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They are a lovable couple — Dr. Chris Liebrum and his wife, Cindy — known for quickly-triggered smiles, positive attitudes, deep faith and commitment to close-knit families. Married for 52 years, they have reached highest peaks and navigated life’s storms — shortening them when possible — confident of a safe arrival on the other side. They’re the kind of folks whose company is treasured. Cindy has earned “life of the party” status, laughing — even cackling — all the way, sometimes way out on limbs. Comparatively, Chris is content in the shade of trees, maybe planting something to bloom later. In short, they personify the expression heard during long ago cattle drives: “They’ll do to ride the river with.” — They’re proud of their sons, Cory and Clay, their daughters-in-law and their four grandchildren. Chris and Cindy, who met as students at Howard Payne University, carve out “family time” admirably. This was difficult to accomplish during Chris’s schedule-packed professional years of denominational leadership. Even with their mid-70s now at hand, they press on, barely slowed in “semi-retirement.” Chris works parttime for his alma mater, and still preaches often on Sundays throughout Texas. They are beloved by everyone, even friends with other religious beliefs or political leanings. I deeply value their friendship, these thoughtful, caring Christians. He is studied, his words carefully chosen when serious topics are broached. Cindy can be serious, too, but most friends can’t remember the last time she was. She’s always “at the ready” to snap pictures. Fact is, the camera strap marks formerly marking the back of her neck are slowly disappearing. Now, she values her smartphone, handy not only for “yakking” but also for photography. Grandchildren are favorite targets, as are much else that moves, or — for that matter — stands still ... — I joke with them endlessly, sometimes even jabbing a bit, and they jab back, particularly Cindy. She’s a joyful soul, but probably would be a lousy poker player. Chris, with quiet reserve and contemplation, can steer around most workaday challenges, two of which will be addressed in this column. To most people, they’ll fit in the “minutia box,” probably even at the very bottom. Neither is mentioned critically, and typically broached jokingly. He can’t pronounce “New Braunfels,” and he’s colorblind. (I don’t intend to joke about his visual condition, but he does.) — First things first. Like television newsmen who never knew they’d need to pronounce “Uvalde” often until the shootings there, Chris never thought he’d need to pronounce — or try to pronounce — ”New Braunfels”on a regular basis. Not so fast! HPU has a branch campus there, so he’s often involved in discussions that include the community’s name. In the past, he’s been able to “mumble through it,” or simply go ahead and pronounce it “New Braunsfel” or “New Braunsfels,” like many others do. I have tried endlessly to help him conquer this slight pronunciational flaw, but so far have been unsuccessful. It’s his “blind spot,” so to speak, similar to my failure to understand the difference in “imply” and “infer.” Trying to do so makes my hair hurt ... — Now, let’s jump into his world which often isn’t “black and white,” but various other shades and hues, most of which he has learned to live with. He and Cindy are theater-go’ers, treasuring attendance at live productions like “Wicked,” a Broadway hit that opened in 2003. They’ve seen it at least a half-dozen times on various stages, most recently at Dallas Summer Musicals. At intermission, he heard a lady seated behind him mention the green-colored witch, Elphaba. Puzzled, he turned to Cindy, expressing that he’d never realized the witch’s greenish hue. Chris is doubly careful at traffic lights, too. “I try to go with the flow,” he says, “And I’ve learned that the shortest measurement of time is that brief moment between the light turning green and the horn honking behind me. Remember, I told you their faults are few ...NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has told Parliament that the Centre's thrust is on improving the quality of public spending, while strengthening the social security net for the poor and needy. In the statement on deviation from the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act targets, the ministry also said that govt remained committed to pursue the glide path for fiscal consolidation and it will lower fiscal deficit to under 4.5% by next financial year. It said since July, when the regular budget was presented, the global economic environment has become gloomier due to further escalation of conflict. "Given the prevailing global economic and security environment, it is necessary for govt to retain (a) fair degree of flexibility in conducting its fiscal policy so as to be able to respond to any fallout from adverse global events," the ministry said in the nine-page document. Pointing to the numbers on non-debt receipts, fiscal deficit and revenue deficit during the first half of the current financial year, the ministry said the numbers were within the limits prescribed under FRBM rules. While revenue receipts (51.8% of budget estimates) were higher than the five-year moving average, total receipts (43.8%) of the govt were lower. Expenditure was also below the five-year moving average, resulting in the first half fiscal deficit being 29.4% of budget estimate against the five-year moving average of 63.8%. The comment on the quality of expenditure ties in with govt's efforts to focus on higher capex in recent years and cut on wasteful expenditure, besides targeting subsidies better. Even in the next budget, the Centre is expected to retain the emphasis on its spending pattern. Ready to Master Stock Valuation? ET’s Workshop is just around the corner!Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — First it was Canada , then the Panama Canal . Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland . The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office on Jan. 20. In a Sunday announcement naming his ambassador to Denmark, Trump wrote that, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." Trump again having designs on Greenland comes after the president-elect suggested over the weekend that the U.S. could retake control of the Panama Canal if something isn't done to ease rising shipping costs required for using the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He's also been suggesting that Canada become the 51st U.S. state and referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said Trump tweaking friendly countries harkens back to an aggressive style he used during his days in business. “You ask something unreasonable and it’s more likely you can get something less unreasonable,” said Farnsworth, who is also author of the book “Presidential Communication and Character.” Greenland, the world’s largest island, sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. It is 80% covered by an ice sheet and is home to a large U.S. military base. It gained home rule from Denmark in 1979 and its head of government, Múte Bourup Egede, suggested that Trump’s latest calls for U.S. control would be as meaningless as those made in his first term. “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” he said in a statement. “We must not lose our years-long fight for freedom.” The Danish Prime Minister’s Office said in its own statement that the government is “looking forward to welcoming the new American ambassador. And the Government is looking forward to working with the new administration.” “In a complex security political situation as the one we currently experience, transatlantic cooperation is crucial,” the statement said. It noted that it had no comment on Greenland except for it “not being for sale, but open for cooperation.” Trump canceled a 2019 visit to Denmark after his offer to buy Greenland was rejected by Copenhagen, and ultimately came to nothing . He also suggested Sunday that the U.S. is getting “ripped off” at the Panama Canal. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question,” he said. Panama President José Raúl Mulino responded in a video that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to,” but Trump fired back on his social media site, “We’ll see about that!” The president-elect also posted a picture of a U.S. flag planted in the canal zone under the phrase, “Welcome to the United States Canal!” The United States built the canal in the early 1900s but relinquished control to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter . The canal depends on reservoirs that were hit by 2023 droughts that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships, administrators also increased the fees that shippers are charged to reserve slots to use the canal. The Greenland and Panama flareups followed Trump recently posting that “Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State" and offering an image of himself superimposed on a mountaintop surveying surrounding territory next to a Canadian flag. Trudeau suggested that Trump was joking about annexing his country, but the pair met recently at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to discuss Trump's threats to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods. “Canada is not going to become part of the United States, but Trump’s comments are more about leveraging what he says to get concessions from Canada by putting Canada off balance, particularly given the precarious current political environment in Canada,” Farnsworth said. “Maybe claim a win on trade concessions, a tighter border or other things.” He said the situation is similar with Greenland. “What Trump wants is a win," Farnsworth said. "And even if the American flag doesn’t raise over Greenland, Europeans may be more willing to say yes to something else because of the pressure.” Associated Press writers Gary Fields in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.Jackson State tops Southern 41-13, wins SWAC Championship and berth in Celebration BowlAP Trending SummaryBrief at 6:02 p.m. EST

‘We didn’t have a good day’: Greens set to suffer significant election lossesNonePhillies have no plans to start pitching prospect Andrew Painter in spring training following injury