Jorge Soler is now an Angel

Find a Clue That Solves Everything! Ludwig: The Accidental Detective has all the right ingredients for a binge-worthy mystery series. The unbeatable chemistry between David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin brings an irresistible charm to every twist and turn—making each episode both hilarious and suspenseful. Fans outside the UK can still catch Ludwig on BBC […]

A post shared on X claims The New York Times (NYT) reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has terminal cancer. BREAKING: NYT reports that the Islamic Republic in Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. pic.twitter.com/U4D8wtXwsx — Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 26, 2024 Verdict: False The NYT did […]

A post shared on social media purportedly shows a video of people chanting former President Donald Trump’s name at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris. Kamala gets irate that ppl were chanting Donald Trump at her Detroit rally. She went back to her condescending phrase “I’m talking right now” ?. This egotistical narcissistic liar believes she […]

'Fighting against election integrity provisions breeds contempt'

'The Committee is concerned that the FBI’s recent failures to report accurate crime data are politically motivated'

A museum curator uncovered a previously unknown waltz written in the hand of composer Frédéric Chopin, something which hasn’t happened since the late 1930s. Found in the Morgan Library & Museum’s Satz Collection, the manuscript music sheet consists of twenty-four notated measures that the composer asks the pianist to repeat once in their entirety. Chopin […] The post Lost Chopin Music Unearthed 200 Years After Composer’s Death Is His Most Intriguing Waltz appeared first on Good News Network.

News It: Welcome to Derry First-Look Photos of IT: Welcome to Derry Confirm Series Contains Certain Events from Book By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 31, 2024 Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO We finally have our first look at the upcoming limited series IT: Welcome to Derry. The show takes place in Stephen King’s IT universe, is based on King’s IT novel and, according to the logline, “expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films IT and IT Chapter Two.” I haven’t been exactly sure what that meant—would the show go into the interludes we get in King’s novel, about other Pennywise sightings in Derry every twenty-seven years? HBO described it as a prequel to the films that explores the origins of Pennywise, after all, and now the first-look images suggest that at least some of those interludes are featured in the series. Andy Muschietti, who developed Welcome to Derry along with his sister Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, confirmed that assumption to Entertainment Weekly today. “Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town,” he said. “In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie—friendship, loss, the power of unified belief—but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times.” The first-look images suggest the bulk of the show takes place in 1962 and centers on the story Mike’s father told him about an attack on the Black Spot, a nightclub near the army based his father worked out that served Black patrons. “It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War,” said Muschietti. “Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past… Every twenty-seven years when IT appears, IT’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.” IT: Welcome to Derry stars Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso. Bill Skarsgård is also in the show, presumably reprising his role as Pennywise. [ed note: it would be hilarious if he’s just some random guy, though.] The limited series is scheduled to premiere on HBO sometime in 2025. Check out the remaining first-look images below. [end-mark] Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO Credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO The post First-Look Photos of <i>IT: Welcome to Derry</i> Confirm Series Contains Certain Events from Book appeared first on Reactor.

