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Opinion: Congress doesn’t want to pay the debts it ran up? Just another day in Washington

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

Even if you look merely on the surface, there is something deeply shameful about the debate now dominating Washington.Through the years, members of Congress from both parties have happily chosen to spend more money than the government takes in, creating ever-increasing deficits funded by a growing ocean of public debt. Now, the bills are coming due, with the Congressional Budget Office reporting that America’s government will tack another $19 trillion in debt onto the $30 trillion we already owe. But remarkably enough, many of the same members of Congress who ran up the debt are now threatening not to pay unless they are granted certain policy concessions. In other words, they’re prepared to let the greatest country in the history of mankind renege on its debts. That sort of political hostage-taking is plainly shameful.But perhaps even more dispiriting is that this kind of behavior is not an outlier. Quite the opposite, it’s simply the latest illustration of what is a more perennial...

McManus: The law is on Trump’s tail, and he sounds pretty worried

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

Donald Trump is beginning to sound panicky.“WHY WON’T BRAGG DROP THIS CASE?” he wrote on his Truth Social account last week of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is investigating Trump’s alleged payment of hush money to a porn star. “… THIS IS NO LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO, THIS IS RUSSIA AND CHINA, BUT WORSE.”In a string of social media posts, the former president called Bragg, who is Black, “a degenerate psychopath” and an “animal.”Trump urged his supporters to “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” and warned that indicting him could result in “death & destruction.”All that over an indictment that hasn’t been delivered, in a probe looking at whether Trump treated the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels as a business expense.There’s a baroque theory that Trump welcomes criminal prosecutions because every battle makes him a hero in the eyes of his followers.But he did...

Opinion: As Iraq War showed, consensus in foreign policy can be dangerous

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

With the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Iraq War, I’m reminded of the remarkable consensus behind that decision, which passed with strong bipartisan support. Experts, journalists and well-known media personalities joined the bandwagon too.Often, consensus is good. It clears away opposition and helps make things happen. But too often, quick agreement on hard problems is a sign of dangerous groupthink instead.This wide support has not aged well. It launched a bloody war, at a cost of $2 trillion and an estimated 300,000 lives. It led to a violent insurgency and the creation of the Islamic State militant group. Generations of Iraqis will continue to suffer the consequences.And so will America. Although the material suffering in Iraq dwarfs our own, I’m not sure America will ever escape the long tail of distrust that has understandably followed us since then.The original sin was the decision to go to war on a dishonest pretext. That foundation gave rise to our use of torture, ren...

Kurtenbach: Cult hero Sergio Romo ’emptied the tank’ one last time, exiting with a one-of-a-kind legacy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — One last hop out of the bullpen.One last blast of “El Mechón” on the Oracle Park soundsystem.A few more sliders, for old times’ sake, and a classy exit befitting a Giants legend.Sergio Romo didn’t have much in the tank when he entered the seventh inning of the Giants-A’s exhibition game on Monday night. He admitted as much.But he gave everything he had for the Giants one last time.“A couple of weeks ago, when I was sitting on the couch, they presented me with this opportunity. It didn’t matter how I felt physically. I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass,” Romo said.“I can honestly say that, not just tonight, but my whole career, I emptied the tank. I gave it everything I had, every time.”And it was that attitude that made him a fan favorite throughout his improbable and exceptional 15-year career.“I took a lot of pride in challenging hitters,” Romo said. “I know I never lit up ...

Dive team locates body of missing 7-year-old boy in Moss Landing Harbor

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

MOSS LANDING — Authorities have confirmed that a body discovered in Moss Landing Harbor over the weekend was a 7-year-old child missing from the area since March 22.According to family and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, the boy, identified as Edgar Espinoza, disappeared after he, his younger brother and mother had spent the day in Moss Landing. First responders converged on the area that same night, searching for Edgar and his mother, Florencia Ramirez-Urbano, 27, of Salinas, after the 3-year-old son was located alone near Jetty Road. The body of Ramirez-Urbano, who appeared to have drowned, was discovered soon after.A multi-agency search continued through 11:20 a.m. Saturday, when Sheriff’s Office divers, working with California Recovery Divers, found a child’s remains about 10 feet below the surface in the harbor. The Coroner Unit of the Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the recovered child was Edgar.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Missing plumber was asle...

