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Julen Lopetegui facing sack after Leicester collapse as West Ham draw up three-man shortlist led by ex-Chelsea bossATLANTA -- Georgia quarterback Carson Beck will not return after he was hit on his throwing hand on the final play of an ugly first half Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship game against Texas. Beck was hit by outside linebacker Trey Moore, forcing a fumble recovered by Anthony Hill Jr., who then lost the ball on an errant attempt to extend the play with a lateral as time expired. Beck was one of the last players to return to the field following halftime. He was holding his helmet but did not warm up remained on the sideline as backup Gunner Stockton led the offense to its first touchdown on the Bulldogs' first drive of the second half. Georgia coach Kirby Smart told ESPN Beck would not return to the game and said he had no details on the hand injury. Beck had the right arm wrapped in ice on the Georgia bench. No. 2 Texas outgained No. 5 Georgia 260-54 but led only 6-3 at halftime. The Bulldogs netted minus-2 yards rushing and Beck completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Sam Darnold sensed the backside pressure as soon as he dropped back with Minnesota trailing by four points late in the fourth quarter in Seattle, so he moved into a safe space in the pocket and did precisely what the Vikings would prefer him to do with the game on the line. He threw the ball down the field to Justin Jefferson. The perfectly placed throw near the sideline beat double coverage for a 39-yard touchdown that put the Vikings back in front with 3:51 remaining in a 27-24 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday. “It was a great call,” said Jefferson, who had 10 receptions for 144 yards and two scores, all season highs. “I’m not going to say too much about that play, but something went on where me and Sam were on the same page, and he found me and we went up.” The Vikings were understandably coy about the context around the go-ahead touchdown , when Darnold made a difficult on-the-run pass just over cornerback Tariq Woolen that Jefferson deftly twisted to catch next to his backside hip so he could shield the ball from late-breaking safety Julian Love. Darnold saw Love's shoulders initially shaded inside just enough to believe he couldn't retreat fast enough to prevent Jefferson from getting the ball. Jefferson also applied some improvisation to his route that Darnold clearly and properly read during the play. “I want those guys to have some freedom in those moments,” coach Kevin O'Connell said. “We do a lot of things with Justin and Sam, seeing the coverage and then with some route opportunities to get to at the line of scrimmage, and I think those guys have just gotten so comfortable with that stuff.” Darnold's long-delayed breakout performance under O'Connell has been one of the stories of the NFL this season, one that wouldn't have unfolded as neatly for the third overall pick in the 2018 draft without such synergy between him and his superstar wide receiver. If the Vikings (13-2) win their last two games, they will not only be NFC North champions for the second time in three years but also get the No. 1 seed and the lone first-round bye in the NFC for the playoffs. “Every single game we’re finding different ways to overcome adversity, overcome the different stuff defenses have thrown towards us," Jefferson said. “Sam has done a great job being a leader.” The pass rush was strong, with Andrew Van Ginkel recording two sacks and pressure leading to both interceptions of Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. The Vikings were credited with eight hits on Smith. The Vikings converted only three of 12 third downs, their second-worst rate of the season. Theo Jackson, who saw significant playing time at safety with Harrison Smith out, had the game-sealing interception with 49 seconds left. Tight end Josh Oliver has played 47% of the snaps the last two games, his two lowest usage rates of the season. He dropped the only pass he was thrown on Sunday. The defense ought to get a big boost this week with the expected return of the 13-year veteran Smith from his first absence in two years when he was sidelined at Seattle with a foot injury. Linebacker Ivan Pace, who has missed four games on injured reserve with a hamstring strain, is also on track to be back with his return to practice. Backup defensive lineman Jalen Redmond, who didn't play against the Seahawks because of a concussion, has made progress through the protocol, O'Connell said. Backup cornerback Fabian Moreau, who was inactive at Seattle with a hip injury, will continue to be evaluated throughout the week. 13.6% — That's the third-down conversion allowance rate for the Vikings over the last two games, with Chicago and Seattle combining to go just 3 for 22. The Vikings rank second in the NFL in third-down defense at 33.7% for the season and also rank second on fourth down at 36.7%. The Vikings host Green Bay on Sunday, with the kickoff moved to the late afternoon showcase spot on Fox. If Minnesota loses to the Packers, the Lions will clinch the NFC North and the Vikings would open the playoffs on the road as the No. 5 seed at best. Even if the Lions were to lose at San Francisco on Monday night, the Vikings would need to win at Detroit on Jan. 5 to take the division title. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
