by Nate Cain, America Outloud: Did Barr and Esper use January 6 as a pretext for expanded domestic spying? On January 7, 2021, former Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper signed DoD Manual S-5240.01-A, an annex formalizing expanded guidelines for signals intelligence (SIGINT) operations within the Department of Defense (DoD). This document, […]

Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest media franchises of all time, you need only look at the sales numbers for proof. The most recent game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has cleared over 6 billion dollars, making it the best-selling piece of traditional entertainment media ever created. While the modern installments are showered in plenty of praise, this franchise has been since the late 90s, and one entry in particular has been particularly underrated and overlooked. Originally released on October 26, 2004, in the US (and October 29 in Europe) and developed by Digital Eclipse, Grand Theft Auto Advance is an intriguing prequel that blends the story of the “3D GTA universe” with top-down, 2D gameplay, resulting in a retro-inspired rampage that’s far better than you’d expect. Retro Carnage on the Go Though simplistic compared to its console peers, Grand Theft Auto Advance offers up a tale of grisly crime and violence, set in Liberty City. More specifically, the game takes place exactly one year before Grand Theft Auto III (PlayStation 2, 2001), and centers on an aspiring thug named Mike. Together with his partner-in-crime, Vinnie, Mike has big dreams of leaving Liberty City and starting fresh. However, when Vinnie is killed while working with the Mafia, Mike sets his sights on revenge, and begins an investigation to discover those responsible. While not nearly as compelling as any other Grand Theft Auto narrative, the story here is serviceable, and it’s fun to see returning characters like 8-Ball and Asuka. The most enthralling aspect of Grand Theft Auto Advance is the gameplay, which calls back to the top-down, overhead view of the first two games in the franchise. Playing as Mike, you can engage with a variety of missions, hunt down hidden packages, collect cash, and of course, cause as much chaos as possible. Despite being on the family-friendly Game Boy Advance, Grand Theft Auto Advance doesn’t skimp on the violence. You’re free to run over pedestrians, go guns blazing on gang members, and scuffle with the police. The controls are slightly janky, mostly due to the limitations of the hardware, but it’s still incredibly fun to let loose in Liberty City. The Legacy of GTA Advance Sure, Grand Theft Auto Advance pales in comparison to the console games that were released around the same time, like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PlayStation 2, 2004), but I don’t think Digital Eclipse was trying to top the mainline franchise. Instead, this portable prequel offers all the crazy, blood-soaked carnage you could find in GTA III, but on a Nintendo device. Even when you take into consideration the handful of flaws and technical restrictions, Grand Theft Auto Advance is still a remarkably solid product, which led to a collection of retro-inspired sequels like Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PSP, 2005) and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Nintendo DS, 2009). Even now, two decades later, it’s still pretty fun to play, and it remains an intriguing part of GTA history. The post GTA Advance: A Forgotten GBA Gem Turns 20 appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Donald Trump criticized warmonger Liz Cheney on Thursday, saying she hates him because he wants to end the wars. The media, Harris, Cheney, and others took his comments at a rally with Tucker Carlson out of context. WaPo claimed Trump wanted to put Cheney in front of a firing squad. What Trump did do is […] The post A Big Lie: MSM Claims Trump Wants to Execute Liz Cheney appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Daniel Perry, a former Marine, was attending architecture school at the time of the unfortunate death of Jordan Neely. Perry was working two jobs to pay for college. He was in court this week for opening statements in his manslaughter trial. Perry tried to protect people on a train, and it ended in Neely’s accidental […] The post Opening Statements in Daniel Perry’s Manslaughter Trial Began appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The jobs report in the nonfarm payroll was only 12,000, not the expected 113,000. Anyone can see that isn’t good. We went to EJ Antoni for analysis; you can see more of his graphs on X. Jobs are being taken from Americans and given to foreigners. Native-born Americans lost almost 800,000 jobs, while foreign-born workers […] The post Harris’s Opportunity Economy: Foreigners Take All American’s Jobs – Literally appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Styx’s career has spanned multiple decades and lineups, growing from its humble beginnings in Chicago to one of rock’s most iconic bands. Formed in the early 1970s by a group of talented musicians, including Dennis DeYoung, James “JY” Young, and Chuck and John Panozzo, Styx initially blended hard rock with progressive and classical influences, quickly distinguishing themselves from their contemporaries. Over the years, lineup changes brought fresh energy and diversity to their sound—most notably, the addition of guitarist and vocalist Tommy Shaw in the mid-1970s, a move that would help solidify Styx’s reputation as arena rock giants. The band’s impressive The post 10 Most Rocking Styx Songs appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

The world’s second-smallest vertebrate has been discovered—a tiny toad living in a Brazilian rainforest. Researchers measured the flea toad at just over a quarter-inch in length (6.95 millimeters) and can fit on the tip of a finger. Even more unique, it emerges from an egg fully formed, rather than as a tadpole. The name of […] The post New Flea Toad Discovered in Brazil is Second Smallest Vertebrate Ever Found appeared first on Good News Network.

Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. It’s official: Donald Trump wants to abolish the income tax. In a much-anticipated interview with Joe Rogan on his podcast, Trump said the country should return to the late 19th century when we had no income tax at all and funded the federal government with tariffs. Now for months, the former president has been making it clear that he really doesn’t like the income tax, exempting tax on tips, Social Security, overtime pay, first responders, and even 18 million veterans. I kept hoping he’d come out and just break up with the income tax once and for all. And he did. So what if we end the income tax, laying off all 93,654 IRS agents so you can keep every dollar you earn? Will Washington have to run on bake sales? Well, the income tax currently costs the American people $2.4 trillion a year. Trump proposes to replace it with tariffs of 20% on everybody but China, who gets a special 60% tariff that might bring in $900 billion. This would grow America’s economy like rocket fuel. I run through some numbers on the Substack but maybe a 20% increase in the economy near term, so about a $15,000 raise for the typical family. Note that’s on top of the $18,000 of income tax you no longer have to pay. Knock off $3,000 for tariffs and you get about $30,000 in additional income for the typical American family—nearly $3,000 per month. It keeps getting better. Because going by low-tax countries today—or America before the income tax—we might double annual economic growth. So 5% growth would be the new normal. And your kids would be three times richer than you—as it used to work in America. America would be by far the richest country in the world. Also as it was before the income tax. Of course, ditching the income tax would also mean the mother of federal budget holes. After all, replacing $2.4 trillion in income taxes with $900 billion in tariffs is a big hole. Even if you add, say, an extra $500 billion in payroll and excise taxes from economic growth, you’ve still got a trillion dollars to cover. Now we could let it run in deficit, letting the economy outgrow it. I mean, that’s what they do with everything else that doesn’t grow the economy. But you could also cut a trillion dollars in federal spending. How to do such a thing? The other day, Elon Musk estimated he could cut $2 trillion in waste and fraudulent payments. Former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, responded, suggesting the military-industrial complex and the pharma-industrial complex. Indeed, going by countries like Britain, perhaps $800 billion of the $900 billion we spend on the military is for protecting Americans—the border, Coast Guard, nukes. As for pharma and the medical-industrial complex, if we simply copy countries like Singapore we might save $2 trillion or more. And Americans wouldn’t go bankrupt getting knee surgery. There’s the illegal aliens—$150 billion a year, minimum. And the trillion-plus we spend on welfare, much of it to the able-bodied. Sharpen some pencils and you get a trillion dollars easy. So you’re rich, the IRS is gone, and you get a nice, lean government. So what’s next? The uniparty will fight this like a rabid dog. But if a president can sell it to American voters, Congress will go along out of sheer self-preservation. Plus, the bake sales would be lit. Read the rest with charts and all the gory details at profstonge.com. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Trump Wants to Abolish Income Tax appeared first on The Daily Signal.