Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

• DOJ officials conducted a search of Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday.
• Biden’s personal attorney said in a statement that “six items” with classified markings were found.
• Classified documents were previously found in Biden’s home and the Penn Biden Center think tank.

Justice Department officials found another set of classified documents in President Joe Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home after they conducted a search on Friday, according to a statement from Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer.

“Yesterday, DOJ complete a thorough search of all the materials in the President’s Wilmington home,” Bauer said in the statement. “It began at approximately 9:45 a.m. and concluded at around 10:30 p.m. and covered all working, living and storage spaces in the home.”

A statement from Biden’s special counsel, Richard Sauber, said Biden and the first lady were not present during the search.

Some of the items that were seized from the Wilmington home date back to Biden’s time in the Senate and as vice president, Bauer wrote. Personally handwritten notes from Biden’s vice-presidential tenure were also taken for the Justice Department’s review.

A set of classified documents was previously found inside the garage of Biden’s Delaware home and at the president’s Washington think tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

Biden’s lawyers first discovered what was described as a “small number” of classified documents on November 2 as they were vacating the office space Biden periodically used at the think tank between 2017 and the beginning of his 2020 presidential campaign.

The president’s personal attorneys then disclosed that they had found a second set of classified documents in the garage of Biden’s Wilmington home on December 20. Both sets of documents 

New Zealand Labour lawmakers are currently meeting to confirm Chris Hipkins’s nomination to replace Jacinda Ardern as leader of the Labour party and New Zealand’s new prime minister.

Hipkins, 44, was the only nomination for the job and his confirmation by the 64 lawmakers, known as the Labour caucus, is largely a formality.

Hipkins said on Saturday that he had the support of his colleagues to take on the job.

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, Ardern said she had “no more in the tank” to lead the country and would step down.

First elected to parliament for the Labour Party in 2008, Hipkins became a household name fronting the government’s response to the pandemic. He was appointed health minister in July 2020 before becoming the COVID response minister at the end of the year.

Hipkins is holding a press conference following his confirmation as leader and there he is expected to announce a new Deputy Prime Minister. Hipkins said on Saturday that Grant Robertson, who is currently Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, is likely to hold onto the job of Finance Minister.

Before Hipkins officially becomes prime minister, Ardern must tender her resignation to King Charles III’s representative in New Zealand, Governor General Cindy Kiro. Following that Kiro would appoint Hipkins to the role and he will be sworn in.

Katherine Fan

• I never feel guilty spending gift cards on things I want, which makes them a versatile gift.
• Using shopping portals, I can get even more out of purchases, including airline miles and more.
• I can even “double-dip” on rewards by using a credit card that offers cash back.

Gift giving is one of my top love languages. I love buying presents for people who touch my heart, even if I’ve only met them once or twice. If I’ve ever asked you for your address, you’ve probably discovered a card and a care package in your mailbox a week or two later.

I also fall in the camp of people who adore and appreciate gift cards, especially for retailers I love. To me, gift cards represent guilt-free spending money — they allow me to treat myself a little bit without feeling like I should be investing the funds instead. I also love that I get to choose what I really want to buy, instead of sticking with something someone chose for me or awkwardly sneaking back to the store to exchange my gift.

Even though I don’t really drink coffee, for instance, I always find Starbucks gift cards useful. I can gift them to flight attendants when I travel, drop them in a gift bag to complete a white elephant gift, or add them to my Starbucks account for the rare occasions when I do order something.

I try to earn rewards whenever I give gifts

One of my favorite ways to earn rewards on my gifting habit is by using shopping portals for cash back and travel rewards. A shopping portal is a website that rewards you for clicking through its affiliate link to shop with online retailers such as Sephora, Nordstrom, Nike, and Lululemon. You can earn points, miles, or cash back on products, online services, floral deliveries, plumbing supplies, and so much more.

You probably know of a few shopping portals, even if you don’t think you do: Rakuten Rewards, which used to be called Ebates, is a popular one. So is TopCashBack. There are hundreds of shopping portals out there, each offering different earning rates for the various retailers in its network. Some airlines and hotels even offer their own shopping portals.

