Dems fold on shutdown; Trump 'undoes' SNAP payments; AI scams and power costs; Trump whines and wines.
It's National Vanilla Cupcake Day!
President Donald Trump was booed Sunday at the Washington Commanders game.
Also, White House says naming new Washington Commanders stadium after Trump would be ‘beautiful’. Author Steven King suggested “Felon Field.”
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Senate takes first step to end government shutdown after some Democrats agree to proceed without guaranteed extension of health subsidies. In a 60-to-40 vote on Sunday night, the Senate cleared the way for a spending deal to end the government shutdown after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight.
Senate Democrats just made a huge mistake. The shutdown was hurting Trump. Ending it helps him.
Trump administration demands states ‘undo’ full SNAP payouts as states warn of ‘catastrophic impact’. The demand from the U.S. Department of Agriculture came as more than two dozen states warned of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP benefits they authorized before the Supreme Court’s stay.
The grift goes on: Trump wines now being sold at military run stores.
Trump promises a $2,000 tariff ‘dividend’ that Treasury secretary says could come via tax cuts already signed into law. Trump has floated a tariff-related payment multiple times in the past. But his latest proposal came just days after his administration told the Supreme Court that tariffs are not meant to generate revenue, aka taxes, which can only be levied by Congress.
What’s at risk when federal research funding to universities is cut. | 60 Minutes (Video)
Masked ICE agents put damper on Chicago Girl Scout food drive: ‘It’s heartbreaking as a mom’.
TikTok Shop reportedly faces deluge of 70 million fake products. AI is to blame.
Electricity costs soar more than 200% near data centers. Data centers are projected to consume as much as 12% of U.S. electricity by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
This week’s contradictory medical finding: Coffee may protect against irregular heartbeats. Then again, “There’s not a hard-and-fast rule. Not everyone has the same reaction to caffeine.”
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.
Pay attention to the first ten minutes of SNL. James Austin Johnson’s catchall monologues have become an ideal format for the recent onslaught of political news.
Oval Office press conference cold open - SNL (Video)
Weekend Update: Executive collapses in Oval Office, Zohran Mamdani elected new mayor of NYC - SNL (Video)
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths.
Quote of the Day:
If you’re not happy before you’re successful, you’re going to be miserable when you do become successful because all your problems just get magnified.
-Sinbad (Wikipedia link)
Today’s holidays:
Area Code Day, International Accounting Day, National Civic Pride Day, National Forget-Me-Not Day, National Vanilla Cupcake Day, Sesame Street Day, United States Marine Corps Birthday, World Keratoconus Day, World NET Cancer Day, World Orphans Day, World Science Day for Peace and Development, and World Youth Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
(Not currently updating due to government shutdown.)
On This Day:
2014 – The single “Uptown Funk” was released. (Video)
2002 – Veteran’s Day Weekend Tornado Outbreak: A tornado outbreak stretching from Northern Ohio to the Gulf Coast, one of the largest outbreaks recorded in November.
1997 – WorldCom and MCI Communications announcd a $37 billion merger (the largest merger in US history at the time).
1995 – In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), were hanged by government forces.
1990 – The film “Home Alone” premiered in Chicago. (Video)
1983 – Bill Gates introduced Windows 1.0.
1979 – A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derailed in Mississauga, Ontario.
1975 – The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board.
1969 – National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuted Sesame Street.
1958 – The Hope Diamond was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston.
1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia.
1951 – With the rollout of the North American Numbering Plan, (area codes) direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service began in the United States.
1918 – The Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, received a top-secret coded message from Europe (that was sent to Ottawa and Washington, D.C.) that said on November 11, 1918, all fighting would cease on land, sea and in the air.
1903 – Mary Anderson patented the windshield wiper. (Her patent expired before she could entice anyone to use her idea.)
1898 – White supremacists seized power and massacred black Americans during the Wilmington massacre, the only instance of a municipal government being overthrown in United States history.
1871 – Henry Morton Stanley located missing explorer and missionary, David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, famously greeting him with the words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
1865 – Major Henry Wirz, the superintendent of a prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia, was hanged, becoming one of only three American Civil War soldiers executed for war crimes.
1775 – The United States Marine Corps was founded.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1971 – Walton Goggins, American actor and producer
1968 – Tracy Morgan, American comedian and actor
1960 – Neil Gaiman, English author, illustrator, and screenwriter
1959 – Mackenzie Phillips, American actress
1956 – Sinbad, American comedian and actor
1955 – Roland Emmerich, German director, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Ann Reinking, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (died 2020)
1948 – Aaron Brown, American journalist and academic (died 2024)
1947 – Dave Loggins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2024)
1945 – Donna Fargo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Tim Rice, English lyricist and author
1940 – Screaming Lord Sutch, English singer-songwriter and politician (died 1999)
1932 – Roy Scheider, American actor (died 2008)
1929 – Marilyn Bergman, American composer and songwriter (died 2022)
1928 – Ennio Morricone, Italian trumpet player, composer, and conductor (died 2020)
1925 – Richard Burton, Welsh actor and singer (died 1984)
1919 – George Fenneman, American radio and television announcer (died 1997)
1916 – Billy May, American trumpet player and composer (died 2004)
1909 – Johnny Marks, American composer and songwriter (died 1985)
1891 – Carl Stalling, American pianist and composer (died 1972)
1889 – Claude Rains, English-American actor (died 1967)
1888 – Andrei Tupolev, Russian engineer and designer, founded the Tupolev Design Bureau (died 1972)
1810 – George Jennings, English plumber and engineer, invented the flush toilet (died 1882)
1483 – Martin Luther, German monk and priest, leader of the Protestant Reformation (died 1546)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2022 – Kevin Conroy, American actor and voice actor, longtime voice of Batman (born 1955)
2015 – Allen Toussaint, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (born 1938)
2015 – Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist, physicist, and engineer, founded the Amdahl Corporation (born 1922)
2010 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian-American actor, producer, and production manager (born 1919)
2007 – Norman Mailer, American novelist and essayist (born 1923)
2006 – Jack Williamson, American author, critic, and academic (born 1908)
2006 – Jack Palance, American boxer and actor (born 1919)
2003 – Irv Kupcinet, American journalist and talk show host (born 1912)
2001 – Ken Kesey, American novelist, essayist, and poet (born 1935)
1994 – Carmen McRae, American singer, pianist, and actress (born 1920)
1992 – Chuck Connors, American actor (born 1921)
1982 – Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian general and politician, 4th Head of State of the Soviet Union (born 1906)
1938 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, Turkish field marshal and statesman, 1st President of Turkey (born 1881)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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