CONNECT SELECT A wide selection of interesting and trending stories – rip ‘em, read ‘em and post ‘em! THURSDAY, JUNE 10th, 2021

TODAY IS…

• NATIONAL BALLPOINT PEN DAY -- You can’t text with it, but the ballpoint pen revolutionized hand-written communications. It was patented 78 years ago, on June 10th, 1943. Think of how silly we’d all look if we were still writing with a feather!

• NATIONAL HERBS AND SPICES DAY -- The ‘Colonel’ used 11 of them, the least you can do is throw one or two into whatever you’re making for dinner! DID YOU KNOW?…. Cumin is the world’s most popular spice and cilantro (or coriander) is the most- used herb. (How do you say it: ‘herb’ or ‘erb’?)

• NATIONAL ICED TEA DAY -- Celebrating one of the favorite drinks of summertime, whether sweetened or not. Iced tea dates back to the 1870s, long before people had icemakers (or golf carts).

BIRTHDAYS:

• KATE UPTON, 29: Model/actress. The former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model shot to fame after dancing the ‘Dougie’ at a Clippers game in 2011.

• , 42: Musician. The Country singer/ wrote hits for other artists before breaking out with his own solo career. CLICK HERE FOR BRICE’S “ONE OF THEM GIRLS”

• BILL BURR, 53: Comedian/Actor. The stand-up comic and podcaster played Patrick in “Breaking Bad” and currently stars in the Netflix animated sitcom “F is for Family.” CLICK FOR “F IS FOR FAMILY” THEME

• SASHA OBAMA, 20: Former First Daughter. She is the youngest daughter of former President Barack and Michelle Obama.

• ELIZABETH HURLEY, 56: Model/Actress. She played Vanessa Kensington in two “Austin Powers” films and Queen Helena in “The Royals.”

• FAITH EVANS, 48: Singer/songwriter. Widow of the late Notorious B.I.G., the R&B singer sang backup before signing with P Diddy and scoring with their duet “I’ll Be Missing You.” CLICK FOR “I’LL BE MISSING YOU”

• THERESA CAPUTO, 55: Reality star. She talks to dead people. Caputo starred in the reality show “Long Island Medium.”

• SHIRLEY OWENS, 80: Singer. She was the lead singer for the 60s group The Shirelles, the first all-female black group to have a number 1 hit record with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” CLICK FOR “WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW”

TRENDING/ODD

FINAL ‘KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS’ AIRS TONIGHT (00:13) The final episode of 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' airs tonight on E! The show has run for 20 seasons and helped make billionaires out of several members of the Kardashian clan. A two-part ‘reunion’ special starts next week (because apparently, we already need a ‘reunion’ special) HERE’S THE ‘KUWTK’ THEME SONG (‘MORNING’ BY FRANCIS AND THE LIGHTS)

THE NORTHEAST COULD WAKE UP TO A SOLAR ECLIPSE (TIME SENSITIVE) (00:19) This morning, the sun will come up looking a little dimmer over the Northeast. They’re getting a rare solar eclipse. It starts before sunrise (around 5:45 eastern time) and will last about an hour. The best view of it is in Canada; they’re getting a so-called ‘ring of fire’ event. But from the Northeastern states it looks more like someone’s taken a bite out of the sun.

WHAT?! TEXAS REP WANTS TO ALTER THE EARTH’S ORBIT TO FIX CLIMATE CHANGE (00:26) Oh boy. Texas Republican Louis Gohmert (Loo’ee GO-murt) has an idea to fix climate change. During a committee hearing, he asked if the Earth could be moved further away from the Sun - and the congressman wasn’t kidding either. He asked the National Forest Service if it was possible to change the Earth’s orbit around the Sun or even change the moon’s orbit (for some reason). He was told they’d ‘look into it.’ For the record… we don’t think the National Forest Service has that kinda sway. YOU CAN WATCH GOHMERT ASK HIS CRAZY QUESTION HERE

MYSTERY BEACH SLUDGE TURNS OUT TO BE MILLIONS OF DEAD BUGS (00:25) A weird black sludge has been washing up on beaches in Maine and now they’ve solved the mystery of what it is. Scientists with Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection looked at it under a microscope and determined it’s millions and millions of little, dead bugs. Now they’ve got to figure out what kind of bugs they are and why they’re washing up on the beach. One scientist said it’s the first time they’ve ever heard of anything like it.

WORLDWIDE INTERNET OUTAGE CAUSED BY ONE CUSTOMER (00:22) You can blame yesterday’s worldwide internet outage on one single customer. Fastly, the cloud computing company where the outage originated, blames the whole thing on a software bug that was triggered when one of their customers changed a setting. But they haven’t snitched on WHICH customer it was. The bug knocked Google, Reddit and a bunch of news and commerce sites offline for about an hour.

