Books The Award for Worst Person Ever: E. F. Benson’s “The Outcast” By Ruthanna Emrys, Anne M. Pillsworth | Published on October 9, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Welcome back to Reading the Weird, in which we get girl cooties all over weird fiction, cosmic horror, and Lovecraftiana—from its historical roots through its most recent branches. This week, we cover E. F. Benson’s “The Outcast,” first published in Hutchinson’s Magazine in April 1922. Spoilers ahead! Tony and Madge Carford live in the “lively little town” of Tarleton. Nearby is the Gate-house, unoccupied since its last tenants left after one month. During the Elizabethan persecution of Catholics, two brothers lived there. The younger betrayed the elder as a Papist. The elder died on the rack. The younger hanged himself in the house’s parlor, where his apparition supposedly appears. When Bertha Acres settles in the Gate-house, her tragic history precedes her. Her young husband Horace Acres loved her fortune, not her. After their marriage, his indifference inexplicably turned to hatred and dread. He begged for a divorce, but the devoted Bertha refused. Horace shot himself. He left a note stating,  “The horror of my position is beyond description and endurance. I can bear it no longer: my soul sickens…” Madge calls on Bertha, finding her handsome, cordial, and witty. But Madge’s enthusiasm turns to perplexed silence. She confesses that while Bertha remained altogether agreeable, she was chilled by a moment of giddy horror after inviting the widow to dinner the next evening. Tony, knowing Madge is sensitive to psychic phenomenon, suggests that perhaps it was the “haunted” parlor that upset Madge. Madge gladly accepts this explanation, determined to like Bertha. Tony goes out to post a letter. He observes a stranger and realizes she must be Bertha Acres. Odd, how he felt momentary unease when they passed each other, like Madge’s “sickness of the soul.” Later he’ll remember that Horace Acres’ suicide note similarly described his spiritual state. Charles Alington, Madge’s brother, arrives. He’s “the happiest man” Tony knows, since all his energies are focused in inquisitiveness, and all his inquisitiveness in the realm of the yet unproven. Reincarnation is his latest passion. But what a blessing that we don’t recall our past lives! Imagine Cleopatra trying to tolerate an ordinary life, or knowing that you were Judas Iscariot! Bertha arrives, and Tony finds her attractive, with features “slightly Jewish” or “Eastern”. But the Carfords’ normally-friendly bulldog flees. Bertha sighs: dogs are always terrified by her. Bertha is charming at dinner, seemingly unaware of the withering effect she has on Madge and Tony. Charles, however, appears intellectually entranced. He asks if Bertha’s comfortable at the “haunted” Gate-house. She replies that she finds its atmosphere “peaceful and homelike”—any ghosts must be sympathetic! Later Charles wonders: Given that the Gate-house ghost betrayed his brother, what could it mean for him to like Bertha? Other neighbors’ reactions mirror Madge’s. They start out singing Bertha’s praises, then fall into uneasy silence. Other animals act as Fungus did. People, being civilized, hide their dread, but a blight hangs over any gatherings Bertha attends or hosts. Madge is determined to go to Bertha’s Christmas party, but sudden illness keeps her away. Soon after, Bertha departs for a trip to Egypt Easter approaches, and Charles visits again. He’s “humourously” disappointed to find Bertha gone abroad. It’s he who sees the newspaper notice that on the Thursday before Easter, Bertha died coming home and was buried at sea. On Easter afternoon, Tony goes to golf and Madge to walk on the seashore, the vague darkness that’s hung over her having lifted since the sadly welcome news. Midgame, Tony’s called back to the clubhouse—Madge has discovered a body washed up on the sand. It rolls over in its canvas-sack shroud, to show her Bertha’s face, eyes open. There’s something awful in the way “the sea won’t suffer her to rest in it.” Tony wonders what strange chance brought the body back home. After an inquest, Bertha lies coffined in her parlor. Madge sends Tony with a wreath of fresh flowers. He lays them on her coffin and watches them wither at once.  