8/31/2022: Drink More Tea!
PLUS: Low on Ammo; Baldwin Does Broadway; and Diva Duchess
Today is Wednesday, August 31, 2022.
It is the 243rd day of the year.
122 days remain.
EDITOR’S NOTE
There will be no newsletter published for Monday, September 5 for Labor Day. Solidarity, brothers & sisters! ✊
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TRENDING
Twitter Circle landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends on Tuesday. The new feature allows Twitter users to send tweets to certain people and share thoughts with a smaller group of followers. For those old enough to remember MySpace, think of it as your Top 6 Friends, except in this case it's 150 of your nearest and dearest.
Kid Rock was trending yesterday. Head to Showbiz to see why.
Twitter user @txiokatu’s tweeted Tuesday: “If band names were literally, what would be the worst concert to attend?” The top answer: Butthole Surfers. (Yes, they are an actual band).
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HIT LIST
ELON MUSK has formally included the allegations made by Twitter’s former head of security that it’s misrepresenting the number of real accounts on the platform in his bid to back out of his buyout plan.
In an official SEC filing, Musk indicated that his camp cited the allegations as “additional bases” for ending the deal.
The trial for the case is slated for October 17, and should only last a few days, given the immediacy of the ruling and acquisition timeline.
RELATED: Royal Caribbean cruise ships will soon have high speed internet thanks to connection with SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. Musk retweeted the announcement, adding, “Kickass Internet connection coming [sic] Royal Caribbean ships soon!”
MEANWHILE: Tech blog The Verge reported Tuesday that Twitter actively considered monetizing homemade porn on the platform, where wannabe internet porn stars could collect payments for flaunting it all online. The plan was abandoned when they realized there weren’t enough safeguards in place to protect against child pornography and other illegal activities.
SPEAKING OF BIG TECH: Google has denied Truth Social from listing in the Google Play store, where Android users download apps.
They say that the app doesn’t have appropriate content moderation policies in place to merit a slot in the marketplace – which was sort of the whole point of the app in the first place.
WORTH NOTING: Android users can still get the app directly from the Truth Social website.
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The Washington Post has bled subscribers since the end of 2020 and will not be profitable this year, according to reporting by the New York Times, of all places.
The Times also says the Post’s digital advertising revenue has slipped 15% year over year.
Insiders say that the Post’s chief executive and publisher has considered firing 100 newsroom jobs, but the official line from the paper is that it is “exploring positions that should be repurposed to serve a larger, national and global audience.”
The Times threw some hilarious elbows in its reporting, including this gem: “Many news outlets, in addition to The Post, have experienced declining readership since former President Donald J. Trump left office. But two of The Post’s top competitors — The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal — have added subscriptions since Mr. Trump left office.”
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TEA TIME: A National Cancer Institute study shows that tea drinkers live just a little bit longer.
The study followed United Kingdom residents for 14 years, and showed those who drank at least two cups of black tea a day had a 9% to 13% lower risk of death from all causes. The researchers say they adjusted for factors like smoking, drinking, diet, and biological and socioeconomic factors.
The temperature of the tea or adding milk or sugar didn’t affect the outcome, either.
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Ongoing droughts in Europe have revealed another historic relic: This time, a fleet of ships intentionally sunk by the Nazi navy in the Danube River as they retreated from Romania.
Lowered river levels have since exposed a graveyard of scrapped ships, described by CBS News as: “a rusty hull, a broken mast where the swastika flag used to fly, an upper deck where a command bridge used to be, a barrel that could have been holding fuel — or even explosive materials — lean on a pebblestone dune that has emerged from the water.”
The European Union and the European Investment Bank are taking advantage of the opportunity to haul away the Nazi relics, which would also increase the traffic capacity on the river, which separates Serbia and Romania.
Officials are weary over detonating unexploded ordnance that’s likely still on board.
In total, they’re hoping to remove 21 wrecks.
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U.S. Marshals have arrested a member of its 15 most wanted men. Raymond McLeod has been on the run since 2016, when he’s accused of killing a woman in San Diego.
McLeod was reportedly teaching English in El Salvador.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The Dow lost 308 points (0.96%) to close at 31,790 on Tuesday. The S&P lost 44 points (1.10%) to close at 3,986 and the Nasdaq lost 134 points (1.12%) to close at 11,883.
🛢 West Texas Intermediate was trading at $92.25 Tuesday. Brent Crude fell to $98.15.
⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $3.84 on Tuesday.
₿ Bitcoin lost $360 Tuesday afternoon, trading below $20,000.
🛩 There were 2,500 flights delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Tuesday and 750 such cancellations.
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CHARTS
Top 5 Fiction & Nonfiction Books Currently on the New York Times Best Sellers List:
FICTION:
“Where The Crawdads Sing,” Delia Owens
“It Ends With Us,” Colleen Hoover
“Verity,” Colleen Hoover
“Ugly Love,” Colleen Hoover
“All Good People Here,” Ashley Flowers with Alex Kiester
NON-FICTION
“I’m Glad My Mom Died,” Jennette McCurdy
“The Body Keeps The Score,” Bessel van der Kolk
“Path Lit By Lightning,” David Maraniss
“Diana, William, and Harry,” James Patterson and Chris Mooney
“Crying in H Mart,” Michelle Zauner
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DEATHS
Russia’s TASS news agency reported Tuesday that former Soviet leader MIKHAIL GORBACHEV has died.
His death comes more than thirty years after he presided over the destruction of a brutal communist regime at the hands of former President RONALD REAGAN.
Gorbachev was 91.
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CHARLBI DEAN has died.
The South African actress and model passed away Monday at a New York City hospital of a sudden onset illness. No further details were shared.
She was 32.
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TUCKER WARD has died.
The TV editor, known for his work on comedies such as “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Murphy Brown,” passed away on August 28 in Los Angeles from complications of heart failure.
He was 80.
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BREAKUPS
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, 47, and model CAMILA MORRONE, 25, have split after four years together.
Sources confirmed the breakup to Page Six, but did not give a reason why.
The couple were last spotted publicly together over the 4th of July weekend in Malibu.
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THE SWAMP
CORRECTION: Yesterday’s report indicated that a judge had ordered the Department of Justice to release an itemized list of what was taken from Mar-a-Lago some time on Tuesday. Our source reporting on this was incorrect. Rather, a hearing on the judge’s order to release more details on what was taken from the raid will be held Thursday afternoon.
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An Emerson College poll has former NFL player HERSCHEL WALKER leading Democrat incumbent RAPHAEL WARNOCK by two points in the upcoming Senate race in Georgia, 46% to 44%.
Georgia is expected to be one of the tightest battleground states this midterm cycle.
MEANWHILE: A poll from The Economist and YouGov indicates that 54% of Strong Republicans believe there will be a hot US Civil War in the next 10 years.
Among all likely voters, 43% agree.
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Wisconsin Democrat Senate Candidate MANDELA BARNES has averaged 13-and-a-half hours of security protection a day since taking office as Lieutenant Governor in 2019, averaging about $660 a day just in wages for the patrol officers protecting him – from what remains unclear.
As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, this amounts to over $600,000 over in his first three years in office, and 14,370 patrol officer man-hours. Some of the coverage even included protection while he ran the Chicago marathon last October.
By contrast, former Lieutenant Governor REBECCA KLEEFISCH clocked 1,377 hours of protection during her entire second term.
WORTH ASKING: If there were legitimate threats to Barnes’ safety, wouldn’t he loudly make them public and use these threats as a political cudgel?
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The California state legislature has approved legislation that would permit a government-appointed panel to set the wages of fast food workers in the state.
WORTH NOTING: There’s no guarantee California Governor GAVIN NEWSOM signs it into law. He’s likely eyeing a presidential bid in 2024, and this kind of centralized control could be a bridge too far on the national stage. The California Department of Finance has also publicly opposed the bill.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that the American military’s stockpile of weapons and ammunition is “dangerously low,” thanks to the pipeline of aid provided to Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion.
An unidentified defense official tells the Journal that inventories are “not at the level we would like to go into combat.”
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LOTTERY
No winner for Monday night’s Powerball drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $134 million jackpot or a $75.3 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Conservative commentator NICK ADAMS wants KID ROCK to drop an album on October 21 -- the same day that TAYLOR SWIFT said she is releasing her new album, “Midnights.”
“People are craving real music with thought-provoking and emotional lyrics. Who better to give it to them than Kid Rock?,” he tweeted. “I GUARANTEE his album would outsell and outclass hers!”
Later on, Adams doubled down, writing “Raise your children to be like Kid Rock and Kyle Rittenhouse, NOT Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.”
None of those mentioned in the tweets have commented.
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SHARON STONE says she was once dumped by a younger man over her refusal to get botox.
Speaking to Vogue Arabia, the 64-year-old revealed that she once enjoyed getting anti-aging treatments, but after a near-death experience gave up the procedures for good.
“I had this massive stroke and a nine-day brain hemorrhage and I had to have over 300 shots of Botox and filler to make one side of my face come up again,” she explained.
The experience changed the procedures from “cute” and “luxury” to a “kind of massive, painful neurological need,” she said.
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CHRIS ROCK better learn how to duck…and quick!
