'There is no way we should ever, ever think about hiring someone who is under investigation'

A woman was left stunned when she discovered that her husband was sitting on a small fortune thanks to his childhood Pokémon card collection. Because Madeline Brice and her husband Juan Pardo are each one year either side of 30, it means they were born bang in the middle of the emergence of Pokémon in […] The post Man Shocked to Discover His Pokémon Card Collection is Now Worth $5,000 appeared first on Good News Network.

Books book review A Wild Night: So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison A review of Rachel Harrison’s new horror novel. By Mahvesh Murad | Published on September 19, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Rachel Harrison’s So Thirsty focuses on a young woman called Sloane, who has let things happen to her for a really long time. Her 36th birthday is around the corner, and her husband has surprised her with a weekend away (not with him, because he’s a serial cheater and Sloane knows that he probably just wants her out of his way), but with her childhood best friend Naomi. Naomi’s life is a “wild, glamorous adventure,” and she is everything Sloane is not—unpredictable, fun, free.  Sloane on the other hand, has given in to the mundanities of suburban life and acquiesced to a number of things she’s unhappy about, including her husband’s infidelities. But perhaps a weekend away with her best friend is what Sloane needs to continue feeling distracted, and to just break away from the discomfort of being herself, a discomfort so strong that her “skin feels like a straitjacket.”  Though Sloane is expecting a quiet weekend of massages and catching up, Naomi wants more, and insists they head out into the small town, where she chats up a random intriguing man in a bar. The next night Sloane finds herself being dragged along to a random party at the house of the same random intriguing man—and it is a strange party. What starts off as Eyes Wide Shut vibes soon turns into True Blood vibes, as it becomes clear that the party’s other guests are a nest of vampires, and instead of just the casual sex Naomi had tried to encourage Sloane to participate in, things take a bloody, violent turn. The next morning, the two women wake up to find themselves extremely thirsty, for a very specific drink, and Sloane’s identity crisis takes on a very new twist. Naomi, in all her impulsiveness, is quick to give in to her baby-vamp needs, but Sloane, true to her human nature, is guilty and struggles against the needs of her new body, mind and life. The nest of vampires who changed their lives offer to absorb the women into their family, with Sloane finding herself attracted to broody, handsome, almost cliché- like Henry, who tries his best to offer her a new perspective on the life she may be able to now lead, once she accepts that she will eventually need to slake her thirst, regularly and without remorse.  Buy the Book So Thirsty Rachel Harrison Buy Book So Thirsty Rachel Harrison Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget But Sloane is unaccustomed to expressing or satisfying her needs, whether they be visceral or emotional, though she starts to realise that a lot of what bothered her is no longer a concern, whether it be aging or basic earthly principles. “I understand in this moment that there is no right thing to do,” she thinks, “no good way to exist as what we are, or even as what we were—mortal women. My worldview, my rules, my morality were all constructed as a cage for my shame, shame forged by forces outside of myself. I’ve related restriction to virtue, nourishment to gluttony; associated satisfaction with guilt ever since I learned about the Atkins diet, ever since I heard the word ‘slut’, ever since I was young.” Sloane has to learn how to settle into this new skin, how to create a life she can enjoy leading, not one that leads her. In the dynamic between her constant quest for control and Naomi’s erratic, explosive behaviour, we witness the push and pull between two women who are bound to each other eternally,  and that’s not just a hyperbolic description of their friendship.  So Thirsty is very much about sisterhood. Sloane and Naomi are ego and id. They are each other’s perfect foils, bickering and even straight up fighting, but under it all lies an immensely deep love. To an outsider it can sound like they hate each other:  […] but this is a form of unconditional love. Of release. We gift each other the freedom to gnash our teeth, to growl and gnaw. Behave badly. Be terrible. Because we’ll love each other through it and no one else will. Because this ugliness is not permitted anywhere else. At least, not without consequence. This growling and gnawing become real, the ugliness turns physical, and the consequences become almost too much for their relationship to bear. But no matter what, Sloane is clear that Naomi is more than her best friend—she is her youth: “‘”the purest, truest version of myself, before life got in the way. Before I knew about things like property taxes and deductibles and inflation, about the slow drain of ordinary days and the quick disappearance of ordinary years… She holds the best of me, and I think I hold the best of her.” It is in this knowledge that the two women have to find a new balance, a new dynamic to see them through this abrupt life change.  Harrison has written yet another fast paced and highly contemporary thriller. So Thirsty is smart and funny, and it is fun—something that we often don’t get often enough in novels about women’s relationships with each other and their environment. This isn’t a coming of age story in the traditional way, but it is one nonetheless. The vampire novel can be a metaphor for so much, and Harrison takes it to new places by making it about a woman afraid of aging, and more specially, aging alone in a muted life of compromise. “Sometimes wisdom sounds like a threat,” learns Sloane, who must learn to stop holding back, because “just because you have all the time in the world doesn’t mean you cant still waste it.”[end-mark]  So Thirsty is published by Berkley. The post A Wild Night: <i>So Thirsty</i> by Rachel Harrison appeared first on Reactor.