The good news — New vehicle CO2 emissions and fuel economy have improved significantly over the past 50 years. In fact, cars have become twice as powerful and fuel efficient—proving that progress isn’t a trade-off. The charts below are interactive so be sure to hover over data points to reveal specific values for each year. Since 1975, vehicle miles per gallon in the United States has improved from 13.1 mpg to 27.1 mpg in 2023. Manufacturers are applying a wide array of electrification technologies . Innovation in the automobile industry has led to a wide array of technologies available to manufacturers to achieve CO2 emissions, fuel economy, and performance goals. Figure ES-2 illustrates manufacturer-specific model year 2023 usage rates for technologies that represent increasing levels of vehicle electrification, as well as the recent adoption trends of those technologies across the industry. The technologies in Figure ES-2 are utilized by manufacturers, in part, to reduce CO2 emissions and increase fuel economy. It is also clear that manufacturers’ strategies to develop and adopt these technologies are unique and vary significantly. Each manufacturer is choosing technologies that best meet the design requirements of their vehicles. Vehicles that have stop/start systems generally use a larger alternator and enhanced battery, which enables the vehicle to turn off the engine at idle to save fuel. Hybrid vehicles use a battery to recapture braking energy and provide power when necessary, allowing for a smaller, more efficiently operated engine. Hybrids can be separated into smaller “mild” hybrid systems (MHEVs) that provide launch assist but cannot propel the vehicle on their own, and “strong” hybrid systems (HEVs) that can temporarily power the vehicle without engaging the engine. Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) have both a gasoline engine and a battery that can be charged from an external electricity source, and generally operate on electricity until the battery is depleted or cannot meet driving needs. Full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) employ a battery pack that is externally charged and an electric motor ex- clusively for propulsion, and do not have an onboard gasoline engine. In model year 2023, gasoline vehicles with stop/start, mild hybrids, strong hybrids, PHEVs, and BEVs all gained market share and captured their largest market shares on record. The technologies shown in Figure ES-2, along with many others, continue to evolve and impact many aspects of the industry. This trend will likely continue as production of mild hybrids, strong hybrids, PHEVs, and BEVs are expected to grow across the industry in coming years. In model year 2023, compared to model year 2022, the four largest vehicle types continued their trends of reduced CO2 emissions and increased fuel economy. Minivan/vans, which accounted for less than 3% of new vehicle production in model year 2023, had CO2 emissions that were unchanged. Most notable is the 60 g/mi, or 24%, reduction in the average new vehicle real-world CO2 emissions within car SUVs. This improvement in CO2 emissions stems from the influx of BEVs within car SUVs, with BEVs now accounting for 36% of all MY 2023 car SUVs. The car SUV vehicle type now has the lowest average new vehicle CO2 emissions. Since 1975, the market has shifted dramatically away from sedan/wagons and towards truck SUVs and car SUVs. Until recently, the sedan/wagon was the most efficient vehicle type, so the market shifts toward other vehicle types with lower fuel economy and higher CO2 emissions offset some of the fleetwide benefits that otherwise would have been achieved from the improvements within each vehicle type. However, the growth of electric vehicles, particularly within the car SUV vehicle type, is changing the relationship between vehicle types and overall average new vehicle real-world CO2 emissions. Average new vehicle fuel economy, horsepower, weight, and footprint are all increasing. Overall vehicle trends are influenced both by vehicle technology, and by the changes in the distribution of vehicles being produced. For gasoline (and diesel) vehicles, increased weight, size, or horsepower is likely to result in higher CO2 emissions and lower fuel economy, all else being equal. For BEVs, increased weight, size, or horsepower will impact the vehicle’s efficiency (as measured in kilowatt hours per 100 miles or miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent), however BEVs produce zero tailpipe emissions regardless of their weight, size, or horsepower. The growth of BEV production could also impact the fleet’s overall fuel economy, horsepower, and weight trends, as BEVs are on average more efficient, more powerful, and heavier than comparable vehicles. Over the history of this report, there have been three distinct phases, as shown in Figure ES-4. Between 1975 and the early 1980s, average new vehicle fuel economy increased rapidly, while the vehicle weight and horsepower fell. For the next twenty years, average new vehicle weight and horsepower steadily increased, while fuel economy steadily decreased.Bermuda Stock Exchange Report: Dec 6 2024
Scott Saxberg is a hockey guy, a pick-up game grinder whose childhood dream of achieving NHL glory as a player did not pan out, but worked out nonetheless when he and a bunch of Alberta business tycoons bought the Phoenix Coyotes in 2013 for US$225 million. They sold the Coyotes four years later for US$300 million in what at the time was regarded as a financial win. But that is not how Saxberg, who made his money in the oilpatch as co-founder of Calgary-based Crescent Point Energy Corp . (now Veren Inc.), which he left in 2018 with an $18-million severance package, views the transaction. More than the dollars and cents, what itches at him most in hindsight are the bad business bounces that preceded the team’s sale. For example, a new arena on the campus of Arizona State University was proposed, but did not get built under the Albertans’ regime, and then there was the 2015 NHL draft lottery when Connor McDavid became an Edmonton Oiler, not a Coyote. With a dash of luck and a new arena, Saxberg believes he would still be an NHL owner. As it is, he has plenty of money, but not the billionaire sums required to buy into the big leagues these days. “Don’t tell my wife, but I still wish I owned the Coyotes,” he said. “It is every kid’s dream.” But like a good grinder, Saxberg kept digging, and he discovered there are lots of other opportunities and other teams on the lookout for reasonably wealthy individuals who possess a love of sport, an appetite for alternative investments and, importantly, a capacity to write big