Category: News

Earlier this week, the NBA released the findings of its independent investigation into Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, confirming numerous allegations he fostered a hostile work environment, making racist and sexist comments to employees over his 18 year tenure with the team.

The league handed down a $10 million fine to Sarver along with a one-year suspension from being around the team, which Adam Silver attempted to defend when pressed on why Sarver’s punishment was so much lighter than Donald Sterling’s years ago. Silver’s explanation was that Sarver has “evolved” since entering the league in 2004 as an owner, which is questionable at best considering the allegations have run up through 2017, but also noted that owners have different standards and rights afforded to them given their stature. While the league tried to walk that statement back, it was impossible to ignore and plenty have come out against the league’s light punishment, most notably LeBron James and Chris Paul.

While players can apply considerable pressure to the league, the biggest voice so far to speak out against Sarver still being allowed to own the Suns is one of his co-owners, Jahm Najafi, who owns the second largest stake in the team and issued a lengthy statement condemning Sarver’s conduct and calling on him to resign as owner.

It’s an incredibly strong statement from a co-owner and offers the first indication that there could be internal pressure on Sarver to sell his portion of the team. Najafi notes he does not want to buy Sarver’s share but would work to find someone who could take over the majority stake and fix the workplace culture of the organization to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Usually when someone has to go into the hospital for surgery, they expect their surgeon to be on time and in place for their procedure. There’s very little thought that goes into how the doctor’s morning is going or what obstacles they faced to make it to your bedside. Dr. Govind Nandakumar from Bengaluru, India, was having a bit of a rough start due to increased traffic from bad weather. But the doctor didn’t let standstill traffic stop him from going to work. Nandakumar hopped out of his car and ran to get to the operating room on time.

That’s some pretty intense dedication. There are probably plenty of doctors that would’ve resigned themselves to the traffic and informed the hospital their patients would need to be rescheduled to later times. But Nandakumar, a gastroenterology surgeon, was having none of that. He told The Times of India, “I did not want to waste any more time waiting for the traffic to clear up as my patients aren’t allowed to have their meals until surgery is over. I did not want to keep them waiting for long.”

u201c.@klustout @cnni @drsanjaygupta @ManipalHealth https://t.co/FUOXTx953zu201d

— Govind Nandakumar MD (@Govind Nandakumar MD)
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The area that Dr. Nandakumar spent more time than he cared for in his car is known for its traffic jams, according to The Times of India, but the doctor didn’t have time to wait. He told his Twitter followers that the patient he was operating on was in pain and while she could’ve waited for a few hours, he wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

But if you ask Nandakumar, he didn’t do anything special. He told his Twitter followers, “Most of us try and do our best for our patients. This run has got a lot of attention but there are so many hospital workers who go above and beyond every day.”

The doctor told his followers that he didn’t plan on his story blowing up and that he only recorded himself running to show to his kids at dinner. But it’s not often that you find out that a doctor abandoned their car and took off running just to get to their scheduled surgery. Nandakumar has been a surgeon for 18 years according to The Times of India, and a pile-up due to heavy rains was holding up his commute.

Running through the city on your way to perform surgery is one way for him to make sure he got his cardio in. The doctor jokes about his cardio workout on his Twitter account but he continues to praise other doctors. “I would say that most doctors take care of patients. Most, if not all of us, wish the best for our patients. Like all professionals we need to earn a living. We never take decisions with money in mind. The run is nothing compared to the work I have seen many doctors and HCW do,” he wrote.

Let’s hope Dr. Nandakumar’s subsequent commutes are much less eventful or at the very least, the run into work is planned so he can be prepared with proper footwear.

People have all sorts of advice on saving, and when doling it out, money experts often overlook those living paycheck to paycheck. I saw one of these experts on television recently saying people should have three separate savings accounts for their home expenses—one each for appliances, furniture and home repairs. These in addition to your emergency savings fund and likely your regular savings account. The advice, while acceptable for some, is comical for the rest of us. For even more hilarious money advice, people on Reddit came up with some doozies.

Reddit user u/Salazard260 posed the question “What’s the most comically out of touch ‘advice’ you’ve been given by someone wealthier?” Most of the responses were eyebrow-raising, and if you’ve ever been poor—whether it be working poor or below poverty line poor—the advice was hilarious. User blezmalfoy said they were told, “That I need to buy several apartments and rent them out. Unfortunately, he did not tell me where to get money to buy several apartments.” You do have to wonder, where does one simply get money to buy multiple apartments? Maybe the money tree our parents told us didn’t exist is actually in a forest of other money trees and we just don’t know it.

