WendyMcElroy.com

BREAKING. From FOX News: Israel, Lebanon agree to 10-day ceasefire, Trump announces. [Ed: already some reports of violations.] From the AP: Ceasefire Takes Effect After Flurry of Strikes. Displaced families begin moving back to southern Lebanon [Ed: God, I wish safety for them.]

Immigration. From Hot Air: Spain Just Opened Every Country in Europe to Islamist Migrants. [Ed: opened its borders and, as part of the European Schengen Zone, its borders with other countries are also open.] From the Post Millennial: California county refused to honor 529 ICE detainers in 2025. California's sanctuary laws prohibit local and state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal authorities on immigration. [Ed: Santa Clara County.] From Center for Immigration Studies: The DIGNIDAD Act: Sweeping Amnesty and Expanded Legal Immigration

From Yahoo Life: Half-Blind Senior Dog Saves Family and Chickens From Bear, Earning Nickname the ‘Bear Slayer’

From Zero Hedge: China's Unitree Unveils Robot With "Human-Like Physique" That Can Outrun Most People. [Ed: saw a very impressive video of one such robot.]

Swalwell. From Bored Trash Panda: Everyone Knew Swalwell Had a ‘Women and Whiskey’ Problem: The View’s Alyssa Farah Griffin [WATCH]. [Ed: Pelosi et al are not going to get away with the "I knew nothing" routine.] From Slate: Consider the Dick Pic. Why can’t the nation’s most politically ambitious men stop sending unsolicited photos of their junk?

From the New York Post: Islanders fans rally behind jailed ‘cooler cop’ Erik Duran after launch of defense legal fund. [Ed: this case will have repercussions in NYC and, perhaps, across the U.S.]

Taxation. From Mises Institute: Tax Freedom Day Underestimates How Long You Work For The Government. "Americans don’t truly start working for themselves until June 5, over seven weeks later..." From the Daily Economy: Bootleggers, Baptists, and Others Who Benefit From Tax Complexity. Moral advocates and special interests engineer the tax code to reward those best equipped to navigate complex rules. [Ed: a must read.] From Reason: Trump's Illegal War in Iran Is Financed by Your Taxes. That's a Good Reason To Stop Paying Them. If Congress will not deploy the power of the purse to restrain a lawless administration and an illegal war, then it falls to the public to do so.

From the DoDo: Trader Joe's Employees Find Lost Dog — And Drop Everything To Help Her

Upcoming Elections. From KTLA5: Tom Steyer announces plan to jail ICE agents, calls agency a ‘violent extremist group’ [Ed: and he is the forerunner on the Dem side.]

From the Babylon Bee: Mamdani Says City-Run Supermarket Will Be Ready In 3 Years But Recommends Getting In Line For Bread Now. [Ed: I have to point out this is satire because reality and satire are blending these days.]

Trump's 2019 Impeachment. From CNN: DNI Tulsi Gabbard sends criminal referral over Trump’s 2019 impeachment to Justice Department. [Ed: referrals for undisclosed whistleblower and Inspector General involved. I suspect the whistleblower is former CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella who was named in the media as such.] From Forbes: Trump Floats Idea Of Reversing 2019 Impeachment—Again. [Ed: expunging an impeachment has never occurred and I don't know how it would occur.]

From Responsible Statecraft: Is the US prepping for a military operation in Cuba? Trump told reporters this week that ‘we may stop by' the island 'after we’re finished with’ the Iran war

From the Future of Freedom Foundation: Libertarians and Social Security

Iran War. From Moon of Alabama: War On Iran: – Closing The Red Sea. From the Middle East Eye: War on Iran 'can be over very soon' Trump says, as backchannel diplomacy resumes. The US president says neither the Saudi Arabians nor the Chinese pushed back against his Strait of Hormuz blockade. [Ed: I think the ceasefire will be extended. Pakistan is making noise about renewed negotiations.] From Zero Hedge: Trump Says 'Probably, Maybe' Iran Talks To Resume This Weekend, 'Not Sure' About Ceasefire Extension. From Scheer Post: Everyone Knows Israel is Sabotaging The Iran Ceasefire—Even The Trump Administration

From Law and Liberty: Abundance Pragmatism Fails. Some policies simply won't ever be "smart." [Ed: recommended.]

California. From the Post Millennial: LA hotels slash jobs, staff hours as Karen Bass’ $30 minimum wage hike drives up costs. “Hotels are struggling to keep up with rising operating costs coupled with falling demand.”

