Gutfeld on Hunter Biden investigation, Eric Swalwell ties to China

Greg Gutfeld examines this week’s media coverage of the Hunter Biden tax investigation and alleged links between Rep. Eric Swalwell, R-Calif., and a suspected Chinese spy.

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  • Alan Dershowitz says Texas lawsuit tossed by Supreme Court should tell Trump's allies that they 'can't count on the judiciary' to invalidate election results

    The attorney and Trump ally said the president needed a "perfect storm" of courts, governors, and state election officials to aid his cause.

  • Gunman shot dead by police at NYC church after concert; no one else wounded

    A gunman shouting "Kill me!" opened fire from the steps of New York City's Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine just after an outdoor choir performance there on Sunday, and was himself shot dead by police, according to police and a Reuters photographer at the scene. No one else was struck by gunfire thanks to quick action by three officers on the scene who confronted the suspect, New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told reporters following the late-afternoon violence on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The shooting occurred outside the landmark cathedral for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, located at Amsterdam Avenue and West 112th Street, about 15 minutes after the conclusion of an outdoor choir performance on the church steps attended by about 200 people.

  • Zodiac serial killer's code cracked after 51 years

    A team of codebreakers has deciphered an encrypted 340 character message sent 51-years ago by the so-called Zodiac killer, who was responsible for at least five murders in northern California. The identity of the killer is still unknown and for decades experts have been baffled by the message he sent to the San Francisco Chronicle during his killing spree. The message, one of several sent to newspapers during the killing spree, said: "I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice (sic) all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradice so they are afraid of death. "I am not afraid because I know that my new life will be an easy one in paradice death." He was dubbed the Zodiac killer because of the bizarre array of symbols and capital letters he used in the messages he used to taunt the authorities. Australian software engineer Sam Blake, American cryptographer David Oranchak and Belgian software expert Jarl Van finally unravelled the cypher, the FBI said. Cracking the code relied on a combination of computer technology and human ingenuity to make sense of the jumble of symbols. The team sifted through 650,000 variations until some words appeared. "We got really lucky and found one that had part of the answer, but it wasn't obvious," Mr Oranchak said.

  • Loeffler campaign: She had 'no idea' she posed with neo-Nazi

    The campaign of Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler is disavowing a photo circulating on social media of her posing with a longtime white supremacist at a recent campaign event, with less than a month to go until the runoff elections that will determine the balance of the U.S. Senate. Loeffler did not know who Chester Doles was when she took a picture with him, her campaign spokesman Stephen Lawson said in a statement to The Associated Press on Sunday. The picture was taken Friday at a campaign event in Dawsonville, Georgia.

  • Hunter Biden told to disclose information related to Ukrainian energy company Burisma as part of his tax investigation

    Hunter Biden, the President-elect's son, has been asked to disclose information related to Burisma as part of a tax investigation.

  • Two Ohio girls who ran away from home together were located states apart - but only one of them was found safe and alive

    The two 15-year-olds were found separately in California and Nevada after they ran away with a 19-year-old boy and were reported missing since Thanksgiving.

  • Israel announces full diplomatic relations with Bhutan

    Israel announced on Saturday that it is establishing full diplomatic relations with the relatively isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the latest in a string of international deals designed to show Israel’s growing acceptance abroad. “The circle of recognition of Israel is widening,” said Israeli foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi. “The establishment of relations with the Kingdom of Bhutan will constitute a new stage in the deepening of Israel’s relations in Asia.” The agreement follows several years of secret contact between the two countries with the aim of establishing relations, according to a statement from Israel’s foreign ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the deal, tweeting that it is an “additional fruit of the peace agreements”. The accord between the two countries does not appear to be linked to the US-backed Abraham accords, in which four Arab countries have agreed to normalise relations with the Jewish state since August. Mr Netanyahu added that Israel was in contact with more countries to normalise relations. Bhutan is a relatively isolated country and only maintains diplomatic relations with around 53 countries, which does not include the US, UK or France, who only maintain informal contact via India. With a population of around 800,000 people, the Kingdom of Bhutan is wedged between neighbouring giants, China and India. They have long relied on the latter for guidance on foreign and defence policy. Ron Malka, the Israeli ambassador to India said he signed the agreement with his Bhutanese counterpart, Maj Gen Vestop Namgyel, on Saturday night, calling the agreement a “historic day”. The joint statement on the deal said the key areas of cooperation would include economic, technological and agricultural development. “The ties between the peoples through cultural exchanges and tourism would also be further enhanced,” the statement added. Bhutan was closed off to tourists until 1970 and still strictly limits entry to the country with a $250 daily fee per visitor in high season

  • Trump says he's nixing plan for early vaccine at White House

    President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was reversing an administration directive to vaccinate top government officials against COVID-19, while public distribution of the shot is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Trump made the announcement hours after his administration confirmed that senior U.S. officials, including some White House aides who work in close proximity to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, would be offered coronavirus vaccines as soon as this week under federal continuity of government plans. “People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary,” Trump said in a tweet.

