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Jacqueline Winspear’s ‘White Lady’ a must-read

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

BOOK REVIEW“The White Lady”By Jacqueline WinspearHarper, $30Grade: AIf Daphne du Maurier rewrote a John le Carré manuscript, it might resemble “The White Lady.”Best known for 17 novels featuring detective Maisie Dobbs — which are not only set in the first half of the 20th century but read like they could have been written then (when du Maurier was churning out bestsellers) — Jacqueline Winspear launches a possible new series with “White Lady.”It takes place in 1947 and introduces Elinor De Witt, who became a World War I heroine as a teenager in Belgium, contributed further derring-do in World War II, and is now a semiretired busybody in rural England.Every bit of that description will be familiar to Dobbs fans. Winspear doesn’t venture far from that character in creating Elinor, who undoubtedly would be pals with the similarly kind, curious, haunted-by-war-trauma Maisie. The key difference is that, instead of helping charwomen locate missing...

Kathryn Hahn takes on relatable role in Hulu’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

It’s a boom time for Kathryn Hahn who stars in Hulu’s “Tiny Beautiful Things” Friday.After decades of steady, often surprising work, she scored an Emmy nomination as centuries-old witch Agatha Harkness in the Disney+ “WandaVision” (2021).  She’s a regular on “Central Park” the AppleTV+ animated musical series. Now in “Tiny Beautiful,” adapted from the same-named book by best-selling author Cheryl Strayed (“Wild”), Hahn is a very troubled Clare.Her husband and daughter have ejected her from the house. Yet things change when she becomes an advice columnist. “I did not see her life as a ‘wreck’ but when we meet her, she’s not at a great point in her life,” Hahn, 49, allowed during a Zoom interview.“Honestly, at this age if you just scratch beneath the surface, most people you find are not totally satisfied with exactly what is going on in their lives at that particular moment.“To me, this particular age is a time of reckoning. A time of like, Whoa, where am I? Is this what I want? Is t...

Lucas: Trump-targeting Dems take page from foul playbook

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

Who would have thought Donald Trump would be arrested before Vladimir Putin?Or Hunter Biden.But it happened.And unlike Putin, who, holed up in the Kremlin, has adopted a “come and get me” stance, Trump at least had the decency to show up for his arraignment Tuesday.He could have held out at his Florida Mar-a-Lago headquarters protected by his Secret Service detail, like Putin is doing in Moscow.Or he could have said that his antagonist, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had no jurisdiction over him.That what Putin’s response when he was indicted for war crimes in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. He joins such company as the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi who ended up dead in a ditch.Putin practically snarled at the ICC, in essence asking, “How many divisions does the ICC have?”Which is what Soviet Union dictator Joe Stalin said about the Pope when he was told the Vatican wanted to play a role in the ending of World War II. “How many divisions...

Asian shares mostly fall amid worries about slowing economy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

By YURI KAGEYAMA (AP Business Writer)TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mostly lower Thursday as investors turned their attention to upcoming earnings reports and other economic indicators. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 1.1% in morning trading to 27,507.65. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 7,214.90. South Korea’s Kospi fell nearly 0.8% to 2,476.08. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was virtually unchanged, inching up less than 0.1% to 20,277.01. The Shanghai Composite slipped less than 0.1% to 3,312.22. While efforts to cool inflation by raising interest rates are designed to slow overheated economies, the worry is that central bank policymakers might overdo it, leading to recession. Many regional economies are seeing weakness in exports due to softer demand in major markets like the United States. That has dulled the impact of a rebound in China as its economy recovers from pandemic-related disruptions. Stocks on Wall Street mostly slipped Wedn...

Curtis Sittenfeld & readers have fun with ‘Romantic Comedy’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

BOOK REVIEW“Romantic Comedy”By Curtis SittenfeldRandom House, $28Grade: A-I am a big fan of Curtis Sittenfeld, and particularly love her reality-adjacent work — riffing on Hillary Clinton in “Rodham,” Laura Bush in “American Wife,” and on “Pride and Prejudice” in “Eligible.” OK, perhaps “Pride and Prejudice” is not an example of reality, but “Eligible” is an example of how much fun Sittenfeld has playing with existing characters and story structures.Here, the reality is “Saturday Night Live,” reimagined as “TNO,” “The Night Owls.” It’s run by Nigel, not Lorne, and “Weekend Update” is called “News Desk,” 30 Rock is called 66, and most of the details — the pitch meetings, the table reads, the run-throughs, the 11:30 airtime — seem to be modeled directly on the many “SNL” memoirs that Sittenfeld said she read as research for t...

Editorial: Warren & Pressley slam bank for wanting loans repaid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

In a little more than a month, the COVID pandemic will be over – at least on the books.As has been reported,  the Biden administration plans to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire on May 11. COVID is still here, but this move signals that Capitol Hill sees the pandemic as something more manageable, and no longer the crisis it was three years ago.States have long since opened up, businesses are doing their best to recover, mask mandates are lifted, we’re flying, going to public performances and enjoying a near-full return to normalcy.But in progressive circles, it’s March of 2020, and the wolf is at the door.The wolf, in this case, is in the form of banks who want student borrowers to start making payments on their loans again.The student loan payment pause started in March of 2020, and it allowed federal student loan borrowers  to skip payments. The interest rate on their loans was set to 0%. Pause extensions followed, as did the Administration’...

Dear Abby: Married man meets the love of his life

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

Dear Abby: I am married, but my wife and I are unhappy and have been for years. We grew apart after 17 years. We tried counseling multiple times; it only reinforces the decision to divorce. I have had two affairs. One lasted six months; the other on and off for the past nine months.The latter lady, “Gayle,” and I have an amazing connection in our lifestyles and beliefs. We even have the same birthday. It’s undeniable. We also have chemistry like no other. The problem is, she doesn’t think we will work. We take breaks, which only lead her to want to see me weeks later.I have professed my love for her and, while she hasn’t said it back, everything points to it. When we are intimate, she cries and tells me how much I mean to her. Gayle is strong-willed, independent and lives her life on her terms. When she makes a decision, it’s final. But not with me — she keeps coming back. I have written her numerous letters declaring my love for her. I get ...

Historic Torrey Pines Lodge to celebrate 100 years

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve's landmark adobe lodge, once the gateway to San Diego and now serving as a visitor center and museum, will be celebrating 100 years this Saturday, park officials said.The event will start at 10 a.m. and last until 2 p.m., the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve stated on its website.From 1923 to 1933, the one-story, pueblo-style adobe building linked the city with cities to the north when North Torrey Pines Road opened to the east, per officials. Snag tickets to the 2023 San Diego County Fair Concert Series "Originally costing $33,000, the lodge was designed by San Diego architect Richard Requa and largely funded by La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. A $5 million restoration and rehabilitation are planned to start later this year," Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve said.The lodge was used as a restaurant, snack bar and gift shop to a canteen for soldiers training at nearby Camp Callan during World War II, the reserve...

Are robot waiters the future? Some restaurants think so

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — You may have already seen them in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and ferry dirty dishes to the kitchen. Some have cat-like faces and even purr when you scratch their heads. But are robot waiters the future? It’s a question the restaurant industry is increasingly trying to answer.Many think robot waiters are the solution to the industry’s labor shortages. Sales of them have been growing rapidly in recent years, with tens of thousands now gliding through dining rooms worldwide.“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is where the world is going,” said Dennis Reynolds, dean of the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston. The school’s restaurant began using a robot in December, and Reynolds says it has eased the workload for human staff and made service more efficient.But others say robot waiters aren’t much more than a gimmick that have a long way...

Brazil wrestles with solutions after deadly day care attack

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:26:21 GMT

BLUMENAU, Brazil (AP) — Parents in this small city in southern Brazil are struggling with how to explain to their children that a man slaughtered four of their friends, while Brazilians across the country are wondering what should be done to stem an apparently systemic rise of violence in schools.Dozens of mourners gathered at the day care center in Blumenau as evening fell Wednesday to pray, to lay flowers for the victims — aged between 5 and 7 — and to cry. At least four other children were wounded in the attack that shook the nation and put pressure on the government to find solutions.Carlos Kroetz and other parents arrived to collect their children’s backpacks left behind at the center during Wednesday morning’s mayhem. “My daughter thinks a thief came in and ran away without harming anyone,” Kroetz told The Associated Press while holding his 6-year-old’s Minnie Mouse bag. “She knew kids who died. We still have to figure out a way to tell her. For now, she is afraid of going to ...