Only Tony, Madge and Charles are mourners at her funeral. It’s found that the grave isn’t long enough and must be redug. Madge sobs, “And the kindly earth will not receive her.” Afterwards Tony walks, fighting a fantastic conviction compounded of Madge’s sobbed words and Charles’s belief in reincarnation. Instead of following the road back into Tarleton, he takes a shortcut through the cemetery. He needs to see that the gravediggers have done their job properly. They have. He’s turning away when the mounded earth starts rising as if pushed from beneath. He hears wood breaking; when the head of the coffin emerges, the shattered lid reveals Bertha’s wide eyes. Tony runs in panic. Together with the parson, Charles, and the undertaker’s men, he returns to the gravesite. Bertha’s coffin lies completely disinterred. The next day, her body is cremated. Tony has no explanation for these events. Charles isn’t so thwarted. He sends Tony a medieval treatise on reincarnation. One quotation claims that “he” has been reincarnated multiple times. Once was as a man buried at sea only to be cast back ashore, another time as a woman fair and pleasant who nevertheless inspired horror. She is said to have died on the anniversary of his suicide following the betrayal; though buried deep, the earth spewed her forth again. At length his expiation will come, and whichever body holds his accursed spirit will be purged with fire. Then he will have rest, and “shall wander no more.” The Degenerate Dutch: The Ango-Israelites—at their peak at the time of Benson’s writing but still around—manage to combine antisemitism with imperialism, white supremacy, and heresy. Souls are genderless, but being the reincarnation of Judas Iscariot can give an upstanding British matron “something slightly Jewish about her profile”. Weirdbuilding: There is a perfectly normal haunted house in the background of this story, which has almost nothing to do with the plot. Madness Takes Its Toll: Perhaps Horace Acres was only “the victim of some miserable but temporary derangement”? No? Ruthanna’s Commentary This is an absolutely fascinating piece of horror drawn from two worldviews that don’t normally much move me: British Imperialism and Christianity. But like “Lazarus”, it builds on their uncanny implications rather than using them for comfort. That gives it more power than any would-be cosmic horror with lazily powerful crosses tacked on. Admittedly, Christianity is not normally big on reincarnation—but that was certainly part of 19th century British mysticism, so we won’t pry too closely into the precise relationship between punitive rebirth and purgatory. Poor Bertha Acres! Gentle, kind, well-mannered, and caring – but unfortunately her soul hasn’t always been so, and hasn’t been forgiven. The idea of the inherent outcast is compelling of both sympathy and… other things. Appealing, perhaps, to those who feel rejected for no reason and wishes for worthily explanatory drama. Appealing more darkly to those who find themselves repelled by near-strangers, and would like to believe that their revulsion has logical justification. Benson is generally an empathetic writer, and seems to be reaching for the former rather than the latter—but there are problems. Circling around to those problems the long way: the standout character in “The Outcast” is Charles. He’s totally not a fan AU of Mycroft Holmes—he just shares that character’s pleasure in exploration, complete lack of interest in practical application, and wealth that permits those eccentricities. (He is totally a fan AU of Mycroft Holmes.) He’s entertaining in both his speculations about consciousness and his lack of knowledge about golf. Never mind that he gets his kicks working with charlatans and conspiracy theorists —“You have to guess before you know.” The Anglo-Israelites, as I mention above, were a real movement that has not entirely died off, but which was at its height during Benson’s lifetime. Fundamentally, it justified British imperialism with the claim that the Brits were descendants and heirs of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The thing about the Scone Stone is a serious part of their theory, thank you Charles for supporting that bit of nonsense. Anglo civilization is exemplified here by Madge resisting her intuitive revulsion and trying to treat Bertha like a human being. If that were the sort of thing that normally typified the British Empire, it would be a point in its favor.  There’s none of that morality in Charle’s speculation—his role here is to pull from pseudoscientific cruft the correct explanation for Bertha’s woes. And at that, he’s hasn’t even met her yet when he suggests the distress that might result from being Judas Iscariot in a past life. Bertha proves that it really is distressing. What good does it do for humans to judge Bertha on her current life, if everything else rejects her? The only place she feels welcome is in a house haunted by the notable local religious traitor. But society will never accept her. Even those who try will find their souls sickening. The sea won’t suffer her to rest in it, and the kindly earth will not receive her. Which is possibly where reincarnation comes in: if you can’t rest and wait for Judgment Day, you’ve gotta do something in the meantime.  