USA - Did you know that NASA is going to send a spacecraft on a suicide mission in an attempt to change the trajectory of a massive space rock? The good news is that the space rock that NASA will be crashing this spacecraft into is not on a collision course with Earth. It is only a test. But why has NASA suddenly become so concerned with figuring out how to defend the Earth from giant asteroids? Could it be possible that there is something heading toward Earth in the future that they haven’t told us about yet? If NASA officials know about such a threat, for now they aren’t admitting that to the public. But they are admitting that they are trying to figure out how to deflect a very large asteroid, and that should definitely be getting our attention.

CHINA - China’s space programme could one day save the world, with massive rockets travelling for years to defend the planet from huge asteroids capable of wiping out entire cities, according to a government-backed study. To change the course of a giant asteroid hurtling towards us at terrifying speeds, a lot of kinetic energy would be needed. Nuclear weapons might do the job but such a blast could break the target into several threatening chunks. In their proposal, the space centre team suggested launching 23 CZ-5 rockets from various sites across China, at the same time. The spacecraft would have to travel for almost three years to reach their target.

USA - As the state faces a growing threat from drought, an increasing number of water agencies are planning to require flow meters on agricultural wells, part of a landmark effort to measure and constrain pumping that used to be free and unlimited. It’s a controversial step aimed at protecting water supplies that could change cultivation practices in the Golden State’s thirsty fields.

USA - Their endgame for the Flag, the National Anthem, the Declaration Of Independence and the Constitution. A huge national debate about our most important national symbols has erupted, and it is rapidly becoming one of our hottest political issues. But what most people don’t realize is that this isn’t really a debate about our past. Rather, it is a debate about what our future is going to look like. Those that are demonizing the American flag, the national anthem, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are not doing so for the purpose of winning a historical debate. Their true goal is to “cancel” those symbols and replace them with new ones, because our existing national symbols represent values and principles that are diametrically opposed to the values and principles that they wish to impose upon society. If they ultimately get their way, the United States will eventually become an extremely repressive high tech dystopian society where absolutely no dissent is tolerated. In other words, we would look a whole lot like communist China does today. We have reached such a critical moment in our history, and America’s future hangs in the balance.

USA - A state judge in Michigan has taken the insanity a step further: He has crossed into the realm of insanity with a ruling that can only be described as antithetical to our founders’ vision of free speech. The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that hurting a Liberal's feelings can be considered a terrorist threat and punishable by up to 20 years in prison, which has prompted a response from activists and lawmakers concerned about the grave implications this ruling may have on the 1st Amendment…

IRAN - A clock in Iran that counts down to the destruction of Israel has reportedly ceased working as power cuts sweep through the nation. The clock was unveiled in 2017, counting down to 2040, which is when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicts there will no longer be a State of Israel. In recent days, the regular blackouts in Iran have spread chaos and confusion on the streets of the capital, Tehran, and other cities, knocking out traffic lights, shutting factories, disrupting telecommunications and affecting metro systems. Repeaters — devices around cities that enhance cellphone signals — have failed, along with electronic cash registers. Some towns in Iran’s north reported limited access to water because the power cuts affected the piped supply. Officials have blamed the outages on the country’s stifling heat, escalating electricity demand and deepening drought that has threatened to snuff out hydroelectric generation.

LEBANON - It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when Lebanon’s current crisis began. It's like a mudslide that gains momentum over time. The country is divided along sectarian lines and has a political system that is broken. Lebanon also has an armed state-within-a-state called Hezbollah, which siphons off cash, plays a role in security, carries out extrajudicial assassinations and increasingly operates a parallel network of health, banking, construction and even supermarket services.

USA - Supermarkets are stocking up on everything from sugar to frozen meat before they get more pricey, girding for what some executives anticipate will be some of the highest price increases in recent memory. Some supermarkets said they are buying and storing supplies to keep their shelves full amid stronger demand. Grocery sales in the US for the week ended June 19 rose about 15% from two years earlier and increased 0.5% from a year earlier, according to Jefferies and NielsenIQ data. Stockpiling by food retailers is driving shortages of some staples, grocery industry executives said, and is challenging a US food supply chain already squeezed by transportation costs, labor pressure and ingredient constraints. The move is a reversal from last year when consumers hoarded groceries because of concerns about food availability, disrupting the food industry. Now, retailers themselves are stockpiling to keep costs down and protect margins.

USA - For decades, Americans have not needed to be concerned about food prices. Yes, prices would always go up by a little bit each year, but in general we have been extremely blessed for a very long time. Our supermarkets have always been packed with food, and we could always count on the fact that prices would be about the same a month or two down the road. Unfortunately, things are now changing, and not in a good way. A massive wave of inflation has hit agricultural commodities, and food producers have felt forced to pass those cost increases along to consumers. Unfortunately, many experts are anticipating that the price hikes that we are currently witnessing are just the beginning.

USA - The District of Columbia (DC) Attorney General (AG) Karl Racine, a Democrat, has subpoenaed Facebook for a wide range of records related to “COVID-19 misinformation” on the platform. The subpoena was filed on June 21 and demands that Facebook identify all groups, pages, and accounts that have violated the platform’s far-reaching COVID-19 misinformation rules.

UK - The British upper classes’ mentality of arrogance and disregard for law continues. Just like their elite forebears, those who regard themselves as the natural rulers of the country do what they like, when they like. The laws they pass and the rules they prescribe are for others, not for them. The exposure of Matt Hancock in the arms of an adviser when he was instructing the public to avoid hugging seemed shocking at first sight. But it is only the latest sad example of misbehaviour among politicians.

USA - At least 150 people were killed in hundreds of shootings over the Fourth of July weekend, according to CNN, as Chicago saw its deadliest weekend of violence so far this year. Citing data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, CNN said the US had seen a surge of 400 shootings over the weekend. A total of 92 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, according to The Chicago Sun Times, with 18 people killed.

USA - Why would anyone want to raise a family in the midst of the extreme violence that is happening in our major cities? Things were bad in the 1970s and 1980s, but what we are witnessing now is truly frightening. According to the New York Times, homicide rates in large US cities were up by an average of 30 percent in 2020, and they are up another 24 percent so far in 2021. We have never seen this sort of a surge in such a short period of time in our entire history, and this is one of the reasons why so many Americans have been moving out of our core urban areas in recent months. At this point, you would have to be insane to actually want to raise a family in many of our largest cities, because nobody is truly safe in this environment. As I have discussed previously, mass shootings have become so commonplace now that each one barely makes a blip in the news before the next one happens. And way too often, kids end up getting killed during these incidents. Today, I was stunned to learn that a total of 172 children have been shot in the city of Chicago alone so far this year… 172 children in just one city! The rest of the world is horrified at what we have become.

USA - Two different media watchdog outlets, Media Lens and Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), have published articles on the complete blackout in mainstream news institutions on the revelation by Icelandic newspaper Stundin that a US superseding indictment in the case against Julian Assange was based on false testimony from diagnosed sociopath and convicted child molester Sigurdur Thordarson. FAIR’s Alan MacLeod writes that “as of Friday, July 2, there has been literally zero coverage of it in corporate media; not one word in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC News, Fox News or NPR.”

USA - The increase of LGBTQ characters and themes popping up in TV shows made for children in the last decade is not an organic development. It’s the consequence of so-called “queer creators” pushing the LGBTQ agenda and working with major entertainment networks, writers, producers, showrunners, and directors to place sexualized themes into on-screen fare made for young audiences.