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The debt ceiling limit is back in the news. In the past, political leaders have responded to concerns about this issue by suggesting that Social Security checks might not go out on time should Congress not agree on another debt ceiling extension. This begs the obvious question: Why a program with a $2.8 trillion reserve cannot pay benefits on time? Pundits have weighed in on the subject, as have the fact checkers who largely agree that checks should not be at risk -- at least in theory. It is time for the Treasury Department to explain why Social Security checks...

More than seven in 10 viewers of President Biden’s State of the Union address had at least a somewhat positive reaction to the speech, according to a CNN flash poll. The poll found 72 percent of watchers had a positive view of the speech, with 34 percent saying it was very positive. It reported that 28 percent of watchers viewed the speech negatively, with 10 percent saying it was very negative. CNN noted in a release that presidential addresses tend to attract viewers who are more supportive of the president, and those who watched overall identified as eight points more...

The media report of a Chinese-sponsored high-altitude balloon, the follow-up reports of its flight path over U.S. geography, and the "shoot-down" event that followed are all subject to factual testing, but on its face, the story represents one overwhelmingly incoherent assertion: that a slow-moving midlevel atmospheric balloon could violate U.S. airspace. How could a Chinese (or any other) foreign object enter U.S. national airspace (the "NAS" or national airspace system, controlled by the DOD and the civilian FAA) without its presence known far beforehand, and its flight path not tracked and projected? And if a very slow-moving balloon, let alone...

It was the best of intentions. It was the worst of intentions. As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the forefathers’ standard means of dispatching an evildoer — a length of rope or a shot of lead — were under re-examination by a technophilic nation convinced its science could find a way to kill a man without inconveniencing him. The first great American contribution — if you can call it that — to the the art of killing me softly was the electric chair, and its debut did not impress everyone. Out west, grossed out by electrocution and...

Fears antisemitic tropes are being spread after host Neil Oliver discusses plan to impose ‘one-world government’The UK’s leading Jewish organisation and a group of MPs have called on GB News and the media regulator Ofcom to tackle the broadcaster’s indulgence of conspiracy theories, warning that some recent segments and guests risked spreading ideas linked to antisemitism. The criticism comes as the channel faces increasing scrutiny over its mix of serious news with programmes that delve heavily into conspiracies about areas including Covid vaccines and a plot to create a world government. The decision by the Board of Deputies of British...

SummaryPresident Joe Biden put his spin on some facts, particularly about the economy, in his Feb. 7 State of the Union address:* Biden boasted that the 12.1 million jobs created in his first two years were more than the number of jobs added in four years under any president. But that job growth was fueled by a post-pandemic recovery that started under his predecessor, and his comparison doesn’t account for population growth.* The president said “take-home pay has gone up,” which is true, but the rise is not as fast as inflation. “Real” weekly earnings, which are adjusted for inflation,...

Europe’s ban on Russia’s diesel arrived painlessly on Sunday. Although the EU cut off its biggest supplier, diesel futures prices in the bloc fell 1.6% on Monday, amounting to a 20% loss over the past two weeks as demand in the region has waned... The diesel ban comes two months after the bloc placed an embargo on seaborne crude oil imports from Russia, as part of a package of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia accounted for 29% of the region’s total diesel imports last year, data from Rystad Energy shows.... The bloc is already importing significantly...

A Canadian teenager was arrested on Monday after he turned up at his rural Ontario school, despite being suspended for expressing his views on transgender policies. Josh Alexander, 16, was suspended in November from St. Joseph's Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ontario - a small town 80 miles west of Ottawa. Alexander, a devout Christian, said he told his fellow students he believed only two genders; that students cannot switch between genders; and that students born male should not be permitted into the girls' bathroom. The school accused Alexander of refusing to use transgender students' chosen names, and said he...

This article was featured in One Great Story, New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. Sascha didn’t pay much attention to T.J. Holmes when he began working as an anchor for ABC News in 2014. They were both pulling graveyard shifts, and the then-27-year-old digital news associate spent most of her time focused on her job and trying to stay awake. But a few months later, after Holmes asked her for help setting up his Instagram account, he quickly became flirtatious. “I’m learning a lot about you. I might actually like you,” he wrote in...

ДСНС України - State Emergency Service of Ukraine ·Interregional rapid response center of the state emergency service of Ukraine VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/100023084913232/videos/708688400727358/ A group of rescuers of the SSNS who went to Turkey by land received support from Moldovan colleagues ▪️ It's not even about helping in the border crossing to get to the destination faster. This is about humanity. And this, as we have repeatedly proven, is the driving force of rescuers. ▪️ As we became aware, the Moldovan side not only provided the escort of the column, but also treated our rescuers to lunch and cakes. ▪️Next part of...

