The Fresno Bee put out a story this Friday that went after McCarthy for taking shots at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his ongoing investigation into President Trump’s alleged scheme to pay off Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about their alleged affair before the 2016 election.

Raw Story reports that the editorial board of the Fresno Bee went after McCarthy for allegedly jumping the gun when it comes to slinging accusations at Bragg. The paper’s editors are not pleased that McCarthy has been doing everything in his power to ensure he is trying to tear down Bragg before all of the facts are out related to the grand jury investigating McCarthy.

 The arrest of actor Jonathan Majors has upended the Army’s newly launched advertising campaign that was aimed at reviving the service’s struggling recruiting numbers.

Majors, who authorities said was arrested Saturday in New York on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, was the narrator of two ads at the heart of a broader media campaign that kicked off at the start of the NCAA's March Madness college basketball tournament.

Army leaders were hopeful that the popularity of the star of the recently released “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” would help them reach the youth audience.

Official figures sneakily published by the UK Government, reveal that the triple+ vaccinated population accounted for 92% of Covid-19 deaths throughout the entirety of 2022, and 9 in every 10 Covid-19 deaths in England over the past two years.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Kari Lake, who lost the race to become governor and filed a lawsuit alleging election fraud, will be allowed to expose the Signature Verification security system on mail-in ballots, which she says is corrupt. Kari Lake said that Adrian Fontes, the current Secretary of State of Arizona who was the Maricopa County Recorder during the contested 2020 election, is a Mexican drug cartel attorney and a fraud. Lake may face criminal charges over allegations that she shared voter signatures on social media.

Caroline Wren, who ran Kari Lake’s campaign for Arizona governor, said that three whistleblowers involved in the Signature Verification department in Maricopa County said that tens of thousands of signatures, perhaps as many as 130,000 were rejected, but someone counted the rejected ballots anyway.

Newly leaked footage from January 6th shows undercover DC Metropolitan Police officers pushing protesters to move towards the US Capitol and helping them climb the scaffolding outside the Capitol building. 

For the first time in decades, it's hard to ignore the threat of nuclear war. But as long as you're far from the blast, you're safe, right? Wrong. In this sobering talk, atmospheric scientist Brian Toon explains how even a small nuclear war could destroy all life on earth -- and what we can do to prevent it. A professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Brian Toon investigates the causes of the ozone hole, how volcanic eruptions alter the climate, how ancient Mars had flowing rivers, and the environmental impacts of nuclear war. He contributed to the U.N.’s Nobel Peace Prize for climate change and holds numerous scientific awards, including two NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.

The Florence museum housing Michelangelo's Renaissance masterpiece the David invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honour her. Confusing art with pornography is "ridiculous," Nardella said.

The incredulous Italian response highlights how the U.S. culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy.

Social media applications are a constant topic of controversy.

While some tout that its great children can connect, there are also downsides. Recently, social media apps and big tech platforms have come under fire for hate speech, misinformation, spying on Americans, and the harmful effects social media can have on teens. Now, one state is paving the way to reign them in and limit the harm they are doing.

Utah is the first state to require a parent’s permission for children to use social media. One bill Governor Cox signed prohibits kids from using the apps between 10:30 PM and 6:30 AM. Another requires age verification. The legislation is set to go into effect by March 2024.

President Trump’s rally in Waco, Texas was nothing short of amazing.

Trump covered variety of topics such as immigration, DeSantis, the Biden admin, Ukraine, Russia, China, and the deep state.

Midway through his speech, Trump revealed to the crowd why the deep state is coming after him harder.

Trump told the sea of supporters “It’s no coincidence that the Deep State is coming after me even harder since I pledged to swiftly end the war in Ukraine.”

French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic adviser has told China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, that Paris is willing to work with Beijing to find a “peaceful solution” to the war in Ukraine.

“France is ready to make joint efforts with China to facilitate the cessation of hostilities and seek a peaceful solution,” Emmanuel Bonne told Wang, according to a Chinese readout of a phone call that took place on Thursday.

The readout said Bonne “expressed appreciation for China’s positive role in promoting peace talks.” The French position is radically different than the Biden administration’s as the White House came out against the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow.

