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Explanation: It was Halloween and the sky looked like a creature. Exactly which creature, the astrophotographer was unsure (but possibly you can suggest one). Exactly what caused the eerie apparition was sure: one of the best auroral displays in recent memory. This spectacular aurora had an unusually high degree of detail. Pictured above, the vivid green and purple auroral colors are caused by high atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen reacting to a burst of incoming electrons. Birch trees in Tromsø, Norway formed an also eerie foreground. Many other photogenic auroras have been triggered by recent energetic flares on the Sun.

ally the base, but will that be enough? Mike Honda sits in what’s been billed as a town hall meeting in Fremont, surrounded by healthcare experts. The congressman starts to drift as they answer questions about the the Affordable Care Act’s effects on seniors, who comprise most of the audience. Having heard yet another answer about Obamacare’s deductibles or small business eligibility requirements—it’s hard to say at times, as the microphone cuts out intermittently—Honda sets his glasses down on the table and locks his fingers behind his head. He closes his eyes and takes a 20-second power nap. Honda, 72,...

President Barack Obama traveled to North Texas Wednesday to thank those working to help Texans sign up for coverage through the nation’s new healthcare plan — and to call on Republican Gov. Rick Perry to do more to help those without insurance. He brought his defense of the controversial healthcare law to Texas, the largest Republican state where officials oppose the program as well as any expansion of Medicaid. “There’s no state that actually needs this more than Texas,” Obama told a crowd of about 150 gathered at Temple Emanu-El, where volunteers work to enroll others in the healthcare program,...

If you want to see where government-run healthcare gets you, look no further than what the VA is doing to Airman Brian Kolfage after he spoke out against Obama. Our veterans who sustained injuries in combat deserve the best treatment we can give them, but the VA just sent Purple Heart recipient Brian Kolfage a bill for $4,000. Here’s the letter he just received from the VA:

Thomas de Waal reviews Saakashvili’s presidency in Foreign Affairs. He recounts how his American cheerleaders enabled some of his most reckless behavior, including the August 2008 war: American support served to insulate him from some of the domestic criticism — but eventually it proved to be his undoing. Although Americans and Georgians had adopted the habit of using the word “ally” to refer to each other, there was never a formal alliance between the two countries. Saakashvili allowed his judgment to be skewed by his glowing testimonials from the Bush White House. Saakashvili’s miscalculations were tragically exposed in August 2008,...

UNION CITY — Gov. Chris Christie today credited long-standing relationships built on trust for his decisive win of more than 50 percent of the Hispanic vote and said he won’t let presidential politics distract him from his second term priorities. Even as he dismissed 2016 talk, the Republican governor pointed out how his win could serve as a model for other campaigns. “We won the Latino vote last night,” Christie said before a backdrop of students at Jose Marti Freshman Academy. “Find another Republican who’s won the Latino vote recently. Why? It’s about the relationships.” Echoing the theme of his...

Blake Shelton captured album of the year, Miranda Lambert won female vocalist of the year and Taylor Swift was honored with the Pinnacle award for her achievements, but it was George Strait who won the night's top honor at the Country Music Awards — entertainer of the year. Strait, who is retiring from the road, nabbed his third trophy in the category but hadn't won the prestigious award since 1990. He capped a night where there was no clear favorite. Shelton, Swift, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Florida Georgia Line won two awards each.

"Israel in the last few hours has learned that a proposal will be brought before the P5+1 in Geneva in which Iran will cease all enrichment at 20 percent and slow down work on the heavy water reactor in Arak, and will receive in return the easing of sanctions," an Israeli official told AFP. He went on to say Jerusalem considers this a bad deal, and "will oppose it strongly."

Barack Obama’s presidency has become a feast of failures whose proliferation protects their author from close scrutiny of any one of them. Now, however, we can revisit one of the first and see it as a harbinger of progressivism’s downward stumble to HealthCare.gov. “Cash for Clunkers” was born with Obama’s administration as a component of his stimulus. Its fate is a window into both why the recovery has been extraordinarily weak and what happens when progressives’ clever plans collide with recalcitrant reality. Consumers could trade in older vehicles and receive vouchers toward the purchase of a new, more fuel- efficient...

Make no mistake about it, this is all about going after the Christian Church. Same-sex marriage, GLAAD's fascist rampages, and all of this Orwellian political correctness is part of long-term goal -- and that's to make Christian beliefs a form of bigotry and to force a left-wing agenda on the church all under a Trojan horse labelled "discrimination." In many respects, Obama forcing the Catholic Church to violate its conscience with respect to providing birth control and abortion drugs through their social service institutions, is a dry run for this. The left wants to know if they can persuade the...

