Author: ADAC GTMasters
In an era where a viral TikTok clip can turn a niche product into a national craze, 2025 has seen the Etsy witch spell trend soar to dizzying heights. From small-town weddings to major sports events, TikTok‑fueled hype has spurred consumers to spend an unprecedented $60 million on digital spell‑casting packages. Background/Context Etsy, known for vintage fashion and handmade goods, has long hosted “metaphysical services” from practitioners of astrology, tarot, and witchcraft. In 2015 the platform banned direct spell sales, reclassifying them as “entertainment.” Yet the demand never waned; practitioners simply moved their storefronts into separate “shops” with hidden links,…
Arkansas marks history when a single Powerball ticket sold for $1.8 billion, setting a new Powerball ticket record and igniting a wave of excitement across the nation. The extraordinary sale, which took place at a local lottery outlet in Little Rock on December 26, 2025, is the largest single ticket purchase ever recorded by the United States state lottery system. Background and Context The Powerball game has long been the poster child of big‑money gambling in the United States, with jackpots that routinely top the $300 million mark. Since its launch in 1988, the game has seen several record‑breaking wins—most notably the $1.586 billion jackpot…
On December 26, the United States carried out rapid drone‑based strikes against an ISIS affiliate operating in southeastern Nigeria, according to a video released by the Department of Defense. The attacks, conducted on Christmas Day, were the first of their kind in the region in over six months and were aimed at disrupting the group’s recruiting networks and supply lines. Background and Context Since the Boko Haram insurgency morphed into a hybrid jihadist organization, ISIS has exploited the political vacuum in northeastern Nigeria. The Boko Haram‑ISIS alliance, which operates under the local moniker “Islamic State in West Africa Province,” has…
In a high‑stakes manhunt that spanned three continents, the relentless pursuit of a 2016 murder suspect finally came to fruition when U.S. Marshals captured Raymond McLeod in El Salvador on August 30, 2022. The breakthrough was precipitated by Josephine Wentzel, a 67‑year‑old grandmother and former police detective, whose tireless social media sleuthing in law enforcement turned a decades‑long cold case into a courtroom showdown. Under President Trump’s administration, the case drew unprecedented media attention, illustrating how civilian and official resources can converge to bring justice to the grieving. Background and Context When 30‑year‑old Krystal Mitchell was strangled in her San Diego apartment on June 10, 2016, the…
Grandmother’s relentless citizen investigation leads to the capture of a murder suspect after six years of pursuit, giving justice to a grieving family and spotlighting the power of grassroots sleuthing. Lead Paragraph Josephine Wentzel, a 67‑year‑old grandmother from San Diego, turned her personal tragedy into a citizen investigation that spanned five countries and 22,500 kilometers. Six years after her daughter Krystal Mitchell was strangled in 2016, Wentzel’s persistence culminated in the arrest of suspected killer Raymond McLeod in El Salvador, who is now awaiting trial in San Diego on a first‑degree murder charge. The case underscores how ordinary people can leverage social media,…
Heavy rains and overnight snowfall on the Modesto mountain ridge have triggered a series of mudslides that buried homes, cut off major highways, and sent a wave of displaced tech workers scrambling for shelter across the Central Valley. Background / Context The California Department of Transportation rerouted State Route 99 after the mudslides rendered sections of the highway impassable. The Los Santos County emergency response system counted 28 residential structures demolished and 15 partially buried. In addition to the physical damage, the incident disrupted the work rhythms of more than 3,200 employees in the region’s growing tech corridor, home to…