Category Archives: Ron Paul

With less than two weeks separating us from Super Bowl LV next Sunday, we will sadly have to manage without any televised games this weekend.

Luckily, RedBox recently released its Top 10 list of greatest football movies on its website/app -- and weve opted to re-rank them with our own take on it.

Check out the RedBox Top 10 (in our order) below -- and be sure to grab some popcorn and throw your favorite teams jersey on while watching these films this weekend!

10) Draft Day

Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner star in this modern film about the NFL draft and life in the 'war room'.

Film synopsis: One of pro footballs most important days, NFL draft day, is drawing near, but Sonny (Kevin Costner) has much more on his mind than just which players to recruit. His lover (Jennifer Garner) is pregnant, and the teams owner (Frank Langella) wants to fire him. After Sonny accepts a deal with Seattle that nets him that teams first-round pick, he immediately wonders if he has made the right choice for himself and the Browns.

WATCH IT HERE.

9) Varsity Blues

CAST PHOTO OF VARSITY BLUES. (CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM CENTER:) JAMES VAN DER BEEK AS MOX, AMY SMART AS JULIE, ELIEL SWINTON AS WENDELL, PAUL WALKER AS LANCE, ALI LARTER AS DARCY, RON LESTER AS BILLY BOB AND SCOTT CAAN AS TWEEDER.

Film synopsis: In West Canaan, Texas, high school football reigns supreme. When starting quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) turns up injured, the Coyotes ruthless coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight), must promote benchwarmer Jonathon Mox Moxon (James Van Der Beek) to lead the team in its quest for a divisional title. Suddenly thrown into the spotlight, Mox must deal with the pressure of carrying the aspirations of an entire town on his shoulders, as he struggles to pursue his own very different dreams. WATCH IT HERE.

8) The Blind Side

Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side." (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Film synopsis: Future Super Bowl champion Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a homeless black teen, has drifted in and out of the school system for years. Then Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw), take him in. The Tuohys eventually become Michaels legal guardians, transforming both his life and theirs. Michaels tremendous size and protective instincts make him a formidable force on the gridiron, and with help from his new family and devoted tutor, he realizes his potential as a student and football player.

WATCH IT HERE.

7) Little Giants

Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill star in this family fun film.

Film synopsis: Ever since childhood, nerdy Danny OShea (Rick Moranis) has felt inferior to his brother, Kevin (Ed ONeill), a former college football star. Danny runs a gas station, while Kevin coaches the local youth football team. When Kevins team rejects Dannys daughter, Becky (Shawna Waldron), because shes a girl, Becky convinces her dad to start a rival team, though the city can support only one. To prove himself against his brother, Danny begins coaching his team of misfits for a playoff game.

WATCH IT HERE.

6) Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire." (Sony Pictures)

Film synopsis: When slick sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) has a crisis of conscience, he pens a heartfelt company-wide memo that promptly gets him fired. Desperate to hang on to the athletes that he represents, Jerry starts his own management firm, with only single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) joining him in his new venture. Banking on their sole client, football player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Jerry and Dorothy begin to fall in love as they struggle to make their business work.

WATCH IT HERE.

5) The Longest Yard

Quarterback Paul Crewe (Adam Sandler, center) and some of his fellow convicts and teammates (left to right) Torres (Lobo Sebastian, left), Turley (Dalip Singh, center left), Switowski (Bob Sapp, center right), and Cheeseburger Eddy (Terry Crews, right) prepare to take on the guards in the comedy, "The Longest Yard."

Film synopsis: Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe (Adam Sandler) lands in jail, where manipulative Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) recruits him to advise the institutions team. This turns into a lead role quarterbacking a crew of inmates in a game against a team of prison guards. Aided by incarcerated ex-NFL coach Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds), Crewe and his team must overcome not only the bloodthirstiness of the opposition, but also the corrupt officials trying to fix the game against them.

WATCH IT HERE.

4) We Are Marshall

Matthew Fox and Matthew McConaughey in "We Are Marshall." (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Film synopsis: In 1970, Marshall University and the small town of Huntington, W.Va., reel when a plane crash claims the lives of 75 of the schools football players, staff members and boosters. New coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) arrives on the scene in March 1971, determined to rebuild Marshalls Thundering Herd and heal a grieving community in the process.

WATCH IT HERE.

3) Any Given Sunday

JAMIE FOXX, AL PACINO and LL COOL J star in Oliver Stone's sweeping drama, 'ANY GIVEN SUNDAY.' BPI DIGITAL PHOTO 1999 WARNER BROS. CR: ROBERT ZUCHERMAN

Film synopsis: Four years ago, DAmatos (Al Pacino) Miami Sharks were at the top. Now, his team is struggling with three consecutive losses, sliding attendance, and aging heroes, particularly 39-year-old quarterback Jack Cap Rooney (Dennis Quaid). Off the field, DAmato is struggling with a failed marriage and estranged children, and is on a collision course with Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), the young president/co-owner of the Sharks organization.

WATCH IT HERE.

2) Friday Night Lights

"Friday Night Lights." (Universal Pictures)

Film synopsis: A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the towns dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.

WATCH IT HERE.

1) Rudy

Sean Astin in "Rudy." (TriStar Pictures)

Film synopsis: Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) wants to play football at the University of Notre Dame, but has neither the money for tuition nor the grades to qualify for a scholarship. Rudy redoubles his efforts to get out of the steel mill where his father works when his best friend (Christopher Reed) dies in an accident there. Overcoming his dyslexia thanks to his friend and tutor, D-Bob (Jon Favreau), Rudy gains admission to Notre Dame and begins to fight his way onto the schools fabled football team.

WATCH IT HERE.

Original post:
Ten great football movies to watch leading up to Super Bowl Sunday - SILive.com

This week on The Ringer, we celebrate those movies that from humble or overlooked beginnings rose to prominence through the support of their obsessive fan bases. The movies that were too heady for mainstream audiences; the comedies that were before their time; the small indies that changed the direction of Hollywood. Welcome to Cult Movie Week.

As a Long Island kid in the late 1970s and 80s, Robert Siegel would lay under his covers at night and listen to sports-talk radio. He still remembers the callers thick accents. Always guys from Queens, always guys from Brooklyn, the filmmaker says. I was living my sheltered, suburban Jewish experience. Those people in other parts of New York were so exotic.