SEATTLE BECOMES FIRST US CITY TO REACH HERD IMMUNITY? (00:23) Doesn’t look like the US will hit that ’70-percent vaccination’ target by July 4th, but one American city has… and another is close. Seattle’s mayor says they’re the first to vaccinate 70-percent of their residents. And San Francisco’s health department say they’re nearing herd immunity too - with 68- percent fully vaccinated. They think it takes 70-percent of the population to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

CICADAS STOP ONE OF THE PRESIDENT’S PLANES FROM TAKING OFF (00:18) Those cicadas are causing a lot of issues in the DC area. They kept a plane carrying White House reporters from taking off for a trip overseas. The bugs invaded the plane’s backup power supply, so they had to swap it with another jet. The Washington area’s cicada brood is so dense it’s been showing up on weather radar. HERE’S THE SOUND OF A CICADA CHIRPING

HEATWAVE IS ALMOST OVER (00:24) Millions of Americans from the Northern Plains to New England will get a bit of a break from sweating. The first heatwave of the year is almost done. It’s already a record-breaker in some parts of the country where this is now officially the hottest first week of June, ever! It got so hot in Minneapolis, the school board there has cancelled the rest of the school year when the classrooms started feeling like saunas.

US BUYING 500 MIL PFIZER VACCINES FOR POOR COUNTRIES (00:18) ‘Uncle Sam’ is looking more like a ‘sugar daddy’ when it comes to vaccinations. There’s word the White House is buying 500-million Pfizer vaccine doses to donate around the world. 200-million of them will be distributed this year to 92 of the poorest countries on the planet, the rest will be shipped out by early next year.

LAW & DISORDER

WORLDWIDE DRUG STING USED APP CREATED BY FBI (00:17) 800 people have been now arrested in that worldwide drug trafficking and arms dealing sting. Operation Trojan Shield (which sounds more like a condom brand) scored 8 TONS of coke and about 48-million bucks in dirty money. For 5 years, the bad guys thought they were communicating over a secure app - jokes on them: that app was built by the FBI.

PHARMACIST GETS PRISON TIME FOR TAMPERING WITH VACCINE (00:22) Remember the pharmacist in Wisconsin who ruined hundreds of doses of the COVID vaccine? He left them out too long intentionally. He's an admitted conspiracy theorist and believed that the vaccine was dangerous. He now will serve three years in prison for tampering with the vials. Most of the doses were meant for health care workers. He told the court he feels "great shame" over what he did.

BOY KILLED IN ROAD RAGE CASE - MURDER CHARGE FILED (00:22) We're learning more about the young man accused of murdering a little boy in a road-rage-fueled shooting. The boy's mother was driving him to school at the time, when she was cut off on the highway and gestured. The accused shooter’s girlfriend was in his car with him. She's been charged with accessory after the fact. The boyfriend’s Instagram is full of posts about his gun collection.

WEIRD SCIENCE & TECH

NEW FEATURE LETS TINDER USERS BLOCK EVERYONE THEY KNOW (00:18) Finally, there’s a way to avoid an accidental match with your cousin on Tinder. The dating app has unveiled a new feature that lets you block everyone you know. That means, relatives, coworkers, (ugly) friends and exes. Tinder uses your existing phone contact list to block everyone you definitely don’t wanna hook up with.

NO PROOF PLEXIGLASS WALLS WORK IN RESTAURANTS & STORES (00:23) Through the pandemic, plexiglass has been put up in lots of places, but does it work? No one knows! "Hygiene theater" is what one public health expert calls plexiglass. So far, there's been no major study that proves the plastic walls helped stop the spread of the coronavirus. In fact, researchers in Japan are working on a theory that links plastic shields with infections in offices with poor ventilation.

ANTARCTICA GETS ITS OWN NAMED OCEAN (00:14) Future world maps are changing. The National Geographic Society is adding a fifth ocean around Antarctica. It's been known as the Southern Ocean but will now be labeled that way. The water's current there is different. It's colder and less salty.

YOUR MONEY/SHOPPING

WILL STILETTO CROCS HELP YOU TRANSITION BACK TO WORK WEAR? (00:21) If you’re worried about transitioning back to work clothes, there are now stiletto Crocs to make the move to business-attire a little easier. They’re made by Balenciaga - so they definitely won’t be cheap. And yes, they’re as ugly as you picture them to be. No price has been announced yet but already the internet is HATING them, with one tweet declaring ‘KILL IT WITH FIRE.’

MARGARITAVILLE HOTEL COMING TO NYC (00:20) In the hustle and bustle of Times Square, they're welcoming Jimmy Buffett's new Margaritaville Resort Hotel. Inside, there’s a 32-foot Lady Liberty holding up a margarita glass and whale tail faucets in the bathrooms. There's the '5 O'Clock Somewhere Bar' and the 'License to Chill Cocktail Lounge' too. The hotel took over three years to finish and opens next month.

CHIPOTLE INCREASES MENU PRICES (00:18) You'll have to pay a bit more to get your Chipotle burrito fix. Menu prices are going up about 4- percent. The money is going toward a bump in pay. The average hourly worker will make 15-bucks an hour. Chipotle does expect business to pick up. The restaurant chain is hiring 20-thousand employees to work this summer.

