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Original cut from 1979 (almost typed in 1917), Talking Heads album "Fear of Music".

Editor's note: This column was co-authored by Dr. Loyd Pettegrew. The melting pot metaphor applies to a society where many different types of people blend together as one. A national identity bouillabaisse if you will. It is essentially an environment in which many ideas, religions and races are socially assimilated. Since its inception America has prided itself in being a melting pot. While some countries are composed of people who are almost all the same in terms of race, religion, and culture (Scandinavia, the Middle East, Asia and India come to mind), the United States is a nation of many...

Founded in 1988 at the Exploratorium, Pi (π) Day has become an international holiday, celebrated live and online all around the world. The numbers in the date (3/14) match the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi (π). What is π, anyway? Divide any circle’s circumference by its diameter; the answer (whether for a pie plate or a planet) is always approximately 3.14, a number we represent with the Greek letter π. Keep calculating π’s digits with more and more accuracy—as mathematicians have been doing for 4,000 years—and you’ll discover they go on literally forever, with no pattern.

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Was Forced to Reverse Closing of Italian Churches Francis was inundated by phone calls of cardinals and bishops after he closed all Roman churches on Thursday evening for fear of the coronavirus.According to LaNuovaBq.it, this was the last straw because “many” bishops were already angry about the suspension of all Masses.A source in the Vatican called the measure a sign that the Church is “no longer relevant.”The German bishops' KNA reported that “many” priests considered opening their churches secretly.Bergamo, Milan, Florence, Naples and Palermo dioceses decided to keep their churches open under certain conditions.Curia Cardinal Krajewski personally...

According to the Washington Post, 91% of Trump coverage by the three broadcast networks, which include ABC, is negative. When a right-wing lunatic massacred people of Mexican descent at an El Paso Walmart in August 2019, the networks blamed the attack on Trump's "hateful" rhetoric about immigrants.(snip) Having been taught to hate Republicans, a Bernie Sanders–supporter shot and nearly killed GOP rep. Steve Scalise. After Rep. Scalise was shot, Republican rep. Claudia Tenney received an email that read, "One down, 216 to go." Seventy-one-year-old female staffer for California GOP rep. Dana Rohrabacher was knocked unconscious by Trump-hating Democrats during a...

...The restrictions expire on May 11. “These restrictions are necessary to preserve force readiness, limit the continuing spread of the virus, and preserve the health and welfare of Service members, DoD civilian employees, their families, and the local communities in which we live,” the memo said...

United Nations - - All United Nations staff at its headquarters in New York were told Friday to work from home for at least three weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak unless it was essential for them to be present. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the plan was "to reduce our physical presence at United Nations Headquarters, while continuing to deliver on our mandates." "Your health and well-being remain my greatest concern. Be safe, be smart, be kind," he said in a separate message to staff Thursday. About 3,000 UN employees are based in New York. A Philippine diplomat this week...

I am in Cary, North Carolina. Here is what I just saw.Just came back from the Harris Teeter off of270 Grande Heights DrHarrison Pointe Shopping CenterCary, NC 27513This store is normally well stocked, and you never have trouble finding anything. This morning it was about 65% full. Cleaning supplies, TP, meat, milk and bread were all very low or gone. The body washes were low. There were lots of empty shelves.I was listening to the the employee at the cash register. She said there were a lot of people coming into the store and buying anywhere from $600 to $800...

From Bishop Barron: LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32 Friends, at the core of today’s Gospel is a portrait of our God, who is prodigal. The father stands for the God whose very nature is to give, the God who simply is love. And the younger son stands for all of us sinners who tend to misunderstand how to access the divine love. Since God exists only in gift form, his life, even in principle, cannot become a possession. Instead, it is "had" only on the fly, only in the measure that it is given away. When we cling to it, it disappears,...

