Source: Brownstone Institute
by Maryanne Demasi
“200-page policy report argues that global public health is no longer being driven by the needs of countries, but by financial incentives. At the centre of that argument is Professor Ramesh Thakur—a former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and principal writer of Kofi Annan’s UN reform report. He spent years inside the system helping shape it. Now, he argues that in public health, global authority has gone too far. Thakur says decisions have shifted away from national governments and towards international institutions—particularly the World Health Organization.” (07/18/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/who-is-really-in-charge-of-public-health/
Source: The American Spectator
by Lawrence M Mead
“Lipton Matthews is an independent scholar, author of many notable essays and reviews. Born and first educated in Jamaica, Busting African Delusions is his most ambitious work. In it he argues that Africa is losing its chance to succeed China as the. workshop of the world. That is because it declines to pursue growth and wealth as it could and should. Africa is attracting foreign investment from China and elsewhere because of its relatively low wages and the incentives it offers to investors. Kenya, for instance, has created a special economic zone in Tatu City, and industrial parks are sprouting across the continent. To Matthews, however, African leaders and entrepreneurs seldom reach out as they could to appeal to foreign investors seeking new opportunities. Mostly, Africa looks backward, not ahead.” (07/18/26)
https://spectator.org/the-case-for-an-african-renaissance/
Source: Politico
“Jens Spahn, a senior lawmaker with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Christian Democrats, resigned from his post as the party’s parliamentary leader on Saturday amid controversy over his use of a surrogate to have a child. Spahn came under growing pressure to step down after he revealed earlier this week that he and his husband had become parents using a surrogate mother in the United States, despite the practice being banned in Germany. … Although surrogacy itself is illegal in Germany, there is no penalty for bringing up a child born through a surrogate mother abroad. But Spahn, a former health minister, faced accusations of hypocrisy as Germany’s Christian Democrats are firmly opposed to surrogacy, a position the party reaffirmed earlier this year. Spahn himself had also in the past expressed skepticism about legalising the practice.” (07/18/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/german-conservative-parliamentary-leader-resigns-over-surrogacy-debate-jens-spahn/
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s Examine the JC Filings: Appeal of the Disaffiliation of the Libertarian Partyof NH.” (07/18/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX5otXvYwK8
Source: Wired
by David Gilbert
“Election deniers have spent years promoting the idea that the 2020 election was stolen. They believe Donald Trump’s speech finally proves them right.” (07/17/26)
https://archive.is/ynGRB
Source: The Hill
by Douglas MacKinnon
“Several recent stories in the news underscore that, when it comes to the American judicial system and the mainstream media, President Trump and various Republicans are going to be continually painted in the worst light possible. These partisan portrayals create an advantage for the Democratic Party and all of its policies, grievances, grudges and campaigns.” (07/18/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5974835-media-bias-trump-gop/
Source: The Nation
by Elie Mystal
“I know that the opposition party traditionally responds only after the State of the Union address. But that’s been a tradition only since 1966 (of course, it was the Republicans who started it, when Lyndon Johnson was president). There’s no reason Democrats shouldn’t demand equal time from the television networks and respond to Trump’s lies as soon as he’s done spewing them. … Of course, mounting a response would require the Democrats to be an organized political party with a self-preservation instinct and an ability to think creatively about how best to combat rising authoritarianism. And, well, ‘lmao @ Dems,’ as the kids say.” (07/17/26)
https://archive.is/Q3CCV
Source: Engadget
“The US Department of Justice has announced that federal employees can now download and install TikTok on electronics provided by the government, explaining that its current version doesn’t pose the risks the previous one did. In 2022, TikTok was outlawed on almost all devices issues by the US federal government due to [fake] national security concerns. … it’s still up to individual agencies to decide whether or not to allow their employees to download TikTok on federal phones.” (07/18/26)
https://www.engadget.com/2218069/us-government-lifts-tiktok-ban-federal-devices/
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“What’s Going on in Right-Wing Media? w/ Howard Polskin/Gen Z is Tired of War w/ Ionnis Vlahos.” (07/18/26)
https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/polskin-vlahos7-18-26/
Source: spiked
by Michael Crowley
“The Spanish Civil War began 90 years ago. On 18 July 1936, General Francisco Franco, alongside fellow general Emilio Mola, led a right-wing military revolt against the democratically elected Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic. … George Orwell arrived in Spain in December 1936. He was prevented from joining the International Brigades, and instead joined up with a militia organised by the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). It was a decision that would change the course of his thinking and creative output. He travelled to Spain as an ardent anti-fascist and returned as a determined anti-Communist, or more precisely, an anti-Stalinist.” (07/19/26)
https://archive.is/Y1GBQ
