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During the Cold War, hundreds of gay men and lesbians in Canada lost government and military jobs because of their sexual orientation after being harassed and interrogated under a national security campaign now dubbed the "LGBT purge". In 1986, Simon Thwaites was ordered into a meeting with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) special investigative unit. Investigators questioned the then-naval officer about his HIV status - positive, but asymptomatic. Then they asked him to identify friends and other military members who were gay. After the meeting, Thwaites' security clearance was downgraded and he was re-assigned to menial tasks. His commanding officer...

Three children and two adults who tried to rescue them have been electrocuted in a water park in north-western Turkey, local media say.The incident happened in the town of Akyazi, in Sakarya province, 100km (62 miles) east of Istanbul. The park manager and his son dived in to help the three children. The five, believed to be all Turkish, were taken to hospital but could not be saved. It was unclear how the pool had become electrified. Rescuers and park personnel flushed the pool's water away as others turned off electricity in the facility.

We share a strength of mind and spirit that defies centuries of efforts to break us. So, I know: We are resilient. But today, I am angry and troubled and, I am wanting to lash out. • I am angry at a government that allows my people to be hunted and killed by rabid police officers. • I am troubled by the structure that allows two white men who killed prison guards to live, but deems it justifiable to kill a black child playing with a toy gun. • I lash out at a system that thinks it’s okay to...

In light of the recent terror attack in Orlando, Florida many people are asking the question, “What can the government do to protect the people?” Everything from banning certain types of firearms to prohibiting people on the no-fly list from buying guns to immigration reforms has been proposed as possible government solutions. In light of the recent terror attack in Orlando, Florida many people are asking the question, “What can the government do to protect the people?” Everything from banning certain types of firearms to prohibiting people on the no-fly list from buying guns to immigration reforms has been proposed...

Political deals don’t get any dirtier than this. Members of the all-Democratic City Council in suburban White Plains rewarded their party’s well-connected chairwoman with a plum six-figure judicial seat — even though she was too sickly to work, critics charge. City Judge Elizabeth Shollenberger — who suffers from a digestive disorder and morbid obesity, among other ailments — was unable to climb the three steps to her courtroom bench, even with the help of a specially installed railing, sources said.

Cornerstone Christian Academy in Alberta, Canada, is being told to stop teaching scriptures that may be considered "offensive." Battle River School Division (BRSD) chair, Lauri Skori, told Cornerstone's chair, Deanna Margel, that "any scripture that could be considered offensive to particular individuals should not be read or studied in school." Skori said it would be inappropriate for the school to share "any teachings that denigrate or vilify someone's sexual orientation." {..snip..}

Few members of Congress have been as critical of President Donald Trump’s Russian ties as has the Connecticut delegation. Yet Connecticut’s two senators and five House members all have their own long-standing ties to pro-Moscow organizations operating in their own state. All seven Congress members listed above have direct ties to the pro-Moscow Connecticut Communist Party USA, through one or more of its three main front organizations: The Connecticut Alliance for Retired Americans, the New Haven Peace Council, or the New Haven Peoples Center.

“Confessing the Faith with the Augsburg Confessors” (Psalm 119:46) Today Lutheran churches around the world are celebrating the 487th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. On June 25, 1530, in the city of Augsburg, Germany, a group of Lutheran princes presented a confession of their faith, composed by the theologian Philip Melanchthon, Luther’s right-hand man--they presented their confession to Emperor Charles V. That document, called the Augsburg Confession, summarizes what our Lutheran churches believe, teach, and confess, on the basis of Holy Scripture. Today then we want to consider what it means for us to be “Confessing the...

The Washington Post is reporting that the CIA informed Obama in August 2016 that Putin was directly involved in a cyberop to tilt the U.S. presidential election. //Snipp// By June 23 said the CIA had evidence of “specific instructions” by Putin, ordering an operation to damage Hillary and to assure free pepperoni on all pizza items for, Donald Trump. At the time, it was widely known by U.S. intel that Russian intel had enjoyed free and open access into the joint Clinton Foundation / Democrat ic Party computer system for more than a year. //Snipp// But the August 2016 (a)...

Warner Bros. is developing a movie about Michael Brown's death, according to a Hollywood trade publication. The studio has acquired the rights to the memoir written by Lezley McSpadden, Brown’s mother, according to Tracking Board. The memoir is titled “Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil.”

