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online casino game presenter A classic mixed relay took place on Saturday, 30 November, as part of the first stage of the Biathlon World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland. The Ukrainian team took 6th place. Source: Champion, a sports news platform within Ukrainska Pravda’s holding company Details: The Ukrainian team was represented by Khrystyna Dmytrenko, Yuliia Dzhyma, Anton Dudchenko and Vitalii Mandzyn. They used six spare cartridges for the four of them. It should be noted that this is the best result for Ukraine in mixed relays at the World Cup level since the 2022/23 season. The Norwegian team won the race thanks to Vebjoern Soerum's fantastic last lap. The French team took silver, and the Swedes won bronze medals. Race results: Earlier, in the first race of the season, Ukrainians Olena Horodna and Artem Tyshchenko took 9th place in the singles mix. On Sunday, 1 December, the men's and women's relay races will take place in Kontiolahti. Support UP or become our patron !12 Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals to Level Up Your Routine in 2024'Let's not panic': Canada picks up the pieces after ugly Latvia loss at world juniors

They were nation builders, businesspeople, warriors, athletes, artists and inspirations. They did what few of us ever do; now they’ve done the one thing that everyone must do. The famous people who passed away in 2024 all made their mark on the world, not necessarily positively or heroically. Here are their own words to shed some light on who they were, what they did and what they learned. “India is on the move again; we shall make the future happen .” — Manmohan Singh , widely credited as the architect of India’s economic reform program, notably during his decade as prime minister, 92, Dec. 26 “Rickey’s gotta go!” — Recurrent on-field exclamation of Rickey Henderson , base-stealing legend (and former Blue Jay) who played Major League Baseball for 25 years, 65, Dec. 20 “I was brought home (after being born), handed over to my dad in his arms (and) he takes me in his arms, puts his lips to my ear and recites the tabla rhythms into my ears .” — Zakir Hussain , one of India’s most accomplished classical musicians who introduced tabla to global audiences and worked with George Harrison and Yo-Yo Ma among many others, 73, Dec. 15 “We lost a lot of good people, you know. They didn’t do nothing . But we never know what’s going to happen in a war.” — Bob Fernandez , survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor who later worked as a forklift driver in California, 100, Dec. 11 “I am not a prophet. I really base all that on intuitiveness, the fact that I spend such an incredible amount of time with audiences and how they think.” — The Amazing Kreskin , entertainer and mentalist familiar to generations of TV viewers and born George Joseph Kresge Jr., 89, Dec. 10 “I have been considered a writer who writes from rage and it confuses me. What else do writers write from?” — Nikki Giovanni , the poet, author , educator and public speaker who spent decades as a literary celebrity, 81, Dec. 9 “I’m actually sick and tired of hearing the government talk about trafficked women and underaged children as if we don’t care about those issues. We care about those issues and I actually think we’re helping. ” — Alan Young , a lawyer and York University legal scholar known for leading the challenge of Canada’s prostitution laws, 69, Dec. 7 “And even though I’m alone now, the phone still rings. I have some wonderful friends who have helped me through so much. It still doesn’t fill the empty gap in my heart, but it helps .” — Debbie Nelson , estranged mother and frequent lyrical target of rapper Eminem, 69, Dec. 2 “I don’t believe in jogging. It extends your life — but by exactly the amount of time you spend jogging.’’ — Academy Award winner Marshall Brickman , longtime Woody Allen collaborator who co-wrote the books for “Jersey Boys” and “The Addams Family,” 85, Nov. 29 “There was nothing more fun when ‘Airplane!’ came out and because no one knew us (screenwriters), we could go to the movie and sit with a full house and bathe ourselves in that laughter. ” — Jim Abrahams, co-writer of beloved spoof as well as “The Naked Gun” and more, 80, Nov. 26 “People say, ‘You’re still here?’ I said, ‘I never left.’ ” — Joe Zuger , American former player and general manager who won Grey Cups for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and stayed in Steeltown thereafter, 84, Nov. 25 “And if you want to meet the real Emma, meet me ... Emma had to be tough and ruthless at times: but then so am I. I have to be, as a businesswoman.” — Barbara Taylor Bradford , a British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga “A Woman of Substance” featuring retail baroness Emma Harte, and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies, 91, Nov. 24 “I thought (disdainfully), ‘Great, a guy with a bad jacket and an equally bad moustache who doesn’t care what you have to say — that’s the guy I want to be .’” — Chuck Woolery , on pausing his singing and acting ambitions to become the affable host of game shows like “Wheel of Fortune” and “Love Connection,” 83, Nov. 23 “My biggest contribution was giving the kids the faith that they can be the best among the best.” — Bela Karolyi , the larger-than-life coach who led Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton to Olympic gold while revolutionizing the sport of gymnastics, only to see his legacy hurt by allegations of abusive coaching, 82, Nov. 15 “The cohort from 20 to 39 are ... quite frankly, putting the rest of us in a challenging position ... Don’t blow this for the rest of us.” — John Horgan, justifying a COVID lockdown during his tenure as former B.C. premier, 65, Nov. 12 “(Charles) Mingus use to say the damnedest thing about me years ago. He’d say, ‘Well, Roy Haynes. You don’t always play the beat, you suggest the beat!’ ... If I leave out a beat, it’s still there ... You’ve got to use a little imagination in there.” — Roy Haynes , pioneering jazz drummer who performed with legends like Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Sarah Vaughan, 99, Nov. 12 “Coaching has that image of obsessed men driven to a point where they’ll destroy their lives. I’ll be damned if I’ll destroy my life.” — John Robinson , easygoing veteran football coach who enjoyed many years of success at the University of Southern California and with the Los Angeles Rams, 89, Nov. 11 “Dance is bigger than the physical body. When you extend your arm, it doesn’t stop at the end of your fingers, because you’re dancing bigger than that; you’re dancing spirit.” — Judith Jamison , regal and passionate performer who had a decades-long career atop modern dance starting with Alvin Ailey’s famed dance company which she later led, 81, Nov. 9 “Racing has been good to me in a lot of way. It’s been very unfortunate in other ways. The way I look at it, life, not racing, has presented me with some difficult times ... Life is a gift and death can come at anytime. You can’t do anything about it.” — Bobby Allison , racer and NASCAR Hall of Famer crippled and given brain damage by a career-ending crash, 86, Nov. 9 “I’m an African American man who wasn’t supposed to make it. And somehow I beat the system. I want to be an inspiration .” — Tony Todd , actor known for his haunting portrayal of a killer in the horror film “Candyman” and roles in many other films and television shows, 69, Nov. 6 “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it.” — Murray Sinclair , the Anishinaabe senator and renowned Manitoba lawyer who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 73, Nov. 4 “Since I was a little kid, I’ve always heard the people that don’t wanna do the work . It takes work, man. The only place you find success before work is the dictionary, and that’s alphabetical.” — Quincy Jones , the multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and TV scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, 91, Nov. 3 “You have to find your centre and roll with the punches because that’s a hard thing to do: to have people pity you ... Just trying to explain to people that I’m OK is tiresome.” — Teri Garr , the quirky comic actress who co-starred in “Young Frankenstein” and won an Oscar nomination for “Tootsie” and then battled multiple sclerosis for decades, 79, Oct. 29 “What you can do is prepare yourself to be open; open for the pipeline to open and the magic to flow down through us. It means leaving yourself behind. It’s not a question of, Oh God, don’t let me f—k up, or anything like that. It’s a question of, ‘Here I am. Work me, Lord .’” — Phil Lesh , a classically trained violinist and jazz trumpeter who found his true calling reinventing rock bass guitar as a founding member of the Grateful Dead , 84, Oct. 25 “I don’t know (how I should be