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Taylor Swift proves Song of the Summer doesn’t have to be new

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

Is Taylor Swift cheating in the Song of the Summer race? Probably. Is that OK? Probably. Does her hacking of the Song of the Summer “rules” open the field to a flood of awesome potential contenders? Absolutely.Some background: Morgan Wallen’s thoroughly mediocre “Last Night” looks like a lock for the title (three months at No. 1). But Swift is mounting a furious, late-entry challenge with “Cruel Summer.” The twist is “Cruel Summer” originally came out on Swift’s 2019 LP “Lover” and was only released as a single last month.Of course, last summer Kate Bush nearly took the title with a four-decades old song (see the resistance of “Running Up That Hill”). So this summer, let’s let Swift and her four-year-old song give “Last Night” some much needed competition. But if “Cruel Summer” gets a shot at the title, so do a whole bunch of other underappreciated jams and lost gems from years past. Which ones? Glad you asked.“Emotion,” Carly Rae Jepsen, 2015 – Jepsen is the most under-appreciated ...

Vocational training offers many benefits for students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

Earning a four-year degree is one path toward a rewarding career. However, that path is not the only one available. Enrolling in a vocational program can provide students with the skills necessary to engage in high-demand and well-paying jobs.Vocational school, often referred to as “trade school,” can be an advantageous route for many people who are looking for an alternative to college. In 2020, the National Center for Education Statistics said a four-year private college cost around $50,300 for a student living on campus, while a four-year public college was roughly $24,300 annually. A 2018 poll from The Learning House, a skills training and coursework company, found 35% of students said tuition and other fees were their primary concerns when choosing college programs.Trade schools can cost three times less than other schooling, making them more palatable to young people concerned about the high costs of college. Career and Technical Education programs number around 1,...

Editorial: Surgeon general targets toll of loneliness, isolation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

The “nation’s doctor” is on a campaign to combat what he calls an epidemic of loneliness and isolation taking its toll on roughly half the people in the United States. His call to action to “mend the social fabric of our nation” deserves broad support, from government, professionals and institutions — and from each of us.U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, whose job is to give Americans the best scientific information about improving health and reducing the risk of illness, started warning about the dangers of loneliness before COVID hit. Now, he says, the crisis is more urgent.Americans are used to surgeon generals using their bully pulpit to lead the fight against such scourges as smoking, drug addiction and obesity. One of Murthy’s goals is to convince us that loneliness is also a serious threat to physical health and can even cause premature death. Research tells us that loneliness can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and anxiety. The effect...

Pozniak: College classes in prison keep incarcerated from returning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

The old adage of “lock them up and throw away the key” has been sharply refuted by a recent study that makes a strong case for providing educational courses and training for those incarcerated in New England correctional facilities. With 95% of the incarcerated eventfully returning to their communities, the New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education recommends that correctional facilities provide the incarcerated with access to high quality, workforce aligned, post secondary opportunities with a wide range of educational pathways, which is an important step toward reducing recidivism. A study by the Rand Corporation shows that educational programs reduce recidivism for incarcerated people by more than 40% and leads to more positive post-release employment opportunities.As someone who has been teaching at the Middlesex County House of Corrections and Jail in Billerica, I agree with this recommendation which was endorsed by the  83 commission members including those that...

Dear Abby: Son’s kids aren’t his – so is he really a grandpa?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

Dear Abby: For more than five years, my son dated a young woman with a child. During that time, they lived with him. After they broke up, he was able to have visitation and shared parenting rights even though the little girl, “Paisley,” was not his own.I must say it was a benefit for the child. To this day, Paisley is still a major part of his life. For the last five years she has called him Dad because her mother doesn’t want her real dad to be part of her daughter’s life, and Paisley wanted someone to call Dad.Fast-forward three years. My son found love again and ended up marrying a fine lady and mother of two. Their father is a very important part of their lives. They also, along with Paisley, all have grandparents.My question is, since none of these children are my son’s, what are these kids to ME? I don’t think they are my grandchildren, but my ex-wife says she accepts them as grandchildren, so I should do it and give them the same benefits t...

