Pelican Press

Ohio’s J.D. Vance rebuked by the Pope, denounced by NATO allies, ridiculed for bizarre rant Ohio’s J.D. Vance rebuked by the Pope, denounced by NATO allies, ridiculed for bizarre rant Vice President J.D. Vance. (Photo by Peter Hall/Pennsylvania Capital-Star, States Newsroom.) J.D. Vance has really done Ohio proud these last few weeks, hasn’t he? The lapdog vice-president, with evidently a lot of time on his hands, has managed to be firmly rebuked by Pope Francis, denounced by outraged NATO allies and widely ridiculed for his bizarre ‘masculinity’ rant at a weekend MAGAfest just a month into his tenure. Way to create a buzz/acute embarrassment back home! What is wrong with J.D.? Have the wheels come all the way off? Why does the 40-year-old awkwardly playing VP keep stepping in it stateside and abroad? Is the “childless cat ladies” charmer acting out unresolved rage from a bad place? Working through some deep-seated anger? Seriously, Vance manifests juvenile cringe, not sober sway, as he settles into his nondescript role as an appendage in the Trump-Musk administration. Even Trump won’t name him as a slam dunk heir apparent. Not good. For a supposed Ivy League intellectual, Vance sure spouts stupidity on the regular: Honestly, you’ve got to be really off base on Catholic theology for the ******** to correct your twisted take on love with descending priorities as justification for mass deportations. In Vance’s godawful reading of the Christian order of love concept; (to mesh with his political ideology) family, community, and country come first and everyone outside that concentric circle later or not so much. Which puts migrant families outermost from Vance’s construct on brotherly love for me but not thee from outside our borders. Francis rejected the VP’s sophomoric theoretical defense of cruel immigration crackdowns as flatly wrong. He urged the misguided millennial to meditate on the parable of the Good Samaritan, “on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.” But “American citizens first” nativist Vance has no interest in building a “fraternity open to all,” just an all-white patriarchy focused on baby-making. To that point, he started a holy war (barely a week after inauguration) against charitable organizations across the country that feed, clothe and house refugees and immigrants (i.e., Catholic Charities and Catholic relief groups) by implying they perform their labor of love for federal money — not humanitarian concerns. “Devout Catholic” convert Vance went all glib and combative on compassion and care for the “least of these” because they included Brown and ****** mothers and fathers and children fleeing horrendous homelands for hope. But upholding the dignity of every human being (native-born or not) as a core tenet of Christianity clashes with the core MAGA mission to degrade, shackle and ship terrified families back to the foreign hellscapes they fled. Vance threw ****** and mean into the mix to look tough on dehumanized “illegals” and scorn mercy. He is a dutiful, if not decent, Trump toady. But the swift rebuttals to Vance’s hollow broadsides from the Church and the pope himself only reinforced the veep’s smallness as a smug sycophant slinging ugly. Whatever reputation Vance may have enjoyed in the past as a thoughtful individual with at least a modicum of integrity is long gone. With a brief stint as a venture capitalist, an even briefer stint as Ohio senator and now VP, Vance is heady with power and hubris over his meteoric rise from bending the knee to a man he once derided as “America’s Hitler.” Then Vance went to the Munich Security Conference recently, not to collaborate with NATO allies on mutual security interests and Ukraine, but to turn on them. Vance, the shameless election denier in service to an authoritarian regime lawlessly dismantling a democratic republic, had the towering audacity and historical blindness to lecture his European audience on democracy, downplay threats from Russia and China, and publicly court a far-right ******* party (AfD) that many Germans consider the heirs of Nazi ideas and that sanitizes the Holocaust. His blistering dress-down of European leaders, rightly dismayed over rising extremism and history repeating itself, coupled with his pronounced affection for far-right politicians a week before a crucial ******* election (U.S. election interference?) was obscene. The last thing the world needs now is a U.S. vice-president trashing eighty years of foreign policy with America’s closest and most enduring friends. But that’s what a dangerously reckless Vance did on the world stage to compete with Elon Musk and boost his nascent brand as an uber-nihilist bent on destroying plurality for purity and seeding a new world order. It’s wing-nuttery on a disturbingly dark scale. But Vance, for all his performative bravado — whether it’s lashing out at European allies for not welcoming extremism, or engaging in petty posting on X, or weirdly obsessing about “the essence of masculinity” and a “broken culture” that tells you “You’re a bad person because you’re a man” — is a phony. He morphed from Never-Trumper to groveling *****-up for unimagined power, but he can’t quite pull it off as a poser with a makeover beard spewing stupid and offensive and strange. Vance has been doing us proud by attacking friends, embracing enemies, insulting humanitarians, drawing papal ire, and pontificating laughably on what makes a man a man. Seriously, what is wrong with J.D.? SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Source link #Ohios #J.D #Vance #rebuked #Pope #denounced #NATO #allies #ridiculed #bizarre #rant Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Jeep, Dodge maker Stellantis posts 70% drop in full-year profit – CNBC Jeep, Dodge maker Stellantis posts 70% drop in full-year profit – CNBC Jeep, Dodge maker Stellantis posts 70% drop in full-year profit CNBCFull Year 2024 Results StellantisStellantis earnings preview: Big 3 automaker looks to put rough year behind it Yahoo FinanceStellantis Issues Cautious Outlook After 70% Profit Slump Bloomberg Source link #Jeep #Dodge #maker #Stellantis #posts #drop #fullyear #profit #CNBC Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Liverpool: Arne Slot criticises Darwin Nunez work-rate Liverpool: Arne Slot criticises Darwin Nunez work-rate Liverpool manager Arne Slot says he “can’t accept” striker Darwin Nunez’s work-rate in his past two games. The Uruguay international was a second-half substitute in the win over Wolves on 16 February and the draw at Aston Villa on 19 February, when he missed an open goal. Nunez did not come off the bench in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Manchester City, which took Liverpool 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League. Slot defended Nunez after his miss against Villa but said he allowed his “disappointment” to impact his work-rate. “I helped him by saying you can miss a chance,” Slot said in his news conference before Wednesday’s visit of Newcastle. “I wasn’t only hard on him. But for the second time in a row I wasn’t happy with his work effort, against Wolves and against Villa. “I can’t accept if a player doesn’t give everything. That is clear. I can accept it once, but twice was a bit too much. That’s why I addressed it. “If you miss a chance, you need to be fighting for the team. I’m not saying he didn’t do that at all, but it wasn’t the usual Darwin, the one that is loved by the fans. That is mainly because he always works so hard.” Slot said Nunez, who has scored six goals in 35 games in all competitions for Liverpool this season, was “incredible” in training on Monday. Source link #Liverpool #Arne #Slot #criticises #Darwin #Nunez #workrate Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Genea Fertility cyber attack: Trove of sensitive patient data leaked to dark web after IVF provider hacked Genea Fertility cyber attack: Trove of sensitive patient data leaked to dark web after IVF provider hacked Hundreds of gigabytes of sensitive patient information have been leaked online after a cyber attack on a leading IVF provider. Genea Fertility was on Wednesday granted a court-ordered injunction in a bid to prevent the misuse of patient data after ransomware group Termite claimed responsibility for the hack overnight. It’s understood up to 700GB of private information allegedly harvested straight from Genea’s servers was published on the dark web. That data includes a trove of information such as copies of passports, pathology reports, patients’ medical and fertility histories, addresses, contact details, Defence DA numbers, Medicare and private health fund numbers and more. “We have obtained this injunction as part of our commitment to the protection of our patients, staff and partners’ information, and taking all reasonable steps in response to this incident to protect the impacted data and those most vulnerable,” Genea said in an updated statement on its website. The injunction revealed a total 940.7GB of data was taken from Genea’s IT network and systems on February 14, but the company did not publicly comment on the cyber incident until February 19. Following further investigation, the IVF clinic revealed on Monday it believes “the attacker may have accessed and taken personal information which we hold”. “On 14 February 2025, we became aware of suspicious activity on our network. Following this, we promptly launched an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the activity. In the course of these investigations, Genea discovered that it had been impacted by a cyber security breach,” it said. “At this stage there is no evidence that any financial information such as credit card details or bank account numbers have been impacted by this incident.” It said the Office of the *********** Information Commissioner and the *********** Cyber Security Centre were notified, with meetings scheduled with the National Office of Cyber Security, the *********** Cyber Security Centre and other government departments to discuss the matter. Genea Fertility has more than 20 locations nationwide, including one in Perth, with thousands of patients accessing a range of fertility and genetic services. A Genea spokesperson would not confirm how many patients have been affected by the data breach. “We are notifying all affected individuals and providing them with clear steps they can take to help protect their personal information. We have also set up a dedicated team to support all affected individuals,” the spokesperson said. “This includes the support of IDCARE, Australia’s national identity and cyber support community service, to extend their specialist Case Management services to patients at no cost if they wish to seek further support.” Termite ransomware has not set a ransom for the data and it remains unclear whether any further information will be published. Source link #Genea #Fertility #cyber #attack #Trove #sensitive #patient #data #leaked #dark #web #IVF #provider #hacked Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Body placed next to passenger on Qatar Airways flight Body placed next to passenger on Qatar Airways flight An airline traveler has spoken of his shock after cabin crew sat him next to the body of a fellow passenger who had died during the flight. The female passenger collapsed in the aisle beside Mitchell Ring and his partner Jennifer Colin during their Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha, they told CNN affiliate Nine Network. The *********** couple were on their way to Venice for a vacation. Ring recalled watching the crew try to revive the woman. “Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” he told Nine. The crew then tried to wheel the body toward the business class section but were unable to maneuver it through the narrow aisle, Ring said. “So they looked a bit frustrated and then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me… and they just said to me, can you move over please?” he said. “And I just said, ‘yes, no problem,’ and then they placed the lady in the chair that I was in.” Ring then sat next to the body for the roughly four remaining hours of the flight, he said, despite there being other empty seats on the plane. Another passenger offered Colin an empty seat across the aisle from Ring, where she sat for the rest of the flight. “I was really shocked,” Colin told Nine, calling the experience “traumatic.” “We totally understand that we can’t hold the airline responsible for the poor lady’s death, but there has to be a protocol then to look after the customers that are on board,” she said. CNN has reached out to Qatar Airways for comment. After the flight landed, Ring said passengers in his area were told to stay put until ambulance workers and police officers arrived to remove the body. “I can’t believe they told us to stay,” he said, adding he was present when ambulance officers pulled away the blanket. The couple said they weren’t immediately contacted by the airline, which they said owes them “a duty of care.” Ring said he expected the airline to offer counseling support. Qantas Airways, through which the couple bought their tickets, said they were in touch with Colin and have followed up with Qatar Airways. “The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways,” it said in a statement. Meanwhile, Ring and Colin are trying to process the tragedy. “I don’t really know how I feel,” Ring told Nine. “And would like… to talk to somebody and to make sure I’m alright.” For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Source link #Body #passenger #Qatar #Airways #flight Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

South Korea birthrate rises for first time in 9 years, marriages surge – Reuters South Korea birthrate rises for first time in 9 years, marriages surge – Reuters South Korea birthrate rises for first time in 9 years, marriages surge ReutersSouth Korea’s Fertility Rate Edges Up for First Time in Years BloombergSouth Korea birthrate rises for the first time in nine years Al Jazeera EnglishHow South Korea put its ‘extinction’ birthrate crisis into reverse The TimesAnalysis-South Korea’s Policy Push Springs to Life as World’s Lowest Birthrate Rises U.S. News & World Report Source link #South #Korea #birthrate #rises #time #years #marriages #surge #Reuters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Harsher bans needed to stop dangerous tackles – Warburton Harsher bans needed to stop dangerous tackles – Warburton Former Wales captain Sam Warburton says “harsher” bans are needed to stop dangerous tackles after Garry Ringrose received a 20-minute red card during Ireland’s Six Nations win over Wales. Source link #Harsher #bans #needed #stop #dangerous #tackles #Warburton Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Wagin Woolorama: Fibre Hub to showcase Angora goats, alpacas Wagin Woolorama: Fibre Hub to showcase Angora goats, alpacas It’s WA’s biggest sheep show, but Angora goats and alpacas — and the benefits they can bring — will be the focus of a new Fibre Hub launching at this year’s Wagin Woolorama. Source link #Wagin #Woolorama #Fibre #Hub #showcase #Angora #goats #alpacas Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Fed expected to respond strongly to inflation, job market conditions, research shows Fed expected to respond strongly to inflation, job market conditions, research shows SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Investors and economists expect the U.S. central bank to respond “strongly and systematically” to changes in inflation and the labor market, according to research published on Monday by the San Francisco Fed that underscores the current sensitivity of financial markets to U.S. economic data. The Fed’s perceived responsiveness to economic data picked up notably in 2022, driven first by inflation data and, last year, by labor market data, based on the analysis of perceptions embedded in professional forecasts and in bond market moves published in the regional Fed bank’s latest Economic Letter. The findings are in line with the Fed’s actual response to inflation, which rose in 2021 but did not trigger any interest rate hikes until 2022. They also track with the Fed’s reaction to labor market data, which weakened notably in the middle of last year and helped drive the Fed’s decision to cut the policy rate by a full percentage point starting last September. The Fed’s target policy rate is currently in the 4.25%-4.50% range. Recent weaker economic readings, including a survey released on Friday showing business activity fell to a 17-month low this month, have helped firm up market bets on two quarter-percentage-point reductions to the policy rate this year. Worries about stalling economic growth appear to be outweighing fears of a resurgence in inflation, also evident in recent surveys, at least as far as market bets on how the Fed will react with monetary policy. Interest rate futures contracts are currently priced for the first Fed rate cut this year to come in June, with the second to happen as early as October. (Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Paul Simao) Source link #Fed #expected #respond #strongly #inflation #job #market #conditions #research #shows Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

