2/22/2024: A.I. Meltdown
PLUS: Easy-Bake Toxin; Travis Travels to Tay; and The King’s Face
Today is Thursday, February 22, 2024.
It is the 53rd day of the year.
313 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
Another crisis plagues the border and JEFF BEZOS cashes out more. Details in HIT LIST.
BEYONCE dominates the country music charts and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE will release another new track. More in SHOWBIZ.
Is JIMMY KIMMEL ready to leave late-night TV? Details in CASTING CALL.
KIM KARDASHIAN wants you to buy her “used” and “dirty” purse. More in KARDASH.
KING CHARLES’ visage is finally headed for Pound notes. Details in ROYALS.
###
HIT LIST
The innovative artificial intelligence “chatbot” called CHATGPT went off the rails Tuesday night, as users across the globe posted screenshots of the gibberish answers they received. In some cases, the responses were a weird mix of English and Spanish. In others, the bot spat out the same sentence or phrase over and over. Here’s some bizarre examples >
No word yet what caused the hiccup. Developers had the problem contained by Wednesday late morning and haven’t yet announced what was behind the glitch. [via Gizmodo]
WORTH NOTING: While the ability to “chat” with a computer program can make it feel like we’re living in the future, remember that the Large Language Models that power these technologies are based on predicting the words that come next as a function of ingesting the trillions of words on the internet. So a bot that spouts nonsense as a result of constantly scouring the internet might be working exactly right.
###
There’s a secondary border crisis not getting nearly as much attention as the flood of illegal immigrants pouring into the country: the billions of gallons of sewage that’s bubbling up from Mexico into California.
The International Boundary and Water Commission says more than 100 billion gallons of untreated sewage has flowed in from the Tijuana River in Mexico and emptied into Southern California’s coastal areas over the last five years. The mayor of Imperial Beach says, “We are living in conditions that nobody in this great nation should be living in."
These conditions have not only kept local beaches shuttered for nearly three years but has led to the San Diego State University School of Public Health calling a public health emergency. [via ABC News]
###
JEFF BEZOS has now dumped more than $8 BILLION worth of Amazon stock over the last two weeks, for the first time since 2021. Amazon’s stock is up more than 75% in the last year, so he’s turning it into cash at an opportune time.
TIMING: Bezos also strategically waited to change his official residence to Florida from Seattle. Just the address change is saving him an estimated $600 MILLION in taxes; Florida does not impose a state capital gains tax (or income taxes). [via BBC]
MEANWHILE, IN NORWAY: A member of Norway’s parliament has nominated ELON MUSK for the Nobel Prize, citing the billionaire’s “adamant defense of dialogue, free speech and [enabling] the possibility to express one’s views” in a “continuously more polarized world,” according to the New York Post. [via New York Post]
###
About four months ago, a man lost the cremated ashes of his late wife while on the ferry from Mackinac Island to the mainland – seemingly vanishing from his bag.
The man’s family took to social media, desperate for anyone in the area to give them a tip to help them find out what had happened, no hard feelings and no questions asked.
NOW: The urn holding the ashes showed up – at an area Goodwill store. One clerk figured something was strange about the donation, and did her own part on social media looking for answers. Within hours, users pointed her to the family that just a few months past had gone looking for them.
The late woman’s daughter tells local media her mom frequently shopped at Goodwill, and in a lighthearted quip, “she just wanted one last look in there before she goes home.” [via Fox19]
###
A Massachusetts family of three was hospitalized over the weekend due to a faulty Easy-Bake Oven.
The mom, Stephanie, detailed the ordeal on TikTok, saying her 8-year-old daughter and husband began experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath after attempting to bake a cake with the toy oven.
The three were hospitalized overnight for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, with Stephanie recovering much faster than the other two.
She attributed her less severe symptoms to not having been in the room with the Easy-Bake Oven. Her husband and daughter, meanwhile, were prescribed steroids and inhalers. [via TikTok]
###
BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW gained 48 points (0.13%) to close at 38,612 on Wednesday. The S&P added just 6 points (0.13%) to close at 4,981 and the NASDAQ lost 49 points (0.32%) to close at 15,580.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $78; BRENT CRUDE at $83.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.27 on Wednesday.
₿ BITCOIN fell on Wednesday, down more than 1.3% and trading under $51,600.
🛩 There were more than 2,395 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Wednesday and more than 65 such cancellations.
💰Friday night’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $525 million jackpot or a $247.1 million cash payout.
