The Oscars: Goodie bags or baddie bags? 🛍
➕ Are The Oscars giving away Australian land? + win a HUGE SIGNED LORDE POSTER 🌞
My literal angels - HI! How are you??? First of all, I need to say a HUGE welcome to the 500 new besties who’ve joined us since we’ve last spoken!! By way of intro, I’m Luce, ur cool, fun & reliable pen pal, here to make you feel okay about the latest weird/ fucked up things that’ve gone on in the world. Your job is to read, enjoy, and reply to me if that seems cool to you (I read everything you send me!)
You may have noticed that today’s newsy has hit a lil later than usual - that’s because I’m in Sydney (two hours behind NZ) dropping Rubes and Liv off on their big new adventures and getting up at 3am to meet a self-imposed sending schedule just NOT an option (no matter how much I love you!)
In saying that, I DO love you enough to be giving one of you a HUGE SIGNED LORDE POSTER (all the details to enter that are at the bottom of this email.)
Hope you slay ur Monday xx
Fact check: are Oscars attendees being gifted ‘land’ in Australia?
New finance drama dropped
🗺Around the world🗺
Texas women sued for wrongful death after aiding in abortion, Six dead in a shooting at Hamburg Jehovah’s Witness hall, & Saudi state-owned oil giant sees record profit of $161bn.
The 1975 went on SNL
WIN: a HUGE signed Lorde poster!!
Fact check: are Oscar’s attendees being gifted ‘land’ in Australia?
I first saw this story going viral on Twitter ✨out of context✨ (of course) and on first glance, the idea that the richest and the famousest (lol) were being gifted ‘land’ in Australia DID NOT FEEL GOOD! But then, like the good little newsy writer I am, I read a bit more into it.
First of all - do you know about the Oscars goodie bags?? Even if you don’t win a prize, attendees get given an ‘unaffiliated’ goodie bag worth about $126,000! Here’s what The Guardian say about this years:
“Japanese milk bread, a three-night stay for eight people on a volcanic Italian island and liposuction are among the treats inside the much-coveted Oscars goodie bag this year.”
Other swag includes a plot of land in Australia (size and location unknown), a three-night stay in rural Ottawa, hand-harvested organic dates, silk pillowcases and an executive hair restoration consultation with a Florida doctor.
The bag contains some 60 items, with a focus on luxury wellness promotion, such as a NaturGeeks functional wellness “immunity boost” and C60 Purple Power edible massage oil (part of the Sexy range).
They can also book a facelift with celebrity surgeon Dr Konstantin Vasyukevich and guzzle a selection of chocolates with a video message embedded in the box.
Now, back to the #gifted land. Oscar nominees are going to ‘receive’ 1 sq metre of land in outback Australia, which is part of an “Aussie Mate Conservation Pack” and seems to operate similarly to how you can ‘buy’ a star:
“The land parcels all come with a “certificate of land licence”, but the terms and conditions go on to state that “you have purchased a symbolic souvenir … of the land” and people who own a “pack” may not “take possession of the parcel; use the parcel; enter upon the parcel and/or the land without the licensor’s express written consent”.
So it’s a ‘symbolic souvenir’ which also happens to be in the heart of the Condabri coal seam gas field, which doesn’t seem awesome:
“The company states that it preserves land from development and is pursuing carbon sequestration opportunities through the [emissions reduction fund]. The available evidence suggests the land in question is being exploited for coal seam gas,” Schoo said.”
In conclusion - yes they’re being ‘gifted’ land, it’s symbolic land, and it’s definitely giving this company the press they hoped for when they paid their $4k to be included in the hamper…
New finance drama dropped
In the second-biggest bank failure in US history, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) - the bank of all banks of the tech industry - has been shut down and it is a really big deal. BUT, to save you all from my BOTCHED explanation about it, let me instead link you to some experts.
First, Morning Brew Daily (explaining shit like this is kinda their whole buzz):
And also, this article from The Verge explains it all (with a fucking good headline):
🗺Around the world🗺
Europe:
German gunman kills 6 at Hamburg Jehovah’s Witness hall (AP News)
Content warning: gun violence: “A gunman stormed a service at his former Jehovah’s Witness hall in Germany, killing six people before taking his own life after police arrived, authorities in the port city of Hamburg said Friday.
Police gave no motive for Thursday night’s attack. But they acknowledged recently receiving an anonymous tip that claimed the man identified as the shooter showed anger toward Jehovah’s Witnesses and might be psychologically unfit to own a gun.”
Middle East
Saudi state-owned oil giant sees record profit of $161bn (BBC)
“Saudi oil giant Aramco has announced a record profit of $161.1bn (£134bn) for 2022, helped by soaring energy prices and bigger volumes. It represents a 46.5% rise for the state-owned company, compared with last year.
It is the latest energy firm to report record profits, after energy prices spiked following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.”
USA
Texas women sued for wrongful death after aiding in abortion (AP News)
“Three women in Texas are being sued for wrongful death by a man who claims they helped his now-ex-wife obtain medication for an abortion. It’s another test of state-enforced bans since the U.S. Supreme court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.”
The 1975 went on SNL
And Matty hit a new high note in Oh Caroline:
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