The AFL-CIO launched a major television ad campaign on Wednesday, taking House Republicans to task for the stalled work on immigration reform. The ads will target GOP members who live in districts with large Hispanic populations and is part of a broader effort by the labor movement to push the House into taking action. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday said Republicans would pay a price at the ballot box if immigration reform runs aground in the House. “If they block immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship and strong workers’ protections, House Republicans are risking their political future....

This computer-generated image of the P18N OPV was shown during the IQPC OPV Africa conference. The first vessel is being built in Wuhan, the second will be completed in Nigeria. Source: CSOC The Nigerian Navy (NN) is moving ahead with plans to build naval vessels locally by collaborating with foreign partners. "The Nigerian Navy is extremely keen to have their own in-house shipbuilding capacity and has opened the floor to constructive partnerships in that regard," Dr Karen Sumser-Lupson, the chair and commissioner of the African Maritime Safety & Security Agency (AMSSA), told the inaugural IQPC OPV Africa conference, which was...

Top Democratic officials launched a concerted offensive Wednesday to define New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in a negative light, believing that he has emerged from his reelection landslide as the Republican Party’s strongest potential presidential contender for 2016. Democratic strategist Steve Murphy said Christie is “the strongest candidate” for Republicans against former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will be the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination if she chooses to run. He said Democrats would be wise to highlight Christie’s conservatism on economic issues.

There is a vital reason for all Americans to take a close look at how, specifically, the various government-run, single-payer healthcare systems around the world have already affected the lives of the people living under them. This is vital because Barack Obama and the Democrats actually have their sights set on creating precisely such a system here in the United States. For them, Obamacare is, and always has been, nothing more than a stepping stone toward their ultimate goal of a single-payer leviathan administered entirely by the federal government. Indeed, they’ve been quite clear about their intentions: • In early...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its members are gradually changing their views on gay rights, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On the precipice of passage for a bill that would ban workforce discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, the Mormon Reid (D-Nev.) told a small group of reporters that as his social views have shifted to embrace bills like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, so to have many of his fellow churchgoers. “When I attend church here in Washington, D.C., I bet more people agree with me than disagree with me, and so...

President Obama and his advisors are fighting a crisis of faith among Democrats as the effort to fix the online marketplace drags on. Obama advisors are fighting a crisis of faith among Democrats as they try to muscle the marketplaces through the rough patch and into widespread use. Already, 11 Senate Democrats have signaled their support for extending the enrollment deadline, a delay that administration officials fear could lead to an unraveling of the larger policy.

Boeing and Kongsberg Defense Systems of Norway recently completed a successful check of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) on an F/A-18F Super Hornet at the Boeing St. Louis facility to ensure the weapons fit on the aircraft's external pylons. ST. LOUIS, Nov. 6, 2013 -- Boeing and Kongsberg Defense Systems of Norway recently completed a successful check of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) on an F/A-18F Super Hornet at the Boeing St. Louis facility to ensure the weapons fit on the aircraft’s external pylons. Picture: Boeing The JSM, which is being designed and built by Kongsberg, is a long-range, low-observable...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Wikipedia’s Obamacare article continues to be a heavily biased and censored puff piece On October 15, 2013, I wrote this blog entry, titled “Wikipedia’s article on Obamacare is a heavily censored, utopian puff piece that ignores Obamacare’s real world problems.”Well it is now November 6, 2013, and I am writing this new blog entry on the same subject.As of November 6, 2013, more than a month after the Obamacare website went online, wikipedia’s Obamacare article still includes absolutely zero content on the problems of the Obamacare website, Obama’s false promise that people could keep their insurance,...

The Obama administration is considering ending a controversial policy that since 2010 has placed one military official at the head of both the nation’s largest spy agency and its cyber-operations command, U.S. officials said. National Security Council officials are scheduled to meet soon to discuss the issue of separating the leadership of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, a shift that some officials say would help avoid an undue concentration of power in one individual and separate entities with two fundamentally different missions: spying and conducting military attacks. The administration is also discussing whether the NSA should be led...

Islamist rebel forces in Syria have killed 45 Christians in the west-central town of Sadad, the largest massacre of Christians yet in the Syrian conflict. In the wake of the killing, an Orthodox archbishop has mourned, “We have shouted aid to the world but no one has listened to us. Where is the Christian conscience? Where is the human consciousness? Where are my brothers?” According to Agenzia Fides, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh reported that Islamist rebels entered the town on October 21st; a week later, it was re-captured by the Syrian army. “What happened in Sadad is the...