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While COVID-19 cases have remained loe in the U.S. since the decline of the omicron wave this winter, the “stealth” BA.2 variant has reached the U.S. and is causing a rise in cases in some parts of the country, particularly in regions in New York state. The BA.2 strain is currently the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for about three out of four new coronavirus cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Watch the development of Impressionism chronologically through the art images of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (1867-1927) Shown to the music of Joseph Blanchard.

This is hilarious. The Metropolitan Republican Club has been around since 1902. It’s a pretty big deal up there, with virtually very Republican Presidential nominee since 1930 using the club’s offices as its NYC headquarters.The Club held its straw poll, which was conducted after Ted Cruz’s statements about New York values. The results? Ted Cruz came in first place, beating Donald Trump.

The Metropolitan Opera, despite vigorous opposition from many parts of the Jewish Community, is forging ahead with its plans to present the opera, “The Death of Klinghoffer,” during its Fall 2014 season. After a campaign of letter writing, demonstrations, and articles in the Jewish press, the Met has refused to remove the opera from its schedule, offering only to “compromise” by cancelling its worldwide HD simulcast programs, but not the production at the Metropolitan Opera House itself. This opera presents the takeover of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985 by Palestinian terrorists, and their murder of 69 year old,...

A Message from Metropolitan Joseph Venerable Hierarchs, Brother Clergy, Esteemed Members of the Board of Trustees: Christ is in our Midst! It is with joy that we confirm the election of Archbishop Joseph by the Holy Synod of Antioch to be the new Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of New York and all North America. His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph asked me to convey to all of you his love and prayers. He said that he stands ready to lead this Archdiocese with the support and assistance from each and every one of you, and looks forward to working together for the...

"Have ye not read?...Have ye not read?...If ye had known what this meaneth."—Matthew 12:3-7. HE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES were great readers of the law. They studied the sacred books continually, poring over each word and letter. They made notes of very little importance, but still very curious notes—as to which was the middle verse of the entire old Testament, which verse was halfway to the middle, and how many times such a word occurred, and even how many times a letter occurred, and the size of the letter, and its peculiar position. They have left us a mass of wonderful...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Unemployment rates rose in more than two-thirds of the nation's largest metro areas in November, a sharp reversal from the previous month and the most since June. The Labor Department says unemployment rates rose in 258 of the 372 largest cities, fell in 88 and remained the same in 26. That's worse than the previous month, when the rate fell in 200 areas and rose in 108. [Snip] Many laid-off workers are giving up. In states such as Michigan, unemployment rates are falling because more people have stopped looking for work. Once they do, the government no...

AFP - The world's most comprehensive collection of armor, weaponry and art covering 700 years of Japan's fabled Samurai culture goes on exhibit this week at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868" will open Wednesday, showcasing "214 masterpieces, including 34 national treasures, 64 important cultural properties, and six important art objects," the museum said in a statement. Open until January 10, the exhibit includes "armor, swords, sword fittings and mountings, archery and equestrian equipment, banners, surcoats... as well as painted screens and scrolls," some of which have never left Japan. "This...

Last week in Terre Haute, Ind., Mr. Obama explained that the people he had in mind “don’t vote on economic issues, because they don’t expect anybody’s going to help them.” He added: “So people end up, you know, voting on issues like guns, and are they going to have the right to bear arms. They vote on issues like gay marriage. And they take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and things they can count on. But they don’t believe they can count on Washington.” This is a remarkably detailed and vivid account of the political...

John Paul I with Nikodim and Cardinal Willebrands, 5 September 1978 On the morning of 5 September 28 years ago the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church, Nikodim of Petersburg, died suddenly in the arms of Pope Albino Luciani. He was only 49 years old. In him died one of the most brilliant personalities in Orthodoxy but above all one of the most significant figures in the history of ecumenism. His was an ecumenic sensibility that had led him to intensify contacts with the Catholic Church and to cross the threshold of the Vatican several times to meet the...

MOSCOW, May 18 (Itar-Tass) - Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, met Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday to discuss human rights. During the meeting, “Metropolitan Kirill gave Benedict XVI a greetings message from Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia that had been accepted with gratitude,” the press service of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate reported. Metropolitan Kirill told the pontiff about the Declaration of Human Rights and Dignity. He shared his impressions about the conference, “Give a Soul to Europe....

Have you ever been to Lincoln Center in New York? I had never been there until yesterday, when I was privileged enough to attend an opera at the Met. Although the opera was wonderful, I dare say I was even more impressed with the architecture of the entire center. It seems to me to be the epitome of modern architecture of the second phase of the International Style (that simplified skyscraper style with often-elegant materials, steel beams, and glass). In fact, the beauty and style of Lincoln Center could be said to rival the music created within. I had always...

Feds and local cops in New York nabbed almost a hundred illegal aliens who are suspected of participating in gang activities that include violent offenses, drug trafficking, prostitution and sex crimes. A joint criminal investigation in the New York City metropolitan area has resulted in the arrest of 95 criminal alien gang members, all of whom now face removal from the United States. The arrests are the culmination of a joint four-month investigation conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the New York City Department of Probation, Yonkers, NY Police Department officers and other local law enforcement agencies that...

Editor’s Note: Last year, Students for Academic Freedom defended the Metropolitan State College of Denver College Republicans when Professor Oneida Meranto, the faculty advisor for the Political Science Association, told the College Republican that they “need to withdraw from the Political Science Association,” accusing them of conspiring with a conservative think tank to have her fired. Dr. Meranto offered no evidence for this preposterous assertion. Metro State College Republican Chairman George Culpepper reported Dr. Meranto’s comments in testimony before a state senate hearing which was called to determine if an Academic Bill of Rights should be adopted for Colorado students....