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Editorial: Too many rail accidents for D.C. to ignore

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Ayer got lucky.Although a train derailed in the Nashoba Valley town on Thursday, the contents spilling from the rail cars were trash and recycling, which authorities said posed no threat to area residents.“There were no reported injuries to the crew, no hazardous materials involved, no leaks orspills of any freight and no impacts to the environment,” a representative for the CSX freight company said in a statement.The same, of course, can’t be said for East Palestine, Ohio, the site of last month’s fiery derailment of a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals. That sent up a toxic cloud and contaminated the air and soil. While that incident received national attention, not many derailments do, unless there’s loss of life or the spilling of toxic materials. And there are many accidents.The Department of Transportations’ Federal Railroad Administration has reported an average of 1,475 train derailments per year between 2005-2021, according to Time.The Department o...

Apologize for badmouthing mom

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Q. I was talking to my sister on the phone yesterday about how angry my children’s mother makes me, when I peered around the bathroom door and there was my 7-year-old, with tears in her eyes, listening to every word. I was confident my children have never heard me talk about their mother in a negative way, but maybe they have, and what have I done? What’s good ex-etiquette?A. Good ex-etiquette is to never talk about your children’s other parent in a negative way — and you can see from your daughter’s reaction why this is so important.Kids don’t understand the ins and outs of their parents’ disagreements. They don’t understand why you are angry with each other or why you broke up. That’s their mommy or daddy. They hear something like, “I’d like to kill that (expletive) and they think, “My mommy? You want to hurt my mommy?” It’s no joke. It can set a child back and hurt them irrevocably.Kids inherently know they are half mommy and half daddy. They personalize all the good things...

Vinyl reissues celebrate 3 decades of Elton, Tori & New Order

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Like your favorite FM station, I give you the best of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. As the vinyl revolution rolls on, here are three recent A+ reissues from three different decades.“Honky Château,” Elton JohnElton John’s career has been so damn epic that whole albums get lost. During his early ’70s streak (seven albums in half a decade, four achieving multi-platinum status)  the blockbusters tended to crowd out “minor” records. “Honky Château” is one of these records (probably the biggest, grandest “minor” masterpiece ever made).The UMe record label celebrates the album’s anniversary this week with a few different packages:  two CDs, two LPs, a limited-edition gold vinyl LP. Feel free to dig in a deluxe or special edition (the live version of the title track simply stuns!), just make sure you put one of the sets in your collection.John and lyricist Bernie Taupin spent this record doing whatever they wanted when they wanted, which makes it wild but never uneven. This means recalling the c...

Chris O’Dowd finds winning role in ‘The Big Door Prize’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Chris O’Dowd likes his new “The Big Door Prize” series primarily because it’s offbeat, unusual. The AppleTV+ series, streaming Wednesday, is set in small town America and begins with a low-key surprise: A general store discovers a mysterious Morpho machine that supposedly reveals the residents’ life potential.Put your hands on it and out pops a card which might say “Royalty.”No one knows how the Morpho got there.  No one is really sure what it does, much less how it works.  But life — and lives — change.“The Big Concept was the big draw,” a relaxed O’Dowd, 43, allowed in a Zoom interview, his Irish accent intact. “It’s a small town story with the Big Idea – that’s right in my wheelhouse.“I’m playing an Irish guy in a show otherwise occupied by Americans. I think that’s always interesting because I seem to find versions of us everywhere – I hear there are one or two in Boston,” he said, straight-faced.“I was drawn in initially by the concept and then I r...

What to watch: ‘Succession’ sets the table for an epic finale

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Settle in for some noteworthy TV this week:“Succession”The Roys are back trying to win daddy’s love — and fortune — with bickering that makes the Ewings look like the Waltons. The insult fest, while still razor sharp, has gotten a bit tedious. But creator Jesse Armstrong drops a bombshell in the first four episodes that escalates the drama and reminds viewers that this is the final season. Armstrong could have easily extended the life of his Emmy-winning series another five years, but he’s learned a lesson the Roys never have: Don’t be greedy. 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO“CSI: Vegas”“CSI” actors rarely are in the running for Emmys. The franchise’s shows have always been more about procedure than performance. But don’t be surprised if guest star Regina Taylor gets award attention. The “I’ll Fly Away” standout is moving as the mother of a long-deceased child in this episode, co-written by series creator Anthony ...

