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Joonas Korpisalo stops 21 shots, Elias Lindholm scores, and Bruins win 1st game since firing coacherhandayi First Solar: Quick Gains Likely Behind Us - Slow & Steady Ahead We previously covered First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR ) in September 2024, discussing its robust investment thesis despite the uncertainty surrounding the country's future renewables policy. Our optimism Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. The analysis is provided exclusively for informational purposes and should not be considered professional investment advice. Before investing, please conduct personal in-depth research and utmost due diligence, as there are many risks associated with the trade, including capital loss. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
( MENAFN - The Conversation) Extreme temperature and rainfall events are increasing around the world, including Australia. What makes them extreme is their rarity and severity compared to the typical climate. A region's“climate” is defined by a 30-year average of mainly rainfall and temperature. Increasingly, these climate definitions have become less appropriate – we need to look at events over shorter time periods to gain a more accurate picture. We can see this in the recent worldwide proliferation of extreme flooding and prolonged heatwaves . Using southern Australia as a prime example, our newly published research in Academia Environmental Sciences and Sustainability shows that machine learning techniques can help identify key climate drivers, supporting a redefinition of climate in a warming world. In Australia, eastern coastal regions of Queensland and New South Wales continue to receive record downpours and flash floods , interspersed by dry periods of a few months to a few years. In stark contrast, southern coastal regions are drying and facing more extreme heatwaves. With already parched vegetation and catastrophic fire dangers, this region is experiencing drought conditions due to decreased cool season rainfall and increased temperatures. Notably, flash droughts and flash floods have adversely affected both agricultural crop yields and grazing pasture quality. Flash droughts greatly reduce moisture for germination. Flash floods ruin crops close to harvest time. The problem with these“flash” events is just how difficult they are to forecast. To make more accurate seasonal and annual predictions for rainfall and temperatures, we need to update our climate models. But how do we know which climate drivers need to be included? To keep track of typical climate conditions and provide context for weather and climate forecasts, the World Meteorological Organization uses a set of data products known as climatological standard normals . They define climate as averages of monthly, seasonal and annual weather-related variables such as temperature and rainfall, over consecutive 30-year periods. Climate normals can be used to assess how typical of the current climate a particular event was in a given location. It's how we arrive at temperature anomalies. For example, to tell whether a year was relatively“hot” or“cool”, we look at the anomaly – the difference between the average temperature for the calendar year in question, compared to the climate normal. But extreme variations are now occurring in periods of ten years or even shorter. Consequently, multiple increases and decreases can cancel each other out over a 30-year period. This would hide the large changes in statistics of weather variables within that period. For example, large rainfall changes in average monthly, seasonal and annual amounts can be hidden within 30-year averages. Global warming often amplifies or diminishes the impacts of multiple climate driver phases within approximately ten-year periods . When averaged over 30 consecutive years, some information is lost. Over the past decade or so, machine learning (where computers learn from past data to make inferences about the future) has become a powerful tool for detecting potential links between global warming and extreme weather events. This is referred to as attribution . Machine learning techniques are simple to code and are well-suited to the highly repetitive task of searching through numerous combinations of observational data for possible triggers of severe weather events. In our new study , machine learning helped us untangle the dominant climate drivers responsible for recent flash flood rainfall on the east coast of Australia, and a lack of rainfall on the southern coast. Along the southern coast, the cool season from May to October is typically produced by mid-latitude westerly winds. In recent years these winds were farther away from the Australian continents, resulting in the recent drought of 2017–19 and flash drought of 2023–24 . In contrast, after the 2020–22 La Niña, the east coast continues to experience wetter conditions. These come from generally higher than average sea-surface temperatures off the east coast and Pacific Ocean, due to the presence of onshore winds. Machine learning identified the dominant drivers of the scenario above: the El Niño-Southern Oscillation , the Southern Annular Mode , the Indian Ocean Dipole , and both local and global sea surface temperatures. A key finding was the prominence of global warming as an attribute, both individually and in combination with other climate drivers. Climate drivers and their combinations can change with increasing global warming over shorter periods that contain extremes of climate. Hence, the use of 30-year periods as climate normals becomes less useful. Climate models often disagree on the climate drivers likely to be relevant to extreme events. A