'Low point in the history of American academic freedom'

Not far off the Kenyan coast, maritime archaeologists believe they have found the wreckage of a galleon belonging to Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator who found the route to India around Africa. While the true provenance of the vessel is unclear, the discovery would be of monumental importance to the study of maritime archaeology, […] The post Shipwreck Near Kenya May Be from Vasco da Gama’s Final Voyage and Would Be ‘Archaeological Stardust’ appeared first on Good News Network.

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—President Joe Biden is reportedly considering issuing preemptive pardons to Trump opponents, which would set a new precedent as a vast expansion of presidential pardon power. While there is not a full list, the president and senior aides are mulling pardons for allies like Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; and Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to several reports. “It is very rare to issue a pardon for conduct not yet charged,” South Texas College of Law Houston professor Josh Blackman told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Moreover, it is even rarer to give a blanket pardon for all offenses that a person may have committed during a particular period of time. But the Hunter Biden ‘Get out of jail free’ card has set a broad new precedent.” Joe Biden pardoned his son last week after repeatedly saying he would let the jury decision stand. The pardon covered any offenses Hunter Biden “has committed or may have committed” beginning in 2014, not just the gun and tax charges he actually faced. Joe Biden said he believed politics infected the process and “led to a miscarriage of justice.” The judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case wrote later that the president has broad authority to grant pardons but not to “rewrite history,” noting two federal judges already rejected the argument that Hunter Biden was prosecuted because of his family ties. Issuing pardons before charges have been brought is “highly unusual,” though it has been done in a few instances, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Examples include “President Gerald Ford’s pardon of President Richard Nixon after Watergate, President Jimmy Carter’s pardon of Vietnam draft dodgers and President George H.W. Bush’s pardon of Caspar Weinberger,” per the Justice Department website. Former President Donald Trump also pardoned some individuals, such as former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, after conviction but before sentencing. “This would be an expansion of the pardon power, beyond even that which Biden granted to his son (who was charged, but was pardoned for all activity?),” Manhattan Institute Director of Constitutional Studies Ilya Shapiro told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It sets the precedent that an outgoing president can just issue blanket pardons for all of his cronies. Not good—and further dulls any criticisms from the left of Trump’s use of the pardon power.” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley suggested Saturday that preemptive pardons would allow Biden to portray himself as a “white knight” protecting vulnerable allies—even if Trump doesn’t target any of them. “Biden wants to remove the stain of his abuse of the pardon power to benefit his own family by turning it into a literal party favor for other Democrats and Trump critics,” Turley wrote in a column for The Hill. “Even though Trump has denied any interest in retribution, saying that ‘my revenge will be a success,’ preemptive pardons leave the impression that they did in fact preempt something that would have occurred.” In March, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Cheney should “go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” His comment was in response to a report that Cheney participated in an interview with a Secret Service driver who directly contradicted former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s claim that Trump tried to take the wheel of the presidential SUV to go to the Capitol. The Jan. 6 committee did not fully release the driver’s testimony. Some Democrats like Schiff, however, have indicated they don’t want a blanket pardon from Biden. “I don’t want to see a precedent where you have presidents, as they leave office, issuing blanket pardons to members of their party or members of their administration,” Schiff told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “There was talk of Trump doing that when he left office, of members like Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan seeking pardons from him. It would be another diminution in our democracy, and I just think it’s completely unnecessary.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., likewise said Sunday on MSNBC she is “not a fan” of preemptive pardons. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post ‘Broad New Precedent’: Biden Issuing Preemptive Pardons to Trump Opponents Would Be Big Expansion of Power appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Big, menacing, with eyes that pierce through the toughest person's soul, the harpy eagle is a bit bigger than the average bird of prey. Living in territories spreading from Mexico to Brazil and northern parts of Argentina, this eagle is at the top of the food chain. With talons able to lift prey equal to their own body weight and a wing-span of up to seven feet, these human-sized birds will have... Source

Retirement didn’t stop a retired police dog after it located and rescued a missing person in East Sussex, England on his first ever walk since having major surgery. The German Shepherd, named Bear, reportedly found the man in the forest on November 28 while being walked by owner, Julia Pope, a former police officer, The Guardian reveals. What made the rescue special was that Bear, who was on his first ever walk two weeks after getting surgery to remove two benign tumors, was also celebrating his 12th birthday on the same day! But such celebration did not stop Bear from locating and alerting his owner to a man in “dense undergrowth” while on their walk. The Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a national charity that supports serving and retired police dogs across the UK, reveals on a Facebook post, “Unbeknownst to RPD Bear, the man was a vulnerable missing person who officers had been searching for without success.” Pope tells The Guardian that Bear immediately “went into work mode” after it sensed the lost individual. Recalling the incident, Pope explains, “[He] then dragged us to it, where he located and alerted us to a vulnerable man. I’m not sure he would have survived the night as it was extremely cold and almost dark at that point with no one else in the vicinity.” The dog owner adds that Bear lead the way and helped the man back to an area where he could coordinate with local officers and reunite with his loved ones. Pope describes the whole encounter as an “amazing stroke of luck”. “RPD Bear, you’re a true hero, showing us that even in retirement, you can still save lives,” the Thin Blue Paw Foundation wrote. Bear served with Sussex Police Dog Unit for seven years and was adopted by Pope in 2020 after his retirement. In 2023, the retired police dog had to get emergency surgery due to having four herniated discs in his back, which caused him collapse. For this, he was supported by the Thin Blue Paw Foundation.

New research has looked at how the ice sheet has grown and shrunk over its long history, and it has warned that things don't look good if climate change continues unabated.

It once resulted in a US vessel getting taken hostage for three days.

“We would need the stars of 10,000 galaxies to equal the number of synapses that make up the connectome.”

A new Barbie videogame came out this year, not that you’ll have heard. Billed as the “ultimate Barbie adventure,” Barbie Project Friendship should be riding high off the critical and cultural success of Greta Gerwig’s love letter. Not quite. At the time of writing, it has eight reviews on Steam; one user maintains they “wouldn’t recommend this game for most people, even for most kids.” It’s a crushing indictment that games for girls are undermarketed, and the audience is underserved. Infold Games is here to change that with Infinity Nikki – and after smashing through its 30 million pre-registration milestone, the girls have certainly shown up. Continue reading Infinity Nikki review - “Hi, I’m videogame Barbie!” MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Infinity Nikki codes, Infinity Nikki banners, Infinity Nikki events

VR enthusiast and Valve watcher Brad Lynch has popped a few balloons as rumors swirl around the company, saying that 2025 will be a "wild year" for Valve hardware. Social media has spread the rumor that the long-awaited Half-Life 3 is expected to appear at The Game Awards, but it also looks as though we'll soon be getting a new Steam Controller and Valve VR headset. Valve’s virtual reality headset, the Index, is still one of the best VR headsets to get, but it’s aging rapidly. Between leaks of its controllers and more updates on Steam’s backend, it appears that Valve is gearing up for its not-so-secret follow-up, Deckard. Continue reading Valve leaker claims 2025 will be “wild year” as PC gaming hardware rumors swirl MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming