Released in 1962, Lawrence of Arabia is a British historical epic based on the life of T.E. Lawrence, a British writer, diplomat, archaeologist, and army officer. He is best remembered for his participation in the Arab Revolt and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire in World War One. Starring Peter O'Toole as Lawrence, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards at the... Source

Suppose that a typical American family that spends about $73,000 per year was budgeting for next year and realized it spent an increasing amount—$4,600 last year—by sending payments to the wrong people and in the wrong amount. Sound budgeting would say that family should include “improper payments” in its budget. And assuming it doesn’t like wasting thousands of dollars a year, that family should identify its failures and make changes so it sends payments only to people it owes money—and doesn’t send more than it owes. A set of bipartisan proposals introduced in Congress seeks to impose accountability on—and ultimately rein in—the federal government’s massive and rising improper payments. The Improper Payments Transparency Act (HR 8342), introduced by Reps. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., Jack Bergman, R-Mich., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and Scott Peters, D-Calif., would require the president’s budget request to include information about and explain how agencies are addressing these payments gone wrong. Just as an addict’s recognition of his problem is the first step to recovery, the federal government’s recognition of improper payments in its budgets is a first step to recovering taxpayers’ dollars. The second proposal, the Enhancing Improper Payment Accountability Act (HR 8343), was introduced by Reps. Blake Moore, R-Utah, and Abigail Spanberger, D-Va. This bill includes recommendations from the Government Accountability Office to impose stricter, more timely reporting requirements for new federal programs. It also would require the president’s budget request to include, for programs that fail to report improper payments, an explanation of the obstacles that prevented such reporting. According to a March 2024 GAO report, the federal government issued at least $236 billion in improper payments last year—that is, payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made in the wrong amounts. That’s more than the entire government spending of many countries, including Denmark, Israel, Switzerland, and South Africa. The GAO noted that some programs—such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and multiple rental assistance programs—failed to report their improper payments, so “the government-wide estimate potentially does not represent the full extent of improper payments.” With 6.3% of federal government payments issued improperly, that’s equivalent to a typical household’s spending $4,600 on improper payments, out of an annual budget of $73,000. (Note: My estimates of improper payment rates exclude spending and improper payments within Defense Department compensation because—although that information is included in the government’s payment reporting—compensation in all other government departments isn’t included in the data. Also, in keeping with references in reports by the White House Office of Management and Budget, this analysis uses the catchall term “improper payments” for those figures listed by the government as “improper and unknown payments.”) With the federal government spending over $28,000 per household per year in transfer payments, and almost $1,800 of that amounting to improper payments, American taxpayers deserve better. Although Congress has passed well-intentioned and well-designed legislation to address improper payments, gaps and loopholes still exist. For example, many agencies are required to issue report cards containing the amounts of improper payments, general causes, and action plans and evidence of progress. But those agency reports don’t identify specific failures and remedies or specific actions that Congress, the president, or other agencies must take so that the agency in question may reduce improper payments. Moreover, a lack of enforcement amid agency failures remains the biggest loophole used to avoid accountability and integrity on this issue. Programs that repeatedly exceed 10% or even 30% in improper payment rates face zero consequences. Massive, and generally rising, improper payments from the government reveal a major lack of integrity and accountability in agencies’ use of taxpayers’ money. The numbers reveal an even larger problem because of the massive explosion in size and scope of the federal government.   Since 2005, federal payments have increased at more than twice the rate of the gross domestic product; improper payments have grown three and a half times as much as GDP. Reducing improper payments requires verifying identity and eligibility as well as imposing accountability—including consequences. I’ve laid out dozens of recommendations to improve integrity and accountability across government programs, including the creation of a Taxpayer Integrity Office—TIO for short—within the Treasury Department to establish and enforce improved systems and procedures. Although improper payments have grown so large that they necessitate their own line items and explanations in federal budgets, these payments are only a symptom of the disease of excessive government spending. Policymakers should confront unsustainable national debt and budget deficits by restoring power and money to Americans. Every dollar taken out of the federal budget and restored to the budgets of American households will reap multifold returns. The post Bipartisan Proposals Seek Accountability for Hundreds of Billions in Improper Federal Payments appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has thrown what political weight he has behind the use of the hotly debated live facial recognition technology. The direct endorsement of the controversial tech has come in a speech that’s part of his election campaign; he uses this type of tech with talking points such as fighting crime more efficiently. But Sunak didn’t stop there, also asking the Policy Exchange UK conference audience to “imagine a welfare system where new technologies allow us to crack down on the fraudsters exploiting the hard-working taxpayers who fund it” – which is seen as an implicit endorsement of mass government surveillance of people’s bank accounts. But despite Sunak’s attempt to talk up these schemes as beneficial to society, both bank account surveillance and live facial recognition are dismissed by privacy advocates like Big Brother Watch as dystopian threats to people’s civil rights and privacy. The trade-off between potentially making catching criminals and fraudsters easier, and the entire population having their financial and physical privacy undermined is unacceptable to this non-profit, which calls the policies of bank spying and facial recognition surveillance expansion, with dangerous implications. And, Big Brother Watch offered its “translation” of Sunak’s statements: Display content from Twitter Click here to display content from Twitter. Learn more in Twitter’s privacy policy. Always display content from Twitter Open content directly “Imagine this: The Government spying on ALL of our bank accounts on the premise of detecting welfare fraud & error… Police taking your face prints as you go about your day on your high street Imagine, a nation of suspects.” In a bid to avoid this, a petition has been launched to prevent the government from gaining the new powers around bank account surveillance, calling them, on the one hand, redundant – as the government is already equipped to deal with fraud and misuse of public money. But on the other hand, everyone’s privacy and other rights would be jeopardized, and subject to the government’s possibly arbitrary – since secret – criteria that banks would have to follow. In the meantime, Sunak is putting taxpayer money where his AI-surveillance-supporting mouth is, with reports saying that the equivalent of $69.5 million was recently set aside to allow the police to “accelerate” facial recognition deployment. And that is only one of the initiatives in this space. Sunak chose to “sit on two AI chairs” – which comes down to, “AI is good if used by the government, and also good as an excuse to ramp up censorship under the guise of fighting online harms.” Preventing government abuse through surveillance, appropriate regulation, and transparency, do not seem to be top of mind when the current British PM talks about AI, though. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post UK PM Sunak Endorses Facial Recognition, Implicitly Backs Mass Bank Surveillance appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

