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ASK IRA: Will game against Bulls show if 2022-23 Heat are even average?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

Q: I had to laugh when you posted all the readers who said the Miami Heat should tank their play-in game against the Chicago Bulls. The fact is they were supposedly in playoff mode and still were unable to beat a mediocre Atlanta Hawks team. The Heat are a deeply flawed team with no power forward; an undersized center, who wilts under pressure; a player in Jimmy Butler who seemingly plays hard only when he feels like it; a G League starting point guard; and Max Strus who can’t hit the right side of a barn. Jim Mora’s iconic rant applies to the Miami Heat: “Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs! You kidding me? Playoffs? I hope we can win a game!” – Jeff, Plantation.A: In the NBA, where 16 of the 30 teams make the playoffs, you need only be an average team to advance to that level. We’re about to see if this has even been an average season. Yes, the Bulls came on late in the season. But you are talking about a 40-42 team. If you can’t bea...

Three takeaways from Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr.’s introductory news conference

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

The newest Raven, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., took questions for more than 35 minutes at his introductory news conference Thursday, discussing why he chose Baltimore, the state of his rehabilitated knee and quarterback Lamar Jackson’s future with the franchise.Flanked by coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta, Beckham commanded this new stage like the star he is. But what did we actually learn from his words? Here are three takeaways:The Ravens wooed Odell Beckham Jr. not just with money, but by making him feel wanted.Owner Steve Bisciotti closed this deal.DeCosta had pitched Beckham and his agent, Zeke Sandhu, since last October, when it seemed as if the three-time Pro Bowl selection might play the last few weeks of the 2022 season. “We went into it knowing we were underdogs,” DeCosta said Thursday.With the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams still pursuing Beckham over the past month, that might have remained the case had Bisciotti not reached o...

10 years after the Boston Marathon bombing, how has public safety changed: ‘People are very vigilant’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

Ten years after the Boston Marathon bombing, law enforcement leaders who were front-and-center in the investigation to track down the Tsarnaev brothers spoke to the Herald about how public safety has changed since the scarring tragedy.Police officers screening spectators’ bags and backpacks is now seen all along Boylston Street at checkpoints on Marathon Monday.“That changed at the marathon and at nearly every venue you go into now,” said Ed Davis, who was the Boston Police Department’s commissioner at the time of the terrorist attack.“We had a pretty robust security plan prior to 2013, which was integral in allowing us to respond the way we did, though there were some gaps in it,” Davis said.None of the city’s cameras on Boylston Street were recording at the time of the attack, he said. Police were fortunately able to use private businesses’ surveillance cameras to identify Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and put the case together....

Howie Carr: Panic ends with a whimper

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

On March 16, 2020, a national COVID-19 emergency was declared for 15 days – to flatten the curve.And now, a mere 1,135 days later, the 15-day national emergency is finally over, with a statement signed behind closed doors at the White House and this terse official statement from the White House:“On Monday April 10, 2023 the President signed into law: H.J. Res. 7, which terminates the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”And, er, that was about it.No ticker tape parades. No massive celebrations in Times Square with sailors grabbing young women and kissing them. No honking horns. No two-hour specials on state-run TV networks with Dr. Anthony Fauci reminiscing about the Good Old COVID Days.So this is how the Panic ends, to paraphrase the poet, not with a bang but a whimper.You couldn’t call it V-C day, because the Red Chinese flu is still around. But then, the scam was never about COVID. It was about Trump, and getting rid of him. But that was years ago now – it just se...

Trudeau’s chief of staff set to testify in foreign interference probe

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

A committee tasked with studying alleged foreign interference in Canada’s last two elections is set to hear from the prime minister’s chief of staff today.Katie Telford is scheduled to be a witness at the procedure and House affairs committee this afternoon, to talk about what she knows about Chinese meddling in the 2019 and 2021 elections.Previous witnesses in recent months — including the head of Canada’s spy agency and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly — have revealed little, citing national security laws that limit what they can say.The Conservatives have been working to get Telford to answer questions for weeks, with MP Michael Cooper saying calling her the second most powerful person in the Liberal government.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s had many conversations with Telford about foreign interference over many years, because it’s an issue that needs to be taken seriously.Trudeau has appointed David Johnston as a special rapporteur to advise government on what it ...

