Pelican Press

Five Fremantle players who impressed in pre-season clash against Melbourne including Shai Bolton, Luke Jackson Five Fremantle players who impressed in pre-season clash against Melbourne including Shai Bolton, Luke Jackson Which Dockers were red-hot in the Mandurah heat? Here’s the pick of the bunch from Fremantle’s final pre-season hit-out. Source link #Fremantle #players #impressed #preseason #clash #Melbourne #including #Shai #Bolton #Luke #Jackson Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Live updates: Firefly ‘Blue Ghost’ lunar lander touches down on the moon – CNN Live updates: Firefly ‘Blue Ghost’ lunar lander touches down on the moon – CNN Live updates: Firefly ‘Blue Ghost’ lunar lander touches down on the moon CNNFirefly Aerospace aces Moon landing on first attempt Spaceflight Now’We’re on the moon!’ Private Blue Ghost moon lander aces historic lunar landing for NASA Space.comFirefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 Successfully Lands on the Moon The New York Times Source link #Live #updates #Firefly #Blue #Ghost #lunar #lander #touches #moon #CNN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Paula Radcliffe runs Tokyo Marathon aged 51 to make return after 10 years Paula Radcliffe runs Tokyo Marathon aged 51 to make return after 10 years Former world record holder Paula Radcliffe ran her first competitive marathon in a decade on Sunday in Tokyo. Radcliffe, 51, finished in a time of two hours, 57 minutes and 26 seconds – 10 years after ending her glittering athletics career at the 2015 London Marathon. The Briton held the world record for 16 years from 2003 with a time of 2:15:25 before it was broken by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in 2019. And her former record was still faster than that recorded by Sunday’s winner, Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede, who defended her Tokyo title in 2:16:31. Kenya’s Winfridah Moraa Moseti was second in 2:16:56, with Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa third in 2:17:00. The men’s race was won by Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele in a time of 2:03:23 for his first major marathon title. Ethiopia’s Deresa Geleta was second in 2:03:51, with Kenya’s Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich third in 2:04:00. Uganda’s double Olympic track champion Joshua Cheptegei came ninth. Radcliffe will also take part in next month’s Boston Marathon as she aims to compete in all six major marathons. She recently told Athletics Weekly, external: “I turned 50 last year, am now 51, and thinking about the goals I’ve got left one of those was always to tick off the six marathon majors. “For most of my career it was five and then Tokyo was added so I never really had the opportunity to race Tokyo. And Boston I never did because it was so close to London.” In addition to London, Boston and Tokyo, the other major marathons are Berlin, Chicago and New York. Source link #Paula #Radcliffe #runs #Tokyo #Marathon #aged #return #years Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

4 Thriller Novels We Recommend 4 Thriller Novels We Recommend Sarah Lyall, who writes the monthly thrillers column for The New York Times Book Review, recommends four of her favorite thriller novels. Source link #Thriller #Novels #Recommend Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Musk’s Cost-Saving Claims Are Wrong in So Many Ways Musk’s Cost-Saving Claims Are Wrong in So Many Ways We found huge errors in the “wall of receipts” for Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, where the group lists what it has saved by canceling federal contracts. After The New York Times and other news organizations pointed out the errors, the team quietly removed all five of the largest savings it originally claimed. But David A. Fahrenthold, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, describes how Mr. Musk’s group then added new errors. Source link #Musks #CostSaving #Claims #Wrong #Ways Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Shai Bolton makes superb first appearance for Fremantle in Dockers’ pre-season win over Melbourne in Mandurah Shai Bolton makes superb first appearance for Fremantle in Dockers’ pre-season win over Melbourne in Mandurah ***** Fremantle recruit Shai Bolton has given fans the perfect indication of why they should be excited about 2025 with a highlights filled first game in purple. Bolton kicked two goals against Melbourne in Mandurah as Fremantle sent a message that they are far from vanilla with a 16.13 (109) to 11.24 (90) victory. Bolton’s agility, speed and skill were all on show throughout the game. He roved a Luke Jackson tap from a boundary throw in just seconds before quarter time and snapped truly in a reminder of his ability to create something out of nothing. Then he kicked his second goal during the second term after taking a mark inside 50. Camera IconFremantle forward Shai Bolton. Credit: Kelsey Reid/The West *********** Bolton also spent time in the centre square and finished the day with 12 disposals and nine score involvements. His footy smarts were also on show as he produced some of the flair that Richmond showed during their premiership years by keeping the ball alive as it looked set to cross the boundary line. Bolton slapped the ball back into play and that decision resulted in a goal to Andrew Brayshaw. Nathan O’Driscoll all but locked away his selection the round one team with an impressive display as both an inside midfielder and a wingman. His dash and long kicking meant he gave Fremantle a point of difference. O’Driscoll had 17 possessions and kicked two goals. His big body and speed will be important for the Dockers throughout 2025 after he missed large chunks of 2024 due to injury. Camera IconNathan O’Driscoll sprints clear. Credit: James Worsfold/AFL Photos/via Getty Images Murphy Reid was picked in the starting 22 ahead of Neil Erasmus. He played predominantly across half-forward but received opportunities in the centre square. Reid had 14 disposals and his ability to gather the ball below his knees and quickly handball to a teammate stood out. He also spent time on both Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver at different points. Erasmus didn’t play until the last quarter. Jackson continued his impressive pre-season, rotating between the ruck and the forward line. He kicked two goals but it was his ability to win the ball and then charge into space which gives Fremantle an edge. He had 18 possessions. Camera IconLuke Jackson was dynamic. Credit: James Worsfold/AFL Photos/via Getty Images Liam Reidy still spent large periods of the game as the number one ruckman in Sean Darcy’s absence. But he had his hands full dealing with Max Gawn who won 46 hit outs for the game. Josh Treacy was prominent inside 50 with his aggression at both the ball and the man sure to have defenders worried this year. He took a spectacular mark over Oliver, crunched into Gawn in another contest and took six grabs for the day. HIs forward partner in crime Jye Amiss had a rough day with only two behinds and several other missed shots that failed to score. Michael Walters showed he isn’t ready to give up his spot to younger player by booting three goals. He was ideally placed to have a fourth shot for goal too but dropped a mark when diving to the ground. Jordan Clark gave Fremantle heaps of drive from the backline. He had 28 disposals Clayton Oliver had a big game for Melbourne. The star onballer kicked three goals while also helping himself to 28 disposals and 11 clearances in a great sign for the Demons. If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your Cookie Settings. To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. Christian Petracca also performed well in his return from life threatening injuries that he sustained last season. Petracca was hard at the footy, showed no signs of the damage he suffered against Collingwood and had 33 disposals and nine clearances. The Demons lost Jacob van Rooyen to back spasms in the opening minutes. They were also without Kysaiah Pickett for the majority of the match. Pickett will miss the start of the season due to suspension and didn’t enter the contest until the last quarter. Fremantle kicked seven goals to one in the first half and looked set to give Melbourne a horrible day. But the game changed in the third quarter when the Demons rallied with five goals to make it a 14-point contest before the Dockers steadied to take a 26-point lead into three quarter time. Tellingly, Fremantle dragged the momentum back when they put Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw, Matthew Johnson and Jackson into the middle. The Dockers then kicked five goals in the final quarter to finish with triple figures in a sign that they’ll be able to boot ******* scores their season. Source link #Shai #Bolton #superb #appearance #Fremantle #Dockers #preseason #win #Melbourne #Mandurah Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