They were the kinds of memorably downtrodden minor figures that populated Siegels favorite movies: Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver, Saturday Night Fever. But hed never seen a film about the type of aging schlub whod phone WFAN and patiently stay on hold for hours just for a chance to air his grievances with pro athletes who werent even listening. So in the early 2000s, while serving as the editor in chief of satirical publication The Onion, he decided to write one himself. Those voices I heard were ingrained in my head, burned into my brain from my teenage years, says Siegel, who as a child shunned the mediocre Jets and Giants for the Steelers. It very easily translated into a 70s-style, gritty character study.

Initially titled Paul Aufiero, the script centered on a 35-year-old Staten Island man who lives for the New York Giants and with his mother. He sleeps on a bed covered in NFL team sheets; a poster of his favorite player, Quantrell Bishop, hangs on the wall of his bedroom; he spends too much of his time both listening and calling in to a radio show hosted by the Sports Dogg. He bleeds blue, but doesnt have anything else in his life. His allegianceand entire existenceis tested, however, when Bishop nearly beats him to death in a strip club.

There are plenty of movies about the underbelly of sports, but only a few about the underbelly of sports fandom. Siegels screenplay explored what can happen when obsession overtakes identity. Uncoincidentally, Pauls very first line of dialogue, part of a rant to the Sports Dogg, is: I cant tell you how sick I am

Ive never read anything like what Rob writes, says Capone, Fantastic Four, and Chronicle director Josh Trank, who collaborated with Siegel on the project. Its not super colorful. If anything, its ridiculously economical, to a point where its almost as if the author of the words that youre reading doesnt want to get in between you and the basic experience of just being there with these characters.

By the time Siegels script landed in the hands of Patton Oswalt, it had been floating around Hollywood for the better part of a decade. The story reminded the comedian of intimate 70s classics like Five Easy Pieces and Wanda. Instead of going into some convoluted plot or big concept, were going to hang out with this character, warts and all, he says. You go deep into one person, and that opens up the world in a weird way.

But like many other original ideas before it, what eventually became Big Fan took a circuitous route to the big screen. And when the dramatic comedy did get made, it was a flop. But since its release in 2009, Siegels self-financed directorial debut has gained a cult following for the way it predicted the dangers of toxic fanboyism, just as social media had begun to supercharge its ugliness.

Prior to Big Fan, pragmatism fueled Siegels screenwriting career. Hed written what he knew: comedies. Then, during his faux news organizations annual three-week publishing break in the summer of 2002, he stopped worrying about churning out a script that could sell and instead worked on one that actually interested him.

Like countless New Yorkers, Siegel loved sports and Martin Scorsese. The Long Islander knew that he wanted his homage to his idol to revolve around a laughably small-minded fan who lived in a laughably small world. Hes a far more gentle but just as obsessive version of Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin.

Before calling into the Sports Dogg, Paul has to write out his diatribes. His mother laments that the only woman hes dating is his hand and scolds him for the doo-doo stains that she sees while washing his underpants. He snarfs the edible photo of 50 Cent on his nephews birthday cake and retchingly pours sugar into his regular Coca-Cola. (My dad used to do that, Siegel says.) While following Bishop from a gas station to Stapleton, Staten Island, at 10:45 p.m., hes too naive to realize that the Giants linebacker is picking up drugs.

Before starting to write, Siegel had to visit an acquaintance at a hospital. Upon entering and later exiting the parking garage, he wondered what the cashiers life was like. At that moment, Siegel knew that Paul should toil as a booth attendant. Youre in the crosshairs of people who are just having the worst day of their lives, Siegel says. Sometimes you have an idea gestating and then theres some image that crystalizes it for you.

Siegel wrote Paul Aufiero in 10 days: Its never happened before or since where something just poured out of me. Without seeking any notes from development executives, he gave the script to his agent. Soon, there was an intrigued party: Darren Aronofsky. Over several meetings at coffee shops, the director of Requiem for a Dream and Siegel talked about the potential films direction. But then they had a problem. The NFL issue, Siegel says.

Unsurprisingly, the league doesnt take kindly to being associated with films and TV shows as raw as Big Fan. The ESPN series Playmakers and Oliver Stones Any Given Sunday used fictional franchises for a reason. The NFL is notoriously litigious, Siegel says. I mean, they have a rich history of lawsuits. Even if theres nothing really objectionable, they just protect the shield. They will sue you.

To make matters worse, all the major movie studios other than Sony were affiliated with networks that aired professional football games. Fox, NBC, and CBS each pay around $1 billion annually to broadcast the Sunday NFL slate; when the current rights deal is renegotiated next year, that figure may double. It makes sense that megacorporations wouldnt want to jeopardize their lucrative relationship with the league for a tiny indie flick with zero blockbuster potential.

Aronofsky, and Siegel for that matter, had little desire to make a movie about a disturbed fan of a fake team. Without the presence of Giants logos and paraphernalia, Pauls obsession just wouldnt feel real. And so the screenplay languished. Trank first came across it when he was in his late teens; a friend of Amy Heckerlings daughter, Trank had become an unofficial assistant to the Clueless director. I was getting deeper and deeper into reading scripts, Trank says. Amy said to me, You want to read a great script? Heres this.

At one point or another, Paul Rudd, Rainn Wilson, Jason Reitman, and Todd Field all expressed interest in Siegels script. But none ever fully committed. Aronofsky moved on, too, but was so impressed with Siegels work that he hired him to write another bleak sports movie. This one, The Wrestler, did get madeto great acclaim. Yet even after working on an Academy Awardnominated film, Siegel couldnt find any backers for his dream project. Finally, he took matters into his own hands.

I just wanted this movie to exist, Siegel says. I said, The only way Im going to do it is if I do it myself and if I self-finance it. So thats what I did.

Coming off of The Wrestler, Siegel was able to put up $250,000 of his own money. In hindsight, dropping a quarter of a million dollars on a passion project wasnt pragmatic. After all, his wife was pregnant. To my never-ending gratitude, he says, she was cool with it.

In search of guidance as to whether the NFL would actually sue him, Siegel sent his screenplay to Michael Donaldson, an entertainment attorney whos worked extensively with independent filmmakers on rights issues. To Siegels shock, the veteran lawyer told him, You can do this.

I said, Well, what can I do? Siegel remembers. He says, You can do anything. You can show the logos. You can have the jerseys. You can talk about the teams. You can make up fictional players. The only thing Donaldson advised against was using actual game footage. Beyond that, Siegel recalls him saying, everything is fair use.

When it was time to find his Paul Aufiero, Siegel immediately targeted Patton Oswalt. Back in the aughts, Oswalt was best known for his stand-up and for his role on the sitcom The King of Queens. And while the comedian had voiced Remy in Pixars Ratatouille, hed never carried a live-action movie. He also wasnt a sports fanbut Siegel thought he could still understand the concepts of arrested development and obsession. He just fit exactly what I wanted, Siegel says. Hes not a sports fan, but nerdy obsession is nerdy obsession, whether its the New York Giants or the MCU.

Oswalt was a cinephile, a comic book nerd, and a voracious reader. Hed also written extensively about his own geekdom. I understand wanting something bigger than yourself, Oswalt tells me. Everyone, I think, will find a different version of it, one way or the other. That same kind of nerdy passion for other thingsfilms, comics, booksI was just able to transfer to sports. Its the same spark, its just different fuel.

Even with barely any money, Siegel managed to assemble a small but talented cast of decorated character actors around Oswalt. Marcia Jean Kurtz plays Pauls exasperated single mother, Theresa; Kevin Corrigan is his best friend Sal; and Michael Rapaport appears mostly as the disembodied voice of the rival sports-radio caller Philadelphia Phil. (The main reason Siegel made the working-class Paul a Giants fan and not a Jets fan was because Gang Green didnt have a historical rival like the Eagles.)

It was a very human script, very deeply human, Kurtz says. [It] really cared for these lonely people.

I was a big fan of Patton for years, Corrigan said in an email. Id seen him perform. I had all his records. In the movie, Sal looks up to Paul. He loves listening to his friend. He loves Pauls act. I really felt that way about Patton.

Gino Cafarelli, who plays Pauls ambulance-chasing brother Jeff, remembers getting a phone call from Siegel about the part. He goes, I was scanning through YouTube and I punched in character actor and New York character actor, Cafarelli says. And he said every time he kept punching it in, my reel kept on coming up.

For the Sports Dogg, whom the audience never sees, Siegel needed a distinct voice. He found one in the gravel-throated, then-Sirius sports-radio host Scott Ferrall. He understood men like Pauland how to tee them up. Im like their shrink and Im like their lover, Ferrall says. Im like their dealer. Im like their best pal. And theyll tell me all their deepest thoughts.

Not that Paul even has any deep thoughts. His screeds rarely amount to much more than boilerplate talking points about Eli Manning. He has, Siegel says, a very low level of self-awareness.

Without meeting Oswalt, Ferrall recorded his part in his studio over two long sessions. I just started going crazy, says Ferrall, who was given talking points but ad-libbed most of his lines. And I remember just flipping out and screaming and yelling and arguing and doing like I would do a talk show.

The more Ferrall learned about Oswalts character, the more he felt familiar. What was strange about it, the broadcaster says, was that I think at least 20 percent of my callers are like him.

His movies micro budget may have necessitated a guerilla-style shoot, but Siegel vowed not to sacrifice realism or detail. Without permission to film in the Giants Stadium parking lots, he did it anyway, collecting B-roll and shots of Oswalt and Corrigan wearing team gear among throngs of tailgaters.

For a scene in which the two ticketless buddies watch the game on a box TV powered by Pauls moms beat-up car, the director got a permit to film at the adjacent Meadowlands Racetrack. Theyre like, You want to shoot something in our parking lot during a race? Go ahead. Knock yourself out, Siegel says. If you take your camera and you rotate it 180 degrees, Oh my God, look. Whats this? Giants Stadium!

Producer/location manager Nick Gallo, an Onion alum who worked at Auntie Annes Pretzels at the Staten Island Mall in the 90s, offered his familys homes as filming locations. Nicks grandmas parakeet was traumatized, Trank says. It was very sad afterward.

Unsurprisingly, the actors had few creature comforts. Not that it bothered them. I dont mind changing out of a car if its a great script, Cafarelli says. He means that literally: Cafarelli got into costume in a Nissan Sentra, while Oswalts dressing room was the back of a van. Catering was, they would go to Subway every day, Oswalt says. It was just the most basic, bare bones. Really cool, you know?

The DIY production fostered camaraderie. Between takes, Corrigan recalls, Oswalt would bring up his favorite Onion stories and headlines and Siegel would tell their backstories. (Our Dumb Century, everything about that book was just genius, Oswalt says.)

As both a director and a sports fan, Siegel paid close attention to detail. While talking about the Giants defense in one scene, Oswalt emphasized the second syllable of the word rather than the first. The mispronunciation seemed innocuous, but it was the kind of thing that the director wouldve flagged as inauthentic if he heard it in another movie. Im like, I dont think people care, Trank says. And hes like, Theyll care.

If theres one thing that Oswalts lack of sports knowledge prevented him from doing in Big Fan, it was improvising. For someone who once delivered an eight-minute Star Wars filibuster in an episode of Parks and Recreation, it was like being comedically handcuffed. Ultimately, though, that hindrance likely strengthened his performance. After all, Paul Aufiero is neither smart nor worldly. There were moments when I would riff stuff, and then I would stop and go, Hell, he doesnt have the inner resources to riff like that, Oswalt says. Me and Robert were very, very open about this guy not having clever things to say. Hes kind of a void. And Im glad we stuck to that.

By the end of a lesser film, Paul wouldve learned some lessons. Hed maybe figure out that blind devotion is dangerous. And possibly, hed realize that there should be more to a grown mans life than worrying about whether his team wins on Sunday afternoons. But Big Fan isnt a normal sports movie.

After his accidental provocation at a strip club causes Bishop to attack him, a traumatized Paul seems tortured. His lawyer brother wants him to sue. A detective wants him to testify against the linebacker. Adding insult to injury, Philadelphia Phil goes on the Sports Dogg and doxxes him as Bishops assault victim. But despite nearly dying at the hands of his favorite player, despite the fact that hes become a local pariah, he still doesnt want to mess up the Giants season.

