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It’s been a year of comically short tenures. Liz Truss spent 45 thrilling days as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Elon Musk may last only a bit longer as CEO of Twitter. The Tesla and SpaceX honcho purchased the social media giant for an appalling amount of money, and he instantly left his mark. A month and a half later he may be leaving, after holding a poll in which voters overwhelmingly voted for him to step down. Unlike some people, he may actually acknowledge voters’ wishes — with a catch, of course. But his news promoted yet another round of jokes, including from another older king of social media.

On Tuesday night, nearly two days after the poll closed, Musk announced he would follow through on his promise to leave if asked. “I will resign as CEO, he wrote, “as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

It’s a vague promise, laced with his usual attempts at humor. Then again, there’s such a low bar when it comes to people honoring voters’ wishes that this is almost heroic. Almost.

Since the possibility of Musk actually stepping down as Twitter CEO was raised, some have had jokey suggestions on who should replace him. One of them was Tom Anderson, one of the co-founders of Myspace, the world’s first global social media service. Anderson wasn’t like Musk. Apart from forcing everyone to be his friend — and therefore having his picture on their wall — he knew well enough to leave everyone alone.

Musk launched the poll on Sunday after he’d already been on a roll. After a week of briefly suspending journalists he didn’t like, he spent the weekend briefly suspending another one then and enacting an instantly infamous new rule that banned people from linking to rival social media accounts. His antics have proven unpopular with many users as well as his investors. He’s instead cozied up to far right extremists. In other words, he’s alienating people who would buy his electric cars and embraced those who never would.

Anyway, if this is the end of the Musk era of Twitter

It’s been a year of comically short tenures. Liz Truss spent 45 thrilling days as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Elon Musk may last only a bit longer as CEO of Twitter. The Tesla and SpaceX honcho purchased the social media giant for an appalling amount of money, and he instantly left his mark. A month and a half later he may be leaving, after holding a poll in which voters overwhelmingly voted for him to step down. Unlike some people, he may actually acknowledge voters’ wishes — with a catch, of course. But his news promoted yet another round of jokes, including from another older king of social media.

On Tuesday night, nearly two days after the poll closed, Musk announced he would follow through on his promise to leave if asked. “I will resign as CEO, he wrote, “as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

It’s a vague promise, laced with his usual attempts at humor. Then again, there’s such a low bar when it comes to people honoring voters’ wishes that this is almost heroic. Almost.

Since the possibility of Musk actually stepping down as Twitter CEO was raised, some have had jokey suggestions on who should replace him. One of them was Tom Anderson, one of the co-founders of Myspace, the world’s first global social media service. Anderson wasn’t like Musk. Apart from forcing everyone to be his friend — and therefore having his picture on their wall — he knew well enough to leave everyone alone.

Musk launched the poll on Sunday after he’d already been on a roll. After a week of briefly suspending journalists he didn’t like, he spent the weekend briefly suspending another one then and enacting an instantly infamous new rule that banned people from linking to rival social media accounts. His antics have proven unpopular with many users as well as his investors. He’s instead cozied up to far right extremists. In other words, he’s alienating people who would buy his electric cars and embraced those who never would.

Anyway, if this is the end of the Musk era of Twitter

It wasn’t pretty, but the Kansas City Chiefs went on the road and beat the Houston Texans in overtime, 30-24, this past week. The game happened without one notable person in attendance, as a Chiefs fan known as ChiefsAholic — real name Xavier Michael Babudar — did not make it to NRG Stadium despite tweeting that he was going to make the trip.

A whole lot of rumors began circulating on Twitter in recent days that Babudar didn’t make it because he was arrested for armed robbery, which is, to put it lightly, an extremely serious thing to allege. But according to Tulsa County arrest records, Babudar was arrested on Friday afternoon and his bond is set at $200,000 for armed robbery stemming from an incident in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby.

Here is what happened, per Emily Farris of KJRH-TV:

Around 9:35 a.m. on Dec. 16, Bixby police responded to an armed robbery happening at the Tulsa Teachers Credit Union near 131st and Memorial. An eyewitness called in to report the robbery to the police and gave the description of the suspect and the direction he fled.

