Shutdown ends, nobody happy; Epstein emails contain Trump references... duh; no more pennies; A.I. country song hits #1-sort of; mutated flu not in this year's vaccine.
It's National Indian Pudding Day!
We’re off tomorrow and will return on Monday, November 17. Have a great weekend!
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—Kevin G. Barkes
Government shutdown ends as Trump signs funding bill.
A historic shutdown is over. It leaves no winners and much frustration.
What really happens after the shutdown ends. Congress’s deal to reopen the government won’t immediately bring life back to normal for Americans.
Senate rejects attempt to save hemp industry from THC ban in key spending bill. Law recriminalizes types of hemp previously allowed by 2018 farm bill.
Trump named in Epstein emails released by Democrats and Republicans. I’m shocked, shocked I tell you…
Donald Trump is a lamer duck than ever. Even though he doesn’t want you to think so.
Trump admits he didn’t have to tear down East Wing for ballroom, but just wanted to.
Warnings rise for U.S. as severe flu strain causes outbreaks in Canada, U.K. The version of H3N2 that’s circulated worldwide this year acquired seven new mutations over the summer. That means the virus is quite different to the H3N2 strain included in this year’s vaccine.
Judge orders release of hundreds arrested during Chicago immigration raids. Trump officials also cannot pressure detainees to agree to voluntary deportation while cases are pending.
Goodbye prisons? Elon says his robot will follow criminals around to make sure they never offend again. “It’s just gonna stop you from committing crime, that’s really it.”
Elon Musk got one-shotted by an extremely mean tweet. The world’s richest man, bullied by 87-year-old author Joyce Carol Oates.
US Mint in Philadelphia presses final pennies as the one-cent coin gets canceled. Pennies remain legal tender, but new ones will no longer be made.
Bessent says ‘substantial’ tariff relief on coffee and bananas is coming soon.
One critical thing you can do to keep Alzheimer’s symptoms at bay. TLDR: Deep sleep.
£220 ‘for a cut-up sock’ - Apple’s new iPhone Pocket ridiculed online.
Astronomers detect first ‘radio signal’ from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS — but it wasn’t aliens. It’s actually further proof of its completely natural origins.
Florida!
Video: Florida man falls through ceiling ‘into the arms’ of SWAT.
Florida man jumps out of moving vehicle after daughter calls 911 to report parents were fighting.
Florida air force base orders residents to take down Christmas decor. Families say the housing contractor’s strict timing rules dampen holiday spirit on the base.
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.
Epstein emails implicating Trump surface as Ghislaine gets VIP treatment in prison. | The Daily Show (Video)
“Of course [Trump] knew about the girls” | Probably illegal $1 coin | The ghost Of Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Colbert (Video)
Trump rocked by new Epstein bombshell, shows off gaudy White House redesign: A Closer Look-Seth Meyers (Video)
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths.
Quote of the Day:
Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.
--Robert Louis Stevenson (Wikipedia link)
(More Robert Louis Stevenson quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Actor’s Day, Guinness World Records Day, International SGS Awareness Day, International Tempranillo Day, National Bread Pudding Day, National Indian Pudding Day, National Mom’s and Dad’s Day, Sadie Hawkins Day, Start a Rumor Day, Symphonic Metal Day, World Kindness Day, World Quality Day, and World Usability Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
(Not currently updating due to government shutdown.)
On This Day:
2015 – Islamic State operatives carried out a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris, including suicide bombings, mass shootings and a hostage crisis. The terrorists killed 130 people, making it the deadliest attack in France since the Second World War.
2013 – Hawaii legalized same-sex marriage.
2001 – War on Terror: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signed an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
1995 – The 17th James Bond film, “GoldenEye”, premiered in New York. (Video)
1987 – Sonny and Cher performed together for the last time on Late Night with David Letterman. (Video)
1985 – The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupted and melted a glacier, causing a lahar (volcanic mudslide) that buried Armero, Colombia, killing approximately 23,000 people.
1982 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
1974 – Karen Silkwood died in mysterious one-car crash.
1974 – The Amityville murders occurred.
1971 – Steven Spielberg made his feature-length film debut with the made-for-television movie “Duel”. (Video)
1970 – Bhola cyclone: A 240 km/h (150 mph) tropical cyclone hit the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night.
1956 – The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a lower court ruling that invalidated Alabama laws requiring segregated buses, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott.
1942 – World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Guadalcanal campaign.
1940 – Walt Disney‘s animated musical film Fantasia was first released at New York’s Broadway Theatre, on the first night of a roadshow. (Video)
1937 – NBC formed the first full-sized symphony orchestra exclusively for radio.
1927 – The Holland Tunnel opened to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicle tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.
1922 – The United States Supreme Court upheld mandatory vaccinations for public school students in Zucht v. King.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1969 – Gerard Butler, Scottish actor
1967 – Steve Zahn, American actor and singer
1967 – Jimmy Kimmel, American comedian, actor, and talk show host
1957 – Greg Abbott, American politician, 48th Governor of Texas
1955 – Whoopi Goldberg, American actress, comedian, and talk show host
1954 – Chris Noth, American actor and producer
1954 – Scott McNealy, American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
1953 – Tracy Scoggins, American actress
1952 – Merrick Garland, American jurist, 86th United States Attorney General
1947 – Joe Mantegna, American actor and voice artist
1941 – Dack Rambo, American actor (died 1994)
1941 – David Green, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Hobby Lobby
1938 – Jean Seberg, American-French actress and singer (died 1979)
1934 – Garry Marshall, American actor, director, and producer (died 2016)
1934 – Peter Arnett, New Zealand-American journalist and academic
1932 – Richard Mulligan, American actor (died 2000)
1929 – Fred Phelps, American lawyer, pastor, and activist, founded the Westboro Baptist Church (died 2014)
1922 – Oskar Werner, Austrian-German actor (died 1984)
1922 – Jack Narz, American game show host and announcer (died 2008)
1920 – Jack Elam, American actor (died 2003)
1917 – Robert Sterling, American actor (died 2006)
1906 – Hermione Baddeley, English actress (died 1986)
1850 – Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet, and essayist (died 1894)
1814 – Joseph Hooker, American general (died 1879)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2016 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter (born 1942)
2004 – Ol’ Dirty Bastard, American rapper and producer (born 1968)
1983 – Junior Samples, American comedian and actor (born 1926)
1974 – Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (born 1946)
1868 – Gioachino Rossini, Italian pianist and composer (born 1792)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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