“Some of the most peaceful moments of my life were spent standing on the deck of a US Navy aircraft carrier just before dawn. It feels like looking over the entire ocean, into endless blue water. An aircraft carrier is massive—like a floating city on the sea—and yet you can still feel the gentle rocking from the ocean’s waves through the soles of your feet. When you breathe into this moment—the salty air filling your lungs—you’re reminded of how incredibly small you are in the grand scheme of things. The realization causes a sort of lightness and fluttering within the chest, an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all that you cannot understand. Then the day begins. The launch of the first F/A-18 fighter jet tears a sonic hole through the silent morning.” (07/08/26)
“Last week, far-left Democrat Melat Kiros won her Denver, Colorado, U.S. House primary against 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette, making the 29-year-old the latest in a slew of democratic socialists to have defeated establishment Democrats in this midterm election cycle. … Kiros in particular has come under fire, particularly from some conservatives, for depicting Islamic terrorism as blowback from American and Israeli policies. … The neocons used to insinuate the same about Pat Buchanan, a cofounder of this magazine, because he too explained terrorist attacks by reference to U.S. and Israeli policies.” (07/08/26)
“Restrictive patent eligibility has pushed investment in key technologies overseas, weakening one of America’s historic competitive advantages. Congress can still reverse course.” (07/08/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Despite the surface-level rhetoric used by all sides, the growing popularity of ‘socialism’ or ‘populism’ is primarily a non-ideological phenomenon. That becomes obvious if we look back in time. Because there was a period in the early twentieth century when the intellectual battle between advocates of socialism and capitalism was as rigorous and intellectual as many like to pretend it still is.” (07/08/26)
“Rather than trying to neutralize the partisan results of a politicized appointment process, the Democrats would have done well to focus on depoliticizing the process that produced those partisan results. Court expansion threatens to make the process even more political, and although term limits – the other possible Supreme Court reform featured in a report commissioned by President Biden early in his term – is unlikely to make the process any more political, there’s no reason to expect it to make the process any less. A third possibility, however, holds a great deal of potential in this regard: Change the proportion of senators needed to confirm a Supreme Court nominee from a simple majority to two-thirds.” (07/07/26)
“As temperatures hit 100 degrees last week, New York City’s unconventional mayor did something pretty conventional: He urged people to use less electricity. But when Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged residents to set their air conditioners to 78 degrees (a past practice of both Democrats and Republicans alike), he revealed something far more harmful than the heat index: how much Albany’s policies have driven New York City’s power grid to the point of collapse. Several factors are at play every summer. About 90% of homes today have air conditioning; as recently as the 1980s, most didn’t. Portions of the electric system are extremely old by national standards, and the sheer physics of generating and distributing the appropriate voltage and amperage to every corner of such a dense and diverse cityscape borders on the miraculous.” (07/08/26)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Jillian C York & Corynne McSherry
“Six years ago—one month into a global pandemic—we argued that the automated moderation processes many platforms were rapidly adopting should be highly transparent, easily appealable, and temporary. We warned that ‘protocols adopted in times of crisis often persist when the crisis is over.’ That warning proved prescient. The use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify, flag, and moderate content has become the new norm—a permanent feature of how platforms govern speech online. In this two part series, we’re take stock of this new norm, and considering what platforms can and should do to ensure that AI serves online expression rather than stifling it.” (07/07/26)
“As I travelled on the London Tube to meet CounterPunch writer and esteemed art historian Stephen Eisenham, I read journalist Owen Matthews suggesting Putin ‘lives in a parallel reality, a sealed bubble of disinformation where all the data he receives confirms the wisdom of his choices.’ It got me wondering what else on leaders and protected bubbles was out there. Did it include Donald Trump? It’s called echo chambers, information cocooning, courtier syndrome. Some political scientists call it the ‘dictator’s dilemma’: rulers depending on information from below, while their own power discourages uncomfortable truths.” (07/08/26)
“A few years ago, Seattle imposed what amounted to a $26 an hour minimum wage for persons who deliver food for app-based services like DoorDash. Unfortunately for drivers, they don’t get paid this wage while waiting for the next order they can deliver. Thanks to the new costs, customers say things like ‘I ordered a $12 sandwich. $12 grew to $32! I just deleted the app.’ Drivers say things like ‘Work has become slow because of the new law.’ DoorDash reports 1.7 million fewer orders in Seattle in 2024. The new law took effect in January of that year.” (07/07/26)
