FILE - Students line up for lunch at a middle school in Sandy, Utah, May 19, 2017. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP, File)
NEW YORK (Gilbert Micky) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that students eligible for free or reduced price school meals cannot be charged processing fees beginning in 2027.
School districts currently work with processing companies to offer cashless payment systems for families. But the companies can charge “processing fees” for each transaction. By law, students who are eligible for reduced price meals cannot be charged more than 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. With processing fees, however, families can end up paying 10 times that amount. Processing companies charge as much as $3.25 or 4% to 5% per transaction, according to a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
For families with lower incomes who can’t afford to load large sums in one go, processing fees can arrive weekly or even more frequently, increasing costs disproportionately. Families that qualify for free or reduced lunch pay as much as 60 cents per dollar in fees when paying for school lunches electronically, according to the report.
The new Agriculture Department’s policy becomes effective starting in the 2027-2028 school year. With this rule, the USDA will lower costs for families with income under 185% of federal poverty guidelines, which equals $57,720 for a family of four.
“USDA and schools across America share the common goal of nourishing schoolchildren and giving them the fuel they need to learn, grow and thrive,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement Friday. “While today’s action to eliminate extra fees for lower-income households is a major step in the right direction, the most equitable path forward is to offer every child access to healthy school meals at no cost. We will continue to work with Congress to move toward that goal so all kids have the nutrition they need to reach their full potential.”
The decision by the USDA follows a CFPB report that found online school meal payments predominantly affect low-income families. School lunch fees collectively cost families upwards of $100 million each year, according to the report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has mandated that school districts inform families of their options since 2017, but even when parents are aware, having to pay by cash or check to avoid fees can be burdensome.
“It’s just massively inconvenient,” said Joanna Roa, 43, who works at Clemson University in South Carolina as a library specialist and has two school-aged children.
Roa said that when her son was in first grade and she saw the $3.25-per-transaction fee for lunch account transactions, she and her husband decided to send him to school with packed lunches instead.
“A dollar here and there, I expected,” she said. “But $3.25 per transaction, especially here in rural South Carolina where the cost of living is a lot lower — as are the salaries — is a lot.”
Roa said packing lunch for two kids every day became a burden in both time and effort for two working parents. For the past two years, thanks to surplus funds, her school district has been providing free school lunches which has changed the equation, but Roa said that could end at any point.
In its review of the 300 largest public school districts in the U.S., the CFPB found that 87% of sampled districts contract with payment processors. Within those districts, the companies charge an average of $2.37 or 4.4% of the total transaction, each time money is added to a child’s account.
While payment companies maintain that school districts can negotiate fees and rates before they agree to contracts, the CFPB found that complex company structures “may insulate companies from competition and make school districts less likely to negotiate.” Just three companies — MySchoolBucks, SchoolCafe, and LINQ Connect — dominate the market, according to the report.
Without the ability to choose which company to work with, “families have fewer ways to avoid harmful practices,” the agency said, “including those that may violate federal consumer protection law.”
A customer makes a transaction at a bank of automatic teller machines in the Queens borough of New York on March 24, 2020. (Mary Altaffer, File)
NEW YORK (Gilbert Micky) — The Biden administration has finalized a rule limiting overdraft fees banks can charge, as part of the White House’s campaign to reduce junk fees that hit consumers on everyday purchases, including banking services. President Joe Biden had called the fees, which can be as high as $35, “exploitative,” while the banking industry has lobbied extensively to keep the existing fee structures in place.
Under the finalized rule announced Thursday, banks will be able to choose from three options: they may charge a flat overdraft fee of $5, they may charge a fee that covers their costs and losses, or they may charge any fee so long as they disclose the terms of the overdraft loan the way they would for any other loan, typically expressed as an annual percentage rate, or APR.
While banks have cut back on overdraft fees in the past decade, the nation’s biggest banks still take in roughly $8 billion in the charges every year, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and bank public records. Currently, there is no cap on the overdraft fees that banks can legally charge.
Right now, when a bank temporarily lends a consumer money when their account has reached a zero balance, the consumer is typically responsible for paying back both the overdrawn amount and an additional fee, which can be more than the original amount charged. In one example often cited by opponents of the fees, a $3 cup of coffee can end up costing someone more than $30.
