5 Stories You (Probably) Missed as War Rages in Iran

As usual, important developments have fallen by the wayside.

Many people are understandably fixated on the war in Iran, but over the last two weeks, this focus has drowned out many other pressing stories.

In one pointed example, a recent poll suggests that a significant number of people believe Trump began bombing Iran to distract from the Epstein files (an opinion I believe has some merit). Indeed, developments implicating the president in that saga have received far less attention than they likely would have before the Iran conflict began.

However, many other stories have received limited attention. This isn’t to say they received no coverage (and you very well may have heard about them). But they certainly deserve more reach than they’ve received amid the beating of war drums and dropping of bombs. They concern civil liberties, corporate power, toxic pesticides, and the ongoing fusion of artificial intelligence and technology with militarism and government.

1. The new NSA director has the same old positions on surveillance

This week, the Senate confirmed the new NSA director, Joshua Rudd, a US Army general who has signaled his support for the long-criticized Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)’s Section 702. Despite claims from lawmakers and Rudd himself that the surveillance tool doesn’t ensare Americans, civil liberties groups have long warned that Americans’ data is swept up along with the data of non-Americans. This was reportedly confirmed this week in a letter from the FBI to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That letter noted a marked increase in the agency’s queries of Americans’ data collected under Section 702. In related and underreported news, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are currently pushing to reauthorize Section 702, which is set to expire in April. As the reauthorization looms, other lawmakers are attempting to reform FISA Section 702 and other surveillance practices.

Rudd’s support for Section 702 isn’t the only problem. Senator Ron Wyden, a longtime opponent of mass surveillance, raised concerns about Rudd’s seeming lack of commitment to keeping other NSA surveillance activities in check. As Wyden wrote in a statement opposing Rudd’s confirmation, “ I asked General Rudd whether, if he were directed to target people in the United States for surveillance, he would insist that there be a judicial warrant. I told him in advance that I was going to ask the question. Then, at the hearing, I offered him the opportunity to answer with a yes or a no. I didn’t get an answer.” Wyden noted numerous other issues with Rudd’s statements at the confirmation hearing.

2. Palantir CEO warns that the military will seize technology

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, the increasingly reviled surveillance AI company, told fellow tech executives to expect the Pentagon to nationalize their products if AI continues to replace human jobs. “If Silicon Valley believes we’re going to take everyone’s white collar jobs AND screw the military…If you don’t think that’s going to lead to the nationalization of our technology, you’re retarded,” he said at the a16z American Dynamism Summit.

The comments came as Anthropic AI battled the Pentagon over concerns that the company’s technology could be used for mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous weapons deployment. The Pentagon has since designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” effectively blacklisting the company. Despite the Anthropic CEO’s impressive rhetoric about these concerns, the company has filed a lawsuit to reverse the designation and presumably continue contracting with the federal government. Additionally, the Pentagon also suggested they could use the Defense Production Act of 1950 to forcibly use Anthropic’s technologies, echoing Karp’s warning.

3. Tariff bailouts favor big farms

A few days before the US and Israeli militaries started bombing Iran, the Environmental Working Group released an analysis of the $12 billion worth of recently issued USDA farm bailouts. Their report found that the funds went disproportionately to giant farms. This is similar to what occurred in the first Trump administration—both in that the government is bailing out those affected by protectionist trade policies and that the funds are favoring giant farms (over 1,000 acres) rather than smaller operations. The administration has touted the bailouts as evidence of Trump’s commitment to righting the wrongs of the Biden administration. However, the need for federal assistance arguably comes from Trump’s tariff policies, and the nature of this assistance reflects and reinforces the standard political protocol of prioritizing powerful interests.

Adding insult to MAHA injury, many of the farms receiving bailout funds grow crops like soybeans, corn, safflower, sunflower, and canola. Such crops are often contaminated with the herbicide glyphosate and are used in heavily processed seed oils, a key concern of the MAHA movement.

4. Trump fills “the swamp” with toxic herbicides

Speaking of toxic chemicals in the food supply, the Trump administration recently sided with multinational conglomerate Bayer in defense of the use of glyphosate, which has been repeatedly linked to serious health risks. The Department of Justice (DOJ) urged the Supreme Court to cancel lawsuits concerning the herbicide’s links to cancer. Some of the officials pushing for this previously worked at law firms that represented Bayer. Further, this week, news also emerged that Bayer officials met with EPA officials last year to discuss these legal proceedings.

The DOJ’s support for Bayer came in addition to Trump’s February executive order aimed at “ensuring an adequate supply” of glyphosate and designating it “crucial to military readiness and national defense.”

The EPA notably deemed glyphosate safe during the first Trump administration. This aligns with an ongoing trend: last month, the EPA approved another toxic herbicide, dicamba, for use in genetically modified soybeans and cotton. Bayer is one of the companies that manufactures dicamba.

5. The DOJ goes for a gun grab

A few days after the Iran conflict started, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments concerning whether the government has the right to infringe on people’s gun rights if they are deemed to habitually use illegal drugs like cannabis (even though it’s legal in many states). The arguments hinge on a provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968, signed by Democrat Lyndon Johnson. Despite the Trump administration’s claims that the president is a protecter of gun rights, his DOJ chose to appeal a lower court’s decision, which ruled in favor of a man who owned a firearm and admitted to using cannabis a few times a week.

A lawyer for the DOJ insisted it would not affect “weekend beer drinkers” because alcohol is legal, signaling the government’s fixation on legality and authority rather than liberty, practicality, or even safety (alcohol use is heavily associated with violence). Whatever the DOJ‘s arguments, the Supreme Court has signaled initial skepticism toward their merits.

Silver linings

Despite all these concerning developments, there have also been some positives. In one example, the city of San Jose, California, moved to tighten restrictions on the use of Flock Safety cameras, which have been under fire for their mass collection of driver data and willingness to share that data with government agencies spanning the local to the federal level. Further, there are glimmers of hope in the stories shared in this article. Opposition to mass surveillance in Congress and skepticism from the Supreme Court regarding infringing on gun rights reflect at least some resistance to these policies from within the halls of power. Further, MAHA adherents are expressing disappointment at Trump’s support for glyphosate, suggesting independent thought and principle over blind MAGA tribalism.

Regardless, the news cycle seems to be intensifying rapidly, and it is proving difficult to stay up to date with all the developing stories. In truth, it may not actually be helpful to try. As important as it is to be informed and aware, I am finding it just as important to take time away from screens and the constant onslaught of stress-inducing information. Now that I’ve barraged you with a slew of said information, I hope you can find some time to unplug and cultivate peace. That’s what I’ll be doing!