"I was the first one to point out the deer that was just coming into view of the headlights. As we approached there was clearly something off about the animal. My cousin says, “Man, that’s a weird-looking deer.”The following account was forwarded to me:"This occurred in July of 2021 around 2-3 in the morning, but I remember it like it just happened. I’ve always believed in the paranormal and have had a couple of experiences over the years. What sets this one apart though is the fact that it was witnessed by another person, who was a non-believer before this.We were driving along Highway 212 in a rural area somewhere between Bella Fourche, South Dakota, and Hammond, Montana. We were going to a music festival in Northwestern Montana from Kentucky.My cousin was driving and I was in the passenger seat. Two others were in the back and we had been taking shifts driving so that we didn’t have to stay at a hotel and could drive straight through. My cousin and I were on “night shift” due to the nature of our profession which kept us awake at odd hours.We had been passing the time by BSing, listening to music, and looking at the local wildlife as we drove through. We had seen a lot of pronghorns and nice deer earlier in the day. Both of us being outdoorsmen, we were pointing out every game animal we caught the faintest glimpse of.We were on a particularly barren stretch of road and hadn’t seen a manmade light for miles. No other cars on the road, no houses, nothing. We were reveling in the novelty of it as we didn’t have stuff like this back home.I was the first one to point out the deer that was just coming into view of the headlights. As we approached there was clearly something off about the animal. My cousin says, “Man, that’s a weird-looking deer.”The animal was turned broadside to us, standing on the right side of the road, facing the highway. It had its nose to the ground like it was foraging. The coat was an odd grayish-white, which was odd as deer tend to stay more red throughout the summer.There was obvious flesh hanging from the antlers. This was odd because the antlers were fully formed. Deer in July should still be in velvet, which means their antlers are still growing. They were also light-colored, with no sign that they had recently been rubbed.As we got closer I could start to see there were patches of fur missing. Not mange. There were sores. Open wounds, ranging from a tennis ball to dinner plate size. The bones of the deer were also visible through the skin. It looked like an embodiment of a term that paleontologists use called “shrink wrapping.”And that’s about the time that I noticed how disproportionate it was. The front legs were too short. The back legs were too long, and the knees bent out to the sides, not backward. The spine was twisted and stuck up in random intervals down the length of the back. The neck was far too long to be on a buck.And then there was the snout. It wasn’t built like an ungulate’s snout. It was stocky, rigid, and angular. It looked extremely predatory. It was as if you had taken deer skin and stretched it over a wolf’s skull.As the front tire became even with the deer’s head it looked up. It had strange eyes. I don’t know how exactly to explain them. They were a deep brown, nearly red. They were clouded, but hollow. Its tongue hung from the side of its half-open mouth. There were visible pointed teeth, but they were not “canine”. Deer don’t have top teeth in the front, but this one did. It looked like someone had grabbed a random handful of teeth from a jar and glued them into this thing. Not just deer teeth, but a jar full of teeth from random animals.Time slowed down. I felt my heartbeat in my ears. My hands and ears got hot and I gripped the door panel. It locked eyes with me. I have never been so sure I was going to die in my entire life. It maintained eye contact and followed me as we passed.My cousin said, in a manner of concern I’ve never heard from him, “Did you see that?” to which I replied, “Yep.” He said, “Are we going to talk about it?” I said “Nope.” And we sat in silence. The air was thick. I could hear him breathing heavily over the other two who were snoring in the back. He was tripping the steering wheel with both hands. I turned the radio up and we just sat. We went until the next streetlight before we said anything to each other.We agreed not to discuss it until we were back from our trip. We took an alternate route home to see some things we couldn’t hit on the way up there, but I had the feeling neither one of us wanted to go back that way anyway.We’ve talked about it a couple of times since then. Some people don’t believe me when I tell them. Most people though can tell when I’m not making it up. I don’t look for opportunities to talk about it. If the conversation is right though, I’m more than willing to share. I get knots in my stomach thinking about it sometimes.I know what CWD looks like. I know what sick deer look like. I know what deer that have been hit by cars look like. I don’t know what this was. I don’t know if anyone has an idea of what this might have been, or maybe had a similar experience." H**********CREEPY HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS - DRIVERS BEWARE! | Join Us - LIVE CHAT - Q & A (AMAZING REAL ENCOUNTERS!)PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARYPOLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonOUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKSBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTubeLYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINESHey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!I sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! LonCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistChicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive MapEXCLUSIVE VIDEO of CHICAGO MOTHMAN RECORDED----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio Insider - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. Lon Noted UFOlogist Dr. Raymond Keller believes the idea of extraterrestrials and even ultra-dimensional beings from many different planets and alternate realms living and working among us clandestinely is more than just another conspiracy theory.Available on Amazon.comSan Francisco Book Festival Honorable MentionNew York Book Festival Honorable MentionAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs,CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.OUR PRIVACY POLICYThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2024 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved

"At times the odor of the pipe would be so overpowering that the family needed to open windows and doors. This ghost has visited this family now every year for the past 40 years."The following account was sent to me by my late friend & colleague Chris Holly several years ago:"A very average American family lives here on Long Island, New York in a very average neighborhood in a very modest comfortable home on a friendly street. All is well and all are happy but for one slight intrusion.Every year around this time, for the last 40 years, this one family deals with a ghost who visits their house.The story goes that a family that consisted of a young couple, two kids, and a grandfather built the house. The grandfather lived on the second floor and loved his new home. He had a sitting room on the second floor with a bedroom and private bath. Outside he kept roses and flowers that he loved and tended with care.Both the young husband and wife worked full-time jobs. The grandfather watched over the children until the couple returned home at night. The family seemed typical to the other families in the neighborhood. The granddad was happy to be with his family and tend his roses. He was content with his life. Often you could find him smoking his pipe waiting in his rocking chair on the front porch for the children to return from school. Life seemed to be working smoothly for all.It started during one hot summer. The young couple began to fight. The young man started to drink heavily. Often you could hear yelling and loud arguing erupting from the house. The neighbors began to talk about it and eventually called the police when the fighting became too loud or violent. You could hear doors slamming and furniture being thrown against walls. By the fall of that year, gunshots were heard a few times and the police were a constant fixture at the home. It was sad knowing the family was dissolving. Neighbors felt sorry for the old grandfather caught in the middle. It was a difficult time.The couple divorced. The wife took the children and moved away. The young husband placed the house for sale. The grandfather had to be placed in an old folks home. Word had it his heart was broken.That was 40 years ago. The family now living in this home is a lovely happy normal family. They raised their kids in the house, kept the house up, and even replaced the bathrooms and kitchens a few times along the way. They also put up with Grandpa's ghost!It is said that the old man did not make out too well once he left his once-happy home. He hated the old folks home and only lasted a few years before he passed away.Coincidentally, a few years after owning this house, the new family started to notice odd activities around the home. It would always seem to be noticed the most around the holidays. The family would be sitting in the dining room eating when they would hear the front door open and someone walk up the staircase to the second floor. The family would call out to see who was there without any reply. They would then search the house to find it empty but for the family sitting at the table.The family would hear someone slamming doors or footsteps overhead as they sat in the family room of someone walking around on the second floor. They would search only to always find an empty house. The worst of it all was the smell of the burning pipe. Each time this would occur the house would fill with the smell of a freshly lit pipe being smoked. At times the odor of the pipe would be so overpowering that the family needed to open windows and doors. This ghost has visited this family now every year for the past 40 years.I ran into the woman who owns this house recently in Macy’s while Christmas shopping. We caught up on our families and neighbors. Before we parted I asked her how she was making out with her yearly ghostly visits of the old grandfather?“Oh, he is with us again this year. He is a bit unhappy with us as we are doing renovations on the house and he always hates when we work on the house. He has picked up his visits to daily explosions up the staircase and marches around in the bedroom above the dining room as usual. The problem is that this year he visits every day and always has that darn smelly pipe with him. We know he is really annoyed, as he now has added the new event of slamming the cabinet doors in the kitchen when we are in the den watching TV. ”I was stunned at how matter of fact my fellow town dweller was taking this ghostly invasion. I wondered if they ever feared this ghost or were concerned he was changing his activity? I asked her if she ever thought about bringing in a ghost hunter?