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The Toronto Blue Jays are trying to secure the cornerstone of their franchise this offseason, but it is reportedly not close to happening. Per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez , the Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have been in talks about an extension, but "are not considered to be close on one." Gonzalez noted that the hesitancy from Guerrero could affect Toronto's ability to bring in free agents and reported that a trade could be coming if the two sides can't reach a deal. This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company’s collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered $60 billion in Enron stock worthless. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were eventually convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release that it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video that was full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” Enron’s new website features a company store, where various items featuring the brand’s tilted “E” logo are for sale, including a $118 hoodie. In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but that “We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company’s website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory that claims all birds are actually surveillance drones for the government. Peters said that since learning about the “relaunch” of Enron, she has spoken with several other former employees and they are also upset by it. She said the apparent stunt was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, who is 74 years old, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70

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The U.S. defense budget is approaching $1 trillion. , who have a history of overcharging the Pentagon and fleecing American taxpayers. Raytheon recently agreed to pay investigations concerning defective pricing, foreign bribery and export control schemes. The public is tired of this waste and abuse. I want the U.S. to have the greatest military in the world and the resources to counter increasingly sophisticated threats from our adversaries, but we need a more sensible approach. That is why I have been the only member on . And that is why I look forward to working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce waste and fraud at the Pentagon, while strongly opposing any cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There are several areas of waste and abuse that I hope DOGE will address. As a starter, consolidation in the defense industry has allowed companies to drive up prices. When I was a freshman member of Congress, I led an investigation on the House Oversight Committee into the defense contractor TransDigm, which through mergers had acquired exclusive rights to sole-source aircraft parts. A report from the Defense Department’s inspector general revealed the company had exploited the American people by overcharging over 4,000 percent on those sole-source parts. In the end, TransDigm returned . Equally outrageous, found that the price of stinger missiles has increased from . One reason is that and can drive up costs. Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet, which DOGE co-chair Elon Musk has rightly criticized, is another example of how a lack of competition has resulted in waste and zero incentive to innovate. The F-35 jet is perpetually and over budget. The lifetime cost to maintain them will be over . We should make defense contracting more competitive, helping small and medium-sized businesses to compete for Defense Department projects. We can do this by reducing massive sole-source contracts that only specific large companies can fulfill, breaking up major acquisitions into smaller programs, and improving funding and administrative support to help companies cross the “valley of death” between research and product commercialization. Our biggest program overruns, like the F-35 jet, are what’s known as “cost-plus contracts.” These make taxpayers shoulder the risk of increasing development costs, and take away contractors’ motivations to reduce costs. We must ensure better risk-sharing with contractors and provide incentives for them to reduce program costs. For example, we should award more contracts to vendors who invest in their industrial base and can rapidly respond to the military’s requirements, instead of engaging in stock buybacks. The Defense Department also needs better acquisition oversight. Defense contractors have gotten away with overcharging the Pentagon and ripping off taxpayers for too long. A revealed that the Air Force overpaid Boeing for the C-17 Cargo Aircraft. The most egregious purchase was . This happened because the Air Force failed to effectively monitor the prices that Boeing, the contractor, provided. One ingredient for effective price monitoring is better communication across the federal government to ensure the Pentagon isn’t paying more than any other department. The Defense Health Agency overpaid by , spending as much as . The department’s acquisition processes lacks sufficient controls for defense contractors who can get away with overcharging the government. We have a phenomenal workforce, but they must be paired with state-of-the-art systems and policies to ensure contracts only go to qualified contractors with reasonable prices. Industry obviously cannot be trusted to provide fair pricing and contract negotiations. DOGE should provide recommendations for systems to better manage government spending and acquisition. If the Defense Department had checked all the prices that Boeing provided during the contract negotiations and appropriately monitored price increases throughout the project, they could have prevented this waste. Another area where we can work with DOGE is reducing the billions being spent to maintain excess military property and facilities domestically and abroad. There are that cost taxpayers . Previous rounds of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) annually. A new round, focused internationally, could simultaneously save billions and improve national security. Finally, DOGE can also cut the Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile program. report estimated that the missile and its warhead cost at least . Though the Navy , Congress has continued funding it. American taxpayers want and deserve the best return on their investment. Let’s put politics aside and work with DOGE to reduce wasteful defense spending. And let’s invest instead in domestic manufacturing, good-paying jobs and a modern national security strategy.New York state government to monitor its use of AI under a new law ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they're using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Canadian Press Dec 27, 2024 12:37 PM Dec 27, 2024 12:50 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message FILE - A video surveillance camera hangs from the ceiling above a subway platform, Oct. 7, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state government agencies will have to conduct reviews and publish reports that detail how they're using artificial intelligence software, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul, a Democrat, signed the bill last week after it was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year. The law requires state agencies to perform assessments of any software that uses algorithms, computational models or AI techniques, and then submit those reviews to the governor and top legislative leaders along with posting them online. It also bars the use of AI in certain situations, such as an automated decision on whether someone receives unemployment benefits or child care assistance, unless the system is being consistently monitored by a human. State workers would also be shielded from having their hours or job duties limited because of AI under the law. State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the law an important step in setting up some guardrails in how the emerging technology is used in state government. The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Science News An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump's political coalition Dec 27, 2024 12:43 PM An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump's political coalition Dec 27, 2024 10:43 AM A 9th telecoms firm has been hit by a massive Chinese espionage campaign, the White House says Dec 27, 2024 10:01 AM