key feature of machine learning is the ability to deal with multi-source data by identifying regional attributes . We can combine possible climate-driver predictors with high-resolution climate model predictions, especially after the climate model data are downsized to cover specific regions of concern. This can help with extreme event forecasting at a local scale. Scientists are continuously developing new methods for applying machine learning to weather and climate prediction. The scientific consensus is that global warming has dramatically increased the frequency of extreme rainfall and temperature events. However, the impacts are not uniform across the world, or even across Australia. Some regions have been more affected than others. Currently there is no single alternative definition to the traditional 30-year climate normal, given the variable impacts across the planet. Each region will need to determine its own relevant climate time period definition – and machine learning tools can help. MENAFN27112024000199003603ID1108934309 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. 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Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” he said. ”And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy -- he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
(The Center Square) – Paula Scanlan is hopeful the narrative around gender ideology is shifting, especially as Republicans prepare for majorities in both chambers of the 119th Congress and a seat in the White House. “I am hopeful that with the majorities now that we will be able to get across the finish line,” Scanlan told The Center Square on Thursday, speaking of more legislation on the way to protect women's spaces. “Obviously, this goes beyond sports ... So ideally, I think that the biggest thing would be to federally pass something that says this is what a woman is.” Scanlan a day earlier was part of a panel where U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., announced that Republicans plan to soon introduce legislation to “protect children from transgender medical procedures.” A report from the advocacy group Do No Harm released four weeks before Election Day included documented evidence of such activity being performed on a 7-year-old . “We’ll be introducing the STOP Act soon,” said Marshall . “We are going to use the Commerce Act to punish people who perform any type of surgery, or who use any type of medications on minors.” STOP is an acronym for Safeguarding the Overall Protection of Minors. The panel said that the legislation is an important and necessary step to protect children. Scanlan and Marshall, a host with the American Principles Project, were on the panel alongside U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill.; Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project; and Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “We all know by now that so-called gender affirming care is anything but caring,” Tuberville said. “It is pure insanity and has caused irreversible damage to countless children. This isn’t about politics, this is about good and evil.” Scanlan is an ambassador for Independent Women's Voice and a former collegiate swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania. Swimming for the Quakers, she and teammates endured being not only on the same team but in the same locker room as a swimmer who for the first three years swam on the men's team. “I was a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania and the administration, the university and the NCAA said , ‘Here's a man who wants to swim on your team, please accept him,’” she explained during the panel. “This entire situation really made all female athletes feel isolated and alone, and like they know where to go.” Scanlan said that it wasn’t just competing that isolated the female athletes. “Eighteen times per week, my teammates and I were forced to undress next to a 6-foot-4, fully-intact male,” Scanlan said. “As a female athlete, this was just something I couldn't even imagine. It was something I never imagined would happen to me when I went off to college.” The STOP Act is one of a few beginnings. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has proposed legislation seeking to protect women’s spaces on all federal property nationwide. This would include bathrooms, locker rooms and prisons. Scanlan said this shows that public opinion is on the side of her and the panel. “This is really the first time we're seeing more of these people in power stepping up and actually doing the right thing and saying enough is enough” she said. “Now, we are looking at entire teams that are feeling empowered to be able to boycott ... or object to competing against males. It's widespread.” A notable case of that is San Jose State, where Blaire Fleming's participation has led to seven opponents forfeiting rather than playing a women's team that includes a man saying he is a woman. Tuberville and Marshall emphasized they believe the majority of Americans would agree with the proposed legislation. "The American people are sick of this nonsense," Tuberville said . "It’s time we restore some sanity and get common sense back in this country." Scanlan said that while she supports the national legislation Republicans are considering, it is important for states to also continue to pass legislation. “I always remind people who are really excited about having a presidency that we don't know what might happen in four years," she said. "So, of course, it's also important to codify this in states. We are going to continue our efforts. There's still a lot of work to be done, and I don't really see it as a win until we've finished this on the state level.”
By JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump loved to use tariffs on foreign goods during his first presidency. But their impact was barely noticeable in the overall economy, even if their aftershocks were clear in specific industries. The data show they never fully delivered on his promised factory jobs. Nor did they provoke the avalanche of inflation that critics feared. This time, though, his tariff threats might be different . The president-elect is talking about going much bigger — on a potential scale that creates more uncertainty about whether he’ll do what he says and what the consequences could be. “There’s going to be a lot more tariffs, I mean, he’s pretty clear,” said Michael Stumo, the CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group that has supported import taxes to help domestic manufacturing. The president-elect posted on social media Monday that on his first day in office he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada until those countries satisfactorily stop illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his initial term. Chinese imports would face additional tariffs of 10% until Beijing cracks down on the production of materials used in making fentanyl, Trump posted. Business groups were quick to warn about rapidly escalating inflation , while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would counter the move with tariffs on U.S. products. House Democrats put together legislation to strip a president’s ability to unilaterally apply tariffs this drastic, warning that they would likely lead to higher prices for autos, shoes, housing and groceries. Sheinbaum said Wednesday that her administration is already working up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs “if the situation comes to that.” “The economy department is preparing it,” Sheinbaum said. “If there are tariffs, Mexico would increase tariffs, it is a technical task about what would also benefit Mexico,” she said, suggesting her country would impose targeted import duties on U.S. goods in sensitive areas. House Democrats on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for a president to impose tariffs due to claims of a national emergency, a largely symbolic action given Republicans’ coming control of both the House and Senate. “This legislation would enable Congress to limit this sweeping emergency authority and put in place the necessary Congressional oversight before any president – Democrat or Republican – could indiscriminately raise costs on the American people through tariffs,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. But for Trump, tariffs are now a tested tool that seems less politically controversial even if the mandate he received in November’s election largely involved restraining inflation. The tariffs he imposed on China in his first term were continued by President Joe Biden, a Democrat who even expanded tariffs and restrictions on the world’s second largest economy. Biden administration officials looked at removing Trump’s tariffs in order to bring down inflationary pressures, only to find they were unlikely to help significantly. Tariffs were “so new and unique that it freaked everybody out in 2017,” said Stumo, but they were ultimately somewhat modest. Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines at the start of 2018, moves that might have pushed up prices in those sectors even though they also overlapped with plans to open washing machine plants in Tennessee and South Carolina. His administration also levied tariffs on steel and aluminum, including against allies. He then increased tariffs on China, leading to a trade conflict and a limited 2020 agreement that failed to produce the promised Chinese purchases of U.S. goods. Still, the dispute changed relations with China as more U.S. companies looked for alternative suppliers in other countries. Economic research also found the United States may have sacrificed some of its “soft power” as the Chinese population began to watch fewer American movies. The Federal Reserve kept inflation roughly on target, but factory construction spending never jumped in a way that suggested a lasting gain in manufacturing jobs. Separate economic research found the tariff war with China did nothing economically for the communities hurt by offshoring, but it did help Trump and Republicans in those communities politically. When Trump first became president in 2017, the federal government collected $34.6 billion in customs, duties and fees. That sum more than doubled under Trump to $70.8 billion in 2019, according to Office of Management and Budget records. While that sum might seem meaningful, it was relatively small compared to the overall economy. America’s gross domestic product is now $29.3 trillion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The total tariffs collected in the United States would equal less than 0.3% of GDP. The new tariffs being floated by Trump now are dramatically larger and there could be far more significant impacts. If Mexico, Canada, and China faced the additional tariffs proposed by Trump on all goods imported to the United States, that could be roughly equal to $266 billion in tax collections, a number that does not assume any disruptions in trade or retaliatory moves by other countries. The cost of those taxes would likely be borne by U.S. families, importers and domestic and foreign companies in the form of higher prices or lower profits. Former Biden administration officials said they worried that companies could piggyback on Trump’s tariffs — if they’re imposed — as a rationale to raise their prices, just as many companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 boosted food and energy costs and gave several major companies the space to raise prices, according to their own earnings calls with investors. But what Trump didn’t really spell out is what might cause him to back down on tariffs and declare a victory. What he is creating instead with his tariff threats is a sense of uncertainty as companies and countries await the details to figure out what all of this could mean. “We know the key economic policy priorities of the incoming Trump administration, but we don’t know how or when they will be addressed,” said Greg Daco, chief U.S. economist at EY-Parthenon. AP writer Mark Stevenson contributed to this report from Mexico City.By JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump loved to use tariffs on foreign goods during his first presidency. But their impact was barely noticeable in the overall economy, even if their aftershocks were clear in specific industries. The data show they never fully delivered on his promised factory jobs. Nor did they provoke the avalanche of inflation that critics feared. This time, though, his tariff threats might be different . The president-elect is talking about going much bigger — on a potential scale that creates more uncertainty about whether he’ll do what he says and what the consequences could be. “There’s going to be a lot more tariffs, I mean, he’s pretty clear,” said Michael Stumo, the CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group that has supported import taxes to help domestic manufacturing. The president-elect posted on social media Monday that on his first day in office he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada until those countries satisfactorily stop illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his initial term. Chinese imports would face additional tariffs of 10% until Beijing cracks down on the production of materials used in making fentanyl, Trump posted. Business groups were quick to warn about rapidly escalating inflation , while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would counter the move with tariffs on U.S. products. House Democrats put together legislation to strip a president’s ability to unilaterally apply tariffs this drastic, warning that they would likely lead to higher prices for autos, shoes, housing and groceries. Sheinbaum said Wednesday that her administration is already working up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs “if the situation comes to that.” “The economy department is preparing it,” Sheinbaum said. “If there are tariffs, Mexico would increase tariffs, it is a technical task about what would also benefit Mexico,” she said, suggesting her country would impose targeted import duties on U.S. goods in sensitive areas. House Democrats on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for a president to impose tariffs due to claims of a national emergency, a largely symbolic action given Republicans’ coming control of both the House and Senate. “This legislation would enable Congress to limit this sweeping emergency authority and put in place the necessary Congressional oversight before any president – Democrat or Republican – could indiscriminately raise costs on the American people through tariffs,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. But for Trump, tariffs are now a tested tool that seems less politically controversial even if the mandate he received in November’s election largely involved restraining inflation. The tariffs he imposed on China in his first term were continued by President Joe Biden, a Democrat who even expanded tariffs and restrictions on the world’s second largest economy. Biden administration officials looked at removing Trump’s tariffs in order to bring down inflationary pressures, only to find they were unlikely to help significantly. Tariffs were “so new and unique that it freaked everybody out in 2017,” said Stumo, but they were ultimately somewhat modest. Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines at the start of 2018, moves that might have pushed up prices in those sectors even though they also overlapped with plans to open washing machine plants in Tennessee and South Carolina. His administration also levied tariffs on steel and aluminum, including against allies. He then increased tariffs on China, leading to a trade conflict and a limited 2020 agreement that failed to produce the promised Chinese purchases of U.S. goods. Still, the dispute changed relations with China as more U.S. companies looked for alternative suppliers in other countries. Economic research also found the United States may have sacrificed some of its “soft power” as the Chinese population began to watch fewer American movies. The Federal Reserve kept inflation roughly on target, but factory construction spending never jumped in a way that suggested a lasting gain in manufacturing jobs. Separate economic research found the tariff war with China did nothing economically for the communities hurt by offshoring, but it did help Trump and Republicans in those communities politically. When Trump first became president in 2017, the federal government collected $34.6 billion in customs, duties and fees. That sum more than doubled under Trump to $70.8 billion in 2019, according to Office of Management and Budget records. While that sum might seem meaningful, it was relatively small compared to the overall economy. America’s gross domestic product is now $29.3 trillion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The total tariffs collected in the United States would equal less than 0.3% of GDP. The new tariffs being floated by Trump now are dramatically larger and there could be far more significant impacts. If Mexico, Canada, and China faced the additional tariffs proposed by Trump on all goods imported to the United States, that could be roughly equal to $266 billion in tax collections, a number that does not assume any disruptions in trade or retaliatory moves by other countries. The cost of those taxes would likely be borne by U.S. families, importers and domestic and foreign companies in the form of higher prices or lower profits. Former Biden administration officials said they worried that companies could piggyback on Trump’s tariffs — if they’re imposed — as a rationale to raise their prices, just as many companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 boosted food and energy costs and gave several major companies the space to raise prices, according to their own earnings calls with investors. But what Trump didn’t really spell out is what might cause him to back down on tariffs and declare a victory. What he is creating instead with his tariff threats is a sense of uncertainty as companies and countries await the details to figure out what all of this could mean. “We know the key economic policy priorities of the incoming Trump administration, but we don’t know how or when they will be addressed,” said Greg Daco, chief U.S. economist at EY-Parthenon. AP writer Mark Stevenson contributed to this report from Mexico City.49ers QB Brock Purdy remains severely limited by injury to his throwing shoulder
