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An unseasonable warmup will continue to spread throughout most of the US this week, with high temperatures from Texas to the Midwest feeling more like May than the end of meteorological winter. Hundreds of temperature records – record highs and record-warm lows – are expected to fall through midweek, with Monday and Tuesday forecast to be the warmest days across the Plains and Midwest. On Monday, more than 250 million Americans will experience above-average temperatures. “This warmth is really beginning to build today across the middle tier of the country, and it continues to shift its way eastward by about...

The White House blamed congressional Republicans on Wednesday for the national debt surpassing $34,000,000,000,000 for the first time in the nation’s history. The attempt to shift blame to Republicans absolves President Joe Biden’s leadership while justifying his massive spending policies throughout his 35-month tenure: 2021: $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package 2021: $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill 2022: $12 billion in Ukraine aid 2022: $3 billion for facilitating Afghan refugees to the United States

It was Jan. 19, 1989. Ronald Reagan was in his final full day as president of the United States and was making remarks at a Presidential Medal of Freedom presentation. As he finished celebrating the achievements of the honorees, he turned to another subject that was on his mind: “Since this is the last speech I will give as president, I think it’s fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love.” What followed is remembered as Reagan’s most majestic description of America as a welcoming harbor for immigrants. Here is just some of what...

Although the establishment media claimed that inflation fell in August, American households did not get any relief in the grocery store aisles. The price of food at home jumped 0.7 percent compared with the previous month. Over the past 12 months, grocery prices have gone up 13.5 percent. ome of the biggest increases in food include: Ham up 2.5 percent from July and 9.2 percent compared with a year ago. Frankfurters (hot dogs) up 5.3 percent from July and 18.3 percent compared with a year ago. Eggs up 2.9 percent from July and 39.8 percent compared with a year ago....

U.S. natural gas fundamentals remain bullish as above-normal temperatures drive cooling demand and dwindling supplies that would’ve been used for the next winter season cause market tightness, sending futures for July delivery soaring 9.5% to $9.340/mmbtu as of 1315 ET.Houston-based energy firm Criterion Research sheds more color on the natgas fundamentals driving prices higher. They report a combination of factors, including above-average temperatures in the Lower U.S. 48, natgas demand, slumping natgas production, and below-average national stockpiles, which have driven July contracts above $9. The Lower 48’s weather outlook has come in warmer this morning, with the latest models showing...

The cost of diesel fuel — used by farmers and truckers to supply Americans with the products they need — has increased 75 percent over the past year. The national average for diesel fuel is $5.61 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) May 16 report.

First gas, then heating and now rents. Runaway inflation is driving rents skywards across Joe Biden’s America, delivering an average of a 20 percent increase in the U.S.’s biggest 50 cities over the past 12 months, a study details. At the same time, U.S. Census Bureau statistics show rental vacancy rates during the fourth quarter of 2021 fell to 5.6 percent, the lowest since 1984 in the the world’s largest economy.

One expert has a warning for Americans who are shocked now at the soaring price of gasoline: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Gas could hit $7 a gallon if Russia-Ukraine tensions escalate and demand ticks up even further as the weather gets warmer and more Americans hit the road, according to an energy markets analyst.

South Korean authorities announce that they will start handing out free COVID-19 rapid tests amid the ongoing surge of virus infections, The Associated Press reported. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on Wednesday that officials will start the new initiative next week by handing out testing kits at secondary schools, senior health care facilities and neighborhood welfare centers in an effort to strengthen protection for unvaccinated children and high-risk groups.

President Joe Biden’s soaring food costs are impacting the hungry at local food banks across the nation. Food banks, which run off the generosity of American workers in local communities, are having difficulty feeding the hungry due to increased food prices since Biden became president and took over the levers of the supply chain. Breitbart News reported Tuesday that food costs increased almost one percent last month and 5.3 percent in the last year.

