Source: Brownstone Institute
by James Lyons-Weiler
“When Demetre Daskalakis resigned as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC, his letter to leadership carried a tone of finality and moral conviction. ‘Enough is enough,’ he declared, explaining that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s leadership had made it impossible for him to continue. The letter has been praised as principled, but when read closely it is less a defense of science than a portrait of the very rhetorical habits that drove the public away from CDC in the first place: appeals to authority, catastrophic predictions, ad hominem attacks, and factual distortions.” (08/29/25)
“What is the United States’ greatest achievement? Winning World War II? Landing a man on the moon? Hollywood’s global reach? For Dartmouth College historian and Episcopal priest Randall Balmer, all these accomplishments pale in comparison to a less celebrated but more enduring breakthrough: the separation of church and state. Few ideas, he argues, have done more to preserve both religious vitality and civic peace. In America’s Best Idea, Balmer offers a spirited defense of this foundational principle, contending that the First Amendment’s twin guarantees — no establishment of religion and free exercise thereof — have made the United States a uniquely fertile ground for religious pluralism and, in turn, a more virtuous and democratic citizenry.” (08/29/25)
“From Florida comes word that a State legislator is attempting to outlaw HOAs – Home Owners Associations. … All too often, the money is collected under the same threat of legal and law enforcement action that property taxes enjoy. And then the money is used to harass and otherwise abuse the members of the HOA: the homeowners or indirectly, the renters. Such matters as having a flag flying, leaving up Christmas decorations too long, leaving your garage doors open, or having a child set up a lemonade stand are prosecuted and fined.” (08/30/25)
“Death touches everyone – in the game of life, it’s undefeated. If you’re lucky, you get to live a lot of your life before it touches you, but it comes, and it never stops coming until you’re the one people are mourning. That may sound morbid, but it’s true. And no, I’m not dying – I mean, I am dying, we’re all dying, but I’m not about to die, at least as far as I know. But one of my family’s pets is, and that is really horrible. It will be the first time my children will be old enough to comprehend, and it has prompted me to think about many things. First, pets truly are the best. This cat was a 6-week-old girl when I got her 14 years ago; I’ll always remember the little head popping up from inside the carrying box when I got back to my apartment from the animal shelter in Baltimore.” (08/31/25)
“The American Bar Association is the gatekeeper for legal education in this country. Every state lets graduates of ABA-accredited schools take the bar exam to become lawyers. In many states, it is necessary to graduate from an ABA-approved school to become a lawyer. Unfortunately, the ABA has become not a guarantor of quality but an obstacle to innovation and a burden on legal education. Several states are reconsidering their preferential treatment of the association. … we must confront what has become increasingly clear: The ABA does not deserve this power over the training of American legal professionals.” (08/29/25)
“You can’t go a day without hearing politicians and commentators complain about the top 1, 10, or 20 percent. Those complaints seem to be backed up by government statisticians and parts of the economics and sociology professions. Dissenters are rarely invited on television and podcasts. The impression given, to which compassionate laypeople will be vulnerable, is that America is riddled with extreme, even obscene (so Bernie Sanders says) inequality. Is it true?” (08/29/25)
“So far at least 24 US states have sanctioned some form of ID verification, each with unique stipulations. Legislators argue that these laws are intended to keep minors safe from content deemed harmful to them. Critics say that argument doesn’t hold any weight because there are ‘easy solutions’ to the moral panic conservatives have created around the issue. They say the laws infringe on privacy rights and set an irreversibly dark precedent for the future of free speech. Perhaps even more terrifying is what it all signals: the death of the free web and an ushering in of a more puritanical version of America. That’s been a goal of Project 2025 all along.” (08/29/25)
Source: In These Times
by Dania Rajendra & Rebecca Vilkomerson
“Less than two minutes into Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic primary victory speech, he welcomed a former rival to the stage. ‘I want to thank Brad Lander,’ he said. The crowd took the cue and chanted, ‘Brad! Brad!’ Mamdani and Lander wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the upstart candidate for New York City mayor continued, ‘Together, we have shown the power of the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity.’ They raised their clasped hands, then embraced each other in a real, long hug. Mamdani and Lander wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the upstart candidate for New York City mayor continued, ‘Together, we have shown the power of the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity.’ They raised their clasped hands, then embraced each other in a real, long hug.” (08/31/25)
“We live on the dumbest timeline. I know this because millions of Americans believed that they had to vote for Donald Trump to avert a national descent into socialism — ‘It was him or the commies, right?’ — and so they sent the malignant little criminal back to the White House, where he went about … setting up state-owned enterprises in order to seize the means of production on behalf of the workers. It’s still more Idiocracy than Watchmen or 1984, but it’s all in the mix. If it were a series of shorts, it would be called Way More Than Three Stooges. ‘Don’t get so excited,’ the apologists say. ‘This is basically like the financial crisis, with the bailouts and General Motors.’ Oh, is that it? In the words of CFO Gial Ackbar: ‘IT’S A TARP!'” (08/29/25)
“A grand jury in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday declined to indict Sean Charles Dunn, a then-Justice Department employee who federal prosecutors allege committed a felony by assaulting a police officer when he threw a sandwich at a federal officer. Dunn is now set to appear in court on Sept. 4, at which point prosecutors can decide whether to present the matter to a grand jury again, amend it down to a misdemeanor or dismiss it outright. These events suggest the old adage that a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich may no longer be true. In fact, grand juries are increasingly pushing back against the Trump administration, especially in politically charged cases. As a former public defender, I learned that stand-alone counts of resisting, obstruction, interference and assault on an officer (absent injury) often stem from bad arrests. Perhaps grand jurors are now starting to embrace this sentiment, as well.” (08/28/25)