He definitely feels the vice, Siegel says. He feels the screws are being put to him by his brother, by Philadelphia Phil. He feels like the teams fate rests in his hands. Hes definitely spending that middle stretch of the movie with just a sick feeling in his gut.

Yet instead of doing the logical thing, Paul calls a trick play. After Philadelphia Phil mockingly invites him to switch allegiances and watch the Eagles-Giants season finale with him and his buddies at a sports bar, Oswalts character heads south, stopping only to throw on a Donovan McNabb jersey and paint his face green and white. During Pauls drive, Siegel makes sure to include a shot of a pistol sticking out of Pauls pants.

For a few minutes, it truly feels like Paul from Staten Island might kill Philadelphia Phil. But his version of revenge is somehow even more warped than that. After cornering the Eagles fan in the bathroom, Paul empties a clip. At first it looks like Rapaports hands and Reggie White jersey are covered in blood. But after a moment, it becomes clear that the red splatter is mixed with blue. Paul has shot Phil with a paintball gun. To Paul, covering an Eagles fan with Giants colors is worse than killing him. But crucially, hes not quite a Taxi Driverstyle vigilante.

The way that Travis Bickle is portrayed is he is someone who is spurred to some kind of action because he has seen real violence and real pain, Oswalt says. Hes got that scar. He was in Vietnam. I just dont think that Paul has ever really experienced the world at all. So, when his so-called life force swells up, even the expression of the life force is just this weird, symbolic thing of just spraying his enemy with his teams colors. Hes so cut off from humanity, he doesnt even know how to do violence correctly.

The crushingly funny reveal ends with Paul telling Philadelphia Phil that the Eagles suck, running out of the bar, and getting tackled by the cops. Trank calls the climax of Big Fan one of his top-five favorite endings ever.

Pauls love for his team is tested, but in the end it never caves. You can struggle without ever actually being truly undecided, says Siegel. I mean the question the movie asks is, What do you do when this thing you love doesnt love you back? That could be a team. That could be a president. These are all forms of abusive relationships. Hes in an abusive relationship with the New York Giants. You reach a point when that thing you believe in punches you in the face. You have this moment where you have to decide, Do I take this as a turning point and turn my back on this thing? Or do I double down?

One way to answer those questions cinematically is via a romantic comedy like the Jimmy FallonDrew Barrymore movie Fever Pitch. But thats pure fantasy. Siegel was interested in real life.

It is one of those great movies where its realistic to a fault, Oswalt says. The character does not grow or change. He fights against change, and his victory at the end is that he doesnt change.

In January of 2009, Big Fan premiered to positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. But mid-financial crisis, a sports movie that featured no sports and no big stars didnt entice many buyers. Its like, Well, I cant fit it into this category, Trank says. So Im not going to risk it.

Late that winter, the film sold to a small distributor called First Independent Pictures. It opened on August 28, first in just two theaters in America, then eventually in 15. This was not going to be in 1,000 theaters, Siegel says. I can name the theaters it played at. At the box office, the movie ended up grossing just $234,540less than Siegel had sunken into it.

And even after Big Fan hit home video, it didnt find a wide audience. On the DVD [cover], they cut me and Kevin to make it look like were actually in the stadium, Oswalt says. But theres no actual football in the movie.

Still, Big Fan has its share of big fans. Its currently at 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. This isnt only, or even, a sports movie, Roger Ebert correctly pointed out in his review. Its about leading a life vicariously. Shortly after the movies release, Slates Dana Stevens wrote that it seems destined for a future in the cult canon. The cult never grew very large. But it exists. And its as passionate about Siegels film as Paul is about the Giants.

These days, watching Big Fan is an even more affecting experience than it was 12 years ago. People like Paul Aufiero have always existed. But theyve never been as emboldened as they are now. Imagining Paul, who in the movie can barely use the internet, on social media is both sad and scary. Maybe he wouldve been one of those guys that want to matter on Twitter, but he just doesnt, and all he does is troll celebrities, Oswalt says. The kind of guy that will send horrible things to celebrities, and then when they block them, he takes a screenshot of the block like, Got him.

To his relief, the litigious NFL never got Siegel. Nor did they try. After making a movie about pro football fandom, he went on to tackle other uniquely American phenomena. The Founder, the McDonalds CEO Ray Kroc biopic that he wrote, came out in 2017. Now the former Onion EIC is writing a Hulu limited series based on the Pamela AndersonTommy Lee sex tape scandal.

Siegel, who remains a Steelers die hard, looks back on Big Fan often. But not always fondly. I just remember the mistakes, he says. To this day, two severely irk him. First, the Eagles-Giants season finale in the climactic sequence is played on Monday Night Football. In reality, the last MNF game of the year is held in Week 16, not Week 17. And in the very last scene, when Sal visits Paul in prison, they go over the next years schedule. The Giants AFC opponents play in the North, South, East, and West, an impossibility due to the fact that a clubs annual out-of-conference schedule contains only teams from a single division.

It just gutted me, Siegel says.

Thats the thing about sports: You always remember the painful losses more than the big wins.

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The Cult Sports Movie That Tackled the Underbelly of Fandom - The Ringer

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV)

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and other Republican lawmakers are re-introducing a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the legislation would criminalize abortions performed after 20 weeks, "the point at which scientific evidence suggests an unborn child is able to feel pain," according to Romney.

According to CDC data, the legislation would apply to the 1.3% of abortions performed in the United States after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Health care workers, not pregnant women, would face criminal penalties for performing abortions after 20 weeks if the bill were to become law, with the penalty including up to five years in prison.

The legislation does make exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.

The Pain-Capable Abortion Act has been introduced previously in 2015, when it passed the House but failed in the Senate, Vox reports. It was also on the table again in 2018, when it failed.

RELATED: Sen. Lee sponsors 'Abortion is not Heath Care', other anti-abortion bills as fed policy changes

Reports of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act exist as far back as 2015.

Whether or not an unborn child can feel pain at any point in the gestational process remains scientifically unproven, according to multiple scientific publications.

Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester," beginning at 27 to 28 weeks after conception according to a 2005 synthesis of available scientific evidence published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

As recently as 2012, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists re-assessed available research and came to the same conclusion.

