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Target practice: How a job in retail ignited Orioles reliever Bryan Baker’s fire

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

In two seasons with the Orioles, right-handed reliever Bryan Baker hasn’t hesitated to show his emotions when pitching. He has let out yells, pounded his chest, and, of late, backpedaled off the mound after the occasional inning-ending strikeout.He got his passion from Target.During 2020′s canceled minor league season, the Toronto Blue Jays invited Baker to their alternate training site, a hub for players who were not on the major league roster but could be called upon during the shortened campaign. But with more than a month left on the schedule, the Blue Jays sent Baker home, ending his season as it continued for others. He went home to Florida and worked in retail with his sister, Chelsea, pushing carts around Target to fill out mobile orders in hopes of saving money for offseason training.“It told me everything I needed to know: I needed to be better,” Baker said. “It was something I knew I needed at that time to support myself, but I knew it was so...

Horoscopes May 20, 2023: Cher, focus and proceed

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Daya Vaidya, 43; Matt Czuchry, 46; Tony Goldwyn, 63; Cher, 77.Happy Birthday: Simplify your life. Consider your objective and the best way to achieve your goal. Use your charm to drum up support, suggestions and hands-on help. Stop pondering over the past and start living life your way. Let go of what’s holding you back and replace it with fresh ideas and renewed faith in yourself and your ability to get things done. Focus and proceed. Your numbers are 5, 13, 26, 32, 34, 41, 43.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don’t share too much information. If you keep others guessing, you’ll stand a better chance of getting what you want. Focus on what you can do to improve your situation, and help others follow suit. Set a good example and see what happens. 4 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Get in the conversation, let your voice resonate and make a difference. Offer an upbeat rendition of what’s possible and how you can use your skills to get a po...

Ask Amy: The wedding invitation has an aggressive edge I don’t like

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

Dear Amy: I’m asking about an aggressive version of a familiar issue.I am in my mid-20s and at the age where I am being invited to weddings of friends. Some are close friends, others not so much.I work in local media, and, as you may know, make a measly wage. We in local media work on short-term contracts and tend to move frequently.One of my friends in the field, who often shares my financial woes, is likely getting married early next year. We do not live in the same part of the country.This friend has made it clear that they do not want to hear anything about guests not being able to attend their wedding due to living too far away, or not having enough money.This friend quite literally (and aggressively) stated this over a text message.This person has been OK as a friend, but is not my closest.I am really turned off by this approach.I have a feeling they will sever both personal and professional ties with me if I don’t attend this wedding.Our line of work does not give the time of...

The Debt Limit Is Just One of America’s Six Worst Traditions

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is reflected, on Jan. 6, 2022 in Washington, D.C.Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImageImagine that your family has a generations-long tradition that requires that for every 10th dinner, you search your neighbors’ trash cans like raccoons and eat whatever garbage you find.Usually none of you asks why you do this. It’s just what you learned from your parents. But occasionally someone does some family research and finds out it originated in the early 1800s, when your great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather explained in his diary that he was creating this custom “so every feventh child will expire from famonella.” And you have to admit this still works, since every now and then one of your children dies from food-borne illness. Yet you keep on eating the garbage.This is what American politics is like, except we have dozens of these aged traditions whose purpose is actively malevolent or simply serves no purpose at all. They nonetheless cling like barna...

Clinton man gets 6 life sentences for 2017 stabbing of sister, 2 cousins

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

A Clinton, Maryland, man convicted of killing his sister and two cousins in 2017 was given six life sentences by a judge Friday — three without the possibility of parole.“He will not return to our community,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, speaking about 30-year-old Antonio Williams.It was a horrific case and a bloody crime scene after he stabbed his six-year-old sister Nadira Withers and his cousins — six-year-old Ajayah and nine-year-old Ariana DeCree — numerous times in August 2017.Their bodies were found by Williams’ mother, who said she won’t accept that her son was responsible for the murder. After an initial confession, Williams also argued he wasn’t responsible.During the trial, prosecutors said the girls were killed in their sleep after playing loudly around the house and upsetting Williams earlier that day.“They had a right to grow up. To be women. They had a right to have a future,” said B...

