“To subvert, according to the 193 edition of Webster’s dictionary, is ‘to overturn from the foundation.’ Subversive innovation isn’t about tearing down the existing system. It’s about building your own, stronger foundation and letting the old one fall apart without its ruins falling on you. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are the obvious current example — sound money that can be created and exchanged without the old system’s cooperation makes fiat currency passe — but they’re just one. Anything that improves your life without the state’s involvement or permission makes your situation better and the state’s worse.” (07/23/26)
“In France, citizens are generally expected to take responsibility for their own personal safety. I have been fortunate to enjoy regular French holidays since I was a child, and in recent years I have been increasingly struck by the growing contrast between Gallic liberté and Britain’s oppressive nanny state. Over the course of our two-week holiday this year, we visited dozens of cafés, restaurants and boulangeries. Not once were any of us asked if we had any food allergies or intolerances. On the train, no one reminded us to carry water in hot weather or to take our possessions with us at the end of the journey. Crossing an estuary on a small foot ferry, we hung over the side of the boat and no one told us off. … These may seem like small differences between our sister countries but the cumulative effect is significant.” (07/23/26)
“In the coming days, one set of dubious replacement tariffs will give way to another. The ‘Section 122′ tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed this spring—intended to replace the ’emergency’ tariffs the Supreme Court invalidated in February—expire Friday, 150 days after he invoked them. Into that potential void will likely step a fresh batch of ‘Section 301’ duties, supposedly targeting the use of ‘forced labor’ around the world. As we’ve discussed, the issue of forced labor is real and complicated. … In the current Section 301 case, however, ‘forced labor’ is nothing more than legal cover.” (07/23/26)
“Republicans have settled on their midterm argument: Democrats are all Communists. As an election strategy, this is as lame as it is ludicrous. But there is a small kernel of political reality underlying the new right-wing red-baiting: The emergence of a widespread public backlash against the extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of billionaires. … billionaires have had immense political power for decades, but they chose to exercise that power from the shadows, veiling their actions through patriotic sounding right-wing PACs and think tanks. Only political junkies understood what was going on underneath the surface. Today, however, the new generation of the hyper-wealthy are out there and in your face, flaunting their influence rather than concealing it. And the poster child for this change is, of course, Elon Musk.” (07/23/26)
“In 1982, Argentina’s military invaded and occupied Britain’s overseas holdings in the South Atlantic, eventually surrendering after 74 days of conflict. The territorial dispute remains a deep source of grievance and national trauma for Argentina. With the navies of both nations a shadow of their 1982 selves, a resumption of armed conflict remains unlikely. This makes the diplomatic debate over the Falklands—both in multilateral international forums and in bilateral relationships between Argentina and Britain and the rest of the world—all the more decisive. The future of British sovereignty over the Falklands is in greater question now than at any time since the end of the war, while Argentina’s claims to the island have become both more persistent and politically unifying.” (07/23/26)
“Subpoenas of several New York Times reporters authorized by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department are far more than an attack on reporters. It’s an action that affects the rights of people in a free society to know what their government is doing. It’s also more than just a single strike against one news organization. It appears to be part of broader actions by the administration that have harmed press freedom.” (07/23/26)
“The Democratic Socialists of America are all about fighting for the working class—even though few of them are actually working class. What would George Orwell say?” (07/23/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“In an effort to show how good and caring they are, U.S. officials are shipping $100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba. Wow! Let’s all bow toward Washington and express thanks for living under such a kind, gentle, and benevolent government, one that clearly loves the poor, needy, and disadvantaged and just wants to help them out. Let’s also not forget that this humanitarian aid also reflects how good, caring, and compassionate we Americans are. After all, it’s our government doing this Christian-like act. That means that since we participate in our nation’s democratic process, especially by voting, we are kind and benevolent too. Except for one thing: It is the U.S. government, in combination with Cuba’s socialist economic system, that is responsible for the desperate economic plight that has enveloped the Cuban people and placed them in a position of imminent death by starvation and illness.” (07/23/26)
“Todd Blanche, the acting United States Attorney General, appeared in Congress last week for his confirmation hearing. There was much talk on the administration’s weaponization of the Department of Justice against its political opponents. These concerns, of course, are valid. Yet focusing only on the DOJ’s partisan misuse misses another important problem: the Department cares more about political theater than enforcing the law. Much of its dysfunction arises from that fact.” (07/23/26)
