Breaking
Wealth World News
Archive

2024

Browsing
Sports

Ohtani joins exclusive 40-40 club with epic walk-off grand slam

Shohei Ohtani, who has always had a flair for the dramatic, turned his home run Friday night into a Hollywood script, making sure it will be remembered forever in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

Ohtani joined the prestigious 40-40 club by hitting a two-out, walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning, his 40th homer of the season after stealing his 40th base in the fourth inning. He became only the sixth player in history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season, and was the quickest to accomplish the feat.

“Forty-forty, same game, walk-off grand slam,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “I always say you can’t script a game. But, man, if there was a script, that couldn’t have been written any better.

“Shohei just never ceases to amaze.’’

It indeed was a scene right out of Hollywood with the crowd screaming and his teammates celebrating with him at home plate at Dodger Stadium after Ohtani broke a 3-3 tie with the Tampa Bay Rays, giving the Dodgers a 7-3 victory.

All things Dodgers: Latest Los Angeles Dodgers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

“It was one of my most memorable moments, hopefully I can make more memorable moments,’’ Ohtani told reporters after the game. “I’m extremely honored I’m part of this history. …. It means a tremendous amount me doing it in front of the home crowd.’’

Ohtani, the favorite to win his third MVP award, says that while he was thrilled to join the prestigious 40-40 club, the feat meant much more to him knowing it was the game-winning hit.

“I was really focused on winning the game,’’ Ohtani said.

Ohtani joins Ronald Acuna Jr. (41 homers, 73 stolen bases), Alfonso Soriano (46 homers, 41 stolen bases), Alex Rodriguez (42 homers, 46 stolen bases), Barry Bonds (42 homers, 40 stolen bases) and Jose Canseco (42 homers, 40 stolen bases) in the prestigious 40-40 club.

He accomplished the feat in just his 126th game, breaking the previous record of 147 games set by Soriano in 2006.

“I do think 40-40 is something that was on his radar from spring training,” Roberts said recently. “He wants to be the greatest player to ever play the game, and when you do something like that, you’re certainly staking your claim.’’

Ohtani, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and limited only to DH duties, is showing the baseball world just what he can do as a full-time hitter. Only four other players have hit at least 35 homers this season, and of that group only New York Yankees star Aaron Judge has stolen more than five bases. There are only seven players in the majors with at least 20 homers and 20 steals this season.

Ohtani’s speed has set him apart from the pack in what has become the greatest all-around season by a DH in history. His stolen base total is almost double the most by any DH ever (22 by Gary Sheffield in 2007) and the most in Ohtani’s career, surpassing the 26 he had in 2021.

He could also become the first player in history to hit at least 45 homers and steal 45 bases in the same season. And who knows? Ohtani could even become the charter member of the 50-50 club.

“I think he has bought into stealing bases, understands the value of the stolen base, getting 90 feet,” Roberts said. “Hasn’t surprised me. I think it’s welcome for me, for him, because he’s in a pennant race now. And I don’t think he’s been in a pennant race in his big-league career. So, his enhanced focus is not a surprise to me.”

Ohtani certainly is producing one of the greatest all-around offensive seasons in Dodgers history, ranking in the top five in the National League in homers, extra-base hits, total bases, runs, walks and stolen bases.

You name it, he’s doing it.

“He’s trying to dominate on every margin,” Roberts said. “That’s what makes him great.”

Ohtani, who was flirting with the Triple Crown until recently, has struggled in August, hitting .198. Still, he has eight homers and 12 stolen bases this month.

Even with his August swoon, he’s heavily favored to win his third MVP award. He would become just the second player to win the MVP in each league (Hall of Famer Frank Robinson is the only man to do it).

Yet, most important to Ohtani, he says, is that coveted World Series trophy.

“The number one goal is to get to the postseason,’’ Ohtani said, “and win the World Series.’’

He got a taste of that feeling in 2022 when Japan won the World Baseball Classic, but to win the Dodgers’ first World Series in a full season since 1988 — in his first year with the club — would mean absolutely everything to him.

“That’s why I play the game,’’ Ohtani said this spring.

Follow Nightengale on X: @BNightengale

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Politics

Pro-Palestinian group ‘Abandon Biden’ changes to ‘Abandon Harris’ ahead of election

‘Abandon Biden’ is now ‘Abandon Harris.’

