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Police were on a city-wide tactical alert Friday after a power outage at one of the Los Angeles Police Department’s two dispatch centers. The outage was reported about 11:20 a.m. at the LAPD’s downtown dispatch center, according to a department spokesman. All communications operations were shifted to the department’s other dispatch center at the Valley Bureau and no disruptions were reported, said Officer Sal Ramirez.

“If you want to see the face of Europe in 100 years, barring a miracle, look to the faces of young Muslim immigrants,” Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput told a group of Catholics Thursday.Speaking at an annual conference of the Napa Institute in California, Chaput tied the future of civilization to a willingness to have children—an area where Muslims lead every other group. “Islam has a future because Islam believes in children,” Chaput said. “Without a transcendent faith that makes life worth living, there’s no reason to bear children. And where there are no children, there’s no imagination, no reason...

A state-run news agency has instructed Chinese journalists to refer to Cardinal Zen as a 'former' bishopA state-run news agency in China has directed mainland journalists to refer to Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun not as the “emeritus” bishop of Hong Kong, but to use the word “former.” The new terminology on how to refer to Cardinal Zen was part of a broader list of words and phrases to be “banned or used with care”, issued by the Xinhua News Agency to media workers in China, ucanews.com reported. “‘Former bishop’ instead of ’emeritus bishop’ should be used to address Zen Ze-kiun...

In a Republican-backed effort to single out where Democrats lie on a contentious policy debate, an amendment to create a single-payer health care system failed with no affirmative votes in the Senate Thursday, The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mon.), failed with zero yes votes. Four Democrats and one Independent voted against it, and the remainder of Democrats voted as “present,” to avoid taking a stance on the legislation. Independent Maine Senator Angus King, who voted against the bill, said he did not want to participate in what he thought was a “set up.” “The bill had way too...

Am up in DC from Florida for my old firm's (I'm a retired Senior Partner) "Tennis and Tom Collins" Summer party. About 400 people here. Please understand, as soon as something becomes official or public news in Washington, it is no longer very interesting here. DC is all about rumors and the next day's news. For example, as soon as the stories about Monica became public on that Monday night, ("everyone" here knew the previous Friday) the really interesting stories all revolved around "would he admit it on TV and ask for forgiveness or would Hillary insist on legal ropa-dopa....

The leading prelate in Africa’s most populous nation said that Christianity and Islam are engaged in a “contest for souls.” “Our evangelizing mission does indeed entail our doing our best to propagate openly the Gospel of Jesus, and to welcome all who freely accept faith in Jesus,” Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, preached at the ordination of a bishop. “It is in this light that I do not hesitate to declare that it is my desire to ‘Christianize Nigeria’ by all means of peaceful persuasion and conviction.” “But I am also aware that there are others who have a...

Because if there's one thing that the world needs more of, it's libertarian thrash metal. For a free download of "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" click here, click on More, and choose Download.

The Senate rejection of repeal of ObamaCare, coupled with its obvious failure, leaves Americans in a hell of a mess. Because of the inherent problems in the ObamaCare law, premiums will continue to skyrocket and outpace subsidies. More insurance firms will refuse to participate and people will be stuck. In addition, President Trump is likely to take two actions that are good policies but will worsen the situation: 1. He will probably direct his agencies, including the IRS, to stop enforcing the requirement that everybody buy insurance. Last year, six million people ran afoul of the requirement and had to...

A documentary of the Southern Railroad steam engine 4501 And then there was one

Magic Johnson called his shot Thursday night, and he wasn’t shy about it. The Dodgers’ co-owner did not hesitate when he predicted how the team would finish this year. “The Dodgers are going to win the World Series this year,” Johnson said. “This is our year.” Johnson spoke at Clayton Kershaw’s annual Ping Pong 4 Purpose event at Dodger Stadium, at which the Dodgers ace — currently on the disabled list because of a back injury — presented Johnson with the Kershaw’s Challenge Impact Award, in honor of the charitable work Johnson and his foundation have done. “Get healthy,” Johnson...

Karmatic kickback.Right about now, Trump hating actor T.J. Miller must be starting to regret that he burned his bridges behind him when he bad mouthed his former cast members of the hit comedy Silicon Valley when he left that show. Perhaps he thought that he was just so chock full of talent that he would be too big to fail. Well, his newest project, The Emoji Movie, has just been released and it has been universally panned. Critics hated it so much that for awhile it earned a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (now upgraded slightly to 3%). Although the general...

