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☆ Disney's parks are its top money maker — and it plans to spend $60 billion to keep it that way
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-07 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

It had been more than a year since the Covid pandemic had forced Disney's domestic parks to shutter, but D'Amaro, chair of Disney's experiences division, was confident guests would flood back in when the gates reopened. Revenues fell 35% in 2020, a nearly $10 billion decrease from the $26.2 billion the experiences division had tallied in the year before the pandemic. The experiences division posted record revenue of $32.5 billion in fiscal 2023, a 16% increase from the prior year. Its innovations, from ride mechanics and animatronics to creature design and immersive architecture, have made Disney's parks a standout in the industry. Storytelling is at the heart of everything across Disney's experiences division.

Persons: Mickey Mouse, Ian Langsdon, Josh D'Amaro, D'Amaro, Bob Chapek, D'Amaro —, Walt Disney, King Arthur Carousel, Christian Thompson, you've, it's, Bob Iger, Nelson, Walt Disney Imagineering, Rey, Kylo Ren, Judy Hopps, Imagineers, CNBC —, Lewis, Disney, Imagineering, Matt Stroshane, Alan Bergman Organizations: Paris, Afp, Getty, Gibson, Disney, Walt Disney Imagineering, Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney, Guardians, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Star Wars, California Disneyland's, Walt Disney Imagineering's, Disney Engineers, Force, Southwest, CNBC, Galactic, Marvel Locations: California, Burbank, Disneyland, Hong Kong, Shanghai Disneyland, Florida, Epcot, Magic, Wharf, Disneyland's, Disney's, Edge

“How to Have Sex” is not didactic, however, which is what makes it so effective. And it starts out so fun, like a more innocent and realistic “Spring Breakers.”Parties on screen rarely feel as fun as they’re supposed to — the joy often looks a little forced. This is something Skye makes her feel self-conscious about while also trying to push her to get rid of on the trip. There is a hard turning point when things stop being fun in “How to Have Sex,” when one morning Tara is missing from both hotel rooms. “How to Have Sex,” a MUBI release in select North American theaters Friday, has not been rated by the Motion Picture Association.

Persons: Molly Manning Walker, Mia McKenna, Bruce, Enva Lewis, Lara Peake, Walker, Romeo, Badger, Shaun Thomas, Tara, He’s, Skye, Paddy, Samuel Bottomley, you’ve, she’s, McKenna Organizations: MTV Beach, Motion Locations: Skye, Greece

☆ Herbert Coward, Actor Who Played Toothless Man in ‘Deliverance,’ Dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Jesus Jiménez | More About Jesus Jiménez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Coward, who went by the nickname Cowboy, was best known for his role in “Deliverance,” which featured Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Jon Voight. The film is an adaptation of a novel by James Dickey about four Atlanta businessmen on a harrowing canoe trip in rural Georgia. In the movie, two of the businessmen come across two hostile mountain men in the woods, one of them being Toothless Man. The men tie one of the friends to a tree, and then force the other to strip down to his underwear and “squeal like a pig.”As the two men contemplate what to do with the friend tied up to the tree, Mr. Coward’s character delivers the line, “He got a real purty mouth, ain’t he?”The four friends are eventually reunited and escape by killing one of the men with an arrow and chasing off Mr. Coward’s character. The scene is brief, but Mr. Coward’s line became one of the more memorable movie lines of the 1970s and the most remembered of Mr. Coward’s career.

Persons: Coward, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jon Voight, James Dickey, Coward’s Organizations: Atlanta businessmen Locations: Georgia

Up a stairwell with popcorn walls stained black, he found a hallway ceiling with jumbles of wires for illegal electrical connections. He rounded a corner, and suddenly he and the two men guiding him heard a high-pitched squeal that sounded like a wire whipping through the air. The two guides ducked and ran. Something is happening,” Mr. Hamman said. He took a few steps away, then caught sight of a small flame glowing from one of the wires strung overhead.

Persons: ” Mr, Hamman Locations: Johannesburg

In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat. Wild pigs already cause around $2.5 billion in damage to U.S. crops every year, mostly in southern states like Texas. Eradication of wild pigs is no longer possible in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Brook said. “The question is: What will be done about it?”Brook said Montana has been the most serious about keeping wild pigs out. It banned raising and transporting wild pigs within the state.

