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Gilliam stated, “When he had his weapon and he was confronted by these imminent threats of loss of life or serious bodily injury, he engaged in a proper manner to eliminate the threat. You didn’t see him out there hammering people down, mowing people down. It’s when the threat got too close and it posed an imminent threat … he took action.” Rittenhouse’s control of his firearm was “amazing,” Gilliam emphasized. “[He] held his weapon properly … kept his weapon in his hands when he was getting beat [and] when he was running. He wasn’t sweeping people. He didn’t drop...

Click here to view the full articleForget James Bond’s gadgets, the supercars of “Fast and Furious” or “Dune”’s stunning landscapes — when it comes to box office smash hits, China’s Communist Party has nailed it this year. “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” a 176-minute epic starring Chinese actor Wu Jing, isn’t only the highest-grossing film worldwide so far in 2021 but has become China’s biggest film ever — toppling 2017’s “Wolf Warrior 2,” which also stars Wu — according to ticketing platform Maoyan Entertainment. The movie was commissioned by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, otherwise known...

Aerial outline of Pando. (Lance Oditt/Friends of Pando) RICHARD ELTON WALTON, THE CONVERSATION24 NOVEMBER 2021 In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years. Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones. Although it looks like a woodland of individual trees with striking white bark and small leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, Pando (Latin for "I spread") is actually 47,000 genetically identical...

Click here to view the full articleIn the same week that Joe Biden announced that he plans to run for a second tern in 2024, buzz of another Democrat contender has penetrated the White House. Spoiler alert, both Biden and his cabinet member with presidential aspirations are both disastrous options.Pete Buttigieg has long been a man in a hurry.Since 2010, he has run for treasurer of Indiana, mayor of South Bend, chair of the Democratic National Committee, and president of the United States. At 39, he is one of the most omnipresent and newly-powerful members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet....

Colorado's Empower Field at Mile High, which is home to the Denver Broncos, is set to require football fans to wear masks while they are in the stadium's indoor spaces. The Broncos made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that masks will be mandatory in all restrooms, elevators, indoor areas of the stadium clubs, suite corridors, as well as the Broncos team store and in the press box regardless of vaccination status. The NFL team specified that masks will not be required in suites, which it deems private areas, and that fans will not have to wear masks while they are...

President Biden on Wednesday said the verdict that found the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery guilty of multiple counts of murder is not enough, and called for a future of unity. “While the guilty verdicts reflect our justice system doing its job, that alone is not enough. Instead, we must recommit ourselves to building a future of unity and shared strength, where no one fears violence because of the color of their skin,” Biden said in a statement. He said his administration “will continue to do the hard work to ensure that equal justice under...

Liberals control institutions because they care more about politics, a disparity that grew larger around 2016. This makes attempts to use government (i.e., bureaucracy!) to take back the culture unlikely to succeed, at least in the short term. What should conservatives do, then? I’m talking about the anti-woke portion of conservatism, which increasingly seems to be the most animated part of the movement. This post is not meant to be advice for gun people, abortion people, or low tax people; those parts of the right have figured out how to have influence and are doing relatively well. The good news...

The US labor market is hardly in need of additional fiscal stimulus. November 20’s initial state unemployment claims dipped under 200,000 for the first time since November 1969. One cannot help but note that the inflationary 1970s were just around the corner. Because labor markets have already tightened by enough to accelerate wages, additional government spending will stoke price inflation. Wages and prices can only rise more quickly when the government adds to the bidding for labor, materials, energy, and land. All too often overlooked is how the proposed expansion of the federal government will add to federal spending exactly...

You just won re-election, Gov. Phil Murphy. What are you going to do now? Go to Disney World? His office won’t say. But the governor left New Jersey on Tuesday for a Thanksgiving trip to Orlando, Florida, where he will spend three nights. This year’s out-of-state holiday weekend trip comes after Murphy rarely left New Jersey since the state recorded its first COVID-19 case in early March 2020. The first time he left for consecutive days to be with his family was in August, when he joined them for a family vacation in Italy where he owns a home.