Of the many things I admire, near the top would be the art of the witty insult or the elegant put-down. It takes restraint, imagination and a certain clever bent of mind. We’re not all capable of it but those who are I would call special. After all, repartee is not easy. To do it stylishly requires effort and skill. So, as the year ends and we prepare for the next, let me share a few gems. Now some of the best put-downs are attributed to Churchill vis-à-vis Lady Astor and George Bernard Shaw. But they’re too well-known to bear repetition. Let me, instead, choose others as searing but less familiar. First, the put-the-famous-in-their-place comment. Noel Coward once met Edna Ferber at the Algonquin Hotel in New York. “Miss Ferber, you look almost like a man.” She promptly shot back: “And so do you, Mr Coward.” Whilst Howard Hughes thus described Clark Gable: “His ears make him look like a taxi cab with both doors open.” And David Susskind had this to say of Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra: “Overweight, overbosomed, overpaid and under-talented, she set the acting profession back a decade.” My favourite is the scorching reply when you don’t want to accept an invitation. Invited by David Frost to dinner, Peter Cook responded: “Hang on, I’ll just check my diary... oh dear, I find I’m watching television that night.” And this is what David Niven said when Errol Flynn stood him up yet again: “You can count on Errol Flynn. He’ll always let you down.” Of course, there’s nothing like being rude with such panache that your target will probably end up smiling. Heinrich Heine, the poet, said: “I bequeath all my property to my wife on condition that she re-marry immediately. Then there will be at least one man to regret my death.” Or Disraeli on his great political rival Gladstone: “The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity.” Again, my favourite is the most succinct one. “How can they tell?” asked Dorothy Parker on being told US President Calvin Coolidge was dead. In fact, Parker’s wit could be excruciatingly sharp. Of the famous actress Katharine Hepburn, she hissed: “She ran the gamut of human emotions all the way from A to B.” Put-downs are often not about individuals but general comments about countries or about life itself. Jeremy Clarkson once said: “Life is never so bad that Germany is better.” Isaac Asimov commented on the sort of people who irritate all of us: “People who go around claiming they know everything are very annoying for those of us who do.” WH Auden said of academics: “A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep.” Whilst Nancy Astor thus pronounced on marriage: “I married beneath me – all women do.” Women, for some reason, have often been the subject — not just victims — of put-downs. “Being a woman is a terribly difficult trade since it consists principally of dealings with men,” said Joseph Conrad, who wrote Heart of Darkness . The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche claimed, “Woman was God’s second mistake.” The first was Adam. And JB Priestley, I presume a misogynist, maintained that “Marriage is a long, dull meal with pudding as the first course.” I wonder how many of you agree? Amongst the most piercing are the put-downs authors use for their rivals. William Faulkner, who didn’t like Ernest Hemingway, said this of him: “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” In turn, Hemingway riposted: “Does he really think big emotions come from big words?” I’ll leave you with a put-down we could all profitably use, though remember Churchill said it first of Attlee: “A modest man with much to be modest about.” Incidentally, this sort makes the best friends. Happy New Year. Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story.The views expressed are personalPolice appeared to use pepper spray while trying to break up a wild postgame brawl between Ohio State and Michigan . The Fox Sports broadcast caught Wolverines Tavierre Dunlap and Jason Hewlett on the sideline with tearing eyes after apparently being pepper sprayed by police officers on the field. Multiple reports said pepper spray was used to de-escalate the skirmish after the Wolverines’ 13-10 upset of the No. 2 Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. Other footage showed Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham seemingly getting pepper sprayed amid the chaos. A third angle shows a police officer pepper-spraying a group of Ohio State players as they try to break up the skirmish. Sports Illustrated senior writer Pat Forde said he was caught in the crossfire. “Just got secondhand pepper sprayed,” Forde wrote on X . The brawl broke out moments after Michigan upset Ohio State as Wolverines players tried to plant their flag on the Buckeye’s logo at midfield. “I don’t know all the details of it, but I know these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren’t not gonna let that happen,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after the game. “I’ll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field. We certainly were embarrassed of the fact that we lost the game, but there’s some prideful guys on this team that weren’t just gonna let that happen.” Multiple players could be seen going at it as security, police and team staff tried to separate them. “For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game,” Michigan running back Kalel Mullings said. “That’s just bad for the sport, bad for college football. But at the end of the day, some people gotta learn how to lose. “You can’t be fighting and stuff just because you lost a game. All that fighting, we had 60 minutes, we had four quarters to do all that fighting. And now people want to talk and fight, that’s wrong. It’s just bad for the game. Classless, in my opinion. People gotta better.” The ugly scene went on for several minutes before tempers calmed. “Unnecessary gesture by the Wolverines,” Fox play-by-play man Gus Johnson said. “They won the game, no need to be disrespectful.”
FARGO — True freshman Jackson Williams delivered a second-quarter lightning bolt that got No. 2-seeded North Dakota State rolling Saturday at the Fargodome. With the Bison facing a two-touchdown deficit, Williams returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score. That big play sparked a 51-31 victory against No. 15-seeded Abilene Christian in the second round of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs before 10,373 fans. The Bison (11-2) advanced to the FCS quarterfinals and are slated to host No. 7-seeded Mercer next weekend. NDSU improved to 36-1 in the Fargodome during the FCS playoffs. Abilene Christian built a 14-point lead at Gate City Bank Field before Williams' kickoff return started a string of 31 unanswered NDSU points. Bison quarterback Cam Miller completed 20 of 29 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. The Bison defense started the second half with a momentum-building play. Junior linebacker Logan Kopp had a strip sack and then returned the fumble to the ACU 28-yard line with 12 minutes, 12 seconds to play in the third quarter. Moments later, Miller scored on a 1-yard TD run for a 27-17 lead with 10:38 remaining in the third. The Bison scored the final 17 points of the opening half and that surge continued after halftime. Bison running back TK Marshall caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Miller for a 34-17 lead with 6:08 remaining in the third quarter to end the run of 31 unanswered points. That capped a 60-yard drive in four plays. Abilene Christian running back Sam Hicks countered with a 3-yard TD run to cut the Bison lead to 34-24 with 3:23 to play in the third quarter and slow the NDSU momentum. Bison receiver Bryce Lance countered with a 36-yard TD catch for a 41-24 lead with 40 seconds to play in the third quarter. NDSU scored 21 points in the third quarter to build a double-digit cushion. ACU didn't relent. Running back Rovaughn Banks scored on a 2-yard TD run to cut the NDSU lead to 41-31 with 11:11 to play in the fourth quarter. Bison linebacker Marcus Gulley intercepted a pass he returned to the ACU 9-yard line. That set up a Griffin Crosa 23-yard field goal for a 44-31 lead with 3:34 remaining. Kopp slammed the door with a 31-yard interception return for a TD and a 51-31 lead with 3:24 to play in the fourth quarter. The Bison scored first. Crosa hit a 22-yard field goal to give the Bison a 3-0 lead with 8:52 remaining in the first quarter. NDSU had a first-and-goal at the ACU 6-yard line before the game's opening drive eventually stalled. The 72-yard drive took 12 plays. ACU answered with the next 17 points. J.J. Henry caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to give Abilene Christian a 7-3 lead with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter. The drive covered 75 yards in 12 plays. Hicks added a 90-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 14-3 lead on the final play of the first quarter. ACU had 170 yards on 13 plays in the opening 15 minutes. Ritse Vaes hit a 29-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 17-3 lead with 10:35 to play in the first half. That came after a Kaghen Roach interception gave the Wildcats the ball at the NDSU 13-yard line. Moments later, the 5-foot-11, 177-pound Williams delivered his 100-yard kickoff return for a TD to trim the ACU lead to 17-10 with 10:24 remaining in the second quarter. Crosa hit a 37-yard field goal to cut the ACU lead to 17-13 with 5:58 remaining in the first half. RaJa Nelson caught a 6-yard TD pass to give the Bison a 20-17 lead with 21 seconds to play in the second quarter. That capped a 66-yard drive in nine plays.