###
SHOWBIZ NEWS
BEYONCE is the first Black woman to top the Hot Country Songs chart.
Her new track “Texas Hold ‘Em” pushed ZACH BRYAN and KACEY MUSGRAVES’ single “I Remember Everything” to the No. 2 spot after spending 20 weeks on top.
Bey’s other new country track, “16 Carriages,” debuted at No. 9. [via Daily Mail]
###
TRAVIS KELCE jetted off Wednesday en route to Australia to see TAYLOR SWIFT.
She has a handful of shows that will keep her down under through the weekend, after which she will head to Singapore. No word on whether or not Travis will join her for that leg of her tour. [via TMZ]
###
A second track from JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE’s forthcoming album, “Everything I Thought It Was,” drops this Friday.
“Drown,” an emotional ballad, comes on the heels of his first release, “Selfish.”
“Everything I Thought It Was” is due out March 15. [via People]
###
TAKE A HIKE: New York Jets QB AARON RODGERS and presidential candidate ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. recently took a hike at an undisclosed location.
Kennedy Jr. captioned a photo of the two “Hiking with @AaronRodgers12 and his amazing Achilles,” referencing the QB’s season ending injury, on X.
Rodgers has been vocal in his support of Kennedy Jr., announcing on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he believes in “medical freedom and informed consent.” [via X]
###
The need for speed runs in the Earnhardt family…and not just on the race track.
During a recent appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” DALE EARNHARDT JR. spoke about a lesson he learned shortly after getting his license.
“I had a few issues in the first two years of having my license [...] I got four tickets, and the funny thing about it is, is that it was four different officers that told me they all gave my dad his first ticket.”
His dad, of course, being the late DALE EARNHARDT SR.
BY THE WAY: Earnhardt Jr. was on the talk show to promote his new docuseries, “NASCAR: Full Speed,” which debuted on Netflix last month. [via NBC]
###
AMY GRANT says she is still recovering from her 2022 bike accident.
Speaking to E!, Grant revealed that she still has “issues with [her] short term memory” and her “balance is still weird.”
As for whether or not she will get back on the horse…er, bike…the 63-year-old said she is uncertain. [via E!]
###
RUMOR IS…NFL QB RUSSELL WILSON will join the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Former football player CHAD “OchoCinco” JOHNSON said a “little birdie” told him that the 35-year-old will leave Denver for Pittsburgh.
The NFL Network, however, reports there is still a chance Wilson restructures his contract with the Broncos, though insiders say head coach SEAN PAYTON is ready to move on.
The Steelers currently have two QBs -- Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. [via NY Post]
###
CASTING CALL
Is JIMMY KIMMEL saying good-bye to late night TV?
He hinted at a possible exit in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, saying that the time to leave the ABC show could be sometime soon.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” debuted in January 2003. [via L.A. Times]
###
Controversial comedian SHANE GILLIS will host this weekend’s episode of “SNL.” Remember, he was fired from the show in 2019 after only five days for an insensitive joke from his past. Gillis will be joined by musical guest 21 SAVAGE.
The following weekend, actress SYDNEY SWEENEY will make her hosting debut with KACEY MUSGRAVES as the musical guest.
On March 9, JOSH BROLIN will host and ARIANA GRANDE will be the musical guest. [via Deadline]
###
RUMOR IS…MILEY CYRUS is the frontrunner to replace KATY PERRY as a judge on “American Idol,” but some say she isn’t “family-friendly” enough for the show.
An insider told The Sun that execs are looking at “several options” to take over the seat, and while Cyrus’ name has been tossed around some are not sure she is the “right fit” as there are other more “safe” choices.
Perry announced last week that the forthcoming season will be her last. [via The Sun]
###
THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN was blasted by fans this week for trying to sell a “used” and “dirty” Hermes purse for $70,000 on Kardashian Kloset.
She listed the grey matte alligator bag as being in “good condition,” but also noted “some discoloration on handles and underside bottom corners” as well as some “minor scratching on metal.”
“70 k for a dirty bag, holy hell,” one fan commented, while another asked why Kim and her sisters are “selling their second hand clothes?”
BY THE WAY: The bag retails for over $120,000. [via Page Six]
###
WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
Starting June 5, Great British Pound notes featuring KING CHARLES will enter circulation.
The new bills will slowly replace damaged banknotes featuring the late QUEEN ELIZABETH over the next few years. The Bank of England specifically said that The Firm directed it “to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change.”
The King, of course, is a longtime patron of environmental causes.
