burns

WASHINGTON – William Burns appeared to glide through his confirmation hearing to become CIA director on Wednesday, winning marquee endorsements and frothy support from senators in both parties.

simpsons

In the last six months I’ve heard one phrase more often than I had in my previous 66 years: “Can you believe this is happening in America?”

As in: “I spent the whole day hunting online for a drugstore to get a Covid vaccination. Can you believe this is happening in America?”

“Fellow Americans ransacked our Capitol and tried to overturn an election. Can you believe this is happening in America?”

“People in Texas are burning their furniture for heat, boiling water to drink and melting snow to flush their toilets. Can you believe this is happening in America?”

monkeys

strasbourg

Europe is a bastard child of many nations that fought each other over centuries. It is hard to know when the concept of Europe started, though we are told:

pasteur

Give your custom to restaurants that include wine in the fixed price menu...

Average longevity for a water drinker : 59

Average longevity for a wine drinker: 65

Wine is milk for old people.

87 per cent of centenarians are wine drinkers.

Wine is the most healthy and most hygienic of drinks. (Pasteur)

Amen.

gates

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the Lone Star State allowing the government to allocate more funds to help millions of people affected by severe winter storms.

back...

US President Joe Biden’s recent remarks at the Munich Security Conference strongly echoed those made earlier in the day at the G-7 meeting, where he participated virtually with world leaders and spoke on his efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and the US foreign policy agenda.

friends.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has called for Australians to resist the Murdoch media empire “culture of fear” and the emerging monopolies of Google and Facebook.

Proposed bargaining laws simply entrench the power and reach of the Murdoch media empire, he warned on Friday as a witness at a parliamentary inquiry into media diversity.

fake...

What took place at the Capitol on January 6 was undoubtedly a politically motivated riot. As such, it should not be controversial to regard it as a dangerous episode. Any time force or violence is introduced into what ought to be the peaceful resolution of political conflicts, it should be lamented and condemned.

casino

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (formerly Trump Taj Mahal) is a casino and hotel on the Boardwalk, owned by Hard Rock International, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. 

cold

Global warming is upsetting the jet streams and the climate zoning... 

goog...

There’s a big hint in the name, Nine Entertainment – not “Nine Public Interest Journalism”.

biden...

Biden signs executive order reestablishing White House faith office

The order reappoints Melissa Rogers, who headed the office under President Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Sunday (Feb. 14) reestablishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, undoing former President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape an agency that went largely unstaffed for most of his tenure.