BRUSSELS: EU rules requiring all new smartphones, tablets and cameras to use the same charger came into force on Saturday, in a change Brussels said will cut costs and waste. Manufacturers are now obliged to fit devices sold in the 27-nation bloc with a USB-C, the port chosen by the European Union as the common standard for charging electronic tools. “Starting today, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, speakers, keyboards and many other electronics sold in the EU will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port,” the EU Parliament wrote on social media X. The EU has said the single charger rule will simplify the life of Europeans and slash costs for consumers. By allowing consumers to purchase a new device without a new charger, it will also reduce the mountain of obsolete chargers, the bloc has argued. The law was first approved in 2022 following a tussle with US tech giant Apple. It allowed companies until December 28 this year to adapt. Makers of laptops will have extra time, from early 2026, to also follow suit. Most devices already use these cables, but Apple was more than a little reluctant. The firm said in 2021 that such regulation “stifles innovation”, but by September last year it had begun shipping phones with the new port. Makers of electronic consumer items in Europe had agreed on a single charging norm from dozens on the market a decade ago under a voluntary agreement with the European Commission. But Apple, the world’s biggest seller of smartphones, refused to abide by it and ditch its Lightning ports. Other manufacturers kept their alternative cables going, meaning there were about half a dozen types knocking around, creating a jumble of cables for consumers. USB-C ports can charge at up to 100 Watts, transfer data up to 40 gigabits per second, and can serve to hook up to external displays. At the time of its approval, the commission said the law was expected to save at least 200 million euros ($208 million) pr year and cut more than a thousand tons of EU electronic waste every year. “It’s time for THE charger,” the European Commission wrote on X on Saturday. “It means better-charging technology, reduced e-waste, and less fuss to find the chargers you need.” – AFPSANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy threw one short pass in the open portion of practice for the San Francisco 49ers as he remains slowed by an injury to his throwing shoulder that has already forced him to miss a game. Purdy spent the bulk of the session of Wednesday's practice open to reporters as either a spectator or executing handoffs outside of one short pass to Jordan Mason. Purdy hurt his shoulder during a loss to Seattle on Nov. 17. He tried to throw at practice last Thursday but had soreness in his right shoulder and shut it down. He missed a loss to Green Bay but was able to do some light throwing on Monday. His status for this week remains in doubt as the Niners (5-6) prepare to visit Buffalo on Sunday night. Purdy isn't the only key player for San Francisco dealing with injuries. Left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Nick Bosa remain sidelined at practice Wednesday after missing last week's game. Williams was using a scooter to get around the locker room as he deals with a left ankle injury. Bosa has been out with injuries to his left hip and oblique. Bosa said the week off helped him make progress and that he hopes to be able to take part in individual drills later in the week. Bosa wouldn't rule out being able to play on Sunday. "It’s feeling a lot better,” Bosa said. “Still need to get better before I’m ready to go. This week will be big and I’ll know a lot more in the next couple of days.” Running back Christian McCaffrey has been able to play, but isn't back to the form that helped him win AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 after missing the first eight games this season with Achilles tendinitis. McCaffrey has 149 yards rushing in three games back with his 3.5 yards per carry down significantly from last season's mark of 5.4. But he is confident he will be able to get back to his usual level of play. “When you lose and maybe you don’t jump out on the stat sheet, your failures are highlighted,” he said. “I’m happy I’m out here playing football and I just know with time it will come.” Coach Kyle Shanahan said he has liked what he has seen from McCaffrey, adding that there hasn't been much room to run in recent weeks. But Shanahan said it takes time to get back to speed after McCaffrey had almost no practice time for nine months. “Guys who miss offseasons and miss training camp, usually it takes them a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to get back into how they were the year before, let alone missing half the season also on top of that,” Shanahan said. “I think Christian’s doing a hell of a job. But to just think him coming back in Week 8 with not being able to do anything for the last nine months or whatever it is, and to think he’s just going to be in MVP form is a very unrealistic expectation.” NOTES: LB Dre Greenlaw took part in his first practice since tearing his Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl. Greenlaw will likely need a couple of weeks of practice before being able to play. ... LB Fred Warner said he has been dealing with a fracture in his ankle since Week 4 and is doing his best to manage the pain as he plays through it. ... CB Deommodore Lenoir didn't practice after banging knees on Sunday. His status for this week remains in question. ... DT Jordan Elliott (concussion), OL Aaron Banks (concussion) and LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee) also didn't practice. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Josh Dubow, The Associated Press
Eddie Howe says ‘a lot more to come’ from Newcastle striker Alexander IsakAP News Summary at 3:02 p.m. EST