Tag Archives : Build House

American, 24, reportedly killed fighting in Ukraine's Donbas region

A 24-year-old man from Memphis, Tenn., was the latest American killed in the conflict in Ukraine, according to reports that he died fighting Russian forces in the contested Donbas region.

“American mercenary was destroyed in Ukraine,” Russian official Oleg Kozhemyako in a Telegram post, Newsweek reported. 

The governor of Russia’s eastern Primorsky Krai region, Kozhemyako reportedly said Primorsky “Tiger” Detachment volunteers killed the U.S. citizen “in the first clash literally immediately after arriving at the front line!” 

Reports say Kozhemyako also shared images of a U.S. passport and Ukrainian military card, but outlets have not named the victim.

The Hill has reached out to the State Department for more information. State confirmed the death of an American to USA Today, but declined to confirm his identity.

The American is said to have been killed in the Donbas region, where much of the recent fighting has been focused.

“Donbas is almost destroyed by Russian strikes, devastated. The proud and glorious Ukrainian Donetsk was humiliated by the Russian occupation and robbed,” Ukrainian President Zelensky said Sunday in an address.

“Russia brought the most terrible thing there — absolute disregard for the value of any life, absolute disrespect for anyone. The invaders brought degradation and death.”

A number of American deaths have now been reported in Ukraine during the war, including video journalist Brent Renaud, U.S. Marine veteran Willy Joseph Cancel, Stephen Zabielski and Jimmy Hill, who was killed while waiting in a bread line.

Volunteer soldiers Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young were reportedly ambushed by Russian tanks and killed in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine in July. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Taliban jabs Pakistan over US drones: 'don't use your airspace against us’

The Taliban’s acting defense minister on Sunday accused Pakistan of allowing U.S. drones to enter and attack Afghanistan through Pakistan’s airspace. 

“According to our information, the drones are entering through Pakistan to Afghanistan, they use Pakistan’s airspace, we ask Pakistan, don’t use your airspace against us,” the Taliban’s Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob told reporters at a Kabul news conference, per translations.

A U.S. drone strike in Kabul last month killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, a former deputy to Osama bin Laden and a key planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied Yaqoob’s claims in a statement, noting “deep concern” about the “conjectural allegations.” 

“In the absence of any evidence, as acknowledged by the Afghan Minister himself, such conjectural allegations are highly regrettable and defy the norms of responsible diplomatic conduct,” the statement reads. 

Pakistan’s foreign ministry also urged Afghanistan “not to allow the use of its territory for terrorism against any country.” 

The Biden administration has touted the strike on al-Zawahiri as a long-coming deliverance of justice.

“If you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out,” Biden said in a televised address announcing the strike earlier this month.

Al-Zawahiri assumed leadership of the terrorist group al Qaeda after bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces as part of a secret raid in a compound in Pakistan.

Pakistan has reportedly denied involvement in the strike on al-Zawahiri, and its foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told Reuters Sunday that the country’s airspace had not been used. 

The Hill has reached out to the Embassy of Pakistan and the CIA for comment.

Source: TEST FEED1

Student loan forgiveness should backfire on Biden

President Biden has announced that the federal government will forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for Americans making less than $125,000 annually as well as extend the student loan repayment moratorium. This plan is estimated to cost taxpayers $330 billion and should be seen as the most unfair, outrageous, and disgraceful decision in many years. The president is telling Americans that they do not have to bear any responsibility for their voluntary obligations in borrowing money or going into debt. His proposal is also regressive and inflationary, and possibly unconstitutional.         

Forgiving student loans disproportionately benefits those with higher incomes. According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, more than 70 percent of the debt forgiveness would be given to households who are in the top 60 percent of income distribution. The president’s proposal will force middle and low-income Americans who have paid off their student loans or never attended college in the first place pick up the tab for higher-income Americans who decided to take on substantial student loan debt and have not yet fully paid off their loans.  

Republicans and conservatives are not the only ones concerned about this fiscally reckless proposal. Larry Summers, an economic adviser to former President Barack Obama and secretary of the Treasury under former President Clinton, said “the student debt relief is highly regressive as higher income families are more likely to borrow and to borrow more than lower income families. Adults with student loans have much higher lifetime incomes than those without.” Former Obama Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Jason Furman, said that forgiving student loan debt benefits recent college graduates at the expense of both the rich and poor.  He tweeted that it would be reckless to add gasoline on the inflationary fire and the loan forgiveness would go beyond the president’s campaign promise of $10,000 in student loan relief while violating his promise his proposals would be paid for. In April 2022, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that President Biden does not have the power to forgive student loans.

