Thursday, November 18th, 2021
Historic Drilling Sale, Who Killed Malcolm X? & TikTok Owes You
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by kiwico.com (Listen for the discount code) and BetterHelp.com/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to peruse the latest happenings...
Oil Companies Price Gouging Investigation
Gas prices around the U.S. are the highest they’ve been in seven years. President Biden is now asking the FTC to figure out if oil and gas companies are doing anything illegal to profit from the situation. But, one of the American Petroleum Institute's leaders says the real problem isn’t price gouging. He says it’s that the oil supply still hasn’t caught up to higher demand since the height of the pandemic. Other analysts say, even if the FTC does launch an investigation, it probably won’t bring down gas prices anytime soon, but it could clarify how companies set their prices.
Read More: Axios, WSJ, USA Today, NY Times, AAA
White House Auctions Off Drilling Leases
The Biden administration is letting oil and gas companies bid for more than 125,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore drilling. Already, energy companies like Shell, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil have offered a combined $192 million for drilling rights on parts of the area. The White House tried to put a stop to new oil and gas drilling earlier this year, but 13 states sued over it. A judge sided with those states. The Biden administration appealed, but that appeal was still pending when the auction happened this week. Now, officials have 90 days to award or reject bids from the oil companies.
Read More: AP, CNBC, CNN, The Guardian
Rep. Gosar Censure
It’s considered an extremely rare move and the harshest punishment for a member of Congress. Republican Congressman Paul Gosar was censured because he tweeted an animated video his staff edited to make it look like he was killing Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and attacking President Biden. This means Gosar will lose some of his influence in the government, especially since the House vote also removes him from the Oversight and Reform and Natural Resources committees. The video has since been removed from his Twitter account.
Read More: Reuters, WaPo, NBC News, Fox News, Gov Info
Malcolm X Murder Convictions Tossed
It's been 56 years since civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated, and now, officials say two men convicted of killing him didn’t do it. Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam have always insisted they’re innocent. When they first went to trial, they had alibis, and there was no evidence linking them to the crime. A third man who was convicted admitted to the shooting in the 70s. He said he had two accomplices, but they weren’t Aziz and Islam. These cases are being brought up now because of a Netflix documentary series “Who Killed Malcolm X?” which raised enough questions for the NYC district attorney to decide to review the convictions.
Read More: NY Times, AP, BBC, NBC News
Rapper Young Dolph Killed
A rapper widely admired in the hip-hop community was shot and killed this week. Young Dolph was gunned down inside a local cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. As of this morning, no one has been arrested for the shooting. Young Dolph produced several studio albums, including three that reached the top ten on the Billboard 200. Now, tributes are pouring in. People like Chance the Rapper, NBA star Donovan Mitchell, and NFL legend Deion Sanders have shared their condolences on Twitter.
Read More: NBC News, Fox News, AP, NY Times, Newsweek
Drug Overdoses Reach Record High
New data from the CDC shows more than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses during the first year of the pandemic. That’s almost 30% more deaths than the previous year and the most ever in a 12-month period. Advocates for drug users say the pandemic made opioid problems a lot worse. This week, federal officials said they’ll expand access to medications that can reverse an opioid overdose. Also, a big relief bill Congress passed last spring includes $1.5 billion for substance abuse prevention and treatment.
Read More: WSJ, WaPo, Axios, USA Today, CDC, White House
White House Boosting Vaccine Supplies
The White House is offering American drugmakers billions of dollars to make more Covid-19 vaccines. The federal government wants to see at least a billion doses created a year to use here in the U.S. and overseas. But, it’s not just about Covid-19. Officials say this deal will give more money for equipment and training to make vaccines. So, it could put the U.S. in a better spot to prepare for future pandemics, too.
Read More: WaPo, NY Times, Axios, Politico, White House
Staples Center Renamed
Staples Center is an iconic arena in downtown Los Angeles and has been home to the LA Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and Sparks for two decades. But, starting Christmas Day, it’s getting a new name. Staples Center will become Crypto.Com Arena. The cryptocurrency exchange out of Singapore reportedly paid more than $700 million to get the naming rights for the next 20 years. The new logo will debut on December 25th when the Lakers are playing, and all of the Staples Center signage will be replaced by June 2022.
Read More: KCBS, LA Times, WSJ, ESPN, Staples Center
TikTok Settlement
If you’ve used the app TikTok, you might be eligible to get some money as part of a class action settlement. The lawsuit accused TikTok of illegally collecting and using personal data from users without their permission. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has agreed to pay $92 million as part of the settlement. Eligible users are those who live in the U.S. and have used TikTok or its previous version called Musical.ly before October 1st of this year. They must also submit a claim before March 2022. Parents can file claims for minors.
Read More: TikTok Settlement: NY Post, Newsweek, NBC News, USA Today
Submit a Claim: TikTok Data Privacy Settlement
Most Common Passwords of 2021
The password manager NordPass released its list of the 200 most common passwords of the year. It partnered with cybersecurity researchers to look at data across 50 countries. It found in the U.S., nine of the ten most common passwords are a variation of the numbers 1-10, or simply the word “password.” NordPass says most of these passwords can be cracked in less than a second. So, the company’s advice is to try to find a password that’s at least a little more complicated, and as always, keep an eye on your accounts for suspicious activity.
Read More: Mashable, Gizmodo, Tech Radar
Long Lunar Eclipse
It’ll be the longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years, lasting about 3.5 hours. Depending on the weather, the entire country will be able to get a glimpse. A lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth, and a full moon are lined up in space. You don’t need any special glasses to see it like you would during a solar eclipse. That said, you might have to get out of bed. On the east coast, the partial eclipse starts at 2 a.m. tomorrow. On the west coast, it begins just after 11 p.m. tonight.
Read More: USA Today, WaPo, Cnet, Accuweather
Thing to Know Thursday: Baby Boom Coming
It’s being dubbed the Millennial Baby Boom. Bank of America analysts put out a note to clients this month, saying they think a baby boom will happen this year. They point to three signals: an increase in the number of pregnancy tests sold starting in May 2020, rising birth rates, and a recent Bank of America survey that found more people said they were expecting or trying to have a baby over the next year than in past surveys. As Forbes points out, it’s a big sign that people have confidence about the future again and that fear from the pandemic has at least somewhat subsided.
Read More: CNBC, Business Insider, Forbes, Daily Mail