Source: NBC News
“A Ukrainian drone attack Monday on the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk killed 13 people and wounded 38 others, authorities in the Tatarstan region said. Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities with long-range drones almost daily in recent months. The barrage has caused fuel shortages in Russia, eaten into Russian refining capacity, and unsettled the Russian public. … Nizhnekamsk is roughly 750 miles east of the Ukrainian border and has a population of about 240,000. The city is an important oil refining hub, home to two refineries and a petrochemical plant.” (08/10/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/ukraine-drone-strikes-russian-city-nizhnekamsk-oil-refinery-rcna591666
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano
“For much of American history, presidents have steadily accumulated the power to wage war while Congress has gradually surrendered the constitutional authority that the Framers explicitly entrusted to it. This transformation has weakened constitutional checks and balances, expanded executive power beyond its constitutional limits, claimed millions of lives, cost trillions of dollars, and repeatedly drawn the United States into conflicts that had little or nothing to do with defending America. The Constitution is remarkably clear on the question of war. Article I grants Congress — not the president — the power to declare war. The president, under Article II, wages war, but only after Congress has authorized it.” (08/07/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/andrew-p-napolitano/2026/08/06/the-normalcy-of-american-wars
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Civilization version 2.0?” (08/08/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-351-civilization-version
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Oil prices are climbing as Iran’s latest demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz dampen hopes for a return to stability in global energy markets. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose more than 1 percent on Monday as Tehran’s insistence that the critical waterway will not reopen without major concessions from the United States stoked market anxiety. … Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that while Iran and Oman were close to an agreement on Hormuz, the waterway would not reopen until Washington met certain conditions, including easing sanctions on Tehran and paying war reparations.” (08/10/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/8/10/oil-prices-climb-as-iranian-demands-cloud-outlook-for-strait-of-hormuz
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Yes, things cost more than they used to. That’s always the case, but it’s been MORE the case over the last few years. While there are various reasons for that, the biggest one is taxes, and the most pernicious, if not always the largest annual, tax is inflation.” (08/09/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20826
Source: Independent [UK]
“A new Food and Drug Administration report details a massive produce recall linked to a nationwide cyclospora outbreak, involving nearly 240,000 cases of lettuce. The recall, initiated by supplier Taylor Farms, was due to potential cyclospora contamination in iceberg and romaine lettuce, some mixed with other vegetables. Walmart’s Marketside brand received the largest share of the recalled produce with 109,476 cases, and major fast-food chains like Subway, Yum! Brands (Taco Bell) and Jack in the Box also removed thousands of cases.” (08/09/26)
https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/cyclospora-outbreak-taylor-farms-restaurants-brands-b3030110.html
Source: Cato Institute
by Paul Meany
“The redistribution of wealth has once again become a central demand of American progressivism. Figures such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren argue that extreme concentrations of wealth should not merely be taxed to finance government programs but actively reduced through policies such as annual wealth taxes. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani have advanced similar arguments in favor of shifting resources from the wealthy toward public services, income supports, and social programs. Behind these proposals lies a broader moral claim: the state is justified in redistributing concentrations of private wealth for public purposes. The deepest objection to these policies is not economic but political and moral.” (08/07/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/when-government-redistributes-wealth-it-redistributes-power
Source: Reuters
“U.S. Representative Ed Case easily fended off a Democratic primary challenge from a progressive rival for one of Hawaii’s congressional seats, election results showed late Saturday. Case’s victory over Jarrett Keohokalole, 43, marks the latest front of the battle roiling U.S. Democratic politics in which seasoned lawmakers have been pitted against more progressive newcomers. Case, 73, won 57% of the votes in his district, compared with Keohokalole’s 34%, official results showed. Neither could be reached immediately for comment on Sunday. Three others had also sought the Democratic nomination for the Honolulu-based district that is seen as safely Democratic.” (08/09/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hawaii-democratic-incumbent-fends-off-left-wing-challenger-congressional-primary-2026-08-09/
Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan
“The cult of Trump and the cult of wokeness are taking huge hits from reality.” (08/07/26)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/will-the-two-cults-finally-fall-854
Source: New York Times
“Syria and Russia have come to an agreement reorganizing Moscow’s military presence in the country after more than a year and a half of negotiations, the Syrian foreign ministry announced on Sunday. … The Syrian foreign ministry announcement on Sunday said the two countries had reached a memorandum of understanding that outlines a reorganized Russia’s presence on the Syrian coast, at the Hmeimim Air Base outside the city of Latakia and at the Tartus naval port, according to state media. Civilian facilities will be transferred to Syrian government management and gradually integrated into the country’s civilian administration, and Russian military bases will be turned into joint training centers, according to the ministry.” (08/09/26)
https://archive.is/IZ97U
