8/25/2022: Joe Biden Just Cost You $2,100
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8/25/2022: Joe Biden Just Cost You $2,100
PLUS: Robot Rapper; Vanessa Bryant Awarded Millions; and Hillary Can’t Keep Up With Kim
Today is Thursday, August 25, 2022.
It is the 237th day of the year.
128 days remain.
TRENDING
#studentloanforgiveness was trending Wednesday. More on this one in Swamp.
Len Dawson landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends as NFL reacted to news of his passing. More in Deaths.
#MambaDay was trending yesterday. The date, 8/24, are the two numbers worn by the late Kobe Bryant. It’s also one day after his birthday.
The Twitterverse reacted to the news that Nick Cannon is going to be a dad (again!). More in Baby News.
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HIT LIST
Pending home sales were down nearly 20% year over year in July, meaning about 1 in 5 buyers backed out of offers to buy.
Overall, sales were down 12.6% year over year.
Zillow reports that home values declined for the first time in a decade, barely down at 0.1%.
Pantheon Macroeconomics analyst Ian Shepherdson reports that housing inventory is at the highest level since April 2009 and expects future demand to plummet for the next few months.
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Last year, some students at Cleveland State University were required to submit a webcam video of their bedroom before taking an online chemistry test. The policy was designed to prevent cheating.
That didn’t sit right with Aaron Ogletree, one such student who said this policy was a privacy invasion. He later filed a lawsuit.
Now, a federal judge ruled the policy was a violation of Ogletree’s rights to privacy.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: Ogletree complied at the time of the test anyway in order to pass the class.
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Big slides are a hallmark of many state fairs around the country, where riders hop on a mat and zoom down.
But this year, Michigan’s big slide at its state fair left riders coming in a little too hot.
Videos began to go viral of people getting some pretty sweet air as they bobbed down the slide, creating safety concerns. Staff temporarily closed it down and sprayed the surface with a little water to slow things down.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
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Has your Drive-Thru order ever been so bad you shot at the clerk behind the window?
Law enforcement in the Dallas-area town of Glenn Heights, Texas, say 19-year-old Christian Ellis first argued with staff about his order. Then he got a gun and fired into the restaurant.
No one was injured. Ellis has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault; he faces 20 years in prison.
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Competitive eater JOEY CHESTNUT has taken home another title – this time for downing a bunch of popcorn to set a new World Popcorn-Eating Challenge Record.
He ate 32, 24-ounce servings of popcorn in 8 minutes, shattering the last record of 28.5 servings.
Chestnut achieved the feat Tuesday night before a Triple-A baseball game in Indianapolis.
Here’s how he described his strategy to local media: “I’ll be drinking water. One hand is going to be gripping the right side handful, squeezing it just enough. One chew in my mouth, and a sip of water to chug it down. Maybe a couple of chews toward the end of the contest. My throat’s going to be tired so I’m going to have to chew a little bit more. I might have to drink a bit more water. It’s going to be a battle.”
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The Dow added 59 points (0.18%) on Wednesday to close at 32,969. The S&P added 12 points (0.29%) to close at 4,140 while the Nasdaq added 50 points (0.41%) to close at 12,431.
🛢 West Texas Intermediate creeped back up to $94.89 on Wednesday. Brent Crude is back up over $100 a barrel, at $101.73.
⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $3.83 on Wednesday.
₿ Bitcoin had modest gains Wednesday, picking up about $77 and trading around $21,590.
🛩 There were 2,765 flights delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Wednesday and 218 such cancellations.
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CHARTS
RON DESTANTIS is Florida’s “Top Gov.”
Watch:
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DEATHS
LEN DAWSON has died.
The Hall of Fame QB, who led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win 1970, passed away Wednesday in Kansas City. He had entered hospice 10 days prior to his passing. No other details were shared.
He was 87.
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BABY NEWS
NICK CANNON is going to be a dad again!
The 41-year-old announced Wednesday that his girlfriend, 34-year-old model BRITTANY BELL is pregnant. While it will be the third child for the couple, it will be Cannon’s 10th overall.
Cannon welcomed a son in June with model BRE TIESI, and rumor is he is the father of the child DJ ABBY DE LA ROSA is currently expecting. Cannon and De La Rosa already share 1-year-old twin sons.
Rounding out the 10, Cannon has 11-year-old twins with his ex-wife MARIAH CAREY, and welcomed a son with model ALYSSA SCOTT, who passed away last December at 5-months-old from brain cancer.
Congrats?
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BREAKUPS
SYLVESTER STALLONE’s wife, JENNIFER FLAVIN, 54, has filed for divorce.
The former model filed papers to dissolve her 25-year marriage to the 76-year-old actor on August 19, according to Page Six. It is not known why she decided to pull the plug.
Stallone addressed the news Wednesday, saying “I love my family. We are amicably and privately addressing these personal issues.”
The news comes just days after Stallone covered up a large bicep tattoo of Flavin with Butkus, the Bullmastiff from “the “Rocky” films.
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“Dancing With the Stars” pros EMMA SLATER, 33, and SASHA FARBER, 38, are splitting after four years of marriage.
A source told Page Six that the two have been separated for a “few months” now.
As for both of them continuing with the dance competition show, the insider said they won’t “let their personal life get in the way.”
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SICK BAY
JILL BIDEN has tested positive for covid again, because apparently everything is stupid today.
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THE SWAMP
President JOE BIDEN announced a three-prong plan for addressing student loan debt Wednesday. None of them are a good idea.
PRONG ONE: Low-income Pell Grant recipients will get $20,000 in redistributed handouts to apply to their loan debt balance. The rest of the loans held by the Department of Education are entitled to redistributed handouts of up to $10,000. To be eligible, individual income – NOT household income – must not exceed $125,000.
The pause on student loan payments enacted at the start of the pandemic will continue until the end of the year. The Biden White House mockingly notes in a statement, “Borrowers should expect to resume payment in January 2023,” as if the government has ever withheld its teet after it’s been offered.
PRONG TWO: The Department of Education will cap loan payments at 5% of a borrower’s income, down from 10% (which is down from 15% following a provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act). Additionally, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program will be expanded to reward government work with additional loan forgiveness.
BUT WAIT: Interest will still accrue and borrowers will end up being in debt to the government even longer. This is applying the boneheaded money management techniques the federal government uses to kitchen table economics. Only a bureaucrat on the government dole would think borrowing money forever is a way to economic prosperity.
PRONG THREE: The third prong vaguely promises that Biden will work to make community college free and hold schools accountable when they charge too much.
WORTH ASKING: Why has the cost of education gone up?
WORTH NOTING: Because the government’s been paying for it for decades and universities have needlessly stuffed their staff with useless dorks who have even more useless Masters degrees in Feelings Studies and don’t live a minute of their lives outside of the insulated bubbles of progressive university campuses.
THE FALLOUT: The plan calls for the Department of Education to create an application process to apply for loan forgiveness before the end of the year. That also leaves a lot of time for significant legal challenges – which might be part of the plan.
The Biden Administration’s legal rationale for canceling student loan debt stems from the HEROES Act, which was passed in the wake of September 11. It provides the president extraordinary powers to cancel debt in the wake of a military operation or national emergency.
Of course, Biden says Covid is the emergency that’s happening right now that gives him these powers.
BUT WAIT: Biden ended the effective Title 42 “Remain in Mexico” policy earlier this year on the grounds that the pandemic was over and all asylum-seekers and other illegal immigrants must be welcomed immediately.
IN OTHER WORDS: He’s talking out of both sides of his ass.
WORTH REMEMBERING: When Biden took office in January 2021, he extended the eviction moratorium, but was overruled by the Supreme Court. He doesn’t care about the law. He doesn’t think they apply to him.
BY THE WAY: Who agrees that the president doesn’t have the power to cancel student loan debt without signing legislation enacted by Congress? NANCY PELOSI.
WATCH:
BY THE NUMBERS: A study out of the Wharton business school estimates student loan debt cancellation will cost $330 billion over the next decade.
The incorrectly-named Inflation Reduction Act estimates $300 billion in debt reduction over the same period.
IN OTHER WORDS: This completely wipes out even the theoretical economic gains the incorrectly-named Inflation Reduction Act would’ve made, and leaves America even more broke.
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LOTTERY
No winner for Tuesday night’s Mega Million drawing. Friday night’s drawing will be for a $135 million jackpot or a $75.8 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Capitol Records has signed the first ever robot rapper.
FN MEKA, the world’s first augmented reality artist, rose to fame on TikTok, where it has over 10 million followers.
Meka’s debut single “Florida Water” dropped this week. The track also features rapper GUNNA and professional Fortnite player CLIX.
Capitol Records called the signing “a preview of what’s to come.”
HOW IT WORKS: Technically the bot is voiced by a human, but everything else about its music is based in A.I, according to the label.
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USHER has crowned himself the King of R&B.
Speaking on Radio Andy’s “Bevelations” show, the Grammy winner said, “I ain’t gonna ask for it no more. You’re gonna give it. Because I did work for it.”
He also spoke on DIDDY’s recent suggestion that “R&B is dead,” calling the notion “crazy.”
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JASON MOMOA says his iconic abs are basically nonexistent thanks to a recent hernia operation.
The 43-year-old told JAMES CORDEN on his “Late Late Show” that he still isn’t able to do sit-ups, so he will be keeping his “dad bod going for a bit longer.”
The “Aquaman 2” star underwent surgery after the movie wrapped in March.
