“So, I’m here at American Airlines, where my ticket still shows active in the app. I tried to check in, it wouldn’t let me check in. So, I called American Airlines and they said that I’d have to check in at the gate,” says the customer, who wears a pro-Trump face mask in the video. “Here I am at the gate for American Airlines, and the guy behind the counter that you just heard says that my ticket was voided,” he continues....

By morning, after 12 hours in flight and one mid-air refueling, C-17 Globemaster cargo jets from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany drop 37,000 bright yellow packages of food for impoverished Afghans. Each package of “Humanitarian Daily Rations” explains in English, French and Spanish that the contents–two meatless lentil or bean entrees, packets of peanut butter and jelly, two Pop Tart-like fruit “pastries,” two dry crackers that can only be described as really bad matzo, two fig bars and a shortbread cookie–are a “food gift from the people of the United States of America....

Of course, everyone from residents of both Dakotas to hack magazine columnists (hey!) are getting plenty of mileage out of the debate. At the “heart” of the “issue” is the longstanding perception of North Dakota as flat, cold and boring. Supporters of the name change believe that the adjective “North” is the very embodiment of all three negative attributes (although geographical adjectives signify different things in different parts of the country; the “North” in North Carolina, after all, means “emphysema” while the “West” in West Virginia means “toothless, inbred jerkymakers”)....

Really, with all the “Mad Cow” delirium, who knew if, after eating a really nice sirloin, I’d still be able to pick up a pen and meet my deadline (a word that suddenly had an ominous ring to it)? Media reports have gotten increasingly hysterical. Images of English cows being slaughtered are everywhere, but a few weeks ago on ABC’s “20/20,” it got really weird. A reporter from the show actually donned a spacesuit before entering a barn that may have contained the tainted cow chow that causes Mad Cow disease....

Why I was manning the hustings with a placard rather than merely standing on the sidelines with a reporter’s notebook? Well, it all started a few weeks back when I wrote a column in which I mocked SUVs as wasteful, dangerous and really annoying to drive behind. The column earned me applause from dozens of environmentalists (which, we all know, is why I got into the journalism business in the first place), while others complained that I needed to “get off” my “smug” “ass” and actually “do” “something” about these gorillas in our midst....

My goal was, of course, journalistic. Once again, the 75-year-old SAT is under fire from college administrators, who believe that the test is a worthless evaluator of a student’s past academic performance and an uneven predictor of future collegiate achievement. The University of California system–one of the biggest customers for the College Board’s SAT–is even thinking of abandoning the test altogether. Students should be judged on the basis of their actual achievements, not on ill-defined notions of aptitude," said Richard Atkinson, president of the Cal system, who also complained that the SAT “sends a confusing message to students, teachers, and schools…that students will be tested on material that is unrelated to what they study in their classes....

How’s this for an inspiring, and genuine, campaign slogan: “Some call me cheap!…I’m asking for your vote mainly because I’m a grandpa.” Or this: “I am the CEO of a bio-information company, husband/father, and a practicing Druid Unitarian.” Or this: “Don’t take your freedoms for granted! For the past ten years I have been working to legalize the domestic ferret.” Only in California, kids, only in California. Don’t get me wrong....

Doug Kiker was taken into custody in Mobile on Thursday after a woman called 911, TMZ reported. The 28-year-old was being held on a $1,000 bond for misdemeanor domestic violence (harassment), according to the website. Few details are known about what transpired, or what the woman’s relationship is to Kiker. Online records show Kiker is no longer in custody. The sheriff’s office and Kiker have been contacted for comment....

“We will breeze him and if all systems are go, Saratoga, here we come,” Zayat told the Albany Times-Union. “Everyone is hoping he comes there. Why wouldn’t we? We have not seen a star of his caliber in a long time.” MORE: How 11 other winners fared after Triple Crown | Pharoah’s future | Ride aboard Pharoah American Pharoah dominated the Haskell Invitational, his first post-Triple Crown race, earlier this month....

Julian Green was the headliner of choice for the assembled media, and with so little known about the national team newcomer, there was a clear desire to get to know the Bayern Munich starlet. Jurgen Klinsmann chose to keep Green shielded from the growing buzz about his national team inclusion, so the 18-year-old was kept away from media availability on Monday, and won’t be speaking to the media until after Wednesday’s friendly, when he will presumably make his national team debut....

