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CSIS developed a wargame for a Chinese amphibious invasion of Taiwan and ran it 24 times. In most scenarios, the United States/Taiwan/Japan defeated a conventional amphibious invasion by China and maintained an autonomous Taiwan. However, this defense came at high cost. The United States and its allies lost dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft, and tens of thousands of servicemembers. Taiwan saw its economy devastated. Further, the high losses damaged the U.S. global position for many years. China also lost heavily, and failure to occupy Taiwan might destabilize Chinese Communist Party rule. Victory is therefore not enough. The United States...

It might be more pleasant to stay at home around the fire with the family, but worship on this holy day matters more than you think What they will not have is church on Sunday, Dec. 25. On Christmas Day, StoneBridge will offer a simple community breakfast, but no religious services.“We still believe in the Sunday morning experience, but we have to meet people where they are,” Mr. Chitwood said.

After a year of lockdown, museums, libraries and bookstores across America are reopening. This cultural reawakening’s beginning coincided with both the Juneteenth holiday and the one-year anniversary of the one of the largest protests in American history against racial injustice. As bookstores reopen, many are organizing displays of children's books that celebrate Black history. What you won’t find in even the biggest collections of books is the story of the dark-skinned early people who launched human civilization.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that his state is ending its mask mandate and business capacity limits. While Democrats and many public-health officials denounced the move, ample data now exist to demonstrate that the benefits of stringent measures aren’t worth the costs.

All told, seven people died in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6. But only Ashli Babbitt’s death was directly caused by violence that day. She was a rioter killed by a Capitol Police officer, who fired the only shot by any person during the 4½-hour siege. Yet the story of who he is and why he opened fire remains shrouded in mystery.More than six weeks after Babbitt succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the upper chest, authorities are keeping secret the identity of the officer who fired the fatal round. They won’t release his name, and...

The 5,593-page government funding bill that includes the COVID-19 stimulus legislation also includes a section outlining the reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama. The legislation includes some notable sections that are not directly related to government funding or the pandemic.Section 342 of the bill outlines a "statement of policy regarding the succession or reincarnation of the Dalai Lama." Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, currently resides in exile in India after escaping from Tibet in 1959 amid a revolt against Chinese governance. Tibet was occupied by China in 1951 and incorporated as part of the East Asian nation.

Protesters have faced a number of safety threats, from flying debris to rubber bullets to chemical irritants. Dr. Eric Grieser, medical director and assistant clinical professor at the University of Florida Department of ophthalmology, has heard reports from colleagues around the country of patients coming in with permanent vision loss after protesting. Here’s what to know before heading out. Chemical irritants like teargas and pepper spray can cause excessive tearing, eyelid swelling and irritation. Teargas can lead to inflammation, blood inside the eye, scarring inside the eyelids and cataracts. It can also cause damage to the optic nerve. “The biggest...

Read a story that we are unable to link to from a certain liberal rag out of CLT, NC. Racing event in Alamance county had 2,000 people in attendance. Sheriff shows up to enforce "Social Distancing" and the racetrack had a sign out front: “This Event is held in Peaceful Protest of Injustice and Inequality Everywhere. — Ace Speedway,”

End the Shutdown. Pass it on.

Soccer star Alex Morgan and multiple Orlando City SC players were kicked out of Disney World over the weekend, TMZ reports. The Orange County Sheriff's Office reportedly told a group, including Morgan, to leave Disney after an incident at a bar in Epcot on Sunday.

To his enemies online and elsewhere, gun-safety advocate and recent high-school graduate David Hogg can be seen as a pesky mosquito that happens to be buzzing into a microphone for the world to hear. In the four months since a mass shooting at Hogg’s high school rekindled the gun debate in the United States, the sharp-tongued Hogg has become a leading voice of the student-led Never Again movement — and a lightning rod for contempt from opponents on the right. That wasn’t an accident, he says. In a new mini-memoir written by Hogg and his 15-year-old sister, Lauren, a rising...

