Viral

A couple in Seattle Washington decided the cost of living there was too damn high, and their solution was to ship out and stay ... because they're now living pretty much full time on a cruise ship!

Richard and Angelyn Burk were fed up with shelling out $3,500 a month for basics, which did not include food, transportation or entertainment. So, they started thinking ... hmmm, we love to travel, we love cruisin' the oceans and low and behold ... it's way cheaper!!! They figured it would cost them $100 a day on a cruise ship and that's all in.

So, 51-year-old Richard, who had just retired as a computer programmer in 2019, and his 53-year-old wife hopped onboard a cruise ship and pretty much stayed there, calling the ocean liner their home.

They do become landlubbers in between cruises, and they usually stay in Airbnbs or hotels.

They're currently on land, but will hop aboard again in July for back-to-back cruises which will last 9 months.

This will definitely put a smile on your face!!

A youth tee-ball player turned his walk to the batter's box into an all-out dancing sesh -- showing off his moves as Big Pun's "Still Not a Player" blared over the speakers ... and the video is adorable.

The clip is going viral on TikTok ... and once you see it, it's not hard to understand why -- the kid starts strutting his stuff as soon as he steps out of the dugout ... and he's REALLY feeling the classic tune.

The young kid shakes it, drops it low, flails his arms around and does about every other move in the book ... before the music cuts off and a coach intervenes to get him to focus on the game.

The crowd can be heard laughing over what they just witnessed ... and a lot more people get to enjoy it now, too -- it has more than a million views already on the social media platform.

But the best part?? The kid can play, too -- getting back to business and hitting a popup for a single.

There's an incredible case before the highest court in New York ... a case in which an animal rights org has filed legal docs asking the judges to give an elephant at the Bronx Zoo the same rights as a person ... to sue over illegal confinement in order to gain freedom.

The elephant in the room -- or in this case the Zoo -- is Happy, who was captured in Asia back in the '70s when she was 1-year old.

A group called the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed a writ of habeas corpus -- a legal move to get the animal out of confinement -- claiming Happy has effectively been imprisoned by the Zoo in a 1-acre facility. The group wants Happy removed from the facility and taken to a more spacious sanctuary.

The NRP claims Happy should be treated as a person in the legal system, arguing the animal is cognitively complex and autonomous ... worthy of protections afforded humans.

The org claims Happy is the first elephant to pass a self-awareness test ... she consistently touched a white "X" on her forehead as she looked in a mirror.

The New York Court of Appeals heard oral arguments yesterday, and the lawyer for the Zoo argued Happy is indeed happy, swimming, foraging and doing stuff elephants like to do.

At least one of the judges was skeptical, asking the lawyer for NRG, "So, does that mean that I couldn't keep a dog? I mean dogs can memorize words." The NRG lawyer shot back, elephants are way more cognitively complex than pooches.

If NRG is successful, it could literally open the gates of zoos in New York and possibly other states ... at least for the smartest animals in such facilities.

Tensions are running high among mothers needing baby formula in the United States ... and that's even more apparent in a new video making the rounds on social media.

Unclear where the clip was recorded, but you can see empty shelves -- where formula should be -- and one woman confronting another, accusing her of taking the remaining formula to sell at a higher price.

After the heated exchange, one walks away with all the formula, leaving the other high and dry. The woman's brother posted the clip to social media, sharing the video along with her frustrations. She wrote, "People like this cause the shortages, not enough formula for kids but hey let's ban abortions."

Reports say the country has seen about a 40% drop in formula availability from last month, with some blaming supply chain issues caused by COVID as well as a formula product recall.

A TikTok star's pleasure turned into a real pain in the butt, literally -- she says she got a sex toy stuck up there and had to get it surgically removed.

The woman, who goes by the handle @sophzaloafs and lives in the U.K., shared her horror story ... and even posted the X-ray images of a vibrator inside her body.

The TikToker says things got out of hand when she was using the 3-inch toy, and when she couldn't get it out, she sought medical help.

She says she couldn't go to the hospital the night it happened, so she tried sleeping with the vibrator inside ... but the toy continued to buzz throughout the night. As you'd imagine, that made for some serious tossing and turning.

When she finally went to the hospital the next morning, she says doctors struggled to get it out, and the only option was a surgical procedure.

A person cops believe to be responsible for shooting a Johnny Cash silhouette, causing a hilarious leak, is in custody and facing felony charges.

Officials arrested Timothy Sled on Monday, for shooting the 50,000-gallon water tank in Kingsland, Arkansas. He's been hit with 2 felony charges, one for criminal mischief and another for impairing the operation of a vital public utility.

Chief Deputy at Cleveland County Sheriff's Department Gary Young tells us they were led to Sled after an investigation that included local surveillance ... and there's still a possibility a second person will be arrested.

Here's a whopper of a tale. Everyone knows what goes into a Big Mac from that catchy jingle from the '70s ... but only one man can claim a Big Mac has gone into his stomach every single day for the past 50 years!!!

Don Gorske -- a 68-year-old man from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin -- has been lovin' the double-decker burger creation from Mickey D's ever since May 17, 1972, when he sank his teeth into his first Big Mac ... and he's never looked back.

The Big Mac was first released just 5 years earlier in 1967, but nobody on Earth has consumed as many of them over the last 50 years as Gorske. It's true ... Gorske gobbled down his 30,000th Big Mac way back in 2018 and got himself a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. He hit 32,672 in 2021 ... and he just keeps going, eating at least one Big Mac (and usually two) almost every day of his life.

And, in case you're wondering about his health, Gorske says the steady burger diet hasn't slowed him down a bit.

Gorske says "I got a comic of somebody saying I was gonna die of a heart attack within 15,000 big macs. Heck, now I'm over 30,000. I'm still alive. It's not really the food you eat. It's your lifestyle. If you're lazy, I probably would have gained a lot of weight. But, because I'm so active, I burn off my only calories.

Tayler Holder is clearing the air ... flat out saying no one has come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, and insists any rumors claiming otherwise are lies.

The TikTok star opened up on the "TMZ Verified" Podcast, following online speculation he might have been involved in unspecified sexual assault allegations. Tayler says he was never publicly confronted with any accusation from any individual, law enforcement, or attorney.

Interestingly, he says his team did have contact with someone they apparently thought was the source of the rumors, and encouraged that person to raise the allegation in a legal setting ... but he says they went silent at that point.

Folks on social media began to speculate Tayler might be in the middle of some legal trouble because some of his close friends and influencers unfollowed him on Instagram.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time he has talked about allegations -- but, his open letter and previous interview raised more questions when he said there's stuff going on that should be handled offline.

Forget the streets!! A couple of skateboarders took their talents to an airport ... doing insane moves all over the vacant lot -- just like a Tony Hawk video game!!

It all went down in New Orleans, Louisiana -- where Red Bull Skateboarding hosted its "Terminal Takeover" event and turned the empty Louis Armstrong Airport into a skate sesh.

Just like in Tony Hawk Pro Skater, the athletes had to pull off some dope tricks to gain points -- including flips, board slides, 360s, aerials, and grinds -- to unlock the next level.

Rising stars Jake Wooten and Vincent Matheron were up for the challenge ... ripping through the airport's terminal, baggage claim, sitting area and ticker counter.

Skaters Alex Sorgente and Devin Flynn even launched out of the jetway tunnel right onto a ramp on the open and active airstrip.

"Getting to live a video game fantasy I have had my entire life is special," Wooten said. "So, thank you to everyone who was involved in any way this year."

Kareem Campbell -- skateboard star who's known for his "Ghetto Bird" trick -- was also out there reppin' ... just like the Tony Hawk video game he's featured in.

Jack Harlow's rummaging through some old playlists to jab back at Brandy in their growing, but playful, beef over Jack being clueless about the singer's family tree.

ICYMI ... Jack was chopping it up with his OG's at Hot 97 when it hilariously came out that he didn't realize Ray J and Brandy were actual siblings, sparking yet another cultural debate involving the 24-year-old artist.

Late last night, Brandy finally got wind of the conversation -- responding like 2Pac, threatening to out-rap JH, and sing him to sleep. Even though she later admitted she was joking, she copped to not knowing Jack was a rapper.

Seeing as how Jack has the No. 1 song in the country -- "First Class" -- we can't figure out with Brandy diss is harsher ... the shot at his rapping, or the ol' "I don't know you."

Just imagine someone asking if Brandy was a singer when her "The Boy Is Mine" duet with Monica was ruling the charts? Yeah, total burn.

Jack did some burning of his response ... posting an IG story Tuesday with a pic of Brandy and Ray J while using her own lyrics from her 2005 Kanye West collaboration "Bring Me Down" off the album "Late Registration" against her.

Congress is holding a hearing about unexplainable objects in the skies from experts who say they are baffled .... finally, after over 50 years, our government is taking UFOs seriously.

A House panel is hearing from experts Tuesday on 144 UAPs -- Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, aka UFOs. This comes after years of silence, cover-ups and retribution against Defense Dept. officials and others who dared to express the belief ... something is out there.

Rep. Andre Carson expressed a sentiment shared by many experts over the years ... that UAPs represent a serious national security threat and must be treated as such.

Carson echoed what TMZ presented in a FOX Network documentary ... profiling Navy pilots who said they were hesitant to even report these UAPs because they feared they'd be laughed at and viewed as wackos ... possibly compromising their position in the military.

Carson said, "For too long, the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis. Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did. DOD officials relegated the issue to the backroom or swept it under the rug entirely, fearful of a skeptical national security community," Carson said. "Today, we know better. UAPs are unexplained, it's true. But, they are real. They need to be investigated. And, any threats they pose need to be mitigated."

The Pentagon's UAP Task Force released a report last year, concluding more than 140 objects they analyzed could not be explained.

Pentagon officials say the number of UAPs has now surged to over 400 since last year's report was published.

Originally Published -- 8:34 AM PT

Johnny Cash is arguably the greatest country singer ever, so it was fitting for his hometown in Arkansas to put his silhouette on a water tower, but someone decided to enhance the image with a bullet, and the results are hilarious!

The bullet hit squarely on Johnny's junk, penetrating the water tower in the process, and it now looks like J.C. is taking a never-ending leak.

It's an ignominious turn for Kingsland, a city of 500 that just wanted to honor Johnny. The singer has been taking a leak for over a week, thanks to the 50,000-gallon tank.

As humorous as it is, there are serious implications. More than 30,000 gallons of water have escaped through the bullet hole, soaking the dirt around the tower.

On the upside, there are lots of visitors who are descending on Kingsland to get a look at the leak, which always helps the local economy.

A Lyft driver wasn't about to allow a racist couple into his vehicle -- getting in a nasty back and forth with the two -- before ultimately giving them the boot.

According to the driver, the whole thing went down outside a bar called Fossils Last Stand in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. He says the ride was for a woman named "Jackie" who allegedly owns the bar.

The video is intense, you first see "Jackie" enter the vehicle, shocking the driver when she says, "You're like a white guy. You're like a normal guy, you speak English." The driver then let her know he was canceling the ride, telling her how inappropriate the comment was.

That's when the woman's male friend enters the picture, escalating things, and telling the driver he should punch him in the face.

The driver calls the couple racist, and in turn, the man calls the driver a "n*****-lover."

The passenger who landed a plane after the pilot lost consciousness says he was "calm and collected" ... in no small part because he was about to become a father.

Darren Harrison spoke to Savannah Guthrie on "Today" ... and explained with all the buttons and gadgets on the control panel, it all came down to common sense.

The emergency was even more harrowing than first reported. The 39-year-old said after the pilot became incapacitated, the Cessna began to nose-dive at a high rate of speed.

Harrison was cool as a cucumber, saying, “I knew if I didn’t react, then we would die."

As he put it ... “I was pretty calm and collected the whole time because I knew it was a life or death situation. Either you do what you have to do to control the situation or you’re gonna die.”

Harrison, who works at a flooring company, said his wife, Britney, who was 7-months pregnant with their unborn daughter, was his inspiration. He also said there was an element of divine intervention, telling Guthrie “the hand of God was on that plane."

As he said, “I was climbing to the front and that plane was in a dive. I was just looking going, ‘I can’t die today. Britney’s pregnant, I’ve got a baby on the way — not today. Today’s not my day."

As we reported, Harrison contacted the tower operator who help guide him down to the runway, where he made a perfect landing ... just incredible.

A mass shooting in Buffalo is being investigated as a hate crime after a man is alleged to have gunned down at least 10 people in cold blood ... all of which was live streamed.

18-year-old Payton Gendron was taken into custody Saturday and is now being questioned by the FBI ... this after he allegedly went on a shooting rampage at a Tops Friendly Market grocery store with what appears to be a semi-automatic weapon, leaving nearly a dozen people dead, most of whom were Black -- according to authorities in the area.

Officials say Gendron drove a long distance to arrive in this particular neighborhood -- which is predominantly African-American. He's believed to be from Conklin, NY ... some 200 miles away. Reports say he also posted a manifesto, declaring himself a white supremacist.

The most terrifying aspect of this ... the shooter appears to have been live streaming the entire ordeal, which was up on Twitch for a while ... and which was captured and circulated.

In video showing him driving to the supermarket, you hear a man -- who's decked out in tactical gear, it seems -- say something to the effect of "you just gotta go for it." He then pulls up right in front of the entrance, parks his car ... and hops out to start shooting.

Cops swarmed in upon reports of a mass shooting, Gendron was eventually apprehended ... and onlookers took in the bloody aftermath he allegedly left behind as he was being cuffed.

Other screenshots show what was going on inside ... allegedly depicting the gunman going around and firing on people at close range. His Twitch page was active during this, and it appears people were in fact tuning in and maybe even commenting as it unfolded.

Buffalo's mayor, Byron Brown, called it an "unimaginable nightmare" ... and the Erie County Sheriff John Garcia was even more forceful -- calling the onslaught "pure evil" and a "straight up racially motivated hate crime." All city and county leaders strongly disavowed the violence, and sent thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims.

All in all, 10 are reported as dead so far ... and an additional 3 are injured. There are reports that an armed security guard opened fire on the guy, but the shooter was wearing body armor ... who then fired upon and killed the guard in return.

R. Kelly's legacy is being fiercely debated amid new Kendrick Lamar lyrics that touch on the now-disgraced/convicted R&B legend -- question being ... did he make good music???

That's what Twitter's arguing about right now, this after somebody apparently responded to one of Kenny's new songs on his album, 'Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers,' in which he suggests his SO hypocritically still listens to Kelly's music -- despite, well, everything.

Here's the original tweet from Thursday that set this whole convo off -- the user writes, "I wish y’all would stop saying everybody listens to R. kelly music secretly like no we don’t 😭😭😭 i promise you the music isn’t that good."

They went on to add ... "And if you gotta listen to it in secret that means you know it’s wrong so like where are we going from here."

The track apparently referenced is "We Cry Together," featuring Taylour Paige in a heated rap argument with Kendrick. At one point, she says ... "You the reason Harvey Weinstein had to see his conclusion //You the reason R. Kelly can't recognize that he's abusive."

To that, Ken responds in the song ... "Man, shut the f*** up, we all know you still playin' his music // Said I'm tired of these emotional-ass, ungrateful-ass bitches // Fake innocent, fake feminist, stop pretendin' // Y'all sentiments ain't realer than what you defendin'."

Back to the tweet ... tons of people responded by saying that denying R. Kelly made "good" music is absurd -- frankly, the guy has the accolades and the writing/producing credits to prove it, objectively. Fact is, yeah -- R. Kelly was without a doubt a bona fide hit-maker.

There's no shortage of stars he's written/produced for and/or with (or in many cases, all 3) -- the list consists of names like Aaliyah, B2K, Diddy, Toni Braxton, Lady Gaga, Sparkle, Maxwell, MICHAEL JACKSON, Nick Cannon, Ginuwine, The Isley Bros., WHITNEY HOUSTON, Usher, Chris Brown, Jennifer Hudson, Pitbull, Justin Bieber  ... and many more.

Of course, this doesn't even touch his own personal list of hits that were wildly popular when released -- not the least of which includes 'Ignition (Remix),' 'Bump n' Grind,' 'Step in the Name of Love,' 'I Believe I Can Fly,' and countless others.

What this seems to boil down to is ... can two things be true at once, and more importantly -- can we separate the art from the artist? If so, there's simply no way anyone could argue R. Kelly didn't make good music in his heyday ... and yes, he has also done terrible things.