China holds 'shooting' drills off Taiwan's coast, vows 'reunification' push – Reuters China holds 'shooting' drills off Taiwan's coast, vows 'reunification' push – Reuters China holds ‘shooting’ drills off Taiwan’s coast, vows ‘reunification’ push ReutersTaiwan says China set up ‘live-fire training’ zone off its coast without warning CNNPLA steps up Taiwan drills over Lunar New Year holiday South China Morning PostChina’s satellite flies over Taiwan, latter says ‘ready to respond’ ThePrintTaipei dispatches forces to monitor China’s ‘live-fire’ drills off Taiwan’s coast FRANCE 24 English Source link #China #holds #039shooting039 #drills #Taiwan039s #coast #vows #039reunification039 #push #Reuters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

“Bold, beautiful, bright and in your face”: The Huxleys Fantastic Voyage exhibit brings magic to Albany Pride “Bold, beautiful, bright and in your face”: The Huxleys Fantastic Voyage exhibit brings magic to Albany Pride The opening weekend of Albany Pride was filled with “magic and a stunning sense of community” according to organisers, thanks to the exhibit launch of the world-renowned performance art duo, the Huxleys. Source link #Bold #beautiful #bright #face #Huxleys #Fantastic #Voyage #exhibit #brings #magic #Albany #Pride Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Elon Musk’s directive to federal workers to explain their productivity or get the ax could take them 165,000 hours of their workdays to complete Elon Musk’s directive to federal workers to explain their productivity or get the ax could take them 165,000 hours of their workdays to complete An email from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday asked federal workers to list their accomplishments from the week prior, part of Elon Musk’s efforts to assess government productivity. Management professor Peter Harms said the strategy, without a transparent purpose, could be a waste of time. A directive to hold federal employees accountable for their weekly productivity could be taking up hundreds of thousands of hours of their workdays. The Office of Personnel Management sent an email to all federal employees on Saturday asking them to list five bullet points describing what they accomplished in the past week, according to multiple reports. Elon Musk, who is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting efforts, said on social media, “All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” If all 2 million federal workers spent five minutes responding to the email—about the time Musk said the task would require—the process would take 10 million minutes total, or more than 166,600 hours, Fortune calculated. Federal workers make an average of about $106,000 annually, or about $51 hourly for a 40-hour work week, according to OPM, meaning the time needed for all federal workers to reply to the email could cost the government about $8.5 million in wages—more than half of DOGE’s current $14.4 million budget. OPM’s email aligns with President Donald Trump’s efforts to identify and eliminate alleged corruption within the bureaucracy of the federal government. The administration has called for the thinning of thousands of government jobs, primarily targeting probationary workers. Trump backed Musk’s intention to terminate workers who don’t respond, saying Monday they would be “semi-fired” because not responding to the email would indicate the workers did not have active accounts and therefore didn’t exist. OPM’s email to federal workers reportedly did not mention risk of termination. Not all federal departments—including those run by Trump’s own appointees—have complied with Musk’s demand to respond to OPM’s email. Key agencies, including the Pentagon and FBI, have told employees not to respond to the email. “The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties for the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, wrote on X. Trump said agency heads who didn’t comply with the directive were only doing so to protect against sharing confidential records. “That was done in a friendly manner,” Trump said during a press conference on Monday while meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. “They don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon.” The Department of Health and Human Services under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was asked to comply with the email, but only after acting general counsel Sean Keveney told some employees not to respond. “I’ll be candid with you. Having put in over 70 hours of work last week advancing Administration’s priorities, I was personally insulted to receive the below email,” Keveney said in an email seen by the Associated Press. Federal workers, many of whom have expressed dismay and frustration with DOGE’s fury of layoffs, reacted similarly. Some employees filed a lawsuit on Monday alleging the threat of widespread firings as a result of not responding to OPM’s email was “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.” OPM did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment. Are accountability emails effective management tools? Though OPM’s correspondence has drawn backlash from employees and their managers alike, sending out an email asking employees