Hey, everyone …
Yesterday, our web hosting service went down, completely and for many hours (and, I noticed, with enough multiple explanations to make it sound like more was going on than met the eye).
Naturally, that happened AFTER we’d entered a considerable amount of content for the freedom movement’s daily newspaper — content we couldn’t recover for an “email only” edition.
Improvise, adapt, overcome, etc. We switched over to just putting content in a text file for an email only edition AND hoped that the web site would come back up in time to get all that content entered for the web edition. Which didn’t happen until too late for that to be practical (I get up early in the morning to bring you RRND/FND, which means I also go to bed early after spending a little time with my family).
So, we’ve got 35 items in an “email only” edition, and 29 items in the web edition, with only two overlaps (the “top two” news stories, which get done first thing in the morning anyway).
The moral of the story: If you’re not subscribed to our email edition, you should be, even if you usually only read our content on the web:
https://rationalreviewnewsdigest.eo.page/jrwp6
Sorry for all the inconvenience — we’ll be back Monday. Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous weekend!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: CNN
“Nigel Farage has comfortably won a by-election that he triggered, meaning he will remain as a member of parliament after a contest that all the other major British parties boycotted, leaving his main opposition as a comedian dressed as a trash can. Farage, leader of the populist hard-right Reform UK party, was ultimately re-elected by a substantial margin, winning 22,239 votes – 1,000 more votes than he won in the 2024 general election. His main opponent, Count Binface – a self-described intergalactic space warrior – won a creditable 9,455 votes, indicating the presence of a considerable anti-Farage vote, even in one of the most right-leaning areas in Britain.” (08/14/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/14/uk/nigel-farage-count-binface-clacton-election-intl
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Ukraine has proposed a deal with Russia for both sides to halt their attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea in an apparent attempt to reopen a crucial grain corridor, Reuters reports. Kyiv is said to have made the offer through a third party. Moscow has yet to respond, the news agency added. The busy waterway is a key export route for both Russia and Ukraine, used to transport grain and other vital foodstuffs worldwide. Since July Ukraine has effectively closed the route for commercial Russian shipping. Its drones have hit nearly 220 vessels in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, including oil tankers, grain cargo ships and passenger ferries. … During the same period, Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine’s southern ports, dealing a severe blow to the country’s agricultural sector.” (08/13/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/13/ukraine-proposes-deal-with-russia-to-halt-attacks-on-civilian-ships-in-black-sea
Source: Washington Post
by Derek Kan
“Three approaches to regulating the artificial intelligence industry have been gaining traction in recent weeks: Sam Altman’s call for an international regulatory body, styled after the International Atomic Energy Agency; a bipartisan House proposal that would subject AI developers to audits by government-licensed verification organizations, similar to the Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft certification model; and Google’s proposal to set up an industry-funded self-regulatory body under federal oversight. Before even considering which regulatory agencies and policies to implement for AI, however, Congress should first define the limits of government power. The lesson of past technological innovation is not that the government should have no role; it is that its role should be circumscribed at the outset so that the technology is not stifled.” (08/13/26)
https://archive.is/5qneH
Source: EconLog
by Maurizio Bovi
“Inequality is often the outcome of processes regarded as fair. Yet advantages acquired fairly in one sphere—economic, educational, or political—rarely remain confined to the domain that produced them. As these advantages spill over into other areas, they reshape opportunities and outcomes over time, gradually transforming what began as tolerable disparities into broader patterns of unequal access and influence. This process is driven not only by individual choices but also by the institutions through which social life is organized. Inequality is inherently multidimensional, relational and dynamic.” (08/13/26)
https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2026/boviinstitutionsinequality
Source: The Bulwark
by Mona Charen
“Every day that passes brings Trump closer to the Captain Queeg of The Caine Mutiny. Queeg ran over his own tow cable, had a nervous tic that involved ball bearings, and was obsessed with his stash of strawberries, but he was at least able to command a ship, which is more than can be said of the president. There are darker parallels, too. Failing leaders often seek scapegoats. Idi Amin blamed Asian immigrants for his nation’s woes. The Ottomans blamed the Armenians for their poor showing in World War I. The focus on vandals, though, suggests no one more than Josef Stalin, who invented a whole category of crime, ‘wrecking,’ to deflect blame for his idiotic economic catastrophes. Trump is no Stalin—he’s not as smart, for one thing. But he would surely have no moral qualms about Stalin if the old monster were around today.” (08/13/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-trumps-uncle-joe-moment-reflecting-pool-canoeist-charges-pirro-stalin-lysenko-vaccines-rfk
Source: Fox 13 Seattle
“Two people in Seattle have submitted a petition to recall Mayor Katie Wilson, alleging she has ‘neglected her legal duty to maintain public safety and peace.’ The recall petition comes amid a slew of city controversies, the latest being the continued fallout from the deadly Bite of Seattle shooting, and the forced resignation of Police Chief Shon Barnes. Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud filed the recall petition with the King County Elections Office on Tuesday, Aug. 11, alleging that Wilson is ‘derelict in her duties for public safety’ of the City of Seattle. … According to the King County Elections Office, recall charges must undergo a technical review by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Elections officials say this is where the recall effort is currently.” (08/12/26)
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/petition-recall-seattle-mayor-katie-wilson
Source: Law & Liberty
by John O McGinnis & Mike Rappaport
“Originalism today is predominant yet divided. Courts regularly invoke original meaning, but originalist scholars still debate what interpretation itself requires. At the center of that division is the interpretation-construction distinction. Interpretation is the process of determining the meaning of a constitutional provision. Construction begins only when that meaning is deemed indeterminate—that is, when it is thought to run out—and the decision must be made on grounds other than the provision’s original meaning.” (08/13/26)
https://lawliberty.org/originalisms-better-meaning/
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“While yes, others are competing in the Democratic and Republican Party primaries, it is clear Byron Donalds will be Florida’s next governor. Sadly, he and most of his competitors represent expansion of government power rather than expanding individual freedoms for Floridians and tourists visiting our state. This leaves principled voters looking for a genuine alternative—good luck. So, unless the insider trading and other allegations bear fruit, Donalds is the frontrunner to be Florida’s next governor, though I’d prefer to see a more freedom-based Floridian in the governor’s mansion. Donalds is no free market capitalist, regardless of his rhetoric.” (08/13/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-byron-donalds-fails-the-free
Source: Osceola County Herald Review
“An Australian jury on Thursday convicted a former Catholic bishop renowned for hosting alcohol-fueled house parties of sexually abusing two young Indigenous men. The District Court of Western Australia jury convicted Christopher Saunders, 76, of 13 out of 19 charges of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2019 in his sprawling diocese on the country’s tropical northwest coast. Prosecutors alleged he lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house in the tourist town of Broome with free alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds. … The convictions included one count of sexual penetration without consent and a dozen indecent assaults.” (08/13/26)
https://www.theheraldreview.com/news/world/article/australian-jury-convicts-former-catholic-bishop-22386410.php