Corey has sights on career in science

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Corey is a happy, loveable and insightful teen of African American descent. He enjoys Legos, roller coasters, and anything athletic. Corey loves Chinese food and can cook grilled cheese, eggs, and pancakes. He is an appealing and sociable child who relates well to older kids and adults. He has formed positive relationships with his peers and works well in group activities. Corey wants to be a scientist when he grows up!Legally freed for adoption, Corey’s social worker is looking for a loving and supportive two-parent family or a single parent with other adults in the home or in close proximity for daily support. It is also important that he has a mother figure and he is the youngest in the home. Corey needs to maintain contact with his big sister, Kiy’aa, who is also free for adoption, and if possible would love a family willing to open their home to her.Can I Adopt?If you’re at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income, and room in your heart, you may be a perfect ma...

Kiefer Sutherland returns to series TV with thriller ‘Rabbit Hole’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

What does it take for Kiefer Sutherland, indelibly and eternally intrepid Jack Bauer in the real time series “24,” to tackle something new like “Rabbit Hole”?Does he have a list of things to check off before he’ll say “Yes”?“No, I don’t actually,” Sutherland, 56, said in a Zoom interview from Austin where his Paramount+ series premiered at SXSW. It streams Sunday.“I keep it simple. I literally have to be moved by a story. I have to know that I’d be willing to do it for 10 years. Those are two pretty big checks. I got such an education on ‘24’ (and that ran for nine years), I know what is potentially required.”“Rabbit Hole” he calls, “A pure thriller to its core.”It begins, intensely, with Sutherland’s John Weir having a breakdown.  “That moment at the very beginning is a flash forward, a glimpse into the very end of the season. He doesn’t know what to believe anymore. And it’s because of everything that’s going to happen to him that you’re now goi...

Franklin & Weinstein: Americans’ health big reason for high COVID death rate

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

For the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, and will continue to demonstrate in the future, that America is one of the unhealthiest countries in the industrialized world. Critics on the right and left harp on how the pandemic was handled, but in fact the dismal outcomes in the U.S. do not reflect management of the crisis so much as our underlying health as a country.With the caveat that the actual figures from China are unknown, in the past three years, the U.S. is the only country in the world that has suffered more than 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The U.S. death total exceeds that of every other country, except Brazil, by more than half a million. Even when normalized for population, the U.S. per capita death rate is just outside the top 10 in the world and rising steadily.This is not the result of the policies of President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden. Nor does the explanation for the high number of U.S. deaths lie in an abnormally high case total...

The road less taken leads to delights of Denmark

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Paris, Rome, New York, Venice: According to data from Virtuoso, a global network of travel advisers, the most-booked cities for 2023 contain few surprises.One great option — Denmark — ranks nowhere on the list. That’s a selling point in itself, say the country’s tourism officials. To wit: Its latest tourism marketing campaign, which kicked off on March 6, includes animated versions of the New York’s Statue of Liberty and the Mona Lisa telling travelers that standing in line for hours to see them “isn’t exactly the most exciting way to spend your holiday.”“We’re not a destination with a lot of big iconic attractions; we don’t have an Eiffel Tower or a Chinese Wall,” says Dennis Englund, U.S. and U.K. market director for Visit Denmark. “What makes Denmark more interesting is often in the very small things.”Even in Copenhagen, a city as beautiful as any among its continental neighbors and boasting culinary prowess to spare, some of the most memorable experiences come in small packages....

How to prepare yourself when a layoff is in the works

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:28 GMT

Q. I’ve been told that I’m getting laid off and “the meeting” will happen sometime next week. I’ve also heard there’s a lengthy document to sign; the grapevine says I won’t be able to sue or anything and nothing can be negotiated, not even severance. What should I do to prepare for this meeting?A. First, I’m sorry to hear about the upcoming layoff. They’re never fun and even if you didn’t like your job, it’s still a grieving process.It’s great that you’re mentally preparing for the meeting. Do you know the end date? You may want to bring a notepad and pen into the meeting to take notes. Your boss and/or someone from HR will probably be there in person to document it. They may pressure you to sign paperwork, but you may want to have an employment attorney eyeball it before you sign anything right then and there. For instance, you may have signed a noncompete clause that indicated you can’t work for a ...