War promo video disgrace; Trumps profiting from conflict; President's shoe fetish; voting bill ultimatum; satellite crash due today.
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(Most) everything you need to know for today:
March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 296 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 1,046 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
The latest on the Iran war from the Associated Press.
White House war promo videos marry action movies, sports and video games to real-life combat footage. The White House’s social media feed has issued a series of pumped-up videos that mix real Iran war explosions with movie action heroes, gaming footage and bone-crunching football tackles, leading critics like a top cleric of the U.S. Catholic Church to condemn a trivialization of deadly real-life conflict. (AP)
Why the US stock market may have been right about Iran all along. The nightmare scenario may be upon us, with the caveat that “nightmares” are relative. (CNN)
Profiting from war I: Trump sons back new drone company targeting Pentagon sales. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are backing Powerus, a new drone company going public to meet Pentagon demand. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Trump bought Netflix and Warner Bros bonds at height of bidding war with Paramount. Trump, like other U.S. presidents, is exempt from conflict-of-interest laws that prohibit other executive branch officials from investing in companies with business before the government. He is believed to have bought the bonds through a trust managed by his kids.
Gullible, cynical America. The trouble with believing anything and nothing at the same time. (The Atlantic gift article)
Trump is obsessed with these $145 shoes—and won’t let anyone leave without a pair. “All the boys have them,” said a female White House official. Another joked, “It’s hysterical because everybody’s afraid not to wear them.” The shoe-salesman-in-chief is paying attention. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Trump pushes GOP on voting bill, demanding an end to most mail balloting. Trump said Monday he won’t sign any other legislation into law until Congress passes a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill that he says also must end Americans’ ability to vote by mail, a startling demand months before the midterm elections. (AP)
The future we feared is already here. For years now, questions about A.I. have taken the form of “what happens if?” This year, the A.I. questions have taken a new form, “what happens now?” (New York Times gift article)
What Anthropic’s clash with the Pentagon is really about. Who will take responsibility for the technology? (The Atlantic gift article)
Elon Musk wants a do-over on Twitter trial after jury pool couldn’t hide its disdain. Elon Musk’s legal team filed a motion for a mistrial in the case, a move that often hints the defense thinks the trial isn’t going its way. (Gizmodo)
Kristi Noem’s parting gift to DHS: thousands of trucks they can’t use. The gaudy cars feature massive ICE logos, red stripes, and a golden decal of President Donald Trump’s name on the back window. (The New Republic)
Incoming! 1,300-pound NASA satellite will crash to Earth today. "NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive reentry," NASA officials wrote in an update on Monday. "The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low — approximately 1 in 4,200." (Space dot com)
Neil DeGrasse Tyson thinks our universe is a computer simulation and a science professor claims to have evidence it is true. How about turning it off and on again? (Supercarblondie)
Late Night:
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Today is the dreaded Daylight Saving Monday, on Saturday Trump attended “dignified transfer” where the remains of service members killed in action are returned to US soil while wearing his own merch, Fox News had to apologize after trying to cover for Trump by using old footage where he wasn’t wearing a hat, he is selling a special Veteran Edition of his God Bless The USA Trump Bible, Trump hit his golf course in Miami while all hell is breaking loose in the Middle East, Trump showed off his love for Latin America and Little Marco Rubio during a summit for the “Shield of the Americas Coalition,” Iran has chosen a new Supreme Leader, Trump gathered a group of Republicans today to pass the Save America Act, and This Week in Florida. (Video)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Iran selected a new leader without seeking America’s approval, President Trump wore a novelty hat to an event honoring soldiers killed in action, and the president insulted his Spanish-speaking guests at the first meeting of the Shield of the Americas. (Video)
Cold open: Donald Trump Hosts “The Celebrity Ayatollah” (Video)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Seth takes a closer look at oil prices surging amid what experts are calling the worst energy crisis since the 1970s thanks to Donald Trump’s reckless and illegal war in Iran. (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:
1982 – Syzygy: All nine planets recognized at that time — Mercury to Pluto — aligned on the same side of the Sun.
Quote of the day:
In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own.
-Alexis de Tocqueville (Wikipedia link)
(More Alexis de Tocqueville quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Festival of Life in the Cracks Day, Harriet Tubman Day, Histotechnology Professionals Day, International Bagpipe Day, International Day of Awesomeness, International Day of Women Judges, International Lime Day, International Wig Day, Landline Telephone Day, Mario Day, National Blueberry Popover Day, National Organize Your Home Office Day, National Ranch Day, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Pack Your Lunch Day, Salvation Army Day, and US Paper Money Day.
On This Day:
2023 – Silicon Valley Bank collapsed due to a run on its deposits, in the second largest bank failure in US history. Its operations were taken over by the FDIC.
2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashed shortly after take off, killing all 157 passengers and crew. This and the prior Lion Air Flight 610 led to all 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.
2000 – The Dot-com bubble peaked with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.
1997 – “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” premiered on The WB.
1982 – Syzygy: All nine planets recognized at that time — Mercury to Pluto — aligned on the same side of the Sun.
1981 – The single “Betty Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes was released.
1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina was charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.
1978 – The first season of “The Incredible Hulk” premiered on CBS.
1977 – Astronomers discovered the rings of Uranus.
1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pled guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempted to recant.
1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Dalai Lama‘s palace to prevent his removal.
1949 – Mildred Gillars (”Axis Sally“) was convicted of treason.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombed Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration killed more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1922 – Mahatma Gandhi was arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe’s worst ever, killed 1099 miners in northern France.
1902 – A U.S. appeals court ruled that Thomas Edison did not invent the motion picture camera.
1891 – Almon Strowger patented the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1876 – The first successful test of a telephone was made by Alexander Graham Bell.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1994 – Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, and wrestler
1992 – Emily Osment, American actress and singer-songwriter
1988 – Ego Nwodim, American actress
1984 – Olivia Wilde, American actress and director
1983 – Carrie Underwood, American singer-songwriter
1977 – Robin Thicke, American singer, songwriter, and record producer
1971 – Jon Hamm, American actor and director
1969 – Paget Brewster, American actress
1966 – Edie Brickell, American singer-songwriter
1962 – Jasmine Guy, American actress, singer, and director
1958 – Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
1957 – Shannon Tweed, Canadian model and actress
1957 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (died 2011)
1944 – Richard Gant, American actor
1940 – Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist
1933 – Ralph Emery, American country music disc jockey, radio and television host (died 2022)
1928 – James Earl Ray, American criminal; assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (died 1998)
1903 – Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright, journalist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (died 1987)
1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (died 1961)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2025 – Stanley R. Jaffe, American film producer and director (born 1940)
2010 – Corey Haim, Canadian actor (born 1971)
1998 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor and director (born 1913)
1988 – Andy Gibb, Australian singer-songwriter and actor (born 1958)
1986 – Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (born 1907)
1948 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American author, visual artist, and ballet dancer (born 1900)
1942 – Wilbur Scoville, American pharmacist and chemist (born 1865)
1913 – Harriet Tubman, American nurse and activist (born c. 1820)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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