Ron Paul Liberty Report, 07/21/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Silver Lining In Trump’s Iran Debacle.” (07/21/26)
What Is the Government Good For?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Bradley J Birzer
“Over the last several years, as we all navigate the surge of the deconstructive radical left and the surge of populism on the right, the meanings of several words and terms—once so sure and so inspirational—have become loose from their moorings. Words and terms such as conservative, classical liberal, libertarian, and even anarchist don’t mean quite what they once did. Even the very directional political terms—right and left—do not mean quite what they once did. … In his truly insightful and brilliant book, Deleting the State: Requiem for an Illusion, Bridgewater State University philosophy professor Aeon Skoble dives deep into this very quagmire of meaning, looking left and right, up and down, exploring the mundane and transcendent, the humane and inhumane.” (07/21/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/what-is-the-government-good-for/
The Death of a Silenced Conscience
Source: Roads Go Ever On
by Bekah Graham
“One of the reasons people like me (when I was still a Christian) vociferously opposed linking Christianity to American right-wing politics was knowing it would inevitably become difficult to distinguish between an informed believer speaking from sincere conviction and a charlatan appropriating faith to gain new followers and climb the ladder of political power. I’m no longer a believer, but I have been proven correct. I don’t envy my former siblings in Christ, who are confronted daily with the anti-Christ behavior of professing Christians in political office and their loudest public supporters. Since President Donald Trump’s reelection, anyone attempting to continue supporting him while sincerely seeking to follow Jesus must wage a daily war to reconcile backing an administration that routinely demeans, dehumanizes, and destroys lives.” (07/21/26)
https://bekahgwen.substack.com/p/the-death-of-a-silenced-conscience
This Is How We Close the Camps
Source: The Nation
by John Washington
“Until we, as a society, reject the camp and its logic, it will remain a threat—and the linchpin in the entire immigration enforcement regime.” (07/21/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/immigration-camps-how-to-close-a-camp/
Filipino, Chinese regime summon each others’ envoys over South China Sea incident
Source: Reuters
“Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will summon China’s ambassador in Manila, his office said on Tuesday, hours after Manila’s envoy in Beijing was similarly summoned following accusations by both sides of provoking tensions in the contested South China Sea. Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed to reporters Marcos had summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan at 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, China’s foreign ministry said it summoned Manila’s envoy to China. The summoning of ambassadors comes a day after the Philippines and China accused each other [over] an encounter in the Second Thomas Shoal of the South China Sea. Philippine officials said one of its navy personnel was struck on the head but Beijing said Manila provoked the incident.” (07/21/26)
Rising, 07/21/26
Source: The Hill
“Dems flailing in midterm polls despite Trump; socialists to blame?” (07/21/26)
Exporters Still Are Not Eating the Trump Tariffs: They are Taxes on Us
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“As we all know, Donald Trump likes to play the tough guy. Unfortunately, he often does it in really foolish ways, and this time I’m not talking about his war against Iran. I’m talking about Trump’s tariffs. From the way he talks, he seems to think that foreign countries are sending us checks equal to the tariffs he has imposed on U.S. imports from them. Donald Trump’s mind can be a scary place, so it’s not worth trying to tease out his thought process, except to point out that the idea that foreigners are sending us checks is absurd.” (07/21/26)
Judge Approves a $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement Over Books Used to Train the Claude Chatbot
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said in a Monday ruling that the class-action settlement provides ‘meaningful relief’ to affected authors and publishers. About 91% of the more than 482,000 books covered by the ruling have been claimed by authors or publishers who are now due payment. Plaintiff attorney Justin Nelson said in a statement that the settlement was ‘the largest known copyright recovery in history. We look forward to making distributions to the Class as promptly as possible.'” (07/21/26)
The Trump economy is doing better than the media want to admit
Source: Fox News
by Liz Peek
“President Donald Trump has a good story to tell on the economy; he should be telling it, because it’s a sure bet the liberal media will not. Consider the big picture: unemployment is low, real wages are rising, the stock market is high, investment is booming and inflation, though above the Federal Reserve’s target, came down last month, and will recede again once oil prices stabilize. (Inflation, most recently at 3.5%, and at 2.6% excluding volatile food and energy, is also significantly below the 4.95% recorded on average under President Joe Biden.) … Sure, we have challenges, as always, and especially with the cost of living being too high and housing too expensive for many Americans. But, overall, the economy is in pretty good shape. That’s not what most people think.” (07/21/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liz-peek-trump-economy-doing-better-media-admit
Chance and its consequences
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“William James called her ‘the bitch-goddess, Success.’ He meant it as a complaint about America’s worship of her, but the phrase catches something true. She is a goddess because we deify whatever she touches, crediting it with foresight and merit it never had. She is a bitch because she hands out her favours with no regard for desert at all. What I want to call contingency is just her proper name – the rather distinguished term by which we dress up and disguise mere chance.” (07/21/26)