The Evening Blues - 8-25-26
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features folk blues guitarist and singer Guy Davis. Enjoy!
Guy Davis - Loneliest Road That I Know
“To permit irresponsible authority is to sell disaster.”
-- Robert A. Heinlein
News and Opinion
US supreme court rules Trump can proceed with crackdown on mail-in voting
The US supreme court sided with Donald Trump on Monday in his effort to crack down on mail-in voting, though it remains unclear if his administration can take action ahead of the midterm elections in November. Justices on the court voted 6-3 along ideological lines to lift an injunction from June that a judge in Massachusetts placed on an executive order issued by the president. But a second injunction remains in place and the ruling leaves room for legal challenges.
“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the majority wrote in an unsigned order. “On that score, time will tell.” The three liberal justices dissented. In a blistering dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the decision “needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections”.
In March Trump ordered the government to create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters, requiring that mail-in ballots only be delivered to people on that list. He also directed the justice department to prioritise investigations and prosecutions of state and local election officials who issue ballots to people deemed ineligible to vote in federal elections.
Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia sued over Trump’s March order, saying the US constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, not the president. They argued that imposing sweeping changes so close to the election risked disenfranchising voters and disrupting preparations already under way. A judge in Massachusetts, Indira Talwani, sided with the plaintiff states – nearly half the country – and ruled that Trump lacked authority to dictate how states administer federal elections. She also questioned whether federal agencies could compile accurate citizenship lists. An appeals court upheld her decision. Talwani later issued a second injunction with nationwide effect.
The justice department had argued that the states’ lawsuit was premature because the administration had not yet taken concrete actions that harmed them and they therefore lacked legal standing to sue. The supreme court’s conservative majority has now lifted the first injunction, allowing the administration to move forward while litigation continues.
Today In Dystopia: Burning Books For Israel
Today in dystopia they’re really going after books. A library in Sydney has removed the book “How to Sell a Genocide” by Adam Johnson from its shelves after Zionists complained about its criticisms of Israeli mass atrocities in Gaza.
The Guardian reports:
“A Sydney library has removed a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide, following a complaint reportedly from a survivor of the Bondi beach terror attack.
“Waverley library at Bondi Junction is in the same council area as Bondi beach.
“A Waverley council spokesperson said: “The book has been removed from library shelves for review, and council will further consider processes to ensure closer oversight of book selection.”
Lads, looks like we’ve entered the book-banning era. pic.twitter.com/SDOeUNBFnt
— Abier (@abierkhatib) August 18, 2026
“They seem to be objecting largely based on the title using the word ‘genocide’,” Johnson commented. “But ‘genocide’ is not my word, or my finding. The fact of genocide in Gaza is the overwhelming consensus of the human rights world, and it is a wholly mainstream opinion among those tasked with studying and determining such matters.”
So in Australia they’re now banning books for Israel. I guess it was only a matter of time.
This image was sent to me from the field. These are messages US servicemen in the Persian Gulf have scribbled on the dust of an aircraft flap.
"Be a good guy and do what Israel tells you to"
"Operation Epstein Fury"
"Peace deal #64 incoming... ALL THIS FOR THE HOLY LAND"
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) August 16, 2026
Patrick Henningsen: Israel's Losses Mount As New Middle East Reality Sets In
Iran vows to retaliate against countries that cooperate with fresh US sanctions
Tehran has vowed to retaliate against any country that cooperates with the US attempt to impose fresh sanctions against Iran in what the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has billed as “the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary”. In advance of the US announcement, the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s single biggest trading partner in the Middle East, announced it was ending all trade with Iran, a move Tehran believes was coordinated between Washington and the UAE.
The US has said it will impose sanctions on any country or entity trading with Iran – what are known as secondary sanctions. The test of the US rhetoric is likely to rest on whether countries such as India, China and Russia believe continued trade with Iran would lead to credible US reprisals against their economies. China has for decades been the main importer of Iranian oil.
Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said Tehran would respond with an “earthquake-like” retaliation if Washington proceeded with the proposed measures. He also warned Iran’s Gulf neighbours against joining the US sanctions campaign. “If the countries surrounding Iran join the Americans in their economic war, not a drop of oil will leave the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz,” Rezaei said, adding that Iran would also target other oil export routes from the Gulf.
Reza Nasri, an international lawyer with links to the Iranian foreign ministry, said: “The announcement is not a measure against Iran. It is a claim of jurisdiction over the world, and every sovereign state on Earth is its real addressee. Iran is merely the occasion. The demand that no country allow its own banks, businesses, airports or ship registries to engage in lawful trade with another country is aimed at everyone else. Sovereignty itself is the target.”
Bessent Threatens To Blow Up GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Bessent Suggests Economic Warfare Against Iran Could ‘Blow Up the Global Financial System’
With the United States unable to militarily defeat Iran in President Donald Trump’s illegal US-Israeli war of choice, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday escalated the administration’s economic attacks on Tehran, warning countries and companies around the world that continuing to do business with the nation could expose them to punitive sanctions.
“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent said during a news conference unveiling what the Trump administration is calling Operation Economic Outcast. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”
The “economic D-Day” campaign targets five sectors—technology, gold, aviation, shipping, and digital assets—and is intended to choke off virtually every remaining source of hard currency for Iran.
Bessent warned that it is “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of US policy. The secretary said he anticipates the announcement of sanctions against a major financial institution as soon as next week.
Reporter: You described this as an economic D-Day, but D-Day wasn't a threat of an invasion and the US didn't give a timeline to Germany. So why not impose the sanctions today?
Bessent: Why would I want to blow up the global financial system? pic.twitter.com/WRt4onNuIM
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 24, 2026
Asked if Chinese banks that do business with Iran would be sanctioned, Bessent replied that “no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”
While Bessent did not say which countries would likely be targeted, China, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates are Iran’s biggest trading partners.
The secretary was also asked why sanctions aren’t being imposed immediately.
“Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior,” he replied. “Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?”
“We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure period, but they should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious,” Bessent added. “So we believe that a warning shot and a level set of expectations is appropriate, and if people do not want to meet our expectations, then we expect—and they should expect—that they will leave the dollar system.”
Iranian officials largely scoffed at Bessent’s “economic D-Day” threat. Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi asked on social media, “Is this a victory or an admission of America’s failure!?”
“You say Iran’s military capability has been ‘dismantled,’ 100% of its military factories ‘destroyed,’ and its nuclear program ‘buried’; but for this very Iran, the ‘largest financial assault in history’ and the mobilization of ‘all US institutions and authorities’ have been necessary!” he mocked.
While Trump has said the war is “over” or nearly over dozens of times, Iran currently appears to have the upper hand, as shipping has overwhelmingly avoided the US-supported route through the Strait of Hormuz, with most vessels using a course set by Tehran or avoiding the waterway altogether.
Trump’s war on Iran is proving costly not only in Iranian lives and US taxpayer dollars, but in the increasingly strained budgets of American families. Disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have pushed gasoline prices above $4 a gallon nationally—roughly a dollar more than a year ago. Trump has dismissed Americans’ concerns about high fuel prices, saying $4 is “not very high” and vowing to “never apologize” for the economic pain his actions are inflicting.
That pain doesn’t stop at the pump. More expensive gasoline and diesel ripple through the economy, raising the cost of transporting food and other goods while keeping inflation elevated.
The pain is far worse for the people of Iran. Trump administration’s escalation comes as Iran’s currency, the rial, has plunged to record lows amid an economic crisis largely caused by the war and years of preceding US-led sanctions.
However, the administration’s effort to force every country to choose between trading with Iran and maintaining access to the US-dominated financial system could have consequences far beyond Tehran.
At a Monday press conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that sanctions “lead to escalation” that “serves no one’s interests.”
