Editors Note: This article was updated on September 23, 2020, at 11:30 a.m. after authorities announced Chasity Collins was found safe after being kidnapped outside a 7-Eleven.

3-year-old Chasity Collins was inside a car when it was stolen outside a convenience store in the Red Bird area of Dallas. Authorities stated the toddler was officially found safe. Police confirmed Collins was in a white 2009 Lincoln 4 door MKZ sedan with Texas license plates JJT5997 when it was stolen outside of a 7-Eleven in the 2400 block of West Ledbetter Drive. Collin’s mother had left her inside the car unattended with the engine running before it was stolen.

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Luckily, the girl was found safe by officers in the 1100 block of Mountain Lake Road, three miles from where she was taken. Investigators have yet to say whether or not there have been any arrests made. A regional and statewide Amber Alert was requested through the Texas Department of Public Safety after her disappearance.

Below is information that was published before the new updated information was included.

An amber alert has been issued for a 3-year-old girl who was kidnapped from a convenience store in Dallas Wednesday morning. According to authorities, it was around 12:30 a.m. when Chasity Collins’ mother left the engine running while she went inside a 7-Eleven located along West Ledbetter Drive at South Hampton Road. That’s when a stranger jumped into the car and drove off with Chastity still inside the vehicle. The 4 door Lincoln MKZ has Texas license plate number JJT5997. 3-year-old Chasity Collins is described as having brown eyes, black hair, stands around 3 ft tall, and weighs 85 pounds. She was last seen wearing an unknown color short-sleeve shirt with gray tights and no shoes.

A local and statewide Amber Alert was requested to the Texas Department of Public Safety. If you have seen Chastity or the stolen car you are asked to call the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-4268.

Just this week the Aiken Department of Public Safety stated two South Carolina boys were officially found safe in Florida.  9-year-old Matthew and 7-year-old Jerry Kinman were located in good condition at a home in Panama City Beach after missing for days. Their mother, Nancy Christina Kinman, was initially wanted for questioning in connection with the disappearance. Aiken police had issued an alert, saying that the boys have been taken from your bedroom at their home during the night.

In Ohio, U.S. Marshals were able to recover 35 missing Northeast Ohio children as part of a joint operation. The missing and endangered children were between the ages of eighteen, and almost 20 percent of them were types of human trafficking. According to U.S. Marshals, there are only five cases that were referred to the Marshal task force that remain open.

United States Marshals for the Northern District of Ohio created a missing child unit based on the results of an operation safety net, which is an effort that includes local and federal enforcement. The children were recovered in Euclid, Akron, Cleveland, Mansfield, Columbus, and Miami, Florida. If you have any information or have tips to share about missing children your ass to call the tip line at 1-866-432-6833.

On the night of July 13, eight student nurses were murdered brutally in their homes while they slept. Throwing it all the way back to 1966, here’s some scaring for the masses from the hands of Richard Speck.

Richard Benjamin Speck was born in the small city of Monmouth, Illinois, into a family with very religious parents.  But, when he was six years old, his life changed drastically when his father died of a heart attack in 1947. His new stepfather was an abusive drunk. The family moved to Dallas, Texas, never really having stable housing.

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By the time he dropped out of high school in his first year, Richard Speck was already drinking heavily. When he got a teenage girl pregnant, he started working. But it wasn’t long before his first arrests. They would only multiply in number over time, amassing to nearly fifty arrests while he was still in his early twenties.

Born to Raise Hell

Speck got the woods Born to Raise Hell tattooed on him, and that’s precisely what he did. Speck did marry a woman named Shirley Malone. Often she was subjected to rape any abusive from Speck. She was grateful when he was imprisoned in 1965 after her husband attacked a woman in the parking lot with a carving knife. He was supposed to be in jail for 16 months but was released after only 6, due to a mistake. When he returned, Shirley filed for divorce with the child. This enraged Richard Speck, and he only stoked the fire of his violent, unpredictable behavior.

After he returned from prison, he moved back in with his sister in Monmouth, where he continued to escalate. On one particular rampage, he killed a coworker, a barmaid at a bar he had been performing carpentry for. He also got into a barfight, and stole a car, and robbed a grocery store. He ended the night with an unlawful B-N-E, torture, and raping of a 64-year-old woman. When these events landed Speck in questioning, he relocated to Chicago with another one of his sisters. There he tried to get a job with the National Maritime Union. When he showed up in mid-July to find that his position on his first assignment had been given to someone else, he went on a bender.

The bender began at a bar. There he met a 53-year-old woman named Ella Mae Hooper who’d been drinking all day, too. He held Hooper up at knifepoint and raped her. He then proceeded to steal her pistol.

Out on the Chicago streets, Speck stumbled upon a townhouse where nin student nurses lived while working at the South Chicago Community Hospital. Spek broke in through the window, and in the first room, found Corazon Amurao. With the pistol, he proceeds to round up all the nurses, including  Valentina Pasion,  Nina Jo Schmale, Merlita Gargullo, Patricia Matusek, Pamela Wilkening, half of which were American, the old half were exchange students from the Philippines. According to Corazon Amurao, Speck told the American girls that they should trust him, and maybe he wouldn’t harm them.

However, Speck did the unthinkable. He led the girls from room one by one and killed each of them either by stabbing or strangulation. Corazon Amurao was the only one to survive the incident by rolling under the bed when Speck’s back was turned, likely when he was distracted by other student nurses, Suzanne Farris and Mary Ann Jordan, returning to the townhouse. He murdered them, as well. And Gloria Jean Davy, who was dropped by her boyfriend later that night.

Amurao reminded under the bed until 6 am when she thought it was finally safe. She ran straight to the nearest window and shrieked, “They are all dead. My friends are all dead. Oh God, I’m the only one alive,” until police officers arrived.

Specks Death

A Doctor who’d read about the slaughter recognized Speck’s hell tattoo when we went to the hospital a few days later. He was placed on trial on April 3, 1967, where he claimed to have no recollection of having murdered the student nurses. Amurao was the eye-witness for the case. In a case that shocked America, it was one of the first times random; merciless killings were present.

After 45-minute jury deliberation, finding Speck’s prints at the Townhouse scene of the crime, he was found guilty and given the death sentence. This decision was later life in prison in 1971, where Speck died the day before in the fiftieth birthday, from a heart attack, in December of 1991.

A Dallas man’s graphic front yard Halloween decorations are trending on social media and have been garnering police visits, 911 calls, and some odd looks from neighbors because the decorations are… really graphic.

A Halloween Display from Hell

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It should be no surprise that local artist Steven Novak of Dallas, Texas has Halloween decorations that are a pure, terrifying work of art. Novak’s East Dallas home has been converted into the sort of crime scene that would make a veteran cop puke, cry, and retire on the spot. It’s covered in dead bodies and gallons of blood. There are dismembered bodies and chainsaws, fake blood, a wheelbarrow with a corpse in it, and all manner of stray body parts in hefty bags littered across his lawn. In the middle of the night zombies can be seen inside the home clawing at the windows.

The gory scene does not hold back.

Novak’s decorations are so hardcore that he says his East Dallas neighbors have called the Dallas Police Department because of the bodies and gallons of fake blood on his lawn. Much to the dismay of early dog walkers and joggers, Novak has had to repeatedly reapply the fake blood to his lawn because rain has washed it away several times.

Trick-or-Treating Kids May Want to Tread Lightly

Adults and kids alike in the neighborhood have been both fascinated and frightened by the decorations. Novak relayed one story to the Dallas Observer about a little kid asking him how the “people” on his lawn died. It is… exactly in line with Novak’s personality based on his decoration preferences.

“A kid walked by and asked me what happened to them; I said they ate too many Skittles.”

Fourth graders skipping up to Novak’s door in your cute little Halloween costumes, dressed like The Avengers or something, be forewarned. This guy has the treats and the tricks.

A woman has spoken out about allegedly being told to change or cover-up on a flight from Dallas to Tulsa Oklahoma with Southwest Airlines flight. The woman stated that she was told by a flight attendant that she would be forced to leave due to her outfit if nothing changed. According to her Twitter, Eve J. Marie, who is a Playboy model, had already flown from Florida to Dallas, Texas, with her seven-year-old-son when a crew member then took issue with a low-cut dress. The model opened up about her feelings, saying she was humiliated by the cabin crew.

This was despite the fact that the model had already been able to board a plane without any mentions of what she was wearing. According to Marie, she is a frequent flyer with Southwest Airlines and even has a credit card with their Airline. She also has perks that allow an additional passenger to fly with her entire day for free due to her high status, also known as a companion pass.

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Model Asked to Cover Up Mid Flight

Ultimately, the African American model was giving a Southwest Airlines flight attendant’s sweater, which she draped around her chest for the rest of the flight. She was also required to sit in the first row so other passengers wouldn’t see her top.

According to Fox News, the Instagram Influencer criticized the airline last week through social media stating, “What’s exactly wrong with what I have on?” The model also stated that she was offered $100 to make up for the treatment she received on the flight, but feels a compensation is not enough considering what the model had to endure.

The ‘loyal customer’ took to Twitter to express her frustration, tweeting, “@SouthwestAir I was threatened removal of a flight due to my attire! the ONLY nice flight attendant loaned me her work sweater so that me & my 7 yr old were not escorted off the plane. What a shame @southwestair is this house you treat your A-list members #inflightdiscrimination.” She also shared a picture of her revealing outfit, which was a low-cut leopard print outfit, while wearing a face mask to comply with SWA flight rules due to the Covid-19.

“I Was Threatened Removal”

According to the United States airline’s contract of carriage, passengers are not allowed to “engage in lewd, obscene or patently offensive behavior, including wearing clothes that are lewd, obscene, or patently offensive.” It’s still unclear what Southwest Airlines means by “obscene,” “Lewd,” or “patently offensive” clothing. It also not known whether or not the fair dress code policy was made known to Marie. The airline has yet to make a public apology.

It was a chilly November morning in 1963 when a horse-drawn caisson carried the coffin of former President John F. Kennedy down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy orchestrated the event, modeling it after Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 state funeral. On a day of shock and grief, Kennedy’s funeral was nevertheless moving, unforgettable event.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

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Only three days before the funeral, President Kennedy had been riding in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas when he was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. The car sped off to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where the 35th President of the United States was pronounced dead 30 minutes after the shooting. The news was announced by a solum Walter Cronkite on a CBS News special viewed by millions of Americans.

That afternoon, a grim Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office. A grief-stricken Jackie Kennedy attended the ceremony still wearing her bloodstained pink suit. After the brief ceremony, the new president and the late president were both flown on Air Force One back to the Andrews Air Force base. Once in Washington D.C., Kennedy’s body was taken to the White House’s East Room and placed on the same catafalque used at Lincoln’s funeral.

