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“It could never happen in Pittsburgh” was once a common mantra. When I arrived in Pittsburgh nearly 40 years ago from New York City, it seemed like a cross between a quiet village and a Hollywood stage set designed to depict peace and security. The late Fred Rodgers, the cardigan-attired former minister and later star of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood lived four blocks from my house in a heavily Jewish community. This was close to the Tree of Life Synagogue, a sanctuary where I previously worshipped. ...” In 2015, America wasn’t yet rocked by mass shootings. Still, a watershed event occurred...

-Moldovan government resigns, economy in turmoil. -Tensions with Russia fuelled by war in Ukraine. -President to hold consultations on next prime minister.CHISINAU, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Moldova's pro-Western government resigned on Friday after a turbulent 18 months in power marked by economic turmoil and the spillover effects of Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine. In the latest tensions with Moscow over the war, the government said shortly before Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita announced her resignation that a Russian missile had violated Moldovan airspace, and summoned Russia's ambassador to protest. President Maia Sandu accepted Gavrilita's decision and said she would consult with...

New GOP secretaries of state in Alabama, Indiana, South Dakota, and Wyoming all campaigned on pursuing election integrity reforms during the midterm elections, but some appear to have followed through on those promises more aggressively than others. In Alabama, Secretary of State Wes Allen has begun implementing election integrity reforms. Last month, during his second day on the job, Allen fulfilled a campaign promise by withdrawing Alabama from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit helps states clean up voter rolls and register voters. …..

Two people were killed and five more injured in a terrorist ramming attack in Jerusalem Friday afternoon. The attack occurred at 1:27 p.m. Friday at a bus stop in the Ramot neighborhood of the capital. According to preliminary reports, the terrorist rammed his car into a group of pedestrians who were waiting for a bus on Golda Meir Boulevard, on the edge of Ramot near the Tomb of Samuel (Nebi Samuel National Park). Witnesses say the terrorist, who has been identified as 31-year-old Issawiya resident Hussein Karaka, has been eliminated. Emergency first responders from MDA and United Hatzalah were dispatched...

The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test from California in a show of nuclear readiness. The test launched at 11:01 p.m. PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the base announced on Friday. It was a "routine" activity "intended to demonstrate that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and effective," according to the announcement. "A test launch displays the heart of our deterrence mission on the world’s stage, assuring our nation and its allies that our weapons are capable and our Airmen are ready and willing to defend peace across...

Apparently it's no longer just about tanks and fighter jets for Ukraine: According to Polish General Waldemar Skrzyptzak (67), the government in Kiev is said to have nuclear weapons once again. Other experts believe that even if they do not have such a weapon now, they'll have one soon. In an interview, one of Poland’s best-known military officers gave an analysis of where Europe might be headed in the war in Ukraine: General Waldemar Skrzyptzak said in an interview with radio station Wnet that President Zelensky’s government probably already has nuclear weapons. This was not absurd, explained the general: “Ukraine...

European natural gas inventories fell by 280 BCF over past 2 weeks. EU nat gas storage 68% full. Current inventories at 2624 BCF

Ukrainian forces have put an advanced Russian BMPT Terminator armored fighting vehicle out of commission for the first time, according to the Ukrainian Marines. The Terminator is a relatively new addition to Russia's ground arsenal and only a small number of them are known to be in service, making this kill quite the trophy for the Ukrainian military. Members of the Ukrainian Marine Corps’ 140th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion helped destroy the BMPT, according to a post on the service’s official Facebook page. The post explains the Marines belonging to the unit shared the Terminator’s coordinates with nearby artillery forces, who...

Suspect in Rep. Angie Craig assault. (Images courtesy of D.C. Metropolitan Police) Police in Washington, D.C., made an arrest after releasing a photo of the suspect in the alleged assault of Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) in an elevator at her apartment building Thursday morning. In sharing the surveillance camera image, the Metropolitan Police Department asked the public for assistance in identifying the suspect for a simple assault offense. According to the U.S. Capitol Police, the suspect is believed to be a homeless man. Police later announced 26-year-old Kendrick Hamlin, “AKA Hamlin Khalil Hamlin, of no fixed address,” was arrested and...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ T H E L A S T S U P P E R ֎ Featuring 29 Paintings and 1 Mosaic ֎ M A R K Chapter 14* On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of...

