3/26/2024: Tractor Rebellion: UK Edition
PLUS: Bully Science; “Conscious Uncoupling”; and Kate & Charles
Today is Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
It is the 86th day of the year.
280 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
FTX’s wind-down scores a big win and the President of El Salvador cracks down. Details in HIT LIST.
A “Yellowstone” star gets booted from a flight and REBEL WILSON calls out this Hollywood “A-hole”. More in SHOWBIZ.
No word on when filming for “Euphoria” will resume. Details in CASTING CALL.
BIANCA CENSORI is her own woman. More in KARDASH.
THE KING and PRINCESS KATE bond. Details in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
As FTX continues its wind-down process, it has agreed to sell off its stake in artificial intelligence company ANTHROPIC for $884 MILLION.
Almost $500 MILLION of that stake will be sold to an investment fund affiliated with the United Arab Emirates. But the second largest stake will go to hedge fund Jane Street, where SAM BANKMAN-FRIED began his career in finance.
A Delaware bankruptcy judge has final say on the selloff plans.
WORTH NOTING: The timing is coincidental to SBF’s Thursday sentencing; the selloff process will continue for weeks and months following the decision. [via CNBC]
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Farmers in England drove their tractors into the heart of London on Monday to protest rules and regulations that disadvantage their crops over foreign imports. An estimated one hundred farm vehicles gummed up the Westminster area in the thick of evening rush hour as part of the protest, joined by crowds of solidarity protesters.
One rep for the protest tells LBC, “We want to get a fair price for what we do and not to be prejudiced against by imports.”
The office for the Prime Minister released a statement indicating he is open to pausing future trade talks to ensure the farmers’ concerns are being addressed in any future deals. By around 8:00 pm local time, the protest dissipated. Police were on hand to corral on-lookers, most of whom applauded the farmers’ protest. [via LBC, The Telegraph]
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LISTEN UP, DORKWAD: A study from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex suggests that schoolyard bullies end up earning more money.
In 1970, Britain created a formal Cohort Study to keep tabs on 17,000-some people throughout their lives and track data. Researchers in this study used this data as its baseline, and compared assessments given by teachers in 1980 to the cohort’s life and career data provided in 2016 – when the subjects would have been 46 years old.
One of the authors of the study tells The Guardian, “we were surprised to find a strong link between aggressive behaviour at school and higher earnings in later life.”
Those with aggressive behavior characteristics noted by teachers in 1980 ended up out-earning their calmer peers by 4% 36 years later and having 6% stronger “cognition skills.” [via The Guardian]
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Fresh off his re-election, President of El Salvador NAYIB BUKELE has reaffirmed his commitment to ending gang violence in his country. After one term, El Salvador has statistically eliminated murder in the country by aggressively arresting gang members and their affiliates.
But on Sunday, the government announced two murders in the northern part of the country. Bukele’s response has been swift: He has ordered 6,000 military and police forces to the region to further the crackdown. "We are not going to stop until we eradicate what little remains of the gangs," Bukele said in a post on X, along with a video of troops preparing to deploy. [via Nayib Bukele]
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The Lego Group wants a California police department to stop putting digital versions of Lego heads over suspects’ faces in its social media posts.
Images on the Murrieta Police Department’s Instagram page showed the digitally superimposed blocks with a variety of facial expressions -- crying, frowning, smirking or raging -- over the faces of alleged unlawful citizens. A spokesperson for the department explained that “in order to share what is happening in Murrieta, we chose to cover the faces of suspects to protect their identity while still aligning with the new law.”
The act of hiding suspects’ identities falls in line with a bill that was passed in 2021, which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from publishing images of suspects in nonviolent crimes.
Going forward the department will get creative with other digital disguises -- such as Barbie and Shrek. [via Fox News]
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DEATHS
Actor RON HARPER has died.
He passed away last Thursday at his home in California of natural causes, according to a statement from his daughter.
Harper is best known for his roles in “Planet of the Apes” and “Land of the Lost.”
He was 91.
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Author LAURENT DE BRUNHOFF has died.
He passed away Friday at his home in Florida, after two weeks in hospice care. No cause of death was shared.
de Brunhoff is best known for reviving his father’s popular picture books series, “Babar.”
He was 98.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW lost 162 points (0.41%) to close at 39,313 on Monday. The S&P lost 15 points (0.31%) to close at 5,218 and the NASDAQ lost 44 points (0.27%) to close at 16,384.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $81; BRENT CRUDE at $86.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.53 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN gained on Monday, up over 5.5% and trading for a while over a record $71,000.
🛩 There were more than 3,280 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 100 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $1.1 BILLION jackpot or a $525.8 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Homes belonging to SEAN “Diddy” COMBS in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by the Department of Homeland Security on Monday afternoon in connection to a federal sex trafficking investigation.
