Global

The US government continues to double down, even as its stubbornness costs it dearly—not only in material terms, but also in geopolitical influence. Washington is rapidly losing power and status in the Middle East, a decline that could produce a wider domino effect, reverberating around the world.

The latest expression of this hubris came from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Speaking at a G20 gathering of finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, on September 1, Bessent declared that within two years, the Strait of Hormuz would become “a worthless piece of water,” as oil would instead be transported through overland pipelines.

In response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) publishing final rules that dismantle federal affirmative action and disability tracking mandates for government contractors, Heartbeat Movement Inc. issued an urgent public statement calling for immediate state-level constitutional safeguards. ​The new federal regulations formally rescind Executive Order 11246 requirements and modify Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, barring federal contractors from maintaining race- and sex-based affirmative action plans, conducting workforce utilization audits, or tracking applicant disability metrics. 

These rollbacks directly mirror the administrative blueprint set forth in Chapter 18 of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda—policy goals that Donald Trump repeatedly disavowed on the campaign trail yet are now being systematically implemented across federal agencies. 

NEW YORK -- Ten days after 9/11, a clown finally appeared at Ground Zero, fully costumed with red-nosed regalia, trying to cheer gas-masked disaster crews and thousands of visitors who are circling the smoldering rubble that encases almost 3,000 bodies.

Camera-snapping tourists, tambourine-banging Christian evangelists, grimacing survivors and other people are flocking to see the jagged, smoldering pyre of World Trade Tower wreckage.

Pundits grimly predict no one will ever again care about "Britney Spears's navel" or other "frivolous" pop-culture ephemera.

Other Americans are buying and selling memorabilia of the iconic World Trade Center transformed into small desk accessories, spoons, refrigerator magnets, keychains, paperweights and other souvenirs which were mass-produced before the horror.  

In the bleak aftermath of the surprise atrocity, the tacky trinkets of the two towers now appear like foreboding twin tombstones.

Retail priced.

Some people on internet are selling gruesome shrapnel purportedly from the site, including damaged stop signs and anything else which displays charred scars.

As the post-Labor Day campaign sprint begins, national media outlets are churning out familiar, top-down narratives about the upcoming midterm elections. From Washington to Wall Street, the national press remains fixated on beltway horse-race dynamics, political war chests, and congressional majorities. 

​Recent national commentary illustrates this narrow focus: ​
Beltway Volatility: National press coverage highlights President Donald Trump’s $400 million war chest, shifting congressional maps, and high-level policy debates over tariffs, AI data centers, and cryptocurrency regulation. 

​Internal Party Friction: Establishment media outlets focus heavily on House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries navigating ideological tension with progressive flanks following primary wins by democratic socialists in solid-blue districts. ​

Israeli forces carried out two airstrikes early Monday, September 7, on Kfar Rumman, a village in southern Lebanon, killing at least 12 people and wounding others, including children, according to Lebanese authorities. Among those caught in the attack was eight-year-old Mustafa Farhat, who was injured when an Israeli strike hit his home and killed his parents.

He did not choose this war. He did not carry a weapon. He did not launch a rocket or send a drone across a border. He was a child who should have been thinking about school, playing with his siblings and growing up surrounded by his family. Instead, Mustafa is now facing life without his parents, with his grandmother left to care for him. That is what a military strike means when it lands on a family home.

The killing of civilians—especially children and their families—cannot simply be dismissed as an unfortunate consequence of war. It demands accountability.

When an attack strikes a residential building and children and other civilians are killed or wounded, there must be an independent examination of what happened and whether the attack complied with international humanitarian law.

I spent the past weekend as a participant in the annual Ron Paul Institute conference that takes place in the Washington area, in northern Virginia. This year the theme was “Front Row at the Revolution” and the circa 500 attendees that filled the Hilton Hotel ballroom certainly got what the gathering’s theme sought to deliver. The outstanding list of speakers included Congressman Thomas Massie, Dennis Kucinich, Jim Webb, Josh Paul, Michael Vlahos, Max Blumenthal and Joe Kent. Tucker Carlson also addressed the gathering via video link. Given the disastrous state of our former Republic on this Labor Day weekend, the speakers were inspired to confront the enemy head on, which they did, hoping to create momentum for a real revolution built around the midterm elections coming up in November. Speaking personally, I have never seen such enthusiasm in what must be defined as a political gathering, with the audience standing on the feet, applauding and screaming their agreement with what was being said at the podium.