On November 24, President Kennedy’s casket was moved from the White House to the Capitol rotunda by a horse-drawn caisson and a Marine Corps honor guard. During the 21 hours that the president’s body lay in state in the U.S. Capitol, more than 250,000 mourners filed by to pay their respects.

The Day of JFK’s Funeral

On November 25, millions of television viewers tuned in to watch President Kennedy’s funeral. They watched as members of the Kennedy family —  including Mrs. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy — along with government officials and other mourners accompanied the funeral procession to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the place of the funeral mass. The somber parade included a military escort, band, and a symbolic riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups, in addition to the six horses pulling Kennedy’s flag-draped casket.

The funeral mass was presided over by the Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cardinal Cushing. The service was attended by former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, in addition to more than 53 heads of state and 220 foreign dignitaries from 92 nations. After the funeral services, Kennedy’s three-year-old son, John Jr., saluted his father’s coffin as it left the cathedral. The horse-drawn caisson carried the president’s body to be laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

During the burial, fifty military jets soar overhead in three formations, followed by Air Force One. To close the stirring funeral, Mrs. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy light the eternal flame at the grave.

I often wonder at the audacity and stupidity of some people, but then I’m always quickly humbled by my own mistakes. However, there are just some situations that I observe that I simply cannot stop myself from judging and just wondering why. I do respect and marvel at the boldness that some people have and the extreme lengths that they go to get what they want, but seriously, this? How in the world did this lady think she was going to get away with this?

Kimberly George Ragsdale was on the hunt for some free food in Dallas, Georgia, and decided that she could totally con a local Chick-Fil-A in Rockmart. So what was her brilliant plan to score some free chicken? She decided to post as a federal agent. She didn’t settle for a security guard or even your local police officer. She fully went in as an FBI agent and even when she was doubted (which was almost immediately), she stayed loyal to her story.

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Woman Demands Free Chick-FIl-A By Pretending She’s an FBI Agent:

According to the Polk County Standard Journal, the Chick-fil-A employees called the Rockmart Police Department after she demanded that they give her a free meal. When Rockmart police showed up to the Chick-fil-A’s parking lot, the 47-year-old identified herself as an FBI agent. They asked for identification or credentials, to which Ragsdale replied boldly saying she didn’t have any because they were electronic only.

Law enforcement got her out of her car and put her in handcuffs, but Ragsdale wasn’t ready to give up just yet. She began to talk into her shirt as if she was talking into a radio, explaining to absolutely no one that she was getting arrested and that she needed someone sent to the Rockmart Police Department. Nevertheless, she was booked into the Polk County Jail and later released on bond.

According to Rockmart Police Chief Randy Turner, this isn’t the first time Ragsdale has tried to get free food from the Chick-fil-A. Apparently, she had been at the fast-food restaurant several times the week before, threatening to arrest employees if they didn’t comply.

He says, “We are thankful for the observant and professional staff at CFA who knew what to do and gathered the info needed for us to make our case and catch her in the act,” Turner said. “We would like to inform our citizens to call 911 if someone is claiming to be an officer if they aren’t in a marked car, or in a proper uniform, or if they don’t have the proper credentials.”

Turner explained that if any other restaurant workers from other businesses encountered Ragsdale in the same situation, to contact the Rockmart Police Department. He also wanted to remind everyone, “the real officer will never demand free food at a restaurant.”

He says, “If it is given, we appreciate it. If it is discounted, we appreciate it. We will not ask for it or make threats and demand it.”

This is certainly one way to get people to know about your business- quite the PR move I have to say. After his aggressive rant went viral on social media, Kevin Kelley, the Dallas restaurant owner of True Kitchen + Kocktails, has for sure made his business pretty well known. But, not that he actually “needed” the marketing help, according to what he said.

Texas restaurant owner Kevin Kelley was caught on video telling customers that they can “get the f*ck out of [his] restaurant” for twerking inside of the business space. The viral video shows him pacing around the sea of customers sitting down, ranting and yelling about how he, “invested a lot of money into buying this building, into developing this concept so Black people could have somewhere nice to go to.”

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True Kitchen + Kocktails Owner Kevin Kelley Tells Customers To “Get the F*ck Out of [His] Restaurant”

He then went on to say that Black women can twerk at other places and that he doesn’t need the money, explaining in frustration, “I want em to show respect for themselves for how they carry themselves here, so how can I tell the men to respect themselves and you guys are twerking glass here. If you want to do it, f*ck out of my restaurant.”

The situation became controversial as many criticized Kelley’s behavior. One Twitter user posted the restaurant’s dress code on social media, inferring how ridiculous the rules may seem about dictating things like bodysuits and “casual headwear” such as du-rags and hair caps as prohibited. The list also includes “no slides — especially fuzzy ones” and “no explicit words or visuals,” which Kelley seemed to have broken these rules with his frustrated profanity.

True Kitchen + Kocktails’s Dress Code

Another Twitter user said, “I would NEVER go to True Kitchen (@TrueKK_) restaurant (Dallas, Texas) The owner Kevin Kelley talking to his customers like they are beneath him is disgusting. You want a certain kind of crowd: 1. Don’t play twerking music. 2. Put it in the policy. 3. Don’t be a misogynist.”

Customer Responds to Viral Video

Kevin Kelley decided to respond on social media as well, to explain the full story and hopefully show a more humble side of himself. He explained along with video evidence to support his story, saying, “As this video shows you will see guests spoken to politely and literally begged to stop standing on our furniture and twerking. There are other videos that show much more of the behavior in the following videos but we do not want to embarrass the guests sitting at those tables.”

Dallas Restaurant Owner Responds to Viral Video

“Later, as another video shows, a customer stood on her seat, placed her hands against the glass windows and began to twerk. My immediate reaction was this woman could fall through this window and we could be the target of a lawsuit if she is injured,” and he continues to explain why his response was so agitated.

Nevertheless, people still aren’t having it. Another Twitter user posted the restaurant’s New Year’s Eve table prices, and I have to agree that they are a little ridiculous.

True Kitchen + Kocktail’s New Year’s Eve Table Prices

There was a time when the only line of defense between the U.S. president and a potential assassin was a single policeman. Today, the President is protected by a dedicated team of Secret Service Agents, who are also tasked with protecting the Vice President, their immediate family, former presidents, and presidential candidates and their spouses.

Why the heightened security? Over the course of American history, four out of 45 American presidents have been assassinated — and more than 17 have been the subject of assassination attempts. Here is a roundup of the most notorious presidential assassinations (and assassination attempts) in United States history.

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Andrew Jackson (January 30, 1835)

On a chilly day in January, Richard Lawrence, an out-of-work house painter, misfired two bullets from two separate pistols at then-President Andrew Jackson. Lawrence, who believed himself to be the 15th-century English King Richard III, was found not guilty by reason of insanity and institutionalized for the rest of his life.

Abraham Lincoln (April 14, 1865)

Five days after the Civil War ended with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, John Wilkes Booth, an actor and confederate sympathizer, shot President Lincoln once in the head during a show at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Lincoln was pronounced dead the following morning.

James A. Garfield (July 2, 1881)

When James A. Garfield was only four months into his presidency, he was shot twice by Charles J. Guiteau, a frustrated politician, while walking through a railway waiting room in Washington D.C. Garfield lived for 79 days after being shot before dying on September 19, 1881, due to a lack of understanding of sanitary practices and antiseptic medicine.

William McKinley (September 6, 1901)

As 25th President William McKinley shook hands with attendees at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, he was shot twice in the chest by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley would die eight days later of gangrene infection. Czolgosz was executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York.

Theodore Roosevelt (October 13, 1912)

While giving a speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Theodore Roosevelt was shot by saloon-owner John Schrank. Roosevelt continued his speech even after being shot, informing the audience:

“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately, I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet — there is where the bullet went through — and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best.” 

Roosevelt gave the rest of his speech with a bullet in his chest, where it would stay until his passing in 1919.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (February 15, 1933)

Before being sworn in as President, Franklin D. Roosevelt was shot at five times by bricklayer Giuseppe Zangara while speaking in Miami. Stray bullets ended up wounding four bystanders and killing Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.

Henry S. Truman (November 1, 1950)

Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, two Puerto Rican separatists, tried to shoot past the President’s guards At the time, Truman was staying in the Blair House while the White House underwent renovations. Truman was unharmed, but one officer was killed and another injured. Torresola was also killed, and Collazo was sentenced to life in prison.

John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963)

As President Kennedy rode in a convertible through downtown Dallas in a presidential motorcade, he was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald from a window in the Texas School Book Depository Building. Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally were injured, and Kennedy died 30 minutes later at Parkland Hospital. Two days later, Oswald was shot and killed on live television in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters by a local nightclub owner, Jack Ruby.

Richard Nixon (February 22, 1974)

Samuel Byck, an out-of-work tire salesman, attempted to hijack an airliner and crash it into the White House to kill President Nixon. Byck shot both pilots and eventually turned the gun on himself before he could be arrested.

Gerald Ford (September 1975)

President Gerald Ford survived two separate assassination attempts in California in September 1975. The first occurred on September 5, when Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a Charles Manson family member, shot at Ford in a crowd in Sacramento. The second was in San Francisco on September 22, when self-proclaimed radical Sara Jane Moore pulled a revolver on the president. Both attempts left Ford unharmed, and both would-be assassins were sentenced to life in prison.

Jimmy Carter (May 5, 1979)

Ten minutes before Jimmy Carter was scheduled to speak at Civic Center Mall in Los Angeles, the police arrested Raymond Lee Harvey outside. Harvey reportedly was carrying a starter pistol and claimed to be part of a conspiracy to assassinate the president.

Ronald Reagan (March 30, 1981)

Hoping to impress actress Jodie Foster, John Hinkley Jr. open-fired at President Reagan outside a Washington Hotel. Reagan suffered serious injuries, as did Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and DC policeman Thomas Delahanty. Press Secretary James Brady was also wounded and would die of brain damage caused by the attack years later.

Bill Clinton (November 1996)

On a visit to Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, President Bill Clinton narrowly avoided a bombing attempt. A bomb, allegedly planted by Osama Bin Laden, was discovered under a bridge that he was scheduled to cross over with his motorcade.

George W. Bush (February 7, 2001)

President Bush was inside the White House when he was shot at by Robert Pickett, a former IRS employee with a history of mental illness. Bush was unharmed, but Pickett was shot in the knee and sentenced to three years in prison.

