Stonehenge is one of those iconic monuments that has captured the imaginations of people. Its alignment with the Sun at the solstices is as clear as day, although the function of the monument remains uncertain. But researchers will be spending the next several months looking at a different type of alignment – some stones might be aligned to the lunar standstill.Things do not stay still in the sky. Due to the inclination of the planet with respect to its orbit, the position of the Sun and where it rises and sets moves about over the course of the year. Stonehenge is aligned in such a way that the light of the sunrise on the summer solstice and the last rays of sunset on the winter solstice go through the middle.But beyond the stone circle, there are the so-called station stones whose function is unknown. They appear to be connected not with the Sun, but with the Moon. Similar to the solar movements, the position of moonrise and moonset changes due to the inclination of the Moon’s orbit with respect to the Earth. But it is not an annual thing. It takes 18.6 years for the cycle to complete.                    During the peak of its cycle, the Moon’s declination swings from 28.725 degrees north to 28.725 degrees south in a single month. This period is known as the major lunar standstill (lunistice) and the next one will go on until January 2025. So researchers will be visiting Stonehenge several times over the coming months, all the way through the major standstill, to understand the potential alignment between the monument and our natural satellite.“I think the moon in general would have been very important to them,” Heather Sebire, senior property curator of Stonehenge, told IFLScience. “And you know when they had a full moon, perhaps they had extra light and they were able to do things that they couldn't do the rest of the time”“In terms of the lunar standstill, they think it might have significance here because of there are four outlying stones known as the 'station stones'. Only two of them survive and they form a rectangle, and there is some thought that might have something to do with the setting outside of the circle.”In a minor lunar standstill, the declination of the Moon is between 18.134° (north or south). The next one is happening in 2034. As researchers continue to investigate this fascinating alignment, Stonehenge is inviting people to join in the fun. As is traditional, visitors will be allowed into the circle for the solstice (which this year is the earliest since 1796), but the following day it will be all about the lunistice.       The lunar standstill moonrise event is online only, so you can watch the livestream from the comfort of your own home, wondering together with the researchers if this great monument was also aligned with the Moon.

These complex geometric patterns appearing overnight in fields have lead to two main camps: those who believe crop circles are elaborate hoaxes and those who argue they are messages from extraterrestrial or other supernatural sources. Let’s delve into the history, various stories, and scientific investigations surrounding this phenomenon. The Origins and Early Sightings The first recorded crop circles date back to the 17th century with the “Mowing Devil” legend, depicting a devilishly precise mowing of crops in England. Back in the year 1678, in the city of Hertfordshire in England, a wealthy farmer asks his poor neighbour to mow his… This premium content is for PLUS+ members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read. The post Crop Circles: Not All Are Hoaxes – Some May Be Messages from Beyond appeared first on Anomalien.com.

