Category: War and Peace

By Cathy Bussewitz / Associated Press PBS News / July 31, 2026

American oil and gas giants raked in massive spring profits while fighting between Iran and the U.S. impeded petroleum shipments and consumers around the world paid more for fuel and confronted shortages.

The conflict, now in its sixth month, halted most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that previously served as a delivery route for a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas. With global supplies constrained, prices for Brent crude, the international standard, soared from about $70 to above $100 a barrel for much of March, April and May, and at one point reached $126.

The money that oil companies accrued between the beginning of April and the end of June could receive extra scrutiny this year. Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices climbed sharply during that period, increasing costs for drivers and airline passengers. Supplies ran low in some countries, leading to sporadic fuel rationing in Australia and government office closures in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Exxon Mobil on Friday reported that its second quarter profits doubled to $14.53 billion, boosted by record diesel production. The oil giant, based in Spring, Texas, brought in $116.02 billion in revenue, up 42%.

Chevron, based in Houston, nearly quadrupled its profits to $12.07 billion and revenue jumped 56% to $70.06 billion.

Six of Europe’s largest oil companies posted combined first-quarter profits of $22 billion, more than 40% higher than last year.

A Classic Story of Mid-West Immigrants Coming to Southern California During the War

By Philip Roger Shafer

Retold by His Daughter Micaela Porte 

Chapter 1

The Idea  — It started with the letters. The letters from California. The letters from my father’s friend, Walter, had been arriving for over a year, who moved there to work for the defense industry.

Father read them to us at the dinner table. We could hardly believe it. Roses and oranges in winter? A postcard of snow-capped mountains in the background and fruiting orchards in the foreground from Burbank, California.

It was January, 1944. We lived in Columbus, Ohio. I think we all dreamed a lot of California that year.

Christmas had been dreary. Dreary weather, dreary long war rationing, dreary death of Uncle Sydney, prisoner of war, my mother’s young brother, she was so sad. Dreary death of my dad’s mother, Grandma Emma, from a long illness, he was so sad.

I wasn’t sad about death and war. I was ten. I loved sledding, but I busted my front teeth in a jump and all the dental work was making me sad.

“Dear Phil and Edith,

Happy New Year 1944, glad we are alive.
Friends, you must move to California. The place is booming, towns forming overnight. Ask for a transfer, we need good Bell Men.

The war drags on, our condolences to you for the lost of your loved ones in this tragedy…

I miss the snow sometimes, for about 15 minutes at Christmas. Our winter coats hang unused in the hall closet.

Give our love to the family,
Happier New Year to all,

by Ernie McCray

With the tragedy
at the mosque
still on my mind
I’ve been thinking
of a wonderful book
I just finished,
“The Future is Peace,”
written by Aziz Abu Sarah,
a Palestinian,
and Maoz Inon,
an Israeli,
who, rather than focusing on their ethnicities,
choose to view themselves
as human beings
who are trying to cultivate

Eighteen US service members have died so far in Trump’s war with Iran and 420 have been wounded. These mounting casualties come with escalating attacks and strikes by both sides. Iran declares it is fighting a “full-scale war.” And Trump threatens to intensify bombings for every American killed. Bridges and ports are struck. The price of oil shot up as did gasoline of course, and stocks fell. (Closing on 300 points Monday.)

The big question as the conflict looks to inflame the whole Middle East region is whether negotiations between the two sides are continuing or not, and if not, is there a chance they can continue?

The US has just bombed Iran for the 9th day / night in a row in a dramatic shift in the four and half month old war after weeks of a so-called cease fire under the Memorandum of Understanding. Iran has retaliated — not in striking U.S. targets but in going after countries that host US military personnel and facilities, like Jordan and Bahrain and other Gulf allies for the U.S. Some sources report that diplomats said talks to de-escalate were continuing.

The Guardian reports:

Iranian media reported strikes around Tabriz, believed to hold underground missile bases, as well as Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power plant. The US military said it had struck “military command centers, air defence and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks”.

By Associated Press / npr / July 15, 2026

President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address this week that he says will include a focus on elections, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he’s escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November’s midterm elections.

The Republican president has been guarded about what he plans to say in the 9 p.m. Thursday speech, scheduled as he confronts a collapsing deal to end the war with Iran. He also faces numerous domestic issues, including recent deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Asked for a preview of the speech on Tuesday, Trump offered scant detail but said he has “really big news.”

“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” Trump said in the Oval Office. He refused to go further, saying he wanted to “save it” for the moment, though he also hinted he would be talking about a hodgepodge of issues.

“We’ll be discussing other things, too,” Trump said, without elaborating. “It’s going to be a very big announcement.”

Trump has used the power of the primetime presidential address — typically reserved for milestones — to deliver politically charged speeches before, including one in December when he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats. But Thursday’s address seems poised to go even further, using the moment to amplify election lies before an audience of millions in an effort to boost Republican prospects before midterms that threaten to hobble Trump for the remainder of his term.

On Monday, when asked about the speech, Trump repeated baseless claims of voter fraud in the Los Angeles primary race for mayor. During the interview with conservative outlet Newsmax, Trump said Republican Spencer Pratt lost his primary bid because of fraud, citing in part California’s slow vote count.

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

Linda Vista may not always be the first San Diego neighborhood that comes to mind when people think about local history, but its story is deeply connected to the growth and transformation of the city itself.

Located on a mesa overlooking Mission Valley, the neighborhood was born out of necessity during World War II, when San Diego was rapidly becoming one of the nation’s most important defense and aviation centers.

What began as a federal housing project for wartime workers eventually grew into a diverse community with its own identity, traditions, and history.
The name Linda Vista, which means “pretty view” in Spanish, dates back to the late 1800s. But the Linda Vista we know today began taking shape in 1941, when the federal government purchased land to build housing for thousands of workers arriving in San Diego to support the war effort.

