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Pentagon and Washington-area military leaders are on red alert, wary of what President Donald Trump might do in his remaining days in office. Though far-fetched, ranking officers have discussed what they would do if the president declared martial law. And military commands responsible for Washington DC are engaged in secret contingency planning in case the armed forces are called upon to maintain or restore civil order during the inauguration and transition period. According to one officer who spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity, the planning is being kept out of sight of the White House and Trump loyalists in...

The United Nation’s human rights office criticized President Trump this week for pardoning four Blackwater guards who were convicted in connection with the killing of Iraqi civilians -- claiming that the pardons contribute "to impunity." placeholder "We are deeply concerned by the recent U.S. presidential pardons for four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were convicted for killing 14 Iraqi civilians," the statement by U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that House Democrats would vote Monday on a standalone bill that would provide direct payments to Americans of $2,000 a person. Pelosi, D-Calif., made the announcement moments after House Republicans blocked a Democratic bid to increase the payments as passed in the stimulus bill earlier this week from $600 a person to $2,000. "On Monday, I will bring the House back to session, where we will hold a recorded vote on our stand-alone bill to increase economic impact payments to $2,000. To vote against this bill is to deny the financial hardship that families...

In “Bridgerton,” the new Shonda Rhimes period drama on Netflix, the lords and ladies of early 19th century Britain are depicted as Black as well as White. Why? Washington Post television critic Hank Stuever explains it this way: “A Black character stops to explain, grandly, how and why this society came to be integrated. (Answer: because the queen is a person of color.) Not only does it not make much sense, but it seems like an unnecessary wrench thrown into a completely sensible and revisionary romp: People of color are here because they should have been here all along. Isn’t...

Just watched a Nashville "Police Update" broadcast on the bombing and it struck me as fluffy filler.

Officially back in 2019 Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao represented the United States at the proclamation of the enthronement ceremony of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. While in Tokyo, Secretary Chao met with Embassy officials, including Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Joe Young, and paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Akasaka Palace. Between high-level bilateral meetings, Secretary Chao and U.S. Department of Transportation officials also toured Japan’s high-speed rail system at Tokyo Station. The U.S. government had initially made arrangements to send Vice President Mike Pence to the ceremony on Oct. 22, in which...

The specter of BLM riots haunted many a city this past summer, as many of you will certainly remember. Day after day, hordes of rioters and looters smashed shop windows, attacked bystanders and police officers, and plunged America into days of fire and darkness. It was anarchism at its worst; the state could not protect our lives or our property. With the news that “Detroit sues BLM” coming out, perhaps that anarchic time is finally ending. Our natural rights were under attack and the attackers claimed they had a moral right, because of their skin color, to do so. For...

As one of ten children growing up in extreme poverty in Greensboro, NC, Mark Robinson has defied a lot of odds in life: an alcoholic and abusive father, foster-care stints, and an overwhelmed single mother. After joining the Army Reserves right out of high school, he married and had two children while drifting through various jobs making furniture, a profession that kept evaporating as each plant he worked for relocated to Mexico. In 2018, he attended Greensboro’s city council meeting to voice his frustration over the town’s decision to ban a local gun show, and found himself giving an off-the-cuff...

Ultraviolet radiation is a common method of killing bacteria and viruses. Now, researchers from Tel Aviv University have proven that the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, can be killed efficiently, quickly and cheaply using ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) at specific frequencies. “We discovered that it is quite simple to kill the coronavirus using LED bulbs that radiate ultraviolet light,” said Prof. Hadas Mamane, head of the Environmental Engineering Program at Tel Aviv University's School of Mechanical Engineering, who led the study with Prof. Yoram Gerchman and Dr. Michal Mandelboim.

On this date in 1739, Penelope Kenny and Sarah Simpson were publicly hanged in colonial New Hampshire for “feloniously concealing the death of a[n] … infant bastard child.” The first people — male or female — executed in New Hampshire history had separately disposed in August 1739 of their respective newborns. Unluckily for them, some never-discovered third woman did the same thing around the same time much less adroitly … and her dead infant was found in a well. The ensuing investigation uncovered (in one case by the forcible ministrations of a midwife team) the recent pregnancies of this day’s...

