Bird, ‘The Wire,’ a life sentence paroled and a Colts game 40 years in the making
8Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Sports

Bird, ‘The Wire,’ a life sentence paroled and a Colts game 40 years in the making

Bleary-eyed from 16 hours on a Greyhound bus, he strolled into the stadium running on fumes. He’d barely slept in two days. The ride he was supposed to hitch from Charlotte to Indianapolis canceled at the last minute, and for a few nervy hours, Antonio Barnes started to have his doubts. The trip he’d waited 40 years for looked like it wasn’t going to happen.But as he moved through the concourse at Lucas Oil Stadium an hour before the Colts faced the Raiders, it started to sink in. His pace quickened. His eyes widened. His voice picked up.“I got chills right now,” he said. “Chills.”Barnes, 57, is a lifer, a Colts fan since the Baltimore days. He wore No. 25 on his pee wee football team because that’s the number Nesby Glasgow wore on Sundays. He was a talent in his own right, too: one of his...
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Mário Zagallo, Longtime Fixture of Brazilian Soccer, Dies at 92
8Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
World

Mário Zagallo, Longtime Fixture of Brazilian Soccer, Dies at 92

Mário Zagallo, who as both a player and coach helped lead Brazil to four World Cup soccer championships, becoming a national hero and one of only three people to lift the tournament’s trophy in both roles, died on Friday in Rio de Janeiro. He was 92.His death was confirmed by his family on his social media channels. Barra D’Or Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, where he had been a patient several times in recent months, said the cause was multiple organ failure.An attack-minded wing as a player and a tactically minded coach known as “the Professor,” Zagallo was part of the Brazil teams that won consecutive World Cup championships in 1958 and 1962 and the head coach of Brazil’s 1970 champions.His 1970 triumph made Zagallo the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, a feat t...
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The Income Gap Jeopardizing Retirement for Millions
8Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Health

The Income Gap Jeopardizing Retirement for Millions

Monique Louvigny, an event coordinator in the San Francisco Bay Area, economizes where she can. She drives a 10-year-old Prius, brings a thermos of coffee to work instead of patronizing a place with baristas, and takes advantage of a drive-through food pantry once a month.Laid off at 57, “I kind of reinvented myself,” she said. She rebuilt her career as a freelancer, overseeing receptions and conventions for many companies and institutions, including the local de Young and Legion of Honor art museums.But her income fell to less than $30,000 last year. “It’s erratic,” she said. “In January, I have 12 days of work.” In the summer, she might have only three or four.Ms. Louvigny, 64, feels fortunate on two fronts. For health insurance, she has qualified for Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid prog...
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Boeing Again Under Scrutiny After Latest 737 Max Problem
7Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Business

Boeing Again Under Scrutiny After Latest 737 Max Problem

A harrowing flight over the weekend is again forcing Boeing to confront concerns over its planes, particularly the 737 Max, already one of the most scrutinized jets in history.No one was seriously injured in the episode on an Alaska Airlines flight Friday night in which a portion of a 737 Max 9 fuselage blew out in midair, exposing passengers to howling wind. The plane landed safely, but the event, on a flight from Portland, Ore., to Ontario, Calif., has spooked travelers and prompted immediate safety inspections on similar planes.Federal authorities focused attention on a mid-cabin door plug, which is used to fill the space where an emergency exit would be placed if the plane were configured with more seats.The Federal Aviation Administration said on Saturday that it had ordered the inspe...
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Switching to a Flip Phone Helped Me Cut Down on My Smartphone Addiction
7Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Technology

Switching to a Flip Phone Helped Me Cut Down on My Smartphone Addiction

This time of year, everyone asks what you like least about your life, but they phrase it as, “What’s your New Year’s resolution?”My biggest regret of 2023 was my relationship to my smartphone, or my “tech appendage” as I’ve named it in my iPhone settings. My Apple Screen Time reports regularly clocked in at more than five hours a day.That’s only an hour more than the average American, but I still found it staggering to think that I spent the equivalent of January, February and half of March looking at that tiny screen (April too, if we only count waking hours).Sure, some (much?) of that time was gainfully spent on activities that enrich my life or are unavoidable: work, family text threads, reading the news and keeping up with far-flung friends. But I reached for the device more than 100 t...
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Legal Solutions: establishing offshore companies in Panama if you’re from the United Kingdom
7Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Empresas

Legal Solutions: establishing offshore companies in Panama if you’re from the United Kingdom

For individuals residing in the United Kingdom, Panama presents itself as a compelling option for creating offshore companies, thanks to its advantageous legal structure, tax regulations, and geographically advantageous positioning. These attributes facilitate the formation of companies in Panama that can effectively conduct business across various nations.Characteristics and benefits of an offshore companyAn offshore company is a corporate entity registered in one nation but conducting its activities in another. This setup provides numerous appealing advantages, including asset protection, privacy, and substantial tax savings for its owners.For international investors seeking to broaden their commercial horizons, creating a offshore company in Panama can serve as a crucial strategic asset...
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Why Wayne Rooney was sacked by Birmingham City – 15 games into ‘long-term project’
6Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Sports

Why Wayne Rooney was sacked by Birmingham City – 15 games into ‘long-term project’

When Wayne Rooney was told his time as Birmingham City manager was up after just 15 games, he was shocked.Having signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, the former England striker was under the impression he had joined a long-term project. Rooney had enjoyed an open dialogue with the club hierarchy — including chief executive Garry Cook and director of football Craig Gardner — and there had been no indication their faith in him was waning.Birmingham won just two of Rooney’s 15 games but even after his most recent defeat, at Leeds United on New Year’s Day, he had spoken bullishly of being a “fighter” who would not shirk the challenge of rescuing the team from its tailspin. That run had seen Birmingham slide from sixth to 20th in the Championship table, just six points above the relegation ...
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F.D.A. to Issue First Approval for Mass Drug Imports to States from Canada
6Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Health

F.D.A. to Issue First Approval for Mass Drug Imports to States from Canada

The Food and Drug Administration has allowed Florida to import millions of dollars worth of medications from Canada at far lower prices than in the United States, overriding fierce decades-long objections from the pharmaceutical industry.The approval, issued in a letter to Florida Friday, is a major policy shift for the United States, and supporters hope it will be a significant step forward in the long and largely unsuccessful effort to rein in drug prices. Individuals in the United States are allowed to buy directly from Canadian pharmacies, but states have long wanted to be able to purchase medicines in bulk for their Medicaid programs, government clinics and prisons from Canadian wholesalers.Florida has estimated that it could save up to $150 million in its first year of the program, i...
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Ukraine’s Patriot Defenses at Work: Shuddering Booms and Bursts of Light
6Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
World

Ukraine’s Patriot Defenses at Work: Shuddering Booms and Bursts of Light

The first warning was a blip, a small anomaly picked up by radar scanning the skies over Ukraine. Within seconds, it became clear that the blip was a Russian ballistic missile streaking in Kyiv’s direction at several times the speed of sound.It was just before 4 a.m. on Dec. 11, and there was no time to sound air-raid alarms in the city. While millions of civilians slept, Ukrainian forces fired off several American-supplied Patriot missiles as the deadly battle in the sky commenced.Missile-on-missile battles like this play out in a matter of minutes, said a Ukrainian major, Volodymyr, the commander of a Patriot air-defense battery who insisted that only his first name be used because of the sensitivity of his unit’s operations.From a mobile control room near Kyiv, his team tracked the salv...
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U.S. Added 216,000 Jobs in December, Outpacing Forecasts
6Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Business

U.S. Added 216,000 Jobs in December, Outpacing Forecasts

The U.S. labor market ended 2023 with a bang, gaining more jobs than experts had expected and buoying hopes that the economy can settle into a solid, sustainable level of growth rather than fall into a recession.Employers added 216,000 jobs in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent.Although hiring has slowed in recent months, layoffs remain near record lows. The durability of both hiring and wage gains is all the more remarkable in light of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive series of interest rate increases in the past couple of years. But a range of analysts warns that the coast is not yet clear and says the effects of those higher rates will take time to filter through business activity.“The real...
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