Our Top 10 Annie Blackman Songs list focuses on a talented singer‚ songwriter‚ and musician from New Jersey. Meeting Taylor Swift changed the singer’s life. Annie Blackman met Taylor Swift when she was 13. From that moment on‚ the singer pursued her music career. She became a young breakthrough singer and songwriter. The ingenue writes upbeat and anthemic songs that fans enjoy. Annie Blackman went from being reluctant to share her music with people to opening up about her romantic life. The singer wrote about relationships at a young age. She exposes her vulnerability by mixing her head with her The post Top 10 Annie Blackman Songs appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

This article first appeared in Issue 15 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. A 5‚000-year-old bristlecone pine stands in the White Mountains of California‚ making it the oldest non-cloned living organism on Earth. We know the extremes of longevity can get messy in the context of animal cancers‚ but what about botanical species? Do plants get cancer?Louise Gathercole is the Coordinator for the Centre for Forest Protection (CFP)‚ UK‚ a new center led by Forest Research and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew‚ which carries out innovative research into protecting trees and woodlands from future threats. She is also a part-time PhD student researching oak trees. We caught up with her to find out if‚ and how‚ plants get sick.Do plants get sick?Louise Gathercole (LG): Plants do get sick‚ and it can have a big impact on things like our food supply. For example‚ the Irish Potato Famine happened because the plants got sick. With trees‚ we have had problems with fungi like Dutch elm disease and ash dieback‚ which have a big impact on our landscape.What about cancer?LG: With plants‚ there are lots of things that cause their cells to grow uncontrollably‚ and in a way that's not normal for the plant. Usually‚ these are caused by something else. So‚ it might be bacteria infecting the cells and subsequently the DNA. You also get viroids‚ viruses‚ and fungal infections‚ and in some cases‚ we don’t know what’s causing the cell growth.Then there are also galls caused by gall wasps‚ a lot of which grow on oak trees. The wasps lay an egg in a leaf or acorn bud and when they hatch‚ they secrete chemicals that cause the cells of a leaf or an acorn to grow abnormally. That creates this space that's safe for the gall wasps’ larvae to develop in. This doesn’t really harm the tree.Subscribe to our newsletter and get every issue of CURIOUS delivered to your inbox free each month. One of our science leads‚ Lisa Ward‚ who is Head of Pathology at Forest Research sent me some examples of plant diseases that cause massive cell proliferation in a cancer-like way. There’s crown gall that transfers bacteria into a plant’s genome‚ altering levels of plant hormones which leads to irregular cell division‚ causing tumors to grow. Also‚ black knot fungus releases chemicals that make the tree grow extra plant cells that are unusually large‚ resulting in swollen‚ woody galls. But there are many more.How do these growths differ from animal cancer?LG: You don't get secondary cancer because the cells don't move around the body. So‚ the cancer can't affect the different parts of the plant. But the way these growths can spread is the pathogen itself can move. So‚ a bacteria might infect cells in one area‚ but if the bacteria then multiplies and replicates‚ it can move somewhere else‚ or get carried somewhere else by another organism.The other thing is that‚ for the most part with plants‚ it’s not spontaneous. It’s often triggered by a bacterium or fungus‚ while animal cancers are more typically a spontaneous breakdown in DNA replication or a breakdown in the body system that deals with out-of-control cells. Of course‚ there are exceptions like cervical cancers and human papillomavirus‚ so there are some similarities there.Do we have plant medicines?LG: If you think about agriculture and gardening‚ there is the use of pesticides and fungicides to protect plants. Then there’s biocontrol‚ where you might have an invasive insect that could be controlled by introducing more of its natural predators.That's quite a big area of research now‚ using biocontrol for potential future threats such as pests and disease‚ but obviously‚ you have to do a lot of work to make sure that the predator you’re releasing doesn't affect other species. People are also looking into whether you can put together a cocktail of bacteria that might out-compete a bacterium that's causing problems. Improving the natural environmental conditions‚ such as soil‚ can also help as environmental factors can affect a plant’s susceptibility to disease. So‚ there are lots of things that aren’t quite medicines‚ but that can actually help to deal with whatever is causing the illness.What are you looking into at the CFP?LG: We are researching possible future invasive threats to trees‚ and also how to make our trees more resilient. We do a lot of genomics research at the CFP at Kew‚ using methods previously developed for human health or agriculture.One method is to compare the genomes of sick trees with the trees that seem to be resistant to a pest or disease. If you get more of one version of a gene in the resistant group‚ that version might be helping the tree to resist the disease. In reality‚ it is much more complicated than just one gene‚ but if we can identify the mix of variants‚ or the genotypes‚ that lead to a healthier outcome‚ we can start looking at planting more resistant trees in the future.CURIOUS magazine is a digital magazine from IFLScience featuring interviews‚ experts‚ deep dives‚ fun facts‚ news‚ book excerpts‚ and much more. Issue 18 is out now.

