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US News:
Report finds federal program spending $1 billion a year on ineligible members
(The Center Square) – The Federal Employees Health Benefits program may be spending almost $1 billion a year on payments for ineligible members, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
The report has some federal lawmakers calling for more information and changes to prevent fraud and waste.
“This is a flagrant waste of funds and may be driving up premium costs for eligible participants,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky, wrote in a letter to the Office of Personnel Management.
About 8 million federal employees and their families get health insurance benefits through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program.
In 2021, the Office of Personnel Management began requiring some new program enrollees to verify that their family members were eligible. However, the Office of Personnel Management doesn’t have a process to identify and remove ineligible family members already enrolled.
“The program may be spending almost $1 billion per year on payments for ineligible members,” according to the GAO report.
Surge in illegal immigration from Cuba, Haiti to Florida continues
(The Center Square) – In the first three months of fiscal 2023, U.S. Coast Guard’s 7th District-Southeast crew apprehended and repatriated a record number of Haitians and Cubans attempting to illegally enter Florida by sea.
In the first three months of fiscal 2023, the Coast Guard apprehended 1,766 Haitians and 5,183 Cubans, it reported.
This is after a record 7,175 Haitians and 6,182 Cubans were apprehended in fiscal 2022.
By comparison, the Coast Guard apprehended 1,527 Haitians in fiscal 2021, 418 in fiscal 2020, 932 in fiscal 2019, 609 in fiscal 2018 and 419 in fiscal 2017.
It also apprehended 838 Cubans in fiscal 2021, 49 in fiscal 2020, 313 in fiscal 2019, 259 in fiscal 2018, 1,468 in fiscal 2017 and 5,396 in fiscal 2016.
Georgia Election Probe Report to Remain Secret for Now
A report by a special grand jury in Georgia investigating possible interference in the 2020 election will remain secret for now while a judge considers its release.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney heard arguments Tuesday from prosecutors who argued against immediately releasing the report and a coalition of media organizations who argued it should be made public.
He said he would consider their arguments and would reach out to both parties with any questions before making a final decision.
Winning Ticket for $2B Powerball Jackpot Still Unclaimed
A single ticket holder who won the record $2.04 billion Powerball last year has not yet claimed the prize.
In November, one lucky ticket in Altadena, California, correctly matched all six numbers to win the Powerball jackpot but as KTLA noted, no one has come forward with the winning ticket yet.
The winner has one year to claim the prize, and if they fail to do so, the money is required to be returned to “all lotteries in proportion to their sales for the draw run,” according to Powerball policy.
In this instance, California’s policy is to transfer any unclaimed lottery funds to the state’s public schools.
DOJ Sues Google Over Digital Advertising Dominance
The government alleges that Google’s plan to assert dominance has been to “neutralize or eliminate” rivals through acquisitions and to force advertisers to use its products by making it difficult to use competitors’ products.
The antitrust suit was filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Attorney General Merrick Garland was expected to discuss it at a news conference later Tuesday.
The DOJ’s suit accuses Google of unlawfully monopolizing the way ads are served online by excluding competitors.
This includes its 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick, a dominant ad server, and subsequent rollout of technology that locks in the split-second bidding process for ads that get served on Web pages.
Shootout at Oakland gas station kills 1 and wounds 7 others
A shootout at an Oakland gas station killed one person and wounded seven others in the second shooting involving several people on Monday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, police said.
Officers were deployed to the scene at the Valero gas station on Macarthur Boulevard just after 6pm and learned there had been a shooting between several people, the police statement said.
The officers found shell casings at the gas station but no victims. However, dispatchers later learned that several victims had taken themselves to local hospitals for treatment of gunshot wounds.
The fatal shooting came hours after a farm worker killed seven people at two locations just 24 miles (39 kilometers) away.
FDA leaves out Pfizer COVID vaccine ‘stroke signal,’ myocarditis study from advisers’ next meeting
The FDA’s briefing documents for the next meeting of its outside advisers specializing in COVID-19 vaccines have a couple big omissions, agency watchers say.
Pfizer’s promised study on “subclinical myocarditis” in young adults who received its original booster, which was due Dec. 31 at the agency, and the “stroke signal” the feds detected, then dismissed in elderly recipients of Pfizer’s new booster are not mentioned.
“Remember Pfizer was legally obligated to study troponin elevations in young men who got the shot,” University of California San Francisco epidemiologist Vinay Prasad wrote in his newsletter Monday. “This is different that [sic] clinical myocarditis— this is heart damage that these young healthy men may not feel or may ignore, and is much more common.”
