Rare ‘super blue blood moon’ coming to Western US skies next week -STATE OF THE UNION

You’ve witnessed a lunar eclipse, a “blood moon” and probably a “blue moon,” but for the first time in a very, very long time, the U.S. will experience all three combined on January 31, called a super blue blood moon (try saying that five times fast).

By long time, we mean this is the first time Americans will witness this event since March 1866 – less than a year after the Civil War ended – so you’ll want your telescopes and binoculars at the ready. MORE

Report: American Religiosity ‘Growing More Exceptional All the Time’

Contrary to popular opinion, religiosity is not on the decline in the United States but enjoys “persistent and exceptional intensity,” according to groundbreaking new research.

In an analysis of recent scholarship, Glenn T. Stanton notes that while moderate religion is indeed slipping in the United States, intense religious belief and practice, especially among Christians, is holding strong and even increasing. MORE

Criticism of Amnesty International

(AI) includes claims of selection bias, as well as ideology/foreign policy bias against either non-Western countries or Western-supported countries. Governments that have criticised AI include those of Israel,[1][2]the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[3] China,[4] Vietnam,[5] Russia,[6] and the United States,[7] which have complained about Amnesty International for what they assert is one-sided reporting, or a failure to treat threats to security as a mitigating factor. The actions of these governments—and of other governments critical of Amnesty International—have been the subject of human rights concerns voiced by Amnesty. The Catholic Church has also criticized Amnesty for its stance on abortion, particularly in Catholic-centric countries.[8]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia