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Popular Ford feature that has always been free now costs $455 Remember when buying a car meant paying once, grabbing the keys, and driving off into the sunset? That era may be fading fast. Automakers are quietly transforming the way drivers pay for their vehicles - and your next car could come with a growing list of monthly charges long after you've left General Motors is leading the charge, betting that subscriptions for features like navigation, safety systems, and hands-free driving will soon become a major profit engine - potentially generating billions of dollars a year and, in some cases,...

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson laughed and seemed to encourage the notion that millionaires could leave the state of Washington while discussing her support for a progressive tax during an interview earlier this month. “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are, like, super overblown. And if — the ones that leave, like, bye,” she said, which prompted cheers and laughter from the audience at the Seattle University event, Seattle University Conversations, which took place on April 14. Wilson was asked if she believed progressive taxes were an “easy” and “promising” solution to the tax climate...

Alex says goodbye.............. 6 Minute Video at Link............

It was a real snoozefest. Former Vice President Kamala Harris put a saxophonist to sleep on stage Wednesday during a rant against the Trump administration at an awards dinner. Overtaken by fatigue, or boredom, the drowsy horn player drifted off right as Harris warned that “people would take to the streets if they tried to cancel elections,” video from the Public Counsel’s William O. Douglas Award Dinner in Beverly Hills, Calif., obtained by TMZ, showed. The footage, taken by an audience member, showed the musician had his eyes closed and head down for nearly a minute, all while sitting just...

This evening, Campaign Against Antisemitism led a demonstration outside Downing Street calling on the Government to declare a national emergency on antisemitism and on the Prime Minister to present a plan to tackle the worst levels of antisemitic violence in living memory. The demonstration came after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green yesterday. Our investigations team uncovered new information about the suspect, which we have made public in the interest of this vital national debate. After the rally was called yesterday, the Prime Minister visited Golders Green this afternoon, where he was met with a frosty welcome from...

For 25 years, Soviet pilots flew impossible missions—chasing an American aircraft that flew higher, faster, and more untouchable than anything in their arsenal. The SR-71 Blackbird operated at 85,000 feet and Mach 3.3. Soviet MiG-25 interceptors? They could barely reach 80,000 feet at Mach 2.8—and only for minutes before their engines burned out. This is the story of over 800 failed intercept attempts. Of pilots who whispered the truth in ready rooms while filing false reports for Moscow. Of the psychological toll of chasing excellence you can see but never reach. March 6, 1982: Major Mikhail Myagkiy climbs toward 80,000...

Please pray for me. Obscene electric bills on top of everything rise have just about crushed any hope I had of ever getting back in my house. Cheated by contractor, half of house unfinished still so the dog and I can’t live there. Dust and mildew affects me terribly and can’t afford “ remediation “ of it. My mom died in August so I don’t even have her keeping me from poverty now. I’m just broken in spirit and cry all the time. PLEASE pray that I keep going, if only the the sale my dogs They’ll have nowhere to...

[...] The Fashion District, a sub-neighborhood of Downtown LA that envelops Santee Alley, has long been home to thousands of family-owned retail shops (some of which operate as wholesale only) and more than 70 restaurants that include everything from casual taquerias to Middle Eastern spots to an acclaimed Hawaii restaurant to high-end options like Italian stunner Rossoblu. Many of the businesses are immigrant-, Latino- and Asian-owned. Until recently, throngs of shoppers would crowd the alley on weekdays and weekends alike. But in the past year, the area has felt much more muted, and at times even deserted, due at least...

Barry Bonds has come company in the record books: A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz. The Giants’ legendary slugger set numerous marks that still stand on his way to becoming the sports’ all-time home run king. One of them fell Thursday, in a Triple-A ballpark, no less. Kurtz, 23, surpassed Bonds’ modern-day record when Royals reliever John Schreiber intentionally put him on base in his last plate appearance of the A’s 6-3 win Thursday at their temporary home in Sacramento. It was his 19th consecutive game with a base on balls. Few other hitters had come close since Bonds ended the...

My latest song. Yes, I chose it for the irony value.

