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Vietnam Welcomes New Era of Sustainable Manufacturing with Recover’s Latest FacilityWuKong Education Named to the 2025 GSV 150 for Leading the Way in Education TechnologyNEW YORK (AP) — No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career than Jimmy Carter . His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a children’s story. His memoir “An Hour Before Daylight” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” stirred a fierce debate by likening Israel’s policies in the West Bank to the brutal South African system of racial segregation. And just before his 100th birthday, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation honored him with a lifetime achievement award for how he wielded “the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.” In one recent work, “A Full Life,” Carter observed that he “enjoyed writing” and that his books “provided a much-needed source of income.” But some projects were easier than others. “Everything to Gain,” a 1987 collaboration with his wife, Rosalynn, turned into the “worst threat we ever experienced in our marriage,” an intractable standoff for the facilitator of the Camp David accords and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Carter, Rosalynn was a meticulous author who considered “the resulting sentences as though they have come down from Mount Sinai, carved into stone.” Their memories differed on various events and they fell into “constant arguments.” They were ready to abandon the book and return the advance, until their editor persuaded them to simply divide any disputed passages between them. “In the book, each of these paragraphs is identified by a ‘J’ or an ‘R,’ and our marriage survived,” he wrote. Here is a partial list of books by Carter: “Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President” “The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East” (With Rosalynn Carter) “Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life” “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections” “Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age” “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (With daughter Amy Carter) “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer” “Living Faith” “The Virtues of Aging” “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood” “Christmas in Plains: Memories” “The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War” “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis” “Faith & Freedom: The Christian Challenge for the World” “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” “A Remarkable Mother” “Beyond the White House” “We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work” “White House Diary” “NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter” “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety”
Jimmy Carter had the longest post-presidency of anyone to hold the office, and one of the most active. Here is a look back at his life. 1924 — Jimmy Carter was born on Oct. 1 to Earl and Lillian Carter in the small town of Plains, Georgia. 1928 — Earl Carter bought a 350-acre farm 3 miles from Plains in the tiny community of Archery. The Carter family lived in a house on the farm without running water or electricity. 1941 — He graduated from Plains High School and enrolled at Georgia Southwestern College in Americus. 1942 — He transferred to Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. 1943 — Carter’s boyhood dream of being in the Navy becomes a reality as he is appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. 1946 — He received his naval commission and on July 7 married Rosalynn Smith of Plains. They moved to Norfolk, Virginia. 1946-1952 — Carter’s three sons are born, Jack in 1947, Chip in 1950 and Jeff in 1952. 1962-66 — Carter is elected to the Georgia State Senate and serves two terms. 1953 — Carter’s father died and he cut his naval career short to save the family farm. Due to a limited income, Jimmy, Rosalynn and their three sons moved into Public Housing Apartment 9A in Plains. 1966 — He ran for governor, but lost. 1967 — Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s fourth child, Amy, is born. 1971 — He ran for governor again and won the election, becoming Georgia’s 76th governor on Jan. 12. 1974 — Carter announced his candidacy for president. 1976 — Carter was elected 39th president on Nov. 2, narrowly defeating incumbent Gerald Ford. 1978 — U.S. and the Peoples’ Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations. President Carter negotiates and mediates an accord between Egypt and Israel at Camp David. 1979 — The Department of Education is formed. Iranian radicals overrun the U.S. Embassy and seize American hostages. The Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty is signed. 1980 — On March 21, Carter announces that the U.S. will boycott the Olympic Games scheduled in Moscow. A rescue attempt to get American hostages out of Iran is unsuccessful. Carter was defeated in his bid for a second term as president by Ronald Reagan in November. 1981 — President Carter continues to negotiate the release of the American hostages in Iran. Minutes before his term as president is over, the hostages are released. 1982 — Carter became a distinguished professor at Emory University in Atlanta, and founded The Carter Center. The nonpartisan and nonprofit center addresses national and international issues of public policy. 1984 — Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter volunteer one week a year for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps needy people in the United States and in other countries renovate and build homes, until 2020. He also taught Sunday school in the Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains from the mid-’80s until 2020. 2002 — Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 2015 — Carter announced in August he had been diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain. 2016 — He said in March that he no longer needed cancer treatment. 2024 — Carter dies at 100 years old. Sources: Cartercenter.org, Plains Historical Preservation Trust, The Associated Press; The Brookings Institution; U.S. Navy; WhiteHouse.gov, Gallup
PARIS (AP) — France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. Crushing debt , intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an already tumultuous 2024. The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit, to comply with EU rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling. That would threaten the stability and prosperity of all countries that share the euro currency. France’s debt is currently estimated at a staggering 112% of gross domestic product. It grew further after the government gave aid payments to businesses and workers during COVID-19 lockdowns even as the pandemic depressed growth, and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is now coming due. But France’s previous government collapsed this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises, but the calculations are tough. “The political situation is difficult. The international situation is dangerous, and the economic context is fragile,” Lombard, a low-profile banker who advised a Socialist government in the 1990s, said upon taking office. “The environmental emergency, the social emergency, developing our businesses — these innumerable challenges require us to treat our endemic illness: the deficit,” he said. “The more we are indebted, the more the debt costs, and the more it suffocates the country.” This is France’s fourth government in the past year. No party has a parliamentary majority and the new Cabinet can only survive with the support of lawmakers on the center-right and center-left. Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government by joining left-wing forces in a no-confidence vote. Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government and Le Pen remains a powerful force. That angers left-wing groups, who had expected more influence in the new Cabinet, and who say promised spending cuts will hurt working-class families and small businesses hardest. Left-wing voters, meanwhile, feel betrayed ever since a coalition from the left won the most seats in the summer's snap legislative elections but failed to secure a government. The possibility of a new no-confidence vote looms, though it's not clear how many parties would support it. Macron has repeatedly said he will remain president until his term expires in 2027. But France's constitution and current structure, dating from 1958 and called the Fifth Republic, were designed to ensure stability after a period of turmoil. If this new government collapses within months and the country remains in political paralysis, pressure will mount for Macron to step down and call early elections. Le Pen's ascendant National Rally is intent on bringing Macron down. But Le Pen faces her own headaches: A March court ruling over alleged illegal party financing could see her barred from running for office. The National Rally and hard-right Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau want tougher immigration rules. But Bayrou wants to focus on making existing rules work. “There are plenty of (immigration) laws that exist. None is being applied," he said Monday on broadcaster BFM-TV, to criticism from conservatives. Military spending is a key issue amid fears about European security and pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for Europe to spend more on its own defense. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who champions military aid for Ukraine and ramping up weapons production, kept his job and stressed in a statement Tuesday the need to face down ‘’accumulating threats'' against France. More immediately, Macron wants an emergency law in early January to allow sped-up reconstruction of the cyclone-ravaged French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean off Africa. Thousands of people are in emergency shelters and authorities are still counting the dead more than a week after the devastation. Meanwhile the government in the restive French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia collapsed Tuesday in a wave of resignations by pro-independence figures — another challenge for the new overseas affairs minister, Manuel Valls, and the incoming Cabinet. Associated Press writer David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed.It seems like Chili's has always been around. It's the United States' leading sit-down chain restaurant specializing in Tex-Mex-inspired cuisine, but it's also a bar and grill, and a spot to grab classic American pub food. As such, Chili's is very proud of and aggressively markets several disparate menu items: margaritas, fajitas, chicken strips, big hamburgers, and ribs. It also sells all manner of sandwiches, salads, and hefty appetizer platters to suit almost everyone. Present in hundreds upon hundreds of shopping malls and suburban commercial centers, it's hard to believe that Chili's originated as a tiny, Texas-only phenomenon for years before both the business and menu rapidly expanded. By the early 2000s, Chili's was everywhere, but then began a decline that looked to be full of doom. Nowadays, Chili's is back and outdoing the competition. Here's the story of how Chili's was born, grew into a favorite spicy and boozy dining destination, fell into the brink of extinction, and crawled its way back out, surviving by the skin of . Chili inspired Chili's The eatery that grew into a chain took its name from the dish it started out with at a single location in Texas, a state where chili looms large in the cultural identity and culinary history. The Original Chili is purportedly made with the exact same combination of beef, onions, and secret spices as the initial recipe, and remains a staple of the menu at Chili's more than 45 years after the restaurant was founded. The acts of making and eating the spicy, meaty stew also had a hand in naming the restaurant. Back in 1967, Larry Lavine went to the first ever Terlingua Chili Cook-Off in Terlingua, Texas. Lavine thought about the Southwestern-style food served, as well as the fun and camaraderie on display at the event, while he considered opening an informal sit-down restaurant in 1975. Hence, the Chili Cook-Off gave way to Chili's. To attract Texans with certain expectations of a restaurant, Lavine placed chili right at the top of the menu. "It was something people would talk about," he told . "People don't talk about spaghetti and meatballs." Chili's was a brand new kind of restaurant There are a few broad and clearly differentiated categories into which most restaurants can fit into, like fast food or fine dining, and casual dining fits somewhere in between. These establishments serve mainstream, populist food in social, family-friendly, and even loud environments at prices that are cheaper than fine dining but slightly more expensive than fast food (even if the food is similar in quality and variety to the latter). Before casual dining chains like Applebee's, Red Robin, and Buffalo Wild Wings opened up hundreds of outposts around the United States, the first Chili's in Dallas largely helped create the format. "Chili's was among the first of its kind, pioneering the world of casual dining, with a full-service restaurant boasting a fun, funky, and laid back atmosphere," Jim Foster wrote in the Pioneers of Dallas County Facebook group (per ). At first, Chili's sold a menu dominated by big, messy burgers presented to customers in baskets, not on plates. Also, for what at the time was a novelty, Chili's offered mixed drinks as well as beer. In 1971, four years before Chili's opened, Texas legalized the sale of cocktails in restaurants. The first Chili's menu was brief As of 2024, Chili's menu is sprawling with options for everyone, to the point that it's broken down into 20 different sections. Created as a burger and loosely Southwestern-themed restaurant, it still sells many variants of beef on buns and Tex-Mex items, along with salads, sandwiches, pizza, ribs, fish, soup, fried appetizers, desserts, and a number of alcoholic beverages. At the first Chili's in Dallas in 1975, it was much a simpler time. The menu took up a single side of a sheet of standard-size paper, copied from a hand-written original. The bill of fare was separated into four brief categories. "Homemade Chili" included the house blend, one with beans (violating ), and one served over chips. "Burgers" counted six choices, including the basic "Oldtimer," a bun-less version, and the thickly-stacked "Terlingua Pride." The "Tacos" section consisted of soft tacos or a side of tostadas with hot sauce. The drinks menu listed three items: a frozen margarita, a homemade-style , and a mug of beer — Schlitz brand. And that was it. Margarita money is vital to the Chili's bottom line The restaurant's full, official name is Chili's Bar and Grill, implying that its extensive array of alcoholic drinks, classic cocktails, and bespoke adult beverages are as important to the chain as its food items. To match its Mexican-inspired lineup of fajitas, quesadillas, and Southwestern Eggrolls, Chili's serves up many different margaritas and margarita-like chilled drinks, such as an ever-changing "Margarita of the Month." Chili's even has its own bespoke, in-house take on the classic cold cocktail, the Presidente Margarita. Held in such esteem that Chili's trademarked the drink's name, it's constructed out of carefully selected high-end brand-name tequila, brandy, and orange liqueur, and available in a variety of fruit flavors. Every year in March, Chili's deeply discounts the Presidente Margarita to around $5, and the promotion doesn't seem to be detrimental to the chain's finances. No business in the U.S. of any kind sells more margaritas than Chili's does. If it were an independent nation, it would come third in a global ranking of countries that purchase, use, and sell the most Chili's invented the fajita effect In keeping with its foundational concept of Tex-Mex and Southwestern cuisine, fajitas get prominent placement on the menu at Chili's. It sells enough orders each year to justify a 60 million-pound fajita meat purchase, covering all three preparations on offer: steak, chicken, and shrimp. One of the ways that Chili's has made its own fajitas so popular is with some psychological trickery and indirect peer pressure. When an order of fajitas is ready to come out of the kitchen, a server carries the hot metal tray of meat as it loudly and fragrantly sizzles. This gets a lot of attention via several stimuli, and it leads other people to order fajitas, too. This happens in plenty of other restaurants, not just Chili's, and it's called "The Fajita Effect," a term coined by Joel Beckerman and Tyler Gray in their science of sound book "The Sonic Boom." Here's where the Chili's innovation comes in. A cooked plate of fajita meat doesn't really keep on making noise and emitting steam as it travels from flattop to tabletop. Chili's concocted some kitchen theatrics: The kitchen staff squirts a solution made mostly of oil onto the plated fajitas to encourage the sizzle, steam, and smells. Chili's grew after it was sold By 1983, Chili's had expanded only moderately, as a small chain of 23 restaurants in