The upset victory of progressive Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s Senate seat has put the Democratic civil war in sharp relief. Are moderates more electable? If so, who cares—if they won’t do anything once they get into office?
The United States maintains the world’s largest military budget (with recent proposals around $1.5 trillion). Despite this, recent analyses and reporting highlight ongoing shortages of key munitions—such as Tomahawk missiles, Patriot and THAAD interceptors, and 155mm artillery rounds—driven by high consumption in conflicts (including the war with Iran), prior transfers to Ukraine, limited industrial surge capacity, and long production lead times of two to four years or more.
The DOJ used the occasion of a quiet midsummer weekend to drop embarrassingly trumped-up charges against an Olympic athlete falsely accused of vandalizing Trump’s renovated DC Reflecting Pool.
David Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist, had been accused of deliberately damaging the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors now say newly obtained Interior Department documents show the peeling liner and other damage resulted from a “botched” and rushed contractor installation (tied to the America 250 celebrations), not vandalism.
For the umpteenth time in recent months, Trump has announced a big peace deal—this one between Israel and Hamas. The terms, however, seem completely unacceptable to Hamas: under the proposal, they would disarm first before Israel would begin to withdraw from Gaza.
If the trillions spent on wars and the military were divvied up among Americans, no one would have any trouble getting by. But that’s not our system.
Half of Americans say they’re having trouble paying for gas and groceries. Their president and the ruling Republicans don’t seem to care much, much less be willing to do anything about it.
As the US-Israeli war against Iran expands throughout the Middle East, involving the Houthis and resulting in the closure of the Red Sea as well as the Persian Gulf, oil and gas prices are rising.–oil prices have hit a six-week high amid the conflict.
Employers frequently complain they cannot find qualified Americans to fill job openings, yet the ranks of the long-term unemployed continue to swell. Over 1.8 million Americans were long-term jobless in 2026—up sharply since 2019—according to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This paradox highlights a persistent skills gap. Many companies hesitate to invest in training, preferring to wait for perfectly matched candidates amid economic uncertainty, automation shifts, and demographic changes. Yet experts note that upskilling existing or available workers could quickly close mismatches in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and trades.
ICE agents have been involved in multiple shootings during vehicle stops and operations, with some incidents resulting in the deaths of bystanders or individuals who were legally present in the U.S. Recent high-profile cases include fatal shootings in Houston, Texas, and Biddeford, Maine, prompting ICE to suspend most vehicle stops. While agents often cite threats from vehicles, witness accounts and videos in several cases have raised questions about the use of deadly force, including against U.S. citizens and non-targets.
In the age of deepfakes, AI, and shameless political spin, it has become nearly impossible for Americans to trust that anything they see or hear is real. Politicians and other bad actors exploit these tools to twist narratives, while viral videos spread unchecked. The prudent response is to consume news with healthy skepticism—assuming every clip or quote may or may not be true until verified. The result? Widespread cynicism where outrage feels pointless, discourse stalls, and society grows numb to genuine issues.
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