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Howie Carr: MassGOP nightmare needs to end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

Have you ever had a check bounce, or had one of your credit cards declined?The answer is probably yes. But I’m guessing that you didn’t then file a lawsuit demanding $5-6 million in damages because of the “torture” that you suffered from this “most outrageous” and “unbelievable” atrocity that ever happened to you.But then, you’re not Jim “Jones” Lyons, the 69-year-old crackpot former chairman of the Massachusetts GOP state committee.In statewide elections, Lyons went zero for both 2020 and 2022, losing every single major race and referendum. He made the GOP into a political death cult, turning a $700,000 surplus when he took over in 2019 into a $600,000 deficit as he was ejected in ignominy six weeks ago.Now he’s filed one of the most frivolous lawsuits of all time – Jim Jones Lyons vs. his own committee treasurer, Patrick Crowley, a CPA from Worcester.The lawsuit is worth mentioning today because it will soon be dismissed. The same state committee that ousted Lyons for his singleha...

Clarke Schmidt throws five perfect innings, Jasson Dominguez sent down to minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

Clarke Schmidt bounced back from two rough Grapefruit League appearances by throwing five perfect innings in Thursday’s start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. His outing was wasted as the Yankees lost the matchup, 9-6, but Schmidt cruised through his third start of the spring.The right-hander pounded the strike zone, getting 36 strikes out of 50 total pitches thrown. He struck out seven and recorded seven groundball outs.Schmidt entered camp competing with right-hander Domingo German for a rotation spot. German may have been viewed as the frontrunner for the Yankees’ fifth and final rotation spot due to him having more experience and a better start in the first two Grapefruit League appearances — allowing just one run in 5.1 innings. Schmidt’s most recent outing was clearly better than German’s last start — allowing three hits and two earned runs in 2.1 innings — but the two may both start the season in the rotation due to their teammates dea...

Trump vs. DeSantis: Rivals’ very different styles on display

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — In his first trip to Iowa this year, Ron DeSantis did not take any questions from voters. He ignored the local press. He avoided the diners, pizza parlors and ice cream shops that have helped presidential contenders in the leadoff voting state showcase their personal appeal and charisma for decades.For DeSantis, a leading Republican presidential prospect, it was simply business as usual. The hard-charging Florida governor has emerged as a potent force in national politics while eschewing the personal connections, intimate moments and unscripted questions that have long fueled successful White House bids in the states that sit atop the presidential primary calendar. And as DeSantis begins to introduce himself to primary voters in the weeks leading up to his expected announcement, he is showing little interest in changing his ways.Allies insist he doesn’t need to adjust anything, pointing to his dominant 19-point reelection victory last fall. But already, ...

Slovakia agrees to give Ukraine fleet of Soviet warplanes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s government has approved a plan to give Ukraine its fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets.Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced the unanimous decision of his government on Friday. Slovakia no longer uses the jets.The decision makes Slovakia the second NATO member country to agree to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s persistent pleas for warplanes to help defend against Russia’s invasion. On Thursday, Poland’s president said his country would give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets. President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes in the coming days and others that need servicing and would be supplied later. Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-warThe Associated Press

Anger spreads in France over Macron’s retirement bill push

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Protesters disrupted traffic in Paris on Friday as angry critics, political opponents and labor unions around France blasted President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote. Opposition parties were expected to start procedures later Friday for a no-confidence vote on the government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The vote would likely take place early next week. Macron ordered Borne on Thursday to wield a special constitutional power to push the highly unpopular pension bill through without a vote in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament. His calculated risk infuriated opposition lawmakers, many citizens and unions. Thousands gathered in protest Thursday at the Place de la Concorde, which faces the National Assembly building. As night fell, police officers charged the demonstrators in waves to clear the Place. Small groups then moved through nearby stre...

China’s Xi to visit Moscow in show of support for Putin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday, in an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin amid sharpening East-West tensions over the war in Ukraine. Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is expected to dominate Putin and Xi’s discussions. China has refused to condemn Moscow’s aggression and sought to project itself as neutral in the conflict even while Beijing declared last year that it had a “no-limits” friendship with Russia. The meeting between the leaders was announced by both countries on Friday.China has said the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, while condemning Western sanctions and accusing NATO and the United States of provoking Russia into military action.On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba that Beijing was concerned about the year-old conflict spinning out of control and urged talks on a politi...

Pittsfield man sentenced for 2021 double stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (NEWS10) — A Pittsfield man will spend up to 18 years in state prison after he stabbed two people in the city back in 2021. It happened on Sept. 16, 2021, at 10:30 p.m., in the area of Tyler Street and Curtis Terrace. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! There, officers found two men—later identified as Ernest Ferry and Jamie Hassan—suffering from serious stab wounds. Both were rushed to Berkshire Medical Center, where they thankfully recovered. However, medical professionals say their injuries were so severe that they continue to affect their daily lives. One of the victim's cars at the scene also had its tires slashed. The suspect then fled the scene, and many bystanders helped the victims and flagged down police. "Some victims and witnesses who testified in the case feared for their safety;" a spokesperson for the district attorney said. "However, their cooperation helped justice be served." Two arrested...

Blue-collar Adams County is getting its green on — and not for St. Patrick’s Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

Just weeks after beating out the competition for a manufacturing plant making a cutting-edge electric vehicle battery, Adams County is in the running to host a solar panel manufacturing facility that could employ nearly 1,000 workers.The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved nearly $9.2 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits on Thursday morning for Project Pothos, the code name given to a new joint venture between a U.S. and foreign company looking to launch a solar panel manufacturing plant.Those tax credits are conditioned on the company creating 951 jobs over an eight-year period. The engineering, manufacturing and administrative jobs are expected to pay an average of $71,940 a year or about 110% of the average annual wage in Adams County.Earlier this month, Amprius Technologies, which has developed a more efficient silicon anode technology for lithium-ion batteries, confirmed it would build a 775,000-square-foot plant in Brighton employing 330 workers initially....

Brussels to curb imports of Chinese green tech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

European Union plans to restrict the import of green technology from China. This will reduce the chances that Chinese companies win public contracts and create additional barriers for buyers looking for subsidies. The report stated that public procurement bids involving products from countries with more than 65% EU market shares would be downgraded. It cited a draft of Net Zero Industry Act, which was seen by the Financial Times.However, the European Commission's Trade Directorate is concerned that the revisions proposed to the public procurement rules book could violate international law. Sources familiar with the matter told FT.The Financial Times reported Tuesday (14 March) that the European Union sought new ways to monitor European companies' investments in overseas production facilities, to limit China’s access to new technology from the West.Our Standards

Russia must answer for all war crimes in Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:44 GMT

Russia, which considers itself the legal successor of the USSR and the country-winner of Nazism, by committing aggression against Ukraine today is likened to Hitler's Nazi Germany. Moscow has adopted the bloodiest practices of Nazism, in particular the brutal treatment of prisoners of war, the torture and murder of civilians and the forced deportation of Ukrainians, including children, to Russia.It has been a year since the brutal bombing by the Russian army of the Drama Theatre in Mariupol, where at least 600 civilians were killed, including children, who had sought refuge there from the constant shelling of their hometown. On that day, a Russian plane dropped two heavy-duty bombs on the Drama Theatre building. The Russians were not even deterred by the fact that there was a large sign saying "Children" on the square in front of the building. Transparency International's research confirmed that the attack came from a Russian plane and called it a war crime, as there was no military...