Source: Antiwar.com
by Brett Wilkins

“With the United States unable to militarily defeat Iran in President Donald Trump’s illegal US-Israeli war of choice, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday escalated the administration’s economic attacks on Tehran, warning countries and companies around the world that continuing to do business with the nation could expose them to punitive sanctions. … While Bessent did not say which countries would likely be targeted, China, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates are Iran’s biggest trading partners. The secretary was also asked why sanctions aren’t being imposed immediately. ‘Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior,’ he replied. ‘Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?'” (08/27/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/brett_wilkins/2026/08/26/bessent-suggests-economic-warfare-against-iran-could-blow-up-the-global-financial-system/

Source: Yascha Mounk
by Yascha Mounk

“Humanity’s relationship with its mechanical helpers has always been a little bumpy. In a production of Lohengrin, the celebrated tenor Leo Slezak was supposed to climb onto a swan during his dramatic farewell. At one performance, the contraption departed without him. Slezak turned to the audience and asked: ‘When does the next swan leave?’ I was reminded of this anecdote from what very much feels like another era when I bought a coffee on the sidelines of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing (also known as the robot Olympics). A metallic barista filled a cup with coffee, reached for a jug of hot milk, and made quick, delicate movements as it poured. The coffee was surprisingly good, and the robot had even decorated it with a remarkably detailed swan made out of milk. The performances of the robots inside the arena were more uneven.” (08/26/26)

https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/a-dispatch-from-the-robot-olympics

Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal

“Government is obviously a criminal gang; unaccountable to the people it rules, and refusing to be limited by the rules that apply to it. Like in all criminal gangs, there is infighting. Sometimes the opposing factions fight and focus on someone who is also in government, but they’ll ignore those who have done worse to punish someone who has stepped across a line the other politicians somehow notice and care about. I used to wonder how people could be so blind to the situation and keep supporting the existence of government in spite of the evidence right under their noses. I used to wonder, but I don’t anymore. It’s fear.” (08/26/26)

https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/08/26/voices/opinion-dont-cave-to-fear-of-government/234072.html

Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson

“A better name for the current Women’s National Basketball League (WNBA) might be Women’s Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), given the growing performance-art violence that is now endemic in the league. Prior to the 2024 arrival of then-22-year-old Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark, very few people watched the WNBA. Team franchises were worth less than $20 million. The league ran chronic deficits and was subsidized by the men’s professional basketball league, the National Basketball Association (NBA). An unspoken subtext of the WNBA was that the owners and coaches were left-wing and made little effort to hide their political biases. Despite talk of diversity, the league was (and remains) about 83 percent nonwhite and about 70 percent black. Some media outlets have suggested that about 50 percent of the players are lesbians. By Clark’s third year, her level of play had revolutionized the WNBA – or rather, saved it from financial collapse and cultural obscurity.” (08/27/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/27/the-new-wwe-womens-wrestling-entertainment/