The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah issued the following statement to 2News regarding Romney and other legislators' re-introduction of the bill:

Health care decisions should be made by patients and their trusted health care provider, not by politicians in the Senate. These bills are designed by politicians to spread misinformation, distort the truth, shame pregnant people and doctors, and ultimately, ban abortion. The American people overwhelmingly support abortion access, and they want a U.S. Senate that works to expand health care, not take it away."

The legislation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-UT) is also cosponsored by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Rob Portman (R-OH), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN).

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Romney reintroduces bill banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy - KJZZ

With the new administration and a Democrat run government, it was only a matter of time before corporations started to curry favor with the new legislative majority.

With pending anti-trust legislation in the works by House Democrats, Big Tech made a few strategic moves earlier this month to show that they are friendly to the current ruling class. Facebook and Twitter have censored or banned Trump, Ron Paul, #WalkAway Campaign, and many more .

It is easy to see these moves as an attack on the political values of conservatives. But that would lose sight of the fact that these are corporations who are judged by market cap and net income.

These companies have no doubt a dominating liberal culture within their workforce, but when that culture clashes with profits, profits invariably win. The current crackdown on conservatives by Big Tech is not happening because they hate conservative values or conservative people, it is because they understand that Democrats have the power.

So what can we, as conservatives, do?

The general line of prescription is to stop shopping at a business you don't like.

Hit them where it hurts, in the pocket book. This is an excellent strategy to fight against a clothing brand, or a restaurant.

But this is unrealistic when referring to a near monopolistic business such as Facebook or Twitter. Most of us use Facebook to connect family and friends across the country. It has also become a central method of how we absorb information, news and otherwise, from the outside world.

For better or for worse, even for those that don't like technology, social media has become as central to many American's lives as television or radio. So if you are unwilling to leave social media, what is your avenue of recourse?

Hit them in the pocketbook, without leaving. Specific targeted advertising is Faceboook's golden goose. Facebook uses information you input in the site (ie. your birthday, hometown, page likes, content likes) and combines it with information it gathers from your activities across the internet.

Using this profile, it shows you ads that it believes would suit you. This process has been very beneficial for small/big businesses, magazines, and non-profits while making Facebook billions in the process.

This is also how you can, in-part, de-monetize, them without leaving the site.

Delete as much personal information about you on your facebook page as possible. Then start using a browser that blocks Facebook from tracking you across the internet.

There are many,duckduckgo.comis a good one for mobile. Lastly, stop clicking anything that is an ad on your Facebook feed. If it is something you are interested in, search for it in a new browser page.

All these steps lessen the effectiveness of the information Big Tech gathers on you, and therefore the effectiveness of the targeted ads they show you.

You won't be putting Facebook out of business anytime soon, but you can rest assured that you have done everything in your power to stop putting money in their bank account, short of quitting. "

NOTE: Aditya Atholi is a resident of Center who writes a conservative column. He may be reached at: adityaatholi1@gmail.com

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What are conservatives to do in this new Democrat government era? - The Light and Champion

Jared Evan

Senator Rand Paul(R-Ky), son of extremely popular retired Congressman Ron Paul, over the last several years was not always a solid ally of President Trump but is someone who has always spoken his honest opinion regardless of which side of the aisle his views aligned with.

He has always been controversial, and strangely enough, even though he sympathized with several anti-police activists points of contention and introduced a bill named after Breonna Taylor, designed to end no-knock warrant arrests, found himself harassed and almost beaten brutally on the streets of D.C after the GOP National convention over the summer, by BLM terrorists.

After the January 6th storming of the capitol it is practically taboo to mention the term voter fraud or question the election of Joe Biden. Even discussing these topics, will find one banned from Twitter, suspended from Facebook, and removed from YouTube.

Senator Paul was not afraid to speak of that which is now taboo. Appearing on ABCs This Week, he unleashed on George Stephanopoulos, several powerful points regarding the November election.

Highlights:

The debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur. We never had any presentation in court where we ever looked at the evidence. There were several states in which the law was changed by the Secretary of State and not the state legislature. To me those are clearly unconstitutional and I think theres still a chance those do finally work their way up to the Supreme Court.

In my state, where we had a Democrat Secretary of State, she refused, even under federal order, to purge the rolls of illegal voters. We got a Republican SoS and he purged the rolls. In Wisconsin, tens of thousands of absentee votes had only the name on them and no address. Historically, those were thrown out. This time they werent.

You immediately say everythings a lie instead of saying theres two sides to everything. Historically what would happen is if I said I thought there was fraud, youd interview someone else who said there wasnt. But now you insert yourself in the middle and say that the absolute fact is that everything Im saying is a lie.

Youre saying theres no fraud and its all been investigated and thats just not true. I plan on spending the next two years going around, state to state, fixing these problems. There has been no thorough examination of all states to see what problems we had and see if we could fix them.

Theres two sides to every story. Interview someone on the other side, but dont insert yourself into the story to say were all liars. Youre forgetting who you are as a journalist if you think theres only one side. A journalist would hear both sides and there are two sides to this story.

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Rand Paul Makes Voter Fraud Claims on ABC "This Week"; Battles Stephanopoulos in Heated Debate - The Jewish Voice

How To Watch, Listen, News & Notes

Where: Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana

Tip-off: Sunday, January 24 at 12:00 p.m. ET

TV: BTN - Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo

Radio: Live Listen - Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/XM 381, Jerry Recco & Mark Peterson; WRSU 88.7 FM - Raj Shah and Chris Tsakonas

KenPom Rankings: Rutgers is 46, which is 7 spots worse since the 8 point loss at Penn State on Thursday; Indiana is 23, which is 10 spots worse better since a 12 point win at Iowa on Thursday.

Efficiency Rankings: Rutgers - Offense 109.2 (59th) Defense 93.2 (37th); Indiana - Offense 110.9 (43rd) Defense 91.2 (15th)

KenPom Prediction: Indiana 70 Rutgers 65; Rutgers is given a 33% chance to win.

OTB Guide to KenPom

Vegas Line: Indiana -4.5

Series History: Indiana leads the all-time series 7-3, but Rutgers won the lone meeting last season 59-50 at the RAC on January 15, 2020.

