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Schoen: Thomas dispute plunges SCOTUS deep into party politics

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ failure to disclose his ties to billionaire conservative donor Harlan Crow has further tainted the integrity of the highest court in the land, plunging it deeper into party politics.Justice Thomas has come under fire for neglecting to report that he and his wife vacationed on Crow’s yacht and flew on Crow’s private plane to a resort in upstate New York and a private club in Northern California also owned by Crow. Justice Thomas also failed to disclose that Crow, who funds conservative groups like the Federalist Society and Club for Growth, bought property from him, including the house where Thomas’ mother currently lives.In response to these revelations, Senate Democrats want to investigate Justice Thomas and compel him to appear at a congressional hearing. While this extraordinary step might very well be appropriate and necessary, it would ultimately drag our nation’s “independent” judiciary further into the political fray.Our Founding Fathers...

Dear Abby: Worried as friend becomes widower’s 3rd wife

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

Dear Abby: My best friend, “Laura,” had an affair with a married man for 20 years. He had been married twice before, and both wives died. He’s only 50, so I find it odd that both of his previous wives died. His second wife passed while Laura was his mistress. She is able to be married to him only because of his second wife’s death — he was never going to leave her.I don’t trust this man, but I feel I must because Laura is married to him and so happy. I’m suspicious that he may have had something to do with his wives’ deaths, but I don’t know how to prove it. Am I overly suspicious for thinking this? I’m happy for my friend because she is very happy now. They are both retired and enjoying their lives. I’m just hoping he’s honest and truly loves her.I’m not sure how to feel about this cheater, but it does take two — and Laura stayed with him for 20 years as his mistress. Please advise me. — Suspi...

Police investigating after dead body found in East County

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

JAMUL, Calif. -- Authorities are investigating after a dead body was apparently found in the East County neighborhood of Jamul Saturday.The body was found near the intersection of Skyline Truck Trail and Lawson Valley Road, Chula Vista police confirmed to FOX 5.A witness at the scene spotted two CVPD cars, a coroner and two detectives among the responding authorities. Trailer fire in Ramona leaves one dead, one injured CVPD was not able to release any additional details about the incident.There is no information about the decedent or whether law enforcement will be investigating the discovery of the body as a suspicious death.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Kitties and cappuccinos: This Gaslamp spot was the first "cat café" in Southern California

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

SAN DIEGO – Cat cafes have become a widespread phenomenon, with over 200 spots in the United States alone that allow people to sip on coffee or tea while hanging out with friendly felines. However, a coffee shop right here in the Gaslamp Quarter, called "The Cat Cafe," was one of the first in the country to bring together this purrr-fect combination.Owner Tony Wang founded The Cat Café after being inspired by the first cat café in Paris that opened 2013. A life-long animal lover, he was interested in bringing something like it to America’s Finest City.“The idea just kind of caught our attention and we decided, ‘Hey, you know what, let’s make a go of it here,’” Wang told FOX5SanDiego.com. Freeway, the SeaWorld sea lion fond of roaming San Diego’s roads, has died The Cat Café opened up in 2015 after about a year of planning. It was only the fifth spot for sipping on coffee while hanging with feline friends in the U.S. and the very first in Southern California.It quickly took off in ...

Special forces rescue U.S. embassy staffers in warring Sudan

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces carried out a precarious evacuation of the American embassy violence-torn Sudan, U.S. officials said late Saturday, sweeping in and out of the capital, Khartoum, with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported.With the last U.S. employee of the embassy out, Washington shuttered the U.S. mission in Khartoum indefinitely. Left behind are thousands of Americans remaining in Sudan, with officials saying it would be too dangerous to carry out a broader evacuation mission.In a statement thanking the troops, President Joe Biden said he was receiving regular reports from his team on efforts to assist those remaining Americans in Sudan “to the extent possible.”He also called for the end to “unconscionable” violence there as two rival commanders battled for power in the African country.About 100 U.S. troops in three MH-47 helicopters carried out the operation as fighting between tw...

