Month: May 2023

When the ancient Greeks wanted to know what their future held, they consulted oracles. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the Oracle of Siwa, an oasis in the Egyptian desert. According to his biographer, Plutarch, the oracle told Alexander that he was destined to conquer the world. In these tumultuous days when we, the electorate, are presented with a choice between an old, old president and his vice president and a vindictive reprobate with a persecution complex, I did the smart thing: I consulted the oracle. No, I didn’t cross the desert on a camel, or like Alexander did with…

After resigning at the age of 73, Walid Jumblatt calls elections to choose the next leader of the Progressive Socialist Party. Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt steps down as leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) after 46 years. Jumblatt, 73, has called a party conference on June 25 to choose his successor, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported Thursday. He took over as head of the left-wing PSP in 1977 after his father Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated two years into Lebanon’s 15-year civil war by suspected Syrian agents. Historically, the PSP fought for a secular government and was one…

For more than a decade until November 2022, reporter Brian Lyman served as the Montgomery Advertiser’s Capitol reporter, covering all things politics and government in Alabama. Now, he is taking advantage of this experience to lead the Alabama Reflectora nonprofit news site dedicated to making sure Alabamians know exactly what’s going on inside the Statehouse every day. The Reflector is a subsidiary of States newsrooman organization that funds political reporting in 34 US states with donor support. “Many newspapers, for whatever reason, feel they don’t have the resources to commit to coverage of the state capitol. As we’ve seen in…

CHICAGO (AP) — During Donald Trump’s first visit as president to Chicago, a frequent target in his attacks on urban violence, he dismissed the nation’s third-largest city as a haven for criminals and a national embarrassment. At a recent town hall, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sat alongside ex-convicts on the city’s South Side and vowed to defend Trump’s “America First” agenda. Instead, the little-known White House hopeful, the son of Indian immigrants, found a flicker of acceptance in a room full of black and brown voters. The audience nodded as Ramaswamy said “anti-black racism is on the rise,” even…

WASHINGTON (AP) – The revisions are starting to come in as details emerge about the debt ceiling deal reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Some lawmakers are already criticizing the deal as not doing enough to address the nation’s debt, while others worry it is too austere and will hurt many low-income Americans. The legislation will likely need the support of a significant number of lawmakers from both parties to clear the closely divided House and gain the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate. The final text of the agreement is expected on Sunday….

A man in police custody died in Northern California after smashing a hospital window with a metal oxygen tank and falling from a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse. SAN JOSE, Calif. — A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he smashed a hospital window with a metal oxygen tank and fell from a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, they said the authorities The man was being held for allegedly violating a court order, according to San Jose police. Officers took him to the hospital for an…

State regulators are seeking public input on revisions to towing rules, the result of legislation last year meant to protect Coloradans when companies tow their vehicles without their consent. The Public Services Commission, which the legislators in charge of drafting the new rules, will hold a virtual public hearing on May 30 via Zoom. The PUC regulates Colorado’s approximately 730 towing companies and deals with rates, scope of operations, insurance, safety, compliance and complaints. The force employs six staff who investigate about 400 towing complaints each year on average. The new law will likely mean that searches will increase by…

February 19, 2023 The color and fragrant flowers of hyacinths One of the first spring flowers to bloom is the hyacinth. Only Carolina jasmine blooms earlier. We like the pastel colors of hyacinths in shades of pink, blue, lavender, light red, yellow and white. Its fragrance is a sweet perfume and a welcome smell as we move into the last month of winter. Hen and Bermuda grass are opposites Bermuda grass and henbane are perennial weeds and both grow in the conservatory plot, but they are opposites in their growth patterns. The club has shallow roots and grows and thrives…