3/9/2022: No More Russian Oil
PLUS: Britney Wants Babies, Kanye's Death Poem, and Rodgers Returns
Today is Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
It is the 68th day of the year.
297 days remain.
TRENDING
Social media users celebrated International Women’s Day Tuesday by sharing quotes from women they find inspirational. Meanwhile, Greta Thurnberg tweeted that the day “is not for celebrating. It is for protesting against and raising awareness for the fact that people are still being oppressed or treated differently because of their gender.”
Lamb Chop was trending yesterday. It is unclear exactly how or why the trend started, but many on Twitter did point out that the sock puppet from early ‘90s TV is a female, so perhaps in honor of International Women’s Day?
Westbrick was trending after Lakers star Russell Westbrook told reporters that he is “done” with fans calling him “Westbrick.”
Aaron Rodgers landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends Tuesday after signing a four-year deal. More details in Sports.
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HIT LIST
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday a ban on importing Russian oil. The United Kingdom and European Union are also actively looking to get off the Russian spigot.
Russia’s spokeshenchmen threatened oil could exceed $300 a barrel if Russia’s cut off from international trade.
MEANWHILE: The United Nation estimates 2 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia began its invasion.
More than half of those have taken refuge in Poland.
ALSO: Coke and McDonald’s are ending business operations in Russia.
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FOR THE CHILDREN: At least 30,000 Minneapolis-area students won’t be able to go to class indefinitely, as public school teachers go on strike.
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers says that the strike is “for the safe and stable schools that our students deserve.”
WORTH ASKING: Huh?
A rep for the union said that teachers have been having to do “so much more with so much less.”
WORTH NOTING: Doing more with less also describes what virtually every private sector business and organization has had to do for the last two years.
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A Brooklyn man headed to Arizona last week to take in nature and do some mountain climbing. Things didn’t go great.
On Wednesday, he called police after getting lost on the Humphreys Trail outside Flagstaff. Eventually, rescue vehicles found him and got him to safety.
The next day, he called 911 again to report he had fallen down a ridge – requiring a rescue helicopter for him and a hiker who stopped to help him.
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After an afternoon rally, the Dow closed down half a percent Tuesday.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil traded up about $5, around $125 a barrel.
Brent Crude was trading in the high $120s.
Nationally, gas prices closed at a record average high, at $4.17 a gallon.
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A new study in Nature Communications discusses the analysis of a 328 million year old fossil of an octopus-like sea creature that had ten tentacles. Its discovery and estimated age would shift the timeline for when scientists believed such animals started appearing in oceans by 82 million years.
The fossil itself is tiny – just 12 centimeters long.
BY THE WAY: The researchers have given the discovery the formal name “Syllipsimopodi bideni” after President Joe Biden. No word on whether that is a tribute to the commander in chief or mocking his age.
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CHARTS
Top 5 Fiction & Nonfiction Books Currently on the New York Times Best Sellers List:
FICTION:
“The Paris Apartment,” Lucy Foley
"It Ends With Us," Colleen Hoover
“Verity,” Colleen Hoover
“House of Sky and Breath,” Sarah J. Mass
“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” Taylor Jenkins Reid
NONFICTION:
“Red-Handed,” Peter Schweizer
“The Body Keeps The Score,” Bessel van der Kolk
“The 1619 Project,” edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
“Greenlights,” Matthew McConaughey
“The Splendid and The Vile,” Erik Larson
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DEATHS
JOSHUA THARPE has died.
The “Party Down South” star was found dead in his home Monday. The cause of death is not known.
He was 24.
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CHARLES E. ENTENMANN has died.
The Bay Shore baker and philanthropist passed away February 24 from heart complications.
He was 92
WORTH NOTING: Charles was the son of WILLIAM ENTENMANN — as in Entenmann’s baked goods.
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BREAKUPS
KELLY CLARKSON and BRANDON BLACKSTOCK have finally reached a settlement in their bitter divorce.
According to TMZ, Clarkson has been granted primary custody of their two children, while Blackstock will get them one weekend a month.
Clarkson also gets to keep the former couple’s Montana ranch, though Blackstock has been hunkered down there. He must vacate by June 1.
Blackstock will also get spousal support — $115,000 a month — until January 2024.
As previously reported, Clarkson filed for divorce from the former talent manager in June 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage.
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Social media star JAKE PAUL, 25, has split from his girlfriend, Instagram model JULIA ROSE, 28.
No word on what led to the breakup, or who initiated it.
The pair first started dating in January 2020.
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SICK BAY
DEION SANDERS had two toes removed following surgery to correct a lingering foot injury.
The former NFL player revealed that the big toe and the second toe on his left foot had to be surgically removed due to blood clots he developed after the initial surgery.
Sanders documented the experience on the newest “Coach Prime” episode on Barstool’s YouTube page, which aired last night.
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THE SWAMP
The Biden Administration has been making a habit of blaming oil companies and Russia for the recent increase in gas prices.
