In the midst of Italy's World Cup triumph and Barcelona's dominance, Lionel Messi was a budding talent at Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia. Fast forward to 2024, and Messi, now a footballing icon, experienced his first international omission in 18 years. It served as a stark reminder of the fleeting nature of success in football and the inevitable passage of time. Despite this setback, Messi's legacy as one of the greatest players of all time remains intact, a testament to his unparalleled skill, dedication, and longevity in the sport.
Marshall withdraws from Independence Bowl matchup against Army
LOS ANGELES — With both teams fighting for playoff position, the Chargers' Week 16 game against their AFC West rival Denver Broncos was moved into a prime-time TV slot, the NFL announced Friday, shifting a game to "Thursday Night Football" for the first time. The Chargers (7-3) will host the Broncos (6-5) at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 19 at 5:15 p.m. PST, pushing a game between the Cleveland Browns (3-8) and Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) to 10 a.m. PST on Dec. 22. It's the first time the NFL has moved a game to Thursday since it was allowed last year. The schedule change gives the Chargers their only Thursday night game of the season, providing the team a 10-day prep week entering a Week 17 road game at New England. The long week could be a welcome rest for the Chargers, who had their bye in Week 4. The Chargers — who will have a short week after hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 15 — won in Denver on Oct. 13, their first road win against the Broncos since 2018. Both AFC West teams are in playoff position entering Week 12, with the Chargers in the fifth-seed and the Broncos in seventh. The schedule change gave the Chargers their fourth prime-time game in six weeks, a run of TV exposure that includes this week's "Monday Night Football" game against the Baltimore Ravens. They also play the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs at 5:20 p.m. PST on Dec. 8 in Week 14. ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.'Unabomber Manifesto' resurfaces in CEO slaying
After five years, Last Dinosaurs came back to the Philippines and roared the stage with “Last Dinosaurs Live in Manila” concert last December 08, 2024, at SkyDome, SM City North EDSA. Last Dinosaurs or “Last Dinos” as their fans commonly call them, is an Australian indie-rock band formed in 2007 composed of Sean Caskey (lead/backup vocals, rhythm/lead guitar), Lachlan Caskey (lead/backup vocals, lead/rhythm guitar), and Michael Sloane (bass). They also have fellow indie rock band, our very own Oh, Flamingo! as their guest artist to perform their collaboration song, “Sense – Alternate Version” following its latest release last November 15. Flying straight to the Philippines after their concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, Last Dinos had less than a day to prepare for their whole performance. “We just got here a couple of hours ago so it’s not been long yet. But we’ve been here a couple of times before and it’s always been awesome. It’s cool yeah but looking forward to it,” Michael said. In an interview with Soundstrip , the band expressed their curiosity about the Filipino food, balut. “Sean told me today that he’s been commenting on the Instagram, under my name, and saying that I want to try balut. He’s saying, “[I] love balut from Michael,” Michael added. Despite performing in the country for the fourth time, the band always brings something new to the table. In contrast to their rather primitive name, Last Dinosaurs released an album this year called, “KYORYU” – a fusion of their two previous EPs revolving around the concept of science-fiction and AI. “The whole sci-fi element, of like, the imagery and the story came from an AI image by an artist named Luke Nugent. Sean found this image randomly on the internet and was really inspired by it. It came up with this sort of imagined loose sci-fi storyline.” Lachlan mentioned. All thanks to Lachlan’s good friend and creative writer, a long story was crafted about AI and sci-fi that was later cut down into the manga and became the blueprint for their music videos during the album’s promotions and releases. Lachlan also revealed during the interview that creating two EPs for the KYORYU album was a spontaneous decision. “It sort of happened mid-process. Like, ‘Oh, we should do two, we should have two sides to this album, we should make it like that.’ And then it also so happened that well, there’s two sides to this album, and there should be two stories.” The premise for both EPs took place a thousand years after an apocalypse event. Originating from Sean and Lachlan’s Japanese names, Ryusuke and Kyohei, respectively, RYU and KYO were made. Coincidentally, KYORYU means “Dinosaurs” in Japanese which fits perfectly for the Aussie band’s name. When they were asked about the difference between the two EPs, they shared that it was influenced by the same rock music genre but are distinguishable message-wise. “KYO is like, maybe has a little bit more of a slightly political angle on it. In relation to AI like the whole metaphor is that like the character, Kyohei, who’s in the manga, is a pathological narcissist who’s being exploited by the deep state to develop an AI,” It depicted an analogy among humans at this age of technology – getting sucked into the internet that coerces individuals to display narcissistic traits. On the other hand, the second EP portrays the story of the future’s possibility in the era of AI. “Sean’s (RYU) story is about, well, what is this future looking like if AI really does take over? Like it’s kind of, but there’s a glimmer of hope at the end” Lachlan added. The successful release of KYORYU further established Last Dinosaurs’ place in the music industry and resonated with their maturity as artists. The Australian band shared that being musicians for 17 years enabled them to have more freedom and identity with their songs. “I think that we’re much more competent at crafting songs and like studio know-how. That’s about it. But I think, you know, it’s also subjective. I’m not sure if we’re writing better songs or not. You can never know that I think. It’s subjective but yeah we’re just getting more effective at making this, you know, our own sound,” Lachlan mentioned. Concluding their Asia Tour in the Philippines, Last Dinosaurs expressed their gratitude to Filipino fans for listening to their music and describing them as “some of the best and most enthusiastic fans” that they have.The Ultimate Ranking Of Canned Coffee BrandsThe timing of these provocative maneuvers is particularly concerning, as tensions between China and Taiwan have been simmering for quite some time. Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers a renegade province, has long been a thorn in China's side. With increasing calls for independence on the island and growing support from Western countries, China has become more determined to assert its authority over Taiwan.
Non-real estate assets within a REIT portfolio, such as cash, securities, and other financial instruments, often lack a definitive valuation metric. This poses a challenge for investors and market participants in understanding the true value of a REIT and can lead to mispricing and inefficiencies in the market. In contrast, real estate assets have tangible characteristics that make their valuation more straightforward, such as rental income, market comparables, and physical condition.The Bank of Japan (BOJ), which has maintained its ultra-loose monetary policy for years in a bid to combat deflation and spur economic growth, is now facing mounting pressure to normalize its monetary stance. With inflation inching towards the BOJ's target of 2% and the economy showing signs of overheating, the central bank may soon be compelled to raise interest rates to maintain price stability and ensure sustainable economic growth.
