In this solo episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer responds to the shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old healthcare worker who was killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis during protests over enforcement of immigration law. As political debate intensifies, Shermer asks a tough question that most discussions are avoiding: What role does personal responsibility play in emotionally charged, high-risk situations? He separates the facts we can reasonably assert from what remains uncertain and explains why scrutinizing frame-by-frame video misses something essential about how humans behave under stress and fear. Show your support with a tax-deductible donation and share the show with your friends and family. Together, we can make a meaningful difference. Become a paid member of Skeptic to start commenting To explore complex issues with careful analysis and help you make sense of the world. Think a friend would enjoy this? We've emailed you a magic link — click it to access your account. We've emailed you a magic link — click it to access your account.

The rapid spread of conspiracy theories about Victoria's recent bushfires – such as a government-orchestrated internet blackout, and lasers causing the blazes – has prompted warnings that misinformation will become more frequent as natural disasters increase because of climate change. Some of these people were among the dozens who tried to confront Allan before and after a press conference and heckled her from outside Alexandra District Health. Some locals also demanded to know why communications weren't working in the region. Not long after, a screenshot of a WhatsApp message was circulated, alleging Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas had told locals the government had shut down internet and phone services to stop the spread of misinformation. Others speculated the internet was switched off to coincide with Allan's visit and prevent locals from organising against her. Premiers and other government officials do not have the power to switch off internet services. Communications were patchy as phone and internet towers were damaged in the fires, and services including electricity went down, prompting calls to better secure this infrastructure in emergencies. But the rumour was just one of several conspiracy theories that emerged after 400,000 hectares were burnt. Some online posts, appearing on Facebook profiles and in local community groups, were shared hundreds of times across communities with small populations. Other conspiracies circulated online include that the bushfires were deliberately lit to encourage wind farms. Another theory was that the fires were started by “energy weapons” such as lasers. This has become a regular accusation by conspiracy theorists for bushfires around the world. Dr Mathew Marques, a senior lecturer in social psychology at La Trobe University, said it was typical for conspiracy theories to emerge during times of crisis and collective trauma. “It clearly will become more common with climate change effects increasing,” he said. Marques said research suggested people turned to conspiracies for explanations at times of catastrophic events. “The idea is that they're meant to provide this way for people to buffer this anxiety or reduce the frustration of these needs that they've got. “But the reality is they actually make people feel worse. “These kinds of stories about bogeymen, or state premiers pulling the strings, don't actually make people feel any better, even though they allow people to attribute the blame to a person, or sometimes a faceless group.” But there was also a political element at play, he said, with people finding it easier to lay blame on groups with different political allegiances or from different social classes. “It might just be we're more readily able to view people's sincere or insincere beliefs on social media, so people will talk about them ...” he said. A 2025 report from the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies, titled Crisis Points, found natural disasters could have political and societal consequences that could be exploited by extremists. “In so doing, they have tacitly, or sometimes directly, incited and conducted violence against government, response agencies and identified out-groups,” the report says. “It has become increasingly difficult to ensure the take-up of accurate messaging from government or authoritative sources. Associate Professor Josh Roose, an extremism expert at Deakin University, said conspiracies would become more common, but the side effects of this trend were not well understood. “Governments need a long-term strategy on how they're going to cope with the conspiracy theories that inevitably arise in these contexts,” he said. Roose said evidence from the developing world showed a rise in extremist groups after natural disasters. “There are people out there who are profiting from this, both financially but also politically, in seeking to build movements, he said. Look at the “freedom” movement, which still exists to this day, and you'll see how quickly they proliferate in sovereign citizen circles.” “What they can do is deal, in particular, with the impacted communities, be physically present on the ground, communicating with them on a daily basis through whatever mechanism necessary.”

Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the team in 2021. Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the team in 2021. Tammy Pitkin worked as a real estate agent in Red Bluff. RED BLUFF, Calif. - The disappearance of Tammy Pitkin, a woman from Red Bluff, remains a mystery more than three years after she vanished while visiting Oregon. Her new gray Toyota Camry was discovered 12 days later on a forest road, 30 miles east of Sweet Home, Oregon. This location is 400 miles from her home in Red Bluff. Pitkin's new Toyota Camry was found abandoned on a remote forest road, 30 miles east of Sweet Home, Oregon. Searchers scoured the area multiple times, but no trace of Pitkin was found. Trooper was found alive near her abandoned car four months later. Pitkin had lost her job and was going through a divorce. She was well-known in Red Bluff, where her ex-husband and adult son live. Tammy Pitkin of Red Bluff vanished during a trip to Oregon in Oct. 2022 There is still no sign of Tammy or her other dog, Cope. She said it's a man Tammy knew through family and business connections. Tammy Pitkin's abandoned car was found off Highway 20 in rural Linn County, Oregon. "I know there are people in Tammy's community who know what happens, who have details regarding what happened to her, things that could help us get her justice." Anyone with information is urged to call the Linn County Sheriff's Office in Oregon at (541) 967-3911 or contact her sister on the Facebook page "Finding Tammy Pitkin." Alex Rogue, host of the Shady podcast "Erased but Not Forgotten: The Tammy Pitkin Story," has interviewed people in Red Bluff and followed Pitkin's path into Oregon. The first four episodes are available on Spotify and other podcast platforms. According to Alex Rogue, this is the timeline of Pitkin's disappearance: Oct. 14, 2022: Tammy was last seen by colleagues and her adult son in Red Bluff Oct. 15, 2022: Tammy left Red Bluff around 3:30 am, refueled in Redding, and drove to Oregon. Oct. 29, 2022: Hunters discovered Tammy's car abandoned on a forest road off Highway 20, 30 miles east of Sweet Home, Oregon in the Santiam Wilderness Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the team in 2021. Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the team in 2021.

