8/18/2023: How to Bait a Crocodile đ
PLUS: End of a Netflix Era; âSuccessionâ Star Attacked; and Kate Parties
Today is Friday, August 18, 2023.
It is the 230th day of the year.
135 days remain.
WHATâS ON TAP
Some bleak economic news as inflation mounts and weird developments in North Korea. More in HIT LIST.
SAM ASGHARI has filed for divorce from BRITNEY SPEARS. More in SHOWBIZ.
The MICHAEL OHER saga continues. More in CASTING CALL.
Is KIM KARDASHIAN using Ozempic to stay thin? Find out more in KARDASH.
PRINCESS KATE parties hard and tips harder. More in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
North Korean observers pointed out that KIM JONG JUNIOR is starting to use his grandfatherâs title of âGreat Presidentâ in media reports â but the nation formally abolished the office of the presidency and declared KIM IL SUNG âeternal presidentâ in 1998.
When he assumed the role of Dear Leader in 2012, Junior formally took the title of âeternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic Peopleâs Republic of Korea.â [via Fox News]
WORTH NOTING: Obviously thereâs no one in North Korea to criticize this move or bring it any scrutiny. Itâs anyoneâs guess what Junior is trying to pull off by taking a title that had been differentially reserved for the founder of the Kim dynasty in North Korea.Â
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ECONOMICS ROUNDTABLE:
THE SAN FRANCISCO FED says that pandemic-era savings â both as a function of free government money and households spending less during lockdowns â is likely to be exhausted later this year as inflation rages on and Americans struggle to make ends meet. That means households will have spent down more than $2 TRILLION they had saved in the last three years. [via SF Fed]
Credit bureau TransUnion says the average American credit card balance is $5,947 â a 10-year high. [via CNBC]
The average 30-year mortgage rate hit 7.09%, surpassing rates last November and marking a 20-year high. [via ABC News]
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A man was arrested after parachuting off the Eiffel Tower on Thursday, marking the latest stunt in a series of shenanigans to take place on the iconic landmark.Â
According to The Guardian, the man scaled to the top of the tower, and then jumped, landing on the roof of a nearby stadium where was taken into custody.Â
The incident comes just days after two Americans were discovered sleeping off a bender in the tower. [via The Guardian]
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Screaming children should be kept away from all bodies of water that may contain crocodiles.Â
According to The Royal Society, the toothy predators are attracted to creatures in distress, such as shrieking children.Â
Researchers found that crocs are âsensitive to the degree of distress encoded in vocalizations,â meaning they can sense fear in a variety of perceived prey, and of any age.Â
What makes the find even more interesting is that the researchers think the creatures are able to detect distress markers even better than humans. [via NY Post]
DID YOU KNOW?: You can tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile based on which one will see you later and which one will see you in a while. đ¤
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If youâre one of the holdouts still getting NETFLIX DVDs by mail, the online movie rental platform is closing down the mail service in style, by sending up to ten discs on the last shipment date at the end of September.
The discs will be sent out based on inventory and availability, but users will get up to ten movies with their last order. You wonât get to keep them, though; plan for a couple weekend binges, because theyâll be due back by the end of October. After that, Netflix will no longer send discs by mail. [via TheVerge]
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BY THE NUMBERS
đ The DOW lost 290 points (0.84%) to close at 34,474 on Thursday. The S&P lost 33 points (0.77%) to close at 4,370 and the NASDAQ lost 157 points (1.17%) to close at 13,316.
đ˘ WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $80; BRENT CRUDE at $83.
â˝ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.87 on Thursday.
âż BITCOIN tumbled again on Thursday, down more than 2.8% and trading under $28,000.
đŠ There were more than 4,470 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Thursday and more than 105 such cancellations.
đ°Tonightâs MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $20 million jackpot or a $9.6 million cash payout. Saturday nightâs POWERBALL drawing will be for a $264 million jackpot or a $129.7 million cash payout.Â
SHOWBIZ NEWS
These albums drop today:Â
Anna Tivel, âOutsiders (Live in a Living Room)âÂ
Birdy, âPortraitsâÂ
Bobby Rush, âAll My Love For Youâ
Diners, âDOMINOâ
Grace Potter, âMother Roadâ
Hozier, âUnreal Unearthâ
Idina Menzel, âDrama QueenâÂ
Mick Jenkins, âThe PatienceâÂ
Movements, âRUCKUS!âÂ
Point North, âPrepare for DespairâÂ
Renee Rapp, âSnow AngelâÂ
Teddy Thompson, âMy Love of Countryâ
Tribes, âRabbit HeadâÂ
Yatta Bandz, âTUFF LUVâ
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SAM ASGHARI has filed for divorce from BRITNEY SPEARS, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason, and listing their date of separation as July 28.Â
He also requested that she pay spousal support and his attorneysâ fees.Â
One insider told Page Six that Sam is âattempting to negotiate concessions beyond his prenup and threatening to go public with extraordinary embarrassing information about Britney unless he gets paid.âÂ
For her part, Brit seems unbothered. On Wednesday she posted a photo of her riding a horse on Instagram, telling followers she is considering buying one. She has reportedly hired celebrity divorce attorney LAURA WASSER. [via Page Six]
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British rock band COLDPLAY is being sued by their former manager DAVE HOLMES.Â
Variety reports that after parting ways last year -- after 22 years working together -- Holmes is suing over a contractual dispute of which details have not been shared.Â
The band -- made up of frontman CHRIS MARTIN, guitarist JONNY BUCKLAND, bassist GUY BERRYMAN, drummer WILL CHAMPION -- are currently managed by a trio who worked alongside Holmes. [via Variety]
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Six months after the sudden passing of her husband, KYLE JACOBS, country singer KELLIE PICKLER has spoken out about her loss.
