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The president’s critics say the highly charged atmosphere he has helped create made the two attackers feel sufficiently comfortable to carry out their crimes.
Republicans, trying to move past that, have been enthusiastically pressing the economic argument.
But the president — to the unease of some in the party — has instead used his nearly nonstop schedule of campaign rallies to keep the spotlight on what he calls the security threat from migrants seeking to enter the nation through Mexico.
“We’re not letting these people invade our country,” Trump declared.
Democrats painted sharp distinctions with Trump, insisting that only they will protect the health care gains made under Obama, that Trump has employed inhumane measures to keep migrants out, and that the divisiveness he has fostered must end.
Obama meanwhile did what many Democratic candidates have refrained from doing: directly challenging the president.
“There’s got to be consequences when people don’t tell the truth, when words stop meaning anything. When people can just lie with abandon, democracy can’t work,” he told a cheering crowd as he campaigned for Senator Joe Donnelly.
Groucho Marx's comment that he wouldn't want to join any club that would have him as a member parallels the reverse psychology used by some restaurants: If you can get a reservation anytime you want, then the place must not be busy, and if it isn't busy, why would anyone want to be there?
At La Table du Chef, the receptionist may likely dictate what time you eat - generally 5:30 or 9:30, take it or leave it.
I can understand the laborious process of reserving two months in advance at places such as the French Laundry, where the food is spectacular. I can even comprehend the two-seatings policy at Chez Panisse, which offers only one menu a night. Dining at La Table du Chef isn't in the same league, but as you negotiate for a table, you may become convinced that it is.
On Jan. 5, we reviewed La Table, the lower-priced, more casual room attached to the presumably more exclusive La Table du Chef on Sacramento Street in Presidio Heights.
If you're confused about the differences between the two dining rooms and the overall concept, you're in good company - so are we. Diners can order the same three-course, fixed-price menu in the less expensive dining room, and both restaurants feature the same desserts and present the same well-priced, French-inspired wine list.
Even the staff seems to have trouble figuring out the difference. We've had several readers tell us they booked for La Table, and ended up being seated in the more expensive La Table du Chef. They were not happy diners.
After three visits, plunking down at least $75 a person each time, I was nonplussed. It was such a hassle getting a reservation that if I hadn't been reviewing it, I probably would have given up. Calling a week ahead, we negotiated a 9:30 time slot on a Saturday night (though we wanted something around 7). When we arrived, several tables were empty. The waiter explained that other parties had canceled, which made us wonder why someone didn't attempt to call, because we specifically asked to be alerted if a table opened up earlier.
When we rang a day ahead for a Wednesday reservation, we were instructed to arrive at 6 p.m. Only one table was occupied, and by 7:30 only four parties were seated. Why is the staff rationing tables? Is the host saving room for regulars who never arrive? Doesn't anyone care that the restaurant isn't full?
Questions hung in the air on all three visits, but in the end we realized it didn't matter. The effort is not worth the return. If you're going to negotiate for a table, you'd be better off in the less expensive restaurant in front, where the prices are cheaper and the food tastes better.
In fact, to get to the more expensive restaurant, you have to weave through the main dining room of La Table. Whereas this space is finished down to the last detail, the 55-seat back room feels as if it was created to house a makeshift special event.
Floor-to-ceiling canvases resembling water lilies cover most of the walls. Fabric festoons the ceiling and wraps over metal support beams, giving the space the feel of an outdoor tent. That impression is enhanced by wrought iron chairs that would look better on an outdoor veranda. The only clue that this is more exclusive is that the noise level is more muted and the tables seem larger. The table top and the refined service is identical to the other room.
The real disappointment is that Marc Rasic's food doesn't translate to the more upscale prices and preparations. At La Table du Chef, diners have a choice of a three-course menu for $45, a six-course menu for $68 or a la carte selections, with most appetizers ranging from $12.50 to $19 and main courses starting at $24 and going up to $29.
Appetizers are a weak link, and ironically, the simplest preparations are the best. A half-dozen oysters with daikon and sesame seeds ($14) offer an intriguing juxtaposition of flavors, and the Dungeness crab salad features fresh chunks of sweet meat molded on a base of ruby grapefruit ($17).
Pan-seared foie gras ($19) offered another interesting juxtaposition of sweet orange nuances and pungent shaved watermelon radish. Unfortunately, the liver needed to be cooked over higher heat to achieve that crisp, caramelized exterior that makes the preparation so alluring.
Chilled chicken consomme with preserved cherries ($8) would be a refreshing starter for an outdoor luncheon, but it seemed totally out of place in a white- tablecloth setting. Imagine equal parts sweet cherry juice blended with savory chicken broth for an idea of what we endured; a little goes a very long way. The lobster gelee ($16) seemed like a sideshow looking for a main stage. The gelatin was molded into a small shallow bowl and topped with an artistic lattice of cauliflower cream and a tiny scoop of osetra caviar. It tasted good, but it wasn't very satisfying and felt unfinished.
Main courses were much better, but I would have loved to have been able to order a side of Brussels sprouts or green beans from the front dining room. In most cases, the plates are pared down to the protein. Vegetables (or starch, for that matter), are treated as a garnish or as a platform for the meat.
It became clear that La Table du Chef plays favorites when we saw the couple next to us with perfectly seared skate wing, carefully arranged on the rectangular platter over parsley-scented risotto and black puddles of squid sauce ($25). Ours looked much less refined, served in a soup plate with the fillet cut in two and heaped on top of the rice. Although the fish was marvelous, the risotto was so mushy we couldn't distinguish any individual grains.
Again, the questions hung heavy: What's the purpose of having different presentations of the same dish? And when the plate of sweets came at the end of the meal, why did other tables get madeleines and we didn't? Is the kitchen merely inept, or did they simply try to build good will and loyalty at one table at the expense of another?
Some of Rasic's flavor combinations are bold and intriguing: the gamey roast venison ($28) is enhanced with a licorice root jus, for example, and the Sonoma duck breast ($26) is boosted with caramelized rutabaga and quince, and a restrained drizzle of vanilla oil.
But the citrus-flavored bulgur beneath the Mediterranean loup de mer ($27), needed more attention; it had the unpleasant texture of soggy bread crumbs. However, the fish had a crackling crisp skin and the sauce, similiar to the pureed essense of bouillabaisse, made the dish special.
Desserts ($8) have a stripped-down, no-nonsense appearance more appropriate to the menu in the front dining room, where they are also $8. An excellent version of orange-scented creme brulee is served in the traditional ramekin with a lopsided honeycombed candy disk covering most of the top. The gianduja bombe, shimmering in a thin coating of dark, liquid chocolate, is arranged on the plate with a spoon filled with espresso granite.
It's perplexing how the same chef can produce two such different experiences - we loved the food at La Table when we reviewed it last month. Were we more disappointed in La Table du Chef because we were paying more? That raises another question: Is management practicing the P.T. Barnum theory that there's a sucker born every minute?
These are questions we don't really want to ponder, because we might not like the answers.
credit cards accepted. Valet $8.
inspired wine list with 20 wines by the glass.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As California’s catastrophic wildfires recede and people rebuild after two hurricanes, a massive new federal report warns that these types of disasters are worsening in the United States because of global warming. The White House report quietly issued Friday also frequently contradicts President Donald Trump.
The National Climate Assessment was written long before the deadly fires in California this month and before Hurricanes Florence and Michael raked the East Coast and Florida. It says warming-charged extremes “have already become more frequent, intense, widespread or of long duration.” The report notes the last few years have smashed U.S. records for damaging weather, costing nearly $400 billion since 2015.
“A warm, dry climate has increased the areas burned over the last 20 years,” he said at a press conference Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — It would have been easy to turn on their computers at home over plates of leftover turkey and take advantage of the Black Friday deals most retailers now offer online.
But across the country, thousands of shoppers flocked to stores on Thanksgiving or woke up before dawn the next day to take part in this most famous ritual of American consumerism.
Shoppers spent their holiday lined up outside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, by 4 p.m. Thursday, and the crowd had swelled to 3,000 people by the time doors opened at 5 a.m. Friday morning. In Ohio, a group of women was so determined, they booked a hotel room Thursday night to be closer to the stores. In New York City, one woman went straight from a dance club to a department store in the middle of the night.
Many shoppers said Black Friday is as much about the spectacle as it is about doorbuster deals.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A conservative writer and associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone said Friday that he is in plea talks with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Mueller’s team questioned Corsi as part of an investigation into Stone’s connections with WikiLeaks. American intelligence agencies have assessed that Russia was the source of hacked material released by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election that damaged Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Mueller’s office is trying to determine whether Stone and other associates of President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans.
The confirmation of plea talks — first reported by The Washington Post — comes as Mueller’s team has just received fresh information from Trump personally and as federal prosecutors in Virginia recently inadvertently disclosed the existence of sealed charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
It’s unclear if the charges against Assange are related to Mueller’s investigation, but WikiLeaks was singled out in an indictment last summer against a group of Russian intelligence officers accused of carrying out the wide-ranging hack of Clinton’s campaign and other Democratic organizations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to issue an unusually quick ruling on the Pentagon’s policy of restricting military service by transgender people. It’s the fourth time in recent months the administration has sought to bypass lower courts that have blocked some of its more controversial proposals and push the high court, with a conservative majority, to weigh in quickly on a divisive issue.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mars has a nasty habit of living up to its mythological name and besting Earth when it comes to accepting visitors.
