Source: The American Conservative
by Branko Marcetic
“Trump has effectively put himself into a trap. On the one hand, Iran is determined to inflict pain on the United States and refuses to negotiate again, which means he cannot easily pull out without both personally looking weak and making the United States as a whole appear to have suffered a defeat. On the other hand, the longer the war goes on, the more Americans will die, the more the economy comes under strain, and the greater the likelihood that he is pressured into the politically toxic move of sending in ground troops or otherwise escalating U.S. involvement. In other words, to salvage his presidency in a year where many Republicans’ political futures are tied to his, Trump needs a way out of the war that will let him save face while also letting the Iranians claim a victory. This week’s War Powers Resolution vote offers exactly this chance.” (03/04/26)
“I don’t fear your liberty. Since liberty is the freedom to do everything you have a right to do, and nothing you have a right to do can violate me (or anyone else), I want you to exercise your rightful liberty every day of your life, all the time, without the fear of legislation enforcers and freelance creeps trying to stop or punish you. Then, I want the same for myself. I wish more people felt as I do. The world would be a better place if that were the case. If you are free to exercise your liberty, you’ll probably be happier. You’ll definitely be more mature and responsible. If not at first, soon. You’ll learn. People can’t learn to be responsible while being treated like children under the fist of an abusive parent.” (03/04/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard
“Phony piety has long been one of America’s top political exports. President Barack Obama, in a 2015 speech to the African Union, the organization of the African heads of state, derided nations that institute ‘democracy in name, but not in substance.’ But Obama’s finger wagging could not expunge how the U.S. government had long propped up Africa’s most oppressive governments. In the 1990s, Africa saw a surge of democracies in areas that for centuries had known little except kings, tyrants, or colonial conquerors. While democracy is often touted as the best way to strengthen civic bonds, representative government has too often been a horror show in Africa.” (03/04/26)
“A bicycle doesn’t require a license, registration, insurance or fuel. You don’t need an app or a subscription. You just get on and go. In an era when your car can track where you drive and report it to your insurance company, the freedom a bicycle offers is appealing. It is a form of transportation available to children, grandparents, minimum-wage workers, and anyone with legs and a sense of balance. Bicycles offer genuine freedom of movement in a world that offers less of it every year. E-bikes extend that freedom. Those who can’t manage hills anymore can ride again. Someone who lives a little too far from work for a regular bike suddenly has another option for the commute. E-bikes make the world bigger for more people. But policymakers are hard at work designing regulations that curtail this freedom.” (03/04/26)
“President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to overthrow foreign leaders not seen since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in Iraq more than two decades ago, but he has yet to try to occupy and pacify another country militarily on that scale. That is why so far, none of Trump’s military actions have spiraled out of control like Iraq did, which raises questions about whether he can continue this pattern in Iran. It’s the occupation that turns a swift military action into a forever war. Trump tends to strike decisively and then quit while he is ahead, as evidenced by last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran, the toppling of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and the bombing of Syria.” (03/03/26)
“Published on March 2, an open letter signed by over 400 computer scientists from around the world cautions that ‘those deciding which age-based controls need to exist, and those enforcing them gain a tremendous influence on what content is accessible to whom on the internet.’ They add that ‘this influence could be used to censor information and prevent users from accessing services.’ Even short of the most authoritarian controls, they warn, age-verification mandates encourage centralization and favor large companies and services over smaller providers. The computer scientists aren’t just responding to California’s law. Age-verification requirements are spreading across the world.” (03/04/26)
Interview with Jonathan Cowen. Cowen: “We are now in the middle of a multiyear campaign to get someone more moderate nominated for president, and to make sure to try to block a left-wing candidate. Our view is that parties change direction around their presidential candidates, not around anything else. So, we wanted to gather people around the candidates who could roughly fall in our lane, not the far-left lane, alongside the people from early primary states and the people from battleground states, and get them into a place where two things can happen. One: We can make our case about what direction the party should go in. Two: They can spend lots of time with each other.” (03/04/26)
“The anti-Trump coalition in the United States is broad, spanning the political spectrum from establishment conservatives and libertarians to social democrats, progressives, liberals, and those who prefer to avoid politics altogether. The breadth of this coalition is both its strength and its weakness. A coalition against the current president and administration has the numbers to win any national election, just so long as everyone votes together. But the same coalition can be easily divided over policy: over tax rates, over how to rein in ICE, over policies to address racial inequality, and anything else. In other words, the anti-Trump coalition is a negative coalition, defined by what it opposes rather than what it supports.” (03/04/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Iran is better than the United States. The United States is worse than Iran. This is true not because Iran is especially good, but because the United States is especially evil. Iran isn’t blanketing a major metropolis with military explosives, killing over a thousand people including hundreds of children. The United States is doing this with its partner in crime Israel. Iran isn’t continuously bombing and invading countries around the world, toppling governments, circling the globe with hundreds of military bases, targeting civilian populations with siege warfare and brandishing nuclear weapons at its enemies in the name of securing planetary domination. Only the United States is. The US empire is the single most murderous and tyrannical power structure on earth, by an extremely massive margin. No one else comes anywhere remotely close.” (03/04/26)
“Gen Z uses AI for everything. It’s embedded in apps for everything from social media and messaging to music and podcasts, it fills the role that search engines played only a few years ago, and it’s even common in online dating. The majority of Gen Z uses AI at home, at school, and at work every month, if not every day. In fact, nearly three in ten U.S. teens report using AI chatbots daily, according to a new report from Pew Research Center. But just because Gen Z uses AI doesn’t mean they like it. Despite its omnipresence—or even because of it—Gen Z has a complicated, ambivalent relationship with AI.” (03/04/26)