From Pawbuzz: Dog Gets A New Puppy For His Birthday, Their First Meeting Has Been Watched Over 7 Million Times. [Ed: wonderful video!]

From CNBC: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is preparing banks to collect citizenship data. "The administration has been considering an executive order to require banks to request additional documents from customers and earlier this week Bessent indicated the EO is coming."

Ukraine-Russia. From Radio Free Europe: Russia Launches Hundreds Of Drones In Deadly Overnight Attack On Ukraine. [Ed: Ukraine's attack on russia are equally brutal. This is the nature of war, not of Russia.] From Kyiv Post: Vance Calls Ending US Funding for Ukraine War ‘Key Achievement’. [Ed: less $ for Zelensky and his cronies?] From Zero Hedge: Drone Attack On Russia's Tuapse Oil Refinery Unleashes Fire So Large It Can Be Seen From Space. Black Sea port town declares state of emergency...

From the DoDo: Tiny Dog Can't Stop Smiling At Everybody After Being Rescued

Mamdani's City Grocer Store. From Jonathan Turley: La Marxista: Mamdani Pledges to Open First City-Run Store with Projected $30 Million Initial Cost. "Mamdani demands a 10% property tax to fund his promises of free buses and other socialist programs." From the New York Post: Mamdani makes surprising admission about the cost of goods at NYC-owned grocery stores [Ed: he will only guarantee "lower prices" for a core set of everyday staples.

From Responsible Statecraft: Is this the grand bargain that could end the Iran war? [Ed: a must read.] AND Why Trump’s Hormuz blockade is headed for a bust.

The blockades are bad but consider them points of leverage for an actual negotiation. Here is what a positive outcome — for both sides — might look like.

From Cuteness: Rescue Dog Puts On Her New Prosthetic Leg And Overflows With Happiness. [Ed: Youtube version of video here.]

From Hot Air: Steyer: I'm Running On the Insurrection Party Ticket!

Guns. From National Today: New York Lawmakers Move to Restrict BB and Pellet Guns. Proposed legislation would redefine air guns as 'imitation weapons' and impose new regulations. [Ed: what next? Photos of guns as "depicted weapons"?] From the Register: California Ghost-Gun Bill Wants 3D Printers To Play Cop, EFF Says From the Epoch Times: Virginia Governor Pushes Amendments On Gun Legislation Amid DOJ Warning. [Ed: DOJ warns that the restrictions are probably unconstitutional.]

From American Thinker: German government moves to forbid ‘right-wingers’ (presumably AfD) from buying property. Meanwhile, foreign Islamists meeting “residency” requirements receive taxpayer assistance. [Ed: presumably, qualified foreigners are not a political threat to the status quo's power.]

Trump & Meloni. From FOX News: Trump blasts close ally Meloni, says she’s failing US on Iran. Meloni also confirmed Italy suspended its defense cooperation agreement with Israel amid Middle East tensions. [Ed: Meloni is the Italian PM.] From the National Post: Trump slams ally Meloni in war of words over the Pope: 'I thought she was brave'. 'I would not feel very comfortable in a society where religious leaders do what political ?leaders ?say,' Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said. [Ed: Orban and Meloni were Trump's staunchest allies in the EU.]

From Hot Air: Irish Government Survives to Ignore Its Citizens Another Day. [Ed: I think the gov. is dead tho' still walking. I just wonder how long it will take to fall.]

From 307 Substack: The UK Is Carrying Out A Rigged Trial Of The ‘ Filton Six’ To Continue Palestine Action Crack Down. The Dissident

Swalwell. From the Sacramento Bee: Eric Swalwell’s finances show cash crunch, delayed taxes, large child care tab. [Ed: a different take on the creep that is Swalwell.] From Just the News: Newsom announces election to fill US Rep. Swalwell's seat set for Aug. 18.

From Garden & Gun: Keeping Up with the Pack. Why settle for one dog when you can have five?

Ukraine-Russia. From Moscow Times: Zelensky Says Kyiv Seized a Russian Position With Drones and Robots. Is This a Game Changer?

From FOX News: House Dems unveil bill to examine removing Trump using 25th Amendment. [Ed: bill would create a 17-member commission to assess whether the amendment could be used to boot Trump from the White House. Seems unconstitutional on the surface.] From CBS News: Senate rejects 4th attempt to curb Trump's war powers in Iran. [Ed: Rand Paul voted with the Dems. Fetterman voted with the Repubs.] From Newsweek: Pete Hegseth Faces Impeachment Threat: Full List of Sponsors

From the Future of Freedom Foundation: Civil Society Needs the High Trust that Only Individuals Can Provide. [Ed: by Wendy McElroy.]

