by Ben Kew, The Gateway Pundit: Three senior executives at the voting machine company Smartmatic have been charged in a massive bribery scheme. In a press release on Thursday, the Department of Justice confirmed that between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, a […]

by Martin Armstrong, Armstrong Economics: A few people wrote in from Minnesota to remind me that their state had some of the harshest COVID restrictions in the US, thanks to Governor Tim Walz. There were state-level mandates on masking, social distancing, and vaccinations. Walz declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020, and did […]

from SGT Report: Todd Callender and Dr. Lee Vliet return to SGT Report to discuss the shadow government’s assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump on July 13, 2024 in Butler, PA. The Secret Service stood down allowing for Dealey Plaza 2.0 to occur, and NEW body cam video released today proves it. But thankfully God […]

by J.B. Shurk, All News Pipeline: Right now, the United Kingdom is barreling toward totalitarianism.  After a second-generation immigrant reportedly murdered several children in a vicious stabbing attack last week, native Brits took to the streets to denounce their country’s criminally dangerous open borders.  If these outraged citizens had been members of Antifa, the press would have compassionately […]

843 - Treaty of Verdun: Brothers Lotharius I, Louis the German and Charles the Bald divide France 1627 - Cardinal Richelieu begins siege of La Rochelle 1897 - Automobile Club of Great Britain established (now: Royal Automobile Club) 1936 - First time the Olympic cycling road race is conducted as a mass start event with Frenchmen Robert Charpentier and Guy Lapébie taking gold and silver, and France winning the teams gold medal 1943 - Adolf Hitler watches a lynching of allied pilots 1981 - Coca-Cola Bottling Co agrees to pump $34 million into black business 1984 - Ian Ferguson of New Zealand wins 2 canoeing gold medals in the one day taking the K-1 500 and K-2 500 (with Paul MacDonald) at the LA Olympics; wins K-4 1000 the next day 1988 - UN estimates Asia's population hits 3 billion 1989 - A's bat out of order against White Sox in 3rd inning 1989 - Australia 0-301 at end of day one, 5th Test Cricket at Trent Bridge More Historical Events »

Texas A&M University researchers have been combatting a conservation threat on an 18th century bronze cannon that was used at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6th, 1836. An unknown white chalky substance has been growing on the surface of the bronze four-pound cannon. It has not been found on any other bronze or iron cannons at the Alamo Museum. The cannon was in central Mexico and was then deployed to the frontier where it was used in several battles, including the 1813 Battle of Medina, the largest land battle in Texas history. At some point, perhaps during the Battle of Concepción in 1835, it was captured by Texas and brought to the Alamo. and It was made in a sandcasting technique, and is unusual in its metal composition. The research team found lead and other atypical metals in the mix, and there are areas where defects in the casting and air bubbles are clearly visible. Given the foundry’s limited skills, it’s remarkable that this cannon saw decades of battlefield action and never blew itself up. “We’ve spent the better part of a year and a half trying to work out why this substance is growing,” Dostal revealed. “It turns out, this might be a byproduct of the chemicals used in the cannon’s conservation process back in 2008 and again in 2019. The substance is a precipitate of these chemicals starting to crop up on the outside of the cannon.” To replicate the results, Dostal and Breyfogle created their own bronze blocks with a composition resembling that of the cannon. They then applied identical methods and treatments to these blocks. “This is a rare occurrence, and we spent a large amount of time figuring out the exact cause,” Breyfogle said. They aren’t sure exactly what the white material is even now, but it’s a precipitate of the electrolysis process used to clean the cannon previously. Instead of cleaning it, somehow the combination of caustic chemicals in the electrolysis tank combined with the non-standard metal composition in this cannon to create carbonate blooms that are now marring the surface. To remove the white substance and prevent it from reoccurring, researchers have enlisted another chemical, a 5% solution of formic acid and deionized water. It removed the chalky deposits without harming the bronze underneath. They applied the solution with cloths on the outside of the cannon and a tennis ball on a stick to apply it down the full length of the bore. The white substance disappears on contact, but conservators had to apply the solution in several coats over the course of months. This process was done in view of the public. Now that it is complete, the cleaned cannon is back on display at the Alamo Museum. One hopes this chemical doesn’t suffer from the law of unintended consequences like the last one did, but ultimately the conservation team preferred to roll the dice with a dilute organic acid the cannon might have brushed against on its own rolling over an anthill or stinging nettles or a pineapple rather than allow the white substance to proliferate with potentially damaging long-term side-effects. Because the team’s work on the cannon occurred during regular museum hours, enabling numerous school groups to observe the process, Lanham says their preservation efforts also had an invaluable educational impact, inspiring the next generation of historians and conservationists.