“China calls on parties to act rationally and with restraint and avoid taking any measures that may further escalate tensions or deal a blow to global economic growth and financial stability,” he continued.
The Chinese government “will closely watch relevant developments and do what is necessary to protect our legitimate rights and interests,” Lin added.
Operation Economic Outcast drew worldwide derision.
“President Trump, the ultimate gambler in geopolitics, is poised to double down on a bad hand on Iran yet again,” National Iranian American Council policy director Ryan Costello said in a statement.
“We’ve been down the maximum pressure road with Iran many times,” he noted. “What we’ve learned is that President Trump can impose extensive economic pain on Iran, but ordinary Iranians overwhelmingly bear the cost. The ruling elite in Iran remains largely insulated, while Tehran has repeatedly refused to capitulate to Washington’s demands.”
“Trump’s gamble is that this time, amid the destruction of war, and with the reinforcement of a blockade, time is on his side and ultimately Iran will be forced to concede defeat,” Costello added. “President Trump has proven unable and unwilling to stop his gambling on Iran that risks further undermining US and regional security and the global economy.”
Sina Toossi, a senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy, said on social media that Operation Economic Outcast “is as much psychological warfare as economic warfare: Project Iran’s isolation as inevitable, convince markets Hormuz is being overcome, and amplify economic anxiety inside Iran.”
“But the bravado masks a basic problem,” he asserted. “The military option failed to compel Tehran, Iran still possesses substantial escalation dominance over the Arab Persian Gulf states, and ‘severing every economic lifeline’ requires countries like China to enforce a US strategy they openly reject.”
Washington “is effectively betting it can achieve through intensified economic strangulation what six months of war could not,” Toossi added. “And it is demanding unprecedented international compliance at a moment when US relations with much of the world are becoming much more coercive and transactional. The capacity to hurt Iran is clear. The path from pain to capitulation or collapse is not.”
Alan Eyre, a former State Department Iran specialist and current Middle East Institute distinguished fellow, argued that “the problem with Operation Economic Outcast is it continues the trend of making the US an economic outcast.”
Stockbroker and financial commentator Peter Schiff said on X that “because Trump failed to achieve his objective in Iran using military force, he has pivoted to using economic sanctions instead.”
“However, Operation Economic Outcast will not only fail,” he added, “but the economic noose that actually tightens may end up being the one wrapped around our neck.”
Larry Johnson: Iran Invited to Join the Turkey-Saudi-Pakistan Defence Pact?
Iran's Retaliation BEGINS, Trump's 'D-Day' Attack Sparks WW3 | Col. Lawrence Wilkerson
Iran Threatens to Attack US Bases in European Countries
An Iranian spokesman said Tehran has the right to target US bases in any countries that are used to attack Iran.
“There is no justification for any country to fear Iran unless that country opens its territory to the United States for aggression against Iran,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday. “It is Iran’s right to target the source and origin of any aggressive action against the Islamic Republic.”
The US has used bases across the Middle East and Europe to wage its war against Iran. Some European countries, including Italy and Spain, have blocked Washington from using US bases in their countries to attack Iran.
Baghaei said the US sanctions were “terrorism,” and Tehran was preparing to respond to the blockade. “The Iranian government is mobilizing all its capabilities to alleviate living pressures on the people.” He added, “The naval blockade on Iran at the present time is in itself an aggressive act, and escalation of this situation will certainly have its own repercussions.”
Prof John Mearsheimer : Why Britain Uses Ukraine to Attack Russia
US strikes a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months
The US military has launched a deadly strike on a vessel in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of drug trafficking. On Monday, US Southern Command (SouthCom) announced it “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific”.
“Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed two narco-terrorists,” SouthCom added.
Southern Command did not provide evidence for the vessel’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
Monday’s strike marks the latest in a series of US military strikes since the Donald Trump administration launched what it described as a campaign targeting “narco-terrorists” smuggling drugs into the US, despite numerous reports indicating that the strikes have done little to stem the flow of drugs into the country.