“No, we are not fearful at all. After 40 years of walking around the house and up the stairs we all feel he is harmless. For some reason, he likes to be in the house during the holidays. He also refuses to move on. We think he still is tending his roses and smoking his pipe. It doesn’t interfere with our lives so we just let it be. Anyway, we never touch those roses yet they have gotten bigger and more beautiful each and every year for the last 40 years. Why spoil a good thing? Once Christmas comes and goes I take down the tree and he leaves till the next holiday arrives. We don’t mind, we are used to him.”I must say I am envious of how easily this family deals with an obvious and ongoing journey with the paranormal. I am not sure I could just shrug my shoulders as ghostly footsteps invaded my staircase and filled my house with smoke from the other side. I know I could not handle it with the ease and grace this family does.As I wished my neighbor a good holiday I glanced into her shopping cart filled with Christmas tree ornaments, and bright red stockings with the names of the family members printed across the top of each stocking. I could not help but notice that the second stocking down had the word Grandpa written across it. They are a kind and good family.I truly wish them a very Merry Christmas…and you too Grandpa!"Thanks to Chris Holly at Chris Holly's Paranormal WorldCoast To Coast Ghosts: True Stories of Hauntings Across AmericaThe Big Book of Pennsylvania Ghost Stories (Big Book of Ghost Stories)Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost StoriesTrue Ghost Stories: Frightening Accounts of Haunted Houses, Paranormal Mysteries, and Unexplained Phenomenon**********CREEPY HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS - DRIVERS BEWARE! | Join Us - LIVE CHAT - Q & A (AMAZING REAL ENCOUNTERS!)PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARYPOLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonOUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKSBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTubeLYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINESHey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!I sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! LonCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistChicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive MapEXCLUSIVE VIDEO of CHICAGO MOTHMAN RECORDED----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio Insider - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. Lon Noted UFOlogist Dr. Raymond Keller believes the idea of extraterrestrials and even ultra-dimensional beings from many different planets and alternate realms living and working among us clandestinely is more than just another conspiracy theory.Available on Amazon.comSan Francisco Book Festival Honorable MentionNew York Book Festival Honorable MentionAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs,CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.OUR PRIVACY POLICYThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2024 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved

When a Michelin-starred chef in England had over 2,000 Christmas pies stolen on their way to a Christmas fair, an unlikely baker stepped in to help. The story comes from the country’s northeast, where an award-winning Christmas market called the St. Nicolas Fair in the city of York, was set to feature 2,500 pies baked […] The post Non-Verbal Boy Bakes Dozens of Christmas Pies to Replace Michelin-Star Chef’s Stolen Holiday Batch appeared first on Good News Network.

Most things in life come down to two choices, and this duality is all around us. It's easily applicable to people, and in these hilarious examples, you'll see just how. Reddit/mstrblueskys It's been said that pets tend to look like their owners, and this definitely appears to be true in this photo. Husband and dog look friendly, and wife and cat look sassy. The neverending chicken wing debate: do... Source

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a law Friday requiring Chinese internet company ByteDance either to sell TikTok or for the social media platform to be effectively banned in America. The three-judge panel’s ruling paves the way for the law to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025. ByteDance is TikTok’s parent company. It’s headquartered in Beijing and subject to Chinese law, which requires companies to make data available to the Chinese Communist Party.  The three judges on the appellate court panel unanimously rejected TikTok’s argument that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of users of the app. “In this case, a foreign government threatens to distort free speech on an important medium of communication. Using its hybrid commercial strategy, the [People’s Republic of China (PRC)] has positioned itself to manipulate public discourse on TikTok in order to serve its own ends,” the ruling held. “The PRC’s ability to do so is at odds with free speech fundamentals. Indeed, the First Amendment precludes a domestic government from exercising comparable control over a social media company in the United States.” TikTok might be popular among America’s youth, but a majority of voters view it as a threat to the United States. An even higher percentage favor a federal ban on the social media platform, according to a 2023 poll from RMG Research, a polling firm led by Scott Rasmussen. TikTok and ByteDance are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, The