Indiana SB Nation Site: The Crimson Quarry

Indiana - 69 sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis (20.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.5 assists, 54.2% FG); 64 sophomore Armaan Franklin (12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 43.1% 3-pt FG); 64 senior Aljami Durham (10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists); 68 redshirt junior Race Thompson (9.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 blocks, 54.5% FG); 61 junior Rob Phinisee (8.4 points, 3.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 34.6% 3-pt FG); 67 redshirt sophomore Jerome Hunter (5.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 35.9% 3-pt FG); 64 freshman Trey Galloway (4.9 points, 2.1 assists, 2.1 rebounds); 65 freshman Anthony Leal (2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists)

Rutgers - 66 junior Ron Harper Jr. (18.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 41.6% 3-pt FG); 62 senior Jacob Young (15.2 points, 4.2 assists, 2.2 steals, 2.2 rebounds, 37.5% 3-pt FG); 64 junior Montez Mathis (12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 37.8 % 3-pt FG); 64 Geo Baker (8.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steal); 610 redshirt junior Myles Johnson (8.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 steals, 1.1 assists, 61.3% FG); 66 sophomore Paul Mulcahy (6.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 38.1% 3-pt FG); 67 junior Caleb McConnell (4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steal) 611 Cliff Omoruyi (4.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 62.5% FG)

Indianas Trey Galloway missed the last game due to back soreness. Freshman Jordan Geronimo played in his absence, scoring 7 points on 3 of 3 shooting in 10 minutes of action. No word on Galloways status for Sundays game against Rutgers.

Rutgers has no significant injury issues.

The Hoosiers are coming off its biggest win of the season and perhaps most impressive upset in Big Ten play this season. Trailing no. 4 Iowa by 9 points midway through the second half, Indiana clamped down defensively en route to a stunning 81-69 victory. They had a week off since their previous game, a home loss to rival Purdue by the same score.

IU is averaging 73.1 points per game and is shooting 46.1% from the floor, 33.3% from three-point range and 65.9% from the foul line this season. They are 5th in offensive efficiency in Big Ten play and 9th in defensive efficiency (Rutgers is 8th in offensive efficiency and 10th in defensive efficiency in Big Ten play).

Offensively in conference action, Indiana is 3rd in two-point field goal percentage and 4th in free throw rate (getting to the line). However, they are just 11th in offensive rebounding rate and free throw shooting percentage, as well as 12th in three-point shooting.

Defensively, IU is 3rd in block rate and 4th in turnover rate. Conversely, they are just 11th in free throw rate and 13th in three-point shooting percentage defense.

Trayce-Jackson-Davis is one of the best players in the Big Ten and is a force in the paint on both ends of the floor. Indiana isnt a prolific three-point shooting team and will look to attack the rim, albeit at a slow pace, as they play at the 12th slowest tempo in Big Ten play and 286th nationally.

Indiana held Iowa without a field goal for 11 minutes in the second half on Thursday. The Hoosier have defended the rim well all season and were exceptional against the most efficient offense in college basketball. They want to muck it up in the paint and slow the game down. They were able to do that against the Hawkeyes and will have plenty of confidence they can do the same on Sunday against Rutgers.

This is concerning for RU, as they have struggled finishing near the rim all season. However, they need to attack in this game and not settle for contested jumpers. Take threes when they come within the flow of the offense, not forcing them as a first option.

The Scarlet Knights looked the best they have offensively in quite awhile down the stretch against Penn State. Although the comeback fell short, the clear takeaway was that they got much better looks due to better ball movement. Geo Baker and Paul Mulcahy need to be assertive running the offense on Sunday, as they facilitated the improved play. They need to minimize turnovers against a IU team that is proficient in forcing them, while also moving the basketball more through passing instead of off the bounce. Jacob Young is the best penetrator on the team, but he needs stay under control on drives and look to find open teammates more so in this game.

This contest features the two worst free throw shooting teams in the Big Ten. It wont matter though if Rutgers cant improve in getting to the line. The four best ball handlers on the team happen to be the four best free throw shooters as well, but are not doing a good job of drawing contact on drives. Baker, Mulcahy, Jacob Young, and Caleb McConnell need to attack off of ball reversals to get to the line. While getting Ron Harper Jr. going is a must, posting him up, which he did well at times against PSU, will help him get better looks and draw contact as well.

Myles Johnson and Cliff Omoruyi need to be active inside on the glass and in defending Jackson-Davis. Staying out of foul trouble is key and this could be a game that head coach Steve Pikiell plays them both together to create matchup problems for the Hoosiers.

The bottom line is that if Rutgers doesnt defend and rebound at a high level, the odds of winning this game is zero. Indiana is not a strong offensive rebounding team, so Rutgers needs to control the glass and limit second chance scoring opportunities. Its likely theyll miss shots near the rim against Indianas interior defense, so grabbing offensive boards and converting will be hugely important. Defensive pressure is also important, especially on the guards, and Rutgers has been successful at times with fullcourt pressure. However, they cant allow for breakdowns that lead to easy baskets for Indiana. Discipline and focus must be better in this game.

This is a gut check of gut check games for Rutgers. They are mired in a five game losing streak and a loss on Sunday would bury them in a 3-7 hole in Big Ten play. Its fair to think they will be unable to recover from that standing. At the end of the day, Rutgers needs to show urgency, intensity and simply want it more than Indiana. The Hoosiers are riding high and are ripe for a letdown after the biggest win of their season. Their next game is against first place Michigan, so on short rest this could be one they are looking past. Regardless, the key to this game is how much desire Rutgers plays with. They need to play with desperation, because the situation calls for it.

For the fourteenth game of the season, I chose Back Against The Wall by Cage The Elephant. The lyrics are pretty straight forward when applied to the current state of Rutgers basketball.

Im hanging by a thread and Im feeling like Ill fall. Im stuck here in between these shadows of my yesterday. I want to get away, I need to get away.

Youve got my back against the wall. Oh God, I aint got no other place to hide.

Rutgers is coming off its worst loss of the season against Penn State with another disappointing effort on Thursday. This team plays stretches of very good basketball, but they are surrounded by too many stretches of uninspired, lackluster ones. Its inexcusable and makes this losing streak all the more frustrating because this is a veteran, talented team.

