California Dolphin

We all buy into a suspension of disbelief in certain areas of our lives. We play the lottery (someone’s gonna win), channel what our dogs and cats are thinking (I know this is not just me) and expect our plants to thrive even when we don’t water them (maybe that one’s just me). We are capable of being extraordinarily optimistic. Of course, if ever there were a season for magical thinking, it’s Christmas. I have a friend who clearly cast a spell on her two cats and got them to pose — glumly but nonetheless — in festive knit hats for a Christmas photo. We believe in Santa Claus, reindeer that fly, and elves on shelves that descend from the North Pole and embed themselves in our homes. OK, I’m a little late to the party that embraces these elfin figures inspired by a 2005 book: 10 inches or so, of diverse skin colors and genders, all uniformly dressed in sleek red unitards, accessorized with a white collar and red-and-white cone-shaped hats. They swing from makeshift trapezes and zipline across Christmas trees. They tuck themselves

Manny Pacquiao has been elected to boxing’s Hall of Fame. And the sun will rise in the East. There was never a doubt. The only question was when he would stop fighting and become eligible. On June 8, in Canastota, N.Y., Pacquiao will be honored by a sport that never knew what a hit it had when it allowed him into a ring 26 years ago. Before he finally got out and announced his retirement, he had competed from 108 pounds — when he was a street urchin in the Philippines trying to scrape together money for food for his family — to 154 pounds. He won titles in eight weight classes. Nobody else has done that. He is 46 now, still 5-foot 5-inches, still close to fighting weight and still a lefty fireplug. He finished with a pro record of 62-8-2, including 39 knockouts. As an amateur, he went 60-4. That’s a lot of hitting, and a lot of getting hit. Yet as recently as a year ago, he was trying to drum up a match against Mario Barrios, a decent fighter. That the

The story of Handel’s “Messiah” – CBS News Watch CBS News Since its premiere in 1742, George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” a 3.5-hour work for chorus, soloists and orchestra that includes the “Hallelujah Chorus,” has become one of the most-heard pieces of classical music on Earth. Correspondent David Pogue looks back on the creation of this masterwork with author Charles King and conductor-musicologist Jane Glover, and examines how Biblical passages assembled by a wealthy English landowner suffering from doom and despair would, in the hands of the German-British opera composer, become a timeless message of hope, and a Christmas tradition. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Updated on: December 22, 2024 / 9:05 AM EST / CBS/AP Death toll rises in German Christmas market attack At least 5 dead, 200 injured in German Christmas market car attack 02:29 German authorities said they received tipoffs last year about the suspect in a car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg as more details emerged on Sunday about the five people killed. Authorities have identified the suspect as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. Police haven’t publicly named the suspect, in line with privacy rules, but some German news outlets have identified him as Taleb A. and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Authorities say he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and in many posts on social media expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him. The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, said in an interview

By Anthony Salvanto, Fred Backus, Jennifer De Pinto December 22, 2024 / 9:00 AM EST / CBS News Drone expert unpacks mysterious sightings Drone expert unpacks mysterious sightings across Northeast 03:53 There’s plenty of public uncertainty about who’s controlling drones spotted over the East Coast. One idea does dominate, though: the public suspects the U.S. government is keeping information from them.  Americans have a range of theories about who is controlling the drones , with the U.S. government the most suspected, but no one answer dominates.  Just over half the country is paying attention to the story, and the more they’re paying attention to it, the more likely they are to suspect the U.S. government is controlling the drones. Either way, about half of Americans consider the drones a threat to the U.S. This is particularly so among those who think the drones are being controlled by a foreign country or government.  This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,244 U.S. adults interviewed between December 18-20, 2024. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender

By Anthony Salvanto, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus December 22, 2024 / 9:00 AM EST / CBS News Heading into 2025 Americans are more hopeful than discouraged — and more outright hopeful than they were heading into 2024. Last year was more mixed. It does look like this very political past year is affecting that larger outlook going into next year. Among those who say they’re generally hopeful about 2025, their top reason is that Donald Trump will be president.  His upcoming presidency ranks even higher among things making them feel hopeful about 2025 than their outlook for their own personal relationships and finances. The hopeful group includes a lot of Republicans, underscoring the extent to which politics seems to play a role in outlook generally.  And of those Americans who say they’re generally discouraged about 2025 — a group that includes a lot of Democrats — their top reason is that Donald Trump will be president. That said, the new year may not see too many Americans making personal changes. Just over a third will be making New Year’s resolutions, the bulk of which