Say Hello to 2022!

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

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Santa's Third Category

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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To all my American compatriots, here's wishing you a delightful Thanksgiving holiday. 

I found this selection of classical autumnal pieces to put you in the mood.

Twenty Years Ago

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Photo of the World Trade Center from 20 years ago (10/9/01). Around 12 hours before the attack. 

It's hard to believe it all happened two decades ago. Do you remember where you were and what you thought? What do you recall about that moment?

Shelter from the Storm: First Afghan Families Arrive in the US

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A family evacuated from Afghanistan arrives at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.

"The Disappearance of the Woman"

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(Photo by Boushra Almutakawel)

Watch Live: House Committee Holds First Hearing On January 6th Capitol Attack

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Sanity Sunday- Classical Mandolin Pieces Played by Avi Avital

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Another summer is upon us. This year, summer has brought hope that normalcy - whatever that means- would finally emerge. After four desperate years of Trump, I am not even sure I would recognize normalcy if it tapped me on the shoulder. 

  

Happy Mother's Day

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The Ask Project: What Do Israelis and Palestinians Really Think?

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Canadian-born Corey Gil-Shuster isn't what most people would consider an activist. He is just very curious.

With his YouTube channel, The Ask Project, he conducts one-to-one interviews with Jewish, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinian peoples to find out what they think on a particular subject. 

The responses are always interesting and sometimes counter-intuitive.

As Gil-Shuster explained to The Jerusalem Post:

“I don’t really care about leaders...  I want the guy selling bread, I want the regular guy who sells oranges... they are part of society, too.” 

Too often, says Gil-Shuster, those opinions and beliefs are ignored "unless they can serve a specific purpose or agenda." His quest to understand people takes him into the streets, the markets, the cafes, the offices, the malls, the tiny shops, and even into people's homes.

Sanity Sunday- The Music of Frédéric Chopin

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A bit of change of pace.

I thought I would offer you a sanity break this Sunday, featuring the music of Frédéric Chopin. 

Although his musical career was foreshortened by his early death at age 39, this Polish composer was considered a "poetic genius...without equal in his generation." As his Wikipedia bio reminds us:

Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest celebrities, his indirect association with political insurrection, his high-profile love-life, and his early death have made him a leading symbol of the Romantic era.

This selection is Prelude no.15 ‘Raindrop’, op.28, played on the piano by the Chinese concert pianist popularly known as Yundi.

 

Mask Burning Protests in Boise Idaho

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Around a hundred Idahoans gathered at the front of the Idaho Capitol in Boise to burn masks in a protest against measures taken to limit coronavirus infections and deaths. 

"What's Wrong With That?"- QAnon Shaman's Mom Speaks Out on Insurrection Charges

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Martha Chansley, the mother of 33-year-old Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman, appeared on 60 Minutes to defend her son of charges. In the interview, when asked if she thought her son did anything wrong, Ms. Chansley said:

"What do you mean by wrong? He went through open doors. He was escorted into the Senate. So I don't know what's wrong with that."

The Perfect Winter Storm: Texas, Arctic Cold and Power Outages

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The huge winter storm that swept across the southern US has killed at least 21 in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri. 

The news out of the Lone Star State has gone from bad to worse. Record-breaking winter temperatures have strained the energy grid leading to widespread outages across the state. 

WATCH LIVE: Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial Concludes in Senate | Day 5

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"Ordinary Political Rhetoric" 

On Friday, Trump's defense team took the helm and attempted to weaken the Impeachment managers' case against the former president in his second impeachment trial. 

LIVE: Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial Continues in Senate | Day 4 - Trump's Defense

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Remember This Day Forever 

Today is the fourth day in the trial of the Second Impeachment of former president Donald Trump. Trump's defense team now responds to the Impeachment Team's case against Trump and the charge of inciting the riot and attack on the Capitol Building on January 6.

WATCH LIVE: Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial Continues in Senate | Day 2 and Day 3

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"Borderline"

Having voted in favor of the constitutionality of the impeachment of a former president, the Senate today will officially commence with the trial of Donald J. Trump. 

If yesterday is anything to go by, fur will be flying. The weak performance of Trump's defense lawyers reportedly infuriated the former president. 

WATCH LIVE: Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial Begins in Senate | Day 1

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Today we will witness history when members of the Senate take on the role of both jurors and witnesses in the unprecedented second impeachment of ex-president Donald J. Trump.

Scenes from the Alexei Navalny Protests in Russia

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Throughout Russia, demonstrators launched a second round of protests calling for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny's release. This despite a growing crackdown and threats of prosecution by the authorities. 

CREW Draws a Roadmap for Presidential Accountability in the Post-Trump Era

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The Lessons Trump Taught Us

The Trump era is finally over and the Biden era has begun. It is perhaps human nature not to want to look back over the previous four years. It was too horrible, too shameful, and too humiliating a period for America. We are exhausted and we need time to forget what happened.

  

And yet, it would be an enormous mistake not to review the failure to hold the executive branch accountable. It was, after all, not merely the criminality of one man, or one administration, or one party. It was a systemic failure of the entire oversight process.

 

WATCH LIVE: The Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

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Well, somehow we survived it.
Remember the night we thought the Trump presidency would be over no later than one year in? A person so unfit for office- as Trump unquestionably was- could not remain in power for longer than a year, we told ourselves. 

And here we are, four years later, bruised and exhausted. 

Can the 14th Amendment Be Used Against Insurrectionist Members of Congress?

 by Nomad

As civil rights lawyers will tell you, the 14th Amendment has been a bulwark against institutionalized racism in America. 

Ratified in the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including formerly-enslaved people—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” civil and legal rights for Black Americans were- (at least, in theory, if not in practice) guaranteed by federal law. 

In the 1950s and 60s, it was to prove a reliable foundation upon which to abolish the second-class status for African-Americans in the Deep South.

QAnon's Phony Shaman: A Portrait of an American Traitor

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Imagine being stupid enough to purposely make yourself the most recognizable member of a crowd that's committing a serious crime. As we all know by now, you don't need to be smart to be a Trump supporter. 

In fact, that might just disqualify you.

You simply need to be willing to believe anything con artists tell you and, at least in this person's case, have a desperate need for public attention.