711 jili casino
711 jili casino
Hunter Biden's baby mama makes stunning admission about the president's controversial pardon By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Published: 22:47, 9 December 2024 | Updated: 22:47, 9 December 2024 e-mail View comments Hunter Biden 's baby mama Lunden Roberts said Monday that she understood President Joe Biden 's decision to pardon his son - and supported that decision. The statement comes after Roberts had demanded Hunter be jailed in April 2023 for refusing to hand over his financial records in a child support dispute. Roberts put out a statement through her publisher Skyhorse one week and one day after the president announced that he would pardon Hunter after months of insisting he wouldn't. She penned the book Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden , which was released in August, about her whirlwind relationship with Hunter at the height of his drug addiction, giving birth to the couple's 6-year-old daughter Navy Joan in August 2018. 'I think what Joe did is what the love of any parent would do and not everybody will understand that,' she said. 'I'd like to see more of that love towards Navy Joan and hope that Biden will take the steps to become a grandparent for my daughter,' she added. As part of her eventual child support agreement with Hunter, Roberts OKed getting paid less money each month as long as Hunter started working toward having a real relationship with their child - and they have connected over Zoom calls. Roberts has also expressed that she'd love Navy Joan to have a relationship with her famous grandparents, admitting in the past that it's been hurtful that her daughter wasn't included in the White House's Christmas stocking display . Hunter Biden's baby mama Lunden Roberts said Monday that she understood President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son - and supported that decision President Joe Biden (left) and Hunter Biden (right) go shopping in Nantucket together over the Thanksgiving holiday. The president pardoned his son the day after the trip She started the statement by saying, 'I don't know what it's like to be president so I can't say what choices I would make if I was in Biden's shoes, but I am a mother.' 'There's nothing I wouldn't do for my child. No barrier I wouldn't break for Navy Joan,' Roberts said. She added that she believed Hunter was 'targeted because of who his dad is.' 'Many people have done what he's done and have never gotten in trouble,' she continued. 'But because his dad is president, he's being held to a different set of circumstances.' In June, Hunter had been convicted of three felony charges for federal gun violations - after lying about his sobriety when purchasing a firearm. Hunter's drug use was widely known about after he penned a memoir on the subject. He also pleaded guilty in a federal tax case. The first son was due to be sentenced in both these cases this month but was pardoned by his father on December 1. A picture of Navy Joan (left) with her mother Lunden Roberts (right) last year. Roberts said in her statement that she hoped the president 'will take the steps to become a grandparent for my daughter' The Bidens had just returned from their annual Thanksgiving trip to Nantucket when the president issued the controversial pardon, before making his first and only trip to Africa as president. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been peppered with questions since, since Biden had adamently said he would not pardon Hunter. She told reporters Friday that the reason for the flip-flop was that 'circumstances have changed.' 'Look, if you look at his statement, it's pretty comprehensive. It's in his own voice. I think it takes you through his thinking. And he did - he wrestled with this. He wrestled with this,' Jean-Pierre said. 'And again, he said, in his statement, in his own voice, that he made that decision this past weekend.' 'And the fact is, when you think about how the president got to this decision, circumstances have changed. They have,' she argued. Politics Joe Biden Hunter Biden Share or comment on this article: Hunter Biden's baby mama makes stunning admission about the president's controversial pardon e-mail Add commentImages of unmasked suspect in UnitedHealth executive shooting key to arrest
Croatia's president faces conservative rival in election run-offPapua New Guinea's AFL trailblazer, Hewago Paul Oea, says it's special - and a tad crazy. The AFL's international development manager Ben Drew says it's exceptional - both Oea and the talent on display. Oea and Drew are watching the AFL's Pacific Cup being contested at Maroochydore on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. "Some of the football being played is exceptional," Drew told AAP. "And it wouldn't have been anything like this 10 years ago." About a decade ago, Drew was in PNG in his role as the AFL's South Pacific manager and first met Oea. "My older brother played rugby league and AFL," Oea told AAP. "Growing up I was watching league as the number one sport back in PNG but it was good to see my brother play both sports. "And I started following him and just playing footy. I just jumped on board and started playing AFL in the junior program. "Watching AFL back home, I was: One day, I hopefully will make it, if I want to work hard now and push myself, one day I will fulfil my dream'. "And my dream come true and I got picked up by the Gold Coast Suns." Oea, universally known as Ace, made his AFL debut for the Suns in 2022 - he was delisted at the end of last season by Gold Coast but remains in training with the club in hope of earning another contract as a supplemental selection. He's reckoned to be the first to play at the elite level after discovering and learning the game overseas, rather than be established in other sports when targeted by AFL recruiters, such as multiple Irishmen and American Mason Cox, or born overseas then adopted the code in Australia. Oea is now not just the role model for about 500 players at the current Pacific Cup, featuring PNG, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Tonga and South Africa in men's and women's open, and U17 male and female competitions. He is also the model for the AFL's entire Pacific pathway. "The pathway that we have in place for these young boys and girls is largely modelled on the journey that we took him on," Drew said. "From a 12-year-old, through to joining the Suns academy at 16, 17, fulltime; and then getting on the NEAFL list; then getting a rookie spot and then being elevated to the (Gold Coast) senior list." Oea, born in Gordon in PNG as the youngest of seven children, fell in love with Australian Rules via the Niukick program in Port Moresby - the locally-branded Auskick program. Drew met him around that time. "I have known Ace since he was 11 when he was in our programs in Port Moresby," Drew said. "I have known his family for a long time. I remember putting him on his first plane and flying down with him after sitting with his Dad and getting the family's blessing to come and move a 15-year-old kid to Australia to have a chance for three months. "Ace wasn't at school. We had to put some tutoring around him to help him read and write and understand, his English has come along so far and his journey is only just beginning. "He's an an amazing role model. "Ace is so generous with his time, he doesn't flinch - whenever our kids are in town he rings me before I get to ring him to say: 'Where are they, I am coming'. "He is just such a great role model and a great person and we're really blessed that he came through the pathway. "He gives up a lot of his time to give back to the kids from all the (Pacific) countries not just PNG; he's always in our Pacific camps, he goes and sees all the players from all the countries." "And hopefully they can come back and one day follow my pathway and fulfil their dream." The Pacific Cup, which concludes on Sunday, is a newly formed event stemming from the AFL's International Cup which was held every three years. The most recent International Cup was in 2017 as the COVID pandemic cancelled the 2020 tournament. "Once we were able to get back from COVID, it was 'is that the best model, how do we support that, do our countries and our affiliates have the ability to all get to Australia at the same time'," Drew said. "So we came to the conclusion that in the short-term, why don't we just split up the world a little bit and hold three regional events." The Transatlantic Cup was staged in Canada last August, with the Pacific Cup to be followed by the Asia Cup in Vietnam next month. "It was extremely important to have something for our affiliates to aspire to at a senior level," Drew said. "Aspiration is important. If there's nothing to aspire to, then generating development and community programs in country becomes a challenge. "For us, the results and who wins and loses is irrelevant in a way - but for the countries, everyone wants to win the tournament. "It's a starting point for our international program. "Once those three competitions are run we will review and come to a conclusion of what we feel is the best model moving forward to continue the growth of international football at a senior level which will impact and help community programs in each country."
