As with just about any news these days, there was an almost immediate sprouting of conspiracy theories surrounding the blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this week. For many social media users, the coincidence of the inferno occurring on Monday of Holy Week was just too much.  They saw this as “a sign”, and almost certainly as a “nefarious act”, possibly played out in order to spark some sort of Holy War. The theories get much wilder than that as well, but we dare not wade too deep into the conspiratorial waters, lest we want to be blacklisted by some clandestine “fact checking” gestapo. Despite the insistence of investigators that there was no reason to believe foul play was at work, the internet’s darker corners remained skeptical.  Then, came the story of a man in NYC who was arrested after walking into Saint Patrick’s Cathedral with two cans of gas, some lighter fluid, and a lighting device. This sparked a whole new realm of conspiracy for many…and that was before we knew about his travel plans. Marc Lamparello, a former director of music at a New Jersey Roman Catholic Church, was arrested at the historic St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Wednesday night after security stopped him with two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, police said. Sources with the New York City Police Department told ABC News that he also purchased a one-way ticket to Rome, which was scheduled to depart from Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday evening. Lamparello, 37, was charged with attempted arson, reckless endangerment and some violations of city codes. He told police that he was taking a shortcut through church to reach his minivan, which he claimed had run out of gas. Police then inspected Lamparello’s vehicle, determined that it…

A peculiar thing occurred in American politics last week, but perhaps it shouldn’t be seen as such an outlier. In a move that shocked many, including President Trump, Bernie Sanders had an amicable and poignant “Presidential Town Hall” on Fox News.  Given the wild biases of the mainstream media, particularly when it comes to the far-left leaning democratic socialist from Vermont, many assumed that Sanders’ appearance on Fox would have been a bloodbath. Quite to the contrary, however, Sanders received a decidedly warm reception, even eliciting a hearty cheer from the crowd when explaining his “Medicare for all” wishes. Perhaps the nation truly is suffering from Obamacare in ways that many of us may have predicted. This sort of open-minded political positioning has become rare these days, thanks to the inflammatory practices of the mainstream media.  Fox’s gambling on Bernie paid off big-time, however, and the event has now received a full page advertisement in The Washington Post proclaiming its success. https://twitter.com/feliciasonmez/status/1118865630617395201 The numbers were simply incredible: The ad comes three days after nearly 2.6 million viewers tuned into Fox News’s town hall with Sanders on Monday night, making it the most-watched town hall of this campaign cycle so far, according to Nielsen Media Research. The live event, co-moderated by “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier and “The Story” anchor Martha MacCallum, also delivered 489,000 viewers in the 25- to 54-year-old age bracket that many advertisers cater to. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, provided Fox News with a considerable ratings bump compared to the same day last year. The network saw an increase of 24 percent in total viewers and 40 percent in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic. It certainly stands to reason that a great many of these viewers were tuning in in order to size up Sanders, who at…