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McCaughey: Biden’s censorship a threat to democracy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

President Joe Biden is pitching himself as the savior of democracy. “I will always defend, protect, and fight for our democracy,” he said at a recent campaign event in New York City. He’s been saying it for four years. It’s a blatant lie. He’s the king of censorship, silencing his critics like a despot and even trying to defend his censorship regime before the Supreme Court.At high-dollar fundraising events from Manhattan to Silicon Valley, Biden bragged the survival of democracy hinges on his reelection over the MAGA Republicans.But democracy depends on a free marketplace of ideas. Biden is busy destroying that marketplace. He and his staff have masterminded a vast censorship scheme, coercing media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to take down views that challenge the administration on everything from vaccine safety and gas prices to Biden family mischief.On Sept. 11, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found the B...

Dear Abby: Parents have to pay to see grandkids

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

Dear Abby: I am the mother and stepmother of eight wonderful children. I love them all very much. The problem is my two oldest stepdaughters. Both are in their 20s with kids of their own. Unless their dad and I constantly give them money, we don’t get to see our grandkids. Anytime we refuse, we don’t get to see them for months at a time.These two stepdaughters are rude to their dad. Unless it’s almost a holiday or they need money, they never call or text him. If we disagree with anything they say, they don’t bring the girls around for months or answer calls or texts.We have given them a LOT of money, and we buy all the gifts for the kids. When we asked what the girls want for their birthdays, one stepdaughter said a dollhouse that cost almost $200, which is a lot for a birthday. When we said that seems more like a Christmas gift, she got upset.I have told my husband that at this point I’m done and will no longer keep paying to see my grandkids, but he i...

California governor names Laphonza Butler, former Kamala Harris adviser, to Feinstein Senate seat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday selected Laphonza Butler, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.In choosing Butler, Newsom fulfilled his pledge to appoint a Black woman if Feinstein’s seat became open. However, he had been facing pressure from some Black politicians and advocacy groups to select Rep. Barbara Lee, a prominent Black congresswoman who is already running for the seat. Butler will be the only Black woman serving in the U.S. Senate, and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to represent California in the chamber.Newsom said in a statement that the priorities Feinstein fought for in Congress — reproductive freedom, equal protection and safety from gun violence — were under assault in the nation. "Laphonza will carry the baton left by Sen. Feinstein (and) continue to break glass ceilings and fight for all Californians in Washington D.C.,”...

Woman killed by vehicle in Sorrento Valley identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A woman killed while attempting to cross a street against a red "Do Not Walk" signal in Sorrento Valley was identified, local medical officials said.Karen Marie Johnson, 57, was identified as the deceased, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said on its website.On the night of Sept. 20, Johnson was walking southbound on Pacific Heights Boulevard and then went to cross Mira Mesa Boulevard against a red light when she was struck by the vehicle, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). New San Diego MLS team announces historic first for location of training facility The vehicle, driven by a 40-year-old man, pulled over and called 9-1-1, police said.When first responders arrived, they began performing lifesaving measures, but the victim ultimately died at the scene.The manner of the death was determined as an accident, per the medical examiner's office.

Fire erupts in a police headquarters in Egypt, injuring at least 14 people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A huge fire broke out early Monday in a police headquarters in northeastern Egypt, injuring at least 14 people, officials said.The blaze ripped through the multistory police headquarters in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, two officials said. The injured were taken to hospitals, they said.Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.Videos circulated on social media showed flames and black smoke pouring from the building.The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. The state-run MENA news agency said firefighters managed to put out the fire.Safety standards and fire regulations are poorly enforced in Egypt and have been linked to many deaths. In August 2022, a fire erupted in a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Cairo, killing 41 worshippers.Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

