On the first anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 terror attack on Israel, one survivor is recalling his harrowing experience. Daniel Vaknine, 30, was at the Nova Music Festival with his girlfriend and friends when terrorists began firing missiles from Gaza. He recalls a tense moment after the first missile made landfall.  “After a few seconds it was just a barrage that didn’t stop for 15 minutes,” Vaknine told The Daily Wire. On the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, one survivor is recalling his harrowing experience. Meet Daniel Vaknine who fled the Nova festival and was protected by a Holocaust survivor. My latest: pic.twitter.com/YfVcY4y5Nn — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) October 7, 2024 He and his friends took cover and eventually made it back to their car. But when they drove away from the festival grounds, they began to realize the extent of Hamas’ attack. “After 10 or 15 minutes of driving we headed to one of the routes that leads to Kfar Aza,” where two people “Stopped us, waving their hands, like, you cannot go further, there’s a terror attack in front of us.” “That’s the moment that we started to realize that something’s going on. We were just getting shot at, we just came from the same situation.” “We cannot go anywhere, because both sides are getting shot at.” Eventually, a stranger led Vaknine and others fleeing the attacks to a religious Kibbutz nearby. About 60 people took shelter at the compound for hours, where Vaknine met an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor named Sarah Jackson, who took them into her home and provided them protection in her bomb shelter for over 10 hours. Vaknine recalls a friend sheltering further back in the Kibbutz calling him to say she had heard that terrorists breached the gate and were entering the compound. “I think all of us kind of had a complete feeling that maybe we’re done,” Vaknine said. “For almost half an hour, but for us it was eternity, we thought, we’re gonna be next, we’re done.” Fortunately, Vaknine and his friends survived the attack. At first, he said he found it hard to listen to trance music, the style featured at the Nova Music Festival, because it reminded him of October 7. “I can’t believe this music that was my home, that was my safe house, became something so hurtful,” he said. “And I was so afraid that I would never be able to listen to this music again” because “it would symbolize a terror attack, it would symbolize death.” But, after a year of reflection and conversations with friends, Vaknine is optimistic. “We will sing again, we will dance again, we will laugh again, we will love again, we will live again. We will do exactly what we did before, but even stronger now.”

The Voice Season 26 has already shared some incredible talent, and now one more name can be added to that impressive roster. Motown Singer Austyns Stancil earned a four-chair turn with his incredible audition. Watch the judges’ reaction to his jaw-dropping performance during his blind audition. Austyns Stancil’s Audition The performance starts with a dark stage. The faint flickering of purple lights slowly begins to illuminate Austyns Stancil as he hits the first high notes of the song. This singer chose to take on the difficult song Ooo Baby Baby by Smokey Robinson. Quickly, he drops down to a lower octave, showcasing his impressive vocal range. Gwen Stefani notices the shift right away and says, “Ooohhhh” in admiration of Austyns’s skills. Michael and Reba can be seen singing along from their seats, yet they remain hesitant to turn. An incredible high note had the crowd standing on their feet, cheering, and the judges waited in anticipation. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, another impressive high note got Gwen Stefani to turn her chair. Now Austyns Stancil had at least secured his spot on this season of The Voice. “The Voice” Judges React To Austyns Shortly after Gwen, Reba followed suit and hit her button. Within seconds, Snoop Dogg joined the party and also turned his chair. Now, Austyns, and the crowd, just waited for Michael to make it a four-chair turn. With his last note, he got Michael to turn his chair around. Snoop begins the comments by asking “What you know about Smokey Robinson?” To which Austyns Stancil admitted that he prefers old-school music. Then Snoop Dogg admired the way that the singer could easily transition into his falsetto voice. Michael Bublé continues the praise of Austyns vocals by admiring how easily he switched from falsetto to a lower octave. The star stated that he was excited to see what a voice like Austyns’s could do across a broad range of genres. Reba started off her pitch strong by saying, “Before you choose me…I did win last season…I’m just saying.” The judges continued to try to sway Austyns Stancil to choose them. However, at the end of all the praise, Austyns chose Team Gwen for his journey on The Voice. Best of luck to this incredible singer this season. The source of the featured image is here. The post “The Voice” Motown Singer Earns 4-Chair Turns And An Eruption Of Cheers With His Powerful Range appeared first on InspireMore.

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Although first-generation home buyers will receive more assisstance, the program extends to non-first generation homebuyers as well.