News The Franchise The Franchise Sends Up the “Chaotic” World of Superhero Moviemaking — With Heart It’s all even weirder than we think it is By Molly Templeton | Published on September 19, 2024 Screenshot: Max Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: Max According to the team behind The Franchise, the world of superhero movies is not quite so structured and planned as we may have been led to believe. Jon Brown (Succession) tells The Hollywood Reporter, “People think these movies are laid out in neat phases for the next 10 years. Then you hear about a set where, in the morning, a limo literally pulls up, the window comes down, and they hand out new script pages.” Some of the stories Brown and his co-creators Armando Iannucci (Veep) and Sam Mendes (1917) heard about superhero filmmaking were so chaotic, the writers felt like they were “too silly” to actually include in The Franchise. The upcoming Max series is described as a workplace comedy—it’s just that the workplace involves a lot of green screens and superhero suits. Billy Magnussen (Made for Love) is the star of the fictional movie Tecto; Daniel Brühl plays the director of said film. Aya Cash (You’re the Worst) plays a producer, Richard E. Grant (Saltburn) a snobby British actor, Himesh Patel (Station Eleven) the first assistant director, and Lolly Adefope (Ghosts) his mentee. (It’s clearly important that Grant is a snobby British actor: Iannucci says, “In the U.K., you can’t move without bumping into an actor who has spent the last 18 months trapped in a small green room pretending to wrestle with aliens and being paid very well while going quite mad.”) Between Brown and Iannucci, it seems like The Franchise could have very sharp teeth, but the creators aren’t just focused on sending up a bazillion-dollar industry. “The beating heart of the show has more to do with the ADs, PAs, the script supervisors, line producers and crew who actually make films and get no public praise for it,” Brown tells THR. A lot—a lot—of people do a lot of often-invisible work on big-budget films, and while The Franchise pokes fun at the absurdity, it clearly also understands all the work that most viewers never see. That said, Brown, Iannucci, and Mendes have heard some really weird stories about how certain franchise films actually get made. To read more of them, pop over to The Hollywood Reporter. The Franchise premieres October 6th on Max.[end-mark] The post <i>The Franchise</i> Sends Up the “Chaotic” World of Superhero Moviemaking — With Heart appeared first on Reactor.

