Vulgar threats; Easter messages; 25th Amendment bets; recession bound; Chrysler, QVC and HSN, oh my...
It's National Twinkie Day!
Trump’s vulgar Iran post raises alarm: ‘A deeply unwell man’. (Newsweek)
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.
The newsletter is published Monday through Thursday (holidays excepted).
—Kevin G. Barkes
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 269 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 1,019 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
The latest on the Iran war from the Associated Press.
While Trump promises to destroy Iran in profane post, Trump administration agencies post Easter messages celebrating Christ’s resurrection. So much for separation of church and state. (AP)
Trump’s chances of being removed by 25th Amendment climb. Prediction markets tracking the likelihood that President Donald Trump could be removed from office under the 25th Amendment saw a steady climb this weekend, reflecting heightened public speculation as the Iran war intensifies and the president’s recent statements draw widespread scrutiny. (Newsweek)
Trump weighs broader cabinet shake-up as Iran war pressure grows. He grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran. (Reuters)
The real intelligence failure in Iran. A costly quagmire was predictable. Trump went to war anyway. (The Atlantic gift article)
Polymarket has turned our climate apocalypse into a casino. "The gamblification of everything is Evil in [the] fullest sense of the word." (Futurism)
Opinion - America is heading for a recession — and it may be the worst yet. (The Hill)
Chrysler, once an American icon, now sells just one minivan. Can it survive? (Wall Street Journal gift article)
QVC and HSN could be shutting down as they run out of money. (Cord-Cutters News)
Trump is reportedly going full steam ahead with the Golden Dome. (Gizmodo)
Artemis II’s moonbound astronauts capture Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they leave it behind. (AP)
Late Night:
Saturday Night Live:
Weekend Update: Trump fires Bondi over Epstein files, says he’ll bring Iran back to stone age. (Video)
Weekend Update: Tiger Woods gets arrested for DUI, Reese’s returns to real chocolate. (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:
1930 – The Twinkie snack cake was invented.
Quote of the day:
The only thing that stops God sending a second Flood is that the first one was useless.
--Nicolas Chamfort (Wikipedia link)
(More Nicolas Chamfort quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Army Day, Bohring-Opitz Syndrome Awareness Day, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Day, Drowsy Drivers Awareness Day, Dyngus Day, Easter Monday, Fresh Tomato Day, Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Awareness Day, International Asexuality Day, International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Jump Over Things Day, National Açaí Bowl Day, National Caramel Popcorn Day, National Egg Salad Sandwich Day, National Fun Day, National Siamese Cat Day, National Student Athlete Day, National Tartan Day, National Twinkie Day, New Beer’s Eve, Plan Your Epitaph Day, Sweet Potato Day, Teflon Day, White House Easter Egg Roll, and World Table Tennis Day.,
On This Day:
1994 – The Rwandan genocide began when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down.
1992 – The Bosnian War began.
1980 – Post-it Notes were first sold.
1974 – The first California Jam festival took place at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California. Co-headlined by Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The festival set what were then records for the loudest amplification system ever installed, the highest paid attendance, and highest gross in history.
1973 – The American League of Major League Baseball began using the designated hitter.
1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit.
1947 – The first Tony Awards were presented for theatrical achievement.
1941 – Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece
1930 – The Twinkie snack cake was invented.
1929 – Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, was impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives.
1926 – Varney Airlines made its first commercial flight (Varney is the root company of United Airlines).
1924 – First successful around-the-world flight began.
1917 – World War I: The United States declared war on Germany.
1909 – Robert Peary almost reached the North Pole.
1906 – The first animated film recorded on standard picture film, “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces” was released.
1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games was celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games were banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
1841 – U.S. President John Tyler is sworn in, two days after having become president upon William Henry Harrison‘s death.
1830 – Church of Christ, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement, was organized by Joseph Smith and others at either Fayette or Manchester, New York.
1712 – The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 began near Broadway.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1975 – Zach Braff, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor
1964 – Tim Walz, American politician, Governor of Minnesota and vice presidential candidate
1956 – Michele Bachmann, American lawyer and politician
1955 – Rob Epstein, American director and producer
1952 – Marilu Henner, Greek-Polish American actress and author
1947 – John Ratzenberger, American actor and director
1942 – Barry Levinson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – Gheorghe Zamfir, Romanian flute player and composer
1938 – Roy Thinnes, American television and film actor
1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor, singer, and writer
1937 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)
1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (died 2008)
1929 – André Previn, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 2019)
1929 – Joi Lansing, American model, actress and nightclub singer (died 1972)
1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American singer and actor (died 1990)
1926 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (died 2000)
1920 – Jack Cover, American pilot and physicist, invented the Taser gun (died 2009)
1916 – Phil Leeds, American actor (died 1998)
1892 – Lowell Thomas, American journalist and author (died 1981)
1741 – Nicolas Chamfort, French author and playwright (died 1794)
1135 – Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (died 1204)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2025 – Jay North, American actor (born 1951)
2017 – Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (born 1926)
2016 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1937)
2015 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (The other Ray Charles) (born 1918)
2014 – Mickey Rooney, American soldier, actor, and dancer (born 1920)
2012 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter and illustrator (born 1958)
2011 – Gerald Finnerman, American director and cinematographer (born 1931)
1998 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter (born 1942)
1996 – Greer Garson, English-American actress (born 1904)
1992 – Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer (born 1920)
1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1882)
1970 – Sam Sheppard, the inspiration for “The Fugitive”
(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.)