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Massachusetts AIr National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, accused of classified document leak. CREDIT: Simon Ateba, TwitterThe big story Thursday was the arrest of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who allegedly leaked more than 100 pages of classified documents that exposed extremely sensitive information from the Pentagon regarding Ukraine, Russia, China, Israel, and documents produced by the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.That story changed markedly through the day, though, and the sparse information we have about Teixeira raised major questions about how he could have possibly had access to such a wide-ranging tranche...

Summary. The Israel of God is no longer fleshly, natural Israel, but rather all believers in Jesus―along with a remnant of Godly believers of old. Jesus fulfilled all of the promises to Old Covenant Israel (Luke 1:67-79; 2 Corinthians 1:20). “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:5-8). The church extends beyond natural Israel to include Gentiles (Luke 2:32; Acts 9:15; 11:1, 18; Romans 11:11-32; Galatians 3:6-9, 25-29). This is not “replacement theology, but rather “inclusion theology.” Here is a sampling of passages about this: Galatians 6:14-16. In the context of the rest of Galatians, Paul...

Most Americans say they feel they pay too much in taxes, and many believe they receive little value in return, a new poll found. About two-thirds of taxpayers said they believe their federal income taxes, state sales taxes and local property taxes are too high, according to the poll conducted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll found that about one-third of taxpayers say the value they receive from paying taxes is poor, with less than than 25 percent of respondents saying they receive good value...

ACLJ Chief Counsel and lifelong musician Jay Sekulow has assembled this award-winning, all-star lineup, led by two of the most powerful voices in rock ’n’ roll – John Schlitt of the iconic Christian rock group Petra and legendary singer/songwriter John Elefante of Kansas. The Jay Sekulow Band is ringing in the New Year with a stellar night of classic rock anthems and original tunes.

Happy New Year to everyone!

A troubling new COVID subvariant is on the rise just in time for the holidays, officials have warned. The JN.1 subvariant – when stems of the omicron variant that surged in early 2022 – is “rapidly increasing globally,” the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Tuesday. JN.1 is now causing about 20 percent of new coronavirus infections in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated. The variant evolved from BA.2.86, a descendent of the omicron variant that made headlines over the summer when scientists worried that it might mutate beyond the capacity of vaccines and antibodies, CNN...

(NEXSTAR) — As millions of Americans are preparing to gather for the holidays, health officials are warning of a new COVID-19 variant sweeping the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was classifying the COVID variant JN.1 as a variant of interest. Here are 5 things you should know about the new variant of interest.

Health authorities say they're closely tracking the spread of three new COVID-19 variants now spreading around the country. Levels of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths for now remain far below previous peaks seen during past summer and winter waves of the virus, but have been climbing steadily for several weeks. Public health officials have said that they're well-equipped for the latest seasonal uptick in the virus, with COVID-19 tests and forthcoming vaccines expected to work for the variants on the rise around the country. But the appearance of a new "highly mutated" variant has raised questions among virus trackers about what...

A new study from Heritage Foundation – reviewed by The Epoch Times – found that 71% of the illegal aliens coming in in one month went to Republican congressional districts. As a result, Texas is no longer majority white. Texas is now majority Hispanic. Not all of the illegal aliens stay in Texas. They also travel to the country’s interior and every state, except perhaps Hawaii. The study was conducted using geofencing of thousands of illegal aliens. The researchers also found that NGOs, left-wing groups, and religious organizations are being paid to transport these people, and they overwhelmingly transport them...

The most expensive home for sale in Atlantic Beach, Long Island, has just listed for $11.5 million. Indeed, this marks the biggest number seen for the chiefly laid-back area, though probably not for long. As Wall Street is set to return to a full five-day work week, the Hamptons is starting to seem pretty far away. This part of the island, with a lowly population of about 1,800, comes with all the perks of the Hamptons — right on the water, for starters — and it’s just a breezy hour away from the city and away from the crowds. Rarely...