Maximizing my rewards with online tools

To make sure I’m finding the best rate of return on my shopping portals, I use a web tool called Cashback Monitor to help me find the highest deals being offered at the time. I search for the name of the retailer I’m planning to shop with and click through to that page to see which portal offers the best reward — or the one that makes the most sense for me at the time.

If I’m trying to save up enough United MileagePlus miles to fly to Europe, for example, I might choose a lower rate of 3 miles per dollar instead of opting for 5% cash back per dollar. But if there’s a cashback offer for 12% back per dollar, it might well make sense for me to choose that option over airline miles.

Since I first discovered shopping portals in 2013, I’ve earned more than $3,000 in cash back rewards in addition to enough airline miles and hotel points for a round-trip flight and two-week stay in Australia and Bali.

In fact, I just recently cashed out some of my TopCashBack earnings into a $600 Hotels.com gift card at a 5% bonus rate, which means I received $1.05 Hotels.com credit per dollar that I had earned through TopCashBack. That gift card will make a really nice wedding gift for some loved ones to use toward their honeymoon, and it didn’t cost me a dime more than I had already spent on other purchases.

Doubling up on my gift-giving rewards

Even more excitingly, I’ve been able to “double-dip” my rewards by paying for my purchases with credit cards that earn bonus points for every dollar I spend. For example, my credit card earns 1.5% cash back on every dollar I spend. If I’m buying flowers, I might see that Rakuten has an offer of 15% cash back per dollar. That means I earn $16.50 in cash rewards for a $100 floral arrangement — on top of the undying adoration of my friend who receives the bouquet, of course.

So next time you’re buying someone a gift, skip the mall crowds. Stay in your cozy pajamas and sip a hot beverage while you shop from the comfort of your computer. And instead of burning gas money, earn some rewards instead by using a shopping portal. Just remember to plan ahead for shipping times if you need your gifts to arrive by a certain date. And read the fine print: Some shopping portals won’t give you cash back if you use a coupon code that isn’t listed on their website.

David Fisher

• David Fisher is a teacher in Florida who became a pickleball instructor as a side gig last April.
• It took a couple hundred dollars, a workshop, and some play time to get certified.
• He teaches up to 14 hours a week in the summer and is saving his earnings to buy an e-bike.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with David Fisher, a 57-year-old pickleball coach based in Boca Raton, Florida. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I’ve been in education for 31 years — 26 of those I spent in the classroom. I work with elementary-school children, some of whom have learning disabilities or speech and language issues. I like working with kids — there’s never a dull moment. 

I played socially competitive tennis for 40 years, but gave it up 10 years ago when I started having knee problems. I heard about pickleball from various places and it sounded like fun, so about two years ago during the pandemic, my wife and I took a lesson, bad knees and all. It was a great way to get outside with family and friends and be active and safe.

We had a phenomenal coach and had a blast playing. I jokingly call it a gateway drug for exercise. You have so much fun when playing you don’t realize you’re actually working out. 

We did a couple more lessons and started going to open-play opportunities. It was then that I realized this could be something to do at the end of the day, after I finished teaching the kids.

We became good friends with our coach, and I asked her about teaching pickleball. She said there was a lot of opportunity, as it’s the fastest-growing sport in the country. There are plenty of pickleball courts and people wanting to learn how to play. 

The coaching-certification process is reasonable

I joined the Professional Pickleball Registry (PPR), which you need to do to become a pickleball coach, in April 2022. For membership and liability insurance coverage, it costs $230 a year. The certification workshop was only $147. I also joined USA Pickleball for $35 a year — it’s the sport’s national governing body, and it provides the official rules and tournament rankings. 

I planned to use the first half of last summer to get through my certification workshop. I watched the instructional videos and completed the questions that went with them, then signed up for the five-hour on-court workshop in June. It was at the Polo Club in Boca Raton, but PPR offers workshops frequently all over the country.

