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Hit Hollywood writer Anthony McCarten takes on spyware in ‘Going Zero’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

After scoring spectacularly writing hit movies, Anthony McCarten ventures forth with a new novel, the surveillance state thriller “Going Zero” (Harper, $30).In a beta test of a new, all-encompassing level of spyware, 10 Americans compete for a $3 million prize – if they can ‘Go Zero.’ Be off-grid and elude the super-sophisticated tracker dubbed Fusion for 30 days.  The hunt, held in cooperation with the CIA (naturally!), is run by a slightly unstable CEO.It was in 2016 when McCarten was inspired.  He’d left a store without buying anything — and his mobile immediately pinged to buy something similar.  He was targeted.Is “Going Zero” a wake-up call for people to realize what dire straits personal privacy is in?“Yeah, it started off about the all-pervasive reach of surveillance technology.  We’re all old enough,” the native New Zealander, 61, said, “to remember a time when you could very easily disappear off the map. When I was a teenager I used to escape for days at a time...

McCaughey: Trump’s trial needs to be televised

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg presented his bag-of-tricks indictment charging former President Donald Trump with 34 counts of false entries in business records. Bragg managed to slice and dice two payments to former hookers into what sounds like a big deal — 34 felonies. Don’t be fooled. As former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, no fan of Trump, said of Bragg’s case, it’s “an abomination” held together “by chicken wire and paper clips and rubber bands.”The judge in the case, Justice Juan Merchan, set the next court date for Dec. 8, 2023, with a trial likely some time in 2024. That’s smack in the middle of the campaign for the presidency, and will stick Trump in a courtroom with daily press coverage as “the defendant.”After Trump’s arraignment, Bragg released a statement saying he charged Trump because “everyone stands equal before the law.” Bragg’s lying. No one else would have ...

Strategies to improve your ability to focus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

Distractions have never been harder to resist. According to Deloitte’s “2022 Connectivity and Mobile Trends Survey” (third edition), the average household in the United States now has a total of 22 connected devices. The prevalence and accessibility of devices can make it difficult to focus, but tablets, smartphones and other technologies are not the only culprits that can compromise the ability to concentrate. Harvard Medical School notes that underlying medical conditions, the side effects of medication and excessive alcohol consumption can each make it harder to focus.That’s a significant detriment, as an ability to focus can help individuals be more efficient and perform better at work and in school. Each individual is different, so efforts to improve focus might require a little trial and error until a person finds what works for them. In the meantime, the following are some effective strategies that can help people sharpen their focus and reap all the r...

Silverglate: Libraries take hit in college budget squeeze

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

It was recently reported that in order to deal with a major structural budget deficit, the seemingly desperate leaders of Vermont’s public colleges have made the radical decision of removing physical copies of books from the colleges’ libraries.While the administrators seemed to feel that eliminating library books was a reasonable and effective way to save money, many students and professors decried this intellectually damaging decision. The loss of physical books would be detrimental to the education of those who need to read in print, such as the disabled and people who are unable to access books online. Besides, many people find it easier to read a printed rather than a digital book.Nor is Vermont alone. Similar problems are plaguing state universities in Maine, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. The problem is clearly destined to get worse.The importance of books available to students on the spot – the function of a campus library – is essential. It was widely thought that Amazon, which...

Business confidence slips but remains positive as signs of recession ease

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

Confidence among the state’s employers saw a downturn in March, reversing slight gains seen in February and following the failure of several banks and while inflation continues to push prices and wages higher.“Business confidence fell precariously close to pessimistic territory during March as Massachusetts employers managed challenges ranging from inflation to rising interest rates to banking disruptions,” the Associated Industries of Massachusetts wrote in their March Business Confidence Index.According to the survey of Bay State employers, confidence fell from February to March by a full 2-points, slipping from 53.5% confidence to 51.5%. According to AIM’s math, that means businesses are feeling optimistic, but just barely, and that’s the lowest confidence the index has shown since October of last year.Sara Johnson, who chairs AIM’s board of economic advisors, said with the release of the index that improving economic activity elsewhere can account for retreating fears of a...

