Upstart?

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“The spectacular fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk over the Big Beautiful Bill in particular (but deficit spending and debt accumulation in general) promises political watchers a big, ugly brawl.
Now, billionaire Musk appears to be serious about his proposed ‘third party,’ the ‘America Party.’ A name perfectly designed to ruffle Trumpian feathers. It might steal some of the thunder of ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again.’ The president mocks the notion, saying that third parties ‘have never succeeded in the United States.’ Well, that is not exactly true. For a long time, it was second parties that had problems.” (07/10/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/07/10/upstart/

Bangladesh: Tribunal indicts Hasina over protester deaths

Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

“Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has indicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two senior officials over alleged crimes against humanity linked to a deadly crackdown on protesters during last year’s July uprising. The tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder and comprising justices Shafiul Alam Masud and Mohitul Enam Chowdhury, formally charged Hasina on Thursday. … Hasina, who fled to India following a student-led uprising last August, had been facing several charges. Earlier this month, in a separate ruling, she was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court by the ICT.” (07/10/25)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/10/bangladesh-tribunal-indicts-ex-pm-hasina-over-protester-deaths

Rawls In The Streets

Source: Liberal Currents
by Matthew McManus

“Rawls the Good oftentimes seems like a nice way of saying Rawls the boring. For a figure said to have reinvigorated English speaking political philosophy (the word was once political philosophy wholesale) it can be hard to figure out why upon first reading Theory of Justice. Rawls'[s] style is technical, hyper-academic, and dull. At 600 pages even dedicated Rawlsians often admit to tedium going through his opus. … So goes the conventional wisdom around Rawls critiques. The accumulated effect is to induce starry-eyed wonder that his work could ever provoke so much attention. And yet like so much conventional wisdom relayed to undergraduates, much of it is wrong.” (07/10/25)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/rawls-in-the-streets/

State-Run Supermarkets: A (Bad) Statist Solution in Search of a Problem

Source: Cato Institute
by Scott Lincicome

“For today’s purposes, I’ll avoid the obvious Soviet breadline jokes and even ignore that — per the Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney — Mamdani appears to have embarrassingly botched how the city would pay for his experiment. (Insert even more commie jokes here.) His eagerness to pursue the system once in office is also somewhat unclear. Yet the grocery proposal remains noteworthy both for its massive weaknesses and what it says about those still championing it today. In that sense, Mamdani’s grocery plan is a classic example of a statist hammer — and in this case sickle (sorry I couldn’t resist just one) — in search of a ‘market failure’ nail.” (07/10/25)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/state-run-supermarkets-bad-statist-solution-search-problem

Six Secret Service agents suspended over conduct in Trump assassination attempt

Source: Axios

“Six U.S. Secret Service agents were suspended in relation to their conduct concerning the assassination attempt on President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, ABC News first reported Wednesday. USSS deputy director Matt Quinn told CBS News the personnel were placed on leave over operational failures in the July 13, 2024, rally shooting and that the suspensions varied from 10 to 42 days as they were disciplined in accordance with a federally mandated process.” (07/10/25)

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/10/secret-service-agents-suspended-trump-assassination-attempt