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Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs play in game 2 of series

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

Cincinnati Reds (22-29, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (22-28, third in the NL Central)Chicago; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Brandon Williamson (0-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, nine strikeouts); Cubs: Jameson Taillon (0-3, 7.76 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 27 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Cubs -169, Reds +144; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds play the Chicago Cubs leading the series 1-0.Chicago is 22-28 overall and 13-13 in home games. The Cubs have the 10th-best team slugging percentage in MLB play at .420.Cincinnati has a 22-29 record overall and an 8-15 record in road games. The Reds are 18-5 in games when they scored at least five runs.Saturday’s game is the fourth meeting between these teams this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Nico Hoerner has eight doubles, a triple and three home runs for the Cubs. Seiya Suzuki is 13-for-36 with two doubles and five home runs over the past 10 games.Spencer Steer leads Cincinnati with six home runs w...

Mets meet the Rockies with 1-0 series lead

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

New York Mets (27-25, second in the NL East) vs. Colorado Rockies (22-30, fifth in the NL West)Denver; Saturday, 9:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Justin Verlander (2-2, 3.60 ERA, .92 WHIP, 20 strikeouts); Rockies: Chase Anderson (0-0, 1.15 ERA, .96 WHIP, six strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Mets -145, Rockies +125; over/under is 11 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets face the Colorado Rockies leading the series 1-0.Colorado is 13-14 at home and 22-30 overall. The Rockies have gone 7-29 in games when they have given up at least one home run.New York has gone 15-16 in road games and 27-25 overall. The Mets are 10-1 in games when they did not allow a home run.Saturday’s game is the fifth meeting between these teams this season. The season series is tied 2-2.TOP PERFORMERS: Elias Diaz is fourth on the Rockies with 16 extra base hits (10 doubles and six home runs). Brenton Doyle is 10-for-34 with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and nine RBI over the last 10 g...

EU’s Breton says Twitter ‘can’t hide’ after platform ditches disinformation code

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

Twitter has abandoned the EU’s code of practice on disinformation, Thierry Breton said late Friday, but Europe’s internal markets commissioner insisted that “obligations remain” for the social networking giant.“You can run but you can’t hide,” Breton said in a tweet, after confirming that the platform owned by Elon Musk had left the bloc’s disinformation code, which other major social media platforms have pledged to support. “Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be a legal obligation under DSA as of August 25,” Breton said, referring to the Digital Services Act — new social media rules that include fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s annual revenue.“Our teams will be ready for enforcement,” the commissioner said. The code of practice on disinformation is a voluntary rulebook that includes obligations for platforms to track political advertising, stop the monetization of disinformation, and pr...

OBF: Celtics can make Game 6 extremely special

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

The Boston Celtics continue their remake of “Four Days In October” on Saturday with Game 6against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals at Crypto-Crash Arena in South Beach.Boston trails 3-2 after its Game 5 wire-to-wire blowout of the Heat at TD Garden. It marked thefirst time Charles Barkley ever cashed a winning bet.Game 6 often lacks the pop, punch, and power of Game 7.Game 6 is Miley Cyrus.Game 7 is Taylor Swift.Game 6 is Jan.Game 7 is Marcia.Game 6 is Twitter Spaces.Game 7 is Instagram Live.Game 6 wears trifocals.Game 7 has 20/10 vision.Game 6 has Derrick White’s hairline.Game 7 carries the coif of Marcus Smart.Game 6 has a Dad Bod.Game 7 is 2018 Gronk.Game 6 Is Narragansett.Game 7 is Sam Adams.Game 6 is “Guardians of the Galaxy.”Game 7 is “Star Wars.”What can we expect tonight? Once in a great while, Game 6 leaves an undeniable impression. Itbecomes the one we remember.Let’s give it some respect.Game 6 gave us Carlton Fisk.Nearly 50 years later, Fisk’s foul-pole sho...

Mike Elias expects the Orioles to be ‘buyers’ at the trade deadline. How much is the question. | ANALYSIS

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

Last summer, Mike Elias didn’t allow the Orioles overachieving to alter his plans at the trade deadline.About two months into the 2023 season, Baltimore is far outpacing projections once again, and the Orioles’ executive vice president and general manager said he expects the club to be “buyers” at the trade deadline for the first time in his tenure. But how far Elias is willing to go to bolster the 2023 roster — including moves that could impact the organization’s long-term future — will be the burning question.About 10 months ago, he made the unpopular decision to sell at the deadline despite the Orioles being in a wild-card race. It appeared last summer as if Baltimore’s rebuild was over, but the decisions to trade away team leader Trey Mancini and All-Star closer Jorge López were quintessential rebuild moves.Elias entered 2023 with much higher expectations, saying several times this offseason that his goal for the club was to m...

