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Bridge: April 29, 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

“Simple Saturday” columns focus on basic technique and logical thinking.When you are declarer, you mustn’t try to play two contracts at once. Focus on the contract that is, not one you might have bid.In today’s deal, six spades would have been a reasonable spot for North-South, probably making if East had the queen of trumps, but they stopped at four, just as reasonably. West led the queen of diamonds, and South took dummy’s ace and let the jack of trumps ride for a finesse.ACE OF CLUBSWest took the queen and led another diamond, and South ruffed East’s king and drew all the trumps. That left him with none, and when West took the ace of clubs, he cashed three diamonds.South must have thought he was at a slam. After he wins the first diamond, he can cash the A-K of trumps, then start the clubs. West wins and forces with a diamond, but South runs the clubs. West can score his low trump and his queen, but South keeps control and loses only three tric...

Word Game: April 29, 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — PROFESSED (PROFESSED: pro-FEST: Declared or claimed; pretended.)Average mark 38 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 52 or more words in PROFESSED? The list will be published Monday.YESTERDAY’S WORD — EULOGIZING legion lien lieu line ling lingo lion lionize loge loin lone long lounge luge lune lung lunge ogle ogling oiling glen glue glueing glug going gone gong gouge guile ionize zein zing zone niggle noel noilTo 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.Contact Word Game crea...

The Ejection of Tucker Carlson Is a Classic “Reverse Ferret” by Rupert Murdoch

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

It’s been a lifetime since Fox News offloaded Tucker Carlson, and when I say a lifetime, I mean six days.It feels like forever thanks to the exhausting velocity of theories that seek to explain the downfall of cable television’s most famous host and racist. Carlson was fired because of the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit. Carlson was fired because he used the C-word. Carlson was fired because he prayed too much. Carlson was fired because even his colleagues at Fox despised him.That’s just a partial list of the best guesses circulating in the media ether. While Carlson was probably felled by more than a single factor, these guesses are akin to the trees that obscure the proverbial forest. Rupert Murdoch, who founded Fox News, did what he often does at a moment of crisis, swiveling 180 degrees to secure his business empire. The move is famous enough to have an unusual name in Britain, where Murdoch first came to global prominence: the reverse ferret.In the 1980s, Kelvin MacKenzie was ...

Police: 5 people killed in shooting at home north of Houston

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

CLEVELAND, Texas (AP) — Five people were killed in a shooting at a home in southeast Texas late Friday night, authorities said.Four people were pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in Cleveland and the fifth died at a hospital, the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said early Saturday.The shooting in the community about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Houston was reported around 10:30 p.m.No further details about the shooting or the victims were immediately available.A rifle was used in the shooting and no arrests have been made, ABC News reported.Source

Virginia NAACP calls for chief DEI officer to resign after ‘reckless’ speech to VMI faculty

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

Local groups are calling for the resignation of Virginia’s Chief Officer of Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion after his recent remarks calling the initiative “dead” in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute.During a keynote speech on April 21, in which Chief Officer Martin Brown praised VMI for educating the leaders of tomorrow, he declared, “We are living in a crazy time right now,” later adding, “We can’t continue to operate like we have as a country, as a state, and as institutions of higher learning.”Brown went on to say, “We can’t ascribe perpetual victimization or even motives because they’re different. Acknowledging those truths frees us up to deal with the real issues of today … it’s creating a sense of division in the greatest country in the world.”Martin D. Brown, Chief Diversity Officer and Director of the Office of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion under Governor Glenn Youngkin. (Co...

Un grupo armado retiene a 50 mineros en Maripí, Bocayá

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

(CNN en Español) — Este sábado, la compañía minera Esmeraldas Santa Rosa informó a través de un comunicado que un grupo de hombres fuertemente armados y al parecer con explosivos, irrumpieron en las instalaciones de la compañía, en el municipio de Maripí, en el Occidente de Boyacá,  Colombia, sometiendo a los vigilantes y mantienen secuestrados a más de 50 mineros.El comunicado agregó que la Policía de Boyacá y el Ejército de Colombia ya se encuentran en el lugar coordinando acciones para lograr la liberación de los trabajadores.Hasta el momento, ni la gobernación de Boyacá ni la policía Nacional o el Ejercito han comunicado aspectos del operativo.La empresa pidió calma a las familias y amigos de las personas retenidas.Noticia en desarrollo.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Hurricanes overcome injuries to reach 2nd round of playoffs

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes are making a habit of winning at least one postseason series. This time they did it while missing some key players.Paul Stastny scored six minutes into overtime Friday night and the Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in Game 6 to move on to the second round for the third straight year and fourth in the last five. In that stretch, they won a preliminary round series in the 2020 playoff bubble before losing in the first round. It made Rod Brind’Amour the third head coach in NHL history to get a playoff series win in each of his first five seasons.For Brind’Amour, the latest series win was made even more impressive with the Hurricanes playing without injured stars Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen.“It was tough, it was definitely a grind, there’s no doubt about that,” the coach said. “Give the guys a lot of credit, especially with what we’re missing. It’s hard to believe we’re missing three All-Star player...

NFL draft Day 3: All-Americans, Heisman finalists on board

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

In today’s pass-happy NFL, you can never have enough cornerbacks.So the strategy on Day 3 often seems to be: If in doubt, take a corner.Heading into Saturday’s final four rounds, two of the best players on the board regardless of position are cornerbacks. One is a national championship game hero and the other an All-American.With only five quarterbacks off the board through three rounds, expect about that many more to go as teams try to find the next Brock Purdy.And even after a record nine tight ends were selected in rounds 1-3, there are a few more intriguing prospects in a deep class.QUARTERBACKSFive quarterbacks were selected in the first three rounds, with Kentucky’s Will Levis (second round to the Titans) and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker (third round to the Lions) being selected on Day 2.Who is next?Fresno State’s Jake Haener has some Purdy-like characteristics: undersized playmaker who can be both exciting and exasperating.BYU’s Jaren Hall has a slender build, but pl...

Column: 40 years later, the Lee Elia tapes are just as enjoyable as ever — thanks to the ‘Grobber’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

Holli Levine and family members went through her late brother’s belongings last year shortly after his death, trying to save items that had value and toss the dumpster-ready leftovers.Her brother was a prolific collector of sports memorabilia, so it was difficult to know what was valuable and what was worthless junk. But Levine looked inside a kitchen cabinet in the apartment and knew she had struck gold.“Guys, you’ll never guess what I had just found,” she said.It was the Holy Grail of Chicago sports: a white, plastic garbage bag featuring a microphone, cassette tape recorder, cassette tape and a reel-to-reel tape, all of which contributed to the famous rant about Cubs fans by former manager Lee Elia.“It was sealed up and wrapped up and stashed in a cabinet,” Levine said. “It was him saying ‘This is not going to sit out. Nobody is going to see this.”Levine’s brother was former Chicago sports radio personality Les Grobstein...

Chicago White Sox continue their worst start since 1950 — 13 games under .500 at 7-20

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:12:29 GMT

There was a brutal defensive mistake, a home run, a hit-by-pitch and an ejection — all in the first inning.There was a little bit of everything Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field — except a Chicago White Sox victory.The Sox dropped their ninth straight, losing 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays in front of 16,681. They are 13 games under .500 at 7-20. The Sox continued their worst start to a season since 1950, when they also were 7-20.The Rays went ahead in the ninth on a solo homer from Isaac Paredes against reliever Kendall Graveman.“It’s tough,” Graveman said. “I have to do my job tonight. Battled our tails off to get to that point. Team is fighting and didn’t think I necessarily executed bad. But he was better than me in that moment. Tip your hat to him. But at the end of the day this comes down to results.“I mean, it don’t matter about execution. You make a great pitch and not get the results you want, or you can make a terrible pitch a...