Latest news with #OldGuard
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Charlize Theron Explains Why She Dislikes Online Dating: ‘Every Guy Has a Burning Man Picture' and 'They're, Like, a CEO of Nothing'
Charlize Theron revealed she is on the dating app Raya but doesn't 'like' it She shared that "every guy has a Burning Man picture" went on to say that men on the dating platform are all "a CEO of nothing" Theron will soon reprise her Old Guard role for Old Guard 2Charlize Theron is getting real about the reason she's no longer active on the dating app Raya. In the Thursday, June 26, episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the host, 57, posed a question from a viewer. The viewer asked if it was true that Theron, 49, was on Raya. The actress replied, "I am." Cohen jumped in, "Oh, yeah? I am, too." Theron then said, "I don't do anything with it," to which Cohen said "Right, you don't?" She elaborated, "A friend put me on it, I went on two dates. Because every week it's every guy has a Burning Man picture. And they're, like, a CEO, like, of nothing," she said in reference to the the desert art festival, to which the audience erupted into laughter. "And they're all like, into fitness..." Theron said, to which Cohen quipped, "Or like a creative director of nothing." Theron concluded, "Then you meet with them, and they're not. I just say it up front. I'm like, 'Well, why did you put that on your thing?' No, I don't like it." Theron appeared opposite Old Guard 2 costar Henry Golding on the show. The superhero film comes as a sequel to its 2020 predecessor Old Guard, based on the comic book of the same name by Leandro Fernández and Greg Rucka. In her recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday, June 24, the actress shared a humorous story about her children's reaction to her mullet haircut for the film. 'This was not a prop mullet. This was a real mullet?' Seth Meyers, 51, asked. 'No, that's a real mullet,' Theron confirmed. She recounted their reaction to her new haircut. 'I have two girls, and they're very…they're mostly very girly. And they think of me as a princess,' Theron says of her daughters Jackson, 12, and August, 9. 'And they want Mom to look like a princess.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. She continued, 'One literally started bawling her eyes out," she says. "And I had to actually sit down with her and say, 'We all get to be who we want to be. And right now, Mom wants to wear a mullet.' I don't tell you what to do with your hair.' Old Guard 2 will be released on July 2 on Netflix. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We Asked An Expert Why Soldiers Were Marching So Badly In Trump's Military Parade, And Her Reasoning Makes Sense
This weekend, there was a military parade in DC to mark Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the US Army — and definitely, totally not for President Donald Trump's birthday. If you've seen any clips going viral from the event, you've likely noticed that many soldiers were marching out of sync with one another, or generally appeared to have pretty low energy, certainly not what one imagines when they conjure the image of a strongman military parade. It led to some speculating that the marching (or lack thereof) may have been a form of political protest. So, I spoke to Charlotte Clymer, an activist and DC-based writer, who covered the topic in her Substack "Charlotte's Web Thoughts." She served in the US Army from 2005–2012, including three years in the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). Of her time in the Old Guard, she said, "I probably did hundreds of parades and various ceremonies, to say nothing of all the funerals that we carried out in Arlington National Cemetery. Beyond the actual missions, we were doing training all the time. We're talking 1000s of hours of drilling, marching, and various preparations for those ceremonies." Charlotte, like some of the other veterans I spoke to, said that she initially hadn't planned to watch the parade. However, after being sent clips while she was at a No Kings protest, she was "surprised" and "beyond shocked" when she watched the whole thing. She said, "That is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. The glaring nature of the poor quality of the marching really kind of shook me. And I know that might sound strange for people to hear, because for most folks, it's just a military parade. It's not that big a deal." Related: "Let Them Eat Teslas": People At The "No Kings" Protests This Weekend Brought Signs That Were So Clever I'm Still Laughing About Them "But you have to understand, even beyond the whole honor aspect of this and discipline, fidelity to the mission, there's also just the consequences of not performing to standard in a military operation, even if it is just a parade," she continued. "Part of what makes soldiers meet a high standard of excellence is knowing there will be consequences if we don't. And in a parade of that public significance on national television, with the whole country watching, every soldier marching in that parade would normally understand that if they fail to meet at least a basic standard, they're going to face consequences for it." Charlotte doesn't buy that some of the soldiers simply were from