curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
James Eagle:
Iran war pushes up US diesel prices
When Donald Trump returned to office for a second term, he promised relief from inflation. Lower fuel costs initially supported his promise to reduce household costs.
The US-Israeli campaign against Iran, however, which began on 28 February, may have derailed that goodwill. Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for oil shipments, restricting supply and lifting diesel prices.
Diesel averaged $4.09 a gallon during Trump’s second term by the time of this comparison, one cent above Biden’s full-term average. It reached $5.26 on 10 August. Stocks of diesel and heating oil were 10% below their five-year average, even as US refineries operated at 96.1% capacity.
Penuel Joseph Ares @ International Business Times:
US Military Quietly Expands Land Strikes in Latin America After Slaughtering Hundreds on High-Seas Boats
Pentagon’s new strategy raises legal and sovereignty concerns in Latin America
Megan Janetsky, Isabel Debre @ AP:
After killing hundreds in boat strikes, US military expands campaign on land in Latin America
Zo HaDerekh @ People’s World:
Israel demolishes Palestinian homes while cracking down on peace protests
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Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – August 17, 2026From Friday through Sunday, Trump continued his now-habitual weekend flooding of social media with fantasies that he is smart, beloved, and powerful.
The post closest to reality on Friday touted the story by Steve Thompson, Federica Cocco, and Christoper Rowland of the Washington Post on Thursday, August 13, reporting that prescription drug prices have fallen 3.1% this year, the biggest rate of price decrease since 1963. While that drop is real, the journalists note, much of the drop reflects the falling price of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, whose price has dropped dramatically because of competition from generic versions.
For other drugs, experts say the price drop comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Democrats without a single Republican vote in 2022, during the Biden administration. …
The desire to claim Biden’s success as his own may have been behind Trump’s resurrection of accusations that Biden was corrupt.
Trump’s morass in Iran also turned into fantasy on social media when he claimed the U.S. has built a “WALL OF STEEL,” complete with an AI wall through the water, of a blockade of Iranian ports. …
…The idea that Trump is a powerful dictator making a victorious alliance with North Korea and Russia presents a darkly threatening posture but, like the rest of Trump’s social media dump, portrays a world different from reality.
Today is the day that the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran that Trump signed on June 17 expires. Rather than ushering in a permanent agreement that opens the Strait of Hormuz and stops Iran’s nuclear ambitions, today shows just how badly Trump is flailing.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Olivia Rudgard @ Bloomberg:
Extreme Heat Is Overwhelming Hospitals in the UKMedical professionals warn the healthcare system is unprepared for higher temperatures
“Horrific, horrendous, unbearable, unsafe.”
That’s how medical professionals describe the impact of this year’s heat waves on Britain’s healthcare system, in response to a survey by the Doctors’ Association UK. In hospitals built for a cooler climate, staff are now dealing with patients too sweaty to receive intravenous drips, medication at risk of degrading in high temperatures and colleagues collapsing on the job with heat fatigue, according to accounts shared with Bloomberg News.
(Olivia Rudgard @ Bloomberg more…)
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Miriam Jordan @ NY Times:
Years of Trump Support Came Undone in 15 Minutes in an Airport.The case represents a new front in President Trump’s mass deportation drive: arrests at airports of people who have active immigration cases and no criminal history.
(Miriam Jordan @ NY Times more…)Rook T. Winchester:
Free Armelle Bradshaw
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Steve Vladeck:
Trump Administration lost the Alien Enemies Act litigation
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Ellie Leonard @ Blue Amp Media:
Epstein Emailed “trump tower” on Nov. 13, 2016Five days after Trump won, Epstein told a contact exactly where he was
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(Pablo Torre):
‘I’ve Never Seen a Story Like This’ — Pablo Torre Fuels Suspicion Over Mark Walter’s ‘Inexplicable’ $12.5 Billion Lakers SalePablo Torre breaks down Mark Walter’s historic $12.5B Lakers sale, citing federal probes, his White House visit and Josh Kushner’s quick pivot.
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Broad Daylight News:
They Investigated Hunter Biden For Years. Trump’s Kids Are Doing This In Plain Sight.Republicans spent years investigating whether a president’s son profited from proximity to power. Now billions in crypto deals, federal contracts, stock trades and pardon controversies are unfolding around Trump’s own family in public view.
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Jennifer Rubin:
It’s time to come together — and for others to plan to get out of the way.
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Emanuel Maiberg @ 404 Media:
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training FacilityWe placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
(Emanuel Maiberg @ 404 Media more…)
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Jason Koebler @ 404 Media:
‘Show How 3M Is 0% at Fault:’ Expert Witness Used ChatGPT to Write Report Defending Company in Deadly Explosion LawsuitChatGPT prompts show how an expert witness report was created in a $61 million lawsuit over an explosion that killed three people.
(Jason Koebler @ 404 Media more…)
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Ruth Ann Crystal MD:
Dr. Ruth Report, 8/17/26The summer COVID wave has arrived, especially in the West and the South, as seen by increasing levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater. We are starting from a lower baseline of COVID in wastewater with this wave.
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Heather Cox Richardson: Week Twelve in 250 to 250
Week Twelve!
Last week was the twelfth week of videos from the 250 to 250 Project that we’re producing to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Our hope was for the videos to emphasize the agency of Americans—mostly everyday Americans—to change the country. Each falls into a category that defines what it means to be an American, including community, democracy, innovation, mobility, civil rights, education, conservation, and creativity. Once again this week, some of our narrators chose their own topics adding wonderful new stories.
Even more, though, it is clear that the narrators themselves represent the innovation, talent, and civic-mindedness we were hoping to celebrate.
https://www.youtube.com/@twofiftytotwofifty
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
Have I Been Flocked?
Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting
resources tracking the “Andes” hantavirus outbreak
Apocalypse Early Warning System
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
Mike Ludwig @ truthout: ICE Says 51 People Died in Custody Under Trump. Experts Say That’s an Undercount.
ICE Accountability Project
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
- August 1: Edwin Lopez-Cornejo
- July 19: Jose Chajon-Raxon
- July 14: Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran
- July 13: Joan Sebastian Guerrero
- July 7: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
- June 4: Mamuka Artmeladze
- April 16: Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt
- March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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