Good afternoon, Wars have been fought over less. Fortunately, nothing quite that drastic is expected to be the fallout from President Joe Biden calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "killer" in a TV interview yesterday, prompting Putin to respond with a literal children's taunt: "It takes one to know one." Relations were already tense between the two countries, following Russia's alleged hacking operations against the U.S., and U.S. criticism of Russia for poisoning and detaining opposition leader Alexei Navalny. More ominously, Putin said his message for Biden was "stay healthy." Russia has temporarily recalled its ambassador. [ Read more from NPR News' Lucian Kim] Rep. Tom Emmer has emerged as one of the leading Congressional proponents of cryptocurrency, co-founding the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, introducing bills on the topic and asking both then-President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden to issue rules clarifying how cryptocurrency will be taxed. These new virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, have become popular in libertarian circles, as well as many other communities. [ Read more from the Star Tribune's Jim Spencer] Gov. Tim Walz released an updated budget proposal Thursday, using the state's improved economic outlook to scale back his proposed tax increases and increase some spending plans. Walz is still seeking to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy families, so even the scaled-back taxes met with a cool response from legislative Republicans. Walz, the DFL-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate must pass a new two-year budget this year to avoid a government shutdown. [Read more from Brian Bakst]
Something completely different: You may know that September, October, November and December used to be the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth months of the year — as the roots of their names would suggest. But the reason they're not is fascinating. Ancient Rome used to start its years in the month of Martius, which had both religious implications and usually marked accession of new consuls. But according to the historian Livy, in 154 BCE, Rome faced a serious rebellion in its Spanish colony, and wanted the new year's consuls to deal with the problem. So they just changed when the year started from Martius to Ianuarius, giving the new consuls a two-month head start. [ Read more] Listen: I've had to start a spreadsheet tracking these daily music recommendations, so I don't repeat an artist, or share too much of the same genre in a row. It's been a lot of classical and world music lately, so let's go with something different: this stunning live Peter Gabriel rendition of "Come Talk To Me." [Watch live]