  • Yes, there is a war between science and religion

    As the West becomes more and more secular, and the discoveries of evolutionary biology and cosmology shrink the boundaries of faith, the claims that science and religion are compatible grow louder. If you’re a believer who doesn’t want to seem anti-science, what can you do? You must argue that your faith – or any faith – is perfectly compatible with science.And so one sees claim after claim from believers, religious scientists, prestigious science organizations and even atheists asserting not only that science and religion are compatible, but also that they can actually help each other. This claim is called “accommodationism.”But I argue that this is misguided: that science and religion are not only in conflict – even at “war” – but also represent incompatible ways of viewing the world. Opposing methods for discerning truthMy argument runs like this. I’ll construe “science” as the set of tools we use to find truth about the universe, with the understanding that these truths are provisional rather than absolute. These tools include observing nature, framing and testing hypotheses, trying your hardest to prove that your hypothesis is wrong to test your confidence that it’s right, doing experiments and above all replicating your and others’ results to increase confidence in your inference.And I’ll define religion as does philosopher Daniel Dennett: “Social systems whose participants avow belief in a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought.” Of course many religions don’t fit that definition, but the ones whose compatibility with science is touted most often – the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – fill the bill.Next, realize that both religion and science rest on “truth statements” about the universe – claims about reality. The edifice of religion differs from science by additionally dealing with morality, purpose and meaning, but even those areas rest on a foundation of empirical claims. You can hardly call yourself a Christian if you don’t believe in the Resurrection of Christ, a Muslim if you don’t believe the angel Gabriel dictated the Qur’an to Muhammad, or a Mormon if you don’t believe that the angel Moroni showed Joseph Smith the golden plates that became the Book of Mormon. After all, why accept a faith’s authoritative teachings if you reject its truth claims?Indeed, even the Bible notes this: “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”Many theologians emphasize religion’s empirical foundations, agreeing with the physicist and Anglican priest John Polkinghorne:> “The question of truth is as central to [religion’s] concern as it is in science. Religious belief can guide one in life or strengthen one at the approach of death, but unless it is actually true it can do neither of these things and so would amount to no more than an illusory exercise in comforting fantasy.”The conflict between science and faith, then, rests on the methods they use to decide what is true, and what truths result: These are conflicts of both methodology and outcome.In contrast to the methods of science, religion adjudicates truth not empirically, but via dogma, scripture and authority – in other words, through faith, defined in Hebrews 11 as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In science, faith without evidence is a vice, while in religion it’s a virtue. Recall what Jesus said to “doubting Thomas,” who insisted in poking his fingers into the resurrected Savior’s wounds: “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”And yet, without supporting evidence, Americans believe a number of religious claims: 74 percent of us believe in God, 68 percent in the divinity of Jesus, 68 percent in Heaven, 57 percent in the virgin birth, and 58 percent in the Devil and Hell. Why do they think these are true? Faith.But different religions make different – and often conflicting – claims, and there’s no way to judge which claims are right. There are over 4,000 religions on this planet, and their “truths” are quite different. (Muslims and Jews, for instance, absolutely reject the Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God.) Indeed, new sects often arise when some believers reject what others see as true. Lutherans split over the truth of evolution, while Unitarians rejected other Protestants’ belief that Jesus was part of God.And while science has had success after success in understanding the universe, the “method” of using faith has led to no proof of the divine. How many gods are there? What are their natures and moral creeds? Is there an afterlife? Why is there moral and physical evil? There is no one answer to any of these questions. All is mystery, for all rests on faith.The “war” between science and religion, then, is a conflict about whether you have good reasons for believing what you do: whether you see faith as a vice or a virtue. Compartmentalizing realms is irrationalSo how do the faithful reconcile science and religion? Often they point to the existence of religious scientists, like NIH Director Francis Collins, or to the many religious people who accept science. But I’d argue that this is compartmentalization, not compatibility, for how can you reject the divine in your laboratory but accept that the wine you sip on Sunday is the blood of Jesus?Others argue that in the past religion promoted science and inspired questions about the universe. But in the past every Westerner was religious, and it’s debatable whether, in the long run, the progress of science has been promoted by religion. Certainly evolutionary biology, my own field, has been held back strongly by creationism, which arises solely from religion.What is not disputable is that today science is practiced as an atheistic discipline – and largely by atheists. There’s a huge disparity in religiosity between American scientists and Americans as a whole: 64 percent of our elite scientists are atheists or agnostics, compared to only 6 percent of the general population – more than a tenfold difference. Whether this reflects differential attraction of nonbelievers to science or science eroding belief – I suspect both factors operate – the figures are prima facie evidence for a science-religion conflict.The most common accommodationist argument is Stephen Jay Gould’s thesis of “non-overlapping magisteria.” Religion and science, he argued, don’t conflict because: “Science tries to document the factual character of the natural world, and to develop theories that coordinate and explain these facts. Religion, on the other hand, operates in the equally important, but utterly different, realm of human purposes, meanings and values – subjects that the factual domain of science might illuminate, but can never resolve.”This fails on both ends. First, religion certainly makes claims about “the factual character of the universe.” In fact, the biggest opponents of non-overlapping magisteria are believers and theologians, many of whom reject the idea that Abrahamic religions are “empty of any claims to historical or scientific facts.”Nor is religion the sole bailiwick of “purposes, meanings and values,” which of course differ among faiths. There’s a long and distinguished history of philosophy and ethics – extending from Plato, Hume and Kant up to Peter Singer, Derek Parfit and John Rawls in our day – that relies on reason rather than faith as a fount of morality. All serious ethical philosophy is secular ethical philosophy.In the end, it’s irrational to decide what’s true in your daily life using empirical evidence, but then rely on wishful-thinking and ancient superstitions to judge the “truths” undergirding your faith. This leads to a mind (no matter how scientifically renowned) at war with itself, producing the cognitive dissonance that prompts accommodationism. If you decide to have good reasons for holding any beliefs, then you must choose between faith and reason. And as facts become increasingly important for the welfare of our species and our planet, people should see faith for what it is: not a virtue but a defect.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Read more: * Jesuits as science missionaries for the Catholic Church * Why do science issues seem to divide us along party lines? * War between science and religion is far from inevitableJerry Coyne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls Joe Biden's agenda 'a little hazy' and criticizes his Cabinet picks as lacking an 'overall vision'

