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POTTERVILLE, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Thursday that if he is elected, his administration would not only protect access to in-vitro fertilization but would also have either the government or insurance companies cover the cost of the expensive service for American women who need it. "We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment," Trump said before adding, "We're going to be mandating that the insurance company pay." Asked to clarify whether the government would pay for IVF services or whether insurance...

Amid recent fissures in Donald Trump’s evangelical support base over the issue of abortion, the former president took to Truth Social this week with a post that could be seen as an olive branch. Trump raised the ire of pro-life advocates last week when he declared that if elected in November, his “administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” The post came a little more than a month after a significant revision of the Republican Party Platform. While Republicans in 2016 called for a federal ban on abortion after 20 weeks, the platform adopted in July stated...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro — already notorious for street muggings, corrupt politicians, ruthless militias and Kalashnikov-toting drug traffickers — has a new public enemy: plushies. Or, more specifically, the joystick-controlled claw machines that dispense them.... Officers seized claw machines, laptops, tablets, cell phones, a firearm and — yes — furry friends. They are investigating whether organized crime groups may be the invisible hand behind the claw... The fate of the stuffed animals seized Wednesday was still unclear.....

As of last summer, women in Helsinki can now enjoy the beach without wearing bikini tops if they choose. Remarkably, the city implemented this change without making an official announcement, allowing residents to discover the update on their own. City officials explained that this approach was chosen because there had been no significant complaints regarding toplessness on the beach. Nevertheless, there appears to be an unspoken aspect to this policy change, as the authorities have remained notably silent about their progressive move. In Finland, public acts that cause distress to others may be considered ‘sexual immorality,’ though what precisely qualifies...

Smartmatic runs Venezuela's elections. It's supposed to be fraud-proof. See https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13801/ . The public is allowed to see the machine tabulations at each of the precincts and scannable QR codes give the results which are supposed to be transmitted to the CNE (the body which collects the tabulations and declares the winner) via secure means. But observers were kicked out of some places and results were delayed after an alleged cyber-attack (see https://www.jurist.org/news/2024/08/venezuela-top-elections-official-reveals-irregularities-and-lack-of-transparency-in-presidential-elections/ ). However, the opposition to Maduro secured (eventually) about 80% of the actas (tabulation receipts) at the precinct level, and those totals showed the opposition receiving "roughly...

My latest (extremely political) song. Any similarity to persons living or dead is entirely intentional.

Maria del Carmen Garcia was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in jail for the killing, which was later reduced to five-and-a-half years on appealA mother was overcome with devastation as she received a jail term for setting her daughter's rapist on fire and burning him to death after his release from prison. Maria del Carmen Garcia couldn't bear the sight of her daughter Veronica's attacker, Antonio Cosme, after he was freed. At the tender age of 13 in 1998, Veronica suffered a brutal rape at knifepoint by Cosme, their neighbour, who was originally given a nine-year sentence. However, during a day...

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the guest author. This election season, pastors must unapologetically speak truth to their congregations in pulpits nationwide, including this message that many shy away from: Abortion is murder and must be unabashedly opposed by followers of Christ. The pro-life landscape in America would look radically different if the Church advocated for preborn lives. In Florida, if the deadly abortion Amendment 4 is to fail, Christians cannot remain quiet or complacent as they have in years past. Sadly, it is estimated that 25 million Christians who are registered to...

DALLAS - Three Dallas police officers have been shot after some kind of violent incident in Oak Cliff Thursday night. Multiple police sources tell FOX 4 that three officers were shot in some kind of gunfire exchange near the Oak Cliff Community Center on Ledbetter near Marsalis Avenue. Two of those officers were seriously injured, according to the source. The third officer is expected to be okay. Police sources say the suspect is dead. Online 911 records show police responding to an ‘assist an officer’ call in Oak Cliff around 10 p.m. A suspect led police on a high-speed chase...