After officers arrived, they set up a perimeter in a nearby neighborhood where they caught the suspect trying to escape with a weapon and a large amount of cash on hand.

Beyond the armed robbery charge, the charges facing Babudar include several other felonies. One is wearing a mask in commission of a felony, but it is unclear if he wore what he usually wears to Chiefs games.

(Via NBC DFW)

The tragic death of Terry Hall from The Specials has shaken the music world. The vocalist was 63 and battling a “brief illness,” according to the band’s statement. Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and Blur just shared a tribute to Hall, covering The Specials’ song “Friday Night, Saturday Morning.”

On Twitter, Albarn shared the video of him doing a rendition of the song on piano, adding the caption: “Terry, you meant the world to me. I love you.” His playing is passionate and thoughtful.

People in the comments shared links to when Hall joined Blur onstage for a performance in the 90s.

The official statement about Hall’s passing read, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother, and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters, and lyricists this country has ever produced.” It continued: “Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love,” adding, “He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity. Terry often left the stage at the end of The Specials’ life-affirming shows with three words… ‘Love, Love, Love.’”

It’s Tuesday, which means another round of hijinks from the “Inside The NBA” crew are in store over on TNT. With the holiday season in full swing, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have embraced the spirit and centered much of their mischief around the wintry theme lately. Two weeks ago, Smith shoved Shaq into a Christmas tree during their weekly race to the big board.

Prior to Tuesday’s game between the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks, Jacquees performed “Let It Snow” on set. As fake snow sprinkled down upon all four panelists, Barkley was harshly met with much more than a light drizzle while he enjoyed the show.

Slightly bobbing his head to the music, Barkley is clearly vibing just before he’s greeted by a pile of fake snow from above. The best part is that half a second prior it all raining down, he’s clearly disrupted by something but doesn’t have anywhere close to enough time to figure out what. Then, the avalanche immediately hits. Shaq, Johnson and Smith burst out laughing. Barkley is defeated, but chuckles briefly and is smiling. Even Jacquees has to pause the song and revel in the humor.

“Hey, my bad, Chuck,” Jacquees said.

“I hate y’all,” said Barkley, with a grin on his face. “I hate y’all.”

The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 aired their final hearing on Monday, during which they dropped a bombshell: Among their criminal referrals was four for Donald Trump himself. They also mentioned that a Trump-backed attorney attempted to sabotage arguably their biggest (or at least most shocking) witness: Cassidy Hutchinson. Now that person has been revealed.

As per CNN, Stefan Passantino, the top ethics attorney in the Trump White House, allegedly advised his then-client, Hutchinson, to give misleading testimony to the committee. Passantino reportedly told her to say she didn’t remember certain details, even if she did.

Instead she got another lawyer, and she delivered the biggest blockbuster of the hearings. Among her allegations were that Trump attacked a Secret Service agent who wouldn’t drive him to the Capital, where violent supporters were poised to storm the building; that Trump knew they were armed but didn’t care because “they’re not here to hurt me”; that at one point he got so angry that he threw ketchup-laden food everywhere; and more. Trump had one of his signature meltdowns over the testimony, as he’s wont to do when cornered.

Passantino denied giving his client terrible, illegal advice. After the allegations broke, his professional biography was scrubbed from the website of a firm where he’s a partner, and that he was on a “leave of absence.”

There were many concerns over witness tampering during the Jan. 6 hearings, and it seems with good cause.

So what happens next? Trump has famously weaseled out of everything; the only time he’s had to pay for his deeds was when he failed to get re-elected in 2020. For now, though, his life at Mar-a-Lago sounds pretty darn sad.

(Via CNN)

The marvel of mushrooms is that they seem to sprout anywhere and everywhere. They’re certainly popping up like crazy these days, especially the psychedelic variety. From new patents and research to underground holistic treatment to self-guided journeys to festival enjoyment, psilocybin — “magic mushrooms” or “shrooms” if you are someone’s 47-year-old uncle — are hot on their way to defining a generation of partyers, healers, and seekers.

