“Like many people, members of Congress ease off on work during their August recess – but not entirely. That time has also traditionally been an opportunity to listen to voters back home – often through town halls. This summer, however, the number of legislators scheduling such events has declined 75% from a decade ago. In 2016, more than 170 lawmakers held August town halls, The Washington Post has reported; this summer, only 42 scheduled one. These civic encounters have been part of American life since well before the United States existed. At some gatherings, recorded as early as 1633, residents voted on decisions affecting their communities; at others, they shared views and debated issues.” (08/25/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“I saw a clip going around from the Netflix series ‘1899’ where a woman discovers a crack in the screen of what she had taken to be her world, causing her entire understanding of reality to crumble before her eyes. Someone had captioned the clip, ‘Every awakening begins with a fracture in the lie.’ Yeah. It does tend to happen like that. You start pulling on one thread and then the whole thing unravels. Maybe you start with the Iraq war lies. Maybe 9/11. These days for a lot of folks it’s Palestine. You keep pulling on that thread, uncovering more and more uncomfortable truths, until eventually you discover that pretty much everything you’ve been taught about your world was a lie. Every war. Everything about how your government really operates. Everything you’ve been told about nations and how they work.” (08/26/26)
“A Thai woman accused of killing her ex-husband, a U.S. diplomat, has been sentenced to one year in prison for violating Myanmar’s immigration laws, but she still might go to trial for murder, a lawyer familiar with her case said Wednesday. The court in Yangon’s Kamayut township on Tuesday found Pavinee Supasirivisan guilty under a provision applying to any foreign national who commits a crime in the country, according to the lawyer. The charge carries a sentence ranging from six months to five years, the lawyer said on condition of anonymity to avoid possible repercussions from Myanmar’s military-backed government, which exercises tight control over information. Pavinee is being held at Insein Prison. Neither U.S. nor Myanmar officials have publicly named the dead man, but the New York Post and other Western media have identified him as 43-year-old Daniel Paul Riva, who served as a U.S. State Department assistant regional security officer.” (08/26/26)
