Dire Wolves Live While Winds of Winter Hopes Die

Dire wolves are back, baby! Sort of. For the past few years I’ve been seeing article pop up about this company that’s trying to bring the woolly mammoth back to life. As elephants are my favorite animals, I also love the woolly mammoth by extension. I’ve also been fascinated by the concept of cloning and DNA splicing since I was a child. The first time I read The House of the Scorpion, I wondered why we couldn’t just clone people. Scientists at Texas A&M cloned a cat and then there’s Dolly the sheep, so why not people? There are specific answers to that but I won’t get into it right now because I don’t remember and I don’t feel like looking it up again but you can if you feel so inclined. I figure God doesn’t want us doing it so He put some safeguards in us on a molecular level. Or maybe there’s a scientist out there who figured out how to do it but was too afraid of what world governments would do with access to cloning technology so they decided to scrap the idea. Either way, it’s a fascinating subject that’s becoming more science and less science fiction as the years go on.

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Donald Trump and the Prisoners of Alcatraz

Howdy, everybody, I just caught wind of Trump’s latest master plan: he wants to reopen Alcatraz. Yeah, that Alcatraz, the old island prison in San Francisco Bay, now a tourist hotspot. I thought it was a joke account at first, but no, it’s pure Trump energy. It’s got his signature bold, in-your-face style, and I’m intrigued, but I’m also like… huh? I’m all for his knack for stirring the pot, but why Alcatraz? What’s the play here? It’s wild, a bit hilarious, and I’m dying to see where this goes.

Trump’s pitching Alcatraz as a lockup for “America’s most ruthless criminals.” Think Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly, back when the Rock was the ultimate bad-guy hotel. He’s selling it as a law-and-order flex, which, let’s be honest, is his brand. Gotta love how he swings for the fences with ideas nobody else would touch. But here’s the thing: Alcatraz hasn’t been a prison since 1963. It’s been raking in over a million visitors a year for the National Park Service. Shutting that down for a symbolic stunt? That’s peak Trump, but is it practical?

Here’s the deal: Alcatraz closed because it was a money pit. Saltwater eats everything, and it only held about 300 inmates back then. Fixing it up could cost a billion bucks and take six to eight years, plus there’s already a $63.6 million project to make it earthquake-proof. Turning it back into a prison sounds like a logistical dumpster fire. And even if Trump bulldozes through the legal mess, what happens when he’s out of office? No way JD Vance or whoever’s next keeps this circus going. I dig the tough-on-crime vibe, but is this the move?

Trump’s got his reasons, and I respect the hustle. He’s fed up with “radical judges” slowing deportations and wants a big, scary symbol to scream, “Not on my watch.” Alcatraz, with its escape-proof rep (minus those three guys in ‘62—still a head-scratcher!), fits the bill. Word is Don Jr. might’ve pitched it, maybe after binging Escape from Alcatraz. I mean, who doesn’t get hyped for Clint Eastwood? But Congress has to sign off, and with tax cuts and tariffs on the table, I’m not holding my breath. Plus, San Francisco will lose its mind if their cash cow becomes a cellblock again.

I’ve voted Trump three times, and I love how he grabs headlines like nobody else. This Alcatraz idea is nuts, and I’m low-key rooting for him to pull it off, or at least keep us entertained. But is it the best way to flex? Could the cash go to border security or something less… island-y? Either way, he’s got my attention, and I’m grabbing popcorn for the show.

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Saints, Sinners, and Shedeur Sanders

Saints

Rendering of the Fairview Texas Temple

I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2018, just as President Russell M. Nelson took the helm. Since then he’s announced nearly 200 temples worldwide. As a Texan and a member, I’m proud one is planned near Dallas-Fort Worth: the Fairview Texas Temple. But not everyone feels the same way. Texas means “Friend,” yet Fairview’s venom toward neighbors who just want to worship feels like a betrayal of our state’s heart, exposing hypocrisy at best and outright religious bigotry at worst.

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