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Donald Trump's inaugural committee chair, Tom Barrack, was acquitted on all counts Friday at a federal trial in which he was accused of using his personal access to the former Republican president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates. The jury deliberated three days before finding Barrack not guilty of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, obstruction of justice and making false statements. Barrack had vehemently denied the charges. Barrack, 75, is an old friend of Trump and is a California billionaire who chaired Trump’s inaugural committee. He was among of a long line...

Federal judges are not historians, but they are increasingly obligated to play them on the bench. In his Bruen decision last June, Justice Clarence Thomas ordered courts to assess the constitutionality of modern-day gun restrictions by searching for “historical analogues” from 1791, when the Second Amendment was ratified. Ever since, judges have struggled mightily with this task—in part because most have no training in real historical analysis, but also because the record is often spotty and contradictory. In light of Bruen’s maximalist language, they have erred on the side of gun owners, finding a constitutional right to buy a gun...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

Hours after Iran state TV displayed the cream-colored American bat-wing RQ-170 "Sentinel" drone – its undercarriage hidden by banners of a US flag, with stars replaced by skulls and marked with anti-US slogans – Iranian officials said the spy craft was proof of enduring US hostility toward Iran. "Iran will target all US military bases around the world," in case of further violations, warned conservative lawmaker Mohammad Kossari today. Iran's response would be "terrifying." US officials confirmed with "high confidence" that the drone displayed by Iran is almost certainly the one reported lost last by US forces in Afghanistan last...

Biden just went to California and announced he will shut down coal plants all across AmericaYou hear that, PA? https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1588638393344352256

A new report in the New York Times shows abortions quickly declined after the Supreme Court overturned Roe. In just the first two months after the Dobbs decision in late June, abortions had already dropped 6% as more than 10,000 babies were saved from abortion. “Thirteen states banned or severely restricted abortion during those months, mostly in the South, and legal abortions in those states fell to close to zero, according to detailed estimates made by a consortium of academics and abortion providers,” the report said. “Nine more states added major abortion restrictions, and legal abortions in those states fell...

At least 13 people died after a fire broke out in a busy nightclub in the Russian city of Kostroma, officials said on Saturday. Kostroma is a city of around 270,000 people, 300 km (190 miles) north-east of Moscow on the banks of the river Volga. The fire took place in the early hours of the morning at Polygon, a multi-purpose recreation venue used as a cafe, nightclub and bar. Rescuers said 250 people were evacuated from the building.

… I have right here the most accurate and inaccurate list of polls in the last election. There worst polls were Quinnipiac, CNN, L.A. Times, Washington Post, ABC, and Monmouth, and the New York Times. The most accurate: Atlas Intel, Trafalgar, InsiderAdvantage, and Harrison, and Rasmussen.

Jane was living in rural New Mexico when she discovered she was pregnant. She never wanted to have children or carry a pregnancy and knew immediately she wanted an abortion. But while abortion remains legal in the state, she says she also didn't want to take her chances with long waitlists at a clinic or a sudden change in the law that would put her in limbo. She had volunteered at an abortion hotline years ago and knew that even before the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, waiting periods and mandated ultrasounds can cost extra time and...

The next installment of Californians Move to Texas. Episode 4 - The Gun Range

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — When Planned Parenthood decided four years ago to open a new clinic in a medically underserved working-class neighborhood here, it envisioned a place that would save women living nearby from having to take hourslong bus rides to obtain birth control, testing or an abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade — four days before the clinic opened — changed all that. Because Kansas is one of the few states in the region where abortion remains legal, the clinic soon found itself inundated with calls not just from panicked patients in Kansas...

Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets. “We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war,” Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran. Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war...

However, it appears his biggest critics this election cycle have been the local press. While DeSantis is sailing towards reelection, the most prominent newspapers in the Sunshine State have all endorsed Crist, signaling the media is out of step with Florida voters. "Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida is a place of meanness. It’s a place where dissent is muzzled, where personal rights triumph over the greater good, where winning is more important than unity — especially if that victory moves him closer to a White House run. That’s not the Florida we had four years ago. And it’s not a Florida...

Washington CNN — Ukraine’s fears that its troops may lose access to Elon Musk’s crucial Starlink internet service deepened in the past week after 1,300 of the military’s satellite units went offline, according to two sources familiar with the outage.

Russian soldiers are forcing Ukrainian civilians from their apartments in the occupied capital of the Kherson region and moving in themselves, a resident said Friday as the southern city became a growing focus of war in Ukraine. His account of soldiers spreading throughout the city of Kherson suggested that Russia could be preparing for intense urban warfare in anticipation of Ukrainian advances. (snip) A Kherson resident told The Associated Press that Russian soldiers were installing themselves in vacated apartments. Russian military personnel were going door to door, checking property deeds and forcing tenants to leave immediately if they can't prove...

Things are disappearing in the Ukrainian city of Kherson at a rapid rate. Some are physical objects. Russian troops are taking away ambulances, tractors and stolen private cars. Cultural things are going too: archives, and paintings and sculptures from the art and local lore museums. Even the bones of Catherine the Great’s friend and lover, Grigory Potemkin, have been grubbed up from a crypt in St Catherine’s cathedral and spirited away. Russian soldiers are ferrying this loot across the Dnieper river, to the left bank of the Kherson region. They have also been deporting local citizens under the guise of...

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me’” (Matthew 11:4–6). Jesus’ deity and His message of salvation by grace through faith have been great stumbling blocks for many unbelieving sinners, but Christ did not want such doubt and unbelief to affect John. It is likely that the Lord’s response was more...

A promise is never better or worse than the character of the one who’s making it. A believer’s faith can never rise higher than who he sees God to be. If we’re sitting here singing songs that we’re going to see a victory, then the blood shall never lose its power. If these are words and songs that we actually believe because we believe in the character of God, then our faith begins to rise up with that. An inadequate view of God has to result in weak faith because faith depends upon the character of God, and that’s why...

Real Clear Politics has shifted its prediction of a hotly contested Senate race in Colorado from leaning toward Democratic victory to a "toss up" as several high profile races across the country continue to tighten with Republicans hoping to take back control of the chamber next week. On its updated election prediction map, Real Clear Politics now shows the race between Democratic incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet and his challenger, Republican construction magnate Joe O’Dea, is classified as a "toss up" after previously being viewed as "Leans Dem."

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...