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Lowry: 14th Amendment debt limit option is absurd

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

The position of the White House on the debt limit may be shifting from, “President Joe Biden doesn’t want to compromise,” to “President Joe Biden doesn’t have to compromise under the U.S. Constitution.”The heretofore fringe idea that Section 4 of the 14th Amendment empowers the president to keep borrowing and spending as usual even if the debt limit isn’t extended is getting a respectful hearing.Back in January, the U.S. reached the current debt limit of $31.4 trillion, which — surprise, surprise — wasn’t nearly enough. The Treasury Department has been using “extraordinary measures” to this point to avoid hitting the wall but will exhaust its running room around the beginning of June.The looming deadline has concentrated the minds of the White House and its allies — not on how to cut a deal, but how to find a fig leaf of legitimacy for Biden engaging in his most flagrant abuse of his authority to date. He&...

Madison Iseman lives out fantasy in ‘Knights of the Zodiac’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

Growing up in Myrtle Beach, SC, Madison Iseman couldn’t imagine that one day she would play mighty Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of war – and wisdom.“Knights of the Zodiac,” opening Friday and adapted from a bestselling Japanese manga series “Saint Seiya,” is a $60 million live action international fantasy that begins when a young woman, Sienna (Iseman), discovers she is the reincarnation of Athena. Her protector is the orphan Seiya, aka the Pegasus Knight, played by Mackenyu.  In Japan, “Zodiac” has already opened as “Saint Seiya: The Beginning.”“I’m so honored they thought of me when they thought goddess,” an upbeat Iseman, 26, said in a Zoom interview.  “Such a beloved character who has been around far longer than I’ve been alive.“I always look for projects that are just so far from anything I’ve done before. I like to stretch and not get stuck in one role. So when this came I’m a huge fantasy lover, I love Greek mythology. It just checked a lot of boxes.”Iseman k...

Treat Mom with Mary Ann Esposito’s Mascarpone Blackberry Cake

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

Moms deserve and appreciate our attention every day of the week but especially on Mother’s Day. Something made by you like this wonderful ready-to-enjoy-with-tea-or-coffee mascarpone blackberry cake will be a lasting and treasured memory. Just ask her.TAG GOES HEREMascarpone Cake with BlackberriesINGREDIENTS1 1/2 cups cake flour1  teaspoon baking powder½ teaspoon salt2 -tablespoons grated orange zest5- tablespoons butter, melted and cooled¾ cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons2- large eggs½ teaspoon almond extract1 cup mascarpone cheese2 cups fresh blackberries, blueberries or raspberriesConfectioners sugar for dusting on cakeButter and line a 9 x 1-1/2 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside.DIRECTIONSPreheat oven to 350FIn a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest.In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, ¾- cup sugar, eggs, extract and cheese until smooth. (Alternately use a hand mixer).Mix the dry ingredients with the egg mixture.Dust 1 cup of berries with...

Dear Abby: Sex abuse revelations yield shock, uncertainty

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

Dear Abby: I recently was told that my late father-in-law was a serial child abuser who molested his daughter and at least two of his grandchildren. My husband loved and deeply respected his parents. Should I tell my husband this information? Should I ask my grown son if he was also molested as his cousins were? I don’t want to “rock the boat,” but I want to do what is best for my son, and I’m not used to keeping things from my husband. — Wish I Didn’t KnowDear Wish: Who gave you this information, and why? Was it a credible source? Were your late father-in-law’s alleged crimes reported to the authorities? If you trust your source, by all means, talk to your son and ask if his grandfather ever did anything that made him uncomfortable. Why would you keep this from your husband? Tell him what you were told and by whom.Dear Abby: My brother “Gene” passed away a few months ago. He had been in and out of the hospital for most of 2022. ...

‘We dropped the ball.’ Celtics suddenly on brink of elimination after abysmal Game 5 loss to 76ers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

The Celtics claimed they understood the stakes. Hours before their pivotal Game 5, Malcolm Brogdon declared it a must win. The sense of urgency was real.“It’s a desperation mindset for us,” Brogdon said. “We have to have this one.”By a quarter of 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, those words proved hollow. And suddenly, somehow, this Celtics season filled with so much promise, with expectations of a championship, is on the brink of dying in the second round.These Celtics – who made their lives difficult time and time again – continued the alarming theme on an embarrassing night in TD Garden. The crowd was lifeless from the opening tip, but the Celtics gave them nothing to be excited about. They flatlined with one of their worst performances at the worst time, a 115-103 loss to the 76ers.“We just didn’t have it today,” Jayson Tatum said.“We dropped the ball tonight,” Jaylen Brown said.“Everything went wrong,” Marcus Smart said.“That was our first really, really bad game of the playoffs,” Cel...

Migrants await entry at US-Mexico border as Title 42 expiration nears

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Hundreds of immigrants are camping at the gates to the United States hoping to be some of the first migrants to be processed into the asylum system after Title 42 ends Thursday at 9 p.m. Migrants fleeing from Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Turkey and Jamaica were just some of the people FOX 5 spoke with -- all hoping to make the argument they will be hurt or killed if they return to their home countries. One woman told me after her motorcycle was stolen in Colombia, she started receiving death threats from gang members. Her family all flew to the Tijuana airport, then walked to the border fence. 4 castles within driving distance of San Diego Immigration experts say the migrants will first be interviewed by border agents, if a credible threat is identified, then they will be detained and held for 5-10 days. Migrants who are given an asylum case will eventually be released from the detention center on their own recognizance. Asylum cases are so backed up that ca...

Documents: Prosecutor claims evidence shows Matt Araiza was not at the party at the time of alleged gang rape

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Documents detail when a San Diego District Attorney told the teen who accused Matt Araiza in a gang rape, prosecutors would not file charges.According to a more than 200-page transcript of a Dec. 7, 2022 recorded meeting between the accuser, a district attorney investigator, a deputy district attorney and people advocating for Jane Doe, a prosecutor told to the accuser, “I cannot file criminal charges against any of the suspects in the case.”The documents, provided by Araiza's attorney, claim prosecutors found that Araiza was not at the party when the accuser claimed she was raped.Prosecutors and Araiza's attorney said Araiza admitted to having sex with the teen during the party. But, according to prosecutors who have pieced together a timeline of the night, Araiza had left the party about an hour before video shows several men having sex with the accuser.Prosecutors said they've been able to piece together a timeline based on interviews, statements and cell phone evide...

ASEAN leaders condemn armed attack on aid convoy in Myanmar

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders condemned an armed attack on an aid convoy that the regional group had arranged for displaced people in Myanmar, calling Wednesday for an immediate stop to violence and for the military government to comply with a peace plan.Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations convened in the picturesque harbor town of Labuan Bajo in southern Indonesia at the start of a two-day summit. Their host, President Joko Widodo, called for unity amid global economic headwinds and major-power rivalry that’s lashing the region.The 10-nation bloc is also being pressed to address the crisis underway in member state Myanmar.Over the weekend, a convoy delivering aid to displaced villagers and carrying Indonesian and Singaporean diplomats came under fire by unidentified men armed with pistols in Myanmar’s eastern Shan state. A security team with the convoy returned fire and a vehicle was damaged, but no one in the convoy was injured, stat...

Federal bank records emerge as focus of GOP’s Biden probes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday plan to detail what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden ‘s family and their finances.The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is “thousands of pages” of recently obtained financial records that include more than 150 suspicious activity reports connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden, as well as a growing number of associates.The confidential reports, called SARs for short, are often routine, with larger financial transactions automatically flagged to the government. The filing of a SARs report is not evidence on its own of misconduct.But Republicans in Congress, notably Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee leading the probe, believe the records could potentially show an effort by the president and his family to trade off his name.The White House has continuously dismissed the i...

Trump appearing at CNN town hall after sex assault verdict

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:53:11 GMT

Former President Donald Trump will return to CNN’s airwaves on Wednesday, joining the network for a two-hour town hall event in early-voting New Hampshire a day after a civil jury found him liable for sexually assaulting an advice columnist nearly three decades ago.The forum, which was publicly announced last week, was expected to be notable because it would be bringing together a network and a candidate who have long sparred with each other. But the stakes raised considerably Tuesday after jurors in New York found Trump had sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, though it rejected her claim that he raped her. The jury awarded her $5 million in damages.While the civil trial verdict carries no criminal penalties, it nonetheless revives attention on the myriad investigations facing Trump, who was indicted in New York in March for hush money payments made to women who had accused him of sexual encounters. Trump is also facing investigations in Georgia and Washington over hi...