Barack Obama (November 11, 2011)

Claiming that Obama was the devil, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez used a semi-automatic rifle to fire at least eight rounds into the White House. The Obamas were not at the White House at the time.

Donald Trump (June 18, 2016)

During a Trump rally in Las Vegas, Michael Sandford, a British man with autism, tried to grab a police officer’s gun in order to “shoot and kill” the presidential candidate. Sanford says he heard “voices telling me to kill Donald Trump”. “They’d been coming on for a while and getting stronger and more frequent. At one point they were screaming at me,” Sanford said. Sanford was released five months early from a year-long prison sentence and returned to the UK.

The Kennedy Family is an American political dynasty. But their streaks of power have always been tinged by dark tragedy. Everyone remembers where they were when President John F. Kennedy was shot. But do you remember all the litany of other shocking disasters and torrid affairs that have made up the “Kennedy Curse” over the last 76 years?

1941: The Lobotomy Of Rosemary Kennedy

The mistreatment of Kennedy sister Rosemary, the eldest child of Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, is generally considered as the start of the so-called “Kennedy Curse.” And perhaps, even the source of this lingering bad luck. Records suggest that Rosemary was displayed intellectual disabilities throughout childhood. As her father was an American ambassador and wealthy businessman, the young Rosemary’s life looked glamorous from the outside; she even debuted to Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 1935. But at the event, her botched curtsy — she nearly fell — symbolized Rosemary’s constant struggle to appear “normal” alongside a highly public family.

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Her mental health issues worsened during her early twenties and, despite her social standing, Rosemary was offered no effective psychological support. The Kennedys had their daughter lobotomized in 1941. She was 23-years-old. This intense (and medically pointless) procedure left Rosemary incapacitated; she was unable to speak and barely able to walk. She spent the rest of her life institutionalized and died in 2005. Throughout her long lifetime, the truth about Rosemary’s condition and whereabouts were kept a Kennedy secret.

History Of The Lobotomy

1944: The Death Of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. In World War II

Eldest son Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was the pride of his domineering father, Joseph P. Kennedy. Favored by his well-connected dad to eventually become president, Jospeh Jr. died before he could ever run for office. While serving in World War II as a patrol bomber pilot, Joseph Jr. was killed in action. He was 29 years old. Although his younger brothers would go on to fulfill their father’s political aspirations, it’s generally believed that Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. never fully recovered from the death of his oldest (and favorite) son. As is detailed in Vanity Fair, JFK, or “Jack” as he was called, was considered a “sloppy” second choice to golden boy Joe Junior.

1963: Patrick Bouvier Kennedy Dies After Birth

Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was the infant child of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and President John F. Kennedy. Jackie Kennedy carried this high profile pregnancy while living in the White House. He was the younger brother of Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr, but only lived for 39 hours. After being stillborn, he died from complications of hyaline membrane disease (HPD). Sadly, this was not the first child the couple lost. Their daughter Arabella was stillborn in 1957.

The nation mourned the loss of little Patrick Kennedy, although his death would soon be forgotten by history. Just three months later, his father was shot to death in Dallas, Texas.

1963: The Assassination Of JFK

Politics was in the Kennedy blood. Not only did Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. insist on his boys entering public service, but their mother Rose was also the daughter of the Bostom mayor. So after his older brother Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. died in action, John F. Kennedy was next in line to enter the field of politics. He became the official Democratic nominee for president in 1960, running with the powerhouse Texas politician Lyndon B. Johnson. Although it’s often theorized that Joseph P. Kennedy bought his child the election, there is evidence of cheating on both sides of the ticket; Kennedy won narrowly against Richard Nixon. (Fun fact: The Irish American Kennedy was the first Catholic to take office. Our next president, Joe Biden, will be the second.)

JFK was a beloved president for three years, most notably handling the Cuban Missile Crisis during that time. On November 21, 1963, he was shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. His wife Jackie Kennedy was sitting beside him and was seen cradling the head of her husband through the chaos. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the crime, although he was murdered by Dallas nightclub operator Jack Ruby before he could stand trial. Lots of conspiracy theories (with lots of evidence) suggest a larger plot behind the assassination of JFK — often implicating George H.W. Bush and the FBI.

The JFK Files: The Murder Of A President – The Fifth Estate

1964: Ted Kennedy Survives A Plane Crash

The younger brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Edward “Ted” Kennedy survived a plane crash in 1964. While this may seem like a stroke of luck, the senator’s aide was killed along with the pilot of the plane. And this would not be the last time that Ted Kennedy survived a crash while another passenger perished. (Read on to learn about the sad Chappaquiddick debacle.) While recovering in the hospitals from injuries sustained during this deadly crash, Ted Kennedy reportedly said “Somebody up there doesn’t like us.” And it looks like he was right.

1968: The Assassination Of RFK

After the shocking assassination of his brother President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy stepped up to become the next Democratic candidate for president. Lyndon B. Johnson, who had inherited the presidency after the death of JFK, was re-elected in 1965. Naturally, he sought re-election in 1968. But Bobby Kennedy presented a serious challenge to the establishment Democrats, running on a platform of civil rights which disavowed the stances of his late brother’s vice president. With a comparatively progressive agenda, RFK emerged as the presidential primary frontrunner, channeling the power of the Kennedy name.

But on June 5, 1968, the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy came to a disastrous end. After addressing supporters in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, Kennedy tried to exit the building when 24-year-old Sirhan Sirhan opened fire, killing the spirited candidate in his tracks. Vice president Hubert Humphrey went on to the official Democratic nominee. The messy election year, which also saw the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the continuation of widespread protests against the Vietnam War, has gone down in history as the most tumultuous… perhaps until recently. The death of Robert F. Kennedy paved the way for a defeat by Republicans; Richard Nixon won that November. But Bobby Kennedy is still remembered as a paragon of modern liberalism. He left behind his pregnant widow Ethel Skakel Kennedy and their 11 (!) children. And some of those children would go on to meet tragic ends of their own.

The Assassination Of RFK

1969: The Chappaquiddick Incident

After the horrifying assassination of Bobby Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy had some pretty big shoes to fill. But instead of getting his act together, the younger Kennedy brother brought disgrace to the family name in 1969. Kennedy cousin Joseph Gargan rented a cottage on Chappaquiddick Island in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts for something of a reunion party one year after Bobby Kennedy’s murder. A small party took place which included Gargan, Ted Kennedy, and the women who’d worked on Bobby’s campaign, a.k.a. “the Boiler Room Girls.” Among them was Mary Jo Kopechne. Kopechne was driven to politics following JFK’s. inspirational “Ask what you can do for your country” inaugural speech.

Mary Jo Kopechne grew close with the Kennedy family while working as a historic Boiler Room Girl in Bobby Kennedy’s campaign. But she’d never spoken to Ted Kennedy before that night in Chappaquiddick. She and the senator left the party together, with Ted claiming that he was driving her make the last ferry back to Edgerton. (However, Kopechne’s purse and keys were left at the party, inviting speculation that the two would have engaged in some affair; Ted Kennedy was married to socialite Joan Bennett Kennedy at the time.) Kennedy (likely intoxicated) turned off from the route to Edgerton and, while making his way over a narrow, dangerous bridge, careened off the side. The car landed upside down Poucha Pond. Kennedy successfully escaped the vehicle and swam away, but he did not report the incident until the next day.

Meanwhile, Mary Jo Kopechne was left to drown inside the car. Teddy Kennedy, Joe Gargan, and their associate Paul Markham returned to the scene during the night but failed to rescue her. The three men, all lawyers, argued next to a phone booth about whether or not to phone the police. When the car was discovered in the morning by two fishing locals, Kopechne’s body was retrieved. The rescue captain testified that Kopechne had likely stayed alive in an air bubble for up to thirty minutes after the initial crash. She was 28 years old. The sad story became a national sensation and any presidential dreams for Teddy Kennedy were dashed. Kennedy eventually pleaded guilty to fleeing the scene, although there was no legal repercussion for such a powerful man. He neglected to run in the next two Democratic presidential primaries following his pathetic show of cowardice at Chappaquidick. When Kennedy finally did run in 1980, he was crushed by Jimmy Carter.

Ted Kennedy Addresses Chappaquidick Accident

1973: Joseph P. Kennedy II Crashes A Jeep

In August of 1973, Joseph P. Kennedy II, the eldest son of Bobby Kennedy, drove was driving recklessly on Nantucket. His Jeep overturned, seriously injuring his brother David Kennedy and permanently paralyzing David’s girlfriend, Pam Kelley. Although the Kennedy family initially paid for Kelley’s medical treatment, their long-term contributions to her care were minimal. It was not the first time, a female Kennedy companion was left to fend for herself after some careless beachside driving.

1984: The Overdose Of David Kennedy

The fourth son of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, David Kennedy was always considered a shy and introverted brother who was especially close with his late father. As a child, David nearly drowned on a Malibu beach in 1968 when his senator father dove into the water to save him. In 1973, Joseph P. Kennedy II’s Jeep accident left David’s girlfriend Pam Kelley paralyzed. Treating his own severe injury, David turned to painkillers in the wake of the accident and eventually heroin. In 1984, he suffered a drug overdose in Palm Beach, Florida, and died at the age of 28.

1997: Michael Kennedy Dies Skiing

The sixth child of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, Michael Kennedy died in a skiing accident. While on a trip in 1997 in Aspen, Colorado, Michael and friends were playing football while on skis. Not wearing a helmet, Michael Kennedy skied into a tree and died on December 31, 1997. He was 39 years old.

1999: John F. Kennedy Jr. Is Killed In A Plane Crash

Throughout President John F. Kennedy’s time in the white house, his beautiful, young family was celebrated. Especially, little John F. Kennedy Jr or “John-John” as he was called. (Remember when John-John played in the Oval Office under his father’s resolute desk?) Growing up under such intense media scrutiny, this Kennedy son managed to flourish. In addition to being exceedingly handsome, JFK Jr. was a popular social figure in Manhattan and ran his own magazine: George. He married fashion publicist Carolyn Bessette in on September 21, 1996. (John’s sister Caroline Kennedy was the matron of honor.)

But the happy couple only enjoyed three years of marriage. On July 16, 1999, JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her older sister Lauren Bessette all perished in a plane crash. John was piloting when the small plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. John F. Kennedy Jr. was a new pilot and found himself unable to land on such a dark and hazy night. Their three bodies were discovered five days later.

