Category: News

Donald Trump makes news every single day, and yet he’s still not as ubiquitous as he once was. He still holds rallies but not as frequently as he once did. He’s never returned to Twitter/X, even after the dork who paid a fortune on it unsuspended his account. Is he even trying to run for president a third time? Or is hiding himself from the public the only way he could get back to the White House? That’s what one of his former aides thinks.

Per Newsweek, Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served in his administration for years before decamping for The View, did some speculating about her former boss on CNN’s This Morning.

“I don’t want to overstate this notion he has a sophisticated team around him,” Griffin said. “Beyond the two individuals, it’s probably a mishmash of folks that have been clinging to him since 2016 or those that kinda stayed after January 6th.”

Griffin singled out his senior campaign advisers Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita for finding ways to keep Trump’s craziness — and increasingly brain mushy pronouncements — on the relative downlow.

“Those two individuals know that keeping Trump out of the public eye, more or less, is actually the best thing they can do,” Griffin said. “Donald Trump is not out giving huge rallies in the way that he was at this time in 2020. We’re going to see that tick up. He’s not on Twitter. He’s not giving big sit down interviews, he’s not on mainstream media in a regular pace.

“So I think the public is kinda forgetting the chaos and the crazy of Trump,” she concluded. “I think that’s reflected in some of the poll numbers that we’re seeing in how much he’s surpassing his challengers. The more that people see him, the more they’re gonna remember.”

If this is indeed the plan, could it be so crazy that it works? Sure, he posts like a madman on his rinky-dink Twitter clone, but no one reads it beyond die-hards and it’s failing anyway. Schedule more rallies and he may be confused about who’s president again or accuse Joe Biden of starting “World War II.” Of course, if Trump found out that his own staffers don’t trust him to speak in public, surely he’d have one of his signature meltdowns. Which would be a shame.

(Via Newsweek)

It’s January, which means that many people are clarifying the goals they’d like to accomplish by next year. But finding ways to actually stick to those lofty New Year’s ambitions isn’t always as easy as listing them out. Because, inevitably, pressure starts to set in.

But what if ticking off your resolutions list could be fun as well as productive? Sort of a blend of everything whimsical about a vision board and everything efficient about a to-do list?

Thanks to one work team’s ingenious idea, having the best of both worlds isn’t so impossible after all.

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As Michelle Wintersteen, owner and creative director of MKW Creative Co., shared in a TikTok following the holidays, her team decided to swap out the vision boards and instead make Bingo cards for their 2024 goals.

The concept is simple: each goal is designated to a square on the card, and will be ticked off once accomplished. The first person on the team to get a row of five goals accomplished wins a spa service of their choice, according to Wintersteen.

@mkwcreative.co Bingo Cards > Vision Boards ✨ #branding #marketing #branddesigner #branding #marketingagency ♬ What Love Is – Zimmer90

And while the Wintersteen’s card focuses on work targets, it’s easy to see how this idea can be fully customized, both in the types of goals listed and the prize to be won. Prefer a day trip to the aquarium or a fresh pair of boots instead? Go for it! The possibilities are endless.

The Bingo card approach is brilliant not only because it gives people something to look forward to but because it taps into a sense of play that keeps things fresh long after the novelty of making resolutions wears off—you know, by February 1st.

Plus, it’s not like you have to tick off every goal in order to get rewarded. All you need is five in a row to feel like a winner. What a great reminder that we don’t have to be all-or-nothing in our ambitions.

With nearly a million views, Wintersteen seems to have struck a chord with viewers eager to try it out.

“The cool kids do bingo cards,” one person quipped.

“Oooh, I’m so gonna do this!” added another.

Several chimed in with their own bingoal success stories.

“I did bingo cards last year and it was so fun and effective!” one person shared.

Some instantly began thinking up ways to contribute their own personal spin, like applying it to a book club. Obviously the reward for that group would be more books.

And perhaps the best part of all—it’s never been easier to digitally DIY your own Bingo card on Canva (though by all means, make it by hand if crafts are your thing).

