Category: News

Less than one week ago, the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks squared off in Las Vegas with a spot in the inaugural In-Season Tournament final on the line. Indiana managed to pick up a win and earn a matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Bucks went home a little earlier than they’d like.

Fast forward to Wednesday and Giannis Antetokounmpo was able to help his team pick up a win by setting a new career high, along with a franchise record, in scoring. Milwaukee took down Indiana, 140-126, behind a remarkable, 64-point night by the two-time NBA MVP.

It looked like the Bucks were going to try and call it a night for him once he got to 58 points and the team held a 131-112 lead, as Adrian Griffin subbed out his starters. But Indiana was able to storm back and make things a little closer for comfort, which led to Antetokounmpo and co. going back into the game. As a result, he was able to eclipse the 60-point mark.

Antetokounmpo’s performance unseats Michael Redd, who had the previous franchise-high with 57 points in a game in 2006. And funny enough, Antetokounmpo has now scored more points in one game than anyone else in the league this season, as he eclipsed the previous mark of 54 points which he set on Nov. 9 against — in what is becoming something of a theme — the Pacers.

Just about everyone has had the misfortune of forgetting to return a library book. Some turn it in and pay whatever fine that’s been assessed while others never find the book and decide to pay for the replacement. But there’s a small group of people that don’t return the missing book or pay the library to replace it. It’s simply checked out forever for reasons no one knows.

Horace Short fell into the latter category. Back in 1904, Mr. Short checked out “The Cruise of the Esmeralda” by Harry Collingwood, a novel about adventures at sea, from the Carbondale Public Library. For some reason, Short never returned the book and librarians assumed it had been discarded according to Jessica Pratt, Adult Services Librarian at Carbondale Public Library.

Much to the delight and surprise of the librarians, the book was recently returned, 120 years late. Hawley Public Library found the antique book at their book sale and informed the Carbondale library of their discovery.

Pratt told Upworthy, “When we saw the date on the library card in it, we realized that it was likely borrowed and never returned. We were quite thrilled not only for having a book returned to us that late but because it also contained a Carbondale Public Library library card that was over 100 years old!”

The library shared about the book return on their social media account where they humored commenters with working out the late fee fines.

“If we go by the fines based of the date the item was checked out (2 cents per day), Mr. Short would owe us $872.82. If we go by the fines the library charges today (25 cents per day), he would owe $10,910.25. Mr. Short is very lucky we currently cap fines for books at $10,” Carbondale Public Library writes.

As for Mr. Short, the library did some sleuthing to see if they could locate his family to tell them about the extraordinary find.

Pratt tells us, “We’ve done some research on the card holder, Horace J. Short. He was born in or around 1877 near Prompton, PA. He moved to Carbondale and was working as a butcher. In 1899 he lost the fingers on his right hand to a sausage grinder! Sometime between 1904 and 1907 he moved to Wilkes-Barre, PA and spent many years as a messenger for the railroad. We know he died sometime between 1930 and 1940 but unfortunately, we lose track of him and his family after then. We know he had one daughter, Reta, but we don’t know if she ever married or had children.”

The librarian says that anyone interested in reading the book can find it online on Project Gutenberg. But the library itself is working on some projects they’re pretty excited about like the Family Place room to promote early literacy for families with children under three. They are also cultivating an outdoor space so it can become a certified pollinator garden according to Pratt.

So if you’re near Carbondale, Pennsylvania and want to check out the century’s late library book, stop by to take a look and maybe check out your own book. Just be sure to return it on time.

In January, TMZ reported that Kanye West and Bianca Censori, referred to then as a long-time architectural designer at Yeezy, had “recently had some sort of wedding ceremony — though we’re told it doesn’t appear they’ve filed a marriage certificate to make it legal.” Then West, who legally changed his name to Ye, was spotted wearing what sure looked like a wedding band. So when we refer to Censori as West’s “wife,” that’s the context.

So, who is Bianca Censori? Below is a timeline of what we’ve learned throughout the year.

