“To subvert, according to the 193 edition of Webster’s dictionary, is ‘to overturn from the foundation.’ Subversive innovation isn’t about tearing down the existing system. It’s about building your own, stronger foundation and letting the old one fall apart without its ruins falling on you. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are the obvious current example — sound money that can be created and exchanged without the old system’s cooperation makes fiat currency passe — but they’re just one. Anything that improves your life without the state’s involvement or permission makes your situation better and the state’s worse.” (07/23/26)
“Ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday he would accept no other government position besides his former job, escalating a political crisis that has gripped Ukraine at a pivotal point in the war with Russia. Fedorov’s surprise dismissal this month had sparked rare wartime protests prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to replace his unpopular top general with a respected younger commander. Zelenskiy said on Thursday he had offered Fedorov several other roles, including vice prime minister for defence innovation, but has not indicated he would reappoint him to the defence ministry. Fedorov’s refusal piles pressure on Zelenskiy, whom protesters gave a deadline of Friday to return the 35-year-old credited with cleaning up the defence ministry to his post.” (07/23/26)
“In France, citizens are generally expected to take responsibility for their own personal safety. I have been fortunate to enjoy regular French holidays since I was a child, and in recent years I have been increasingly struck by the growing contrast between Gallic liberté and Britain’s oppressive nanny state. Over the course of our two-week holiday this year, we visited dozens of cafés, restaurants and boulangeries. Not once were any of us asked if we had any food allergies or intolerances. On the train, no one reminded us to carry water in hot weather or to take our possessions with us at the end of the journey. Crossing an estuary on a small foot ferry, we hung over the side of the boat and no one told us off. … These may seem like small differences between our sister countries but the cumulative effect is significant.” (07/23/26)
“The Justice Department on Thursday said it would withdraw subpoenas issued to several New York Times reporters earlier this month over their reporting on security concerns regarding the new Air Force One jet gifted by Qatar. The development came during a hearing in a Manhattan courtroom in which Judge Arun Subramanian was weighing whether to grant the outlet’s motion to quash, according to multiple reports. … Four Times journalists — Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt — were hit with subpoenas on July 10, seeking to compel their testimony before a federal grand jury. The Justice Department also sought the reporters’ phone and text messaging records and, in some cases, those of family members, according to the newspaper. The Trump administration was pushing to identify the confidential government sources who spoke with reporters about the donated jet’s security capabilities, a move critics see as a brazen attempt to chill press freedom and suppress unfavorable coverage.” (07/23/26)
“In the coming days, one set of dubious replacement tariffs will give way to another. The ‘Section 122′ tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed this spring—intended to replace the ’emergency’ tariffs the Supreme Court invalidated in February—expire Friday, 150 days after he invoked them. Into that potential void will likely step a fresh batch of ‘Section 301’ duties, supposedly targeting the use of ‘forced labor’ around the world. As we’ve discussed, the issue of forced labor is real and complicated. … In the current Section 301 case, however, ‘forced labor’ is nothing more than legal cover.” (07/23/26)
“A man who pleaded guilty to assassinating a top Democratic lawmaker in the state of Minnesota has been sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years in prison, in a case that underscored growing concerns over political violence in the United States. Vance Boelter, who pleaded guilty in June to the slaying of House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, was sentenced on Thursday. The 59-year-old also seriously wounded state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the attacks in June of last year. … Boelter stated that he spent months identifying and stalking his planned targets. He then drove to their homes disguised as a police officer to carry out the attacks, which were followed by the largest police search in the Midwestern state’s history.” (07/23/26)
“Republicans have settled on their midterm argument: Democrats are all Communists. As an election strategy, this is as lame as it is ludicrous. But there is a small kernel of political reality underlying the new right-wing red-baiting: The emergence of a widespread public backlash against the extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of billionaires. … billionaires have had immense political power for decades, but they chose to exercise that power from the shadows, veiling their actions through patriotic sounding right-wing PACs and think tanks. Only political junkies understood what was going on underneath the surface. Today, however, the new generation of the hyper-wealthy are out there and in your face, flaunting their influence rather than concealing it. And the poster child for this change is, of course, Elon Musk.” (07/23/26)