And… if this Christmas is any indication, mind-altering mushrooms have apparently influenced loads of interior decorators, too. Because these fungi are freaking everywhere. Not just niche sites like Etsy either — we’re talking Walmart.

Look around this Christmas. There’s a huge swell of mushroom imagery. Notice all those shiny red mushroom decorations? They’re everywhere. But why? Well, there are a few reasons — ranging from “cool and historical” to “incredibly f*cking jaded.”

We will get to both below:

THE HISTORY

Here’s the gist of it:

Centuries ago, the shamans of the indigenous tribes of Siberia and Northern Europe kicked off the Winter Solstice festivities (around Dec 21) by consuming the Amanita Muscaria (fly agaric) mushroom. Often found growing below sacred pine trees, these are the iconic red and white spotted mushrooms that housed the Smurfs and powered up Super Mario. Though they don’t contain psilocin (which metabolizes into psilocybin in the body), these things still induce a heavy trip.

According to lore and historical sources, the shamans would journey across the tundra — envisioning themselves as animals flying toward the North Star. After the journey, they’d drop through the smoke hole of dome-shaped yurts and share what they learned with their communities.

It’s now widely believed that this might be the foundation of the Santa mythos. When you think about it, metaphorically flying through the winter sky and returning down the chimney with gifts of knowledge is an image not far from the modern Santa (minus the materialism, but we’ll get to that).

So why is today’s Santa so different? Myths and traditions can sometimes be a long game of telephone; absorbing, adding, and losing elements as they pass through time. Add Nordic and Germanic folklore, a 4th-century Turkish bishop called St. Nicholas, and a new marketable Santa drawing by Coca-Cola in 1931 and we’ve basically got modern Christmas without the fungi.

But while this game of historical telephone has altered the original shaman tradition, the red and white Amanita Mushroom was featured heavily in Christmas decor… until the REEFER MADNESS and drug panic of the fifties. The old Christmas postcard above is just one of the thousands where the mushrooms make cameos.

Now clearly, the energy around this sort of imagery and decor is ramped up this year. After decades of being mostly expunged, the whole mushroom-Christmas connection is back with a vengeance. This brings us to…

WHY NOW?

Well, because of shifting cultural mores, basically. Because of mass cultural acceptance. Because all the cool kids are doing it. Because when the cool kids do something, the brands notice. Brands like West Elm stay ready to react to cultural zeitgeists like this. Why?

Because. They. Like. Money.

“It’s become commonplace and is generally believed that the whole ‘Santa Claus’ myth is a folkloric tradition of shamanic travel,” Carl Ruck, professor of Classical Studies at Boston University told Yahoo recently, ” and that reindeer are notorious for liking to eat these mushrooms and become inebriated on them.”

When Ruck says “commonplace,” he’s illustrating that the cultural attitudes around psychedelics are shifting rapidly. Heck, today there was news about a new bill to decriminalize psilocybin in California. Newsweek is covering microdosing!

Times have changed and many concepts once deemed untouchable have now seemed to have entered a state of re-evaluation. Psilocybin use is a prime example, but so too is history itself. By diving a little deeper, the celebrations of events like Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, and The Fourth of July have all been recently questioned and investigated. Pair both phenomena with Christmas, and there’s no surprise to see mushrooms pop up all around the holidays for their historical and contemporary relevance.

When history meets the cultural zeitgeist meets capitalism — viola! There you have the recipe for a decor revolution!

For months, football fans have yearned for information on the future of NFL Sunday Ticket. For well over two decades, DirecTV held exclusive rights to air the entire slate of NFL action, allowing the service to keep a large subscriber base dedicated to one specific pursuit of professional football. However, reporting has circulated that bidders like Apple, Amazon, and ESPN had interest in acquiring Sunday Ticket’s rights.