The finalized rule is set to take effect in October 2025, but the incoming Trump administration has yet to tap anyone to lead the CFPB, and has mentioned the idea of eliminating the agency.
The finalized rule applies to banks and credit unions that have more than $10 billion in assets, which includes the nation’s largest banks. Banks have previously sued the CFPB over these rules and caps on credit card late fees, and are likely to sue again. Congress also has the ability to challenge or overturn the rule.
Overdraft fees originated during a time when consumers wrote and cashed checks more frequently — so that the checks would clear instead of bouncing, if there was an issue of timing — but banks steadily increased the fees in the first two decades of the 2000s. The fees disproportionately affect banks’ most cash-strapped consumers. A majority of overdrafts (70%) are charged to customers with average account balances between $237 and $439, according to the CFPB.
The agency estimates the new rule would save consumers about $5 billion in annual overdraft fees, or $225 per household that typically experiences the fees.
The Bank of England is pictured in London, on Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
LONDON (Alb Micky) — Inflation in the U.K. rose to its highest level in eight months during November, official figures showed Wednesday, a development that has cemented market expectations that the Bank of England will opt against cutting borrowing costs this week.
The Office for National Statistics said consumer price inflation rose by 2.6% in the year to November, up from 2.3% the previous month. It said stubbornly high inflation in the crucial services sector, which accounts for around 80% of the U.K. economy, and an increase in fuel prices was largely behind the overall increase.
The increase, which took inflation further away from the Bank of England’s target of 2%, was in line with market expectations.
This is the biggest increase since March, leading economists to rule out any prospect that the Bank of England will cut its main interest rate from 4.75% after its policy meeting on Thursday.
James Smith, research director at the Resolution Foundation economics think tank, said that the “latest data shows the challenge Britain faces in squeezing inflation out of the economy.”
Rate-setters had anticipated a pickup in inflation when the central bank last cut rates in early November as price pressures eased earlier in the year — in September, inflation had fallen to its lowest level since April 2021.
Still, inflation in the U.K. and across the world is far lower than it was a couple of years ago, partly because central banks dramatically increased borrowing costs from near zero during the coronavirus pandemic when prices started to shoot up, first as a result of supply chain issues and then because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine which pushed up energy costs.
As inflation rates have fallen from multidecade highs, the central banks have started cutting interest rates, though few, if any, economists think that rates will fall back to the super-low levels that persisted in the years after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.
Recent developments have scaled back expectations of rapid cuts from the Bank of England. Rising wages and stubbornly high inflation in the services sector, the biggest single part of the U.K. economy, have prompted economists to scale back expectations of rapid rate cuts next year.
Critics have argued that the new Labour government’s first budget in October will lead to higher inflation than otherwise would have been case. The extra public spending announced in the budget will be largely funded through increased business taxes and borrowing. Economists think that the splurge, coupled with the prospect of businesses cushioning the tax hikes by raising prices, could put upward pressure on prices.
Shoppers walk along Fifth Avenue on Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa, File)
NEW YORK (Gilbert Micky) — The holidays are meant to be a time of celebration with family and friends. But they can also bring pressure to spend money on gifts, gatherings and plane tickets home, exacerbated by brand emails, social media influencers and family expectations.
With credit card debt rising and prices for many items still high due to inflation, overspending during the holiday season can add to the financial stress many Americans are already experiencing, said Dr. Marketa Wills, CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association.
“The idea that one is on the hook for buying gifts for all their friends and families adds an enormous amount of stress on someone trying to have a perfect holiday,” Wills said.
But there are ways to get through the holidays without spending more than you can afford. From setting expectations with your family to making a budget to gifting experiences rather than things, here are expert recommendations to avoid financial stress this holiday season:
Start with a budget
To avoid overspending on gifts for family and friends, set a specific goal, said Matt Watson, CEO of Origin, a financial planning app. Ask yourself what your spending limit is before you start shopping.
“People get into ‘justification mode’ where you have a general sense of what you want to spend but then you see this really nice thing and all of the sudden you’ve done that a few times and you spend twice as much as you thought you might,” Watson said.
Watson also recommends that you include in your budget calculations how much you’ll pay for taxes and shipping.
