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A new version of the Omicron coronavirus variant was designated on Tuesday that experts say will be harder to track because of its genetics. The new lineage, called BA.2, has been spotted seven times so far across South Africa, Australia, and Canada. BA.2 is genetically quite different from the original Omicron lineage, now called BA.1, which has been spreading across the world, said Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute, per The Guardian. Crucially, it doesn't have the characteristic S-gene dropout mutation which allows Omicron BA.1 to be easily identified via PCR test results, the main...

Skeleton 4926, the crucified man. (Albion Archaeology & Adam Williams) Scientists say a skeleton found with a nail through its foot in England is rare evidence of a Roman crucifixion. The skeleton was included in a recent report in British Archaeology magazine, which details findings from a dig of an ancient Roman settlement found in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, that dates back to the late first or early second century CE. In one of the five cemeteries uncovered, a skeleton – thought to have been of a man around 25-35 years old at the time of his death – had a nail...

That was quick. Frequent CNN and MSNBC guest Matt Dowd announced late in September that he was running for Lt. Governor of Texas and just a little over a couple of months later he is quitting. And why is he quitting the race? Because of what he perceives to be the self-sacrificial noble cause of "diversity." I kid you not.The title of Tuesday's Texas Tribune explains it all, "Democrat Matthew Dowd ends campaign for Texas lieutenant governor, citing need for “greater diversity."

CNN host Don Lemon celebrated that the national average for gas prices was “easing up” — after it was revealed that the Biden administration reportedly had secret talks with media outlets to push for more positive coverage about its handling of the economy. “Big economic relief for millions of Americans who have been dealing with soaring energy prices. The price at the pump is finally easing up,” he said on “Don Lemon Tonight” on Tuesday. Lemon said that AAA data showed that the price per gallon was at $3.35 — the lowest since October — and noted that forecasts showed...

f you’re a Philadelphia shopkeeper and someone shoots you, you can die knowing that at least you weren’t a bigot. Thanks to the city’s Public Health and Human Services Committee, the city is one step closer to getting rid of bulletproof glass in a number of its small businesses as an attempt to “crack down on loitering, public urination and potential drug sales.” It’s no doubt a seemingly pointless way to achieving those alleged goals, and the main reason they don’t make much sense is that they’re cover for what they’re really trying to fight: racism (yes, really). According to...

A father and son are under arrest on suspicion of starting the Caldor Fire, which decimated over 220,000 acres of land in Northern California and burned for over two months. The fire caused widespread evacuations, which included the city of South Lake Tahoe, and destroyed 1,003 structures. According to a statement from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office posted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon, David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, were arrested Wednesday for their alleged connection to the fire. The two men are accused of "reckless arson" in connection with the fire, but officials did...

The left keeps taking larger leaps into lunacy. This week, The Atlantic published a series of articles that tell us how Donald Trump is poised to destroy our democracy (again!). One is titled, "Trump's next coup has already begun." Did you catch that? If you're sane, you might find yourself asking, "Wait, when was the last one?" After all, a "coup," according to the Oxford Dictionary online, is a "sudden, violent and illegal seizure of power from a government." Merriam-Webster informs the reader that the word comes from the French term, "coup d'etat," which means a "sudden and violent overthrow...

The casket of former Sen. Bob Dole arrived at the US Capitol Thursday morning ahead of a ceremony at which President Biden will lead tributes to his longtime colleague. Biden’s motorcade arrived outside the Capitol shortly after the hearse carrying Dole’s casket draped with the American flag. Black draperies hung on doorways under the Capitol dome in preparation for the service. About 100 chairs were set up in the Rotunda, socially distanced for COVID-19 protocols. The president and first lady entered the Rotunda at 10:04 a.m., following Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and congressional leadership.

A Catholic diocese in Michigan has instructed its pastors to deny baptism, confirmation and other sacraments to transgender and nonbinary people unless they have “repented” — possibly the first diocese in the United States to issue such a sweeping policy about those who identify with a gender other than their sex assigned at birth. The guidance issued by the Diocese of Marquette also stipulates that transgender people may not receive Communion, in which Catholics believe the body and blood of Jesus Christ are truly present. In most circumstances, they cannot receive the anointing of the sick, which is meant to...

