“‘Debate’ almost never corresponds to mappable arguments. The simplest ‘solve debate’ proposal is the argument map. Some technology helps people decompose arguments into premises and conclusions, then lets skeptics point out where the premises are wrong, or where the conclusion doesn’t follow from the premise. But almost no real argument works that way. Even in the best-case scenario, where an argument almost works that way, it doesn’t really work that way. Suppose you’re having an argument about COVID lockdowns. Someone says ‘lockdowns hurt the economy.’ Now you’re stuck in a giant fight about whether that claim is true (answer: compared to the counterfactual, certain kinds of lockdown measures hurt certain economic indicators in certain situations). But even if it is true, so what? What conclusion can you draw from that premise?” (04/28/26)
“U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who presided over Bankman-Fried’s 2023 fraud trial and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, issued the ruling in New York, according to court records reported by Bloomberg and Inner City Press. The judge described Bankman-Fried’s arguments as ‘baseless on multiple independently sufficient levels.’ … Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of FTX and his trading firm Alameda Research. Billions in customer funds went missing. He was sentenced in March 2024. His direct appeal is pending before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments held in 2025. That case remains active and is separate from the Rule 33 motion Judge Kaplan just denied.” (04/28/26)
“Just as there is nothing as permanent as a temporary government program, there is often nothing as permanent as a temporary moratorium. California knows this all too well. The state’s nuclear moratorium was signed into law 50 years ago as part of a 1976 amendment to the Warren-Alquist Act and has remained in effect ever since. The time is ripe for the removal of this nonsensical ban.” 904/28/26)
“Last weekend my Institute for Peace and Prosperity hosted another conference here on the Texas Gulf Coast. Not only did we have a full house attending the conference – which is in a way the most important thing – but in this era of profound disappointment and disillusionment, we struck a note of optimism thankfully due to our wonderful line-up of speakers. The main topic of the conference, titled ‘War is Back on the Menu,’ was of course the disastrous decision by the Trump Administration to launch an unprovoked war against Iran – both last June and again on February 28th.” (04/28/26)
“Former FBI director James Comey has been charged over a social media photo of seashells that officials say constituted a threat against US President Donald Trump. The photo, which was uploaded nearly a year ago, showed seashells arranged on a beach to spell out the numbers 8-6-4-7, which critics have interpreted as a threat to kill Mr Trump. The two-count indictment charges Mr Comey with knowingly and wilfully making a threat to ‘take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon’ Mr Trump, and with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.Mr Comey deleted the photo soon after it was uploaded, saying he did not realise some would [pretend it was] a call for violence.” (04/29/26)
“‘Gun control’ had chance after chance after chance to prove it could thwart Allen’s plans. And. It. Didn’t. Whoa … violent criminals don’t obey ‘gun control’ laws and private venue gun rules any more than they obey other kinds of laws and rules? Whodathunkit? It’s not that the laws and rules aren’t adequately enforced. The only way to reliably prevent Allen from traveling from LA to DC with guns would have been to force him to travel on foot and buck naked … after which he’d have almost certainly been able to buy a gun on the street if he wanted one.” (04/28/26)