iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

PREDICTION MARKETS RANKLED THE POPE---IN 1591 !!! Pope Gregory XIV, 229th pope of the Catholic Church, threatened excommunication for anyone caught betting on a College of Cardinals conclave. www.cato.org/commentary/p...

cato.org

The Pope Tried to Ban Prediction Markets in 1591. It Didn't Go Well.

The betting exchanges provide public intelligence. Suppressing them is a policy mistake.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1877 U.S. 1877 strike brought railroads to a standstill. Thousands of rail workers across the country protested poor pay & working conditions in a massive, violent uprising. Militias attacked workers. 1,000 arrests & 100 deaths. See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRx3...

youtube.com

America in Turmoil! The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

YouTube video by Historian Brady Crytzer Official 🇺🇸

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I HAVE MY OWN DOVE IN PITTSBURGH But read about Bruce. www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

WRITE TO THINK, I SAY! I believe that you know nothing re a topic unless you can write about it clearly. Am I wrong? Britton 1970s: "If you can’t say it, you can’t write it."(primarytimery.com/2024/06/21/t...) But I believe: "If you can’t write it, you can’t say it." tiny.cc/WriteThink

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

HOARD DIESEL? U.S. price of diesel rose from $3.69 earlier this year to $6.53 per gallon. Cost of transporting by heavy-duty truck, rail, or marine transport will rise. Secretary of Energy Wright said banning diesel exports won’t work. Trump does not agree. www.cato.org/blog/hoardin...

cato.org

Hoarding Diesel Is Not the Answer

A 90-day diesel export ban might lower prices at first, but it would also shrink the market for oil producers and Gulf Coast refiners.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

PROGRESSIVE FARMERS Farmers are stepping up to connect their stories to the myriad disasters the Trump administration has brought to voters across their districts. newrepublic.com/article/2156...

newrepublic.com

The Return of the Farmer Politician

One of the under-sung trends of the political cycle is the way Trumpian disregard for farm country has inspired workers in the industry to run for office.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

U.S. FEDERAL BUDGET CONCERNS No painless panacea to halt America’s slide toward fiscal oblivion. The starting target for retrenchment should be America’s expansive, even imperial foreign policy. Washington is foolishly play-acting as a globe-spanning empire. www.cato.org/commentary/b...

cato.org

A Bankrupt America Can’t Defend the World

As interest costs consume an ever-larger share of the federal budget, maintaining an informal global empire becomes fiscally and strategically indefensible.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"I AM THE CODE" James McCrery II, the first architect for the White House ballroom, clashed with Trump over design features that he believed violated building safety codes. The president maintains that building codes do not apply to White House construction. Costs? $600mil. tiny.cc/IAm-TheCode

tiny.cc

President Trump Ignored Safety Concerns From Former White House Ballroom Architect: ‘I Am the Code’

When it comes to the White House ballroom, President Donald Trump is determined to have the final say. According to a new report from The Washington Post, in the weeks leading up to his resignation la...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

WHERE? LOST? U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding thousands of detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, an unannounced move that has made it far more difficult for lawyers and relatives to find them. apnews.com/article/ice-...

apnews.com

AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

TRANE LIVES Tomorrow marks the 100th birthday of John Coltrane, a man who was, without doubt, the world's leading high priest and practitioner of the hot and holy rite of Jazz. View: jazzphiladelphia.org/coltrane/ Listen to “A Love Supreme:” www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMCH...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

TARIFF IMPACTS Some recent tariff analyses. No “with and without” effects, only “before and after” effects. www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-econo... www.federalreserve.gov/econres/note... econofact.org/explainer/fi... www.investopedia.com/news/what-ar... budgetlab.yale.edu/research/tra...

stlouisfed.org

Tariff Effects on Inflation Stabilize in Recent Months

The upward pressure that tariffs exert on U.S. inflation appears to have moderated in the first half of 2026, according to new estimates of effective tariffs and pass-through.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS RE MIDTERMS ============= Retired Judge Luttig warns of a "final battle for democracy" on 3 January 2027 by preventing the seating of duly elected legislators. Listen to Luttig's remarks at youtu.be/sJ2XZoxFj3E?... I rendered Judge Luttig's argument in an infographic.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

50¢ PHRASE OF THE WEEK—KNOW IT, OR PAY IT "The leading American A.I. companies are hyper-focused on advancing 'recursive self-improvement'—using A.I. systems themselves to develop even better A.I. systems." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | America and China Look at A.I. and See Very Different Problems