From 404 Media: Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit. [Ed: I never thought anything else was going on.] From Gizmodo: Meta Thinks Its Smart Glasses Could Stalk People in a ‘Thoughtful’ Way.

From NPR: Why Congress is fighting over a central tool of American surveillance. [Ed: Sec. 702 of FISA.]

From National News Today: Anthropic's Powerful AI Model (Claude Mythos) Sparks Emergency Banking Meetings; US Treasury and Federal Reserve warn of systemic cybersecurity risks. [Ed: I'm watching news about Claude very closely.]

From DailyBBNews: From Abandoned Puppy to Therapy Dog: Hugo’s Inspiring Journey of Resilience and Joy

Big Picture Economics. From ITM Trading: Inflation Just TRIPLED as the Reset Accelerates. [Ed: I know this site is selling something but it is also providing info you don't hear elsewhere.] From Zero Hedge: Kering And Hermès Sink As War Batters Earnings; Goldman Warns Luxury Dip-Buying Is "Premature"

From antiwar: US Southern Command Kills Six in Latest Boat Strikes in Eastern Pacific Ocean. [Ed: it is good to remember that these 'drug' boat bombings are ongoing.]

From International Man: Doug Casey on the Strait of Hormuz, the Dollar, and the Coming Energy Crisis

The Impeachment Fraud of 2019. From Just the News: Ratcliffe’s CIA reacts: New Ukraine impeachment evidence exposes Democrats’ ‘bad faith’. Director Ratcliffe played key role in Congress defending Trump in 2019 impeachment. [Ed: I always thought it smelled to high heaven...but now there's evidence.] AND Ukraine whistleblower said he didn’t want his bias noted, and IC watchdog seemingly obliged. "Some indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the Complainant in favor of a rival political candidate." He criticized GOP congressmen, recounted that he asked to hide his complaint from Republicans on the intelligence committee, pointed to his close links to Joe Biden’s efforts in Ukraine, and more.

From Tech Crunch: Thousands of Rare Concert Recordings Are Landing On the Internet Archive. [Ed: the library is here.]

From High Wire: The Quiet Kill: How Assisted Suicide Became a Growth Industry

From Sunny Skyz: 'She Wouldn’t Budge': After A Scare, This Loyal Farm Dog Stood Guard In The Snow All Night

Brad here. The title of this post is the concluding line of a story I read back in high school, decades ago. It sprang into my memory yesterday when I read the Charles Hugh Smith article "Automating our Dependence Will Cripple Us", that Wendy had included in the blog. From that article:


The long-ago short story was "The Macauley Circuit" (PDF). In those days I would read almost anything that was described as science fiction, but I was especially enamored of anything touching upon music synthesis, a driving fascination of mine. (I still have my vinyl copy of Switched-On Bach, by Walter Carlos, which dates me.) After several decades I could remember the title, the story outline, and many of the details of what now should be considered a cautionary tale:


I did not recall the author; at that time, his name meant nothing to me. I've now looked it up: Robert Silverberg. He says it was one of his earliest stories. Perhaps in the age of AI, there is still time to heed Silverberg's warning.

Otherwise, ladies and gentlemen, we will all become obsolete.

From the International Man: The Roman Empire's Fatal Mistake—and America May Be Repeating It in Iran

From NBC: Heartwarming video shows Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch reuniting with her dog. [Ed: youtube version of video.]

Fraud. From the Post Millennial: GOP lawmaker warns 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' will block independent journalists from uncovering fraud in CA. [Ed: that's the bill's nickname. Worth watching.] From X, James O'Keefe: LA Housing Department Financial Officer Admits Witnessing Multiple Instances of Fraud Up To “$10–$20 Million”

From X, Wall St. Apes: American led a team of volunteers who went undercover at the recent No Kings protests in 31 different states and 47 different cities... [Ed: no sure what to think of this yet. Haven't been able to find the referenced data sheet but I didn't look too hard.]

Strait of Hormuz. From Zero Hedge: US Says 'No Ships Made It Past Blockade' As Iran Mulls Hormuz Shipping Pause To Preserve Talks, Which Trump Says Could Happen In Two Days AND Fearing Iranian Escalation In Red Sea, Saudis Push Trump To Call Off Hormuz Blockade. Houthis could close "Gate of Tears," ratcheting up global economic disruption...

