Year: 2022

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book IV: Force will be found below.)

If there’s one thing that Tommy Egan will do during his time in Chicago, it’s make a deal with someone. He’s made deals with Liliana, who tried to kill him, Diamond and Vic, who were initially rivals to him, and even a random older guy as Tommy gave him some money to immediately move out of his house. Tommy’s latest deal finds him working with Claudia, as the two prepare to sell a brand new drug that Claudia and her partner Mai brought forth together. Tommy and Claudia’s relationship also brings a new name into the mix: Dahlia

Who Is Dahlia In ‘Power?’

Dahlia is the name of the new drug that Claudia wants to put out to the streets of Chicago. During episode three, Claudia says the drug has a chemical compound that is “too close to cocaine.” She also noted that it was deprived from a “busted diet pill.” In this week’s episode, Claudia tracks down Tommy for a second time and lets him try the drug, which leaves him completely blown away at how clean of a high it gives him.

After a failed attempt by him and Liliana to figure out the components of the drug, Tommy agrees to work with Claudia to move the product in the streets. The two agree on a 60/40 split on profits with Tommy receiving the majority.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available to watch on Sunday at 12:00am EST.

The end of an era of college basketball will take place on Saturday night. Longtime Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will lead the Blue Devils out onto the floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the final time in his career in a game against the team’s bitter rivals, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

It’s a game Duke should win — they’re 11-point favorites and demolished Carolina in Chapel Hill by 20 earlier this year — but even if they were gigantic underdogs, the environment at Cameron Indoor for Coach K’s final game is assuredly going to be electric. Much has been made of the price of tickets for the game, with tickets costing up to five figures for those who want to get in the building.

One apparently pretty easy way to get into the arena is to be a former Duke player. The program dropped a list of nearly 100 former players who will be in attendance for the game, and while some of the most prominent Blue Devils in the league (RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, etc.) won’t be able to make it, a number of current and former players — many of whom got booed a lot in college because they went to Duke — will be there.

The game will tip off at 6 p.m. EST on ESPN.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. lawmakers over Zoom. It was a grim call. The embattled world leader detailed the increasing aggression from Russian forces, who invaded the neighboring nation a week-and-a-half ago on the orders of its president, Vladimir Putin. Zelensky’s own life is in jeopardy, and to protect him, his people informed those participating to not share anything about it over social media. But two GOP senators didn’t heed that warning.

As per NBC News, Marco Rubio, the oft-controversial senator from Florida who has, unlike some in his party, warned of Putin’s ambitions, and Steve Daines of Maine both posted pictures of Zelensky on the Zoom call to their Twitter accounts. It was exactly what they were told not to do as part of the bipartisan meetings, which had been set up by House leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell. Both posts were met with scorn, with people accusing the two Republican senators of recklessly endangering Zelensky, who has been the subject of assassination plots.

“The Ukrainian Ambassador very intentionally asked each of us on the zoom to NOT share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the security of President Zelenskyy,” tweeted Democratic representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, in a quote-tweet that included Rubio’s offending tweet. “Appalling and reckless ignorance by two US Senators.”

Representative Jason Crow, of Colorado, did not quote-tweet Rubio or Daines in his own upbraiding. “The lack of discipline in Congress is truly astounding,” he wrote. “If an embattled wartime leader asks you to keep quiet about a meeting, you better keep quiet about the meeting. I’m not saying a damn thing. Lives are at stake.”

As of this writing, both Rubio and Daines’ posts remain live, despite countless pleas to take them down.

Rubio and Daines weren’t the only Republican congresspeople to screw up during the call. Another Florida senator, Rick Scott, also forgot to mute his microphone.

On the call, Zelensky’s warned that, should the invasion persist, the problem might spread across the continent. “This will become Europe’s problem,” he said, adding that “this might be the last time you see me alive.”

Since the Russian invasion began, Ukrainian people, including Zelensky, have fought back and hard, refusing to stand down, and in Zelensky’s case even turning down an evacuation offer. “I need ammunition, not a ride,” Zelensky reportedly said. Russian forces have stepped up their attacks, even targeting Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. The right, meanwhile, has struggled to find a consistent message, with some of them providing praise that was then used by Russian state propaganda.

(Via NBC News)

UPDATE: Lol it was actually faster.

EARLIER: One of the fun parts of the NFL Draft Combine is watching the big fellas run the 40-yard dash. Whether they’re offensive or defensive linemen, watching the dudes who line up in the trenches show off their wheels is always a blast, especially when one of them is able to break the 5-second mark.

You can count Jordan Davis among the linemen who managed to shatter that. Davis, a unanimous All-American and the mountain of a man in the middle of Georgia’s indomitable defensive line last season, is expected to be one of the first defensive tackles taken at the 2022 NFL Draft, if not the first one off the board. Everyone knew Davis was huge, and thanks to the Combine, we got his hilarious exact measurements.

He is large! Guys this size normally throw down an insane number on the bench press and then look like they’re running into a strong wind when they run their 40. Davis, however, is a freak, and managed to run the 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds.

The simulcast of his run is also extremely funny.

For comparison, Josh Allen, a quarterback who is revered for his ability to run, had a 4.75-second 40 at the Combine. There were quarterbacks and tight ends this year who did not eclipse his time, and Davis would have had the fastest time among offensive linemen. All of this is to say: an NFL team should draft him very high, because they will be extremely happy with their decision.

The Game loves to make bold claims. Earlier this week, The Game said that Kanye West did more for his career in two weeks than Dr. Dre did over his. It should be noted that Dre signed The Game to Aftermath back in 2003 and executive produced his debut album, The Documentary. Prior to that, The Game claimed that he’s the best rapper from Compton, though fans of Kendrick Lamar among others strongly disagreed.

Now The Game has a new claim: During a recent interview on NORE and DJ EFN’s podcast Drink Champs, he said that he could beat Eminem if they battled on Verzuz. “Eminem is Eminem, I like Eminem,” he said during the episode. “He’s one of the f*ckin good MCs, great MCs. I used to think Eminem was better than me. He not, he’s not. Challenge it. Yes, I do [Want to do Verzuz against Eminem].” After seeing the reaction from those around him, The Game pressed on. “What you mean, yeah I do. The f*ck you mean. I’m not saying I want smoke with Eminem, I’m saying I want smoke with Eminem, him, and him, whoever.”

After The Game’s comments made their way around social media, people were very quick to disagree with him:

You can watch a clip from the interview above and see the full interview here.

The Oscars telecast is always a magnet for controversy, be it hosts known for homophobic jokes or a ceremony plagued with sketchy pandemic safety measures. This year’s flap is over a more dramatic overhauling than ever before. It was recently revealed eight of the over two dozen trophies won’t actually be aired live. The pushback has been severe, but now it gets worse.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Fleischman — a longtime sound mixer who won an Oscar for Martin Scorsese’s Hugo a decade ago — has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over the show’s controversial plan. Indeed, had the plan been in effect when he won in 2012, audiences worldwide watching from home would not have seen it live. The two sound Oscars are among the trophies that will still be handed out during the ceremony, then aired later during the program.

Fleischman’s CV is immense, with over 200 credits stretching back to Errol Morris’ first feature-length documentary, Gates of Heaven, from 1978. Over the years, he’s worked with directors like Jonathan Demme, Brian De Palma, John Sayles, Spike Lee, Susan Seidelman, Noah Baumbach, Ron Howard, and more. On top of his Hugo win, he’s been nominated for four other Oscars, including Warren Beatty’s Reds, Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs, and two more with Scorsese: The Aviator and Gangs of New York. He’s also Hollywood royalty: His mother is Dede Allen, the legendary, game-changing film editor of Bonnie and Clyde, Dog Day Afternoon, and more.

The other Oscars being downgraded for the telecast are documentary short, film editing, makeup/hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, and live action short.

The Oscars broadcast has come under pressure, reportedly largely from ABC, who’s long aired it, to re-tool it in an attempt to improve ratings. Last year’s show saw a ratings nadir of only 10.4 million, down considerably from the show’s peak of 57.25 million in 1998, when Titanic — for a good while the highest grossing movie ever made, not adjusted for inflation — took home Best Picture, among other trophies. Whether viewers will tune in to see less, all while ABC and the Academy alienate its talent, is something we’ll learn on March 27, when the ceremony hits the airwaves.

(Via THR)

Things could be going better for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team entered this season with championship-or-bust aspirations, and as of right now, they run the risk of not even making the play-in tournament — L.A. is 27-35, which puts them in the 9-seed in the Western Conference with only a two-game lead on the Portland Trail Blazers for the 11-seed.

There are about a million different reasons why they’ve underperformed this season, with one of the primary ones being Russell Westbrook‘s season-long struggles to fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. There’s plenty of blame to go around for why the Westbrook experiment has gone awry, and perhaps they’re able to figure some things out down the stretch of the season — particularly once Davis returns from an ankle injury — but banking on Westbrook to be the team’s third star simply has not worked.

With one year left on his contract after this season, questions exist about his future with the team. According to Marc Stein’s most recent newsletter, though, there’s not much of a question among those in the know about what’s coming once Los Angeles gets to the offseason.

Jousting with reporters in press conferences is apparently not the lone source of pushback these days from under-fire guard Russell Westbrook. There has been no shortage of defiance behind the scenes, I’m told, when coaches and teammates have tried to broach changes in role or approach with the former MVP. For all the obvious complexities involved in trying to move Westbrook when he’s owed a whopping $47 million next season at age 34, one league source described the idea of bringing him back next season as “impossible” based on current tension levels. The question then becomes: If the Lakers can’t construct a palatable trade, do they try to just buy Westbrook out? Or waive and stretch him?

The report comes days after the Lakers lost to the Clippers and Frank Vogel responded to a question about possibly benching Westbrook by cryptically saying that the coaching staff has discussed everything. During his press conference following the loss, Westbrook expressed that he is still trying to figure out his role with the team, as he claims it changes on a nightly basis.

In 2019, Sam Smith and Normani joined forces to release their first collaboration “Dancing With A Stranger.” “It bottles everything I was feeling whilst juggling my personal life and touring,” Smith said about the song at the time. Unfortunately, three years later, the track has landed the duo in some legal trouble as they were recently sued for copyright infringement.

According to Rolling Stone, in a complaint that was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda, and Rosco Banlaoi claim that “Dancing With A Stranger” copies important elements, including its title, chorus, composition, and music video, from Vincent’s 2017 song “Dancing With Strangers.”

“The hook/chorus in both songs — the most significant part and artistic aspect of these works — contains the lyrics ‘dancing with a stranger’ being sung over a nearly identical melody and musical composition,” they allege. “Both videos consist of a girl performing interpretive dance alone in a minimalist studio, interspersed with shots of the male vocalist.”

This is not the first time that Smith has had to reach a legal settlement over one of their songs. Back in 2015, Tom Petty was awarded a song credit on Smith’s 2014 song “Stay With Me” due its similarities with “Don’t Back Down.”

Donald Trump has had it bad before. After all, his businesses have declared bankruptcy six times, and he lost the popular vote both times he ran for president. But he’s really not doing so hot right now. He’s in legal and financial jeopardy. His Twitter clone may wind up being yet another of his many failed ventures. His blog died a quick death. And now comes one of his fiercest Republican critic to kick him while he’s down.

In a new op-ed for The Washington Post, George Will — the longtime conservative commentator who formally left the GOP in 2016 over Trump’s nomination — all but declared the 45th president down for good.

“Floundering in his attempts to wield political power while lacking a political office,” Will wrote, “Donald Trump looks increasingly like a stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation’s sleeve.”

Will argues that over a year out of office, Trump has one power move left: “to influence his party’s selection of candidates for state and federal offices.” He then examines how his preferred candidates are doing. The answer: Not well. David Perdue, Ted Budd, Janice McGeachin — all have bombed or are bombing at the polls with their respective races.

He also accused Trump of being a broken record, spinning a record that’s well out of date:

Trump is an open book who has been reading himself to the nation for 40 years. In that time, he has changed just one important word in his torrent of talk: He has replaced “Japan” with “China” in assigning blame for our nation’s supposed anemia. He is an entertainer whose repertoire is stale.

Will doesn’t only come for Trump. He also singles out Fox News host Tucker Carlson and novelist-turned-Trumpist political aspirant J.D. Vance, for scorn. All three have been on record either flat-out praising Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (then backpedaling, sort of) or, in Vance’s case, saying he doesn’t “really care” about what’s happening abroad.

Will’s conclusion? “For Trump, the suppurating wound on American life, and for those who share his curdled venom, war is a hellacious distraction from their self-absorption,” he writes. “Fortunately, their ability to be major distractions is waning.”

Then again, how many times have people, even people as smart as George Will, declared Trumpism over? Regardless, you can read Will’s full laceration over at WaPo.

The New Orleans Pelicans have crept up the Western Conference standings in recent weeks. The team has won four in a row and six of its last 10, and after an absolutely wretched start to the season, they’ve managed to find themselves with the 10-seed in the Western Conference with the free falling Los Angeles Lakers only a half game ahead of them.

All of this has happened without the services of Zion Williamson, the former No. 1 overall pick who has been sidelined for the entirety of this season due to offseason foot surgery. The whole situation has been a bit odd, as the news of the surgery came out of nowhere in the preseason, his initial timeline indicated he’d be fine by the start of the year, and after a number of setbacks, the two sides mutually agreed for him to go rehab the injury away from the team in Portland.

Earlier this week, the Pelicans announced some good news, as Williamson’s foot is healing well and he can start progressing in his rehab. And now, according to Shams Charania and Will Guillory of The Athletic, Williamson will hop on a plane and head back to New Orleans to continue his rehab.

There is still no word on whether or not Williamson will be able to play this season.