Excerpts Fantasy Read an Excerpt From Mary E. Pearson’s The Courting of Bristol Keats A thrilling romantic fantasy full of dangerous fae, dark secrets, and addictive romance. By Mary E. Pearson | Published on October 31, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from The Courting of Bristol Keats, a new fantasy novel by Mary E. Pearson, out from Flatiron Books on November 12th. Read chapter one below, or listen to the audiobook edition here, narrated by Brittany Pressley. After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet—and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm—the one he is from.Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae leader, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father—dead or alive. Chapter 1 At the end of Oak Leaf Lane, dawn arrived fifteen minutes early. Most folks didn’t notice, as they rarely did about such things, but eagerness circled the air like a hungry buzzard, watching and waiting. Wild grass shivered; droplets of dew danced to the ground. The earth trembled as low whispers tumbled over hummocks, making geese startle into the sky. Something was about to happen. But Bristol Keats slept soundly, oblivious to the long-fingered light prying its way through her drapes at such an early hour. Nothing could wrestle her from her bed but a good night’s rest. Drool dampened her pillow, and her arm hung limply over the side of the bed. She had worked late. Her tips lay in a satisfied heap on her nightstand, a ruffled monument to her determination. Finally, midmorning, she stirred, groaning, then rose from her rumpled bed and shook herself into her jeans. As busy as Friday nights were, festival days were busier, which was a good thing for Bristol. The late notices were stacking up. At the top of the pile lay the electric bill—forty days past due and shut-off was imminent. Bristol’s tips that day, combined with those from the past week, would take care of that one and leave a little extra for groceries. With sleep still in her eyes, she sniffed her hair for the oily scent of the parlor, then swiped it into a quick messy ponytail, unaware that the day would be anything but ordinary. It wasn’t something you could see, but as she splashed her face with water, then brushed her teeth, her head turned slightly to the side, a strange velvety warmth filling the air, though it was only a vague sense that she couldn’t name. She didn’t even realize she leaned into it, like a cat arching its back against a doorway. A doorway. Yes. That is what she leaned into. But she didn’t know it yet. Bristol whisked back her drapes and shielded her eyes from a sun that already glared over the trees, too eager to remind her of the day. It had been one year since she returned home. For her, it seemed far longer. A lifetime was packed into the past weeks and months. The year bulged like an overstuffed suitcase that couldn’t be shut. Home. Even now, it was a hesitant word on her lips, foreign and new, a word she toyed with in fits and starts. A word she was afraid to love. Run. Move on. Those were the words ingrained in her like dirt beneath her nails. She turned from the window and ruffled through a basket of clean laundry on the floor, pulling out a black tank top, then slipped it on. Her figure smoothed out the wrinkles. “Bri!” Buy the Book The Courting of Bristol Keats Mary E. Pearson Buy Book The Courting of Bristol Keats Mary E. Pearson Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget Harper’s voice bellowed up the narrow stairway like she was a sixfoot bouncer instead of a skinny fourteen-year-old still waiting for a growth spurt. What Bristol’s little sister lacked in stature, she made up for in volume. “I’m up,” Bristol called back, getting down on her belly to search for a missing shoe under her bed. She was certain she’d kicked them both off beside the bedpost last night, but it was late, and she had been exhausted. “Bri!” She paused from her shoe search. That wasn’t her sister’s usual wake-up call. Maybe a spider in the kitchen sink? Besides paying the bills and mowing the front yard weeds when she had time, Bristol was the designated spider retriever. Or maybe, worse than a rogue spider, another pipe had busted? Damned old house. Bristol rested her forehead on her fist for a moment, willing it not to be that. The balance in her head tipped and swayed, waiting for disaster to fall. They couldn’t afford another plumbing bill. Rushed footsteps pounded up the stairs and Bristol stood, bracing herself as her bedroom door flew open. Harper’s cheeks glowed with a deep rosy hue, and her glasses hung crooked on her nose. Bristol’s stomach squeezed at how young she seemed, how urgent everything was to her. There were seven years between them, but they may as well have been a century. Harper held a letter in her hand. “We got another one!” Bristol pulled Harper into her room and closed the door. “Is Cat gone?” Harper nodded and Bristol eased out a sigh. At least something was going right. She didn’t want Cat going into another tailspin over a simple letter. Technically, Cat was older than Bristol by ten months, but strangers usually guessed Bristol was the older of the two. Something about her reserved demeanor. Bristol was admittedly more calculating, weighing options before revealing her moves, while Cat was reactive. She felt everything passionately and didn’t hold back. Bristol loved that about her sister, her passion, except it also made her rants long and passionate too, and she had no time for a high-pitched tirade today. Cat’s last rant came with tears when Bristol said she planned to drop her classes and search for a full-time job. Cat went on for a full hour. Are you crazy? Daddy paid good hard cash for those classes. He’d want you to see it through. Cat always knew the buttons to push, and their father was one of those buttons. Bristol took the envelope from Harper, shrugging to prove her disinterest, and casually flipped it back and forth like it was junk mail. She did a lot of things for Harper’s sake these days. When it was too obvious, Harper’s jaw would jut out and she’d say, You’re not my mother. And then Bristol would snort, and they’d both laugh at the absurdity of it all, laughter its own strange release from their reality. At least Harper had brought the letter to Bristol instead of Cat, who thought the letters were worse than junk mail and had squeaked like an injured mouse at the previous two. She proclaimed them a scam and ordered them burned. Bristol suggested the garbage would suffice. “Aren’t you going to open it?” Harper asked. Bristol rubbed her thumb over the smooth vellum envelope. It was the