“A United States judge has denied a request to compel the extradition of a federal immigration agent charged with shooting a man during an immigration raid in the state of Minnesota and lying about it. Wednesday’s decision concerns the case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Christian Castro, who has been detained in a county jail in Texas since May. Under Texas law, the state cannot hold the subject of an extradition order for more than 90 days. At that point, the suspect must either be transferred or released. The deadline for Castro is set to expire on Thursday. Minnesota argued in a lawsuit this month that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has refused to authorise the extradition for political reasons. But in Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr wrote that he could not intervene because Abbott has not yet acted – and has therefore not yet violated any law.” (08/26/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Trump’s trade war inflicts harm not only on Canadian citizens but also on the American people. Tariffs are simply sales taxes on the purchase of foreign goods. It is American consumers who ultimately pay those taxes. … There are, of course, those Americans who innocently and naively continue to believe that our enemies are Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, the communists, the terrorists, the Muslims, the drug cartels, the illegal immigrants, and other scary official boogeymen. Those Americans are flat-out wrong. They are living in la-la land. The enemy of the American people is the U.S. government. Not only is it plundering and looting Americans, regulating and controlling the most minute aspects of their lives, and making life much more expensive, it is also making life more dangerous, oppressive, and precarious for them.” (08/26/26)
‘Tim Curry, the versatile performer of screen and stage, who made his name as the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, has died aged 80. Reports say Curry died at his home in Los Angeles. The actor’s manager confirmed to Variety that he died peacefully. No cause of death is known as yet. … Born in 1946, he earned a degree in drama and English from the University of Birmingham in 1968 and embarked on a stage career. His first significant role was in the original cast for the first West End production of the controversial musical Hair, in 1968 …. Curry worked regularly in film …. Curry was also a regular presence on TV for more than four decades …. In 2012, Curry had a stroke while receiving a massage and received brain surgery. He was left with mobility issues and his short-term memory was also affected.” (08/26/26)
“In liberal politics, principles act as coordination points around which activism can bubble up and coalitions can form. But coalitions take different forms, and these forms affect how the ideas of a coalition’s members are shaped within and by their collaboration. Fellow Liberalism.org contributor Matt Zwolinski recently emphasized that ‘tribes,’ notionally formed by family, peers, or shared core values, may significantly define the ideas of their members. While this is true for most members of any political coalition, I want to explore how the form a coalition takes affects the ideas that it encourages its members to adopt.” (08/26/26)
“The Trump administration has temporarily paused immigrant visa appointments worldwide, saying it needs time to train all consular staff on screening applicants who might become dependent on public benefits. Appointments for visa services at U.S. embassies were being ‘adjusted’ because of the ‘global training initiative’ launched this month, the State Department said in a statement. It did not say when the appointments would resume. … A former State Department official said immigrant visa appointments worldwide had been paused Monday through the end of the month. The training materials were being rolled out after a federal judge struck down the administration’s 75-country visa ban, which was framed as a way to prevent immigrants from entering who might use public benefits, on Friday.” (08/26/26)
“We can all recall a time when we put ourselves at the center of the universe. We may have felt frustration when the traffic on the highway didn’t part like the Red Sea. We may have become indignant while sitting in a crowded physician’s waiting room, not knowing a genuine emergency has caused the delay. Most people we encounter today will treat us like the ordinary person we are. Meeting our goals may be the most important thing in the world to us, but not to them.” (08/26/26)
“The GOP is the party that fought against certifying Joe Biden’s victory. And it is the party that continues to buy into Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election having been stolen from him. Nothing should be considered inconceivable. It’s in our hands.” (08/26/26)
“A Chinese artist was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday for ‘infringing upon the reputation of heroes’ through satirical works of art, including statues of the country’s former leader Mao Zedong. The US-based Gao Zhen, who was part of an artistic duo known as the Gao Brothers, was arrested while visiting family in China in August 2024. He has been in custody ever since. He was sentenced by the Sanhei People’s Court court in northern Hebei province, according to his wife Zhao Yaliang. The charges against Gao relate to artistic works that China considers insulting to revolutionary figures. One such piece of work is a 2009 statue called Mao’s Guilt which shows the founder of modern China kneeling in repentance. Another is the Miss Mao series of caricatures depicting Mao with breasts and an engorged nose.” (08/26/26)
