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US elder statesman Henry Kissinger said that Russia’s invasion shows there is no longer a point to keeping Ukraine out of Nato, the long-held aspiration of Kyiv that he had opposed. The 99-year-old former secretary of state and apostle of realpolitik has for months advocated a ceasefire in the Ukraine war that would in effect accept some military gains by Russia. But speaking virtually to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kissinger said that Nato membership for Ukraine would be an “appropriate outcome”. “Before this war, I was opposed to membership of Ukraine in Nato because I feared that it...

I must admit, Joe Biden has a horribly misleading nickname “Middle Class Joe.” Between Biden’s horrible energy policies and Pelosi’s/Schumer’s spending binges, the US middle class and low wage workers have suffered mightely with the inflation tax. Throw in Jerome Powell and The Federal Reserve’s manic money printing and the American middle class has a problem. US inflation peaked at 9.1% year-over-year (YoY), but has declined to a still painful 7.1% YoY as The Fed removes it aggressive monetary stimulus. But to cope with persistent US inflation, consumers have had to dip into savings and use more credit cards. As...

A promising approach to control Staphylococcus aureus bacterial colonization in people—using a probiotic instead of antibiotics—was safe and highly effective in a Phase 2 clinical trial. The new study found that the probiotic Bacillus subtilis markedly reduced S. aureus colonization in trial participants without harming the gut microbiota. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus, or MRSA, is familiar to many people as a cause of serious disease. Less well known is that S. aureus often lives in the nose, on the body and in the gut without causing any harm. However, if the skin barrier is broken, or the immune system compromised, these...

The Queens mom savagely beaten by a ranting homeless man at a Howard Beach subway station confirmed for the first time that she will lose her eye because of the attack. “I’m going to be blind in my right eye now,” said Elizabeth Gomes. “The nerve system is completely damaged and the eye is just deflating.” Gomes, 33, said she is scheduled to meet with a specialist at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary on Feb. 13 to learn the next steps in getting a prosthetic eye. “I mean honestly, I still wake up everyday and I still can’t believe...

Doctors will be ‘incentivized’ by the government to start asking more questions about your vax status. A set of international codes are used by the medical industry for billing purposes under Medicare-Medicaid and the private insurance companies, but it’s not just about billing. These codes are part of the International Classification of Disease (ICD) system set forth by the United Nations World Health Organization and they’re about to get far more invasive.

21 January 2023Saint Agnes, Virgin, Martyr on Saturday of week 2 in Ordinary Time St. Agnes Parish, Arlington, Va. Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red. Year: A(I).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingHebrews 9:2-3,11-14 ©He has entered the sanctuary once and for all through his own bloodThere was a tent which comprised two compartments: the first, in which the lamp stand, the table and the presentation loaves were kept, was called the Holy Place; then beyond the second veil, an innermost part which was called the Holy of Holies. But now Christ has come,...

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...

Captured on somebody's phone camera. Rooster crows in background.

Waning volatility in the U.S. bond market has helped spur a rally in stock markets around the world, according to the latest research note from Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid.Reid, head of thematic research at DB, pointed out that bond-market volatility, as measured by the ICE BofA MOVE Index, appears to have peaked in October (see chart), just as expectations for the terminal fed-funds rate — the level at which the Federal Reserve is expected to pause its most aggressive cycle of rate hikes since the 1980s — stabilized around 5%, where they remain.

Suggested Tiger Woods Mourns As Tragedy Is Confirmed Tiger Woods Mourns As Tragedy Is Confirmed Read More Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts As readers know, I am a critic of Putin’s “limited military operation” in Ukraine. It was eight years late, and its limited objective is unrealistic. Putin needed to occupy Kiev the minute he saw the US coup unfolding. Failing this, he needed to reincorporate Donbass in 2014 prior to its partial occupation by neo-Nazi militias and Ukrainian military. He failed to act in a timely fashion because he was deceived by the West with the Minsk Agreement,...

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...

The Centers for Disease Control are looking for new ways to determine the effectiveness of vaccines against seasonal respiratory diseases like COVID-19, and think the answer could be found in leveraging electronic health record data. The agency issued its Fiscal Year 2023 Broad Agency Announcement on Wednesday, calling for vendors to provide white papers outlining solutions that address 37 research topics posed by the CDC. “This effort will address knowledge gaps regarding the preventive benefit of currently available vaccines; aid in identification of populations who can benefit from enhanced vaccine strategies; and improve our ability to respond to seasonal respiratory...

You know that happy feeling when things are going your way? Everything is turning up roses? You got a nice buzz going? Well, if you feel that way then you certainly are not a member of Ukraine’s ruling elite. Some genuine chaos unfolding in Kiev in the wake of Russia’s victory in Soledar. Let us commence with the news that someone (or a group of someones) assassinated Ukraine’s top three intelligence officials — the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky, his first deputy Yevgeny Enin and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lubkovich. Wait...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that he understands Republicans saying that “an adult has to cut up the credit card” after overspending on the coronavirus that ended up being stolen. Maher said that tying spending cuts to increasing the ceiling is “Republicans’ way of saying, Democrats spend too much money, of course, only when they’re not president. When a Republican is president, it’s never a problem, the debt ceiling and then spending money is never a problem.” And spending increased under the Trump administration without protest from Republicans.

Can you have Harry Potter without J K Rowling? The publishers and producers and actors enriched by her creation are giving it a jolly good go. As Spiked reports:An upcoming Harry Potter spin-off game, Hogwarts Legacy, has been marred by controversy simply for its association with Rowling, despite the fact she had no creative involvement with it. Following an online backlash, one of the game's lead voice actors, Sebastian Croft, felt the need to declare that 'trans women are women and trans men are men', in order to distance himself from Rowling's supposedly problematic views.That isn't exactly correct, is it?...

President Joe Biden, embattled in controversy stemming from his handling of classified documents, had previously tanked former President Jimmy Carter’s nomination for CIA director over his alleged mishandling of classified documents while Biden served in the U.S. Senate. In 1977, Carter nominated Ted Sorensen to lead the CIA.

One of the most commonly recited facts about plague in Europe was that it was spread by rats. In some parts of the world, the bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, maintains a long-term presence in wild rodents and their fleas. This is called an animal "reservoir".While plague begins in rodents, it sometimes spills over to humans. Europe may have once hosted animal reservoirs that sparked plague pandemics. But plague could have also been repeatedly reintroduced from Asia. Which of these scenarios was present remains a topic of scientific controversy.Our recent research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” former Attorney General Bill Barr stated that “the main danger to our democracy, frankly, is the sort of radical progressive movement” and that free public discourse is under attack in a way that “on a daily basis makes the McCarthy era look like child’s play.” Barr said, “[W]hen confronted with the question, if Trump is the party’s nominee and he’s running against Biden, who would you vote for? And I say it’s hard for me to see — I just find it hard to believe that I could vote against the Republican nominee...

In 2021, a whopping 83 percent of Russian gas was exported to Europe. Russia’s global exports of 7 million barrels of oil a day and 200 billion cubic meters (bcm) of piped gas a year accounted for about half of its federal revenue... Far from freezing to death, Europe quickly secured alternative gas supplies by pivoting to global liquefied natural gas (LNG) ... these alternative supplies have reduced Europe’s dependence on Russian gas to 9 percent of its total gas imports... Furthermore, Europe’s unseasonably warm winter means that not only have the worst-case scenarios been avoided, but Europe’s full storage...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher said President Joe Biden was “very shady” with his handling of classified documents and it is suspicious that the documents were found before the midterm election but their discovery wasn’t revealed for months, although the situation is “very different” from the situation with former President Donald Trump because “He didn’t cooperate. Biden cooperated.” And he doesn’t think Hunter Biden knew about or was interested in the documents in Biden’s house.