Robert Bryce: Trump’s Media Ban Clearly Violates First Amendment Press Freedom

     

     Robert Bryce is known for telling it like it is. This case is no different, and I agree completely. Constitutional press freedom simply requires Trump to tolerate negative news stories. He may not like it, but that is the way it is. No judge or court should allow him to ban press coverage.

     In this case, Bryce simply states the wording James Madison used when he introduced the amendment:

“The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.”

     As we know, Trump has done other things that may be illegal or unconstitutional, and he often treads on that line between legal and illegal every opportunity he gets. If he doesn’t like it here, he should leave, because that is the way it is. He does not get to make up the rules. That is not how our government works as much as he would like it to be.

     Fortunately, the ban was struck down by a judge, and one that Trump appointed, at that.  

     Bryce continued, regarding the quote:

“That sentence, written by a man who’s often called the “Father of the Constitution,” provides essential context for President Trump’s move last week to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. And to add more foolishness to an already indefensible move, on Friday, while in the Oval Office, Trump went even further, saying, “It’s sick. I mean there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”

“Excuse my language, but WTF?”

     I think it is likely that Trump simply doesn’t understand how he is limited by the Constitution, but ignorance is no excuse. If he did, he would not have enacted the ban or uttered the sentence about negative stories.

     Below, he summarizes the potential implications of Trump adding this blunder to his sinking approval ratings. He notes Trump is also damaging the GOP. I would add that the lack of or lackluster pushback by the GOP against Trump’s blunders damages them just as badly. I won’t even consider voting for a Republican until he is long gone.

“Trump’s ban of the media outlets and his mocking of the First Amendment are beyond the pale. They are a strategic blunder, an own goal. And Trump is scoring that own goal at the very moment his approval ratings are the lowest of his political career. A poll released on Monday showed his approval rating is just 32%. That’s the lowest approval rating for a sitting president in the last nine midterms. Further, Trump’s doing more damage to the Republican Party’s brand, and he’s doing it just six weeks before the pivotal midterm elections.”

     Trump later tried to invoke National Security to support the ban, something that has worked with him in the past to bypass Congress and the courts. It won't work this time.

 

 

  

References:

 

Trump v. Madison (And Streisand). Robert Bryce. Substack. September 22, 2026. Trump v. Madison (And Streisand) - Robert Bryce

An Iron Complex Reaction Powered by Light Can Reduce Nitrate to Ammonia, Mitigating Groundwater Pollution: Powered by Heat, It Yields Nitric Oxide: Manipulation of Hydrogen Bonds is the Key

     Researchers at the University of Michigan published a paper in the journal Nature Chemistry that shows how they were able to develop an iron complex that can break down leftover groundwater nitrate from fertilizer, which is typically very stable in the environment. Nitrates are notoriously difficult to chemically reduce and remove from the environment. They are also responsible for harmful algal blooms, promoting cyanobacteria growth, inducing eutrophication, and death of marine life. The new method can reduce nitrate into components that can be recycled for fertilizer.

     According to Phys.org, lead author and chemist Nathaniel Szymczak noted:

"Now we tend to overfertilize crops, and a huge majority of the fertilizer we apply actually leaches away with runoff into streams, groundwater, lakes and oceans," Szymczak said. "Human impacts have basically caused an imbalance, and it's impossible for biological systems to compensate for as much nitrate as we're dumping into them."

     They first studied nitrogen transport and chemical interactions in the environment. They found that hydrogen bonds were the key to binding nitrates as well as to enhancing the chemical reduction of them.

“They found that nitrate transporter proteins—proteins that help plants use nitrates—bind to nitrates using hydrogen bonds. These hydrogen bonds are found in a halo of surrounding molecules called the "secondary sphere."

"When we look at this problem of how we actually tackle nitrate reduction, we look to the enzymes, we look to biology, and what we've found is nature has provided cues about how to bind and reduce nitrate," he said. "We found that just by having well-positioned hydrogen bonds, you can actually change the bonding structure in nitrate and force a subsequent reduction step."

     They began with an iron complex surrounded by a secondary sphere of hydrogen bonds. They were then able to turn hydrogen bonds on, essentially targeting the binding sites on nitrates, in order to prime, or ready them for the next chemical reaction in the reduction process.   

     The researchers note that there are two types of reduction sequences for nitrates: stoichiometric reduction and catalytic reduction.

“Nature’s solution to achieve binding/activation of nitrate is to use networks of hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) interactions, amino acid residues that are critical to the function of nitrate transport proteins and nitrate reductases.”

     The researchers compared the use of heat and light to power the chemical reaction and got two different chemical results.

“When the researchers used heat to drive the chemical reaction, the iron complex was able to grab oxygen atoms from nitrate, reducing it to nitric oxide. When the researchers used light, the iron complex was able to remove oxygen atoms from nitrate altogether, converting it to ammonia.”

     The ammonia can be reused as fertilizer, and the nitric oxide has medical and industrial uses. The experiments should be considered to be an early step in the development of chemical remediation of nitrates in water, which is needed where fertilizer use is heavy. It should be combined with more efficient, better targeting, timing, and overall optimization of fertilizer applications. Devices would need to be built that could facilitate and control the reduction step. The method could one day be used at facilities like wastewater treatment plants.

"The timeframe for development of solutions to big picture problems has a large time horizon, and they require fundamental studies to develop principles and invent new ways to do molecular transformations that are societally important," Szymczak said. "We are giving people a roadmap of how to achieve the difficult reduction step that we hope could be translated to engineered systems that might be used down the road."

    

References:

 

Iron complex breaks down stubborn pollutant using light-powered reaction. University of Michigan. edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan. Phys.org. September 22, 2026. Iron complex breaks down stubborn pollutant using light-powered reaction

Secondary-sphere hydrogen bonding promotes catalytic nitrate reduction at iron. Writhabrata Sarkar, Andrew R. LaDuca, Riley W. Kazukiewicz & Nathaniel K. Szymczak. Nature Chemistry (2026). Secondary-sphere hydrogen bonding promotes catalytic nitrate reduction at iron | Nature Chemistry

Mission 300: The World Bank and African Development Bank Project That Plans to Halve the Number of People in Africa Living Without Electricity

      Nearly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity. Mission 300 is a $15 billion development initiative by the World Bank and African Development Bank Group (ADB) that is working to give 50 million Africans living in 40 countries access to reliable electricity by 2030 and ultimately halving the number of people on the continent living without reliable electricity by 2030. This accords with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 7. The Mission 300 goal is to finance and implement National Energy Compacts, “fixed agendas for public ministries, commercial operators, and investors to coalesce around.”

     Andy Corbley of Good News Network writes:

“African development has been a mixed story since the end of colonialism, with shining examples of Botswana and post-war Rwanda clashing with others like Zimbabwe or Sierra Leone.”

     The project has already increased the pace of electrification in several African countries, including Tanzania and Ethiopia.

     Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, noted:

“Mission 300 is helping countries move faster, connect more people, and build a platform that will last well beyond this effort — one others can use, build on, and scale for years to come. At the end of the day, electricity is not just about power. It is about what it enables: jobs, business, health care, education, and opportunity.”

     Thus far, Mission 300 has committed $15 billion in financing and attracted another $4.5 billion in co-financing. Additional development partners have pledged more than $7 billion in support of Africa’s energy sector.

     The World Bank notes:

“Household electricity access improves family welfare. It lights up homes, connects people to information, and makes cooking safer and easier. For communities, electricity keeps hospital lights on and medicine cold. It connects students to the internet and training programs. It powers irrigation systems, commercial farming, and processing plants. It builds digital networks and fuels the industries that create jobs.”

     As the name suggests, the plan is to give 300 million people new access to electricity, with 50 million by 2030. This would be an amazing accomplishment. As pointed out in the forthcoming book, The Energy Illusion, which I recently reviewed, electrifying these poverty-stricken regions is challenging and likely will remain so for a while:

“African Development Bank analysis points to the same pattern: brittle feeders, overloaded transformers, poor collection, and high service cost per connection recur as barriers. When utilities serve long lines badly, losses rise, bills go unpaid, and maintenance slips further. Service worsens. Customers hedge with generators, batteries, charcoal, kerosene, and whatever else keeps the household functioning. The system becomes more expensive to run and less able to earn its way out of fragility.”

     The challenges noted need to be overcome, and hopefully this project will help in that regard.

     The World Bank emphasizes the importance of its model of National Energy Compacts:

“At the heart of our plan are National Energy Compacts—country-led reform roadmaps that unlock investment, align policy, and keep progress on track.”

     As noted below, the plan includes sharing regional power between countries, encouraging private sector participation, addressing the serious issue of clean cooking fuels, addressing people’s ability to pay, and strengthening power utility companies.

     Plans for engaging the private sector are given below.

     Plans for engaging development partners and nonprofits are given below along with de-risking strategies.

 

 

References:

 

Mission 300. World Bank. Mission 300 | Electricity to Power Africa and its Economy

Billion-Dollar Program Connects 50 Million People to the Power Grid Across Africa. Andy Corbley. Good News Network. June 29, 2026. Billion-Dollar Program Connects 50 Million People to the Power Grid Across Africa

Qnetic Energy’s Flywheel for Medium-Duration Mechanical Energy Storage: It Relies on a Contactless, Frictionless, and Wear-Free Rotor

     Flywheels are typically used for very short-duration energy storage on the scale of minutes and seconds and to enhance spinning reserve on power grids. Qnetic Energy has developed a new design that can store energy for longer periods of time, for 4-12 hours. It is an example of mechanical energy storage. Energy is stored as kinetic motion. 

     The company notes that its design has many advantages over the lithium-ion batteries commonly used on power grids. It does not degrade like lithium batteries and other chemical batteries do. There is no danger of fires like there are with lithium batteries. It can charge and discharge multiple times in a day, whereas lithium batteries are cycled no more than once per day to preserve lifespan. This allows it to generate more arbitrage revenue. It does not lose efficiency in weather extremes, cold or hot, like lithium batteries do. Lifetime costs are projected to be lower than lithium batteries. They project that once developed, the costs will be half that of lithium batteries. It has no lithium, cobalt, nor any component dependent on China for supply or supply chains.

     While the technology is not dependent on China for components, it does, apparently, have a technology center in Shanghai. In August 2026, Qnetic began construction of its 200-kWh “Pulsar” Prototype at its test facility and technology center in Shanghai. Pulsar is the company’s alpha prototype. Thus, if testing shows that the design needs to be tweaked, there will be further prototypes, as is often the case with new technologies.

“According to the engineering partner, Qnetic’s flywheel system stores substantially more energy than conventional high-speed spin test applications. As a result, the associated containment and safety requirements are exceptional and operate on a scale rarely encountered in existing testing infrastructure.”

     Once the prototype is built, it will commence validation testing.

“A rotor spins at nearly three times the speed of sound inside a vacuum enclosure, supported by magnetic bearings that virtually eliminate friction. When electricity is needed, the rotating mass drives a generator, returning power to the grid.”

“Because the system relies on no electrochemical reactions, Qnetic says its technology can operate for decades with minimal degradation while offering rapid response times, unlimited cycling capability, and eliminating both fire risk and dependence on critical minerals.”

“The 200-kWh Pulsar system is designed for applications including AI data centers, renewable energy time shifting, grid stabilization, microgrids, and industrial energy resilience.”

“The company is headquartered in New York with additional locations in Sacramento, Shanghai, Singapore, and Germany. Qnetic was founded by Michael Pratt (CEO) and Loïc Bastard (CTO).”

     The company recently completed construction of a production center in Sacramento, California. It has a factory and assembly floor designed specifically for low-volume assembly, testing, and quality validation. The company has recently joined the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) deRISKED program, sponsored directly by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).

     Recent testing confirms a 97.3% conversion efficiency. This is compared to efficiencies between 85% and 95% for lithium-ion batteries and 95% for lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, both of which are used on power grids.

     The company’s commercialization plans, shown below, are ambitious. They plan to get from the current prototype testing period to production and deployment of 3500 units annually beginning in 2030.

References:

 

A carbon-fiber rotor spinning in a vacuum. That's the battery: No chemistry inside. It can't degrade and it can't burn. Designed to run for 30 years. Qnetic Energy. Invest in Qnetic — Regulation CF

Revolutionising Energy Storage with Qnetic. Qnetic Energy. Website. Discover Long-Duration Flywheel Storage | Qnetic

Qnetic Aligns with Major California Utility as EPRI Evaluates Flywheel Performance. September 12, 2026. Qnetic Energy. News. Qnetic Aligns with Major California Utility as EPRI Evaluates Flywheel Performance - Qnetic

Pulsar Motor Reaches 130 kW Output at 97.3% Efficiency. Qnetic Energy. News. September 15, 2026. Pulsar Motor Reaches 130 kW Output at 97.3% Efficiency  - Qnetic

Qnetic Begins Construction of the World’s Largest Flywheel Energy Storage Test Facility and Assembles First 200-kWh “Pulsar” Prototype. Qnetic Energy. News. August 12, 2026. Qnetic Builds World's Largest Flywheel Test Facility

Qnetic Sacramento Production Center Completed. Qnetic Energy. News. September 12, 2026. Qnetic Sacramento Production Center Completed - Qnetic

 

 

 

 

Trade and Globalization Curb Nationalism, Ethnocentrism, and Prejudice, Walker Wright Argues

        More insights about trade from Walker Wright, author of the forthcoming book In Trade We Trust: How Commerce Makes Us More Social.

