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Cottle: Was it all worth it, Kevin McCarthy?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

 And now, the end is nearAnd so I face the final curtain.Come on! You know the Sinatra classic. Croon along with me as we emotionally gird ourselves for the closing act of Kevin McCarthy’s long, disappointing stint in Congress.Having spent most of 2023 as a punching bag for his conference’s right flank, McCarthy has finally reached his pain threshold. At the end of this month, he announced Dec. 6, he will pack up his toys and flee the House, having made history as the first speaker booted from the job.But do not cry for the former young gun. He has too few regrets to mention. As he bravely cheered his own performance in a Wall Street Journal essay announcing his departure, “I go knowing I left it all on the field — as always, with a smile on my face.”Boy, did he. In his fevered pursuit of the gavel, McCarthy time and again prostrated himself before the altar of Donald Trump, sacrificing basically all the things that matter: his dignity, his integrity, his values (such as ...

Billionaire-backed think tank played key role in Biden’s AI order

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

The RAND Corporation — a prominent international think tank that has recently been tied to a growing influence network backed by tech billionaires — played a key role in drafting President Joe Biden’s new executive order on artificial intelligence, according to an AI researcher with knowledge of the order’s drafting and a recording of an internal RAND meeting obtained by POLITICO.The provisions advanced by RAND in the October executive order included a sweeping set of reporting requirements placed on the most powerful AI systems, ostensibly designed to lessen the technology’s catastrophic risks. Those requirements hew closely to the policy priorities pursued by Open Philanthropy, a group that pumped over $15 million into RAND this year.Financed by billionaire Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, Open Philanthropy is a major funder of causes associated with “effective altruism” — an ideology, made famous by disgraced FTX found...

Europe must boost military capacity to counter Russia threat: German defense chief

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

Europe must ramp up its security and defense capabilities to respond to the threat that Russia poses, as the U.S. will likely reduce its involvement on the Continent in the coming years, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday.“Regardless of who becomes the next [U.S.] president … there will be a, hopefully only moderate, reduction in American involvement in Europe,” Pistorius said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag. “This means that we Europeans must increase our commitment to ensure security on our Continent,” he said.Pistorious said the U.S. military is expected to increasingly turn its attention to the Pacific region in the next decade, meaning less focus on Europe.Russia’s scale-up of arms production to sustain its operations in Ukraine poses a real threat, especially to the Baltic states, Georgia and Moldova, Pistorius warned. “This isn’t just saber-rattling. Dangers could lie ahead at the end of this decade,” he said.Europe has to commit t...

Patriots-Chiefs preview: Can the Pats upset Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

Long gone are the days of the Patriots and Chiefs battling as AFC rivals, one league dynasty fighting to hold on while another emerges to take its place.But that doesn’t mean the Pats can’t hang another win on Patrick Mahomes and Co. on Sunday.After the Patriots were initially installed as 9.5-point underdogs, the point spread has shrunk by two points, a sign of the public’s belief in the Pats. Coming off an extended rest, and road upset at Pittsburgh, their offense may have finally settled on a winning, run-heavy formula. Defensively, though, is how the Pats must beat the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs who have dropped three of their last four.Can the Patriots make that four out of five? Here’s what to watch for in Foxboro:When the Patriots runEzekiel Elliott should again eat as the Pats’ lead back, coming off a performance in Pittsburgh where he churned out 140 total yards taking 52 of the offense’s 57 snaps. Elliott told reporters he feel...

NFL Notes: Inside the Dirty Show, one of the last hallmarks of the Patriots dynasty

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

In the early days of the Patriots’ dynasty, the defense that frustrated Tom Brady most often was his own.Not the legendary starting units that shared Brady’s locker room and sideline, but their backups: The Dirty Show.The Patriots’ scout-team defense earned its “Dirty Show” nickname from former linebackers coach Pepper Johnson, who orchestrated the unit that pestered Brady in practice, occasionally to the point of repeated outbursts. Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien once referred to Johnson as the best scout-team coach ever; a coach who turned a mash unit of backups into a loud and proud defense that brought out the worst in the greatest of all time.Unlike most franchise hallmarks from that era, the Dirty Show tradition remains fiercely alive in Foxboro.“It’s about dudes who want to grind every day, show up to work and have fun doing it,” said Pats cornerback Alex Austin.According to Dirty Show cast members who previously playe...

Britain says a Royal Navy ship has shot down an attack drone over the Red Sea

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A Royal Navy warship has shot down a suspected attack drone targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea, Britain’s defense secretary said Saturday.Grant Shapps said that HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was “targeting merchant shipping.” The overnight action is the first time the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial target in anger since the 1991 Gulf War.Shapps said attacks on commercial ships in the global trade artery by Yemen’s Houthi rebels “represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”“The U.K. remains committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade,” he said in a statement.Global shipping has become a target during the war between Israel and Hamas, which like the Houthis is backed by Iran. The Houthis have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as well as launching drones and missiles targeting Israel.Earlier this month, three commercial ships in the Re...

Northbound highway 400 closed due to crash

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

An early morning crash involving a car and transport truck has closed a portion of Highway 400 in Vaughan.Ontario Provincial Police said just before 6 a.m. Saturday the northbound lanes of the highway were shut down at Bass Pro Mills Drive due to a motor vehicle collision. Photos from the scene show a badly damaged Tesla against the barrier of the passing lane of the highway and approximately 100 metres to the north, a transport truck with heavy damage to the front end sits in a ditch on the right-hand side.Transport truck with front end damage following an early morning crash on Highway 400 in Vaughan on Dec. 16, 2023. CITYNEWS/James TumeltyPolice have not indicated if anyone was seriously injured or any other details as to what may have led up to the crash. It’s unknown how long the highway will be closed.

Concern rises over number of Canadian seniors going lost or missing due to dementia

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

MONTREAL — The number of older people reported missing in Canada is raising an alarm bell for advocates, who warn the problem will only get worse as the population ages and more people are diagnosed with dementia or cognitive impairmentsWhile fewer older adults were reported missing during the COVID-19 pandemic, police forces in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are among those that have seen an increase this year in missing people over the age of 60.Laura Tamblyn Watts, the CEO of seniors advocacy organization CanAge, said an aging population means more seniors are getting lost. And police statistics tell only part of the story, she said, because most people are found by family and caregivers before police are called.“Reports by police should be seen as the tip of the iceberg,” Tamblyn Watts said in a phone interview. “But that iceberg is getting bigger, so the number of people in that tip is getting significantly bigger as well.”The Canadian Press requested data ...

Communications blackout, spiraling hunger compound misery in Gaza Strip as war enters 11th week

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

A prolonged communications blackout that severed telephone and internet connections compounded the misery Saturday in the besieged Gaza Strip, where a United Nations agency said hunger levels had spiraled in recent days.Internet and telephone lines went down Thursday evening and were still inaccessible Saturday morning, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org, hampering aid deliveries and rescue efforts as Israel’s war against Gaza’s ruling militant group Hamas stretched into the 11th week.The blackout is the longest in the over-two-month war, said Alp Toker, the group’s director. The United Nations’ humanitarian affairs department said communications with Gaza were “severely disrupted” due to damage to telecommunications lines in the south.“I cannot stress enough the dire consequences of this communications blackout on our ability to provide essential humanitarian aid,” Fikr Shalltoot, director of the Medical Aid for Palestinians group in Gaza, told Th...

Fentanyl child exposure deaths demand urgent attention

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:54:49 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A 500% surge in child fentanyl exposure deaths has a child safety panel demanding your attention.The warning comes from the St. Louis County Child Fatality Review Panel, a first-of-its-kind panel in the nation that gathers dozens of health professionals along with police and prosecutors. Panel members meet every month to look at trends and search for solutions to dangers that are killing our children. This week, a staggering trend involving children exposed to fentanyl shook even the most seasoned professionals.North County Cooperative Major Ron Martin called it “sickening,” while St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell added that it’s “100% preventable.” Two St. Louis-area highways among ‘America’s most loathed,’ report says The safety panel, this week, reviewed the report from the Missouri Department of Social Services which warned that the scourge of fentanyl is impacting children who don’t even know what’s happening.Take it from a 40-year veteran cop, w...