Gerald Durrell covered in lemursVictor Watts/Shutterstock Myself & Other AnimalsGerald Durrell (Viking) The conservationist Gerald Durrell’s first dog, Simon, was a coward. To the honey-coloured cocker spaniel, a garden hose was as deadly as a spitting cobra, and he once went into a nervous decline lasting several days after unexpectedly encountering a snowman. It is nuggets like this that make Durrell’s writings so appealing. Anthropomorphised as his descriptions of animals often are, they combine keen observation with humour in a way that shows just how well he could understand what made animals tick and how to bring them to life…
Author: Team_NationalNewsBrief
The Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans both advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs Saturday, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers, respectively.The Ravens, the AFC’s No. 3 seed, put up a dominant performance in the day’s nightcap. Baltimore beat its divisional rival 28-14, powered by an unstoppable rushing attack.The Ravens ran 50 times for 299 yards against the Steelers. Running back Derrick Henry had 26 carries for 186 yards and two scores, while quarterback Lamar Jackson added 81 yards of his own on the ground.Pittsburgh was inept offensively for much of the night. Russell Wilson finished with…
Listen to and follow ‘Hard Fork’Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube | iHeartRadioThis week, Meta announced a series of content moderation changes that will transform the way the social media company’s platforms deal with misinformation and hate speech. We break down what these changes will mean for users and why the company seems to be caving to the right’s arguments on censorship. Then, we’ll explain why 2025 is already shaping up to be a huge year in A.I. — with models like OpenAI’s o3, Google’s Gemini 2.0 and DeepSeek, from China, stirring discussion that superintelligence is near. And finally,…
COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong, I have written to RFK, Vance, Trump, and several Congress asking them to please pay attention to Socrates. Not a single one has ever gotten back to me. I have no faith that Trump will do what he says and all this tale of Greenland and Canada instead of the real issue of the swamp. Do you have any faith that his administration will do as he said? P ANSWER: No. You will NEVER get through to any of them because they are all doing the same as everyone else in the swamp – the staff runs…
Greg Gutfeld has returned to the airwaves after an extended break due to his wife having a baby. On his FOX News show on Friday night, Greg opened by tearing into the media and the comedy world for covering for Joe Biden’s obvious decline over the last four years. He notes that in many ways, the media is still trying to cover for Joe Biden on his way out the door. Partial transcript via NewsBusters: GREG GUTFELD: Look out Tricky Dick. There’s a new worst president in town. According to a new Gallup poll, Biden is the lowest rated of…
Comedian Dave Chappelle was named the first host of “Saturday Night Live” in 2025.NBC shared the news on Friday while also announcing that actor Timothée Chalamet will host the following week as well as perform as a musical guest. The network also announced a February anniversary special.Dave Chappelle and “Saturday Night Live” will return to NBC on Jan. 18.Article continues below advertisementDave Chappelle Makes His Return To ‘SNL’ In 2025MEGANBC announced that Dave Chappelle would be the first host of “Saturday Night Live” with a statement on Jan. 10.”Live from New York, ‘Saturday Night Live’ is kicking off 2025 with…
STRASBOURG: Two trams collided in a tunnel in a rare accident in the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Saturday (Jan 11), injuring dozens of people, authorities said. The collision occurred near Strasbourg’s main train station, one of the busiest in France outside Paris. Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot said “probably around 36” people were injured in the accident, while firefighters put that figure at around 50. A video posted by a witness on social media showed a chaotic scene with the two trams significantly damaged in a tunnel near the station. One of the trams appeared to have derailed…
Evacuation orders throughout the Los Angeles area cover 153,000 residents, with 57,000 structures at risk.Firefighters are racing to cut off spreading wildfires around Los Angeles before potentially strong winds return, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge. An intense effort was under way on Saturday in the upscale Los Angeles neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades, after the wildfire there expanded into additional areas overnight. Residents were warned of potential worsening weather conditions over the coming days that could further stoke the blaze. Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins told reporters at a news conference that the Palisades Fire had spread…
Amid the constant debate over NBA ratings, Wednesday’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder showed that audiences will still tune in for big games. ESPN broadcast a matchup between the league-leading Cavs and Thunder this week to an audience that peaked at 2.5M viewers, averaging 1.87M. It was a thrilling game, featuring 30 lead changes and a down-to-the-wire battle that ended in a 129-122 Cleveland victory. That’s 20 percent better than the comparable time period last season. The ratings also defied some of the popular theories about why ratings are “down a bit,” in the words of…
So one potential lesson of the woke era is that meritocracy’s critics were wrong to focus so much on its faults, and instead we should actually be doubling down on its rigors and expectations. Thus Ramaswamy’s intervention in the H-1B debate, which was basically an argument for Meritocracy 2.0, built back better after wokeness to be much more demanding than before:Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or…