Source: Fortune
“The US Justice Department launched a grand jury investigation into allegations that the head of the United Auto Workers pressured another high-ranking union official to secure benefits for his fiancée and her sister, according to internal communications within the labor organization. A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the union’s court-appointed monitor as it probes the claims against President Shawn Fain, according to emails seen by Bloomberg News. The messages were sent to Fain, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer and members of the law firm representing the union. Fain called the allegations ‘false’ in a statement to Bloomberg and accused Boyer, whose complaints to the monitor drew early scrutiny to union leadership, of trying to influence the upcoming UAW election.” (07/12/26)
https://fortune.com/2026/07/12/doj-investigation-grand-jury-uaw-president-shawn-fain/
Source: Free Talk Live
“HB 1268 a major win for education freedom in NH :: Mark Edge joins us remotely :: Is NH the ‘most free’ place? :: New entry/exit policy in EU slowing down airport lines :: Sarah in NM calls about the Spanish/American war and driver licenses :: U.N. secretary general wants AI killer robots banned :: David in NM calls to ask about salt lending :: [email protected] :: web blocking not going as smoothly as hoped by those who demanded it :: 2026-07-12 :: Hosts: Stu, Mr. Penguin, Mark Edge.” (07/12/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-07-12
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Sen. Lindsey Graham, the arch-warmonger from South Carolina, has died. He leaves behind a legacy of death, destruction, and massive human suffering. Graham cheered on every foreign war and every sanctions regime for at least the last thirty years, and he was among the loudest advocates for the criminal attack on Iran. He finally got that one last evil war that he wanted before the end. In a city full of bloodthirsty militarists, Graham distinguished himself as one of the worst.” (07/12/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/lindsey-graham-and-our-vile-pro-war
Source: CBS News
“Iran claimed attacks Monday on Persian Gulf countries that host U.S. military bases after another round of U.S. strikes the previous evening, as renewed fighting over control of the Strait of Hormuz continued into a second week. U.S. Central Command said Sunday that forces targeted various Iranian vessels and facilities, and it contradicted Tehran’s claim that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, insisting that ‘Iran does not control’ the vital shipping lanes. Oil prices shot up nearly 5% Monday after the weekend’s strikes, with benchmark crude prices nearing $80 a barrel again after plunging briefly to pre-war levels.” (07/13/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-ceasefire-attacks-strait-of-hormuz/
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“On June 9, Graham Platner won the Democratic Party’s nomination for US Senate from Maine with 72.1% of the primary vote. On July 10, Platner withdrew from the race, presumably due to popular demand by the same voters who nominated him. I’m tempted to a bit of schadenfreude toward those voters. This was not a case of ‘seems like a really good guy, very consistent, upright citizen … oh my God, I had no idea!’ Platner’s entire short political career — his whole adult life, in fact — resembles a locomotive, on fire, pulling boxcars stuffed full of dynamite, accelerating down tracks that terminate at a children’s playground.” (07/12/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20757
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Weekend at Mitch’s.” (07/11/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-348-weekend-at-mitchs
Source: euronews [EU]
“The official death toll from Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes rose to nearly 4,500 on Sunday, as the government reported more than 19,500 people were now living in camps due to the destruction. The latest toll offered by the government on its official Telegram account listed 4,490 as dead, about 150 higher than the day before, and 16,740 injured. It did not give an estimate for the number of people still unaccounted for. On 24 June, the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes hit Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira, flattening entire high-rise apartment blocks into layers of rubble.” (07/13/26)
https://www.euronews.com/2026/07/13/venezuela-quake-death-toll-rises-to-4490-officials-say-but-no-number-given-for-missing
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Ella Dawson
“Can economic systems really be moral or immoral? The end of all economic systems, according to one interpretation of Plato’s Republic, is justice. ‘Plato’s starting point is that the organization of society depends ultimately upon knowledge of the end of existence,’ John Dewey, the father of modern education, writes: ‘If we do not know its end we shall be at the mercy of accident and caprice. Unless we know the end, the good, we shall have no criterion for rationally deciding what the possibilities are which should be promoted, nor how social arrangements are to be ordered’ Dewey is correct, that without a certain end, we shall be at the mercy of accident and ‘caprice’—meaning unpredictable and sudden changes. But Dewey is wrong (and potentially Plato as well) both about approaching economics from a collective angle, and implying that social arrangements even need to be artificially ordered.” (07/10/26)
https://fee.org/articles/are-economic-systems-amoral/
Source: Reuters
“Israeli attacks killed at least six people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a 9-year-old girl, Palestinian health officials said, as mediators held more talks to safeguard the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Medics said Israeli gunfire directed at a tent encampment on the eastern side of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed 9-year-old Tala Abu Matar. The Israeli military said it was not aware of the incident. An airstrike at a metal foundry in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood killed four people. Witnesses said the site was hit with three Israeli missiles. The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas militants operating inside a weapons production facility, in what it described as a violation of the ceasefire by the Islamist faction.” (07/12/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-attacks-gaza-kill-three-people-including-girl-say-medics-2026-07-12/
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Municipalities allow a private corporation to track free citizens while corrupt officers use the data for personal stalking.” (07/11/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-local-governments-must-ban-flock
