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Editorial: Joe Biden, deficit fighter? Think again

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

President Joe Biden likes to pass himself off as a deficit slayer, which is a bit like Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote claiming to be an avid dieter.Biden in February bragged that he had presided over “the largest deficit reduction in American history,” a drop of more than $1.7 trillion. Never mind that the administration was still sitting on $1.4 trillion in red ink when the president thumped his chest. In fact, the steep drop in the annual deficit was a result of pandemic relief spending coming off the books and had nothing to do with the White House.Biden did indeed happen to be the man sitting in the Oval Office when the deficit inevitably eased after the nation’s battle with COVID. The president’s braggadocio, however, implies that he’s the leader taxpayers can trust to get the nation’s fiscal house in order. And this is where reality intrudes.Thanks to the massive spending bills backed by congressional Democrats and Biden, the baseline trajectory of federal outlays over the next d...

Solomon: Emergency food biz cutting it close with fear pitches

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

“Calories plus energy equals survival,” roars the refrain of a far-too-frequent FOX News satellite radio commercial.If you’re like me and a big listener of satellite radio, you can’t help but come across ads for emergency food storage.The ads are interesting, as expected, and a little bizarre. They ask if we’ve ever noticed that some people never seem stressed about life? This, of course, leads to the fact that all of these people have emergency food supplies that can feed them for decades. Little did we know that the secret of happiness is knowing that you have dehydrated white rice for a post-Apocalyptic world.But maybe it is.As expected, many companies that specialize in emergency food supplies have reported a boom in sales since the pandemic began.For example, Mountain House, a manufacturer of freeze-dried meals, reported a 400% increase in sales in March 2020 compared to the previous year. Wise Company, another provider of emergency food supplies, reported a 500% increase in sa...

Rising folk stars the Mary Wallopers make Greater Boston debut

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

The Irish band the Mary Wallopers wear their pub roots proudly, and the pubs in their hometown of Dundalk, County Louth, played a large role in launching the group. “We were really poor at the time, not that we’re rich now,” says frontman Charles Hendy. “As we went into pubs we asked if they’d give us free drinks for singing ballads. We’d do two songs, then move on to the next pub and terrorize the whole town. After awhile they realized it would be cheaper to just pay us.”The Mary Wallopers have since become Ireland’s fastest-rising folk group. More traditional than the Pogues but still informed by punk, the group was originally an acoustic trio of Hendy, his brother Andrew and Sean McKenna, all of whom swap instruments and sing. For this tour they’ve expanded to a septet with bass and drums, and they’ll make their Boston area debut at Sonia on Wednesday.“We added the rest of the band to give it some kick, because we always wanted to be rowdy and raw,” Hendy says. “We see a lot of c...

Dear Abby: Boyfriend texts exes on special occasions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

Dear Abby: My boyfriend and I have been together six years. We are both divorced. We plan on being married in six months. He’s a perfect partner except for one thing. Every holiday, he jumps out of bed in the morning and takes his phone with him into the bathroom. There he texts his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend. He feels the need to wish them a happy whatever holiday it is. This hurts my feelings.I don’t understand why it’s so important for him to contact them. Apparently, they are the first thing on his mind every holiday, or maybe every day. I don’t know if I should marry him. I believe he still loves his ex-wife. Help, please. — Suspicious in PennsylvaniaDear Suspicious: I will assume that sometime over the past six years you have discussed this at least once with your boyfriend. This means he knows that when he jumps out of bed, takes his phone and hides in the bathroom to text his exes, it makes you feel insecure.If you really think he may still be in...

US, S. Korea hold drills as North launches missiles from sub

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean and U.S. militaries launched their biggest joint military exercises in years Monday, as North Korea said it tested submarine-launched cruise missiles in apparent protest of the drills it views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea’s missile tests Sunday signal the country likely will conduct provocative weapons testing activities during the U.S.-South Korean drills that are to run for 11 days. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready to repel its rivals’ “frantic war preparation moves.”The South Korean-U.S. drills include a computer simulation called the Freedom Shield 23 and several combined field training exercises, collectively known as the Warrior Shield FTX.The South Korean and U.S. militaries said earlier that the computer simulation is designed to strengthen the allies’ defense and response capabilities amid North Korea’s increasing nuclear threats and other changing security environments. They said t...

Masks stay put in Japan as 3-year request to wear them ends

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Monday dropped its request for people to wear masks after three years, but hardly anything changed in the country that has had an extremely high regard for their effectiveness at anti-virus protection.Most commuters exiting Tokyo’s main train station in the morning were wearing masks as they headed to work. So were people on the streets. During a televised budget committee meeting at parliament, some lawmakers still wore masks, though Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wasn’t wearing one when he arrived at his office Monday. Baseball fans who gathered outside of the Tokyo Dome hours before Monday’s games Australia-Czech Republic and China-South Korea also had on masks. They’ll also be able to cheer without their masks as that ban was lifted, too.Dropping the mask-wearing request is one of the last steps Japan’s government is taking in easing COVID-19 rules in public places as it tries to expand business and other activity.“From today, mask wearing i...

‘Everything Everywhere’ duo win directing, writing Oscars

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The writing-and-directing duo the Daniels won double Oscars on a dominant night for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” In victories that were entirely expected Sunday but might have seemed like a sci-fi fantasy a year ago, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won Academy Awards for best director and best original screenplay, two of seven won by their multiversal dramedy. The Daniels topped talented fields that included Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg in both categories. “There is greatness in every single person,” Kwan said as he accepted best director. “It doesn’t matter who we are. There is genius in every single person, you just have to find it. Thank you to the people who unlocked my genius.”But Kwan assured his young son he would not foist similar expectations on him.“This is not normal, this is kind of crazy,” he said. “I will love you no matter what.” The Daniels came into the night the favorites for the directing Oscar, and “ Everything Everywhere All at ...

Report: 4 dead in shooting at Dallas apartment building

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A news report said four people died in a Sunday night shooting at a Dallas apartment building. WFAA-TV reported police have confirmed officers were called for a report of a shooting around 7:10 p.m. in the Northwest Dallas area. The station reported police said four people were discovered with gunshot wounds and all of the victims died at the scene. No information on the victims was immediately available.Police said there was no perceived threat to the public, WFAA reported.The Associated Press

Trump returns to Iowa aiming for more disciplined campaign

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — To outsiders, they looked like simple stacks of paper. But for Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, they represented a missed opportunity.A month before Iowa’s 2016 presidential caucuses, mountains of so-called pledge cards sat in the corner of Trump’s suburban Des Moines state headquarters. They contained the names and contact information of roughly 10,000 Iowans who attended Trump campaign events and responded by returning the cards suggesting they were open to backing the reality television star who was now seeking the White House.In what’s considered political malpractice by Iowa standards, those who returned the cards received no follow-up contact from the campaign.“None of that data was used. None of it was entered,” said Alex Latcham, the former political director for the Iowa Republican Party and now Trump’s early-voting state director. “And those people weren’t encouraged or mobilized to caucus.” Chuck Laudner, who...

Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump hush-money probe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:37:15 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is poised to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush-money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.Cohen’s impending grand jury appearance was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about grand jury proceedings and did so on condition of anonymity.Cohen’s closed-door testimony is coming at a critical time as the Manhattan district attorney’s office closes in on a decision on whether to seek charges against Trump.A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen is likely to provide critical details about whatever involvement the Republican presidential candidate may have had in the payments, made in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, to two women who alleged affairs with him.Cohen has given prosecutors evidence, including voice recordings of conversations he had with a lawyer for one of the women, as well ...