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Scientists at the University of Kent in the UK have published new research that concludes it is most likely the virus that causes Covid-19 was circulating in Wuhan in November 2019, or even weeks earlier in October, before any cases linked to the Huanan wet market were reported in December 2019.The research, which used methods from conservation science, according to reports, finds that the most probable date of the emergence of the virus was November 17, 2019.The paper notes that SARS-CoV-2 could have first appeared from early October and concludes that it had already circled the globe by January 2020.The...

The Department of Justice is suing Georgia, alleging a recently passed election law violates the Voting Rights Act’s protections for minority voters, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday. “Where we see violations of federal law, we will act,” Garland said at a press conference. Garland said Georgia’s election reform law was enacted “with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color.” He called the Justice Department’s new lawsuit “the first of many steps we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote,” that all...

When Seattle’s City Council voted unanimously to cut millions of dollars from its police budget amid the uproar over the murder of George Floyd, it ran into an unlikely roadblock: the federal government. U.S. District Judge James Robart ruled that the city couldn’t defund its own police department without his permission.The judge was acting under the mandate granted him by a 2012 consent decree put in place after John T. Williams, a native American woodcarver, was shot four times by a Seattle police officer in 2010. The killing was ruled unjustified. The consent decree — a sort of civil plea...

If anyone hears anything about the Pentagon reports to Congress, please let us know!

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey criticized President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead a top financial regulator for ignoring an information request about the agency’s potentially illegal hiring practices. Rohit Chopra, Biden’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has completely ignored a request for information regarding his involvement in the agency’s reported strategy forcing senior officials to vacate their positions, Toomey said. Chopra’s refusal to share information with the committee suggests he won’t be responsive to oversight if he is confirmed to the position, Toomey added. “Mr. Chopra’s silence and total disregard of a congressional inquiry calls into question...

Wonderful heart-warming story. Foster child gets his fairytale ending when math teacher adopts him - YouTube

On Thursday, Joe Biden announced that a bipartisan effort to reach an infrastructure agreement had found roots. Republicans had talked the price tag down to $579 billion in extra funding, bringing the total investment in infrastructure over the next eight years to $1.2 trillion, less than the Biden administration's original $2 trillion plan. We’ve struck a deal. A group of senators – five Democrats and five Republicans – has come together and forged an infrastructure agreement that will create millions of American jobs.— President Biden (@POTUS) June 24, 2021But instead of celebrating the agreement or spinning it as a win...

At the onset of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, store shelves were quickly emptied of toilet paper, revealing the commodity’s prominent, yet unspoken role in modern-day society. Although humans have cleaned their bottoms for as long as they have walked the Earth, “three-ply” and “extra-soft” didn’t always describe toilet hygiene. Before the introduction of mass-produced, commercially available toilet paper in the mid-1800s and the continued improvements made into the early 20 century, people relied on less luxurious ways to wipe their bums. From Seashells to Communal Sponges Through history, local customs and climate often dictated how anal hygiene was carried out....

This week, the Democrats’ bill to federalize our elections, S.1—also known as the “For the People Act”— failed to pass the U.S. Senate. Thanks to the filibuster, the bill fell short of its needed 60 vote threshold. The filibuster stopped a partisan power grab that was designed to protect the Democrats’ majority. S.1 was a radical bill that would have made our elections less secure, and prone to widespread fraud. It even would have even banned popular voter ID laws. We should all be thankful for Sen. Sinema and Sen. Manchin for resisting calls from the radical left to eliminate...

TEL AVIV—About half of adults infected in an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in Israel were fully inoculated with the Pfizer Inc. vaccine, prompting the government to reimpose an indoor mask requirement and other measures to contain the highly transmissible strain. Preliminary findings by Israeli health officials suggest about 90% of new infections were likely caused by the Delta variant, according to Ran Balicer, who leads an expert advisory panel on Covid-19 for the government. Children under 16, most of whom haven’t been vaccinated, accounted for about half of those infected, he said. The government this week expanded...

