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It gives me no pleasure to say that I no longer recommend that young people join the military, and I’m not alone. The non-Blue Falcon veteran community is in full revolt against the conscious decision to decline embraced by our current military leadership. After failing to win a war in the last 20 years – and don’t say Syria, because the second President * woke up in the Oval Office wondering how he got there, more of our troops were heading back into the hellscape for reasons no one has bothered to articulate – the military has decided to target...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced Wednesday that they have agreed to provide low-income Californians a $600 state stimulus payment to help them weather financial hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, part of a $9.6 billion economic recovery package that also includes $2.1 billion in grants for small businesses. The "Golden State stimulus" payments are in addition to the $600-per-person stimulus checks already approved by Congress and would be on top of direct payments of up to $1,400 per person that have been proposed by House Democrats. The package put forward for immediate action also provides more than...

TENOSIQUE, Mexico - In the first Mexican shelter reached by migrants after trekking through the Guatemalan jungle, some 150 migrants are sleeping in its dormitories and another 150 lie on thin mattresses spread across the floor of its chapel. Only six weeks into the year, the shelter known as “The 72” has hosted nearly 1,500 migrants, compared to 3,000 all of last year. It has halved its dormitory space due to the pandemic. That wasn’t a problem last year because few migrants arrived, but this year it’s been overwhelmed. “We have a tremendous flow and there isn’t capacity,” said Gabriel...

There is a great sense of urgency in the readings for Ash Wednesday. It is as if some great event is looming that could be awesome, but only if the warning is heeded. Pondering the last year, this may make us cringe, “Oh no! What else?!” But the great event that looms is far more significant and, if we are ready, it will be glorious. Consider this selection from the first reading (Joel 2:12-18): “Even now,” says the LORD, “Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return...

WASHINGTON - Deadly weather will be hitting the U.S. more often, and America had better get better at dealing with it, experts said as Texas and other states battled winter storms that blew past the worst-case planning of utilities, governments and millions of shivering citizens. This week’s storms fit a pattern of worsening extremes under climate change and demonstrate anew that local, state and federal officials have failed to do nearly enough to prepare for greater and more dangerous weather. Power supplies of all sorts failed in the extreme cold, including natural gas-fired power plants that were knocked offline amid...

Progressives denounced President Joe Biden's refusal to support an effort to cancel $50,000 in student loan debts for individuals on Wednesday. Biden said that he "will not make that happen" when confronted with a demand to back the effort during Tuesday's CNN town hall event, reasoning that he is in favor of some forgiveness for those who went to public schools but does not support eliminating debt for "people who have gone to Harvard and Yale." **SNIP** Schumer and Warren reintroduced a Senate resolution that urges Biden to back the plan to cancel $50,000 of debt on February 4, after...

Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) weighed in on the spat between former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Despite some in the GOP distancing themselves from Trump now that he is out of office, Scott emphasized the need for more of Trump’s policies for a better economy. He added that with how the media covers Trump, he is still “the most powerful political figure on either side.” “I’ve often said that President Trump’s love language does not include words of encouragement. And perhaps that spat only reinforces that fact,” Scott...

February 17 2021 Memorial of St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara St Joseph's Church, Mannam, Kerala, India Lectionary 220Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet.First readingDeuteronomy 30:15-20 ©I set before you today life or death, blessing or curseMoses said to the people: ‘See, today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin on you today, if you love the Lord your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws, his customs, you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in...

Republican officials and operatives on Wednesday reminded the Trump wing of the GOP that the former president owes much of his legacy to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, insisting that the veteran Washington powerbroker shouldn’t be summarily discarded for disloyalty to former President Donald Trump. Even Trump supporters bucked the call to turn their backs on the Senate GOP leader and emphasized that it is the Kentucky Republican who still has power in Washington.

Facebook has blocked Australians from accessing and sharing news in protest at a new law which would have forced the site to pay for the content it hosts. Furious Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the move shows tech companies 'think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them' while others branded it 'an assault on a sovereign nation' and an 'abuse of power'. The backlash quickly went international, with one Democrat politician in the US saying it shows 'Facebook is not compatible with democracy' while the hashtag 'Delete Facebook' quickly began trending on rival...

Total of 18 people were arrested Tuesday and more than 30 injured, with one protestor losing her eyeSpain sees second night of rioting after rapper’s arrestProtesters start a fire as they gather for a second day demonstration against the arrest of Spanish rapper Pablo Hasel in Barcelona, Spain on February 18, 2021. - Spanish police stormed a university to arrest the rapper barricaded inside after being sentenced to nine months' jail over tweets attacking the monarchy and the police in a case denounced as an attack on freedom of speech. in Barcelona on February 18, 2021. ( Adria Puig...

Zimbabweans Scramble For Zumbani To Fight Covid-19 18th February 2021 Zimbabwe Spread This News By Jeffrey Moyo Even as the world is bracing for vaccination drives to combat COVID-19, many people in the Southern African country of Zimbabwe have latched their hopes on zumbani — a woody shrub — to keep the pandemic at bay. Nyson Mhaka, 52, and his wife Gertrude, 47, were infected with COVID-19 in December. They claim to have recovered after taking the “wonder herb.” And since then, the couple has turned a campaigner, giving lectures on the lifesaving properties of the fever tea tree leaves....

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is confronting the “hard truths of Chicago’s racial history,” launching a public process to review the fate of 41 statues and other monuments, including some of former presidents Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley. Reasons for making the list include promoting narratives of white supremacy; presenting an inaccurate or demeaning portrayal of Native Americans; celebrating people with connections to slavery, genocide or racist acts; or “presenting selective, over-simplified, one-sided views of history.” Besides five statutes of Lincoln, others on the list include the General John Logan Monument in Grant Park; the General Philip...

Posted on February 17, 2021February 17, 2021 by Evan GoughNASA’s Perseverance Rover: The Most Ambitious Space Mission Ever?When it comes to Mars exploration, NASA has more success than any other agency. This week, they’ll attempt to land another sophisticated rover on the Martian surface to continue the search for evidence of ancient life. The Mars Perseverance rover will land on Mars on Thursday, February 18th, and it’s bringing some very ambitious technologies with it.Whatever your opinion of the USA is, you have to acknowledge NASA’s position as the world’s premier space exploration agency. That’s no slight against the ESA or...

The eruption, which featured spectacular displays of gushing lava, forced the temporary closure of Sicily's Catania Airport, a frequent occurrence when Etna is in an active phase.Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, continued to spew lava, ashes and volcanic stones on Thursday. The eruption, which featured spectacular displays of gushing lava, forced the temporary closure of Sicily's Catania Airport, a frequent occurrence when Etna is in an active phase. On Tuesday, areas surrounding the crater were secured but there were no reported injuries or deaths.

The U.S. women's national team is set to square off against Canada on Thursday night at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The SheBelieves Cup is in its sixth year, and the match between CONCACAF rivals is the first for both teams to start the tournament. It's the first game for Canada's women's national team in 2021 under their newly appointed coach Bev Priestman. USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski has these next few months to evaluate and help narrow down a potential Olympic roster. This tournament will also see the return of striker Alex Morgan, who was absent from the January...

The "Undeniable Truths" were part of an article he wrote for the Sacramento Union back in 1988. Here they are: 1. The greatest threat to humanity lies in the nuclear arsenal of the USSR. 2. The greatest threat to humanity lies in the USSR. 3. Peace does not mean the elimination of nuclear weapons. 4. Peace does not mean the absence of war. 5. War is not obsolete. 6. Ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force. 7. There is only one way to get rid of nuclear weapons - use them. 8. Peace cannot be achieved...

U.S.—Within minutes of the news of the death of Rush Limbaugh, Democrats, well known as the party of love, empathy, and progress, began to rejoice over the death of their political opponent. The party that is known for standing against hate in all its forms, the party that has chanted "Love Trumps Hate!" for the last four years, the party that calls the other side hateful bigots who will be on the wrong side of history for their opposition to love and tolerance, all cheered loudly and danced on Limbaugh's grave on social media for much of the day Wednesday....

Here's What You Need To Remember: Perhaps the biggest consequence of the fall of Singapore was the destruction of Britain’s Asian empire. Depleted by the First World War and then squeezed dry by the Second, Britain would have lost its empire eventually. But the photos of British generals and soldiers marching into captivity under Asian guns left their mark on colonial subjects. In the darkest days of World War II, when disaster after disaster almost overwhelmed the Allies, it took a lot to shake a leader like Winston Churchill. But when the news arrived that the fortress of Singapore had...