remembered). Maybe as a person who liked to give 100 per cent in anything I do.” — Fernando Valenzuela , the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, 63, Oct. 22 “It’s a very sad memory because I watched young American Rangers get shot, slaughtered — and they were young. I was 19 at the time. These kids were younger than me ... I will never forget the sight of seeing those brave young men fighting and dying as they struggled to get off the beach .” — George Chandler , British D-Day veteran who sought to counter sometimes glamorous depictions of the landings by recalling the horrors he witnessed escorting U.S. troops to the beaches of northern France as a young Royal Navy gunner, 99, Oct. 20 “I never worked with a stinker. How great is that!” — Mitzi Gaynor , the effervescent dancer and actor who starred in the 1958 film “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, 93, Oct. 17 “We make the headlines only with blood. No blood, no news.” — Yahya Sinwar , Hamas’ top leader and mastermind of its Oct. 7, 2023 attack, 61, Oct. 16 “For me, learning to relax has always been quite a hard thing to do because I feel like if I’m not moving forward, then I must be going backwards.” — Liam Payne , former One Direction singer found dead after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, 31, Oct. 16 “If we ignore the technology for a moment and consider the stories and themes, mass culture appears to circle endlessly around the same trail, meeting on its path again and again the same characters in roughly the same stories. It is a good general rule that the more successful a work of mass culture, the more it will conform to a pattern with which our grandparents were on intimate terms.” — Robert Fulford , former Star columnist, broadcaster, author and prominent figure in Canadian journalism for seven decades, 92, Oct. 15 “You and I have to continue fighting for equal pay for equal work. I get up each day with that on my mind, because I need to make a difference.” — Lilly Ledbetter , a U.S. women’s equality activist whose fight for pay equity led to passage of the monumental Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, 86, Oct. 12 “I had a blazing row with a (Labour-supporting) girlfriend from Hackney and she said ‘If you feel like that — go and join the bloody SNP,’ so I did.” — Alex Salmond , who turned his Scottish National Party’s dream of power into reality even though he didn’t see his vision of an independent country come true, 69, Oct. 12 “I used to run a department with 350 people and I have never seen anything in my life as dysfunctional as what I (saw in) network television — sales people who don’t sell, producers who don’t produce, bookers who don’t book.” — Mike Bullard , Canadian standup comedian and former Bell Canada executive who hosted his own late-night TV show for years but marred his career with criminal convictions, 67, Oct. 11 “All this introspection. I hate it!” — Ethel Kennedy , the wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes for decades thereafter, 96, Oct. 9 “Be tolerant to each other and remember nobody is better or worse than you, we are only different. Appreciate that.” — Lily Ebert , one of the last remaining survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, 100, Oct. 9 “I am so grateful to God for giving me the gift of 48 years with my daughter. And I accept that He knew when it was time to take her.” — Cissy Houston , a two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel artist who knew triumph and heartbreak as the mother of Whitney Houston, 91, Oct. 7 “Every summer, three things are going to happen, the grass is going to get green, the weather is going to get hot, and Pete Rose is going to get 200 hits and bat .300.” — Pete Rose , baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, 83, Sept. 30 “When you take the elevator to the top, please don’t forget to send it down , so that someone else can take it to the top (as well).” — Dikembe Mutombo , basketball Hall of Famer and longtime global ambassador for the game, 58, Sept. 30 “From my background and the generation I came up in, honour and serving your country were just taken for granted. So, later, when you come to question some of the things being done in your name, it was particularly painful.” — Kris Kristofferson , soldier turned legendary singer-songwriter behind “Me and Bobby McGee” and many more, 88, Sept. 28 “It’s true I don’t tolerate fools, but then they don’t tolerate me ... Maybe that’s why I’m quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.” — Maggie Smith , the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for the 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and gained new fans in the 21st century via “Downton Abbey” and the Harry Potter films, 89, Sept. 27 “I would not recommend three days in jail to anyone, much less three years. But I must be honest: I needed to go through what I did to develop the character I had when I became a free man.” — Eugene “Mercury” Morris , two-time Super Bowl champion with the Miami Dolphins and linchpin of the team’s perfect 1972 season before a jail stint in the 1980s, 77, Sept. 21 “You can’t talk about peace nor agreement while terror is used as the main argument.” — Alberto Fujimori , whose decade-long presidency began with triumphs righting Peru’s economy and defeating a brutal insurgency only to end in autocratic excess that later sent him to prison, 86, Sept. 11 “God made a path for my music to reach each generation .” — Frankie Beverly , who with his band Maze inspired generations of fans with his smooth, soulful voice and lasting anthems including “Before I Let Go,” 77, Sept. 10 “One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter .” — James Earl Jones , who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen, 93, Sept. 9 “We always tried to not be a rock ‘n’ roll store, not be a jazz store, not be a symphonic store . The whole music world is not that big. You can be all things to all people in the music world, and still be small.” — Jack Long , Canadian jazz musician and the founder of the musical instrument retail giant Long & McQuade, 95, Sept. 4 “I think melody will make a comeback. Everything is a cycle. When you walk out of a movie today, you’re not whistling a song. Where’s Henry Mancini?” — Sérgio Mendes , the Brazilian bossa nova impresario and pianist who helped popularize the genre in the ’60s, 83, Sept. 5 “(Brian Mulroney’s) strategy ever since I have been covering him as a reporter has been to blame the media for his troubles and find out who their sources are.” — Stevie Cameron , Canadian investigative journalist who authored books on topics ranging from allegations against Mulroney to the murders of women on a B.C. pig farm, 80, Aug. 31 “When my time does end here, you know, I hope people remember me as a good person off the ice, a good teammate and just a good person.” — NHL star Johnny Gaudreau , killed with younger brother Matthew when they were hit by a car while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey, 31, Aug. 29 “It’s as old as Shakespeare and as old as Socrates. It’s an extremely powerful theatre that tells us about ourselves and about the people on trial. And I think it’s ever fascinating.” — Linda Deutsch , writer for The Associated Press who for nearly 50 years covered the biggest U.S. trials from Charles Manson to O.J. Simpson to Phil Spector, 80, Sept. 1 “Fashion is what is given to you through the media, magazines. Style is what you slip into (to) face the mirror and smile.” — Betty Halbreich , considered fashion’s leading personal shopper , who made the search for the right clothing a kind of quest for dignity and self-knowledge, 96, Aug. 24 “It was the culmination of all of the misconceptions and stereotypical roles that I had lived and seen being offered to me. It was like a reward for having suffered those indignities.” — John Amos , who earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots” after starring as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom “Good Times,” 84, Aug. 21 “Death will find me worn down from having lived so much, but I want to meet it with a smile, feeling free and satisfied.” — Maria Branyas , American-born Spaniard considered the world’s oldest person , 117, Aug. 19 “ Screaming helps . At least then you know if whether the person you’re screaming at is listening. Then go in the other room and count to 10.” — Phil Donahue , pioneering daytime talk show host, on the secret to his 44-year marriage, 88, Aug. 18 “A taxi driver in Tokyo told me, ‘So you are a Frenchman? Like Alain Delon?’ They only knew two French names in Japan: de Gaulle and Delon .” — Alain Delon , famously handsome French actor, on fame after starring in the movie “Purple Noon,” 88, Aug. 18 “Cancer survivors need to hear words like that, and they need to know in their heart that they are true .” — Former Conservative MP and cabinet minister Chuck Strahl , on then-PM Stephen Harper urging him to keep contributing amid a cancer fight, 67, Aug. 13 “It’s the people who aren’t artists who sacrifice. Artists somehow stumble onto the best life in the world, and I have no complaints.” — Gena Rowlands , hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever and a guiding light in independent film, 94, Aug. 14 “Her infirmities were so dreadful that she did not want to go on living ... (we) both shared the belief that we have a right to determine our own destinies so I could not stop her.” — Jacques Delisle , retired Quebec judge who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in his wife’s shooting death, insisting it was assisted suicide , 89, Aug. 10 “I realized the impact Google was going to have when I started using it in 1998 when it was just getting started. One day I couldn’t access the service and realized I couldn’t get my work done.” — Susan Wojcicki , a pioneering tech executive who played a key role in Google’s creation and served nine years as YouTube’s CEO, 56, Aug. 9 “In my mind if there’s another gay baseball player or two — or 10 or 25 or 100 — they’re just people you walk by every day. Like I did, they just want to play the game. And it’s a difficult enough game already without something else on your mind.” — Billy Bean , who in 1999 became the second former Major League Baseball player to come out as gay, 60, Aug. 6 “The Al-Aqsa flood (the Oct.7 attack) was an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity and has made major changes at the world ... We will continue the resistance against this enemy until we liberate our land, all our land.” — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh , killed by bomb in Tehran, July 30 “There was nothing like this at the time. There were romance books, but this was different...these books were girl-driven. I felt that I was putting life in the hands of girls...these girls ran the ship. They ran the action.” — Francine Pascal , a onetime soap opera writer whose “Sweet Valley High” novels and the ongoing adventures of twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and other teens captivated millions of young readers, 92, July 28 “My body routinely produces fresh and insistent signs of its mortality, and within the surrounding biosphere of the news and entertainment media it is the fear of death — 24/7 in every shade of hospital white and doomsday black — that sells the pharmaceutical, political, financial, film, and food products promising to make good the wish to live forever .” — Lewis H. Lapham , the scholarly patrician who edited Harper’s Magazine for nearly three decades, 89, July 23 “There’s nothing else I can play.” — A humble John Mayall , pillar of the British blues scene whose band the Bluesbreakers gave the world Eric Clapton and many other stars, 90, July 22 “As the gap between the haves and the have-nots increases, the likelihood of violence will increase; it’s not rocket science. When people are excluded, neglected, ignored, deprived of opportunity, violence becomes a viable option for them. How do we change those conditions ?” — Louis March , longtime Toronto anti-violence activist, 68 , July 20 “My audience has always expected me to tell them where I’m coming from, and I don’t see any reason to disappoint them.” — Lou Dobbs , conservative veteran cable TV host who was a founding anchor for CNN and later was a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade, 78, July 18 This is for Richard Ouzounian’s interview with Bob Newhart. I will send another photo separately. Thank you, David Horowitz 310-279-2291 “When I started, I thought I might have five years, and that was fine. I pictured myself like an elevator operator, and people in the corner would say, ‘That guy used to be Bob Newhart .’ ” — Bob Newhart , the genial funnyman whose career lasted from a smash hit album in 1960 through TV in the 2010s, 94, July 18 “Be very careful. Have lots of fun. And stay brave.” — Bella Thomson , known on TikTok as Bella Brave , known for her courageous struggle at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto with several rare health conditions, 10, July 14 “Pain is manageable, you know living without a breast is manageable , it’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.” — Shannen Doherty , the “Beverly Hills, 90210” star whose life and career were roiled by breast cancer and tabloid stories, 53, July 13 “There’ll always be some weird thing about eating four grapes before you go to bed , or drinking a special tea, or buying this little bean from El Salvador ... If you watch your portions and you have a good attitude and you work out every day you’ll live longer, feel better and look terrific.” — Richard Simmons , television’s hyperactive court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts, died Saturday, 76, July 13 “I still hold old-fashioned values and I’m a bit of a square. Sex is a private art and a private matter. But still, it is a subject we must talk about.” — Dr. Ruth Westheimer , the diminutive sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, 96, July 12 “What I love about art is that it is what I am. It makes my spirit and my spiritual life complete. There isn’t any other reason .” — Alex Janvier , Albertan considered one of Canada’s greatest painters and member of the so-called Indian Group of Seven, 89, July 10 “Until the screenwriter does his job, nobody else has a job. In other words, he is the a—hole who keeps everyone else from going to work.” — Robert Towne , the screenwriting legend who won an Academy Award for his original script for “Chinatown,” 89, July 1 “Amazing. When you think everything’s finished, it’s only the beginning.” — Orlando Cepeda , the slugging Boston Red Sox first baseman who became a Hall of Famer and honoured at Fenway Park, 86, June 28 “I’ve been painting all along ... All of this has been a way to try to put paint on my table . You know, every painter I know has a day job ... I just happened to luck into a day job that’s extraordinary and a lot of fun and buys a lot of paint.” — Martin Mull , whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms, 80, June 27 “Find what you like and let it kill you .” — Singer, songwriter, satirist and novelist Kinky Friedman , who led the alt-country band Texas Jewboys, toured with Bob Dylan and dabbled in politics, 79, June 27 “I remember saying , ‘If you guys don’t get sober with me, I’m going to go start a sober band.’ And I was smoking crack while I’m saying that. I was just a big fireball of chaos ... running from my emotions, just submerging myself in psychoticness. And loving it.” — Seth Binzer , alias Shifty Shellshock, lead singer of alt-rock’s Crazy Town, 49, June 24 “You’ve got the Telegraph-Journal carted all around the province (expensively) but it’s one of the few vehicles in the province that ties the province together a little bit .” — Canadian billionaire businessman James K. Irving, owner of New Brunswick newspapers and much more, 96, June 21 “Well, it’s not that complicated. I’m an actor. I can play a Russian oligarch, or a pauper. I can play whomever I like as long as I like them .” — Donald Sutherland , the towering Canadian actor whose acclaimed career spanned more than six decades, 88, June 20 “I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day ... tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? It’s like crying for your mother after she’s gone ... I loved baseball and I knew I had to leave it.” — Willie Mays , exuberant baseball legend , 93, June 18 “You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.” — Anouk Aimée , the radiant French star and dark-eyed beauty of classic films including Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and Claude Lelouch’s “A Man and a Woman,” 92, June 18 “At 95, time is not on my side, and neither is silence. I simply want to add my name and say, ‘ Me too .’ ” — Janis Paige , a popular actor in Hollywood and on Broadway musicals who later revealed a sexual assault by department-store heir Alfred Bloomingdale, 101, June 2 “They nail you to the cross ... I’m a legend already .” — Infamous Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton , convicted of six murders and suspected of many more, 74, May 31 “I was on air for 18 hours that day (John Lennon was killed), which was a historic one for radio. Everyone of our generation turned off their TVs and listened. It was the only appropriate way of grieving .” — Broadcaster Bob Mackowycz Sr. , whose visionary radio programming injected a certain artistic flair into Toronto’s cultural scene, 75, May 29 “My bike is my gym, my wheelchair and my church all in one. I’d like to ride my bike all day long but I’ve got this thing called a job that keeps getting in the way .” — Bill Walton , NBA Hall of Famer, longtime broadcaster and notorious free spirit, 71, May 27 “I always looked at myself as a failure. I thought I had a lot of talent that was just a waste of talent ... Just persevere, and when you get tired of fighting let someone else fight for you .” — Grayson Murray, PGA golfer, 30, May 25 “The game is over, but we won the game .” — Deathbed utterance of Albert S. Ruddy , a colourful, Canadian-born producer and writer who won Oscars for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” 94, May 25 “All the animals we had really did teach us enough about love that we understood it outside of any human definition.” — Caleb Carr , survivor of an abusive childhood who became a bestselling author and lifelong cat lover, 68, May 23 “As one family member told me, it’s simply a really good bad idea.” — Morgan Spurlock , a documentary filmmaker who ate at McDonald’s every day for a month the Oscar-nominated 2004 feature “Super Size Me,” 53, May 23 “Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself .” — Ivan F. Boesky , the flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals in the history of Wall Street , 87, May 20 “I am proud of being a defender of human rights and of people’s security and comfort as a prosecutor wherever I was .” — Ebrahim Raisi , so-called “Butcher of Tehran,” hardline prosecutor turned uncompromising president of Iran only to die in a helicopter crash, 63, May 19 “I’ve been shy all my life ... Maybe it’s because my father died when I was 4 ... I was extremely small, just a little guy who was there, the kid who created no trouble. I was attracted to fantasy, and I created games for myself .” — Dabney Coleman , the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” 92, May 16 “There’s no sugar-coating cancer (but) I will never forget the outpouring of support I received from you (constituents) throughout my treatment. Your incredibly kind words and generous deeds helped my family and I through very dark days .” — Toronto Coun. Jaye Robinson , 61, May 16 “I don’t want to start any rumours, but (Daniel Sedin’s son) looks an awful lot like Henrik .” — Longtime TSN broadcaster Darren “Dutchy” Dutchyshen , joking about hockey’s Sedin twins, 57, May 15 “A story is not like a road to follow ... it’s more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. And you, the visitor, the reader, are altered as well by being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again, and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time .” — Nobel laureate Alice Munro , the Canadian literary giant among the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and short story writers, whose legacy is now being recast by personal scandal, 92, May 13 “ I had the choice to go on at Acadia or learn about business from the best teacher available anywhere — my father. I went with the best teacher.” — Arthur L. Irving , son of New Brunswick industrialist K.C. Irving who spent a lifetime growing the oil business his father founded and died as one of the 10 richest Canadians with a net worth of $6.4 billion, 93, May 13 “I was in high school in Toronto in Grade 13 when I was called up for my first game (against Montreal). Punch Imlach came in the dressing room to announce the starting lineup; Tim Horton, Allan Stanley, Red Kelly, Frank Mahovlich ... and me .” — Ron Ellis , who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada’s team at the 1972 Summit Series, 79, May 11 “The first thing (Steven Spielberg) said to me was, ‘When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with the popcorn and bubblegum.’ So, I think we did that .” — Susan Backlinie , actress who played the first person killed by the titular shark in “Jaws,” 77, May 11 “In science-fiction films, the monster should always be bigger than the leading lady .” — Cinema maestro Roger Corman , who cranked out hundreds of low-budget films over six decades and helped launch the careers of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron and Ron Howard, 98, May 9 “Hollywood is a narcotic, not a stimulant. It wants to sell you something. Literature wants to tell you something. ” — Rex Murphy , Newfoundland-born pundit and wordsmith whose often-blistering commentaries sustained a decades-long career in Canadian media, 77, May 9 “All the people that work in music ... want you to think that they are in it for art and art alone. Then when you present them with something (that) might not reach all of the chain stores — when you present them with something that is a manifestation of their pretence — they blanch .” — Steve Albini , outspoken music producer/engineer who worked with Nirvana and many more, 61, May 7 “A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar .” — Duane Eddy , a pioneering guitar hero for his reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn,” 86, April 30 “I left this profession, I stopped, I did a farewell show ... I was ashamed, but I came back, and as quickly as possible. It’s the most beautiful job in the world .” — Jean-Pierre Ferland , the singer-songwriter who became a fixture of Quebec’s cultural landscape over a career that spanned more than six decades, 89, April 27 “Make sure you enjoy the game. If you don’t, you’re in the wrong business ... Hockey fans are abreast of times. They know what’s going on. You don’t have to teach them anything .” — Bob Cole , the voice of hockey in Canada (and “Hockey Night in Canada”) for decades, 90, April 24 “You wake up every day. You summon up energy from somewhere. I don’t know how .” — Terry Anderson , a U.S. journalist held hostage for nearly seven years during Lebanon’s civil war, 76, April 20 “ My dad always told me that the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” — Roman Gabriel , the first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL and the league MVP in 1969, 83, April 20 “Harnessing all that energy (in youth orchestras) and that enthusiasm and that passion, and galvanizing it into a totally, totally unified conception and not just conception but — what’s the word? — realization ... I berate them more than I would, but I hope always with a twinkle in my eye .” — Andrew Davis , the acclaimed British conductor who led the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for 13 years, 80, April 20 “I’d go to one school for a year and then the other the next. I had two sets of friends and spent a lot of time in the back seat of a Greyhound bus. Ramblin’ was in my blood .” — Guitar legend Dickey Betts , who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” 80, April 18 “Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it .” — Whitey Herzog , World Series champion and former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals, 92, April 15 “We don’t need to SELL the news. The networks hype the news to make it seem vital, important. What’s missing (in 22 minutes) is context, sometimes balance, and a consideration of questions that are raised by certain events .” — Robert MacNeil , Canadian-born journalist who created the even-handed PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored it for two decades, 93, April 12 “I’m absolutely, 100 per cent, not guilty .” — O.J. Simpson , the football star, actor and pitchman whose shocking arrest for double murder and subsequent acquittal shone a light on American race relations, 76, April 10 “I’m not a ‘me’ person. I’m into sharing and communication, into telling stories. I’m not your typical underground artist ... I want to bring comics back to the ’30s, instead of reliving the ’60s.” — Trina Robbins , artist, writer and editor of mainstream and underground comics and pioneering woman in a male-dominated field, 85, April 10 “That name (the god particle) was a kind of joke, and not a very good one. An author, Leon Lederman, wanted to call it ‘that goddamn particle’ because it was clear it was going to be a tough job finding it experimentally. His editor wouldn’t have that, and he said OK, call it the God particle,’ and the editor accepted it. I don’t think he should’ve have done, because it’s so misleading.” — Nobel Prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs , on conceiving of the so-called “God particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, 94, April 8 “I’m the pioneer. I was the first one in Michigan who said marijuana should be legal, and they said I was totally nuts.” — John Sinclair , a marijuana activist whose 1969 imprisonment was immortalized in a John Lennon song, 82, April 2 “A historian is somebody who studies the facts, the historical facts — somebody who is tied to what actually happens ... I am just a dreamer — my dreams rest upon a historical basis .” — Maryse Condé , historical novelist and prolific “grande dame” of Caribbean literature, 90, April 2 “We had to please ourselves, and we weren’t easy to please .” — Joe Flaherty , comic actor of “SCTV” fame, 82, April 1 “The Marines changed it. They said that an enlisted man would never