With less than two weeks until the end of the fiscal year, a long-term continuing resolution is currently the best and most realistic option to constrain out-of-control government spending and avoid another lame-duck omnibus appropriations bill. However, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently sent a “parade of horribles” letter to Congress outlining the dangers of a six-month continuing resolution on the U.S. military. The Austin letter predicts calamity should a continuing resolution occur for the Defense Department. However, that contradicts prior statements by his staffers and the comptroller general. The Pentagon’s top budget official testified in 2022—when Democrats controlled both the House and Senate—that “being under a continuing resolution into January and February is not unusual” and that the Pentagon has learned to do so out of necessity. In 2021, the comptroller general also concluded that the Pentagon “has adopted practices to manage within the constraints of continuing resolutions.”   Despite this, some Republican defense hawks in Congress joined Wednesday with Democrats to oppose a six-month continuing resolution stopgap spending bill because of the possible harm to the military. One of the top complaints is that under a continuing resolution, the military is prohibited from either beginning new weapons programs (aka “new starts”) or increasing the quantities of weapon systems (even if doing so would save money) unless and until there is a full-year Defense Department appropriations act. The typical continuing resolution micromanages the Defense Department down to the line-item level for procurement and research & development in a way it does not for nondefense agencies. Conversely, according to the comptroller general, the problems reported during a continuing resolution for a nondefense agency are that they can’t hire federal bureaucrats fast enough or go on as many taxpayer-funded trips. Why do continuing resolutions contain a funding prohibition unique to the Defense Department? Generally, that restriction has always been there. Politically (and cynically) it made sense when the Pentagon’s full-year defense appropriations bill was stuffed with hundreds of earmarks for pet projects for powerful members of Congress. However, the House does not allow earmarks for defense appropriations acts today. In writing to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Austin pleaded for a full-year appropriations bill for the Defense Department, but omits that the House passed a full-year appropriations bill funding the Defense Department nearly three months ago that is languishing in the Democrat-controlled Senate, which has not passed any funding bills. Austin should have called on the Senate to pass the defense appropriations bill this month and alleviate his concerns. While the secretary’s letter says that the Pentagon is helpless under a long-term continuing resolution, the Defense Department can still reprogram large amounts of appropriated funds as it did a number of times last year to pay for military aid to Ukraine and other programs.   Conservatives would be wise to treat the Department of Defense like every other federal agency and allow the Pentagon the authority to enter into multiyear agreements and more efficiently buy weapons. Another option would be to authorize new weapons programs in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, expected to be finalized in November or December, and let the Pentagon begin procurement at that time.   Conservative defense hawks should agree that removing the defense-specific restrictions from a long-term continuing resolution would help address the concerns in the secretary’s letter and prevent the military from being forced to wait until fiscal year 2026 to reverse its current decline in military strength. The post Congress Should Stop Hamstringing Military During Continuing Resolution Spending Bill Fights appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The G20 organization, currently chaired by Brazil and recently holding a ministerial meeting there, is wasting no time falling in line with all the key policies advanced by many governments, and globalist elites. After promising to do its bit in the “war on disinformation” (to the delight of the host, Brazil, whose present government is accused of censorship), G20 member countries “pledged allegiance” to the digital ID and the overall scheme that incorporates it – namely, the digital public infrastructure (DPI). Related: The 2024 Digital ID and Online Age Verification Agenda DPI already counts the UN, the EU, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the Gates Foundation as policy backers and vocal promoters. Now G20 ministers with digital economy portfolios have issued a joint declaration to express their “commitment” to both DPI and “combating disinformation”, and there is also inevitably the talk of “AI.” On the digital ID/DPI front, the ministers speak of “inclusive” DPI, and the same attribute is attached to AI. The declaration “acknowledges” the importance of things like innovation and competition in a digital economy, among other things, at the same time “reaffirming” the importance of digital transformation based on DPI. Boilerplate remarks are made about transparency and protection of privacy and personal data – but these are the major concerns