In today’s financial results, Nokia mentioned that it had increased cash inflow thanks to an “up-front cash payment of approximately EUR 1.7 billion, part of which was recognized in the second quarter 2017 results.” When Nokia announced back in May that it settled all litigation with Apple, they also said that they will update its capital structure optimization program, as one reader pointed out, which means Apple agreed to pay a big one-time amount. We contacted Nokia to confirm if the “up-front cash payment of €1.7 billion ($2 billion) (of which a part was recognized in Q2 results)” is from...

Minneapolis, MN – Raymond Dehn, candidate for Minneapolis mayor, is proposing police officers leave their guns in their cars, but says it’s okay for them to have nightsticks or pepper spray. Raymond Dehn, who is also a State Representative, is running against current mayor Betsy Hodges in this fall’s election, according to Fox9. He said, “Officers don’t need to carry guns on their person all the time…I’m not saying they don’t have access to that, just like they have access to more lethal weapons in their cars, I would believe they would still have access to their guns in their...

Journalists and politicians venerating John McCain's civility and decency have a short memory. Nothing rehabilitates a politician’s tarnished image quite like death. It happened to Nixon. It happened to Reagan. It will probably happen to Bush. And right now, it’s happening to John McCain. McCain is still alive, but a week ago he was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer, requiring surgery to have a tumor removed. The news prompted an outpouring of grief and well-wishing from Democrats, Republicans, liberals, and conservatives aike, as well as a deluge of hagiographical pieces valorizing McCain as an American hero...

Marty Sklar had only just graduated from UCLA, and here he was shadowing Walt Disney, his demanding new boss. The fledgling writer was unsure how to make himself useful, but he had a mind to scribble down some of the maxims Disney laced into conversation. “Know your audience.” “Tell one story at a time.” “Wear your guests' shoes.” Long after his mentor's death, Sklar recognized the treasure-trove of wisdom he had started compiling at Walt Disney's elbow in the late 1950s. He distilled it all into "Mickey's Ten Commandments," a widely circulated creed that remains a touchstone in the theme...

Quincy Jones has prevailed in a case he launched nearly four years ago against MJJ Productions, the record label founded by Michael Jackson, and Sony Music, over the "disguising" of royalties and breach of his contracts with Michael Jackson. In yesterday's decision, a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court awarded Jones $9.4 million. Jones' lawsuit charged that MJJ Productions, now administered by Jackson's estate, and Sony Music began to capitalize on Jackson's work after his death, reissuing music that was remixed or edited without Jones' approval. According to Jones' contracts with Jackson and Sony Music, which go back to 1978,...

AFTER her husband secretly married the second time in Thailand 15 years ago, Salmah Khalid has been supporting her four children on her own, working long hours and sometimes borrowing money to make ends meet. The 43-year-old nurse said she only found out about the second marriage two months after her husband remarried, following which they had a huge row. Salmah said she didn’t see her husband for a year after that. “In the past, he would give me RM300 for household expenses and we would split the loan repayment for the house. After he married, I had to take...

It's that time of year again! The State Fair of Texas has released the semi-finalists for its 13th annual Big Tex Choice Awards. Here's the list of yummy concoctions vying for a big win, and a place in your stomach:

(CBS) – Gov. Rauner took extraordinary steps Thursday to rally Republican lawmakers in his attempt to defeat a Democratic-sponsored school funding bill. CBS 2 Political Reporter Derrick Blakley has the latest from Springfield. Rauner summoned all Republican lawmakers from the House and Senate for an hour-long meeting — the first of its kind in anyone’s memory. “We’re a united group. We’re united with the governor,” Rep. Jim Durkin, House Minority Leader, said.

(CBS) – President Donald Trump on Friday said he could fix Chicago’s violence problem with one phone call. In fact, the president told Mayor Rahm Emanuel about a Chicago police officer who guarantees he can fix the problem. Trump, speaking before police in New York, said he met the Chicago cop during a campaign appearance last year. “I said what the hell is going on,” Trump recalled. He says he asked the officer, “How long would it take you to straighten out the problem?” The Chicago police officer told Trump if he had the authority, only “a couple of days,”...