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Stigler: Would Reagan abandon Ukraine to Russia?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

As the fighting in Ukraine continues, some representatives in Congress, primarily Republicans, oppose additional financial and military support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s ongoing invasion.U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he has reservations about continued support for Ukraine because he believes that there is inadequate oversight on how the aid is spent and sees no strategy to win. Johnson also argued that America’s border problems should take priority. Congress will take up the issue again this year, but the future of American aid to Ukraine is in serious doubt.Four decades ago, a Republican president supported a different victim of Russian aggression, in a situation similar to the one that the United States faces today. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, President Jimmy Carter offered limited aid to the Afghani resistance. But it was a Republican who championed and dramatically expanded funding for the Afghan mujahedeen during most of the nine-year eff...

Editorial: Going after Oct. 7 terrorists & abettors

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

For eight years, the U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on the whereabouts of Saleh Arouri, a Hamas terrorist whose hands were dripping red.This week, Israel found him.Arouri was killed on Tuesday with two other Hamas military leaders in an explosion outside of Beirut in Lebanon. Israeli officials wouldn’t comment on the development, but The New York Times reported that U.S. and other sources “ascribed the attack” to the Jewish state.“No one is safe if they had any hand in planning, raising money for or carrying out” the Oct. 7 attacks, an unnamed U.S. official told the Times. “This is just the beginning, and it’ll go on for years.”It’s important to note that Arouri had a bloody resume. The State Department said that he had been “linked to several terrorist attacks, hijackings and kidnappings.” One such crime was the 2014 abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, including one who was also an American citizen.Arouri...

Dear Abby: Had it with sulky hubby’s silent treatment

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband and I have been married for two years. We rushed into marriage, unfortunately, before getting to know each other very well. Whenever we have a disagreement, he gives me the silent treatment for days. Sometimes, it lasts weeks.He won’t eat anything I cook or help around the house. If I’m in one room, he will lock himself up in another one. He sleeps on the couch or on a pull-out mattress. Eventually, he will end it by returning to our bed and trying to initiate intimacy. I usually accept, but the issue never gets resolved or discussed — we just carry on. When I’ve tried discussing the issues, he says, “Don’t start!”I’m fed up with his childish behavior. We have a 7-month-old baby and children from my previous marriage, so it has become increasingly difficult for me to leave him. He’s not the type to go to therapy. He will admit we have communication issues, but that’s the extent of it. I’ve reache...

One person wounded in shooting outside City Heights smoke shop

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- One person was taken to the hospital Friday after a shooting in the Teralta West neighborhood, authorities said.The shooting occurred around 8:13 p.m. outside the Blue Stone Smoke Shop at 4278 University Ave., the San Diego Police Department confirmed to FOX 5. Woman sentenced to prison for friend’s death in DUI crash The victim's condition is unknown at this time.Police are looking for the shooter.Check back for updates on this developing story.

A push to expand Medicaid has Kansas governor embracing politics and cutting against her brand

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is more aggressive and openly political in pushing to expand Medicaid in Kansas as the Republican-controlled Legislature prepares to open its annual session Monday following five years of failed efforts to provide state health coverage to another 150,000 people.Kelly faces leaders of GOP supermajorities whose priorities are to cut income taxes and rein in local property taxes, not to expand Medicaid. But Kelly’s new plan includes hitting expansion-opposing Republicans hard later this year during races for legislative seats, an approach that cuts against years of self-branding as a bipartisan problem-solver who doesn’t care about politics.“My previous approach, which has always been to try to bring people together and work collaboratively and come up with consensus and then get good policy on the books — that hasn’t worked,” Kelly said during a recent interview.“Taking a more aggressive approach and — to be direct, a more po...