the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas selling little more than hamburgers and chili. It was struggling, too, bringing in $1 million in annual revenue against $1 million in holdings and $8.5 million worth of debt. Chili's was saved, and ascended to its position as one of the leading casual dining restaurant chains in the United States, after a buyout and rescue from Norman Brinker. An early Jack in the Box franchisee in the 1950s so successful that he became president of the company, Brinker launched the mid-price steakhouse chain Steak and Ale in the 1960s, and then Bennigan's Grill and Tavern in the 1970s. In 1976, he sold those companies to Pillsbury, which then hired Brinker to run its new restaurant division. In the early 1980s, he tried to absorb Chili's for his employer, but after being rebuffed, he left his position and bought Chili's outright. Seeing expansion as the future of the restaurant, he brought in a massive cash infusion by offering stock in Chili's in 1984 and acting as chairman and CEO. Brinker also ordered a new menu, urging the restaurants to offer lots more items, particularly Tex-Mex favorites like fajitas. By the time Brinker retired in 2001, there were hundreds of Chili's outposts from coast to coast. The tabletop tablets were very good for business Apart from the kind of foods offered and the lack of a dress code, another thing that separates fine dining establishments from casual eateries is the presence of touchscreen kiosks on the tables across a chain's hundreds or thousands of locations. These digital portals offer many services that streamline or enhance the restaurant experience. Rather than wait for a server to approach the table, customers can put in food orders (particularly for appetizers and desserts) or play one of the included games. These are all over the casual dining sphere in the 21st century, and Chili's was the first chain to take the leap. By 2014, Chili's had placed about 45,000 Ziosk-made touchscreen tablets at around 800 locations. Research shows that patrons particularly like to use the devices to settle their checks and to impulse-buy extra items. Stores with tablets installed enjoyed a 20% increase in sales of appetizers and desserts. Chili's wants you to want the baby back ribs Both Chili's and the restaurant industry agree that its signature menu items are hamburgers, fajitas, boneless chicken strips (or "Chicken Crispers"), and margaritas. Absent from this list is the entree for which Chili's is most associated with, due to a long-running ad campaign built around an all-timer of an earworm. In 1986, Chili's, recently acquired by a restaurant consortium and making a go at being a national chain, debuted its first TV commercials to feature a jingle titled "Welcome to Chili's." It's better known by its repetitive, hooky, lyrical refrain: "I want my baby back baby back baby back" and resolution "Chili's baby back ribs / barbecue sauce." Commissioned by Austin, Texas, advertising agency GSD&M, the tune was conceived by the company's Executive Creative Director, songwriter Guy Bommarito, who got Tom Faulkner to sing the main melody and Willie McCoy to come in on the "barbecue sauce" low notes. Chili's re-recorded the song in 1996, by which point the lyrics had entered the vernacular and joined the canon of near-universally known ad jingles. In 2002, Chili's soft rebooted the campaign again, hiring boy band of the moment NSYNC to sing the song in a series of commercials. More recently, in 2022. Chili's infiltrated pop culture Even those who lived in Chili's-free places in the 1990s were aware of Chili's. The often-aired "I want my baby back baby back baby back" TV commercial song grew so entrenched that it served as a pop culture reference-meets-joke in the blockbuster comedy "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." The large statured villain Fast Bas**** attempts to lure and eat the very small villain Mini-Me, singing the Chili's jingle as a way to comically make his intentions known. Chili's was also vital to many of the most memorable episodes of "The Office," NBC's Americanized remake of the U.K. TV hit of the same name. Paper company branch manager Michael Scott likes to woo his clients by taking them out for abundant, boozy lunches at the local Chili's, also the setting for his Dunder Mifflin annual awards ceremonies, "The Dundies." Steve Carell, the actor who played Michael Scott, is reportedly a real-life Chili's aficionado and got into a bit of a mock-rivalry with the restaurant chain in 2010. He filmed a sketch for the ESPY Awards parodying LeBron James' "The Decision," announcing he would "take his appetite to the Outback Steakhouse" and leave behind Chili's (as James had similarly announced his move to the NBA's Miami Heat). Chili's president Wyman T. Roberts responded with an open letter (via ), joking, "This shocking act of disloyalty from our homegrown 'funny man' sends the exact opposite flavor of what we would want our children to taste." Chili's was on the decline in the 2000s and 2010s Chili's grew rapidly in the early 2000s. In 1999, about 600 locations were open for business in the U.S. and just nine years later, Chili's was a 1,312-unit mega-chain raking in most of operator Brinker International's $4.2 billion a year in revenues. Unfortunately, The Great Recession, lasting from 2007 to 2009, negatively and seriously impacted Chili's, and the casual dining industry on the whole, as many Americans lost a lot of discretionary income during that economic turndown. And slowly but consistently, Chili's-branded restaurants started to close down. Between its peak of 2008 and 2022, when Brinker International hired a new CEO to help save the company, more than 80 restaurants had gone out of business. It had made some costly moves over that time, like taking on too many menu expansions, which caused the quality of the products and dining experience to suffer. Additionally, the choice to invest heavily in takeout and delivery programs, such as when , was an expensive one. Chili's pulled itself out of the fall As fast casual restaurants have fallen or stagnated in the 2020s, Chili's is thriving. In 2024, Chili's quarterly revenues increased by nearly 15% versus 2023 figures. Umbrella company, restaurant group Brinker International, brought in $4.42 billion in fiscal 2024, the most money it ever made in a year, and more than 85% of that came from Chili's. Kevin Hochman stepped in as CEO in 2022 and oversaw a plan to make Chili's a viable, modern restaurant chain with its marketing plan. The chain also consolidated its resources and is spending less money on food by eliminating about a fifth of its menu. "That simplification has worked," Hochman told . Brinker International also reallocated some of its funds, spending $200 million to improve the quality and atmosphere of hundreds of Chili's locations. Chili's has long operated under a business model of a combination of company-owned restaurants and franchised locations. In order to get as much revenue as possible out of the eateries it didn't own outright, but merely licensed, Chili's started to buy out its franchisees. In 2019, parent company Brinker International purchased 116 mostly Midwestern locations from large-scale operator ERJ Dining in a move estimated to bring in $300 million in yearly income. Two years later, Brinker bought another 23 East Coast Chili's locations from franchisee Chesapeake Foods and 37 restaurants from Quality Dining Inc., moves that will continue to pay off for the company in the future. A combo meal saved Chili's In 2022, Chili's launched 3 For Me, a casual dining take on fast food combo meals that included a burger or chicken sandwich, fries, an appetizer (bottomless chips and salsa, soup, or a salad), and a soft drink with free refills, for $10.99. The 3 For Me brought in so much business to Chili's during its lunch hours that it allowed the company to compete with fast food chains. And when rampant inflation led to higher cost drive-through combo meals, Chili pointedly promoted the 3 For Me anew in the spring of 2024 as an alternative to fast food, reworking the deal slightly to include a revamped Crispy Chicken Sandwich or a brand new Big Smasher cheeseburger as the entree, and endless chips and salsa as the only appetizer. It all still cost $10.99 for more food for roughly the same price as eating a burger, fries, and soda in your car at lunchtime. Six months after reasserting the 3 For Me, Chili's greatly extended the deal to include 11 entrees, such as composed bowls and Chicken Crispers, and hiring competitive eater Joey Chestnut as the program's spokesperson. That expansion came just weeks after Chili's released a quarterly