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In his 2018 State of the Union address, President Trump promised to move more Americans from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity. This year, on December 4, he delivered on that promise, finalizing one of the biggest welfare reforms in a generation. For more than 20 years, the law has said that able-bodied adults on food stamps should work, train, or volunteer at least part-time. But states like California, Illinois, and New York have used loopholes and gimmicks to waive and ignore that law altogether.

President Donald Trump previewed Friday the release of the Department of Justice inspector general report set down for December, describing the information as “historic.” “They were spying on my campaign and it went right to the top and everybody knows it and now we’re going to find out,” Trump said.

Photo: The 19th-century gin bottle was found north of Perth with a damp, rolled up piece of paper inside. (Supplied: Kym Illman) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A Perth family has made an extraordinary historical discovery after becoming bogged on a West Australian beach. Tonya Illman was walking across sand dunes just north of Wedge Island, 180 kilometres north of Perth, when she noticed something sticking out of the sand. "It just looked like a lovely old bottle, so I picked it up thinking it might look good in my bookcase," she said. But Mrs Illman realised she had likely uncovered something far more...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term in federal elections, exit polls suggest. Her conservative CDU/CSU alliance has won 32.5% of the vote, remaining the largest party in Germany's parliament, according to the ARD poll.

The Board of Europa Nostra deeply deplores the decision of the Turkish government to build a dam that would lead to the flooding of a site of world significance, without proper and transparent justification and without adequate compensation measures. The Board of Europa Nostra, the leading heritage organisation in Europe, made a statement about the Ancient city of Hasankeyf and its surroundings in Turkey, listed among the 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe in 2016, following a nomination by the Cultural Awareness Foundation. In their statement, the Board of Europa Nostra deeply deplores the decision of the Turkish government...

It is a presidential election year, but do not expect that candidates will come a-wooing to Ithaca this fall. For decades, ours has been a reliably Democratic city in a reliably Democratic state.... The joke has always been that Ithaca is “centrally isolated.” We are not really on the way to anywhere else, and candidates in the heat of battle put their time and money into swing communities in swing counties in swing states. It was not always so, though, and Ithaca has seen its share of supplicants over the years. Presidential election campaigning—as we have known it since the...

#1 quote Back in my law office, I watched the images from New York - the plane vanishing into glass and steel, men and women clinging to window sills, then letting go. Tall towers crumbling to dust," Mr. Obama said. "It seemed all the misery and all the evil in the world were in that rolling black cloudblocking out the September sun." easy enough to parse The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others,"...

The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies, two largest consumers of energy, and two largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Together we account for about 40 percent of the world’s emissions. We need to solve this problem together because neither one of us can solve it alone. Even if the United States somehow eliminated all of our domestic greenhouse gas emissions, it still wouldn’t be enough to counteract the carbon pollution coming from China and the rest of the world. Likewise, even if China went down to zero emissions, it wouldn’t make enough of a difference if...

F-22 Raptor breaks sound barrier at 2009 Miramar Air Show More at Reaganite Republican...

The first Congregation Beth Israel building, what may have been the oldest synagogue in Atlantic City, was honored with a spot on the state Register of Historic Places in 1992 — supposedly protecting it forever from local encroachment. If you want to see it, though, it’s too late — it was torn down last year anyway, in an apparent violation of state law. All that is left is a vacant lot. (snip) The circa 1891-93 building, at 34 S. Pennsylvania Ave., was built shortly after Beth Israel was incorporated in 1890 by some of the earliest Jewish leaders of the...

Washington (AFP) - Climate change and sea level rise are threatening historic US landmarks, from the Statue of Liberty to NASA's coastal rocket launch sites, and the nation needs to prepare, scientists said. "The range and scale of impacts are alarming," said the report by the Union of Concerned Scientists that listed more than two dozen landmarks endangered by wildfires, coastal erosion and flooding -- events scientists say are being made worse by global warming. They include the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York Harbor, which was the entry point for 14 million immigrants from 1886 to...

He took in in Philadelphia in 1839...

I keep trying to find a good article to get this basic fact out but haven't found one, so shall write it myself. Last week Mohammet was at Davos partying it up, safely away from the prying eyes of the press, while Atlanta was left without the transformational, historic mayor's great "leadership" coming up to the freeze that left the city crippled and in danger. Who else was at Davos? Well, none other than former Vice President Albert Gore, making more dough out of the global warming hoax. Wonder if Mohammet attended Gore's speech? Oh, and in case you're worrying,...

President Obama on Friday cited Paul Revere as one of the earliest American intelligence-gatherers, riding through the streets to warn of impending British raids. But Sen. Rand Paul disputed the president’s take on the iconic Revere and his overall understanding of the American Revolution. “He mentioned Paul Revere, but Paul Revere was warning us of the British coming. He wasn’t warning us the Americans are coming,” Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, said on CNN just after the president concluded a speech in which he outlined changes to U.S. surveillance and data-collection efforts.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu characterized the agreement signed with Iran early Sunday morning as a historic mistake. Directly contrasting US President Barack Obama who praised the agreement as opening a "new path toward a world that is more secure," Netanyahu – speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting -- said the world has become more dangerous as a result.

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Bucking protocol, President Obama and the Democrats are planning a full-scale assault on Republicans next week during their convention. Bucking protocol, President Obama and the Democrats are planning a full-scale assault on Republicans next week during their convention. Presidential candidates have traditionally kept a low profile during their opponent's nominating celebration, but Democrats are throwing those rules out the window in an attempt to spoil Mitt Romney’s coronation as the GOP nominee. President Obama, Vice President Biden and leading congressional Democrats have all scheduled high-profile events next week to counter-program the Republican gathering in Tampa. Even first lady Michelle Obama...

MARIETTA, Ga., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] leadership delivered today the 195th and last F-22 Raptor to U.S. Air Force leadership in a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics site here. With this delivery, the U.S. Air Force now possesses the world's only 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft fleet in the world. ... A host of distinguished officials participated in this monumental event, including senior leaders from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force; local, state and national elected officials; and Lockheed Martin employees who helped build the F-22 Raptor fleet. This final Raptor joins a...

California became the first state to cap greenhouse gas emissions across its major industries Thursday when air regulators unanimously approved a plan to allow companies to sell pollution credits as a way to ratchet down heat-trapping gases. The state Air Resources Board took the action almost a year after a nearly identical plan was approved, then delayed by environmentalists who demanded the board consider taxing carbon as an alternative to the cap-and-trade strategy. By 2013, refineries, power plants and the rest of the state's top 600 industrial sources of greenhouse gases will have to cut emissions on average by 10...