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The not-so-subtle message of Trump’s disturbing Cabinet picks
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a $895-billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military . The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed the House by a vote of 281-140 and will next move to the Senate, where lawmakers had sought a bigger boost in defense spending. Lawmakers are touting the bill’s 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the military. Lawmakers said service member pay has failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. “No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that’s exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “This bill goes a long way to fixing that.” The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield reached with President Biden to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators had wanted to increase defense spending some $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the spending level was a “tremendous loss for our national defense,” though he agreed with many provisions within the bill. “We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it,” Wicker said. House Republicans don’t want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many nondefense programs. They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the issues of minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a “very real problem.” He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, have proven effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. “These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives,” Smith said. “And in this bill, we decided we’re going to bar servicemembers’ children from having access to that.” Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson’s office insisted upon the ban and said the provision “taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation.” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, “I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates.” Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, “and yet, here it is in this bill.” The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration had requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January. Freking writes for the Associated Press.The not-so-subtle message of Trump’s disturbing Cabinet picks
Romanian lawmakers narrowly approves new pro-European coalition during period of political turmoilPatrick Roy showed as much anger as he had since becoming Islanders coach. And this came after a win. His ire was fueled after the Islanders took a four-goal lead in the third period against NHL-worst Chicago and then had to hold on for a 5-4 victory on Thursday night at UBS Arena. “A win is a win and we play to win games,” said Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie. “I guess times have changed because, in my days, if my team would have done that to me, I will break a stick in that room. I will be very upset to see my team playing like this in front of me.” The Islanders (12-12-7) took a 5-1 lead at 7:58 of the third period on Maxim Tsyplakov’s goal at the post, capping a three-goal burst in 2 minutes, 19 seconds. But defenseman T.J. Brodie brought Chicago (9-18-2) within three goals at 11:04 and Tyler Bertuzzi scored at 18:50 and 19:50 as Chicago skated six-on-five. Simply, the Islanders stopped competing as hard on pucks or defending around goalie Ilya Sorokin (26 saves), who made his seventh straight start with Semyon Varlamov (lower body) yet to resume skating. “Ilya is a gentleman,” Roy said. “He’s a first-class person, but that was unacceptable. We didn’t compete. We didn’t battle in front of the net in the last eight minutes. We talked about it this morning to be stronger. Our goalie deserves more respect than this from ourselves. “Let’s be happy about winning the hockey game. But deep inside, we know we can’t do what we did at the end of the game. That the guys will know for sure.” A practice was scheduled for Friday — but the players already knew that. “[Sorokin] has been outstanding lately,” said Simon Holmstrom, who had a goal and two assists, putting the Islanders ahead 2-1 at 14:06 of the second period after Roy shuffled his lines. “He’s one of the biggest reasons we’ve been collecting points as of late. We’ve got to step up for him and we can’t let this happen again.” The Islanders — who tied the Rangers, who hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot but have played three fewer games, in points — will complete this home-and-home series on Sunday afternoon. Chicago will first complete its three-game road trip against the Devils on Saturday. The Islanders have every reason to be motivated to give a full 60-minute effort in the rematch. In Thursday’s uneven effort, they slogged through the first two periods, then seemingly took control early in the third period before pulling back on their effort. “We just started playing a little smarter,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, who snuck a quick shot through goalie Arvid Soderblom’s pads to make it 3-1 at 5:39 of the third period. Holmstrom then threaded a pass to the cutting Bo Horvat for a 4-1 lead at 6:36 before Tsyplakov gave the Islanders their four-goal lead. Soderblom (14 saves) exited at that point in favor of Drew Commesso, who subsequently stopped both shots he saw in his NHL debut. “The first little bit [to start the game], it just came down to work ethic,” Dobson said. “They were outworking us, outcompeting us. That’s unacceptable. We found a way in the third. [But] it’s frustrating the way we played in front of Ilya in the end to let him down. So that’s on us. But take the two points and move on.” Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in 2023, opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:47 of the first period, but defenseman Dennis Cholowski tied it at 6:59 of the second period. Notes & quotes: Top-liner Mathew Barzal (upper body/ long-term injured reserve), injured on Oct. 30, rejoined his teammates for Thursday’s morning skate. He wore a regular practice jersey and linemate Anthony Duclair (lower body/LTIR), hurt on Oct. 19, and defenseman Adam Pelech (jaw/injured reserve), injured on Nov. 1, shed their orange non-contact jerseys as they continued to practice with the team. “To have those guys closer and out of the orange, hopefully we’ll see them in action soon,” Brock Nelson said. Roy listed them all as day-to-day and added that there’s no timetable for any of their returns . . . Defenseman Grant Hutton and forward Hudson Fasching remained healthy scratches. Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online "constantly" despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health, according to a new report published Thursday by the Pew Research Center. As in past years, YouTube was the single most popular platform teenagers used — 90% said they watched videos on the site, down slightly from 95% in 2022. Nearly three-quarters said they visit YouTube every day. There was a slight downward trend in several popular apps teens used. For instance, 63% of teens said they used TikTok, down from 67% and Snapchat slipped to 55% from 59%. This small decline could be due to pandemic-era restrictions easing up and kids having more time to see friends in person, but it's not enough to be truly meaningful. X saw the biggest decline among teenage users. Only 17% of teenagers said they use X, down from 23% in 2022, the year Elon Musk bought the platform. Reddit held steady at 14%. About 6% of teenagers said they use Threads, Meta's answer to X that launched in 2023. Meta's messaging service WhatsApp was a rare exception in that it saw the number of teenage users increase, to 23% from 17% in 2022. Pew also asked kids how often they use various online platforms. Small but significant numbers said they are on them "almost constantly." For YouTube, 15% reported constant use, for TikTok, 16% and for Snapchat, 13%. As in previous surveys, girls were more likely to use TikTok almost constantly while boys gravitated to YouTube. There was no meaningful gender difference in the use of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. Roughly a quarter of Black and Hispanic teens said they visit TikTok almost constantly, compared with just 8% of white teenagers. The report was based on a survey of 1,391 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 conducted from Sept. 18 to Oct. 10, 2024.Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility are expected to stay in the spotlight today after the company announced on Thursday that Hyundai Motors (HMIL) has partnered with them to equip its domestic product lineup with AMARON batteries . “Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), India’s smart mobility solutions provider, will equip its domestic product line-up with AMARON’s Made-in-India AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) battery technology,” said the company in an exchange filing. HMIL aims to equip its models with indigenously manufactured AGM batteries in Q4 of FY 2024-2025, making it the first auto OEM in India to use localized AGM technology. The move is in-line with HMIL’s dedicated efforts towards localization and introducing locally sourced innovative technologies for Indian customers. “We are thrilled to be a part of Hyundai Motor India Limited’s journey of redefining future mobility. This is a significant step in AMARON’s mission to deliver world-class energy solutions that meet the evolving demands of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). These batteries are designed to meet stringent Real Driving Emissions (RDE) norms like India’s BS6 Phase 2 standards,” said Harshavardhana Gourineni, Executive Director at Amara Raja Energy & Mobility. 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Also read: International Gemmological Institute IPO listing today. GMP hints at solid gains With a wider operational temperature and longer life span, AGM batteries are a more appropriate fit for dynamic Indian driving conditions. The shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility closed 1.7% lower at Rs 1,220.50 on the BSE on Thursday. ( Disclaimer : Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times) (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel )
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Looking into the current session, LendingClub Inc. LC shares are trading at $16.15, after a 1.88% decrease. Over the past month, the stock decreased by 1.16% , but over the past year, it actually increased by 81.26% . With questionable short-term performance like this, and great long-term performance, long-term shareholders might want to start looking into the company's price-to-earnings ratio. Comparing LendingClub P/E Against Its Peers The P/E ratio is used by long-term shareholders to assess the company's market performance against aggregate market data, historical earnings, and the industry at large. A lower P/E could indicate that shareholders do not expect the stock to perform better in the future or it could mean that the company is undervalued. LendingClub has a better P/E ratio of 35.78 than the aggregate P/E ratio of 34.53 of the Consumer Finance industry. Ideally, one might believe that LendingClub Inc. might perform better in the future than it's industry group, but it's probable that the stock is overvalued. In conclusion, the price-to-earnings ratio is a useful metric for analyzing a company's market performance, but it has its limitations. While a lower P/E can indicate that a company is undervalued, it can also suggest that shareholders do not expect future growth. Additionally, the P/E ratio should not be used in isolation, as other factors such as industry trends and business cycles can also impact a company's stock price. Therefore, investors should use the P/E ratio in conjunction with other financial metrics and qualitative analysis to make informed investment decisions. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
