“Carson Wentz named starting quarterback for the Eagles”

PHILADELPHIA -- The Carson Wentz Era is now for the Philadelphia Eagles. The No. 2 overall draft pick will start Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns despite missing the final three preseason games after injuring his ribs in the opener. Wentz said he was lying down in a cornfield hunting geese in New Jersey when Pederson called him Saturday morning to tell he's been promoted from No. 3 quarterback to starter. "I'm very confident and I'm very excited to get this opportunity," Wentz said Monday. Coach Doug Pederson made the announcement two days after the Eagles traded Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 conditional fourth-round pick. "Everybody feels like this kid is ready to go," Pederson said. "We drafted him to take on the reins. It's something now that we're prepared to do. He's such a special guy. This stage is not too big for him.”

In Other News Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton start the race to November 8 on essentially even ground, with Trump edging Clinton by a scant two points among likely voters, and the contest sparking sharp divisions along demographic lines in a new CNN/ORC Poll. Trump tops Clinton 45% to 43% in the new survey, with Libertarian Gary Johnson standing at 7% among likely voters in this poll and the Green Party's Jill Stein at just 2%. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that US has an "obligation" to help Laos recover from a brutal secret bombing campaign that destroyed parts of the Southeast Asian nation. During an address to the Lao people in the country's capital, Obama pledged $90 million in a joint three-year project with the country's government to clear tens of millions of unexploded US bombs. "Villages and entire valleys were obliterated," during US bombardments, Obama said. "Ancient plains were devastated. Countless civilians were killed. That conflict was another reminder whatever the cause, whatever our intentions, war inflicts a terrible toll, especially on innocent men, women and children."