New Dutch Government Fixin' to *GASP* Do What They Were Elected to Do

Jules Casey, a seasoned diver with countless underwater adventures, experienced something remarkably unique on one of her recent dives. On this particular day, she encountered an octopus that seemed unusually curious and interactive. What started as a routine dive turned into an unexpected journey, led by this intelligent sea creature. Little did she know, this... The post Smart octopus grabs diver’s hand and leads her to his incredible ‘buried treasure’ appeared first on Animal Channel.

MRC contributing writer Stephanie Hamill was a guest on Thursday’s The Balance on Newsmax with host Eric Bolling and former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon where they discussed MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough’s latest tizzy over a New York Times/Siena poll showing former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden in five out of six swing states. On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, Scarborough accused the Times of rigging the polls against Biden, so that they could generate more traffic with ‘clickbait stories.’ LOL. "I'm young enough to remember when these same people would get really excited when conservatives or Trump would question polling, the 'fake news polls' if you will. It's hilarious to see them get their tinfoil hats out," Hamill said. "The New York Times isn't doing Trump any favors."    WATCH:    Heilemann: I'm not saying it's not close. I'm not going to carry water for the New York Times or the methodology of this poll. I would keep going back to the thing that I try to say every time we talk about these things. Which is, that I'm really interested in -- and I know you know this. What are the polls showing us directionally about the race? Scarborough: I understand. There's a difference, though, with the New York Times/ Siena poll, and you know this. It's given disproportionate impact. This year, this cycle, it is skewed wildly in Donald Trump's direction. [Heilemann tries to speak.] Hold on. And the New York Times feasts on it with clickbait stories, like, a dozen at a time. Heilemann: And I, what I'm trying to focus on is what I think people should pay attention to [tries to continue]-- Scarborough: -- [Interrupting] But what I'm trying to focus on is, the New York Times right now is actively shaping the election cycles, where this poll comes out on a Sunday, and on Monday, people go, oh -- and I heard it! And I'm sitting there going, don't be so stupid. That's why we're doing this. [Heilemann tries to respond. Scarborough shouts.]  Hold on. No! No! Hold on a second. Hold on. No, no, no, no,. Hold on.

ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) and NBC’s Today eagerly touted in faux serious tones early Friday a new front in the left’s war to delegitimize, shame, and even attempt to remove conservative judges as The New York Times published a screeching story about an upside down flag flying at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021. Liberal journalist Jodi Kantor typed this up on behalf of the liberal Borg and even appeared in the GMA segment, arguing Alito signed with the flag he’s a far-right conspiracy theorist.     “We turn now to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito under fire after The New York Times published a picture of an upside down flag flown outside his home in 2021 just days after the January 6 riot,” fill-in co-host Rebecca Jarvis began. Longtime Supreme Court correspondent Terry Moran was in need of a fainting couch as he huffed Alito’s been “no stranger to controversy” with this new story “stunning and unprecedented”. “Flying the flag upside down is meant to be a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger, according to the U.S. flag code. It’s also been used as a symbol of protest...and, after the 2020 election, some of Donald Trump supporters adopted the upside down flag to object to Biden’s victory,” he added. Moran also pointed to Kantor having obtained e-mails from fellow leftist quacks — aka Alito’s neighbors — whining “the flag was flying for multiple days” and were concerned about this “political statement”. On-screen, Kantor made this seem like a national scandal: “They were incredulous because one of the bedrock rules of being a federal judge is that you’re not supposed to take part in politics.” Moran only briefly focused on Alito’s denial to Kantor: “I had no involvement whatsoever. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.” Earth to Terry and Jodi: What signs did Alito’s neighbors have? To what degree did they harass the Alitos? Heck, what’s the political stance of Alito’s neighborhood? And does Brett Kavanaugh and the man who wanted to assassinate him and his family Nicholas Roske jog your memories? Moran also falsely accused Alito of being somehow unprecedented in being political and also lied about Alito “heckl[ing]” Barack Obama in 2010 (when he only mouthed displeasure and thus no Joe Wilson) (click “expand”): MORAN: Justice Alito has a history of stirring political controversy, unusual for Supreme Court justices. The author of decisions that overturned Roe vs. Wade, he mocked criticism of the ruling that ended a federal right to abortion. ALITO: I had the honor this term of writing, I think, the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders. [CROWD LAUGHTER] MORAN: And Alito famously heckled President Obama at the 2010 State of the Union when Obama criticized the court’s Citizens United campaign finance decision. Alito calling out, “not true,” at Obama. And one possible concern about that upside down flag at Alito’s house, there are still cases before this Court stemming from January 6, including former President Trump’s claims of absolute immunity for his actions at that time. And one more thing: There has been no statement from Mrs. Alito, whom Justice Alito blames for the incident.  All told, that segment was a whopping three minutes and 30 seconds. Meanwhile, NBC’s Today had a 52-second news brief via co-host Hoda Kotb that she too tried to make into an affront to humanity: “Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is responding this morning to a report in The New York Times that, in 2021, he had an American flag hanging upside down outside of his home.” Kotb continued by noting “this was the photo taken on January 17, 2021” and “[t]he upside down flag was a symbol associated with former President Trump’s false claims of election fraud.” Along with reading the statement Alito gave to The Times, Kotb proclaimed all this has “rais[ed] concerns” — by whom, she wouldn’t say — “about Alito’s impartiality”. Like with Justice Clarence Thomas, the liberal media will stop at nothing to either force out or remove Alito, Thomas, and any other jurist who doesn’t kowtow to a certain ideology. As we’ve seen when leftist freaks have plopped themselves outside the homes of right-leaning justice, the liberal media have little regard for the children, spouses, and loved ones of the justices. To see the relevant transcripts from May 17, click here (for ABC) and here (for NBC).