same expensive stationery as before and, again, no return address, but the handwriting was different from the previous two letters. This time it was heavy and bold, as if to say, Pay attention! It had the same red wax seal as the others—another pay-attention gimmick. In her years traveling the fair circuit, witnessing spinning wheels and last-chance deals, Bristol had seen them all. Still, she opened it, the wax cracking and falling to the floor. She rolled her eyes as she pulled the letter free, additional proof for Harper that it was only a transparent scheme that wasn’t fooling her at all, but inside, her heart sped up. A third letter. They aren’t giving up. Her parents’ instinct to run that had governed her entire life kicked against her ribs like a last warning from them. Harper pressed close, reading the letter too. Dearest Bristol Keats,Your great-aunt Jasmine is sorry you were unable to accept her previous offer to meet for tea. She offers another invitation, but this time at a location closer to you, the Willoughby Inn on Skycrest Lane just outside of Bowskeep. Please come and meet with her at 4 o’clock today in the tearoom. She has many warm memories of your father she wishes to share with you, as well as a gift—a rare piece of art that might help you and your sisters, similar to the art your father acquired not long ago. Please come alone. Your aunt’s health is fragile, and she shuns crowds.Sincerely,Eris Dukinnon, Counselor DN Whoever wrote the letter was certainly trying harder. Dearest? They knew nothing about her father either. He didn’t have an aunt. He didn’t have so much as a scrap of a relative anywhere on the planet. He was abandoned as a toddler and grew up in foster care, bouncing from one home to another. A social worker gave him his name. Logan. There were no “warm” memories for any fictitious aunt to share. But the offer of rare art was a new angle, one that hit closer to home. A chill tickled Bristol’s spine. They were digging, finding things out about the Keats family. Harper nudged closer. “Do you think it’s possible—” “No,” Bristol said, too harshly, and hoped Harper didn’t notice. A single sharp word from her could instill all kinds of worry in Harper. “No,” she said again, this time with practiced boredom, reluctant to meet her sister’s gaze. A disappointed breath hissed through Harper’s teeth. She was the brainiest of the sisters, her nose always in a book, but she was also the most softhearted and hopeful of the three. She still believed in happy endings, and some days, that terrified Bristol. It wasn’t something Bristol could deliver. Harper took after their father in almost every way, from his warm brown skin to his straight black hair. She also had his big dark eyes rimmed with thick lashes that could disarm anyone. Their mother had been fond of saying that his eyes cast a spell over her from the day they met. Harper’s eyes had a different kind of power over Bristol—they made her wish she could set everything right for her, that she could undo all the wounds of the last year. Secretly she shared Harper’s curiosity. Didn’t everyone wonder about who and where they came from? It was a question that never went away. Their father’s origins were a mystery. Ever since Bristol could remember, she and her sisters had ventured every possible guess. But his answer had always been the same: I don’t know. Her mother’s past was just as enigmatic, but unlike Bristol’s father, she simply refused to talk about her family other than to say they were rotten. If pressed about what “rotten” meant, she left the room. Something about it was too painful for her to discuss, and their father would shake his head, silently signaling the sisters to drop it. But dropping the subject didn’t make the questions vanish. Even now, when she passed someone with warm brown skin and beautiful dark eyes like her father’s, she wondered, could they be a cousin or uncle? Likewise, when she passed someone with pale skin and shimmering copper hair like her mother’s, she wondered, could they be one of those rotten relatives? Cat took after their mother, with the same green eyes and hair the color of a summer poppy—and then there was Bristol. With medium brown hair and height, she didn’t look like either of her parents. Maybe that was why the ancestry question still poked at her. Even her eyes were a color somewhere between the two of them—hazel—a catch-all name for a color that couldn’t decide what it was. Greenish? Brownish? Goldish? It was as annoyingly noncommittal as her parents were about their pasts. Instead of fading away as memories should, her parents’ origins pricked her thoughts more often these days. Maybe it was the psych course she was taking at Bowskeep Community. Something her professor said burrowed into her head, and she couldn’t shake it out again: Our past is a shadow that follows us. For better or worse, it shapes us, and sometimes it controls us. That was what it was like. A shadow tracing her footsteps. Just when she pushed the past out of her mind, a shitty letter like the one in her hands would arrive, stirring up old questions again. Who were the faceless monsters that had made her parents run? Did she look like any of them? “Bri?” Harper waited for her decision. Bristol crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it onto her already overflowing trash can. It tumbled to the floor, and Angus, their ferret, scurried over to sniff and investigate. He loved to shred paper and snuck out the door with it. “It’s only a scam, just like the others,” she said, but Harper’s eyes still drilled into her, dark clouds heavy with questions. Bristol grabbed her hoodie from her bedpost. “Gotta run, Harp. Today’s going to be crazy. Sal will kill me if I’m late.” She rushed out the bedroom door. “But they’re not asking for something,” Harper argued from the landing as Bristol hurried down the stairs. “They only want to give us something.” “Something that comes with a catch,” Bristol called back. A catch they couldn’t afford. People who lied about who they really were always had an angle, something they were working that, in the end, would cost you more than you could afford. And the Keats sisters had already lost too much. Listen to chapter 1 from the audio book below, narrated by Brittany Pressley. MacmillanAudio · The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson- Chapter 1 Excerpted from The Courting of Bristol Keats. Copyright © 2024 by Mary E. Pearson. Excerpted by permission of Flatiron Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. The post Read an Excerpt From Mary E. Pearson’s <i>The Courting of Bristol Keats</i> appeared first on Reactor.

