might be surprised to learn how long that will take. For the most part, this short novel is a tribute to what one human can accomplish, given only determination, knowledge, and a vast army of relentlessly obedient, highly advanced robots. That said, Second Ending may feature the longest timescale needed for terraforming ever featured in a science fiction novel. As the Curtain Falls by Rob Chilson (1974) Humanity triumphed during the Dawn Age, conquering the stars themselves. That was a very long time ago, longer than any person living on Earth can imagine. A billion years is long enough for uncounted civilizations to rise and fall, for the oceans to vanish, for history to become myth and then forgotten. Nevertheless, time has not erased everything. Humans survive, if in fewer numbers than in the past. Nor is the Dawn Age entirely erased. Trebor of Amballa hopes that among its relics is one that will let him bend a dying Earth to his will. A cynic might speculate that the course Trebor takes towards his destiny is less driven by pragmatism and more by Chilson’s desire to show off his vivid worldbuilding. Earth in a billion years is a very alien world, where materials like plastic and fiberglass have been incorporated into everyday biochemistry. The Breaking of Northwall by Paul O. Williams (1981) A thousand years before, the Great Fire erased civilization. Only a few widely scattered survivors were spared. After ten centuries, a few communities, Pelbar being one, have clawed their way back to town-sized city-states. Between them, pugnacious nomads make travel ill-advised. Jestak was the only survivor to return from an ill-fated exploratory mission. His silence about what befell his companions is suspicious. Jestak is silent because he believes conservative Pelbar does not want to hear what he learned. Once, a single great nation dominated continent. Perhaps it can be united again! And just perhaps, Jestak is the person to set that process in motion… This novel and the series of which it is a part are a celebration of E Pluribus Unum. It’s also an exploration of the consequences of founders being drawn from tiny groups. Pelbar seems to have been founded by a particular sort of academic, while one of the nomad tribes is almost certainly descended from feral boy scouts. Fallen by Melissa Scott (2023) Artificial Intelligences were supposed to provide the Ancestors with boundless leisure and wealth. Instead, the AIs rebelled. The AI were ultimately defeated, the survivors exiled to another dimension known as the “possible.” This victory did not come soon enough to save civilization. The Successors believe salvaged Ancestor relics can supercharge progress. The Newfounders believe the inherent risks outweigh any possible benefits. Starfarer Nic’s successful use of an ancient artifact to ply her trade makes her proof of the Successor creed. Her upcoming attempt to save a doomed city may be evidence that the Newfounders are right. Generally speaking, in science fiction, yay progress people are correct while technophobes are wrong. In Fallen’s case, readers familiar with Finders, the other book in the Firstborn, Lastborn space opera series, may not be confident that this rule of thumb is correct this time. Although published first, Finders is set later, after someone crashes civilization again. Is Nic that someone? Read and find out. SF authors love writing stories about people crawling from the ruins almost as much as they love writing stories about people creating those ruins in the first place. Such up-from-disaster works abound. No doubt I missed some of your favorites. Feel free to tell us about them in comments below.[end-mark] Yes, I do think about Ascendance of a Bookworm every time I look at a well-stocked and (I hope) solidly built bookcase. ︎Leaving aside people who really hate dinosaurs for some reason, such as resenting the way archosaurs displaced therapsids following the End Permian. ︎Whether that’s a good thing depends on how optimistic you are about humans not repeating the mistakes of the past. ︎The post Five SF Stories About Rebuilding After a Cataclysmic Event appeared first on Reactor.

