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Battenfeld: 80-year-old Biden will announce with ‘finish the job’ as slogan

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

With the ominous sounding slogan of “finish the job,” Joe Biden plans to announce his re-election campaign next week as nearly half of Democratic voters in key states want him to step aside.The reality is that Democrats are stuck with the 80-year-old president in 2024, unless you count Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s vanity campaign – which his own family has disavowed.And Republicans are likely going to have 76-year-old Donald Trump as their nominee, meaning that 2024 will be a rematch of 2020 – only both will be four years older and shakier.Biden is saddled with a 52% disapproval rating and will be 86 if he finishes a second term, making him by far the oldest president in history. But the mainstream media continues to gloss over questions about his fitness for office.In Ireland last week, Biden struggled to answer a simple question from a child.“What’s the top step to success?” the child asked.“What’s the top what?” Biden responded, then had to get his son Hunter to explain the question.Bi...

Boston councilors clash over nonprofits not paying their ‘fair share’ of city taxes

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

Whether the city’s wealthiest nonprofits with tax-exempt status are paying their “fair share” to support the communities they do business in has members of the City Council divided.Assessing Department Commissioner Nicholas Ariniello said Friday that the 47 nonprofits participating in the city’s payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program are not meeting the full payment requested by the city.In fiscal year 2022, collective payments from these private institutions — which mainly consist of colleges, hospitals and cultural centers with tax-exempt property in excess of $15 million — were 75%, or roughly $92.4 million of the requested $123.5 million, Ariniello said.Under the program, these nonprofits make voluntary payments, which amount to roughly 25% of what they would have paid in real estate taxes and are meant to “help to offset the burden placed on Boston taxpayers to fund city services for all property owners,” according to the city website.Property taxes represent 7...

ASK IRA: Are Heat asking too much in requiring Jimmy Butler to be a heavyweight champ?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

Q: Is anyone else seeing what I’m seeing about small ball being the wrong choice? Jimmy Butler is a small forward. It’s not fair to him to always have to play undersized. Of course he can play power forward. That doesn’t make him a power forward. We are letting him down. – V.R.A: Which is interesting, because Jimmy Butler read the room at his initial media session ahead of training camp and stressed that he would not be the Heat’s starting power forward in the wake of the offseason loss of P.J. Tucker to the 76ers in free agency. And then it became clear that Jimmy, indeed, was as good as it would get as a two-way presence at the position. It’s one thing to ask added minutes from Jimmy in the playoffs. It’s another to ask him to move up in weight class. Jimmy’s goal should be an NBA title, not a heavyweight championship.Q: As I stated since the 2020 Finals, we’re always one big short. Should’ve been working on the big-big l...

Lucas: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make debates must-see TV

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

Like father, like son?Well, maybe but not quite.Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement for president is not expected to do to President Biden what his father — Sen. Robert F. Kennedy — did to President Lyndon B. Johnson.And that was to knock LBJ out of the box.Two weeks after New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy announced that he was running for president in March 1968 against fellow Democrat President Johnson, Johnson declined to seek re-election.Johnson, who was plagued by the Vietnam War, had earlier been softened up by initial Democrat challenger U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.McCarthy, a vocal anti-Vietnam War candidate, came close to defeating Johnson in the March 12   New Hampshire Democrat primary. In a strong second-place finish, McCarthy showed LBJ’s vulnerability.Sen. Kennedy then dropped in, and Johnson dropped out.Kennedy, favored to win the Democrat Party nomination, was fatally shot June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California Dem...

At least 21 killed as Somalia battles jihadis in remote area

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s military repulsed an attack by jihadi fighters in a remote region of the country early Saturday, killing at least 18 of the al-Shabab militants, according to a top army official. At least three civilians described as “traditional elders” were killed in the fighting near Masagaway town, Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Taredisho said by phone. Masagaway is located in the central region of Galgadud and home to a military base. Resident Yusuf Sheikh told The Associated Press that militants overran the base, confiscated weapons and burned battle wagons during the attack. “It was early in the morning, and (al-Shabab) completely took over the whole town, including the military base, forcing the government forces out of the town,” he said. Sheikh said several people were killed in the attack and others were missing. Al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, opposes the Somali federal government in Mogadishu, the capital. The group intensified attacks on military ...

Sudan’s army says evacuations of diplomats expected to begin

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese army said Saturday it was coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from the United States, Britain, China and France out of the country on military airplanes, as fighting persisted in the capital, including at its main airport. The military said that army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan had spoken to leaders of various countries requesting safe evacuations of their citizens and diplomats from Sudan. The country has been roiled by bloody fighting for the past week that has killed over 400 people so far, according to the World Health Organization. Foreign countries have struggled in vain to repatriate their citizens, a task deemed far too risky as clashes between the Sudanese army and a rival powerful paramilitary group have raged in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas. The main international airport near the center of the capital has been the target of heavy shelling as the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has...

Russian race-car driver heads to Federal Court over Canadian sanctions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

OTTAWA — A Russian race-car driver is taking Canada to court, saying sanctions imposed against him following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine are unfairly hurting his career.Nikita Mazepin, a former Formula One driver, wants the Federal Court to direct Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to take immediate steps to remove him from the Canadian sanctions list.He says at the very least Joly should make a decision on his application to be taken off the list and tell him the result within five days.Mazepin is also asking the court to order interim relief that would allow him to take part in racing activities in Canada.The driver and his father, businessman Dmitry Mazepin, were among 14 people considered to be oligarchs, family members or close associates of the Russian regime who were added to Canada’s sanctions roster on the same day last May. Global Affairs Canada declined to comment on the case while it is before the Federal Court.Canada has sanctioned hundreds of Russian individu...

David Brooks: The power of American capitalism

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

The mighty Mississippi rolls on. If you don’t live near it, you might never think of that wide, powerful river. You may associate it with old Mark Twain stories. But every day, 24/7, it rolls on.American capitalism is kind of like that. You can invent fables about how America is in economic decline. You can rail against “neoliberalism.” But the American economy doesn’t care. It just keeps rolling on.The Economist magazine published a report on American economic performance over the last three decades. Using an avalanche of evidence and data, the main thrust of the article is that far from declining, American capitalism is dominant and accelerating.Back in 1990, for example, America’s gross domestic product per capita was nearly neck and neck with that of Europe and Japan. But by 2022 the U.S. had raced ahead.In 1990, the U.S. economy accounted for 40% of the nominal GDP of the G-7 nations. By 2022 the U.S. accounted for 58%.In 1990, American income per person was 24% higher than the...

Ask Amy: A woman wants partner’s permission to roam

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a woman in a sexless relationship, which is also lacking in affection. We’ve been together off and on (mostly on) for 25 years.Our relationship is just sharing a home which he owns, and I pay half of the expenses.We can have a decent home this way, as housing is so expensive.We are both recently retired.I have spent the last 11 years trying to get him to be intimate again, and he will not. He says it’s his ED and COPD. He has literally no desire to give or receive any affection, except for an occasional hug and a peck on the cheek.I’ve given up and have a lot of anger over it.Well, I met a guy in Vegas in 2009 and had the best sex ever. We have remained in touch.He’s on the East Coast and I’m in the Southwest.The man I live with has also never wanted to get married and, now, neither do I.I like being my own boss.I want to visit the other guy, and he also wants me to.Related ArticlesAsk Amy | Ask Amy: A man’s choice to use a slur riles the family Ask Am...

Senior Azerbaijan diplomat urges Armenia to embrace a future of peace and prosperity

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:46:28 GMT

One of Azerbaijan’s top diplomats visited Brussels this month. Elchin Amirbayov, who is Assistant to the First Vice-President, spoke to EU Reporter about the role of the EU -and personally by Council President Charles Michel- in the efforts to end the confrontation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In a wide-ranging interview with Political Editor Nick Powell, Mr Amirbayov also discussed his country’s role in Europe’s energy security and as part of the Middle Corridor trade route.Elchin Amirbayov came to Brussels with a busy schedule, aimed at strengthening relations not just with the EU as a whole but with Belgium in particular, mindful that the country will hold the presidency of the European Council for the first half of 2024. As well as talking about the potential for boosting trade he was taking the opportunity to brief ministers, parliamentarians and other stakeholders about the efforts to finally normalise relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.EU-Azerbaijan relations grew la...