John Oliver discusses why more and more companies are shifting to a subscription model, how it’s impacting consumers, and what could possibly be more embarrassing than liking Madame Web.
KGB Report is published Monday through Thursday, is assembled by an aging human, and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 128 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 878 days remain in Trump’s final term of office.
An explanation: I provide links to paywalled sites via “gift” articles. Problem is, some sources limit the number of gift links per month, while others offer no gift links at all. To circumvent this restriction, I provide links to free sites that have republishing agreements. For example, the Trump ballroom story below is from The New Republic, but TNR limits the number of free stories one can access. So instead, I provided a link to the TNR article via Yahoo News, which has a distribution arrangement with Yahoo. You may also see stuff routed through AOL, MSN, or other sites.
You’re welcome.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump’s White House ballroom defense unravels as secret bunker exposed. Trump is claiming that ballroom is necessary because it will also provide a secure underground facility in case of a national emergency, an argument his lawyers have used in court. But former White House officials told The Washington Post that the building already has a fortified bunker deep underground that was built more than a decade ago to shelter the president and White House staffers.
(The New Republic)Here’s the exclusive Washington Post story: Secret White House bunker undercuts Trump’s ballroom lawsuit, ex-officials say. Trump has claimed that the White House needs a massive new ballroom because it would provide him and future presidents with a secure, hardened facility. But former officials say the argument fails to acknowledge that the presidential complex already has one: deep underground, built in secret after 9/11, and nuclear proof. (Washington Post gift article)
Supreme Court allows Trump to pursue mail voting limits, for now. The court cleared the way for Trump’s order that creates “state citizenship lists” and directs the Postal Service to decide who gets a mail-in ballot. But with a little more than two months until Election Day- and considerably less time before early voting begins in many states— it remains unclear whether the White House’s rules will be in effect for a midterm election in which control of both chambers is at stake. Additional legal action is a near certainty with the plan’s fate not yet final.
(New York Times gift article)
Canada to announce retaliatory tariffs as Trump tells its leaders to ‘fall in line’. “An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States” is “not something we’re going to accept,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said. Carney was even more blunt in French. “We learned during the negotiations that the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminum. That was one of the main reasons we said no. It was a bad deal.” (AP)
‘He has a lot of room to kiss my ass’: The trade fight with Canada is getting personal. Trump’s tariff war is escalating and so is the bombast.
(Wall Street Journal gift article.)
‘Reagan would be throwing up:’ Ontario premier unloads on Trump and threatens to cut electricity to US as trade dispute escalates. Ford warned that ‘everything is on the table’ should the dispute deteriorate, including shutting off electricity exports and critical mineral shipments from Ontario.
(The Independent)
Doctor sounds alarm on Trump’s ‘strange and unusual’ habit. While examining two recent events featuring the president, clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. John Paul Garrison explained that at times when Trump was not speaking, he appeared to suffer a minor spasm in his right arm, which Garrison said shows signs of increasing discomfort as the attention is not all on him. (Daily Beast)
US set for largest mass visa revocation in history targeting up to 200,000 foreigners, officials say. The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges. (AP)
Nine million images of people’s faces exposed by reverse lookup service. The people-search tool ClarityCheck says its reverse image search service is “private and secure”- but it left a database containing more than nine million image files exposed. (Malwarebytes)
Scientists turn plastic waste into edible cookies because that’s the future we deserve. A team of researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale just demonstrated that this was possible by using specially engineered yeast to create tasty- and yes, edible- cookies which they 3D printed out of plastic waste. (Futurism)
The case against lettuce: aiding and abetting foodborne illness may be lettuce’s biggest offense. But it doesn’t have much else going for it, either, and there’s a reasonably strong case that we would be better off without it. On one side of the ledger we have 1.7 million annual cases of food poisoning, $3.7 billion and 3 billion pounds of rotting lettuce. On the other we have, basically, an excuse to kid yourself into eating blue cheese dressing. (Washington Post gift article)
Earth is simmering in its hottest water temps on record, and that’s bad for fish and us. And the oceans will continue to get warmer. “The thing that makes my heart sink is that this starts so early and it’s so out-of-normal that you know when it hits its peak, it’s going to be unprecedented,” said Boris Worm, a biology professor at Canada’s Dalhousie University. “The ocean is not supposed to do this.” (AP)
Mold is driving America’s homeowners crazy- and they want builders to pay. Homeowner lawsuits against home builders allege mold-related illnesses, while builders say the allegations are off the mark and costing them millions. Modern energy efficiency codes have lowered the margin of error for builders when it comes to moisture management. And construction defects can cause mold growth, which thousands of Americans believe is making them sick.
(Wall Street Journal gift article)Thinking it might be a good time to escape the chaos of these Unites States and move to a country that’s less insane? InterNations, the largest global online and face-to-face network for expatriates and people who live or work abroad, has published its ranking of “The Best & Worst Countries for Expats in 2026”. The list is surprising… Panama ranks number one, Canada is a mediocre 27, and #31 Norway is at the bottom with a number of dismal rankings: difficulty making friends, poor social life, worst-rated cost of living, and leisure options, among others. (InterNations)
Seth Meyers and A Closer Look supervising writer/producer Sal Gentile catch up on all the news they’re missing during Late Night’s summer hiatus. In this episode they discuss Donald Trump contradicting his own son-in-law Jared Kushner on Iran and refusing to apologize for high gas prices, as well as Sen. Darline Graham’s disastrous debate performance and Jon Ossoff’s mention of Trump aide Natalie Harp. (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:
2005 – Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Florida.
Quote of the day:
Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.
--George Orwell (Wikipedia link)
(One of 52,783 quotations from the searchable KGB Quotations Database.)
