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Folan: Lessons learned working a summer job

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

My father was part of the “Greatest Generation.” The son of Irish immigrants, my dad grew up during the Depression, joined the Navy, and served during World War II. Dedication, loyalty, fortitude, and hard work were many of the values preached in our household. My father believed those values were best learned through manual labor, in fact, the harder the better. For him, working a summer job was an imperative and invaluable experience.I always worked in restaurants and met a treasure trove of hardcore, talented, and dedicated people. This unique education began for me at age 13, when I began washing dishes in the summer. This led to peeling potatoes and cleaning shrimp, and soon enough I was pulled away from the dishwasher to test my mettle “on the line.” I was taught quickly how to properly use a knife, sauté scallops, and grill steaks. However, nothing epitomizes a cult of pain more than tossing pizzas in front a wood-burning oven on a Saturday night in July.The adrenaline rush, ...

‘They made it really easy’: Jed Hoyer buys in on Chicago Cubs roster after strong stretch leading to trade deadline

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

Jeimer Candelario, back in the Wrigley Field home dugout for the first time almost exactly six years later, glanced down at his new first baseman’s mitt.Well, not really new but borrowed, a smiling Candelario noted. Written in script across the light blue glove is Chicago Cubs teammate Miguel Amaya’s name. Acquired Monday by the organization, Candelario started at first base Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds.It’s a position manager David Ross said the 29-year-old switch hitter will play a “significant amount.” Except Candelario, who hasn’t played first base since 2020 in Detroit, no longer owns a first baseman’s mitt. He bought a couple after that season but then didn’t play the position the following year and he gave them away.So, for now, he is borrowing Amaya’s, but it’s Candelario’s offense and the power he adds to the Cubs that makes his addition especially valuable over the next two months as they try to...

Summer rolls keep dinner light – and fresh

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that the best meals in the dog days of summer come together quickly, without heating up the kitchen.Summer rolls are a terrific option for warm-weather cooking and dining, as they’re made from rice paper wrappers rolled around cold proteins, fresh herbs and a colorful array of crunchy vegetables. Picture a spring or egg roll, only with the ingredients served fresh in a translucent roll instead of hidden (and cooked) in deep-fried dough.While all the slicing and dicing of ingredients can take a hot minute, they’re easy to make at home once you get the hang of wrapping and rolling with your fingers. Fun, even, especially if you get the kids to lend a hand.Summer rolls are also incredibly versatile, with almost any protein, fruit or vegetable a tasty candidate for the filling. In fact, the flavor combinations are boundless; all you have to really decide is whether you want to go strictly vegetarian or work some magic...

‘A Compassionate Spy’ tracks Harvard grad who passed nuke secrets to Russia

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

With Robert Oppenheimer, the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” a surprising subject of interest for this hot summer, Steve James’ “A Compassionate Spy” couldn’t be more timely.The spy in question is Theodore Hall, a brilliant physicist whom Oppenheimer recruited in 1944 to join his Manhattan Project and make the first atomic bomb. Hall, who graduated from Harvard at 18, was the youngest physicist with the team.Concerned about the bomb’s real-world legacy, at 19 he passed nuclear secrets to Russia.“A Compassionate Spy” arrives as Christopher Nolan’s biopic “Oppenheimer” has become a blockbuster hit. Steve James, twice Oscar-nominated for his documentaries “Hoop Dreams” and “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” wrote, directed and edited “Spy.”“I hope that all the attention to Oppenheimer and all the people watching it will come away, curious to know more,” James, 68, said in a phone interview yesterday.  “It’s such a fascinating story.“At the ripe old age of 19, Ted makes this momen...

Reese McGuire homers in return as Red Sox beat Mariners 6-4 to snap skid

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

Tuesday was shaping up to be a major disappointment for the Red Sox.Coming into the evening riding a three-game losing streak, the club’s highly anticipated trade deadline wound up landing with a thud. With no major reinforcements coming and several rivals nipping at their heels, the Red Sox really couldn’t afford to let things spiral any further.To their credit, the Red Sox hung tough and found a way to turn things around.Making his return after more than a month on the injured list, catcher Reese McGuire hit his first home run of the season and tacked on a sacrifice fly to help lead the Red Sox to a badly needed 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners.Alex Verdugo also hit a two-run home run and Christian Arroyo had a two-run double to pace a bounce back effort by the Red Sox offense after a string of punchless performances, and the Boston bullpen came up huge in the late-innings to keep Seattle at bay.“That was huge, we had just given up a run in the last inning so to...

