2026 predictions; Trump's toxic spew; what First Amendment?; now A.I. can take your sanity, too; the great avocado heist.
It's National Pepper Pot Day!
The biggest news story of 2025, according to Dave Barry’s readers. Check out his annual Year In Review.
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December 29 is the 363rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; two days remain until the end of the year.
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There is some good news… Dave Barry’s annual Year in Review is now out.
And for the year ahead, blind mystic Baba Vanga’s predictions for 2026. Sure, it’s bs, but recently reality has been more absurd than some of the prognostications.
While most people spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family, Trump instead binge posted on Truth Social, ending his toxic spew with a cheery “Enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas!” The details, if you want them.
Epstein survivor calls out Trump as he loses it. Donald Trump’s Christmas message on Jeffrey Epstein isn’t being received well by anyone—including survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
Did Homeland Security just violate the First Amendment on Christmas? The federal agency’s official X account published multiple posts Thursday that appeared to violate the Establishment Clause, which prohibits government actions that favor one religion over another. Gee, breaking the law on Christmas day isn’t a very Christian thing to do.
There’s a 92 percent chance Trump is making it up. Closer to 100%, I’d wager.
South Park writer snagged ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’ web domains months ago. The writer has made a habit of acquiring official-sounding domains for satirical purposes.
Companies are outlining plans for 2026. Hiring isn’t one of them. Large employers indicate that they either want to maintain the size of their teams next year or let go of workers; ‘Everybody’s afraid for their jobs’.
AI chatbots linked to psychosis, say doctors. People and their artificial-intelligence companions are entering into shared delusions, psychiatrists say; chatbots can be ‘complicit’. “They simulate human relationships. Nothing in human history has done that before.”
When A.I. took my job, I bought a chain saw. It’s not what you think.
Brigitte Bardot, star of ‘And God Created Woman’ and ‘Contempt,’ dies at 91.
Florida man allegedly steals 400 pounds of avocados to buy Christmas presents for his children. What makes it extra Floridian is where cops found the fruit- in the guy’s Mercedes.
Late Night:
The late night shows are on holiday until next week.
The tumult and triumph of late-night television in 2025. The headlines late night made in 2025 crossed over deeply into national and political news, as the increasingly bitter war between the Trump Administration and those resisting its efforts to squash every form of opposition—especially in terms of free speech—found a ferocious battlefront in the exchanges between late-night comics and the President of the United States.
The results were something close to a draw.
Watch: Jimmy Kimmel delivers UK’s alternative Christmas message.
Bookmark KGB Report Notes and check periodically for cartoons, memes, news, commentary and other stuff that didn’t fit or broke between e-mail newsletter issues. It’s also a great place to comment and chat.
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in Quote of the Day, Holidays, On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll learn something new.
History highlight:
1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre: On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota were killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
Quote of the Day:
Most people are clever because they don’t know how to be honest.
--William Gaddis (Wikipedia link)
(More William Gaddis) quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
International Cello Day, National “Get on the Scales” Day, National Pepper Pot Day, and Tick Tock Day / Still Need to Do Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
1975 – A bomb exploded at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring more than 75.
1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashed in the Florida Everglades on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101 of the 176 people on board. (Video)
1940 – In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombed London, England, killing almost 200 civilians during World War II.
1913 – Cecil B. DeMille started filming Hollywood’s first feature film, The Squaw Man.
1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre: On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota were killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
1860 – The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, rendered all previous warships obsolete.
1845 – The United States annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it as the 28th state.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell defeated American forces under Major General Robert Howe and captured the port city of Savannah, Georgia.
1607 – According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleaded for his life after tribal leaders attempted to execute him.
1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently became a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
Comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1989 – Jane Levy, American actress
1982 – Alison Brie, American actress
1979 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director and producer[261]
1976 – Danny McBride, American actor, producer and screenwriter
1972 – Jude Law, English actor
1969 – Jennifer Ehle, American actress
1967 – Lilly Wachowski, American director, screenwriter and producer
1967 – Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian-American journalist
1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian and author
1959 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress
1957 – Brad Grey, American screenwriter and producer (died 2017)
1951 – Yvonne Elliman, American singer-songwriter and actress (Video)
1947 – Ted Danson, American actor and producer
1946 – Marianne Faithfull, English singer-songwriter and actress (died 2025)
1938 – Jon Voight, American actor and producer
1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress and producer (died 2017)
1934 – Ed Flanders, American actor (died 1995)
1932 – Inga Swenson, American actress and singer (died 2023)
1929 – Matt Murphy, American guitarist (died 2018)
1923 – Dina Merrill, American actress, game show panelist, socialite, heiress, and businesswoman (died 2017)
1922 – William Gaddis, American author and academic (died 1998)
1921 – Robert C. Baker, American inventor (the chicken nugget) and professor (died 2006)
1917 – Tom Bradley, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 38th Mayor of Los Angeles (died 1998)
1915 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (died 1996)
1911 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and spy (died 1988)
1876 – Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (died 1973)
1808 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (died 1875)
1800 – Charles Goodyear, American chemist and engineer (died 1860)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2024 – Linda Lavin, American actress and singer (born 1937)
2024 – Jimmy Carter, American politician, 39th President of the United States (born 1924)
2024 – Aaron Brown, American journalist and academic (born 1948)
2022 – Pelé, Brazilian footballer (born 1940)
2020 – Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer (born 1922)
2019 – Neil Innes, English writer, comedian and musician (born 1944)
2010 – Bill Erwin, American actor and cartoonist (born 1914)
2003 – Earl Hindman, American actor (born 1942)
1986 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1894)
1980 – Tim Hardin, American singer-songwriter (born 1941)
1975 – Euell Gibbons, American author and naturalist (born 1911)
1937 – Don Marquis, American journalist, author, and playwright (born 1878)
1890 – Spotted Elk, American tribal leader (born 1826)
1834 – Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist (born 1766)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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