Talking bottle opener

One day, Alexandria Robertson’s carefully crafted life suddenly started falling apart. She returned from vacation in January 2020 to learn she’d been laid off from her corporate job in the Austin area. Her car was totaled in an accident. At the same time, she found out she was pregnant with her first child. “I was pregnant. I had no job. I had no car. And I had no health insurance,” Robertson said. “I at the time just did not have money for the expenses of having a baby.” Robertson qualified for Medicaid, but since Texas is one of just 11 states that haven’t expanded the program, she would be covered only up to two months after childbirth. But then, just a few weeks later, COVID-19 descended on the United States. For the length of the public health emergency — which turns three next month — no one would be moved off of Medicaid. The state is urging people on Medicaid to ensure their information is up to date at YourTexasBenefits.com and to respond to renewal notices … [Read more...] about Texans brace for the end of nearly three years of pandemic Medicaid coverage

Two anticipated trends in 2023 Formula 1 car design were evident in the first new chassis presented for the upcoming season today. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free While Red Bull, Haas and Williams relied on models or old cars to reveal their new liveries over the past week, Alfa Romeo became the first team to show something approaching a genuine 2023 machine. Their video broadcast showed Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu revealing the car in a similar configuration to what they will run when testing begins in Bahrain in two weeks’ time. The team also issued images of its car in launch specification. One obvious change is the shift towards a darker livery, just as fellow Ferrari power unit customers Haas have done. Teams have been removing paint and exposing the carbon fibre beneath for years in an effort to save weight, but the introduction of new regulations last year prompted many to go a step further. It’s striking that Alfa Romeo, who began last … [Read more...] about The major change Alfa Romeo made after being “stuck in a corner” last year · RaceFans

Two statistics lay bare the astonishing impact Covid-19 has had on Formula 1. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free First, since the pathogen intensified its spread across world in March almost half this season’s scheduled 22 races have been cancelled or (optimistically, in the view of some) postponed. Second, the obligatory annual team shutdown – usually a three-week break in summer – has now been in place for three times as long. Although speculative calendars are increasingly doing the rounds, these count for nought as long as authorities restrict the movement of people across the world. What use is a calendar which schedules races in countries which refuse to admit foreigners or make concessions for sport activities? The pandemic’s effect on the 10 teams has been disastrous . Most have furloughed staff, some are expected to be ‘retrenched’, ‘de-hired’ or similar, while a number of independent teams have availed themselves of advances on future F1 revenues … [Read more...] about Why the pandemic’s economic impact on F1 goes far beyond a disrupted calendar · RaceFans

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 6 Barbara Brandon-Croft wrote a pitch that, 34 years later, has lost none of its punch. "Few Black Cartoonists have entered national syndication since the 1970s," began the boldfaced heading to her letter to newspaper syndicates. "None have been Black Women." What Brandon-Croft was offering the gatekeepers of such mass distribution was not a shaming as much as a way to course-correct. They could overcome their lack of representation while also reaching new audiences. "We all gain from the Black experience," she wrote in the letter. "Moreover, everyone's to gain from the Black female experience in particular." Her precise verbal strike caught the eye of Universal Press Syndicate editor Lee Salem, who had nurtured such strips as "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Cathy" and later discovered "The Boondocks." He knew excellence when he saw it, replying to her: "It's rare to … [Read more...] about A trailblazer who brought a Black woman’s voice to comics

Lest anyone worry that the Magic Mike series has nothing left to say, or nothing on its mind but glistening abs, the third and allegedly final installment begins with a voice over—British, proper, authoritative—waxing rhapsodic about the role dance has played across all of human history. Such pontification is not so surprising coming from Steven Soderbergh, who recently kicked off a different film with a narrated flashback to the invention of money. But it's still a concerningly academic way for this movie to start, and the first moment of several in Magic Mike's Last Dance that might bring to mind the immortal words of Barton Fink 's Ben Geisler. Channing Tatum . Male stripper movie. What did Soderbergh need, a road map? A decade ago, the director and his screenwriter, Reid Carolin, knew better than to overthink the story of a Florida exotic dancer balancing his daydreams of opening his own furniture store with his nightlife flashing flesh for cash. The original Magic … [Read more...] about ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ strips the fun out of the franchise

By Sally M. Hill / movie reviews The commercials make “Magic Mike” out be a fun, light-hearted night out with the girls, without the two-drink minimum or the need for a bunch of ones to stick in g-strings. Actually though, “Mike” tries to be more than that, darker and deeper, but alas, it’s as superficial as a spray on tan. Too bad. Director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “The Informant!,” “Contagion”) has made some interesting movies. He was the reason I thought “Mike” could be more than just a bunch of guys shaking their booties. He and screenwriter Reid Carolin (his first feature film) have attempted to make a character study disguised as a comedic stripper film, but the characters aren’t interesting beyond their stripping. Even if one character pleads unconvincingly, “I’m not what I do.” Character studies only work when a person is interesting and you care about what happens to them. The filmmakers do acknowledge our hard economic times and the troubled … [Read more...] about ‘Magic Mike’ deeper, darker than ads let on

After hiring former Pro Bowl linebacker and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as head coach last week, the Houston Texans have wasted no time pursuing potential coordinators. Some early candidates started to emerge shortly after Ryans was hired, with 49ers offensive passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik, Cincinnati Bengals receivers coach Troy Walters, New England Patriots tight ends coach Nick Caley, New York Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel and San Francisco defensive pass game specialist and secondary coach Cory Undlin being linked to the job prior to last Thursday's introductory press conference. According to KPRC's Aaron Wilson , the Texans have recently requested permission to interview Washington Commanders secondary coach Chris Harris for their defensive coordinator position as well, in addition to Manuel. Ryans described the type of coaching staff is looking to build while speaking with the media last week, while not providing any … [Read more...] about Houston Texans coordinator search: Candidates to be next OC, DC

Sorry, but your browser does not support the video tag. (BPT) - In a sweetly but firmly worded “sweet-and-desist” open letter to social media, Sweethearts Candies is asking all platforms to change their heart-shaped “like” buttons and allow Sweethearts to handle giving out likes—in real life. The cheeky message kicks off a social media movement by Sweethearts based on survey data the brand collected that found that 78% of Gen Z respondents would rather get an actual Sweethearts candy heart from a friend or loved one in real life (IRL) than a digital heart on a social media post. For more information about Sweethearts’ IRL Like Movement, visit sweetanddesist.com . This sponsored article is presented by Brandpoint. … [Read more...] about Candy company takes on Big Tech for Valentine’s Day

Alfa Romeo have unveiled their new car for the 2023 season but former racer turned pundit Martin Brundle believes there is a problem with it. In a change from last season’s offering, Alfa went for a predominantly black car with a shade of the company’s red across the top. The new livery, which was unveiled at the team’s Switzerland base on Tuesday, received the approval of the fans but one expert believes there could be a problem when it takes to the track. Brundle has been a long-time pundit on Sky Sports F1 so knows what he is talking about when it comes to how cars will look both on the track and on people’s TVs, and believes the black plus the carbon finish will make it an issue. “Love the back of the rear wing,” Brundle tweeted. “This new low weight carbon finish is becoming very prevalent in F1, weight limit drops by 2kgs this year and most teams were struggling before. “But this car will be hard to see on TV or trackside on an overcast day.” PlanetF1 recommends … [Read more...] about Martin Brundle spots a problem with Alfa Romeo’s new C43 livery