Source: Independent Institute
by Richard K Vedder
“The DEI practices at America’s colleges and universities have been justly criticized for being anti-meritorious, unconstitutional, racist, and costly. However, a recent lawsuit against UCLA’s medical school suggests that its discriminatory admissions policies could potentially have negative public-health consequences, as well. That’s quite an indictment against what has long been regarded as a premier medical school.” (02/26/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/26/when-a-medical-school-violates-the-law/
Source: CounterPunch
by Binoy Kampmark
“With much in the way of pomp and false premises, the social media ban in Australia for those under 16-years-old was celebrated as a healthy incentive to encourage children to get off the screens and into the playgrounds. A stampede of reinvigorated youth would rush to libraries to borrow books. Sport would be taken up with vim and vigour. Conversations in person would, miraculously, take place with renewed vigour. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had treacly visions of young Australians growing up playing in the outdoors with their friends, pursuing the game of ‘footy’ and swimming and other sports, ‘discovering music and art, being confident and happy in the classroom and at home.’ … The ban was implemented despite a growing number of studies faulting the premise that social media is demonically harmful for the young.” (02/26/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/26/condescending-and-harmful-australias-social-media-ban/
Source: ABC News
“A court in Bangladesh’s capital on Thursday ordered authorities to request that Interpol issue a red notice for the arrest of a British lawmaker on charges of corruption in a private real estate project. Tulip Siddiq, a former British minister and an MP from Hampstead and Highgate in London, faces charges of corruption in Bangladesh as the country’s Anti-corruption Commission pursues a case against her. Siddiq has already been sentenced to six years in jail in Bangladesh in three other corruption cases all involving her powerful aunt, the country’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina was ousted in 2024 in a student-led mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule, and has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024. Siddiq earlier rejected all allegations against her, termed the verdicts as a ‘complete farce,’ and said she is a British citizen, not a Bangladeshi national.” (02/26/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/bangladesh-court-orders-authorities-request-interpol-red-notice-130518969
Source: SFGate
“A Homeland Security agent testified in federal court on Thursday that the human smuggling case she initiated against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was strong even as his attorneys tried to persuade a judge to throw out the charges. Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has galvanized both sides of the immigration debate, claims that the criminal prosecution is vindictive, pushed by officials from President Donald Trump’s administration to punish him after they were forced to bring him back to the United States. While Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen, a court order from 2019 prevents him from being deported to that country. That’s because an immigration judge determined he faced danger in El Salvador from a gang that had threatened his family. (02/26/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/kilmar-abrego-garcia-asks-us-judge-in-tennessee-21942342.php
Source: Antiwar.com
“Iran Says US Repeating Big Lies Ahead of Talks, Cuba Kills Four Who Opened Fire From Boat, and More.” (02/26/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo4v7B-jU2o
Source: Roll Call
“That’s entertainment! Or not. State of the Union 2026.” (02/25/26)
https://chrt.fm/track/D3F8DG/traffic.megaphone.fm/FISCAL4695515331.mp3
Source: The Daily Economy
by Antón Chamberlin
“Rising costs, reduced mobility, and policy uncertainty may explain why households feel squeezed even when headline growth is good.” (02/26/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/what-do-consumers-know-that-gdp-aggregates-dont/
Source: Understanding AI
by Timothy B Lee
“Perhaps the most mind-bending aspect of this dispute is that news coverage of this week’s showdown will inevitably make its way into the training data for future versions of Claude and other LLMs. If future models decide that the US Defense Department behaved badly, they might become disinclined to cooperate in military projects. There’s also a more banal concern for the Pentagon: it may be able to force Anthropic to train a new model, but it can’t force Anthropic to train a good model.” (02/26/26)
https://www.understandingai.org/p/the-pentagon-is-making-a-mistake
Source: The Bulwark
by Catherine Rampell
“In his record-breakingly-long SOTU, the president spent more time talking about Venezuela than prices.” (02/25/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-trump-affordability-pivot-that-never-came-state-of-the-union-inflation-housing-stock-market
Source: US News & World Report
“Harvey Weinstein has hired Luigi Mangione’s and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’[s] lawyers to represent him at his third New York rape trial, reshaping his legal team after declining to end the case with a guilty plea. The lawyers, Jacob Kaplan, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, confirmed the move in court papers Tuesday. They take over for Weinstein’s longtime lawyer, Arthur Aidala, who ceded his courtroom role to focus on the ex-studio boss'[s] appeals and pending civil matters. Kaplan was a member of Weinstein’s original defense team in 2018 and is expected to have a leading role in his defense at the third trial, which involves a charge that the Oscar-winning producer raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013.” (02/25/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-york/articles/2026-02-25/harvey-weinstein-hires-luigi-mangione-and-sean-diddy-combs-lawyers-as-his-3rd-ny-trial-looms
