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The winter storm that descended on Texas this past week has offered some life-changing lessons. With power outages in my part of Houston lasting for 15 hours (and longer elsewhere), heat was sparse. The roads were iced over, with no salt trucks mobilized, throughout the city and surrounding communities. Although a Cleveland, Ohio, native, I had an initial feeling of almost utter helplessness. Normal societal function had been so quickly eliminated.

Rep. Deb Haaland failed to report nearly a third of her 2018 earnings, according to newly amended ethics report. =============================================================== The Democratic congresswoman named by President Biden to be the next interior secretary failed to disclose on her House ethics report $16,000 in casino salary that made up more than a third of her income in 2018 when she first won her congressional seat, according to an amended report she filed as her nomination was being vetted. Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), who would be America's first Native American cabinet secretary if her nomination is approved, faces a confirmation hearing Tuesday...

The U.S. officially rejoined the Paris climate accord on Friday to much media and European applause. Our guess is that China is the most pleased because it knows the accord will restrict American energy while Beijing gets a decade-long free ride. Paris is a voluntary agreement, and nations submit their own commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The Obama Administration vowed to slash emissions 26% or more from 2005 levels by 2025, but the Trump Administration withdrew from the accord. President Biden has now pledged to reach “net-zero emissions no later than 2050.” Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Biden is committing the...

Store owner in Texas surprised to find that customers left cash for cases of water she thought had been stolen. You don’t see much looting in Texas, because everyone is armed, and no one likes lawbreakers. Pretty incredible that in the face of a historic disaster, Texas has seen no mass looting or violence that’s become so common in major metroplexes. Glimpse of San Antonio, 7th largest city in the nation: pic.twitter.com/QivCvRQc6h — Jessica Weiner (@JB_Weiner) February 19, 2021 Interesting reaction on twitter…

Shares of cruise line operators are sailing higher on hopes a COVID-19 vaccine will allow a return to normalcy and send their cruise ships heading back out to sea. Carnival (NYSE:CCL)(NYSE:CUK), Norwegian Cruise Lines (NYSE:NCLH), and Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) have all rearranged their finances to allow them to ride out the storm, even as they extend suspensions of any voyages further into the year. Depending on the operator, the earliest passengers will be embarking in May or June. Yet even if the cruise lines do manage to meet their current sailing schedules, investors should still use caution. Voyages won't be...

Having solved all of the nation’s problems, Democrats have now introduced a bill that would ban former President Donald Trump from being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. ... The bill – known as H.R. 484 or the No Glory For Hate Act – was introduced in late January by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA). The Act’s intent reads to “prohibit the use of Federal funds for the commemoration of certain former Presidents, and for other purposes.” It is designed specifically to prevent “the interment or inurnment in Arlington National Cemetery of any former President that has been twice impeached by the...

Will he run to be president again or will he choose to be a kingmaker—nurturing a candidate and a platform that can leave a far more lasting legacy?

(excerpt) President Biden and his national security team will soon face a horror that erupted a decade ago, when many of them were in the Obama administration. March will bring the 10th anniversary of the popular uprising that began Syria's civil war. The Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, has gassed the innocent, bombed hospitals and schools, and made thousands disappear. The evidence is hard to watch but it should be seen. Many risked their lives to tell this story so that — even if Assad is never arrested — he will be, forever, handcuffed to the truth. (excerpt) More than 900,000...

As people in northeastern China grow increasingly dissatisfied with the central government’s neglect of the region’s economic development, authorities are worried that mass protests could soon break out, according to an insider. The insider, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, formerly worked for a senior official at the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). The agency is in charge of persuading Chinese people domestic and abroad to agree with the Party’s policies and maintain the Party’s rule. While the insider caught up with his former superior during Lunar New Year, the latter revealed the central government’s...

According to 2017 Pentagon data, 71 percent of young Americans between 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve in the United States military[1 ]. The military depends on a constant flow of volunteers every year to meet its requirements, and as the number of eligible Americans declines, it will be increasingly difficult to meet the needs. This is not a distant problem to address decades from now. The U.S. military is already having a hard time attracting enough qualified volunteers. Of the four services, the Army has the greatest annual need. The Army anticipates problems with meeting its 2018 goal...

