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Chinese MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong has received support from a Shaolin Monk in his bid to expose “kung fu fakery” by pummelling traditional martial arts masters. A video of the fighter known as “Mad Dog” brutally knocking out tai chi master Wei Lei in 10 seconds went viral last year, but his attempts to expose those who “scam” and “brainwash” people with fake martial arts has caused huge debate in China. Xu said he had to go into hiding for several months in 2017 after claiming he was assaulted by two strangers who represented traditional martial arts. The 40-year-old returned...

New York City, N.Y., Aug 19, 2019 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- A New York City public arts program has said it will not build a statue in honor of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, despite the saint receiving the most nominations in a public poll. She Built NYC was established in June of 2018 under the patronage of Chirlane McCray, wife of New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, to create more statues of women around the city of New York. The public were asked to nominate women for a potential statue and the campaign received over 2,000 votes for over 300...

Federal prosecutors on Monday moved to dismiss the sex-trafficking indictment against Jeffrey Epstein following his suicide in federal lockup earlier this month — but officials say they have no plans to end the probe into Epstein's alleged victims' claims, and authorities are still considering charging others accused in the alleged underage sex ring. Epstein, 66, killed himself while locked up without bail in New York City's Metropolitan Correctional Center awaiting trial. In a letter dated Monday, Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, used the disgraced financier's suicide as the pretext for withdrawing the criminal...

In a final scene of the Netflix documentary “American Factory,” the chairman of a Chinese auto glass company walks through the sprawling floor of one of the company’s factories in Dayton, Ohio, as an aide points to different departments where employees will soon be replaced by robotic arms and other machines. “We’re hoping to cancel four workers in July or August,” the aide tells him, almost proudly, before adding, “They are too slow.” Scenes like this are typical in the film, which depicts the fallout after Shanghai-based Fuyao Glass revives a former GM plant and hires many of its former...

In Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, Tulsi Gabbard decided to drop her opposition research book right on Kamala Harris. Amid a broader conversation about criminal justice reform between the California senator and former Vice President Joe Biden, the moderators turned to the Hawaii congresswoman. And she unloaded: "Senator Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she'll be a prosecutor president. “But I'm deeply concerned about this record. There are too many examples to cite but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was...

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said that funding from the United States to Israel is “predicated” on certain conditions and that the country indicated by barring her and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) that it isn’t meeting those conditions. Coming after a report that Democratic leadership is mulling retaliatory measures against Israel for barring the Congresswomen, Omar said at a press conference in Minnesota on Aug. 19 that “we the United States have a constructive role to play.” “We give Israel more than $3 million in aid every year,” she said, meaning $3 billion. “This is predicated on their being an important...

So there was this female business executive who was late for a meeting. She is going 65 on a street where the speed limit is 40. A cop pulls her over and says “ma’am, can I please see your license?” She says “I’m sorry, officer, but I got it revoked two years ago for drunk driving.” His brow furrows and he straightens up. “Well, can I please see the registration of your car?” She says “I stole the car and I killed the driver; he’s in the trunk.” “Ma’am, DON’T MOVE, I’m calling for backup.” He mutters furiously into his...

An attorney representing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sharply criticized rapper Jay-Z on Tuesday after Jay-Z met with NFL officials to speak about social justice issues while Kaepernick remains unemployed. SNIP Mark Geragos, who is representing Kaepernick in his dealings with the NFL, told ABC News that the partnership amounted to crossing an "intellectual picket line." "This deal between Jay-Z and the NFL crosses the intellectual picket line," Geragos told ABC. "I can confirm to you that the deal was already done prior to any conversation that [Kaepernick] had with Jay-Z and he certainly didn’t have any conversations...

New research published Wednesday revealed that abnormal bony growths in the ear canal, also called "surfer's ear" and often seen in people who take part in water sports in colder climates, occurred frequently in our ancient cousins who died out around 40,000 years ago. ...the findings may mean they fished far more frequently than the archaeological record suggests, the scientists behind the study published in journal PLOS One said. "It reinforces a number of arguments and sources of data to argue for a level of adaptability and flexibility and capability among the Neanderthals, which has been denied them by some...

Posted on August 19, 2019August 19, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Words of Encouragement from the Prophet Micah In the Office of Readings, we have been reading from the Prophet Micah. The book contains much in the way of both warning and consolation for the ancient Jewish people, who saw great destruction all around them. During Micah’s lifetime, he and his fellow Jews in Judah saw the whole of the northern Kingdom of Israel swept away by the Assyrians. In 721 B.C., ten of Israel’s tribes were destroyed; the survivors were scattered and all but lost. The southern Kingdom...

ï‚š ï‚™ Robberies targeting children in Sweden have hit a new record high, with young men with migrant backgrounds being blamed for the spike. According to figures published by SwedenÂ’s crime prevention agency BRÃ…, 637 robberies were reported against young people under 18 in the second quarter of this year, the highest ever number. During the same period in 2017, the corresponding figure was 358, while in 2018 it was 505. During the first six months of this year, 1,277 robberies against minors were reported, which is more than for the whole of 2015. In 2015, 1,084 robberies targeting children...

The United States withdrew from the INF Treaty this month, accusing Moscow of having broken the agreement by developing its nuclear-capable SSC-8 missiles – with an estimated range of 2,600km – and placing some in western Russia. Washington is also believed to be preparing for another test in November of an intermediate-range ballistic missile that it wants to deploy in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Reuters on Tuesday. This could signal an escalation of tension in the coming months. Earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper expressed a wish to station intermediate-range missiles in the Pacific region within months....

Officials in Oregon reportedly are seeking to have local journalists investigated for contacting government workers on their personal emails and phone numbers after hours. Given that the allegations describe relatively routine functions of a reporter's job, the newspaper is not backing down. Les Zaitz, publisher and editor of the Malheur Enterprise, denied any wrongdoing from his staff, after an attorney for Malheur County went to Sheriff Brian Wolfe with the allegations that reporters may have broken the law by using officials’ personal contact information to call and email them outside of business hours. “Suggesting that professional journalists are behaving as...

CNN released a poll on Tuesday that shows support for Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has dropped 12 points. In June Harris had 17 percent support but the poll reveals a steep decline among supporters after the second debate to just 5 percent. “That’s similar to the level of support she had in the spring before a surge following her initial debate performance,” CNN reported on its poll. “The June CNN poll was conducted in the days immediately following the first round of Democratic National Committee-sanctioned debates among the presidential candidates.”

NBC over the weekend pushed gun control repeatedly, casually dismissing calls for focusing culpability on the perpetrators of mass shooters as simply a talking point of “gun control opponents.” The Today show also touted using children to promote the gun control agenda. On Sunday, reporter Mike Viqueira sounded annoyed that Donald Trump would blame the shooters: “At his New Hampshire rally, Thursday, no mention of checks on criminal records, only for mental health history. The President echoing a familiar argument of gun control opponents.” He then played a clip of Trump noting, “It’s not the gun that pulls the trigger....

Giuffre, then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts, arrived at London Luton airport on March 9 along with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Hours later, a photograph of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist was taken in Maxwell’s flat. A month later, on April 9, the duke began an official visit to the U.S. in his capacity as chairman of the trustees of the Outward Bound Trust. The Court Circular, the official record of royal movements, recorded his presence in New York that day. The Mail says that the very same day, Giuffre also flew to New York. She...

Archaeologists have discovered a rare stamp and statues belonging to the ancient Turkic Ashina tribe in Mongolia, reports said Saturday. The discovery was made during excavations in Shiveet Ulan, led by the Turkic World Educational and Scientific Cooperation Organization (TWESCO). TWESCO President Darhan K?d?rali said significant archaeological findings have been made in the area since 2014. "Numerous unique stones with stamps belonging to the Ashina Khagan tribe, as well as lion statues were found in the excavations," K?d?rali told the Anadolu Agency. He noted that the statue is well-preserved and is a rare find. K?d?rali also noted that other findings...

In a Monday front-page story “Amid the Kale and Corn, Fears of White Supremacy at the Farmers’ Market,” New York Times journalist Patrick Healy sounded the alarm about how the people at a farmer’s market in a “heavily white, liberal town of 85,000 that is home to Indiana University” have been fearing for their lives after it was discovered that a couple selling “tomatoes and kale were also white nationalists.” Healy’s lede graphs were borderline comical (click “expand”): Justin Williams was baking a tray of gluten-free seeded bread for the next morning’s farmers’ market when his phone buzzed. It was...

Epstein’s moral compass was very broken. And, considering we have not seen sufficient proof that he is dead, he might be molesting children as I write this. Did Jeffrey Epstein Actually Commit Suicide, Was He “Suicided” Or Was His Death Faked? Jean-Luc Brunel was an Epstein friend and a scout for Next Top Model. For a birthday gift, according to testimony in court documents, Brunel found 12-year-old triplets for Epstein to have his way with. Here’s more from The Daily Mail: High-profile Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre described the sadistic birthday present in unsealed court documents from a 2015 lawsuit...

When the US transport ship Cape San Juan was torpedoed in the Pacific, the survivors faced an horrific ordeal in seas full of sharks. Find out the horrifying story of the 'other' USS Indianapolis.Five minute video: