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Editorial: Feds ignore Bill of Rights when its convenient

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

A federal judge last week held that the federal government tried to skirt the First Amendment when it pressured social media companies to suppress “misinformation” during the pandemic. The judge’s conclusions will be litigated further, but they highlight the dangers inherent when private parties are used as government proxies to limit public debate.But free speech isn’t the only vital liberty at risk under such a scheme. Government agents have also eroded the Fourth Amendment by using the private sector to avoid constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.Last month, Rep. Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, and Rep. Sara Jacobs, a Democrat from California, added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require the government to obtain a warrant before purchasing data on Americans from private information brokers.The amendment comes after revelations that “federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have repeatedly” purchased ...

Author Nat Segaloff revisits ‘The Exorcist’ phenomenon

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

As “The Exorcist” hits the 50-year mark, what’s remarkable is how, long after the sequels and a TV series are gone and forgotten, it remains fresh.“‘The Exorcist’ remains powerful,” said Nat Segaloff, whose “The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear” (Citadel Press) goes on sale Tuesday, “because it did its job in ways that no other film like it has ever done. It isn’t necessarily a horror film. I think it affects people because it does a very good job in ways the audiences don’t expect it to do.”Adapted from William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel and directed by William Friedkin who had just won the Best Director Oscar for 1971’s “The French Connection,” ‘Exorcist,’ an immediate if controversial smash hit, was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Blatty’s screenplay and its innovative sound design.Segaloff, a Boston Herald veteran, sees two reasons why it worked.  “The first,” he said in a phone interview, “is turning the book into the movi...

Mets-Red Sox suspended Friday due to rain, will play split-doubleheader Saturday

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

BOSTON — The Mets and the Boston Red Sox managed to play just over three innings Friday night before thunderstorms rolled into Boston and the game was suspended. Fans sat through a nearly two-hour delay at Fenway Park before the decision was made to restart the series opener Saturday at 2:10 p.m., as part of a split-doubleheader. The second game of the series was moved from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.The game will resume with the visitors leading 4-3. It’s not a devastating blow for the Mets, but it’s far from ideal.They had to burn Kodai Senga, one of their most reliable starters, and will now look to a leaky bullpen to get them over the finish line. The Mets’ season isn’t over yet, but it’s on life support and time is running out with the Aug. 1 trade deadline fast approaching. The team started the day 6.5 away from an NL Wild Card spot.Senga started the game and pitched well, allowing three earned runs on three hits and one walk while striking out three i...

Dear Abby: After 10 years, love has gone stone cold

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

Dear Abby: I have been in a relationship with “Blake” for almost 10 years. Before we met, I was with “Kaden,” the father of my kids. It was a loveless relationship. Kaden was mean and cold and often had angry outbursts.My relationship with Blake started off as everything I ever wanted. He made me feel loved and appreciated. Ten years later, he, too, is cold. He no longer touches me (he watches porn instead) and makes no effort to show me love or appreciation. He’s a good provider financially, but he thinks he doesn’t have to do anything more than that.I feel lost and hurt. I feel like Blake deceived me in the beginning, and now that he thinks I’m not going anywhere, he doesn’t have to try. My self-esteem has suffered greatly. I have suggested counseling, but he refuses. Any advice will be appreciated. — Unloved in PennsylvaniaDear Unloved: Because Blake refuses counseling doesn’t mean that YOU couldn’t benefit from it...

As Taiwan prepares for anti-invasion exercises, China sends dozens of warplanes toward the island

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China sent dozens of warplanes, including fighter jets and bombers, toward Taiwan, the island’s Defense Ministry said Saturday, marking a forceful display days before the democracy plans to hold military exercises aimed at defending itself against a possible invasion.Taiwan is due to hold its annual Han Kuang exercise next week, during which its military will hold combat readiness drills for preventing an invasion. It will also conduct the annual Wan’an exercises aimed at preparing civilians for natural disasters and practicing evacuations in case of an air raid. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army sent 37 aircraft and seven navy vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. Among them were J-10 and J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, and 22 of the detected warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait — an unofficial boundary that had been considered a buffer between the island and mainland — or enter...

