Auteur/autrice : Eric Mawuli DJIRACKOR

Denzel Washington breaks down in tears over emotional religious experience  Newsweek
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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Palestinian women and girls struggle to reach for food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians mourn over the bodies of five policemen killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2024. According to witnesses at the scene, the policemen fired shots to prevent a group of bandits blocking the road from stealing aid from a truck. The Israeli army immediately struck the policemen after that.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An Israeli soldier stands guard on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Humanitarian aid waiting to be picked up on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom aid crossing in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinian women and girls struggle to reach for food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian women and girls struggle to reach for food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians mourn over the bodies of five policemen killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2024. According to witnesses at the scene, the policemen fired shots to prevent a group of bandits blocking the road from stealing aid from a truck. The Israeli army immediately struck the policemen after that.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians mourn over the bodies of five policemen killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2024. According to witnesses at the scene, the policemen fired shots to prevent a group of bandits blocking the road from stealing aid from a truck. The Israeli army immediately struck the policemen after that.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An Israeli soldier stands guard on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An Israeli soldier stands guard on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Humanitarian aid waiting to be picked up on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom aid crossing in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Humanitarian aid waiting to be picked up on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom aid crossing in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in northern Gaza as soon as next month owing to Israel’s “near-total blockade” of food and other aid, the U.S.-created global food-crisis monitor said on Tuesday.
The finding by the Famine Early Warning System Network appeared to expose a rift within the Biden administration over the extent of starvation in northern Gaza, with the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, disputing part of the data used in reaching the conclusion and calling the stepped-up famine warning “irresponsible.”
Northern Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its 14-month war with Hamas militants. Israel at one point increased the number of aid deliveries it permitted into northern Gaza under pressure from President Joe Biden.
But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has blocked almost all aid again. Only nine U.N. trucks have been able to bring in food and water over the past 2 1/2 months, Oxfam says.
Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border.
FEWS Net said unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in northern Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between next month and March.

The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people.
Cindy McCain, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, in a Dec. 15 appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” called for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians trapped in north Gaza.
“We need unfettered access. We need a ceasefire and we need it now,” she said. “We can’t … sit by and just allow these people to starve to death.”
FEWS Net was created by the U.S. Agency for International Development in the mid-1980s to warn of global food crises.
The United States, Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions.
Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the United States. Republicans and some Democrats have staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections.
Lew, the U.S. ambassador, challenged the famine warning in a posting on social media, saying it was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data.
He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 remain there.
“We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible.,” Lew wrote.
AP writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
The PayPal Honey browser extension is, in theory, a handy way to find better deals on products while you’re shopping online. But in a video published this weekend, YouTuber MegaLag claims the extension is a “scam” and that Honey has been “stealing money from influencers, including the very ones they paid to promote their product.”
Honey works by popping up an offer to find coupon codes for you while you’re checking out in an online shop. But as MegaLag notes, it frequently fails to find a code, or offers a Honey-branded one, even if a simple internet search will cover something better. The Honey website’s pitch is that it will “find every working promo code on the internet.” But according to MegaLag’s video, ignoring better deals is a feature of Honey’s partnerships with its retail clients.
MegaLag also says Honey will hijack affiliate revenue from influencers. According to MegaLag, if you click on an affiliate link from an influencer, Honey will then swap in its own tracking link when you interact with its deal pop-up at check-out. That’s regardless of whether Honey found you a coupon or not, and it results in Honey getting the credit for the sale, rather than the YouTuber or website whose link led you there.
Paypal VP of corporate communications Josh Criscoe said in an email to The Verge that “Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution.”
MegaLag isn’t the first to make such claims. A 2021 Twitter post advises using Honey’s discount codes in a different browser to avoid it taking the affiliate credit. A Linus Media Group employee also explained in a 2022 forum reply that Linus Tech Tips dropped Honey as a sponsor over its affiliate link practices.
Honey’s convenience has resulted in the extension being recommended widely, including in almost 5,000 Honey-sponsored videos across about 1,000 YouTube channels, according to MegaLag. We’ve even recommended it here at The Verge; now we do not.
Here is Criscoe’s full statement:
Honey is free to use and provides millions of shoppers with additional savings on their purchases whenever possible. Honey helps merchants reduce cart abandonment and comparison shopping while increasing sales conversion.
/ Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we’ve tested sent to your inbox weekly.