cheques, such as the one the Calgary oilman scratched off this past July when he plunked down $500,000 to become a minority part-owner of SC Preussen Münster. Never heard of them? It’s a German second division soccer club, whose chief executive, Markus Sass, happens to be a Detroit Red Wings fan, not to mention a fan of North Americans with deep pockets. “I am a hockey guy,” Saxberg said. “The only real insight I have in relation to the soccer team is that you need to score more goals than the other team to win.” For most ordinary folks who are scraping to save enough nickels for some far-off retirement date, the thought of dipping into, say, your registered retirement savings plan to buy into a professional soccer team in Germany, or any team in any league anywhere, is a non-starter. The archetypal sports owner is someone who isn’t like you. Instead, they inhabit the rarefied air of a private box, crammed with a bunch of yes-men and a celebrity or two, all circulating in close proximity to an almighty wealthy individual who owns the team. Some team owners are faceless, soulless, but not clueless corporate entities that are invested in the belief that franchise valuations across the five North American big leagues seem on a skies-the-limit valuation trajectory. Case in point: the Coyotes that the Albertans bought for US$225 million are now the Utah Hockey Club and cost the team’s current owner, technology baron Ryan Smith, US$1.2 billion to acquire. In short, there is a perception of supreme exclusivity attached to sports ownership and there is also money to be made, but what may be surprising is that depending on the club, an investor does not necessarily need to be a billionaire to get in on the game. “There’s a lot of North Americans looking for sports investment opportunities overseas,” Bob Malandro, the founder of Whitecap Sports Group, a Florida-based sports investment banking firm, said. The New Yorker’s elevator pitch is that his firm, which has been around since 2016, buys and sells sports teams and percentages thereof. These deals happen all the time, according to Malandro, and they typically fly beneath the radar and are bound by non-disclosure agreements unless a celebrity is involved and a franchise sees value in making a splashy announcement. His typical client is a high-net-worth individual or family office in the market for an alternative asset to round out their portfolio. “In many cases, there’s a little more risk involved with these types of investments, but there’s certainly more reward — potentially,” he said. “The ideal scenario is the investor has some fun with the asset. You know, they feel like they are involved in the club, even if they’re a small minority stakeholder, and they get to enjoy it on different levels, and not just financially.” Shelling out several hundred thousand dollars for Amazon.com Inc. stock may be a fairly safe bet to make, but tracking the ebbs and flows of the stock market doesn’t quite hold the same appeal as having a few beers while watching your investment drub a hated opponent. Once upon a golden age, Münster, which is majority owned by the community, delivered plenty of thrills to its fans. Founded in 1906, the club stood alongside the glitterati of German soccer and captured the 1951 national championship before gradually sliding into competitive irrelevance. That long narrative of decline has lately shifted to one of renewed hope, both on and off the field, as Münster has played its way up the ranks from Germany’s fourth tier to a place in the second division. The novel twist in a regional feel-good story — given the tradition-governed landscape of German professional sports in which the idea, briefly floated, of auctioning off a slice of soccer’s broadcasting rights to a foreign equity firm sparked national protests — is that a group of 16 North Americans, which includes CEOs, Wall Street wheelers and dealers, a dentist and a former oilman, now own 30 per cent of a second-tier soccer club in a picturesque German university city that 99.9 per cent of their family members had never heard of prior to them making the investment. “Like most good ideas, investing in the club was a plan hatched over a beer in my German cousin’s backyard,” Nick Semaca, a former director of McKinsey and Co. and now part-owner of Münster, said. He retired in his 50s to do what he really wanted to do: buy a minor league baseball team. The Joliet Slammers were a money loser that the 66-year-old turned into a money-maker and recently sold for a “comfortable” return. (The new owners also include funnyman Bill Murray). Semaca turned his attention to German soccer in 2022, and with the help of his German cousin, Ulrich Linnebank, who is a lawyer and a University of Münster alum, they did what due diligence they could prior to him emailing the club’s chief financial officer to discuss the possibility of investing. “Why us?” the CFO replied. The hottest sports properties among North American investors in 2024 have been North American soccer teams generally and women’s sports specifically, according to Malandro. The 2026 World Cup is coming to the continent soon, while the WNBA has Caitlin Clark, a once-in-a-millennium talent, to help sell its game as well as a new franchise in Toronto bankrolled by billionaire Larry Tanenbaum of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment Ltd. fame to look forward to in 2026. But Europe is a different and arguably more attractive beast for those with a little surplus cash. Even soccer clubs that have fallen on hard times have a history that is often reflected in the present day by a strong community connection and a rabidly loyal fan base. For example, Münster’s fans prefer standing at games over sitting. Win or lose, they start singing before kick-off and don’t stop until the final whistle. Contrast Münster to the good old hockey game, where fans rise for the singing of the national anthems, but may or not join in with the scoreboard prompt to kick up a round of Stompin’ Tom’s The Hockey Song. European clubs are also located in, well, Europe, in cities such as Münster, which is a pretty enough spot, but also less than three hours from Amsterdam, a not-insignificant geographic selling point that may resonate more to an investor than buying a piece of a C-list North American expansion soccer team playing in a D-list league in a run-of-the-mill faceless American suburb. Münster plays one step below the Bundesliga, home to global soccer giants such as FC Bayern Munich. Clubs in the second division can wind up competing against the big guns if they play their way up the ladder as well as in league-wide tournaments. However remote, reaching the big leagues is an intoxicating possibility, but that’s not the reason the North Americans bet on Münster. The city of 300,000 is cut through with bike paths; the streets are devoid of litter; the pedestrian-only town square appears pulled from the glossy pages of a travel brochure, with cobblestones underfoot and soaring church steeples towering above; unemployment rates are low and personal incomes are high; and, as self-reported by the locals, people are happier here than the national average. That sunniness shines through in conversation with Markus Sass, Münster football club’s 42-year-old managing director. He loves his soccer, yet, unlike most Germans, the game that hooked him in as a kid was hockey, a passion that stirred a childhood fascination with Canada that he pursued by spending an eight-month stint as a student at Western University in London, Ont. “I became a fan of the Red Wings because I liked the team’s crest so much, but I don’t really have time to follow hockey anymore,” he said. He has been too busy with other things, including becoming a new father and finding North Americans to invest in Münster, an idea he credits Semaca for bringing forward and helping to execute. Following his initial query note to the team’s CFO and the bemused reply, the New Jersey native explained that his interest in the club wasn’t entirely out of left field. His German cousin was also keen to invest and his mother had been born in a nearby town. Being a good McKinsey alum, he had also done some homework before any money changed hands. “People look at sports investments and they will say, ‘Oh, is it your hobby, is it something to do for fun?'” he said. “Look, if I wanted to do something for fun, I could just buy a damn season ticket, OK? And so I look at it as a business, because unless you are from the royal family of Qatar or the Saudi private investment fund, looking at it otherwise just doesn’t make sense, and I would argue if you don’t run a sustainable business, eventually, something bad is going to happen.” His point? There is a lot of potential business on the horizon in Münster. The city is building the team a new, $130-million stadium to replace the relic that is there now and increase the seating capacity to 20,000 from 12,000. The new building will feature premium seats, plenty of standing room for the diehards and tasty grub, and offer advertisers more opportunities to interact with fans, both in-game and digitally, while generating substantially greater revenues than the current building. “Our stadium today is really, really uncozy; it is like an antique,” Sass said. “And this is why we cannot compete budget-wise with clubs with more modern stadiums, because they make, like, five to six million euros more than us just in gate money.” Money is king in German professional soccer since money allows a team to buy better players. There is no salary cap. The higher a team finishes, the greater the payout percentage from broadcasting deals, and the greater the odds that the team’s valuation increases. Münster is currently worth about $20 million. Teams at the top of the second tier have values closer to $90 million. Having a team on the rise, a community-funded stadium coming in 2028, a loyal fan base, 120 years of history, an affluent local population, a major anchor sponsor that is also a major local employer, and a surrounding region where Münster is the only professional soccer game in town — and a cousin nearby to keep an eye on the proverbial store — was enough to sell Semaca on an initial buy-in. He has since upped his ownership stake in the club and started planning more trips to Europe from his Chicago home. “It has been a lot of fun so far,” he said. “None of us have gone in there and been writing million-dollar cheques; it has been more like, ‘Let’s dip a toe in the water, and let’s see what happens with this thing.'” The perks also flow in both directions. Sass said the injection of North American capital was necessary to help modernize the team’s operations, invest in digital infrastructure, recruit best-in-class employees and have some spare cash on hand to spend on players as the team entered its first season of division two play. Along with the money has been the added brainpower the investors bring to the mix. Sass is mid-career, while both Semaca and Saxberg have been there and successfully done that in business and the business of sport. In other words, they know some things, their ideas and input are welcome, and Sass said he is beyond grateful for the mentorship. But the beauty in the arrangement for the Germans is that the ideas, good, bad or otherwise, that the investors float forth can be adopted or completely ignored if they don’t resonate for whatever reason. Under German soccer’s so-called 50 per cent plus one vote rule, a club’s members, a.k.a., the thousands of regulars who pay an annual due of around $200 and elect a board to run the team, which operates as a non-profit with a for-profit business arm, have the final say over any decisions. “Culturally, there have been no issues because no one single investor can come in and change the direction of the club, completely change the club’s identity or relocate it to another city, and all those things that you occasionally see happen in North American sports, that can’t happen here,” Sass said. “People have been very relaxed about the foreign investors coming in because they have no say, but they do bring money, and that’s the