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nuckin_futz

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  1. Jerry Springer, politician-turned-TV ringmaster, dies at 79 CINCINNATI (AP) — Jerry Springer, the onetime mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional guests willing to bare all — sometimes literally — as they brawled and hurled obscenities before a raucous audience, died Thursday at 79. At its peak, “The Jerry Springer Show” was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama. Known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments, the daytime talk show was a favorite American guilty pleasure over its 27-year run, at one point topping Oprah Winfrey’s show. Springer called it “escapist entertainment,” while others saw the show as contributing to a dumbing-down decline in American social values. “Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” said Jene Galvin, a family spokesperson and friend of Springer's since 1970, in a statement. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.” Springer died peacefully at home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness, the statement said On his Twitter profile, Springer jokingly declared himself as “Talk show host, ringmaster of civilization’s end.” He also often had told people, tongue in cheek, that his wish for them was “may you never be on my show.” After more than 4,000 episodes, the show ended in 2018, never straying from its core salaciousness: Some of its last episodes had such titles as “Stripper Sex Turned Me Straight,” “Stop Pimpin’ My Twin Sister,” and “Hooking Up With My Therapist.” In a “Too Hot For TV” video released as his daily show neared 7 million viewers in the late 1990s, Springer offered a defense against disgust. “Look, television does not and must not create values, it’s merely a picture of all that’s out there — the good, the bad, the ugly,” Springer said, adding: “Believe this: The politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be.” He also contended that the people on his show volunteered to be subjected to whatever ridicule or humiliation awaited them. Gerald Norman Springer was born Feb. 13, 1944, in a London underground railway station being used as a bomb shelter. His parents, Richard and Margot, were German Jews who fled to England during the Holocaust, in which other relatives were killed in Nazi gas chambers. They arrived in the United States when their son was 5 and settled in the Queens borough of New York City, where Springer got his first Yankees baseball gear on his way to becoming a lifelong fan. He studied political science at Tulane University and got a law degree from Northwestern University. He was active in politics much of his adult life, mulling a run for governor of Ohio as recently as 2017. He entered the arena as an aide in Robert F. Kennedy’s ill-fated 1968 presidential campaign. Springer, working for a Cincinnati law firm, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970 before being elected to city council in 1971. In 1974 — in what The Cincinnati Enquirer reported as “an abrupt move that shook Cincinnati’s political community” — Springer resigned. He cited “very personal family considerations,” but what he didn’t mention was a vice probe involving prostitution. In a subsequent admission that could have been the basis for one of his future shows, Springer said he had paid prostitutes with personal checks. Then 30, he had married Micki Velton the previous year. The couple had a daughter, Katie, and divorced in 1994. Springer quickly bounced back politically, winning a council seat in 1975 and serving as mayor in 1977. He later became a local television politics reporter with popular evening commentaries. He and co-anchor Norma Rashid eventually helped build NBC affiliate WLWT-TV’s broadcast into the Cincinnati market’s top-rated news show. Springer began his talk show in 1991 with more of a traditional format, but after he left WLWT in 1993, it got a sleazy makeover. TV Guide ranked it No. 1 on a list of “Worst Shows in the History of Television,” but it was ratings gold. It made Springer a celebrity who would go on to host a liberal radio talk show and “America’s Got Talent,” star in a movie called “Ringmaster,” and compete on “Dancing With the Stars.” “With all the joking I do with the show, I’m fully aware and thank God every day that my life has taken this incredible turn because of this silly show,” Springer told Cincinnati Enquirer media reporter John Kiesewetter in 2011. Well in advance of Donald Trump’s political rise from reality TV stardom, Springer mulled a Senate run in 2003 that he surmised could draw on “nontraditional voters,” people “who believe most politics are bull.” “I connect with a whole bunch of people who probably connect more to me right now than to a traditional politician,” Springer told the AP at the time. He opposed the war on Iraq and favored expanding public healthcare, but ultimately did not run. Springer also spoke often of the country he came to age 5 as “a beacon of light for the rest of world.” “I have no other motivation but to say I love this country,” Springer said to a Democratic gathering in 2003. Springer hosted a nationally syndicated “Judge Jerry” show in 2019 and continued to speak out on whatever was on his mind in a podcast, but his power to shock had dimmed in the new era of reality television and combative cable TV talk shows. “He was lapped not only by other programs but by real life,” David Bianculli, a television historian and professor at Monmouth University, said in 2018. Despite the limits Springer’s show put on his political aspirations, he embraced its legacy. In a 2003 fund-raising infomercial ahead of a possible U.S. Senate run the following year, Springer referenced a quote by then National Review commentator Jonah Goldberg, who warned of new people brought to the polls by Springer, including “slack-jawed yokels, hicks, weirdos, pervs and whatnots.” In the informercial, Springer referred to the quote and talked about wanting to reach out to “regular folks ... who weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
