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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.
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from Asia Times Online
China has completed construction of its first independently designed aircraft carrier. In a ceremony held on April 26, the new carrier left the Dalian shipyard in Liaoning province. The ship will eventually allow China to operate globally and expand its influence. The carrier is unnamed (it is currently now referred to as Type 001A) and will not become fully operational until at least 2020. In the meantime, China will operate one carrier, the Liaoning, which was acquired from Ukraine in 1998.
May herself realized what would happen if people discussed and disputed her Brexit plans. So she crafted a political strategy that would keep the Brexit debate from opening up again.
At least four religious leaders have gone missing in recent months, sparking fears that minorities are being targeted in a trend toward Islamization. In Malaysia, Sunni Islam is “the religion of the Federation” -- 61% identify as Muslim.
Governments across the region are labeling critical reporting as false, opening the way for even more censorship and regulation of the news.
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from BBC News (UK)
A new haul of ancient human remains has been described from an important cave site in South Africa. The finds, including a well-preserved skull, bolster the idea that the Homo naledi people deliberately deposited their dead in the cave. Evidence of such complex behaviour is surprising for a human species with a brain that's a third the size of ours.
Off Newfoundland's southern tip, French residents from St Pierre and Miquelon voted from afar. When St Pierre's own numbers were released, they closely mirrored the overall French result, with 63.88% for Macron to 36.12% for Le Pen.
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from Business Insider
The knives are out for Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster
Inside the White House, opponents of Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Donald Trump’s second national security advisor, want him out. "I think some people are giving him the rope to get it through, hoping he hangs himself with it,” one senior intelligence official said.
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from Conservative Review
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
When prosecutors cheat justice to protect aliens
There’s an outrageous new phenomenon in the criminal justice system: local prosecutors giving special treatment to illegal (and legal) aliens. Prosecutors are treating even violent offenders very lightly in order to evade immigration law.
When prosecutors cheat justice to protect aliens
There’s an outrageous new phenomenon in the criminal justice system: local prosecutors giving special treatment to illegal (and legal) aliens. Prosecutors are treating even violent offenders very lightly in order to evade immigration law.
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from EUobserver
Lessons for Germany from the Macron hack
The way the Macron team defended itself against hackers contained lessons for other political parties in Europe, but experts do not agree whether Russia did it.
Where might Macron clash with Europe?
After the celebrations around Europe of centrist Emmanuel Macron's win over far-right Marine Le Pen, the sobering years of governance are still to come. Macron might be pro-EU, but he has a lot of reform ideas that might irk others.
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Lessons for Germany from the Macron hack
The way the Macron team defended itself against hackers contained lessons for other political parties in Europe, but experts do not agree whether Russia did it.
Where might Macron clash with Europe?
After the celebrations around Europe of centrist Emmanuel Macron's win over far-right Marine Le Pen, the sobering years of governance are still to come. Macron might be pro-EU, but he has a lot of reform ideas that might irk others.
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from First Things
Claiming Anthony for either side in the modern abortion debate is highly anachronistic. If pro-lifers have overreached by claiming Anthony as one of their own, they would nevertheless be justified in citing Anthony to remind us that American feminism had existed for well over a century before it became entangled in the politics of the sexual revolution.
Last week, in a Rose Garden ceremony, President Trump released a much-anticipated executive order on religious liberty. The order addresses two issues: religious accommodation, specifically in the context of the contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act, and the so-called “Johnson Amendment,” a provision of the tax code that bars tax-exempt charities, including religious organizations, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Last week’s order was not the momentous event some hailed it as. It does nothing of substance to preserve religious liberty. But it hints at an unwelcome change in American tradition that conservatives should resist.
When did “nostalgia” become a dirty word? There’s nothing unnatural about a spiritual longing for our true home. The longing for “primal belonging,” for some past order, some formerly perfect reality, is a right impulse, a necessary impulse.
The Washington Post sounded the bias alarm on the front page of Tuesday’s paper. Sinclair is buying some powerful local TV stations from Tribune, “raising questions about content.” Reporter Todd C. Frankel worried “The deal also has energized long-running speculation that the quiet company has ambitions to be the broadcast world’s Fox News.” Frankel uncorked a sentence that is so laughable it needs a copy editor: bias in broadcast TV is unheard of???
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from The Heritage Foundation
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]
Trump Aims to Eliminate Redundant Government Hiring
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), calls it “the biggest story that nobody is talking about.” By that he means President Trump’s executive order to restructure the federal government, making it leaner, more efficient and more accountable. It’s not hard to find federal programs that are duplicative, ineffective or even counterproductive. Most any federal employee will gladly point out examples of government policies that waste taxpayer dollars and make their jobs more difficult than needed.
Pro-Life Advocates Optimistic as One of Their Own Gets Key HHS Job
President Donald Trump’s appointment of a national pro-life leader to serve as the top communicator at the Department of Health and Human Services is great news for the pro-life cause, leaders at associated organizations say.