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OLIVIA WILDE opened up about being served custody papers from her ex, JASON SUDEIKIS, while on stage at CinemaCon.
Speaking to Variety, Wilde called the move “vicious,” saying she was “utterly outraged” by his actions. Sudeikis has denied knowing when or where she would be served.
“Sadly, it was not something that was entirely surprising to me. I mean, there’s a reason I left that relationship,” she quipped.
Wilde and Sudeikis were together from 2011 through 2020, when they shockingly called off their engagement. They share two young children.
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Rapper RICK ROSS has offered up $10 million to anyone willing to get in the ring with the undefeated YouTuber-turned-boxer JAKE PAUL.
Ross revealed his generous offer, explaining that people are “afraid” to take on the 25-year-old.
Paul is currently 5-0 in the ring.
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A Pennsylvania woman filed legal papers this week to add JIMMY FALLON, TRACY MORGAN and “SNL” creator LORNE MICHAELS to a 2021 lawsuit in which she claims former “SNL” castmember HORATIO SANZ sexually assaulted her when she was 17.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, says Lorne “fostered a predatory environment” at “SNL” in which “underage girls were a regular presence at the show’s after-parties and after-after parties.” She also claims that alcohol was provided to the girls.
In the newest filing, Jane claims that Fallon and Morgan were “willing participants in the party culture” that inevitably led to her sexual assault by Sanz.
An NBC spokesperson issued a statement on the allegations that reads: “Regardless of Jane Doe’s changing narratives, NBC intends to renew its motion to dismiss.”
An attorney for Sanz called the accusations “categorically false.”
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CASTING CALL
KELLI GIDDISH is leaving NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
After 12 years on the cop drama, she will turn in her badge in the middle of the upcoming 24th season, according to Deadline.
Giddish has played the role of Detective Amanda Rollins since Season 13.
The new season premieres on September 22 with a three-way crossover of all three “Law & Order” shows: “Organized Crime,” “SVU” and “Law & Order.”
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“Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon” has become the most watched HBO/HBO Max TV or film premiere in Europe.
According to the streamer, the premiere episode was “by far the biggest launch and the number of viewers exceeded all expectations.” Exact ratings numbers for the overseas premiere were not revealed.
As previously reported, in the US the show was watched by nearly 10 million people -- the largest audience for any new original series on HBO.
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SIMU LIU and STERLING K. BROWN have joined the cast of Netflix’s “Atlas.”
The film follows Atlas, played by JENNIFER LOPEZ, a woman fighting for humanity in a future where an AI soldier has determined the only way to end the war is to end humanity. To outsmart the rogue AI, Atlas must join forces with another AI.
Liu will play the villain, according to Deadline. No word on Brown’s role.
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Disney has pulled “Avatar” from its streaming platform Disney+ in anticipation of the theatrical re-release of the 2009 flick.
The movie will remain unstreamable during its theatrical run. It will return to Disney+ just before the high-anticipated sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” hits theaters in December.
Following the sequel, there are three more films scheduled to be released every two years.
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COURT CASES
VANESSA BRYANT has been awarded $16 million in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
On Wednesday, a jury determined that she has suffered emotionally as a result of photos taken on the cell phones of eight L.A. County Sheriff's deputies of the helicopter crash that killed her husband KOBE BRYANT and their daughter GIANNA “Gigi” BRYANT.
The deputies not only took photos of the horrific scene, but shared them with friends, family members and even people at a bar.
Kobe, Gigi, and seven others were killed on January 26, 2020 when their helicopter crashed while en route to the Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN went toe-to-toe with HILLARY CLINTON in a contest of legal knowledge on the latter’s new documentary series “Gusty.”
In the episode, Hillary, and her daughter CHELSEA, chat with Kim about her journey to become a lawyer. As many know, Clinton was a practicing lawyer and law firm partner prior to her run as First Lady.
To spice things up, the two competed in a round of questions on the use of deadly force, the difference between extortion and robbery, and when a claim of self-defense is permissible. Law student Kim beat veteran lawyer Clinton 11-4.
In defense of her mom, Chelsea noted that Kim studied more recently.
“Gutsy” premieres on September 9 on Apple TV+.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
The critics have spoken about MEGHAN MARKLE’s “Archetypes” podcast debut.
CELIA WALDEN, who writes for the Telegraph, slammed the podcast as being centered on Meghan, despite having SERENA WILLIAMS as a guest. “If the rest of the season is anything like the premiere, what we’re really going to be listening into week after week is Meghan interviewing herself,” she wrote.
Royal commentator ANGELA LEVIN told GB News that all Meghan did was “encourage [Serena] to complain about how a woman is held back and how they are victims. You couldn’t make it up.”