“Censori Overload”

December 2022: Ye, ever the frantic social media user, shared and then deleted an unreleased track with an Instagram caption reading, “Censori overload The variable epitope library from the antigen promotes an immune response in the body,” as per Rolling Stone at the time.

Ye Reportedly Attempted To Travel To Australia For Censori

January 2023: Reports circulated that Ye was planning to travel to Censori’s native Melbourne, Australia, but Australia’s Education Minister Jason Clare commented that he could be denied entry into the country, as seen in the clip below:

According to Elle, Censori’s apparent LinkedIn shows that she earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in architecture at the University of Melbourne. Elle also excerpted a since-deleted Hypebeast interview from November 2021 in which Censori described her childhood:

“I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. As a child, I was consistently drawn to creative endeavors, mostly artistic. I always wanted to be a sculptor and, to me, architecture is the union of art and pragmatics. It is the grandest artistic gesture that we can place onto the earth. I was drawn to it, purely, as a shift in artistic scale.

“As a child, I spent a lot of time with my aunt, who would consistently expose me to an array of art, film, and architecture. She really drove my love for design and instilled in me an eye for aesthetics that I was able to nurture into adulthood.”

Censori And Ye’s Very NSFW PDA

August 2023: Censori and Ye vacationed in Venice, Italy, and paparazzi photos published by TMZ showed Ye’s bare butt during a river taxi ride. Some people speculated that Censori and Ye were engaging in a sexual act on the boat. You can decide for yourself here.

Afterward, Venezia Turismo Motoscafi reprimanded their “obscenities” in a statement, which partially read, “We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour. Mr. West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our company’s boats.”

Kim Kardashian, Ye’s actual legal wife from May 2014 to March 2022, was also reportedly concerned. The Sun reported, citing an unnamed insider, that Kardashian was “embarrassed and worried for him.”

They Broke Up? Maybe?

November 2023: The US Sun reported on November 17 that the controversial couple were “taking a break.” Read an excerpt from the tabloid’s article below.

“Sources also told The Daily Mail that her family and friends have been pressuring her to leave him after he allegedly imposed a strict set of rules she had to follow, including eating certain foods. As she remained in Australia after returning without Kanye earlier this month, an insider told The U.S. Sun the couple is ‘taking a break’ after discussing her family’s concerns.”

Back Together In Miami Ahead Of Vultures

December 2023: Last weekend, Censori and Ye were spotted together attending Art Basel festivities in Miami, where he also previewed his and Ty Dolla Sign’s forthcoming joint album, Vultures. Page Six published photos of Censori’s, um, unique and skin-baring outfit, and their appearance effectively ended any speculation that they had broken up. Still, we don’t know much about Censori, nor the state of their relationship. Whether we want to know or not, Ye might fill us if and when Vultures releases.

In January, TMZ reported that Kanye West and Bianca Censori, referred to then as a long-time architectural designer at Yeezy, had “recently had some sort of wedding ceremony — though we’re told it doesn’t appear they’ve filed a marriage certificate to make it legal.” Then West, who legally changed his name to Ye, was spotted wearing what sure looked like a wedding band. So when we refer to Censori as West’s “wife,” that’s the context.

So, who is Bianca Censori? Below is a timeline of what we’ve learned throughout the year.

“Censori Overload”

December 2022: Ye, ever the frantic social media user, shared and then deleted an unreleased track with an Instagram caption reading, “Censori overload The variable epitope library from the antigen promotes an immune response in the body,” as per Rolling Stone at the time.

Ye Reportedly Attempted To Travel To Australia For Censori

January 2023: Reports circulated that Ye was planning to travel to Censori’s native Melbourne, Australia, but Australia’s Education Minister Jason Clare commented that he could be denied entry into the country, as seen in the clip below:

According to Elle, Censori’s apparent LinkedIn shows that she earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in architecture at the University of Melbourne. Elle also excerpted a since-deleted Hypebeast interview from November 2021 in which Censori described her childhood:

“I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. As a child, I was consistently drawn to creative endeavors, mostly artistic. I always wanted to be a sculptor and, to me, architecture is the union of art and pragmatics. It is the grandest artistic gesture that we can place onto the earth. I was drawn to it, purely, as a shift in artistic scale.

“As a child, I spent a lot of time with my aunt, who would consistently expose me to an array of art, film, and architecture. She really drove my love for design and instilled in me an eye for aesthetics that I was able to nurture into adulthood.”

Censori And Ye’s Very NSFW PDA

August 2023: Censori and Ye vacationed in Venice, Italy, and paparazzi photos published by TMZ showed Ye’s bare butt during a river taxi ride. Some people speculated that Censori and Ye were engaging in a sexual act on the boat. You can decide for yourself here.

Afterward, Venezia Turismo Motoscafi reprimanded their “obscenities” in a statement, which partially read, “We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour. Mr. West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our company’s boats.”

Kim Kardashian, Ye’s actual legal wife from May 2014 to March 2022, was also reportedly concerned. The Sun reported, citing an unnamed insider, that Kardashian was “embarrassed and worried for him.”

They Broke Up? Maybe?

November 2023: The US Sun reported on November 17 that the controversial couple were “taking a break.” Read an excerpt from the tabloid’s article below.

“Sources also told The Daily Mail that her family and friends have been pressuring her to leave him after he allegedly imposed a strict set of rules she had to follow, including eating certain foods. As she remained in Australia after returning without Kanye earlier this month, an insider told The U.S. Sun the couple is ‘taking a break’ after discussing her family’s concerns.”

Back Together In Miami Ahead Of Vultures

December 2023: Last weekend, Censori and Ye were spotted together attending Art Basel festivities in Miami, where he also previewed his and Ty Dolla Sign’s forthcoming joint album, Vultures. Page Six published photos of Censori’s, um, unique and skin-baring outfit, and their appearance effectively ended any speculation that they had broken up. Still, we don’t know much about Censori, nor the state of their relationship. Whether we want to know or not, Ye might fill us if and when Vultures releases.

There has been an avalanche piling atop Diddy since Cassie filed her extremely eye-opening and lengthy lawsuit in Manhattan Federal District Court on November 16. Diddy reached a settlement with her the following day, though he maintained his innocence. Three other lawsuits have followed, and on December 6, he vehemently denied all allegations with his only public statement to this point. Regardless, Hulu is the latest entity to cut ties with him.

On Wednesday night, December 13, Rolling Stone exclusively reported that Hulu has scrapped “a reality show centered around Sean Combs and his family,” which was in the works under the title Diddy+7 and being produced by James Corden’s Fulwell 73.

“While Combs was reportedly spotted with camera crews several times earlier this year, the show was still in ‘nascent stages,’ according to a source with knowledge of the situation,” Cheyenne Roundtree and Nancy Dillon wrote for Rolling Stone. “It’s unclear when the decision to shelve the entire project was made.”

Rolling Stone previously reported on December 10 that “a total of 18 brands have confirmed to Rolling Stone that they have severed ties” with Diddy’s newly launched Empower Global, an e-commerce marketplace for Black-owned businesses. This comes after Revolt announced Diddy had “stepped down from his position of Chairman at Revolt,” the media company he co-founded in 2013.

Diddy’s nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album at the 2024 Grammys is also up in the air, as The Recording Academy provided a statement to Rolling Stone this week, reading, “We are taking this matter very seriously, and we are in the process of evaluating it with the time and care that it deserves.”

Basketball fans got some less-than-stellar news on Wednesday night ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ game against the San Antonio Spurs. LeBron James was ruled out with a calf contusion, meaning we will have to wait for the first time he’ll be able to step onto the court against Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, who is considered the best prospect to enter the league since James back in 2003.

The good news is that Wembanyama is still playing, which means the possibility that exists that Wembanyama was going to do something extremely cool. We got just that at the end of a first half that the Lakers generally dominated, as Wembanyama impacted the game on both ends of the floor in about 45 seconds of action. This included a dunk over Anthony Davis, a block on Max Christie, an alley-oop that he finished, and a block on Davis to close out the frame.