The White House’s plan to forgive student loan debt is just another example of Democrats completely shunning fiscal responsibility. Almost immediately upon taking office, President Biden and Democrats in Congress authorized $1.9 trillion in the unnecessary and wasteful American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which was followed by the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Just two weeks before his student loan forgiveness plan was announced, Congress passed and President Biden signed into law the so-called Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which authorized $433 billion in new government spending and raised taxes by $739 billion. It supposedly would reduce the deficit by $300 billion, but that would be completely offset by the cost of the student loan forgiveness plan. 

The unfairness of student loan forgiveness was highlighted in a series of articles that demonstrated the personal sacrifice made by tens of millions of Americans who took the responsibility to pay off their loans. Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, who accumulated $40,000 in debt to obtain her master’s degree from the University of Missouri, paid off her loan in eight months by working beyond her 40-hour weekly job. Rutgers University graduate Pathik Oza had $70,000 in loans and started a used book business to earn enough income to pay it off within two years. And a Florida couple who had a combined $203,000 in student loan debt set up a budget system that allowed them to pay it all off in 27 months. Instead of congratulating and emulating these hard-working Americans who have demonstrated fiscal, personal, and moral responsibility, the White House is spitting in their faces along with everyone else who has paid off their loans or their children’s loans.  

Citizens Against Government Waste has long been arguing against student loan forgiveness, including naming both Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona as Porkers of the Month for their support of this terrible idea. President Biden’s announcement is the latest, and likely not the last, example of how he and Democrats in Congress have completely given up on any sense of fiscal sanity. This regressive plan would force those who never attended college or have paid off their loans to bail out those higher-income Americans who have failed to pay off their completely voluntary debts.  

President Biden’s decision is both pandering to progressives and pushing for votes in the congressional elections in November 2022 and presidential election in 2024. But the plan may backfire, as the motivation to oppose candidates who are forcing voters to pay for someone else’s loans could end up being far stronger than the White House may think.   

Eric Maus is Federal Affairs Associate at CAGW.

Source: TEST FEED1

Ozzy Osbourne 'fed up' with US gun violence, moving back to UK

Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne said he is “fed up” with gun violence in America and plans to move back permanently to England.

Osbourne told The Guardian in a story published Sunday that he plans to sell his Los Angeles, Calif., home in Hancock Park and move to a 350-acre estate in southeast England by February.

The metal singer said he was making the move because “everything’s ridiculous” in the U.S.

“I’m fed up with people getting killed every day. God knows how many people have been shot in school shootings,” Osbourne said, explaining he does not want to “die” in America and that it was time to return to his home country.

Osbourne, who was born near Birmingham, England, has listed his Los Angeles home in Hancock Park for $18 million, according to recent reports.

In March, he said he would move to his estate in Buckinghamshire because of high California taxes, according to the Daily Mirror.

Osbourne, 73, has a host of health issues, including a struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He underwent a surgical operation this summer.

But Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, said their decision to move was not based around his health.

“America has changed so drastically,” she told The Guardian. “It isn’t the United States of America at all. Nothing’s united about it. It’s a very weird place to live right now.”

Extreme polarization has been highlighted by investigations into former President Trump and the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe V. Wade and the nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion.

Osbourne is a pioneer in the rock and metal world, having co-founded the band Black Sabbath in 1968 before launching a successful solo career.

The singer’s new album, Patient Number 9, is slated for a Sept. 9 release and features other musical legends, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde and the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Source: TEST FEED1

Marijuana use hits record high in new Gallup poll

Marijuana use reached a record high in new polling, as for the first time more Americans said they smoke marijuana than reported smoking cigarettes in the last week. 

Sixteen percent of Americans in a new Gallup poll reported smoking marijuana, up from 12 percent last year and more than double the all-time low of 7 percent. 

Fewer Americans, at 11 percent, reported smoking cigarettes in the past week, down from 16 percent last year and a far fall from a peak at 45 percent in the 1950s. 

It’s the highest percentage of reported marijuana use and the lowest percentage of past-week cigarette use since Gallup started asking those questions in 2013 and 1944, respectively. 

Nearly half of U.S. adults now report having tried marijuana, up from 4 percent when Gallup first surveyed about its use in 1969. 

Despite increasingly common use of the drug, Americans remain evenly split on whether marijuana is having a negative or positive effect on society.

Yet more than two-thirds of Americans, at 68 percent, think the drug should be legal, a record-high maintained from last year’s polling.

Six states could vote on ballot measures legalizing marijuana in the November midterm elections, and should they pass, will join 19 others in legalizing recreational marijuana.

Conducted July 5-26, the surveys on marijuana and tobacco use polled 1,013 U.S. adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

Source: TEST FEED1

Five midterm lessons from this year's special elections

This year’s special elections have offered a glimpse into how voters may behave in November.

While Republicans saw an early success in a Texas House district, Democrat Pat Ryan’s win in New York on Tuesday was a major boon for the party.

To be sure, special elections are an imperfect indicator. Turnout tends to be lower, political winds can shift quite a bit before November’s midterms and the special elections were held using pre-redistricting maps.

But, taken together, they can provide an early look at the national mood and what political forces the parties will need to contend with.

Here are five lessons from this year’s special elections:

Things may not be as bad for Democrats as once feared

The election outlook for Democrats, particularly in the House, has been bleak for most of the year. Republicans appeared on track to make significant gains in the lower chamber, banking on a poor national environment for Biden and congressional Democrats, along with the historic advantage a first-term president’s opposing party has during the midterms. 

But, while Democrats are still projected to lose the House, a series of special elections this summer brought a newfound optimism that any “red wave” could be smaller than expected. 

The Cook Political Report declared Wednesday that the “Red Wave Looks More Like a Ripple” while the election handicapper FiveThirtyEight posted the headline, “Yes, Special Elections Really Are Signaling A Better-Than-Expected Midterm For Democrats.”

Democrats have outperformed expectations in all four special elections since the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections, including Pat Ryan’s win over Republican Marc Molinaro in New York’s 19^th District, considered a bellwether for November.

Also on Tuesday, in the Empire State’s 23rd Congressional District, Democrat Max Della Pia came up short against Republican Joe Sempolinski but performed much better than expected in the rural House district. 

In Alaska, a state former President Trump carried by 10 points in 2020, Democrat Mary Peltola leads the field for the at-large House seat, though the state’s new ranked choice voting system means the race has not yet been called.

“We have had a summer of strength and we’re going to buck history by making history,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press last week. 

“The other side has had a summer of stumbles, obstructing veterans’ health care, ripping away 50 years of reproductive freedom, and now trying to defund the FBI and ignore a serious threat to our national security with Trump’s latest scandal,” he said. “We’re going to address real problems. We think that’s going to bring it home.” 

Abortion could be a galvanizing issue for voters in the general

Political experts and observers were skeptical about the impact the issue of abortion would have on midterm races. 

While polls showed that a clear majority of Americans disagreed with the decision, economic issues continuously topped the list of voter concerns and priorities. 

A vote on a Kansas ballot measure that would have stripped abortion protections from the state’s constitution was the first sign of the issue’s strength. In a red state, the measure went down by double digits.

But skeptics pointed out that the vote involved a direct yes or no question for voters. It remained unclear whether a candidate could galvanize voters on the issue alone. 

The results of the race in New York’s 19th District appeared to answer that question.

Ryan leaned heavily into the issue while Molinaro messaged on the state of the economy and crime. Ryan rolled out his first television ad of the campaign cycle, which focused on abortion, less than an hour after the Supreme Court announced its decision to strike down protections for the procedure. Since the district is considered a bellwether going into the general, Democrats say Ryan’s victory shows the issue of abortion access could extend beyond their base voters to swing voters. 

On top of that, Democrats have improved their standing on the generic ballot since Roe was overturned, going as far as to hold a small lead over the GOP. A Politico-Morning Consult poll released last week showed Democrats with a four-point lead over Republicans on the generic ballot. 

Of course, there could be other external factors at play and the environment could shift between August and November. However, Democrats are already signaling how confident they’re feeling on the issue.

In the Texas gubernatorial race, Democrat Beto O’Rourke rolled out his first general election ads of the cycle choosing to focus on abortion restrictions in the state. 

Suburban voters remain key 

The special elections have shown that suburban voters continue to remain a crucial voting block. 

The election in New York’s 19th District was a key example. The current district spans the mid-Hudson Valley region and other areas south of Albany. It stretches to the northernmost part of the greater New York metropolitan area. 

The suburbs represent an interesting conundrum for both parties this election cycle. While many suburban voters could be considered fiscally conservative and be more attracted to Republican candidates on issues of economics, many also say they lean more liberal on social and cultural issues — like abortion access. 

Additionally, experts argue that Trump’s involvement in the midterms, in general, may not help his party’s standing with suburban voters. Suburban voters play an integral role in propelling Democrats to the House majority in 2018, while they also propelled them to the Senate majority and White House in 2020. 

Still, suburban voters cover a wide swath of views and it’s unclear how the results in the 19^th District will transfer to other areas. On top of that, Republicans are going to up the ante in terms of making the election more about inflation and Biden rather than abortion and Trump. 

