Source: Town Hall
by Americans for Prosperity
“When the Founders wrote ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ into the Declaration of Independence, they weren’t guaranteeing comfort, equality of outcome, or a government-managed society. They were making a bolder claim that became the foundation of the American Dream: that people could build meaningful lives if government protected liberty and then got out of the way. That idea still matters today. At its core, the phrase shows trust in the American people. The Founders believed individuals, given freedom and responsibility, could make better choices for their lives than distant officials ever could. Perhaps more important is the idea that, as adults who are created equal, we have inherent dignity that must be recognized by our government. When this dignity is recognized, we can truly thrive as humans and give our best to our families, communities, and workplaces.” (02/25/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/americans-for-prosperity/2026/02/25/what-does-life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness-mean-n2671821
Source: Liberal Currents
by Ryan C Smith
“Free and democratic society is not possible when the kings of oil and gas can threaten our stability, pollute our information systems, and poison our politics.” (02/25/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/carbon-and-the-new-imperialism/
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Sperm quality is highest in the summer and lowest in the winter, according to a new study. Researchers from the UK, Canada and Denmark analysed semen samples from 15,581 men in Denmark and Florida, all aged between 18 and 45. Their findings show that sperm motility – the ability of sperm to swim effectively – was consistently highest in June and July for both parts of the world. Understanding these seasonal patterns could improve fertility treatments, by optimising the timing of treatment and fertility testing to provide better guidance to couples trying to conceive. The study, published in the journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, suggests that sperm’s motility levels remain consistent across different climates, instead changing with the seasons. Levels were lowest in December and January, even though Florida remains warm all year round.” (02/25/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl45x52ejgo
Source: United Press International
“The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling for an immediate, full and unconditional cease-fire in Russia’s war in Ukraine, despite the United States'[s] abstention and a failed U.S. bid to strip language identifying the Kremlin’s aggression. The 193-member body met on the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion and voted 107 in favor, 12 against and 51 abstentions to adopt the ‘Support for lasting peace in Ukraine’ resolution.” (02/24/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/02/24/ukraine-United-Nations-cease-fire-resolution/6221771985609/
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Matthew Guariglia
“The Secretary of Defense has given an ultimatum to the artificial intelligence company Anthropic in an attempt to bully them into making their technology available to the U.S. military without any restrictions for their use. Anthropic should stick by their principles and refuse to allow their technology to be used in the two ways they have publicly stated they would not support: autonomous weapons systems and surveillance.” (02/24/26)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/tech-companies-shouldnt-be-bullied-doing-surveillance
Source: Independent Institute
by Phillip W Magness
“The Supreme Court dealt a serious blow to President Trump’s economic agenda by ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t allow him to rewrite the U.S. tariff schedule. Mr. Trump immediately invoked a different law to impose a 10% tariff on all countries, followed by threats to raise it to 15%. The White House’s tariff Plan B looks copied from President Biden’s playbook when the court overruled his student-loan forgiveness scheme in 2023 and Mr. Biden began statute shopping for anything to back it. That strategy hit a roadblock in federal court, as a succession of rulings invalidated his attempt to revive the policy under different laws.” (02/24/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/24/section-122-cant-carry-trumps-tariffs/
Source: spiked
by Sean Collins
“In response to his tariff defeat, Trump went on a rant. He called the judges ‘fools and lapdogs.’ Even worse, he questioned their patriotism, going as far as to say they had been ‘swayed by foreign interests.’ This insult was bad even by Trump’s standards, and his talk of ‘foreign Interests’ – without any evidence – can only fuel online conspiracy theorising. The Supreme Court justices were doing their job. On many occasions in the past, including when it came to the president’s personal immunity, the majority has ruled in Trump’s favour. The separation of powers, which places limits on the power of the presidency, is a key principle of the US Constitution. In this regard, the court has been consistent under both Joe Biden and Trump.” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/yfUEc
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A number of Palestinians have been injured in separate attacks by the Israeli army and [squatters] in the Hebron area of the occupied West Bank, amid an escalating wave of state-backed violence as Israel concurrently continues its genocidal war on Gaza. In ad-Dhahiriya, about 24km (15 miles) southwest of Hebron, Israeli forces fired live and rubber bullets as they carried out a raid on Tuesday night, security sources told the Wafa news agency. Several Palestinians were injured by rubber-coated bullets fired at their feet, the agency reported. In a separate incident, four Palestinians were wounded when dozens of [squatters] launched an attack on the village of Khirbet Susiya in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, late on Tuesday, local sources told Al Jazeera.” (02/25/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/25/israeli-army-settlers-attack-palestinians-in-hebron-area-of-west-bank
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Iran War II | Robert Wright & Joshua Landis.” (02/24/26)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69318
Source: Desultory Scribblings
by Tyler Harris
“‘Why do Trump’s supporters keep trying to kill him?’ That’s the question I’ve most seen floating around in the wake of the killing of Austin Martin, a 21-year-old man who attempted to storm the cordon at Mar-a-Lago this past week while wielding a shotgun. It’s mostly rhetorical, but the glib and obvious answers – that Trump’s unique detestability and employment of violent rabble-rousing makes him an alluring target, even for his own acolytes, or that MAGA itself is a mental illness particularly prone even to internal violence – obscure a far more sweeping challenge. The online right has created an incredibly efficient and effective engine for breaking and radicalizing lonely young men.” (02/24/26)
https://tylerjohnharris.substack.com/p/the-online-right-is-radicalizing