John F. Kennedy Jr.’s Tragic Final Flight

2012: Mary Kathleen Kennedy Commits Suicide

Mary Kathleen Kennedy (née Richardson) was married to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Bobby Kennedy. They had four children together, along with the two children from RFK Jr.’s previous marriage. In 2010, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed for divorce and immediately, Mary Kathleen Kennedy began to unravel. She was arrested for a DUI with temporary custody of her children being granted to her husband. On May 16, 2012, Mary Kathleen Kennedy was found hanged at her New York home. The death was ruled as a suicide, and there was a subsequent battle between her brother and her (separated) husband for Kennedy’s remains. Although she was solely a Kennedy by marriage, this tragic end for the mother and noted designer remains a solid example of the Kennedy Curse.

In 2014, RFK Jr. remarried to Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines. In 2019, three Kennedys published a Politico op-ed condemning his anti-vaccine views.

2019: The Overdose Of Saoirse Roisin Kennedy

Saoirse Roisin Kennedy, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2019 while at the family compound in Cape Cod with her grandmother Ethel Kennedy. Saoirse Roisin Kennedy had written about her long battle with depression (http://deerfieldscroll.com/2016/02/mental-illness-at-deerfield/) in her high school newspaper. She passionately believed in creating a more inclusive school community, as her Boston College professors also noted. She was found with a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol in her system, and the death was ruled as accidental; apparently, the 22-year-old was celebrating the completion of a term paper.

2020: Maeve And Gideon Kennedy Drown

The most recent Kennedy tragedy took place at the Chesapeake Bay. Granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Maeve died from accidental drowning while out on a canoe. But that was not the only death that day. Her young son, 8-year-old Gideon had accompanied his mother out on the rough water and also drowned. Powerful winds and high waves had pushed the mother and son too far out from their waterfront home. Gideon Kennedy is the youngest victim of the Kennedy curse. And while many Americans may have forgotten about the Kennedys, this awful recent event shows that strange accidents continue to afflict the New England descent.

What Does Joe Kennedy’s Loss Mean For American Politics?

Kennedy patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy and matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy lived long and prosperous lives. The same cannot be said of their offspring. There are many theories regarding the Kennedy Curse. Perhaps some deal with the devil was arranged… In present day, the ambitious family is not as involved with politics as they once were. The recent victory of incumbent Joe Markey against Representative Joe Kennedy III the Massachusetts senatorial primary marked the first time that a Kennedy was ever defeated in the state. Unlike his trailblazing grandfather RFK, the young Joe Kennedy III actually put forward an establishment platform compared to the (fairly) progressive Markey. But regardless of their waning influence, misfortune still seems to plague the descendants of this once powerful political bloodline.

The Outsiders, the melodramatic teen flick bursting with 60’s nostalgia, firmly established the Hollywood brat pack in 1983. Under esteemed director Francis Ford Coppola, this goofy group of talented youngsters transformed into tough greasers who rocked leather jackets and bared glinting switchblades with criminal ease. Read on for the official ranking of these iconic juvenile delinquents.

Filming ‘The Outsiders’

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The Outsiders film was adapted from the 1967 novel by S. E. Hinton, a Tulsa local who wrote the story when she was just 16 years old! Inspired by the real socioeconomic sparring between working-class “greasers” and the wealthy “Socs” in her hometown, Hinton created a timeless coming-of-age tale that’s still taught in high school classrooms. Deeply dedicated to the source material, the legendary director Francis Ford Coppola filmed his 1983 passion project entirely on-location over the course of one spring in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With a cast comprised entirely of energetic adolescents, you can bet it was a wild few months behind-the-scenes. But the details are still pretty shocking.

Having directed such historic masterpieces as Apocolypse Now and The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola was no stranger to method acting. And he relied on those intense principles to wrangle the cast full of up-and-comers using some… unusual disciplinary tactics. Wanting to ramp up the animosity between the greasers and Socs, Coppola kept the two gangs of actors separated at all times. He even gave the Socs a much higher allowance, according to rumors. This resulted in the heated feud which manifested so intensely on-screen — and even led to real injuries during the boys’ ultimate rumble. Class warfare aside, the set also became a full-out prank war between Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Emilio Esteves, and others. Their favorite victim? Diane Lane.

The Outsiders premiered in 1983 and performed modestly well at the box office, earning $33 million. But over the decades, it’s become a cult classic and fan favorite. So attached to his original vision for the film, Francis Ford Coppola released a new DVD, The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, in 2005 which contained 22 additional minutes of footage. This longer edition is a treasure to Outsiders fanatics, like myself. Providing further narrative exposition, Coppola’s re-release is now even more popular than the 1983 theatrical cut.

The Greasers, Ranked

As the characterization of Francis Ford Coppola’s film remained essentially true to the young adult novel by S.E. Hinton, this ranking derives from each individual greaser’s persona and moral inclination, in addition to the actors’ portrayals, and of course, general hotness. The Socs, including the beloved Sherri “Cherry” Valance (played so sweetly by Diane Lane), sadly do not make the cut.

7. Steve Randle (Tom Cruise)

Long before Tom Cruise found fame through Risky Business and became a bankable action star, he was Steve Randle in The Outsiders. And he did not look good. Cruise’s unusual grin — the actor has a mysterious middle tooth — has always caught attention. But his chompers in The Outsiders are truly something else. Cruise decided to remove the cap that covers his devastatingly chipped front tooth. (Hockey accident.) The result is purposefully unattractive, and Steve Randall’s personality does not do much to challenge our perception. His scenes are relegated to group hangs where Steve is all over his BFF Sodapop Curtis, played by the young, studly Rob Lowe. When standing next to each other, really, it’s no competition. Not to mention Rob Lowe’s recent revelation on an episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shephard. Speaking freely on the podcast, Lowe admitted that during the New York round of auditions, Cruise “just [went] ballistic” when asked to share a room with his fellow actor at the Plaza Hotel. The Plaza! That’s no real greaser if you ask me.

6. Sodapop Curtis (Rob Lowe)

Okay, I realize that Sodapop Curtis should probably not be so low on the list. But hear me out. Sodapop, the middle Curtis child, keeps the peace between the older, stricter Darry and misunderstood Ponyboy. From the start of The Outsiders, Sodapop charms with a warm heart and likable personality. He’s also, inarguably, gorgeous and lends a next-level male model quality to the gang of misfits. However, Sodapop’s character shows little personal growth. He was always the golden boy of the group, and remains so. Luckily, the extended edition of The Outsiders extended fleshes out Soda’s character through an intimate late-night scene with Ponyboy. When Rob Lowe first saw the heavily edited theatrical cut, he was devastated at the reduction of his character. But that blow didn’t stop Lowe’s career from taking off. Over the years, the actor’s easy charm has earned him starring roles in The West Wing, Parks and Rec, and more. But it takes a little more edge to rank high on this greaser scale.

5. Darrel “Darry” Curtis (Patrick Swayze)

As the older brother to Ponyboy and Sodapop Curtis, Darry gets a bad rap. The most mature of the greasers, Darry was forced to give up on any college dreams to raise his knucklehead brothers after they were suddenly orphaned. And though he definitely makes a show of it it, Darry does show up for these two boys. He works a strenuous roofing job all day to keep the boys with food on the table — and out of the notorious “boys’ home.” Darry’s love can be tough (He does slap Ponyboy. Not cool!) but his heart is in the right place. Not to mention, he’s played by the late, great Patrick Swayze. Only Swayze could pull off the stiff, overprotective type — who also casually  flips into effortless headstands. Darry is hardcore greaser material, for sure.

4. Two-Bit Matthews (Emilio Esteves)

Two-Bit Matthews is the comedic greaser in a tight Mickey Mouse tee. While it may seem absurd that Two-Bit outranks any Curtis brother, I do have my reasons. Emilio Esteves, with his dirty blonde hair slicked back, authentically looks the part of a 1965 Tulsa ruffian. He’s not some pretty boy. He displays a keen awareness for the dynamics of the streets during aimless walks with Ponyboy; Two-Bit can bust a bottle at a moment’s notice. But he doesn’t let that severity get him down. As ready for a laugh as he is for a rumble, Two-Bit feels the most natural in the harsh world of The Outsiders, thanks to Esteves’ masterful performance. Then again, the young actor certainly had the resources to prepare. As the son of Martin Sheen (and brother of Charlie Sheen), Esteves understood the intricacies of working under director Frances Ford Coppola long before the other boys were even through auditioning. Prior to filming, Sheen imparted his Apocolypse Now wisdom to his son and many other young actors who frequented the Sheen house. Additionally, Esteves starred in the spiritual sequel to The Outsiders, which was also written by S.E. Hinton: That Was Then, This Is Now.

3. Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio)

Johnny! Poor, sweet Johnny. This puppy dog greaser really is dealt a bad hand throughout The Outsiders. The scrawniest and shyest of the bunch, Ralph Macchio’s performance is tonally perfect in regards to S.E. Hinton’s emotional text. Reportedly, Macchio refrained from most of his co-stars’ backstage antics throughout filming. The 21-year-old actor was too focused on understanding his character. That work ethic pays off. Even when drenched in another boy’s blood, you cannot help but hurt for this traumatized little guy. Of course, Johnny delivers the film’s most famous and heartwrenching line: “Stay Gold, Ponyboy.” And no one could have done it better. Macchio would continue to play the underdog in the lucrative Karate Kid franchise, which has now found a revival through Netflix’s (delightful) Cobra Kai. But to me, no Macchio scene can ever beat his voiceover at the close of The Outsiders which includes his full reflection on Robert Frost. As Johnny explains the significance of “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” it is simply too much to bear. Every time. Pass the tissues.

2. Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell)

Spunky and sheepish, Ponyboy is the ultimate protagonist. While the journey of Johnny Cade drives the plot of The Outsiders, it’s Ponyboy’s personal experience that makes the story memorable. Unsure of his place among the greasers — Ponyboy is the youngest but lacks Johnny’s sheer vulnerability — bookwormish Ponyboy comes up against the violence of the Tusla landscape as, literally, an outsider. He’s picked on and looked over. He tags along, without deciding plans. Ponyboy is defined by the more assertive characters in his life — until this angsty orphan finally comes into his own. C. Thomas Howell went on to act in some other 80’s faves, including the star-stacked Red Dawn. Following the brat-pack era, he’s kept busy appearing in many action films and television shows. However, none of these roles are as renowned or inspired as his original Outsiders debut. Playing Ponyboy Curtis is the kind of rare and golden opportunity that comes along once in a lifetime. His boyhood is captured and remembered forever on the screen, and for that, Ponyboy is a powerful greaser. Not the most powerful though. That coveted title is reserved for Dallas Winston.

