Make It Make Sense, 09/22/26
Source: Washington Post
“Jared Polis: Why school choice is a no brainer.” (09/22/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Mysteries Of AI Generalization
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“In 2025, Owain Evans et al published a paper on ’emergent misalignment’. They trained a previously-aligned AI to do one immoral thing: write insecure code full of vulnerabilities and backdoors. To their surprise, the AI became immoral in general. Its advice to a bored user was to try taking random expired medications and see what happened. Its money-making tips all involved theft and violence. When asked for its favorite historic figure, it chose Hitler. … This sounds bad, in that random things can turn AIs evil or sexist. But some people in AI safety (including Eliezer Yudkowsky) speculated that in fact it was very, very good.” (09/22/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/mysteries-of-ai-generalization
Former USPS worker indicted for allegedly discarding mail-in ballots
Source: United Press International
“A former U.S. Postal Service worker has been indicted forallegedly throwing away about 300 mail-in ballots earlier this year in Utah. The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed the indictment Tuesday as Damon Matai Seei, 34, of Payson, Utah, appeared for his arraignment at the Orrin G. Hatch U.S. Courthouse in Salt Lake City. Seei was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday. He faces charges of unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail for allegedly throwing the ballots into a dumpster in a church parking lot. Justice Department officials alleged in a detention memo that Seei said in an interview that he threw away the ballots and other mail on June 3 to ‘lighten his workload.'” (09/22/26)
Cato Weekly Podcast, 09/22/26
Source: Cato Institute
“How Hard Is It to Rig an American Election?” (09/22/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-weekly-podcast/how-hard-it-rig-american-election
Cape Girardeau County Has Voted No on Zoning Twice
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Patrick Tuohey
“Cape Girardeau County is the only first-class, non-charter county in Missouri without countywide planning and zoning. That fact, reported recently by Rick Fahr in the Southeast Missourian, is often cast as a deficiency waiting to be corrected. It shouldn’t be. It’s the result of voters being asked directly, more than once, and saying no both times.” (09/22/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/cape-girardeau-county-has-voted-no-on-zoning-twice/
Capital Record, episode 323
Source: National Review
“No One is a Libertarian Now.” (09/22/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/no-one-is-a-libertarian-now/
The autocrats may seem immovable. But their time is passing.
Source: Washington Post
by David Ignatius
“We seem to be living in the age of the autocrats, where Presidents Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin bestride the globe. The gathering this week of the U.N. General Assembly in New York seems a mere sideshow to the real power game at the Trump-Xi summit. But appearances can be deceptive: This may be the twilight of the dictators’ era, not the dawn.” (09/22/26)
South Sudan: Kiir dissolves government ahead of first national elections
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dissolved the country’s transitional unity government and appointed a caretaker administration as the country prepares for its first-ever national elections. The decree on Tuesday ended a power-sharing arrangement set up under a 2018 peace deal that halted years of civil war, and raised concerns that Kiir could now wield unchecked power. /// The decree came a day after the parliament approved changes to the National Elections Act that allowed Kiir to stay in power during the election period, while removing all vice presidents, who were appointed under the 2018 peace deal. The changes mean that South Sudan can move towards elections scheduled for December 22, without first completing a permanent constitution or census – two processes that were previously tied to the transition.” (09/23/26)
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, episode 283
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Robby Soave on Trump’s press ban, Macklemore, and free speech culture wars.” (09/22/26)
The President’s Ban on Journalists Is Disgraceful and Illegal
Source: Cato Institute
by Dan Greenberg
“The reasons the Trump White House has given in the past for its attempts to pick and choose which journalists are allowed to cover it have varied, but all of them have one thing in common: they cannot be reconciled with the law. Jim Acosta’s press pass was revoked because he continued to ask questions and refused to yield his microphone to another journalist. Brian Karem’s press pass was revoked essentially because he made remarks that were understood as rude and confrontational. The Associated Press was excluded because it used the label ‘Gulf of Mexico,’ rather than ‘Gulf of America.’ But these justifications for exclusion—like the more recent White House complaints about negative news coverage—fail, because they are empty and unworkable under the law.” (09/22/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/presidents-ban-journalists-disgraceful-illegal