News of the Week for July 26th, 2026
- 2026 Election
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Socialized Medicine
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
2026 Election
Can Arizona Republicans Moderate Enough to Win Back the State?
Some Republicans fear the party is poised to repeat past mistakes by nominating candidates in Tuesday’s primaries who are viewed as too extreme to sway moderate voters.
Meet Darline Graham, the Current and Perhaps Long-Term South Carolina Senator
We start with what is known about the newest U.S. senator, Darline Graham Nordone of South Carolina . . . which is not much, beyond her close relationship with her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Then it’s time to throw more cold water on the Kamala Harris 2028 buzz, while noting that a recent New York magazine article talking up the former vice president’s chances ignored one of her biggest strategic advantages.
The Trump effect
I decried President Trump’s endorsement of clown gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell last week in “Put a MyPillow over it.” Running in a multicandidate primary field, according to a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, Lindell now predictably appears to have extended his lead over competitors including endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls and House Speaker Lisa Demuth. That is a shame.
The Lindell road to GOP ruin
It turns out that Trump-endorsed Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell has a plan. It’s a six-month amnesty plan for illegal aliens. The Washington Examiner reports: “Mike Lindell proposes six-month amnesty for illegal immigrants if elected Minnesota governor.”
DSCC shuns Democratic candidate in Montana
Alani Bankhead, the Democratic nominee in Montana’s Senate race, bashed the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee this week for its “absolute lack of support” and said “it’s not too late” for the DSCC to get behind her campaign against Republican Kurt Alme and independent Seth Bodnar. That’s not going to happen.
Republicans see ‘scary’ lack of enthusiasm among core voters ahead of midterms
Pollsters and GOP groups are raising the alarm about an unmotivated base in an election year that would be tough no matter what, given the president’s low approval.
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
Federal judge says certain abortion drug restrictions are unlawful
A federal judge in Virginia ruled Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not sufficiently justify restrictions imposed in 2023 on a drug used to terminate early pregnancies, adding another layer of complexity to a string of legal cases with opposing goals that could affect future abortion access.
Gun Rights
Second Amendment Roundup: New Jersey Rifle and Magazine Bans Bite the Dust
The Third Circuit takes Second Amendment rights seriously.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Greenland’s Ice Sheet Was Supposed to Be Rapidly Melting Away. It Hasn’t Been.
Greenland is halfway through its current (2025-2026) melt season. So far it’s not looking good for the alarmist narrative.
Michigan Courts: Chimpanzees Not ‘Persons,’ but One Justice Dissents
Over the past decade or so, the Nonhuman Rights Project has sought to obtain legal personhood for chimpanzees and elephants. The method to their madness is to seek writs of habeas corpus to release the animals from various means of confinement.
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
Nuns Sue New York over Forced Complicity in Assisted Suicide
New York just legalized assisted suicide. Adding insult to injury, the law requires morally or religiously objecting doctors to be complicit in assisted suicides by cooperating with some of its provisions.
CDC: 2026 Cyclospora Outbreak is the Largest Ever Recorded
Meanwhile, Canada is dealing with its own outbreak of a diarrhea-causing microbe found in garlic powder.
US surpasses 2025’s record-breaking tally for measles cases
The number of measles cases in the U.S. has surpassed the record-breaking tally for all of 2025, with five more months of 2026 still to come.
Patient Wants To Live But Doctors Say Otherwise–A Paradox in the End-of-Life Care Debate in France
No sooner had France passed its law authorising euthanasia than a borderline case emerged in the press, bearing witness to the deadly spiral into which the country is being drawn. It undoubtedly illustrates the concerns of those who had been warning of a gradual shift in decision-making power towards the medical profession.
War & Terror
Incendiary Attack at Federal Building Housing FBI’s Lower Manhattan HQ
An incendiary device was detonated outside 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan this morning. That building is the headquarters of the FBI’s New York Field Office, among other federal agencies. So far, there are no reported injuries.