Manage expectations with loved ones
In many families, the holidays mean going all out with gift-giving. But this can quickly become stressful if your finances make it hard to keep up. Managing expectations is key.
“You can avoid feeling inadequate, or like you’re not doing a good job, by having an honest conversation about where your finances are,” Watson said.
Being open about your money can be difficult, but sharing if you are struggling with debt or other financial issues can help family and friends understand that they should prioritize low-cost gifts or activities.
Don’t wait until the last minute
Planning your holiday shopping ahead of time can make it easier to stick to your budget,.
“When people feel rushed, oftentimes they’re going to buy more expensive things,” said Watson, who also pointed out that shipping costs increase closer to Christmas.
As you budget for the holidays, make a list of the items you want to purchase and slowly start buying them. This way, you divide your costs among several paychecks and avoid relying on credit for last-minute expenses.
Get creative
Wills recommends that people opt for homemade gifts if they want to show appreciation for their loved ones without overspending. Homemade gifts don’t always have to be crafts, they can also be actions.
“I will do babysitting for you, I will cook a meal for you,” Wills said. “Those kinds of things take a financial pressure off and make for a more joyous holiday season.”
In recent years, shopping expert Trae Bodge has noticed that younger people prefer to gift each other experiences rather than items. She recommends finding affordable, fun activities to do with your loved ones.
Examples include going ice skating, hiking or hosting a potluck. You could also gift a photoshoot or framed pictures or digital albums to commemorate happy experiences.
Create your own traditions
Expectations or traditions you grew up with, such as buying expensive gifts for every member of your extended family, can cause stress during the holidays. This is what Bodge refers as “keeping up with the Joneses,” which refers to trying to keep up with the expectations of other people rather than what is realistic for you to spend.
“Sometimes you may have a family member that is very financially well-off and they love to treat you to big, extravagant things. If you’re not in that same financial position, you should not feel compelled to return the favor,” Bodge said.
When creating your own new traditions, Watson recommends sharing the financial goals you have, such as saving for a house or paying off debt. This will help your loved ones understand why you’re looking to limit expenses during the holidays.
Divide spending responsibilities
Wills also recommends cutting costs by being selective with your expenses. For example, when it comes to hosting, even having a small group of people can be very expensive if you’re expected to pay for everything. If you’re in this situation, you could propose that everyone brings a dish.
“Think about having a potluck meal for the holiday. Have everybody bring something to the event to help share the cost,” she said.
Communicate your feelings
If you are having financial difficulties, it can help to talk about it with your family and friends.
“Sharing about stress can in and of itself be therapeutic for the individual who may be having concerns for that during the during the holiday season,” Wills said.
Making room to listen to your loved ones’ feelings is equally important, she said.
And if the holidays are a tough time for you, Wills recommended that you prioritize your mental health and good habits such as resting well and exercising.
Don’t be afraid to say no
It’s the season where social events are happening every weekend but if they are causing you too much financial stress or hurting your mental health, it’s okay to be selective.
Additionally, if you start feeling uncomfortable about certain conversations with your family, Wills recommends you take some time for yourself by taking a walk or removing yourself from the conversation.
Seek professional help if you need it
If you are experiencing mental health struggles, there are several resources you can use to find professional help.
In the U.S., you can dial 211 to speak with a mental health expert, confidentially and for free.
Other mental health resources include:
Veterans Crisis Line: call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Crisis Text Line: Text the word ‘Home’ to 741-741
The Trevor Lifeline for LGBTQ Youth: 1-866-488-7386
BANGKOK (Micky) — Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. confirmed Wednesday that they are discussing closer collaboration but denied reports they have decided on a merger.
Nissan’s share price soared nearly 24% in Tokyo after reports citing unnamed sources said it might merge with Honda to form the world’s third-largest automaking group. Honda’s share price fell as much as 3%. Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is also part of the talks.
Trading in Nissan’s shares was suspended but then resumed after the companies jointly issued a statement saying they were “considering various possibilities for future collaboration, but no decisions have been made.”
An industry shakeup
The ascent of Chinese automakers is rattling the industry at a time when manufacturers are struggling to shift from fossil fuel-driven vehicles to electrics. Relatively inexpensive EVs from China’s BYD, Great Wall and Nio are eating into the market shares of U.S. and Japanese car companies in China and elsewhere.