Photo credit: Notre Dame – Official Paris-based artist Notre Dame has launched the official webshop for PARANORMAL, his creative project spanning music, animation, and collectible design. The launch follows a standout 2025 for the artist, which included a sold-out gallery pop-up in Paris and his debut BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, broadcast earlier this month. Now live, the PARANORMAL webshop offers exclusive merchandise and collectibles, including a figurine modeled after the protagonist of Notre Dame's ‘Candy Cloud' music video, created by French animation duo Le Megapack. The item reflects the project's distinctive blend of anime-inspired art, electronic music, and storytelling. The launch also arrives alongside a remix of Max Styler's ‘You & Me', released via NuModa Records. Notre Dame's version reimagines the original with his signature hybrid touch, weaving in cinematic detail and dancefloor energy. Explore the webshop here. Listen to ‘You & Me' below and grab your copy here. LATEST NEWS

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Although best known for high-energy rockers such as Let It Roll, Too Hot To Handle and Lights Out, UFO have always had a softer side. Their albums typically include at least one song in a mellower vein, of which Profession Of Violence from 1981's The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent album is a prime example. Indeed, in 2011 singer Phil Mogg told Classic Rock that the band had considered adding it to their set list: “We've done Try Me (from Lights Out, 1977) recently and have thought about Belladonna (No Heavy Petting, 1976) and Profession Of Violence, too – just to mix the set up a bit.” "I used to go down to the beach with an Ovation acoustic and just stand knee-deep in this beautiful, crystal clear water, just jamming away. I came up with this melody there, and recorded it later on my Revox. “I discovered that part of it is in a harmonic minor scale which I didn't even know about at the time. All I knew was that this thing sounded good. But Chapman's description of the writing process definitely jogged a memory with Mogg: “Yeah… That's what we used to do with a lot of Michael [Schenker]'s stuff, too. He'd put solos down and if it sounded really cool, we'd work out a chord sequence to go with it and put a song around the solo.” But I often forget things and they only come back to me years later and I think: ‘Oh, that'll work!' If you're a big-time gangster maybe you get used to it, but for the average Joe it's not very pleasant and Profession Of Violence was more of a sympathetic ear for those left behind.” The poignancy of Mogg's lyrics are superbly emphasised by a string section arranged by one Paul Buckmaster – a cellist best known for his 1970s work with Elton John, but who also worked with the Rolling Stones on Sticky Fingers, David Bowie's Space Oddity and, more recently, Axl and co's Chinese Democracy. But it was the Elton John track Sixty Years On (on his breakthrough eponymous second album) which led Mogg to choose him. “We were never very good with money so I didn't think to ask how expensive he might be. The album saw us run up a huge debt. We were just shown into Studio One and left to get on with it. Neither Mogg or Parker can recalled how they ended up recording without a producer. Parker: “Steve Churchyard was the engineer but he ended up producing it with us. I'm wondering how the hell we ended up doing that – did Chrysalis just not give us a producer?! Why we would have been in Air London, good studios, where we'd have been running around like a chicken with no head? We needed producers to tell us what to do, otherwise we'd have just gone down the pub, drinking and not really getting much done!” Mogg: “Leaving us to our own devices was never a very good idea. Mogg: “We did have a great time doing that album. There was none of that studio tension you sometimes get. Air was right in town and it felt like a real English rock'n'roll album.” Chapman: “The day we recorded it, my red BC Rich 10-string arrived from America. We'd just been on tour with Aerosmith, and Joe Perry was playing one of these – a wicked space machine with all the bells and whistles on. So I got in a cab to my mate Kevin's in Denmark Street, picked it up, came back to the studio, tuned it up, plugged it in, and the first thing I recorded was that solo! “Steve Churchyard and I worked on it again later at Air Studios. At the end of the solo – which you don't hear now – I held that note, swooped it round, put this echo on it and it sounded like the end of World War III. Freelance contributor to Classic Rock and several of its offshoots since 2006. In the 1980s he began a 15-year spell working for Kerrang! Has spent quality time with Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Ritchie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore – and also spent time in a maximum security prison alongside Love/Hate. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA.

Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan are authors known worldwide for their contributions to the genres of romance and horror. But in 2025, they brought these genres together for a collaborative book and movie project titled Remain. In today's episode, we kick off Book of the Day's 2026 romance week with a discussion between Sparks, Shyamalan, and NPR's Leila Fadel. The two join Fadel at NPR's New York Bureau to talk about their co-authored novel, its inspirations, and the heartfelt, supernatural roots of storytelling itself.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor