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Farhad Manjoo: You can’t win a debate against someone who disregards facts

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

In the summer of 2006, I jumped into the ring for a few rounds of debate with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was peddling reckless claims about an important issue on which he lacked expertise. It wasn’t vaccines. It was the 2004 presidential race. In an article for Rolling Stone, Kennedy suggested that the election had been stolen from John Kerry — a suggestion that, after thorough reporting, didn’t hold up.But now I see where I went wrong. Not on the merits; there’s still no case that Kerry actually won in 2004. My mistake was attempting to debate and debunk Kennedy in the first place. At best, the effort was a waste of time and energy; at worst, a big bow-wrapped gift of the thing a conspiracy theorist desires most — recognition that his arguments are important enough to merit serious debate.After getting in the mud with Kennedy all those years ago, I realized something important that we’d do well to remember now, as Kennedy mounts a long-shot run against Joe Biden for the Democratic ...

11 named to St. Paul’s reparations commission

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

The St. Paul City Council recently announced the 11 members of the St. Paul Recovery Act Reparations Commission, who will serve terms of one, two, or three years.The Commission, formed in response to racial injustices in the city, will serve as an advisory board to the City Council and Mayor Melvin Carter on issues related to racial disparities for American descendants of slavery. The council created the commission in January and received 48 applications to serve.Trahern Crews, Lead Organizer with Black Lives Matter Minnesota, speaks as he and other local activists express their support for embattled St. Paul state representative John Thompson during a news conference in the Rotunda at the state Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Many local governments have shown an interest in racial reparations since the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the racial reckoning that followed.“Being a permanent part of the government is what sets us apart from o...

Violent night in St. Louis leaves at least 6 people shot

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Another violent weekend in St. Louis. At least six people shot since Saturday afternoon and a lot of police responded outside a bar in The Grove neighborhood just after midnight as pride celebrations were wrapping up.In addition to five separate shootings in downtown, there has also been reports of a suspected stabbing here at 'Taha'a Twisted Tiki Bar' in The Grove. It hasn't been confirmed by police just yet but if so, it would already add to a violent weekend.Six people were shot all in downtown Saturday in five separate incidents. Of that total, one person died from their injuries. Violent night in St. Louis leaves at least 6 people shot The violence started just after 9:00 p.m. and went through the early morning hours of Sunday. The latest incident just a few hours ago.The first incident happened on the 4400 block of Kennerly Road, where a woman was shot and killed. She is the one confirmed dead. A few hours later at midnight, a man was shot in the leg on Leduc St...

Temperature highs in 90s Sunday, possible rain by second half of work week

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Unfortunately, we mostly missed out on the rain. The exception was a few storms that rolled across our far northern counties late Saturday night.  The cold front continues moving through, but most of the area has plenty of time to heat up ahead of its passage and the cooler air is lagging behind. Northern counties will be cooler Sunday, but along and south of I-70 we'll be back up into the 90s with gusty winds. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here The front should clear the area before storms develop again out ahead of it later Sunday to our east. It'll be mostly clear with temperature highs in the 60s to near 70 overnight. Monday will feel better with temp highs in the upper 80s and lower humidity. Expect gusty winds to continue. Rain chances increase for the second half of the work week.

Long COVID patients in Colorado are still struggling as the world moves on: “We’re fighting for our lives”

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

Chelsey Baker-Hauck hoped to celebrate her 50th birthday by hiking across Scotland, but when the day finally came earlier this month, she was relieved just not to have to spend it in a chair at an infusion center.The Denver resident keeps a typed list of her persistent health symptoms that runs a page-and-a-half, not including the ones that resolved within the first six months after her initial COVID-19 infection. Her existing symptoms got worse and new ones developed after a reinfection — and at least temporarily after receiving the vaccine — leading her doctors to conclude her immune system was mistakenly targeting its own tissues when it mobilized against the virus’ spike protein.As a result, Baker-Hauck has suffered a loss of feeling and difficulty moving on her left side, abnormal heart rhythms and trouble chewing and swallowing — to the point that it can take hours to finish a meal.It’s still not entirely clear why her immune system changed drasti...

