Reflections on Character as Destiny

Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson

“Half the problem with Trumpism is Trumpism. And the other half of the problem with Trumpism is Trump. Trump will always betray those who trust him. And he will always force his underlings to go out in public and defend indefensibly stupid things. Ask Larry Kudlow or Kevin Hassett. And, contra National Review’s social-media intern, Trump will reliably make everything he gets his hands on ugly: His Caligula-by-way-of-Liberace aesthetic is not only—or even mainly—the result of bad taste but the result of bad character. There is a reason vanity is numbered among the seven deadly sins. To assume that the reflecting pool work would be done incompetently and corruptly is far from absurd. If you happen to be among those who believe that character is destiny, then it is, at the very least, a reasonable assumption even if it is something short of an existential certainty.” (06/25/26)

https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-reflecting-pool-vandalism-claims/

Thomas L. Knapp

How Greek Merchants and Philosophers Discovered Economics

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Marcos Giansante

“Long before economics became a discipline—before universities, statistical models, or debates over monetary policy—a more fundamental question emerged on the shores of the Aegean Sea: Why does order exist at all? The question did not arise in a royal court, a military academy, or a government bureau. It emerged among merchants, sailors, craftsmen, and philosophers living in the bustling Greek cities of Ionia.” (06/25/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-greek-merchants-and-philosophers-discovered-economics

Thomas L. Knapp

Kenyans March to Mark Anniversary of Deadly 2024 Anti-Government Protests

Source: US News & World Report

“Dozens of ⁠Kenyans ⁠took to the streets on Thursday ⁠under heavy security in memory of protesters killed two years ago when massive ​anti-government demonstrations erupted in Nairobi over proposed tax hikes and the surging cost of living. Organisers had planned remembrance marches in ‌the coastal city of Mombasa and ‌the capital Nairobi to mark the anniversary of the June 25, 2024 unrest, when protests escalated dramatically and protesters ⁠breached parliament ⁠grounds before a security crackdown left dozens dead. … Dozens of marchers turned up in Mombasa escorted by security forces ⁠while ⁠Nairobi’s streets appeared largely deserted ⁠as police set ​up roadblocks with water cannons and mounted a razor wire barricade outside parliament.” (06/25/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-25/kenyans-march-to-mark-anniversary-of-deadly-2024-anti-government-protests

Thomas L. Knapp

Singapore’s Challenge to Classical Liberals

Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa

“After spending time in Singapore, I am more convinced than ever that what has given this island the world’s second– or third-highest per capita gross domestic product (in purchasing power parity) is not its ‘state-managed,’ ‘politically engineered’ socioeconomic model nor its authoritarian politics, but its economic freedom. However, its social cohesion, multi-ethnic peace, and well-being, which are significantly linked to government interventionism, continue to challenge us classical liberals, who would like freedom to be the founding principle not just of prosperity but also of other desirable social outcomes.” (06/24/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/24/singapores-challenge-to-classical-liberals/

Thomas L. Knapp

Democratic socialists say they’ll save the workers, but their “rescues” ALWAYS fail

Source: New York Post
by John Stossel

“Not long ago, new kinds of jobs appeared: app-based gig work. They include jobs like dog walking on Rover, Taskrabbit work, DoorDash food delivery, Uber and Lyft driving, and many more. Lots of people like gig work. It’s flexible; you work when you want to work. But ‘workers’ rights’ activists and governing socialists don’t like that. Gig workers rarely join unions. They don’t get a minimum wage. ‘Uber and Lyft exploit their workers.’ is a headline at MS NOW. ‘We can’t ignore it.’ The democratic socialists said they had a solution. Seattle’s City Council imposed a $26 delivery-driver minimum wage. What could go wrong? Two years later, we know the answer: Gig workers make no more money, but prices go up. Apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats added a $5 fee for consumers ‘to help cover the costs of these … regulations.’ Now Seattle residents complain about prices.” (06/24/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/06/24/opinion/democratic-socialists-say-theyll-save-workers-but-always-fail/

Steve Trinward

IBM hails new “block of flats” design breakthrough for ultra tiny chips

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“IBM has unveiled a new chip design which it says could enable manufacturers to cram 100 billion transistors on a silicon chip the size of a fingernail. The current industry-standard size for chips, measured in a the unit of nanometres – a billionth of a metre and the size of a few atoms – is around two nanometres (nm). But IBM claims its new chip tech is the equivalent of around 0.7nm, which may make it the world’s first known chip technology below 1nm. However, it will be several years before the chip tech could be ready to go into production. The firm claims in tests, its prototype performed 50% better than its own 2nm chip and was 70% more energy efficient. It claimed similar boosts in performance when it debuted its 2nm chip tech back in 2021 – saying at the time its tests of those, slightly larger, chips produced similar leaps in performance and energy efficiency.” (06/25/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg7vpyn5pxo

Steve Trinward