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Explanation: Galactic or open star clusters are young. The swarms of stars are born together near the plane of the Milky Way, but their numbers steadily dwindle as cluster members are ejected by galactic tides and gravitational interactions. Caught in this telescopic frame over three degrees across are three good examples of galactic star clusters, seen toward the southern sky's nautical constellation Puppis. Below and left, M46 is some 5,500 light-years in the distance. Right of center M47 is only 1,600 light-years away and NGC 2423 (top) is about 2500 light-years distant. Around 300 million years young M46 contains a...

Vatican spy story takes center stage as fraud trial resumesVATICAN CITY — The Vatican's big fraud and extortion trial resumes Friday after exposing some unseemly realities of how the Holy See operates, with a new spy story taking center stage that is more befitting of a 007 thriller than the inner workings of a papacy.According to written testimony obtained Thursday, one of Pope Francis' top advisers brought in members of the Italian secret service to sweep his office for bugs and commissioned intelligence reports from them, completely bypassing the Vatican's own police force in the process.The reported actions of Archbishop...

For the Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary War was not simply a matter of principle – it was a matter of life and death. “Give me liberty or give me death” was, after the Declaration of Independence, not a statement of political radicalism, but a simple recognition of the facts. If the Founders had failed in their bid for a new and independent republic, it is very likely that they all would have been executed for treason. After the Declaration of Independence, there was no going back. The only paths in front of the Founders were victory or death. They understood...

In the last regularly scheduled daily press conference for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, a committee spokesperson got political in response to reporters' questions, saying that reports of human rights abuses against the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang were "lies." Olympic organizing committee spokesperson Yan Jiarong and International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams faced questions relating to controversial issues that Chinese officials have previously refused to speak about during the games, The Associated Press reported. However, three days before the games were set to close, Yan spoke out, saying questions about reports that forced labor was being performed in...

BREAKING: Multiple reports that a gas pipeline near separatist-controlled Luhansk in eastern Ukraine has exploded.

Metadata from the messaging app Telegram indicates that pro-Russian separatist leaders created videos ordering "emergency" evacuations from eastern Ukraine two days ago, but posted them on Friday, Bellingcat first reported and Axios can confirm.

Same kind of nonsense.

Random music thread. What you got? I feeling a little cranky today.

About 20 eco-terrorist surrounded gas pipeline workers, overturned heavy equipment and smashed up a mobile trailers in an attack on the Coast Gaslink pipeline The attackers, who were masked and wore camouflage, came from all directions in a 'coordinate' and 'violent' assault First Nations and environmentalists have been against the 420-mile pipeline that will carry liquified natural gas to the west coast of British Columbia The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called to the scene, but their way was blocked by fires and downed trees in the roadway One officer was injured after attackers threw torches and smoke bombs at...

Freep Mail 4Liberty, if you want On/Off this list. Tune in via Roku/AppleTV/AmazonFire with the America’s Voice App... https://pluto.tv/live-tv/americas-voicehttps://americasvoice.app On GETTR, go here & click “Live now” button: https://gettr.com/user/realamvoice On Rumble live & for past episodes: https://rumble.com/BannonsWarRoom

It just got even more expensive to fill your tank as California regular unleaded gas prices hit a record high average. As of Friday, the statewide average gasoline price was $4.72 per gallon, about 7 cents more than a month ago and roughly $1.28 more than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. In Sacramento, the current average regular gas price in Sacramento is $4.68 per gallon, which is roughly 6 cents more than a month ago and about $1.26 more than a year ago. The capital region is also less than 5 cents away from hitting its...

Paralyzed Driver Says There’s More to Come after Podium Finish in First Michelin Pilot Challenge Race By Jeff Olson February 16, 2022 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Deep in the comments of one of Robert Wickens’ Instagram posts is one from someone he’s never met: You’re so inspirational.It could have been any of the 319 comments on a workout video viewed more than 33,000 times. Like many of the comments, inspiration is the theme. Wickens didn’t intend to be an inspirational figure. He didn’t share the agony, challenges and progress of his rehabilitation or the photos of his wedding, standing...

Ford Motor Company said in a statement Friday that it’s working with around 400 salaried U.S. employees from Ford and Ford Credit who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 without accommodations before taking action on a plan to place them on unpaid leave. Ford said, “The ultimate goal is to have all employees working, focused on Ford’s business goals and be compliant with the vaccine policy. “ Recent Stories from wxyz.com The golf impact of the fire to Oakland Hills' clubhouse: Brad Galli reflects The automaker said they are making an effort to understand the concerns of every individual and provide information...

Despite having quit the Republican party, and serving as a scathing critic of Donald Trump, Joe Scarborough's shtick is to continue to claim that he is a conservative. In particular, Scarborough likes to boast, as here, that he's a "small-government conservative." We've debunked Scarborough's claim to conservativism in the past, as here, where we caught him arguing in favor of preserving Roe v. Wade. But Friday, Scarborough put a final nail in the coffin of his claim to be a "small-government" conservative by explicitly embracing Hillary Clinton's big-government agenda.Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said county board 'couldn't care less' about residents' public safety concerns, predicts 'referendum on woke-ism'As Los Angeles County residents endure rising crime and increasing homelessness, Sheriff Alex Villanueva is slamming what he describes as a political push fueled by defund police activists to fire 4,000 sheriff department employees who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Villanueva, who oversees the largest sheriff's department in the nation, said he’s the "only one left standing" when providing counterbalance against the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which has progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon...

Canada strongly advocates for freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly free from intimidation. We stand with the people of Cuba in their aspiration for democracy.

@OttawaPolice All media who are attending the area, please keep a distance and stay out of police operations for your safety. Anyone found within areas undergoing enforcement may be subject to arrest. There will be a media availability later today at 474 Elgin Street.

Four MS-13 Gang members have been sentenced for the murder of a teenage boy in Lynn, Massachusetts. Illegal aliens Jonathan Tercero Yanes and Henri Salvador Gutierrez, both from El Salvador, were sentenced this week with their fellow MS-13 Gang members Erick Lopez Flores and Djavier Duggins for murdering a teenage boy. On July 30, 2018, the gang members lured the boy into a Lynn playground where they pretended to be friends with him. In a wooded area in the park, the gang members surrounded the boy and stabbed him to death with knives. They then left the boy’s body in...

Zot (Matt) for arrested this morning for live streaming. Charlotte is doing it now, she's right there. Cops all over with tear gas masks. Haven't used the tear gas now.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is giving the Biden administration a quick hearing on its effort to scrap a Trump-era border policy that makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. The justices agreed Friday to hear the administration’s appeal of lower court rulings that forced it to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy that former President Donald Trump introduced in 2019. Arguments will take place in April, with a decision expected by late June. President Joe Biden suspended the program, formally called Migrant Protection Protocols, on his first day in office and Homeland Security Secretary...