RARE US GOLD COIN SELLS FOR MILLIONS (00:22) A very rare gold coin sold for nearly 19-million dollars at auction. The 'Double Eagle,' as it's called, was stopped from being circulated in the U-S during the Great Depression. President Franklin Roosevelt cancelled the twenty-dollar coin back then. Most of the coins were destroyed so this one is rare. The shoe designer Stuart Weitzman is the one who sold it. (Women know his tall boots.) Who bid and won is not known.

LIFE/SURVEY SAYS…

STUDY: WORLD’S MOST LIVABLE CITIES (00:25) Auckland, New Zealand has been named the world’s most livable city. Actually, 6 of the top 10 cities ranked by The Economist are in either New Zealand or Australia, where tight border controls kept folks there relatively normal during the pandemic. Tokyo was ranked second most livable. Canadian cities took the biggest beating, getting bounced out of the top 10 because of all their COVID lockdowns. The LEAST livable city? Damascus, Syria.

APPLE WORKERS WANT MORE SAY IN 'HOW' THEY RETURN TO WORK (00:28) Going back into the office, employees at Apple have something to say about it. Thousands at Apple say they don't want to go back to the old ways, with long days and long commutes. In a group letter, they wrote they've truly been able to do their best work for the first time. All by being at home and being able to better take care of themselves and the people around them. Employment experts say even the phrase "return to work" isn't a great way to restart because it implies work wasn't getting done at home.

SKI SEASON WAS A HIT THIS YEAR (00:17) Some may have stayed home this winter depressed over COVID. But not the ski bunnies! A global pandemic didn't stop them. It was the 5th best ski season on record for resorts across the country. Even those in the industry were shocked by the rebound. Nearly 60-million lift tickets were sold last winter.

SURVEY: WE'LL PUT IT ON THE CREDIT CARD TO ENJOY THE REST OF 2021 (00:26) More Americans are gonna put it on plastic to enjoy themselves the rest of the year. A new survey finds more than 40-percent are willing to go into debt and use a credit card for non-essentials. We are ready to indulge! Nearly 70-percent plan to spend more on travel, entertainment and bars and restaurants. About the same amount say they are going to treat themselves and their family, to celebrate COVID rules being lifted, regardless of how they pay for it.

ENTERTAINMENT

ALYSSA MILANO RUNNING FOR CONGRESS? (00:21) Alyssa Milano says she’s considering running for U-S Congress. The ‘Charmed’ and ’Who’s the Boss’ star tells Deadline she is thinking about running in Northern California’s 4th district (which has been a Republican stronghold for years). Milano has become a vocal activist for a lot of social and political issues. She’s also producing and starring in a ‘Who’s the Boss’ reboot, so she’ll have to pick a lane before 2024.

TV PREVIEW (00:28) • Tonight at 8:30pm ET on CBS, watch a new episode of ‘United States of Al.’ Al fears the worst when he doesn't hear from his family in Afghanistan. ‘Clarice’ is also new at 10pm ET. • It’s two hours of ‘Manifest’ on NBC starting at 8pm ET. The Stones are reunited with Olive, but their happiness is short-lived when they discover Cal has run away. • FOX will try having you ‘Beat Shazam’ at 8pm ET. Hosted by Jamie Foxx, pairs of contestants try to identify various songs in hopes of winning a cash prize.

WEEKEND / “ICYMI”

PEOPLE WITH LARGE PUPILS HAVE HIGHER INTELLIGENCE (00:23) Well, this will get you running to a mirror. A new study claims that people with large eye pupils are more intelligent than those with small pupils. Pupil size was monitored by an eye-tracking device while participants ran through different tests and activities. The people with larger pupils performed better in attention, memory, and reasoning tests, which the researchers think comes from better regulation of brain activity linked to intelligence and memory.

WOMAN CAUGHT AT MIDDLE SCHOOL POSING AS HER DAUGHTER (00:22) A woman in Texas was arrested for posing as her 13-year old daughter at her middle school. The 30-year old says no one even noticed she wasn’t her daughter until 7th period at the end of the school day. The woman claims she did it as a social experiment to prove there was lax security at the school. Of course, she filmed it and posted it on YouTube. Now she’s facing charges of suspicion of criminal trespassing.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! BOSS CAN ASK IF YOU'VE BEEN VACCINATED (00:27) Vaccinated yet? It's a question being asked a lot lately. And if you think HIPAA protects you from answering, you're wrong. HIPAA requires your permission on medical records between doctors and insurance providers. It does NOT mean a store or your boss are not allowed to ask if you've received the COVID shot. For the sake of public health, if a company believes it is in their best interest for employees to get the vaccine, they can do that. Plus, they can ask customers their status too.

IDLE JETLINERS FOUND CRAWLING WITH SNAKES (00:25) There’s a real-life ‘snakes-on-a-plane’ situation in the Mojave Desert, where airlines parked hundreds of their jets during the pandemic. Now that they need them again, maintenance crews are finding them CRAWLING with rattlesnakes. They say they slither up the landing gear looking for warm places. Qantas Airlines says they’ve found tons of snakes curled up in a few of their double- decker jets and have been using broom sticks to help coax them out. HERE’S THE LINE FROM ‘SNAKES ON A PLANE’ (BUT THE CLEAN VERSION)

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