Looking at camp right in the eye

Here are 10 observations from the first two weeks of Miami Dolphins training camp: 1. The linebackers were the most interesting unit of the first Dolphins’ depth chart . Melvin Ingram is listed as an outside starter over Andrew Van Ginkel. That’s not a big deal as both will play. The point here is they like Ingram this much, though the larger point is to ask if the Ingram of August will be the same as the Ingram of December and January. He’s 33 with a history of injuries. He had stops at two blue-chip franchises, Pittsburgh and Kansas City, the last two seasons and didn’t stick. But if the Dolphins get anything close to the Melvin Ingram of the Chargers then they have found someone valuable. We’re still in the message-sending part of an NFL, so we don’t know if the Dolphins’ message is they like Ingram this much or want to push Van Ginkel. Maybe both? 2. A couple of items regarding the Dolphins’ tampering penalties for recruiting Tom Brady back to his New England days and Sean … [Read more...] about Hyde10: 10 Dolphins camp thoughts — Depth chart is telling; Patriots offense struggling; Did Robert Kraft push for tampering penalty?

A Communist Party propaganda organ called the “China Society for Human Rights Studies” published a report on Tuesday accusing America of “barbarity, cruelty and perniciousness” and a particular hostility to “Islamic civilization.” Communist China is currently engaging in genocide against multiple Muslim-majority ethnic groups in East Turkistan, an occupied western region China refers to as “Xinjiang.” Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other native groups in the region are facing state-sponsored erasure through imprisonment in concentration camps, enslavement, forced sterilization, and forced cultural assimilation, including practices such as forcing Muslims to eat pork and worship dictator Xi Jinping. The China Society for Human Rights report did not mention the Uyghur genocide, which the Chinese government claims is an “anti-terrorist” operation. It instead condemned America’s defensive actions against al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other jihadist terrorists as unjustifiable human … [Read more...] about China Says U.S. Is ‘Hostile to Islamic Civilization’ While Committing Genocide Against Muslims

Christina Bobb, one of former President Donald Trump’s attorneys, said on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are using the “guise” of “national security” to evade public transparency regarding its execution of a raid on the 45th president’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. “I think this is clearly a situation where they’re looking for a way that they can easily prosecute President Trump,” Bobb said in an interview with RSBN’s Brian Glenn. She remarked: They want to do it under a national security-type guise, because they can hide things from the public and they can say, “Oh, we can’t tell you. We can’t give you the details, because it’s privileged or it’s confidential information subject to national security concerns. So we can’t tell you, but we’re just going to prosecute the most popular … president in American history.” So it’s cloak and dagger. They’re trying to shield what they’re doing and prevent … [Read more...] about Trump Attorney on Mar-a-Lago Raid: DOJ, FBI Use ‘Guise’ of ‘National Security’ to ‘Hide Things’

The Chicago Bears are two weeks into training camp for what surely will be a trying first season under general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus. As the Bears inch toward their preseason opener Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs, our team of writers weighs in on four timely topics. Note: This story published before linebacker Roquan Smith requested a trade Tuesday morning. 1. Roquan Smith’s hold-in is ___. Brad Biggs: An early challenge for Poles. There’s no doubt other players and agents will be watching closely to see how this plays out, but I don’t sense the Bears are at a point where the situation would adversely affect a season that will have plenty of issues created by outside forces. When I step back and look at this situation, it’s easy to understand both sides. Smith has put in four very good seasons and is seeking the kind of reward that brings long-term security. He surely would like to be one of the highest-paid interior linebackers in … [Read more...] about Has the offense made any progress? What position is the most concerning? 4 timely questions about the Chicago Bears.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he thinks the league needed to keep pushing for a year-long suspension for Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson because of his “egregious” and “predatory behavior” toward women. Speaking at the owners’ meetings Tuesday in Bloomington, Minn., Goodell addressed the league’s decision to appeal a six-game suspension given to Watson by Sue L. Robinson, a former federal judge appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association as an independent league disciplinary officer. Robinson found Watson, 26, violated the league’s conduct policy after he was accused by two dozen women of sexual assault or harassment while he played for Houston. Watson has settled 23 of the 24 lawsuits filed by the women, though he denied wrongdoing. The league has been seeking an indefinite suspension and fine for Watson, and believes Robinson’s six-game ban wasn’t enough. Goodell cited the collective bargaining agreement for empowering the league to seek further discipline. … [Read more...] about Roger Goodell says QB Deshaun Watson needs year-long suspension, not 6 games

GAZA — It took five rounds of in vitro fertilization treatments for a Palestinian woman named Najwa Abu Hamadeh to conceive her only child. It took just one missile to take her son away from her forever. And as Israel and Palestinian militants agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that has halted the latest outbreak of fighting in Gaza , she was mourning her boy, 18-year-old Khalil. “Yesterday, my son and I were having dinner,” Hamadeh, 48, who lives in the crowded Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, told NBC News on Sunday. “He quickly went out of the house before we finished dinner” to join his friends. Moment later, she said, “there was a strong bombardment” that shook her home. Hamadeh said she threw on more clothes and raced out of her house, screaming for her son. She said she ran into a neighbor who was looking for her son Ahmed, also known as Hamada. “My son Hamada! My son Hamada!” the neighbor was yelling, she said. “Hamada and my son went out … [Read more...] about A Gaza mother mourns her only child killed by a missile in the latest Israeli-Palestinian fighting