Until the two countries can agree on what risks to worry about, cooperation is a distant dream.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

FARMERS PAY AS ROLLINS EARNS ==== Farmers face soaring diesel/fertilizer prices. Dept. of Agriculture yanks support for cheaper renewable forms of energy. Agency chief Brooke Rollins & family hold millions in highly profitable oil & gas investments. View disclosure: extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

STUNNING EXAMPLE OF DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT Tagging himself as "a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ) PRESIDENT" exemplifies the Dunning–Kruger effect, a cognitive bias describing the systematic tendency of people with low ability in a specific area to give overly positive assessments of their ability.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

ON THIS DAY IN 1787... ...The U.S. Constitution was signed during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

ME? DARK ROAST; NO ROOM FOR CREAM Pittsburgh, home, is # 9. wallethub.com/edu/best-cit...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE? I like to think (it has to be!) of a cybernetic ecology where we are free of our labors and joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters and all watched over by machines of loving grace. ~Richard Brautigan, 1967 tiny.cc/LOGR

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ============================== Circulation is weakening due to human-caused climate change, which could have major repercussions by changing the temperature and rainfall patterns humans rely on to grow food. www.sciencealert.com/the-atlantic...

sciencealert.com

The Atlantic Ocean Has a Hidden 'Heat Valve' That Controls Earth's Temperature – And It Could Be Closing

Our relatively stable global climate is governed by an incredibly complex set of factors, all interacting with each other in dynamic and changeable ways – but there are a couple of really big, key pla...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

BARISTAS V BILLIONAIRES A new documentary film, "Baristas vs Billionaires," features Starbucks workers in Buffalo recounting their experiences as billionaire Howard Schultz descended on the city to quash unionization efforts. www.youtube.com/@BaristasvsB...

youtube.com

Baristas vs Billionaires

Academy Award nominee and Emmy-winning director Mark Mori and his production team investigate a generational uprising of working-class Millennials and Gen Z as they battle Starbucks Coffee for their r...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE GOOD FRIENDS "The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He...met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large group of other Russian guests." www.propublica.org/article/dona...

propublica.org

Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch

The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

“If you are going to be good, you will often be lonesome." --Father Charles Owen Rice, Pittsburgh’s labor priest, 1908-2005. See “Father with a Heart” by Charles McCollester, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

DO NOT BE ASHAMED You will be walking some night in the comfortable dark of your yard and suddenly a great light will shine round about you, and behind you will be a wall you never saw before. ~ Wendell Berry, died 31 August, author of prose & poetry & farmer, Kentucky, escaped from New York

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

DIESEL FUEL PRICES ARE BROADLY CONSEQUENTIAL Integral to food supply chain, transit, transportation, among others. Refining capacity is limited in meeting demand. World crude oil supply has declined. Prices are higher since this article appeared. portside.org/2026-09-05/u...

portside.org

US Diesel Prices Hit a Record High

Because diesel is used for many freight and delivery networks, higher diesel prices mean higher transportation costs for a long list of everyday goods. Some businesses have already passed on costs to ...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

"Trump’s tariffs have been a legal, economic, and fiscal miss." Americans pay billions in new U.S. tariffs for worse terms than those Trump abandoned in Free Trade Agreements almost a decade ago. tiny.cc/TR-FL

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

FEDS RUN YOUR LOCAL ELECTION? ILLEGAL, BUT OF COURSE TYRANNY IS POSSIBLE Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution prescribes that states hold elections at " times, places, and manners. Fearing centralized election control, the Framers entrusted elections to the states. www.cato.org/commentary/f...

cato.org

The Framers Trusted States, Not Washington, With Elections

That remains the correct position, for reasons of practicality, election integrity and the safeguarding of the nation’s liberty.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

HMMM..YOUR LEVERAGE IS TO BUY 0.019% OF THE BOND MARKET? “I am the house now … And you can bet against me if you want.” ~Scott Bessent, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, threatening bond traders tiny.cc/ScBent

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

IS VENEZUELA POISED FOR LONG-TERM GROWTH? North American Blue Energy Partners, 2nd-largest producer, given control of 17 Venezuelan oil fields containing about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. The deal greatly expands U.S. control of Venezuela’s energy sector. rbnenergy.com/daily-posts/...