units that weren't used to marching. "Every soldier learns how to march during basic training, and it's not hard. It's remarkably easy," she continued, noting that the soldiers will have had a dress rehearsal a few days prior. Related: Well, Well, Well, For The Second Time In 2 Weeks, People Are Letting JD Vance Know EXACTLY How They Feel About Him In Public As for why we saw what we saw, she said, "I don't think this was a protest against Trump, or anything adjacent to anti-fascism or concern with how the government is operating. I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think this is just because they were treated very poorly and they didn't care. I think the soldiers who were misstepping during the parade — there were a lot of them — were just tired, annoyed, probably to some extent angry, and they just did not give enough of a shit to march to a high standard of excellence." Part of the annoyance, Charlotte thinks, may have stemmed from many of the Army members likely having to travel from out of town, staying in not-great lodgings, waking up early, and then spending hours waiting for their turn to march — "their comfort and dignity really were an afterthought." However, she also thinks it may have been because the parade itself was "completely unnecessary." "Everyone is aware that this parade was done in service of Donald Trump — even the soldiers who likely voted for him know it was done in service to his ego. And I don't know about you, but I would never want to participate in the parade so that a lone individual could feel good about themselves," she explained. "Of course, we want to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army. But everyone is aware that that's simply a proxy for Trump celebrating himself. He wanted to recreate what he saw in North Korea, in France, in these other countries, these massive, flashy military parades that really would center him. He wanted a tyrant celebration. Everyone was aware of that, and I think their unhappiness showed through pretty clearly." Charlotte compared the parade with the inaugural parade, where "you'll almost never see a soldier out of step." Calling this event "deeply embarrassing," she said, "There are unfriendly nations probably watching this and wondering, does this military really support its commander-in-chief?" Speaking to how the parade might reflect on potential military use in city protests, Charlotte said, "The whole point of having our military is to protect the Constitution and the people the Constitution is meant to serve. If we don't have a military that is nonpartisan, that serves lawful orders of the President by the direction of the Constitution, we're in big trouble. At the moment, it's pretty clear that there has been some degree of dissension and unhappiness in the ranks, whether or not that has to do with politics or the way the troops are being treated. This is a complex conversation, but it is clear that there is a deep unhappiness in the military at the moment." Charlotte later emailed us to add, "It was like watching a professional baseball game and the players drop easy, routine pop flies numerous times. It was that level of surreal embarrassment." You can read more about the parade here. Also in In the News: "Honestly Speechless At How Evil This Is": 26 Brutal, Brutal, Brutal Political Tweets Of The Week Also in In the News: This Dem Lawmaker Is Going Viral For His Extremely Shady Question To Secretary Kristi Noem Also in In the News: This Conservative Said He Wears A Fake ICE Uniform For A Really, Really, Really Gross Reason
Fox News
06-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
Army's historic horse-drawn funeral tradition returns from two-year hiatus after $28M overhaul
The U.S. Army's Caisson Detachment returned to Arlington National Cemetery this week for the first time in two years. In Section 62, the ceremonial horse unit that transports veterans and service members to their final resting place, escorted the remains of Private Bernard Curran, who was killed in World War II. Curran died in 1942 after being captured by the Japanese. He was buried alongside other prisoners of war in Common Grave 723 in the Philippines. He was brought back home to the United States after his remains were identified by the U.S. military last year. The hallowed grounds of Arlington were decided to be his final resting place. The ceremony marked the return of the Caisson Detachment after a two-year suspension. The program faced a massive overhaul after two horses died within 96-hours of each other due to poor living conditions. The US Army's Caisson platoon is part of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, famously responsible for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Caisson horses have pulled the flag-draped coffins of America's war heroes to their final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery for more than 70 years. This is a military tradition that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who served in an Armored Infantry unit in Iraq, explained dates back hundreds of years. "The Caisson units in the military go back hundreds and hundreds of years, when militaries and armies want to show respect and love for their soldiers, soldiers who have served honorably and the soldiers who died in war," Driscoll said in an exclusive interview with Fox News. The Caisson program was halted in May 2023 while the Army investigated concerns that the horses used to pull the caisson were suffering from dangerous living conditions and neglect. "We had two horses die within four days of each other," Driscoll said. "And so we did a pause to all the operations and the Army took a hard look at what was causing that. What they found is these horses and their care had kind of fallen through the cracks." In February 2022, two Caisson horses, Mickey and Tony, died within 96 hours of each other. Both were euthanized due to poor conditions and feeding. Tony was found to have ingested 44 pounds of gravel and sand while Mickey had a gastrointestinal illness that went untreated. Another two horses died within the year, raising concerns within the Army and denying families this ceremonial tradition. "We hadn't done a particularly good job as an Army in all instances of making sure the training was good and that the horses were taken care of, so we took a pause. It was originally meant to be a 45-day pause that then as the government and sometimes the Army, it stretched on and on," Driscoll said. The Caisson unit was living in stables at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia at the time. A U.S. Army report found that conditions among the aging horses at decrepit stables located at Fort Meyer, that had been built in 1908, were inadequate to house the ceremonial horses. The horses were fed low quality hay, and routinely suffered from parasites from standing in their own excrement. They ate their feed off the ground in mud lots covered in gravel and construction waste, according to the report. Major General Trevor Bredenkamp, who serves as Commanding General of Joint Task Force National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, took command shortly after the Caisson program was suspended. "We had to rehabilitate many of our horses and what we found is years of underinvestment. They were injured beyond the point where they could still continue the mission, and so we had to retire them, and then we had to procure new horses… we found we lacked a degree of expertise to care for these horses," Bredenkamp said. He oversaw the complete overhaul of the unit. "It wasn't a problem that manifested itself overnight. This was decades of under-investment. We understood that gravel impaction was a significant problem because there was feed that was on the ground. We didn't have the appropriate matting in the stalls and so gravel could easily become mixed in with hay or with ground cover, and so we have raised all of the feed off of the ground, we've got feed bags hanging on the inside of the stalls. We have also put rubber matting on there again to prevent the possibility of gravel being ingested by the horses," Bredenkamp explained. The Army set out to find the best horse trainers in the country. "We brought in these outside experts. We created a plan. We invested $28 million in it over the last two years," Driscoll said. Lt. Col. Jason Crawford is a trained Army veterinarian who has been riding horses his whole life. Crawford was promoted to become the new caisson detachment commander earlier this year. "We've now had civilian trainers on our squads, on each individual squad, as well as within our leadership," Crawford explained. It was dental day when Crawford showed the Fox News crew around the newly renovated stable. "We've been doing dental procedures on all these horses, and we got them on a good routine now, and that's one of the other big changes, is really being persistent about their care," Crawford said. The Caisson unit has to choose their horses carefully. The unit will be doing up to two funerals a day, up 10 per week on the hard pavement of Arlington National Cemetery. "Unlike some of the other smaller breed horses, they're going to be on the concrete and the pavement. So really having strong feet for them to actually move through the cemetery is very vital. The biggest thing we look at is just being tall, wide, and have a good strong back and a solid hindquarters and solid legs," Crawford said. It takes a special horse to complete the mission of escorting America's heroes to their final resting place. "The way I look at anything with the horses, especially at military animals, is they're an extension of us. And it's that extension of what our abilities that we can do. Anything, you know, whether it's a working dog in the battlefield or if it's a horse we're using in Arlington Cemetery," Crawford said. The Army has returned the Caisson unit to its storied role after renovating the stables, and overhauling the care of the caisson horses using the best practices learned from the nation's top equine experts and equestrians. "I would say, though this horse cannot speak, I think it would say that it is living one of the best lives of any horse in our country," Driscoll said. Bredenkamp, who led the overhaul of the unit, explained, "As a 33-year veteran of the United States military, it is a visible reminder of the solemnity of service. When we carry our honored dead to our final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery, it is a visible symbol of American resolve and honor."
Indian Express
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Discover the ‘write' side of Shashi Tharoor
Diplomat, party spokesperson, civil servant, minister, wordsmith—even a stand-up comic (for a short time): Shashi Tharoor wears many hats—and wears them well. But the man who is currently going around the world, casting wordy spells as he carries India's message on Operation Sindoor to the global stage, is also a remarkably prolific author. In fact, he first came to national (indeed, international) attention with a book: The Great Indian Novel (1989). And as in other walks of life, his literary work is rich in variety. You might expect him to focus primarily on political matters, but Tharoor has never limited himself to any one genre. He has written biographies, essays (including on cricket), analyses, travelogues, critiques, and even novels. Indeed, until he pens a proper, no-holds-barred autobiography (and we're sure he will), his books—he has nearly two dozen to his name and surely more to come—are an excellent way to understand the man who weaves magic with his words, spoken and written, for a wide variety of audiences. The Great Indian Novel (1989) brought Shashi Tharoor into the literary spotlight in the late 80s. A work of fiction, it remains his most famous—and, in the opinion of many (us included), his best book. It showcases all the Tharoor hallmarks: wit, humour, wordplay, and sarcasm, blended with a keen sense of history and mythology. And what history and mythology it is—because The Great Indian Novel is actually a retelling and reimagining of the Indian freedom struggle and the decades that followed, narrated in the style of perhaps the greatest Indian epic of them all, the Mahabharata. Tharoor reimagines characters from Ved Vyas' epic as legendary freedom fighters and political figures, often blending names with telling effect. Across its 380-odd pages, you'll encounter Jayaprakash Drona, Priya Duryodhini, Mohammad Ali Karna, the Kaurav Party (Real), and the Kaurav Party (Old Guard). Often darkly funny, sometimes moving, and always fast-paced, this is one of those rare books that can be picked up for sheer entertainment, only to leave the reader deep in thought—accompanied by the occasional giggle. Indian leaders have generally not been well-served by their biographers. Most biographies tend to be either overly critical or excessively hagiographical—rambling affairs, rich in detail but poor in narrative. Tharoor changed that with his compact biography of Jawaharlal Nehru in 2003. Nehru: The Invention of India was released in a small, almost pocketbook format, spanning just over 275 pages. Yet it offered a more complete picture of India's first Prime Minister than many far weightier tomes. Tharoor's take on Nehru is largely positive, but what makes the book special is its ability to capture Nehru's essence and his importance to India without falling into excessive adulation. He notes Nehru's 'classic Little Lord Fauntleroy upbringing' and does not shy away from discussing how a corrupt bureaucracy is as much a part of Nehru's legacy as his achievements. Tharoor sticks to sound narrative basics—no extravagant flourishes here. In this, he's like a stroke player curbing flair for the sake of a bigger score. The result is perhaps the best short biography ever written of any Indian leader: succinct yet substantial. If there is one book you should read about Nehru—it is this, it is this, it is this. A significant portion of Tharoor's writing post his entry into active politics reflects the views of his party and its leadership. However, there are moments when he takes off his political hat and dons his academic one. One of those moments was An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (2017). Later re-released as Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India, the book won the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism (2017) and the Sahitya Akademi Award (2019). Inspired by his now-viral 2015 Oxford Union speech on colonial reparations, the book—about 330 pages long—is perhaps the most accessible, easy-to-read account of the consequences of British colonial rule in India. Some academics have called it one-sided and bitter, but Tharoor's righteous outrage burns through the pages. 'Britain's rise for two hundred years was financed by its depredation of India,' he observes, dismantling the myths that suggest the British gave India political unity or a free press. This is Tharoor in debate mode—armed with data, arguments, and flashes of wit and sarcasm. It's compelling stuff, even if classic historians might occasionally wince. Agathokakological, fefenestrate, floccinaucinihilipilification… Booking that Tharoor Vocabulary Shashi Tharoor's command of the English language has achieved near-legendary status. His use of words many have never encountered has repeatedly expanded his audience's vocabulary. For those enchanted by his linguistic flair, Tharoorosaurus (Penguin Random House, 2020) is the perfect pick. A compact volume (336 pages), it's easily the most entertaining book Tharoor has written. It features 53 of his favourite rare words, with definitions, etymologies, trivia, and even cartoons. Included are delights like Agathokakological, Cromulent, Defenestrate, Floccinaucinihilipilification, Kakistocracy, Rodomontade, and Snollygoster, alongside more familiar terms like Vigilante, Yogi, and Namaste. Whether or not he ever pens a tell-all memoir, we hope Tharoor writes several sequels to this book. It may not be as profound as some of his other works, but it delivers information memorably and always with a smile. A bit like the man himself.
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
'God did that': Trump marks Memorial Day and trumpets his second-term successes
'God did that': Trump marks Memorial Day and trumpets his second-term successes President Trump's remarks at Arlington National Cemetery contrasted with his more-combative public comments from throughout the long holiday weekend Show Caption Hide Caption Army soldiers place Memorial Day flags in Arlington National Cemetery The Old Guard placed about 260,000 flags at the gravestones of service members and their families at Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day. WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump delivered a history-laden Memorial Day speech after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, his remarks echoing against the solemn backdrop of Arlington National Cemetery, final resting place of more than 400,000 veterans and their family members. The second-term Republican president's remarks contrasted with his other more-combative public comments from throughout the long holiday weekend, including an all-caps message sent just hours earlier that swung hard at his political opponents and federal judges. Drawing upon the ongoing 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, Trump shared the names and ages of a few of the colonists killed at the 1775 battle of Lexington and Concord, which marked the start of the colonialists' revolt against British rule. "Brave Minutemen and farm boys became the first to give their lives for a nation that did not yet have a name," Trump said. "Their deaths ... ignited the flame of liberty that now lights, inspires everybody in the entire world." Trump also, in keeping with Memorial Day speeches delivered during his first administration, highlighted Gold Star families from the country's recent wars. He mentioned Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, a Navy cryptologic technician and mother of two who was killed in a January 2019 suicide bombing in Syria. "Shannon was on her fifth combat deployment, embedded with a team hunting ISIS terrorists through the streets of Syria" when she was killed, Trump said. Kent's husband, Joe, is a former Army Green Beret and CIA paramilitary officer who is currently nominated to head the National Counterterrorism Center. Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined Trump at Arlington. Memorial Day, which originated in 1868 as a day to remember U.S. Civil War dead, was standardized as a federal holiday honoring all fallen members of the U.S. military beginning in 1971. Vance and Hegseth reiterated the administration's objective of avoiding foreign conflicts in their remarks. "The best way to honor our fallen is to only ask the next generation to make the ultimate sacrifice when they absolutely must," Vance said. Hegseth, referring to the Arlington war dead, said, "The duty we owe these men is peace, which can only be achieved through strength." Trump's Memorial Day Truth Social post Save for a brief interlude where he described a "long and hard four years" with "people pouring through our borders unchecked," Trump largely avoided partisan jabs during his address. But in the hours before the ceremony and in his May 24 commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Trump used the holiday to go after his domestic political opponents. "HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS," Trump wrote on Truth Social on May 26. The president also attacked the federal judiciary in his all-caps posting, calling judges who impede his agenda "MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL." And while addressing the nation's newest Army officers, the thrice-married president detailed the purported risks of "trophy wives" and celebrated the end of "critical race theory or transgender for everybody forced onto our brave men and women in uniform — or on anybody else for that matter, in this country," while invoking the memory of Al Capone. At the Tomb, the president also professed his excitement for the number of symbolic events occurring in the years ahead. 'God did that': Trump on timing of Army's 250th birthday, World Cup, Olympics As Trump spoke about the 'immense and ultimate sacrifices' of American soldiers over the past 250 years, he brought up the fact that the U.S. Army was planning to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding with a parade on June 14. That event also happens to fall on Trump's 79th birthday. 'We're going to have a big, big celebration,' said Trump. 'I'm glad I missed that second term … because I wouldn't be your president for that.' Trump, who lost the 2020 election, would have missed the event had he been elected to a consecutive second term. During his current term, Trump is also expected to preside over the FIFA World Cup in 2026, which the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico as well as the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. Trump said God had willed the trifecta of events. 'Now look what I have,' he said. 'I have everything. Amazing the way things work out. God did that.' After the ceremony ended, Trump quickly departed to play a round of golf.
