Christians facing “certain danger” in Afghanistan seek refuge in Australia – The Catholic Weekly
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00 First Filter
Taiwan on its own? US rethinks global security and China strategy – ThinkChina
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Why Millions Of Americans Are Tapping Their 401(k) Savings Early– finance.yahoo.com
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Excerpt:
A growing share of Americans are dipping into their retirement nest eggs to handle immediate financial challenges, underlining the economic strain many households are experiencing despite strong employment figures.
Last year, 4.8% of 401(k) account holders took early withdrawals for hardship reasons like paying medical bills or paying their home mortgage, according to data from Vanguard Group. It marks an all-time high, jumping from 3.6% the previous year and more than doubling the typical pre-COVID rate of about 2%.
Traditional 401(k) hardship withdrawals still come with costs. Account holders must pay income tax on the withdrawn amount and typically face a 10% penalty if they’re younger than 59 and-a-half.
Despite the increase in early withdrawals, overall 401(k) balances rose by an average of 10% in 2024, reaching a record high of $148,153. The share of participants with outstanding 401(k) loans remained steady at 13%, unchanged from 2023 levels.
As more employers not only automatically enroll workers but also automatically increase their contribution rates—typically by 1% annually until reaching about 10% of pay—retirement accounts are increasingly serving as de facto emergency funds for Americans facing financial difficulties.
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emocrats Are Furious With Chuck Schumer – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com
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Activists stage a protest outside the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) following his support for a GOP funding bill.
Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.In the wake of votes by a handful of key Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to pass a GOP-led continuing resolution funding federal operations through the end of September, fissures have expanded within the Democratic Party on how best to counter Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s ongoing assault on government agencies.
FCC stands up Council on National Security to fight China in ways that CISA used to – The Register
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Liberty Justice Center Urges Federal Appeals Court to Order Tennessee Government to Reopen Secret Rulemaking Meetings to Media and the Public – Liberty Justice Center
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Lawmakers seek DHS records in probe of US response to Chinese cyber campaigns – Nextgov/FCW
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Top Democrats Demand Investigation Into DeJoy’s Secret Deal With Musk To Gut USPS– www.politicususa.com
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Excerpt:
House Democrats who oversee the USPS are concerned that the Trump administration is maneuvering to get around the law and gut the United Postal Service.
In a letter to House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY), twenty House Democrats led by Oversight Committee ranking member Gerry Connolly (D-VA) wrote:
We write to request that you convene an immediate hearing on the Trump Administration’s plans for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Since the Committee’s most recent hearing on the USPS, the Trump Administration has reportedly explored privatizing the USPS, firing the bipartisan Postal Board of Governors, merging the USPS into the Department of Commerce, and is now subjecting the USPS, America’s most trusted federal institution, to the chainsaw approach of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This broad assault on the independence of the USPS demands Congressional oversight, especially from the Committee with jurisdiction over the USPS.
On December 14, 2024, the Washington Post reported that President Trump was considering actions to privatize the USPS and push thousands of federal service employees out of their jobs in favor of a broad privatization of the agency’s essential services. Two months later, further reporting noted that President Trump was preparing plans to fire the bipartisan Postal Board of Governors and “merge” the Postal Service into the Commerce Department, “potentially throwing the 250-year-old mail provider and trillions of dollars of e-commerce transactions into turmoil.”
Trump escalates fight with federal courts over deportation authority – The Washington Post
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DOJ drops voter purge lawsuit against Alabama – WSFA
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Nothing Can Erase Corporate Media’s Complicity In Covid Scandal– thefederalist.com
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Excerpt:
The New York Times turned to a popular strategy from the propaganda press playbook this week when it published what it wanted Americans to believe was a mea culpa declaring, “We Were Badly Misled About the Event That Changed Our Lives.”
There is no doubt that the chaos and tyranny that went down in 2020 “changed our lives.” People were denied the ability to grieve their dead, told not to celebrate holidays with family and friends, masked to give birth without the support of a spouse, ripped out of classrooms to stare at a screen, and segregated from society based on their jab status.
Trump must defy rogue judges or risk a failed presidency– www.theblaze.com
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If a federal judge told President Trump to deliver a specifically curated speech and then pull down his pants on live television, should he comply? If he refused, would that trigger a “constitutional crisis”? If you pay attention to the left, the answer might very well be “yes”!
The only “constitutional crisis” we face is the erroneous idea that the judiciary is atop the food chain rather than on equal footing with the other two branches of government. If Trump hopes to succeed this time around, he had better remind the judiciary of its impotence to enforce unconstitutional edicts.
