Indiana coach Mike Woodson is happy that his team has won three straight games but concerned that it's committing too many turnovers. Limiting miscues is at the top of his wish list for Monday night's Big Ten Conference opener against visiting Minnesota in Bloomington, Ind. While the Hoosiers (7-2) shot 53.8 percent and dominated Miami (Ohio) 46-29 on the glass during a 76-57 win at home Friday night, they also had more turnovers (16) than assists (15). Having played for Bob Knight at Indiana, Woodson is fanatical about his team executing its offense without making mistakes. "We were taking chances on passes that weren't there," Woodson said. "We have to fix it. If we start Big Ten play like that, it puts you in a hole." In between careless mistakes, the Hoosiers got a huge game out of Oumar Ballo, the Arizona transfer who had 14 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. It was his 35th career double-double but his first at Indiana. Ballo (12.7 points per game, 9.3 rebounds) is one of four players averaging double figures for the Hoosiers. They're led by Malik Reneau, who's hitting for 15.4 ppg on 58.9 percent shooting. While Indiana tries to fine-tune its game, the Golden Gophers (6-4, 0-1 Big Ten) aim to get to the .500 mark in conference play after absorbing a 90-72 beating Wednesday night against visiting Michigan State. There was good news for Minnesota in that game. Mike Mitchell Jr. returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a high ankle sprain and drilled 5 of 9 3-pointers in a 17-point performance. Mitchell's shooting should aid an attack that ranks 311th in Division I in 3-point percentage at 29.7 percent as of Sunday. "He's a difference-maker in terms of being able to space the floor," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said of Mitchell. "He provides offensive firepower and a guy who can make shots and take pressure off our offense." Dawson Garcia leads the team at 19 ppg, while Lu'Cye Patterson and Mitchell are scoring 10 ppg. The Hoosiers own a 109-69 lead in the all-time series. --Field Level Media
THE MOJ: It's Thanksgiving down south, and the Canucks aren't looking free and clearBy BEN FINLEY The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Related Articles National News | Heavy travel day off to a rough start after American Airlines briefly grounds all flights National News | Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case against Alec Baldwin in fatal movie set shooting National News | Today in History: December 24, former defense secretary pardoned in Iran-Contra scandal National News | Judge rules Arkansas law allowing criminal charges against librarians is unconstitutional National News | Bill Clinton is hospitalized with a fever but in good spirits, spokesperson says Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages , from English to Japanese. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats , such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon . But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” “There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.” NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War , predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics . The tradition continues regardless of government shutdowns, such as the one in 2018 , and this year . Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing. The origin story is Hollywood-esque It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.” Is the origin story humbug? Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. “When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” A rare addition to Santa’s story NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada —- known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.Steelers' Mike Tomlin Confident With Handling Filming Of Hard Knocks
All you have to do to become a South Dakota resident is spend one night. Stay in a campground or hotel and then stop by one of the businesses that specialize in helping people become South Dakotans, and they’ll help you do the paperwork to gain residency in a state with no income tax and relatively cheap vehicle registration. The system brings in extra government revenue through vehicle fees and offers refuge to full-time travelers who wouldn’t otherwise have a permanent address or a place to vote. And that’s the problem. State leaders are at a stalemate between those who say people who don’t really live in South Dakota shouldn’t be allowed to vote in local elections and those who say efforts to impose a longer residency requirement for voting violate the principle that everyone gets to vote. And at least one state has gotten wind that its residents might be avoiding high income taxes with easy South Dakota residency and is investigating. Easy South Dakota residency for nomads has become an enterprising opportunity for businesses such as RV parks and mail forwarders. “That’s the primary concept here, is the people that have given up their sticks and bricks and now are on wheel estate, we call it, and they’re full-time traveling,” said Dane Goetz, owner of the Spearfish-based South Dakota Residency Center, which caters to full-time travelers. “They need a place to call home, and we provide that address for them to do that, and they are