Daily Archives: April 8, 2024

An ex-GOP congressman blasts the ‘populist wave’ that he says has corroded conservatism: ‘Now we’re impeaching … – Yahoo Canada

Posted: April 8, 2024 at 4:56 pm

Ken Buck.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Ex-Colorado Rep. Ken Buck said many conservatives have compromised their values over populism.

"The Constitution is just a thing of the past to the very same people who were Tea Party patriots," he told WaPo.

Buck retired from the House in March, leaving months before his term was set to end.

During his nearly decadelong tenure in the US House of Representatives, Ken Buck was well-known for his conservatism.

But the former Colorado congressman recently told The Washington Post that over the years, some of his fellow conservatives shifted their focus from curtailing government spending to shielding former President Donald Trump from criticism while becoming more partisan in the process.

"I think that the populist wave has eroded the conservative values that I had when I came to this place," the former lawmaker told the newspaper. "Now we're impeaching people like it's some kind of carnival and the Constitution is just a thing of the past to the very same people who were Tea Party patriots 10 to 12 years ago."

In February, Buck was one of just three House Republicans to reject the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom GOP leaders have tussled with over the Biden administration's immigration policies.

Last month, shortly before he left Congress, the House Freedom Caucus voted to remove Buck from the group for "nonattendance," according to Axios.

During his interview with the Post, Buck also stressed that the desire for ideologically pure pieces of legislation has been detrimental to the GOP's ability to secure conservative victories, adding that "you have to have consensus" to find success on Capitol Hill.

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An ex-GOP congressman blasts the 'populist wave' that he says has corroded conservatism: 'Now we're impeaching ... - Yahoo Canada

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Polish pro-EU wing wants local vote to end ‘age of populism’ – EURACTIV

Posted: at 4:56 pm

Polands ruling pro-European coalition parties are hoping Sundays (7 September) local election will put an end to an age of populism represented by the previous nationalist government.

The vote is seen as a first test for the ruling centre-left coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which emerged from the October general election.

Voters in the EU and NATO member of 38 million people will choose mayors and local and regional government members from among almost 200,000 candidates.

On the national scale, the vote will be tantamount to a referendum on the political parties, Stanislaw Mocek, a professor at the Collegium Civitas university in Warsaw, told AFP.

Opinion polls show Tusks centrist Civic Coalition (KO) neck and neck with the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) which ruled the country until last year, with both scoring just under 30% backing.

The election could serve as a litmus test for the two parties on a national scale, but the vote will be crucial for the countrys 16 regional councils.

Members of the ruling coalition, running separately, are hoping to win in all but one of them.

The KO will be counting on its allies, the Christian-Democratic party Third Way and the Left party, to help the pro-European camp prevail.

The PiS, which currently rules in five regions, may team up with the far-right Confederation or minor regional groupings after the vote.

Anna Materska-Sosnowska, an analyst at the Stefan Batory Foundation, said that if the pro-EU alliance wins, it will confirm a rejection of undemocratic tendencies among the countrys voters.

Tusk, who served as the European Council head in 2014-2019, highlighted this during the campaign, saying the country was rebuilding the rule of law these days after the PiS rule.

His ally Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw who is seeking to extend his term in the vote, said Friday that a second stage is needed in this march to end the age of populism represented by the PiS.

The pro-Western parties need a big win also because the Tusk government is facing criticism from some voters for a slow pace of reforms after the first 100 days in office.

For the PiS, which is still the largest party in parliament, the election is a chance to see what degree of support they can count on, said Materska-Sosnowska.

On the national level, the PiS is hoping to remain the countrys biggest party, fuelling its hopes of returning to power some day.

Its loss to KO could in turn result in a collapse of the party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski in the longer term, analysts said.

Former PiS Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has recently warned that his party should get ready for a tough race ahead.

The PiS can count on its faithful voters in smaller towns and the countryside, especially in Polands rural east and southeast.

The ruling coalition is all but certain to prevail in large cities.

In Warsaw, Trzaskowski is tipped to win the mayors seat in the first round.

A second-round decider two weeks later would be perceived as a major surprise.

The election campaign was focused largely on local issues, such as transport, housing and the reinforcement of local and regional governments after years of centralisation pushed by the PiS.

The campaign was marked by farmers rallies in protest against the EUs Green Deal and cheap grain imports from Ukraine.

Protesters were also angry about financial scandals linked to the previous government and a rift in the ruling coalition over bids to liberalise the abortion law in the strongly Catholic country.

Turnout is expected to trail the record-high 74.4% from last years general election, which propelled the Tusk-led coalition to power.

Polling stations will open at 0500 GMT and close at 1900 GMT on Sunday, with exit polls to be published shortly afterwards.

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Ascension Public Schools to hold public forums on school bond renewal election – WAFB

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Ascension Public Schools to hold public forums on school bond renewal election  WAFB

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Eran Hersh and Kasango Unite for Tribal House Anthem, "Ascension" – EDM.com

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Eran Hersh and Kasango Unite for Tribal House Anthem, "Ascension"  EDM.com

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Eran Hersh and Kasango Unite for Tribal House Anthem, "Ascension" - EDM.com

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Ascension Sacred Heart Bay fights hypertension with new procedure – The News Herald

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Honkai Star Rail Jingliu best build, Ascension materials, Traces, and Light Cone – Eurogamer.net

Posted: at 4:55 pm

Jingliu is a 5-Star Ice character of The Destruction path added to Honkai: Star Rail in Phase 1 of version 1.4.

While Jingliu is featured as the boosted 5-Star character on her Gentle Eclipse of the Moon Banner in version 2.1, she will eventually return to Honkai: Star Rail at some point in the future when the Banner schedule cycles back to her.

Whether you have her or want to prepare for if you do Warp for her successfully, it's good to know the best Jingliu build, including her best Relics and best team. It's also handy to learn what her Eidolons are, and what Ascension materials and Trace materials are needed to level up Jingliu to her full potential.

On this page:

Jingliu materials and stats:

Jingliu build:

For more help aboard the Astral Express, check out our Honkai Star Rail guide with tips and tricks.

Jingliu is a 5-Star Ice character of The Destruction path and is best at providing both single-target and multi-target damage, while paired with characters who have high HP, or with a healer who can heal allies consistently.

All of the percentages mentioned below are based on Level 1 Traces.

Here's a summary of Jingliu's kit in Honkai Star Rail:

You need to use Jingliu Ascension materials to upgrade her health, attack, defence, and critical hit effectiveness.

You need to get a lot of Gelid Chitin and Immortal based materials for Jingliu to fully upgrade her capabilities.

In total, the Jingliu Ascension Materials in Honkai: Star Rail are:

For more details, here's what Jingliu Ascension materials you need per level:

Just like Ascension, to get the most out of using Jingliu you will have to level-up her attacks and passive abilities by using Trace materials, which vary from character-to-character.

For Jingliu you need to use a lot of Safeguard of Blade and Immortal based materials to fully upgrade her capabilities.

In total, to upgrade all of her Traces, the Jingliu Trace Materials you need are:

By getting duplicates of Jingliu from Warping on Banners, you will receive her Eidolon. This material allows you to unlock Eidolon levels, with each upgrade either improving an existing attack or passive ability.

Here are all of Jingliu's Eidolons in Honkai: Star Rail:

Your goal with Jingliu is to achieve two stacks of Syzygy as soon as possible so she can enter the Spectral Transmigration state and increase her attack damage. To do this, you need to use her ordinary Skill, or Ultimate. You can also gain one at the start of the battle in the overworld by using Jingliu's Technique.

When she's in the Spectral Transmigration state, Jingliu's Crit Rate and Ultimate Damage is greatly increased, but she's locked to only using the Blast version of her Skill, which doesn't build Syzygy stacks. You want to keep Jingliu in the Spectral Transmigration state as long as possible for maximum DPS potential, so you can keep building Syzygy by just using her Ultimate as much as possible.

The only time you don't want Jingliu in her special state is when your allies are low on health, or hitting in an AOE helps the enemy attack you. Remember that Jingliu consumes your party's health while in the Spectral Transmigration state. So if it looks dicey for a team member, stop using Jingliu's Ultimate!

You'll almost always want a good healer in your Jingliu teams, preferably one who can heal multiple allies at once. Luocha is a great healer to pair with Jingliu because he automatically triggers healing when an ally falls below 50% HP, but any other healer with multi-targets healing abilities will work too.

Then, you can choose to run a Harmony character to buff Jinglu, or a Nihility character to debuff the enemies. Or, one of each if you have the space in your party! We recommend Bronya if you have her so she can give Jingliu another turn while in the Spectral Transmigration state, or to help quickly build Syzygy stacks. Tingyun is another great Harmony character, as she boosts attack and helps recharge Jingliu's Ultimate. Ruan Mei is also fantastic for your mono Ice teams, especially if you want to break an enemies Weakness quicker. While Sparkle and Hanya can help if you have other greedy Skill Point characters on your team, Jingliu is actually very Skill Point efficient, so they're not as recommended.

For Nihility debuffers, Silver Wolf or Pela are great picks. Pela helps out more in AOE situations and in mono Ice teams, but Silver Wolf's weakness implantation and general debuffing skills make her more desirable for single-target combat situations.

The last slot is pretty flexible in Jingliu teams if not going with a Harmony and Nihility team, so it's worth going for what you need in a specific combat scenario. If you need help surviving, then Preservation characters like Fu Xuan or Gepard can also help.

However, if you're not struggling with health and you want to maximise damage even more, then Blade is Jingliu's ideal DPS buddy! He benefits from taking damage, so Blade will output more damage with Jingliu due to her taking his HP. As a bonus, Blade is also very Skill Point efficient, freeing up Skills for your Harmony and Nihility teammates.

We recommend the 2-piece Hunter of Glacial Forest and 2-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat as the best Relics for Jingliu in Star Rail. This safely ensures you're getting a boost to both Jingliu's Ice damage and attack stat.

You might want to go with the 2-piece Messenger Traversing Hackerspace instead of Musketeer if you need more Speed, or even switch to the 4-piece Hunter of Glacial Forest if you have good uptime on your Jingliu's Spectral Transmigration state, so you can take advantage of its increase to Crit Damage after using Jingliu's Ultimate.

The 4-piece Genius of Brilliant Stars is actually a very good Relic set for Jingliu, as it ignores 10% of an enemies' defence, basically giving Jingliu a huge damage boost even though she doesn't benefit from the 2-piece buff to Quantum damage. Pick the sets with the best main and substats for an edge in battle!

For Planar Ornaments, if you're struggling with Energy regeneration, we recommend Sprightly Vonwacq for its 5% Energy Regeneration increase. Although, to fully take advantage of it and gain the upper hand at the start of a battle, you need Jingliu to have at least 120 Speed.

However, the best Planar Ornaments will be either the Space Sealing Station or Rutilant Arena sets. Station for its attack increase, and Arena for its Crit Rate and Skill damage increase. To get the most out of Station, Jingliu needs to have at least 120 Speed, and to get the most out of Arena, Jingliu needs a Crit Rate of at least 70%

For your main and substats, prioritise building Jingliu's Crit Damage, and Crit Rate if you need it, but Crit Damage is more important. However, Speed boots can help with meeting Planar Ornament requirements and general speed-focused builds. Ice Damage and Attack are also recommended for your Planar Ornaments' main stats.

As it's her signature, the 5-Star 'I Shall Be My Own Sword' Light Cone is Jingliu's best weapon in Honaki: Star Rail.

At Rank 90 (Superimposition 1), 'I Shall Be My Own Sword' increases Jingliu's Crit Damage by 20%. When an ally gets attacked or loses HP, Jingliu gains one stack of Eclipse, up to a maximum of three stacks. Each stack of Eclipse increases the damage of Jingliu's next attack by 14%. When three stacks are reached, the attack ignores 12% of the enemy's defence, but this effect is removed after Jingliu uses an attack.

For other 5-Star options, we recommend 'On the Fall of an Aeon' to increase Jingliu's attack when she hits and when she inflicts Weakness Break. 'Something Irreplaceable' can also work, as can 'The Unreachable Side', but we recommend going for the Simulated Universe's 'On the Fall of an Aeon' if you can.

There are actually a lot of decent 4-Star options, but after testing we think the best of these is 'A Secret Vow' for its increase to Jingliu's damage. You could also use 'Under the Blue Sky' for its increase to attack and Crit Rate, or 'Nowhere to Run' for its attack increase and HP restoration abilities, and if you don't have either of these, 'The Moles Welcome You' is a great substitute as long as you're using one Basic, Skill, and Ultimate attack each battle for maximum DPS.

If you only have 3-Star Light Cones to pick from, then go with Collapsing Sky until you can get a good 4-Star or 5-Star.

Version 2.1 with Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher is here! So make sure to redeem those new codes for Stellar Jade if you want them or future characters - and check all characters out on our regularly updated tier list. For everything else, we have pages on the next Banner, Ministry of Education quiz answers, how to get more Star Rail Passes, and an English voice actors list.

Keeping in mind that the best team comps in Star Rail are very situational, if you want to take advantage of her damage capabilities will keeping her alive, we have compiled what we think is currently the best Jingliu build in Honkai Star Rail:

It's entirely up to you whether you want to spend your Stellar Jade to Warp on Jingliu's Banner, but she's a fantastic Ice damage dealer who can take advantage of other character's kits readily, uses very little Skill Points, and is particularly useful if you have Blade.

Good luck levelling up Jingliu in Honkai Star Rail!

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Live Oak victorious over East Ascension | Sports | livingstonparishnews.com – The Livingston Parish News

Posted: at 4:55 pm

Live Oak captured a 12-2 victory with a strong finish in their District 5-5A contest on the road April 6.

The Eagles trailed 2-1 after six innings, but scored 11 runs over the final two frames, highlighted by a seven-run seventh.

Austin Viola went 3-for-3 with a double, four runs batted in and three runs scored.

Cam Washington singled twice and tripled once with four RBIs and two runs scored.

Dekohta Jones singled and tripled along with driving in a run and scoring two runs.

Cal Cassard singled, tripled and had two RBIs.

Lane Billings singled and doubled.

Brock Davis singled with a run batted in and a run scored.

Will Prescott scored a run.

Cullen Weller allowed two runs, one unearned, on three hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Cole Delaughter and Jace Griffin both threw a scoreless and hitless frame. Griffin posted two strikeouts and two walks, while Delaughter struck out one and walked one.

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Live Oak victorious over East Ascension | Sports | livingstonparishnews.com - The Livingston Parish News

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Honkai Star Rail Aventurine materials, kit, and Eidolons – Eurogamer.net

Posted: at 4:55 pm

Aventurine is a 5-Star Imaginary character of The Preservation path likely coming to Honkai: Star Rail in version 2.1.

While Aventurine will likely be featured as the boosted 5-Star character on his Banner in version 2.1, he will eventually return to Honkai: Star Rail at some point in the future when the Banner schedule cycles back to him.

If you want to prepare for if you Warp for him successfully, we've detailed reliable leaks of Aventurine's Ascension materials and Trace materials so you can level him up to his full potential right away. To understand how you might play him, we've also detailed what we know about Aventurine's kit and Eidolons.

Keep in mind that this is leaked beta information, so Aventurine's materials and kit might change upon his official release.

On this page:

Aventurine is a 5-Star Imaginary character of The Preservation path who scales off defence and provides shields for the entire party. He can also slightly increase the party's Crit Damage, and can act as an effective Imaginary attacker himself.

All of the percentages mentioned below are based on Level 1 Traces.

Keeping in mind that this is leaked beta information from honyehunterworld that could change upon his official release, here's a summary of Aventurine's kit in Honkai Star Rail:

You need to use Aventurine Ascension materials to upgrade stats like his health, attack, defence, and critical hit effectiveness.

With the latest beta information sourced from honeyhunterworld, it looks like you need to get a lot of Suppressing Edict and Tatters-based materials for Aventurine to fully upgrade his capabilities.

In total, the Aventurine Ascension Materials in Honkai: Star Rail are:

For more details, here's what Aventurine Ascension materials you need per level:

Remember, this is leaked beta information that could change upon Aventurine's official release.

Just like Ascension, to get the most out of using Aventurine you will have to level-up his attacks and passive abilities by using Trace materials, which vary from character-to-character.

With thanks to honeyhunterworld again for sourcing the information, for Aventurine it looks like you'll need to use a lot of Scattered Stardust and Tatters-based materials to fully upgrade his capabilities.

In total, to upgrade all of his abilities, the Aventurine Trace Materials you need are:

Once again, this is leaked beta information, so Aventurine's materials could change upon his official release.

Version 2.1 with Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher is here! So make sure to redeem those new codes for Stellar Jade if you want them or future characters - and check all characters out on our regularly updated tier list. For everything else, we have pages on the next Banner, Ministry of Education quiz answers, how to get more Star Rail Passes, and an English voice actors list.

By getting duplicates of Aventurine from Warping on his Banner, you will receive his Eidolon. This material allows you to unlock Eidolon levels, with each upgrade either improving an existing attack or passive ability.

