Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“For several years now, reports Reclaim the Net, lawmakers have been trying to pass legislation to require Americans to provide ID to do many of things on the Internet we can now do anonymously. In 2024, the bill — with the cuddly name of Kids Online Safety Act, it prompts us to ask, what brute would want kids to be unsafe online? — passed in the Senate but failed in the House. The Hill reports that ‘concerns over censorship and freedom of speech prevented it from ever hitting the House floor.’ The Senate bill doesn’t mandate age verification directly. But it does require the FTC … to determine ‘whether a reasonable and prudent person under the circumstances would have known that the user is a minor.’ How could platforms avoid liability for sure without imposing some kind of ID verification on all users?” (10/06/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/10/06/not4the-swift/

Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann

“One of the most useful things to know about modern politics is that no reform ever happens until it becomes a threat to the re-election chances of politicians in power. The reason it works that way is because of the bad incentives politicians have. The system they’ve built for themselves rewards them for keeping the political gravy train going as smoothly as possible. It’s only when reality catches up to them that they encounter the ultimate rule that forces them to reform: Stein’s Law, which states, ‘If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.'” (10/06/260

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/10/06/steins-law/

Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander

“I agree that in-person debates are confrontational and bad for truth-seeking. But I didn’t propose a debate in order to seek truth. I proposed it because, under California Penal Code § 415(1), it’s illegal for me to challenge you to a duel. I think your public writing on this topic has been dishonorable. Out of obligation, I will respond to the meaty arguments that you have set out for me. But what would be viscerally satisfying would be to make you get up on a stage where I read your own words to you in real time and ask “Really? Really?” after each sentence. … I’ll start by addressing the meaty arguments, move on to directly impugning your honor, and then we’ll decide whether to debate, duel, or seek some kind of synthesis of our conflicting views.” (10/06/26)

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/an-open-letter-to-steven-pinker-on

Source: The UnPopulist
by Tad DeHaven

“The administration is running a television advertisement in which President Trump says, ‘Together we will defeat communism, socialism, and Marxism in America.’ Government-financed propaganda promoting an unpopular head of state is something one might associate with a communist country. The irony doesn’t end there. The ad’s target is the Democratic Party and its leftward shift, as evidenced by its ‘democratic socialism’ problem. Yet it is Trump himself who has unlocked the door the left has long sought to open: the normalization of government ownership of private companies.” (10/06/260

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/donald-j-trump-the-dsa-president