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The British baroness writing American online safety laws

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, was surrounded by aides, local politicians and campaigners last September when he signed a new law for the Golden State — the first of its kind anywhere in the U.S. — to protect children from seeing posts about self-harm or from predatory digital advertisers. But one of the most important architects of the bill wasn’t in the room.Beeban Kidron, a British baroness, watched from 5,000 miles away via Zoom, barely able to see the signing ceremony on a propped-up laptop in her North London townhouse, as proposals she dreamed up years ago became law in the U.S.Officially, she’s Baroness Kidron, Order of the British Empire, of Angel, an upmarket and trendy neighborhood in North London favored by politicians and celebrities. The title evokes the type of pomp and ceremony — more akin to “Downton Abbey” than hard-nosed politics — at which the United Kingdom excels.But Kidron, a film director-turned-children’s rights advocate, has used a c...

‘Flash’ does bang-up job as comedy, action fest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Are “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “The Flash” the same movie? They will be to people tired of the whole “multiverse” gimmick that has contaminated Hollywood writing rooms. “The Flash” benefits greatly from the contribution of the controversial, problematic and also great actor Ezra Miller, who has had multiple run-ins with the law. But when you are the star of a $200 million film from a major U.S. corporation, you get a lot of breaks. Directed by Andy Muschietti of “It” and its sequel fame and written by Brit Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey”) and Joby Harold (“Obi-Wan Kenobi”), “The Flash” is so consistently funny it might qualify as a comedy, and its plot can get so complicated that you might not remember where you are or who the Batman is in the world you’re in.It all begins when Jeremy Irons’ Alfred of the Ben Affleck “Batman” films calls Barry Allen aka the Flash, a criminologist on his way to work, and asks him to help people at a hospital that is colla...

Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s steal of home surprises Mets in Yankees loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Brooks Raley made the mistake of pitching from the windup on Wednesday night. Isiah Kiner-Falefa took notice and took off.The Yankees’ super utilityman had been on third base with Raley, a left-handed Mets reliever, on the mound in the seventh inning. The pitcher never paid attention to Kiner-Falefa, so he took a huge lead and broke for the plate. Raley and catcher Francisco Alvarez appeared to notice as Kiner-Falefa began sprinting, but it was too late.Raley had already begun his windup. The southpaw sped things up, but he sailed a pitch over Billy McKinney’s head as Kiner-Falefa slid home.A pumped-up Kiner Falefa then jogged to the Yankees dugout and celebrated after giving his team a 3-1 lead.“I got halfway and [Raley] didn’t acknowledge me,” Kiner-Falefa recalled. “Third baseman [Eduardo Escobar] didn’t acknowledge me, and I kind of timed it up.“They thought I was bluffing. So I just went.”The Yankees’ lead didn’t...

Lucas: Biden’s no JFK when it comes to staring down Communists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Joe Biden is no Jack Kennedy.Not even close.There is no way the Communists would be pushing him around the way the Chinese Communists push Biden around. JFK would have pushed back.President John F. Kennedy proved that during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. That was when, after quarantining Cuba, Kennedy demanded that the Soviet Union and its Communist leader Nikita Khrushchev remove all the nuclear capable missiles the Russians had secretly deployed in Cuba.The Soviets had quietly worked out a deal with Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro to install the missiles on the island in exchange for economic considerations. The missiles represented a clear and unprecedented threat to the U.S.After some tense Cold War negotiations, Kennedy got the Soviets to back down and remove the missiles as well as the nuclear threat against the U.S that went along with them.In return the U. S. later removed intermediate-range missiles it had deployed in Turkey.Kennedy was a vigorous 45 years old back t...

Tee Thursday: All hail Hale’s

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

HALE’S LOCATION, N.H. – Pick what you want in a golf course: Beauty, braun or brains.Or, head to Mount Washington Valley and play Hale’s Location Golf Course (https://www.haleslocationgolf.com), where the soaring mountains, lush fairways and challenging holes say, put simply: You need not pick from those. You can have them all.Hale’s Location is relatively new in golf standards, having debuted circa 1990. It’s nine holes, but not just nine holes. And while I like to loop it twice for 18 (it’s fun to get second looks), even playing nine is exhilarating and satisfying.Hale’s Location itself is kind of a town within a town. The 2.4-square mile “township” is its own entity, but also part of North Conway. Tucked over off West Side Road – away from the bustle of North Conway proper, it is owned and operated by the residents of that hamlet, in cooperation with the abutting White Mountain Hotel (https://www.whitemountainhotel.com).It’s nine holes of pure “think this through carefully”...