It brings the overall death toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes during the nearly year-long US campaign of bombing alleged drug boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. US Southern Command says the campaign has resulted in the destruction of 64 speedboats, three “low-profile” ships and a semisubmersible craft.
Aaron Maté : Why the US Does No Diplomacy
Colombia’s new president Abelardo de la Espriella announces immigration crackdown
Colombia’s far-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has announced a crackdown on immigrants, ordering authorities to detain and deport people who are in the country irregularly or have committed crimes. In office for just over two weeks, the millionaire former lawyer made the announcement on Sunday as the country continued to grapple with the aftermath of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 10 August that killed more than 300 people and destroyed more than 30,000 homes.
De la Espriella said the first joint operations involving the police and the migration authority should begin “this very week”.
“Let the coordinated operations begin to track down illegal immigrants: first, those committing crimes; second, those who have not regularised their status and who will have to be deported immediately,” de la Espriella said during a cabinet meeting held on Sunday in Barranquilla, the Caribbean city that has in effect been turned into an alternative capital.
He echoed the “Americans first” rhetoric of his ally, US president Donald Trump, saying that from now on it would be “Colombians first, Colombians second and Colombians third”. The Colombian president has joined other Trump-aligned leaders in the region who have also tightened migration rules, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Chile’s José Antonio Kast.
The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported that sources within the migration department believe the agency does not have enough staff to carry out the operations De la Espriella has promised. Analysts have also noted that under Colombian law there is no such category as an “illegal” immigrant, as De la Espriella said, but rather migrants in an “irregular” situation, since being in the country without the proper documentation is not a crime.
Trump just loves to raise taxes on Americans ...
Trump announces new 50% tariff on Canadian cars, trucks and steel
Donald Trump announced a new 50% tariff on automobiles and crucial raw materials from Canada, the latest deterioration in trade relations between the two neighbors with historically strong economic ties. The US president said that the increased tariffs would start on 1 January 2027 on all cars, trucks, automobile parts and steel. He also derided the nation’s tariffs on American farmers, writing on social media that Canada has been “ripping off” the US “for years”.
“On Trade, and in other ways, also, they are among the worst Nations in the World to deal with,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US! They do 95% of their business with the U.S., with us, the exact opposite!” In response, Mark Carney told reporters on Monday that Trump’s announcement was largely expected. “It’s not a surprise for us that the US would take some form of reprisal to our response to their unjustified tariff, which was on top of other unjustified tariffs,” the Canadian prime minister said from Quebec.
“But what message does that send to the workers in Michigan, in Ohio, in Kentucky, in Alabama, who rely on Canadian demand?” Carney continued. “We’re their largest customer for automobiles, more than the European Union, Japan, Korea, many others combined, and the United Kingdom.” He added that Canada would be ready to move forward with talks “when the Americans go to the negotiating table first with the right attitude toward our industry and a true partnership”.
Politicians from Canada’s two biggest political parties vowed on Monday to hit back hard against US President Donald Trump’s trade war against their country.
Trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed last week after Trump reportedly sought to restrict Canada from striking trade deals with other nations, while also pressuring the country to scrap requirements aimed at preserving the use of the French language.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that Trump’s aggression would come back to hurt US workers.
“It’s not a surprise that the US would take some form of reprisal to our response to their unjustified tariffs,” said Carney, a member of the center-left Liberal Party. “But what message does that send to the workers in Michigan and Ohio and Kentucky and Alabama who rely on Canadian demand? We’re their largest customer for automobiles, more than the European Union, Japan, Korea.”
Mark Carney: "It's not a surprise that the US would take some form of reprisal to our response to their unjustified tariffs, which was on top of other unjustified tariffs. But what message does that send to the workers in Michigan and Ohio and Kentucky and Alabama who rely on… pic.twitter.com/2o5rbEmQAo
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 24, 2026
Carney also said there was an “attitude at the negotiating table” from US officials that “Canada is a subsidiary of the United States,” which is “not something we’re going to accept.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a member of the rival center-right Progressive Conservative Party, delivered a more strident rebuke to Trump, vowing that Canada’s response would deliver a hit to the president’s voters.
