Job market jitters real for some mid-career Minnesotans and recent grads
They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Average of 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs, including every game of the NBA Conference Finals & NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. Except a 76er fan booing Ben Simmons. Brooklyn’s Simmons has a history in Philadelphia, and while he’s returned to Wells Fargo Center before, he knows full well that he’ll keep getting booed by 76ers fans for the rest of his career. But he’s not afraid of it. He feeds off it. “Yeah, I also love that,” said Simmons, who leads his Nets back to Philadelphia on Saturday from 11am (AEDT). “I love being in arenas where it’s loud and people are booing and all that stuff. So, it comes with the game. It’s a part of it. And I love it.” Simmons played 275 games for the Sixers over six years, missing his rookie campaign to injury and 2021-22 to mental health issues and back woes. His detachment, hesitancy to drive and eventual holdout made him persona non grata. One fan famously paraded all around town with a sign saying ‘F**k Ben Simmons’ — while he was still on the roster. His divorce from the 76ers was ugly, and Simmons has been the subject of hatred from their fans ever since being dealt to the Nets for James Harden. “You can only boo so much,” Simmons shrugged. This will be Simmons’ fourth time playing at Wells Fargo Center since being traded to the Nets. He also missed one of their visits last season and their March 10 visit just weeks after his arrival. But Wells Fargo Center had to beef up security in that first return — even though he was injured and not playing — and he’s aware that Philadelphia fans have elevated booing to an art form. “Sure. That’s what Philly’s about, you know? Shoot, when I was in Philly we got booed at times when we weren’t playing well. So it goes both ways,” said Simmons. “But they’re passionate fans. And that’s why Philly the city is so great, and the fans are so great.” The 6-9 Nets have unexpectedly started this season much better than the 2-12 76ers, who sit dead-last in the East as their new big three of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have been heavily disrupted by injury. Embiid (knee) goes into Saturday’s game with a questionable tag, while George (knee bruise) is out. Simmons clearly got fired up in the win over Charlotte by his clash with Hornets star Brandon Miller. He’ll draw inspiration from the bile that is sure to come in Wells Fargo Center. “I really hope so, because it’s just cool,” said Cam Johnson. “You step back, take a look at it. And I think that’s the cool part of being an athlete, is that people really care. They might care for you, they might kind of hate on you or whatever, but the bottom line is they care. “They have somebody that they support, they have something that they cheer for, and that’s kind of what makes our league and every other professional league and sport in general go around. So it’s just something that you’ve got to embrace. I hope he embraces it. Philly’s always kind of crazy, rowdy. They’ve got a lot to say. You know when Ben comes into town, they definitely have a lot to say. But I just hope it just gives our team energy and we’re able to feed off that.” There will surely be tons of negative energy directed at Simmons, if the Nets can flip that around to positive energy to feed off and rally around their point-forward. “Yeah, you have to as a competitor,” said Brooklyn centre Nic Claxton. “If people are booing you, they don’t boo people that they don’t care about. So, you’re relevant. So, you’re in their mind. You can look at it as a good thing.” It’s one of several big games on Saturday’s NBA Cup card including Aussies Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels facing off when Chicago hosts Atlanta at 12pm. In other games, Milwaukee hosts Indiana in a playoffs rematch at 12pm and Denver is home to Dallas at 2pm. -This story was originally published in the New York Post and reproduced with permission.After Juan Soto's megadeal, could MLB see a $1 billion contract? Probably not soonSeventy-one years is a long time to wait for renovations, but the El Rancho High School community only has to wait five more months to get a first look at a $200 million project, officials said this week. Superintendent Marco Villegas is getting ready to call done on a dream he said is long-held by students, families and residents. Set to be open in April are a brand-new football stadium, already wreathed in Boise State Blue and white, only waiting for the track oval be built around it; sports fields for baseball and softball; soccer and track facilities as well as an aquatics center. “The new field facilities at our high school represent more than just a space for sports; they are an investment in our students and our community,” said Kendall Goyenaga, principal at El Rancho. “These state-of-the-art fields provide our students with opportunities to develop their talents, skills, and foster school spirit.” Villegas said the new facilities will also serve as a point of pride in the community. The high school construction project is funded by Measure ER, a $200 million school construction bond approved by voters of the El Rancho Unified School District in 2016. It would be the first facilities improvement at the school since the school first opened its doors in 1952, according to Ester Mejia, president of the El Rancho Union School District board. Generations of Dons wear the Blue Pride loudly, and alumni and students alike will find plenty to love, from a new Don Memorial Stadium with its blue football field, 5,000-seat bleachers, and press box, to the synthetic track and field and a new practice field and new basketball courts. The project also includes new team rooms, locker rooms, restrooms, concessions, ticket booths, coach’s offices, storage spaces, a weight room, and a training room. There will be new scoreboards, sports lighting, outdoor sound systems, walkways, netting, fencing, and general site improvements. The 33-meter pool will meet CIF regulations and will come with bleachers and a digital scoreboard. The parking lots around the area will be reconfigured and the fencing along the perimeter of the project will be upgraded for safety. The new facilities can’t come soon enough for El Rancho’s football team. The Dons have been practicing off campus in the two years since ground-breaking. They are in the semi-finals this week and have an overall record of 8-4 and a league record of 2-2 so far. “The first eight months (of construction) people didn’t really see anything except a lot of demolition, then in the next six to seven months it might have seemed like we were just moving dirt from one spot to another,” Villegas said. “But things were happening that just weren’t easy to see. These facilities are going to be second to none and goes a long way in showing we are one city, one district. This is just the beginning.”
Islamic Revolution principles key to Iran’s global strategy, says FMIn the dynamic world of finance, traders constantly seek innovative tools to gain a competitive advantage in the market. The Swap ProAir 400 Platform has gained significant attention, offering advanced algorithms and machine learning technologies designed to support smarter decision-making. Yet, in an era where scams and fraudulent platforms are on the rise, traders are understandably wary about the platform’s authenticity and effectiveness. To provide a thorough evaluation of the Swap ProAir 400 Platform in 2024, it’s essential to focus on the critical factors that define its legitimacy and effectiveness. The first consideration is the platform’s track record and reputation: has it consistently delivered on its promises and offered genuine value to traders? 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Dear Heloise: I'm having a buffet luncheon this month to celebrate the holidays with the women of a club to which I belong. I'm serving ham and roast beef with side dishes. However, several of the members have asked to bring a dish that they make and enjoy. Two want to bring a pie, one wants to bring a pasta dish, and another woman wants to bring her mother's chocolate cake. Even my sister wants to bring a dish — a large fruit salad. How do I politely say, "No, thanks," to these kind offers? They mean well, but I've already planned the menu. — H.K., in Connecticut H.K., why would you say, "No, thanks"? These ladies want to help you with the cost and work of doing a luncheon for the club. No menu should be so rigid that it can't accommodate a few additional items. When someone arrives with a dish to share, thank them graciously and place the dish on the serving table. Before everyone starts to serve themselves, announce who brought what. A good host knows how to adapt with grace. — Heloise PAINT SPLATTER Dear Heloise: I get paint splatter all over my clothes and in my hair when I paint. What can I do to minimize this problem? — J.D., in Nebraska J.D., I had the very same problem, but I figured it out. First, get an apron made of very thick material. (You can usually find something like this at a hardware store.) Keep this if you like painting or plan to do more painting in the future. Next, get a shower cap to cover your hair. You can either use latex gloves to cover your hands or take a piece of round cardboard and cut a slit or hole big enough to slide the handle of your paint brush through. It acts as a shield for your hand. — Heloise JAR OPENERS Dear Heloise: There is little to no reason to use throwaway items to open a jar, as gadgets have been made for this purpose for years. For this reason, I've had my rubber disc for perhaps 40 years and a shaped grip for 25 or more years. It's similar to buying plastic bottles; why use them when there are reusable ones available that can be washed time and time again? Thanks for all that you offer us. — R., in California "ICE" DOG TAGS Dear Heloise: My husband and I wear a medical dog tag with our name and phone numbers in case of an emergency. On the back side are our Medicare number and secondary insurance number. It's just for peace of mind when we're out in public, walking, driving, at the gym, etc. Don't forget an ID for your furry friends as well. Love your suggestions! — P., via email GIFT-WRAPPING IDEA Dear Heloise: After purchasing odd-sized toys and finding them too large for some bags but too small for others, I found a solution at the dollar store: plastic holiday tablecloths! They're sturdy for wrapping and easy to cut with scissors, with the plus of nothing poking through like with wrapping paper. Joy to the world! — J.M., in Connecticut (Send a money-saving or time-saving hint to Heloise@Heloise.com . I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.)5 skiers survive avalanche near Whistler, B.C snow conditions ripe for more
