Rising, 08/12/26
Source: The Hill
“The truth about data centers at last: lower property taxes!” (08/12/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Hume’s Perplexing Priorities
Source: Law & Liberty
by Graham McAleer
“By focusing on Hume’s ideas about why we enter association and follow norms, [Max] Skjönsberg nicely puts in relief how Hume’s theory of historical association differs from the rationalism of the social contract theories of Hobbes and Locke: a motif of slow, uncertain growth marks Hume’s idea, whilst the mood of a blueprint marks social contract theory. Skjönsberg’s portrait also delivers a populist Hume which, I think, is something of a mischaracterization. Like other members of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hume makes establishment basic to governance.” (08/12/26)
Reading the TA leaves: How technical assistance can improve the odds of successful policy implementation
Source: Niskanen Center
by Amanda Patarino, Ross Apter, Jacqueline Maffucci, & Luca Giobbio
“It has been said that Congress is not one institution but ‘535 small businesses.’ When you add the dozens of congressional committees, there is no one standard operating procedure for legislative work. That’s particularly true when it comes to writing legislation that delivers intended outcomes. Certainly, marshalling the support to get a bill through the committee process with sufficient backing to carry it through final passage and signed into law are baseline metrics for legislative success. But if the purpose of legislation is to get policy implemented successfully, then the political process is just the start. No less important, if much less visible, is writing legislation that actually enables outcomes.” (08/12/26)
Putin just showed the world how afraid he is of his own people
Source: Washington Post
by Vladimir Kara-Murza
“When Russian authorities registered Yabloko for the parliamentary ballot in late July, the Kremlin’s thinking was not hard to read. After all, it had everything under control: the media, the electoral commissions, the repressive apparatus of the state. Why not allow an anti-war party on the ballot, announce its official result at 2 percent, and show to the world that — as Putin had said so many times — the Russian people overwhelmingly back his war in Ukraine? But things began to go wrong. What the regime failed to grasp was that Yabloko was no longer just a small liberal party ….It was now the only avenue for Russian citizens to express opposition to the war. They seized on it. Yabloko exploded on social media, overtaking pro-Kremlin parties in the number of subscribers. … And Putin panicked.” (08/12/26)
Why Detroit Failed and Pittsburgh Recovered
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Dave Hebert
“Exploring how a popular phrase conflates monetary creation, accounting conventions, legal liabilities, and the economic nature of money itself.” (08/12/26)
https://aier.org/article/why-detroit-failed-and-pittsburgh-recovered/
Putin Says Russia Will Respond in Kind if EU Nations Seize Russian Vessels
Source: US News & World Report
“Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia will respond in kind if European countries seize ussian merchant vessels, the TASS state news agency reported. The comments come as the EU intensifies pressure on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, expanding sanctions against hundreds of vessels and detaining some ships and their crews for checks. Some European governments have said they are exploring tougher maritime enforcement measures against ships suspected of sanctions evasion.” (08/12/26)
The Fifth Column, 08/12/26
Source: The Fifth Column
“Hasan Piker, the DSA, AOC, Jason Arday, Francesca Hong, and miscellaneous lunacy.” (08/12/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/the-politics-of-pretending-episode
Mandatory Testosterone Screening Is a Tactical Retreat from Medical Reason
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels
“[H]ow useful is it to screen military personnel for low testosterone? Well, it might be useful to identify men who have had damaged testicles or who have hypogonadism (when the body produces little or no testosterone) but those cases are rare. But what will happen when you do test America’s servicepeople for ‘Low -T?’ Well, you will find that some of them ‘have it’ as identified. But if it’s not causing symptoms does this arbitrary ‘testosterone level’ really matter? For the answer to that you have to dig a bit into the weeds.” (08/12/26)
Why Do Americans Support the Death Penalty, Despite Wrongful Convictions?
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Amidst arguments over the morality of the death penalty and mistakes made in deciding who deserves punishment, some situations remind us why capital punishment retains support. Case in point: murder charges against Pete Van Winkle and Tracy Hampton for killing fellow prison inmate Kenneth Thompson, all three of whom were already on death row, in Pinal County, Arizona. Despite repeated revelations of mistaken convictions of the innocent and other perversions of justice, capital punishment remains popular because people want such psychopaths to never again pose a threat to life and safety.” (08/12/26)
Trump’s “National Socialism” Agenda
Source: CounterPunch
by David Rosen
“The process of corporate nationalization evolved over the last nearly two decades. In 2008, Pres. George W. Bush signed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry in the face of what was dubbed the ‘Great Recession.’ In 2009, the Obama administration directly intervened in the auto industry through the Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP), investing approximately $80 billion into the auto industry, including General Motors and Stellantis (i.e., Chrysler). Reich stresses that the Trump 2.0 regime has escalated federal investment in – and equity ownership of – traditionally private corporations.” (08/12/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/12/trumps-national-socialism-agenda/