Japanese automakers have lagged behind big rivals in EVs and are now trying to cut costs and make up for lost time.
Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi announced in August that they will share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving to adapt better to dramatic changes in the auto industry centered around electrification. A preliminary agreement between Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, and Nissan, third largest, was announced in March.
A merger could result in a behemoth worth about $55 billion based on the market capitalization of all three automakers.
Joining forces would help the smaller Japanese automakers add scale to compete with Japan’s market leader Toyota Motor Corp. and with Germany’s Volkswagen AG. Toyota itself has technology partnerships with Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp.
Why now?
Nissan said last month that it was slashing 9,000 jobs, or about 6% of its global work force, and reducing global production capacity by 20% after reporting a quarterly loss of 9.3 billion yen ($61 million).
Earlier this month it reshuffled its management and its chief executive, Makoto Uchida, took a 50% pay cut to take responsibility for the financial woes, saying Nissan needed to become more efficient and respond better to market tastes, rising costs and other global changes.
Fitch Ratings recently downgraded Nissan’s credit outlook to “negative,” citing worsening profitability, partly due to price cuts in the North American market. But it noted that it has a strong financial structure and solid cash reserves that amounted to 1.44 trillion yen ($9.4 billion).
Nissan’s share price has fallen to the point where it is considered something of a bargain. A report in the Japanese financial magazine Diamond said talks with Honda gained urgency after the Taiwan maker of iPhones Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, began exploring a possible acquisition of Nissan as part of its push into the EV sector.
The company has struggled for years following a scandal that began with the arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 on charges of fraud and misuse of company assets, allegations that he denies. He eventually was released on bail and fled to Lebanon.
Honda reported its profits slipped nearly 20% in the first half of the April-March fiscal year from a year earlier, as sales suffered in China.
More headwinds
Toyota made 11.5 million vehicles in 2023, while Honda rolled out 4 million and Nissan produced 3.4 million. Mitsubishi Motors made just over 1 million. Even after a merger Toyota would remain the leading Japanese automaker.
All the global automakers are facing potential shocks if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on threats to raise or impose tariffs on imports of foreign products, even from allies like Japan and neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico. Nissan is among the major car companies that have adjusted their supply chains to include vehicles assembled in Mexico.
Meanwhile, analysts say there is an “affordability shift” taking place across the industry, led by people who feel they cannot afford to pay nearly $50,000 for a new vehicle. In American, a vital market for companies like Nissan, Honda and Toyota, that’s forcing automakers to consider lower pricing, which will eat further into industry profits.
The word “holiday” is another way of saying “holy day”; and a “holiday,” or holy day, is a day that carries great significance with the people who celebrate it. If we are talking about a simple holiday such as “Valentine’s Day,” or this one’s birthday or that one’s birthday, we might expect some frivolity; or really, maybe some light insanity going on in the celebration. But when you talk about the birthday of the man Jesus: That should be one of the holiest days; not only in the history of America, but it should be one of the holiest days in the history of all humanity—shouldn’t it?
Why should the birthday of Jesus be holy in every society on the Earth? If we properly understand it, the birthday of Jesus should be sacred to every nation and every people because since The Fall of Adam, all humanity has suffered a loss and a death that is only corrected when this highly prophesied individual comes into the world.
Minister Louis Farrakhan
The death that The Human Family—Black, Brown, Red, Yellow and White—has experienced is the death of the spirit and the death of the mind that would allow us to be reflections of The Divine Supreme Being; so that today, man and woman are so far beneath what we should be and what we could be that our condition is a stench in the Nostrils of God.
The ‘Pale Horse’ whose rider is ‘Death’
In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 6, verse 8, the scripture teaches: “… I beheld a pale horse! Its rider was Death, and Hell followed closely behind … ”
“I beheld a pale horse!” It didn’t say a “white” horse. It said a pale horse. A horse is the most intelligent of the beasts, so the Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that we do not eat horse meat. Not because horse meat is not a good meat to eat, but that the horse, in its intelligence, is so close to the human being that as we do not eat the flesh of another human being out of respect for our humanity, we don’t eat the flesh of the horse out of respect for its great intelligence.