1. Dallas “Dally” Winston (Matt Dillon)

Dallas Winston struts around the barren Tulsa hood like a leather-clad rooster: all cocky, volatile, tough — excluding his sweet spot for Johnny Cade. Next to Ponyboy, Dallas looks like a hardened criminal dropping alpha orders, bullying children, and toting a small pistol. Of course, it’s Matt Dillon’s mad interpretation that really sells goold ole Dally. Although the character exhibits some problematic behavior (to say the least) at the drive-in, Dillon exudes an impenetrable cool… that’s only rocked by true tragedy. Dallas’ arc within the story is Shakespearean in scope, as Dallas goes on to waste away in a grand display of urban brutality.

But leading up to his dramatic demise, Dallas offers enough mean grins and tough one-liners to keep us daydreaming about greasers for, well, the next 40 years at least. Dillon, an instant heartthrob, would reprise the greaser image for Francis Ford Coppola’s Outsiders spin-off, Rumble Fish. But if you really want a treat, catch Dillion (And Emilio Esteves!) in the early, innocent feature Tex. Both Rumble Fish and Tex have based on S.E. Hinton novels, but the unique farm setting of Tex shows off Dillon’s adolescent range.

It was an unusually foggy August evening in 1990 when Stevie Ray Vaughan performed for the last time. The Dallas-born musician was opening for Eric Clapton at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin, two hours northeast of Chicago. Before a sold-out crowd of 40,000, Stevie, Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and Jimmie Vaughan finished off the night with an encore jam session.

After the concert, the six-time Grammy Winner boarded a helicopter headed to Chicago. Minutes after take-off, the helicopter crashed into a nearby ski hill, killing everyone on board. Vaughan’s incredible career was cut short at the age of 35. He was known for his amazing songwriting skills, and for his record production skills. Although his career only spanned seven years, he is still considered to be one of the most influential and iconic musicians in the history of blues music. Oh, and he is also known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

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Austin, Texas Honors One of Its Own

The next morning, the world woke up to find one of its greatest blues guitarists gone. The community of Austin, Texas, where Stevie Ray Vaughan had gotten his start as a musician, was particularly heartbroken. After an investigation by authorized, they concluded that the cause of the crash was a pilot error, in which Vaughn’s family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Omniflight Helicopters. It was this Travis County town where the music legend played his earliest gigs and formed his band Double Trouble.

In honor of their late hero, the Texans erected an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan three years after his passing. The SRV statue originally sat on the bike trail by Auditorium Shores, the venue where Stevie had many times performed. Designed by sculptor Ralph Helmick, the statue shows Vaughn dressed in cowboy boots and a serape, gazing “meditatively” off into the distance.

“Seventh Greatest Guitarist of All Time”

The Stevie Ray Vaughan statue has since been moved to a jogging trail on the south shore of Town Lake in downtown Austin, along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. The statue has, tragically, been the victim of vandalism over the years — but it hasn’t been all bad. When the water levels of Lady Bird Lake were expected to cause flooding, a fan outfitted the statue with a life jacket. Recently, someone placed a bandana over his face to protect him from the coronavirus.

So yeah, safe to say he is well protected and is still looked over by fans. His music continued to achieve commercial success with several posthumous releases and has sold over 15 million albums in the US ALone. David Fricke of Rolling Stone named him the seventh greatest guitarist of all time back in 2013. He was then inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, alongside his bandmates from Double Trouble, Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton, and Reese Wynans.

Jensen Ackles has more than one true love in his life. The first, obviously, is his Supernatural costar, Jared Padalecki, with whom he has long had a super-cute bromance. The second is his wife, Danneel Ackles, a gymnast, model, and fellow actor. Jensen and Danneel might go even further back than the Smallville star and his bro, having been friends for almost a decade before they were married. Let’s take a look back at the love story behind this super-sexy Hollywood couple.

From Friends to Parents

Danneel Harris Ackles (born Elta Danneel Graul) hails from Lafayette, Louisiana. Danneel grew up in Louisiana before moving to Los Angeles. The actress is best known for her role as Shannon McBain on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live and as Rachel Gatina on the Warner Bros television drama series One Tree Hill.

Danneel has appeared in a number of TV series, including What I Like About You, NCIS, CSI, Charmed, and How I Met Your Mother. Her movie credits include The Plight of Clownana, Ten Inch Hero, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, and Fired Up! Jensen met his future wife Danneel Harris Ackles for the first time 10 years before they were married. The two began working together in 2004 during the shooting of the small indie film The Plight of Clownana, which Jensen co-produced. In 2007, they both starred in the movie Ten Inch Hero. It was during the filming of Ten Inch Hero when they began dating.

Although the stars spent a lot of time doing press for their film Ten Inch Hero right as it began dating, they were quite secretive about the status of their relationship. After two years it finally made their relationship public and the red carpet official and they attended the premiere of Ackles’s 2009 film My Bloody Valentine. Seven years after friendship and almost three years of dating Ackles and Danneel Harris finally became engaged in November 2009. The pair  never went into the specific details about how Ackles proposed, but the actor did note, “Just know, I was sweating bullets, and I think her response to me was, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And then it all kind of fell into place from there, and she said yes which is a good thing…which is the most important thing!”

Howdy, Austin

So, six months after a long engagement they both tied the knot on May 15, 2010, in Ackles’ hometown of Dallas, Texas, at the Crescent Hotel. Harris wore a beautiful strapless Monique Lhuillier gown and had three bridesmaids who were all part of One Tree Hill, Hilarie Burton, Vebin Prince, and Elisabeth Harnois. Ackles’s on-screen brother and real-life best friend Jared Padalecki served as one of his groomsmen.

Fast forward to 2013, they announced they were expecting their first child, JJ, together in May that year. In 2016 Justin Jay Ackles became a sibling. The couple announced that they were having not only one but two babies after the actress was carrying twins. In early December 2016, they welcomed their twins, daughter Arrow Roads, and Son Zeppelin Bram.

“The Family Business”

The family currently lives in Austin, Texas, where they own a nearby brewery called Family Business Beer Co. with Dannel’s family. Due to the pandemic, the company had a close, but it’s totally reopening under the safety protocols. They offer outdoor tables by reservation and were able to stay in business and keep the staff employed. The brewery is also owned by Danneel’s brother Gino Graul. According to the actor, they decided to open the brewery since they were big fans of local beer scenes.

The actor stated, “I love the variety that’s here. “It’s not just cookie-cutter brewers. It adds to the spice of life that is Austin. Everything has its own flair,” Jensen continued, “but I don’t feel like there’s any competition. We’re all in this together. As long as there’s quality, then it’s ‘welcome to the table.” The brewery sells a variety of beers from IPA’s, Brownells, sour Ellis, Rye lagers, and barrel-aged brews.

Earlier, the couple formed a production company called Chaos Machine Productions. Under their deal, Chaos Machine will be able to develop original television programming for cable and broadcast networks as well as streaming services.

Watch: Jared Padalecki and Wife Genevieve Cortese Met on Set While Filming This Raunchy Scene

Madeleine Duncan Brown, who died in 2002, claimed to be the longtime mistress of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Brown detailed the affair in her Conservatory Press memoir, Texas in the Morning: The Love Story of Madeleine Brown, and insisted that her son Steven Mark Brown was a product of this relationship. But that’s far from her most interesting claim. During an interview conducted by Robert Gaylon Ross, Sr. shortly before Brown’s death, she detailed her former lover’s foreknowledge of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The Life of Madeleine Duncan Brown

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Madeleine Brown (née Duncan) grew up in Dallas, Texas, and attended W. H. Adamson High School. When she was 19, she married her childhood sweetheart James Glynn Brown but the marriage fell apart following his service in the United States Marine Corps. Returning home from the war, Brown was abusive, schizophrenic, and eventually institutionalized. Although the couple did not officially divorce until 1955, they split in 1948 when their son Jimmy was just two months old. Around the same time, Madeleine was hired by Glenn Advertising and it was the field of radio advertising which eventually led her to cross paths with Lyndon B. Johnson.

Madeleine Brown met Lyndon B. Johnson back in 1948 when the politician was still a Texas congressman. Their tryst began at the Adolphus Hotel, following a party, and continued on for nearly 20 years. Brown came clean about the affair at a press conference in 1982 after The Dallas Morning News ran a story about the couple. Five years later, Brown’s younger son Steven Mark Brown filed a $10.5 million lawsuit against Lady Bird Johnson, alleging that he was biologically Johnson’s son and that the former first lady had conspired to deprive him of his inheritance. One of Johnson’s associates, attorney Jerome T. Ragsdale, even claimed the baby as his own to prevent the bad publicity.

Steven Brown’s suit was dismissed after he failed to show in court. The reason why is especially suspicious. The veteran was arrested and detained by the Navy, suddenly, for “deserting” his post. (Brown was suffering from cancer at the time, and presumably had left his post formally prior to 1989.) He remained missing for two months, and the $10 million lawsuit was thrown out. In 1990, Steven Brown died at age 39, from lymphatic cancer. The disease runs in Johnson’s family. Madeleine Brown touched on the lawsuit, and her son’s premature death, in a tell-all interview with the author Robert Gaylon Ross, Sr. in the year 2000. And that’s not all that Brown had to comment on.

Allegations Regarding the JFK Assassination

“We had a beautiful relationship,” Madeleine Brown said of Lyndon B. Johnson when speaking to Robert Gaylon Ross, Sr. But the interviewer is primarily concerned with JFK’s assassination, specifically how it relates to the mysterious “Clint Murchison Meeting,” as it’s come to be called. The meeting occurred the night before Lee Harvey Oswald shot the president and included such powerful figures as including J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon, John McCloy, H. L. Hunt, and of course, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Clint Murchison was a rich oil tycoon who’d closely supported Johnson during the 1960 Democratic primary. Ross has published various books on related conspiracy theories and the Clint Murchison meeting is of vital importance to understanding the extent of foul play surrounding the Kennedy assassination.

Madeleine Brown first spoke publicly on the matter in 1992, in a television interview for A Current Affair. Brown said that on the evening of November 21, 1963 — the night before the assassination — she went to a party near Dallas at one of Clint Murchison’s houses. When Lyndon B. Johnson finally arrived, she said:

“Tension filled the room… The group immediately went behind closed doors. A short time later Lyndon, anxious and red-faced, re-appeared. I knew how secretly Lyndon operated. Therefore I said nothing… not even that I was happy to see him. Squeezing my hand so hard, it felt crushed from the pressure, he spoke with a grating whisper, a quiet growl, into my ear, not a love message, but one I’ll always remember: ‘After tomorrow those goddamn Kennedys will never embarrass me again – that’s no threat – that’s a promise.'”

