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The Social Security Administration's chief data officer has publicly blown the whistle, alleging DOGE put hundreds of millions of Social Security records at risk of compromise.

Meta's new PAC signals an intent to influence statewide elections, including the next governor’s race in 2026.

Libby launches "Inspire Me," a genAI feature that helps its users find books to borrow from local libraries.

The Swifties have a wedding to start planning. I have to insert the lyrics of  “Lover” here, as Taylor Swift fans have been waiting for this day for a long time: “Can I go where you go?Can we always be this close forever and ever?And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever)You’re my, my, my, myLover“ Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially taking their relationship to the next level, as they have announced their engagement. In all honesty, I’m surprised that they announced an engagement, because I could see a world where they shared they had just gotten married, but here we are today, celebrating the two’s relationship milestone. Kelce and Swift started dating in the summer of 2023, after Travis attended her Eras Tour concert at Arrowhead Stadium in July. The story goes that he had hoped to meet her backstage and give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number, but he couldn’t manage to pull it off. He then discussed it on the aforementioned podcast with Jason, and they eventually made contact, and the rest, as they say, is history. Taylor has been a major focal point at Kansas City Chiefs games, watching her star tight end boyfriend most Sundays, in addition to making appearances at some of their away games. She’s shown on the broadcast numerous times throughout the games, and it honestly became a point of contention because so many fans got tired of seeing her… which she made a joke about while appearing on the New Heights podcast: “As we all know, you guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast. I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens… it’s more of me” — Taylor Swift on the ‘New Heights’ podcast pic.twitter.com/pI6bE731Xi — Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 13, 2025 Throughout their relationship, there were many conspiracy theories about when Travis would propose to his mega-pop star girlfriend, but none of those theories panned out, and he instead did it in a very traditional way, which is how I saw it unfolding. Taylor Swift is a romantic through and through and likes to keep things traditional, so Travis followed through, popping the question in a garden filled with pastel pink and white flowers. The two look over the moon dressed in casual clothing, leading one to believe he pulled off a surprise of a lifetime. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) And let’s talk about that ROCK. Taylor Swift is going to have some added weight to her hand moving forward. Congrats to the happy couple, and NFL fans… get ready to see a lot more of her on your screen this season. “Lover” The post Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Break The Internet Announcing Their Engagement first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

There’s nothing like looking back on some of those odd jobs that made ends meet early on. I’m sure we’ve all got an interesting gig or two that gave us some of our first work experience. You’ve got to cut your teeth somehow, someway, and that goes for country music artists as well. Before some of the biggest names in the genre were playing in front of packed stadiums… they were playing in places you’ve never even heard of. Don’t believe me? Well just take this hilarious, hot-dog-adjacent story that Tim McGraw recently shared. As the story goes, in McGraw’s early days in Nashville, Tennessee – long before he made it big and became the star that he is today – he busked near a hot dog stand with two other names you might recognize: Tracy Lawrence and Kenny Chesney. Think about that. Someone that was hammered and just trying to get some calories in their system once ate a cheap, potentially lousy hot dog while being serenaded by Tim McGraw, Tracy Lawrence, and Kenny Chesney. Back then, they were just trying to make it by and help out a local hot dog stand. Now? Those three together on the same billing would be one hell of a show. And as McGraw explained things (courtesy of Big Machine Label Group), the trio used to put together shows next to an old Hot Dog place in Music City: “There was a place called Houndogs Hot Dogs that was right on the corner of where the circle is now in Nashville, where the statues are. And ‘Flash’ Flanagan was the guy who owned it. So, Kenny Chesney, Tracy Lawrence and I sat with guitars on stools just playing music for people that would come up and buy hot dogs. And we lived off those hot dogs.” Cue the quote from The Office about wishing you knew you were in the glory days before you actually left them. Not entirely sure if “living off hot dogs” connotes “the glory days,” but I’m sure McGraw, Lawrence, and Chesney look back on those times fondly. Especially since they have a funny story to tell about getting fired from that gig. How in the world do you get axed from a job that has you playing next to a dirty hot dog stand? Well, it appears that the blame falls entirely on Kenny Chesney. The “When The Sun Goes Down” singer evidently forgot to follow through on an important part of the trio’s job one night, and that was all she wrote for the group’s hot dog gig. This is a wild sentence to type out, but McGraw said that they all got fired because Kenny Chesney forgot to lock up some clown heads: “And I think Kenny got us fired because there were clown heads on the trash cans, and our job at the end of the night when we finished singing, we were supposed to take the clown heads, run a chain through ‘em and lock ‘em up. And I think Kenny didn’t do it one night and they got stolen, and we got fired.” Ahh the early (or earlier) days of Nashville. A hot dog stand missed out on having Tim McGraw, Tracy Lawrence, and Kenny Chesney as their regulars because some clown heads got stolen. You can’t make that stuff up… and now it’s only right that we get a collaborative song from the three artists called “Clown Heads.” Of course, Kenny would go on to get Tim McGraw arrested in 2000, after he stole a police horse at a country music festival. But that’s a whole other, much longer, story…The post Tim McGraw Recalls How Kenny Chesney Once Got Them Both (& Tracy Lawrence) Fired From Playing A Hot Dog Shop In Nashville first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The Aldean family has officially entered into the Cracker Barrel rebrand controversy chat. By this point, you’ve likely heard about the Cracker Barrel controversy. After rolling out the same logo for close to fifty years, the eatery known as Cracker Barrel just announced a major rebrand. They’re opting to go with a more minimalist logo, and they are making a huge mistake. There’s no amount of buttered and jellied biscuits that could save them from this. As you can see, the old logo that we’ve all come to know and love – featuring an old man sitting next to a barrel – is no more. They’ve opted to “clean things up,” and got rid of the a) the old man b) the barrel and c) every ounce of character the original logo had to debut a lifeless, sterile, pointless, boring new symbol. It’s a travesty: Cracker Barrel has updated their logo for the first time in 48 years pic.twitter.com/wkDOatNPKz — Culture Crave (@CultureCrave) August 20, 2025 I’m baffled by the fact that modern brands insist on ruining their own aura. As you might imagine, the logo change – and the restaurant interior remodel to an overdone farmhouse look – has people up in arms. Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino insists that people are loving the restaurant’s rebrand, and suggested that the response has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Try telling that to the stockholders. Right after the logo change announcement was made, Cracker Barrel’s stock saw a nasty 14% drop, something to the tune of $100 million in value. It’s since recovered a bit (buy the dip, right?), but still has a 5% drop over the past five days. On the year however, Cracker Barrel us up a whopping  38%. Much of that precipitous drop had to do with the public response to the changes Cracker Barrel was making. Some were calling for a boycott, and country music star John Rich even called it the restaurant’s “Bud Light Moment.” And he wasn’t the only name in country music that shared their thoughts on the overarching changes to the beloved southern eatery. Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany, went out for a breakfast date earlier this week at a First Watch location, and decided that it would be the perfect time for a photo op and a shot at the breakfast restaurant competitor that’s been making headlines: “Breakfast date this morning. We would be at Cracker Barrel but y’all been actin’ a fool.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by BRITTANY ALDEAN (@brittanyaldean) See Cracker Barrel? You are already losing business because of the rebrand and overhaul. It’s really quite a wild and unfortunate time for the Cracker Barrel franchise. Even the President of the United States has given his two cents on the matter, calling for the Tennessee-based restaurant to go back on their changes and they’d have “a billion dollars worth of free publicity.” But as of right now, it seems like Cracker Barrel is standing its ground… for whatever reason. They put out a long-winded statement addressing the matter on August 25, and basically said they wouldn’t be changing course even with all of the backlash: “If the last few days have shown us anything, it’s how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel. We’re truly grateful for your heartfelt voices. You’ve also shown us that we could’ve done a better job sharing who we are and who we’ll always be. What has not changed, and what will never change, are the values this company was built on when Cracker barrel first opened in 1969: hard work, family, and scratch-cooked food made with care. A place where everyone feels at home, no matter where you’re from or where you’re headed. That’s the Cracker Barrel you’ll always find… While our logo and remodels may be making headlines, our bigger focus is still right where it belongs… in the kitchen and on your plate: serving generous portions of the food you crave at fair prices and doing it with the kind of country hospitality that brightens your days and creates lasting memories. We also want to be sure Cracker Barrel is here for the next generation of families, just as it has been for yours. That means showing up on new platforms and in new ways, but always with our heritage at the heart. We take that responsibility very seriously. We know we won’t always get everything right the first time, but we’ll keep testing, learning, and listening to our guests and employees. At the end of the day, our promise is simple: you’ll always find comfort, community, and country hospitality here at Cracker Barrel. Uncle Herschel wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Thank you for caring so much and come see for yourself the country hospitality that makes Cracker Barrel feel like home.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cracker Barrel (@crackerbarrel) If you don’t change back Cracker Barrel, who knows what other country music stars and their significant others will fire shots at you. Is that what you really want?The post Jason Aldean & His Wife, Brittany, Join Cracker Barrel Boycott: “Y’all Been Actin’ A Fool” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.