Granting courts ultimate veto power over public policy creates a judicial supremacy the Founders never intended.
Federal judges have repeatedly attempted to restrict Trump’s presidential authority with overreaching demands. They have ordered the administration to fund private foreign aid organizations, reinstate specific personnel, and publish designated information on government websites. In one case, a judge even directed the secretary of defense to retract a statement on the Pentagon’s policy regarding transgender troops. And over the weekend, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg attempted to block the deportation of violent gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
Faithful continue vigil for Pope Francis outside Rome hospital – USA TODAY
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Trump Undoes Biden’s Abortion Legacy: Navy Will No Longer Pay for Sailors’ Abortions – MSN
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Justice Thomas urges Supreme Court to reconsider free speech rules near abortion clinics – MSN
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Pope Francis shows intent to stay in office by signing off on three-year reform plan– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Excerpt:
Pope Francis has approved a three-year extension to the Catholic Church’s reform process, showing his determination to continue leading despite spending a month in hospital battling pneumonia.
The Vatican announced that the 88-year-old pontiff signed off on the decision from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he has been receiving treatment since February 14.
“On 11 March, the Holy Father definitively approved the start of a process of accompaniment and evaluation of the implementation phase by the General Secretariat of the Synod,” the Vatican said.
Will Trump force Europe into China’s arms? – The Interpreter
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JD Vance launches fresh ‘free speech’ attack on Europe after angering UK veterans – MSN
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‘That’s a lie’: Judges around US calling out Trump admin for underwhelming defense – USA TODAY
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At least 40 killed as dozens of tornadoes, storms swept the country over the weekend – ABC News– news.google.com
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- At least 40 killed as dozens of tornadoes, storms swept the country over the weekend ABC News
- 42 dead as recovery operations begin in wake of monster storm that spawned violent tornadoes, dust storms Fox Weather
- Cleanup under way after massive storm barreled across at least eight US states The Guardian US
- Residents survey the aftermath of deadly weekend storms across the southern U.S. NPR
- EF-1 tornado confirmed in Paulding County during overnight storm FOX 5 Atlanta
Department of Veterans Affairs Ends Transgender and Intersex Care Directives – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com
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The Department of Veterans Affairs in Phoenix.Matt York/AP
Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.On Monday, citing Donald Trump’s “Defending Women” executive order, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it would “phase out treatment for gender dysphoria” by discontinuing hormone replacement therapy for patients not already in treatment.
The agency provides health care and benefits for about nine million veterans, tens of thousands of whom—by the VA’s estimate—identify as trans. Its press release says that the agency’s LGBTQ+ veteran care coordinators, who run its LGBTQ Health Program, would not be affected by the changes. But Pete Hegseth, Trump’s secretary of defense, has been vocal about his ire toward the LGBTQ community and his support for cutting VA health care.
Although the VA has never provided gender-affirming surgeries, it has been able to provide letters in support of veterans seeking them. That’s now on the chopping block.
“It’s infuriating,” a medical professional with the agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Mother Jones. “To be honest, I don’t understand how it’s allowed—how are they able to tell providers what they can and cannot treat?”
The announcement follows reporting in the Advocate on a Veterans Health Administration memo with similar provisions circulated on March 14, which rescinded the agency’s 2018 directive establishing health care standards for transgender and intersex veterans. In response to subsequent coverage by National Public Radio, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz told NPR that there had been no policy change—but by Saturday night, the agency officially published the memo, which showed otherwise.
Pro-life lawyers claim Poland’s new abortion center breaks federal law– www.lifesitenews.com
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Excerpt:
Executive Summary
- On March 8, activists from the Abortion Dream Team opened the AboTak “abortion clinic” near the Polish Parliament, where Polish law is now set to be openly violated.
- Women seeking abortions at the “clinic” are expected to receive assistance in obtaining illegal abortions – acts that constitute crimes under Polish law (Article 152 § 2 of the Penal Code).
- The Ordo Iuris Institute has reported the clinic’s creators to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw for potentially committing a crime.
- The report names Justyna Wydrzyńska, an abortion activist, as one of the suspects. She is currently on trial in the Warsaw-Praga District Court for a similar offense.
- Ordo Iuris has also submitted a request to the Warsaw Police Department, seeking information on the extent of police protection offered to the illegal facility.
