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Smith: More Americans identifying as independent

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

Since 2004, the number of Americans who identify as political independents has skyrocketed. In the first decade of the 21st century, nearly two-thirds of American voters affiliated with one of the two major parties. Now, this figure is less than half, and there are slightly more political “independents” than either Democrats or Republicans.“It was never unusual for younger adults to have higher percentages of independents than older adults,” Jeff Jones, an analyst with Gallup Polls, told Axios in April. “What is unusual is that as Gen X and millennials get older, they are staying independent rather than picking a party, as older generations tended to do.”The rise in political independents is part of a larger trend. Jones argues that it’s due to a broad “disillusionment with the political system, U.S. institutions and the two parties, which are seen as ineffectual, too political and too extreme.”Axios proposed that antsy, unsatisfied independent voters were the reason that control of...

Simmons: Is ‘Empty the Tanks Day’ in animals’ best interest?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

On May 13 and 14, animal rights activists are supporting the release of sea creatures from aquariums into the wild in honor of “Empty the Tanks Day.” While I sympathize with the desire to reenact “Free Willy,” as a former whale and dolphin trainer I know firsthand that releasing them from their current habitats doesn’t usually have a Hollywood ending.While we often imagine an uplifting image of a whale or dolphin swimming off into the sunset and freedom, the truth is much uglier. Marine mammals that have lived long periods, or their entire lives, in professional zoological care are simply not suited to thrive in the wild. Skills that wild animals learn from infancy simply don’t exist for ones from aquariums and zoos. They have never had to hunt, navigate the ocean, or evade predators before.Animals’ lives under human care are comfortable, even pampered, and very different from that in the wild. If returned to the wild their lives may come to an untimely end.Take the stor...

Chasten Buttigieg brings memoir ‘I Have Something to Tell You’ to young adults

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

Chasten Buttigieg, who is in Somerville May 17 for his new book “I Have Something to Tell You – For Young Adults” (Atheneum, $18.99), never pursued celebrity.It happened when he married Pete Buttigieg back in 2018 and his husband, now Biden’s Transportation Secretary, ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primaries.“I definitely didn’t see any of this coming,” Buttigieg, 33, said in a Herald phone interview.  “But the thing that I learned when my husband was running was that telling my story was very relatable to other people.”That story, the New York Times bestselling memoir “I Have Something to Tell You,” has now been reformatted “For Young Adults,” basically 7th and 8th graders.“The first book was an incredible process and journey and one of the things that I really wanted to do was to make sure that this story meant something for young people, especially someone like a young Chasten.“I’m rewriting the story for a whole generation of young people who are watching LGBTQ r...

Chicago Cubs rally past the Minnesota Twins for a 6-2 win — fueled by a Christoper Morel HR — after placing Nico Hoerner on the IL,

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

The Chicago Cubs’ optimism that second baseman Nico Hoerner could avoid a stint on the injured list met reality Friday.Hoerner landed on the 10-day IL before the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, retroactive to Tuesday, because of his left hamstring strain. He will be eligible to rejoin the Cubs for their series in Philadelphia to close out their nine-game trip.Even when Hoerner isn’t in the lineup, he found a way to affect their 6-2 victory Friday.First baseman Matt Mervis wasn’t happy with his first-pitch grounder off Sonny Gray for the final out of the fourth inning. He left runners on the corners as the Cubs faced a one-run deficit. After the sequence, Hoerner assured Mervis in the dugout that he’s swinging at the right pitches and seeing the baseball well. Hoerner concluded the chat, “Stay aggressive.”Mervis trusted Hoerner’s feedback and carried it into his next at-bat in the seventh. Again he swung at the first pitch, a chang...

Anthony Rizzo’s go-ahead moonshot caps off two-homer night as Yankees top Rays

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

Anthony Rizzo’s first home run on Friday night just cleared the short right field fence at Yankee Stadium. His second towered over it with ease — and the first baseman enjoyed every second of it as he watched from home plate.The eighth-inning skyscraper off Rays reliever Jason Adam gave the Yankees the lead for good in a 6-5 back-and-forth win that tied the series between division foes.“I hit it really well. Just high,” Rizzo said of the homer, which awakened the Bronx faithful. “But I thought I got enough of it for sure. It just felt good.”Tampa Bay, first in the American League East, had taken control earlier in the eighth when Josh Lowe homered off Michael King with two men on. The blast, Lowe’s second in as many days, gave the Rays a 5-4 edge just minutes after the Yankees had strung together a few hits to form their first lead of the night.Anthony Volpe, dropped to seventh in the lineup, put the Yankees ahead, 3-2, with a single off rel...