Jim Harbaugh and Chargers focused on accomplishing more after wrapping up playoff berthFor teachers who feel ill-equipped to design learning experiences with digital tools, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has a message: help is on the way. SETDA is developing a document for release in fall 2025 to help schools use federal professional development funds to boost teacher tech training, working in partnership with Learning Forward, a professional learning association for educators, as well as the International Society for Technology in Education and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ( ), according to a Monday. The project is supported by a grant from Google.org. The focus of the guide is of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides federal funding to states and districts for educator professional development. The document will include research on how to effectively train teachers to use technology and details on how schools can best use Title II-A funds to provide this training, the news release states. The impetus for the project is the fact that, according to a May 2024 from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), fewer than 40 percent of school districts use any portion of their Title II-A funds for teacher professional development on the use of technology. Learning Forward's Chief Policy Officer Melinda George said the hope is to raise that percentage. “Developing educators’ skills and knowledge around the use of technology must be planned and implemented as ongoing, job-embedded and collaborative professional learning,” George said in a public statement. “Title II-A dollars provide an essential funding source for equipping teachers and leaders to meet the needs of all students.” The decision to create the resource comes in the wake of a “call to action” in the (NETP) to make sure teachers in every school offer quality lessons with and about technology. Lack of teacher professional development in this area has led to what ED calls a " " — a division between districts that do and do not give teachers the time and support necessary for them to learn how to create lessons that use digital tools. To close this divide, school leaders must address “opportunities for educators to expand their professional learning and build the capacities necessary to design learning experiences enabled by technology,” the plan states. SETDA worked with ED to build the 2024 NETP. A common theme of educator input for the plan was that teachers need more professional development to be able to build quality lesson plans that include technology, according to SETDA Executive Director Julia Fallon. “As the lead contractor to the U.S. Department of Education in developing the 2024 NETP, we heard from educators across the country about the critical need for time and support necessary to design instruction that meaningfully integrates technology use,” Fallon said in a public statement. “We are excited to collaborate with Learning Forward and ISTE+ASCD to identify ways that the long-standing Title II-A program can be leveraged to address these challenges and drive the modernization of our education system.”
Maverick McNealy birdies the last hole at Sea Island to finally become PGA Tour winnerWASHINGTON — Mayor Richard J. Daley played a key role in the 1976 election of President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100. During the Democratic primary season, Daley was instrumental in landing the nomination for Carter. The Georgia governor would go on to win the 1976 presidential contest, though in November, he didn’t carry Illinois. “His political ties here were pretty strong,” William Daley, the son of the late mayor, told the Sun-Times. The powerful Chicago mayor took a chance on Carter, running in 1976 as an outsider. When Carter “started to win all the primaries,” showing his potential to clinch the nomination, William Daley said his father blocked a “movement by the so-called old-liners, institutional Democrats” who were trying to stop Carter and entice former Vice President Hubert Humphrey into the primary. “And my dad ... said, ‘No, nobody should challenge him. He’s winning with the voters, and he should be the nominee of the party,’” he said. WTTW’s John Callaway interviewed Carter in 2006 about his memories of coming to Chicago, Daley and the 1976 primary. “I came here as an unknown governor from Georgia,” Carter said, and went to see Daley “just to pay my respects, and he took a liking to me for some reason.” Carter said he would “spend some time with him on each visit. That was when I had maybe three or four percent in the polls; nobody thought I was gonna win.” Carter said, “Mayor Daley told me that if I carried Ohio” he would deliver Illinois votes for him. “So the night that I carried Ohio, the phone rang, Mayor Daley was on the phone, he said you’ve got 273 votes in the Democratic convention that you didn’t have a few moments ago.” After Carter won the nomination, Daley pushed to turn out Chicago votes for him in November general election. That included doing Carter a favor. A traditional get-out-the-vote giant torchlight parade was typically held the Saturday before the fall election, but in 1976, Daley moved it up, to Sept. 9. That idea was to give Carter a national boost with a tour de force in Chicago. The parade kicked off at Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue, and the marchers wound their way to Medinah Temple, 600 N. Wabash Ave., the turnout a testimony to Daley’s powerful Democratic machine. Carter waved to the crowds from a convertible, where he sat between Daley and Sen. Adlai Stevenson III, coming to the city after stumping that day in Peoria, Springfield and Evergreen Park. As the presidential nominee, Carter returned to Chicago on Oct. 11, with wife, Rosalynn, and daughter Amy, marching next to Daley at the Columbus Day Parade on State Street. But it was not enough. Though Democratic presidential candidates have won Illinois in every election since 1992, back in 1976, Illinois was still a swing state. Despite losing nationally, Ford and his running mate, Sen. Bob Dole, took Illinois, with 50.1% of the vote to 48.1% for Carter and his vice presidential pick, Walter Mondale. That December, Carter returned to Chicago while president-elect to attend Daley’s funeral at the Nativity of Our Lord Roman Catholic Church. “He came to my dad’s funeral in December of ’76, and a month later, he was inaugurated and invited the four of us — my three brothers and I — to come to the inauguration,” William Daley said. “And it was really nice of him” reaching out to a family still in mourning. “But we went. He gave us great seats, and it was really nice of him.” Carter’s 1980 campaign: Byrne’s knifing Chicago is also the place where Carter, running for a second term, was double-crossed by Mayor Jane Byrne, in one of the most famous knifings in modern Chicago political history. Carter was in Chicago for a fundraiser at McCormick Place. Sen. Ted Kennedy was poised to challenge Carter in the Democratic primary. At the fundraiser, Byrne told the crowd that she would endorse Carter if the election were held that night, a message she also sent privately. Except the election was not held that night. Within weeks, Byrne did a U-turn, endorsing Kennedy. As the Sun-Times’ Basil Talbott reported at the time, “the mayor denied she was changing her mind about Carter, although on two recent occasions she said she would back him for reelection. “I told the president I could support him, until I thought he could not win,” Byrne said. Byrne didn’t have enough juice to defeat Carter, who was running in the March 1980 Illinois primary with the backing of the Daley clan. In the Illinois primary, Carter, with 65% bested Kennedy, at 30%. Byrne went on in the general election campaign to appear with Carter, the 39th president, at a Daley Center rally on Oct. 6, 1980. While Carter won Illinois in 1976, he lost the state in 1980. In November, Republican Ronald Reagan, born in Tampico, Ill., beat Carter 49.6% to 41.7% Reagan won the general election, becoming the 40th president. Carter visited Chicago in his post presidential years. He came for speeches, panels and to promote one of his signature initiatives, Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for low-income people. He also came to see his grandchildren. His son Jack lived in Evanston for a time, moving to the area in 1981. According to records in the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Jack Carter worked at the Chicago Board of Trade, Citibank and Tabor Commodities, a subsidiary of Archer-Daniels-Midland, now known as ADM. Chicago fundraiser hosted by future Commerce secretary When Carter, then governor of Georgia, was running for president the first time, he came to Chicago for a fundraiser. One of the event sponsors was Philip Klutznick, a real estate developer, prominent Democrat and international Jewish leader. Klutznick couldn’t attend the event, so he asked his daughter, Bettylu Saltzman, to stand in for him. “And I was introduced in a rather inartful way to Gov. Carter,” Saltzman told the Sun-Times. She was referred to only as “Phil Klutznick’s daughter,” as if she were not a person with her own identity. Carter picked up on the slight. “And Gov. Carter, in a way so that other people could hear it said, ‘I bet you have a name,’” said Saltzman, recalling how his compassionate reply reflected the enduring decency Carter became known for. Klutznick would go on to serve as Carter’s commerce secretary from Jan. 9, 1980, to Jan. 19, 1981, with his daughter, Bettylu Saltzman, a major Democratic activist, instrumental in the later rise of Barack Obama. At Klutznick’s swearing-in — his oath was administered by Abner Mikva, the former Chicago congressman who was then an appeals court judge — Carter made a joke about Klutznick’s rag-to-riches story with a reference to Chicago’s Water Tower Place. Klutznick developed the mixed-use skyscraper, and he lived on the 72nd floor. Carter said, “He knows business from top to bottom, or I should say bottom to top. He was born in a room above his family’s store. He now lives in a penthouse — above the headquarters for a giant business complex.”