earnings statement. Thanks in large part to ideas like the 3 For Me, Chili's experienced a tremendous financial turnaround. The average restaurant in the chain saw annual sales volumes increase by nearly $500,000 a year over the previous 24 months. RecommendedThanksgiving is my favorite American holiday. Let me count some of the ways I love Thanksgiving: Because it isn’t very commercialized. Because it doesn’t leave out the lovelorn and the lonely. Because it has an intrinsic honesty: It’s about being grateful. Because it’s about as much extended family as most of us can take: just one day of them. Because there aren’t a lot of old movies — aired on other holidays — that get taken out of the movie mausoleum every year, like “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Miracle on 34th Street” or that one about snow, “Holiday Inn,” and “The Ten Commandments.” Because the political class generally shuts up. It doesn’t feel necessary to make long atavistic speeches with dubious grandiloquence that no one believes, least of all the speakers. Because you don’t have to receive presents and lie to your close friends and family, “I always wanted a toy pig that burps,” or “Thank you for the lovely necktie. I’m sure they will come back into fashion in a few decades.” Because there are no flags or bunting, and most houses aren’t turned into glaring neon performance art, nor are there skeletons hanging from swing sets. Because you don’t have to wear a funny hat and red or green or any other color that signals that you are in the spirit of the event. Because when I worked on the newspapers, I could volunteer and get paid double or better in overtime for a shift on Thanksgiving Day. From my arrival at New York’s Idlewild Airport in 1963, I have been able to luxuriate in America’s bounty and give thanks. It wasn’t always easy being an immigrant, even one of favored language and provenance (British), and it didn’t spare me and my English wife, Doreen, from hard times. We had those. But America remained the mansion on the high ground where, if we were lucky, we could be let in to enjoy the riches of acceptance. My first experience of the United States — and I give thanks for it — was the taxi driver who, when he learned I had hardly any money, gave me a free guided tour of Manhattan, The Bronx and Brooklyn. Finally, he deposited me at an uncompromising address on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, where I was to stay while I found work and before I sent for Doreen, my cherished first wife. It was a walk-up and there was no air conditioning. My hosts were an English couple in their 70s: Doreen’s aunt and her husband. She helped with newborns in wealthier people’s homes well into her old age. He had worked rather unsuccessfully as an industrial jeweler. They were palpably short of money and hadn’t enjoyed an easy life since arriving in America in 1918. Their story had a fairytale, extraordinary last volume. Out on Long Island, their grandson and granddaughter were growing up with a single mother, also in straitened circumstances. She worked with seedlings in a plant nursery. The grandson was to climb to the apex of achievement, to stun his family and, in time, the world with his talent. This young man and I would swim in Long Island Sound, where we would head for anchored yachts with people partying on board. A decade older than my companion, I always believed that when they looked down on the swimmers, the partiers would invite us aboard for food and drink. It never happened, but we enjoyed our aquatic adventures and social failure. If they had only known! As I said, that young man was destined to win all that his mother and grandparents didn’t have. His name is Billy Joel, the “Piano Man.” He is someone for all in America to be thankful for — proof that in the United States, the last can be first. — Llewellyn King is the executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. He wrote this for InsideSources.com .
We are a few weeks removed from the election, and Democrats do not appear to be any closer to truly understanding why they lost so much ground to Donald Trump with so many demographics. It’s clear to me that comprehending what happened and why will have to come from somewhere other than political operatives within the party, cable news media elites, the dumpster fire that is social media or pollsters. As luck would have it, after the election I found myself giving a lecture to between 40 and 50 students at an American University media and public policy class. For all the discussion about younger voters and trying to understand what motivates them to head to the polls, I wonder how many of the pundits, commentators and experts dissecting the election have actually had a conversation with anyone under age 25 about it. So there I was speaking to a room full of young adults, under 25, some from Alabama or West Virginia, others from Germany or Pakistan, many having voted in the election — most shocked, even shaken from the results. Interestingly, two young women from Pakistan, who had not voted, were least surprised by the outcome. They had a front-row seat to prejudice in America, having lived in New York in the aftermath of 9/11, the victims of threats, hatred and law enforcement targeting. They scoffed at anyone just waking up to the reality that the electorate was not persuaded by warnings of sexism, racism or misogyny. For them and their families, those factors were embedded in their lived experience as Americans. A number of students who attended some of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rallies were surprised that the very real, tangible energy they felt at those events did not translate to the end result. They felt that they had immersed themselves in a bubble of lefty jubilance and were blindsided when they realized that bubble wasn’t as large as they thought. As the conversation unfolded, I was surprised that the topic of the Middle East never came up as a reason to support or oppose Harris. For all the talk leading up to the election about the effect the Israel-Hamas conflict would have on younger, more progressive college voters, it didn’t come up at all in this sample. What did come up was the feeling that Harris’ pivot to the middle wasn’t authentic. Her talking about her own gun ownership, for example, felt like a blatant effort to appeal to the center-right, and they just didn’t buy it. Harris’ loss hit the young women the most. So many of them didn’t understand how so many in this country could knowingly vote for a man and a political party that want to take away their rights and control their bodies. I challenged them to raise their hands if they, with any regularity, talk with the men in their lives about their bodies, about their menstrual cycles, about what it is to experience life as a woman. I asked them how many times the men in their lives — their fathers or partners — proactively broach those topics with them. Not one hand was raised. Given that, I asked, why would you think that any of them would vote one way or the other based on what’s going on with your body? Another recurring criticism of Harris was the inability or refusal to meaningfully distinguish what she would have done differently from President Biden. I’ll admit, I was surprised to hear this specific point mentioned numerous times. They felt that the whole premise of the Harris campaign was a fresh start, a new generation of leadership, a turning of the page from old to new and yet, by not contrasting at all from Biden, she was sending the signal to these kids that it would be business as usual. They found that incredibly uninspiring. As I spent these few hours with them, it was clear that these students feel unseen by the political system. It was an overwhelmingly pro-Harris class, but the disdain they felt for the Democratic Party was palpable. This generation doesn’t want to be told what to do or what to think. They don’t want to be told what could happen if the other side wins. They don’t want to be lectured to or preached at. What they do want is to be inspired. They want something different from what they’ve seen from Washington over the past eight years. They want to be engaged regularly and authentically, not just when the political calendar dictates, as some targeted demographic determined by a political consultant. Every election cycle, everyone asks how to get young Americans to turn out more robustly, to engage and activate. After talking with these students, I think the answer is simple: Engage them like adults. Talk to them, not at them. Be real. Make it relatable and personal. Meet them where they are, not where you want them to be.