“Its rider was Death … ” The “rider” of the horse is “Death.” The word “rider” and the word “rudder” have some significance: A rudder is a small member of a huge boat; and it is the rudder that turns the boat in the water. Well, what is the “rider,” and how does the rider compare to the “rudder”? The thing that gives man or woman direction is your intelligence.
Your intelligence, or “the nature of you,” is small in comparison to the body, but it is what turns you and moves you about in the world as the turning of the rudder moves a great ship about. “Death” is The Rider of The Pale Horse … Isn’t that something? In other words, “Death” is “the guiding principle” of the pale people. What do you call “death”? The Bible puts it like this:
“Sin is transgression of the law and the wages of rebellion to the law brings death,” so here the Bible writer is telling us that a pale horse is being ridden by a Mind that is driven by a force within its being that is in direct rebellion to The Law and The Will of God. So wherever “the pale horse” goes with “death” as its “rider”: “Hell follows closely behind.”
The condition of ‘Hell’ that followsrebellion to God
“I [saw] a pale horse”: An intelligent creature who is “pale,” but who is considered a member of The Family of Beasts—not “human,” but who is the highest manifestation of beasts. Now, this “pale horse” represents the pale-faced people who are highly intelligent, but not intelligent enough to be “human” and “humane” in their actions toward self and the rest of The Human Family of the Earth.
The pale horse whose rider—whose nature, whose governing principle—is rebellion to The Law of God, so that whatever God said “thou shalt do,” White people say: “It’s alright. You don’t have to.” Their whole way of life is rebellion to The Law of God, to The Way of God, to The Mind of God, so they, in their person, represent “death” to The Mind and Spirit of God in The Human Family.
“And I saw a pale horse whose rider was death and hell followed closely behind”: Everywhere The Pale Man went, he brought death and hell to the inhabitants of that part of the Earth. The areas of Tahiti and in the Isles of the Pacific were once called “Paradise,” but they don’t call it that now. After he got there, it was “Paradise Lost” because he brought his way of rebellion; he brought death—and hell came right behind—so now death is over Africa, in The Caribbean, and in Central and South America, and Hell is there because the pale horse is there.
And so White people have messed up the world, they messed up their lives, and they have messed up a beautiful country, America. Yes, they have built up this great country with its beautiful cities and fine roads, but they killed the environment. They are killing the Earth, they are killing the atmosphere; they poisoned the water, they poisoned the Earth and the air, and now they are dying from their own hands, their own rebellion—and they have spread their rebellious way over you, over me, over Africa, over Asia, Central and South America. The whole world has been deceived by The Arch Deceiver.
The White man has come to you in The Name of God because you, by nature, have a respect for God; but he cleverly stands in the place of God, giving directions that are misdirection, giving you guidance that is no “guidance” at all, giving you Falsehood in the place of Truth all the while creating a hell for the whole world.
“Well, what do all of these things have to do with the merry Christmas holiday, Brother Farrakhan?” If a man rebels against God, how then can his “holiday” be a true praise of God? The world of Caucasian life is full of rebellion; therefore, so confused today are the people who follow that lifestyle, that way of rebellion, that they don’t know what’s right from what’s wrong anymore.
Open your Bible to the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 10, verses 2-5, where God says: “Go [Learn] not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain, for one cutteth the tree out of the forest, the work of hands of the workmen with the ax, they deck it with silver with gold.
They fasten it with nails and with hammers that it moves not. They are upright as the palm tree but they speak not. They must be borne or carried because they cannot move themselves. Be not afraid of them for they cannot do evil neither also is in them to do good.”
What do you do? You didn’t go into the forest and cut the tree down—but the heathen did, and he has them all around our neighborhoods for sale. So what do you do with it? “Bring it in my living room and fasten it down.” Some of you nail it down, right, and you get your little silver and gold tinsel and balls, and you dress the tree.
You should know what these customs mean when you perform them.
The lies, deceit and hypocrisy of this so-called ‘holy day’
How could your Christmas be “merry”? Here you are: You don’t know yourself, you don’t know God, you don’t know The Enemy of God; you don’t live in a decent home, you have hardly any friend that you can trust; you are “friendless.” But yet it’s a “Merry Christmas.”
