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Modi opponents boycott opening of new Indian Parliament; PM says it breaks with colonial past

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s major opposition parties on Sunday boycotted the inauguration of a new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a rare show of unity against his Hindu nationalist ruling party, which has ruled for nine years and is seeking a third term in next year’s elections.Modi inaugurated the new Parliament in the capital of New Delhi by offering prayers as Hindu priests chanted religious hymns. Opposition parties criticized the event saying Modi had sidelined President Droupadi Murmu, who has only ceremonial powers but is the head of state and highest constitutional authority.Shortly after the inauguration, a visibly beaming Modi entered Parliament amid a rousing applause by his party lawmakers who chanted “Modi, Modi.” He delivered an almost 40-minute speech in which he hailed India’s parliamentary democracy and said the country had left behind its colonial past, referring to the old Parliament building that was built by the British whe...

Other voices: Dignity Act, a start on immigration reform, deserves a fair hearing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

As the debt ceiling showdown moves toward the critical stages, a bipartisan House group has offered a path forward on another controversial issue: immigration.On Tuesday, a handful of Democrats and Republicans in the lower chamber announced they would introduce the Dignity Act, which The Washington Post described as “the most robust immigration proposal to date this Congress.”Notably, the six main co-sponsors — three Republican, three Democrat — are Hispanic members of Congress who represent border states. The primary authors are Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.“We’re not each pursuing the perfect as we see it,” Rep. Salazar said. “We are pursuing a compromise that is real, that is common sense.”As such, the legislation has something for everyone to hate. It includes beefed-up border security, anathema to progressives, and a pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally, a thorn ...

Ask Amy: My grandparents seem rich and healthy, and I’d like my inheritance now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

Dear Amy: I’m almost 30. My grandparents are in their 80s and healthy.They have told me that they will be leaving me money in their will and, although I’m not sure the amount, they seem to be quite prosperous.I am considering asking them for my inheritance ahead of their passing. My experience during the pandemic has given me a very strong desire to travel for several months.I think my grandparents might feel gratified witnessing me enjoying their legacy, but I don’t know how to ask them.Your advice?– Grateful GrandchildDear Grandchild: There are many factors here which you don’t include. These would be: your grandparents’ health, future housing and medical needs, and their willingness to be manipulated by an adventure-seeking grandchild.Some of this depends on the culture of your family, and of how these elders have lived their own lives.You need to consider the possibility that watching you enjoy yourself might not be as gratifying to this elderly couple as you think.One or both o...

What We’re Reading and Watching

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

Fiction“Nights of Plague,” Orhan PamukLike many other people during the pandemic, I searched for books that could help me understand the impact of a mass disease outbreak on society. Above any book of epidemiology or history, however, I found that this novel by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk about an outbreak of plague on a fictional Mediterranean island to be the most enlightening about how disease can sap the human spirit and break open divisions within a society. His writing is darkly humorous and full of pathos — highly recommended for anyone looking for a novel to immerse themselves in this summer. – Murtaza Hussain“Cuatro Manos,” Paco Ignacio Taibo II The novel “Cuatro Manos” was published in 1997 and features major historical characters and events from 20th century Latin America. Taibo, a renowned author and activist in Mexico, guides us through a story of two journalists in the 1980s. They begin to investigate unpublished and undiscovered works by Russian revolutionary Leon Tro...

Grilling out this Memorial Day weekend? The do’s and don’ts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

At Virginia Tech University’s real test food kitchen, the director has one looming goal.“My first priority is to safety,” said Melissa Wright, who heads up the university’s Food Producer Technical Assistance Network.Every year, the unofficial start to summer grilling season comes with a few warnings. The first: avoid cross-contamination, by separating raw meat and fresh produce and toppings, Wright said.“That ground meat is probably going to have E-coli in it, which is a natural organism,” she said. “Think about your wooden cutting boards. You cut it and there’s a groove in there, that bacteria loves to live in that groove. Have separate meat and produce cutting boards.”Also, pay close attention to cooking temperatures, especially for beef-alternative products. Wright said many people tend to overlook the cooking labels when cooking soy, pea or chickpea proteins.Although those proteins don’t have animal products, they still have ingredients that need to reach a certain temperature b...