Associated Press reported, although it’s unclear whether the high court would take up the case. The post Appeals Court Upholds Pending Law Requiring Chinese Company to Sell TikTok or Face Ban in US appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. President-Elect Donald Trump has declared the appointment of David Sacks, a leading figure in technology and former COO of PayPal in the early days, to the influential position of White House Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cryptocurrency Czar. This decision follows Trump’s choice of Paul Atkins, a fervent supporter of cryptocurrencies, to helm the SEC, suggesting a significant pivot towards pro-tech and crypto stances in policymaking. As cryptocurrencies have struggled under rigorous SEC rules, this sector anticipates a resurgence. These regulations have stymied American trading and deterred major corporations from engaging with cryptocurrencies. With a post-election surge in optimism, sectors such as AI, healthcare, automotive, and technology have shown increased interest in Bitcoin and blockchain technologies. Trump has strategically chosen Sacks for his deep-rooted experience in both entrepreneurship and investment, having co-founded Yammer and invested in notable companies and more recently became a board member of free speech video platform Rumble. In his role as the AI and Cryptocurrency Czar, Sacks is tasked with spearheading policies that position the US as a frontrunner in these crucial tech sectors, focusing on fostering innovation while safeguarding free speech from what Trump has criticized as “Big Tech bias and censorship.” One of Sacks’ first responsibilities will be to develop a consistent and transparent regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies, a change that has been highly anticipated by the industry grappling with ambiguous regulations. Trump noted that this effort is crucial for the growth and global competitiveness of the US cryptocurrency market. Moreover, Sacks will lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, guiding the nation’s strategy on AI and other advanced technologies. Sacks has been one of the tech sector’s most fervent supporters of free speech, lamenting how PayPal lost its way in recent years. Sacks voiced his concerns about the company diverging from its mission to democratize financial services, criticizing its partnership with NGOs like the SPLC and the ADL for expanding the definition of “hate speech” to include socially conservative groups. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Trump Taps Pro-Free Speech and Rumble Board Member David Sacks to Lead AI and Crypto Push appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Jury Deadlocked in the Daniel Penny Trial

The people we’ve entrusted to protect our children have once again placed them in harm's way. At least four videos recently discovered by law enforcement show 45-year-old Antwone Washington, a Las Vegas public school football coach, raping a teenage student. One video reveals him urinating on the girl, as another shows her gagged and unconscious while he’s penetrating her.  "The child–who's under 16–is being urinated on. She appears to be in a passed out state, gagged and bound, with Mr. Washington penetrating her.." - Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney pic.twitter.com/a0DQzXeXRj — Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) December 5, 2024 Washington was arrested on Tuesday and is now being charged with kidnapping a minor, abusing his authority to contact a minor for sex, four counts of child pornography, and three counts of statutory sexual seduction by a person over the age of 21, according to court documents reported by KLAS-TV. Aside from being the head football coach at Valley High School, Washington was also a campus security monitor. He admitted to law enforcement that he had a sexual relationship with the student when she was under 16, contacting the child during school hours to “take her out to his vehicle for sex,” reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The defendant is 45-year-old Antwone Washington. He was the head football coach at Valley High School. One of the videos was taken inside his office in the boys' locker room at the school. pic.twitter.com/SMSa60WBgO — Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) December 5, 2024 Coach Creepy confessed to having a polygamous relationship with his wife and three other girlfriends. He has a fetish where he pretends they’re “in his home” and is their “daddy,” according to William Rowles, the chief deputy district attorney for Clark County, Nevada where the case was moved.  Antwone Washington has a wife and kids, according to the arrest report. He told police "he has a polygamous relationship with three girlfriends and likes to play 'dad.'" pic.twitter.com/0S9ZjcAut2 — Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) December 5, 2024 But he just wanted to be their “mentor!” the foul coach reportedly insisted. Las Vegas Metro police claim Washington also admitted to bringing the underage student to one of his girlfriend’s apartments to have sex with her. But she wasn’t the only girl preyed upon by the coach. Washington added in his confession that he took inappropriate photos of other students, including a girl in a thong.  While Washington's bail is currently set to $100,000, Rowles pushed for it to be raised to $500,000, arguing the molester is a “flight risk.” Because as we know, whatever happens in Vegas does NOT stay in Vegas. 