I, truly, have no idea what you are supposed to do when he is putting his fingerprints all over a game like this — Wembanyama went into the locker room with 12 points, five rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and two steals. Fortunately for the Lakers, Davis had a monster first half with 24 points, and despite James sitting out, the team was able to ride its All-Star big man to a 63-50 halftime lead.

Warning: This post contains some spoilers for the third Star Wars trilogy, which most of you have seen or at least already had spoilered.

Adam Driver is one of the most exciting and versatile actors working right now. To some he’s the star of the new Michael Mann. To many, though, he’s Kylo Ren from the third Star Wars trilogy. Driver is excellent in those, too, playing a moody, deeply troubled character who winds up going part Oedipus. That happened in his first movie, The Force Awakens. He got better, though, at least by the threequel. Thing is, originally he was supposed to get worse.

During a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show (as caught by Deadline), Driver talked about when he first signed up to play the initially Dark Side-loving son of Han Solo. Abrams initial idea of where Kylo wound wind up by movie three was not what made it to screen:

“I had an overall arc that in mind that [Abrams] wanted to do. His idea was that [Kylo’s] journey was the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident and the most committed to the dark side. And then by the last movie, he’s the most vulnerable and weak. He wanted to start with the opposite. This character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies, he would be the most committed to the dark side. I tried to keep that arc in mind, regardless if that wound up not being the journey anyway, because it changed while shooting. But I was still focused on that.”

But Rian Johnson, who took over for The Last Jedi, had a different idea of where Kylo could go. Instead of getting more evil, he softened up a bit. Not too much. But when Abrams took back over for The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo fully (mostly) flip-flopped, ending dead but redeemed (but dead).

“The last one, it changed into being, you know, about them and the dyad, and things like that,” Driver explained. “And evolving into Ben Solo. That was never a part of it. He was Ben Solo from the beginning, but there was never a version where we’d see Ben Solo when I first signed up for it.”

Still, even if Abrams’ original arc for Kylo had been honored, Driver would still have to contend with Star Wars heads blaming him for murdering Han Solo.

You can watch the Rich Eisen episode in the video below.

(Via Deadline)

Draymond Green will not play in an NBA game for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the league decided to hand down an indefinite suspension to Green in the aftermath of an incident that occurred the prior night when he swung his arm around and struck Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

“This outcome takes into account Green’s repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts … He will be required to meet certain league and team conditions before he returns to play,” the NBA said in a statement.

Indefinite suspensions are tricky because they are so vague — in theory, Green could miss one game and come back, or this could be the last we see of him for quite some time. What we do know from the league is that there are conditions on a return, and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Green will receive counseling while he’s away from action. Wojnarowski additionally reported that there will be counseling involved, although the NBA was hesitant to put a specific number of games on this suspension.

Saying “away from action” is important, because Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report brings word that Green will not be fully away from the team. Apparently, the league has given Green the all clear to practice with the Golden State Warriors while he’s barred from games.

Green’s suspension comes only a few games after he returned from an earlier suspension. Earlier this season, the league suspended him five games for putting Rudy Gobert in a choke hold during a fracas between the Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves. This also comes at just about the worst possible time for Golden State, which are 10-13 on the season, currently are 2.5 games out of the Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference, and have lost three of their last four games.

Information and rumors about Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s forthcoming joint album, Vultures, are slowly leaking out. Ty Dolla Sign posted the tracklist last weekend, and Ye held a relatively lowkey listening party in Miami early Tuesday morning, December 12, as per Billboard.

Below is what you need to know.

What Is Kanye West And Ty Dolla Sign’s Rumored Vultures Tracklist?

Ty Dolla Sign already posted purported song titles on Instagram, but the Apple Music pre-save page for Vultures confirms the tracklist, as seen below. The features are based upon the livestream of Ye’s Vultures preview event (as captured by Complex).

