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Mathews: How to give people a bigger voice in government

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

In this time of rising polarization, authoritarian populism, and maddening big-money politics, leaders often say that it’s up to we the people to save democracy.But democracy costs money. And democracy — unlike the governments and special interests that seek to control it—has no budget. So how are you and I supposed to pay for all thatdemocracy-saving?There’s a new and practical answer to that question — called “Democratic Action Funds.” I first heard a proposal for these from Marjan Ehsassi, a non-resident future of democracyfellow with the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute, at a democracy conference I ran in Mexico City.Ehsassi has studied some of the world’s least democratic places — Iran, Cuba, and North Korea. But in recent years she has turned her attention to backsliding democratic societies, including the United States, where big majorities of people tell pollsters that they have no real voice or power in government. As a result of feeling powerless, more of us are disen...

Rubin: As we celebrated our independence, Ukrainians fought to keep theirs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

As we celebrated the Fourth of July with hot dogs and fireworks, mourners gathered at Kyiv’s famous St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral. They were paying last respects to one of Ukraine’s most noted young writers.Victoria Amelina, 37, was fatally wounded by a Russian missile strike on July 1 on a large, well-known pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. At the time, it was filled with journalists, humanitarian aid workers, local families, and probably some soldiers taking time out from the front lines. How like the Russians to bomb a pizza place.I didn’t know Amelina, but have several Ukrainian friends who did, including one who was at her hospital bedside as she lay in an irreversible coma.I’m writing about her, not to guilt-trip those who enjoyed their backyard barbecue this week, but because she inspired such admiration from her peers. She had paused her successful literary career to investigate and document war crimes in areas liberated by Ukrainian forces from Russian occupat...

Opinion: Looking for the next California tech boom. You’ll find it in farmlands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

The world may see California largely as home to Silicon Valley and Hollywood, but it’s agriculture technology where we can most clearly outshine our competitors. In a new study, “Nurturing California Industries,” we identified it as among the six industries most critical to the state’s economic future.In many ways, advances in agricultural technology will have as much to do for California’s future as AI, streaming movies and electric vehicles. Agriculture is, by far, California’s strongest sector in terms of employment. In the latest 2022 Census of Wages and Employment, agriculture employs 419,582 people in this state, more than four times the number in the next-largest state, Washington.While tech businesses and corporate headquarters head elsewhere, California’s agricultural supremacy remains unchallenged. The agricultural industry provides more than a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts. In 2021, the state’s farms and ranches earn...

What can buyers do when a seller’s agent claims them as ‘his client’?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

Regarding your June 24, 2023, column titled “Is saving money worth the potential of stigmatizing your home after a failed sale?” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:Q: A seller’s agent tricked us. We attended an open house and asked for the presale seller inspections. The listing agent complied — no questions asked. In Silicon Valley, homebuyers can ask the listing agent for the seller’s presale inspections. If, after reading the documents, we are still interested in the property, then our buyer’s agent will be called upon. It’s how our friends bought homes. However, the sellers’ agent claimed us as homebuyers. It’s a shame. We loved that house.A buyer’s agent, working under the seller’s agent, must represent us. We, of course, protested. The seller’s agent claimed us as his client. He stated that Realtors procure causes for this reason. It was outrageous. The reality sunk in. We were being prohibited from using our buyer’s agent to make an offer. Worse, we had to make a...

EL Gobierno de los Países Bajos colapsa por una disputa sobre la política de inmigración

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

(CNN) — El gobierno de los Países Bajos se derrumbó tras no poder llegar a un acuerdo para frenar la inmigración.El primer ministro Mark Rutte dijo este viernes que su gobierno presentaría su renuncia al rey holandés, lo que provocaría la celebración de nuevas elecciones en el otoño.Rutte, que ha estado en el poder desde 2010 y es el segundo líder con más años en el cargo en Europa, dijo que las disputas sobre las medidas para restringir la inmigración habían provocado la fractura de su gobierno de coalición de cuatro partidos.“No es ningún secreto que los socios de la coalición tienen opiniones diferentes sobre la política de inmigración”, dijo Rutte en una conferencia de prensa este viernes por la noche, afirmando que “esas diferencias se han vuelto insuperables”.El rey Willem-Alexander regresó temprano de sus vacaciones para reunirse con Rutte este sábado, cuando el primer ministro presentará formalmente su renuncia.La decisión fue provocada por las diferencias entre el par...

