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Explanation: Is this what our own Milky Way Galaxy looks like from far away? Similar in size and grand design to our home Galaxy (although without the central bar), spiral galaxy NGC 3370 lies about 100 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Lion (Leo). Recorded here in exquisite detail by the Hubble Space Telescope, the big, beautiful face-on spiral is not only photogenic, but has proven sharp enough to study individual stars known as Cepheids. These pulsating stars have been used to accurately determine NGC 3370's distance. NGC 3370 was chosen for this study because in 1994 the...

21 December 2025 4th Sunday of Advent St. Petrus Canisius, Friedrichshafen. GermanyReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: A(II).First readingIsaiah 7:10-14The maiden is with childThe Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’ Then Isaiah said:‘Listen now, House of David:are you not satisfied with trying the patience of menwithout trying the patience of my God, too?The Lord himself, therefore,will give you a sign.It is this: the maiden is...

In this witty, new breed of mystery, George (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realize they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.

On April 30, 1945, I left the barracks early to have breakfast with the Mosers. I was fortunate enough to be the only prisoner there that got to eat with the family, but on the way, there was three black cars came back with guards on 'em, and of course my heart was beating pretty fast. I was concerned that they was sitting there with guns and I was unprotected, but they paid no attention to me. First car goes by and just a driver and the guards on top. Second car just about even with me, and the one...

Thursday on the “Politicon” podcast, Democratic strategist James Carville said Charlie Kirk “was not a pimple” on filmmaker Rob Reiner’s ass. While discussing Reiner’s legacy, Carville said, “Charlie Kirk, there was this thing, some kindergarten teachers forwarded some things he said about women. I would urge anybody to look at that. And they fired, you know, fired him. Okay, I’m sorry, I don’t want anybody to get shot. He had young kids. I hate that, but Charlie Kirk was not a pimple on Rob Reiner’s *ss when it comes to influence, and it comes to impact when it comes to...

Daily Readings from the USCCBSuch was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” Matthew 1:20Joseph knew that the penalty for adultery was death by stoning. His heart must have been deeply conflicted. On one hand, the virtues of his betrothed wife, Mary, were abundantly clear. Mary radiated holiness. Impurity was foreign to her Immaculate Heart. Yet she was pregnant,...

A pro-life activist was arrested while distributing pregnancy resource pamphlets on a public sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood abortion center in San Francisco. The arrested is being called a violation of First Amendment rights of pro-life Americans to protest abortion or help women find alternatives. Anastasia Rogers, an organizer with the pro-life group Survivors San Francisco, was handcuffed and taken into custody Thursday after a security guard at the abortion giant alleged “threatening language” in an Instagram post she made about her sidewalk outreach, Pro-Life San Francisco said in a statement. Officers also cited a prior warrant related to the...

I see the efforts to divide the MAGA base continue. I remind everyone to be prudent in your discernment of who is antagonizing, what topics and processes they are using, and ultimately who benefits from it. Remember, “there are trillions at stake!” This nonsense battle of “influencers” and “podcasters” is, well, just gross.On March 3rd through March 6th, 2016, the Republican presidential primary was at the precipice of a key inflection point (Super Tuesday) when a large group of political leadership, tech titans, bankers and political influence agents assembled at the AEI summit in Sea Island, Georgia. (snip) Here in...

A woman long believed to be the 'first Black Briton' was in fact white and had local ancestry from southern England, according to a new genetic study that overturns more than a decade of public perception.For years, scientists believed the woman, known as the Beachy Head Woman, came from sub-Saharan Africa. Her remains were discovered near the cliffs of Beachy Head in East Sussex and were widely presented as early evidence of African presence in Roman Britain...Her remains were first rediscovered in 2012 in Eastbourne Town Hall, stored in a box suggesting they were originally excavated in the 1950s. At...

Newly-released videos show the moments a man attacked a woman at random outside the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle earlier this month. Fale Vaigalepa Pea, 42, was armed with a wooden board that had a screw through the end of it and used both hands to swing the weapon and strike the victim, 75-year-old Jeanette Marken, in the face, according to charges filed in King County Superior Court. The hit gouged out Marken's eye, and she just learned that she will not recover her eyesight in the affected eye, family members told KOMO News on Friday. "To take a...

Gary D. Barnett warns that humanity is being taken over through digitisation, digital ID, algorithmic confinement and technocratic incarceration, which will lead to the end of freedom and property. The transformation of mankind involves the intentional fusing of human and machine through neuroscientific nanoscale brain-computer interfacing, with methods including “vaccines,” geoengineering, mRNA platforms and precision medicine. The only solution to stop this technological transhuman invasion, he writes, is through education, exposure and mass non-compliance. (snip) I do not know how many more times I will have to bring up the subject of the AI takeover; digitisation, digital ID, algorithmic confinement...

One solitary birth is the basis upon which the future hangs for every person ever to enter this mortal realm we call planet Earth. How each man, woman, and child–who has reached the age of understanding salvation–views this visitation determines where their home will be for eternity. Many believe Jesus was sent by God to show us how to live a good life. Some think He was a great prophet and teacher. Others regard Him as a philosopher right up there with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the rest. A few among the billions who have lived since His birth have...

On Dec. 11, 2025, an Israeli official (Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council) visited the U.S. House of Rep. Speaker Mike Johnson at his office in Washington, D.C. Johnson told Dagan: I visited Samaria—both as a member of Congress before becoming speaker, and again last summer as speaker with a small group of colleagues. The Bible is clear: Judea and Samaria are the Land of Israel. Dagan told Johnson: No nation on earth has a connection to its homeland as deep as the Jewish people have to the Land of Israel—especially to Judea and Samaria, the land of...

Brace for another government shutdown early in the new year, as the GOP’s narrow majorities and the Democratic base’s deep desire to derail the Trump presidency makes it near-impossible for Congress to get anything done. The first piece of coal in Americans’ stockings: The short-term funding bill that Democrats finally allowed to pass last month, ending the record-long shutdown, only runs through Jan. 30. The federal Fiscal Year 2026 started Oct. 1 this year, yet the House and Senate have so far passed only three of the 12 appropriations bills to fund various parts of the government. And they’re not...

The “Commentary” editor’s career epitomized both the success of 20th-century Jews and an awakening to the peril posed by the moral collapse of political liberalism.There are those who insist that no one person, let alone a journal of opinion, can be said to have changed the world. Yet this was true of Norman Podhoretz and Commentary magazine. The man and his magazine helped win the Cold War, while awakening Americans to the moral bankruptcy of modern political liberalism and the threat it posed to the two countries that he loved: America and Israel.The longtime editor of Commentary, who died on...

Fans of Charlie Kirk have been posing for selfies at what appears to be a recreation of the Utah Valley University site where the conservative activist was murdered. The tent and photo setup is at AmFest, the annual youth conference for the organization Kirk founded, Turning Point USA. More than 30,000 attendees gathered for the hectic opening night of the four-day event. Liberal network MS Now was reporting from the event in Phoenix when they noticed some young people paying an unconventional tribute to Kirk, who was murdered by an assassin's bullet while debating on September 10. 'You can see...

CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #9 of 33 THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST L U K E CHAPTER 1 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 1 TINTORETTO "The Birth of John the Baptist" 2 ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI "Birth of St John the Baptist" 3 LUCA SIGNORELLI "The Birth of St John the Baptist" 4 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO "The Birth of St. John the Baptist" 5 JUAN DE FLANDES "The Birth and Naming of John...

More than 800 migrants in 13 boats crossed the English Channel on Saturday, according to Home Office data. The figure is a record for a December day in recent years, and is believed to be due to a backlog of people wanting to get across to Kent because of recent bad weather. It takes the total for the year to 41,455 people, surpassing 2024, when there were 36,816 for the entire year. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The number of small boat crossings are shameful and the British people deserve better." The 803 migrants were brought ashore at Dover by...

Metro Long Island Politics World News Search Type to Search Search US News San Francisco power outage left 130,000 in the dark as self-driving cars stalled in middle of streets By Nicholas McEntyre Published Dec. 20, 2025, 11:30 p.m. ET Today's Video Headlines 00:22 / 00:49 San Francisco plunged into darkness when nearly 30 percent of the city was struck by a power outage, which brought vital transportation, such as self-driving cars, to a grinding halt on Saturday night. Over 130,000 houses and businesses were left in the dark, largely in the northwest part of San Francisco, including the Richmond,...

Four men have been convicted for the horrific exploitation, sexual assault and rape of a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who they picked up in Birmingham. The victim, a runaway, was lured into Arqash Zaffar's BMW on Alum Rock Road in July 2019. She reported that Zaffar raped her multiple times over the following days, including in a hotel room where several men took turns to abuse her. Mohammed Nadim, who was present in Zaffar's car when the girl was picked up, sexually assaulted her in the vehicle. Shahban Arif arranged for the victim to be accommodated in a Walsall hotel, while...