CLAIM: President Joe Biden claimed during the State of the Union address Americans are united in support for Ukraine. Biden told the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., who was a guest at the speech, “America is united in our support for your country. We will stand with you as long as it takes.” VERDICT: FALSE. Recent polls show the country is now almost evenly divided in supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The vast majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill either oppose cuts to Medicare and Social Security, or they avoid the issue like the plague. It SHOULD be an issue that the “fiscally conservative” party talks about more, but Democrats have made it such a toxic topic that President Trump, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are all in agreement that the GOP will not touch it. Why, then, do Democrats continue to claim Republicans are going after the two massive entitlement expenditures? At Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech, Joe Biden continued to gaslight over the...

Rob Reiner attacked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) calling him “disgraceful” for “scowling” during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. But the Hollywood director appears to have forgotten that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ripped up a copy of former President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address at the end of his speech in 2020. “How does an American Speaker of the House sit and scowl and not applaud American success? Disgraceful,” Reiner tweeted.

The United Kingdom is expanding its training of Ukrainian forces to “fighter jet pilots”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Wednesday as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in London on a surprise visit on an RAF jet. The British Prime Minister is “proud” to announce the United Kingdom is to start training Ukrainian pilots on jet fighters, which he says combined with long-term pledges to provide equipment to the invaded nation will allow the country to defend itself in the coming years. Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky is embraced by UK PM Rishi Sunak at Stansted Airport. 🎥: Office of the Ukrainian President...

The president’s biggest whopper? ‘I’m a capitalist.’ Like Nero bragging about rebuilding Circus Maximus after burning it down, Joe Biden took to the podium tonight to take credit for solving a slew of problems he helped create. At the top of his State of the Union address, the president boasted that he had “created more jobs in two years than any president created in four years.” No president — not Joe Biden nor Donald Trump — creates jobs. But Biden’s contention was exceptionally misleading, considering he inherited an economy that had been unplugged by an artificial, state-induced shutdown. If the...

The speech was remarkably similar to last year’s address, riddled with falsehood after falsehood and lie after lie. President Joe Biden mumbled through his second State of the Union address to a divided Congress on Tuesday night. His aim wasn’t just to beg House Republicans to pass Democrats’ legislative wish lists. The president sought to convince Americans that the state of our union — crippled by inflation, overrun by drugs and migrants trafficked across the southern border, and in the midst of a debilitating culture war incited by left-wing aggression — isn’t in dire straits. The speech was remarkably similar...

I thought the flight of the Chinese spy balloon across the United States was a national embarrassment, but it was nothing compared to President Biden’s State of the Union performance last night. I thought he hit the high point with his congratulation of Kevin McCarthy for ascending to the Speakership in the first few seconds of his speech. The speed of the descent varied, but it was downhill all the way from there. That means it was a long, long way downhill. The Washington Post has a useful set of corrections on subjects other than those I mention below (the...

"To the saints . . . including the overseers and deacons" (Phil. 1:1). Faithful spiritual leaders are worthy of your appreciation and esteem. Paul's salutation includes the "overseers and deacons" at Philippi. That probably is not a reference to elders and deacons as we know them, but a general reference to all the Philippian saints, which included spiritual leaders (overseers) and those who followed (servants). That implies unity and submission within the church, which brings joy to leaders and followers alike. Hebrews 13:17 emphasizes that point: "Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls,...

A meeting of a controversial reparations committee in San Francisco had to be postponed because one of the members of the city's board of supervisors was stuck in Colombia following a vacation which included a stop at a Hooters. San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton was due back in the city for the meeting on Tuesday. Due to his absence, the meeting will be delayed until March. The committee is planning to dispense $5 million per qualifying person in the Bay Area... Under the proposal, San Francisco will give $5 million to each eligible black person who lives in the city....

Ahead of last night’s State of the Union speech, the press reported gloom and doom for their president. Biden is stumbling but always remember, he is 10-0 in elections (7 Senate, 2 veep and 1 presidential). He is an idiot, true, but he is an election savant. Governing is another matter. He sucks like a Shark vacuum. The Washington Post reported, “Americans not feeling impact of Biden agenda, Post-ABC poll finds.” Of course, they are feeling the impact of his agenda. Inflation remains at 1970s levels, we humiliated ourselves by surrendering Afghanistan, and we are depleting our military to protect...