'You have succeeded in none of the five objectives you set out for'

Regarding laws that control a man's body, Harris should look no further than Vietnam Vets

In a Sept. 27 post shared on X, President Joe Biden claimed guns are the number one killer of children in America. Guns are the #1 killer of children in America. It’s sick. And it’s sick if your response is “get over it” or it’s a “fact of life” as some of my colleagues across the […]

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Multiple organizations are expected to receive financial aid

Books Backlist Bonanza Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Books Set During WWII Encounter time travelers, parallel universes, and mysterious horrors… By Alex Brown | Published on October 7, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Been thinking a lot lately about resisting fascism, community organizing, and building coalitions. What do we do as a society and as an individual when confronted with impossible violence and a government that seems eager to destroy anyone and anything that doesn’t fit their narrow little boxes? In the spirit of working together to defeat the seemingly undefeatable, here are five fantasy and science fiction books set during World War II.  A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones If you look up the word “prolific” in the dictionary, the definition will just be a picture of Diana Wynne Jones. Out of all of her excellent middle grade and young adult novels, A Tale of Time City is up there as one of my favorites. Similar to the Narnia books, World War II takes place in the background yet underlines the tension. While evacuating London to avoid the bombings, Vivian is nabbed by two boys Jonathan and Sam, who mistake Vivian for the “Time Lady,” a woman a key figure in the founding of Time City, an important part in its future, and who also may be responsible for things in the timeline getting out of whack. There’s a mystery, a question, and some fun if stressful timeline chaos. It’s a little bit Doctor Who and a little bit Time Variance Authority but for the younger set. (William Morrow, 1987) Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis (Milkweed Triptych #1) The Milkweed Triptych does World War II, then the Cold War, then back to World War II, all with an alternate fantasy spin. There are superhumans, time travel, parallel universes, and eldritch horrors. Raybould Marsh, a British secret agent, uncovers a plot by a nazi scientist to create supersoldiers using dark magic. With the help of his black sheep lordling friend Will (who also happens to be a reluctant warlock), he tries to stop these new weapons from being unleashed. Two of those weapons, Klaus and Gretel, have plans of their own. The second book, The Coldest War, gets all alt history on the Cold War, while the third, Necessary Evil, dips back into World War II as an alternate alternate history. (Tor Books, 2010) The Shadow War by Lindsay Smith A group of queer and racially diverse teens wandering around Germany punching nazis is just as cathartic as you imagine. Liam, a queer physicist, figures out how to tap into dark energy from another universe. Of course, it being World War II, the baddies we all love to hate want to gain that power for themselves and use it to further their terrible agenda. The only thing standing in the way are Liam and his new friends: a pair of Jewish sibling assassins looking for revenge for the atrocities at the Łódź ghetto, a Black US army encryption specialist and tech expert, and an Algerian French Muslim bodyguard. Action and adventure in a young adult historical fantasy. I’ve seen this described as an alt history Stranger Things, and yeah, I can see that. (Philomel Books, 2021) Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson Set right around the time the US finally gets around to joining the rest of the world in the war that had already been raging for two years, this novel is Alaya Dawn Johnson doing what she does best. Phyllis has “saints’ hands,” powerful magic that drives her to kill. As a light-skinned Black woman doing wet work for a white gangster, her life is more complicated than not. Throughout the novel we follow her encounters friends, lovers, and enemies, including Dev, a mixed race Indian detective she can’t quit and Tamara, a Black dancer and card reader who can see the future. This is a world where racism is as powerful and dangerous as magic. Fans of mysteries, romance, and historical fantasy should find plenty to enjoy here. (Tor Books, 2020) The Fervor by Alma Katsu Despite being an American citizen with a husband fighting in the war, Meiko and her daughter Aiko are locked up in Minidoka, Idaho, a US-government sponsored concentration camp for people of Japanese descent. The women are trapped there along with the other 13,000 people of issei (Japanese immigrants) and nisei (second generation). That’s when the deaths start. One by one, people start falling into violent, hallucinogenic rages. Things get worse when the American scientists get involved. Fans of contagion horror, yōkai, historical fiction, and stories that dismantle the myth of American exceptionalism should definitely check this out. In a way, it reminds me of the second season of the television show The Terror, “Infamy,” which also takes place at a Japanese Concentration Camp. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2022) [end-mark] The post Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Books Set During WWII appeared first on Reactor.