When asked about Omicron, 58 percent of those polled said they are very concerned, or somewhat concerned about the new variant, while 42 percent said they were not very, or at all concerned. In comparison, in July of 2021, a CBS News/YouGov poll found that 62 percent of Americans were concerned about the Delta variant, which had made up more than 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. by that month....

The day after President Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration in Washington D.C., the same poll found only 20 percent of Americans agreed that the U.S. was “headed in the right direction.” But that share improved to about 40 percent among 1,000 adults surveyed between April 17-20. But owing to lingering partisan divides, the president only had a very slight decrease of Americans who view him “very negatively.” Historically, the NBC News poll hadn’t recorded higher than 35 percent of Americans saying the country is going the right direction since March 20—data that was recorded just prior to the full coronavirus outbreak in the United States....

Of that $4.2 billion, $4.1 billion is expected to be illegally placed bets. MORE: Super Bowl 50 quiz | Odds updates Super Bowl betting will be up by 8 percent in the legal market, while the illegal market will balloon times 35. The total amount of money the AGA estimated people would bet on last year’s Super Bowl was $3.8 billion. “As Americans celebrate a milestone Super Bowl, they’ll also bet a record amount on the big game,” Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the AGA, said....

Chris Cuomo is on a week-long break from his CNN talk show, Cuomo Prime Time, on what he has described as a scheduled vacation coinciding with his birthday. He turned 51 on Monday. But the break also happened to come as his elder brother faced widespread calls to resign after a report released by the New York State attorney general concluded the governor had sexually harassed 11 women. Andrew Cuomo has denied wrongdoing, but announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying “given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing, and therefore, that’s what I’ll do....

“The first time I heard that was from Mr. Jones last season. He said there was a tape of me that might get out,” Bryant said, via the Dallas Morning News, which recieved an advance copy of the magazine. MORE: Jerry Jones’ best and worst moments as Cowboys owner | Concussion experts decry Russell Wilson’s ‘Recovery’ water claim The rumor was first brought up by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and then other media members said they heard rumblings as well....

The president has frequently tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, throughout his time in office. His latest comments about the health care reform law came as the country continues to struggle with a surge in coronavirus cases and with less than two weeks remaining until Election Day. In the clip from the interview, which was conducted earlier this week, 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl is starting to pose a question about the Supreme Court and Obamacare when Trump interrupts and says, “We’ll have to see what happens....

Americans’ views of Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination by President Donald Trump are divided along party lines, but opposition to her impending Senate confirmation process is minimal. A survey of 3,000 registered voters found 39 percent support or strongly support Trump nominating a new justice before the end of his current term, while 38 percent said they oppose or strongly oppose the controversial move. But despite numerous recent polls showing a majority of Americans oppose Trump filling the vacant ninth seat before the election, voters are much less inclined to oppose Barrett specifically....

Harris is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate. This appears to put her in a historically unique position as no vice presidential nominee has participated in a Supreme Court confirmation hearing during their campaign. One major issue for Harris is the emerging Republican narrative that anti-Catholic bigotry is animating opposition to Trump’s nominee. Coney Barrett is a devout Roman Catholic who’s spoken openly about her faith....

The polling, which was conducted by RMG Group, shows McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, with the support of 41 percent of voters, while McConnell is backed by 40 percent. However, the polling also showed that when voters are informed that McGrath supports congressional term limits while McConnell does not, her lead over the Republican jumps significantly. With the candidates’ positions on term limits factored in, McGrath was backed by 45 percent of respondents, while McConnell was supported by just 30 percent....

Earlier in 2021, a revolving door of celebrities took the podium to try out to take over from beloved late presenter Trebek, who passed away in November 2020. Then-executive producer Mike Richards would eventually be announced in August as having landed the coveted job, only for him to step down nine days later amid backlash over offensive comments he had made on a now-defunct podcast. With all-time Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik now splitting hosting duties for the remainder of the calendar year, Schneider has revealed who she was rooting for when she watched the show as a hopeful contestant....