beat up a drill sergeant ... ‘If you don’t do this well, Mr. Gossett, we’re going to have to kill you .’” — Actor Louis Gossett Jr. , on the script for “An Officer and a Gentleman,” for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, 87, March 29 “Eloquence is no substitute for a record .” — Joe Lieberman , former U.S. Democrat-turned-independent senator, 82, March 27 “Babar was my friend and I invented stories with him, but not with kids in a corner of my mind. I write it for myself .” — Laurent de Brunhoff , who revived his father’s popular picture-book series about an elephant-king and presided over its rise to a global, multimedia franchise, 98, March 22 “I’m ready to go see Winnie Ruth .” — Richard C. “Dick” Higgins , one of the last remaining survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on following his wife of 60 years into death, 102, March 19 “Whether it’s Mr. Redford or Pacino or Hackman, once they see that I’m there, they aren’t going to let me win that tennis match. We hit the ball very hard. That’s why I’m brought in .” — M. Emmet Walsh , character actor seen everywhere from “Blood Simple” to “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” 88, March 19 “ I knew the sky would not fall . I knew that people would, within a very short time, generally accept it as just an evolution of our society. And some, particularly my own age group are still a little mad at me, but the vast majority of people, I think, are quite indifferent to it.” — Roy McMurtry , politician who as Chief Justice of Ontario paved the way for same-sex marriage, 81, March 19 “I love you but hate everything you stand for .” — Rose Dugdale , rejecting her father’s wealth and privilege in England to become an IRA militant and bomb maker, 82, March 18 “Climbing Everest says that you have done something extraordinary, that you have stepped outside the routines of ordinary life, endured hardship and accepted a great challenge ... There is only one highest place on Earth. ” — David Breashears , a mountaineer, author and filmmaker who co-directed and co-produced a 1998 IMAX documentary about climbing Mount Everest, 68, March 14 “The only way you get ahead is if you see something that no one else sees and it’s a little crazy .” — Gerald Levin , businessman and architect of famously disastrous AOL-Time Warner merger, 84, March 13 “Each day I try to do something kind for someone else. And I believe in what Oscar Wilde said : ‘Always forgive your enemies; it annoys them.’” — Malachy McCourt , thespian, barkeep and best-selling memoirist, 92, March 11 “I don’t sit around and worry about it. I’m dying a lot . It doesn’t make any difference.” — Paul Alexander , Dallas man who spent most of his life in an iron lung, 78, March 11 “Our audience knows we’re not going to load up on heavy metal or set fire to the drummer — although on some nights we’ve talked about it .” — Steve Lawrence , a singer who kept Tin Pan Alley alive during the rock era, 88, March 7 “There’s life after 100 ... I want to give it all I’ve got .” — Eleanor Collins , Canadian jazz legend who worked with other greats like Dizzy Gillespie and fellow Canadian Oscar Peterson, 104, March 3 “I’m often asked what my favourite, my most important building is. I’m going on the record right now. This is it .” — Architect Antoine Predock , on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, 87, March 2 “In ’24, the power of showing up as your whole self authentically (and) intentionally is the resistance — ain’t no half steppin ’. ” — Jay Williams , beloved Scarborough educator who served as a role model to thousands of teenagers as a progressive Black man in the field of education, 40, Feb. 29 “You had an option, sir. You could have said, ‘I am not going to do it. This is wrong for Canada, and I am not going to ask Canadians to pay the price .’” — Debate knockout blow from Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th prime minister whose legacy is dominated by the free-trade agreement with the U.S., 84, Feb. 29 “I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror .” — Richard Lewis , indelibly neurotic U.S. comedian, 76, Feb. 27 “If they’re told to feed you caviar tomorrow, they’ll feed you caviar. If they’re told to strangle you in your cell, they’ll strangle you .” — Incarcerated Russian opposition leader Alexander Navalny , on his jailers, 47, Feb. 16 “The Spinners are still here and still singing for our people who want to hear us. And that’s not going to change. We’ll still be there for them .” — Henry Fambrough , as the last living original member of the hitmaking ’70s band, 85, Feb. 7 “If you can’t handle ‘Tie My Pecker to My Leg,’ you’re not gonna like the rest of the show. But if I don’t run a few people off, I haven’t done my job .” — Mojo Nixon , raw and rootsy musician, actor, and radio DJ, 66, Feb. 7 “Probably 75 per cent of the people in this town (Nashville) think I’ll fail, and the other 25 per cent hope I fail .” — Toby Keith , crafter of hit pro-American country-music anthems such as the controversial “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” 62, Feb. 5 “My problem wasn’t my drug use and alcohol abuse. My problem was I couldn’t get along in the world with people. Everything bothered me, to a great degree .” — Wayne Kramer , abrasive co-founder of the protopunk Detroit band the MC5, 75, Feb. 2 “There are so many people that came before me who I admired and whose success I wanted to emulate ... And hopefully I can inspire someone else to do good work as well.” — Carl Weathers , former NFL and CFL linebacker who became a film star in the “Rocky” movies, “Happy Gilmore,” and more , 76, Feb. 1 “I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t moving or telling a story to you or singing a song .” — Chita Rivera , dancer, singer and actress who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, and was in the original production of “West Side Story” in a long Broadway career, 91, Jan. 30 “I can remember my first big-league hit, but when you only get three you can remember them all .” — Jimy Williams , former Blue Jays manager, on his brief major-league playing career, 80, Jan. 26 “It wasn’t the age of smiling women. It had to be much more broody and I was way too cherubic .” — Melanie (Safka), singer-songwriter of “Brand New Key” fame, on her era, 76, Jan. 23 “Everybody is trying to tell you something different, and they’re always putting obstacles in your way. You have to fight for what you believe in, and you have to defend yourself constantly. It’s a matter of confidence.” — Norman Jewison , Canadian director nominated for seven Oscars, on directing , 97, Jan. 20 “When we started, it was all about music. By the time it ended, it was all about litigation.” — Mary Weiss , the lead singer of the 1960s pop group the Shangri-Las, whose hits included “Leader of the Pack,” 75, Jan. 19 “You miss three times in a row and that’s all you get. Moving forward, lessons to be learned.” — Shawn Barber , Canadian pole-vault record holder and 2015 world champion, 29, Jan. 17 “It took me to a special place ... I saw that it brought joy and happiness to other people when I played, so I wanted to take it to a higher place by bringing in some Cajun, country, blues, rock and jazz.” — Jo-El Sonnier , Cajun music titan , 77, Jan. 13 “Probably the worst decision of my political life. David won and he deserved to.” — Ed Broadbent , longtime New Democratic Party leader, on losing his first leadership campaign to David Lewis, 87, Jan. 11 “Football for me was a deliverance. Looking back, I can say: Everything went according to how I’d imagined my life. I had a perfect life .” — Franz Beckenbauer , who won the World Cup both as player and coach and became one of Germany’s most beloved personalities with his easygoing charm, 78, Jan. 7 “If I had lived by any maxim as a reporter, it was that every person is an expert on the circumstances of his life .” — Joseph Lelyveld , a former executive editor and foreign correspondent for The New York Times, who won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for his book “Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White,” 86, Jan. 5 “We had long hair and beards and were looking very bedraggled. Our feet were in tatters — I don’t think we looked very much like soldiers .” — Maj. Mike Sadler , a legendary Second World War navigator who guided Britain’s SAS in daring behind-the-lines night raids, describing crossing 180 kilometres of North African desert on foot, 103, Jan. 4 “These days anybody is a celebrity and, frankly, there’s nothing to celebrate . Reality TV? I live my life in reality. I want (to watch) something special, not pretty people with little talent trying to get famous.” — Actor David Soul , blond half of crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” in the popular 1970s TV series, 80, Jan. 4

