“He might be the most well-read person I know. He’s a scholar who has studied authoritarianism for decades, but he’s also an activist who has provided aid and support for dissident movements fighting authoritarian governments dating back to the Cold War — at times at some risk to himself. Because of that work, he’s seen the abuses of authoritarian states firsthand. So he’s been scornful over the years when Americans have hyperbolically likened their political opponents to Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pinochet, or some other totalitarian figure. I suspect that once you’ve seen real authoritarianism on the ground, that sort of posturing probably seems insulting. In other words, I’ve always found him to be a sober realist about these things. So at the conference I asked him straight up, on a scale of one to ten, how worried he is about what’s happening in the U.S. right now.” (08/26/25)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
“Welfare is the common term for government relief and assistance programs for low-income Americans, although the word itself has largely been displaced from government documents. The two terms generally in vogue now are income security and entitlement programs. These are programs that provide benefits to any American citizen who qualifies. The programs are open-ended. Instead of spending levels being set every year by congressional appropriation bills, the federal government must spend as much money as necessary to provide benefits to everyone who qualifies for them. … These programs are just as much welfare programs as any of the means-tested welfare programs and should be called as such, for welfare by any other name is still welfare.” (08/26/25)
“Recent headline: ‘Judge Releases Illegal [sic] Migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.’ Another: ‘Trump Administration Seals Landmark Deal: U.S. Government Holds 10% Stake in Intel.’ I didn’t vote for illegal [sic] criminals to remain in the country, nor did I vote for a government takeover of business. One illegal [sic] criminal in the country is one too many, and one-tenth of government ownership of Intel is one-tenth socialism, and that’s 100% too much. But we get the government we deserve. We, the people, have let the country head towards the toilet, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.” [editor’s note: Nice try at fobbing off blame to people who never supported his idiotic ideas. No sale – TLK] (08/26/25)
“For the purposes of containing China’s influence and aggressive behaviour across the Indo-Pacific theatre, there is no more important partner for the US than India. And vice versa. Unfortunately, that strategic partnership is under threat from an explosive combination of American arrogance and unilateralism and Indian hubris and prickliness. There is no future in attempts to ground the relationship by relegating India to a US vassal state instead of a respected partner. Matters have not been helped by the propensity of the two countries’ leaders to braggadocio and narcissism.” (08/26/25)
“Even with record-higher per-student spending, the broken status quo has left 1 in 5 Americans is functionally illiterate. Schools refuse to reform.” (08/26/25)
“With the Trump administration rolling back essential health insurance protections and rejecting a national, single-payer health insurance program, America’s race to the bottom continues full steam ahead for millions of Americans with preexisting health conditions. The administration will now amend the Biden-era rule that limited the duration of short-term plans to no more than four months, and says it will not enforce the current rule, including the time restrictions and new consumer notification requirements, in the interim. It is refusing to enforce a Biden-era rule limiting junk short-term health plans that are notorious for charging more or denying coverage altogether for people with conditions like asthma, diabetes, and cancer.” (08/26/25)
“What did the president know, and when did he know it? That used to be the eventual question for most administrations. When it comes to former President Joe Biden, however, the question is: Did the president know much of anything?” (08/26/25)
“As Sina Toosi has rightly argued before, Israel is a liability. This isn’t a case where the U.S. has compelling interests at stake that require it to continue supporting a terrible client. U.S. interests dictate putting much greater distance between our countries. The prudent course of action is for the U.S. to disentangle itself from its client1 as much as it possibly can. That means an end to subsidizing Israel’s defense and a halt to any future weapons transfers, and it definitely means no more shielding Israel from the consequences of its own aggressive actions.” (08/26/25)
“AI psychosis (NYT, PsychologyToday) is an apparent phenomenon where people go crazy after talking to chatbots too much. There are some high-profile anecdotes, but still many unanswered questions. For example, how common is it really? Are the chatbots really driving people crazy, or just catching the attention of people who were crazy already? Isn’t psychosis supposed to be a biological disease? Wouldn’t that make chatbot-induced psychosis the same kind of category error as chatbot-induced diabetes? I don’t have all the answers, so think of this post as an exploration of possible analogies and precedents rather than a strongly-held thesis.” (08/26/25)
Source: Chris Matthew Sciabarra
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“Two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the war had taken a deep emotional toll on the entire family, not just those on the battlefield but everyone at home as well. Mom was trying to keep a positive outlook, at least in her letter writing, in her hopes for an early Allied victory. In a letter dated December 5, 1943, [my uncle] George replied: ‘I see you are still trying to predict when the war will be over with. I gave that up, not that I am discouraged but I guess I may as well get used to taking things the way they come.'” (08/26/25)
