KGB Report is published Monday through Thursday, is assembled by an aging human, and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
July 27 is the 208th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 157 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 907 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump pauses Iran strikes as officials weigh dwindling air defense stocks. He’s delayed a major military escalation against Iran to allow for diplomacy and amid debate over declining U.S. munitions. Analysts outside the government have repeatedly cautioned that the large number of antimissile interceptors that have been used to intercept Iranian missile attacks could hamper the U.S.’s ability to deter adversaries around the globe, including China.
(Wall Street Journal gift article)
Lindsey Graham reportedly told film crew Trump was ‘jacked’ at start of Iran war: ‘He loves blowing stuff up’. The late senator painted a picture of a hawkish president that differed greatly from the dove he frequently sold himself as publicly. (MEDIAite)
Trump expert exposes how his team shields him after latest ‘bombed’ speech. "I can tell you that he came off that stage, everybody said that 'you were fantastic,' and that's exactly what he will believe... Donald Trump, I feel safe to say, has never once in his life even entertained the possibility that he has bombed." (Alternet)
Republicans see ‘scary’ lack of enthusiasm among core voters ahead of midterms. A raft of discouraging data from polling, door knocking and focus groups is unsettling Republicans as their party heads into a midterm election season that would be challenging no matter what, given President Donald Trump’s low standing in polls and the fact that the party in control in Washington almost always loses seats. (Washington Post gift article)
An OpenAI model left notes to future versions of itself about how to escape containment. An agent left notes apparently for future versions of itself, according to three people familiar with the matter. The notes, found in a part of OpenAI's infrastructure, laid out instructions for how agents could free themselves from OpenAI’s internal constraints, the people said. Earlier tests of the models yielded cases in which monitoring systems had been disconnected, one of the people said. And on that note,
Sam Altman says we are in the singularity: ‘This is the moment’. The singularity is often regarded as the point at which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and begins advancing at a pace that's difficult for people to predict or control. (Business Insider)
ChatGPT invoked God, told pastor not to worry about his symptoms. Then the pulmonary embolism hit. ChatGPT doled out medical advice mixed with spiritual language, even saying things like "God walks with you through affliction", to a pastor who has now sued OpenAI, claiming this "almost killed him." (wionews)
AI companies are still buying up old books by the pallet – then shredding them. The internet is now so saturated with AI-generated text that pre-2022 printed books represent the last large, uncontaminated reservoir of human-authored knowledge. Training AI on AI output is like photocopying a photocopy- each generation degrades until the result is mush. Researchers call it “model collapse.” Feed a language model its own synthetic output and quality deteriorates fast. (Gadget Review)
A single dose of this drug reversed autism-like symptoms in adult mice within hours. TLDR: Its benefits were temporary, repeated use can be toxic, and the study was conducted in mice. Nonetheless the rapid response helped reveal biological processes that could guide the development of safer and more targeted therapies. (ScienceDaily)
It’s looking like the Cybertruck is the biggest flop in automotive history. The
Cybertruck is actually doing worse than the infamous Ford Edsel in key ways.
Tesla’s annual sales target was 250,000 units, but it didn’t even crack 40,000
sales in its first year. And like the Edsel, it’s sold less with each successive
year, with barely 7,100 registered in the US in 2026 so far, according to S&P
Global Mobility data - despite Musk juicing those figures by selling Cybertrucks
to his own companies. (Futurism)
Powerball winner wished he ‘tore up ticket’ after $315m jackpot destroyed him. One previous Powerball millionaire publicly spoke about how his jackpot win was the worst thing that ever happened to him- a cautionary tale of lottery winner regret. TLDR: The guy was an idiot. (The Mirror)
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:
1974 – Watergate scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
Quote of the day:
If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that He has spared me the indignity of being your representative.
--Hilaire Belloc (Wikipedia link)
(One of 52,674 quotations from the searchable KGB Quotations Database.)
Click here for more Hilaire Belloc quotes
Today’s holidays:
Bagpipe Appreciation Day, Cross Atlantic Communication Day, Gary Gygax Day, National Chicken Finger Day, National Crème Brûlée Day, National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, National Scotch Day, Norfolk Day, Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day, Take Your Pants For a Walk Day, and Walk on Stilts Day.
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—Kevin G. Barkes (KGB)
On This Day:
2002 – Ukraine airshow disaster: A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashed during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.
1996 – In Atlanta, United States, a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
1995 – The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1995 – Six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted.
1982 – The musical “Little Shop of Horrors” opened off-off-Broadway. (Video)
1974 – Watergate scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
1959 – The Continental League was announced as baseball’s “third major league” in the United States.
1953 – Korean War: Cessation of hostilities was achieved when the United States, China, and North Korea signed an armistice agreement.
1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.
1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare was released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny. (Video)
1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, was signed by 53 nations.
1921 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, proved that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.
1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupted after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.
1890 – Vincent van Gogh shot himself and died two days later.
1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable was successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.
1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre was arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the Revolution”.
1789 – The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, was established (it was later renamed Department of State).
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1984 – Taylor Schilling, American actress
1983 – Heidi Gardner, American actress and comedian
1977 – Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor
1975 – Alex Rodriguez, American baseball player
1972 – Maya Rudolph, American actress and comedian
1970 – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Danish actor and producer
1968 – Julian McMahon, Australian actor and producer (died 2025)
1957 – Bill Engvall, American comedian, actor, and producer
1956 – Carol Leifer, American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer
1953 – Yahoo Serious, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Roxanne Hart, American actress
1950 – Simon Jones, English actor
1949 – Maureen McGovern, American singer and actress (Video)
1948 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater and sportscaster
1947 – Betty Thomas, American actress, director, and producer
1942 – Bobbie Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Video)
1938 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (died 2008)
1937 – Don Galloway, American actor (died 2009)
1931 – Jerry Van Dyke, American actor (died 2018)
1927 – Will Jordan, American comedian and actor (died 2018)
1924 – Vincent Canby, American historian and critic (died 2000)
1922 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (died 2023)
1916 – Keenan Wynn, American actor (died 1986)
1905 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (died 1991) (Quotes)
1870 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (died 1953)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2022 – Tony Dow, American actor, film producer, director, and sculptor (born 1945)
2017 – Sam Shepard, American playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director (born 1943)
2012 – Tony Martin, American actor and singer (born 1913)
2003 – Bob Hope, English-American actor, comedian, television personality, and businessman (born 1903)
1995 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (born 1907) (Video)
1988 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor and businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (born 1901)
1984 – James Mason, English actor (born 1909)
1981 – William Wyler, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1902)
1946 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1874)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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