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Munce: Do presidential debates matter for ’24 election?

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

Televised presidential debates during the general election are viewed as the ultimate candidate showcase. They give voters the opportunity to watch competing worldviews and policy positions clash on America’s most significant political stage. Viewers get to test their assumptions about the candidates in real-time.Voters want to know how a potential commander in chief will perform in the face of adversity, and facing off against the other party’s nominee and hostile moderators is a great test.But do this cycle’s primary debates provide that same value? There is a fair argument to make that the answer is no.Because the candidates’ policy positions from either party are often similar, primary debates are much less about policy and overwhelmingly about character and personalities. In the modern era, the best debaters rarely go on to secure the nomination.Nobody will accuse George W. Bush or Mitt Romney of being debate-club presidents, and John McCain’s performances were often viewed as ...

Franks: A distracted Joe Biden isn’t good for America

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

I am not that concerned with exploring what has “happened.” I am more concerned with exploring what is “happening.” I would rather prepare for 2024 and beyond, than relive 2020.I am more concerned with the actions of a powerful person who can affect my life greatly, than a powerless person who cannot. Therein, for me, lies the difference between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.A distracted president can be a problem to America and the world. Today we have two Bidens with special counsels and one for Trump along with four indictments. All unprecedented. The good judgment of a sitting president is critical.I will always profess that the worst crimes are the ones where people make money wrongfully – off the backs of society and/or where their actions result in direct harm to Americans, our allies, or the innocent. Maybe that is why polls show that most Republicans are not phased by the unfolding Trump dramas.Also, no one is claiming Trump made money from the actio...

‘Landscape with Invisible Hand’ so-so sci-fi

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

From director Cory Finley of “Thoroughbreds” comes “Landscape with Invisible Hand,” an alien invasion drama that sounds like the title of a painting by David Hockney. In the manner of alien invasion films, “Landscape with Invisible Hand,” which is based on a 2017 YA novel by award-winning author M.T Anderson, is set on an alien-colonized planet Earth circa 2036.To the “Star Trek”-y tune of a theremin, the film involves the take-over of our planet by beings known as the Vuvv, who hover around the planet on enormous spacecraft, although one of them cannot operate a TV remote. Although someone describes the Vuvv as resembling “gooey coffee tables,” the truth is they resemble plucked turkeys more than anything else (and so does the movie). Their language sounds like scratchy hiccups. They are the size of large turkeys, have a pinkish skin, eyes on long stalks, four limbs ending in pads, and they can communicate with humans using a translating device. Meat is “printed” by alien technolog...

Dear Abby: Mom’s worn out by daughter’s bad decisions

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

Dear Abby: Our daughter (age 21) has made a series of bad choices and failed relationships since she was 16. She went to college and quit (twice), joined the Air Force and hated it, but managed to get a “general discharge.” At age 19, she had a baby with a high school dropout and violent drug abuser. They’ve had an on/off relationship. He has pushed, shoved and outright hit her, destroyed two of her phones, hit her sister and smashed her phone. He took my daughter’s car while fleeing the police, leaving her and the baby stranded. We have paid countless sums of money for an attorney and sent her more to get her car. She has lied and deceived us on her relationship status. We wanted to believe our daughter.Now they are back together! We sent the police for a wellness check, and they say she is OK. As you can imagine, we are heartbroken. Our other children are doing well and keep me sane. When people ask about our kids, what do we say about her? I want something...

Coyote Fire forces school closures in parts of rural East County

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Mountain Empire Unified School District will be closed on Friday due to a fire burning in the Potrero community, education officials said.The Coyote Fire, which has grown to 400 acres and is 5% contained as of Thursday evening, prompted evacuations in the Potrero community. With an evacuation order still in place, Mountain Empire High School will be used as an evacuation center by the Red Cross, Music Watson with the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) told FOX 5. Hilary upgraded to hurricane: What does this mean for San Diego? Education officials announced the closure of all schools in the Mountain Unified School District for safety purposes."The safety of our students, their families, and our staff remains our top priority, and the district will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as they become available," Watson said.Potrero Elementary School was also evacuated out of an abundance of caution, according to SDCOE.At least one ...

