“Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels [sic] captured more strategic islands in the southern Red Sea, government and Houthi officials said Monday, strengthening their control of a major maritime shipping route. The capture of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish came as [Saudi puppet regime] forces attempted to rally over the weekend and fight back after the rebels’ [sic] swift advances around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis’ new gains further enable them to threaten Saudi crude oil shipments, which have used the Red Sea as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking shipping.” (09/14/26)
“American law recognizes the right of a jury to acquit a defendant ‘in the teeth of the facts.’ We call it ‘jury nullification’: The jury decides that even though the defendant did X, the law forbidding X is wrong, at least in that case. Prosecutors hate that because they prefer convictions at any cost. Judges hate it, because they like to be in charge and don’t think anyone should be free to ignore their ‘instructions.’ The lone juror in the Clancy case is a flip side of jury nullification. He decided, based on the evidence he’d seen and the testimony he’d heard, that she was guilty, and he wasn’t going to let himself get bullied into saying otherwise. The effect isn’t as broad as acquittal — the prosecutor is free to bring the case again — but it’s the same principle. Jurors get to vote their conclusions and their conscience. Period. That’s important.” (09/13/26)
“Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada is seeking a ‘unique alliance’ with the European Union (EU) but not membership of the bloc, as its trade war with the US intensifies. … the Wall Street Journal reported that EU officials were open to a suggestion from Carney that Canada could become an ‘associate member’ of the bloc, according to officials from both sides. Carney instructed his special envoy to Europe to ‘scope out the most ambitious possibilities short of full membership’, the paper reported. … Since taking office, Carney has promoted a strategy aimed at creating a ‘more independent, more resilient economy’, in the wake of increasingly hostile policy towards his country from the Trump administration.” (09/14/26)
“Millions of people today refer to their rights by amendment number, as if they get them from the Bill of Rights. They talk about their ‘2nd Amendment rights,’ but they have it completely backwards. The founders didn’t write the words as a permission slip for the people. They aren’t a ‘gun permit.’ They are a restraining order for government: hands off our natural rights. There is no clearer restraining order than the 2nd Amendment. It doesn’t grant a right. It recognizes one that already exists, and issues a direct command to government.” (09/12/260
“A Russian drone struck a train near the Ukraine- Poland border on Sunday shortly after senior visiting officials — including the former prime ministers of the U.K. and Sweden — passed through, Ukraine’s state rail operator said. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, a diplomatic train carrying Boris Johnson, Carl Bildt and security advisers from several European Union states had purposely left the station at Yahodyn ahead of schedule. The visitors were on their way back from a security conference in Kyiv. ‘It is highly probable that the Russian drone ’s intended target was in fact the diplomatic train, which had departed the station earlier than scheduled,’ the company said in a Telegram post.” (09/13/26)
“Politicians generally operate within their partisan bubbles, as they stake out poll-tested positions that conform to the political lean of their districts and the priorities of their party. Once in a while, though, an issue so upsets the public that it transcends partisanship. Then all bets are off, as lawmakers try desperately to placate those proverbial ‘peasants with pitchforks.’ The latest example involves the construction of data centers. Voters, and hence politicians on the political left and right, are incensed about the construction of large facilities that house computers, networking equipment, servers, and storage systems that support the tech economy and the growth in Artificial Intelligence (AI). It’s hard to understand the level of upset given that these facilities are necessary to power industries that power our economy and fund state budgets.” (09/11/26)
“Talks between Iran and several Gulf states on the disputed Strait of Hormuz have been postponed, Oman said on Sunday. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said Monday’s meeting had been postponed ‘in the interest of consensus.’ ‘We remain committed to fostering dialogue that supports stability and lasting cooperation in our region,’ he wrote on X. He did not announce a new date or elaborate on the reason for the postponement. … Tehran and Muscat have been negotiating for weeks on a mechanism to regulate shipping traffic through the strait, a key waterway for the global oil, gas and fertilizer trade. For Iran’s leadership, the Strait of Hormuz has become an important means of leverage in its conflict with the United States.” (09/13/26)
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by the editorial board
“During a recent cable news appearance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed no American lives had been lost in the Iran war, an error he blamed on confusion with President Donald Trump’s earlier invasion of Venezuela. And perhaps it is difficult to keep one’s wars straight in an administration that has attacked seven countries in less than two years. But while Lutnick’s claim was horribly wrong in fact, it was an accurate reflection of the administration’s consistently reprehensible diminishment of the costly war it started more than six months ago without congressional authorization or public support. The day after the secretary’s gaffe, Vice President JD Vance denied the very existence of the conflict, telling reporters, ‘I wouldn’t call it a war’ …. The day after that, Trump himself dismissed the war as ‘small potatoes’…” (09/13/26)
“A 40-year-old woman has died from measles complications in Pennsylvania, marking the state’s third measles-associated death this year as the U.S. experiences its worst resurgence of the highly contagious disease in 35 years. The woman, a Jefferson County resident, died Saturday, county Coroner Greg Furlong said on Facebook. … At least 676 measles cases have been confirmed in 37 counties in Pennsylvania so far this year, the state’s health officials reported Friday. The outbreak has hospitalized 124 people in the state. Of the confirmed cases, fewer than 1% had been fully vaccinated, Pennsylvania health officials said.” (09/13/260
