“Researchers at Blockstream, a bitcoin infrastructure firm whose engineers have contributed to the Bitcoin blockchain’s core software for more than a decade, published a proposal on Thursday for SHRINCS, a way of signing bitcoin transactions that could withstand quantum computers without sharply reducing the number of transactions that fit in a block. Bitcoin proves ownership using digital signatures built on a branch of mathematics known as elliptic-curve cryptography. Those signatures allow someone to prove they hold the private key controlling their bitcoin without revealing the key itself. But it is theorized that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer … could eventually break that protection. … The proposal comes as Ethereum researchers moved in the same direction earlier this week, proposing changes to the system validators use to deposit funds so it can eventually accept new types of cryptographic keys.” (08/27/26)
“In the digital age, are car stickers really necessary? They aren’t a requirement for other taxes. Imagine having to affix a sticker to the window of your home to signify that you’d paid your property taxes. Or be required to wear a lapel pin on April 15 as a public symbol that you’d paid your income taxes. … Car stickers and decals are an obsolete and costly vestige of an age when automobiles shared the road with horse-drawn carriages. If repealing such requirements means fewer city workers at the DMV replacing stickers by hand, well, welcome to the modern age.” (08/26/26)
“Meta has reached a tentative $17 billion settlement with nearly all U.S. states that would also see the social media giant make sweeping changes to dramatically restrict minors’ access to Instagram and Facebook, the California Department of Justice announced Wednesday. The pending agreement is a monumental concession without precedent by one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful tech companies. It would end a pivotal trial over claims brought by California and more than two dozen other states that Meta intentionally hooked kids on its platforms, while misleading users about their potential harms. The deal would also resolve claims brought by other states and some U.S. territories in different proceedings.” (08/26/26)
“I have a massive collection of music CDs, about 4,000 in total. Over the years, I probably spent about $40,000 acquiring them. Now, thanks to streaming, they’re virtually worthless. While perusing the used CD section at Amoeba Music (both the LA and Berkeley locations), I discovered that most of my discs now retail for about $3. I doubt Amoeba would pay me $1 a disc, assuming they’d take them at all. Applying familiar NIMBY logic, you might insist that streaming ‘hollowed me out.’ Sure, kids can now enjoy unlimited music free of charge. But I’m $40,000 poorer. A victim of cruel progress. A clear-cut ‘loser.’ If I had zero interest in listening to any new-to-me music, that would be a fair, if self-pitying, verdict. Fortunately, I am not dead inside.” (08/26/26)
“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)