best combination possible. It is win, win, win, as long as we can keep our promise and develop the club further.” Malandro enjoys telling the story about what a club’s development can mean for the patient investor. All leagues, even the NFL, were, at some point, startups with no guarantees, he said. He has one client who bought a $250,000 minority stake in a major North American professional sports franchise some 40 years ago or so, when player salaries were more in line with senior executives than with Hollywood movie stars. This client was a fan at heart and enjoyed the perks of going to games for years, celebrating wins and losses alongside other bigwigs, while being in close proximity to professional athletes. Eventually, the client relocated to a warmer clime and stopped going to games, so he called Malandro, who went to the market, found a buyer and came back to the seller to congratulate them on a US$40-million return on their US$250,000 initial investment. “There are myriad reasons why people decide to sell,” he said. “The most common is that they have simply held the asset for quite a while, have enjoyed it to capacity and feel like the time is right to exit, given current market values. Sometimes they relocate and don’t attend games any longer or feel the same connectivity to the team. This could also be impacted by their age, and the fact that they are considering estate planning strategies.” Back in Calgary, Saxberg is more into near-term planning. He is in his early 50s, has three young kids with a fourth on the way at home, and two adult sons from a previous marriage. Having sold the Coyotes and been priced out of the NHL, he enlisted his eldest, Graeme, to help find the next ownership opportunity in sports. The search led to Malandro’s firm and several intriguing possibilities the Saxbergs took a pass on — a Swiss hockey team, a Major League Soccer franchise, a professional pickleball league — before Münster appeared on the radar. Saxberg is an active mentor in the startup space and an investor in an array of small companies. He has staked renewable energy outfits, a design company specializing in health and wellness, an artificial intelligence play in the food-and-beverage industry, a maker of women’s tights and 30-plus other startups, with seed capital funding in amounts ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million. Any one of those investments, and hopefully more than one, could grow up to be big deals, or they could go bust. “We look at Münster almost like a startup,” he said. “The team has just moved up leagues, they are learning how to manage a larger group of investors, and they are well run and they are serious.” Further enhancing the team’s value proposition in Saxberg’s view is the networking possibilities that being an investor affords. He is gregarious, a fan of European business culture and a networker who sees the business of soccer as potentially leading to other business. “The team’s main sponsor is a logistics company with a venture capital arm and they invest in new technologies, so there’s a natural relationship there that, ‘Hey, I can help connect them with companies that I’m mentoring,’ because you just never know.” What Saxberg does know is that a few years down the road, once the kids are a bit older, he wants to move the family to Münster, not full time, but for just enough time for them to gain an enriching experience and for the minority owner to catch a bunch of Münster games in the club’s new stadium, which is preferable to getting up at 5:30 a.m. in Calgary to watch them online as he does now. “I’m learning German; it might take me five years to be able to speak a sentence, but I’m trying,” he said. “I view the investment as a long-term commitment, and the biggest thing for me is meeting and experiencing new people, and, at the end of the day, it is Europe, so what’s not to love?” • Email: joconnor@postmedia.com Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the business news you need to know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here .A young Jimmy Carter was no stranger to gospel music growing up in the small rural town of Plains, Georgia during the ’20s and early ’30’. He heard it sung by Black tenant farmers working on his father’s land. He heard it too during 24-hour gospel sings that occurred every fifth Sunday, where quartets, local and distant gospel groups, different denominations and communities came together to rejoice around prayer, all-day-singing, and a meal. This love of gospel music, along with a deep religiosity, was implanted in Carter’s heart at a young age and stayed with him throughout his lifetime. And you could tell by the way the late president’s face would light up that his connection to not only gospel music, but also rock, folk, country, jazz, and rhythm and blues ran through the deepest parts of his soul. Jimmy Carter’s deep connection to music, especially gospel, was more than just a personal joy — it was a reflection of his broader worldview and presidency. Music served as both solace and strategy, uniting Americans across divides of race, region and politics. Carter used music as a powerful tool to embody and promote his vision of unity, human rights, and healing — a vision that resonates even more poignantly as the nation reflects on his legacy following his death on Sunday at 100. In the late summer of 1979, partway through his third year as president, Jimmy Carter hosted an afternoon of gospel music at the White House. Blankets covered the grass on the South Lawn as over 800 attendees ate fried chicken, potato salad and coleslaw on paper plates. “Gospel music is really rural music from the country. It has both Black and white derivations; it’s not a racial kind of music,” President Carter said to the crowd. “But I think it’s important to recognize that gospel music is derived from deep within the heart of human beings — it’s a music of pain, a music of longing, a music of searching, a music of hope, and a music of faith.” Since he entered hospice care in February 2023, a lot has been shared about