Pa. broadband authority gives laptops to libraries, nonprofits for public use
Trainer Adhirajsingh Jodha’s Mother’s Grace may score over her rivals in the HPSL Golconda 1000 Guineas, the first classic of the Hyderabad Winter Races, to be held here on Sunday (Nov. 24). 1. MANCHERIAL PLATE (1,200m), 4-y-o and upward, rated upto 25 (Cat. III), 1.10 p.m.: 1. Exponent (6) R.S. Jodha 60, 2. Taaliyah (8) Mukesh 58.5, 3. Politics (7) Md. Ismail 57.5, 4. Think Of God (5) A.A. Vikrant 57.5, 5. MN’S Council (4) M. Mark 57, 6. Bien Pensant (1) Surya Prakash 56.5, 7. Fortune Art (2) G. Naresh 52.5 and 8. Zidane (3) Kuldeep Jr. 50.5. 1. TAALIYAH, 2. EXPONENT, 3. POLITICS 2. WINDSCALE PLATE (1,200m), (Terms) Maiden, 2-y-o only (Cat. II), 1.40: 1. Authoritarian (6) Trevor 56, 2. Corte Madera (5) Saqlain 56, 3. Country’s Dictator (1) Mohit 56, 4. Bestie (4) Mukesh 54.5, 5. Divine Faith (7) Alex Rozario 54.5, 6. Double Bubble (2) Kuldeep Sr. 54.5 and 7. Zuza (3) Ashad Asbar 54.5. 1. AUTHORITARIAN, 2. ZUZA, 3. DIVINE FAITH 3. HIMAYAT SAGAR CUP (Div. II) (1,400m), 3-y-o and upward, rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III), 2.15: 1. Annhilator (2) Kuldeep Sr. 60, 2. Park Lane (8) Md. Ismail 59.5, 3. Pancho (1) B. Nikhil 57.5, 4. City Cruise (5) R.S. Jodha 56, 5. Varaneek Gold (4) P. Sai K 56, 6. Sadiya (3) Kuldeep Jr. 55, 7. Hoping Queen (7) Mohit 54 and 8. Smart Boy (6) G. Naresh 53.5. 1. ANNHILATOR, 2. PARK LANE, 3. SADIYA 4. HIMAYAT SAGAR CUP (Div. I) (1,400m), 3-y-o and upward, rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III), 2.45: 1. Gloria (4) Akshay K 60, 2. My Challenge (1) Trevor 58, 3. Genie (2) Nakhat Singh 57, 4. Mirzeta (7) M. Mark 55.5, 5. Emperors Charm (5) Alex Rozario 54, 6. Swiss Girl (6) B.R. Kumar 54, 7. Balahaka (3) P. Sai K 52.5 and 8. Nav Lakhaa (—). 1. GLORIA, 2. MY CHALLENGE, 3. SWISS GIRL 5. ROYAL TERN PLATE (1,600m), 4-y-o and upward, rated 40 to 65 (Cat. II), 3.15: 1. City Of Blessing (10) A.A. Vikrant 60, 2. Golden Gazelle (6) Vivek G 60, 3. Trishul (5) Ashad Asbar 59, 4. Lady Danger (3) Mukesh 58, 5. N R I Ultrapower (1) Abhay Singh 57, 6. Detective (8) Trevor 56.5, 7. Happy Soul (2) Surya Prakash 56.5, 8. Ampere’s Touch (9) Gaurav 56, 9. First Class (11) B. Nikhil 56, 10. Notre Dame (7) Md. Ekram 54.5, 11. Windsor (12) Saqlain 54.5 and 12. Caraxes (4) G. Naresh 53.5. 1. HAPPY SOUL, 2. GOLDEN GAZELLE, 3. DETECTIVE 6. LINGAPUR CUP (1,200m), 3-y-o and upward, rated 40 to 65 (Cat. II), 3.45: 1. Lashka (1) Trevor 61.5, 2. Calista Girl (4) Gaurav 59, 3. Clefairy (7) M. Mark 55, 4. Exclusive Black (8) Md. Ismail 53.5, 5. Wind Sprite (3) Afroz K 53.5, 6. Ariette (9) Akshay K 53, 7. Hoping Sky (12) Mohit 53, 8. Rolls Royce (2) Md. Ekram 53, 9. Burgundy Black (10) Mukesh 52.5, 10. Fara (5) G. Naresh 52.5, 11. Shah Of Iran (11) Surya Prakash 52.5 and 12. Cosmico (6) B. Nikhil 50. 1. ARIETTE, 2. LASHKA, 3. CALISTA GIRL 7. HPSL GOLCONDA 1000 GUINEAS (Gr. 2) (1,600m) (Terms), Fillies 3-y-o only, 4.15: 1. Arion One (8) Saqlain 57, 2. Chotipari (3) I. Chisty 57, 3. Inspire (7) Antony Raj 57, 4. Maigira (4) Trevor 57, 5. Mother’s Grace (9) Sandesh 57, 6. Mountain Touch (1) Ashad Asbar 57, 7. Nyx (5) Akshay K 57, 8. Psychic Star (2) Vivek G 57, 9. Star Of Night (10) Alex Rozario 57 and 10. White Pearl (6) Mulkesh 57. 1. MOTHER’S GRACE, 2. NYX, 3. PSYCHIC STAR 8. HIMAYAT SAGAR CUP (Div. III) (1,400m), 3-y-o and upward, rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III), 4.45: 1. Gifted Girl (5) B.R. Kumar 60, 2. Vital Sign (6) Alex Rozario 60, 3. Clara (1) Akshay K 57.5, 4. Grey Sky (7) Md. Ekram 56.5, 5. Gun For Gold (2) G. Naresh 56.5, 6. Muaser (4) P. Ajeeth K 55, 7. Reining Queen (3) Md. Ismail 54.5 and 8. Cutie Pie (8) Surya Prakash 53.5. 1. CLARA, 2. GIFTED GIRL, 3. MUASER Day’s Best: ARIETTE Jackpot: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8. Mini Jackpot: (i) 2, 3, 4 & 5, (ii) 5, 6, 7 & 8. Treble: (i) 1, 2 & 3, (ii) 3, 4 & 5, (iii) 6, 7 & 8. Tanala: All races. Published - November 24, 2024 12:24 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit
UCF, LSU face off with improved focus in mindThe New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) evaluates how well vehicles perform in crash tests, including ... [+] rollover risk, and provides a rating on a five-star scale to help consumers make knowledgeable choices on new vehicle purchases. New advanced driver assistance technologies and crashworthiness pedestrian protection are among the planned upgrades to the 5-Star Safety Ratings program, known as the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The federal program evaluates how well vehicles perform in crash tests, including rollover risk, and provides a rating on a five-star scale to help consumers make knowledgeable choices on new vehicle purchases. The planned improvements , developed to advance safety on the nation’s roads and reduce deaths and serious injuries, were announced on Monday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “This action today is another important step toward addressing the crisis on our roads and achieving the Department’s ambitious, long-term goal of zero road fatalities,” Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a statement. “Like our move earlier this year to make automatic emergency braking standard on new passenger cars and light trucks, these changes to the 5-Star Safety Ratings will speed up adoption of technologies that reduce the frequency and severity of crashes while helping consumers make informed decisions about buying a new car.” The goal, the federal agency said, is to help protect vehicle occupants, pedestrians and others outside a vehicle by emphasizing new and emerging safety technologies and features. The safety update was included as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law , the agency noted. Planned upgrades to the federal consumer information program include: “Our goal with NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings program has always been to help consumers choose safer vehicles and to encourage manufacturers to improve vehicle safety,” Adam Raviv, NHTSA chief counsel, said in a statement. “With these NCAP updates, we’re ensuring consumers have more useful and relevant information on the latest safety technologies and that the program keeps up with the pace of technological change and innovation.” This Viral Smart Bassinet Is 30% Off With The Snoo Black Friday Sale The 50 Best Black Friday Deals So Far, According To Our Deals Editors Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety , acknowledged the importance of the new measures for the nation’s road safety. “We are pleased to see NHTSA finalize long overdue and much-needed upgrades to its 5-Star Safety Ratings program,” she said in a statement. “With over 42,000 fatalities and 2.38 million injuries from motor vehicle crashes in 2022 coupled with nearly 40 million vehicles subject to safety recalls in 2023, it is clear more must be done to achieve safer road users and safer vehicles.” Chase added that NHTSA’s work is essential, but more resources are needed if it is to accomplish its mission of safeguarding the traveling public and addressing “this public health crisis on our roadways.” For more information on the New Car Assessment Program, click here .
Munster, Ind., Dec. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Finward Bancorp (Nasdaq: FNWD) (the “Bancorp” or “Finward”), the holding company for Peoples Bank (the “Bank”), today announced that on December 20, 2024 the Board of Directors of Finward declared a dividend of $0.12 per share on Finward’s common stock payable on February 3, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 21, 2025. About Finward Bancorp Finward Bancorp is a locally managed and independent financial holding company headquartered in Munster, Indiana, whose activities are primarily limited to holding the stock of Peoples Bank. Peoples Bank provides a wide range of personal, business, electronic and wealth management financial services from its 26 locations in Lake and Porter Counties in Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area. Finward Bancorp’s common stock is quoted on The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC under the symbol FNWD. The website ibankpeoples.com provides information on Peoples Bank’s products and services, and Finward Bancorp’s investor relations. Forward Looking Statements This Current Report on Form 8-K may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial performance, business prospects, growth, and operating strategies of Finward. For these statements, Finward claims the protections of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this communication should be considered in conjunction with the other information available about Finward, including the information in the filings Finward makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by using words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will” and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include: the Bank’s ability to demonstrate compliance with the terms of the previously disclosed consent order and memorandum of understanding entered into between the Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”), or to demonstrate compliance to the satisfaction of the FDIC and/or DFI within prescribed time frames; the Bank’s agreement under the memorandum of understanding to refrain from paying cash dividends without prior regulatory approval; changes in asset quality and credit risk; the inability to sustain revenue and earnings growth; changes in interest rates and capital markets; inflation; customer acceptance of Finward’s products and services; customer borrowing, repayment, investment, and deposit practices; customer disintermediation; the introduction, withdrawal, success, and timing of business initiatives; competitive conditions; the inability to realize cost savings or revenues or to implement integration plans and other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; economic conditions; and the impact, extent, and timing of technological changes, capital management activities, and other actions of the Federal Reserve Board and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are discussed in Finward’s reports (such as the Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K) filed with the SEC and available at the SEC’s Internet website ( www.sec.gov ). All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning Finward or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Except as required by law, Finward does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statement is made. In addition to the above factors, we also caution that the actual amounts and timing of any future common stock dividends or share repurchases will be subject to various factors, including our capital position, financial performance, capital impacts of strategic initiatives, market conditions, and regulatory and accounting considerations, as well as any other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant in making such a determination. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will repurchase shares or pay any dividends to the holders of our common stock, or as to the amount of any such repurchases or dividends. ###From multiple explosions to tragic stampedes: 20 most dominant events of 2024
NoneGamified investing apps are becoming more popular — but can be risky for young investors
AP News Summary at 1:37 p.m. EST
2 ASX retail shares that look like Black Friday bargain buysHow do you solve a problem like eighth grade algebra ? Not the actual problems covered by the syllabus — the graphing of compound inequalities, say, or the untangling of scatter plots — but the question that’s at the heart of a fraught national debate: Who should get to take a high school level math class in their final year of middle school ? Portland Public Schools is the latest urban school district to take a swing at answering that question, after previous high-profile attempts in New York City and San Francisco yielded no measurable improvement in two different but equally important objectives: Diversifying middle school algebra classes and making sure that advanced math students leave eighth grade with a solid grasp on foundational algebraic concepts. The district’s experiment unfolds daily in Ernest Yago’s cheerfully cluttered math classroom at Faubion PK-8 School in Northeast Portland. Yago, a veteran math teacher, is piloting a new math and science-focused, hands-on elective that some seventh graders at his school take alongside their regular math class. So far, Portland’s new approach has narrowed the pool of students allowed to start high school math in eighth grade, though it is only in its first few months. And it is not yet clear whether the district has managed to boost the racial and ethnic diversity of those taking part. The hope is that the course Yago is debuting will broaden the spectrum of scholars in eighth grade algebra. By double-dosing students with math concepts in seventh grade — couched in an approach that stresses projects with real-world applications over worksheets — the thinking is they will be better prepared for the rigors of eighth grade algebra. In addition to Faubion, three K-8 schools on the city’s east side — Bridger-Creative Science, Astor and Cesar Chavez — plus Robert Gray Middle School on the west side are offering the elective. “I think that for some kids, algebra in eighth is pushing too fast, but there are a select few kids that are motivated and ready to do a high school class in eighth grade,” Yago said. “I want to honor that and make sure we offer it.” Kids who aren’t instinctively gifted mathematicians need to have the right background before jumping into algebra in eighth grade, Yago said. And he knows firsthand that that hasn’t always been the case, particularly in the post-pandemic years, when students returned to school still glued to their screens. Some kids come into eighth grade algebra in “la-la land,” with big holes in the background they need to succeed in the class, Yago said. That means taking time out of a packed curriculum to revisit the content they’ve missed, he added, like how to make a box plot and calculate a five number summary . “I try my best to cover what they need [in eighth grade algebra],’ but sometimes you have to fill in holes to make that progress, and then you are behind in curricular content,” he said. He’s got some hope “a good chunk” of the seventh graders in his math-and-science elective will be better prepared to tackle algebra next year, after getting more exposure to the material. After their current unit on graphing wraps up, he said, they’ll move on to a geometry unit, using proportional reasoning, expressions and equations to create blueprints for a scale model of a home they’ll design and build. Yago and his fellow teachers at the pilot schools are developing the curriculum for the course over the course of the school year, with help from two high school math teachers with experience teaching hands-on math. Yago’s students said they had varying reasons for taking his math elective. Some said they’d been put there or recommended for entry by teachers. Others said they want careers in the sciences. Aspiring engineers, doctors and computer programmers said they know taking algebra in eighth grade would help launch them on that path. “I want to be a pilot, and you need math for that,” said Liam Kaczenski, 12. He said he is determined to earn good enough grades in Yago’s class to qualify for algebra next year. For his graphing project, he charted how many siblings each of his classmates had and compared that against their stress level, hypothesizing that the more brothers and sisters, the higher the angst would be. It was true for him, he said, pointing at his twin sister Ana, who is also in Yago’s class. “I struggle with math sometimes,” Ana said. “But I want to be ahead in high school. This class helps me understand more topics.” Taking algebra in eighth grade sets students like the Kaczenski twins up for geometry in ninth grade, advanced algebra by 10th grade, pre-calculus in 11th grade and calculus by their senior year. Calculus is viewed both as a calling card for elite colleges and a prerequisite for eventual employment in the lucrative and growing engineering and technology industries. Waiting until ninth grade to start algebra means that, to get to calculus by senior year, students either have to double up on math or seek summer credits. Nationally and in Portland, white and Asian students have historically been overrepresented in advanced math classes and have outperformed their Black, Latino and Indigenous peers. In a bid to change that dynamic, San Francisco tried banning eighth grade algebra completely, a path Portland seriously considered emulating, to the chagrin of some parents . They argued that without an in-school option available, well-off families would hire private tutors for their children, exacerbating inequity instead of alleviating it. Then San Francisco Unified School District officials reversed course, after a decade’s worth of no algebra in middle school led to little improvement in equity, and Portland, too, pivoted. New York City, meanwhile, took the opposite tack, making algebra available to all eighth graders. But there too, Black and Latino students still scored way below their white and Asian counterparts. The district, the nation’s largest, has now shifted its focus to improving ninth grade algebra instruction. Portland is seeking to thread the needle, said Joanna Tobin, the district’s senior director for middle grade core academics. “We were just really frustrated with the research and the nationwide dilemma,” Tobin said. “We want to hold onto an advanced pathway and support our students getting there, if that’s their desire, and we also really do value grade level work.” In addition to piloting the seventh grade math and science elective, Portland raised the bar for which seventh graders get to take “compacted math,” a fast-track class that is the historical precursor to eighth grade algebra. It compresses the seventh and eighth grade math curriculums mostly into a single year. With the bar set higher this year, only about one-third of the district’s 2,870 seventh graders performed well enough on standardized tests to gain automatic entry into compacted math, compared to about half of last year’s seventh grade class, Tobin said. Under the district’s new system, entry doesn’t hinge solely on a high-stakes test, which sets Portland apart from the bulk of middle schools in the United States that offer algebra in eighth grade. A second pathway into compacted math — a teacher recommendation or parent request that a student be allowed to demonstrate that they are ready for the material even though their test scores are below the cutoff — appears to be far more lightly used thus far. Some parents have complained that the district was slow to get the word out about that option. Just 140 students completed a “performance task” to try to place into compacted math after missing the quiz and test cutoffs. Only 20 of that group ultimately joined the advanced class. (A sample question from the performance task: Imagine that your family ate one third of a pan of brownies and that you then gave six friends equal portions of the leftovers. How much of the total pan did each friend get. Please show your work!). “When you put up these roadblocks to getting into more advanced classes, you know who will make it in,” said David Stein, whose sixth grade daughter was able to test into seventh grade compacted math after a last minute scramble. “It will be the parents who get the emails, are able to process them and go through the effort to make sure their kid is eligible and enrolled in the program.” Portland doesn’t yet have good data on the demographics of who made it into compacted math this year, as compared with years past because of technical glitches, Tobin said. But she acknowledged that for now, “when it comes to the demographics, [compacted math] is not yet reflective of the diversity of our communities. Some of this will be a journey, and we’ll be seeing the growth at high school.” Every Portland middle school is offering at least one way into eighth grade algebra — either the seventh grade compacted math class or the career-related math elective — but it’s not clear yet that budgets or student interest will support every school eventually being able to offer both options, Tobin said. Yago, for his part, said he’d like to see the math and science elective expanded to eighth graders not taking algebra, on the theory that it will make them better prepared for ninth grade. “It’s made me rethink how to go about teaching math, with more inquiry and projects,” said Yago, who began teaching in Portland as a substitute nearly 30 years ago. “But it all does depend on the kids you have and the experience they have coming to you.” — Julia Silverman covers K-12 education for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her via email at jsilverman@oregonian.com . Follow her on x.com at @jrlsilverman.
Retail Investors Drive Demand For Personalized Tools And 24/7 AccessNo. 5 Alabama has a reputation as 3-point gunners, but it's defense and rebounding that have become a focus as the Tide welcome South Dakota State to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to end the 2024 calendar year. Alabama (10-2) is frequently thought of as an offensive 3-point shooting free-for-all program, but Nate Oats' 2024-25 squad has thrived largely on the basis of inside play. The Tide are shooting 62.2 percent on their two-point attempts and grab 45 rebounds per game, each figure placing the team among the national leaders in those categories. Alabama does still shoot an average of 31 3-point shots per game, again one of the nation's highest totals. But so far, Alabama's 31.2 percent connection rate is very ordinary. But connecting inside and owning the glass has held benefits for Alabama. Meanwhile, defense has concerned Oats, particularly coming off a 97-90 win over North Dakota on Dec. 18. Oats issued warnings about players losing spots in the rotation if defensive execution didn't improve. Alabama passed the first post-North Dakota test in an 81-54 win over Kent State on Sunday. "We did make a big point of emphasis on defense, especially after that debacle up in North Dakota," said Oats after the Kent State victory. "It was a much better defensive effort, so it will be a lot better Christmas break for us." Alabama won the rebounding battle over Kent State 60-40, although Oats contended that the Tide "gave up too many second-chance points." Alabama made 72 percent of its two-point attempts even as just 9 of 35 3-point attempts connected. Alabama has battled personnel uncertainty early in the season. An Achilles injury ended the season of guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. just as transfer Chris Youngblood was preparing to return from an ankle injury. The Tide have 11 players averaging double-digit minutes and eight averaging 7.4 points per game or better, led by super senior guard Mark Sears with 17.8 ppg. Super senior forward Grant Nelson remains a key player, leading the Tide with 8.7 rebounds per game while adding 12.8 ppg. Meanwhile, South Dakota State (9-5) will pin its upset hopes largely on Aussie transfer Oscar Cluff. A 6-foot-11 senior who transferred in from Washington State, Cluff has averaged 16.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. Cluff is connecting on 71.4 percent of his shot attempts. He's also shooting 79.2 percent at the foul line and has stabilized a young Jackrabbits team with four freshmen among the top seven scorers. "Oscar's just built the right way," said coach Eric Henderson. "We have probably played through the post more than any other team in the country the last five years and we just felt like we needed a big man that had some experience and boy does he ever." Cluff had a streak of five straight double-doubles, but that ended in recent losses to Nevada and Colorado. The Jackrabbits won 87-72 over Chadron State in their last game on Dec. 19. --Field Level Media
WASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, . He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as . Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump's election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the U.S. government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps' Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump's agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump's choices portend for his second presidency. The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president's proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration's agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025's and Trump's campaign proposals. Vought's vision is especially striking when paired with Trump's proposals to dramatically expand the president's control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government's roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump's changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk's and Ramaswamy's sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump's choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans' health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over . Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various U.S. immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump's longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in U.S. history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump's West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump's Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” John Ratcliffe, Trump's , was previously one of Trump's directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document's chapter on U.S. intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe's chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe's and Trump's approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a U.S. adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025's FCC chapter and is to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts.The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began in October 2023, entered a new phase on Sept. 17, 2024. The process started with Israel’s detonation of thousands of electronic devices used by Hezbollah and continued with the assassination of many of the movement’s top leaders, including its secretary-general. Thinking that Hezbollah would be dissolved, Israel launched a ground operation on Lebanese territory on Oct. 1. However, it did not turn out as expected. Far from being successful in the land operation, Israel suffered serious losses in Lebanon. Combined with its war exhaustion starting from the last year, the latest casualties of Israel led it to consider withdrawing from Lebanon. Israel had the upper hand against Hezbollah with the surprise attacks; assassinations of top commanders, and air domination starting in mid-September. However, Israel’s accomplishments misled it to enter Lebanon on the ground. Expecting a dissolution in Hezbollah fronts after eliminating the organization’s leadership, Israel faced strong resistance on the field. While Israel continues its ground offensive in southern Lebanon, its casualties are significantly increasing. Israeli Army Radio referred to last month as “black October” because of high casualties. Israel’s main objective was to secure its borders by pushing Hezbollah north of the Litani River, but this goal is still a long way off. The deepest point at which Israeli forces have been able to advance is the outskirts of the town of Khiam, about 6 kilometers from the border. Hezbollah also continued to hit Israel with missiles and drones during the invasion. The ongoing Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory have undermined one of Tel Aviv’s major pretexts for the occupation. Israel had claimed that the ground operation was needed for displaced people to return to their homes on Israel’s northern border. With the attacks of Hezbollah, far from the return of those in the north, the war has moved much further inland. To cover up the questionable ground operation, Israel increased the number of massive daily airstrikes on towns and cities. After Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon, international pressure on Israel has increased significantly. Many Western countries, which did not react sufficiently to the massacre in Gaza, put pressure on Israel for its escalatory behavior in Lebanon. For instance, France called for an arms sales ban on Israel to avoid regional escalation. Israel’s attacks on the peacekeeping force, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), have also put it in a difficult position internationally. Israel, which suffers military losses every day in Gaza and southern Lebanon, carries out its operations also at a heavy cost. Since the outbreak of the war, Israel has lost more than 890 soldiers, and 11,000 Israeli soldiers have been wounded, according to Yair Lapid, Israeli opposition leader. Additionally, hundreds of military vehicles have been destroyed or damaged in the attacks. In addition to military losses and a tense political environment, one of the most difficult challenges for the Netanyahu government is the state of the economy. Israel’s military expenditures are increasing while the economic growth rate is slowing down. The cost of the war to Israel is more than 67 billion dollars, even without including Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. The Netanyahu government is in a difficult situation in terms of domestic politics. It has been cornered with demands to resolve the hostage crisis and reach a cease-fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure not only for the failure of Oct. 7 but also for not paying enough attention to the Israeli hostages and deliberately undermining the cease-fire for his political gain.
US Department of Justice Outlines Breakup of Google in Historic Anti-Trust CaseAP Trending SummaryBrief at 5:24 p.m. ESTVPD warns of ticket scams ahead of Taylor Swift concertsby Vijaya Chandrasoma The traditions of the Presidential elections in the United States are different in a few significant ways from the elections to the Heads of State in other countries, based as they are on a constitution framed and ratified in the latter part of the 18th century. The USA elects its new president on the first Tuesday of November once every four years. But on the following Wednesday, or soon after his electoral victory is confirmed, he is just the President-elect, an ordinary citizen, with none of the powers of the Commander-in-Chief. All presidential power continues to reside with the defeated, incumbent President, until his official presidential term is over, when the transition of power takes place with the inauguration of the President-elect on January 20 of the following year, a full 11 weeks after the election. Traditionally, the defeated and outgoing president is called a Lame Duck, a president “whose successor has already been selected, leaving him politically weakened”. To emphasize, weakened traditionally, though still carrying the full powers of the Commander-in-Chief. The framers certainly did not predict that the good people of the USA would ever elect a president like Donald Trump, who not only defied all oaths taken to uphold the constitution during his first presidential term. He actually used his “Lame Duck” presidential powers in an attempt to overthrow a legally elected government and to violently prevent the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. Four years later, the good people of the USA, in a recurrence of white-blindness combined with a severe case of amnesia, have re-elected the same convicted felon for another four years – to complete the job he started on that fateful day in 2015, when he climbed down that golden escalator in Trump Tower with the promise to Make America White Again. This time, however, eight years older at age 78, he is definitely behaving more like a weakened Lame Duck President. His mind, never blessed with an IQ much higher than that of a moron, is evidently unhinged, on the slippery slope to dementia. His absolute dominance of his Republican cult also seems to be waning. His decisions are being questioned for the lunacy they clearly represent by a few of the more principled members of his party, who appear, amazingly, no longer threatened by the loss of their careers if they don’t toe the Trump line. Even his leadership is being overtly challenged by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, whose finances were largely responsible for his re-election. One of the main functions of the President-elect during the transition period is to submit, for Senate approval, nominations for members of his future cabinet. Seemingly a mere formality, as the Republican Party will have a 53/47 majority in the new Senate to be sworn in on January 3, 2025. However, some of the nominations submitted for the key positions in the cabinet seem destined for rejection even by the lick-spittle Senate. One, Trump’s nomination for Attorney-General, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, which also had the unqualified supporter of his “Co-President”, Elon Musk and his Vice-President-elect, JD Vance, has already bitten the dust. Gaetz was forced to withdraw his candidacy in the swirl of criminal allegations of illegal drug use and trafficking, statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl and sex trafficking. A recent report released by the Ethics Committee of the House gives detailed evidence of these crimes. The report was released to the public despite objections by Trump, Musk and the most pious Speaker Johnson, showing some defiance by Republican congressmen – not that difficult to predict, as Gaetz is mightily despised on a bipartisan basis in the House. Rather like Ted Cruz in the Senate. Of course, there is a valid argument that even a criminal like Gaetz is eminently qualified to act as the chief law enforcement officer of the land in an administration headed by a felon convicted of many more felonies, 91 to be exact. In fact, such criminal behavior may actually be deemed to be a qualification in that sort of an administration. I have already written about the other dangerous and totally unqualified Trump nominations for key positions in his Cabinet. Vital appointments which include: Defense Secretary – Pete Hegseth, alcoholic Fox news presenter and sexual predator, guilty of financial mismanagement in non-profit Veterans organizations; Attorney-General – Pam Bondi, nominated after the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz; Bondi, a long-time Trump loyalist, famously dropped the case of fraud against Trump University in her capacity as Attorney General of Florida, after receipt of a bribe of $25,000 from the Trump Organization; Secretary, Health and Human Services – Robert F. Kennedy Jr, anti-vaxxer and health nut, whose brain was eaten by a worm in 2008 – the worm was said to have died of starvation; Kennedy has vowed to Make America Healthy Again by taking FDA approval away from all vaccinations, including polio and measles, and removing fluoride from drinking water; Director of National Intelligence – Tulsi Gabbard, Russian asset – if appointed, American allies will be requested to cut the red tape and send all top-secret information direct to Putin; Secretary, Homeland Security – Kristi Noem, self-confessed puppy killer, who will keep the southern border personally secure from dangerous puppies and goats; Education Secretary – Linda McMahon, ex pro-wrestler, who has promised to add another R – ‘Restlin’ – to America’s three traditional educational goals of three Rs – Readin’, ‘Ritin’ and ‘Rithmetic; Head of Medicare and Medicaid Services, with a budget of over $1 trillion – Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has won nine Daytime Emmy Awards for a medical show he uses to promote magic weight-loss coffee beans and other types of snake-oils to ward off Parkinson’s etc.; FBI Director, to replace current Director Christopher Wray, who resigned last week three years before the end of his tenure, in anticipation of being summarily fired by Trump – Kash Patel, Trump’s Retribution Czar, who has vowed to come after all Trump’s opponents, political, media, leftists and other enemies in the deep recesses of his Fuhrer’s hallucinations; Border Czar – Tom Homan, who will be in charge of implementing Trump’s “Greatest Mass Deportation Program in history”, family separations, concentration camps and all; Surgeon General – Dr. Jeanette Nesheiwat, Fox News medical contributor, who runs a chain of urgent care clinics, and like her aforementioned cabinet colleague, Dr Oz, is also a snake-oils saleslady, peddling pills for weight loss and anti-aging supplements on her Fox medical shows. There are more, but these are perhaps the most spectacularly unqualified nominations for Trump’s cabinet, which seemed certain to be confirmed by the Republican majority Senate, when Trump was elected in November. However, recent developments indicate that some Republican members are beginning to locate the whereabouts of their spines and testicles. And a few especially horrendous and dangerous nominations – Hegseth, Gabbard, Kennedy, Patel to name just four – may actually fail to get the necessary Senate confirmations. Both Elon Musk and Trump have threatened any such dissenting Republican Senators and Congressmen that they will be primaried at the next election, which would mean the end of their political careers. In spite of such threats, some of these Republicans are showing signs of defiance. Perhaps the hitherto iron grip Trump and the MAGA (Make America Great Again) cult had on the Republican Party is weakening? One such development was the recent death blow dealt by both Musk and Trump on the bipartisan congressional budget bill, negotiated with the Democrats by Speaker Johnson. This episode highlighted the growing political influence of Elon Musk, who first urged the cancellation of the bill with a volley of tweets, followed only two hours later by Trump. In fact, Musk took credit for the scuttling of the bill when he tweeted: “The voice of the people was heard. This was a great day for America”. Actually, it wasn’t. The result of the budget bill failing meant that the government faced a shutdown the Friday before Christmas, when millions of Americans would have faced a bleak, paycheck-free Christmas. Fortunately, much to the chagrin of the Co-Presidents, a compromise was found. Within hours of the deadline, a bipartisan short-term spending bill to fund the government till March 14, was signed by President Biden, with overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers. The last-minute chaos caused by the intervention of Co-Presidents Musk and Trump, who wanted the debt ceiling removed as an integral factor in the bill, was averted. Trump wanted the debt ceiling removed during the Biden administration to accommodate his multi-trillion dollar plans for a tax cut for the super wealthy and to fund his Mass Deportation Program. The 34 Republican members who thwarted Trump’s plans by voting against the removal of the debt ceiling have incurred the ire of the Co-Presidents, who have already threatened them with certain loss of their congressional seats at the next midterms. At least, there is hope that our “Dictator for a Day” may not have his own way once he becomes, in his eyes, “The King of all he Surveys” on January 20, 2025. Trump talks little about the main issues on which he won the election, when he promised to reduce inflation and prices on the day he was inaugurated. In fact, he has claimed that the economy is already the strongest in the world, inflation and prices are already coming down. He attributes these successes solely to the confidence caused by his re-election and the inevitability of the future greatness of the United States of America, now that he is, once again, at the helm. The economic policies of the Biden administration over the past few years to rescue the near-recession left by him in 2021 had, according to Trump, nothing to do with this recovery. Trump has decided that there are other matters that need his immediate attention and action. He has once again renewed his call to purchase Greenland from Denmark, stating “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity”. Greenland, the world’s largest island with a population of 56,000, is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom Denmark, a sovereign state within NATO. Denmark has no intention of “selling” Greenland. He intends to “retake the control of the Panama Canal if something isn’t done to ease rising shipping costs, and curb China’s rising influence in the region”, which he considers America’s backyard. He posted a picture of the United States flag with the caption: “Welcome to the United States Canal”. He suggests that Canada becomes the 51st state of the United States of America, and referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor of the Great State of Canada”. Not a word about the wars raging in Ukraine and the Gaza, which he said he would settle before Inauguration Day. Trump’s territorially aggressive bluster is typically symbolic, delusions of grandeur to provide distraction to the fact that the Republican Party has no new plans for the control of inflation, high prices, income and wealth inequality, abortion, gun violence and other problems that plague the nation. Trump will merely take credit for the gradual improvements brought about by the legislative and economic policies of the Biden administration. And carry on with his stated policies of spending trillions of dollars in tax cuts to benefit the super wealthy, to cozy up to the nation’s adversaries and to steal the country blind to make himself the richest man in the world, second to none. Not even Musk and Putin. I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful holiday season and wish you the very best for many happy, healthy years ahead. In spite of Trump.
