Trump TACOs again; Laguardia accident details; American aviation near collapse; foreign routers banned; betting on a ceasefire
It's National Cheesesteak Day!
Trump’s eventful weekend of golfing, sightseeing, and ignoring the imploding effects of the war in Iran has Jon Stewart wondering who the hell the president has been claiming to negotiate with overseas, and whether this "top person" even exists. Plus, airport chaos amid a government shutdown has ICE filling in for the TSA as part of Trump's escalating chaos rampage.
Subscriptions are free. There are no paywalls hiding stuff and links to paywalled sources are provided via gift articles (just close the popups asking for emails or subscriptions). 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 don’t want to go the paid subscription route, please consider donating a buck or two.
—Kevin G. Barkes
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 282 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 1,032 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
The latest on the Iran war from the Associated Press.
Trump has TACO’d again, this time in Iran, sparking a $1.7 trillion stock market rally in minutes, even as peace talks are in question. (Fortune via Yahoo! News)
Trump administration to pay French company $1B to walk away from US offshore wind leases. The administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy. (AP)
See a minute-by-minute breakdown of the fatal LaGuardia crash. Video footage, air-traffic control recordings and flight-tracking data show how events unfolded on the ground. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Passengers prepared for a rough landing before crash at LaGuardia. A flight attendant was ejected from the airplane, a passenger said, but the people onboard still managed to open an emergency door and evacuate themselves from the plane. (New York Times gift article)
American aviation is near collapse. Fatal crashes, overstressed controllers, and endless security lines reveal a system teetering on the brink of failure. (The Atlantic gift article)
Trump just voted by a method he calls ‘mail-in cheating’. The president’s decision to vote by mail comes as he pushes a sweeping bill to reform balloting nationwide, including restrictions on mail-in voting. (Washington Post gift article)
The US bans all new foreign-made network routers. The FCC has deemed even US-based companies’ products a security risk if they’re made anywhere overseas. (Engadget)
Polymarket trader who won big on start of Iran war betting even bigger on impending ceasefire. “NOTHINGEVERFRICKINGHAPPENS”, a Polymarket user, was suspiciously lucky once, and clearly thinks they’re about to get lucky again. (Gizmodo)
Headline of the day: Quadruple amputee cornhole player fatally shoots man, Maryland authorities say. Alas, the story doesn’t explain how the shooter managed to pull the trigger. (AP) But there is a video of a quadruple amputee firing a pistol.
Late Night:
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump posted that he was glad that Robert Mueller passed away this weekend, ICE is now patrolling airports while TSA agents aren’t being paid, we are now on week four of Trump’s “excursion” into Iran, he claims to be talking to a "top person in Iran” but they’re saying that there has been no communication, and the Oklahoma City Thunder announced that they will not be visiting the White House due to a “timing” issue. (Video)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Trump puts ICE in airports, backs down on Iran threat amid oil crisis, blames Hegseth: A Closer Look (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:
1943 – G.I. Joe, one of the most decorated homing pigeons in military history, was hatched.
Quote of the day:
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
-Euripides (Wikipedia link)
(More Euripides quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
American Diabetes Association Alert Day, International Day for Achievers, International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, International Whistleblower Day, National Agriculture Day, National Cheesesteak Day, National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day, National Cocktail Day, and World Tuberculosis Day.
On This Day:
2018 – Students across the United States staged the March for Our Lives demanding gun control in response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
2015 – Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed in the French Alps in an apparent pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.
1999 – A truck carrying margarine and flour caught fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel, creating an inferno that kills 39 people.
1999 – Kosovo War: NATO began attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
1993 – Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was discovered by Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker, and David Levy at the Palomar Observatory in California. (Video)
1989 – In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spilled 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.
1958 – Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army.
1955 – Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opened on Broadway.
1944 – World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war began breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.
1944 – German troops massacre 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
1943 – G.I. Joe, one of the most decorated homing pigeons in military history, was hatched.
1900 – Carnegie Steel Company was formed in New Jersey; its capitalization of $160 million was the largest to date.
1882 – Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.
1832 – In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1981 – Philip Winchester, American actor
1978 – Amir Arison, American actor
1977 – Jessica Chastain, American actress
1974 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor
1971 – Tig Notaro, American comedian and actor
1970 – Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
1962 – Star Jones, American lawyer, journalist, and talk show host
1960 – Kelly Le Brock, English-American actress and model
1956 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman
1954 – Donna Pescow, American actress and director
1954 – Robert Carradine, American actor (died 2026)
1953 – Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian (died 2022) (Video)
1951 – Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
1944 – R. Lee Ermey, American sergeant and actor (died 2018) (Video)
1940 – Bob Mackie, American fashion designer
1935 – Carol Kaye, legendary American session bass guitarist (Video)
1933 – Lee Mendelson, American television producer (“Charlie Brown Christmas”) (died 2019) (Video)
1930 – Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (died 1980) (Video)
1924 – Norman Fell, American actor (died 1998)
1923 – Murray Hamilton, American actor (the mayor in “Jaws”) (died 1986) (Video)
1922 – Onna White, Canadian dancer and choreographer (died 2005)
1911 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (died 2006)
1910 – Richard Conte, American actor (Barzini in “The Godfather”), singer, and director (died 1975) (Video)
1909 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (died 1934)
1903 – Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist, author, and scholar (died 1990)
1902 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician
1901 – Ub Iwerks, American animator, director, and producer, co-created Mickey Mouse (died 1971)
1887 – Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1933)
1874 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-American magician and actor (died 1926)
1855 – Andrew W. Mellon, American banker, financier, and diplomat (died 1937)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2023 – Gordon Moore, American businessman, engineer and co-founder of Intel Corporation (born 1929)
2021 – Jessica Walter, American actress and voice artist (born 1941)
2016 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1949) (Video)
2010 – Robert Culp, American actor (born 1930) (Video) (Playlist)
2008 – Richard Widmark, American actor (born 1914)
1990 – Ray Goulding, American comedian and radio host (born 1922) (Video)
1905 – Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1828)
1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (born 1807)
1603 – Elizabeth I of England (born 1533)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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.
Read for free with Kindle Unlimited!
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 Dialogue Online (an archive of my DCL Dialogue columns which appeared in DEC Professional (later renamed Digital Age) magazine from March, 1987 through December, 1995.)