The comedian is facing backlash after telling the crowd at a recent show that him returning to host the Oscars would be like NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON returning to the restaurant she was at before being murdered.
In response, many on social media are calling Rock “misogynistic” for making jokes at the expense of women. One Twitter user even wrote that WILL SMITH should have “slapped him harder,” referring to the Oscar slap heard ‘round the world.
Rock has not addressed the joke.
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“Harry Potter” star MATTHEW LEWIS took to Twitter to vent about a recent bad experience he had while flying with Air Canada -- or as he calls them, “the worst airline in North America.”
When asked for specifics, Lewis tweeted that he was kicked out of first class before he even boarded the plane, with no explanation “other than ‘full flight.’” He also said the boarding agent “literally” tore up his ticket.
His rant was noted by the airline, who replied with a tweet that read: “We regret hearing this. Please send us a DM with further details of the issue, we’ll see if we can help from here.”
TRAVEL NIGHTMARE: The Department of Transportation air travel consumer report shows that complaints surged almost 270% in June compared to June 2019.
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LYNNE SPEARS would like to speak with her daughter, BRITNEY SPEARS, about her recent (and since deleted) YouTube audio clip regarding the alleged abuse she suffered during her 13-year conservatorship.
In the clip, Brit stated that the conservatorship with her mother’s idea and she helped her father, JAMIE SPEARS, “follow through and make it happen.”
In response, Lynne shared a throwback photo of her and Britney on Instagram, along with a caption that read, “Britney, your whole life I have tried my best to support your dreams and wishes! And also, I have tried my best to help you out of hardships! I have never and will never turn my back on you!”
Britney, who is taking a break from Instagram, has not responded to her mom’s post.
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JESSE TYLER FERGUSON was SARAH HYLAND and WELLS ADAMS’ second-choice officiant for their recent nuptials.
Speaking to “Entertainment Tonight,” the “Modern Family” star revealed that Hyland’s on-screen dad TY BURRELL was initially supposed to officiate, but had to bail out due to a family emergency.
“I was honored to do it. Very happy to understudy Ty Burrell,” Ferguson exclaimed.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: Ferguson played Hyland’s on-screen uncle on the hit ABC show.
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Director JAMES GUNN says he has a “long list” of actors he will never work with again.
The revelation was made in response to a Twitter user who asked how he handles actors that are not “working out.”
Gunn explained that if the issue is the actor’s temperament, he will “immediately recast.” In a follow-up tweet he explained that if the issue is simply “performance related” he will do “everything on [his] end to make it work.”
ON A POSITIVE NOTE: Gunn tweeted that former WWE star JOHN CENA is “among the best people to work with.”
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Fox News topped Nielsen’s monthly ratings again this month.
The network saw a 4% increase in total-day viewership, while its late-show “Gutfeld!” reported its highest-rated month since its launch in April 2021, with 2.19 million viewers.
Meanwhile, MSNBC also saw an uptick in total day and primetime viewers compared to the same month last year.
As for primetime shows, “The Five” took the top spot with 3.39 million viewers, followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (3.32 million), “Hannity” (2.92 million), “Jesse Watters Primetime” (2.86 million) and lastly, the only non-Fox show to reach the top five, “The Rachel Maddow Show” with 2.73 million.
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CASTING CALL
ALEC BALDWIN is heading to Broadway.
He will star alongside TONY SHALHOUB and JOHN LEGUIZAMO in a new adaptation of the play “Art,” according to the New York Post.
Baldwin has struggled to find on-screen work following the shooting of cinematographer HALYNA HUTCHINS on the set of his film, “Rust.” The investigation into the fatal incident is ongoing.
FUTURE FILMS: Baldwin is, however, starring in holiday flicks “Kid Santa” and “Billie’s Magic World,” which he produced alongside his brother, WILLIAM BALDWIN, who also stars. The projects were already in production prior to the “Rust” shooting.
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DANIEL STERN has joined the cast of Season 4 of Apple TV+ series “For All Mankind.”
He will play Eli Hobson, a former auto industry CEO who is now the new administrator for NASA.
The show focuses on what would have happened if the global space race had never ended, per Deadline.
A premiere date for the upcoming season has not yet been announced.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
TikToker and professional photographer CAROLINE ROSS has called out KIM KARDASHIAN for allegedly editing her neck-area in a recent poolside photo.
To show the apparent edit, Ross used a photoshop tool and corrected the image, showing Kim’s neck in its natural form. She also pointed out a warped pattern in the pool water behind the reality star to further prove her point.
This is far from the first time Kim has been accused of bizarre photo-editing.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
The second episode of MEGHAN MARKLE’s “Archetypes” podcast dropped on Tuesday, with guest MARIAH CAREY.