Leah Lewis fired up for role as Ember in ‘Elemental’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

“Elemental” is Pixar’s latest innovative animated entry, a story set in a world where people of the four elements – Fire, Water, Earth and Air – live together.But can they love each other?  Specifically, can Ember Lumens, an explosive Fire person, find happiness with Water person Wade Ripple?As the voice of Ember, who has issues regulating her explosive temper, Leah Lewis, 26, finds “Elemental” as intensely personal and relevant as it is for Peter Sohn, the film’s director and guiding light.Lewis was born in Shanghai, adopted at eight months from an orphanage and raised in Florida.  Her younger, non-biologically related sister was adopted from the same orphanage.She began acting at six and scored her breakthrough in a 2020 Netflix movie “The Half of It” that comedically riffed on Cyrano de Bergerac.“Peter’s an Asian American as well from a Korean household. He grew up as a second-generation immigrant in New York,” Lewis said in a Zoom interview.  “And he talks about how he end...

Rob Refsnyder’s two-run triple powers big seventh inning rally as Red Sox beat Rockies 6-3

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

The Colorado Rockies outfielders had been putting on a clinic since coming to town earlier this week. On Monday, right fielder Nolan Jones made one of the best catches we’ve seen in recent memory to rob Rafael Devers of a home run against the bullpen wall, and early on Wednesday center fielder Brenton Doyle made a crazy diving catch to rob Pablo Reyes of a likely double.It was starting to seem like Boston couldn’t buy a break, but with the game tied in the seventh things finally flipped right when the Red Sox needed it most.With two men in scoring position Rob Refsnyder ripped a line drive to Jones, who couldn’t make the play after seeming to lose the ball in the lights. The ball got past him and rolled to the wall, allowing both runners to score and giving Refsnyder the go-ahead two-run triple.The Red Sox scored five runs in the inning and won the game 6-3, staving off a sweep and building back some momentum before the New York Yankees come to town this weekend.&#...

Solomon: Abandon the Electoral College to uphold democracy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

In the revered corridors of American democracy, a relic of the past continues to undermine the essence of fair representation and majority rule. The Electoral College, a uniquely American yet absurdly antiquated system, has far outlived its purpose and must be discarded.Recent years have witnessed the erosion of democratic norms worldwide, and America’s adherence to an Electoral College system only exacerbates this decline. The most glaring flaw lies in the potential for a candidate to secure the presidency without winning the popular vote, a scenario that has transpired five times in our history, most recently in the 2016 election. How can we proclaim ourselves as the epitome of democracy when the voice of the majority can be silenced by an archaic mechanism?Moreover, the Electoral College perpetuates the disproportionate influence of certain states, leaving many Americans feeling marginalized and disenchanted. Candidates focus their efforts on a handful of “battleground states,” d...

Editorial: Enough talk, put Boston Police back in schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

You can’t put out a fire by talking about it. When it comes to safety in Boston Public Schools, however, talk wins over action every time.Not for the first time, a staff member from the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School was hospitalized after being assaulted by a student.As the Herald reported, Interim Head of School Stephanie Sibley wrote to parents: “This morning, a student engaged in a physical assault of a staff member which multiple students witnessed,” began the letter. “The staff member sustained injuries as a result of the incident.”A BPS spokesperson said the staff member was injured after attempting to deescalate an altercation between two students.Both school staff and BPS safety services “quickly assisted with de-escalating the incident,” Sibley said.This harkens back to the 2021 assault of Henderson Principal Patricia Lampron, who was knocked unconscious by a student. ,Henderson isn’t the only Boston Public School visited by violence – stories have fille...

Make the great outdoors part of your great Father’s Day gift

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Fathers – they’re notoriously tough to buy for. How are we supposed to show our love and appreciation for people who say “I don’t really need anything?”Dads also have something else in common: their almost universal love of nature. Especially this time of year, when the woods, parks, rivers, beaches, and campgrounds are calling. Here are a few ideas — for material goods as well as experiential gifts —that’ll have your favorite patriarch putting the ‘great’ back in the great outdoors.A pillow that makes camping actually comfy. Yes, it’s possible to come home from a camping trip without suffering a crooked neck or back for two weeks. The HEST pillow ($89 on hest.com) employs enhanced memory foam — like the kind used in home mattresses and pillows — in a portable and adventure-ready design that zips right up in a compact and easy-to-carry case that’s machine-washable and dirt- and water-resistant. The pillow is also curved to fit dad’s head and neck, so he’ll sleep li...