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‘Percy Jackson’ fan now series star

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

When “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” streams Wednesday on Disney+, it’s a whole new look at a young adult classic.In 2010 Rick Riordan’s super successful fantasy series, six novels about a boy named Percy who is actually a demigod descended from the Greek god Poseidon, was first filmed as a big screen adventure.  First was “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief” followed in 2013 by “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters.”They were successful, but no match for the 180 million Percy Jackson books sold as of last year.Riordan and his wife Becky are intimately involved as executive producers with this Disney version which stars Walker Scobell (“The Adam Project”) as 12-year-old Percy who discovers his powers amid great loss.Riordan, Scobell said, “was on set every day, which is really great. That helps build my confidence playing Percy throughout the shoot, you know?”He doesn’t see the series as a reboot. “It’s more of an adaption from the books to liv...

Grinstein: Professors must fix our broken academic system

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

I am entering the classroom for the first day of the semester in my Marketing and Society course, a course I developed to discuss the dark side of marketing but also its value for social change. And as I am a white male, I am wondering whether my students think: “Hmmm… can this guy teach us about society’s greatest problems including gender and racial bias? Will he allow for diverse voices to be heard in class?” Also, in this course that discusses controversial topics such as gun control and abortion, do students feel comfortable to challenge “politically correct” views? Challenge the view of others or the professor?American universities face a crisis. For some, the crisis is associated with the surge in antisemitism or islamophobia. For others it is about universities becoming too “woke” or not progressive enough.  These are all symptoms. The deeper problem is that we have let identity politics get the better of us. This has limited our ability to train students effectively. ...

What you should know about disability rights

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

Life is full of challenges, and obstacles are often easier to overcome when people have some trusted allies in their corner.Certain situations are more easily managed with a little help from a trustworthy support system, and that system can include a reliable legal representative. The American Civil Liberties Union notes that individuals with disabilities face widespread discrimination, segregation and exclusion. That’s why it pays for such individuals to have a trustworthy legal advocate in their corner to advise them on their rights and recommend action to take if those rights are being compromised.What rights do people with disabilities have at work? The ACLU notes that federal laws protect people with disabilities from being discriminated against in the workplace. Such individuals do not have to inform an employer of a disability when they apply for a job or even after they’re hired. That’s the case even if their disability requires a reasonable accommodation i...

Franks: Iowa, NH primary voters need to get it right

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

Former President Donald Trump has a big lead over other Republicans fighting for the nomination, but he finishes a distant second to former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in a theoretical head-to-head matchup against President Joe Biden.The liberal media is quick to cherry pick what they want to highlight in polls.For example, they will continue to boisterously pronounce that Trump is beating Biden. This would cause Trump supporters to stick with Trump. But they do not tell you that a generic Republican would beat Biden as well.And the media also refuses to tell you that a generic Democrat would beat Trump as well. Only Biden would lose to Trump. Interesting.Thus, if Trump is the GOP nominee and Biden does not run, we will be stuck with four more years of radical Democrat (liberal) control of the White House – in a precarious world with open borders and more wasteful government spending.In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, Trump does beat Biden, but narrowl...

Editorial: Digital devices distracting students from learning

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

The latest report on how poorly U.S. students are performing in math also includes an easy way to potentially improve classroom performance.The National Center for Education Statistics recently released the latest Program for International Student Assessment. It’s a standardized test given to students around the world, from 37 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It started in 2000 and tests students every three years, but COVID delayed the latest results by a year.The United States’ math scores dropped to the lowest level ever recorded on this test. The number of top-performing students dropped by 1.4 percentage points. The number of low-performing students increased by 8.1 percentage points. The United States now has the 10th-lowest math score among OECD member countries.By now, the reason for the dramatic decline should be obvious.“Across PISA-participating economies, at least half of students experienced COVID-related school closures ...

‘Devastating’: The Chicago Bears’ latest loss — with another blown lead in Cleveland — may cut the deepest

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

Eddie Jackson sat deep inside his locker stall at Cleveland Browns Stadium, slumped in disbelief. Jackson needed a minute to gather himself, to let the emotion settle in, to find the words to explain Sunday’s surreal collapse, a 20-17 Chicago Bears loss that took what was left of the team’s slim playoff hopes and blew them to smithereens.“Man,” Jackson said with his voice cracking. “I don’t even know what to say. There are obviously some plays we wish we had back. But this just … I don’t know man. This one cuts so deep.”Across the Bears locker room, defensive tackle Justin Jones was having similar difficulty figuring out what had just happened, how an afternoon full of defensive playmaking had ended with such anguish as the Bears were outscored 13-0 in the fourth quarter.“This is devastating,” Jones said. “Devastating. They all hurt. But this one hurt.”Safety Jaquan Brisker just kept shaking his head, stru...

Dear Abby: Thanks for the gift, DIL – I hate it

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband and I have been married for 18 years, so I know his family well. His mother and I have a cordial, but not warm, relationship that’s sometimes a lot of work. She has always been hard to shop for, but the last two times I’ve given her gifts (at Christmas and her last birthday), instead of a thank-you card, she actually returned the gifts with a note saying she’d never use them.Now I’m not sure what to do. It’s obvious we have different tastes. When I ask her what she’d like, she demurs and says something like, “I’m sure you’ll choose something nice.” If I don’t send her a gift, it’s sure to be taken as a rebuff. What are my other options? (For what it’s worth, my husband has been no help here and considers gifts to be wholly my territory.) — Clueless in OhioDear Clueless: It is a HUGE breach of etiquette to return gifts the way your mother-in-law has done. Now, if you must give he...

CDC warns of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever for those traveling to Mexico

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

KSWB -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with San Diego County public health officials, are cautioning travelers to northern Mexico and Baja California of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. San Diego health officials reported back in November that a San Diego resident had recently died from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, cautioning the public about the tickborne illness and travel to Baja California. San Diego resident dies from tick bite; health officials warn of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever In early December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) followed suit, issuing a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to healthcare providers and the public of the outbreak of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in travelers to northern Mexico and Tecate, Mexico, including Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León, among other areas in northern Mexico.The CDC reported in December, five people had been diagnosed with RMSF since July 2023; every...

Some Trump fake electors from 2020 haven’t faded away. They have roles in how the 2024 race is run

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nearly two years after he signed documents attempting to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 loss in Nevada, Jim Hindle thanked everyone gathered in a historic Nevada boomtown’s commission chambers and asked them to bear with him while he learned how to oversee elections in rural Storey County. Hindle was another replacement in what was a revolving door of county election officials across Nevada as the 2022 midterms approached. He had just unseated the interim clerk, who had stepped in after the prior clerk resigned.But Hindle’s tenure in the heavily Republican county is part of a trend across battleground states where fake electors have retained influence over elections heading into 2024. He is among six Republicans who were indicted this month by Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford for their alleged roles in attempting to overturn the election outcome in the swing state, which Democrat Joe Biden carried by more than 33,000 votes over the GO...

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, to lie in repose

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:22:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court and an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism for more than two decades, will lie in repose in the court’s Great Hall on Monday. O’Connor, an Arizona native, died Dec. 1 at age 93. Her casket will be carried up the steps in front of the court, passing under the iconic words engraved on the pediment, “Equal Justice Under Law,” and placed in the court’s Great Hall. C-SPAN will broadcast a private ceremony held before the hall is open to the public, allowing people to pay their respects afterward, from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.The last justice who lay in repose at the court was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice. After her death in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, mourners passed by her casket outside the building, on the portico at the top of the steps.Funeral services for O’Connor are set for Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral, wher...