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Robert O’Brien, former national security adviser in the Trump administration, says that the Russians were willing to make a deal to release both Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed before Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. The Russians reneged on the deal after Biden was declared the winner of the election, according to O’Brien. The goal for the Russians was to improve relations between Washington and Moscow after a meeting in October 2020. But, when the election was called for Biden in November, the deal was off. The article in The Hill that reports on O’Brien’s comments does not mention an...

The Biden administration plans to remove some Chinese entities from a red flag trade list, amid closer cooperation from Beijing, a S official told Reuters on Wednesday (Dec 14). The plan to remove them from the so-called "unverified" list, which is expected to come soon, is thanks to greater willingness from the Chinese government to permit US site visits, the person said. SNIP Reuters could not determine the number or names of entities designated for removal. The decision signals a degree of cooperation between Washington and Beijing, the world's largest economies which are locked in a heated trade and technology...

Republican leadership in the House is barreling ahead with efforts to prevent Democrats from passing a lame-duck omnibus spending bill this year.“We’re 20 days before the new members are being sworn in. We’ve got two members leading appropriations in the Senate who will no longer be here or be able to be held accountable to the constituents,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said at a press conference on Wednesday. He was referring to Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., negotiating what will be in the omnibus, despite the fact that they will be leaving office next month.“We’ve got an...

EXCERPT: BIDEN: “These MCC investments are part of the work we’re doing worldwide through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. I proposed this initiative together with the rest of the G7 to help fill the need for quality high-standard infrastructure in Africa and the low-income and middle-income countries around the world. At the G-7 meeting earlier this year, we announced our intention to collectively mobilize $600 billion in the next five years. Today’s announcement joined a portfolio of Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment projects already underway in Africa, including mobilizing $8 billion in public and private finance to help...

For all the opposition to Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker of the House, he sure is doing the kinds of things to gain support from those with a skeptical eye.Initially, I wasn’t a fan of McCarthy following up a subpar election performance with a promotion, but it quickly became apparent that there is no alternate path. No other viable Republican who could gain enough support stepped up to the plate, and continuing to hold things up would only benefit Democrats at this point, who have floated the idea of electing a “unity candidate.”With that said, even though it appears McCarthy has...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” that Republicans had “emasculated” themselves by agreeing to the framework for an omnibus spending bill to fund the government through 2023. Paul said, “This brings upon us the lie that Republicans really are fiscally conservative. The Democrats aren’t. They will not pretend to be fiscally conservative. Not one of them up here gives a darn about the debt. The Republicans all profess to be, but when you make them vote on the PAYGO resolution, pay as you go, that we can’t have new spending without offsetting it, they always...

Friar sentenced to probation after raping college student and pressuring her to abortA Franciscan friar who groomed and raped a college student with a history of trauma and abuse has pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual battery, and was sentenced to probation. The victim allegedly agreed to the plea agreement.Fr. David Morrier previously served as the university chaplain for the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and was accused of ritual abuse, rape, and coerced abortion. Late president Fr. Michael Scanlan and current president Fr. David Pivonka were also implicated in the lawsuit. Morrier allegedly groomed the student for years...

One of the best and most poignant moments in the underappreciated 1999 TV movie, RKO 281, about the making of Citizen Kane and the battle between William Randolph Hearst and the brash upstart Orson Welles, comes when Hearst, defeated, broke, and broken, defends himself and the choices he's made in an argument with his mistress, Marion Davies: .... Hearst seemed to have everything: wealth, political influence, multiple homes, a beautiful actress-mistress in California and a wife and five sons back home in New York. And, of course, a media empire that included prominent newspapers across the country. He tried his...

It’s the Christmas season! That means it’s time for the Mainstream Media and Mass Immigration Activists (do I repeat myself?) to try to guilt trip American Christians into supporting the invasion of their country. Get ready to hear nonsensical and pseudo-pious arguments such as the one claiming Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus were illegal immigrants.

The left is going through it after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. They want to leave for greener pastures but it would appear that nothing is proving itself to be worth it.Probably the most famous of these is Mastodon, a leftist platform that many former blue checks ran to in order to escape the big bad billionaire, only to find that the very censoriousness they cheered on at Twitter is now being used against them. People will report others strictly for saying something they disagree with resulting in a ban or suspension from the platform.(READ: Journalists Run to Twitter Alternative,...