Western Japan earthquakes have claimed 100 lives; rain and snow imperil already shaky ground

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — Aftershocks threatened to bury more homes and block roads crucial for relief shipments, as the death toll from the earthquakes that rattled Japan’s western coastline last week reached 100 on Saturday.Among the dead was a 5-year-old boy who had been recovering from injuries after boiling water spilled on him during Monday’s 7.6 magnitude earthquake. His condition suddenly worsened and he died Friday, according to Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region.Officials warned that roads, already cracked from the dozens of earthquakes that continue to shake the area, could collapse completely. That risk was growing with rain and snow expected overnight and Sunday.Reported deaths had reached 98 earlier Saturday, and two more deaths were reported in Anamizu city as officials were holding their daily meeting to discuss strategy and damages.Wajima city has recorded the highest number of deaths with 59, followed by Suzu with 23. More than 500 people were injured, at least...

To plead or not to plead? That is the question for hundreds of Capitol riot defendants

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters charged with storming the U.S. Capitol have faced the same choice in the three years since the attack: either admit their guilt and accept the consequences or take their chances on a trial in hopes of securing a rare acquittal.Those who have who gambled — and lost — on a trial have received significantly longer prison sentences than those who took responsibility for joining the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, an Associated Press review of court records shows. The AP’s analysis of Capitol riot sentencing data reinforces a firmly established tenet of the U.S. criminal justice system: Pleading guilty and cooperating with authorities carries a substantial benefit when it comes time for sentencing.″On one hand, the Constitution guarantees the accused a right to a jury trial. It’s a fundamental constitutional right. But the reality is that if you exercise that right … you’re likely to be punished more severely than you would have been had you pled guil...

Pedro Pascal, Melanie Lynskey, the Obamas among nominees at creative arts Emmy Awards

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pedro Pascal and Melanie Lynskey are up for two of the most coveted Emmy Awards on Jan. 15, but both are also among this weekend’s nominees at the creative arts Emmys. Pascal, nominated for best actor in a drama for “ The Last of Us,” is up for best guest actor in a comedy series for hosting “Saturday Night Live” and for his narration of a CNN documentary on Patagonia. Lynskey, nominated for best actress in a drama for “ Yellowjackets,” is up for best guest actress in a drama for her one-episode appearance on Pascal’s “The Last of Us.” That series and “Succession” are the two top overall Emmy nominees. In fact, all of the dozen nominees in Lynskey’s category and best guest actor in a drama come from the two HBO shows. The Saturday and Sunday ceremonies are a precursor to the main Emmy ceremony that will air at 8 p.m. EST Jan. 15 on Fox, with “black-ish” star Anthony Anderson as host. Just like the main telecast, the creative arts ceremonies arriv...

On Jan. 6 many Republicans blamed Trump for the Capitol riot. Now they endorse his presidential bid

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the follow-up to their 2018 bestseller “How Democracies Die,” authors Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write about three rules that political parties must follow: Accept the results of fair elections, reject the use of violence to gain power and break ties to extremists.In the aftermath of the 2020 election, they write, only one U.S. political party “violated all three.”Saturday marks the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and Donald Trump, the former president, is far-and-away the leading Republican candidate in 2024. He still refuses to acknowledge his earlier loss to President Joe Biden. Far from rejecting the rioters, he has suggested he would pardon some of those who have been convicted of violent crimes. Rather than distance himself from extremists, he welcomes them at his rallies and calls them patriots.And Trump is now backed by many of the Republican leaders who fled for their lives and hid from the rioters, even some who had...

Carnival begins in New Orleans with Phunny Phorty Phellows, king cakes, Joan of Arc parade

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:06:10 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The countdown to Mardi Gras begins Saturday in New Orleans as Carnival season kicks off with dozens of costumed revelers and a brass band set to crowd onto a streetcar for a nighttime ride down historic St. Charles Avenue. Meanwhile, a walking club in the French Quarter will march in its annual procession honoring Joan of Arc. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUTWhile it’s a secular celebration, Carnival in New Orleans — and around the world — is strongly linked to Christian and Roman Catholic traditions. The season begins on Jan. 6, the 12th day after Christmas, and continues until Mardi Gras, known as Fat Tuesday, which is the final day of feasting, drinking and revelry before Ash Wednesday and the fasting associated with Lent.New Orleans has the largest and best-known Carnival celebrations in the U.S., with street parties, fancy balls and parades from simple neighborhood-based walking clubs to elaborate high-tech extravaganzas with massive floats laden with flashing...