ICE Nativity; tricking AI with poetry; Roundup and Chobani yogurt targeted; laughing gas relieves depression; Kim Kardashian has holes in her brain.
It's National Lard Day!
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ICE director demands Mass. church remove ‘ICE was here’ nativity scene. A sign reads, “ICE was here,” and is in the spot where Jesus, Mary and Joseph usually are in the middle of the manger scene, implying the family was taken by immigration agents.
Trump is making the same mistake as Biden. Trump is walking himself—and his party—into the same perilous trap by denying the economic reality that working families are living.
Treasury Secretary blames liberal media for affordability crisis. Struggling to afford basic necessities? Perhaps you only think you’re feeling the pinch, due to media bias against Trump.
‘Respond to what you’ve done!’ Lesley Stahl and Marjorie Taylor Greene trade barbs in tense 60 Minutes interview. Stahl accused Greene of “adding fuel to the nation’s loss of civility” before playing the recent “mea culpa” interview Greene did with CNN where she “humbly” apologized for “taking part in the toxic politics.”
Trump considering move to oust Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Are we really going to have to tolerate three more years of this gold-plated narcissism? Possible future medals and “awards”.
Google’s AI deletes user’s entire hard drive, issues groveling apology: “I cannot express how sorry I am.” “Trusting the AI blindly was my mistake,” the user wrote.
AI chatbots can be wooed into crimes with poetry. Riddle-like poems tricked chatbots into spewing hate speech and helping design nuclear weapons and nerve agents.
Science journal retracts widely cited study that claimed Roundup is safe. The paper appears to have been secretly ghostwritten by employees of Monsanto, the company that introduced Roundup in 1974. Officially, the paper’s authors, including a doctor from New York Medical College, were listed as independent scientists.
Chobani yogurt alleged to contain cancer-causing chemicals despite claim it uses ‘only natural ingredients’.
Laughing gas can offer immediate relief from depression, study finds. But relief was relatively short-lived, with symptoms returning within the week unless the dose was repeated.
Kim Kardashian’s doctor finds holes in her brain, signs of “low activity”. Some experts are calling foul.
Time might not exist – and we’re starting to understand why. TLDR: No, we’re not. Lots of theories and weird math.
Police recover a swallowed Fabergé pendant after a 6-day wait for it to reappear. From a thief who swallowed it. Yuck.
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.
History highlight:
1980 – John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.
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:
If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
--James Thurber (Wikipedia link)
(More James Thurber quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Green Monday, National Blue Collar Day, National Brownie Day, National Christmas Tree Day, National Concha Day, National Crossword Solvers Day, National Health Savings Account Day, National Lard Day, Pretend To Be a Time Traveler Day, Take it in the Ear Day, and World TAPS Awareness Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
2019 – First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.
2013 – Metallica performed a show in Antarctica, making them the first musical act to perform on all seven continents.
2010 – With the second launch of the Falcon 9, and the first launch of the Dragon, SpaceX became the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
1993 – NAFTA signed into law.
1991 – The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.
1987 – Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House.
1982 – The film “Sophie’s Choice” premiered in Los Angeles. (Video)
1980 – John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.
1978 – The film “The Deer Hunter” premiered in Los Angeles. (Video)
1969 – President Nixon announced the Vietnam War was ending.
1955 – The Flag of Europe was adopted by Council of Europe.
1953 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his “Atoms for Peace“ speech.
1949 – Chinese Nationalists moved their capital to Taiwan.
1949 – The musical “On The Town” was released. (Video)
1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 7 to be “a date which will live in infamy“, after which the U.S. declared war on Japan.
1919 – John Maynard Keynes predicted economic chaos from the Treaty of Versailles.
1863 – Between two and three thousand churchgoers died during the Church of the Company Fire.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1982 – Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and actress
1966 – Sinéad O’Connor, Irish singer-songwriter (died 2023)
1965 – David Harewood, English actor
1964 – Teri Hatcher, American actress
1961 – Ann Coulter, American political commentator and author
1953 – Sam Kinison, American comedian (died 1992)
1953 – Kim Basinger, American actress
1951 – Bill Bryson, American essayist, travel and science writer
1950 – Rick Baker, American actor and makeup artist
1947 – Gregg Allman, American musician (died 2017)
1943 – Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter and poet (died 1971)
1939 – James Galway, Irish flute player
1939 – Jerry Butler, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2025)
1937 – James MacArthur, American actor (died 2010)
1936 – David Carradine, American actor, director, and producer (died 2009)
1933 – Flip Wilson, American actor and comedian (died 1998)
1930 – Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2014)
1925 – Sammy Davis Jr., American actor, singer, and dancer (died 1990)
1916 – Richard Fleischer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006)
1915 – Ernest Lehman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2005)
1911 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (died 1976)
1894 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (died 1961)
1894 – E. C. Segar, American cartoonist, created Popeye (died 1938)
1865 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish violinist and composer (died 1957)
1861 – Georges Méliès, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1938)
1765 – Eli Whitney, American engineer, invented the cotton gin (died 1825)
1542 – Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise (died 1587)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2023 – Ryan O’Neal, American actor (born 1941)
2019 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer (Big Bird) and actor (born 1933)
2019 – René Auberjonois, American actor (born 1940)
2016 – John Glenn, American astronaut and senator, first American to go into orbit (born 1921)
2008 – Robert Prosky, American actor (born 1930)
1997 – Bob Bell, American clown (original Bozo) and actor (born 1922)
1996 – Howard Rollins, American actor (born 1950)
1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1927)
1983 – Slim Pickens, American actor (born 1919) (Video)
1982 – Marty Robbins, American singer-songwriter and race car driver (born 1925) (Video)
1980 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1940)
1978 – Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (born 1898)
1903 – Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (born 1820)
1885 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1821)
1864 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (born 1815)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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That bullshit piece of shit prize looks exactly like Colin Just said He's literally taking the world to hell... Just look at the faces in the trophy😳👀👀👀👀👀😱😱😱