'It’s not a medical question'

'14 GW of offshore wind deployed by 2030'

'It just didn't work out'

333 Amtrak train incidents

'Senator Who Denied Climate Change'

Our “25 Best B-sides in Classic Rock History” article presents a list of songs that stand as some of our favorite B-sides we have ever collected.  Many artists have been surprised when a song, sometimes one that almost didn’t make it onto the album, turns into the biggest hit of their career. This list showcases 25 favorites, not necessarily B-sides that became more popular than the A-sides—that would be a different type of article. This one is simply about the joy of discovery. We’ve always been drawn to B-sides, particularly non-album tracks, which are often the most exciting for collectors. The post 25 Of Our Favorite B-Sides In Classic Rock History appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Almost anyone who has graduated from college in the last 50 years has repeatedly heard the statement, “More people have been killed in the name of God than in the name of anything else.” And most of them believe it. It would take a long essay to respond to this claim. I will therefore only note here that if by “God” the people who make this statement are referring to the God of the Bible, and therefore to Christians (Jews rarely had enough numbers or power to persecute anyone), the statement is simply not true. Yes, Christians killed Jews (though it was never official church doctrine to do so). For example, whole communities of Jews were slaughtered by Christians on their way to fight in the Crusades. And tens of millions of Indigenous people in the Americas were killed as a result of Christian invasion and settlement—though most of those deaths were caused by European diseases to which people in the Americas had no immunity. And Christians killed fellow Christians who had a different theology. Between 1618 and 1648, in what became known as the Thirty Years’ War—a war between Europe’s Catholics and Protestants—somewhere between 5 and 8 million people were killed. But there are few other examples of largescale killings by Christians as Christians (as opposed to people who happened to be Christian killing people, as in the two world wars). For example, during one of the most widely cited examples of Christian killing, the Inquisition, no more than 5,000 people were killed—a number both Jewish and non-Jewish historians agree upon. The number of people killed by Christians in the 2,000-year history of Christianity is far exceeded by the number of people killed in the Mongol invasions of Europe and China in the 13th century alone—approximately 40 million and 60 million, respectively. It is also dwarfed by the number of people killed by Muslims, mostly Arabs, from the advent of Islam in the seventh century. During the thousand-year Muslim rule in India alone, at least 100 million Hindus were killed. (The Indian government rarely speaks of this for fear of introducing civil strife between its Hindu and Muslim populations.) With regard to the staggering number of Hindus killed by Muslims, historian Will Durant, in his magisterial 11-volume “The Story of Civilization” (co-authored with Ariel Durant), wrote: “The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history.” Given that those who say, “More people have been killed in the name of God than in the name of anything else,” are referring to Christians, it is not intellectually honest to include the Muslim murder of Hindus as those who have killed “in the name of God” without specifying that most of that killing was done by Muslims. Finally, and most importantly, there is something in whose name more people have been killed—in the last century alone—than in the name of anything (except Allah). And that thing is “equality.” Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and other communist tyrants killed at least 100 million noncombatants and enslaved a billion others. All in the name of “equality.” And that is inevitable. While “all men are created equal,” as the American Declaration of Independence put it, based upon the biblical, Judeo-Christian origins of the American Revolution, it is not possible to achieve equality without violence. That is why the French Revolution, rooted in “equality,” led to the guillotine, while the American Revolution, which was not rooted in equality, led to the freest country ever created. Why egalitarianism is a monstrous ideology is the subject of my next column. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Were More People Killed in the Name of God or in the Name of Equality? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

