Play hooky with me; battening down the hatches; homicides down; TikTok to continue in U.S.; a hollowed-out middle class.
It's International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day!
I admit it. The last seven days have crushed me.
Until this week, the daily routine of scanning dozens of websites to aggregate content for this newsletter gave me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction- I felt I had a bit of a handle on important events (and some oddly humorous ones, as well.)
But the only problem with knowing what’s going on is, well, knowing what’s going on. Greenland, ICE, Davos, Venezuela, Jack Smith, Elon Musk, world opinion of the U.S.- as I sat down at the keyboard today to begin my routine, I had a cognitive mutiny of sorts.
Today’s items are as free from references to the executive branch and related crises as possible. If you don’t want to play hooky with me, may I recommend checking out those fine, firewall-free folks at the Associated Press. The Late Night section below also covers all the stuff I didn’t have the stomach to address today.
Have a good weekend. We’ll be back on Monday, assuming this forecasted apocalyptic winter storm doesn’t take out our power.
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—Kevin G. Barkes
January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 342 days remain until the end of the year. Unfortunately, as of this writing, 1,092 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
(Note: none of the links below are behind paywalls. They’re either on free sites or are gift articles. If you land on a page obscured by pop-ups asking for your email or showing a subscription offer, just look in the upper right corner of the pop-up for the close icon.)
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Ah, the perfect ending to a perfect week. One of the biggest storms in years is near. Winter storm alerts stretch 2,000 miles from the Southwest to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Why this weekend’s winter storm is going to suck extra bad. Take a guess.
Homicides fell sharply in large US cities in 2025, new report says. Violent crime in major U.S. cities continued to fall in 2025 and nationwide homicides are expected to drop to the lowest level seen in more than a century, according to a new analysis.
America is running dangerously low on blood right now. Extreme winter weather and a bad flu season have fueled a severe shortage in the national blood supply over the past month.
TikTok finalizes deal to keep operating in the U.S. The agreement was negotiated to comply with a 2024 law requiring the company to do a deal to address U.S. national-security concerns
Beware of online ads with elaborate backstories. They may not be from a real small business.
The Eagles’ “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” is the first album in US history to sell over 40 million units. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dropped to second place.
Americans travel the world only to wind up in Costco. Fans skip the Louvre and other tourist attractions to buy bulk souvenirs and find out if the hot dog is different; ‘It ranks right up there with the temples.’
Late Night:
Trump delivered on his campaign promises, but only to himself | The Daily Show (Video)
Trump has a nasty new bruise, launches Board of Peace and Jimmy Kimmel breaks down the FCC’s threats.-Jimmy Kimmel (Video)
President Trump says his concept of a deal with Greenland has no end date, anyone with a billion dollars can help Trump rule the world as Chairman for Life of the Board of Peace, and Stephen Colbert is offering an alternative fake club membership for only $100M.-Stephen Colbert (Video)
Trump backs down on Greenland after global defiance, claims NATO “deal” is “infinite”: A Closer Look-Seth Meyers (Video)
Sigh. Never mind those reports about the former Late Late Show host shopping a new late-night talk series. Craig Ferguson tells Variety he’s not interested.
Bookmark KGB Report Notes and check periodically for cartoons, memes, news, commentary and other stuff that didn’t fit or broke between e-mail newsletter issues. It’s also a great place to comment and chat.
Keep scrolling down. 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:
1983 – “The A-Team” premiered on NBC. (Video)
We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own.
-Chinua Achebe (Wikipedia link)
Today’s holidays:
International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day, Measure Your Feet Day, National Activity Professionals Day, National Handwriting Day, National Pie Day, National Rhubarb Pie Day, National Security Technician Day, and Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day.
On This Day:
2018 – The China–United States trade war began when President Donald Trump placed tariffs on Chinese solar panels and washing machines.
2018 – A 7.9 Mw earthquake occurred in the Gulf of Alaska. It was tied as the sixth-largest earthquake ever recorded in the United States, but there were no reports of significant damage or fatalities.
1998 – Netscape announced Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
1997 – Madeleine Albright became the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
1983 – “The A-Team” premiered on NBC. (Video)
1975 – “Barney Miller” premiered on ABC. (Video)
1968 – USS Pueblo (AGER-2) was attacked and seized by the Korean People’s Navy.
1964 – The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, was ratified.
1960 – The bathyscaphe USS Trieste broke a depth record by descending to 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
1958 – After a general uprising and rioting in the streets, President Marcos Pérez Jiménez left Venezuela.
1957 – American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sold the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renamed it the “Frisbee”.
1941 – Charles Lindbergh testified before the U.S. Congress and recommended that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
1922 – The first successful treatment with insulin was given to 14-year-old diabetic Leonard Thompson.
1870 – In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.
1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor.
1571 – The Royal Exchange opened in London.
1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hit Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
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Some Birthdays:
1981 – Julia Jones, American actress
1974 – Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
1964 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress and producer
1951 – Chesley Sullenberger, American airline pilot and safety expert
1950 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor, producer, and composer
1948 – Anita Pointer, American singer-songwriter (died 2022)
1944 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, director, and producer (died 2019)
1943 – Gil Gerard, American actor (died 2025)
1933 – Chita Rivera, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 2024)
1929 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (died 2008)
1920 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (died 2010)
1919 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (died 1962)
1907 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (died 1968)
1898 – Randolph Scott, American actor (died 1987)
1855 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (died 1926)
1832 – Édouard Manet, French painter (died 1883)
1737 – John Hancock, American general and politician, first Governor of Massachusetts (died 1793)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2024 – Melanie Safka, American Emmy winning singer-songwriter (born 1947) (Video)
2024 – Charles Osgood, American radio and television commentator, writer and musician (born 1933)
2021 – Larry King, American journalist and talk show host (born 1933)
2021 – Hal Holbrook, American actor and director (born 1925)
2018 – Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, composer and singer (born 1939) (Video)
2005 – Johnny Carson, American talk show host, television personality, and producer (born 1925) (Video)
2003 – Nell Carter, American actress and singer (born 1948)
1992 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (born 1924)
1989 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1904)
1977 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (born 1903)
1976 – Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and activist (born 1898) (Video)
1956 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director and producer (born 1893)
1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and illustrator (born 1863)
1943 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (born 1887)
1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (born 1725)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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