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I became a birder by default.....I wanted to know what these birds were that I was taking pictures of. I'm pretty good at bird ID, but I don't hold a candle to some of the people I meet in the field....they are truly amazing. Hopefully this younger generation will develop the skills. The lake Erie shoreline from Sandusky to Detroit is one of the best places in the world for birding during the spring migration. Every spring, these birds fly north from South/Central America and Mexico. When they get to lake Erie, they stop and drop to get their bearings and rest up for the flight over the big lake. The woodlots and wetlands along the lakeshore hold thousands of these migrants, and you can view them up close and personal. If anyone wants info on some birding hotspots and great places to get pics, let me know. I've been doing it for decades. The lakeshore around here is also home to quite a few nesting pairs of bald eagles.

It will be awesome if Raheim Sanders can lock down RB3 and contribute. He's a bully just like Judkins.

I think Monken is definitely someone who likes his RBs to share the rock. He's not really looking for a true "bell cow". I know I'm just dreaming here, but if we could have those two bruisers sharing the "bell", we could have Sampson, KC and Bond as "gadgets" out of the backfield.

Sampson made a few rookie mistakes along the way last year, but I think he'll catch plenty of passes out of the backfield this year... or I should say is capable of doing so.

I really wish there were an extra metric that separated time to throw from time to throw on script. It can be very misleading since it accounts for everything through the end of the play.

If I scramble around for ten seconds and take a 20 yard sack, my "time to throw" was ten seconds. Hell, from that standpoint, I could have one of the most porous O-Lines in the league and it would look like they were Pro Bowlers giving me all the time in the world.

Don't get me wrong, I know all these things average out over hundreds of snaps, this one's still one of those Paul Harvey stats... you may need to seek and find "the rest of the story".

"Oh give me the beat boys and free my soul. I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and grift away.".......................

Trump's Freedom 250 asks for another $10M in taxpayer funds

Congress approved $150 million for the country's 250th anniversary celebrations. The Trump administration is seeking an additional $10 million amid unanswered questions about its finances.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is seeking an additional $10 million of taxpayer money for Freedom 250’s grand celebrations honoring the country’s semiquincentennial, drawing fresh questions about how the group spent millions in previous public and private funding.

In a July 29 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, said Congress received the request earlier in the month for “an unspecified amount of funding” to help Freedom 250 “recoup costs” in a broader Trump administration budget request.

A meeting between Merkley’s office and the Interior Department later revealed that the agency was asking for $10 million to reimburse the National Parks Service for “routine costs” associated with events on the National Mall, including the Christianity-dominated Rededicate 250 prayer event, the Great American State Fair, and the July 4th Salute to America, Merkley wrote.

The request suggested that Freedom 250 already spent more than a $100 million in taxpayer and private dollars it previously received, Merkley said in his letter.

“Congress has already provided substantial funding for these activities,” he wrote. “It is unacceptable to ask the American people to bail out Freedom 250.”

Congress allocated $150 million for the Department of the Interior to distribute, as it saw fit, for the country’s 250th anniversary in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Interior gave $50 million of that to America250, the congressionally created group tasked with planning the celebration, and $100 million to Trump’s Freedom 250 group.

Freedom 250 also solicited donations from private corporations, including Exxon Mobil, Mastercard, Deloitte, and Palantir. Those efforts came under scrutiny this year after Democrats questioned whether the administration was offering preferential policy treatment in exchange for contributions.

America250 declined to comment on whether it had received all of the $50 million. "We have received a portion of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act funds to date, and remain in conversations with Congress for our funding requests," the organization said in an emailed statement. As of February, America250 said it had only received $25 million of the funds.

In an email to USA TODAY, the Interior Department said the request for additional funds reflects expenditures related to an “elevated security posture” at events after the security breach at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April and other high-profile threats.

Public disclosures of Freedom 250's finances, the amount raised in private donations and how it spent that money will not be available until after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The Trump administration created Freedom 250 as a subsidiary of the National Parks Foundation, a congressionally-chartered nonprofit. The structure of the organization allows it to bypass traditional, immediate disclosure laws federal agencies must abide by.

Freedom 250 has spent at least $10 million retrofitting tractor-trailer trucks into mobile history exhibits that have been accused of presenting an inaccurate, Christian-focused depiction of the country’s past. It also paid Event Strategies Inc., the group that planned President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, rally, hundreds of thousands of dollars to plan 250 events.

Members of Congress, including Merkley, have asked the Department of Interior on multiple occassions for information about how Freedom 250 spent the $100 million in taxpayer funding, private donor information, and costs incurred related to 250 events.

As of July 30, Interior has not yet publicly responded to those requests.

When reached for comment about the funding request, Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said "Democrats are trying to make America's 250th birthday about partisan politics."

"Their divisive rhetoric forced Freedom 250 to increase security at these events, but we won't let them stop us from honoring our country's milestone," she said. "This is just another attempt to divide us, and it won't work."

Freedom 250 has two more events left before the end of the year: the Patriot Games, a nationwide high school athletic competition on Aug. 9-11 at Spire Academy in Ohio, and an IndyCar race around the National Mall on Aug. 22-23.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/usa250/2026/07/30/freedom-250-10-funding-request/91107162007/

New poll shows two-thirds of Americans say war with Iran has not been worthwhile

A new AP-NORC poll finds only 33% of U.S. adults say the Iran conflict is worthwhile, as Trump's approval rating falls to 33% — a level tied to Biden's peak inflation low.

Only 33% of U.S. adults say the conflict in Iran is worthwhile, while President Donald Trump's handling of the war sits at 33% in the same survey.

A new AP-NORC poll shows about two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran has not been worthwhile, as Americans grow increasingly frustrated with the conflict.

Trump's approval rating sits at 33% in the same poll — slightly below where it stood at this point in his first term.

About 23% of Americans say they want the U.S. to continue military action in Iran.

The poll found that 40% believe it is important the U.S. should prevent Iran from threatening Israel.

The poll was taken just days after four American troops were killed while stationed in the region.

That approval rating mirrors what President Joe Biden experienced at peak inflation during his administration, a period that carried significant political consequences for Biden.

Trump is hoping to hold on to at least one chamber of Congress, with the U.S. Senate considered the most likely scenario for Republicans to retain. The new numbers present a challenge for that effort.

For vulnerable Republicans in key districts, the poll numbers signal potential political risk heading into the next election cycle.

https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news...ay-war-with-iran-has-not-been-worthwhile

Oh, I'm sure your on the money when it comes to future cap space being there with Myles contract gone. However, they will need to start thinking about Verse contract in the coming future.. I think he is signed through 2027 if I remember correctly. I've been looking at a lot of contracts the last couple of days. Even though Myles is the best defensive player in the league, Verse contract will probably rival his current contract since it is 2 years into the future.

But, yeah, I agree, Garrett's money being gone after 2027 definitely helps signing extensions now through 2029. I think Myles contract was actually good through 2031 money?! So, all 2028-2031 will be cleared after the 2027 season.

They ran him until they didn't. Was he on the ballot in 2024 and I missed it?

Need a good outing tonight. He always scares me

well deserved for Grant too. He's been solid for us

Unconscious Mitch McConnell Scores Higher Approval Rating Than Conscious Version

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an unprecedented political comeback, the entirely unconscious Mitch McConnell has garnered a vastly higher approval rating than the conscious version, a new poll revealed on Monday.

According to the poll, a whopping 78 percent of voters “strongly agreed” with the statement, “The USA would be in much better shape today if Mitch McConnell had been unconscious for the entire four decades of his congressional career.”

Voters pointed to progress on guns, the environment, and a host of other issues that could have been achieved if only McConnell had not been sentient.

Capitalizing on his newfound popularity, McConnell’s office issued the following statement: “The senator continues to be motionless and unresponsive, and the pile of legislative work near his hospital bed has gone completely untouched.”

I'll take this opportunity to post probably the sickest plays I ever had the privilege to watch live. Even watching the replay felt like my mind playing tricks on me. 🔥

This particular story has already been discussed in this forum. Only 400 out of those 6600 actually voted. No New jersey election was decided by 400 votes. Actually none where closer than several thousand votes.

So him posting that in response to "Can you specifically name one rigged election result" is just pure BS. But then again that's to be expected.

One thing I am sure of is that the executive branch, mainly the president holds far to much power. How much power a president has is not the same as the time of the founding fathers. It has evolved and increased greatly over time. And that's not isolated to which party or who is president. As of today we see executive orders being written on an unprecedented level pushing the boundaries of the constitution and being overturned in our courts.

I'm certainly not going to say that I agree with everything they stand for. Yet I do understand when one side goes off the rails you will get a pushback that goes off the rails as well in reaction to that.

And that's where we are now. Extremism is taking over on both sides and we are all worse off for it. Surely you must have seen something like this coming in response.

Big money QBs make plays that win games or close-out games...big money DEs should do that as well...but realistically less-often.

My memory of MG will be much more of him jumping offside on 3rd/4th and short...and getting 2+ sacks in games that were essentially blowouts...rather than frequent plays that impacted the outcome of the game.

The Ravens might have the most talent, but we'll see how Minter does in his first year.


It feels like the Bengals better figure things out on D and the OL before Burrow is wasted

It sure ain't 'fancy' but it caught my attention...

My daughter just received a PhD.

Her dissertation was on large scale AI integration and scalable AI integration.

She built her own AI to handle her intellectual property at UGA.

I have begun messing around with it and it blows my mind. I feel like I am living the future.

I came from when people sold encyclopedias door to door.

IMO he was one of the truly great actors.

Even when he had small roles like in Sling Blade. He made a mark.

He had a way to capture the essence of the role.

Tender Mercies was an incredible movie. It was like watching real life. The ability to be natural is what great actors do.

Great, they get free power from free solar panels.

It sounds like an effort to lower the high demand period when people come home from work and turn on lights and air conditioners. If it works and lessens the strain on the system great, though I still say it isn't "free".

What do you call it when the trump administration takes taxpayer money and invests roughly $26.7 billion across 30 equity or quasi-equity deals with private companies and corporations?

The U.S. government invested $27 billion in corporate stakes. Good luck finding them

The Trump administration has invested roughly $26.7 billion across 30 equity or quasi-equity deals, headlined by a 9.9% stake in chipmaker Intel that's now worth $42 billion.

Others include $400 million into rare-earth miner MP Materials to loosen China's grip on magnet supply chains, the "golden share" in U.S. Steel retained as a condition of its sale to Japan's Nippon Steel, or the flurry of stakes in quantum computing firms.

But with all that dealmaking, those wary of government's corruptive tendencies—and of President Donald Trump's own trading—might want to see some transparency. The portfolio, however, is nowhere to be found.

There is no consolidated ledger of the government's holdings; the stakes sit scattered across at least four agencies: 17 deals through Commerce, seven through Defense, six through the Development Finance Corporation, two through Energy. Only one of those, the Development Finance Corporation, has clear statutory authority to own equity at all, under a framework Congress built in 2018 for development deals abroad.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune's request for comment. A Treasury spokesperson said agencies report equity interests "in different ways" depending on the legal authority behind each stake.

Some of the "stakes" are signed agreements, while others, including nine quantum computing deals Commerce announced in a single week, remain more ambiguous, closer to term sheets. The most complete public accounting of Washington's portfolio is kept by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.

"The deals that have been announced to date are only the tip of the iceberg," Jonathan Hillman, the Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow who maintains that tracker, told Fortune, "and the real test will be whether Washington can build a system to effectively manage its growing portfolio of investments over the long run."

The best-documented stake in the portfolio is the biggest one. Intel's August 2025 securities filings name the shareholder: the United States Department of Commerce, counterparty to a "Warrant and Common Stock Agreement" covering 433.3 million shares at $20.47 apiece. It's a passive stake, with no board seat or information rights, and the government has agreed to vote with Intel's board on most matters.

Yet some aspects of the deal, in the filings, look strange. Roughly two-thirds of the shares were delivered to Commerce when the deal closed; the rest sit in escrow to be released as Intel hits milestones under a Pentagon chip program, meaning a slice of the government's marquee holding is not yet in the government's hands. The claw-back and profit-sharing provisions attached to Intel's earlier $2.2 billion CHIPS Act grant were also eliminated. Grants have strings that these stocks don't.

In addition, ethics filings revealed that accounts held in the president's own name began buying Intel in March, months after his administration's stake sent the stock soaring. No insider trading has been alleged, and the White House says his assets sit in a trust managed by his children; but Trump's personal holdings are unprecedented for the modern presidency.

For the government's stakes in private companies—such as Vulcan Elements, xLight, and others—no public securities filings with the SEC exist at all.

Even where the shares can be found, the money is tricky to follow. Federal budget rules, mostly designed for grants and loans, treat an equity purchase as an outlay—money out the door—with very little mechanism for recognizing what comes back, according to research by William Henagan, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. That means the Intel position's rise from $8.9 billion to $42 billion appears in no budget document.

The Development Finance Corporation, established by Congress in 2018 to make equity investments abroad, is one exception. But the framework has a narrow lens: it was designed for financing ports in developing countries. Yet now it is the closest thing Washington has to a legal template for owning chipmakers.

A DFC spokesperson told Fortune it records its equity postions as investment assets and manages the ownership on a case-by-case basis.

The federal government has held corporate equity at scale once before, and it did so under supervision. The Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $700 billion rescue fund Congress created in October 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, came with a statutory special inspector general who filed quarterly reports to Congress, plus a congressional oversight panel and standing GAO audits to boot.

But even that apparatus was judged insufficient: in 2009, the program's own inspector general told Congress that taxpayers weren't being told what recipients were doing with their money.

Today's sprawling portfolio has none of that. The administration, for its part, has never claimed otherwise; it has hinted the stakes are the start of something bigger.

"It's like a down payment on a sovereign wealth fund, which many countries have," Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC after the Intel deal was announced.

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/u-government-invested-27-billion-120000768.html

This was obvious all along but it's still quite surprising they would openly admit it. Which begs to question....


............... if they are willing to openly admit to this, what in the hell are they trying to hide in the discovery process?

Money money money money… money


I don’t think he has cared to this point, but now he’s playing for a contract. My hope is that his arm remains sore, he is limited in training camp and Monken sets him aside.

Let’s get ready for the season with Shedeur and see what happens.