“A recent survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education found that a majority of Americans (57%) correctly recognize that the First Amendment protects hate speech from governmental regulation, punishment, or censorship — but 45% think that it should not be protected. The First Amendment makes no general exception for offensive, repugnant, or hateful expression. … speech by adults as free citizens does not lose First Amendment protection because it is considered hateful.” (09/16/25)
“The Russian owner of a cargo ship linked to a supply of ammonium nitrate at the centre of the massive Beirut port explosion in 2020 has been arrested in Bulgaria, Lebanese judicial officials said on Monday. The arrest of Igor Grechushkin comes nearly five years after a Lebanese investigative judge issued two arrest warrants through Interpol for him and the vessel’s captain, Boris Prokoshev, also a Russian national. The judicial officials said papers are being prepared requesting the transfer of Grechushkin to Lebanon for questioning. They said that if Grechushkin is not handed over, Lebanese investigators could travel to Bulgaria to question him there. The four Lebanese judicial officials said Grechushkin, who also has Cypriot nationality, was arrested last week at Vasil Levski Sofia airport after arriving on a flight from Cyprus.” (09/16/25)
“Sen. Kaine expressed his shock at something said by Riley Barnes, nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Mr. Barnes had confessed to the belief that ‘all men are created equal because our rights come from God, our Creator; not from our laws, not from our governments.’ Horrifying!” (09/16/25)
“While the praise for Kirk’s murder online was mostly reactionary and thoughtless, the calls for firing the (mostly powerless) people who said or posted about Kirk is different in one sense: Their kind of punch-down bullying is thought-out, thoroughly deliberate. Therefore, in that one sense, the right-wing dimwits calling for their pound of leftist flesh are worse than the leftist dimwits who posted that crap online in the first place. … Anyone seeking liberty should see this for what it is: A screen test of the two-minutes of Orwellian hate that will be used against people seeking liberty at the first opportunity.” (09/16/25)
“Google owner Alphabet on Tuesday announced a £5 billion ($6.8 billion) investment in the U.K.’s artificial intelligence development, just as the country prepares for U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit this week. … His visit is expected to coincide with a flurry of business deals. Google’s two-year investment will represent a welcome boost for Britain’s embattled Labour government. As part of the pledge, the U.S. tech giant announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art data center in Waltham Cross, approximately 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of central London. Google said the new facility will help meet the growing demand for the company’s AI-powered services like Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps.” (09/16/25)
“Georgia’s highest court has declined to consider Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’[s] appeal of her removal from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others. Citing an ‘appearance of impropriety’ created by a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case. … Willis said she disagreed with the court’s decision, but would direct her office to make the case file and evidence available to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia so it can appoint a new prosecutor to replace her. … A grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.” (09/16/25)
“The stereotypical drug user is a life-long addict. While stereotypes are usually good statistical approximations of the truth, I’ve long had the sense that this particular stereotype is false. The infamous heroin study, for example, found that the vast majority of U.S. soldiers who used heroin in Vietnam quit when they came home. Only recently, however, did I discover much more systematic evidence.” (09/16/25)
