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The reason the Mets valued Luis Torrens enough to sign him to a two-year extension earlier this season was because of his glove.

Her family confirmed the news in a statement Sunday.

The actress' family confirmed the tragic news in a statement Sunday.

Fog Of War: A World Searching For An Exit

Authored by Armstrong Williams via The Epoch Times,

There are moments when the world seems to be moving toward peace and war simultaneously.

This is one of them.

President Donald Trump continues to express hope that the conflict with Iran can be brought to an end. Iran and Oman say negotiations over shipping arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz are progressing.

That is encouraging, but the moment remains fragile.

Iran has attached significant conditions to reopening the strait, including compensation for wartime damage and changes in American policy. So diplomats are discussing stabilizing one of the world’s most important waterways while Tehran continues making demands Washington may find impossible to accept.

That is the fog of war: hope in one headline, escalation in the next.

The contradiction extends to Yemen. Even as diplomacy continues, Iran-aligned Houthi forces remain capable of destabilizing the region, including threatening Saudi interests and shipping routes.

One spark can touch several alliances.

That is why progress must be measured by actions, not announcements. Diplomats negotiate while generals prepare contingencies. Political leaders speak of peace while military planners prepare for negotiations to fail.

America must do the same.

But Washington can no longer ignore another reality: Modern warfare consumes sophisticated weapons at astonishing speed.

Recent reporting has raised serious questions about American inventories of Patriot and THAAD missile-defense interceptors, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and other precision weapons after months of conflict.

The United States remains the most powerful military nation on Earth. But even the strongest military cannot consume advanced weapons indefinitely without confronting production times, supply chains, industrial capacity, and cost.

That is not an argument for weakness. It is an argument for strategic discipline.

Strength means possessing the ability to wage war while understanding which wars are necessary, what objectives justify them, and when diplomacy better serves the national interest.

Europe faces a different danger.

Lithuania and other countries along NATO’s eastern flank increasingly worry that Russia could test the alliance through something deliberately ambiguous such as a drone incident, cyberattack, infrastructure sabotage, false-flag operation, or limited provocation.

The objective might not be territorial conquest.

It might simply be to ask one dangerous question: Will NATO really defend every inch of NATO?

The greatest danger is miscalculation. History reminds us that wars are not always deliberately chosen. Sometimes nations stumble into them because each side assumes the other will retreat.

Then there is migration.

Recent events in Ceuta, Spain’s small territory in North Africa, demonstrate how quickly economic desperation, political instability, and misinformation can overwhelm borders.

Not every national security crisis begins with missiles.

Europe has every right and responsibility to control its borders. But border security and human dignity cannot become opposing principles. A civilized society must be capable of defending both.

Another transformation receives too little attention: the democratization of warfare.

Ukraine demonstrated how inexpensive drones can destroy equipment worth millions of dollars, conduct surveillance, and fundamentally alter battlefield tactics.

Now those technologies are spreading.

Colombian authorities have confronted armed groups using or experimenting with weaponized civilian drones. The lesson should concern every government: Technology perfected on one battlefield does not remain there. It migrates.

Today’s battlefield innovation can become tomorrow’s terrorist, cartel, or homeland security threat.

Yet amid this instability, Venezuela reminds us that political change does not always require warfare.

Opposition leaders continue demanding restored democratic institutions, political freedoms, and credible elections. Dialogue matters, but dialogue without genuine political competition is insufficient.

Eventually democracy comes down to something remarkably simple: Let the people choose.

What connects Iran, Yemen, Russia, Europe, Colombia, and Venezuela is neither geography nor ideology. It is uncertainty.

We are living through a period in which the international order is being tested from multiple directions. Alliances are under pressure. Military inventories are being strained. Drones are transforming warfare. Migration challenges borders. Governments struggle with legitimacy while regional conflicts threaten to widen.

And yet diplomacy continues. That matters.

Oman is still mediating. Washington is still searching for an exit from conflict. Governments capable of exchanging missiles remain capable of exchanging messages.

We should never confuse optimism with naivete. A ceasefire is not peace. Negotiations are not reconciliation. Progress announced today does not guarantee tranquility tomorrow.

But cynicism cannot become foreign policy either. Peace almost always begins while distrust still exists.

The question is whether leaders are negotiating because they genuinely seek an end to conflict or because they need time to prepare for its next phase.

That is why I remain hopeful but clear-eyed.

Political leaders make the announcements. Ordinary people live with the consequences.

Families bury the dead. Soldiers carry the wounds. Refugees leave their homes. Businesses absorb the costs. Parents wonder whether their children will inherit another war.

Through this fog, our objectives must remain clear: Strength without recklessness. Diplomacy without naivete. Deterrence without endless warfare. Hope without illusion.

Because peace is not what governments announce today. Peace is what survives tomorrow.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/16/2026 - 23:20

"She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her -- and to the millions who watched her onscreen," her father said in a statement.

One birdie over his last three holes would have done it for Jordan Spieth.

Maybe it was relief from Caitlin Clark. Maybe it was disbelief. Or maybe it was something different altogether. 

The most notable change Aaron Boone ended up making was sitting Jazz Chisholm Jr. for José Caballero.

"I've Never Heard Anything Like It": Was America's Top Secret Stealth Bomber Just Spotted Over Kansas?

A video of a mysterious aircraft thundering over a U.S. military installation has set off a wave of speculation online, and the leading theories all point to aircraft the Pentagon would rather nobody photographed.

The aircraft was captured flying over McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. It is believed to be the B-21 Raider, a nuclear-capable stealth bomber carrying a unit price tag of roughly $700 million.

That identification is unconfirmed. OutKick's David Hookstead, who first published the footage, wrote that a reflection off what appears to be a cockpit window around the seven-second mark is the strongest evidence for the B-21 - but allowed it could also be the RQ-170 Sentinel or the RQ-180, a classified surveillance drone whose existence the government has never acknowledged. Other observers have argued the shape is a better match for the older B-2 Spirit.

McConnell is a tanker base, home to the KC-46 Pegasus, and sits well outside the B-21's Edwards Air Force Base test corridor - which is part of why the sighting drew attention, and part of why some doubt the identification.

Mysterious aircraft was spotted flying over McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, fueling speculation that it may have been a rare glimpse of America's costly, top-secret B-21 Raider stealth bomber - reports

(📹 justind8036) pic.twitter.com/ZGTBDOAddI

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 12, 2026

Witnesses on the ground said they felt the aircraft before they ever saw it.

"I never saw it, but I could hear it. It was shaking the ground! I've never heard anything like it," one X user wrote.

Northrop Grumman landed the contract to build the bomber in 2015 and the U.S. Air Force expects the Raider to enter operational service in the coming years. The first aircraft is slated to arrive at Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027.

The Pentagon has signaled it wants at least 100 of the bombers, flying alongside a fleet of 76 modernized B-52 Stratofortresses. However, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made clear the Pentagon may need far more firepower than that.

"We have to invest in more capabilities to include the B-21, which is ahead of schedule," Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April. "We believe we will require a lot more - over 100 - in the future."

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/16/2026 - 22:45

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s very public fertility journey is one of the saddest stories of our time.

“It’s on my bucket list of stuff to find,” Michael Bowers said. “My knees were shaking.”

It wasn’t Revis Island that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn referenced. It was a different, much less-known island in the Jets archipelago.

Dodgers fans held little back as they took in their team's latest loss agains the Milwaukee Brewers, capping off a weekslong losing slide.

Shedeur Sanders still has a fan in Todd Monken.

HBO's new space cops are worth a ride-along.

Dallas Airport Shelves Muslim Washing Facilities After Texas Governor Threatens Airport Funding

Authored by Jeremy Lott via The Epoch Times,

The Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport was mulling the installation of special washing rooms to facilitate prayers by its Muslim passengers. A DFW spokesman told The Epoch Times Saturday that the airport has shelved those plans after objections by the governor of Texas.

The airport was “in the process of evaluating an internal proposal to add a set of ablution washing stations on the pre-security side of Terminal D” for international passengers, the spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Terminal D is one of five terminals at DFW. The terminal has more than 30 gates, out of what the airport lists as over 160 total gates. It also has a connected hotel, the Grand Hyatt.

With every proposed project in the whole airport, DFW management considers several factors, including “operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs,” before granting approval, the spokesperson said.

The prayer washing project had not yet reached the official evaluation point when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott registered his opposition to such facilities.

“Government-owned airports cannot favor one religion over all others,” Abbott wrote on his X account Friday, and thus the airport’s “plans to install Islamic wudu washing facilities” were “illegal.”

The governor announced that he had taken action so his state would “not allow illegal religious discrimination at taxpayer-funded facilities.” He directed a review of all state grants to both DFW and an airport in Houston “for possible revocation” and also referred the issue to the Department of Transportation for its own investigation.

Abbott also included links to letters that he had sent to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and DFW’s CEO Christopher McLaughlin. He copied U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on the Duffy letter, and the mayors of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston on his letter to the DFW.

DFW then “accelerated its review due to elevated public interest this week,” the spokesperson said. It “determined not to proceed” as the project seemed unlikely to “deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits.”

Reached for comment, the governor’s press office pointed The Epoch Times to a follow-up post by Abbott in which he acknowledged the change of plans by DFW and said, “It was clearly illegal.”

Houston Facility

While the issue appears to be closed at DFW, the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston has had a wudu washing facility in place for close to two years now.

In late October 2024, the Houston branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) held an official recognition ceremony to celebrate the Houston airport as “one of the first airports in the U.S. to offer such amenities,” and for “setting a new standard for inclusivity and traveler comfort.”

CAIR-Houston said at the time that wudu is “an Islamic ritual of purification.”

The wudu room in Houston includes “benches, coat racks, and space for luggage” and is “fully ADA-accessible,” it said.

The Texas governor is pressing the case that the Houston facility is also illegal. The Epoch Times contacted IAH for comment but received only an automated reply.

In majority Muslim nations, public facilities such as airports often have rooms or at least stations to assist in this cleaning, as observant Muslims pray at five distinct times during most days.

These are less common in nations without Muslim majorities, but some Western airports have them. London’s Heathrow Airport has wudu capabilities in its multi-faith prayer rooms. O’Hare International Airport, which services the Chicago metro, has interfaith chapels with wudu functions.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) did not return The Epoch Times’ request for clarification on whether or not it considered a Muslim washing room to be illegal at an American international airport by the time of publication.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/16/2026 - 22:10

The first episode of HBO's new superhero show, "Lanterns," starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, seemingly ended with a big death.

The first episode of HBO's new superhero show, "Lanterns," starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, seemingly ended with a big death.

"He did what he did. You saw."

The reality TV star's mysterious son uncomfortably questions his mom's soon-to-be husband about his dreams of becoming an A-list actor in America.