Chen Ping, a Chinese professor with a large following on Chinese social media known for his anti-American sentiments, was recently ridiculed and scolded by Chinese netizens after it was discovered that he’s a resident of Texas, after a severe winter storm hit the state and triggered power outages in mid-February.According to China’s state media reports, Chen is a senior researcher at Fudan University’s China Institute and a part-time professor at the university’s school of economics.Chen is known for his anti-U.S., pro-CCP (Chinese Communist Party rhetoric, attracting more than 3.8 million followers on mini-blogging platform Weibo.On Dec. 26, 2020, which is...

Who takes responsibility for vaccinating detainees? “I don’t know,” said California’s surgeon general. Facing such confusion, some county officials are sending doses to immigrant detention centers, while others are awaiting state guidance.

Dubbed the “Blue Hills Wind Project,” GH America Energy, a company owned by Shanghai billionaire Sun Guangxin, plans to purchase nearly 130,000 acres of land immediately across from Laughlin Air Force Base.Guangxin is a former officer in the Chinese army and is the richest person in China’s embattled Xinjiang province. GH America Energy is a subsidiary of Guanghui Energy Company, based out of Shanghai, where Sun Guangxin owns a controlling 44% stake, according to Market Screener. Late last year, Del Rio Mayor, Bruno Lozano, wrote to federal officials close to the matter, “We believe that this project and all future...

Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins on Monday said she would vote against Democratic President Joe Biden's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) nominee Neera Tanden, further imperiling her confirmation. "Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend," Collins said in a statement. "The OMB needs steady, experienced, responsive leadership. I will vote against confirming Ms Tanden." The moderate Republican's rejection comes after Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin on Friday announced he would not vote for Tanden, putting...

The Supreme Court on Monday denied former President Trump's request to halt the release of tax and other financial records to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.In their ruling, the justices refused to block a subpoena to Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA, while he continues to push for a Supreme Court appeal, according to Bloomberg.BREAKING: Supreme Court denies stay in Trump v. Vance, clearing way Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance to obtain former President Donald Trump's financial records. pic.twitter.com/K5SzEJhuRg — Bloomberg Law (@BLaw) February 22, 2021The high court had deferred acting in the case for more than three months, waiting until...

A police force has been slammed for its 'utterly chilling, North Korean-style' hate crime awareness campaign. Merseyside Police were heavily criticised on social media after using the slogan, 'Being offensive is an offence' on a mobile billboard driven around the Wirral on Saturday. The force tweeted images of their new slogan board alongside the Rainbow Flag to show their support for LGBTQ people.

Taco Bell—the chain that casually inverted breakfast tacos by making the shells out of fried egg—isn't exactly known for a conventional menu, to say the least. Even its customizable Cravings Boxes fly in the face of fast food bundle meal norms. So, it should come as absolutely no surprise that Taco Bell is proudly declaring that its latest menu creation is both a fried chicken sandwich and a taco. Weeks after teasing its much-anticipated foray into the seemingly endless fast food chicken wars, Taco Bell officially unveiled what it describes as a "chicken innovation" that's "out of this clucking world":...

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PolitiFact botched a fact-check of a fact-check in a story exposing the group’s absence of a fact-check.On Friday, PolitiFact Editor-in-Chief Angie Holan twice demanded The Federalist issue a correction to a story published Wednesday on comments the group was not very interested in fact-checking Vice President Kamala Harris.“We’ve always been more interested in fact-checking the president than the vice president,” Holan wrote in an email Wednesday, when pushed on why the group had failed to fact-check demonstrably false comments from Harris. “That was true for the past two administrations as well.”Harris claimed during an interview with Axios on HBO published...

A week before, Texas begged for help and asked for DOE to lift federal regulations barring state's energy output. -------------------------------------------------------- An Emergency Order from the Biden administration’s Department of Energy shows Texas energy grid operator ERCOT was instructed to stay within green energy standards by purchasing energy from outside the state at a higher cost, throttling power output throughout the state ahead of a catastrophic polar vortex. Going into effect Sunday, Feb. 14, Emergency Order 202-21-1 shows the Energy Dept. was aware of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide disaster declaration and that ERCOT was readying gas utilities in preparation for...