1. “Everybody” Feat. Charlie Wilson, Lil Baby
2. “Back To Me” Feat. Freddie Gibbs, Offset, Quavo
3. “Fuk Sumn” Feat. Playboi Carti, Quavo
4. “Time Moving Slow”
5. “Beg Forgiveness” Feat. Charlie Brown
6. “So Good”
7. “Paid” Feat. Future
8. “Timbo Freestyle”
9. “Slide”
10. “New Body” Feat. Nicki Minaj
11. “Promotion”
12. “Vultures” Feat. Bump J, Lil Durk
13. “Lifestyle”
14. “Drunk” Feat. Bad Bunny, Kodak Black
15. “Worship”
16. “River” Feat. Young Thug
17. “Gun To My Head”
18. “Unlock”

When Does Vultures Come Out?

The UK’s Independent relayed that the album is due out this Friday, December 15, citing that West confirmed the date during his Miami rave. If and when Vultures is released, it will mark Ye’s first traditional album release since Donda in August 2021. (Although, I guess it is presumptuous to assume anything about Vultures will be traditionally executed.) He dropped Donda 2 in February 2022, but it was a clunky rollout, to say the least. The 16-song album was only available in its full form via his Stem Player platform.

Freddie Gibbs and Young Thug are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When you watch or read the news, it can be easy to get down on the world. It’s not your imagination that the news has a negativity bias. One study showed that headlines denoting anger, fear, disgust and sadness steadily increased from 2000 to 2019, making it even harder to stay informed without feeling a sense of despair or hopelessness.

But that doesn’t meant that everything is bad. The reality is that there are wonderful things happening all around us that fly under the radar. Just because good news isn’t flooding our social media feeds doesn’t mean it isn’t there—we just might have to dig through the muck and mire of the media to find it.

Or, as one person discovered, ask people to share in a Reddit thread.

When Reddit user u/NorthPengyyy asked the Ask Reddit board, “What is a good thing happening in the US right now that people aren’t aware of?” people delivered.

Check out these uplifting developments that might just restore your faith and hope in humanity.

1. There’s a promising new drug treatment for Multiple Sclerosis

“We’ve discovered a drug that places a significant pause on Multiple Sclerosis progression and are in trials for what could very well be the cure.” – Alarming-Series6627

As Neuroscience News shares, “A new small molecule drug targeting the glutamate system shows promise in treating MS, potentially repairing myelin damage. This innovative approach could revolutionize MS treatment.”

2. Not only that, but a new “inverse vaccine” may revolutionize all autoimmune disease treatment

“Not only MS, but potentially all autoimmune disease, including crohns, T1 diabetes, arthritis, lyme, and even allergies.” –AVeryHeavyBurtation

In the lab, a new “inverse vaccine,” which removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule, showed an ability to completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes without shutting down the rest of the immune system. Could be a gamechanger for autoimmune diseases.

u201cInverse vaccineu201d shows potential to treat multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases https://t.co/bVikxKRB9v

— (@)

3. Anonymous donor regularly hides thousands of dollars at a children’s rehab center

“There’s a guy in my hometown who hides thousands of dollars outside a children’s rehab center, then calls the front desk and they have a little scavenger hunt until they find it. They then use the money to help families buy holiday gifts. No one knows who he is, but over the years, he’s given over $100,000. It’s usually front-page news when the year’s donation comes in!” – violetmemphisblue

How much fun must that be, both for the anonymous donor and for the employees and kids?

4. A judge in California thought there must be a better solution than locking young young people away for life. So he created an amazing, innovative educational alternative.

Superior Court Judge John Phillips had grown tired of seeing so many young people come through his courtroom and having no recourse but what the system provided—mostly jail time. So he created what he saw they needed. It’s called Rancho Cielo and it’s a place where kids who are at risk of falling into criminality go for education, support, enrichment. Here they won’t fall through the cracks and they are able to become their best selves. Read more about how and why it works here.

See on Instagram

5. New treatments for brain cancer have arrived after a long lull

“There is a new treatment for my brain cancer. There have been NO advancements in like 40 years. I should be able to take it next year and it will hopefully delay my tumor growth.

It’s pretty exciting. I have done two clinical trials. One did not pan out. The other one they won’t have the information for probably another 6-10 years.” – chasingcomet2

This person could be talking about a new drug that’s showing promise for brain cancer that develops in the young, or they could be referring to an immunotherapy treatment for glioblastoma, or perhaps another treatment. The science is moving along quickly on this front!

6. Sea stars are making a comeback after being largely wiped out

“The sea stars on the west coast are returning after suffering a wasting disease a few years back.” – suitopseudo

In 2013, sea stars (also commonly called starfish) began dying in droves when a wasting disease swept through the population. Thankfully, scientists now have some idea of what caused that deadly epidemic and we’ve seen an increase in the number of sea stars in Washington, Oregon and northern California after the mass die-off.

7. Americans might soon save on tax filing, thanks to a new IRS program

“The IRS is testing a program in 2024 that will let most people file their taxes for free right at their website, so that should save people a little cash this spring.” – ndorox

Yes, calculating and paying taxes is an annoying and tedious process, which is why anything that makes it easier is a good thing.

— (@)

8. Honeybees are making a comeback, too

“After some really scary news in the late 00’s, bee populations have been steadily on the rebound.” – CryptoCentric

It’s true. Yay for the honeybees!

9. And apparently, so is Detroit. (Go Detroit!)

“Detroit is supposedly making a comeback.” – MoreCowsThanPeople

“Can confirm! Certain areas are for real pretty nice and a lot of hip businesses have popped up. It’s still a very weird city. You have a gorgeous church or historical venue and two doors down, a burned out building. The blight is diminishing though and it’s good to see.” – sane-ish

“Lowest crime in 60 years! Downtown Detroit is having a moment right now.” – TheDadThatGrills

10. We’re kicking cancer’s butt all over the place.

“We’re killing cancer. Look at cancer survival rates over the last five years.” – TheDadThatGrills

In addition to the cancers referenced above, there have been huge leaps in breast cancer treatments and even treatments for aggressive cancers that used to mean a dire prognosis. We still have a long way to go, but the strides made on the cancer front the past decade have been nothing short of remarkable.

11. Local goodness abounds in communities everywhere.

“I look in my community. COVID has changed a lot. Ordinary people are helping out ordinary people either openly or in secret.

“There’s a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant near me. Not great food. But good amounts for cheap. I wondered why it had so many customers. They feed the homeless in the community. Some come and ask for food. Or some help at closing and in exchange get food. They never say no and happily give them food and even ask if they want chips and salsa. As a way of contributing, customers leave huge tips.

“When my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer her old next door neighbor couple took care of her yard and checked in on her.” –ClayWheelGirl

“Every year in Atlanta and surrounding areas Clark Howard (and affiliates) raise donations to give literally every single kid in foster care gifts of their choosing for Christmas morning. They make the quota every year, and participating in it is a Christmas tradition at my house. Google Clark’s Christmas Kids and give what you can.” – LarvellJonesMD·

“Last year I left a Domestic Violence situation and had basically nothing, but my kid got an unexpectedly huge haul from ‘Santa.’ It was like, 3 huge garbage bags full of toys and clothes. This year she started school and we had to classify her as homeless for her school paperwork because we live with my parents (it was required–I tried to get out of doing it) so she’s always getting offers for help from different organizations. We decline them, but it’s good to know they exist for those who are truly in need.” – NeedsMoreTuba

“Despite a tornado ripping through my town on Saturday, our community has banded together and there are more volunteers and supplies than the churches and schools can manage! People showing up to serve hot meals, loaning generators, taking in fur babies, and cleaning up.” – reggaeisanotherbag

12. People are realizing we need more positive news

“This thread does wonders for my mental health. Wow, what a bit of positivity does.” – Beliriel

“I’m so used to doom scrolling that I didn’t realize how desperately deprived I was of whatever dopamine you could get from good news, but these comments woke it up. Thank you everyone.” – Critical_Escape7745

“This thread gives me hope. For the first time in a long time.” – JoKatHW