Oops, He Did It Again! Out goes the Toll, Enter Imaginary Investments and My Brain Hurts a Lot

July 14, 2026

Yiannis Damellos

I need a vacation, a case of beer, and a day when nothing happened. As Sam Neil once said (and I paraphrase), “My dream is to wake up one day and find there is no news at all. No wars, no death, no hate, just people getting along with each other.” Oh, Sam, rest in peace, man! I am sorry, but although you left us so soon, you are one of the lucky ones. That dream of yours is so naive and reminiscent of the glorious ’80s, when there was still a balance of power, and Donald Trump was a casino developer and a boxing match promoter, not the President of the United States.

A T. rex found in South Dakota could smash auction records — and possibly disappear forever

A T. rex skeleton nicknamed "Gus" is set to go up for auction Tuesday at Sotheby's. Matthew Sherman/Courtesy Sotheby's

ByJacopo Prisco

Updated 4 hr ago

Before he became the namesake of one of the largest predators that ever lived — or made it into the footnotes of an auction catalog — the late Gary “Gus” Licking, a cattle rancher in South Dakota, had always suspected his land was hiding something big.

Sea drones strike Iranian port in combat first for US

By Claire Barrett
Jul 13, 2026, 10:07 AM

U.S. Central Command utilized three Corsair unmanned surface vessels to strike a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas naval base in Iran, marking the “first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations,” CENTCOM confirmed on X on Monday.

California, 11 other states sue to block Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros

Updated: 5:44 PM PDT Jul 13, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Twelve states challenged Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, filing a lawsuit that argues the $81 billion mega merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.

The office of California’s attorney general, who is leading the case, said the states are asking Warner and Paramount to not close their merger “until after the judicial process concludes” — and if the companies do not agree, the coalition will then file a temporary restraining order.

5 Best Sam Neill Movies That Aren't Jurassic Park

BY SLASHFILM STAFF
JULY 13, 2026
New Line Cinema

The world has lost a truly great actor. Best known for playing Alan Grant in "Jurassic Park," Sam Neill has died at the age of 78. Neill was a steadily working actor for decades dating back to the 1970s, but he fully began to break out in the '80s thanks to his roles in movies like "Dead Calm." Of course, he cemented his place in cinema history by portraying Dr. Grant in Steven Spielberg's groundbreaking 1993 blockbuster, and he reprised the role several times in the ensuing years.

Mexico’s Sheinbaum announces criminal charges request in US over ICE deaths

News | Migration
Mexico to formally ask prosecutors to file cases in US courts over its citizens’ deaths in immigration operations
By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters
Published On 14 Jul 2026

Mexico has said that it will request that criminal charges be filed in United States courts after more than a dozen of its citizens were killed by US immigration authorities or died in their custody.

Seoul Economic Daily: War Reignites? Trump Vows Nuclear Site Strike as Houthis Attack Saudi Arabia

Published 2026.07.14. 06:24:17 By Lee Tae-gyu, Washington Correspondent

Seoul Economic Daily 

International News from South Korea

Tensions between the United States and Iran are escalating uncontrollably once again. U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled that he will bomb an area near Iran's uranium enrichment facility, while Yemen's pro-Iran armed group, the Houthi rebels, who had been quiet, attacked a Saudi Arabian airport with missiles.

Trump says US will ‘take out’ Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility

by Ellen Mitchell

07/13/26

President Trump on Monday said the U.S. could soon attack Pickaxe Mountain in Iran as American forces launched a new round of strikes against the country.

“Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door,” Trump said in an interview on “The Hugh ​Hewitt Show” Monday afternoon. “We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ​ready.”

Hungary parliament passes law to oust president in Magyar's power shake-up

By Krisztina Than
July 12, 2026

BUDAPEST, July 13 (Reuters) - Hungary's parliament has approved a constitutional amendment on Monday to oust President Tamas Sulyok, who Prime Minister Peter Magyar says is a "puppet" of former premier Viktor Orban.

"Not the target of the warrant." A 26-y.o. legally working immigrant killed in shooting involving ICE, in Biddeford, Maine

Updated: 5:11 PM EDT 

July 13, 2026 
Adam Bartow, Executive Producer

BIDDEFORD, Maine — The Biddeford Police Department has confirmed there was an incident involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel at the intersection of Pool Street and Hill Street on Monday morning.

