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Attempts to rein in the government’s ability to spy on Americans fell flat after Rep. Adam B. Schiff intervened to protect the types of powers that the FBI used to go after the Trump campaign in 2016. Mr. Schiff, California Democrat and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, ran roughshod over House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, whose panel had control over the battle to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, said advocates on both sides of the aisle. The power struggle created an awkward moment in which Mr. Nadler canceled the markup of...

Debate Thread

New York City officials on Sunday said its public school system will close for over a month in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus, a decision affecting over 1.1 million children. The decision came amid a growing number of school closures in communities and entire states across the U.S. as well as mounting pressure from New York residents, City Council members and others. The mayor called it a "very troubling moment, a moment when I'm just distraught at having to take this action, but I became convinced over the course of today that there is no other...

In the face of facts, even the nay-sayers are beginning to see what the true believers have known all along – George Pell is innocent, and this is why, writes Andrew Bolt Their hopes soared last Thursday, after Kerri Judd QC tried to tell the High Court why Pell really did rape two boys right after Mass. Judd tried her best, but the headlines for Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions after the court’s seven judges had finished with her were terrible. ..... No one should accuse Judd of incompetence. I suspect she’s a conscientious lawyer who had to wrestle with...

Measure still requires Knesset subcommittee approval before going forward; ministers say they’ve worked to limit the harm to privacy, but critics warn of civil liberty violations

okay

As August 1918 wound to a close in Boston and summer’s dog days gave way to fall, the city was awash in optimism...So when, in late August, a handful of sailors stationed at Commonwealth Pier in what is now the South Boston Seaport fell terribly ill, no one in the city paid much mind..The new flu arrived quickly at Camp Devens in Ayer...a bustling barracks of some 45,000 soldiers...with as many as 1,543 soldiers reporting ill with influenza in a single day... It wasn’t until Sept. 15, roughly three weeks after the first soldiers reported ill, that the influenza epidemic...

Things That Won't Cure COVID-19 If Put In The Body

The number of Chinese people in Italy has grown rapidly in the last decade. Official statistics indicate there are at least 320,794 Chinese citizens in Italy. With an estimated 300,000 Chinese nationals, Italy hosts the largest diaspora community in the European Union. Via Aljazeera — Today, thousands work in small companies across Padua and other areas. The coronavirus was detected near Padua back on February 21. Around 50,000 Chinese are employed in Prato alone, Italy’s textile capital near Florence. The Italian government suspended flights to and from China on January 31 after two Chinese tourists tested positive. The coronavirus numbers...

A woman filmed driving without a seat belt says it wasn’t her fault because the belts are ‘racist to fat people’. The anonymous woman from New Zealand said she finds it difficult to strap herself in because she is overweight. If they’re going to give me a fine for not fitting my seatbelt, that’s just being racist, to the fat people.’ ‘They’re just being racist, like what do they think the whole world is skinny or something? What about the big people?’ One of the passengers points out seat belt sizing is not racist as ‘fat people’ are not a...

Earlier this week Iranian backed militia killed two US soldiers and a female UK soldier at Taji military base in Iraq. Last night the US responded killing at least 18 militia members in Iraq including Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander General Siamand Mashhadani.

Democrat lawyer Daniel Goldman announced on Sunday he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Goldman tried and failed miserably to impeach President Trump while the coronavirus was spreading in China. Maybe Democrats shouldn’t have been wasting their time with a sham impeachment when they should have focused on the real issues? Goldman blamed President Trump for the virus! Figures.

Pope Francis defied Italian government advice to stay indoors and today walked to church through Rome's deserted streets to pray for the end of coronavirus. The Catholic leader had earlier delivered a blessing from his balcony window above an eerily empty St Peter's Square, which has been closed to worshippers as part of the country's sweeping lockdown. Francis then left the Vatican to visit two churches in the Italian capital, first praying in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before strolling down the usually bustling Via del Corso. He headed to the St Marcello al Corso, which poignantly hosts a...

Denton County has reported its first presumptive positive COVID-19 case. The patient is a man in his 30's, who lives outside of Denton County, but was temporarily living in Double Oak. He will remain there in home-isolation.

Season 10 episode 12 "Walk With Us":

Pavel Daryl Kem Senou, a Cameroonian student in China “became the first African person known to be infected with the deadly coronavirus and the first to recover.” Some sources are claiming that African skin resists the coronavirus because of superior genetics. Is there truth to this? This claim started because the first African to be infected with the Coronavirus, Pavel Daryl Kem Senou, responded well to medical treatment, unlike thousands of others (non-africans) who contracted the virus and died soon after. One of the first Cameroonian general information websites reports, Journalducameroun.com reports, “The Chinese Embassy in Yaounde has announced that...

Guidance as of 3/15/2020 Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities. Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies. These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals. Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) at the weekend retweeted a post on Twitter which said in part “F**k a National day of prayer,” in relation to President Trump’s call for Americans of all faiths to pray for all those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Late Saturday, anti-gun activist David Hogg posted a tweet, saying, “Don’t let this administration address COVID-19 like our national gun violence epidemic. F**k a National day of prayer

Wikipedia says Dr. Fauci was born December 24, 1940 (age 79). If that's his age, it puts him in the high risk group for dangerous impacts if he were to contract COVID-19. He is definitely doing a public service by letting the American people know the magnitude of the potential crisis. But is he putting himself at risk by going around to TV studios and doing all these press conferences? Has anyone seen where the media has asked him if he has been tested, and whether he has considered limiting his social outreach because of his age? In other words,...

Some very amusing captioned cat photos...