The dean of the nation’s political analysts, Michael Barone, sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss the 2024 election. The headline that emerged from that discussion was “Donald Trump’s Rainbow Coalition,” noting that the monopoly of the Democratic Party over the nation’s black vote seems to be over. If this is true, and it indeed seems to be, the implications for the political dynamics of our nation’s future are profound. In 2024, Trump picked up 13% of the black vote compared with 8% in 2016, and 21% of black men voted for Trump. Also, among black voters, as in all voting groups, young voters moved more to the Republican candidate. Among black voters ages 18-29, 16% voted for Trump, compared with 6% of black voters 65 and up. In 1956, Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower won 39% of the black vote. In 1960, Republican Richard Nixon captured 32%. Then the world changed in 1964, when Republican candidate Barry Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act. Goldwater picked up 6% of the black vote in that election, and the Republican Party never recovered with black voters. In all presidential elections since, the Democrat-Republican ratio has hovered around what Barone calls the 90%-10% ratio. The election results this year point to change. But why should we conclude that this is not a one-off move? Despite the ongoing and persistence of race as a political topic, it is capturing the interest of young blacks less and less. They see themselves more as individuals than belonging to a black voting bloc. In a survey done by the NAACP last September, 26% of black men under 50 said they would support Trump. Of those, 82% said their most important issue was the economy. Barone also points out, correctly, that the central role of the black church as a platform for political unity is weakening. The PRRI American Values Survey released in September showed 13% support for Trump among blacks saying they attend church weekly or more, 15% among those saying they attend church monthly or a few times a year, and 23% among those saying they seldom or never go to church. Per The New York Times, black church attendance over the last 20 years is down 20 percentage points. Among young black millennials and Gen Z, 50% of those who say they do attend church say they attend a black church compared with two-thirds of older-generation blacks. There is meaning both to more blacks not attending church and to the movement of those attending church to non-black churches. Politics are far more likely to be the topic of discussion and sermons in black churches. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign pitch to the American people was about big government: More spending, more subsidies, more social engineering. More young blacks, certainly young black men, see the path to prosperity as taking personal responsibility, and that means an economy that is kept free—less government spending and lower taxes. The data is there to see that blacks can get ahead in America. Per the Federal Reserve, median black household wealth stood at 5.6% that of white households in 1989. By 2022, that was up to 15.7%. In 1972, median black household income stood at 57.5% of white households. By 2022, that increased to 62%. Is this enough progress? Clearly, no. But it is increasingly clear to a new generation of black Americans that what they need to get ahead is freedom. Data abounds showing countries that are more economically free have far greater wealth and opportunity. The ideological divide between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—more or less government, more or less freedom—is more pronounced than ever. Black Americans, particularly young blacks and black men, want a future, and they see the future in freedom. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Democrats’ Monopoly on Black Vote Is Over appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Fauci Pardon Next? Biden Plans Pardons for All the Evildoers

This week, we discuss one of Britain's most notorious serial killers, Harold Shipman, and how toxicology results were pivotal to his conviction. We will then break down how toxicology works.

It's going to be a peaceful age, right? Right??

Traces of other pharmaceuticals, including muscle relaxants and sedatives, were also found in blubber samples.