As for how the Royal Family likely feels about the new podcast, Levin said, “I think the Royal Family can see that nothing would ever give Meghan satisfaction because she always wants more, more, more.”
NEXT UP: The next guest to join Meg on “Archetypes” will be MARIAH CAREY -- yet another woman who is worth millions.
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SPORTS
Former NY Giants player HAKEEM NICKS is auctioning off his Super Bowl XLVI (46) ring.
Nicks earned the ring, loaded with diamonds and blue sapphires, after his Giants beat TOM BRADY and the New England Patriots in the 2012 Super Bowl.
Current bidding is at $25,000, but Heritage Auctions told TMZ Sports that it could fetch up to $80,000.
It is unknown why Nicks is selling the bling, but a portion of the proceeds are going to charity, according to the auction house.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Banana Split Day
National Whiskey Sour Day
National Kiss and Make Up Day
National Secondhand Wardrobe Day
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ON THIS DATE
1835 – A headline in the New York Sun declares: "Great Astronomical Discoveries Lately Made by Sir John Herschel At the Cape of Good Hope."
The news story declared that an array of fantastical creatures had been discovered on the moon, including goats and unicorns, bat-winged humanoids, as well as temples and other buildings surrounded by oceans and trees. The authors later proclaimed that the observatory that scoped these wonders caught fire and burned to the ground--so the story could not be confirmed.
The author is assumed to be reporter Richard A. Locke. He was doing his best to discredit and ridicule some of the more fanciful theories about life on other worlds. Though the Sun would admit to fabricating the stories, its circulation nonetheless skyrocketed.
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1840 – Joseph Gibbons receives a patent for his Grain Drill invention.
The machine simplifies planting and sowing seeds. It allowed the user to plant without so much bending over, and was able to regulate how many seeds were planted.
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1916 – The National Park Service Organic Act is authorized by Congress, creating the National Park Service. Its purpose was to unify the individually managed parks and monuments across the country that were sometimes operated by the U.S. Army.
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1939 – The UK promises to defend Poland in the event it is invaded by another European power—which is assumed to have meant Germany.
Of course, German troops would roll into Poland on September 1st. The pact impelled England into World War II. Later Greece and Romania were also included under Britain's protection after Italy invaded Albania.
FIVE YEARS LATER - same date in 1944 - Germans surrender their last garrison in Paris, and allied troops declare the French capital liberated from Nazi control.
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1948 – The House Un-American Activities Committee televises its hearings for the first time.
Whittaker Chambers again calls Alger Hiss a liar—saying 80% of what he had testified is a fabrication, but that he was very fond of Hiss, who was one of his closest friends in the communist party.
Hiss maintained his innocence, stating repeatedly that he was not a communist.
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1989 – Voyager 2 swings by Neptune, which was at the time the second-to-last planet in the solar system; before Pluto’s status was reduced.
It sent back some 8,000 images of the planet and its moons. Voyager 2 had a nuclear power source, allowing it to continue its operations.
It still measures deep space magnetic fields and other data, zooming away from the sun at almost 291 million miles a year -- that's more than 33,000 miles an hour.
It’s expected to remain functional until 2025.
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2017 – Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas, northeast of Corpus Christi.
The Category 4 hurricane produced 130 mph winds and caused catastrophic flooding.
It is tied with 2005’s Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cyclone, inflicting $125 billion in damage.
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2019 - NASA investigates the first crime committed in space.
Astronaut Anne McClain accessed her estranged wife Summer Worden’s bank account during her six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
McClain admitted to accessing the account, but said it was only to monitor finances, and to make sure that her ex had enough money to care for her son. There was no sign that any money had been withdrawn or spent.
In a dramatic turn-of-events, federal investigators would discover that Worden was not telling the whole truth about the incident, and she ended up with charges of lying to federal authorities.
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BIRTHDAYS
China Anne McClain - actress, “House of Payne” & “Descendants” - 24
Blake Lively - actress, “Gossip Girl” - 35
Rachel Bilson - actress, “The O.C.” & “Hart of Dixie” - 41
Kel Mitchell - actor, “All That” & “Kenan and Kel” - 44
Alexander Skarsgard - actor, “True Blood” & “Big Little Lies” - 46
Jo Dee Messina - country singer - 52
Rachel Ray - chef - 54
Tom Hollander - actor, “Pride & Prejudice” & “Bohemian Rhapsody” - 55
Billy Ray Cyrus - country singer - 61
Tim Burton - director, “Beetlejuice” - 64
Elvis Costello - rock singer - 68
Gene Simmons - rock singer, KISS - 73
Born On This Date
Regis Philbin - TV show host, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” - 1931 (d. 2020)
Sean Connery - actor, “James Bond” & “The Hunt for Red October” - 1930 (d. 2020)
Leonard Bernstein - conductor, “West Side Story” - 1918 (d. 1990)
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