CHICAGO — With a wave of her bangled brown fingertips to the melody of flutes and chimes, artist, theologian and academic Tricia Hersey enchanted a crowd into a dreamlike state of rest at Semicolon Books on North Michigan Avenue. “The systems can’t have you,” Hersey said into the microphone, reading mantras while leading the crowd in a group daydreaming exercise on a recent Tuesday night. The South Side native tackles many of society’s ills — racism, patriarchy, aggressive capitalism and ableism — through an undervalued yet impactful action: rest. Hersey, the founder of a movement called the Nap Ministry, dubs herself the Nap Bishop and spreads her message to over half a million followers on her Instagram account, @thenapministry . Her first book, “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto,” became a New York Times bestseller in 2022, but Hersey has been talking about rest online and through her art for nearly a decade. Hersey, who has degrees in public health and divinity, originated the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks after experimenting with rest as an exhausted graduate student in seminary. Once she started napping, she felt happier and her grades improved. But she also felt more connected to her ancestors; her work was informed by the cultural trauma of slavery that she was studying as an archivist. Hersey described the transformation as “life-changing.” The Nap Ministry began as performance art in 2017, with a small installation where 40 people joined Hersey in a collective nap. Since then, her message has morphed into multiple mediums and forms. Hersey, who now lives in Atlanta, has hosted over 100 collective naps, given lectures and facilitated meditations across the country. She’s even led a rest ritual in the bedroom of Jane Addams , and encourages her followers to dial in at her “Rest Hotline.” At Semicolon, some of those followers and newcomers came out to see Hersey in discussion with journalist Natalie Moore on Hersey’s latest book, “We Will Rest! The Art of Escape,” released this month, and to learn what it means to take a moment to rest in community. Moore recalled a time when she was trying to get ahead of chores on a weeknight. “I was like, ‘If I do this, then I’ll have less to do tomorrow.’ But then I was really tired,” Moore said. “I thought, ‘What would my Nap Bishop say? She would say go lay down.’ Tricia is in my head a lot.” At the event, Al Kelly, 33, of Rogers Park, said some of those seated in the crowd of mostly Black women woke up in tears — possibly because, for the first time, someone permitted them to rest. “It was so emotional and allowed me to think creatively about things that I want to work on and achieve,” Kelly said. Shortly after the program, Juliette Viassy, 33, a program manager who lives in the South Loop and is new to Hersey’s work, said this was her first time meditating after never being able to do it on her own. Therapist Lyndsei Howze, 33, of Printers Row, who was also seated at the book talk, said she recommends Hersey’s work “to everybody who will listen” — from her clients to her own friends. “A lot of mental health conditions come from lack of rest,” she said. “They come from exhaustion.” Before discovering Hersey’s work this spring, Howze said she and her friends sporadically napped together in one friend’s apartment after an exhausting workweek. “It felt so good just to rest in community,” she said. On Hersey’s book tour, she is leading exercises like this across the country. “I think we need to collectively do this,” Hersey explained. “We need to learn again how to daydream because we’ve been told not to do it. I don’t think most people even have a daydreaming practice.” Daydreaming, Hersey said, allows people to imagine a new world. Hersey tells her followers that yes, you can rest, even when your agenda is packed, even between caregiving, commuting, jobs, bills, emails and other daily demands. And you don’t have to do it alone. There is a community of escape artists, she said of the people who opt out of grind and hustle culture, waiting to embrace you. The book is part pocket prayer book, part instruction manual, with art and handmade typography by San Francisco-based artist George McCalman inspired by 19th-century abolitionist pamphlets, urging readers to reclaim their divine right to rest. Hersey directs her readers like an operative with instructions for a classified mission. “Let grind culture know you are not playing around,” she wrote in her book. “This is not a game or time to shrink. Your thriving depends on the art of escape.” The reluctance to rest can be rooted in capitalist culture presenting rest as a reward for productivity instead of a physical and mental necessity. Hersey deconstructs this idea of grind culture, which she says is rooted in the combined effects of white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism that “look at the body as not human.” American culture encourages grind culture, Hersey said, but slowing down and building a ritual of rest can offset its toxicity. The author eschews the ballooning billion-dollar self-care industry that encourages people to “save enough money and time off from work to fly away to an expensive retreat,” she wrote. Instead, she says rest can happen anywhere you have a place to be comfortable: in nature, on a yoga mat, in the car between shifts, on a cozy couch after work. Resting isn’t just napping either. She praises long showers, sipping warm tea, playing music, praying or numerous other relaxing activities that slow down the body. “We’re in a crisis mode of deep sleep deprivation, deep lack of self-worth, (and) mental health,” said Hersey. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2022 , in Illinois about 37% of adults aren’t getting the rest they need at night. If ignored, the effects of sleep deprivation can have bigger implications later, Hersey said. In October, she lectured at a sleep conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, where her humanities work was featured alongside research from the world’s top neuroscientists. Jennifer Mundt, a Northwestern clinician and professor of sleep medicine, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, praises Hersey for bringing the issue of sleep and rest to the public. In a Tribune op-ed last year, Mundt argued that our culture focuses too heavily on sleep as something that must be earned rather than a vital aspect of health and that linking sleep to productivity is harmful and stigmatizing. “Linking sleep and productivity is harmful because it overshadows the bevy of other reasons to prioritize sleep as an essential component of health,” Mundt wrote. “It also stigmatizes groups that are affected by sleep disparities and certain chronic sleep disorders.” In a 30-year longitudinal study released in the spring by the New York University School of Social Work, people who worked long hours and late shifts reported the lowest sleep quality and lowest physical and mental functions, and the highest likelihood of reporting poor health and depression at age 50. The study also showed that Black men and women with limited education “were more likely than others to shoulder the harmful links between nonstandard work schedules and sleep and health, worsening their probability of maintaining and nurturing their health as they approach middle adulthood.” The CDC links sleeping fewer than seven hours a day to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and more. Although the Nap Ministry movement is new for her followers, Hersey’s written about her family’s practice of prioritizing rest, which informs her work. Her dad was a community organizer, a yardmaster for the Union Pacific Railroad Co. and an assistant pastor. Before long hours of work, he would dedicate hours each day to self-care. Hersey also grew up observing her grandma meditate for 30 minutes daily. Through rest, Hersey said she honors her ancestors who were enslaved and confronts generational trauma. When “Rest Is Resistance” was released in 2022, Americans were navigating a pandemic and conversations on glaring racial disparities. “We Will Rest!” comes on the heels of a historic presidential election where Black women fundraised for Vice President Kamala Harris and registered voters in a dizzying three-month campaign. Following Harris’ defeat, many of those women are finding self-care and preservation even more important. “There are a lot of Black women announcing how exhausted they are,” Moore said. “This could be their entry point to get to know (Hersey’s) work, which is bigger than whatever political wind is blowing right now.” Hersey said Chicagoans can meet kindred spirits in her environment of rest. Haji Healing Salon, a wellness center, and the social justice-focused Free Street Theater are sites where Hersey honed her craft and found community. In the fall, the theater put on “Rest/Reposo,” a performance featuring a community naptime outdoors in McKinley Park and in its Back of the Yards space. Haji is also an apothecary and hosts community healing activities, sound meditations and yoga classes. “It is in Bronzeville; it’s a beautiful space owned by my friend Aya,” Hersey said, explaining how her community has helped her build the Nap Ministry. “When I first started the Nap Ministry, before I was even understanding what it was, she was like, come do your work here.” “We Will Rest!” is a collection of poems, drawings and short passages. In contrast to her first book, Hersey said she leaned more into her artistic background; the art process alone took 18 months to complete. After a tough year for many, she considers it medicine for a “sick and exhausted” world. “It’s its own sacred document,” Hersey said. “It’s something that, if you have it in your library and you have it with you, you may feel more human.” lazu@chicagotribune.comJHVEPhoto Shares of BP ( NYSE: BP ) have become unreasonably cheap in the last several weeks which creates an opportunity, especially for dividend investors. BP announced that it repurchased $1.75B worth of its shares in the fourth quarter which is something that makes a Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of BP, XOM, CVX either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.bookmaker lines 。

