“In the last 24 hours, the US Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden.” 
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Daily encounters with illegal crossers at the southern border have significantly plummeted, according to President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan. “In the last 24 hours, the US Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden,” Homan said.
- More than 12 million people in the Social Security Administration database of eligible benefits recipients are listed as being older than 120, according to data shared by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
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All of the passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Toronto survived a crash landing.
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Newsstands in Hong Kong have recently received intimidation letters for selling The Epoch Times newspapers, with threats to report them for “endangering national security.”
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After the news: Winter music by Schubert, Schumann, and Strauss
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☀️ It’s Tuesday. Thank you for reading Morning Brief. |
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images |
More than 12 million people in the Social Security Administration database of eligible benefits recipients are listed as being older than 120, according to data shared by Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered the data while reviewing SSA records for potential waste or fraud. “According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to false!” Musk wrote on social media platform X, which he owns, on Feb. 17, sharing a chart of the various age brackets.
The chart shows that there are more than 17 million centenarians who are marked as alive and eligible for benefits in the SSA system, of whom more than 12 million are allegedly older than 120. More than 1,000 individuals are listed as being between the ages of 220 and 229.
Another person is purportedly in the 240 to 249 age bracket, and the oldest person in the system is listed as older than the United States itself at more than 360 years old. The oldest living person in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is Tomiko Itooka, 116, of Japan.
“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk wrote in jest. The data also shows that the number of eligible Social Security recipients in the system is more than 398 million, yet the Census Bureau estimates the national population to be roughly 341 million. When another user pointed out the impossibility of the data, Musk confirmed that “there are far more ‘eligible’ social security numbers than there are citizens” in the United States. “This might be the biggest fraud in history,” he said.
The SSA did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment. (More)
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The U.S. Education Department on Monday said it has canceled $600 million in grants for educator training programs that promote “divisive ideologies.” The department provided examples of the defunded training programs, including those that required educators to acknowledge “systemic inequities” like racism and “critically reassess” their own teaching practices.
- The Trump administration fired thousands of probationary employees across several government agencies.
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Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives are working on parallel budget resolutions with different provisions. Neither body appears ready to compromise on how to advance President Donald Trump’s plans.
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Trump is nominating Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to permanently assume the post.
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A federal judge in Washington seemed reluctant on Monday to temporarily block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from carrying out its mission because it allegedly overstepped its authority while attempting to reduce government waste and shrink the size of the federal workforce.
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An American Airlines Airbus A319 airplane takes off past the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 11, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) |
A team from Elon Musk-owned SpaceX visited a federal air traffic control center on Monday as officials have said they are looking for ways to improve the system after January’s deadly plane crash in Washington.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media platform X that a SpaceX team was visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in New Baltimore, Virginia, to “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools,” and envision a “new, better, modern and safer system.”
Duffy said that the SpaceX team was not “getting special access” and noted that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “regularly gives tours of the command center to both media and companies.”
“[The Department of Transportation] is open to any and all patriotic developers or companies who want to help our country in this incredible, game-changing mission,” he said. “I hope to hear from any company committed to ushering in America’s golden age of travel.”
Although some reports, including one from Reuters, claimed that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was visiting the Virginia command center, Duffy’s statement on X made no mention of DOGE. He referenced only SpaceX, a private company headed and operated by Musk.
In response, Musk wrote on X: “The safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter. SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer.” (More) More U.S. News |
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Four deputy mayors in New York City are resigning, the mayor’s office confirmed on Monday. The officials said they are doing so in response to recent “extraordinary events.” NYC Mayor Eric Adams has drawn criticism from his own party after he started cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts and the Department of Justice requesting to dismiss the charges against him.
- A former member of the Watergate prosecution team urged a federal judge not to grant the Trump administration’s request to drop charges against Adams.
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Eleven people died in the floods in Kentucky as another winter storm approached on Monday.
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The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is already searching for cutting-edge missile defense technologies after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for an “Iron Dome for America.”