    Joe Biden has promised to build the "most diverse cabinet based on race, color, based on gender that's ever existed in the United States of America."

  • Eswatini's prime minister, who tested positive for COVID-19, dies

    Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago, has died at age 52 after being hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa, the tiny absolute monarchy's government said late on Sunday. Dlamini was moved to South Africa on Dec.1, to "guide and fast track his recovery," from COVID-19.

  • More Inside AD100 Designer Pierre Yovanovitch’s History-Rich Parisian Apartment

    In the hands of Pierre Yovanovitch, the Paris apartment that iconic designer Jean-Michel Frank once called home gets a spectacular new lease on lifeOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Police considering 'voluntary disappearance' in case of missing hiker Esther Dingley

    Authorities searching for a British woman who went missing while hiking in the Pyrenees are reportedly considering the possibility she has deliberately disappeared because her nomadic lifestyle was about to end. Esther Dingley and Dan Colegate had been travelling throughout Europe since 2014 and she was expected to return from a solo trek on December 2. The 37-year-old set out to hike from the Port de la Glere to the Port de Venasque, a trek which follows the border between France and Spain, according to local police. Captain Jean-Marc Bordinaro of France's Gendarmerie de Saint-Gaudens told The Times: "Esther Dingley wanted to continue with her current way of life, journeys in a camper van and sporting activities including hiking, whilst Daniel Colegate seems a little tired of this nomadic life." He added: "Did Esther Dingley want to go off on her own to live her life and organise her own disappearance? There is nothing enabling us to eliminate this working theory." A spokesman for missing persons charity LBT Global, which is assisting Mr Colegate, told The Times "there is absolutely no suggestion that (Ms Dingley) was seeking 'another life"'. Mr Colegate said in a Facebook post on December 1 that the "prevailing opinion" of authorities was Ms Dingley was not in the mountains following extensive searches. She is now listed as a national missing person in Spain and her case has been passed to "a specialised judicial unit in France", Mr Colegate added. "As things stand tonight, Esther is now listed as a national missing persons case in Spain and the case has been passed to a specialised judicial unit in France. "This means they will be looking at other options beyond a mountain accident." Mr Colegate said he was "very grateful" for the extensive efforts of rescue teams in Spain and France, which had utilised helicopters, dogs and a drone. "While this is a terrifying development in many ways, I'm trying to focus on the fact that it leaves the door open that Esther might still come home," he said in the post. "She was so utterly happy and joyful when we last spoke, I'd do anything to see her face and hold her right now." The couple, from Durham, started to travel after Mr Colegate had a serious health scare, and had been documenting their campervan adventures online. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman has previously said its staff were "supporting the family of a British woman reported missing in the Pyrenees and are in contact with the French and Spanish authorities".

