Kitchen Briefs - August 7, 2026 PM

• Israel continues to strike Lebanon
• There are reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Khameni is in critical condition and has been rushed to the hospital. He has not been seen since the February 28th strikes
• US appeals court has halted the construction of the ballroom saying it should be up to Congress
• Trump is again trying to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
• The Senate honored Lindsey Graham today by passing a bipartisan sanctions bill named for him targeting Russian oil purchasers and expanding penalties on Putin
• US intel reports state that Putin could attacks aimed at testing NATO unities
• A helicopter battling a Utah wildfire has crashed and there is no word on the two who were aboard
• Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he would vote for Todd Blanche to be confirmed
• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed he’s still going to come to work for another term
• A Federal judge ruled the Shenandoah County School Board violated federal civil rights laws by reinstating Confederate names to two schools, ordering the board to promptly remove the names
• Tomorrow is national beer day, national cat day, national pickleball day, national frozen custard day, national garage sale day and the start of Elvis week

Kitchen Briefs - August 7, 2026 AM

• Israeli military is firing upon water-utility workers in Lebanon as they were repairing a water network
• Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have all signed a joint defense agreement that states an attack on any one of them is an attack on all of them
• Iran and Oman say the final agreement on Hormuz has been finalized and now final wording and details will be announced soon
• 2 people have been killed and 14 injured in Yemen due to Houthi strikes
• In Thailand, a 14 year old killed his grandparents and then open fired at a school killing 5 teachers and injuring more than 30. He then took his own life
• The US economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July and it’s being blamed on the war in Iran
• Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has announced she will not vote to confirm Todd Blanche which puts his confirmation in limbo
• ICE has decided to release body cam footage only when it’s in their best interest
• By law, the government has to provide legal aid for unaccompanied migrant children. 100 nonprofits who do this work had their contracts expire last week and the administration has now awarded a $150M contract to Austin based firm Burke Law Group who specializes in advising "companies on complex environmental, regulatory, and enforcement matters”
• Last week we heard Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche say he wants a national abortion ban and now the new CDC director Dr. Erica Schwartz said she wants abortion surveillance
• Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles lost his primary yesterday
• Backyard poultry which has caused 814 illnesses across 44 states, including one death and 201 hospitalizations
• Today is National Purple Heart Day

Kitchen Briefs - August 6, 2026 PM

• Israel is firing artillery shells in southern Lebanon
• Trump said today that he thinks the war in Iran will end pretty soon. He said “I don’t think they can go much longer.”
• Trump was busy today signing more executive orders on immigration, including one limiting the number of people eligible for US citizenship after being born in the US
• Senator Mitch McConnell released a statement today saying he’s left rehab and is at home
• An offshore wind company said they’ve reached a $1.2 billion settlement with the administration to walk away from projects under development off New York, California and Louisiana
• The judge in the case Katie Phang has brought against the DOJ regarding the redactions of the Epstein files is now ordering Todd Blanche to appear in court
• The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents career IRS auditors, has joined a lawsuit challenging the settlement that would grant Trump and his offspring immunity from certain IRS tax audits, arguing it’s unlawful and unconstitutional

Kitchen Briefs - August 6, 2026 AM

• Trump is not happy that rumor has it that the US is short on munitions. He said the Pentagon has massive amounts of munitions and he’ll hunt down the leakers behind the report of a weapons shortage
• Israel is continuing air attacks in Lebanon and raiding the occupied West Bank. UNICEF says one child per day has been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire
• Dozens have been killed in Houthi missile and drone attacks on Yemen Emergency Forces camps
• Ukraine has hit two oil refineries deep in Russia
• Temporary Protected Status for Haitians has now ended and over 350,000 people in the US face potential job loss and deportation
• Senate Republicans voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt today and are referring him to the DOJ for potential prosecution
• Dr. Erica Schwartz has been confirmed as the new CDC director making her the first permanent leader in a year
• Britain has cleared the $110B merger between Paramount and Warner Bros
• Three people have been arrested for threatening witnesses in the Nolan Wells case and one of them is the defendants
• ICE set a record in July of 51,000 arrests surpassing June’s 46,000 but they haven’t hit their goal of 2,000 arrests per day
• Meta’s AI model, Muse Spark hacked another company during testing when it gained unintended internet access
• The FDA has just approved the first ever mRNA flu vaccine which means it can be produced faster and also easier to respond to new strains
• Canada’s Prime Minister had teleprompter issues and said “Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy”
• Mexican jalapenos have now been linked to a salmonella outbreak in Chipotles in 27 states

Kitchen Briefs - August 5, 2026 AM

• Iran says talks with Oman are going well and one or two issues remain
• The Houthis claim to have attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles
• Israel has launched new attacks in southern Lebanon claiming a blatant violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah
• Israeli forces are also carrying out new raids in the West Bank and are detaining Palestinians
• A Russian strike on Ukraine has killed 21
• Part of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket struck the moon today and has left a 60 ft wide crater, ejecting lunar dust and rock
• An Associated Press investigation has revealed that 51 parents and spouses of active duty US troops have been detained since Trump came into office for the second time with at least 6 military family members being deported while 8 remain in federal custody
• Speaker Mike Johnson says he feels bad for Rep Max Miller
• The FAA is investigating after a commercial flight had an apparent loss of separation with Marine One
• Trump announced he’s rolling back the intended scope of the Endangered Species Act that the Radical Climate Activists were using to hold our great country hostage by
• The UK’s AI Security Institute has reported that Claude and ChatGPT attempted a backdoor project on GitHub and wrote malicious code that attempted to trick the humans into merging it with the project
• Michigan has said in its voting last night that they are not for Democrats who take AIPAC money and have put forward Abduel El-Sayed
• TKO Group Holdings, the parent company for UFC, says it lost $30M for its little rage cage match on the White House lawn
• Disney and TikTok have struck a deal to allow creators to use characters and scenes from Disney’s library for short form videos
• A big thank you to Angela for providing me with coffee for the week!!

Kitchen Briefs - August 4, 2026 PM

• Israel is setting off huge explosions in southern Lebanon. They’re also firing tear gas and destroying monuments in Gaza today
• Netanyahu said in a video today that Israeli troops are not withdrawing from Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed
• Iran and Oman say their talks are going well
• Video shows a Russian drone chasing a Ukrainian street vendor in a human safari attack. The drone was remotely controlled and Ukraine says this amounts to a war crime
• Ohio Republican congressman Max Miller says he will not drop his reelection bid amidst abuse claims by his ex-wife
• An armed man was arrested today outside of the golf course owned by the guy in the white house in Rancho Palos Verdes
• The Senate Judiciary officially advanced Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general
• The current administration has accused OpenAI of discriminating against US workers and favoring foreign visa holders. OpenAI says no but has agreed to a paying a $1.2M fine and set aside $2 million to provide “back pay” to any U.S. workers found to have missed out on employment
• Trump decided he didn’t like the slope of the new white house lawn helipad
• Bronze statues near the Lincoln Memorial are being regilded with 23 karat gold leaf
• Oil companies made $93B in 3 months

Kitchen Briefs - August 4, 2026 AM

• Trump says talks with Iran are underway. Treasury Secretary Bessent says the US is securing a deal with Iran to open the Strait today or tomorrow and Iran says they’re talking to Oman about the Strait
• Two vessels have been struck in the Strait of Hormuz and one crew member is missing after abandoning ship
• Two more Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli strikes and 10 wounded in the last 24 hours. The death toll in Gaza is now at 73,377
• Yemen’s Houthis say they have hit a target near an airport in Saudi Arabia
• Ukraine is striking Moscow and killed 5
• Senator Wyden of Oregon has released a new report around the bankers who not only helped Epstein but kept in close contact with him while seemingly knowing he was a sex trafficker
• Confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general is set for a vote today
• A man has been arrested for arson for one of the fires in Washington
• Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41 year old man from El Salvador, has died while in ICE custody at Delaney Hall in New Jersey
• A US district judge issued an injunction yesterday blocking New York’s law that prohibits ICE agents from wearing masks
• Trump is arriving today for a fundraiser dinner at his golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes.
• It’s voting day in Michigan
• Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos are teaming up to lead a $200M project to save 100 of the world’s most threatened species
• A federal appeals court ruled in favor of Arkansas’s 2023 book-ban law, overturning an injunction that prevented the law from taking effect for the past three years

