It’s T2 times two as we open up 4 packs of Terminator 2: Judgement Day trading card stickers by TOPPS from 1991. Adam shares his memories of the pop culture phenomenon as he explores these CONTINUE READING... The post Wax Pack Flashback: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) appeared first on The Retro Network.

In May 2023‚ when then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy negotiated a debt limit deal that included spending limits‚ the gross national debt stood at just under $31.5 trillion. Conservatives in the House were deeply upset about the debt deal‚ which contained fraudulent gimmicks to get around the announced spending limits. Less than eight months later‚ the debt has skyrocketed to $34 trillion‚ or more than $100‚000 for every man‚ woman‚ and child in the country. Current House Speaker Mike Johnson‚ R-La.‚ reopened spending negotiations with the White House. His goal was to reduce the amount of deficit spending‚ which has become a growing threat to the economy. On Sunday‚ Johnson announced that the two sides reached a deal. While not all of the details are known‚ some key facts have been revealed. Those include: Speeding up planned cuts to the Democrats’ IRS slush fund. Saving $16 billion by rescinding $6 billion in still-unspent COVID-19 funds and removing $10 billion in budget gimmicks. However‚ many important aspects might not become clear until actual legislation is produced. For example‚ Johnson claims potentially $14 billion in further reductions relative to the draft spending bills produced by the Senate‚ but Democrats suggest otherwise. Similarly‚ fake “emergency” spending might skate through in some form. More importantly‚ it appears that most of the taxpayer-funded dysfunction in the federal government will continue unabated. From wasteful earmarks to handouts for radicals in academia to white elephant high-speed rail projects‚ the budget deal will have little effect on the broken status quo. Even if the deal makes as much progress as Johnson claims‚ it will be a minuscule drop in the bucket relative to the size of the nation’s fiscal challenge. Federal spending is expected to grow much faster than both tax revenues and the economy in the years to come‚ even if we avoid a recession. Saving $30 billion would help‚ of course‚ but it would also not make a visible difference in the trajectory depicted in the chart above. It won’t even undo the damage caused by the Biden administration’s shenanigans in 2023. While the size and scope of the federal government is almost beyond comprehension‚ the reason why spending is likely to skyrocket is driven by just three parts of the budget‚ none of which are touched by the deal. The cost of paying interest on the national debt has gone through the roof due to both the meteoric rise of interest rates over the past year and the continual surge of deficit spending. While it’s impossible to know where rates will go from here‚ credit markets are increasingly wary of giving Uncle Sam cheap credit. On top of that‚ both Social Security and Medicare are rapidly heading towards bankruptcy due to unsustainable spending growth. What used to be a “future generations” problem is now a “next 10 years” problem‚ meaning that most current retirees (along with everyone else) are at risk of sharp benefit cuts unless Washington takes action. It’s unclear how much more Johnson could have gotten in the negotiation. Not only are the Biden administration and all the Democrats in both the House and Senate in lockstep opposition to modest spending cuts‚ but centrist Republicans also flinch under the slightest pressure. (In the media’s backwards budget logic‚ members of Congress who reliably vote for spending increases are labeled “moderate‚” while the handful of deficit hawks are called “extremists.”) The problem isn’t Johnson. The problem is an irresponsible culture that has festered in the swamp for decades‚ treating America’s hard-earned money like a plaything and dodging hard choices at every opportunity. Only the American public can make Washington take its job seriously. The last major spending reduction happened because of the tea party movement—and that anti-establishment sentiment is as strong as ever. If legislators realize that there are consequences to ignoring the national debt‚ they’ll start paying attention. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post As Debt Skyrockets‚ House Eyes New Budget Deal With Negligible Cuts appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Read the original post "How to Start Composting" on A Modern Homestead. If you are tired of throwing away your food scraps and want to start composting successfully‚ I'm sharing my top 3 methods to help you get going! Whether you have a small apartment patio or 100 acres‚ there is a composting method here for you! 10 years ago when I started dreaming of a homestead‚... Read More The post "How to Start Composting" appeared first on A Modern Homestead.

