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LACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A father and son charged with starting a massive California wildfire that destroyed many homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year pleaded not guilty in court Friday. The El Dorado County prosecutor's office charged David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, with reckless arson. The office also charged the son with illegal conversion or manufacture of a machine gun and both men of illegal possession of a firearm silencer. ...The criminal complaints do not specify how the machine gun and silencer tie into the Caldor...

December 11th, 2021 Memorial of St. Damasus, Pope St. Stephen's chapel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada St. Stephen's hosts the St. Francis de Sales deaf ministry and has done so for the past 103 years Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet First readingEcclesiasticus 48:1-4,9-12 ©The prophet Elijah will come againThe prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.It was he who brought famine on the people, and who decimated them in his zeal.By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire.How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone...

(Reuters) -Multiple people were trapped after a roof partially collapsed at an Amazon.com Inc facility near St. Louis on Friday night, after tornadoes and strong storms blew through the area, media reported. The warehouse in Edwardsville in southern Illinois was damaged after a severe weather event occurred around 8:33 p.m. (0233 GMT on Saturday), the authorities said, adding that local police and fire departments have a search and rescue operations in place...

NEWSRAEL: Former Finance Minister, Khalil is considered the right-hand man of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who heads the Shiite Amal Movement. Berri has already trashed this decision. Judge Tarek Bitar was forced to stop the investigation for two months as he himself was sued, but lately, the suits were proven to be a smoke screen and dismissed. The order to arrest the minister was given in the first meeting of the investigation. It proves that Judge Bitar is willing to go "all the way" and is not afraid of his distractors. If we look at the history of modern Lebanon,...

Great news! UFC president Dana White is officially COVID-19 free ... telling TMZ Sports he tested negative for the virus, and he's crediting Joe Rogan's suggested treatment plan of monoclonal antibodies, NAD drip, vitamins, and Ivermectin for the swift recovery. "I feel incredible! Today is day 5 since testing positive for COVID, and [Friday at 9 AM], I tested negative for COVID. Thank you, Dr. Joe Rogan!" Dana tested positive for the virus after a Thanksgiving day family gathering ... and immediately contacted the JRE host for advice. Of course, Rogan beat the virus in a matter of days ......

In the event that the Supreme Court overturns its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion the law of the land, Gov. Galvin Newsom (D-Calif) is boasting that his state "will become an abortion sanctuary for the entire world. We have the will and the votes to go far beyond the bounds of the Roe v. Wade decision, which essentially only protected abortion during the first two trimesters." Based on the oral arguments between the Justices and the attorneys representing both sides of the issue, it is speculated that the Court seems most likely to rule that it will...

This aged well ... *Warning: Strong language* Clip...

Whenever fake hate crimes are exposed — and as my PJM colleague Victoria Taft points out, there are hundreds of them — the argument is always advanced that we shouldn’t pay attention to the exposé because it would make reporting of “real” hate crimes more difficult.We hear the same argument when a woman fakes a sexual assault. We have to treat the assault as real because not doing so would make women reluctant to report a rape.Why should this be so? In fact, exposing hoaxes doesn’t appear to deter anyone from trying again. Why should it deter anyone from reporting...

Surprisingly little attention is being paid to a bombshell admission made by the attorneys representing the corporation formerly known as Facebook, Inc., which has now transitioned into Meta Platforms, Inc.In a court filing responding to a lawsuit filed by John Stossel claiming that he was defamed by a "fact check" Facebook used to label a video by him as "misleading," Meta's attorneys assert that the "fact check" was an "opinion," not an actual check of facts and declaration of facts. Under libel law, opinions are protected from liability for libel.Anthony Watts of Wattsupwiththat explains:Opinions are not subject to defamation claims,...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced back in July that it had achieved a complete “moderately prosperous society” and eliminated “absolute poverty” in China.However, recent research shows that the number of individuals from households with less than 500 yuan ($80) per capita monthly disposable income has exceeded 220 million in China, a sharp contrast to the statements proclaimed by CCP leader Xi Jinping in remarks for the Party’s 100th anniversary.In the “China Statistical Yearbook 2021” published by the National Bureau of Statistics, 20 percent of all households in China have a per capita monthly disposable income of 656 yuan (US$103),...