CBS’s late night comedy game show After Midnight went off rails on Thursday as host Taylor Tomlinson and her fellow comedian guests yucked it up with some cheap anti-Jesus and “Jesus was gay” laughs. Tomlinson set up the round by introducing a TikTok video, “Life is full of surprises. As M. Night Shamalayan once said, 'Never let them know your next move.' This is exemplified in this TikTok from @julianprospers where he asks a stranger about his relationship status.”     The video showed the following discussion: MAN: We've been on and off for, like, 10, 15 years, maybe, but got really serious the past few months. JULIAN PROSPERS: So, is this a woman that you think that it’s not a— MAN: It's not a woman. PROSPERS: It’s not a woman. MAN: No. PROSPERS: It's a man.  MAN: Yeah. PROSPERS: So you're gay. MAN: No, no, it's our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, brother. Tomlinson replied, “I don't want to be cynical, but I was once in a relationship with Jesus Christ, and it didn't work out long-term. It's not Him, it's me. Let's save this TikTok guy some heartache. As Jesus, break up with this guy.” Jay Jurden buzzed in first, “I'm sorry, my dad kind of hates gay people. Have you seen the signs?” Next was Todd Barry, “I have to break out with you. You've never been really good about texting back.” Finally, there was Bassem Youssef, who, when he’s not on After Midnight, is on CNN and PBS telling allegedly serious journalists that Israel needs “to go F itself.” Now, Youssef feigned political correctness, “I don't know if I can actually touch this because whatever I would say would be blasphemous. Also, I didn't know that Jesus was gay. Oh, [bleep].” Jurden then returned to add, “Man shall not live by [bleep] alone. Was that too far?” and Youssef tacked on, “Oh, can I do one more? Can I do one more?” While it got lost in Tomlinson’s many guffaws, Prospers appears to be someone who believes in using social media to spread his faith. As evident by his video description, the video was a skit about people refusing to commit to Christ, not a genuine man on the street interview with a stranger as Tomlinson portrayed. People can judge for themselves if it hit the comedic sweet spot or not, but After Midnight definitely didn’t. Here is a transcript for the May 16-taped show: CBS After Midnight 5/17/2024 12:41 AM ET TAYLOR TOMLINSON: Life is full of surprises. As M. Night Shamalayan once said, "Never let them know your next move." This is exemplified in this TikTok from @julianprospers where he asks a stranger about his relationship status. MAN: We've been on and off for, like, 10, 15 years, maybe, but got really serious the past few months. JULIAN PROSPERS: So, is this a woman that you think that it’s not a— MAN: It's not a woman. PROSPERS: It’s not a woman. MAN: No. PROSPERS: It's a man.  MAN: Yeah. PROSPERS: So you're gay. MAN: No, no, it's our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, brother. TOMLINSON: I don't want to be cynical, but I was once in a relationship with Jesus Christ, and it didn't work out long-term. It's not Him, it's me. Let's save this TikTok guy some heartache. As Jesus, break up with this guy. Jay. JAY JURDEN: I'm sorry, my dad kind of hates gay people. Have you seen the signs? TOMLINSON: Todd. TODD BARRY: I have to break out with you. You've never been really good about texting back. TOMLINSON: Big texter, Jesus. Bassem? BASSEM YOUSSEF: I don't know if I can actually touch this because whatever I would say would be blasphemous. Also, I didn't know that Jesus was gay. Oh, [bleep]. JURDEN: Oh, can I do one more? Can I do one more? TOMLINSON: Sure, yeah, yeah. JURDEN: Man shall not live by [bleep] alone. Was that too far? TOMLINSON: Bassem. YOUSSEF: We have a full trinity, we don’t need a fourth.

A Mexican national was arrested last week by authorities in California for allegedly trafficking a 17-year-old girl into the United States, KTLA reported.The suspect was captured after the teen acquired a cell phone and used it to text 911. The girl, who only spoke Spanish and was unaware of her location, described key landmarks and other identifiable information to law enforcement. Authorities were able to use the information to locate and rescue her within approximately 20 minutes.The Ventura County Sheriff's Office reported, "In the early morning hours of May 9th, deputies working the Ojai Sheriff's Sub-Station rescued a female human trafficking victim who had text '911' to the Ventura County Sheriff's Communication Center."'Relatively new technology.'The teenager was located in Casitas Springs and had been trafficked out of Mexico two months ago, the sheriff's office said. After being rescued from the captor, the girl was transported to the county's Child Family Services until she can be reunited with her family. The suspect, 31-year-old Gerardo Cruz from Veracruz, Mexico, was taken into custody. He is facing multiple charges, including human trafficking, forcible rape, and lewd acts upon a child, as well as luring and sexual penetration with force, according to the sheriff's office. His bail was posted at $500,000.The Sheriff's Communication Center received the text from the teenager in Spanish, and its system was able to translate the message to English for the 911 dispatcher.The sheriff's office said, "The ability to send a text message to an emergency call center is relatively new technology.""This incident also utilized integrated translation technology as the call taker only spoke English and the victim only spoke and wrote in Spanish. The call taker was able to quickly interpret and text back a response in English, which was quickly re-translated to Spanish for the victim," the office added.According to Empower the Fight, approximately "250,000 children per year are victims of sex trafficking.""Human trafficking is the fastest-growing organized crime activity in the United States," the grassroots anti-exploitation organization stated.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley Biden has confirmed that her diary was real, years after the mainstream media claimed the diary was simply a conspiracy. “Being a conservative since COVID has just been incredible, because you keep getting called a conspiracy theorist, everything you say, you’re a far right-wing nut job,” Sara Gonzales says, adding, “and then all of what you’re saying ends up being admitted to as true years later.” Previously, Snopes had the Ashley Biden diary story marked as “Unproven,” but it has since changed it to being “True.” Ashley had written in her diary that she had taken showers with her dad when she was too young, felt it was inappropriate, and wrote to herself, “Was I molested? I think so.” Gonzales notes that his recent behavior as president, where he sniffs young children pretty openly, is not appropriate either. “Not just sniffing. Touching, grabbing shoulders, pulling them in,” Jaco Booyens says. “Remember little, little, little, little, little Jeff Sessions? Tiny Jeff Sessions, right? Jumping in front of Joe Biden and Jeff Sessions’ granddaughter when Joe Biden on the Senate floor is going in to go sniff.” “Everybody knows it,” he adds. “His own daughter is saying, ‘Yeah, weird behavior.’” Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.