And due to the overwhelming response to Wintersteen’s own Bingo card, her template is available for purchase here. Happy goal-setting, everyone.

Americans have a style and personality all their own, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s just noticeable when they travel aboard. Americans often stand out because of their outgoing personalities. They are friendly and enjoy having casual conversations with strangers.

This is an endearing trait to a lot of people in more reserved cultures, although it can also come off as a little brash.

An American characteristic that isn’t quite endearing to people in other countries is that they can be rather loud. In Europe, one can always notice the Americans in the restaurant because they can be heard from across the room.

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A Reddit user named Frosty-Ad3575 wanted to know the specific ways that Americans stand out when traveling abroad, so they asked the AskReddit subforum: “What’s an obvious sign that someone is an American?”

The post was popular, receiving nearly 6,000 responses in just 6 days. The most popular ones described how Americans’ unique personalities, style of dress, dental hygiene and body language make them easy to spot.

Here are 14 “obvious” signs that someone is an American.

1. Posture

“Apparently, the CIA trains American agents to not lean on things if they go undercover in foreign countries because Americans lean on anything they can while standing around.” — Clown1998

“I bet MI6 trains British agents to lean on everything if they go undercover in America because Americans lean on anything they can while standing around.” — KingoftheMongoose

2. The date

“MMDDYYYY.” — LowRevolution6175

3. Distances are different

“Anything under 4 hours is ‘close by.'” — Grey-Canary

“Everything in Europe is around the corner if you’re from the US. I can drive the whole day and not leave my state, but in Europe, I can pass through 4 countries in that same time frame.” — JayHitter

4. They’re polite to servers

“In the touristy cafe-restaurant I worked at:

If they asked me for the nicest spot we had

If they asked me my recommendation without seeing the menu first

I would walk to the table, and they would say right away ‘hey, how are you doing?’ This one threw me off a lot at first. Why is this person asking me how I’m doing?? I’m just there to take the order. I got used to it, and I think they found my awkwardness cute.

They would ask my name when I greeted them and took their order.

I’m Northern European.” — Muc_99

“It’s under-appreciated just how polite, friendly, and sincere Americans are in general. It blew my mind the first time I came to the US, and I love that my children are growing up with those same values.” — Irishweather5000

5. The water bottles

“I was told, ‘Americans carry water bottles around like they’re worried they’ll never have access to clean water ever again.'” — Kosher_Dill

“I don’t care what anyone says. If you think carrying a water bottle when walking a lot is weird, you’re probably slightly dehydrated all the time and are just desensitized to it. You seriously need to drink water frequently if you want to be ideally healthy.” — Tan11

6. Smiling

“I was in Germany this past summer, and I realized smiling at everyone you make eye contact with is very American. When I went to London on the same trip, they seemed less weirded out by it but would awkwardly return the smile. I was taught to always start with a disarming smile. Never realized it was American.” — 12ozFitz

7. “More ice, please.”

“I spent a year in Europe completely iceless to the point I forgot that was a thing. I stopped at a bar in Chicago fresh off the plane and not only did I get free tap water, but water with ice. I instantly felt at home.” — Outside-Crezz8119

8. Personal space

“As an American man, I’ve been told repeatedly by European and Asian friends that we simply take up space (not by being fat) as though we’re entitled to it. Men in other countries apparently don’t claim the same personal space we do.” — Potomacan

9. White teeth

“It’s even more bizarre that they assume we have braces or bleach our teeth because they’re straight and white. I have naturally straight white teeth. I brush them twice a day so they stay white. I don’t do anything special to them, but I remember being in London and some similar-aged students literally making fun of me for my teeth… it’s true that they don’t naturally look like headstones in an ancient graveyard, but there’s no need to make fun.” — DPretilloZbornak

10. Casual dress

“My friend went to Germany recently, and what people said about Americans is you can spot them a mile away because they’re the ones wearing pajamas in public. Apparently, in other countries, at least Germany, they dress a little more formally and in less baggy clothes than we do in America.” — MarcusWahlbezius