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It’s Christmas Eve, and along with the big holiday coming up tomorrow, there’s also another chance to catch some of the 2024 college football bowl schedule kicking off today.
So far on the bowl front, the Mountain West and AAC have performed the best, along with the SEC and Big Ten, while the ACC is just 0-3 after a particularly dismal playoff showing.
It’s two of those conferences in action today, as the Mountain West and Sun Belt are in action for the only bowl game on the schedule as Christmas Eve football kicks off way out west.
More … 2024 college football bowl schedule
Mele Kalikimaka to you and yours on this Christmas as college football kicks off in Hawai’i. Here’s what and how you can watch as College Football Bowl Season marches on.
All times Eastern, and game lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Hawai’i Bowl
USF vs. San Jose State
Tues., Dec. 24 | 8 p.m. | ESPN
Line: San Jose -3
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USF: While the Bulls couldn’t quite keep pace with the rest of the AAC this year, they did just enough to qualify for a bowl game, and we’ll see if this average passing offense can keep pace with what the Spartans can put on the field.
San Jose State: The Spartans rank fifth in FBS with over 325 passing yards per game, but struggle to balance things out, ranking third-worst nationally in rushing output, and don’t score as much as they should, ranking 73rd with just under 28 points per game.
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Most football analytical models project the Spartans will come through against the Bulls.
That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times and pick winners.
San Jose State is the narrow favorite in the matchup according to the index, coming out ahead in 53.5 percent of the computer’s most recent simulations of the game.
That leaves South Florida as the presumptive winner in the remaining 46.5 percent of sims.
How does that translate into an expected margin of victory in the game?
San Jose State is projected to be 1.5 points better than USF on the same field in both teams’ current composition, according to the model’s latest forecast.
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All times Eastern, and game lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Penn State vs. Boise State
Tues., Dec. 31 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
Penn State made a statement in a rout against SMU at home in the first round game, inspired by a defensive effort that returned two interceptions for touchdowns.
Now, the Broncos and Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty await the Nittany Lions in the desert to test PSU’s strong run stop.
Line: Penn State -10.5
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Texas vs. Arizona State
Wed., Jan. 1 | 1 p.m. | ESPN
Quinn Ewers had a hot start and then the Longhorns’ run game took over, fielding two 100-yard rushers in a 38-24 victory against Clemson at home in the first round.
That sets up a quarterfinal meeting with the Big 12 champion Sun Devils and tailback Cam Skattebo, who has 1,568 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground this season.
Line: Texas -13.5
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Oregon vs. Ohio State
Wed., Jan. 1 | 5 p.m. | ESPN
The mood seemed dour in Columbus after the loss to Michigan, and then with news that Tennessee fans were apparently about to take over the Horseshoe, but the Buckeyes made the statement of the weekend by smashing one of the SEC’s best teams.
That sets up a rematch with the Big Ten champion Ducks, who beat OSU by a point back in October, and who boast one of college football’s most efficient and dynamic offenses.
Line: Ohio State -2.5
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Georgia vs. Notre Dame
Wed., Jan. 1 | 8:45 p.m. | ESPN
Notre Dame opened a big lead on Big Ten challenger Indiana in the first round, with Jeremiyah Love scoring a 98-yard touchdown, the longest score in College Football Playoff history, and then leaned on its defense to carry the way.
And that defense could find an angle against a Georgia offense that almost certainly won’t have starting quarterback Carson Beck as he considers surgery for his injured elbow, leaving the inexperienced Gunner Stockton under center to take on the Irish.
Line: Georgia -2.5
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams
Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks
James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.
© 2024 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.

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By Audrey Thibert | Religion News Service
In a May 2023 advisory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called attention to the “public health crisis of loneliness, isolation and lack of connection in the U.S. today.”
In his plan to address this crisis, he listed faith groups as key players in the solution — “Religious or faith-based groups can be a source for regular social contact, serve as a community of support, provide meaning and purpose, create a sense of belonging around shared values and beliefs, and are associated with reduced risk-taking behaviors.”
While the directive was meant more generally, faith leaders and mental health experts say religious traditions and faith communities can play a key role in helping people get through the winter holidays, when rates of depression and anxiety are proven to increase. From food drives to special services, like “lessons and carols,” to extra events and gatherings (that often include a shared meal), many houses of worship are bustling with activity and opportunities to engage with community in December.
