8/5/2022: Brittney Griner Gets 9 Years

PLUS: Monkeypox Emergency; Kim’s Banging Bod; and Birthday Wishes for Meghan

Aug 5, 2022

Today is Friday, August 5, 2022.

It is the 217th day of the year.

148 days remain.

HIT LIST

Monkeypox is now a federal public health emergency.

So far, 6,600 cases have been confirmed in the US. The emergency-designation expands federal powers to spend money and regulate how states report new cases.

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ELON MUSK poked fun on Twitter at a rival electric car company that drastically missed its second quarter projects – at his own expense.

One analyst tweeted that EV manufacturer Lucid Group delivered just 679 vehicles and missed revenue expectations by $50 million, and halved its production projection through the end of the year.

In response, Musk quipped, “I had more kids in Q2 than they made cars!”

Musk very quietly welcomed a second child with former partner Grimes in March, and news broke weeks ago that he knocked up one of the executives at his company Neuralink, who had twins.

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BRITTNEY GRINER has been sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for carrying marijuana vape cartridges into the country.

She also faces a 1 million rouble fine – but that’s just a bit over $16,000 US Dollars.

She’ll likely continue to be a low-value bargaining chip for Russia in the coming weeks.

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BANGING: Restaurant conglomerate Restaurant Brands International had a booming second quarter for earnings. The company owns Burger King and Tim Horton’s, whose locations outside the United States performed well.

Back at home, though, sales for Burger King and its corporate cousin Popeyey’s were flat.

TANKING: Walmart is laying off about 200 corporate employees as it restructures amid inflationary price-squeezes and decreasing recessionary demand.

In total, Walmart employs 1.7 million people in the U.S. (including both corporate employees and store staff), so it’s just a tiny fraction of its workforce.

WANING: The former head of Toys ‘R Us said this week he anticipates a decimation of small business retailers after this year’s holiday shopping season. Most retailers earn their profit margins during the last sprint of the year, but increasing recessionary pressure will cause low- and middle-class earners to scale back their buying. This spells doom for smaller shops that have already been hanging on by their fingernails as a result of the pandemic.

WORTH REMEMBERING (AND NEVER, EVER FORGETTING): In the early days of the pandemic, and for too long after the government knew better, thousands of small businesses were forced to remain closed while big box companies were able to stay open.

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So much for guard dogs; Bandit the Calico Cat of Tupelo, Mississippi stopped a home break-in and maybe even saved her owner’s life.

The owner, 68-year-old Fred Everitt, says that between 2:30 and 3:00 am on July 25, he heard Bandit meowing loudly from the kitchen. Then she scurried into the bedroom and clawed at Everitt’s arms and tried pawing the comforter off of him.

Everitt says he then got out of bed to investigate and saw two men trying to break in through the back door; one was carrying a crowbar and the other had a gun. He went for his own gun, but by then the criminals had run off.

(Via AP Oddities)

SPEAKING OF CATS: A new video game called “Stray” is all the rage, where players control a virtual cat through its surroundings. Now, players are livestreaming their game while others watch – which is apparently a very lucrative industry – and encouraging donations to animal shelters and charities.

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BY THE NUMBERS

📈 The Dow lost 85 points (0.26%) on Thursday to close at 32,726. The S&P 500 add just 3 points (0.078%) to close at 4,151 while the Nasdaq added 52 points (0.41%) to close at 12,720.

🛢 Oil prices continue their slide. West Texas Intermediate closed at $88.20. Brent Crude dove to $94.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Even as oil prices slide, remember that it is a futures market, and does not have day-to-day impact on gas prices at the pump, which is one reason gas remains high. There remains a domestic refining bottleneck, because energy companies aren’t going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to expand capacity while there’s a president who made a campaign promise to put their industry out of business. Building refineries that comply with onerous environment standards is a years-long process. If they’re going to be out of business in a decade, it doesn’t make economic sense to build those facilities out. All these problems are compounded by a president and cadre of advisers who haven’t spent a second of their professional lives in the real world.

⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $4.14 on Thursday.

₿ Bitcoin lost $306 (1.34%) on Thursday, trading around $22,500.

🛩 There were 4,284 flights delayed into, within, or out of the US on Thursday, and 604 such cancellations.

🏘️ Average mortgage rates in the US are back under 5%, clocking in at 4.99% last week, according to Freddie Mac.

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CHARTS

New to Amazon Prime:

Licorice Pizza (Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%)
Thirteen Lives (Score: 86%)

New to Disney+

Old Dogs (Score: 5%)

New to HBO Max:

Belfast (Score: 87%)

New to Hulu:

Prey (Score: 95%)

New to Netflix:

Carter (No Score)
Darlings (No Score)
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (No Score)
Skyfall (Score: 92%)
The Informer (Score: 63%)

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DEATHS

NICOLE HAZEN has died.

The wife of Arizona Diamondbacks GM MIKE HAZEN passed away Thursday from complications related to glioblastoma, a rare form of cancer.

She was 45.

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BABY NEWS

Country singer NIKO MOON, 39, and his wife, songwriter ANNA MOON are expecting their first child.

The couple shared the news with PEOPLE magazine, revealing that their baby girl is due in November.

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Remember FIONA THE HIPPO? She is now a big sister!

The Cincinnati Zoo announced Thursday that Fiona’s mom, Bibi, gave birth to a healthy, full-term calf on Wednesday.

The calf does not yet have a name.

WORTH REMEMBERING: Fiona made headlines in 2017 after being born nearly six weeks premature.

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THE SWAMP

President JOE BIDEN still has covid.

President JOE BIDEN has been double-vaccinated and double-boosted. He told Americans throughout the first half of last year that the vaccine was not only completely safe, but it would be required for federal employees because it was so safe and effective. He said if you get the vaccines, you will not get sick.

But people still got sick. Even Biden, who might be one of the most insulated from covid Americans in the country.

But Biden has never acknowledged that he was wrong; that the shots are at best therapeutics that do nothing to prevent infection – and that in fact, recent studies demonstrate the boosters make people more susceptible to new strains.

People are out of work for these lies, people who provide essential services and have served their country with honor.

We must never, ever forget the destruction that Biden and his ilk wreaked upon this country for their own political gain.

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The incorrectly-named Inflation Reduction Act faces another hurdle, as Arizona Democrat swing-vote-Senator KYRSTEN SINEMA says she’d like to see some changes before it earns her vote.

In particular, she wants to keep the carried interest loophole, which the legislation would ax in order to boost federal revenues.

The current tax law taxes some investment income at a 20% capital gains rate, instead of the top 37% tax rate that wage-earners pay, but only if the owner holds on to the investment for at least three years before cashing out.

The Inflation Reduction Act would require the owner to hold on to the investment for five years before cashing out to avoid the increased tax penalty.

BY THE WAY: Socialist Senator BERNIE SANDERS, who owns three homes, says he’d like to introduce some amendments for more taxes and more spending and more government before the bill gets a vote.

WORTH NOTING: In the book “Lucky” by reporters JONATHAN ALLEN and AMIE PARNES, the authors say Sanders hates big staffs and bureaucracies, and called them “morasses that produce bad outcomes.” So there’s that.

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Here’s a remarkable New York Times headline: “G.O.P. Governors Cause Havoc by Busing Migrants to East Coast.”

The report details recent, effective efforts by governors of border states – especially Texas and Arizona – to send illegal immigrants to places like New York City and Washington D.C.

The reporter laments, “A political tactic by the governors of Texas and Arizona to offload the problems caused by record levels of migration at the border is beginning to hit home in Washington, as hundreds of undocumented migrants arriving on the governors’ free bus rides each week increasingly tax the capital’s ability to provide emergency food and housing.”

WORTH ASKING: If big cities can’t absorb thousands of illegal immigrants, what hope do small, rural, border towns have?

WORTH NOTING: Why are governors being blamed for this “havoc” – and not President JOE BIDEN and his impotent southern border strategy?

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America’s Governor RON DESANTIS on Thursday suspended a State Attorney who publicly pledged to not enforce Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. In a press conference about the decision, DeSantis accused Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren of “picking and choosing” the laws he’d enforce. Warren previously said publicly he wouldn’t enforce laws banning sex change procedures for minors, either.

WORTH ASKING: DeSantis for US Attorney General 2024????

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Imagine, if you will, telling someone 20 years ago that someday JOE BIDEN and DICK CHENEY would be in political alignment.

It might mean taking a bunch of mushrooms, snorting a line of blow, and mainlining heroin to get your brain to that point, but do your best.

On Thursday, Rep. LIZ CHENEY posted an endorsement video from her father, the former vice president, in which he calls former President DONALD TRUMP a threat to the country and encourages voters to vote for his daughter, just like he did.

WATCH:

Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney

“In our nation’s 246 year history there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our Republic than Donald Trump.” Dick Cheney

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LOTTERY

No winner for Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $36 million jackpot or a $21.4 million cash payout.

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No winner for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing. Saturday night’s drawing will be for a $20 million jackpot or a $11.8 million cash payout.

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SHOWBIZ NEWS

These albums drop today:

Calvin Harris, “Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2”
Elio, “Elio’s Inferno”
Eminem, “Curtain Call 2”
Girls’ Generation, “Forever 1”
Jennifer Vanilla, “Castle in the Sky”
Kasabian, “The Alchemist’s Euphoria”
Lauv, “All 4 Nothing”
Mall Grab, “What I Breathe”
Neil Young + Promise of the Real, “Noise & Flowers”
The Flatliners, “New Ruin”

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LADY A is postponing their ‘Request Live Tour” so band member CHARLES KELLEY can focus on his sobriety journey.