FUN FACT: Queen Elizabeth wasn’t featured on a Pound note until 1969 – 17 years into her reign, but she was also the first monarch to be featured on the currency. [via Express]
###
DAY OF THE YEAR
National Margarita Day
World Thinking Day
National Recreational Sports and Fitness Day
Supermarket Employee Day
National Chili Day
World Yoga Day
National Walking the Dog Day
National Cook a Sweet Potato Day
Be Humble Day
Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day
Single Tasking Day
###
ON THIS DATE
1819 - Secretary of State John Quincy Adams approves the purchase of Florida territory from the Spanish.
The Spanish had been colonizing the New World since 1565.
In the 1700s, Florida flipped between Spanish and British rule, but following the American Revolution, it fell back into the hands of the Spanish.
The US didn’t pay Spain for Florida, but instead agreed to pay the legal claims of American citizens against Spain — a maximum of $5 million.
Andrew Jackson became the first governor of the territory in 1822. Florida became a state in 1845.
###
1922 - Wisconsin gets hit with a Great Ice Storm.
Most of the state is covered in up to four inches of ice. Trees toppled and power lines snapped.
Parts of the state went without the relatively new invention of home electricity for a month.
###
1946 - An American diplomat in Moscow sends a lengthy memo back to Washington, outlining his views on the relationship between America and the Soviets.
George Kennan had been observing and analyzing the effectiveness of America's containment policy in the Cold War.
He famously wrote that peaceful coexistence between the Soviets and the West would not last. The Reds were very suspicious of all other nations, and Kennan foresaw the strategy that would win the Cold War, which was to be very aggressive and resistant to Soviet policies.
###
1959 - Lee Petty barely beats Johnny Beauchamp in the first Daytona 500.
The photo finish was so close, that at first Beauchamp was named the winner by William France, the owner of NASCAR. But after three days of review and analysis of news photographs, Petty was named the winner.
Lee Petty is the father of legendary racer Richard Petty.
###
1980 - The American hockey team beats the Soviets at the 13th Olympic Winter Games.
More than 10,000 were on hand to watch the victory in Lake Placid, New York.
For all the legend and fanfare behind the win, it was not even for the Gold medal, but the victory did come in the midst of the Cold War, and saluted the work of America's amateur team whose average player age was 22.
###
1990 - Milli Vanilli wins a Best New Artist Grammy, which would become the only Grammy to be rescinded.
Misters Milli and Vanilli were good-looking guys who lip-synced over the electric pop singles performed by others.
The two frontmen would spiral into drugs and oblivion, never mounting a successful comeback.
###
1997 - Dolly the Sheep is introduced to the world as the first successfully cloned mammal by researchers at the Roslin Institute in Scotland.
Legendary singer Dolly Parton inspired the sheep’s name. One of the lead researchers explained, “Dolly is derived from a mammary gland cell and we couldn't think of a more impressive pair of glands than Dolly Parton's."
###
2017 - Jay-Z is the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Max Martin, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
###
2019 - Robert Kraft is charged with soliciting prostitution.
The New England Patriots owner was caught in a human-trafficking sting operation at massage parlors in Jupiter, Florida.
A spokesperson for Kraft did not deny that he participated in a sex act at the parlor, only that he did not engage “in illegal activity.”
###
2019 - Jussie Smollett is suspended from the TV show “Empire.”
The move came after the actor lied about being attacked in the middle of the night in downtown Chicago.
###
BIRTHDAYS
Rajon Rondo - basketball player - 38
Zach Roerig - actor, “As the World Turns” - 39
Drew Barrymore - actress, “50 First Dates” & “Never Been Kissed” - 49
James Blunt - pop singer - 50
Michael Rubin - entrepreneur, Kynetic & Fanatics - 52
Mark Chmura - football player - 55
Pat LaFontaine - hockey player - 59
Kyle MacLachlan - actor, “Desperate Housewives” & “Twin Peaks” - 65
Amy Alcott - golfer - 68
Julius Erving - basketball player - 74
Julie Walters - actress, “Harry Potter” franchise - 74
Born On This Date
Steve Irwin - crocodile hunter - 1962 (d. 2006)
Robert Kardashian - lawyer & dad of Kourt, Kim, Khloe & Rob - 1944 (d. 2003)
Ted Kennedy - politician - 1932 (d. 2009)
Al Gross - invented the walkie-talkie - 1918 (d. 2000
Robert Wadlow - “Giant of Illinois,” tallest man at 8’11” - 1918 (d. 1940)
George Washington - 1st POTUS & Founding Father - 1732 (d. 1799)
###