Voices, The Peoples News
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July 18, 2026 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |
This daily Voices, The Peoples News is posted through the blog function of www.MPEN-Ohio.net
# Border / Immigration / ICE / Immigrants
Revealing the reality of conditions in ICE detention centers: Inhumane Detention Conditions Aren’t Uncommon, They’re Part of the Problem
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/inhumane-ice-detention-conditions-delaney-hall/
[Video] METRO bus may have captured video of deadly ICE encounter in Houston. Video recorded by a METRO bus may provide important evidence in the deadly shooting of Lorenzo Salgado during an encounter with federal immigration agents in Houston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVZZe2d1bcw
More Than 60 People Have Died in ICE Custody or Shootings Since Trump Took Office, 4 Times the Biden-Era Rate. The mortality rate of deaths in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade and has more than doubled since Trump’s second term began.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/06/25/dying-in-detention/rising-deaths-in-an-expanding-us-immigration-detention-system
Plainclothes ICE agents left man partially handcuffed at Las Vegas airport after being confronted by onlookers, video shows
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B27FNIQznAc
ICE Contractor Accused of Shooting Protesters and Fleeing. Booth was booked on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon.
https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/employee-who-works-at-aurora-ice-processing-center-arrested-accused-of-shooting-and-injuring-colorado-protester/
Trump-appointed prosecutor inadvertently throws killer ICE agent under the bus. Some legal experts noticed that a specific passage of the statement appeared to directly indicate ICE officers lied about a critical detail.
https://www.rawstory.com/ice-2677241050/
# Drugs / Trafficking / DEA / Gangs / Cartels
12-Fold Rise in Kratom Poisonings. Kratom and related high-potency products like 7-OH have recently become widely available. Consumption of high potency kratom products can cause adverse reactions, resulting in reports to poison centers. This study examined trends in kratom-related poison reports over the last 11 years, finding dramatic increases.
https://www.recoveryanswers.org/research-post/kratom-related-poison-reports-increased-12-fold-2015-2025/
# Economy / Finance / Trade / Tariffs \ Banking / Taxes / IRS / Cryptocurrencies
U.S. companies have finally gotten $71 billion in tariff refunds, but they’re using it to offset inflation caused by the Iran war
https://tradersunion.com/news/market-voices/show/2712700-us-tariff-refunds-offset-inflation/
Wall Street erupts as Trump family plots brazen cash grab off president’s market-moving posts. Wall Street erupted in fury on Friday as it emerged Donald Trump’s social media company is planning to charge as much as $100,000 per month for early access to the president’s market-moving posts.
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15985941/trump-family-wall-street-cash-grab.html
# Environment / Infrastructure / EPA / BLM / Public Lands / Water / FEMA / USAID
Man exposes giant yellow pods with cameras stationed on Arizona road. Then he takes a second look: ‘explain to me and there’s a cable going in the backside.’ He felt intrigued and decided to investigate.
https://wegotthiscovered.com/social-media/man-exposes-giant-yellow-pods-with-cameras-stationed-on-arizona-road-then-he-takes-a-second-look-explain-to-me-and-theres-a-cable-going-in-the-backside/
US Forest Service workers kidnapped; hostage situation ends in arrests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tykmti
Trump Guts Two National Monuments ‘At the Behest of Polluting Corporations Who Seek to Ravage Them.’
“Today’s proclamations are a slap to the face of public lands visitors across the country, as well as the local communities and tribes that have worked for years to protect these special places.”
https://www.americanprogress.org/press/trump-again-removes-protections-from-utah-national-monuments/
Defenders of Wildlife condemns the Trump administration’s egregious attempt to virtually eliminate Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, reducing the monuments’ boundaries by over 90%. This is the second attempt by the Trump administration to shrink these National Monuments.
https://defenders.org/newsroom/defenders-condemns-trump-administration-slashing-national-monuments
New Mexico environmentalist group on ‘high alert’ after Trump shrinks Utah national monuments: A New Mexico environmentalist group is sounding the alarm about what President Donald Trump’s decision to dramatically reduce the footprints of two national monuments in Utah could mean for several “beloved” national monuments in New Mexico.