At the workshop, I was the only participant who wasn’t a full-time racquet-sport instructor and the only one who was never a former professional tennis player. Given that this is South Florida, there are a lot of tennis pros who retire here and then continue playing and teaching tennis. Some of them spent more time on the pickleball court than me, but a few had only played for about six weeks. They had enough racquet skills that they could work their way through the five-hour workshop, though. 

You need a minimum 3.5 out of 5 skill rating to be an instructor. The workshop leader evaluates your playing skills during the workshop, and you can figure out your rating when playing in tournaments. But it’s also important that you can teach a lesson. During the workshop we practiced teaching pickleball elements to the others in the course.

After that, the instructor submitted paperwork to PPR, and a few days later I was given access to the 91-question exam. Since I read the book, completed the workshop, and watched their instructional video, the exam wasn’t hard. I received my coaching certificate and some instructor feedback by email a few days later.

I booked my first student a few days later

Fisher on the court with a student.

Courtesy of David Fisher

After telling some people I played with that I’d gotten certified, they spread the word. I now teach several people one afternoon a week at a condo complex in Delray Beach, charging $50 an hour.

I also began teaching through the city of Boca Raton. I had to get fingerprinted and provide proof of liability insurance, which I get through PPR. The city connects me with people who want private lessons and handles payment, paying me every two weeks. The city charges students $75 an hour, and I get $48.75 of that.

I set up the teaching time, and I contact them to confirm before each lesson. I also collect money from my private clients. Since I’m a self-employed pickleball instructor, I save my receipts for anything I purchase relating to the work, like paddles, balls, and the ball hopper. I also set aside money for taxes to submit on a quarterly basis. 

I teach about nine hours a week at most, which is a good amount for me. In the summer, when I’m off school, I might teach 14 hours a week. Since the courts in Florida are outside, lessons are weather-dependent and can affect my income. I’ve made anywhere from $150 to $650 in a pay period, or every two weeks. I’m saving up my initial earnings to buy an e-bike. 

Teaching pickleball is fun

While pickleball is good for any age, I prefer to teach adults at this point. I like to take a break from working with the younger kids.

I’m a teacher at heart, and I like to make sure people are comfortable on the pickleball court. I want people to learn and improve their game, but we’re here to have fun and build skills, to play at a level they’re comfortable with.

If you’re interested in learning to coach, it’s helpful to take lessons with different pros to get their perspectives on your own game. Then watch how the pros teach, because everyone teaches a different way. If you sign up for a certification, make sure you’ll follow through with the training and use all the materials they give you.

Tim Levin/Insider

• Tesla is the world leader in electric vehicles, but it needs to diversify its lineup. 
• If Elon Musk wants to be a top player like GM, Volkswagen, or Toyota, he needs to make cheaper cars. 
• Musk has plans for a $25,000 car, but it’s unclear where that project stands. 

Elon Musk has huge aspirations for Tesla — like selling a staggering 20 million cars in 2030 (the equivalent output of Toyota and Volkswagen combined) and making the company worth trillions. 

To remain a leader in the auto industry long term, though, Tesla will need to expand its skimpy lineup and start selling cheaper models, experts say. 

The electric automaker has made massive strides with its current high-end, four-vehicle lineup. It’s the top seller of battery-powered cars globally with 1.3 million units shipped last year (a 40% boost over 2021). The Model 3,  Model Y, Model S, and Model X, which cost between $44,000 and $120,000, accounted for roughly 65% of EVs sold in the US in 2022.

Tesla’s cars range in price from around $40,000 to $150,000

Tesla

But its skyrocketing growth has an expiration date if it can’t give people more affordable, mass-market options, industry watchers say. And that makes perfect sense when one considers how the biggest automotive players do business; they sell a broad range of products to meet a spectrum of buyers. 

Toyota has the $22,000 Corolla and the $100,000 Lexus LC, plus a whole lot in between. Volkswagen sells budget hatchbacks, but also Porsches, Audis, and Bentleys. General Motors makes Chevys and Cadillacs. 