A federal prosecutor admitted in court papers that three D.C. Metropolitan Police Department undercover officers acted as provocateurs at the northwest steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The admission came in a March 24 filing before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras that seeks to keep video footage shot by the officers under court seal.

Prosecutors accused the case defendant—William Pope of Topeka, Kansas—of an “illegitimate” attempt to unmask the video as part of his alleged strategy to try the case in the news media. Pope filed a motion to remove the court seal on Feb. 21.

“The defendant is not entitled to ‘undesignate’ these videos to share them with unlimited third parties,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Moran. “His desire to try his case in the media rather than in a court of law is illegitimate, and the government has met its burden to show the necessity of the protective order.”

Videos long hidden under court seal have become a major topic, especially with prosecutors disclosing in a number of high-profile Jan. 6 cases the involvement of multiple FBI informants.

Today, America owes foreign investors of its national debt $7.3 trillion.

These are in the form of Treasury securities, some of the most liquid assets worldwide. Central banks use them for foreign exchange reserves and private investors flock to them during flights to safety thanks to their perceived low default risk.

Beyond these reasons, foreign investors may buy Treasuries as a store of value. They are often used as collateral during certain international trade transactions, or countries can use them to help manage exchange rate policy. For example, countries may buy Treasuries to protect their currency’s exchange rate from speculation.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that President Biden is committed to staying in Syria following a series of attacks on US bases and US airstrikes in the country.

“Here’s what’s not going to change … the mission and ISIS is not going to change. We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network, which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical. So we’re going to stay at that task,” Kirby said on CBS News’s Face the Nation.

When asked if President Biden was committed to keeping US troops in Syria, Kirby replied, “That’s right. Absolutely.”

While Kirby says the US mission in Syria is about fighting ISIS, the presence is part of the US effort against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government opposes the occupation of the eastern portion of Syria, which allows the US to control most of Syria’s oil resources. On top of the occupation, the US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria.

Following the dismissal of Yoav Gallant from the position of defense minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thousands of people poured into the streets in droves all throughout Israel to protest Gallant's ouster, with some protesters lighting fires across Ayalon Highway, one of Tel Aviv's main thoroughfares.

Germany’s Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, who once claimed that COVID-19 vaccination is free of side effects, admitted last week that he was wrong, saying adverse reactions occur at a rate of one in 10,000 doses and can cause “severe disabilities.”

On Aug. 14, 2021, Lauterbach said on Twitter that the vaccines had “no side effects,” further questioning why some Germans refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

During an interview on ZDF’s “Heute Journal” on March 12, Lauterbach was asked by anchor Christian Sievers about the claim he made in the summer of 2021, confronting the health minister with his previous tweet that stated the shots are virtually free of side effects.

There were chaotic scenes in Israel on Sunday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his Defence Minister just a day after he had called for an end to the PM's controversial judicial overhaul. 

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv and blocked a main highway in front of the Ministry of Defence following the announcement, before water cannons were deployed in Jerusalem against crowds.

The dismissal signalled that Netanyahu will move ahead this week with his judicial plan, which has sparked mass protests, angered military and business leaders and raised concerns among Israel's allies. 

There are an estimated 6000 antiquity sites in the West Bank. “Practically in every village or town there are archeological remains of varying scale from a watering hole to a multilayered mound,” according to Emek Shaveh, an Israeli NGO that works “to defend cultural heritage rights and to protect ancient sites as public assets that belong to members of all communities, faiths and peoples.”

In its March newsletter, Emek Shaveh describes how changes in Israel’s 37th government threaten these sites as authorities in charge of safeguarding Israel’s heritage are consolidated under far-right settler extremists.

“In a climate of heightened political emergency and a constant fear of violent conflagration,” Emek Shaveh writes, “one can be forgiven for overlooking heritage related developments. However, in this area too, we are watching with concern.”

The atmosphere on the roads leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first Friday of Ramadan, one of the holiest days for Muslims, was in stark contrast to previous days.

Israeli forces blocked roads towards the holy site in East Jerusalem, where over 100,000 Muslim worshippers - friends and families - came to pray. 

