Ronny Chieng dives into Trump's appearance at the NATO summit "love-fest," where he picked new fights with Spain and Denmark, converted Japan into an Islamic Republic, and bemoaned his on-again, off-again ceasefire with Iran.
KGB Report is published Monday through Thursday, is assembled by an aging human, and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
July 9 is the 190th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 175 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 925 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Iran, not Trump, is in control of this war. The “cease-fire” Trump declared last month—a move probably meant to both soothe international markets and avert legislative action from the United States Congress—never really existed, because neither side ever ceased firing. (The Atlantic gift article)
US launches new airstrikes on Iran, with Tehran firing back at three Gulf Arab states. (AP)
Oil prices rise, and stocks drop worldwide after Trump says ceasefire with Iran is ‘over’. (AP)
NATO chief confronted on his lack of self-respect after Trump meeting. “Mark, you sit next to Donald Trump in moments where he talks about conquering Greenland, talked about lashing out at allies like Spain, starting trade wars—things that [don’t] seem like the old Mark Rutte would approve of,” a Danish reporter asked Rutte shortly after his meeting with Trump Wednesday. “Does this have any affect on your self-respect when you sit next to him like that and say nothing?” (The New Republic)
Trump thinks the “Islamic Republic of Japan” is attacking the United States.
(The New Republic)Trump leaves NATO summit declaring ‘a lot of love’ with allies after a rocky start. (You really need to watch the Daily Show video above or here.)
Trump flies partway home from Turkey in an old Air Force One, not the new Qatari-gifted jet. (AP)
Judge orders release of the $5.8 million payment Trump owed E. Jean Carroll; Trump appeals. The move came after the president’s attorneys launched a long-shot bid to the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision not to hear his appeal of a sexual abuse and defamation verdict. Trump’s attorneys said Wednesday they would continue to appeal, and accused his political opponents of using the legal system against him. (Hah!) They want 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the payment. (AP)
Appeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from the Kennedy Center. A three-judge panel said Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board, in their motion to stay the lower court’s order, failed to show they would be “irreparably injured” without his name being restored. (NPR)
Supreme Court strikes down limits on how much political parties may spend on candidates. Free speech ain’t what it used to be. (NPR)
United Airlines to face lawsuit over ‘window seats’ that don’t have windows. “Not the aisle or middle seat” process of elimination apparently doesn’t cut it.
(The Independent)Boomers’ massive wealth will mostly be passed down to people who are already rich. I wish I knew just one boomer with “massive wealth”.
(Washington Post via Yahoo Finance)Execs confused and horrified by the huge AI bills after thinking they could replace workers for free. The bad news is that this situation has created a world-historic financial market that, by some metrics, is looking worse than the run-up to the Great Depression. The good news is that this future of an AI takeover is looking increasingly unlikely, at least at the industry’s current pace, a fact which is now dawning on some of the biggest rubes and dupes in the corporate world. (Futurism)
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:
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship, all persons in the United States due process of law, and establishing birthright citizenship.
Quote of the day:
There’s lots of law these days, but not much justice.
--Dean Koontz (Wikipedia link)
(More Dean Koontz quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Call of the Horizon Day, Fashion Day, International Small Arms Destruction Day, National Dimples Day, National Don’t Put all your Eggs in One Omelet Day, and National Sugar Cookie Day.
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On This Day:
2025 – Earth completed its shortest recorded day due to a slight acceleration in rotation, with July 9 lasting approximately 1.3 to 1.6 milliseconds less than 24 hours.
2004 – The Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence was released by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, casting doubt on the rationale for the Iraq War.
1962 – Starfish Prime tested the effects of a nuclear explosion at orbital altitudes.
1962 – Bob Dylan recorded “Blowin’ In The Wind”.
1958 – A 7.8 Mw strike-slip earthquake in Alaska caused a landslide that produced a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed.
1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily began, leading to the downfall of Mussolini and forcing Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.
1937 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.
1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swam the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking the world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’.
1918 – In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collided with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1893 – Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performed the first successful open-heart surgery in the United States without anesthesia.
1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships began.
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship, all persons in the United States due process of law, and establishing birthright citizenship.
1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor died after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
1846 – U.S. took San Francisco from Mexico.
1795 – Financier James Swan paid off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution.
1776 – George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island.
1762 – Catherine the Great became Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1976 – Fred Savage, American actor, director, and producer
1971 – Marc Andreessen, American software developer, co-founded Netscape
1964 – Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1957 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
1956 – Tom Hanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1955 – Jimmy Smits, American actor and producer
1955 – Lindsey Graham, American lawyer and politician
1952 – John Tesh, American pianist, composer, and radio and television host
1951 – Chris Cooper, American actor
1947 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor (died 2024)
1945 – Dean Koontz, American author and screenwriter
1942 – Richard Roundtree, American actor (died 2023)
1938 – Brian Dennehy, American actor (died 2020)
1937 – David Hockney, English painter and photographer (died 2026)
1933 – Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (died 2015)
1932 – Donald Rumsfeld, American captain and politician, 13th United States Secretary of Defense (died 2021)
1929 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2007)
1928 – Vince Edwards, American actor, singer, and director (died 1996)
1927 – Ed Ames, American singer and actor (died 2023)
1926 – Murphy Anderson, American illustrator (died 2015)
1901 – Barbara Cartland, English author (died 2000)
1819 – Elias Howe, American inventor, invented the sewing machine (died 1867)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2019 – Rip Torn, American actor (born 1931)
2019 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (born 1930)
2014 – Eileen Ford, American businesswoman, co-founded Ford Models (born 1922)
2007 – Charles Lane, American actor (born 1905)
2004 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (born 1917)
2002 – Rod Steiger, American actor (born 1925)
1996 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (born 1907)
1992 – Eric Sevareid, American journalist (born 1912)
1974 – Earl Warren, American jurist and politician, 14th Chief Justice of the United States (born 1891)
1961 – Whittaker Chambers, American spy and witness in Hiss case (born 1901)
1932 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (born 1855)
1856 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist and academic (born 1776)
1850 – Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (born 1784)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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