The FAFO presidency; Greenland worries; HHS says "all the diseases will be available"; falling out of love with pizza; A.I. toilets are here; holy Deepfakes; ribless McRibs.
It's National Bean Day!
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January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 359 days remain until the end of the year.
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Trump’s hint to oil executives weeks before Maduro ouster: ‘get ready’. President Trump had a vague but tantalizing message for a couple of American oil executives roughly a month before the U.S. captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro: “Get ready.”
The *f*ck-around-and-find-out presidency. Truman, Reagan, and Monroe wouldn’t approve of the language, but a doctrine is a doctrine, even if it’s only five words long.
‘Damn straight we did!’ Stephen Miller melts down in wild exchange with Jake Tapper.
Not The Onion: HHS website says ‘All the diseases… will still be available to anyone who wants them.’ The Department of Health and Human Services either committed an editing error or is offering “all diseases” to Americans via the Affordable Care Act.
Trump seizing Greenland could set off a chain reaction. After Venezuela, Europeans are taking the president’s threats seriously.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence. Its board of directors chose Monday to shutter CPB completely instead of keeping it in existence as a shell.
America is falling out of love with pizza. Pizza restaurants are now outnumbered by coffee shops and Mexican-inspired eateries, with sales growth lagging behind the broader U.S. fast-food market.
A.I. toilets are here. At this year's CES show, a pair of tech companies are hoping people will make the smart potty their number one (and number two) priority.
Deepfake AI pastors are stealing from churchgoers. Churchgoers across the country are becoming the target of deepfake schemes, with scammers using AI-generated versions of pastors to steal money from their congregation.
McDonald’s McRib is misleading customers, according to a new lawsuit. Guess what? No rib meat.
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 kidnaps President Maduro, targets Venezuelan oil and ditches “America First” | The Daily Show- Jon Stewart (Video)
Sen. Mark Kelly - “I’m not backing down”. (Video)
Jimmy Kimmel recaps the crazy stuff Trump did over the holidays and takes cognitive test Donny “aced”.-Jimmy Kimmel (Video)
Did Maduro’s dancing prompt Trump to attack Venezuela? | No regime change | Another war for oil-Stephen Colbert (Video)
A new dance craze sweeps across the Americas (Video)
Stephen Colbert says ‘don’t trust billionaires’ when asked about ‘major lesson’ of 2025: ‘They don’t get rich by finding that money on the side of the road’.
Trump says U.S. will “run” Venezuela and take its oil, threatens Colombia, Mexico, Cuba: A Closer Look-Seth Meyers (Video)
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.
History highlight:
2021 – Americans stormed the United States Capitol Building to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in four deaths and evacuation of the U.S. Congress.
Quote of the Day:
I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad.
-E.L. Doctorow (Wikipedia link)
(More E.L. Doctorow quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Apple Tree Day, Epiphany, National Bean Day, National Cuddle Up Day, National King Cake Day, National Shortbread Day, National Smith Day, National Take a Poet to Lunch Day, National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day, National Technology Day, and World Day for War Orphans.
On This Day:
2025 – Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister of Canada after nine years in office
2021 – Americans stormed the United States Capitol Building to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in four deaths and evacuation of the U.S. Congress.
2005 – Edgar Ray Killen was indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner during the American Civil Rights Movement.
2001 – Congress certified George W. Bush as winner of the 2000 election.
1996 – Blizzard of 1996 began.
1994 – U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding‘s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commenced nearly four months early in the United States.
1947 – Pan American Airlines became the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
1942 – FDR committed to the biggest arms buildup in U.S. history.
1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
1912 – New Mexico was admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
1838 – Samuel Morse unveiled the telegraph, revolutionizing communication.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1984 – Eric Trump, American businessman
1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian (Video)
1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
1970 – Julie Chen Moonves, American television personality, presenter, and producer
1969 – Aron Eisenberg, American actor and podcaster (died 2019)
1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2019)
1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)
1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (died 2013)
1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 1979)
1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (died 2015)
1930 – Vic Tayback, American actor (died 1990)
1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (died 1990)
1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (died 2005)
1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (died 2012)
1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (died 2012)
1920 – Henry Corden, Canadian-born American actor (died 2005)
1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (died 2001)
1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (died 2000)
1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer, and humanitarian (died 1991)
1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (died 1931)
1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1961)
1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (died 1940)
1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (died 1967)
1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (died 1831)
1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (died 1431)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2022 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat (born 1927)
2022 – Peter Bogdanovich, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1939)
2021 – Ashli Babbitt, American participant in the January 6 United States Capitol attack
2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (born 1932)
2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (born 1929)
2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (born 1936)
2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (born 1933)
1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (born 1917)
1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (born 1938)
1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (born 1898)
1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (born 1883)
1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (born 1858)
1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (born 1822)
1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (born 1809)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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It's so helpful they write jokes for us, huh? Sometimes, I wonder if they think they are sequestered on their own island or something and only viewable to each other. Get it? :)