A Biden campaign spokeswoman went on MSNBC to whine that more censorship is necessary to protect Democrat Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 election. When Biden was caught on video disorientedly ambling away from other G7 leaders in Italy, only to be stopped and redirected by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the video quickly went viral online. Biden supporters are now claiming the video was taken out of context. Biden campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod went on MSNBC to suggest the video’s virality shows a need for more suppression of speech online. “Disinformation is alive and well,” Elrod intoned. She tried to play up Biden as a patriotic leader without addressing the president’s clear confusion and habitual wandering. “Biden was out there literally representing America at the G7, saluting our troops, you know, doing what he does as president of the United States.” She then made a rambling demand for increased suppression of free speech: “Look, we’re gonna see more of this. I mean, this is just the reality of campaigning in 2024. So we have to combat that disinformation. We have to hit it hard when it happens and make it clear that these are dirty tactics that MAGA Republicans are using because they can’t run on the issues.” Without explaining how it’s “disinformation” to show authentic clips of Biden messing up, Elrod called on Big Tech, “surrogates” and the media to endorse her calls for increased censorship.  “We’re going to do what we can to combat it but it does take the voices of surrogates across the country. It does take the media to call it out,” she said.  Her assertion that the Biden campaign would “do what we can to combat” such content is concerning, especially given the lawsuit Murthy v. Missouri, which accuses the Biden administration of colluding with social media and private entities to stifle free speech. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the lawsuit and the Biden administration’s actions. Elrod then apparently urged Big Tech to help protect Biden too, stating, “It does take social media platforms where a lot of Americans are getting their information to point it out as well.”  The Murthy v. Missouri case cited exclusive MRC research showing that Big Tech censored criticism of Biden 646 times between March 2020 and March 2022. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

A father told police in Washington state he caught a rideshare driver sexually assaulting his daughter and got physical with the driver and fired his gun, the Olympian reported.Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies around 1 a.m. Saturday were dispatched to Sixth Avenue Southeast and Old Pacific Highway — a fishing location on the Nisqually River — over a report of a weapons violation, the paper said.The female's father told deputies he discovered his daughter being sexually assaulted, 'beat up the driver a little bit,' and fired the gun.Two shell casings were found at the scene, the Olympian added.A deputy who stopped a motorist attempting to flee the scene noticed the motorist was injured, Fox News reported, adding that detectives determined the motorist was a rideshare driver who had provided transportation to a "highly intoxicated female."The driver had suffered injuries in a fight but wasn’t shot, Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Brooks said Sunday, according to the Olympian.The female's father told deputies he discovered his daughter being sexually assaulted, “beat up the driver a little bit,” and fired the gun, Brooks told the paper, adding that the timing of the physical altercation and the gunshots wasn't clear.The 58-year-old driver was treated for his injuries at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia and then booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape, the Olympian reported. Those with information about this incident should call the nonemergency dispatch line at 360-704-2740 or send an email to detectives@co.thurston.wa.us, the paper added.How are observers reacting?Nearly 1,000 comments so far have appeared underneath the Fox News story about the incident, which was published Monday on Yahoo News. As you might imagine, a number of commenters are sympathetic toward the father:"The father did what every red-blooded American father would do to protect his daughter!" one commenter declared. "Kudos to him for being a real father!""The dad was defending protecting his daughter, and tried his best to stop the criminal assault in progress," another commenter said. "He saved his daughter's life.""It's uplifting to have some good news for once," another commenter noted."It's Washington state, so the father's freedom is still up in the air, but great job dad," another commenter added. "Shame you didn't put him underground.""I'm a progressive individual, but even I feel the dad was well within his rights as a father," another commenter stated.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Fox News senior correspondent Peter Doocy fact-checked the White House on Tuesday for claiming President Joe Biden is the victim of "cheap-fake" videos.On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused "right-wing" media of circulating "cheap-fake" videos of the president that show him appear to freeze up or wander off during public events while looking mentally confused and frail. The videos are "misinformation" and "disinformation," Jean-Pierre claimed, evidence the "right-wing" media have a "credibility problem." 