“We are a band, but more importantly..we’re family,” the country group posted on social media Thursday.

Kelley’s bandmates HILLARY SCOTT and DAVE HAYWOOD also shared their support on their respective social media accounts.

The tour was set to kick off on August 13.

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To dispel rumors about the ongoing investigation into the tragic “Rust” shooting, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis shared that her office is still waiting for the full investigation from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office before making a decision on criminal charges.

She listed outstanding needs, including a review of data from ALEC BALDWIN’s cellphone, and more from the FBI and state medical examiners.

The investigation surrounds the tragic death of cinematographer HALYNA HUTCHINS, who was killed by live ammunition in October 2021. Baldwin was the one who fired the prop gun, which was only supposed to contain dummy rounds.

In April, New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau released a scathing review of several safety violations on set.

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A judge ruled this week that NAOMI JUDD’s death records will be kept private.

Page Six reported Thursday that the details surrounding the country singer’s death will remain sealed due to the “graphic” nature in which she died.

A request for privacy was filed by Naomi’s husband LARRY STRICKLAND and her two daughters, WYNONNA and ASHLEY JUDD.

She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April.

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CASTING CALL

ANA NAVARRO joins ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN as a co-host on “The View.”

The news was announced Thursday, with veteran hosts WHOOPI GOLDBERG, SARA HAINES, JOY BEHAR and SUNNY HOSTIN congratulating both women.

Due to her contractual obligations with CNN, Navarro will not be at the table every day.

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Two new faces are joining the cast of Netflix’s “Selling Sunset.”

NICOLE YOUNG and BRE TIESI are set to join Seasons 6 and 7 of the hit reality show that follows the Los Angeles-based Oppenheim Group real estate firm. Young was originally featured in the debut season, while model and real estate agent Tiesi will make her “Selling” debut.

Many are familiar with Tiesi, as she recently welcomed her first child with actor NICK CANNON.

Netflix has not yet announced a premiere date for Season 6.

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JODIE COMER, AUSTIN BUTLER and TOM HARDY are set to star in “The Bikeriders” a new film from New Regency.

Based on Danny Lyon’s 1967 book of the same name, the adaptation follows the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club.

Role details were not shared.

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An “Outlander” prequel series is in the works at Starz.

The drama series will follow the love story of Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser, the parents of Jamie Fraser, played by SAM HEUGHAN.

Further details will be revealed at a later date.

Production on Season 7 of “Outlander” is currently underway.

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KEANU REEVES will star in a limited-series adaptation of Erik Larson’s book “Devil in the White City” for Hulu.

The story follows architect Daniel H. Burnham who races to make his mark on history at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, alongside Dr. H. H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer, who created the “Murder Castle” in the shadow’s of the Fair.

The eight-episode series is scheduled to premiere in 2024. Reeves will also serve as executive producer.

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Rapper BOW-WOW is set to host a new dating show on BET.

“After Happily Ever After” is a new unscripted show that asks exes, either from divorce or separation, to play matchmaker for their former partners.

Additional casting news will be revealed in the coming weeks.

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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS

KIM KARDASHIAN says she is at 18.8% body fat, down from 25% a year ago.

The 41-year-old made the revelation after getting a personalized scan of her body frame. The tech who did the scan told Kim she is in the “athlete category.”

SPEAKING OF KIM’S BOD: Remember the caution tape catsuit from designer Demna that Kim wore to Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week? It is now available in stores. The outfit -- dubbed the Trash Pouch -- costs $1,790.

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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS

Several members of the Royal Family sent birthday wishes to MEGHAN MARKLE Thursday.

Clarence House, which represents PRINCE CHARLES and DUCHESS CAMILLA, wished Meghan a happy birthday in an Instagram Story and on Twitter.

PRINCE WILLIAM and KATE MIDDLETON also shared their birthday wishes in an Instagram Story and a tweet.

QUEEN ELIZABETH did not publicly share a birthday message, but maybe that's because Meghan -- and PRINCE HARRY -- do not have social media accounts.

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SPORTS

After releasing the ratings for every player on Madden NFL 23 this summer, several video gamers were upset about their favorite players’ rankings, so EA Sports created a hotline for fans to argue why certain ratings should be adjusted.