The leadership must stand tall and make sure this team plays with energy and urgency in this game. Another loss and Rutgers will be in a potentially unrecoverable spot. The good news is that this group seems to play its best previously with its back against the wall and people doubting them. Theyve brought that on themselves this time though. They are the only ones who can get them out of the mess they created and it needs to start in this game. There is no place to hide and hopefully the short turnaround time leads to them playing with an edge that leads to a much needed victory.

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Game Preview: Rutgers at Indiana - On The Banks

"This is exactly what anti-vaccine groups do," said Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious diseases specialist and author of "Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science."

Now, the same groups are blaming patients' coincidental medical problems on covid shots, even when it's clear that age or underlying health conditions are to blame, Hotez said. "They will sensationalize anything that happens after someone gets a vaccine and attribute it to the vaccine," Hotez said.

For example, in a group of 10 million people, nearly 800 people ages 55 to 64 typically die of heart attacks or coronary disease in one week, Osterholm said. Public health officials "are not ready" for the onslaught of news and social media stories to come, he cautioned.

Public health officials need to do a better job communicating the risks real and imagined from vaccines, said Osterholm, who served on President Joe Biden's transition coronavirus advisory board.

"You get one chance to make a first impression," Osterholm said. "Even if we come back later and say, "No, [the deaths] had nothing to do with vaccination, it was coronary artery disease,' the damage has already been done."

"Coincidence is turning out to be quite lethal to COVID vaccine recipients," Kennedy wrote. Kennedy described the deaths as suspicious, accusing medical officials of following an "all-too-familiar vaccine propaganda playbook" and "strategic chicanery."

"We're going to see these events happen, and we have to follow up on every one of these cases," Osterholm said. "I don't want people to think that we're sweeping them under the rug."

A rare condition

"It shouldn't give anyone pause about whether the vaccine is safe or not," said Dr. James Zehnder, a hematologist and director of clinical pathology at Stanford Medicine.

Michael's bleeding disorder could have been developing silently for some time, said Dr. Adam Cuker, director of the Penn Blood Disorders Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. It could be a coincidence that Michael started showing symptoms shortly after vaccination, he said. About 30 Americans are diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia every day.

The timing of Michael's illness suggests it had another cause, doctors said. According to his wife's Facebook post, his bleeding problems began three days after his first covid shot. It takes the body 10 to 14 days after vaccination to generate antibodies, which would be needed to cause immune thrombocytopenia, said Dr. Cindy Neunert, a pediatric hematologist at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.

In most cases, the cause of thrombocytopenia is never known, said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Many patients with immune thrombocytopenia are now wondering if they should be vaccinated against covid, Cuker said. Cuker said he urges nervous patients to be vaccinated, noting that any problems could be managed by closely monitoring their platelet levels and adjusting medication if needed.

Even in patients with underlying bleeding conditions, "it's still safer to get vaccinated than to get covid," Zehnder said.

"If you give a vaccine to a large enough number of people, there are going to be rare adverse events but there are also going to be coincidental events unrelated to the vaccine," Cuker said. "If an anti-vaccine group uses a single case, where no link has been proven, to discourage people from vaccination, that's terrible."

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, said her site provides balanced information from reputable news sources, including CNN, CBS and the Miami Herald, as well as Pfizer and the CDC.

In an interview with KHN, Kennedy said he questions why government officials have been so quick to dismiss connections between vaccinations and deaths. "How in the world do they know if it's a vaccine injury or not?" he asked.

"We don't discourage anybody from getting vaccinated," Kennedy said. "All we're doing is conveying the data, which is what the government should be doing. ... We print the truth, which is what the medical agencies ought to do."

Alternative facts?

"They have come out against every public health measure to control the pandemic," Carpiano said. "They have said public health is public enemy No. 1."

Recently, anti-vaccine activists have been so eager to discredit immunizations that they have blamed covid for the deaths of people who are very much alive.

Anti-vaccine activists are adept at manipulating video, Smith said.

"They are notorious for using videos and images purportedly showing the adverse effects of vaccines, such as autism in children and seizures in other vaccine recipients," Smith said. "The more emotive and graphic the videos and images irrespective of whether it's actually linked at all to vaccines or not the better."

Anti-vaccine groups often build fables around "a tiny, tiny grain of truth," Smith said. "This is why misinformation, specifically vaccine misinformation, can be so convincing. ... But this information is almost always taken completely out of context, creating claims that are either misleading or outright false."

Distorting facts to discourage vaccination, Cuker said, is "very irresponsible and damaging to public health."

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Anti-vaccine activists peddle theories that Covid-19 shots are deadly, undermining vaccination - CNN

Rutgers wins! They came to play from the tip and they reaped the rewards. What a game.

Four Thoughts.

That Was Rutgers Basketball: After lacking the toughness, the defense and the rebounding that has been a staple of the Steve Pikiell era, the Scarlet Knights brought it all back. Shaking up the starting line-up by inserting Paul Mulcahy and Caleb McConnell, it was evident from the start that this wasnt the Rutgers team we saw during the losing streak that lasted nearly all of January. They shared the ball, and didnt isolate much. That added ball movement helped the offense in a myriad of ways and the shots went in. They outrebounded the Hoosiers 32-29 and were a force on the glass. It felt like the old days as Rutgers got back to basics. It wasnt a perfect winthough they made their free throws, they still missed a few key shots down the stretch. And Geo Baker took a very odd technical that Ive never seen called before. But a win is a win is a win. Take it and get on the plane.

Geo Baker, Big Shot Maker: This was the Geo weve been waiting for this season. He made four threes and had the ball in his hands for most of the game. He pushed the pace when he could and slowed it down when needed. Geo made smart decisions, finishing with 19 points, 5 assists and a steal. Rutgers needed their leader to be the guy to get them out of the doldrums and they did. Need to see this Geo the rest of the way to get the season back on track.

Ron Harper Jr. Did the Dirty Work: While he wasnt Ron Fire today, he affected the game in so many ways. He had a double double with 15 points and 12 boards. He was a force on defense and he got in and did the dirty work, pulling down rebounds, getting steals and diving for loose balls. Thats the thing about the players on this teamthey can have a huge night scoring, like Geo did or they can get in and muck it up in other ways. Ron still hit double digits, but he wasnt lights out. He did what was needed to win and helped the team look in sync the whole night.

