Jon Stewart dives into Trump (and his doppelganger) photobombing Spain at the FIFA final, using a primetime presidential speech to rehash his 2020 election conspiracy theories, and how his administration's non-DEI meritocracy is faring amid a rash of T-tests, measles outbreaks, a failed 250th celebration, and an algae-filled reflecting pool.
KGB Report is published Monday through Thursday, is assembled by an aging human, and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
July 21 is the 202nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 163 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 913 days remain in Trump’s term of office. (AP)
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, citing disputes over autos, alcohol and cheese. The White House said in a fact sheet that the tariffs would go into effect in 30 days, more than double Trump’s typical “two weeks” schedule. Sounds like a TACO situation to me… (AP)
Trump is ready for all-out war in Iran. There’s just one catch. Someone’s weapons are depleted, but it’s not Iran. (TNR)
Trump is caught in the trap he set. The war in Iran has dealt a serious blow to the idea that the president can slip out of any bind easily. (The Atlantic gift article)
Forecasters split on midterms, but a sweep is possible, maybe likely. Forecasters say Democrats are favored to take the U.S. House this November while Republicans are favored to hold the Senate, yet the likeliest outcome is one party sweeping full control of Congress. (The Center Square via AOL)
The company gave $1 million to the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc on March 26, 2025, just six days after the FDA announced it was pushing back the implementation of its “Food Traceability Rule” by 30 months. (Futurism)
Court ruling freezes Paramount-Warner Bros. merger for now. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a 14-day temporary restraining order to pause the acquisition. The Democratic attorneys general allege that Paramount's purchase of Warner Bros. would reduce competition, hurting filmgoers along with TV and news consumers and especially those who create entertainment programming and the news content that the public relies on. (NPR)
Supreme Court agrees to hear case on whether airplane was improperly seized for transporting a six-pack of beer. (SCOTUSblog)
Earth’s oceans are rapidly losing oxygen. It could destabilize the planet. “Given these interactions and current rates of oxygen loss, we argue that aquatic deoxygenation is approaching an ‘unsafe space,’ with Earth-system impacts that are likely to be irreversible in our lifetimes.” (Gizmodo)
Researchers warn rising CO₂ may already be changing human blood chemistry and could approach the upper limit of its healthy range within decades if current trends persist. (SciTechDaily)
Astronauts returning from long stays in orbit say the smell of rain is almost too much to bear and a familiar street feels like something they are piloting rather than driving. (SpaceDaily)
Five cups of coffee a day is fine for most adults, Heart Association says. Downing between about three to five 8-ounce cups of joe daily, or around 400 milligrams of caffeine, is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, heart failure, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. Wait, didn’t they used to say that coffee was bad for you if you had high blood pressure? (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Trump gets booed at World Cup final, lies about spiraling Iran war & 2020 election: A Closer Look (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:
2024 – U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek a second term and withdrew from the 2024 election, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
Quote of the day:
(I suspect this is meaningful to many Substack publishers.)
Even if what you're working on doesn't go anywhere, it will help you with the next thing you're doing. Make yourself available for something to happen. Give it a shot.
--Cormac McCarthy (Wikipedia link)
(One of 52,675 quotations from the searchable KGB Quotations Database.)
Click here for more Cormac McCarthy quotes
Today’s holidays:
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, Invite an Alien to Live with You Day, Legal Drinking Age Day, National Be Someone Day, National Junk Food Day, National Tug-Of-War Tournament Day, No Pet Store Puppies Day , and Take a Monkey to Lunch Day.,
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:
2024 – U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek a second term and withdrew from the 2024 election, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
2012 – Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
2011 – NASA‘s Space Shuttle program ended with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center.
2010 – U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
2007 – The final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released.
2005 – Four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupted part of London‘s public transport system.
1983 – The world’s lowest temperature in an inhabited location was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).
1970 – After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed.
1969 – At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.
1961 – Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 becames the second American to go into space in a suborbital mission.
1959 – NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, was launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower‘s “Atoms for Peace“ initiative.
1954 – The Geneva Conference partitioned Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
1949 – The United States Senate ratified the North Atlantic Treaty.
1944 – Claus von Stauffenberg and four fellow conspirators are executed for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
1925 – Malcolm Campbell became the first man to exceed 150 mph (241 km/h) on land.
1925 – In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching human evolution in class and fined $100.
1919 – The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.
1907 – The passenger steamer SS Columbia sank after colliding with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California, killing 88 people.
1904 – Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, became the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land.
1873 – At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang pulled off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.
1865 – In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.
1861 – First Battle of Bull Run: At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war began and ended in a victory for the Confederate army.
365 – The 365 Crete earthquake affected the Greek island of Crete with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), causing a destructive tsunami that affected the coasts of Libya and Egypt, especially Alexandria. Many thousands were killed.
356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was destroyed by arson.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1989 – Jasmine Cephas Jones, English actress and singer (Peggy in “Hamilton”) (Video)
1989 – Juno Temple, English actress
1989 – Rory Culkin, American actor
1987 – Peter Doocy, American journalist
1986 – Betty Gilpin, American actress
1978 – Josh Hartnett, American actor
1978 – Justin Bartha, American actor
1976 – Jaime Murray, English actress
1975 – David Dastmalchian, American actor
1971 – Charlotte Gainsbourg, English-French actress and singer
1957 – Jon Lovitz, American comedian, actor, and producer (Video)
1956 – Michael Connelly, American author
1951 – Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (died 2014) (Video)
1948 – Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
1948 – Cat Stevens, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Video)
1946 – Ken Starr, American lawyer and judge, 39th Solicitor General of the United States (died 2022)
1944 – Paul Wellstone, American academic and politician (died 2002)
1943 – Edward Herrmann, American actor (died 2014)
1938 – Janet Reno, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General (died 2016)
1932 – Kaye Stevens, American singer and actress (died 2011)
1931 – Plas Johnson, American saxophonist (died 2026) (Video)
1926 – Norman Jewison, Canadian actor, director, and producer (died 2024)
1924 – Don Knotts, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (died 2006)
1920 – Isaac Stern, Russian-American violinist and conductor (died 2001)
1911 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author and theorist (died 1980) (Video)
1899 – Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2023 – Tony Bennett, American singer (born 1926) (Video)
2017 – John Heard, American film and television actor (born 1946)
2015 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1931)
2004 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (born 1929)
1998 – Alan Shepard, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut (born 1923)
1998 – Robert Young, American actor and singer (born 1907)
1982 – Dave Garroway, American journalist and actor (born 1913)
1967 – Basil Rathbone, South African-American actor and singer (born 1892)
1899 – Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1833)
1796 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (born 1759)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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