The gap at the low end of Tesla’s lineup leaves it exposed to stiffening competition. China’s BYD, the No.2 EV seller globally, is quickly gaining on Tesla’s top spot. That’s not surprising in the least, Michael Dunne, founder of the EV consultancy ZoZoGo, told Insider, especially when considering that BYD has an extensive portfolio while Tesla is solidly a luxury player. 

“It’s like asking, ‘will Toyota surpass Mercedes in overall sales?’ Yeah, because Toyota has a full spectrum of vehicles that go from $20,000 to $80,000,” Dunne said. “And the lower the price point, the bigger the market of course.” 

The Model 3 sedan is Tesla’s cheapest vehicle at $44,000 after a recent price drop.

David Zalubowski/AP

Mercedes-Benz sells around 2 million cars per year. Toyota sells 10 million. 

As EV competition heats up and buyer interest grows, Tesla will need to release new offerings like trucks and cheaper cars to supplement its aging lineup, Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told Insider. The Model 3 and Model Y, by far Tesla’s top sellers, went on sale in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

“It will take a few more years before the buyers of EVs expand enough that they need a range of products, and Tesla needs to be there when the market is ready,” he said, adding that Tesla can’t be a top player or reach its lofty goals with just a few models. 

Elon Musk announced plans for a $25,000 car at a Tesla event in 2020, but the car hasn’t materialized.

Tesla

Analysts at Bernstein recently said developing lower-cost models should be a priority for Tesla, especially given recent price cuts that signal slowing demand for its cars. 

“Given our concerns about end state volume levels for Models 3 and Y, dictated by either price or luxury buyers’ desire for differentiation, we believe it is increasingly imperative that TSLA offers additional (lower priced) models,” they said in a note to investors earlier in January. 

Tesla has discussed plans for a $25,000 car, but it’s unclear where that project stands today. The vehicle was supposed to arrive by 2023, but in early 2022 Musk said Tesla had too much on its plate to work on it. Then in November, Musk mentioned progress on a cheaper vehicle platform without specifying what the final product would be. 

Musk’s automaker has had trouble diversifying its lineup as it’s poured resources into accelerating production of the Model 3 and Y. The Semi, a class-8 truck, launched in late 2022, three years behind schedule. Years after they were announced, the Roadster sports car and Cybertruck pickup are both nowhere to be found.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation searched President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday and located six documents containing classification markings and also took possession of some of his notes, the president’s lawyer said Saturday.

Bob Bauer, the president’s personal lawyer, said the search of the entire premises lasted nearly 13 hours. The documents with classification markings spanned Biden’s time in the Senate and the vice presidency, while the notes dated to his time as vice president. The search followed more than a week after Biden’s attorneys found six other classified documents in the president’s home library from his time as vice president, and nearly three months after lawyers found a small number of classified records at his former offices at the Penn Biden Center in Washington.

The president and first lady Jill Biden were not at the home when it was searched. They are spending the weekend at their home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Bauer said the FBI requested that the White House not comment on the search before it was conducted. He said the FBI “had full access to the President’s home, including personally handwritten notes, files, papers, binders, memorabilia, to-do lists, schedules, and reminders going back decades.”

The Justice Department, he added, “took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the President’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed former Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as a special counsel to investigate any potential wrongdoing surrounding the Biden documents.

“Since the beginning, the President has been committed to handling this responsibly because he takes this seriously,” White House lawyer Richard Sauber said Saturday. “The President’s lawyers and White House Counsel’s Office will continue to cooperate with DOJ and the Special Counsel to help ensure this process is conducted swiftly and efficiently.”

The Justice Department discovered more classified documents during a search of President Joe Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home, a lawyer for the president said in a statement Saturday night.

The president offered access “to his home to allow DOJ to conduct a search of the entire premises for potential vice-presidential records and potential classified material,” Biden’s attorney Bob Bauer said in a statement.