From Naked Capitalism: With US Bogged Down in West Asia, Cuba Agrees to Grant Russian Companies Management of Cuban Industries

From Unherd: Europe isn’t ready for an Iranian refugee crisis. [Ed: nor is it as tolerant toward immigration as it used to be.]

Canada. From CBC: Mark Carney enters his majority era. Byelections give the Liberals one of the most remarkable majorities in Parliament's history. [Ed: crap on a cracker.] From Hot Air: Petition Drive Hits Judicial Burp in the Road on the Way to Albertan Independence "Aw. You knew it had to happen, just a question of when and how they managed it, especially since the signature petition drive to get the Alberta Independence referendum on the ballot had turned into a blockbuster success." [Ed: hat tip to Brad who comments, It's a long way from being a success -- "multiple" First Nations are challenging the petition.]

From Dogman Ray: Backpack Man.

AB 2624. From Deseret: California moves forward with its ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’. The bill outlaws sharing the photo or personal data of a provider on the internet. [Ed: Newsom is desperate to hide the rampant fraud in Calif. His Presidential campaign depends on it.] From American Bazaar: Elon Musk reacts to California’s ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’: ‘Investigating fraud illegal’

From the Washington Examiner: Mullin to call ‘entire DHS workforce’ back to work despite shutdown. [Ed: and provide all back pay, including to FEMA.]

Prepping. From Preppgroup: The 5 Places in America You DON’T Want to Be When Society Collapses… From the Organic Prepper: Selco: “Here Are Some of the WORST Pieces of Prepping Advice I’ve Heard". According to Selco, a lot of the prepping advice out there is terrible. Here are some of the absolute worst ...

From iHeartDogs: Ukrainian Troops Use Drone to Rescue Cat and Dog From War Zone’s Frontline.

Everyday Economics. From Reason: Federal Reserve: Without Tariffs, Inflation Would Have Dropped to Pre-Pandemic Levels During 2025. New study finds that tariffs were responsible for the "entirety of the excess inflation in the core goods category." [Ed: I'm sorry but I don't see anything but a very hard road ahead for the next several months.] From Food & Consumer Goods This Week: The Price Jump Is Coming: Why You Need to Stock Up on. Your window is closing. Here's the data, and here's what to buy. [Ed: a bit panicky...and, remember, the fellow is trying to sell you a subscription.]

From X, Arnaud Bertrand: France is on the eve of voting one of the most shameful laws in its history... [Ed: sounds incredibly bad. If it passes, I'll make sure to post about it.] From the Middle East Eye: French lawmakers set to push bill criminalising speech on Israel. Nearly 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for the proposed legislation to be blocked

Oil. From Zero Hedge: Fill 'er Up: Record Armada Of Tankers Bound For US Gulf To Load Oil. Shipping data... shows 171 crude tankers are bound for the U.S. Gulf to load crude oil cargoes…

Housing. From Politico: The war in Iran hits home as housing rebound stalls. Home sales and mortgage applications have slumped as higher rates weigh on consumers. That spells trouble for the GOP's pledges to address housing affordability. From Cato: What the Economic Report of the President Gets Wrong and Right About Housing Supply [Ed: a must read for those to whom this issue is of concern.]

From the Daily Kos: What happens to California’s governor race without Eric Swalwell? [Ed: DK seems to be betting on Tom Steyer.]

Ireland. From Breaking News: Government confidence vote: What was said in the Dáil. [Ed: presiding gov. won the confidence vote, 92-78. The Dail is the Irish parliament.] From the American Thinker: Irish Patriots Are Fighting Back. "Just when I had begun to think that all the “fighting Irish” had moved to America, the Old Country has started to show signs of life."

From Politico: ‘I thought it was me as a doctor’: 10 of the best political excuses ever. From Boris Johnson to Rudy Giuliani, top politicians have come up with some imaginative justifications for alleged misbehavior.

From ASPCA: Healing and Hope: Brie’s Second Act

Israel & Lebanon. From France 24: Lebanon and Israel hold rare direct talks in Washington despite Hezbollah opposition. [Ed: Israel will not let Lebanon go...lebensraum. But it cannot betray the U.S. too deeply, too blatantly.] AND Italy suspends defence agreement with Israel as Lebanon attacks stoke tensions.

AI. From Gary Marcus: Claude Mythos, evaluated From Vinyl Culture: They Cloned Her Voice, Then Claimed Her Songs. AI Music Scams Are Using Copyright Law as a Weapon Against Real Artists. From a folk singer demonetized by her own deepfakes to a fake AI ‘artist’ holding 11 iTunes chart slots, the infrastructure meant to protect artists is now being weaponized against them