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Black Widow sauntered into the mainstream consciousness in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Not walked—sauntered. Natasha Romanoff, the Russian agent turned U.S. spy played by Scarlett Johansson, first meets Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) when he’s working out in a boxing ring with his employee, played by Jon Favreau, the film’s director. Favreau’s Happy Hogan condescendingly offers to teach Natasha how to box, so she slips off her high heels, slinks into the ring and immediately kicks the man’s butt. That’s the joke: Surprise! This unbelievably fit woman can fight. But it’s the moment after Natasha handily beats...

ox News host Tucker Carlson was mocked on social media this week for stating that he had been told that the National Security Agency was reading his private emails and spying on him. The usual suspects called Carlson paranoid, because there are so many checks and balances to assure the feds would never illegally target a vexatious Biden critic. However, on Tuesday, a dissent by Travis LeBlanc, a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, revealed that one of the NSA’s most intrusive surveillance engines, XKeyscore, may be violating federal law and Americans’ rights and privacy. In...

A video that was sent to us this morning, by one of our subscribers, who wished to stay anonymous, shows three boys stomp a kid’s head in while beating him, steal his bike and run him over with it while he tries to run away. An adult male records the whole attack laughing. The poor kid spent the whole time apologizing and begging them to stop. WATCH (warning: graphic video) Video below: (video uploaded on the site) ** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) ** Our team is still swiping the internet with the...

Young people in China have set off a nascent counterculture movement that involves lying down and doing as little as possible. Five years ago, Luo Huazhong discovered that he enjoyed doing nothing. He quit his job as a factory worker in China, biked 1,300 miles from Sichuan Province to Tibet and decided he could get by on odd jobs and $60 a month from his savings. He called his new lifestyle “lying flat.” “I have been chilling,” Mr. Luo, 31, wrote in a blog post in April, describing his way of life. “I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong.” He...

The age of apology has now extended beyond the political world to the psychotherapeutic consulting room. The American Psychoanalytic Association has offered a heartfelt mea culpa for trauma caused to "LGBTQI" patients. Ever since it emerged from the Viennese consulting rooms of Sigmund Freud, political utopians have used psychoanalysis to diagnose and cure social ills. From early Freudo-Marxists like Alfred Adler and Wilhelm Reich to Herbert Marcuse and Paul Goodman in the '60s, they argued that neurosis would disappear once the repressive chains of capitalism were broken. Unlike Freud, who viewed human beings as the authors of their own psychological...

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VIDEO Liberals are DESPERATE for Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from the Supreme Court. Unfortunately for them it appears that Justice Breyer is NOT retiring thus creating very entertaining liberal angst as you can see.

When hammer-thrower Gwen Berry turned her back on the American flag at the Olympic Trials last weekend, it made me think of Sergeant William Carney. Berry probably doesn’t know who Carney was. Neither, I bet, do the Black Lives Matter activists who spent last summer blindly tearing down statues of historical figures to protest the racist origins of America and the systemic racism they claim exists today. Thanks to the lousy way history is taught in our schools, most Americans – of every color – have never heard of William Carney. But who he was, what brave things he did...

At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams predicted that Independence Day would be “celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forevermore.” Bonfires might violate local fire codes. The president says we don’t need no stinking guns -- because he has all the F-15s...

The Monthly Fiber Arts Thread is a monthly gathering of people that love yarn and fabric of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first project, to experienced fiber artists and beyond, we would love to hear from you. It is impossible to hijack the Monthly Fiber Arts Thread. Knitting, crochet, quilting, weaving, general crafting - there is no telling where it will go, and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our Fiber Arts...

Buildings keep falling down in America. What the heck’s going on? Is it bad science? Champlain Towers South, for example, was erected in 1981. These buildings may face loads and other threats that designers did not anticipate, including those linked to climate change. …what are you going to do with an area that never had high snow loads before, and suddenly, one winter, there’s a storm in the South like one you’d normally get in Boston? We design roofs based on historical records for snow, but those rare events aren’t so rare anymore. We have bigger hurricanes. We have longer...

A bizarre incident is playing out Saturday morning in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Local police are saying that "during a motor vehicle stop, several heavily armed men claiming to be from a group that does not recognize our laws exited their vehicles and fled into the woodline" near I-95. "Approximately 8 males fled into the woods carrying rifles and handguns and appear to be contained in the wooded area adjacent to the highway," the Wakefield Police Department said in a statement. "No threats were made, but these men should be considered armed and dangerous." Massachusetts State Police, who are also on the...

Many argue rural America has been in steady decline for decades. It was particularly hard hit by the “Great Recession of 2007-09,” according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Task Force on Agricultural and Rural Prosperity, which was created by Executive Order in April of 2017. The report found that rural Americans working in agriculture still lacked access to electronic connectivity, technology-oriented jobs, and businesses that otherwise improve quality of life in metro areas. The effects of the Great Recession, the report concluded, “still permeate throughout rural life, particularly for communities with high poverty rates, low...

Turns out French food — all those crunchy baguettes, tasty pastries, scrumptious cheeses, and fine wines — is racist, according to a law professor who studies "food whiteness" and "food privileges." What are the details? The Times U.K. reported that a video of Mathilde Cohen discussing the issue for a seminar outside Paris is upsetting folks in France, as the paper noted that the country's cuisine is "seen as a cornerstone of the national identity." Cohen, who hails from the University of Connecticut School of Law, suggested that French eating habits reinforce the "dominance" of white people over ethnic minorities,...

HERE'S A SAMPLE OF WHAT YOU CAN FIND DAILY IN FR's Religion Forum by CURTIS SIKES "Walk on Water" PETER WALKS ON THE WATER!?. 2 9 A. D. Bible Timeline Resources to CLICK: To read MATTHEW 14 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it To see an ANIMATION of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or JohnHarmony of the Gospels Mt 14 + Mk 6 + Jn 6 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible .MATTHEW14:22-36 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Along with $1,400 stimulus checks and monthly child tax credit payments, the American Rescue Plan has another important benefit available to people who qualified for unemployment assistance this year – free health care. The no-cost and low-cost health care plans became available on July 1, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). They will provide coverage through the end of the year. "The Biden-Harris Administration is focused on providing relief to millions of families who need to access health insurance coverage because they have been impacted by job losses or underemployment during the pandemic,” said HHS Secretary...

Dame Athene Donald, the Master of Churchill College Cambridge, is probably breathing a little easier today. Last week, a commission she appointed in reaction to the George Floyd killing was disbanded, or disbanded itself, depending upon whom one believes. That commission had arranged a panel at Churchill College about the racism of Winston Churchill. The panel featured several rants on this theme that are entirely typical of our day. The charges were virtually undisputed by any of the panelists. This caused a reaction from Churchill’s descendants and from some historians, notably Churchill biographer Andrew Roberts, who knows the real story....

by CURTIS SIKES "Walk on Water" PETER WALKS ON THE WATER!?. 2 9 A. D. Bible Timeline Resources to CLICK: To read MATTHEW 14 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it To see an ANIMATION of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or JohnHarmony of the Gospels Mt 14 + Mk 6 + Jn 6 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible .MATTHEW14:22-36 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he...

In 2014, Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist, author, and a one-time University of Oxford Professor, advised a woman who was pregnant with a Down syndrome baby that she should "Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice."There is no way to quantify the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling to legalize abortion and the effect it has had on our consciences let alone its impact on our culture. It is reasonable to conclude given the remarks like Dawkins that Roe has desensitized us to the meaning of...