The Good Fight, 09/05/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Jared Diamond on Whether Leaders Make History.” (09/05/26)
Oligarchy and Redistribution: A Reply to Paul Krugman
Source: CounterPunch
by David S D’Amato
“Krugman admits that where he once saw the absurd inequalities of the present day as primarily the consequences of technological change and the market economy, ‘looking into the math’ changed his mind, and it became clear to him that ‘much of the rise of the modern American oligarchy has been driven by deliberate policy.’ The math Krugman is focused on is the tax gap and thus the effective tax rate. The problem for Krugman’s hypothesis is that the United States was already firmly an oligarchy when the tax gap was much smaller and the effective tax rate much higher. Oligarchy is not first and foremost a product of the system of taxation, and it never has been. It is rather a product of the pre-distribution of wealth through state-created special economic privileges.” (09/04/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/09/04/oligarchy-and-redistribution-a-reply-to-paul-krugman/
The Clancy Trial: When “Twelve Angry Men” Becomes One Angry Man
Source: Jonathan Turley Blog
by Jonathan Turley
“‘I hope that guy can sleep well at night.’ Those words from Kevin Reddington on the steps of the Plymouth, Massachusetts Courthouse were part of a diatribe against the ‘guy’ who was reportedly the sole holdout in the Lindsay Clancy trial. The scene was a fitting end to a visceral trial, but it added a vindictive element that should prompt Judge William Sullivan to call out the seasoned defense attorney. After declaring that the 11-1 mistrial was ‘no time to gloat’, Reddington bragged repeatedly about ‘crushing’ District Attorney Tim Cruz, whom he also attacked. He insisted that, in the trial, no one said a single negative thing about his client as a mother — ignoring that little matter of the three young children whom she had strangled to death, one by one. But it was his attack on the holdout juror that was a breathtaking abandonment of restraint and decency.” (09/07/26)
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/09/07/the-clancy-trial-when-twelve-angry-men-becomes-one-angry-man/
Serbia: Thousands turn out for “Butcher of Bosnia” funeral
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Thousands of people have turned out in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, to attend the funeral of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. Widely known as the Butcher of Bosnia, Mladić died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in the UN prison in The Hague, the Netherlands. He was found guilty of genocide by a UN war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, when around 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. It was described as Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two. A Serbian government minister had initially said that Mladić would be given a state funeral but those plans were changed after objections from some European leaders. … Despite his conviction for genocide, Mladić remains a national figure perceived by many Serbs as a heroic defender of the nation.” (09/07/26)
The Fairy Tales of Empire
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Toby Rogers
“For the last 500 years our economy has been based on conquest and domination. It started with the conquest of the New World by Europeans, who had gunpowder, horses, and hardened steel. The indigenous did not, horrors ensued. Europeans took their gold, land, and labor. And this has continued in various forms for five centuries. Yes, some of the economic growth since the 1800s has been driven by innovation. But it was built on a foundation of ill-gotten wealth that created the leisure time and the early capital that funded creativity — and then industrialization often led to new waves of exploitation.” (09/04/26)
Working People Are Fighting Back, Because That’s What We Do
Source: OtherWords
by Aidalis Martinez
“My mom worked harder than anyone I know. She wanted a good life for us. It was a hard life — I remember the Christmas she had to pawn our gifts to pay the light bill — but she made it special for us. Now I have two kids of my own, and I want them to have every opportunity that other children have. The landscape is tough out there. Like many Americans, I can’t afford childcare, and finding work that accommodates my need to care for my young children is hard. With inflation, the little income I have doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to. I’m grateful to have assistance with food, housing, and healthcare through our social safety net programs. Food programs like SNAP (aka ‘food stamps’) and WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) have literally saved our lives when we’ve been hungry.” (09/07/26)
https://otherwords.org/struggling-families-like-mine-are-waiting-on-a-bomb-to-go-off/
North Korea: Regime commissions second nuclear-capable naval destroyer
Source: United Press International
“North Korea commissioned its second 5,000-ton destroyer, state media reported Monday, as leader Kim Jong Un called for further strengthening the country’s naval power with nuclear-capable warships. Kim attended a commissioning ceremony for the Kang Kon at the eastern port city of Wonsan on Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. … KCNA did not specify which weapons the Kang Kon would carry or explicitly say that nuclear weapons had been installed aboard it. In July, however, Pyongyang conducted weapons tests from the ship that included the launch of what it called a ‘strategic’ cruise missile, a term North Korea typically uses to indicate nuclear capability.” (09/07/26)
Data Centers Are Not the Problem
Source: Reason
“But almonds might be.” (09/04/26)
https://reason.com/video/2026/09/04/data-centers-are-not-the-problem/
Flock is Not Just Another LPR
Source: Exiled Policy
by Nick Gambill
“The Flock database system is distinct from other LPR systems for two reasons. First, Flock produces cameras that are automated license plate readers (ALPRs), meaning that they scan each and every car that drives by. Second, data collected by Flock is not stored locally like prior LPR systems. This means that every capture from Flock–plate, vehicle characteristics, exact time and GPS location, etc.–is stored in a centralized database that is accessible to any locality that has plugged into the national database. This sounds like something from science fiction or the kind of surveillance that George Orwell considered bizarre enough for his novel 1984.” (09/04/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/flock-is-not-just-another-lpr
US-based pirates steal, sink “narco-refueling station”
Source: Fox News
“U.S. forces on Monday sank a floating refueling vessel used by an Ecuadorian organized crime ring, officials said. Forces with Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTFWH) interdicted the refueling vessel used for ‘at-sea drug trafficking operations’ in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said. … The vessel was involved with the Los Choneros narco-terrorist [sic] organization, SOUTHCOM said. The people aboard were removed and will be handed over to Ecuadorian authorities.” (09/07/26)