Author: Reporter

January 6 heroes honored with Congressional Gold Medals for defending Capitol from Trump’s sedition

Law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 were honored on December 6 with Congressional Gold Medals, praised as “heroes” for securing democracy nearly two years after they fought off a brutal and bloody attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened an emotional ceremony, tensions still raw in the stately Capitol Rotunda, which was overrun that day when Trump supporters roamed the halls trying to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election. “January 6 was a day of horror and heartbreak; it is also a moment of extraordinary heroism —staring...

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USS Arizona survivor honors the heroes killed at Pearl Harbor on 81st anniversary observance

USS Arizona sailor Lou Conter lived through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor even though his battleship exploded and sank after being pierced by aerial bombs. That makes the now 101-year-old somewhat of a celebrity, especially on the anniversary of the December 7, 1941 assault. Many call him and others in the nation’s dwindling pool of Pearl Harbor survivors heroes. Conter rejects the characterization. “The 2,403 men that died are the heroes. And we’ve got to honor them ahead of everybody else. And I’ve said that every time, and I think it should be stressed,” Conter said in a...

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NASA’s Orion capsule heads back to earth after historic moon flight over Apollo landing sites

NASA’s Orion capsule and its test dummies swooped one last time around the moon Monday, flying over a couple Apollo landing sites before heading home. Orion will aim for a Pacific splashdown on December 11 off San Diego, setting the stage for astronauts on the next flight in a couple years. The capsule passed within 80 miles of the far side of the moon, using the lunar gravity as a slingshot for the 237,000-mile ride back to Earth. It spent a week in a wide, sweeping lunar orbit. Once emerging from behind the moon and regaining communication with flight...

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Third White House bid will not shield Trump as Justice Department’s criminal investigations proceed

Donald Trump’s early announcement of his third White House bid will not shield the former president from the criminal investigations already confronting him as an ordinary citizen, leaving him legally and politically exposed as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination. The Justice Department is pushing ahead with its probes. And with the midterm elections now mostly complete and the 2024 presidential campaign months away from beginning in earnest, federal prosecutors have plenty of time to continue their work even as Trump hits the campaign trail. “I don’t think the department is going to hesitate as a result of Trump...

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Trump 2024 rivals court his donors as GOP frets about its future under ex-president’s leadership

The Republican Party’s nascent 2024 class, emboldened as ever, openly cast Donald Trump as “a loser” over and over on November 18 as they courted donors and activists fretting about the GOP’s future under the former president’s leadership. Trump’s vocal critics included current and former Republican governors, members of his own Cabinet and major donors who gathered along the Las Vegas strip for what organizers described as the unofficial beginning of the next presidential primary season. It was a remarkable display of defiance for a party defined almost wholly by its allegiance to Trump for the past six years....

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Surge of anti-Jewish vitriol from celebrities is fueling fears about normalizing hate speech

A surge of anti-Jewish vitriol, spread by a world-famous rapper, an NBA star and other prominent people, is stoking fears that public figures are normalizing hate and ramping up the risk of violence in a country already experiencing a sharp increase in antisemitism. Leaders of the Jewish community in the U.S. and extremism experts have been alarmed to see celebrities with massive followings spew antisemitic tropes in a way that has been taboo for decades. Some said it harkens back to a darker time in America when powerful people routinely spread conspiracy theories about Jews with impunity. Former President...

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