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Taiwan faces military threats on a daily basis from “authoritarian forces”, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday, as the United States announced a new $280 million arms sale package to the Chinese-claimed island, the sixth this year. China expressed anger at the weapons sale, as it always does, threatening unspecified retaliation. The outgoing Trump administration has ramped up support for the island democracy, with 11 arms sale packages in total, and on Monday the U.S. government notified Congress of the sale of a new Field Information Communications System. Such sales - $5 billion worth this year - have riled China,...

There is no federal law that prevents a state from altering its certification between Tuesday (December 8) and next Monday (December 14), when the Electoral College actually casts its votes in each state. The complaint filed in state superior court, Fulton County, pleads hard numbers of votes that were allegedly cast either by ineligible voters or in an illegal manner. - More than 66,247 people who were underage. - At least 40,279 people who had moved across county lines at least 30 days before the election and failed to re-register in their new county, as state law requires. -At least...

Georgia’s secretary of state has announced he has again determined the 2020 election results in favor of Democrat Joe Biden following two recounts without signature verifications—one of the main points of contention from the Trump campaign. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Dec. 7 announced his affirmation for Biden’s victory. “[T]he Secretary of State affirmed that all 159 counties have provided to the state the total votes tabulated for presidential candidates in the November 3, 2020 presidential election. Further, the Secretary of State affirms that the statewide consolidated returns for the presidential election are a true and correct tabulation of...

California on Monday announced an app to help people track their exposure to the coronavirus, becoming the biggest U.S. state to take advantage of new technology from smartphone software makers Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Beginning on Thursday, people in California can activate the exposure notifications tool from the settings menu on iPhones or by downloading the CA Notify App in the Google Play store on Android devices. The apps enable Bluetooth signals between devices to determine when they are in close proximity, and the apps then anonymously alert users when a recent contact later tests positive. At least...

December 8 2020 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church of the immacultate conceptio nof Mary, Lublin Lectionary 689Reading 1 GN 3:9-15, 20After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you...

The inquiry into the 2019 attacks on two Christchurch mosques revealed on Tuesday that security services had not given enough focus to right-wing terror, and could only have prevented the shootings “by chance.” The judicial probe called for 44 key changes to counterterrorism operations in response to the murder of 51 Muslim worshipers by a white supremacist. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the publishing of the almost 800-page report and said she would accept recommendations. “The Royal Commission found no failures within any government agencies that would have allowed the individual’s planning and preparation to have been detected...

The U.K. was the first country to authorize the vaccine for emergency use. In trials, the vaccine was shown to have around 95% efficacy. Vaccinations will be administered starting Tuesday at around 50 hospital hubs in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also begin their vaccination rollouts the same day. "I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19, it's the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most...

A northern Indiana man whose cash-filled wallet was accidentally thrown out got it back last week after a crew waded through tons of trash and found it, wet and smelly, near the bottom. Logansport resident Robert Nolte said his wallet ended up in the trash Thursday when he asked a friend to throw out a pair of green camouflage pants that were covered in white paint. After his trash was hauled away, Nolte realized his wallet was missing and that it had been in the discarded pants. At his wife's urging, he called a city code enforcement officer, Johnny Quinones,...

When a stunning sculpture of Nefertiti was found by German archaeologists in 1912 it prompted enormous interest in this powerful Queen who'd lived in 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Dr Constance Lord from the University of Sydney took Indira Naidoo from the workshops of the short lived capital of Armana where it was found, to the modern day controversy swirling around whether the bust should stay in its current home in Berlin, or be returned to the country it came from. Duration: 27min 13sec Broadcast: Sun 6 Dec 2020, 10:00pm Audio at link

Fries dipped in ice cream. It sounds like a weird combination of flavours — hot fries and cold ice cream — but I know more than one person who does it. In fact, I had a childhood friend who would always insist on getting a small pack of fries alongside her ice cream cone or sundae. Apparently, she's not alone — and as one colleague put it, most of us have probably tried it before. Well, you'll no longer have to order two separate items from the menu just to fuse them together. Burger King has introduced a new menu...

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the "right stuff" when in 1947 he became the first person to fly faster than sound, has died. He was 97. Yeager died Monday, his wife, Victoria Yeager, said on his Twitter account. "It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. An incredible life well lived, America's greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever." Yeager's death is...