Westley Allan Dodd, a serial killer and sexual predator who targeted young children, said in an interview ahead of his execution that he needed to be killed or else he would kill againA serial killer and sex offender on death row asked to be executed and used his final words to reveal the chilling reason why. Westley Allan Dodd committed his first sexual offense when he was only 13 years old and continued to live the rest of his life as a depraved sexual predator and killer, going on to kill three boys aged between four and 11. Police apprehended...

A couple hours long. Recorded, but a live interview of President Donald Trump, by Tulsi Gabbard, from Fox News.

After leaders at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, realized that some accounting discrepancies were growing “larger and larger,” they confronted a lifelong member who had access to church funds. Now William Reed, 73, has been charged with stealing almost a quarter-million dollars from the church’s Good Samaritan account. Money from that account, of which Reed had sole control, was intended to help neighbors in need. Instead, according to the criminal complaint, Reed moved $224,000 from that account to his personal American Express account. Reed held several finance-related positions at the church for the past 14 years, authorities said....

A federal judge ordered a former church office manager to pay $912,000 in restitution for embezzling money from a Baptist church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and failing to pay taxes. Katrenia Hartman, former office manager at Trinity Baptist Church in Tulsa, pleaded guilty in January to bank fraud and willfully filing a false federal income tax return. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell sentenced Hartman, 55, to serve 30 months in prison and five years of supervised release, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Oklahoma. She also must pay the IRS more...

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis dismissed anger over Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua taking over apartment buildings in the Denver suburb of Aurora, calling it “imagination” — despite video footage, police reports and the city’s mayor confirming it’s happening. Polis’ press office offered the snarky statement Wednesday night in response to Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky — who told The Post the gang’s takeovers are tied to his policies. “The Governor has already let the Mayor know that the State is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed,”...

Catholic Church Can’t Compromise: Denying Food and Water to Patients is EvilOn August 13, the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAL), headed by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, released “Little Lexicon on End of Life,” which wrestles with various bioethical issues.One particularly noteworthy issue is the necessity of providing patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) with food and hydration via feeding tubes. That the PAL felt the need to raise questions in the first place is troubling enough, but the documents unclear language also amplified confusion.For example, it states that persons diagnosed as being in a PVS are victims “of a reductive...

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat down exclusively with CNN Thursday for her first interview since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket.... [full transcript at link]

NASA’s DEI trainings include engineers vocalizing they “feel shame” for being white and for taking part in “white supremacy culture”.

Biden’s Gestapo DOJ has threatened legal action against the small towns of Thornapple and Lawrence in northern Wisconsin for their decision to abandon electronic voting machines in favor of hand-counted ballots. The DOJ’s threats come after Thornapple and Lawrence officials opted out of using electronic voting systems, citing concerns over their reliability and potential for manipulation. Many believe that hand-counted ballots provide a more transparent and trustworthy alternative, ensuring that every vote is accounted for without the risk of technological errors or tampering. The towns’ alleged failure to provide accessible voting equipment for individuals with disabilities during the April election...

Church and state cross swords in Italy over immigration, autonomyROME – An unusually direct and public clash between church and state is unfolding in Italy, where both Pope Francis and the country’s bishops are perceived to be challenging the center-right government over both migration and proposals for greater regional autonomy.In a clear sign of those tensions, the leader of Italy’s far-right anti-immigrant Lega party took to Facebook late Wednesday evening to ask his followers, “What do you think of the bishops’ attacks?” – provoking a predictable cascade of critical replies.Typical was the reaction of a follower who wrote, “They would...

This week, South Korea's intelligence services offered a glimpse of the upgraded alliance between Russia and North Korea in action. North Korea has been sending vast shipments of artillery ammunition to Russia, a lifeline in the invasion of Ukraine that has isolated it from much of the world. Citing an intelligence report, a South Korean lawmaker said that since 2022 North Korea had sent more than 13,000 shipping containers to Russia that may contain up to 6 million shells. .... A new use for old gunsOld-fashioned munitions have become vital once more in Ukraine, where fighting often resembles the grueling...