What makes it “merry”? “Well I looked under my tree and I saw some gifts under there, and I was so glad that somebody gave me a pair of gloves (that didn’t fit), a tie (that was the ugliest tie I had ever seen), a sweater… But it’s not the gift, it’s the thought!” Or, “Merry Christmas! Get out the eggnog, Sam!” Eggnog? What does that have to do with Jesus? “Shut up! Drink the Eggnog. Get the brandy! Get the Courvoisier! Let me drink to your health—until I lose my own!”
Today, it’s not the beer that you drink every other day, but to your Christmas parties you bring the best wine, the best brandy, the best whiskey, the best scotch; bring the reefer, bring the cocaine, bring the crack, bring your pipe, “Bring your paper and we’ll roll a few together!”
A “Merry Christmas”: What does that have to do with Jesus Christ? And when you turn on your television, you’re bombarded with “buy the new car,” “buy the refrigerator,” “buy the diamond,” buy this and that. But what does that have to do with Jesus Christ? These things are “commercial.” “I saw a pale horse whose rider is Death and Hell followed closely behind…” You have to watch any “holy day” that The Pale Horse sets up because it’s a mockery of The Holy One, because The Pale Horse cannot show respect for Divine.
“Santa Claus” has moved Jesus out! These children are more interested in Santa than in Jesus: “What is Santa going to leave under my tree this year?” and because you’ve become a lying mother, a deceitful mother, lying to your children that some White man who lives in the North Pole and doesn’t even know you exist, is going to slip down a chimney, and you live in an apartment, then when you damage the confidence of your children with a lie, that sets into motion a whole chain reaction that breaks their confidence in you.
You say, “But it’s just a little fun. It’s a little ‘white lie’”—just like that pale horse. It hurts children to learn that you lied to them. You call it “fun,” but it is never fun to lie to your children! It is better that you tell your children, “I am the Santa Claus, baby. And me and your daddy worked hard all year to save up money to get you these gifts, and we hope you like them.”
Why let the love and the gratitude go to a Caucasian image? Why not let your children show you the love for what you gave them? Why not let your children give you the honor and the respect for what you gave them? Why give some blue-eyed, blonde-headed, fat White man that has no thought for you; and then when your children grow up you wonder why they always expect White people to give them something? It is because you start them off as children looking to The Enemy to give them what you’ve given them all along.
What you are celebrating is not a “holiday” or a “holy day.” These are lies! You’ve corrupted that day and you’ve made mockery of the most sacred human being of all.
Within the name “Christmas” you have two words: Christ and mas. Do you know what it means? A “mas[s]” is a group of people organized for the purpose of the worship of Christ (Christ-mass). But not you! You’re not “organized” on Christmas for the worship of Christ; that’s just a day that you don’t have to go to work, everybody gets drunk, has a party, all “in the name of Jesus.”
And there’s a few of you that will go to a midnight mass; some others of you will go to church and sing “Joy to The World The Lord Is Come,” or “Silent Night, Holy Night”—but this is hypocrisy, because “December 25th” was never the birthday of Christ.
Who told you that Jesus was born on December the 25th? It is the same person who told you that you were a “n—-r.” It is The Pale Horse.
The Lie of ‘December 25th’: Sun-worshipping pagans and Jesus’ birth date
So why “December the 25th”? The scripture in Jeremiah already told you to not learn (follow) the way of the heathen, and “do not be dismayed at the signs of the heavens for the heathen are dismayed at them …” Well, why is it talking about “the signs of the heavens,” and why are the heathens dismayed at the sign of the heavens? The heathens were Sun worshippers: They did not know The True God, so they worshipped the Sun.
Every year you have what is called the “Winter Solstice” which takes place around the 21st day of December, the shortest day of the year. So the people who worshipped the Sun saw the days getting shorter and shorter, and on December 21st, it looked to them as though their Sun God “stood still.”
And then every day after December 21st, the days started getting longer and longer, so the heathen would go out and appeal to the Sun God when the Sun God seemed to be “going away from them”; and so on the 21st, during the Winter Solstice, it appeared as though the Sun stood still and their prayers were accepted. And since in Christian thinking, the man Jesus is called the “Son [Sun] of God”: The heathen, when they accepted Christianity, they brought their heathen (pagan) practices into the worship of Jesus Christ.
