Data Centers Are Not the Problem. Bad Policy Is.

Source: The Dispatch
by Scott Lincicome

“In one sense, public backlash to data centers in the United States shouldn’t be surprising: Their construction and deployment have skyrocketed across the country, creating—not to get all goopy on you—a highly visible target for American angst about AI, Big Tech, U.S. politics, the turbulent economy, male-pattern baldness, and surely more. A recent New York Times op-ed captures the mood on the left well: These giant bricks guzzle water, gobble electricity, buzz loudly 24/7, and enrich Silicon Valley billionaires at regular folks’ expense. Opposition, however, isn’t just on the left: You’ll find similar takes from MAGA types on Facebook and NextDoor, and—as I just saw myself when driving outside Raleigh last week—big ‘NO DATA CENTER’ signs along many a rural roadside. Yet most of the common objections to data centers collapse under scrutiny.” (08/06/26)

https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-markets/data-center-water-electric-taxes-benefits/

Thomas L. Knapp

The Long View of Iran

Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson

“One day, the United States seems ready to unleash a Curtis LeMay-style devastating bombing campaign of Iran. The next, it appears trapped in endless haggling with Iranian dissimulators. Of the roughly 150 days since the first strike, about 90 have passed without major military operations. Iran believes time is on its side. The Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, gas prices are too high, and antiwar House Democrats seem poised to win the midterms and bring Trump’s war to a halt. Trump, by contrast, believes Iran can talk all it wants while sanctions, embargoes, and military pressure steadily weaken the regime. The war has become so politicized in an election year that several basic realities have gone largely unnoticed by the media. First, the cycle of bombing, pausing, negotiating, and bombing again may seem endless. But the confusion obscures the continuing effects of the embargoes, sanctions, blockade, and financial isolation imposed on Iran.” (08/06/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/06/the-long-view-of-iran/

Steve Trinward

UK: Youngest black professor at Cambridge resigns as university investigates allegations of plagiarism

Source: Associated Press

“A British sociologist who became famous as the youngest [b]lack professor ever at the University of Cambridge has resigned after the university opened an investigation into ‘new information’ about his academic qualifications. Professor Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became a Cambridge professor in 2023, announced his decision late Wednesday following weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments. … Questions about his qualifications were raised publicly last month by Nathan Cofnas, a one-time Cambridge philosophy researcher who left the university after his critique of diversity, equity and inclusion programs sparked widespread protests.” (08/06/26)

https://apnews.com/article/britain-cambridge-professor-arday-culture-wars-black-dddb05e9ade901ec35f85b6b3e7d9056

Thomas L. Knapp

Trump-Approved Profits

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Occasionally, President Trump takes an anti-capitalist rhetorical turn. He apparently supposes his unleashing of an Inner Mamdani will help him through a political rough patch. Or perhaps he is just momentarily confused. The president recently asserted that oil companies are making too much money right now and ‘ought to give back’ some of it to the public. This, although ‘I’m a big free enterprise guy.’ But oil companies don’t owe buyers anything more than the oil they supply. Nor, when prices are low, do buyers owe oil companies or gas stations more money than what they pay.” (08/06/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/08/06/trump-approved-profits/

Thomas L. Knapp

Federal regulations on firearm silencers, some guns cannot stand, judge rules

Source: The Hill

“A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that some federal gun restrictions can no longer stand after Republicans last year zeroed out the taxes that justified their [entirely fake in the first place] constitutionality. Congress relied on its taxing authority to pass the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA), which established a $200 fee to transfer or make certain firearms. But last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the tax for short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles and silencers. U.S. District Judge Wesley Hendrix said that has ‘constitutional consequences.’ The law’s registration and recordkeeping requirements for those guns can’t continue, he ruled. ‘Because today’s NFA does not generate any revenue from untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power,’ Hendrix wrote in his 66-page opinion.” (08/06/26)

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/6013117-federal-judge-national-firearms-act-regulations/

Thomas L. Knapp

A soft way to harden homes against wildfire

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“With wildfires again threatening the American West this summer, Utah has become the latest state helping homeowners in high-risk areas to fortify their properties against drought-driven fire. From 2021 to 2024, the state saw the largest percentage increase in home insurance costs – a 59% hike – of any U.S. state. Yet unlike in Colorado and California, both of which recently enacted stricter rules on insurance companies and tough building codes to ‘harden’ a home from fire, Utah’s plan is more partnership than paternalism. It will first nudge homeowners with information on risks and remedies and only threaten a fee for noncompliance with new codes that aim to ensure a ‘defensible space’ from wildfire. ‘Our goal is to empower homeowners, communities, fire departments, and municipalities to act in reducing their vulnerability to wildfire by giving them the necessary tools to identify and understand their wildfire risk,’ states an official Utah website.” (08/05/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0805/A-soft-way-to-harden-homes-against-wildfire

Steve Trinward