Venezuela hosts event of sports, table games and geopolitics

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Manuel Diaz dreams of representing Venezuela in the Olympics but thinks he needs to improve his times and get more international experience. So he is among dozens of swimmers competing in a multi-sport event being put on by Venezuela this month that is part athletics and part geopolitics. The 16-year-old Diaz will swim the 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter butterfly for the experience more than to earn any medal at the fifth edition of the Alba Games, whose participants represent Latin American and Caribbean nations in the left-leaning Alba alliance and this year’s guest country, Russia. “For us, it’s more like political games. They are more, hmm, among countries, hmm, you understand me?” Diaz said Saturday, standing by a pool and hesitantly moving his hands back and forth. “For me, it is an opportunity to swim in the best pool in the country and lower my times.”Hundreds of people from 11 countries are participating in 33 events, among them bo...

Indian police arrest Sikh separatist leader after long hunt

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police on Sunday arrested a separatist leader who has revived calls for an independent Sikh homeland and the secession of India’s northern Punjab state, which has a history of violent insurgency.Amritpal Singh had been on the run since last month after capturing national attention in February, when hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala, a town in Punjab state, with wooden batons, swords and guns to demand the release of a jailed aide.Punjab state police tweeted Sunday that Singh was arrested in Moga, a town in the state. It gave no details but appealed to people to maintain peace and harmony.A Sikh religious leader, Jasbir Singh Rodde, said Singh surrendered to police after offering morning prayers at a Sikh shrine in Moga. Police then arrested him and took him away, he said. Punjab suffered a bloody insurgency in the 1980s that led to the killing of India’s then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards at her official...

The front door, threshold of welcome – and perilous border

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The American front door is a place where the welcome mat offers friendly greetings, where affable neighbors knock or ring, where boxes brimming with possibility are delivered. It is where home meets a world full of potentially good things. The American front door is a place where signs trumpet words of warning, where cameras monitor visitors in high definition, where intruders find an entry point. It is where only a hunk of wood or metal separates the innermost spaces of home from a world full of chaos.Both conceptions are real. They can and do exist together — usually peacefully but sometimes, particularly of late, contentiously.In a land where private property is venerated and “get off my lawn” has become a mantra of jokey crankiness, the American front door is the landscape’s most intimate and personal of borders, the place where the public sphere encounters private space — occasionally with disastrous results. Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot April 13 at Andrew Lester...

Sounders continue to own Loons in Seattle

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

Minnesota United’s play in Seattle remains a broken record.Loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss.With a 1-0 defeat Saturday, the Loons have now dropped all eight matches at Lumen Field since joining MLS in 2017. The Sounders also improved what is already the best winning percentage against a single opponent in at least 10 games played in MLS history.MNUFC (3-3-2, 11 points) also has now lost three straight MLS games after a five-game unbeaten run to start the season.Sounders (6-2-1, 19 points) has not conceded a goal in five home games, outscoring opponents 10-0.Jordan Morris and his MLS-leading eight goals subbed in the 66th minute, but it was another stoppage and substitution that preceded the Sounders goal.On a throw-in, the ball found Albert Rusnak at the top of the box and he smacked it past a diving Dayne St. Clair in the 79th minute.Saturday was also the first time MNUFC has been shutout this season.Manager Adrian Heath sought continuity with his forward players and ...

Avalanche’s Big Three awaken in Seattle, combining for five goals in 6-4 Game 3 win over Kraken

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:50:23 GMT

SEATTLE — Turquoise towels were draped over the seats eight hours before puck drop in a city buzzing for the occasion. The party favors will be mementos in Pacific Northwest homes for years to come. Their inscription, along with a Stanley Cup Playoffs logo: “The legend awakens.”But in the Seattle Kraken’s first-ever home playoff game, the Avalanche’s sleeping giants awakened instead.Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen combined for five goals in a 6-4 series-tilting win for the Avs on Saturday night. Colorado leads the first-round playoff series 2-1, with Game 4 back at Climate Pledge Arena here Monday.The Avs’ big three combined for just one goal in the first two games of the playoffs, a split in Denver. MacKinnon scored his first two goals of the series on the road, including a magnificent insurance snipe in the third period. Rantanen netted the go-ahead goal with 16:59 remaining in the third after Seattle erased a 3-1 deficit in 19 s...