Source: Seattle Times
“The Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 has denied involvement in a series of massacres in eastern Congo which were detailed in a report published by a rights group Wednesday. Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the M23 military, called the Human Rights Watch report ‘fake and a falsification of reality’ and accused the group of spreading ‘extremist propaganda’ in a statement late Wednesday. M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east. Both M23 and the Congolese military have previously been accused of violence against civilians. … Human Rights Watch accused M23 of killing over 140 civilians as part of a military campaign against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group made up mostly of ethnic Hutu fighters.” (08/21/25)
https://archive.is/NOtkq
Source: The Dispatch
“Are Age Verification Laws Constitutional?” (08/21/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/are-age-verification-laws-constitutional/
Source: National Public Radio
“How the Trump admin uses immigration policy to show force.” (08/21/25)
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/nx-s1-5509540/how-the-trump-admin-uses-immigration-policy-to-show-force
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“So sick of liberal hegemony, critics of Washington’s foreign policy have long been apt to seize at anything that promises something, anything, different. Hence the vigorous applause directed towards anyone who doesn’t mindlessly embrace every single one of the blob’s wars. One of the most prominent in the second Donald Trump administration is Elbridge Colby, current Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, who has drawn the predictable beltway ire for reviews of Ukraine aid and AUKUS, among other things. But here’s the problem with Elbridge Colby, and everyone else like him, from the perspective of a restrainer or non-interventionist: he markets himself as the sober realist who corrected Washington’s post-9/11 drift, but his program amounts to militarized primacy by another name.” (08/21/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/contra-colby
Source: Town Hall
by Larry Elder
“At this point in his second term, President Donald Trump has higher approval ratings than Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in their second terms. … For Trump, this approval rating follows: two impeachments; a verdict of liable defamation; a criminal verdict of guilty by a Manhattan jury for a supposed violation of federal election law; a prosecution by the Fulton County district attorney for alleged presidential election interference; an investigation … into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol building riot … investigation of Trump’s alleged violation of federal law over his possession and handling of government documents … a verdict of liability and a judgment, now approaching $500 million, for supposedly inflating the value of his properties to obtain bank loans; a[n] … investigation by a special counsel into whether Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election and whether Trump committed obstruction of justice …” (08/21/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2025/08/21/the-cure-for-trump-derangement-syndrome-success-n2662108
Source: Fox News
“An appellate court has thrown out the $500 million civil fraud penalty against former President Donald Trump in the high-profile case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The New York Appellate Division overturned the penalty, ruling the disgorgement was an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment. The panel upheld findings that Trump and his company were liable, affirming that James acted within her authority and that injunctive relief to curb Trump Organization practices was appropriate. The ruling leaves liability intact but eliminates the massive financial penalty.” (08/21/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ny-appeals-court-throws-out-500m-penalty-against-trump-letitia-james-civil-case
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Andy Curran (WeVote Project; Social media town hall software) on the process of creating a civic social network that empowers users with access to a comprehensive database of over 250,000 legislative forums.” (08/21/25)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/383289-2025-08-20-2025-08-21-ernest-hancock-interviews-andy-curran-wevote-project.htm
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“How bad is Washington’s crime problem? Well, that’s hard to know precisely, what with rampant fudging of crime statistics. We get anecdotes. For example, via tweeted responses to an invitation by the X account Washingtonian Problems to ‘push back against the negative narrative about our city. Share why you love our beautiful home and help show the world the real DC.’ Whether the appeal was meant ironically, a possibility suggested by Not the Bee, I don’t know. But a good many reports of non-beauty ensued.” (08/21/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/08/20/talking-about-crime-in-dc/
Source: The Atlantic
by Quinta Jurecic
“Trump’s spree of second-term executive orders can be divided into several categories. Sometimes, he is exercising authority within the normal bounds of presidential power, though often to stupid or malicious ends; sometimes, there’s genuine uncertainty as to whether the president can wield the power Trump claims for himself; and sometimes, Trump has arrogated to himself an authority that doesn’t exist. An executive order banning mail-in ballots would fall into the final category.” (08/21/25)
https://archive.is/OddDB
Source: Axios
“The Trump administration announced fresh sanctions on International Criminal Court officials on Wednesday and accused the ICC of being a ‘national security threat’ and ‘instrument for lawfare’ against the U.S. and Israel. The intergovernmental organization and international tribunal, in a statement, called the latest U.S. sanctions that affect two judges and two prosecutors ‘a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.’ … The sanctioned officials ‘directly engaged’ in ICC efforts ‘to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation.'” (08/21/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/21/trump-icc-sanctions-israel-rubio-us-israel-afghanistan