11. Baseball hats

“Baseball cap… even on an infant riding in a pram.” — SyntheticOne

12. Shoes

“Americans are shoe snobs (they don’t think they are, but they are). Setting aside wealthier business types, Americans generally wear more on-brand, on-trend, high-quality shoes than others.” — Mouflony

13. They’re loud

“That was my first thought. Americans yell at each other in normal conversation in public. I noticed it years ago in Europe, and now I can’t stand it in the US.” — SucccotashOther277

14. Occupation matters

“Immediately asking someone what they do for a living when meeting them. Our jobs and work are our entire identity.” — Bealzu

“I hate that about American culture. I’m an American and recently became a SAHM, so I don’t have an answer to ‘What do you do for a living?’ Half the time, I add the caveat, ‘Oh, my last job was with Apple,’ so that I’m not written off as an unemployed ‘loser.’ But it really is dumb to determine a person’s worth by what they do in order to afford food and shelter.” — WassupSassySasquatch

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the motion picture Saltburn.

Over the holidays, a lot of families enjoyed an awkward movie night. The stats for Saltburn, the dark comedy from Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell, which hit Amazon Prime before Christmas, were huge. How many people accidentally watched it with their parents and/or younger kids? It’s likely a lot. There’s a far amount of decadence contained within it, with two wild scenes in particular standing out. For one of its stars, it’s those scenes that partly made him want to make the movie in the first place.

Per Insider, Jacob Elordi spoke with Stream Wars about said scenes. Saltburn finds the actor’s character, Felix, a young, handsome, rakish reprobate, invites Barry Keoghan’s Oscar, a fellow Oxfordian and social climber, to his wealthy family’s estate for the summer. In one scene, Felix whacks it in the bath, after which Oscar, obsessed with him, licks what’s left of the semen-y remains out of the tub. It’s all but designed to get attention, and that worked on Elordi.

“I was just really excited when I read that scene, because you don’t really see things like that in mainstream movies a lot of the time,’” Elordi said. “So it’s just great that Emerald was allowed to kind of push those boundaries and expose people like that.”

The other shocking scene happens after Felix has died under mysteriously circumstances. A distraught Oscar goes to his grave and, well, humps it. Elordi remembered watching the scene with a rapt audience.

“It was unbelievable because everybody was engaged and sort of gasping at the screen and yelling at the screen,” Elordi explained. “And I haven’t been in a movie like that in a really, really long time.”

There’s also a nude dance scene Keoghan does at the end, which has also nabbed considerable attention.

If you enjoyed the bathtub scene, you’re in luck: An Etsy dealer is already selling a candle entitled “Jacob Elordi’s Bath Water.” Everyone else can watch Saltburn on Amazon Prime.

(Via Insider)

The New York Knicks sit at 18-15 on the year and just pulled off a major trade to acquire OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors. It was the sort of swing New York has been trying to make for some time, because while Anunoby isn’t the sort of franchise-changing All-Star talent whose name alone would sell tickets, he’s a rock solid player who fits perfectly alongside Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and co.

And yet, one of the nation’s most prominent Knicks fans is a bit disappointed. Stephen A. Smith was on the NBA Countdown desk prior to Wednesday night’s game between New York and the Chicago Bulls, and expressed his frustration over the team’s inability to land the star — which, in fairness, is a take that plenty of people beyond Smith hold. It got so bad that Smith straight up said that he believes he is a bigger star in the city than most players on the Knicks.

“This is the Mecca, this is Madison Square Garden, this is New York City, baby,” Smith said. “They can’t get a star. They cannot get a star. You had a chance! You had a chance and you passed up. Woj is excellent information, all the inside info, he will break it down to a science and make you say, ‘Yeah, it makes sense.’ But it doesn’t change the reality: It’s the Mecca, and the stars come to visit. We never have any.

“Do you realize a legitimate argument could be made that Stephen A. Smith is one of the biggest stars in New York?” he asked, fully in his bag at this point. “Do you realize that? That’s a damn shame. Bad knees, 56 years old, ain’t thought about playing basketball in about 30 years, and I am a bigger star than most of the New York Knicks. It’s a damn shame.”

