Venezuelapalooza; mom and pop bankruptcies; Trump bored by affordability; Gmail sneakiness; A.I. humanoids and safety risks
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January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 360 days remain until the end of the year.
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Venezuela:
Trump was skeptical of ousting Maduro—until he wasn’t. (Wall Street Journal gift article.)
Making sense of the Venezuela attack. All actions have consequences—even arbitrary and inscrutable ones.
Delcy Rodríguez becomes Venezuela’s interim president after Maduro’s ouster. Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy and its feared intelligence service, and was next in the presidential line of succession.
Trump admin pressed on pardon for ex-Honduras president after Venezuela’s Maduro snatched.
The New York Times and Washington Post knew about Trump’s Venezuela raid in advance — here’s why they didn’t report it right away.
The lie of “self-financing” oil wars. Trump wages into a new war with the same mistakes that led the US into Iraq.
International law and the U.S. military and law enforcement operations in Venezuela. Operation Absolute Resolve implicates the prohibition on the use of force against other States (e.g., under the UN Charter), extraterritorial law enforcement, and initiation of an international armed conflict (e.g., under the Geneva Conventions).
A newly created Polymarket account made $436,759.61 on Nicolás Maduro’s capture. Some people have all the “luck.”
Worrying update on mom-and-pop bankruptcies shows recession has begun. A sudden surge in bankruptcies and store closures — hitting mom-and-pop shops, small restaurants, and local retailers — could be an early warning sign that the economy is starting to crack.
Trump is bored to death by the affordability crisis. He’s finally started to acknowledge the struggles of ordinary Americans, but he’s incapable of staying focused on them.
James Cameron’s prediction about AI Is terrifying. “I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn’t listen,” he quipped, before getting more serious. The director said that you have to follow the interests of those developing advanced AI products, and the money. They’re doing it for market share, so they’re “teaching greed” to the AI, or they’re doing it for defense, in which case they’re teaching it “paranoia.”
World ‘may not have time’ to prepare for AI safety risks, says leading researcher. AI safety expert David Dalrymple said rapid advances could outpace efforts to control powerful system.
Will AI-powered humanoid robots someday work alongside us? | 60 Minutes (Video)
If you use Gmail, you’re going to want to turn off this one automatic setting ASAP.
Betty Boop and ‘Blondie’ enter the public domain in 2026, accompanied by a trio of detectives.
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.
Jimmy Kimmel thanks ‘ridiculous’ President Trump in Critics Choice acceptance speech.
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:
1998 – Sonny Bono, best known as half of the 1960s singing and acting husband-and-wife duo Sonny & Cher, was killed in a skiing accident while on vacation with his family in South Lake Tahoe, California.
Quote of the Day:
I’ve done all kinds of things I said I wouldn’t do and, of course, now I’m glad. Thrilled.
-Diane Keaton (Wikipedia link)
(More Diane Keaton quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
George Washington Carver Day, National “Thank God It’s Monday” Day, National Bird Day, National Keto Day, National Screenwriters Day, National Weigh-In Day, and National Whipped Cream Day.
On This Day:
2024 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a door plug blew off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the flight.
1998 – Sonny Bono, best known as half of the 1960s singing and acting husband-and-wife duo Sonny & Cher, was killed in a skiing accident while on vacation with his family in South Lake Tahoe, California.
1976 – Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot announced a new constitution changing the name of Cambodia to Kampuchea and legalizing its Communist government.
1972 – US President Richard Nixon announced the Space Shuttle program.
1970 – Bodies of family killed by United Mine Workers found.
1968 – Alexander Dubček came to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the “Prague Spring“.
1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced the establishment of what would later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.
1953 – The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett received its première in Paris.
1949 – In his State of the Union address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveiled his Fair Deal program.
1941 – Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappeared after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and was presumed dead.
1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began in San Francisco Bay.
1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first female governor in the United States.
1919 – The German Workers’ Party, which would become the Nazi Party, was founded in Munich.
1914 – The Ford Motor Company announced an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.
1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, was burned by British naval forces led by former American general Benedict Arnold.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1987 – Jason Mitchell, American actor
1978 – January Jones, American actress
1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer
1973 – Derek Cecil, American actor
1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director
1967 – Joe Flanigan, American actor
1962 – Suzy Amis, American actress and model
1959 – Clancy Brown, American actor
1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
1948 – Ted Lange, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman (died 2025)
1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
1934 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (died 2013)
1932 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (died 2014)
1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (died 1989)
1928 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States (died 2021)
1923 – Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (died 2003)
1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (died 2007)
1914 – George Reeves, American actor and director (died 1959)
1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (died 1997)
1855 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (died 1932)
1779 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (died 1813)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2018 – Thomas Bopp, American astronomer best known as the co-discoverer of comet Hale–Bopp (born 1949)
2014 – Carmen Zapata, American actress (born 1927)
1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (born 1935)
1994 – Tip O’Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1912)
1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (born 1914)
1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (born 1917)
1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (born 1864)
1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (born 1872)
1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (born 1874)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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