In the wake of a successful effort to kill a year-end spending bill and replace it with more limited legislation to keep the government open, Elon Musk declared victory on X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform he owns: “Your actions turned a bill that weighed pounds into a bill that weighed ounces!” he crowed. “You are the media now. VOX POPULI VOX DEI.” The stopgap funding measure will largely delay major spending decisions until after Donald Trump’s inauguration, keep the government open through the holidays and at least temporarily delay the most indefensible spending that was crammed into the scale-tipping bill. But those who believe the indefensible spending won’t end up back in the budget are endearingly optimistic. The most interesting political takeaway from the drama is that the Republican Party now has two masters with different goals. Musk’s stated mission was to impose fiscal restraint and greater efficiency on government (though his unstated motives are a matter of speculation). Trump’s objective was to avoid the hassles of a debate over raising the government borrowing limit early in his term, freeing him to rack up more debt through spending and tax cuts. Based purely on the political result, Musk won and Trump lost. While the bill does spend less than the earlier version, it does not raise the debt ceiling. A case can be made for both goals. I think Musk is indisputably correct about the need to cut spending. And although I don’t want Trump to be able to amass more debt, fights over the borrowing limit are reckless because they put the full faith and credit of the United States in doubt. The challenge for Republican legislators is that they are caught between the agendas of two figures who are very popular on the right, and those agendas — and perhaps others — are in conflict. We’ll have to wait to see how the politics play out. In the meantime, I want to address the more philosophical problems with Musk’s position. First of all, literally weighing the value or profligacy of a piece of legislation by the ounce, as Musk proposes, is not exactly logical. The National Industrial Recovery Act — the foundational legislation of the New Deal — comes in at an economical 18 pages, but that hardly gives one a sense of its massive impact on the economy. Then there’s the idea that Musk’s minor budget victory proves his X followers are “the media now.” Huh? The standard conservative complaint about traditional national media is that they mislead the public in the service of an ideological or self-serving agenda. Musk rallied his virtual mob with a host of false claims about the bigger-spending bill. Now he is suggesting that misleading the public in the service of the agenda of the owner of a media platform is a glorious triumph. It’s certainly a triumph for if-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them hypocrisy. Lastly, Musk’s oft-repeated motto “Vox populi, vox dei” — “The voice of the people is the voice of God” — is theological nonsense. Its use by British Whigs to challenge monarchical power in the 18th century was politically defensible, but it doesn’t take a divinity degree to understand that, taken literally, the phrase argues that God is subservient to the passions and vicissitudes of public opinion. It’s very difficult to find anything in the Old or New Testament to back up that idea. If a poll were all it took to change God’s mind, Sodom and Gomorrah would have been fine, Noah wouldn’t have needed a boat, and Jesus wouldn’t have had to ask God to “forgive them, for they know not what they do.” One of the earliest mentions of the Latin phrase is found in the writings of Alcuin of York, an adviser to Charlemagne. Alcuin told the first holy Roman emperor to ignore such declarations of public godliness “since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.” Musk started using the phrase “Vox populi, vox dei” to validate the verdicts of his own Twitter polls. When users voted to reinstate Trump’s account two years ago, Musk declared that the result he clearly wanted amounted to a divine statement. We can only guess what this says about Musk’s God complex and its compatibility with his role as Trump’s Alcuin. But my main objection to Musk’s assertion is that it’s a dangerous lie. The idea that the largest mob has God on its side is even more pernicious than the notion that legislation should be measured in pounds. Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast.