Indycar takes to the streets around Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
First things first. I am a car enthusiast, a motor racing fan and an active race competitor, having competed in the Nurburgring 24-hours in Germany and countless other domestic races in ****** an over the last 25 years. I've also been to watch numerous F1 races, the 24-Hours of Le Mans, the Indy 500, World Rally Championship events in the middle of nowhere, and even street F1 races from Monaco to Melbourne. So yes, I love cars and racing. But what President Trump did last weekend by staging his Freedom 250 IndyCar Grand Prix race in Washington DC was, well, let's just call it excessive, disruptive, inappropriate and tone-deaf.
Over the weekend, the distinct, ear-splitting whine of 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engines echoed off the marble facades of federal buildings as IndyCar made its highly controversial debut on the streets of the nation's capital.
The event, billed as the "Washington Grand Prix," saw open-wheel Indy race cars speeding at over 150 mph down Pennsylvania Avenue, transforming the historic corridor between the U.S. Capitol and the White House into a 1.7-mile long temporary, high-octane racetrack. The narrow, angular cars blasted past the US Capitol, made sharp turns around the National Archives, and pass the Smithsonian Air and ****** e Museum for a total of 147 laps, a number which equals a race distance of 250-miles. Yes, you guessed it. That 250 number had to relate to the nation's 250th anniversary celebration.
Penske Corporation CEO Roger Penske (R) and IndyCar series champion Alex Palou (L) presents U.S. President Donald Trump (C) with a race helmet during a Freedom 250 Grand Prix showcase in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

#washington #grand #races #images

The heart of the nation's capital is set to be packed with more than 140,000 fans as Freedom 250th Grand Prix kicks off Sunday, sending race cars zipping through Washington, DC, for the first time in IndyCar history.
The race is set to begin shortly after 1 p.m. ET on the National Mall with a course that takes seven turns between the U.S. Capitol and around Smithsonian museums and the National Archives. Racers will drive 147 laps around the 1.7-mile course for a total of 250 miles before spectators, including President Donald Trump.
Trump is also expected to take a ride around the track in his presidential limousine before things kick off.
The two-day event kicked off Saturday with practice and qualifying races and two International Race of Champions races. Twenty-five drivers will compete Sunday.
It's the latest high-profile sporting event spearheaded by Trump as part of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations. In June, a UFC Freedom 250 mixed martial arts event was hosted at the White House.

#Trump #grand

The IndyCar Series will race by the National Archives and the Smithsonian Air and ***** e Museum today in the Freedom 250 on the streets of Washington, D.C.
Championship points leader Alex Palou starts from the pole position for the longest street course race in series history, 147 laps on a 7-turn, 1.7-mile layout. He has an outside chance to lock up his fourth consecutive ***** le, and fifth in six years.
Kyle Kirkwood also earns a front-row starting spot as he and David Malukas (starting 6th) and Christian Lundgaard (9th) fight for second place in the standings.
President Trump is scheduled to wave the green flag shortly after 1 p.m.
We will have leaderboard updates and highlights throughout, so remember to refresh.

#race

On August 5, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) launched a new AI coding agent called Muse Code and priced it well below rivals Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex in a clear bid to win over developers. The release landed the same week. Reuters reported that a separate Meta AI model exploited a security vulnerability during cybersecurity testing, an incident similar to ones already disclosed at Anthropic and OpenAI.
Muse Code comes in two pricing tiers: one matches Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)'s general Muse Spark model, and a second, steeply discounted tier runs just 20 cents per million output tokens for users willing to share feedback, pricing that lines up with China's DeepSeek and undercuts even OpenAI's discounted older models.
Meta AI chief Alexandr **** put it simply, saying the pricing can be an incredibly good option for a lot of workflows, especially from a cost perspective. The stakes here are real. Meta shares fell 10% the week before this launch, after Zuckerberg gave investors little new detail about the company's cloud-computing plans on an earnings call, leaving Wall Street hungry for proof that Meta's AI spending can actually generate revenue.
Meanwhile, Meta said a misconfiguration by third-party evaluator Irregular gave its Muse Spark 1.1 model unintended internet access during testing. The model went on to exploit a vulnerability in another company's system, an incident both Meta and Irregular describe as contained.
Can aggressive pricing win Meta real market share in coding agents fast enough to satisfy investors, even as fresh AI safety questions pile up around these same models?

#muse #code

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a lengthy letter on August 10 making the case that artificial intelligence should be spread broadly rather than controlled by a handful of companies or governments. He also announced that Meta will start releasing open-source AI models again.
Around the same time, the Wall Street Journal reported on August 9 that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been testing memory chips from China's CXMT for use in iPhones and MacBooks as the company hunts for ways to ease a costly memory supply crunch.
Zuckerberg's letter, ****** led "The Future is for Everyone: The Path to a Positive AI Future," argues that no single company or government should end up holding all the power that comes with superintelligent AI. It frames Meta's mission of putting the technology directly in people's hands as a safeguard against that outcome. To back that up, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) released the open-weight Muse Glimmer model on Monday, a 30-billion-parameter system small enough to run on a single consumer GPU, with plans to open the weights on Muse Spark 1.2 soon.
Apple's problem is a lot more concrete. Memory chip costs linked to growing AI demand have already forced the company to raise prices globally. CXMT, now the most valuable company listed in mainland China at a $520 billion market cap, could offer some relief, though U.S. export rules keep Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) from ordering custom chips. Any deal carries real political risk, as per WSJ.
Does spreading AI power around, as Meta argues, actually help solve a very real problem like the chip shortage squeezing Apple right now?

#open #platforms

Dolly Parton says she is still recovering from the health problems that have changed some of her public plans, but slowing down creatively does not appear to be part of the conversation.
In a new PEOPLE interview, the 80-year-old country legend said she has been through some "hard times" with her health and acknowledged that she put some of her own needs aside while caring for her late husband, Carl Dean. "Even though I'm still healin', I'm still workin'," she said.
Dean died in March 2025 at age 82 after nearly 60 years of marriage to Parton. She told the publication that she is now dealing with health issues she "just didn't pay attention to" while looking after him, without identifying one diagnosis as the explanation for everything she has been experiencing.
Her workload nevertheless remains extensive. Parton is preparing to open her SongTeller Hotel and the largest museum exhibition ever devoted to her life, while continuing to work on music, products and even an early-stage idea for avatar performances that could offer fans another way to experience her songs.
Parton's latest comments add context to the health updates she has been sharing throughout 2026. She told PEOPLE that this is not the first difficult stretch she has experienced physically, recalling that health issues also sidelined her for months during the early 1980s. What feels different now, she said, is the intensity of the attention surrounding every update in the social-media era.

#Health #people #told

Kylie Jenner is expanding KHY into footwear with a brand-new collaboration alongside Gia Borghini. To debut the same, the beauty mogul slipped into a leather micro minidress that perfectly complemented the sleek heels. The campaign put both the shoes and Jenner's minimalist styling in the spotlight, offering fans a first look at the highly anticipated drop.
For the campaign, Kylie Jenner wore a strapless black leather micro minidress that hugged her figure from top to bottom, elevating it with heels from her new KHY x Gia Borghini collection. The body-skimming silhouette featured a straight, strapless neckline that showcased her décolletage.
Meanwhile, the ultra-short hemline kept the look modern. The daring cut made the entire outfit undeniably sultry. The smooth leather finish added texture without distracting from the footwear, making the dress the perfect backdrop for the new collection.
Jenner paired the outfit with pieces from the KHY x Gia Borghini collaboration. She wore sleek metallic sandals and minimalist kitten heels. The reality TV star also stepped out in the statement Muse wedge in both silver and black leather. Sitting on the floor with pairs scattered around her, she gave each design its own moment while showcasing their clean, contemporary aesthetic.
Rather than piling on accessories, Jenner kept the styling intentionally understated. She wore slim rectangular wire-frame glasses that added a polished, fashion-editor feel to the campaign. Her long black hair was styled pin straight with a center part, creating a sharp contrast against the fitted leather dress.

#jenner #wore #footwear

Matt Damon turned on his Disney dad mode for his daughter's 18th birthday, marking the milestone with a family outing to Disneyland. "The Odyssey" star shares four daughters with his wife, Luciana. A photo of the family at the amusement park is now circulating on social media, garnering love and best wishes from fans.
Matt Damon celebrated his daughter Gia's 18th birthday with his family at Disneyland. They posed for photos together in front of a Mickey Mouse pumpkin in Disneyland on August 20. They visited the park ahead of its Halloween Time opening on August 21.
Gia wore a black tee featuring an outline of the park's Sleeping Beauty Castle flanked by Mickey Mouse ears. The shirt read, "birthday girl." Meanwhile, her sisters, Alexia, 27, Isabella, 20, and Stella, 15, and their parents, Matt Damon and Luciana, wore matching black tees that read, "birthday crew." One snap also captured the "Good Will Hunting" star posing solo. He paired his tee with white trousers and white shoes. A baseball cap and brown-tinted shades completed his look.
In a July cover story for PEOPLE, Damon said his daughter Gia's reaction to "The Odyssey" made the tough shoot worth it. He recalled, "She saw 'The Odyssey,' and at the end of it, she actually turned to me, and she said, 'Dad, I'm proud of you.' She's never said anything like that because we joke around a lot, and so at that point, I was like, 'I'm good. It was all worth it.'"
At the London premiere of the epic film, he said it was "great" to share the moment with his daughters. "It's great because they had to sacrifice a lot too for this," he said. "I went away for a while; they came and visited, but it was a lot. It was a very long movie, very grueling shoot, and I'm really excited for my girls to see it tonight."

#damon #family #mickey

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers gave fans a moment they won't stop replaying, and it had nothing to do with the final score.
Late in the second quarter of Thursday's Fever-Wings game, Clark was dribbling out the clock with Dallas holding a foul to give. Bueckers grabbed her arm to draw the whistle, and Clark clearly didn't appreciate it. She yanked away, fired the ball down the court near Bueckers, and stayed visibly frustrated as the two headed toward the tunnel.
Bueckers wasn't rattled. Cameras caught her looking at Clark and mouthing two words that instantly took over WNBA social media: "Calm down."
The line landed everywhere within minutes. Fans, podcasters and outlets all weighed in on who came out looking better in the exchange, and the reactions ranged from amused to pointed.
"Paige says 'calm down,' and she's absolutely right. Caitlin Clark has been weird as [expletive] lately with all the shenanigans and flailing and shouting at refs," one fan wrote on X.

#clark #bueckers #fever

A viral ad campaign by the Kelce brothers' joint company, Garage Beer, in collaboration with energy drink Liquid Death, has sparked amusement and bewilderment online.
A satirical ad campaign by Liquid Death and Garage Beer, co-owned by Travis Kelce and his recently retired brother Jason, asks fans to mail in their urine to AI data centers to cool down their servers instead of wasting fresh water.
In an advert that is fair to put in the 'you don't see that every day' column, Jason Kelce, after urinating, is soon surrounded by members of the public singing extravagantly with their hands aloft, "We want your pee."
Although a humorous look at AI, it is an odd advert, and many in the sports world had their say.
'Rat King' on X wrote, "Temperature check on public AI sentiment: Kelce brother ad focused on mailing [expletive] jars to data centers." X user Eric The Great replied, clearly bewildered, writing simply: "What on earth."

#liquid #jason #campaign #data

Solange Knowles has paid a heartfelt tribute to her former co-star, Hayden Panettiere.
On Sunday, the Heroes actress was found unresponsive at an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina and was ****** ounced dead at the scene. She was 36.
Taking to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Solange posted a snap of herself and Hayden on the set of their 2006 teen comedy, Bring It On: All or Nothing, in which they played high school cheerleaders.
"Rest in peace Hayden. In peace, because you are so deserving of it," she wrote in the caption. "We had so many parallels in our lives, and the world watched u so courageously live in your radical truth telling your story (sic). We watched your endless quest for vulnerability, and healing."
Singer-actress Solange went on to share several more stills of Hayden in the movie.
"I salute your journey and i honor the work we created together that became something that really means something to people... reaching people we couldn't have ever imagined at the time, as two young girls, trying to keep looking to the light," the 40-year-old mused. "The light surrounds you now. Rest easy Hayden."

#hayden

Washington DC has hosted presidential inaugurations, World Series parades and Fourth of July celebrations. Now, IndyCar is coming to the streets of the nation's capital.
The inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix will bring open-wheel racing to a temporary 1.66-mile street race winding through downtown D.C. The seven-turn course will guide drivers past some of the city's most iconic landmarks, including the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and several Smithsonian museums.
The race weekend, scheduled for Aug. 22-23, will feature practice, qualifying and the main race, giving fans a chance to see IndyCar drivers navigate a course unlike any other on the series calendar.
The race has already made its presence felt across downtown DC, with road closures and construction weeks underway as crews transform city streets into a temporary racing circuit. Barriers, fencing and other track infrastructure have been installed along the route ahead of race weekend.
For drivers, the circuit will offer little room for error, with tight turns and narrow sections replacing the traffic that normally moves through these streets. For residents and visitors, the race has meant detours and closures across parts of downtown as the District prepares to host its first IndyCar event.

#race #racing

Dolly Parton shared in a video why she missed the big opening of a new ride at her beloved Dollywood. The 80-year-old country music legend was supposed to be at the Aug. 14 opening of NightFlight Expedition in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. But she ended up sending fans a video from her home in Nashville instead. The reason was that her doctor told her to stay put after she experienced dizziness and dehydration.
Parton made the best of the situation, appearing in the recorded video with a pair of ***** erfly wings flapping behind her as she shared her health update. "I've told you before, all my fans, that I've had a few little health issues and sometimes I get a little dizzy and I get dehydrated. And I'm dehydrated," she said, according to fan footage shared online.
She then explained that her Nashville doctor wasn't taking any chances with the 200-mile trip to Dollywood. She said, "My Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings, saying, 'You ain't traveling this week.'" Then she added, "So I guess if your doctor tells you, 'You ain't traveling this week,' you ain't traveling this week."
The singer also gave fans some reassuring news, saying that "all is going well on the medical end of things." Staying home, however, does not mean she has stopped working. Parton said she is still busy with projects including her SongTeller Hotel, Life of Many Colors Museum and her upcoming Broadway show, Dolly: A True Original Musical.
She also made sure to celebrate the new Dollywood attraction. In the video, she shared her excitement for NightFlight Expedition and told fans she would see them "down the road."

#fans

Good morning!
It's hard to believe four years had passed since I last saw Yard Act perform at the Black Cat. The post-punk Leeds outfit came out of the Covid-era with a banger of a debut album. It was clear that they had something to say.
The odd thing is that, in their third record, You're Gonna Need a Little Music, James Smith has a little bit of a different message: "I've done absolutely nothing since I last saw you four years ago / Ah, how you doing, yeah, I'm still chipping away / But I've got absolutely nothing / Absolutely nothing new to say"
This is the sort of imposter syndrome Yard Act tackle in their most recent project. The quartet are exploring new styles and adopting different references from disco house to Blur and Muse to create a far more varied sound.
That all creates for a deeper, richer backlog of tracks to dig into when they hit the stage. And, four years on from first seeing them, they returned to Black Cat with as much ferocity as ever.

#years #nothing

Your recap for the Cubs' 11-4 loss to the Cardinals Sunday is basically in the headline. Edward Cabrera returned from injury, got hit hard and didn't have command, and then Dansby Swanson took a swing in the third inning and immediately came out of the game.
I guess I could wrap things here, but… you come here for a complete recap and you are going to get one.
First, I was amused by this sequence of social media posts. When Craig Counsell met with media before the game, here's what he said about the Cubs upcoming rotation:
Five-plus hours later, after Cabrera's disastrous outing, here's what the media heard from Counsell:
Gee, Craig. Ya think?!?!?!

#counsell #sunday

Fifty years ago, a little film about an underdog boxer was released to theaters…
Made for one million dollars—a relative pittance for films even in '76—the flick about an unlikely pugilist from Philly went on to gross $225 million and take home the Academy Award for Best Picture against all odds. It perhaps goes without saying, but the movie is a personal favorite of mine.
Rocky is still bucking the odds—connecting and inspiring new audiences even in 2026! So, with the Minnesota Twins hosting the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon, here are a few upcoming ways in which one can revel in 50 years of Rocky:
This November, I Play Rocky hits cinemas nationwide. Based on the trailer, it tells the story of how a young Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for Rocky—modeling it on his own tenaciousness as a writer/actor—and refused to let the studio cast a different actor in the lead role. In a way, the making of Rocky is nearly as inspiring as the final product itself.
Also in November: the annual Rocky Run, in which racers begin/end at the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art steps that Rocky Balboa ascends in nearly every film.

#rocky

A new poll shows that more than a quarter of Gen Z investors see gambling on sports as part of "their long-term financial strategy" — and more than half say they have bet on sports at least once in the last year with money originally set aside for investing.
The online survey of 1,000 U.S. retail investors, which was published Tuesday by the personal finance platform Betterment, underscores a dramatic cultural and generational shift.
Sports betting has become ubiquitous since 2018, the year the Supreme Court struck down a longstanding federal ban on the practice. In 2025 alone, Americans wagered far more on sports — roughly $166 billion — than the U.S. movie, music, book and museum industries generated in revenue combined, according to Fortune. Sports betting now rakes in 42 times more revenue ($17 billion) than it did in 2018 ($400 million), according to some estimates.
Yet no other age group is nearly as likely as Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2007) to view sports gambling as an investment — rather than, say, a form of entertainment.
According to the Betterment survey, just 14% of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), 6% of Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980) and 1% of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) have made sports betting a deliberate, ongoing part of their financial plans — compared with 26% of Gen Zers.

#investors #part

MILAN (AP) — Italian authorities recovered three artworks by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions of euros that were stolen earlier this year from a private museum near the northern city of Parma, police said Friday. Five people were detained.
A statement from the Italian Carabinieri's art recovery squad said the artworks were discovered in the possession of one of the suspects during searches ordered by prosecutors in the Parma province and neighboring provinces. The five suspects detained are believed to belong to an organized crime group responsible for numerous thefts of homes, businesses and other properties. Police also recovered stolen goods worth tens of thousands of euros.
Meanwhile, Brazilian police said late Thursday they located eight stolen works by Matisse following an apartment raid outside Sao Paulo. There were no apparent links between the two thefts.
The three artworks recovered in Italy are "Fish," a painting by Auguste Renoir, "Still Life with Cherries," a pencil and watercolor by Paul Cézanne, and "Odalisque on the Terrace," a color aqatint by Henri Matisse. Authorities said the Cézanne was valued at 6 million euros ($7 million), the Renoir at 3 million euros ($3.5 million), and the Matisse at 20,000 euros ($23,000).
The heist at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Parma, took place on the night of March 22-23, police said. Video distributed by authorities showed the thieves entering through a broken door window and then taking the three artworks down from adjacent walls before exiting and escaping through the gardens in a matter of minutes.

#police #artworks #renoir #three

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) released a new open-weight AI model called Muse Glimmer on August 10, a compact system built for agentic tasks that can run on a Mac or PC with a single graphics card. CEO Mark Zuckerberg used the launch to press Washington for lighter rules on open-source AI, arguing that Chinese developers have pulled ahead. The release lands squarely inside the debate that has been rattling Meta's stock all summer: whether the company's AI ambitions are actually worth what they cost.
Muse Glimmer's design speaks to real demand. Businesses have grown uneasy about the size of their AI bills, and about a string of recent hacking incidents tied to models built by Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta itself. Open-weight systems answer both worries by running locally and staying cheap to operate. Hugging Face illustrated that shift last month, saying it deployed a Chinese-made open-weight system to fend off an attack traced to a rogue OpenAI model, since closed-source options are restricted from that kind of security work. If Meta can position Muse Glimmer as a trusted domestic alternative for that exact use case, the addressable market is not small.
None of this changes what still pays Meta's bills. Advertising brought in $114 billion in the first half of 2026, 97.7% of total sales, and Wall Street expects that business to keep compounding at a 21.6% annualized clip through 2028. Zuckerberg is also betting AI sharpens that ad targeting further, which is part of why Meta paired the Muse Glimmer release with a governance change, giving independent directors power to sign off on safety criteria before future models ship. Add in early plans to sell spare data center capacity to outside buyers, and Meta has more ways to monetize its AI buildout than the spending headlines usually suggest.
The launch does not erase the fact that Meta is behind in open-weight AI. By Zuckerberg's own account, Chinese labs including Moonshot's Kimi K3, Alibaba's Qwen3.8-Max and DeepSeek's V4-Flash already deliver performance that rivals top US systems, while Meta and its domestic peers remain boxed in by training-data rules Zuckerberg says put American developers at a disadvantage. Muse Glimmer is smaller and narrower than Meta's frontier ambitions, and Washington adds its own uncertainty: the Trump administration has said it will not subject open-weight systems to voluntary safety testing, leaving the ground rules for a technology already tied to hacking incidents unsettled.

#open

The Atlanta Falcons are just three days away from making their 2026 NFL season preseason debut against the Denver Broncos. While we don't know how many of the team's starters will play in Friday's opener, the players have been putting in some serious work at practice.
In today's Falcons Wire Recap, Tua Tagovailoa heats up, Michael Penix Jr. draws praise from quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, Atlanta signs two more players to the roster and Avieon Terrell is held out of practice due to injury.
The Falcons claimed former Alabama guard Jaeden Roberts off of waivers from the Eagles on Tuesday afternoon. Roberts, an undrafted free agent, signed with Philadelphia following the 2026 NFL Draft but was waived on Monday. Atlanta could use the extra depth up front after waiving former seventh-round pick Jack Nelson earlier this week.
"Roberts is a powerful guard-only prospect with elite body composition but technique that falls below the NFL mark," NFL.com's Lance Zierlein wrote in Roberts' pre-draft scouting report. "He has legendary weight-room strength that will flash on tape, but he struggles to play under control and cleanly fit blocks."
The Falcons signed veteran tight end Nick Muse to their 90-man roster on Tuesday morning. The team also placed undrafted free agent wide receiver Le'Meke Brockington and linebacker Malik Verdon on the waived/injured list in corresponding moves.

#play #roster

The Falcons claimed offensive guard Jaeden Roberts off waivers, the team announced Tuesday.
The Eagles waived Roberts on Monday.
Roberts spent four seasons at the University of Alabama but went undrafted in the 2026 draft. He signed with the Eagles as a college free agent in May.
Roberts started 37 career games in four collegiate seasons, including 2023 when current Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was his offensive coordinator at Alabama.
In the past week, the Falcons have cut inside linebacker Troy Andersen, signed defensive end Cameron Sample and running back Trey Sermon, activated right tackle Jawaan Taylor off the active/PUP list, signed tight end Nick Muse and waived wide receiver Le'Meke Brockington and linebacker Malik Verdon with injury designations.

#waived #four #seasons

Meta Platforms (META) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg warned Monday against a "concentration of power" in AI as the social media giant introduced a new open-source large language model. Meta stock rose premarket.
The Facebook parent company's new Muse Glimmer AI model will be capable of "agentic" tasks while being offered under an open source license, the company said in a blog post. The designation will allow developers to download and modify the large language model.
In a separate blog post, Zuckerberg pledged to focus on a "positive AI future" that is focuses on "individual empowerment."
While not mentioning names, the Facebook founder appeared critical of leading AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic and their previous warnings about the significant economic risks of the technology.
"It is surprising that the discourse from many developing AI is so filled with doom. I do not understand why anyone who believes that AI will eliminate most jobs and much of humanity's relevance would rush to build that future," Zuckerberg wrote. "The notion that AI is so dangerous that the only safe path is an extreme concentration of power seems inherently problematic."

#concentration #open #large

The 2026 college football season is rapidly approaching and it's going to be an important one for the North Carolina Tar Heels. They are entering their second season under Bill Belichick and after the disaster that was the 2025 season, UNC needs to rebound in a hurry.
The Tar Heels will have a new-look roster with over 50 new players this season. But it's on Belichick and his staff to get the most out of them. Facing a very tough schedule, the pressure is on Belichick to win and do so in a hurry.
As training camp rolls on, USA TODAY Sports listed Belichick as one of 11 coaches who is on the hot seat entering this season:
Belichick hasn't just been bad for North Carolina. He's been a national embarrassment. There was his bizarre interview with CBS before he ever coached a game. There's the persistent drama with Belichick's 25-year-old girlfriend, aka his "Muse," who's waged a crusade against the university. Then, Belichick's GM got placed on administrative leave. Belichick might be the GOAT in the NFL, but he's a joke in college football, and it's hard to justify playing the long game with a 74-year-old coach. Either he wins now, or North Carolina can fork over $10 million to fire him after this season and cut its losses.
Training camp hasn't been friendly to Belichick either. General manager Michael Lombardi is on paid leave and his son, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, is on medical leave. It's been an uphill challenge for Belichick and with kickoff just a few weeks away, it feels like the TCU game continues to be bigger and bigger for the program.

#belichick #game #heels #college

Black bishop and author Earl Walker Jackson, a descendant of enslaved ancestors, is criticizing the Smithsonian National Museum of American History for what he said amounts to anti-American "indoctrination" against the "greatest nation on earth."
Although his great-grandparents were enslaved, Jackson believes that "if you were born an American, you hit the proverbial lottery because you have more opportunity and hope than any people living anywhere else on the planet."
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jackson said the latest controversy over what the White House described as the Smithsonian's woke "ideological capture" angered him because of what he views as smears against the U.S.
"It makes me angry when people do this to our country, but it's sad too because what it tells me is that the indoctrination machine is hard at work convincing people [of] this narrative," he said. "This is a wonderful country; it's the greatest nation on earth. And you've got people so indoctrinated into seeing our country sliced and diced into race and ethnicity and class and income and so forth that they fail to understand the blessing of the United States of America."
Smithsonian's Taxpayer Funds Face Chopping Block As Gop Demands Accountability For 'Woke' History

#jackson #country

Anthony Anderson caught Anne Hathaway fully by surprise on Monday night, when he asked a blunt question about Ewan McGregor's kids. The actress could only cover her mouth and crack up.
Hathaway and McGregor star together in "The End of Oak Street," which hits theaters this week, and is one of five films Hathaway has releasing this year. The moment came when Anderson asked McGregor how many kids he has, after the trio previously discussed Hathaway's third child, which she is currently pregnant with. McGregor answered that he has five children in total, which first stunned Anderson.
"Five! Are you Mormon?" he joked.
The question made Hathaway fully whip her head back to the host, jaw dropped in surprise as she immediately cracked up. For his part, McGregor was equally amused and surprised.
"You're like 'Nah, I just like to f–k a lot,'" Anderson further joked, after McGregor confirmed he is not a Mormon.

#fully

King Charles always amuses us with his witty reactions during public engagements. Case in point: cast your mind back to last autumn when the monarch had the funniest reaction to 116-year-old Ethel Caterham when she told him "all the girls were in love with you".
Charles visited Ethel at her care home in Lightwater, Surrey, shortly after bidding a formal farewell to US President Donald Trump during the US state visit at Windsor.
The King memorably met with Ethel following President Trump's state visit (Alamy Stock Photo)
While talking about a previous investiture in 1969, Mrs Caterham said: "All the girls were in love with you and wanted to marry you." The remark prompted a hearty laugh from the King and a raise of his eyebrows.
One of Ethel's granddaughters, Kate Henderson, added: "You were saying that the other day, weren't you? You said 'Prince Charles was so handsome. All the girls were in love with him.' A true prince – and now the King." Charles, who responded with a playful grimace, quipped: "Yes, well, all that's left of him anyway."

#king #caterham

Ben Jones, the actor turned politician best known for playing Cooter Davenport on "The Dukes of Hazzard," died on Sunday from a heart attack, according to his wife Alma Viator. He was 84.
Viator announced her husband's death in a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon. With a photo of Jones holding his dog, she wrote, "I lost the love of my life today. Ben passed from a massive heart attack. He was home resting in his favorite chair waiting for the Braves to come on and whoop the Yankees. Ben had the most amazing, rich, full life. He loved and was loved by so many. He will be missed. I loved him so much."
More from Variety
'Dukes of Hazzard' Car With Confederate Flag to Remain Displayed in Auto Museum
Amazon Might Pull 'Dukes of Hazzard' From IMDb TV Free Streaming Service Over Confederate Flag Imagery

#hazzard #jones #sunday

Sinners actor Michael B Jordan and British actress Raye have sparked romance rumors after they were spotted on a theme park ride together at an LA amusement park.
The Oscar winner was captured alongside the "Where Is My Husband" vocalist at Six Flags Magic Mountain over the weekend. The pair were pictured chatting on the rollercoaster, seemingly unaware they were being watched.
Fans captured photos and videos of the actor and "Escapism" singer on the rides, laughing and chatting behind rollercoaster handlebars. The pair were reportedly joined by Jordan's younger brother, Khalid.
Last year, the 39-year-old Black Panther actor was linked to actress Taylor Russell after they were spotted on London's Oxford Street together. He previously dated Lori Harvey between 2020 and 2022, reportedly splitting due to being at different stages of life.
He told Jay Shetty's podcast in 2024 that he gets "lonely" but isn't ready to date again yet. "There's a loneliness that I have; the worst part of that is the feeling like ***** ody really understands. Sometimes falling into the ***** es of being alone, feeling alone," the Swapped actor admitted.

#spotted #captured #rollercoaster #reportedly

The Detroit Lions announced a flurry of roster moves ahead of Sunday's training camp practice. They officially placed Teddy Bridgewater on the reserve/retired list, they've signed cornerback Ryan Cooper and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, and they've waived tight end Nick Muse.
Bridgewater's move to the retirement list comes minutes after Dan Campbell announced the veteran quarterback is stepping away.
"I've known Teddy a long time, and, man, the human being is unbelievable," Campbell said. "Certainly the player, everything he's about, the teammate that he is, the way he prepares. Always played the game up here and had a huge heart. He's going to be missed."

Campbell said the team intends to sign a veteran backup quarterback, and hopes to do so by Monday.
Cooper was one of three defenders who tried out for the Lions over the weekend. He last played football with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL, posting 25 tackles, four pass breakups and an interception in nine games. At 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, Cooper has only made one game appearance at the NFL level, playing six special teams snaps for the Baltimore Ravens in 2024. Detroit needed a little cornerback depth while D.J. Reed is sidelined with a minor groin injury and the Lions waived De'Shawn Rucker with an injury designation.
Ogbongbemiga has been in the NFL for five seasons, appearing in 72 games and making three starts since 2021. He went undrafted in the NFL but was a first-round pick in the CFL in 2021. He opted to go the NFL route, making the Los Angeles Chargers 53-man roster as a rookie and appearing in 15 games. He lasted two more years with the Chargers, playing mostly on special teams—932 snaps on teams over three years.

#three #games #teams

If Adam Vinatieri's goal was to make his Hall of Fame speech memorable, it appears he was successful.
As the former placekicker was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of its class of 2026, he made sure to bring the jokes and roasts at the expense of former teammates.
As clips of Vinatieri's speech went viral on the internet, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp was among the most amused members of the live audience in Canton, Ohio.
According to USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell, Sapp ran backstage cackling during the event after hearing Vinatieri's shot at former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
"He's going to burn every bridge going in," Sapp said.

#hall #fame