¿Buscas un trabajo extra? Esta empresa te pagará US$ 100 la hora por ver TikTok durante 10 horas

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

(CNN) — Si ya te pasas horas hojeando TikTok —admitámoslo, ¿quién no?— puede que hayas encontrado el trabajo de tus sueños.La agencia de marketing de influencers Ubiquitous quiere pagar a tres personas US$ 100 la hora por una sesión de 10 horas de observación de TikTok. La empresa espera que esta iniciativa le ayude a evaluar las tendencias emergentes en Internet.Para solicitar el puesto de observador de TikTok debes suscribirte al canal de YouTube de Ubiquitous y enviar una breve reseña sobre por qué eres el más adecuado para el maratón.La empresa busca personas mayores de 18 años que conozcan el funcionamiento de la plataforma, sobre todo las tendencias.“Los candidatos elegidos también nos ayudarán a descubrir tendencias emergentes rellenando un sencillo documento para anotar las tendencias recurrentes que detecten”, dice la solicitud.Entre las tendencias más populares que se hicieron virales en la plataforma figura el video de un niño que deliraba sobre su amor ...

Georgetown invited Navalny’s kid to commencement. ‘Chaos’ followed

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

A chorus of students at Georgetown University’s foreign service school are lashing out at the administration over a controversial choice of speaker for Saturday’s commencement — the daughter of an imprisoned Russian opposition leader.While Alexei Navalny is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and an anti-corruption blogger, students point out that he has also made comments calling immigrants“cockroaches,” used gay slurs and only recently said he believes Crimea — a Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014 — should be returned to Ukraine.He’s been imprisoned in Russia since 2021 on fraud charges in a trial that was denounced as politically motivated by his supporters. His wife and daughter, Dasha Navalnaya, have served as his proxies during that time, and the school said it invited Dasha to underscore the plights of political prisoners worldwide.Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service is full of students likely to become influential in international affairs ...

G7 vs China: US, Europe unite in tough messaging against Beijing

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan — China on Saturday faced a strong pushback from the Group of Seven countries over its stances on Russia, Taiwan, trade bullying, economic monopoly and domestic interference, with the G7 leaders’ statement reflecting a broad convergence of the U.S., Europe and Japan on a need to change tack.Issued around the time of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s arrival in Hiroshima, where the summit is taking place, the statement by leaders of the G7 wealthy democracies asked Beijing to do more to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine.“We call on China to press Russia to stop its military aggression, and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” the leaders said in the statement. “We encourage China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine.”Crucially, the U.S...

Battenfeld: Rachael Rollins downfall exposes dark underbelly of politics, media

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

The blockbuster ethics probes leading to the downfall of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins exposed the dark underbelly of the intersection of politics and media and the danger of using anonymous sources with a personal vendetta.The reports from the Office of Special Counsel and Department of Justice Inspector General showcased the sleazy side of relations between power players — who ruthlessly use each other to advance their self interests.“No mercy. Finish him,” Rollins demanded to Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo in one of their text exchanges about Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, whose campaign they were trying to torpedo.While such attitudes may be more common than many think, the public should rightly be horrified by the abuse of power shown by Arroyo and Rollins, and the deep involvement of the media.The two conspired – with the Boston Globe as willing accomplice – to tilt the Democratic D.A. primary in Arroyo’s favor by trying to smear Hayden to show he was som...

Lucas: Free-wheeling and off the rails

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:50 GMT

Rachael Rollins’ forced resignation as U.S. Attorney is a stinging embarrassment for both Elizabeth Warren and Eddie Markey.The state’s two U.S. senators were Rollins’ biggest supporters when President Biden nominated then Suffolk County District Attorney Rollins for the position, despite clear signs that Rollins lacked the temperament for the job.The Boston Globe described Rollins as a “trailblazer.” In fact, she was a train wreck waiting to happen.And it happened.And to rub salt into the wound, it was U.S Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, who set it in motion.Cotton, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who opposed Rollins’ nomination, followed up on a Boston Herald story that Rollins had violated the Hatch Act by attending a Democrat Party fundraiser in Andover at which First Lady Jill Biden starred.The Hatch Act prohibits Senate-confirmed appointees in the Department of Justice from engaging in partisan political activity.She was also accused of sabotage in lea...