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Fears of a growing totalitarian tendency in the United States have swelled during 2020–2022. But how close are we really to a totalitarian state? How have such regimes come about historically and what are the warning signs? This article will answer these questions by examining totalitarian regimes in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries and the pattern by which they came to power. Stage 1: Discontent and Rumblings Every new order rises on the ruins of the old. Those who would establish a new regime must tap into or generate dissatisfaction with the status quo. However much those desiring a reset...

A long £6m investigation into multiple police failings during the Rotherham grooming scandal “lets down victims and survivors” by failing to identify any individual accountability, a police and crime commissioner has said. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Wednesday published what it described as its overarching report from Operation Linden, the name given to a series of investigations it carried out into how South Yorkshire police responded to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation between 1997 and 2013. It is estimated that more than 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham across the 16-year time span.The report...

Sri Lanka’s prime minister is increasing efforts to revive the country’s “completely collapsed” economy amid a lack of foreign exchange reserves and severe shortages of essential items. “We are now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity, and food. Our economy has faced a complete collapse,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on June 22. “It is no easy task to revive a country with a completely collapsed economy, especially one that is dangerously low on foreign reserves,” he said. Sri Lanka will hold a credit aid conference with India, China, and Japan...

While Ferguson’s COVID vaccination status is unknown (as it should be), many people around the world are questioning the stunning number of healthy teens and young adult athletes who received the COVID jab and later died unexpectedly.

MOSCOW, June 22 (Reuters) - A top Russian official warned the West on Wednesday to stop talking about triggering NATO's "Article 5" mutual defence clause in a standoff between Lithuania and Russia. Moscow has promised practical retaliation that will affect Lithuania's population after the Baltic state blocked the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions from Russia to its Baltic exclave. "I would like to warn Europeans against dangerous rhetorical games on the topic of conflict," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.

Ohio's food banks are struggling to keep shelves stocked amid rising costs and supply-chain disruptions. But those same issues are pushing even more people to turn to them for help. Why it matters: More than 1.5 million Ohioans — one in eight of our neighbors — go hungry, according to Feeding America. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks says that some banks have been forced into rationing. State of play: The association's leaders are now urging lawmakers to spend federal pandemic relief funds or other cash reserves to address the critical need. Ohio has nearly $2 billion in remaining American Rescue...

According to two sources, around the time of Russia's late February invasion of Ukraine, a cyber unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence service again conducted targeting-reconnaissance operations against a major U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter, Freeport LNG. U.S. LNG exports have long been a priority concern for Russia, viewed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a means for the United States to undercut Russia's domination of the European gas market. On June 8, Freeport LNG suffered an explosion at its liquefaction plant and export terminal on Texas's Quintana Island. The damage suffered means the facility is not expected to resume...

The cause of the imminent cuts is multiplying humanitarian needs around the world and insufficient funding his has already forced the agency to make significant reductions in daily meals for vulnerable people in the Sahel and elsewhere. “As global hunger soars way beyond the resources available to feed all the families who desperately need WFP’s help, we are being forced to make the heartbreaking decision to cut food rations for refugees who rely on us for their survival,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “Without urgent new funds to support refugees - one of the world’s most vulnerable and forgotten...

The monthly mortgage payment on a typical home in the Bay Area jumped more than 50% from a year ago, soaring to over $9,000 in San Jose and above $8,000 in San Francisco, according to a report from Zillow. The online real estate marketplace reported Tuesday that housing affordability across the nation is at a 15-year low, adding that buying a typical U.S. home at the current average mortgage rate of 5.78% would mean monthly payments of $2,127, 51% higher than a year ago. As is customary, that number quadruples in the Bay Area's two largest cities. Here are some...

The inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in mid- to later life is linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years, finds research. To improve standardization of the test, participants were asked to place the front of the free foot on the back of the opposite lower leg, while keeping their arms by their sides and their gaze fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were permitted. In all, around 1 in 5 (20.5%; 348) participants failed to pass the test. The inability to...

Major shakeups are underway in the Russian command structure in Ukraine, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War Experts found that top officials may be blamed for not fully capturing Ukraine and the Kremlin may replace those officers with new faces Russia has suffered significant losses since the invasion of Ukraine began almost four months ago, including a dozen high ranking generals The Kremlin recently replaced the commander of the Russian Airborne forces and could be in the process of a major shakeup of their current command structure in Ukraine, according to a new report...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign a bill to grant places of worship the right to keep doors open during a state of emergency. Florida bill SB 254, which passed the Senate in January, would officially designate religious services as being essential and therefore allow houses of worship, including churches, to remain open and host public gatherings in the event of a public emergency or disaster. The governor received the bill last Friday and has until June 30 to act on it. “An emergency order authorized by this part may not directly or indirectly prohibit religious services or...

Ana Cabrera @AnaCabrera JUST IN: Moderate House Republican Rep. Don Bacon tells CNN’s @mkraju that after watching the January 6th committee hearings he “will not be supporting” former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican primary if he announces he is running. 10:33 AM · Jun 22, 2022

The Texas Republican Party passed a resolution on Monday declaring Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election.The resolution states that “we reject the certified results.”From Yahoo News:“We reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States,” the Texas party said in a resolution, passed in a voice vote at its convention.Trump responded with high praise for the Texas GOP.From TruthSocial:Wow! Look at the Great State of Texas and their powerful Republican Party Platform on the 2020 Presidential Election...

Daily use of a mushroom extract supported the immune system in clearing human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, according to researchers with UTHealth Houston. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (1R03CA212935). "Our results show that AHCC supplementation may help most patients eliminate their HPV infection and may decrease the long-term risk of HPV-related cancers," said Judith A. Smith, PharmD, lead researcher on the study and professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. "Through this study, as well as multiple other...

As the COVID pandemic unfolded in 2020, I predicted that before it was over, we’d surely hear calls for a cabinet level “Department of Pandemic Planning” or some other equivalent of the Department of Homeland Security that we set up in the aftermath of 9/11 to “coordinate” government agency activity at all levels of government. That prediction has moved a step closer to fulfillment. From the New York Times today: A bipartisan panel of health experts calls on Tuesday for an overhaul of the American public health system that would greatly expand the role of the federal government, giving Washington...

(Here is the first part of the story ...) The East Texas city of Texarkana experienced a rare weather event to close out the year: It rained fish. The phenomenon, known as “animal rain,” occurred Wednesday in the city, where officials declared in a Facebook post that 2021 “is pulling out all of the tricks…including raining fish.” “And no, this isn’t a joke,” the post continued. The city asked residents who witnessed the strange event for their fish photos — some provided them in a lengthy comment thread, along with notes of disbelief — and offered a quick primer on...

@RepThomasMassie Call it what it is… GUN CONTROL, specifically: an infringement on the rights protected by the 2nd and 4th amendments.

I voted for Trump twice, and I’m a lawyer and I played a small role in his challenge to the results. My question for this board is: why shouldn’t we pick a winner? Trump lost. He lost the election and he lost, pathetically, in the post-election challenges. He lost those legal challenges before Trump-appointed judges as well Bush appointees, Obama appointees, and Clinton appointees. He’s persuaded 40-something percent of the country but not matter what he does, he cannot – can not – persuade more people. He has not done so and will not do so. It may suck, but...