Madeleine Brown echoed those sharp details during the subsequent interview with Robert Gaylon Ross. Again, she displays subtle attention to the dynamics of LBJ’s blustering behavior. Despite the many decades that have passed, Brown seems clearly lucid and exhibits a persistent social awareness of her former acquaintances. Suffice to say, Brown was not clueless. In fact, she was politically inclined and closely recognized the many businessmen and politicians fraternizing around her. And noted their intent. On the night of November 21, 1963, the party at Clint Murchison’s house was thrown in honor of J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI. According to Philip F. Nelson’s LBJ: The Mastermind of the JFK Assassination, this party premise allowed for a number of seemingly unrelated figures to convene so soon before the planned assassination without raising suspicion. Then, the final decision was made behind closed doors to move forward with the diabolical plan.

Lyndon B. Johnson, who’d spent the day traveling between Houston and Fort Worth nearly missed the event. But in the end, he arrived to Clint Murchison’s residence, late, by limousine realizing his presidential destiny would be confirmed. Madeleine Brown described the vice president’s nearly giddy state when he left the meeting, saying, “those SOBs” would never mess with him again. The next day, John F. Kennedy was shot dead by Lee Harvey Oswald while driving in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Two days later, Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby while in police custody. That same day, H.L. Hunt told Brown: “Well, we’ve won the war,” a continuation of a remark made during 1960 Democratic Convention, when Hunt Hunt said that they might have lost a battle — referring to Johnson’s primary loss — but they’d win the war.

Madeleine Brown died two years after her extensive conversation with Robert Gaylon Ross, Sr. She was 76 years old. Although her claims have been challenged, most notably by conspiracy debunker Gary Mack, her account remains a historic, informative, and colorful background to our understanding of both the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies. (And Nixon’s too, for that matter.) After her death, interview clips with Brown also factored into the ITV documentary series, The Men Who Killed Kennedy.

Watch the Full Interview Here

DALLAS (AP) — The end of Texas’ mask mandate is giving Lucy Alanis second thoughts about one of her occasional indulgences during the coronavirus pandemic: dining in at restaurants.

Texans React

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“I guess I’m a little scared,” said Alanis, 27, a florist in Dallas.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s repeal of most COVID-19 restrictions — saying it was “time to open Texas 100%” — reverberated across the state and to the White House on Wednesday, a day after one of the country’s most dramatic rollbacks of rules intended to slow the spread of the virus.

Businesses in Texas shed rules, city leaders plotted new safeguards and the state’s 5 million schoolchildren largely remained under orders to keep wearing masks, at least for now. The pushback to Abbott’s decision included one of his own pandemic advisers, who said he was not consulted ahead of time.

Texas has another week before the mandates end, but what daily life will look like after that remains unsettled after Abbott made the state the largest in the U.S. to no longer require masks, which health experts say is among the most effective ways to curb the spread of the virus.

“Neanderthal Thinking”

President Joe Biden reacted to America’s second-largest state winding down virus restrictions for nearly 30 million people, calling it “Neanderthal thinking.”

The mask mandate, which has been in place since July, and occupancy limits on restaurants and retail stores end March 10. Already, some stores announced they still won’t allow maskless customers, while social media users began tracking evolving polices on crowdsourced spreadsheets.

Shopping at Target? Masks are still required. Going to Texas’ largest grocery chain, H-E-B? Face coverings are encouraged but no longer mandated.

It’s yet another test for businesses that have struggled to strike a balance between safety and survival over the past year.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said his officers will continue wearing masks. He blasted Abbott over the repeal and worries about more aggressive encounters like one in December, when a customer confronted over a mask at a Houston bar smashed a glass over an employee’s head.

“We can see conflict coming, sadly,” Acevedo said. “And I think that a lot of this is going to be self-inflicted.”

Abbott said “personal vigilance” among Texans remained essential but that mandates were no longer needed, emphasizing the increasing availability of vaccines. On Wednesday, Texas health officials announced that teachers and child care workers were now eligible to be vaccinated.

The Pandemic Continues

The virus has killed more than 43,000 people in Texas, behind only California and New York. Like most of the country, new cases and hospitalizations statewide have fallen rapidly in recent weeks from record levels in January. But the toll still remains significant, including nearly 300 newly reported deaths Wednesday.

Still, federal health officials warn that the pandemic is far from over and that states should not let their guard down. Even one of Abbott’s own pandemic advisers disagreed with the move.

“I don’t think this is the right time,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, who also told The Associated Press in an email that he was not consulted before the repeals were announced. “Texas has been making some real progress but it’s too soon for full reopening and to stop masking around others.”

State education officials on Wednesday gave local school boards the ability to set their own rules.

Immediately after Abbott made his announcement Tuesday, the tiny Rogers school district about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Austin said its 850 students would no longer need to wear masks or undergo temperature checks. But by Wednesday morning, Superintendent Joe Craig backpedaled, saying he needed to explain the ramifications to parents.

Under the district’s current protocols, if everyone is wearing a mask, a positive test doesn’t trigger an automatic quarantine of everyone in the same classroom.

“If we go to a no mask thing, that part of it changes,” Craig said. Most parents would probably not want masks, he said, “but they’re missing a piece of information they’re not considering.”

Outside a spin workout studio in Dallas, manager Nicky Cecala said he was inundated with text messages from people who knew “all the struggle and perseverance we’ve had to endure” to keep the business running over the last year.

He said whether his studio changes protocols will partially depend on what customers want, but he welcomes being able to now make the choice himself.

“I don’t think the government has a place to tell individuals what to do,” he said. “I think they can suggest it, but it becomes kinda tyrannical to force people to do something against their will.”

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Weber reported from Austin. Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno in Austin contributed to this report.

In Texas, the Plano Independent School District finally decided to help the Plano Police Department in their investigation of a potential hate crime case, after initially not taking action. In Plano, a suburb outside of Dallas, a Black middle school student was forced to drink urine by his fellow White classmates, and it was all captured on a video that went viral on social media.

Summer Smith, the mother of 13-year-old SeMarion Humphrey, had been reporting for months to Plano ISD that her son was getting repeatedly bullied. However, the school district had originally said, “there is nothing they [could] do,” because it wasn’t necessarily taking place on school grounds. Nevertheless, with the video showing the young boy not only being forced to drink urine, but also getting slapped and being called racial and homophobic slurs, now trending on social media, the school district has changed its position.

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SeMarion Humphrey Forced to Drink Urine at Sleepover in Texas

Editor’s note: The videos below are violent and concerning in their nature. Viewer’s discretion is advised.

According to Smith, SeMarion had been harshly bullied for months by some of his former teammates on the football team at Haggard Middle School, resulting in his quitting of the team despite his love for the sport. Smith also explained that despite the clear evidence of bullying, the coaches and school did nothing, even mentioning how a coach took SeMarion’s inhaler.

Plano ISD Student Bullying Report with Plano Police Department

She also detailed how he was excited when one of her son’s classmates who had bullied him before had invited him to a birthday sleepover, befriending SeMarion weeks before the incident so that he would be persuaded to come over. In the viral video, SeMarion was woken up by another boy at the sleepover who was forcing him to drink urine, saying he needed to drink it because he had stopped breathing.

Another video shows SeMarion getting slapped by another boy, and along with getting called homophobic and racial slurs, SeMarion was also hit with pellets from a bb gun. According to CBS DFW, Smith said at a press conference, “How horrible must you be? This is not a prank. This is beyond bullying. You are evil. They are evil.”

Summer Smith Says “This Is Beyond Bullying”

Smith also elaborated on why this is actually more of a hate crime than just common bullying. She said, “When you say there’s nothing you can do, what do you mean exactly? Because it seems to me that there’s plenty you can do… It was premeditated and obvious that SeMarion was only invited for their pure entertainment.”

Law enforcement has been conducting a full investigation to identify any criminal offenses since the incident happened last month. However, since the Plano school district has just now decided to help aid the investigation, they explained how a juvenile detective and school resource officer will be helping law enforcement. They released an updated statement that said,

“With the recent off-campus incident at the forefront of our community’s concerns, please know that the Board maintains strict, legal policies that protect the welfare of our students, and that unequivocally prohibit bullying and harassment. To that end, we intend to continue working with our parents, community and local law enforcement to resolve this concern while remaining focused on the success and wellbeing of our students.”

The family’s attorney, Kim T. Cole, said in a Facebook post, “This was a racially motivated hate crime. These teens MUST be held accountable for their depraved acts,” and attached a link for a GoFundMe page to help fund his therapy and his transfer to a private school.

I don’t want to be too quick to judge the decisions of an entire school district, especially one that I grew up near, but this case shouldn’t have this much controversy around it. It’s pretty clear that the boy was getting bullied, and so I’m wondering what were school officials doing to help alleviate this in real-time? Yeah, maybe it wasn’t on school grounds, but that doesn’t mean you stop caring for your students just because they’re not at school. Especially if you’re in a position that could help make a difference.

And what about the parents? This is a very important issue, and if I were parenting one of these bullies, I would be incredibly concerned about how I was raising my child to be capable of such hate. Teaching others how to treat others equally regardless of the color of their skin is incredibly crucial and has always been valuable throughout history. My heart breaks for SeMarion, and I hope those boys are held fully accountable for their actions. They deserve the punishment for degrading someone in such a horrifying manner, and they also need to know that they can’t take their actions back. And so, they need to understand the consequences and magnitude of their decisions.

There are few historical outfits that are as iconic and instantly recognizable as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s signature pink suit. Per CR Fashion Book, the ensemble was a raspberry pink double-breasted bouclé jacket and matching skirt with “a quilted navy blue collar, gold buttons, and four square pockets.” The design came from Coco Chanel’s 1961 Fall/Winter collection.

Mrs. Kennedy had worn the suit a few times before November 22, 1963, but it became synonymous with her husband President John F. Kennedy Jr.’s assassination in Dallas, Texas. Jackie Kennedy wore the suit as she rode alongside her husband in a motorcade and famously kept it on, stained with her late husband’s blood, until the next morning. When encouraged to change into clean clothes, she declined, famously answering “Let them see what they’ve done.”

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JFK Thought Jackie Looked “Smashing” In The Famous Pink Suit

The suit was a Chanel design, but it was fitted and sewn for Jackie Kennedy by the New York City boutique Chez Ninon with fabric, hardware, and trim sent from Paris. During the Kennedy presidency, it was expected that the First Lady would only be seen in clothes made in America. Jackie accessorized the outfit with a matching pink pillbox hat and white gloves.

