Category: Opinion

Stop New York’s Attack on 3D Printing

Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Rory Mir & Nathan Sheard

“New York’s proposed 2026-2027 budget currently includes provisions that will require all 3D printers sold in the state to run print-blocking censorware — software that surveils every print for forbidden designs. This policy would also create felony charges for possessing or sharing certain design files. The vote on the state budget could happen as early as next week, so New Yorkers need to act fast and demand that their Assemblymembers and Senators strip this provision from the budget.” (04/16/26)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/stop-new-yorks-attack-3d-printing

Thomas L. Knapp

Hungary Defeated Authoritarianism and So Can We

Source: Waging Nonviolence
by Daniel Hunter

“On Sunday night, the streets of Budapest were filled. Tens of thousands of Hungarians poured into the streets along the Danube River, singing folk songs and waving flags celebrating the end of Viktor Orbán’s rule. A young man named Mark Szekeres, his face painted with the colors of the Hungarian flag, told CBC News: ‘This election was about a clash of civilizations. Either you belong in a Western-type democracy or an Eastern-type dictatorship.’ For 16 years, Orbán controlled the country as the classic strongman. Orbán’s electoral defeat was sound—so much so that he conceded defeat before all the votes were counted. Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party captured more than 53% of the vote and approximately 136 of 199 parliamentary seats, a supermajority decisive enough to undo the constitution and other laws that Orbán rewrote. The turnout alone was a verdict: nearly 80% of all eligible voters.” (04/16/26)

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2026/04/lessons-from-playbook-defeated-viktor-orban-hungary/

Steve Trinward

Patent Feud

Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman

“One of the things that has struck me, looking at a wide variety of legal systems past and present, is the important role of feud as a form of law enforcement. The logic of feud law is simple: If you wrong me I threaten to hurt you unless you compensate me for the wrong. In order for it to work, it requires some mechanism that makes my threat of hurting you more believable when you actually have wronged me than when you have not, in order to prevent the enforcement mechanism from being used for extortion. To put it differently, you need some mechanism such that right makes might. … Feud systems are not only a matter of historical interest; they still exist, de facto if not de jure. One current example is patent litigation among modern companies such as Apple and Samsung, two of the largest producers of cell phones.” (04/16/26)

https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/patent-feud

Thomas L. Knapp

The Illiberalism of the Local

Source: Liberal Currents
by Abdullah Ejaz

“In Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., Justice Sutherland handed local governments near-total power to reshape neighborhoods on the basis of taste and social preference, even likening an apartment block in a single-family area to ‘a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.’ That comparison mattered because it announced a new rule: you no longer had to show real, measurable harm to stop someone from using their property. Courts moved away from old nuisance laws that demanded evidence and replaced it with discretionary control over how places should look and who should live where.” (04/16/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-illiberalism-of-the-local/

Thomas L. Knapp

The Rehabilitation of Ed Muskie?

Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp

“US president Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order funding research into the possible benefits of ibogaine, CBS News reports. It will remain a ‘Schedule I’ drug, forbidden by law for you or me to just go pick up at the local pharmacy, but apparently Trump believes it’s worth looking into for use in treating PTSD and traumatic injury among American veterans. Good move, and good on Trump. It’s about time. Ibogaine’s been used abroad for decades to treat everything from substance abuse problems to depression. And therein lies a story. Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear …” (04/16/26)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20542

Thomas L. Knapp

High-minded help for nations low on fuel

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Japan, like much of Asia, which is highly reliant on Middle East oil and gas, announced Wednesday that it will provide $10 billion to many of its regional trade partners to find new supplies during the Strait of Hormuz crisis. As Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae put it, Asian countries ‘are mutually dependent’. Much of that money will go to Southeast Asia, where nations have reacted to the crisis by trying to revive a long-standing regional agreement to aid each other during a petroleum emergency. ‘What this crisis has confirmed is a structural truth: no single country in Asia can insulate itself from supply chain shocks of this scale by acting alone,’ said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.” (04/15/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0415/High-minded-help-for-nations-low-on-fuel

Steve Trinward

War and Trade Restrictions: Fallacious Paths to National Security and Prosperity

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Patrick Barron

“The US is ignorant of how to achieve two major goals: security and prosperity. Due to this ignorance, it has engaged in an undeclared war in the Middle East and has instituted protective tariffs at home. The war in the Middle East will not enhance American security, and the protective tariffs will cause economic harm at home, both completely opposite results of their authors’ intentions.” (04/16/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/war-and-trade-restrictions-fallacious-paths-national-security-and-prosperity

Thomas L. Knapp