Click here for more George Orwell quotes.
Today’s holidays:
Aromantic Spectrum Visibility Day, Kiss and Make Up Day, National Banana Split Day, National Park Service Founders Day, National Second-hand Wardrobe Day, National Whiskey Sour Day, and Touch-A-Heart Tuesday.
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.
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—Kevin G. Barkes (KGB)
On This Day:
2017 – Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 2004.
2012 – Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space, becoming the first man-made object to do so.
2005 – Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Florida.
2003 – NASA successfully launched the Spitzer Space Telescope.
2001 – American singer Aaliyah and several members of her entourage were killed when their overloaded aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport, Bahamas.
1991 – Linus Torvalds announced the first version of what would become Linux.
1989 – Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune, the last planet in the Solar System at the time, due to Pluto being within Neptune’s orbit from 1979 to 1999.
1986 – Paul Simon’s seventh studio album, “Graceland”, was released. (Video)
1985 – Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 crashed near Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn, Maine, killing all eight people on board including peace activist and child actress Samantha Smith.
1981 – Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn.
1979 – The mystery series “Hart to Hart” premiered on ABC. (Video)
1975 – Bruce Springsteen’s third studio album, “Born to Run”, was released. (Video)
1967 – George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, was assassinated by a former member of his group.
1958 – The world’s first publicly marketed instant noodles, Chikin Ramen, were introduced by Taiwanese-Japanese businessman Momofuku Ando.
1950 – Truman ordered army to seize control of railroads.
1948 – The House Un-American Activities Committee held first-ever televised congressional hearing: “Confrontation Day” between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
1945 – Ten days after World War II ended with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Chinese Communist Party killed U.S. intelligence officer John Birch, regarded by some of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.
1944 – World War II: Paris was liberated by the Allies.
1940 – World War II: The first Bombing of Berlin by the British Royal Air Force.
1939 – “The Wizard of Oz” opened in U.S. theaters. (Video)
1916 – The United States National Park Service was created.
1914 – World War I: The library of the Catholic University of Leuven was deliberately destroyed by the German Army. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts were lost.
1875 – Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 21 hours and 45 minutes.
1835 – The first Great Moon Hoax article was published in The New York Sun, announcing the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon.
1814 – War of 1812: On the second day of the Burning of Washington, British troops torch the Library of Congress, United States Treasury, Department of War, and other public buildings.
1609 – Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1998 – China Anne McClain, American actress and singer
1987 – Blake Lively, American model and actress
1987 – Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
1981 – Rachel Bilson, American actress
1978 – Kel Mitchell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Jonathan Togo, American actor
1976 – Alexander Skarsgård, Swedish actor
1974 – Eric Millegan, American actor
1973 – Fatih Akın, German director, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Claudia Schiffer, German model and fashion designer
1968 – Rachael Ray, American chef, author, and television host
1968 – David Alan Basche, American actor
1967 – Tom Hollander, English actor
1964 – Blair Underwood, American actor
1961 – Joanne Whalley, English actress
1961 – Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1960 – Ashley Crow, American actress
1958 – Christian LeBlanc, American actor
1958 – Tim Burton, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1957 – Simon McBurney, English actor and director
1954 – Elvis Costello, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1949 – Gene Simmons, Israeli-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1949 – John Savage, American actor and producer
1949 – Martin Amis, British novelist (died 2023)
1945 – Hannah Louise Shearer, American screenwriter and producer
1944 – Anthony Heald, American actor
1939 – Marshall Brickman, Brazilian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2024)
1939 – John Badham, English-American actor, director, and producer
1938 – David Canary, American actor (died 2015)
1935 – Charles Wright, American poet
1933 – Tom Skerritt, American actor
1931 – Regis Philbin, American actor and television host (died 2020)
1930 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (died 2003)
1930 – Sean Connery, Scottish actor and producer (died 2020)
1927 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player and golfer (died 2003)
1921 – Monty Hall, Canadian television personality and game show host (died 2017)
1919 – George Wallace, American lawyer, and politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (died 1998)
1918 – Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1990)
1918 – Richard Greene, English actor (died 1985)
1917 – Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (died 2008)
1916 – Van Johnson, American actor (died 2008)
1913 – Walt Kelly, American illustrator and animator (died 1973)
1913 – Don DeFore, American actor (died 1993)
1909 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1993)
1909 – Michael Rennie, English actor and producer (died 1971)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2018 – John McCain, American politician (born 1936)
2016 – Marvin Kaplan, American actor (born 1927)
2012 – Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (born 1930)
2009 – Ted Kennedy, American politician (born 1932)
2001 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (born 1979)
2000 – Carl Barks, American author and illustrator (born 1901)
1998 – Lewis F. Powell, Jr., American lawyer and Supreme Court justice (born 1907)
1988 – Art Rooney, American businessman, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (born 1901)
1984 – Truman Capote, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1924)
1980 – Gower Champion, American dancer and choreographer (born 1919)
1979 – Stan Kenton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1911)
1967 – Paul Muni, Ukrainian-born American actor (born 1895)
1965 – Moonlight Graham, American baseball player and physician (born 1879)
1956 – Alfred Kinsey, American biologist and academic (born 1894)
1945 – John Birch, American soldier and missionary (born 1918)
1908 – Henri Becquerel, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852)
1900 – Friedrich Nietzsche, German philologist, philosopher, and critic (born 1844)
1867 – Michael Faraday, English physicist and chemist (born 1791)
1822 – William Herschel, German-English astronomer and composer (born 1738)
1819 – James Watt, Scottish engineer and instrument maker (born 1736)
1776 – David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (born 1711)
79 – Pliny the Elder, Roman commander and philosopher (born 23)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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