This article first appeared in Issue 15 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. H.G. Wells set off an obsession with his novel The Time Machine‚ one whose frequent appearances in science fiction testifies to its popularity ever since. Many of the other futuristic concepts Wells and his contemporaries wrote about have long since come true‚ but we don’t seem to be any closer to time travel‚ at least of the sort popularly envisaged. So‚ is it even possible?Physics offers reasons to think it might be‚ starting with its status as the fourth dimension. However‚ it also throws up a lot of obstacles‚ some of which may yet prove insurmountable.Not that sort of time travelAnswering a question like this needs to start with what one means by time travel. In one sense we are all traveling in time‚ approaching the future at the rate of one second every second. Of course‚ that's not what people mean‚ but it points to the need to think a bit harder about definitions.Some forms of time travel are definitely possible‚ but while they may be closer to popular meanings‚ they’re still not really there. We know from Special Relativity that time passes differently for someone traveling at a substantial fraction of the speed of light than for someone stationary. Consequently‚ astronauts on a trip to Mars‚ particularly a more rapid one than is currently considered‚ would experience very slight time dilation effects. Looked at one way‚ they would return to an Earth whose clocks‚ including biological clocks‚ are very slightly out of step with their own.For a short trip like that‚ the differences would be minor‚ and overwhelmed in terms of aging by the effects of zero gravity. Faster and more distant journeys‚ where the time shifts would be more noticeable‚ may be well outside our current capacity‚ not to mention budget‚ but we know they are theoretically possible. The sorts of time travel where space voyagers return to Earth barely changed but their families have aged decades could happen‚ and if humanity does not derail its progress through war or environmental collapse‚ they probably will.What we really meanUnless some force maintains the traveler's position relative to the planet‚ you'd find yourself floating helplessly in space waiting for the Earth to catch up.Pedantry aside‚ we all know what is meant by time travel: going to a point in either the past or the future and (hopefully) returning safely. Even if this is possible in theory‚ there are some quite major practical problems to consider.To pick just one example: fictional representations of time travel almost always assume the traveler ends up in the same location in space‚ relative to the Earth‚ but would this be the case? After all‚ even if you just traveled back in time by a week‚ so you could bet on a sporting contest for example‚ the Earth would have moved millions of kilometers in its orbit around the Sun in that time‚ and the Sun would‚ in turn‚ have migrated a small way around the galaxy.      Unless some force maintains the traveler's position relative to the planet‚ you'd find yourself floating helplessly in space waiting for the Earth to catch up. Ignoring this problem reflects a view of the Earth as the center of the universe disproven by Copernicus.If you assume time travel involves conservation of momentum‚ the traveler would likely end up close to their location of origin‚ but slight changes in direction could still result in relative shifts in location that could prove lethal.Nevertheless‚ objections like this don't make time travel impossible‚ just impractical.The strangeness of space-timeIn addition to raising the possibility of time dilation effects‚ Einstein’s special theory of relativity implied that space and time are more intimately linked than had previously been assumed. The idea of a four-dimensional space-time was raised soon after‚ and developed in the general theory of relativity‚ where Einstein showed that huge mass can curve space-time‚ including what physicists call worldlines.One consequence of this is that similar time dilation effects can occur in a powerful gravitational field just as they can when traveling close to the speed of light. If you want to experience time travel at the pico-scale‚ climb a mountain or get in an airplane to put some distance between you and the Earth’s gravity.Subscribe to our newsletter and get every issue of CURIOUS delivered to your inbox free each month. More significantly‚ if this distortion becomes sufficiently extreme it should create what is called a “closed timelike curve” (CTC)‚ which followed precisely would take you back to an earlier time.As the book The Quantum Physics of Time Travel notes: “If time travel is impossible‚ then the reason has yet to be discovered.”Nevertheless‚ there is clearly a lot we don't know about time. If it is merely the