Category: World News

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.

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

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.

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.