J Street Alumni Condemn “Pro-Peace” Group for Opposing Gaza Ceasefire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

J Street Alumni Condemn “Pro-Peace” Group for Opposing Gaza Ceasefire While Israel continues its war against the Gaza Strip, over 100 former J Street staffers and representatives from its network of university groups are pushing their former organization to join mounting calls for a ceasefire.The letter comes in response to J Street’s push for a congressional resolution that pledges unconditional support to Israel’s war in Gaza. The group, according to a report in The Intercept, is threatening to withhold its endorsement from Democrats who refuse to sign on. The resolution — led by Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and now backed by more than 420 members of Congress — makes no mention of Palestinian civilians, of which Israel has now killed over 2,600, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.“As former staff and student representatives of J Street — many of whom are mourning the losses of family and friends in both Israel and Palestine — we condemn the organization’s alig...

Denver weather: Sunny, warmer start of the workweek

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

Denver weather: Sunny, warmer start of the workweek DENVER (KDVR) — Denver's weather will stay sunny alongside a warming trend for the start of the workweek. Photos: Blankets of snow bring out vibrant fall colors Weather tonight: Mostly clear, coolSunday night will stay clear and cool. Temperatures will fall to the upper 30s, which is right in line with normal for this time of year. Weather tomorrow: Sunny, warmerMonday, Sunshine will be in full force. This will help high temperatures to climb to the lower 70s, which is about 5 degrees warmer than average. Looking ahead: Warm Tuesday ahead of another cooldownTuesday, more sunshine will keep a warming trend going. High temperatures will climb to the lower 80s, which is about 15 degrees warmer than normal, and closer to the record high of 86 set in 1926.A cold front will move toward the area Tuesday into Wednesday. This front will come through dry, but kick up breezy conditions and help to knock temperatures down about 10 degrees on Wednesday.Then, highs will rebound back ...

Local Jewish community gathers in show of support for Israel; pro-Palestine protesters hold rally in Hollywood

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

Local Jewish community gathers in show of support for Israel; pro-Palestine protesters hold rally in Hollywood South Floridians were out this weekend in support for both Israel and Palestine at various events.With a heavy police presence on the outside, people of Jewish faith packed the inside of the Dave & Mary Alper Jewish Community Center in Southwest Miami-Dade on Sunday, uniting for Israel.“We saw the darkest of mankind, the highest level of evil. That was a shock to all of us,” said a speaker at the event.Congregants prayed for peace for a country in crisis and at war.“This is very hard, because we re a part of this,” said attendee Deborah Soriano. “We have friends, we have families who are living in Israel, under attack, suffering, and this is a very sensitive moment for all of us.”Speakers at the gathering included a state lawmaker, a Holocaust survivor and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, who vowed to enforce the law for anyone who engages in hate crimes toward the local Jewish community.“Anybody out there who thinks...

Von der Leyen yields to US protectionism as she heads to Washington

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

Von der Leyen yields to US protectionism as she heads to Washington BRUSSELS — When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen crosses the Atlantic on Friday for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, she will usher in a sea change on how Brussels thinks about trade.Von der Leyen is poised to give in to American pressure to join a newfangled steel and aluminum club in exchange for Washington dropping its threat to reimpose tariffs on imports of the metals from Europe. In their place, the U.S. and EU would erect a protective wall around both their markets in a bid to fend off China’s rise.It’s a move that will cement the political friendship between Biden and von der Leyen. But it’s one that may dismay European trade officials who have sought to uphold the rules-based global order and its guardian, the World Trade Organization. And there is unease in some EU capitals over the shift.Von der Leyen and her top aides are “in the pocket of what the U.S. wants,” said one EU diplomat of the impending strategic shift, speaking on condition of a...

D’Onta Foreman — pushed out of the running back mix early — is ready for his opportunity with the Chicago Bears

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

D’Onta Foreman — pushed out of the running back mix early — is ready for his opportunity with the Chicago Bears D’Onta Foreman has been here before — biding his time, waiting for his shot. And suddenly the opportunity arises.Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry fractured his right foot in 2021. The Carolina Panthers traded running back Christian McCaffrey in 2022. The Chicago Bears lost three running backs to injury in the same game Oct. 5 in a 40-20 win against the Washington Commanders.The first two times, Foreman felt as if he delivered for the teams that called him into action. And he’s hoping to do it again Sunday for the Bears against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.“Honestly I was prepared for that moment. I’m prepared for this moment,” Foreman said. “This is what I do. I’m calm. I’m confident. And I’ve just got to go show it. I feel like a lot of people are counting me out. I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff about myself. So I’ve got to go prove something.”Foreman called it “cr...