his life. The first president to be born in a hospital was a man of many anomalies. He grew up without electricity and running water in the segregated south, yet most of his friends before he left for the Naval Academy in 1943 were African Americans. He was a peanut farmer, a nuclear engineer, a carpenter and a poet whose simple writing illuminated the historical reckoning and soul of America. One of his first official acts as governor of Georgia in 1971 was to refute the segregationist pride of his predecessor Lester Maddox, the former Georgia governor and Democratic populist, by displaying a portrait of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the capitol and by stating “the time for racial discrimination is over.” This surprised many Georgians who voted for Carter. During his presidency, he was a champion for the environment, installing solar panels at the White House. He was a staunch advocate for women’s rights, civil rights and human rights, and was a pivotal figure in the progressive New South movement, looking to modernize social attitudes ingrained in the culture of the Old South. Though arguably one of the most pietistic, genuine and well-intentioned presidents of the 20th century, Carter’s presidency was clouded by challenges, many of which were out of his control. In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. “I would play Willie Nelson music primarily,” Carter said, of the time that he spent alone, in his study, “so I could think about my problems and say a few prayers.” A failed rescue attempt was also a significant blow to his presidency, ultimately stymieing his reelection. Fuel shortages created high oil prices. Carter struggled to effectively address high inflation, high unemployment and slow economic growth that came to be known as “stagflation.” Also, the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan marked a setback in the Cold War. “Music was a way Carter could insulate himself from the political noise,” says Iwan Morgan, emeritus professor of U.S. Studies at University College London. Morgan was in the United States, doing an exchange teaching job from August 1979 to September 1980 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He recalled that the hostages were the most fundamental thing on people’s minds ultimately blighting the final years of Carter’s presidency. “Music was a way of touching the soul, probably the closest man has to do that. And music was a comfort for Carter,” Morgan says. “I’m not saying it helped him make good decisions. By any standard the attempted rescue of the Iranian hostages was a longshot highly likely to end in failure and gave Carter no real chance thereafter of negotiating the release of the hostages.” Chuck Leavell, the keyboardist for the Allman Brothers Band during the band’s rise to fame in the 1970s, came to know Jimmy Carter when he was governor of Georgia. They’d been friends ever since. Leavell would visit the Carters in Plains or Jimmy and Rosalyn would visit Leavell’s homeplace at the Charlane Woodlands and Preserve in Dry Branch, Georgia for hunting trips. Carter would always ask Leavell to play something on the piano. “I played ‘Georgia on My Mind’ for him and probably did the Allman Brothers song ‘Statesboro Blues’,” Leavell told me. “And again, just, you know, the smile that would get on his face and his eyes would light up. And, you know, it’s not like he was jumping around and dancing. Don’t get me wrong. You know, he wasn’t that kind of guy. He didn’t react in that way, but he was listening, always listening intently. You could just see it. And, you know, even though he didn’t play an instrument himself, I think he had something in his DNA that felt the music, not only heard it, but felt it.” Carter wasn’t initially well-known outside of Georgia, and an endorsement from the Allman Brothers Band in 1975, some three months before the Iowa caucuses, helped increase his candidacy, particularly among young Americans. There was a feeling at the time that young people were in charge. 1972 was the first year that 18-to-21-year-olds could cast a ballot, making the youth vote more important than ever before. So Carter both naturally and strategically aligned himself with musicians to give him a crucial boost during the Democratic primaries. A major strategy for Carter’s presidential campaign was to put on concerts on the campaign trail. It started with the Marshall Tucker Band headlining a concert at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on Oct. 31, 1975, then the Allman Brothers Band on Nov. 25 at Providence Civic Center in Providence Rhode Island, and Charlie Daniels at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on Jan. 14, 1976. Jimmy Buffett put on a benefit for Carter in Portland, Oregon. These concerts not only brought notoriety to the Carter campaign, they also brought in a lot of money that could be matched by the federal government. “Musicians don’t always feel safe with somebody except other musicians,” says Chris Farrell, lead producer of the documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” “His authenticity definitely played a great role in his ability to connect with musicians.” The music of change at that time was rock and roll. When Gregg Allman was arrested for trying to acquire pharmaceutical grade cocaine, and testified to get out of serving a prison sentence, Jimmy never turned on Allman. He could have said, “this is too big of a risk for me” and ended his association with the Allman Brothers. “But he didn’t judge people,” Farrell says. “He just cared about who you were as an individual and that’s very spiritual in a very Christian sort of view of the world. And I think that carried over into politics; he didn’t care if you were a Republican or a Democrat. If you’re trying to do the right thing, then why can’t we all do this together? So I think it was not political expediency or effectiveness or, you know, a gimmick. I think that’s just who he was.” Carter won the presidency in 1976, and was inaugurated in 1977. The cowboy-Western film star John Wayne