All appeared to be going well, until Mariah accused Meg of having “diva moments.”
“You give us diva moments sometimes, Meghan. Don’t act like you don’t,” Carey boldly stated.
When a flustered Meghan questioned the statement, Carey explained that she meant her “visuals,” such as her clothing and posture, not her “personality.”
Later on Meghan told listeners that Carey meant diva “as a compliment.” Sure Meg.
EVERYONE HATES MEG: The DailyMail’s DAN WOOTEN thinks PRINCE HARRY’s family needs to stage an intervention to stop the craziness that is Meghan Markle, starting with the extremely obvious “woe is me” theme of her “Archetypes” podcast. Meghan knew what she was getting into by starting a relationship with, getting engaged to and then marrying Harry -- regardless of how much she denies knowing what she signed up for. Her constant state of victimhood and us-against-them attitude is nothing but disrespect to QUEEN ELIZABETH and the institution for which she stands.
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SPORTS
The Milwaukee Brewers welcomed their 100 millionth fan yesterday as they faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates at American Family Field.
In honor of the milestone, the team announced they will sell $6 tickets for 11 of their remaining home games. Tickets go on sale today.
Per the Brewers website, the organization’s team tally of paid fans goes back to their first season as the Seattle Pilots who played at Sick’s Stadium in 1969. The count continued when the team moved to Milwaukee in 1970 and played as the Brewers at County Stadium.
With their move to Miller Park (now AmFam Field) in 2001, they typically tally between 1.7 million and 3.1 million fans a year.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Trail Mix Day
National Matchmaker Day
National Diatomaceous Earth Day
Golf Instructor Day
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ON THIS DATE
1422 – King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while commanding a military campaign in France. He was only 36-years-old.
He would be buried in Westminster Abbey. As a result, his nine-month-old son became king. A council appointed by parliament made decisions until Henry VI came of age.
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1888 – Jack the Ripper takes his first victim. Mary Ann Nichols was a prostitute, as were many of Jack's other victims.
The real murderer was never discovered.
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1939 – Nazi soldiers masquerading as Polish troops attack a radio station in Gleiwitz, Germany. Once inside, the men broadcast anti-German propaganda in Polish.
Nazis brought in a German who sympathized with the Poles and killed him. They staged the murder, planting evidence on the body that made it appear he was responsible for the break-in.
This operation made it look like the Poles were attacking Germany, which Hitler and his generals used as justification to invade Poland the next day.
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1965 – The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy takes flight for the first time.
The cargo compartment is 94-feet, 6-inches long and almost nine feet wide. It's specially designed to haul cargo components for other large aircraft. NASA and Airbus are prime clients.
Today it is mostly used when flying parts for the International Space Station around the world.
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1997 – Lady Di dies in a car accident while visiting France. The princess, her man-friend Dodi Al-Fayed, and the driver were all killed.
The accident was caused by either the drunken chauffeur or MI-6, depending on who you ask.
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2006 – Norwegian police recover stolen paintings "Scream" and "Madonna."
The works had been taken in 2004, when thieves literally walked out of the museum with them. Though the criminals were swiftly rounded up, it took time to find the paintings, which were feared destroyed.
The circumstances of their recovery is classified, but they were found in good condition.
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2009 - Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion.
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2020 - COVID-19 cases in the US surpass 6 million with 183,300 deaths.
California and Florida reported the highest number of cases with 699,000 and 619,000, respectively.
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BIRTHDAYS
Spencer Sutherland - pop singer - 30
Ember Moon - wrestler - 34
Ryan Kelley - actor, “Teen Wolf” & “Smallville” - 36
Larry Fitzgerald - football player - 39
Mickie James - wrestler - 43
Jeff Hardy - wrestler - 45
Skar Jackson - actress, “Moesha” - 46
Sara Ramirez - actress, “Grey’s Anatomy” - 47
Marc Webb - director, “The Amazing Spider-Man” & “500 days of Summer” - 48
Chris Tucker - actor, “Rush Hour” & “The Fifth Element” - 51
Debbie Gibson - pop singer - 52
Richard “Reb” Beach - guitarist, Whitesnake - 59
Dee Bradley Baker - voice actor, “American Dad” - 60
Richard Gere - actor, “Pretty Woman” - 73
Van Morrison - rock singer - 77
Born On This Date
Bob Welch - rock singer, Fleetwood Mac - 1945 (d. 2012)
Jerry Allison - drummer, Buddy Holly and the Crickets - 1939 (d. 2022)
Fredric March - actor, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (born in Racine, WI) - 1897 (d. 1975)
Maria Montessori - Italian educator, Montessori Method - 1870 (d. 1952)
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