A Massachusetts judge may lose her job after she allegedly helped an illegal alien arrested on drug charges to evade ICE agents several years ago.In April 2018, just a few months after she rose to the Massachusetts District Court bench, Judge Shelley Joseph presided over a hearing for Jose Medina-Perez, a native of the Dominican Republican who had been deported from the U.S. in 2003 and 2007.'ICE is gonna get him? ... What if we detain him?'Medina-Perez had been arrested on two misdemeanor counts of drug possession as well as a charge of fugitive from justice. ICE considered him a "deportable alien," and agents were on hand at the courthouse to obtain custody of him as soon as he was released from the state. During the hearing, Judge Joseph ordered the ICE agents to wait outside her courtroom, but these agents appeared to give several court officials cause for concern.According to a press release from the Commission on Judicial Conduct, while conducting a sidebar conversation during the hearing, the defense attorney noted, "If he’s bailed out ... ICE will pick him up."Joseph then replied, "ICE is gonna get him? ... What if we detain him?"Moments later, the defense attorney asked whether he could speak with Judge Joseph off the record. The judge then asked for the official recording of the proceeding to be turned off temporarily, in apparent violation of state law. The recording was stopped for approximately 52 seconds, the press release said.During those 52 seconds, the defense attorney allegedly requested that he be allowed to escort his client back to the lockup area, where the defendant could slip "through the rear sally-port exit of the courthouse" and avoid the ICE agents who were waiting for him, the press release indicated.When the court recording resumed, the defense attorney stammered: "I would ask that he, uh — I believe he has some property downstairs. I’d like to speak with him downstairs with the interpreter if I may," the press release claimed, citing the court transcript. Judge Joseph agreed: "That's fine. Of course." She later reiterated to the session clerk that the defense attorney had "asked if the interpreter can accompany him downstairs, um, to further interview him — and I’ve allowed that to happen."After another pretrial hearing was scheduled, Medina-Perez, his attorney, an interpreter, and another court officer went down to the lockup area. "Once inside the lockup area, the court officer used his security access card to open the rear sally-port exit of the courthouse and released the defendant out of the courthouse through the sally-port exit," the press release said.When questioned about Medina-Perez's apparent escape from the courthouse, Judge Joseph allegedly replied: "I assumed that the defendant was in the custody of ICE. I was not aware until two days later when I returned to the Newton District Court that he had not been taken into ICE custody."She later added: "I regret the harm that my handling of the matter caused the reputation of the Massachusetts judiciary."'This judge should never see another day in court as a judge. This type of reckless behavior doesn’t belong in our courtrooms.'Judge Joseph was also charged with federal crimes and temporarily suspended from the bench in connection with the incident, but prosecutors later agreed to drop those charges when Joseph promised to refer herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.Joseph returned to the bench and eventually moved to Boston Municipal Court, where she currently serves.On Monday, the Commission on Judicial Conduct filed formal charges against Joseph, alleging that she had violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.Furthermore, the commission alleged that her actions that day amounted to "willful judicial misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and unbecoming a judicial officer, and that brings the judicial office into disrepute." A hearing regarding these non-criminal charges will be held within the next 60 days after a hearing officer can be appointed to preside over it. Depending on the outcome of the hearing, Joseph could be removed from the bench.In her rebuttal to the charges, which was also included in the press release, Joseph denied intentionally assisting Medina-Perez and professed to have "fully cooperated and responded truthfully to the inquiries of her judicial colleagues, supervisors, and judicial disciplinary authorities." She did acknowledge that she "unknowingly" violated state statute when she paused the official court recording."Judge Joseph looks forward to a hearing where all the circumstances finally become public," said a statement from her attorney, Thomas Hoopes, according to Boston.com.Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance called the entire situation "unfortunate." "It's unfortunate this rogue judge decided to work against our law enforcement agency in charge of keeping the public safe. This judge should never see another day in court as a judge. This type of reckless behavior doesn’t belong in our courtrooms," Craney said in a statement to Blaze News.Medina-Perez apparently managed to evade ICE that day, but ICE apprehended him two weeks later. In December 2021, he was even "HELD WITHOUT BAIL DUE TO IDENTITY ISSUES," a court docket showed. However, all charges against him in connection with this hearing were eventually dropped.