"The names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him" (Matt. 10:2-4). God uses unqualified people to accomplish His purposes. We live in a qualification-conscious society. Almost everything you do requires you to meet someone else's standards. You must qualify to purchase a home, buy a car, get a credit card, or attend college. In...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” John 14:1–2We all need hope, especially in the face of life’s uncertainties. The inspired virtue of hope is much more than wishful thinking. It’s a supernatural gift by which we are strengthened to persevere through challenges, trusting in God’s promises and His fidelity. Hope sustains us,...

President Donald Trump granted a key approval Thursday for a major new oil pipeline from Canada into the U.S. that’s been dubbed “Keystone Light” over its similarities to a contentious project blocked by the Biden administration. The three-foot-wide (1 meter) Bridger Pipeline Expansion would carry up to 550,000 barrels (87,400 cubic meters) of oil a day from Canada through Montana and Wyoming, where it would link with another pipeline. The pipeline needs additional state and federal environmental approvals before construction, which company officials expect to start next year. Environmentalists hope to stop the project over worries that the pipeline could...

Britain must not keep changing prime ministers, Sir John Major has warned in a broadside at those who treat politics as a "game show" while leaving big problems to the next generation. The former Conservative prime minister accused today's focus-group obsessed politicians of thinking their job was to "provide fodder for the media and project your own career" while delaying action on complex issues like healthcare, pensions and climate change. In an interview for BBC Radio 5 Live and Newsnight, he said: "The best aphrodisiac in politics is hope. If people can see a change, there's a change in atmosphere."...

Oh, the emotions in the United States of America here in the Year of Our Lord 2026! There's despair. There's anger. There's...well, there's mostly anger. Heck, I tend to be dead inside and the partisan political acrimony has even been getting to me. In a recent VIP column, I wrote that I was taking a brief break from my workday habit of perusing the Opinion sections of The New York Times and Washington Post because I'm starting to worry about that kind of crazy being contagious. That followed a week or two of me venting in various ways about the...

It’s been a while since I’ve written a Progressive Christianity Watch. I have a trio of doozies for you today, so enjoy.Let’s head over to Houston, where Rev. Lura Groen, a woman pastor (shocker) preaches at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, which is part of the far-left Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She’s also an “out bisexual.”Did you know that God has a crush on you, likes to flirt with you, and thinks of you as a pet? That’s how Groen “interprets” the Bible.So goodness and mercy can chase you, can consensually pursue you, can delightfully flirt with you, can want...

New research led by University College Cork scientists suggests that both caffeinated and decaf coffee reshape the gut microbiome in ways tied to lower stress and improved psychological well-being, offering clues to the drink’s long-suspected health effects. Coffee is a plant-derived beverage produced from processed coffee beans, with its flavor and chemical profile shaped by factors such as bean variety, ripeness, processing techniques, roasting, and brewing methods. It contains a range of bioactive compounds, including alkaloids like caffeine, polyphenols such as phenolic acids, diterpenes, and melanoidins formed during roasting. Moderate coffee consumption has been linked to a lower risk of...

We have an update on the Maine Senate Democrat primary, and it's not good news for Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Newcomer Graham Platner and the state's governor, Janet Mills, were the top two candidates in the race, with Platner being endorsed by twice-failed presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as a humble, purported working-class guy who would buck Schumer and the Democrat establishment and would be a "fighter" against President Trump's America First agenda. Mills had the backing of Schumer and the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), with the belief that her popularity in the state and...

Geologists have discovered that the African continent will split apart sooner than we thought. An active rift has reached a "critical threshold" and will soon break apart, forming a new ocean. That said, 'soon' is a relative term – it'll still take a few million years more, but that's a blink of an eye on a geological scale. "We found that rifting in this zone is more advanced, and the crust is thinner, than anyone had recognized," says Christian Rowan, a geoscientist at Columbia University. "Eastern Africa has progressed further in the rifting process than previously thought." The most intriguing...

The proposal would ask voters to greenlight noncitizen voting in city elections — including races for mayor, City Council seats, and Los Angeles Board of Education positions Los Angeles City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez (CD 13) and Ysabel Jurado (CD 14) have introduced a proposal that would ask voters to greenlight noncitizen voting in city elections — including races for mayor, City Council seats, and Los Angeles Board of Education positions. The measure, released Wednesday, would first require the full council to place it on the November 3, 2026 ballot. If approved by voters, the council would then need to pass...