With beta information sourced from honeyhunterworld, here are all of Aventurine's Eidolons in Honkai: Star Rail:

Good luck levelling up Aventurine in Honkai Star Rail!

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Honkai Star Rail Aventurine materials, kit, and Eidolons - Eurogamer.net

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While Ascension shelter closes for quarantine, non-profit group taking in additional cats – WBRZ

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GONZALES - A non-profit, no-kill rescue organization in Ascension Parish is calling on the community for support while they take in additional animals for the next two weeks.

Cara's House, the Ascension Parish animal shelter, announced that they will be closed until April 15 because one of their puppies has a respiratory infection. The shelter is quarantining all animals for the time being.

In the meantime, Rescue Alliance is taking in the cats that would normally be dropped off at the shelter.

"We've received an influx of calls because people who normally surrender animals to Cara's House are calling us because they don't know what to do with them," Jonathan Henriques, Director of Operations at Rescue Alliance, said.

Henriques said with each cat they receive, their medical bill total out at about $200. With 35 cats and more on the way, it makes for an expensive job, which is why they're in desperate need of donations.

"We're actually down to just one box of litter," Henriques said.

Food, toys, litter or food are just some items that would make a world of difference for them. Monetary donations are accepted, and if you can't donate, another way to help is to foster a cat.

You can find more information about Rescue Alliance by clicking here.

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Honkai: Star Rail Leaks Harmony Trailblazer Ascension and Trace Materials – GameRant

Posted: at 4:55 pm

Highlights

All the materials Honkai: Star Rail players will need to upgrade the Harmony Trailblazer have leaked online. Since the release of the Honkai: Star Rail version 2.2 beta, there has been no shortage of leaks to be excited about. These leaks have revealed what might be planned for the upcoming update, providing players with valuable information on new characters and other content.

Last week, Honkai: Star Rail leaks revealed the Harmony Trailblazer, claiming that the third form of the protagonist will make their way onto the playable roster in version 2.2. However, not many details were available about the Trailblazer at that time, except for the fact that they use the Imaginary element, and their test kit is strictly based on buffs. Now, a new Honkai: Star Rail leak is making the rounds online, revealing all the details about the character's ascension materials.

A recent leak from HomDGCat has revealed that players will use Thief's Instinct, Usurper's Scheme, Conqueror's Will, and Enigmatic Ectostella materials to upgrade the Harmony Trailblazer. These items can be found in Honkai: Star Rail's Simulated Universe, except Enigmatic Ectostella, which can be obtained by completing story content. In order to fully upgrade the Harmony Trailblazers' offensive capabilities, players will also use Tracks of Destiny, Firmament Note, Celestial Section, Heavenly Melody, and Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster Trace materials.

Ascension Materials

Trace Materials

Many of the Harmony Trailblazer's Trace materials can be obtained by defeating enemies in Honkai: Star Rail's The Reverie (Dreamspace) region. As for the character's Eidolons, they recover one skill point at the start of the combat, boost their energy regeneration rate for three rounds, and increase the level of their Skill and Talent. Moreover, the fourth, fifth, and sixth Eidolons boost the Break Effect, level up the character's Ultimate, and increase their Skill's overall damage, respectively.

Details about the Harmony Trailblazer's kit have already arisen through leaks. As it turns out, the third form of the protagonist increases the Toughness damage inflicted by their Skill. Moreover, when teammates put enemies into the Broken state, the Harmony Trailblazer delays their action by a percentage. The character will be unlocked as players progress through the Penacony story.

Once the version 2.2 update for Honkai: Star Rail is released, two new characters, Boothill and Robin, will become available alongside the Harmony Trailblazer. These event-exclusive character banners will be unlocked with Special Rail Passes. It's almost certain that Robin will arrive in the first part of 2.2, while Boothill will make his way onto the playable roster in the second part of the update.

The fourth entry in HoYoverse's Honkai franchise, Honkai: Star Rail is a free-to-play sci-fi RPG. Utilizing a turn-based combat system, the game includes dungeons, multiple planets, and a gacha system for unlocking new characters. Debuting on April 26, 2023, on PC and mobile, Honkai: Star Rail has also been announced for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

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Honkai: Star Rail Leaks Harmony Trailblazer Ascension and Trace Materials - GameRant

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