<p>Hearing-impaired people tuning in to a news conference about the arrest of a suspected serial killer last week in Florida got a message of gibberish from an American Sign Language interpreter.</p> <p>As Tampa police Chief Brian Dugan announced the arrest of Howell Donaldson Wednesday night, interpreter Derlyn Roberts was there beside him, making signs that made no sense.</p>

Caught at end of his interview; at 7:55 EST. "They've been liberalizing their economy and boosting productivity" This comes right after he says that the sanctions have had the effect of nearly doubling their gas prices (how many people there drive?), and that Pyongyang spends about half the day dealing with power outages.

A week after the election, the Huffington Post published a blog entry in which Progressive Christians suggested what like-minded Christians should do in order to “take back their faith.” Still reeling from the election in which Donald Trump was elected president, several progressive Christians pondered the necessary steps to draw a stronger contrast between their brand of kindhearted progressive Christianity, and the kind of conservative, evangelical Christianity that helped elect Donald Trump. The responses were predictably representative of left-wing Christianity, which centered on re-emphasizing social justice issues and identity politics as the “loving,” compassionate, anti-Trumpian counterpart to the hate-filled Christianity...

The newly selected Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA), Rev. Dr. J Herbert Nelson II, recently released a statement about the presidential election entitled, “When Incivility Becomes the Norm.” Nelson characterized his missive as a “response to the violence on America’s streets after the election of Mr. Donald Trump as President–Elect of the United States of America.” One might think, upon reading this introduction, that the venerable Reverend Doctor would be making an appeal for peace and calm. After all, peaceful protests are a proud legacy of the church, while violence and riots are generally discouraged...

Southern Baptist theologian and Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler spoke to a Christian Legal Society meeting in Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday, Oct. 20, concerning the current crisis confronting Christian life in contemporary America, and what Christian lawyers, in particular, might consider in their now crucial roles. He began by noting that every Christian should be a “would be lawyer,” and vice versa. There will be “many moments of common urgency.” ..."Mohler held that there are two ways that a nation can secularize. It can 1) reject theism outright, or 2) adopt a secular worldview while remaining formally...

Christians in Russia won’t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes if Russia’s newest set of surveillance and anti-terrorism laws are enacted. The proposed laws, considered the country’s most restrictive measures in post-Soviet history, place broad limitations on missionary work, including preaching, teaching, and engaging in any activity designed to recruit people into a religious group. To share their faith, citizens must secure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches and other religious sites. The restrictions even apply to activity in private...

The threat of gun violence in public spaces across our nation is disconcerting. Indeed, ideologically driven, lethal-shooter attacks represent a considerate threat to national security. Since 1970, more Americans have been killed on U.S. soil due to gun violence than all wars combined. A community need not overreact to security threats, but just hoping that Charlotte escapes gun violence is not a viable strategy. Consider this: While most banks, hospitals, and schools rehearse tornado and fire drills, few bankers, doctors, and students have died from tornadoes or fires in the past decade. Contrastingly, scant resources are devoted to preparing to...

“The Bible is the Word of God, which errs.” From the advent of neoorthodox theology in the early twentieth century, this assertion has become a mantra among those who want to have a high view of Scripture while avoiding the academic liability of asserting biblical infallibility and inerrancy. But this statement represents the classic case of having one’s cake and eating it too. It is the quintessential oxymoron. Let us look again at this untenable theological formula. If we eliminate the first part, “The Bible is,” we get “The Word of God, which errs.” If we parse it further and...

WEST PALM BEACH — Alligators have been used as shoes, briefcases, university mascots, lunch and now, authorities say, a deadly weapon. Joshua James, 24, was arrested Monday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials said he threw a 3.5-foot alligator through a Palm Beach County Wendy's drive-thru window in October. He's also charged with illegally possessing an alligator and petty theft. Jail records show he was released on $6,000 bail Tuesday. He was ordered to have no contact with animals. Wildlife officer Nicholas Guerin said in his report...