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With humility, hope and joy, a 17 member body of theologically conservative Methodist clergy and laity, known as the Transitional Leadership Council, is pleased to announce the Global Methodist Church will officially launch on May 1, 2022.

“How did we get to the place where, you know, Putin just decides he’s gonna invade *RUSSIA*? Something like this hasn’t happened since World War 2.” - Joe “Baked Potato” Biden

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington state House passed a ban on high-capacity magazines Friday night.The bill passed 55 to 42. It will now move to Gov. Jay Inslee's desk, who has previously said he would sign it.SB 5078 prohibits the sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, along with the manufacturing, distribution, possession, import or purchase of high-capacity magazines in Washington state.A high-capacity magazine is defined as an ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or any conversion kit, part or combination of parts that can be assembled...

Russia's Vladimir Putin has criticized a recent European resolution assigning some blame to the Soviet Union in the outbreak of World War II. Putin told soldiers that Allied policies of appeasement before the war broke out, for instance tolerating Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, were also to blame for the conflict and for the communist Soviet Union's decision to seek a deal with fascist Germany. But he reserved particular criticism for Poland, alleging in particular that Poland's ambassador to Germany at the time was a Nazi sympathizer. "Essentially they colluded with Hitler. This is clear from documents, archival documents,"...

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence urged Republicans to move on from the 2020 election and declared that "there is no room in this party for apologists for Putin" as he further cemented his break from former President Donald Trump.

Welcome to The Bicycle Thread. A monthly PING List for bicycle enthusiasts to share experiences, information and ideas.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Friday the alliance of Western nations will not fight for Ukraine. NATO will not send in ground troops and will not close the Ukrainian air space.

Amid the Russian war on Ukraine and the coronavirus, former President Bill Clinton announced Friday that the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is resuming full operations after largely shuttering in early 2017. Clinton made the announcement in an open letter in which he also announced a meeting in New York City in September for members of the "CGI community." He said the pandemic and the Russian war on Ukraine are the two major events that spurred him to bring back the initiative that's been effectively dormant for years.

British dock workers have refused to deal with a tanker carrying Russian oil because of the invasion of Ukraine. The SeaCod is currently moored at Birkenhead Docks near the Stanlow Oil Refinery in the North West but dock workers have taken a stand and refuse to unload it. The German-flagged vessel does not come under the terms of the UK's ban on Russian shipping because the ban does not apply to contents.

The word “Nazi” is suddenly everywhere. This isn’t the modern habit of calling everyone we don’t like a “Nazi.” Instead, because of events in Ukraine, the word is showing up in the news, where it has real-world ramifications. During WWII, the Germans occupied Ukraine and battled their way across the Western half of the USSR. In Ukraine, while Ukrainian citizens suffered greatly at Nazi hands, no Jew forgets that the Ukrainians enthusiastically joined in the Holocaust. At Babyn Yar, where almost 34,000 Jews were shot to death over a couple of days, it was the Ukrainians who pulled the triggers....

WASHINGTON (AP) — From the earliest days of his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump aggressively challenged the pillars of Republican foreign policy that defined the party since World War II.He mocked John McCain's capture during the Vietnam War, validated autocrats with his platitudes, questioned longtime military and security alliances and embraced an isolationist worldview. And to the horror of many GOP leaders at the time, it worked, resonating with voters who believed, in part, that a bipartisan establishment in Washington had brokered trade deals that hurt American workers and recklessly stumbled into so-called “forever wars.”But Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine...

(Reuters) – A growing number of Russians and Ukrainians are traveling to Mexico, buying throwaway cars and driving across the border into the United States to seek asylum, a trend that could accelerate as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced more than a million people to flee their homes. U.S. border officials encountered about 6,400 Russians in the four months between October 2021 and January of this year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data show. That’s more than the roughly 4,100 apprehended during the entire 2021 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The jump is similar for Ukrainians, with a...

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Thursday, Feb. 27, 1862. Tuesday, the gunboat Conestoga was ordered to proceed from Cairo to this place, for the purpose of conveying orders to such of the gunboat fleet as might be up the Cumberland River. The substance of the order was, I suppose, that all the boats which could be spared, should, together with the mortarboats, report immediately at Cairo, with a view to operations down the Mississippi River. The Conestoga, by the way, is one of the three wooden boats, and apart from her active participation in several fights, including the gallant struggles at Forts Henry...

#Ukraine: This morning, it is claimed that in the vicinity of #Kyiv a Russian Mi-35 attack helicopter was shot down, likely using MANPADS. It seems to be totally destroyed.

The GOP is on the cusp of not just a red wave, but a generational political realignment, and this is when we start flirting with the 100 percent failure rate of neoconism?

I see Russia has joined the techno-autocrats at Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram in the fight against misinformation. After effectively shutting down Russia’s independent media last week when they began reporting mis-misinformation, Putin has now shut down most of the Internet for the same infraction.The interior forces came from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s censor, which Friday announced plans to block Facebook, which already had been throttled for several days. In a post on the popular Telegram social media site, the agency accused Facebook of blocking the free flow of information to Russia after it took steps to fact-check state media...

KYIV. March 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) shot and killed Denys Kyreyev, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team at the first round of negotiations with Russia in Belarus, while attempting to detain him, Ukrainian parliamentarian Oleksiy Honcharenko said. "During an attempt to detain Denys Kyreyev, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, the Ukrainian Security Service shot and killed him. He was suspected of high treason," Honcharenko wrote on Telegram. Kyreyev was among the members of the Ukrainian delegation at the first round of the talks with Russia in Belarus. "The SBU had clear evidence of...

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...

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is marking the 75th anniversary of the most famous plot to kill Adolf Hitler, honoring those who resisted the Nazis — who were stigmatized for decades as traitors — as pillars of the country’s modern democracy amid growing concerns about the resurgence of the far-right. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will speak Saturday at an annual swearing-in ceremony for some 400 troops before addressing a memorial event, paid tribute ahead of the anniversary to executed plot leader Col. Claus von Stauffenberg and his fellow conspirators and highlighted their importance to modern Germany. “Only if we understand our...

In the latest episode the President reveals whether the participation of foreign guests in the Victory Day celebrations is important to him, what he sees as an insult to Ukrainians, and his take on history potentially repeating itself.