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Today is Friday, December 23, 2022.
It is the 357th day of the year.
8 days remain.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
There will be no newsletter the week of December 26-30. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
TRENDING
YouTube TV was trending after the internet-TV subscription landed NFL’s Sunday Ticket. More in Hit List.
RIP Ronnie landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends on Thursday after the news of Ronnie Hillman’s passing. More in Deaths.
ITS SNOWING was trending as much of the country hunkered down amid blizzard-like conditions.
Tweets with Merry Christmas wishes flooded Twitter on Thursday.
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HIT LIST
Two former FTX executives have already pled guilty to charges that parallel those faced by SAM BANKMAN-FRIED. They’re expected to cooperate fully with federal investigators, an ominous sign for SBF, who has maintained ignorance of any illegal activity within the company.
MEANWHILE: SBF is headed to live under house arrest with his parents in Palo Alto, California, following his appearance in federal court yesterday. The next hearing in his case will be January 3.
WORTH NOTING: SBF is out on a personal recognizance bond for $250 million that was secured by his parents’ house. He didn’t have to pay that amount, but would be on the hook if he doesn’t show up to court as instructed.
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Google is shelling out big money for NFL Sunday Ticket.
The $2 billion-a-year deal will give Google-owned YouTube streaming rights for the package, which gives users access to all NFL games on Sunday afternoons. The current deal with DirectTV was worth about $1.5 billion a year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Google beat out competitive offers from Amazon and ESPN.
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Those insane egg prices you’ve been paying at the grocery store have less to do with inflation and more to do with bird flu.
Farmers are grappling with a deadly bird flu contagion that has been identified in all 50 states, killing an estimated 40 million chickens. It’s the deadliest such outbreak in history. When one case is identified, the whole flock is killed to limit the spread.
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TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company admitted to several instances of its employees accessing private data of American users of the video-sharing app on Thursday.
ByteDance – the parent company – said the IP address and location data was uncovered as part of an internal investigation to track down leaks from within the company; they wanted to see if its employees were in the same place as two different journalists at the same time, in order to identify who was spilling the goods to the media.
WORTH NOTING: If this is what TikTok admits to, what other information are they gathering?
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A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that adults who exercised at least 30 minutes most days were four times more likely to not die from covid.
Even people who only exerted themselves for 11 minutes a week had healthier outcomes.
WORTH ASKING: When do governments apologize for closing outdoor parks and forcing people to stay in and order pizzas, making them fatter and more sedentary and more likely to die from a virus that has a minuscule fatality rate to begin with?
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The Dow dropped 349 points (1.05%) to close at 33,027 on Thursday. The S&P lost 56 points (1.45%) to close at 3,822 while the Nasdaq dropped 233 points (2.18%) to close at 10,476.
🛢 West Texas Intermediate closed at $78 a barrel; Brent Crude at $82.
⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $3.10 on Thursday.
₿ Bitcoin was trading around $16,803 on Thursday.
🛩 There were 8,247 flights delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Thursday and 2,339 such cancellations.
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CHARTS
New to Disney+:
From the Ashes (Rotten Tomatoes Score: Not Scored)
Little Giant (No Score)
New to Hulu:
Sharp Stick (Score: 48%)
Mack + Rita (Score: 25%)
New to Netflix:
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Score: 93%)
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DEATHS
Former NFL player RONNIE HILLMAN has died.
He passed away Wednesday after a lengthy battle with cancer, according to a statement from his family.
He was only 31.
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SICK BAY
TORI SPELLING was hospitalized this week after having a “hard time breathing.”
The actress shared a since-deleted photo of herself propped up in a hospital bed, captioning it “Here I am in [the] hospital.”
She told followers that doctors were running some tests after she experienced several dizzy spells, high blood pressure, and struggled to breathe.
No word on her current condition or whether she is back home.
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THE SWAMP
A new book about the first half of JOE BIDEN’s presidency reveals nothing makes him more angry than the out-of-control situation at the border, and that he’s frustrated by a “lack of solutions.” Discussing the border chaos is the issue most likely to get Biden to hurl around F-bombs.
WORTH NOTING: Here’s a solution: Build a wall and hire more border agents, and make asylum seekers wait elsewhere before gaining access to the country.
The details come from “The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House,” due out next month.
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Remember how there was just no way we could be in a recession because the jobs numbers over the summer were just too good? That even though for all of modern economic history, a recession by definition was two consecutive quarters of economic contraction, but President JOE BIDEN’s brilliant leadership was so effective and so good we needed to redefine a recession?
Turns out they were lying about everything.
A report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia – so, a government entity, not some anti-Biden think tank – proves that there were not more than 1 million jobs created between March and June this year.
In fact, there were only 10,500 net new jobs – or 1% of the propaganda lies spouted by the administration.
Oops.
WORTH ASKING: How did they get this so wrong? Were they lying? Or are they incompetent?
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LOTTERY
No winner for Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $510 million jackpot or a $266.8 million cash payout.
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No winner for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing. Saturday night’s drawing will be for a $186 million jackpot or a $100.1 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
FRANCO HARRIS appeared happy and healthy in what would be his last interview on Tuesday, just hours before his untimely death.
The Steelers legend chatted with fellow football player CAM HEYWARD on his “Not Just Football” podcast about his excitement over the 50th anniversary of “The Immaculate Reception.”
“50 years. C’mon, that’s a long time, but I’m still around to enjoy it, so that’s good,” Harris said.
As previously reported, Harris was set to be honored across the NFL today -- the 50th anniversary of the “Immaculate Reception.” Also, his No. 32 was set to be retired during the Steelers game against the Raiders on Saturday night. He passed away in his sleep Tuesday night.
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Before his passing STEPHEN “tWitch” BOSS and his wife ALLISON HOLKER had big projects in the works with HGTV, including their own show called “Living the Dream.”
Other projects included a show in which the couple would oversee construction on a full-sized Malibu Barbie Dream House and another where they would help first time homebuyers find a home.
A spokesperson for the network told Deadline that they are “taking the time to consider different scenarios” now, but their “primary focus remains on wishing [the] best to Allison and the entire Boss family.”
As previously reported, Boss died by suicide on December 13.
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DUANE “Dog the Bounty Hunter” CHAPMAN has been issued a $1.6 million tax lien due to unpaid taxes in Colorado and Hawaii.
In response, the reality star told The Sun that he has been “working diligently to satisfy [the] outstanding debts and looks forward to putting it behind [him].”
The news comes after reports that Dog sold his Colorado home to move to sunny Florida, where he is focusing on The D.O.G. Foundation, which aims to help victims of sex trafficking and abuse.
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DOLLY PARTON buried a secret song in a time capsule at her Tennessee theme park, Dollywood.
She confirmed the news during a recent appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” where she admitted to having some regret over being talked into doing it, and having to wait 30 years to release it.
“I wanna go dig that up so bad. It’s a really good song!” she told Clarkson.
Along with the recording, Parton said she packed the capsule with a cassette player and CD player. It was then buried while crews were doing major construction work at Dollywood in 2015.
Parton will be 99-years-old when the capsule is opened.
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Rapper 21 SAVAGE was on hand to pass out gifts and treats to 100 local parents and their children at the Wade Walker Family YMCA in Stone Mountain, Georgia this week.
The event was part of his Leading By Example Foundation’s annual Grant-A-Wish.
During the event, Georgia state representative Billy Mitchell declared December 21 as “21 Savage Day,” in honor of the hitmaker’s community support to underserved youth.
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Guitarist NEAL SCHON served his Journey bandmate JOHNATHAN CAIN a cease-and-desist order after he performed their hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” for former President DONALD TRUMP last month at Mar-a-Lago.
According to Variety, Cain has long been part of Trump’s inner circle and has been spotted at various events with him over the years. Also, his wife, PAULA WHITE, works as Trump’s spiritual advisor.
Schon’s issue is that he doesn’t want the band to be “politicized.”
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Fans were shocked this week when actor SAMUEL L. JACKSON appeared to “like” hardcore porn on Twitter.
He clicked the “like” button on posts from a Twitter user who shared videos of several different racy and explicit acts.
In response, one Twitter user wrote “Samuel L. Jackson old freaky ass we can see ur likes,” while another pointed out “@SamuelLJackson hi mate letting you know your likes are public and everyone can see them.”
Shortly after it was pointed out, the clips were removed from his feed.
Jackson has not commented directly on whether the “likes” were intentional or not, but he has in the past admitted to “being a fan of X-rated content,” per Page Six.
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CASTING CALL
“Avatar: The Way of Water” has passed $600 million at the global box office, after hitting the $500 million mark earlier this week.
Internationally, the film was near $427 million midweek.
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JEFF GARLIN has joined the cast of Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” for the show’s fourth and final season.
He will play Len, who is described as a “mean sandwich maker.”
The role will be Garlin’s first since he exited ABC’s “The Goldbergs” after an internal investigation into his alleged inappropriate actions on set.
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JERRY BRUCKHEIMER told E! News that a third “National Treasure” film is “very much in development.”
He also said that star of the franchise, NICOLAS CAGE will return as treasure hunter and cryptographer Benjamin Franklin Gates.
The third installment would be a follow-up to 2004’s “National Treasure” and the 2007 sequel “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.”
