“Russia, the United States and China have all built new facilities and dug new tunnels at their nuclear test sites in recent years, satellite images obtained exclusively by CNN show, at a time when tensions between the three major nuclear powers have risen to their highest in decades. While there is no evidence to suggest that Russia, the US or China is preparing for an imminent nuclear test, the images, obtained and provided by a prominent analyst in military nonproliferation studies, illustrate recent expansions at three nuclear test sites compared with just a few years ago. One is operated by China in the far western region of Xinjiang, one by Russia in an Arctic Ocean archipelago, and another in the US in the Nevada desert.” (09/22/23)
“Whatever the shortcomings in Kristen Welker’s ‘Meet the Press’ interview, it did provide Trump with the opportunity to disarm one of his defenses to the indictments regarding Jan. 6, 2021. Welker asked, ‘The most senior lawyers in your own administration and in your campaign told you that after you lost more than 60 legal challenges that it was over. Why did you ignore them and decide to listen to a new outside group of attorneys?’ He responded that he didn’t ‘respect them.’ He explained, ‘You know who I listen to? Myself.’ … Just to make sure everyone understood he wasn’t blaming the lawyers, he reiterated, ‘It was my decision. I listened to some people.’ His attorneys might now be barred from even raising the defense.” (09/21/23)
“At least one person was killed in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Friday, the regional governor said. The governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on the Telegram messaging app that a 25-year-old man had been killed and another person wounded when residential districts came under fire in the city … Kyiv drove Russian forces out of part of the Kherson region last November after several months of occupation, but Russian troops have continued shelling the regional capital and areas around it from across the Dnipro River.” (09/22/23)
“Government-funded research should be treated as ‘work for hire,’ and its results should always, in every case, go instantly into the public domain. The idea isn’t far-out or fringe. It’s how government-employee-generated writing and text are already handled where copyright is concerned. … It’s time to get past the idea that monopolies and government research winner-picking are the wellsprings of innovation. They aren’t and never have been.” (09/21/23)
“The administration of President Joe Biden has extended temporary legal [sic] status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans living in the United States, citing ‘extraordinary’ circumstances. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the decision late on Wednesday, saying that ‘the conditions in their home country prevent their safe return.’ … The decision to extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, will allow hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans already living in the US to apply for work authorisation, a move Democrats hope will alleviate stress on social service programmes. It also offers protection from deportation, at least temporarily. The latest TPS designation lasts 18 months and applies only to Venezuelans who entered the US before July 31.” [editor’s note: It would be better for the Biden regime to just admit that it has precisely zero constitutional authority to regulate where they go or whether they work. But better than nothing, I guess – TLK] (09/21/23)
“As the Nobel Laureate on the subject points out, Bill Nordhaus, we shouldn’t have an emissions target. Because that’s the wrong way to incentivise the innovation necessary to gain less climate change. We need to use prices and the market, not bureaucratic dictat. But OK, everyone’s decided, wrongly, to use a target instead. As we’ve pointed out before, they’re still getting it wrong even if we allow them that pass. For the economics here is terribly simple. There are costs of allowing climate change to happen. There are costs of stopping climate change happening. The costs we don’t have to carry by not stopping it are therefore benefits of allowing climate change to happen. Equally, a benefit of stopping climate change is not having to bear the costs of climate change happening.” (09/21/23)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“People are upset over the homelessness problem in American cities. Unfortunately, however, all too many of them are not interested in adopting the solution to the problem, which is twofold: (1) repeal zoning laws and (2) repeal minimum-wage laws. … Today, much of the anger that arises from the homelessness problem is directed toward the homeless. But what are they supposed to do — commit suicide? They can’t afford to rent a place in which to live because zoning laws have knocked out low-priced housing within the city. Moreover, minimum-wage laws prevent them from getting a job at a wage that is lower than the government-mandated minimum.” (09/21/23)
“Oil resumed its breakneck rally on Thursday after Russia banned gasoline and diesel exports, further tightening an already stressed global fuel market. The measures, designed to stabilize Russia’s domestic fuel prices, will remove supplies from the global diesel market at a time when refiners are struggling to meet demand. So far this year, Russia was the world’s single biggest seaborne exporter of diesel. West Texas Intermediate rose above $90 a barrel while diesel futures soared as much as 4.6%. Prices had retreated earlier in the day, mirroring losses in other risk assets, after the Federal Reserve flagged that borrowing costs would likely stay higher for longer. Russia’s export ban comes after its shipments of the fuel already were down by a third this month, which had helped push Europe’s diesel benchmark near to $130 a barrel this month.” (09/21/23)
“What’s the alternative to tautological trickery? One approach is the study of history. Unfortunately, history reveals no strong examples of either minarchy or anarcho-capitalism. The United States wasn’t exactly minarchy even in 1880, and Iceland wasn’t exactly anarcho-capitalism even in the year 1000. Still, these are probably history’s closest approximations to minarchy and anarcho-capitalism, and we can learn a lot by studying them. Long story short: Both worked well for their era, but Iceland decayed into statism more slowly. … Furthermore, history teaches us a great deal about how markets and governments work. One big lesson is that private property, free competition, and reputation normally deliver much better performance than public property, coercive monopoly, and faith in authority. Another big lesson is that despite textbook naysaying, markets have provided virtually every good you can imagine — including police, courts, and law.” (09/21/23)