With the heavy and repeated use of the word “but,” Friday’s CBS Mornings and CBS Mornings Plus sought to emphasize with, normalize, and explain away the disgusting and widespread celebrations of the far-left on social media celebrating the murder of the UnitedHealthCare’s CEO and wondered if this assassination would lead to “something good” like socialized medicine. CBS also never attached a party label to those scoffing at the need to feel sympathy for Brian Thompson’s children, wife, and loved ones as far-left, progressive, or even liberal.  In addition to not even calling this behavior extreme, CBS didn’t cite the role the dangerously unstable and former guest Taylor Lorenz has played in fomenting these claims. Even NBC’s Ken Dilanian called her out. CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King teased a segment on “why so many people online are saying they hate their insurance company” after implicitly connecting the murder with a reversal by Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield about anesthesia coverage. King later seemed shock as she began the segment, claiming “some of us have been really surprised by the action —  the reaction, rather, online,” describing said reactions as voicing “very deep frustration with the health insurance industry.” This 'CBS Mornings' segment touting those celebrating the murder of the United HealthCare CEO is insane. Nowhere do they mention these are leftists doing this, so no ideological ID. They insist this is wrong, but spend most of the time justifying their "anger" pic.twitter.com/5ciYiS0CgM — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 6, 2024 After five different TikTok users showing approval with the murder, King merely said the last celebrator spoke “for a lot of people there, this really isn’t about this tragedy” but really health care costs. She then brought in CBS News contributor Dr. Celine Gounder to explain “why so many people are so very angry” and started with the declaration that “we can all agree that the system is broken..but it seems that people are having hard times separating the broken system from the person.” “The fact that so many people are gleeful is the word, that this has happened to this man, just sort of stuns me. How did we get here,” King asked. Gounder laid down a brief marker that “vigilante justice is not okay” and “[w]e do have a country of law and order where there are systems to address these issues.” After an unfortunate mix-up of Al Sharpton and Jimmy McMillan, she conceded “we’ve gotten to a point where health care is so inaccessible and unaffordable, people are justified in their frustrations about the system.” Gounder and featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers then spent the next few minutes making the case for European-style socialized medicine and also touting both ObamaCare and Joe Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act (click “expand”): GOUNDER: [U]nder President Obama, there was the Affordable Care Act which helped to expand health insurance, so you had Medicaid, you had the marketplace, then you also have subsidies to make it more affordable to purchase plans on the marketplace. Those are made even more generous during the pandemic and then those more generous subsidies were extended under the Inflation Reduction Act under President Biden, but we also have other challenges in terms of why are health care costs rising. So you know, you have efforts to extend coverage and — and make more people have health care be available, but prices are going up. DUTHIERS: So this is — we’re the only country in the developed world that has this struggle, that has this challenge of people seeing the cost of health care getting — rising and insurance premiums also rising. There’s a recent KFF poll that found a quarter of U.S. adults say they’ve skipped or postponed getting the care they need simply because of the cost, so what needs to change? GOUNDER: Well, we have a very different health care system from other countries. We have a very — piecemeal health care system with our coverage, with the way it’s delivered. Many other countries have what we call socialized medicine. By the way, Medicare is socialized medicine. KING: Yeah. GOUNDER: And even that socialized medicine is the most expensive in terms of health care for the elderly in the world. There are a lot of different proposals that have been made. So again, going back to the Inflation Reduction Act, negotiating down the price of drugs, giving Medicare the authority to do that. We’ve already seen one round of price negotiations. The incoming administration wants to eliminate the Inflation Reduction Act, at least many of the provisions of that, so whether that will continue we don’t know. We’ve seen a lot of mergers andacquisitions in the health care industry, which means less competition. The Biden administration has been trying to pursue antitrust suits to block some of these. The Trump administration, the prior administration, tried to make drug prices — or — excuse me, health care pricing more transparent. That was another way of trying to make things better.  