“A bad idea doesn’t get better with age. Bad ideas aren’t wine, jeans, or your high school memories. The tax subsidies for the Post-Dispatch building redevelopment in downtown St. Louis were a bad idea back in 2019 when the development was proposed, and they are a bad idea now. Using tax subsidies for economic development rarely benefits the public. Instead, it lowers the risk and increases the returns for private investors.” (03/27/26)
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded solid-fuel engine for weapons capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and called it a significant development boosting his country’s strategic military arsenal, state media reported Sunday. While the test was in line with Kim’s stated goal of acquiring more agile, hard-to-detect missiles targeting the U.S. and its allies, some experts speculate North Korea’s claim may be an exaggeration. Missiles with built-in solid propellants are easier to move and conceal their launches than liquid-fuel weapons, which in general must be fueled before liftoffs and cannot last long. The official Korean Central News Agency reported Kim watched the ground jet test of the engine using a composite carbon fiber material. It said the engine’s maximum thrust is 2,500 kilonewtons, up from about 1,970 kilonewtons reported in a similar solid-fuel engine test in September.” (03/29/26)
“You host a website. Users can say whatever they want on this site. Next thing you know, a UK regulatory agency is sending you, an American organization based in the United States, a letter announcing a trillion-dollar fine for failure to comply with UK censorship demands. How much do you panic? If you’re 4chan, not much.” (03/27/26)
“Mongolia’s Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav resigned Friday after rising tensions within the ruling Mongolian People’s Party and a parliamentary boycott by the opposition. The parliament accepted Zandanshatar’s resignation. The opposition Democratic Party earlier this month launched a boycott of parliamentary activity, citing concerns over the concentration of power within the ruling party. There have been months of corruption allegations against Justice Minister Enkhbayar Battumur, a close ally of Zandanshatar, who has not been accused.” (03/27/26)
“The central risk of AI is not that machines will become malevolent. It is that human incentive structures, amplified by scalable technology, outrun our ability to govern them.” (03/27/26)
“As analysts have emphasized, Tehran ‘gets a vote’ as to when this war ends, and it doesn’t plan to stop until the U.S. and Israel learn that attacking Iran comes with high costs and shouldn’t be repeated in the future. The U.S., unable to hammer out an agreement, has been hammering Iran to coerce it to the negotiating table. … The Trump administration misunderstands the nature of the problem. To end the war, it needs to get tough not with America’s adversary, but with its cobelligerent: Israel.” (03/27/26)