IN THE MEANTIME: “National Treasure: Edge of History” is available to stream on Disney+.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KRIS JENNER and her daughters KIM KARDASHIAN and KHLOE KARDASHIAN teamed up to give back to the women and children who reside at the Alexandria House, a transitional residence that provides shelter, childcare, counseling and job readiness to homeless women.
After arranging for Christmas lights to be installed at two of the Alexandria House homes, the ladies treated the woman to a day of pampering. From there, the woman and their children got to participate in a mini portrait session. Later in the day, a holiday dinner was served.
Kris, Kim and Khloe also surprised residents with more than $5000 in gifts, which included laptops, shoes, gift cards, lego sets, cosmetics and pajamas.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
The Palace announced this week that KING CHARLES has given KATE MIDDLETON, PRINCE WILLIAM and QUEEN CONSORT CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES new titles.
Kate was officially named the new honorary Colonel of the Irish Guard, a role previously held by William, who was appointed as Colonel of the Welsh Guards.
Camilla will now serve as the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a position previously held by PRINCE ANDREW.
Amid the changes, the Palace also announced the annual Trooping of the Colour will take place on June 17, 2023 -- though Charles’ birthday is in November.
WORTH NOTING: QUEEN ELIZABETH also chose to hold the annual event closer to summer versus on her actual birthday (in April) due to the weather being nicer.
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SPORTS
Kansas City Chiefs QB PATRICK MAHOMES gifted his lineman personalized golf bags for Christmas.
He showed off the gifts on Instagram, captioning the pics “got my guys right for Christmas!”
The Chiefs play the Seattle Seahawks on Christmas Eve.
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LIST OF THE WEEK
Celebrity News released a list of the most iconic Christmas films to enjoy this holiday season.
In no particular order, the films are:
A Christmas Story
Miracle on 34th Street
A Christmas Carol
Scrooged
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause 2
Love Actually
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Home Alone
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Elf
It’ A Wonderful Life
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Polar Express
Jingle All The Way
Die Hard
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DAY OF THE YEAR
Festivus
National Roots Day
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ON THIS DATE
1620 – Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower begin building the first buildings of their settlement, a week after landing at Plymouth.
The first winter was harsh -- half the colonists would die either from the conditions or from disease.
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1783 – George Washington retires as leader of the Continental Army.
For General Washington, leading the colonies to independence was to be the peak of his career, and he looked forward to a quiet retirement.
This of course was not the case, and he was elected the first president five years later.
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1888 – Eccentric and depressed French painter Vincent Van Gogh lops off his ear. He captured the mutilation in his self-portrait, titled “Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear.”
Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime, and only became an artistic legend after his death.
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1968 – The crew of the American Navy ship Pueblo are released by the government of North Korea after 11 months.
While detained, the crew suffered at the hands of ruthless captors. The captain eventually signed a confession that his mission was to spy, which the North Koreans used as a propaganda piece.
Today the Pueblo is still in the hands of the North Koreans and is a frequently-visited museum piece in the communist country to celebrate victory over the imperialist American Navy.
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1986 – The Voyager aircraft flies around the world without stopping to refuel, clocking in at 26,366 miles in total and averaging 11,000 feet.
It took off from Edwards Air Force Base on December 14 that year — at 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds of flight, it also set a flight endurance record.
It took two significant detours during the flight. First to avoid Typhoon Marge in the Pacific — and at one-point Libya denied it access to its airspace.
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1997 – Terry Nichols is found guilty of manslaughter in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Nichols was Timothy McVeigh’s accomplice in the planning and preparation of the truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The bombing claimed the lives of 168 people.
He is currently incarcerated in Colorado on a cellblock commonly referred to as “Bombers Row.”
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2002 - A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25.
This is the first time in history that an aircraft and a modern unmanned drone engaged in combat.
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BIRTHDAYS
Finn Wolfhard - actor, “Stranger Things” - 20
Reuben Gray - pop singer - 22
Jackie Radinsky - actor, “Bella and the Bulldogs” - 24
Reed Alexander - actor, “iCarly” - 28
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle - actress, “Camp Rock” & “Hannah Montana” - 32
TJ Oshie - hockey player - 36
Danielle Busby - reality star, “Outdaughtered” - 39
Holly Madison - model & former playmate - 43
Martin Kratt - TV producer - 57
Eddie Vedder - rock singer, Pearl Jam - 58
Jim Harbaugh - football coach - 59
Born On This Date
Corey Haim - actor, “Murphy's Romance” & “Dream a Little Dream” - 1971 (d. 2010)
Madam C.J. Walker - founder of Madam CJ Walker Manufacturing Company - 1867 (d. 1919)
Joseph Smith - founder of the Latter Day Saint movement - 1805 (d. 1844)
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