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:24 p.m. ESTAfter rough start under coach Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks' defense has become a strength
Montana women's basketball suffers blowout loss at undefeated Minnesota
IU INDY 88, ALABAMA A&M 83
Russell Martin takes responsibility for Southampton's defensive errors: 'That is on me'Find the links between the words to win today's game of Connections. Looking for Sunday’s Connections hints and answers instead? You can find them here: Hey, there! Welcome to the start of what will be a very short week for many of you. It’s just a regular work week for me, except that I’ll probably be writing about a bunch of Black Friday deals in the coming days at my other main gig. For no real reason, I’m going to let you in on a little personal secret. I’ve been using computers since I was a small child, but I never learned to touch type. I did try some touch type training programs, but it never clicked for me. So, instead, I end up looking down at my keyboard a lot. I instinctively know where all the keys are, but I still need that mental reassurance that I’m hitting the correct ones, more or less. This is horribly inefficient and leads to me making many typos (I made four in this sentence alone). But it’s what I’m used to and I’m comfortable with my typing style. My point is, you don’t have to do things exactly the same way as others to get the job done. I hold pens in a weird way too! Anyway! Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, November 25, are coming right up. This Viral Smart Bassinet Is 30% Off With The Snoo Black Friday Sale The 50 Best Black Friday Deals So Far, According To Our Deals Editors How To Play Connections Connections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT website or Games app. You’re presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part. There’s only one solution for each puzzle, and you’ll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them. Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay. Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and you’re incorrect, you’ll lose a life. If you’re close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that you’re one word away from getting it right, but you’ll still need to figure out which one to swap. If you make four mistakes, it’s game over. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen with the help of some hints, and, if you’re really struggling, today’s Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive . This includes every previous game of Connections , so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed. Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my hints for each grid via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query. What Are Today’s Connections Hints? Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them. Today’s 16 words are... And the hints for today’s Connections groups are: What Are Today’s Connections Groups? Need some extra help? Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory. Today’s Connections groups are... What Are Today’s Connections Answers? Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers. This is your final warning! Today’s Connections answers are... I didn't have too much trouble today, but I didn't get a perfect game, unfortunately. I extended my win streak to four. Here's how I fared: 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 I got the blues immediately, but ran into a little trouble with a guess of HOST, SCORE, FLOCK and CROWD. SEA was also an option, and SCORE felt like the odd one out, so that swap gave me the greens. The yellows then stood out to me on the half-grid, but I submitted the purple group first, just because I could. I would not have stood a chance at figuring that connection out. That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog for hints and the solution for Tuesday’s game if you need them. P.S. I was very happy to see a new Franz Ferdinand video pop up in my YouTube recommendations a few days ago. Such an excellent band. I'm seeing them for perhaps the sixth or seventh time (festivals included) this spring and I'm really looking forward to it. Their shows are always energetic and they’re a whole lot of fun. The song isn't quite as catchy as "Take Me Out," "Michael" or my favorite of theirs "Do You Want To?," but I like it very much all the same: If you’re so inclined, please do follow my blog for more coverage of Connections and other word games and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot!
Pierre Poilievre could receive and make public the names of Conservatives allegedly tied to foreign meddling, former top spy says
Kylie Kelce claims she curses in front of her children ‘daily’ — what do experts say about that?