Among both his friends and his enemies, there is a tendency to think of Donald Trump as sui generis: a political figure, and certainly a president, unlike any other. In some respects, including his incessant mendacity and his tendency to publicly insult everyone who doesn’t bow down to him, he may truly be without equal in U.S. history and more comparable to foreign political strongmen from Juan Perón to Viktor Orban. But at the New York Times, Ross Barkan suggests that as Trump pursues a comeback after his 2020 defeat (which, of course, he will not acknowledge), he may actually...

In a valley far from the front lines last week, several men practiced dropping a half-full bottle of water from a small aerial drone, as though it were a grenade. Others fired rifles at targets 100 yards away. A third group set off for a trek through the surrounding hills, which burst with white and yellow flowers.Almost none of them had military experience before last year. The Ukrainian military is racing to turn civilians into elite soldiers for the cutting edge of a critical summer offensive.Kyiv has been holding some 20 brigades back from the fighting and training them to...

Democrat state representatives switching parties and one special election over the last month gave Republicans three new supermajorities in state legislatures, bringing the total to 25 nationwide. This week, North Carolina state Rep. Trisha Cotham announced her departure from the Democrat party and effectively changed her party affiliation to the Republican Party, ultimately giving the Republicans in the Tar Heel State a veto-proof supermajority in both the House and Senate. Republicans in Raleigh now have a supermajority in both the House and Senate chambers to serve as a check on Governor Cooper with the power to override vetoes. #ncpol https://t.co/lyAWpWbDOI...

Continuation of Matt Bracken's writings re upcoming events - https://areaocho.com/11039-2/

HONG KONG — Analysis of Covid-19 cases in Beijing suggests that no new variants emerged from China’s recent outbreak, according to a study published Wednesday. Facing rare mass unrest after nearly three years of strict “zero-Covid” policies, the Chinese government dropped most restrictions on Dec. 7. The sudden change unleashed the coronavirus over the winter on a population of 1.4 billion people who had barely been exposed to it, raising fears that the outbreak could produce a new variant of concern and leading dozens of countries, including the United States, to impose testing and other curbs on travelers from China....

New home sales jumped last month despite consistently high mortgage rates that experts say have hampered affordability and pushed potential buyers out of the market. Sales of new single-family homes rose by 7.5 percent in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 632,000, according to Census Bureau data released on Wednesday. But the new sales fell behind the October 2021 estimate by 5.8 percent. The median sales price of new single-family homes sold in October was $493,000, while the average sales price was $544,000. New sales numbers follow separate data released last week that shows existing home sales declining...

One of several sources of errors in biblical interpretation is confusing the new covenant with the old one. For example, the cults (Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses) are famously guilty of this as they emphasize that works are how we are saved. Mormons compound the error by emphasizing the importance of temple worship, having built magnificent “temples” in Salt Lake City and elsewhere―in which they conduct secret temple rituals. These are old covenant things. Now hear me out. Aren’t dispensationalists guilty of similar infractions? Isn’t their hope of a rebuilt temple, along with temple sacrifices and rituals, obsolete old covenant stuff?...

In the record-breaking sale of firearms in 2020, there were many people in that number that purchased firearms for the first time.Many of the new gun owners were driven to purchase guns because of the uncertainty seen in 2020. There were many riots. There were prosecutors who refused to prosecute. The murder rate grew rapidly. The political system was attacked and vilified.Gun sales reached a record level of about 20.66 million guns sold in 2020, according to this correspondent’s calculations.The National Shooting Sports Foundation ran surveys at numerous retail outlets. Those surveys indicated there were about 8.4 million first time...

WASHINGTON — Negotiators to a stop-gap spending bill in the U.S. Congress have agreed to include about $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine in response to a request from the Biden administration, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.The source, who asked not to be identified, said the measure will also include resettlement funding for Afghan refugees

The United States today committed an additional $457.5 million in civilian security assistance to enhance the efforts of Ukrainian law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to improve their operational capacity and save lives as they continue to help defend the Ukrainian people, their freedom, and their democracy