'A cheap fake is just if a clip is cut shorter than they want, or from an angle that they don't like.'What Jean-Pierre did not include in her diatribe is the fact that one of the videos in question originated with a journalist from the Hollywood Reporter, hardly a "right-wing" media outlet.But on "Fox & Friends," Doocy provided critical context to the videos and why the Biden administration is attacking them."She referred to 'cheap-fakes' and also 'deepfakes' while dismissing these clips. But there's an important difference: A deepfake is if somebody is using AI or some other software to change the things that President Biden is doing or saying. A cheap-fake is just if a clip is cut shorter than they want, or from an angle that they don't like," Doocy explained."Both of them are the same, though, in that they are both being used as terms to scapegoat as this White House just does not want people to think that the things they see on social media are as they appear," he added. Even if the videos lack context the White House wants, Doocy reminded viewers the videos themselves aren't manipulated."There is something to the fact that a lot of these clips are lacking context. That doesn't mean that the things people see are not happening," he pointed out."These clips are not being manipulated with AI," he explained. "The thing is: Every video that you see on the internet is in some way edited or clipped unless you're rewatching an entire livestream of something played back from start to finish. Everything is cut at some point. And White House officials just want the clips to be way longer so that people can see way more context."The White House's assault on the so-called "cheap-fake" videos is probably not a winning PR strategy. That's because the scenarios the videos highlight are not isolated incidents; they've been happening for the entirety of Biden's presidency. And it's probably not a good idea to lecture voters that their own eyes are lying to them.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Several powerful New Jersey leaders affiliated with the Democratic Party have now been indicted in connection with an alleged corruption scandal that stretches back more than a decade.On Monday, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, a Democrat appointed to office in 2022 by Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, announced multiple charges, including first-degree racketeering, against six defendants: George Norcross III, Philip Norcross, William Tambussi, Dana Redd, Sidney Brown, and John O'Donnell.'The alleged conduct of the Norcross Enterprise has caused great harm to individuals, businesses, non-profits, the people of the State of New Jersey, and especially the City of Camden and its residents. That stops today.'According to Platkin's press release, a group referred to as the Norcross Enterprise used unseemly means to acquire property, especially in Camden, and then coordinated with government officials to "craft" laws and regulations that benefited them. When officials and other residents refused to play along, the enterprise resorted to "coercion, extortion, and other criminal acts" to get their way, the press release said.This scandal dates back at least to 2012, Platkin alleged, and officials have been investigating it for "years.""On full display in this indictment is how a group of unelected, private businessmen used their power and influence to get government to aid their criminal enterprise and further its interests," Platkin said in a statement. "The alleged conduct of the Norcross Enterprise has caused great harm to individuals, businesses, non-profits, the people of the State of New Jersey, and especially the City of Camden and its residents. That stops today. We must never accept politics and government – that is funded with tax dollars – to be weaponized against the people it serves. Today we reaffirm that no one in our state is above the law – period."Of the six defendants charged in the indictment, Redd, the former mayor of Camden and a Democrat former state senator, is the only one to have been elected to office. Nevertheless, the rest, especially George Norcross, wielded considerable influence over their state's political landscape.Politico claimed 68-year-old George Norcross "ruled" the state of New Jersey for "decades" and that "many politicians feared crossing" him. The AP described him as one of "the most influential unelected Democrats in the state."Norcross, a former member of the Democratic National Committee and the former chair of the Camden County Democratic Party, also joined forces with high-profile New Jersey Republicans, including former Gov. Chris Christie. Currently a resident of Palm Beach, Florida, Norcross was also a former member of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.One New Jersey insider compared the indictment to a political "earthquake," another to an "atomic bomb."'I want to witness an extraordinary embarrassment and outrageous conduct from a government official who stands up there and tries to act like he’s holier than thou.'Norcross even attended Platkin's press conference to announce the indictment. "I want to witness an extraordinary embarrassment and outrageous conduct from a government official who stands up there and tries to act like he’s holier than thou," he said after the conference."I want Matt Platkin to come down here and try this case himself, because he’s a coward, because he has forced people in this building to implement his will."One of Norcross' brothers, Philip Norcross, a Philadelphia attorney with an "unblemished reputation," according to his attorney, has also been charged. Another Norcross brother, Donald Norcross, a Democrat U.S. representative from New Jersey, has not. "I love my brothers. I believe in the rule of law, and they will have the opportunity to defend themselves during their day in court," Rep. Norcross said in a statement.Tambussi is also an attorney who once served as outside counsel to the City of Camden. For the past 35 years, he has also served as counsel to the Camden County Democratic Committee. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.Redd's attorney Henry Klingeman insisted she has "done nothing wrong." Klingeman claimed Redd served her community and cooperated in the investigation.The other defendants have not yet hired an attorney. The first-degree racketeering charge alone carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $200,000 as well as "additional financial penalties" that Platkin has already confirmed he intends to seek.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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