Remember the controversy several years ago when a financial advisor told millennials to stop buying coffees and avocado toast in order to afford purchasing a home? This approach may work for some people who might save a couple hundred dollars by the end of the year, but it’s hardly enough to make a downpayment on a new house. It makes you wonder how much this person thinks lattes cost.

The Lending Club reported that in June 2022, 61% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, and the Census Bureau states that 11.4% of Americans were living in poverty in 2020. People in these two categories don’t have any room to save for a rainy day when they’re focused on surviving until payday, so the advice given from people far removed from the poverty line can seem a little tone deaf.

In the Reddit thread, a commenter explained advice given to them when they complained of gas prices. “If you think gas is too expensive, just buy an electric car.” They lamented, “If I’m unable to pay $50 for a tank of gas, I’m certainly not going to be able to buy a new car, whether it’s electric or not.”

Another user was told, “Start putting money away for retirement now asap!!” To which the commenter responded, “my brother in christ i cant even put money away for Christmas presents.”

The one that takes the cake is a commenter who revealed his college roommate said, “When your parents send you your allowance each month, just set a thousand aside each time.” I bet this commenter never thought to do that. Also, how much are wealthy people sending their kids to college with? The way prices are right now, my children will be sent off to college with a box of ramen and a crisp $5 bill.

The thread is full of real-life experience and responses that will make you chuckle, especially if you grew up less wealthy or are currently poor. Starting a business and buying rental property costs money, as does paying off all of your debt to free up money to save. It would seem that most people understand that concept and yet it appears to be lost if you’re reading the encounters on Reddit.

Just know, if you truly want to save money, quit your job and take a six-month sabbatical to wait for the perfect idea to come to you. I’m kidding. Don’t do that.

Next stop for the Mayyas … Vegas, baby!

The fan-favorite all-female dance troupe from Lebanon took home the ultimate prize on the Sept. 14 episode of “America’s Got Talent,” beating out some incredibly heavy competition this season. With the win comes a $1 million cash prize as well as the opportunity to headline a show at Las Vegas’ Luxor Hotel and Casino.

From first-round auditions to the riveting live finale, the Mayyas have consistently lived up to their name, which translates to “proud walk of the lioness,” with remarkable skill and fearlessness in each and every performance.

You can take a look at their entire “AGT” journey below, ending with that unforgettable finale. Prepare to be blown away.

The dance crew promised to “hypnotize” during its first-round audition, and did so with flying colors. Having previously won “Arab’s Got Talent” back in 2019, the Mayyas were well prepared to wow the crowd.

Their spellbinding performance granted the Mayyas a golden buzzer from judge Sofia Vergara, who called it the “most beautiful creative dancing” she had ever seen.

They once again left audiences with their jaws on the floor after their semifinal routine, which was even more bold and dramatic. Howie Mandel called it the “best moment in AGT history,” adding that the Mayyas should be “the poster people for female empowerment.”

Simon Cowell also predicted that their performance would “change the world.”

Then came the live finale, where the proud lionesses left it all on the stage. The stunning performance had glowing orbs of light, glittery galaxies and a huge white gown made out of large feather fans. In a word, it had everything.

Yeah, it was hauntingly beautiful.

Viewers have been rooting for the Mayyas from the beginning—not only for their ability to create mesmerizing illusions using clever choreography and brilliant prop manipulation, but for their mission to “prove to the world what Arab women can do, the art we can create, the fights we fight.”

As explained by Nadim Cherfan, the team’s choreographer, “Lebanon is not considered a place where you can build a career out of dancing, so it’s really hard, and harder for women.”

This combined with the country’s worsening economic crisis and apparent political corruption made each advancement to the next round mean so much more than getting closer to a coveted title. As Cherfan told People, “It’s about a huge bigger message for our people to make them believe in themselves and to give hope to our country who is going into a dark time.”

The Mayyas shared their well-deserved victory with their home country, posting a video to Instagram of the win along with the caption saying “Lebanon, this one’s for you.”

See on Instagram

It’s lovely to see incredible talent. It’s even better to hear the incredible stories behind the talent. The Mayyas were dedicated to showing the world what Arab women can do, and they succeeded.

Following the success of their pre-release single “Pink Venom,” their 2022 MTV Video Music Awards debut, the already foreseeable chart-topping album Born Pink and the highly-anticipated lead single “Shut Down,” the news of a Blackpink tour is a complete no brainer.

In other words — and if you haven’t heard — yes, Blackpink is going on tour following their album promotions. Meaning, yes, Blackpink will be in your area. If not this year, then Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé and Lisa will be “kicking the door, wavin’ the coco” next year.

Blackpink’s Born Pink tour will officially begin October 15 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea for a two-night show. Ten days after the tour will make its way to North American for a 10-stop, seven city tour. The K-pop quartet will make stops in major US cities like Dallas (10/25), Houston (10/29), Atlanta (11/2), Chicago (11/10-11/11), Newark (11/14-11/15) and Los Angeles (11/19).

Following the North American tour, Blackpink will kickstart the European leg of the Born Pink tour on November 30 at The O2 in London, England and make its way around the Europe throughout the month of December.

Next year, you can find the group making stops in Asian cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Kaohsiung, Manila and Singapore in January, March and May. While the group makes stops in Middle Eastern cities like Riyadh and Abu Dhabi for the first time ever in March. So far, as to what is seen from the tour poster, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand will be the concluding stops for the Born Pink tour in June 2023.

Tickets to the Blackpink’s Born Pink tour are already open to Blink membership holders, while sales to the general public for the North American stops begin on September 16 at 10 a.m. local time.

House of the Dragon launched to an absurdly large audience. (Vhagar is the biggest dragon on the show, as if you didn’t know. Don’t pretend you didn’t.)

How huge was it’s debut week? Nielsen ratings clock streaming minutes from Monday through Sunday at midnight, and the Game of Thrones prequel almost cracked the top ten when it debuted late night on a Sunday. It achieved in 3 hours what all the other shows managed in 7 full days. It earned 327 million minutes in that tiny window. HBO Max is probably pretty happy about that. When numbers for its first full week drop, it’ll very likely be in the tippy top spot.

For now, the last week without House of the Dragon in the mix saw Sandman taking top honors with 946 million viewing minutes. Stranger Things hung on in the second spot with 919 million, and dramedy Never Have I Ever hit third place with 883 million. Netflix continues to dominate streaming, with only Prime Video’s A League Of Their Own and Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building cracking the top ten as non-Netflix properties.

TV is a slightly different story, where Netflix still takes the top honors with reruns of NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy.

In anticipating House of the Dragon dominance, it’ll also be interesting to see where The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power lands when its numbers get released in a few weeks. For now, Targaryen fans can celebrate by watching Matt Smith non-awkwardly do the weather report.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Kanye West has reportedly opened a private school. According to a report by Rolling Stone, the school, called Donda Academy, is headquartered in Simi Valley, California and is a tuition-based, Christianity-rooted preparatory school.

The school’s website states that Donda Academy’s mission is to “prepare students to become the next generation of leaders” by way of “an ethic of integrity and care.”

As of now, the school is not yet accredited and Donda Academy’s principal and choir program’s executive director Brianne Campbell has never held a formal educational position.

At Donda Academy, students will engage in “full school worship; core classes of language arts, math and science; lunch and recess; enrichment courses including World Language, Visual Art, Film, Choir and Parkour.” Two anonymous sources told Rolling Stone that families who wish to enroll in Donda Academy must sign a non-disclosure agreement.

West collaborated on the school with producer Malik Yusef, who told Rolling Stone that West plans to open several Donda campuses across the country.

“I want to be emphatic that there’s never been a time that Kanye West did not want to do this,” he said. “I think people don’t understand the gravity of that. This man always wanted to create a school in his mama’s name … Look at what we’re doing with the choir and the fashion in school — I don’t think there’s a venture capitalist or anybody that’s had a vision this clear on what education can look like for you.”

Although not a whole lot is known about the structure or educational format of Donda Academy, Tamar Andrews, a consultant for Donda who reportedly has two decades of experience in the realm of education, says sharing information about the school isn’t a high priority at the moment.

