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What if things could turn out differently? How the multiverse got into our heads and didn’t let go

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

“Let’s do things differently this time.”Those are the first words you hear in this month’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” an otherworldly meditation on multiple realities. The message is clear from the get-go: We have choices. You are you, sure. But wait — you might also be you and you and you.The world is a stressful, sometimes lonely place. But what if things could turn out another way? What if, somewhere, they had? Enter the realm of the multiverse and alternate realities, one of the most glorified pop culture canvases — and a repository for the ache and longing of living in an era of uncertainty.“The cultural assumption used to be that the world we live in is the way it is, and that’s the only way it could be,” says Douglas Wolk, who read 27,000 Marvel comics for his book, “All of the Marvels.”“What has happened in culture,” Wolk says, “is that people are saying, ‘Well, no. This consensus reality is not how things have to be.’”The notion of exploring life’s twists and tu...

Biden to hold 4 fundraisers in San Francisco area as he revs up 2024 campaign

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ramps up his reelection effort this week with four fundraisers in the San Francisco area, as his campaign builds up its coffers and lays strategic foundations for 2024.In the back half of June, Biden’s campaign will have over 20 fundraisers involving the president, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, according to a person involved in Biden’s travel plans who insisted on anonymity to discuss the schedule.More than half of the fundraisers are with the president, who will also be traveling to New York, Maryland and Illinois. Biden hit the themes of his campaign at a Friday fundraising event in Connecticut, saying his goal is to do more to tell voters about his legislative accomplishments with infrastructure, computer chip production and programs for responding to climate change, among other policies.“There’s a lot we’ve done,” Biden said Friday. “We just got to let many people know we...

Captivated by the multiverse and alternate realities? Here’s a handy guide to some good stuff

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Loved “Everything Everywhere All at Once?” Can’t get enough of “The Flash” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” this month? Then this list is for you. We’ve compiled a non-exhaustive sampler of fiction about alternate universes and multiverses — from movies to TV to comics to books. It’s a great starter kit if your media tastes run to asking: What if? MOVIES:— “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946): In this Christmas classic, family man George Bailey grows increasingly frustrated as opportunities pass him by, and it takes an angel-in-training — on Christmas Eve — to dump him into a universe where he never existed and show him how important his life is.— “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022): After years of hints and slivers, including an emerging plotline in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), Marvel goes full-on multiverse in this exploration of how realities can collide and start bleeding into each other.— “Sliding Doors” (1998): Gwyneth Paltrow m...

Trump, other Republicans conjure a familiar enemy in attacking Democrats as ‘Marxists,’ ‘communists’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lashing out after his arraignment on federal charges last week, Donald Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and Democrats with language that seemed to evoke another era: He was being persecuted, he said, by “Marxists” and “communists.”Trump has used the labels since he first appeared on the political scene, but it lately has become an omnipresent attack line that also has been deployed by other Republicans. The rhetoric is both inaccurate and potentially dangerous because it attempts to demonize an entire party with a description that has long been associated with America’s enemies.Experts who study political messaging say associating Democrats with Marxism only furthers the country’s polarization — and is simply wrong: Biden has promoted capitalism and Democratic lawmakers are not pushing to reshape American democracy into a communist system.That hasn’t mattered to Trump and other Republicans, who for years have used hyperbolic references to the a...

20 years after invasion, Iraqis still waiting to come to US

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ammar Rashed has a stack of letters from U.S. troops attesting to his work during some of the most dangerous days of the Iraq War. But six years after he applied to immigrate to the United States under a program for interpreters who helped America, he is still waiting.“You don’t have to keep me and my family suffering for, for years waiting,” said Rashed during a Skype interview from Jordan, where he lives. “It’s really frustrating.”Rashed is among thousands of Iraqis, many of whom risked their lives by working closely with Americans during the war and its aftermath, trying to enter the U.S. An estimated 164,000 Iraqis already have found homes in America. U.S. officials cite multiple reasons for the delays, including an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a hack of a refugee database, the COVID-19 pandemic and cuts to the refugee program under then-President Donald Trump. Sometimes the process is slowed as applicants struggle to prove their ties to the U.S. Moha...

