“The British government announced plans Wednesday to introduce a six-hour social media curfew from midnight for 16- and 17-year-olds — though they will be able to override the proposed default setting. In its latest attempt to reduce the risks of online harm for children, Britain’s Labour government also said that features that can keep users scrolling for longer, such as videos that automatically play one after another, will also be switched off by default for older teenagers. The planned restrictions come a month after the government unveiled a social media ban for under-16s, which is expected to cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, from next spring.” (07/15/26)
“Donald Trump entered office promising to end America’s endless wars. Instead, he chose a war openly aimed at regime change in Iran that has predictably become a quagmire, trapping the United States in an open-ended cycle of tit-for-tat strikes, economic blockades, and escalating confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, with no plausible military path to victory. The immediate crisis is dangerous enough. The larger problem is that Washington is once again doubling down on a decades-long strategic obsession with Iran that has repeatedly produced the opposite of what American policymakers sought to achieve.” (07/15/26)
“In their second fatal shooting of the wrong person in just days – and as his three-year-old daughter watched – ICE thugs murdered a young Colombian husband and father legally working in Biddeford, ME for simply trying to driving away. … [US Senator Susan] Collins, forever on the wrong and bloody side of history and drunken rapists, was the deciding vote last month to approve the extra, mind-boggling $75 billion in ICE funding, though most Mainers want to see it abolished. Last year, after the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, she voted against both language seeking to curtail further violence and funding for mandatory body cameras, which most thugs are clearly not wearing anyway.” (07/14/26)
“A coalition of public health groups sued the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, seeking to block a new policy that could allow a wave of new flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches to enter the market without completing the required scientific review. … Led by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the American Academy of Pediatrics.” [editor’s note: You know what’s already “allowed?” Actual tobacco. Apparently these groups are worried about the diseases they claim to oppose going away – TLK] (07/14/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Greenburg & William Hartung
“There is a growing disconnect between how American voters think about safety and how Washington spends money in the name of national security. In a recent poll conducted by ReThink Media and the Costs of War Project at Brown University, when voters were asked what contributes to safety in daily life, they were more likely to point to friends and family or first responders than to the U.S. military. Social policies and public services, such as healthcare, education, and housing, also had significant support, with 68% of respondents stating these contributed somewhat or greatly to everyday safety. Yet at the very moment voters describe safety in these broad social terms, the Trump administration is proposing a $1.5 trillion national security budget and arguing that domestic priorities must take a back seat to military spending.” (07/15/26)
“For a variety of reasons, humans often resort to killing each other. Instead of resolving their differences peacefully, they arm themselves and kill each other until one of them wins the conflict, that is, he has killed most of his opponents. This deadly tradition survives and thrives to this day – in 2026.” (07/15/26)
“China’s economic growth slowed sharply between the start of April and end of June as weak domestic demand and the Iran war’s impact on oil prices overshadowed the country’s strong exports. Official gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed the world’s second largest economy grew in the second quarter by 4.3%, below Beijing’s annual target, and after a 5% rise in the first quarter. … The announcement represents the first full quarter of GDP data since the start of the Iran war on 28 February and marks the lowest quarterly expansion since the end of 2022, as China was emerging from its strict Covid-19 restrictions.” (07/15/26)