Kitchen Briefs - August 3, 2026 AM

• Trump says negotiations with Iran will start today and that Iran’s choices are "a deal or total surrender". Iran says there are no talks underway
• Trump not only wants credit for oil profits but is not demanding oil prices go down
• Israeli settlers beat and pepper sprayed an elderly man in the occupied West Bank. The man was on his own land
• Russia claims a Ukrainian drone hit a beach killing 7 and injuring 40
• Israel has formally voiced its concerns to the guy in the white house of the peace plan with Hamas and even Netanyahu’s spokesperson says what has been relayed to the public does not reflect Israel’s plan
• Todd Blanche has formally rescinded the anti weaponization fund and now Cornyn and Tillis say they’ll approve his nomination
• Senate appropriators passed a continuing resolution over the weekend to keep the government funded until December 11th
• Almost 65,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Washington due to wildfires
• Two people in Michigan have died from the Cyclospora outbreak
• The American Red Cross declared its second ever national blood crisis. The Red Cross is offering Amazon gift cards to donors in August and a bonus for those with type O blood
• RFK Jr is now saying parents you should definitely vaccinate their kids
• Thank you to Janice for my coffee today!

Kitchen Briefs - August 2, 2026

• Trump has called off strikes on Iran after Saudi Arabia’s crowned prince called him and tried to speak to his ego
• Gaza’s death toll has risen to at least another 18 due to Israeli strikes
• Israeli forces set fire to houses in Lebanon and 5 Lebanese Army soldiers have been injured
• Israel’s Energy Minister says Israel currently controls 70% of Gaza and should take full control
• Three people have been killed in Moscow after a bomb detonated at a restaurant which was a Ukrainian drone strike
• Wildfires are raging in Washington with over 250,000 acres burned, 600 structures have been burned and 5000 people have been evacuated
• A mass shooting at an In-N-Out in Idaho Falls killing 3 and injuring 7
• Louisiana and Alabama are joining Florida to investigate Dr. Anthony Fauci
• Capitol One is seeking the dismissal of Trump’s latest suit along with Eric Trump
• The administration is working to rollback federal requirements of Head Start next week potentially dismantling the 60 year old anti-poverty program. It’s all part of Project 2025
• The Department of “War” took to social media this weekend posting “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said ‘Here I am. Send me.’ with images of soldiers and the words Send Me
• Good news for Exxon Mobil and Chevron who reported massive profits last quarter
• California minimum wage will go up to $17.40 on January 1st while the federal minimum wage continues to be stuck at $7.25 since 2009
• A huge thank you to John for supplying me with both coffee and wine this week

Kitchen Briefs - August 1, 2026

• The Israeli army claims to have destroyed 5 Hamas arms depots in Gaza
• Israel struck another town in southern Lebanon and more in Gaza killing at least 4
• The US warns citizens in the middle east that they should leave if possible as the US plans to further attack Iran this weekend
• Within the week, Iran is set to receive 400 new missiles from China
• Russia continues to strike Ukraine and Zelensky says Ukraine is being overwhelmed only able to shoot down one of 27 Russian missiles
• Spain has installed a 1600 foot barrier on the sea border between its North African territory and Morocco to prevent further migrant crossing
• Cyber attacks on US water systems has now grown to 7 states and appears to be the work of Iran
• The DOJ has admitted no, there were no vandals who harmed the reflecting pool because it was actually the installation crew
• Trump threatened to bring back the anti-weaponization fund if Todd Blanche isn’t confirmed