Category: Worldwide

There’s yet another Trump book en route, this one from inside the White House. Stephanie Grisham — the press secretary no one remembers, probably because she never held a single press briefing — is about to release the amusingly titled I’ll Take Your Questions Now, and no shock that it’s filled with goodies. For instance: Did you know the only thing that can calm the savage beast that is Trump is show tunes?

But there’s some dirt on Jared and Ivanka, too. As per The Washington Post, Grisham is clearly not a fan of the power couple, who obtained senior positions in the White House largely due to nepotism. She refers to Jared as “the Slim Reaper” due to his yen for inserting himself into other people’s projects, screwing it up, then leaving them to take the blame.

But there was one incident in which Jared and Ivanka failed to use their clout to get what they want. In 2019, during a trip to the United Kingdom — the one that bred that instant classic photo of the couple looking like porcelain dolls — they tried and failed to meet the Queen:

Tellingly, Grisham writes that Ivanka and Jared tried to push their way into meeting Queen Elizabeth II alongside the president and first lady, a wild breach of protocol on a state visit, but were thwarted when they couldn’t fit into the helicopter. “I finally figured out what was going on,” Grisham writes. “Jared and Ivanka thought they were the royal family of the United States.”

It seems Grisham wasn’t the only one who saw through Jared Kushner. “I had shared with Mrs. Trump many times my opinion that if we lost reelection in 2020 it would be because of Jared,” Grisham, who served as Chief of Staff to Melania before resigning on on Jan. 6, writes. “She didn’t disagree with me.”

(Via Washington Post)

The temperature is dropping, the pumpkins are out, and the Halloween copaganda is here. It happens every year: a local ABC, CBS, ABC, or Fox affiliate reports on the dangers of drug-laced candy in your kid’s trick or treat bag. But “how many children have actually been seriously injured or died as a result? The answer – given the available data on the topic – seems to be not a single one,” according to Canada’s CBC News.

Joel Best, a University of Delaware sociology and criminal justice professor, has researched reports of Halloween candy tampering in the U.S. dating back to the 1950s. “I couldn’t find a single report of a child killed or seriously injured from a contaminated treat received during trick-or-treating,” he said. “This is a contemporary legend, and that’s all it is.”

Best identified about 200 confirmed cases of candy tampering in the U.S. and Canada since 1958.

“The attempts to systematically follow up on all reports concluded that the vast majority were hoaxes,” Best said.

There’s even a Wikipedia page for “poisoned candy myths.” But here we go again:

“BEWARE: As Halloween gets closer, @BensalemPolice are warning parents to LOOK at your child’s candy before they eat it. They confiscated these snacks that look a lot like the real thing. All are laced with THC @6abc,” 6 ABC reporter Jaclyn Lee tweeted. Parents should look at candy given to their kids by strangers (good advice!), but to center the fake panic around drugs is Reefer Madness-level fearmongering. Because if there’s one thing drug dealers love, it’s giving away weed for free.

This particular scare tactic tweet did not have the desired effect, unless she meant to drive tourism to Bensalem, Pennsylvania, which is apparently loaded with free edibles. In that case, thank you for the public service.

It’s not even October yet. There’s still plenty more of these to come.

(Via CBC)

La Brea (NBC, 9:00pm) — Natalie Zea deserves some appreciation, dammit, and the Justified actress gets to sink her teeth into a glorious madhouse here. An enormous sinkhole, which looks to be at least one-square-mile in area, opens in the middle of LA and sucks her into some primeval hellhole, where pterodactyls and bad CGI reside. It looks absurd and preposterous and like probably the kind of show that could find a hopelessly devoted audience. Can NBC allow this sci-fi selection to blossom into its own brand of strangeness and let it stick, unlike that they’ve done with Manifest and Debris? If anyone can pull off the humor and the adventure that this role requires, it’s Zea, and if the writers can lean into preposterous setups while embracing the hot-mess, Manifest-like vibe, maybe, just maybe, the leading lady will get her due.

Britney Vs Spears (Netflix film) — Every streaming service is in on the Britney game these days, and Netflix is taking a stab at what really happened during the long, sordid history of the infamous conservatorship. Not only will this documentary paint a tragic portrait of a young woman who became trapped in her fame and family, but there’s also a shocking timeline to be unraveled here while, in real life, the pop singer moves toward (hopeful) autonomy.

Attack of the Hollywood Clichés! (Netflix special) — Rob Lowe brings his handsome to dig into the history and evolution of the most notorious clichés in Hollywood. Expect a plethora of guests to stop by, including Florence Pugh, along with screeners and critics and academics, all of whom deliver their takes on “meet-cutes” and “ladies running in stilettos.” Yes, there’s a “Wilhelm Scream” section, too.

Ada Twist, Scientist (Netflix series) — Plop the kiddos in front of the TV to enjoy this pint-sized scientist in lead-character mode, who takes on the truth with the help of two very good friends. Together, they explore how science solves the biggest mysteries while they hope to improve the world for all of mankind.

Stargirl (CW, 8:00pm) — Rick’s attempting to protect Solomon Grundy while hunters are causing a ruckus and Beth is a target.

Supergirl (CW, 9:00pm) — A magic totem’s the subject of a race between Supergirl and Nyxly, and although both might claim the piece of a pie, compromises must be made.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Jake Gyllenhaal, G-Eazy Ft. Demi Lovato

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Drew Carey, Phoebe Robinson

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Ray Liotta, Natasia Demetriou, Spencer Ackerman, Nick Baglio

In case you missed this streaming pick from last Tuesday:

Love on the Spectrum: Season 2 (Netflix series) — More stories of people on the autism spectrum arrive to show how they meet the challenges of dating and relationships. Expect an even greater variety of personalities, which will illustrate exactly how much diversity arises on the easily misunderstood spectrum.

Nessa Barrett‘s Pretty Poison EP only came out a few weeks ago, but the lip-syncing TikTok star is already earning plenty of attention for the five-track original release. Though she might’ve risen to fame for pitch perfect lip-synced performances of other pop star’s songs, it’s clear she’s more than capable of making hits all her own.

Today she shared the video for the EP’s title track, “Pretty Poison,” following up her visual for the hit song off the project, “I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead,” and the first of many more coming soon. In the new clip, a row of masked and hooded people sit in a theater to watch Barrett filming herself singing the defiant track. And of course there’s a shot of Barrett drinking the pink bottle that served as the artwork for her EP.

Nessa’s dark-pop sound is a logical soundtrack during a time of lockdown, pandemic, and isolation, as so many people are feeling distant or disappointed in the way things have played out. Her songs might be specifically pointed at a single person who wronged her, but they’re thoughtful enough to channel a larger feeling of distrust and self-loathing, which is what makes this pop dark — that doesn’t make it any less catchy though. Check out the new video above and stream the whole EP here.

Tesla recently made headlines for CEO Elon Musk’s presentation of the Tesla Bot, which already brings enough The Terminator vibes, even though Musk declared that the Tesla Bot (which can only move up to 5 MPH) is being set “at a mechanical level, at a physical level, that you can run away from it and most likely overpower it.” This, of course, doesn’t mean that Skynet can’t happen in real life, and now, Amazon’s presenting their very own contribution to this realm: the Amazon Astro. Wall Street Journal‘s Joanna Stern tweeted the harbinger out, as one does.

News of this development arrived during Amazon’s fall product event. Among other innovations, the company announced an Amazon Echo-Disney partnership; Amazon Glow (a video calling device tied to gaming for kids); and the availability of the Ring home security drone. And also, that bot, which will run you around $1000 and roam around your house and follow you around, basically as a mobile version of Alexa with cameras and everything. That’s not scary at all! Or maybe it is. Via CNBC, the lowdown:

Astro is equipped with a rotating screen that’s mounted onto a base with wheels. Amazon designed the robot to appear animated and friendly, with eyes and expressive body movements that respond to user interaction.