Natasha Howard makes 2 FTs with 0.4 to play, Wings hand Aces their second loss of season 80-78

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Natasha Howard made two free throws with less than a second to play and the Dallas Wings handed the Las Vegas Aces just their second loss, pulling out an 80-78 win before a sell-out crowd on Friday night.Getting the ball with 14.2 seconds remaining, the Wings grabbed three offensive rebounds after Satou Sabally missed the initial shot from the right wing.Teaira McCowan had the first two rebounds but A’ja Wilson blocked her first shot and McCowan missed the second, but Howard was there for the rebound and was fouled with 0.4 on the clock.After a timeout, Las Vegas tried a lob pass toward the basket but the clock started before a player touched the ball. Given a second chance, the ball was inbounded to Jackie Young but she had to take a dribble and the clock ran out before her shot swished through and the Aces’ nine-game winning streak was over.Arike Ogunbowale scored 21 points for the Wings (9-9) and Howard and McCowan both had double-doubles. Howard had 16 ...

Al menos ocho muertos en derrumbe de edificio en Brasil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

(CNN Español) — Al menos ocho personas, incluidos niños, murieron este viernes después de que un edificio se derrumbara en el estado de Pernambuco, en el noreste de Brasil, según CNN Brasil, afiliada de CNN, citando a la Secretaría de Defensa Social (SDS) del estado.Noticia en desarrolloThe-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Washington Wizards invite all dancers to audition for entertainment teams

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

The Washington Wizards are calling on dancers across genres and ages to audition for their entertainment teams at Trinity Washington University.Open call auditions will begin Saturday, July 15 and run through Sunday, July 16 at the Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sports.The teams are in search of dancers who are outgoing, fun and talented with a love of dance. The week-long audition process includes a set of camps, interviews and audition stages before the team is announced on Friday, July 21.Auditions begin on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. when kids aged 6-14 audition for a spot on the Wiz Kids dance team.Wiz Kids said it is looking for talented young dancers who can perform at more than nine home games throughout the 2023-24 season.Parents should register their kids for an audition. Guardians can return to pick them up at 11:45 a.m.Afterwards, energetic and “seasoned” dancers aged 50 and older can register to audition for the Wizdom dance team at 1 p.m.They also perform ...

US Treasury chief Yellen appeals to China for cooperation on climate and other global challenges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appealed to China on Saturday for cooperation on climate change and other global challenges and not to let disagreements about trade and other irritants derail relations.In a meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Yellen defended U.S. restrictions on technology exports that rankle Beijing. She said the two governments shouldn’t let such disagreements disrupt thriving economic and financial relations.″We also face important global challenges, such as debt distress in emerging markets and developing countries and climate change,” Yellen said. “We have a duty to both our own economies and to other countries to cooperate.”Yellen is one of a series of U.S. officials who are due to visit Beijing as part of efforts to revive relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over technology, security, and Taiwan among other issues.Yellen has received a warm welcome from leaders including Premier Li Qiang...

La gran mentira del joven hispano que nunca estuvo desaparecido, y otras noticias insólitas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:26 GMT

Si crees que lo has visto todo, estás equivocado. Estas son algunas de las noticias más insólitas de esta semana. TODO ERA MENTIRA: EL JOVEN QUE NUNCA DESAPARECIÓLa policía de Houston desmintió la sorprendente historia que acaparó las noticias de un joven que supuestamente estuvo desaparecido por 8 años y que había dicho que fue raptado todos esos años por su madre.Rudy Farías “nunca estuvo desaparecido”, ya que al día siguiente del reporte hecho en 2015, el joven volvió a su casa. Tanto el hispano como su madre usaron nombres ficticios para reportar la presunta desaparición del entonces joven de 17 años y quien hoy tiene 25 años.Las autoridades también desmintieron las declaraciones de un activista que dijo que Farías era supuestamente el esclavo sexual de su madre y que era obligado a “jugar a ser papi”.IBA EN AVIÓN A LA UNIVERSIDAD PARA NO PAGAR RENTAUn joven de California viajó todos los días en avión para llegar a la universidad después de hacer cálculos, ...