“Myanmar’s junta will form a new entity to oversee both the military and civilian administration, a move experts say will allow paramount ruler Min Aung Hlaing to become president without loosening his grip on the powerful armed forces. Just days after the completion of a final phase of an election that will see a parliament convene next month and power transferred to a nominally civilian government, the junta announced its plans in state media late Tuesday to create the five-member Union Consultative Council. Its mandate is exceptionally broad, granting it control over every critical component of national security and the legislative process, said Naing Min Khant, program associate at the Institute for Strategy and Policy — Myanmar think-tank.” (02/04/26)
“Amazon has announced that its generative AI-powered digital assistant Alexa Plus is now available to all Prime members in the US via any Alexa-enabled device, Alexa.com, and the Alexa mobile app. If you don’t have Prime, you can access the assistant on a new free tier on the web and app, or pay $20 a month for unlimited access to Alexa Plus, without Prime. Alexa Plus initially launched in March 2025 in an Early Access program and, over the last year, has slowly expanded to tens of millions of users, Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, told The Verge in an interview.” [editor’s note: I tried it during “Early Access” and turned it off because it lacked some basic features (in particular, reading books from my Kindle library aloud). I may try it again at some point – TLK] (02/04/26)
“When I wrote Compulsory monogamy as sexual socialism for mediocre men in 2023, I was very focused on the individual. It’s a lot about how dumb compulsory monogamy’s assumptions turn out to be upon just a hint of examination and how weak and silly men end up seeming when they insist upon those assumptions. In 2026, I’m less interested in the mechanics of monogamy versus consensual non-monogamy for the individuals involved and more interested in how monogamy functions in society. Like, what is the purpose of compulsory monogamy? What is its utility? Who does it serve, and how?” (02/04/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Deborah Palma
“The launch of Bitcoin in 2009 represents one of the most disruptive phenomena in financial history, establishing a unique link between computer science and an economic tradition opposed to the mainstream. To understand Bitcoin’s importance, it is not sufficient to analyze its cryptographic architecture alone; it is essential to delve into the intellectual roots that shaped its existence, primarily found in the Austrian School of Economics.” (02/04/26)
“All over the world, people are being fined and jailed for criticizing governments and law enforcement. The future looks grim for dissenters.” (02/04/26)
“A group of Minnesota school districts and educators has asked a judge to order federal officers to stay away from schools, alleging that the nation’s largest immigration operation has spilled onto campuses, affecting attendance statewide, according to a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday morning. The lawsuit rebukes the agency’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul — its largest operation so far in a campaign to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. The public school districts in Fridley and Duluth, along with Education Minnesota, an 89,000-member teachers union, accuse federal officers of breaking a promise to stay away from schools.” (02/04/26)
