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“One of the ugliest political spectacles I have ever witnessed” FEBRUARY 8, 2020 BY DAN PETERSON From a recent article by the superb conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg: I have criticized—and defended—Mitt Romney many times. But the effort, admittedly mostly from the worst goons, buffoons, and satraps of Trumpism, to describe him as a person of low character in defense of President Trump is one of the ugliest political spectacles I have ever witnessed. Has Romney at times been calculating? Of course. He’s a politician. But the suggestion that he is not an honest or decent man because he was “disloyal”...

Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Global Cases from Johns Hopkins

Republicans sense momentum after impeachment win BY JULIE GRACE BRUFKE - 02/08/20 05:08 PM EST 13,30 House Republicans believe they are gaining momentum after a terrible week for Democrats and a strong one for President Trump. GOP lawmakers are becoming optimistic they have a chance to pick up seats or even win back the majority in November. Taking back the House would require picking up at least 18 seats and would be a tough climb, but Republicans say the turmoil in the Democratic Party and a strong economy bolstering Trump give them reasons for optimism. Spirits were running high during...

House Democrats say even though President Trump was acquitted in the Senate, that doesn’t mean they are going to ease off their investigations into his administration. Democrats are weighing whether to pursue new leads of possible wrongdoing or press forward with probes that were already underway when an anonymous whistleblower's allegations last year sparked the impeachment inquiry. But no matter which route they take, Democrats are confident there is more wrongdoing to be uncovered — it’s just a matter of when and how grave. “Donald Trump, I still believe, is a one-man crime wave, and we can’t let him get...

WORLD NEWS FEBRUARY 8, 2020 / 10:35 PM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO Insider attack in Afghanistan kills two U.S. soldiers and Afghan serviceman Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Idrees Ali KABUL/WASHINGTON ) - Two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan soldier were killed when an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on them with a machine gun in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military and two senior Afghan officials said on Sunday. The shootout on Saturday wounded six U.S. service members and three Afghan soldiers. The firefight broke out after a combined U.S. and Afghan force completed a “key-leader engagement” at the...

It is no secret that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), despite being a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention, regards the development of bioweapons as a key part of achieving military dominance. The vice-president of China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, He Fuchu, said in 2015 that biomaterials were the new “strategic commanding heights” of warfare. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general Zhang Shibo went even further in his 2017 book, “War’s New High Land,” claiming that “modern biotechnology development is gradually showing strong signs characteristic of an offensive capability,” including the potential for “specific ethnic genetic attacks.” To be perfectly...

Mexican migrants working abroad sent home a record $36 billion in remittances in 2019... It’s the highest level of remittances on record. It’s also greater than the $25 billion in income Mexico receives from foreign tourism, or the country’s $22.4 billion in annual petroleum exports. Mexico’s central bank said the average amount of each electronic transfer sent home was about $300...

<p>The U.S. ambassador to Israel has cautioned Israel against “unilateral action” in annexing West Bank settlements, warning that such a move could endanger the Trump administration's recently unveiled Mideast plan.</p> <p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially sought to move quickly to annex large swathes of the West Bank containing Jewish settlements, following the U.S. plan's announcement on Jan. 28. Netanyahu called for his Cabinet to vote on such a measure, only to call it off a day later. The move would have risked provoking a harsh backlash from the Palestinians and the international community.</p>

EMC Frontline, a charity that helps pregnant women and newborns is fighting New York state law that requires nonprofits and religious institutions to hire vermin. The "Boss Bill" prohibits employers from accessing (considering) child dismemberment / emulsification preferences. EMC founder Chris Slattery said the law represents "a fundamental effort to crush the pro-life movement" by targeting pro-life church institutions and nonprofits. New York City passed the same “murder incorporated” language shortly after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the statewide "Boss Bill" in November. Neither the Cuomo administration nor Mayor Bill de Blasio's office returned requests for comment.

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Pray for our American Heroes" Prayer Thread have Combined to Form the AMERICA PRAYER VIGIL Prayer Thread! Join with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for our PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 'And this is the Confidence that we have in Him, that, if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Heareth us.' 1 John 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind. Psalm 5:11 Let All who Take Refuge in You be Glad, Let them Ever...