“The red states, we’re going to hit hard,” said Ford.
The Ontario premier then outlined all the ways his country can make life more painful for US consumers so long as Trump keeps trying to undermine Canadian sovereignty.
“If it gets really, really bad, I say everything’s on the table,” Ford said. “We need everyone to be on Team Canada and throw everything and the kitchen sink at them, no matter if it’s electricity, if it’s fuel, again, if it’s potash, if it’s uranium. We need to have everything on the table... we can put massive pain on the US. President Trump underestimates us. And that’s the biggest mistake.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford: "We need to throw everything and the kitchen sink that them -- electricity, fuel, potash, uranium ... we can put massive pain on the US. President Trump underestimates us. And that's a mistake." pic.twitter.com/IRIidj0iYS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 24, 2026
Trump lashed out at both Carney and Ford in a Monday morning Truth Social post.
“The USA will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada,” Trump wrote. “Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive—it’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States—their key to survival.”
The treasury bond mess: is this the demise of the US as a safe haven?
The bond market is driving the Trump administration crazy. Last week, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, announced that the government would sharply ramp up its purchase of treasury bonds, in an effort to raise their price and thus push down their yield, which amounts to the interest rate the government pays on its debt. It didn’t quite work as planned. Yields on treasurys fell after Bessent’s bond market intervention but soon bounced back. By Friday afternoon, the yield on the 10-year treasury was back near where it was before the secretary’s announcement. The yield on the 30-year bond was again trading around its highest level in 20 years or more.
Bessent’s desperation is hardly surprising. The rise in treasury yields since the upsurge in inflation in 2022 has sharply increased the cost of servicing the federal debt, which has ballooned to a record $40tn. This year interest payments will absorb 13.5% of all federal spending, more than defense and up from 5.2% in 2021. To Trump’s chagrin, higher treasury yields – which set the benchmark for rates on mortgage loans and other long-term lending across the economy – are walloping his popularity, helping freeze the housing market and contributing to the growing realization that he has been a dismal steward of the economy.
An irked president has called interest rates “ridiculous” and “artificially high”, and blamed the Federal Reserve for not cutting them. In one of his most recent signs of derangement, he lashed out against Switzerland for having lower interest rates than the US, pointing out that he had the “absolute right” to cut off all US business with the country. And he hinted at a novel approach to monetary policy, suggesting that “the ultimate intervention is our military”.
The main threat to treasurys’ status as the paramount store of value in the world, though, comes from within. The supply of treasury bonds has been growing at a fast clip in recent times, to fund a budget deficit that is now hovering at about 6% of GDP. Supply has outpaced demand. These days, US government debt no longer has the top rating from the big credit rating agencies and must offer a higher yield than that of many other affluent nations.
Add in the increasing mistrust of Trump’s reckless economic governance and you have the makings of a problem. In the Trump era, treasury bonds no longer rise as they used to in moments of high risk. When Trump unleashed his volley of tariffs against everybody on “Liberation Day” in April last year, investors dumped treasurys just as they would a lowly emerging market bond. Bessent knows this poses a problem for the government. Funding the deficit requires adding some $10bn a day, net, to the mountain of treasurys on the market. Bessent will have to do more than repurchase a few billion worth of treasurys to overcome mistrust in America’s Loony Tunes leader and ensure that there is sufficient demand out there to match the massive supply coming down the pike.
Alarm over $20m plan to supply ICE officers with electric-shock gloves
Plans to supply Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with special gloves that can deliver electric shocks have alarmed experts and drawn scrutiny amid some high-profile lawsuits over their use in local correctional facilities. In one extreme case, a 43-year-old man died after allegedly being shocked 40 times by officers with a combination of the gloves and a Taser in a county jail in Kentucky, and the man’s widow is suing authorities.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent agency of ICE, published plans to spend up to $20m (£15m) to outfit ICE officers by March of next year with the controversial gloves, which are also used in various police departments and some schools.