Service members forced to pay back signing bonuses after being fired over COVID vax: ‘Kick in the face’
U.S. service members who were fired for refusing to comply with the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate are now being forced to pay back their original recruitment bonuses, which they tell Fox News Digital is a “kick in the face” after years of dedicating their lives to protecting the country.
One former Army soldier who was fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine last May told Fox News Digital that he would have to pay back his original signing bonus upon his termination from the military because he did not complete the commitment in his contract.
The soldier had signed a contract with the Army for six years and received a $7,000 bonus.
However, because he fell short of the six years, the military notified him that he owed the government a prorated amount of slightly over $4,000. In order to pay it back, he ended up having to “sell” 60 of his unused vacation days to cover the amount owed.
Lawmakers are pressuring the Pentagon to do more and provide back pay for the roughly 8,400 U.S. troops fired after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the Pentagon has said back pay for troops fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine is not an issue the DOD is “pursuing.”
Government report: Unemployment fraud may top $60 billion during pandemic
(The Center Square) – A U.S. government report released Monday estimates that there could have been more than $60 billion in unemployment insurance fraud during the pandemic.
The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office says that figure is an estimate spread over the entire unemployment system and should be “interpreted with caution.”
There has been $4.3 billion of unemployment fraud proven by state workforce agencies and at least $45 billion more in transactions that were flagged as potential fraudulent unemployment claims but not confirmed.
The U.S. Department of Labor stated that about $878 billion in total unemployment benefits were paid from April 2020 through September 2022, the report stated. There was $209 billion in expenditures under the regular unemployment insurance and about $669 billion payouts under the various pandemic unemployment programs, which ended September 6, 2021.
The U.S. Congress created four new unemployment insurance programs during the pandemic, according to the report.
LSU student Madison Brooks case: Four people charged in alleged rape before she died after being hit by car
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said Brooks was raped before she was hit and killed by a car on Jan. 15.
Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old unidentified minor were charged with third-degree rape.
Everett Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were charged with principal to third-degree rape, which means they were present but did not participate in the alleged crime.
According to investigators, Carver admitted that he and the other males went to Reggie’s Bar near the LSU campus and drank alcohol.
He said Brooks left the bar with them and was “very unstable on her feet, was not able to keep her balance, and was unable to speak clearly without slurring her words,” the arrest document states, according to FOX 8.
Carver told investigators he believed Brooks was too drunk to understand she was consenting to sex and he “hated it,” the warrant reads. He said they later dropped Brooks off in a neighborhood near the scene where she was hit and killed by a car on Burbank Drive.
Man Charged With Kidnapping And Assault Released On $2 Bail, Promptly Commits Another Alleged Kidnapping And Assault
A Texas man released on a $2 bail for allegedly choking and kidnapping his former girlfriend was rearrested within days for continuing to threaten her, KHOU 11 reported.
Aubrey Taylor was arrested after allegedly holding his former girlfriend hostage, choking and terrorizing her on Dec. 27 in Harris County, Texas.
He was offered a $2 bond — $1 for each count — during his court date on Jan. 13 and was rearrested on Jan. 18 for violating court orders and allegedly threatening the victim, according to KHOU 11.
After Taylor was rearrested, his bond was set at $45,000 for the kidnapping and $15,000 for the assault charge, KHOU 11 reported.
This is not the first time Taylor has been charged with a violent crime; prior to his current charges, Taylor had eight prior felony convictions, according to Yahoo News.
This is what a deranged, violent, modern-day Brady bunch looks like: Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham highlights the threat of Antifa and some of the members that attacked Atlanta on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’
Atlanta is under attack!
Antifa is waging an all-out assault on the Atlanta Police Department.
The Left’s Largest Nonprofits Funneled $39 Million to China in 2021, Filings Show
The Gates Foundation, according to its latest IRS disclosure, sent nearly $30 million to Chinese organizations in 2021, including $2.5 million to the communist nation’s National Health Commission and $1.4 million to its Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
The Ford Foundation, meanwhile, sent $9.3 million to China in 2021—recipients included three public universities that are overseen by the Chinese government’s defense industry agency.
Both the Gates and Ford Foundations have long boasted of their work to influence policy and advance technology in China.
But the foundations’ partnerships with Chinese Communist Party-controlled entities—including some that work with China’s military—is raising eyebrows among U.S. lawmakers and China experts, who argue that the CCP’s iron grip on the nation means the party is likely to hijack data that advances its interests.