Bronze Age boat carvings reveal vast sea networks linking Iberia and Scandinavia

by Dario Radley for Archaeology News Magazine

June 30, 2026

Bronze Age boat carvings found on rocks in Spain and Portugal suggest people living along Europe’s Atlantic coast shared ideas, technology, and beliefs across long sea routes more than 3,000 years ago.

Judge: Trump sought to ‘manipulate the judicial process’ with his IRS lawsuit and attempted $1.8B fund

By Tierney Sneed, Holmes Lybrand
Updated 1 hr 58 min ago

A federal judge on Monday said a controversial lawsuit brought by President Trump against the IRS sought to “manipulate the judicial process” and that he acted in bad faith in bringing it.

US District Judge Kathleen Williams is ordering sanctions for the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, which led to an attempt to create the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for allies of the president. It was also used to justify a Trump administration order giving the president and his businesses amnesty for any past tax issues.

Only A Pimp Would Do That: Trump’s Hormuz Toll Plan Will Make Costs Trickle Down To You

Edited by Yiannis Damellos

July 13, 2026

Source: Associated Press and other agencies

A 20% cargo fee in Hormuz: how Trump’s unnecessary war could become a worldwide surcharge on all of us

As Trump reverses course on Hormuz fees, the price tag won’t stay overseas. By the time oil prices and grocery receipts reflect the latest disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, it will be too late for Washington to pretend the public is only watching a local geopolitical dispute, as the cost will land on consumers worldwide. Yet that is exactly how Donald Trump is framing his latest move —announcing that the U.S. will “reinstate” a blockade on Iran in the Strait and, in addition, charge other ships for “safe passage,” with a payment mechanism tied to 20% of the value of cargo. So, what is Trump doing here? Is he profiteering on chaos?

Sen. Warnock's ban on private equity firms buying single-family homes becomes federal law

By Zachary Bynum

Updated on: July 12, 2026, CBS Atlanta

One of Sen. Raphael Warnock's highest-profile housing proposals has officially become federal law, marking a significant policy change aimed at slowing corporate ownership of single-family homes in Georgia and across the country.

In Iran, the war enters "a new phase" as the oil climbs to $80 a barrel!

July 13, 2026

By Yiannis Damellos

Are you tired of the same old war games? Are your groceries getting more expensive again? Are you struggling to make ends meet? Can you afford to fill your gas tank, or is it time to start using the metro? If you’re not a fan of missile exchanges and war posturing—and if you want to see a brighter future—it's time to tell Congress to stop this ongoing madness and urge the current Commander in Chief to bring the boys back home.

What is happening in the Strait of Hormuz is a mockery of war. What Rubio refers to as a new phase in the conflict is actually a desperate attempt by a failing administration to regain some popularity before the upcoming elections. And you thought the World Cup was disappointing? Think again—everything seems to be going wrong under Trump!

Anthropic found a hidden space where Claude puzzles over concepts

A new technique has let the company probe deeper than ever into the weird workings of an LLM
By Will Douglas Heaven

July 9, 2026
Stephanie Arnett/MIT Technology Review | Getty Images

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The AI firm Anthropic has developed a technique that has given it the clearest glimpse yet at what’s really going on inside large language models as they answer questions or carry out tasks. What they found ranges from the mundane to the unnerving.

Majority of U.S. workers support an AI wealth fund as tech layoffs surge, survey finds

Published Sun, Jul 12, 2026

8:27 AM EDT
Justina Lee

KEY POINTS

• Sixty-nine percent of Americans now support “forcing” AI firms to transfer 50% of their stock to a public sovereign wealth fund, according to a survey by research firm Verasight.
• The rising number of tech layoffs in the U.S. has left many workers frustrated and worried over job security.
• Sovereign wealth funds can serve in multiple roles when it comes to AI, but also face challenges managing between the public good and the global race to build AI capabilities.

The Supreme Court Broke Independent Agencies. Here’s a Way to Slow the Damage

The Breakdown

A crypto bill before Congress offers a chance to keep presidents from turning independent commissions into one-party instruments

Todd Phillips

Jul 12, 2026

(Photo illustration by Bill Kuchman/The Bulwark)

Photos: Shutterstock

THE SUPREME COURT on the next-to-last day of its term ended the commonsense principle that officials serving on independent regulatory commissions can be protected from being fired for nothing more than a policy disagreement. As many legal commentators have noted, in overturning the 91-year-old precedent Humphrey’s Executor, the Court endangered the independence of such agencies as the FTC, the NLRB, the CPSC, and the EEOC—to name just a few from which Trump has fired commissioners or board members.