Source: SFGate
“During midday in California, the state’s solar grid produces so much energy that, sometimes, it can’t even use it all. It’s a good problem to have, and one that the leading Democratic candidate governor thinks could be a boon to low-income households. At a recent summit hosted by Politico, Xavier Becerra said he wants to offer free electricity from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for those who qualify, possibly saving them upward of $1,000 annually. Becerra’s plan is not entirely novel, and similar programs have been introduced in places like Australia and Texas. Texas is the only U.S. state that has already established a program that offers free electricity during specific time windows. Several companies have plans that offer free hours during the night, day or weekend, provided that customers sign up for those plans.” (08/17/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/xavier-becerra-electricity-policy-22388754.php
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“There are people who still debate the term ‘woke.’ From the beginning, defenders of woke judgments, discourse, and activism claimed it was ‘just good manners’; others said it didn’t exist, a mere figment of ‘right-wing paranoia.’ Truth is, it was a new, trendy term used to replace ‘social justice’ and the peculiar bent and activism methods of ‘social justice warriors,’ after ‘SJW’ became fodder for ridicule by collegiate leftism’s opponents.” (08/17/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/08/17/awake2evasion1p0/
Source: In These Times
by Miles Kampf-Lassin
“Screwworms feeding on cattle across the South, tainted vegetables spreading a parasite causing explosive diarrhea, smoke from wildfires poisoning the air and President Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran surging gas and grocery prices. All would be enough to label summer 2026 a time of crisis in the United States. Still, it’s been made far worse by the brutal heat waves plaguing much of the country …. Every summer is getting hotter, longer and more intense as fossil fuel-spawned climate change warms the globe at an unbridled rate. Now, the pace of these impacts is being accelerated by the rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the energy-guzzling power plants being built to fuel their usage, which Trump has been fervently working to expand.” (08/17/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-data-centers-palantir
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal judge on Monday blocked a Trump administration plan to relocate the new FBI headquarters to Washington, D.C., rather than in nearby Maryland, which had been picked in 2023 to host the building. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang sided with the Democratic-led state of Maryland and Prince George’s County in ruling the administration had unlawfully scrapped a plan to construct a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, and diverted money approved by Congress for that project to an alternate location, the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. The judge said the selection of Ronald Reagan Building violated measures passed by Congress in 2022 and 2023 that required the General Services Administration to pick from one of three short-listed sites outside of Washington.” (08/17/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2026-08-17/us-judge-blocks-trump-administrations-plan-to-scrap-fbi-headquarters-move-to-maryland
Source: Free the People
“Holy Cow: Why Are Steers Lactating? | Mollie Engelhart.” (08/17/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky4I2tKFTek
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by James Park
“His decision to scale down military drills could have real upsides — so long as he is willing to coordinate with Seoul to make the most of it.” (08/17/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-korea-military-exercise/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Ukraine launched more than 620 drones at Moscow overnight in what appeared to be its largest such attack in years, while Russian attacks killed 10 people in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 180 of the 620 drones heading towards Moscow were ‘destroyed’ by Russian defences over the capital region between Monday evening and 5am (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday. He said 17 more drones were shot down en route to the capital later. … The drone attack wounded three people, including a 10-year-old girl, Moscow region’s Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram. … Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force reported shooting down or suppressing 111 of 147 ‘enemy’ drones overnight. Kharkiv’s regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said preliminary information indicated 10 people were killed and eight injured in the Pechenihy settlement.” (08/18/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/18/russia-says-more-than-600-drones-targeted-moscow-region
Source: The Bulwark
by Brynn Tannehill
“Fundamentally, the United States and Russia have both launched wars of choice from which they cannot easily extricate themselves. In Russia there is a history of very bad things happening to rulers who lose wars, and Putin is reportedly considering another mass mobilization, despite the disruption and discontent it will cause. Trump is facing the loss of both the House and the Senate, and is open to declaring a national emergency to rule by fiat and rewrite election rules to rig the elections. In other words, both Russian and American leaders are enmeshed in a war they can’t seem to win, and to stave off the consequences of losing, both are willing to take steps that will produce massive unrest. The key difference between the countries is that Russia still has a semi-plausible path to victory.” (08/17/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/negotiations-arent-the-answer-in-iran-ukraine-putin-trump-hormuz-europe-war
Source: Reason
“Who Pays for Medicare for All?” (08/17/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/17/who-pays-for-medicare-for-all/
Source: Associated Press
“A ship was hit by a projectile early Tuesday as it was sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack highlights the ongoing danger of attempting to transit the waterway as Iran continues to throttle shipping traffic, even as it finalizes negotiations with Oman on a plan to manage the critical passage. … With negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stalled, Iran has been holding separate talks with Oman on a plan to manage ships transiting the strait, and said Monday it was in the process of finalizing details for a joint statement. U.S. President Donald Trump [whined like a spoiled three-year-old], reportedly threatening to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst in a telephone interview that the U.S. would bomb Oman if it ‘gets in the way.'” (08/18/26)
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-israel-lebanon-gaza-hormuz-august-18-2026-9c48af23b713709e8e170191fbc78c2a