Former first-round pick Nick Yorke back on track after nightmare year

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

Nick Yorke came into last season riding high. The former first-round pick had enjoyed a spectacular first year of professional baseball and was now set to take the next step upon earning a promotion to High-A Greenville.Then, it seemed like everything that could have possibly gone wrong did.“I ended up jamming my wrist when I was diving so I couldn’t swing for a couple of weeks, I had a back spasm so I was out for a couple weeks with that, I had turf toe so I couldn’t walk on my foot for a week,” Yorke said prior to a recent game. “So it was something constant, little things here and there.”Yorke’s production cratered amid the seemingly never-ending run of injuries, and so did his standing within the wider prospect community. But now back to full health, the 21-year-old second baseman has put his 2022 struggles behind him and is once again looking like one of Boston’s most promising young players.Since earning a promotion to Double-A P...

With master qeej players, Hmong arts and culture festival set to return to Landmark Center on June 4

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

The second annual Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival, which organizers say is the country’s only event of its kind dedicated to the traditional pipe instrument, is coming to downtown St. Paul next month.The festival, which is organized by the Hmong Cultural Center, is free and will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 4, at Landmark Center.In addition to highlighting master qeej performers, the festival will also include championship dance crews, other musicians and a fashion show with both traditional and contemporary garments. A Hmong shaman will also perform poetry, said festival organizer Kang Vang, a citizenship educator at the Hmong Cultural Center.Plus, local crafters will have wares for sale, and Hmong and other Southeast Asian food will also be available.The qeej, which is pronounced somewhat like the English word “king” but with a more guttural first consonant, is an important element in many Hmong life cycle events, particularly funerals. The instrument, which can ...

Ask Amy: My friends send me this irritating message every single day

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

Dear Amy: When the pandemic first hit, two of my college friends and I started a group text. It was a true lifeline.About a year ago, however, the two friends started texting “Good morning!” every single day. That’s it: just “Good morning!”My friends both live alone, so these check-ins may feel important to them, but I find them incredibly irritating.I’m not sociable in the morning, and I’m not a fan of obligatory daily texts, especially as life has mostly returned to normal.I haven’t responded to the “good morning” messages in at least six months. They still arrive every day.I’ve turned off notifications and reply only to actual conversations, but my friends haven’t seemed to notice.Is there any way to extricate myself from the “Good mornings”?I love my friends and want to communicate with them – even daily – but not in this forced, intrusive way.I’m worried that if I share my feelings, they&#...

The Press is Falling for Anti-Abortion “Fetal Heartbeat” Propaganda

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

A woman rests next to anti-abortion posters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C.Getty Images“Once a fetal heartbeat could be detected, typically around the sixth week of pregnancy … ” When I read this phrase in the New Yorker, referring to Texas’s first abortion ban, I shot off a letter to the editor. “This is misleading,” I wrote. “There is no heartbeat at six weeks because the fetus does not yet have a heart. As San Francisco OB-GYN Dr. Jennifer Kerns told NPR: ‘What we’re really detecting is a grouping of cells that are initiating some electrical activity. In no way is this detecting a functional cardiovascular system or a functional heart.’” I noted that “a six-week fetus is about the size and shape of a baked bean.”If the vaunted New Yorker copy desk could let this bit of anti-abortion bunk stand without comment, what was going on? I combed the media. Not just the National Review—which calls corrections like Dr. Kerns...

From ashes and debris, iconic Beirut museum reopens 3 years after massive damage from port blast

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:07:11 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years after a deadly explosion in Beirut’s port — set off by tons of improperly stored chemicals — reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes. The reopening Friday night offered Beirut residents a rare bright spot in a country reeling from a crippling economic crisis that has left around three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of 6 million in poverty.Originally built as a private villa in 1912 on a hilltop overlooking the city’s Achrafieh neighborhood, the opulent residence integrated Venetian and Ottoman styles. Its owner, famed Lebanese art collector Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock, bequeathed his beloved home to his people, to be tuned into a contemporary art museum upon his death in 1952. The museum housed Lebanese art dating back from the late 1800s, including the work of distinguished painter Georges Corm and Fouad Debbas’ library of 30,000 photographs — one of the largest private...