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In what seems like a lifetime ago, a friend explained to me his thumbnail distinction between philosophy and ideology. Philosophy requires one to fit one’s mind to the world; ideology compels one to fit the world to one’s mind. The crux was how each viewed human nature: philosophy accepted the imperfectability of human nature; ideology demanded its perfection. Within this admittedly narrow limning, one can see how philosophy and ideology respond when confronted by reality. By accepting the imperfectability of human nature, a philosophic attitude encourages intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and societal growth. By rejecting the imperfectability of human nature and...

This Sunday, April 17th, Jupiter will move into position closest to the eastern horizon, and almost on top of Venus. A bit south and above will be Mars looking very red, and then Saturn further up and further south. For most people in North America, the ideal time will be to go out and look southeast about 45 minutes before the sun begins to rise. On April 23rd, the Moon will appear in conjunction with the other spheres, appearing to the right and above Saturn, before moving off again by April 29th. In mid-June, due to its rapid orbiting around...

Russia said on Thursday the Moskva sank after an ammunition explosion. Ukraine said it hit the vessel, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, with a missile. The Russian defence ministry released a 26-second video showing Yevmenov and two other officers standing outside in front of around 100 sailors on a parade ground. It showed them speaking to one man.

CTH disclaimer: How is John Durham going to reveal everything that is possible about the deep state Trump targeting operation, and simultaneously handle the involvement of Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann and the Special Counsel team who were specifically appointed to cover it up? Thanks to a more detailed filing by John Durham last night, we can now see the guardrails, rules and general direction the prosecution is taking. In essence, the underlying Trump-Russia conspiracy theory material from the Clinton campaign, via Rodney Joffe to Michael Sussmann, was fabricated – likely for a dual purpose: (A) to coverup and make excuses...

[Catholic Caucus] The Resignation of Benedict XVI, the 2013 Conclave, the Election of Francis and the St. Gallen Mafia - Aldo Maria ValliDear friends of Duc in altum, recently I was interviewed by databaseitalia.it. It was a conversation that centered above all on the resignation of Benedict XVI, the conclave of 2013, the election of Francis, and the role of the St. Gallen Mafia.***by Armando Savinidatabaseitalia.itAfter the IOR [Vatican Bank] was thrown out of Swift [the international banking system], now it has happened to the Russian banks too. The objectives of those who worked to weaken Benedict XVI and elect...

Almost 2000 years ago, there were eleven men who had abandoned their leader in his time of need. Twelve men, if you count the one who betrayed him with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver. The rest scattered as HE was arrested, scourged and then lifted like a snake in the desert. For three years these men clung to their leader, absorbing HIS every Word as HE traveled around teaching and performing miracles. They watched as HE healed paraplegics, cured those with leprosy, gave sight to the blind, and untied the tongues of the mute. They even witnessed...

Israel's new laser missile defense system has successfully intercepted mortars, rockets and anti-tank missiles in recent tests, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Thursday. The Israeli-made laser system, designed to complement a series of aerial defense systems such as the costly Iron Dome deployed by Israel, will be operational “as soon as possible,” Gantz said. The goal is to deploy the laser systems around Israel's borders over the next decade, Gantz added. The tests took place last month in the Negev Desert. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in February that Israel would begin using the system within a year, sending a...

A Queens principal accused of using fraudulent schemes to boost his school’s graduation rate can never again work with city students — but will get a $1.8 million desk job, The Post has learned. Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir, who was removed as principal of Maspeth High School last July, won’t return to any city school as a principal, according to a settlement of misconduct charges. But he can stay on the Department of Education payroll for another seven years. Under Abdul-Mutakabbir, Maspeth HS created fake classes, awarded credits to failing students, and fixed grades to push kids out the door, the Special...

A Georgia restaurant owner posted a notice on the establishment's window slamming President Joe Biden and his "ignorant" supporters and attributed the rise in supply costs and shortage of workers for his restaurant to the policies implemented by the Biden administration. The sign, posted outside of an Appalachian Grill restaurant in Cartersville, Georgia, was initially shared Sunday in a Reddit forum before going viral on several social media platforms. The notice instructed Biden voters who have no regrets about their vote in the 2020 election to take their business somewhere else. "If you voted for Brandon's Build Back BS and...

