Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“The underlying drivers were never mysterious. Prime Minister Abiy’s centralizing ambitions, to say nothing of his authoritarian tactics and ethnic chauvinism, have understandably collided with Tigrayan and Amharan demands for security and autonomy. Eritrea, which fought alongside Ethiopian federal forces against the TPLF in the last war, has since turned hostile. Relations between Addis Ababa and its former province turned neighbor deteriorated sharply as Abiy began again to discuss openly Ethiopia’s dire need for cheap and secure Red Sea access – particularly through the Eritrean port of Assab.” (10/08/26)
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by Michael J Gerhardt & Michael Stokes Paulsen
“The failure of impeachment to meaningfully check corrupt or tyrannical presidents, because of partisan acquittals, may be the Constitution’s greatest modern failure. It is a betrayal of the principles that inspired the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” (10/08/26)
“With less than a month before the midterm elections, attempts by President Donald Trump and his administration to keep certain Americans from voting will likely continue. Voting is how we get an equal say in the decisions that impact our lives, regardless of race, disability, zip code, language, or income. That’s why we need to ensure that every eligible voter can cast their ballot free from fear, intimidation, or unnecessary barriers. Anti-democratic forces might dominate the headlines, but they have not dominated the outcomes. That’s important. Our democracy is strongest when voters can fully participate. Our elections are strongest when election officials can do their jobs free from political interference. And our future is strongest when Americans believe that their voice matters.” (10/08/26)
“In 2003, singer Barbra Streisand tried to remove aerial photos of her home from the internet. But her efforts to take down the images only drove more people to seek them out. Two decades later, the Streisand effect has become a kind of internet maxim: Trying to bury something often ends up amplifying it. Working with colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University and George Mason University, I wanted to explore how this phenomenon plays out – and whether it’s simply internet folk wisdom or something that can be backed up with data.” (10/08/26)
“A reviled ‘boligarch’ and his right-wing adversaries are engaged in a low-level war, but the only people who will feel the impact are the Venezuelan people.” (10/08/26)
“Billionaires haven’t done anything wrong merely by earning great wealth. Typically, they’ve done something right. They’ve been industrious and entrepreneurial and helped people improve their lives. Typically, they earn their billions; which, incidentally, they don’t stuff under a giant mattress but invest further. This doesn’t stop the [proposed California wealth] tax’s demagogic proponents, like Ro Khanna, from claiming that the interests of the ‘donor class’ are inherently opposed to those of the ‘working class.’ Khanna wants government to privilege one ‘class’ over the other. But as Dmitri Bolt points out, neither should get a government-enforced advantage.” (10/08/26)
“Benjamin Netanyahu likes to translate Israel’s grief into American. At the United Nations last month, he took the dead of October 7 and multiplied them by the ratio of America’s population to Israel’s. The 1,200 Israelis killed that day, he said, were ‘equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours. That’s 16 times 9/11.’ Per-capita comparisons are a perfectly legitimate tool. A small country feels a massacre more than a large one, and Americans should understand what October 7 meant to Israelis. But a method is only honest if you’re willing to apply it to everyone. So let’s apply Netanyahu’s method to the people his army has been killing for three years.” (10/08/26)
“You can draw a direct line from the price at the pumps to President Donald Trump, who started a wholly unnecessary war with Iran, and the congressional Republicans who have done nothing to stop it.” (10/08/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“As any follower of Austrian economics knows, lawmakers—in any form—are usually the enemies of free markets and the prosperity that they bring. However, there are times when legislators manage to outdo themselves and pass laws that are absolutely destructive, and the Jones Act is one of them. A number of people have explained that, with most government programs, ‘the benefits are concentrated and the costs are diffused,’ and probably no legislation better reflects that truism than the Jones Act, which benefits a small number of people but lays costs upon the vast number of Americans that must pay for this legislation.” (10/08/26)
‘Congress rejected constitutional alternatives in favor of remaking a nation. Abroad, as at home, lawmakers cannot manufacture preferred social outcomes simply by spending more money.” (10/08/26)
