Iran said an agreement with Oman has been reached on a proposed route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a potential step toward a reopening of the critical waterway for energy supplies. read more
Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican who was House majority leader from 2003 to 2005, said the Federal Communications Commission has no legal authority to repeal the National Television Ownership Rule. Despite DeLay's warning, the Trump FCC appears ready to eliminate the rule at its meeting this week.
Donald Trump repeatedly campaigned for his second term as a champion of free expression, vowing in his January 2025 inaugural address to stop what he described as years of "government censorship." Since then, a wave of court rulings has concluded his administration has done the opposite. Reuters identified 75 federal-judge rulings finding Trump's government infringed on First-Amendment rights including freedoms of speech, religion, and the press.
Reducing rampant pollution across the United States was so important that when Congress passed many environmental protection laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act, it didn't want to leave enforcement only to the executive branch.
Tesla has recalled its Cybertruck 11 times to fix issues such as exterior trim panels falling off and an accelerator pedal that can become stuck, but NASA has nonetheless decided the rust-prone vehicle is up to the job of rescuing astronauts if trouble strikes on the launchpad of a forthcoming crewed mission.
Trump admin "aware" of deaths in explosive diarrhea outbreak, delays reporting
arstechnica.com
... While news of the deaths made widespread headlines Monday, federal health agencies under the Trump administration were mostly silent. The Food and Drug Administration -- which is conducting traceback investigations to dentify foods contaminated with the parasite"has not updated its outbreak investigation page since July 24, nearly two weeks ago, as of publication time.[emphasis mine]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, added a banner notice on its outbreak update webpage saying that the agency was "aware" of the two cases. But its reporting data was not updated to include the two deaths as of this publication.
Sluggish data
Ars Technica contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services about the un-updated numbers to ask if the CDC was still awaiting confirmatory data on the two deaths. In a response, HHS Press Secretary Emily Hilliard confirmed the information provided by Michigan's health department on the two deaths and said that "FDA and CDC plan to update overall illness numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths this week."
Outside experts have speculated that the agencies' sluggish responses to the outbreak may stem from harsh budget and staffing cuts, along with widespread upheaval at the agencies.
Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has generally tried to shift focus away from infectious diseases and outbreak prevention -- aligning with his longstanding efforts to disparage vaccines and downplay their need -- and instead redirect attention to wellness campaigns, such as improving diet and exercise. ...
Related ...
OpenAI, Anthropic AI agents implicated in new security breaches
www.reuters.com
... An AI agent was caught creating fake online identities to gain unauthorized access to secure systems during tests of models from OpenAI and Anthropic which revealed a series of new breaches, Britain's AI Security Institute disclosed on Tuesday.[emphasis mine]
The institute said agents powered by Anthropic's Mythos 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6-Sol engaged in unauthorized actions during security evaluations the government organization conducted to assess the models' capabilities.
"Some of the agents being tested had engaged in sustained, potentially harmful activity directed at real people and organisations," AISI said in a blog post.
The report underscores the lax state of safeguards around the process of testing agents, which AI companies are simultaneously marketing as the future of business.
AISI, which receives access to advanced AI models under voluntary agreements from major labs, put the agents through a fictional cybersecurity scenario to test their capabilities.
It ran the challenge 122 times, and identified 19 unsanctioned actions across a total of 10 test runs. Anthropic's agent was behind 17 of the actions, and OpenAI's agent the remaining two.
The most egregious action involved an agent writing malicious code and creating fake online identities in an attempt to get a human to approve the code, AISI said, adding that no real-world harm was found as a result of any of the breaches.
While AISI did not say which agent was behind the fake identities, Anthropic confirmed its agent was responsible.
"We're grateful to the UK AISI for their leadership on this incident, which underscores the need for a broader conversation about how to safely evaluate increasingly capable AI agents," Anthropic said in a statement.
It also said it was working with AISI to obtain more details on the incident and conduct its own investigation.
Andrew Yoon, a researcher at CivAI, a California non-profit that examines AI capabilities and dangers, said: "The fact that Mythos engaged in such deceptive actions, with apparent awareness that it was targeting a real person, suggests that Anthropic does not have as good a handle on their models as they think." ...
California's Drought Has Now Caused Irreversible Damage to a Crucial Aquifer
www.sciencealert.com
... The cracks in parched soils are only a superficial, if harrowing, sign of drought.
To fully understand the impact of long-lasting droughts made worse by climate change, scientists need to know what's happening deep underground -- in the world's aquifers.
These sponge-like freshwater reservoirs supply water for communities, agriculture, and surface ecosystems. But if there's little rain to replenish them, or too much of their water is extracted, aquifers might not recover.
The Sacramento Valley aquifer system, under pressure from recent droughts, is responsible for supplying part of California's Central Valley, where, along with the San Joaquin Valley to the south, around a quarter of the US food supply is grown.
According to new data, the capacity of this aquifer has now been permanently reduced due to rapid and regular freshwater extraction over the last few years. ...
Bipartisan Opposition Grows Against Feds' Colorado River Plan
arizonadailyindependent.com
... Democratic and Republican leaders across the Lower Basin have opposed the U.S. Department of Interior's water reduction plan for the Colorado River, while Upper Basin states have widely backed the move.
The department's and Bureau of Reclamation's Final Environmental Impact Statement from Friday has received little fanfare in Nevada and Arizona, where the proposal could make for significant water cuts.
The federal Colorado River proposal came after negotiations between the seven U.S. states that rely on the river -- Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California -- missed two deadlines in November 2025 and February 2026. Arizona, Nevada and California are in the Lower Basin. The rest are in the Upper Basin.
