“It is individuals who make moral choices. Even if they have been brainwashed by society, schools, or even parents, it is still ultimately their choice whether to act or refuse to act. Even if they are enslaved, assured of several punishment for disobeying their master(s), it is still a personal, individual decision. Organizations, even governments, have no morals of their own.” (08/05/26)
“According to a new report from Advancing American Freedom’s Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise, tariff lobbying revenues reached $9.9 million for the second quarter of 2026, a 690 percent increase over the same quarter in 2024 and a 956 percent increase over 2016 (pre-Trump) levels. The number of registered tariff lobbying disclosures has jumped 230 percent in just two years. At least 22 contracts listed ‘tariffs’ as their sole lobbying issue. The surge is not surprising. When the federal government arrogates to itself the power to decide who receives carve-outs and exceptions, it transforms a free and open market into a system of cronyism and influence currying.” (08/05/26)
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“Blowback isn’t just about war. It’s about the consequences of the rash, heedless and heartless decisions made every day by the actors of the American police state—and the fact that it is ‘we the people’ who will be paying the price for those terrible decisions for years to come. President Trump’s war with Iran is only the latest reminder that no government can bomb, threaten and police the world indefinitely without eventually bringing the consequences home. For months, the Trump administration has lurched between war and threatened war, massive bombing campaigns and aborted strikes, demands for surrender and claims that peace is imminent. There appears to be no coherent plan for ending the conflict. There is, however, a mounting bill—and it will be paid in American lives, American dollars, American security and American freedom.” (08/05/26)
“Every system people create takes effort to keep working. Someone must keep fixing the problems that otherwise pile up until the system fails. None are ‘set it and forget it.’ This is true for all systems of government: democracies, constitutional republics, monarchies, and communist dictatorships. It even applies in the absence of a system of government, as detractors of anarchy like to point out while they carefully ignore how the same applies to the system they prefer.” (08/05/26)
“Anne Davis is a psychotherapist who spent two decades counseling homeless people and patients with mental illness in Colorado. But when she moved home to Michigan — which has a severe shortage of counselors, social workers and therapists — it took more than a year for the state to allow her to get back to work. The state desperately needs therapists like Davis. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 3 million Michiganders live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals. The state is facing a shortage of therapists and psychiatrists. But Michigan’s licensing laws have made it difficult to fill these gaps. The Wolverine State’s struggle to attract mental health professionals is a symptom of the broader problems caused by America’s patchwork of occupational licensing laws.” (08/05/26)
“Let’s play a fun little game of ‘what does ‘sign’ actually mean’, shall we? Because Dr. Anthony Fauci just spent a Senate hearing invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times — one hundred and eleven, an Olympic gold medal in constitutional dodging — and buried underneath that spectacle is a question that’s far more interesting than anything Fauci actually said, which was, of course, nothing. Was his blanket pardon from Joe Biden even valid in the first place? And if it wasn’t, does the Fifth Amendment even apply to a man who might not be pardoned at all?” [editor’s note: Are McCullough’s paychecks signed by autopen? If so, is he going to return the money? – TLK] (08/05/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald
“We all have distinct needs and preferences. Some of us like pickup trucks; others like Priuses. Some of us demand Dunkin’ coffee (me!); others swear by Starbucks. Some of us prefer to live in the city; others in the suburbs. Some of us like to read mystery novels; others prefer science fiction. Some of us want one type of Airbnb experience; others prefer something else. We are all different, and that diversity is what makes our society so dynamic. It’s also why decentralization is crucial. No top-down policy could possibly satisfy all of our individual needs and preferences, and imposing such a policy would understandably breed discontent. … In education, we are thankfully starting to see the choice, variety, and abundance we enjoy in all other parts of our lives where market competition prevails. ” (08/05/26)
“Weather is local, weather that affects food production is local, therefore security of supply is gained by getting food from multiple local areas affected by different local weathers. Trade. We can go further too. Say that they’re right about this climate change thing. Weather is going to become more variable in each local area – this is indeed one of the predictions. That means that we must gain our food from many more local areas, local weathers, in order to have a consistent supply. The worse climate change is the more we not just desire but insist upon more trade in food. Climate change itself, that is, is the one single argument against local self-sufficiency in food.” (08/05/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“One point I will always adamantly insist on is that it’s entirely possible to live a joyful and exuberant life in the midst of this abusive dystopia. There’s a pervasive, unexamined notion throughout revolutionary politics that there’s some kind of nobility in being miserable. If it isn’t seen as noble, it’s at least seen as rational, because everything is so unjust and unhealthy. There’s a widespread assumption that your level of political awareness should have an inverse correlation to your level of personal happiness, because of all the tyranny, injustice, poverty, genocide and ecocide. That it would be selfish to be happy in a world so deeply troubled. But that’s rubbish. Nobody is helped by your misery. By depriving yourself of joy, you are only depriving the world of that much joy.” (08/05/26)
