OUR PICKSHow Much Worse Is America’s Political Violence Going to Get? | Texas Hill Country Is Underwater, and America’s Emergency Lifeline Is Fraying | What Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Understand About Soldiers, and more

How Much Worse Is This Going to Get?  (Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic)
Political violence poses an existential threat to our nation and our freedoms—but it’s not too late.

Conspiracy Theories About the Texas Floods Lead to Death Threats  (David Gilbert and Molly Taft, Wired)
Disinformation around a “weather weapon” and cloud seeding is being widely promoted by everyone from anti-government extremists to GOP influencers—and leading to real-world consequences.

Texas Hill Country Is Underwater, and America’s Emergency Lifeline Is Fraying  (MaryAnn Tierney, New York Times)
When a flash flood inundates your town or a wildfire devours your neighborhood, you expect the federal government to show up —fast, focused and fully mobilized. That expectation underpins our national resilience. But today, that system is cracking. The help Americans rely on in their darkest hours is in danger of arriving late, underpowered or not at all.

CBP Wants New Tech to Search for Hidden Data on Seized Phones  (Caroline Haskins, Wired)
Customs and Border Protection is asking companies to pitch tools for performing deep analysis on the contents of devices seized at the US border.

The Problem With “Move to Higher Ground”  (Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic)
Even emergency alerts that reach people can be unclear.

What Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Understand About Soldiers  (Mike Nelson, The Atlantic)
Lethality alone doesn’t win wars.

Document Casts Doubt on White House’s Claims About Deported Venezuelans  (Alan Feuer, New York Times)
The document from El Salvador seems to undermine a position that lawyers for the Justice Department and top Trump officials have taken time and again in front of a judge in Washington.