BREAKING: Abp. Viganò Speaks in Support of “Coalition for Canceled Priests”Editor’s Note: Catholic Family News is honored to help circulate the following press release from the Coalition for Canceled Priests and subsequent statement of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in support of the lay-run initiative, whose principles and mission statement are available here.*****LOMBARD, IL, June 24, 2021 — The former Papal Nuncio to the United States and Vatican Whistleblower, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, released the following letter of support to faithful Catholic priests who have been persecuted without cause by their Bishops. The surprise communication from the beloved prelate was read...

A solid majority of Americans believe most abortions should be legal in the first three months of a woman’s pregnancy, but most say the procedure should usually be illegal in the second and third trimesters, according to a new poll. The poll comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving a currently blocked Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, two weeks into the second trimester. If the high court upholds the law, it would be the first time since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision confirming a woman’s right...

Illegal border crossings are at a 21 year high. But Democrat Rep. Escobar just called the southern border our “new Ellis Island.” Except Ellis Island was an organized and legal process where sick or criminal migrants were sent back home. Rep. Veronica Escobar: “We finally have an administration that cares ” and ” El Paso in the new Ellis Island. ”

A teenage girl and her boyfriend are currently being charged after a bizarre video showed the two laughing about “murdering somebody” and having lots of sex. Prosecutors are using the shocking video obtained by KLAS to charge Aaron Guerrero, 18, and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Sierra Halseth, the daughter of a former Nevada state senator. “Welcome back to our YouTube channel … Day 3 after murdering somebody …” Guerrero, with a smirk on his face, says into the camera. “Whoa!” Halseth responds, giggling, “Don’t put that on camera.” Guerrero says, “It was worth it,” before kissing his girlfriend on the forehead.(snip)...

A Franklin County judge recently began including vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of defendants’ terms of probation. Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye said Thursday he added the vaccine as a condition on three cases this week of the roughly 20 sentences he imposed.He said he discussed the matter in open court with the defendants, and they attributed their unvaccinated status to procrastination. None raised any philosophical, medical or religious objection. “It occurred to me that at least some of these folks need to be encouraged not to procrastinate,” Frye said in an interview. “I think it’s a reasonable condition...

As she arrived in El Paso, she was asked by Fox News' Peter Doocy why right now was the time to make her first trip to the border. "It’s not my first trip, I’ve been to the border many times," she snapped back, apparently referring to visits she made to the border as senator. She claimed the visit builds on the work done in Guatemala

The “Parking Lot Priest” to Archbishop Viganò: “You are the warrior Prelate!”We typically don’t publish letters not initially intended for public consumption. As I see it, however, the following exchange provides a teaching moment for us all, since it speaks to the profound impact Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò is having on the lives of hundreds of thousands of battle-weary faithful Catholics, including not a few priests.Why does this matter?Christ established a hierarchical institution, and it is through that hierarchy that His Church will ultimately be restored. In a moment of crisis such as this, then, all the blogospheric commentary in...

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday addressed his GOP critics who believe he could have moved to decertify the election results on January 6, stating there is “almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American President.” Speaking at the Reagan Library in Southern California as part of “The Time For Choosing” series, Pence laid out a vision for the future of the Republican Party, which he said must be devoted to the Constitution of the United States.

A Florida woman caught in a love triangle with the son of a Florida state senator has been arrested for busting into his date unannounced and killing him, authorities said. Lakoria Shamece Washington, 24, allegedly forced her way into an apartment earlier this month and fatally shot her ex-girlfriend’s date, Jason Campbell, the son of former state Sen. Daphne Campbell, NBC Miami reported. When authorities responded to the scene, they found Jason’s body in the complex’s parking lot, with a trail of blood leading back to the apartment, the Miami Herald reported. “Oh God I loss my baby son …...

Leftist media is politicizing the bishops’ meeting — not the other way around. And their almost every interpretation of the meeting is misguided and blatantly false.Last week, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to advance a document that will discuss “Eucharistic coherence,” which Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila called an “opportunity for me and all bishops to recommit ourselves to an unapologetic preaching of Jesus Christ.” In the aftermath, corporate media once again proved themselves to be arbiters of hypocrisy, with headline after headline criticizing the church for allegedly politicizing the Eucharist.Among others, NPR reported “Bishops Vote to Rethink...