Slush fund scuttled; Trump bored by Iran talks; 'conflicted' about the economy; 116°F-118°F in the shade
It's National Rotisserie Chicken Day!
Trump claims a peace deal with Iran is coming any second, but he's been saying that for months. Jon Stewart takes a look at Trump's unimpressive track record as a negotiator, despite being the self-proclaimed best negotiator in the world, and pulls back the curtain on the president's "Art of the Deal" as merely the art of trolling. Plus, the Freedom 250 concert is falling apart as more and more headliners pull out.
KGB Report is assembled by an aging human and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 212 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 962 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump’s $1.8-billion fund unravels amid court setbacks, bipartisan pushback. The Trump administration is backing away from plans to create a $1.8-billion fund to compensate people who claim the government was weaponized against them, a retreat that comes amid a cascade of legal setbacks and a revolt within members of the Republican Party. (Los Angeles Times)
All these defeats are ruining Trump’s birthday. The end of Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund is the latest in a series of setbacks.
(The Atlantic gift article)
Trump says he ‘couldn’t care less’ about Iran peace: ‘Oil will be dropping like a rock’. He added that the long-running negotiations had “started to get very boring.” (The Independent)
America’s new financial middle: not in crisis, not thriving either. A new survey by Edward Jones and Gallup found 51% of U.S. adults feel financially “conflicted,” experiencing both stability and uncertainty. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Remote work — not AI — has sidelined recent college graduates, research finds. Companies are less likely to hire recent college grads into occupations that can be done remotely. (NPR)
The stock market just did something eerily similar to the dot-com bubble top in 2000. Just 20 of the S&P 500 members joined the index at a record close on Friday. Bank of America points out just 20 stocks hit new highs at the very top of the internet bubble in March 2000. (CNBC)
Trump shovels $4 billion directly to Elon Musk, who spent a fortune getting him elected. SpaceX was awarded a $4.16 billion contract with the US Space Force to develop detection satellites that can track and target airborne threats. Just days earlier, the military arm awarded the company a separate contract, worth $2.29 billion, to build a military communications network in low-Earth orbit to support ground-based operations. (Futurism)
Florida sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleges Altman Showed ‘Utter disregard for the risk to human life’. (Variety)
Pentagon bars journalists from its press office. In another of a series of moves restricting media access at the Pentagon, the Defense Department has declared that its press office is now a classified space inaccessible to journalists. (AP)
‘Mornings and nights no longer exist’: A day in the hottest place in India. Temperatures hovered at 47-48C (116-118F) for more than a week, an extraordinary run even by local standards.(BBC)
Late Night:
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump’s concert turns into total disaster, he brags about health exam and Spencer Pratt’s mayoral ads. (Video)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Seth takes a closer look at Trump lashing out with social media posts including attacks on judges, political rivals and the Pope. (Video)
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.
History highlight:
1935 – Babe Ruth retired.
Quote of the Day:
The more defects a man may have, the older he is, the less lovable, the more resounding his success.
--Marquis de Sade (Wikipedia link)
(More Marquis de Sade quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
American Indian Citizenship Day, Happy Neil Diamond Day, Heat Action Day, I Love My Dentist Day, International Sex Workers Day, International Somtum Day, International Volkswagen Bus Day, Leave the Office Early Day, Lesbian Pride Day, Lou Gehrig Day, National Bubba Day, National Greyhound Day, National Healthcare Recruiter Recognition Day, National Janice Day, National Mississippi River Day, National Rocky Road Day, National Rotisserie Chicken Day, Vanilla Coke Day, Velveeta Day, Women’s Golf Day, World Day to Fight Myasthenia Gravis, World Eating Disorder Action Day, World Mind Map Day, and World Peatlands Day.
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On This Day:
2012 – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
2004 – Ken Jennings began his 74-game winning streak on the syndicated television game show "Jeopardy!"
1997 – Timothy McVeigh was convicted on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later.
1990 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawned 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12.
1966 – Surveyor 1 landed in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed.
1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey became the first British coronation, and one of the first major international events, to be televised.
1946 – Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians voted to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy was exiled.
1935 – Babe Ruth retired.
1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
1919 – Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities.
1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applied for a patent for his wireless telegraph.
1692 – Bridget Bishop was the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty the same day and hanged on June 10.
1608 – The Colony of Virginia received a charter, extending borders from “sea to sea”.
455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals entered Rome, and plundered the city for two weeks.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1988 – Awkwafina, American actress, rapper, and comedian
1982 – Jewel Staite, Canadian actress
1979 – Morena Baccarin, Brazilian-American actress
1978 – Justin Long, American actor
1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor and producer
1972 – Wentworth Miller, American actor and screenwriter
1972 – Wayne Brady, American actor, comedian, game show host, and singer
1968 – Andy Cohen, American television host
1955 – Dana Carvey, American comedian and actor
1953 – Cornel West, American philosopher, author, and academic
1951 – Gilbert Baker, American artist, gay rights activist, and designer of the rainbow flag (died 2017)
1950 – Joanna Gleason, Canadian actress and singer
1948 – Jerry Mathers, American actor
1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (died 2012)
1943 – Charles Haid, American actor and director
1941 – Stacy Keach, American actor
1937 – Sally Kellerman, American actress (died 2022)
1930 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 1999)
1915 – Lester del Rey, American science fiction author (died 1993)
1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer and actor (died 1984)
1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer and educator (died 1934)
1840 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (died 1928)
1740 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (died 1814)
1731 – Martha Washington, first First Lady of the United States (died 1802)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2024 – Janis Paige, American actress and singer (born 1922)
2012 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (born 1939)
2012 – Richard Dawson, English-American soldier, actor, television personality, and game show host (born 1932)
2008 – Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1928)
2008 – Mel Ferrer, American actor (born 1917)
2001 – Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (born 1908)
1990 – Rex Harrison, English actor (born 1908)
1979 – Jim Hutton, American actor (born 1934)
1977 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-born American actor (born 1931)
1969 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (born 1917)
1961 – George S. Kaufman, American director, producer, and playwright (born 1889)
1956 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (born 1886)
1941 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (born 1903)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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