Which leaves open the question: is this natural human response to a horrible crime, or divine punishment? Freya asks everything alive and dead to weep for Baldur; does the normally-forgiving Jesus ask everything to reject Judas? Would Bertha do better in some land with fewer Christians, or working in a prison with people who’ve screwed up in their current lives? And is anyone else wandering around with these problems? Judas is not, except in some very specific Christian spiritual sense, the worst person to ever walk the face of the planet. Thus we come around to the possibility that when you shudder at someone on the street, there’s good moral reason behind it. And that makes for horror indeed. Anne’s Commentary In The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist (1988), Thomas McCormack coins one of his many famous/infamous neologisms: Initium, “what the author had in mind when he began his novel.” McCormack didn’t mean what the author had in mind after planning out the novel (or other work), but what was the very first idea that popped into their brain. The kernel of inspiration, the spark that set off the creative conflagration, the one word or image that made the writer cry out like Jack Skellington, “What’s this!?” What was Benson’s initium for “The Outcast,” I wonder? My top conjectures are: Hey, what if there was this person who couldn’t be buried? (After dying, that is.) Hey, what if you were a reincarnation of someone hated, or evil, or cursed, or all three? The first initium could have led Benson to the second. Hey, but why wouldn’t a person be buriable? Were they so hated/evil/cursed that neither earth nor sea would abide them? What about fire, cremation? What about sky burial, or being eaten by any kind of animals, not just sacred vultures? What if even fungi or bacteria wouldn’t touch the corpse? You’d have to be pretty hated/evil/cursed for those to turn down a meal. Which could have led Benson to ask: Who in history could be that hated/evil/cursed? There’s a species-embarrassing richness of candidates. Apparently, Benson had no particular religious convictions, but his father Edward White Benson was Anglican enough to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, while his brother Hugh converted to Roman Catholicism and became a priest. So E. F. definitely had a Christian background, even if he may have viewed it as does his iconic character Lucia: “With regard to religion, finally, it may be briefly said that [Lucia] believed in God in much the same way as she believed in Australia. For she had no doubts whatever as to the existence of either; and she went to church on Sunday in much the same spirit as she would look at a kangaroo in the zoological gardens; for kangaroos came from Australia.” The product of Christian culture, Benson undeniably was. “Outcast’s” characters also being such, it’s no surprise that Madge’s brother Charles, though he’s “never passed a moral judgment in his life,” hits on Judas Iscariot as the worst possible person to be reincarnated from. If Bertha stands in a line of people cursed to carry forward his soul, no wonder she’s at home in a house haunted by a brother’s betrayer. And of course, the sea won’t suffer her to rest, and the kindly earth won’t receive her. (As for Madge’s Biblical-sounding pronouncements, has anyone tracked them down to the Bible or elsewhere? I haven’t been able to.) The bare-bones consensus about Judas Iscariot among historians is that he was one of Jesus’s twelve apostles, and that he betrayed Jesus to the Jerusalem authorities, crucifixion resulting. Certainly Judas is a central character in the Western cultural canon. As the subject of theological speculation, legend, and the arts, he’s a devilishly complex figure, whether or not he was ever possessed by Satan as some (looking at you, St. Luke) would have it. Conspiracy theories abound. Maybe Judas was a patriot disappointed that Jesus hadn’t driven the Romans from Judea. Maybe he was angry his apostolic teachings weren’t as popular as the other apostles’. In one verse (12:5), John writes how Judas protested that money spent on perfumes to anoint Jesus’s feet could have fed the poor. In the next (12:6), John lets the shade fly: “Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.” Would Judas throw Jesus under the chariot for 30 silver coins? Hell yeah. One theological quandary centers on whether Judas is damned, and if so, why. If Judas was destined to betray Jesus, what role could free will have played in his actions? And if someone had to betray Jesus for him to save all our souls, shouldn’t that betrayer be forgiven? Some even suppose Jesus ordered Judas to betray him. Whatever the theologians’ sincerity, some Christian authorities since the Middle Ages have personified the Jewish people in Judas Iscariot, making his betrayal one arrow in the antisemitic arsenal. Is Benson’s Charles Alington antisemitic because he so quickly settles on Judas as the Biggest Baddest Soul in the Reincarnation Lottery? I don’t think so. Not that it’s comfortable if he’s “merely” latching on to the obvious Big Bad in his cultural background. Benson does allow Charles to discover “a medieval treatise on… reincarnation” that supports his Big Bad candidate. Quite the coincidence, but Tony admits Bertha’s tragedy contains many, if one’s to discount the supernatural. At least the medieval treatise allows for Judas’s redemption. I hope Bertha Acres is the “cursed receptacle” that frees Judas through a purge by fire. Though wouldn’t people have tried cremation before now on unburiable corpses? Perhaps it’s Bertha’s trifecta of sea, then earth, then fire that does the trick. To think it all happened in agreeable little Tarleton! Next week, we open Part II of the nightmare with Chapters 36-37 of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.[end-mark] The post The Award for Worst Person Ever: E. F. Benson’s “The Outcast” appeared first on Reactor.

