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"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." Matthew, Chapter 17 1 And after six days...

Immunotherapy is among the newest and most potent weapons against cancer. It prompts the immune system to recognize tumors as intruders in the body and attack. But not all patients respond well to immunotherapy. Why? Scientists aren't always sure. Sometimes, immunotherapy patients experience side effects that steroids called glucocorticoids (GCs) can treat. GCs are often used to regulate the immune response in conditions such as asthma, Crohn's disease, and even COVID-19. Now, researchers indicate GCs may indirectly lead to some immunotherapy treatment failures by driving the production of a protein called Cystatin C (CyC). Higher levels of CyC are linked...

A new non-surgical bracing treatment may help to facilitate healing after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture, a study has found. The study looked at 80 people treated with the cross bracing protocol, and found 90% had evidence of ACL healing on MRI three months after ACL rupture. People with more ACL healing on three month MRI reported better 12-month outcomes including very high return to sport rates, better knee function and quality of life. Dr. Stephanie Filbay said it builds upon research showing that 30% of ACL's can heal with exercise-based rehabilitation, and people with ACL healing reported better...

Twitter Two kayakers were nearly swallowed by a humpback whale while trying to go whale watching off the coast of Avila Beach, California. The whale's attack on Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel's kayak, who miraculously escaped unharmed from the animal's blow, was recorded from the kayak itself by the two friends and other witnesses to the event.

I do not for a moment downplay the danger of the radical, rightwing ideologies of White supremacists in America. Nor do I deny the existence of a dominionist, takeover mentality in some Christian circles, the most extreme of which were put on display in the days leading up to January 6, 2021. But the real danger, the ever-present danger, the more pressing danger, is that of a radical dominionist takeover from the left. The evidence is all around us. Consider for a moment what is currently happening in America today (as opposed to predicting what is to come). Which group...

After the celebrations of Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, this Sunday finds us transitioning back to Ordinary Time, and the transition is a bit painful. The Readings for this Sunday shift right back into the reality of persecution in the Christian life, as we read about Jesus advising the apostles to be prepared for the opposition they will encounter as they do the work of evangelization. You would think that following the Prince of Peace would lead to a peaceful life, but sadly that’s not how it usually works out. Those who follow Jesus often find themselves hated, because they...

“The Blessing of Confessing the Augsburg Confession” (Psalm 119:46) Today Lutheran churches around the world are celebrating the 493rd anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. It was on June 25, 1530, in the city of Augsburg, Germany, that a group of Lutheran princes took a confession of their faith, composed by Luther’s associate Philip Melanchthon, and presented it to Emperor Charles V. This Augsburg Confession summarizes what Lutheran churches believe, teach, and confess, on the basis of Holy Scripture. And what a blessing this confession has proved to be! Not only did it confess the truth in 1530,...

An article evaluates the risk of recurrence of active disease in older patients with multiple sclerosis after discontinuing disease-modifying therapies. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic illness, often presenting in young adulthood. Over time, as people age, new attacks and MRI changes become less common, and either patients stabilize, or they may go into a phase of slow progressive neurological disability with minimal MRI changes. There is no cure for MS, but there are now over 20 disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that may substantially diminish the risks of new attacks and MRI changes. The article reports the results of a clinical...

... 'Headache for everyone in the Kremlin' The formerly media-shy Prigozhin has become the face of Russia's war against Ukraine. His rising publicity has given rise to speculation of possible political ambitions. According to the independent Russian website Meduza, Prigozhin was planning to launch a patriotic and conservative movement that would eventually evolve into a political party — an idea he has publicly denied. As Tatiana Stanovaya wrote in the article for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Prigozhin's ambitions in the political arena may damage his relations with the Kremlin. "The domestic policy overseers don't like his political demagogy, his...

Clinicians have a new standard for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, according to results from a phase III study. The new standard is more effective at preventing GVHD and comes with fewer side effects than the current gold standard. The current gold standard to prevent GVHD after bone marrow transplants is a combination of two drugs: a calcineurin inhibitor, such as tacrolimus or cyclosporine, and methotrexate. In the current phase III study, researchers from multiple institutions tested this standard to prevent GVHD against an experimental regimen of three drugs: cyclophosphamide, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil. Patients...

