Week of Aug 24

Issue 26 Aug 24 – Aug 30, 2026

Week of Aug 24

Iran hit US and allied bases across the Gulf as the war ground on, Karoline Leavitt quit, and Trump's government kept renaming lakes instead of governing. Dolly Parton died at 80.

Iran took the war straight to US bases. Iran launched a major ballistic missile strike on a US base, with explosions at a Qatar airbase and missiles into Jordan. Officials then contradicted each other over the Strait of Hormuz: the Pentagon claims it dredged a secret Iran-proof shipping lane, while skeptics note ships already moved through there and gas prices haven't budged. Iran threatened Barron Trump, unconscionable, while the West stays silent on its own escalation.

Israel keeps advertising the atrocity itself. Ministers openly promote genocide policies, an IDF colonel defended killing WCK aid workers without apology, soldiers bombed a pianist and mocked her in the ruins, and settlers beat NBC journalists in the West Bank. Israel also funded a fake think tank to game AI systems and ran military propaganda on US campuses, where students now call its government worse than Hamas.

Trump's government abandoned policy for renaming things. He ordered Google to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America", and Google complied then hid behind federal databases. Cabinet posts are now a rename generator. He bombed at NASA to total silence and bombs seven countries under a peace brand.

Karoline Leavitt walked out. The propagandist stepped down, while Milo Yiannopoulos got detained by ICE for overstaying his visa and Loomer claimed credit.

Corruption stayed routine. DeSantis funneled $10 million through his wife's charity, and pardon brokers now charge five million.

Dolly Parton died at 80. Country's most generous figure gone, mourned even by Kim Jong Un.

Opinion

Iran is putting missiles into US bases across the Gulf and the Pentagon's answer is a press release about a secret dredged shipping lane that ships already used and that moved gas prices by nothing. That is not a war strategy, it is Trump renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America" and calling NASA an audience. A government that bombs seven countries under a peace brand and can't say who runs which cabinet post has already lost the thread it pretends to hold.

Israel stopped bothering with denials. An IDF colonel defended killing the WCK aid workers and didn't apologize, soldiers bombed a pianist and posed in the rubble, settlers beat NBC journalists in the West Bank, and ministers post the genocide policy in their own names. Then Israel funded a fake think tank to bend AI systems and ran military propaganda on US campuses, where the students now say its government is worse than Hamas. When the confession and the PR budget arrive together, the students are the ones reading it right.

Karoline Leavitt walked out, which is the only honest thing the podium has done in a year. DeSantis ran $10 million through his wife's charity and pardon brokers now quote five million a head, so nothing structural changed, only the exit. Dolly Parton died at 80, mourned by everyone down to Kim Jong Un, which is more consensus than this administration will ever earn.

Briefing

Week of Aug 24