just perpetually on the move.” Goetz estimated more than 30,000 people are full-time traveler residents of South Dakota, but the actual number is unclear. The state Department of Public Safety, which handles driver licensing, says it doesn't track the number of full-time traveler applications. Officials of the South Dakota Secretary of State's Office did not respond to emailed questions or a phone message seeking the state's tally of full-time travelers registered to vote. The office is not responsible for enforcing residency requirements, Division of Elections Director Rachel Soulek said. Victor Robledo, his wife and their five kids hit the road a decade ago in a 28-foot (8.5-meter) motorhome to seek adventure and ease their high cost of living in Southern California. They found South Dakota to be an opportunity to save money, receive mail and “take a residency in a state that really nurtures us,” he said. They filed for residency in 2020. “It was as simple as coming into the state, staying one night in one of the campgrounds, and once we do that, we bring in a receipt to the office, fill out some paperwork, change our licenses. I mean, really, you can blow through there — gosh, 48 hours,” Robledo said. Residency becomes thorny around voting. Some opponents don’t want people who don’t physically live in South Dakota to vote in its elections. “I don’t want to deny somebody their right to vote, but to think that they can vote in a school board election or a legislative election or a county election when they’re not part of the community, I’m troubled by that,” said Democratic Rep. Linda Duba, who cited 10,000 people or roughly 40% of her Sioux Falls constituents being essentially mailbox residents. She likes to knock on doors and meet people but said she is unable to do “relationship politics” with travelers. The law the Republican-controlled Legislature passed in 2023 added requirements for voter registration, including 30 days of residency — which don't have to be consecutive — and having “an actual fixed permanent dwelling, establishment, or any other abode to which the person returns after a period of absence.” The bill's prime sponsor, Republican Sen. Randy Deibert, told a Senate panel that citizens expressed concerns about “people coming to the state, being a resident overnight and voting (by) absentee ballot or another way the next day and then leaving the state.” Those registered to vote before the new law took effect remain registered, but some who tried to register since its passage had trouble. Dozens of people recently denied voter registration contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, according to the chapter’s advocacy manager, Samantha Chapman. Durational residency requirements for voting are, in general, unconstitutional because such restrictions interfere with the interstate right to travel, said David Schultz, a Hamline University professor of political science and a professor of law at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s kind of this parochialism, this idea of saying that only people who are really in our neighborhood, who really live in our city have a sufficient stake in it, and the courts have generally been unsympathetic to those types of arguments because, more often than not, they’re used for discriminatory purposes,” he said. Earlier this year, the Legislature considered a bill to roll back the 2023 law. It passed the Senate but stalled in the House. During a House hearing on that bill, Republican Rep. Jon Hansen asked one full-time traveler when he was last in South Dakota and when he intends to return. The man said he was in the state a year earlier but planned to return in coming months. Another man who moved from Iowa to work overseas said he had not lived “for any period of time, physically” in South Dakota. “I don’t think we should allow people who have never lived in this state to vote in our state,” Hansen said. Republican Sen. David Wheeler, an attorney in Huron, said he expects litigation would be what forces a change. It's unlikely a change to the 30-day requirement would pass the Legislature now, he said. “It is a complicated topic that involves federal and state law and federal and state voting rights, and it is difficult to bring everybody together on how to appropriately address that,” Wheeler said. More than 1,600 miles (2,500 kilometers) east, Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon has asked prosecutors to look into whether some state employees who live in Connecticut may have skirted their tax obligations by claiming to be residents of South Dakota. Connecticut has a graduated income tax rate of 3.0% to 6.99%. Connecticut cities and towns also impose a property tax on vehicles. South Dakota has none. Scanlon and his office, which administers state employee retiree benefits, learned from a Hartford Courant columnist in September that some state retirees might be using South Dakota’s mail-forwarding services for nefarious reasons. Asked if there are concerns about other Connecticut taxpayers who are not state retirees possibly misusing South Dakota’s lenient residency laws, the Department of Revenue Services would only say the agency is “aware of the situation and we’re working with our partners to resolve it.” A South Dakota legislative panel broached the residency issue as recently as August, a meeting in which one lawmaker called the topic “the Gordian knot of politics.” “It seems like it’s almost impossible to come to some clear and definitive statement as to what constitutes a residency with such a mobile population with people with multiple homes and addresses and political boundaries that are easy to see on a map but there’s so much cross-transportation across them,” Republican Sen. Jim Bolin said. Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota. Associated Press Writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
Elon Musk’s preschool is the next step in his anti-woke education dreamsNORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kidsThe 3G shutdown: Lessons from Australia and the world
Baby kept in a drawer for almost three years ‘had never seen daylight’ as mum jailed over ‘extreme neglect’
Jets' Rodgers insists he'll play despite knee issue, rookie Fashanu placed on IR with foot injuryJonah Goldberg Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there's one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that's wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the "sixties" didn't really start until the decade was almost over). But politically, the 21st century neatly began in 2000, when the election ended in a tie and the color coding of electoral maps became enshrined as a kind of permanent tribal color war of "red vs. blue." Elite understanding of politics has been stuck in this framework ever since. Politicians and voters have leaned into this alleged political reality, making it seem all the more real in the process. I loathe the phrase "perception is reality," but in politics it has the reifying power of self-fulfilling prophecy. People are also reading... Recap: Here's how Joey Graziadei will win 'Dancing with the Stars' They fell in love with Beatrice. So they opened a store in downtown. At the courthouse, Nov. 23, 2024 Search warrants lead to arrest of man in narcotics investigation No change in bond amounts in child abuse death case Clabaugh family presents Outstanding Educator award Harmonizers to perform Courthouse lighting ceremony planned for Sunday Kidnapping in Nebraska prompted police chase that ended with 3 dead on I-29 in Missouri Inside Nebraska volleyball’s finishing kick for a Big Ten title: First up, Wisconsin Zitel bound over to district court in death of child Just Askin': Dana Holgorsen noncommittal on future, ranking a big week for Nebraska Athletics Streaming review: 'Landman' gives Billy Bob Thornton a real gusher of a series Amie Just: Bring out the tissues — and the brooms — for Nebraska volleyball's emotional win At the courthouse, Nov. 16, 2024 Like rival noble families in medieval Europe, elites have been vying for power and dominance on the arrogant assumption that their subjects share their concern for who rules rather than what the rulers can deliver. Gobble up these 14 political cartoons about Thanksgiving Political cartoonists from across country draw up something special for the holiday In 2018, the group More in Common published a massive report on the "hidden tribes" of American politics. The wealthiest and whitest groups were "devoted conservatives" (6%) and "progressive activists" (8%). These tribes dominate the media, the parties and higher education, and they dictate the competing narratives of red vs. blue, particularly on cable news and social media. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans resided in, or were adjacent to, the "exhausted majority." These people, however, "have no narrative," as David Brooks wrote at the time. "They have no coherent philosophic worldview to organize their thinking and compel action." Lacking a narrative might seem like a very postmodern problem, but in a postmodern elite culture, postmodern problems are real problems. It's worth noting that red vs. blue America didn't emerge ex nihilo. The 1990s were a time when the economy and government seemed to be working, at home and abroad. As a result, elites leaned into the narcissism of small differences to gain political and cultural advantage. They remain obsessed with competing, often apocalyptic, narratives. That leaves out most Americans. The gladiatorial combatants of cable news, editorial pages and academia, and their superfan spectators, can afford these fights. Members of the exhausted majority are more interested in mere competence. I think that's the hidden unity elites are missing. This is why we keep throwing incumbent parties out of power: They get elected promising competence but get derailed -- or seduced -- by fan service to, or trolling of, the elites who dominate the national conversation. There's a difference between competence and expertise. One of the most profound political changes in recent years has been the separation of notions of credentialed expertise from real-world competence. This isn't a new theme in American life, but the pandemic and the lurch toward identity politics amplified distrust of experts in unprecedented ways. This is a particular problem for the left because it is far more invested in credentialism than the right. Indeed, some progressives are suddenly realizing they invested too much in the authority of experts and too little