Jul
21
2026

Up, Up, and Away!

Mr. Ramirez is unimpressed with President Trump's recent claims:

And at Reason, Jacob Sullum urges everyone to chill out: Research suggests both Trump and his opponents are wrong about voter ID.

During his speech about election security last Thursday, President Donald Trump renewed his pitch for the SAVE America Act, focusing on the bill's requirement that voters present a photo ID when they cast ballots in federal races. "How simple is that?" he said. "Could I have your photo, please? Photo voter ID. All voters must provide proof of citizenship."

The bill, which is currently stalled in the Senate, would do more than that, and there are serious concerns about whether it could be implemented in time for this November's elections even if it had enough support to pass. Furthermore, Trump's claim that voter ID requirements are necessary to prevent widespread voting by noncitizens is not supported by the evidence, which suggests that such fraud is quite rare. Still, the policy seems commonsensical enough that a large majority of Americans support it, which raises the question of why Democratic politicians frequently resist the idea.

Note: "raises the question"; not "begs the question."

Jacob gets into the weeds on that research mentioned in his headline, and if you're the type of person who can be persuaded by actual evidence, and I think you are, check it out.

Also of note:

  • If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat. Via James Freeman (WSJ gifted link): Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation notes what should be obvious: Taxing Data Processing Doesn’t Just Tax Big Tech.

    Across the country, policymakers are increasingly interested in taxing data processing and businesses’ digital services. Proposals differ, but they include extending the sales tax to business digital services, imposing excise taxes on data collection, levying new per-user or receipts-based taxes on specific digital activity, or denying data centers the benefit of ordinary sales tax exemptions for production equipment—or some combination of these.

    Behind all these proposals is a certain skepticism of “big tech” and data processing, which is often contrasted with “traditional” businesses. But when states tax data processing or levy new or higher taxes on the inputs of data processing, they aren’t just taxing big tech companies; they’re taxing virtually everything, because digital services are so embedded in how we live and how businesses operate.

    Jared describes, specifically, how those digital services intertwine with your morning bowl of Froot Loops.

  • On the Never-JD front. Power Line's Scott Johnson looks at VP Vance's latest effort to blame the usual scapegoats:

    In his interview with Joe Rogan last week, Vice President Vance promoted the line that the Israelis oppose blew up his beautiful Iran deal because they want “to keep the war going on indefinitely.” The editors of the New York Post responded with an obvious point:

    It was Iran that broke the 60-day “comprehensive cease-fire” established by the Memorandum of Understanding by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, period: No Jews involved.

    The Post editorial also noted;

    Vance went to other ugly places in his chat with Rogan: pretending that an open Israel-funded PR effort to counter antisemitism among younger conservatives somehow is actually a secret drive to undo peace with Iran and smear him; suggesting that the craziest Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories are true and Israel is part of the plot.

    JD is a new dad, congrats to him, but I'm still not gonna vote for him.

    Fun fact from the link: Alec Neel Vance is the "first child born to a sitting VP in more than 150 years."

  • Here's hoping. At the Dispatch, Jonathan Gibson wonders Will the Next Big Blockbuster Be AI-Generated? Hey, that's something I've been wondering about too!

    The Instagram account belonging to Tilly Norwood went live just over a year ago. Today, Norwood has more than 175,000 followers on the platform and is set to headline the upcoming feature-length film Misaligned. But Norwood’s rising star belies one key fact: The self-declared “actress” isn’t real.

    The brainchild of the U.K.-based Particle6 production studio, Norwood was made last year using generative AI. Since the avatar’s inception, it has starred in minor projects including a Mint Mobile commercial and a sketch comedy. Norwood’s recently announced move to the big screen has reignited debates over the technology’s growing footprint in cinema, with industry representatives accusing AI developers of threatening the careers of everyone from actors and directors to set designers and makeup artists. More than that, though, the movie has raised questions about what it means to make art—and whether human creativity is a prerequisite.

    Here's a music video (from March, but new to me) starring Tilly. The song is pretty generic, but otherwise … wow:

    And I have to confess, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it visual joke in the middle that made me laugh.