As reported by Town & Country, the outfit was one of JFK’s favorites; he thought Jackie looked “smashing” in it and specifically asked her to wear it in Dallas. After the shooting, Mrs. Kennedy wore the suit as she accompanied her husband to the hospital and then onboard Air Force One where she stood beside Kennedy’s Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson as he was sworn in as President of the United States on the way back to Washington, D.C.

The Suit Remains Off Limits To The Public

Unlike many other artifacts from the Kennedy administration, the famous pink suit remains protected within a “custom made acid-free box in the climate-controlled National Archives building in College Park, Maryland” along with the rifle used by Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot President Kennedy, bullets, and bullet fragments from the shooting, and millions of pages of records on the assassination. The famous pillbox hat and gloves were lost in the melee of the assassination. The suit and her other accessories and stockings were forwarded to the National Archives by Kennedy’s mother with a handwritten note reading “Jackie’s suit and bag — worn November 22, 1963.”

When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in 2003, her daughter Caroline Kennedy became the technical owner of all of her mother’s possessions, including the famous pink Chanel suit. Kennedy signed a deed of gift officially turning over the suit to the National Archives with a provision that the suit not be displayed publicly until at least 2103, “so as to not in any way to dishonor the memory of the late President or cause unnecessary grief or suffering to members of his family.” In 2011, senior archivist Steven Tilley told the Washington Post that “[the suit] looks like it’s brand new, except for the blood.”

It was a tragic day for Dallas police officers after they found six family members dead in an apparent murder-suicide incident. Police stated two brothers made a suicide pact that included the deaths of their relatives. Allen police discovered the bodies early Monday after a friend had called the police station around 1 a.m. calling for a welfare check after seeing a social media post.

Police Sgt. Jon Felty stated, “The two brothers had entered into an agreement that they were going to complete suicide, and from that, it went to where the entire family was taken with them.” One of the brothers, Farhan, had described in an Instagram post what occurred or would occur. He said one brother was 19 and the other was in his 20s. The first line of the note stated, “Hey everyone. I killed myself and my family. If I’m going to die, I might as well get some attention.”

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Six Killed in Texas Murder-Suicide Carried Out by Brothers

Farhan then stated he suffered from depression since 9th grade, and started to cut himself regularly and told his father. He noted, “Eventually I was thrown in some teen mental health camp where I was finally diagnosed and got medication.” While attending the University of Texas, his depression allegedly got worse and he moved back with his parents and began spending more time with his brother. The boy also said that the suicide was motivated by love, stating, “Instead of having to deal with the aftermath of my suicide, I could just do them a favor and take them with me. None of us will never have to feel sad over again.”

The victims included two parents, a sister, and a grandparent. Police officially identified the family members as 77-year-old grandmother Altafun Nessa, 56-year-old mother Iren Islam, 54-year-old father Towhidul Islam, 21-year-old Tanvir Towhid, and 19-year-old twins Farbin Towhid and her brother Farhan Towhid. Neighbors told authorities that they were stunned by the incident. According to a family friend, Deelra Hassan, “The family is a very nice and happy family.”

Fazia Rahman, who graduated last year with Farhan and Farbin Towhid from Allen High School, stated the family was very welcoming and the parents “treated everyone like they were their own kids.” She continued, “We don’t want this to be their family legacy. They were such great people, they genuinely touched the lives of everyone who they came in contact with. They were good people who had bright futures ahead of them.”

Texas Murder-Suicide Leaves Six Dead

The Allen Police Department had no substantive contact with the family. Felty said evidence suggests the killings occurred last week on Saturday, April 10. He stated the family is from Bangladesh and found some family members in the state of Florida who were on their way to Texas.

He noted, “We have never had an incident like this in the 21 years that I have been here. It’s just a tragedy. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s a tragedy that you just can’t imagine.” Police stated the investigation was ongoing.

Few people are unfamiliar with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who for many years was the richest man in the world. Less familiar to the public is the woman behind the billionaire — his wife Melinda Gates, who like her husband is a philanthropist and author. She’s perhaps best known for her role as co-chair and co-namesake of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, their private American non-profit that focuses on global health, poverty, and education issues.

Melinda Gates Met her Future Husband While Working at Microsoft.

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Melinda Gates was born Melinda French in Dallas, Texas in 1964. Her interest in computers began in an advanced high school math class at the Catholic Ursine Academy, and she would pursue this field of study into college. She graduated from Duke University in 1986 with a degree in Computer Science, followed by an MBA at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

In 1987, she found work at the Microsoft Corporation, first as a marketing manager then working her way up to general manager of information products. That same year, she met Bill at a trade show for the first time and was charmed by his sense of humor. After six years of dating, the two were married on the island of Lanai, Hawaii in 1996. After the birth of their first child, Jennifer, in 1996, Melinda left Microsoft to focus on raising her and managing the couple’s new philanthropy efforts. The Gates family would have two other children, Phoebe and Rory Gates.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Founded in 1994, the William H. Gates Foundation—named after Bill’s father—focused on improving developing-world childcare and reproductive health. In 1999, it merged with two of the Gates’ other foundations to form the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda expanded the non-profit’s focus beyond its initial efforts by donating Microsoft products to American libraries, including first global education outreach and then global poverty and health. After a $30 billion dollar donation from Warren Buffet in 2006, the Foundation was restructured into three primary departments: Global Development, World Health, and American Health and Education.

Bill & Melinda Gates Talk Taxing The Wealthy

Some of the Seattle-based Foundation’s more prominent efforts include global disease prevention—with a focus on AIDS/HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis—vaccine development, contraception in global South countries, poverty assistance in the Washington and Oregon area, school funding, and access to technology in public libraries.

Former President Barack Obama awarded Bill and Melinda a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. In 2018, the 10th edition of their annual letter, Melinda wrote critically of then-President Trump’s treatment of women but emphasized the importance of friendly relations with the administration. 2019 saw the release of Melinda’s first book “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World“, which combined elements of memoir and advocacy to argue its feminist ethos.

Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Foundation donated considerable funds toward the development of a vaccine. Following President Biden’s inauguration in 2021, Melinda went on Forbes to urge the president to center women in his pandemic response through paid family medical leave.

In the Wilson family, the apples didn’t fall far from the tree. The three apples, to be precise.

The patriarch of the Cunningham Wilson family was the late Robert A. Wilson, a prominent public TV station executive who brought Monty Python’s Flying Circus to American audiences. Like their father, Luke, Owen, and Andrew Wilson were drawn to the entertainment industry. It is perhaps both their love for the industry and affection towards each other that the three brothers remained pretty close in their professional and personal lives.

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You Probably Recognize Owen and Luke Wilson

Having left their hometown of Dallas, Texas, the Wilson brothers have made their mark on Hollywood. Often in front of the camera, actors Luke and Owen Wilson are perhaps most widely recognized.

Owen and Wilson made their acting debut by co-starring in the same movie: Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket (which Owen co-wrote with Anderson). The duo of American actors would team up with Anderson again in a number of films, working as both writers and/or actors on Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.

Luke and his brother Owen also played the Wright brothers in the movie Around the World in 80 Days, and co-starred The Wendell Baker Story (which incidentally was the directorial debut of their older brother, Andrew — but more on him later).

Since they first co-starred in Bottle Rocket together, Luke and Owen have gone on to have very distinctive solo careers.

Owen tends to get cast in comedic roles. He’s joined legendary funny people in a long list of box office comedies — like Ben Stiller in Zoolander and Night at the Museum, Will Ferrell in Old School, and Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers. By comparison, Luke more often lands more romantic leads in rom-coms like Legally Blonde, Death at a Funeral, and My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and other movies such as The Ridiculous 6 and Vacancy. Luke has also done a fair bit of television work, appearing in That ’70s Show, Enlightened, and Roadies. Currently, he plays Pat Dugan on the CW show, Star Girl.

What About Their Brother, Andrew?

So what about their lesser-known, but equally talented older brother Andrew?

Luke and Owen’s older brother, writer-director Andrew Wilson (born Robert Andrew Wilson), may not be as prominent in front of the camera as his two brothers. That said, you can often spot him in their movies if you know where to look for him.

Andrew appeared in Bottle Rocket as Future Man (which he also worked as associate producer on). He also appeared in other Wilson-Wes Anderson collaborations like Rushmore (as Coach Beck) and The Royal Tennenbaums (as Margo’s biological Amish father).

The list continues: You can spot Andrew in his brother’s movies like Charlie’s Angels, Zoolander, and Idiocracy. Also, as we mentioned, he debuted as a director in The Wendell Baker Story, which Luke wrote and co-directed.

So Do All the Wilson Brothers Get Along?

Given that they’ve collaborated on so many films together, it’d be easy to conclude that the Wilson brothers get along. That said, Luke has confessed to People that it isn’t always high fives and inside jokes when the three work together.

According to Luke, the brothers had been working together on The Wendell Baker Story when they had a disagreement. “Owen basically said he was done with the scene, and we didn’t feel like we’d gotten it,” Luke said. “So Andrew is like, ‘You’re done? You’re not going to do it again?’ [He] looks at me, and I’m like, ‘I can’t, you’re bigger than he is, just kick his ass. Just kick his ass, man.’”

Nevertheless, Luke maintains that the brothers have a synergy that “makes things easier” when working on movies together.

Earlier this week, the team at Rare discussed the likelihood of actor Matthew McConaughey being elected governor of Texas.

Not long after, former U.S. President George W. Bush weighed in on the issue. On Tuesday’s episode of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, Bush said, “I have no idea [about McConaughey’s chances of winning]. I just tell you this: It’s a tough business.”

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Watch George W. Bush’s comment on Matthew McConaughey’s potential run

During the morning broadcast, the former president appeared alongside former first lady Laura Bush. The couple was interviewed by their daughter Jenna Bush Hager and her co-host Hoda Kotb.

It was the former first daughter who brought up the possibility of McConaughey running. Hager noted that the 51-year-old actor “is making headlines down in Texas, dad.” Her co-host Kotb added that the Oscar winner is currently ahead of Governor Greg Abbott in the polls.

And it’s true — a recent poll from the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows the Dallas Buyers Club star has a double-digit lead on Gov. Abbott in a hypothetical gubernatorial race. According to the poll, 45 percent of registered Texan voters would vote for McConaughey, compared to the 33% who would vote for Abbott and 22% who would vote for someone else.

Is Matthew McConaughey actually running for Texas Governor?

Though McConaughey hasn’t confirmed anything, the Hollywood star has been toying with the idea of running for governor in his home state for a while. He revealed political aspirations back in 2020, hinting at the possibility during numerous interviews while promoting his memoir, “Greenlights”.

