“Punishing flag burning is misguided for reasons that extend beyond case law. The act is dramatic but non‑violent; conflating a symbolic gesture with violence collapses the distinction between protest and harm. The flag represents the ideals of liberty and equality; compelling people to revere it under threat of imprisonment turns patriotism into a coerced ritual and trivializes the flag’s meaning. History shows that suppressing dissent galvanizes opposition. Efforts to ban flag desecration during the Vietnam era, the civil‑rights movement, and the leadup to the Iraq war did not quash those protests; they underscored the protesters’ point that the government cares more about symbols than about justice.” (08/25/25)
“Almost 25% of government schools nationwide are now surveilling the mental health of students. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed a bill to bring ‘universal mental health screening’ to two million Illinois students as part of his Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative. But this rescue effort will ravage many students and is a warning shot to parents across the nation. Manhattan Institute fellow Abigail Shrier warned that the new Illinois law will mean ‘tens of thousands of Illinois kids get shoved into the mental health funnel and convinced they are sick. Many or most will be false positives.’ Many young people are left worse off thanks to schools’ mental health interventions.” (08/25/25)
“Across the political spectrum, there is growing recognition that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be a force for good by expanding economic freedom and challenging entrenched systems. But conversations around central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, have not made the same progress. Efforts to slow or block the creation of a CBDC have received little support among congressional Democrats — even though the risks involved strike at the heart of core progressive values. Indeed, for a movement that has consistently fought against surveillance, discrimination, and the abuse of government power, CBDCs should raise especially sharp concerns.” [editor’s note: Wait, what? Democrats and “progressives” have always been huge boosters of surveillance, discrimination, and government power (which is inherently “abusive”)! – TLK] (08/25/25)
“Last night, in a letter posted to social media, President Trump tried to deliver on his threat to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook on trumped-up charges of mortgage fraud. Except that Trump doesn’t have the authority to fire a sitting governor with a term appointment, and Cook made clear that she is not going anywhere. The Supreme Court, in Trump v. Wilcox, recently indicated that it considers Fed appointees as sacrosanct, unlike other independent agencies where the Court held that a president can replace even term appointees. This is of course ludicrous: As Georgetown Law’s Josh Chafetz explains, the Roberts Court’s extreme effort to split the baby by claiming that Federal Reserve appointees hold some special status … is ‘transparent bullshit designed to simultaneously serve the conservative legal movement’s interest in deregulation via the ‘unitary executive’ and corporate interests in not crashing the economy.'” (08/26/25)
“‘The era of big government is over,’ Bill Clinton declared 29 years ago. Donald Trump never got the memo. In his second term, the president is embracing perhaps the most sweeping expansion of federal power since that of Franklin D. Roosevelt: bullying state governments, using military force if necessary; telling private institutions, including media corporations and universities, how to operate; extorting law firms into doing free work for the government; and, in the latest escalation, taking a stake in the tech firm Intel. … The debate in America is no longer about whether socialism can gain a foothold. It’s whether the socialism that dominates will be progressive or right-wing.” [editor’s note: It’s not just Intel — the US regime also has “stakes” in US Steel and other companies – TLK] (08/25/25)
“Mission-directed governance has emerged as a popular framework for tackling society’s most pressing challenges, from decarbonising the economy to achieving public health breakthroughs. Advocates like Mariana Mazzucato propose a proactive state that unifies society around ambitious missions, offering direction and stability in a world of uncertainty. Yet, while the vision appears transformative, its underlying logic conflicts with the pluralism and diversity that characterise democratic governance. Mission-directionality seeks singularity of purpose: a state-chosen mission that aligns social actors toward a shared goal. However, this focus inevitably curtails democratic processes, which thrive on debate and disagreement.” (08/25/25)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“After three years, the mystery of who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022 has, for all intents and purposes, been solved. But unlike the dramatic unmasking during a Scooby-Doo episode or the riveting declaration of ‘who done it’ in front of a dinner party of sweating suspects in a Poirot mystery, the arrest of a former Ukrainian military officer accused of leading a team to sabotage the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines on Sept. 26, 2022, has landed like a cell phone going off in church — everyone hears something, but no one looks or pretends to notice. That is probably because while Ukrainians have been suspected for some time of being behind the explosions … it didn’t truly fit the preferred narrative.” (08/25/25)
“As AI continues to advance and increase its capabilities, analysts warn that intelligent robots could replace much manual human labor. This could trigger a wave of unemployment that would reshape society and prompt the enactment of some form of UBI. Here’s how that might happen.” (08/25/25)
“The Trump administration is reportedly negotiating to turn Intel’s $10.9 billion CHIPS Act subsidies into a 10 percent equity stake in the company. If finalized, Washington would be among Intel’s largest shareholders. That should set off alarm bells for anyone who still believes in free markets. A conservative administration that came to power promising deregulation and opportunity is now taking steps that blur the line between capitalism and state management of industry. This move is part of a larger pattern.” (08/25/25)
“Earlier this summer, the Trump regime upped Washington’s reward for the arrest of Maduro to fifty million dollars. It’s as if Washington thinks the world is the OK Corral and Wyatt Earp is packing heat-guided missiles. More recently, the Pentagon announced it will be deploying 4500 sailors, Marines, and other forces in the Caribbean, not far from Venezuela’s coast. In response, the Venezuelan government has mobilized its 4.5 million-member citizen militia. The rationale provided by the Trump administration is that these forces will be stationed there as part of its war on drugs and conduct illegal and essentially pointless attacks on the operations of certain drug cartels in Mexico and certain Central American countries. However, anyone familiar with the region’s map (a likely small number of US residents) can’t help but share Venezuela’s concern that the US has other intentions in the area, as well.” (08/25/25)
