A fate 'worse than recession'; global cybersecurity threats; 30% of Americans have brain parasites; but at least we have a new Florida man story.
It's World Refrigeration Day!
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Knee Deep in the Hoopla
Trump called "Daddy" at weird NATO summit; Bernie goes on Rogan; Zohran wins in NYC: A Closer Look (Video)
Behind the plans for Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention center. (Video)
Multiple Texas farms shut down after ‘almost 100%’ of workforce vanishes overnight.
The US is staring down a fate worse than recession, and four other bold forecasts. Torsten Sløk, partner and chief economist at Apollo Global Management, is predicting 2025 will feature stagflation, a 50% decline in the GDP, 3% inflation, and rising unemployment. And there’s still a 25% chance for a recession this year.
Google to Gemini users: We’re going to look at your texts whether you like it or not. Whatever happened to “Don’t be evil”? And speaking of security,
‘Cyber plague’: Experts warn of growing infostealer threat after billions of login details exposed. Cybersecurity researchers have identified online datasets that contained a whopping 16 billion login credentials across multiple platforms, including Apple, Facebook and Google. Oh, and this:
China breaks RSA encryption with a quantum computer, threatening global data security.
Scientists reveal your morning coffee flips an ancient longevity switch. When the aide asked my mother (who died this past March at age 98) to what she attributed her longevity, Mom said, “punishment from God.”
30% of Americans are infected by a brain parasite that silently alters brain function. (Which actually explains a great deal.)
Commuter traffic stops for whales on Australia’s humpback highway. Migrating whales halt ferry traffic. “It’s blubber to blubber.”
Florida man drives a Tesla through a restaurant so he could ‘charge up’.
Quote of the Day:
Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.
--Pearl S. Buck (Wikipedia link)
(More Pearl S. Buck quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Beautician's Day, Forgiveness Day, International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, National Barcode Day, National Bomb Pop Day, National Chocolate Pudding Day, National Coconut Day, National Handshake Day, National Work from Home Day, Tropical Cocktails Day, and World Refrigeration Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
2012 – American director, producer, and screenwriter Nora Ephron died. (born 1941) <Video>
2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that sex-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
2000 – The Human Genome Project announced the completion of a "rough draft" sequence.
1997 – J. K. Rowling published the first of her Harry Potter novel series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in United Kingdom.
1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1977 – Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena. <Video>
1975 – Sonny and Cher’s divorce became final. Their last appearance as a duo was an impromptu performance on Late Night With David Letterman on November 13, 1987. <Video>
1974 – The Universal Product Code was scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
1963 – Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall. <Video>
1956 – U.S. Congress approved the Federal-Aid Highway Act, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act,, which allocated more than $30 billion for the construction of some 41,000 miles of interstate highways; it will be the largest public construction project in U.S. history to that date. <Video>
1948 – Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery was published in The New Yorker magazine. <Video>
1948 – William Shockley filed the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
1945 – The United Nations Charter was signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco, California.
1936 – Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter. <Video>
1934 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opened on Coney Island. <Video>
1906 – The first Grand Prix motor race was held at Le Mans.
1870 – Richard Wagner's opera “Die Walküre” ("The Valkyrie"), the second in his Ring Cycle, premiered in Munich, featuring “Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren” ("Ride of the Valkyries"). <Video>
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1974 – Derek Jeter, American baseball player
1970 – Nick Offerman, American actor
1970 – Chris O'Donnell, American actor
1970 – Sean Hayes, American actor <Video>
1970 – Paul Thomas Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1938 – Billy Davis Jr., American pop-soul singer <Video>
1934 – Dave Grusin, American pianist and composer <Video>
1922 – Eleanor Parker, American actress (died 2013) <Video>
1911 – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer and basketball player (died 1956) <Video>
1909 – Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-American talent manager (died 1997) <Video>
1904 – Peter Lorre, Slovak-American actor and singer (died 1964) <Video>
1892 – Pearl S. Buck, American novelist, essayist, short story writer Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973)
1730 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (died 1817) <Video>
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
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