The procurement from Lockheed, including weapons as well as service and maintenance until 2030, is estimated to cost 8.378 billion euros ($9.44 billion), the government said. The construction of hangars and other equipment will add a further 777 million euros, and 824 million euros will be reserved for the final optimised weapons package and to control future contract amendments, it added. Finland is the 14th nation to opt for the F-35. It will begin phasing in the F-35 from 2027 onwards, said Airforce Commander Pasi Jokinen. Boeing said it still sees significant international interest in its F/A-18 Block III Super...

No evidence has come to light yet that indicates the Omicron virus variant causes more severe illness when compared to other strains, South African officials said Friday.South Africa scientists were the first to identify Omicron, a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.Science on Omicron’s severity “is not yet clear,” South African Health Minister Joe Paahla told reporters in a virtual briefing.COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have jumped in South Africa in recent weeks, driving fears that Omicron could cause more severe illness than earlier strains like Delta.The country reported 22,391 new cases on Thursday, up from...

Immunity people enjoy after recovering from COVID-19 is better than the protection bestowed from vaccination, according to a new study from Israel.Researchers analyzing data from the county’s health database from August to September found both COVID-19 infections and severe disease were higher among the vaccinated than those who recovered from the illness, also known as people with natural immunity.For instance, the naturally immune had a 10.5 per 100,000 infection rate four to six months following their recovery, versus a 69.2 per 100,000 rate among the vaccinated.The number of severe cases was also higher among the vaccinated: 0.9 percent of all...

Amtrak will be cutting some services because of staff shortages due to the COVID-19 federal vaccine mandate, according to testimony given to Congress on Thursday.Amtrak President Stephen Gardner told the House Transportation subcommittee in a written testimony (pdf) that 94 percent of the company’s staff members have been fully vaccinated while 96 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.“However, because many engineers, conductors and on-board service employees retired or left Amtrak during the pandemic, and we temporarily halted hiring due to funding uncertainty and covid-related distancing requirements that inhibited training, we anticipate that we will not initially...

The activist made the comments in June 2020, amid racial justice protests around the country sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. A criminal complaint against Burns cited his on-air remarks, as well as others he made around the same time while rapping on Facebook Live. Burns was cuffed after he went on the conservative news network and threatened to burn down the Diamond District if Mayor de Blasio and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn’t speak to a crowd gathered at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “If they don’t, then [the] next stop is the Diamond District,” he said....

section class="post-body"> The US Supreme Court handed down a long-anticipated decision called Whole Woman’s Health vs. Jackson this morning.By way of background, on September 1, S.B. 8, the so-called “heartbeat bill” went into effect in Texas. The law had some unique features. First and foremost, it outlawed abortion after the point of a detectable fetal heartbeat. This was a clear challenge to the whole inhumane sham structure of abortion jurisprudence brought into existence by Roe vs. Wade. However, the most interesting feature was creating a private right to action to enforce the law. That means anyone can bring a lawsuit...

“The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:25).

For many months now, the White House and Democrats at large have repeated the obvious falsehood that Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda will cost “zero dollars.” In fact, the Treasury Department, led by Janet Yellen, has actually asserted that the bill lowers the deficit over the long term.Then some weeks back, initial CBO estimates exposed that foolishness for exactly what it was. Contrary to the claims of the administration, the BBB bill would actually raise the deficit by some $160 billion. And to even get to that number, the CBO had to estimate future tax receipts based on provisions...

Election investigations currently taking place in Wisconsin have yielded some shocking results. A conservative law firm based out of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, conducted the investigation. According to their findings, precisely 54,259 ballots were “cast by individuals who have never shown a voter ID in any election.” “While we cannot infer any malignant intent on the part of these voters, this means that many votes were cast without the requirement of photo identification. 54,259 ballots were cast by individuals who have never shown a voter ID in any election. 3,718 were cast from addresses that were...

Summary * Trump Media & Technology Group's paid subscription offer, TMTG+, offers massive upside. * $1.0B PIPE deal shows strong demand for a rival social network. * If Trump Media & Technology Group gets the same valuation as Twitter or Meta Platforms, based on sales, Digital World Acquisition Corp.'s market cap could rise by a factor of 3X. Blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) is merging with Trump Media & Technology Group. The announcement initially created a frenzy for shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. but shares have started to surge again. TRUTH Social could become a major...