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/new-mexico-environmentalist-group-on-high-alert-after-trumps-shrinks-utah-national-monuments/
Donald Trump Admin Narrows an Endangered Species Act Rule That Could Allow More Habitat Destruction: ‘Death sentence’: Trump administration to open habitats of endangered species to logging and mining
Habitat destruction strongest driver of species loss, with legislation keeping 99% of listed species from going extinct
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/10/epa-rollback-endangered-habitats-logging-mining
# Energy / Pipelines / Mining / Oil / Power Plants
Sen. Schiff Demands Federal Investigation Into Big Oil’s $94 Billion Profits, Blaming Trump’s Iran War for Gas Price Surge
https://www.newsbreak.com/combat-rated-361333999/4774742611786-sen-schiff-demands-federal-investigation-into-big-oil-s-94-billion-profits-blaming-trump-s-iran-war-for-gas-price-surge
# General News / Epstein / Maxwell
Dershowitz backs out of interview with House panel over Epstein: The committee is now looking to reschedule the planned meeting.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/17/congress/dershowitz-a-no-show-01002961
# Gov / Politics / US
White House in panic after Trump fails to deliver ‘really big news’ in primetime address. The White House was forced to do damage control following the president’s lackluster address to the nation on Thursday night
https://www.themirror.com/news/politics/white-house-panic-after-trump-1942427\
Trump’s Primetime Speech Was a Dud. He Could Still Use it to Interfere in the Midterms. The allegations of foreign interference by China are intended to create a fake national emergency. Fact-checking Trump’s repeated election fraud claims in primetime address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXmTWz5-ffQ
Trump’s Election Integrity Speech Lays Groundwork for Midterm Interference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dEadnAJTHs
Trump’s election fraud speech was a weirdly good sign for American democracy. Trump’s primetime speech accidentally exposed the limits of his campaign to undermine US elections.
https://www.vox.com/politics/495969/trump-speech-primetime-election-fraud-2020-july
The Real Meaning of Trump’s Election Denial Speech, It’s worse than you think. Trump is a politician who does not think in terms of policies, nor votes, nor coalitions. He thinks almost exclusively in story. One that he can tell, embellish, entertain with—and be the main character in. It’s not required that the story be believable, but that it can be easily followed.
https://michaelwolffnyc.substack.com/p/the-real-meaning-of-trumps-election
The Chilling Directive at the End of Trump’s Speech: Trump gave a speech packed with recycled 2020 grievances and zero new evidence. Buried at the end was a directive every voter should be paying attention to. Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias breaks down what Trump actually said, why his claims about Chinese hacking, “vulnerable” voting machines and noncitizen voting don’t hold up, and what he’s really setting up: a partisan purge of voter rolls before the midterms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XZmDOy-7Pc
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump’s investment firms tied to $6.3 billion in Pentagon contracts
https://moneywise.com/news/top-stories/trump-sons-defense-startups-pentagon-contracts
California Lawmaker Says Trump Faces “25th Amendment or Prison” After Threatening to Revoke ABC and NBC Broadcast Licenses for Not Airing His Election Speech Live
https://share.newsbreak.com/j14w72y7
Treasury Official Fired After He Reportedly Warned White House Might Be Violating Law. Kenneth Kies warned that political officials risked breaching a law that limits who can influence tax enforcement
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/top-treasury-tax-official-ousted-after-clashes-with-white-house-over-irs-audits-60d5b1df
Trump’s CCP Election Interference Claims May Signal Shift in China Policy: As Trump spoke, a new landing page appeared on the White House website including links to some documents. But the documents did not go nearly as far in their conclusions as Trump suggested. A CNN analysis of the documents found they are newly declassified but mostly discuss vulnerabilities that have been known for years that officials have been trying to address.