March 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of an iconic moment in Irish sport. Trailing England with 10 minutes to go at Lansdowne Road on March 30, 1985, the dream of a Championship and Triple Crown for Ireland was fading fast. Irish captain Ciarán Fitzgerald roared at his pack: “Where’s your fucking pride?” It was galvanising. The Irish team rallied, Michael Kiernan dropped a goal in the dying minutes, game won. Three decades before, one of our greatest civil servants had a similar moment upon taking over the Department of Finance in 1956. Realising the depth of the economic trouble faced by Ireland, he wrote the ‘First Programme for Economic Expansion’ and presented it to the Government in 1958. He couldn’t use the unparliamentary language availed of by Fitzgerald on the rugby pitch, but he threw down just as galvanising a challenge to the old republican taoiseach Seán Lemass. He said if Ireland did not quickly change its economic policy to stop the rot of emigration, we should politely request the British to allow us back into the United Kingdom. That did the trick. Ireland abandoned protectionism, opened the economy to trade, and invited foreign businesses in with attractive tax policies. The turn in our census figures was immediate. Today, Ireland faces an entirely different set of challenges. Any finance minister in Europe would kill to have the problems Jack Chambers is suffering, having such a large surplus he has overseen yet another give-away budget. But real dangers abound. We cannot assume the world will remain benign for Ireland in 2025. At year-end, we are set for a return to a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government with Independents replacing the Greens. There has been some berating of Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, and other left-leaning parties for their failure to form a credible proposition for an alternative government. This is unfair on two counts. Firstly, the Irish political spectrum is objectively and firmly to the left of centre. Pan-European analysis by the University Carlos III of Madrid shows Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to be only marginally right of centre parties. All others represented in the Dáil were substantially left of centre, barring Aontú. More importantly, Ireland has one of the lowest degrees of political polarisation in Europe. This is defined by how spread the political parties in a country are by their position in the left-right scale and size. A lower degree of polarisation makes it more difficult for voters to discriminate between political candidates. Secondly, and this is by no means an attack on the fourth estate, the majority of Ireland’s political and economic commentary comes from journalists who are themselves left-leaning. The significance of this is important when considering the fiscal mix of policies in the programme for Government. If political manifestos are to be believed, we will have a very high degree of spend on the current side in the next administration. This is not a good thing, but to what extent will the Government be held to account for it by the press? Barring business journalists, the media clamour is for more, not less, current spending. Our domestic view of our foreign policy is that we are an enlightened, peaceful polity, expressing a positive neutrality. In reality, EU neighbours see us as hypocritical, basking in the military and geographic shade of others, while being condescending and patronising to those who provide it. We were able to get away with that in a post-Cold War world where conflict was far away. No longer. The EU’s neighbourhood is becoming more kinetic and threatening at the very moment when all three traditional European powers are in deep crisis. The French government has fallen, and the economy is in deep fiscal trouble due to out-of-control spending. Germany is in trouble for precisely the opposite reason; extreme fiscal conservatism has crippled its investment in infrastructure and 21st-century industry. Its government has also fallen. Britain remains in denial about the blow Brexit has struck to its economy, productivity, and society. We may be lumbering to a negotiated armistice in Ukraine, but Ireland is going to have to stop talking out of both sides of its mouth on neutrality. We are, or we are not. Genuine neutrality comes with a price tag and requires social responsibility from citizens. Aside from its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is intervening actively in the electoral politics of countries it considers within its sphere of influence. All this is happening when the US is going through one of its introspective bouts of isolationism. Time for Ireland to buy a pair of long trousers. Some Americans are as concerned at recent developments as Europeans are. In The Lessons of Tragedy, Statecraft and World Order, by Hal Brands and Charles Edel, the authors pose the philosophical question as to whether politicians who have not experienced conflict or war are capable of avoiding hubris and complacency and becoming overconfident. Brands and Edel’s concerns about American politics are equally valid in consideration of our own. It is only 10 years since the termination of the EU-International Monetary Fund programme in Ireland. We walked blindly into a fiscal, property, and banking crisis that took livelihoods from tens of thousands of Irish people, increasing unemployment to 15% — a level not seen since the economic blight of the 80s. I spent six months on the dole in 2013, the same year my wife lost her job. Many seem to have forgotten how bad things got at that time. My family never has. Yet the political establishment, opposition included, has fallen back into the spend baby spend pattern, while failing to get an adequate return on investment. At the same time, the Department of Finance has lost its Whitaker zeal, and has bet our future on the continued huge tax take from the multinational sector. The incoming Government needs to take immediate corrective action in its first six months. The Department of the Taoiseach needs to stop pretending that SMEs don’t matter to the Irish economy. This will require formal recognition of the SME sector on the Labour Employer Economic Forum. Both our Vat rates must be reduced, not merely to save the hospitality sector, but because they are too high in EU terms. The tax system must again be used to encourage the provision of rental accommodation. The progressive exit of small landlords from the rental market has coincided with record-high rent levels. We need to see the reintroduction of a scheme like Section 23 in 2925. The minimum wage will rise by six times the current rate of inflation in January. This is unjustifiable and is unsustainable. In calculating the minimum wage, we must have regard to large number of high-earning public servants and multinational employees in our economy. A key requirement in the provision of housing and infrastructure is reform of our legal system, which works as if it was developed by Charles Dickens, for the sole betterment of lawyers. We need a far more muscular minister and Department of Justice in the next Government to tackle this last unreformed sector in Ireland. Our politicians and civil servants know what needs to be done. Where’s your fucking pride? Neil McDonnell is the CEO of the Irish SME Association.Sergio Perez is at risk of losing his seat with Red Bull following a miserable 2024 campaign, and team principal Christian Horner has now stated that he may wait ‘all the way up until the start of the 2025 season’ to choose Max Verstappen ’s next team-mate. For the majority of the season when dealing with the media, Horner has refused to entertain the possibility of replacing Perez before the end of his Red Bull contract. However, with the Mexican securing just one top-five finish in his last 16 races, the noise is becoming impossible to ignore. “All the drivers that we have under contract, we’re very clear on what their contractual situations are,” he said in Las Vegas. “We could, if we so chose, leave it all the way up until Melbourne next year if we want to because we have drivers under contract. But inevitably at the end of the year, we’ll sit down and look at all the information that’s available to us.” Red Bull have plenty of options to replace the 34-year-old with too. Liam Lawson has thrown his weight around since replacing Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB , scoring points in two of his first three starts. Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto has been touted as a target for Horner specifically following an eye-catching start to life at Williams. However, three costly crashes across the weekends in Brazil and Las Vegas may have damaged the young Argentinian’s stock. Yuki Tsunoda also can’t be ruled out. The Japanese racer is seen as the outside bet despite putting together a strong and consistent campaign, but he is scheduled to test the RB20 in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, hinting that Horner and Helmut Marko will not be rushing their decision. What is certain is that Red Bull are running out of patience with Perez. Speaking to ORF on Friday, Marko said: With our performance today, we have absolutely no chance of second place, let alone first place. That was clear for a while because if you compare Checo’s points with Max’s points, you know what the problem is.” Things got even worse for Perez in Las Vegas on Saturday. The six-time Grand Prix winner was eliminated in Q1 as his qualifying woes continued, all but ending Red Bull ’s faint hopes of beating Ferrari to second in the Constructors’ Championship standings. Attention is now focused on Verstappen’s championship bid. The Dutchman can claim a fourth Drivers’ Championship crown if he leaves Las Vegas with an advantage of 60 points or more. He starts alongside rival Lando Norris on the third row of the grid.Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal to end their away day blues in the Champions League by beating Sporting Lisbon . The Gunners have struggled away from home in Europe’s elite club competition under Arteta, winning just one of seven games on the road. Arsenal have lost all of their last four away games in the Champions League and failed to find the net in that time, too. A trip to Sporting is next up on Tuesday and Arteta believes it is a good moment for his side to make a statement. “It’s certainly something we have to improve,” he said. “We have the right steps, and looking back at the way we played against Inter, against a team that has been so dominant in the league, were in the Champions League final and should have won it. “We played and dominated the game we should have won. But the reality is you have to make it happen, and we didn’t. “Those steps are what we have to take next, be ruthless and be much more efficient in the opposition box, and when we get there do what we have to do to take the three points away from here. “Not all of the games have been the same. It’s true that some of those games were when we’d already qualified. “But it’s true we have to improve the results and we have to find the ways to understand what has been missing. “Sometimes it’s been performance to be fair, and sometimes it’s been different aspects, and that’s the next step we have to make as a team.” Arsenal’s lack of goals has been a particular worry and the last player to score for them away from home in the Champions League was Eddie Nketiah in December of last year. “The efficiency we have shown inside the box, at this level, with the number of chances you are normally able to generate in the Champions League, has not been at the level that is required to win consistently,” he said. “I always say the Champions League is about the boxes, small margins and details, and you have to get all those right to win, especially away from home.”

AAMI captures the quirks and chaos of an Australian Christmas via Ogilvy

A day after President Joe Biden took his oath of office, the Department of Education issued its first press release under the new administration. “At the request of President Biden, Acting Secretary Will Extend Pause of Federal Student Loan Payments,” read the headline of a Jan. 21, 2021, announcement. Under the president’s watch, the Department of Education issued more public statements touting student loan forgiveness than any other topic, according to The Epoch Times’ review of 958 news releases, media advisories, and speech transcripts. Earlier this year, the agency announced that Biden, “through more than two dozen executive actions,” has approved $138 billion in student debt cancellation for 3.9 million borrowers. State courts across the country and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Biden overextended his authority with those actions, so most borrowers may still be on the hook for student loans as the status of how and when those debts are to be repaid remains in limbo nearly four years after the president’s promise. The Department of Education also frequently issued media releases about the amended Title 9 provisions, which allow students to participate in sports according to their desired, not biological, gender. Announcements regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have also been commonplace in the past four years, including multilingual classroom initiatives, elevated funding for historically black colleges and universities, Pride Month, “Transgender Day of Visibility,” and a program to help prison inmates obtain Pell grants and federal student loans or reduce debts with existing student loans. “You reap what you sow, and it is very clear that this administration’s Department of Education has been incentivizing the advancement of far-left ideologies in place of rigorous, proven methods of education,” Rhyen Staley, PDE researcher, said in a Dec. 12 public statement. “The only people or groups to benefit from the enormous amount of grant funding are the universities, administrators, and DEI consultants, at the expense of children’s education. This needs to change by placing children’s learning at the forefront of education instead of prioritizing race-based policies and DEI.” Announcements regarding American Rescue Plan funding to help schools across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and guidance for reopening schools were also frequent, as were releases identifying civil rights violations in school districts and higher learning institutions across the nation. There were also releases promoting career and technical education initiatives, rural education programs, teacher recruitment efforts, gun violence awareness, and social-emotional learning. “I visited a high school last year where every student had a learning period dedicated to social-emotional well-being or mental health supports in their daily schedule. Let’s see more of that,” Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said during a Jan. 27, 2022, speech outlying his vision for education in America, according to the agency website. “And let’s work together to meet the president’s goal of doubling the number of school counselors, social workers, and mental health professionals in our schools.” “We can’t lose this moment—this chance to reset education—by going back to the same pre-pandemic strategies that did not address inequities for Latino, black, and native students; students from low-income backgrounds; students from rural communities; students with disabilities; students experiencing homelessness,” he said during the same speech. Items recognizing high academic achievement (Blue Ribbon Schools) or acknowledging low performance in reading and math (Nation’s Report Card) were less frequent but still emphasized. On Oct. 27, 2022, Cardona acknowledged significant drops in average test scores for reading and math in Grade 4 and Grade 8 nationally. “I want to be clear: The results are appalling and unacceptable,” he said. “They are a reminder of the impact this pandemic had on our learners and the important work we must now do for our students.” The Department of Education was established in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. Its scope was and still is limited: to ensure equal educational opportunities; to share research and information that can help state and local education agencies; to provide additional funds to very low-income schools that cannot get by with just state aid and local property tax dollars; and to administer federal grant and loan programs for higher education. The federal agency cannot mandate curriculum, graduation requirements, or teacher and administrator credentials. Those decisions are made at the state and local levels, where governments provide most school funding. Special education funding, civil rights investigations, and guidance on technology and artificial intelligence education are more recent tasks taken on by the Department of Education. Still, all of those functions—new and old—could easily be absorbed into other federal agencies with massive savings to taxpayers, says Jonathan Butcher, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation Center for Education Policy. “Washington is paying an administration to do the work that state departments of education should already be doing,” Butcher told The Epoch Times, adding that federal aid to poor districts only amounts to less than 10 percent of per-student allocations. “Abolishing the U.S. Department of Education provides more authority for states and districts to make decisions for themselves.” Given the unsuccessful attempts to provide student debt relief, the continuation of low test scores, and the lack of support for allowing males to compete in female sports, Butcher said, the U.S. Department of Education “certainly did not advance policy in