NYC Paid McKinsey $4 Million to Discover the Trash Can

As the Democrat Party scrambled to stay uniform following calls for President Biden to step down, the media has done its best to shift the narrative to more familiar topics. Tuesday’s CBS Mornings, in coalition with left-wing ProPublica, ran a segment targeting the many pro-life Crisis Pregnancy Centers programs funded by the Texas state legislature. Abortion, being one of the more hot button issues in the upcoming election, was an underlying theme to this conversation, as the network and ProPublica did their best to paint the programs as money grabbing, back alley organizations without any accountability. On Tuesday morning, the liberal news outlets took aim at the Thriving Texas Families (TTF) program, formerly known as Alternatives to Abortion. Texas’s efforts to support alternative to abortion was maligned on CBS Mornings for nearly 6 minutes during their morning segments: GAYLE KING: Since the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, tax-payer money has been poured into what are known as Crisis Pregnancy Centers. These controversial organizations have a long-stated mission to discourage pregnant women from seeking abortions. At least 18 states fund Crisis Pregnancy Centers, but no state has spent more money on them than the state of Texas. Reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns continued in the diatribe, criticizing Republican programs for where their money has been invested, and for not doing more. She cited only one organization funded by TTF to suggest the entire program was rift with fraud and mismanagement: REP. JEFF LEACH (R-TX): If taxpayer dollars aren't being spent appropriately, then we will hold those responsible accountable. HUEY-BURNS: Are you concerned this program is ripe for fraud? LEACH: No, I'm not. We should be giving them more resources, not less. HUEY-BURNS: Invoices we obtained show the programs second largest contractor, Human Coalition, spent roughly $2 million of its state funding every year since 2019 on marketing costs. That's ten times more than what it spent on direct client assistance like diapers. While Huey-Burns attacked the program, she promoted the efforts of two other organizations that did not receive funds from TTF. At no point did she give a similar financial break down of those organizations as she did for the Human Coalition, nor did she give a reason for why they were denied access to the funds. Ironic for CBS as their pro-abortion views in the past never focused on such topics as the health of a baby following delivery. As Texas and many other states move forward in their goals of pro-life systems, it should be no surprise to see this kind of reporting from the network. This is nothing new for ProPublica, and certainly not for CBS. Leading up to the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the multiple attacks on the pro-life centers, networks wrote off the incidents, questioning the organizations claims of victimhood. It is clear that these groups, along with the pro-life movement on the whole, are anything but respected by the media, let alone given fair coverage.   The transcript is below, click “expand” to read: CBS Mornings 7/9/2024 08:37:51 AM EST [NEWS HEADLINE ~ CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS: TX sends millions to anti-abortion groups with little accountability] GAYLE KING: Since the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, tax-payer money has been poured into what are known as Crisis Pregnancy Centers. These controversial organizations have a long-stated mission to discourage pregnant women from seeking abortions. At least 18 states fund Crisis Pregnancy Centers, but no state has spent more money on them than the state of Texas. Caitlin Huey-Burns and the CBS News investigative team in partnership with ProPublica spent months looking into where all this money is going. Caitlin joins us now with the results. Caitlin, good morning to you. CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Good morning to you, Gayle. Well while Texas passed law after law limiting abortion access it was also spending more money on a program called Alternatives to Abortion, which includes funds for Crisis Pregnancy Centers, but our investigation found little accountability for how that money is being spent, and it could be coming at the expense of other crucial services for young mothers in need. [Cut to video] Every day nurse Megan Wheeler drives across the Texas Brazos Valley caring for new young mothers. AVA BRADLEY: Hey, how are you? MEG WHEELER: Good morning how are you? HUEY-BURNS: Like 16-year-old Ava Bradley and her 1-year-old son Mateo.  BRADLEY: Thank you. HUEY-BURNS: They connected through the Nurse Family Partnership, a free program that pairs nurses with low income first-time moms. Nurses like Wheeler cover just about everything from the latest ear infection -- WHEELER: Any fever for either of you? BRADLEY: No. HUEY-BURNS: -- To making sure mom is okay too. WHEELER: How’s school been this week? BRADLEY: I'm pretty good. I’m a little behind. HUEY-BURNS: It's a model that’s shown to improve maternal and infant health outcomes, says the programs Nursing Practice Manager Angela Montez. ANGELA MONTEZ: Nurses have been able to intervene and be able save our women and children from dying. HUEY-BURNS: Because they're there. MONTEZ: Because they're there. HUEY-BURNS: But in a state where teen pregnancy is on the rise, the program is struggling to meet demand. MONTEZ: We're able to serve maybe a quarter of the referrals. HUEY-BURNS: So, last year the program asked the Texas legislature for an extra $19 million. They got just $2.2 million. Meanwhile, the state program called Alternatives to Abortion, which includes funding for Crisis Pregnancy Centers, got so much money last year, it had 14 million left over for future use. It's also referring thousands to the nursing program that helped Bradley, but it does not fund it. For years, Democratic State Representative Donna Howard has questioned how alternatives to abortion operate. DONNA HOWARD: I don't know of any other program that the state administers that is treated in the same way, not one. HUEY-BURNS: Alternatives to Abortion grantees offers services like counseling, classes, and material goods like diapers and formula, but more than 40 percent of the services provided since 2021 were categorized as educational materials, a vague designation. HOWARD: What is that? It's immaterial. MAN: There's some speculation here, but I'm thinking pamphlets, one-pagers; that sort of thing. HOWARD: So, a pamphlet counts as a service? MAN: As an educational material, as a service, yes. HUEY-BURNS: A CBS News and ProPublica investigation uncovered a payment model that allows the program’s largest contractor Texas Pregnancy Care Network to charge the state $14 for handing out a pamphlet as part of its services. JEFF LEACH: So, this amendment would add $25 million in supplemental funding. HUEY-BURNS: Republican State Representative, Jeff Leach is one of the program's most ardent supporters. LEACH: This program is really meant to provide the full weight and support of the resources of the state government not just before pregnancy, but after pregnancy as well. HUEY-BURNS: But there have been issues. FEMALE REPORTER: The money was meant to help women and children. HUEY-BURNS: A San Antonio non-profit was kicked out of Alternatives to Abortion after a local news station reported it was using program funds on vacations, a motorcycle, and a smoke shop. The nonprofit did not respond to our questions. LEACH: If taxpayer dollars aren't being spent appropriately, then we will hold those responsible accountable. HUEY-BURNS: Are you concerned this program is ripe for fraud? LEACH: No, I'm not. We should be giving them more resources, not less. HUEY-BURNS: Invoices we obtained show the programs second largest contractor, Human Coalition, spent roughly $2 million of its state funding every year since 2019 on marketing costs. That's ten times more than what it spent on direct client assistance like diapers. HOWARD: $2 million for marketing. Wow. That is astounding. Seems extremely inappropriate. HUEY-BURNS: Representative Leach said the marketing costs were necessary to create awareness. Holly McDaniel runs the Austin Diaper Bank, a nonprofit that distributes diapers to places like this food pantry where every week a stream of cars lines up for free baby supplies. Diaper Banks sought state funding last year but got nothing. HOLLY MCDANIEL: There are families out there and really good organizations out there doing good work and serving those families. I would love to give them diapers, but diapers don't grow on trees. [Cut back to live] HUEY-BURNS: Now, for months we sought interviews with Texas health officials, but in an email a spokesperson said they, “Take stewardship of taxpayer dollars very seriously.” And Human Coalition told us, “Marketing helps reach more women.” And Texas Pregnancy Care Network told us, “Its services are in line with its state contract and responsive to client needs.” And also of note, last September, the Alternative to Abortion Program, it got a new name. It's called Thriving Texas Families. Nate? NATE BURLESON: Caitlin, great reporting on the topic that is on the top of our minds both personally and politically. For more on our investigation go to cbsnews.com or propublica.org.