No bureaucrat at the IOC was going to steal this performance from Novak Djokovic.  Teary-eyed, drenched in sweat, grateful, sprawled out on the clay, Djokovic rose from the Philippe-Chatrier Court…

The day after Tim Walz was chosen as Kamala Harris’s  running mate, the Trump-Vance team finally had a relatively good day campaigning. For the previous 16 days, since Biden had been forced out,…

Culture The Faith of Djokovic The Serbian tennis great used his moment of triumph to defy the International Olympic Committee’s official secularism. Credit: Matthew Stockman via Getty Images No bureaucrat at the IOC was going to steal this performance from Novak Djokovic.  Teary-eyed, drenched in sweat, grateful, sprawled out on the clay, Djokovic rose from the Philippe-Chatrier Court at the Paris Olympics and made the sign of the cross. The gold medal that long eluded the greatest men’s tennis player of all time was now his. The match was an instant classic.  It wasn’t that the 21-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz played poorly. He played brilliantly. His sensational, cat-like spring was on display throughout every point in the first grueling set, a 90-minute stunner that saw Djokovic repel five straight break points in the all-critical 9th game. The crowd oohed and ahhed. It was a matchup for the ages. Thunderous cheers could be heard in the Bois de Boulogne that lies beyond the stadium. The speed and grace of the youthful Alcaraz against the power and determination of the aging Djokovic.  Every time Alcaraz looked to wrest control of the second set, Djokovic found an answer. Visibly hobbled by a surgically repaired right knee, Djokovic played with all the guts and glory of a man who knew it would be his final chance at gold—drop shots that defied reason, forehand thumpers that left Alcaraz a spectator, and backhand returns that kept the Spaniard firmly planted on the touchline. The 37-year-old Serbian was sensational. His match-winning forehand appeared to be hit with every fiber of his being. He collapsed onto the clay. His dream of winning gold, accomplished. The career golden slam. He had won everything in the sport. Djokovic certainly understood the moment’s gravitas. In his post-match interview, Djokovic called the Olympic triumph “arguably the biggest success I’ve ever had.”  And as with every step of his starlit and at-times controversial career, Djokovic not only won with class, he won with immense courage in the face of political pressure to refrain. In an Olympic Games marred by anti-Christian controversy that prompted the Pope to issue a statement decrying the opening ceremony, Djokovic’s simple and blunt Appeal to Heaven has not gone unnoticed.  Article 50 of the Olympic Charter states that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic site.” And although the International Olympics Committee forced Brazilian surfer João Chianca to remove an image of Christ the Redeemer from his surfboard earlier in the Games, Djokovic was never going to let the suits at the IOC keep him from openly displaying his faith.  Reveling in the cool, night air of Paris, Djokovic told a reporter that “God is great” when he was asked what the gold medal meant to him. It wasn’t the first time Djokovic praised God during the Olympic games. After his dominant semifinal victory against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, a Serbian journalist asked Djokovic what needed to be done to secure the gold medal against Alcaraz.  In an instant, Djokovic pulled out a silver cross tucked into his red shirt. “That’s what needs to happen. I pray to God that everything will be alright.” Djokovic wasn’t the only Christian who defied Article 50 of the IOC charter. The U.S. runners Cole Hocker and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone both used their gold-winning screen time to praise God. The Ethiopian runner Tsige Duguma penned a handmade sign that read “Jesus is Lord” after her silver-winning performance in the women’s 800m. Djokovic’s display of faith is nothing new to the sporting world. It was those deep set beliefs that propelled him from tennis great to global hero during the Covid era.  Djokovic, whose 24 Grand Slam trophies makes him the most decorated tennis player of all time, was barred from competing in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the U.S. Open for his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid.  He was also deported from Melbourne in 2022 ahead of the Australian Open following a 10-day standoff, again due to Djokovic’s vaccine status. The Serbian giant returned to Australia in 2023 under revised vaccination standards and won the tournament. Despite losing the opportunity to add more Grand Slams to his name, Djokovic stated in 2023 that he has “zero regrets.” It was only days after the Olympic finals when Djokovic announced the news – He would skip the Cincinnati Open. The titan of tennis needed a rest. Somewhere, Novak Djokovic kicked up his feet and opened Instagram. “God gave me this and I’m very grateful because I believe everything in life happens for a reason,” Djokovic wrote. “I’ve tried to use my life’s calling to carry my cross honorably and represent my country and my family.” And carry it honorably, he has.  The post The Faith of Djokovic appeared first on The American Conservative.