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David Brooks: Mitt Romney has given us a gift

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

Sometimes you do things that make you feel ashamed. It was the first day of the Republican convention in 2012, and I had nothing to write about, so I wrote a humor column mocking the Romney family for being perfect in every way. It was a hit with readers, but the afternoon it was published I crossed paths with two of Mitt Romney’s sons, and they looked at me with hurt in their eyes, which pierced me. I’d ridiculed people for the sin of being admirable.A few years later, before he was a senator, Romney asked me to come out to Utah to give a talk to a group he was convening. It’s a pain to write a speech and get on a plane, but I did it in penance for my sins. Of course, all the Romneys were lovely to me, as is their nature. And I learned a lesson: The partisans may applaud if you ridicule those you admire, of any political stripe, but stay faithful to them.We all struggle to be the best version of ourselves we can be, and Romney’s struggle is now taking him into retirement and out of...

Ask Amy: Engaged man is a fool for love

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

Dear Amy: I’m writing in reference to my recent engagement.I was alone for a long time and met a woman at work and fell deeply in love with her. Two nights a week, she comes to my place for dinner, and we are intimate. Then she leaves at 10 p.m.Two months ago, I asked her to marry me and she said yes!But our situation is very unusual.She lives with the guy she has been with for 15 years. She has two children with him. They are not married and she told me there are no feelings or intimacy between them — and I believe that.But she still sleeps in the same bed with him. I haven’t met her kids and my place is too small to have them.So when she comes to my place and we are intimate and then she goes home, I have a hard time dealing with that.I try not to think about it, but sometimes it gets the best of me.Any advice? Am I being a fool?— Foolish FianceDear Fiance: There are different categories of fools. You are in the “fool-for-love” category. Being a fool for love is ...

Why pay a seller concession when we are ready for retirement?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

Question: In your column, you suggest that home sellers pay for presale seller inspections. You go on to promote home sellers to buy down the prospective homebuyer’s mortgage interest rates. You call it a seller concession. When we were homebuyers, we paid for our inspection. We also paid our closing costs without any seller assistance. The same goes for all adult children. We are about to put our Bay Area family home of 40 years on the market. Why would we add those costs to ourselves when we need the proceeds for our retirement?  Answer: The utility of presale seller inspections exponentially increases consumer confidence in the homebuyers’ minds. This is my experience. Presale seller inspections dramatically reduce the chances of post-sale litigation. Full stop. As homebuyers, you and your adult children bought homes at one standard of practice. Agents included. You all should set exacting standards of practice as home sellers. It pays. Home sellers offering to buy down the prosp...

Word Game: Sept. 16, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — CHARLATANS (CHARLATANS: SHAHR-lih-tens: Fakers; frauds; quacks.)Average mark 50 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 60 or more words in CHARLATANS? The list will be published Monday.YESTERDAY’S WORD — PETTIFOGS peso pest pesto poet pogies poise pose posit post potties egis egoist egotist epos estop test tiptoe tope topi tote fest fist fogies foist gift gist goes sept sift site soft softie spigot spit spite spot step stet stogie stopTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed...

Most Cops Involved in High-Profile Killings Since 2014 Kept Their Police Licenses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

Rarely does a new police hire make national headlines. But when Myles Cosgrove got a job at the Carroll County sheriff’s department in northern Kentucky this past April, people had reason to pay attention.About three years earlier, he and his squad of Louisville police officers had used a battering ram to break into Breonna Taylor’s home during a deadly raid. Investigators later found that Cosgrove was one of three officers who fired their guns. While the Louisville police department ultimately fired Cosgrove for violating use-of-force procedures and not using his body camera, he eluded criminal charges and remains employable as a cop.That’s because he kept his police certification.He’s not the only one. Out of 54 officers involved in 14 high-profile killings that spurred Black Lives Matter protests in the last nine years, only 10 had their certifications or licenses revoked as a matter of disciplinary action, according to The Intercept’s analysis of certification documents obtained...

