So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 08/07/26
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Legendary lawyer Michael Tigar on juries, free speech, and the trial of John Peter Zenger.” (08/07/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
When Rational Individual Choices Produce Collective Waste
Source: The Daily Economy
by Harshit Singh & Sarika Kumari
“Auniversity degree once distinguished its holder precisely because few people had one. As degrees spread, employers began demanding them as a baseline, and today many jobs that historically required a high-school education demand a bachelor’s degree, not because the work grew more complex, but because the signal became an entry fee. Everyone pays more; nobody stands out. That sentence describes far more of modern life than credentials.” (08/07/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/when-rational-individual-choices-produce-collective-waste/
NY: Captain hit with slew of charges after boat capsized near Liberty Island, killing two, including infant
Source: New York Post
“The captain of the boat that capsized in New York Harbor late Saturday — killing a baby and a 27-year-old woman — was hit with more than a dozen charges for driving it while dangerously overloaded, according to sources. The operator, who has not been publicly identified, faces 13 charges of reckless endangerment after the motorboat he was steering flipped over off the coast of Liberty Island just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday. The vessel, a 22-foot bowrider motorboat, was overloaded with 14 people on board, NYPD sources told The Post. Two passengers are confirmed to have died, including a 5-month-old baby and a 27-year-old woman. Neither has been identified pending family notification, the NYPD said.” (08/09/26)
Your privacy rights don’t disappear at the border
Source: Washington Post
by Mike Fox
“Those who travel internationally know the routine. Whether at an airport terminal or a land border crossing, returning home means having your bags scanned to ensure you aren’t bringing contraband, illicit drugs or invasive species onto U.S. soil. But what happens when the government demands access to your phone? A smartphone is fundamentally different from a suitcase. It’s not merely a container for physical goods; it’s a digital repository of our lives. It holds our private thoughts, political expressions, digital calendars, personal photos, contact lists, shopping habits, credit card numbers and travel logs. Yet U.S. customs officers routinely assert the authority to demand passcodes and search these digital life-capsules without a warrant — and often without a shred of reasonable suspicion to believe a crime has been committed.” (08/07/26)
Myanmar: Junta rebuffs Asean call to free Aung San Suu Kyi, questions need for envoy
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Myanmar’s military-backed government has rejected the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ renewed call for the unconditional release of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dismissed the need for the organisation’s special envoy on Myanmar, according to the foreign affairs ministry. … In an apparent effort to placate critics, the government allowed a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit 81-year-old Suu Kyi last week, the first known contact with an outside international independent humanitarian organisation since her detention five years ago. Suu Kyi is serving her sentence under house arrest at an undisclosed location in the capital Naypyidaw, on charges that her supporters and rights groups have said are politically motivated.” (08/09/26)
Fountainhead Forum, episode 476
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Addison Patrick on running for Jacksonville (FL, USA) city council at-large.” (08/07/26)
You Cannot Outsource Life: Severance and Wild Problems
Source: EconLog
by Joy Buchanan
“In Severance, employees of the evil corporation Lumon Industries undergo a procedure that divides their consciousness in two. The ‘outie’ enjoys weekends and a paycheck but remembers nothing of work. The ‘innie’ performs the work but knows nothing of family or life outside the office. Severance is not merely an action thriller, although the ‘innie’ characters occasionally sneak or fight their way through the literal prison of Lumon. The philosophical dilemma presented in the show is that the characters’ free selves might be tempted to intentionally imprison parts of their lives that cause pain.” (08/07/26)
Ancient Roman shipwreck discovered off Sicily coast
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Italian divers have discovered an ancient Roman shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, believed to be more than 2,000 years old. The vessel was found piled high with hundreds of well-preserved containers, which were used to transport goods such as wine and olive oil. Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli hailed the wreck as ‘one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years’. Specialist police divers found the ship around 46m (150ft) deep, after a tip-off from fishermen. The wreckage is 21m (69ft) long and 6m (20ft) wide, according to reports in local media. The culture ministry says it dates from the second or 1st Century BC. … Officials say safety measures will be taken to safeguard it while it undergoes investigation, as experts work to determine the nature of the wreck and learn more about its cargo.” (08/09/26)
Is the Left Capturing “America First?”
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“This is not a column about whether a socialist Democrat is preferable to a neocon-flavored Republican. This is not a column about whether El-Sayed’s hard left politics might make him easier for a Republican to beat in Michigan’s general election. It is not about whether this Democrat possibly becoming the first Muslim-American senator might be a help or hindrance for him in his state. It is not even about whether Trump’s record-low approval ratings have now opened up the electoral doors for a crop of socialist candidates who might have never seen daylight otherwise but are now having a moment. It is about whether El-Sayed or Rogers is more ‘America First.'” (08/07/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/is-the-left-capturing-america-first/
Israeli regime rejects Trump’s plan to disarm Hamas
Source: New York Times
“The Israeli government has rejected a 15-point plan backed by the Trump administration aimed at disarming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. President Trump announced the agreement between his Board of Peace and Hamas late last month, calling it a major breakthrough. Mr. Netanyahu’s office had expressed reservations, saying that the framework did ‘not reflect Israel’s positions,’ but stopped short of outright rejecting it. The U.S.-backed proposal envisions a phased process in which Hamas would hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian administration in Gaza in stages. In exchange, Israel would gradually withdraw from the more than half of Gaza that it still controls. On Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu openly dismissed the plan, saying that Israeli forces ‘would not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.'” (08/09/26)