“Congressional Democrats blocked an effort to introduce a constitutional amendment to bar the Court’s expansion, with many members reiterating their demand to pack the Court to create an instant liberal majority. The Democrats insisted the Court is broken and no longer legitimate because of partisan rulings they want reversed by a packed Court. Ironically, the vote came with the release of the latest Harvard-Harris polling showing that Congress itself is still the least respected institution, while the Supreme Court holds higher approval than either the White House or Congress. Congress is still wallowing at 34 percent approval among the American people. Both parties are equally disliked, with 55% disapproval of the GOP and 53% disapproval of the Democratic Party. Conversely, the Supreme Court continues to enjoy far greater approval from the public, currently at 49% at ‘very favorable’ or ‘favorable’.” (09/03/26)
“If Russia attacks Europe, and Europe doesn’t call it war, is it actually a war? As the Kremlin continues to probe the West’s defenses, it’s clear that European leaders would prefer you call it ‘hybrid war,’ hoping that the focus stays on the ‘hybrid’ half of the equation and not on the ‘war.’ … hybrid war is a real category of warfare. It refers to an entire arsenal of non-kinetic actions a country can take to undermine its enemies. Russia has tried just about every hybrid warfare tactic you can think of: Cyberattacks. Troll farms and propaganda. Propping up far-right political parties to disrupt democracy in France and Germany. Interfering in American elections. As a KGB officer, Vladimir Putin is expert in this method, which is more subterfuge than brute force. The problem is that Russia long ago moved beyond this domain to begin carrying out open attacks on the West.” (09/03/26)
“Last week, Polk State College proudly announced that its Board of Trustees had adopted a statement committing the school to institutional neutrality. On Sept. 3, the State University System of Florida’s Board of Governors will consider taking the first formal step toward requiring all 12 universities in the system to adopt institutional-neutrality policies of their own. On the whole, that’s good news. Institutional neutrality can help colleges remain focused on their educational mission while leaving political and social debates to students and faculty. But both the Polk State policy and the proposal before the Board of Governors contain a significant loophole. Rather than hew to the clear and rare exceptions used by many schools that have adopted institutional neutrality, these policies provide a new exception that threatens to render the neutrality commitment meaningless.” (09/03/26)
“The summer of 2026 hasn’t just been a time for pastoral relaxation in the great outdoors; it’s also been a season of, and for, pastoralists. Global events have brought together hundreds of representatives from communities whose lives and livelihoods are built on pastoral or nomadic herding traditions. On Monday, the sixth World Nomad Games kicked off in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia. Hundreds of participants are competing in horse races and horseback wrestling, falconry, and archery, among other events. Meanwhile, over the preceding two weeks, at a conference in Mongolia – where about a third of the population is nomadic – pastoralists from around the world advocated for rights to public grazing lands and freer movement.” (09/02/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“For the life of me, I just cannot understand why anyone would choose serfdom over freedom. After all, we’ve been given only one life to live. Wouldn’t it be better to live that one life in freedom rather than serfdom? The answer seems self-evident to me. It goes without saying that both conservatives and progressives accepted the serfdom society a long time ago. Today, both of them are enthusiastic supporters of it. However, unfortunately there is also a large number of libertarians who have chosen serfdom over freedom. That just makes no sense to me. Libertarianism is about freedom, not serfdom.” (09/03/26)
“It was a really funny and informative moment on CNN, and like most funny and informative moments on CNN, it did not involve anyone who calls themselves a ‘journalist’ and works for CNN. It involved a failed sports ‘journalist’, a libertarian podcaster, and it demonstrated just how ill-suited for any kind of challenge to their talking points these leftists really are. ‘It’s one thing to not think capitalism is working ideally. It’s another thing entirely to insist that it is oppressive, that it is bound up with white supremacy,’ said podcaster Kmele Foster. Jemele Hill, the former ESPN host who spent most of her on-air time whining about politics, always complaining and lying about conservatives, and was so bad she was finally let go, responded, ‘How is it not?'” (09/03/26)
“This summer the Pentagon handed NATO members a questionnaire asking whether they support in part, ‘U.S. foreign policy priorities.’ Dubbed a ‘loyalty test’ in the press, it was seen by many Europeans as the most recent sign that the alliance is coming apart because of American petulance. Yet what is actually happening is that the U.S. is putting stress on an inherently flawed and now exhausted form of alliance politics. The roots of the present discord were planted not in the 2024 reelection of President Donald Trump, but in the moment of NATO’s Cold War triumph thirty years earlier. Indeed, one of the more puzzling developments after the dissolution of both the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact was the conviction of Western leaders that the time was ripe for new, grand projects of expansion and integration.” (09/03/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Today in dystopia, war pundits have begun suggesting that the US could recruit sufficient troops for a ground invasion of Iran by offering young Americans debt forgiveness in exchange for enlisting. I guess it was only a matter of time. … In a Twitter essay on the same subject published earlier this month, AJ Jaff used more blunt language: ‘When the choice is decades chained to $45,000+ in debt, or a few years of service that erases it and hands you a clean start, a huge share of desperate young people will take the offer. Not because they ‘support the war’. Because the debt was engineered into a cage, and service is the ONLY door out.'” (09/03/26)
“Good news for housing-hungry Californians: A new development in Orange County was approved in May. The bad news: Approval took almost 50 years. The Saddleback Meadows project in Trabuco Canyon, California, first appeared on the Orange County supervisors’ agenda in 1978—when your favorite correspondent, who passed the eligibility age for unrestricted AARP membership a few years back, was in kindergarten. As my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleague Steve Swedberg points out, most projects do not undergo such incredible delays, but the ordinary approval process is enough to add almost $40,000 to the cost of building an average new home—not only in California but across the United States.” (09/03/26)