She’s a Foot Soldier in America’s Losing War With Chronic Disease She’s a Foot Soldier in America’s Losing War With Chronic Disease Sam Runyon navigated to the house by memory as she reviewed her patient’s file, a “problem list” of medications and chronic diseases that went on for several pages. Sam, a 45-year-old nurse, had already seen Cora Perkins survive two types of *******. During previous appointments, she had found Cora’s arms turning blue from diabetes, or her ankles swollen from congestive heart failure, or her stomach cramping from hunger with no fresh food left in the house. It had been a week since Sam’s last visit, and she wondered if anyone had come or gone through the front door since. She knocked, but nobody answered. She walked across the porch to a hole in the window and called into the house. “Cora, honey? Are you OK?” A light flickered inside. A dog began to bark. Sam pushed open the door and walked into the living room, where she found Cora wrapped under a blanket. “Sam. Thank God you’re here,” said Cora, 64. She tried to stand, but she lost her balance and sat back down in a recliner. “It looks like you’re wobbly this morning,” Sam said. “Are you feeling really bad or just normal bad?” It was the same question she asked her patients dozens of times each week as she made home visits across West Virginia, traveling from one impending emergency to the next in a country where feeling bad had become the new normal. All 31 patients in her caseload for the Williamson Health and Wellness Center were under 65 years old, and yet each had at least one of the chronic diseases that had become endemic in the United States over the last two decades: death rates up 25 percent nationally from diabetes, 40 percent from liver disease, 60 percent from kidney disease, 80 percent from hypertension and more than 95 percent from obesity, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Americans now spend more years living with chronic disease than people in 183 other countries in the World Health Organization — a reality that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. framed as a “national crisis” in his first weeks as health secretary. “We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again,” he was promising members of Congress that same morning, while Sam confronted the challenges of that work in Mingo County, where the average life expectancy had been dropping steadily for a decade to 67 years old. “Are we calling that your breakfast?” Sam asked, pointing to Cora’s side table, where two bottles of sugar-free Dr Pepper sat next to a bag of pepperoni-flavored Combos. “It’s the end of the month,” Cora said. “It’s whatever’s left. I got the pops on ***** at Dollar Tree.” “You know Dollar Tree isn’t a good place to buy real groceries,” Sam said. “How am I supposed to get to the grocery store if I don’t have a car?” Cora said. Sam had been visiting Cora every week for almost two years, helping her to lose 40 pounds, stabilize her blood sugar levels and lower her cholesterol back into the normal range, but each problem they solved revealed another. Cora and her live-in boyfriend regularly had less than $100 in their joint bank account, so she needed help applying for government assistance. She finally qualified for food stamps, but she had no way to go shopping. She occasionally managed to buy meat and vegetables, but her oven was usually broken, so instead she relied on the cheap, ultraprocessed foods that make up 73 percent of the U.S. food supply. Those foods made her sick. Her illnesses made her anxious and depressed. Anxiety raised her blood pressure and complicated her ability to manage diabetes. “I don’t mean to nag you,” Sam said. “I know it feels impossible. I can see how hard you’re trying.” She took out a blood pressure cuff and started her examination while two dogs crawled over her lap and nipped at her neck. She had been offered an extra $8 an hour to work as a nurse at a nearby hospital, with a sterile office and a support staff, but she preferred the messy intimacy of home visits, where she could spend an hour with her patients and see the systemic decay behind their conditions. She’d grown up nearby in another drafty rental home, and she knew how to spot the empty jar of cooking oil in Cora’s kitchen, the collection notice on the refrigerator for an electric bill of $766, and the pill box on the counter with several outdated prescription medications. Many of Sam’s patients stabilized and even got well. They were more likely to take their medications and less likely to visit the emergency room while under her care. More than half lowered their average blood sugar levels or improved their kidney function. But in other cases, no amount of intervention was enough to stop the progression of chronic disease, and Sam ended up listed among the survivors in her patients’ obituaries. “We’ve still got work to do,” she told Cora. Her blood pressure was high. Her resting pulse rate was 93. Her legs were swollen from eating too much salt. Sam went back to her car and brought in a box from a nearby pantry that had some canned goods, noodles and a bag of potatoes. “I’m sorry it’s not more nutritious,” Sam said, as she packed her nursing bag and gave Cora a hug. “I’m pretty much used to the junk,” Cora said. “You and everyone else,” Sam said. She had worn out five cars while visiting patients on the back roads of Mingo County, and over time she had come to recognize every pothole, every scar on the hillsides left from logging, deep mining and mountaintop removal. It was a place where every resource, including the residents, had been exploited for a profit. Sam turned into Williamson, population 3,042, where two local pharmacies had distributed more than 20 million opioid painkillers over the course of a decade, though the drugs didn’t so much numb people’s pain as exacerbate it. Now the downtown was largely vacant except for rehab centers, budget law offices and a methadone clinic. She drove by a liquor store offering three-for-one shooters of vodka and a gas station advertising two-liter bottles of soda for a dollar each. “Every business is either trying to kill you or selling a cure,” she said. She pulled up to a house on the edge of downtown to check on another diabetic patient, Joe Miller, 48, who was lying shirtless on his bed, immobilized from hip pain as his pit bull chewed his socks. On his night stand was a bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese, a box of salt and a photograph of him from a few years earlier — thin and smiling in a button-down shirt, his arm wrapped around his wife. Now she was dead of a heart attack in her 40s, and he was struggling with depression and closing in on 300 pounds with dangerously high cholesterol. He told Sam he’d kept having a recurring nightmare in which he found dynamite stuffed inside his chest. She reached for his wrist to take his pulse and measured his heart rate at 130 beats per minute. “*****, Joe,” she said. “Are you sneaking out to ride roller coasters on me?” He pointed to a portable toilet in the corner of the room. “That’s about as far as I’ve moved from this bed in two weeks,” he said. “It’s so sad I can’t help but laugh.” “Well, we might as well try to bring some light to the situation,” Sam said. “But I can tell you’re in pain, and I hate that. Let’s set you up to talk with a counselor.” She got back into her car and followed the Tug River into the mountains as she opened her second energy drink of the day. “You have to cope with the stress somehow,” she said. “If there are any saints around here, I haven’t found them.” About half of the county’s 22,000 residents were obese, a quarter of them smoked cigarettes and almost 20 percent were diabetic — numbers that had become increasingly typical in rural America, where working-age adults were dying at higher rates than they were 20 years earlier, according to data from the C.D.C. People in the country’s poorest places were now almost twice as likely to develop chronic disease as those who lived in wealthy, urban centers on the coasts, helping to create a political climate of resentment. Mingo County had been solidly Democratic for much of its history, but more than 85 percent of voters supported Donald J. Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Sam passed one of the only fresh grocery stores within 30 miles, where inflation had driven up the cost of produce. She slowed next to a roadside stand and saw a couple reselling off-brand soda, charging $3 for 12-packs containing 500 grams of sugar each. “Fill up for cheap,” their sign read. The road twisted up a creek bed, and Sam stopped to check on a 43-year-old patient. She had cut her average blood sugar in half with Sam’s help, but her diabetes was still causing hemorrhaging in her eyes. “I brought you some exercise bands,” Sam said. “We’re going to get all Jane Fonda up in here.” She went back to her car and opened another energy drink. “This job is like fighting gravity,” she said. Her younger brother had died in his early 40s of heart and liver failure. Her father was a diabetic who loved Wendy’s and drank several sodas a day. The father of Sam’s two children was prescribed opioids after a work injury, and then he spiraled into addiction. Sam had raised the children mostly by herself, worked three jobs and put herself through nursing school at night while driving her relatives back and forth to the methadone clinic. “I keep thinking I can fix people,” she said. She pulled up to see her last patient of the day, Harry Ray, who lived with his brother in a single-wide trailer tucked against an icy hillside. Next to the house were two gravestones: one for their mother, who died from kidney disease at 56; the other for their father, killed by diabetes at 61. Harry had lost his leg to diabetes in 2009, but with Sam’s help, he’d dropped almost 75 pounds in the last two years. She taught him how to organize his medications and manage his diseases. He took notes during each of their meetings and tacked them up on the trailer walls. “You are what you eat, big boy,” one of them read. Sam checked his blood pressure and bandaged a wound on his skin. The house smelled of unkempt cats, but she brushed a bug off the couch and sat down to visit for an hour before saying her goodbyes. “Now hold on a minute,” Harry said. “You’re not leaving empty-handed.” Sam tried to protest, but he disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a small bag. “I wouldn’t be alive without you,” he said. “I’m sorry it’s not much, but it’s what we’ve got.” Sam gave him a hug and went back to the car. She opened the bag and found a single can of Sprite, a pack of Fritos and eight pieces of hard candy. She closed her eyes for a moment and then drove in silence out of the mountains, until she made it back into cell range and her phone started to ring. One patient had a temperature of 101.6. Another couldn’t seem to ****. Cora called to say she was experiencing chest pain. “Why does it feel like somebody keeps stabbing me?” she asked. Sam listened to Cora describe her symptoms as she squeezed the wheel. “When was the last time you ate a real meal?” she asked. Lunch had been a package of ramen noodle soup. So had dinner the previous night and lunch the day before. Cora hung up with Sam, checked her blood sugar and saw that it was 255, which was dangerously high. Sam had given her a pamphlet on heart-healthy foods, and Cora glanced at the list: avocados, pumpernickel bread, fish, blueberries, broccoli. She called out to her boyfriend, John Ratcliff, who was in the kitchen. “Do we have any vegetables left?” she asked “I doubt it,” he said, but he started to search the pantry and refrigerator. They had a bottle of mustard, a half-eaten microwave meal, a package of American cheese, a box of cornflakes and a bag of flour. This was what their kitchen often looked like at the end of each month, after they had used up their $380 in food stamps. The only accessible food within walking distance was at Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell, Little Caesars, a dollar store and a tiny convenience mart where avocados sold for $2.99 each and a 12-pack of ramen noodles cost $2.50. Cora turned on the television and saw an advertisement with close-up images of fried hash browns, steaming sausage patties and melting cheese, all on ***** for a dollar. “Boy, doesn’t that look good?” she said. She muted the television and called into the kitchen. “Any luck?” she asked. John came out holding a package of beef-flavored ramen. “Honestly, I’d rather starve,” Cora said. He searched again and found a leftover bag of potatoes in the back of the pantry. He sliced them into cubes and doused them with salt. Sam had told him once that potatoes could cause a spike in blood pressure for diabetics, and that they were healthier when they were baked, but the oven was still broken. He filled a pan with oil and turned on a burner. “I found you some vegetables,” he called out to Cora. They had been together for more than 20 years, and had taken turns as each other’s care givers. He suffered from seizures and had survived a quadruple bypass surgery. For the last decade, they had been measuring out their days to the relentless rhythm of her chronic disease: checking her blood sugar every few hours, decoding nutrition labels, taking six medications in the morning and five more with dinner. He finished cooking the potatoes and stirred flour and milk together in a bowl. He dropped the mixture into the leftover oil to make what he called fry bread, Cora’s favorite. A few minutes later, he walked into the living room with two plates of fried carbs and a couple of Dr Peppers. “This is so good,” Cora said. “Thank you. It’s exactly what I needed.” They played a game of **** rummy and started to watch “Little House on the Prairie,” but Cora kept dozing off in her chair. She checked her blood sugar, and it was up to 270. Her mouth felt dry. She could feel the beginning of a headache. She tried to distract herself by playing a game on her phone, but her hands started tingling. “It never ends,” she said. Her mother was diabetic. Her brother had died of complications from diabetes before he turned 60. Her daughter, 37, was already one of Sam’s patients. Her grandchildren were surviving mostly on processed school meals. “I can’t remember the last time I felt decent,” Cora said. “Maybe you should call Sam,” John said. Cora usually checked in with Sam at least once or twice a day, sometimes just to say good night, but now it was already close to 10 p.m. “I don’t want to bother her,” she said. The tingling persisted. Her headache got worse. A chill spread into her hands and then her arms. She slept for a few hours and then awoke to another day of Dr Pepper and ramen. By the next afternoon, her ankles were swollen, and her lips had gone numb. She called Sam, who was driving into the mountains to see another patient. “I’ve got problems,” Cora said. “My lips keep going numb.” “Your lips? Uh-oh. What’s your blood pressure?” “I don’t know.” “That isn’t good, Cora. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Sam drove out of the hills and back into Williamson, remembering the previous calamities that had brought her to Cora’s house and filled her patient file: “Pain in spine.” “Chronic pain.” “Neuropathy.” “Lower respiratory infection.” “Depressive disorder.” “Hypertension.” “Transportation insecurity.” “Obesity due to diet.” “Noncompliance with dietary regimen due to financial hardship.” But lip numbness was something new, and Sam ran through the possibilities in her head. Cora’s lips could have gone numb from eating too much salt, since one package of ramen included almost a full daily serving of sodium. Or maybe she was freezing cold and losing feeling in her face — especially if the power company had made good on its threat to cut off the heat for nonpayment. Or the numbness could be a sign of anxiety, an allergic reaction or even an oncoming stroke. “I might have to transport her to the ER,” Sam said, as she parked out front and walked up to the house. Inside, the dogs were barking and half a dozen relatives were gathered in the living room. It was the first day of the month, and Cora’s extended family had loaded up two cars to drive with her to the grocery store. Sam gently pushed away the dogs and made her way to Cora’s recliner. “I’m so sorry about all this, girl,” Sam said, as she took out a blood pressure cuff and reached for Cora’s hand. Her blood pressure reading was 146 over 80 — high, but not an emergency. Her pulse was normal. Her blood sugar was in the typical range. Cora said she was feeling a little better, and she wanted to go shopping with her children and her grandchildren. None of them had groceries. She finally had a little money to spend. If she didn’t take the ride now, it could be days before she had transportation to the store again. “Cora, listen to me,” Sam said. “You have to take care of yourself first.” She told Cora that she should consider going to an urgent care clinic or at least resting until she felt more stable. “They could take me around the store in a motorized cart,” Cora said. “It’s up to you,” Sam said. She packed her nursing bag as Cora weighed another impossible choice in a country where one urgent need was sometimes eclipsed by another. “I have to get us some food,” she said. Audio produced by Tally Abecassis. Source link #Shes #Foot #Soldier #Americas #Losing #War #Chronic #Disease Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Book Review: ‘Taking Manhattan,’ by Russell Shorto Book Review: ‘Taking Manhattan,’ by Russell Shorto Dorothea Angola, Shorto tells us, arrived in New Amsterdam enslaved, possibly in 1627. She married and had children, and in 1644, her husband petitioned the Dutch West India Company for the couple’s freedom, which was granted. Soon after, they were given a six-acre tract to farm in what would become Greenwich Village. But their children were not freed. There’s no evidence that they were pressed into forced labor, but Shorto writes that “this unbelievably cruel caveat would certainly have ensured that the parents would do whatever the company asked of them.” (Later, Angola petitioned for and was granted freedom for their adopted son.) The story of Native people is full of death and dispossession, but the 17th-century power dynamics were complex. At one key moment, Shorto writes, a Montaukett leader named Quashawam, facing encroaching British settlers on Long Island, wanted to ally with the Dutch. It seems she tried to warn Stuyvesant that British ships were coming to take Manhattan, but he ignored the message. Quashawam wound up joining forces with the British and the Shinnecock instead. This is why, when Nicolls and the British sailed in, it was a surprise to the Dutch. Nicolls gave Stuyvesant two days to surrender or be attacked. Meanwhile, the Dutch fought among themselves. The British sent Stuyvesant a note, and he tore it up before the city council could read it. But at the moment of peak danger, Shorto argues, Stuyvesant redeemed himself. He recognized a duty not just to his bosses at the West India Company, but to this new, weird city that was becoming its own thing. An hour before Nicolls’s ultimatum expired, Stuyvesant wrote back. He was willing to negotiate to save the city. Nicolls wanted New Amsterdam not just for its strategic location, but for its open, commercial culture. So, Shorto writes, he agreed to a deal that “reads more like a corporate merger than a treaty of surrender.” Source link #Book #Review #Manhattan #Russell #Shorto Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Horticulturalists, Biologists, Engineers: Federal ‘Bloat’ or Valued Experts? Horticulturalists, Biologists, Engineers: Federal ‘Bloat’ or Valued Experts? The National Plant Germplasm System, a vast federal collection of seeds, roots, branches and stems, is probably unknown to most Americans. But to Rachel Spaeth the system is a “living library” — and America’s safeguard against “famine on a global scale.” Dr. Spaeth was a horticulturalist at an Agriculture Department research site near Davis, Calif., where she oversaw 7,000 trees that produce “stone fruits,” including apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, prunes and nectarines. Her mission: to keep the plants healthy and genetically diverse, so breeders can produce disease-resistant strains. She was fired two weeks ago. The extraordinary campaign underway by President Trump and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, to shrink what the administration calls a “bloated, corrupt federal bureaucracy” has targeted a growing list of often obscure scientists, engineers and other specialists whose expertise has helped form the backbone of the modern federal government and positioned the United States as a research leader in the world. The slash-and-burn purge, which is expected to grow in the coming weeks, is alarming even to some conservatives who worry that the indiscriminate nature of the firing will ultimately undermine core government operations. At the same time, it highlights fundamental questions about the size, shape and function of the federal bureaucracy. Should it be pared back? And if so, by how much? Which functions are necessary and which are superfluous? The Trump administration has already conceded it has made mistakes in its handling of some experts, who have been rehired, including specialists on bird flu and workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration. The wave of departures so far — some forced, some voluntary — includes endangered species biologists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; meteorologists at the National Weather Service, the head of the New England office of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; a chemical engineer working on renewable energy; an autism expert at the National Institute for Mental Health; and a Food and Drug Administration microbiologist, to name a few. “Wildlife biologists, research horticulturists, chemical engineers, these are highly educated people who are doing very bright things,” said Rachel Greszler, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025, a blueprint drafted by Trump allies for overhauling the federal government. “But the question is, are they doing things that are the purpose of the federal government?” Modern presidents at least since Ronald Reagan have raised questions about the proper role, size and shape of the federal government. After famously declaring that “government is the problem,” Mr. Reagan instructed agencies to begin “reductions in force.” In 1993, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, issued an executive order calling for the elimination of 100,000 federal jobs — albeit slowly, over three years. But the Trump-Musk plan is something else entirely — an extraordinary moment of reckoning for how the United States is governed, and a direct challenge to the decades-old effort to build a civil service stocked with experts on a wide range of topics. It is being carried out by an administration that views much of the government as a bastion of anti-Trump liberalism. Russell T. Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget and a Project 2025 architect, said in a memo issued last month on the job cuts that “tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hardworking American citizens.” A spokeswoman for the federal Office of Personnel Management, McLaurine Pinover, said in an email that the Trump administration has “created a thoughtful, phased process” that will “will reduce unnecessary waste and bloat while continuing to deliver high-quality services.” Mr. Trump, in ordering the force reductions, has carved out exceptions for jobs related to public safety and immigration enforcement. But Anthony Mills, director of the Center for Technology, Science and Energy at the libertarian-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said the firings do not appear part of a considered policy agenda driven by a “well articulated set of principles” about the appropriate role of government. “It seems to me that the motivating factor here is punishment,” he said. “It’s a form of assertive action designed to bring a set of institutions ideologically to heel.” He added that a federal brain drain could hurt Mr. Trump’s ability to govern, saying, “You don’t want to lose the most competent people.” So far, more than 20,000 employees have been fired from dozens of federal departments and agencies, according to a New York Times database. Many others have left of their own volition, either by quitting in protest or by accepting Mr. Musk’s “fork in the road” offer, as did more than 700 National Park Service employees, according to an internal memo sent Tuesday. It is not known how many of those departures include scientists or other experts. Dr. Spaeth, who has a doctorate in historical breeding and genetics and was hired to replace two people — including a molecular geneticist — was commended in an internal newsletter after her firing. “I had received an award and I got a shout-out four days after I got fired,” she said. “So that’s hilarious.” Jacob Malcom, an endangered species biologist, rose to the level of acting deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Interior, overseeing about 200 people. But he resigned under protest, he said, after the Trump administration forced him to sign termination notices for “poor performance,” with no evidence to support it. One fired Interior Department employee was working to save the alligator snapping turtle, the largest freshwater turtle in the United States. “We have bald eagles around today because there were endangered species biologists all those decades ago who figured out, ‘This is how we save bald eagles,’” said Dr. Malcom, whose doctoral research focused on ecology and evolution. “If these people are being terminated, are we going to lose these species forever?” The government employs roughly 2.3 million civilian workers, not including federal contractors. According to a 2023 analysis survey by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, 53 percent of civil servants have either a bachelors or an advanced degree, compared to 40 percent of the entire U.S. work force. “It’s a very, very educated and expert work force,” said Max Stier, the group’s president. “There are people who have developed extraordinary depth in areas of science and even technology that are frankly impossible to find otherwise, or to replicate.” Lindsey Nielsen, a microbiologist and lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, said she had just been promoted at the F.D.A. when she received notification that she was being terminated for “poor performance.” Working remotely from a small town in central Nebraska, she reviewed the development of laboratory tests for pathogens like influenza and Covid-19. But her promotion put her in “probationary” status, which made her vulnerable to dismissal. “I am very concerned that we’re going to be having a huge scientific gap,” she said. Cara Pugliese, a clinical psychologist and program officer at the National Institute of Mental Health, oversaw research on treatments for children on the autism spectrum — a high priority for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new health secretary. She was recruited a year ago from Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, and fired 344 days into her yearlong probationary *******. “Life as a woman in science and academia is brutal, but I was part of a mission-driven community — one that fights for fundamental human rights and values differences as assets, not liabilities,” she wrote on Facebook, in a post that has been shared 33,000 times. Dr. Joshua Gordon, the former director of the mental health institute, said that Dr. Pugliese worked with scientists to identify research gaps and steer tax dollars toward unmet needs. The job requires sophisticated knowledge. “People like her are not easy to come by,” he said. “It can take a year or more for us to recruit the right person.” While Mr. Vought, of the Office of Management and Budget, referred to federal money helping “radical interest groups,” some critics who could hardly be described as radical are pushing back. The Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association warned that the firing of scientists and statisticians working in the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska would gut research that could “reduce costs for the beef industry long term and improve food safety for consumers.” Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, agreed. “DOGE needs to measure twice and cut once,” he said, referring to Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is leading the effort to shrink the federal work force. A spokeswoman for the Beet Sugar Development Foundation said the dismissal of horticulturalists like Dr. Spaeth was a threat to “the long-term future of agriculture and to the security of our food systems.” Some fired experts have been rehired. Summaira Riaz, who led a team of researchers to breed grapes, almonds and other fruit for disease resistance, was brought back after her superiors and partners in the agriculture industry argued for it. Dr. Spaeth, though, is still out of work. She hopes to “pick up teaching gigs,” and already has an offer to work with a nursery. But she is worried about her collection — especially the almonds, because the Agricultural Research service has also lost its almond breeder and the industry is facing a new disease threat: “red leaf blotch.” If the collection “goes into full decline,” Dr. Spaeth said, the almond industry will take a hit. When she arrived last year, she said, the collection was backsliding, and orchards were overgrown. She brought in volunteers and students to clear out weeds and brush. “We do a lot with duct tape and chicken wire,” she said. “It’s not like we’re all **** on the hog over here, wasting taxpayer dollars.” Source link #Horticulturalists #Biologists #Engineers #Federal #Bloat #Valued #Experts Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

As Musk Consolidates Power, His Mother, Maye, Is in Demand As Musk Consolidates Power, His Mother, Maye, Is in Demand In the past six months, Maye Musk, the mother of Elon Musk, has been to China, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, visits that come as foreign leaders are jockeying for influence over the Trump administration. Ms. Musk, 76, has for years traveled the world to model, speak and promote her memoir. But lately she seems to be even more in demand, especially outside the United States. And her celebrity has taken on greater significance now that Mr. Musk has considerable influence over how billions of dollars in military spending and foreign aid will get paid out. In late 2024, she visited China at least four times to endorse or model for seven brands there, including makeup products, down jackets and massage devices. Her visits were promoted by state media outlets, which in the past have quoted her calling for improved ties between the United States and China. In October, three weeks before the U.S. presidential election, she headlined a forum on women in Kazakhstan, where she spoke about her son’s success, according to Kazinform, a state news agency there. And in January, the week before Donald J. Trump’s second inauguration, she was in Dubai, speaking at a government conference on influencers with the former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. Her talk was titled, “How I Raised Three Amazing Children, Including the Richest Man in the World,” according to the state-run Emirates News Agency. All of these trips were taken after Mr. Musk became a staunch supporter of Mr. Trump’s campaign, and on several of them, she waded into U.S. politics. Several of the countries where she recently appeared have concerns to press in Washington. Beijing opposes newly announced U.S. tariffs on its goods, and leaders there appear to see Mr. Musk, who himself has extensive business interests in China, as a potential ally. Kazakhstan is hoping that the Trump administration will end restrictions on trade. And the United Arab Emirates buys weapons from Washington and has spent hundreds of millions on lobbyists and donations to think tanks. Ms. Musk has long traveled extensively for work, both within the United States and overseas. But her activities in China have intensified in recent months, a review of her social media posts over the past four years by The New York Times found. She endorsed five ******** brands last year, while the year before, she traveled to China mostly to promote her book and for modeling work, appearing in one ad. The Times could not confirm how much Ms. Musk has earned overseas in recent months. Although in her endorsements and speeches she often emphasizes her connection to Mr. Musk, there is no evidence that she has sought to influence U.S. government policy. Nor is there evidence that she has taken work linked to China’s government. Ms. Musk’s agency, the Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency; her manager, Anna Sherman; and a lawyer who has recently worked for Ms. Musk, Doreen Small, did not respond to questions about her international engagements, including how much she has earned for speaking and endorsing products. The five ******** brands she endorsed last year did not reply to questions about how much she was paid. Her activities raise the possibility that foreign governments could see her as a conduit to Mr. Musk, said Scott Amey, the general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group. “The fear is,” he said, “would people be using her to get one degree of separation from her son and two degrees of separation from the Oval Office?” Mr. Musk is already dogged by ethical concerns stemming from his businesses such as SpaceX, which has billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts. “We don’t need other potential conflicts of interest that involve his family to be added to his long list that already exists,” Mr. Amey said. The F.B.I. normally scrutinizes the foreign contacts of presidential advisers and their family members before granting security clearances. Contacts from countries seen as potential U.S. adversaries, like China, typically receive more scrutiny. It is unclear if Ms. Musk or her contacts have been vetted. The White House has said that her son is a “special government employee,” a short-term adviser who is subject to federal ethics law, but has not disclosed his security clearance status. Before joining the U.S. government, he had skirted reporting requirements as a federal contractor. Mr. Musk and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, did not respond to questions about his clearance status or his mother’s work overseas. He said on X on Feb. 14 that he has had a “top secret clearance for many years.” It is notable that both Mr. Musk and his mother have interests in China, said Norman Eisen, a former White House ethics counsel in the Obama administration and a founder of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, which is suing Mr. Musk and his team on behalf of current and recently laid-off federal workers. (Mr. Musk’s company, Tesla, makes half its cars in China, for instance.) But Ms. Musk’s business trips to China and other countries independently deserve attention, Mr. Eisen said. “Given the exceptionally powerful role of Mr. Musk, who may be the single most influential person in the executive branch, even beyond Trump himself, these foreign entanglements are a cause for concern,” he said. Mr. Musk often appears in public with his mother and, before becoming a government adviser, brought her to business meetings at X, the social media company he owns, according to the book “Character Limit,” by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, both reporters for The Times. Since the election, she has accompanied him to social events at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and defended her son on Fox News. Ms. Musk, who was born in Canada but raised Mr. Musk and his two younger siblings in South Africa, has modeled for decades. In recent years, however, her career took off in parallel with that of Mr. Musk. Her rise also reflected an effort in fashion to work with models of varying ages and body types. Ms. Musk, who has an apartment in New York, has modeled for American and European brands, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition in 2022. Recently she has developed a large following in China, where some of her success is tied to being the mother of Mr. Musk, who has star status there. Fans and businesspeople closely track developments in his tech empire and pore over biographies of him, hoping to gain insights. His mother’s popularity in China comes amid strained relations with the United States, as the threat of still more tariffs and other tensions hang over the relationship. She has signed copies of her memoir, in which she writes about raising her three children as a single mother, and of surviving domestic abuse (which her former husband has denied). She opened accounts on ******** social media and has amassed 1.2 million followers across multiple platforms, where fans thank her for being a role model and ask questions about Mr. Musk. Ms. Musk has visited more than a dozen ******** cities, graced billboards and magazine covers, and is often invited to speak (in English) at events geared toward women there. Her image “carries an element of successful parenting, attracting a significant number of mothers among her followers,” said Yang Hu, an expert on China’s beauty industry with Euromonitor International, a market research firm. One of Ms. Musk’s ******** ad campaigns centers on her being Mr. Musk’s mother. The ad, for a baby care line, shows her encouraging disobedient children, over the text, “No leading figure of our time is raised following rules.” Three days after the U.S. presidential election, she spoke about her son’s coming government role at an event in Shanghai to promote a mattress brand, saying, “He is definitely going to work on efficiency, but he really likes rockets and cars,” according to a clip posted by a state media outlet. At New York Fashion Week in February, Ms. Musk modeled for the ******** brand Juzui. Before taking to the runway, she told Women’s Wear Daily that she wants to explore work in new countries this year. Eric Lipton contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research. Source link #Musk #Consolidates #Power #Mother #Maye #Demand Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The 9 ‘White Lotus’ Characters We Keep Seeing Every Season The 9 ‘White Lotus’ Characters We Keep Seeing Every Season A luxury hotel marries the exotic and the familiar: The location may be new and the fruits at the breakfast buffet varied, but the thread count of the sheets, the indulgence of the staff, the sumptuousness of the spa — these remain the same. “The White Lotus,” Mike White’s HBO show about the guests and workers of a five-star resort collection, knows this well. Maybe too well? If the surroundings for the third season of this cringingly comic, lightly murderous anthology series are different — with Koh Samui, Thailand, replacing Maui (Season 1) and Sicily (Season 2) — the characters haven’t really changed. (And is there at least one uncomfortable scene aboard a boat? You bet your yachting whites.) So garnish your poolside *********, tie on your sarong and see if you can spot White’s favorite types. Handsome Jerk Due for a Reckoning In Season 1 it was the privileged mama’s boy, Shane (Jake Lacy). In Season 2, it was Cameron (Theo James), a moneyman who managed to be both smarmy and oblivious. Thailand’s entitled jackass, enrobed in family money, is Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a finance bro who eschews local cuisine in favor of protein shakes and complains when his massage doesn’t include a “happy ending.” It is hard to imagine someone more in need of a comeuppance, but just deserts are rarely on White’s hotel menu. Uptight Workaholic Having a Bad Time Remember the femmepreneur Nicole (Connie Britton), arranging meetings from her Maui hotel suite? Or Harper (Aubrey Plaza), an employment lawyer congenitally incapable of relaxing in Sicily? Neither of them seemed to be in as much leisure-wear agony as Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is this season. A North Carolina financier accused of fiscal malfeasance — though Isaacs’s accent often suggests other climes — Timothy’s favorite vacation pastimes include sweating through upsetting phone calls and indulging in suicidal (and murderous) ideation. Esteemed Character Actor Undergoing Existential Torment In Season 1, Steve Zahn’s Mark questioned the power dynamics of his marriage. The next year, Michael Imperioli’s Dominic wrestled, at times literally, with sex addiction. Now Walton Goggins’s Rick has arrived in Koh Samui with his yoga instructor girlfriend and intense anhedonia. His enigmatic bitterness seems to involve his dead father. Why is he even on this vacation? Could it be vengeance? Resort Manager With Secret Desires What longing lurks in the hearts of those behind the check-in desk? White knows. In the first two seasons, those desires were for ****** assignations: Armond (Murray Bartlett) negotiated a tryst with his underling (Lukas Gage); Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) bargained for a night with Mia (Beatrice Grannò), a sex worker with songstress aspirations. So far, Fabian (Christian Friedel), the Koh Samui manager, has hopes that are showbiz related, not *******. Resort Worker With Dreams of More In Season 1, the aesthetician Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) hoped to open her own spa — she’s still holding onto that hope in Season 3. Mia (while not technically an employee, she catered to the hotel’s clientele) traded sex for a stint as the resort’s lounge singer in Season 2. This season also features Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), a security guard crushed out on a colleague, who hopes to show how brave he can be. If the gunshots in the season opener mean anything, he may get his chance. Guest Who Secretly Hates Their Wealthy Friend Friends don’t often stay friends at the White Lotus. Season 1 drove a wedge between the college student Paula (Brittany O’Grady) and her richer friend Olivia (Sydney Sweeney). In Season 2, the newly wealthy Ethan (Will Sharpe) fell out with his obnoxious former roommate, Cameron. (And maybe swapped wives? Unclear.) This season Laurie (Carrie *****) resents Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), the childhood pal turned famous actress who paid for the trip. Kate (Leslie Bibb), who alternates with Laurie as the third wheel, has resentments of her own. Ingénue Questioning Her Choices White tends to have sympathy, however limited, for the youngest guests and workers, especially women contemplating a change. But change, like securing the Pineapple Suite, is hard. In Season 1, the newlywed Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) saw her marriage in a harsher light. In Season 2, the guileless personal assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) rethought the terms of her employment. Season 3 has at least two women eying different paths: the pert yogini, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and the budding Buddhist, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook). Chelsea’s vacation friend, Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), another newlywed, doesn’t seem especially satisfied either. Callow Boy Who Might Become an OK Man When “The White Lotus” debuted, one of the least objectionable characters was Quinn (Fred Hechinger), who fantasized about ditching his family to canoe with the locals. He had kinship with Season 2’s Albie (Adam DiMarco), a naïf who wanted to rescue a sex worker while also repairing his parents’ marriage. Their inheritor this season is Lochlan (Sam Nivola), whose personal wellness program includes a session to improve his posture. Will he stand up to his brother, Saxon, or assume a different position? Greg Hunt Jennifer Coolidge was a standout in the first two seasons as Tanya, a White Lotus Blossom Circle Member whose tranquilized drawl and unimprovable caftan wardrobe became signatures of the show. Tanya seemingly found love in Season 1 with Greg (Jon Gries), a Bureau of Land Management employee. Greg bailed on the trip to Sicily, where Tanya sadly died, so doofily, at the close of Season 2. One of those gays trying to ******* her had a photo of Greg. Huh. And isn’t that him this season at the hotel bar in Thailand with his new wife, Chloe? He seems to have moved on fast … Source link #White #Lotus #Characters #Season Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Israel Halts All Aid Into Gaza Immediately as Cease-Fire Expires – The New York Times Israel Halts All Aid Into Gaza Immediately as Cease-Fire Expires – The New York Times Israel Halts All Aid Into Gaza Immediately as Cease-Fire Expires The New York TimesIsrael block on Gaza aid coordinated with Trump administration, Israeli source says ABC NewsIsrael stops humanitarian aid into Gaza after ****** rejects extending ceasefire’s first phase CNN Source link #Israel #Halts #Aid #Gaza #Immediately #CeaseFire #Expires #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Book Review: ‘See Friendship,’ by Jeremy Gordon Book Review: ‘See Friendship,’ by Jeremy Gordon We might pause here. Reading about someone else’s podcast research is on par with a friend sharing last night’s dream: If we’re not in it, don’t bother. But “See Friendship” holds our interest by sending Jacob on a spree of interviews with his former classmates, in Chicago and Los Angeles, that revises his memories of his late friend’s final months. He documents romantic fumblings, overambitious theater productions and a skirmish at Seth’s ********. He also hooks us with a plot twist: It turns out Seth didn’t die from a vague stomach condition, as Jacob believed, but from a heroin overdose. And a much-despised local musician named Lee Finch is somehow responsible. Jacob decides confronting Lee will provide a satisfying climax for the podcast and long-awaited closure for himself. It would all make for a tidy story (for both podcast and novel), but Gordon — who is an editor at The Atlantic, with bylines at Pitchfork, GQ and The New York Times Magazine — rejects tidiness. Jacob isn’t a terribly good journalist. He misses obvious clues and ignores the smoking gun of a related school scandal. The novel opens with Jacob’s job anxieties, but even those fade into the background. And while another novelist might stress Jacob’s Jewish-******** identity, Gordon only lightly touches it. His real interest is the millennial in crisis — cue the Strokes’ “Is This It” — and the ways Jacob glances backward. If every generation thinks it invented sex, Gordon’s insight is that, thanks to technology, every generation does reinvent nostalgia. That’s hinted at with the book’s title: “See Friendship” is also the name of the Facebook tool for isolating the digital exchanges between oneself and a friend. It’s a fitting metaphor. Facebook’s feature delivers a seemingly complete record, but like all portraits, it’s still partial. Jacob looks, he learns, but something will always elude him. As the novel progresses, the true source of Jacob’s renewed obsession with Seth comes to light. Jacob has recently suffered a mental breakdown. He’s now floating along, unmoored. Seth is part of a larger siren’s call toward the past — Jacob hopes that by dwelling in memory, he might find a way out of his present. The self-sabotaging fixation on nostalgia reminded me of “High Fidelity,” Nick Hornby’s Gen X cri de coeur. Hornby’s narrator, Rob, looked to the past for evidence; Gordon’s proffers revisions and palimpsests. “In searching for the answer, all I’d found were the limitations of my ability to understand,” Jacob says. Source link #Book #Review #Friendship #Jeremy #Gordon Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025: Virat Kohli out for 11 after one handed Glenn Phillips catch ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025: Virat Kohli out for 11 after one handed Glenn Phillips catch Glenn Phillips takes an “absolute screamer” of a catch at backward point to dismiss Virat Kohli for 11, leaving India on 30-3 in their ICC Men’s Champions Trophy Group A match against New Zealand in Dubai. FOLLOW LIVE: New Zealand v India – ICC Men’s Champions Trophy Available to *** users only. Source link #ICC #Mens #Champions #Trophy #Virat #Kohli #handed #Glenn #Phillips #catch Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Social Security Administration will have ‘significant’ cuts. What does this mean for you? Social Security Administration will have ‘significant’ cuts. What does this mean for you? The ax has fallen at the Social Security Administration. A massive reorganization is taking place at the agency that will result in “significant workforce reductions,” SSA said in a release. Offices and employees doing work not specifically mandated by law may be first on the chopping block, it warned. It’s unclear how the 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries, which include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits, will be affected, but some politicians, policy experts and Social Security consultants say Americans may face a slowdown in the processing of benefits applications and longer waits for SSA help. “Firing half of all Social Security workers will guarantee that seniors will stop seeing their earned benefits arrive on time and in full,”said Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, (D-Oregon), in a statement. “A plan like this will result in field office closures that will hit seniors in rural communities the hardest.” How massive will Social Security personnel cuts be? SSA said it set a staffing target of 50,000, down from the approximately 57,000 employees at the agency now. “Rumor of a 50% reduction is false,” it said, referring to earlier reports saying up to half the staff could be cut. The agency expects most of the reduction will result from retirements, buyouts and resignations. The rest may come from layoffs that could include abolishment of organizations and positions, or reassignments to a different job within the agency, it said. Agencies are required to submit their layoff plans to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) by March 13. No date has been set for when job reductions might begin after OPM approves the plan. The number of regional offices will be slashed to four from a “no longer sustainable” 10, SSA said. At headquarters, there will be seven Deputy Commissioner level organizations, it said. Before SSA’s reorganization announcement on Friday, office leases for Social Security sites across the country were already being terminated, according to the Department of Government Efficiency website. The site shows rental agreements for dozens of Social Security locations across Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, and other states have been or will be ended. The U.S. Social Security Administration regional office in West Nyack closed in June 2024 for renovations with an announced reopening September 2024. On Feb. 20, 2025, it remained closed. What’s SSA saying to employees? The agency said workers may involuntarily be reassigned to mission critical direct service positions (e.g., field offices, teleservice centers, processing centers) from non-mission critical positions and require retraining. If employees would rather leave, SSA’s offering early retirement and voluntary buyouts, if eligible, ranging from $15,000 to $25,000. Those who want a voluntary separation must opt in by March 14 and those who want to retire early must opt in between March 1 and Dec. 31. Workers can also take a voluntary reassignment “to a mission critical position” by expressing their interest by March 14. Why is the Social Security Administration cutting jobs? The move is part of President Donald Trump’s promise to downsize the federal government. Other agencies that have already seen cutbacks include the IRS, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services, and National Institutes of Health. “These steps prioritize customer service by streamlining redundant layers of management, reducing non-mission critical work, and potential reassignment of employees to customer service positions,” SSA said. More reductions may be coming, too. SSA said it will keep “looking for efficiencies and other opportunities to reduce costs across all spending categories, including information technology and contractor spending.” How can Americans cope with a downsized agency? Chuck Czajka, a certified Social Security claiming strategist with Macro Money Concepts in Stuart, Florida says: Have patience. With a reduced staff, reaching out to the administration will likely result in longer wait times and delays. Create an online profile. If you haven’t yet created an online SSA account, now may be the best time to do so. An online account can help you estimate future benefits, manage benefits you already receive or give you a status update on your application. Apply for benefits as early as possible. Cuts to the SSA may impact the amount of time it takes to have your benefits approved. You can apply for benefits up to four months before you expect to receive them. Applying as early as possible can help ensure they’re available when needed. Seek assistance from a Social Security expert. If you’re uncomfortable with applying or communicating with the SSA on your own, seek assistance from a Social Security expert who can help you. They should be able to answer many of your questions and limit your need for help from the SSA. The story was updated with new information. Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at *****@*****.tld and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Social Security Administration to shed 7,000 jobs. What can we expect? Source link #Social #Security #Administration #significant #cuts Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Officials: FedEx plane makes emergency landing in Newark after bird strike – News 12 New Jersey Officials: FedEx plane makes emergency landing in Newark after bird strike – News 12 New Jersey Officials: FedEx plane makes emergency landing in Newark after bird strike News 12 New JerseyVideo: Cargo plane catches fire after bird strike Al Jazeera EnglishFedEx cargo plane made an emergency landing at Newark Airport Fox BusinessUnderage ‘American Idol’ Star Crashes Car in Suspected DUI The Daily BeastCargo plane makes emergency landing at Newark after fiery bird strike NBC New York Source link #Officials #FedEx #plane #emergency #landing #Newark #bird #strike #News #Jersey Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

What is President Donald Trump’s current approval rating? See the most recent scores What is President Donald Trump’s current approval rating? See the most recent scores Presidential approval ratings have been used to track the American people’s satisfaction with the Commander in Chief for nearly 100 years. The latest approval ratings for President Donald Trump come a little over a month after he was sworn into office and made many significant changes, including a series of executive orders and DOGE directives. Thousands of federal employees have been laid off as part of his push to reshape the federal government and decrease spending. Here’s what to know about Trump’s approval rating, including how they are decided and how Trump’s ratings compare with his first term and past presidents. What is Donald Trump’s approval rating? Here are the latest approval ratings released about Trump’s administration: Washington Post/Ipsos: More respondents disapproved of Trump’s job by 8 percentage points. (Poll conducted Feb 13-18; 2,601 adults; margin of error ±2.1 percentage points) The majority of respondents (57%) say Trump has exceeded his authority since taking office, the Post wrote. YouGov/TheEconomist: More respondents approved of Trump’s job than disapproved by 3 percentage points (poll conducted Feb. 16-18; 1,451 registered voters; margin of error ±3.2 percentage points). Will we get DOGE checks?: Here’s the latest update on 2025 stimulus check talks Morning Consult: More respondents approve of Trump’s work by 3 percentage points (poll conducted Feb. 14-16; 2,217 registered voters; margin of error ±2 percentage points). After three rounds of week-over-week declines, these ratings leveled out and are similar to numbers taken at the same point in his first term, according to Morning Consult. Gallup: More respondents disapprove of Trump’s job overall by a 6-point margin (poll conducted Feb 3-16; 1,004 adult respondents; margin of error ±4 percentage points) His support is highly partisan, as the poll shows the gap between Democrats who approve of Trump and Republicans who approve of Trump is 89 percentage points, the highest Gallup has measured for any president. Echelon Insights: More Americans approve of Trump’s job, 52% to 46%, (poll conducted Feb. 10-13; 1,010 likely electorate; margin of error ±3.6 percentage points) The survey also showed that voters do not approve of Elon Musk‘s current role with the federal government by an 11-point margin. How does Trump’s approval rating compare with his 1st term? Trump had a final approval rating of 34% when he left office in 2021. His approval average during his first term was 41%. How does Trump’s approval rating compare with past presidents? Donald Trump (first term) – 34% Are presidential approval ratings accurate? Data agency Gallup notes that these approval ratings are a “simple measure, yet a very powerful one that has played a key role in politics for over 70 years.” A president’s approval rating reflects the percentage of American polled who approve of the president’s performance. Anything can impact a president’s rating, such as legislation passed, actions and elections. According to ABC News, an approval rating doesn’t just represent how well the administration is doing for the general public, but could determine the outcome of an upcoming election for a politician or how much they get done during their time in office. While these ratings are easy to understand, Quorum says some analysts believe they are not as useful as they once were due extreme partisanship and the polarized political climate. “Presidential approval ratings have always been partisan, with members of the president’s party offering more positive assessments than those in the opposing party,” according to the Pew Research Center. “But the differences between Republicans and Democrats on views of the president have grown substantially in recent decades.” USA TODAY reporter Kinsey Crowley contributed to this article. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump approval ratings are in. Here’s how he scores Source link #President #Donald #Trumps #current #approval #rating #scores Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Pope Francis remains stable after coughing attack worsened respiratory condition – ABC News Pope Francis remains stable after coughing attack worsened respiratory condition – ABC News Pope Francis remains stable after coughing attack worsened respiratory condition ABC NewsWould Pope Francis resign? Experts say it’s unlikely – but the pontiff often springs surprises CNNPope Francis continues to rest following a peaceful night ******** NewsVatican gives health update as Pope enters third week in hospital Fox NewsPope ‘stable’, no repeat of breathing crisis: ******** Yahoo Source link #Pope #Francis #remains #stable #coughing #attack #worsened #respiratory #condition #ABC #News Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Baltic grid operators won’t enforce tanker seizure Baltic grid operators won’t enforce tanker seizure Finnish power grid operator Fingrid has agreed with Estonian partner Elering that the two companies will waive their right to enforce a seizure of an oil tanker, which Finland says broke a Baltic Sea power cable in December. The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finland’s coast guard on December 26 and still sits in a Finnish bay while investigators probe the case involving the breach of the Estlink 2 power cable and four fibre-optic internet lines. But the cost of taking over and maintaining the Eagle S would likely be higher than the vessel’s value, and the system operators will instead seek compensation by suing in court for damages, Fingrid said in a statement on Sunday. “At this stage, Fingrid and Elering will pay the repair costs to make the (Estlink 2) interconnector available as quickly as possible,” the company said. The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the NATO military alliance has boosted its presence with frigates, aircraft and naval drones. Source link #Baltic #grid #operators #wont #enforce #tanker #seizure Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Up to the Same Old Tired Crap’ ‘Up to the Same Old Tired Crap’ The tense meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance is still generating heat, as Susan Rice, former national security advisor, ***** fire Saturday at a conservative commentator’s suggestion that Team Obama “personally advised” the Ukrainian president on how to conduct himself in the Oval Office. “You clowns are up to the same old tired crap,” Rice posted on X. “When your guy screws up and royally embarrasses himself and the U.S., you try to change the subject and lie about a favorite target to distract and deflect.” Rice was responding to Mollie Hemingway, edito-in-chief of the Federalist and Fox News contributor, who wrote a long post suggesting that Rice and other Obama administration veterans “personally advised” Zelenskyy to intentionally sabotage the meeting and get Trump to “blow up.” “For the record, I have never met Zelenskyy and never spoken to him,” Rice clapped back. “Ever. Or advised him or anybody around him. It’s a shame that you contend that it is in the U.S. national interest to sell out Ukraine and ***** up to Putin.” Hemingway wasn’t exactly ready to let that aggression stand. “Thank you for your response,” she wrote. “Where would we place this denial, compared to your oft-repeated lie that the Benghazi debacle was due to a YouTube video, and your lie that you ‘knew nothing’ about the unmasking of Trump officials before being forced to admit you did it widely?” The post Susan Rice Slams Rumor That Team Obama ‘Advised’ Zelenskyy on Trump Meeting: ‘Up to the Same Old Tired Crap’ appeared first on TheWrap. Source link #Tired #Crap Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