Magical moments from PV Sindhu and Venkata Datta Sai’s Udaipur wedding [PICS]
Police have made an arrest after a man allegedly 'exposed himself' at a bus stop in Wakefield. The incident occurred at a bus stop in Eastmoor today (Sunday, November 24). It was reported to West Yorkshire Police who tracked down the address of a possible suspect. The suspect matched the man's description and he was arrested on suspicion of Outraging Public Decency. He remains in police custody. The force issued the following statement on social media, it said: "On Sunday, November 24, 2024 Wakefield Central NPT officers PC Pickering and PC Smith attended an emergency call reporting a male exposing himself at a bus stop in the Eastmoor area of Wakefield. "On attending the scene the suspect had left the area, however officers obtained a detailed description of the suspect. The officers conducted enquiries and identifed an address of a possible suspect of the offence. "On attending the address a male was located inside who matched the description of the suspect provided to the officers. He was arrested on suspicion of Outraging Public Decency and is currently in police custody." Get all the latest and breaking news in Yorkshire by signing up to our newsletter here.Gold investing has skyrocketed this year as more people look for ways to protect their investments from economic uncertainty. At the beginning of the year, the price of gold was $2,063.73 per ounce, but according to American Hartford Gold, it's currently trading at $2,627.01. "Interest in gold continues to rise because it's widely regarded as a safe-haven asset," says Jose Gomez, a partner at Summit Metals. "Concerns about inflation, geopolitical tensions, and stock market volatility often push people toward gold as a way to preserve wealth." This high level of interest in gold causes many people to overlook other precious metals like platinum and palladium. Though less popular than gold and silver , platinum and palladium could be a good way to diversify your portfolio . To understand the benefits and drawbacks of platinum and palladium, we spoke to two experts who gave us their feedback on precious metal investing. Find out more about your precious metal investing options here . Pros of palladium and platinum investing "Palladium and platinum both have industrial uses and are used in jewelry," says Steve Braverman, founder at Dignity Gold. Let's look at some of the biggest benefits of investing in these precious metals. These include: Intrinsic value: Both platinum and palladium are extremely rare assets — both are about 30 times rarer than gold, according to Braverman. This scarcity makes both precious metals high-value assets. Alternative to gold: Platinum and palladium are also more affordable when compared to the price of gold today . The price of platinum is currently $941.90 per ounce, while the price of palladium is $955.50 per ounce. Diversification: If you're invested heavily in the stock market, platinum can be a good way to diversify your portfolio. It has a low correlation with stocks and bonds, making your portfolio more resistant to market fluctuations. Inflation hedge: Like other precious metals, platinum can act as a hedge against inflation , protecting your purchasing power during inflationary periods. Strong demand: "Palladium and platinum are more closely tied to industrial demand than gold, which can present unique growth opportunities," says Gomez. "For example, both metals are used extensively in catalytic converters to reduce vehicle emissions." This strong demand helps them sustain their long-term value and provides unique growth opportunities. Learn more about how the right precious metals could benefit your portfolio . Cons of platinum and palladium investing While these precious metals offer big benefits to investors, there are also some potential downsides to investing in them, including: Volatility: Platinum and palladium tend to be more volatile, especially when compared to gold or silver investing, so they may not be the best option for risk-averse investors. Less liquidity: "Liquidity can also be an issue — while gold is traded globally and is easy to buy or sell, certain palladium or platinum products may be harder to offload quickly at fair prices," says Gomez. High industrial use: Both platinum and palladium are heavily used in the automotive industry, so a downturn in this sector could cause their prices to drop. Harder to access: Braverman notes that the mining process in retrieving platinum and palladium is much more difficult. "The deposits are typically deeper and harder to access," he says. "Gold and silver are the easiest to mine and most sought after, so if miners have a significant amount of either, they are typically more profitable to mine." The bottom line Platinum and palladium can diversify your portfolio and are more affordable when compared to the price of gold . Their rarity and strong ties to the automotive industry can make them valuable alternative investments. But these precious metals do come with drawbacks like higher rates of volatility and lower liquidity. Gomez warns that their close ties to the automotive industry could easily turn into a negative for investors. "This can be seen with a move to clean energy and the EV car market eliminating the need for platinum in production of car converters." Braverman agrees, adding, "A relatively small amount of both metals should be in a diversified portfolio, but in comparison, gold and silver are far superior as a long-term investment." Ultimately, you should consider your risk tolerance, financial goals, and the overall market outlook when choosing your investments.NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of fatally setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train used his shirt to fan the flames, causing her to become engulfed in the blaze, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, made his first court appearance and was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court. He appeared briefly before a judge and wore a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt. He did not speak. He will remain jailed ahead of his next court date on Friday. The apparently random attack occurred Sunday morning on a stationary F train at the Coney Island station in Brooklyn. Police said Tuesday that identification of the victim was still “pending at this time.” Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who was sitting motionless in the train car and may have been sleeping, and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire. Zapeta then used his shirt to fan the flames, leading to her becoming engulfed in the fire, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said on Tuesday. Zapeta then sat at a bench on the subway platform and watched, according to police. Rottenberg added that under interrogation Zapeta said he didn’t know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself to interrogators in images related to the attack. Video posted to social media appeared to show the woman standing inside the train ablaze as some people look on from the platform, and at least one officer walks by. NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said Sunday that several officers had responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be" while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers. They were eventually able to douse the fire, but “unfortunately, it was too late,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said — the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Zapeta was taken into custody Sunday afternoon while riding a train on the same subway line after police got a tip from some teenagers who recognized him from images circulated by the police. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. The shelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal immigration officials said Zapeta had been previously deported in 2018 but at some point reentered the U.S. illegally. In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the attack a “gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman” that would be “met with the most serious consequences.” The crime — and the graphic video of it that ricocheted across social media — deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system in a city where many residents take the subway multiple times each day. Overall, according to authorities, crime is down in the transit system this year when compared to last year — major felonies declined 6% between January and November of this year and in 2023, data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show. But murders are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five in the same period last year. Earlier this month, a Manhattan jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the death of an agitated subway rider that the former Marine placed in a chokehold last year. The case became a flashpoint in ongoing debates over safety, homelessness and mental illness on the system. Policing the subway is also difficult, given the vast network of trains constantly moving between the system’s 472 stations, with each stop containing multiple entry points and, in many stations, multiple floors and platforms. On Sunday, police at the station where the woman burned to death were patrolling a different area and responded after seeing and smelling smoke, authorities said.
CM Omar Abdullah chairs meeting to review winter preparedness in Kashmir valley
Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title when he hit a major league-best .366 for the Atlanta Braves, has died. He was 85. Major League Baseball , the players’ association and the Braves paid tribute to Carty on social media on Sunday. A family friend told Listín Diario — a newspaper in Carty’s native Dominican Republic — that he died Saturday night in an Atlanta hospital. “Carty was one of the first groundbreaking Latino stars in the major leagues, and he established himself as a hero to millions in his native Dominican Republic, his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, and the city of Atlanta, where he was a beloved fan favorite,” the players' association said in its statement . The Braves said Carty left an indelible mark on the organization. “While his on-field accomplishments will never be forgotten, his unforgettable smile and generous nature will be sorely missed,” the team said in its statement. Carty made his big league debut with the Braves in September 1963. He batted .330 with 22 homers and 88 RBIs in his first full season in 1964, finishing second to Dick Allen in voting for NL Rookie of the Year. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season, and Carty got the franchise's first hit in its new home on April 12, 1966, against Pittsburgh. Carty had his best year in 1970, batting .366 with 25 homers and a career-best 101 RBIs. He started the All-Star Game after he was elected as a write-in candidate, joining Willie Mays and Hank Aaron in the NL outfield. Carty batted .299 with 204 homers and 890 RBIs over 15 years in the majors, also playing for Cleveland, Toronto, Oakland, Texas and the Chicago Cubs. He retired after the 1979 season. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB The Associated Press'I saw how the Queen did her Christmas shopping - it was utterly ingenious'
Indian think tank says Starlink is a wolf in sheep’s clothingIt seems like Chili's has always been around. It's the United States' leading sit-down chain restaurant specializing in Tex-Mex-inspired cuisine, but it's also a bar and grill, and a spot to grab classic American pub food. As such, Chili's is very proud of and aggressively markets several disparate menu items: margaritas, fajitas, chicken strips, big hamburgers, and ribs. It also sells all manner of sandwiches, salads, and hefty appetizer platters to suit almost everyone. Present in hundreds upon hundreds of shopping malls and suburban commercial centers, it's hard to believe that Chili's originated as a tiny, Texas-only phenomenon for years before both the business and menu rapidly expanded. By the early 2000s, Chili's was everywhere, but then began a decline that looked to be full of doom. Nowadays, Chili's is back and outdoing the competition. Here's the story of how Chili's was born, grew into a favorite spicy and boozy dining destination, fell into the brink of extinction, and crawled its way back out, surviving by the skin of . Chili inspired Chili's The eatery that grew into a chain took its name from the dish it started out with at a single location in Texas, a state where chili looms large in the cultural identity and culinary history. The Original Chili is purportedly made with the exact same combination of beef, onions, and secret spices as the initial recipe, and remains a staple of the menu at Chili's more than 45 years after the restaurant was founded. The acts of making and eating the spicy, meaty stew also had a hand in naming the restaurant. Back in 1967, Larry Lavine went to the first ever Terlingua Chili Cook-Off in Terlingua, Texas. Lavine thought about the Southwestern-style food served, as well as the fun and camaraderie on display at the event, while he considered opening an informal sit-down restaurant in 1975. Hence, the Chili Cook-Off gave way to Chili's. To attract Texans with certain expectations of a restaurant, Lavine placed chili right at the top of the menu. "It was something people would talk about," he told . "People don't talk about spaghetti and meatballs." Chili's was a brand new kind of restaurant There are a few broad and clearly differentiated categories into which most restaurants can fit into, like fast food or fine dining, and casual dining fits somewhere in between. These establishments serve mainstream, populist food in social, family-friendly, and even loud environments at prices that are cheaper than fine dining but slightly more expensive than fast food (even if the food is similar in quality and variety to the latter). Before casual dining chains like Applebee's, Red Robin, and Buffalo Wild Wings opened up hundreds of outposts around the United States, the first Chili's in Dallas largely helped create the format. "Chili's was among the first of its kind, pioneering the world of casual dining, with a full-service restaurant boasting a fun, funky, and laid back atmosphere," Jim Foster wrote in the Pioneers of Dallas County Facebook group (per ). At first, Chili's sold a menu dominated by big, messy burgers presented to customers in baskets, not on plates. Also, for what at the time was a novelty, Chili's offered mixed drinks as well as beer. In 1971, four years before Chili's opened, Texas legalized the sale of cocktails in restaurants. The first Chili's menu was brief As of 2024, Chili's menu is sprawling with options for everyone, to the point that it's broken down into 20 different sections. Created as a burger and loosely Southwestern-themed restaurant, it still sells many variants of beef on buns and Tex-Mex items, along with salads, sandwiches, pizza, ribs, fish, soup, fried appetizers, desserts, and a number of alcoholic beverages. At the first Chili's in Dallas in 1975, it was much a simpler time. The menu took up a single side of a sheet of standard-size paper, copied from a hand-written original. The bill of fare was separated into four brief categories. "Homemade Chili" included the house blend, one with beans (violating ), and one served over chips. "Burgers" counted six choices, including the basic "Oldtimer," a bun-less version, and the thickly-stacked "Terlingua Pride." The "Tacos" section consisted of soft tacos or a side of tostadas with hot sauce. The drinks menu listed three items: a frozen margarita, a homemade-style , and a mug of beer — Schlitz brand. And that was it. Margarita money is vital to the Chili's bottom line The restaurant's full, official name is Chili's Bar and Grill, implying that its extensive array of alcoholic drinks, classic cocktails, and bespoke adult beverages are as important to the chain as its food items. To match its Mexican-inspired lineup of fajitas, quesadillas, and Southwestern Eggrolls, Chili's serves up many different margaritas and margarita-like chilled drinks, such as an ever-changing "Margarita of the Month." Chili's even has its own bespoke, in-house take on the classic cold cocktail, the Presidente Margarita. Held in such esteem that Chili's trademarked the drink's name, it's constructed out of carefully selected high-end brand-name tequila, brandy, and orange liqueur, and available in a variety of fruit flavors. Every year in March, Chili's deeply discounts the Presidente Margarita to around $5, and the promotion doesn't seem to be detrimental to the chain's finances. No business in the U.S. of any kind sells more margaritas than Chili's does. If it were an independent nation, it would come third in a global ranking of countries that purchase, use, and sell the most Chili's invented the fajita effect In keeping with its foundational concept of Tex-Mex and Southwestern cuisine, fajitas get prominent placement on the menu at Chili's. It sells enough orders each year to justify a 60 million-pound fajita meat purchase, covering all three preparations on offer: steak, chicken, and shrimp. One of the ways that Chili's has made its own fajitas so popular is with some psychological trickery and indirect peer pressure. When an order of fajitas is ready to come out of the kitchen, a server carries the hot metal tray of meat as it loudly and fragrantly sizzles. This gets a lot of attention via several stimuli, and it leads other people to order fajitas, too. This happens in plenty of other restaurants, not just Chili's, and it's called "The Fajita Effect," a term coined by Joel Beckerman and Tyler Gray in their science of sound book "The Sonic Boom." Here's where the Chili's innovation comes in. A cooked plate of fajita meat doesn't really keep on making noise and emitting steam as it travels from flattop to tabletop. Chili's concocted some kitchen theatrics: The kitchen staff squirts a solution made mostly of oil onto the plated fajitas to encourage the sizzle, steam, and smells. Chili's grew after it was sold By 1983, Chili's had expanded only moderately, as a small chain of 23 restaurants in the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas selling little more than hamburgers and chili. It was struggling, too, bringing in $1 million in annual revenue against $1 million in holdings and $8.5 million worth of debt. Chili's was saved, and ascended to its position as one of the leading casual dining restaurant chains in the United States, after a buyout and rescue from Norman Brinker. An early Jack in the Box franchisee in the 1950s so successful that he became president of the company, Brinker launched the mid-price steakhouse chain Steak and Ale in the 1960s, and then Bennigan's Grill and Tavern in the 1970s. In 1976, he sold those companies to Pillsbury, which then hired Brinker to run its new restaurant division. In the early 1980s, he tried to absorb Chili's for his employer, but after being rebuffed, he left his position and bought Chili's outright. Seeing expansion as the future of the restaurant, he brought in a massive cash infusion by offering stock in Chili's in 1984 and acting as chairman and CEO. Brinker also ordered a new menu, urging the restaurants to offer lots more items, particularly Tex-Mex favorites like fajitas. By the time Brinker retired in 2001, there were hundreds of Chili's outposts from coast to coast. The tabletop tablets were very good for business Apart from the kind of foods offered and the lack of a dress code, another thing that separates fine dining establishments from casual eateries is the presence of touchscreen kiosks on the tables across a chain's hundreds or thousands of locations. These digital portals offer many services that streamline or enhance the restaurant experience. Rather than wait for a server to approach the table, customers can put in food orders (particularly for appetizers and desserts) or play one of the included games. These are all over the casual dining sphere in the 21st century, and Chili's was the first chain to take the leap. By 2014, Chili's had placed about 45,000 Ziosk-made touchscreen tablets at around 800 locations. Research shows that patrons particularly like to use the devices to settle their checks and to impulse-buy extra items. Stores with tablets installed enjoyed a 20% increase in sales of appetizers and desserts. Chili's wants you to want the baby back ribs Both Chili's and the restaurant industry agree that its signature menu items are hamburgers, fajitas, boneless chicken strips (or "Chicken Crispers"), and margaritas. Absent from this list is the entree for which Chili's is most associated with, due to a long-running ad campaign built around an all-timer of an earworm. In 1986, Chili's, recently acquired by a restaurant consortium and making a go at being a national chain, debuted its first TV commercials to feature a jingle titled "Welcome to Chili's." It's better known by its repetitive, hooky, lyrical refrain: "I want my baby back baby back baby back" and resolution "Chili's baby back ribs / barbecue sauce." Commissioned by Austin, Texas, advertising agency GSD&M, the tune was conceived by the company's Executive Creative Director, songwriter Guy Bommarito, who got Tom Faulkner to sing the main melody and Willie McCoy to come in on the "barbecue sauce" low notes. Chili's re-recorded the song in 1996, by which point the lyrics had entered the vernacular and joined the canon of near-universally known ad jingles. In 2002, Chili's soft rebooted the campaign again, hiring boy band of the moment NSYNC to sing the song in a series of commercials. More recently, in 2022. Chili's infiltrated pop culture Even those who lived in Chili's-free places in the 1990s were aware of Chili's. The often-aired "I want my baby back baby back baby back" TV commercial song grew so entrenched that it served as a pop culture reference-meets-joke in the blockbuster comedy "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." The large statured villain Fast Bas**** attempts to lure and eat the very small villain Mini-Me, singing the Chili's jingle as a way to comically make his intentions known. Chili's was also vital to many of the most memorable episodes of "The Office," NBC's Americanized remake of the U.K. TV hit of the same name. Paper company branch manager Michael Scott likes to woo his clients by taking them out for abundant, boozy lunches at the local Chili's, also the setting for his Dunder Mifflin annual awards ceremonies, "The Dundies." Steve Carell, the actor who played Michael Scott, is reportedly a real-life Chili's aficionado and got into a bit of a mock-rivalry with the restaurant chain in 2010. He filmed a sketch for the ESPY Awards parodying LeBron James' "The Decision," announcing he would "take his appetite to the Outback Steakhouse" and leave behind Chili's (as James had similarly announced his move to the NBA's Miami Heat). Chili's president Wyman T. Roberts responded with an open letter (via ), joking, "This shocking act of disloyalty from our homegrown 'funny man' sends the exact opposite flavor of what we would want our children to taste." Chili's was on the decline in the 2000s and 2010s Chili's grew rapidly in the early 2000s. In 1999, about 600 locations were open for business in the U.S. and just nine years later, Chili's was a 1,312-unit mega-chain raking in most of operator Brinker International's $4.2 billion a year in revenues. Unfortunately, The Great Recession, lasting from 2007 to 2009, negatively and seriously impacted Chili's, and the casual dining industry on the whole, as many Americans lost a lot of discretionary income during that economic turndown. And slowly but consistently, Chili's-branded restaurants started to close down. Between its peak of 2008 and 2022, when Brinker International hired a new CEO to help save the company, more than 80 restaurants had gone out of business. It had made some costly moves over that time, like taking on too many menu expansions, which caused the quality of the products and dining experience to suffer. Additionally, the choice to invest heavily in takeout and delivery programs, such as when , was an expensive one. Chili's pulled itself out of the fall As fast casual restaurants have fallen or stagnated in the 2020s, Chili's is thriving. In 2024, Chili's quarterly revenues increased by nearly 15% versus 2023 figures. Umbrella company, restaurant group Brinker International, brought in $4.42 billion in fiscal 2024, the most money it ever made in a year, and more than 85% of that came from Chili's. Kevin Hochman stepped in as CEO in 2022 and oversaw a plan to make Chili's a viable, modern restaurant chain with its marketing plan. The chain also consolidated its resources and is spending less money on food by eliminating about a fifth of its menu. "That simplification has worked," Hochman told . Brinker International also reallocated some of its funds, spending $200 million to improve the quality and atmosphere of hundreds of Chili's locations. Chili's has long operated under a business model of a combination of company-owned restaurants and franchised locations. In order to get as much revenue as possible out of the eateries it didn't own outright, but merely licensed, Chili's started to buy out its franchisees. In 2019, parent company Brinker International purchased 116 mostly Midwestern locations from large-scale operator ERJ Dining in a move estimated to bring in $300 million in yearly income. Two years later, Brinker bought another 23 East Coast Chili's locations from franchisee Chesapeake Foods and 37 restaurants from Quality Dining Inc., moves that will continue to pay off for the company in the future. A combo meal saved Chili's In 2022, Chili's launched 3 For Me, a casual dining take on fast food combo meals that included a burger or chicken sandwich, fries, an appetizer (bottomless chips and salsa, soup, or a salad), and a soft drink with free refills, for $10.99. The 3 For Me brought in so much business to Chili's during its lunch hours that it allowed the company to compete with fast food chains. And when rampant inflation led to higher cost drive-through combo meals, Chili pointedly promoted the 3 For Me anew in the spring of 2024 as an alternative to fast food, reworking the deal slightly to include a revamped Crispy Chicken Sandwich or a brand new Big Smasher cheeseburger as the entree, and endless chips and salsa as the only appetizer. It all still cost $10.99 for more food for roughly the same price as eating a burger, fries, and soda in your car at lunchtime. Six months after reasserting the 3 For Me, Chili's greatly extended the deal to include 11 entrees, such as composed bowls and Chicken Crispers, and hiring competitive eater Joey Chestnut as the program's spokesperson. That expansion came just weeks after Chili's released a quarterly earnings statement. Thanks in large part to ideas like the 3 For Me, Chili's experienced a tremendous financial turnaround. The average restaurant in the chain saw annual sales volumes increase by nearly $500,000 a year over the previous 24 months. Recommended
GDA says it did not participate in APC on water woes due to PPP’s presence The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has said that it did not participate in the all-parties conference conducted on Saturday by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl in Karachi on the issue of water rights of the people because it had objections to the participation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the multi-party moot. In a press statement, GDA Secretary General Dr Safdar Abbasi explained that President Asif Ali Zardari, who is the father of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had given his consent to the move to amend the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Act at the cost of the water rights of the people of Sindh. Dr Abbasi said the GDA had declined to participate in the APC despite having cordial ties with the host of the moot. He said that they would not sit with the PPP at any forum till President Asif Ali Zardari completely renounced the plans to amend the Irsa Act and build six new canals on the Indus River. He said that participating in such a moot alongside the PPP would never serve the legitimate interests of the people of Sindh. The GDA secretary general was of the view that the ruling PPP could not fool the people of Sindh any more on such vital issues. He claimed that Zardari, during his current tenure in the presidency, facilitated amendments to the Irsa Act and the construction of six new canals on the Indus River at the cost of the due water rights of the natives of Sindh. Dr Abbasi said the GDA would accelerate its mass-contact drive against the move to amend the Irsa Act and build new canals to draw additional water from the Indus River. He said the agitation campaign launched against the move to usurp the legitimate water rights of the people of Sindh would be expanded from Karachi to Kashmore and like-minded political forces would be contacted for the success of the drive.
