NASHVILLE — Old Hickory Lake isn't handing out many favors this week. But apparently nobody told Matt Robertson.

The Bassmaster Elite Series pro hauled in a five-fish limit weighing an impressive 20 pounds Thursday to take the lead after Day 1 of The Champions, a historic tournament pitting 30 Bassmaster anglers against 30 Major League Fishing pros for a record $3.25 million purse and a whopping $1.25 million first-place prize.

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And on a lake that's been downright stingy for much of the field, Robertson made it look almost easy.

"It was a pretty good day. A little rough, but once we got to where we wanted to go, it happened pretty quick," Robertson told OutKick OutDoors after Thursday's weigh-in.

"Caught two real quick, and then I started wanting to run around, but I just made myself sit there and grind it out. And yeah, we caught us a little bag today."

A little bag, indeed.

Robertson's 20-pound haul put him 4 pounds, 9 ounces ahead of second-place Fisher Anaya, who finished Thursday with 15 pounds, 7 ounces. MLF's Michael Neal sits third at 13-09, followed by Bob Downey (13-07) and Bryant Smith (13-03).

Anaya, meanwhile, had to work for his five-fish limit.

"Oh, it was tough, but it was fun," the Bassmaster rookie told OutKick OutDoors. "We caught three big ones, got two babies, but I think it's enough to kind of settle me in for tomorrow, so I ain't got to catch much."

But as the anglers hit the water again Friday morning, Thursday's leaderboard offers no guarantees.

LiveScope could shake up the leaderboard

One of the biggest wild cards heading into Day 2 is the tournament's restriction on forward-facing sonar, commonly known as LiveScope.

Anglers can use the technology on either Thursday or Friday, but not both. That means competitors who relied on their electronics to locate fish on Day 1 must go without them Friday, while those who saved their sonar day could have an advantage.

BASS FISHING'S BIGGEST STARS BATTLE FOR RECORD $1.25 MILLION PAYDAY IN HISTORIC NASHVILLE SHOWDOWN

And that's where the top two anglers find themselves in very different situations.

Anaya used LiveScope on Thursday, meaning he'll have to fish without it Friday.

"It's going to make it tougher," Anaya acknowledged.

But with the field narrowing to 15 anglers for Championship Saturday, he's more concerned about catching enough weight to survive the cut.

"I think I'm going to need about anywhere from 5 to 7 pounds to make the cut," he said. "So that's what we're going to swing for. Hopefully, we catch them better than that. But we'll see."

Robertson, on the other hand, caught his tournament-leading bag without forward-facing sonar. That means he still has the option to use it Friday.

Not that he's particularly interested.

"We didn't use no LiveScope today. We'll have it tomorrow, but not really planning on using it," Robertson said. "So try to catch us one or two tomorrow and call her good."

And Robertson's successful Thursday has apparently attracted some attention. After traveling through a navigation lock to fish beyond Old Hickory Dam on Day 1, Robertson headed back in that direction Friday morning — this time with several other anglers following him toward the lock.

So yeah, the secret is out about that little honey hole.

The pressure is on to survive Friday's cut

The stakes extend well beyond the two anglers at the top.

Only the top 15 competitors after Friday's weigh-in will advance to Championship Saturday, when weights reset to zero and the remaining anglers battle for the $1.25 million grand prize.

And with much of the field struggling to find quality bites on Old Hickory, there's very little room for error.

After Thursday's competition, Team Stars (Bassmaster) held eight of the top 15 positions, while Team Stripes (MLF) claimed seven. That advantage could easily change Friday as anglers adjust to the sonar restrictions and the difficult conditions.

Reigning Bassmaster Angler of the Year Trey McKinney is among those facing a particularly tense second day. He finished Thursday in 16th place with 11 pounds, 1 ounce — just a single ounce behind Takahiro Omori, who currently occupies the final qualifying position.

And while Robertson has built himself a comfortable cushion, the race to make Saturday's final is considerably tighter.

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Friday's weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. CT at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville, where the Champions Cup team winner will be determined and the final 15 anglers will punch their tickets to Saturday's championship round.

OutKick OutDoors is on the ground at Old Hickory Lake, bringing readers exclusive interviews, tournament updates and behind-the-scenes coverage of the richest competition in professional bass fishing.

Follow OutKick OutDoors on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for exclusive interviews, video highlights and coverage of The Champions all weekend long.

From this Thursday until November 1, Havana is hosting the 15th International Chamber Music Festival—an event bringing together 34 Cuban and international artistic ensembles across various cultural venues in the Cuban capital.

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The festival is presided over by pianist and composer Frank Fernández, a recipient of the National Music Prize, and is taking place as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Cuba’s Ministry of Culture.

The festival returns to the national stage with a program centered on chamber music—a genre deeply rooted in Caribbean culture. Fernández noted that the event is being held under challenging circumstances, though he emphasized that this will not compromise the quality of this year’s edition.

The event’s president expressed optimism that this edition could surpass previous ones, noting that it is dedicated to prominent figures and ensembles from both the Cuban and international musical landscapes.

A major highlight this year is the inaugural International Chamber Music Competition, which features both professional and amateur categories. Twenty-one projects registered for the initial stage and will compete throughout the festival.

🎹✨ El ansiado XV Festival Internacional de Música de Cámara, se desarrollará en esta capital desde el jueves 29 de octubre hasta el domingo 1ro de noviembre con un programa que tendrá entre sus protagonistas al reconocido pianista y compositor Aldo López-Gavilán.#CubaEsCultura pic.twitter.com/0orIaJZFr4

— Agencia Cubana de Noticias (@ACN_Cuba) October 26, 2026

The text reads, “The long-awaited 15th International Chamber Music Festival will take place in this capital from Thursday, October 29, to Sunday, November 1, with a program that will feature, among its headliners, the renowned pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán.”

The agenda includes concerts, talks, and academic exchanges between professionals and students. It also offers a variety of programs designed for both seasoned enthusiasts and those encountering this musical genre for the first time.

Participants include Russian soprano Natalia Kirillova, artists from the United States, and highly accomplished Cuban performers. In total, 34 artistic ensembles are featured, enriching the festival’s diverse offerings.

Venues include the National Theatre, the Napoleonic Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Casa del Alba Cultural, and the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, among other locations across Havana.

Frank Fernández described chamber music as a complete, educational, and complex form of expression that demands great sacrifice and effort. The maestro—a leading figure in the Cuban piano tradition—underscored the festival’s significant educational and artistic value.

The 15th edition seeks to promote public enjoyment of and access to high-caliber art, while simultaneously establishing Havana as a venue for an international gathering dedicated to chamber music performance.

#Cuba | The Recording and Music Publishing Company (Egrem) is celebrating the nominations for the Cubadisco 2026 Awards, which will be announced on May 16 during the awards ceremony of the Cuban Record Festival.https://t.co/iOAteQYMqn pic.twitter.com/s7rpZFOLBy

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) May 4, 2026

Politicians may not like it, but the countries they misgovern compete with one another for businesses, people, and capital. To attract startups, entrepreneurs, and investors, governments have to offer attractive environments, or else lose out to friendlier nations. When it comes to tax competitiveness, a new report says that Estonia leads the way in first position, with the United States lagging at 17th.

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Low Rates and Simplicity Make Countries More Attractive

"The structure of a country's tax code is a determining factor of its economic performance," write Alex Mengden and Luis Zarka for the Tax Foundation's International Tax Competitiveness Index 2026. "A well-structured tax code is easy for taxpayers to comply with and can promote economic development while raising sufficient revenue for a government's priorities. In contrast, poorly structured tax systems can be costly, distort economic decision-making, and harm domestic economies."

The report notes that competition among countries has resulted in widespread improvements (and some backsliding) across the world in recent years. Especially among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), marginal tax rates on corporate and individual income have declined. That said, most governments haven't given up on milking their populations, with growing reliance on payroll taxes and value-added taxes (VAT).

On the other hand, while "corporate tax base improvements have occurred in Canada, Germany, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, and the United States," France, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia have hiked corporate tax rates. Even worse, tax policy has moved in many countries from a revenue-raising measure into a weapon of economic warfare "deployed to exert economic pressure."

The Tax Foundation's index ranks countries on the degree to which they keep their tax systems competitive—with low rates—and neutral, with minimal social engineering to avoid economic distortions.

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Estonia Is First, France Last, With the U.S. in the Middle

According to these criteria, Estonia scores in first place for the best tax code in the OECD for the 13th straight year. According to Mengden and Zarka, the tiny Baltic state earns this distinction for four reasons:

First, it has a 22 percent tax rate on corporate income that is only applied to distributed profits. Second, it has a flat 22 percent tax on individual income that does not apply to personal dividend income. Third, its property tax applies only to the value of land, rather than to the value of real property or capital. Finally, it has a territorial tax system that exempts 100 percent of foreign profits earned by domestic corporations from domestic taxation, with few restrictions.

By contrast, France comes in dead last with the highest top corporate tax rate (36.1 percent) in the OECD, on top of which are "multiple surtaxes and distortive production taxes." France "also applies multiple distortionary property taxes with separate levies on estates, bank assets, and financial transactions, in addition to a wealth tax on real estate. Its VAT covers about 50 percent of final consumption, and it has one of the highest VAT registration thresholds."

The United States ranks at 17, down one place from last year. Among the U.S.'s weaknesses is that its "real property tax burden is among the highest in the OECD" and "the US has a partial territorial system and does not exempt foreign capital gains income." On the plus side, Americans pay relatively low sales/consumption taxes (an average of 7.5 percent, while the OECD average is 19.4 percent).

Not discussed in depth in the index, but still important, is that the U.S. is one of two countries (along with Eritrea) that base income taxation on citizenship rather than residency. "A Canadian living in France pays French taxes, not Canadian ones. An American in France? They pay French taxes and still file with the IRS," notes Bright!Tax. The U.S. tax obligation can be offset for nonresidents, but only by jumping through more bureaucratic hoops.

By and large, countries score better on the index by keeping tax rates low and broadly applied, emphasizing simplicity, and keeping their systems neutral to raise revenue and encourage investment, rather than achieve social and political goals.

Not everybody shares the Tax Foundation's preference for low burdens and minimal complexity. In its 2022 report on Lithuania's tax system (ranked a commendable 5th by the International Tax Competitiveness Index 2026), the OECD urged the country to increase taxes on businesses and self-employed people, and to increase reporting requirements. The OECD apparently favors higher tax burdens and complexity. Keeping the OECD happy would undoubtedly make Lithuania (or any country) less attractive to investors and entrepreneurs.

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The U.S. Scores Better on Overall Economic Freedom—Though It's Losing Ground

While the index's middling score for the U.S. on tax competitiveness is disappointing, if understandable, it's not the final word on a country's economic attractiveness. In the Fraser Institute's recently published Economic Freedom of the World 2026 report, the U.S. ranks a credible 5th place, based on 2024 data. It comes in after Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, and New Zealand. The formerly British and now Chinese territory of Hong Kong remained in the leading position despite erosion in economic liberty to accompany its sadly decaying civil liberties status. That's a worldwide concern.

"Global economic freedom fell following the pandemic as policymakers imposed new regulations, raised barriers to trade, expanded the size of government, and then printed money to pay for spending," wrote the Fraser Institute authors, including the late James Gwartney. "While governments have begun to reverse these policies, economic freedom in the average country has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels."

Unfortunately, the U.S. is forecast to slide two positions in next year's Economic Freedom report because of "increases in the size of government, weaker protection of property rights and the rule of law, and significant restrictions on trade freedom."

Improving the U.S. tax environment might help to improve America's economic freedom score. Then again, so would reducing government's role and discontinuing protectionist policies.

Tax competitiveness is one important element of any country's overall economic freedom, which creates an attractive environment to invest, create businesses, and generate prosperity. The U.S. has long thrived because it is, in relative terms, free. That's a status worth maintaining.

The post The U.S. Tax System Gets a Middling Score appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisor Nikolai Patrushev’s recent visit to China points to something more consequential than another round of Russia-China strategic rhetoric: Moscow is trying to turn maritime cooperation with Beijing into infrastructure, technology and logistics that can survive geopolitical pressure. The proposals discussed during the October 8-13 visit — linking China’s Maritime Silk […]

The post China, Russia quietly moving toward a new Arctic axis appeared first on Asia Times.

At a conformation show, purebred dogs are evaluated by judges according to written documents that strive to capture the exemplary features of each breed. (These standards are searchable via the American Kennel Club; my dog’s breed standard, for instance, is “interested and even mischievous” in expression, but might be faulted for a “short, prancing, or choppy gait.” Noted.) Hannah Berger files a remarkably observed dispatch from one such show in Virginia, where she has traveled to consider show dogs as signifiers, “the ideal against its approximation.” There’s plenty of human folly here, not limited to the interpretation of a “breed standard” and its pursuit over time. A janitor ceaselessly sweeps away dog hair; a mother silences her child as one might a yapping pet. Berger layers her observations into an ending so clever that I gasped.

Now under the jurisdiction of the American Kennel Club in the U.S., conformation shows measure the degree to which a dog “conforms” to its “breed standard,” a document that transmutes historical function into superficially measurable and marketable qualities: proportions, attitude, gaiting patterns. These documents vary widely in length and style. The greyhound’s standard, for example, is a spare two-hundred-word document that strays from sobriety just once in its description of the eyes: “dark, bright, intelligent, indicating spirit.” The standard of the Coton de Tulear, the bichon-like “national dog” of Madagascar, is nearly eight times as long, describing colors and shapes in percentages and angles. Its “joie de vivre” is mentioned twice.