On Steps of US Supreme Court, AG Rosenblum Rallies Abortion Rights Supporters
Speaking at an ACLU-organized rally on the steps of the United States Supreme Court this morning, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum made an impassioned defense of abortion as essential healthcare, and of medication abortion as a key part of those healthcare rights. The rally coincided with arguments being presented inside the Supreme Court in the AHM (Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine) v. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) case.
Should College Essays Touch on Race? Some Feel the Affirmative Action Ruling Leaves Them No Choice
When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. Yet the added weight of the college essay has fallen unevenly on students of color, who often feel pressure to exploit their hardships as they compete for a spot on campus.
Bird Flu, Weather and Inflation Conspire to Keep Egg Prices Near Historic Highs for Easter
The cost of filling a basket or completing a Seder plate reflect a market scrambled by disease, high demand and growing costs for farmers. While global prices are lower than they were at this time last year, they remain elevated.
Strippers' Bill of Rights Bill Signed Into Law in Washington State
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure on Monday which creates safer working conditions for people in the adult entertainment industry. The law requires employee training in establishments to prevent sexual harassment, identify and report human trafficking, deescalate conflict and provide first aid.
The Portland Art Museum presents Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks
Exhibition on view March 30 - August 11, 2024. Programs to include sneaker-focused Summer Camps and in-gallery activities ...
Portland Street Response Hosts Town Hall
PCCEP is seeking community input to help shape their recommendation in support of Portland Street Response. ...
Joint Center Responds to the U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion Disbandment
This decision jeopardizes the establishment of policies to support diverse communities and threatens the pursuit of inclusivity for...
Bonamici, Kaine Praise Billion Dollar Increase for Child Care, Early Childhood Learning
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Portland Rose Festival 2024 Court Member from Benson Polytechnic High School Announced
The Rose Festival Princess from Benson Polytechnic High School, Laedyn Romero, was selected March 22. ...
Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95
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Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice
CHICAGO (AP) — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it...
Georgia ends game on 12-0 run to beat Missouri 64-59 in first round of SEC tourney
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Blue Cain had 19 points, Justin Hill scored 17 off the bench and 11th-seeded Georgia finished the game on a 12-0 run to beat No. 14 seed Missouri 64-59 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Cain hit 6 of 12 shots,...
Georgia faces Missouri in SEC Tournament
Missouri Tigers (8-23, 0-18 SEC) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (16-15, 6-12 SEC) Nashville, Tennessee; Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bulldogs -3; over/under is 147 BOTTOM LINE: Georgia plays in the SEC Tournament against Missouri. ...
COMMENTARY: Is a Cultural Shift on the Horizon?
As with all traditions in all cultures, it is up to the elders to pass down the rituals, food, language, and customs that identify a group. So, if your auntie, uncle, mom, and so on didn’t teach you how to play Spades, well, that’s a recipe lost. But...
A Full Court Press to Get the Lead Out
With a “goal of identifying and remediating lead hazards in at least 2,800 Lancaster County homes,” LG Health is setting an example for the private sector. And the Biden-Harris administration’s focus on environmental justice and access to clean and safe...
OP-ED: Congress Is Right: Federal Reserve’s Reg II Will Hurt Minority Communities in America
The Fed is taking every effort to promote income equality and workplace diversity and inclusion, but Regulation II would undercut its great work in this respect and cause potential harm to millions of minority families. Now that a congressional coalition has...
OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More
Data from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City shows that more than 13 percent of African American men between the ages 45 and 79 will develop prostate cancer in their lifetimes. And Black men have a 70 percent higher rate of developing...
France's lower house passes a bill banning hair discrimination. It now goes to the Senate
PARIS (AP) — Lawmakers in France's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a bill that would ban discrimination over the texture, length, color or style of someone's hair. The bill's authors hope the groundbreaking bill sends a message of support to Black people and others...
US changes how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity. It's the first revision in 27 years
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Why did more than 1,000 people die after police subdued them with force that isn't meant to kill?
Carl Grant, a Vietnam veteran with dementia, wandered out of a hospital room to charge a cellphone he imagined he had. When he wouldn’t sit still, the police officer escorting Grant body-slammed him, ricocheting the patient’s head off the floor. Taylor Ware, a former Marine and...
Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 31-April 6
Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 31-April 6: March 31: Actor William Daniels (“St. Elsewhere,” ″Boy Meets World”) is 97. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 90. Actor Shirley Jones is 90. Musician Herb Alpert is 89. Actor Christopher Walken is 81. Comedian Gabe Kaplan...
How to make an Easter ham last all week
The beauty of making a baked ham for Easter (or any holiday or large gathering) is that there's bound to be leftovers. Leftover ham, which will last for up to five days in the fridge, can be a springboard for other meals during the week. Of course you’ll want a sandwich or two, but...
Book Review: 'Glorious Exploits' turns classical history into an endearing comedy about tragedy
Best friends Lampo and Gelon are potters by trade, but their souls are filled with poetry. It’s 412 B.C. and the city of Syracuse doesn’t know what hit it when these two hatch up the best worst idea: They’ll put on a play using the Athenian prisoners of war who are starving to death down in...
UConn, San Diego State set for title game rematch in Sweet 16; Iowa State, Illinois target Elite 8
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VP Harris says US agencies must show their AI tools aren't harming people's safety or rights
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Dethroned crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for defrauding FTX investors
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A Paris exhibit shows how the Olympics mirror society, from Nazi propaganda to fighting inequalities
PARIS (AP) — More than a sporting competition, the Olympics are also a powerful political stage widely used in...
It's a bittersweet Easter for chocolate lovers and African cocoa farmers but big brands see profits
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Ukraine foreign minister arrives in New Delhi to boost ties with India, a historical ally of Russia
NEW DELHI (AP) — Ukraine's foreign minister arrived in New Delhi on Thursday for a two-day visit to boost...
In this Oct. 2, 2014, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden answers questions from students at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass. Biden’s biggest mistake in accusing U.S. allies of supporting extremists in Syria may be that he said publicly what Obama administration officials have long preferred to say only privately. Biden apologized over the weekend to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates after saying they had a role in allowing foreign fighters, weapons and money into Syria to bolster groups fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad. He also made similar statements about Saudi Arabia’s role in aiding extremists. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden's supporters often brush off his slips of the tongue as byproducts of the speak-your-mind politics many Americans crave. But this time, Biden's verbal blunders are causing more than just a few rough headlines and a momentary nuisance for the White House.
Twice in two days, Biden had to apologize to key U.S. allies in the fight against Islamic State militants after accusing the allies of arming and funding al-Qaida-linked groups in Syria. Not only did his comments threaten to jeopardize President Barack Obama's fragile coalition, they also put the White House on the defensive, forced to clean up for Biden without specifically rebutting what he said.
As Biden seeks to fashion himself as a credible alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2016 presidential race, his latest missteps have rekindled lingering questions about his ability to serve as commander in chief. After all, voters who affectionately overlook a bit of misplaced candor may be less thrilled by the prospect of a president who has trouble differentiating between what he says in public and in private.
"When he makes missteps, he becomes a character," Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said. "Although he may be successful in lining up some of the Democratic leadership, he will be less likely to get the Democratic nomination if he looks foolish."
In this case, Biden's mistake wasn't in saying something that wasn't true. In fact, what Biden said at Harvard University largely conformed to what Obama administration officials long have said privately. His mistake was in saying it in front of television cameras that carried his remarks to far-away capitals like Istanbul and Abu Dhabi, where exasperated leaders demanded — and received — a mea culpa.
"The vice president is somebody who has enough character to admit when he's made a mistake," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Making matter worse: Biden's blunt talk about the situation in Syria came during a two-week period in which the vice president's loose tongue had already gotten him in trouble with groups ranging from the Anti-Defamation League to Asian-Americans.
After a quick visit to Iowa last month, Biden had to apologize to the head of the ADL, a Jewish group that fights anti-Semitism, after using the word "shylocks" to describe unscrupulous moneylenders who had taken advantage of U.S. troops. On the same trip, he raised eyebrows by referring to Asia as "the Orient," and the White House had to clarify comments he made that seemed to suggest the U.S. would consider deploying ground troops to fight the Islamic State group.
Former aides who have prepped Biden say they repeated predetermined talking points to him over and over before sensitive meetings and high-profile speeches. The vast majority of the time he hits the script perfectly, the aides said.
But sometimes their pleas not to freelance were met with a roll of the eyes by Biden, who served for decades on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has strong views of his own.
Biden's supporters say his candor amid an overly sanitized political environment is part and parcel of his appeal.
"The more people know about him, the more they value that he says what he thinks," said former Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., Biden's longtime confidante and political adviser. "I think that's really put him in a good stead with foreign leaders around the world."
But Biden's detractors say the short-term headaches that emerge when he goes off-script pale in comparison to the damage that could be done with Biden in the Oval Office. As Biden ponders a third presidential bid in 2016, they say, voters will have to make a call about whether they want a loose cannon in charge when, for instance, the U.S. is confronting the threat from the Islamic State group.
"As head of state there are times when you have to have a moment where you are trying to achieve larger national ends that aren't always served by having a case of no internal monologue that tells you to shut the heck up," said Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist.
Such caricatures of the second highest-ranking U.S. leader paint a particularly stark contrast to Clinton, who gained a reputation as a hawkish, intensely disciplined diplomat during her tenure as Obama's secretary of state. Most Democrats doubt that Biden will challenge Clinton if she decides to run.
But even with Clinton emerging as the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination, Biden has offered frequent reminders that he still covets the top job. As he told a student council vice president last week about holding the No. 2 job, "Isn't that a bitch?"
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AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.