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Hezbollah leaders also signalled tentative backing for the US-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities that have driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese and 50,000 Israelis from their homes. An intense bombing campaign by Israel has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, Lebanese officials say. But while the deal, set to take effect early Wednesday, could significantly calm the tensions that have inflamed the region, it does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Hezbollah, which began firing scores of rockets into Israel the following day in support of Hamas, has previously said it would keep fighting until there was a stop to the fighting in Gaza. Here’s what to know about the tentative ceasefire agreement and its potential implications: – The terms of the deal The agreement reportedly calls for a 60-day halt in fighting that would see Israeli troops retreat to their side of the border while requiring Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon. Us President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the deal is set to take effect at 4am local time on Wednesday. Under the deal, thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to the region south of the Litani River. An international panel lead by the US would monitor compliance by all sides. Mr Biden said the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the UN peacekeeping force, known as Unifil, does not provide “effective enforcement” of the deal. – Lingering uncertainty A Hezbollah leader said the group’s support for the deal hinged on clarity that Israel would not renew its attacks. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that Israel’s security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France. – Where the fighting has left both sides After months of cross-border bombings, Israel can claim major victories, including the killing of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, most of his senior commanders and the destruction of extensive militant infrastructure. A complex attack in September involving the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah was widely attributed to Israel, signalling a remarkable penetration of the militant group. The damage inflicted on Hezbollah has come not only in its ranks, but to the reputation it built by fighting Israel to a stalemate in the 2006 war. Still, its fighters managed to put up heavy resistance on the ground, slowing Israel’s advance while continuing to fire scores of rockets, missiles and drones across the border each day. The ceasefire offers relief to both sides, giving Israel’s overstretched army a break and allowing Hezbollah leaders to tout the group’s effectiveness in holding their ground despite Israel’s massive advantage in weaponry. But the group is likely to face a reckoning, with many Lebanese accusing it of tying their country’s fate to Gaza’s at the service of key ally Iran, inflicting great damage on a Lebanese economy that was already in a grave condition. – No answers for Gaza Until now, Hezbollah has insisted that it would only halt its attacks on Israel when it agreed to stop fighting in Gaza. Some in the region are likely to view a deal between the Lebanon-based group and Israel as a capitulation. In Gaza, where officials say the war has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, Israel’s attacks have inflicted a heavy toll on Hamas, including the killing of the group’s top leaders. But Hamas fighters continue to hold scores of Israeli hostages, giving the militant group a bargaining chip if indirect ceasefire negotiations resume. Hamas is likely to continue to demand a lasting truce and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in any such deal. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered a pointed reminder on Tuesday of the intractability of the war, demanding urgent international intervention. “The only way to halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” he said in a speech to the UN read by his ambassador.NDP will not support Liberal GST holiday bill unless rebate expanded: SinghCalifornia urges Buttigeg to grant last-minute cash for LA-SF bullet train as DOGE loomsNone

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today expressed strong dissatisfaction and opposition against the slanderous remarks made by the US, the UK, Canada, European Union officials, politicians and anti-China organisations regarding its further actions against offenders absconded overseas. It announced the actions yesterday against the offenders who continue to engage in acts and activities endangering national security. In a statement, the Hong Kong SAR Government said the National Security Law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance clearly stipulate that human rights shall be respected and protected in safeguarding national security. The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong people under the Basic Law and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights as applicable to the Hong Kong SAR are protected in accordance with the law. Legislation that safeguards national security only targets a very small number of organisations and individuals that endanger national security, it added. It explained that the seven specified abscondees are hiding in the US and Australia, and continue to blatantly engage in activities endangering national security, inciting secession and requesting foreign countries to impose “sanctions” or blockade and engage in other hostile activities against the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong SAR. More so, they continue to collude with external forces to be covered for their evil deeds. It is therefore necessary to take such measures to make a strong blow. The specified measures aim at addressing, combating, deterring and preventing acts of abscondment, and procuring the return of absconded persons to Hong Kong to face law enforcement and judicial proceedings. The Hong Kong SAR Government strongly disapproves of the acts taken by foreign government officials and politicians as well as anti-China organisations, who deliberately smeared and spread irresponsible remarks on the measures and actions that it takes in accordance with the law, in an attempt to mislead the public. In fact, it pointed out, all specified measures including the cancellation of Hong Kong SAR passports and eligibility for application align with human rights requirements; and quite a number of countries including the US, the UK and Canada would also impose such measures on wanted criminals. It is indeed a demonstration of hypocrisy with double standards by any external forces or people with ulterior motives that, after the Hong Kong SAR Government has announced the relevant measures, attack the Hong Kong SAR in safeguarding national security dutifully, faithfully and in accordance with the law. The Hong Kong SAR law enforcement agencies have been taking law enforcement actions based on evidence and strictly in accordance with the law in respect of the acts of the persons or entities concerned, and have nothing to do with their political stance, background or occupation. The Hong Kong SAR Government said it has the responsibility to pursue those who have allegedly committed offences endangering national security and absconded overseas in accordance with the law. It emphasised that absconders should not think they can evade criminal liability by absconding from Hong Kong. Ultimately, they will be liable for their acts constituting serious offences endangering national security and be sanctioned by the law. The Hong Kong SAR Government reiterated that the Constitution and the Basic Law steadfastly safeguard the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong people. It said any attempt by foreign countries or external forces to undermine Hong Kong’s situation will only expose their own weakness and faulty arguments and be doomed to fail, adding that it will continue to unwaveringly discharge its duty in safeguarding national security.The best indoor TV antenna of 2024: Expert tested

New Delhi, December 24: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the three new criminal laws -? Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -? are becoming protectors of civil rights and the basis of 'ease of justice'. Chairing a review meeting here on the implementation of the three criminal laws in Uttarakhand, Shah asked Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to put into effect the new laws 100 per cent as soon as possible. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which came into effect on July 1, replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 respectively. During the discussion in the meeting, Shah said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the three new criminal laws are becoming the protectors of civil rights and the basis of 'ease of justice', an official statement said. Create Data-rich Platform to Benefit Investigation Officers: Amit Shah to NCRB . Shah said the new laws are victim and citizen centric and they need to be implemented promptly with this spirit. He said the Uttarakhand government should make efforts to fill the gaps in technology and other areas for 100 per cent implementation of the new laws. The home minister said the Uttarakhand government should give priority to 100 per cent implementation of the new laws in all police stations and jails in areas where more FIRs are registered. The meeting reviewed the implementation and current status of various new provisions related to police, jails, courts, prosecution and forensics in Uttarakhand, the statement said. Emphasising on the use of technology, Shah said more than one forensic mobile van should be available in every district of the state. He said for forensic visits, teams should be divided into three categories - serious, normal and very normal, so that resources can be utilised better. Along with this, the home minister also emphasised that a protocol should be made to decide the designated place for video conferencing and the cameras installed at all places should be of excellent quality. He said there should be regular and continuous monitoring of how many of the accused named under the Zero FIRs registered have been brought to justice and how many FIRs have been transferred to the states. Amit Shah to Dedicate over 10k Multipurpose PACS, Distribute Micro-ATMs . Shah asked Dhami to review the progress of implementation of the three new laws every 15 days and the chief secretary and DGP once a week with the officials of all the departments concerned. He suggested to the DGP of Uttarakhand to ensure that all the Superintendents of Police investigate the cases within the prescribed timelines. Besides Shah and Dhami, top officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Uttarakhand government attended the meeting. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma appears to have borrowed from the past to cure its recent offensive ills. The Sooners , best known this century for a passing prowess that has produced four Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, took it back to the 20th century against then-No. 7 Alabama. Oklahoma ran 50 times for 257 yards while only throwing 12 times in a 24-3 win over the Crimson Tide that took coach Brent Venables off the hot seat. The Sooners more resembled Barry Switzer’s squads that dominated the old Big 8 with the wishbone offense in the 1970s and ’80s than the more recent Air Raid teams. Venables said the change was a matter of necessity for a unit that has been besieged by injuries at receiver and offensive line. “I think this staff has done a really good job with trying to figure that out, get better every week, put together a great gameplan but also figure out, ‘OK, what does this group of guys, what does this team — what do we need to do?'” Venables said. To make it work, Oklahoma needed to trust that such a change would work in the modern Southeastern Conference. They had to implement it with an interim play-caller in Joe Jon Finley, who stepped in after the Sooners fired Seth Littrell last month. Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5 SEC) pulled it off, and LSU coach Brian Kelly has taken notice ahead of their game on Saturday. “This is now much more about controlling the football, running the football, playing with physicality," Kelly said. "They've got perimeter skill, but I think it's centered around much more of a run-centric, quarterback run and take care of the football." The Sooners started to see success on the ground against Maine. They ran 52 times for 381 yards in a 59-14 win that got the wheels turning. Jovantae Barnes ran for career highs of 203 yards and three touchdowns that day. Venables said the timing of the opportunity to play that non-conference game against Maine in early November and figure some things out was perfect. “Everybody has some degree of vulnerability and maybe some self-doubt,” he said. “And just developing some confidence and putting something on tape other than practice, like, ‘Man, look, see what you’re capable of?’ And executing against, again, a well-coached team — certainly, we played off of that in all the right ways like you would expect us to. And so there’s a real place for that.” After a bye week, the Sooners tried the same approach against Missouri. It wasn't as successful — they ran 36 times for 122 yards — but they hung tough before losing 30-23 . The Sooners went all in against Alabama. Jackson Arnold — the same guy who threw 45 times in the Alamo Bowl last year, ran 25 times for 131 yards and threw just 11 passes. The Sooners found something in running back Xavier Robinson. With Barnes out with an injury, Robinson carried 18 times for career highs of 107 yards and two touchdowns. Suddenly, a team that had been forcing the pass and getting sacked at an alarming rate was moving the line of scrimmage and controlling the tempo. Oklahoma had the ball for more than 34 minutes against the Crimson Tide, lending support to a talented defense that had been spending way too much time on the field. The new approach could be helpful on Saturday — LSU (7-4, 4-3) ranks 14th out of 16 conference teams against the run. Venables said the Sooners still need to throw the ball well to win, but he's glad to know his squad can run with force when necessary. “I think that’s the art of having a system that’s adjustable, flexible, adaptable, week in and week out, but also has an identity — toughness, physicality," he said. "You’ve got to be able to run the ball at every level of football, but you do have to throw it. You can’t just do one thing. But we need to be efficient.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Sporting 1-5 Arsenal: Highlights, man of the match, stats as Mikel Arteta's men run riot in Champions League

Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. This handout from an animated video provided by ESPN shows a scene from Atoms Stadium in Springfield from “The Simpsons” that will be used for “The Simpsons Funday Football,” an alternate broadcast on ESPN+ and Disney+ for the Dec. 9, 2024, game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys. Credit: AP Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” he said. ”And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy -- he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.”2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animals

NASSAU, Bahamas — Justin Thomas was long off the tee and made a few long putts on the back nine to overtake Scottie Scheffler with a 6-under 66 and build a one-shot lead Saturday over golf's best player going into the final round of the Hero World Challenge. Thomas is trying out a 46-inch driver — a little more than an inch longer than normal — that he previously used for practice at home to gain speed and length. He blasted a 361-yard drive to 8 feet on the par-4 seventh hole and led the field in driving distance. But it was a few long putts that put him ahead of Scheffler, who had a 69. Thomas was on the verge of falling two shots behind when he made an 18-foot par putt on the par-3 12th hole. On the reachable par-4 14th, he was in a nasty spot in a sandy area and could only splash it out to nearly 50 feet. He made that one for a most unlikely birdie, while behind him Scheffler muffed a chip on the 13th hole and made his lone bogey of a windy day. Scheffler never caught up to him, missing birdie chances on the reachable 14th and the par-5 15th. Thomas hit his approach to 3 feet for birdie on the 16th after a 343-yard drive. Scheffler made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th to close within one. Scheffler missed birdie chances on the last two holes from the 10-foot and 15-foot range, while Thomas missed an 8-foot birdie attempt at the last. "I had a stretch at 13, 14, 15 where I felt like I lost a shot or two there, but outside of that I did a lot of really good things today," Scheffler said. Thomas hasn't won since the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, and a victory at Albany Golf Club wouldn't count as an official win. But the two-time major champion has made steady progress toward getting his game back in order. "I'm driving it great. I've had a lot of confidence with it," Thomas said of his longer driver. "I feel like I've been able to put myself in some pretty good spots going into the green. I'm still not taking advantage of some of them as much as I would like, but that's golf and we're always going to say that." Thomas was at 17-under 199 and will be in the final group Sunday with Scheffler, who is trying to end his spectacular season with a ninth title. Tom Kim put himself in the mix, which he might not have imagined Thursday when he was 3 over through six holes of the holiday tournament. Kim got back in the game with a 65 on Friday, and then followed with 12 birdies for a 62. He had a shot at the course record — Rickie Fowler shot 61 in the final round when he won at Albany in 2017 — until Kim found a bunker and took two shots to reach the green in making a double bogey on the par-3 17th. Even so, he was only two shots behind. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley (68) was four back. "Feel like I've been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that's all I can do," Thomas said. "I can't control everybody else or what's going on, I've just got to keep playing as good as I possibly can and hope that it's enough come Sunday."

First trans US congresswoman already in Republican crosshairsVaranasi: Amid tension at the Uday Pratap College here over a mosque located on its premises, police on Saturday arrested five people for allegedly spreading rumours, officials said. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Cantonment, Vidush Saxena said, “We have arrested one Mukhtar Ahmed and four others for spreading rumours that could lead to disharmony among communities.” A case in this regard was lodged a few days ago, the officer said. The move followed Tuesday’s unrest after students recited the Hanuman Chalisa when namaz was being offered near the mosque. Seven men were briefly detained after the row on Tuesday, according to the local police. In a related development, students of the college have formed a “student court” and sent an 11-point letter to the Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board, demanding a response within 15 days regarding the status of the mosque and its ownership. Mohammad Yaseen, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, had earlier said that he wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Central Waqf Board to check the status of the mosque on Tuesday itself. “The Uttar Pradesh Central Waqf Board has clarified that its 2018 notice claiming the mosque as Waqf property was cancelled on January 18, 2021. There is no reason for the current controversy,” Yaseen had claimed. The tension arose after students protested against “outsiders” offering prayers at the mosque, citing concerns about unauthorised entry into the college campus. On Friday, hundreds of students gathered at the college gate, shouting “Jai Shri Ram” and waving saffron flags. They attempted to enter the campus, but the police personnel stationed at the gate prevented them from doing so. A local official said the college management had reached out to the administration, seeking verification of the identity of the entrants to the campus and that police have since been vigilant to prevent further disruptions.