“Poor Josh Hawley! Missouri’s senior senator is a simple man: All he wants is to pass populist-posturing America First laws taking aim at our dastardly elites. That’s what Republicans are into these days, right? Take congressional stock trading. Republican influencers have long shaken their fists (and not without reason) at lawmakers’ penchant for remarkably canny stock trades. So when Josh Hawley drew up a bill banning the practice, he surely thought he was hitting on both a policy and PR win. He even named it the PELOSI Act as a red-meat coup de grâce! What he certainly didn’t expect was the Truth Social response he got from Donald Trump. Apparently outraged that Hawley’s bill would also ban future presidents from trading stocks beginning in 2029, the president decried Hawley as a ‘second-tier senator’ who was ‘playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats.'” (07/31/25)
“Former President Barack Obama will not face charges for treason, sedition or any other crime in the wake of newly disclosed intel. Whether Obama’s actions, if true, meet the elements of a crime is, of course, one thing. But this is not the primary reason Obama has little to worry about. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claims newly uncovered documents show how Obama and intelligence officials worked during the 2016 presidential campaign to help elect former Secretary of State and Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. Gabbard contends that Obama’s director of national intelligence, FBI head and CIA knowingly used false and sketchy evidence and sources to help Clinton distract from the growing controversy over her unsecured basement server, a likely violation of the Espionage Act. They did so by concocting a fake attention-drawing scandal: Candidate Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the election.” (07/31/25)
“If what Israel is doing has nothing to do with actually defending the country, then it is simply guilty. If much of what it has been doing is legitimately related to self-defense, then it is simply not-guilty. Right? Maybe. But what if self-defense cannot be achieved without destroying Gaza utterly? Would that mean that the destruction of Gaza wasn’t genocide? That doesn’t seem right — the destruction happened, and if it gets even worse then what are we going to call it? So does that mean that genocide was justified on the grounds of self-defense, as self-defense can justify homicide? That might sound like an absurd idea, but before saying so, consider the narrative that your average middle-of-the-road Israeli or Israel-defender feels in their bones.” (07/31/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump is not a fan of sharks or the ocean. From gutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to seeking the expansion of offshore oil drilling and deep-sea mining while attacking wind energy, his view of our public seas is that they’ll make a good gas station and garbage dump. And, this view is reflected in his major legacy bill recently passed into law by the MAGA majority in Congress. But there’s been little discussion about how this bill will impact our public seas. So, we (Vicki Nichols Goldman and myself) spoke with George Leonard, former chief scientist with the Ocean Conservancy and an ocean policy consultant about what’s going on.” (07/31/25)
“There is a moral absolutism in which many on the modern left frame political issues in terms of absolute moral binaries, good versus evil, oppressed versus oppressor. This mindset can justify intolerance of dissent, as opposing views are seen not as just wrong but as immoral, harmful, and the expression of evil. This results in a tendency toward punitive social policing of language, beliefs, and even intent. There is an institutional authoritarianism because many public bodies now embed progressive ideologies through mandatory training, speech policies, and audits. DEI initiatives are an expression of this. These frameworks often leave little room for open debate or alternative perspectives.” (07/31/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“It has been The Project That Will Not Die. What began as a California statewide voter referendum in 2008 to approve initial funding for a high-speed rail system between San Francisco and Los Angeles has become a financial black hole with no railroad to show for it. Despite statements from Gov. Gavin Newsom that the system is fine, the Trump administration has announced it was pulling $4 billion from the project. … California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the state to sue for the money, claiming that the Trump administration was breaking a legal contract. No doubt, a friendly federal judge will order the money reinstated, but one doubts that after appeals, the California High Speed Rail Authority will win.” (07/31/25)
“In recent months, Afghanistan has been hit by what could soon be among the world’s largest forced displacements of people in the 21st century. Nearly 2 million Afghans, primarily living in Iran for years to avoid repression at home, have been pushed back across the border. A total of 5.9 million Afghans could arrive from both Iran and Pakistan by the end of the year, the United Nations projects. What’s more, international aid agencies say they can reach only about 10% of the deportees, a result of the hard-line, ruling Taliban restricting aid flows after taking power nearly four years ago. Yet as this tragedy of mass deportation unfolds – a result of a surge in anti-Afghan attitudes in Iran and Pakistan – thousands of people inside Afghanistan are turning the tables on the Taliban with acts of compassion.” (07/30/25)
“Can a government ever dictate health without distorting it? The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his role as Secretary of Health and Human Services, positions itself as a sweeping response to America’s chronic disease crisis. Framed as a populist health movement, MAHA seeks to overhaul the nation’s approach to nutrition, environmental toxins, and preventative care. … The Modern American Health Act (MAHA), advanced under RFK Jr.’s platform, marks a shift from nutritional suggestion to digitally enforced compliance. While framed as a path to wellness, it signals an unprecedented fusion of policy, personal data, and tech industry influence.” (07/31/25)
