Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes

“Concerns about constant government surveillance are legitimate. Surveillance equipment such as this was used by police around the world to enforce authoritarian restrictions during COVID. We shouldn’t have to give up our personal liberty—and that liberty includes the right not to be tracked by the government without a warrant—under the guise of safety. Thankfully, people are starting to push back against Flock and similar police surveillance equipment. I don’t believe our state or our country should become a vast surveillance society (assuming we are not already there), even if it makes us ‘safer’ in some ways.” (08/04/26)

https://showmeinstitute.org/article/municipal-policy/update-on-flock-cameras-in-missouri/

Source: Cato Institute
by Alex Nowrasteh

“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published a new policy program and platform this summer called Workers Deserve More. A committee elected under the group’s 2025 convention rules drafted it, its National Political Committee approved it, and it now stands as the clearest statement of what America’s largest socialist organization wants. Below are the DSA program’s main arguments for socialism, my short responses to them, and links to some of the most relevant evidence.” (08/04/26)

https://www.cato.org/blog/ten-democratic-socialists-america-dsa-arguments-socialism-why-theyre-wrong

Source: The Dispatch
by Roger Pielke Jr.

“Luddite dynamics have been replayed in the context of almost every important technology of the last half-century: fracking, incandescent light bulbs, SUVs, childhood vaccines, water fluoridation, nuclear power, wind turbines, genetically modified crops—each became a proxy fight in which the combatants often let pro- or anti-technology symbolism crowd out consideration of risks and benefits. Data centers have now joined the list of contested technologies, and the fight follows a familiar script.” (08/04/26)

https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-energy/data-center-bans-abundance-energy-demand/

Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

“As good investors know, it is often better to cut your losses and move on rather than ride a bad investment to the bottom. Despite his bluster, Trump is reluctant to pull the trigger on attacking Iran’s energy structure. He should follow that instinct and avoid such escalation. The next step will be harder for him, however. His psychology seems to prevent him from admitting that his war on Iran has failed. Yet, as a master of bending perceived reality to fit his own ends, Trump should take the famous advice that Rudy Giuliani gave him for a previous caper: ‘Just say we won.'” (08/04/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/04/why-donald-trump-should-just-declare-victory-in-the-iran-war/

Source: American Greatness
by Edward Ring

“Veteran political strategist Garry South has just published a guest commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle in which he asks the question, ‘Is Steve Hilton a serious candidate?’ South then launches a series of attacks to make clear he doesn’t think Hilton is gubernatorial material. But only a serious contender could have survived California’s so-called ‘jungle primary’, where voters choose among all candidates regardless of party affiliation. In a field of 61 candidates, Hilton came in second to Democrat Xavier Becerra. These top-two finishers will now face each other in the state’s general election this November. There’s nothing unique about South attacking Hilton in a guest column. Politics is a dirty business, where tone is more potent than truth and emotion more effective than evidence.” (08/05/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/05/california-needs-steve-hiltons-allegedly-zany-ideas/

Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander

“Commenters convinced me I made a subtle mis-step in my framing of Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine. My framing emphasized that social priming studies had failed to replicate, but that many other subfields of psychology hadn’t. This naturally led commenters to point to failed replications in other subfields. Although none of these were as bad as social priming, few or none were entirely problem-free. Instead of emphasizing the difference between social priming and other subfields, I should have emphasized the difference between settled science and novel research.” (08/04/26)

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-beauty-of-settled-science