So, as Jesus is the “Son of God,” is “The Light of The World”: As the Sun “stands still” on December 21st and the days start getting longer, by the 25th of December they fixed the “birth of Jesus” to coincide with the longer days of the Sun. To be taught that Jesus was born on December 25th: Bring me any scholar or preacher of religion, and I challenge you to go in the Bible and tell me when Jesus was born! You can’t do it, and neither can the scholars do it.
On what day Jesus was born, only God and Jesus’ mother, Mary, knows. But because Mary is not here to tell you, and God has kept it a well-guarded secret, the heathen was left to fabricate Jesus’ birth.
The Worship of Nimrod: Destroyer of Moses’ Civilization and The Enemy of God
Actually the person that was born on that day, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said to me and to us, is a man named Nimrod.
Nimrod was one of the most wicked men who ever lived. Nimrod is the man that destroyed the Law of Moses: He broke the civilization of Moses 17 centuries after Moses, and three centuries before Jesus was born into the world. What is meant by “he broke the civilization of Moses” is that Nimrod made the Law of Moses of non-effect. And when you make the law that Moses established of non-effect, you have busted up the civilization of Moses.
Nimrod was a man that had a strange [incestuous] relationship with his mother, Semiramis; and when she died, they say an “evergreen tree rose up out from her grave,” and they would put gifts under the tree. So here you are practicing what the heathens practiced who worshipped Nimrod and his mother. Both of them rebelled against God. So, getting back to that “pale horse whose rider is death and hell followed closely behind”: This pale horse is a rebel against God, so he mocked God and Jesus by having a day for Jesus on the same day as the birth of Nimrod, the enemy of God.
And in the manner and with the traditions that you practice on December the 25th, you cannot tell me that you are honoring Jesus Christ. You are honoring Nimrod: The man who broke the Divine Law which was the basis of Jesus Christ’s message. In truth, if Jesus were born on December the 25th, the way to celebrate his birth is to keep up a feast of joy in righteousness that such a great and holy one has been birthed into the world.
You should stop and reflect on what his birth into the world means and the change that his birth into the world has brought about in your life. It should be a time of prayer, a time of reflection and a time of recommitment of our lives to the principles taught by such a holy man. And that is not the way we celebrate.
Dear beloved brothers and sisters, “The Pale Horse”—The Caucasian, whose nature is rebellion against God who has produced a death and a hell all over the Earth—has set the stage for the coming and the birth of this noble one Jesus, the Christ. Your problem is you’re looking back 2,000 years ago, when it was not time for “The Messiah” to come into the world; it was 2,000 years too soon… And so the Holy Qur’an teaches us that Jesus and his mother Mary were for a “sign.”
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that the knowledge of Jesus is the great test between the world’s knowledge and the Divine revelation of God. And Jesus is the most misunderstood man anywhere among the Muslims, among the Jews and among the Christians.
The Muslims think that the Jesus that lived 2,000 years ago died and is going to come back in the Judgment; they give that credit to Jesus—not to Muhammad, not to Abraham, not to any other prophet. They say Jesus is coming in “the last days” with The Mahdi, and the two of them will be together; and when they come, “joy” to the poor and the oppressed, but great tribulation for the ruler of the darkness of this world.
In afreewheeling press conferenceat his Mar-a-Lago club, President-electDonald Trumpsaid Monday he would consider pardoning embattledNew York Mayor Eric Adams, declared the country was “not going to lose” the polio vaccine and weighed in on the flurry of drone sightings over New Jersey.
Holding court with reporters for the first time since he won the election and secured a second term, Trump also called on the Biden administration to stop selling off unused portions of southern border wall, threatening legal action.
“We’re going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on building the same wall we already have,” he railed. “It’s almost a criminal act.”
Trump’s performance Monday underscored how he has already forced his return to the center of the national political conversation, weeks before he is set to return to the Oval Office. The session was notably less combative than some of the more heated exchanges he held with reporters during the campaign. Trump, looking relaxed at the lectern, joked with those he recognized and talked about how much easier the transition has been than after his first election.
ABC News announced over the weekend that had it agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit he had filed over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping a writer.