The robot can move on its own from room to room and is capable of navigating around objects on the floor or braking to avoid colliding with obstacles such as a pet that moves into its path. A periscope camera attached to the base of the device can be raised or lowered to view objects that are high up.

To no one’s surprise (and the delight of some), the joke-floodgates are open.

(Via CNBC)

Though the campaign did not end the way the organization wanted, the New York Knicks enjoyed breakout success in 2020-21. Despite meager preseason expectations, the Knicks earned home-court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, riding Julius Randle’s tremendous play and a high-end defense engineered by Tom Thibodeau to a 41-31 record. New York did exit the postseason quietly and quickly, though, leading to some high-profile changes to the roster as the 2021-22 season arrives.

Roster:

RJ Barrett
Alec Burks
Evan Fournier
Taj Gibson
Quentin Grimes
Kevin Knox
Miles McBride
Nerlens Noel
Immanuel Quickley
Julius Randle
Mitchell Robinson
Derrick Rose
Jericho Sims (two-way)
Obi Toppin
Luca Vildoza
Kemba Walker

Projected Vegas Win Total: 41.5 wins

Biggest Addition: Kemba Walker

New York had money to spend and they used it to beef up their offense. Walker essentially fell in their lap after a buyout with the Thunder and, instead of making a max salary, Walker is now slotted in at around the mid-level exception. As such, he won’t necessarily be expected to carry the type of workload he did in Charlotte and early in his Boston tenure, and Walker has still been a very potent offensive creator when healthy. New York may want to be careful with his deployment (something that isn’t a staple under Thibodeau), but Walker and Evan Fournier raise the Knicks’ offensive ceiling considerably.

Biggest Loss: Reggie Bullock

The Knicks are basically bringing the band back other than Bullock. New York clearly upgraded in talent with Walker, Fournier and a bunch of intriguing draft picks, but Bullock will be a loss for them. He was a two-way wing on a team that didn’t have many last year, and Bullock’s shooting was highly valuable for the Knicks.

Biggest Question: Can the Knicks’ defense hold up?

New York flirted with the No. 1 defense in the league for parts of last season, and finished at No. 4 overall while allowing fewer than 1.08 points per possession. That was the clear impetus in the team’s success but, even as Walker and Fournier will undoubtedly help their offense, those two players won’t be positives defensively. Can Thibodeau overcome that downgrade in defensive aptitude? That is a big question, especially considering New York’s statistical profile didn’t always look like a top-five unit last year.

What Makes This Season A Success

It isn’t realistic to pencil in the Knicks for a return to a top-four seed. The Hawks, Heat and Celtics (in addition to the returning top three) are projected for more wins, and the East is quite deep. Instead, New York simply returning to the playoffs would be a success. That may not please everyone, but the Knicks still don’t have quite the top-to-bottom strength of other franchises, and showing competence in back-to-back seasons would go a long way.

What Makes This Season A Failure

Even if it’s unfair, going from a top-four seed to missing the playoffs wouldn’t feel good for New York. It is wild to say, but it is at least possible the Knicks could be just as good as last year’s team from a metric standpoint, only to end up in the play-in and out of the final eight-team mix. If Randle takes a step back from his breakout form, the Knicks could scuffle, and Thibodeau also has a tendency to wear out his welcome a bit after the first year or two. New York is better on paper than they were last season, but a lot can change.

In a damning set of internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is shown to have aggressively pursued avenues to get children to use its Messenger Kids app while on play dates. According to the documents, Facebook was troubled by its findings that when kids are together they verbally communicate and interact with each other instead of using their phones, which hello, yes, they’re children. Unfortunately, Facebook saw this natural occurrence as a challenge and began looking into ways for “leveraging play dates to drive word of hand/growth.” Actual phrasing. Via WSJ:

Internal Facebook documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show the company formed a team to study preteens, set a three-year goal to create more products for them and commissioned strategy papers about the long-term business opportunities presented by these potential users. In one presentation, it contemplated whether there might be a way to engage children during play dates.

“Why do we care about tweens?” said one document from 2020. “They are a valuable but untapped audience.”

