Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 08/07/26
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“El-Sayed Wins, AIPAC Losing Its Grip?, the Gaza Board of Peace Grift, & More w/ Richard Silverstein.” (08/07/26)
No munitions? No prob! Let’s lob Reflecting Pool liner at Iran instead.
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke
“What America may lack in munitions, we presently make up for in chunks of failed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool liner. The coatings sprayed on the nearly 70,000 square feet of the pool’s surface are called Rhino 406 and Pipeliner 5000, which sound tough, though apparently not tough enough to withstand water, as the coatings swiftly began to come apart after the pool was refilled. Regardless, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of a hunk of Rhino 406 or Pipeliner 5000 fired from naval artillery or dropped from a B-52 bomber. It’s possible that discarded pool liner warfare is the thing that will break Iran.” (08/07/26)
Mamdani’s faux African accent as telling as it is bizarre
Source: Fox News Forum
by David Marcus
“In a resurfaced 2016 interview, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks for the entire time in an African/South Asian accent that sounds like a mix between Trevor Noah and Apu from ‘The Simpsons’. It is absolutely bizarre, but it is also telling. At the time, he was promoting a Disney movie that he had worked on as a dance advisor, one of the few actual jobs hizzoner has ever held. His signature smile is on display, but when he opens his lips, he sounds like someone we have never heard. In a sing-songy voice, he decries how in Africa everybody dances, but in New York the men ‘just grind’ but don’t dance. It is a performance entirely in character.” (08/08/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-mamdanis-faux-african-accent-telling-bizarre
What The Odyssey Teaches About Restraining Power
Source: Independent Institute
by Daniel Sánchez-Piñol
“In a film that runs nearly three hours, perhaps its most important political lesson is delivered in just a few minutes. Before sailing past the island of the Sirens, Odysseus learns that their irresistible song is not a gift of wisdom but a deadly trap. Sailors who succumb to its enchanting melody steer their ships toward the rocks, where they meet their destruction. Odysseus wants to hear the legendary song without falling victim to it. To accomplish this seemingly impossible task, he devises what economists recognize as an ingenious plan. He orders his crew to plug their ears with beeswax so they cannot hear the Sirens’ voices. He then commands them to tie him securely to the ship’s mast and not to release him under any circumstances until the danger has passed.” (08/07/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/07/odyssey-teaches-restraining-power/
UK: Plan to limit “vertical drinking” decried by pub landlords and
Source: ABC News
“A proposal to limit ‘vertical drinking,’ a bureaucratic euphemism for having a pint while standing, has turned into a political headache for one local government council in London. Politicians from Prime Minister Andy Burnham to London Mayor Sadiq Khan have piled in to decry the idea from Westminster City Council, which is responsible for licensing pubs and restaurants in the West End, a nightlife hub popular with tourists and locals. A feature of many of those pubs is the crowd of drinkers who mill around sharing drinks with friends, often spilling out into the street on warm spring and summer evenings. … Council leader Paul Swaddle issued a press release stressing that the proposal was part of a draft policy that is still open for public comment.” (08/07/26)
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 08/07/26
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Legendary lawyer Michael Tigar on juries, free speech, and the trial of John Peter Zenger.” (08/07/26)
When Rational Individual Choices Produce Collective Waste
Source: The Daily Economy
by Harshit Singh & Sarika Kumari
“Auniversity degree once distinguished its holder precisely because few people had one. As degrees spread, employers began demanding them as a baseline, and today many jobs that historically required a high-school education demand a bachelor’s degree, not because the work grew more complex, but because the signal became an entry fee. Everyone pays more; nobody stands out. That sentence describes far more of modern life than credentials.” (08/07/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/when-rational-individual-choices-produce-collective-waste/
NY: Captain hit with slew of charges after boat capsized near Liberty Island, killing two, including infant
Source: New York Post
“The captain of the boat that capsized in New York Harbor late Saturday — killing a baby and a 27-year-old woman — was hit with more than a dozen charges for driving it while dangerously overloaded, according to sources. The operator, who has not been publicly identified, faces 13 charges of reckless endangerment after the motorboat he was steering flipped over off the coast of Liberty Island just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday. The vessel, a 22-foot bowrider motorboat, was overloaded with 14 people on board, NYPD sources told The Post. Two passengers are confirmed to have died, including a 5-month-old baby and a 27-year-old woman. Neither has been identified pending family notification, the NYPD said.” (08/09/26)
Your privacy rights don’t disappear at the border
Source: Washington Post
by Mike Fox
“Those who travel internationally know the routine. Whether at an airport terminal or a land border crossing, returning home means having your bags scanned to ensure you aren’t bringing contraband, illicit drugs or invasive species onto U.S. soil. But what happens when the government demands access to your phone? A smartphone is fundamentally different from a suitcase. It’s not merely a container for physical goods; it’s a digital repository of our lives. It holds our private thoughts, political expressions, digital calendars, personal photos, contact lists, shopping habits, credit card numbers and travel logs. Yet U.S. customs officers routinely assert the authority to demand passcodes and search these digital life-capsules without a warrant — and often without a shred of reasonable suspicion to believe a crime has been committed.” (08/07/26)
Dems’ Dilemma, From the Mountains to the Prairies
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“On Tuesday, Julian Beaudion, the Democratic Senate nominee challenging South Dakota Republican incumbent Mike Rounds, dropped out in favor of independent Brian Bengs. This followed similar actions in Idaho and Nebraska. In Idaho last week, Democratic nominee David Roth stood aside in favor of Todd Achilles, a former Democratic state legislator and an Army veteran, who is running as an independent against Republican Sen. Jim Risch. Both Bengs and Achilles are long shots. Bengs was trounced when he ran as a Democrat against John Thune in 2022. And Idaho, one of the nation’s most Republican states, last sent a Democrat to the Senate, Frank Church, in 1974. Church was defeated in the 1980 GOP landslide, as was South Dakota’s George McGovern.” (08/07/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/07/dems-dilemma-from-mountains-to-prairies/