Venustum

President Joe Biden’s administration released more than 13,000 records of President John F. Kennedy's assassination Thursday, but it fell short of fully complying with the spirit of a 30-year-old law demanding transparency by now.

With Thursday's action, about 98 percent of all documents related to the 1963 killing have now been released and just 3 percent of the records remain redacted in whole or in part, according to the National Archives, which controls the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection.

The records include more information on accused gunman Lee Harvey Oswald and his time spent in Mexico City.

But about 4,300 records remain redacted in part — with no record completely blacked-out — according to the agency, and experts say there's no justification for withholding them to protect national security or intelligence gathering.

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Dec. 13 (UPI) -- India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused China of initiating a conflict on the disputed border between the two countries in the Himalayan Mountain region.

Singh told Indian officials that Chinese People's Liberation Army troops of crossed the "Line of Actual Control," the de facto border between China and India in the region on Friday, in the most serious run-in since 2020.

"The Chinese attempt was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner," Singh told Indian officials. "The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts."

Singh said 20 Indian soldiers were injured in the exchange but no deaths were reported.

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it supports proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages. It's the church's latest show of support in the lead-up to an expected congressional vote Wednesday.

The 17-million member, Utah-based faith said in a statement that church doctrine would continue to consider same-sex relationships against God's commandments, yet would support rights for same-sex couples as long as they didn't infringe upon religious groups' right to believe as they choose.

“We believe this approach is the way forward. As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ individuals much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster greater understanding,” an unnamed spokesperson for the church said.

Support for the Respect for Marriage Act under consideration in Congress is the church's latest step to stake out a more welcoming stance toward the LGBTQ community while holding firm to its belief that same-sex relationships are sinful.

Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University, said the church's position was both a departure from and continuation of its past stances — respecting laws yet working to safeguard religious liberty and ensuring they won't be forced to perform same-sex marriages or grant them official church sanction.

“This is part of the church’s overall theology essentially sustaining the law of the land, recognizing that what they dictate and enforce for their members in terms of their behavior is different than what it means to be part of a pluralistic society,” he said.

The faith opposes same-sex marriage and sexual intimacy, but it has taken a more welcoming stance to LGBTQ people in recent years. In 2016, it declared that same-sex attraction is not a sin, while maintaining that acting on it was.

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Before I used a lathe for woodturning, I always looked at the machine and process with a sense of wonder. Watching a woodturner at a craft fair, with a part spinning at full speed and chips flying, filled me with a sense of romance.

When I finally used one, I was not disappointed. My first pieces weren’t works of art. But they were perfectly round, and this little tase of lathe work whetted my appetite for more. What is a Lathe?

Similar to a potter’s wheel in ceramics, the lathe spins a wooden part on a central axis, creating cylindrical objects. And like a potter’s wheel, it’s an ancient tool; turned wooden parts trace back to the sixth century B.C.

Sharp chisels supported by the lathe tool rest are integral to the operation of a lathe. No machine can create bowls or spindles like a lathe.