'Robbed': Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont ****** controversy — 'Tank' knee no-call sets off boxing world – Yahoo Sports 'Robbed': Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont ****** controversy — 'Tank' knee no-call sets off boxing world – Yahoo Sports ‘Robbed’: Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont ****** controversy — ‘Tank’ knee no-call sets off boxing world Yahoo SportsDavis escapes in controversial draw with ****** ESPNGervonta ‘Tank’ Davis Vs. Lamont ****** Jr Results: Fight Card Results ForbesTank Davis vs. Lamont ****** Pay-Per-View: How to Watch the Premier Boxing Champions Live Online VarietyTank vs. ****** Results: Live updates of the undercard and main event MMA Fighting Source link #039Robbed039 #Gervonta #Davis #Lamont #****** #controversy #039Tank039 #knee #nocall #sets #boxing #world #Yahoo #Sports Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

AMD’s RX 9070 Series GPUs Will Feature Support For ROCm; Team Red Shows A Running Sample As Well – Wccftech AMD’s RX 9070 Series GPUs Will Feature Support For ROCm; Team Red Shows A Running Sample As Well – Wccftech AMD’s RX 9070 Series GPUs Will Feature Support For ROCm; Team Red Shows A Running Sample As Well WccftechAMD RDNA 4 Architecture Update ServeTheHomeAMD’s Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT start at $549, ship March 6th The VergeAMD’s RX 9060 Series GPUs Will Be Released In Q2 2025; Ready To Compete With NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5060 GPU Lineup WccftechAMD Launches Radeon RX 9000 Series Graphics Cards With AI and Raytracing Enhancements Yahoo Finance Source link #AMDs #Series #GPUs #Feature #Support #ROCm #Team #Red #Shows #Running #Sample #Wccftech Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Microsoft kills Skype, confirms AI in CoD, and tests free Office – Windows Central Microsoft kills Skype, confirms AI in CoD, and tests free Office – Windows Central Microsoft kills Skype, confirms AI in CoD, and tests free Office Windows CentralThe next chapter: Moving from Skype to Microsoft Teams MicrosoftSkype to Shut 14 Years After Microsoft’s $8.5 Billion Purchase BloombergEnd nears for internet calling pioneer Skype as Microsoft plans shutdown The Washington Post Source link #Microsoft #kills #Skype #confirms #CoD #tests #free #Office #Windows #Central Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Jessie Van Der Draay identified as Lithgow electric scooter ****** Jessie Van Der Draay identified as Lithgow electric scooter ****** The woman who died last week in a tragic electric scooter ****** has been identified. The Daily Telegraph reports Jessie Van Der Draay, 32, died in the ****** that struck the Lithgow area about 140km west of Sydney on Friday just after 5pm. Ms Van Der Draay collided with a ute at the intersection Great Western Highway and Lee Street in Bowenfels, with paramedics rushing to the scene at 5.10pm. “Officers attached to Chifley Police District were told a Ute and an electric scooter had collided,” a police spokesman said on Friday. Camera IconJessie Van Der Draay was riding an electric scooter when she collided with a ute at Lithgow. She died at the scene of the ******. Facebook Credit: Supplied “The rider … was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics. However, she died at the scene. “The driver, a 44-year-old man, was taken to Lithgow Hospital for a mandatory testing.” Jessica Newsome, a witness to the ******, said she ran to help Ms Van Der Draay and performed CPR on her, but she was unable to be revived. Ms Van Der Draay was reportedly engaged-to-be-married and her fiance Kayla Bunting paid tribute to her as someone who was “loved and respected” by many. Camera IconThe ****** happened in the Lithgow area just after 5pm on February 28, 2025. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia “Absolutely lost without you,” Ms Bunting said. “There was rarely a time you’d see Jessie without tools in her hands or building something new that she’s thought of. “She was a woman of many talents.” The police are investigating the incident. Source link #Jessie #Van #Der #Draay #identified #Lithgow #electric #scooter #****** Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 First Impressions Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 First Impressions Samsung Galaxy A-series has always been a special series from the brand. The series not only bridges the gap between its flagship S-series and other affordable series like the Galaxy M or F, but it is also one of the most selling series from the South Korean brand. We have seen multiple Galaxy A models offering customers a good value-for-money proposition. Now, the brand is all set to take a step ahead with the latest Galaxy A56, Galaxy A36, and Galaxy A26. I have some time to explore the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36, and here’s what you need to know. The Samsung Galaxy A56 and Samsung Galaxy A36 offer a glass back at the rear. Starting with the design, Samsung has ensured that the new Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 remain among the classiest phones from the brand in this price segment. The latest smartphones have a refreshed design language, a glass back, and a slimmer profile compared to the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35. The rear panel has a new liner floating island that houses the camera modules. This surely gives the phone a distinct look, but it also makes it wobble when placed on a flat surface. The company has also introduced interesting colour options for both devices. The Galaxy A56 is available in Awesome Lightgray, Awesome Graphite, Awesome Olive and Awesome Pink. The Galaxy A36 5G is available in Awesome Lavender, Awesome ******, Awesome White and Awesome Lime. I got the Awesome Olive and Awesome Lavender colour options for the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36, respectively. Though the Galaxy A56’s Olive colour looks subtle, the Galaxy A36 stands out more with its Radiance-like design at the rear panel with the Lavender colour option. The Samsung Galaxy A56 is available in Awesome Lightgray, Awesome Graphite, and Awesome Olive colourways. The Samsung Galaxy A56 comes with a metal frame, which looks premium and sturdy when you hold it. A slight bump on the right side of the frame houses the volume controls and power on/off buttons. That said, the Galaxy A36 also follows a similar design language, though the frame is not metal. The base of both devices features a SIM tray, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grille. Coming to the display, both the handsets are loaded with a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display. The screen comes with up to 1,200 nits of peak brightness and up to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Moreover, you also get Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on both the front and rear panels, which provides some durability. During the initial testing, the display looked good, vibrant and colourful, which has always been the strong point of Samsung mobiles. We will talk more about it in our upcoming review. Both the handsets feature a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display. Moving on, the Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 offer some interesting hardware. The Galaxy A56 is powered by the Exynos 1580 processor, while the Galaxy A36 packs a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset. The Galaxy A56 is available with 8GB RAM/12GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage, while the Galaxy A36 features 6GB/8GB/12GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. The devices are loaded with OneUI 7.0, which runs on the Android 15 operating system. Samsung has also ensured that the devices receive longer software updates and has promised six years of OS upgrades and six years of security patches with the new Galaxy devices. The Samsung Galaxy A36 is available in three colour options: Awesome Lavender, Awesome ******, and Awesome White. That said, what makes them different from their predecessors is the inclusion of Galaxy AI features. The Samsung Galaxy A56 gets the most AI features out of the lot. The company has promised to get features like Circle of Search, Object Eraser, Edit Suggestion, Auto Trim, Best Face, AI Select, Rear Aloud, Instant slo-mo, My Filter, and more. These are some of the interesting AI features in this list that are also present in the current Galaxy S25 series. The Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 also feature an improved camera system. Both devices have a triple-camera setup on the rear panel. Interestingly, both feature a 50-megapixel primary sensor with OIS support and an f/1.8 aperture. The Galaxy A56 has a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, while the Galaxy A36 has an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor. Lastly, the handsets feature a 5-megapixel macro sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. Both handsets on the front feature a 12-megapixel selfie camera that supports 10-bit HDR, which is interesting in this price segment. We haven’t used the cameras of both devices in different conditions, so stay tuned with us for a detailed camera review. The Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36 are also loaded with a 5,000mAh battery. Both the devices are packed with 45W fast charging support, which is an upgrade. Moreover, the company claims that the new devices can provide up to 29 hours of video playback, which will be an interesting claim to test during our battery HD loop test. Both devices are loaded with a 5,000mAh battery and support 45W fast charging. To conclude, the Samsung Galaxy A56 and Samsung Galaxy A36 do bring some interesting features to the table. Whether be it new design language or dependable cameras coupled with six years of OS and security updates, both devices have a lot to offer in this price segment. However, can they survive this tough competition? We will be able to answer this in our upcoming review. So, stay tuned. For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2025 hub. Source link #Samsung #Galaxy #A56 #Galaxy #A36 #Impressions Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]