Civil rights advocates protest that the federal agency’s use of force during Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns already lacks proper oversight. ICE “is putting these [gloves] in the hands of an agency that has dropped its hiring standards, its training, its background requirements in its hiring spree”, Sarah Mehta, deputy director of government affairs in the equality division of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said. “We’re already seeing the consequences of that in lawless and violent enforcement actions in our streets,” she told the Guardian.
“What’s really terrifying is use of them on the streets, potentially to terrify people, to create a chilling effect. But what’s also scary is what [their] uses will be where we can’t see them. We don’t know how they’re going to be used in places like Fort Bliss,”she added, referring to the largest migrant detention facility in the US, where allegations of abuse are legion. The government denies claims of any inhumane conditions.
Mehta further said of the gloves: “There are no circumstances where we think their use is appropriate.”
US immigration officers reassigned to screen South African refugees and find ‘unlawful’ voters
All US immigration officers working for a key anti-fraud unit have been reassigned by Donald Trump’s administration to focus on screening South African refugees and alleged “unlawful” voters. Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) immigration officers have been shifted full-time on to two “high-priority” initiatives, according to internal correspondence seen by the Guardian, leaving US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unable to provide officers to train asylum officers in “the near future”.
USCIS is inside the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has led Trump’s immigration crackdown during his second term. The processing of asylum claims has largely ground to a halt during Trump’s administration, leaving many seeking asylum in limbo. “All FDNS IOs [immigration officers] have been reassigned full-time to one of two high-priority USCIS initiatives (South African refugee screening and unlawful voter screening),” an internal message, sent on Monday, said. “Because of this, we will not have the ability to assign IO’s [immigration officers] to the training portfolio for the near future.”
FDNS is the USCIS unit responsible for detecting fraud and national security concerns in immigration benefit applications, including asylum claims. Its officers work with asylum offices to identify cases requiring further investigation, refer matters to law enforcement, and help asylum officers identify potential fraud and other red flags.
The reassignment marks a significant diversion of FDNS personnel. The message addresses only the agency’s ability to provide officers for asylum officer training; it does not say whether routine FDNS screening of pending asylum applications has also slowed or stopped. A disruption to training would limit specialized instruction for asylum officers, and a broader slowdown in casework screening would have more direct consequences for pending applications.
Why "Populism" Beat Socialism in 2024 (and Why Socialism is Winning Now)
Alfalfa sprouts linked to food-poisoning outbreak in 15 states
US healthcare officials recently said a food-poisoning outbreak tied to alfalfa sprouts and involving multiple germs had sickened people in at least 15 states.
Officials announced the outbreak after documenting more than three dozen cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the agency was aware of at least 55 cases nationally, including four people who had been hospitalized.
The CDC said cases were also reported in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington.
Officials linked cases to alfalfa sprouts produced by Everything Sprouts, a Minnesota grower, and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands to restaurants and grocery stores. The company has responded with a voluntary recall of certain lots of alfalfa sprouts.
An Everything Sprouts statement said it had conducted daily tests since the outbreak began and had “not received any positive lab results”. In June 2025, the FDA sent a warning letter to Everything Sprouts, saying inspections the year before identified several points of concern, including a leaking roof that was dropping water on to bean sprouts and workers’ smocks.
On an overcast summer morning, Carolyn Boyd, an archeologist at Texas State University, stood at the foot of a cave in west Texas, looking up toward a series of towering murals painted on a rock wall. Three massive human-like figures soared toward an overhang that had sheltered the painting from the elements since they were drawn here perhaps 4,000 years ago.
An artist herself, Boyd knows how hard it would have been to paint these long, crisp lines. Before starting, the bands of Indigenous hunter-gatherers who lived in this west Texas valley, where the Pecos River empties into the Rio Grande, would have spent weeks pulverizing gypsum, hematite, limonite and manganese to make paint. They would have gathered massive quantities of sotol stalks to fold its fibers into scaffolding. The painting itself would have required teamwork and precision, with people at the bottom guiding artists on the wall as they painted figures stretching up to 30ft tall.