More than 1 million dropped from Medicaid as states start post-pandemic purge of rolls

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

More than 1 million people have been dropped from Medicaid in the past couple months as some states moved swiftly to halt health care coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Most got dropped for not filling out paperwork.Though the eligibility review is required by the federal government, President’s Joe Biden’s administration isn’t too pleased at how efficiently some other states are accomplishing the task. “Pushing through things and rushing it will lead to eligible people — kids and families — losing coverage for some period of time,” Daniel Tsai, a top federal Medicaid official recently told reporters.Already, about 1.5 million people have been removed from Medicaid in more than two dozen states that started the process in April or May, according to publicly available reports and data obtained by The Associated Press. Florida has dropped several hundred thousand people, by far the most among states. The drop rate also has been particularly high in other states. F...

Likely Help Keep Temperatures From Getting Too Hot.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Juneteenth: Monday's warm and dry holiday with increasing sunshine through the day. We'll start the holiday with a decent amount of cloud cover, but as the day progresses the skies are expected to gradually clear.  As inland highs reach the mid-80s, lakeside locations should see highs in the low to mid-70s.Anyone heading to a local beach or out on the water tomorrow is in for a treat.  Just don't forget the sunscreen.  The UV index is an 8, which is very high.Flow Around Cut-Off Low Will Likely Help Keep Temperatures From Getting Too Hot. There's been a recent change in the computer forecast models that is expected to keep our temperatures in check. Yesterday, it appeared we'd likely see parts of the region see some low to mid-90s by Wednesday or Thursday.  Now we're seeing a cutoff low that's expected to develop across the southeast US and Ohio Valley.  Rainfall and clouds will stick closer the Low, but the flow around the low will likely help keep temperatures from getting too hot...

Man arrested for kicking, severely injuring tiny dog in Venice

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

A suspect accused of kicking and severely injuring a small dog in Venice was arrested, authorities announced Saturday.The suspect was identified as Michael Langman, 39, by the Los Angeles Police Department.On June 14, officers responded to reports of animal cruelty taking place on the 800 block of Pacific Avenue around 3:11 p.m.The dog’s owner, Laura Michele Rosenfeld, said she was walking her dog, Bart, when Langman, who appeared to be homeless and on drugs, "danced" up to them and kicked Bart so hard, “he flew into the metal claw of the bobcat tractor city workers were using to repair the street.”The impact caused severe injuries to Bart, said LAPD."The dog was not breathing,” said Rosenfeld. “His tongue was hanging out of his mouth. There was no life in his eyes. There was no pulse so I asked bystanders to call 911 and began CPR."Laura Michele Rosenfeld was walking her dog, Bart, when a homeless man “danced” up to them and kicked Bart, causing severe injury on June 14, 2023. (Lau...

Gators take control of their College World Series bracket with a 5-4 win over Oral Roberts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Hurston Waldrep struck out 12 in six innings, and Florida homered three times in the first four innings to take a four-run lead on Oral Roberts.Then things got interesting at the College World Series — again.The Gators took control of Bracket 1 with a 5-4 victory Sunday night. But first Florida had to survive Matt Hogan’s inside-the-park home run that pulled ORU within two runs, a bases-loaded situation in the eighth when its closer was forced out of the game because of a mound-visit rules violation, and finally another threat in the ninth.“These past couple of games that have been played early on in the World Series have been kind of like thrill seekers towards the last couple innings,” Gators shortstop Josh Rivera said.For the first time in CWS history, which dates to 1947, five of the first six games have been decided by one run.“I think people here in Omaha are getting their money’s worth,” ORU coach Ryan Folmar said.The Gators (52-15) will play Wednesda...

POLITICO Pro Central Banker: Mysterious fraud — CBDC innovation theater— BoE bother

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Our one-stop source for central banking & monetary policy news.View in your browser or listen to audioBy GEOFFREY SMITHwith CARLO BOFFA, BEN MUNSTER, BJARKE SMITH-MEYER, PAOLA TAMMA and IZABELLA KAMINSKASNEAK PEEK— A Bank of Italy economist managed to swindle his employer and an EU committee out of hundreds of thousands of euros.— Confidence in the Bank of England hits an all-time low — and Mark Carney says Brexit is to blame.— ECB officials add nuance to Christine Lagarde’s hawkish press conference.POLICY TICKERECB 3.50% ⇡ — BOE 4.5% ⇡ — FED 5.25% ⇡— SNB 1.5% ⇡— BOJ -0.10% ⇣— RBA 4.10% ⇡— PBOC 3.65%⇣— CBR 7.5% ⇣ — BOC 4.75 ⇡— SARB 8.25% ⇡Good morning, everyone. I hope the weekend rain was kind to your garden without otherwise spoiling your fun. It can’t have been much of a fun weekend for Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, after The Times reported an Ipsos poll showing public confidence in the bank at its lowest ever on Friday. The diffusion poll showed a net ba...