Source: The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson
“If there’s a problem with the American economy, it’s only because some people have to work for a living. Income from investment—the primary source of income for roughly 1 percent of Americans—is soaring. The remaining 99 percent, who depend primarily on income from their work, are the laggards grousing about prices and necessities that may be out of reach.” (07/21/26)
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Italian police clashed with demonstrators in the northern city of Bologna on Monday, ANSA news agency reported, during a protest over the death of a Moroccan man who died while being forcibly restrained by police during an attempted arrest. Abderrahim Fakir, a Moroccan-born entrepreneur who ran a small removals and cleaning business, died on Sunday after police were called to deal with a man behaving aggressively and damaging a vehicle …. video showed Fakir lying face down on the ground while two officers restrained him. Fakir – who reportedly suffered from heart issues and asthma – repeatedly calls out ‘aiuto, aiuto, basta’ (‘help, help, that’s enough’) as the officers sit on him and ambulance workers look on. After he stops moving, the police bind his ankles together. Only after a moment or two do they and the ambulance workers check his vital signs, the video shows.” (07/21/26)
Source: Antiwar.com
“Yemen Announces Maritime Blockade on Saudi Arabia, Nearly 100 US Troops Injured This Month, and More.” (07/20/26)
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“‘Democratic socialists’ are a growing movement on the political left. And many of them are also prison abolitionists. But there is a deep contradiction between their socialism and their abolitionism. Socialism requires making numerous economic activities illegal, and those laws have to be enforced by some system of punishment. As the history of actual socialist states shows, serious attempts to implement socialism lead to vastly greater incarceration (and other punishment), not less. There are a number of possible ways to try to escape this contradiction. But none of them work.” (07/20/26)
https://reason.com/volokh/2026/07/20/contradictions-of-socialist-prison-abolitionism/
Source: Boston Globe
“Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, while the United States conducted yet another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic as they struggle over control of the key waterway. The 10 consecutive nights of U.S. airstrikes haven’t compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime.” (07/21/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Seventeen military personnel have died in President Trump’s war on Iran. Compared to the 58,200 military personnel who were killed in the Vietnam War, that’s not a large number … well, unless one happens to be among those 17 or among their friends or family members. In that case, 17 becomes an extremely large number. But there is one thing in common between those 58,200 military personnel who died in the Vietnam War and those 17 military personnel who have died in Trump’s war on Iran: They all died for nothing. No, they didn’t died for their country. No, they didn’t die defending our freedom. No, they didn’t die to make the world safe for democracy. They died for nothing.” (07/20/26)
Source: Reason
“Is the War in Iran Spiraling Out of Control?” (07/20/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/07/20/is-the-war-in-iran-spiraling-out-of-control/
Source: Austin American-Statesman
“President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on [American buyers of] most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products. … The new 50% tariffs would exclude energy products, potash, fish and critical minerals, but they would include goods that had previously been protected from import taxes by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. That 2020 trade pact was not renewed by the U.S., triggering a new set of negotiations that could run until 2036. The White House said in a fact sheet that the tariffs would go into effect in 30 days, meaning there is time for negotiations as Trump has not always followed through on his announced tax hikes on [American buyers of] imports.” (07/21/26)
Source: Liberalism.org
by Matt Zwolinski
“So socialism is back, and the commentary has arranged itself in the usual formation. On the right, alarm: the reds are at the gates. On the left, a banner: the future has arrived. What is striking is how little of the excitement and the horror attaches to anything the new mayors actually propose. The same rent freeze, the same municipal grocery, would pass almost unnoticed under another name. It is the word that thrills the one side and frightens the other, and so the question everyone hurries to argue is a question about the word. Is this really socialism, or just New Deal liberalism with sharper slogans? Does a city-owned grocery store cross the line, or is it ordinary municipal housekeeping? The fixation is a mistake, and an instructive one.” (07/20/26)
Source: Reuters
“Hamas has named Khalil Al-Hayya as its overall leader, according to a statement from the Palestinian militant group on Monday, in a move an analyst says could signal a tougher stance by the group towards disarmament calls. Hayya replaces Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in combat with Israeli forces in October 2024 as Hamas fought a full-scale, two-year war with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Hayya, the group’s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator, has become an increasingly central figure in the leadership of Hamas since the deaths of Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran in July 2024. He is seen as more hardline than Khaled Meshaal, the head of the group’s office in exile and the other frontrunner for the leadership.” (07/20/26)