Source: Malay Mail [Malaysia]
“Ukrainian drones struck two Russian cities on Thursday in attacks that injured at least 16 people, local authorities said, a day before a US-Russia summit on the war in Ukraine. Thirteen people were wounded, two seriously, when a drone struck an apartment building in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don …. Three civilians were wounded in the city of Belgorod …. Separately, the head of Russia’s Volgograd region said fallen debris from Ukrainian drones had caused a fire at an oil refinery.” (08/14/25)
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2025/08/14/ukrainian-drone-strikes-hit-two-russian-cities-injuring-at-least-16-ahead-of-us-russia-summit/187628
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Government is an unnecessary evil. Every government, not just the ones you dislike. The governments you are encouraged to hate are no worse than the one you look to for advice on which ones to hate. In fact, they are less harmful to you since they aren’t able to rule or tax you. People who try to justify government often admit it’s evil. Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet Common Sense from 1776, wrote, ‘Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.’ This doesn’t hold water. If something is evil, it’s not necessary, and if it’s necessary, it can’t be evil. It’s like arguing for a square circle. It’s one or the other, and government is always intolerable.” (08/13/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/08/13/voices/opinion-government-should-become-extinct/231446.html
Source: SFGate
“A divided panel of appeals court judges ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration can suspend or terminate billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for foreign aid. Two of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that grant recipients challenging the freeze did not meet the requirements for a preliminary injunction restoring the flow of money. In January, on the first day of his second term in the White House, Republican President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to freeze spending on foreign aid. After groups of grant recipients sued to challenge that order, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the administration to release the full amount of foreign assistance that Congress had appropriated for the 2024 budget year. The appeal court’s majority partially vacated Ali’s order.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/appeals-court-lets-the-white-house-suspend-or-end-20815922.php
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“When the U.S. Constitution called the federal government into existence, it was on the condition that federal officials could exercise only those powers that the Constitution delegated to the federal government. If a power wasn’t delegated, it could not be exercised. … The responsibility of the judicial branch was to determine whether laws enacted by Congress or actions taken by the president were constitutional or not. The federal judiciary would have the final say over the constitutionality of laws and actions. … after the federal government was converted to a national-security state in the late 1940s, the national-security establishment (i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA) effectively became a fourth branch of government — and the most powerful branch at that, one to which the other three branches ended up deferring.” (08/13/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/08/13/judicial-deference-to-unconstitutional-actions/
Source: The Hill
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Tuesday that his state would redraw its House maps after President Trump failed to respond to a letter the governor sent him urging Trump to have red states call off redistricting efforts. ‘DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),’ Newsom wrote in a statement on the social platform X put out through his press office, meant to mock how Trump writes his posts on Truth Social. … Newsom penned a letter to Trump on Monday pressing the president to have Texas and other red states stop their mid-decade redistricting efforts …. Newsom’s office gave Trump until Tuesday evening to reply to the letter.” (08/13/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5449851-newsom-trump-redistricting-clash/
Source: The Hill
by Sheldon H Jacobson
“Tariffs will create a new market equilibrium. Higher prices will invariably shift consumer preferences and buying patterns. Given that consumers tend to be price sensitive, they may chase lower prices for the same goods by purchasing different brands, opt to purchase different goods (for example, switching from beef to chicken), or simply not make purchases. The net effect is less consumer spending, which invariably will lead to a shrinking economy. Recent GDP and labor force numbers support this trend, which will only accelerate as the tariffs become more widespread and ingrained into the economy.” (08/13/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5448330-trump-tariffs-economic-scars/
Source: The Nation
by US Representative Rho Khanna (D-CA)
“On his podcast, Joe Rogan recently asked Senator Bernie Sanders a question that reflects a concern many Americans have today: Why should people pay more in taxes to ‘an incompetent, corrupt government’ that lacks accountability? The truth is, we should be investing more in government programs for education, healthcare, and the creation of well-paid jobs. But decades of corruption and the unchecked influence of money in politics have fueled a deep distrust in our institutions. Overcoming this distrust is one of our greatest challenges as a country. If we want to enact initiatives like a 21st-century Marshall Plan for America or Medicare for All, we need people to believe that government works for them — not just for the rich and powerful.” [editor’s note: Rho Khanna is a multi-millionaire congresscritter. Rich? Check. Powerful? Check – TLK] (08/13/25)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/epstein-files-trump-transparency-corruption/
Source: Seattle Times
“Air Canada said Wednesday it will begin a gradual suspension of flights to allow an orderly shutdown of the country’s largest airline as it faces a potential work stoppage by its flight attendants on Saturday. The airline said the first flights will be canceled Thursday, with more on Friday and a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge by the weekend. The union representing around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants issued a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday. In response, the airline issued a lockout notice.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/bzMyJ
Source: Yascha Mounk
“David Enoch on Certainty and Compromise.” (08/13/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/david-enoch-on-certainty-and-compromise
Source: CounterPunch
by Jack Rasmus
“Events that got the ball rolling toward a meeting in Alaska were set in motion by Trump’s sending his second special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow last week. (Trump’s other envoy is General Kellogg who had carried the water for the US neocons’ demands for Russia to ceasefire first, then negotiate). What provoked Trump to send Witkoff? It may have been Putin’s signal that Russia has now only two major demands: No NATO in Ukraine and Ukraine acceptance that the four provinces (+ Crimea) are now part of Russia. This appears as a concession without Russia actually making one. … Of course, Zelensky has also declared the four provinces and Crimea are part of the Ukrainian Constitution and are non-negotiable. What this means is one side or the other has to confront a Constitutional crisis in order to negotiate an end to the war. That will not happen.” (08/13/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/13/putin-trump-meeting-endgame-or-pr-event/
