Earlier this week I wrote about the tech press' hagiography of outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook, and the media's uncanny ability to downplay or ignore his legacy of boring products and enthusiastic coddling of violent global autocrats. Offhandedly I threw out the question of whether Apple's new CEO John Ternus would demonstrate something more concretely resembling a backbone when it comes to authoritarian appeasement.Yeah, well, about that. Last week you may have seen (good for you if you didn't!)…

Michael West Media reports on the adoption of invasive surveillance technology by the Australian Government. Palantir (US based) and Cellebrite (Israel based) give our government the means to extract and analyse everything you do in the digital space. Everything. They are not building this for you. They are building it around you. And the person who controls the infrastructure controls the people inside it. Nobody asked whether you agreed. Palantir Technologies is an American company whose…

15 years after being tasked to replace Steve Jobs, Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down this week, presumably to be replaced with younger white men similarly incapable of standing up to fascism despite no limit of "fuck you money" (Apple has a $4.665 trillion market cap and $62.5 billion cash on hand). While Apple certainly made boatloads of money during Cook's tenure, the company also steadily morphed into something unthinkable to company founders Jobs and Steve Wozniak: it became not just…

I realize we recommend a lot of Patrick Boyle videos but this is one of the best walk-throughs of one of the most important news stories of the moment (and 2026 has not been notable for slow news days).From the video description:Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to force down US Treasury yields with surprise bond buybacks — and it isn't working. In this video we break down Bessent's activist debt management strategy, why doubling the Treasury's long-dated buybacks is a bet on falling…

Per this map, my city does not have any publicly operated Flock cameras, which I’m very happy about. But, we do have school zone speed enforcement cameras. I realized I don’t know how those work, so I emailed the city to ask. Question submitted to the city: As I’ve been reading about the misuse of Flock cameras / data in other places, I was curious about our school zone speed enforcement cameras. What data are collected, and what is the data retention policy? Who, internally, can access data /…

In a normal culture, a company as gray-haired as MapQuest would not be having a straight-on cultural revival in 2026. But our culture is not normal.Last year, I wrote about MapQuest, and presented the company’s story as one that was fundamentally changed by a poor decision—AOL’s purchase of the company, which only completed after the tech IPO bubble burst.AOL, like its merger partner Time Warner, was a frequent target for acquisition. But unlike the modern day Warner Bros. Discovery, it lost…

For Canada, the choice came down to either severe but temporary economic instability or binding itself to a pseudo-democratic fiscal basketcase of a nation… — Stephen Marche in The Times. I also loved this: A gray banker, and not just any banker, but one of the leading bankers in the world, has stood up and said that there’s more to life than a little bit of money.

To my North American readers, Happy Labor Day Weekend! Now, to the business at hand. This past week we have been surveying how Adam Smith uses lotteries in Book I, Chapter 10 of The Wealth of Nations — actual state-run lotteries and metaphorical ones — to describe our risk-taking behavior at an individual level, e.g. why we buy lottery tickets, why we neglect or under-insure against the occurrence of certain types of remote but real risks, and why we join certain trades and professions. But…

9:07 – Mon 31 August 2026 12:07 – Mon 31 August 2026 9:02 – Tue 01 September 2026 12:04 – Tue 01 September 2026 9:03 – Wed 02 September 2026 12:06 – Wed 02 September 2026 9:01 – Thu 03 September 2026 12:01 – Thu 03 September 2026 9:06 – Fri 04 September 2026 12:05 – Fri 04 September 2026 Bonus Follow Me As discussed previously, on Fridays, I present my weekly social media roundups. Note that toots of articles generally include header images from the articles, which I don’t include here unless…

Former V/Line CEO James Pinder and Transclean boss George Haritos got put in the slammer on September 3, 2026 for corruption over cleaning contracts uncovered by IBAC's Operation Esperance about five years ago. Their conduct cheated Victorian taxpayers and, in Pinder's case, exhibited personal greed that betrayed the trust that we should be able to have in public officials. Learn more here:* 3/9/2026 ABC news item* 4/9/2026 IBAC media release* 3/11/2020 my blog post with background on Operation…

The Dispatch has an interesting article about how violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians are "dividing" the settler movement. In one corner, there are those who insist the attacks are aberrational. They condemn them, but also clearly see a significant part of the problem as the "embarrassment" they cause to the settlement cause.“An overwhelming majority of the settlement movement opposes these acts,” Oded Revivi, a former senior figure in the Yesha Council, an umbrella…

Casey Newton, writing at Platformer Wednesday: On Wednesday, whatever legal cover Meta’s Potemkin well-being teams were meant to provide fell to a settlement of up to $17.1 billion with 47 US states, the District of Columbia, and US territories… For the most part, the agreement requires Meta to honor terms that you may be surprised are not yet required by US law: limiting teens to a cumulative two hours across Facebook and Instagram per day, blocking access to most app features between midnight…

This week, many authors who are part of the Anthropic copyright class action settlement began receiving notices like this one: Upon accessing the portal (which doesn’t seem to have a formal name, so I’ll call it the “disgreement portal”), many of those authors made an unwelcome discovery: their publishers are making claims on their allocations (aka the payouts for their works) that are simply…wrong. (Just to note, since several people have asked me this: as far as I know, you only get a notice…

Not sure how to quantify it, but we could try. Do you think Donald Trump is a great guy or have great ideas or have done something good? This one was easy: You support fascism. Have you bought a Tesla this decade? Bad news (unless you really like fascism), you enable fascism. Do you use Twitter, or is it X?, or is it part of SpaceX now? Do you use SpaceX? You are enabling fascism. Yes, I imply that financially supporting Elon Musk (one way or another) is enabling fascism. Use any products from…

