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A federal appeals court on Friday struck down California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in most parts of the state, ruling the restriction violates the Second Amendment. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with gun owner Mark Baird, finding that the state’s prohibition on open carry in counties with more than 200,000 residents is unconstitutional. About 95% of Californians live in those counties, which have been subject to some of the nation’s strictest gun-control laws. Why It Matters The ruling partially reverses a lower court’s 2023 decision that upheld...

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday that survivors jumped into the sea to escape a U.S. attack on suspected drug‑smuggling boats in the Pacific Ocean. Petro warned regional governments in a post on X after posting a map showing where the strike allegedly occurred, near Mexico and Guatemala. He said three people died and others survived by abandoning the bombed vessels, citing information from Colombia’s navy. Petro posted, "Notice to all governments in the area. It seems this is the exact zone where the boaters who jumped from vessels that were bombed fell. It is known that three people died,...

The generative AI chatbot integrated into billionaire Elon Musk's X is under international scrutiny over reports it has been filling the social media platform with sexually explicit images of children and women. Complaints of abuses began after an "edit image" button was added to Grok just before Christmas. The button allows users to modify any image on the platform, with some using it to partially or completely remove clothing from people without their consent, according to complaints. Grok maker xAI, which is run by Mr Musk, replied to an ABC request for comment with an automated response: "Legacy Media Lies".

At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were seen in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas amid Donald Trump's escalating threats against its leader Nicolas Maduro. Airplanes, loud noises and at least one column of smoke were being heard and seen in Venezuelan capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning, witnesses told Reuters. It is not immediately clear what caused the blasts. CNN reported the blasts began at 1:50am local time and one targeted Fort Tiona, which is where the Venezuelan ministry of defense is headquartered. The southern area of the city, which is near a major military base,...

Possible US airstrikes

An award-winning NHS nurse has been struck off after sharing anti-immigrant posts online saying that 'foreigners' who come to Britain will end up 'being your rulers'. Roberta Batchelor was stripped of her licence after a disciplinary panel concluded a series of her social media posts 'sought to cause offence to immigrants...and those of Muslim faith'. She bizarrely claimed to have been acting out of anger over the Labour government's cuts to winter fuel allowance and was 'caught up in all the unrest in the country'. It proved an ignominious end to a career spanning 40 years at University Hospitals Birmingham...

'The subject was directly inspired to act by ISIS'A horrifying ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on New Year's Eve was thwarted by the FBI and its law enforcement partners. FBI charlotte says the potential terrorist attack would have taken place in North Carolina. A horrifying ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on New Year's Eve was thwarted by the FBI and its law enforcement partners. FBI charlotte says the potential terrorist attack would have taken place in North Carolina. In a post on X, FBI Charlotte wrote: "#BREAKING The #FBI and our law enforcement partners thwarted a potential terrorist attack on New Year's Eve in...

Artificial intelligence is being used to steal voices, faces, and reputations. Victor Davis Hanson knows this firsthand. Hanson explains the growing problem of AI-generated deepfake videos that falsely use his image, voice, and setting to promote ideas he has never expressed and often strongly disagrees with.

Ames window illusion illustrates how we don't directly perceive external reality. The Illusion Only Some People Can See | 16:56 Veritasium | 19.9M subscribers | 10,638,589 views | December 31, 2020

Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard in Caracas around 2:00 am (06:00 GMT) Saturday, an AFP journalist reported. The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a navy task force to the Caribbean, has raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela. Thick columns of black smoke also rose over the city’s skyline. On Monday, Trump claimed a strike had been carried out against a "docking facility" in the country, though today’s blasts appear to be centered within the capital's metropolitan core rather than on the coast.

