The Trump enigma; housing horrors; mysterious Brazilian creature; AI legal hallucinations; video explainers
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Knee Deep in the Hoopla
Why do so many people think Trump is good? How is it that half of America looks at Donald Trump and doesn’t find him morally repellent? He lies, cheats, steals, betrays, and behaves cruelly and corruptly, and more than 70 million Americans find him, at the very least, morally acceptable. Some even see him as heroic, admirable, and wonderful. What has brought us to this state of moral numbness?
Real estate investors are taking over the US housing market. Investors are scooping up homes before buyers even have a chance as housing affordability worsens.
It hasn’t been this hard for Americans to find work since 2021. Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell, but the number of recurring claims made by people who already have filed for unemployment rose to their highest level since November 2021.
What’s a “dogxim”, the world’s only hybrid animal that’s stirring up serious scientific worries. A mysterious creature found in Brazil has scientists questioning everything they know about wild canids. With a strange mix of dog and fox traits, this rare hybrid is raising serious concerns.
Weedkiller ingredient widely used in US can damage organs and gut bacteria, research shows. The herbicide ingredient used to replace glyphosate in Roundup and other weedkiller products can kill gut bacteria and damage organs in multiple ways. Diquat is banned in the UK, EU, China and other countries. The US has resisted calls to regulate it.
A recent high-profile case of AI hallucination serves as a stark warning. A federal judge ordered two attorneys representing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to pay $3,000 each after they used AI to prepare a court filing filled with mistakes and citations of cases that didn't exist.
America has never seen corruption like this. Trump’s Qatari jet was just the beginning.
Liberians take offense after Trump praises their president’s English. English has been the official language of Liberia since the country’s founding in the 1800s.
H. Elon Perot. Another angry billionaire wants his own political party.
Video explainers:
Surgical center staff demand to see arrest warrant and ID as ICE agents detain landscaper. (Video)
Trump loves ICE. Its workforce has never been so miserable. A “mission impossible” deportation campaign has left many employees burned out and morally conflicted.
He voted for Trump. It cost him his job. (Video)
What makes Trump and MAGA so cruel? A psychiatrist explains. (Video)
Why is food SO expensive right now? (Video) (Highly recommended)
Quote of the Day:
As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the one thing left to us in a bad time.
--E.B. White (Wikipedia link)
(More E.B. White quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
All American Pet Photo Day, Bowdler's Day, Collector Car Appreciation Day, Free Slurpee Day, International Essential Oils Day, National Blueberry Muffin Day, National Cheer up the Lonely Day, National French Fries Day, National Mojito Day, National Polyphenol Day, National Rainier Cherries Day, National State Fair Food Day, National Swimming Pool Day, World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day, World Horse Day, World Kebab Day, and World Population Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
On This Day:
2021 – Virgin Galactic launched its founder, Richard Branson, into space, the first company ever to do so.
1979 – America's first space station, Skylab, was destroyed as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
1977 – Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
1972 – Honda introduces its first Civic, a new breed of subcompact, fuel-saving car.
1966 – TV quiz show "The Newlywed Game" hosted by Bob Eubanks premieres in the US on ABC
1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announced lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth.
1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.
1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was first published in the United States.
1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime was formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State.
1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City was opened to traffic.
1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opened.
1921 – Former president of the United States William Howard Taft was sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices.
1914 – Babe Ruth made his debut in Major League Baseball.
1899 – Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy.
1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, was founded.
1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1972 – Michael Rosenbaum, American actor
1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1959 – Richie Sambora, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1956 – Sela Ward, American actress
1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress
1953 – Leon Spinks, American boxer (died 2021)
1952 – Stephen Lang, American actor and playwright
1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (died 2020)
1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company
1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (died 2018)
1929 – Danny Flores, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (died 2006)
1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (died 2007)
1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (died 1985)
1913 – Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (died 1966)
1906 – Harry von Zell, American actor and announcer (died 1981)
1899 – E. B. White, American essayist and journalist (died 1985)
1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (died 1903)
1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (died 1848)[15]
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
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