cited by opponents of this type of scheme, along with the overall fear that they facilitate new, more dangerous forms of mass surveillance through centralization of personal information and tracking of people’s activities. Referring to digital ID as “a basic DPI,” the declaration further speaks of the Sustainable Development Goals (a UN agenda) and one of its targets to be achieved by 2030 by using digital ID (as a tool of “inclusion”) to provide “legal identity for all.” Interestingly enough, free speech repression is not the only controversial policy where Brazil seems keen to lead the way; so is DPI, and the digital ID. During the G20 meeting, Brazil promoted its DPI-related activities, including digital IDs based on biometrics. This policy is explained with buzzwords such as economic growth, sustainable development, and also, “easier access to financial services and government resources, particularly for underbanked populations.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post G20 Embraces Digital ID Dream While Critics Warn of Surveillance Nightmare appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Ready to FALL in love with rustic decor for your home? If you are, then take a look at these 17 rustic home decor  ideas to do yourself this holiday season! Fall is totally here! With all these trendy and rustic decorations going up, I couldn't help myself and simply had to create a round-up of rustic fall decor ideas! I had to spread the astounding creativity of people and bloggers who put in the effort to make their homes cozy staycation destinations for the holidays. Read on because I believe you, like me, will feel inspired to get working on your DIY rustic fall decor! 17 Timeless Rustic Decor Ideas For Fall Fall is coming! Make sure your rustic decor is on point! Each year when the fall decorations come out, so does my sentimentality, and I can't help but think about the good ole days. Perhaps it's this family oriented time of year, but I always enjoy getting back to my roots and refocusing on simplicity. You know, back when the daily pace was much slower and you actually had the luxury of taking the time to feel the breeze pass by your humble home. With the hustle bustle of modern life, there is more reason than ever to bring back the simple rustic country look of your modern home. Enjoy browsing this list and let yourself take a trip down memory lane while cultivating ideas for your rustic home decor. 1. Pallet Project Ideas for Fall | Pallet projects ahead! A pallet is definitely rustic and you can use it to create many different and amazing fall decorations. Used here as a sign to paint, an old pallet provides the perfect canvas to make something new from something old. The dated pallet provides the perfect rustic background for your warm fall wishes! Use this outdoors or inside! 2. Rustic Fall Mantel with DIY Wood Pumpkins & DIY Barn Wood Shutters image via the frugal homemaker Complete the ultimate cozy spot in your home in front of a crackling fire to combat the chilly weather! Do it in style with beautiful fall mantel ideas. The use of upcycled treasures like the window frame and barn-style shutters above provide the perfectly rustic charm to compliment your charming fireplace setting. Pull your living room decor together with wonderful ideas for your mantel. 3. DIY Crate Shelves image via mr kate With these DIY crate shelves, your fall collection will have the perfect display. You can use them for personal items in a bedroom or for more decorative photos, candles or other rustic decor in a family room. Also, be sure to arrange them in a visually appealing order or design in order to make the most out of your crates as storage, but also as wall art! 4. Fall Rustic Mason Jars image via sincerely jean Easy to make but with fall flair and elegance. The best part of these fall rustic mason jars is that they can go virtually anywhere in or outside of the home. While the wheat is a nice touch, you could put many decorative items on display with this one! You can also replace ‘Fall' with ‘Harvest' or a variety of other autumn themed words. Just be sure to make the lettering large and bold! 5. DIY White Pumpkin Vase image via a pumpkin and a princess This could be your gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpiece! The best part about it? You can virtually create anything you want here. Start with the base white pumpkin and add anything that strikes your fancy. This could be leaves, pinecones, a sprig of holly – anything that says ‘fall' to you! Learn how to make this lovely white pumpkin vase and let your home be the new standard of lovely fall decor! 6. HUGE Front Porch Welcome Sign image via the wood grain cottage Spell-out your excitement of welcoming the season and your visitors in this HUGE Front Porch Welcome Sign. The entryway to your home is the first impression anyone will have of your festive fall spirit. With these huge letters welcoming in your guests, they'll never wonder if they can relax and feel welcomed. Showing your welcoming spirit is one of the best ways to greet your guests! 7. Easy Rustic Fall Candle Holder image via home talk If you're like me, you've been stocking up for your wood burning fire place for a while now! Spare a few logs and create these earthy and rustic candle holders! These really are incredibly easy to make. They are also the perfect example of your rustic and upcycled innovation! Who needs to spend tons of money on ‘made-new-to-look-old' decor when you can use real bits of nature to create a lasting a beautiful impression like these candle holders? 