Source: The American Conservative
by Spencer Neale
“Trump has successfully shifted the Overton Window away from elite sexual exploitation toward rotating foreign vendettas.” (01/14/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/a-distraction-from-the-epstein-files/
Source: Independent Institute
by Jonathan Hofer
“The products of Flock Safety, one of the largest vendors of police surveillance technology, such as automated license plate readers (ALPRs) and gunfire locators, are frequently plagued by security vulnerabilities, either due to inherent flaws or user failure to follow best practices. As detailed in a recent video investigation by technologist Benn Jordan, several Flock Safety’s AI-powered ‘Condor’ cameras were found broadcasting both live and archived footage directly to the open internet. No passwords or login credentials were needed and the auto-focus feature in these cameras certainly raises privacy questions. … Of course, given their incognitio nature and their ability to track individuals, one would hope that utmost care is given to the cybersecurity of the camera’s footage. However, what Jordan found was a free-for-all, with less security than even what a standard Netflix account would require to watch a show.” (01/14/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/01/14/flock-condor-camera-spy-public/
Source: Engadget
“Matthew McConaughey filed trademark applications to prevent his likeness from being used by AI companies without permission, and the US Patent and Trademark Office has approved eight so far. According to the Wall Street Journal, the trademarks were for video and audio clips featuring the actor staring, smiling and talking. One was for a video of him standing on a porch, while another was for an audio recording of him saying ‘alright, alright, alright,’ his signature catchphrase from the movie Dazed and Confused. Under the law, it’s already prohibited for companies to steal someone’s likeness to sell products. However, McConaughey is taking a proactive approach due to the nebulous rules around the use of someone’s likeness for artificial intelligence and what’s considered commercial use involving the technology.” (01/14/26)
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump Wants Greenland — ‘The Easy Way Or The Hard Way.'” (01/14/26)
https://rumble.com/v74bofs-trump-wants-greenland-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way.html
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Tirades about Shooting Get Darker as Polls Turn Brutal on ICE.” (01/14/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/205263/trump-tirades-shooting-get-darker-polls-turn-brutal-ice
Source: Law & Liberty
by George Hawley
“Limited government proponents should feel uneasy. On the right, populists deride economic liberty’s supporters as anachronistic ‘market fundamentalists.’ The free market, they suggest, is not aligned with the preferences or interests of the Republican Party’s new working-class coalition. Many of these populists are eager to abandon freedom for tariffs and other forms of ‘industrial policy’ — a euphemism for granting the state authority to pick economic winners and losers. Unfortunately, trends on the left may be even worse. With populists embracing new state interventions and untrammeled executive power, freedom advocates find their influence on the right at a nadir. Perhaps overtures to the center-left are in order? Having lost the last presidential election to a very flawed Republican candidate, maybe Democrats will be inclined to move toward the center. There is some historical precedence for this.” (01/14/26)
Source: Persuasion
by Roohola Ramezani
“For decades, the world has viewed Iran through a series of familiar, if increasingly obsolete, lenses. From the ‘clash of civilizations’ to the ‘struggle for reform’ and the poignant aesthetics of ‘Women, Life, Freedom,’ Western observers have sought a narrative that fits their own political taxonomy. But today, as the Islamic Republic plunges the country into total digital darkness … a new reality is hardening in the silence. The information that trickles out via Starlink and clandestine dispatches reveals a fundamental shift that many in the West find difficult to reconcile with their existing frameworks: Iranians are no longer asking for a seat at the table. They are demanding a different table entirely. The movement that has gripped Iran since December 28 is not a plea for human rights within a theological framework, nor is it a subset of global identity politics. It is a profound, pragmatic, and increasingly radical return to secular nationalism.” (01/14/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/iranians-just-want-a-normal-country
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A British owned, Canadian-made whisky is at the centre of a spat between two provinces that is testing a unified ‘Team Canada’ approach in the face of US tariffs. It started after the whisky maker, Diageo, said it will shut down a bottling plant in Ontario to move some of it closer to US consumers. Soon after, Ontario Premier Doug Ford angrily poured out a bottle of Crown Royal in front of reporters, and now says the product will be removed from provincial liquor stores. This has alarmed neighbouring Manitoba, where a Crown Royal distillery is a key employer in the small town of Gimli. In a symbolic visit to the Gimli distillery on Tuesday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew urged Ford to ‘do a 180.'” (01/14/25)
Source: New York Times
“Iran on the Brink.” (01/14/26)
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Tells Iran Protesters: ‘Help Is on Its Way,’ Senate To Vote on Venezuela War Powers, and More.” (01/14/26)