The pro-Palestinian group opposing the Democratic Party announced on Friday that its members were ‘now mobilizing under the banner of ‘Abandon Harris.”

‘While we will keep the registered name of Abandon Biden, our mission is now laser-focused on exposing and opposing Kamala Harris and her complicity in genocide,’ the statement from the group explained. ‘We call on all people of conscience to join us in holding the Democratic Party accountable for the bloodshed in Gaza.’

‘The DNC’s recent actions have only confirmed what we’ve been saying all along: the Democratic Party has no interest in ending the genocide in Gaza,’ the group continued. ‘They are not mere bystanders; they are active participants in this brutal, unforgivable violence.’

Abandon Harris is part of a larger movement on the left opposing the Democratic Party due to its continued support of Israel in the Jewish state’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Anti-Israel demonstrators expressed their discontent with Harris’ campaign throughout this week’s Democratic National Convention with marches, protests, and demonstrations against speakers.

The Democratic presidential nominee attempted to extend an olive branch to the anti-Israel protesters during her speech at the convention, telling the crowd that President Biden’s administration is ‘working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done.’

‘And let me be clear – I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7.’

At the same time, Harris said, ‘what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating,’ referring to the war casualties of innocent Palestinian people.

In July, Harris met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reiterate the administration’s support for Israel, while also expressing her ‘serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.’ There was an apparent cease-fire deal also discussed at the time. 

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Business

How investors can prepare for lower interest rates: It’s ‘like getting a haircut,’ advisor says

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Friday gave the clearest indication yet that the central bank is likely to start cutting interest rates, which are currently at their highest level in two decades.

If a rate cut comes in September, as experts expect, it would be the first time officials have trimmed rates in over four years, when they slashed them to near zero at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Investors may be wondering what to do at the precipice of this policy shift.

Those who are already well diversified likely don’t need to do much right now, according to financial advisors on CNBC’s Advisor Council.

“For most people, this is welcome news, but it doesn’t mean we make big changes,” said Winnie Sun, co-founder and managing director of Sun Group Wealth Partners, based in Irvine, California.

“It’s kind of like getting a haircut: We’re doing small trims here and there,” she said.

Many long-term investors may not need to do anything at all — like those holding most or all of their assets in a target-date fund via their 401(k) plan, for example, advisors said.

Such funds are overseen by professional asset managers equipped to make the necessary tweaks for you.

“They’re doing it behind the scenes on your behalf,” said Lee Baker, a certified financial planner and founder of Claris Financial Advisors, based in Atlanta.

That said, there are some adjustments that more-hands-on investors can consider.

Largely, those tweaks would apply to cash and fixed income holdings, and perhaps to the types of stocks in one’s portfolio, advisors said.

In his keynote address on Friday at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said that “the time has come” for interest-rate policy to adjust.

That proclamation comes as inflation has fallen significantly from its pandemic-era peak in mid-2022. And the labor market, though still relatively healthy, has hinted at signs of weakness. Lowering rates would take some pressure off the U.S. economy.

The Fed will likely be choosing between a 0.25 and 0.50 percentage-point cut at its next policy meeting in September, Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics wrote in a note Friday.

Lower interest rates are “generally positive for stocks,” said Marguerita Cheng, a CFP and chief executive of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Businesses may feel more comfortable expanding if borrowing costs are lower, for example, she said.

But uncertainty around the number of future rate cuts, as well as their size and pace, mean investors shouldn’t make wholesale changes to their portfolios as a knee-jerk reaction to Powell’s proclamation, advisors said.

“Things can change,” Sun said.

Importantly, Powell didn’t commit to lowering rates, saying the trajectory depends on “incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

Falling interest rates generally means investors can expect lower returns on their “safer” money, advisors said.

This would include holdings with relatively low risk, like cash held in savings accounts, money market funds or certificates of deposit, and money in shorter-term bonds.

High interest rates have meant investors enjoyed fairly lofty returns on these lower-risk holdings.

It’s kind of like getting a haircut: We’re doing small trims here and there.

However, such returns are expected to fall alongside declining interest rates, advisors said. They generally recommend locking in high guaranteed rates on cash now while they’re still available.

“It’s probably a good time for people who are thinking about buying CDs at the bank to lock in the higher rates for the next 12 months,” said Ted Jenkin, a CFP and the CEO and founder of oXYGen Financial, based in Atlanta.

“A year from now you probably won’t be able to renew at those same rates,” he said.

Others may wish to park excess cash — sums that investors don’t need for short-term spending — in higher-paying fixed-income investments like longer-duration bonds, said Carolyn McClanahan, a CFP and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

“We’re really being aggressive about making sure clients understand the interest-rate risk they’re taking by staying in cash,” she said. “Too many people aren’t thinking about it.”

“They’ll be crying in six months when interest rates are a lot lower,” she said.

Bond duration is a measure of a bond’s sensitivity to interest rate changes. Duration is expressed in years, and factors in the coupon, time to maturity and yield paid through the term.

Short-duration bonds — with a term of perhaps a few years or less — generally pay lower returns but carry less risk.

Investors may need to raise their duration (and risk) to keep yield in the same ballpark as it has been for the past two or so years, advisors said. Duration of five to 10 years is probably OK for many investors right now, Sun said.

Advisors generally don’t recommend tweaking stock-bond allocations, however.

But investors may wish to allocate more future contributions to different types of stocks, Sun said.

For example, stocks of utility and home-improvement companies tend to perform better when interest rates fall, she said.

Asset categories like real estate investment trusts, preferred stock and small-cap stocks also tend to do well in such an environment, Jenkin said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Business

Fed Chair Powell says ‘time has come’ for interest rate cut

Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell said Friday he expects the central bank will cut its key interest rate in the near future in response to slower economic growth and cooling inflation.

At a speech during the Fed’s annual August summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said ‘the time has come for policy to adjust.’ His remarks come as price growth has slowed and the jobs market, as well as demand for borrowing money, has begun to soften to a weaker level than before the onset of the pandemic.

“Inflation has declined significantly,’ Powell said. ‘The labor market is no longer overheated, and conditions are now less tight than those that prevailed before the pandemic. Supply constraints have normalized. And the balance of the risks to our two mandates has changed.”

Markets responded favorably to the news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 462 points, or 1.14%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.47%, and the the S&P 500 gained 1.15%. All three indexes remain near their all-time highs.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2024.Roberto Schmidt / AFP – Getty Images file

The speech was highly anticipated as the U.S. economy appears to be entering a new, more subdued phase following several years of surging growth following pandemic reopenings.

However, Powell was vague about the exact timing and extent of a cut, leaving market participants guessing about how exactly the Fed views the current state of economic growth.

He said the Fed’s next move would ‘depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.” The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee, which decides interest rates, next meets Sept. 17.

The interest rates set by the Fed are benchmarks that dictate borrowing costs for much of the economy and are its main tool for fulfilling its mandate of keeping both inflation and unemployment low.

Starting in the spring of 2022, the Fed raised interest rates to a level not seen in nearly two decades as it worked to combat soaring inflation. By making it more expensive to borrow money, the central bank sought to curb demand for goods and services and thus easing upward pressure on price growth.

The strategy has mostly worked: After hitting a peak of more than 9% in June 2022, the 12-month inflation rate has slowed to 2.9%, with some categories, including groceries and many durable goods, seeing price growth below 2% or even lower.

Now, the Fed is expressing more concern that the slower inflation is coming at the cost of jobs. In July, the unemployment rate unexpectedly inched up to 4.3%, its highest level, excluding the surge during the pandemic, since September 2017. While that is still low by historical standards, it comes as the rate of hiring has also fallen to below the pre-pandemic average.

“Our objective has been to restore price stability while maintaining a strong labor market, avoiding the sharp increases in unemployment that characterized earlier disinflationary episodes when inflation expectations were less well anchored,” Powell said Friday. “While the task is not complete, we have made a good deal of progress toward that outcome.”

In a note to clients following Powell’s remarks, Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management financial group, said it was clear that ‘labor market risks now have [the central bank’s] full attention’ but that it was still waiting on August’s jobs report — scheduled to be released the first Friday of September — to determine next steps.

‘Make no mistake, if the labor market shows signs of further cooling, the Fed will cut with conviction,’ Shah wrote.

Lower interest rates will provide some relief to consumer borrowers, but it will not be immediate, according to Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

‘The trip down is likely to be much slower than the series of interest rate hikes which quickly pushed the federal funds rate higher by 5.25 percentage points in 2022 and 2023,’ McBride wrote in a note, adding that while mortgage rates have dropped from nearly 8% last fall to about 6.6% today, they remain higher than what borrowers have seen the past two decades.

Meanwhile, he said ‘we’ve yet to see a meaningful drop in credit card or auto loan rates’ — the former still at approximately 21.5% and the latter as much as 9.5%.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Angel Reese joins Shaq in record book for feat last accomplished in 1993

Reese registered 13 points and 20 rebounds in the Chicago Sky’s 82-80 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena, marking Reese’s second consecutive game with 20+ rebounds. She’s the first player in the WNBA or NBA to have back-to-back 20+ rebound games since fellow LSU alum Shaquille O’Neal in April 1993.

Friday marked Reese’s 21st double-double of the season in her 28th career WNBA game. In fact, the Sky forward is averaging a double-double this season with 13.6 points and 12.6 rebounds, which leads the WNBA. She also leads the league in offensive rebounds per game (5.1).

Marina Mabrey, who started the season on the Sky before being traded to the Sun ahead of the 2024 WNBA All-Star break, dropped a game-high 24 points (9-13 FG, 5-7 3PT) in her first game against her former team.

Reese was 3-of-12 from the field on Friday, but she found a way to get to the line and knocked down 7 of 8 free throws.

On Sunday, Reese put up 19 points and 20 rebounds in the Sky’s 86-68 loss to the Phoenix Mercury. Her performance made history as she became the fastest WNBA player to reach 20 double-doubles in a season.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. 

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Ronda Rousey’s apology is lesson an NFL MVP would do well to heed

There are several lessons to be had from Ronda Rousey’s apology for sharing, however briefly, a Sandy Hook conspiracy video.

The first is that it’s never too late to acknowledge a wrong and take responsibility for it. In a post Thursday night on X, the former UFC champ apologized for something she’d done 11 years ago, a veritable lifetime in this age of warp-speed news cycles fueled by our constant connection.

The apology followed a disastrous Ask Me Anything on Reddit, in which Rousey was inundated with questions about her posting of a video that cast doubt on the horrific massacre that killed 20 first-graders and six educators and shattered the idea there were still some places in this country safe from gun violence.

Regardless of the convenience of the timing, Rousey said she has long regretted sharing the video. She’d written an apology many times over, even tried to put it in her last book, but never published it. Out of fear. Out of shame. Out of concern it would send others down the conspiratorial rabbit hole. Out of calculated self-interest.

Whatever the reasons, she now knows they weren’t worth more than making amends for the harm she’d done.

‘I convinced myself that apologizing would just reopen the wound for no other reason than me selfishly trying to make myself feel better, that I would hurt those suffering even more and possibly lead more people down the black hole of conspiracy bullshit by it being brought up again just so I could try to shake the label of being a ‘`’Sandy Hook truther,’ ‘ Rousey wrote.

‘I apologize that this came 11 years too late, but to those affected by the Sandy Hook massacre, from the bottom of my heart and depth of my soul I am so so sorry for the hurt I caused. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’ve endured and words cannot describe how thoroughly remorseful and ashamed I am of myself for contributing to it. I’ve regretted it every day of my life since and will continue to do so until the day I die,’ Rousey wrote, putting the words in bold so no one would miss their importance.

The second lesson is apologies are owed even if no one knows you’ve done wrong.

Rousey said she ‘quickly realized my mistake’ in posting the video and took it down. Somehow, despite being at the height of her fame and dominance in her sport, what she’d done went largely unnoticed by the general public. MMA fans might have been aware, but Rousey was able to move on unscathed.

A wrong is a wrong, however, whether the whole world sees it or it’s only known in the quiet of your own heart.

‘I should have been canceled,’ Rousey wrote. ‘I would have deserved it. I still do.’

The last, and most important, lesson in Rousey’s apology is her word of warning.

There have always been people who’ve been suckered into believing nonsense; those newspapers in the grocery store checkout line with headlines about alien babies and Elvis sightings weren’t there for decoration. But it’s gotten worse in the last 15 years, with bad actors preying on people’s fears and ignorance and, in the worst cases, hate.

