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Porter: In the war on drugs, fentanyl will win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

So let’s say the United States labels Mexican drug cartels terrorist organizations, like so many Republicans are demanding. Let’s say it deploys “cyberwarfare” and missile strikes against its kingpins, declares war against the cartels and sends troops across the border, whether the Mexican government agrees or not.Then what?Here’s what: Fentanyl keeps killing Americans; in 2023 more than in 2022; in 2024 more than in 2023. You can follow the trend.The war on drugs has always been, at best, a pointless approach to the nation’s epidemic of substance abuse. More likely, it has exacerbated the crisis, pushing traffickers into more powerful, and lucrative, narcotics with which to lure vulnerable Americans into addiction.The arrival on scene of fentanyl, easily cooked in a makeshift kitchen, so compact that a couple of pickup loads can serve the entire U.S. market, has blown up the farce. The GOP’s bloodlust does not change the reality that fentanyl, in the words of John Walsh of the Wash...

‘Book Club: The Next Chapter’ should be shelved

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

BOOK REVIEW“Book Club: The Next Chapter”Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: DFilms as bad as “Book Club: The Next Chapter” are a rare breed these days. Badly written, badly acted, a sequel to a bad movie (“Book Club,” 2018), how did “The Next Chapter” get made? One can only blame it on the ego and apparent clout of the film’s producer-director-co-writer Bill Holderman (“Book Club”) and its storied and notably aged cast.This includes Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen and several other actors not as much in demand as they were in their 1970s and 1980s heydays. Notably worse than “80 for Brady,” “Book Club: The Next Chapter” uses as its kickstart a ”White Lotus”-like, long-deferred trip to Italy by West Coast book club members Vivian “Viv” (Fonda), a supposedly ageless beauty on the verge of getting married to the Dorian Gray-like Arthur (Don Johnson).Viv and her fellow members and best friends Carol (St...

Indulge mom with these great Mother’s Day gifts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

Mother’s Day – the one day of the year when we moms know that we’re going to feel as much love and appreciation as possible. And we’ll embrace all of that adoration, even if it means pretending to absolutely love getting a crayoned portrait of the family dog that resembles a half-eaten corn in the cob.If you’ve left your crayoned artwork in the past, you’re in luck. Here are some winning gift choices, all pretty much guaranteed to make mom smile.Bring on the bon bonsDoes chocolate really ever miss the mark with Mom? Doubtful. Especially when it’s a selection like the Spring Botanical Bon Bons ($75 on flamingoestate.com), a limited-edition chocolate box made for Flamingo Estate by Twenty Four Blackbirds in Santa Barbara using certified organic cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic. Expect flavors like honey ganache, rosemary caramel, and lavender blossom. It’s all artfully created in small batches and entirely by hand, with just the kind of love and care Mom gave ...

Dear Abby: Three’s a crowd for man and his parents

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

Dear Abby: I am a 30-something single gay man. My parents are older and have a strained marriage. They no longer have a relationship but stay together. I live with them because of money issues, and they sometimes need assistance. I do not have the ability to bring friends or dates over, and I feel as if my mental health is being affected because of this, among other things.I own the house we live in, but because my folks are helping me, I feel I can’t tell them to leave. They irritate me to no end, and I feel awful about that. What can I do to encourage them to leave me alone? — Frustrated in PennsylvaniaDear Frustrated: You and your parents are all adults. In a sense, your relationship with them now is its own “marriage of convenience.” You are overdue for a frank conversation with your parents about boundaries and privacy. You should be able to entertain friends, and your folks should give you the space to do it. You should also care less what they think ab...

San Diego County addresses looming impacts as end of Title 42 nears

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego County Board of Supervisors addresses the end of Title 42 and the looming local impacts as thousands of migrants eagerly await to land in U.S. soil. San Diego County bracing for what's to come with the impending end of the COVID-era policy initiated by the Trump Administration during the dawn of the pandemic. “We don’t know where we are with the numbers that we’ll have, I think there’s a lot of misinformation about what can and cannot happen," Chairwoman Nora Vargas said. Part of the meeting Wednesday included the county's outreach to handle the surging influx calling for long-term solutions in a letter to the Biden Administration. "What I’m trying to share with you is that as a County we’re going to do what we can to coordinate and work with the federal government, so they understand the impact it’s having on all of us," Vargas said. “We need to be able to increase the migrant shelter capacity, that’s our message to the federal government.” Man who caugh...

