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How country music legend Dolly Parton is helping millions of children across California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

By Alexandra Coenjaerts | CNNEvery child under the age of five in California is now qualified to receive a free book in the mail every month, thanks to the state’s expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.The newly expanded book-giving program will bestow California with the most extensive Imagination Library nationwide, also making it the first state to provide a bilingual book option in English and Spanish.Parton, legendary and award-winning country music artist, actress and icon, started the Imagination Library in 1995 with a vision to foster a love of reading.“Today is an amazing milestone for children and families across the state!” Parton said in a press release sent out by Governor Gavin Newsom’s office Tuesday.“Dolly Parton unites us through her music – and through her commitment to helping all kids develop a love for reading,” Newsom said.Newsom said that the expansion will be complete within the next five years, making more than 2.4 million children eligible for the...

LGBTQ protections and gender policy sparks brawl at Southern California school district headquarters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

A furious debate over how gender identity should be taught to children and protected in schools unfolded on Tuesday, June 6 at the night meeting of the Glendale Unified School District School Board.At 5 p.m. a crowd of more than 200 gathered outside GUSD headquarters. The crowd stood in two physically and ideologically divided camps with a row of Glendale police officers between them. The protest swelled in size and intensity and police set up physical barriers between the two sides and around the building’s entrances.Several police helicopters circled overhead. Glendale Police Department officers locked down the building at one point after a fight broke out outside. Police called all staff to return to the building, declared an unlawful assembly and cleared a crowd from the parking lot.On one side were protesters opposed to teaching children about sexual identities in school and on the other side were LGBTQ+ advocates preaching a message of inclusion. The school board’s agenda incl...

Word Game: June 7, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — CAPTIVATE (CAPTIVATE: CAP-tih-vate: To influence and dominate by some special charm, art or trait.)Average mark 25 wordsTime limit 40 minutesCan you find 34 or more words in CAPTIVATE? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — RECITES recite resect reset rest retie rice rise rite erect cerise cite crest cries terse tier tire tree trice scree secret sect seer sere sire site steer stirTo 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 creator Kathleen Saxe...

Bridge: June 7, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

I suppose snooze alarms are one of those things we can’t do without. (Rearrange the letters in “snooze alarms” and you get “alas, no more Z’s.”)It might help if an alarm sounded after the opening lead, jolting declarer awake to the necessity of thinking before proceeding. In today’s deal, South opened with a lusty four-diamond preempt and was raised to game. West led a low heart, and South took dummy’s ace and drew trumps.South next cashed the A-K of clubs; he didn’t want to lose a finesse to West. But West won the next club and led a spade, and East took two spades for down one.WINNING PLAYNot many Souths would find the winning play without benefit of an alarm. South must play dummy’s deuce on the first heart.If East shifts to a trump. South draws trumps and takes the K-A of clubs. When East-West follow, South discards his jack of clubs on the ace of hearts and ruffs a club. He reaches dummy with a trump to pitch two spade...

Horoscopes June 7, 2023: Bill Hader, learn through observation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Aaron Pierre, 29; Iggy Azalea, 33; Michael Cera, 35; Bill Hader, 45.Happy Birthday: Pick up the pace and shoot for the stars. Bring meaning to your goals, and adjust your schedule to suit the demand. The incentive to reach your destination this year will be more straightforward if you simplify and stick to your plan. Take a step back from people who drag you down or tempt you to be unproductive. Learn through observation and experience, and avoid mistakes. Your numbers are 4, 17, 23, 27, 32, 35, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Direct your energy wisely. Don’t take on so much that you can’t focus on what’s meaningful. Call on those with a good track record, and you’ll feel assured they will pitch in and help. Romance is in the stars. 2 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Be passionate, say what’s on your mind and finish things on time. Don’t let what others choose to do slow you down. Change whatever you aren’t satisfie...

Monetary Blowback: How U.S. Wars, Sanctions, and Hegemony Are Threatening the Dollar’s Reserve Currency Dominance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

This week, strategists at JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank, warned there are signs of “de-dollarization” around the world. Dedollarization is the push by countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and others, to move away from the U.S. dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency. This move poses a big challenge to U.S. economic hegemony. This week on Intercepted, Canadian businessperson and mining financier Frank Giustra joins Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain to discuss the prospective move toward nations’ dedollarization. Giustra breaks down the history of how the U.S. dollar became the world’s primary reserve currency. Scahill, Hussain, and Giustra then discuss the different nations and the political and economic motivations to dedollarize and how the U.S. government may respond in order to maintain its economic hegemony.Transcript coming soon.The post Monetary Blowback: How U.S. Wars, Sanctions, and Hegemony Are Threatening the Dollar’s Reserve Cu...

Is it a ‘skip’ or a ‘pause’? Federal Reserve won’t likely raise rates next week but maybe next month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When an increasingly fractious committee of Federal Reserve policymakers meets next week, Chair Jerome Powell will need to forge a consensus. One group of Fed officials would like to pause their relentless campaign of rate increases after 10 straight hikes to allow time to look around and assess whether higher borrowing rates are slowing inflation.But a second group worries that inflation is still too high and thinks the Fed should continue hiking at least once or twice more — beginning next week. So how will Powell achieve an accord between the two?By turning what might normally be considered a “pause” into a “skip.” Whereas a “pause” might suggest that the Fed won’t necessarily raise its benchmark rate again, a “skip” implies that it probably will — just not now. When Powell speaks at a news conference next week, he will likely make clear that the Fed’s key rate — which has elevated the costs of mortgages, auto loans, credit card and business borrowing — ma...

Ivan Menezes, former boss of drinks giant Diageo, dies after short illness at 63

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Ivan Menezes, one of the most influential figures in the global drinks industry over the past few decades and who was widely admired for his commitment to diversity, has died following a short illness. He was 63. Menezes was until earlier this week chief executive of Diageo, the drinks giant that owns popular brands such as Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness. In a statement Wednesday, Diageo confirmed Menezes’ death, two days after announcing that he was stepping down after developing complications while recovering from emergency surgery on an ulcer. Menezes was due to step down as chief executive at the end of the month after 10 years at the helm of the company, which has a market value on the London Stock Exchange of 75 billion pounds ($93 billion). Diageo also accounts for around 10% of the U.K.’s total food and drinks exports.“Ivan was undoubtedly one of the finest leaders of his generation,” said chairman Javier Ferran. “Ivan was ...

“Tiempos diferentes requieren un liderazgo diferente’: el exvicepresidente Mike Pence anuncia su aspiración a la Casa Blanca

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

(CNN) — El exvicepresidente de Estados Unidos Mike Pence anunció este miércoles que aspirará a las elecciones presidenciales, preparando una batalla por la nominación republicana con su antiguo jefe, Donald Trump.En un video de presentación publicado antes de su arranque de campaña más tarde en Iowa, Pence se presentó como un republicano de Reagan que busca devolver a Estados Unidos a los principios conservadores.“Sería fácil quedarse al margen. Pero yo no me crié así”, dice en el video. “Por eso hoy, ante Dios y mi familia, anuncio que me presento a la Presidencia de Estados Unidos”.La candidatura presidencial de Pence lo pone en una posición única, ya que se convierte en el primer vicepresidente de la historia moderna que desafía a su antiguo jefe, actual favorito para la nominación del Partido Republicano en 2024. Aunque fue un leal segundo al mando de Trump, Pence rompió con él al negarse a anular los resultados de las elecciones de 2020 y presidir ...

Looking back on the last time a senior British royal testified in court — in the 19th century

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:50 GMT

When Prince Harry entered the witness box in his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, he became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century.Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, testified twice, in the divorce proceedings of a woman with whom he was accused of having an affair with (he denied it) and later in a slander case involving a man accused of cheating at cards.He was known at the time as the Prince of Wales and went on to become King Edward VII. He was the great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother.Here are excerpts of three Associated Press stories from the 1891 cheating case, which the press at the time referred to as the baccarat scandal.Though the prince was not accused of wrongdoing, the counsel for Sir William Gordon Cumming, the plaintiff who sued for slander after he was accused of cheating, tried to make the case a referendum on the prince’s behavior. One story noted t...