Neither Biden nor his wife were present during the search, the attorney said.

(NewsNation) — A new report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency shows the highest number of migrant encounters ever recorded.

Despite the spike, however, the agency says new policies continue to make a difference and could lead to lower numbers in the months ahead.

As questions remain over the future of Title 42 and allowing border agents to turn migrants away at the border due to COVID-19 concerns, data shows December with the highest number of border encounters ever.

The report says last month saw over a quarter-million encounters along the border, up 7% from November and up 40% over last year’s December crossings, with many of the migrants coming from Cuba and Nicaragua.

But the agency pointed to signs of progress, with migrations from Venezuela down 82% from September.

This past fall, the Biden administration implemented a new policy aimed at Venezuelan migrants. It expanded expulsions at the border but also allowed up to 30,000 people to stay for two years if they pass a background check and provide a sponsor.

That same policy will now be applied to people arriving from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti, which could lead to fewer illegal crossings.

In a statement, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said, “The December update shows our new border enforcement measures are working.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas touted the Biden administration’s push to address immigration.

“We’re executing a comprehensive strategy to secure our borders and build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system,” Mayorkas said.

But Republicans continue to accuse the president of not doing enough to stop the border crisis, vowing to investigate decisions made by his administration.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the border situation an unmitigated disaster.

“We look forward to having Secretary Mayorkas before the committee soon to provide answers and accountability,” Green said.

Moving forward, the political battle over the issue shows no signs of going away.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mayorkas “needs Congress, especially Republicans in Congress, to stop doing political stunts and to come to the table and actually deal with an issue.”

The report from the customs agency shows single adults accounted for two-thirds of people encountered at the border in December, but around 570 unaccompanied children on average arrived every day as well.

It also showed fewer people from Mexico and Central American countries arrived compared to last year. The focus now remains on curbing numbers connected to Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua.

Openly corrupt Senator Kyrsten Sinema is so afraid of losing her seat in 2024 in a Democratic primary challenge, she recently became a registered independent so that she won’t have to participate in a primary contest. But as we said at the time, it wasn’t some kind of magic wand move, and Sinema was still going to face trouble.

After all, her approval rating in Arizona is hovering at around 40% among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – not a recipe for a Senator to get reelected under any banner. And since there’s a good chance she’d lose reelection in a two-way race anyway, there’s really no harm in the Democrats making it a three way race. To that end, NBC News now says that House Democrat Ruben Gallego is planning to announce a 2024 Senate campaign in just a few days.

The media is already gearing up to frame this as a contest between the “progressive” Gallego and the “moderate” Sinema. But that’s a work of fiction. In reality Gallego is an actual Democrat who fights for the people of Arizona, while Sinema an aloof corrupt jackass who has aligned herself with the dirtiest of right wing money.

We’re presuming Ruben Gallego would win the Democratic primary race easily (another popular House Democrat in Arizona, Greg Stanton, just announced that he’s not going to run for Senate in 2024). Kyrsten Sinema would then also be on the general election ballot as an Independent, assuming she can get enough signatures, which shouldn’t be difficult. It’s still far from clear who might end up being the Republican nominee. Kari Lake’s name has been kicked around, but she’s done real harm to her future general election viability by pretending she won the race for Governor after she lost.

In any case, Sinema opened the door to this when she went against the wishes of the people of Arizona who elected her, and began carrying out her prolonged bizarre dalliance with Mitch McConnell’s money people. If Sinema’s approval rating in Arizona were high, then she’d be looking at likely reelection in 2024, and the Democrats would probably have had to just sit back and hold their noses and let her win.

But since Sinema has made herself so unpopular as to be at risk of losing her seat to a Republican in 2024 anyway, it’s kicked the door wide open for someone like Gallego to step in and keep the seat for the Democrats by winning a three way race. Earlier this week Ruben Gallego posted a campaign donation link, in case you want to help him get started.

The post Is this how Kyrsten Sinema loses her seat? appeared first on Palmer Report.