“I am not an expert in AI, but I have seen a lot of waves software-based productivity innovations in my lifetime, and have developed some intuition as to how fast or slow they can penetrate corporate America. I think the impact of AI over the next 5 years, particularly on productivity, has been exaggerated. Which should be no surprise as the impact of PC’s and later the Internet also undershot their productivity expectations for the first 5 years.” (07/08/26)
“There is a crisis of trust in America’s governing institutions. We see it in the numbers. In 1964, for example, 77 percent of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing most of the time. Today, that number is 17 percent. The trust deficit represents more than dissatisfaction with policies or leaders. Democratic governance is increasingly experienced as something done to people by faraway elites, rather than something done for and by the people. Public remedies too often fail to address citizens’ concerns, or worse, inhibit their ability to act, adapt, and solve problems on their own. As trust erodes, respect for democratic norms wanes, and strongman politics gains ground. And all this creates the conditions in which a polarized media stokes the flames that have Americans actively fearing and hating one another.” (07/08/26)
“Five Weapons. One Target: Your Freedom. Washington, Webster, Paine, Madison, and more – they saw every one of them coming and warned us, but ‘we the people’ didn’t listen. It’s the top tools of tyrants: what they use against us and what’s self-inflicted.” (07/08/26)
“I’m usually suspicious of business-government partnerships. But some occasional and low-level efforts are inevitable and at worst anodyne. Take the Great American State Fair in the District of Columbia.” (07/08/26)
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“President Trump has no problem criticizing, condemning, insulting, demonizing and threatening those who refuse to fall in line. He has branded political opponents ‘communists,’ denounced critics as anti-American, lashed out at NATO allies, threatened to cut off trade with Spain, and referred to Iran’s leaders as ‘scum’ amid the ongoing war. In Trump’s America, the president is free to call other nations bad actors, label his opponents dangerous, and treat disagreement as betrayal. But dare to criticize Trump, his administration, ICE, the police state, the war machine, the surveillance state, or the government’s steady assault on the Constitution, and you may find yourself treated as the threat. This is the hypocrisy of the moment: those in power claim an unlimited right to criticize everyone else, while increasingly denying the people the right to criticize them.” (07/08/26)
“The Maine Democratic State Committee has voted for a 600-person nominating convention, not a statewide caucus, as the method to select a replacement nominee for Graham Platner. Five hundred of the delegates will come proportionally from Maine’s counties, and then include the 100 state committee members. While a statewide caucus was previously seen by my sources as a likely outcome, the state committee went in a different direction on Wednesday night. I apologize for what was ultimately incorrect information. This could easily torch whatever remaining goodwill exists between the party and supporters brought into Platner’s campaign, and brings back all of the unsavoriness associated with perceived backroom dealing.” [editor’s note: So the three runners-up for the Governor nomination now run for the Senate seat; nothing changes unless they unseat Collins – SAT] (07/08/26)
“On Monday night in Seattle, Belgium dismantled the United States 4-1 in their Round of 16 matchup—the worst 90 minutes the U.S. played all tournament, and a stunning collapse from the team that had swashbuckled through Paraguay, dispatched Australia, battled Turkey to the wire, and outclassed Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first knockout round to get here. So what happened? What happened is the president of the United States turned a red card into an international incident. The U.S. lost because it played poorly and Belgium played superbly—that’s not in dispute. But one contributing factor that led to that outcome was surely the brouhaha over Trump’s meddling in FIFA’s enforcement of World Cup rules.” (07/08/26)
“One of the most important fights in our lifetime, a fight for the future of America, is shaping up right over our heads. It’s the fight against license plate reader cameras and the related spyware that is already being used against you and your liberty. This may even be more important and urgent than defending the natural human right to own and to carry weapons without government interference. These data collectors will be used to violate your right to bear arms and all your other rights as well. If this is to be stopped, it must be stopped now. Before long, it will be too entrenched to stop.” (07/08/26)