A Space Force officer whose family’s home was destroyed in an apparent arson attack in Washington, DC has spoken out, sharing photos of the damage to their home as well as his car. Their DC home burned while he, his wife, and infant daughter were spending the Christmas holiday in Florida. Speaking with the Daily Caller, Major Jason “Red” Mills said that he awoke on December 28 to a phone call from DC police telling him his house had been set on fire. He immediately flew back home upon learning about the fire to assess the damage. Mills said that...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday issued a proclamation declaring January Muslim American Heritage Month across the state and directed 16 state landmarks, including NYC's One World Trade Center, to be illuminated green Friday night in "celebration of the heritage and culture of Muslim Americans." "Home to the largest Muslim American population in the nation, New York is proud to join in this month-long celebration, recognizing the values, faith and traditions of our Muslim American communities," Hochul said in a statement. "New York remains committed to being a beacon of hope, tolerance, and inclusivity that celebrates the diversity of...

(LifeSiteNews) — Samantha recently became pregnant and, as her baby grew, eventually had to admit that regular jeans were not going to cut it. So she set out to buy a few maternity basics, only to find that every department store she walked into had quietly ditched its maternity section. Stores that used to have full aisles now had nothing but one sad little rack. Plus-sized clothing now hung where expectant mamas once shopped. As an employee of the Population Research Institute (PRI), she was well aware of the falling fertility rate in the U.S. She also knew that supply...

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us” (Eph. 1:3). When we bless God, it is with words of praise; when He blesses us, it is with deeds of kindness. Paul's brief doxology identifies God the Father as the ultimate recipient and source of blessing—the One to whom blessing is ascribed and the One who bestows blessings on those who love Him. “Blessed” translates the Greek word eulogeō, from which we get eulogy. To bless or eulogize God is to praise Him for His mighty works and holy character. That should be the...

The American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature host an annual conference dedicated to the academic study of religion. This year it met on November 22-25 in Boston. The Living Church attended panels that included Anglican theologians, as well as one about Protestant relic collecting. The Rev. Dr. Molly James, an Episcopal priest and interim executive officer of the Episcopal Church, gave a presentation on membership trends and the future of the Episcopal Church. “The data bears out what we hear everywhere: We are declining. We have fewer people. The only thing that might surprise you is...

It's not the first time that Nicolas Maduro has signaled a readiness to talk with Donald Trump about ending the escalating conflict in the Caribbean. The Venezuelan dictator may be worried that it will be the last time.Six weeks ago, Maduro claimed readiness to discuss the US-Venezuela conflict "face to face," hoping to stave off the effort to collapse his Chavista junta. Trump, who had suggested talks at the same time, had instead impressed upon Maduro the necessity of an exit. Trump then began ordering the seizure of tankers carrying Venezuelan oil under sanction, and then escalated again this week...

Friday on “MS NOW Reports,” former Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) said Republicans are in trouble in the upcoming midterm election because they went too far right after President Donald Trump’s 2024 win. […] … “Democrats have to be careful; they could lose this midterm if they go left, if they go fringe, if they start promoting ideas that are really out there. America is a center-right, center-left country; that’s what it is. And if you start going far left or far right, and that’s part of the reason why Republicans are in trouble, too much far right, too much meanness.”...

Fool's Ball, Week Pigskin Pickem Thread, Week 18 Your home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

At least two deaths...6.5 magnitude earthquake in Mexico... Media in Iran tonight reporting small groups of rioters... "President Trump continues to demonstrate historic leadership on Iran" Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush... At least one Palestinian hurt in Israeli nationalist (settler) attacks tonight... A helicopter with four people on board crashing in a mountainous part of Arizona... North Korean media showing the teenage daughter of ruler Kim Jong-Un in a prominent position... Chinese auto maker BYD taking the worldwide lead in electric car sales... The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling a California law banning open carry of firearms unconstitutional......

Minnesota officials have less than one week to provide the Trump administration with information about providers and parents who receive federal child care funds or risk losing potentially millions of dollars in federal funding, state officials said Friday. In an email sent Friday to child care providers shared with The Associated Press by a number of providers, Minnesota's Department of Children, Youth, and Families said it has until Jan. 9 to provide a set of verifying information about recipients. The announcement earlier this week by the Trump administration that it would freeze child care funds to Minnesota and the rest...