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On this date in 1942, German troops in Russia’s Pskov Oblast summarily executed 83-year-old peasant Matvey Kuzmin for leading them into an ambush. World War II’s real-life Ivan Susanin was conscripted as a guide for the occupying Wehrmacht intending to approach a Soviet position at the village of Makino. Kuzmin cunningly sent his son ahead to Malkino to alert his countrymen of the attack while guiding the Germans circuitously. By the time Kuzmin et al reached the outskirts, a Soviet ambush was waiting for them. An enraged German officer shot Kuzmin during the ensuing firefight....

The Democrats who prosecuted Donald Trump’s impeachment trial faced puzzlement and criticism from senators on Saturday as they surprised most everyone — Trump’s lawyers and Senate Democrats included — with an attempt to call witnesses, only to abandon it as lawmakers balked at the possibility of an extended trial. The House impeachment managers opened the final day of the trial by announcing they would seek to depose Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., who had shared her account of a call between Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The House Democrats...

The Biden administration is just weeks away from having to make a decision whether to end the nearly 20-year military deployment in Afghanistan that has claimed nearly 2,400 American lives, as experts and US officials told CNN there are no good options available and the best hope is to avert "catastrophe." With the May deadline for a withdrawal looming and NATO allies eager to learn what the US will do, the National Security Council (NSC) convened a meeting of senior officials Friday to discuss the way forward on Afghanistan, according to two administration officials familiar with the meeting. The administration...

For Drug Conspiracy and Causing Death During the Drug ConspiracyHAMMOND-Lajuan Fitzpatrick, 29, of Lake Station, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon to 36 years in prison following his conviction at trial in November 2019 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and discharging a firearm causing death during this drug trafficking crime, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Gary T. Bell. The evidence at trial showed that on December 2, 2013, in Gary, Indiana, Fitzpatrick and his co-conspirators attempted to rob individuals they believed were marijuana dealers. The co-conspirators intended to resell the marijuana. Fitzpatrick...

Biden Opposes Religious Freedom at Home and Abroad He calls on his State Department to meddle in the moral and religious affairs of foreign countries.In 2011, Hillary Clinton announced that the promotion of “LGBT rights” abroad formed “a priority of our foreign policy.” She scolded religiously conservative countries for regarding that agenda as a “Western phenomenon.” She instructed diplomats at the State Department to meddle in the moral and religious affairs of those countries. “In our embassies, our diplomats are raising concerns about specific cases and laws,” she said.The Biden administration is picking up where Clinton left off. Biden, who...

Draeger’s Market in Los Altos (California) was found to have violated safety protocols and failed to protect its employees against the spread of COVID-19, which may have led to a major outbreak last summer that included transmission among employees... In January, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) fined Draeger’s $13,500 after inspections between July 24 and Jan. 13 revealed “serious” violations of the state’s guidance regarding COVID-19. According to the Cal/OSHA report, Draeger’s “failed to prevent harmful exposures of its employees to COVID-19 airborne particles,” citing three instances that led to the write-up.Draeger’s didn’t make sure its...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she’s not interested in censuring former President Donald Trump after the Senate acquitted Trump in his second impeachment trial. She implied that censuring Trump would be similar to giving “a little slap on the wrist.”

In roughly 15 months, Wilson Pickett helped shape the history of recording in America. In 1965 and 1966, Pickett, one of the most dynamic R&B singers of all time, traveled to Stax Records in Memphis and FAME Recording in Muscle Shoals where he cut a series of classic hits at each studio. In the process — between his supreme talent and pugnacious personality — Pickett helped determine the fate and future of each company, as they became twin pillars of Southern soul and pop music in the coming years. Stax’s success with Pickett validated and emboldened the small company as...

Miami, Fl. – A Florida man pleaded guilty for fraudulently obtaining approximately $3.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and using those funds, in part, to purchase a $318,000 Lamborghini sports car for himself.Authorities seized the Lamborghini and $3.4 million from the bank accounts of David T. Hines, 29, of Miami, at the time of his arrest. Hines pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14.As part of his guilty plea, Hines admitted that he fraudulently sought millions of dollars in PPP loans through applications to an insured financial institution...

Owner of Recycling Plant Bribed Former San Francisco Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru With A $36,000 Rolex Watch, Then Lied Repeatedly to FBI AgentsSAN FRANCISCO – Florence Kong was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay a $95,000 fine for bribery of a public official and making false statements to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable William H. Orrick, United States District Judge.“The sentence handed...

