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Democrats on Thursday will introduce their version of immigration reform legislation, which essentially consists of a roundup of immigration priorities President Joe Biden laid out on day one of his administration. The reform proposal is so far the most ambitious effort to counteract the Trump administration's hardline border policies. The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would create an eight-year path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in the country. First, it would provide them with a new type of temporary status for five years and then allow them to obtain citizenship after another three years. The path to...

One year ago, I wrote a Townhall column with the headline “A Prayer for Rush Limbaugh.” The occasion was his lung cancer diagnosis, accompanied by the instant understanding that his prognosis did not seem to be a case offering much hope for recovery. But miracles happen, so I asked for one. So did many of you. Rush passed away Wednesday, but before talking about him, let’s talk about God. One of the most valuable things I’ve learned about prayer is to know that sometimes we get what we seek and sometimes we don’t. When we don’t, it doesn’t mean the...

One of the things I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh say repeatedly back in the day was that the point of the United States military was to “kill people and break things.” The beauty of that statement was that it was simple, to the point, and undeniably true. If I remember correctly, this was during the Clinton years when the left started meddling with the mission of the military to incorporate their social agenda. That push was just getting off the ground in the '90s, and now Joe Biden is giving it wings. Where it goes from here is disturbing and...

Some people call me “Dr. Doom.” This is probably because of my pessimistic outlook on some things. I understand. When the only nation you’ve ever known in life is destined to fail, and somebody tells you that, it can be a real drag. If I told you the Roman Empire was destined to fall, that wouldn’t be so bothersome to you now. It’s been over fifteen centuries since it happened. It’s ancient history. So what else is new? But if the year were AD 400, and I told you that, you might think I was a prophet of doom, a...

Allies of former President Trump say he’s determined to make life miserable for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Trump’s political machine, which has $60 million in a super PAC and an unmatched grassroots fundraising apparatus, is vowing to go aggressively after GOP lawmakers in primaries in the wake of an unprecedented feud between the nation’s two most powerful Republicans. Trump was prepared to give McConnell a pass, sources in his orbit stated, after he gave a blistering post-impeachment floor speech saying the former president was “practically and morally” responsible for the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol that led...

Almost immediately after winter storms and extreme cold temperatures first swept through Texas last Thursday and left millions of residents without power, prominent conservative politicians and media personalities began to blame renewable energy. And while frozen wind turbines have contributed to the state's energy crisis, that type of energy has only slightly underperformed against published expectations for winter output. Natural gas, the state's dominant energy source, has provided drastically less energy than expected, according to experts and industry data. "Wind was operating almost as well as expected," said Sam Newell, head of the electricity group at the Brattle Group, an...

So glad to see President Trump get a second wind now that he has been acquitted for life for a second time! (As an aside, will San Fran Nan make a third try? Entirely possible given the incurable Trump Derangement Syndrome among most House Democrats.) The subject of his ire has become Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (RINO-KY), who stooped to a new low in his post-acquittal floor speech during which he finally displayed his true anti-Trump sentiments: McConnell said the former president was “practically and morally responsible” for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. … “This was...

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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....