Overall Nice and Hot Memorial Day Weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

Well if you enjoyed Saturday’s weather, which featuring considerably fewer showers along with more sunshine, then you should enjoy the remainder of the long, Memorial Day holiday weekend.Similar as yesterday, Sunday will begin with lots of sunshine and building clouds by the late-morning. Some of those clouds clouds eventually turn into isolated showers and storms along the east coast sea breeze but moisture levels are not terribly high, keeping rain chances low at a 30% chance. There will also be a westerly wind in place through at least the first half of the day which will drive highs quickly up and into the upper 80s to low 90s at most locations.Then on Memorial Day on Monday, the forecast will be fairly similar with dry conditions to start, then there will be the risk for seeing an afternoon shower or two. The only difference is that there will be filtered sunshine in place, keeping skies partly sunny and hazy-looking.By Tuesday, moisture levels begin to gradually ramp bac...

Churchill Downs ‘troubled’ after 12th horse death in past 2 months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

(CNN) — Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, says it is “troubled” by the recent spate of horse deaths after racetrack officials on Saturday announced two more horses were put down.The euthanizations of Lost in Limbo on Friday and Kimberley Dream on Saturday at the track mean a dozen horses have died at Churchill Downs in the past two months.Kimberley Dream suffered a “significant injury” to her left front leg in Saturday’s first race, according to the company that owns the track.A similar injury impacted Lost in Limbo during Friday’s seventh race, and veterinarians deemed the injuries “inoperable and unrecoverable” in both cases, Churchill Downs Inc. said in a news release.The 12 horse deaths have occurred since the track’s stable area reopened for training on March 30, the release stated.The company said it reported the “highly unusual statistic” with “absolute dismay and sorrow.”“We do not accept this as suitable or tolerable and share the frustrations of t...

Howie Carr: Boston City Hall arrest opens position for other desperate folks ready for the Reparations Task Force

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

Try not to let the recent after-hours arrest at City Hall of the coordinator of the totally on-the-level Boston Task Force on Reparations destroy your faith in the integrity of this vitally important grift, er, restorative justice initiative.Surely there must be some mistake here!How dare the cops assume that a distinguished scholar like George Washington Williams IV “appeared to be under the influence of some narcotic” just because he got into a scuffle with the local constabulary late at night in an abandoned upper-floor office.The world-renowned “social demographer,” who has beaten numerous minor raps over the years, has since been fired by The Man, in this case Mayor Michelle Wu.That’s the bad news. The good news is, there are plenty of good candidates of color ready, willing and desperate to pick up the burden of this vitally important mission.Two names immediately come to mind: Rachael Rollins and Monica Cannon-Grant.Those two are certainly experts on reparations. Until recent...

Where have Cubs players lived over the years? The suburbs were a popular choice for decades. And many have rented.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

The Chicago Cubs have played on Chicago’s North Side for 116 years, since the team moved north from West Side Park.And although many Cubs players have owned homes in the Chicago area over the years, a review of the locations where players have owned shows a distinct trend: Throughout much of the 1960s through the ‘80s, most Cubs players were loath to own homes anywhere in the city, and instead favored the north, northwest and western suburbs as places to hang their ball caps.However, since the 1980s, far more of the homeowning Cubs have bought places in the city than in the suburbs. Also striking: In the past few years, only a select few Cubs have bought Chicago-area homes of any kind.Many rentersMost major league baseball players rent homes in their teams’ cities. Many lead an itinerant lifestyle, as they are subject to the whims of team owners who can trade or release them at any time, and the advent of free agency has made long careers with any one team rare.Als...

Divided MassGOP plays blame game for $600K party debt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:32:21 GMT

Who’s to blame for the precarious financial position of the Massachusetts Republican Party will be hashed out at an upcoming committee meeting.Two factions of a divided state committee have put forth competing agenda items, which would seek votes for the removal of the party’s top two financial officers, and bring last year’s gubernatorial candidate in for questioning about “campaign finance irregularities” that led to roughly half of the party’s $600,000 debt.“Basically, of all the debt that I inherited as party chair, nearly half we’ve attributed to the Diehl campaign,” said MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale, referring to losing Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl. “Then about a quarter we believe the party is responsible for, and about a quarter is still under review.”The party’s debt now stands at roughly $628,000, up from the $602,000 figure that was estimated in the weeks that followed Carnevale’s narrow win over former chair Jim Lyons this past January, Carnevale told th...