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The former Patriots and Buccaneers tight end has decided to stay retired for the time being, despite holding recent talks with the Bucs about a potential return this season. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported on Friday that “Gronk” had conversations with Tampa Bay last month about a comeback. However, they ended with the 33-year-old opting against a return. “It was more of a conversation than anything else,” Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said, per Stroud....

At a campus long considered among the finest in the world, it’s stunning–and closely watched by state-university officials around the country. Berkeley is the crown jewel of the University of California, a 10-campus system that also includes UCLA. That would be a rich menu for any state, but California has made a point of offering even more: the California State University system, with 23 campuses and a sophisticated network of community colleges....

With their striking African-American images, these cards definitely don’t get lost in the shuffle. Foster and H. Russell Smith, both Detroit attorneys, came up with the idea after one of their weekly card games, when Foster said, “I’m tired of playing with jacks, queens and kings that don’t look like us.” They formed the company Blacks Factor and two years ago began manufacturing decks whose face cards reflect the various features, hairstyles and fashions of African Americans....

Chris Harley, a marine biologist from the University of British Columbia, told CBC on Monday that he was “stunned” by the putrid stench of death and the sight of tens of thousands of dead clams, snails, mussels and sea stars at a Vancouver beach in late June. Harley said that more than 1 billion aquatic creatures may have perished along the coast of the Salish Sea alone, an area that includes sections of western British Columbia and Washington state....

The big question now is: just how permanent was this shift? Were the elections a fluke, or a sign of things to come? So far, the evidence looks promising. In the last 20 years most of Latin America has gone democratic, and those gains seem to have been consolidated. Consider the signs: no military stepped in because it didn’t like a result, and losing candidates (except in Mexico) accepted their defeat, even when the margins were razor thin....

The shock of Redstone’s apparent coup didn’t last long. Certainly, the Blockbuster deal was impressive. Almost overnight, it would create one of the world’s most powerful media and entertainment conglomerates, with holdings ranging from some 3,600 video stores to the Nickelodeon and Showtime cable channels. But when traders worked the new numbers on Paramount, they came away shaking their heads. To defeat a rival bid from Barry Diller, chief of the QVC home-shopping network, the 70-year-old Redstone was offering $105 a share for the venerable company–in cash....

A thousand years of Anglo-French antagonism made counterattack inevitable. “Mrs. Cresson has sought to insult the virility of the British male because the last time she was in London she did not get enough admiring glances,” said Anthony Marlow, a Tory member of the House of Commons. “I wanted to put down a motion saying, ‘This House does not fancy elderly Frenchwomen,’ but I was told this was out of order....

In a video posted to Instagram by Ronald Rael, the University of California architecture professor who came up with the seesaw project alongside San Jose State design associate professor Virginia San Fratello, children can be seen on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border playing together on three bright pink seesaws built between Ciudad Juárez in Mexico’s Chihuahua State and El Paso, Texas. Calling the project “one of the most incredible experiences” of his and San Fratello’s careers, Rael described how powerful it was to see a moment so “filled with joy, excitement and togetherness” unfold at the border wall....

Many reformers have the system’s basic premise in their cross hairs. Instead of a relying on a guaranteed payment to supplement your investments, they think you should invest your Social Security contribution, too. But we don’t have to upend the system in order to “save” it. Whether it’s better to switch to private stock accounts is a separate question. Amid the election-year blathers, here are some fundamentals to keep in mind:...

In fact, “it began,” The Sporting News’ Dave Kindred wrote of the league’s pioneers, “with men who walked down the middle of an Iowa street, walking through Christmas Day snowdrifts up to their back pockets, walking to get back to their railroad car for the clackety-clack ride from Keokuk to Chicago, where if they were lucky they slept on wooden benches in Union Station’s domed concourse until a train came in to carry them a thousand more bone-rattling miles to New York City....

The term “metaverse” is often referred to as a singular entity called “The Metaverse” (similar to “The Internet”). However, as of right now, there isn’t just one metaverse. There are a variety of metaverse platforms to choose from. The metaverse is often associated with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). However, you do not need an expensive VR headset to access the Metaverse. In fact, most metaverse platforms can be accessed using your PC....

The first great desert tank confrontation was in North Africa during World War II, pitting Britain against German and Italian armor under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. While some German tanks were better, the British outnumbered them two to one. But Rommel was a far superior tactician: his Afrika Korps excelled at swift, unexpected thrusts. His men were resilient: they learned to survive on as little as one canteen of water a day....

The scope and structure recall “Nashville,” but the milieu is closer to the underrated “California Split.” Transplanting nine Raymond Carver short stories from the Northwest to southern California, Altman and co-writer Frank Barhydt aren’t interested in conjuring up familiar media images of L.A. Except for the ominous squadron of medfly-spraying helicopters that opens the film, and the earthquake that closes it, “Short Cuts” could be set in any part of dysfunctional suburban America, wherever families are coming apart, wherever a shared sense of community has given way to randomness, drift and too much drink....

In the movie, held up by Orion Pictures’ financial woes, Jessica Lange plays the difficult heroine, Carly, a beautiful, unstable army wife whose mood swings are dangerously volatile. Tommy Lee Jones is her patient husband, Hank, a military scientist studying the effects of radiation in A-bomb testing. He adores her, but she pushes him to the edge with her exhibitionism, her rages and the affairs she rushes into and regrets....

I met him in 1973. I had wrecked my car at Daytona, and I brought it to a repair shop in Charlotte, N.C. One night, this ruddy-faced, dirty-looking kid with a pair of Hush Puppies came down the driveway towing an old dirt-track car behind a farm truck. He was about 23, and he looked as backward as they come. It was Dale Earnhardt. I remember he kept saying to me, “I’ve got to get off these dirt tracks, or I’m never going to amount to nothing....

China’s flourishing stock markets took the news of Deng’s death without missing a beat. Another day, another dollar. Shenzhen went up a bit, and so did Shanghai. If ever there was the economic equivalent of the military flyover–traders of the world dipping their wings in a last salute to one of their own–this was it. Less than 20 years ago the phrase ““China’s stock markets’’ was an oxymoron. There weren’t any, and it was barely imaginable there ever would be....

There turned out to be one more thing Cruzan couldn’t fix: himself. On Aug. 17, more than 13 years after the accident that changed the law and his life, Cruzan, 62, hanged himself in the carport of the family’s home, in Carterville, Mo. The protesters who fought Cruzan’s crusade say he couldn’t stand the guilt of removing his own daughter from life support. But Cruzan’s family and close friends insist he never regretted his decision....

The benefits of oatmeal are counteracted if you top it with brown sugar or maple syrup, which can cause a blood sugar spike followed by a drop in blood sugar. This can make you hungry long before lunchtime. When it comes to protein, don’t go totally fat-free. Eating healthy fats like olive oil and avocados will keep you full longer than eating fat-free meals. However, it is very important, if you take medication, to check if it interacts with grapefruit, as it is known to interact adversely with 85 different drugs, 45 of which are very serious....