<p>On Wednesday, Elon Musk announced that any account doxxing people in real time would be suspended.</p><p>Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.</p>

Aborting viable, late-term unborn babies for any reason is now a “right” in the Vermont Constitution and abortions are available up to birth. Last month, state voters approved Proposal 5, a pro-abortion constitutional amendment, on the ballot by a massive margin. Most expected the amendment to pass in the deeply Democratic state. Abortions already are legal for basically any reason up to birth in Vermont, but the amendment will stop the state legislature from enacting any limits in the future. Today, Vermont formally adopted the constitutional amendment. Upon signing the amendments into the state’s founding document, Gov. Phil Scott and...

Periods of catastrophe and anxiety, such as the coronavirus pandemic, have historically led some people to anticipate that the destruction of the world as we know it – the “end times” – is near. This thinking often has a religious component that draws on sacred scripture. In Christianity, for example, these beliefs include expectations that Jesus will return to Earth after or amid a time of great turmoil. In the United States, 39% of adults say they believe “we are living in the end times,” while 58% say they do not believe we are living in the end times, according...

A small but vocal group of Republican senators is furious with GOP leadership over the agreement with Democrats to approve a massive year-end spending bill that will fund the federal government through next September. The bipartisan deal has created a schism between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican colleagues in both chambers — including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy — who accuse Mr. McConnell and his leadership of rolling over to help Democrats pass a major budget on the brink of a government shutdown and the holidays without knowing what’s in it. “I don’t see any reason why Republicans...

Former President Donald Trump leads Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) by almost 20 points in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary matchup, according to a poll.A Morning Consult Poll released Tuesday shows that 49 percent of potential GOP primary voters support Trump in his bid for the nomination, placing him 18 points ahead of his nearest competitor, DeSantis, at 31 percent. No other potential challenger eclipsed the ten percent mark.2024 National Republican Primary:Trump 49% (+18)DeSantis 31%Pence 8%Haley 2%Cheney 2%Cruz 2%Abbott 1%Noem 1%Pompeo 1%Youngkin 1%T. Scott 0%.@MorningConsult/@politico, 4,215 RV, 12/9-11https://t.co/8E7nq4VZzW— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) December 13, 2022Eight percent of the respondents support former President...

* Enoch Burke will spend the festive period behind bars, a court has told him* The teacher was jailed for refusing to obey a court order to stay away from his school in County Westmeath, Ireland* His school told him to stay away after he refused to address a student as 'they'A Christian teacher who was jailed following his refusal to use gender-neutral pronouns has been told that he will remain behind bars over Christmas. Enoch Burke was jailed in September after refusing to obey a court order to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, Ireland, a...

Monarch and supreme governor of Church of England to remain Defender of the Faith, but will speak about his commitment to multiple religions.The King is expected to recognise that he serves all religious faiths and not just the Church of England when he speaks during his coronation. The coronation oath, in which he will pledge to be “Defender of the Faith”, will not change. However, palace aides and church officials are planning to add a form of words that will allow the King to recognise his commitment to the multiple faiths of a diverse Britain. While the specific details remain...

China says its official COVID-19 vaccination rate is around 90%, but it's not hard to find people who have been avoiding the jab. Take Faye Fei, for example. She's a 32-year-old lifestyle blogger who lives in the city of Hangzhou, about an hour from Shanghai by high-speed train. "I have an advantage in that I don't go to an office to work. I don't have a job at a company or in a government agency and don't really come into contact with a lot of people," she says. "Also I think I protect myself pretty well." On top of that,...

I think that the old Communist East Germany should have been bought by the Disney Corporation, and kept going permanently, exactly as it was, as a tourist attraction. Schoolchildren from all over the Western world could have spent a few days there to find out what a dogma-driven society was really like. Tourists could have paid for package tours, escaping at the end of each gruelling day to special cordoned-off Western-style hotels. They could have realized, in time, what was happening here in supposedly Conservative Britain, where, as a new report has revealed this week, huge amounts of money and...