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On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby stated that while the United States won’t determine what a win looks like to Ukraine and they have to decide for themselves under what circumstances they’ll negotiate and no one can tell what would drive Vladimir Putin to decide to talk or end the war, they are “focused on helping President Zelensky make that determination.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) triggered controversy with a fiery floor speech in the Senate on Tuesday night, during which she declared that "we cannot let Israel determine when and where the United States goes to war." Breitbart reports that the speech was made during a debate on a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran if it fails to comply with the nuclear deal that was reached with it in November. The bill includes a provision offering support to Israel in the event of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran. Feinstein chairs the Select Committee on Intelligence and is...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2008 – Conditions on the ground will determine troop redeployment out of Iraq, and more troops are needed in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today at a Pentagon news conference. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen said no decision has been made about a pause after the first tranche of surge forces return from Iraq. Staffs at U.S. Central Command, in Washington and in Iraq are working on recommendations about troop levels in Iraq for presentation to President Bush in April. One of the five surge brigades has already redeployed from Iraq...

Mother tongue may determine maths skills 17:55 27 June 2006 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi The native language you speak may determine how your brain solves mathematical puzzles, according to a new study. Brain scans have revealed that Chinese speakers rely more on visual regions than English speakers when comparing numbers and doing sums. Our mother tongue may influence the way problem-solving circuits in our brains develop, suggest the researchers. But they add that different teaching methods across cultures, or genes, may also have primed the brains of Chinese and English speakers to solve equations differently. The findings may help...

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) - Researchers here are looking to horse manure to study the spread of invasive weeds. Dominican University has received a $100,000 National Park Service grant to study how to slow the spread of nonnative plants and weeds in state parks, school officials said. Horse manure might be part of the problem, according to scientists. Researchers began collecting horse manure samples from trails and pastures this summer. They want to test an assumption that seeds can pass through horses, leading to sprouts of invasive weeds. "We need to know through scientific research if horses do or do...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2005 – The December elections will mark another political milestone on Iraq's journey toward democracy. How the elections unfold, and how peaceful they are will help commanders determine the size of the American force in the country, officials said during a Pentagon news conference today. Iraqi security forces are shouldering more of the security burden, said Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, director of operations for the Joint Staff. "Iraqi security forces continue to grow in capability and confidence," he said. The Iraqi army and police have more than 210,000 members trained and equipped. This breaks into...

Because of inadequate documentation supplied by the LAUSD, an independent monitor said Monday that he cannot determine how much money the district has spent on court-ordered improvements to its special-education programs. Monitor Carl Cohn said he wants to meet with Los Angeles Unified School District officials to determine how much of the $67.5 million the district has pledged to spend has actually gone toward access ramps and other improvements. In a highly critical progress report released Friday, Cohn wrote he had "serious concerns about the reported expenditures" and wants district officials to explain what they've done to comply with the...

SAN FRANCISCO – From the soaring cliffs of Big Sur to the teeming wetlands of Bolsa Chica, California has one of the world's most pristine and protected coasts, drawing millions of people each year to its sandy beaches and rugged shores. Conservationists say that's no accident – it's the result of a voter initiative passed more than 30 years ago that created the California Coastal Commission, the powerful government agency charged with protecting and restoring the state's 1,100-mile coastline. The California Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case that will determine the future of the commission, which has made...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

"Shy-bladder syndrome" won't spare impaired motorists from taking drug tests, if a Utah police sergeant has his way. Sgt. Dennis Simonson of the Logan Police Department requested a $5,800 grant from the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice to launch the first pilot study in the country using roadside saliva detection devices. The new tool, RapiScan, which is manufactured by Cozart, detects drugs in a driver's system using a saliva swab. Saliva is an immediate sample of what is circulating in a person's bloodstream, said Michael Beaubien, Cozart vice president for North American operations. "The purpose is to allow people...