This article was originally published by G. Calder at The Exposé. On Tuesday, February 10th, the European Parliament moved the digital euro one step closer to reality, backing amendments that support a push by the European Central Bank (ECB) for a central bank digital currency intended to work both online and offline. This does not mean the new currency is in place yet, but it’s another unmistakable signal that the project is gaining momentum after years of discussion. The digital euro remains framed by EU institutions as a strategic and sovereignty project, designed to reduce reliance on non-European payments infrastructure and to…

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a U.S. Marine and his wife will keep an Afghan orphan they brought home in defiance of a U.S. government decision to reunite her with her Afghan family. The decision likely ends a bitter, yearslong legal battle over the girl’s fate.In 2020, a judge in Fluvanna County, Virginia, granted Joshua and Stephanie Mast an adoption of the child, who was then 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan living with a family the Afghan government decided were her relatives.Four justices on the Virginia Supreme Court on Thursday signed onto an opinion reversing two lower courts’…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. Even more than he wanted to show me his world-record whitetail buck, Milo Hanson wanted to show me his Quonset. Inside the modest outbuilding near the Grain Belt town of Biggar, Saskatchewan, was the nerve center of his tidy farm. There was his tractor and drum of hydraulic oil, and over there his rack of tools mostly in place on their pegboard, on the workbench various jars of bolts and nuts and greasy bearings.  But on the…

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter.Each year, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ internal watchdog sends a survey to all 139 of the agency’s medical centers coast to coast with a straightforward question: Which jobs have severe staffing shortages?In fiscal year 2025, the responses raised alarm: VA health care facilities reported more than 4,400 severe staffing shortages — a 50% hike from the previous year.And once again, the job that topped the list for clinical positions among VA facilities: psychologists. It’s the…

Border czar Tom Homan has announced that President Donald Trump has agreed with his proposal to conclude a federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. Homan’s announcement came less than three weeks after Trump deployed him to Minnesota to run immigration operations there. Homan said that a “small footprint” of personnel will stay in the area “for a period of time” to transition command back to a local field office, and to ensure “agitator activity” does not flare back up. Minnesota has been a hotbed of contention between ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and those who consider themselves “anti-ICE” protestors. Murders…

War has a way of changing the lives of its participants. Sometimes, it puts the main actor through a moment of decision that leads to an extraordinary feat. In the case of Ralyn Hill, it involved rushing where the average soldier would fear to tread, simply to retrieve a complete stranger from the jaws of death. Hill was born in Lindenwood, Illinois, on May 6, 1899. After the United States declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917, he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard and after training shipped out with Company H, 129th Infantry Regiment, 33rd “Prairie” Division. Once…

A federal judge agreed Thursday to block the Pentagon from punishing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, for participating in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders.U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that Pentagon officials not only violated Kelly’s First Amendment free speech rights, but they also “threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.” The judge invoked an old-fashioned rebuke — “Horsefeathers!” — in response to the government’s claim that Kelly is trying to exempt himself from the rules of military justice.“To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their…

Two Navy ships deployed as part of the Trump administration’s massive military buildup in the Caribbean Sea have collided, leaving two troops with minor injuries, U.S. Southern Command said Thursday.The destroyer USS Truxtun and the supply ship USNS Supply collided on Wednesday as the warship was getting a new load of supplies. The maneuver typically has the vessels sailing parallel, usually within hundreds of feet, while fuel and supplies are transferred across the gap via hoses and cables.The military statement said two personnel reported minor injuries after the collision and that both were in stable condition. The two ships now…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news—plus a free month of onX Hunt Elite. I have an orchard and garden that I put a lot of work into. Unfortunately, every summer the local squirrels, opossums, and raccoons really appreciate all that work as they help themselves to my fruit and tomatoes. I’ve yet to have one of my home-grown peaches because both of my trees get stripped before the fruit has a chance to ripen. All my attempts to use netting, sprays, and sonic deterrents have failed. I’ve tried diplomacy, and now I must go…

Washington should force the neighboring countries to turn their backs on Beijing, a group of democratic United States senators has said. They are suggesting that U.S. ruler Donald Trump drag both Canada and Mexico into the ongoing trade war. The U.S. has already taken several steps to keep Chinese EVs (electric vehicles) out of the U.S. market. The previous presidential administration raised import tariffs on them from 25% to 100%. The executive orders issued by Trump shortly after taking office in January 2025 brought the total effective US import tariff to 127.5%, reported RT.  Trump Finally Admits The U.S. Is…

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian government forces have taken control of a base in the east of the country that was run for years by U.S. troops as part of the war against the Islamic State group, the Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday.The al-Tanf base sits on a strategic location close to the borders with Jordan and Iraq. In a terse statement, the Syrian Defense Ministry said the handover of the base took place in coordination with the U.S. military and Syrian forces are now “securing the base and its perimeters.”The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that…

A Marine who fell overboard from the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima on Feb. 7 has been declared dead after exhaustive search-and-rescue efforts were unsuccessful, the service announced. Rescue efforts for Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah, 21, were suspended on Feb. 10, three days after the Marine went overboard in the Caribbean Sea, II Marine Expeditionary Force officials announced. Oforah, of Florida, was an infantry rifleman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the service announced. He graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot-Parris Island in February 2024 and was deployed with the 22nd Marine…

According to a peer-reviewed study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), children who received the Moderna COVID-19 “vaccine” have a much higher risk of a febrile seizure within a day of vaccination. Among children aged 2 to 4, the risk was approximately 2.5 times higher, according to the report published on February 4th in Vaccine. Flu Vaccines Are Neither Safe Nor Effective Febrile seizures are convulsions most often caused by fevers that are triggered by infections related to common childhood illnesses. These seizures typically occur in children 6 months to 5 years old, and when they have a…

Beside a urinal and bin of used paper towels, an assault rifle was photographed leaning against a tiled bathroom wall in an image that spread quickly across the internet. The M4 carbine was issued to a Louisiana National Guardsman who left it in a New Orleans bathroom this week. The weapon has since been recovered, according to a spokeswoman for the Louisiana National Guard. The rifle was left in a Bourbon Street bathroom on Sunday, Feb. 8 and recovered the same day, Lt. Col. Noel Collins confirmed on Thursday in a statement to Military Times. “The soldier and incident are…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news—plus a free month of onX Hunt Elite. This story, “Scarface,” appeared in the Dec. 1967 issue of Outdoor Life. When I got my grand-slam ram on Nevada’s Desert Game Range in November 1963, I was convinced my good luck was due to the presence of my wife, Kay, on the hunt (see “The Grand Climax,” OUTDOOR LIFE, May 1965). During the height of my elation, I promised I would guide, pack, and even cook for Kay if she was ever lucky enough to get a tag. She accepted…

The Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced it was shutting down all flight traffic over the city on the U.S.-Mexico border for 10 days, stranding some travelers, but the closure ended up only lasting a few hours. The Trump administration said it stemmed from the FAA and…

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This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog under the title: Optimism About The Future Plunges To An All-Time Record Low, And Credit Card Debt Soars To An All-Time Record High As long as you have hope, you can face whatever challenges are ahead.  Sadly, Americans have been losing hope at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented.  As you will see below, optimism about the future has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded.  One of the biggest reasons why people are losing hope is because we have been in a historic cost-of-living crisis for almost this…

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Watch full video on YouTube

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadOn a bitterly cold morning—when the pipes freeze up, and the faucets stop running—the reality of frozen plumbing hits fast. That was my experience last Saturday morning, with wind chills in the negative double digits. First thing in the morning, I noticed the toilet sounded odd. There was no water filling the tank after it was flushed. That’s when it hit me—”Great, my pipes must be frozen.” Up until that moment, I’d never dealt with frozen pipes, so the question popped into my head: “Okay, so my pipes are frozen, now what do I…

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