Continuing his threats of legal action, Trump railed Monday against the Biden administration over the border wall material sales, saying he has spoken to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas officials about a potential restraining order.
Congress last year required the Biden administration to dispose of the unused border wall pieces. The measure, included in the massive National Defense Authorization Act, allows for the sale or donation of the items to states on the southern border, providing they are used to refurbish existing barriers, not install new ones. Congress also directed the Pentagon to account for storage costs for the border wall material while it has gone unused.
“I’m asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall,” Trump said.
The Department of Defense, however, said that further sales can’t be blocked because all the excess border wall material has already been distributed. Most was provided to other federal agencies and state governments, as required by defense legislation signed on Dec. 22, 2023. The rest was sold to GovPlanet, which buys and auctions off government surplus.
While Trump described the handover between Biden and his incoming team as “a friendly transition,” he also took issue with efforts to allow some members of the federal workforce to continue working from home. Trump said that if government workers don’t come back into the office under him, they will be dismissed.
Trump also weighed in on Adams, who is facing federal fraud and corruption charges. Asked whether he would consider pardoning Adams, Trump said, “Yeah I would.”
“I think that he was treated pretty unfairly,” Trump said, while at the same time acknowledging he doesn’t “know the facts.”
Adams has been accused of accepting flight upgrades and other luxury travel perks valued at $100,000 along with illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals looking to buy his influence. He has pleaded not guilty. Multiple members of his administration have also come under investigation.
While Trump described the handover between Biden and his incoming team as “a friendly transition,” he also took issue with efforts to allow some members of the federal workforce to continue working from home. Trump said that if government workers don’t come back into the office under him, they will be dismissed.
Trump also weighed in on Adams, who is facing federal fraud and corruption charges. Asked whether he would consider pardoning Adams, Trump said, “Yeah I would.”
“I think that he was treated pretty unfairly,” Trump said, while at the same time acknowledging he doesn’t “know the facts.”
Adams has been accused of accepting flight upgrades and other luxury travel perks valued at $100,000 along with illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals looking to buy his influence. He has pleaded not guilty. Multiple members of his administration have also come under investigation.
“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine,” he said, calling himself “a big believer in it.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he said.
Outgoing Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, had said Friday that Trump’s nominees seeking Senate confirmation should “steer clear” of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine, calling them not just uninformed, but “dangerous.”
Trump also weighed in on the mysterious drone sightings over parts of New Jersey and the eastern U.S. that have sparked speculation and concern over where they are coming from.
Taking a conspiratorial tone, Trump insisted, without offering evidence, that, “the government knows what is happening.”
“Our military knows and our president knows and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” he said, refusing to say whether he had been briefed on the sightings.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said later Monday that there is no indication that the drones pose a public safety or national security threat, and that he would say so if that weren’t the case. While he acknowledged frustrations, he stressed that there are more 1 million legal drones in the country.
“Having closely examined the data,” he said, “we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones.”
Trump has spent the weeks since his victory building out his incoming administration and speaking with what he said were well over 100 word leaders.
But he again played coy on whether that list included Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I’m not going to comment on the Putin question,” he said.
When it comes to escalating tensions in the Middle East, Trump said he would consider pulling U.S. troops out of Syria after the country’s ousted leader, Bashar Assad, was overthrown by rebels.
“I don’t think that I want to have our soldiers killed,” Trump said of the 900 men and women who were placed there to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group.
In addition to meetings with foreign leaders, Trump also talked about a recent dinner with Apple CEO Tim Cook as well as the heads of major pharmaceutical companies, which Kennedy joined. The outreach, he said, made this transition feel markedly different from 2016, when his win shocked the Washington establishment.
Trump was joined at the appearance by SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, who announced that the Japanese company is planning to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years.
It was a win for Trump, who has used the weeks since the election to promote his policies, negotiate with foreign leaders and try to strike deals.
In a post on his Truth Social site last week, Trump had said that anyone making a $1 billion investment in the United States “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.”
“GET READY TO ROCK!!!” he wrote.
Trump has repeatedly boasted that he has done more in his short transition period than his predecessor did in all four years.
“There’s a whole light over the entire world,” he said Monday. “There’s a light shining over the world.”