https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/5973639-donald-trump-election-interference-claims-vs-white-house-docs/
China dismisses Trump election interference accusations as ‘entirely fabricated,’ threatens countermeasures
Beijing warns of ‘reciprocal countermeasures’ after Trump administration said it would shorten visas for Chinese journalists
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/china-dismisses-trump-election-interference-accusations-entirely-fabricated-threatens-countermeasures
Trump’s Chinese interference claims ‘reveal huge crisis facing American democracy’
The US president’s allegations are campaign rhetoric and not likely to affect ties with Beijing, according to a leading political scientist
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3361031/trumps-chinese-interference-claims-reveal-huge-crisis-facing-american-democracy
Dems unite to boycott hearing on emerging threat facing America: ‘Don’t want to know the truth.’ The Democratic side of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee dais was empty Wednesday as Republicans questioned witnesses at a hearing on “Exposing Fraud in America,” prompting GOP lawmakers to accuse the minority of ducking a politically uncomfortable issue
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-unite-boycott-hearing-emerging-threat-facing-america-dont-want-know-truth
MS NOW National Security Analyst Argues Trump And the ‘Intelligence Community Are Lying’ to the Public. This argument stems from MSNBC/NBC News commentators and former intelligence officials criticizing President Donald Trump’s public address regarding the 2020 election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4JCMIj9DKs
Sen. Murray Declares SAVE America Act Dead on Arrival — “It Belongs in the Trash With the Rest of Donald Trump’s Conspiracy Theories”
https://www.newsbreak.com/combat-rated-361333999/4775204730608-sen-murray-declares-save-america-act-dead-on-arrival-it-belongs-in-the-trash-with-the-rest-of-donald-trump-s-conspiracy-theories
‘Trump Is Trying to End Our Democracy’: Alarm as President Attacks Elections Ahead of Midterms
“He’s reviving conspiracy theories about mail voting, pushing voter suppression, and laying the groundwork for an unprecedented federal takeover of our elections.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-primetime-election-speech
‘Fascism Is Here’: Rubio, Miller Say More Terrorist Designations Coming for ‘Far-Left’ Groups. “If you’re not alarmed you’re not paying attention.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/stephen-miller-nspm-7
Trump’s GOP Is Ripping This Nation Apart. The Question Is: Why? The morality of today’s Republican Party has been laid bare. But it boggles the mind the depth of this destruction and cruelty.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/why-is-trump-ripping-nation-apart
Culture wars, political polarization and deepening inequality: the roots of Trumpism. He has adopted a neo-imperial view of the economy, treating the global order as a zero-sum contest of winners and losers. In this worldview, cooperation gives way to domination: what matters is power and the accumulation of wealth.
https://theconversation.com/culture-wars-political-polarization-and-deepening-inequality-the-roots-of-trumpism-255778
“It Is Time for Donald Trump to Be Removed From Office” — Armed Services Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith Cites Hormuz Toll Fiasco and Says “We Have to Question His Sanity”
https://www.newsbreak.com/combat-rated-361333999/4770646263377-it-is-time-for-donald-trump-to-be-removed-from-office-armed-services-ranking-member-rep-adam-smith-cites-hormuz-toll-fiasco-and-says-we-have-to-question-his-sanity
# Legal / DOJ / ICJ / International Criminal Court [ICC] / Supreme Court / United Nations (UN)
Rubio Threatens to ‘Teach the ICC’—Which Prosecutes War Crimes—the ‘Full Meaning of American Resolve.’ “Is the secretary of state worried because he knows US personnel committed war crimes in Iran?”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/rubio-international-criminal-court
# Media / Press / Mail / Radio / TV
Pentagon Wins Court Battle Over Journalist Escort Policy — “Reporters Do Not Have a First Amendment Right to Freely Roam the Halls of the Pentagon,”
https://share.newsbreak.com/j152gkjj
# Medical / Biologicals / Research / CDC / Recalls / Nursing / Medications / Hospitals / Pharma
How Medical Upcoding Made People Look Sick, Increased Medicare Payments. By adding diagnoses to a patient’s risk analysis that no doctor had ever indicated, an insurance company can gain additional federal payments.