An MMA star reposting a video questioning the veracity of the bullet-riddled bodies of 6- and 7-year-olds and the bottomless chasm of their parents’ grief.

But rather than leading to some enlightened truth, Rousey wrote, dabbling in conspiracy theories only sends you further into the abyss.

‘To anyone else that’s fallen down the black hole of bullshit,’ Rousey wrote, ‘it doesn’t make you edgy or an independent thinker, you’re not doing your due diligence entertaining every possibility by digesting these conspiracies. They will only make you feel powerless, afraid, miserable and isolated. You’re doing nothing but hurting others and yourself.

‘Regardless of how many bridges you’ve burned over it, stop digging yourself a deeper hole, don’t get wrapped up in the sunk cost fallacy, no matter how long you’ve gone down the wrong road, you should still turn back.’

It’s never too late for the truth. Or an apology.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Watch: Young fan has priceless reaction after Astros star gifts HR bat

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve went yard against the Baltimore Orioles, but he truly hit it out of the park with his celebration that involved a young fan.

Altuve blasted a two-run homer to right field during the top of the third inning to give the Astros a 2-1 lead over the Orioles on Friday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After rounding the bases, Altuve retrieved his bat and handed it to a young fan. ‘That was literally what Jose was most concerned about walking back through the dugout was to tell (Astros manager) Joe Espada that there’s a young kid that needs to get my bat,’ an MLB Network broadcaster said.

The young fan is named Chris and receiving the bat marked the ‘greatest moment of my life,’ he said. How did this moment come to be? Chris explained that he got the attention of Altuve, his ‘idol,’ as Altuve was preparing for his upcoming at-bat.

‘When (Altuve) was on deck, I was yelling, ‘If you get a home run, can I have your bat?’ The second pitch he hit a home run … and right after he called me into the dugout and gave me the bat. He’s my idol and it was my favorite thing of my life.’

Watch his priceless reaction here:

All things Astros: Latest Houston Astros news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Although Chris was wearing an Orioles hat when he first retrieved Altuve’s bat, the young fan clarified that ‘Jose Altuve has always been my idol’ and that he was wearing Baltimore gear amid his recreational league tournament.

“I’m shaking right now,’ Chris added.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Politics

On Ukrainian Independence Day, over 100 POWs swapped with Russia

Ukraine exchanged over 100 individuals with Russia this week as the country celebrated its third Independence Day since the invasion began.

The two nations swapped an even number of prisoners — 115 soldiers for 115 soldiers — on Saturday, the 55th such exchange of the ongoing conflict.

‘Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today. These are warriors of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service,’ Zelenskyy said in a statement on the exchange. ‘We remember everyone. We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back.’

The agreement was struck via negotiations facilitated by the United Arab Emirates. 

Zelenskyy praised those soldiers responsible for capturing Russian combatants, stating that such successes on the battlefield give the much smaller nation leverage in negotiations for their own men’s return.

‘I am grateful to each unit that replenishes our exchange fund. This helps to advance the release of our military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘I thank our team and partners, the UAE, for bringing our people back home.’

Officials in the Kremlin are scrambling to downplay Ukraine’s invasion into the Kursk region as Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed for a second week to stop Kyiv’s advances on his home turf, according to a report by independent Russian news outlet Meduza.

The report, which first emerged last week, claimed that sources in the Kremlin have begun pushing government-funded media agencies to minimize the severity of the Ukrainian incursion and to start employing a propaganda campaign that encourages Russians to embrace the ‘new normal.’

Fox News Digital could not independently verify the report, which comes as Ukraine continues to tout its success in capturing more than 780 square miles of Kursk, including the town of Sudhza, as well as nearly 100 Russian villages, according to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Tuesday. 

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Politics

As Kamala gets coronated, Chicago gets democracy stress test

One day, airports will figure out a civilized method for catching an Uber after your flight, but that day was not last Sunday at O’Hare as a maelstrom of confused travelers stared into an endless stream of gray Toyota Camrys. Having made facial contact with my driver and exchanged names, I settled in for a bumper to bumper drive to my hotel and we began chatting.

