Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
“Since this seems to be go-time for defending billionaires, you might as well jump on the bandwagon, too. I can’t guarantee you’ll get picked up by The Atlantic and appear alongside the Jonathans Rauch, Chait, and Haidt, or Ross Douthat — but it’s worth a shot. That’s why I’ve gone through an enormous body of hand-wringing literature by some of the most irritating people alive, scanned it for the points they share in common, and compiled this list of helpful hints for would-be bootlickers.” (08/08/26)
Typhoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year, made landfall on the country’s eastern coast on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds and triggering warnings of flooding and landslides. The typhoon has already swept through Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings. … Transport was widely disrupted across the east of the country and more than 1 million people were evacuated from their homes.” (08/09/26)
“Last month, as part of its 2027 budget, the D.C. Council approved a 20-cent fee on carrier-for-hire delivery services. While the fee applies to the delivery of a broad array of household goods, it has been primarily billed as a tax on food delivery, which provides a lucrative source of potential revenue for the District. D.C.’s new delivery tax is merely the latest example of governments targeting food with stealth tax increases in an effort to enhance government coffers. While the strategy may be tempting as a revenue grab, the losers are everyday Americans who are simply looking for a politician that actually can deliver on an affordability agenda.” (08/08/26)
“A new, minority chain created when BIP-110 supporters split from Bitcoin on Saturday has produced just two blocks roughly eight hours after going live, with no sign that any miner intends to keep it moving. … BIP-110, short for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-110, is a move to stop people storing pictures, text and other non-financial data inside bitcoin transactions for a year. Supporters say the practice can clog the network with material that has nothing to do with payments and pushes up costs for people actually sending money. Opponents argue that anyone paying the transaction fee has bought the right to use the space however they like, and that miners and node operators should not be deciding which transactions count as legitimate. … Only 2.53% of blocks signaled for BIP-110 over the past two weeks, against the 55% needed to activate it without a split.” (08/09/26)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Lucio Saverio Eastman
“Overall, progressives may seem very ‘smart’ from the perspective of status quo credentialism. But they tend to lack experience where it matters most: history, economics, objectivity, incentives, genetics, unintended consequences, moral hierarchy. The institutional progressive culture’s ideology is not a healthy path to governance. It’s the path we’ve seen so prevalent in today’s popular social hierarchy. A path full of loyalty tests, state machinery and ultimately, unbridled tyranny. History supplies the repeating and rhyming examples, but it is easily and sometimes wilfully forgotten.” (08/08/26)
“Yemen’s Tehran-aligned Houthis have claimed responsibility for an attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability caused by the US-Israel war on Iran. The attack early on Sunday came after Iran issued tough new demands to reopen the strait of Hormuz, and the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships had been targeted by an Iranian missile, as a deal to open the strategic waterway remained out of reach. … With Iran and the US still arguing over the parameters for peace, the Houthis last month declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, citing what they said was a Saudi siege on them, an allegation Riyadh denies.” (08/09/26)
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“As Ryan Bourne at the Cato Institute points out, consumer prices rose roughly 30-40% over the last six years. This price inflation is directly related to government money printing and excessive federal spending. Politicians argue about delivery apps to distract voters from bad monetary policy. The bottom line is that sound money and minimal state interference protect our bank accounts and keep inflation at bay.” (08/08/26)
“As we look ahead to Missouri’s 2027 legislative session, literacy reform is likely to be one of the top education issues. States like Mississippi and Louisiana have surged past Missouri on national reading assessments, particularly in the early grades. While these states have adopted several important reforms, two have been central to their success: improving literacy instruction and requiring students to demonstrate reading proficiency before advancing beyond the third grade.” (08/07/26)