what they’re working on is not inherently a bad management strategy, according to Peter Harms, a professor of management at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business. If OPM or DOGE is trying to conduct an analysis of the jobs of each government agency, asking employees about the tasks they engage in is an effective way to do this, he said. DOGE could likely quickly use machine learning or AI to aggregate and sort the responses into a large data set. Asking employees about their work is also a common human resources tactic used to inform future training or future job descriptions. “To what degree do workforces do this to their employees? Workforces do this all the time,” Harms told Fortune. But based on Musk’s track record at X of asking employees to justify their positions or risk getting fired, OPM’s email could serve a different and less effective purpose, Harms said. The directive mirrors Musk’s layoff playbook shortly after he purchased Twitter, now X, in 2022, when he asked employees to commit to “extremely hardcore” work conditions or resign. Given the similarities in strategies, Harms said OPM’s email could easily be interpreted as the equivalent of corporate downsizing. For some employees, summarizing their jobs in five bullet points could be an unfair reflection of their work, Harms argued, particularly if they are only asked to capture short-term tasks and not the longer-term impact of their roles over the course of a month or year. “You’ve got millions of federal employees, and they’re going to have to take some time out of their day to complete this, and most of what they do is fairly routine and probably pretty boring,” Harms said. “So just wasting this amount of time [replying to the email] is not that useful. That’s why we don’t do weekly performance reviews with our employees.” If Musk wants to use accountability emails as an effective management or data collection tool in the future, he’ll need to focus on transparency and clarity to ensure it’s in the employees’ best interests, Harms suggested. “I can see where it also causes frustration and fear,” he said. “But that’s not to say that this is completely illegitimate. It would be legitimate if it was better constructed and if it had a point.” This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Source link #Elon #Musks #directive #federal #workers #explain #productivity #hours #workdays #complete Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Georgia basketball shocks No. 3 Florida, storms Stegeman Coliseum – DawgNation Georgia basketball shocks No. 3 Florida, storms Stegeman Coliseum – DawgNation Georgia basketball shocks No. 3 Florida, storms Stegeman Coliseum DawgNationUGA prevails after No. 3 Florida’s 26-point rally ESPNGeorgia vs Florida basketball: Check out photos from the game Online AthensPreview: No. 3 Florida at Georgia rivals.comGeorgia holds off furious rally from No. 3 Florida for upset win Deadspin Source link #Georgia #basketball #shocks #Florida #storms #Stegeman #Coliseum #DawgNation Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Northern Ireland 3-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: ‘Relief and joy in equal measure as Simone Magill rescues NI’ Northern Ireland 3-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: ‘Relief and joy in equal measure as Simone Magill rescues NI’ It was a strange game for Northern Ireland, who went from being in complete control to looking shell-shocked in the space of five minutes after half-time. Tanya Oxtoby’s side took a deserved first-half lead through Brenna McPartland’s header, but they allowed Bosnia into the game. First of all, less than 60 seconds after the restart, Emina Ekic was allowed to run 60 yards unchallenged to slot home the equaliser. Three minutes later, a poor clearance by Rachel Dugdale was punished when Marija Milinkovic fired home a stunning 20-yard effort off the post. While Tuesday’s game had a happy ending, not being able to string a full 90-minute performance together can be a frustration when you see what Northern Ireland are capable of in fits and starts. Another worrying trend is the quickfire concession of goals, which also happened against Poland on Friday and again in the first leg of the Euro 2025 play-off with Norway before Christmas. Magill admits there was an “element of complacency” after dominating the first half, and her side must learn from that heading into April’s double-header with Romania. “That’s what we were going after, we wanted to be in control of the game,” Magill said. “I think with control comes an element of complacency, and if we look at the second half that’s exactly what did happen. “Ultimately, we do need to learn from those moments at the start of the second half. That can’t happen again.” Source link #Northern #Ireland #BosniaHerzegovina #Relief #joy #equal #measure #Simone #Magill #rescues Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2 almost fumbles its delivery – Entertainium Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2 almost fumbles its delivery – Entertainium Paste Magazine, Marc Normandin: “Maybe Daybreak II will be seen in a similar light a decade from now. But whether that’s true or not, what’s here—what we do know about—is damn good, and more than enough to merit playing. Even if you do have to start all the way back at the beginning to understand some of it.” Source link #Review #Legend #Heroes #Trails #Daybreak #fumbles #delivery #Entertainium Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Private health insurance premiums to rise 3.7 per cent, biggest increase in eight years Private health insurance