Source: hypertext
by Chris Elmendorf
“How political ambition, social media, and smart dealmaking overturned the interest-group trough in a liberal bastion.” (07/31/25)
https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/californias-retort-to-mancur-olson
Source: SFGate
“China’s cyberspace regulators on Thursday summoned Nvidia over security concerns that its H20 chips can be tracked and turned off remotely, the Cyberspace Administration of China said on its website. In the meeting, Chinese regulators demanded that the U.S. chip company provide explanations on ‘backdoor safety risks’ of its H20 chips to be sold in China and submit relevant materials, the office said. ‘Cybersecurity is critically important to us. NVIDIA does not have ‘backdoors’ in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them,’ an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement to AP. It came just about two weeks after the Trump administration lifted the block on the computing chips and allowed Nvidia to resume sales of H20 chips to the Chinese market. Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, made the announcement with fanfare when he was in Beijing earlier this month.” (07/31/25)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by RT Hadley
“Can a government ever dictate health without distorting it? The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his role as Secretary of Health and Human Services, positions itself as a sweeping response to America’s chronic disease crisis. Framed as a populist health movement, MAHA seeks to overhaul the nation’s approach to nutrition, environmental toxins, and preventative care. … The Modern American Health Act (MAHA), advanced under RFK Jr.’s platform, marks a shift from nutritional suggestion to digitally enforced compliance. While framed as a path to wellness, it signals an unprecedented fusion of policy, personal data, and tech industry influence.” (07/31/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/maha-and-the-myth-of-dietary-liberation
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“I will probably spend the foreseeable future periodically reminding the world that when everyone was angry at Israel for starving children in Gaza, Israel’s apologists spent days loudly proclaiming that no, they were actually just starving sick children. As their defense they said this. They actually believed this helped their case. Let me back up a bit. On Wednesday, The New York Times posted an editor’s note on an article it had published the previous Friday which included a horrifying photo of an emaciated child named Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq. Caving to pressure from Zionists and influence ops like the Israeli propaganda outlet HonestReporting, the Times went out of its way to clarify that al-Mutawaq ‘had pre-existing health problems’, which Israel apologists instantly and predictably spun as proof that the media are lying about Israel starving Gaza.” (07/31/25)
Source: National Review
“Messing Up Capital Formation, Legally.” (07/31/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/messing-up-capital-formation-legally/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“As of Sunday, July 27, the United States and the European Union have signed a new trade agreement, imposing a 15% tariff on most EU goods entering the US, while no new tariffs on US goods entering the EU will be implemented. Given that the trade relationship between the two is worth over $1.68 trillion, the aversion of a potential trade war can only be welcomed—but the news for US consumers is less than ideal. Had this agreement not been reached by August 1, President Trump had first threatened a 30% tariff across the board. While the finalized 15% is lower than the original promised tariff, it is still an increase on the previous 10% tariffs that were introduced on all EU goods entering the US set on April 2, 2025, under Trump, and significantly higher than the 1.2% tariff from before Trump’s second term.” (07/31/25)
Source: Orange County Register
by the editorial board
“Today marks the 113th birthday of economist Milton Friedman, one of history’s most consequential free-market advocates. Reflecting on the work of Friedman this year reminds us how much more sound and sustainable the nation’s policies could be. Born July 31, 1912 to working class immigrants from Eastern Europe in New York City, what made Milton Friedman unique not only was his grasp of economics, but also his ability to simply explain complex ideas. What Milton Friedman understood better than most was that individuals, with private interests and expertise, were best able to advance society.” (07/31/25)
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/07/31/editorial-never-forget-the-ideas-of-milton-friedman/
Source: System Update
“Michael Tracey on the Street: What Do People Think of the Epstein Case?” (07/31/25)
Source: US News & World Report
“Alphabet’s Google on Thursday failed to persuade a U.S. appeals panel to overturn a jury verdict and federal court order requiring the technology company to revamp its app store Play. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous ruling, rejected claims from Google that the trial judge made legal errors in the antitrust case that unfairly benefited ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games, which filed the lawsuit in 2020.” (07/31/25)
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Beds of clams, mats of bacteria that look like ice and fields of tube worms – these are just some examples of the strange, extreme life that an expedition to the deepest parts of the ocean has observed, filmed and photographed. Diving in a human-occupied submersible to ocean trenches in the northwest Pacific Ocean, a Chinese-led research team captured pictures of life at depths of more than 9km (5.6miles). The deepest marine vertebrate life filmed before this expedition was at 8,336m — a snailfish that was filmed swimming in a deep ocean trench off the coast of Japan in 2023. These new observations are published in the journal Nature.” (07/31/25)