The solution to all of this, in my eyes, is simple: Let Stephen A. Smith play for the New York Knicks.

The RICO trial featuring Young Thug and other YSL members as co-defendants resumed on Tuesday, January 2. It had been delayed due to one of the co-defendants, Shannon Stillwell, getting stabbed in jail in mid-December. While the trial is presumably a source of immense stress for Young Thug, he’s also leveraging the increased attention to his advantage.

The Business Is Business rapper announced the existence of ActNormal, his forthcoming apparel brand, on his Instagram Story. Young Thug (real name Jeffrey Williams) reposted from the new ActNormal account. The photo shows a sewn-in tag reading, “Manufactured in Paris ACTNORMAL” alongside the quote, “Be the reason the world changes.” ActNormal’s caption teases, “Round 1 #actnormal #freejeff #coming soon.”

ActNormal’s official website doesn’t give away much, other than a promise that it’s “coming soon” and is “dedicated to providing you with the best experience and highest-quality garments possible.”

In the meantime, Young Thug will continue to stand trial. According to The New York Times, Thug faces “a maximum 120-year sentence,” but a verdict is likely far off. As per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Prosecutors are expected to call hundreds of witnesses to the stand in the coming months and officials say the trial could take up to a year. A weeklong break is scheduled to start January 15, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Americans have a style and personality all their own, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s just noticeable when they travel aboard. Americans often stand out because of their outgoing personalities. They are friendly and enjoy having casual conversations with strangers.

This is an endearing trait to a lot of people in more reserved cultures, although it can also come off as a little brash.

An American characteristic that isn’t quite endearing to people in other countries is that they can be rather loud. In Europe, one can always notice the Americans in the restaurant because they can be heard from across the room.

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A Reddit user named Frosty-Ad3575 wanted to know the specific ways that Americans stand out when traveling abroad, so they asked the AskReddit subforum: “What’s an obvious sign that someone is an American?”

The post was popular, receiving nearly 6,000 responses in just 6 days. The most popular ones described how Americans’ unique personalities, style of dress, dental hygiene and body language make them easy to spot.

Here are 14 “obvious” signs that someone is an American.

1. Posture

“Apparently, the CIA trains American agents to not lean on things if they go undercover in foreign countries because Americans lean on anything they can while standing around.” — Clown1998

“I bet MI6 trains British agents to lean on everything if they go undercover in America because Americans lean on anything they can while standing around.” — KingoftheMongoose

2. The date

“MMDDYYYY.” — LowRevolution6175

3. Distances are different

“Anything under 4 hours is ‘close by.'” — Grey-Canary

“Everything in Europe is around the corner if you’re from the US. I can drive the whole day and not leave my state, but in Europe, I can pass through 4 countries in that same time frame.” — JayHitter

4. They’re polite to servers

“In the touristy cafe-restaurant I worked at:

If they asked me for the nicest spot we had

If they asked me my recommendation without seeing the menu first

I would walk to the table, and they would say right away ‘hey, how are you doing?’ This one threw me off a lot at first. Why is this person asking me how I’m doing?? I’m just there to take the order. I got used to it, and I think they found my awkwardness cute.

They would ask my name when I greeted them and took their order.

I’m Northern European.” — Muc_99

“It’s under-appreciated just how polite, friendly, and sincere Americans are in general. It blew my mind the first time I came to the US, and I love that my children are growing up with those same values.” — Irishweather5000

5. The water bottles

“I was told, ‘Americans carry water bottles around like they’re worried they’ll never have access to clean water ever again.'” — Kosher_Dill

“I don’t care what anyone says. If you think carrying a water bottle when walking a lot is weird, you’re probably slightly dehydrated all the time and are just desensitized to it. You seriously need to drink water frequently if you want to be ideally healthy.” — Tan11

6. Smiling

“I was in Germany this past summer, and I realized smiling at everyone you make eye contact with is very American. When I went to London on the same trip, they seemed less weirded out by it but would awkwardly return the smile. I was taught to always start with a disarming smile. Never realized it was American.” — 12ozFitz

7. “More ice, please.”

“I spent a year in Europe completely iceless to the point I forgot that was a thing. I stopped at a bar in Chicago fresh off the plane and not only did I get free tap water, but water with ice. I instantly felt at home.” — Outside-Crezz8119

8. Personal space

“As an American man, I’ve been told repeatedly by European and Asian friends that we simply take up space (not by being fat) as though we’re entitled to it. Men in other countries apparently don’t claim the same personal space we do.” — Potomacan

9. White teeth

“It’s even more bizarre that they assume we have braces or bleach our teeth because they’re straight and white. I have naturally straight white teeth. I brush them twice a day so they stay white. I don’t do anything special to them, but I remember being in London and some similar-aged students literally making fun of me for my teeth… it’s true that they don’t naturally look like headstones in an ancient graveyard, but there’s no need to make fun.” — DPretilloZbornak

10. Casual dress

“My friend went to Germany recently, and what people said about Americans is you can spot them a mile away because they’re the ones wearing pajamas in public. Apparently, in other countries, at least Germany, they dress a little more formally and in less baggy clothes than we do in America.” — MarcusWahlbezius

11. Baseball hats

“Baseball cap… even on an infant riding in a pram.” — SyntheticOne

12. Shoes

“Americans are shoe snobs (they don’t think they are, but they are). Setting aside wealthier business types, Americans generally wear more on-brand, on-trend, high-quality shoes than others.” — Mouflony

13. They’re loud

“That was my first thought. Americans yell at each other in normal conversation in public. I noticed it years ago in Europe, and now I can’t stand it in the US.” — SucccotashOther277

14. Occupation matters

“Immediately asking someone what they do for a living when meeting them. Our jobs and work are our entire identity.” — Bealzu

“I hate that about American culture. I’m an American and recently became a SAHM, so I don’t have an answer to ‘What do you do for a living?’ Half the time, I add the caveat, ‘Oh, my last job was with Apple,’ so that I’m not written off as an unemployed ‘loser.’ But it really is dumb to determine a person’s worth by what they do in order to afford food and shelter.” — WassupSassySasquatch

No one enjoys being made fun of. It can be difficult to manage no matter how old you are, but the internet has brought teasing and bullying to a whole new level. People no longer have to see their bullies face-to-face, and instead of maybe someone turning a few of their friends against you, it’s a few hundred or few thousand joining in on the teasing.

In this digital age, people are still trying to learn new ways to deal with finding themselves on the receiving end of online bullies. Mychal, a librarian who has become a viral sensation for his unique way of excitedly telling people about the library, recently found out he was the subject of online bullies. He had no idea anyone was teasing him until followers started doing mental health check-ins to make sure he was okay.

Once he found out why his community was reaching out with concern, the librarian decided to address the situation head on and in the process he gave a masterclass in kindness.

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Mychal reveals that the offending post is on “Twitter,” (now known as X) and some comments are so bad that he refused to repeat them. He also advised that his followers not look at the comments under the thread due to their inappropriate, harmful nature. According to the librarian, people mocked the way he spoke, his mannerisms and more. But instead of angrily responding, Mychal reminded his followers that sometimes people have bad days.

“I am talking about this because I want people to remember that sometimes people have their worst day and they are really struggling in life,” Mychal says. “Sometimes what that results in is they say very mean, very cruel things about other people, which is not okay. It’s not okay to say mean, cruel things about people.”

He further explains that he is reminding himself along with others that sometimes people are saying mean things because that’s what they feel about themselves. Mychal went on to wish the bullies kindness and joy in their lives to top off his lesson in handling internet bullies. While being on the receiving end of bullying does hurt, it’s people like Mychal that let others know they’re not alone. Commenters were quick to remind the librarian of the same.