Defendants Allegedly Used Connections To The Sinaloa Cartel To Transport Drugs From Mexico Into The United StatesSAN FRANCISCO – A federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment charging fourteen defendants, mostly South Bay residents, with crimes related to two conspiracies—one to transport drugs from Mexico to the San Jose Area, the other to transport firearms illegally from the United States to Mexico, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair. In a press conference earlier today, U.S. Attorney...

Despite the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic, no one at a crowded grocery store in Naples was wearing a face mask. That’s because Alfie Oakes, the owner of Oakes Farms - Seed to Table Market, is not enforcing customers or employees to do so, News 6 partner WPLG reported. “Customers can wear a full bodysuit, and if you’re afraid of bumping your head, wear a football helmet,” Oakes said. His posts on Facebook referred to the deadly pandemic as a hoax. It’s a position that cost him a contract with the Collier County School Board. It is not hurting business...

A massive national cheerleading competition is descending on downtown Atlanta this weekend. Around 40,000 youth cheerleaders, coaches and spectators from across the country are expected to attend -- prime conditions, according to CDC guidelines, for a possible Covid-19 superspreader event.

A statewide election audit has affirmed Michigan's vote-counting machines are accurate and Joe Biden won the state of Michigan in the November 3, 2020 presidential election, according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “This statewide audit process affirms what election officials on both sides of the aisle have said since November – that Michigan’s election was conducted securely and fairly, and the results accurately reflect the will of the voters. I congratulate our election clerks for carrying out the most successful election in our state’s history, and thank them for affirming the integrity of our elections by participating in this...

“Christ’s Transfiguration and Our Hope of Glory” (Mark 9:2-9) O wondrous type! O vision fair Of glory that the Church may share, Which Christ upon the mountain shows, Where brighter than the sun He glows! So we just sang, and so we will now hear, under the theme, “Christ’s Transfiguration and Our Hope of Glory.” Our text is the reading from Mark chapter 9. It begins: “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely...

A foundation in Phichit province offered its annual treat to spirits on Chinese New Year -- by showing movies at an outdoor location for ancestors. Phichit Samakkee Kusolsathan Songkror Foundation showed the movies at a Chinese graveyard on Friday as part of Chinese New Year celebrations when dead spirits are believed to return home – from heaven and hell – to receive offerings from their living relatives. The graveyard in Muang district is owned by the foundation. The event has been organised for over 50 years on the same occasion. The movies showed this year included the Forbidden Kingdom (2008)...

..Welcome to the weekend gotta get "love" into the music. The governments spend more money, borrow more money from China, the countries become more like China. Which country gave us the first concentration camps any with some bad consequences for the country that was hurt by the concentration camps their own racist era followed by a left-wing one party dominated which is what South Africa is today? The country that erected the first concentration camps where thousands died (and gassed its enemies in World War One wounding Corporal Hitler among others) went on a downward spiral... Newsdump Update: Joe Biden...

BEIJING -- On the showroom floor of a SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile dealership in Chongqing, a salesman enthusiastically recommended the Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV, an electric car that has quickly won over Chinese drivers since its nationwide launch in July. The boxy compact lives up to its name, measuring less than 3-meters long and 1.5-meters wide, yet can still accommodate four people. The price starts at 28,800 yuan ($4,460), though the most popular model, with air conditioning, goes for just over $5,000. "If you make a 13,000 yuan down payment, the rest will be interest-free," the salesman said. Though the Hong...

Jakjai Chamaimas Watermelon Farm in Si Sa Ket’s Muang district held an auction event on Friday to sell its signature heart-shaped watermelons, aiming to raise funds for the Si Sa Ket provinicial hospital. The event was held in cooperation with Tourism Authority of Thailand, Si Sa Ket Tourism Industry Council and Christina Sanitaryware Ltd, owner of the farm which grows heart-shaped organic watermelons in a greenhouse over a 1 rai (0.16 hectare) area. The bidding price for the heart-shaped watermelons started at Bt50,000 each. Si Sa Ket MP Wiwatchai Hotrawaisaya offered the highest price at Bt100,900. “I am giving this...

President Biden is spending his first weekend at Camp David as commander in chief. The historic spread in Western Maryland has been used by White House predecessors since Harry Truman as a retreat from the media and D.C. swamp. “It provides a chance to get a blast of fresh air away from the press and a chance to be with family and friends,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told Reuters. In addition to R&R, the location has also been used for high-stakes international politics. It was on the grounds of Camp David that President Carter hammered out the 1978 Camp David...