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Editorial: For legacy, party & country, Biden should consider retirement

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

Joe Biden could retire from office in January 2025 as one of the most accomplished presidents in U.S. history, and probably the most accomplished one-term president. Instead, he appears determined to embark on a second-term campaign that even a sizable portion of his Democratic admirers would dread for the simple, inalterable fact of his age.For a first-term chief executive to willingly forgo reelection is relatively rare in America’s history. But Biden’s advanced age in the White House is completely without precedent and is problematic in both perception and reality. At 80, Biden is older halfway through his first term than any sitting president has been at any point in his tenure. Even his most ardent fans have to admit that it shows. At the end of a hypothetical second term, he would be 86 — roughly a full decade older than the average American male life expectancy.For his legacy, his party and his country, Biden should strongly consider the historic step of announcing that he wi...

Why new graduates shouldn’t fear a recession

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

In 2023 alone, there have been over 118,000 U.S. tech layoffs, according to Crunchbase News, a business publication. That’s in addition to two major bank collapses and two federal rate hikes. The class of 2023 will graduate into this economic upheaval while facing another variable: student loan payments.This can be an overwhelming and confusing time for those set to begin repayment of student debt, says Barry Coleman, vice president of program management and education at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Coleman cites the expected end of a three-year pause on federal student loan payments, legal challenges to federal student debt relief programs and the potential impact of inflation on the job market as reasons new graduates could feel uneasy.But new grads don’t need to panic. Here’s how they can weather a potential recession and the financial uncertainty that might come with it.If you have a job, pay off student debt fasterIf you land a job, you have more flexibility. ...

Dear Abby: Sounds of verbal abuse echo outside walls

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

Dear Abby: I live on the bottom floor of a duplex with my wife. My brother-in-law, his wife and their two sons, ages 4 and 2, are upstairs. Since the 2-year-old was born, he’s been very rambunctious and fussy. I consider my BIL a good parent overall, but for a while now, I hear him blow up, scream, curse and shout at the younger child. I don’t think it’s healthy.I have a hard time with it because of my upbringing, which left a mark. I grew up in a home ruled by intimidation. I am also a school counselor. The 4-year-old has a pronounced speech impediment that I’m hoping the school will help with. As an adult and someone who works with kids, it bothers me to hear this go on every day in our home.I wouldn’t dare to say anything to my BIL or SIL. I’m just worried about the boys. Will they be OK? Please, let me know what to do. We all want my nephews to be well, but I can’t blur the line between counselor and aunt. — Full of Concern n the E...

Jaylen Brown takes mask off, carries urgent Celtics to Game 4 victory over Hawks

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

ATLANTA — Jaylen Brown was done with his mask.During a timeout early in the second quarter, after a lackluster 1-for-7 start, Brown decided this was the moment that he was going to ditch the mask that’s been protecting his face since he suffered a fracture in early February.At first, it confused his teammates.“I was actually on the bench and then after the timeout, we were looking for Jaylen,” Marcus Smart said. “We couldn’t find him because he didn’t have his mask on. We were like, ‘Where’s he at?’”Soon enough, they found him. And then found themselves back in control of this series.“When J.B. took his mask off, I was like, ‘Oh (expletive), it’s go time,’” Jayson Tatum said. “I knew he was going to turn it up a notch.”The Celtics took the Hawks’ best punch in Game 3. They gave them credit for their tough shot-making. But make no mistake, they weren’t happy.They were punished on the glass. The Hawks had imposed their will on them. A day after the loss – after the Hawks had made this...

Cities reviving downtowns by converting offices to housing

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — On the 31st floor of what was once a towering office building in downtown Manhattan, construction workers lay down steel bracing for what will soon anchor a host of residential amenities: a catering station, lounge, fire pit and gas grills.The building, empty since 2021, is being converted to 588 market-rate rental apartments that will house about 1,000 people. “We’re taking a vacant building and pouring life not only into this building, but this entire neighborhood,” said Joey Chilelli, managing director of real estate firm Vanbarton Group, which is doing the conversion.Across the country, office-to-housing conversions are being pursued as a potential lifeline for struggling downtown business districts that emptied out during the pandemic and may never fully recover. The conversion push is marked by an emphasis on affordability. Multiple cities are offering serious tax breaks for developers to incentivize office-to-housing conversions — provided that a certain...

