Antitrust law threatens to hand the Play Store Google built into a global platform for millions to its rivals

The post Epic Games’ Victory Could Dismantle the Google Play Store appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

 

“'For all the hype of a conflict, [reports Axios] President Trump and New York City's next mayor, Zohran Mamdani, had a surprising bond when they met Friday in the Oval Office ...'

"This is no surprise ... Like Mamdani, Trump is fundamentally a collectivist. Collectivism is the foundation of Socialism, whether of the Fascist or Communist variety.

"It’s instructive that, after his meeting with Trump ... Mamdani reiterated his belief that Trump is a Fascist. Indeed, as Axios reported ... 'For a few minutes, Mamdani — whom Trump had called a communist — and Trump, whom Mamdani had called a fascist, gave a glimpse of how they might find common ground . . .' Common ground, indeed!

"Whether or not Trump is a full-blown Fascist or Mamdani is a full-blown Communist, the fact remains that Fascism and Communism are, as the great champion of The Enlightenment Steven Pinker has observed, 'fraternal twins.' No wonder the meeting went so well—these 2 are kindred spirits ..."

~ Mike LaFerrara from his post 'On the Trump/Mamdani 'Lovefest''

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at The Objective Standard! This holiday is a unique celebration of the virtue that made America great and that makes human life possible: productiveness, a virtue Craig Biddle celebrates in his Thanksgiving tribute to producers and value-creators of all kinds and his article on why we should say justice rather than grace.

In that spirit, one of the values I’ve produced this week is a short retrospective article on one of my all-time favorite movies, GoldenEye, which turns 30 this year. At a time when many thought that James Bond movies were an outdated relic of the Cold War, GoldenEye modernized and matured the series for the new context of the 1990s while keeping its fundamental elements intact—a clear statement that Bond’s values of heroism, patriotism, and the defense of Western freedom are timeless.

I hope you enjoy this week’s articles!

Thomas Walker-Werth

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"A new first-of-its-kind study by Dutch researchers finds no evidence of a global acceleration in sea level rise because of climate change.

"The peer-reviewed paper, 'A Global Perspective on Local Sea Level Changes,' published in the 'Journal of Marine Science and Engineering' last month is the first study to be based on local data taken from coastal sites around the world, rather than on models based on extrapolations.

"The study, which was conducted as an analysis of more than 200 tide-gauge stations worldwide, cuts against the long-standing belief among climate scientists that climate change is leading to rapidly accelerating sea level rise.

"The research, conducted by Dutch researchers Hessel Voortman and Rob de Vos, found that the average rate of sea level rise in 2020 is only around 1.5 millimeters per year, or 15 centimeters per century.

"'This is significantly lower than the 3 to 4 mm/year often reported by climate scientists in scientific literature and the media,' Voortman told independent journalist Michael Shellenberger."

~ from the article 'First-of-Its-Kind Study Finds Sea Level Rise Has Not Accelerated Because of Climate Change'

"Voortman was shocked that no researcher before had performed an analysis of real-world local data.

“'It is crazy that it had not been done. I started doing this research in 2021 by doing the literature review. Who has done the comparison of the projections with the observations?’"

~ from the article 'Blockbuster sea level study may turn climate change orthodoxy on its head'

"The end is nigh – not for the world, but for the climate industrial complex. It has been a decline brought about mainly by the sheer reality of energy economics in the developing world.

"Published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the “World Energy Outlook 2025” reads like an obituary for the fantasy of global decarbonisation, acknowledging the undeniable truth that nations prioritising prosperity must unapologetically embrace coal, oil and natural gas.

"For years, the IEA and Western think tanks insisted that hydrocarbons were in structural decline, predicting a fatal drop in demand after 2030. Yet in the very document meant to track progress toward realising an absurd net-zero objective, the IEA concedes that demand for oil and natural gas will continue to grow well beyond 2035 and may not peak until 2050.

"The key insight of the IEA report is that emerging markets, excluding China, are becoming the primary drivers of growth in global energy consumption. This is a massive, structural shift. No longer will the trajectory of energy markets be dictated by the policies of Paris, Berlin or Washington but rather by the sovereign choices of nations whose citizens are desperate for better lives."

~ Vijay Jayaraj from his post 'IEA publishes climate-change era’s obituary'