We’re publishing Tuesday-Friday this week. Then things should be back to the regular schedule.
KGB Report is published Monday through Thursday (usually), is assembled by an aging human, and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
August 19 is the 231st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 134 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 884 days remain in Trump’s final term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump TACOs yet again and announces a three-day delay on imposing 50 percent tariffs in a social media post on Tuesday night, roughly 90 minutes before the midnight deadline. (New York Times gift article)
Trump says US has no talks planned with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz remains “open and operating,” despite limited traffic and a reported strike on a ship exiting the waterway. (AP)
Navy officials secretly plan to ignore Trump’s warship demands. Well, apparently, not that secretly. Seriously, Navy officials either will convince Trump that the newer electromagnetic aircraft launch systems (EMALS) and advanced weapons elevators (AWE) on the warships are the way to go, or will wait him out."
(Alternet via MSN)Disney strikes back against the FCC. The Wall Street Journal(!) says ABC’s owner has a good case in its lawsuit against Brendan Carr’s harassment on free-speech grounds. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Fake polling from mysterious company highlights danger of unvetted election surveys. The company shut down its website and explained that it “was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.” Really? There are people who believe the Earth is flat and Bigfoot exists. Just about anything can be widely transmitted and believed by social media users. Experiments like this belong in a controlled setting. The state of California is a laboratory of democracy, not a meth lab of democracy. (AP)
There’s no reason to buy a new phone anymore ...new models are indistinguishable from the old ones, and the hype of securing the latest and greatest has given way to an upgrade cycle driven by practicality. More than ever before, people are eager to buy used. (The Atlantic gift article)
My mother had postpartum psychosis after I was born. Fortunately, her condition was identified quickly and intensive inpatient treatment allowed her to recover. I’ve also dealt with relatives who suffered from the “baby blues”- postpartum depression, which is much less severe, but also potentially life threatening. Unless you’ve seen how loved ones you know intimately are affected, you really can’t appreciate the mental suffering they must endure. That’s why the AP story, “Lindsay Clancy was ‘begging for help’ before killing her children, former mother-in-law testifies,” really hits home. It’s tragic she didn’t get the help she needed. And the trial provides only two equally tragic outcomes: life in prison without parole, or commitment to a mental institution.
‘Dangerously hostile’: heatwaves leave hospital wards unsafe, data reveals. Hospitals in England have recorded temperatures of almost 42°C (107.6°F) this summer, with surgeries being cancelled because operating theatres’ cooling units stopped working in the intense heat.
Harvard to pay $53 million to settle lawsuits over theft of body parts. Bodies of loved ones donated to its medical school were sold for parts on the black market by the former manager of its morgue. (Reuters)
‘Show how 3M is 0% at fault:’ An expert witness testifying in a lawsuit about liability for a Houston explosion that killed three people and destroyed roughly 200 homes used ChatGPT to write significant portions of his “expert report.” Wonder if 3M paid his “expert fee” up front… (404)
Gee, they’re strict down under: Woman dies, comes back to life, gets parking ticket. (Stuff)
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:
1934 – The German referendum of 1934 approved Adolf Hitler‘s appointment as head of state with the title of Führer.
Quote of the day:
I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all.
--Coco Chanel (Wikipedia link)
(One of 52,783 quotations from the searchable KGB Quotations Database.)
Click here for more Coco Chanel quotes.
Today’s holidays:
‘Black Cow’ Root Beer Float Day, International Bow Day, International Orangutan Day, International Talk Like Jar Jar Binks Day, Malan Syndrome Awareness Day, National Aviation Day, National Hot and Spicy Food Day, National Medical Dosimetrist’s Day, National Potato Day, National Sandcastle and Sculpture Day, National Soft Ice Cream Day, Transgender Flag Day, World Humanitarian Day, and World Photography Day.
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—Kevin G. Barkes (KGB)
On This Day:
2011 – “West Memphis Three” released from prison after 18 years.
2010 – Operation Iraqi Freedom ended, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
2004 – Google Inc. had its initial public offering on Nasdaq.
2003 – Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children.
1991 – Crown Heights riot in New York City began.
1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup began when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.
1987 – Hungerford massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan killed sixteen people with a semi-automatic rifle and then commits suicide.
1967 – The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Video)
1964 – Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, was launched. Two months later, it would enable live coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics.
1964 – The Beatles kicked off their first U.S. tour at San Francisco’s Cow Palace.
1960 – Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
1960 – Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2: The Soviet Union launched the satellite, the first spacecraft to carry animals into space and bring them back alive. The crew included the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants.
1955 – In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane claimed 200 lives.
1953 – Cold War: The CIA and MI6 helped to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstate the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1944 – World War II: Liberation of Paris: Paris, France rose against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
1934 – The German referendum of 1934 approved Adolf Hitler‘s appointment as head of state with the title of Führer.
1934 – The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio.
1909 – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened for automobile racing. William Bourque and his mechanic are killed during the first day’s events.
1848 – California Gold Rush: The New York Herald broke the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
1812 – War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks: The last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown.
1692 – Salem witch trials: In Salem, province of Massachusetts Bay, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor, John Willard, and clergyman George Burroughs were executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
43 BC – In the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, his nephew and heir, Octavian, used the threat of military force to compel the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1988 – Veronica Roth, American author
1982 – Melissa Fumero, American actress
1982 – Erika Christensen, American actress
1975 – Tracie Thoms, American actress
1969 – Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2023)
1966 – Lee Ann Womack, American singer-songwriter
1965 – Kevin Dillon, American actor
1965 – Kyra Sedgwick, American actress and producer
1963 – John Stamos, American actor
1957 – Martin Donovan, American actor and director
1956 – Adam Arkin, American actor, director, and producer
1952 – Jonathan Frakes, American actor and director
1948 – Tipper Gore, American activist and author, former Second Lady of the United States
1948 – Jim Carter, English actor
1947 – Gerald McRaney, American actor
1946 – Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States
1945 – Ian Gillan, English singer-songwriter
1944 – Charles Wang, Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Computer Associates International (died 2018)
1942 – Fred Thompson, American actor, lawyer, and politician (died 2015)
1940 – Jill St. John, American model and actress
1940 – Johnny Nash, American singer-songwriter (died 2020)
1938 – Diana Muldaur, American actress
1934 – Renée Richards, American tennis player and ophthalmologist
1933 – Debra Paget, American actress
1924 – William Marshall, American actor, director, and opera singer (died 2003)
1921 – Gene Roddenberry, American screenwriter and producer (died 1991)
1919 – Malcolm Forbes, American publisher and politician (died 1990)
1915 – Ring Lardner, Jr., American journalist and screenwriter (died 2000)
1906 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor, invented the Fusor, key figure in the invention of television (died 1971)
1902 – Ogden Nash, American poet (died 1971)
1883 – Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, founded the Chanel Company (died 1971)
1871 – Orville Wright, American engineer and pilot, co-founded the Wright Company (died 1948)
1743 – Madame du Barry, French mistress of Louis XV (died 1793)
1631 – John Dryden, English poet, literary critic and playwright (died 1700)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2017 – Dick Gregory, American comedian, author and activist (born 1932)
2016 – Jack Riley, American actor and voice artist (born 1935)
2012 – Tony Scott, English-American director and producer (born 1944)
2009 – Don Hewitt, American television producer, created 60 Minutes (born 1922)
1994 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901)
1986 – Hermione Baddeley, English actress (born 1906)
1977 – Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (born 1890)
1976 – Alastair Sim, Scottish-English actor (born 1900)
1968 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (born 1904)
1967 – Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-born American author and publisher (born 1884)
1662 – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (born 1623)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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