Category: World News

By Michael Angelo Hernandez

Another man loses his life under the custody of the president’s pseudo-paramilitary force, ICE. On Wednesday, October 28, San Diego County confirmed the name of the deceased inmate as Guillermo Pascual Verganza. The 43-year-old Guatemalan man died inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Saturday, October 24. In their official press release, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said:

“At approximately 11:31 a.m. Oct. 24, facility staff observed Jimenez in his assigned safety cell and attempted to wake him after he was unresponsive. Facility staff contacted medical personnel, declared a medical emergency, and called 911. Medical personnel began cardiopulmonary resuscitation at approximately 11:38 a.m. Paramedics from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection arrived at approximately 11:52 a.m. and continued lifesaving measures. A paramedic pronounced Jimenez deceased at approximately 12:23 p.m.”

ICE’s press release originally misidentified Verganza as “Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez” and characterized him as a “criminal illegal alien”. Immediately following the announcement of his death, ICE listed the man’s alleged criminal history, including a 2024 conviction for selling liquor to a minor, prior arrests for battery against a spouse, and child abuse among other charges. Charges which his family insists are all made up.

Trump is cozying up to the Russian leader. What does this mean for the world?

By Bill Eddy / Bill Eddy’s Substack / October 22, 2026

Last week President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff spoke with the Russian President and praised him as a “humanitarian” because of releasing a 74-year-old American prisoner who may have been arrested for the purpose of being a bargaining chip. Trump also waived sanctions on the sale of Russian oil, which will produce a windfall for Putin to use in promoting his brutal 4-year war on Ukraine. Trump’s fondness for Putin has led him to withdraw most U. S. support for Ukraine, telling reporters this week in the Oval Office, according to PBS News: “We want Zelenskyy to make a deal. We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. We’ve gotten absolutely nothing back except grief, death, tremendous monetary loss.”

In reality, Ukraine has been the bulwark—the defensive wall—for democracy in Europe against Putin’s war of choice to expand its territory, just as Britain and the United States were the bulwark for democracy against Hitler’s war of expansion across Europe. But this week Trump became open to the idea of a summit of Trump, Putin, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to resolve the war in Ukraine. This would involve getting Ukraine to concede land to Russia that was taken by force.

To understand the danger of this shift, let’s look at Putin’s personality since this is a column on why personality matters in politics. Specifically, does Putin fit the dynamics of “malignant narcissism,” as many dictators do (including Trump?) and what this means for our future.

By Thom Hartmann / The Hartmann Report / Oct. 21, 2026

Trump is empowering Putin, abandoning Ukraine, and preparing to bargain with dictators over the future of the world. The Republicans who could stop him are doing nothing…
What the hell is going on in the Republican Party?

See original for all the links

Trump gutted his own Russia sanctions law, cut a diesel deal with Putin, and is now talking about carving up the world with Putin and Xi. Congress has the power to stop him right now: why are Thune and Johnson still on vacation?

Yesterday Donald Trump told reporters he’s ready to sit down with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Shenzhen next month — apparently, a modern-day Yalta conference to carve up the world — and that Ukraine’s president may not be invited to the meeting that will decide Ukraine’s fate.

That came just three days after he spit on the grave of Lindsey Graham by signing an executive order waiving every operative section of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act that both houses of Congress had passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis.

Gone are the 500 percent tariffs on Russian goods, the secondary sanctions on Putin’s oil customers, and the requirement that the sanctions stay in place until Russia made peace on terms Ukraine accepted. All destroyed on a Friday night while Congress was out of town. And now he’s publicly, shamelessly defending it and essentially daring Republicans in Congress to do anything about it.

By Noah Robertson,Tara Copp, Warren P. Strobel, and Alex Horton / Washington Post / Sept. 18, 2026

More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data.

Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.

A sixth official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figures, said 23 service members have died since Feb. 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the Iran war. Not all of the undisclosed deaths are directly tied to the conflict but have involved U.S. personnel who were in the Middle East amid ongoing hostilities, this person said.

Additionally, the official said, three U.S. contractors who were based in the region have died since combat operations began.

By Robert Burns

I live part-time in Tijuana.  I have long shared the popular public dismay with M.T.S. and its often barely loaded big busses, limited ridership, and every rising fares.

In Tijuana public transit is provided by the private sector–not taxpayers– with fleets of single-level vans and large busses.  More of this is discussed below.

The Moovit app discusses public transit in Tijuana :

Get around Tijuana by public transit!
Traveling around Tijuana has never been so easy. See step by step directions as you travel to any attraction, street or major public transit station. View bus and train schedules, arrival times, service alerts and detailed routes on a map, so you know exactly how to get to anywhere in Tijuana.

U.S. Military and Defense Dept. Have Hidden Extent of Damage to Aircraft, Buildings and Vehicles

By Cameron Adams / Daily Beast / Sep. 15 2026 

Bombshell leaked photos have exposed the extent of serious damage to buildings, aircraft and vehicles at U.S. positions in the Middle East after punishing attacks by Iran.

President Donald Trump’s war is now in its seventh month, with no clear timeline for when it might end. The damning photos contradict Trump’s repeated claims that the conflict has been “won” and that Iran’s military has been decimated by the U.S.

The photos, leaked to CBS News by active service members on condition of anonymity, tally with an inspector general’s report released on Monday. In it, the Pentagon watchdog revealed that “hundreds” of buildings used by the U.S. and “dozens” of aircraft had been damaged or destroyed by Iranian attacks.

By Marc Snelling / Special to the OB Rag

California’s winery casualties continue to mount as the Trump Trade War escalates.  The near blockade of the Strait of Your Booze has resulted in layoffs and closures amongst California wineries, Kentucky distilleries, and other industries with Canadian export markets. The senseless damage to cross-border businesses grows along with White House rhetoric.  The trade war against Canada started with a MAGA regime lie about fentanyl streaming across the Northern border, is now a year and half old.

This week the Canadian negotiating team walked away from US talks in what media are calling an escalation to an all-out trade war.  Canadian’s views remain largely unchanged by recent events.  Any so-called “negotiations” with the White House have long been seen as extortion through sovereignty threats.  Canadians questioned not only if a deal was possible, but if a deal with the current White House would be the worth the paper it was written on.  After all the deal on paper now is not being followed and it has the current president’s sharpie on it.

The end result of US bluster and tariffs is a sharp drop in Canadian trust of US government. A drop so steep that for the first time ever, Pew Research Center polling shows the average Canadian now views China (44%) as a more reliable trading partner than the USA (33%).  The result is hard to fathom considering the centuries-long US-Canada alliance and that views of China were near historic lows during the COVID pandemic.

By Angelo Haynes

The city of San Diego is a diverse community, home to many cultures that define the identity of America’s finest city; whether it be your favorite local Pho restaurant on El Cajon Blvd. or the murals of Chicano Park and the World Beat Center. San Diego is an embarrassment of cultural riches.

In Southeast San Diego, one woman has been preserving her native Chamorro culture for over 27 years — using her passion for traditional Chamorro art to connect with neighbors in the Skyline Hills neighborhood, all the way to representing Guam in cultural delegations internationally.

Rosemary Mantanona is a local dance group leader or Fafa’nå’gue (Cultural Leader in the Chamorro language) and cultural activist. In this role, she leads by example as a role model for the young men and women who have the opportunity to be in her dance group or “Guma” in Chamorro.

Imåhen Taotao Tåno’, which means “Images of the People of the Land” in native Chamorro language, is the first Guma established in San Diego that focuses on Chamorro cultural preservation. Ms. Mantanona migrated to the US in 1995 and created her Guma in 1999.

By Ed Pilkington / The Guardian / August 12, 2026

Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran.

Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach the breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.

Worried families vented their anxieties about loved ones onboard the Lincoln at an emotional town hall meeting with navy leaders in San Diego last Thursday, Stars and Stripes reported. One spouse among the 200 or so family members said that her husband had texted her that day saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow”.

The families’ worries were expressed directly to navy leadership, represented at the town hall by the acting navy secretary, Hung Cao, and other top officials.

A woman at the meeting told Cao that the navy had “broken trust between us and the leadership”, the paper reported.

The Navy Times gave details of thwarted suicide attempts onboard the aircraft carrier during the current deployment. Annabelle Loma told the outlet that her husband had tried to jump overboard after his spell at sea kept being extended.

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.