After thanking her family, friends and fans, Pickler told People Magazine that her husband had once told her in a moment of crisis, âIf you donât know what to do, âdo nothing, just be still.â I have chosen to heed his advice.â Â
She also revealed that an intimate memorial is being planned for her husband later this fall.Â
Many may remember in February Jacobs had locked himself in an upstairs bedroom in their home. When Pickler and a friend were eventually able to get into the room, it was too late. His cause of death was later ruled a suicide. [via People]
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âSuccessionâ actress CRYSTAL FINN was attacked by otters while swimming in the Feather River in Northern California last week.Â
Sharing the ordeal with the San Francisco Chronicle, Finn said they first started attacking her legs. When she tried to get them away, one of the otters bit her butt, which she said was the âworstâ bite of them all.Â
Finn was treated at the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, where she was told about other recent otter attacks in the area. [via SF Chronicle]
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CHRISTINA AGUILERA was spotted riding a motorized scooter while celebrating her daughterâs birthday at Disneyland.Â
A source close to the singer told TMZ that she was using it because she recently injured her knee and didnât want to make it worse.Â
Despite the hangup, Aguilera appeared to have a blast riding the rides with her 9-year-old and friends. [via TMZ]
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CASTING CALL
MICHAEL OHER is either currently lying about being tricked into a conservatorship by the Tuohys or lied about it in his book âI Beat The Odds: From Homeless, to The Blind Side, and Beyond.âÂ
In the 2011 memoir, Oher referred to the Tuohys as his âlegal conservators.âÂ
âSince I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne [Tuohy] would be named as my âlegal conservators,ââ an excerpt from the book states.Â
âI didnât care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we werenât legally what we already knew was real: We were a family,â he continued. [via TMZ]
Putting an even bigger hole in Oherâs recent lawsuit is âThe Blind Side: Evolution of a Gameâ author MICHAEL LEWIS, who told The Washington Post that the former NFL player âbegan declining his royalty checksâ from the movie. At which point, Lewis said he believes the Tuohys started depositing Oherâs share of the profits âin a trust fund for [his] son.âÂ
Lewis also denied Oherâs claim that the Tuohy family âmade millions off the film,â saying Hollywood was the âone who cashed in.â [via Washington Post]
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Fans of âThe Viewâ (all ten of them) are concerned that WHOOPI GOLDBERG may be reducing her time at the table for the upcoming season of the daytime talk show.Â
While a press release confirms that all six co-hosts are slated to return, a new 80-second segment promoting the show only shows Whoopi briefly.Â
âUh ohhh, I donât see Whoopi,â one fan posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Fear not, Whoopi will be there for at least another two seasons as her contract runs through the summer of 2025. [via NY Post]
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RAQUEL LEVISS aka Rachel will not be joining her cast members in the current filming of Season 11 of âVanderpump Rules.âÂ
An insider told ET Thursday that while there was a possibility that she would return, she has âdecided against it.â
In the months since âScandovalâ broke, Leviss retreated to a treatment facility in Arizona where she âfocused on her mental health journey.âÂ
Remember, âScandovalâ came to light in March when it was revealed that Leviss had been involved in a months-long affair with her co-star TOM SANDOVAL, who was in a nine-year relationship with Levissâ friend ARIANA MADIX.Â
Filming on Season 11 kicked off in July. [via Page Six]
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MILEY CYRUSâ new song âUsed To Be Youngâ will be released one day after the premiere of her ABC special, âEndless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions).âÂ
The special is a walk down memory lane for Cyrus, who details certain chapters of her life. She also discusses her latest album âEndless Summer Vacation,â which features her hit single, âFlowers.âÂ
The special is set to air on August 24 on ABC. [via Deadline]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
Some Kardashian fans think KIM KARDASHIAN has jumped on the Ozempic weightloss train.Â
Speculation started Thursday after the reality star posted a selfie -- from the bathroom of her private plane -- showing off her very thin waist, which she captioned, âIâm actually never free, I just make time.âÂ
âThe ozempic is ozempicking!â one follower wrote, while another added, âOzempic queen.âÂ
Others thought maybe her trim stomach was due to some heavy photoshopping.
