Every day is stupid now, but not all stupid days are created equal. Some days are darkly energizing. You want to shout from the rooftops: Look at all the damage these malevolent, clueless jerks are doing! Other days, when the stupidity feels less evil than pointless, are enervating: You’d rather just log off and take a nap. You have to remind yourself: These are actually the good stupid days. You’d rather these than the others.
Yesterday was of the latter category. Markets had been sagging for days over Donald Trump’s inexplicable trade war with Mexico and Canada, and he had plainly been looking for an off-ramp. Mexico was giving him an easy one: President Claudia Sheinbaum had held off on imposing retaliatory tariffs before this weekend and was taking pains not to say anything that would ruffle Trump’s feathers.
Canada, by contrast, was meeting fire with fire—imposing immediate retaliatory tariffs and threatening worse. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was punching back hard against Trump’s rhetoric about making Canada the 51st U.S. state.
So on Thursday, when Trump praised Sheinbaum, denounced Trudeau, and announced he was delaying most tariff hikes on Mexico for another month, the moral seemed clear: Even under the most insane circumstances, flattery works. Until a few hours later—when Trump quietly pushed back tariffs on Canada as well.
What did it all mean? Who was it all for? Who knows! Just a few days of pointless value-destroying market chaos, begun at whim, ended at whim. Tune in April 2 and we’ll do the whole thing over again.
Then there was DOGE. Elon Musk’s arson brigade, as we never tire of telling you, has been stepping on rake after rake recently, and Trump finally seemed to decide yesterday that the time had come to yank the chain. During a cabinet meeting this morning—at which Musk was again present—Trump told his agency heads that they, not Musk, had ultimate authority over staffing. Meanwhile, he again signaled that his favor was shifting: “As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet.’” (Or, one assumes, the chainsaw.)
A significant development, it seemed! Until a few hours later—when he undercut it completely in Oval Office remarks to reporters: “Elon and the group are going to be watching them. If they can cut, it’s better. And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.”
It’s unlikely, of course, that any of this will hurt Trump with his core constituency: The president is blessed with a deeply credulous base that is perfectly willing to chalk up all flip-flops, swerves, and flailings as the 4D chess moves of a master negotiator.
But the rest of us should take comfort in it, even as we worry that we get actively dumber just reading about it. In some crucial ways, Trump is on a pitch clock: The longer he flounders, the less markets trust him and the less popular he becomes. And the less markets trust him and the less popular he becomes, the more he will stress about how to reverse those trends—which only makes him more indecisive, leading to more whiplash-inducing stories like the ones we saw yesterday. It’s a vicious cycle, the upshot of which is that he gets worse at making America and the world worse in a timely way. It’s a good start.
You know what else is a good start . . . to your day? Joining the Morning Shotscommunity in the comments. Become a Bulwark+ member to gain access.
The order encouraging the “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” seeks to erode Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection rules in favor of the expansion of tree felling across 280 million acres of United States national forests, as well as other public lands, for timber, reported The Guardian.
“This Trump executive order is the most blatant attempt in American history by a president to hand over federal public lands to the logging industry,” said wildfire scientist Chad Hanson with the John Muir Project. “What’s worse, the executive order is built on a lie, as Trump falsely claims that more logging will curb wildfires and protect communities, while the overwhelming weight of evidence shows exactly the opposite.”
The order goes as far as setting an annual target for the amount of timber offered for sale, along with other measures, which could lead to widespread clear-cutting, a press release from Earthjustice said.
After nearly a decade of glowing on your TV screen while you put together a sheet pan dinner, Lester Holt is stepping down as anchor of NBC Nightly News.
Holt took on the position in 2015 after the departure of Brian Williams during a tumultuous time for the network, becoming a beloved figure of nightly news. He’ll step down this summer to take on a full-time role at Dateline, where he’s been the principal anchor since 2011.
End of an era: Holt is the latest high-profile news anchor to step away from his post, as cable TV falters in the digital age and networks cut costs by ditching star power:
Joy Reid will leave her position as a host at MSNBC after her show was cancelled, the network announced yesterday.
Norah O’Donnell recently left her spot as anchor of CBS Evening News.
Over the last several months, Chris Wallace left CNN, Chuck Todd departed from NBC News, and Hoda Kotb left NBC’s Today.
Zoom out: NBC didn’t immediately name a successor for the post-Holt era, but whoever it is will need a certain Je ne sais quoi to draw viewers away from increasingly popular social media “news influencers.”—CC
Bishop’s Gaiters claim RSEQ titles, advance to U SPORTS championships
Record Staff
The Bishop’s University Gaiters celebrated a historic weekend as both the men’s and women’s basketball teams secured RSEQ Championships, while the women’s hockey team advanced to the U SPORTS Nationals for the first time in program history. The victories mark a major milestone for Bishop’s athletics, highlighting the talent and determination of the university’s student-athletes.
The information was provided by Marty Rourke, Manager of Athletics & Recreation Communications at Bishop’s University.
Women’s basketball ends 21-year title drought
In Quebec City, the Bishop’s Gaiters women’s basketball team stunned the Laval Rouge et Or with a hard-fought 56-50 victory on Saturday afternoon, capturing their first RSEQ title in 21 years. Conference MVP Victoria Gauna delivered an outstanding performance, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead her team to victory. The Gaiters’ strong defensive effort and clutch performances down the stretch helped them overcome the perennial powerhouse Rouge et Or.
With the win, Bishop’s punches its ticket to the U SPORTS Final-8 in Vancouver, B.C., set to take place from March 13-16. The national tournament will feature the top eight teams from across the country competing for the championship title. The Gaiters will find out their seed and first-round opponent when the tournament brackets are announced on Sunday, March 9.
The Bishop’s Gaiters men’s basketball team hoists the RSEQ Championship trophy after a dominant 75-61 victory over Concordia in front of a packed Mitchell Gym. Forward Etienne Gagnon’s 22-point, 19-rebound performance helped secure their spot in the U SPORTS Final-8.
Men’s basketball wins championship on home court
The Gaiters men’s basketball team delivered a dominant performance in front of a sold-out Mitchell Gym crowd, defeating the Concordia Stingers 75-61 on Saturday night to claim the 2025 RSEQ Championship.
Forward Etienne Gagnon led the way with an impressive 22 points and 19 rebounds, controlling both ends of the court. The Gaiters showcased their defensive strength and rebounding ability, shutting down the Stingers’ offense in the second half to secure the victory. The championship is Bishop’s first since 2020 and guarantees their spot in the 2025 U SPORTS Final-8 in Vancouver.
Like their women’s counterparts, the men’s team will learn their national tournament seed on March 9 before heading to British Columbia to compete for the national title from March 13-16.
Women’s hockey makes program history
The Bishop’s Gaiters women’s hockey team continued their remarkable postseason run with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against the Montreal Carabins in their RSEQ semifinal series. With the win, Bishop’s swept the series 2-0 and clinched a spot in the U SPORTS Nationals for the first time in program history.
Gabrielle Santerre played the hero, scoring the game-winning goal with 3:36 left in the first overtime period. The goal, assisted by RSEQ Rookie of the Year Daphne Boutin, was Santerre’s second game-winner in as many games. The Gaiters had to battle back from a 3-1 third-period deficit, displaying resilience and determination to force overtime before sealing the victory.
Bishop’s now advances to the RSEQ Championship series, where they will face the top-seeded Concordia Stingers in a best-of-three showdown. The series opens on Thursday, March 6, in Montreal, with Game 2 set for Saturday, March 8, in Lennoxville. If necessary, a deciding Game 3 will be played on Sunday, March 9, at Concordia.
Gabrielle Santerre scored an overtime-winning goal as the Bishop’s Gaiters clinch their first-ever U SPORTS Nationals berth with a 4-3 win over the Montreal Carabins. The team will now compete for the RSEQ Championship against Concordia.
A day to remember for the Gaiters
March 1, 2025, proved to be a landmark day for Bishop’s University athletics. The three key victories happened in quick succession:
3:42 PM – The women’s basketball team defeated Laval in Quebec City.
4:17 PM – The women’s hockey team staged a dramatic comeback.
8:57 PM – The men’s basketball team closed out the day with a 75-61 victory over Concordia.