The executive order gave the Department of Defense 60 days to evaluate the U.S. missile defense network and overhaul it with hypersonic weapon sensors, space-based missile interceptors, and other so-called “non-kinetic” missile defense capabilities.
Trump has also tasked military leaders with conceiving new ways to stop incoming threats earlier than ever before, including before they launch. Four days after Trump signed the order, the Missile Defense Agency published a request for information from arms industry insiders on promising advancements to meet Trump’s call for a better missile defense shield. The quick turnaround suggests the Trump administration is urgently pursuing advanced new strategic defenses at a moment of growing U.S. competition with Russia and China. Both nations have made advances in offensive strategic weapons technology in recent years, and the U.S. military has struggled to keep pace. While Trump’s order calls for several new missile defense capabilities, a major focus is on evaluating what systems already exist and whether they’re deployed in the right manner to protect the United States and forward-deployed U.S. troops and allies.
Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst for the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, described Trump’s order as a holistic approach that expands on capabilities the U.S. military already has. (More) More World News: |
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Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum threatened to sue Google over its decision to display the name Gulf of America across the entire body of water rather than just the portion of the Gulf that lies within U.S. jurisdiction, arguing that the expansive naming violates Mexican sovereignty.
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Despite recent eulogies for the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, many insiders say the funeral is premature.
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Top officials from the United States and Russia are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss reopening normal relations and beginning negotiations for a cease-fire in Ukraine.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukraine will not recognize any peace agreements negotiated without the participation of Kyiv.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday evening, after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that he wants Gazans to have the option to leave the area.
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Argentine President Javier Milei is facing calls for impeachment after promoting a cryptocurrency that saw its market value soar before collapsing in a matter of hours.
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Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida signaled that if the United States imposes 25 percent tariffs on products from Mexico, the automotive company may have to move production out of that country.
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✍️ Opinion: The Spiritual Implications of Regenerative Agriculture by Mollie Engelhart
🍿 Documentary: The Fabric of Time. In a world where science and religion often clash, a new collaboration seeks to solve an ancient mystery. Who was Jesus Christ, and what did he look like? (Watch free on Gan Jing World)
🎵 Music: Gabriel Fauré – Pavane (Listen)
📷 Photo of the Day: Charolais Bulls are sold at Stirling Bull sales in Stirling, Scotland on Feb. 17, 2025. A prestigious showcase of more than 700 pedigree bulls and heifers from leading UK herds are on show at the Stirling Agricultural Centre, with some fetching a five-figure mark, as they attract top breeders in the industry. 👇
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Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images |
"Winter in the Country," circa 1858, George Henry Durrie. |
Winter is more than a period of darkness and cold. Things appear to draw into themselves, but in truth, they gestate and germinate out of our sight. Hard seeds begin to force roots through cold ground, and branches hold in their tight fists the blossoms they will release in good season.
It’s easy to forget how closely aligned we are with nature’s cycles. We too are inclined to draw inward at this time, harbor the forces gathering inside us, and prepare for the renewed life that lies, for the moment, just beyond our grasp.
Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s “Hymn to the Eternal One” is such a look beyond. In his 18th year, he set to music the words of poet Friedrich Schiller: “In the midst of the storm You have made for me a refuge; the clouds thunder, the lightning flutters about me, and I think of You, Eternal One.” The work is monumental in scope, intended for four solo voices rather than a chorus, reflecting, perhaps, man’s frailty before nature. Somber harmonies create an atmosphere of wonder at such strength and such splendor.
The world without is indeed volatile, sometimes stormy, sometimes beautiful, but the world within is a different matter. It does its best work quietly, taking in life’s events, translating them into thought and emotion.
No matter the season, even when we feel the cold of winter outside; spring within lives on, a marvel and a mystery. Robert Schumann set this feeling to “Ich hab in mich gesogen,” a beautiful, folk-like melody with a sweet, simple harmony.
Read the full article by our colleague Raymond Beegle here.
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