The 2026 US midterm elections, to be held on November 3rd, are among the most consequential in the nation’s history. If the slide into autocracy for the US is to be averted, it’s essential that Democrats retake at least one chamber of Congress, since Republicans are apparently unwilling to curb even the worst impulses of the Mad King.
American country music icon Dolly Parton passed away August 25th, 2026, aged 80, after a brief bout with cancer. The singer/songwriter and actress was a globally beloved figure, a noted humanitarian, and a bit of a dichotomy. Although a professed devout Christian, Parton was very accepting of others, particularly the LGBTQ community, whom she counseled her coreligionists not to judge. An acknowledged ‘wholesome sex symbol’ from the ‘70s and ‘80s, Parton nevertheless remained in a faithful exclusive relationship with her husband of almost sixty years, Carl Dean, seemingly never tempted to stray, though she had offers from the likes of Hugh Hefner, fascinated to learn if her outsized feminine endowment was real.
A trio of stories this summer show Donald Trump in his best worst light, from financial disclosure documents that reveal a stunning level of corruption, to a quick-change flight plan that left Cabinet members and reporters hung out as bait, and renewed pressure on NATO allies to cough up territories to which he hasn’t the shadow of a right. It’s the Summer of The Donald – heated, sticky and oppressive.
On 13 July 2026, New Zealand actor Sam Neill passed away, at age 78, from pneumonia. Diagnosed with advanced lymphoma in 2022, Neill had been in remission, but requiring ongoing monthly chemotherapy treatments. A clinical trial with CAR T-cell therapy judged him cancer free in April 2026, but he succumbed to the pneumonia three months later.
For all its heat, humidity, endless days and toasty nights, Floral Summer doesn’t last all that long, nothing like the three-month span we ascribe to the summer season. In June, most plants are still ramping up, not yet in bloom; and by August, things are definitely on the wane. So it’s just July that showcases the floral fireworks we associate with summer, and that’s all too fleeting.
As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, it’s only fitting we take a closer look at the chart of the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave. This founding document was written in large part by Thomas Jefferson, working on several drafts between June 11th and 28th, 1776. In the midst of this process, on June 18th, a wee bit of space debris, an asteroid that would be named “America” nearly 150 years later, came to a critical stage in its orbit about the sun.
