Paris on lockdown as police clash with 'Yellow Jackets' and protests sweep France

The lesson of the substitute teacher who stole Christmas

“The principal of Cedar Hill Elementary School in Montville, New Jersey, is apologizing to parents after a substitute teacher told first graders...”

The principal of Cedar Hill Elementary School in Montville, New Jersey, is apologizing to parents after a substitute teacher told first graders that Santa Claus isn't real. According to a Facebook post by a devastated parent, the teacher told aghast and agog children that, in fact, parents buy...

A Survival Strategy for Conservatives

“In the current political arena, conservatives are facing off against leftist Democrats in a blood contest in which the current rules favor only the...”

As Special Counsel Robert Mueller racks up the guilty pleas for minor infractions by supporters of President Trump unrelated to Russian collusion while ignoring the crimes committed by members of the FBI, DoJ, and Hillary Clinton, it should come as no surprise that conservatives are playing the...

Paris on lockdown as police clash with 'Yellow Jackets' and protests sweep France

“Protests that began last month against planned tax hikes on gas have since morphed into a wider rebuke of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.”

By Saphora Smith PARIS — The sound of sirens, angry chants and the crack of stun grenades echoed throughout the French capital Saturday as Parisians braced themselves for what many feared would be the most violent protests in weeks of forceful anti-government demonstrations that have swept the...

Breaking : Federal Prosecutors ‘Concluded that President of the United States Committed a Felony’

Breaking : Federal Prosecutors ‘Concluded that President of the United States Committed a Felony’

Mom cancels baby shower after family ridicules name choice: ‘He will not be allowed to have a nickname’

““He will not be allowed to have a nickname, he is to be called by his full and complete first name,” she writes.”

A woman has gone viral online for allegedly canceling her baby shower because her family and friends were unsupportive of her choice of baby name: Squire Sebastian Senator. “Dear Members of the Squire Sebastian Senator Babyshower (sic),” a post on Facebook and shared on Reddit reads. “I have a...

How a North Carolina election fraud investigation is holding up a congressional seat

“The district attorney in Wake County revealed Monday that her office has been investigating potential “voting irregularities” in Bladen County...”

At the center of the controversy appears to be Leslie McCrae Dowless, who worked for Harris' campaign, and a large number of absentee ballots. Dowless, a known political operative in the area, is accused of heading a group that would go door-to-door, encouraging people to request an absentee...

A Preview of Your Chinese Future

“China’s vision of world order is a more radical departure—and more realistic alternative—than the West understands.”

Clouds above the Shanghai skyline on July 31, 2014.Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images The year is 2049, one hundred years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The Belt and Road Initiative is complete. That does not mean it will stop or disappear. It is concluded in the same way a...

The Chinese gene-editing experiment was an outrage. The scientific community shares blame.

“ we desperately need to support a more inclusive public debate about biotechnology and the human future. That discussion cannot and must not be...”

We’re overdue for a society-wide conversation about this technology. Chinese scientist He Jiankui is part of a team that claims to have helped make the world's first gene-edited babies. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)By J. Benjamin Hurlbut,Sheila Jasanoff and Krishanu SahaNovember 29 This is...

Demands for change in wake of Minneapolis police Christmas tree controversy

“I support the Chief and the investigation, and I reiterate that any behavior that violates community trust is totally unacceptable”

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Demands to reconstruct the Minneapolis Police Department's 4th Precinct on the north side are growing louder in the aftermath of a decorated Christmas tree, which some community members found racially insensitive. “This is one of the only ways that we think it’s possible...

Trump's Tariffs Could Clinch the Electoral College

“The benefits can be concentrated geographically, too, and in an electorally advantageous way. Trump will probably be following a narrow path to...”

President Donald Trump's trade war may sink the economy but improve his chances in 2020. The president's tariffs could help him clinch the Electoral College. Volatility in the administration is leading to volatility in the stock market. When President Donald Trump made it sound as though he...

Editorial Comment

© A. Mac/A.G. © A.Mac/A.G. (Restored Photograph, c.1915)

Five Word Story

“So It Begins...”

Everyone adds their five words to the end of the previous post...

Post Office Gives Disabled the Finger for Christmas

Goverment emails are now in federal court beacuse the postal service was getting rid of its disabled employees. Some of the emails were see you bums at Walmart, song cripple creek and employees being congradulated for getting rid of 25 percent of the disabled employees. The post office lost the...

BREAKING NEWS! Trump Defects to Russia

Donald Trump shocked the world today when he secretly left the G20 in Argentina.  He was seen boarding Valdimir Putin's airplane and his destination is apparently Moscow.  A spokesman for the Kremlin, Boris Badenov, issued a short statement: Trump recently requested political asylum in Russia....

Antisemitism -> The Holocaust -> Retribution -> Need for Israel -> Partition -> Antisemitism. As Illustrated Through Movies

Antisemitism -> The Holocaust -> Retribution -> Need for Israel -> Partition -> Antisemitism.   As Illustrated Through Movies Although antisemitism has existed for millenia, it has neither receded nor changed its pervading modern times and western "civilized" countries - and in...

Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God

“Although science has not even remotely destroyed religion, Shermer’s Last Law predicts that the relation between the two will be profoundly...”

Shermer’s Last Law Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God As scientist extraordinaire and author of an empire of science-fiction books, Arthur C. Clarke is one of the farthest-seeing visionaries of our time. His pithy quotations tug harder...

The Myth of Authenticity Is Killing Tex-Mex

““In comparing what Texas is more well known for, a bowl of chili or brisket, it’s brisket,” Vaughn says.”

The official version of chili con carne can only be made by people from Texas. It’s literally the law: In 1977, the 65th Texas Legislature enshrined the stew of beef and chile peppers as the official state dish, but also an official version of the dish, declaring that “the only real ‘bowl of...

God vs. ET

“At the very end, the argument leaps to a logical equivalence of God and extraterrestrial life in terms of existence.”

Consider the following logic: There is no direct evidence of extraterrestrial life It is, however, probable based on our empirical understanding of life and the number of planets suitable to host life, that extraterrestrial life exists somewhere in the universe It is thus reasonable to...

Amazing Grace as a 'smoky' hymn??

“The Challenge of This Song is not to Scare America." — Sarah Grace.”

What you are about to watch next is smoky, irreverent, irresistible, or can we term this 'fun'? Check it out: Ladies and Gentleman, well, what do you say? Has the time finally arrived to re-interpret hymn-standards?  Is this rendition which blends, "Amazing Grace" (John Newton 1779) with...

Damned Tough Movie Quiz

Damned Tough Movie Quiz Although I posted this on the Everyone Loves Movies group, only a few members took a shot at it. It's hard, and even committed movie-goers couldn't answer more than 5 or 6 of these questions. As it is the last really hard quiz I will post, I thought I would see if there...

So Glad November is Over

November was horrible for my family.  I was never so happy to see a month end.  On November 6th, my father passed away.  One week later my mother in law passed away.  Family disputes (on hubby's and my sides) have made the events very painful.  My MIL's service was the weekend following her...

Kansas Official Tells Black Woman He's Member of the 'Master Race:' 'Don't Ever Forget That'

““I don't want you to feel like I'm picking on you. Because we are part of the master race,” he said in this week's meeting. “You have a gap in your...”

A Kansas County commissioner is facing calls to apologize after telling a black woman that he is part of the “master race” during a routine public planning meeting. The remark was made on Tuesday by Leavenworth County commissioner Louis Klemp, a white man, and seemingly directed at a woman...

Republicans Want to Remove LGBTQ Protections From New Trade Deal

“These conservative Republicans in the House are demanding that President Trump drop the language which protects workers from “discrimination on the...”

First there was the historic provision in the new North American trade agreement providing protection for the LGBTQ community. Included in the proposed agreement is a requirement that the U.S., Canada and Mexico take steps to protect workers against discrimination on the basis of sex, including...

Centrists In The Age Of Trump

“"But being conciliatory is not always the right approach. The correct response to outrageous behavior by the President, is to show outrage."”

Even before Trump, it had been getting harder and harder to understand how centrists could remain in the center.  The Republican party slid farther and farther into the swamp, to the point that they were little more than a gang of corporate thugs.  How could ANYONE, save the most cultish of all...

Venice and Florence Through My Stepdaughter's iPhone Lens

Venice and Florence Through My Stepdaughter's iPhone Lens What I've noticed about the photos she takes is that they are not the same as you see in tourist and travel folders. In most cases she seeks out what is more unusual, like street scenes for example.  There aren't many pics from Florence,...

Can Atheists Be Religious? Are there Religious Atheists?

“The answer to the question is thus an unequivocal yes: atheists can be religious and atheism can occur in conjunction with, or even in the context...”

by Austin Cline Atheism and religion are often portrayed and treated as polar opposites; although there is a strong correlation between being an atheist and being irreligious, there is no necessary and inherent connection between the two. Atheism is not the same as being irreligious; theism is...

What is this alien fruit?

“Evil friut...”

This is my neighbor's tree encroaching over my 11 foot fence. It's supposedly a peach tree although, neighboring peach trees bear fruit, we've never seen anything like fruit on this tree until three years ago. Then it developed something very odd That hung there for three years...

Washington Post Neologism Contest

New meanings for old words