U.S. stocks closed lower after a shortened session Friday, bumping the benchmark S&P 500 index into a correction, or drop of 10 per cent below its most recent all-time high in September.
Losses in technology and internet companies and banks outweighed gains in health care and household goods stocks. Several big retailers declined as investors monitored Black Friday for signs of a strong holiday shopping season.
Trading volume was lighter than usual with the markets open for only a half day after the Thanksgiving holiday.
PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Rain helped extinguish a deadly wildfire in Northern California’s Gold Rush country, but the moisture also turned ash into thick paste and hindered the hunt for telltale fragments of bone that could indicate a body.
Searchers resumed their grim task Friday afternoon after a downpour eased up in Paradise, California. They fanned out across the ruins of a mobile home park shrouded in heavy fog, some combing debris with rakes while others lifted up twisted metal to peer underneath or led dogs through the ash.
This particular park had already been searched by humans and dogs, as evidenced by orange spray-paint markings left by search teams to indicate they have canvassed an area. But Craig Covey, who leads a search team from Southern California’s Orange County, said they were searching it again because it was the last known address of people who remained missing, many of them elderly.
The searchers wore yellow rain slickers and hard hats to protect against falling branches as they quietly looked for clues that may indicate someone couldn’t get out, such as a car in the driveway or a wheelchair ramp. They looked not only for bone, but anything that could be a pile of cremated ashes.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Women’s rights advocates said they were shocked when a federal judge in Michigan ruled this week that a law protecting girls from genital mutilation was unconstitutional. They called his decision a serious blow to girls’ rights. Legal experts said the judge made clear that U.S. states have authority to ban the practice, though only about half do.
Two officers who were providing security at the mall heard the gunfire and approached the area. They spotted a suspect waving a pistol and shot him. He died at the scene. The Jefferson County coroner’s office identified him as 21-year-old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr. of Hueytown.
The other shooting victim was an 18-year-old male from Birmingham. He was taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition. A 12-year-old bystander was also shot and taken to Children’s Hospital by a Hoover Fire Department rescue squad.
Police said the fight happened on the mall’s second floor concourse area, near the entrance to the Footaction shoe store. Capt. Greg Rector said Friday that investigators do not know what sparked the original confrontation between the men.
NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Bond investors are the most bullish on longer-dated Treasuries in two years as worries about slowing global growth and losses on Wall Street have spurred safe-haven demand for U.S. government debt, a J.P. Morgan survey showed on Tuesday.
The margin of investors who said on Monday they were "long," or holding more Treasuries than their portfolio benchmarks, over those who said they were "short," or holding fewer Treasuries than their benchmarks, was 4 percent, compared with a net short of 2 percent the previous week, according to the survey.
This was the most net longs in longer-dated Treasuries since Oct. 24, 2016, J.P. Morgan said.
A quarter of investors surveyed said they were long on U.S. government bonds, up from 21 percent last week.
The share of investors who said they were short Treasuries fell to 21 percent from 23 percent a week ago.
The share of investors who said they were neutral, or holding Treasuries equal to their portfolio benchmarks, fell to 54 percent from 56 percent, J.P. Morgan said.
On Tuesday, benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to 3.036 percent, the lowest level in over seven weeks. It has fallen steadily from a 7-1/2 year peak of 3.261 percent set on Oct 9, Refinitiv data showed.
Wall Street fell on a disappointing sales outlook from retailers. Worries about iPhone sales knocked Apple shares sharply lower, putting pressure on the tech sector.
That depends on what Dianne Feinstein has up her sleeve.
How does this pertain to 2050? If Feinstein is re-elected and serves until 2024, that’s 32 years for her in the chamber – supplanting the great Hiram Johnson as California’s longest-serving senator. Likewise, Barbara Boxer would have been looking at 30 years in the Senate had she decided to run for re-election next year.
Unless Californians suddenly grow tired of rubberstamping their senators – or, better yet, the state GOP starts running more competitive candidates – the Democrat who gets Feinstein’s seat in 2024 (if not earlier) could still be hanging around when the 2050 bicentennial arrives. That may also apply to Boxer’s successor. State Attorney General Kamala Harris, the favorite to win next year’s Senate contest, would be a youthful 86 in 2050.
The question is: what will those senators be doing for California in the time between Feinstein’s and Boxer’s retirement and the state’s bicentennial?
Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives voted (along party lines) to deprive America’s “sanctuary cities” of Justice Department grants in retaliation for harboring illegal immigrants. That puts California’s metropolises in the GOP Congress’ crosshairs. Meanwhile, at least two Republican presidential contenders – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio – vow to enforce federal drugs laws, if elected. That too targets California, which may or may not legalize pot next year.
Such is the challenge facing Feinstein’s and Boxer’s successors: defending California’s blue-state tendencies against a Republican Congress – and maybe future GOP presidents – possessing a red-state mentality.
This may not be much of a problem for California in the immediate future, thanks to the nation’s taste for divided government. Fourteen months before the 2016 election, the presidency can go either way; the House seems solidly Republican. But the GOP Senate, with Republicans defending 24 seats to only 10 for Democrats, could flip. It happened in the midterm elections of 2006 and 2014 – and it may again in 2018, should a new Democratic majority have to protect 25 seats to just eight for the Republicans.
But what if Washington ends up under absolute GOP control, as it was from 2001 to 2007? Feinstein’s successor will have to be a lot like ... well, DiFi herself in paddling left and paddling right, as Gov. Brown is fond of saying.
Over the years, Feinstein’s shown a knack for working both sides of the aisle, be it this summer’s amendment she co-piloted with Arizona Sen. John McCain limiting the government from using any interrogation technique not specified in the Army Field Manual, co-sponsoring a bill extending the Patriot Act, or joining with Senate Republicans to preserve Lake Tahoe and protect old-growth forests from wildfire threats.
It’s not an easy act to follow. Outreach doesn’t come easily – or naturally – in these hyperpartisan times. Then again, thanks to the seeming permanency of the job, California’s next pair of senators will have two or three decades to figure how to make it work.
Bill Whalen is a Hoover Institution research fellow and former speechwriter for Gov. Pete Wilson. Contact Whalen at whalenoped@gmail.com.
September 10, 2018 at 12:28p.m.
YOUNGSTOWN — A Struthers man will spend three years in prison after violating his probation.
Joey Seaman, 37, failed a random drug test.
He had been indicted last year after his ex-girlfriend told police he raped and beat her, but those charges were reduced once she told prosecutors she didn’t want Seaman to do jail time.
A prosecutor said Seaman had “sweet-talked” his victim to get her to back off.
He ultimately pleaded to burglary, menacing by stalking and misdemeanor assault and received five years’ probation.
Judge Maureen A. Sweeney imposed the three-year sentence today, which is the maximum sentence on the burglary charge.
Two-semester proficiency in a foreign language is required for the international business concentration. These foreign language course credits can be planned as AACSB elective hours.
Important advising note: GEO courses cannot be use for General Management if the international business concentration is not completed.
Two-semester proficiency in a foreign language is required for the international business concentration. These foreign language course credits can be planned for Global Pathway requirements.
Important advising note: MGG 20* (faculty-led study trips) and GEO courses cannot be use for General Management if the international business concentration is not completed.
JENNIFER GUSTAVSON PHOTO | Emma Stoll, 17, of Wading River, sitting next to Robert Rose at a Shoreham-Wading River school board meeting.
She couldn’t stay quiet any longer.
Emma Stoll, 17, had attended only a handful of school board meetings since she was sworn-in Nov. 20 as a student rep and nonvoting member of the Shoreham-Wading River Board of Education. It didn’t take long for her to make her presence felt.
Almost paralyzed by nerves, this school athlete, ballerina and honors student from Wading River knew she had to stand up for her beliefs in the face of parents demanding school security guards be armed with guns about a month after the Newtown school shooting.
“And I would say it again,” Emma said in an interview Friday.
The senior believes her experience in extra-curricular activities prompted her to seek a seat on the school board, as well as have the courage to speak up in a crowd.
Emma, who attended her last meeting Tuesday, is involved with varsity track, varsity tennis, yearbook club, the environmentalist group “Global Awareness,” the student art and literary magazine “Cymbals,” the math club “Mathletics,” and the National Honors Society.
She’s applied to 18 colleges and is hoping to get accepted into Cornell University because of its architecture program.
Q: Why did you decide to join the Board of Education?
A: [High School principal Dan Holtzman] said any student that is interested should apply. After taking an AP government and politics course, I decided I wanted to get to know the community better and thought [serving on the school board] would be the perfect opportunity. Three students applied. The district decided to split the term so that each student could have a chance.
Q: What are some of the challenges the district faces?
A: One thing I’ve wanted to address is the condition of the tennis courts. They are in terrible condition. They are deteriorating and the fences are rusty. Fixing them will not only be beneficial to students, but to the community as well, because many residents use the courts. Another big issue is recycling.
The school should have a better recycling program and I believe being on the board will help me achieve that goal. I think when you’re up there and you have the microphone, people listen to you.
Q: Why is having a student representative on the school board important?