Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Chao Liu & Katharine Trendacosta
“For years, John Deere had actively made repairing their tractors near-impossible for anyone but itself and the few ‘authorized’ repair shops—regardless of the ability of its customers to actually visit such shops. Now, in a major win for farmers and right to repair advocates, John Deere must soon provide farmers with not just the tools and resources to finally repair their own John Deere equipment, but also access to future updates for said equipment.” (07/28/26)
“The Discourse of ‘Iranian exceptionalism’ appears in both negative and positive forms. The negative version must be examined within the broader framework of ‘Middle Eastern exceptionalism’ and its various manifestations. In this view – whether in Orientalist discourses, Orientalism in reverse found in autocratic Islamism or authoritarian secular nationalism, or even in certain strands of cultural relativism – Iran, as part of the Global South, the Muslim world, and the Middle East, is deemed unfit for democracy. … The present analysis, however, is more concerned with a positive version of a particular articulation of Iranian exceptionalism that has been mobilized in support of war and sanctions, and in the normalization of the moral justification of military aggression, including alignment – whether strategic or discursive – with Trumpism and Netanyahu’s far-right, war-criminal regime.” (07/28/26)
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Hey, did you hear the latest? Gallup put out the results of a poll showing that a record 45% of American adults now identify as political independents, while the old Democrat and Republican parties have each dropped 27%. Here in Florida, political independents (NPA) account for 3.3 million registered voters, rapidly catching up to Republican and Democratic Party registrations. Also of note, over half of Gen Z and Millennial voters prefer no party label and tend to register as independent voters, in Florida, known as NPA (No Party Affiliation). But we have seen this movie before. Polling of rising independent voters, yet when they get in the voting booth, they seem compelled to pull for either D or R (Democratic or Republican parties). Perhaps things will change sooner than later.” (07/28/26)
“Earlier this month, the Pentagon quietly extended the National Guard’s ‘D.C. Safe and Beautiful’ mission in Washington through Jan. 20, 2029. That date corresponds to no publicly identified security condition, crime objective or military task. It is simply the day President Trump’s term officially ends. The extension raises obvious questions: How will we know when this mission has been accomplished? If January 2029 is its only publicly announced endpoint, what tells the military its job is finished?
Defense Department missions are supposed to begin with defined objectives and include clear conditions for ending them.” (07/28/26)
“Compared to previous negotiations, Riyadh has secured remarkable concessions. It no longer appears to have to normalize relations with Israel as part of the package. It is reportedly not required to sign a traditional Section 123 agreement that would deprive KSA of enrichment technology. And there are no comprehensive IAEA safeguards comparable to those Washington has long insisted upon elsewhere. If these reports hold, Saudi Arabia has achieved what few thought Washington would ever accept.” (07/28/26)
“The socialist group’s vision of a federal government without three equal branches providing checks and balances would facilitate the whims of a would-be authoritarian. Sound familiar?” (07/28/26)
“About three years ago I pulled up stakes and moved to the far side of the world. My reasons for this were so personal and idiosyncratic that I don’t talk about this all that much—largely because I don’t feel that there’s much about this decision that would be particularly applicable to anybody else. But one thing you learn in journalism is that you should never let an opportunity to opine go to waste, and having made a really significant, life-changing decision like this one—moving from New York City to, of all the world’s unexpected places, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan—it seems like sooner or later I should see if I’ve learned anything from it. So what have I learned?” (07/27/26)
Source: CounterPunch
by Bill Scheuerman & Sidney Plotkin
“Months in, Trump’s war on Iran has netted him none of the goals he proclaimed when he began dropping bombs. Iran still has a dictatorship, enriched uranium, plenty of missiles and drones, and effective control of the now-closed Strait of Hormuz. Military observers repeatedly tell the press that for Trump to seize control of the Strait and Iran’s uranium would require a U.S. military invasion, ‘boots on the ground.’ So, what’s stopping him? Obviously, it’s not the Constitution, which gives the power to declare war to Congress, not the President. And it’s not the Republican controlled Congress, which is too spineless to check Trump’s actions. So, again, what’s stopping Trump?” (07/28/26)
“As parents, when we send our children to school each morning, we trust that the adults in charge are making decisions that put students first. Newly revealed documents suggest that trust may have been misplaced. According to The California Post, LAUSD’s own financial experts warned district leaders that bowing to union demands and approving substantial employee pay raises would put the district on an unsustainable financial path. The board ignored those warnings, and the raises were approved anyway. Now the district faces the very fiscal challenges its own experts predicted.” [editor’s note: If you trust the “adults in charge” of government “schools” with your kids, you’re already skipping merrily down the path of error. Instead of voting harder, homeschool – TLK] (07/27/26)
“If the Constitution were working as designed, and if both political parties acted in the best interests of the nation and weren’t obsessed with eviscerating the disloyal opposition, the U.S. skirmish against Iran would have ended. Having promised an immediate victory in what Commander in Chief Donald Trump first called an ‘excursion,’ the U.S. has been drawn deeper into what increasingly appears to be an unwinnable quagmire. So, make no mistake: This is war. But in a war, who has the power to authorize or make a formal declaration of war? Not the president. Only Congress has this responsibility. And it has deserted and fled from its duty.” (07/27/26)