White House Media Commissar JEN PSAKI regularly points to the 9,000 unused leases as evidence that domestic companies could be producing more oil.
President JOE BIDEN noted that the U.S. output more oil in his first year than during former PRESIDENT TRUMP’s.
WORTH NOTING: Psaki makes a lease on land for drilling sound like there’s all kinds of black gold just under the surface waiting to get sucked out. This is rarely the case. Energy companies have to spend years not only determining if the land is viable to drill, but then pass layers of bureaucratic red tape and scrutiny in order to proceed with drilling. The Biden administration has only made this tangled web more complicated.
ALSO WORTH NOTING: Domestic drilling is significantly down from the end of 2019 levels. Since then, the pandemic chilled demand for gas – remember when gas was under a dollar in the early days of lockdowns? And prices started inching upward as soon as Biden took office, as he sent signals he would not condone policies that ease fuel prices.
IT GETS WORSE: The Biden administration has stopped issuing new leasing permits – so energy companies can’t even take on the risk to prospect for drilling sites.
BOTTOM LINE: This is like the government encouraging you to open a lemonade stand, but then making it illegal to buy lemons and forcing you to spend a million dollars on the environmental impact of setting up your lemonade stand.
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LOTTERY
No winner for Monday night’s Powerball drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $99 million jackpot or a $67.9 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
BRITNEY SPEARS has babies on the brain.
While sharing some more topless photos from her recent vacation to French Polynesia with fiancé SAM ASGHARI, the singer also shared her plan to “have babies.”
“Planning on having babies in Polynesia,” she captioned the series of shots.
Spears previously hinted at wanting to expand her family in a post from November, just days after her conservatorship was terminated.
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JUSTIN BIEBER’s Justice Tour is back on after his bout with covid.
The singer performed to a packed crowd at the Crypto.com Arena Monday night, where he was joined on stage by LEON BRIDGES, DON TOLIVER and QUAVO.
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COURTENEY COX says she doesn’t remember much of her time filming the show “Friends.”
While chatting with host WILLIE GEIST for an extended “Sunday Sitdown,” the actress shared that she realized she has a “lot of gaps” in her memory when she appeared on “Friends: The Reunion” last year.
Explaining further, Cox said it's not just her time on the show that is fuzzy, she also doesn’t remember many things from her childhood.
For what she can recall, Cox told Geist that she feels “lucky” for being part of the show.
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CASTING CALL
MANDY MOORE is working on some new music.
The actress-singer announced that she will release a new album, titled “In Real Life” on May 13.
The album will be her first since “Silver Landings” dropped in March 2020.
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EVE JOBS, the daughter of Apple’s STEVE JOBS, has signed with dna Model Management.
The 23-year-old revealed the news alongside a selfie on Instagram.
Eve made her debut as a model in 2020 in Glossier’s holiday ad campaign.
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MINDY KALING’s Netflix show “Never Have I Ever” has been renewed for a fourth and final season by the streamer.
The series stars MAITREYI RAMAKRISHNAN as Devi, a teenage Indian-American girl from Los Angeles.
Season 3 is scheduled to launch this summer, and Season 4 is set for 2023.
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KATIE ASELTON has joined the cast of “Old Dads.”
The film tells the story of Jack (Bill Burr) and his two friends, played by BOBBY CANNAVALE and BOKEEM WOODBINE, who, after selling their company, find themselves behind the times.
Aselton will play Jack’s wife, Leah.
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GUY BURNET and DANNY DEFARRARI are the latest additions to the cast of “Oppenheimer.”
They join previously announced CILLIAN MURPHY, EMILY BLUNT, FLORENCE PUGH, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., MATT DAMON, RAMI MALEK, and others.
The movie is based on the book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.”
Defarrari plays Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor. Details regarding Burnet’s role have not been disclosed.
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JAMIE KING will star in and produce “Man’s Son.”
The thriller follows a young couple hoping to create an aesthetically pleasing audition tape for an up-and-coming Charles Manson film. They soon find themselves intertwined in an occult, sinister plot, led by King’s character, per Variety’s description.
The film is set to be released in early 2023.
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RENEE ZELLWEGER is working on a WWII drama for Peacock.
“Avenger Field” celebrates the all female US Airfare program called the WASPS, who took part in battling the Nazis.
Zellweger will take on the role of WASPS leader Jackie Cohran.
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ERNIE HUDSON will star opposite RAYMOND LEE in NBC’s “Quantum Leap.”
A reboot of the 1990s sci-fi drama, the show is set in present time, with a new team investigating the Quantum Leap accelerator that was created 30 years prior by Dr. Sam Beckett.
Hudson will play Herbert “Magic” Williams, a Vietnam veteran and head of the time travel project, according to Variety.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KODAK BLACK is once again shooting his shot with KIM KARDASHIAN.
The rapper took to Instagram, with a shout out to the 41-year-old reality star, saying she should give him a chance.
