Another Trump attack on democracy; more Epstein debris; Obama on extraterrestrials; Colbert attacks FCC, CBS on air.
It's National Cabbage Day!
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February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 317 days remain until the end of the year. Unfortunately, as of this writing, 1,067 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump’s new voter ID threat is his gravest attack on democracy yet. The president says he’ll do it “whether approved by Congress or not!” He can’t legally do that—but that hasn’t stopped him before.
The Founders would have opposed ‘nationalizing’ elections. The writers of the Constitution sought an approach that balanced control between the states and the federal government.
FBI formally refuses to share evidence in Alex Pretti killing, Minnesota investigators say. The FBI has also withheld evidence in the federal killing of Renee Good and the shooting of a Venezuelan national last month. The BCA said it has reiterated requests for evidence and information in all three shootings.
Hyatt Chairman Pritzker leaves board over Epstein ties. Pritzker, who has held the role for more than two decades, said he regretted maintaining contact with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Steve Bannon breaks silence as bombshell Epstein texts expose stunning Trump betrayal.
Jikipedia makes falling into an Epstein rabbit hole easier than ever. A newly released AI-backed resource by the creators of JMail puts the trove of ghastly files in a familiar, contextualizing, time-sucking format.
There’s a grim new expression: “AI;DR”. "Why should I bother to read something someone else couldn't be bothered to write?"
Anderson Cooper leaving '60 Minutes' in latest CBS News shakeup. Cooper is the latest high-profile journalist to depart CBS News since the arrival of Bari Weiss as the network’s new editor-in-chief in October following Paramount Skydance’s purchase of her outlet The Free Press.
Obama shuts down alien buzz and says there’s no evidence they’ve made contact.
Obesity rates are rising, despite GLP-1s. What does it mean? Uh…Ozempic is too expensive?
DNA mutations found in children of Chernobyl workers exposed to radiation after 1986 nuclear disaster.
Bezos vs. Musk: The new billionaire battle for the Moon. Elon Musk has changed his focus from Mars to a lunar base, going head to head with Jeff Bezos.
The exact fridge temperature you should use, backed by science.
Late Night:
Stephen Colbert on a roll:
The alleged affair between DHS Sec. Kristi Noem and her advisor Corey Lewandowski is reportedly making life hell for their staffers, President Obama backpedaled after telling a podcaster that aliens are real, and you should think twice before taking nutrition advice from the chatbot on the new HHS website. (Video)
The Wall Street Journal article Colbert references: The battles inside Kristi Noem’s DHS: five takeaways from the Journal’s investigation. (Gift article)
Stephen Colbert explains to his broadcast audience that a new directive from Brendan Carr's FCC makes it next to impossible for CBS to air his interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico on CBS. (Video)
Since Colbert couldn’t interview Talarico on air, he posted an online-exclusive interview that touches on the issues raised in Talarico's campaign for the Democratic nomination for Senate including the separation of church and state, the dangers of consolidated corporate-owned media, and the fabricated culture wars pushed by Republicans in states like Texas. (Video)
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:
1972 – The Volkswagen Beetle overtook the Ford Model T as world’s best-selling car.
Quote of the day:
If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.
--Thomas J. Watson (Wikipedia link)
(More Thomas J. Watson quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Champion Crab Races Day, Global Tourism Resilience Day, Lunar (Chinese) New Year, My Way Day, National Cabbage Day, National Café au Lait Day, National Indian Pudding Day, National PTA Founders’ Day, National Public Science Day, Pączki Day, Pancake Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras), Who Shall I Be Day, and World Human Spirit Day.
On This Day:
1996 – World champion Garry Kasparov beat the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
1972 – The Volkswagen Beetle overtook the Ford Model T as world’s best-selling car.
1970 – The family of Jeffrey R. MacDonald, United States Army captain, was found murdered in their home in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. MacDonals was convicted of the crime.
1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite was launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
1947 – Voice of America began broadcasts to Russia.
1936 – The first comic strip “superhero”, The Phantom, was published. The strip is still currently appearing in newspapers.
1904 – Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly premiered at the La Scala theatre in Milan, Italy.
1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, was burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley became the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1819 – The United States House of Representatives passed the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1801 – Thomas Jefferson was elected third U.S. president by the House of Representatives after a tie in Electoral College voting.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1991 – Bonnie Wright, English actress, filmmaker, and activist
1991 – Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1991 – Jeremy Allen White, American actor
1981 – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor, director, and producer
1981 – Paris Hilton, American model, media personality, actress, singer, DJ, author and businesswoman
1980 – Jason Ritter, American actor
1978 – Rory Kinnear, English actor and playwright
1974 – Jerry O’Connell, American actor, director, and producer’
1971 – Denise Richards, American model and actress
1965 – Michael Bay, American director and producer
1963 – Michael Jordan, American basketball player, executive, and businessman
1963 – Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian and voice actor
1962 – Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director
1956 – Richard Karn, American actor and game show host
1954 – Rene Russo, American actress
1942 – Huey P. Newton, American activist, co-founded the Black Panther Party (died 1989)
1940 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (died 2006)
1937 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (died 2014)
1936 – Jim Brown, American football player and actor (died 2023)
1935 – Christina Pickles, English-American actress
1934 – Barry Humphries, Australian comedian (Dame Edna), actor, and author (died 2023)
1934 – Alan Bates, English actor (died 2003)
1930 – Ruth Rendell, English author (died 2015)
1925 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director (died 2021)
1920 – Curt Swan, American illustrator (Superman) (died 1996)
1919 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress and singer (died 2001) (Video)
1914 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (died 1990)
1912 – Andre Norton, American author (died 2005)
1877 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (died 1932)
1874 – Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (died 1956)
1843 – Aaron Montgomery Ward, American businessman, founded Montgomery Ward (died 1913)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2021 – Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author (born 1951)
2010 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and singer (born 1922)
2005 – Dan O’Herlihy, Irish-American actor (born 1919)
1994 – Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (born 1951)
1982 – Lee Strasberg, American actor and director (born 1901)
1982 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (born 1917)
1970 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (born 1900)
1909 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (born 1829)
1673 – Molière, French actor and playwright (born 1622)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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