Judge’s Husband Promotes Lawfare Against Homeschoolers– thefederalist.com
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For too long education experts have failed Wisconsin students. Too often the political left focuses on advancing a progressive narrative instead of simply teaching the basics. Recently, Wisconsin Gov. (and former education superintendent) Tony Evers proposed replacing mothers with “inseminated persons” in state law. Now, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Throughout her career she has proudly advanced progressive causes. So it should come as no surprise that her husband, Shawn F. Peters, wrote a controversial book on homeschooling recommending the removal of parents’ right to homeschool their children in Wisconsin by using novel litigation tactics.
Wisconsin voters deserve to know whether Judge Crawford supports her husband’s extreme views on homeschooling. Should any litigation come before her that advances her husband’s extreme legal claims, will she be able to objectively consider the arguments? According to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction statistics, “home-based” education continues to grow in popularity. While only 966 students were homeschooled during the 1984-85 academic year (0.10 percent), during the 2023-24 academic year almost 30,000 students (3.04 percent) benefited from a homeschool environment.
YouTube Discriminates Against Christian Channel– www.lifenews.com
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Excerpt:
Is YouTube discriminating against Christians?
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is raising the alarm about evidence suggesting the tech giant—which has a long history of censorship—has unfairly treated a Christian family TV station.
“[I]n the case of YouTube TV, concerns have been raised alleging that your company has a policy (secret or otherwise) that discriminates against faith-based programming,”?Carr wrote March 7 to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, and Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube. (Alphabet owns Google, which owns YouTube.)
Carr says Great American Media, which is helmed by former Hallmark Channel leader Bill Abbott, drew his attention to YouTube TV’s refusal to host the network. Great American Media, which also includes TV star and outspoken Christian Candace Cameron Bure as chief creative officer, focuses on a range of faith-based and family-friendly content.
“A Is for Abortion.” High School Pushes Leftist Agenda on Women’s History Month– www.lifenews.com
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Excerpt:
America’s public high schools are strange places to find displays of the alphabet. Perhaps with plummeting standardized test scores and a substantial increase in English-as-a-second-language students in sanctuary districts, high school educators feel the need to review kindergarten basics. In Fairfax County, Virginia’s West Springfield High School, located just 17 miles from the White House, school administrators and teachers have decorated the history hallway this month with a special, leftist rendition of the alphabet.
The display, titled “The ABCs to ME,” is decorated with the school’s colors: a blue background lined with an orange border. Featured in the display is a sign that reads, “A is for Abortion” with an image of a coat hanger with a positive pregnancy test.
This is an Unborn Baby at 22 Weeks. Its Legal to Kill Him in Most States– www.lifenews.com
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Excerpt:
Any story about media coverage of abortion in the United States is ultimately an act of frustration. Name the last time a media representative, particularly in the cable universe, showed a baby delivered at 22 weeks of gestation. Or the last time they noted the recent data that nearly 36% of babies born at 22 weeks will survive and 82% will do so at 25 weeks (reports of even better save rates are emerging). How many media outlets share information and stories about the growing range of conditions that are amenable to treatment and can be cured inside the womb, illustrating the separate personhood and “patienthood” of these little ones? Images and accounts like these should be commonplace today, but on 24-hour-a-day networks like CNN and MSNBC they are nowhere to be seen.
Trump’s foreign policy is advancing Xi Jinping’s long-term strategy – 台北時報
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Trump rages ‘every shot fired by Houthis will be treated as fired by IRAN’ in furious threat after US warship attacked– www.thesun.co.uk
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DONALD Trump has threatened to hold Iran accountable for “every shot” the Houthis fire from now – just hours after a US warship was attacked in the Red Sea.
The Houthi rebels – Iran’s major proxy terror group – claimed to have twice attacked the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships within 24 hours.
Don Lemon Admits Fearmongering Americans About COVID Gave Him Highest Ratings On CNN– www.louderwithcrowder.com
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According to Don Lemon, the most profitable time of his career was fear-mongering the masses about COVID-19, despite him getting nearly everything wrong. This combined with the mostly peaceful 2020 riots was the highest point of his career.
Presenting the pinnacle of his career:
It turns out, that the vaccine never did what they pretended it would do, as it was never intended to prevent transmission. So while he advocated for you to be shunned from society, he could not have been more wrong if he tried.
ABC, CBS OMIT Deportation of Hezbollah-Sympathetic Doctor– www.newsbusters.org
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The networks spent the better part of last week advocating on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia student agitator being processed for denaturalization and deportation due to his activities in material support of Hamas. However, when it came to a Rhode Island doctor who left the country to attend a Hezbollah funeral, ABC and CBS decided to bite their tongues, completely omitting the story from their evening newscasts.
NBC, though, found a bit of time for the story- albeit tucked into their story on deportations of suspected gangbangers and subsequent detention in a Salvadoran supermax: