Another Sign of the Times: “Fuck ICE”

Source: American Greatness
by Thaddeus G McCotter

“Strolling through a major American urban metropolis, I noticed that the tightly packed homes and squat tri-level apartments and condos had tiny, browning ‘natural gardens’ pocked with the usual virtue-signaling lawn signs setting forth their progressive secular creed’s commandments: ‘kindness always’, ‘hate has no home here’, etc. Yet amidst this self-proclaimed bastion of love and tolerance, I quickly spied an ostensibly contradictory placard in many residential windows and, in fact, on the bumpers of many cars, both rust buckets and some upscale, socially responsible electric ones. Indeed, this sentiment was so prevalent that the host of a YouTube video touring the city’s neighborhoods casually expressed it as an aside and apologized for not stating it in a prior video. What was this urgent statement needing to be publicly proclaimed to one and all by any and all means fair and foul? It was ‘Fuck ICE’.” (08/08/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/08/another-sign-of-the-times-f-ice/

Make No Mistake, the Left [sic] is on a Winning Streak

Source: In These Times
by Branko Marcetic

“Something has shifted among the Democratic electorate. That was already clear from Zohran Mamdani’s trouncing of establishment royalty Andrew Cuomo in the New York mayoral race last year …. it was clear from the primary election in Maine, where Democratic voters rejected their own governor in favor of a left-populist firebrand dogged by scandals who had never held political office. But the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan over the Israel lobby – backed centrist Rep. Haley Stevens may eclipse even these as both a victory for the broad Left and for anyone who genuinely cares about democracy. No candidate has been outspent to the degree El-Sayed was and still won, however narrowly, with Stevens’s nine-to-one advantage in outside spending funding an endless torrent of TV ads touting a nonexistent endorsement from former President Barack Obama and scurrilously attacking El-Sayed.” (08/07/26)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/abdul-el-sayed-donovan-mckinney-michigan-bernie-sanders-left-aipac

Russia: Regime Bans Human Rights Foundation Chaired by Yulia Navalnaya as “Undesirable”

Source: US News & World Report

“Russia has ⁠designated ⁠the New York-based ⁠Human Rights Foundation, chaired by Yulia Navalnaya, ​the widow of late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, as ‌an ‘undesirable organisation’. The ‘undesirable’ tag is ‌used by Russian authorities to ban the ⁠activities ⁠of organisations it deems to pose a threat to ​the state, and means that any Russians who cooperate with them or share their content can face ​prosecution. In its announcement, the Russian prosecutor’s office noted that ⁠HRF had ⁠designated Russia as ⁠a ‘fully ​authoritarian regime’ in its ‘Tyranny Tracker’ project. It said HRF was engaged ​in discrediting ⁠the Russian armed forces — which was made a criminal offence after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — as well as promoting anti-Russian sanctions and ⁠supporting other undesirable organisations.” (08/07/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-08-07/russia-bans-human-rights-foundation-chaired-by-yulia-navalnaya-as-undesirable

Get the Feds Out of Curriculum Decisions

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald

“It is fully within a state legislature’s purview to enact new curriculum policies for public schools in response to constituents’ concerns. It is, however, not within the purview of the federal government. The federal government has no constitutional role in education. Education is not listed among the enumerated powers granted to the federal government by the US Constitution. Any authority around education policy belongs with the states. That is why current efforts to close the US Department of Education, which opened in 1980, or to diminish its role are commendable.” (08/07/26)

https://fee.org/articles/get-the-feds-out-of-curriculum-decisions/

Trump tries to repeal 14th Amendment by edict again

Source: Reuters

“U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday that the ​White House said expands the definition of people ‌who are ineligible for birthright citizenship and bans ‘birth tourism.’ Limiting birthright citizenship has been one of the top priorities in ​the Republican president’s crackdown on immigration. An earlier effort ​by Trump was rejected by the U.S. Supreme ⁠Court in June, prompting him to call upon ​Congress to act.” (08/06/26)

https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-sign-orders-birthright-citizenship-axios-reports-2026-08-06/

I Stopped Being a Libertarian Because I Realized the Sky is Blue

Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan

“When a thinker publicly changes his mind on major questions, neutral observers normally interpret it as a sign of courage and maturity. Almost no one enjoys admitting they were wrong — and ‘I changed my mind’ is tantamount to ‘I was wrong.’ On reflection, however, this favorable interpretation is premature. Yes, changing your mind because you discover surprising new evidence or arguments is courageous and mature. But what if you change your mind for purely emotional reasons, like ‘The idea that murderers shouldn’t be punished started to disgust me’? Or because you have a falling out with friends who share your views? ‘My girlfriend dumped me, so I left the church.’ Neither of these intellectual paths even hints at courage or maturity. The situation only slightly shifts if you change your mind because you ‘discover’ blatantly obvious evidence or arguments.” (08/06/26)

https://www.betonit.ai/p/i-stopped-being-a-libertarian-because

Hormuz deal may block US, Israeli shipments

Source: Yahoo! News

“Iranian state media on Thursday reported that Tehran could attempt to block U.S. and Israeli shipments from transiting the Strait of Hormuz under its joint venture with Oman to reopen the critical waterway to commercial traffic. Members of Iran’s parliament are reviewing a proposed bill to block “hostile” vessels from moving through the choke point responsible for carrying a fifth of the world’s oil transports per day under normal conditions. Ships caught violating the policy could face a 20 percent fine if caught by Iranian authorities, per state media. Each ship approved to transit the strait will face fees for insurance, refueling and or environmental costs, according to Iranian state media. … The Trump administration has maintained that there will be no tolls on the strait.” (08/06/26)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/iran-moves-block-us-israeli-032540520.html

For Real “Farm Aid,” Go “Free Trade”

Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp

“The ‘farm bill’ concept is 93 years old, and it’s as bad an idea now, when only 1% of Americans work in agriculture, as it was in 1933’s first round of New Deal legislation, back when that number was 25%. We keep getting better at producing more food with less labor, but apparently buried deep within the US Constitution there’s an amendment obligating American taxpayers and consumers to ensure that anyone whose great-grandfather wore overalls and drove a tractor gets to make a living and have a career doing the same thing. I can’t find it, but it must be in there somewhere, right? Otherwise, why does Congress spend more than $70 billion a year to make it so?” (08/06/26)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20823