“It is widely said that you are nothing but a political hack who sold out your previously professed beliefs about free expression and the rule of law for the short-term goal of being named FCC chairman, that you corrupted the agency’s nonpartisan purpose by focusing its efforts on punishing perceived critics of the Trump administration, and that you regularly prostrate yourself with cringe-worthy displays of servility to soothe the president’s fragile ego. All these things may be true. But the criticism is terribly unfair because it fails to acknowledge your substantive accomplishments. When the dust settles, it may turn out that you have done more than any FCC chairman since the agency’s creation in 1934 to advance full First Amendment protection for the broadcast medium.” (08/27/26)
“It is not every day that a company can settle a case for over $16 billion and celebrate. However, Meta’s settlement with 29 states is a remarkably good deal for a company facing a demand of over $1.4 trillion and years of litigation. In the end, it may not even take a loss from the litigation. The settlement ends the latest mass liability case, following similar settlements in tobacco, opiates, and other products. It will require Meta to make changes to its platform, though the company already appeared to be moving to make such changes. The maximum payment of closer to $17 billion is tied to whether competing platforms (like TikTok and YouTube) adopt parallel protections for children. Otherwise, the company is on the hook for at least $12.1 billion over 10 years under the agreement.” (08/27/26)
“A clear indicator that Trump sycophants realize that they are caught in reality’s snare is how they respond to any question about current economic difficulties. Their first sentence almost always contains the word ‘Biden’, as they make the false claim that things were worse under Joe Biden, or that Biden somehow caused all of our current problems (including high gas prices and depleted munitions), or that Biden left an economy in shambles. Call it a bad case of Biden derangement syndrome, a desperate and utterly transparent attempt to shift the blame for the gratuitous mess that Trump and his minions have made.” (08/27/26)
“World War II ended when America dropped the atomic bombs named ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’ on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese died in an instant and of radiation poisoning over the subsequent years. Several American politicians, military brass, and university academics advocated for preemptive war against Russia to prevent it from acquiring nuclear bombs. Francis Matthews, Secretary of the Navy, advocated becoming ‘aggressors for peace.’ The mathematician John von Neuman, who was a pioneer in game theory, remarked: ‘If you say bomb them tomorrow, I say why not bomb them today?'” (08/27/26)
“This week, the argument over Lebanese sovereignty became concrete on a ridge overlooking Nabatieh. The New Arab reported on August 24 that Washington is pressing for the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge, where Hezbollah fighters are present, to be transferred to the Lebanese Army in exchange for Israeli withdrawal. The same area has been subjected to repeated Israeli shelling. In one small patch of southern Lebanon, the larger problem is suddenly hard to hide: Beirut is being asked to move first, while the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanese territory remains the inducement offered in return. That pressure did not begin this week. Reuters reported in July 2025 that Washington was pressing Lebanon to make a formal cabinet commitment to disarm Hezbollah before talks could continue on halting Israeli military operations.” (08/27/26)
“Both Dolly and Donald are American originals. But to say ‘there will never be another Dolly’ is to do so with regret. To say the same about Trump is, for many Americans, to do so with hope for the country and Constitution. She was a fairy tale version of the American dream, born in a one-room mountain cabin, ever humble and true to her roots yet serenaded after her death by royal troops playing ‘9 to 5’ outside Buckingham Palace. He was born entitled and rich, yet embodies that old American saying ‘born on third base and thinks he hit a home run.’ Safe to say Trump won’t be honored abroad with serenades on his passing, given how fully he has alienated allies. Dolly’s philanthropy was real and global; the Trump Foundation was fraudulent and forced to shut down. She was no dumb blond; about him you’ll get an argument.” (08/27/26)
“When a crime consists of nothing but handing a police officer or an informant something in exchange for money, the evidence often consists of nothing but that purported buyer’s word, along with drugs that easily could have been obtained through other means. This situation invites dishonest cops to invent drug offenses and take credit for the resulting arrests, as [Gerald] Goines did for years with impunity. When your job is to create crimes by arranging illegal drug sales, it is not such a big leap to create crimes out of whole cloth, especially if you are convinced that your target is a drug dealer.” (08/27/26)
“Much of the self-help movement is focused on improving self-image. Ayn Rand’s former acolyte Nathaniel Branden developed his whole philosophy of psychology around the idea of self-esteem. And for many years he gave a three day intensive workshop, a group therapy event called Self-Esteem and the Art of Being. I took these Intensives twice, gaining additional insights into my own psyche both times. But Ayn Rand is naive to believe that simply studying and adopting a new philosophy will change the subconscious.” (08/27/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“Following Britain’s vote to leave the EU, both easyJet and Ryanair were told by Brussels that they needed to relocate their headquarters and/or sell the majority of their shares to EU citizens in order to keep operating across the continent. easyJet solved the problem by opening a European office in Vienna, although its overall base of operations has remained in Luton, 30 miles north of London. New York-based Apollo has revealed few details about how it proposes to adhere to Europe’s airline ownership regulations, under which its stake is capped at 49.9%. Some aviation experts have noted that Apollo could satisfy Brussels by leaving majority voting rights with EU stakeholders, but still restructure or break up the airline to gain overall economic control.” (08/27/26)
