Artists bail on Trump; Americans squeezed by inflation, debt; expensive, stinky health care; mosquitoes and pigeon updates; Blue Origin goes boom.
It's International Coq Au Vin Day!
Trump administration officials have pressed the office responsible for printing the nation’s money to design a $250 bill featuring the president’s portrait, according to four current and former employees, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years. (Washington Post gift article)
This unusual Friday edition is due to being off Monday for Memorial Day. Have a great weekend!
KGB Report is assembled by an aging human and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 216 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 966 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Artists bail on D.C. bash for America’s 250th birthday after being listed on the lineup. Freedom 250, a public-private partnership backed by President Donald Trump, announced a list of performers Wednesday, but shortly after, Morris Day and the Time, Young MC, Martina McBride and The Commodores announced that they would not be making appearances. (NBC)
Researchers put AI models in charge of a simulated society. Grok oversaw a crime spree. If Elon Musk's bot ruled the world, total societal collapse would apparently follow. The model made it happen in just 96 hours of oversight. (Gizmodo)
Inflation is at a three-year high — and now many Americans are burning through their savings. Many Americans are spending more than the income they have coming in. This is not sustainable, especially for lower-income and middle-class households. (CNN)
Americans are falling behind on their $1.25 trillion credit-card bill. In the first quarter of this year, the percentage of credit-card balances that were at least 90 days delinquent rose to 13.12%, according to data released in May by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s the highest level in 15 years, and the most since the period following the 2008 financial crisis. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
US healthcare still stupidly expensive, with pathetic outcomes, study finds. An updated analysis comparing healthcare systems across 20 countries finds once again that the US system is an outstandingly poor performer, summarized as being a “persistent failure” for its high costs, poor health outcomes, and premature deaths. (Ars Technica)
Citation dismissed after deputy accuses driver without hand of holding phone. (ABC News) (Video)
Mosquitoes can learn to associate DEET repellent with a meal, threatening its effectiveness. Under specific conditioning circumstances, mosquitoes may not only become less repelled but may actually be attracted by the scent of DEET, perceiving it as a signal associated with food. (Bioengineer.org)
Pigeons may be navigating with their liver, study suggests. Specialized immune cells in the pigeon’s liver break down red blood cells and store iron. The iron-rich liver cells might play a role in their sense of direction. (AP)
Blue Origin rocket explodes during test at Cape Canaveral. Blue Origin said the rocket "experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test." (ABC News)
Late Night:
Jimmy Kimmel Live! We are now officially 159 days from the midterm elections, Trump’s approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low even though he has “done more” than any President ever, the DOJ is now going after one of Trump’s victims E. Jean Carroll who accused him of sexually assaulting her, in honor of our country’s 250th anniversary the Treasury Department is looking to print special Trump $250 bills, they’re also lining up entertainment for the “Great American State Fair” and the lineup is shaping up to be a real dud, there will be a mass pardoning ceremony as part of the semi-quincentennial celebration, the US and Iran have reportedly reached another tentative deal to potential end the war he says we won three months ago, the State Department posted a very upbeat message for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, RFK Jr can’t stop picking up snakes, and another edition of This Week in Florida. (Video)
Keep scrolling… 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:
1886 – The pharmacist John Pemberton placed his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, which appeared in The Atlanta Journal.
Quote of the Day:
Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.
--G.K. Chesterton (Wikipedia link)
(More G.K. Chesterton quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Addison’s Disease Day, End of the Middle Ages Day, International Coq Au Vin Day, International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, International Everest Day, Learn About Composting Day, National 529 Day, National Alligator Day, National Heat Awareness Day, National Paper Clip Day, National Snail Day, Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day, and World Digestive Health Day.
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On This Day:
2005 – France rejected the Constitution of the European Union in a national referendum.
2004 – The National World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1999 – Space Shuttle Discovery completed the first docking with the International Space Station.
1982 – Falklands War: the British Army defeated the Argentine Army at the Battle of Goose Green.
1973 – Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles, California.
1969 – Atlantic Records released the eponymous debut album of “Crosby, Stills & Nash” containing the hits ‘Marrakesh Express’ and ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’. (Video)
1953 – Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay’s (adopted) 39th birthday.
1942 – Bing Crosby recorded Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" for the soundtrack to his film "Holiday Inn" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers in just 18 minutes; it became the world's best-selling single, with an estimated 100 million copies sold.
1919 – Albert Einstein‘s theory of general relativity was tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington and Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin.
1913 – Igor Stravinsky‘s ballet score The Rite of Spring received its premiere performance in Paris, France, provoking a riot.
1886 – The pharmacist John Pemberton placed his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, which appeared in The Atlanta Journal.
1851 – Sojourner Truth delivers her famous Ain’t I a Woman? speech at the Woman’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
1453 – Fall of Constantinople: Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II capture Constantinople after a 53-day siege, ending the Roman Empire after over 2,000 years.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1989 – Riley Keough, American model and actress
1987 – Noah Reid, Canadian actor, musician, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Daniel Tosh, American comedian, television host, actor, writer, and executive producer
1975 – Mel B, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1972 – Laverne Cox, American actress and LGBT advocate
1961 – Melissa Etheridge, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist
1958 – Annette Bening, American actress
1956 – La Toya Jackson, American singer-songwriter and actress
1955 – John Hinckley Jr., American attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan
1953 – Danny Elfman, American film composer, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1947 – Anthony Geary, American actor (died 2025)
1932 – Paul R. Ehrlich, American biologist and author (died 2026)
1920 – Clifton James, American actor (died 2017)
1917 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (died 1963)
1903 – Bob Hope, English-American actor, singer, and producer (died 2003)
1897 – Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Czech-American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1957)
1736 – Patrick Henry, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (died 1799)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2021 – B. J. Thomas, American singer (born 1942)
2021 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (born 1931)
2015 – Betsy Palmer, American actress (born 1926)
2010 – Dennis Hopper, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1936)
2008 – Harvey Korman, American actor and comedian (born 1927)
1998 – Barry Goldwater, American general, activist, and politician (born 1909)
1997 – Jeff Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1966)
1993 – Billy Conn, American boxer (born 1917)
1979 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter, co-founder of United Artists (born 1892)
1951 – Fanny Brice, American singer and comedian (born 1891)
1942 – John Barrymore, American actor (born 1882)
1911 – W. S. Gilbert, English playwright and poet (born 1836)
1829 – Humphry Davy, English-Swiss chemist and academic (born 1778)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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