Of the collapse of the woke appeal, perhaps we could say, “It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of zealots.”The woke movement was giddy after January 20, 2021. The Left controlled both houses of Congress.Joe Biden was drafted as the necessary veneer of 1980s Democratic normality to ram through an otherwise hard Left agenda. All the major cultural, financial, economic, entertainment, and media institutions had played various roles in seeing Donald Trump not just defeated, but also impeached twice. He was written off as persona non grata after the January 6 riot at the Capitol. So, academia, the corporate boardroom,...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has accused stores of not taking adequate measures to prevent themselves from being victims of crime. During a crime summit on Monday at the University of Illinois in Chicago, Lightfoot said she was disappointed with stores on Michigan Avenue, a popular shopping and tourist destination. She said they were not making security a priority and taking adequate measures to prevent theft.

There has been added drama with the January 6 select committee coming after Mark Meadows, who was former President Donald Trump's chief of staff at the time. On Wednesday, a civil complaint was filed on behalf of Meadows against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the nine members of the select committee, and the select committee itself. As Harper Neidig summarized for The Hill: In a civil complaint filed Wednesday afternoon, Meadows's lawyers said the select committee does not have the authority to issue the subpoenas directed at him or obtain his phone records from a third party and that President...

The age of mask and vaccine mandates has sparked important conversations about what employers, businesses and our government can ask about our personal health decisions. These discussions often reveal widespread misconceptions about who is responsible for keeping that information confidential and secure. Clarity on this issue is of utmost importance for consumers, especially with the rise of smartphone apps hungry for health data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 created national standards for protecting individuals’ health information. Many people assume the law applies to any entity that might request or handle health information. In fact, the...

Just look at this chart of the University of Michigan Buying Conditions For Houses index. It was positive (meaning above 100) until shortly after COVID struck and The Federal Reserve rode to the rescue. National home price growth was already at 4.57% YoY in March 2020, then ballooned to 19.51% YoY at the last reading. We will soon find out if The Federal Reserve will announce a rate hike or taper news. They are likely to confirm tapering, particularly if they believe that tapering won’t roil markets. After all, then Fed Chair Janet Yellen and the FOMC decided to let...

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — A transgender woman has won a settlement in a civil rights lawsuit filed against a Southern California gym that denied her access to the women’s locker room, the American Civil Liberties Union announced. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the Crunch Fitness in El Cajon, alleging Christynne Wood was discriminated against on the basis of her gender identity. The ACLU and others later joined the suit, filed in San Diego Superior Court. The financial amount Wood will receive was not disclosed, but the agreement also includes anti-discrimination training for employees at the gym,...

Two Australian athletes reportedly were hospitalized in recent days after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. On Friday, former NBL Australia basketball player Ben Madgen said in a tweet he had been hospitalized with pericarditis after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. "Ended up in the emergency room on Wednesday night after taking the 2nd Pfizer shot," he wrote. "Diagnosed with Pericarditis. The Dr. said this is now common after the Pfizer shot, especially with teenage boys and young males."

Bird flu outbreak: UK's chief vet sounds code red alarm - it's at a 'phenomenal level' Tens of thousands of birds, including turkeys, have reportedly already been culled. It is thought that the “largest number of premises ever" have become infected in an outbreak of avian flu.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt demanded that Columbia Public Schools immediately stop enforcing mask requirements in a letter to the district Wednesday afternoon. The letter came after a junior at Hickman High School took advantage of a newly created email account in which Schmitt asks members of the public to turn in school officials who are still requiring COVID-19 regulations. The student asked Schmitt to inform Superintendent Brian Yearwood and the Columbia School Board that they no longer had authority to direct a mask mandate. The letter also requests documentation of correspondence from Yearwood and the board regarding the district’s...

A white woman accused a black man of stealing her phone at a California mall — even accusing him of turning off the ringer — before finding the device in her purse, new video shows. The footage, posted to TikTok Monday, shows the unidentified woman looking through her bag at a Spencer’s at Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights outside Sacramento.

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — Banana peels, chicken bones and leftover veggies won’t have a place in California trashcans under the nation’s largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program that’s set to take effect in January. The effort is designed to keep landfills in the most populous U.S. state clear of food waste that damages the atmosphere as it decays. When food scraps and other organic materials break down they emit methane, a greenhouse gas more potent and damaging in the short-term than carbon emissions from fossil fuels. To avoid those emissions, California plans to start converting residents’ food waste into...