Shutdown status; President for Life?; more ICE follies; A.I. develops "survival drive"; RFK orders study on effects of offshore wind farms
It's National Oatmeal Day!
On occasion, A.I. is used for good.
Please like, share, and subscribe. It really helps!
Subscriptions are free. There are no paywalls hiding stuff. Everything is visible to all levels of subscribers. That said, a paid subscription will help keep the lights on and, more importantly, keep the puppies and kitties in kibble and litter.
If you like what we’re doing but don’t want to go the paid subscription route, please consider donating a buck or two. Every little bit helps. In this case, it’s not a cliché, but the truth.
—Kevin G. Barkes
Government shutdown live updates. For all the masochists out there.
Democratic states sue to force SNAP payments during government shutdown. The Agriculture Department has $5.5 billion in backup funds for food stamp benefits but says it can’t use them.
President for Life. Trump is trying to amass the powers of a king.
Trump’s plan to subvert the midterms is already under way. Our election system is reaching a breaking point.
Johnson says he’s spoken with Trump about ‘the constrictions of the Constitution’ on a third term.
Why Trump needs to keep the third-term talk going. TLDR: Avoiding perception as “lame duck”.
Trump: ‘Pretty clear I’m not allowed to run’ for third term.
White House ousts arts commissioners expected to oversee ballroom, arch construction. “We are preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s America First Policies,” a White House official said in a statement. So… tasteless lackeys?
1.6 million people in the US illegally have self-deported, 500K deported: DHS
Trump administration shakes up ICE leadership across the country in major overhaul, AP sources say. The reason for the personnel changes wasn’t immediately clear. But they indicate a greater integration of Border Patrol agents in ICE at a time when Customs and Border Protection has been accused of using heavy-handed tactics in its immigration enforcement.
Trump administration aiming for 600,000 deportations in 2025
Top Border Patrol official must appear daily before a Chicago judge amid use of force concerns. Judge reacts to reports that ICE is apparently disregarding her orders.
ICE invokes Halo remake, seeks recruits to ‘destroy the flood’
Halo co-creator says ICE’s Halo-themed recruitment ad “makes me sick”. Another Halo maker says ad “ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation.”
Dr. Phil mulls appeal after losing bankruptcy bid over Christian network deal: “Mr. McGraw believed he was calling the shots,” judge says.
Amazon to cut about 14,000 corporate jobs in AI push.
Research paper finds that top AI systems are developing a “survival drive”. Some top AI models could be developing “survival drives,” frequently refusing instructions to shut themselves down. And more ominously, experts can’t fully explain why this is happening.
Nvidia bets the future on a robot workforce. From surgical robots to humanoid robot fleets for household chores, here’s what Nvidia announced about its robots at GPU Technology Conference.
RFK Jr. directs CDC to study alleged harms of offshore wind farms. Gee. Wonder who ordered him to do that?
Bill Gates calls for climate fight to shift focus from curbing emissions to reducing human suffering. Bill Gates thinks climate change is a serious problem but it won’t be the end of civilization. He thinks scientific innovation will curb it, and it’s instead time for a “strategic pivot” in the global climate fight: from focusing on limiting rising temperatures to fighting poverty and preventing disease.
Florida Man arrested for smashing pumpkins worth about $500.
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 puppy-dogs Japan’s new PM and rants about magnets to U.S. troops | The Daily Show (Video)
Trump’s new military target: You | Tariffs send food prices sky high | Fat Squirrel Week- Stephen Colbert (Video)
Trump rambles to our troops in Japan and Jimmy challenges him to a televised IQ test vs Crockett & AOC- Jimmy Kimmel (Video)
Tesla recalls over 63,000 Cybertrucks due to overly bright headlights- Seth Meyers (Video)
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths.
Quote of the Day:
Only the mediocre are always at their best.
--Jean Giraudoux (Wikipedia link)
(More Jean Giraudoux quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
International Day of Care and Support, International Internet Day, National Cat Day, National Hermit Day, National Oatmeal Day, World Psoriasis Day, and World Stroke Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
(Not currently updating due to government shutdown.)
On This Day:
2018 – A Boeing 737 MAX plane crashed after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia killing 189 people on board.
2015 – China announced the end of its one-child policy after 35 years.
2012 – Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the United States, killing hundreds, while leaving nearly $70 billion in damages and causing major power outages.
2008 – Delta Air Lines merged with Northwest Airlines, creating the world’s largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to five.