Severance’s Kevin Johnson is All-Colorado baseball coach of the year after leading Silver Knights to school’s first state championship

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

SEVERANCE — In finding someone to build its baseball program into a championship team from scratch in the rapid span of four years, no one can accuse Severance High of bringing in a coaching ringer.Because that ringer was here all along.Lifelong Severance resident Kevin Johnson, who still lives in his childhood home on a 400-acre farm just a few miles from the school, coached the Silver Knights to the Class 4A championship this spring. The feat of leading Severance to the school’s first team title in only the program’s third true season earned “KJ” the honor of 2023 Denver Post All-Colorado coach of the year.“It still doesn’t quite feel like something that’s actually happened,” Johnson said. “But it did, and it all comes back to culture, and I owe a lot of that to these kids. The coach can talk about culture all he wants. But our kids were determined to make this program good, quickly, and they did.”Johnson certainly had ta...

Rockies’ Nolan Jones makes big impact with red-hot June

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

Nolan Jones is giving Rockies fans something they haven’t had in a while.Namely, hope. And excitement.He busted out in June, becoming the Rockies’ most electrifying player and providing a ray of promise for a struggling team.“Nolan’s been awesome on both sides of the ball,” said veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon. “He’s brought energy and a little swag for us.”On June 11, the 25-year-old outfielder/first baseman hit the first walk-off home run of his career, launching a 472-foot rocket against the Padres that ranks as the longest walk-off homer in the Statcast era (since 2015). That prodigious homer came on the heels of his 483-foot blast June 7 vs. San Francisco, the second-longest home run in the majors this season. Jones is the only player with two of the top-10 longest homers in the majors this season.He entered the weekend series against the Angels on a torrid 15-game tear in which he slashed .385/.492/.712 with four homers, five ...

Wyndham Clark’s evolution into U.S. Open champion: How ex-Valor Christian star’s new mindset is unlocking a “world-class player”

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

For Wyndham Clark to achieve his true golf potential, he had to re-wire himself.He hired a sports psychologist to learn how to trade self-depreciation for relentless positivity. He ordered a duplicate of another pro’s putter to solve his inconsistencies on the green. And he firmly believed that just a few years removed from nearly losing his tour card, and a decade after losing his mom, it was his time to become a major champion.Those were the new ingredients that allowed Clark to become the first Colorado native to win the U.S. Open last week in Los Angeles, and they’re why those closest to Clark believe the 29-year-old is emerging as a premium talent amid his breakout season on tour.“The ability and the skillset that he has was always there to be a top-10 player in the world,” observed his caddie, John Ellis. “But he was way too hard on himself, and his expectations were too high. He didn’t allow himself to unlock what he was. He sort of played ...

The Denver Post’s 2023 All-Colorado baseball team

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

The Denver Post’s 2023 All-Colorado baseball team, a 40-man roster determined by statistical analysis, a player’s relative value to team success, coaches’ feedback and the old-fashioned eye test.Mr. Colorado BaseballShortstop Walker Martin of the Eaton Reds sits for a portrait in the dugout during practice on June 1. (Photo by Alex McIntyre/Special to The Denver Post)Walker Martin, Eaton, Sr SS — The most hyped Colorado prep position player since Grandview’s Greg Bird, Martin led the nation with 20 homers and posted a 1.632 slugging as Eaton ran the table to the Class 3A title.Coach of the YearKevin Johnson is the All-Colorado coach of the year after leading Severance to the Class 4A title in just the fourth year of the school’s existence. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)Kevin Johnson, Severance — The former boss at Thompson Valley and Windsor led Severance to the Class 4A title in the school’s fourth year and the program’s third season; the...

How “star” assistants Christian Parker and Marcus Dixon have helped the Broncos defense transition to Vance Joseph’s system

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:49:28 GMT

As Vance Joseph’s candidacy for Denver’s defensive coordinator position advanced from whispered theoretical to actual possibility, he encountered a couple of wrinkles in the interview process.First, of course, was the fact that he spent 2017 and 2018 as the Broncos head coach before getting fired after an 11-21 run. He and coach Sean Payton said that era didn’t take up much of their early conversations.Another unique element: Payton included defensive backs coach Christian Parker and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, the two only two assistants he planned on keeping from Nathaniel Hackett’s 2022 staff, in the interview process for coordinator candidates.Payton had the final say, of course, but he wanted the highly regarded young coaches to hear what Joseph and others had in mind for a Broncos defense that they knew better than anybody left in the building. He wanted them to listen for what fit Justin Simmons and Pat Surtain II and D.J. Jones and Josey Jewell. To take a clear-minded...