Source: Informed Comment
by Juan Cole

“he Trump administration’s 13 nights of strikes on Iran, including on bridges and energy infrastructure, have been followed by three nights of calm. The Iranians, however, clearly do not trust Trump to halt his war of aggression on their country for very long, especially with the visit to Washington, D. C. this week of Trump Whisperer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even Trump is complaining about Netanyahu’s loud campaign to have Trump bomb specific targets in Iran. To show what they thought about Netanyahu’s warmongering against them, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders sent a barrage of missiles against covert US bases in Jordan early on Wednesday local time.” (07/29/26)

https://www.juancole.com/2026/07/punishing-refineries-allies.html

Source: Independent Institute
by Jonathan Hofer

“Acoustic gunshot detection (AGD) systems are designed to detect and report gunfire to law enforcement. Promoted as a high-tech solution to urban gun violence, AGD has been widely adopted by police departments across the United States, with California a leader in the number of cities that use the technology. To be considered a successful public safety innovation, a technology would be able to demonstrate effectiveness in assisting law enforcement in reducing violence and solving crimes and do so in a cost-efficient manner. However, AGD does not meet these criteria and constitutes a costly failure that undermines effective policing.” (07/29/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/29/the-echoing-failure-of-acoustic-gunshot-detectors/

Source: Washington Post
by Cody Peterson

“In the 1960s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came to landowners across the Midwest, including the farmer who previously owned my land, with a deal. The government wanted an easement on part of the property to protect wetlands that provide habitats for ducks and other waterfowl. The agency did not offer much money. It paid about $630 for rights across roughly 328 acres of land I now own. The easement document explicitly states that farmers could continue ‘normal farming practices.’ Farmers across the northern Great Plains signed these deals. … When my family bought farmland in LaMoure County‚ the property had one of these easements on it. If the government had stuck to the agreement, the easement would not have been a big obstacle to our land management practices. But in 2024, the Fish and Wildlife Service reinterpreted the scope of the wetland easements and updated the restrictions applied to prairie potholes.” (07/29/26)

https://archive.is/Z9KuA

Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud

“[E]ven as fierce criticism of Israel reaches the very apex of American politics, a profound, schizophrenic rupture divides Washington. While the American public, influential media personalities, and top-tier politicians are openly turning against Israel’s unbridled violence, the traditional power structures continue to toe the line. This is explicitly evident in Congress, where establishment politicians remain busy acting as defense contractors for Tel Aviv. … To believe this subservience is a recent phenomenon is to misunderstand history.” (07/29/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2026/07/28/is-it-just-about-aipacs-money-or-does-the-us-israel-rot-run-far-deeper/