Special counsel moves to abandon election interference and classified documents cases against Trump
None
MP Sokratis Famellos has been elected the new leader of the left-wing SYRIZA party; official final results are still pending. At 11.25 pm, about an hour after they had said they would post final results, SYRIZA posted that, with 99% of precincts reporting, Famellos was leading with 49.41% of the votes, followed by MP Pavlos Polakis (43.51%), MEP Nikolas Farantouris (5.09%) and regional councilor, ex-mayor of Stylida and actor Apostolos Gletsos (1.99%). It appears that, with Famellos so close to the 50% plus one vote threshold, it has been decided to acknowledge him as leader by acclamation in order to avoid a runoff. “I want to congratulate Sokratis Famellos. A runoff is not needed. We must stay united to organize the fight against Mitsotakis’ deep state,” Polakis said a few minutes later from party headquarters. Earlier, he had been quoted as saying that “I will not make the SYRIZA people suffer through a second vote.” “We don’t any more division and toxicity,” Polakis added in his concession speech. Farantouris, had already congratulated Famellos about half an hour earlier, declaring that he will be by his side. Even as he congratulated his main rival, Polakis took a dig at Famellos’ frequent appearances on TV saying that “I will go down in history as the only person to gain this share of the vote, having been in only one (major) TV channel.” He also attacked former leader Stefanos Kasselakis, who has now left the party and on Saturday founded his own, Movement For Democracy. Famellos, who followed Polakis, said that “we are going back to ‘together’,” also a dig at Kasselakis’ tendency to go his own way, ignoring the party’s elected organs in favor of what he called a direct dialogue with the people. “It is a good day for SYRIZA, a good day for the Left,” Famellos said, before shaking hands with Polakis. All four candidates expressed a wish to see the once ruling party resurrected as the main progressive alternative to the conservative New Democracy. A tall order, given a string of recent opinion polls showing SYRIZA retreating deep into single-digit territory percentage-wise. The number of voters, 70,152, is a sure sign of the party’s diminished status. In the previous leadership contest, just over a year ago, 148,821 had shown up to vote in the first round and 134,420 in the runoff which elected political neophyte Kasselakis. Kasselakis’ main rival, Effi Achtsioglou, and like-minded party members defected to form the New Left party, in December 2023, followed by Kasselakis himself earlier this month. SYRIZA did its best to lower the bar, letting it be known that 50,000 voters would be a good number.By TRÂN NGUYỄN SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California, home to some of the largest technology companies in the world, would be the first U.S. state to require mental health warning labels on social media sites if lawmakers pass a bill introduced Monday. The legislation sponsored by state Attorney General Rob Bonta is necessary to bolster safety for children online, supporters say, but industry officials vow to fight the measure and others like it under the First Amendment. Warning labels for social media gained swift bipartisan support from dozens of attorneys general, including Bonta, after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to establish the requirements earlier this year, saying social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people. “These companies know the harmful impact their products can have on our children, and they refuse to take meaningful steps to make them safer,” Bonta said at a news conference Monday. “Time is up. It’s time we stepped in and demanded change.” State officials haven’t provided details on the bill, but Bonta said the warning labels could pop up once weekly. Up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 say they use a social media platform, and more than a third say that they use social media “almost constantly,” according to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center. Parents’ concerns prompted Australia to pass the world’s first law banning social media for children under 16 in November. “The promise of social media, although real, has turned into a situation where they’re turning our children’s attention into a commodity,” Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who authored the California bill, said Monday. “The attention economy is using our children and their well-being to make money for these California companies.” Lawmakers instead should focus on online safety education and mental health resources, not warning label bills that are “constitutionally unsound,” said Todd O’Boyle, a vice president of the tech industry policy group Chamber of Progress. “We strongly suspect that the courts will set them aside as compelled speech,” O’Boyle told The Associated Press. Victoria Hinks’ 16-year-old daughter, Alexandra, died by