Source: In These Times
by Sarah Lazare

“One morning, when Jacob started his 9 a.m. shift as a UPS driver in Minnesota, he noticed it was hazy outside. It was July 16, and wildfires raging across northeastern Minnesota and southern Canada had unleashed acrid, hazardous smoke across much of the state. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was urging people to stay indoors. But Jacob was expected to work an estimated 9- or 10-hour shift, getting in and out of his vehicle delivering packages. Management hadn’t provided any protective measures, like masks, he says, and he was inhaling the toxic smoke for hours. ​’The worst part about driving and working outside is we don’t have air conditioning or anything,’ he says over the phone.” [editor’s note: I don’t usually post these climate hoax pieces, but this was particularly delulu – SAT] (08/13/26)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/smoke-heat-storms-climate-change-working-conditions-ups-nurses

Source: The American Prospect
by Makela Reid

“Affordability and war may be top of mind for many voters, but the fight for abortion rights still rages. In November, Virginia, Idaho, and Nevada will weigh in on ballot initiatives to protect abortion access. Virginia’s proposed constitutional amendment would enshrine ‘a right to reproductive freedom’, allowing women to make their own choices about their pregnancy barring a ‘compelling state interest’. Nevada voters approved the Right to Abortion Initiative in 2024, but constitutional amendments must be approved in two even-numbered election years, so voters must approve the question again. Idaho currently has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans, but the Idaho Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act Initiative would remove that ban and enable individuals to make their own choices about childbirth care, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and other supports throughout pregnancy.” [editor’s note: This piece never mentions Taxachusetts, where abortion has now become a sacrament, even up to the moment of birth – SAT] (08/15/26)

https://prospect.org/2026/08/15/here-are-the-states-deciding-whether-you-can-get-an-abortion/

Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut

“The real goal isn’t to promote accuracy, but to encourage agitated conservatives to complain about historical references that make them uncomfortable.” (08/14/26)

https://reason.com/2026/08/14/trump-is-trying-to-spin-u-s-history/

Source: Washington Post
by Derek Kan

“Three approaches to regulating the artificial intelligence industry have been gaining traction in recent weeks: Sam Altman’s call for an international regulatory body, styled after the International Atomic Energy Agency; a bipartisan House proposal that would subject AI developers to audits by government-licensed verification organizations, similar to the Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft certification model; and Google’s proposal to set up an industry-funded self-regulatory body under federal oversight. Before even considering which regulatory agencies and policies to implement for AI, however, Congress should first define the limits of government power. The lesson of past technological innovation is not that the government should have no role; it is that its role should be circumscribed at the outset so that the technology is not stifled.” (08/13/26)

https://archive.is/5qneH

Source: EconLog
by Maurizio Bovi

“Inequality is often the outcome of processes regarded as fair. Yet advantages acquired fairly in one sphere—economic, educational, or political—rarely remain confined to the domain that produced them. As these advantages spill over into other areas, they reshape opportunities and outcomes over time, gradually transforming what began as tolerable disparities into broader patterns of unequal access and influence. This process is driven not only by individual choices but also by the institutions through which social life is organized. Inequality is inherently multidimensional, relational and dynamic.” (08/13/26)

https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2026/boviinstitutionsinequality