Republicans see gains with Latino voters

The GOP has seen significant progress in recruiting both Latino candidates and voters and that dynamic was on full display in the special election for Texas’ 34th Congressional District.

Republican Maya Flores defeated Democrat Dan Sanchez by nearly eight points in the south Texas, majority-Latino district.

While Republicans have made slow but steady progress in the border districts, Flores’ win represented a pretty dramatic shift for the district. Biden won the district by 4.2 points in 2020 while former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won it by 21.5 percent in 2016. 

Flores’ win came less than two years after Florida Republicans flipped key House seats by winning the Latino vote and after Democrats blamed their losses in Texas on a lack of outreach to Hispanic voters. The GOP aims to continue that trend.

Flores’ win also appears to reflect the success of Republican messaging on inflation, crime and the flow of migrants over the southern border, as well as the increased GOP investment in Latino voters. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee says it has recruited a total of 102 Hispanic candidates in this cycle, while the Republican National Committee launched an initiative earlier this month that aims to help immigrants prepare for the naturalization test. 

While Latino voters are by no means a monolith, the issue of abortion could end up playing well for Republicans in among large swaths of the voting bloc, considering its historically social conservative lean. 

Trump, Biden effects unclear

Former President Trump’s effects on the primaries have been clear, but a big question remains: What impact will Trump, and Biden, have on the midterms?

This year’s special elections do not give a clearest. According to FiveThirtyEight, Biden currently has a 41.6 approval rating while Trump clocks in at a 41 percent favorability rating.   

While Biden’s approval ratings are still relatively low, a number of down-ballot Democrats, including those that ran in special elections this year appeared to perform better than expected or win. 

Trump does not have great approval ratings either, and with Democrats are increasingly looking to tie GOP candidates up and down the ballot to him. 

Neither played a major role in the special elections this year, instead opting to focus more on the primaries and the general election. 

Source: TEST FEED1

NFL's Aaron Rodgers says Joe Rogan helped him develop COVID-19 'game plan'

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said podcaster Joe Rogan helped him develop a game ahead of his COVID-19 diagnosis last year, which ultimately revealed that he had misled the public about his vaccination status.

Rodgers and Rogan have been prominent COVID-19 vaccine skeptics. The four-time NFL MVP claimed ahead of last season that he had been “immunized” against COVID-19, which was interpreted as confirmation that he was vaccinated, until he contracted COVID-19 and was forced to miss a game due to being unvaccinated.

During an appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Rodgers thanked Rogan for his advice on treating COVID-19, also noting that he appreciated hearing previous guests on the show discuss “their own ideas about COVID.”

“I really appreciate you and you helping me out during that time,” Rodgers told Rogan on Saturday’s episode, saying that he reached out to the podcast host about COVID at the start of the last season.

“And you know, you helped me with…a game plan to be ready in case I did get COVID. And I followed it to a tee and when I got COVID, you know within 36 hours I was, you know, symptom-free and feeling amazing,” Rodgers said. 

Rogan and Spotify, which has an exclusive deal to distribute his podcast, faced fierce backlash earlier this year for spreading disinformation on COVID-19 and vaccines. Spotify added a warning to some episodes, but did not remove them.

Rodgers also told Rogan that he calculated his now infamous “immunized” response to the media last season, saying that he didn’t want to dodge the question because it would have conveyed that he wasn’t vaccinated.

“I thought there’s a possibility that I say, ‘I’m immunized,’ maybe they understand what that means, maybe they don’t. Maybe they follow up. They didn’t follow up,” Rodgers added. “So then I go [into] the season, them thinking, some of them, that I was vaccinated.”

When the media did follow up with questions suggesting they interpreted the response as Rodgers being vaccinated, asking what he thought about unvaccinated teammates, Rodgers responded that he had no judgement about what others did with their bodies.

“But I knew at some point if I contracted COVID, or if word got out, because it’s the NFL and there’s leaks everywhere, it was possible I’d have to answer the questions,” he said.

“And then sure enough, I contract COVID…and that’s when the shit storm hit. Because now I’m a liar and I’m endangering the community, my teammates, all these people, and you know, the attempted take down of me and my word and my integrity began.”

Source: TEST FEED1

What to know about NASA's Artemis rocket, set to launch Monday

NASA’s unmanned Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will blast into space on Monday morning, sending the Orion exploration spacecraft soaring more than 40,000 miles past the moon on a six-week journey, if all goes to plan.

The launch, part of the Artemis program, will lay the groundwork for the space agency to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in 50 years.

Here’s what you need to know about the launch.

Takeoff bash will feature celebrity guests

NASA said in a blog post Saturday there will be a two-hour launch window, beginning at 8:33 a.m on Monday.