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Establishmentarians struggling with the likelihood of having little to no representation in the incoming administration have spent weeks attacking several of President-elect Donald Trump's picks to helm federal agencies of consequence. Although Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to run the Pentagon, has taken an inordinate amount of abuse, former National Security Council official Kash Patel has similarly become a top target for champions of the status quo, including Olivia Troye, a middling intelligence official in the George W. Bush administration who later served as an adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence. In conversation with identitarian MSNBC host Joy Reid this week, Troye viciously attacked Patel. Although accustomed — like most in the liberal media — to hurling verbal bombs without fear of personal consequence, the former Pence adviser was promptly met with a legal notice. Troye responded by playing the victim and bemoaning a potential state of things where talking heads might be answerable for their accusations. Shot Troye, an ardent critic of Trump who defended censorship before Congress and endorsed Kamala Harris, told Reid Monday that nameless unelected officials in Washington, D.C., believe Patel is dangerous. "I worked with Kash Patel in the White House. I was Vice President Mike Pence's counterterrorism adviser so I had to coordinate with Kash a lot. Kash Patel is a delusional liar. Let me just be very clear about that," said Troye. "And he would lie about intelligence. He would lie about making things up on operations. I think Mark Esper has talked about that as well, where he put the lives of Navy Seals at risk in an operation when it came to Nigeria." 'This is a complete fabrication.' "At some point, I realized I need to check Kash's work to make sure that I wasn't misinforming Mike Pence by relying on his word. So I had to go around him. And this is a guy who openly has contempt for people in national security, for people especially at DOJ and the FBI." Troye noted further that "there is a little bit of fear here from people where they know that someone like Kash Patel is fully capable of just doing partisan investigations, whatever it takes. It will be insane if he becomes the director of the FBI." Chaser Jesse Binnall of the Binnall Law Group, which represents Patel, sent a letter to Troye's counsel Wednesday threatening to take legal action against the MSNBC guest unless she publicly retracts her "defamatory statements." The legal notice further advised Troye to "identify and preserve all hard copy and electronically stored documents, information, and data that relate, in any way, to Mr. Patel and to [her] statements about him on MSNBC." Binnall focused on Troye's allegations that Patel would "lie about intelligence"; that he would "lie about making things up on operations"; that he was misinforming Pence; and that he "put the lives of Navy Seals at risk." "This is a complete fabrication," wrote Binnall. "And you know it is false by virtue of your former position in the White House. At no point did Mr. Patel ever lie about national intelligence, place Navy Seals at risk, or misinform the Vice President. Not only did you have actual knowledge of the falsity of this smear, but you also did so with the malicious intent of degrading his character and of cynical self-promotion." 'You're insufferable and so is your lawyer.' "This is, of course, not the first time you have milked your former title as a means of spreading lies about associates of President Donald J. Trump," added Binnall, referencing Troye's 2022 smear of former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, which resulted in a defamation lawsuit. Grenell's complaint indicated that Troye, who alleged Grenell tried to get Pence to attend a white supremacist event while overseas, "is a disgruntled former government employee who is on a malicious smear campaign against her political rivals." Unless Troye retracts her comments in a public statement on X by next week, Patel will apparently take legal action. Hangover Troye cried foul upon receipt of the legal notice, stating on X, "This aligns with [Patel's] threats against the media & political opponents, revealing how he might conduct himself if confirmed in the role." "I stand by my statements — my priority remains the safety & security of the American people," continued Troye. "I am not the only one who has expressed concerns about him. So why me? And so it begins." The account for the Georgia GOP offered a possible answer to Troye's "Why me?": "Because you defamed him on national television, perhaps." Jeff Clark, a former assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's environment and natural resources division, responded to Troye, "You're insufferable and so is your lawyer. The good news is that your MSNBC platform is an oasis pod that is rapidly dehydrating before our eyes. Ratings circling the drain. We won't miss you when channel surfing and over time seeing you less and less." Troye is not the only former federal operative concern-mongering about Patel at MSNBC and at similar liberal media outfits. Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director for counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation who now writes for MSNBC, noted Tuesday that Patel sounds like a "wannabe cop planning on false arrests and fabricated evidence" and insinuated that the FBI might resume its practice of illegal wiretaps, blackmail, and suggesting civil rights leaders kill themselves were Patel to take over. Former FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner told CNN last month that "putting someone like Kash Patel in the position of director of the FBI is, I believe, extremely, extremely dangerous." Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director who undermined the Trump presidency with Crossfire Hurricane, told CNN on Sunday, "The installation or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point, of Kash Patel's FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI, and to possibly use it as a tool for the president's political agenda." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!