In many ways, he’s right. The White House cites low inflation (2.5 percent last year), a low ““misery index’’ (that combines inflation with unemployment), low mortgage interest rates (7.3 percent on fixed-rate loans) and soaring stocks. But Americans vote their paychecks, not their mortgage rates, and by that measure Clinton is in trouble. When he pops the election-year question ““Are you better off now than you were four years ago?...
Left with time on his hands after nonessential businesses shut down, Ryan O’Connell, a Philadelphia DJ, is working to get meals in the hands of medical professionals on the frontline of the new coronavirus outbreak. “I was just sitting here with idle time and idle hands and started thinking about what I could do to help,” O’Connell told Newsweek. After hearing from a few close friends who are nurses about the difficulties of ordering food in between patients, O’Connell started a GoFundMe that would simultaneously help health care workers and small businesses....
I’ve heard that some people who get cancer find religion. As much as I would have liked it if that had happened to me, I never found religion when I got sick with lymphoma two years ago. That’s not to say I didn’t pray. When I had to get a diagnostic gallium scan of my body, lying perfectly still in a tube for three hours, not knowing what future the results would bring for me and my family, I discovered that I knew the Lord’s Prayer....
COWEN: Yes. I think the governments understand that this issue cannot be addressed by either overt or covert surrender. The priority of everyone in the North, including the unionists, is to have these weapons put beyond use–verifiably and in a way which maximizes public confidence. For the British government there are security considerations which of course are part of the equation. Our firm view is that the way you ensure that dissidents have no prospects of becoming any sort of threat is to show that politics work....
They all got more than they bargained for. The meeting didn’t last minutes, but half an hour. The president, relaxed and in control, drew Sen. Hillary Clinton into a warm, familial exchange. He treated Sen. Charles Schumer like a long-lost fraternity brother. As for their aid request, “I’m with ya,” the president said eagerly–and it was approved by Congress the next day. The Virginians got promises of aid, too, and the warlike words all four senators yearned for....
Spiegel’s beginnings are fuzzy. Born poor in what is now Poland, he traveled to Vienna, Berlin, Palestine and Canada by the time he was 30–doing what, it’s not always clear. Eventually, he wound up in Hollywood and landed a job at MGM. Chased out of America by immigration authorities, he returned to Europe, where he parlayed his new credentials into a production gig. By the time he returned to Hollywood at 37, Spiegel was a small but credible player....
For months senior White House and Pentagon advisers have portrayed Krekar and his group as the missing link between Saddam and bin Laden. The joint Iraqi-Al Qaeda sponsorship of Ansar was supposed to be a major reason for Saddam’s inclusion as a target in the war on terror. In some respects Saddam and bin Laden could hardly find a more congenial mutual ally. Rival Kurds have described Krekar as a “mentally unstable megalomaniac with a voracious appetite for blood....
And as Michelle Obama captures the media’s attention, I am reminded of my past foolishness. She is a strong, smart black woman who does not hesitate to speak her mind—and that has been the source of her appeal. But as her husband rises from underdog to front runner, and Michelle becomes more visible and vocal in the campaign, those “feisty dame” stereotypes that had been her strengths might be turning around to bite her....
In the end, it wasn’t the voters he had to worry about. Edwards, who won a fourth term as governor after being cleared in the second of two federal trials (the first ended in a hung jury), has also been the target of 22 grand-jury investigations. Last week, after the jury found him guilty of 17 counts, Edwards said, “The Chinese have a saying: if you sit by the river long enough, the dead body of your enemy will come floating down the river....
After the first half of "60 Minutes" detailed the league's case against Alex Rodriguez, who on Saturday was suspended for the entirety of the 2014 season, CBS' Scott Pelley offered the final word. MORE: MLB, lawyer reaction statements | Baseball in open court? Go for it | Tanaka talk "And Bud Selig has announced his retirement as commissioner of baseball," Pelley said. "Part of his legacy is the establishment of the toughest anti-doping rules in all of American pro sports....
A-Rod’s Yankees begin a two-game series with the Marlins in Miami on Monday night. With Rodriquez at 2,995 hits entering Sunday’s home game against the Orioles, there’s a possibility he will eclipse that 3,000 milestone in Marlins Park. MORE: Baseball’s worst everyday players While Rodriguez’s reputation has taken a well-documented beating in recent years because of the PED scandal and resulting season-long suspension in 2014, he remains a popular figure in South Florida....
Kazmir, who turns 29 next month, went 10-9 with a 4.04 ERA and 1.323 WHIP for the Cleveland Indians in 2013. It was a huge comeback year for the former All-Star, who didn't pitch at all in the majors in 2012 after pitching just one game in 2011.
Mitchell’s first novel, “Ghostwritten,” was an immediate hit when it was published two years ago. Shortlisted for England’s Booker Prize, it drew raves from the likes of novelist A. S. Byatt and The New York Times, which listed it as one of the best books of 2000. The new novel proves that debut was no fluke. “Number9Dream” is always at least as much fun as a good carnival ride–or a good pop tune: the title comes from a John Lennon song....
Embraced as a national hero by Ronald Reagan, North was convicted in May 1989 of obstructing Congress, unlawfully altering and destroying NSC documents and accepting an illegal gift–a $13,800 homesecurity system–from fellow Iran-contra defendant Richard Secord. In last week’s ruling, two of the three members of the federal panel, both Reagan appointees, threw out North’s felony conviction for destroying documents, on the ground that trial judge Gerhard Gesell gave the jury erroneous instructions last year....
And so round one of an 11-month federal undercover operation against the Freemen movement went to the Feds-much to the chagrin of Schweitzer’s supporters on the ultraright. Like many in the militia movement, Schweitzer is known for his radical opposition to government and the law. Unlike many, he is also known to authorities as the progenitor of an elaborate scheme to bilk banks and businesses of what may be millions of dollars, using phony money orders and certified checks....
In 1987 a sudden increase in home runs produced the “Happy Haitian” explanation: Baseballs were then manufactured in Haiti and the theory was that the fall of the Duvalier regime so inspirited Haitians that they worked with more pep, pulling the stitching tighter, thereby flattening the seams-and flattening curve balls. The smoother balls had less wind resistance to give them movement when pitched, or to slow their subsequent flight over outfielders....
The clause, which starts on page 470 of the massive bill, includes language that will ensure the Food and Drug Administration can review new, more innovative ingredients for over-the-counter sunscreen. The provision also includes an update to the 2014 Sunscreen Innovation Act, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell co-sponsored at the time. He noted in a news release then that it would benefit consumers, as well as Kentucky workers who manufactured such skincare ingredients in the state....
When L Company got down to fighting tanks, I knew our 2.36 bazooka didn’t work. The seat in hell closest to the fire is reserved for the Army officers who knew this and didn’t tell. I climbed on the top of the first Soviet-made T-34 tank. The Koreans would open their plug, stick out a burp gun and fire it to clear people off the tank’s back. Being safe on top, I hit the plug with my rifle butt and broke the chain....