BMW PGA Championship Scores

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

FridayAt Wentworth ClubVirginia Water, United KingdomPurse: $9 millionYardage: 7,267; Par: 72Second RoundLudvig Aberg, Sweden68-66—134Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden70-64—134Thomas Detry, Belgium67-68—135Tommy Fleetwood, England69-66—135Masahiro Kawamura, Japan70-65—135Adrian Meronk, Poland67-68—135Marcus Helligkilde, Denmark64-72—136Aaron Rai, England69-67—136Sepp Straka, Austria70-66—136Matthew Baldwin, England67-70—137Jorge Campillo, Spain67-70—137Ryan Fox, New Zealand69-68—137Tyrrell Hatton, England68-69—137Tom Kim, South Korea70-67—137Connor Syme, Scotland67-70—137Matt Fitzpatrick, England66-72—138Billy Horschel, United States75-63—138Rikuya Hoshino, Japan67-71—138Nathan Kimsey, England70-68—138Pablo Larrazabal, Spain67-71—138Min Woo Lee, Australia71-67—138James Morrison, England67-71—138Jon Rahm, Spain71-67—138Robin Sciot-Siegrist, France69-69—138Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain72-67—139Calum Hill, Scotland68-71—139Viktor Hovland, Norway69-70—139Richie Ramsay, Scotland66-73—139Callum Shi...

BMW PGA Championship Par Scores

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

FridayAt Wentworth ClubVirginia Water, United KingdomPurse: $9 millionYardage: 7,267; Par: 72Second RoundLudvig Aberg, Sweden68-66—134-10Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden70-64—134-10Thomas Detry, Belgium67-68—135-9Tommy Fleetwood, England69-66—135-9Masahiro Kawamura, Japan70-65—135-9Adrian Meronk, Poland67-68—135-9Marcus Helligkilde, Denmark64-72—136-8Aaron Rai, England69-67—136-8Sepp Straka, Austria70-66—136-8Matthew Baldwin, England67-70—137-7Jorge Campillo, Spain67-70—137-7Ryan Fox, New Zealand69-68—137-7Tyrrell Hatton, England68-69—137-7Tom Kim, South Korea70-67—137-7Connor Syme, Scotland67-70—137-7Matt Fitzpatrick, England66-72—138-6Billy Horschel, United States75-63—138-6Rikuya Hoshino, Japan67-71—138-6Nathan Kimsey, England70-68—138-6Pablo Larrazabal, Spain67-71—138-6Min Woo Lee, Australia71-67—138-6James Morrison, England67-71—138-6Jon Rahm, Spain71-67—138-6Robin Sciot-Siegrist, France69-69—138-6Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain72-67—139-5Calum Hill, Scotland68-71—139-5Viktor Hovland, Nor...

Más allá de los fabricantes de automóviles: cómo puede afectar la huelga a la economía estadounidense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

(CNN) — Con la histórica huelga de United Auto Workers oficialmente en marcha, los expertos afirman que la economía de EE.UU. ya se está resintiendo, pero no es probable que el impacto lleve al país a una recesión.“Esto se debe a que la parte sindicalizada de la industria, aunque sigue siendo grande, ya no representa una parte tan importante de la economía nacional como antes”, declaró a CNN Gabriel Ehrlich, experto en previsiones económicas de la Universidad de Michigan.Pero el impacto final de la huelga depende de factores como su duración, si las empresas despiden a trabajadores de otras plantas, cuántos trabajadores abandonan sus puestos de trabajo y cuánto tardan los sindicatos y las empresas en negociar un acuerdo.El presidente de la UAW, Shawn Fain, afirmó que no van a “destrozar la economía”. “La verdad es que vamos a destrozar la economía multimillonaria”, dijo.Y aunque las estimaciones del impacto económico de la huelga no apuntan ...

Road lanes closed in Plantation as officials investigate hit-and-run

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

Crime scene units and Plantation Police are reportedly investigating a possible hit-and-run involving a pedestrian.Eastbound lanes of West Broward Boulevard between State Route 7 and Northwest 45th Avenue are closed due to the ongoing investigation. Video captured the pedestrian covered by a tarp. 7News is working to gather more information on this story. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Von der Leyen heads to Lampedusa as Italy battles migrant surge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:19 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel Sunday to the Italian island of Lampedusa, as the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni struggles with a surge in migrant arrivals. Eric Mamer, the Commission’s chief spokesperson, said on Saturday that von der Leyen is heading to the island on the invitation of Meloni. The Italian leader on Friday vowed to take “extraordinary measures” to curb the influx of migrants to Italy and called on the EU to help with a naval blockade to stop crossings in the Mediterranean Sea. In a video posted on social media, Meloni promised to take action following a surge of irregular migrant arrivals this week on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The far-right leader said she wrote to European Council President Charles Michel asking to address migration during an October EU summit and also invited von der Leyen to see conditions on Lampedusa.“I intend to reiterate a request for an immediate EU missi...