11/28/2022: The White Paper Revolution

PLUS: Presidential Autographs; Jin Reports for Duty; and Ye24

Nov 28, 2022

Today is Monday, November 28, 2022.

It is the 332nd day of the year.

33 days remain.

Masks was trending over the weekend after a bombshell news report stated that Dr. Fauci emailed a friend in February 2020 saying that masks were “ineffective.” On the topic several Twitter users pointed out how few people wear masks now that they aren’t being enforced. Does that mean most of those who wore them were coerced into doing so?

Twitter users mocked actress Alyssa Milano over the weekend after she tweeted about giving back her Tesla and buying a VW ev. More on this in Showbiz.

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HIT LIST

Chinese protestors are bravely taking to the streets against the Communist Party’s brutal zero-covid policies and relentless, endless, totalitarian lockdowns, in what is being called the White Paper Revolution. In some areas, protestors silently hold blank pieces of paper to protest China’s totalitarian speech laws.

Last week, more than forty people died in an apartment fire in Urumqi, because they couldn’t open doors that had been sealed shut by police over fears of covid spread. That tragedy spurred revolt, which only appears to be growing as the country logs a record number of new covid infections. But the frustration extends beyond anger at the total control police state that has solidified there since early 2020. One video shows demonstrators apparently chanting, “We want freedom, not virus check,” “We want democracy not dictatorship,” and “Take down the CCP.”

In a symbolic protest, crowds gathered at Tiananmen Square on Sunday, where they were corralled by police. Chants included, “We want freedom, equality, democracy, rule of law.”

Police have at times engaged with particularly vocal protestors, in one case beating a man who refused to undergo a covid check. BBC journalist Edward Lawrence was caught on video getting tackled and detained by police, as he shouted at a colleague to call the consulate.

Expect this story to develop with international eyes watching in coming days and weeks – and keep a very careful eye on how the President of the United States responds.

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Amid the FTX bankruptcy, documents reveal that the bankrupt crypto company founded by Democrat megadonor SAM BANKMAN-FRIED also invested $11.5 million in a small bank in Washington State.

That bank, called Farmington State Bank, had just three employees working at only one location before the investment. As The New York Times reports, it’s the 26th-smallest bank in the country, and didn’t offer online banking or credit cards, though it did make agricultural loans. Before the March 2022 investment, the bank’s net worth was just $5.7 million.

Now, that same bank is operating under a new name, Moonstone Bank, and jumped from just $10 million in deposits to over $80 million, most of which belongs to just four unidentified accounts.

WORTH ASKING: Was the investment to help hide criminal financial mismanagement? Or was it part of a broader business strategy for FTX?

MEANWHILE: Lawyers for Miami-Dade County have asked a judge to end the 19-year naming rights deal that FTX has on the arena where the Miami Heat plays. A hearing is set for December 16.

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Last week, a museum in Germany reported the theft of a collection of ancient, rare coins.

New details suggest the heist was a professional job, and that the crooks were in and out in nine minutes. The reports have all the makings of a heist flick: They cut cables at a telecommunications hub near the museum to knock out communications, before prying open a door, smashing display cabinets, and fleeing the scene.

Museum officials say the coin collection is worth north of $1.6 million – but if they melted it all down, it would maybe fetch $250,000 – and destroy important historical artifacts.

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The Artemis I mission has officially broken the record for a rocket designed to carry humans flying the furthest distance from Earth.

On Friday, the spacecraft entered orbit around the moon. Later today, the long, slow orbit will swing back toward the Moon and Earth. Operations to return the spacecraft home will begin later this week.

BY THE WAY: Don’t expect the Artemis missions to evolve and iterate as quickly as the space missions of the 1950s and ‘60s; the next mission, which will have a crew on board, is set for 2024, which will take humans on a similar trip around the Moon, followed by boots on the lunar surface in 2025 or 2026.

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COLLEGE SHMOLLEGE: The Wall Street Journal reports that an increasing number of companies are doing away with arbitrary college education requirements while recruiting new hires.

Job postings that require at least a bachelor’s degree fell from 46% in January 2019 to 41% last month. Major companies easing higher education requirements include Google-parent Alphabet, Delta Air Lines, and IBM.

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BY THE NUMBERS

📈 The Dow added 152 points (0.45%) to close at 34,347 on Friday. The S&P slipped just one point (0.028%) to close at 4,026 and the Nasdaq lost 58 points (0.52%) to close at 11,226.

🛢 West Texas Intermediate dipped under $80, closing at $76 on Friday. Brent Crude closed at $83.

⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $3.56 on Sunday.

₿ Bitcoin added about $115 for the day by Sunday evening, trading just over $16,500.

🛩 There were 3,955 flights delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Sunday and 102 such cancellations.

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CHARTS

Weekend Box Office (4-day Holiday Weekend)

10. The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2: $1.8 million (down from 3)

9. Ticket to Paradise: $2.3 million (down from 5)

8. Bones and All: $2.6 million (up from 15)

7. The Fabelmans: $2.7 million (up from 17)

6. Black Adam: $3.9 million (down from 4)

5. The Menu: $6.2 million (down from 2)

4. Devotion: $7.2 million (new)

3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: $11.2 million (new)

2. Strange World: $14.4 million (new)

1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: $54 million (stayed at 1)

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DEATHS

Music executive CHARLES KOPPELMAN has died.

The business exec, who was the head of EMI Records, passed away Friday after a long illness, a source told Page Six.

He was 82.

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Singer IRENE CARA has died.

She passed away at her Florida home on Friday, according to her rep. No other details were shared.

She was 63.

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FREDDIE ROMAN has died.

The comedian passed away Saturday afternoon at a hospital in Florida after suffering a heart attack.

He was 85.

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WILKO JOHNSON has died.

The “Game of Thrones” actor passed away last Monday at his home in England. No other details were shared.

He was 75.

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DONALD ANTHONY ST. CLAIRE, one of the oldest contestants on “The Amazing Race,” has died.

According to his son, Donald collapsed and died at his home in California. His family believes he suffered some sort of heart issue, but an official cause of death is not known.

He was 87.

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THE SWAMP

Former President DONALD TRUMP took to Truth Social to explain how a dinner between him, KANYE WEST, and two other controversial figures turned into a bizarre weekend news cycle.

News broke late last week that Trump, West, and antisemitic Youtube wingnut NICK FUENTES were spotted dining together at Mar-a-Lago last week.

Trump says he agreed to have dinner with Ye out of sympathy, writing, “So I help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black, Ye (Kanye West), who has been decimated in his business and virtually everything else, and who has always been good to me, by allowing his request for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, alone, so that I can give him very much needed ‘advice.’”

Trump added, "He shows up with 3 people, two of which I didn’t know, the other a political person who I haven’t seen in years. I told him don’t run for office, a total waste of time, can’t win. Fake News went CRAZY!"

Ye apparently asked Trump to be the vice presidential candidate under Ye, which Trump certainly didn’t appreciate, either.

WORTH NOTING: One of the biggest criticisms from the right of Trump’s presidential term was surrounding himself with the wrong people, and taking bad advice from them. How is it possible someone as toxic as Fuentes wiggled his way to Trump’s dinner table without any security or any staff intervening? If nothing else, the whole scenario reeks of once again being handled by totally incompetent people, and doesn’t send a confident signal to Trump backers looking for important changes.

SPEAKING OF 2024: The Biden Family Crime Syndicate didn’t just (likely) spend the Thanksgiving weekend in Nantucket plotting their next financial crime; Bloomberg reports that the corrupt First Family was also helping him decide whether or not to run again.

Biden has said he intends to run again. Insiders expect him to make an official decision after Christmas. Meanwhile, Biden’s political team is charging forward like a re-election is happening.

MEANWHILE: California Governor GAVIN NEWSOM has reportedly told Bidenworld he’s not going to run for president in 2024 at all, with Biden on the ticket or not.

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An auction lot that included an authentic signature from each of America’s presidents sold for about $45,000 on Thursday – in England, of all places.

Many of the documents are bills of sale for land signed by presidents at different times in their lives. Other signatures are on letters and envelopes, where the commanders-in-chief used their franking privileges.

More modern items include signed photographs.

Whole list here >

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LOTTERY

No winner for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing. Tuesday night’s drawing will be for a $305 million jackpot or a $158.2 million cash payout.

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No winner for Saturday night’s Powerball drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $56 million jackpot or a $29.1 million cash payout.

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SHOWBIZ NEWS

BTS band member JIN will begin his mandatory military service on December 13.

The K-pop singer, who turns 30 on December 4, will be deployed to a unit after five weeks of boot camp, according to South Korean newspaper Aju Business Daily.

The news comes after the group announced in October that all members would be going on mandatory military service. Members also plan to work on individual projects and reunite in 2025.

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ALYSSA MILANO was mocked on Twitter over the weekend after tweeting about how she traded in her Tesla for a Volkswagen ev.

The actress claimed to have made the switch in a show of solidarity against “hate and white supremacy.”

Twitter users were quick to point out that Volkswagen was founded in 1937 by the Nazi Party, which was headed by ADOLF HITLER.

ALSO: User @catturd2 shared a photo of Milano with attorney MICHAEL AVENATTI, captioning it “You’re such a great judge of character - [laughing emoji].” Many may recall Avenatti was sentenced to 48 months in prison this summer for identity theft and defrauding his former client, porn star STORMY DANIELS.

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JOHN LEGEND’s Porsche was almost stolen last week.

According to the LAPD, the car was parked outside a Los Angeles recording studio when a man walked up, opened the door and hopped in. Security saw the whole thing on surveillance cams and called the cops. When officers arrived, the man was still sitting in the car.

Officers questioned him about the vehicle, which the guy said was his and then took off running.

He was caught, arrested and booked for attempted grand theft auto. He is being held on $85,000 bail.

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Actor O YEONG-SU (“Squid Game”) has been accused of sexual misconduct in South Korea.

An unnamed woman filed a complaint against the 78-year-old last December, claiming he touched her several times without her consent, according to Korean news outlet JTBC.

At the time the claim was filed investigators made the decision not to move forward with the case, but the case has since been reopened.

As for the accusations, Yeong-su claims he held the woman’s hand once, but says that’s where the touching ended.

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HELENA BONHAM CARTER believes JOHNNY DEPP has been “completely vindicated” after his defamation trial against his ex-wife AMBER HEARD.

Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, the actress said “I think he’s fine now. Totally fine.”

Bonham Carter added that she believes Heard jumped on the #MeToo bandwagon and wanted to be the “poster girl” for the movement.

Depp and Bonham Carter go way back, having starred in several films opposite one another.

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Actress KATHRYN HAHN (“WandaVision”) and her husband ETHAN SANDLER are adding her last name to their kids’ names.

The couple filed a petition last week to add “Hahn” as a second middle name before their last name “Sandler,” according to TMZ.

It is unknown why the decision was made, but 16-year-old Leonard will now be Leonard Henry Hahn Sandler and 13-year-old Mae will be Mae Marie Hahn Sandler.

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JENNIFER LOPEZ announced a new music project called “This Is Me…Now.”

The announcement came on Friday, which was also the 20th anniversary of her album, “This Is Me…Then.”

The new music will “chronicle the emotional, spiritual and psychological journey that she has taken over the past two decades,” according to the announcement.

The project, along with other autobiographical pieces, will be released in 2023.

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CASTING CALL

AL ROKER was not on hand at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in almost three decades.

He was MIA this year due to recent health issues, including blood clots he had in his legs and lungs.

His “Today” co-hosts made sure to send out well wishes during the broadcast.

WORTH NOTING: The annual event drew in nearly 28 million viewers, the most in five years.

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ANTONIO BANDERAS recently told ComicBook who he would want to take over the role of Zorro if a third installment were to be made.

“If they called me about Zorro, I would do what Anthony Hopkins did for me, which is to pass the torch,” he stated.

As for who he would like to pass the torch to, Banderas said he would like to see his “Uncharted” co-star TOM HOLLAND wear the mask.

Baderas starred as the masked vigilante in 1998’s “The Mask of Zorro” and 2005’s “The Legend of Zorro.”

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JENNIFER GREY told “Extra” that she is excited to reprise her role as Frances “Baby” Houseman in the “Dirty Dancing” sequel, though she will be “quite a few years older.”

She also revealed that other characters from the original will also appear in the second installment, which will once again take place at Kellerman’s resort.

Production is set to begin in the spring.

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CELEBRITY CELLBLOCK

TMZ reported on what several celebs chowed down on for Thanksgiving behind bars.

Reality star JOSH DUGGAR was served split turkey breast, baked ham, sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing, vegetable lasagna, veggie meatloaf, green bean casserole, rolls, pies, and cranberry sauce.

Singer R. KELLY had baked cornish hen, mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing, green beans and a holiday dessert.

Rapper FETTY WAP ate herb-roasted turkey, tofu fice, baked candied sweet potato, mac & cheese, garlic macaroni, simmered cabbage, rolls and fruit pie.

Disgraced director HARVEY WEINSTEIN was served roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, green salad, rolls, pumpkin muffins and chocolate milk.

Madame GHISLAINE MAXWELL had turkey, tofurky, cornbread dressing, collard greens, mac & cheese, rolls, cranberry sauce and sweet potato pie.

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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS

KANYE WEST 2024.

Yup, that's right. Ye is once again planning to run for President of the United States.

He announced his intentions to run in a video shared on Twitter titled “Mar-A-Lago Debrief.” In it he detailed his sitdown with former president DONALD TRUMP last week, which apparently got heated after Ye asked him to be his running mate.

“Trump started basically screaming at me at the table, telling me I’m going to lose,” Ye said.

He also posted a series of campaign ads, along with the hashtag #Ye24.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Ye ran for president in 2020. He held only one rally, during which he broke down in tears talking about abortion, and he was only listed on ballots in 12 states after missing several deadlines.

IN OTHER NEWS: Adidas has launched an investigation into claims that Ye used “porn, bullying and mind games” to create a “toxic environment” during his time with the company.

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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS

A new biography states that QUEEN ELIZABETH felt PRINCE HARRY was “perhaps a little over-in-love” with MEGHAN MARKLE.

“This was as far as she came -- to my knowledge at least -- to ever uttering a word against [Meghan],” British broadcaster GYLES BRANDRETH wrote in “Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait.”

Another excerpt from the book, shared by the Daily Mail, states that “the Queen was always more concerned for Harry’s well-being than about ‘this television nonsense,’ meaning both the Oprah Winfrey interview [...] and the lucrative deal the Sussexes made with Netflix.”

Brandreth also notes in the book that he heard the Queen had a form of myeloma, which would explain her tiredness, weight loss and mobility issues in the months leading up to her death.

“Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait” is due out next month.

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SPORTS

The US Men’s Soccer team went head-to-head with England on Friday in the World Cup.

The game, which ended in a 0-0 draw, is now one of the most-watched men’s soccer matches, with over 15.4 million viewers.

The top spot is held by USA’s 2-2 tie against CRISTIANO RONALDO’s Portugal team in 2014, which drew in 24.7 million viewers.

ALSO: Friday’s game is the most-watched game of the World Cup so far.

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DAY OF THE YEAR

National French Toast Day

Cyber Monday

Red Planet Day

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ON THIS DATE

1520 - Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean. He becomes the first European to reach the Pacific through the Atlantic.

He and his crew set sail 14 months earlier from Spain, in search of a western sea route to Indonesia.

It took an astounding 38 days to get through what is now named the Strait of Magellan. The explorer was so overjoyed upon entering the Pacific that he wept for joy.

In 99 days he crossed the newfound ocean, whose waters were remarkably calm. He thus named it after the Latin word "pacificus" -- which means "tranquil."

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1582 - William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway. He was 18, she was 26.

Their first daughter was born 6 months later. Oops.

Shakespeare of course would go on to write numerous plays and sonnets.

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1777 - John Adams is appointed commissioner to France.

He replaced Silas Deane, who was accused of mismanaging French money sent to America. Though Deane held his innocence, he was forced to live in exile.

When Congress cleared his name in 1842, his heirs were paid $37,000 in reparations.

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1895 - America’s first motor-car race takes place.

The race, organized by the Chicago Times-Herald, was from Chicago to Evanston and back.

Six cars traveled the 55 miles, with mechanic and inventor Frank Duryea claiming victory with a whopping seven mph.

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1914 - After four months of closure, the New York Stock Exchange reopens.

It shut down with the outbreak of World War I, after foreign investors cashed out to raise money for war.

Trading resumed on December 12th. That day the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 24% in one day -- it was its worst fall since its founding in 1896.

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1925 - The Grand Ole Opry debuts, broadcasting from Nashville.

It started was a one-hour radio program callused Barn Dance, broadcast out of Chicago. As its popularity grew, so did the show: in the 1930s it expanded to four hours once a week, and in 1939 was syndicated nationally on NBC Radio.

Since then, country legends like Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Minnie Pearl have all graced the Opry's stage.

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1994 - Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is killed while serving out his life sentence at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, WI.

He and another inmate were serving as janitors in the prison gym. Another prisoner attacked Dahmer with a broomstick handle, causing severe head trauma. Dahmer died on the way to the hospital.

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2021 - Barbados becomes a Republic by removing Queen Elizabeth as head of state.

The former British colony revived its plan to become a republic last year. The country’s governor general, Sandra Mason, was sworn in as the country’s first President after being elected by parliament last month.

Also, singer Rihanna is declared a national hero.

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BIRTHDAYS

Chase Elliott - race car driver - 27

Bryshere Gray - actor, “Empire” - 29

Jarvis Landry - football player - 30

Adam Hicks - actor, “Zeke and Luther” - 30

Joe Cole - actor, “Peaky Blinders” - 34

Karen Gillan - actress, “Doctor Who” & “Guardians of the Galaxy” - 35

Trey Songz - R&B singer - 38

Mary Elizabeth Winstead - actress, “Black Christmas” & “Suicide Squad” - 38

Summer Rae - wrestler - 39

Chamillionaire - rapper - 43

Aimee Garcia - actress, “George Lopez” - 44

Jon Stewart - TV show host, “The Daily Show” - 60

Judd Nelson - actor, “The Breakfast Club” - 63

Ed Harris - actor, “Swing Shift” & “Walker” - 72

Randy Newman - rock singer - 79

Berry Gordy - founder of Motown - 93

Born On This Date

Anna Nicole Smith - reality star & model - 1967 (d. 2007)

Henry Bacon - architect, Lincoln Memorial - 1866 (d. 1924)

Friedrich Engels - philosopher and co-author of “The Communist Manifesto” - 1820 (d. 1895)

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