During a November interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show, the actor told the host that a gubernatorial run “wouldn’t be up to me”. “It would be up to the people more than it would me,” McConaughey said. “I would say this: Look, politics seems to be a broken business to me right now. And when politics redefines its purpose, I could be a hell of a lot more interested.”

Last month on the Balanced Voice podcast, the star said running for Texas governor was a serious possibility. During the now-trending interview, podcast host Rania Mankarious commented, “Should your next leadership role ever include you, you know, running for governor of this wonderful state, we’d be very happy,” “I hear you. It’s a true consideration,” McCaunaughey responded.

Politics-wise, McConaughey has long taken a moderate stance without defining his viewpoint on many political topics. Last year, the actor told Fox News radio that he believed that neither liberals nor conservatives are to blame for the nation’s deep political divide, but rather extremists on both sides.

Prior to the 2020 election, McConaughey declined to say whether he wanted Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the White House.

I always check my bag before I leave a fast-food restaurant’s drive-thru, in fear that I was given the wrong order. And I’m not really sorry about how long it takes me before I let the next person behind me move forward to get their order. But after watching this video of this customer getting attacked by a Chicken Express employee, I’m smugly reassured that taking my time to make sure my order is correct isn’t done in vain.

In Red Oak, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, a man was given the wrong order at a Chicken Express restaurant. According to the Daily Post USA, after he contacted the location about it, they offered a 50% discount on his next order. But when he came back to the fast-food chain to claim his discount, something went horribly wrong. The video shows the Chicken Express drive-thru employee suddenly jumping out of the window and assaulting the man in his car.

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Texas Chicken Express Employee Assaults Customer in Drive-Thru Window

Although it’s not totally sure what actually happened here to cause the altercation, but KXAN News explained that the customer eventually filed a lawsuit against the fast-food chain. This poor guy was just trying to order some food, probably at his own convenience, only to end up having to deal with not only a wrong order, but probably some trauma and a black eye too.

Maybe it’s just my affinity for juicy drama, but I strive to either witness or dare I say, be a part of, some sort of drive-thru encounter like this one day. I mean, as much as anyone grabs fast food on their way home after a night of drinking or after work out of pure laziness from having a busy day, you’re bound to somehow be involved in this kind of craziness eventually. I’m just awaiting my day.

With all the ongoing issues in our nation regarding immigration policy, former President George W. Bush was called on by a friend to use his voice and platform to speak on the debate. His response was an offer of his paintings, which- fun fact about the former politician, is one of his passions. According to Fox News, he had painted 43 migrants and their stories to “change the tone” surrounding immigration, shifting the focus on its “beauty.”

The Art of Painting: A Conversation with President Bush’s Art Instructors

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The Republican former president is known for his paintings, spending his leisure time honoring American warriors and military veterans in the past. In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Bush said, “It’s something I just came to, I hadn’t been painting all my life. I started painting eight years ago, and I’ve been painting ever since. I was busy, but it turns out, I wasn’t fulfilled. Exercising, golfing some, and giving speeches, and writing some other books, and by chance, someone gave me Winston Churchill’s essay, ‘Painting as a Pastime.’ I read it, and as a Churchill admirer, I took a keen interest in his paintings.”

George W. Bush: ‘Portraits Of Courage’ Is ‘A Wonderful Opportunity To Honor’ Veterans

He explained how Churchill’s essay, “talked about the joy of painting, and I said, maybe this is what would fill my interests,” adding, “And so I said, I’m going to paint, and I hired an instructor and got after it. I took it very seriously – it’s the kind of thing you have to work at, and I’m working at it. I’m learning a lot.”

He also noted that he doesn’t want to get directly involved in politics, but that his friend expressed the country’s need for his, “voice in the immigration debate,” saying, “I said, ‘Well, I’m not so sure I want to get involved in politics,’ and he said, ‘Well, why don’t you paint immigrants.’ And it was one of those moments where it was incredibly enlightening, and I thought, wow, great idea.”

Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants by George W. Bush on Amazon

His new book, Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants, had actually come out in 2020, and Bush explained to Fox News that it had little to do with the immigration system, saying, “But the purpose of this book was not to create a hot issue – the purpose of the book was to try to change the tone of the debate and get people to focus on the beauty of immigration, not the sordid side of immigration.”

Joseph Kim, an immigrant who grew up and fled North Korea to China, and then to the United States, was the first immigrant portrait Bush painted. Kim now works for the Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center as a resident expert in its Human freedom Initiative. He said, “I admire his story incredibly well. And then I decided, well, if that immigrant needs to be painted, how about Paula, the woman who raised us, and then I got going on it, and once it became clear that the project started taking steam, we decided to limit it to 43.”

Bush’s book details through a collection of stories and oil paintings, the “inspiring journeys of America’s immigrants and the contributions they make to the life and prosperity of our nation,” including profiles of North Korean refugees fighting for human rights, a CEO in Dallas, Texas, who came to the U.S. as a teenager from Mexico, a Nigerian woman who became an engineer, and many more who made the hard work journey in search of a better life.

George W. Bush on Painting a New Vision of Immigrants

In the book’s forward, Bush makes a reference to the Latin words, “E Pluribus Unum,” which means “Out of Many, One,” explaining how he hopes to help immigrants and move immigration reform this way by saying, “It is a nod to one of our greatest strengths – our unique ability to absorb people from different backgrounds and cultures into one nation under God. To forever remain a shining city upon a hill, a beacon of liberty, and the most hopeful society the world has ever known, America only needs to remember that strength.”

The former Disney kid Demi Lovato is branching out… to alien hunting. The singer made headlines this week for coming out as gender non-binary, which is not the first time they’ve opened up to the public; Lovato overdosed in 2018 and explored that near-deadly experience for the 2021 docuseries, Dancing with the Devil. Now they’re utilizing that format again — to expose extraterrestrial life. The four-part limited series on the Peacock, tentatively titled Unidentified with Demi Lovato, will follow Lovato, their sister Dallas, and their skeptical best friend Matthew as trio seeks the truth regarding UFO phenomena.

“I Know That They’re Real”

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On Unidentified with Demi Lovato, we can expect to see Demi Lovato recount eyewitness encounters, interview alien abductees, learn from leading experts in the field, delve into “secret government reports,” and even conduct tests at supposed UFO hot spots.

According to Deadline, Unidentified With Demi Lovato will be produced by GoodStory Entertainment and SB Projects with Lovato signed on to executive produce along with Andrew Nock, Scooter Braun, Scott Manson, Allison Kaye, JD Roth, Adam Greener, Sara Hansemann. The new series for NBC’s streaming service marks Lovato’s second collaboration with the network; currently, they’re set to star on Hungry, an upcoming comedy that follows a “food-issues” group.

So far, Unidentified with Demi Lovato has no official release date but the singer-actress updated her Instagram on May 11 to say the project was “coming soon.”

Lovato’s UFO Journey

In October, Demi Lovato spent time in Joshua Tree with Dr. Steven Greer, a self-described UFO expert. Together, they witnessed what Lovato called a “profound sighting.” They left the experience a true believer, writing on her social media:

“If we were to get 1% of the population to meditate and make contact, we would force our governments to acknowledge the truth about extraterrestrial life among us and change our destructive habits destroying our planet.”

Former President Donald Trump is trending, once again, after reportedly telling people that he thinks he will be reinstated to the White House as president by August. This was reported by New York Times Reporter Maggie Haberman via her Twitter. She tweeted, “Trump has been telling a number of people he’s in contact with that he expects it will be reinstated by August (no that isn’t how it works but simply sharing the information).” Trump has also continued to falsely push that he didn’t lose the election to President Joe Biden. He is expected to start holding rallies this month including in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Haberman, who has covered several stories about the Trump Administration and Former President Donald Trump for over decades, added that Trump has been “laser-focused” on election audits in those states he is still trying to overturn. Former Trump attorney, Sidney Powell, told several audience members at a conference that Trump can simply be reinstated and that a “new inauguration day is set.”

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Maggie Haberman: New York Times

Powell, who is known for spreading several conspiracy theories to Trump supporters, is currently facing a defamation lawsuit for promoting the lie that the election was stolen and spreading a theory that voting machines were rigged. During the same Qanon Conference, Trump’s First National Security adviser Michael Flynn answered questions from someone about why there couldn’t be a Myanmar-style coup in the United States, to which he replied, “no reason, I mean, it should happen here.” He has then posted on social media, saying he denies calling for a coup.

Rep Liz Cheney, who was voted out by Republicans for rejecting Trump’s claims of election fraud, tweeted Flynn’s remarks saying, “no American should advocate or support the violent overthrow of the United States.” As far as Trump’s comments, according to The Constitution, there are only three paths to the presidency: election and succession, through the 25th Amendment, or impeachment. Donald Trump is not in the succession chain due to him not holding national office at the moment, and the next presidential election is not until 2024.

MSNBC: MAGA World Still Thinks Trump Will Be Reinstated As President

A horrific robbery attempt at a Texas Hotel located in Fort Worth was captured on a security camera, and now authorities are asking the public’s help to identify the criminal. Surveillance video shows the masked robber walking into the Fort Worth Budget Host Inn lobby. He then threatens to burn the clerk alive, who is behind the counter and glass partition.

That’s when the robber douses the counter in a flammable liquid, spilling it all over the clerk. While holding a lighter above the liquid, the would-be thief shouts in frustration at the hotel clerk. Spooked out of his mind, the clerk then reaches for the phone in an attempt to call for help. Acting on instinct, the robber then ignites the liquid and the counter engulfs in a fireball!

Robber Burns Texas Hotel Clerk Alive

So yes, basically, this man threatened to burn him alive if he didn’t give up the money, and carried through with his threat. Luckily, the hotel worker managed to put out the fire, only suffering minor injuries. As far as the hotel lobby, well that was obviously extensively damaged.

The suspect can then be seen running away from the hotel, as he changes his t-shirt before getting in a car and driving away. The fire investigators are now asking the public for their help in identifying the suspect who is accused of arson. Through a Facebook video, the FWFD Fort Worth Fire Department threatened the would-be thief, stating, ” I would urge the suspect, if you’re watching this broadcast, to turn yourself in —because we eventually will identify you.”

In the video, the suspect, believed to be Hispanic, is shown having long hair, wearing a dark-colored baseball hat, and a pink button-up shirt over a teal t-shirt. The fire department stated he was driving a white four-door car, likely Honda Accord, with a sunroof and rear spoiler.

If you have any information about the incident you are asked to contact Lieutenant James Horgan at 817-929-8735 or you can submit an anonymous tip  Crime Stoppers 817-469-TIPS.

Read More: An Attempt to Kill a Spider by Fire Torches Entire Apartment

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