Gov. Kristi Noem Says Her Personal Cell Phone Was ‘Hacked’ Due To Leaked J6 Committee Docs
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday that her personal cell phone number has been hacked and blamed it on the release of her Social Security number amid hundreds of documents that the House Jan. 6 committee released last year.
The Republican governor, who is weighing a 2024 White House bid, said in a statement that her personal cell phone number had been linked to hoax calls.
She has written letters urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Congress to investigate the release of her family’s Social Security numbers after they were included in a list of personal information for thousands of people who visited the White House during then-President Donald Trump’s term.
“Callous mishandling of personal information has real world consequences,” Noem said in a statement. “If you get such a phone call from my number, know that I had no involvement.”
Border Patrol agents apprehend 38 known terrorists in first 3 months of fiscal 2023
(The Center Square) – U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested a record 38 people on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database during the first three months of fiscal 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
This is after agents apprehended a record 98 in all of fiscal 2022 and 15 in fiscal 2021.
By comparison, 14 were apprehended from fiscal years 2017-2020 under the Trump administration.
Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Center Square, “Since [President Joe] Biden has taken office we are at approximately 140 KST [known or suspected terrorists] trying to enter the country illegally. Border Patrol has arrested people from 161 different countries [some of which] are sponsors of terrorism.
“With 1.2 million KNOWN got aways plus an untold number of unknown got aways; how many KST have successfully entered this country through the southwest border?” he asked.
He’s referring to at least 1.2 million gotaways in the past 23 months, those whose who’ve illegally entered the U.S. and intentionally evaded capture by law enforcement.
Globalists PANIC as 61% of US Counties Become ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries’
How George Soros co-opts the media and keeps criticism down
George Soros is the most dangerous man in America. The investor is intent on remaking the country in his liberal image, from our foreign policy priorities to undermining our criminal justice system.
This week, The Post takes a look at the reach of Soros’ billions. In this second essay, Matt Palumbo, author of “The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros,” examines Soros investments in liberal propaganda.
A new report from the Media Research Center has exposed connections between billionaire liberal financier George Soros and 54 prominent media figures.
As documented by its authors, Joseph Vazquez and Dan Schneider, these include reporters, anchors, columnists, editors, news executives and journalists.
Bongino Goes OFF-SCRIPT To Expose Biden’s SOROS Connection Live on FOX
Migrants bused to NYC arrested after stealing $12K from Macy’s
Wrallan Cabezas Meza, 19, Miguel Angel Rojas, 21, Rafael Rojas, 27, and Jose Garcia Escobar, 30, are accused of traveling from Manhattan to Nassau County on Long Island to steal $12,489 in goods from the Macy’s Roosevelt Field mall.
Since Republican governors began sending migrants to New York City last year, an estimated 40,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the Big Apple.
Meza entered the U.S.-Mexico border on July 4, 2022, while the others arrived in September, Nassau County officials stated.
Police did say that Miguel and Rafael Rojas have been living at the Westin Hotel on West 57th Street in Manhattan since they arrived.
SF exec describes trip to bar surrounded by ‘hundreds’ of homeless
Michelle Tandler, 37, shared a picture from her Saturday night trip to a bar in the wilting Democrat-run city.
She posted the image of a distressing scene that featured a group of homeless men surrounding by trash and graffiti.
It comes as cities such as San Francisco, Portland and Philadelphia are being outed for their homeless and drug crisis.
‘I saw hundreds of people folded over (likely high on Fentanyl), or sitting on the sidewalks smoking.
‘Almost every person looked homeless. I felt scared to park and walk two blocks,’ she wrote before launching into a nearly two-dozen tweet thread about the ruinous state of San Francisco.
Tandler claims that San Francisco is at a breaking point as it pertains to the ongoing and rampant homelessness problem, as well as drug use in the streets and lax criminal prosecution policies fostered by progressive politicians and city officials.
Now Aretha Franklin’s song Natural Woman is deemed OFFENSIVE to trans women:
The song A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin is being bashed by LGBTQ critics as ‘offensive,’ with one organization in particular saying the tune helps perpetuate harmful anti-trans stereotypes.
Released as a single by the late Queen of Soul back in 1967, the stirring love ballad is now facing scrutiny – despite preaching positive messages in regards to women and femininity in general.
