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Three Earth-sized planets orbiting a cool, dim star called Trappist-1 in the constellation of Aquarius will be high up on the hit list. Computer models suggest the Trappist-1 system is among the most promising for finding planets with atmospheres and temperatures that would enable liquid water to exist on the surface. “The James Webb Telescope will be able to tell us whether they have atmospheres like the Earth or Venus,” said Meadows. “It gives us our first real chance to search for gases given off by life on another planet. We’re basically going to get to study Earth’s cousins.”

“A Better Righteousness” (Matthew 5:21-37) Every week at the end of the Holy Gospel reading, I say, “This is the Gospel of the Lord.” Well, today at the end of the Holy Gospel reading, when I said, “This is the Gospel of the Lord,” I wanted to answer back and shout out, “No, it isn’t! This is not the Gospel of the Lord! This is all Law!” And indeed it is. Jesus is laying on the Law mighty thick. But he’s doing it for a good reason. He wants to strip away our self-righteousness, so that we will be ready...

<p>CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CN) — A lawsuit California Congressman Devin Nunes filed in Virginia against California-based media giant McClatchy will live to see another day after a judge called Wednesday for more discovery on personal jurisdiction. Nunes, who seeks $150 million in damages, brought the suit last year in Albemarle Circuit Court, claiming that the publisher had conspired with Republican operative Elizabeth Mair to tarnish his reputation.</p>

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABC7) — Metro has spent $3.8 million and taken five years to build two unfinished bike racks - at East Falls Church and Vienna Metro Stations. WMATA originally budgeted $600,000 for each rack, but the price tag has soared to $1.9 million each. The covered bike shelters will house 92 bikes, putting the price tag at more than $20,000 per bike. Future costs to finish the projects could raise that number even higher. The projects were supposed to be completed in December of 2015 but remain unfinished in 2020. Metro says due to “Numerous construction quality issues,...

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee issued a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump Thursday, slamming the administration's plan to divert $3.83 billion in Pentagon funding to border wall construction as unconstitutional and pledging to take action after lawmakers were notified of the move by the Department of Defense. Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who is the ranking member of the House committee and has announced he will not run for reelection this year, did not mention Trump by name but voiced strong opposition to the diverting of money from various Pentagon accounts for border wall...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, Farmers, Sanctity of Life, Health Care, and the Media Religion Forum threads labeled “Prayer” are closed to debate of any kind. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Luke 22:31-32

Police are flying drones around vehicle checkpoints with a large QR code that people are supposed to scan to register their health information. And while we didn’t believe it at first, reports from China’s state-run media indicate that it’s actually happening. The drones are popping up in cities like Shenzhen in Guangdong province, where cops are using them in an effort to keep law enforcement officers away from the public. The drones broadcast messages with instructions on how to use your smartphone to scan a QR code and submit health info to a government-run website online. “Please open the window,...

Bernie Sanders said it’s a “good thing” when people have to wait in line for food. Meanwhile, in the real world, this is what it’s actually like to wait in line for food in Venezuela. Bernie Sanders said that it’s a “good thing” when people have to wait in line for food.These are his exact words:“It’s funny, sometimes American journalists talk about how bad a country is, cause people are lining up for food. That’s a good thing! In other countries people don’t line up for food: the rich get the food and the poor starve to death.”You can see him...

Several blasts hit a U.S.-led coalition military base in Baghdad early on Sunday from an apparent rocket attack, a U.S. military official said. The official did not immediately say if the attack caused any casualties or significant damage.

Reuters) - An 83-year-old American woman who had been a passenger on a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia has tested positive for the new coronavirus on landing in Malaysia, health authorities said on Saturday. The American woman flew to Malaysia on Friday from Cambodia along with 144 others from the ship, the Malaysian health ministry said in a statement. The woman's husband had tested negative, it said.

"Hello Goodbye" by the Beatles, a number one song from early 1968 here in the USA. That's around the time my father left the factory to higher paying and longer lasting government employment as inflation kicked in here in the USA. Lyndon Johnson was ramping up government with Medicare and Medicaid and the cost of medical care was beginning to skyrocket, debt was beginning to accumulate and wow here we are 23 trillion dollars plus later. The 2021 federal budget proposed by President Trump adds another 966 billion to that. Well the currency is devalued and its easy to tell...

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald today blasted “arrogant” political rivals for denying her party a place in the next Irish Government. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has ruled out entering a coalition with the left-leaning party because of historic links to the IRA. Ms. McDonald told a party meeting in Belfast: “The political establishment of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are circling the wagons in defense of a status quo that will not deliver the change citizens voted for last weekend. Because they don’t want change. That is why they said they wouldn’t talk to us. And it now...

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper framed the Chinese regime as “Pentagon’s top concern” on Feb. 15, saying that Beijing’s aggressive commercial and military postures have posed a challenge to the world. “The Communist Party and its associated organs … are increasingly operating in theaters 'outside its borders', including Europe, and seeking advantage 'by any means', and at any cost,” he told the world’s leading policy makers at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Esper said that it is essential for the international community to “wake up to the challenges” as Chinese Communist Party heads “even faster and further in the...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, was arrested at Detroit Metro Airport Friday while joining a protest by airline workers. Photos by a spokeswoman for the hospitality workers' union UNITE HERE showed Tlaib joining catering workers for Delta Air Lines, who were protesting for higher wages and better healthcare. Tlaib was detained briefly and then released, according to the ABC affiliate for Chicago. A spokesperson for Tlaib could not be reached for comment.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…history matters. When you see a new story on the horizon, and it looks a lot like an old story you know was a hoax, you have to dig up that history and report it. Yes, many people hate history. It tends to stretch their attention spans, which are rooted in the present, where the action is: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram—-little crumbs of NOW and NOW and NOW. CDC was concealing a scandal (To read about Jon’s mega-collection, The Matrix Revealed, click here.) Oh well. Here we go, back into the Dark...

As Mike Bloomberg celebrated his 48th birthday in 1990, a top aide at the company he founded presented him with a booklet of profane, sexist quotes she attributed to him. A good salesperson is like a man who tries to pick up women at a bar by saying, “Do you want to f---? He gets turned down a lot — but he gets f----- a lot, too!” Bloomberg was quoted in the booklet as saying. Bloomberg also allegedly said that his company’s financial information computers “will do everything, including give you [oral sex]. I guess that puts a lot of...

February 16 2020 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Sir 15:15-20 If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man’s every deed. No one does he command...

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that he still has confidence in the Justice Department despite the controversial decision not to pursue charges against former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe but added that there’s a “little swamp left to be drained.” "I still think there's work to be done to have folks who reflect the right views and values that the senior leadership that the FBI have," Gaetz said regarding whether he felt let down by Barr. "I have total confidence in Bill Barr. I think the Durham indictments will help to drain the swamp over there."

This is John Entwistle's isolated bass track (with the rest of The Who faintly in the background) in the beginning and end section of the Live at Leeds version of My Generation.

We already learned that a majority of Americans find Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal with Ukranian energy giant Burisma to be problematic at best. Despite nearly all of the mainstream media providing as much cover for the Bidens as possible, you have to wonder how everyone is feeling about the unfolding story of a very similar series of deals that the younger Biden landed in China. The closer you look at Hunter’s incredibly “fortunate” affairs in that nation, the worse it smells. And it also raises questions about Joe Biden’s very friendly attitude toward an increasingly aggressive country that’s rife...