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Carr: Supreme Court decision ends racism of affirmative action

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

Outlawing colleges’ overtly racist admissions policies was long overdue, and I’m glad the Supreme Court ruled the way it did yesterday.But is it going to have any impact in real life?Ask yourself why colleges like Harvard have already gone “test-optional,” meaning SAT’s and ACT’s and the rest of the standardized tests that can’t be gamed by academic Marxists are out the window.Harvard and UNC and all the rest of them are now going to rely a lot more on say, essays, in which otherwise unqualified high school students can make it very clear whether they’re members of protected classes, or not.In the 6-3 majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts warned against that obvious grift, saying that “universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”Oh yeah? Just watch them do it, Mr. Chief Justice. They may get sued, but that’s where that $50 billion Harvard endowment will come in handy.The pampered pukes pushing this newest ...

How Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe used his ‘sneaky’ arsenal and a keen sense of self to become a top reliever

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

The Orioles’ two best relievers are so because they have two dominant pitches. Their third best is so because he doesn’t have one.Danny Coulombe, unlike Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano and most of baseball’s top relievers, doesn’t have one or two pitches that define who he is. He doesn’t have Bautista’s gravity-defying fastball or devastating splitter, nor does he have Cano’s ground-and-pound sinker or his screwball-esque changeup.Instead, Coulombe is having the best season of his nine-year MLB career and is one of the sport’s top left-handed relievers thanks to an unconventional six-pitch arsenal — one he’s crafted by developing a keen sense of self.“I think that half the battle is figuring out who you are and what makes you good and doing that as much as you can,” Coulombe said.Before this season, Coulombe’s career had been marred by arm-slot changes, mechanical tweaks, pitch-mix tinkering and an injur...

Putin ally’s son who flew drone over the Arctic violated law, Norway Supreme Court says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s top court on Friday ruled that the son of a Russian businessman close to President Vladimir Putin violated a law that bars Russians from flying drones when he flew drones over the Arctic last year.The Supreme Court’s decision overturned a lower court’s ruling, saying said that “the flight ban for Russian citizens includes drone flights,” making it illegal for Russian companies or citizens “to land on, take off from or fly over Norwegian territory” as the Scandinavian country’s law states.Norway, like the European Union, decided on the ban in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine.Last year, a Norwegian district court had ruled that flying a hobby drone was not covered by the sanction regulations.Andrey Yakunin, who holds both a Russian and a British passport and who lives in Italy, was arrested in Hammerfest, in Arctic Norway, on Oct. 17, after he had sailed around the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard and along the coast of Norway.Yaku...

EU leaders resume migration talks as Poland and Hungary demand that the rules be changed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders opened a second day of migration talks Friday as Poland and Hungary continued to block progress after they were outvoted earlier this month on a plan to share refugees arriving in Europe among the 27 member countries.Some leaders said that Poland and Hungary seemed to be fighting a battle started years ago, when well over 1 million migrants entered Europe, most of them refugees fleeing Syria, in 2015 and sparked one of the bloc’s biggest crises. Others said the two simply must not be permitted to break EU rules.“My feeling was there’s a lot of bitterness about the debates on migration from 2015,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters at EU headquarters in Brussels. “If you just say no to everything and everybody else tries to compromise that doesn’t really work out.”Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said that “Hungary was totally adamant” about having the issue removed altogether from the leader’s final summit commu...

Europe inflation slips to 5.5% – but that won’t stop central bank rate hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in Europe slid again in June but fell too slowly to offer much relief to shoppers grumbling over price tags or to stop more interest rate hikes that will raise the cost of borrowing across the economy. The annual rate of 5.5% was down from 6.1% in May in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.While that is a big drop from the peak of 10.6% in October, persistently high prices in the U.S., Europe and the United Kingdom pushed some of the world’s top central bankers to make clear they are going to keep raising rates and leave them there until inflation drops to their 2% goal considered best for the economy. Consumers saw relief on energy prices, which dropped 5.6% after last year’s crisis, while food price inflation was up 11.7%, easing from 12.5% in May. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel and offers a clearer picture of longer-term price pressures, rose s...