fourth dimension‚ why can we easily change our position in space‚ but not do so in time‚ other than letting it carry us forward like a river? The answer could turn out to create physical obstacles to time travel we have yet to identify.Grandfather paradoxesThe obvious problem with traveling back in time: accidentally (or deliberately) kill your grandparents and you are never born‚ so how could you kill them? Science fiction writers usually use this as a plot device to force their characters to undo the changes they have made. The ending produces a world where all the crucial details are similar enough that the trip occurs paradox-free‚ but things are nevertheless better.That’s great for fiction‚ but scientists have to acknowledge that such an outcome is unlikely.One possible solution to the grandfather paradox lies in the many-worlds interpretation. If true‚ there are an infinite number of universes branching off from each other every time an event occurs that could turn out in different ways. In this scenario‚ the universe where your grandfather was mysteriously killed before conceiving your parent is as real as the one you experience‚ and traveling in time merely means hopping from this universe to that one. A variation on the grandfather paradox is the Bootstrap Paradox‚ where time travel creates the conditions for itself to happen. An example might be a person receiving instructions from the future on how to build a time machine‚ leading to the creation of a world where their future self can send those instructions back. While self-consistent‚ these situations nevertheless leave open the question of where the information came from in the first place. Once again‚ this is the sort of thing fiction writers can casually gloss over in films like The Terminator‚ but physicists have to face directly. Calling them closed causal loops may speed communication but doesn’t solve the problem.What isn't clear‚ however‚ is whether paradoxes actually prevent someone from traveling through time‚ even if they potentially make it a very bad idea.A one-way trip?A return to one's own time would risk the bootstrap paradox‚ where the information collected on the trip is used to bring the foreseen world into reality.Most time travel stories today involve efforts to go back in time to try to change the endless things we’re unhappy about. However‚ Wells’s tale is of a traveler going forward to witness the decline of humanity and eventually the Earth. This avoids the grandfather paradoxes and is quite possibly more plausible.Such forward traveling might have its appeal‚ particularly if you expect the future to be better than the past – you‘d get to reap the benefits of those solving today’s problems without having to do any of the work. The problem would come if you started missing your loved ones and wished to return home. At the very least‚ a return to one's own time would risk the bootstrap paradox‚ where the information collected on the trip is used to bring the foreseen world into reality.If so‚ how?If we accept that time travel is possible‚ paradoxes can be resolved‚ and it's something we are willing to risk‚ that still leaves the question of how.The simple-sounding explanation is that one needs to travel faster than the speed of light‚ but this is easier said than done. It's possible to travel faster than the local speed of light in a medium that slows light down‚ something we witness in the Cherenkov Effect. This‚ however‚ does not get you a ticket to the 19th century. For that‚ you need to travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. Although faster-than-light travel is not inherently impossible‚ an object with mass cannot travel at exactly the speed of light‚ which poses something of an obstacle to traveling faster than it. In practical terms‚ how does one accelerate from slower than light speed to faster without going at the speed of light in between?According to Stephen Hawking‚ a prerequisite for time travel is the presence of exotic matter‚ specifically matter with negative energy. This isn't necessarily as impossible as it might sound‚ but so far we have not identified the existence of any negative mass particles‚ in contrast to antimatter‚ which‚ while rare‚ definitely exists.Why aren't they here?Ultimately‚ the strongest evidence against time travel is probably its own equivalent of the Fermi Paradox. If time travel is possible‚ why have we not encountered any tourists from the future? Hawking even sent them an invite.      Either humanity has never invented time travel‚ or our descendants have‚ but have used it very responsibly. Given our record with every other technology‚ the latter seems unlikely.CURIOUS magazine is a digital magazine from IFLScience featuring interviews‚ experts‚ deep dives‚ fun facts‚ news‚ book excerpts‚ and much more. Issue 18 is out now.