Texas Takes Strong and Needed Action on Sanctuary Cities
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott acted to protect the citizens of Texas on Sunday when he signed into law SB 4, a bill to punish (and deter) local cities and counties like Austin from implementing sanctuary policies. Abbott and the legislators who sponsored this bill are trying to stop the Lone Star State from being a sanctuary for criminal aliens.
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Trump Aims to Eliminate Redundant Government Hiring
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), calls it “the biggest story that nobody is talking about.” By that he means President Trump’s executive order to restructure the federal government, making it leaner, more efficient and more accountable. It’s not hard to find federal programs that are duplicative, ineffective or even counterproductive. Most any federal employee will gladly point out examples of government policies that waste taxpayer dollars and make their jobs more difficult than needed.
Pro-Life Advocates Optimistic as One of Their Own Gets Key HHS Job
President Donald Trump’s appointment of a national pro-life leader to serve as the top communicator at the Department of Health and Human Services is great news for the pro-life cause, leaders at associated organizations say.
Texas Takes Strong and Needed Action on Sanctuary Cities
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott acted to protect the citizens of Texas on Sunday when he signed into law SB 4, a bill to punish (and deter) local cities and counties like Austin from implementing sanctuary policies. Abbott and the legislators who sponsored this bill are trying to stop the Lone Star State from being a sanctuary for criminal aliens.
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from KHQ Local News (NBC Spokane)
Nonessential personnel released after Hanford tunnel collapse
Tuesday morning employees at the Hanford Nuclear Site were told to "take-cover" due to the possibility that radioactive particles may have been released into the air following the collapse of some soil above a tunnel that contains radioactive material.
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from The Living Church
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE HISTORICAL BENEDICT
Rome fell, or so Edward Gibbon would have had us believe, because of Christianity — specifically, monastic Christianity. Monasticism enticed the greatest minds (of which generation?) away from bearing strong Roman children and into the pallid fervor of Christian celibacy. Into the void, and specifically into the Roman army, stepped the endlessly fecund Germanic tribes, resulting in barbarian invasions, the downfall of true learning, and the takeover of organized religion, the latter surely the most barbaric of all three.
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How Government Regulations Made Healthcare So Expensive
11 charts illustrate how badly government screwed up American healthcare.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE HISTORICAL BENEDICT
Rome fell, or so Edward Gibbon would have had us believe, because of Christianity — specifically, monastic Christianity. Monasticism enticed the greatest minds (of which generation?) away from bearing strong Roman children and into the pallid fervor of Christian celibacy. Into the void, and specifically into the Roman army, stepped the endlessly fecund Germanic tribes, resulting in barbarian invasions, the downfall of true learning, and the takeover of organized religion, the latter surely the most barbaric of all three.
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from Miami Herald
Mr. So-Called President , you really need to get over this Obama fixation. Can’t you see he’s just not that into you?
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from Mises Institute
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]11 charts illustrate how badly government screwed up American healthcare.
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from New Statesman
"The leading voice of the British left, since 1913."
The Soviet state was born in violence and shaped with merciless determination. Lenin played a central role in its creation. The Soviets exaggerated Lenin’s so-called genius, but he was certainly tenacious and quick. What he was missing was the gene for self-doubt and humility.
The upwards progression of the far-right is now a permanent feature of the French political landscape. The constitution is vulnerable. The threat has a name: Article 16.
from Reason Magazine
Congress Must Demand an Independent FBI Director to Replace James Comey
Congress Can Ensure Next FBI Director Isn't a Trump Crony.
This all looks very bad for Trump. He deserves to be treated as innocent until proven guilty, but he should lose the benefit of the doubt with Congress. It's about the very separation of powers that the American system of government has as its bedrock. President Trump had the right to fire James Comey. Now Congress needs to do its job. Checks and balances.
Could be good news for medical innovation. Not a radical reformer, but clearly understands how overregulation is slowing medical innovation.
"My staff and I are reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia," Amash tweets.
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from The Spokesman-Review
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from The Tablet
(thetablet.co.uk)
Leo XIII’s remarks that Anglican orders are “absolutely null and utterly void” have been a major stumbling block to Catholic-Anglican unity. One of the Vatican’s top legal minds has opened the way for a revision of the Catholic position on Anglican orders by stressing they should not be written off as “invalid.”
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from U.S. Naval Institute
NGO in Annapolis, Maryland
Guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and a South Korean fishing vessel collided in international waters east of the Korean Peninsula, the Navy said in a statement this morning. That fishing vessel lacked functioning radio or GPS and did not heed audio warnings, a defense official told USNI News.
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from Washington Policy Center (State)
The City of Seattle is on the verge of trying to set up a legal challenge to the state's constitutional prohibition on graduated income taxes. Besides the fact these elected officials are trying to set up a lawsuit in hopes that judges will overturn the law instead of following the normal democratic process of trying to change the law, there is a state statute that stands directly in their way. RCW 36.65.030 says: "Tax on net income prohibited - A county, city, or city-county shall not levy a tax on net income." So why exactly did the legislature pass that specific local income tax restriction?
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