Mel Gibson is showing his support for a conservative Catholic archbishop whom the Vatican just excommunicated. Last Friday, the Vatican officially excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, finding him guilty of schism. The conservative leader, who once served as the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, is a critic of Pope Francis. Officially, Viganò was ousted for his "refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff" and for, among other things, questioning the "legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council." 'You are a modern day Athanasius! I have all respect for the way you defend Christ and His Church.' In the Catholic Church, excommunication is a form of censure that bars someone from participating in the sacraments, such as communion, and prohibits their fellowship with the Church. It is meant to encourage repentance and can be repealed. But Viganò likely has no plans to repent. "I regard the accusations against me as an honor," Viganò said last month. After the Catholic Church took punitive action against Viganò, Hollywood superstar Mel Gibson released a letter supporting him. "I hope you will continue to say Mass and receive the sacraments yourself — it really is a badge of honor to be shunned by the false, post conciliar church," Gibson wrote. "You have my sympathies that you suffer publicly this grave injustice. To me and many others you are a most courageous hero." Gibson praised Viganò for calling out the "core problems" within the Catholic Church and, more importantly in Gibson's view, "the illegitimacy of Francis." Gibson, a Catholic himself, is a sedevacantist, or someone who believes the Holy See is vacant and the last legitimate pope was Pope Pius XII, who died in 1958. Sedevacantists, moreover, reject the authority of the Second Vatican Council. Later in the letter, Gibson compared Viganò to Athanasius. Athanasius was a 4th-century Christian leader in Egypt. History remembers him as a chief defender of orthodox Christian theology who fought against the heresies of Arianism. His stand for the truth led him to be repeatedly exiled. That's why, according to Gibson, Viganò should wear his excommunication as a "badge of honor." "You are a modern day Athanasius! I have all respect for the way you defend Christ and His Church," Gibson wrote. LifeSiteNews first reported on Gibson's letter and confirmed with Gibson himself that the letter is authentic. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!