Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“When [Samuel] Tunick arrived at the airport, he was taken aside for special interrogation, where his luggage and his diary were subjected to careful search. They then asked for his cell phone, claiming that Tunick was suspected of possessing child pornography. It was a lie. According to an article at CNN.com, during a court hearing last week, officials admitted that they had no reason to suspect that Tunick possessed child-abuse material. They just made it up, knowing that nothing would happen to them if they were caught lying to an American citizen. Here comes the funny part. Tunick turned over his cell phone to them and gave them the password — well, not his regular password but instead a special password. When they punched in the special password, it activated software that automatically wiped the entire cellphone clean. All data gone. Poof! That is absolutely awesome.” (08/03/26)
“Myanmar’s detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi met the nation’s Red Cross representative on Monday, the president’s office said, the first publicised meeting between her and a foreign official since she was ousted in a 2021 coup. The military deposed Suu Kyi in February 2021, jailing the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and triggering an ongoing civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people on all sides. … She was detained on a host of charges which rights groups say were concocted to sideline her and her popular National League for Democracy party. The president’s office said in a statement that Arnaud de Baecque, the resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Myanmar, met Suu Kyi on Monday morning.” (08/03/26)
“Israel and Laura Loomer’s opposition to Nazism is not consistent. While she frequently labels critics of Israel’s influence in America as Nazis or the ‘Woke Reich,’ she downplays the genuine ideological Neo-Nazism of the Azov Battalion. Likewise, the Israeli government has formed strong ties with the Azov Brigade. Regardless of whether the Brigade has stopped using Neo-Nazi symbols and rhetoric publicly, the idea that the entire organization has simply abandoned their deeply held political beliefs is absurd. Ultimately, Zionists seem to view the Azov Brigade, and the Ukrainian government in general, as ‘our Nazis.'” (08/03/26)
“The picture shows a group of leading MAGA rebels who have clashed with President Donald Trump seated around a wooden table, smiling as they pose for the camera in exile. Included in the gathering: Media personality Tucker Carlson, former Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie and former Trump administration counterterrorism official Joe Kent. … Carlson said in a recent interview that ‘I’m going to help build a third party.’ Democrats and Republicans are in ‘lockstep’ on war in the Middle East and other issues, Carlson said, adding the government should focus on ‘the welfare of its own people.’ Greene previously said she is ‘in talks’ to launch a new party.” (08/03/26)
“The year 1776 is notable for new beginnings. But it also saw the death of one of the greatest philosophers in the Western tradition. David Hume (1711–76) is often described by ideological labels such as liberal or conservative, as well as eighteenth-century party names (Whig and Tory). But these labels obfuscate Hume’s intentions. Neither an ideologue nor a party man, Hume thought about politics primarily as a philosopher searching for true answers. When we approach him first and foremost as a political philosopher, we are in a better position to revive and understand his substantial contributions to political thought.” (08/03/26)
“A Swiss geologist and a local miner were killed on Thursday in the Central African Republic, north of the capital, Bangui, according to a statement from the local public prosecutor’s office on Monday. Luca Maggini and the miner were kidnapped by unidentified men in the evening and later killed, according to Frédéric Pounou, a geologist who was working alongside Maggini when he was kidnapped. … The attack occurred near the village of Gbango-Carriere, 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Bangui, and also resulted in the kidnapping of a staff sergeant in the Central African Army, according to the public prosecutor’s statement.” (08/03/26)
“‘I don’t feel safe going,’ Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently shared about her decision to skip the Michigan Democratic Party state convention later this month. ‘I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at.’ It’s a gathering of her own political party!” (08/03/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Stephen Anderson
“US farms and ranches face rising debt in 2026. New York based Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) released an article on February 25, 2026, entitled, ‘Farm Debt on the Rise as Federal Aid Counters Rising Expenses.’ The article described this federal government intervention from the Austrian economics viewpoint encouraged rising farm debt from federal aid. This article will cover US soybean farmers impacted by US government interventions described as aid programs. … Billions of dollars in annual payments seem small compared to other annual federal government entitlement programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. This aid program or waste annually harms US farmers and ranchers from being able to operate on their own and let free market pricing operate freely and voluntary exchange happen by human action.” (08/03/26)
“In April, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen separately introduced legislation that they promised would help with the affordability crisis. Booker’s bill, the Keep Your Pay Act, would erase income taxes for taxpayers who make less than $75,000; Van Hollen’s bill, which Booker has co-sponsored, would do the same but only for incomes below $46,000. The two Democrats, both of whom are rumored to be considering presidential runs, probably figured their legislation was a slam-dunk idea. After all, who doesn’t love a tax cut? But then something possibly unexpected happened: The left [sic] pushed back.” (08/03/26)