Ukraine and the Proud Legacy of Resistance
In February 2022, with Russian tanks roaring toward Kyiv in support of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Biden administration offered to evacuate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He famously declined. “The fight is here,” he declared. “I need ammunition, not a ride.” He wasn’t alone. Despite the exodus of many in those early days, news reports suggested that many Ukrainians would stand their ground. There were reports — and images — of ordinary people setting up tank traps, manning checkpoints with hunting rifles they’d brought from home, mass-producing Molotov cocktails in abandoned factories, and training with wooden Kalashnikovs.
Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel
U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, to be announced Wednesday, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to develop nuclear weapons.
Trump administration weighing military options in Mali, officials say
If approved, it would add an eighth nation to the list of countries where President Donald Trump has ordered strikes since the start of his second term.
Strait Talk: The Threats to the World’s Waterways
The Houthis join the fight on the side of the Iranians, hitting Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. The rise of drone warfare has created a massive new threat to just about all the world’s most critical straits and waterways. There are countermeasures for these kinds of attacks, but they will take time to develop and deploy.
China built full-size models of US warships and aircraft to hone its missiles
China has built an array of replica ships, aircraft and bases in its desert expanse. New images show an extensive buildup of targets and a focus on the US and Taiwan. One former military official said the scale of this training was “unprecedented.”
Romania shoots down third Russian drone, as president calls breaches ‘intolerable’
A Romanian F-16 fighter jet pilot shot down a Russian drone over the Black Sea, the defence ministry said on Sunday, the latest in a series of breaches of the NATO member’s airspace that President Nicusor Dan called “inadmissible and intolerable”.
Oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mine in Strait of Hormuz, IRGC-linked media claims – report
There was no immediate official statement from Iranian authorities regarding the incident.
Iran says Ukrainian attack on vessel in Caspian Sea killed sailor
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned on Saturday a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the ?Caspian Sea, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed ?one sailor and injured another.
National
Oregon public health school’s ‘Fat Justice’ initiative combats ‘oppression’ of overweight people
School claims extra cost of plus-sized clothing is product of ‘anti-fat bias’
Supreme Court agrees to hear case on whether airplane was improperly seized for transporting a six-pack of beer
The Supreme Court on Monday morning added a new case to its oral argument docket for the 2026-27 term. As part of a regularly scheduled summer order list, the justices agreed to review Jouppi v. Alaska, an Alaskan bush pilot’s challenge to the forfeiture of his $95,000 airplane – which prosecutors sought on the theory that he must have known that one of his passengers was bringing a six-pack of beer into an Alaskan village where alcohol is prohibited. That forfeiture, pilot Ken Jouppi contends, violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines.
Saving Citizenship in Ohio from Leftist Indoctrination
The Ohio State University motto is “education for citizenship.” It’s not a forgotten relic, either. On the contrary, OSU’s administration makes frequent mention of that motto. But what exactly does it mean?
FIRE challenges Hawai’i Community College’s ban on YAL leader
Hawai’i Community College banned YAL state chair from campus after he collected signatures for a petition. FIRE argues that the college’s justification for the one-year ban violates the First Amendment.
W. Virginia House Speaker calls on GOP Del. Elliott Pritt to resign after arrest for soliciting 15-year-old girl
Pritt, R-Fayette, is a public school teacher in his district
Pennsylvania’s Top Court Unanimously Rejects Warrantless Searches of Private Land
The justices said the “open fields” doctrine, a sweeping exception to constitutional privacy protections, does not apply in the Keystone State.
California education chief loses executive authority under new law
AB 181 transfers management of the California Department of Education from an elected state superintendent to a governor-appointed, Senate-confirmed education commissioner beginning January 2027. The superintendent will instead lead a newly established Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
An iPod, a walrus, and the Almighty Vice Lord Nation.
