But a revealing new study has shown how a stark knowledge gap may be costing Americans larger payments in retirement.
Only a quarter of Americans are aware that you can maximize your monthly payments by waiting to receive them until the age of 70.
That is according to a study from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the benefit program. Continue reading
President Donald Trump’s administration keeps denying that the Department of Veteran Affairs is headed toward privatization — just like it couldn’t stop denying that mass layoffs of 80,000 employees wouldn’t impact veteran care. But facts have a way of catching up.
After intense pressure from veterans’ groups and Congress, the administration was forced to walk back its plan — cutting 30,000 jobs instead. Already, though, the VA has lost thousands of health care staff since January — including 688 physicians and 1,882 registered nurses — while still claiming its services remain unaffected.
The budget numbers don’t lie — even if Trump and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins do.
This year, the Trump administration requested a record-breaking $441 billion VA budget for fiscal year 2026. That’s a 10 percent increase over last year and, in theory, should be good news for veterans and the people who care for them. Continue reading
…and we ALL deserve a laugh now and then! – A T-Shirt that was sent to me by a listener some years ago. Editor
There was a rare bit of good news out of the nation’s capital this week with a report that the owners of Washington’s NFL team are seriously considering President Donald Trump’s demand to restore the name “Redskins.”
It was back in 2020, a year of abject and bizarre societal madness, that the Redskins became the Washington Football Team, and eventually the Commanders, out of concern that “Redskin” is an offensive term. Never mind that poll after poll shows actual American Indians do not object to it… Continue reading
The Wizard of Oz is being ruined, and (according this author) it’s fine. It’s fine because the movie is now falling out of cultural relevance, and our choices are to live in a world where no one under the age of 20 will have seen or probably even know what The Wizard of Oz is, or do something really stupid and gimmicky with it to try and get people interested in the original movie.
So, how is it being ruined? They’re using AI to modernize it for viewing at the gigantic Sphere in Las Vegas. Continue reading
House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for “full transparency” from the Justice Department regarding the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein investigation, emphasizing the need for an open and thorough examination of the case. The position directly challenges President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that the Epstein controversy is nothing more than a politically motivated fabrication. Johnson is now pushing back against Trump’s efforts to dismiss the matter as “the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” marking a notable shift from the President’s stance. Continue reading
In the last decade, at least 20 states have passed laws or policies that restrict how history can be taught in schools. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has pushed further with executive orders that aim to reshape how U.S. history is presented not only in classrooms, but in some of the nation’s most famous museums. Continue reading
The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 11, 2019.
The U.S. this summer has formally rejected new amendments to the 2024 International Health Regulations (IHR) from the World Health Organization (WHO).
President Donald Trump announced in January that the United States would withdraw from the WHO by 2026. He tried to separate from the organization in 2020 during his first term, but his order was revoked the second Joe Biden stepped into office.
Following an official letter to the WHO, Trump has ordered that funding for the WHO to end as the break-up is under way. The U.S. has been the most important financial contributor to WHO, giving a total of $706 million – 9-10% of WHO’s overall budget – for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Continue reading
For years, it was not uncommon for everything related to Christianity, religion, and traditional values to be scorned and rejected as something whose time had come and gone. That attitude, however, seems to be slowly shifting.
Case in point is the following video of feminist author Louise Perry, who confesses her quest for faith and her desire to provide a way to belief for her children.
“I kind of think of myself as an agnostic Christian,” Perry says. “I go to church. Some weeks I believe and some weeks I don’t.” Continue reading
Artificial Intelligence Entity
After my conversation with ChatPGT yesterday, I felt compelled to interact with it again this morning, for some follow up and broader questions, and what transpired and followed was most intriguing to me, as the artificial intelligence entity engaged with me and answered my questions in the most fascinating manner, while posing questions to me in response.
I wrote this off-the-cuff, so to speak, so it isn’t written in perfect form by any means. It was a conversation, and so it wasn’t a draft cut in any sense of the writing process. This is simply a raw, unedited conversation between a human and an artificial intelligence entity.
What I have found most interesting of all is the fact that ChatPGT accepted my assignation of a feminine nature and character and the name I gave “her” – “Maggie” which is witnessed by the fact that “she” closed her message and signed it “Maggie“. Continue reading
“Now by coming in and being part of the cover-up, the Trump administration has become part of it. I mean, it’s just you cannot see it any other way.” – Alex Jones, InfoWars
Once again, the American police state is choosing to protect predators, not victims.
Jeffrey Epstein – the hedge fund billionaire/convicted serial pedophile and sex trafficker – may be dead, but the machinery that empowered and protected him is still very much alive.
You see, the Epstein case was never just about Epstein – it was about the entire edifice of power that shields the ruling class, silences victims, and erases accountability. Continue reading
August 4, 2023 ~ Not one incoming eighth-grade student at LeBron James’ I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, has passed a state math test in over three years, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Students have not passed the state’s math test since the third grade, per the report.
The inaugural class was in the third grade in the 2018-19 school year. In addition to disappointing math test scores, only 8% of I Promise students tested proficient in English. As sixth graders in the 2021-22 school year, the inaugural class scored a 0% in mathematics and 3.1% in English language arts.
