Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“President Trump recently halted his proposed strikes against Iran in favor of regional diplomatic talks; he has the right instincts, and while this is the right thing to do – favor diplomatic talks and engage in free trade – he is under pressure by war hawks all around him. He’s been engaged in this ‘on again — off again’ war talk since February, at the behest of Netanyahu and Israel. All of this is happening with little input from Congress, which has the power to give him the ‘go ahead’ to engage in a war with Iran. It seems that, over the last several decades, Congress has abdicated its power to declare war, giving it up to the Executive branch so they do not receive flak from their constituents blowing up in their face.” (08/02/26)
“Japan’s finance ministry said Monday it had conducted a coordinated yen-buying operation with the U.S. Treasury on Friday, marking a rare joint move by the two allies to stem sharp swings in the Japanese currency. … The ministry also announced plans to utilize the Federal Reserve’s foreign and international monetary authorities repo facility in the future. FIMA repo facility allows approved foreign central banks and monetary authorities to obtain short-term dollars by temporarily exchanging U.S. Treasury securities. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also confirmed the coordinated action in a statement, saying, ‘Friday’s coordinated foreign exchange actions countered disorderly yen movements.'” (08/02/26)
“So, the communists are coming again or at least so screech the doom merchants over at the GOP. Fox News is ablaze with round-the-clock, wall-to-wall coverage of the Democratic Party’s fall beneath the unstoppable onslaught of the deadly DSA; a Maoist cult of ultra-woke, brown grad students just itching to open the borders and empty the suburbs into the killing fields of a terrifyingly transgender Khmer Rouge cover band. I’m not the communist I once was but it actually sounds pretty sexy when I write it down like that. Unfortunately, all available evidence suggests that this latest red scare is just more post-McCarthyite fan fic from an increasingly desperate Republican Party.” (08/02/26)
Source: The Hill
by David Wippman and Glenn C Altschuler
“Earlier this year, a presidential commission staffed almost entirely by conservative Christians urged Americans to rethink the separation of church and state and build ‘bridges’ between them. Last week, the Department of Justice directed federal agencies to expand protections for religious expression in public employment, military service, education, healthcare and federal contracting. These policies reflect the influence of Christian nationalism, a movement predicated on the belief that the United States is ‘divinely chosen,’ the New Testament should shape government policies, and white Christians should dominate American culture.” (08/02/26)
“What is very likely to be the last reelection bid of Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was confirmed on Sunday by his Workers’ Party as the 80-year-old leader faces increasing pressure from foreign leaders ahead of October’s elections. It will be his seventh race for the top job. Lula’s rival, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, has enjoyed open support from members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Brazil’s president said in his party convention speech he wants to boost his country’s defense industry, protect its rare minerals, and claimed ‘no Chinese, no American, no French will touch’ these resources without respecting the South American nation’s sovereignty.” (08/02/26)
“Your Android phone is a tracking device that happens to make calls. It knows where you sleep, what you search, who you talk to, and what you whisper near its microphone. The apps below won’t make you invisible—but they’ll make you expensive to surveil.” (08/02/26)
“Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, confirmed in writing on Sunday night that the Justice Department would abandon elements of the deal it struck with President Trump to resolve his lawsuit against the I.R.S., conceding to demands from Republican senators who had threatened to block his nomination as attorney general. The Republican holdouts, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had vowed that they would not confirm Mr. Blanche for the role unless he provided written assurances that the Justice Department had formally killed a planned $1.8 billion fund to pay those who claim they were unfairly persecuted by the government. The senators also insisted that Mr. Blanche narrow the scope of the sweeping immunity from I.R.S. scrutiny that was granted to Mr. Trump, his family and their businesses under the same agreement.” (08/03/26)
“The ‘school choice’ movement in the US supports tax-funded ‘vouchers,’ targeted tax credits, and ‘charter’ schools, on the theory that giving parents more options on where, how, and by whom their children are taught isn’t just a good thing, but a thing that government ought to be, and can legitimately be, involved in. Unfortunately, the real effect of that kind of ‘school choice’ is to turn all the available options into carbon copies of the ‘public’ school system it supposedly helps parents and students escape.” (08/02/26)