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Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs win at the buzzer again, topping Panthers 30-27 on Shrader's field goalRomania far-right candidate urges voters to turn up for scrapped electionA bipartisan bill that volunteer fire companies and similar groups say is critical to their financial survival was not brought up for a final vote before lawmakers left Harrisburg for the year. The legislation would allow nonprofits to accept credit, debit, and mobile payments for raffle ticket sales. These small games of chance serve as popular fundraisers for nonprofits such as veterans’ groups. However, current law lets nonprofits only accept cash and checks. Advocates have called for modernization, arguing existing policy is outdated given that using cash is now less common. The bill passed the GOP-controlled state Senate and the state House Commerce Committee earlier this year. However, Democrats who narrowly control the state House did not bring it up for consideration, so the bill will need to begin the legislative process over again in 2025. “We have not heard from nonprofits that this is an issue, but we would be happy to revisit this issue next session,” state House Democratic spokesperson Elizabeth Rementer told Spotlight PA in an email. State Sen. Devlin Robinson (R., Allegheny), a co-sponsor of the legislation, told Spotlight PA that he was disappointed by the inaction from the state House. He added that he would’ve connected lawmakers with nonprofits that reached out to his office about the issue. He plans to reintroduce the legislation next year. “Everybody knows that we have a major problem with volunteer firefighters and the numbers dwindling across the state,” he said. The legislation , introduced by Robinson and Wayne Fontana (D., Allegheny), would allow cashless payments for raffles — not online play or live drawings — and still enforce the existing permitting process. The bill also would require nonprofits to verify that people buying tickets are at least 18. When the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person events, many fire companies shifted their fundraisers online. But some received warnings from their county treasurers that they were potentially violating their licenses and risking fines or losing their permits altogether. Lawmakers in the state House passed temporary measures in 2021 so nonprofits could accept payments via Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App during the health emergency. The state Senate never approved the proposal. Some fire companies still host online events and accept electronic payments. Others are too afraid of the risks. Meanwhile, lobbying to update the law has continued, with advocates saying the provision is obsolete and prevents nonprofits from bringing in more money to keep the lights on. The Howard Volunteer Fire Company in Centre County has a roughly $140,000 annual budget. The annual Punkin‘ Chunkin‘ Fall Festival raises a portion of those dollars. The most recent event, which occurred in October, brought in an estimated $30,000. The company also relies on chicken barbecue and direct requests for donations to raise money. In recent years, the company has made building upgrades and switched to energy-efficient fixtures to reduce costs, said Mark Ott, fire police captain. Still, the company — like volunteer fire units across the state — faces rising utility bills, expensive fuel, and high costs for equipment and training. “There’s always expenses coming in,” Ott told Spotlight PA. “It’s amazing to me that we’re still alive.” Approving cashless payments won’t solve every challenge these groups face, but it’s one way lawmakers could help, Ott added. “To me, it’s a no-brainer,” he said. “Just pass it.” 90.5 WESA partners with Spotlight PA, a collaborative, reader-funded newsroom producing accountability journalism for all of Pennsylvania. More at spotlightpa.org .
Tinubu’s first media interviewThere's no need to check the record books to see that a very considerable amount of snow fell on the city of Calgary yesterday. A look out the window will do. But a glance at the records doesn't disappoint. Eric Van Lochem, an operational meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says Saturday's snowfall amounts vary, depending on which side of the city is being measured and who is doing the measuring. "We did get some unofficial reports in Calgary that were perhaps as high as 25 or 30 cm. A lot of those were sourced from social media reports," Van Lochem told CBC News. "But the Calgary airport itself received 17.8 cm." That was the accumulation recorded for the calendar day of Nov. 23. And that is a new record, beating the previous mark of 13.2 cm set in 2018. "We beat the old record for Nov. 23 by quite a significant margin," Van Lochem said. It was a record-setting day for snow depth as well, with 24 cm of snow measured on the ground Saturday. That beats the old record of 20 cm, which was set in 1966 and equalled in 1996. The snow depth takes into account what was accumulated on Friday as well. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Saturday’s storm is connected to the atmospheric river that hit the coast of B.C. earlier in the week. (Jo Horwood/CBC) According to the Calgary Police Service, in the period stretching between Friday's morning commute and midnight on Saturday, officers responded to 208 non-injury collisions on the city's roads. Another 27 collisions resulted in injuries, all of which were minor in nature. There were an additional 53 hit-and-runs reported with no injuries resulting, and six hit-and-runs with minor injuries. Sgt. Sean Sherman is with the Calgary police traffic response unit. He told CBC News that it had been a long time since he saw a snowstorm as big as the one on Saturday, adding it was fortunate it didn't occur on a weekday, when there would have been much more traffic on the roads. While the collision numbers weren't as high as they could have been because of the reduced volume, Sgt. Sherman says he still saw drivers travelling faster than they should and using the fast lane when they are driving slower. "It just causes a lot more chaos," he said. Sherman says there appear to be fewer tire-related issues during snowstorms lately, something he attributes to a change in habit by Calgary motorists. "I think it's becoming more widely accepted by people to put winter tires on their vehicle," he said. But when it comes to driving in harsh winter conditions, he returns to the basic message Calgarians hear every time there's a major storm — if you don't have to go out somewhere, stay home. In a news release Sunday morning, the city said it did not anticipate the need to call for a snow route parking ban. Spokesperson Chris McGeachy said the city has activated its priority snow plan and the focus for city crews will be on completing maintenance work, including plowing and applying materials on Calgary's busiest routes, like Crowchild Trail, Memorial Drive and Glenmore Trail. Calgarians are asked to ensure sidewalks are clear of snow and ice and to consider helping a neighbour in need by shoveling their sidewalk. (Jo Horwood/CBC) City crews will also focus on clearing pedestrian infrastructure. He asked Calgarians to ensure sidewalks are clear of snow and ice and to consider helping a neighbour in need by shoveling their sidewalk. City bylaws say sidewalks should be cleared 24 hours after snowfall ends. Calgary transit has activated , which are expected to stay in effect until the start of service on Monday. Meteorologist Van Lochem said Saturday's storm is connected to the that hit the coast of B.C. earlier in the week. "It's all part and parcel of the same weather pattern, if you will, but not the exact same system," he said, explaining that weather systems tend to be torn apart as they cross the Rocky Mountains, before reforming as new low pressure systems on the Alberta side. Van Lochem says it's possible Calgary will see a few more centimetres of snow before the end of the month, but he doesn't see any more significant snowfall amounts in the forecast. "Things are going to quiet down here over Alberta for the next few days, but it's going to remain cold, probably through to the end of November," he said. "For all intents and purposes, this is the start of winter."