Comey, James cases tossed; skull-fracturing robots; mind-reading AI; cremation close call; Trump pushing Obamacare subsidies?
It's National Parfait Day!
‘It’s absurd’: Sen. Kelly bites back at Trump, Hegseth threats over ‘illegal orders’ video
Senator Mark Kelly, in an interview with Rachel Maddow, emphasized his view that “it’s almost comical” that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are calling it a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that he cited part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in a recent video. Kelly explained his participation in the video in the context of protecting members of the military from a president who “doesn’t seem to care about the Constitution, the rule of law.”
NY Times gift article: Pentagon opens inquiry into Senator Mark Kelly over what Hegseth calls ‘seditious’ video. The defense secretary called the senator’s remarks urging troops not to follow illegal orders “despicable, reckless, and false.”
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Judge tosses cases against Comey and James, rules prosecutor appointment unlawful. The decision could end the prosecution of the former FBI director. The government could refile charges against the New York attorney general.
‘Obamacare-lite’? Republicans revolt against Trump’s secret health care plan. President Donald Trump is delaying a planned announcement of a proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, according to two White House officials, after congressional Republicans pushed back against the president’s sudden embrace of the expiring subsidies.
Shoppers curtail Black Friday plans to stretch spending. Consumers plan to spend an average of $622 between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, down 4% from last year, according to a new Deloitte survey.
The conservative movement’s intellectual collapse: Trump is both a product and a cause of the decline in intellectual standards on the right.
Kennedy sharpens vaccine attacks, without scientific backing.
RFK Jr.’s bizarre erotic poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe.
Elon Musk’s worthless, poisoned Hall of Mirrors. How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature.
Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that the startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’.
Mind-reading devices can now predict preconscious thoughts: is it time to worry? Ethicists say AI-powered advances will threaten the privacy and autonomy of people who use neurotechnology.
Internet Archive’s legal fights are over, but its founder mourns what was lost. “We survived, but it wiped out the library,” Internet Archive’s founder says.
These eight restaurant chains have the worst food safety records in America. TLDR: Whatever you guessed, you’re probably right.
Thai woman found alive in coffin after being brought in for cremation.
Florida man busted after attempting to pawn stolen oxygen tanks, mobility scooter.
Late Night:
Why is there a Late Night section? Because late night comedians, unfettered by institutional journalistic and corporate inhibitions, often provide observations and analysis that are more thorough and comprehensive than network or cable news. And the humor helps.
Trump is hot for Mamdani, Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns from Congress and RFK Jr’s explicit poems.-Jimmy Kimmel (Video)
MAGA stunned after Zohran Mamdani charms Donald Trump in the Oval Office: A Closer Look-Seth Meyers (Video)
Trump keeps trying to silence late-night TV. He’s only making it louder.
History highlight:
1963 – State funeral of John F. Kennedy; after lying in state at the United States Capitol, a Requiem Mass took place at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and the President is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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.
Quote of the Day:
There does not appear to be much use in providing a ladder for the people to ascend if the distance from the earth to the first step be made so great they cannot reach it.
--Andrew Carnegie (Wikipedia link)
(More Andrew Carnegie quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Blasé Day, Day of the Covenant, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, National “Eat with a Friend” Day, National Parfait Day, Roses Revolution Day, and Shopping Reminder Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
1990 – Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge sank to the bottom of Lake Washington.
1986 – Iran–Contra affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announced that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1963 – State funeral of John F. Kennedy; after lying in state at the United States Capitol, a Requiem Mass took place at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and the President is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
1960 – The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic were assassinated.
1959 – The Birdman of Alcatraz asked a court to set him free.
1952 – Agatha Christie‘s murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End after a premiere in Nottingham, UK. It became the longest continuously running play in history.
1950 – The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 impacted 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing US$66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars).
1947 – Red Scare: The “Hollywood Ten“ were blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
1926 – The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history killed 76 people and injures more than 400.
1915 – Albert Einstein presented his field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
1876 – American Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack the sleeping village of Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife at the headwaters of the Powder River.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
1758 – French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Later, Fort Pitt will be built nearby and grow into modern Pittsburgh.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1981 – Jenna Bush Hager, American journalist
1973 – Eddie Steeples, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (Video)
1971 – Christina Applegate, American actress
1968 – Jill Hennessy, Canadian actress and singer
1960 – John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer, journalist, and publisher (died 1999)
1960 – Amy Grant, American singer-songwriter
1947 – John Larroquette, American actor (Video)
1944 – Ben Stein, American actor, television personality, game show host, lawyer, and author (Video)
1940 – Percy Sledge, American singer (died 2015) (Video)
1926 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (died 1969) (Video)
1926 – Poul Anderson, American author (died 2001)
1920 – Noel Neill, American actress (died 2016) (Video)
1920 – Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican-American actor, singer, and director (died 2009) (Video)
1920 – Shelagh Fraser, English actress (died 2000)
1914 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player and coach (died 1999)
1846 – Carrie Nation, American activist (died 1911)
1844 – Karl Benz, German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (died 1929)
1835 – Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist (died 1919)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2024 – Earl Holliman, American actor (born 1928)
2024 – Hal Lindsey, American evangelist and Christian writer (born 1929)
2016 – Ron Glass, American actor (born 1945)
2016 – Fidel Castro, Communist leader of Cuba, and revolutionary (born 1926)
2013 – Al Plastino, American author and illustrator (born 1921)
1998 – Flip Wilson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1933)
1981 – Jack Albertson, American actor and singer (born 1907)
1973 – Laurence Harvey, Lithuania-born English actor (born 1928)
1968 – Upton Sinclair, American novelist, critic, and essayist (born 1878)
1920 – Gaston Chevrolet, French-American racing driver and businessman (born 1892)
1748 – Isaac Watts, English hymnwriter (“Joy To The World”) and theologian (born 1674)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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KGB Quotations Database Search (KGB Quote-A-Matic)
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