https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2024/10/31/watchdog-estimates-7-5-billion-medicare-advantage-overpayment-from-questionable-health-risk-assessments
Sickness scores surged for UnitedHealth Medicare Advantage patients: UnitedHealth Group has optimized its ability to increase Medicare Advantage members’ sickness scores and corresponding government payments by directly employing thousands of physicians at Optum and integrating sophisticated software tools into clinical workflows, according to a Dec. 29 investigation
https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/sickness-scores-surged-for-unitedhealth-medicare-advantage-patients-wsj/
Walgreens is closing 1,200 stores, and seniors who fill prescriptions there may need a new pharmacy. Drugstores that once snapped up prime retail space in towns and cities across the country are in retreat. They’ve been battered by shrinking prescription reimbursement, persistent theft, rising costs and consumers who have strayed to online retailers or competitors with better prices.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walgreens-lays-plan-shutter-1-112239897.html
Drug Companies Raised Generic Prices 1,000%. Now 48 States Are Making Them Pay. Generic drug manufacturer Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has agreed to a $29.6 million settlement for conspiring with other companies to fix generic drug prices and boost profits.
https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/price-fixing-conspiracy-costs-drugmaker-29m-multistate-settlement/
# Medical Alternatives / Medical Marijuana / Hemp
[Video] New state guidelines ban all THC except Delta-9, effects on shop owners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd3UUN8AlKk
# Military / Department of Defense [DOD] / NATO / Boat Strikes
US-Israeli Bombing Has Harmed Iran’s Wildlife, Farms, and Water Supply. Toxic pollution from the war on Iran will continue to devastate the country’s environment for years to come.
https://truthout.org/articles/us-israeli-bombing-has-harmed-irans-wildlife-farms-and-water-supply/
US Bombs Iran’s Civilian Infrastructure as Trump Threatens Power Plants, Bridges. Trump once again threatened this week to take out “all” of Iran’s power plants and bridges.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/07/15/jkth-j15.html
Fed-up sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz had explicit message for US forces: ‘F–k off’
https://share.newsbreak.com/j151d06s
How Section 219, the US-Israel Military Merger, Would Thwart American Democracy. The merger would connect the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways and make it exceedingly difficult for any future president to unwind this partnership with a foreign government, no matter what public opinion says.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/us-israel-military-merger
# Other Interestimg Stuff
10 times satellite imagery found something buried beneath the ground that archaeologists had been searching for on foot for decades. Hidden beneath dense forests, remote deserts, and rugged landscapes, ancient ruins detected by satellite have revealed remarkable discoveries that continue to intrigue archaeologists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chZ0KcNIJTY
Archaeologists Found Something in Oregon That Could Rewrite Human Origins. Deep in Oregon, archaeologists uncovered something that may challenge what we thought we knew about early human history in North America. The discovery has sparked questions about ancient migration, lost civilizations, and whether humans arrived in the Americas much earlier than many people believed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6R6wuM4yRs
# Science / Research
The only research center for disabled parents is losing federal funding. Staff call it a “profound setback for disability rights and family equity.”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/07/brandeis-hhs-omb-research-grant-parents-disabilities-funding/
# Transportation / Trucking
China Is Building A Monster Supply Ship For Its Carrier Groups. What looks to be the largest at-sea replenishment ship anywhere in the world is taking shape at a Chinese shipyard.
https://www.twz.com/sea/china-is-building-a-monster-supply-ship-for-its-carrier-groups#:~:text=The%20new%20ship’s%20large%20size,require%20blue%20water%20support%2C%20too
# Veterans / VA
Speaker Johnson suffers humiliating political defeat, yanks veterans benefits bill
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/speaker-johnson-suffers-humiliating-political-232613579.html
VA Unveils Plan to Cut Red Tape for Veterans’ Benefits: The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a proposal to cut the amount of paperwork and time it takes for Veterans to apply for VA benefits.
https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-proposal-would-cut-paperwork-for-veterans-and-survivors-applying-for-benefits/
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