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3/16/2022: Ides of March
PLUS: More Deaths in Ukraine, Netflix Does Dr. Seuss, and Tiger Woods Talks PGA Return
Today is Wednesday, March 16, 2022
It is the 75th day of the year.
290 days remain.
TRENDING
#IdesofMarch landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends yesterday. On that date in 44 BC, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by 30 Roman senators.
#MsMarvel was trending after Disney Plus released the official trailer for the upcoming series. It debuts on the platform June 8.
Yesterday was Equal Pay Day. The US Department of Labor tweeted that “the day symbolizes the extra days women, on average, have to work to be paid what men were paid the year before.”
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HIT LIST
A cameraman and Ukrainian-based producer for Fox News have died after a Russian explosive hit near their vehicle.
It was the same incident that wounded Fox on-air correspondent Benjamin Hall over the weekend.
MEANWHILE: A TV host for Russian state-owned Channel One has been fined 30,000 rubles after appearing in a live shot behind an anchor with a sign protesting the war in Ukraine. The formal charge was “hooliganism,” CNN reports.
BY THE WAY: 30,000 rubles is around $280.
MEANWHILE, IN SPACE: Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut are currently aboard the International Space Station. Officials have confirmed that American Mark Vande Hei will return to Earth on the Russian Soyuz rocket in a couple weeks with his Russian counterparts.
WORTH NOTING: As of Tuesday, Vande Hei set a record for longest continuous stay in space for an American astronaut, who will clock 355 days when he lands.
The overall record goes to Dr. Valeri V. Polyakov, who spent 438 days on Russia’s Mir space station, before returning to Earth in March 1995.
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Pfizer is seeking FDA approval for a second booster shot for people over 65 years old. Pfizer’s CEO has said in recent days he expects annual covid shots to be akin to annual flu shots.
MEANWHILE: The CDC has quietly changed its masking guidance for toddlers, suggesting that they should follow whatever the community guidelines are instead of a blanket mandate that they all be masked all the time.
WORTH NOTING: When they were pushing Americans to wear three masks everywhere and let grandpa die alone in the hospital, Anthony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky were all over cable news. But now that their measures are less restrictive, they’re suddenly MIA.
BY THE WAY: British Airways has announced it will not require masks on flights when the destination is to a country without mask requirements in place – like Great Britain.
AND FOR THE RECORD: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for covid. VP Kamala Harris is in the clear.
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A Bank of America survey of economists now shows a majority believe inflation is permanent, 51-to-39%.
Just last month, the same survey indicated inflation would be transitory, with the numbers essentially flipped.
MEANWHILE: Gas prices continued to fall Tuesday, clocking in under $100 a barrel.
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A reckless British driver sent police on a 35-mile chase last week, after his Audi was spotted swerving and violating traffic laws. At one point a police helicopter was dispatched to follow from the air.
When officers finally stopped him and demanded identification, the driver produced a Legoland identification card that was nearly 20 years old. The driver also had a stash of marijuana on him and was reportedly stoned off his gourd.
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Anna Sorokin’s deportation to Germany remains in limbo.
The con artist made famous recently in Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” miniseries was supposed to be on a plane headed to Frankfurt on Monday, but she wasn’t on the plane.
Her absence doesn’t appear to be the beginning of another con at this point, though. Her lawyers have appealed the deportation and that appears to be held up in court. She remains in federal custody in New York.
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CHARTS
Top 5 Fiction & Nonfiction Books Currently on the New York Times Best Sellers List:
FICTION:
“Hook, Line, and Sinker,” Lucy Foley
"It Ends With Us," Colleen Hoover
“The Paris Apartment,” Lucy Foley
“Verity,” Colleen Hoover
“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” Taylor Jenkins Reid
NONFICTION:
“The Body Keeps The Score,” Bessel van der Kolk
“Red-Handed,” Peter Schweizer
“Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama,” Bob Odenkirk
“The 1619 Project,” edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
“The Beauty of Dusk,” Frank Bruni
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DEATHS
MIKE MORA has died.
The husband of singer KELIS, 42, passed away after a battle with stage 4 stomach cancer.
He was 37.
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PIERRE ZAKRZEWSKI has died.
The FOX News cameraman was killed Monday in Ukraine, the network confirmed.
He was 55.
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TIMMY THOMAS has died.
The singer-songwriter passed away March 11 at a hospital in Miami. His cause of death was listed as cancer, per The New York Times.
He was 77.
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SICK BAY
Second Gentleman DOUG EMHOFF has COVID-19.
Mr. KAMALA HARRIS tested positive Tuesday, but word is that he feels okay so far.
Kamala has tested negative.
Those in their inner circle are vaccinated and boosted.
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THE SWAMP
The Biden Administration is doubling down on its asinine claim that explosive spending not only curbs inflation but keeps down the deficit.
Speaker NANCY PELOSI made that bold claim over the weekend, and on CNBC Tuesday morning, Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG said, “If you look at our fiscal policy, it is true.” He added that the deficit has gone down “by a remarkable amount.”
MEANWHILE: Biden boasted Tuesday about his heroic work to decrease the deficit: “After four years in a row of increasing deficits before I took office, we’re now on a track to see the largest ever decline in the deficit in American history.”
WORTH NOTING: The last two years saw an unprecedented spike in spending to pay for vaccine development and covid testing and state and local funding programs amid the pandemic, not to mention direct payments to people to stay home and not work. So of course eliminating this spending will lead to an equally “remarkable” decrease in the deficit.
ALSO WORTH NOTING: The deficit is the difference between revenue and expenses. Add up all the deficits and you get the national debt. Biden’s people are playing syntactical games to make people think things are improving. They’re not: The debt continues to get worse.
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The US Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. If passed in the House and signed by the President, the change would go into effect next year in order to give companies like airlines time to update their systems.
WORTH ASKING: Why not keep Standard Time and do away with Daylight Saving Time?
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LOTTERY
No winner for Monday night’s drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $133 million jackpot or an $87.8 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
A judge has agreed to permanently block the release of photos, video and other records connected to the investigation of BOB SAGET’s death, as requested by his family.
As previously reported, Saget died on January 9 after suffering “blunt head trauma.”
Per the autopsy, the 65-year-old suffered a fracture at the base of his skull, fractures around his eye sockets, a cut to his scalp and bleeding between the brain and tissue covering the brain.
His death was ruled accidental.
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In a new Instagram post, BRITNEY SPEARS claims her dad, JAMIE SPEARS, “stripped” her of her womanhood when he set up the conservatorship in 2008.
“He said ‘I’m Britney Spears and I call the shots from now on’,” Britney wrote in the post.
The comment matches a claim made in RONAN FARROW’s bombshell report for the New Yorker in July 2021.
IT GETS WORSE: A former family friend claimed that Jamie called his daughter “fat,” a “whore,” a “terrible mother” and would often be heard yelling at her “I am Britney Spears!”
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SANDRA BULLOCK is taking some time off from acting.
The Oscar winner announced her hiatus in a new interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” saying she isn’t sure how long it will last, and that she needs to be “in the place that makes [her] the happiest,” which is at home.
Bullock is mom to two kids — Louis, 12, and Laila, 10, who are both adopted.
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Comedian GABRIEL “Fluffy” IGLESIAS has sold-out Dodger Stadium on May 7th as part of the 11-night Netflix Is a Joke festival.
Iglesias is the first comedian to perform at the venue and has now become the first to sell it out. (The stadium holds 56,000 baseball fans — the number of seats made available for Igelsias’ show is a little over 45,000).
The performance will be taped for his third Netflix comedy special.
Also performing at the festival are KEVIN HART, DAVE CHAPPELLE and PETE DAVIDSON.
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CASTING CALL
BILLIE EILISH, BTS, BROTHERS OSBOURNE, OLIVIA RODRIGO, LIL NAS X, BRANDI CARLILE and JACK HARLOW are set to take the stage at the 64th Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3.
This year’s show was bumped from January due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.
TREVOR NOAH will host the event for the second consecutive year.
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Netflix has ordered five new animated series and specials inspired by Dr. Seuss books.
The line-up includes, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish;” “The Speeches;” “Horton Hears a Who!;” “Wacky Wednesday” and “Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose.”
In a press release, Netflix said “the new slate of programming will explore themes of diversity and respect for others told through fun and engaging stories…and the rhythmic style of Dr. Seuss.”
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SARA GILBERT is joining the cast of “80 For Brady.”
She will star alongside previously announced JANE FONDA, RITA MORENO and SALLY FIELD.
The film is inspired by the true story of four best friends who travel to the 2017 Super Bowl to cheer on their hero TOM BRADY and his New England Patriots.
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Former President BARACK OBAMA will narrate the upcoming Netflix documentary, “Our Great National Parks.”
The five-part series explores some of the world’s most beautiful and protected lands, along with the creatures that call those places home.
It debuts on Netflix on April 13.
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TILDA COBHAM-HERVEY and STEPHEN GRAHAM will star opposite DAISY RIDLEY in Disney’s “Young Woman and the Sea.”
The film chronicles the daring journey of Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle (Ridley), the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel in 1926.
No word on Cobham-Hervey or Graham’s roles in the flick.
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STEPHEN COLBERT and CBS are lobbying for a two-hour primetime celebrity pickleball tournament, titled “Pickled.”
Celebs would battle it out to win money for charity — and also the coveted Golden Gherkin.
CBS describes pickleball as: “The buzziest new sport in a generation is a classic American cocktail – mix one part tennis, a splash of badminton, muddle in some pingpong, toss a couple of ibuprofens in there just in case, and add a heaping scoop of passion. Shake vigorously, then pour yourself a tall glass of fun.”
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
In KANYE WEST’s latest video rant, he said that unless he and KIM KARDASHIAN come to a set custody agreement, he will take the issue to court and let a judge decide.
The move comes after Ye complained on social media that Kim is keeping him from their four kids. Kim responded to the accusation, telling him to stop with that “narrative” as he was there to take the kids to school on Monday.
Up to now, there has been no formal arrangement for custody.
WORTH ASKING: Does Ye think a judge will grant him custody after his social media bullying?
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
One royal expert thinks PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE need to stop negatively discussing the Royal Family.
Richard Fitzwilliam told The Sun that the couple are “destructive” and “completely unpredictable,” and need to stop “knocking” Harry’s family every chance they get.
He cited Harry and Meg’s sit-down with OPRAH WINFREY, saying it “put the family in one of its biggest crises in recent years.”
WORTH ASKING: Why can’t Harry and Meghan move on with their lives in California and not continuously drag his family through the mud?
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SPORTS
TIGER WOODS hopes to be able to play in the 2023 Masters.
The golf legend, who was seriously injured in a car crash last year, is “feeling better and looking toward his future,” a member of his team told PEOPLE this week.
“He is very determined to return to the game,” the insider added.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
Everything You Do Is Right Day
National Artichoke Hearts Day
National Curl Crush Day
National Freedom of Information Day
National Panda Day
National SBDC Day
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ON THIS DATE
1802 – Congress founded the West Point Military Academy, located in West Point, New York.
It was formerly the site of an American fort designed to protect the Hudson River Valley from the British -- and was the fort Benedict Arnold planned to surrender as part of his treason.
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1850 – Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "The Scarlet Letter" is first published.
Unlike many authors at the time, Hawthorne immediately became famous and a sort of celebrity.
He was even appointed American consul to England by Franklin Pierce, who was his friend from college.
Hawthorne and his family spent 3 years in England. He later died in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
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1978 – The Amoco tanker "Cadiz" wrecks off the coast of Portsall, France.
High winds and turbulent seas pushed the ship into the coast as its steering mechanism failed.
68 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the ocean. It was the largest oil spill of its kind in history to that date.
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1988 – President Reagan orders 3,000 American troops to Honduras.
The move was in order to keep Nicaraguan troops out of the country.
Meanwhile, the Nicaraguans denied ever entering the disputed territory. The troops didn't stay long, and the communist Sandinistas remained in power.
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2003 – Ricky Craven edges Kurt Busch for the closest finish in NASCAR history.
Craven finished just .002 seconds ahead of Bush, per a highly scrutinized review.
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2005 – Robert Blake is acquitted of murdering his wife.
The trial lasted 3 months in LA Superior Court.
The prosecution produced two crack heads who said Blake approached them to kill his wife, but the defense was able to discredit their testimonies.
Two years later Blake was found guilty in a civil trial, and ordered to pay $30 million in damages to her family.
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2016 - US college student Otto Warmbier is sentenced to 15 years hard labor for trying to steal a political poster in Pyongyang, North Korea.
He would be released 17 months later in a comatose state, which North Korean officials said was a result of him contracting botulism. According to brain scans, Otto had suffered extensive loss of brain tissue, consistent with a cardiopulmonary event, but doctors could not figure out what caused it.
He would pass away in June 2017 after his parents requested his tube be removed. He was 22.
Meanwhile, North Korea claimed they were the victims because of the smear campaign that followed.
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2020 - Global infections of COVID hit 86,000 with 3,241 deaths.
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2021 - Robert Aaron Long, 21, goes on a shooting spree at three massage parlors in and around Atlanta, Georgia.
In total, eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian women, and one person was injured.
Long, who was taken into custody that same day, told officers he was motivated by a sexual addiction.
He would be charged with a total of 42 crimes across two separate counties, of which he pleaded guilty to. He would receive a sentence of life without parole.
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BIRTHDAYS
Tyrel Jackson Williams - actor, “Lab Rats’ - 25
Camilo - pop singer - 28
Blake Griffin - basketball player - 33
Jhene Aiko - R&B singer - 34
Alexandra Daddario - actress, “All My Children” & “Baywatch” - 36
Lewis Howes - founder of SportsNetworker & Inspired Marketing - 39
Blu Cantrell - R&B singer - 46
Alan Tudyk - actor, “DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story” - 51
Lauren Graham - actress, “Parenthood” & “Gilmore Girls” - 55
Flavor Flav - rapper - 63
Victor Garber - actor, “Titanic” & “Legends of Tomorrow” - 73
Born On This Date
Jerry Lewis - comedian - 1926 (d. 2017)
James Madison - 4th US President - 1751 (d. 1836)
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