Nobody has seen Mitch McConnell in weeks. His staff says he’s sharp as ever. 🌪️
So we sent Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion to the Emerald City to check.
KGB Report is published Monday through Thursday, is assembled by an aging human, and contains no intentional A.I. generated material.
August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 150 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 900 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Trump pivots back to diplomacy- again- as Iran victory eludes him. The question is whether negotiations can finally reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lay the groundwork for nuclear talks. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Senator tells Trump to ditch ‘real estate buddy’ and Jared Kushner as Iran war threatens to spiral out of control. A Democratic senator and veteran once again took aim at the Trump administration over the Iran war on Sunday, claiming that the president’s chosen diplomats Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are not up to the task. (The Independent US)
The Whiplash War. War. Cease-fire. Somewhere in between. The United States and Iran can’t stop cycling between conflict and negotiation.
(New York Times gift article)
Fact-checking Trump’s recent comments about costs of the Iran war. The president misleadingly blamed the Biden administration’s weapons transfers to Ukraine for current concerns over munitions stockpiles, among other claims about the Iran war. (New York Times gift article)
Trump says cyberattack on Minnesota is their fault, not Iran’s. President Donald Trump baselessly claimed Friday that Minnesota had committed a cyberattack against itself. (The New Republic)
Let them eat gold. Taxpayers are now financing President Trump’s love of anything gilded. (The Atlantic gift article)
The intense pressure facing Fauci, as GOP lawmakers push for his jailing. The 85-year-old doctor, once the head of the government’s covid response, now faces mounting congressional threats and legal risks. (Washington Post gift article)
RFK Jr. pushes measles vaccine and blames Fauci’s COVID-19 handling. RFK encouraged Americans to get the MMR vaccine ahead of back-to-school season and blamed COVID-19 lockdowns for the measles cases. Dr. Fauci said in his diary that the group who "missed their measles vaccinations because of the shutdown" could lead to "far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children.” (USA Today)
Scientists forced to go on OnlyFans after their funding was cut. When you’re a scientist relying on government funding to conduct your research, and that government suddenly yoinks all your money in the name of “efficiency,” you have to get creative to keep the lights on. (Futurism)
Senate aims to block White House from gaining new power over science funding. A bipartisan spending bill unveiled by GOP leaders would prevent the White House from asserting greater control over hundreds of billions of dollars in federal grants. (Washington Post via MSN)
Late Night With Seth Meyers is taking nearly two months off. With Colbert gone and Kimmel using guest hosts while on his annual summer break, late night ain’t what it used to be. (Latenighter)
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:
1958 – The world’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, became the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole.
Quote of the day:
What a child doesn’t receive he can seldom later give.
--P.D. James (Wikipedia link)
(One of 52,674 quotations from the searchable KGB Quotations Database.)
Click here for more P.D. James quotes
Today’s holidays:
Airplane Crop Duster Day, Clean Your Floors Day, CLOVES Syndrome Awareness Day, Esther Day, Grab Some Nuts Day, and National Watermelon 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:
2019 – Twenty-three people were killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
2014 – The genocide of Yazidis by ISIL began.
2004 – The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopened after being closed since the September 11 attacks.
1996 – “The Macarena” began its reign atop the U.S. pop charts.
1984 – Gymnast Mary Lou Retton scored two perfect ‘10s’ to win Olympic All-Around Gold.
1977 – Tandy Corporation announced the TRS-80, one of the world’s first mass-produced personal computers.
1977 – “The Spy Who Loved Me” was released in U.S. theaters. (Video)
1975 – A privately chartered Boeing 707 strikes a mountain peak and crashed near Agadir, Morocco, killing 188.
1972 – The United States Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1958 – The world’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, became the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole.
1949 – The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League finalized the merger that would create the National Basketball Association.
1948 – Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union.
1946 – Santa Claus Land, the world’s first themed amusement park, opened in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States.
1936 – Jesse Owens won the 100 meter dash, defeating Ralph Metcalfe, at the Berlin Olympics.
1923 – Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office after Warren G. Harding’s death.
1921 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirms the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox, the day after they were acquitted by a Chicago court.
1914 – World War I: Germany declared war against France, while Romania declared its neutrality.
1900 – The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded.
1859 – The American Dental Association was founded in Niagara Falls, New York.
1852 – Harvard University won the first Boat Race between Yale University and Harvard. The race is also known as the first ever American intercollegiate athletic event.
1795 – Treaty of Greenville was signed, ending the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country.
1678 – Robert LaSalle built the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes.
1492 – Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1994 – Esther Earl, American author, vlogger, and online personality (died 2010)
1985 – Georgina Haig, Australian actress
1979 – Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress
1977 – Tom Brady, American football player
1973 – Chris Murphy, American politician
1973 – Michael Ealy, American actor
1963 – Isaiah Washington, American actor and producer
1963 – Lisa Ann Walter, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – James Hetfield, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1961 – Molly Hagan, American actress
1959 – John C. McGinley, American actor and producer
1951 – Jay North, American actor (died 2025)
1950 – John Landis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – Martha Stewart, American businesswoman, publisher, and author, founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
1940 – Martin Sheen, American actor and producer
1934 – Haystacks Calhoun, American wrestler and actor (died 1989)
1930 – James Komack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1997)
1926 – Tony Bennett, American singer and actor (died 2023)
1924 – Leon Uris, American soldier and author (died 2003)
1923 – Jean Hagen, American actress (died 1977)
1920 – P. D. James, English author (died 2014)
1913 – Mel Tolkin, Ukrainian-American screenwriter and producer (died 2007)
1904 – Clifford D. Simak, American journalist and author (died 1988)
1904 – Dolores del Río, Mexican actress (died 1983)
1900 – Ernie Pyle, American soldier and journalist (died 1945)
1900 – John T. Scopes, American educator (died 1970)
1811 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (died 1861)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2025 – Loni Anderson, American actress (born 1945)
2023 – Mark Margolis, American actor (born 1939)
2011 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (born 1945)
2010 – Bobby Hebb, American singer-songwriter (born 1938)
2008 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist, dramatist and historian, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
2006 – Arthur Lee, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1945)
2001 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and director (born 1922)
1995 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (born 1918)
1983 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (born 1930)
1977 – Alfred Lunt, American actor and director (born 1892)
1966 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1925)
1964 – Flannery O’Connor, American short story writer and novelist (born 1925)
1954 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (born 1873)
1929 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor and businessman, invented the gramophone. (born 1851)
1924 – Joseph Conrad, British novelist (born 1857)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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