The official Madden Twitter account shared a list of the most requested players from the hotline. They are:

Ja’Marr Chase (Cincinnati)
TJ Watt (Pittsburgh)
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay)
Justin Herbert (LA Chargers)
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore)
Micah Parsons (Dallas)
Cooper Kupp (LA Rams)
Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City)
Josh Allen (Buffalo)
Matthew Stafford (LA Rams)

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LIST OF THE WEEK

Zillow compiled a list of famous homes from TV and movies and their estimated value in today’s housing market:

Wayne Manor from “Batman” -- $14.9 million
Mansion from “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” -- $10.6 million
“Full House” house -- $5.4 million
“Brady Bunch” house -- $4.5 million
“Three’s Company” apartment -- $4.3 million
“Golden Girls” house -- $4 million
“Happy Days” house -- $3.2 million
“Mork & Mindy” house -- $2.7 million
“Who’s the Boss” house -- $2.3 million
“Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” house -- $1.5 million

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DAY OF THE YEAR

National Underwear Day

National Oyster Day

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ON THIS DATE

1620 – The Mayflower departs Southampton, England, packed with a crew of pilgrims and shipmen seeking a new life in the New World.

Unfortunately, two days later a leak in the Speedwell was detected and the ship turned back to be refitted.

It is suspected that the crewmen, weary of leaving their lives behind, sabotaged the hull to delay the voyage.

The Mayflower left for its historic sail on September 6.

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1862 – To help fund the Civil War, Congress authorizes the Revenue Act of 1861. It levies the first income tax.

The terms: 3% of any income above $800 a year.

Those living outside the country paid 5%.

A year later, the Act was repealed, and replaced with a progressive tax rate. Just like today, the tax was withheld at the source by the employer.

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1872 – Bertha Benz packs up her two teenage sons into the first Patent Motorwagen and drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany.

Bertha married the inventor Karl Benz, who had been tinkering with a motorized buggy, which would eventually become the first patented automobile in 1888.

The venture was considered a road trip for the time, spanning 60 miles. On the way, she used ligroin for fuel—chemically, it’s between naphtha and kerosene in potency. She also invented brake lining on the road and used her hairpin to clean a fuel pipe.

The trek proved to her husband that his invention would be commercially viable.

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1914 – A light signal system regulates traffic at the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, OH. It was the first electric traffic light in America, though red and green natural gas lamps had been operated manually in Britain since 1868.

It lit up red and green and it had a buzzer to signal drivers that the light would change.

Police and firemen were even able to regulate the lights in an emergency.

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1957 – “American Bandstand” debuts nationally on ABC.

Dick Clark hosted. The show ran until 1989.

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1981 – President Reagan union busts the more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers and tells them to hit the road.

The PATCO members went on strike two days earlier, and the president swiftly gave them 48 hours to return to work. Their demands were egregious: and included a limited 32-hour work week for more pay.

The move violated a law banning federal workers from striking.

Only 1300 workers returned to work based on Reagan's mandate. The rest were banned for life from federal service, though Bill Clinton would rescind the ban in 1993.

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2006 - Warren Moon becomes the first black QB to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He was joined by Troy Aikman, John Madden, Rayfield Wright, Harry Carson and Reggie White.

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2010 – 33 Chilean miners become trapped 2300 feet below ground.

Nearly every Chilean government ministry, NASA and a dozen corporations from around the world cooperated on the rescue mission.

It would take 69 days to rescue the men, who instantly became worldwide celebrities.

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2019 - Brazilian drug dealer Clauvino da Silva tries to escape a Rio de Janeiro jail by dressing up as his teenage daughter in a silicone mask and wig.

He had hoped to trick prison officers into thinking he was his daughter, who had been visiting. The ruse fooled no one and Silvia was moved to solitary confinement as punishment.

He would be found dead in his cell the next day. It is alleged that he took his own life.

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BIRTHDAYS

Anthony Edwards - basketball player - 21

Mimi Keene - actress, “EastEnders” - 24

Adam Irigoyen - actor, “Shake It Up” & “The Fosters” - 25

Olivia Holt - actress, “Kickin’ It” & “Cloak & Dagger” - 25

Yungblud - rock singer - 25

Lolo Jones - Olympic bobsledder - 40

Jesse Wiliams - actor, “Grey’s Anatomy” - 41

Stephanie Szostak - actress, “A Million Little Things” - 47

Reid Hoffman - entrepreneur, co-founder of LinkedIn - 55

James Gunn - director - 56

Patrick Ewing - basketball player - 60

Pat Smear - guitarist, Foo Fighters - 63

Maureen McCormick - actress, “Brady Bunch” - 66

Jo Collins - Playboy playmate - 77

Born On This Date

Rachel Joy Scott - Columbine victim - 1981 (d. 1999)

Adam Yauch - rock singer, Beastie Boys - 1964 (d. 2012)

Tawny Kitaen - actress, “Bachelor Party” & Whitesnake videos - 1961 (d. 2021)

Pete Burns - English singer, Dead or Alive - 1959 (d. 2016)

Herb Brooks - Olympic hockey coach - 1937 (d. 2003)

Neil Armstrong - astronaut, first man on the moon - 1930 (d. 2012)

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