More than 1,000 law enforcement officials will be monitoring the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day to keep crowds safe during Pasadena’s annual celebration. While it is a day of celebration for football fans and community members alike, Pasadena Police Chief Gene Harris said there will be “zero tolerance for shenanigans.” Officials from local, state and federal law enforcement, including more than 250 members of the Pasadena Police Department, will be in attendance. Uniformed and plain-clothed officers will be stationed around the parade route and the stadium to monitor for safety hazards and handle any problems that may arise, Harris said. Law enforcement will strictly enforce rules prohibiting public alcohol consumption throughout the event, Harris said. “There won’t be any breaks,” he said. “If you come up and ask for a break on something, we’re going to assume you want an arrest.” Harris said officers still want attendees to enjoy the day-long celebration. Throughout the parade route and stadium, he said, attendees will see law enforcement smiling as they enjoy the festivities, too. “It’s a day that we welcome the world to Pasadena,” said Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo. The city expects restaurants and hotels to be filled with community members and visitors celebrating. Gordo recommended that anyone planning to grab a meal or stay in the area make reservations in advance. Planning for the parade and bowl game begins the year prior to ensure attendees have a safe experience, Gordo said. At last year’s parade, a woman in her 20s rammed into a barricade at Colorado Boulevard and Chester Avenue. The barriers set up in the area stopped the woman, but if she were successful, officials said she could have injured numerous parade watchers. Police arrested the woman for suspected assault with a deadly weapon, and her vehicle sustained significant damage from the crash. Harris said police presence at the parade and the barricades allowed them to stop the assault before anyone was hurt. Law enforcement will continue to patrol the area and pay attention to make sure they prevent any other safety hazards. Just blocks away, last year’s parade was also interrupted for about 15 minutes, when a group of Pasadena interfaith communities led a pro-Palestinian protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza before peacefully dispersing under police orders. No arrests were made. The 136th annual Rose Parade’s theme is “Best Day Ever,” celebrating friends, family, community and the happiest moments in life, said Tournament of Roses President David Eads. Grand Finale performances will include singers Debbie Gibson and Betty Who and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, and the parade will feature traditional floral floats, marching bands, equestrian units and musical performances. In the Rose Bowl, Oregon will face off against the winner of a Dec. 21 game between Ohio State and Tennessee. On New Year’s Eve, visitors can arrive and claim spots along Colorado Boulevard starting at noon to watch the parade the following day. The Pasadena Fire Department along with around 15 other fire agencies will also be monitoring the parade route and stadium for illegal bonfires that can spread to structure fires or injure or kill others. “Here we are in December, and we’re still dealing with major brush fires,” said Fire Chief Chad Augustin. “We only have to look to our neighbors in Malibu and the Franklin Fire, how devastating that’s been.” Attendees are allowed to have small professionally manufactured barbecues that are elevated at least one foot off the ground, if they are kept at least 25 feet away from buildings. Fire officials recommend anyone with a barbecue also have a fire extinguisher on hand just in case. Augustin reminded attendees to dress in layers, bring gloves and beanies and stay hydrated, as officials expect frigid temperatures overnight and warmer temperatures during the day. Parking lots at the Rose Bowl Stadium will open at 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day, where visitors can pay to park and walk to the parade route, said stadium CEO Jens Weiden. The stadium’s public Fan Fest celebration will start at 9 a.m., and gates will open at 11:30 a.m. Ticketholders are asked to take their seats by 1 p.m. for pre-game festivities before kickoff. The city website will also have a schedule for when attendees can arrive to camp out and where they can park. Attendees should double check for temporary no-parking signs and other restrictions before they park. Vehicles blocking emergency travel lanes or in restricted areas at the stadium or along the parade route will be towed at the owner’s expense.The Trump and Biden teams insist they're working hand in glove on foreign crises