Far more intriguing – and deserving of the intense media scrutiny afforded China’s ill-fated balloon – are U.S. military encounters with mysterious flying objects exhibiting seemingly extraordinary technology. Take, for example, the 2004 “Tic Tac” incident, which continues to perplex the U.S. government. Over the course of several days, a Navy warship’s state-of-the-art radar tracked mysterious targets descending from high altitudes at extreme velocities. Controllers ultimately directed two fighter jets to intercept one of the perplexing radar contacts. Just above an area of roiling whitewater amid an otherwise calm sea, four naval aviators observed a strange object with no wings,...

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to convert a natural gas power plant to a new hydrogen system that critics say may not provide enough power and could cause more environmental damage. The proposal is part of a “Green New Deal” adopted by former mayor Eric Garcetti to shutter three natural gas plants in favor of “renewable” energy — over objections that solar and wind power would not be sufficient, and that the move would cost thousands of union jobs. Garcetti stuck with his plan even after the state suffered electricity shortages in 2020 and after Democrats...

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm met privately with the leader of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the group that funded a recent study used to justify calls for a gas stove ban. Granholm met with Jules Kortenhorst — the CEO of RMI at the time — in June 2021, according to her internal agency calendar obtained by government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT). Kortenhorst is widely known global climate activist who also founded the Energy Transitions Commission and chairs the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Net Zero Transition. The calendar didn't include the agenda for the meeting...

It is hardly a secret within America’s newsrooms that our profession has lost much of the public’s trust. Gallup, which has polled “Confidence in Institutions” for decades, found that, as of last summer, just 16 percent of Americans had either a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers — down from 25 percent a decade earlier and 35 percent in 2002. For TV news, the latest results were even worse. Eleven percent of Americans trust it. Fifty-three percent don’t. Most of us, in or out of the news media, would surely agree that this is a bad...

Fox News’ “Outnumbered” panel erupted Thursday as the panelists debated Hunter Biden and whether President Joe Biden is implicated in his son’s alleged wrongdoings. Guest Ari Fleisher suggested Republicans set their sights on President Joe Biden rather than Hunter when Democratic Fox News commentator Marie Harf argued “the House GOP cannot help themselves because there is no evidence, that anyone has seen, that this involves national security or that Joe Biden somehow compromised national security.” “There is evidence!” Fleischer insisted. “If Joe Biden received 10 percent-” (RELATED: Ex-Intel Official Who Said Hunter Biden Laptop Was Russian Disinfo Admits Contents ‘Had...

Belarus on Friday condemned as "catastrophic" a decision by Poland to close a border checkpoint between the two countries, saying it could lead to a collapse on both sides of the border. Poland said on Thursday, citing security concerns, it would close a key border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, starting at 12 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Friday, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low. -snip- Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland might close further border crossings. "We are not excluding closing other border crossings with Belarus," he told a news conference in...

San Francisco is considering a formal “red light district” as it attempts to cut down on illegal street prostitution while also allowing sex workers to continue their trade. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday: As San Francisco prepares to block vehicle traffic from a stretch of the Mission District this month in an attempt to stifle street prostitution, the idea of creating a designated district for sex work is gaining traction among some advocates and officials. A red-light district might not be a far-fetched concept in the Mission, where many residents say sex workers have been present for decades. Though...

The investigation began two weeks ago after a whistleblower made “shocking allegations” about gender-transitioning practices at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a news release.... Bailey said he kept the probe under wraps until Feb. 9, when whistleblower Jamie Reed went public with some of her accusations in an article entitled, “I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.” She is calling for a national halt to the procedures. As The Epoch Times reported earlier, after reading Reed’s “sickening account,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced...

NATIONAL CREAM CHEESE BROWNIE DAY On February 10, National Cream Cheese Brownie Day shines a spotlight on an irresistible dessert bar. Combining chocolate and cream cheese has long been a favorite in the bakery. When it’s added to a brownie recipe the results are spectacular. #CreamCheeseBrownieDay The brownie has been around since the 1800s but was first documented in 1906 in the cookbook The Boston Cooking School Cook Book. There are hundreds of cream cheese brownie recipes. However, we also enjoy them cut up into parfaits or mixed into ice cream. Add a dollop of whipped cream, berries or a...

This one is timely now for US history: "No members of Congress shall be seated, nor any Electoral College electors be counted, from any state that does not have: a. photograph identification requirement to vote; b. elections in person, and on the first Tuesday in November, excepting absentee provisions for the invalid, military, or overseas voters; c. paper ballots, counted by hand; d. vote count open to observation by the public, and by representatives of the candidates on the ballot."