2004 – The Arabic-language news network Al Jazeera broadcast an excerpt from a 2004 Osama bin Laden video in which the terrorist leader first admitted direct responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks and references the 2004 U.S. presidential election.
1998 – Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, made landfall in Honduras.
1998 – ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the United States was inaugurated with the launch of the STS-95 space shuttle mission.
1998 – Space Shuttle Discovery launched on STS-95 with 77-year-old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space at that time.
1991 – The American Galileo spacecraft made its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.
1969 – The first-ever computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet. Interestingly enough, the first message crashed the system.
1967 – Montreal‘s World Fair, Expo 67, closed with over 50 million visitors.
1965 – “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” was published, nine months after the author’s assassination.
1957 – Israel’s prime minister David Ben-Gurion and five of his ministers were injured when Moshe Dwek throws a grenade into the Knesset.
1956 – “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” first aired on NBC. (Video)
1956 – Suez Crisis began: Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula and pushed Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.
1929 – Black Tuesday: The New York Stock Exchange crashed, ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression.
1921 – United States: Second trial of Sacco and Vanzetti in Boston, Massachusetts.
1918 – The German High Seas Fleet was incapacitated when sailors mutinied, an action that triggered the German Revolution of 1918–19.
1901– President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, was executed.
1888 – The Convention of Constantinople was signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.
1863 – Eighteen countries meet in Geneva and agree to form the International Red Cross.
1618 – Sir Walter Raleigh was executed.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1990 – Ben Proudfoot, Canadian filmmaker
1980 – Ben Foster, American actor
1975 – Joy Osmanski, American actress
1972 – Tracee Ellis Ross, American actress and producer
1971 – Winona Ryder, American actress and producer
1967 – Rufus Sewell, English actor
1967 – Joely Fisher, American actress and director
1967 – Beth Chapman, American reality television star (died 2019)
1961 – Randy Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1957 – Dan Castellaneta, American actor, voice artist, comedian, singer and producer
1948 – Kate Jackson, American actress, director, and producer
1947 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor and activist
1945 – Melba Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
1943 – Don Simpson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 1996)
1942 – Bob Ross, American painter and television host (died 1995)
1938 – Ralph Bakshi, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1925 – Dominick Dunne, American journalist and author (died 2009)
1922 – Neal Hefti, American trumpet player and composer (died 2008)
1921 – Bill Mauldin, American soldier and cartoonist (died 2003)
1906 – Fredric Brown, American author (died 1972)
1897 – Joseph Goebbels, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Nazi Germany (died 1945)
1891 – Fanny Brice, American actress and singer (died 1951)
1882 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (died 1944)
1740 – James Boswell, Scottish lawyer and author (died 1795)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2024 – Teri Garr, American actress and comedian (born 1944)
2019 – John Witherspoon, American actor and comedian (born 1942)
2013 – John Spence, American soldier and engineer (born 1918)
2012 – Letitia Baldrige, American etiquette expert and author (born 1926)
2011 – Jimmy Savile, English radio and television host (born 1926)
2003 – Hal Clement, American pilot, author, and educator (born 1922)
1997 – Anton LaVey, American occultist, founded the Church of Satan (born 1930)
1995 – Terry Southern, American novelist, essayist, screenwriter (born 1924)
1987 – Woody Herman, American singer, clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader (born 1913)
1971 – Duane Allman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1946)
1963 – Adolphe Menjou, American actor (born 1890)
1957 – Louis B. Mayer, Belarusian-American production manager and producer (born 1885)
1911 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American publisher, lawyer, and politician. (born 1847)
1618 – Walter Raleigh, English admiral, explorer, and politician (born 1554)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
Visit KGB Overset for the memes, cartoons, humor, news, and miscellany that didn’t fit in today’s newsletter. You can also follow on Bluesky or Facebook.
If you like KGB Report, please share with a friend.
Subscribers get all content for free. If you sign up for a paid subscription, you get my eternal gratitude, and maybe some occasional photos of the dogs and cats here at the South Park Casa de Pelaje y Cajas de Arena.
Old KGBReport.com archives (not the stuff here on Substack), all the way back to the previous century.
Current weather in South Park, PA (Personal station on Weather Underground)
KGB Quotations Database Search (KGB Quote-A-Matic)
DCL Dialog Online (an archive of my DCL Dialogue columns which appeared in DEC Professional (later renamed Digital Age) magazine from March, 1987 through December, 1995.)