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“Let Your Light Shine before Others” (Matthew 5:13-20) In the Holy Gospel for today, from Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” But elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus says about himself, “I am the light of the world.” So, which is it, Jesus? Are you the light of the world, or are we? And the answer is . . . yes. Both are true, each in its own way. Jesus is the light of the world in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. And we are the light of the world by extension, as...

Sri Lanka marked 75 years of independence Saturday in bankruptcy, with many citizens somber, reflective and disappointed rather than feeling festive. President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a televised speech, "We have reached the point of destruction." He added that everyone in the country was to blame for the nation's woes, from politicians to regular citizens as the country had long been divided by race, religion and region since the nation's inception. Sri Lanka faces its worst financial crisis since it declared independence from Britain in 1948. A severe shortage of dollars has added to inflation woes, a drop in the...

Welcome to The Bicycle Thread. A monthly PING List for bicycle enthusiasts to share experiences, information and ideas. 🚴‍♂️👍

The Hill has an interesting story: 5 takeaways on a surprisingly strong jobs report. “The U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January, more than doubling Wall Street expectations and turning up its nose at prognosticators of an imminent recession. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.4 percent, the lowest level since 1969. Analysts were expecting it to move in the opposite direction, ticking up to 3.6 percent.” Yes, I was expecting U-3 unemployment to increase to 3.6% as well. What happened? Seasonal adjustments (BLS doens’t provide non-seasonally adjusted data). But the shocking headline (mostly due to seasonal adjustements) was not as...

Melinda Dillion, the actress best remembered for her roles in the much-loved holiday film “A Christmas Story” and sci-fi classic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” died Jan. 9, her family confirmed Friday. Dillion began her storied career as an improvisation comedian with Chicago’s Second City comedy troupe after stepping in as an understudy for a sick Barbara Harris. In her first major role, Dillion debuted on Broadway as Honey in Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” That role earned her a Tony nomination in 1963 for featured actress in a play, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Breaking update: The latest reporting coming out of Billings, Montana are showing the previously reported and speculated alleged explosion in the sky to be a confirmed hoax, as no explosions have been reported in Billings. Initially, due to the Chinese spy balloon that was spotted in the skies of Montana earlier today, the reports were widely believed and panic grew as a result. However, the official word from local reporters in Montana is indicating that the alleged explosion did not occur. As reported by Aaron Flint, host of Montana Talks statewide radio show, upon checking with Yellowstone City County dispatch,...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher said that “today’s woke revolution” has striking similarities to China’s Cultural Revolution of the 1960s under Chairman Mao and “we do have our own Red Guard here, but they do their rampaging on Twitter.” Maher stated, “Yesterday, I asked ChatGPT, are there any similarities between today’s woke revolution and Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution of the 1960s? And it wrote back, how long do you have? Because, again, in China, we saw how a revolutionary thought he could do a page-one rewrite of humans. Mao ordered his citizens to throw off...

KEY WEST, Fa., Thursday, Jan. 29, 1863. On the night of the 22d there arrived in our harbor the two sister ships of war, the Tioga and the Sonoma, the former from a cruise among the Bahamas, bringing as a prize of war the British steamer Pearl, which is one of several whose names have been furnished as being engaged for the rebels to run our blockade. The Pearl is an iron boat, with side-wheels, 180 feet length of hull and 14 feet beam, draws but five feet water and will run sixteen miles per hour. She has but little...

Great music = miss it. enjoy

On Friday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) stated that the Chinese spy balloon is a serious issue, but we should note that “the low orbit Chinese satellites have been there for years, they’re there all the time. I don’t want the American people to think this is something new and that all of a sudden we have a concern that we didn’t have before.” Quigley stated that Secretary of State Tony Blinken should not have canceled his trip to China over the balloon, and that “if you’re angry about something, don’t talk about it through the press, talk about...

A second Chinese “surveillance balloon” was spotted flying over Latin America after another one traveling across the continental U.S. was detected earlier in the day, officials confirmed Friday evening. “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Brig. Gen Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said. “We have no further information to provide at this time.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement earlier on Friday that the high-altitude balloon that was first seen over Montana on Wednesday belongs to China, but claimed it is a weather balloon...

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Bridget Fonda hit headlines on Wednesday after she was photographed out in public for the first time in more than a decade. The 58-year-old former actress — who quit Hollywood in 2002 and hasn’t walked a red carpet since 2010 — looked unrecognizable as she ran errands in Los Angeles. (snip) Fonda has proven that even the most glamorous stars change over the years, and she joins a growing number of former pinups who are defiantly owning their age and prioritizing personal comfort over public expectations. Other ’80s and ’90s heartthrobs, however, have taken a different route — sparking speculation...

Be patient. Be prepared for inevitable betrayals. Control the narrative. And, whatever you do, don’t become a victim. I was the target of the cancel culture mob. Led by a person against whom I have a protective order, the mob waged a smear campaign against me that ultimately got me fired from a science fiction franchise in which I had written books and stories for over 36 years. At the time, it was devastating, stressful, and nerve-wracking. In the last six months, however, I prevailed. The person who attacked me admitted to lying. I picked up an outstanding new publisher...

A steep price for sand. One eager eBay seller is looking to cash in following Tom Brady’s second, and most likely final, retirement announcement on Wednesday. The Florida beach sand where Brady ended his iconic 23-year NFL career was listed for sale on eBay and is listed for at least $99K with 124 bids as of Saturday morning. “Bid for 1 of 2 samples taken from Tom Brady’s exact retirement spot on Feb. 1, 2023,” the listing reads. According to the Miami Herald, Brady made his announcement from Surfside Beach in Miami — near where he lived with his then-wife...

.... Shooting down a balloon is not as easy as it sounds, said Kim. "These balloons use helium... It's not the Hindenburg, you can't just shoot it and then and then it goes up in flames." "If you do punch holes in it, it's just kind of going to leak out very slowly." Kim recalled that in 1998 the Canadian air force sent up F-18 fighter jets to try and shoot down a rogue weather balloon. "They fired a thousand 20-millimeter cannon rounds into it. And it still took six days before it finally came down. These are not things...

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...

FIRST ON FOX: At least nine religious leaders were arrested in the U.S. last month for alleged sex crimes against children, ranging from grooming to child porn to rape, Fox News Digital has found. Former "Dances with Wolves" actor Nathan Chasing Horse was arrested Tuesday in Las Vegas on allegations he sexually assaulted young Indigenous girls spanning several states while claiming to be a spiritual healer. According to a search warrant obtained by the Associated Press, police said Chasing Horse, who played Smiles a Lot in the 1990 film, had followers who referred to him as "Medicine Man" or "Holy...

An explosion has been caught n camera above Billings, Montana, the last place the spy balloon from China was seen. The person who shared the video, Dolly Moore, said she “saw a jet go by so fast and then explosion in the sky.” “Ok, so here’s what I just caught I few minutes ago out my window. I saw a jet go by so fast and then explosion in the sky. Holy crap! Billings MT,” she said. There is no indication that the explosion is related to the spy balloon. The Pentagon has responded to the Chinese spy balloon that...

The Republican National Convention is placing abortion front and center for the 2024 election cycle, now convinced that being pro-life is a winning political strategy. On August 25, I warned Republicans that refusing to advocate for the preborn would dilute the red wave. And so it did. The red wave died on the beach of indifference. Where is the confidently anticipated Senate majority? No comfortable majority in the House either. Hidden within the results there is a mandate: killing the preborn up to and after birth is not acceptable and representatives who hedge on protecting all people equally are not...