A few minutes alter, King made the odious claim that perhaps “something good could come out of this tragedy” with “insurance companies” deciding “we can and we need to do better.” She predictably made that suggestion with the lame qualifier that she “hate[s]” to say that.” In the show’s third hour, Duthiers framed the situation as the “murder...touched a nerve” by giving Americans an outlet “to say how upset they are with their health insurance.”     Co-host Adriana Diaz said “we still don't know why the United HealthCare CEO, Brian Thompson was murdered,” but what we have seen is “surpris[ing]” “reactions on social media” that have “saddened us.” “Yes, some of it has been mean and thoughtless, some of it seems to be born out of a very real bitterness toward the overall health insurance industry,” she added as she made the pivot from denunciation to validation of the ghoulishness of those “speaking their stories” about struggles with the health care industry. With Diaz and Duthiers providing a similar setup, Gounder resurfaced to pull on a thread Duthiers started about the difference between medical accessibility, advancements, costs, and quality of care (click “expand”): DUTHIERS:. So, Celine, healthcare has arguably become more accessible in this country. The leaps and bounds we have made in medical care for people in this country has grown exponentially over the last couple of years and yet it is more expensive, and people can't afford it. People are delaying getting treatment for some of the things that are sometimes life-threatening, because they can't afford it. What is going on? GOUNDER: I think sometimes in this country we confuse having the highest technical advancements, biomedical advancements, having that level of care with having good healthcare for everybody and so, we may be making giant leaps and bounds in terms of the science. The research, that is very different from people actually having access to the benefits of that. There are a number of things driving costs. I’m not going to be able to list any of them now, but many will be familiar to many people. One is the increasing cost of prescription drugs and there are specific drugs that are really driving one. This one group of them has been in the news a lot lately, the GLP-1 weight loss drugs and we’re talking about — DIAZ: The Ozempics and — GOUNDER: — the Ozempics, Zepbound, Mounjaro, etc., but those are not the only ones. These are specialty drugs that drive a lot of the prescription drug spending. You also have mergers and acquisitions with healthcare systems, so you have decreased competition, that drives prices up, you have staffing shortages where, just to get nurses to work in a health facility, health systems are having to pay more and more. And then, because our system is so fragmented, so complicated, the administrative cost that we have in this country are far higher than what you see with other healthcare systems in other countries. DIAZ: And we have all been there, you know, the phone with the insurance company trying to get coverage. I mean, it’s — it’s something that touches everyone — DUTHIERS: That’s right. DIAZ: — and 70 percent of folks, according to KFF who filed claims under the ACA, which is supposed to provide more access, they were denied.  Later, Duthiers concluded with, yes, another plea for socialized medicine as the former lamented it’s “terrible” and “horrible” those “so angry” about healthcare are “almost gleeful” about the murder yet wondered if people aren’t noticing the role of “money in campaign financing” and “lobbying” that’s thwarted supposed “changes.” To see the relevant transcripts from December 6, click here (for CBS Mornings) and here (for CBS Mornings Plus). 

The host of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast laughed at a report about the price the Harris campaign paid for a set for their infamous interview. 'Oh my God, it was gorgeous! But like, it wasn't that nice.' Alex Cooper made the comments during an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times about the election. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on Cooper's popular podcast but was later ridiculed when the reported price tag for building an interview set was revealed. "It's hilarious," Cooper said. "My studio that is gorgeous in Los Angeles doesn’t even cost six figures, so I don’t know how cardboard walls could cost six figures," she laughed. Sorkin asked her if she believed that the campaign paid that much for the set. "Absolutely not!" she shouted. "With love to them! Oh my God, it was gorgeous! But like, it wasn't that nice." The audience laughed at her comment, and she responded by elaborating. "It wasn't like gorgeous marble! Like no, that was not six figures!" she added. Harris was mocked by some when she agreed to be interviewed on the podcast about sex and dating in New York. The campaign faced even more ridicule for the reported price tag of a set after the devastating election losses. While Harris failed to persuade voters on Cooper's relationship podcast, the Trump campaign has been widely praised for the strategy to seek male voters through President-elect Donald Trump's appearances on podcast shows like "The Joe Rogan Experience." The voter gender gap explains much of Republicans' success in the election. Cooper's podcast gained popularity at Barstool Sports before she signed a deal with Spotify reportedly worth $60 million. She has since signed on with SiriusXM for a reported $120 million. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!