“During the holidays, we are practicing relational spirituality and engaging in our awakened brain,” said Lisa Miller, a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College. “We are actually showing up for one another to be loving, to be holding, to be guiding and never leave anyone alone.”
For many, the winter holidays are a time of grief, loss or perhaps heightened levels of depression and anxiety. A poll by the American Psychological Association found 41% of adults in the U.S. say their stress increases during the holidays, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness found that 64% of people living with a mental illness reported their conditions worsen around the holidays. 
Miller, who founded the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, described the winter holiday season as the “Sabbath of the year” and said spirituality is a “clear antidote” to the unprecedented rise in so-called diseases of despair — alcoholism, drug use and suicide — in the United States.
This is the time when all those activities houses of worship engage in can really shine, Miller says: creating space for people to come share their feelings, singing together, participating in a prayer and inviting people to give back to their community through charity.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, both religion and spirituality can have a positive impact on mental health, though often in different ways. In general, religion gives people something to believe in, provides a sense of structure and typically connects people with similar beliefs. Meanwhile, the group describes spirituality as a sense of connection to something bigger, aiding in self reflection and exploration of how one fits into the rest of the world.
While the research has been mixed on the connection between religiosity and overall health, a 2019 Pew Research Study found that more than one-third of “actively religious” adults say they are “very happy” compared to a quarter of religiously inactive and unaffiliated Americans.
The Rev. Sarah Lund, the minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice at the United Church of Christ, echoed that faith communities are considered some of the key places to improve the mental health of Americans.
“We don’t realize what a gift it is to be connected to each other and to have weekly gatherings where we share space, share community, break bread together, have friendships and build relationships through prayer, through Bible study and through worship,” Lund said.
And for people struggling with grief, disability or mental health during the holidays, Lund said support from a community like a congregation can help. She noted that some churches offer “Blue Christmas” services — opportunities to honor people who have lost loved ones and are experiencing grief — and expressed hope that congregations might consider ways to incorporate such acknowledgements all year.
“After the holidays is when people feel that kind of letdown,” Lund said. “As people of faith, there’s an opportunity to continue the intentional work about inclusion and supporting people’s mental health and accommodating the needs of people who have disabilities.”
Ginger Morgan, too, sees that the winter holidays can be difficult for some of the students she works with at Pres House, a Presbyterian church on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. But she also noted the role the holidays can play in providing students — both religious and not religious — time for relaxation after finals season.
For example, Morgan, who is the director of candid and community initiatives at Pres House, also interacts with international students who live at Pres House Apartments — open to all students, not just churchgoers. While these students don’t typically observe the Christian holidays, they still use the time to see friends, share good food and take a break to rest.
“Those are themes of — in the Christian tradition — the Sabbath,” Morgan said, echoing Miller of Columbia.
Morgan added that students use the time before they go home for Christmas break for various types of communal activities — whether through participation in the Pres House’s Christmas choir or decorating cookies with the congregation.
“Students go above and beyond what they’re already doing for school,” Morgan said. “They like doing Christmas cookie decoration because it’s joyful and fun and it brings light and lightness. There’s a lot about holidays that brings joy even when students are facing an exhausting period of time right at the end of the semester.”
Miller said this sort of “direct, loving, transcendent relationship” — whether that’s through religion or spirituality — can have enormous protective benefits.
“A strong spiritual life is more protective against addiction, more protective against depression, more protective even against suicide than anything else known to the social or medical sciences,” Miller said. “When we look at hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, we see that the magnitude of the protective benefits of spiritual life are pointing to a way forward for our country.”
This article was produced as part of the RNS/Interfaith America Religion Journalism Fellowship.

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It’s a Christmas movie so popular that 41 years after it came out in theaters, families across the United States still watch it on repeat every holiday season.
“A Christmas Story,” the 1983 tale of a boy and his Red Ryder BB gun, had such an influence on American culture that a giant statue of a “leg lamp” has become an annual tourist attraction in the town of Chickasha, Oklahoma.
If you haven’t seen “A Christmas Story” yet, there are several opportunities to stream the film or catch it on TV this holiday season.
Like every Christmas, “A Christmas Story” airs for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“A Christmas Story” is easy to find this Christmas season. The channels TBS and TNT will hold their usual 24-hour broadcast on Christmas Eve, but several streaming services offer it as well.
If you don’t have cable, find “A Christmas Story” streaming on Max, Apple TV, Prime Video and tru TV free for subscribers. The movie leaves Prime at the end of the month.
More:Artist duo open ‘Christmas Story’ themed Airbnb in Chickasha
It’s also available to buy or rent online at Amazon Video, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, Spectrum On Demand and Plex.
More:America’s favorite Christmas movies: Where to watch ‘Elf,’ ‘Die Hard’ and more

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A recent study published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality explored the relationship between belief systems and perceptions of science and religion. It found that individuals with strong religious beliefs tend to see science and religion as compatible, whereas those who strongly believe in science are more likely to perceive conflict. These findings offer new insights into how different meaning systems shape people’s understanding of the relationship between these two domains.
The relationship between science and religion has been a subject of debate for centuries. Some view them as complementary ways of understanding the world, while others see them as fundamentally opposed. Previous studies have often focused on contexts where science and religion are directly compared or juxtaposed, leaving unanswered questions about how belief in one influences perceptions of their compatibility independently of the other.
The researchers aimed to address this gap by examining the extent to which belief in science and religion, as distinct systems of meaning, predicts perceptions of science–religion compatibility or conflict. By recruiting participants from diverse cultural and religious contexts, the researchers sought to provide a broader understanding of how these beliefs interact across different settings.
“My main research interest lies in understanding how people find meaning and make sense of reality,” said study author Natalia Zarzeczna, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Essex. “I see science and religion as meaning systems that can each contribute to finding meaning by answering epistemic (what are the origins of the universe?) and existential (does life have meaning?) questions. I am interested in understanding how people create worldviews based on science and religion to explain reality, to what extent these worldviews have the capacity to provide different types of meaning, and whether they come into conflict.”
The study included 684 participants from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan. These countries were chosen for their varying levels of religiosity and cultural backgrounds: the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are predominantly secular with Christian minorities, while Kazakhstan is a Muslim-majority nation.
Participants completed an online survey designed to measure their belief in science and religious belief as independent constructs. Belief in science was assessed through participants’ agreement with statements about the reliability and comprehensiveness of science as a way of understanding reality, without explicitly comparing it to religion. Similarly, religious belief was measured through self-reported religiosity, focusing on participants’ personal faith and spiritual practices without referencing science.
To assess perceptions of science–religion compatibility, participants rated the extent to which they saw the two as harmonious or conflicting, particularly concerning existential and ontological questions, such as the origins of life and the universe.
Across all countries, participants with stronger religious beliefs were more likely to perceive science and religion as compatible. This association persisted regardless of participants’ level of belief in science, suggesting that religious individuals often integrate scientific principles into their worldview without seeing them as a threat to their faith.
In contrast, stronger belief in science was associated with perceptions of conflict between science and religion. Participants who viewed science as the best way of knowing tended to perceive religious beliefs as incompatible with scientific principles. This finding reflects the differing epistemological foundations of the two systems: science relies on empirical evidence and natural laws, while religion often incorporates supernatural explanations.
“Religious people can combine multiple sources of meaning and use both science and religion to find meaning in their lives,” Zarzeczna told PsyPost. “Believers in science seemingly only use science and possibly look for additional sources of meaning elsewhere.”
Interestingly, the association between belief in science and perceived conflict was stronger in more secular countries like the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, while religious belief’s association with compatibility was particularly pronounced in the predominantly Muslim context of Kazakhstan.
Zarzeczna also highlighted “an interesting contradiction.” The researchers discovered that people with strong religious beliefs were more likely to view science and religion as compatible. However, they also found that stronger religious beliefs were linked to weaker belief in science.
“While religious believers, in both Christian and Muslim contexts, strongly believe in compatibility between science and religion, they also show low belief in science as a way of understanding reality,” Zarzeczna explained. “This is counter-intuitive because believing in science-religion compatibility should logically stem from a combination of equally positive (or negative) attitudes toward each. Possibly, being able to combine two meaning sources, science and religion, reduces the perceived usefulness of each as a good way of understanding reality.”
The researchers controlled for age, gender, education level, political orientation, spirituality, religious upbringing, religious orthodoxy, years of formal education, and science literacy. However, like all research, this study has some caveats.
“We looked at only one aspect of attitudes toward science—belief in science as the best way of understanding reality—to examine how it contributes to science-religion compatibility beliefs,” Zarzeczna noted. “Although it is likely that other aspects of science attitudes (e.g., scientific optimism) would be associated with conflict beliefs to the same extent as belief in science, it is important to address this directly in future research.”
“Also, our study doesn’t explain why religious believers and believers in science have conflicting views on the science and religion relationship. It would be interesting to test what psychological needs or motivations, beyond socio-cultural influences, contribute to these perceptions of compatibility and incompatibility.”
Nevertheless, by exploring these dynamics across diverse cultural and religious contexts, the research opens new avenues for understanding how individuals reconcile—or fail to reconcile—different ways of knowing. Future studies can build on this work to investigate the psychological and cultural factors that shape perceptions of compatibility and conflict.
“Using unobtrusive physiological methods measuring arousal, which are free from self-report biases, we are trying to establish whether science-religion compatibility perceptions constitute an important worldview to religious individuals and how motivated religious individuals are to defend the compatibility view when threatened,” Zarzeczna said.
“If readers are interested in learning more about the relationship between science-religion, we review the most recent literature on this topic in a book chapter in the Handbook of the Science of Existential Psychology that will be published in 2025: Zarzeczna, N. & Haimila, R. (2025). Science and Religion: Meaning-Making Tools Competing to Explain the World. K. E. Vail, III, et al. (Eds). Handbook of the Science of Existential Psychology.”
The study, “The Feeling Is Not Mutual: Religious Belief Predicts Compatibility Between Science and Religion, but Scientific Belief Predicts Conflict,” was authored by Natalia Zarzeczna email the author, Jesse L. Preston, Adil Samekin, Carlotta Reinhardt, Aidos Bolatov, Zukhra Mussinova, Urazgali Selteyev, Gulmira Topanova, and Bastiaan T. Rutjens.
Improving appearance—through makeup, hairstyling, or filters—heightens public self-awareness, making people more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors like donating or ethical shopping.
Individuals with heightened narcissistic grandiosity are often more involved in activism, including advocacy for LGBT causes, according to new research. This appears to be influenced by a desire to display moral superiority and gain social recognition rather than purely prosocial goals.
People with antagonistic personality traits, like psychopathy and sadism, are more likely to admire and feel similar to morally ambiguous fictional characters, such as antiheroes and villains.
Digitally mature teens report feeling more socially connected, which is associated with engaging with real-life friends online and prioritizing compassionate goals.
Sexual satisfaction becomes increasingly important to marital happiness as individuals age, with age being a stronger factor than marital duration. Gender differences and religiosity also influence this relationship.
Recent research found that unresponsive advice—unsolicited, generic, and prescriptive—makes women feel less respected, powerful, and listened to. These effects occurred regardless of the advisor’s gender, though advice from men heightened women’s awareness of gender stereotypes.
New research has found that believing political ideologies are unchangeable reduces partisan prejudice, while seeing political groups as fundamentally different increases it.
Men consistently score higher on Machiavellianism than women, but this gap widens in more gender-equal countries because women’s scores decrease, while men’s scores remain stable regardless of societal gender equality levels.

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PEEC News:
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) invites Girl Scouts to join two exciting space-themed programs this January at Los Alamos Nature Center.
Brownies can earn their Space Science Adventurer badge Jan 19, exploring the solar system and stargazing indoors.
Jan. 26, Junior Girl Scouts will earn their Space Science Investigator badge, with activities like using a solar telescope and enjoying a planetarium show. Both programs promise hands-on experiences that will inspire young minds to reach for the stars!
Event Details:
For more information, visit peecnature.org/events. Stay connected on social media for updates on each week’s activities.
About PEEC:
PEEC was founded in 2000 to serve the community of Los Alamos. It offers people of all ages a way to enrich their lives by strengthening their connections to our canyons, mesas, mountains, and skies. PEEC operates the Los Alamos Nature Center at 2600 Canyon Road, holds regular programs and events, and hosts several interest groups, from birding to hiking to butterfly watching. PEEC activities are open to everyone; however, members receive exclusive benefits such as discounts on programs and gift shop merchandise. Annual memberships start at $35. To learn more, visit here.

Copyright © 2012-2024 The Los Alamos Daily Post is the Official Newspaper of Record in Los Alamos County. This Site and all information contained here including, but not limited to news stories, photographs, videos, charts, graphs and graphics is the property of the Los Alamos Daily Post, unless otherwise noted. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the Los Alamos Daily Post and author/photographer are properly cited. Opinions expressed by readers, columnists and other contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Los Alamos Daily Post. The Los Alamos Daily Post newspaper was founded Feb. 7, 2012 by Owner/Publisher Carol A. Clark.

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Dec 24, 2024 | 8:08 AM EST
If FRM and 23XI Racing could not compete as chartered teams, Bob Jenkins said both could lose up to $45 Million. This stat shows what could go wrong in your NASCAR career if you lack finances. Since its inception in 1949, the sport has been based on independent entities willing to invest their money in race cars. This aspect almost pushed Chandler Smith out of a job this season.
And it is not like the Xfinity Series driver lacks talent. Chandler Smith drove the No. 81 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and dazzled his fans in 2024. In addition to 2 victories, he collected 22 top-tens and 17 top-fives. Smith almost cracked the Championship 4. These star-studded facts leave fans scratching their heads about Smith’s reduced fortunes.
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Well, the cracks appeared this year. In 2023, Smith left Toyota to race for Kaulig Racing in a full Xfinity Series season and part-time Cup Series starts. Then, Quick Tie sponsored Smith in every race. In 2024, though, that sponsorship fell to 15 races. Chandler Smith had to step up with partner Mobil 1, and, among other sponsors. His family also stepped up with Smith General Contracting, sponsoring six races. In October though, right before the Martinsville race, Smith declared Toyota would be leaving him and he may be jobless next season.
However, Front Row Motorsports came to his rescue. Soon after it got its chartered seat confirmed for 2025, it secured a place for the 22-year-old driver in its Craftsman Truck Series line-up alongside Layen Riggs. Yet NASCAR Eric Estepp was baffled that a talented racer like Chandler Smith could only afford a Truck seat. “Smith scored more top-five finishes – 17 – than anyone in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last season. He also grabbed two wins in his first year with JGR. I’m surprised the Truck Series turned out to be Chandler Smith’s best option.” Estepp outlined the feathers on Smith’s cap. He “won the Snowball Derby as a teenager, won five Truck races across two full-time years with KBM, won Xfinity races with both Kaulig Racing and JGR, finished 17th in his Cup Series debut two years ago with Kaulig at Richmond.”
via Getty
BRISTOL, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 15: Chandler Smith, driver of the #51 iBUYPOWER Toyota, stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 15, 2019 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
And yet, Chandler Smith found himself at the receiving end of NASCAR’s financial structure. Estepp said, “What if I told you that guy was jobless in mid-December and had to settle for a Truck Series ride?” While passing his verdict, Estepp concluded that the only reason was finances. Smith was ready to work for his father’s construction business next year just to make ends meet. “It’s gotta be money, right? Chandler Smith may not have the funding that he used to. Maybe William Sawalich, Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones just have more.”
Although Smith still got a chance in a championship-contending Truck team, fans also sympathized with his fallen stature.
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Is it fair that Chandler Smith's career is dictated by finances rather than his racing prowess?
Debate
Sometimes, things do not fall in place although you expect them to. Chandler Smith had been on a winning streak even before he entered NASCAR’s national levels. He owns 10 wins, 23 top-fives, and 30 top-ten finishes in his ARCA Menards Series career. Most recently, he brought three wins in Xfinity in just two years’ time. So one fan could not help but say that he deserved better: “Crazy trucks was the best he could do. Still a good get for FRM.” Another fan chimed with the same sentiment, highlighting how money got in his way. He had a championship-contending season and yet ended up in a lower rung. “I’m thrilled for @CSmith_Racing but it is a dam shame that a guy who had a championship-winning season in @NASCAR_Xfinity has to take a step back because of $$$”
Chandler Smith’s Truck Series resume is also impeccable. Through his two-year tenure at Kyle Busch Motorsports, Smtih fetched five wins and also a Championship 4 appearance. Clearly, he has already proved his worth in Trucks. So one fan said stepping back down again can mean one thing: “Demoted.” Besides fetching 25 top-fives in 69 starts in Xfinity, Smith also won the 2021 Snowball Derby at 19 years old. Another fan commented accordingly: “He deserves better then this ngl.” Somebody else echoed the same sentiment, albeit admitting FRM holds good promises for him. “Didn’t see this one coming, but I like it.”
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Evidently, Chandler Smith is whipping up a load of sympathy surrounding his racing career. As the 2025 season rolls around, let us see what the Truck series holds in store for him.

Let the world know your perspective.
Debate
Debate
Is it fair that Chandler Smith's career is dictated by finances rather than his racing prowess?
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