‘Do you mind if I ask what your accent is?’ I queried. ‘I travel a lot but I can’t place it.’

‘Siberian,’ he laughed. ‘I know it’s confusing, I look Chinese and sound Russian. I hit the green card lottery.’

It turns out that the green card lottery is a few select spots for his area that he applied for on a whim and won. Four years ago he arrived, speaking no English, made his way to Chicago, and is thrilled to be here.

‘There is no democracy in Russia,’ he said. ‘Putin is dictator, and if you want a car like this you have to have a good job and that takes connections. It’s completely different.’

He doesn’t travel back to see his parents anymore, for fear of being arrested or conscripted.

It was a sobering way to enter Chicago on the week of the Democratic National Convention, and I wondered if the people here who hit the ‘born in America lottery,’ had quite such a sense of how special that is.

Chicago being Chicago, I mostly met Democrats, but not only Democrats. On my first night, I met a guy in a white and gold MAGA hat who loves trolling his hometown by wearing it. There are also many types of Democrats with their own priorities.

Several of the bartenders and hotel employees I spoke to emphasized unions. Most belonged to Local 1 of the Service Employees International Union, and they are worried about Donald Trump’s positions on the labor issue, and unclear where Harris stands on everything else. These were not woke progressives, and they also emphasized the difference between private and public unions.

‘We know the business,’ one told me. ‘We know if we ask too high, the business will shut down, the government has endless money.’

For these workers, as for so many others, their vote for president is directly tied to their jobs and bank accounts; for others, loftier notions take center stage.

One millennial couple I met was on their way to a concert sponsored by the DNC. Both Harris supporters, their political lifestyles were a bit different. In the dim-lit Chicago steakhouse, I asked if they had any friends voting for Trump. She didn’t, but he had a more rural upbringing and did.

‘We can talk politics,’ he told me of his friends back home. ‘It doesn’t get too heated, usually. We all try to listen.’ 

For these voters, in the upper middle class and beyond, the kitchen table politics of President Joe Biden’s composite financially struggling dad are not the core issues. They talk about abortion, and saving democracy, and Trump being horrible.

Another guy I met who was traveling for work and has a job in sports didn’t hold out too much hope that either side was much better than the other. ‘I don’t know, man, I’m not sure it matters much,’ he sighed, not angry, maybe a bit exasperated by it all.

Without exception, everyone I spoke to who was not a delegate told me that, of course, Harris should do interviews and press conferences. But as those who were delegates were quick to point out, it is not a dealbreaker for them, Trump, after all, being Trump.

On my Uber ride back to the airport on Wednesday, I was driven by another recent immigrant to our country, this time from Kuwait. ‘Why you vote?’ he bluntly asked me, referring to the convention. ‘The one with the most votes doesn’t even win.’

On this shorter midday jaunt, we talked about the electoral college, why every state has two senators, and all the other oddities of our republic.

‘In Kuwait, sometimes the prince gives us democracy, sometimes he takes it away,’ he said. ‘What’s the difference?’ 

It was clear that I wasn’t going to convince him, and I realized that there is no empirical way to prove the superiority of democracy, the dignity that comes with casting a ballot to have a say, being part of the citizenry at whose pleasure our politicians serve. 

My first immigrant driver got it, my second didn’t. And in between, in the Windy City, everyone had their own unique take on what it means to live and vote in our democratic republic. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Chargers players rescued from ‘inoperable elevator’ by Dallas firefighters

Some members of the Los Angeles Chargers had a harrowing Friday night.

The Chargers revealed on social media that ‘several’ players and other members of the team’s traveling party got stuck in an ‘inoperable elevator’ at the team’s Dallas-area hotel.

The situation required the intervention (and considerable effort) of the Dallas Fire-Rescue. Per the Chargers, Dallas Fire-Rescue helped everyone exit the stuck elevator through its ceiling panel and moved them into an operational elevator next to it.

‘The Los Angeles Chargers thank Dallas Fire-Rescue for their quick response, professionalism and substantial efforts in ensuring everyone’s safety,’ the team said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how many players were involved in the situation, nor did the Chargers reveal their identities.

All things Chargers: Latest Los Angeles Chargers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The Chargers are slated to play the Dallas Cowboys Saturday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in their final preseason game.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By