“It’s a well-worn cliche in the legal world that prosecutors have so much clout in the grand jury room that they could indict a ham sandwich. The currency of this quote only soared in value when the man who first uttered it, a New York State top judge named Sol Wachtler, was subsequently indicted himself. And maybe the US Justice Department still could indict a ham sandwich. But a salami hoagie from Subway is apparently a bridge too far. I am talking, of course, about the now notorious Washington, DC case against the man commonly known as ‘Sandwich Guy’ — a now-former Justice Department paralegal (yes, the irony) named Sean Dunn whose anger at the federal surge of law-enforcement officers backed by National Guard troops in the nation’s capital boiled over last month.” (09/04/25)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Alexis Hancock
“Advocates of digital ID often use a framework they call the ‘Triangle of Trust.’ This is usually presented as a triangle of exchange between the holder of an ID … the issuer of an ID … and the verifier of an ID …. This triangle implies that the issuer and verifier — for example, the government who provides the ID and the website checking your age — never need to talk to one another. This theoretically avoids the tracking and surveillance threats that arise by preventing your ID, by design, from phoning home every time you verify your ID with another party. But it also makes a lot of questionable assumptions …” (09/04/25)
“In its various forms, media can be seen as a means of directing collective attention. For example, a sensational story, a broad campaign, or a mind virus can focus public attention and emotional energy on a specific concept or cause. These coalesce and strengthen a resultant set of thought patterns, and people start to think, speak, and act in malevolent synchrony. An egregore is born. When enough people hold such patterns in place of truth or good, they become dangerous. The resulting mass belief has a kind of agency. In a manner of speaking, it lives.” (09/04/25)
“After markets closed Wednesday, financial news sites were full of talk about a ‘global bond rout.’ The headlines were over the top: long-term interest rates were up, but not all that much. Call it ‘Apocalypse Not Yet.’ And as I write this, rates have retreated again in the aftermath of a jobs report that strongly suggests a weakening labor market. Still, market movements since Donald Trump announced that he was (probably illegally) firing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors offer a preview of what to expect if the courts allow Trump to destroy the Fed’s independence. Spoiler: Not good.” (09/04/25)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“With U.S. gross debt now at a staggering $37 trillion — roughly equivalent to the combined debt of all other major advanced economies — Washington is trapped in a fiscal doom loop of its own making. Decades of bipartisan overspending have pushed the nation to a point where a mere 1% increase in mean Treasury interest rates adds $370 billion to annual debt service costs. The arithmetic is unforgiving. Yet, Donald Trump’s second administration is doubling down, pursuing policies that risk accelerating the crisis.” (09/04/25)
“Over the Labor Day weekend, instead of enjoying the last days of summer with family and friends, Democrats and other Trump-deranged folk had nothing better to do than indulge in sick fantasies about the president’s death. Hashtags like #trumpisdead and #whereistrump trended on X, with countless TikToks, Google searches and posts saying ‘TRUMP DIED’ garnering millions of likes and views. This was not a harmless meme or politics as usual. It was seeded by anonymous left-wing social media accounts and amplified by journalists and influencers to create a permission structure to fantasize about Trump’s demise. Despite photos of Trump golfing with his grandchildren and his numerous long missives on Truth Social — including about the landscapers who ruined the new limestone paving in the Rose Garden — the rumor went viral.” (09/04/25)
“While the public’s attention this summer has been drawn to masked ICE agents arresting folks without warrants, presidentially imposed sales taxes on goods emanating from foreign countries that have been invalidated by three federal courts, and the fruitless Kabuki dance between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last month, the federal government continues its slow assault on the Constitution at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” (09/04/25)
Source: Liberal Currents
by Jason Kuznicki & Scott Starin
“We were having dinner with two former NASA employees, both good friends of ours, when we learned that President Donald Trump had just designated Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy interim NASA administrator. Duffy’s response, posted on X, was typical of so much else that we’ve seen from the Trump administration: ‘Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch.’ Duffy’s few words sum up almost everything about NASA under the Trump administration. They promise bravado, but it’s hard not to notice that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” (09/04/25)
Source: CounterPunch
by John W Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead
“Donald Trump has always been a master of imagery. From his red MAGA hats to his choreographed rallies, he understands the language of spectacle. Now he has discovered the perfect propaganda machine: AI-generated images. AI allows the creation of endless variations of Trump-as-warrior, Trump-as-enforcer, Trump-as-savior. These images spread across social media, replicated, remixed, and shared until they become familiar, even normalized. The latest AI-generated images of Trump, shared on his social media accounts, depict him in the militarized black uniform of a SWAT officer, or in police dress blues. These memes are carefully crafted signals of how Trump envisions power in America.” (09/04/25)