Myles Johnson Has Long Arms: The offensive rebound Myles pulled down at the end of the game may have been the biggest rebound of the season. And thats what Myles does. The refs still dont know how to blow a whistle on him because he plays without fouling and still ends up in foul trouble. He was 4-4 from the field, to finish with 8 points, 8 boards, 5 blocks and 3 steals. Nearly everyone was clicking today, and Myles was an engine for all the minutes he played. Just a huge game from the redshirt junior.

BONUS FIFTH THOUGHT: Rutgers booster Al Reicheg asked the Court Club Twitter account what they would do for a win. He suggested that the CC account reach out to me and give a football thought for the day. Reicheg and site editor Aaron Breitman are big Green Bay Packers fans and they want to go 2-0 today. Rutgers did their part, so Im wishing Green Bay well todayeven though Im a Giants fan. Good luck, Green Bay. May you streak to the endzone the same way Jacob Young streaks to the hoop.

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Embracing Expectations: 4 Thoughts on Rutgers 74-70 Win Over Indiana - On The Banks

A couple love each othereven more than on the the day they exchanged vows 75 years ago, their son says.

Ron and Betty Sutton were married on February 2, 1946, at Great Yarmouth town hall.

Their son Paul Sutton said the pair lived independently in Gorleston and "loved each other to bits."

"They are still lovey-doveywith each other,it's really nice to see," he said.

Ron and Betty Sutton on their wedding on February 2, 1946.- Credit: Supplied by Paul Sutton

Anniversary celebrations, however, will be postponed in line with the coronavirus lockdown -the couple likely to raise a glass to each otherat home alone.

Paul said that until Christmas he had been in a bubble with his parents visiting them once a week.

But with the new variant and strict new rules they had not seen each otherat all.

His dad, at 94, was "tough as old boots" and took everything in his stride with no fuss, pretty much running the household since his 93-year-old wifeBetty's open heart surgery two years ago.

Ron grew up in Great Yarmouth's Rows, leaving school at 14 because his family could not afford the grammar school uniform.

When the war came many, including Betty, were evacuated butRon stayed on volunteering for the Navy aged 16.

In February 1944 on a posting back home he met Betty at a youth club in Cobholm.

Ron and Betty Sutton met as teenagers at a youth club in Cobholm and are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary.- Credit: Supplied by Paul Sutton

Ron's service then took him to Canada and New York and during another home leave, and ahead of an expected posting to India, thecouple married.

But the posting never came, and instead Ron went into the building trade, moving to the Ministry of Works and a job at the NATO headquarters in Germany where the couple lived for eight years learning German and where two of their children went to school

Betty, nee Parker, hails from St Nicholas Road in Great Yarmouth and worked as a doctor's receptionist and then at Arnolds (later Debenhams)

She was also a talented seamstress, teaching dress-making while in Germany.

Ron and Betty Sutton will mark their 75th wedding anniversary on February 2. The couple are said to be like 'two peas in a pod'.- Credit: Supplied by Paul Sutton

They have three childrenPaul, married to Tina, Barry, and Linda and her husband Bill, four grandchildrenBen, Jenny, Mark and Stephen, and six great grandchildren Rufus, Juniper, Edward, Daniel,Rowan andFergus.

Paul said: "They have always looked after themselves, are remarkably fit and healthy, evenfor people half their age, and love each other to bits.

"Not many people have been married for 75 years.

"Apart from being like two peas in a pod and having always been totally devoted to each other, they share everything, and never ever let the sun go down

on a quarrel, and have always been totally supportive of each other."

See the article here:
Ron and Betty Sutton celebrate 75th anniversary - Eastern Daily Press

With the mainstream media still obsessing about the January 6th violent coup attempt at the US Capitol Building, the incoming Biden Administration looks to be chock full of actual purveyors of violent coups. Dont look to the mainstream media to report on this, however. Some of the same politicians and bureaucrats denouncing the ridiculous farce at the Capitol as if it were the equivalent of 9/11 have been involved for decades in planning and executing real coups overseas. In their real coups, many thousands of civilians have died.

Take returning Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, for example. More than anyone else she is the face of the US-led violent coup against a democratically-elected government in Ukraine in 2014. Nuland not only passed out snacks to the coup leaders, she was caught on a phone call actually plotting the coup right down to who would take power once the smoke cleared.

Unlike the fake Capitol coup, this was a real overthrow. Unlike the buffalo horn-wearing joke who desecrated the sacred Senate chamber, the Ukraine coup had real armed insurrectionists with a real plan to overthrow the government. Eventually, with the help of incoming Assistant Secretary of State Nuland, they succeeded after thousands of civilians were killed.

As we were unfortunately reminded during the last four years of the Trump Administration, the personnel is the policy. So while President Trump railed against the stupid wars and promised to bring the troops home, he hired people like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo to get the job done. They spent their time clarifying Trumps call for ending wars to mean he wanted to actually continue the wars. It was a colossal failure.

So its hard to be optimistic about a Biden Administration with so many hyper-interventionist Obama retreads.

While the US Agency for International Development (USAID) likes to sell itself as the compassionate arm of the US foreign policy, in fact USAID is one of the main US regime change agencies. Biden has announced that a top humanitarian interventionist Samantha Power would head that Agency in his Administration.

Power, who served on President Obamas National Security Council staff and as US Ambassador to the UN, argued passionately and successfully that a US attack on the Gaddafi government in Libya would result in a liberation of the people and the outbreak of democracy in the country. In reality, her justification was all based on lies and the US assault has left nothing but murder and mayhem. Gaddafis relatively peaceful, if authoritarian, government has been replaced by radical terrorists and even slave markets.

At the end of the day, the Bush Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney will join hands with the Biden Democrats to reinstate American leadership. This of course means more US overt and covert wars overseas. The unholy alliance between Big Tech and the US government will happily assist the US State Department under Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Assistant Secretary of State Nuland with the technology to foment more regime change operations wherever the Biden Administration sees fit. Finish destroying Syria and the secular Assad? Sure! Go back into Iraq? Why not? Afghanistan? Thats the good war! And Russia and China must be punished as well.

These are grave moments for we non-interventionists. But also we have a unique opportunity, informed by history, to denounce the warmongers and push for a peaceful and non-interventionist foreign policy.

This article was published by RonPaul Institute

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Ron Paul: The Unwelcome Return Of The Real Purveyors Of Violence - OpEd - Eurasia Review