Editorial: Migrants overwhelm NYC – is Massachusetts next?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

When will Gov. Maura Healey have her Eric Adams moment?Healey has been adding help and housing options across the state as an influx of migrants continues unabated. But like New York City Mayor Eric Adams can attest, the need for housing and help extends beyond the immigrant community.The Healey administration announced Monday that a dorm at Eastern Nazarene College will serve as  emergency shelter for up to 58 families experiencing homelessness, including newly-arrived migrants. This is the second “welcome center” in Massachusetts, following the June opening of a center in Allston. There are also housing options at Joint Base Cape Cod.The Brazilian Worker Center, which runs the operation in Allston, has recruited locals to serve as hosts for newly-arrived families who do not have housing.As of July 21, there were 15 to 20 host families in Massachusetts, mostly active in hosting newly arrived families on the weekends, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and...

Lowry: Joe Biden is Donald Trump’s best friend

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

Donald Trump doesn’t look, at the moment, like he needs any help winning the Republican nomination, but he’s getting an assist from President Joe Biden.The incumbent president — rather than being the indispensable political antidote to Trump that Democrat imagine him as — may well prove the key to his predecessor’s return to the White House.Biden is an asset to Trump’s primary campaign and could, through his weakness and ineptitude, end up electing him in 2024.Biden is indicting Trump; he’s making Republicans pine for the days when Trump was president; and he’s lackluster in prospective head-to-head polling matchups.All of which is boosting his adversary’s prospects. The indictments, of course, create a rally-around-the flag effect among Republicans. It was the shoddy indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that launched Trump onto a new, higher trajectory in the primary race. But the federal indictments from Spec...

Moore: Will the Biden administration ban cigars?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

What is it with the Left that they want to ban nearly everything that is fun or convenient? Gas stoves, dishwashers, plastic straws, gas cars, snowmobiles and diving boards. And now the health busybodies want to ban certain cigars.Recently, a gang of senators led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) wrote a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf urging the agency to ban (or heavily regulate) flavored cigar sales. Under pressure from the health lobby, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said it’s primed to take action in the weeks ahead. They say underage teenagers are smoking these cigars and are at risk of becoming addicted.This makes as much sense as banning scotch because kids might smuggle a bottle from Dad’s liquor cabinet, or outlawing R-rated movies because 14-year-olds occasionally sneak into the theater.In 2009, Congress and President Barack Obama enacted the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act to give the federal govern...

Dear Abby: Man humiliates wife by sharing photos

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

Dear Abby: I’m an older woman. My husband and I have been married eight years but were together 15 years prior to our marriage. He is a wonderful, caring man in most ways. But from time to time, he snaps extremely unflattering photos of me, sends them to everyone we know and even orders enlargements made for me.I have a mouth condition that makes smiling painful, so unless I know a picture is being taken, I look really old and grumpy. I have asked him PLEASE not to do this because it’s humiliating when he sends them out to friends and family members. I think it’s unkind and disrespectful and have told him so, yet he persists.I’m to the point that this has become a deal-breaker in our marriage, and he knows it. He claims he loves me and is proud of me. And yes, we have been to counseling about our relationship in general because of the many times he has humiliated me in public. But he won’t stop. How can I handle this going forward? — Humiliated an...

San Diego City Council approves Smart Streetlights technology

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 09:58:05 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It was a contentious debate Tuesday with a split in the San Diego City Council over the future of 500 Smart Streetlights used as a surveillance tool for police officers to investigate violent crimes. In the end, the vote came down 6-3 as the city council approved the traffic program to move forward. San Diego’s newly appointed privacy board voted unanimously against moving forward with the Smart Streetlights in their current form. Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, along with councilmembers Vivian Moreno and Monica Montgomery Steppe, were against the new cameras. Body found in search for missing hiker on El Cajon Mountain San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria released the following statement: “It’s the responsibility of local government to keep its residents safe. Smart Streetlights and Automated License Plate Readers will help the San Diego Police Department identify and apprehend suspects in deadly crimes and bring them to justice, making our communities safer. I thank the ...