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Meet the Secret Donors Who Fund AIPAC’s Israel Trips for Congress

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

For the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of Washington’s most influential lobby groups, trips to Israel for members of Congress play an important role in lining up support on Capitol Hill. Millions are spent every year ferrying dozens upon dozens of members to Israel for eight-day junkets.Who pays for these trips has, until now, remained largely a mystery. According to an unredacted tax filing for 2019 obtained by The Intercept, the financiers are a clutch of large foundations and nonprofits, some of which are family-run, that also give to a wide range of other political and cultural groups.The trips are organized through a cutout called the American Israel Education Fund, a charitable organization founded by AIPAC, from which it borrows its offices, board members, and even part of its logo. Like other tax-exempt nonprofits, AIEF must file a Form 990 every year with the IRS, but donors are redacted from the version that is made accessible to the public.According to the ...

Nice Weekend Ahead Overall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

We have finally reached the weekend and the weather will be much better than it was earlier this week.Saturday will still be a transition day with leftover moisture in place. Expect patches of fog and mostly cloudy skies through much of the morning. Then that will give way to a blend of sun and clouds for the afternoon along with a nice, warm breeze.A weak front will cross through overnight, clearing much of the clouds out and leaving us with a very nice Sunday, featuring mostly sunny skies and comfortable humidity levels. Highs will be a touch warmer than average in the low to mid 80s.Through the weekend, winds will generally stream out from the north, preventing temperatures from turning too warm. It will also drive lows down to the mid to upper 60s across much of South Florida for Sunday morning.That will change by early next week, however, as winds veer more off the water along with a beach breeze in place. A spotty shower could move onshore, otherwise the dry pattern will persi...

Musk threatens ‘thermonuclear lawsuit’ as X ad boycott gathers pace

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

Elon Musk said on Saturday that he will file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against non-profit watchdog Media Matters and others, as companies including Disney, Apple and IBM reportedly have paused advertising on X amid an antisemitism storm around the social media platform.Media Matters, a U.S. group that describes itself as “a progressive research and information center” that monitors “media outlets for conservative misinformation,” published earlier this week research showing that X has posted ads appearing next to pro-Nazi posts.X CEO Linda Yaccarino previously said that brands are now “protected from the risk of being next to” potentially toxic content on the platform.“The split second court opens on Monday,” Musk said in a post on X on Saturday. “X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company,” he said.Musk also posted a statement with...

Firefighter hospitalized after battling fire in vacant home under construction in Dorchester

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

One firefighter was taken to the hospital after crews extinguished a fire in a vacant building in Dorchester early Saturday morning, officials said.Crews responding to a reported fire in a building under construction on Sawyer Avenue were able to quickly extinguish the fire, according to a post on the Boston Fire Department’s X account. The firefighter was transported by Boston EMS with minor injuries.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.https://twitter.com/BostonFire/status/1725840478061388033This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

SpaceX is preparing its mega rocket for a second test flight

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

SpaceX aimed for a second test flight of its mega rocket Starship on Saturday, counting down to a morning liftoff from South Texas.The first test flight in April ended in an explosion shortly after liftoff. The goal is to send the rocketship around the world before ditching it in the ocean near Hawaii.SpaceX spent the past several months making improvements to both the rocket and launch pad, located at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border. The Federal Aviation Administration gave the all-clear to fly earlier this week.The nearly 400-foot (121-meter) Starship is the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. SpaceX’s Elon Musk intends to use a fleet of them to get people to the moon and Mars.If all goes well, the booster will drop into the Gulf of Mexico and the bullet-shaped spacecraft will continue out over the Atlantic and Pacific, before falling into the ocean near Hawaii. SpaceX is targeting an altitude of 150 miles (240 kilometers).___The Associated Press Health and ...

Ukrainians fleeing war say there are barriers to starting new life in Canada

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

OTTAWA — The lunchtime chatter among a small group of employees in the crowded breakroom of a large corporate office in Markham, Ont., is increasingly edged with anxiety.After fleeing the war in Ukraine last year, Stella Vitiuk and Nataliia Vabiak got a jobs as accountants at a business that hired a handful of Ukrainian newcomers.As their colleagues talk about weekend plans, Vitiuk and Vabiak swap notes on their efforts to stay in Canada. Each day brings their emergency visas closer to expiry, with no end in sight to the war that brought them here.“I am a strong person, but I feel stressed,” said Vitiuk. “It’s painful for everybody.”She made the difficult decision to leave her husband and parents and bring her two daughters to Canada in the summer of 2022 and said she wants to stay for her kids’ sake.“I want to give them something new, something good.”As of Oct. 14, more than 198,600 Ukrainians have come to Canada on a three-year emerg...

Ask Amy: A reader mourns the death of a Friend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

Dear Amy: I’ve been in a bad place, and I’m a little surprised at the reason: I am grieving over the death of Matthew Perry.I couldn’t identify why I was feeling so low, until I finally realized that what I was feeling was grief.How can you grieve someone that you never knew personally?I think maybe it has to do with what I felt this person gave to me.I just wish I could say, “Thank you for all the laughs!”What is your perspective on this type of thing?I’d love to know what you think.— Hurting in CaliforniaDear Hurting: As of this writing, the death of this beloved actor is still very new, and I can well understand why you (and many others) feel very real grief over this loss.Actors, musicians, writers, and other cultural figures can make an indelible mark on our own real and lived experience. And when the loss involves an actor who created a memorable character who came into our living rooms over such a long period of time, you feel as if you have lost a ver...

Future homebuyer in the dark needs light at the end of the tunnel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

Question: We are ready to buy a house. A remodeled home is out of the question. It is too costly. Besides, we want to fix up the house. We will do some repairs. Regarding specialties, we will hire appropriate licensed contractors. The loan officer shared his thoughts on buying an older home without upgrades the day after our approval. It was odd timing. He knew our plans. The loan officer involved is discouraging purchasing a home needing remodeling. Last night, he emailed, “It is not a good idea.” Then he added, “A remodeled home in an established neighborhood would sail through the escrow process.”After a month of paperwork to get home loan approval, the loan officer is suddenly persuading us to change our plans. Please educate us. Why is the loan officer promoting a “turnkey” home purchase? What did he fail to tell us about purchasing a home, specifically to choose a do-it-yourself project as owner-contractors?Answer: This is a lesson for home sellers, successor trustees and prob...

Stephens: Antisemitism is the hate that doesn’t know its own name

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

When historian Deborah Lipstadt defeated a libel suit brought against her in a British court by Holocaust denier David Irving in April 2000, it was almost possible to imagine that antisemitism might someday become a thing of the past, at least in much of the West. Taking a trip to Israel was not an ideologically fraught choice. Wearing a Star of David was not a personally risky one. College campuses did not feel hostile to Jewish students. Synagogues (at least in the United States) did not have police officers stationed outside their doors.Not anymore.The Anti-Defamation League recorded 751 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2013. There were 3,697 in 2022. There was a nearly 400% increase in the two weeks after the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7 compared with the year before. Last week, “Jewish students specifically were warned not to enter MIT’s front entrance due to a risk to their physical safety,” according to a public letter from Jewish students there. In Montreal, a Jewis...

Horoscopes Nov. 18, 2023: Chloe Sevigny, set a good example

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:27:32 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Damon Wayans Jr., 41; Chloe Sevigny, 49; Owen Wilson, 55; Oscar Nunez, 65.Happy Birthday: Pick up the pace and tidy up loose ends. The world is yours to discover, and you will find new possibilities through travel, educational pursuits and communication. Be open to suggestions and embrace change with open arms, and you’ll discover something that brings you joy. Don’t limit what you can achieve because you prefer to work alone. Set a good example, and you will gain respect, help and support when necessary. Your numbers are 3, 9, 20, 24, 33, 38, 45.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Speak up. Don’t hesitate to point out anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Pay attention to how you look and present yourself to the world. A little primping will lead to compliments and erase insecurities that can hold you back. Love and relationships are favored. 4 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Keep your emotions in check. Don’t give anyone the upper ...