Thursday, December 18
Headlines
Niv Bavarsky
WBD board urged shareholders to reject Paramount’s hostile takeover bid. It could be back to the drawing board for Paramount Skydance and CEO David Ellison’s quest to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery after the latter’s board told investors that Netflix’s bid is better. In a letter to shareholders, the WBD board said Paramount’s offer contains “gaps, loopholes, and limitations” that put the company at risk. WBD also accused Paramount of misleading it about financing. Paramount’s latest offer included billions in funding from three Middle East sovereign wealth funds, as well as backing from Affinity Partners, the private equity firm founded by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, though Affinity pulled out of the deal on Tuesday. Ellison said he believes the Paramount offer is still superior to Netflix’s and was “encouraged” by feedback he received from WBD shareholders.
Four House GOPers break with Johnson to force healthcare vote. A day after House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits before they expire Dec. 31, four Republicans joined Democrats in signing a petition that forces the House to vote on a measure early next year. Even if the bill—which would require the government to fund the ACA credits for another three years—passes the House, it’s unlikely to be approved by the Senate, experts have said. Still, the rare move by four politically vulnerable lawmakers suggests healthcare costs remain top of mind for US voters, and will be a key issue in the 2026 midterms.
The Oscars are headed to YouTube in 2029. Hollywood’s biggest and most prestigious evening will soon move to the platform where MrBeast asks volunteers to sit in a tub of snakes for money. Starting in 2029, the Academy Awards will stream exclusively—and for free—on YouTube after its current deal with ABC expires. The Oscars have aired on the Disney-owned network every year since 1976, but have hemorrhaged viewers in recent years as people increasingly consume content online. In a statement, the Academy said that the move will allow the award show to reach “the largest worldwide audience possible.” According to Variety, Disney execs were shocked to learn the news just moments before it became public.—AE
Robert Reich
I hate to say this, but it must be faced
Friends,
I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking about Trump’s response to the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner. Something about it kept worrying me.
As you may recall, instead of extending his sympathies, he said in a post to Truth Social Monday morning that:
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace.”
Many commentators and politicians (including several Republicans) have criticized Trump for this.
At A Glance
Gingerbread is America’s favorite holiday cookie.What classic holiday toys would cost today.
The world’s most and least stressed cities.
How much do you remember about 2025?
Why your pinky toe actually matters.
How Americans feel about giving cash as a gift.
A look inside the $1M Golden Globe gift bags.
How parents are teaching religion to the next generation.
Clickbait: Dissecting Christmas's most famous villain.
... and want to see something cool? Surprise me.
Historybook: Mayflower arrives at Plymouth Harbor (1620); 13th Amendment formally adopted into the Constitution, abolishing slavery (1865); Steven Spielberg born (1946); Singer Billie Eilish born (2001); Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor dies (2016).
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Rob Reiner's son faces two first-degree murder charges in the deaths of the Hollywood director and his wife; charges carry possibility of the death penalty (More) | Second doctor convicted of selling Matthew Perry ketamine is sentenced to eight months of home supervision (More)
> New York Knicks beat San Antonio Spurs to win NBA Cup Finals (More) | Paris Saint-Germain Football Club ordered to pay former player Kylian Mbappé $70.6M in unpaid income (More) | FIFA adds $60 World Cup tickets amid price backlash (More)
> Queen of Disco Donna Summer is posthumously inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame; Summer died in 2012 at age 63 (More)
Science & Technology
> Trump administration pauses $40B technology trade deal with the UK over London's digital regulations and food standards (More) | Meta launches app that allows users to watch Instagram Reels via Amazon Fire TV (More)
> Astronomers report evidence of the first observed superkilonova, a double explosion of stars that may have produced gravitational waves, light, and heavy elements that serve as building blocks for stars and planets (More)
> Italian brown bears evolved to be smaller and less aggressive due to close contact with humans, per genetic analysis (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.2%, Dow -0.6%, Nasdaq +0.2%) (More) | US unemployment rises to four-year high of 4.6% in November; employers added 64,000 jobs in November, while 105,000 jobs were lost in October (More)
> AI coding startup Lovable reportedly valued at $6.6B after latest funding round, more than triple the Swedish company's valuation in July (More) | Jared Kushner's firm withdraws from Paramount's takeover battle of Warner Bros. Discovery (More)
> Gas prices fall to $2.89 per gallon—lowest level since April 2021—amid higher supply and lower demand, partly due to improved vehicle fuel efficiency (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> President Donald Trump widens travel ban to nationals from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, and the Palestinian territories (More) | Trump to deliver prime-time address to the nation at 9 pm ET tonight (More) | Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering Venezuela (More)
> Police release new photos of unidentified Brown University gunman as search enters fifth day; see live updates (More)
> Annual Arctic report finds last season was the hottest in the past 125 years; rivers are turning bright orange as warm temperatures release iron from the ground (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Playing the Game
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Christmas comes once a year and the message is family, love, the birth of Christ (approximately because we don't really know the actual date and time), and promises to get together more... and then there are the new year's resolutions that few keep.
