Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Pattern recognition need not give an unambiguous result. The same black and white picture can be seen either as a vase or as two faces. A paranoid may have a picture of the world that fits all of the data available to him, with apparent inconsistencies explained by the plots of his enemies.” (08/18/26)
Source: SFGate
“The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade with Iran on Wednesday after the UAE said it had come under renewed fire from the country — a move that will further isolate the Islamic Republic, which is suffering under U.S. sanctions and a blockade. Incoming ballistic missile fire triggered nationwide warnings Tuesday night for UAE residents to seek shelter, the first time in weeks such an alarm had sounded. Early in the conflict, the UAE regularly came under intense fire from Iran, and most trade between the countries, which had once been important trading partners, ground to a halt. In late June, as hostilities eased, some maritime trade resumed, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. ” (08/19/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/united-arab-emirates-suspends-trade-with-iran-22394339.php
Source: UnHerd
by Juan David Rojas
“Last week, the State Department revoked the visa of ‘Andy’ López Beltrán, son of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). The move is the latest escalation between the Trump White House and the Mexican government of President Claudia Sheinbaum of the Left-wing Morena party. We’ve seen other signs of stealth-conflict: a car crash killing two CIA agents in Mexico – who may have been involved in an alleged CIA assassination campaign against cartel operatives; the indictment by US authorities of Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, a member of Sheinbaum’s Morena party, over alleged drug ties. Finally, the State Department revoked visas in June for Morena Govs. Alfonso Durazo and Américo Villarreal, stating that both were under investigation. All of this has come amid conflicting statements from Trump officials.” (08/18/26)
Source: In These Times
by Stacy Davis Gates
“When people ask me what it means to be a woman in power, I think about Bea Lumpkin, because power means you don’t wait for permission. Not power as in proximity to the powerful, or having a seat at a table someone else built. I mean power as in knowing early which side you were on, then spending every day of your life standing on the business of that side. Bea passed away June 14 at 107 years old. A lifelong communist and the Jewish daughter of Russian immigrants, she married a Black man during the height of the Red Scare in 1949 and raised a family under the restrictive conventions of Jim Crow fascism.” (08/18/26)
Source: United Press International
“The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send about 1,000 poll monitors to elections this fall, including some Tuesday in Florida and Wyoming primary races. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told Bloomberg News that the number of poll monitors is ‘probably going to be a historic number for a Republican administration.’ ‘Election monitoring is an ongoing priority for this office,’ Dhillon said in a press release. ‘Nondiscriminatory monitoring ensures all elections remain free, fair and accessible to all.'” (08/18/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/08/18/doj-1000-poll-monitors/6201787074910/
Source: Libertarian Institute
“A threat is not a strategy, and it definitely is not a negotiating position. We sit down with Ambassador Chas Freeman to unpack why talk of ‘decapitation,’ demands for compensation, and shifting US red lines do not move Iran toward a deal, they push everything toward attrition and escalation.” (08/18/26)
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Market perks do not create poverty, but government zoning and currency inflation do.” (08/18/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-kevin-hart-gets-free-fast-food
Source: Reuters
“Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scored an upset victory on Tuesday in Florida’s Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate, as voters in several states picked candidates for elections that will determine control of Congress. … she defeated former national security official Alex Vindman, who rose to prominence in 2019 when he testified to Congress during Republican President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. Vindman raised 16 times as much money as Nixon. … She will face Republican Senator Ashley Moody in November’s general election.” (08/19/26)
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“American taxpayers have been throwing blood and treasure at South Korea for most of a century even as it has become an economic powerhouse that competes with US producers, and that commitment also feeds into US entanglement in every regional argument involving not just the Koreas, but China, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, etc. It’s a raw deal for America.” (08/18/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Chaos in Foreign Policy.” (08/18/26)