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NEW YORK — Juan Soto put on a New York Mets jersey and cap for the first time Thursday after his record $765 million, 15-year contract was finalized and talked about what made the difference in his decision. “They showed me a lot of love. ... How they're going to make it comfortable for me,” he said. "That's one of the things I was looking for." Soto was introduced at Citi Field a day after his deal was finalized. Speaking in the Piazza 31 Club, he was flanked by Mets owner Steve Cohen, president of baseball operations David Stearns and his agent, Scott Boras. “They always talk about family. They always talk about stick(ing) together,” Soto said. “That's one of the things that opened my eyes.” Security men in gray suits wearing earpieces were off to the side. Soto walked in led by Boras, wearing a dark suit, black turtle neck shirt and gold chain with his No. 22. “I’m excited by the Mets future,” Cohen said. “I think this accelerates our goal of winning championships.” Soto chose the Mets' offer on Sunday, deciding to leave the Yankees after helping them reach the World Series in his only season in the Bronx. SAN FRANCISCO — Willy Adames wasted little time making one thing clear: He wants to play all 162 games for the San Francisco Giants. So when introduced as their new shortstop Thursday, Adames looked to his left and gently put a hand on manager Bob Melvin's right shoulder, smiled and said, “if he lets me.” Melvin might not need much convincing, thrilled to suddenly have stability at a position that lacked continuity this year in his first season as skipper. Adames didn't hesitate to also offer a thought to new boss Buster Posey: He plans to win a few championships with the Giants just like the catcher-turned-executive did here. Surrounded by his parents and other family and friends, Adames was formally introduced and welcomed at Oracle Park after signing a $182 million, seven-year contract — the first big, splashy move made by Posey since he became President of Baseball Operations in late September. “There’s no words to describe my feeling right now to be here in this beautiful city, I’m just so happy to be here,” Adames said. "... This is a dream come true for me. I’m thrilled to be here, I’m so excited. Hopefully we can win a few championships like you did, and that’s one of the main reasons I’m here.” PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — The trial against Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking, was postponed on Thursday and scheduled to resume June 2, 2025. Dominican judge Yacaira Veras postponed the hearing at the request of prosecutors because of the absence of several key witnesses in the case. Only three out of 31 witnesses arrived to the hearing on Thursday. Franco’s lawyers asked the court to reconsider the postponement, arguing Franco must report to spring training in mid-February. “There is no case against Wander, for as many witnesses as they present, there is no case now,” Franco's lead lawyer Teodosio Jáquez told The Associated Press after the hearing. The judge replied that Franco is obligated to continue with the trial schedule and his conditional release from detainment. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Qatar TV: A journey of leadership, development and creativityCoeptis Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. COEP shares are trading lower on Friday. The firm announced plans to implement a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, which will take effect on December 31 . The decision follows authorization from the company's board of directors and majority stockholders. The reverse stock split aims to help the company meet the Nasdaq Capital Market's minimum bid price requirement of $1.00 per share, which is necessary to maintain its listing on the exchange. Also Read: 3 Russell 2000 Tech Stocks That Skyrocketed 1,000% Or More In 2024: Analysts Say They're Just Getting Started Under the terms of the reverse stock split, every 20 shares of the company's outstanding common stock will be converted into one share. The split will not result in fractional shares, as any fractional shares will be rounded up to the next whole number. According to Benzinga Pro , COEP stock has lost over 20% in the past month. Yesterday, the company announced the completion of its acquisition of the NexGenAI Affiliates Network platform and the launch of Coeptis Technologies. This new division is designed to diversify the company's growth potential, specifically in highly regulated industries like biotech, pharmaceuticals, and multi-level marketing. The NexGenAI Affiliates Network platform, developed by NexGenAI Solutions Group, is an AI-powered marketing software and robotic process automation (RPA) solution. This tool helps marketers process large volumes of data, optimize campaigns, improve customer engagement, and streamline operations—key factors for success in the competitive and regulated sectors Coeptis serves. Price Action: COEP shares are trading lower by 22.5% to $0.1636 at last check Friday. Read Next: Quantum Computing: The New AI? A Look at the Rapidly Expanding Market and Top Stocks For 2025 Photo by solarseven via Shutterstock © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.“Lifting Palm Oil ban vital to transform rural livelihoods”