The Trump administration is now dealing these rare treasures a potentially fatal blow. Last year, Republicans in Congress heaped a whopping $46.5bn for border wall expansion into Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending bill. The longest remaining unwalled stretch of the US-Mexico border lies in west Texas, a remote region that includes some of the state’s most-visited public lands, including the Big Bend national park.The area has remained unwalled until now, partly because geography already impedes most illegal crossings. Large ranches dominate the Mexican side, which contains no major cities and only few large towns to attract would-be migrants. Steep cliffs abound.
But with such vast sums on the table, CBP is pushing forward at breakneck pace with its plans – riding roughshod over virtually universal opposition from locals, business leaders and a growing number of political leaders from both parties. Most of that tension has focused on the controversy over CBP’s plans to mar the wilderness of the Big Bend national park, which the agency halted last week after activists publicized videos of bulldozers plowing up ground at the park’s famed Santa Elena Canyon. The impending construction also threatens to mar or destroy an untold number of these millennia-old rock art murals that stand in the coming wall’s path.
Boyd has emerged as perhaps the most prominent voice defending the region’s ancient heritage. One day, she hopes, archeologists teaming up with Indigenous communities who have preserved stories by word of mouth through the millennia will learn to decipher the murals the way we can now read the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt or Mayan pictographs. “These are world-class masterworks,” Boyd said. “These are sacred sites. They’re the oldest-known books in North America. We need to protect them.”
Fast-moving Hawk wildfire is about 27% contained in Reno, Nevada
The Hawk fire is about 27% contained, authorities said on Monday afternoon, two days after the fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire sparked near Reno, Nevada. Authorities added that 23,000 people are under a “go-now” order and 40,000 people are under a “get-set” warning, an improvement from the 90,000 Nevadans under evacuation orders or warnings on Monday morning.
The Hawk fire began on Saturday to the north-west of the city, and quickly grew, showing “extreme fire behavior” as it threatened foothill neighborhoods in Nevada’s second-largest city. It stood at a little more than 15,000 acres burned on Monday afternoon. Authorities said that regions along the southern portion of the fire and east of US Route 395 have been contained.
Portions of US 395, a major north-south highway, that had been closed were reopened Monday, according to the Washoe county sheriff’s office. As evacuation orders in some areas begin to lift, the local sheriff’s department urged residents to avoid hiking and flying drones in airspace where firefighting crews are still working.
“We do know that the fire was human-caused,” said Edwards. “We do not know if it was intentional or unintentional.” The Reno area has seen three large wildfires in the past two weeks, all of which, fire officials say, were caused by human activity.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some of which defied fair-use abstraction.
Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard wants Iran ‘off the map’, says wars on Turkey and Egypt are next
Israel warns of strikes, evacuations over kites launched by Palestinian children in Gaza
War On Iran: – Borg Concedes Loss Of Control In Middle East
Zelensky Continues To Oppose Wartime Democracy Amidst Escalated Election Demands
Canada Refuses Last Minute Trade Demands From Trump And Ends Talks
Critics Call for Probe of Book-Burning by AI Giants
Why does the New York Times keep calling the left ‘divisive’?
Trump Regulators Issue Key Permit for Proposed $100 Million Underwater Data Center Off Maine Coast
Trump's 'Economic D Day' for Iran: How will Pakistan Respond?
A Little Night Music
Guy Davis & Fabrizio Poggi - Walk On
Guy Davis - Goin' Down Slow
Guy Davis - I Can't Be Satisfied
Guy Davis - Statesboro Blues
Guy Davis - New Shoes
Guy Davis - Waiting On The Cards To Fall
Guy Davis - The Chocolate Man
Guy Davis - That's No Way To Get Along
Guy Davis - Skunkmello's Dance Of The Chickens