Gaiters making their mark
The past weekend was one of the most successful in recent memory for Bishop’s athletics, marking a resurgence for the university’s basketball programs and a historic breakthrough for women’s hockey. With championship titles secured and national aspirations ahead, the Gaiters will look to carry their momentum forward as they take on the country’s best in their respective tournaments.
The Clipper Race is one of the biggest challenges of the natural world and an endurance test like no other.
With no previous sailing experience necessary, before signing up for the intensive training programme, it’s a record-breaking 40,000 nautical mile race around the world on a 70-foot ocean racing yacht. The next edition will be the Clipper 2025-26 Race and will begin in late summer 2025. The route is divided into eight legs and between 13 and 16 individual races including six ocean crossings. You can choose to complete the full circumnavigation or select one or multiple legs.
The brainchild of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world, the first Clipper Race took place in 1996. Since then, almost 6,000 Race Crew from all walks of life and more than 60 nations have trained and raced in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race; the only race in the world where the organisers supply a fleet of identical racing yachts (eleven), each with a fully qualified skipper and first mate to safely guide the crew. Crew complete four levels of intense ocean racer training before they compete.
Mother Nature does not distinguish between female and male, professional or novice. There is nowhere to hide - if Mother Nature throws down the gauntlet, you must be ready to face the same challenges as the pro racer. Navigate the Atlantic Tradewinds and Doldrums en route to South America, endure the epic Roaring Forties, experience Indian Ocean sunsets, face the mountainous seas of the mighty Pacific - and bond with an international crew creating lifelong memories before returning victorious.
It is not a stretch to say the healthiest area of the sport is class racing. This isn’t necessarily because people dislike rating rules, but rather class organizations manage the limits to maintain interest. In this report by Matthew Sheahan for Yachting World, he details how the IMOCA class has taken a conservative approach to maximize participation:
That tens of thousands of Vendée Globe fans were prepared to get up in the early hours of the morning and camp out on a sea wall in the middle of winter to see a group of boats pass by is truly remarkable. I can’t think of another event in sailing that has this kind of pulling power on this scale.
There is no doubt the Vendée Globe is an extraordinary phenomenon. Forty years old, now in its 10th edition and with a record entry of 40 boats there’s nothing else like it in sport. The fact 39 boats made it down to the South Atlantic having crossed the Bay of Biscay was also a record. – Full report
When Lindsey Vonn announced her return to the U.S. Ski Team this past November, alpine racing fans were stunned. In 2024 Vonn turned 40 and also underwent a partial knee replacement. There is no precedent for a downhill ski racer to return to the World Cup circuit at that age, with an artificial joint. A comeback like Vonn’s is by and large unprecedented—in any professional sport.
But some of Vonn’s colleagues on the US Ski Team weren’t so surprised.
“When you’re an elite athlete at the level that Lindsey was, ski racing is just a part of your character, it’s in your blood,” Tom Kelly, a long-time spokesperson for the U.S. Ski Team who has known Vonn since she was a junior racer, told Outside. “You get great satisfaction being in your competitive field, in her case, being out on snow. She didn’t want to retire when she did. She just couldn’t do it anymore. And now she can.”
Here’s what to know about Vonn’s comeback:
Why Did Lindsey Vonn Retire?
Vonn’s career on the ski racing World Cup circuit began in 2000. She excelled in the speed events: downhill and its more technical cousin, super-G. Over her 19-year professional career, she won more combined downhill and super-G races (71) than any other ski racer, male or female, in history.
Vonn competes in the World Cup race in Cortina, Italy on January 17 (Photo: Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)
Along the way, Vonn became American ski racing’s first celebrity to attain mainstream fame. She graced the cover of major magazines, was a guest on the Tonight Show, and yes, even dated golfer Tiger Woods.
But Vonn also suffered a litany of serious injuries throughout her career. One of the worst came during 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria, when she crashed in the super-G and tore multiple ligaments in her knee and suffered a tibial plateau fracture. Although she would eventually recover, and go on win another 23 World Cups and an Olympic bronze medal, Vonn was never truly the same. She has said that she suffered regular knee pain after that injury.
On February 10, 2019, Vonn announced her retirement shortly after earning her eighth world championship medal, a bronze in downhill. She was “broken beyond repair,” she said at the time. She had hoped to catch Ingemar Stenmark’s record 86 World Cup wins—a mark since surpassed by Mikaela Shiffrin, who stands at 99—but ended her career with 82 wins. Vonn has said she was devastated to miss the goal, but her body “was telling her to stop.”
Vonn said that she was unable to fully straighten her right leg for several years, which caused additional problems in her hip, back, and neck. “I ended on good terms—it wasn’t perfect but it was still my terms,” she recently told NBC Sports.
How Did Vonn Return to Ski Racing?
Only a handful of elite athletes have returned to professional sports after undergoing a major joint replacement: Bo Jackson came back to baseball after undergoing a hip replacement in 1993, and tennis star Andy Murray did so after a hip resurfacing in 2019. But no one has done so in ski racing.
Last April, Vonn had a lateral uni-compartment knee arthroplasty on her right knee—medical-speak for a partial knee replacement. Doctors removed a small section of bone and replaced it with titanium alloy.
Vonn had the operation to address the knee pain that nagged her in her daily life—not so that she could return to competition. “I’d go on a hike with my friend’s seven-year-old and Aunt Lindsey has to take a break after ten minutes,” she told NBC News.
But the operation exceeded even her wildest dreams. A few months later, Vonn returned to the gym. At first, she had to retrain her nervous system and musculature, which for years had compensated for pain.
“You have to retrain your body to say, ‘yes, I can bend my ankle or knee or hip the way I used to before I had this pain,’” explains Tyler White, a certified athletic trainer at iSport in Killington, Vermont, who has helped athletes return to skiing with joint replacements. “This neuro-patterning is time consuming. You have to be diligent and consistent.”
But Vonn said that after the surgery, she could do exercises and drills in the gym that she hadn’t been able to do in eight years. She played tennis and lifted weights without pain. Over the ensuing months, Vonn regained strength, and in August she traveled to New Zealand to try skiing. That’s when ski racing fans began to think that she might return to the sport.
“With this new knee that is now a part of me… I feel like a whole new chapter of my life is unfolding before my eyes,” she posted on Instagram from New Zealand, concluding, “I don’t know exactly what lies ahead, but I know I’m healthy, happy and grateful.”
Shortly after her 40th birthday in October, Vonn traveled to Sölden, Austria, to do her first actual competition training. She felt good, and in November announced her plans to return. Just eight months after surgery, she skied down the women’s downhill and super-G courses at the Beaver Creek World Cup in Colorado—not racing, but at full speed. Her times would not count, but she would be racing full-length World Cup courses near race pace. Her finishing time would have placed her inside the top-20.
“The replacement went so well, and I have no pain and no swelling,” Vonn told reporters at Beaver Creek. “It feels so amazing to be back. I can’t tell you how big a difference it makes to be able to ski without pain. It’s a completely new world for me. I haven’t felt this good in 15 years.”
“It was the happiest I had seen her in years,” says Kelly.
Can Vonn’s New Knee Survive Ski Racing?
But are partial knee replacements designed for the forces imparted by ski racing?
“We don’t really know,” says Dr. Melbourne Boynton, long-time U.S. Ski Team physician, knee surgeon, and medical director of the Vermont Orthopaedic Clinic. “The number-one failure of partial knee replacements is caused by repeated impact.”
Vonn poses with fans at the World Cup race in St. Anton, Austria in January (Photo: JOE KLAMAR/Getty Images)
The success rate for uni-compartmental knee arthroplasty is good: 95.3 percent of people who get one are still using it after five years, and 91.3 percent at 10 years. Of course none of these individuals are World Cup-level downhill ski racers. During a Downhill race, Vonn may surpass 75 miles per hour, and at that speed her knees and joints absorb two-to-three times her body weight in G-forces. Downhill racers encounter bumpy, rutted ski runs, and they must also soar over rolling jumps and then land back on the snow at high speeds. Ski racers without artificial joints face serious injury when crashing at that velocity.
If Vonn’s implant does loosen, doctors can fix it, with either another partial or full knee replacement. And if the bone breaks around the implant, that is fixable too. But this level of injury would likely prevent Vonn—or any elite athlete—from returning to a high level of competition again.
After the Cortina races, Vonn was emphatic when asked if she can trust her knee.
“I don’t think about my knee at all,” she said. “It’s crazy. I used to think about it every day, when I woke up, when I went to bed. It was always there. Now my knee is the last thing on my mind, which I’m really thankful for.”
Can Vonn Win Again?
Vonn faces stiff competition in the speed events. Many of the younger racers she competed against later in her career are now in their thirties and are dominating the sport: Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland, and Federica Brignone and Sofia Goggia of Italy, to name a few.
Vonn’s body is not the same one she once had. She has been diligent in the gym, but there’s gym strong, and then there’s ski racing strong, and the latter takes months, if not years, to rebuild.
American skier Picabo Street, who won Olympic gold in the super-G in 1994, told Outside that Vonn is “Having to decide, A) how much risk to take, and B) whether or not she’s physically capable of charging down the course, and if her body is going to give her what she needs to be there.” These decisions can determine the margin between victory and defeat in a sport where hundredths of a second often determine final placings.
Vonn waves to the crowd at the World Cup race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in January (Photo: KERSTIN JOENSSON/Getty Images)
Vonn is also adjusting to new equipment. She used to race on extremely stiff and aggressive skis—she was strong enough to turn them. Although downhill skis and boots have not changed much in the past six years, Vonn’s strength is not the same. A representative from Head, Vonn’s ski sponsor, said she’s racing on a less-aggressive set-up this year.
It’s a lot to figure out. But, as Street points out, the logistical puzzle is part of the fun for Vonn.
“She loves being challenged,” says Street, who skied with Vonn in Europe in January, “and she loves figuring out how to win a challenge, whether it be with herself, her equipment, or the rest of the girls on the World Cup.”
Another challenge Vonn faces is the order in which she starts each race. The highest ranked skiers get the earliest starts when the course is still relatively smooth. Vonn was once one of the first racers on course. But after her five-plus-year hiatus, she must start later in the day, after thirty or more skiers have torn up the course and left Vonn with a bumpy, rutted surface.
Before Christmas, Vonn entered her first World Cup race—a super-G in St. Moritz—wearing bib 31 (finishing a respectable 14th). In mid-January, she competed in a super-G in St. Anton, Austria, and finished fourth, winning the Bibbo Award, the prize given to the ski racer who makes the biggest jump from their bib number to their finish (27 places for Vonn).
By the end of January, Vonn was starting inside the top 30—but just barely. It will take more consistent top finishes in World Cup races until she gets inside the top ten. And crashing has not helped. She crashed in training in Cortina and again in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, downhill.
But Street sees these crashes as a good thing. “Having a crash and walking away from it, knowing you’re okay is very, very valuable,” she says. “It’s another rung of the ladder.”
Could Vonn Qualify for Her Fifth Olympics?
In Mid-December, after several World Cup races, Vonn told reporters that she did have a long-term goal: returning to the Olympics. The 2026 Games will be held in Cortina, Italy—a course Vonn adores.
But earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic ski team will be tough. Team USA will likely have four women’s spots for speed events at the Milano Cortina Olympics, and officials will choose the team based on how many podium finishes World Cup races in 2025 and 2026. In Vonn’s absence, other American women have become competitive on the international stage: Lauren Macuga, who won St. Anton super-G this year, as well as Jacqueline Wiles and Breezy Johnson, who have made it to the World Cup podium in the past. Mikaela Shiffrin will likely aim to compete in the Olympic super-G as well.
Street thinks Vonn is on course to get back on the World Cup podium soon and also qualify for her fifth Olympics.
“She’s hungry to win again and does not love that she’s not,” Street says. “I’m going to go on the record and say it won’t be long now.”
RG Richardson City Guide has over 300 guides let our interactive search city guides do the searching, no more typing and they never go out of date. With over 13,900 preset searches, you only have to click on the preset icon. Search for restaurants, hotels, hostels, Airbnb, pubs, clubs, fast food, coffee shops, real estate, historical sites and facts all just by clicking on the icon. Even how to pack is all there.
