'This is not a promotion'

In the decades-long history of Super Bowl national anthem performances, Billy Joel holds a distinction that no other artist can claim. He is the only solo performer to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” twice at America’s biggest sporting event. While other artists have performed multiple anthems, Joel remains the only performer to deliver two complete solo renditions, a testament to his exceptional talent, broad appeal, and the NFL’s trust in him. Billy Joel first sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XXIII on January 22, 1989, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, where the San Francisco 49ers faced the Cincinnati Bengals. The post The Only Two Artists Who Have Sung the National Anthem Twice at the Super Bowl appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

“The Star-Spangled Banner,” the national anthem of the United States, was written by Francis Scott Key in September 1814 during the War of 1812. Key, a lawyer and amateur poet, penned the lyrics after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. After a night of intense shelling, Key was moved to see the American flag still flying over the fort at dawn, inspiring him to write the poem originally titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” The poem was later set to the tune of the popular British song “To Anacreon in Heaven” and gradually became associated with American The post Complete List Of All Super Bowl National Anthem Performers Since 1967 appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Yesterday, Sotheby’s oversaw the record $18 million sale of a drawing by Rembrandt: one of 6 drafts he made of lions, and the only one to have resided in private hands. Those hands belong to Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan and his wife, who along with standing foremost among the world’s private Rembrandt collectors, ride in […] The post Billionaire Tom Kaplan Auctions Rare Rembrandt Lion Drawing for $18M to Help Save the Animal it Depicts appeared first on Good News Network.

Must-See TV? House Ethics to Televise Cherfilus-McCormick Misconduct Hearing

The War on Law Enforcement Is Heating Up Again

Sunday’s event entered the top 20 of the strongest flares in the last three decades.

Somali fraudsters apparently have some competition from other migrant communities.A pair of Venezuelan nationals were charged along with two other migrants this week for allegedly stealing and using the identities of over 100 individuals to obtain millions of dollars in federal welfare.The Venezuelans, both of whom previously enjoyed Temporary Protected Status — Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, and Coralba Albarracin Siniva, 24 — and Joel Vicioso Fernandez, a 42-year-old Dominican national and permanent resident of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire, and possess Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.'It is not particularly hard to identify these scams.'Joel Fernandez's brother, Raul Fernandez Vicioso — a 37-year-old Dominican national and naturalized U.S. citizen who also lives in Fitchburg — was charged with conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, SNAP benefit fraud, aiding and abetting, and money laundering.Charging documents allege that the men and their co-conspirators used 117 stolen identities from individuals in six states and Puerto Rico to create 24 "households" in SNAP applications. The "households" were said on average to contain four to five people, and all of the fraudulent "households" were listed as living in two single-family apartments in Providence, Rhode Island.While there was already ample cause for the Rhode Island Office of Internal Audit to suspect something was off, the alleged fraudsters also used the same bogus lease agreement in support of 17 of the 24 applications and routinely submitted and accessed the online applications using the same out-of-state IP address.RELATED: Mike Lee reveals the real victims of Somali fraud: 'It is not the rich people who suffer' Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images The charging document noted that Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance records identified the theft of approximately $115,000 in SNAP funds in relation to this scheme; however, the state agency did not appear to bother informing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General or any other law enforcement agency.U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley hammered this point again during a press conference on Tuesday, stating that the USDA OIG "is not aware of the Massachusetts DTA making any referral report to the USDA concerning this theft."Apparently eager to steal even more, the Dominican nationals allegedly used their own personal information to create additional fraudulent SNAP benefit accounts, which involved the alleged use of fake passports and passport cards.Investigators found that metadata from images of the counterfeit documents indicated they were taken in Leominster, Massachusetts, at the site of El Primo Restaurant, an establishment operated by the younger brother.The suspected fraudsters had allegedly been using the stolen welfare benefits to purchase bulk food items for retail sale at the restaurant.Federal agents raided the restaurant and Vicioso's residence on Sept. 24, 2025, and found approximately 20 fraudulently obtained Rhode Island and Massachusetts EBT cards, fraudulent documents, a handwritten list of identities, SNAP-related mailings, and a machine that enables stolen EBT card information to be loaded on a physical payment card, alleged the charging documents.The Justice Department noted that in addition to allegedly fraudulently obtaining at least $440,000 in SNAP benefits from Massachusetts and Rhode Island between December 2023 and September 2025, the defendants allegedly also fraudulently secured over $700,000 by submitting bogus applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits in Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington from 2020 to 2021.For the alleged PUA fraud, at least 29 different identities were used on the applications, not including Vicioso and Fernandez, who also allegedly issued applications in their own names."This is just the tip of the iceberg," Foley told reporters on Friday. "We are investigating many more benefit fraud cases in my office, and today is just the beginning."In December, Foley's office announced the arrests of two men — Antonio Bonheur, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Saul Alisme, a Haitian national — who allegedly engaged in a scheme to obtain millions of dollars' worth of SNAP benefits through small retail stores they ran in Boston.The duo are also accused of selling donated food product intended for starving children overseas."It is not particularly hard to identify these scams, but if you don't even care to look or prosecute those involved, essentially allowing criminals to steal vast amounts of taxpayer money with impunity, the scams will continue to proliferate unabated," added Foley.The U.S Government Accountability Office noted in a September 2024 report that an estimated 11.7% or $10.5 billion of SNAP benefits paid out by the USDA in fiscal year 2023 "were the wrong amount or otherwise should not have been made."Last year, the USDA indicated that the national payment error rate for fiscal year 2024 was 10.93%.Like Blaze News? 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Dems' DHS 'Reform' Wishlist Accidentally Outs Their Real Plan for Illegals (and LAUGHABLE ID Hypocrisy)

Sen. Mike Lee Thanks Barack Obama for Setting a Good Example on Voter ID in a Flashback Video