Editorial: Joe Biden, deficit slayer? Not so much

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

As the White House and House Republicans play chicken over the debt ceiling, it might be relevant to consider numbers released this week by the Congressional Budget Office that highlight Washington’s spending addiction.The CBO figures show federal revenue coming in at lower-than-expected levels in April, a massive 36% drop when compared with a year earlier. This is bad news for future red ink — April is traditionally a strong month given that federal income taxes are due. The deficit for the first seven months of the current fiscal year now sits at $928 billion and rising quickly.Remember last year how President Biden bragged that his administration had cut deficits by historic amounts? Most of that was misleading hogwash and reflected emergency COVID expenditures coming off the books. Biden promised falling deficits in the future, but with revenues lagging, the deficit for the current fiscal year will almost certainly exceed last year’s $1.4 trillion. It’s no wonder that the presid...

Dear Abby: Lovestruck daughter missing the big picture

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

Dear Abby: My 23-year-old daughter and her first and only boyfriend have begun to talk marriage. Although I think he’s a wonderful, smart, compassionate young man who seems to adore my daughter, I have one major concern: his unhealthy habits.When my daughter introduced him to us seven years ago, he was a little overweight. Since then, I’ve watched him pack on at least 25 pounds a year, and he’s now morbidly obese. His diet is horrible, and he never exercises. He also drinks and smokes, although not excessively.My daughter, on the other hand, is petite, athletic and clean-living. Her habits haven’t rubbed off on him. I know enough about weight gain and health to be deeply concerned about the trend I’m seeing. Her boyfriend is fast approaching the super-morbidly-obese range and has limited mobility. He graduated near the top of their college class, but hasn’t had a stable job since. I’m afraid it’s only going to get harder for him to get...

Warm up on the way through Mother’s Day weekend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It may be a good idea to take your mom to the beach as lots of sunshine is expected for Mother’s Day weekend.Strengthening high pressure over the west will keep the inland areas warm through early next week. Highs expected to be 5-10 degrees above average by Sunday. The coastal areas will be cooled by sea breezes and an eddy even as the marine layer shrinks.  New In-N-Out Burger opens in South Bay However, "May gray" is being pretty stubborn at the coast.Moisture from an easterly flow will bring higher clouds and chances for afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms starting Tuesday.A slightly higher chance is expected later in the week, but precipitation chances will remain mostly in the mountains, but could stay into the inland areas.

Humanitarian groups scramble to help migrants at border

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Hundreds of migrants at the border wall in San Ysidro continue to endure difficult conditions, pleading with humanitarian workers and volunteers to pass them food and other supplies.Pedro Rios with the American Friends Service Committee has helped oversee the distribution of aid and says it’s a challenging collaborative effort, as groups try to provide what’s needed most by the migrants."Definitely need a hot meal, which is more challenging for 400 to 500 people. Things such as toilet paper -- medical needs that arise with the children brought here -- and blankets, especially at night," Rios said.Local minister Omega Burckhardt passed out food to a family with a baby from India after arriving at the wall to help other humanitarian groups. New In-N-Out Burger opens in South Bay “It's heartbreaking, it's untenable, it's unsafe and it's unhealthy. So we're here to offer assistance in whatever way we can to make sure that they're safe and they feel cared for and witnessed...

G7 finance leaders vow to contain inflation, strengthen supply chains but avoid mention of China

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:42 GMT

NIIGATA, Japan (AP) — The Group of Seven’s top financial leaders united Saturday in their support for Ukraine and their determination to enforce sanctions against Russia for its aggression but stopped short of any overt mention of China. The finance ministers and central bank chiefs ended three days of talks in Niigata, Japan, with a joint statement pledging to bring inflation under control while aiding those suffering the most from surging prices. They also committed to collaborating to build more stable, diversified supply chains for developing clean energy sources and to “enhance economic resilience globally against various shocks.” The statement did not include any specific mention of China or assertions regarding “economic coercion” in pursuit of political objectives, such as penalizing the companies of countries whose governments take actions that anger another country. Talk this week of “economic coercion” by China had drawn outraged rebukes from Beijing. Officials attending ...