Last week, we asked the listeners of the Ringside Politics program to nominate their “Heroes” and “Zeroes” of 2020. This is an annual exercise that always elicits excellent nominations. This year was no exception as 2020 has been eventful, disturbing, and extremely challenging. Everyone is eagerly anticipating the arrival of 2021 and the hope of better times ahead. Over the past year, a multitude of people distinguished themselves as “Zeroes,” but very few took the type of courageous action necessary to be identified as “Heroes.” In this extremely elite group, one person stood alone, President Donald Trump, so it is...

Kartini is a women's rights pioneer in Indonesia, the fourth biggest nation in the world. She is a national hero. Her birthday is a public holiday. The great news is that her brand of feminism is based on love of men. With the support of her father and husband she pioneered marriage rights for women and educational rights for girls. She championed the family. Feminism in The West is the enemy of family life and mothers.

Rudy said stuff will come up this week. These people are trained to present evidence for maximum effect. It's all timing. Jan. 6 is 10 days away with a lockdown New Year on Friday. The big splash will come without the rats having the time to react. It's going to come down to state legislators coming into emergency sessions out of fear-perhaps over the weekend. We'll see. Is patience a virtue?

Perhaps $2000 could be issued for each SSN holder for whom over $1000 in FICA&SE taxes was paid in four quarters within the tax years 2018-2019 who lacked total state unemployment insurance (UI) income in excess of $6000 in the previous UI quarter at least 30 days prior to enactment. If in excess $6000 but less than $14000, the $2000 would be reduced by 25 percent of the excess. Payment would done by the claimant's state unemployment office at least three federal business days after electronically filing a 1099-DJT for $2000(or lower amount) with the IRS so duplicate payouts under...

All true conservatives hold hope-upon-hope that 2021 will be better in every way that 2020. The fact that the Republican Party snatched defeat from the jaws of electoral victory has left most of us disconsolate heading into the new year. Being an empiricist academic, now retired, I offer you ten resolutions that will allow each of us to do our part to make 2021 a better year in myriad ways.Support any policy that restrains China from continuing its infiltration and influence in America while working against their efforts and supporters, especially politicians like Eric Swalwell, who would do China’s bidding...

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Dec. 26. The report that the Military Committee of the Senate had under consideration the Pittsburgh affair, is incorrect; but the Cabinet being in session it was discussed by them. It is universally conceded that if the Government insists upon the shipment of arms from Pittsburgh, it must also reinforce the Southern forts, and enforce the laws there. The Administration is in great tribulation about it. Efforts will be made, by influential persons sent from Washington, to induce the people to desist, and allow the arms to be shipped. Mr. CASS was on the Avenue this afternoon. He...

The air fryer certainly had a dramatic, messy year, but it’s not her fault. All she wanted to do was serve up hot and crispy food in record time, but all the pedants of the world wanted to talk about was how she was “just a small convection oven” that “didn’t really fry anything.” That may be true, but a small convection oven that heats super quickly and turbo-crisps your food is very valuable, especially if your oven doesn’t have a dang convection setting. (Also, my oven does have a convection setting, and it takes twice as long to get...

(CN) — Defamation and harassment claims brought by students at Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High School against CNN, the Washington Post and NBC were dismissed by a federal judge Wednesday after he found that none of the twelve plaintiffs had been defamed or unlawfully threatened. The suit stems from a confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial in January of 2019 during the annual March for Life, and followed on the heels of CNN’s settlement with fellow student Nicholas Sandmann. Sandmann’s tense encounter with Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the march went viral, sparking widespread ire on social media from commenters who...

One word can be used to sum up the United States Navy‘s Zumwalt-class destroyer: “controversial.” Designed as a new class of multi-mission stealth warships with a focus on land attacks, the sleek vessels could also take on secondary roles including surface and anti-aircraft warfare. The next-generation, multi-mission destroyers were also equipped with a state-of-the-art electric propulsion system, wave-piercing tumblehome hull, stealth design, and the latest war fighting technology and weaponry. But does the ship pack in too much new technology?

December 24, 2020 (Steven O’Reilly) – Roma Locuta Est continues to explore and piece together the happenings surrounding and subsequent to the 2013 conclave which elected Cardinal Bergoglio, particularly as these relate to the ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Our articles to date on the subject have been assembled in the The Conclave Chronicles. Roma Locuta Est recently came across an interesting piece of information on McCarrick. Before presenting it, let us review some of the background. McCarrick and the 2013 ConclaveArchbishop Vigano in his Testimony had spoken of the “important part he (i.e., McCarrick) had played in his (i.e., Bergoglio’s) recent...