Trump goes nuclear, gets gold crown; A.I. porn; ACA costs to double; Pentagon cuts civilians; the curse of being "overqualified"
It's National Candy Corn Day!
Trump directs nuclear weapons testing to resume for first time in over 30 years
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
Trump says South Korea will build a nuclear submarine in the U.S.
Trump who said he is not a king and denounced the No Kings protests is gifted a gold crown while in Korea.
The missing President. Trump has been busy with everything but the government shutdown.
Average out-of-pocket costs for ObamaCare premiums expected to more than double. Annual out-of-pocket premium payments would more than double, exceeding $1,000 on average if the credits aren’t extended. Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans begins this Saturday.
Pentagon moves to fire civilian personnel with ‘speed and conviction’. Critics say the new guidelines are so broad that anyone who doesn’t align with the administration’s priorities could be fired.
Two federal prosecutors placed on leave after describing January 6 attack as ‘a mob of rioters’ in court document. That’s “tourists” to you guys.
U.S. Border Patrol commander won’t have to appear in court every day — for now.
Too much experience hurts you in today’s tough job market. Take it from someone who is “overqualified.”
YouTube tech channels are in danger. YouTube has been issuing strikes against tech channels for “violating community standards” on what appear to be routine videos dealing with popular issues. The problem is, YouTube won’t tell the content creators exactly what in their videos is the offending content. Creators suspect the humans reviewing their cases are actuall AI bots. (Video) Speaking of which…
YouTube offers employees voluntary buyout as company embraces AI: “The next frontier”.
OpenAI’s embrace of ‘erotica’ is causing ripples in the porn world. It’s not direct competition, but as AI technologies become more advanced, some performers are getting nervous — and studios are setting limits.
Meta denies torrenting porn to train AI, says downloads were for “personal use”. Requesting that all copyright claims be dropped, Meta argued that there was no evidence that the tech giant directed any of the downloads of about 2,400 adult movies owned by Strike 3—or was even aware of the illegal activity.
Florida!
Florida woman sues SeaWorld after she says duck knocked her unconscious while riding roller coaster.
Florida man gets arrested after throwing a tantrum at a Starbucks over a Pride flag.
Florida man wakes up from coma after being in a wreck, tells police his girlfriend intentionally crashed the car, then he dies shortly after.
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 gets a golden crown in South Korea while SNAP cutoff causes panic in U.S. | The Daily Show (Video)
Trump is crowned the burger king of South Korea | Fear of windmills | Herpes monkeys on the loose-Stephen Colbert (Video)
Trump continues Asia-Palooza tour and Rep. Jasmine Crockett accepts his IQ test challenge.-Jimmy Kimmel (Video)
Trump dances in Malaysia and gets a crown in South Korea amid shutdown pain at home-Seth Meyers (Video)
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths.
Quote of the Day:
There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader and converting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
--John Adams (Wikipedia link)
(More John Adams quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security, Buy a Doughnut Day, Create a Great Funeral Day, Haunted Refrigerator Night, International Carignan Day, International Orthopaedic Nurses Day, Mischief Night, National Candy Corn Day, National Checklist Day, National Publicist Day, National Speak Up For Service Day, National Text Your Ex Day, National Wicked Day, Pumpkin Bread Day, Sugar Addiction Awareness Day, World Audio Drama Day, and World HPP Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
(Not currently updating due to government shutdown.)
On This Day:
1995 – Quebec citizens narrowly voted (50.58% to 49.42%) in favor of remaining a province of Canada in their second referendum on national sovereignty.
1991 – The “Perfect Storm” reached peak intensity, with a central pressure of 972 millibar and winds of up to 70 mph.
1974 – The “Rumble in the Jungle” - Muhammad Ali became the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time when he knocked out champ George Foreman in the eighth round.
1973 – The Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey was completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus for the second time.
1961 – The Soviet Union tested the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear device ever detonated. (Video)
1953 – President Eisenhower approved the top-secret document NSC 162/2 concerning the maintenance of a strong nuclear deterrent force against the Soviet Union.
1945 – Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signed a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the baseball color line.
1944 – Holocaust: Anne and Margot Frank were deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they died from disease the following year, shortly before the end of WWII.
1941 – President Roosevelt approved $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Allied nations.
1938 – Orson Welles broadcast a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, causing a massive panic in some of the audience in the United States. (Video)
1918 – World War I: The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies.
1905 – George Bernard Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” premiered in New York, causing a scandal.
1864 – The city of Helena, Montana was founded after miners discovered gold.
1831 – Nat Turner was arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history.
1811 – Jane Austen’s first novel, “Sense and Sensibility”, was published.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1987 – Ashley Graham, American model
1981 – Ivanka Trump, American model and businesswoman
1978 – Matthew Morrison, American singer-songwriter and actor
1970 – Tory Belleci, American visual effects designer and television presenter
1961 – Larry Wilmore, American comedian and television host
1957 – Kevin Pollak, American actor, game show host, and producer
1953 – Charles Martin Smith, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1951 – Harry Hamlin, American actor
1946 – Andrea Mitchell, American journalist
1945 – Henry Winkler, American actor, comedian, director, and producer
1941 – Otis Williams, American singer-songwriter and producer
1939 – Eddie Holland, American singer-songwriter and producer
1939 – Grace Slick, American singer-songwriter and model
1935 – Robert Caro, American journalist and author
1932 – Louis Malle, French director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1995)
1915 – Fred W. Friendly, American journalist and producer (died 1998)
1896 – Ruth Gordon, American actress and screenwriter (died 1985)
1892 – Charles Atlas, Italian-American bodybuilder (died 1972)
1885 – Ezra Pound, American poet and critic (died 1972)
1871 – Paul Valéry, French poet and philosopher (died 1945)
1735 – John Adams, American lawyer and politician, second President of the United States (died 1826)
1632 – Christopher Wren, English physicist, mathematician, and architect, designed St Paul’s Cathedral (died 1723)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2015 – Al Molinaro, American actor (born 1919)
2007 – Robert Goulet, American actor and singer (born 1933)
2007 – Washoe, American chimpanzee (born 1965)
2000 – Steve Allen, American actor, television personality, game show panelist, and talk show host (born 1921)
1987 – Joseph Campbell, American mythologist, scholar, and author (born 1904)
1965 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., American historian and author (born 1888)
1910 – Henry Dunant, Swiss activist, founded the Red Cross, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1828)
1910 – Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, American socialite who led the Four Hundred, high society of New York City in the Gilded Age. (born 1830)
(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.)