Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“ran is being swept by a wave of nationalism, while the United States is being swept by a wave of explosive diarrhea—do you ever get the feeling that Hegelian capital-H History is laughing at you? In a war with a filthy little junta in Tehran, Donald Trump has managed to make the United States of America the bad guy. If you are looking for a quick-and-easy definition of shmuck, there you go. Of course, it doesn’t help that it is an illegal and immoral war being waged by an incompetent game show host. … Trump may declare total victory twice a week, but in the real world the likeliest outcome is one that is economically and strategically worse for the United States than the status quo ante bellum.” (07/15/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/donald-trump-gangster-strait-hormuz-iran/
Source: ABC 7 Eyewitness News
“One person died, three people were missing and 16 were rescued from the waters off San Francisco after a pontoon boat sank Tuesday afternoon while carrying mostly family members as part of a memorial service, authorities said. Crews arriving on the scene near Alcatraz Island found a three-deck pontoon vessel almost fully under water with the motor still running and leaking fuel, San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said. … Officials say they’re still piecing together exactly what caused the three-story, 50-foot pontoon boat to sink.” (07/15/26)
https://abc7news.com/post/least-1-killed-amid-boat-rescue-san-francisco-bay-alcatraz-sffd-scene/19509080/
Source: The Political Orphanage
‘I Ask an Amish Guy about Everything.” (07/15/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/i-ask-an-amish-guy-about-everything
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“‘I’m guessing I’ll be in line,’ former FBI Director James Comey quipped after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a ‘settlement agreement’ between President Donald Trump and the IRS that included $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for targets of ‘lawfare and weaponization.’ Comey’s joke encompasses two reasons why the Senate should not confirm Blanche as attorney general: a flagrantly unconstitutional prosecution and a brazenly corrupt arrangement that delivered huge favors to Trump, his family, and his followers at taxpayers’ expense. Blanche’s participation in both of those scams demonstrated his eagerness to please his boss, which explains why Trump nominated him to replace Pam Bondi. But that same tendency should alarm anyone who thinks the attorney general should pursue justice rather than the president’s personal agenda.” (07/15/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/15/by-blessing-corruption-todd-blanche-has-disqualified-himself-from-the-job-he-wants/
Source: SFGate
“The British government announced plans Wednesday to introduce a six-hour social media curfew from midnight for 16- and 17-year-olds — though they will be able to override the proposed default setting. In its latest attempt to reduce the risks of online harm for children, Britain’s Labour government also said that features that can keep users scrolling for longer, such as videos that automatically play one after another, will also be switched off by default for older teenagers. The planned restrictions come a month after the government unveiled a social media ban for under-16s, which is expected to cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, from next spring.” (07/15/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/uk-unveils-plans-for-voluntary-overnight-social-22345943.php
Source: Washington Post
“This actor drove 10,000 miles to ask men about loneliness.” (07/15/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/this-actor-drove-10000-miles-to-ask-men-about-loneliness/
Source: The American Conservative
by Sina Toossi
“Donald Trump entered office promising to end America’s endless wars. Instead, he chose a war openly aimed at regime change in Iran that has predictably become a quagmire, trapping the United States in an open-ended cycle of tit-for-tat strikes, economic blockades, and escalating confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, with no plausible military path to victory. The immediate crisis is dangerous enough. The larger problem is that Washington is once again doubling down on a decades-long strategic obsession with Iran that has repeatedly produced the opposite of what American policymakers sought to achieve.” (07/15/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-real-lesson-of-americas-decades-long-conflict-with-iran/
Source: Common Dreams
by Abby Zimet
“In their second fatal shooting of the wrong person in just days – and as his three-year-old daughter watched – ICE thugs murdered a young Colombian husband and father legally working in Biddeford, ME for simply trying to driving away. … [US Senator Susan] Collins, forever on the wrong and bloody side of history and drunken rapists, was the deciding vote last month to approve the extra, mind-boggling $75 billion in ICE funding, though most Mainers want to see it abolished. Last year, after the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, she voted against both language seeking to curtail further violence and funding for mandatory body cameras, which most thugs are clearly not wearing anyway.” (07/14/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/further/ice-is-still-killing-people-susan-is-still-concerned
Source: New York Times
“A coalition of public health groups sued the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, seeking to block a new policy that could allow a wave of new flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches to enter the market without completing the required scientific review. … Led by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the American Academy of Pediatrics.” [editor’s note: You know what’s already “allowed?” Actual tobacco. Apparently these groups are worried about the diseases they claim to oppose going away – TLK] (07/14/26)
https://archive.is/g3DIq
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Greenburg & William Hartung
“There is a growing disconnect between how American voters think about safety and how Washington spends money in the name of national security. In a recent poll conducted by ReThink Media and the Costs of War Project at Brown University, when voters were asked what contributes to safety in daily life, they were more likely to point to friends and family or first responders than to the U.S. military. Social policies and public services, such as healthcare, education, and housing, also had significant support, with 68% of respondents stating these contributed somewhat or greatly to everyday safety. Yet at the very moment voters describe safety in these broad social terms, the Trump administration is proposing a $1.5 trillion national security budget and arguing that domestic priorities must take a back seat to military spending.” (07/15/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/american-military-spending/
