The Dispatch
by Nic Rowan
“When thinking about travel, I have always found [Nancy] Mitford’s distinction between the tourist and the visitor useful. ‘The tourist tours, he seldom spends a week in the same place,’ she writes. ‘The visitor stops in a town and leads the life of its inhabitants.’ In Mitford’s case, ‘visiting’ meant parking in Venice for a season and living simply in a small apartment. Under these conditions, she was able to focus on her writing and produce those wonderfully catty French court histories that remain among the most entertaining books of the genre. To say that she was leading the life of the city’s inhabitants is perhaps a bit precious — but she certainly seems to have gotten more out of Venice than the tourists gawking at Saint Mark’s Basilica or crowding into the garishly painted gondolas. I try to stay on the visitor side of Mitford’s distinction whenever I go somewhere new.” (05/08/26)
https://archive.is/cRkOQ
Source: Associated Press
“Geopolitical tensions spilled over into the Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition, which opens its most chaotic and contested edition in memory Saturday with no Golden Lions after the jury quit in protest of Israel’s and Russia’s participation and loud protests outside their pavilions. … Ahead of the opening, protesters objecting to Israel’s participation clashed with police on Friday. Earlier in the week, feminist groups from Ukraine and Russia converged on the Russian Pavilion and Palestinians remembered artists killed in Gaza.” (05/09/26)
https://apnews.com/article/italy-venice-biennale-protests-israel-russia-760228a0f311f8fe8f8dd3487e57cc70
Source: The Bulwark
“Courts Keep Rejecting Trump’s Tariffs.” (05/08/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRRYzWCPBv8
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Ted Newson
“At its peak, Britain was known as the workshop of the world. Sheffield produced high-quality steel, Manchester still had a strong textiles sector and the West Midlands was world-renowned for its cars. Glasgow, Sunderland and Newcastle were shipbuilding hubs, Stoke-on-Trent produced ceramics. … In the pursuit of lowering carbon emissions, Britain has abandoned its manufacturing sector. As we have artificially inflated energy prices through policy costs and made employing people harder, our industries have shifted to countries with more business-friendly environments. While rising comparative wage rates naturally encourage industry to shift overseas, the British government has further pushed industry away through deliberate choices. This has created job losses and regional decline as former manufacturing towns lose historic businesses.” (05/08/26)
https://fee.org/articles/britain-is-pricing-its-factories-into-oblivion/
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Just over halfway into the term of Guatemala’s reformist leader, the ‘democratic spring’ that he and his Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement) sought to nurture is sending up fresh shoots of hope for lawful governance. President Bernardo Arévalo has appointed a new attorney general, marking what he calls ‘a new chapter’ for the small Central American nation. The outgoing attorney general, María Consuelo Porras, had tried to derail Mr. Arévalo’s 2024 inauguration, and has since obstructed multiple efforts to promote judicial impartiality and transparency. To many Guatemalans, Ms. Porras’ tenure symbolized entrenched political impunity and corruption that used the power of the state to settle scores with perceived enemies and make allowances for allies. In 2022, the United States cited her for repeatedly undermining anti-corruption efforts to ‘gain undue political favor.'” (05/08/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0508/Guatemala-s-step-toward-good-governance
Source: CNN
“Passengers have begun to disembark the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak, Spain’s ministry of health said, in a carefully managed repatriation operation in Tenerife involving multiple nations. Since the vessel departed Argentina last month, the deaths of three people have been linked to hantavirus — a rare disease typically caused by exposure to infected rats’ urine or feces. It remains a low risk to the general public, according to the World Health Organization. The boat’s arrival had caused tensions in the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain, with the territory’s leader Fernando Clavijo saying earlier in the week that he was opposed to the ship docking.” (05/10/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/10/health/live-news/hantavirus-cruise-outbreak
Source: Free Talk Live
“Is AOC’s room clean? :: Cop blocks woman from her driveway :: ‘We know you live here’ :: AI that self destructs so it can’t do damage :: Stores letting you steal until it hits a felony amount :: Project Mockingbird on the internet with streamers :: AOC to become God queen of the aliens after UFO file drop? :: Gov wants more ID to start in the US for getting a sim card :: Tracking private jets to avoid nukes :: Giant data center in Utah :: 2026-05-09 Hosts: Bonnie, Riley O’Bill, Angelo.” (05/09/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-05-09
Source: Independent Institute
by Stephen P Halbrook
“The First and Tenth Circuits conflict on whether ‘cooling-off’ periods violate the text of the Second Amendment.” (05/08/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/05/08/a-tale-of-two-waiting-periods/
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Vexilllogy is the c. elegans of aesthetics – the simplest model organism that lets us observe dynamics of interest. I haven’t read enough MFA books to do more than relay the thoughts of my betters, and you probably haven’t either. But anyone can have opinions on flags.” (05/08/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/three-model-organisms-for-taste
Source: The Daily Economy
by Thomas Savidge
“Delaying pension contributions may ease immediate pressure on New York City’s budget, but the shell game reveals deeper weaknesses in the city’s finances.” (05/08/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-big-apples-rotten-budget-move-raiding-pensions-for-short-term-spending/