On Monday, just before midnight, the State of Texas filed a lawsuit that is far more important than all of the others surrounding the presidential election of November 3rd. Texas brought a suit against four states that did something they cannot do: they violated the U.S. Constitution in their conduct of the presidential election. The four defendant states are Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. First, they violated the Electors Clause of Article II of the Constitution when executive or judicial officials in the states changed the rules of the election without going through the state legislatures. The Electors Clause requires...

I wanted to chronicle some random thoughts on this year's political plain poppycock. On the election, I think if Trump has any chance at all it will be with the computer angle. The dead people voting and ballot stuffing is all small beer. Homeland Security and CISA say they found no fraud and I believe them implicitly. But the question is always "how hard were you looking?" With eagle eyes or like a man with a glass eye looking through a keyhole? Any decent computer hacker could add 200,000 votes somewhere pretty easily and then remove any trace. This is...

Finally got to watch the final episode of Showtime's documentary on The Reagans. This time he's presented as a man who used the fools of the religious right as a voting and fundraising scheme by lying to them about wanting to repeal Roe v Wade. Not sure if that was a strategy he thought up on his own or if it was orchestrated by Nancy's astrologer, who also figures prominently in this episode. We also found out that he only approved of the Strategic Defense Initiative because it reminded him of a movie he was in and how one sentence...

Sen. Ted Cruz said on Monday he would make oral arguments to the Supreme Court should they agree to hear an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans suing to flip their state's election results from Joe Biden to President Trump. "Because of the importance of the legal issues presented, I have publicly urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case brought by Congressman Mike Kelly, congressional candidate Sean Parnell, and state representative candidate Wanda Logan challenging the constitutionality of the presidential election results in Pennsylvania," Cruz said in a statement to the Washington Examiner, which was first reported by Fox News....

As most of California goes back under stay-at-home orders, the street artist Sabo is urging the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom, calling the Democrat politician a “dirtbag” and a “crappy individual” for taking away people’s rights. In a video message obtained by Breitbart News, Sabo lashes out at Newsom and argues that lockdowns are all about controlling people and taking over the country. “It takes a special kind of dirtbag to shut down Southern California beaches on the fourth of July,” Sabo said. “And then to have the balls to try to dictate how many friends and family members you...

Conditions in jail are so tough for Ghislaine Maxwell the accused pedophile procurer is losing her hair and is wasting away to skin and bone, her lawyers complained in a new court filing. “While her weight may currently be fairly consistent, she had lost over 15 pounds, and she is sustaining hair loss,” wrote attorney Bobbi Sternheim in the letter to US District Judge Alison Nathan, who is overseeing Maxwell’s sex-trafficking case. The filing was in response to a letter the federal Bureau of Prisons sent the judge, insisting that Maxwell is well cared for and has maintained a healthy...

Builders are making renovations to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and the first lady, Melania Trump, is inspecting schools as the first family considers Florida as their next home, People reported Thursday.

The Pilot Project Implements Tailored Guidelines To Coordinate Efforts With Tribal Communities And Law Enforcement PartnersMUSKOGEE, Oklahoma — Today, U.S. Attorneys Trent Shores of the Northern District of Oklahoma and Brian Kuester of the Eastern District of Oklahoma launched a pilot project to implement a Tribal Community Response Plan with Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation, in accordance with Attorney General William P. Barr’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Initiative. Principal Chief David Hill of Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of Cherokee Nation joined the U.S. Attorneys in making the announcement.The goal for the Tribal...

ARCHAEOLOGY magazine reveals the year’s most exciting finds:Top 10 Discoveries of 2020ARCHAEOLOGY magazine reveals the year’s most exciting finds:Mummy Cache - Saqqara, EgyptCarbon Dating Pottery - WorldwideLargest Viking DNA Study - Northern Europe and GreenlandThe First Enslaved Africans in Mexico - Mexico City, MexicoLuwian Royal Inscription - Türkmen-Karahöyük, TurkeyA Shrine to Romulus - Rome, ItalyOldest Chinese Artwork - Henan, ChinaEnduring Rites of the Mound Builders - Georgia, USAOldest Maya Temple - Tabasco, MexicoFirst English Playhouse - London, England