DOGE division: Here’s an Excellent Cut “Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are leading a team of detectives to ferret out waste and fraud in the federal budget,” notes James Piereson at The New Criterion , even as “every program has an army of career employees, lobbyists, and journalists ready to defend it.” One excellent target: “The National Endowment for Democracy” — “a relic of the Cold War” that “no longer serves any pressing purpose in terms of advancing national interests.” Ending it would be comparatively easy: “It is set up as a private, tax-exempt organization with its own employees,” not an agency. And it’s “part of the so-called censorship industrial complex,” handing money to shady groups like the Global Disinformation Index, so odds are the NED can’t “continue in its present form for very long after inauguration day.” From the right: Joe’s Blow to Democratic Party Not just the country but the Democratic Party “will be dealing with the damage Biden leaves behind for years,” warns the Washington Examiner’s Byron York . Per exit polls, “In 2024, Democrats slipped to third place in party ID” behind Republicans and independents. “What does it mean? The simplest explanation is that Biden and his fellow Democrats made the party so unattractive that millions of self-identified Democrats decided to call themselves independents instead.” Bottom line: “Joe Biden was a terrible president. His party paid the price. Now, they’ll have to come up with a real, not a rhetorical, way to move forward.” Libertarian: Quit Taxing Americans Abroad The Trump administration should end “the worldwide taxation of individual Americans’ income,” argues Reason’s Veronique De Rugy , to “keep millions of law-abiding Americans living overseas from being treated like financial pariahs.” As the law stands, “if you live and work exclusively outside of the United States, you must file a US tax return.” “The United States is the only developed nation that taxes based on citizenship rather than residency.” A “better alternative” would be “a territorial tax system.” I.e., “if you are an American living and working in Singapore, the income you earn there is taxed only in Singapore.” Uncle Sam should “join the rest of the developed world and adopt a residence-based tax and reporting system.” That “would encourage global mobility for US citizens, including many who are abroad promoting US companies, and make American workers more competitive internationally.” Ukraine beat: Don Envoy Sees Vlad’s Weakness As President-elect Donald Trump’s “special envoy to Ukraine and Russia,” Lt. Gen. (ret.) Keith Kellogg is tasked “with finding a comprehensive peace settlement,” observe Mark Toth & Jonathan Sweet at The Hill . The Kremlin may think he’ll “cave to Putin’s every demand,” but “Kellogg is not going to roll over or allow himself to be steamrolled.” He knows that “thirty-four months and 747,340 casualties into what was supposed to be a 10-day ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, Russia is now dependent upon Iran and North Korea for munitions and soldiers,” even as “Putin’s military and diplomatic positions around the world rapidly deteriorate” from Syria to Georgia to Kazakhstan. “Now is a time for Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ foreign policy to be brought to bear on Putin.” Liberal: Voter ‘Perceptions’ Hurt Dems Despite Kamala Harris’ efforts to “fashion herself as a moderate,” surveys show “voters perceived Harris and the Democrats as too liberal, and this probably hurt them politically,” reports The Liberal Patriot’s Michael Baharaeen . A Third Way study asked voters to rate themselves and the candidates on a scale from most liberal to most conservative — and on average they placed themselves closer to Donald Trump than to Harris. A survey for More in Common, meanwhile, found that people view “the average Democratic voter ” to be more “left-wing” than most actually are. Plus, of course, Harris’ “past statements and unconvincing pivots” plainly “weighed the party down.” Dems must “grapple” with this reality “to repair their image.” — Compiled by The Post Editorial BoardHoliday stress can lead Alzheimer’s patients and those with dementia to go missing
BALD SPOT The once dense forest of Sofronio Española town in Palawan reveals a bald spot, shown in this photo taken on Dec. 14, 2023, after its trees are cleared by one of the mining companies operating on the island. —Geraldford Ticke PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, PALAWAN, Philippines — The Catholic Church leaders in Palawan issued a joint pastoral letter read during Sunday’s Masses in all parishes on the island calling for a 25-year moratorium on mining in the province, citing rapid deforestation in the country’s so-called last frontier. The pastoral letter urged the public to support a petition that would push government officials to enact the needed measures that would protect the island known for its lush forest cover. The pastoral letter, signed by Bishop Socrates Mesiona of the Vicariate of Puerto Princesa and Bishop Broderick Pabillo and Bishop Emeritus Edgardo Juanich of the Vicariate of Taytay warned that while Palawan’s forests have suffered greatly from commercial logging in the past, the current threat posed by large-scale mining is “far graver.” The Vicariate of Puerto Princesa covers this city and the southern towns of Palawan while the Taytay vicariate covers the province’s northern towns. The pastoral letter cited alarming figures of deforestation, such as the issuance of a special tree-cutting permit (STCP) by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 2016 that allowed a mining company to fell 27,929 trees. A new application for cutting 8,000 more trees in the same mining site is reportedly under review. The DENR also recently approved another STCP permitting the cutting of 52,000 trees to extract nickel ore in another part of Palawan. According to the prelates, there is an “overwhelming number” of mining applications: 67 exploration permits across northern towns like Coron, Taytay, and Araceli, and southern municipalities such as Brooke’s Point, Rizal and Balabac. These applications cover over 200,000 hectares, potentially adding to the 11 mining firms already operating in Palawan, whose Mineral Production Sharing Agreements span 29,430 ha. “If all these applications are approved, vast stretches of lush forests, clean rivers, mangroves and coral reefs will be lost,” the bishops said, emphasizing that Palawan’s natural beauty, which attracts global recognition, would face “irreversible destruction.” The letter reiterated the Church’s stance that mining is “unsustainable,” as it “devastates” ecosystems and wildlife. Despite laws requiring mining companies to rehabilitate damaged areas, the prelates highlighted the lack of compliance and insufficient monitoring by the DENR. “It’s heartbreaking to hear complaints about the use of money to secure endorsements for mining projects,” the bishops wrote, adding that less than 25 percent of the more than 3,000 ha mined in Narra, Española, Brooke’s Point and other areas have been rehabilitated. The bishops called on the Provincial Board (PB) members to pass an ordinance implementing the moratorium. “We urge them to prioritize the well-being and beauty of Palawan over political or corporate interests,” they said. They also criticized the lack of action at the local level, noting that other provinces in the Mimaropa region—Mindoro, Marinduque, and Romblon—have enacted measures banning large-scale mining, while Palawan has yet to do so. Gov. Victorino Dennis Socrates confirmed that a proposed ordinance for a 25-year mining moratorium is currently pending with the PB Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. He explained that the ordinance reflects the consensus reached during the Palawan Stakeholders’ Congress on Mining and the Environment held last April, where the majority opposed new mining operations. “If we allow mining to continue, with 65 applications and 13 active mining contracts, we’ll lose our forests and mountains,” Socrates said during a public forum on Nov. 29. Socrates expressed frustration with weak enforcement and monitoring by government agencies, noting how easily officials tasked with regulation could be influenced or manipulated. “If the [PB] endorses a new mining operation, I’ll have to veto it—even if it gets overridden,” Socrates said, emphasizing his commitment to protecting Palawan’s environment. He also highlighted Palawan’s lack of infrastructure and technology to add value to raw minerals, stating that the province sees little benefit from the mining industry while bearing the environmental costs. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . “We’re exporting raw minerals with no added value, and we don’t even know if other valuable resources are being extracted. Meanwhile, we earn mere scraps while depleting our natural wealth,” Socrates said.Sedgwick shares major trends in Forecasting 2025 reportBarings Corporate Investors Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.40 Per Share and Special Dividend of $0.10 Per Share
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Live Nation Entertainment's LYV short percent of float has fallen 8.52% since its last report. The company recently reported that it has 12.44 million shares sold short , which is 7.95% of all regular shares that are available for trading. Based on its trading volume, it would take traders 4.49 days to cover their short positions on average. Why Short Interest Matters Short interest is the number of shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. Short selling is when a trader sells shares of a company they do not own, with the hope that the price will fall. Traders make money from short selling if the price of the stock falls and they lose if it rises. Short interest is important to track because it can act as an indicator of market sentiment towards a particular stock. An increase in short interest can signal that investors have become more bearish, while a decrease in short interest can signal they have become more bullish. See Also: List of the most shorted stocks Live Nation Entertainment Short Interest Graph (3 Months) As you can see from the chart above the percentage of shares that are sold short for Live Nation Entertainment has declined since its last report. This does not mean that the stock is going to rise in the near-term but traders should be aware that less shares are being shorted. Comparing Live Nation Entertainment's Short Interest Against Its Peers Peer comparison is a popular technique amongst analysts and investors for gauging how well a company is performing. A company's peer is another company that has similar characteristics to it, such as industry, size, age, and financial structure. You can find a company's peer group by reading its 10-K, proxy filing, or by doing your own similarity analysis. According to Benzinga Pro , Live Nation Entertainment's peer group average for short interest as a percentage of float is 8.07%, which means the company has less short interest than most of its peers. Did you know that increasing short interest can actually be bullish for a stock? This post by Benzinga Money explains how you can profit from it. This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and was reviewed by an editor. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Fox News' Madeleine Rivera reports the latest on the decision from the White House. So you want to know about "recess appointments"? Well, recess is over and class is in session. Let’s start with four main sections in the Constitution: "[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States" – Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR: HOUSE REPUBLICANS' SMALL MAJORITY COULD MAKE ATTENDANCE A PRIORITY Former President Trump waves during a campaign rally at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Oct. 21, 2024, in Greenville, North Carolina. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) "The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session." – Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution "Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting." – Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution And then there is this particularly thermonuclear passage: "[The President} may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper." – Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution Let’s work through the mechanics of each one. It’s tradition for a president to nominate various persons for his Cabinet, other administration positions and the judiciary. However, the Senate must confirm those figures through a roll call vote on the floor. The confirmation process usually entails formal visits with senators, background checks on nominees by the FBI or the committees of jurisdiction, hearings with the nominee and other witnesses who either support or oppose the nominee, a committee vote to discharge the nomination to the floor, debate on the floor and a final confirmation vote. This is the Senate’s "Advice and Consent" exercise. It’s a responsibility most senators take very seriously. Many passionately guard those prerogatives. ‘IT’S A SETBACK': DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BIDEN OVER HUNTER PARDON Donald Trump watches a video screen at a campaign rally at the Salem Civic Center, in Salem, Virginia, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) For instance, incoming President Trump nominated former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for attorney general. Gaetz met with several Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. But Gaetz’s selection never got to the vetting phase or even a hearing. It was clear to Gaetz – and most senators – that the nominee wasn’t confirmable by the Senate. Confirmation of Gaetz would have represented the "consent" provision of the Constitution. However, the abrupt withdrawal of the nominee – after all of the Senate’s closed-door muttering – certainly reflected "advice." After Gaetz , expect lots of consternation in the coming weeks about the viability of Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy and FBI Director pick Kash Patel. This is where the concept of "recess appointments" could come in. If the Senate fails to confirm some of Trump’s nominees, there are suggestions that Trump might try to circumvent the Senate and temporarily install these persons in those roles on an "acting" basis. This is the application of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. It allows the president to "fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate." A "recess appointment" may only serve in the role until the end of a given, two-year Congress. The Founders crafted the concept of a recess appointment so the government could have a stand-in for a period if a given office suddenly became vacant due to death or resignation. Congress was often out of session for months at a time in the early days of the republic. Transportation was tough. It was a challenge to quickly confirm replacements if the Senate wasn’t meeting. So the Founders created the fail-safe of "recess appointments." That way, the government wasn’t hamstrung waiting on the Senate to eventually reconvene and confirm someone to an important government post. But how would a recess appointment work in the current environment? And could a president just bypass the Senate and install someone if Congress wasn’t meeting? In theory, yes. And it’s possible that a president could do so if a nomination is stalled or someone is unconfirmed. THOMAS MASSIE, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR VOCALLY OPPOSE TRUMP'S DEA NOMINEE Trump has yet to say who he prefers to lead the GOP conference. (Reuters) However, the brutal truth is that recess appointments are becoming rare. Both Trump and President Biden had precisely zero recess appointments. President Obama had 32. The last recess appointment was Richard Griffin Jr. to the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 4, 2012. He was part of four recess appointments by Obama on that day. Griffin and two others were placed at the NLRB. Obama also slotted Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. By contrast, President George W. Bush had 171 recess appointments. President Bill Clinton scored 139. The lynchpin to the entire enterprise is whether there is in fact an appropriate "recess" of the Congress. Only under such a recess would the Senate reside in the proper parliamentary posture to allow for the potential of a recess appointment. It’s been years now since both the House and Senate have technically abandoned Washington for more than three days. That’s to guard against the chance of a recess appointment. The House and Senate used to frequently approve what’s called an "adjournment resolution." That granted both the House and Senate leave from Capitol Hill for extended periods – such as over the holidays, Thanksgiving, Easter and Passover, Independence Day and the "August recess." But those are infrequent. This fall, both the House and Senate were "out" for part of September, all of October and a chunk of November. However, both bodies convened abbreviated sessions every three days. Each one lasted just a few seconds. That’s de rigueur in Washington because the House and Senate can’t approve an adjournment resolution. The House and Senate just don’t snap their fingers and they’re out. Like everything on Capitol Hill, both bodies must vote to adjourn. Democrats control the Senate. So it might not be a problem approving an adjournment resolution there. But the GOP controls the House. House Republicans would never green light an adjournment resolution, presenting the potential for Biden to make a recess appointment. So each body now meets for just a few seconds every three days to forestall recess appointments. This phenomenon reflects the power of Article I, Section 5, as neither body "shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days." During his time in office, Obama believed the House and Senate were truly "in recess" – despite convening every three days. Frustrated at the pace of his nominations, the White House concluded that the three-day operation wasn’t sufficient for the House and Senate to conclude they were "out." Hence the appointment of Griffin and others during a 2012 window between sessions. TRUMP TAPS DAUGHTER TIFFANY'S FATHER-IN-LAW MASSAD BOULOS AS SENIOR ADVISERS ON ARAB AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre on Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia. ( Brandon Bell/Getty Images) But in 2014, the Supreme Court found that the Obama administration overstepped its bounds with the recess appointment. In NLRB v. Canning, the high court found that if the Senate says it’s out, it’s out. In other words, the executive branch of government has no authority interpreting actions of the legislative branch of government. Moreover, Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution allows each body of Congress to "determine the Rules of its Proceedings." That said, for the first time in U.S. history, the Supreme Court established a length of time the House and Senate must be out for there to be a "recess" and the possibility of a "recess appointment." In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided that recess appointments are permissible if the House and Senate are out for a period of at least 10 days. So let’s say the Senate is struggling to confirm some of the incoming president’s most-controversial nominees. Could Trump ask the House and Senate to call it quits for 10 days so he could slide a troubled nominee into place? In theory, yes. But parliamentarily, what would it take for the House and Senate to both be out of session in order to strategically create a political crevasse wide enough for a recess appointment? It’s about the math. In the new year, Republicans will control the House with perhaps as few as 217 seats. One race in California still doesn’t have a winner. The new Congress starts with one vacancy. The Senate will be 53-47 in favor of the GOP. Republicans really can’t lose any votes toward adopting an adjournment resolution. Senate Republicans can lose up to three of their own – and have Vice President JD Vance break the tie on an adjournment resolution. But four votes? They’re out of luck. Here’s the challenging part: It’s far from certain that both the House and Senate could ever muster the votes to approve an adjournment resolution for the sole purpose of engineering a recess appointment – or even a batch of them. Some House Republicans might balk. But the bigger issue could be Senate Republicans. Many senators simply won’t forgo their responsibilities to provide advice and consent. They guard those traditions closely. Plus, they worry about establishing what some would view as a terrible precedent to allow a president to install their nominees, no matter how embattled they may be. After all, Senate Republicans would rue the day they vote to adjourn in favor of installing one of Trump’s nominees – lest "President Newsom" or "President Whitmer" try the same thing in 2029. TRUMP NOMINATES CHARTLES KUSHNER TO SERVE AS US AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: ‘STRONG ADVOCATE’ The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (iStock) In NLRB v. Canning, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia even argued against the concept of recess appointments in the modern Senate. In today’s world, the Senate can reconvene quickly to consider nominees. "The only remaining practical use for the recess appointment power is the ignoble one of enabling presidents to circumvent the Senate’s role in the appointment process, which is precisely what happened here," said Scalia. And even if the House and Senate approved an adjournment resolution of more than 10 days, exactly when would the recess fall? Congressional Republicans promise a robust agenda in 2025. When the House and Senate are out, they are out. That means nothing on the floor in both bodies for at least a week-and-a-half. No legislation on tax cuts. Nothing dealing with the debt ceiling or cutting spending. Forget about immigration policy. So the political postulate of a recess appointment is fascinating. But it’s altogether something different in practice. This brings us to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution. This is the "thermonuclear passage" I referred to earlier. The Constitution states that "on extraordinary Occasions" the President may "convene both Houses, or either of them, and in the case of Disagreement between them with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper." U.S. presidents have never exercised this authority to "adjourn" Congress. No one knows what constitutes "extraordinary Occasions." And, a lay reading of Article II, Section 3 suggests there must be a discrepancy between the House and Senate over adjourning – for the purposes of a recess appointment. In other words, the House may be able to approve the adjournment resolution – and the Senate may not or vice versa. In theory, President-elect Trump could try this gambit to adjourn Congress. But this is new constitutional turf. Yes. A recess appointment like Cordray or Griffin may find themselves in the job. But the Trump administration would inevitably find itself in front of the Supreme Court about the validity of those appointments. Just like the Obama administration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP So recess appointments are theoretically possible. But in reality, they are very hard to put into place. And for our purposes, it’s time for a recess. Class dismissed. Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
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Exactly one year ago today, I wrote a column about being old , and the subtle things I miss about what hockey used to be. No big issues, to be clear – we’re talking stuff like how the water bottles used to pop off the nets, and how linesmen used to have to climb the glass to avoid the puck. If I’m being honest, I figured it would be a bit of a throwaway, the kind of midseason filler that’s fun for a day and then fades quickly. Instead, it became one of my more popular columns of the season, and I decided to make it a regular feature. Advertisement Then I forgot. Because I am old. But if there’s anything us old fogies do better than the occasional memory lapse, it’s celebrating the random anniversary of things that weren’t all that important to begin with. So today, one year later, I’m bringing the gimmick back, with a half dozen new items. Well, old ones. You’ll figure it out. But first, just like last time, a disclaimer: This is all in good fun, and very much not meant to be some whiny screed about how much better things used to be, and how Gary Bettman has ruined everything by dragging the game into the 20th century. If you have strong feelings about that stuff, please take them elsewhere, because I am decrepit and fragile. Let’s get old. I miss when the nets were loose and baggy How it used to be: A player would carry the puck through the neutral zone, with nobody in his way because the trap hadn’t been invented yet. Then he’d skate to the top of the circle and wind up for a slap shot because gap control hadn’t been invented yet. Then he’d rip a howitzer past a terrified tiny man because goaltending hadn’t been invented yet. And then the puck would stay in the net. Somewhere. You see, kids, back in the old days the nets were loose and baggy. That made sense to us because their job was to stop the puck when a goal had been scored. So even if you lost track of the puck, which you definitely did thanks to the 14-inch standard-definition TV the whole family was crowded around, you’d see a big bulge in the back of the net and know that goal had been scored. Why it changed: Presumably because the linesmen complained about having to go elbow-deep in fishing twine to retrieve a puck while everyone else waited for the game to start. And sure, I get that. But at some point, net-tightening technology got out of control, to the point where the things barely seem to have any give at all anymore. Advertisement Why I miss it: First of all, because I’m tired of being confused about whether a goal was even scored because the puck goes into the net at 95 mph and comes out at roughly 96, eventually embedding itself in the boards at the opposite end of the rink. But there was also just something cool about the visual. In last year’s comment section, reader Tom L. once described it as “Like catching a comet in a butterfly net,” at which point he was immediately perma-banned for writing something better than I ever could. I miss when a team’s three best forwards were on the top line How it used to be: There was a time when a team’s first line was made up of its best center and its two best wingers. The second line was the next best center and next two best wingers. And not only did this not seem weird, we couldn’t even imagine a different way of doing it. For the record, this wasn’t a hard and fast rule across the entire league, and you’d occasionally get guys playing higher up the lineup than you’d expect. (This was especially true when somebody like Dave Semenko would get to ride shotgun for Wayne Gretzky, just in case anyone needed to be taken for a canoe ride.) But occasional exceptions aside, it was pretty much the default setting. That started to shift around the time the cap came in, as teams moved toward spreading their best players across three or even four lines. Often, that meant the top center would have one top winger who’d regularly play with him, and then a rotating cast of depth guys who’d fill out the third spot. Sometimes it clicked, and you’d even occasionally discovered a star-in-the-making like Zach Hyman this way. But loading up the team’s three best forwards on one line for an entire game? These days, it’s rare. Why it changed: My guess is that two main factors came into play, both of which made balanced lineups more important. The first was the cap, and the parity it forced on the league. It’s one thing to put your three best forwards on the top line, and something else entirely when those are your only three good forwards. We also saw the game evolve to a much higher tempo than we saw back in the olden days, where players took longer shifts and rarely went full speed. With everyone mashing the turbo button at all times these days, you can’t play that top line for 25 or 30 minutes like you could before, so spreading out the offense becomes a priority. Advertisement Why I miss it: Because it was just cool to see all that talent on the ice at once, especially when teams matched top lines and there were six all-stars facing off against each other. And it was fun when your