Indie contest revives the floppy disk with an absurd 1.44MB game limit
Modern indie games are often celebrated for pushing creative boundaries, but one new competition is asking developers to do the exact opposite by squeezing an entire game into a 1.44mb floppy disk.
Arizona State launches influencer degree where students must gain real followers
Arizona State University (ASU) has launched a bachelor’s degree for aspiring influencers, with students expected to build a real social media account and demonstrate audience growth during the program.
College Professor’s Clever AI Trap Uncovers Rampant Cheating
“The average grade was 96, with 40 students obtaining a perfect score. That compared to a midterm average ranging between 65 and 80 in previous years.”
5 officials, including Sylvia Luke, indicted by Oahu grand jury in political bribery case
An Oahu grand jury indicted Sylvia Luke among four others on Friday in connection to an ongoing political bribery case.
Washington State: Six more cases of measles in children confirmed in Clark County
Six more children have the measles in Clark County, health officials in the county said Friday.
Economy & Taxes
The Man Who Runs the IRS Spied on Colleagues When He Worked at JPMorgan
Frank Bisignano directed staff to use software to snoop in email of rivals and surveil work of employees; Bisignano, who also is the chief of Social Security, denied he ever spied on co-workers
A missed opportunity to save Social Security
The program’s insolvency is the most predictable political problem America has.
Harming Puerto Rico to protect nonexistent shipping jobs
The U.S. territory has bought more than twice as much U.S. propane in the last four months as it did in the previous 22 years combined.
The Lonely Fight to Keep the Cheap Las Vegas Buffet Alive
In a city increasingly full of affluent visitors, a few old-school hotels are hellbent on keeping the all-you-can-eat circus going
Trump finalizes new tariffs on dozens of countries
The announcement comes ahead of the Friday expiration of a current 10 percent global duty.
Liberty Justice Center Files First Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Massive New Section 301 Tariffs
The complaint explains why the tariffs violate the requirements of Section 301, and also run afoul of the major questions and nondelegation doctrines.
International
Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega: ‘There Will Never be Elections Here Again’
“Parties put in place by the Yankees, put in place by the Somoza regime, coming back to power — that story is over.”
Nicaragua’s Parliament Moving to Abolish Elections After Ortega’s Declaration
The lawmakers insist the move “will ensure Nicaragua’s ‘peace, security, and stability.'”
France Targets Online Anonymity Under the Guise of Child Protection
On July 21st, Parliament gave final approval to the bill introducing a minimum age for accessing social media in France. The legislation establishes the principle of a ban on social media for those under the age of 15. Platforms will now be required to verify the age of their users before they open or maintain an account, using a ‘double anonymity’ verification system. Users will have to prove their age to a trusted third party, which will issue a cryptographic token certifying only that they are of legal age in relation to the set threshold, without disclosing their identity to the platform. The implementation schedule is phased: from September 2026 for new accounts, then from January 2027 for existing accounts.
Opinion
Bans on “Divisive Concepts” Risk Stifling Speech
Reining in activist excesses is a worthy goal, but poorly defined speech restrictions risk creating new problems.
J. D. Vance’s New Book Wasn’t Meant to Be Read
Why does Communion exist?
The New Feudalism
How academia accidentally recreated medieval hierarchy.
The Real Bernie Sanders Always Stands Up for What’s Wrong
There are very few politicians who are poorer judges of character than Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator ignored warnings and defended fellow socialist and sex pest Graham Platner through multiple scandals for almost a year. Platner withdrew from the Senate race only after a serious sexual assault allegation.
The False Choice between the Liberal Arts and Vocational Training
Liberal learning and professional preparation are complementary, not competing, goals.
Qatar Force One was never safe. Trump should return it.
The president should have rejected the Qatari plane. Now he has a perfect excuse to send it back.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, by JD Vance
His online minions attack me fiercely over last week’s column. They should hear what my kids call me.
What could die with the last person using an iron lung
Vaccines are a blessing. Let’s not forget why.