‘Bosch: Legacy’ Season 2 starts with a bang

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

‘Bosch: Legacy’ Season 2 starts with a bang There’s no slow build as the Freevee series “Bosch: Legacy” begins its second season Friday with two incredibly intense episodes that make for one wild and wildly nerve-jangling ride.The first season ended with the discovery that a sadistic serial rapist on the loose was targeting Bosch’s daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz), a rookie cop. Season 2 begins as she’s kidnapped and buried in a box with limited air. A desperate if determined Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) will move heaven and earth trying to rescue her.That unrelenting pace is why these first two episodes will be released in 180 markets as a movie.“I know some audience members were frustrated, I hope in a really good, delicious way, with our cliffhanger at the end of Season 1. So we wanted to immediately get into that,” explained Tom Bernardo, the series’ showrunner.“And do it in a way that we haven’t done before, which was treat our first two episodes structurally and dramatically as if they were a compressed story. A mo...

Lester: Businesses to lose $482M under patent proposal 

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

Lester: Businesses to lose $482M under patent proposal  After years of decline, there are signs of a U.S. manufacturing rebound. Policymakers need to support this comeback, but new wide-ranging proposals from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and companion legislation introduced in Congress, would do the opposite.A bipartisan Congress modernized the patent system in 2011 with the America Invents Act (AIA). The AIA established a new USPTO patent quality review board – called the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) – designed to address the economic destruction and waste generated by baseless patent infringement lawsuits. The PTAB provides an alternative for resolving patent disputes that is much more efficient than lawsuits and is overseen by trained patent judges who are better equipped to determine patent validity than an untrained jury. Now, a package of so-called “reform” is being pushed by special interests that would favor lawsuits, promote legal exploitation, and take nearly half a billion dollars out of ou...

‘Bare Minimum Monday’ tackles stress at work

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

‘Bare Minimum Monday’ tackles stress at work TikTok trends don’t lie: Whether they’re “quiet quitting” or adopting “Bare Minimum Monday” to combat the “Sunday scaries,” people are pulling back at work.In one sense, making work a smaller part of life is a permanent shift that people working from home experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, says Cristina Banks, an industrial and organizational psychologist and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.While working from home, people had more autonomy. They also had a clearer idea of the value of their time, which they could spend exercising or playing with their kids rather than sitting in traffic on their way to the office.After many workers had that experience and are now being pushed to return to pre-pandemic norms, Banks says it’s hard for them to give up control over when or how much they work.So, some workers embrace trends like Bare Minimum Monday, which suggests doing only the most ...

Editorial: Gas furnaces next on Biden’s ban list

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

Editorial: Gas furnaces next on Biden’s ban list Progressives get upset when critics accuse the Biden administration of trying to ban gas appliances. They would have a much better case if the Biden administration didn’t keep banning gas appliances.Late last month, the Department of Energy issued new regulations on residential furnaces. By 2028, non-weatherized gas furnaces and those used in mobile homes must have an “annual fuel utilization efficiency of 95%.” The move would effectively ban new non-condensing gas furnaces. The American Gas Association estimates that this rule would eliminate 60% of the residential furnaces currently on the market.To justify this regulatory intrusion, the department claims this will “cumulatively save consumers $24.8 billion on their energy bills over 30 years.”That sounds like a big number. It’s not. That’s an annual savings of around $825 million. In a country of 335 million people, that’s a per-capita savings of less than $2.50 a year. Keep in mind that government estimates such as this represen...

Dear Abby: BF slow-walking his way down the aisle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:48 GMT

Dear Abby: BF slow-walking his way down the aisle Dear Abby: I have been with my man for seven years and I keep asking him when we’re getting married. He said we would — “someday.”Then COVID came along. Now he says after the pandemic is completely over. He has admitted he’s scared to get married again because he doesn’t want to be hurt like he was when his ex cheated on him. I told him I’m not like her. He says he knows that, and I’m the kindest, sweetest woman he’s ever met.I love this man with all my heart. We get along fine. I have my wedding dress and shoes. I’m tired of his excuses. I’m almost ready to say the heck with it and sell my dress and shoes. Should I? Please give me some advice. — Never a Bride in New EnglandDear Never a Bride: The COVID problem, with the many variants that keep cropping up, is likely to be with us for the foreseeable future. Tell your reluctant bridegroom you love him, but seven years is enough time for him to decide whether he ...