WEIRD NEWS
Suddenly a Diamond Isn't Forever.
De Beers' diamonds said they'd never ever do what they're now going to do. In a significant about-face, the company has announced plans to start selling synthetic diamonds under the name Lightbox, its new man-made diamond brand that will offer full carat stones from roughly $800 beginning in September. That price point is essentially the point: While one of De Beers' genuine one carat diamonds costs about $8,000, similar lab-made ones currently run about $4,000. That means synthetics made by De Beers' rivals (among them Warren Buffett's Helzberg's Diamond Shops and Leonardo DiCaprio-funded Diamond Foundry) will be extremely expensive in comparison and the gulf between synthetic and real prices will widen, making the two categories more distinct. It's a big change for a company whose execs had pledged to never sell lab-grown stones; it even created a machine whose purpose is rooting out such fakes. It justified the change by citing consumer demand, with CEO Bruce Cleaver calling Lightbox "affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now." (Bloomberg)
Melania Trump Now Has Her Own Conspiracy Theory
Melania Trump hasn't been seen in public since May 10, when she joined her husband to welcome back detainees from North Korea-and while the first lady's office says she's recovering from kidney surgery, the conspiracy theorists are coming out of the woodwork. Some have suggested that she's divorcing President Trump and moving back to New York, others suspect she's now cooperating with the Robert Mueller investigation, and some even claim she has deserted Trump to live with the Obamas! It doesn't help that the White House failed to provide updates after her surgery earlier this month, but insiders say it's Melania herself who has sought to keep the information released to a minimum. Meanwhile spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said, "Sadly, we deal with conspiracy theories all the time-so this is nothing new, just more silly nonsense." She also said Melania is doing "really well" and has been involved in several White House staff meetings this week to plan the Congressional Picnic and Fourth of July events. (Politico)
Let's Build a Fire Pit!
Tragedy for 71-year-old Jacqueline Cardinal of Worcester, Massachusetts who died from severe burns after falling into a fire pit outside her home. Michelle Gay, one of her two daughters, says her mother was outside the family home alone when she fell into the fire pit at around 8:40pm. Gay says her husband arrived and found Cardinal, who had been fine just 10 minutes earlier, badly injured. "She is the most wonderful woman there is," Gay says. "There isn't anybody who would say anything different." Investigators say Ms. Cardinal was unable to climb out of the pit after falling in. The fire was already out when firefighters arrived. (MassLive.com)
Wow - Hope You're Not Being Too Harsh on the Officer
Brian Valenti is the Florida police officer who attacked Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg on Facebook, saying he hoped the young activist would be hit by a car during a "die-in" protest at Publix! Well, we now know what his punishment will be - a whopping 5-day suspension! Coconut Creek Police Chief Butch Arenal said, "After careful consideration of the adverse impact Officer Valenti's Facebook post may have had on any of the individuals involved, his deep regret for making the comment, and the damage inflicted upon the Coconut Creek Police Department's reputation, I have decided to suspend Officer Valenti for a period of five days without pay." Valenti reportedly told Arenal that he regrets making the comment, which was intended as a joke. He also promised to apologize to Hogg and other participants. (Sun Sentinel)
Bad Guy in the Restaurant; Good Guy in the Drive Thru
A very strange gun story out of Santa Ana, California. Police say a suspected robber is recovering from two gunshot wounds as he tried to rob a restaurant in Santa Ana. The Cozy Corner's security cameras were rolling at 12:43 Saturday morning when police say a masked man entered the restaurant with a black revolver and demanded money. He threw a bag at one of the workers and demanded she fill it with cash. Her hands shaking, she filled the bag. As he grabbed the bag, shots rang out. Turns out those shots came from another customer with a gun in the drive thru who shot through the drive thru window. After putting the would-be-robber down, the driver of the drive thru car took off. Police responded to the scene and found the suspected robber across the street shot twice in the upper body and bleeding. Meanwhile, they believe the shooter was just trying to help. (CBS-LA)
Roseanne Gets the Cosby Treatment
It looks like Roseanne Barr has reached Cosby status - and not in a good way. In more backlash from her recent racist tweet and public outcry, no less than three major TV networks are cancelling running the syndicated reruns of the Roseanne revival scheduled to air on Viacom networks: Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT. A Hulu spokesperson also confirmed that the streaming platform would be dropping the show, writing, "We support ABC's decision and are removing the show from Hulu." The Laff broadcast network also announced that it would be dropping reruns of the original series, which ran from 1988-97 on ABC. "While we believe viewers have always distinguished the personal behavior of the actress Roseanne Barr from the television character Roseanne Connor, we are disgusted by Barr's comments this week. Therefore, we are removing the original Roseanne series from the Laff schedule for the time being, effective immediately," Laff said in a statement. On Tuesday of this week, Barr ignited outrage online when she tweeted, "Muslim brotherhood
De Beers' diamonds said they'd never ever do what they're now going to do. In a significant about-face, the company has announced plans to start selling synthetic diamonds under the name Lightbox, its new man-made diamond brand that will offer full carat stones from roughly $800 beginning in September. That price point is essentially the point: While one of De Beers' genuine one carat diamonds costs about $8,000, similar lab-made ones currently run about $4,000. That means synthetics made by De Beers' rivals (among them Warren Buffett's Helzberg's Diamond Shops and Leonardo DiCaprio-funded Diamond Foundry) will be extremely expensive in comparison and the gulf between synthetic and real prices will widen, making the two categories more distinct. It's a big change for a company whose execs had pledged to never sell lab-grown stones; it even created a machine whose purpose is rooting out such fakes. It justified the change by citing consumer demand, with CEO Bruce Cleaver calling Lightbox "affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now." (Bloomberg)
Melania Trump Now Has Her Own Conspiracy Theory
Melania Trump hasn't been seen in public since May 10, when she joined her husband to welcome back detainees from North Korea-and while the first lady's office says she's recovering from kidney surgery, the conspiracy theorists are coming out of the woodwork. Some have suggested that she's divorcing President Trump and moving back to New York, others suspect she's now cooperating with the Robert Mueller investigation, and some even claim she has deserted Trump to live with the Obamas! It doesn't help that the White House failed to provide updates after her surgery earlier this month, but insiders say it's Melania herself who has sought to keep the information released to a minimum. Meanwhile spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said, "Sadly, we deal with conspiracy theories all the time-so this is nothing new, just more silly nonsense." She also said Melania is doing "really well" and has been involved in several White House staff meetings this week to plan the Congressional Picnic and Fourth of July events. (Politico)
Let's Build a Fire Pit!
Tragedy for 71-year-old Jacqueline Cardinal of Worcester, Massachusetts who died from severe burns after falling into a fire pit outside her home. Michelle Gay, one of her two daughters, says her mother was outside the family home alone when she fell into the fire pit at around 8:40pm. Gay says her husband arrived and found Cardinal, who had been fine just 10 minutes earlier, badly injured. "She is the most wonderful woman there is," Gay says. "There isn't anybody who would say anything different." Investigators say Ms. Cardinal was unable to climb out of the pit after falling in. The fire was already out when firefighters arrived. (MassLive.com)
Wow - Hope You're Not Being Too Harsh on the Officer
Brian Valenti is the Florida police officer who attacked Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg on Facebook, saying he hoped the young activist would be hit by a car during a "die-in" protest at Publix! Well, we now know what his punishment will be - a whopping 5-day suspension! Coconut Creek Police Chief Butch Arenal said, "After careful consideration of the adverse impact Officer Valenti's Facebook post may have had on any of the individuals involved, his deep regret for making the comment, and the damage inflicted upon the Coconut Creek Police Department's reputation, I have decided to suspend Officer Valenti for a period of five days without pay." Valenti reportedly told Arenal that he regrets making the comment, which was intended as a joke. He also promised to apologize to Hogg and other participants. (Sun Sentinel)
Bad Guy in the Restaurant; Good Guy in the Drive Thru
A very strange gun story out of Santa Ana, California. Police say a suspected robber is recovering from two gunshot wounds as he tried to rob a restaurant in Santa Ana. The Cozy Corner's security cameras were rolling at 12:43 Saturday morning when police say a masked man entered the restaurant with a black revolver and demanded money. He threw a bag at one of the workers and demanded she fill it with cash. Her hands shaking, she filled the bag. As he grabbed the bag, shots rang out. Turns out those shots came from another customer with a gun in the drive thru who shot through the drive thru window. After putting the would-be-robber down, the driver of the drive thru car took off. Police responded to the scene and found the suspected robber across the street shot twice in the upper body and bleeding. Meanwhile, they believe the shooter was just trying to help. (CBS-LA)
Roseanne Gets the Cosby Treatment
It looks like Roseanne Barr has reached Cosby status - and not in a good way. In more backlash from her recent racist tweet and public outcry, no less than three major TV networks are cancelling running the syndicated reruns of the Roseanne revival scheduled to air on Viacom networks: Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT. A Hulu spokesperson also confirmed that the streaming platform would be dropping the show, writing, "We support ABC's decision and are removing the show from Hulu." The Laff broadcast network also announced that it would be dropping reruns of the original series, which ran from 1988-97 on ABC. "While we believe viewers have always distinguished the personal behavior of the actress Roseanne Barr from the television character Roseanne Connor, we are disgusted by Barr's comments this week. Therefore, we are removing the original Roseanne series from the Laff schedule for the time being, effective immediately," Laff said in a statement. On Tuesday of this week, Barr ignited outrage online when she tweeted, "Muslim brotherhood
Comments
Post a Comment