iRobot to Present at Upcoming Investor ConferencesSimpplr Named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Intranet Packaged Solutions for Second Year in a RowAnalysis: After Juan Soto's megadeal, could MLB see a $1 billion contract? Probably not soonSuspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted while arriving for a court appearance in Pennsylvania a day after he was arrested at a McDonald’s and charged with murder. Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car, spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible while deputies pushed him inside Tuesday. At the brief hearing, the defense lawyer informed the court that Mangione would not waive extradition to New York but instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail. Brian Thompson, who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. Key details about the man accused of killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO The 26-year-old man charged in last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in New York City has appeared in a Pennsylvania courtroom. Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested Monday after a worker at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, notified police that he resembled the suspect in the killing last Wednesday of Brian Thompson. While being led into court to be arraigned Tuesday, Mangione shouted something that was partly unintelligible but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” During the hearing, Mangione was denied bail and his attorney said Mangione would not waive extradition. DA suggests unusual idea for halting Trump’s hush money case while upholding his conviction NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are trying to preserve President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction as he returns to office, and they're suggesting various ways forward. One novel notion is based on how some courts handle criminal cases when defendants die. In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books. The proposals included freezing the case until he’s out of office, or agreeing that any future sentence wouldn’t include jail time. Another idea: closing the case with a notation that acknowledges his conviction but says that he was never sentenced and that his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. There's no immediate response from Trump's lawyers. Middle East latest: Israel bombs hundreds of sites across Syria as army pushes into border zone Israel says it bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of strikes was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse. Israel also acknowledged its troops were pushing into a border buffer zone inside Syria, which was established after the 1973 Mideast war. However, Israel denied its forces were advancing Tuesday toward the Syrian capital of Damascus. Life in the capital was slowly returning to normal. People celebrated for a third day in a main square, and shops and banks reopened. Republican-led states are rolling out plans that could aid Trump's mass deportation effort JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Governors and lawmakers in Republican-led states are rolling out plans that could aid President-elect Donald Trump's effort to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. A growing number of states are proposing legislation to give local law officers the power to arrest people in the country illegally. Other legislation filed ahead of next year's sessions would require law enforcement agencies to notify federal immigration officials when they take someone into custody who is in the country illegally. This is even if the charges are unrelated to their immigration status. Some Democratic-led states already are talking about how to resist some of Trump's immigration policies. Task force probing attempts to kill Trump urges Secret Service to limit protection of foreigners WASHINGTON (AP) — A task force looking into the assassination attempts against Donald Trump during his presidential campaign is recommending changes to the Secret Service. These include protecting fewer foreign leaders during the height of the election season and considering moving the agency out of the Department of Homeland Security. The 180-page report was released Tuesday. It constitutes one of the most detailed looks so far into the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and a second one in Florida two months later. South Korea's ex-defense minister is formally arrested over brief imposition of martial law SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's previous defense minister has been formally arrested over his alleged collusion with President Yoon Suk Yeol and others in imposing martial law last week. Kim Yong Hyun resigned last week and has been detained since Sunday. He is the first person arrested in the case. Prosecutors have up to 20 days to determine whether to indict him. A conviction on the charge of playing a key role in rebellion carries the maximum death sentence. Kim is accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting on it. Homes burn as wind-driven wildfire prompts evacuations in Malibu, California MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of Southern California residents are under evacuation orders and warnings as firefighters battle a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu. The flames burned near seaside mansions and Pepperdine University, where students sheltering at the school’s library on Monday night watched as the blaze intensified. Officials on Tuesday said a “minimal number” of homes burned, but the exact amount wasn’t immediately known. More than 8,100 homes and other structures are under threat, including more than 2,000 where residents have been ordered to evacuate. Pepperdine University on Tuesday morning said the worst of the fire has pushed past campus. It was not immediately known how the blaze started. More beans and less red meat: Nutritionists weigh in on US dietary guidelines Americans should eat more beans, peas and lentils and cut back on red and processed meats and starchy vegetables. That's advice from a panel of expert nutritionists charged with counseling the U.S. government about the next edition of the dietary guidelines. The panel did not weigh in on the growing role of ultraprocessed foods that have been linked to health problems or alcohol use. But they did say people should continue to limit added sugars, sodium and saturated fat in pursuit of a healthy diet. Tuesday’s recommendations now go to federal officials, who will draft the final guidance set for release next year. Trustee over Infowars auction asks court to approve The Onion's winning bid A trustee who oversaw the bankruptcy auction of Alex Jones’ Infowars is asking a judge to approve The Onion’s winning bid for the conspiracy-filled platform. Trustee Christopher Murray took the stand Tuesday in the second day of testimony at a hearing where a judge is scrutinizing the satirical news outlet’s winning offer. He told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston that he was there asking a court to approve the sale of Infowars’ parent company to The Onion’s parent company. It is not clear how quickly Lopez will rule. The Onion wants to turn Infowars’ website and social media accounts into parodies.