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3/30/2022: Prince Philip’s Memorial
PLUS: Life on Pluto?, Another Baldwin Baby, and Kim’s A Cool Mom
Today is Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
It is the 89th day of the year.
276 days remain.
TRENDING
#ThingsYouShouldNeverDoAtWork was trending Tuesday. Tweets included, “edibles,” “constantly complain,” “slap your coworker” and “sleep under your desk.”
Playstation Plus landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends after Sony revealed its all new three-tier subscription service. It is set to launch in June.
Fans reacted to the New Orleans Saints signing QB Andy Dalton to a one-year deal worth up to $6 million Tuesday.
Zoe Kravitz was trending after calling out Will Smith’s assault on Chris Rock. She took to Instagram to share her disgust, writing, “We are apparently assaulting people on stage now.”
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HIT LIST
For all the celebration of an international coalition isolating Russia economically, their efficacy appears to be waning as the value of Russia’s currency has recovered to levels before the invasion of Ukraine.
The Rouble is trading around 83-per-dollar, similar to its value pre-invasion.
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The FDA has approved another covid booster for people 50 and older. The shots from Pfizer and Moderna were given the go-head. The shots remain under Emergency Use Authorization.
WORTH ASKING: At this point, why is there still an EUA and not full authorization?
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a record 5 million gap between the number of unemployed people and the number of available jobs.
While more than 6 million people are looking for work, there are more than 11 million job openings across the country.
IN SIMPLE TERMS: If everyone looking for a job got one tomorrow, there would still be 5 million job openings.
WORTH NOTING: The unemployment rate excludes people who are out of the labor force – because they’re a student, retired, disabled, or just not interested in getting a job. As inflation continues to tick up, more people who sidelined themselves may actively go back to looking for jobs.
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A flamingo that escaped a Kansas zoo 17 years ago has resurfaced – this time off the coast of Texas near Port Lavaca.
The exotic bird – named Pink Floyd – first arrived in the country from Tanzania as an adult. Zookeepers felt clipping its wings would be too cruel, which allowed the bird to fly away. Since its escape, it’s been spotted in various parts of the country.
The BBC reports it was even once spotted in Wisconsin.
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New evidence of giant ice volcanoes on Pluto suggest the former planet could harbor life.
Analysis of photos snapped by the New Horizons probe in 2015 reveal “a field of very large icy volcanoes that look nothing like anything else we have seen in the solar system,” one researcher says.
They believe liquid water from under Pluto’s surface erupted through the volcano, but froze quickly as it spilled onto the surface, where temperatures are hundreds of degrees below zero.
While the likelihood of life in these conditions are highly unlikely, the presence of liquid water does improve the chances.
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CHARTS
Top 5 Fiction & Nonfiction Books Currently on the New York Times Best Sellers List:
FICTION:
“The Match,” Harlan Coben
“Run, Rose, Run,” James Patterson
"It Ends With Us," Colleen Hoover
“Verity,” Colleen Hoover
“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” Taylor Jenkins Reid
NONFICTION:
“One Damn Thing After Another,” William P. Barr
“The Body Keeps The Score,” Bessel van der Kolk
“Lessons From the Edge,” Marie Yovanovitch
“In Love,” Amy Bloom
“The Splendid and the Vile,” Erik Larson
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BABY NEWS
Baby #7 is on the way for ALEC and HILARIA BALDWIN.
Hilaria returned to social media on Tuesday to announce the exciting news.
The couple are parents to six kids — two daughters and four sons — all born since 2013. Alec also has an adult daughter model IRELAND BALDWIN, with ex-wife KIM BASINGER.
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THE SWAMP
America’s Governor RON DESANTIS announced Tuesday Florida and 19 other states are filing a lawsuit against the Biden Administration to end the mask mandate in airports and on airplanes.
"It is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life,” he said.
The current mandate will remain in effect until mid-April – for now.
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LOTTERY
No winner for Monday night’s Powerball drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $206 million jackpot or a $130.4 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
A source close to SEAN “Diddy” COMBS says the musician never actually heard CHRIS ROCK and WILL SMITH make up after the assault at the Oscars, despite multiple outlets reporting he did.
The source told TMZ that what Diddy said was that he spoke with both Rock and Smith individually and later reiterated that the two are “brothers” and “it's all love.”
Smith has since apologized to Rock.
Rock also issued his own apology.
WORTH ASKING: Why did Rock feel the need to apologize? What did he do wrong?
WORTH NOTING: Days before the Oscars JADA PINKETT SMITH said in a TikTok video that she doesn’t “give two craps what people feel” about her bald head.
ALSO: What does this mean for the future of stand-up comedy?
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Ticket sales to CHRIS ROCK’s comedy tour have surged since he was assaulted by WILL SMITH at the Oscars.
The comedian will kick off his Ego Death World Tour on April 2.
Secondary market platform TickPick reported Tuesday that they sold more tickets to the tour between Sunday and Monday than they did all of the past month.
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BRITNEY SPEARS has changed her tune when it comes to ex-boyfriend JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE.
In a since deleted Instagram post, the pop princess blasted JT for “using” her name to sell his debut album, “Justified,” in 2002.
Spears claimed in the post that Jesus spoke to her about those who betrayed her, which included JT and her mom LYNNE SPEARS.
As many may remember, Timberlake hired a Britney look-alike as the model for his music video to the song “Cry My a River.”
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JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER has no plans to create TikToks with JACKSON MAHOMES.
JuJu, who recently joined the Kansas City Chiefs alongside Jackson’s older brother, QB PATRICK MAHOMES, said a collaboration is “not happening.”
As many may remember, Jackson caused quite the stir over the many TikToks he created both on the field and in the stands during his brother’s games last season.
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JOHN TRAVOLTA adopted the adorable pup that JAMIE LEE CURTIS brought on stage at the Oscars.
The 63-year-old actress brought the pooch, named Mac N Cheese, on stage as a tribute to animal lover BETTY WHITE, during the In Memoriam segment.
Following the event, Travolta’s 11-year-old son asked him to adopt the dog.
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NICK LACHEY reacted aggressively toward a photographer during a night out with his wife VANESSA LACHEY over the weekend.
After seeing the photog taking pics of the couple from her car, the singer approached her, and allegedly punched her window while spewing expletives.
At one point he even reached into the car to pry the phone from her hands.
Nick later issued a response to the incident, tweeting that he “overreacted” to what he felt was “harassment” by the photographer.
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CASTING CALL
The FOO FIGHTERS are canceling their remaining tour dates following the death of drummer TAYLOR HAWKINS.
In a statement Tuesday, the band said they will take the time off to “grieve” and “to heal.”
As previously reported, Hawkins passed away last Friday. He was 50-years-old.
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HILLARY CLINTON will voice an off-stage role for an upcoming Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of the musical “Into The Woods.”
The former First Lady will voice the role of The Giant in the fairytale retelling.
The production is set for April 19 through May 15.
WORTH NOTING: Clinton was Arkansas’ First Lady during husband BILL CLINTON’s time as governor.
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The JENNIFER LOPEZ-produced series “Backwards in Heels” has been acquired by Amazon.
The show follows the aspirational and timeless story about the glamorous women living at the Barbizon Hotel in post-WWII New York City, per the platform.
For those who may not know, the Barbizon Hotel was for several decades a female-only residential hotel for young women who came to NYC for professional opportunities.
Famous guests and residents included LAUREN BACALL, BETTY BUCKLEY, JOAN CRAWFORD, RITA HAYWORTH and GRACE KELLY.
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CLARK GREGG and MICHAEL ARONOV have joined the cast of “Snowpiercer.”
They will appear in Season 4 of the TNT series, which is now in production.
The Season 3 finale aired on Monday night.
“Snowpiercer” is set in 2026, seven years after the world becomes a frozen wasteland, and follows the remnant of humanity who have taken shelter on a luxury train that circulates the globe 2.7 times per year, according to the official description.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN is the ultimate soccer mom.
The billionaire showed off her custom luxury Maybach van on this week’s episode of Discovery+’s, “Million Dollar Wheels.”
The $400,000 whip features multi-colored roof lighting, folding tables, seat heaters and coolers, reclining captains chairs, TV screens in all seat partitions and diamond stitching.
KANYE WEST also owns one of the high-tech vans.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
To the shock of many, QUEEN ELIZABETH arrived at her late husband PRINCE PHILIP’s memorial service Tuesday on the arm of her son PRINCE ANDREW.
