jilibay
Meet the 12 CFP Title Contenders: No. 12 Clemsonor signup to continue reading One of the things that we have at Lifeline is that we never know who we're going to get on the phone. One day, I answered the phone to a very distressed woman who had decided that that day was going to be her last day of life, and she felt OK about that. But she had determined that she would end her life in a public place, and she was worried about the person who would find her. She'd rung to see if I could help her because I'm the one who answered the phone write a letter. She said, "Do I write to whom it may concern ..." What do I say? It was really so confronting when somebody has decided that they're going to die and they feel like they have nothing at all to live for. So I explained to her that I wasn't going to be able to help her write the letter; that was not something that I would do, but that we might talk about what had led to her decision. We spent about 40 minutes just talking about her life, which had been full of really, incredibly difficult things but also some happy things. Along the way, I heard her say that she really loved cooking and, in particular, cooking lasagna. So we started talking about that, and at the end of our call, we had swapped recipes. We both had agreed that we would make that recipe that night and that she would actually not take her life that day. Now, did she stay alive? I don't know. I can never know. We both had agreed that we would make that recipe that night and that she would actually not take her life that day. But I've learned at Lifeline about connection and really listening and really being there, and that's where the magic lies. They don't have somebody who wants to listen to them or who even cares what happens to them. If you can make the connection, and that's what we are trained to do, then sometimes you can help somebody find some hope to live for another day. That's why I do this work: It's a privilege and a humbling experience to be trusted by somebody who can't even see you. It's a great lasagna recipe. I still use it. I hope she's still alive to cook as well. I usually get an adrenaline rush and I sit up a lot straighter, and then I just let the training kick in. I take a big breath, I speak slowly, speak quietly, and I just thank them for letting me know that that's where they're at. Sometimes, I feel frightened; Sometimes, I worry that I'm not gonna have the right words. But I also know I don't have to have the right words. I only have to listen. I just need to have it in my heart to listen to them, and so usually I always feel really sad. But I also feel privileged to be able to sit with them in that moment. So it's a kind of mixture of adrenaline and grace. Sometimes there isn't a point in the call where you feel a change, but often there is. When you can tap into that, then you have the opportunity to really talk and to let them really talk and just to be listened to, to be heard, to be acknowledged, to be validated, to say how you are feeling is awful. Some of these people have never had that. They've literally never had a shoulder to cry on or one that they trust, and they do trust us. I think, you know, we don't betray them. We are genuinely here for them, and we can't fix it but we can hear them, and that's, yeah, that's the gold. Nearly three years ago. I randomly saw an advertisement in our local paper. It was just this tiny little ad from Lifeline, saying, "Do you feel like you want to give back?" And I said to my husband: Do you know what, I really do. I'm gonna contact them. It was just literally the right thing at the right time. Everything I've done in my life up until now allows me to do this work. I love it. I think it has. I'm much less likely to interrupt somebody when they're talking to me. That listening, those listening skills are really, really good. One of the other really great lessons is to not immediately think: Oh yeah, I've heard this before, so I know that they're going to say this, that or the other. Each person is an individual, and each person's story is their story, and it's never the same as somebody else's. It's not work for everybody, but for those of us who love it, you only need a kind heart, a good ear, and a bit of time. It's very special. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement AdvertisementTaylor Swift has made a surprise stop at a Kansas City children’s hospital, shocking parents and patients alike as she laughed with them, posed for photos and exchanged gifts. All parent Cassie Thomas was told beforehand was that she might want to brush her hair and teeth because there was going to be a special visitor. But she was stunned when Swift, fresh off her Eras Tour and one day before her 35th birthday, walked into her son's room on Thursday at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. “No rumors. Like, we literally had absolutely no idea this was happening,” Thomas recalled. Her 13-year-old son, Beckett Thomas, is a cancer patient and a fan of Swift's Kansas City Chiefs tight-end boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Beckett uses a 3D printer to make earrings bearing his and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' names, walking around the hospital unit selling them to nurses. Now, Swift has a pair as well. “She was amazing,” Beckett's mom said. “So down to earth.” Another patient told Swift that her favorite song was “Love Story" and they later discussed the song “Paper Rings,” in which Swift sings, “I'd marry you with paper rings.” When their conversation veered to discussion of San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy, whose team played the Chiefs in the Super Bowl earlier this year, Swift expressed surprise. “Brock Purdy, What? I mean, I don’t mind Brock Purdy.” Swift said, then continued: “He put me through a lot last February.” Asked before the Super Bowl whether he was prepared to disappoint Swift, Purdy responded: “Yes.” The game ended with Mahomes rallying the Chiefs to their second straight Super Bowl title, 25-22 over the 49ers in overtime. “I was very stressed for a second but it all ended up fine,” Swift told the girl, their recorded conversation posted online. The girl then chimed in: “I like Travis now.” Swift responded with: “Me too. That’s an absolute yes on that one." There is no word on whether Swift will be in the stands when the Chiefs play the Browns on Sunday in Kelce’s hometown of Cleveland.
Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history with a 3-1 victory over fellow Brazilians Atletico Mineiro on Saturday. Botafogo played almost the entire match with ten men after Gregore was sent off in the first minute but they showed impressive spirit and resilience to secure victory at River Plate's Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires. It is the sixth straight season that a Brazilian club has won the Libertadores, the top competition for South American clubs. The 120-year-old Botafogo, the Rio club who have twice won the Brazilian championship, have a rich history, including producing greats such as World Cup winners Garrincha, Didi, Nilton Santos and Mario Zagallo. But they have long suffered taunts from their rivals about their failure to win the continental title -- a jibe that can be made no more. Midfielder Gregore was shown a red card after a wild, high challenge on Fauto Vera, forcing Botafogo to adjust their game plan, but Atletico failed to press home their numerical advantage. Veteran forward Hulk had an effort from outside the box saved by John but the team from Belo Horizonte created little pressure. Sensing the game might not be the rearguard action they might have expected, Botafogo began to show more attacking intent and they were rewarded in the 35th minute. Marlon Freitas's shot from the edge of the box ricocheted around a crowded box before the ball fell to Luiz Henrique, who fired home from close range. To their credit, Botafogo didn't retreat to defend their slim advantage and they were able to double their lead in the 44th minute. Atletico defender Guilherme Arana attempted to shepherd the ball back to goalkeeper Everson, but Luiz Henrique snuck between the pair and went down under challenge from the keeper. More from this section After a VAR review, a penalty was awarded and Alex Telles confidently smashed home the spot kick to give Botafogo an unlikely 2-0 lead at the break. Atletico, who won the Libertadores in 2013, made a triple substitution at the interval and it paid off swiftly with Eduardo Vargas heading in from a corner. Inevitably, there was late pressure from Atletico, but Botafogo made sure of the victory when Junior Santos finished off a counter-attack deep in stoppage time. With the win, Botafogo earns the final of 32 places in next year's FIFA Club World Cup to be held in the United States. The club, owned by American businessman John Textor, also has a chance to complete a double by winning what would be their third Brazilian league title -- they currently lead Serie A by three points with two games remaining. Luis Henrique, whose fine form this season has seen him break into the Brazil squad, said the win was an emotional one for him and the team. "Many people tried to stop me, but I know that God is with me, my family is with me, and I have to keep my feet on the ground because there is still more to come," the 23-year-old striker said. "I want to thank Botafogo a lot, Botafogo needs to be at the top, because it's a club that has been working hard, that has been doing a lot on a daily basis." sev/js
Andrew Luck returns to Stanford as the GM of the football programBad call! Miserable millennials least likely to call family on Christmas Day but Gen Z WILL pick up the phone - here is why
Looking to rebound from lost opportunity
‘Remains to be seen if I’ll be Taoiseach’, Martin says after electionSL’s economic downturn will end mid next year – CB GovernorBy MARK KENNEDY NEW YORK (AP) — Pamela Hayden, the longtime voice actor behind Milhouse Van Houten — Bart Simpson’s very uncool friend — is stepping away after 35 years of whining. Hayden, 70, who voiced Milhouse, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey and Malibu Stacy, will sign off from “The Simpsons” on Nov. 24 in a “Treehouse of Horror” episode. “It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show,” Hayden said in a statement. “Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield. She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her,” said “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening. Related Articles Entertainment | Duct-taped banana sells for $6.2 million at art auction Entertainment | LeBron James says he’s taking a social media break for now Entertainment | Simone Biles to join Snoop Dogg as a guest mentor for an episode on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ Entertainment | Alec Baldwin wasn’t invited to ‘Rust’ premiere, incites anger of slain cinematographer’s family Entertainment | 'Euphoria' star Storm Reid not returning for season 3 Casting for her characters is planned. Milhouse first appeared in a Butterfinger commercial in 1989 and was named for the former U.S. president Richard Milhous Nixon. Groening said he adopted it “because that was the most unfortunate name a kid could have.” The nearsighted character was often the butt of most jokes and bullied mercilessly by Nelson. In one episode, Bart got Milhouse placed on the America’s Most Wanted list, but in another he traded Bart’s soul to the guy at the comic book store.
CHICAGO — Petr Mrazek made 32 saves and Teuvo Teravainen scored, helping the Chicago Blackhawks top the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Thursday night. Craig Smith and Nick Foligno also scored as Chicago stopped a three-game slide. The Blackhawks also improved to 3-5-0 at home this season. Mrazek returned to Chicago's lineup after he missed Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Florida because of a personal matter. Sam Reinhart scored his 15th goal for Florida, which lost for the fourth time in five games. Spencer Knight stopped 17 shots for the Stanley Cup champions. Teravainen put Chicago in front with a power-play goal 2:46 into the first period. It was his second goal in his last 17 games. Smith made it 2-0 when he got a pass from Pat Maroon and went to his backhand to convert a breakaway 10:07 into the second. It was his fifth goal of the season. Reinhart responded 34 seconds later, beating a screened Mrazek for his fourth goal in his last five games. Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser passes the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Chicago. Credit: AP/Erin Hooley Florida pressed for the tying goal in the final minutes, but Foligno put it away with an empty-netter with 1:00 left. Takeaways Panthers: Came up empty on a couple of prime scoring opportunities. Blackhawks: Coach Luke Richardson was looking for more fight from his team after it blew a 2-1 lead in the third period of the loss to the Ducks. The Blackhawks responded, especially in the last part of the game. Key moment Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser was sent off for delay of game 12:22 into the third, but the Blackhawks killed off the penalty. Florida went 0 for 2 on the power play. Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, left, and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman TJ Brodie (78) chase the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Chicago. Credit: AP/Erin Hooley Key stat Foligno has 10 goals and 14 assists in his career against Florida. Up next Florida opens a three-game homestand on Saturday night against Colorado. Chicago visits Philadelphia on Saturday.The Islanders had rallied twice, erasing a two-goal deficit in the first period and a one-goal deficit in the second. Yet while they didn’t have a third-period lead to blow against the Bruins, they still cost themselves the game over the final 20 minutes. So the Islanders went into Thanksgiving with the sour taste of a 6-3 loss on Wednesday night at UBS Arena to conclude a 1-2-0 homestand that ended with increasing chants of “Let’s Go Bruins” and calls for firing president/general manager Lou Lamoriello. “The crowd noise, you hear some of it,” said Brock Nelson, who scored twice as part of a three-point game. “No one in here is happy with where we’re at or the results. We all want to win and we know we have to be better.” Yet, the Bruins’ Pavel Zacha scored twice in a span of two minutes, 35 seconds in the final period to snap a 3-3 tie. He deflected defenseman Andrew Peeke’s point shot past Ilya Sorokin (15 saves) for the winner at 10:48 of the third period after defenseman Scott Mayfield bumped into his own goalie. Then a defensive miscommunication and poor stick placement allowed David Pastranak to feed Zacha from behind the net for an in-tight backhander at 13:23. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov added an empty-netter. “I guess we just found a way to lose that game, basically,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Both teams make [mistakes],” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “You’ve got to limit them. At times, it’s too many. We need to find a way to come together and fix the problem. Right now, we’re just not finding that. I don’t think it’s mental. I just think we’ve got to bear down. You’ve got to know the situation of the game. You’ve just got to be sharp.” The Islanders (8-10-5) had lost four of their previous five games because they could not protect a third-period lead. Nelson tied the game at 3-3 by lifting a wrister from low in the left circle with 6.5 seconds left in the second period. “I feel like we’re playing good, we’re not winning,” Roy said. “I’m not stupid, I know that it’s a big part of the equation. We do a lot of good things. I’d rather focus on those things than going and saying to you all, ‘We did this bad and that bad.’” “It’s a great group and we do the best with the guys we have. I love these guys. They work hard. They're pushing. It's the team that Lou gave me and I'm going to work extremely hard for these guys.” Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves for the Bruins (11-10-3), now 3-1-0 since Joe Sacco replaced the fired Jim Montgomery as coach. The Islanders had scored first in their previous four games yet had lost third-period leads in four of their last five games (1-3-1). The Islanders had conceded a 2-0 lead to the Bruins. Brad Marchand connected on a one-timer just 57 seconds into the first period after Elias Lindholm beat Casey Cizikas on a draw in the Islanders’ zone, then scored again at the crease at 6:31. That prompted Roy to use his timeout. “Yeah, there was some resiliency,” Kyle Palmieri said. “But, as a whole, we’ve got to keep the puck out of our net. We fought back from 2-0, not a great start. Found a way to get it tied going into the third.” Maxim Tsyplakov, who earlier in the first period lifted a backhander over the net on a wide-open look from in-tight, backhanded the puck through Korpisalo’s pads at 12:50. Nelson, coming into the Bruins’ zone with speed off a turnover, then lifted a wrister to tie it at 2-2 at 8:52 of the second period before Morgan Geekie’s one-timer from the left circle off Zacha’s cross-ice feed regained a one-goal lead for the Bruins at 11:59. Notes & quotes: The Islanders and UBS Arena distributed 200 Thanksgiving dinners to families in need prior to the game, with players, players’ wives and UBS staff members volunteering to help distribute the meals...Defenseman Grant Hutton and forward Hudson Fasching were the healthy scratches but Roy said Fasching would play on Friday afternoon in Washington...Roy briefly flip-flopped Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom in the second period, wanting Holmstrom’s speed on the top line and Lee’s defense to help Cizikas’ third line. Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
Americans spent a staggering $10bn online shopping on Black Friday while in-store purchases continued to dip, according to analysts. This year, consumers took advantage of deals from Amazon and Walmart to purchase desktops, laptops and phones, while sales at Best Buy and Target were stagnant. Overall, online sales rose only slightly from $10.2bn in 2023 to $10.8bn in 2024, according to an analysis from Adobe Inc. However, Salesforce , which tracks a separate selection of spending categories, reported that US online sales rose 7 percent on Friday to $17.5bn. “Crossing the $10bn mark is a big e-commerce milestone for Black Friday, for a day that in the past was more anchored towards in-store shopping,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement. “And with consumers getting more comfortable with everything from mobile shopping to chatbots, we have tailwinds that can prop up online growth for Black Friday moving forward.” Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., shoppers spent $11.3m every minute with consumers purchasing more home appliances and furniture online, the company announced. Salesforce said it analyzed the activity of more than 1.5 billion global shoppers. Some top-selling products included makeup, skincare and hair care products. Bluetooth speakers and espresso machines were also highly sought-after products. Online-only retailers like Shein and Temu saw a growth in sales in the seven days through Friday compared to a year earlier, Reuters reported. In-store purchases have only grown 0.7 percent year-over-year, according to Mastercard. Facteus reported that sales this year declined. Shoppers were more likely to visit stores to search for merchandise and deals than to spend their money in them. Despite inflation, Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, told Reuters that popular holiday purchases, like clothing, appliances, sporting goods, personal care products and jewelry are increasing modestly or declining in price over the last year. It’s predicted that big department stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s might see “muted” sales this year, the outlet reported.
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Nate Johnson scored 25 points to help Akron defeat Alabama State 97-78 on Sunday. Johnson added five rebounds for the Zips (4-2). Bowen Hardman scored 19 points, shooting 6 for 7 from beyond the arc. Isaiah Gray went 4 of 7 from the field to finish with 11 points. The Hornets (3-3) were led by CJ Hines with 19 points. Tyler Mack added 18 points and Antonio Madlock scored 17. Akron took the lead with 6:46 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. Johnson led their team in scoring with 13 points in the first half to help put them up 50-41 at the break. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Gus Malzahn is leaving UCF to become Florida State's offensive coordinator, AP source says