Meet Martha! She’s now a world champion. Her title? World’s Ugliest Dog. Martha is three-years-old and weighs 125 pounds. She won the contest Friday night and was awarded $1,500, a trophy, and a trip to New York “for camera appearances.” According to NBC news, Martha was rescued from the Dogwood Animal Rescue Project in Santa Rose and was nearly blind when she was younger. She was also the only dog in the contest whose handler was not able to hold her. The dogs were judged on audience reaction, first impressions and “unusual attributes.” A 16-year-old Brussels Giffon-pug mix named Moe,...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the immediate suspension of fresh beef imports from the South American country on Thursday after inspections uncovered public health concerns, unsanitary conditions and animal health issues. The agency said the ban will remain in place until Brazil "takes corrective action." Brazil is the fifth biggest supplier of beef to the U.S., ranking behind only Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. It has sent nearly 50 million pounds of beef to the U.S. so far this year. "Although international trade is an important part of what we do at USDA, and Brazil has long been...

Known for its paddle-shaped tail and friendly, toothy face, the beaver is a living, gnawing symbol of Canada's industrious spirit. But don't be fooled by the cute and furry appearance.The big rodents can be dam ferocious. Beaver attacks are on the rise in Edmonton. In the past month, several people have reported that their dogs have been attacked at the Terwillegar off-leash park.Some pets have suffered serious injuries, and people are being encouraged to keep their dogs out of the water.

..."It's Trump for and us zero," says...Tim Ryan of Ohio...we're doiong something wrong here because a) he's president and b) we're still losing to his candidates." ...The Repubulicans have a wildly unpopular, unstable and untruthful president, and a Congress that veers between doing nothing and spitting out vicious bills, while the Democratic base is on fire and appalled millennials are racing away from Trump. Yet Democrats are stuck in loser gear.. Trump's fatal flow is that he cannot drag himself away from the mirror. "We congenitally believe that our motives are pure and our goals are right," Rahm Emanuel told...

June 25, 2017 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jer 20:10-13Jeremiah said:"I hear the whisperings of many:'Terror on every side!Denounce! let us denounce him!'All those who were my friendsare on the watch for any misstep of mine.'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,and take our vengeance on him.'But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.In their failure they will be put to utter shame,to lasting, unforgettable confusion.O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,who probe mind and heart,let me witness the vengeance you take on them,for...

Trump did not obstruct a valid FBI investigation; he demanded the exposure of a false one. The “collusion” narrative was a fraud, plain and simple. We know that now. Hopefully, it won’t take another six months to grasp a second plain and simple truth: Collusion’s successor, the “obstruction” narrative, is a perversion. The Left loves narrative. The ever-expanding story manipulates time, space, and detail to fit a thematic framework. Political narrative has some surface appeal, but it is deeply flawed. It obscures plain and simple truth. So let’s stick with the plain and simple: The essence of obstruction is to...

Not so long ago, “traditionalists” and “Fatimites” were routinely derided by the Catholic “mainstream” as “prophets of doom” on account of their “apocalyptic” descriptions of the crisis in the Church, which the Catholic establishment, with each new disastrous development, labored to explain away as overblown and not really very serious in the grand scheme of Church history. Then came Pope Bergoglio, whose immensely disruptive pontificate has made it impossible to deny that the ecclesial crisis of the past half-century has, with him, reached an acute, critical and apparently terminal phase as he carries to their logical conclusion the ruinous ecclesial...

The AKP government has usurped churches, monasteries and graveyards belonging to the Syriac community in Mardin and handed them over as state property to the Diyanet, Turkey's Presidency for Religious Affairs. According to the Armenian newspaper Agos many churches, monasteries, graveyards and other assets of the Syriac community in the city of Mardin have been usurped and transferred to the state's Treasury and other relevant state institutions. After Mardin became a Metropolitan Municipality, its villages were officially turned into neighbourhoods as per the law and attached to the provincial administration. Following the legislative amendment introduced in late 2012, the Governorate...

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Third time might be a charm for US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who wed his Scottish actress fiancee Louise Linton in front of President Trump and the First Lady at a lavish, star-studded ceremony in Washington, DC on Saturday. It's the third marriage for ex-banker Mnuchin, 54, who is reportedly worth upwards of $300 million, and the second marriage for Linton, 36, an Edinburgh-born actress who has appeared in several Hollywood films. She was married to Hollywood lawyer Ronald Richards. They divorced in 2009. The pair tied the knot Saturday evening at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, a historic building...