A research team led by J. Nicholas Betley in the School of Arts & Sciences has identified an entirely new way the brain signals fullness after eating. The findings offer a novel target for therapies that could dramatically curb overeating. People with Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder, have an insatiable appetite. They never feel full, even after a hearty meal. The result can be life-threatening overeating and obesity. According to a new study, their constant hunger results in part to disordered signaling in the brain’s cerebellum, a region of the brain also responsible for motor control and learning. An...

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs Luke 21:12-19 Friends, today’s Gospel passage describes the persecution Christians face before the end of the world. When will the Church stop being persecuted? When the Lord returns, but not before. From the earliest days until the present, the community of Jesus Christ has been the focus of the world’s violence. The old principle of “killing the messenger” applies here. The Church will announce, until the end of time, that the old world is passing away, that a new world of love, nonviolence, and life is emerging. This announcement always infuriates...

Vintage Thanksgiving Music

Heaven Hill Brands, a large company behind several well-known spirits, went full woke this week, expressing disappointment upon learning that some customers were using its Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey to celebrate the not guilty verdict of 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse. “We have been disheartened to learn that some individuals and businesses have been using our Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey brand to celebrate the Kyle Rittenhouse case verdict, despite the profound loss of life from those events,” Heaven Hill Brands said on social media this week, referencing Joseph Rosenbaum, a pedophile sex offender, and Anthony Huber, who pled guilty to charges of...

Concerned that the duties of being vice-president may be too much for Kamala Harris to handle, President Biden has asked advisors "to see if there is a way to increase the number VPs. Take a look at the big corporations. Many of them have multiple vice-presidents. The job of running America is much more complicated than running a corporation. If corporations need more than one VP then surely the nation needs more as well." Biden is rumored to have suggested several names he wants considered. These include, Stacey Abrams, Michelle Obama, and Jill Biden. His Chief of Staff Ron Klain...

More than two-thirds of Americans are worried inflation will affect their winter, with 51 per cent concerned they 'won't be able to afford what they need during the holidays,' a new poll reveals. A Yahoo/YouGov survey taken the week before Thanksgiving shows 77 per cent of Americans feel inflation is affecting their lives – and 57 per cent blame it on President Joe Biden. Among Democratic voters, 25 per cent say Biden is not doing enough to address inflation and another 39 per cent say they aren't sure. This means that 64 per cent of the president's own party don't...

KEY POINTS “Even if you’re vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and to infecting someone else who could die,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That means wearing a mask, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds and meeting others outside if you can, or in a well-ventilated space inside,” he said. Though the majority of reported Covid cases worldwide are in Europe, Tedros added that “no country or region is out of the woods” just yet. ======================================================================================= The World Health Organization is urging the public to practice Covid mitigation tactics – including masking and distancing – regardless...

Chiefs say commission announced this year is no replacement for Indigenous-focused inquiry Six Wolastoqey chiefs of New Brunswick say they will not participate in the provincial commission on systemic racism because it does not address racism against Indigenous peoples specifically. For more than a year, after two Indigenous people were killed at the hands of police within one week, the chiefs have been calling for an independent inquiry into systemic racism against Indigenous people in the justice system. Premier Blaine Higgs refused, saying there are many recommendations already made to address this issue and they just need to be implemented....

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is asking President Joe Biden to restart construction of the Keystone XL pipeline as gas prices continue to skyrocket across the country. Gas prices have risen steadily since Biden took office, when he made a slew of changes to America’s energy policies, breaking with the policies of President Donald Trump over concerns about “environmental justice.” According to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), October saw a 30 percent increase in the price of all sources of energy while the price of gasoline itself increased by a staggering 49.6 percent. After these statistics became public, a...

Two weeks' notice: Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina voted on Oct. 28 to close schools on Nov. 12 for a "day of kindness, community and connection." Five days' notice: On the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 17, Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan announced that schools would be closed the following Monday and Tuesday, extending Thanksgiving break for a full week. The district cited rising COVID-19 cases and staff shortages. Three and even two days' notice: On Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 9 and 10, three different districts in Washington state — in Seattle, Bellevue and Kent — announced schools would...

Most Americans are not in the mood discuss politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table this year, a Quinnipiac Poll released this week found. “If you are visiting with family or friends this Thanksgiving, are you looking forward to discussing politics, or are you hoping to avoid discussing politics?” the survey asked.