suicide four months ago after being “led down dark rabbit holes” on social media that glamorized eating disorders and self-harm. Hinks said the labels would help protect children from companies that turn a blind eye to the harm caused to children’s mental health when they become addicted to social media platforms. “There’s not a bone in my body that doubts social media played a role in leading her to that final, irreversible decision,” Hinks said. “This could be your story.” Related Articles National News | Biden creates Native American boarding school national monument to mark era of forced assimilation National News | How should the opioid settlements be spent? Those hit hardest often don’t have a say National News | ‘Polarization’ is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year National News | Supreme Court rejects appeal challenging Hawaii gun licensing requirements under Second Amendment National News | Supreme Court rejects appeal from Boston parents over race bias in elite high school admissions Common Sense Media, a sponsor of the bill, said it plans to lobby for similar proposals in other states. California in the past decade has positioned itself as a leader in regulating and fighting the tech industry to bolster online safety for children. The state was the first in 2022 to bar online platforms from using users’ personal information in ways that could harm children. It was one of the states that sued Meta in 2023 and TikTok in October for deliberately designing addictive features that keep kids hooked on their platforms. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, also signed several bills in September to help curb the effects of social media on children, including one to prohibit social media platforms from knowingly providing addictive feeds to children without parental consent and one to limit or ban students from using smartphones on school campus. Federal lawmakers have held hearings on child online safety and legislation is in the works to force companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm. The legislation has the support of X owner Elon Musk and the President-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr . Still, the last federal law aimed at protecting children online was enacted in 1998, six years before Facebook’s founding.
Swift's daily impact on Vancouver may have exceeded 2010 Games, says industry figureSonos needs a win. A problem-riddled update to the Sonos app over the summer almost completely sank the brand’s reputation, and the release of its Ace headphones was met with far less enthusiasm than the prominent home audio company anticipated. Fortunately, Sonos had something else up its sleeve: a new, reimagined version of its flagship soundbar that took a systematic approach to making a great sound profile even better. The Arc Ultra is here, and its 9.1.4-channel, bass-happy, Bluetooth-enabled system may be exactly what the audio engineers ordered to pull Sonos out of its slump. From an aesthetics perspective, the Arc Ultra doesn’t differ much from the Arc. Its dimensions stretch an inch or so here, and a few ounces lighter there. But the Ultra is largely the same sleek-looking addition to your entertainment center or TV stand that its predecessor is known to be. The same patented Sonos features are all back in the Arc Ultra, from the expansive world of wireless music streaming service options to built-in Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility, and of course the ability to work in tandem with other Sonos speakers around your house for a whole-home audio experience. And, just like the Arc, the Arc Ultra is able to seamlessly swap TV audio to a pair of Sonos Ace headphones for late-night listening. I didn’t have an Ace on hand to test this feature, but I have previously tested the Ace with the Arc, and it worked flawlessly. Hopefully not much has changed on that front. Not usually one to stand pat, Sonos did introduce a few new (and long overdue) features with the Arc Ultra. The brand’s Trueplay technology, which is supposed to automatically adjust the speaker’s sound to match the acoustics of your listening space, is now available on iOS and Android after previously being an Apple-exclusive perk. And, interestingly, the Ultra now has Bluetooth connectivity options. Those who have been following Sonos since its early days remember how adamant it was about WiFi being superior to Bluetooth for audio quality. They’re right, of course. But it is significant to see that Sonos has finally accepted the convenience factor that Bluetooth offers, especially when a guest wants to quickly put something on. One of the main blemishes that carries over from the Arc is the singular HDMI eARC port and unfortunate lack of HDMI passthrough inputs. The logic is somewhat sound here: modern TVs tend to have several HDMI ports and can effectively operate as an entertainment hub that all of your gaming and streaming devices can connect to. Still, though, it wouldn’t hurt to have