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/

Source: Niskanen Center
by Robin Allen & Zachary Norris

“Dramatically expanding the high-voltage grid is a top priority to address surging demand from data centers, industrial growth, and electrification. In the U.S., most high-voltage projects are decided through transmission planning processes. Particularly in the wake of FERC’s Order 1000, the transmission planning policy discussions have often centered on longstanding disagreements over competition versus incumbent utility control. The debate has intensified with two recent FERC filings — one urging FERC to suspend or scale back market competition; the other to expand it.” [editor’s note: “The grid” should be abandoned (in favor of local/decentralized generation and delivery), not expanded – TLK] (07/28/26)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/finding-common-ground-on-high-capacity-transmission-collaboration-competition-and-a-path-forward/

Source: Townhall
by Ryan Walters

“For 45 years, the Department of Education has claimed to speak for the nation’s teachers. This month in Dallas, the secretary running it sat in a ballroom full of them and let them speak for themselves. Linda McMahon came to the Teacher Freedom Summit to argue that the best decisions in education are made closest to the child, and that the department she leads should hand its authority back to the states. She made the case, then spent the afternoon in roundtables asking classroom teachers what that shift would mean for their students. The willingness to ask is itself the news. An institution built in teachers’ name spent four decades deciding what teachers needed without much bothering to consult them.” (07/28/26)

https://townhall.com/columnists/ryan-walters/2026/07/28/the-secretary-trying-to-close-the-department-of-education-did-something-it-never-did-n2680265