Source: Quillette
by Steven Pinker

“The dangers of AI are real, but doomerism may be counterproductive.” (09/26/26)

https://quillette.com/2026/09/26/an-open-letter-to-scott-alexander-steven-pinker-ai-alignment-safety/

Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman

“There are two quite different models of why democracy works held by people who think it does. One is a model of incentives, one of selection. The incentive version relies on the fact that politicians want to get elected and reelected. To get elected they have to support the policies that a majority of the voters want; to get elected again, they have to actually work for those policies. … The selection model relies on the facts that people differ and that we have some ability to tell what other people are like.” (09/26/26)

https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/incentive-or-selection

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Organizing and running elections in the United States is left to individual states to determine and oversee. But this month alone, the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on these processes multiple times. On Sept. 14, it issued a one-paragraph concurrence limiting proposed federal changes to mail-in voting. Earlier this week, Missouri’s redistricted voting map was back on the emergency docket for the third time this month. And on Friday, the court ruled to allow use of a vast federal database to check voter eligibility. Amid the legalese and partisan arguments surrounding such cases, American voters are both confused and concerned about the trustworthiness of the country’s election processes. … close to half have doubts about election integrity – not a good sign for democracy. But this is precisely what is spurring greater efforts among local election official and volunteers to boost both trust and transparency. And that is a good sign for democracy.” (09/25/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0925/The-renewed-roots-of-election-integrity

Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum

“A year after launching his explosive antidrug campaign, President Donald Trump routinely rains death on alleged cocaine couriers.” (for publication 11/26)

https://reason.com/2026/09/26/how-murdering-suspected-drug-smugglers-became-the-new-normal/

Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathn Barton

“The entire AI craziness is, we believe, directly tied to the entire Data Center controversy. Whether the opposition to massive data centers is being pushed (or at least triggered) by the CCP (or Russia, or the Iranians, or ‘just’ Soros and Bill Gates) or is the latest tactic by the Woke, environists, and Luddites, it is clearly now a significant issue in thousands of communities. As well as an incredible display of cognitive or mental dissonance. You use AI, you use your smart phone, you spend all your time on social media and streaming movies and television series, but you are totally against the infrastructure and consumption of power and water necessary to furnish you those wonderful things. Of course, this is again (as with so many things) not new.” (09/25/26)

https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/09/25/easier-and-more-convenient/

Source: American Greatness
by Jordan Schachtel

“The debate over America’s AI future is usually framed in a very specific way. In the tech and policy world, the common framing is as simple as a battle between those who want to build AI systems as fast as possible and those who want to slow it down. More accurately, the fight over AI is about who gets to control America’s AI future. On one side there are the AI Doomers, most of whom want to capture and control the technology for their peer networks. On the other side are those who believe that facilitating a free and open playing field is the best way for this technology to bring about human flourishing. AI Doomers are split over what the future looks like, and they surely have internal squabbles about how to navigate the narrative war, but they fundamentally agree about the idea that they should be the ones in charge.” (09/25/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/25/ai-doomers-dont-want-to-stop-ai-they-want-to-control-it/