Drones and helicopters circled in the sky above the Dome of the Rock. 

In the narrow streets and markets of the Old City, leading towards Al-Aqsa, Israeli forces equipped with teargas canisters were seen stopping young men from entering.

More than half of Palestinians expect a new intifada to erupt as a result of Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, a new survey has revealed.

According to a survey carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 61 percent of Palestinians expect a new uprising, while 68 percent support the formation of armed groups, such as the Nablus-based Lions' Den, who do not take orders from the Palestinian Authority.

While 52 percent said they were worried that the formation of such groups could lead to armed clashes with the PA security services, 52 percent also said that "the Palestinian people's interest lies in the collapse or dissolution of the PA".

Armenia and Turkiye are set to permanently reopen their land border by this year’s tourist season for the first time in three decades, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced on Friday, 24 March.

The border will initially be opened only for citizens of third countries and diplomatic officials. There is already direct air traffic between the two countries.

After the devastating earthquake at the start of last month, Turkiye opened the border with Armenia in order to allow in Armenian humanitarian aid shipments and relief workers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for an “immediate” end to the war in Ukraine during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Erdoğan “highlighted the importance Türkiye attaches to the immediate cessation of the Russia-Ukraine conflicts through negotiations” and “thanked President Putin for his positive stance regarding the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” according to a statement from Turkey’s Directorate of Communications.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, allows Ukrainian grain exports to safely travel through the Black Sea. 

The Israeli protest movement against planned judicial reforms is entering its 12th week, with little sign of slowing down. The Netanyahu government has passed its initial plans, and the protest movement is redoubling its efforts with growing support from Jewish communities in the United States. In many ways, this is an extraordinary moment for Israel and Jewish communities’ connection to it around the world. 

Still, in the midst of the struggle against the current government, we must remember that the root of the problem lies with the colonialist regime as a whole rather than bemoan a democracy that has never existed here. As the Jewish supremacist militias grow stronger, as the dispossession and oppression of the Palestinians grow deeper, we keep staring directly at the roots of racism and violence and insisting on a vision of a shared society that respects the rights of all the country’s inhabitants and the refugees who seek to return. 

Two cosmonauts and an astronaut who were supposed to leave the International Space Station this month will be brought back to Earth in late September, doubling their time aboard the orbiting laboratory to more than a year, Russia's space agency announced Friday.

The return of Russians Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and NASA's Frank Rubio was delayed after the Soyuz capsule they planned to ride in developed a coolant leak while docked to the space station.

An empty Soyuz was sent to the station in late February to serve as a rescue capsule. The three-person replacement crew that was originally scheduled to be aboard that capsule is now set to head for the space station on Sept. 15, the Roscosmos space agency said.

Why aren’t there more? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. Many of the people whistle-blowers work with know the same things and actually regard the information in the same way — that it’s wrong — but they keep their mouths shut. As Snowden said to me and others, “Everybody I dealt with said that what we were doing was wrong. It’s unconstitutional. We’re getting information here about Americans that we shouldn’t be collecting.” The same thing was true for many of my colleagues in government who opposed the war. Of course, people are worried about the consequences.

Before my case and the Obama administration’s prosecutions of whistle-blowers, they needn’t have been worried about going to jail. But apart from that, they fear losing their jobs, their careers, risking the clearances on which their jobs depend. People who have these clearances have often invested a lifetime in demonstrating that they can be entrusted to keep secrets. That trust becomes a part of your identity, which it is difficult to sacrifice, so that one loses track of a sense of higher responsibility — as a citizen, as a human being.

A giant super-tanker anchored off the coast of Yemen is “likely to sink or explode at any moment”, a United Nations official has said.

The FSO Safer, which contains more than a million barrels of oil, was abandoned in 2015 during the Yemen civil war and is now starting to fall apart.

David Gressly, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said authorities need to act quickly to stop one million barrels of oil from spilling into the Red Sea.

He told Sky News: “We don’t want the Red Sea to become the Black Sea, that’s what’s going to happen.

Webmaster addition: Can't they just offload that cargo onto newer tankers and sell it?

