Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“My main source of information on the war is the Institute for the Study of War website, which provides detailed daily reports based on satellite evidence of who is doing what where, official statements from both sides, and posts by Russian milbloggers. ISW is openly on the Ukrainian side, reports statements by sources in the Ukrainian military straight, statements from the Russian side more skeptically. … There are three different ways of interpreting the situation with different implications for the future of the war.” (09/14/26)
“Two Oakland Police Department officers are facing federal charges after allegedly conspiring with a federal aviation official to fake their helicopter pilot certifications. Prosecutors said the scheme happened between July 2023 and March 2024, when the two officers, Brandon Mart and David Mac, allegedly worked with William Miller, an aviation inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration, to fraudulently receive their certificates. The officers are accused of submitting fake documents related to ‘checkrides,’ according to an indictment filed on Aug. 27. A checkride, which is required to obtain a pilot certification, includes a practical flight test with specific maneuvers and an oral exam covering topics like aviation regulations and aircraft systems. The indictment alleges Mart received three fraudulent checkride certifications and Mac received one, even though the officer failed to complete all of the requirements or some checkrides never occurred at all.” (09/14/26)
“A cooling tower at Yankee Stadium is one of 10 in the South Bronx that has been ordered for disinfecting on Monday after testing positive for Legionella bacteria. The cleaning order by the New York City Health Department follows an outbreak of a new Legionnaires’ cluster in the South Bronx. A tower at Lincoln Hospital and another at Boricua College Bronx Campus have also been flagged for cleaning. … New York City health officials announced the first fatality related to the cluster on Friday. Health officials were investigating the origin of the cluster and have tested 24 cooling towers so far.” (09/14/26)
“Conservative [sic] YouTuber Nick Shirley has taken his anti-fraud crusade to California, but a recently passed law, coined by conservatives as the ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act,’ is threatening to derail him, or so he says. Now Shirley is challenging it in federal court. Shirley outlined his argument in a recent YouTube video, claiming that the legislation is a blatant violation of the First Amendment created in response to him exposing fraud across California. In his suit, he also alleges that it discriminates based on the content and viewpoint of speech and is unconstitutionally ‘overbroad and vague.'” (09/14/26)
“The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s plan to restrict voting by mail before November’s midterm elections, in a setback for the White House. The justices upheld a federal judge’s order that temporarily blocked the US Postal Service (USPS) from moving forwards with new requirements for postal ballots. But it is unlikely to be the final word on the matter. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative, agreed with the ruling, but indicated he might later rule in Trump’s favour as litigation in the case continues. … Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion that there was ‘at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority’. But he argued that ‘applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious’. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, also conservatives [sic], dissented.” (09/14/26)
“Blake, Lovecraft, and Tolkien – not to mention the original Celtic myths – all share a common theme: a deep ambivalence about technology which finally settles into determined opposition. … I was thinking about all this when trying to figure out why a mob of thousands of people terrorized north Britain in the 1810s while shouting ‘King Ludd! King Ludd!’ And why it took an army bigger than the one Wellington was leading against Napoleon to put them down. And why people regularly accuse me of being associated with them.” (09/14/26)