Leading the charge to have the song nixed is the Norway-based Trans Cultural Mindfulness Alliance (TCMA), a group started this year and has since made its presence known with a series of polarizing posts on social media.
Statements made by the dubious organization – which defiantly claims that it is genuine and not a parody account – have spawned outrage, including its January 20 request to pull Franklin’s song from streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
World News:
Violence at Chinese-owned nickel smelter in Indonesia raises alarm
KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA — Recent clashes at a Chinese-owned nickel smelting facility in Indonesia are likely to spread to other parts of the country if the government and Chinese owners fail to address issues of safety, analysts say.
Protests, some violent, have occurred sporadically in recent years on the mineral-rich island of Sulawesi, which is experiencing an investment boom for mining nickel, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. Indonesia is keen to leverage its world-leading reserves of the metal and develop a domestic EV industry.
But issues of dangerous work environments, compensation and tensions between Indonesian and imported Chinese workers are casting an uncertain shadow over that scenario.
U.S. supports Serbia’s move to commit to future in EU – ambassador
BELGRADE, Jan 24 (Reuters) – The United States supports Serbia’s intention to pursue an international plan to normalise ties with Kosovo and eventually join the European Union, the U.S. ambassador to Serbia said on Tuesday.
“It’s really about Serbia’s future and about relationships that Serbia needs,” Christopher Hill told reporters in Belgrade, capital of the Balkan country, an ally of Russia.
Both Kosovo and Serbia aim to join the European Union and in order to complete that process, both parties need to resolve outstanding issues and build good neighbourly relations.
Two British aid workers were killed during Ukraine evacuation
![[1/2] Chris Parry, one of the two British men missing in Ukraine is seen in this picture obtained from social media released on January 5, 2023. Chris Parry via Instagram/via REUTERS](https://exampl76602.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/proxy-25.jpg?w=1024)
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) – British voluntary aid workers Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw were killed during an attempted humanitarian evacuation in eastern Ukraine, Parry’s family said on Tuesday, weeks after they were reported missing in the war-torn country.
Sky News reported Bagshaw’s family as saying the pair was killed while trying to rescue an elderly woman from the town of Soledar.
Russia’s Wagner Group said earlier in January that its forces had found the body of one of the workers who had been reported missing in eastern Ukraine, the scene of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
WATCH: Journalist joins police tackling alcohol fueled street violence | 60 Minutes Australia
It’s not a pretty sight. These days, you take your life in your hands just going out for a drink with your mates.
Late at night, early in the morning our cities are no-go areas, unless you’re all steamed up and looking for a fight. Too much booze, too much aggro – it’s a recipe for disaster. So much so, the government’s taken action.
The Prime Minister says he wants to scare the living daylights out of teenage binge drinkers. Not before time. Liam Bartlett has been out on the mean streets with the police, seen the violence, met some of the tragic victims. And it sure scared the hell out of him
U.S.-Israel hold largest in scale joint military exercise; JCPOA off the table TV7 Israel News 24.01
1) The United States and Israel are holding the largest joint exercise in scale to date – simulating an all-out conflagration.
2) Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant highlights Jerusalem’s ultimate deterrent as the “insurance policy” of the Jewish State.
3) The United States reiterates that the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran is “off the table.”
Israel’s Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah have tense meeting over Temple Mount
The Israeli Prime Minister visited Amman for his first trip abroad of his new premiership, amid recent visits to the Temple Mount by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Jordan’s ambassador to Israel which raised tensions between Jerusalem and the Jordanian waqf.
This little girl has the body of a 70 year old | 60 Minutes Australia
There’s no easy way to put this. All the bright, gorgeous little kids you’re about to meet are running out of time.
They all have a rare and incurable genetic condition called Progeria – they’re ageing dramatically – at eight times the normal rate and most will literally die of old age, before they reach 15.
It’s confronting stuff and actually meeting a Progeria kid for the first time is pretty confronting, too. But perhaps it’s because they need to cram so much life into so little time,
Tara Brown found the kids and their parents among the most positive people she has ever met. Their humour, love and determination was humbling. And, it’s thanks to the love and determination of one parent, that there’s hope for a cure to this terrible disease.
Politics:
Western Sydney a key battleground in NSW election
The NSW Premier and Opposition Leader are already focusing on the battleground of western Sydney for the upcoming state election as they announce road toll relief and women’s health and safety policies.
Tucker: This is a middle finger in your face
The ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ host sounds off on elected Republicans for ‘betraying’ voters on major issues like diversity and sending funds to Ukraine.