On February 21‚ 1997‚ a man calling himself Mel Waters rang the late-night radio talk show "Coast to Coast with Art Bell" with a very strange story to tell.According to Waters‚ on his property‚ around 14 kilometers (9 miles) west of Ellensburg‚ Washington‚ there was a hole that seemingly had no bottom. Waters told the host that locals would toss their garbage into the hole (the first thing you're supposed to do when you find an anomaly of scientific interest) and it would never fill up. He went on to claim that‚ investigating the matter‚ he had gotten an absurd amount of fishing line to dangle into the hole in an attempt to assess its depth. "As usual I brought the dogs with me... they wouldn't go anywhere near the damn thing‚" he told the show‚ "and if I try to bring them there on a leash they'll just dig their feet and they do not want to go anywhere near the hole."Dangling the line in‚ he claimed it reached down over 24‚000 meters (80‚000 feet) without reaching the bottom.            The Earth's crust‚ on land‚ is variable. On average it is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) thick‚ though under mountain ranges it can reach as much as 100 kilometers (62 miles). If Water's claim were true‚ the hole would go deeper into the crust than any human-made hole has ever reached into the Earth. That title goes to the Kola Superdeep Borehole‚ on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. The project‚ which spanned from May 24‚ 1970‚ to just after the collapse of the Soviet Union‚ saw the deepest branch of the hole reach 12‚263 meters (40‚230 feet) below the surface. It seems unlikely that somebody stumbled across a deeper hole without anybody really knowing about it‚ but Waters' strange testimony didn't end there. According to him‚ the hole had other mysterious properties‚ including bringing dogs back from the dead. On the show‚ he claimed that a local resident threw a dead pet into the hole‚ only for it to show up alive again later on with a hunter. The dog‚ having been through a lot‚ did not come back to its "owner".Other bizarre claims included that radios placed near it would play old music‚ while metals held near the hole would morph into other substances.The urban legend spread‚ and others claimed that they had seen the hole too‚ though none of them would ever reveal an exact location. Of course‚ this is likely because the tale is nonsense. Waters went on to claim that the government had forced him to lease them the land the hole was on with no explanation‚ which gave him the money to move to Australia.Investigations showed there were no records of Waters in the area‚ nor his wife working at the university where she supposedly procured the fishing line. People have looked for the hole itself‚ but have presented no evidence of its existence.The hole‚ likely a hoax or the passing on of an urban legend‚ could not exist as it is described‚ even before you get to the "and it brings dogs back from the dead" aspect."Geologically and physically‚ it’s not possible for a hole to be that deep‚" Jack Powell‚ a geologist with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources‚ who had been asked about the hole by local filmmakers‚ told Daily Record News. "It would collapse into itself under the tremendous pressure and heat from the surrounding strata."Powell believes the legend was sparked by a local gold mine that had its entrance in a local field‚ with a shaft of around 27 meters (90 feet). Which‚ though deep‚ is hardly what we'd call bottomless.

