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Montana bans TikTok for all residents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill banning TikTok in Montana, making it the first state to fully ban the app in the U.S.The Republican governor signed legislation into law Wednesday, saying the ban is aimed at protecting citizens from foreign influence since TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.“The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,” Gianforte said in a statement. “Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”The state’s action follows efforts in Congress, including a bipartisan bill in the Senate targeting TikTok and other apps from foreign adversaries. But momentum has stalled in recent weeks after libertarian members like Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and progressive Democrats like Rep. Alexandri...

‘Fast X’ takes another spin into pointless action & mayhem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Fast X”Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: C+Directed by the mediocre French action filmmaker Louis Letterier (“Transporter 2,” “Clash of the Titans”), after Justin Lin dropped out in that position, “Fast X,” the 11th film in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, featuring Vin Diesel’s famously laconic renegade Dominic Toretto, reunites the remaining members of the “Fast & Furious” team aka Dominic Toretto’s family.As usual, the film, which uses the Roman numeral for 10, instead of the Arabic number, is an often laughable mix of family-movie mawkishness, over-the-top, nitro-boosted action and toxic masculinity. It’s worth noting that even the women in the “Fast & Furious” series are super-masculine when necessary. Rita Moreno of the original “West Side Story” appears in an opening family meal to give this schmaltzy-super-violent, supremely dumb action film a classic film glaze.The film’s n...

Editorial: D.C. goes to bat for transit workers, so should Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

State Rep. Joseph McGonagle may not have Capitol Hill lawmakers living and working in his district, but hopefully he won’t need their political muscle to keep MBTA workers safe.McGonagle introduced legislation that would impose an up to two-and-a-half year prison sentence and $5,000 fine for assault and battery upon a public transit worker who is engaged in their work, as the Herald reported.Assaults are not new, McGonagle said, and they range from spitting, punching, to flinging bodily fluids on MBTA operators.“And these drivers are left defenseless,” he said. “… The men and women who come to work every day to support themselves and their families should not have to put themselves at risk for unnecessary violent behavior.”Massachusetts is not alone in this – Metro workers in Washington, D.C. have also been subject to attacks. But there, Capitol Hill  lawmakers took notice, of this and other crimes in the district. It’s where they live and work, they want a safe co...

Moore: Green movement killing jobs – are unions listening?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Could it be that union bosses are finally waking up to the cold reality that the greatest threat to steel workers, the United Auto Workers, miners, machinists and the Teamsters is the radical climate change agenda of the environmentalists?The green movement has taken the Democratic Party hostage — and President Joe Biden’s all-in embrace of far-left green policies is wreaking havoc on rank-and-file union jobs.The United Auto Workers recently announced it would withhold its endorsement of Biden as he runs for a second term. “The federal government is pouring billions into the electric vehicle transition, with no strings attached and no commitment to workers,” UAW President Shawn Fain recently declared. “The EV transition is at serious risk of becoming a race to the bottom” for America’s workers.My only question: Why did it take five years to figure this out?What a shock that a union that makes automobiles would have second thoughts about endorsing ...

Lucas: Spilka squares off v. DiZoglio in Beacon Hill budget brawl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Which of state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s former colleagues in the state Senate — all fellow Democrats — will come to her aid in her budget battle with Senate President Karen Spilka?The answer is: none of them.So beholden are they to Spilka,70, who runs the 40-member Senate with an iron fist, that none are bold enough to vote against her wishes. The Senate is made up of 37 Democrats and three Republicans.Spilka is the Iron Lady of Beacon Hill.The main issue, besides personality conflicts, is that DiZoglio, 40, has promised to conduct unheard of audits of both the House and Senate, which both Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano oppose.One way to try and stop the audits is to cut the auditor’s budget request, which the Spilka-controlled Senate ways and Means Committee did last week, even though DiZoglio’s budget was approved in the state’s $55 billion overall budget by Gov. Maura Healey and the House.The full Senate has yet to take up the budget. Individual senators can propose a...

Get ready for a whale of a season off the Massachusetts coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Remember the whales frolicking off the coast of Massachusetts last summer? Good news: those big, beautiful creatures are back.With local whale watching cruises launching again, it’s a perfect time – before the hot sun and crowds – to take in the magnificent sight of these extraordinary ocean giants.“This time is really great because, unlike summer when things are pretty consistent, there’s a lot of change that happens out there,” Laura Howes, director of research and education at Boston Harbor City Cruises told the Herald.Boston Harbor City Cruises (https://www.cityexperiences.com) debuted their whale watches this year on Tuesday, a bit later than usual for good reason: To protect the endangered right whales that call coastal Massachusetts their home early in the season.Now, she said, you’ll see lots of moms and their baby calves, along with a great selection of whale types like fin, minke and humpback.In Plymouth, the popular Captain John Boats (https://www.captjohn.com)  resumed t...

Sizzling Jake Burger hits 1 of 3 Chicago White Sox home runs in a 7-2 victory against the Cleveland Guardians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Luis Robert Jr.’s home run streak came to an end.But Jake Burger continued his tear, homering for his third straight game.It was one of three homers for the Chicago White Sox, who utilized the long ball to beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 in front of 12,241 on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.“Hitting is contagious,” Burger said. “All the guys are piecing good at-bats together and making solid contact. It just keeps rolling. The lineup is deep, and so one through nine there could be damage done. The starting pitcher has to dial it for all nine.“We are piecing them together. It’s really exciting and really fun.”Gavin Sheets hit a solo homer in the second, his second consecutive game with a home run.Andrew Vaughn led off the fourth with a home run, and Burger hit a two-run homer later in the inning.The Sox have outhomered the Guardians 6-0 in the first two games of the series.It’s the first time the Sox have hit at least three homers i...

All ears on summer as concert season kicks off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Do you have your Taylor Swift tickets? No? You can pay $1,112 for a single seat at the way, way back of Gillette Stadium. Or – and hear me out – you can spend that $1,112 on quality seats to half a dozen different shows.Swift and her Swifties kick off the summer concert season with an astounding three Gillette shows May 19, 20, and 21. But whatever side of Tay Tay you dig – country, pop, rock, that indie folk thing she tried on “Evermore” – there is something you will love just as much (or almost as much, but for way less) on our Not A Cruel Summer Concert PreviewGuster & the Boston Pops, Symphony Hall. June 6 & 7The Boston Pops kicked off an impressive season May 12 – jazz giants, Disney princesses, “Return of the Jedi” in concert. But if you really wanted to dig into the “Boston” part of the Boston Pops, go see Tufts-born rockers Guster play with America’s orchestra. The idea of the band’s signature song “Satellite” with strings is simply delightful.Tinariwen, the Sinclair...

Dyrt’s top campgrounds in New England

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Avid campers are painfully aware of how challenging it has become to secure camping reservations over the past three years. Now we know just how much.Getting a spot was five times harder in 2022 than before the pandemic, according to an annual survey conducted by The Dyrt, a popular camping website and app with 30 million visitors annually.The Dyrt’s 2023 Camping Report, which is based on a random survey of 3,000 Dyrt users and a separate survey of camping property managers in all 50 states, found that sleeping under the stars is more popular than ever. The Dyrt says an estimated 80 million people went camping in the U.S. last year, 7.2 million for the first time. More than 15 million went camping for the first time in the past two years.More than 58.4% of respondents said they had a hard time finding campsites in 2022. That number was only 10.6% in 2019.“The thing that strikes me the most is the continued uptick of camping, which makes me really happy because I truly believe the ou...

Dear Abby: GF has mystery relationship with neighbor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:43 GMT

Dear Abby: My girlfriend, “Jana,” and I have been together for 18 years. We live in a small community. About a year ago, a young single guy moved in next door. Jana and “Aiden” took an immediate liking to each other. She’s 64, and he’s 35.Aiden is on permanent disability, has never had a job and is heavily into drugs. He does odd things like walking down the middle of the street draped in blue lights and sitting in the middle of the street. The police have been called on him so many times he was almost kicked out of the neighborhood.He and Jana were together all the time — calling, texting and talking in person. They don’t meet so often now because we’ve had so many arguments about it. I was jealous in the beginning. Now I just don’t like her hanging out with him.She still calls and talks to him, but now she does it only when I’m not around. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it. He’s always ...