“Have you seen the ruling classes’ latest ploy for holding onto power rather than allow the public to hold them accountable through straightforward and honest elections? It’s clear as day to anyone with eyes to see. And the fact that the powerful now operate as much within the ‘MAGA’ brand as in the Democratic establishment shouldn’t blind us. If we let it, then even some of the best of us will soon be taken in – becoming useful idiots for the same ruling classes that the MAGA movement was founded to oppose. I’m referring to the new game of stirring up hatred against our neighbors of Middle-Eastern and Eastern heritage and labeling all dissenters against U.S.- and Israeli-led wars and war crimes as ‘radicals’ and ‘communists.'” (08/10/26)
“Many Democratic Party candidates emerging on what one might call the populist left are finding success in primaries across the country. But most of them have a shared liability: they were fully on board with the worst excesses and abuses of the ‘peak wokeness’ that emerged in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 killing, enduring and contaminating most of our institutions for several years after. … AOC, who herself aggressively advocated those policies, sought to laughingly dismiss this all as just some momentary, harmless frenzy of ‘craziness’ that never really meant much and that everyone has all just agreed to move beyond …. It is, I suppose, a net positive that those who imposed extremist woke dogma are now too embarrassed to defend it. … But when AOC tries to giggle her way out of her behavior and the behavior of her allies, it actually is more offensive and cowardly than anything else.” (08/10/26)
“American politics is an ever-changing game of power and big money. For the modern Democrat Party, that means being challenged and sometimes eclipsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) – and there is little to nothing the Democrat Party can do about its rise. The United States has had many political parties in its history. They include everything from the Federalists (1789) and the Whig Party (1830) to the Libertarian Party (1971) and the Green Party (2001). The current Democrat Party (1828) is the longest reigning major political party in American history. The role of the many lesser-known parties in American history has been to chasten the then-dominant parties and/or to champion particular issues – such as the Greenback Party (1874), which fought for paper money in the late 1800s. While that Greenback Party is no more, paper money has replaced gold as the dominant American currency.” (08/10/26)
“Isn’t this a shock to everything we know about human nature? ‘In a speech on June 29, delivered before he won the Labour leadership unopposed, Burnham connected the loss of 1.5 million council homes with the increase, to a similar number, of families on the waiting list for social housing. Many, he said, had waited more than 10 years for a home.’ A council house is substantially cheaper – to the tenant – than any other form of housing. People are willing to queue for 10 years to gain something below market price, are they? Isn’t that a shock to everything we know about humans. They’ll be predicting queues at the start of the New Year sales next.” (08/10/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by K Lloyd Billingsley
“Who shot 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in 2024? No one knows, because California’s insane criminal justice system has kept the suspect’s identity under wraps. … Pearsall, the 31st pick in the 2024 NFL draft, was shopping in San Francisco’s Union Square when a thief approached and demanded his watch. Pearsall would not give it up. In the ensuing struggle, the 49ers’ top draft pick took a bullet in the chest. Miraculously enough, the bullet missed vital organs. Pearsall survived the attack in stable condition. … Meanwhile, the suspect himself remained something of a mystery. One report described him as a boy of 17, an age that brought labels such as ‘teen’ and ‘juvenile.'” (08/10/26)
“The Trump administration marked the 250th anniversary of US independence with a series of statements in support of American empire. Despite the fact that President Donald Trump campaigned against endless war and the White House issued a National Security Strategy that rejected ‘global domination’, the Trump administration celebrated the nation’s 250th anniversary by glorifying empire as one of the country’s highest achievements. Administration officials praised moments in US history when US leaders embraced empire, such as when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams spoke in favor of an ’empire of liberty’ and Theodore Roosevelt acted to take Panama. At a time when many people in the country were reflecting on the ideals of liberty and equality that Jefferson had emphasized in the Declaration of Independence, the Trump administration glorified the country’s imperial history, creating a rationale for Empire First.” (08/10/26)
“Few familiar with Westminster City Council will be surprised by its draft proposal to refuse licenses for new pubs and nightclubs unless they ban standing up while having a pint – an activity it calls ‘vertical drinking’. After all, when it comes to petty killjoy regulations, this council has form. Take its attitude to takeaway pizza. … Westminster council have found a way to spoil even this in Soho. The pizza restaurant ICCO on Greek Street has a limitation on its licence that dictates it may not sell pizza for takeaway after 11pm. … Like other restrictions on venues operating in Soho, the reason cited by the council for this strange ban is the dreaded ‘cumulative impact assessment’ (CIA).” (08/10/26)
“‘We need more witch poems written by fabulous asians.’ ‘We need more algorithms written by immigrant trans folk.’ ‘We need more supreme court decisions written by activist p.o.c. [people of color].’ ‘We need more speculative fiction written by indigenous latinx.’ In a Sheboygan, Wis. café, a series of posters assert as much before following up with a haunting question: ‘What are you doing to help make that happen?’ On Saturday night, attendees of an event hosted by the establishment could answer with their chin up: they’re going to elect Francesca Hong governor. A democratic socialist member of the state Assembly and the prohibitive favorite to succeed Gov. Tony Evers as the Democratic nominee for his office come Tuesday, Hong has featured in headlines for all of the wrong reasons over the last few weeks. In a much-maligned November 2020 tweet, she called on officials to ‘Cancel Thanksgiving’.” (08/09/26)
“The ongoing unraveling of fraud in the federal government’s welfare system, particularly involving medical subsidies, has gotten politically even more interesting. The egregious Ilhan Omar, Somalian America-hater and U.S. Representative from Minnesota, is now implicated. Well, at least one member of her family is under investigation.” (08/10/26)
“Oil deposits may be finite, but human knowledge is not. Freedom, innovation, and entrepreneurship continually transform our use of resources.” (08/10/26)