spoke at the inaugural ball. As a conservative, he still wished Carter well. Paul Simon sang. So did Charlie Daniels. Aretha Franklin sang “God Bless America.” Coming out of Watergate, there was a sense too that America needed to heal together. Through music, but also through unifying Republicans and Democrats alike. “John Wayne worked with President Carter to give the Panama Canal back to the Panamanian people,” says Mary Wharton, director of “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” “It’s that old line about people who forget about history are doomed to repeat it. And unfortunately, we’re repeating the things in history that we didn’t pay attention to.” When he was president, dozens of musicians came to the White House for themed music nights. In April, 1978 Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, and Conway Twitty were invited to an evening devoted to celebrating country music. Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, George Benson, Ron Carter and Tony Williams played a jazz event. It was an honor for Carter to bring jazz musicians who hadn’t been recognized by the government to the White House. He used music as a way for people to see a common humanity among different races, religions and cultural backgrounds. He felt jazz helped break down the racial divide in the country. Cecil Taylor, Chick Correa — their presence wasn’t just for performance. Their inclusion was a statement against racial prejudice, a reminder of music’s potential to dissolve barriers. Carter felt deeply that jazz and country music represented America. Carter also used music to entertain and educate members of Congress. He held a Nascar event, where country singer Willie Nelson performed on the South Lawn. It’s as if Carter used music as a reflective mindfulness practice, decades before the mainstream was aware of what mindfulness is. The Carter administration never dropped a bomb, fired a missile or shot a bullet to kill another person. After his presidency, the Carter Center helped eradicate Guinea worm disease. For 35 years, he spent at least a week every year building houses for Habitat for Humanity. In the days and weeks to come, I imagine a revisionist history about Carter’s presidency will begin to unravel. This began in 2020, with the release of the documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President,” and will continue, especially now during a time where the world seems more divided than ever. Carter was a president with a lot of faith and a lot of soul. He cried when thinking of his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn. The man was calculated and believed in the power of music. Scholars and historians will remember that Carter wanted to represent America’s value system by making human rights the center of his foreign policy. He helped broker the Camp David Accords, a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, marking the first time an Arab country recognized Israel. When I remember Carter, I will think of a man listening to the painful ballads of Willie Nelson when trying to be mindful and make sense of complex problems. I will also think of Jan Williams, the pianist at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. “Carter said he couldn’t sing,” she told me. “But I liked his voice.” The late president first attended Maranatha Baptist Church in 1981 and started teaching Sunday School there until 2015. “His favorite song was always ‘When I Get To Heaven’,” Williams says, thinking of Jimmy reunited with his Rosalynn again.
NexOptic Technology Corp. ( CVE:NXO – Get Free Report )’s share price was down 20% on Friday . The company traded as low as C$0.02 and last traded at C$0.02. Approximately 480,200 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 387% from the average daily volume of 98,644 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.03. NexOptic Technology Stock Down 20.0 % The company has a quick ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 56.33. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.90 million, a P/E ratio of -1.00 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$0.03 and a 200-day moving average price of C$0.02. NexOptic Technology Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) NexOptic Technology Corp., a technology company, develops artificial intelligence and imaging products. It engages in developing All Light Intelligent Imaging Solutions (ALIIS), a suite of intelligent imaging solution that processes raw images and video in real time; and NexCompress technological solutions. See Also Receive News & Ratings for NexOptic Technology Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NexOptic Technology and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .To buy or not to buy airline stocks in 2025? It's a good question because, at the time of writing, shares in premier airlines United Airlines ( UAL -1.21% ) and Delta Air Lines ( DAL -1.83% ) were up by 145% and 55%, respectively, in 2024. Such remarkable performances are seldom repeated the following year, yet United trades at 8.1 times earnings estimates for 2025, and Delta at 8.4 times. Let's look closer at United and what investors might expect from the airline in 2025. Why United Airlines outperformed in 2024 The share price charts of United and Delta might surprise investors. They tracked each other until the summer, but United outperformed from then onward. Understanding the reasons helps shed light on the current operational momentum behind the stock. There are two reasons for their stock performance. First, United was relatively less impacted than Delta by the CrowdStrike software update issue, which caused significant flight disruptions in the summer. Second, and arguably much more importantly from a long-term perspective, United benefited more from the airline industry 's rational decision to remove unprofitable capacity in the summer. It's a point acknowledged by United CEO Scott Kirby on the last earnings call when he noted that "United's domestic capacity in 2024 was shaped with the expectation that the