In a day and age when libraries are holding drag queen story hours and pro-transgender children’s books like “I Am Jazz” are being pushed on kids, pro-family content is needed more than ever.

“‘She is she’ apparently is a controversial thing to say,” says Ryan Bomberger, author of the new book “She Is She.” Bomberger and his wife, Bethany, decided to write a children’s book that explores and celebrates what it means to be female after they saw controversy over biological reality in their community of Loudoun County, Virginia.

“With this book, we want to celebrate undeniable, biological, beautiful her,” Bomberger says. “We want to celebrate femininity. We want to celebrate motherhood.”

Ryan and Bethany Bomberger are the co-authors of “She Is She.” A companion book, “He Is He,” is due for release this summer. (Photo: Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs)

“The Democrat Party is the party that denied people of my complexion our personhood,” Bomberger says, adding, “and today, it’s now the party that denies females their womanhood.”

SECRET AND PERSONAL / PM/02/019 /PRIME MINISTER

CRAWFORD/IRAQ

1 The rewards from your visit to Crawford will be few. The risks are high, both for you and for the Government. I judge that there is at present no majority inside the PLP for any military action against Iraq, (alongside a greater readiness in the PLP to surface their concerns). Colleagues know that Saddam and the Iraqi regime are bad. Making that case is easy. But we have a long way to go to convince them as to:

(a) the scale of the threat from Iraq and why this has got worse recently;

(b) what distinguishes the Iraqi threat from that eg Iran and North Korea so as to justify military action;

(c) the justification for any military action in terms of international law; and

(d) whether the consequence of military action really would be a compliant, law abiding replacement government.

2 The whole exercise is made much more difficult to handle as long as conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is so acute.

Mark Petrakis shared an Ayn Rand quote on Facebook today that left me thinking for hours, especially as I watched the spreading waves left behind by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The quote describes how you can tell when your society is doomed.

I certainly read the orchestrated bank crisis that will unfold after Silicon Valley Bank as a sign that the parasite class has decided that opposition to their rule has reached an unacceptable level and that the final card of their hand must be played earlier than expected: destruction of money and the end of all financial interactions. In a sense SVB is the equivalent of Wuhan in December 2019, only this time the virus has infected money itself.

“It’s a year or two from now” and here’s what we see: explosions at Pearl Harbor and nearby Hickam Air Force Base, a drone attack at Naval Base San Diego, the collision of a Chinese-crewed fishing vessel with a US oil tanker departing Hawaii for the Western Pacific. Meanwhile, “the People’s Liberation Army is ashore on Taiwan in large numbers.”

Its internet and other communications down, Taiwan is cut off from the world. The US government is caught flat-footed. The Marines never make it to Taiwan and US Navy ships on their way from Singapore, Guam and even West Coast ports are hit by missiles before they have time to react. Chinese special forces launch attacks in Hawaii, Guam and Japan.

“Taiwan realizes no help is coming. It sues for terms and gives up. Immediately, the rest of Asia gets the message.” The reputation of the US has been shredded. Its First Island Chain of defense in the Western Pacific is broken. China can no longer be contained and it will not stop at Taiwan.

A trillion dollars is a lot of money.  If you stacked a billion dollar bills on top of one another, the pile would be 67.9 miles high, but if you stacked a trillion dollar bills on top of one another the pile would be 67,866 miles high.  And if you lined up a trillion dollar bills end to end, the line of dollar bills would be a staggering 96,906,656 miles long.  That is longer than the distance from the Earth to the Sun.  A trillion dollars is such a vast amount of money that it is truly difficult to comprehend, but as you will see below, that much money has already been pulled out of “vulnerable” U.S. banks over the past year.  Hordes of small and mid-size banks are now in trouble, and that is really bad news because those institutions issue most of the mortgages, auto loans and credit cards that our economy runs on.  The other day, I asked my readers to “imagine what our country will look like if the banking system implodes and the economy plunges into a depression”, because if our banks continue to collapse that is precisely where we are headed.

Unfortunately, the recent banking panic has greatly accelerated matters.  In fact, a whopping 98.4 billion dollars was pulled out of U.S. banks during the week ending March 15th…