The fourth anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic is almost upon us. In 2024‚ the availability of vaccines has made it a very different beast from the disease authorities were struggling to contain at the start of 2020. Since that time‚ we’ve learned much about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its effects‚ but this research will continue for many years to come. A recent publication sparked a slew of new headlines about how a vegetarian or vegan diet could help protect against COVID-19‚ but some experts are not convinced that the study lives up to the hype.What the study saidThe research team used data from a group of 702 Brazilian adults recruited between March and July 2022‚ splitting them into omnivorous (424 people) or predominantly plant-based (278 people) groups according to their declared eating habits.The plant-based group was then further divided into two categories: flexitarians‚ defined as those who ate meat no more than three times per week; and a vegetarian/vegan combined category.Among the entire group of 702 people‚ 330 (47 percent) reported having had COVID-19 – 224 with “mild” symptoms‚ and the remaining 106 with “moderate” symptoms.Analysis of the data indicated that the omnivores had a significantly higher reported incidence of COVID-19 than the plant-based groups (52 percent vs. 40 percent) and were more likely to have had a rougher time of it‚ with 18 percent reporting moderate to severe symptoms (vs. 11 percent).The plant-based groups had fewer pre-existing medical conditions‚ higher rates of physical activity‚ and lower rates of obesity‚ all things the authors point to as potential risk factors for COVID-19 and its complications.Overall‚ and after correcting for confounding factors‚ the study concluded that those following a mostly vegetarian or vegan diet were 39 percent less likely to become infected that those eating an omnivorous diet.Taking that headline figure in isolation‚ it would be easy to conclude that changing your eating habits might go a considerable way towards protecting you against what can still be a deadly disease. But things are rarely that simple‚ unfortunately.What are the limitations?The paper’s authors state: “We recommend the practice of following plant-based diets or vegetarian dietary patterns.” However‚ some experts who were not directly involved in the study believe that this recommendation is too premature.“I think that this study can’t provide substantial evidence for this recommendation with regards to COVID-19 infection‚” commented Professor Margaret Rayman‚ a professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey. Professor Rayman then went on to cite evidence from other studies suggesting that some important nutrients that may help people fight COVID-19 are actually easier to obtain from an omnivorous diet.   Dr Gavin Stewart‚ a senior lecturer in evidence synthesis at Newcastle University‚ also took issue with the conclusions based on the relatively small sample size and the observational nature of the study.“This work presents interesting data but the authors conclusions do not adequately reflect the uncertainty inherent in small observational studies that are not designed to assess causal relationships.  The conclusion that plant-based diets have a preventative role in COVID-19 infection is premature and not warranted‚” Dr Stewart said.To the study authors credit‚ they do clearly state in the paper that both the dietary information and COVID-19 infection history were self-reported. This type of data collection always introduces bias – people may consciously or unconsciously give an inaccurate account of their eating habits‚ for example‚ and some people may have had asymptomatic COVID and thus not be aware they’ve been infected.“The main problem is that‚ despite the finding that people who ate plant-based diets had lower incidence of COVID infection than people who ate omnivorous diets‚ we just can’t be sure whether this correlation is caused by the type of diet they say they eat‚ or by something else‚” elaborated Professor Kevin McConway‚ Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics at the Open University.Professor McConway acknowledged that the researchers had performed statistical adjustments to try to account for the many factors that could have influenced the results‚ such as pre-existing medical conditions in the different groups‚ but it’s almost impossible to cover all your bases.“This doesn’t rule out the possibility that diet type does‚ to some extent at least‚ cause differences in infection risk‚ but it does very clearly mean that we just can’t be sure about cause and effect from this study.”So‚ should we all be changing our diets?“There are‚ of course‚ many reasons why people might want to increase the amount of plant-based food in their diets‚ apart from any effect that might possibly have on COVID infection risk‚” said Professor McConway. For example‚ many adopt a plant-based lifestyle out of concern for the environment or due to an ideological objection to consuming animal products.   Changing your entire lifestyle based on this one study alone is likely unwarranted‚ given the caveats highlighted by the authors themselves and by the experts quoted here. However‚ it is worth remembering that the “plant-based” group in the study did include the so-called “flexitarians”‚ who still ate meat but just less frequently.With that in mind‚ even if the conclusions of the study do end up being supported by future research‚ it could be the case that adding more vegetables and legumes to your diet‚ and switching it up with the occasional meat-free day‚ could be enough to see some reduction in your risk of getting COVID-19‚ whilst maximizing your chances of getting in all the nutrients you need.Maybe the answer is not to adopt an entirely new diet plan. Maybe the key – though‚ admittedly‚ it makes for a less sexy headline – is the age-old maxim‚ “Everything in moderation.”The study is published in BMJ Nutrition‚ Prevention &; Health.All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text‚ images‚ and links may be edited‚ removed‚ or added to at a later date to keep information current.  The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice‚ diagnosis‚ or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.  

On taxpayer-funded PBS‚ radical-left playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner appeared on Amanpour &; Co. and tried to downplay left-wing anti-Semitism and weirdly claimed that there is nothing anti-Semitic about calling for an "intifada" against Israel. And‚ even though pro-Palestinian activists have found substantially more support on the left than on the right in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attack‚ Kushner went on to claim that there is a greater problem of anti-Semitism by right-wingers. Kushner‚ a gay activist best known for his ranting play about AIDS‚ Angels in America‚ ripped Biden from the Left. He said he was "disappointed" at how supportive the President has been of Israel's military campaign in Gaza‚ and that "he should have been much firmer about stopping this‚ and so some of the blood is on our hands at this point." Interviewer Walter Isaacson followed up by recalling Kushner's history of trying to separate criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism‚ and asked if that is "getting harder to do now." The liberal writer responded by complaining that anti-Semitism has been "weaponized" by the right to support Israel: "The weaponization of the charge of anti-Semitism -- which is by the right‚ which is not a new thing -- but I think that‚ you know‚ there is still absolutely no question the support of the Palestinian people -- criticism of Israel is in no way anti-Semitic -- it isn't anti-Jewish -- it isn't even anti-Israel." After noting that the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz -- which he did not identify as left-wing -- is often critical of Israel‚ he added: "...it's not a country that operates with a single voice‚ and there's a fiction that's been created by the right in the United States that it does and therefore everyone in the United States -- especially all American Jews -- have to speak with a single voice of absolute blind support for Israel and whatever it's doing." Then‚ even though the word "intifada" has repeatedly been used to refer to violent revolts against Israel‚ he tried to whitewash the use of the term by anti-Israel student protesters and again shifted blame for anti-Semitism onto the right: And so it's not any more difficult to say that students protesting and using the term "intifada" are not anti-Semites -- "intifada" is not an anti-Semitic term -- and the danger to Jews -- and there's always danger to Jews -- we're a very small minority‚ and we have a very unique position of having been targeted throughout history -- you know‚ for at least the last 2‚000 years -- and suffering terrible oppression and persecution. But our -- the danger to us‚ I think‚ almost always comes from the right‚ not the left. Isaacson then actually pushed back against his liberal guest's defense of the word "intifada" by following up: "You talk about calls for 'intifada‚' and you're saying that's not really an attack on Jews. But do you think it's now -- especially on college campuses -- those chants become an attack on Jews‚ anti-Semitic." After Kushner declared that he was more worried about anti-Semitism from supporters of Donald Trump‚ Isaacson further pressed: "But you're not worried about anti-Semitism on the left?" The liberal writer continued to be in denial about there being a home for anti-Semitism in the far left as he continued to spin: ... it's easy to understand where the anger comes from‚ and easy to also see where our real enemies are. I mean‚ the spectacle of Elise Stefanik who supports Donald Trump wholeheartedly -- which means that she supports the replacement theory‚ which is just fundamentally an anti-Semitic theory. Getting up and yelling at the presidents of these three schools about their weakness on anti-Semitism is ridiculous. Transcript follows: PBS's Amanpour &; Co. and CNN International January 8‚ 2024 TONY KUSHNER: I'm a big supporter of Joe Biden‚ but I have to say I'm very disappointed so far in the administration's response to the bombing of Gaza. WALTER ISAACSON: Wait‚ wait. Why is that? Because they've not been harsh enough about the civilian casualties? KUSHNER: Well‚ I mean‚ yeah‚ you know‚ the President started out‚ you know‚ I think mistakenly embracing Netanyahu and sort of saying‚ "We're with you all the way‚" and then‚ you know‚ uttering these kind of fairly tepid platitudes about‚ "Let's be careful about what we do next" because of course everyone knew the minute we heard about the horrors of October 7th that the response was going to be horrendous‚ and that Gaza was going to be bombed‚ and that thousands of people were going to be killed. ... (...) KUSHNER: And I feel that he should have been much firmer about stopping this‚ and so some of the blood is on our hands at this point. ISAACSON: Do you think that sometimes this criticism of Israel -- people are saying it's motivated partly by anti-Semitism -- you've tried in letters you've written last November I think to separate anti-Semitism from being anti-Israel. But is this getting harder to do now? KUSHNER: The weaponization of the charge of anti-Semitism -- which is by the right‚ which is not a new thing -- but I think that‚ you know‚ there is still absolutely no question the support of the Palestinian people -- criticism of Israel is in no way anti-Semitic -- it isn't anti-Jewish -- it isn't even anti-Israel. I mean‚ you know‚ the Israeli press is full of incredibly‚ you know -- read Ha'aretz -- I mean‚ the Israelis are -- the Israeli press is certainly full of self-criticism. And this is a time of profound internal conflict in Israel. And‚ you know‚ it's a -- it's not a country that operates with a single voice‚ and there's a fiction that's been created by the right in the United States that it does and therefore everyone in the United States -- especially all American Jews -- have to speak with a single voice of absolute blind support for Israel and whatever it's doing. And I think this is a danger for any country to not tolerate dissent. And so it's not any more difficult to say that students protesting and using the term "intifada" are not anti-Semites -- "intifada" is not an anti-Semitic term -- and the danger to Jews -- and there's always danger to Jews -- we're a very small minority‚ and we have a very unique position of having been targeted throughout history -- you know‚ for at least the last 2‚000 years -- and suffering terrible oppression and persecution. But our -- the danger to us‚ I think‚ almost always comes from the right‚ not the left. And I see no danger to Jews in people arguing that the Palestinian people need to be treated‚ you know‚ in accordance with international standards of decency and accorded their human rights. And I think it's a great danger to Jews for Jews to not speak out in support of the Palestinians because it‚ you know -- I don't think that being Jewish is a tribal identity -- I don't believe that -- I don't believe in tribalism -- it's always a mistake. And Jewish ethical teaching doesn't draw the line at between Jew and non-Jew. ISAACSON: You talk about calls for "intifada‚" and you're saying that's not really an attack on Jews. But do you think it's now -- especially on college campuses -- those chants become an attack on Jews‚ anti-Semitic. KUSHNER: Well‚ look‚ I don't teach on a college campus. I have not -- I've been very busy in the last few weeks -- I have not gone to college campuses to -- I have seen no evidence that there's a huge increase in attacks on Jewish students. I think there have been some reports of altercations between Jewish students and other people -- but I don't see a great danger -- it doesn't strike me -- ISAACSON: Are you not worried about the rise of anti-Semitism in the past three months? KUSHNER: I'm very worried about anti-Semitism. I'm worried about the rise of anti-Semitism with people like Trump sitting down and having dinner with Kanye West and that creature‚ whatever his name was. ISAACSON: But you're not worried about anti-Semitism on the left? KUSHNER: Anywhere that anti-Semitism appears is a concern for me if I see evidence of anti-Semitism. I have -- almost all of my friends are on the left. I have a number of Palestinian friends. None of them are anti-Semites. If they were anti-Semites‚ I wouldn't be friends with them‚ and I imagine they wouldn't want to be friends with me. There's a great deal of anger against Israel. There's a great deal of anger against the Jewish American community. It is -- I mean‚ I'm not minimizing the sort of scariness of anger directed at Jews anywhere at any time can feel like it will boil over very easily into anti-Semitism because anti-Semitism is such a pervasive theme in Western consciousness. But I think with‚ you know‚ with goodwill and discernment and using your faculties of reason rather than emotion‚ it's easy to understand where the anger comes from‚ and easy to also see where our real enemies are. I mean‚ the spectacle of Elise Stefanik who supports Donald Trump wholeheartedly -- which means that she supports the replacement theory‚ which is just fundamentally an anti-Semitic theory. Getting up and yelling at the presidents of these three schools about their weakness on anti-Semitism is ridiculous.

Musician and record producer 'T-Pain' says he’s working on GTA 6 with Rockstar Games‚ explaining that the collaboration means he’s no longer streaming Grand Theft Auto Roleplay servers like NoPixel. This reveal comes after Rockstar officially partnered with the team behind FiveM‚ the system NoPixel runs on. Continue reading GTA 6’s T-Pain collab means that he can’t play on RP servers anymore MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GTA 6 release date‚ Best open-world games‚ GTA 5 cheats

The three-act structure to narrative fiction has existed since time immemorial‚ since the days of Aristotle through to modern-day movies and videogames. But there are few game developers that have embraced an Act-style structure so voraciously as Larian. You look at their games from Divinity: Original Sin back in 2014 through Baldur’s Gate 3‚ and you can identify the same fundamental structure in all their games (Divinity: Original Sin 2 actually had four acts‚ though acts 3-4‚ The Nameless Isle and Arx‚ were on the weak side‚ and perhaps their efforts would’ve been better served simply making Arx more fleshed-out).