UAlbany women's basketball embracing "fresh start"

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Summer workouts are underway for the University at Albany women's basketball team. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! It's a unique roster build that head coach Colleen Mullen will roll out this upcoming season. Only one member of last year's primary starting five, Kayla Cooper, returns. But four key bench players are back, including Greenwich native and Cambridge Central graduate Lilly Phillips, who started 31 games as a freshman, but was hampered by injuries last season.With eight newcomers on the roster as well, including Shenendehowa grad and Providence College junior transfer Meghan Huerter, the team is embracing a potential "new-look" approach."It's really exciting to kind of have a fresh start," said Mullen. "We have a really nice balance of returners and players that are new, whether they're freshmen, or transfers. Kayla Cooper coming back - she's a huge piece. And Lilly Phillips, who's started...

Ukraine calls for signal on NATO membership at alliance summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged NATO on Wednesday (28 June) to send Ukraine a clear signal at a summit next month that it can join the military alliance when Russia's war on his country ends.In a speech to parliament on Ukraine's Constitution Day, he suggested global leaders should stop thinking about how Moscow would react when taking decisions about Ukraine, and described Russia's political and military leaders as "bandits".He then set out what Kyiv expects of the July 11-12 NATO summit in Lithuania after holding talks in the Ukrainian capital with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda."We understand that we cannot be a member of NATO during the war, but we need to be sure that after the war we will be," Zelenskyy told a joint press conference."That is the signal we want to get - that after the war Ukraine will be a member of NATO".Zelenskyy said Kyiv also hoped to receive security guarantees at the summit to help protect Ukraine until it is ac...

Ask Amy: I haven’t talked to my brother since this incident at his son’s wedding reception

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

Dear Amy: My older brother and I are the last ones left of our immediate family. I’m gay and have had a tough time being close to him.Related ArticlesAdvice | Ask Amy: He’s refusing to hand over the big gift the bride was counting on Advice | Ask Amy: I’m unhappily single, and I’m hurt by what my co-workers say Advice | Ask Amy: When she called him, he denied even having a daughter Advice | Ask Amy: I can’t stop thinking about the wonderful life that I lost Advice | Ask Amy: This is the update that I found most moving My brother and his wife are conservative and never ask me about my personal life. I feel like I’m the one doing the heavy lifting to stay in touch, now that our mother is gone. (My sister-in-law never made room for my mother or me when my mother was alive, but I thought it was because she didn’t like our mom.)Last year, I attended the wedding of my brother’s yo...

Harriette Cole: My enemy has moved to my city and I’m afraid we’ll run into each other

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: I recently discovered that a relative I had a bad falling-out with years ago now lives in the same small city as me.I moved here first, and I heard that they moved here for work. It’s a huge coincidence. They don’t know that I live here.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: They say if I dye my hair blond, they won’t be my friends Advice | Harriette Cole: She had no right to approach my ex without my consent Advice | Harriette Cole: Should I tell my hometown friend why I’m annoyed at her? Advice | Harriette Cole: It was a completely innocent message, but he unfollowed me Advice | Harriette Cole: I’ve started to worry about my girlfriend’s ethics I’m afraid of running into them unexpectedly and not knowing how to handle the situation. What’s the proper protocol for running into someone you parted with on bad terms? Should I try to avoid th...

Biden Fast-Tracked a Green Energy Mine in One of Earth’s Rarest Ecosystems. Arizona Locals Took It to Court.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

Carolyn Shafer spread the maps out on her patio table. Another sun-dappled Saturday morning under her backyard trees in the picturesque border town of Patagonia, Arizona. Shafer wasn’t relaxing though. She was getting to work.Birds chirped as the 76-year-old traced the 75,000 acres of mining claims on the edge of her community with her finger. She wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with a fearsome wolf hovering above a rugged mountain range. The wolf is the calling card of the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, or PARA. The local group monitors industrialized mining in the Patagonia Mountains, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. Schafer is president of the board.“This is our new logo,” she said, picking up a pamphlet with the wolf on the front. The old mascot — a cute cartoon dog — no longer matched the moment. A vigilant pack animal sent a more appropriate message.“We think of ourselves as local watchdogs,” Schafer told me. “We pay attention to what’s going on with the companie...