The Pocket Adam Smith
Source: Law & Liberty
by Julia R Cartwright
“Leonidas Montes has spent a whole career thinking about what the eighteenth century Scotsman was trying to say.” (07/30/26)
Ghana hit by nationwide blackout as power plants fail
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A major fault on Ghana’s national power grid has triggered widespread outages, leaving the capital, Accra, the commercial hub of Kumasi and much of north without electricity. Several power plants across the West African nation were forced to shut down in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the state-run power distribution company said. … Ghana, one of the world’s biggest producers of both gold and cocoa, has in recent years started using gas to generate electricity to help with demand as the population grows and becomes more urbanised. Most of the country’s electricity is generated by ageing hydropower plants, which have suffered from poor maintenance over years.” (07/29/26)
The Libertarian Angle, 07/29/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Central Planning at the Fed.” (07/29/26)
Prairieland: A Tactical and Strategic Analysis
Source: Liberal Currents
by Samantha Hancox-Li
“The events at Prairieland on July 4, 2025, resulted in a large number of activists arrested, no national upsurge in anti-ICE sentiment, and legal and propaganda victories for the government. A tactical analysis of Prairieland is a case study in mistakes. But negative examples are nevertheless useful for future organizing.” (07/30/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/prairieland-a-tactical-and-strategic-analysis/
The Iran War Is Lose-Lose
Source: The American Conservative
by Dr. Ionut Popescu
“The conflict between the United States and Iran has laid bare a profound failure of political judgment and strategic adaptation in Washington and Tehran alike. Both sides locked themselves into rigid adversarial paradigms and prioritized short-term tactical military successes at the expense of long-term strategy. For the United States in particular, this failure is a symptom of a much larger, more dangerous disease—a stubborn adherence to a militaristic, interventionist grand strategy that refuses to accept the realities of a multipolar world in which its relative financial and military resources are much more limited. The on-again, off-again conflict, characterized by tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes, is a lose-lose situation for both parties and for the region as a whole, yet we are unlikely to escape this tragic dynamic unless more realist strategic thinking prevails in both Washington and Tehran.” (07/30/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-iran-war-is-lose-lose/
New data, same problem: No Surprises Act arbitration abuse persists
Source: Niskanen Center
by Lawson Mansell & Caitlin Rowley Gallamore
“The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last week released No Surprises Act (NSA) payment data for the last half of 2025, providing the public’s first complete look at how the law performed on important cost indicators over the last full calendar year. The data reveal troubling patterns: the volume of billing disputes between medical providers and insurers continues to climb, arbitration awards keep speeding past benchmarks Congress established in the law, and the program itself now costs nearly $3 billion a year. Without reform, patients will continue to bear these costs — not through the surprise bills the law was designed to eliminate, but through the higher premiums and slower wage growth that follow when insurers pass their higher costs to customers.” (07/30/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/new-data-same-problem-no-surprises-act-arbitration-abuse-persists
Right-to-Try Laws Could Increase Gene Therapy Access
Source: Independent Institute
by Raymond J March
“The United States leads the world in approved gene therapies. Europe and China aren’t far behind. That sounds like good news, and it is, until you see how far all of them remain from what the technology can do. What’s the holdup? Unsurprisingly, regulation.” (07/29/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/29/right-try-laws-gene-therapy-access/
SpaceX launches classified NRO payload from Florida
Source: United Press International
“A Falcon 9 rocket topped with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office launched from Florida’s east coast early Thursday. The rocket launched at 3:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Little information about the NROL-95 mission has been made public aside from the fact that the payload was designed, built and will be operated by the NRO. The broadcast of the launch was restricted at the request of the NRO, SpaceX said, with the second stage two and deployment of the payload not shown.” (07/29/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/07/30/SpaceX-NRO-launch/4641785394921/
The Kyle Anzalone Show, 07/29/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Tucker Blasts Trump as ‘Weak’ for Allowing Netanyahu to Drag Him to War.” (07/29/26)
Your Internet Doesn’t Need to Be Big
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell
“You probably won’t ever be big. No matter where you make your digital home. This isn’t a knock against you (I’m sure your content is great), it’s just that basically no one gets big. Certainly not big enough to make a living at it. Still, though, maybe you’ll be the exception? So you might as well stick with the place everyone else is, who knows? … by not moving to somewhere that might be better for you, healthier or more fun, and doing it because you want to be in the one place everyone else is, you’re probably just denying yourself a good deal of digital enjoyment.” (07/29/26)