Source: Wired
by Robert A Pape
“Public disagreement about whether political violence is rising and who is responsible for it stems not from ideology alone but from competing definitions about what should be counted.” (09/22/26)
Source: Politico
“Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has admitted his country doesn’t have enough potash to satisfy U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for the critical fertilizer. ‘Everyone keeps saying: Ah, potash! Even if we wanted to supply [potash] to other, Western markets, we simply do not have those volumes — everything is contracted,’ Lukashenko said Monday at a meeting with Vladimir Orlovsky, head of the Belarusian state customs authority. That same day, Trump said his country was ‘working on a deal’ to purchase Belarusian potash fertilizer, as it’s ‘substantially’ cheaper than Canada’s offering. Washington and Ottawa are embroiled in an escalating trade dispute. … Canada is the world’s largest potash producer, producing 15 million metric tons annually, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. Belarus produces around 6 million metric tons — only slightly more than annual U.S. import volumes of 5.6 million metric tons.” (09/22/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/belarus-alexander-lukashenko-potash-supply-us-donald-trump/
Source: Show-Me Institute
“American Civics Education Tests Trivia, Not Understanding with Brian Kisida.” (09/22/26)
Source: Law & Liberty
by Brian A Smith
“Karl Marx and Niccolò Machiavelli share the distinction of being among the few major thinkers in the English language whose names have become instantly recognizable ‘isms.’ But where most educated Westerners could probably offer up some kind of definition for what Marx’s ideas mean, ‘Machiavellianism’ serves more as a floating signifier for amoral canniness in political or social life. To be a Marxist implies at least some practical commitments to equality, and perhaps to revolution, but most people, even those with a strong memory of The Prince or Discourses on Livy, would probably struggle to define what being a Machiavellian really means for one’s politics.” (09/22/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/machiavellis-contested-legacy/
Source: Politico
“The GOP senator breaking with Trump on vaccines and AI (with Sen. Bill Cassidy).” (09/22/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“For decades, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been seen by the world’s governments as a safe haven for a portion of their gold deposits. But under the mercurial reign of President Donald Trump, and in a general atmosphere of geopolitical turbulence, that is quickly changing. Several European countries have already relocated—or are under pressure to relocate—their gold from New York to domestic vaults, prompted by concerns about the stability of the regulatory environment under Trump. According to the World Gold Council, 59% of the world’s central banks now prefer to keep their gold at home, compared to 41% just two years ago.” (09/22/26)
Source: The Daily Economy
by Logan Tantibanchachai
“New York’s city-run stores promise cheaper groceries, but their discounts merely transfer costs. Taxpayers foot the bill, while bodegas and grocers lose customers.” (09/22/26)
Source: New York Times
“A grand jury in Mississippi has concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges in the case of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old who was found dead two days after a boat outing with friends on July 4. The grand jury in Jackson County, Miss., found unanimously that the circumstances and condition of Mr. Wells’s body were ‘consistent with drowning,’ according to a copy of its report posted on social media on Monday by the county district attorney’s office. It also said there was no credible evidence of criminal conduct by the people who traveled with him to an island off the Mississippi coast that day. … The report noted, however, that there is no statute of limitations in Mississippi for homicide cases, and that if any evidence emerges suggesting that the death of Mr. Wells was not accidental, it should be referred to the grand jury for consideration.” (09/2/260
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar pondering what it would take to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.” (09/22/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/6089756-rising-september-22-2026/
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Paul Thacker
“On the eve of Gates’[s] private testimony with Congress scheduled for tomorrow, a trove of federal whistleblower documents provided to RealClearInvestigations is renewing questions about how Gates money has bought what critics complain is an untoward influence on government health policy. For almost a quarter of a century, his main vehicle of power, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), allowing Gates to shape the direction of the country’s health strategy in ways that have benefitted his own priorities and pet causes while polishing his image as a benevolent global do-gooder.” (09/22/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/how-bill-gates-billions-shape-us-medical-research/