Dinner fiasco; AI: IRS Audits, more expensive than humans, a "Star Trek" economy; fish oil may be hurting your brain; where's all that Trump Library cash?

It's National Gummi Bear Day!

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—Kevin G. Barkes

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(Most) everything you need to know for today:

April 27 is the 117th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 248 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 998 days remain in Trump’s term of office.

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Knee-deep in the hoopla:

• The latest on the Iran war from the Associated Press.

• White House Correspondents Dinner:

  • The White House Correspondents’ Dinner suspect sent a “manifesto” to his family. He stated he planned to target Trump administration officials, "prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest." (CBS News)

  • For those of you with the endurance, 60 Minutes posted the entirety of Nora Robert’s interview with Trump about Saturday’s events. (Video)

  • The simple security flaws that exposed trump to another gunman. Dinner guests said getting into the hotel was remarkably easy; “What the hell is the Secret Service doing?” (Wall Street Journal gift article)

  • The history of violence against President Donald Trump. Coincidentally, yesterday’s shooting took place at the hotel where, on March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan. (The Independent)

  • MAGA’s strange quiet after the shooting. Instead of a crackdown on his enemies, Trump wants his ballroom. (The Atlantic gift article)

• A.I. Roundup:

  • What are your chances of being audited now that the IRS is using AI? Jury is still out. TLDR: AI might pick you for an audit, but it probably doesn’t have a human to actually conduct it. (CNN)

  • Suspect in murder of Florida college students asked ChatGPT about putting a person in a dumpster. (NBC News)

  • AI still far more expensive than humans in most jobs: MIT study. AI could overtake humans if the costs of its deployment come down or if it is deployed via AI-as-a-service platforms that have greater scale than individual firms. (Computerworld)

  • Elon Musk says saving for retirement is irrelevant because AI is going to create a world of abundance: ‘It won’t matter’. Rather than a universal income, everyone will enjoy a “universal ‘you can have whatever you want’ income” in the future, he claimed. In this world that Musk foresees, the link between individual wages, savings, and living standards will no longer make sense. Frankly, I think he’s been watching too much Star Trek. (Fortune)

  • South Korean man might get prison time for posting AI wolf picture. You’ve heard of shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. Now meet AI-generating a wolf in a crowded country. (Gizmodo)

• Fish oil may be hurting your brain, new study finds. For people who experience repeated mild traumatic brain injuries… so as long as you don’t play football, you’re ok? (Science Daily)

• Trump library saga takes dark turn: where did millions in funding go? Four huge media conglomerates forked over $63 million in “settlements” earmarked for Trump’s presidential library. Democrats are trying to track that money—and the latest developments don’t inspire confidence. (The New Republic)

• America’s pandemic car bubble is now trapping buyers in debt. About 30% of borrowers in the first quarter who traded in a car to buy a new one had negative equity, whereby they owe more on their loan than their car is worth, according to car-shopping website Edmunds. Those borrowers owed about $7,200 on average before getting a new loan, a 42% jump compared with the same period five years prior. (Wall Street Journal gift article)

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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.

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History highlight:
2011 – The 2011 Super Outbreak devastated parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Two hundred five tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more. (Video)

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Quote of the Day:

If you look at great human civilizations, from the Roman Empire to the Soviet Union, you will see that most do not fail simply due to external threats but because of internal weakness, corruption, or a failure to manifest the values and ideals they espouse.
--Cory Booker (Wikipedia link)

(More Cory Booker quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)

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Today’s holidays:

Babe Ruth Day, Confederate Memorial Day, International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day, International Design Day, International Donor Conception Awareness Day, Marine Mammal Rescue Day, Matanzas Mule Day, Morse Code Day, National Devil Dog Day, National Gummi Bear Day, National Prime Rib Day, National Tell a Story Day, World Marselan Day, and World Tapir Day.

Details here and here.

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On This Day:

• 2023 – The final episode of “The Late Late Show with James Corden” aired on CBS.

• 2014 – “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” premiered on HBO.

• 2011 – The 2011 Super Outbreak devastated parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Two hundred five tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more. (Video)

• 2009 – GM announced plans to phase out its Pontiac brand.