premiums to rise 3.7 per cent, biggest increase in eight years The rise is substantially less than what some insurers were seeking but the highest increase approved by the Federal Government in seven years. Source link #Private #health #insurance #premiums #rise #cent #biggest #increase #years Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lies of P DLC expansion Overture Story trailer Lies of P DLC expansion Overture Story trailer Publisher NEOWIZ and developer Round8 Studio have released the story trailer for Lies of P downloadable content expansion Overture, which is due out this summer. Source link #Lies #DLC #expansion #Overture #Story #trailer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Boca businessman who stole $1.45 million from ‘friend’ asks judge to spare him from prison Boca businessman who stole $1.45 million from ‘friend’ asks judge to spare him from prison WEST PALM BEACH — A Boca ****** businessman facing up to 90 years in prison for grand theft and money laundering asked a judge to spare him — not for his sake, he said, but for his victim’s. David Bruce Cohen, 61, owes more than $1.45 million to Tania Deutsch, whose nest egg he drained under the guise of lucrative investment dealings. Despite being described by his supporters Friday as “delusional,” “naive” and having “never made good business decisions,” Cohen insisted he could recoup the money if only he remains free. Assistant State Attorney Michael Del Sontro disagreed. “Even if he walked out of here today, I don’t think he would ever pay anything substantial or even remotely come close to making her whole again,” the prosecutor said. Siding with Del Sontro, who called Cohen’s promises of wealth “just history repeating itself,” Circuit Judge Howard Coates sentenced Cohen to 14 years and six months in prison. Cohen secured job offer ahead of his sentencing hearing David Bruce Cohen appears at the Palm Beach County Courthouse on Feb. 21, 2025. Convicted of defrauding a woman out of more than $1.4 million, he was sentenced to 14.5 years in state prison. The judge’s decision followed lengthy debate over the likelihood that Deutsch would ever recover a semblance of her prior fortune. “If the state had its way, Cohen would rot in prison for two decades and Deutsch would not receive a dime,” Assistant Public Defender Abraham Hoffman said. Hoffman proposed an alternative. He pointed to Paul Gozaloff, Cohen’s longtime associate, who testified Friday that he would hire the convicted felon for a cybersecurity job with the potential for a six-figure salary if he were sentenced to probation instead of prison. Tax evasion: Longtime South Florida lobbyist failed to pay federal government more than $1M Probation would come with strict conditions, Hoffman said: a substantial portion of his income to be paid toward restitution, combined with mandatory treatment for alcoholism and gambling addiction, habits which Hoffman said fueled Cohen’s crimes. He maintained Friday that Cohen has had a reckoning. Before his arrest, his life was defined by “obsessive securities trading and high-risk business ventures,” symptoms of a gambling addiction that led him to financial ruin. Now, the attorney said, he is ready to rebuild, and to try — however slowly — to make Deutsch whole. Neither prosecutors nor Deutsch believe that’s possible. David Bruce Cohen appears at the Palm Beach County Courthouse on Feb. 21, 2025. Convicted of defrauding a woman out of more than $1.4 million, he was sentenced to 14.5 years in state prison. Woman who once inherited $1.45M survives on meals of rice and beans According to investigators, Cohen met Deutsch in 2016 at Blue Martini in Boca ****** and presented himself as a successful businessman. Deutsch, who inherited $1.4 million from a distant friend one year earlier, wired the funds to Cohen’s company, ECP Capital, on his promise to invest it in a medical ********** company and a Royal Palm Beach housing development. Instead, prosecutors said Cohen laundered the money into his personal checking account, rebuffing Deutsch’s requests for proof of the investment and reassuring her that he had taken care of it. In a sentencing memorandum, the prosecutor painted a bleak picture of Deutsch’s life in the years since Cohen drained her savings. She was forced to sell properties, lost her home to foreclosure, could not afford a necessary tumor-removal surgery for her daughter and pulled her son out of college after she could no longer afford tuition. She has struggled to pay for basic necessities, rationing heat in her Pennsylvania home throughout the winter and surviving on meals of beans and rice. “Practically everything that was prepared for and had previously went smoothly in Ms. Deutsch’s life is now in financial turmoil,” Del Sontro said. “She spends her time mentally exhausted because of the effect of the crime that occurred and goes to bed thinking about the bills she now cannot pay and the money she regrets getting stolen from her.” During his trial in October, Cohen’s team of public defenders emphasized the friendship that developed between Cohen and Deutsch and argued that Deutsch loaned the money to Cohen — he didn’t steal it. Cohen said Friday that he’d been taken advantage of and manipulated into pursuing bad business deals but apologized to Deutsch nevertheless. “I fully understand that my behavior caused injury to someone else, specifically Ms. Deutsch,” Cohen said. “There’s no way I can rationalize that myself and look at myself as a man. I have to face myself for that.” Deutsch listened to the sentencing hearing over Zoom but did not address the court herself. She told prosecutors she wanted Cohen to spend “at least 10 years” in prison, according to Del Sontro. Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at *****@*****.tld. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca man who stole $1.4 million asks judge for mercy. What he decided Source link #Boca #businessman #stole #million #friend #asks #judge #spare #prison Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered Review | TheXboxHub Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered Review | TheXboxHub VGChartz’s Evan Norris: “In the end, Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is less essential than last year’s Tomb Raider collection, entirely because the games are inferior. While The Last Revelation remains one of the franchise’s better entries, Chronicles is merely decent, and The Angel of Darkness is subpar. Still, thanks to control and graphics options, paired with the 60 fps boost, this newest compilation represents the superior way to experience these titles. If you only have the time and money for one purchase, go for I-III Remastered without question. If, however, you’re a completionist who wants to experience Lara’s lesser, weirder adventures and observe how developer fatigue and mismanagement affected the trajectory of the franchise in the early 2000s, this is the collection for you.” Source link #Tomb #Raider #IVVI #Remastered #Review #TheXboxHub Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Growing worries over Trump’s policies Growing worries over Trump’s policies U.S President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order at the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 25, 2025. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images The “Trump Bump” — in which stocks and other assets, such as cryptocurrency, jumped after Donald Trump’s election and inauguration — appears to have leveled off. Nowhere is this clearer than in Tesla shares, which plunged on Tuesday, erasing most of a postelection pop driven by CEO Elon Musk’s association with Trump. Some concern over Tesla involves the company’s performance, while others are specific to Musk, who is spending much of his time in Washington D.C Consumers are also growing worried about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the economy. A U.S. Conference Board survey showed pessimism around the availability of jobs, business conditions and future income — as well as heightened expectations for inflation in 2025. The 10-year Treasury yield, which is seen as an indicator of growth expectations, dropped on that news. Stocks continued to slide. If the trajectory doesn’t change soon, we could be facing a “Trump Slump.” What you need to know today Nasdaq in the red for 2025On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.47% for its fourth consecutive losing day. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.35% and is in negative territory for the year. The index was dragged down by Nvidia, which reports earnings Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, added 0.37%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index rose 0.15%. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 retreated around 0.3%, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index soared more than 3%. Hong Kong-listed shares of ******** electric vehicle makers climbed after Tesla’s Tuesday slump. Low consumer confidenceThe U.S. Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 98.3 for February, down seven points and below the Dow Jones forecast for 102.3. This was the lowest reading since June 2024 and the largest monthly drop since August 2021. Consumers’ 12-month inflation expectations jumped to 6%, up from 5.2% the prior month and well ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. Tesla loses most of its Trump gainsTesla shares slumped 8.4%, dropping the company’s market capitalization below $1 trillion to its lowest level since Nov. 7 — two days after U.S. President Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidential election. An analyst is of the view that Tesla’s stock slump portends a future in which the multinational corporation has to work in a nationalist world. Super Micro Computer avoids delistingSuper Micro Computer shares popped as much as 23% in extended trading after the company filed its financial results for fiscal 2024 just in time to prevent being delisted from the Nasdaq. According to the company’s updated and audited financials, Super Micro’s sales more than doubled in its fiscal 2024 to $14.99 billion. Last year, after the company delayed its annual report, it lost its auditor, Ernst & Young, citing governance issues. Cheers to good timesThe world’s largest brewer AB InBev reported on Wednesday a 3.4% increase in fourth-quarter revenue to $14.84 billion, handily beating the 2.9% decline to $14.05 billion forecast by LSEG analysts. While full-year sales rose a better-than-expected 2.7% to $59.77 billion, total volumes dropped 1.4% for the year. The company’s brands include Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois. [PRO] ‘Flesh wound’ for marketsStocks have been taking a beating in recent days. But that could merely be a “flesh wound,” said Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global. In other words, this could be a temporary drop from which markets recover, aided by investors buying the dip, among two other market-moving events happening this week. Lee is a notable market bull. And finally… ******** animation blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” was released in late January alongside several other films for the local Spring Festival holiday *******. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images The record-breaking run of ‘Ne Zha 2’ may seem like a surprise. It shouldn’t For someone who’s lived in China since before the pandemic, the success of the animated film “Ne Zha 2” marks more of an industry milestone than a surprise. ******** animated films started to make a splash in the last 10 years. Referring to the 2016 film “Big Fish and Begonia,” entertainment industry magazine Variety wrote, “as far as the ******** industry goes, this bold and breathtaking fantasy adventure stands alone.” The film was made by Beijing Enlight Media. That’s the same producer behind this year’s “Ne Zha 2” and “Ne Zha 1″ that came out in 2019 — it had topped China’s box office that year. After “Ne Zha 2” was released in North America on Feb. 14, Maoyan data showed the movie beat Pixar’s “Inside Out 2″ as the top-grossing animated film worldwide with more than 13 billion yuan ($1.79 billion) in ticket sales. Source link #Growing #worries #Trumps #policies Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Sayonara Wild Hearts Is Out Now On PS5, Free Upgrade Available For PS4 Owners, Plays At 4K/120 FPS Sayonara Wild Hearts Is Out Now On PS5, Free Upgrade Available For PS4 Owners, Plays At 4K/120 FPS Nyxus|23m ago|News|0| ▼ Info Add Alt Source Sayonara Wild Hearts is finally jumping over to the PS5. Correction, it’s already jumped to PS5, because this new version of the game was revealed at Annapurna’s 2025 Showcase, and it was revealed to be available right now. PS5 Sayonara Wilds Hearts psu.com Read Full Story >> [Hidden Content] psu.com Source link #Sayonara #Wild #Hearts #PS5 #Free #Upgrade #PS4 #Owners #Plays #4K120 #FPS Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

As Measles Cases Surge in Texas, WHO’s Global Control Program Risks Collapse – Bloomberg As Measles Cases Surge in Texas, WHO’s Global Control Program Risks Collapse – Bloomberg As Measles Cases Surge in Texas, WHO’s Global Control Program Risks Collapse BloombergWest Texas measles outbreak spreads amid vaccine hesitancy in some communities PBS NewsHourState reports West Texas measles outbreak cases now at 124 Texas Public RadioMeasles alerts issued in San Antonio, New Braunfels and San Marcos as Texas outbreak spreads Houston Public Media Source link #Measles #Cases #Surge #Texas #WHOs #Global #Control #Program #Risks #Collapse #Bloomberg Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Dauntless is Shutting Down Dauntless is Shutting Down Nearly six years after its release, Phoenix Labs says that the monster-slaying title Dauntless will shut down and become unavailable later this year. Source link #Dauntless #Shutting Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Triple M sack radio presenter and comedian Marty Sheargold after vulgar Matildas rant Triple M sack radio presenter and comedian Marty Sheargold after vulgar Matildas rant Embattled shock jock Marty Sheargold’s time with Triple M is over, with the two parties parting ways a day after the DJ’s vulgar and misogynistic anti-Matildas tirade. Sheargold has been in the eye of the storm in the wake of a shocking rant about the Matildasin which he said he would “rather hammer a nail through the head of my ******” than watch their Asian Cup in Australia campaign next year. He also compared the team to “Year 10 girls” due to “all the infighting and all the friendship issues”. “Now I’m sorry to undermine the whole sport, but that’s what I think of it, so you can stick it up your a…,” Sheargold said. The DJ did not appear in his regular radio spot on Wednesday, prompting speculation he had departed his role. In a statement, Southern Cross Audio chief content officer Dave Cameron said Triple M and Sheargold had agreed to part ways. “Southern Cross Austereo takes its responsibility to listeners, shareholders, and clients seriously and its programming should align with the standards and expectations of its audience,” he said. “Right now, it’s clear this is a moment for reflection and review. Triple M, and the wider SCA network, will continue to take all necessary steps to support staff. “Triple M acknowledges Marty’s contribution over the past four years, and we wish him well for the future.” Sheargold also released a statement and apologised for his remarks. “Having mutually agreed to part ways with the Triple M Network, I fully understand the gravity of my comments,” he said. “I’d like to sincerely apologise to the Matildas and the broader organisation.” It came after Sheargold had issued an earlier statement in which he said he could “see why people may have taken offence”. His comments were extensively condemned by figures from around the sport and media industry, with Football Australia issuing a statement of their own in which they labelled Sheargold’s remarks as “deeply disappointing.” Source link #Triple #sack #radio #presenter #comedian #Marty #Sheargold #vulgar #Matildas #rant Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Monster Hunter Wilds Review – TheGamer Monster Hunter Wilds Review – TheGamer Push Square: “Few games can match the satisfaction of Monster Hunter — and Monster Hunter Wilds might just be the most satisfying instalment yet. Capcom has fine tuned the act of felling colossal foes, creating one of the most rewarding games of the generation in the process. While the overall package is held back by a stalling story campaign and questionable performance, Wilds is an outstanding action RPG at its core, and a worthy successor to the almighty World.” Source link #Monster #Hunter #Wilds #Review #TheGamer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]