Just days before the election, the Biden-Harris administration has rolled out yet another plan to cancel student debt—this time aiming to clear the loans of millions of borrowers across the U.S. who are experiencing “hardship.” The timing is notable: With a hefty portion of young voters carrying student debt, some might say this is a strategic move to energize them just in time for Election Day. Under a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on Thursday, the Department of Education presents two new routes for student loan cancellation. The first would allow a one-time review of federal loans, canceling debt for borrowers with an 80% chance of defaulting on payments within two subsequent years. The second option would open an application process where borrowers experiencing “hardship” could apply for cancellation. What qualifies as “hardship”? The rule lists 17 factors, from income and debt balances to broader categories, such as assets. If the Education Department decides a borrower qualifies, their debt could be canceled. This proposal raises serious questions about responsibility, fairness, and financial impact. Let’s examine a few major concerns: Existing Options Are Already in Place: Federal borrowers already have tools, such as forbearance or deferment. Depending on their situation, they could temporarily postpone or reduce their monthly payments. Borrowers can request forbearance due to financial difficulties, medical expenses, or a change in employment, among other reasons, pausing monthly payments for up to 12 months, with a cumulative limit of three years. Alternatively, deferment options cover scenarios from cancer treatment to military service to economic hardship, among other options, and during that time, payments would stop temporarily. If borrowers can already adjust payments during hard times, why introduce yet another debt-cancellation pathway? Consider, too, that from March 2020 to August 2023, student loan payments went into administrative forbearance, meaning all payments were paused, and interest was set at 0%. This pause alone added nearly $208 billion to the national debt because of interest that was waived. When payments resumed, the Department of Education implemented a 12-month “on-ramp” until Sept. 30, free from credit reporting consequences or default status for missed payments. It raises the question: Haven’t borrowers already received substantial relief? StuLoan SchemeDownload A Subjective Hardship Clause: Room for Moral Hazard? Among the proposal’s 17 hardship indicators is a vague clause granting the secretary of education authority to consider “any other indicators of hardship.” As The Wall Street Journal observed, this could allow “high auto-loan or credit-card payments” to qualify as a hardship. This latitude risks creating a “moral hazard,” signaling to borrowers that loans can be taken without ultimate accountability. Taxpayer Costs and the Consequences for Non-Borrowers: The proposed rule could come with a staggering price tag. The Department of Education estimates a cost of $112 billion over 10 years. However, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests it could be closer to $600 billion—a burden that would land on taxpayers. And consider this: Even for defaulted loans, recovery efforts typically yield around 80 to 85 cents on the dollar, even after collection costs. This means that, with collection efforts, a significant portion of loans could be recouped rather than off-loaded onto taxpayers. Yet, with outright cancellation, taxpayers absorb the cost entirely.   Further, this plan sidesteps the underlying issue: Why are college costs soaring at nearly double the rate of inflation? Rather than addressing root causes, canceling debt encourages universities to keep tuition high, as students and institutions know taxpayers might pick up the tab. Historically, every dollar added to the federal student loan subsidies has driven tuition up by about 60 cents. With the public comment period opening soon, Americans will have 30 days to weigh in on this plan. Depending on who is elected, it could be finalized by mid-2025. Whether it withstands judicial scrutiny is yet another open question, with courts having blocked cancellation based on this rule because the department had tried to enforce it before it was even finalized. The administration’s previous attempts to cancel student debt have repeatedly hit legal roadblocks. Will this proposal, too, face the same fate? The post Latest Student Debt Cancellation Plan: An 11th-Hour Election-Buying Ploy at Taxpayer Expense appeared first on The Daily Signal.