Le Journal

"Nepal is a fragile democracy trying — sometimes clumsily, sometimes bravely — to strengthen norms," writes Monik Bhatta. "America is a powerful democracy acting as if norms are optional accessories."

1019POR has your tickets to see Tucker Wetmore with Dasha at Roadrunner in Boston on February 12th! You could win…

Pop stars are complaining about their labels again. A few months ago Halsey said in an interview that Columbia wasn't allowing her to make a new record due to her last LP underperforming. Now, Kim Petras has been making tweets requesting to be dropped from Republic. The post Kim Petras Requests To Be Dropped By Her Label appeared first on Stereogum.

Paul Toboni and the Washington Nationals made an interesting move on the waiver wire this afternoon. They claimed utility-man Mickey Gasper from the Twins and DFA’d Andry Lara to make room for him on the 40-man roster. While Gasper is 30 and has not had success at the MLB level yet, it is easy to see why he was claimed. we've claimed UTIL Mickey Gasper off waivers pic.twitter.com/3dvdNWPoe4— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) January 20, 2026 The Newest Nat: Mickey Gasper can play all over the field. In 45 games for the Twins last year, Gasper played catcher, DH, first base, second base and left field. Talk about a wild mix of positions. He was pretty abysmal at the plate last year, but if the bat comes around, he could be the perfect bench piece. Gasper has proven he can hit at the AAA level. In each of the last two seasons, he has posted OPS numbers above .900 in the minors. He has been unable to translate that to the MLB, with a .133 average in 113 career AB’s. However, the Nats seem like they are willing to give him a shot. That versatility alone makes him an interesting flier. Gasper also does some nice things at the plate, at least at the AAA level. He is a patient hitter who does not strike out much, something that actually carried over to the MLB. The quality of contact was not good in the MLB, but he has shown power at the AAA level. Mickey Gasper, 30, is a waiver claim I'd make.He has 2 Option Years and strong MiLB performance.Gasper possesses two things cutting-edge orgs like: positional versatility (plays C, 1B, 2B, etc) and above-avg bat speed relative to swing length: pic.twitter.com/0pyUysW8sc— Remi Bunikiewicz (@RBunikiewicz) January 17, 2026 At 30, there is a pretty good chance that Gasper is just a quad-A guy, but it is worth taking a flier. He has two option years remaining, so if he is not producing in the MLB, he can be quality depth in the minors. Gasper can also fill in at so many positions, which makes him an easy player to have on stand by. Surprise DFA: The Nats corresponding move was also interesting. They DFA’d former top prospect Andry Lara. The right handed pitcher was a prized international free agent pickup back in 2019. He received a $1.25 million bonus, a very high mark for a pitcher. Lara was a name to watch in the system for years, but never quite put it together.  Nationals have claimed C/1B/2B Mickey Gasper off waivers from Twins. 30-year-old utilityman played 45 MLB games last season. RHP Andry Lara was DFA’d to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) January 20, 2026 He is still the 22nd ranked prospect for Pipeline, but dropped out of the BA top 30. It looked like he had turned a corner in 2024, posting a 3.34 ERA in High-A and Double-A as a 21 year old. However, he had a dismal year in 2025. Lara posted a 7.55 ERA in 56 minor league innings, allowing 74 hits.  Due to the Nats lack of pitching depth, he was forced into action at the MLB level for 9 games. He was even worse, posting an 8.79 ERA in 14.1 innings, allowing 27 hits. Lara was just not ready for prime time. Toboni clearly did not see him as worthy of a 40 man spot, despite only being 23 years old. Honestly, it makes sense to me. Lara does not have a ton of upside or a high floor. He has a nice slider, but that is his only real standout trait besides youth. Lara would come back to the Nats organization if he goes unclaimed, which is the likely path here. The reality of baseball can come at you quickly, and we saw that with Lara. I am interested to see how much run Gasper gets and how he is deployed. He is probably just a quad-A guy, but the versatility intrigues me.

The Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski as their next head coach, and Kevin Knight and Tre’Shon Diaz are here to discuss the decision. Is Stefanski the right choice for Atlanta, and what are his strengths and weaknesses? What can we expect from his offense, and the defense under Jeff Ulbrich? Fellow Falcoholics, welcome to another episode of the Dirty Birds and Brews podcast! You can also listen to all of our video shows in an audio-only podcast format, available on all your favorite podcast platforms or by using the player below. If you’re interested in supporting the show, check out our Patreon page to unlock access to exclusive perks including Patron Q&A sessions, Discord perks, live shout-outs and more! Be sure to check out the new community Discord server here! Come chat with your fellow Falcons fans about the show, the team, the NFL draft, and more. You can watch the show here on The Falcoholic, but we recommend watching on YouTube for the best experience—including full 1080p HD video and access to the live Q&A in the chat. You can also access the show using your smart TV or device using the YouTube app for the real big-screen experience! We hope you enjoy the show! If you have comments, we’d love to hear them. Send them to us on Twitter (@FalcoholicLive), leave them below, or e-mail the show at falcoholiclive@gmail.com. Thanks for watching!