A train derailment was reported Saturday in Montana near Columbus. The train reportedly went off its rails and into the Yellowstone River amid a bridge collapse, according to local outlets. "I’m monitoring the train derailment in Stillwater County, and the state is standing by to support as Montana Rail Link and county officials assess their needs," Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte wrote on social media Saturday just before noon.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The California Department of Housing and Community Development released new income limits this month, and they increased in most counties. These limits are calculated annually based on federal guidelines and are used to determine eligibility for things like affordable housing programs. In Orange County, one-person households making less than $80,000 a year are considered low-income, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. That's up from just under $76,000 last year, and puts Orange County as the most expensive of the Southern California counties. In Ventura County, it's a little over $74,000 and in...

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has confirmed he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine to avoid shedding Russian blood. 'We are turning back our columns and leave in the opposite direction to the field camps according to the plan,' an audio message on his Telegram feed said after a meeting between Prigozhin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. An uneasy calm has now prevailed on the streets of Moscow in a city that had been preparing for war. The capital had braced for the arrival of forces from the Wagner...

LONDON — British and U.S. authorities covered up state involvement in Libor rigging and scapegoated low and middle-ranking bankers, some of whom spent years in jail, a senior Conservative MP told the House of Commons on Thursday. "I am greatly concerned that the Treasury select committee may have been misled by state agencies about the knowledge and involvement of the state in setting false rates," said David Davis in a point of order in parliament. The former Cabinet minister told the House of Commons he intends to write to the Metropolitan Police to ask them to investigate any potential perjury...

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Saturday he has ordered his fighters to halt their march on Moscow and return to their bases in Ukraine to avoid bloodshed. Prigozhin's announcement seemingly puts an end to what observers called the most significant challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime in his 23 years in power. In audio posted to social media, Prigozhin said that while his troops were just 120 miles from Moscow, he chose to turn back to avoid "shedding Russian blood."

Explanation: The multicolor, stereo imaging Mastcam-Z on the Perseverance rover zoomed in to capture this 3D close-up (get out your red/blue glasses) of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter on mission sol 45. That's Earth-date 2021 April 5. Casting a shadow on the Martian surface, Ingenuity is standing alone on its four landing legs next to the rover's wheel tracks. The experimental helicopter's solar panel, charging batteries that keep it warm through the cold Martian nights and power its flight, sits just above Ingenuity's two 1.2 meter (4 foot) long counter-rotating blades. Thirteen sols later, on April 19, Ingenuity became the first...

“The dam is starting to break” on the Biden family corruption, multiple New York Times best-seller author Peter Schweizer said during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday. Schweizer, a senior contributor at Breitbart News and president of the Government Accountability Institute, spoke about the recent Hunter Biden whistleblower revelations. “This is really, really important. The dam is starting to break — truly the first time you’ve had somebody from inside the government who has said, ‘Wait a minute, the way this is being handled is wrong,'” he said, praising the whistleblowers who could otherwise retire and have comfortable lives.

As armed rebels with the Wagner Group stage a potential coup in Russia, President Joe Biden once again fails to show up on the global stage. According to sources, Biden has been briefed on the situation in Russia and is “closely monitoring” developments. However, it is worth noting the President has yet to comment— a pattern he demonstrates repeatedly regarding foreign policy issues. Biden has, however, tweeted endlessly about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, attacking “MAGA Republicans” for restricting “freedoms by dictating the health care decisions a woman can make.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on...

In remarks at a fundraiser in California where he was boasting of his valor in the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon, President Biden called China's President Xi Jinping a "dictator for being upset that I thwarted his espionage gambit. Given the economic difficulties his country is having he should not be provoking me." Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called Biden's remarks "extremely absurd and irresponsible. All nations collect intelligence on their adversaries. The United States is no respecter of the privacy of other nations. The scope of their spying is global. It even includes spying on its...

A man brutally sucker-punched a young woman on a subway platform in Brooklyn on Sunday amid rampant crime in New York City. The incident happened just before midnight when the 27-year-old woman was walking inside the Clinton-Washington Avenues station, the New York Post reported Friday Video footage on the Post‘s website shows a man speaking with a couple before walking the opposite way toward the young woman. He then picks up his pace and when he comes close to her, hits her in the eye, causing her to fall to the floor.