“Thin-skinned and heavy-handed, the Trump administration apparently feels like it is being singled out by those who dissent from its policies. As a result, Trump appointees are taking drastic ‘McCarthy’ tactics to stop dissent. In less than one month, alleging that dissent and protests are part of attempts of other governments ‘to overthrow the government of the United States’, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sponsored two major initiatives to frighten those who oppose the Trump administration’s policies. The first salvo was orchestrating a conference with 60 countries participating over ‘Threats From Left-Wing Terrorists’. The second was the report on Cuba that alleged virtually every group that has ever visited Cuba is paid by the Cuban government.” (08/05/26)
“Many studies show how valuable telemedicine is, especially in underserved areas and critical care settings where specialists are scarce. I welcome these innovations and use many of them daily. I am convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) will become one of the most important tools doctors have ever had. Recent reviews also suggest that AI will help doctors make decisions, not replace them. Still, no matter how advanced our tools get, they should help us do our jobs better, not change what our jobs are about.” (08/05/26)
“Not getting married and not having kids has never been a more universally available or attractive option for women than it is today. Men either need to make marriage and childbearing more attractive for women or be ready to use more state violence against women. Men can either increase their contribution to the household domestic labor and care work or force women at gunpoint into marrying them and having their kids.” (08/05/26)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Daniel Burnett
“How far can a university stretch the definition of harassment? Far enough to investigate a professor over the phrase ‘word salad,’ apparently. Just ask Richard Himelfarb, a political science professor at Hofstra University. During a Nov. 3, 2025, faculty meeting, Himelfarb thought his colleague, Jewish Studies Chair Santiago Slabodsky, has proposed a Jewish Studies course that contained too little Jewish content. So, during the meeting, Himelfarb described the proposal as rambling ‘word salad.’ In response, Slabodsky filed a harassment complaint, alleging the phrase ‘word salad’ is discriminatory against his accent and Latino identity. But instead of opening a dialogue, the university opened a harassment investigation.” (08/05/26)
“Despite being subjected to one of the most intensive bombing campaigns in modern history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has thus far failed to yield to any of the United States’ demands. There has been no regime change; no compromise on enrichment or the nuclear issue more broadly; no acceptance of conventional disarmament or an end to the so-called ‘axis of resistance;’ and no let-up of Iran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz. … Unfortunately, there are few signs this is winding down.” (08/05/26)
“In an era of political gridlock, at least one clear area of bipartisan common ground continues to exist — the desire for real healthcare price transparency. In fact, a 2025 poll showed 96% of Americans across the political spectrum are in favor of the commonsense idea that you deserve to know the price of healthcare before receiving it. And finally, tangible progress is being made in both chambers of Congress to build upon numerous executive orders and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules and make healthcare price transparency the law of the land. … It allows for better, more accurate price signals, empowering patients with key information that allows them to shop for non-emergent healthcare goods and services. It also puts public pressure on care providers to justify prices, which may or may not be reasonable.” (08/05/26)
“Analogies between individual and governmental conduct are no doubt hazardous, and have often been deprecated, for example by the modern monetary theorists, who think they are wiser than Adam Smith when he said: ‘What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.’ Of course, differences spring to mind. The credit of a family is unlikely to extend as far as that of a state …. No one, probably, would continue to lend to a family that had borrowed more than its annual income, mostly to continue to pay its current expenses, but there are large states where this has been the rule for many years. There is also a large difference between the virtues of individuals and the virtues of states.” (08/05/26)
“The mayor of New York City, commie Mamdani, is trying to raise more money to pay for his socialism.
One scheme is to punish owners of a second home by imposing a so-called ‘pied-à-terre tax,’ a tax on the second residence of wealthy New Yorkers above and beyond regular property taxes. Now, the assumption that anybody with a second home, or an expensive second home in an expensive property market, must be rolling in liquid funds is faulty. The notion that if you have more wealth than somebody else it should be taken from you? Also faulty. The new tax bill is going to many New Yorkers with only one home. And the website set up (speaking loosely) to permit challenges of the designation of one’s home as a pied-à-terre is proving nightmarish to navigate.” (08/05/26)
