Trump polls tank; ACA sticker shock; AI slop, test failures, and crash; deadly meteors; Elon on dead cats and blocking the sun; Gatsby and SNAP.
It's National Candy Day!
Colbert on the reason for his show’s cancellation, hints return of Colbert Report.
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Most Americans say country is on the wrong track, blame Trump for inflation.
Some Americans are getting sticker shock as they shop for Affordable Care Act insurance. The roughly 22 million people who currently rely on the premium tax credits could see their ACA plan costs more than double in 2026.
Trump administration says SNAP will be partially funded in November. Two judges issued rulings requiring the government to keep the nation’s largest food aid program running.
ICE bars Chicago bishop from giving detained Catholics communion on All Saints.
Here’s how the AI crash happens. America appears to be, at the moment, in a sort of benevolent hostage situation. AI-related spending now contributes more to the nation’s GDP growth than all consumer spending combined,
Billboard says at least one AI-generated “artist” is charting every week now. AI slop is taking over music charts.
Experts find flaws in hundreds of tests that check AI safety and effectiveness. Scientists say almost all have weaknesses in at least one area that can ‘undermine validity of resulting claims’
Catch the Taurid meteor shower—and learn why scientists are watching it closely. Debris from Comet Encke creates two annual meteor showers, but it might also pose a small risk to Earth.
Elon Musk wants to block out the sun. The CEO of the largest satellite company in the world just proposed a bold—and totally misguided—solution to the climate crisis.
Elon Musk wades into the debate over robotaxis killing cats. Guess which side he’s on.
Denny’s to be acquired and taken private in a deal valued at $620 million. Private equity strikes again. But then, how much more damage can they inflict?
Woman films officer harassing her as she tries to file a complaint in Delray Beach: “It’s Florida. He’ll probably get a commendation.”
Florida Man demands SNAP recipients show “gratitude” and admit that their own “choices in life” led them to relying on SNAP.
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.
Police chases: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Video)
Trump throws Gatsby party as SNAP funding expires, makes it rain on Argentina | The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Video)
MAGA parties while children go hungry | Trump’s shady crypto pardon | NEO the housekeeper robot-Stephen Colbert (Video)
Trump throws great Gatsby Party as SNAP benefits expire, blames Democrats for shutdown.-Jimmy Kimmel (Video)
Trump renovates White House bathroom as courts rule against him on SNAP funding: A Closer Look- Seth Meyers (Video)
Trump targets Seth Meyers after catapult jokes: ‘Probably illegal’.
Keep scrolling down. Lots of interesting stuff in On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths.
Quote of the Day:
We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders.
--Walter Cronkite (Wikipedia link)
(More Walter Cronkite quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Election Day, King Tut Day, National Candy Day, National Chicken Lady Day, National Easy-Bake Oven Day, National Skeptics Day, National Waiting for the Barbarians Day, Skeptics Day International, and Use Your Common Sense Day.
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA.
(Not currently updating due to government shutdown.)
On This Day:
2016 – Paris Agreement came into effect.
2008 – Barack Obama became the first person of biracial or African-American descent to be elected as President of the United States.
2008 – Proposition 8 was passed in California, banning same-sex marriage.
2008 – The film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” premiered in London. (Video)
1996 – The Spice Girls released their first album, “Spice” in the UK. (Video)
1995 – Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an extremist Israeli.
1980 – Ronald Reagan was elected as the 40th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
1979 – Iran hostage crisis: A group of Iranian college students overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages.
1968 – The album “Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell was released. (Video)
1962 – The United States concluded Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
1960 – At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals.
1956 – Soviet troops entered Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on October 23. Thousands were killed, more were wounded, and nearly a quarter million left the country.
1952 – The United States government established the National Security Agency, or NSA.
1939 – World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.
1928 – One of New York’s most notorious gamblers was shot to death.
1924 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first female elected as governor in the United States.
1922 – In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men found the entrance to Tutankhamun‘s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
1847 – Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.
1842 – Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd.
1791 – The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1969 – Sean Combs, American rapper, producer, and actor
1969 – Matthew McConaughey, American actor and producer
1961 – Ralph Macchio, American actor
1961 – Jeff Probst, American television host and producer
1960 – Kathy Griffin, American comedian and actress
1950 – Markie Post, American actress (died 2021)
1947 – Jerry Fleck, American actor, director, and production manager (died 2003)
1946 – Laura Bush, American educator and librarian, 45th First Lady of the United States
1946 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (died 1989)
1937 – Loretta Swit, American actress and singer (died 2025)
1925 – Doris Roberts, American actress (died 2016)
1919 – Martin Balsam, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1996)
1918 – Cameron Mitchell, American actor (died 1994)
1918 – Art Carney, American actor (died 2003)
1916 – Walter Cronkite, American journalist, voice actor, and producer (died 2009)
1913 – Gig Young, American actor (died 1978)
1884 – Harry Ferguson, Irish engineer, invented the tractor (died 1960)
1879 – Will Rogers, American actor and screenwriter (died 1935)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2014 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (born 1915)
2011 – Andy Rooney, American author, critic, journalist, and television personality (born 1919)
2010 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (born 1934)
2008 – Michael Crichton, American physician, author, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1942)
2005 – Sheree North, American actress and dancer (born 1932)
1997 – Richard Hooker, American novelist (born 1924)-++
1995 – Morrie Schwartz, American sociologist, author, and academic (born 1916)
1995 – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli general and politician (born 1922)
1992 – George Klein, Canadian engineer, invented the motorized wheelchair (born 1904)
1955 – Cy Young, American baseball player and manager (born 1867)
1955 – Robert E. Sherwood, American playwright and screenwriter (born 1896)
1847 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1809)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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