TALLAHASSEE — Florida added 11,466 new cases of coronavirus Friday and another 128 deaths, with the caseload soaring by 21% since the beginning of the week. The state now has reported 327,241 total cases and 4,805 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March. Congressional Democrats blistered Gov. Ron DeSantis' refusal to enact a statewide mask mandate and his earlier comment that the recent surge in cases represented a "blip," although he acknowledged it was a "higher blip than where we were in May and the beginning of June." U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, said the Republican governor...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's growing support among California's hard-core conservatives and evangelical voters has pushed him out in front of Donald Trump among likely voters in the state’s June 7 Republican presidential primary, a new Field Poll shows. While Cruz's 25 to 23 percent lead over the billionaire businessman is a statistical tie, the freshman senator's position is stronger since plenty of California Republicans are scared to death of seeing Trump as their party's nominee. In a state where 28 percent of likely Republican voters say they'd be "upset" if Trump was on the ballot come November, "Trump doesn't have...

Traditionally, purveyors of alcoholic beverages have focused a lot of their attention on the holiday season. But one major spirits company says the tide is turning, and summer is fast becoming an even more popular time of year to imbibe. Kate Pomeroy of spirits giant Pernod Ricard says there are two sides to the story when it comes to summer’s growth in liquor popularity. “There’s the traditional summer drinks - the rums, the tequilas, the vodkas,” she notes, “but then on the other side what we’re seeing is whiskey, which is a burgeoning trend across the whole category. Consumers are...

Sacramento — California´s budget, which bounced back after years of deficits, is now being squeezed by rising healthcare costs for the poor and for retired state workers. The mountain of medical bills threatens to undermine Gov. Jerry Brown´s efforts to strengthen state finances — his central promise of the past four years. Enrollment in the state´s healthcare program for the poor, known as Medi-Cal, has exploded by 50% since President Obama´s signature law took effect. Although the federal government picks up most of the tab, state costs have also been growing, and faster than expected. Meanwhile, the annual bill for

Anybody on the Gee-Oh-Pee side want to  bring this up on the house floor? Bloggers can't defund Obamacare- only you can do that.  No more games with the repeal votes, you need to DEFUND. Most Americans already hate Obamacare so it's teed-up nice -n- high for you, Boehner... take a swing, or face political oblivion. ______________________________________________________ House Small Business Committee   Nashua Telegraph   Breitbart   DailyCaller

Pressured by an aging population and the need to rein in budget deficits, Canada's provinces are taking tough measures to curb healthcare costs, a trend that could erode the principles of the popular state-funded system. British Columbia is replacing block grants to hospitals with fee-for-procedure payments and Quebec has a new flat health tax and a proposal for payments on each medical visit -- an idea that critics say is an illegal user fee. In some ways the Canadian debate is the mirror image of discussions going on in the United States. Healthcare in Canada is delivered through a publicly...

Cathy Jamieson and her husband struggle to maintain health insurance coverage for workers at their small plastics molding plant in Chula Vista. Premiums at American Design have doubled over the past three years, annual deductibles have climbed to as much as $10,000 per family, and the company has turned to three different insurers to find affordable options for its 12 employees, Jamieson said. With the recession killing more than half of American Design's business, Jamieson worries that medical benefits might soon have to go. “I don't know where we're going to be next year,” she said. If Jamieson is confident...

In the summer of 2004 I woke up one night, couldn't go back to sleep, rode out to Walmart, and bought a new camera. It was an Olympus C4000Z, only 4MP, but twice as big as the little Kodak I had. The auto focus was super, auto exposure and white balance were excellent, I took 10s of thousands of pics with it. It is still going, I passed it on to a beginner, no point in keeping it in a drawer. These pics are from November, 2004.

A mid-air collision between a private jet and a glider on Monday afternoon leaves the pilot and crew safe but the glider and its occupant(s) missing. Authorities say the jet was travel ling at 300 knots when it collided with the glider over Douglas County about 3 PM Monday afternoon They say the pilot and his crew had to make an emergency landing without landing gear at the Carson Airport. They had just received clearance from the tower to descend to 12,000 feet. The plan has received major damage to the nose of the aircraft, and it is not known...

SACRAMENTO Triple digit temperatures smashed records across California Saturday, straining thermometers and air conditioners and prompting dozens of scattered electricity outages that left residents sizzling. A major Northern California power plant tripped off line as temperatures climbed, trimming electricity reserves below acceptable levels and prompting the state's grid manager to declare a "stage one emergency" while calling for conservation. No relief was expected until at least midweek from a weather front that sent temperatures soaring even along the normally cool California coast and brought Midwest-style humidity steaming into the usually arid Central Valley. Heat records were set throughout the San...