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Astronomers have discovered what they have dubbed “overmassive” black holes‚ supermassive black holes that appear to violate the well-established relationship between the stellar mass of a host galaxy and the mass of its central black hole. The black holes are too big and this excess is telling something profound about the origin of these objects.Astronomers used the JWST to observe 21 extremely far-away systems. Their light comes to us from between 12 billion and 13.2 billion years ago. In the current universe‚ the proportion between a supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the star in its galaxy is 1 to 1‚000. But in these systems‚ the proportion between the two masses gets to 1 to 100‚ 1 to 10‚ and even 1 to 1.  “In the nearby Universe‚ there is a well-known relation between the mass of the central supermassive black hole and the mass of stars of their host galaxies‚” lead author Dr Fabio Pacucci of the Center For Astrophysics | Harvard &; Smithsonian told IFLScience. “Typically‚ the black hole mass is about 0.1% of the mass of stars. This is not the case in the distant Universe.” "Overmassive" black holes is clearly an apt name.JWST has pushed humans' ability to see further into the early universe (also known as the high-z universe)‚ and while we are yet to see the birth of one of these supermassive black holes‚ this new study provides more evidence of how these curious objects came to me.The "light seed" scenario has them form from extremely massive stars‚ 100 to 1‚000 times the mass of the Sun going supernova. The "heavy seed" scenario instead suggests that enormous clouds of gas from which those stars form also directly formed massive black holes weighing 10‚000 to 100‚000 times the mass of the Sun.“Several studies (dating back many years) suggest that if the first black holes formed as heavy seeds‚ then at high-z‚ their mass should be similar to the stellar mass of their hosts. This seems to be what we are witnessing with JWST observations‚” Dr Pacucci explained.     This is not the first evidence that the heavy seed scenario might be the most likely formation pathway. Previous observations combining JWST data and X-rays from NASA’s Chandra also favored this scenario over a light seed. The heavy seed would also affect the whole galaxy in a way that can better explain why these objects stay overmassive for a while.“These overmassive galactic systems may have formed heavy seeds with a mass close to the mass of the stars of their hosts. Then‚ given the size of their central SMBH‚ they may have emitted so much energy as to stunt star formation for a while. This combination of reasons could explain why we are observing primarily overmassive black holes in the high-z universe with JWST‚ violating the local relation‚” Dr Pacucci told IFLScience."With JWST‚ it will be possible to pinpoint how the first supermassive black holes formed by finding black holes that are farther and smaller than those found so far‚ and which our study predicts to be quite abundant‚" co-author Roberto Maiolino‚ a professor at the University of Cambridge said in a statement.The study is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and was presented at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

One of the biggest questions we’re still yet to answer is whether or not animals feel emotions. Do they feel heartbreak‚ joy‚ love‚ or longing? While we often reserve these emotions to be possessed only by species as intelligent as us‚ there are moments and encounters where we’re pretty sure animals feel the same way... The post Hiker spots mama cow crying for her baby and refuses to leave without reuniting them appeared first on Animal Channel.

Pssst! Al! When you publicly suggest that Joe Biden discuss  white supremacy‚ you should at least pretend it is for moral‚ not ulterior political reasons. Unfortunately‚ Reverend Al Sharpton said the quiet part out loud on Monday's Morning Joe. Since Biden's handling of economy and border security has caused a slippage of support for him among black voters‚ Sharpton stated that when Biden uncorked another campaign speech in Charleston later in the day‚ he should bring up white supremacy in his speech as a way to shore up support among a group that has been increasingly disappointed in him.  MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire touted Biden's animus against extremism and hate: "This is an animating principle for Joe Biden. This is why he ran in 2020‚ what happened in charlottesville. He talks about that frequently. We know he connected that extremism‚ the hateful rhetoric and‚ at times violence‚ with what Donald Trump has unearthed for this country. That he has given license to a lot of this anger and racism‚ and the worst of us."  But Biden is still slipping!  JONATHAN LEMIRE: We should also note‚ South Carolina‚ this is a political stop‚ because South Carolina is the first democratic primary with their new calendar. It also is a place where President Biden is going to really try to try to hone his pitch to black voters again. Because polling suggests that his support there has really slipped. And perhaps one of his top allies is Congressman Jim Clyburn‚ who of course‚ it was his endorsement back in 2020‚ that kind of opened the door for Biden’s nomination. And Clyburn gave an interview over the weekend‚ where he acknowledged he is‚ quote‚ ‘very concerned about President Biden’s standing with black voters.’ He went on to say that though he thinks the president has done a good job‚ quote‚ ‘my problem is that we have not been able to break through the MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done.’ And I think even Joe Biden’s staunchest supporters will acknowledge there’s been a real communication breakdown‚ that his team and the president himself have struggled selling his accomplishments. Now‚ that said he was clear-eyed and forceful on Friday. And I suspect we will hear the more from the same today‚ Reverend Al‚ because this is a — this is a demographic‚ voters of color‚ particularly black voters‚ he simply can’t afford to lose. Perhaps Biden wouldn't be losing black support of he had been keeping inflation in check and prevented a flood of cheap labor entering the country due to poor to non-existent border security. However‚ Al Sharpton can be relied upon to focus on his favorite topic in order to garner political support. AL SHARPTON: He can’t afford not only to lose them‚ he can’t afford a low turnout. And I think that just as he came to South Carolina in the primaries‚ when he finally got in the race‚ and they energized his campaign‚ after he did not do well in Iowa and New Hampshire‚ and Clyburn endorsed him and he went to the head of the class so to speak. I think that that can happen today when he reminds the nation and black voters what white supremacy can do‚ and when you have people soft on that‚ that take back the White House where it could lead to. And later in the day‚ almost predictably‚ Joe Biden's teleprompter flashed "poison" of "white supremacy" on the screen a couple of minutes into the speech for him to read. And thanks to Al Sharpton‚ we know the real reason why that happened.