in the ability of experts to provide what people want from government, such as affordable housing, decent education and low crime. The New York Times' Ezra Klein says he's tired of defending the authority of government institutions. Rather, "I want them to work." One of the reasons progressives find Trump so offensive is his absolute inability to speak the language of expertise -- which is full of coded elite shibboleths. But Trump veritably shouts the language of competence. I don't mean he is actually competent at governing. But he is effectively blunt about calling leaders, experts and elites -- of both parties -- stupid, ineffective, weak and incompetent. He lost in 2020 because voters didn't believe he was actually good at governing. He won in 2024 because the exhausted majority concluded the Biden administration was bad at it. Nostalgia for the low-inflation pre-pandemic economy was enough to convince voters that Trumpian drama is the tolerable price to pay for a good economy. About 3 out of 4 Americans who experienced "severe hardship" because of inflation voted for Trump. The genius of Trump's most effective ad -- "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" -- was that it was simultaneously culture-war red meat and an argument that Harris was more concerned about boutique elite concerns than everyday ones. If Trump can actually deliver competent government, he could make the Republican Party the majority party for a generation. For myriad reasons, that's an if so big it's visible from space. But the opportunity is there -- and has been there all along. Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch: thedispatch.com . Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!
TEL AVIV: Israel on Tuesday officially confirmed its involvement in the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, marking the first public acknowledgment of the high-profile killing. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz made the statement during a press briefing on Monday, underscoring the country’s broader strategy against regional adversaries. “We have dismantled Hamas, weakened Hezbollah, blinded Iran’s defense systems, and disrupted their production capabilities. We’ve toppled the Assad regime in Syria, struck at the axis of evil, and will deal with the Houthis in Yemen,” Katz declared. He further emphasized, “When the Houthis fire missiles at Israel, we will target their strategic infrastructure and eliminate their leadership – just as we did with Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon. The same will be done in Hodeidah and Sanaa.” Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31 during a visit to Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. According to Iranian state media, a precision-guided aerial strike hit a residential facility housing military veterans, killing Haniyeh and his bodyguard. While Iranian and Palestinian officials had accused Israel of carrying out the attack, Israeli authorities had, until now, refrained from confirming their role. The assassination sparked widespread condemnation and heightened fears of further regional conflict. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the killing, vowing “harsh retaliation” for what he described as a dangerous escalation. Since Haniyeh’s death, regional tensions have reached critical levels. Iran launched missile strikes targeting Israeli cities in October, calling the attacks a direct response to the assassination of its allies, including Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Reports from Israeli authorities indicated that missile strikes caused injuries in central and southern Israel, including two civilians in the Tel Aviv area, while debris from the attacks killed a man in the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have intensified their missile attacks on Israel. On Saturday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for launching a hypersonic ballistic missile that bypassed Israeli defense systems and struck a public park in Jaffa. The escalation signals a deepening conflict, with multiple actors across the region taking sides and retaliatory measures. The public acknowledgment of Haniyeh’s assassination comes amid Israel’s ongoing efforts to neutralize perceived threats from Iran’s allies in the Middle East. Katz’s statement signals a continuation of Israel’s assertive stance in the region, likely exacerbating the already volatile situation. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );
OK, so "brat" is out and "demure" is going to rule in 2024. The latter has been named word of the year, with searches for the word seeing a "meteoric rise" of some 1,200% between January and August. As reports, the spike in people who apparently don't know what demure means was largely driven by—you guessed it—a social influencer: TikToker Jools Lebron, who has some 2.3 million followers. "You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful," goes one of the posts that inspired the likes of Kim Kardashian, RuPaul, and Jennifer Lopez to glom on. "The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job. A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like (her sisters) Patty and Selma. Not demure," Lebron says. Other words that made the shortlist:
