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WASHINGTON: As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As the blueprint for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, Trump pulled an about-face. He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy. Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump’s election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the US government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps’ Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump’s agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump’s choices portend for his second presidency. The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president’s proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration’s agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” Vought could help Musk and Trump remake government’s role and scope The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025’s and Trump’s campaign proposals. Vought’s vision is especially striking when paired with Trump’s proposals to dramatically expand the president’s control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government’s roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump’s choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans’ health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over overlaps in the two agendas. Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various US immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump’s longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in US history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump’s West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump’s “family separation policy.” Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” Project 2025 contributors slated for CIA and Federal Communications chiefs John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, was previously one of Trump’s directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document’s chapter on US intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe’s chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe’s and Trump’s approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a US adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025’s FCC chapter and is now Trump’s pick to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts.
There seems to be a recurring curse when it comes to adapting James Patterson's best-selling Alex Cross novels for the screen. Those who grew up in the 90s may remember crime thrillers Kiss The Girls (1997) and Along Came A Spider (2001), starring Morgan Freeman as the titular forensic psychologist and detective. Despite box office successes, these films received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. The 2012 reboot, Alex Cross, starring Tyler Perry, fared even worse. Panned by critics and ultimately a box office bomb, it led to the cancellation of a planned sequel. Now, Prime Video has taken a fresh stab at the franchise with Cross, an eight-episode series that aims to breathe new life into Alex Cross's story. Starring Aldis Hodge as the brilliant but troubled detective, the series chronicles his pursuit of some of America's most dangerous killers. While Cross begins on shaky ground, it eventually finds its footing, proving to be a mixed yet fair engaging effort. The series introduces us to Alex Cross at a difficult juncture in his life. Haunted by the tragic death of his wife, Maria (Chaunteé Schuler Irving), and struggling to balance his career with his responsibilities as a father, Cross's personal and professional worlds are in turmoil. Teaming up with his loyal yet hot-headed best friend, John Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa), he embarks on a mission to capture a sadistic serial killer. Along the way, buried secrets from his past resurface, threatening to unravel the life he's painstakingly rebuilt. Hodge is the heart and soul of the series, delivering a standout performance that elevates the material. His portrayal of Alex Cross captures the character's emotional complexity -- confident and methodical in his work, yet deeply vulnerable beneath his hardened exterior. Hodge's nuanced approach makes Cross a compelling figure, even when the narrative surrounding him falters. Prime Video Unfortunately, much of the supporting cast is saddled with clichéd archetypes. John Sampson is the loyal sidekick with a short fuse. The show features an outspoken female detective, a quirky comic-relief character, and a crooked superior seemingly out for personal gain. While the actors do their best, these roles feel underdeveloped and overly familiar. The story picks up a year after Maria's death, and the stakes are personal from the outset. When a menacing figure begins taunting Alex at his home, his grief and anger are brought to the forefront. Meanwhile, the central mystery -- a chilling serial killer case -- unfolds across the eight episodes. However, the series struggles with pacing, particularly in its early episodes. The first half (episodes one through four) feel scattered, with too many plots competing for attention. I found myself losing hope during this stretch, but a pivotal moment in episode four reeled me back in, reigniting my interest and carrying me through to the finale. While I haven't read the books, I can confidently say that the show's greatest strength lies in Hodge's performance. He breathes life into Alex, giving the character a depth that anchors the series. However, the antagonist is a significant weak point. They're a one-dimensional sociopath with a grandiose, cartoonish personality and no meaningful motivation beyond a desire for infamy. While a black-and-white portrayal of evil can work in certain contexts, this series, with its cat-and-mouse thriller structure, had ample opportunity to explore shades of gray. Unfortunately, it misses the chance to delve into the psychological parallels between Alex and his adversary, opting instead for a more simplistic approach. With episodes ranging from 45 minutes to an hour, there was plenty of room for meaningful storytelling, but the writing doesn't fully capitalise on this potential. Some episodes hint at the show finding its rhythm, only to revert to uneven pacing and underwhelming resolutions. A tighter narrative with a clearer focus on one central storyline could have significantly elevated the series. On a brighter note, Cross boasts strong production. Its modern aesthetic, engaging tone, and dynamic soundtrack inject a sense of freshness into the adaptation. The visuals and music work well to create a distinctive atmosphere, and there are moments that genuinely resonate emotionally. However, these high points are sporadic, leaving the overall experience feeling inconsistent. So, who is Cross for? If you're a longtime fan of the novels and eager to see another live-action take on the character, this series might scratch that itch. For newcomers, it's an easy watch -- something you can enjoy without requiring intense focus. However, if you're looking for a deeply cerebral, edge-of-your-seat detective drama, Cross may not be the right fit. It's more of a popcorn crime thriller than a gripping masterpiece. In the end, Cross is unfortunately another mixed bag added to the franchise -- one that shows glimmers of potential but doesn't quite stick the landing. While Hodge's impressive performance is reason enough to give it a shot, the show ultimately falls short of transcending the "curse" of its predecessors. Cross Starring Aldis Hodge, Isaiah Mustafa, Juanita Jennings Created by Ben Watkins Now streaming on Prime Video
A frog holding a taro-leaf umbrella. A parade of frolicking animals. An Ukiyo-e style Mount Fuji. Giant waves. A Japanese artist who goes by the name Lito carves these delicate designs on fallen leaves, giving life back to them. The world of Lito’s delicate art, which he began in 2020 and posts on social media almost daily, has won fans from around the world. The leaf art has also given him solace after earlier struggles with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a purpose in life — the joy of making people happy with his art. He enjoys working at night. From a pile of leaves treated with a wrinkle-free chemical, he picks one and places it on a cutting board. First, he outlines the design on the leaf with a pen in his right hand. Then he takes a design knife in his left hand and starts cutting the leaf carefully. Slowly, the leaf begins to take the shape of a frog carrying an umbrella — a simple design he demonstrated in a recent interview with The Associated Press. More complex, highly intensive work on a single leaf can take more than eight hours to complete. His leaf-cutting works include titles such as “Scrolls of Frolicking Animals,” “Leaf Aquarium,” and “Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji: The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” Each piece includes his own twists, and often uses animals. “I would rather finish it in one go when I am focused,” Lito, 38, said. He didn't want to disclose his real name for personal reasons. Since his childhood, Lito says he has had high levels of concentration and patience. But he had trouble fitting into what was considered the norm at school or at work, despite all his efforts. He struggled to interpret others' feelings and to avoid confrontations. After years of difficulty, he went to a hospital at age 30 and was told he has ADHD, a diagnosis that he felt explained why he has always done things differently. He saw no point in forcing himself to do things the same way as other people, and began to adjust his life. In early 2020, Lito came across the art of leaf cutting. He saw it as the perfect use of his patience and concentration. Word of his skills has spread across social media, and he has published books on his leaf-cutting work. He holds a near monthly solo exhibition in various places in Japan. “If I can make people happy by doing what I am doing, I want to do more. That’s my driving force for what's next,” Lito says.TCU pulls away from Arizona 49-28 with relentless offense
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