@mychal3ts

Quite a few people messaged me “mental health check” before I became aware of that Twitter thread, and I just want to say, “THANK YOU!” 💚 #BookTok #LibraryTikTok #Storytime

“Obviously they’re not kind library friends. Sending love, Mychal. You’re great.,” one person writes.

In a three-part comment, one viewer wanted Mychal to know just how much he was appreciated. “Mychal, I’m not even kidding but every single time you come onto my for you page, you make my day. I love when I see you on my page because you just make me feel so genuinely safe. You are such a sweet, wonderful, and truly beautiful person, and I’m sorry that some people are so miserable that they feel the need to bring you down. But I just want you to know that you are deeply appreciated. By me, and by all the other people who look forward to seeing your content every day, I can’t even express to you or properly thank you for what you’ve done for me and others.”

Clearly the community Mychal has built is amazing, and no matter what the bullies say, his followers are there with enough positive affirmations to last a lifetime. Keep being you, Mychal. It’s obvious that your voice is needed.

Few video games are as compelling and addictive as Tetris. Nor are other games, even the most difficult ones, literally impossible to beat.

The task behind Tetris is simple: rotate the falling blocks to fit the puzzle. But as those pieces fall at a faster and faster rate, at some point even the most skilled player becomes outmatched. In fact, no player (other than an AI bot) has been known to ever actually beat the game.

Until now.

Thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson, better known as “Blue Scuti” when he’s gaming, was about 39 minutes into a Tetris competition, rotating blocks at lightning speed, when he achieved a “True Killscreen,” signaling the game couldn’t keep up and crashed.

In other words, Gibson did the impossible. The 34-year-old old game was finally beat…by a teen.

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As soon as it happened, the young gamer threw up his gloves in shock and screamed, “Oh my god!” nearly hyperventilating with excitement.

“I can’t feel my fingers,” he said in the live broadcast of the game.

According to 404 Media, Gibson’s history-breaking success is thanks in part to a revolutionary new technique that became popular in 2021 called “rolling,” where he holds the controller in a way that allows him to push the D-pad up to 20 times per second. This method surpasses the “hyper tapping method,” another well known controller technique among Tetris players.

In an interview following his historic win, Gibson dedicated the game to his father, Adam Gibson, who died Dec. 14, 2023. But his mom was there to give him the ultimate “I have no idea what any of this means but it’s important to you so I’m proud” high-five.

Gibson’s remarkable feat of both beating a computer game and outplaying AI stands as a reassurance in the lasting potential of the human mind as discourse about artificial intelligence makes it appear obsolete. Even in the digital age, humans constantly strive to learn, adapt, evolve and push the limits. And they succeed. Suddenly a simple game has a much more profound meaning.

Remember when you were little and learned you could make shadow puppets on the wall from the bathroom light that peeked through your bedroom? Most people learned how to make a fairly realistic-looking frog or rabbit, but that’s about where the talent ended for most. Shadow Ace, an “America’s Got Talent” alum, took that childhood skill and never stopped honing it.

The shadow artist first appeared on Season 18 of the iconic show, coming in 3rd place after charming the crowd with his shadow routine. But he still had more up his sleeve when he returned for “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” where he’s competing on Howie Mandel’s team. It’s a good thing too, because it’s Mandel’s head that’s used as his stage for his shadow act that will have you wanting to bust a move.

Shadow Ace starts off strong with the famous Sir Mix-a-Lot song, “Baby Got Back,” and yes, he was somehow able to make his hands look like a person shaking their derrière.

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Immediately, the judges still seated at the table start freaking out. Mandel’s role in this whole performance is just to sit quietly with his famous shiny bald head still while Shadow Ace (real name Philip Jose P. Galit) makes all dancing shadows. The recently released video is part of the early release footage from the new Fantasy League edition of AGT, which premiered on January 1.

There’s no mistaking the talent that Shadow Ace brings to the stage as he moves his hands through a series of shapes to reflect each new song that plays. There were points in the act when Mandel’s head doubled as a DJ’s turntable and a drum that sent the audience into laughing fits. The song selection is top tier, but you have to check out his moves below to get the full effect of the performance.