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Olson: More Dems take dim view of right to free speech

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

Once a solid pillar of American society, free speech seems to be cracking. It used to be an American principle that the everyday American citizen could agree on, a universal given. But recent surveys reveal that this fundamental value is increasingly up for debate, and the speed of this change is alarming.In a new RealClear Opinion Research poll, nearly half of Democrats are comfortable openly admitting to a stranger over the phone that they support limiting what people can say. A startling 47% said that speech should be legal “only under certain circumstances,” and 52% of Democrats approved of government censoring social media posts for “national security.” Even more shocking, a third of Democrats believe Americans have “too much freedom.”By contrast, 74% of registered Republicans and 61% of independents say speech should be legal “under any circumstances.”As a pollster, I find these numbers unnerving. People are generally reluctant to share unpopular beliefs with interviewers. Tha...

Pumpkin spice gets an upgrade in Tres Leches Cake

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

This being fall, pumpkin spice is everywhere. It’s also Hispanic Heritage Month through Oct. 15.How to celebrate the two?Enter the Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches Cake.Instagram’s Domestic Rebel, Hayley Parker just featured the recipe, featuring a tantalizing photo of a squishy-wet square of autumnal color with literal cream on top.I knew I had to make it. And I did. But first, a little about this cake that’s popular in myriad nations from Nicaragua to Puerto Rico, Cuba to the Canary Islands. The Caribbean is no stranger to soaked cakes, the rum cake being the most obvious. Nor is the American South where poke cake, which is literally poked full of holes into which sweet, syrupy and even gelatinous things can be poured, is a varied and popular dessert optionTres leches translates to “three milks.” In the case of this recipe, that’s evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy whipping cream. The loveliness of this sweet concoction cannot be underestimated, and when it s...

Pozniak: Lessons learned from working for Jimmy Carter

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

As President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 99th birthday recently, I went to my study and looked at a framed letter, signed by Vice President Walter Mondale, expressing his and President Carter’s appreciation for my presidential advance work.The opportunity of working for President Carter was a high honor. During the early days of the Carter administration, I attended a political seminar at Harvard’s Institute of Politics featuring the legendary Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill.Speaker O’Neill, from Cambridge, regaled a small group of seminar attendees with stories about the ups and downs of Washington politics. He also spoke very candidly about his disappointment with President Carter, explaining that Carter and his advisers arrived in Washington with a chip on their shoulder, believing that Washington was highly dysfunctional and, as outsiders, they were going to clean it up and bring dramatic change to its politica...

Editorial: If City Council is serious about crime, it must fund BRIC

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

A Boston City Council vote today will show the city which side it’s on – gangs or the residents they prey on.It should be a no-brainer, but this being Boston, the choice is clouded by a progressive agenda.As it stands, the council is split on releasing $3.4 million in grant funding to the investigative arm of the city’s police department. The same council that decries violence on our streets and rails against guns getting into the wrong hands can’t get on the same page when it comes to tackling the gangs that roam the city.As the Herald reported, six of 13 councilors indicated they would vote in favor of funding the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), but the same number cited concerns with its gang database, which the state’s attorney general is investigating for possible racial bias.If only they took the same hard stand against the gangs for targeting communities of color.“Public safety is paramount for our city,” said Councilor Michael Flaherty. “I know ...

Kids can help make Japanese Chicken Meatball Skewers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

One way to get kids to try new things at mealtime while also teaching them about nutrition is to hand them a spoon (or bowl or knife, if they’re old enough) and get them involved in making dinner.Sons and daughters are more apt to eat things they’ve had a hand in preparing and, by teaching them to cook, even just a little, you’re fostering life skills that will come in handy once they’re off on their own at college or jobs or wherever life takes them.Iron Chef and cookbook author Alex Guarnaschelli, alongside her teenage daughter, Ava, show exactly how fun and inspirational cooking together can be in their new cookbook, “Cook it Up.”In it, they share more than 70 recipes that define their modern family meals together. Ava tends to find inspiration on TikTok, while Alex draws on her classic French culinary training, decades of repetitive cooking in restaurants and cooking on TV.“We just want kids and adults to cook together and share their id...

Dear Abby: Keeping spark alive long distance

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

Dear Abby: My fiance and I are engaged to be married soon, but we live (and will continue to live) in separate cities. We are in our mid-50s with children, and it’s the second marriage for each of us.My fiance isn’t very verbal about his desires, but we talk with each other every day and we live together about half the time. I want to make sure he isn’t lonely and isn’t wanting more when we’re apart, but I’m not an openly sexual person, and I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable engaging in video chat intimacy with him. I have raised the topic with him. He suggested I write to you and see what you suggest. — Long-Distance Wife-to-BeDear Wife-to-Be: If you both agree, I’m suggesting you and your fiance give it a try. If you do, it may not only enhance your married life but also teach you both how to discuss what you need from each other, which could only bring you closer.Dear Abby: My husband of six years has left me for my siste...

At least 4 people shot on campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore, authorities say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — At least four people were wounded, none critically, in a shooting at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Tuesday, according to authorities, who urged students to take shelter on the campus of the historically Black college. The Baltimore Police Department initially said officers were on the scene for an “active shooter situation." Police kept the campus on lockdown for hours and provided little information about their investigation. The address given for the shooting appeared to match a residential building that's on the same block as a city police station.“We’re asking everyone to shelter in place and avoid the area,” police said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. About three hours later police said it was no longer an active shooter situation and said more details were expected at a media briefing. Police spokesperson Amanda Krotki said there were multiple victims with non-life-threatening injuries. Police spokesperson Vernon Davis told the Baltimor...

Tee off inside Petco Park for golf event

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Have you ever wondered what it feels like to drive a ball onto the field at Petco Park? Not with a baseball bat, however, but with a golf club.Starting Friday, Oct. 13, participants will be able to take part in the ninth annual The Links at Petco Park, the Padres said in a news release Monday. The nine-hole golf course set up within the ballpark features an on-field shot from the playing field, new themed holes and locations like the warm-up hole in the Visitor's Clubhouse and the opportunity to win different prizes, according to the team. Chula Vista breaks ground on new park, part of the Bayfront redevelopment Golfers will have their own caddy throughout the entire course, officials said. When finished with all of the rounds, golfers will be able to attend The Links clubhouse at the Lexus Premier Club, located on the Main Concourse, for food, refreshments, shopping or to watch other golfers along the course.Tickets start at $100 per player. The nine-day event goes...

CP NewsAlert: New Democrats win majority government in Manitoba

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

WINNIPEG — The Canadian Press election desk is projecting an NDP majority government in Manitoba.More coming.The Canadian Press

3 Filipino fishermen die in South China Sea after their boat is hit by a passing commercial vessel

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:37 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Three Filipino fishermen died in the disputed South China Sea after their boat was accidentally hit by a passing commercial vessel, the Philippine coast guard said Wednesday.The fishermen’s boat, F/B Dearyn, was moored in a fishing area in the high seas off the northwestern Philippines when it was hit before dawn on Monday by the passing vessel and capsized, killing its skipper and two crew members. Three other fishermen survived, the coast guard said without elaborating.The three fishermen died due to “possible head trauma” from the collision and their bodies were brought back to shore by the surviving fishermen, a separate police report said.There was no indication that the deadly accident was related to the long-simmering territorial disputes in the busy waterway.Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed sadness over the deaths of the fishermen and said a coast guard investigation was underway.“We assure the victims, their families, and everyo...