Compared to what? That should be the question that every fear-mongering news story on the coronavirus has to start with. So far, the United States has seen forty-one deaths from the infection. Twenty-two of those deaths occurred in one poorly run nursing home outside of Seattle, the Life Care Center. Another nine deaths occurred in the rest of Washington state, leaving ten deaths (four in California, two in Florida, and one in each of Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, and South Dakota) spread throughout the rest of the approximately 329 million residents of the United States. This represents roughly .000012 percent...

"You know what people are missing as they hoard toilet paper and hand sanitizer? They are missing that our lives are gifts. We are blessed to ever be here in the first place. Everything we have in life is a blessing. Our families. Our homes. Our jobs. You may think you earned it all, but none of it would be without a loving God who created you and the world." An Uber driver told me this. On one of my last Uber rides for a while, I suspect. He is Muslim and seemed to have some real peace about him...

MADRID - Spain’s government will say all Spaniards must stay home except to buy food or drugs, go to hospital, go to work or other emergencies according to a draft decree seen by Reuters on Saturday, confirming reports in local media.

Portland, OR – Cascade Policy Institute has submitted a letter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requesting that the agency enforce contracts with TriMet for three light rail projects: the Yellow Line, the Green Line, and the Orange Line. Each project received substantial federal funding, which came with contractual obligations to provide minimum levels of service. TriMet has not met those obligations. For both the Yellow and Green Lines, TriMet is supposed to be providing 8 trains per hour during peak periods. Current service on those lines is 4 trains per hour. For the Orange Line, TriMet is supposed to...

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday, the most significant move yet by the U.S. government to head off the coronavirus outbreak. Trump’s declaration came as many public and private institutions have taken action — including canceling major events, temporarily banning large gatherings, closing schools and telling people to work from home — in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled, soared, and then closed with a gain of 1,900 points after the emergency declaration. Wall Street had reeled Thursday afternoon after coronavirus fears drove the markets to their worst...

Countries around the world on Saturday continued to close borders, impose strict entry and quarantine requirements and restrict large gatherings in efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. Apple Inc said it will close all its retail stores worldwide, outside Greater China, until March 27. Apple reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China on Friday as the spread of the virus on mainland China slowed dramatically. Countries have shuttered museums, tourist attractions and sporting events to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission, with more than 138,000 people worldwide infected and more than 5,000 dead. Colombia said...

"What I said is what Barack Obama said, in terms of Cuba, that Cuba made progress on education." -Bernie Sanders to Joe Biden at South Carolina's Democratic debate, Feb. 25, 2020. "He (Obama) did not in any way suggest that there was anything positive about the Cuban government!…” -Joe Biden angrily responded to Sanders. How’s that again, Joe? Because: "Cuba has an extraordinary resource -- a system of education which values every boy and every girl.” -Barack Obama, Havana, March 22, 2016.More idiotically (or alarmingly) during the same speech Obama also hailed Cuba’s famous “doctor diplomacy” (i.e. Human Trafficking using slave...

By: Hassan Mahmoudi The Coronavirus spread and its mismanagement by the Iranian regime are victimizing more people every day. According to reports posted by the Iranian opposition, more than 4000 in 166 cities have lost their lives to the virus so far, second only to China. The situation of the prisons and prisoners in Iran is deplorably catastrophic, and Tehran officials continue to close their eyes and ignore the tragedy about to happen. Coronavirus Spread in Iran Prisons Prisons in Iran are overcrowded, at maximum capacity. These prisons are void of many amenities including basic sanitation, salt water, warm water,...

VIDEO Norman Lear was so enthusiastic about Andrew Gillum that he came to Florida to support him just before the 2018 election. He even gushed that possibly becoming governor was just the start for Gillum and that he could go "all the way!"

So let’s see if I have this right: washing your hands vigorously with soap and water kills the coronavirus because soap shatters the lipid membranes of the virus? In other words, the virus is fat. Can it be fat-shamed then? Is the CDC not recommending this because fat-shaming is not PC? I’m skeptical: I wash my whole body vigorously with soap and water in the shower every day, but it seems to be completely ineffective in breaking down and reducing my personal lipids. Meanwhile, I can’t believe it hasn’t occurred to any leftist conspiracy theorists that this whole virus thing...