  2. Sure there is. You could offer Aquaman $2 Billion US dollars for the team. That should get it done.
  3. I doubt it unless it affects the big banks it's a blip IMO.
  4. First Republic Bank shares fall more than 40% after volatility pause NYSE halts FRC shares I believe this is a volatility halt initiated by the New York Stock Exchange, not a halt for news pending. Shares of the bank are getting obliterated today, down $7.10, or 44.4%, to $8.90. They closed at $16 yesterday ahead of earnings but deposit outflows were worse than anticipated and it's looking like a zombie bank. I'm not sure if the company thought it could spin its way out of this mess and buy time but the market is saying that it needs a suitor sooner rather than later. The company didn't take any questions from analysts in yesterday's quarterly conference call. "We are pursuing strategic options to expedite our progress while reinforcing our capital position," the company said. Bloomberg reports that the company is looking at up to $100 billion in asset sales and a possible equity raise. Despite this and the risk tone, other regional banks are holding up ok with the KRE regional bank ETF down 3.9%, however it's now beginning to deteriorate and is worth watching carefully on the possibility of further extending the broad rout.
  5. No one's tuning in for his podcast. Much like a cigarette, he's not the product the nicotine is. Anyone can deliver the nicotine/spew the bile. It's the red meat these people crave. They don't care who the butcher is.
  6. His contract with FOX likely has a major non-compete clause in it. As long as they pay him out in full I doubt he can go be "competitive media" for quite some time. There's nothing special about the guy. In the end the attraction isn't him, it's the bile he spews and anyone can spew the same bile. He will be replaced and quietly fade away.
  7. There is no real alternative to the US dollar. The Eurozone is a basket case with pitiful growth. The UK is worse than the EU. Japan has been a zombie economy for 20+ years. The only possible alternative is the Chinese Yuan. And you'd have to be a mental case to put your financial future in the hands of a communist government who could turn hostile at any moment. With rates in the US at 5% the US dollar is quite attractive compared to the alternatives. I certainly wouldn't want to be long Yen vs USD and pay a 5% carry. Zero Hedge is owned by a Bulgarian guy who lost his securities license for insider trading. Freelancers submit articles for publication and get around $50 (maybe they have increased it, inflation you know) an article if one gets published. The more radical articles get more clicks so the authors wright more sensational stuff to get published. ZH can be entertaining but it's for financial mouthbreathers.