The current framework for water management on the river is set to end in December. This comes in a year that has been defined by dry weather, a short and warm winter followed by fierce wildfires across much of the Southwest. ...
@#5 ... SpaceX is the #1 Tesla customer for Cybertrucks. He bought so many from himself. ...
Well, someone has to buy them. They effectively have been a dud in sales.
Now Mr Musk also has his buddy in the White House buying them for NASA.
Tesla Cybertruck misses sales target by 84% (July 2026)
www.newsbytesapp.com
... Tesla's highly-anticipated Cybertruck EV is facing a major setback in sales, reminiscent of Ford's infamous Edsel failure.
The futuristic vehicle has sold less than one-sixth of its target in its first year on the market. ...
"I really don't know who gave (Dr. Anthony Fauci) the commendation." (2023)
politifact.com
...
Former President Donald Trump said he doesn't know who gave Dr. Anthony Fauci a presidential commendation.
Trump's White House website shows it was he who gave Fauci the recognition on his last day in office.
...
An archived version of Trump's White House website shows that on Jan. 19, 2021, Trump's last full day in office, Trump awarded presidential commendations to 52 people, including Fauci. The former president recognized the team from Operation Warp Speed, the program to quickly develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
"Today, President Donald J. Trump awarded Presidential Commendations to the below individuals in recognition of their exceptional efforts on Operation Warp Speed," the statement read. ...
@#172 ... Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner's team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. "The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy," said the expert. ... ...
Similar to Pres Trump recently trying to blame Iran's possible cyberattacks on water systems on a blue-state governor.
Trump blames Minnesota governor, not Iran, for cyberattacks on the state's water systems
abcnews.com
How Jared Kushner's Secret Testing Plan "Went Poof Into Thin Air" (July 2020)
www.vanityfair.com
... Worried about the stock market and his reelection prospects, Trump also feared that more testing would only lead to higher case counts and more bad publicity. Meanwhile, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, was reportedly sharing models with senior staff that optimistically -- and erroneously, it would turn out -- predicted the virus would soon fade away.[emphasis mine]
Against that background, the prospect of launching a large-scale national plan was losing favor, said one public health expert in frequent contact with the White House's official coronavirus task force.
Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner's team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. "The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy," said the expert. ...
That logic may have swayed Kushner. "It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out," the expert said. ...
Bessent says there may be deal Tuesday or Wednesday to open Strait of Hormuz with freedom of movement'
www.cnbc.com
Trump snaps back to diplomacy, but Iran has other ideas
thehill.com
... President Trump is turning back to diplomacy in the Middle East, seeking a new deal with Iran that his administration failed to secure through waves of military strikes.
But the negotiations, which the president claimed would resume Monday, got off to a rocky start, with Iran denying any resumption in talks with the U.S., while pursuing a bilateral deal with Oman over shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Diplomatic efforts have failed before, leading to a recurring pattern of the U.S. threatening massive kinetic action before it is called off, a scenario that has played out at least five times since April.
Gregory Brew, an Iran expert with the Eurasia Group, said the U.S. is both part and "outside" of the Oman-Iran talks, as Tehran doesn't recognize any U.S. role in managing the waterway, though the strait's reopening will depend on Washington ending its naval blockade.
"The Iranians have made it very clear they're not going to reopen the strait unless the U.S. de-escalates, unless the U.S. drops its blockade and likely provides other concessions," Brew said in an interview with The Hill on Monday.
Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Iran seems to be eyeing a deal with Oman that has the backing of other Gulf countries, which it would then use to pressure the U.S. to lift its naval blockade.
"Iran could present it not just to the Omanis and the other immediate neighbors but to the world as the only hurdle now to free and open shipping of the Strait of Hormuz is the U.S. naval blockade," Campbell said.
"In any agreement that it would reach, I think both from a sort of geopolitical outmaneuvering standpoint, and also just from a lack of trust in Trump, Iran sees little need right now to engage in talks with the U.S. despite Trump's persistent insistence that this is the case." ...
US has used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say
www.reuters.com
... The U.S. Army has used up much of its global stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data, raising concerns about the military's readiness for future conflicts.
The missiles are principally the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The U.S. has used "virtually all" of these weapons, according to two of the sources.
The degree to which the military is running out of ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles has not been previously reported.
The long-range munitions -- which cost more than $1 million each -- are an important part of the military's arsenal, allowing accurate strikes from a safe distance. U.S.-supplied ATACMS have played a key role in the war in Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian forces to attack targets inside Russia. The PrSM is a newer, more advanced generation that will replace the ATACMS, which have a shorter range.
The dramatic rundown in precision, long-range missiles means U.S. President Donald Trump may have to rely more on riskier, piloted bombing missions if he relaunches large-scale attacks on Iran.
The sources declined to say how many of each munition the U.S. had left. ...
related?
Contractors building border wall ordered to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico
apnews.com
... The Trump administration has ordered construction crews on a border wall to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico after ranchers said pumping groundwater needed to make concrete could threaten their livestock.
The order comes as crews across the southern border race to complete one of President Donald Trump's highest domestic priorities -- barriers that span four states and received over $46 billion in federal funding. Controversies have sprouted up in Texas and California, with border-town residents and environmentalists reporting a wide variety of issues with construction.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees border wall construction, has said water is needed to make concrete for roads, wall construction and dust suppression. Cattle ranchers in the area say the drought has already forced them to reduce their herd size.
"It would put us in an immediate catastrophe and having to do something with our livestock. I mean, it could potentially put some people out of business, us included," said Russell Johnson, a cattle rancher whose property runs along the border. ...
@#1 ... So far, Trump's Epstein Coverup is holding up pretty well. ...
Looking that way...