At the time, companies such as Consolidated Aircraft were expanding rapidly, producing aircraft needed by the military. Workers poured into the city, creating an urgent need for housing. The answer was Linda Vista, one of the largest wartime housing projects in the United States.

U.S. Hits 81 Targets in Iran; Iran Attacks 85 U.S. “Assets”; Oil and Gas Prices Rise, Stocks Fall

Just when you thought you could settle into the summer, with gas prices coming down and some things appearing to get normal — BOOM! Trump’s war with Iran is back on and he says the MoU is over.

Ostensibly because Iranian forces attacked three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s military unleashed a barrage against 81 Iranian targets and in response, Iran attacked 85 targets considered U.S. “assets” within the region.

The Iranian foreign ministry stated that the U.S. attacks violated Article 1 of the MoU relating to the ceasefire, Article 5 – related to the management of the Strait of Hormuz, which says Iran is responsible for managing passage through the waterway – and Article 10, which pertains to a waiver on Iranian oil exports.

The impacts of all this was immediate. Oil prices rose and the Dow Jones initially fell 700 points this morning.

The tankers Iran struck were attempting to skirt the passage way that according to the MoU, Iran is responsible for managing.

Now Trump says the ceasefire deal with Iran is “over”, and that dealing with Tehran is a “waste of time”.

In the middle of the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump also threatened more attacks tonight, Wednesday. (He also ramped up his insane pressure to get Greenland.)

Everyone is urging calm and a return to the ceasefire and more negotiations.

strong>By Anonymous #6

Words cannot cover what it’s  been like since Donald Trump got elected President again.Worry, anxiety, doubt, despair and bad dreams are  my companions these days. I have been flying a small flag upside-down at my front door until Trump’s war on Iran ends.

There is always the mitigating gob-smacking Crime du Jour: President Trump’s unprecedented annual earnings report of $2.2 billion for his family and their private businesses — like crypto (which is “regulated by the government” Trump heads, Trump Bibles, Trump shirts-and-shoes merch — all while he holds public office. Critics are calling this a potential conflict of interest.

But what preoccupies  me is Trump’s arrogant ignorant  misalliance with Israel’s criminal prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is jonesing to destroy Iran.  Trump has joined Bibi’s war with no notice, no consultation, no consent sought from the U.S.Congress. Trump tore up Obama’s 10-year nuclear weapons production detente with Iran and instead, Trump/Hegseth/Rubio/Vance/Lutnick/Kushner have twice interrupted diplomatic negoatiations with Iran, first to “obliterate” (kill off) Iran’s leadership hierarchy and then to bomb Iran’s infrastructure and tighten economic sanctions against its people.

By Anonymous #4

Trump wants to use the 250th anniversary to validate his presidency and portray this era as a “golden age” he restored. His opponents focus on Trump’s many crimes and on his vile coarseness. Administration messaging through Freedom 250 stresses a heroic, mythic narrative of the Founding Fathers and America’s destiny. It encourages citizens to embrace patriotism and national pride. It’s impossible to take in this drivel and not list some aspects of our history that are nothing to be proud of:

• Native American Genocide
• Slavery
• Jackson: The Indian Removal Act
• McKinley: Imperialism
• Women can’t vote until 1920
• The National Security Act of 1947
• McCarthyism
• Vietnam and COINTELPRO
• Political Assassinations
• The Global War on Terror, including Palestine and Iran

Most of us are more comfortable with a traditional approach to July 4, which considers both American achievements and failures, and invites at least the pretense of national self-examination.

The key fact is that the American Revolution is a priceless example of radical political change for the better. The founders overthrew royal tyranny by force. There is a reason virtually every revolution since ours has quoted from the Declaration of Independence. We still love the ideal of liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the constitution. These principles are as seductive – and as subversive – as they were 250 years ago. We see them as fundamental to the American character.

Opening of Strait of Hormuz and End to Israel’s Attacks on Lebanon Parts of Murky Details

By Jason Burke / The Guardian / Mon 15 Jun 2026

A framework peace deal between the US and Iran has been reached, Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials have said, bringing the 15-week conflict to a tentative end and offering hope of relief for the Middle East and the world economy.

The secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, would end permanently from Monday night.

The precise terms of the deal remain unclear but in a statement posted to Truth Social on Sunday evening, the US president announced the opening of the strait of Hormuz as well as the removal of the US naval blockade. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” he wrote.

Trump later clarified that reopening the strait would depend on the signing of an initial memorandum of understanding on Friday, which Pakistan, acting as mediator, said would take place in Geneva.

Leaked drafts suggest the memorandum will trigger an immediate 60-day period of intensive technical talks, during which the most contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme, will be discussed. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed that negotiators would seek to reach a broader agreement that would include sanctions relief for Iran.

By Margot Sheehan / San Diego Reader Archives / Republished June 6, 2026

The Frontier Homes Housing Project — 3500 “temporary” dwellings constructed in the first nine months of 1944. One of the largest developments of its kind ever built in the USA — Designed to last for two years and enduring (parts of it, at least) for 20. Was there ever such a project, so grand, so ghastly, and so successfully erased from civic memory?

Don’t look for Frontier in the Journal of San Diego History or in any of those big picture books that Neil Morgan used to crank out. The only people who really remember the project are the people who lived there. Old timers who didn’t live there, even folks who drove past Frontier every day, will give you all kinds of cockeyed answers when you ask about it. “Oh, yeah, you mean those military barracks.” “Frontier? That was Navy housing.” Someone might even offer that 1950s misconception that Lait and Mortimer provide in USA Confidential: “a low-income housing project for Mexicans and Negroes.”