“Australia has taken a drastic step, passing a law (and apparently enforcing it) to prevent people under age 16 from using social media. Now, even more are arguing that DC needs to also enact such a law. For the entire Fifty States and territories. Not much has been published about this in the past six or so weeks, or since the new regime started taking over DC. But it has been reported that twelve States so far have restricted teen access to social media and many more have seen legislation introduced to do so. Three States’ legislation have been blocked by courts. The most recent (reported on WTVR-TV) is Virginia, where lawmakers have passed a bill limiting social media use for those under age 16.” (03/13/25)
“U.S. authorities [stole] approximately 749 Bitcoin, valued at $62.5 million, tied to a Silk Road drug trafficking and money laundering operations, according to a March 12, 2025, Forbes report. The [theft], ordered by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, targeted assets connected to two unnamed individuals: a former Silk Road drug vendor and an accomplice who laundered proceeds through cryptocurrency exchanges. Alongside bitcoin, Forbes reported that authorities [stole] hundreds of thousands in foreign currencies, gold coins, and bars.” (03/13/25)
“We suggest that without the preceding increases in money supply, all other things being equal, there cannot be general increase in prices, which is labelled by popular thinking as inflation.” (03/13/25)
“Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest is a cut-and-dry free speech issue that makes two things clear. First, the Right was always disingenuous when it claimed to care about free speech. Second, the Left should never have ceded the issue.” (03/13/25)
“The interim government of Ethiopia’s Tigray region appealed for the Ethiopian federal government to intervene after a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front seized control of two major towns, leaving several people wounded and raising fears of a return to civil war. On Tuesday the TPLF faction seized Adigrat, the second-biggest town in Tigray, and appointed a new administrator, ousting the office-holder loyal to the interim government. On Wednesday night, it took control of Adi-Gudem, a town near the regional capital, Mekele. Several people in Adi-Gudem were injured when forces attempted to occupy a government building. The TPLF fought a brutal two-year war against federal forces which ended in November 2022 with the signing of a peace agreement and the formation of a TPLF-led interim government.” (03/13/25)
“Dexter Filkins did the world a disservice when he coined the term ‘Forever War’ for the wars I fought in — Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror. The real forever war has been going on for half a century, ever since President Nixon signed the Substance Control Act in 1971, and it shows no signs of stopping. Over the decades, Democrats and Republicans came together to spend more than a trillion dollars — and probably much more — enforcing prohibitions on a wide range of psychoactive chemicals. … Despite the time and resources invested in the drug war, Americans continue to seek illegal drugs. The statistics are alarming: Half of Americans older than 12 have used illicit drugs, and some 700,000 Americans have died from overdoses since 2000. Now President Trump and his national security team are doubling down.” (03/13/25)
“The Canadian government on Wednesday announced plans to ease sanctions on Syria during what it called a period of transition. Many Western nations, including Canada, had put a range of sanctions against Syria under its ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled late last year by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The Canadian government issued a statement announcing the steps that it said displayed Ottawa’s ‘commitment to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and to support a transition to an inclusive and peaceful future.'” (03/13/25)