Academy of Country Music Awards ready to party with Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks as hosts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — It’ll be a new experience for Garth Brooks when he steps onto the stage Thursday at the Academy of Country Music Awards — it’s his first time hosting an awards show.Co-host Dolly Parton will be there to help him out if he needs it — not that either showed any worry in a recent interview. “We’ve got a script that will go by just for guidance and time for the show, but I doubt very seriously that we’ll stick to it too close,” Parton said.“It’s fun for me as a fan because I’ve always loved this woman from distance, but we’ve never got to work like this before. So trust me, … whether the show goes on the air or not, I’m having the best time on the planet,” Brooks said.Singer-songwriter HARDY enters Thursday’s show as the leading nominee, up for seven trophies including two in the song of the year category. One of the songs he’s up for is “Wait in the Truck,” his duet with Lainey Wilson, who is second leading nominee. He’s also a n...

Figuring out Texas: From guns to immigration, here’s how one state’s challenges echo the country’s

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Thirteen people dead in two mass shootings. Eight immigrants killed when an SUV slams into a crowded bus stop. The likely approval of legislation that would let the Republican governor overturn elections in the most populous county, a Democratic stronghold. All in the past two weeks.These issues and the forces behind them — anger and guns, immigration turmoil, deep political divisions about what democracy means — are playing out across American life in various ways. But in Texas, with its immense size and a population that grows by more than 1,000 people a day, the stage is far bigger — and often louder.It’s enough to make even the proudest Texan wrestle with how he sees the state. “This is out of control right now,” said Jay Leeson, an illustrator and cartoonist who lives in Lubbock, a city in the Texas High Plains. He describes himself as a “conservative West Texan” whose kids “know how to handle guns, know how to ride horses, know how to do all the Texas thin...

As public health emergency ends, pandemic-era support programs have already been fading away

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The formal end of the national Public Health Emergency on Thursday is largely a symbolic and psychological step, representing the country’s formal emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. But behind the scenes, several core aspects of America’s pandemic-era emergency safety net are also coming to a close, from extra food assistance to automatic re-enrollment in Medicaid. While these measures were always designed to be temporary, their expiration is inevitably producing hardship and confusion.“People are starting to get their jobs back, but it’s still not all the way back and everything is more expensive than before the pandemic,” said Radha Muthiah, president of the Capital Area Food Bank. “The people we serve always seem to be playing catch-up.”Safety net programs gave Americans a lifeline during the height of the pandemic. The child tax credit was increased,unemployment benefits and food assistance were expanded, and a federal moratorium on eviction kept peopl...

5.4 magnitude earthquake near Tokyo causes minor injuries, damage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — An earthquake shook Japan’s capital, Tokyo, and surrounding areas on Thursday, injuring several people and causing minor damage, officials and media said.The quake had a 5.4 magnitude and its epicenter was in Chiba prefecture, southeast of Tokyo, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. No tsunami warning was issued.Four people were hurt, including a man who was hit by a falling ceiling light, according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency, and some rail service was canceled or delayed.Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone nations, and a massive 2011 quake and subsequent tsunami killed thousands and caused a cataclysmic meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.The Associated Press

House GOP points to migration surge as lawmakers advance asylum restrictions, border wall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:52:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are seeking Thursday to pass a sweeping bill to build more border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers, creating a hardline counter to President Joe Biden’s policies just as migrants are amassing along the border with the end of pandemic restrictions.The bill has virtually no chance of becoming law. Democrats, who have a narrow hold on the Senate, have decried the aggressive measures in the bill as “cruel” and “anti-immigrant,” and Biden has already promised he would veto it.But the House GOP pointedly scheduled the vote for the same day as the expiration of Title 42, a public health emergency rule that allowed border authorities to quickly return many migrants who crossed the border illegally. Biden has conceded that the U.S.-Mexico border will be “chaotic for a while” as migrants weigh whether to cross and U.S. officials use a new set of policies that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration while offering more legal pa...