KB previously reached out to Kim via social media in 2018 when KANYE WEST was in his words “on some stupid s**t.”
It is unclear if KB knows how serious Kim is about her boyfriend PETE DAVIDSON, or if he simply doesn’t care.
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KANYE WEST’s latest poem, titled “Dead,” is seemingly about his own metaphorical death.
The poem shares all his recent struggles — most notably his divorce from KIM KARDASHIAN — saying they have left him feeling “lifeless.”
As the poem goes on, Ye reveals how he met his demise writing: “I found out one day at the newsstand in purgatory there was a front page article of my murderer’s story.” He does not hint at who the alleged murderer is.
Those hoping for an explanation will be disappointed as Ye says he will not offer one because “the explanation destroys the mystery and magic of true love and puts it in a box that can be counted.”
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
QUEEN ELIZABETH is officially moving out of her longtime home of Buckingham Palace.
According to the Sunday Times, Her Majesty has no plans to leave Windsor Castle, where she has been living for the past two years. It’s located just outside the western outskirts of London.
One insider told the publication that the Queen feels “more comfortable at the castle where she lived with PRINCE PHILIP until his death last April.”
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SPORTS
Multiple outlets reported Tuesday that AARON RODGERS will return to Green Bay for at least the upcoming 2022 season.
They also claimed that the Packers QB signed a massive 4-year $200 million deal with the team.
According to podcaster, and Rodgers’ pal, PAT MCAFEE, the QB was seriously considering retirement, but ultimately made the decision to stick with the organization.
Hours after the news broke, Rodgers himself took to Twitter to address the reports. He tweeted:
“Hey everyone, just wanted to clear some things up; YES I will be playing with the @packers next year, however, reports about me signing a contract are inaccurate, as are the supposed terms of the contract I “signed”. I’m very excited to be back 💪🏼 #year18❤️”
If the deal is in fact legit, it makes Rodgers the highest paid player in NFL history, according to NFL.com’s IAN RAPOPORT.
OTHER BIG NFL NEWS: Seahawks QB RUSSELL WILSON has reportedly been traded to the Broncos for five draft picks.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Barbie Day
National Crabmeat Day
National Get Over it Day
National Meatball Day
National Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day
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ON THIS DATE
1781 – Spanish forces turn their sights on British holdings in Florida, beginning in Pensacola.
More than 40 ships and 3500 men land at Santa Rosa Island, and begin two months of siege on occupying British forces.
The British would surrender in May after losing 105 men.
With the capture of Florida and some fighting westward, the Spanish controlled all the territory surrounding the Gulf of Mexico -- for a while.
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1841 – The US Supreme Court decides that the slaves who took over the Amistad en route to North America had been illegally forced into slavery, and were to be considered free men.
Since the end of the slave trade in 1807, Americans could not import new slaves, but could trade them internally.
Lower courts had already ruled that the men aboard the Amistad were free, but even the President of the United States was behind the appeal -- that was Martin van Buren in 1840.
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1862 – The Battle of the Ironclads - the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia engage off the coast of Virginia.
They're the two commissioned ironclad ships of the American Civil War.
Their armor plates held up to their name, deflecting the cannon shots, volley after volley. While it ended in a draw, the Virginia retreated. This was actually a victory for the Union, since the Virginia had been wreaking havoc on coastal Union holdings for days.
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1959 – Classic toy doll Barbie first goes on display at the American Toy Fair in New York City.
Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler developed the 11-inch blonde hair bombshell. It was the first mass-produced doll in America with adult features. Handler said that was because little girls liked to imagine their future more than play in the present.
Ken was released in 1961, and was named for Handler's son. Barbie's best friend Midge debuted in 1963, and her little sister Skipper in 1964.
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1997 – Notorious B.I.G. is murdered in Los Angeles.
It is suspected that West coast gangs were behind the hit. Tupac Shakur had been killed six months earlier in Las Vegas.
Two years earlier, Tupac was shot during a robbery of a New York recording studio, which he believed was ordered by Biggie.
And the back-and-forth continued….
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2020 - Italy announces it is locking down the whole country due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
At the time, the country reported 10,040 cases and 630 deaths.
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BIRTHDAYS
Suni Lee - Olympic gymnast - 19
Cierra Ramirez - actress, “The Fosters” - 27
YG - rapper - 32
Bow Wow - rapper - 32
Brittany Snow - actress, “Pitch Perfect” films - 36
Matt Barnes - basketball player - 42
Chingy - rapper - 42
Matthew Gray Gubler - actor, “Criminal Minds” - 42
Melina Perez - wrestler - 43
Oscar Issac - actor, “Drive” & “Star Wars” - 43
Emmanuel Lewis - actor, “Webster” - 51
Steve Wilkos - TV show host - 58
Born On This Date
Bobby Fischer - chess player - 1943 (d. 2008)
Yuri Gagarin - astronaut - 1934 (d. 1968)
Leland Stanford - business tycoon, Southern Pacific Railroad - 1824 (d. 1893)
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