“Honestly, we don’t care if people know about the school,” she said. “The people that want to come to the school are looking for a good Christian school in that area and they know that we’re there … there is also a certain notoriety that comes with being affiliated with Donda. So, I don’t know that we have to advertise, which is a blessing and a curse.”

In advance of Game 3 of the 2022 WNBA Finals on Thursday evening, Las Vegas Aces star A’Ja Wilson received yet another accolade. The league announced its 2022 All-WNBA first and second teams, and Wilson unsurprisingly added a first-team selection to her Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards. Wilson was joined on the first team by Seattle’s Breanna Stewart, Phoenix’s Skylar Diggins-Smith, Chicago’s Candace Parker, and Las Vegas teammate Kelsey Plum.

Wilson averaged 19.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game for Las Vegas this season, edging out Stewart by a handful of first-place votes in what was an energized MVP debate. As such, it was not a surprise to see Stewart, who led the WNBA in scoring, join Wilson on the first team, with Plum making an appearance after finishing No. 2 in scoring. Wilson and Stewart were also voted unanimously to the first team. Plum received 50 first-team votes and five second-team votes, though she was oddly left off one ballot entirely.

The second team included Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas and Jonquel Jones, New York’s Sabrina Ionescu, Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles, and Los Angeles star Nneka Ogwumike. The closest voting battle from the 56-member voting panel came between Thomas, who led the second team in voting with 175 points, and both Parker and Diggins-Smith who tied with 183 points.

Anne Heche died last month after slipping into a coma following a car wreck, but the world has not heard its last from her. According to Indiewire, the actress had already finished a memoir titled Call Me Anne for Start Publishing, and the indie house plans to release it January 2023. It will serve as a sequel to her 2003 New York Times Bestseller Call Me Crazy, which bluntly examined Heche’s past as a survivor of abuse.

Beyond sharing stories about Harrison Ford as a mentor figure and insider info about Alec Baldwin, Ivan Reitman, and Oliver Stone, the new memoir will detail how her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres in the late 1990s got her blackballed from the industry at a time when almost no one was in open same-sex relationships.

“I was labeled ‘outrageous’ because I fell in love with a woman. I had never been with a woman before I dated Ellen,” Heche wrote in an excerpt. She’d also previously claimed that the book would reveal “some of the truths” about her relationship with the comedian.

Heche also stars in the Lifetime movie Girl in Room 13 as the mother of a young woman who becomes addicted to opioids before being kidnapped. The drama launches September 17th, and Call Me Anne hits shelves January 2023.

(via Indiewire)

There’s nothing funny about a semi-truck overturning on a highway… unless the driver of that semi-truck wasn’t hurt and just happened to be hauling a load of sex toys.

On Wednesday morning, two trucks collided during the a.m. commute along highway I-40 in Mustang, Oklahoma — just outside of Oklahoma City — and turned the roadway into a slippery mess. Which is what is bound to happen when the load of lube and dildos you’re carrying end up spilled all over the highway.

Upping the comedic ante of the moment, as The Lost Ogle reported, was the unintentionally hilarious banter exchanged between KWTV News 9 morning anchor Lacey Lowery and the station’s helicopter pilot Jim Gardner, who had a bird’s-eye view of the scene.

It started out innocently enough, with a “breaking news” bulletin about the traffic accident, and how it might impact the morning commute. But just seconds into describing the scene, Gardner shared that the semi had overturned and “lost its load,” which was innocent enough at the time.

While Gardner was ready to sign off after delivering what information he could, Lowery had some questions. Mainly: If Jim could “tell what he’s carrying there? What’s all over the road?”

Jim either didn’t know or was way too embarrassed to say, so he remained silent. But the cameraman didn’t hesitate to zoom in to try and give Lacey a better look, prompting her co-anchor to remark that “That’s a mess for sure!” (She wasn’t wrong.)

When Jim finally regained his composure, he said he couldn’t tell what was there — but suggested maybe Lacey could. “Whatever it is, it’s gonna take a while to clean up,” he said, after sharing the good news was that there were no injuries. The other piece of good news that he neglected to share? FREE DILDOS!

The Lost Ogle was not able to confirm that what we were seeing was a pile of vibrators, they helpfully noted that “The accident did occur near a major adult-product-focused distribution hub near I-40 and Morgan Road, so if your vibrator of the month shipment is delayed, that may explain why.”

(Via The Lost Ogle)