I haven’t seen anyone else mention this, but subway shooter Frank James’s decision to shoot up a train in Sunset Park, Brooklyn likely wasn’t random. Check out the racial background of the neighborhood: 35.6% – Hispanic 34.8% – Asian 23.7% – white 3.9% – blackUntil recently, you could see shooter Frank James spewing his black supremacy and hatred, but YouTube has now removed his channel. For those who didn’t see the videos, they were brimming with racial loathing for Asian, Hispanic, and white people.You can see here that many of Frank James’s victims are Asian. For a “crazy” guy, he...

We haven’t heard anything about developments in the government’s persecution of Project Veritas in the matter of Ashley Biden’s diary since I wrote about the case last month. All my posts tracking the story are accessible here. I find the story chilling and do not want to let it recede from sight. Harmeet Dhillon is one of the Project Veritas attorneys lending a hand in the case. She appeared last night on Tucker Carlson’s show for a brief interview in which she brought the story up to date as of my most recent posts. In his intro Tucker stated that...

FORT IRWIN, Calif. -- In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China. The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack. In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to...

Former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves (file photo) Serving as president of Estonia between 2006 and 2016, and foreign minister before that, Toomas Hendrik Ilves has always been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin's Russia. Speaking by Zoom from Estonia, Ilves pours water on the idea of negotiating with Russia and says that Georgia's position on the war in Ukraine is "absolutely despicable." RFE/RL: There are many people who think that the roots of what is going on now in Ukraine, and what happened in Georgia in 2008, go back to the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest and the refusal...

My late Friday night involved hitting refresh on PACER every so often, incurring the $0.10 charge for each search result as I waited on Special Counsel John Durham’s latest filing in the Michael Sussmann case. (Exciting, I know.) The motion exceeded expectations, discussing CIA conclusions that Sussmann was providing implausible data to federal authorities, providing CIA notes regarding their meeting with Sussmann, and confirmation that they essentially spied on President-Elect Trump. The motion can be found here. It was filed as part of the government’s efforts to convince the court that the evidence it seeks to admit in Sussmann’s trial...

A Shawnee State University professor who refused to use the preferred pronouns of a male student who identifies as female has settled with his employer for $400,000 and an agreement that he will never be forced to use pronouns. Shawnee philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether refused to address a male student who identifies as female by the student’s preferred pronouns, instead referring to the student as “sir,” saying that his evangelical Christian beliefs were behind his actions. “To accede to these demands would have required Dr. Meriwether to communicate views regarding gender identity that he does not hold, that he does...

While general inflation year-over-year is up 8.5% and producer prices have increased 11.2%, rents in many major cities have gone up 17%. President Biden says he's "not too concerned. My rent is paid up until January of 2025 and I have an expense account to cover my other needs." Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed out that "several other initiatives that the President and other Democrats have taken led to decreases in rent in selected areas. The exodus of residents from high-tax and high-crime cities like New York and San Francisco have eased the burdens of rent in those cities. It...

It's hard to resist the cuteness of a dog tilting their head when you talk to them or when they hear a strange sound. But this endearing trait may have a bigger purpose than merely looking adorable. Scientists are still trying to get to the bottom of exactly why dogs tilt their heads and there isn't a ton of research yet on the topic. But there are some theories about why dogs engage in this behavior and what their head tilts could mean.

I was reading about a new Chinese mini sub - a badly needed distraction - and saw a spurious reference to a new US 'Columbia Class' SSBN which was alien to me. Obviously, I'd missed it, and apparently many here as well. I searched and saw no reference whatsoever to it here at FR, so rather than post a single article, there are a number below in the comments for clickable links, in addition to the linked Report to Congress.

CNN)Once again, the shifting winds of the Covid-19 pandemic have placed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a pickle. Last month, in the (very brief) good old days after the original Omicron variant had settled, the agency had indicated that, on April 18, it would reevaluate the mask-wearing mandate on airplanes, trains and other "transportation conveyances."

Russia's warplanes bombed Lviv and its missiles struck Kyiv and Kharkiv on Saturday, as Moscow followed through on a threat to launch more long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities after its Black Sea Fleet's flagship was sunk. In besieged Mariupol, scene of the war's heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, Russian troops pressed recent advances, hoping to make up for their failure to capture Kyiv by seizing their first big prize of the war. Moscow said its planes had struck a tank repair factory in the capital, where an explosion was heard and smoke seen in the southeastern Darnytskyi district. Kyiv's...