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Using religion to win votes

Democrats have had trouble in recent years attracting conservative evangelical voters, who mostly vote for Republicans. In 2000, former Vice President Al Gore gave it a try. He failed badly when he said the first instance of pollution in the Bible is when “Abel’s blood cried out from the ground” after his brother Cain murdered him. Gore said this meant Abel’s blood had “defiled” or “polluted” the ground, rendering it incapable of yielding crops. Not exactly. Now comes Democrat James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the Texas Senate seat currently held by Republican ...

Skenes: For the love of game and country

Paul Skenes is smiling from ear to ear, draped in red, white and blue, along with the rest of his teammates, as they begin the first exhibition game representing Team USA at the World Baseball Classic at Papago Sports Complex in Phoenix. Skenes told the MLB Network why it means so much to represent his country in the games. “First and foremost, I care because I’m from America. I love America. I’ve seen the WBCs in the past, and there’s no bigger stage or no greater honor than wearing USA across your chest,” he said ahead of the game. There was another reason Skenes said he ...

‘Friendly takeover’

Donald Trump has shown Cuba’s communist rulers two ways their reign over the island can end: the Maduro way or the Khamenei way. The Cuban regime is a mix of gerontocracy, nepotism and socialism. Its official face is President Miguel Diaz-Canel, but authority still emanates from 94-year-old Raul Castro, brother of the state’s founding dictator, Fidel Castro. Though the long-lived Castro clan seems to prove only the good die young, no one beats the actuarial tables in the end, and Raul’s days are drawing short. Cuba is overdue for a profound change, and Trump is determined to ...

Horoscope

Unless you happen to be a member of a diverse group of evergreen perennial plants known as “bamboo,” your growth will more likely feel slow and awkward, but also, thankfully, inevitable. Because for most species, growth is rarely quick and painless. That’s why it’s so important to celebrate the various milestones, and Jupiter’s direct motions favor plans to do it big — you earned it! ARIES (March 21-April 19). Sometimes people don’t know their own minds until they start talking or writing about it. You have something to articulate. You’ll open up, figure out just how ...

Feeling stranded by so-called friends

Dear Annie: I am the friend everyone calls when they need something. I am the one who remembers birthdays, checks in after surgeries, brings soup when someone is sick and sends the “just thinking of you” text. If a friend is going through a divorce, I am there. If someone’s child is struggling, I listen for hours. If there is a crisis, I show up. But lately, I have started to notice something painful. When I am the one having a hard time, the room gets very quiet. A few months ago, I went through a health scare. It turned out to be OK, thank goodness, but while I was waiting ...

Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu close Paris Fashion Week with competing visions of nature

PARIS (AP) — Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière built a fake mountain range inside the Louvre and sent models climbing through it. On Tuesday it closed out a starry Paris Fashion Week with folklore treated as high fashion — capes, cowbells, shearling caps and walking sticks draped with handbags. Ghesquiere called the collection “Super Nature” and said he wanted to find what mountain people from the Alps to Central Asia to the Andes all have in common: clothes shaped by weather, altitude and the need to keep moving. Zendaya, Ana de Armas, Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith sat ...