“Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow had summoned the Japanese ambassador in protest over an investment made by a Japanese startup in Ukrainian interceptor drone technology.
The Japanese company, Terra Drone, said in March it had invested an undisclosed sum in Ukrainian interceptor-drone producer Amazing Drones, which produces technology designed for rapid deployment on the battlefield. … The Kremlin has described Russia’s relations with Japan as having been ‘reduced to zero’ over what it casts as Tokyo’s ‘unfriendly stance’ towards Moscow.” (04/08/26)
“Businesses don’t want to harm their customers. That’s no way to stay in business. When a new restaurant opens, people rush to stand in line to try it out. They don’t worry that the restaurant will poison them, and it’s not because of the licenses and permits the owners got from government. Government would love for you to believe this is what keeps you safe, but again, government works harder to protect dishonest businesses than to protect victims. If a business owner is greedy but can’t use government to force you to trade with him or her, this greed is motivation to satisfy you …. It’s only when a crooked business owner has government connections that satisfying the customer loses its importance.” (04/08/26)
“Texas hemp industry leaders and advocacy groups have sued the state to block new regulations that eliminate natural smokeable hemp products and increase licensing fees. The Texas Hemp Business Council, Hemp Industry & Farmers of America, and several Texas-based dispensaries and manufacturers filed for a temporary restraining order in state district court in Travis County against the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Tuesday. They argue that the agencies have overstepped their constitutional authority by rewriting the statutory definitions of hemp established by lawmakers in 2019. … ‘An administrative agency may not substitute its own policy judgment for the outcome produced by the constitutional lawmaking process,’ the lawsuit states.” (04/08/26)
Source: New York Times
by John Carreyrou & Dylan Freedman
“Bitcoin’s creator has hidden behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto for 17 years. But a trail of clues buried deep in crypto lore led to a 55-year-old computer scientist named Adam Back.” (04/08/26)
“Bill Gates is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee in the coming weeks, as the committee continues its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates will sit for a transcribed interview June 10, according to a person familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss the committee’s deliberations. His interview comes after the committee issued a March 3 letter requesting his testimony. A spokesperson for Gates said the Microsoft founder ‘welcomes’ the chance to appear before the committee.” (04/08/26)
“There are multiple reasons why America’s European and NATO allies have not answered Trump’s call to join the war. They were not respected. They were not consulted. The goals of the war were not articulated. The benefits were not clear while the cost was very clear. But, most importantly, they have not joined the war because it is illegal.” (04/08/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Christopher Baecker
“We hit an ignominious milestone recently when the national debt crossed $39 trillion. Naturally, regular citizens have chimed in about what’s to blame, who’s at fault, what can be done, or whether it even matters. The discussion usually takes one or more of the following shapes.” (04/08/26)
“If you own an older Kindle e-reader, including models with physical keyboards or physical page-turn buttons that you’ve been reluctant to give up, Amazon has bad news for you. The company sent a message to owners of those devices today, informing them that starting on May 20 they would no longer be able to buy or download books from the Kindle Store. The change (as reported by Good E-Reader and elsewhere) affects all Kindles introduced and sold in 2012 or earlier, going all the way back to the original Kindle from 2007. Users will still be able to read books that have already been downloaded to those devices, but they won’t be able to download more, and if they reset those Kindles to their factory defaults, the devices won’t be able to sign back in to an Amazon account.” (04/08/26)
“Hungary, whose economy led all Central European countries out of the post-communist starting gate, now languishes in the per-capita second tier with once-devastated Romania. It is the 17th-largest economy in the 27-member European Union, despite having the 13th-largest population. Importantly, none of these numbers is obscure, even to a vice president. It’s that Vance and other American Orbánistas define prosperity differently, there and here.” (04/08/26)
