“iogenes was one of the most iconic philosophers of ancient Greece. He roamed the streets of Athens in broad daylight carrying a lit lantern. When asked why he was performing such an unusual scene, Diogenes would reply that he was looking for an honest man. He never found one. More than two thousand years later, Diogenes’ questioning remains just as valid and relevant as much of the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers.” (08/21/26)
Source: Common Dreams
by Nancy Okail & Michael Paarlberg
“‘American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again’, declared the State Department in a new video tying, somewhat improbably, the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 to killing people on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific 200 years later. Blowing up speedboats supposedly to stop fentanyl smuggling (which notably does not come to the US on speedboats) appears senseless. As a counter-narcotics strategy, it is ineffective, an assessment echoed by the DEA. The performative violence overshadows its role in building a new US policy towards the hemisphere: acts of murder as a tool to create permanent structures of US dominance and extraction.” (08/22/26)
“The most recent stupidity generated in Santa Fe is an attack on various satirical publications. Most notably, the Babylon Bee. As reported by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), New Mexico has joined two other States in requiring warnings on all AI-generated political content, and on prohibiting such content within a certain window of time before elections. (We are unsure and were not able to confirm which two States are similar, but suspect it is California and Hawai’i. Although other source suggest it is Texas and Colorado.) But what we did discover is that the problem is far more than just three States.” (08/21/26)
“Harp’s letters are intimate, obsessive, tinged with romance and a slavish devotion to the man currently laying waste to the American republic. They are the sign of someone who, if not in love, is undeniably taken with Trump in a way that goes beyond even the intensities of schoolgirl adoration. As one commenter put it, her writing is ‘not a love letter, it’s a cult devotional.’ The love question, at least in its physical dimension, strikes me as a superficial concern anyway. I agree with commentators like Jonathan V. Last that this is almost certainly not a sexual relationship. I have argued previously that the psychosexual unmooring of the American right is a central part of our descent into authoritarianism. The obsession with Trump himself has often veered into a set of lurid, fantastical projections.” (08/22/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by George Leef
“When Jimmy Carter ran for president in 1976, he received support from the teachers’ unions, and to pay them back, he pushed for the Department of Education as a means to help the unions solidify their control and squeeze out more money than they could get just from states and localities. There was no public demand for federal meddling in education — this was pure, special-interest politics. … When Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1830, he noted in his famous book Democracy in America that the level of literacy here was amazingly high, without any government involvement. How, then, did what we call ‘public education’ get started?” (08/21/26)
“It has not been a banner summer for the United States. The country is mired in a war with Iran with no graceful exit opportunities; a new round of tariffs threatens to further disrupt fragile global trade relations; and the domestic economy faces inflation combined with paltry growth. President Donald Trump has not been a positive force for the U.S. this year, and many of his administration’s policies don’t bode well for the future. But by weakening America, Trump may strengthen the rest of the world.” (08/21/26)
“The public’s confidence in higher education is falling rapidly. The share of the public that has confidence in higher education declined from 57% in 2015 to 38% in 2026. As colleges and their advocates try to win back the public’s confidence, one of their strongest arguments is that college is worth it for both students and for the country broadly. While it is true that a college education generally pays off for the typical student, there are a few problems with this view. The biggest, and most obvious, problem to note is that there are many predictable cases in which college is not worth it from a financial perspective.” (08/21/26)
“New Yorkers who pay close attention to such things have long understood why Gov. Hochul deserves her reputation for being the Waffler-In-Chief. Time and again, she’s revealed herself to be the consummate weather vane, shifting her stance on important matters depending on which way the wind is blowing. For novices interested in seeing a prime example, I recommend an article about an interview the governor gave last week to The New York Times. True to the Gray Lady’s political tilt to the left, the resulting article is puffery to the extreme. So, too, is a longer Saturday article where the paper goes to great lengths to separate Hochul from City Hall’s nasty and incompetent roll-out of the pied-à-terre tax.” (08/22/26)
“The Trump-connected Polymarket is likely helping gamblers with inside military information cash in on wars the president wages. According to Reuters, a report by the Anti-Corruption Data Collective found that 152 ‘exceptionally successful’ Polymarket wallets otherwise known as ‘Orcas’ may have traded on inside military information to place high-stakes bets on critical U.S. defense operations, including the June 2025 attacks on Iran. According to the non-profit research group, these wallets had a 97.2% success rate and won $8 million collectively. President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is an adviser for Polymarket. 1789 Capital, his venture capital firm, invested in the platform soon after it was founded. Moreover, Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric Trump, continue to profit from defense industry investments as the war with Iran continues.” (08/21/26)
“During the French Revolution, authorities in Paris turned to ‘a series of ventures in price-fixing and food control’ to ensure people did not go hungry. It didn’t work as planned.” (08/21/26)