Bitcoin plunged on the aforenoted job report, erasing yesterday’s gain. (Disclosure: I remain short Bitcoin.) This is why shorting Bitcoin is the best hedge, as was originally my idea. Bitcoin has much more beta/sensitivity to the downside, whether it’s inflation due to too many jobs, or crisis due to deflation and job loss. Or bad news from Iran, China, tariffs, or any other reason. No other asset, whether it’s gold or treasury bonds, hedges nearly as well as shorting Bitcoin does. This was…

The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Three days ago the latest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, gave a commitment to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from the threat of closure resulting from funding cuts at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). In a previous post about this I wrote The last time STFC had a financial crisis was in 2009 and e-Merlin might well have been cut then but survived thanks to political intervention at the highest level. I suppose that…

The Correct the Map campaign (previously) has come to the United Nations. The Guardian: The UN general assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator… More

For the Balkinization on Mark Tushnet and Bojan Bugaric, Constitutionalism and Its Discontents (Oxford University Press, 2026). Jedediah Britton-Purdy I admire and enjoy Constitutionalism and Its Discontents. The authors’ careful parsing of exaggerated or one-sided hopes for constitutional salvation is always worth following. I tend to see it as a series of follow-ups to the authors’ important previous book, Power to the People. There they argue that populism is not necessarily anti-democratic…

A Friday Hodgepodge1. "One Contradiction in the Fear of Laissez-Faire," by Harry Binswanger (Value for Value):The operative image of economic regulation is that of a huge truck without steering or brakes. "We have to have those instruments of control, or the truck will go careening off the side of a cliff."The truth is that government regulation is precisely the cutting of the brake lines and the seizing up of the steering column.790 words/3 minutes 2. "Is Capitalism Scary?," by Jaana Woiceshyn…

In the Newsletter this weekFollow the record attempt live - from Monday 7th SeptemberEuropean Rail Passengers Union - now open for membership!Analysis: International railway connections between the Baltic statesGood week: Velvet gets its operating licenseBad week: More Talgo headaches in SpainPhoto of the week: Old narrow gauge rolling stock at Tootsi, EstoniaElsewhere this week: Story about the record attempt in Berliner Zeitung, and quoted by SpiegelNewsletter 029, Friday 4th September…

The Administration's request for emergency relief with respect to its proposed regulations on mail-in voting raises complex issues that cannot be decided on the papers. The Court should hear argument and get full briefing, which in practice means that the rules probably cannot be implemented this year.For example, the Executive Order at issue in the current litigation starts out by saying: "The right to vote in Federal elections is reserved exclusively for citizens of the United States under…

In Congress: Johnson Just Loves This Kangaroo (Supreme) Court Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) don't have much in common, but there is at least one thing: They both have the unenviable task of following a legend. Johnson, of course, is Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) successor as speaker. Jeffries is her successor as leader of the Democratic caucus. In the last week or so, both men have reminded us that the Speaker Emerita made those jobs look way…

… but that won’t change any minds It’s now six months since the US-Israel war on Iran began with air attacks which killed the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei as well as around 200 schoolchildren. The war has dragged on a long time. But before that surprise attack, it had appeared that the US planned to rely on naval power to coerce the Iranian regime into submission. Early in February 2026, Trump deployed a carrier strike group (CSG) to the region, with a second arriving shortly afterwards.…

… but that won’t change any minds It’s now six months since the US-Israel war on Iran began with air attacks which killed the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei as well as around 200 schoolchildren. The war has dragged on a long time. But before that surprise attack, it had appeared that the US planned to rely on naval power to coerce the Iranian regime into submission. Early in February 2026, Trump deployed a carrier strike group (CSG) to the region, with a second arriving shortly afterwards.…

Apple Maps changes Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ for US users: Apple has relabeled Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for U.S. users of its Maps app, following competitor Google days after President Donald Trump ordered a new name for the body of water amid his escalating trade war with Canada. And just like that, I’m joining the Great MapQuest Migration.

In this edition:Mobile access regulations set for changeKDDI brings Starlink Direct to NZWaitematā Harbour laser linkOne NZ, Tuanz take opposing positionsSubmissions to the Commerce Commission reveal opposing views from One NZ and tech user association Tuanz over whether legacy tower co-location rules should be scrapped. The regulatory review comes a week after One NZ and 2degrees announced a joint venture to merge their active radio networks.In its submission to the Commerce Commission’s draft…

There has been a lot of news coverage about this trial. I've seen many headlines. PBS Newshour has had multiple 15 minute segments about it. I'm sure several other prime time news programs have had 15 minute slots for it too. It's a sad story, there is an important legal question at play, and it brings up important things with regard to mental health and how we care for women and mothers and children. There are some important things to glean from this trial, and I think some level of coverage…

Median is not the same as Average Data is for latest available years. What politicians and the media usually cite are the first column of numbers (‘average’ wealth per adult), by which measure the US rates as the third ‘richest’ country. But when you look at median wealth instead of billionaire-inflated ‘average’, and then adjust for what that wealth can actually buy in that country (purchasing power parity), a very different picture emerges (last column). Sources: Average and median data:…

Each year, more than half of the total or gross investment by US firms just makes up for depreciation in older equipment and knowledge. in recent year, it’s more like 75% of current year investment just offsets depreciation. Here are the figures from the ever-useful FRED website run by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In this graph, the top line shows gross investment, while the bottom line shows “net” investment after subtracting out depreciation of older capital. As you can see from the…

For those who are attending the American Political Science Association, please join us Friday, September 4 at 2 PM, for a panel on my book, *The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought To Defend It*, with a terrific lineup, including Stephen Macedo, Emily Zackin, Jason Frank, Angelica Bernall, and Jeffrey Tulis. Also perhaps of interest is a recently published symposium on the book, with papers by Emily, Jason, Angelika, and Shep Melnick:…