Local news stations caught the raid in L.A., which resulted in several people being escorted from the home in handcuffs -- including Diddy’s two sons, 30-year-old Justin and 25-year-old King.
Many may recall that Diddy was hit with four lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse in recent months, starting with his ex-girlfriend CASANDRA VENTURA, who claims to have dealt with years of sexual abuse during their 13-year off-and-on relationship. The day after she made the bombshell claims, however, a settlement was reached between the two. It is unclear if the investigation is related to any of the accusers.
It is unknown where Diddy was during the raids though at the time of reporting, TMZ revealed it had tracked down his private jet in Antigua. [via Fox 11, TMZ]
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“Yellowstone” star FORRIE J. SMITH claims he got kicked off a flight for allegedly being intoxicated, but he says it was because he refused to sit next to someone wearing a mask.
After getting the boot, Smith detailed the incident on Instagram, saying the mask on the other passenger’s face made him uncomfortable.
Comments on the video were mostly not in support of Smith’s antics. [via Instagram]
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Actress REBEL WILSON identified the “a**hole” that she discusses in her forthcoming memoir, “Rebel Rising.”
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Wilson wrote, “The ‘a--hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.”
Wilson and Cohen starred opposite one another in the movie “Grimsby,” which is when the bad blood allegedly began; only to get worse when they worked together for one scene in “Borat.”
IN RESPONSE: A spokesperson for Cohen called the claims “false,” adding that they could be “contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage and eyewitness accounts…”
No word on whether or not Cohen will take legal action against the actress, thus delaying the debut of “Rebel Rising,” which is set to hit shelves on April 2. [via Page Six]
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ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER joked about turning into The Terminator after being fitted with a pacemaker last week.
The 76-year-old shared the health update on his “Arnold’s Pump Club” podcast, saying “I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker.”
Prior to the latest procedure, Schwarzenegger underwent three open heart surgeries. [via Daily Mail]
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New Mexico prosecutors are fighting against “Rust” armorer HANNAH GUTIERREZ-REED getting a new trial.
Her lawyers are arguing that their client deserves a new trial because some of the jury instructions were unclear, specifically an “and/or” conjunction in relation to Gutierrez-Reed’s actions that fateful day.
In their filing, prosecutors state that the “simple instruction did not require much effort for the jury to understand.”
Remember, Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this month. She is currently being held in the Santa Fe County Detention Center as she awaits sentencing, which is scheduled for April 9. She faces up to 18 months behind bars. [via The Blast]
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MILLIE BOBBY BROWN’s “Stranger Things” co-star will officiate her wedding to JAKE BONGIOVI.
MATTHEW MODINE, who plays Dr. Martin Brenner aka Brown’s character, Eleven’s “Papa,” told Access Daily that he already has “one of those licenses to get people married” and after writing some wedding vows both Brown and Bongiovi thought he’d be perfect to officiate.
Brown and Bongiovi, the son of JON BON JOVI, got engaged last April. [via Access Daily]
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Ten years later, GWYNETH PALTROW says she is “proud” of all the hoopla around her using the term “conscious uncoupling” while announcing her split from then-husband, COLDPLAY frontman, CHRIS MARTIN.
“I definitely did not coin the phrase, but I feel despite us taking quite a lot of [s—] for it when we first announced that all these years ago, I feel very proud that we were able to, maybe, make some divorces a little bit easier, happier,” she told People.
Paltrow and Martin split in March 2014. She went on to marry BRAD FALCHUK in 2018 and he recently announced his engagement to actress DAKOTA JOHNSON, which apparently took place years ago.
The exes have been successfully co-parenting their two kids, Apple, 19, and Moses, 17. [via People]
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“Baywatch” alum DONNA D’ERRICO is baring it all for PETA.
The soon-to-be 56-year-old appears in a new ad campaign wearing only her birthday suit under some strategically placed translucent purple banners that read, “Wear your own skin” and “Wear vegan.”
She also appears in a video, explaining her decision not to wear animal products because she doesn’t “want to have animals suffer.” [via PETA]
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CASTING CALL
Filming for Season 3 of “Euphoria” is on an indefinite hiatus as the all-star cast takes on other projects.
In a statement, HBO told Deadline that creator Sam Levinson is still “committed to making an exceptional third season,” but in the meantime is letting the “in-demand cast pursue other opportunities.”
Insiders also said there is a possibility that the cast will reunite for a movie instead of a third season.
“Euphoria” stars ZENDAYA, SYDNEY SWEENEY, and JACOB ELORDI. [via Deadline]
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“The Simpsons” have done it again.
An episode from the show’s seventh season, which aired in 1996, features a collaboration between rap group CYPRESS HILL and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Fast forward nearly 30 years and the two groups will share a stage this July at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They will perform a special rendition of Cypress Hill’s album “Black Sunday.” [via Daily Mail]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
An anonymous insider says fans shouldn’t be concerned about BIANCA CENSORI’s risque outfits because it is simply “performance art.”
Speaking to Page Six, the source says that YE and Censori “know exactly what they are doing” and any “rumblings that he is controlling her” are simply not true.
Malik Yusef, a musical partner of Ye’s, doubled down, telling the publication that there is no truth to Censori’s parents being concerned for her well-being. “Her mother was with her [in L.A.] the other day. Her parents are fine with the relationship.” [via Page Six]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
KING CHARLES and PRINCESS KATE had a one-on-one lunch last Thursday, the day before she announced her cancer diagnosis in a video published online. The King had previously been made aware of her illness and the two reportedly discussed how he was handling his own treatment and recovery. [via The Sun]
AMID IT ALL: The King is expected to give a national address on Thursday, specifically to reassure a weary public worried about the state of the monarchy. [via Express]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Science Appreciation Day
Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
Live Long and Prosper Day
Black Marriage Day
Purple Day
National Spinach Day
National Nougat Day
Good Hair Day
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ON THIS DATE
1776 - South Carolina’s provincial Congress signs off on an independent constitution and names John Rutledge president.
The move came four months before the Continental Congress declared independence on behalf of the 13 colonies.
The South Carolina executive served as a dictator by today’s standards, but ironically, Rutledge resigned when the legislature tried to ebb his powers. He would later become governor from 1779 to 1782 after the wrinkles were ironed out.
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1920 - F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel is published. Unlike many other authors at the time, he became instantly famous and wealthy.
Though he grew up in an upper-middle class family who could afford good private schools, he was never as well off as many of his peers. This class struggle and envy became evident in many of his works, particularly, “The Great Gatsby.”
While his writing made him rich, he still lived beyond his means. Saddled with debt and hoping to curb their expenses, Fitzgerald and his wife soon moved to Europe, and hobnobbed with other literary greats like Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein.
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1941 - The first manned torpedoes are used in naval warfare.
The Italians developed a piloted underwater missile whose warhead detached from the steering apparatus before hitting the target, allowing the pilot to return to a submarine or ship.
They were successful at first, and a marked improvement over the Japanese suicide bombers.
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1950 - Red Hunter Joe McCarthy accuses Johns Hopkins University professor Owen Lattimore of being a Soviet spy.
Two months earlier, McCarthy publicly announced his list of 200 known communists working in the US State Department. Lattimore was the first to be singled out. He taught Chinese History, and was actually an expert on China, which had recently fallen to Mao’s communist regime.
Lattimore was investigated, but only charged with perjury, after walking back some statements he made from one testimony to another. Those charges were later dropped.
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1953 - The cure for polio is announced on national radio.
Dr. Jonas Salk proclaims to have successfully tested the vaccine against the disease that had killed 3,000 the year before in the United States. Another 58,000 had been diagnosed with it.
Dr. Salk first tested it on himself – and his family. By 1955 the drug would be declared safe, and made widely available. By 1957, the number of cases would drop to less than 6,000.
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1994 - The first asteroid with its own moon is photographed and released to the public.
The pictures were taken by the Galileo spacecraft. The asteroid, named Ida, is 36 miles long, 14 miles wide, and shaped like a potato.
Its moon, named Dactyl, is a mile across.
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2018 – “Black Panther” becomes the highest grossing superhero film in America earning $630.9 million.
It beat out 2012’s “The Avengers” which raked in $623 million domestically.
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2019 - The first organ transplant between a live HIV donor and an HIV recipient takes place.
A multidisciplinary team from Johns Hopkins University hospital jumped at the opportunity to perform the kidney transplant, becoming the first to do so in the United States.
Nina Martinez, who acquired HIV when she was six weeks old through a blood transfusion donated her kidney to an anonymous recipient.
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BIRTHDAYS
Ari Lennox - R&B singer - 33
Von Miller - football player - 35
Jonathan Groff - actor, “Hamilton” & “Mindhunter” - 39
Keira Knightley - actress, “Pride & Prejudice” & “Love Actually” - 39
T.R. Knight - actor, “Grey’s Anatomy” - 51
Leslie Mann - actress, “Funny People” & “Knocked Up” - 52
Kenny Chesney - country singer - 56
Eric Allan Kramer - actor, “Good Luck Charlie” - 62
Jennifer Grey - actress, “Dirty Dancing” - 64
Martin Short - actor, “Only Murders in the Building” - 74
Steven Tyler - rock singer, Aerosmith - 76
Diana Ross - soul singer - 80
Nancy Pelosi - politician - 84
Born On This Date
James Caan - actor, “The Godfather” & “Elf” - 1940 (d. 2022)
Leonard Nimoy - actor, “Star Trek” - 1931 (d. 2015)
Guccio Gucci - fashion designer - 1881 (d. 1953)
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