News My Wife and I Bought a Ranch My Wife and I Bought a Ranch Getting Feature Adaptation; Companion Director on Board There might be a malevolent supernatural force on the ranch By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 9, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share A big buzzy horror project is coming together around the short story Matt Query posted on Reddit that has since been expanded into the novel, Old Country, co-written with Harrison Query. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the feature based on Query’s short story is called My Wife and I Bought a Ranch and has Drew Hancock, who directed Companion—starring Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher (pictured above)—on board. The premise of the new movie involves a young couple who move to an isolated ranch in Idaho that just happens to be located on land haunted by a malevolent supernatural force. The project also has some big-name producers behind it, including Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine), Dan Cohen and Dan Levine from 21 Laps, as well as James Wan (Aquaman, The Conjuring, Malignant) and Michael Clear from Atomic Monster.  The Querys have another horror adaptation in the works for their book, Wilderness Reform, which has a script penned by Knock at the Cabin writers Steven Desmond and Michael Sherman.  My Wife and I Bought a Ranch was originally at Netflix, but has since moved to Amazon MGM Studios. According to THR, that move, along with Hancock becoming attached, has revitalized the project, meaning that there’s a good chance the movie will make its way to production. Things are still in the early stages, however, so no news yet on any casting, much less a release date.[end-mark] The post <i>My Wife and I Bought a Ranch</i> Getting Feature Adaptation; <i>Companion</i> Director on Board appeared first on Reactor.

Several Democrats running in tight races for the U.S. House and Senate joined a larger group of Democrats in signing a letter urging Congress not to defund a measure providing experimental transgender medical interventions that’s included in a bill to fund the U.S. military. The vast majority of the Democrats in the House (162 of 212) signed the letter, led by Reps. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.; Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; and Mark Pocan, D-Wis. The letter urges the House of Representatives not to include “provisions that actively target LGBTQ+ service members and LGBTQ+ dependents and threaten the recruitment, retention, and readiness of our Armed Forces” in the National Defense Authorization Act, the bill to fund the military. The NDAA allocates money to the Department of Defense and it is considered one of the must-pass bills in Congress each year. Two of the letter’s signatories, Reps. Colin Allred, D-Texas, and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., are running for U.S. Senate in their respective states. The letter flags provisions House Republicans added to the NDAA that would restrict what the Democrats call “medically necessary care for transgender service members or their family members.” In addition to defunding transgender medical interventions, the provisions would prevent military leaders from approving ideological flags like the LGBTQ “Pride” flag. They would also remove pornographic books and books pushing gender ideology from Department of Defense K-12 school libraries, which the Democrats call a “transgender book ban.” They would also ban any of the NDAA funds from going to “a drag show, drag queen story hour, or similar event.” The 162 Democrats who signed the letter claim that these provisions would exacerbate the U.S. military’s recruitment and retention crisis and that people who identify as transgender are more likely to serve in the military than those who do not so identify. “As our nation faces recruitment and retention challenges, attacking transgender people—who are more likely to serve in the U.S. military than cisgender people—is a grave mistake,” the Democrats wrote. “If service members are concerned for their health care, their right to exist, or the well-being of their children and loved ones, they cannot focus on their jobs, thereby weakening military readiness and retention rates.” “The U.S. government should not prohibit our service members from accessing medically necessary care, especially care that is safe, effective, and supported by every major medical association in the U.S., representing more than 1.3 million doctors,” the letter adds. “The care transgender service members receive is essential for them to be their authentic selves and focus on their mission. Denying this access to health care would deter transgender people from joining the Armed Forces, damage retention efforts, and hurt our military readiness.” Are these claims true? ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Many states have passed laws banning experimental “transgender” medical interventions for minors, such as so-called puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries that remove healthy breasts or sex organs. There is no conclusive evidence that these interventions, euphemistically referred to as “gender-affirming care,” make life better for people struggling with gender dysphoria (the persistent and emotionally painful condition of identifying with the gender opposite one’s sex). Internal documents from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, a pro-transgender activist group, revealed that the organization’s leaders knew about various side effects of “gender-affirming care,” including cancer in teens and reduced sexual function, as well as the lack of informed consent for procedures with lifelong impacts. These medical professionals endorse the experimental treatments anyway. Some doctors have gone on record opposing such treatments. Back in 2023 in Florida, many doctors testified in favor of a rule that would prevent Medicaid dollars from funding “gender-affirming care.” The doctors—including psychiatrists, endocrinologists, neurologists, and a former WPATH leader—testified that these interventions are experimental and may do more harm than good. “The claim that ‘gender affirming’ drugs and surgery are safe, effective, and medically necessary is a triple lie,” Jay Richards, director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “The complications—some that persist for a lifetime—from these experimental procedures are notorious,” he said. “And while some individuals may report relief from symptoms of gender dysphoria in the short term, there’s no evidence that, on balance, medicalizing a therapy for a mental disorder is beneficial. And by definition, these procedures are not medically necessary—since they attempt to treat a psychological disorder with drugs and surgery that does not directly address the psychological disorder.” “At best, sex trait motivation drugs and surgery are experimental interventions of doubtful benefit and obvious harms,” Richards added. “Subjecting service members to these experiments makes no sense either for the individuals involved or for military readiness.” Polls have consistently found that more Americans oppose “gender-affirming care” for minors, even when framed in terms most likely to get a favorable response. An RMG Research poll in March found that only 22% of respondents supported giving minors access to “gender-affirming care,” while 64% said they opposed it. A 2022 Pew Research Center survey asked respondents whether they would “make it illegal for health care professionals to help someone <18 [under 18] with medical care for gender transition.” Even with this arguably deceptive framing, nearly half of respondents (46%) said they would support such a ban. Similarly, more Americans (44%) told Pew they would oppose requiring “health insurance companies to cover medical care for gender transitions” than would support it (27%). From these responses, it seems likely that taxpayer funding for experimental transgender interventions would prove rather controversial. As for the idea that transgender people are “more likely to serve in the U.S. military than cisgender people,” the claim appears to trace back to an analysis of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. That survey, conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, found that “respondents served in the military at nearly twice the rate as the people in the U.S. population overall.” Since the proportion of the general population who identify as transgender is minuscule, this does not mean that a large proportion of veterans or service members is transgender or that the military would be handicapped without transgender recruits. Two Senate Candidates Two of the 162 House Democrats who signed the letter are running for U.S. Senate. Allred is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the Lone Star State, which former President Donald Trump carried in 2016 and 2020. Cruz leads Allred by 5 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average. “Day after day, Colin Allred shows Texas who he really is,” a spokesman for the Cruz campaign told The Daily Signal in a statement on the letter. “He is a radical who will destroy Texas and America. His record on transgender issues puts our children and families at risk.” Gallego is running against Republican Kari Lake in Arizona, which is considered a key swing state. Gallego leads Lake by 7 points in the RealClearPolitics average. “The fact that Ruben Gallego would try to hold up the National Defense Authorization Act to DEMAND that taxpayer money goes to sexual reassignment surgeries is a testament to how radical he truly is,” a spokesperson for Lake’s campaign told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “Gallego’s radicalism does tremendous harm to our military preparedness and puts our national security at risk.” 18 Swing-District Democrats Eighteen House Democrats in races the Cook Political Report rates as “competitive” also signed the letter. Reps. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., and Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, are running in races Cook rates as “toss-ups.” Eight Democrats in races Cook rates as “lean Democrat” also signed the letter: Reps. Jahana Hayes, D-Ct.; Eric Sorensen, D-Ill.; Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.; Angie Craig, D-Minn.; Susie Lee, D-Nev.; Pat Ryan, D-N.Y.; Andrea Salinas, D-Ore.; and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa. Eight more Democrats in “likely Democrat” races also signed the letter: Reps. Mike Levin, D-Calif.; Darren Soto, D-Fla.; Sharice Davids, D-Kan.; Hillary Scholten, D-Mich.; Chris Pappas, D-N.H.; Dina Titus, D-Nev.; Steven Horsford, D-Nev.; and Greg Landsman, D-Ohio. None of these Democrats responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. ndaa_conference_letterDownload The post Transgender ‘Medicine’ Essential to Military Recruitment, Say Democrats in Tight Races appeared first on The Daily Signal.

For more than two months, Republicans have mocked Vice President Kamala Harris for hiding in the basement and not granting interviews and press conferences, which could give voters an idea of how she might handle the presidency. So, after she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have engaged in debates, Team Harris decided to book her on a series of softball interviews. Start with the “Call Her Daddy” sex podcast, which sounds like something that would be easy for conservatives to mock. Sure, it is a massively popular podcast among young women, but it sounds like more of a forum for aspiring Bill Clinton interns than a public policy platform. Naturally, Barbie look-alike podcaster Alex Cooper is “sex-positive,” which also means “abortion-positive.” Cooper wasn’t going to ask about Harris being “mentored” in her career by powerful then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown when she was his young paramour. She wasn’t going to ask about her husband, Doug Emhoff, ruining his first marriage by cheating with the nanny and getting her pregnant. These are also the kind of saucy subjects that the old Howard Stern would want to talk about on the radio. But the new Howard Stern is firmly entrenched on the Left, and he was suggesting to Harris that she was in danger if former President Donald Trump were reelected: “If he wins, God forbid, would you feel safe in this country? Would you stay in this country?” Remember that old song “Paranoia Will Destroy Ya”? Stern jumped the shark and landed in a crib. Then there were the liberal ladies of “The View” on ABC. Fox News people joked that would turn out to be more of a “hot stone massage” than an interview. Whoopi Goldberg set the tone by introducing Harris as “the next president of the United States.” There were moments the news people could underline. Sunny Hostin asked, “Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” Harris replied, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” So much for all her talk of “turning the page.” The toughest appearance on the list was “60 Minutes” on CBS, but based on the record, that’s not saying much. Bill Clinton tiptoed around Gennifer Flowers on that show. Barack Obama drew a series of worshipful interviews with Steve Kroft, first as a candidate and then as president. More recently, Scott Pelley has contributed several softball sessions with Joe Biden. So, it was surprising and refreshing when CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker challenged Harris with some obvious facts. He asked if it was a mistake to “loosen the immigration policies as much as you did?” When she tried to claim the border was “a long-standing problem,” he followed up: “The numbers did quadruple under your watch.” Whitaker also noted she flipped positions on a host of issues, from a fracking ban to a socialist “Medicare for All” program. These are simple facts, so why are we amazed when a journalist simply points them out and asks her to explain? It’s a reflection on how Democrats don’t have a Tim Russert figure in their “mainstream” TV scene that they consider a serious test of their mettle. Today’s TV hosts act like defense lawyers for the Democrats. They don’t seem to have any prosecutorial muscles at all for the candidates they favor. So, raise a glass to Whitaker for reminding us what the news used to sound like in the polyester days. 