‘Blue Beetle’ actors may be sidelined by the strike, but their director is keeping focus on them

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a normal summer, Friday’s arrival of “Blue Beetle,” the first DC superhero movie to feature a Latino lead, would be a splashy, triumphant moment for its filmmakers and stars. But with actors and screenwriters on strike, the film’s promotional campaign has been without its lead cast.That’s left director Ángel Manuel Soto as the main voice promoting the film, a rare big-budget summer movie highlighting Latinos and Latino culture. Soto has taken the burden in stride and found clever ways to spotlight his cast.At a film screening this week, Soto and his wife held a picture of “Blue Beetle” star Xolo Maridueña over their faces as photographers snapped them. For a series of promotional interviews, he wore a special shirt with the film’s Latino cast represented as Mexican Loteria cards, a clever homage for a movie infused with Latino music and culture.While Soto acknowledges some initial disappointment with the timing of the strike and his movi...

Wildfire evacuations ordered for thousands of people in West Kelowna, B.C.

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

Hundreds of properties were ordered to evacuate late Thursday under threat from a wildfire near the city of West Kelowna, B.C., which has been placed under a state of emergency.Central Okanagan Emergency Operations ordered the evacuation of close to a thousand homes, representing about 2,500 people, with thousands of other properties placed on alert and residents warned to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.“Tactical evacuation is already underway,” the operations centre said in a statement, adding that residents subject to the evacuation orders must leave immediately.Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department, said the evacuation order area was likely to grow Thursday night.“I don’t want people to panic, but I always want people to take it seriously,” Brolund said at a press conference Thursday evening.About 6,000 other properties were already on evacuation alert due to the out-of-control McDougall Creek wildfire, which began Tu...

China’s Xi calls for measures to mitigate disastrous flooding amid economic slowdown

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for measures to mitigate the effects of this year’s disastrous flooding which has left scores dead and inflicted massive damage on crops, homes and infrastructure, including in and around Beijing. At least 90 rivers have risen above warning levels and 24 have already overflowed their banks, according to state media, threatening a vast area in northeastern China with flooding, including the Songliao Basin north of the capital, which encompasses more than 1.2 million square kilometers (482,200 square miles) with a population of almost 100 million.“As China is still in the main flood season, rainstorms, floods, typhoons and other disasters still occur frequently in many places across the country,” the Xinhua News Agency said, summarizing conclusions of Thursday’s meeting of the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee presided over by President Xi. Participants “urged relevant localities and departments to always priori...

Firefighters are trying to put out a peatland fire threatening homes on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

PALEMBANG, Indonesia (AP) — Firefighters on Friday were trying to put out a peatland fire on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island that was growing in size near a dense residential area.The effort is made difficult by the limited firefighting equipment and distant water source, a one-hour trip to the fire’s location in the area of Pulau Negara village in South Sumatra province.Local residents are helping the firefighters since the fire is burning near their homes. The number of homes at risk was not immediately available.The fire started in bushes and trees Wednesday and was burning close to a highway that connects the Ogan Ilir district capital to Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra province.“The local joint task force is trying to prevent the fire from spreading to the toll road causing dense smog,” said Haniman, an official from the firefighting task force.Indonesia’s forest and land fires are an annual problem that strains relations with neighboring countries. The smok...

Migos’ Quavo releases ‘Rocket Power,’ his first solo album since Takeoff’s death

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:11:02 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Migos rapper Quavo has released his second solo album, “Rocket Power,” which includes two tracks with his late bandmate Takeoff.It is Quavo’s first full-length release since Takeoff was fatally shot outside a private party at a downtown Houston bowling alley in 2022. The pair join forces on the tracks “Patty Cake” and “Back Where It Begins,” which also features Future.“Rocket Power,” was scheduled to be released two weeks ago, but was delayed to “run some more tests before the rocket is ready to launch,” Quavo wrote on Instagram.Little was known about the album prior to its release. In late May, Quavo teased “Rocket Power” on Instagram, writing, “This album is for the Rocket our true fans and also this is my therapy. This is album is a true reflection of how I feel right now. Sometimes I’m Good, sometimes I’m Down, sometimes I’m Disappointed, sometimes I fall apart but then I ALWAYS find my strength again.”“Rocket Power” follows Quavo’s solo debut albu...