In media news today, MSNBC denies a freelancer intended to contact or photograph the Rittenhouse jury, Joy Reid dismisses that inflation is affecting the economy, and The Washington Post boss Sally Buzbee says journalism shouldn’t be ‘snarky’
CNN is giving its readers whiplash for crediting President Biden for falling oil prices after once suggesting there was very little he could do to lessen the pain at the pump.
Last week, CNN Business senior writer Julia Horowitz penned an article with the headline, “Why Joe Biden can’t do much to ease gas prices.”
“US President Joe Biden faces growing pressure to intervene in oil markets as Americans pay higher prices at the pump. But given the dynamics at play, is there really anything productive he can do?” Horowitz asked.
Horowitz went on to throw a wet blanket on the suggestion made by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm that the Biden administration can leverage the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, citing skeptical experts who believe it wouldn’t impact gas prices.
President Biden speaks about the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
On Friday, however, Horowitz hailed falling oil prices, urging readers in the headline to “Thank China and Joe Biden.”
“In the United States, prices fell sharply Wednesday after oil inventories at a key hub in Cushing, Oklahoma rose for the first time in weeks,” Horowitz wrote. “According to the White House, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the ‘importance of taking measures to address global energy supplies’ during their virtual summit this week. That sparked chatter about a coordinated move initiated by the White House to put millions of barrels of oil on the market.”
“Thursday brought some signs that China is taking action. Reuters reported that the country’s state reserve bureau said it was working on a release, though the exact details remain murky,” she added.
Critics mocked CNN as “beyond parody,” calling it “Orwellian” and propaganda, many pointing out how both were written by the same reporter.
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“Classic,” Substack writer Andrew Sullivan reacted.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has indicated that the shiba inu (SHIB) cryptocurrency will be listed on its platform on Tuesday. The dogecoin rival has gained much popularity recently, rising 97% in the past seven days and 825.5% in the last 30 days.
Kraken Indicates Shiba Inu Will Be Listed on Its Platform Tuesday
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken tweeted Monday about listing the shiba inu cryptocurrency (SHIB) on its platform. According to the San Francisco-based exchange, the company’s product lead, Brian Hoffman, said if the tweet gets 2K likes, Kraken will list shiba inu Tuesday. At the time of writing, the tweet has been liked 45.1K times and retweeted 11.6K times.
Founded in 2011, Kraken says it is the world’s largest global digital asset exchange based on euro volume and liquidity. Globally, its client base trades more than 60 digital assets and seven different fiat currencies, including EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, JPY, CHF, and AUD, its website details. Kraken was the first U.S. crypto firm to receive a state-chartered banking license. The crypto exchange serves more than 7 million traders around the world.
According to a Twitter user, a Kraken customer representative confirmed late Monday that SHIB will be listed “sometime tomorrow,” adding, “We do not have an exact time when it is being listed, but there should be an update tomorrow.”
SHIB supporters see the listing on Kraken as ultra bullish, expecting the price of shiba inu to soar. One person tweeted: “Bullish news for SHIB, expecting a bump in price once it becomes available for trade here. Kraken is probably going to make a pretty penny from exchange fees too.” Another expect the price of SHIB to rise significantly, noting that the listing by Kraken will give the meme coin a “much-needed boost.”
Meanwhile, the shiba inu supporters have been trying to get the trading platform Robinhood to list SHIB. A petition on Change.org to convince Robinhood to list the meme coin has garnered 461,439 signatures. Shiba inu’s adoption is also rising, with AMC Theatres considering accepting SHIB alongside dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies for payments.
The shiba inu coin has recently gained much popularity. It has flipped rival dogecoin and become the ninth-largest cryptocurrency. Its market cap is around $39 billion at the time of writing. The crypto has gone up 8% in the last 24 hours, 97% in the past seven days, and 825.5% in the last 30 days.
What do you think about Kraken listing SHIB? Let us know in the comments section below.
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A worker adjusts a pipeline valve at the Gazprom PJSC Slavyanskaya compressor station, the starting point of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in Ust-Luga, Russia, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.
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LONDON — Winter isn’t even upon us yet and Europe is already experiencing a gas market crisis with bumper demand and limited supply, prompting a squeeze on prices in the region.
So when Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped in on Wednesday, offering to increase Russia’s gas supplies to Europe, regional gas prices (up a staggering 500% so far this year) fell and markets breathed a sigh of relief.
Market analysts quickly suspected that the offer to increase supplies to Europe was likely intended to put pressure on Germany to certify the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline (which will take Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Baltic Sea) for use, as Russia is waiting on Germany’s energy regulator to authorize the $11 billion pipeline, a process that could take several months.
Experts warned that Russia’s offer demonstrated that Europe is increasingly vulnerable to Moscow’s ability to turn on — and off, more importantly — gas supplies as and when it wants.
While Russia’s apparent largesse might have offered gas markets some respite, analysts have since noted that Russia might not even be able to deliver on promises to supply more.
“Comments from Mr. Putin appear to have provided some comfort to the market. However, whether these additional gas supplies depend on a quick approval of Nord Stream 2 or not may not be the main issue,” Adeline Van Houtte, Europe analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said in a note Thursday.
“Currently, the Russian domestic gas market remains tight, with its inventories running low, output already near its peak and winter looming in Russia as well, limiting gas export capacity,” she said.
“There is also little sign that Gazprom — the Russian gas export pipeline monopoly, which supplies 35% of European gas needs — is attempting to pump more gas to Europe’s spot buyers via existing routes, and overall given its small room for manoeuver, it is unlikely that Gazprom could deliver more than around 190bcm (billion cubic meters) to Europe this year,” she said, warning it meant “European prices are unlikely to cool substantially in 2021.”
Mike Fulwood, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, expressed doubts that Russia is able to supply more gas to Europe too, noting that production is already at record levels.
“Russia’s been faced with the same demand pressures” as elsewhere, he noted.
“It was [a] very cold winter in Russia last winter, and Russian production is actually at record levels,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.” “It’s well up on last year of course when demand was down, but it’s also up on 2019 levels, and they’ve been having to refill their own storage as well, which was depleted badly because of the cold weather.”
“So it’s extremely doubtful whether they could supply more gas, whatever the route,” he added.
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Russia’s reliability as an energy supplier to Europe has been high on the agenda for policymakers, both in the region and the United States, for several years now.
The last couple of U.S. presidential administrations have been vocal in their disapproval of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project, warning that it will reduce Europe’s energy security and increase its dependence on Russia. For its part, the U.S. would like to increase its own exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe.
‘They have the capacity’
The International Energy Agency’s Executive Director Fatih Birol seemed convinced that Russia could raise gas supplies to Europe, telling the Financial Times on Thursday that the IEA’s analysis suggested Russia could raise exports by roughly 15% of peak winter supply to the continent.
Calling on Russia to prove itself to be a “reliable supplier,” Birol said the gas exporter could live up to its word if it wants to.
“If Russia does what it indicated yesterday [Wednesday] and increases the volumes to Europe, this would have a calming effect on the market,” he said. “I don’t say they will do it, but if they wish so, they have the capacity to do it.”
Galaxies pump out contaminated exhausts. Credit: James Josephides, Swinburne Astronomical Productions
Research Reveals How Star-Making Pollutes the Cosmos
Galaxies pollute the environment they exist in, researchers have found.
A team of astronomers led by Alex Cameron and Deanne Fisher from the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) used a new imaging system on at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii to confirm that what flows into a galaxy is a lot cleaner than what flows out.
The research is published today (August 30, 2021) in The Astrophysical Journal.
“Enormous clouds of gas are pulled into galaxies and used in the process of making stars,” said co-lead author Deanne Fisher, associate professor at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University in Australia.
“On its way in it is made of hydrogen and helium. By using a new piece of equipment called the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, we were able to confirm that stars made from this fresh gas eventually drive a huge amount of material back out of the system, mainly through supernovas.
“But this stuff is no longer nice and clean – it contains lots of other elements, including oxygen, carbon, and iron.”
The process of atoms flooding into galaxies – known as ‘accretion’ – and their eventual expulsion – known as ‘outflows’ – is an important mechanism governing the growth, mass, and size of galaxies.
Until now, however, the composition of the inward and outward flows could only be guessed at. This research is the first time the full cycle has been confirmed in a galaxy other than the
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Aug 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s top aides are pressuring OPEC and its allies to boost oil output to tackle rising gasoline prices that they see as a threat to global economic recovery.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan criticized the world’s major oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, for what he said were insufficient crude production levels in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough,” he said in a statement.
The unusual statement ratcheted up international pressure and comes as the administration tries to contain a range of rising prices and supply bottlenecks across the economy that have fueled inflation concerns.
Biden has made recovering from the economic recession triggered by the pandemic a key priority for his administration.
The message also underscored the new dynamic between Washington and OPEC since Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, broke with prior practice in demanding specific policy changes to lower prices. Trump had threatened to withdraw military support from OPEC’s leader Saudi Arabia.
The Biden administration’s push for lower fuel prices comes even as it seeks global leadership in the fight against climate change by encouraging a broad transition away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources and electric vehicles.
Biden’s administration is pressing countries within OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with Russia and other big producers, “on the importance of competitive markets in setting prices,” Sullivan said. “Higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery,” he added. “OPEC+ must do more to support the recovery.”
U.S. retail gasoline prices are running at about $3.18 a gallon at the pumps, up more than a dollar from last year at this time, according to the American Automobile Association.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at just under $70 a barrel on Wednesday, down 1%.
That is lower than the prices above $77 in early July, but still represents an increase of nearly a third from the beginning of the year.
OPEC+ has been gradually easing a record output cut of 10 million barrels per day, about 10% of world demand, made in 2020 as oil use and prices recover from the pandemic-induced slump. As of July, the cut had been eased to about 5.8 million bpd.
At a meeting held in July, OPEC+ agreed to boost output by 400,000 bpd a month starting in August until the rest of the 5.8 million bpd cut is phased out. OPEC+ is scheduled to hold another meeting on Sept. 1 to review the situation.
The White House on Wednesday also directed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which polices anti-competitive behavior in domestic U.S. markets, to investigate whether illegal practices were contributing to higher U.S. gasoline prices.
“During this summer driving season, there have been divergences between oil prices and the cost of gasoline at the pump,” Biden’s top economic aide, Brian Deese, wrote in a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan.
He encouraged the FTC to “consider using all of its available tools to monitor the U.S. gasoline market and address any illegal conduct.”
Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Aakriti Bhalla; Editing by David Evans and Alexander Smith
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The virtual currency, which originally started as an internet parody based on a viral dog meme, has skyrocketed 373% in the last 24 hours, according to Coinbase. At one point, it was up 613%.
One dogecoin is now worth a mere$0.0469, but that’s still easily at record levels.
It’s the latest bizarre twist in the retail investing revolt making front pages all over the world. The surge came after a popular Reddit forum — not unlike the WallStreetBets group behind GameStop’s rally — set its sights on pumping up the digital currency.
The forum SatoshiStreetBets has featured scores of users calling for a dogecoin rally over the past day. Satoshi refers to Satoshi Nakamoto, the screen name of the self-proclaimed inventor of bitcoin.
Users are urging others to buy in, declaring they could propel the cryptocurrency’s value “to the moon.”
For hours, the page was flooded with memes and images of a shiba inu, the dog breed at the center of the internet meme that inspired dogecoin.
One user called for a “coordinated” buy-in at 9 p.m. US Central time. Others called on investors in India and Europe to help prop up the virtual currency during US overnight hours.
Even Elon Musk got in on the action, on Thursday tweeting a photo of a fake magazine cover titled “Dogue” instead of “Vogue.”
The Tesla CEO has engaged in similar banter before. Last month, he spread the word about the cryptocurrency, tweeting: “One word: Doge.” He even temporarily updated his Twitter bio to read: “Former CEO of Dogecoin.”
Months before, Musk tweeted another image of dogecoin, sending the price up 14%.
The excitement this week has been palpable. Dogecoin’s market cap has soared 380% over the past 24 hours, and currently stands at $6.9 billion, according to cryptocurrency tracker CoinMarketCap. Its trading volume has surged 2,200% in the same time period.