Dear Abby: Man disdains dad’s parade of wives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

Dear Abby: I am a 23-year-old child of divorce. For nine months, my father has been dating a woman he was seeing while still married to my stepmother. My youngest brother (age 19) and I have yet to meet her. If they marry, this will be Dad’s third marriage.While I love him, he deeply hurt not only my former stepmother but also my mother, because he cheated on them both multiple times. He excuses it by saying he had no other choice.I recently moved back to my hometown after living in New York for 16 months. At some point soon, the three of us, as well as my middle brother, will likely have dinner together. I’m afraid I’ll lash out at her and possibly lose my father in the process. I feel like a child when he tries to explain his behavior in an indirect way. Must I accept this new woman as my father’s partner or risk him dropping out of my life? — Revolving DoorsDear Revolving Doors:  If you want a relationship with your father, it’s important that ...

Board of Supervisors to vote on call for Nathan Fletcher's immediate resignation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will be holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday to vote on a resolution of no confidence for Nathan Fletcher and to call on him to resign immediately, Supervisor Jim Desmond's office said in a statement Sunday night.Fletcher, who has been accused of sexual assault and harassment in a lawsuit by a former Metropolitan Transit System employee, announced his resignation late last month and that would be effective at the end of his medical leave on May 15.The vote of no confidence resolution would be a symbolic measure to pressure the Supervisor to step down as soon as possible, according to Desmond's office. Lawsuit against Supervisor Fletcher alleges sexual assault "While the Board of Supervisors does not have the ultimate power to remove Mr. Fletcher, this resolution will serve as a powerful statement for him to resign," the statement from the District Five representative said. "Mr. Fletcher has let his constituents down and sho...

Nashville council to vote on restoring ousted state lawmaker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville officials are poised to vote Monday to reinstate one of the two Black Democratic lawmakers expelled by Republican colleagues for their gun control protest on the Tennessee House floor after a deadly school shooting — essentially, sending him back after a long weekend.Nashville’s metro council has called the meeting to address the vacancy left by the expulsion on Thursday of former Rep. Justin Jones. Many councilmembers have publicly commented that they want to send Jones back to the statehouse. The vote will happen as state lawmakers hold their first floor sessions since last week’s expulsion votes.Expelled Memphis Rep. Justin Pearson, meanwhile, could be reappointed at a Wednesday meeting of the Shelby County Commission.Special elections for the seats, which have not yet been set, will take place in the coming months. Jones and Pearson have said they want to be reappointed and plan to run in a special election.At the Statehouse, meanwhile, it’s unc...

Guilty or not? Jury to hear claims in Idaho slain kids’ case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The investigation started roughly 29 months ago with two missing children. It soon grew to encompass five states, four suspected murders and claims of unusual, doomsday-focused religious beliefs involving “dark spirits” and “zombies.” On Monday morning, an Idaho jury will begin the difficult task of deciding the veracity of those claims and others in the triple murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell. Prosecutors charged Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children: 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and big sister Tylee Ryan, who was last seen a few days before her 17th birthday in 2019. Prosecutors also have charged the couple in connection with the October 2019 death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell.The investigation garnered worldwide attention and was closely followed in the rural eastern Idaho community where the bodies of the...

As India’s population soars above all, fewer women have jobs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:26 GMT

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Sheela Singh cried the day she handed in her resignation.For 16 years, she had been a social worker in Mumbai, India’s frenetic financial capital, and she loved the work. But her family kept telling her she needed to stay at home to take care of her two children. She resisted the pressure for years, but when she found out her daughter was skipping school when she was at work, it felt like she didn’t have a choice. “Everyone used to tell me my kids were neglected … it made me feel really bad,” Singh, 39, said.When she resigned in 2020, Singh was earning more money than her husband, an auto-rickshaw driver whose earnings fluctuated day to day. But nobody suggested he quit.“His friends used to taunt him that he was living off my salary,” Singh said. “I thought that clearly there was no value in me working so what’s the use?” India is on the cusp of surpassing China to become the world’s most populous country, and its economy is among the fastest-growing...