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Lowry: Modern Russian politics follow a very old playbook

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

On the one hand, events in Russia this past weekend were stunning — the leader of a mercenary group declaring against the country’s military leadership and, for 24 hours, marching on Moscow.On the other, they were about what you’d expect in a Russia that, across the long centuries of its existence, has never managed to achieve Western standards of self-government.Everything we need to know about Russia was made clear by its brutish, cynical and incompetent invasion of Ukraine. But the blowback from the invasion in the form Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s brief armed revolt fills out the picture.Revolutions, attempted rebellions, assassinations and coups dot the Russian historical landscape. This isn’t unusual in old nations. What makes Russia different is that it is dealing with them to this day.England had a no-kidding war between the king and parliament … more than 350 years ago. Boris Yeltsin had a battle with the parliament that result...

Wynn: FTC needs to regain focus on fighting fraud

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

Americans have reaped protection from a largely unsung hero for more than a century. Safeguarded by the invisible, yet formidable, congressional mandate of the Federal Trade Commission, consumers can be confident that their government is working vigilantly to defend against fraud, deception and unfair business practices in the marketplace.As a former Energy and Commerce Committee member, I am well aware of the vital role the Federal Trade Commission plays in protecting Americans. However, my former position also makes me particularly sensitive to diversions from the FTC’s primary goal of protecting the American consumer.Having represented a district with a significant number of federal employees, I understand that the beating heart of any agency is the workers. When widespread grievances permeate an agency’s culture, it’s usually a sign that there may be an issue at hand. That’s why reports of low employee morale and high turnover rates at the FTC raise concerns about the current st...

Editorial: Biden’s economic moves nothing to brag about

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

President Biden is rarely at a loss for bad ideas.But he deserves dubious honors for rebranding his fiscal follies as a win.As Politico reported, the White House is going all in on a campaign to claim credit for the nation’s post-pandemic resurgence, touting an economic vision that aides see as so central to Biden’s presidential legacy they’ve gone as far as giving it a name: “Bidenomics.”“They’re going to wrap their arms fully around the economic strategy and economic results,” said Seth Harris, the former deputy director of Biden’s National Economic Council. “And I think their expectation is that there will not be a recession.”Are they also expecting that the America people will experience collective amnesia? Because that’s the only way one can look back at our economy under Biden and give it high marks.True, we’re in better shape than we were during the pandemic. That happens when businesses shut down across the country, workers are furloughed or laid off, and schools...

Dear Abby: Best to give ‘handsy’ stepdad a wide berth

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

Dear Abby: My daughter “Lia” and her husband, “Jerry,” visited his mother and stepdad, “Gil,” a few months ago. Gil gave Lia an inappropriate hug, with his hand sliding to her buttocks. Lia said Gil had done this before and it made her uncomfortable. She told Jerry, and he began watching his stepdad closely when they visited.Recently, my family and I visited Jerry’s parents. Gil gave me a hug around my back, and then slid his hand down my back and grabbed MY buttock with a quick squeeze! His wife was standing in front of us when he did it. I looked at her in shock. She looked down at the floor and then at me, expressionless. After I told my daughter what he had done, she told me he had done it to her as well.My son-in-law wants to tell his mother he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving his young daughters at their house. I know Lia and I should have said something when it happened, but we were caught off guard and didn’t call him on ...

Kitten rescued after becoming trapped in underground pipe

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- An eight-week-old kitten, now named "Cactus," was rescued Monday afternoon from a large underground electrical pipe in the Otay Mesa neighborhood, animal officials said.The rescue occurred at Cactus Road and Airway Road, according to the San Diego Humane Society.A construction worker near the scene initially heard loud meowing, but could not find where the noise was coming from, per SDHS.That's when a call was placed to SDHS and a Humane officer responded to the scene, the animal organization said. A snare and other tools coated in cat food were used in the rescue attempt, but that couldn't reach the cat. Crews work to rescue a kitten trapped in an underground electrical pipe on June 26. (San Diego Humane Society) SeaWorld closes ‘Electric Eel’ rollercoaster after reported injury The unsuccessful attempt prompted Humane officers to contact Cal Fire San Diego and San Diego Gas & Electric for help."Traffic was redirected so a hatch opening near the pipe could be acc...