Stock markets today: Asian stocks mixed ahead of new US data

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Monday ahead of a U.S. economic update this week that is expected to show growth slowing.Shanghai and Hong Kong declined while Tokyo advanced. Oil prices fell.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.1% on Friday but ended with a small loss for the week.U.S. data Thursday are expected to show first-quarter economic growth weakening after interest rate hikes aimed at cooling business activity and inflation. That might encourage the Federal Reserve to postpone or scale down more possible rate hikes at its May meeting.France and Germany report economic growth Friday following surveys that show European factory activity declining.“There is no doubt that the global economy is weakening and vulnerable to further slowing,” Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities in a report.The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,285.81 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 0.3% to 28,646.39. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong retreated 0.6% to 19,953.0...

Some DeSantis allies feel growing urgency to launch 2024 bid

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

Inside the Florida statehouse, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Republican allies say they’re working “at warp speed” to finish their legislative business.In South Carolina and Nevada, early voting states that are critical in a presidential primary, his operatives are moving quickly to build out a political team that is essentially a campaign in waiting. And in Washington, his most vocal supporters are urging him to announce his White House intentions now.Just six months after a dominant reelection sent his national stock soaring, a palpable sense of urgency is growing among DeSantis’ allies as increasingly emboldened critics within his own party — particularly former President Donald Trump — work to undermine his presidential campaign before it begins.“I would prefer him to be in the race right now. In fact, I encouraged him to get in the race right now,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who hosted a visit by DeSantis to Washington last week that was overshadowed by Trump’...

Biden’s 2024 campaign has been hiding in plain sight

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has been hiding in plain sight all along.The contours of the 2024 campaign that Biden will formally launch with a video as soon as this week will look a lot like his messaging and policy moves from the past few months: Play up accomplishments from his first two years, draw a sharp contrast with Republican policies he deems extreme, and brush off worries about his age.Biden, aides contend, has essentially been campaigning since Republicans took control of the House last year, focused on showing Americans how his administration is implementing massive new infrastructure, technology and climate laws, and portraying Republicans as in the grip of the far right at a time when Washington is nearing a crucial fight over raising the nation’s borrowing limit.While advisers say Biden’s activities and message in coming months will be largely indistinguishable from what he’s been doing over the last six months, the frame of reference wi...

Anthony Edwards carries Minnesota to wild overtime victory to stave off elimination

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

It wouldn’t be the playoffs if the Timberwolves didn’t miraculously blow a double-digit lead late in the fourth quarter, as they did Sunday.And yet, they still managed to force a Game 5 on Tuesday in Denver.After surrendering a 12-0 Denver run in the final 2 minutes, 40 seconds of regulation, Minnesota responded in overtime to defeat the top-seeded Nuggets 114-108 at Target Center.It was a wild ending to what was a lifeless contest for much of the night. The Target Center in-arena announcers were asking, begging, those in attendance to make some semblance of noise in the second half of Game 4 on Sunday.Denver was starting to pull away in the middle of a sluggish contest that, frankly, hadn’t provided much for anyone to cheer about. A pair of Nikola Jokic triples put Denver up by nine in the middle of the third quarter.Everyone in the building seemed resigned to the idea that the series was going to conclude in a 4-0 sweep.But Anthony Edwards had something to say ab...

Wolves survive dramatic overtime to beat Nuggets in Game 4, extend series back to Denver

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:10:06 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS – The ice in Anthony Edwards’ veins got colder than a Minnesota deep freeze.Edwards’ gut-check 3-pointer, with 11 seconds left in overtime Sunday night, saved Minnesota’s season and extended this first-round series, at least, for one more game.The Timberwolves rode Edwards’ 34 points for a pulsating 114-108 win in Game 4, forcing this series back to Denver for Tuesday’s Game 5. Perhaps there, where the Nuggets have dominated opponents all season, Denver will punch its ticket to the second round.“We didn’t play any defense,” a dejected Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.Minnesota was up 12 points with less than three minutes left in regulation when Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. refused to quit. Together, they rode a storm of 3-pointers to force overtime. But in the extra session, the T-Wolves outscored Denver 18-12 to stave off elimination.“I didn’t think we were going to go undefeated the whole postseason,” Malone said.Jokic poured in 43 points and snatc...