Santa Cruz man alleged shooter in Hard Rock Lake Tahoe homicide

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

STATELINE, NEVADA — A man authorities say is a Santa Cruz County man was arrested in a manhunt after a fatal Hard Rock Hotel & Casino shooting Saturday.In a news conference the same day, Douglas County, Nevada, Sheriff Dan Coverley identified the alleged shooter as Edgar Julian Delgado, 24. Also arrested was Savannah Racquel Tautaupele, 26, apparently also of Santa Cruz, whose correct spelling of her last name Douglas County officials confirmed Monday.Law enforcement was called to the Hard Rock Hotel’s Center Bar at 8:08 a.m. that day for a report of an active shooter. There, officers found a man later identified as Omar Reyes Garcia, 32, of South Lake Tahoe, suffering from a single gunshot wound to his head. Garcia later died after receiving care at a nearby hospital, Coverley said.Hard Rock security staff provided law enforcement with security footage that led to the arrest of Delgado and Tautaupele by the El Dorado Sheriff’s Office across state lines, driving on Highway 50 ne...

Report: Employers would gladly replace workers with AI technology

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

Feeling dispensable in a world of artificial intelligence?Your fears are not unfounded. A new report from beautiful.ai shows 66% of workplace managers would gladly replace employees with AI tools if the technology produced comparable work.Sixty nine percent said it would “be financially beneficial” to replace employees with AI technology, with 68% citing lower payroll costs.“Companies are beginning to accept and adopt AI into their workflows to improve efficiency and increase output,” the report said. “In fact, 95% of those interviewed said that their teams have already started using AI tools.”Customer service representatives and IT support technicians are among the workers most likely to be replaced by AI technology. In the future, many cubicles will probably be unoccupied. (File photo) Beautiful.ai, which uses artificial intelligence to create corporate presentations and reports, polled 3,000 executives in management positions for “The Future of AI in the Workplace: A Survey ...

California skydiver survives crash into electrical lines ‘without a scratch’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

A novice skydiver’s bad fortune ended with authorities marveling at her good luck after firefighters and Southern California Edison workers freed her from power lines 35 feet above the ground during a failed landing attempt near Skydive Elsinore on Monday, March 27.“We don’t know how she avoided electrocution, but she did,” said Battalion Chief Jeff Roberts of the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.“She walked away without a scratch,” said Josh Hall, the skydiving facility’s general manager.Southern California Edison workers help free a skydiver after colliding with power lines on the DeJongs Dairy in Lake Elsinore Monday, March 27, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Foulk, Contributing photographer)A skydiver wipes a tear from her eye when she reaches the ground after colliding with power lines on the DeJongs Dairy in Lake Elsinore Monday, March 27, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Foulk, Contributing photographer)A Southern California Edison worker makes his way to help a skydiver who got caught...

Dozens killed in fire at migrant facility in Mexico

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

At least three dozen migrants died Monday night in a fire at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico near the U.S. border, according to a newspaper report.Images from the scene showed ambulances, firemen and vans from the morgue around the facility.The Diario de Juarez newspaper citied unnamed sources in the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office. It reported the fire occurred late Monday at a facility in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.Neither Mexico’s National Immigration Institute nor the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office responded immediately to requests for confirmation.Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the process.

Prospects get chance to shine in Basketball Africa League

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:30:46 GMT

They’re refining skills of young prospects at the NBA Academy in Africa. The vocabulary, too.“There is a word that really we don’t like, which is ‘raw,'” said Franck Traore, head of basketball operations for NBA Africa. “When you have an African player going to the U.S., they say ‘raw.’”Several academy prospects are playing in the new season of the Basketball Africa League, hoping to gain valuable experience in a professional setting and show that their game is more polished than many think.Now in its third season, the league was created by the NBA in partnership with FIBA to help grow the sport in Africa. It’s a three-month, Champions League-style competition for African club teams.They added a twist last season with each of the 12 teams being assigned an academy prospect — called the “BAL Elevate” program that’s in place this campaign, too.The young players have to earn minutes on rosters full of veterans. It’s another opportunity — along ...