Mega Millions jackpot grows to $820 million with a possible cash payout of $422 million

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — No winner for the Mega Millions top prize has sent the jackpot soaring to an estimated $820 million.The numbers drawn late Friday night were: 29, 40, 47, 50, 57 and gold Mega Ball 25.The estimated $820 million in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesday night’s drawing is an estimated $422 million.Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows.The last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was April 18.The Powerball jackpot also was approaching near-record levels before a tiny neighborhood store in downtown Los Angeles sold the winning ticket for Wednesday’s drawing, worth an estimated $1.08 billion.Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.The Associated Press

Nervous Republicans turn to New Hampshire in hopes of stopping Trump

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

HUDSON, N.H. (AP) — They acknowledge Donald Trump’s dominance, but weary Republicans across New Hampshire — even inside the governor’s office — are fighting to stop the former president from winning the first-in-the-nation primary.For now, however, they’re relying on little more than hope and prayers.Look no further than Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, who repeatedly appealed to voters’ faith this week as he tried to resurrect his anemic presidential campaign while courting a few dozen voters in a former state lawmaker’s backyard.“I truly do believe that different times call for different leadership,” Pence told his modest crowd. “I know you all are going to do your job, because I have faith. I have faith in the American people.”More than a dozen high-profile Republicans are looking to New Hampshire, the state long known for shining on political underdogs, to help stop Trump’s march toward a third consecutive Republican presidenti...

Oklahoma governor’s feud with Native American tribes continues over revenue agreements

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s ongoing feud with many of the Native American tribes in the state has grown so contentious that fellow Republicans in the Legislature and the state’s attorney general are considering pushing him out of tribal negotiations altogether.Those agreements, called compacts, have been worked out between the state and tribes over the last couple of decades to divvy up revenue from gambling, vehicle tags and the sale of tobacco and motor fuel on tribal land, all of which provide major revenue streams into state and tribal coffers. Tribal casinos alone paid nearly $200 million to the state last year under agreements giving tribes the exclusive right to offer casino gambling.State Republican leaders are grumbling publicly that Stitt’s hostile posture toward the tribes, including vetoing the extension of some compacts, are costing more than just money. They say it’s also eroding the relationship with tribal leaders that, al...

Tony Bennett left his heart to generations of music fans

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — What do Paul McCartney, Queen Latifah, Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder have in common?Oh, and Aretha Franklin, k.d. lang, Bono and Billy Joel. Not to mention Carrie Underwood, Judy Garland, John Legend and Placido Domingo. And let’s not forget…Stop. Listing all of the musicians who performed duets with Tony Bennett would take up our remaining space. His place in music history is already secure.Bennett, who died at 95 on Friday, was indeed “the last of the great saloon singers of the mid-20th century,” as Charles J. Gans wrote for The Associated Press. Yet that summation befits a man frozen in time, consigned to a specific era, and Tony Bennett was anything but that.Instead, Bennett transcended generations in a way few musicians have.He was rightly beloved by older listeners for the way he interpreted the works of songwriters Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin in a strong and stalwart voice that remained true into his 90s. He was influ...

North Dakota officer killed in Fargo ambush is to be laid to rest Saturday in Minnesota

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:49:23 GMT

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The Fargo police officer who was responding to a routine traffic crash when he was ambushed and fatally shot by a heavily armed man will be laid to rest Saturday. Jake Wallin, 23, was killed July 14 when a man armed with 1,800 rounds of ammunition, multiple guns and explosives began firing. Two other officers and a civilian were wounded before a fourth officer returned fire, killing gunman Mohamad Barakat. Police said the actions of that fourth officer likely spared the city from a bigger, bloodier attack. Wallin, who had been sworn in as a Fargo police officer in April and was still in field training, was cremated in his uniform. On Saturday, the Fargo Police Department will escort his cremains to Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, where a funeral service will be held. A military veteran, Wallin served in the Minnesota Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq from November 2020 to July 2021, according to a spokesperson for the Minnesota National Guard.H...