“Let’s get Elon to shill for us,” one Reddit user wrote.
“It’s up to us to decide what DOGE is worth,” said another user. “And I’m not selling for pennies.”
When the Masked Dancer Super Six (the semifinalists from Groups A and B) competed together for the first time this Wednesday, the Hammerhead was out for blood. But he just couldn’t outdance more advanced bipedal hoofers like the Tulip, Cotton Candy, and Sloth. Apparently this shark-boy is better at going to the gym, tanning, and doing laundry than he is at Latin ballroom, so his dance skills didn’t quite translate beyond the Karma dance floor.
So, in case you haven’t figured it out, the Hammerhead was revealed to be a resident of Jersey Shore. But only the judging panel’s resident vibeologist, Paula Abdul, guessed that this kooky character was the MTV reality show’s arguably tamest cast member, Vinny Guadagnino; everyone else thought it was Pauly D or the Situation. (Interestingly, no one guessed that the Hammerhead was “juicehead” Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.)
It seems Paula was paying extra-special attention to this season’s clues: the Hammerhead’s talk-show background, his love of painting, his boyhood dream of becoming a lawyer, etc. Maybe she was the only Masked Dancer judge who actually saw Vinny plays a character named Joe Conte in a B-movie called Jersey Shore Shark Attack. Or, maybe she was the only judge who saw Vinny shake his stuff in that Vegas Chippendales revue a couple years ago. Whatever the reason, Paula is clearly the MVP of this panel — even if she changed her Hammerhead guess this Wednesday to David Dobrik.
Sorry, Vinny. Cabs are here, and it’s your time to go. It’s also T-shirt time, apparently, because you won’t be needing that sinewy shark outfit anymore. But let’s assess the five remaining mystery celebrity contestants, and figure out which one is most fist-pump-worthy:
The Cotton Candy
This fun and fearless swing-dance partner routine, complete with a cute bumper-car grand entrance, was bursting with high energy, high confidence, and Rockettes-style high kicks. Her well-executed stage moves, which also included some gravity-defying lifts and a seemingly double-jointed backbend, once again indicated that this candy-girl is a trained professional (a dancer, an athlete, or both). “You brought your A-game. You define what The Masked Dancer is all about,” declared judge Ken Jeong.
The clues: She’s “no stranger to competition,” even if some “haters” in her past have claimed that she can’t dance. Visual clues included five rings and five golden balloons. Responding to the judges’ new “Rapid Fire” questioning round, the Cotton Candy confessed that ice “plays a role” in her life, that she has “lots of tights” at home, and she can’t do her day job in heels. In past episodes, she revealed that she was “iced out” of normal childhood activities and is a “team player.”
My guess: With all of the Olympian and icy clues we’ve been getting week after week, I have to stick with my hunch that this is Tara Lipinski. She’s really going for the gold this season; those haters who once criticized her dancing skills can take several seats.
The Exotic Bird
This beautiful creature took her sweet time, savoring every moment of her sexy dance to Lewis Capaldi and Jessie Reyez’s “Rush,” seeming more committed and more comfortable in her (feathered) skin than ever before. Paula “picked up on a sense of confidence” not seen in the Bird’s previous routines, and judge Brian Austin Green told her, “I think you are more of dancer than you think you are.” And just like that, even more naysaying haters were effectively silenced (the Exotic Bird was also ridiculed for her supposedly subpar dancing in the past).
The clues: Her life has changed since she “became a mama bird,” but she has rediscovered her “sultry side” while competing in disguise. This week’s big visual clue was a rose tattoo, and the Bird revealed that has modeled and starred in music videos and ad campaigns. Previous episodes’ clues packages have mentioned past illnesses, football, all-American apple pie, teen stardom, finding it “hard to breathe,” the numbers 1 and 17, glitter, perfume, a “Best by ’07” expiration date, and being teased for being a “big bird.”
Judges’ guesses: Kat Von D, Dita Von Teese, Amber Rose, Ashley Graham, Kate Upton.
My guess: I am completely confident that this is Paula’s old American Idol pal, Season 6 champion Jordin Sparks. Jordin is a relatively new mom; is the daughter of NFL star Phillippi Sparks; was 17 when she won Idol in ’07; was in the movie Sparkle (hence the glitter); has her own fragrance line; is a 5-foot-10 former plus-sized model; had a No. 1 hit with “No Air” (hence the “hard to breathe” clue); and has battled a vocal cord hemorrhage and acute appendicitis. Her recent single “Red Sangria” was her sultriest dance track yet, and if all that wasn’t enough to go on, her very first single was called… wait for it… “Tattoo.”
The Sloth
This “classic Hollywood jazz number” to “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” really kicked things up a notch. The Sloth exhibited the flexibility and agility of a youngster, but had the swag and elegance of an old-school entertainer. There was also his usual self-deprecating aging-vaudevillian shtick, as he dramatically pretended to be nursing two bad knees. “There’s so much Broadway showmanship on the stage,” marveled Paula.
The clues: He’s “not new to the dance floor,” is family-oriented, and his family isn’t in Los Angeles (where this show is taped). Other clues this Wednesday included 18 stars and elephants, while past clues have included sporting gear, a Say Anything-style boombox, a cruise ship, Glee, Disney, and the phrases “bad boy,” “took a chance and jumped,” and “leading man.”
Judges’ guesses: Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen.
My guess: This one really has me stumped; I’ve previously guessed American Idol-contestant-turned-YouTube star Todrick Hall and legendary Van Halen singer David Lee Roth. The Sloth’s hammy personality, physical comedy, and Catskills skills totally give me Diamond Dave vibes, but the dance skills are more Todrick-esque. I’d really love for the Sloth to be Roth (hey, that rhymes!), but I will stick with Disney fanatic and former cruise ship dancer Todrick for now.
The Tulip
The flower-girl went “back to some of first dancing she ever learned,” ballet, with this graceful, Ariana Grande-soundtracked routine. “I saw ballet training. … You’re a born performer,” said Paula. “You just brought the stakes up even higher,” raved judge Ashley Tisdale. I agree. While the Sloth may place a respectable third, I think it’s going to ultimately come down to the Tulip vs. the Cotton Candy in the finals. They are the obvious Super Two.
The clues: She really “never enjoyed competing,” but being on The Masked Dancer has made her “fall in love with performing again.” Key visual clues were a “Masked Dancergram” account (indicating she is a young social media maven) and a “Second Annual Mother-Daughter Dance.” Past clues have included chalk, flower crowns, the acronym “ALDC,” TikTok, acrobatics, Wicked, and the words “frozen” and “princess.”
Judges’ guesses: Sarah Hyland, Simone Biles (again?), Julianne Hough.
My guesses: After watching the Tulip blossom onstage three times now, I am feeling fairly secure in my guess that she’s an acrobatic alumnus of Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Dance Company (“ALDC”). This is probably Mackenzie Ziegler, who starred in the movie Ice Princess Lily and as Dorothy in the holiday pantomime Wonderful Winter of Oz, and has 15 million Instagram followers and almost 20 million on TikTok.
The Zebra
Doing his second Latin routine of the season to “Mi Gente” by J Balvin and Willy William, this striped star was clearly in his element, displaying — as guest judge Whitney Cummings noted — “a comfort onstage that can’t be faked.” Brian observed that the Zebra’s “amazing footwork” was the mark of a pro boxer.
The clues: He’s “known for a hook,” has acted, and has performed music, and the key visual clues this week were “K.O.” and a graham cracker followed by the letter E (as in “Grammy”). Past clues have included a sports medal, cinnamon, charitable endeavors, the word “champion,” and a mention of the Zebra being a “Z.E.O.”
Judges’ guesses: LL Cool J, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather.
My guess: Last week I guessed Mayweather, but the Grammy clue this week sealed the deal for me: Now I know it’s De La Hoya. Believe it or not, Oscar De La Hoya’s self-titled Latin pop album in 2000, which had songs written by Diane Warren and the Bee Gees, was nominated for a Grammy Award. No wonder Oscar is so at ease doing Latin dancing on this show.
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