Lance Terry scored a game-high 22 points, helping lead Georgia Tech to a 92-49 rout of visiting Alabama A&M on Saturday in Atlanta. Javian McCollum added 18 points, while Jaeden Mustaf chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds, as Georgia Tech (6-7) won its second game in three outings. Baye Ndongo had 10 points for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 54.1 percent (33 of 61) from the field and made 10 of 21 (47.6 percent) on 3-pointers. AC Bryant and Bilal Abdur-Rahman each led the Bulldogs (4-9) with 11 points. Alabama A&M managed to shoot just 20.8 percent (15 of 72) from the field en route to its sixth straight loss. After London Riley's 3-pointer cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 16-15, McCollum's triple began a 12-0 scoring run, extending Georgia Tech's lead to 28-15 with 5:30 remaining in the opening half. Bryant's layup stopped the Yellow Jackets' run, but McCollum scored five straight points to push Georgia Tech's advantage to 15 at the 4:13 mark. The lead expanded to 18 points before Quincy McGriff's layup trimmed the Bulldogs' deficit to 16. Terry's back-to-back triples jump-started a 12-3 run to close the first half with Georgia Tech ahead 50-25. McCollum led all scorers with 18 first-half points, while McGriff led Alabama A&M with seven. Ndongo's dunk to open the second half started a 10-1 Georgia Tech run, stamped with Duncan Powell's triple with 17 minutes left to push the Yellow Jackets' lead to 60-26. After Angok Anyang knocked down a pair of free throws for the Bulldogs, Terry's fourth triple was followed by Naithan George's layup, extending Georgia Tech's lead to 68-35 with 11:49 left. Jaylen Colon and Terry then traded triples, before Georgia Tech's 13-6 spurt was stamped with Ndongo's layup at the 3:33 mark, giving the Yellow Jackets an 84-44 edge. Georgia Tech's dominant day was stamped with baskets from a pair of Yellow Jacket walk-ons, as Emmers Nichols and Marcos San Miguel each tallied their first career points in the closing minutes. --Field Level MediaKozhikode (Kerala), Nov 24 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) performed remarkably well in the bypolls held in the state, despite the Congress-led UDF unleashing a false campaign against the government and joining hands with communal outfits to ensure their victory. He said the LDF achieved a significant victory in the Chelakkara assembly constituency and could increase its vote share in Palakkad segment in the bypolls, the results of which were announced on Saturday. Taking a dig at the opposition front, the CM asked what had happened even after the Congress-led UDF vigorously campaigned that the bypoll would be an evaluation of the state government. Addressing a party programme here, Vijayan said that the UDF made all attempts to wrest the Chelakkara constituency and gave utmost prominence for the constituency during the campaigning. He said the Congress tried to achieve a huge political victory by winning Chelakkara. "Then, what had happened when the results were announced?" Vijayan asked. He also accused the opposition front of joining hands with outfits like SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami to defeat the LDF in the bypolls held to Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly seats and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. If the bypoll result was examined overall, it could be seen that people of the state had stood with the Left government strongly, he said. The UDF candidate could not retain her vote share in Chelakkara, when compared to the performance of the party in the segment in the last Lok Sabha polls. But the LDF candidate could ensure his victory by achieving a remarkable margin, the CM added. Both the LDF and the UDF retained the Chelakkara and Palakkad Assembly seats respectively with a comfortable margin in the bypolls. The Congress won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a thumping margin. (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)Watch: Patrick Mahomes' clutch scramble helps Chiefs avoid upset vs. Panthers