Stock market today: Asian shares mixed as Japan business confidence rises and US shutdown is averted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher in thin trading Monday with many markets closed for holidays. Markets in China are closed for a weeklong holiday. Markets in South Korea also were closed. Oil prices gained and U.S. futures were higher as the threat of a U.S. federal government shutdown receded after Congress approved a temporary funding bill late Saturday to keep federal agencies open until Nov. 17. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index advanced after a central bank survey showed business confidence on the rise. The Bank of Japan’s “tankan” quarterly survey measured business sentiment among major manufacturers at plus 9, up from plus 5 in June. Sentiment among major non-manufacturers rose four points to plus 27, in the sixth consecutive quarter of improvement and the most positive result in about three decades.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.7% at 32,098.40. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 7,037.90. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.2%, while the SET in Bangkok e...

Mexico’s rescue and drug-sniffing dogs start out at the army’s puppy kindergarten

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

SAN MIGUEL DE LOS JAGÜEYEZ, Mexico (AP) — In the middle of a military base outside Mexico City, an army colonel runs what he calls a kindergarten for dogs.Puppies that one day will become rescue dogs, or sniffer dogs for drugs or explosives, get their basic training here, at Mexico’s Army and Air Force Canine Production Center. The puppies are born and spend their first four months at the facility, before being sent to military units around the country for more specialized training.Founded in 1998, the center has in the past produced breeds such as German Shepherds and Rottweilers.Now, it exclusively breeds Belgian Malinois — about 300 of them a year.“It’s a very intelligent dog, it’s a dog with a lot of hardiness, very resistant to diseases,” said Col. Alejandro Camacho Ibarra, a veterinarian and the center’s director. It is the Mexican military’s only such production facility, and Camacho said it may be the largest in Latin America.The mainly green-and-white, one-story buildings l...

Few Americans say conservatives can speak freely on college campuses, AP-NORC/UChicago poll shows

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans view college campuses as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes to free speech, with adults across the political spectrum seeing less tolerance for those on the right, according to a new poll.Overall, 47% of adults say liberals have “a lot” of freedom to express their views on college campuses, while just 20% said the same of conservatives, according to polling from the University of Chicago and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.Republicans perceive a stronger bias on campuses against conservatives, but Democrats see a difference too — about 4 in 10 Democrats say liberals can speak their minds freely on campuses, while about 3 in 10 Democrats say conservatives can do so.“If you’re a Republican or lean Republican, you’re unabashedly wrong, they shut you down,” said Rhonda Baker, 60, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, who voted for former President Donald Trump and has a son in college. “If they hold a rally, it...

California’s new mental health court rolls out to high expectations and uncertainty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders into housing and medical care — potentially without their consent — kicked off in seven California counties, including San Francisco, on Monday.Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom created the new civil court process, called “CARE Court,” as part of a massive push to address the homelessness crisis in California. Lawmakers approved it despite deep misgivings over insufficient housing and services, saying they needed to try something new to help those suffering in public from apparent psychotic breaks. Families of people diagnosed with severe mental illness rejoiced because the new law allows them to petition the court for treatment for their loved ones. Residents dismayed by the estimated 171,000 homeless people in California cheered at the possibility of getting them help and off the streets. Critics blasted the new program as ineffe...

Women’s voices and votes loom large as pope opens Vatican meeting on church’s future

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A few years ago, Pope Francis told the head of the main Vatican-backed Catholic women’s organization to be “brave” in pushing for change for women in the Catholic Church. Maria Lia Zervino took his advice and in 2021 wrote Francis a letter, then made it public, saying flat out that the Catholic Church owed a big debt to half of humanity and that women deserved to be at the table where church decisions are made, not as mere “ornaments” but as protagonists.Francis appears to have taken note, and this week will open a global gathering of Catholic bishops and laypeople discussing the future of the church, where women — their voices and their votes — are taking center stage for the first time.For Zervino, who worked alongside the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio when both held positions in the Argentine bishops’ conference, the gathering is a watershed moment for the church and quite possibly the most consequential thing Francis will have undertaken a...