  • 2 escaped Tennessee prison inmates found in Florida

    Two inmates who escaped a northwest Tennessee prison were found Sunday in Florida, authorities said. Law enforcement officers arrested Robert Brown and Christopher Osteen in Pompano Beach, Florida, more than two days after they escaped from Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a news release. Authorities announced Brown's arrest about an hour before they said Osteen was found.

  • Operation Warp Speed's top scientist says Moderna vaccine will 'likely' be approved by end of week

    Moncef Slaoui, the head scientist of Operation Warp Speed, said the US will likely not see a shortage of supply in vaccine next spring.

  • British-Iranian academic handed nine year jail sentence for 'subversive' research

    Iran has sentenced a British-Iranian anthropologist to nine years in prison after convicting him of carrying out "subversive" research work, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. Kameel Ahmady was also fined 600,000 euros (545,000), which was the sum Iranian authorities said he received for his research from institutions accused of seeking to overthrow the regime. "Ahmady was accused of acquiring illicit property from his cooperation in implementing subversive institutions' projects in the country," Tasnim reported. Mr Ahmady, who had researched controversial issues such as child marriage in Iran, was detained in August 2019 but released on bail three months later, according to human rights groups. It came as Tehran summoned the German ambassador on Sunday for "unacceptable interference in Iran’s internal affairs," after the European Union condemned the regime's execution of Ruhollah Zam, a prominent journalist. Mr Zam was executed on Saturday morning after he was convicted in June for “corruption on Earth”, a charge often used in cases involving espionage or attempts to overthrow Iran's government. His website and Telegram channel, AmadNews, had over a million followers and was one of Iran’s most popular online news outlets both inside the Islamic republic and among its diaspora. His anti-corruption work, according to the Iranian authorities, fomented violence during the 2017 anti-government protests. AmadNews spread timings for the protests and leaked embarrassing information about officials that directly challenged Iran’s government. The EU, which no longer has a delegation in Iran, is represented by the rotating member state holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, which is currently Germany. In a statement after his execution on Saturday, the EU said: “The European Union condemns this act in the strongest terms and recalls once again its irrevocable opposition to the use of capital punishment under any circumstances.” Mr Zam, 47, had been exiled under refugee status in Paris and was reportedly tricked into travelling to Iraq by Iranian authorities last year, where he was then abducted and forced to return to Iran under mysterious circumstances. The French envoy is also expected to be summoned according to the semi-official Fars news agency, for “the meddling of his country’s officials in Iran’s judicial affairs.” "This is a barbarous and unacceptable act," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the execution, which also condemned the hanging as a "grave blow" to freedom of speech in Iran.

  • How conservatives think Biden could 'lessen evangelicals' opposition to him'

    The Trump administration has made expanding religious liberty a point of emphasis over the last few years, and some conservatives think embracing that aspect of the Trump presidency could help President-elect Joe Biden make inroads with evangelical voters, Politico reports.Some members of Biden's team are wary of President Trump's focus on religious freedom, which has led to measures to protect vulnerable minority sects overseas or criticize adversaries who clamp down on them like China. The skeptics, Politico notes, don't disagree that religious liberty is an essential cause, but they do suspect it was one Trump was utilizing to undermine other civil liberties, such as women's and LBGTQ rights. In short, there's a possibility Biden could be pushed to find ways to subtly scale back some of the current administration's agenda.Prominent conservatives, on the other hand, think Biden, who has made it clear he wants to reach out to Trump voters, should actually build on the infrastructure left by Trump. Richard Land, the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, told Politico that doing so "would lessen evangelicals' opposition" to Biden, and "make them feel more supportive of him."As things stand, Biden has not made any promises either way, but it seems likely he'll have to make a choice on the matter at some point. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com The Constitution has an answer for seditious members of Congress What will become of Trump's border wall? The green hydrogen hype

  • Three arrested after 21 migrants found in Spanish sweat shop

    Migrant workers were hidden behind large bundles of clothes at the factory in Murcia, southeastern Spain, which sold clothes to African countries, police video footage showed. A father and his two sons, who were not named, have been arrested. The monthly minimum wage in Spain is 1,050 euros. "The three detainees exploited the vulnerability of the migrants to submit them to tough labor conditions, among them wages of two euros per hour and a total absence of security or hygienic conditions," police said in a statement. The three suspects will appear in court on Saturday.

  • Arrests as Indian workers ransack iPhone plant over wages

    Workers at the Taiwanese-run factory near Bangalore said they had not been fully paid for months.

  • Navy ends search for sailor who fell overboard from ship

    The U.S. Navy announced Saturday that it has called off search and rescue efforts for a 20-year-old sailor who reportedly fell overboard earlier this week from the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The family has identified the missing sailor as Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Ethan Goolsby of San Antonio, Texas, Scripps affiliate KSAT reported. “The loss of our Sailor is felt deeply by all on board,” said Capt. Eric Anduze, commanding officer of Theodore Roosevelt.