The frail looking 95-year-old entered Westminster Abbey through a side door, assisted by Andrew and a cane.
All the notable royals were in attendance, save PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE, who did not attend over issues with security.
WORTH NOTING: The service marks Andrew’s first public event since settling his court case.
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SPORTS
JOHN HARBAUGH has signed a three-year extension with the Baltimore Ravens.
His contract was set to expire after the 2022 season, but he will now coach the team through 2025.
Harbaugh has been with the team for 14 seasons and has gone 137-88.
WORTH NOTING: Harbaugh is the third-longest tenured head coach in the league -- behind BILL BELICHICK and MIKE TOMLIN.
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NFL owners have approved the overtime rule change that was proposed by the Colts and Eagles.
The new rule will allow each team to possess the ball in overtime, even if one of the teams scores a touchdown, during the playoffs. Overtime rules will remain the same for the regular season.
Twenty-nine owners voted to change the overtime rule for postseason play and three voted in favor of keeping the rule the same, according to Sports Illustrated.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Doctors Day
National I Am in Control Day
National Pencil Day
National Take a Walk in the Park Day
National Turkey Neck Soup Day
National Virtual Vacation Day
National Little Red Wagon Day
Manatee Appreciation Day
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ON THIS DATE
1775 – King George tries to reign in rebellion in New England, authorizing the New England Restraining Act.
The law required the colonies to trade exclusively with Great Britain. Later that year the Crown banned any fishing in the North Atlantic.
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1867 – The United States buys Alaska from Russia.
Secretary of State William Seward signed the treaty, authorizing $7 million for the land purchase -- that works out to about two cents an acre.
The Senate ratified the treaty about a week later. The money wasn't appropriated by the House until the following Summer.
The cold northern outpost was slow to get started, but was bolstered by the discovery of gold in 1898.
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1939 – The Heinkel He 100 airplane sets a new world airspeed record.
It peaked just over 463 miles per hour.
While the German military was interested in testing the aircraft, it was never ordered into mass production, favoring designs from Messerschmitt.
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1974 – John Denver gets his first Number One hit with "Sunshine on my Shoulders."
The song originally appeared on the album “Poems, Prayers and Promises” three years prior, but found success after being re-released on his Greatest Hits album.
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1981 – John Hinckley Jr. shoots President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton hotel.
Hinckley fired six times, injuring the President and three others.
Reagan walked into the hospital on his own feet despite the bullet ripping through his lung, notably joking with the doctors that he hoped they're all Republicans.
Hinckley was eventually found not guilty by reason of insanity. He remained in a mental institution until 2018 and today lives in Williamsburg, VA.
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2000 – Richard Branson is knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
He received the honor for “services to entrepreneurship” for his work in retail, music and transport, his taste for adventure, and for his humanitarian work.
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2012 – Mega Millions hits a world record lottery amount of $640 million.
There were 3 winners of the jackpot: 1 from Illinois, 1 from Kansas and 1 from Maryland.
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2020 - The International Olympic Committee postpones the 2020 Summer Olympic Games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are rescheduled for July 23 - August 8 2021.
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BIRTHDAYS
Gideon Adlon - actress, “When We Rise” & “American Crime” - 25
Thomas Rhett - country singer - 32
Chase Sale - baseball player - 33
Richard Sherman - football player - 34
Sergio Ramos - soccer player - 36
Justin Moore - country singer - 38
Norah Jones - jazz singer - 43
Mark Consuelos - actor, “All My Children” & “Riverdale” - 51
Celine Dion - pop singer - 54
Piers Morgan - TV show host - 57
Ian Ziering - actor, “Beverly Hills 90210” - 58
MC Hammer - rapper - 60
Paul Reiser - actor, “Aliens” & “Mad About You” - 65
Robbie Coltrane - actor, Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” films - 72
Eric Clapton - singer & guitarist - 77
Warren Beatty - actor, “Bonnie & Clyde” & “Shampoo” - 85
Born On This Date
Joe Ruby - co-creator of Scooby-Doo - 1933 (d. 2020)
Vincent van Gogh - painter - 1853 (d. 1890)
Robert Bunsen - inventor of the Bunsen burner - 1811 (d. 1899)
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