any meaningful way.” Butcher said he expects that the Department of Education in the next administration will work to cut redundant administrative costs, emphasize academic improvement, empower state and local education administrators to lead better, and promote universal school choice nationwide. The Epoch Times contacted the Department of Education with a request to interview officials or respond to an inquiry by email, but no information was provided. The Brookings Institution and the Learning Institute Policy also did not respond to inquiries. The National Education Association (NEA) teacher’s union, which endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, issued a public statement expressing disappointment with the election results but also claiming victory in that the referendum to end the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program in Nebraska passed, while referendums to codify school choice into the state constitutions in Colorado and Kentucky were defeated. David Ardrey, interim executive director for the National Rural Education Association, which represents schools in small communities across 48 states, said the past four years have been especially challenging because so many positions within the Department of Education specific to serving rural districts remained unfilled for long periods, perhaps due to pandemic disruptions. Regardless of administrations, not knowing if and when federal assistance will come through is “business as usual” for poor rural schools. Regardless of how the Department of Education changes, Ardrey’s biggest concern is preserving the federal liaisons who help district leaders in the smallest communities secure enough money and guidance to keep their schools open. “Kids don’t stop going to school because we’re going to transition the president,” he told The Epoch Times.

Sable Resources Ltd. ( CVE:SAE – Get Free Report ) traded down 16.7% on Saturday . The stock traded as low as C$0.03 and last traded at C$0.03. 758,789 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 342% from the average session volume of 171,599 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.03. Sable Resources Stock Down 16.7 % The firm has a market capitalization of C$7.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.63 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 40.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$0.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$0.04. About Sable Resources ( Get Free Report ) Sable Resources Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties in Mexico and Argentina. The company explores for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and other deposits. It holds 100% interests in the Don Julio project covering an area of 63,314 hectares; the El Fierro project covering an area of 58,510 hectares; the El Fierrazo project, the Los Pumas project, and the Laspina project located in San Juan Province, Argentina; and the Vinata project and the El Escarpe project located in Mexico. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Sable Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sable Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .UConn, football coach Jim Mora agree to contract extension through 2028

Mayor Mike Johnston's pointed comments last week about Denverites resisting a federal mass-deportation effort have generated blowback in Colorado and across the country. He has walked back from some but stuck by his vow of resistance. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Formula 1 on Monday at last said it will expand its grid in 2026 to make room for an American team that is partnered with General Motors. “As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It’s an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world," GM President Mark Reuss said. "This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level.” The approval ends years of wrangling that launched a U.S. Justice Department investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1, would not approve the team initially started by Michael Andretti. Andretti in September stepped aside from leading his namesake organization, so the 11th team will be called Cadillac F1 and be run by new Andretti Global majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter. The team will use Ferrari engines its first two years until GM has a Cadillac engine built for competition in time for the 2028 season. Towriss is the the CEO and president of Group 1001 and entered motorsports via Andretti's IndyCar team when he signed on financial savings platform Gainbridge as a sponsor. Towriss is now a major part of the motorsports scene with ownership stakes in both Spire Motorsports' NASCAR team and Wayne Taylor Racing's sports car team. Walter is the chief executive of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and the controlling owner of both the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Premier League club Chelsea. “We’re excited to partner with General Motors in bringing a dynamic presence to Formula 1," Towriss said. “Together, we’re assembling a world-class team that will embody American innovation and deliver unforgettable moments to race fans around the world.” Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion, will have an ambassador role with Cadillac F1. But his son, Michael, will have no official position with the organization now that he has scaled back his involvement with Andretti Global. “The Cadillac F1 Team is made up of a strong group of people that have worked tirelessly to build an American works team,” Michael Andretti posted on social media. “I’m very proud of the hard work they have put in and congratulate all involved on this momentous next step. I will be cheering for you!” The approval has been in works for weeks but was held until after last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix to not overshadow the showcase event of the Liberty Media portfolio. Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive championship in Saturday night's race, the third and final stop in the United States for the top motorsports series in the world. Grid expansion in F1 is both infrequent and often unsuccessful. Four teams were granted entries in 2010 that should have pushed the grid to 13 teams and 26 cars for the first time since 1995. One team never made it to the grid and the other three had vanished by 2017. There is only one American team on the current F1 grid — owned by California businessman Gene Haas — but it is not particularly competitive and does not field American drivers. Andretti’s dream was to field a truly American team with American drivers. The fight to add this team has been going on for three-plus years and F1 initially denied the application despite approval from F1 sanctioning body FIA . The existing 10 teams, who have no voice in the matter, also largely opposed expansion because of the dilution in prize money and the billions of dollars they’ve already invested in the series. Andretti in 2020 tried and failed to buy the existing Sauber team. From there, he applied for grid expansion and partnered with GM, the top-selling manufacturer in the United States. The inclusion of GM was championed by the FIA and president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who said Michael Andretti’s application was the only one of seven applicants to meet all required criteria to expand F1’s current grid. “General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners," Ben Sulayem said Monday. "I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to maintain dialogue and work towards this outcome of an agreement in principle to progress this application." Despite the FIA's acceptance of Andretti and General Motors from the start, F1 wasn't interested in Andretti — but did want GM. At one point, F1 asked GM to find another team to partner with besides Andretti. GM refused and F1 said it would revisit the Andretti application if and when Cadillac had an engine ready to compete. “Formula 1 has maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global, regarding the viability of an entry following the commercial assessment and decision made by Formula 1 in January 2024,” F1 said in a statement. “Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the 11th team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time. Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process." Yet another major shift in the debate over grid expansion occurred earlier this month with the announced resignation of Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who was largely believed to be one of the biggest opponents of the Andretti entry. “With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport," Maffei said. "We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1." AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!