Nuggets enter playoffs healthy for first time since bubble

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Not since Jamal Murray was dropping 50 points on the Utah Jazz back in the NBA’s bubble in 2020 have the Denver Nuggets entered the playoffs as healthy as they are now.Murray missed the team’s last two trips to the postseason after tearing up his left knee on April 12, 2021, and back surgery kept Michael Porter Jr. out of last year’s playoffs, as well.Without two-thirds of Denver’s star power on the bench, Nikola Jokic shouldered the Nuggets’ playoff fortunes in 2021 and ’22, and that burden proved too heavy even for a two-time NBA MVP.He did lead the Nuggets past Portland in the opening round two years ago with a starting lineup that included Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo. But that was followed by a four-game loss to Phoenix in the second round and a first-round exit last year when Denver lost to the championship-bound Golden State Warriors.Those truncated playoff runs are a big source of doubt for national pundits and prognost...

Global stocks rise after US inflation cools

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose Friday after U.S. inflation eased in March and China reported unexpectedly strong exports.London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Oil prices rose.Wall Street futures were lower, giving up part of Thursday’s gains after U.S. inflation at the wholesale level slowed more than expected.Asian markets were “taking cues from a solid rally on Wall Street,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report.In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.2% to 7,862.09. The DAX in Frankfurt advanced 0.2% to 7,843.38 and the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.2% higher at 7,497.61.On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was off 0.2%. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3%.On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 1.3% after government data showed prices paid to U.S. producers in March rose at their slowest rate in more than two years.The Dow advanced 1.1%. The Nasdaq jumped 2% to 12,166.27.In A...

US energy secretary says G7 can lead global emissions cuts

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

OTARU, Japan (AP) — Wealthy nations can lead by example in cutting carbon emissions, though much faster action is needed to stem global warming, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. Granholm and other senior energy and environment officials from the Group of Seven advanced economies are in Hokkaido in northern Japan this week for meetings on climate change, energy security and related issues.“That’s what we hope to do is lead by example,” Granholm said after touring the world’s first and only liquefied hydrogen carrier, a ship that showcases Japanese efforts to transform heavily polluting coal into emissions-free hydrogen power. At the G-7 summit in May last year, member nations set a common goal of achieving a fully or predominantly decarbonized electricity supply by 2035.The fact that carbon emissions are continuing to rise despite massive investments in cleaner energy is “very disappointing,” Granholm said. But she noted t...

98.3 TRY Social Dilemma: Can the boss at my job MAKE his staff work out?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Today's 98.3 TRY Social Dilemma came from Corinne and it's about work and working out. Here's her email: Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Hi Jaime, I'm writing because I think my boss has gone overboard in what he is requiring from his staff. About two months ago, the boss thought it would be good to do a team building exercise. So he paid for everyone to get an app that tracks their daily exercise. That sounds fine, but it's actually being required to participate. That means everyday, you have to write down in the app what exercise you do. Then the boss checks everyone's app at the end of the week and if you haven't participated, you get called out for it in front of everyone, and it's clear the boss is upset about it. I feel like this is a BIG overstep, but I'm the only one who wants to do something about it. The rest of my "team" which is about 9 people says it's easier to just fake the exercise y...

Ask Amy: Legacy employee contemplates retirement

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:34 GMT

Dear Amy: I have worked for the same company for more than 30 years, and I am ready to retire in a few months.They have no idea that I am contemplating retirement.What would be an acceptable length of notice to provide them?Is it just like getting a new job and providing the standard two- or three-week notice, or should I provide them more notice since it is a retirement?I should note that when others in the organization have hit the 25 and 30 year work anniversaries, there were parties, speeches, and gifts given.I suspect these same employees also received certain benefits I have not been given.However, when I hit my 25- and 30-year work anniversaries, there was nothing. No one in the organization acknowledged it. I said nothing, but it really hurt my feelings.I have received perfect performance reviews for the last 10 years, so I know they are happy with my work.Do I owe them more than a two-week notice?— Ready to GoDear Ready to Go: My research on this topic indicates that ...