Tucker Carlson: Antifa is back in force
WARNING: Graphic footage: Fox News host Tucker Carlson has the latest on Antifa’s influence in the United States on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’
Peter Doocy: White House sending this signal about 2024
‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host Pete Hegseth joined ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the politicization of the Department of Justice and the fallout over Biden’s classified document scandal.
Vice President Mike Pence discovered classified documents in Indiana home
Following the revelations that classified documents from President Biden’s tenure as vice president were found at the Penn Biden Center think tank and Wilmington, Delaware, the vice president’s team conducted searches of Pence’s Indiana home and political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, office.
Pence attorney Greg Jacob wrote on Jan. 18 Acting Director Kate Dillon McClure of the White House Liaison Division National Archives and Records Administration to inform her of the papers “containing classified markings.”
After the documents with classified markings were discovered, they were immediately put into a safe, according to the Pence team.
The documents were collected by the FBI at Pence’s home in Carmel, Indiana, on Thursday evening, Jan. 19. Pence was in Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life when the FBI collected the documents.
Explosive New Connections In The Biden Foreign Agent Scandal (Ep. 1935) – The Dan Bongino Show
Biden’s incoming chief of staff met with Hunter Biden at least three times in 2016
According to emails obtained from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and verified by Fox News Digital, Zients met with Hunter Biden twice in February 2016 and on another occasion in May 2016, just months before President Biden, the vice president at the time, was set to leave the White House.
President Biden also attended the first two meetings which both took place at the U.S. Naval Observatory, where the vice presidential residence is located.
During the first meeting — which took place on Feb. 12, 2016 — Zients, Hunter Biden, then-Vice President Biden met with David Rubenstein, a billionaire and founder of hundred-billion-dollar asset management firm The Carlye Group.
Rubenstein is also the member of a series of other organizations including the World Economic Forum, Council on Foreign Relations and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Two weeks after the first meeting, Zients, Hunter Biden and then-Vice President Biden met with former lobbyist and current White House senior counselor Steve Ricchetti and David Bradley, a Washington, D.C.-based political consultant and chairman of media group Atlantic Media.
Exclusive — Kristi Noem on Push to Restrict Chinese Land Purchases: ‘This Is a National Security Issue’
“I think all of us can agree as Americans that China shouldn’t be buying up land in the United States. They are an enemy,” Noem said. “They are an evil government built on Communism and taking away freedom. That isn’t something we should allow to have a presence here in our great country.”
Noem’s bill is currently being considered by the South Dakota state legislature and has prominent sponsors in both the State House and State Senate.
What it would do is create a state-level version of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Currently, CFIUS is a federal board that approves or disapproves of foreign entities engaging in major U.S. transactions.
Noem’s proposal would establish a CFIUS-South Dakota, or CFIUS-SD, which would review proposed transactions in the state where foreign entities including but not limited to Chinese entities seek to purchase land.
The board, if established — which would require the legislature to pass Noem’s proposal — could block such land sales as it sees fit.
Commentary:
Gutfeld: George Santos finally admits to being a queen
‘Gutfeld!’ panelists discuss George Santos confessing to dressing in drag and his questionable past.
THIS is why global elites & the WEF want you to OWN NOTHING
Global elites and the World Economic Forum may be trying to hide it now, but they’ve clearly stated in the past that by 2030, they want you to ‘OWN NOTHING.’
And that goal, Glenn explains, run entirely oppositely to the principles on which America was founded. Ownership is a HUGE part of the American experiment, so what happens when it’s taken away from us?
In this clip, Glenn is joined by Carol Roth, author of ‘The War On Small Business.’ She says the anti-ownership goal of global elites is making us into ‘indentured servants,’ and that there’s one, huge way we can all peacefully fight back…
Whistleblower Reveals What is Behind the Mass Attacks on US Food Facilities
In the United States, dozens of food processing plants suspiciously caught fire over the past year. Remarkably, no one was present at the time of the fires. The Eco Health Alliance whistleblower, bioterrorism expert, military veteran, and scientist Dr Andrew Huff has a possible explanation for the food supply fires.
Huff has access to government information about simulating a food supply attack. The information comes from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Food and Agriculture Sector Criticality Assessment Tool (FASCAT). This also includes which places are particularly at risk.
According to Huff, who authorities have harassed due to the nature of his work since 2019, the US Government coordinated the attacks on the food facilities. But, in addition, something remarkable happened: the hard disk with the FASCAT data disappeared.