So, once a year, we attempt to behave like we should the other 364 days.
Christmas has become a fatal flaw of our lives an irony for what we try to convey.
Why are we like that?
I have the same problem with Christmas that I have with going to church on Sunday, except there are 52 of those days, providing we go to Sunday church when we are on vacation.
On Sundays, we promise to behave the other six days of the week like we are behaving on Sundays, knowing that will never happen.
We commit RELIGIOUS LIES every week.
Ok... I get it... We act horribly during the week, knowing that on Sunday we can ask to be forgiven...
Well, that makes sense.
Pardon me, but I don't think I can do that and I'll go one step further, I refuse to do that. I try to act the same every day of the week, regardless of whether it is Sunday or not and regardless of if it is Christmas or not. I also refuse to tell someone, we need to get together more, when I don't really mean it and will never follow through.
It is precisely for this reason, that my family does not want to have anything to do with me on Christmas - I refuse to play the game. However, I must admit I played the game while our parents were alive.
So, yes, that makes me hypocritical too!!!
My wife understands me because she basically feels the same way as I do, although she is willing to play the game - but understands and accepts why I do not.
'A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe—a part limited in time and space...'
Albert Einstein’s work in physics often overshadows the depth of his reflections on human nature, compassion, and our place in the world. Today’s highlighted quote comes from a letter he wrote in 1950, a message that continues to resonate for its insight into how people relate to one another and to the universe at large. According to Marginalian, the quote, included in The Quantum and the Lotus by Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Thuan, captures Einstein’s thoughts on the illusion of separateness that shapes human behaviour.
As the rough translation goes: “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest —a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Wednesday, December 17
Headlines
Kyle Mazza/Getty Images
The Brown University shooter is still at large. Four days after a gunman killed two students and injured nine others in a lecture hall at the Ivy League school, the suspect remains at large, according to police. Yesterday, the FBI released new, enhanced video of a masked person of interest and asked for it to be shared widely, offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter. Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez Jr. said the department has received hundreds of tips. He also directed the public to study the person of interest’s posture and body movements in order to identify him. Officials had detained a man in connection with the shooting and later cleared and released him, but not before his name leaked to the press.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles gave a very candid interview. In a series of conversations with Vanity Fair, Wiles sounded off on President Trump and his inner circle. She reportedly said that Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality,” labeled Vice President JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist,” and called Elon Musk an “avowed” ketamine user (Musk has previously denied using ketamine). Wiles later called the Vanity Fair story “a disingenuously framed hit piece” and said “significant context was disregarded,” but did not deny making any of the statements. In a separate interview with the New York Times, Wiles said she did not make the claim about Musk’s alleged drug use, but the NYT reported that she could be heard saying it on a tape played by the Vanity Fair piece’s author. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House remains “united fully behind her.”
FTC alleged that Pepsi tried to raise prices to help Walmart. The soda giant allegedly attempted to hike prices at Walmart’s rivals, while giving Walmart promotions, to ensure the big-box retailer had lower prices than competitors, according to a newly unsealed FTC lawsuit that was filed by the Biden administration but dismissed earlier this year by the Trump administration. A PepsiCo spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the lawsuit “includes inaccuracies and unsubstantiated allegations.” Prioritizing business with retail giants like Walmart is common practice for consumer goods companies, but critics argue it can lead to higher prices for shoppers who spend elsewhere.—AE
Robert Reich
Friends,
On Monday night, the U.S. military attacked three more boats alleged to have been smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight people and bringing the total of known killings to 95.
Why? “We have thousands of troops and our largest aircraft carrier in the Caribbean — but zero, zero explanation for what Trump is trying to accomplish,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said yesterday.
Trump threatens land strikes will soon follow the boat attacks. “By land is a lot easier, and that’s going to start happening,” he told reporters Friday in the Oval Office.
This would represent a major escalation of Trump’s trumped-up war. He’s not ruling out attacks on Latin American countries beyond Venezuela. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Venezuela,” Trump added.
At A Glance
Last US pennies sell for $16.8M.
See the latest electric air taxi.
How to protect digital photos from disappearing.
Dinosaur tracks discovered in the Italian Alps.
Survey finds 45% of Gen Z wants cryptocurrency for the holidays.
Should your mom run your dating profile?
Man wins lottery twice but won't quit his delivery job.
Twenty-five cultural moments that defined 2025.
In partnership: Audiologists tested 17 hearing aids. One redefines clarity.*
Clickbait: Meet the grandma stand.
... and want to see something cool? Surprise me.
Historybook: Wright brothers make first successful airplane flight (1903); Pope Francis born (1936); "The Simpsons" series makes television debut (1989); American actress Jennifer Jones dies (2009); North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il dies (2011).
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