Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Criteria exist to qualify for some desirable outcome: getting into college, getting tenure, getting someone to marry you, getting students to come to your law school. Individuals spend resources gaming the system, taking advantage of an imperfect match between the criteria and the characteristics they are designed to select for. Colleges want smart students, use SAT scores and high school grades to recognize them. An SAT prep course doesn’t make you smarter but it might raise your score, so students spend time and money on them. Cheating on exams doesn’t make you smarter either but might raise your grades. … The same mechanism gives us news stories we cannot trust.” (09/20/26)
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/criteriamaxxing
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Government does not have an inherent right to your wealth. Every dollar the state fails to collect is a dollar you keep. Local governments will need to reduce their budgets to match the lower revenue. They should not expect endless financial growth at our expense.” (09/20/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/vote-yes-on-florida-amendment-3-for
Source: New York Times
“The White House has begun drafting a new executive order that could further cement President Trump’s ability to control billions of dollars in scientific grants funded by the National Institutes of Health. Discussed at a highly contentious meeting at the White House on Friday, the directive aims to create a new external committee with the power to veto awards in the nation’s vast biomedical research portfolio that do not conform to Mr. Trump’s political agenda, according to people with knowledge of the effort. … Traditionally, the N.I.H. selects projects based on expert review of their scientific merit. But Mr. Trump has sought through a series of recent directives in his second term to bring that process under political review, arguing in part that the government has been funding ‘woke’ liberal priorities.” (09/20/26)
https://archive.is/ksDtt
Source: Free Talk Live
“Sal explores cypherpunk ideology and the tools for freedom on the Amsterdam canals. This second-year livestream covers cryptocurrency, privacy technology, and how to opt out of government control.” (09/20/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/samep19
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“The most powerful empire on the planet and one of their most depraved attack dogs in the Middle East appear to be afraid of a third world militia that governs a territory smaller than Massachusetts in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula. We are talking about Donald Trump and MBS here. A serial rapist and a psychopathic boy-king who takes apart his critics with power tools. What exactly are these monsters so afraid of? What is so goddamn terrifying about going toe to toe with a Houthi rebel? To put it succinctly, these bearded Arab bad men appear to be unbreakable.” (09/20/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/09/no-empire-wins-fight-with-houthi-rebel.html
Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman
‘Which means getting out of a negative-sum spiral is extremely difficult. Just ask the nations that fought World War I.” (09/20/26)
https://gideons.substack.com/p/the-only-way-not-to-lose-is-to-keep
Source: SFGate
“A former Haitian government official and more than a dozen other people appeared Monday in federal court in Miami on charges related to the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Joseph Badio, a former Haiti Ministry of Justice employee, was brought into the Florida court in a wheelchair. The hearing happened a day after he and 17 others described as Colombian mercenaries were flown to the United States from Haiti, where they had been in custody. They’re among 30 people charged in the indictment, including Christian Sanon, a Palm Beach County, Florida, resident and dual Haitian-American citizen who was already preparing to face trial next week. Authorities said he aspired to be Haiti’s president. South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust Moïse and replace him with someone of the conspirators’ choosing, U.S. authorities have alleged.” (09/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/ex-haitian-official-17-others-appear-in-us-court-22442158.php
Source: Free Talk Live
“No Child Left Behind and our kids are getting dumber :: Things that used to be racist :: AI is a bubble and the creators want us to think AI is dangerous so they can get bailed out and regulate the industry for their good :: Sam altman says AI could kill us all :: Sarah asks if God wants us to vote :: Pitocin causes Postpartum Depression :: Regional accents are now a scam vulnerability :: Circumcision makes kids dumber :: They want everyone’s bio details to make profiles on them for tracking :: 2026-09-20 :: Hosts: Bonnie, Lori, Chadd and Alanna.” (09/20/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftlamp2026-09-20
Source: Yascha Mounk
by Yascha Mounk
“Two weeks ago, a seemingly minor election in Germany made global headlines: The Alternative for Germany (AfD) took 44 percent of the vote in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, putting the far right within a stone’s throw of government for the first time since World War II. A series of elections held today are unlikely to receive the same attention but may be even more revelatory about Germany’s dire state. The AfD once again had a very strong night in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Just as strikingly, the Christian Democrats fell short of five percent of the vote. As a result, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz will be denied any representation in the state’s parliament, the first time this has happened in the history of the Federal Republic.” (09/20/26)
https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/the-last-nail-in-the-coffin-for-friedrich
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“California Attorney General Rob Bonta has settled the challenge that he brought with 11 other state AGs to the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. The deal to settle the suit is both improbable and outrageous. The $81 billion merger will give the Ellison family control of two of America’s biggest media companies, rolled into one behemoth combining film, television, sports, entertainment, and news. It would slash jobs and reduce competition throughout several industries. David Ellison has already destroyed the independence of CBS News. This would allow him to destroy CNN as well. As an indication of the strength of Bonta’s case, on July 20, U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a temporary restraining order against the merger that rejected many of Paramount’s arguments, and scheduled a trial for next March. At that point, the Ellisons began applying political pressure for a settlement and threatening that Paramount would leave California if the suit succeeded.” (09/21/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/09/21/bonta-gives-up-on-the-paramount-case/
