WH trying to erase history; flying carp terrorizing the Mississippi; WH ballroom to use foreign steel "gift"; Google's monumental misinformation; Trump ex-allies: "He's gone insane."
It's National Gin and Tonic Day!
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump declares total victory in Iran, aims to make big money and J.D. Vance calls the ceasefire fragile.
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The newsletter is published Monday through Thursday (holidays excepted).
—Kevin G. Barkes
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 266 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 1,016 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
The latest on the Iran war from the Associated Press.
The Trump administration is trying to erase its own history. If a new legal opinion stands, Donald Trump will be on track to become one of the most poorly documented presidents ever. (The Atlantic gift article)
White House secures foreign steel for ballroom project. ArcelorMittal, a European steel maker, is donating tens of millions of dollars of foreign steel for President Trump’s new ballroom. (New York Times gift article)
Melania gets first dibs on ICE Barbie’s mile high jet. Trump is reportedly holding on to a $70 million luxury jet acquired under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—and the first lady will get VIP access. (The Daily Beast)
Transcript: Trump ex-allies join call for removal: “He’s gone insane.” As even some of Trump’s former top MAGA supporters start admitting he’s unfit, Jennifer Rubin of The Contrarian explains how we can keep the removal talk on the front burner. (The New Republic)
American-born Pope Leo may not visit US while Trump is president after diplomat meeting disaster. The Pope will reportedly spend July 4th visiting with African migrants seeking a new life in Europe rather than attending 250th anniversary celebrations in the U.S. (The Independent)
Eligible young men will automatically be registered for US military draft later this year. The federal government plans to automatically register eligible men for the military draft beginning in December, according to a proposed rule published last week. (New York Post)
Humans are losing the fight against flying fish. Asian carp have been hurtling into boaters throughout the Heartland, where some now wear helmets and cups for protection; ‘darn near knocked me out.’ (Wall Street Journal gift article)
A super El Niño is coming. This one will redraw global weather maps, sparking flooding for some and drought and wildfires for others — all while simultaneously speeding up the pace of global warming. (CNN)
You can add ‘lamp that folds your laundry’ to the list of doomed startups. Finally, a $1,500 robotic lamp that folds your shirts. (Gizmodo)
Analysis finds that Google’s AI overviews are providing misinformation at a scale possibly unprecedented in the history of human civilization. The AI-generated summaries, which appear above Google search results, are accurate only around 91 percent of the time. (Futurism)
Late Night:
Byron Allen on paying ‘tens of millions’ to claim Late Show slot: ‘This better work’. If the news that CBS has “sold off” The Late Show‘s 11:35 p.m. time slot left you with questions, the producer of the long-running talk show’s upcoming replacement offers some answers.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: No one seems to know if the war against Iran is over, we’re learning more about how Israel’s prime minister convinced President Trump to launch the war, and JD Vance brought his trademark charisma to a rally for Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán. (Video)
Cold Open: None of the goals President Trump cited as reasons for the Iran war have been achieved. (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:
1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
Quote of the day:
Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars... Could anything- anything- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous that the world we are living in.
--Sam Harris (Wikipedia link)
(More Sam Harris quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
AANHPI Women’s Equal Pay Day, Appomattox Day, International ASMR Day, Jenkins’ Ear Day, National Alcohol Screening Day, National Cherish an Antique Day, National Chicken Little Awareness Day, National Chinese Almond Cookie Day, National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, National Gin and Tonic Day, National Name Yourself Day, National Pimento Cheese Day, National Unicorn Day, National Winston Churchill Day, and Sapphic Visibility Day.
On This Day:
2005 – Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles wed.
2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad fell to American forces.
1992 – A U.S. Federal Court found former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison.
1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collided with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it and killing two Japanese sailors.
1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 made its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford with Brian Trubshaw as the test pilot.
1969 – “Chicago Eight” pled not guilty to federal conspiracy charges.
1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) made its maiden flight.
1965 – The Astrodome in Houston, Texas opened to the public.
1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announced the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dubbed the “Mercury Seven“.
1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt was cleared and opened to shipping following the Suez Crisis.
1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride began through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court‘s 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.
1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission was formed.
1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, was executed by the Nazi regime.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan ended and the Bataan Death March began.
1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
1939 – African-American singer Marian Anderson gave a concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the first known recording of an audible human voice.
1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784.
1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
2000 – Jackie Evancho, American singer (Video)
1999 – Lil Nas X, American rapper
1998 – Elle Fanning, American actress
1990 – Kristen Stewart, American actress
1981 – Eric Harris, American mass murderer, responsible for the Columbine High School massacre (died 1999)
1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam, American actress
1974 – Jenna Jameson, American actress and pornographic performer
1967 – Sam Harris, American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist
1966 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress
1965 – Jeff Zucker, American businessman
1963 – Joe Scarborough, American journalist, lawyer, and politician
1954 – Dennis Quaid, American actor
1939 – Michael Learned, American actress
1937 – Marty Krofft, Canadian screenwriter and producer (died 2023)
1935 – Avery Schreiber, American actor and comedian (died 2002)
1933 – Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor and producer (died 2021)
1930 – Jim Fowler, American zoologist and television host (died 2019)
1928 – Tom Lehrer, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and mathematician (died 2025)
1926 – Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (died 2017)
1921 – Mary Jackson, African-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (died 2005)
1919 – J. Presper Eckert, American engineer, invented the ENIAC (died 1995)
1910 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (died 1998)
1905 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (died 1995)
1903 – Ward Bond, American actor (died 1960)
1898 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (died 1976)
1888 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American talent manager (died 1974)
1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Polish-American mathematician and engineer (died 1923)
1821 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (died 1867)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2021 – Ramsey Clark, American lawyer (born 1927)
2021 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921)
2011 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1924)
2001 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player and coach (born 1940)
1996 – Richard Condon, American author and publicist (born 1915)
1988 – Brook Benton, American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1931)
1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (born 1867)
1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (born 1906)
1626 – Francis Bacon, English jurist and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (born 1561)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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He’s gone insane? He has been insane for years.