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 Kamala Harris’ Parade of (Mostly) Softball Interviews appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON DAILY SIGNAL—Pro-life diaper company EveryLife is partnering with America’s Christian Credit Union to celebrate new life and support women in crisis pregnancies. EveryLife, America’s fastest-growing diaper company, announced Wednesday that it will partner with the credit union “to champion the sanctity of life and provide meaningful support to families across the nation.” The organizations will work together to provide gift boxes to bank employees who become parents to a new baby, new baby gift boxes for bank members with an adoption loan, and diaper donations for pregnancy resource centers in need when a new ACCU member opens an account using the EveryLife promo code. “All of those donations that ACCU will be giving out when a customer comes on and opens up a checking account, those will actually go to the pregnancy centers that are in our network, that we are partnered with, that we know are an urgent need of those supplies,” Sarah Gabel Seifert, president and cofounder of EveryLife, told The Daily Signal. “So, we’re super-grateful for their effort and helping us be able to fuel these pregnancy centers with more of the essentials so they can help our families.” New ACCU members who open accounts using the promo code “EveryLife” through Jan. 31 also get $100 bonuses. The credit union provides members with low-rate adoption loans to cover the costs of legal fees and travel. Due to the partnership with EveryLife, the moment child placement happens, families with adoption loans will get new baby gift boxes. “Supplying these resources to the families that are growing is only going to give them hope and feel like they’re supported every step of the way, as they welcome in a new little one or even a grandbaby,” Seifert said. “It’s going to help people feel like they have the support that they need, and to be encouraged to hopefully have more children, because they have a company that’s backing that growth, and that is only going to result in positive things.” On Wednesday, EveryLife also launched a new corporate partnership page on its website for other businesses to join its mission of supporting families. “We will have the opportunity for others that are interested to follow suit, and we will work with them to create a partnership program that makes sense for their organization,” Seifert said. Existing corporate partnerships besides the ACCU collaboration include programs with Hobby Lobby, Seven Weeks Coffee, and We the Free Signs. Launched by Public Square, an app that provides an online marketplace for people to buy products from “values-aligned businesses” instead of woke companies, EveryLife offers parents the option to buy diapers from a company that aligns with their values and that directly funds pro-life initiatives. EveryLife says on its website that a portion of its proceeds go directly to Live Action, a pro-life nonprofit group that advocates for the unborn. EveryLife says its products are “without phthalates, parabens, dyes, fragrances, lotions, latex and hundreds of other ingredients that can be harmful to baby’s developing brain and body.” Seifert hopes EveryLife’s partnership with ACCU will help foster a culture of life. “When we start to see companies like ACCU stand for every precious life, the way that they are doing through this partnership, I think this is really how we start to see a cultural shift to one that does embrace life and celebrate parenthood,” Seifert said. “The more that we start to see companies like this make this kind of outward stance, I believe it really does impact culture, and it makes it easy—or easier—for these families to feel like they really have the support and the essentials that they need.” In an age when having children is costly and often even discouraged, Seifert hopes the partnership with ACCU and other like-minded companies will make it easier for people to have more children. “When we start to see companies championing that mindset, it really can encourage people to have more children, and we know that strong families really secure a strong nation,” she said. “So, I think this sends a message out loud and proud, hopefully to all of our communities and really other businesses, to consider doing something similar, because it really can make a difference,” Seifert continued, “not only for the employees and the people they work with, but also to this cultural darkness that we see in this topic of life, and shifted to one that’s full of positivity and one that really celebrates every precious life, absolutely.” The post Pro-Life Diaper Brand Partners With Christian Credit Union to Support New Moms appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The European Fuel Follies Continue

Biden Admin: Gee, Why Won't the Israelis Tell Us Their War Plans?

Ameca and Azi are on talking terms, although their personal chemistry needs some work.

"A vital function in modern plant, animal, and microbial life, can occur abiotically in a geological environment."

New footage with some hilarious commentary by the scientists of EV Nautilus.