As of Sunday, NASA said weather conditions looked favorable for the rocket’s blastoff to the moon from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

For those interested in watching, NASA will have a live stream available beginning at midnight. A full list of where to stream the launch, including on NASA’s website and social media pages, can be found here.

During the launch ceremony, actors Jack Black, Chris Evans and Keke Palmer will make live appearances, NASA said earlier this month.

Jazz composer Herbie Hancock and singer-songwriter Josh Groban will perform “The Star Spangled Banner,” while the Philadelphia Orchestra, along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, will perform “America the Beautiful.”

Agency officials, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, will deliver remarks and answer questions at a postlaunch conference around noon.

Key to the future of moon exploration

Monday’s test launch, called Artemis I, is the first in a series of integrated tests for NASA’s Artemis program, designed to get American astronauts back to the moon for the first time since 1972.

The test will determine the capabilities of SLS, the most powerful launch rocket in the world, and the Orion exploration spacecraft, which rides on top of SLS and will one day carry astronauts to the moon.

After launching into space on Monday morning, SLS will fall back to the planet. Orion will continue its flight around the moon before it returns and splashes back down to Earth. A full map of Orion’s trajectory is available here.

If Monday’s test goes well, the second test launch, called Artemis II, will include a crewed flight, with astronauts taking a ride on Orion for an estimated 10 days in space.

Artemis III will finally take astronauts to the moon’s south pole. NASA has a goal of sending the first woman and first person of color to the moon by 2025.

Opening doors to scientific discoveries

Artemis builds on the previous Apollo program, which sent astronauts to the moon from 1968 to 1972.

Those manned missions to the moon paved the way for crucial technology used today, including heart monitors, solar panels and automatic pool purifiers.

The Artemis program is expected to lead to more discoveries and scientific advancements.

Astronauts who journeyed to the moon with Apollo also collected 842 pounds of lunar rock samples during their space ventures.

Lunar rovers and unmanned vehicles cannot collect as much as a human astronaut, so sending crews back to the moon will be important to understanding geology. The moon holds key data about the formation of our planet and solar system, considering its rocky surface is relatively unchanged due to its stable environment.

Mike Sarafin, the Artemis I mission manager at NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement this month that the Artemis program “will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known.”

“It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission,” Sarafin said.

Source: TEST FEED1

56 percent of Democrats say Biden shouldn't run for reelection in 2024: poll

Over half of Democratic voters in a new poll said President Biden should not run for a second term in 2024.

A USA Today-Ipsos poll found that 56 percent of Democratic voters are against a reelection bid from their party leader, despite approving of his government experience, policy knowledge and focus on country unification. 

Sixty percent of Democrats said they think Biden can win if he does run in 2024.

By contrast, 82 percent of Republican voters think former President Trump could win the 2024 election, and 59 percent think he “deserves reelection” and should be the Republican nominee.

Biden has said he fully intends to run for reelection, despite his age and generally low approval numbers. Trump has yet to formally announce a third run for the White House, but has repeatedly hinted at a 2024 bid.

Ninety percent of Republican voters think Trump “is willing to use all tools at their disposal to get things done,” compared with 73 percent of Democrats who said the same of Biden.

Eighty-five percent of Democrats think Biden “is focused on bringing the country together and finding compromise,” compared with 70 percent of Republicans who said the same of Trump.

The Democratic Party was more likely than the Republican Party to be seen by respondents on both sides as more inclusive and “willing to compromise to get things done,” while the Republican Party was more likely to be seen as “good for the economy” and “tough on crime.”

Conducted Aug 18-22, the online survey polled 2,345 adults and has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Source: TEST FEED1

Beto O'Rourke pauses campaign after being hospitalized with bacterial infection

Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke (D) said he was pausing his campaigning on Sunday after he was hospitalized with a bacterial infection.

O’Rourke tweeted Sunday afternoon that he started to feel ill on Friday and checked into the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he was diagnosed with the bacterial infection.

“While my symptoms have improved, I will be resting at home in El Paso in accordance with the doctors’ recommendations,” the Democratic candidate wrote. “I am sorry to have had to postpone events because of this, but promise to be back on the road with you as soon as I am able.”

O’Rourke is seeking to knock off Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who is seeking re-election.

The race is expected to be close; Abbott was leading O’Rourke by seven points in a poll released this month.

O’Rourke, who previously ran for a Texas Senate seat and narrowly lost to incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R).

Earlier this month, O’Rourke drew national headlines when he called out a heckler who laughed as the candidate discussed the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children and two adults dead.

Source: TEST FEED1