rbnenergy.com

The Long Road – U.S. Oil Deals Have Venezuela Poised for Long-Term Growth, But It’s Far from Certain

Venezuela’s oil industry spent more than a decade moving in the wrong direction, but 2026 has brought a notable change. Today, we look at the improvements in production and exports in light of Venezue...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class ~Noam Scheiber This book documents rising anger and mobilization among the lower ranks of the college-educated middle class, with college diplomas and high expectations.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

IT HURTS ME LIKE A DEATH IN THE FAMILY "Treating Canada like a subsidiary of the United States was 'not something we’re going to accept.'” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/u...

nytimes.com

Near the Border, Americans Fear Losing Ties With Canadians

Americans in border regions have had symbiotic relationships with Canadians, but the trade war is testing their bonds.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

HE'S LOOKING, BUT NOT FINDING A ProPublica analysis of Justice Department data shows fewer than 150 alleged noncitizen voters were referred for prosecution. Even fewer—41—were charged. Trump says that voting is “so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it.” portside.org/2026-09-04/i...

portside.org

Inside Trump’s Failed Hunt for Noncitizen Voters

It was late March when Joe Teirab, the second-in-command at Minnesota’s U.S. attorney’s office, received an urgent email from Washington. The federal government was scrambling to find criminal cases t...

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Reposted by David L. Passmore

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Impeach Fetterman

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

MOTHER JONES! U.S. Labor Day soon. The story of Mother Jones is significant. Feisty devotion of an Irish immigrant to improving the lives of working people. Was said to be "the most dangerous woman in America." www.motherjonesmuseum.org www.britannica.com/biography/Mo... youtu.be/iRRS77rG5es?...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

GOLD LEAVES The Dutch central bank announced that it is shifting about $12 billion in gold from the vault in New York to the Bank of England’s vault in London. The French central bank is to shift an even larger sum from New York to Paris. Other countries are considering similar moves. tiny.cc/GELDTr

tiny.cc

Ingots We No Longer Trust

America’s word is as good as gold — that is, unreliable

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

STEVE BANNON ON DATA CENTERS “I have not seen any issue in modern American life at the populist level that unites disparate elements of our country more than this.” tiny.cc/DTCTR

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

NO QUESTION THAT U.S. BEEF PRODUCERS WILL SUFFER "Trump’s plan, which will allow up to 100,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings per month into the U.S. without facing tariffs." www.beefmagazine.com/market-news/... SEE, ALSO: www.beefmagazine.com/market-news/...

beefmagazine.com

Cattle markets fall on Trump beef import plan

Bearish sentiment hits cattle markets as Trump allows more lean beef imports and Mexico resumes feeder cattle shipments to US.

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

WAIT BEFORE YOU BUY THAT HUMANOID... At Chinese training centers such as the Hubei Humanoid Innovation Centre up to 100 robots spend hours each day observing and mimicking humans. "One of 53 facilities...[built to glean] the secrets of human movement." www.economist.com/business/202...

economist.com

China is training up thousands of humanoid robots

But its approach will come with enormous costs

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

POLICIES DEPORTING FOREIGN STUDENTS BASED ON SPEECH ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL “In the United States, freedom of speech belongs to the people....It is not the government’s to take.” www.highereddive.com/news/judge-r...

highereddive.com

Judge rules Trump policies deporting foreign students based on speech unconstitutional

“In the United States, freedom of speech belongs to the people,” U.S. District Judge Noël Wise said in her decision. “It is not the government’s to take.”

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

KRUGMAN SHOUTS: "VILE AND STUPID" Our government has long aided dictators and overthrown democracies for corporate gain, yet "old-fashioned, extractive imperialism doesn’t pay." paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-plot-t...

paulkrugman.substack.com

The Plot to Steal Venezuela’s Oil

A scam that is both vile and deeply stupid

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

BACK TO SCHOOL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Advice in a podcast for parents from a highly respected epidemiologist. www.cidrap.umn.edu/public-healt... @cidrap.bsky.social

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"A headline in the Guardian read: 'RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate.'" heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-27-...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

DEFENDING U.S. ELECTIONS Download for free at: freedomtrainers.net/wp-content/u...

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David L. Passmore @davidpassmore.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY.... -- Emmett Till lynched in 1955 -- Martin Luther King Jr. delivers "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC in 1963 voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu

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