at least one HDMI passthrough port available. After setting up the Arc Ultra in the much-maligned Sonos app (the process was, thankfully, effortless and without issue), I immediately started surfing through my library of Dolby Atmos-outfitted content. With the Ultra’s driver configuration now standing at 9.1.4 compared to the Arc’s 5.0.2, and with Sonos itself claiming that with its Sound Motion tech, the new bar has better clarity, depth, balance and double the bass output, it was time to see what the fuss was all about. Well. The hype is real. The bass is deeper, and more impactful. The Ultra’s height channels add more presence and immersion. The sound profile is incredibly balanced overall and adds noticeably more detail to an already-outstanding experience when compared to the Arc. I first cycled through a few scenes from Blade Runner 2049, with the Ultra proving to have far more low end than I anticipated, though not so much that its dedicated woofer overshadowed the Ultra’s midrange drivers and tweeters. After being captivated by the visceral sounds of the Vietnam war in The World’s Greatest Beer Run – machine gun fire, overhead choppers and all – I navigated over to an old favorite, Avengers: Endgame. While the movie isn’t necessarily revered for its Dolby Atmos mix, I was impressed by where the sound was placed when Thanos’ warship “rained fire” from above in the film’s pivotal action sequence. I played the same scene through my Arc, and while you do have to account for the bars being in different rooms with different acoustics, the Arc Ultra performed better in an environment that actually had taller ceilings for its upfiring drivers to bound sound off of. Based on my time testing the Arc, I expected music through the Arc Ultra to sound great, and it once again exceeded expectations. The sound signatures weren’t as different as they were when I was testing with movie content, but the Ultra once again had more pronounced, precise bass notes that really helped to round out the tracks I was listening to. It was punchy for upbeat country songs by Shaboozey and dug deeper than I expected for thumpers like Kendrick Lamar’s Swimming Pools. I even thought Chappell Roan’s live Saturday Night Live performance sounded exceptional through the Arc, even with SNL broadcasts not exactly being lighting rods for great sound. My only performance issues with the Arc Ultra are two-fold. First, while we do have the ability to adjust bass and treble, turn up or down height audio, and access features like Speech Enhancement or Night Mode, it feels like the app is in real need of a graphic EQ of some sort. Now, the bar itself sounds excellent out of the box. But most flagship soundbars give you the flexibility to tune your system’s audio to your exact tastes, with options like the Samsung HW-Q990D even adding perks like being able to increase or decrease the output of individual channels. I understand the notion of not messing with (relative) perfection, but let the audio nerds tinker, man. Finally, that darn Sonos app. Fortunately, I never dealt with the widespread functionality issues that have tarnished the Sonos experience for so many. That said, I do have beef with parts of the interface. For instance, I can’t adjust the soundbar’s bass or height levels from the app’s “now playing” screen. Instead, I have to toggle over to my devices, tap on the Arc Ultra, and dive into its audio settings from there. It’s a small annoyance, but it was a consistent one whenever I wanted a little more bass or a little less height. There’s no shortage of soundbars trying to compete with a package as complete as the Sonos Arc Ultra, but we’re going to touch on the few that actually can. First, naturally is the Sonos Arc. There’s a bunch of Arc owners out there right now mulling whether to make the move to replace their bar with the Arc Ultra. As I’ve said, the Arc Ultra is a significant improvement over the Arc when it comes to sound quality. With that in mind, the Arc still gets you pretty darn close performance-wise. As an Arc owner myself, I would lean towards waiting for a discount (of which there are few in the Sonos world) to seal the deal on the upgrade. If you’re new to the Sonos world and trying to pick between the two, however, it’s worth it to spend the extra cash to get the better bar. The bar best equipped to match (or, in some circumstances, eclipse) the Arc Ultra is Samsung’s HW-Q990D. It’s more expensive (though it goes on sale often), but Samsung’s flagship has its own wireless rear speakers and subwoofer. The Arc Ultra’s bass output and wide soundstage are both impressive, but they won’t be able to match the output of the real deal like the HW-Q990D can. You can, of course, invest in Sonos speakers like the Era 100 or 300 and Sonos Sub for your bass, but adding those pieces to the puzzle more than doubles the cost of an Ultra. By those metrics, the HW-Q990D represents a better value while still adding cinematic sound to your home.
Previous:
Next: 80 jili app