On Tuesday, Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal dropped a bomb that the NFL is now in “advanced talks” with YouTube to secure the exclusive rights.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, was considered a sleeper in the negotiations, and it is worth remembering that Google has virtually unlimited pockets. This would be a major overture from the company to get into the market for the most popular sporting enterprise in the United States, and Flint reports that an agreement could be locked in “as early as Wednesday,” pending approval of NFL owners.

At this juncture, additional details are sparse, but this is a situation worth monitoring closely in terms of pricing, rollout, and any potential changes made in the package’s conversion to a digitally-focused platform. In the meantime, football fans may need to prepare to invest in YouTube’s offering to find their favorite team’s games.

Lily Allen is best known for her audacious music and unruly personality. Her hit is literally titled “F*ck You” and the lyrics are even crasser. However, people often forget she is also the daughter of actor Keith Allen and movie producer Alison Owen. She doesn’t like being called a nepotism baby (or, for short, a “nepo baby”), though, and she shared her thoughts Tuesday on Twitter about how nepo babies are “scapegoated.”

“The nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms,the ones working for banks,and the ones working in politics, If we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity,” Allen tweeted. “BUT that’s none of my business.” She later quote-tweeted herself to add, “And before you come at me for being a nepo baby myself, I will be the first to tell you that I literally deserve nothing.”

Of course, this sparked a lot of conversation about privilege and the industry at large. Why isn’t nepotism in the arts as important as in other realms of work? Allen went all-in with a lengthy Twitter thread that generally ended up making the situation worse. Read it below:

“Look, I seem to have riled people up with my comments about nepo babies. I am nearly 40 years of age and am more than happy, in fact I think it’s important to disclose what a privileged upbringing I’ve had and how that has created so many opportunities for me,

I mention my age because I haven’t always been able to have that conversation, in my twenties I felt very defensive about it, I felt like I worked extremely hard and that I deserved the success that I had,

that people connected to my songs and that the songs came from me, I also had quite a fraught relationship with some of my family members so it felt difficult for me to attribute my successes to them, at the time.

But we all know it’s more complicated than that.
It is quite clear that there is a severe lack of representation in the industry where class and race are concerned. Everyone loses as a result.

I do feel that nepo babies are being somewhat scapegoated here though, there is a wider, societal conversation to be had about wealth inequality, about lack of programs and funding, and I guess that was the point I was trying to make, maybe badly.

I promise you I’m not rooting for an industry full of people that had childhoods that looked like mine.I just really think that we can’t get to a real solution without identifying the real problem, as fun as it is to laugh at the kids of famous people. Nepo babies have feelings.”

Despite what supporting player Edie Falco thinks, Avatar 2 didn’t come out a long time ago and bomb. It just came out and it’s doing very well — not as well as it could be doing, but James Cameron films have a history of sticking around until they’ve made all the money (even if he’s not above flipping off certain fans). Not everyone is interested in returning to Pandora, though. Some Native Americans are boycotting the film based on things Cameron said about a decade ago.

An interview Cameron did in 2010 has recently resurfaced, in which he said something about Native Americans to which some have taken offense. The filmmaker was talking to The Guardian about being against the building of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazon (which wound up being built). During the chat, he mentioned that the plight of indigenous people greatly inspired the original Avatar.

“I felt like I was 130 years back in time watching what the Lakota Sioux might have been saying at a point when they were being pushed and they were being killed and they were being asked to displace and they were being given some form of compensation,” Cameron said. “This was a driving force for me in the writing of Avatar — I couldn’t help but think that if they [the Lakota Sioux] had had a time-window and they could see the future … and they could see their kids committing suicide at the highest suicide rates in the nation … because they were hopeless and they were a dead-end society — which is what is happening now — they would have fought a lot harder.”

Cameron likely meant no harm. But his words — especially that last bit — was not well-taken by some.

“James Cameron apparently made Avatar to inspire all my dead ancestors to ‘fight harder,’” tweeted Dr. Johanna Brewer, of Smith College. “Eff right off with that savior complex, bud. And everyone, please go watch a real native movie instead of that badly appropriated blue trash.”

Others recommended different movies about indigenous people they can watch instead.

Cameron has yet to publicly comment on the boycott.