team acquired a star player and you’d start mentally shifting the lines around in your head, rather than finding out he’d been slotted in for third-line duty because the top line with the 12-goals-a-year plugger has too much chemistry to disrupt. I miss when all the players wore the same light blue undershirts for some reason How it used to be: I don’t know why or when it started, but when I was growing up, every NHL player wore the same light blue undershirt. (OK, yes, except for Rob Ray .) If you looked closely, you could see them peaking out from beneath the jersey pretty much all the time. But you really got a good look under two sets of circumstances: Any time a player was interviewed in the dressing room, or whenever a guy got into a fight and had his jersey pulled off. A significantly rarer third option that nonetheless helps illustrate our point: When players were forced to take part in intermission comedy sketches. Why it changed: I have no idea, although I’m going to assume that somebody invented a better moisture-absorbing material that was lighter and/or more comfortable, and the modern generation adopted that because they are soft. Relatedly, I have no idea when this changed. I know those shirts were everywhere in like 1993, and they’re not around now, but you could tell me that they disappeared gradually or in some specific year in between there and I would have no choice but to believe you. Why I miss it: I have no idea. My brain may be broken. I miss when referees would announce the result of goal review with a dramatic point How it used to be: A goal would be scored, or maybe it wouldn’t, and nobody would be quite sure. So we’d go to replay review, which always worked great and everybody loved , to try to figure it out. That meant the referee would have to skate over to the penalty box area, where they’d try to hand him a beige phone with a comically long extension chord through a little hole in the glass, which was always peak comedy. He’d listen, somebody somewhere would watch a replay, and we’d all wait as the suspense mounted. Advertisement And then, the decision would arrive – at which point the ref would nod solemnly, return the phone, and then take a few confident strides toward center ice before either pointing to the faceoff dot (for a goal) or waving his arms (for no goal). It was emphatic, decisive, and the only way that made sense. Why it changed: Because the NHL realized that the NFL had its officials actually announce their calls into microphones and thought, “Hey, I bet our guys could do that too.” Spoiler alert: No they could not. Why I miss it: First are foremost, because today’s NHL microphones seldom work. And on the rare occasions that they do, every referee who isn’t Wes McCauley clearly hates having to do the announcement and rush through the entire thing like a scared third-grader getting his public speaking presentation out of the way. Half the time the crowd is just confused about what the ref is even trying to tell us, especially since a lot of these guys don’t know how to just get to the point and say goal or no goal. It’s a mess. But even beyond that, the point-or-wave dynamic was just better. It was more dramatic. What’s that old saying when it comes to screenwriting, show don’t tell? The NHL was better when they’d show us with an emphatic motion instead of telling us with rambling expository dialog. One bit of good news: Unlike just about all of the other items I complain about in this column, where there’s no reasonable path back to how it used to be, we could fix this one at any time. Just call up the referees union and tell them the broken mics are history, and we’re back to pointing. I’m pretty sure they’d be thrilled. All we’d need to do is provide a little bit of training to remind them how it’s done. Maybe Auston Matthews could volunteer . I miss when cool moments were punctuated with flashbulbs going off How it used to be: Some key moment would come along, especially around the net, and the darkened arena would explode with camera flashbulbs. If you’ve ever wondered why those “ol’ hockey pictures” looked so cool, here’s how they did it: I slowed down the Mahovlich goal from ‘72. You can see the flash bulbs mounted on the glass going off simultaneously to take the pic. The resulting pic is in the thread BELOW.. pic.twitter.com/VVXQK3ctn6 — Old Hockey Cards (@oldhockeycards) December 2, 2023 It was like a mini-fireworks show, one that you came to associate with “something very important just happened.” Why it changed: I don’t know enough about photography to say for sure, but I’d assume that better camera technology is to blame here, as well as better lightning in arenas. Why I miss it: Because flashbulbs automatically increase the drama of a given sports moment by roughly 300 percent. Advertisement This isn’t an NHL-specific issue, by the way. Other sports have also lost their bulbs, with nighttime baseball and football being especially affected. If you’re feeling generous with your definitions, it’s possible that no “sport” has suffered more here than pro wrestling . But hockey had its moment too, and I miss them. Photography was just better back then. With one notable exception . I kind of miss when random fans would jump on the ice to celebrate with the players How it used to be: You’d be sitting at home, watching your team win the Stanley Cup. The final buzzer would count down, and the bench would empty in an explosion of joy and relief, as the superstar forward and stud defenseman raced down the ice pile onto the starting goalie. And then you’d look up and Gord from accounting would be there too. Why it changed: Because it was one of the stupidest things ever, and I can’t believe there was a time when we let this happen in pretty much every sport . Why I miss it: I know I shouldn’t because it was dumb and also legitimately dangerous. It was also unfailingly hilarious, and it only gets funnier with time, since you get to enjoy those wonderful ’70s and ’80s fashions. The whole thing is fascinating to me as an introvert who doesn’t enjoy making eye contact with my own children. I can’t get inside the head of somebody who sees their team celebrating a huge win and thinks, “You know what I bet would make this even better? Me. Hold my popcorn, I’ll be back in a bit...” Today, anyone who tries to jump on the ice at the final horn would be immediately tackled, arrested, and barred from the arena for life. And for the record, I have no issue with that, other than we should do it to the glass-bangers too. But there was a weird time when we all just accepted it, and I kind of miss it. (Top photo of Wayne Gretzky with the Stanley Cup: David E. Klutho /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)Bill Maher tells Jane Fonda he might 'quit' show because of Trump
NEW YORK — Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the market posted its fifth straight gain and the Dow Jones industrial average notched another record high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.3%. The benchmark index’s 1.7% gain for the week erased most of its loss from last week. The Dow rose 1% and nudged past its most recent high set last week, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Markets have been volatile over the last few weeks, losing ground in the run-up to elections in November, then surging after Donald Trump’s victory, before falling again. The S&P 500 has been steadily rising throughout this week to within close range of its record. It’s now within about 0.5% of its all-time high set last week. “Overall, market behavior has normalized following an intense few weeks,” Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, said in a statement. Several retailers jumped after giving Wall Street encouraging financial updates. Gap soared 12.8% after handily beating analysts’ third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, while raising its own revenue forecast for the year. Discount retailer Ross Stores rose 2.2% after raising its earnings forecast for the year. EchoStar fell 2.8% after DirecTV called off its purchase of that company’s Dish Network unit. Smaller-company stocks had some of the biggest gains. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.8%. A majority of stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground, but those gains were kept in check by slumps for several big technology companies. Nvidia fell 3.2%. Its pricey valuation makes it among the heaviest factors in whether the broader market gains or loses ground. The company has grown into a nearly $3.6-trillion behemoth because of demand for its chips used in artificial intelligence technology. Intuit, which makes TurboTax and other accounting software, fell 5.7%. It gave investors a quarterly earnings forecast that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Facebook owner Meta Platforms fell 0.7% after a decision by the Supreme Court to allow a multibillion-dollar class-action investor lawsuit to proceed against the company. It stems from the privacy scandal involving the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.63 points to 5,969.34. The Dow climbed 426.16 points to 44,296.51, and the Nasdaq picked up 42.65 points to close at 2,406.67. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Crude oil prices rose. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41% from 4.42% late Thursday. In the crypto market, bitcoin hovered around $99,000, according to CoinDesk. It has more than doubled this year and first surpassed the $99,000 level on Thursday. Retailers remained a big focus for investors this week amid close scrutiny of consumer spending habits heading into the holiday shopping season. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, reported a quarter of strong sales and gave investors an encouraging financial forecast. Target, though, reported weaker earnings than analysts expected and its forecast disappointed Wall Street. Consumer spending has fueled economic growth, despite a persistent squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. Inflation has been easing and the Federal Reserve has started trimming its benchmark interest rate. That is likely to help relieve pressure on consumers, but any major shift in spending could prompt the Fed to reassess its path ahead on interest rates. Also, any big reversals on the rate of inflation could curtail spending. Consumer sentiment remains strong, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. It revised its latest figure for November to 71.8 from an initial reading of 73 earlier this month, though economists expected a slight increase. It’s still up from 70.5 in October. The survey also showed that consumers’ inflation expectations for the year ahead fell slightly to 2.6%, which is the lowest reading since December of 2020. Wall Street will get another update on how consumers feel when the Conference Board, a business group, releases its monthly consumer confidence survey on Tuesday. A key inflation update will come on Wednesday when the U.S. releases its October personal consumption expenditures index. The PCE is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, and this will be the last PCE reading before the central bank’s meeting in December. Troise and Veiga write for the Associated Press.Lawmakers react to Hunter Biden pardonSupers OK new regs for wind farms
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