Pool gash missing; losing the war twice; AI bosses fear for lives, AI itself "technical disaster"; more explosive diarrhea; what's wrong with "brain-free organ sacks"?
It's National Fresh Spinach Day!
Drained Reflecting Pool reveals Trump’s ‘American flag blue’ liner is now closer to gray. It also revealed the “350 foot gash” in the liner didn’t appear to exist.
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 16 is the 197th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 168 days remain until the end of the year. As of this writing, 918 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
Can we lose the same war twice? With Trump, anything’s possible. Phase One of the Iran war ended in defeat and humiliation. Phase Two could be just as bad—or worse. (The New Republic)
Fewer vessels travel through Hormuz as US, Iran continue strikes. Seven vessels crossed the strait on Wednesday, mostly on the Iranian route, down from 13 the previous day, Kpler data showed. (Reuters via MSN)
TV networks humiliate trump over his address to the nation. Schedules for upcoming programming at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday also still show regularly scheduled programs, not the president’s address. (The Daily Beast via Yahoo News)
Generative AI is an engineering disaster. The problem with generative AI, in the industry’s own jargon, is that it does not scale. Most technical devices and services become more efficient and less expensive as their use increases. Not AI. (The Atlantic gift article)
The AI backlash has tech executives fearing for their lives. Violent threats and security incidents targeting companies and executives are rising in the midst of growing public opposition to AI. Digital threats targeting AI chiefs and data centers grew sevenfold between late February and May, according to data from Liferaft. Tech companies are increasing security budgets, hiring armed guards and advising employees to hide corporate logos. (Wall Street Journal gift article)
Secretive Silicon Valley startup tries to quash interview, says it’s definitely not working on growing brain-free “organ sacks”. These imagined unfeeling meat suits — which will ideally be born without brains — are referred to by the company as “organ sacks.” Needless to say, it’s an ambitious (and to many, fundamentally unsettling) concept that raises plenty of nagging bioethical questions — a reality that the company is clearly wrestling with as it entertains the idea in public. (Futurism)
The explosive diarrhea outbreak is officially blowing up. It took weeks for the CDC to issue a health advisory over the growing number of cyclosporiasis cases. (Gizmodo)
Amazon has a scheme to offer the lowest prices – by raising prices everywhere else. If a vendor offers a lower price elsewhere, Amazon allegedly forces them to raise it, making you pay more than you should. A More Perfect Union claims it uncovered Amazon setting prices at Walmart and Target. (Video)
Florida returns! Florida woman hid in a shed from police, until a cat led cops right to her.
Late Night:
The Daily Show: An explosive diarrhea parasite called cyclospora sweeps the nation and premieres on TikTok, Taco Bell prematurely signals responsibility for the spread, America's original budget for the Iran War practically triples, and Michael Kosta highlights the connection between government funding for forever wars and the country's outbreak of forever diarrhea. (Video)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Seth takes a closer look at Trump’s medical assessment of Graham’s death; Trump announcing and then cancelling a plan to impose a 20% toll on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which he does not control. (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:
Quote of the day:
My whole life has conspired to bring me to this place, and I can’t despise my whole life.
--Tony Kushner (Wikipedia link)
(More Tony Kushner quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Get to Know Your Customers Day, Guinea Pig Appreciation Day, International Drag Day, National Atomic Veterans Day, National Cherry Day, National Corn Fritter Day, National DOLE Whip Day, National DRESS Syndrome Day, National Fresh Spinach Day, National Personal Chef Day, Rural Transit Day, and World Snake Day.
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On This Day:
2015 – Four U.S. Marines and a United States Navy sailor were killed in a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago’s first and most ambitious early 21st-century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
1994 – The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was destroyed in a head-on collision with Jupiter.[18]
1990 – The Luzon earthquake wreaked havoc in the Philippines.
1973 – The existence of the Watergate tapes was revealed in live testimony.
1969 – The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission is launched from Cape Kennedy. (Video)
1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opened.
1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed its last “Big Tent” show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; due to changing economics, all subsequent circus shows were held in arenas.
1951 – J. D. Salinger published his popular yet controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marked the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.
1945 – World War II: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis left San Francisco with non-nuclear parts for the atomic bomb “Little Boy“ bound for Tinian Island.
1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
1941 – Joe DiMaggio hit safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
1935 – The world’s first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1918 – The Romanov family was executed, ending a 300-year imperial dynasty.
1862 – American Civil War: David Farragut was promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
1858 – The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.
1790 – The District of Columbia was established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
1769 – Father Junípero Serra founded California‘s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolved into the city of San Diego, California.
1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
1228 – Saint Francis of Assisi was canonized.
622 – The Hijrah of Muhammad begins, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
(For more comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1996 – Cooper Koch, American actor
1991 – Alexandra Shipp, American actress and singer
1987 – AnnaLynne McCord, American actress and producer
1979 – Jayma Mays, American actress
1973 – Tim Ryan, American politician
1971 – Corey Feldman, American actor
1968 – Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium
1967 – Will Ferrell, American actor, comedian, and producer
1963 – Phoebe Cates, American actress
1958 – Michael Flatley, American-Irish dancer and choreographer
1957 – Faye Grant, American actress
1956 – Tony Kushner, American playwright and screenwriter
1932 – Dick Thornburgh, American lawyer and politician, 76th United States Attorney General (died 2020)
1924 – Bess Myerson, American model, actress, game show panelist, and politician, Miss America 1945 (died 2014)
1915 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (died 2006)
1911 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (died 1970)
1911 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1995)
1907 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (died 1990)
1907 – Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher’s (died 1995)
1888 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (died 1964)
1887 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (died 1951)
1872 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (died 1928)
1862 – Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist, NAACP co-founder (died 1931)
1821 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (died 1910)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2025 – Connie Francis, American singer and actress (born 1937)
2023 – Kevin Mitnick, American hacker (born 1963)
2019 – John Paul Stevens, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (born 1920)
2017 – George A. Romero, American filmmaker (born 1940)
2014 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1944)
2014 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (born 1920)
2012 – Kitty Wells, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1919)
2012 – Stephen Covey, American businessman and author (born 1932)
2012 – William Asher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1921)
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer and publisher (born 1960)
1999 – Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American publicist and wife of John F. Kennedy Jr. (born 1966)
1981 – Harry Chapin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1942) (Video)
1953 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (born 1870)
1915 – Ellen G. White, American author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (born 1827)
1882 – Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States 1861–1865 (born 1818)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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