Persons: Ryan Brook, they've, Brook, They've, “, ” Brook, Gary Nohrenberg, Mike Marlow, ” Marlow Organizations: University of Saskatchewan, Canada -, state’s Department of Natural Resources, U.S . Department of Agriculture, USDA Wildlife Services, Wildlife Services, USDA, Feral Swine Locations: MINNEAPOLIS, Canada, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North America, Texas, Canada - North Dakota, Vermont , New York , Pennsylvania, New Hampshire , Wisconsin, Washington

(CNN) – Fulton County prosecutors have discussed potential plea deals with at least six additional co-defendants charged alongside Donald Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 presidential election, multiple sources tell CNN. Pro-Trump lawyer Robert Cheeley is among those who have been offered a plea deal in the Georgia case but, according to his lawyer, turned it down. A source with knowledge of the Fulton County DA’s strategy tells CNN that it would be open to discussing plea deals with anyone, but there is little room for compromise when it comes to the charges against Trump. To be clear, there is no indication that prosecutors or Trump’s legal team are interested in discussing a plea deal. John Eastman, who is also considered one of Trump’s most high-profile co-defendants, has not been offered a plea deal either, his lawyer told CNN.

Persons: Donald Trump, District Attorney Fani Willis, Robert Cheeley, ”, Richard Rice, Misty Hampton, Mike Roman, Willis, Trump, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Meadows, Jack Smith, John Eastman, Eastman, Willis ’, Robert James, ” James, squeal, Polantz, Paula Reid, Evan Perez Organizations: CNN, District Attorney, Trump, Fulton, White House, Georgia, Democratic, Atlanta Public Schools Locations: Fulton, Georgia, Coffee County , Georgia, Fulton County, New York, Georgia’s Dekalb County

☆ A cross between domestic pigs and wild boars was intentionally bred in Canada. The resulting 'super pigs' escaped captivity and could be invading the US.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

When the market collapsed, the "super pigs" escaped and have spread rapidly across the country. The environmentally destructive pigs may be invading the US, where feral pigs already pose problems in the South. Then the boar market peaked, collapsing in 2001, and many of the super pigs were simply let go. Others escaped, as the super pigs were stronger and more adept at getting under or over fencing. But the super pigs from Canada could easily survive the frigid winters of places like Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, or Minnesota.

☆ For LSU and South Carolina, It’s the Final Four of Sideline Style
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Rory Satran | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

When Louisiana State University women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey strode from the court after yet another win last month, she peeled off her pink butterfly-bedazzled blazer. The move was more rock star than 60-year-old college coach, but it was in keeping with Ms. Mulkey’s razzle-dazzle. Ms. Mulkey, along with the University of South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, is leading the charge for a new wave of women’s college basketball coaches using fashion as a crucial part of their public image. Friday night, in the hotly anticipated Women’s Final Four, millions worldwide will be tuning in to watch the formidable face-offs of South Carolina vs. Iowa, and LSU vs. Virginia Tech. Many of them will also be paying close attention to what Ms. Staley and Ms. Mulkey, superstar, title-winning coaches who earn seven-figure salaries, are wearing.

Here are 12 of the weirdest and most fascinating animal behaviors scientists spotted in 2022. Here are 12 bizarre and amazing things animals were spotted doing, some of which had never been seen before. It turned out that at least 12 species of primates had been reported doing so, a review published in the Journal of Zoology in October found. A dolphin swallowed 8 venomous sea snakesA sea snake (indicated with pink arrow), moments before it is captured and eaten by a Navy dolphin. Though animals have often been spotted using tools, these usually are used to give the animal a clear survival advantage.

☆ Kanye West's antisemitic rants are the tip of a much longer spear
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tal Lavin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Recent comments by Kanye West, now known as Ye, echo ancient antisemitic tropes, writes Tal Lavin. Over on Instagram, where I'd posted a picture of me cuddling a goat, someone commented: "Kanye West was right about you people." But these sentiments are just the tip of a much longer spear. Ye's comments in particular echo a very long history of antisemitic tropes — tropes that have left a trail of blood in their wake. On "Drink Champs" Ye spit into the mic about the evils of the "Jewish media."

☆ A dolphin's GoPro video shows it eating 8 venomous sea snakes, and scientists aren't sure why
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-20 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Navy-trained bottlenose dolphin devoured eight venomous sea snakes one day, GoPro videos show. Dolphins have never been documented eating sea snakes, only playing with them. The attacks puzzled scientists, since consuming venomous snakes can be dangerous. Prior to this study, which was published in the journal PLOS ONE in August 2022, there was no documentation of dolphins eating sea snakes — only playing with them and releasing them. They searched for other fish that might look like a sea snake on camera, but they found no other explanation.

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