Source: Associated Press
“Myanmar’s military-backed government has deported Adam Castillo, a U.S. businessman and former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, after three months in jail on what supporters say were trumped-up charges, state media reported Wednesday. State-run MRTV television said Castillo was flown out of the capital, Naypyitaw, earlier in the day, ‘in consideration of the friendly relations between Myanmar and the United States.’ The report said he had been charged with breach of trust over allegations he had violated the regulations of AmCham Myanmar. It did not say whether he had ever been brought to trial, or whether the charges had been dismissed. … Castillo, 40, was released into the custody of U.S. officials in Myanmar then flown to Bangkok, Thailand, and will soon return home to the U.S.” (09/16/26)
https://apnews.com/article/adam-castillo-myanmar-jail-chamber-of-commerce-f9ecfe8d62f8a71ee6914bd67b87de95
Source: The Hill
“Niall Stanage gives his notes on President Trump continuing to push for adding his name to the Kennedy Center.” (09/16/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/6083815-rising-september-16-2026/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Nolan Denaro
“How could it be, then, that the same party touting its credibility in the fight against big-government economic planning is also led by a president who is offering every American adult a free $5,000? Is this not an example of the very economic interventionism Republicans claim to oppose? This creates a clear bind for the Republicans. Are they for ‘free markets’ or ‘free handouts?'” (09/16/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/republicans-ditch-free-markets-for-free-money
Source: The American Prospect
by Chris Murphy
“In my recent book, Crisis of the Common Good, I make the argument that our hyper-individualistic, market-obsessed culture has made us more isolated and less powerful. I think Donald Trump is a symptom of this spiritual unspooling. My book argues that happiness comes from a sense of connection and shared purpose with others, and that government should not outsource virtue or morality to private markets. I do not suggest the public sector should dictate one single version of ‘the good life’. I suggest it should instead seek, as an agent of the public will, to order our economy in a way that gives power and dignity to every actor in it, and our culture in a way that encourages communion and shared experience. The Argument’s Jerusalem Demsas, in her critique ‘No, Senator Murphy, I don’t want to join your cult,’ argues confidently for more or less a maintenance of the status quo.” (09/16/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/09/16/hidden-divide-that-shapes-our-politics/
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Hours after singer Ed Sheeran addressed the backlash over rapper Macklemore being ousted from his tour for pro-Palestinian comments onstage, his remaining supporting acts have all quit Sheeran’s tour. … After he put Macklemore’s removal solely on venues and promoters, supporting acts Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, Beoga and Finneas announced that they were withdrawing from Sheeran’s tour to stand in solidarity with Palestinians — meaning the tour now has no openers. Sheeran said upcoming venues contacted him after his shows at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium earlier this month, saying they would pull his performances if Macklemore, 43, was not removed as his opening act, because of ‘how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance,’ the singer said.” (09/15/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/sheeran-macklemore-tour-9.7345034
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“The Empire of Lies: Deep State, Endless War & the Cost of Empire w/ Charles Goyette.” (09/16/26)
https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/cgoyette9-16-26/
Source: The Daily Economy
by John Phelan
“Humanity is approaching an unprecedented demographic turn. Can productivity outrun population decline?” (09/16/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/an-aging-shrinking-population-must-a-smaller-world-be-poorer/
Source: Washington Post
by Theodore R Johnson
“If the last 18 months are any guide, President Donald Trump is not going to send you $5,000. At last week’s two-night midterm convention in Dallas, he promised every adult citizen a ‘Trump dividend’ should Republicans win both houses of Congress in November. It pushes his running tab of unpaid cash pledges past $13,000 per person. On the first night, he described the payout as a profit-sharing distribution: ‘because our country is making so much money.’ During the second night, Trump morphed it into reparations for surviving Joe Biden’s presidency: ‘We went through hell.’ … Given Trump’s track record of broken promises, the offer itself is the point, not the payout — and it’s aimed squarely at his base. Rather than a proposal meant to persuade midterm swing voters or flip those who lean Democratic, the ‘Trump dividend’ mostly serves as a turnout incentive, gladly offering a payday for a vote on Election Tuesday.” (09/16/26)
https://archive.is/rdPu3
Source: Liberal Currents
by Georgiy Kistiakowsky
“The free world no longer has the luxury of regarding nuclear deterrence like a snow globe on a shelf.” (09/16/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/nuclear-arms-and-the-new-free-world/
Source: SFGate
“The son of imprisoned former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai appealed for his father’s release at a congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday, one week before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the U.S. Sebastien Lai urged his father’s release on humanitarian grounds at a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. A Hong Kong court sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison in February following his conviction under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Lai’s daughter, Claire, did not appear at the hearing after being diagnosed with cancer. Her brother said she began chemotherapy in London last week. ‘Let Jimmy Lai come home to his family and let him sit beside his daughter in her hardest moment,’ he said, describing his father as ‘a 78-year-old man who has already suffered enough.'” (09/16/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/jimmy-lai-s-son-pleads-in-washington-for-his-22434860.php