industry would remove unprofitable capacity in earnest in Q4." Kirby explained that this conscious decision meant United "expanded slower than most during the first three quarters of the year when capacity dynamics were less favorable." Still, industry conditions are now favorable as both United and Delta management have confirmed that excess capacity was taken out of the market during the summer. As such, United's stock outperformed as it had more upside exposure to the airline industry, the company having acted more disciplined. If this behavior continues, investors have reason to believe that the airline industry's periodic boom-and-bust cycles might not be as frequent or dramatic as in the past. DAL data by YCharts A structural shift in 2025 Building on the last point, it's fair to say that airline stocks are priced as if a bust could be imminent. The table below uses the Wall Street analyst consensus estimates, which say the stock is cheap. However, the estimates don't tell you how concerned investors are that United and the others might not meet these expectations. Airline P/E 2024 (est) EPS Growth in 2025 (est) P/E 2025 (est) United Airlines 9.6 20.4% 8.1 Delta Air Lines 10.3 22.6% 8.4 American Airlines 10.4 36.9% 7.6 Data source: Wall Street estimates. Analysis by author.. That said, three factors point to United having an excellent 2025 and confirm Kirby's assertion that United has excellent momentum going into the year. First, management sees the higher-margin corporate traveler returning, and United's chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella sees corporate growth accelerating in the first quarter. Similarly, 85% of respondents to a Delta corporate survey said they expect increased spending on travel in 2025. Second, the two most widely followed airline industry metrics, revenue per available seat mile (RASM) and cost per available seat mile excluding fuel (CASM-ex) are moving in the right direction. While total RASM was down 1.6% in the third quarter year over year, management outlined that it passed an inflection point in the quarter. The momentum improving in the third quarter will likely build into the fourth quarter of 2024, and the pricing environment is improving. Meanwhile, United's CASM-ex will "decline into the fourth quarter and to decline further into 2025," according to CFO Michael Leskinen. Finally, the industry dynamics of more disciplined behavior (discussed above) and the financial and competitive pressures on low-cost carriers (United has been particularly successful in its basic economy offering) like Spirit Airlines mean the pricing and competitive environment are improving for United Airlines. A stock to buy for 2025 Everything points to United having another strong operational year in 2025, which will likely be reflected in its share price performance. If the economy behaves and consumer spending is supported by growing corporate spending, then United Airlines is positioned to have another great year.
An HBO exec has revealed new details about when you can expect some of your favorite shows to return to the network! The White Lotus and Euphoria are two of the highly-anticipated hit shows that fans can’t wait to return while the Game of Thrones prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has fans wondering what else we’ll learn about that world. So, when will they all premiere? Keep reading to find out more... Warner Bros. Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette dished some details during a tech and media conference hosted by Wells Fargo on Tuesday (December 3), according to Variety . The White Lotus season three will premiere in February. The Last of Us season two is expected to premiere in spring 2025. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will launch in late 2025. Euphoria season three is expected to debut in 2026. The Harry Potter TV series has been pushed from 2026 to 2027. “As you look at ’26 and into ’27, you begin a 10-year journey on the ‘Harry Potter’ series, which we’re super excited about. And I’d argue, may be the biggest event by the time we get to that series,” Perrette said. See all the shows canceled and renewed by HBO and Max in 2024.
Porter shot 9 for 12 (4 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Blue Raiders (5-1). Essam Mostafa scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds. Kamari Lands shot 6 for 12, including 4 for 8 from beyond the arc to finish with 17 points. The Bulls (3-3) were led in scoring by Jayden Reid, who finished with 18 points, four assists and three steals. Jamille Reynolds added 17 points and nine rebounds for South Florida. Kasen Jennings finished with 13 points. Middle Tennessee led 51-33 at halftime, with Porter racking up 14 points. Mostafa led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .The TOI Entertainment Desk is a dynamic and dedicated team of journalists, working tirelessly to bring the pulse of the entertainment world straight to the readers of The Times of India. No red carpet goes unrolled, no stage goes dark - our team spans the globe, bringing you the latest scoops and insider insights from Bollywood to Hollywood, and every entertainment hotspot in between. We don't just report; we tell tales of stardom and stories untold. Whether it's the rise of a new sensation or the seasoned journey of an industry veteran, the TOI Entertainment Desk is your front-row seat to the fascinating narratives that shape the entertainment landscape. Beyond the breaking news, we present a celebration of culture. We explore the intersections of entertainment with society, politics, and everyday life. Read More Shriya Saran stuns in a stunning display of ethnic wear How to make Kashmiri-style Methi Mutton at home 8 plant milks and how to consume them Shriya Pilgaonkar's stunning look commands all eyes Remembering RJ Simran Singh: The girl next door with timeless style How to make spicy Chicken Seek Kebabs at home Is your partner manipulative? How to know 10 Vedic baby names after Indian sages 10 Gen Z words that became popular in 2024 and what do they mean