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No Hit League? The ‘lost art’ of body checking in the NHL
23
Dec
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By William Lee
Sports

No Hit League? The ‘lost art’ of body checking in the NHL

Seventeen years and more than 1,200 games ago, Andrew Cogliano remembers how difficult it was to traverse the state of California.The Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks were three of the biggest, heaviest teams in the league. If you had to play all three in succession? Well, good luck. Not only were those teams willing to play a punishing brand of hockey, but they were all highly skilled and generally successful, too.After a few years in Edmonton where he broke into the league, Cogliano was dealt to the Ducks as a free agent in the summer of…
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Substack Says It Will Not Ban Nazis or Extremist Speech
23
Dec
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By William Lee
Technology

Substack Says It Will Not Ban Nazis or Extremist Speech

Under pressure from critics who say Substack is profiting from newsletters that promote hate speech and racism, the company’s founders said Thursday that they would not ban Nazi symbols and extremist rhetoric from the platform.“I just want to make it clear that we don’t like Nazis either — we wish no one held those views,” Hamish McKenzie, a co-founder of Substack, said in a statement. “But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don’t think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away — in fact, it makes it worse.”The response came…
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Strike Halts Eurostar Channel Tunnel Service Between London and Europe
21
Dec
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By William Lee
New miscellaneous

Strike Halts Eurostar Channel Tunnel Service Between London and Europe

Rail traffic under the English Channel was gradually returning to normal on Thursday after the end of an unexpected walkout by railway workers that had blocked the Channel Tunnel, stranding passengers and causing several hours of travel chaos just days before Christmas.Clément Beaune, France’s transportation minister, announced at 7:30 p.m. in Paris that the Channel Tunnel closure had been lifted. Mr. Beaune had previously called the blockage “unacceptable.”“Traffic can resume,” Mr. Beaune said on social media. “I salute the spirit of responsibility of all those involved.”Eurostar, the high-speed passenger train line that runs under the English Channel, said that traffic…
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Football conspiracy theories: Are we in a ‘golden age’ of fan paranoia?
21
Dec
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By William Lee
Sports

Football conspiracy theories: Are we in a ‘golden age’ of fan paranoia?

One of the most eye-catching bios on X, or Twitter as we all know it, belonged to a sports writer with one of the UK’s biggest national newspapers. It was plain and simple and boiled down to five words: “Biased against your football club.”Which is true. If you’ve followed football for any length of time, then you know that every arm of the media is out to get the club you support. You should see The Athletic’s morning meetings where we plot against the teams we most want to stitch up (all of them, obviously). Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t…
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New Jersey Deli Scheme Leads to Securities Fraud Guilty Plea
21
Dec
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By William Lee
Technology

New Jersey Deli Scheme Leads to Securities Fraud Guilty Plea

A man involved in a brazen plot to manipulate the stock price of a New Jersey deli’s parent company pleaded guilty to securities fraud on Wednesday.James T. Patten, 64, of North Carolina, admitted to orchestrating a series of misleading trades in an apparent bid to enrich himself and two co-defendants in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J.Mr. Patten faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million for securities fraud. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and…
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Ukraine Aid Bill Delayed as Border Talks Drag On
20
Dec
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By William Lee
New miscellaneous

Ukraine Aid Bill Delayed as Border Talks Drag On

The prospects for passing legislation to speed military aid to Ukraine this year are fading, as Republicans balk at striking a quick deal on immigration policy changes they have demanded in exchange for allowing the bill to move forward.After a weekend of intensive bipartisan border talks yielded progress but no breakthrough, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, acknowledged on Monday that negotiators were still far from completing a deal.“It’s going to take some more time to get it done,” he said on the Senate floor on Monday afternoon, laying out plans for the week that…
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