For the record, tweens are categorized as ages 10 through 12, so we’re talking elementary school students who Facebook hopes to convert into power users who stare at phone screens instead of laughing and playing while with their friends. Real tobacco executive vibes on display here.

The WSJ report arrives on the heels of Facebook putting its plan for “Instagram Kids” on hold after facing a wide array of backlash. Learning that the tech company has been trying to “leverage play dates” into high vectors of user growth [or some corporate gobbeldy gook here] probably isn’t going to help things. Call it a hunch.

(Via Wall Street Journal)

After dropping the 2020 album Confetti, Little Mix‘s Jesy Nelson announced she was officially parting ways as a member of the girl group. The singer, who formed Little Mix on The X-Factor in 2011, after feeling the “constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.” But it looks like Nelson already has plans to jump start her solo career — and it’s with a very high-profile collaboration.

It all started when Nelson cleared all the posts on her Instagram feed and posted a teaser vaguely promising a “new chapter” for the musician. On Tuesday, Nelson returned to preview what exactly she has in store for her new chapter, and it involves a joint track called “Boyz” with none other than Nicki Minaj.

Nelson and Minaj both shared some behind-the-scenes footage of a dance practice. The end of the clip features a snippet of Minaj in a faux British accent rapping the hook: “It’s the UK baddie and the Barbie.” “Do you think they’re ready for this?” Nelson asked Minaj in the teaser’s caption.

Neither Nelson nor Minaj have offered insight into when “Boyz” is expected to see a release. But the song’s announcement arrives shortly after Minaj made her first public appearance in over two years on stage at Lil Baby’s LA tour stop. Minaj returned to the stage to perform her verses from “Seeing Green” and BIA’s “Whole Lotta Money” remix.

Rick Ross is a man of means, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to save money. Recently the “Rich Forever” rapper revealed that he even mows his own lawn — despite it being huge — to cut down on monthly expenses. It’s a good thing, too, because he just got hit with a new monthly bill that would have some crying poor. According to TMZ, Ross must pay $11,000 a month to the mother of three of his children, Briana Singleton.

In addition, he also agreed to pay $25,000 for Singleton’s attorney in the dispute, along with health insurance and extracurricular activities, which could add up to around $7,500. He may also be required to add annual payments for up to $3,000 per child. However, with an income listed by TMZ at about $585,000/month, the “biggest boss that you’ve seen thus far” shouldn’t be set back too much.

In any event, at least one of his kids (he has four, three with Singleton) likely won’t be needing it in the future. For his son William’s 16th birthday, Ross signed over one of his Wingstop franchises, making the teen a young boss in his own right. Meanwhile, while the younger William just became eligible to get his driver’s license, the elder one only just got his own, despite owning over 100 cars.

One of the fun things about media days around the NBA is young players get the opportunity to introduce themselves to the general public. It’ll occasionally lead to fun moments like what happened on Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles, when basketball fans learned that one of the undrafted free agents signed by the Lakers has a nickname that’ll surely appeal him to the L.A. faithful.

Austin Reaves, who had a productive collegiate career at two schools, was asked how he got the nickname “Hillbilly Kobe.” As he tells it, he earned it after he joined Oklahoma from Wichita State, when one of the team’s managers bestowed it upon him.

“My first year at Oklahoma, we had a GA named Anthony Rini,” Reaves said. “He came up to me one day and was like, ‘I figured it out,’ and I was like, ‘What’re you even talkin’ about?’ And he was like ‘HBK,’ and I was like, ‘What?’ and he was like, ‘Hillbilly Kobe.’”

He went on to explain that one of his teammates heard it and it managed to just follow him around for the rest of his time at Norman. As for which part of nickname better applies to him, Reaves said it’s a 50/50 thing — while not a hillbilly, he grew up on a farm in Arkansas, and he was a Kobe fan growing up.

Reaves was a first-team All-Big 12 selection during his final year at Oklahoma, averaging 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 34.5 minutes per game for the Sooners. While he went undrafted, the team recently signed him to a standard contract after signing a two-way deal prior to Summer League.