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“The task of every dedicated employee is to carefully consider the company’s goals of the company, evaluate obstacles to their achievement, and formulate detailed plans to overcome those difficulties. However, when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is sometimes difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.” — Sign on the wall of one of the author’s prior employers Donald Trump promised us that he’d drain the Swamp. As a real estate developer, you’d think that he understood how that should be done. The State Department is known as “Foggy Bottom” because it...

The United States is one of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide. In 2019, only Spain and France had more visiting tourists, likely due to the rich history, architecture, cuisine and culture that these European countries provide. The U.S. offers iconic cities such as New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco, as well as abundant national parks, and entertainment meccas like Las Vegas and Nashville. The visitors they draw bring a huge bump to the U.S. economy. According to Statista: In 2019, the number of international tourist arrivals to the U.S. stood at almost 80 million after being on the...

Prosecutors in the criminal trial of former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann are expected to introduce their most important piece of evidence this week, a billing record for the defendant’s 2016 meeting with the FBI to pitch anti-Trump dirt. Court watchers say waiting until later in the trial to show jurors a smoking gun in the case is the right call. “My speculation is that they are saving the billing record for the bolo punch at the end. The bigger risk is introducing it earlier in the trial and the jury won’t remember what it’s about,” said Andrew Leipold,...

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan, in a series of critical comments about China he made in Tokyo that an aide said represented no change in U.S. policy on the self-ruled island. Biden’s comment, made during his first visit to Japan since taking office, and as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida looked on, appeared to be a departure from existing U.S. policy of so-called strategic ambiguity on Taiwan. China considers the democratic island its territory, part of “one China”, and says it is the most sensitive and important issue...

JAKARTA: Indonesia summoned Britain's ambassador on Monday to explain the raising of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) flag at its embassy, and urged foreign missions to respect local "sensitivities" following a backlash among conservatives. Barring the sharia-ruled province of Aceh, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, although it is generally considered taboo. The rainbow LGBT flag was flown alongside the British flag at the country's embassy in Jakarta on May 17 to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, according to an Instagram post by the embassy.

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation provided private jet service for its executive director, its latest tax filings show. In addition to luxury real estate purchases in the US and Canada, filings show that Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the group and its only board member for fiscal 2020, enjoyed charter jet travel “due to security threats and during the COVID pandemic,” according to the tax filings which provide few other details. “This travel was for organizational purposes,” the filing said. “The expenditure was voluntarily reimbursed subsequent to year end.” Filings show that Cullors, who resigned from the group in...

TOKYO (AP) -- President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, saying the burden to protect Taiwan is "even stronger' after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It was one of the most forceful presidential statements in support of self-governing in decades.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, issued fresh nuclear threat to the West Russia will soon have 50 brand new nuclear missiles capable of reducing all enemies to a nuclear crater, the head of the country's space agency has warned. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos and a staunch Putin ally, said dozens of new Sarmat-2 missiles - measuring 14 storeys tall and weighing 208 tons - will be deployed by autumn to menace Russia's enemies. 'It remains only to advise the aggressors to talk more politely with Russia,' he said. As a demonstration of Sarmat's power, he showed off footage...

check the internet for videos on this Biden appointment - I am having computer problems.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) said his Kentucky colleague Sen. Rand Paul (R), who vocally opposed the $40 billion Ukraine aid package, represented “a tiny percentage” of Senate Republicans. “My colleague, Senator Paul, has always been basically an isolationist. He’s proud of it and believes that’s where America ought to be. That is a tiny percentage of the Senate Republican Conference,” McConnell told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday. “There’s always been a strand of isolationism in our party, but it’s not anywhere near the dominant view, which was expressed in the vote that we had today and will...

<p>AUSTIN (KXAN) — A two-year-old Texas boy has already mastered the art of ordering food from a phone — complete with tipping his driver.</p><p>Barrett Golden, a Kingsville boy, ordered a whopping 31 McDonald’s cheeseburgers using his mom’s DoorDash app, according to a Facebook post from his mom, Kelsey.</p>

"...On the surface, this would appear to be simply about weapons. However, buried in this funding is up to a billion dollars earmarked to pay the salaries and pensions of Ukrainian government workers and soldiers. This isn’t a one-time payment – the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated that up to $7 billion per month will be needed to keep Ukraine functioning. While most US citizens might not blanch at the thought of their taxpayer dollars being used to underwrite Ukrainian soldiers and civil servants, the reality is that much of this money will be deployed to pay...

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words” (Proverbs 23:7-9).

During his Sunday morning appearance on ABC's "This Week," Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, spoke of an expected surge of Wuhan coronavirus cases for the coming fall and winter. In other words, the surge is expected to come right before the November midterms. When asked by host Martha Raddatz about the expected surge, Dr. Jha explained they are indeed "planning for a variety of scenarios including a wave of infection this fall and winter," which he used as an opportunity to push "making that sure...

9:30 a.m. EDT, the court will release orders from the May 19 conference. Starting at 10 a.m. EDT, the court expects to issue one or more opinions in argued cases from the current term.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about one mile east-northeast of... The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about one mile east-northeast of Kailua-Kona.(USGS) By HNN Staff Published: May. 22, 2022 at 11:56 AM PDT|Updated: 10 hours ago HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A 4.7-magnitude quake rattled Hawaii Island early Sunday and could be felt as far away as Kauai. There was no tsunami threat. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about one mile east-northeast of Kailua-Kona at a depth of about seven miles below sea level. More than 1,000 residents reported feeling...

NASHVILLE (RNS)—Anecdotally, clergy have talked about the disruption in worship attendance in this pandemic age. Now, Southern Baptists have statistics to prove it. The average in-person weekly attendance at Southern Baptist Convention churches declined 18.75 percent, from 4,439,797 in 2020 to 3,607,530 in 2021. Christian education saw an even larger decrease of 22.15 percent, with Sunday school, Bible study and small groups reduced from 2,879,130 to 2,241,514. The Annual Church Profile, a compilation from the denomination’s state conventions, was released May 12 by Lifeway Christian Resources, the convention’s data gathering division. Researchers also blamed COVID-19 for the slowdown in baptisms...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Hannah Kate Williams filed a lawsuit Friday, alleging the Southern Baptist Convention and its seminary failed to protect her and other children from the abuse of her father, who was also employed by the organization as a pastor. “Imagine being told that the more the sexual abuse hurts, the more pleased God is,” Williams said. “And so it’s very extensive, torturous type of abuse that not only I but my siblings experienced as well.” She said the physical abuse started when she was four, and the sexual abuse started when she was eight. “My father, my...

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in America, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a third-party investigation sought by the church's leaders. These survivors, and other concerned Southern Baptists, repeatedly shared allegations with the SBC's Executive Committee, 'only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC,' said a 288-page investigative report revealed on Sunday. The seven-month investigation was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Executive Committee...