     Despite what he calls a growing populist backlash against globalization and international trade as well as Trump’s obsession with tariffs, there are very real benefits to trade and globalization. He notes:

“Many critics portray international trade as an example of “foreign intrusions on national sovereignty.”

     He first cites Milton Friedman and his book, Capitalism and Freedom, where he leans on the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker. Friedman suggested that discrimination is monopolistic and that there is less of it where there is higher freedom of competition.

     He cites a Brookings Institution survey that shows that people with the most nationalistic and ethnocentric attitudes tend to distrust trade and globalization the most, and vice versa.

     He cites a study by political scientists Edward Mansfield and Diana Mutz that concludes that people with nationalistic and ethnocentric attitudes tend to not like outsourcing and vice versa. This is fairly obvious, and the graph below reflects that it is indeed the case.

     He cites a long-term (1977-2010) study by Northwestern University’s James Lindgren, who concluded:

“Those who support capitalism and freer markets and oppose greater income redistribution tend to be . . . less traditionally racist” and “less intolerant of unpopular groups.”

     That is an interesting conclusion but does not seem to accord with anti-capitalists who like to equate capitalism with racism and colonialism, and who often see capitalists as oppressors rather than as liberators. The data suggests that capitalism is far more liberating than oppressive. He cites other studies as well that equate capitalism and free markets with greater tolerance.

     He cites several studies by Niclas Berggren and Therese Nilsson that investigated the relationship between tolerance, economic freedom, and globalization.

“The evidence they gathered suggests a causal relationship between the level of economic globalization and the willingness of parents to teach their children tolerance.”

     The graph below shows one of those studies, and the results are clear: market societies are more tolerant.

     The graph below from one of their studies shows that where economic freedom is deemed greater, racial tolerance is also greater.

     He cites another study by researchers at St. Olaf College, Stanford University, and George Mason University, who concluded that we tend to have more favorable views of people and have more cordial ties with people from countries we do business with.

     He cites other studies and experiments that also conclude that greater economic cooperation leads to greater tolerance of ethnic minorities. He also suggests that protectionism promotes economic isolationism and can make intolerance more popular as well.

“Protectionist restrictions can exacerbate prejudicial attitudes. As the late economist Walter Williams explained, anti-competitive regulation “lowers the private cost of discriminating against the racially less-preferred person.” But when there is money to be made, trading only with groups who look or think like you doesn’t seem so important. And the more you trade with different groups, the more you realize that maybe, just maybe, they aren’t as bad as you thought.”

     He cites a study in Eurasia which showed that where trade is higher, intergroup marriage rates are higher, which is certainly a proxy for greater tolerance. He also notes that in the past, when new forms of travel, like railroads in the 19th-century U.S., became prevalent, there was greater extra-community marriage.

     He notes that the media also plays a role in promoting or opposing tolerance. Below, he explains that in the context of the 19th-century U.S., as more people traveled and moved to areas where market integration was high, tolerance increased and people began to take part in the wider American society rather than just the local society.

“Other signs of tolerance and trust became apparent: Newspapers began to adopt language that reflected generalized trust. Parents began to give children nationally popular names rather than locally distinctive ones, implying a social circle that had extended beyond the local community. But one of the strongest findings was the increase in religious diversity: A 1 percent increase in market access raised religious diversity by 0.27 standard deviation, indicating a greater tolerance for religious identity and practice. Perhaps most striking, families who moved to these more market-integrated areas adapted quickly, especially those working in commerce-intensive industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and transportation.”

     Regular commercial contact makes people less suspicious of outsiders. Thus, trade, in a way, teaches and fosters tolerance.

“By commerce we enlarge our acquaintance with the terraqueous globe and its inhabitants, which tends to greatly expand the mind, and to cure us of many hurtful prejudices. . . . No person can taste the sweets of commerce, which absolutely depends upon a free and undisturbed intercourse of different and remote nations, but must grow fond of peace, in which alone the advantages he enjoys can be had.”

 

References:

 

How Open Economies Lead to Open Minds: Trade undermines bigotry and rewards toleration. Walker Wright. Human Progress. April 7, 2026. How Open Economies Lead to Open Minds - Human Progress