Heavy rains cause flooding and mudslides in southwest Japan, leaving 2 dead and at least 6 missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Torrential rain has been pounding southwestern Japan, triggering floods and mudslides and leaving two people dead and at least six others missing Monday.Rains falling on the regions of Kyushu and Chugoku since the weekend caused flooding along a number of rivers as well as mudslides, closing roads, disrupting trains and cutting the water supply in some areas.The Japan Meteorological Agency issued an emergency heavy rain warning for Fukuoka and Oita prefectures on the southern main island of Kyushu, urging residents in riverside and hillside areas to take maximum caution. More than 1.7 million residents in vulnerable areas were urged to take shelter.Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters the government has set up a task force and is doing its utmost for the search and rescue operation “as we put the people’s lives first.”Two people have died and at least six others were missing, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural o...

In search of a lost cemetery, dig begins at a former Native American school in Nebraska

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

Bodies of dozens of children who died at a Native American boarding school have been lost for decades, a mystery that archeologists aim to unravel as they begin digging in a central Nebraska field that a century ago was part of the sprawling campus.Crews toting shovels, trowels and even smaller tools planned to start searching Monday at the site experts suspect is the Genoa Indian Industrial School cemetery. Genoa was part of a national system of more than 400 Native American boarding schools that attempted to integrate Indigenous people into white culture by separating children from their families and cutting them off from their heritage.The school, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Omaha, opened in 1884 and at its height was home to nearly 600 students from more than 40 tribes across the country. It closed in 1931 and most buildings were long ago demolished. For decades, residents of the tiny community of Genoa, with help from Native Americans, researchers and state official...

Deep partisanship will be on display as Congress releases competing voting bills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Congress in the coming weeks will consider shoring up voting and election laws — efforts that will reflect the vast gulf between Democrats and Republicans on protecting a foundation of American democracy.The parties will unveil separate and competing proposals that will have little chance of success in a divided government, but are likely to be used to rally supporters ahead of the 2024 elections.House Republicans on Monday are scheduled to release a proposal that would tighten voting laws and take a defiant stand against concerns that laws passed in recent years by GOP-controlled state legislatures disadvantage some voters. Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing to reintroduce their own proposals to set federal voting standards and restore protections under the Voting Rights Act.Even as the country prepares for the next presidential election, the separate measures will underscore how the two major parties have acted with little cohesion and often are completely at odds ...

Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed on signs of slowing growth in the US and China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares got the week off to a slow start, with mixed trading Monday as China reported wholesale prices fell in June, amid other signs the economy is slowing. Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai but fell in Tokyo and Sydney. U.S. futures and oil prices declined. The decline in producer prices by 5.4% in June from a 4.6% drop in May suggests a further weakening of demand in many industries as activity in the world’s second largest economy slows and growth in the U.S. and Europe also tapers off under a barrage of interest rate hikes meant to snuff out inflation. China’s economy has slowed faster than hoped after an initial surge in growth as the country bounced back from disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Markets in China tend to react positively to signs of weakness in anticipation of possible stimulus measures that might make more money available for investing in shares. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.8% to 18,510.77 and t...

Biden is off to Windsor Castle to have tea with King Charles and promote clean energy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:08 GMT

LONDON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s itinerary this week in Europe is dominated by the ongoing war in Ukraine and his continued efforts to rally an international coalition against Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.But first, some tea.The U.S. president’s initial stop on his three-nation trip is Britain, where he’ll meet with King Charles III for the first time since the latter was crowned in May. Biden did not attend Charles’s coronation, sending first lady Jill Biden instead, and Monday’s visit will be marked by a bit of royal pomp — including a royal salute, a viewing of U.S.-related artifacts at Windsor Castle and teatime for the two men.Biden and Charles will also use their visit to bring attention to climate issues, hosting a forum that will focus on how to encourage private companies to engage in more clean energy efforts, specifically in developing economies.“The president has huge respect for the king’s commitment on the climate issue in particular, that he has been a c...