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WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence, a possible contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said Thursday that he wants to “reform” Social Security and institute private savings accounts for recipients. “There are modest reforms in entitlements that can be done without disadvantaging anybody at the point of the need,” Pence told an audience at the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors summit in Washington, D.C. “I think the day could come when we could replace the New Deal with a better deal. Literally give younger Americans the ability to take a portion of their Social Security withholdings and put...

The billionaire Koch brothers’ network of donor-class organizations is vowing to oppose former President Donald Trump as he looks to secure the Republican nomination in the 2024 primary race. A memo from Americans for Prosperity CEO Emily Seidel details the network’s plan to publicly oppose Trump’s candidacy in the GOP presidential primary — a move that comes as no surprise as the Kochs and former president have long been at odds on policy. “The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles. And the American people are rejecting them,” the memo...

A new study hints that treating low vitamin D levels with supplements might have a critical benefit for certain people: a decreased risk of attempting suicide. Researchers found that those prescribed vitamin D were nearly 50% less likely to attempt suicide over eight years, versus those who were not prescribed the supplements. At the same time, it's known that vitamin D deficiency can cause depression-like symptoms, including mood changes and chronic fatigue, said Dr. Christine Crawford. Crawford, who was not involved in the study, said that in her practice, she often has patients with depression symptoms tested for blood levels...

So this was the week our (p)resident known chiefly for his hot air failed the hot air balloon challenge (though my theory is that the balloon has more classified documents that Biden pinched), while reassuring us that “More than half the women in my administration are women,” which might actually be true, which would make it the most brilliantly droll thing Joe Biden has ever said. Which is unlikely. Exit question: did he see his shadow when he poked his head out of his Delaware basement on Thursday?

Canada was once a land of fishermen, lumberjacks, oil drillers and Mounties. What the Hell happened? In the Telegraph, Zoe Strimpel writes: “Canada is testing sinister wokeness to destruction.”The madness of Trudeau’s Canada has reached a fresh, painful high. New rules have come into effect that allow adults in British Columbia – the capital of which is addict-packed, overdose-ravaged Vancouver – to possess 2.5g of ecstasy, cocaine or heroin, as well as the opioid fentanyl, without fear of being troubled by the police. The idea is that with so many shooting up and dying on the streets, the kindest and...

BEIJING — The Chinese Communist Party has assured world leaders that the massive fleet of warships heading toward Taiwan is just checking on the weather in the Taiwan Strait. "Not to worry, those are simply meteorological destroyers," said Wei Fenghe, China's Minister of National Defense. "And the bombers circling overhead, they are just monitoring cloud patterns. Relax, everyone." Upon sighting the ships, Taiwan immediately alerted the United States that the incoming warships might be used for war. However, President Biden was quickly reassured by President Xi Jinping that any explosions in the Taiwan Strait were simply part of a very...

From Season 3, Episode 1. Kenny is reunited with April. Never question April's parenting skills.Scene from "Eastbound & Down" - Fun Times At The Putt-Putt (language)

Fiber-rich food is important for gastrointestinal health, but most Americans don't get enough in their typical diet. Two new papers from the make it easier for food manufacturers to amplify fiber in foods and beverages for health benefit without digestive discomfort. The first paper focuses on tolerance and side effects of non-digestible carbohydrates (NDC), an umbrella term for food components the body can't break down. "The FDA determines if NDCs qualify as dietary fibers. To be a fiber, they must provide a health benefit. These benefits include things like helping with regularity and aiding in the absorption of calcium," explains...

"Unforgiven" is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. It stars Clint Eastwood in the lead role, with Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman & Richard Harris. Eastwood stated that the film would be his last Western for fear of repeating himself or imitating someone else's work. The film won four Academy Awards: Best Picture and Best Director for Clint Eastwood, Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman and Best Film Editing for editor Joel Cox.We All Have It Coming - scene from "Unforgiven" (1992)

NBA fans are kicking LeBron James now that Kyrie Irving is headed to Dallas instead of Los Angeles. Kyrie Irving has made the NBA world go crazy in the past 48 hours, surprising everybody when he requested a trade out of the Brooklyn Nets. This situation sparked a lot of rumors around the league, and plenty of teams started working on getting a deal done with the Brooklynites. Among those teams, the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to be clear-cut favorites to land Kyrie given the reported interest of Kyrie in reuniting with LeBron James, and the Lakers need to add...

I have a challenge for the Repubs for the SOTU speech Tuesday Night.......

Black History Month is a time to honor triumphs of African Americans throughout history, but students and parents at Nyack Middle School raised the alarm after a racially insensitive meal was offered on the first day of the month.

A mountain lion that attacked a 5-year-old boy hiking in California with his family will not be removed from the wild, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The boy — identified by a relative by just his first name, Jack — could have died from from his injuries had his mother not carried him to safety following the harrowing attack Tuesday night. DNA testing of the animal confirmed it was the same mountain lion responsible for the boy’s trauma, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a tweet. The department said it was repeatedly denied access...

In a very lame appearance on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gushed that the military had done a "terrific" job regarding the Chinese balloon, and generally praised his boss's handling of the matter. But one member of the show's panel had a decidedly different take.David Urban, a CNN commentator and former adviser to Donald Trump, called the balloon: "A three-story, giant middle finger floating across America, courtesy of the Chinese government, right? And I think that's really what Americans take umbrage at. The notion that the Chinese can come here and just say,...

The Chinese would not have been deploying spy balloons over U.S. nuclear installations if Donald Trump was still president.Where’s Laocoön when you need him? News that the Chinese have a huge balloon loitering high above the middle of the country—just where, wouldn’t you know, we have a bunch of ICBM silos sited—reminded me about the reaction of the ill-fated Trojan prince when he saw the gigantic wooden horse sitting on the beach in front of Troy. At the beginning of book two of the Aeneid, our hero, with a heavy heart, accedes to Queen Dido’s request that he tell her...

Tourists from New Zealand, China and Germany were among the dead at a number of different ski resorts. Austrian authorities put in place a level four avalanche alert - the second highest - following intense snowfall and wind in the area. Despite the warnings, ski resorts in western Austria have been filling up due to school holidays in Vienna. Austrian police announced five deaths on Sunday, including that of a 59-year-old man who was using a snow plough in the western region of Tyrol. They also recovered the bodies of a ski guide in Sankt Anton am Arlberg and a...

Environmental groups that have led litigation targeting the lobster fishing industry have been heavily funded by various liberal dark money groups that don't disclose their individual donors, a Fox News Digital review of tax filings found. The organizations - the Center For Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Defenders Of Wildlife - first filed a joint federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2018, arguing a rule issued by the agency years earlier failed to properly protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales from lobster fishing equipment. In April 2020, a federal judge ruled in favor...

I asked ChatGPT: “Does the transporter on Star Trek kill every person who uses it, and then manufacture an exact duplicate?”This is the answer that it gave:“No, the transporter on Star Trek does not kill every person who uses it, and then manufacture an exact duplicate. The transporter is a device used to teleport people and objects from one location to another. It works by breaking down the molecular structure of the subject and then reassembling it at the destination. The goal of the transporter is to safely transport the subject from one place to another, not to kill them...

"Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:1). A faithful slave fulfills the will of his master. The metaphor of Christians as slaves to Christ is common in Paul's writings. It is one his readers would have readily understood because of the prevalence of slavery in the Roman Empire. Peter, James, John, and Jude used the same metaphor of their own ministries, as did Jesus in Mark 10:45: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." In Philippians 2:7 Paul refers to Christ as a...

Scientists are looking more closely at a brain structure involved in motivation, called the nucleus accumbens. This small region drives reward-seeking behaviors underlying the pursuit of sex, recreational drugs like nicotine and alcohol, and food. "Brain motivation centers help us survive," said Carrie Ferrario, Ph.D. Previous research from Ferrario's lab pinpointed differences in the nucleus accumbens in obesity-prone and obesity-resistant rats. Their latest study tracked what was happening in the brain when these animals were presented with glucose, a type of sugar, labeled with a tracer. Sugar is the brain's main fuel source, and once there, the molecule is broken...