Testing aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has found 60 more confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, domestic broadcaster TBS TV said via Twitter. That brings total cases on the ship docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, to 130, according to TBS. The liner was placed on a two-week quarantine on arriving at Yokohama on Feb. 3.

A Cambridge academic has proposed a radical new way to solve climate change – letting humanity become extinct. Patricia MacCormack, a professor of continental philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University, has just released her new book The Ahuman Manifesto, which will officially be launched in Cambridge today (Wednesday, February 5). The book argues that due to the damage done to other living creatures on Earth, we should start gradually phasing out reproduction. But rather than offering a bleak look at the future of humanity, it has generated discussion due to its joyful and optimistic tone, as it sets out a positive...

Wind gusts reportedly surpassed 200 miles per hour on a particularly windy Sunday morning near Kirkwood, according to the National Weather Service — possibly setting a new record for California amid doubts of the report’s veracity. Sacramento-area NWS forecaster Karleisa Rogacheski confirmed that an observation site in the Sierra Nevada recorded a gust of 209 mph at 7:45 a.m. amid widespread windy conditions in the region. The last major wind speed record in the state was set in February 2017, when winds reached 199 mph at the Alpine Meadows ski resort.

by Lynn Foster “The Communist Manifesto” got a shoutout during the 2020 Oscars. Julia Reichert, the co-director of best documentary winner “American Factory,” which was produced by former President Barack Obama’s new film company, apparently quoted from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ infamous book during her acceptance speech on Sunday night. “Working people have it harder and harder these days — and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,” Reichert said. The quote was a riff on the last lines of the 1848 political document, which are frequently translated from German as “Workers of the...

The votes being counted in Ireland today. Yesterday's projection as polls closed put the left-wing Sinn Fein Party in the top three of Irish political parties with its best showing yet in a southern Irish election. Early declared results show Sinn Fein a clear winner.... In Switzerland a law against "homophobia" projected to have won in a referendum..... More unusual activity related to Iowa's Democrat caucus last Monday. The Iowa Democratic Party today awarded the popular vote winner Bernie Sanders only 12 delegates to the national convention while the candidate who ran in second place, Pete Buttigieg, was given 14...

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the Wuhan virus continues to spread across China unabated, Beijing authorities on Sunday evening (Feb. 9) announced that the city is being locked down. As the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to rage across China, 80 cities have been locked down under "closed-off management" (封閉式管理) measures. On Sunday, Beijing authorities announced an "Epidemic prevention and control notice of strict closed community management" and declared that the city is going under lockdown (封城), reported the Beijing Daily.

Here are the winners at the 92nd annual Academy Awards that handed out Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood:Best PictureParasite (Neon) A Barunson E&A Production Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, ProducersActress in a Leading RoleRenée Zellweger Judy (LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions)Actor in a Leading RoleJoaquin Phoenix Joker (Warner Bros.)DirectingParasite (Neon) Bong Joon HoOriginal Song“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman (Paramount) Music by Elton John Lyric by Bernie Taupin Original ScoreJoker (Warner Bros.) Hildur GuðnadóttirInternational FeatureParasite A Barunson E&A Production South KoreaMakeup and HairstylingBombshell (Lionsgate) Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker Visual Effects1917 (Universal/Amblin...

MERRIMACK, New Hampshire — By Thursday morning it became clear that both Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders can plausibly claim victory in the Iowa caucus, Sanders having narrowed Buttigieg’s lead in the delegate count to just 0.1 percent and surpassed the former South Bend mayor in the popular vote by more than 2,000.These vote totals—along with claims of victory from both campaigns—came out Thursday just as Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez demanded a recanvass of the Iowa results amid confusion about the Iowa Democratic Party’s caucus system and growing tensions between the Sanders campaign and the DNC....

February 10 2020 Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin Reading 1 1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13 The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes, the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel, came to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from the City of David, which is Zion. All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month). When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark; they carried the ark of the...

By this point in awards season, Brad Pitt’s march toward a Best Supporting Actor Oscar seems all but inevitable. Not to say anyone’s complaining. In fact, the loudest knock against the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star is that his warm-up acceptance speeches at events like the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the BAFTAs have been a little too, well, perfect. [snip] Fenway Strategies is a speechwriting and communications firm founded by former Obama administration officials Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor. Although the firm’s most obvious connection is to the political arena, helping speakers prep TED...