  8. Oakland Athletics purchase land for new stadium in Las Vegas People watch a baseball game at Oakland Coliseum between the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers in Oakland, Calif., July 23, 2022. (Jeff Chiu/AP) The Oakland Athletics have begun the process of moving to Las Vegas as previous plans to remain in Northern California have now fallen through, according to various reports. Team president Dave Kaval confirmed in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the Athletics have signed a binding purchase agreement for a piece of land near the Las Vegas Strip to build a new baseball stadium with the intention of relocating to the city. "We know this is a really difficult day for our fans in Oakland and the Oakland community,” Kaval told MLB.com. “We put an incredible six-year effort into trying to get this waterfront vision for a stadium approved. At the end of the day, the progress has not been fast enough. We're still maybe seven or eight years away from being even able to open a stadium (in Oakland) with the lawsuits and referendums and timing challenges. “We have a pact in Las Vegas that we think can work and has the support from the league, so we are really putting all our focus in Las Vegas and the efforts there.” Kaval said in the interview that while the agreement covers only the land — a 49-acre plot at Dean Martin Drive and Tropicana Avenue owned by Red Rock Resorts — the club intends to build a $1.5-billion, 35,000-seat stadium with a partially retractable roof. “For a while, we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home,” Kaval told the Review-Journal. “Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in southern Nevada to do that.” In a statement shared with the Review-Journal, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred endorsed the move. “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year,” Manfred said. The Athletics had been negotiating with the City of Oakland to build a new waterfront stadium on a site known as Howard Terminal since 2018, but have had many other stadium plans fall through over the past two decades. However, after the report in the Review-Journal was published Wednesday, Oakland mayor Sheng Thao said the city would end those negotiations and pursue other projects for the waterfront site. "I am deeply disappointed that the A's have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the city and the team," Thao said in a statement provided to The San Francisco Chronicle. "In the last three months, we've made significant strides to close the deal. Yet, it is clear to me that the A's have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas. I am not interested in continuing to play that game — the fans and our residents deserve better." According to The Nevada Independent, the Athletics will cover the costs of building the stadium but the state government is preparing a bill that would "create a funding mechanism" for the team to receive tax credits and other tax benefits valued at close to $500 million. The Independent adds that Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo supports the bill and that it could pass during the current legislative assembly. “Welcoming the A’s to Las Vegas would be great news for Southern Nevada as well as our entire state,” Lombardo said in a statement provided to the Review-Journal. “The prospect of bringing new jobs, more economic development and a historic MLB franchise to Las Vegas is exciting on many levels. As we continue to navigate this opportunity, I’m in regular communication with the A’s, Major League Baseball, legislative leadership and local and state stakeholders.” The proposed location for the new baseball stadium is one mile north of Allegiant Stadium — home of the Raiders — and one mile west of T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights. “It’s really in the sports district,” Kaval, the Athletics president, said in his interview with the Review-Journal. “So, you have all the stadiums kind of clustered in one spot. I think that creates a powerful zone, a kind of energy to it that will benefit the community and also help us be successful running a baseball team.” The Athletics have the lowest payroll in the majors — a projected total of just $59 million, according to Fangraphs — and are also at the bottom of the standings early in the season with a 3-16 record. The Athletics have a negative run differential of mins-86 this season, which is the worst mark through 19 games since 1899. Attendance has mirrored the results on the field, with a league-low mark of 11,027 through 12 home games this season. The major-league average is about 27,800 fans. MLB had previously set a deadline of January 2024 for the Athletics to have a new stadium deal in place. The team's lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires after the 2024 season. Kaval told the Review-Journal that the club intends to open the new stadium in Las Vegas in time for the 2027 season. “It’s really exciting to have a site,” Kaval said. “We’ve spent almost two years doing our due diligence, working with community leaders, elected officials and everyone in town to really determine a location that could be a win for the A’s as well as the community and public officials.” The move will be the first relocation by an MLB team since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C., in 2005. Las Vegas will be the fourth city to host the Athletics, which began as the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901, before moving to Kansas City in 1955 and Oakland in 1968. The Athletics will be the third — and final — major sports franchise to leave Oakland in recent years. The NBA's Golden State Warriors built a new stadium and moved across the bay to San Francisco in 2019, while the NFL's Oakland Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020. Las Vegas has become a hotbed for pro sports ever since the success of the Vegas Golden Knights, which joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2017.
  9. I understand that's why Emilie Castonguay is leaving. She refused to shave her head. Obviously not a team player.
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