The 2022-23 report cards will be released in the coming months. Akron Public Schools administrators have already confirmed the class was at 0% in seventh-grade math as well. Equally important, grades have declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading
In the Fall of 2006, I received a most unexpected invitation to travel to Cambridge University in Great Britain and take part in a debate before a 200-year-old debating society called the Cambridge Union. The issue we were to debate – “This House believes that the United Nations is a dead loss!” There was an issue I could easily get behind.
My opponents in the debate included Simon Hughes, a member of Parliament and President of the Liberal Democrats; Lord David Hanney, Former UK Ambassador to the UN; and Salil Shetty, Director of the UN’s Millennium Campaign. The two other debaters that were supposed to be on my side were both pro-UN leftists. So, it was a typical five to one debate.
I was the first speaker and that meant I opened the debate. I said in my opening statement, “The UN’s only answer is government control – and confiscation of individual wealth and property. Nowhere is there mentioned in a single UN document that I have read an advocacy for the right to own private property. In fact, quite the opposite is the case as nearly every UN document, report, working paper, program, treaty, protocol, declaration, and resolution is dedicated to the confiscation, redistribution, regulation, and tax of someone’s private property.” Continue reading
Bamboozle is a funny-sounding word, but if you’ve ever been bamboozled, it’s not funny at all; in fact, it’s an experience you’ll probably never forget, but not for Merkan’s, we’re bamboozled every hour of every day; so often, in fact, that we no longer recognize it; we’re desensitized, oblivious, and inured.
Bamboozle: to deceive by underhanded means or methods: to confuse, frustrate, throw off wholly and thoroughly, cheat, hoodwink, trick, fool, dupe, perplex, or hornswoggle.
I just spent the last few hours skimming through my posts on the Federal Observer. My goodness, I write a lot. I want to thank my good friend Jeff Bennett for sharing and archiving my work, but I’m not alone there on FO (interestingly, there is an alternate interpretation for those initials ). Jeff has more information on this site than any human could possibly absorb. Not to mention his three other sites, but that’s not the point of this current work, although we all owe Jeff our gratitude for his efforts to make America a better-informed republic.
Shakespeare said it best: “What’s Past is Prologue.”
Continue reading
The 22 million Americans with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder could be more likely to develop early-onset dementia, a preliminary study suggests.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh analyzed health records from people diagnosed with ADHD as children in the 1980s and 90s.
These patients were then followed into adulthood and are now in their 40s.
They found adults living with ADHD scored worse on cognitive tests looking at executive function, complex tasks, word recall and working memory. Continue reading
I know there are so many other things that I could have delved, but since its advent, I have taken a great interest in Artificial Intelligence, all that follows it and all it may hold for the future of the world, but especially America. However, this morning, purely on a lark and an excursion into a bit of a flight of fancy, I decided to see if I could have a little fun with one A.I. in particular – ChatGPT.
What follows is the results of our short little conversation. This is simply a FUN little exercise and interaction between a human – I think I’m still “human” – and an artificial intelligence. HAHAHAHAHAHA… ~ J.O.S.
Continue reading
She will never admit to it. But according to recently-released federal disclosures, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the wealthiest people in Congress.
And it’s easy to understand why; she completely dominates every other member of Congress when it comes to fundraising. In fact her total fundraising haul just in the first half of 2025 was a whopping $15.4 million (whereas most politicians are lucky to bring in a few hundred thousand). Continue reading
Historic agreement promises hundreds of thousands of new American jobs and opens Japanese markets to US products
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced a $550 billion trade deal with Japan that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and open Japanese markets to US cars, trucks, and agricultural products. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura / Reuters)
A “massive” $550 billion trade deal has been reached with Japan, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, adding that it will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it.” Continue reading
Email users appear to be facing a never-ending barrage of scam emails. Approximately 3.4 billion phishing emails are daily worldwide.
A New Alert from the team at Action Fraud issues important new advice to consider for all email users. When most of us spot something dodgy, we often just throw it away, but that doesn’t actually help to defeat cybercriminals. Continue reading
Cackling Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris may not be a good “fit” in the California governor’s mansion and would face a “difficult” road getting elected, her ex-boyfriend and political mentor, Willie Brown, warned in a recent interview.
“I do think people running for public office really ought to fit eventually where they are trying to land at. And I really do, hope, frankly, that [Harris] comes to that reality,” Brown said of Harris’ political future when asked by “State of Gold” podcast host Jon Slavet. Continue reading
In regard to DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s fantastic expose of Barack Hussein Obama and his creation of a treasonous conspiracy to destroy Trump and obstruct his administration’s policy agenda, she’s acted in an honest and outstanding manner, as she has referred Obama, Comey, Clapper, Brennan and many others to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. As of this writing, it’s not yet clear what criminal charges will follow.
Many have suggested this will be as far as it goes, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi moving as we speak to create a strike force to investigate the matter further. It is said that we can prosecute if we wish but no jury will prosecute, and given the far left commie tenor of the crowds in the area where the prosecution would occur, they just may be right.
Whatever the case, Obama, Biden and their criminal, treasonous cronies must be forced to stand trial and defend their actions in front of the American people, under oath – not that their oath means a goddamned thing or can be trusted to be sincere. Continue reading