• 2007 – Israeli archaeologists discovered the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.

• 2006 – Construction began on the Freedom Tower (later renamed One World Trade Center) in New York City.

• 2005 – The Airbus A380 aircraft had its maiden test flight.

• 1994 – South Africa held its first multiracial elections.

• 1989 – The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

• 1986 – The city of Pripyat and surrounding areas were evacuated due to the Chernobyl disaster.

• 1986 – American electrical engineer and business owner John R. MacDougall (using the pseudonym "Captain Midnight") jammed the Home Box Office (HBO) satellite signal on Galaxy 1 during a showing of the film The Falcon and the Snowman.

• 1978 – Willow Island disaster: In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers were killed when a cooling tower under construction collapsed at the Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia.

• 1978 – The Saur Revolution began in Afghanistan, ending the following morning with the murder of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

• 1967 – Expo 67 officially opened in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast around the world. It opened to the public the next day.

• 1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini was arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.

• 1942 – Sugar became the first rationed household staple during WWII.

• 1865 – The Sultana steamship explosion killed 1,700.

• 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus.

• 1810 – Ludwig van Beethoven composed Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor (“Für Elise“) (Video)

• 1805 – U.S. agent William Eaton led the first U.S. Marines battle, on “the shores of Tripoli”.

• 1667 – Blind and impoverished, John Milton sold Paradise Lost to a printer for £10, so that it could be entered into the Stationers’ Register.

• 1521 – Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapulapu.

• 4977 BC – The universe was created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler.

(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)

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Some Birthdays:

• 1988 – Lizzo, American singer and rapper

• 1986 – Jenna Coleman, English actress

• 1983 – Ari Graynor, American actress and producer

• 1976 – Sally Hawkins, English actress

• 1969 – Cory Booker, African-American lawyer and politician

• 1968 – Dana Milbank, American journalist and author

• 1963 – Russell T Davies, Welsh screenwriter and producer

• 1961 – Andrew Schlafly, American lawyer and activist, founded Conservapedia

• 1959 – Sheena Easton, Scottish-American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer (Video)

• 1951 – Ace Frehley, American guitarist and songwriter (died 2025)

• 1948 – Frank Abagnale Jr., American security consultant and criminal (Video)

• 1947 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1975)

• 1945 – August Wilson, American author and playwright (died 2005)

• 1944 – Cuba Gooding Sr., American singer (died 2017) (Video)

• 1939 – Judy Carne, English actress and comedian (died 2015) (Video)

• 1937 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (died 1992)

• 1932 – Casey Kasem, American disc jockey, radio celebrity, and voice actor; co-created American Top 40 (died 2014) (Video)

• 1927 – Coretta Scott King, African-American activist and author (died 2006)

• 1922 – Jack Klugman, American actor (died 2012) (Video)

• 1899 – Walter Lantz, American animator (Woody Woodpecker), producer, screenwriter, and actor (died 1994)

• 1896 – Wallace Carothers, American chemist and inventor of nylon (died 1937)

• 1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (died 1885)

• 1820 – Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (died 1903)

• 1791 – Samuel Morse, American painter and inventor, co-invented the Morse code (died 1872)

• 1759 – Mary Wollstonecraft, English philosopher, historian, and novelist (died 1797)

(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)

Some Deaths:

• 2023 – Jerry Springer, American politician and actor (born 1944)

• 2011 – Marian Mercer, American actress and singer (born 1935)

• 2002 – Ruth Handler, American inventor and businesswoman, created the Barbie doll (born 1916)

• 1999 – Al Hirt, American trumpet player and bandleader (born 1922) (Video)

• 1996 – William Colby, American diplomat, 10th Director of Central Intelligence (born 1920)

• 1992 – Gerard K. O’Neill, American physicist and astronomer (born 1927)

• 1989 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese businessman, founded Panasonic (born 1894)

• 1977 – Stanley Adams, American actor and screenwriter (born 1915)

• 1965 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (born 1908) (Video)

• 1882 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (born 1803)

• 1813 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (born 1779)

• 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese sailor and explorer (born 1480)

(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)

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.

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