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.

Why would an entire dynasty just... disappear?

Toil and trouble indeed.

A Wisconsin teacher accused of sexual misconduct with an 11-year-old male student traded more than 33,000 "explicit" text messages with the victim, according to a KARE-TV video report.As Blaze News previously reported, Madison Bergmann — a 24-year-old former teacher at River Crest Elementary in Hudson — was accused last spring of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 5th-grade student.The accusations against the teacher reportedly came just three months before her wedding. The alleged illicit relationship came to light when the boy's parents saw eyebrow-raising text messages from Bergmann to their son. Texts reportedly mentioned the teacher and student "kissing, touching, and making out."The boy’s father went to the school with printouts of the conversations to notify school administrators, who then involved law enforcement. Police launched an investigation and reportedly discovered a folder with the alleged victim's name on it. The folder contained handwritten notes detailing how the boy and the teacher kissed and fondled each other, according to the criminal complaint. When questioned by investigators, Bergmann reportedly told police that the student's mother gave her the 11-year-old's phone number when she accompanied them on a ski trip over winter break. The accusations against the teacher reportedly came just three months before her wedding. Bergmann was arrested and initially charged with one count of first-degree child sexual assault. However, Bergmann was hit with nine additional felonies in August: one count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, one count of exposing a child to harmful materials, two counts of child enticement causing mental or bodily harm, and five counts of sexual misconduct by school staff.The preliminary hearing of the case began Monday at St. Croix County Circuit Court. Bergmann's attorneys argued that their client had been overcharged. But school resource officer Traci Hall told the court that Bergmann and the victim exchanged "approximately 33,000" text messages in the early part of this year, adding that the relationship became more sexual and explicit over time, the New York Post said.Prosecutor Karl Anderson read some of the texts in court and pointed out that the messages became sexual on April 27. Anderson said to Hall, “There’s a conversation about the victim being hard, and if she felt that during their hug,” he said. “Did she acknowledge that she felt it?”She responded, "Yes." Anderson then asked, “What else did she say?” Hall replied, “That she would wear dresses more often because she liked how he touched her leg.”According to the Post, Anderson asked Hall, “Does Ms. Bergmann ever allude to being sexually aroused in the text messages?” Hall replied, “She talks about being wet in the classroom.” Bergmann's attorneys argued that the text messages alone don't support five charges of sexual misconduct."There is never any language where she says ‘I want to have sex with you,' or that he says, ‘I want you to do this with me,'" attorney Joseph Tamburino stated. Tamburino contended, "They talk a lot about kissing, and lips, and cheeks, and touching legs, but nothing like ‘this is what I want you to do to me,’ or ‘this is what I will do to you.'"However, the judge disagreed and declared that the text messages were admissible evidence of sexual misconduct."It’s clear to me that the state has met its burden to find probable cause that the defendant has committed a felony," the judge ruled, which moves the case forward. "Clearly, there was probable cause presented by the detective today. The case is bound to go for trial."You can view a video report here about the case.Bergmann has pleaded not guilty to all charges.She was released from jail on a $25,000 signature bond. The Hudson School District sent a statement to parents regarding the alleged teacher sex scandal. "Learning about a school staff member and alleged inappropriate conduct that breaches trust is deeply troubling for all of us," school officials stated. "We understand the gravity of this situation and are committed to providing the necessary support for any child who may be impacted."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!