Stock market today: Asian shares mixed despite Wall Street rally

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday despite a rally on Wall Street driven by optimism over reports suggesting the American economy is in better shape than feared. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.1% to 7,195.70 after the government reported that the consumer price index rose 5.6% in the twelve months to May. The most significant price rises included housing and food. The Reserve Bank of Australia made a surprise move of raising interest rate earlier this month to counter persisted price pressures. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.6% to 33,070.03. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.8% to 2,560.51. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1% to 19,122.34, while the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.9% to 3,160.19. Wall Street rallied, with the S&P 500 resuming an upward climb that had carried it earlier this month to its highest level in more than a year. It gained 1.1% to 4,378.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 33,926.74, while the N...

Exonerated member of “Central Park Five” takes lead in New York City Council primary

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Yusef Salaam, who as a child was part of a group of teenagers wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned for the rape of a woman jogging in Central Park, took a commanding lead Tuesday in a Democratic primary for a City Council seat in New York.Salaam faces two veteran politicians, New York Assembly members Al Taylor, 65, and Inez Dickens, 73, in the race for a seat representing part of Harlem. The incumbent, democratic socialist Kristin Richard Jordan, dropped out of the race in May but remained on the ballot.The contest was taking place more than two decades after Salaam and four other men — known as the Central Park Five — were exonerated by DNA evidence in one of the city’s most notorious and racially fraught crimes.The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race and the election’s outcome might not be certain for days because of New York’s ranked choice voting rules. That system kicks in if no candidate claims more than 50% of the total vote. It was un...

Activist detained in Hong Kong begins final appeal for recognition of his overseas same-sex marriage

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — An activist detained in Hong Kong began his final appeal Wednesday seeking recognition for his same-sex marriage registered overseas, in a landmark case for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.Jimmy Sham, a prominent pro-democracy activist during the 2019 protests that roiled Hong Kong, first asked for a judicial review five years ago seeking a declaration that the city’s laws, which do not recognize foreign same-sex marriage, violate his constitutional right to equality. But the lower courts dismissed his legal challenge and a subsequent appeal over the case.Sham is now in custody after being charged with subversion over an unofficial primary election under a tough national security law enacted following the protests. Many other leading Hong Kong activists were also arrested or silenced by the law imposed by Beijing on the former British colony.The upcoming judgment by the city’s top court in his marriage case will have strong implications for the lives o...

Trump wants to keep ‘communists’ and ‘Marxists’ out of the US. Here’s what the law says

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has announced a new campaign proposal on United States immigration — barring “communists” and “Marxists” from entering the country.The Republican former president, who is making another bid in 2024, on Saturday said he would use “Section 212 (f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act” to “order my government to deny entry to all communists and all Marxists.”The announcement was reminiscent of Trump’s ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries during his first term, which was heavily criticized as anti-Muslim and ultimately revoked by President Joe Biden.“Those who come to enjoy our country must love our country,” Trump said during a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s conference in Washington, adding, “We’re going to keep foreign, Christian-hating communists, Marxists and socialists out of America.”He also said there needs to be a “new law” to address communists and Marxists who grew up in America, but didn’t elaborate on what...

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory, but leaves door open for 2024 election challenges

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:47:42 GMT

The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a controversial legal theory that could have changed the way elections are run across the country, but left the door open to more limited challenges that could increase its role in deciding voting disputes during the 2024 presidential election.The court’s 6-3 ruling Tuesday drove a stake through the most extreme version of the so-called independent state legislature theory, which holds that legislatures have absolute power in setting the rules of federal elections and cannot be second-guessed by state courts. That decision cheered voting rights groups.“We beat back the most serious legal threat our democracy has ever faced today,” said Kathay Feng of Common Cause, whose lawsuit challenging congressional districts drawn by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature triggered the case.But for some critics of the theory, the danger is not entirely past.The court found that state courts still must act within “ordinary bounds” when rev...