8. DIY Rustic Fall Sign image via design dining and diapers Gather cut birch logs or branches of leaves in a container and create a rustic palette fall sign to add a rustic fall decor to your living room. This is similar to the large welcoming sign above, but with a fresh spin. Create a sign that is modern in design and rustic in materials. You will be left with a beautifully creative and expressive piece to compliment your entryway. 9. DIY Apple Chalkboard image via a night owl blog Make the perfect chalkboard for fall by making it in apple formed chalkboard to write down messages or a festive welcome! Alright I have to admit that I really love this one. What a creative way to incorporate the new trend of chalkboard paint with a down-to-earth nature vibe? Take a slice of a tree stump and paint it with chalkboard paint to house your welcoming message!   Happy First Day of Fall! Here are 12 gorgeous places to visit this season. https://t.co/tzO3ri3UKR pic.twitter.com/VbFn9eB2H7 — Homesteading (@HomesteadingUSA) September 22, 2016     10. DIY Song Lyric Sign image via house by hoff If you love Jack Johnson’s song “Better Together” then, this DIY song lyric sign is must have for your rustic fall décor. Even if you have another song that sings to your soul, this decoration can be a fantastic option. Music has a way of bringing people together during the holiday season and with this option, you can create decor that matches. Embrace your musical side and create decor with song lyrics! 11. Rustic Fall Wreath image via consumer crafts Rustic burlap and yarn to create that amazing fall wreath that showcase the harvest flair with elegance. As we all know, burlap is a rustic decorator's best friend! Burlap has a way of taking any project and making it look earthy or shabby chic. This fall wreath is no exception! Let your creative simplicity shine through by decorating with this simple product! 12. Grateful – Thankful – Blessed | A simple way to display your fall gratefulness, thankfulness, and blessedness! Again, signs signs signs! This one is different yet as it requires the reverse of painting letters on a board. In this case, cutting out letters to be placed on the board before painting is the key as the lettering is made from the textured wood, while the background is painted. Give this awesome project a try! 13. Maple Leaf: Free Fall Printable | Just because I love my homesteaders…enjoy this printable cut out! I will be the first to admit that we are not all artists, but with this printable cut out, you can take a drawing, print it out and display it as artwork! This maple leaf sketch will give you that instant rustic fall décor. For best results for this rustic decor, print it on a durable or think paper that will look more decorative than a basic white sheet of paper! 14. DIY Rustic Fall Sign with Chalky Finish Paint image via the frugal homemaker What an amazing way to welcome the harvest season into your home! Instead of using full on chalk paint to use as the background for your written welcome, try this rustic decor! For this, the chalk paint is used as an accent to give your welcome sign just the right amount of a ‘weathered' look to keep the rustic decor alive. This technique works beautifully on this sign, let it work for you too! 15. DIY Fall Woodland Frame image via on sutton place This DIY fall woodland frame is complete with acorns, moss, and pinecones you can follow it or customize it by adding a fall themed quote or favorite family photo. With this frame, the sky is the limit for what you can use to decorate your frame! Feel free to make a day of it! Go exploring with your kids and forage for the creative items needed to make your own personalized DIY fall woodland frame! Embrace the outdoors! 16. Rustic Fall Front Door | This entire entryway is the perfect example of a welcoming entryway. If I walked up t this front door, I would immediately be filled with a sense of warmth and welcoming! From the welcome mat to the wicker pumpkins and hanging accent pieces, I love this front door! The wood slice “happy fall” wreath and twigs will enhance this beautiful rustic decor for your fall entrance. 17. Real Leaf Rustic Fall Art | Getting rid of the leaves in your front yard doesn't have to be a complete chore! Gather fallen leaves from your yard and transform them into a beautiful piece of art the tributes the fall color. Like this example above, use the leaves to create a mosaic of an even greater leaf or other festive shape! Enjoy allowing your mind to turn to creativity mode and see what you come up with!  Find the tutorial here. Still looking for one more rustic decor for fall? Check out this video from MissLizHeart Which rustic décor for fall will you DIY for your home this weekend? Let us know in the comments below. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook! Like this? Then, you’ll also LOVE! 18 Fall Wreath Ideas For Your Front Door 24 Home Improvement Ideas For Your American Dream Home 21 Super Cool Reclaimed Wood Craft DIY Ideas | DIY Projects

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Hats off to anyone who hears deep-sea moaning and goes looking for it.