WORTH NOTING: Fans have previously accused KRIS JENNER and KHLOE KARDASHIAN of using Ozempic to slim down. [via Life and Style]
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WEâLL NEVER BE ROYALS
PRINCESS KATE partied down with some pals at a 24 hour music festival last weekend in Norfolk, England, where DJs blasted beats around the clock. While most festival goers dined from food trucks, Kate and her crew opted for the 60-Pound-per-head Turntable & Napkin restaurant, which provided a four-course meal for guests.
Kate was spotted having fun, chatting with friends, ordering margaritas and eating dessert. She also contributed to the 700-Pound tip left for the staff. [via DailyMail]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Couples Day
National Fajita Day
National Ice Cream Pie Day
National Mail Order Catalog Day
National Bad Poetry Day
Never Give Up Day
Serendipity Day
Menâs Grooming Day
National Pinot Noir Day
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ON THIS DATE
1590 - European settler John White returns to the Roanoke Island colony from England to find it deserted.
None of the 100 original colonists could be found. Strangely, there was no sign of an attack or violence of any kind. White's daughter and granddaughter were among the missing.
There was one clue left behind: the word "Croatoan" carved onto the palisade fence. White thought this meant they had left for Croatoan Island about 50 miles away, but further investigation revealed that island, too, was empty.
The disappearance of the Roanoke colony remains a mystery today.
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1795 - George Washington signs the Jay Treaty into law.
The treaty was primarily negotiated by John Jay, Washington's appointee to the Supreme Court.
It forced British troops to abandon pre-revolutionary war outposts near the American borders, and for America to peacefully trade with other British colonies.
Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson vocally opposed its signing.
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1868 - Pierre Janssen discovers helium.
He had been observing a solar eclipse, and noticed a strange yellow line through his equipment. Janssen realized it had a unique wavelength.
Janssen had no explanation for it, and concluded it was a new element not yet discovered on Earth.
His contemporaries ridiculed him, since no element had ever been found in space before first being detected on Earth.
But it turned out Janssen was right. Later an English chemist would name the element after the Greek word for "Sun," helios.
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1877 - Astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, one of Mars' moons.
It is uncharacteristically close to Mars, and moves around the planet faster than Mars rotates. This means it rises in the west and sets in the East almost twice each day, about every 11 hours.
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1920 - Tennessee ratifies the 19th amendment, thereby granting the two-thirds majority of states to enact a Constitutional amendment.
From then on, women were allowed to vote, too.
The vote was the culmination of more than 70 years of hard work by suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.
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1958 - Vladimir Nabokov's creepy novel âLolitaâ is published in America.
The story is about a man's infatuation with a 12-year-old girl. Scores of publishers rejected the tale, but it was finally published by G.P. Putnam's Sons publishing.
The novel became an instant bestseller; affording Nabokov the luxury of retiring from his job as a college professor.
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1992 - Larry Bird retires from the Boston Celtics and professional basketball.
Bird started suffering severe back pain toward the end of his career, which had been inhibiting his performance on the court.
Before his retirement, Bird did play in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, as part of the fabled Dream Team, which also included Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Charles Barkley.
He would later become head coach of the Indiana Pacers and then the team's president of basketball operations in 2003, before stepping down in 2017.
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2017 - Researchers discover the USS Indianapolis 18,000 feet below the Pacific surface.Â
The ship sank 72 years prior during WWII after being struck by Japanese torpedoes.Â
Of the 1196 men on board, 800 made it into the water. The remaining men began a horrendous 4-day ordeal in the water being picked off by sharks and suffering from heat, thirst and exhaustion. On the fourth day a US naval plane spotted the survivors. By then only 300 survived.Â
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2020 - Joe Biden is formally nominated as the Democratic Partyâs presidential candidate.Â
The nomination came during the second night of the first ever virtual (due to COVID-19) convention.
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BIRTHDAYS
Josephine Langford - actress, âAfterâ films - 26
Parker-McKenna Posey - actress, âMy Wife and Kidsâ - 28
Madelaine Petsch - actress, âRiverdaleâ - 29
Maia Mitchell - actress, âThe Fostersâ - 30
Richard Harmon - actor, âThe 100â & âThe Killingâ - 32
Andy Samberg - actor, âSNLâ & âBrooklyn Nine-Nineâ - 45
Edward Norton - actor, âAmerican History Xâ & âFight Clubâ - 54
Christian Slater - actor, âTrue Romanceâ & âMr. Robotâ - 54
Robert Redford - actor, âButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidâ - 87
Born On Date
Patrick Swayze - actor, âDirty Dancingâ & âRoad Houseâ - 1952 (d. 2009)
Roberto Clementa - baseball player - 1934 (d. 1972)
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