Source: Reuters
“Two Chinese tankers laden with oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from the U.S. president and his deputy. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the war would be over ‘very quickly’ while Vice President JD Vance talked up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities. … Iranian state media said Tehran’s latest peace proposal involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the exit of U.S. forces from areas close to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by the U.S.-Israeli attacks. Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, release of frozen funds and an end to the U.S. marine blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as cited by IRNA news agency. The terms as described in the Iranian reports appeared little changed from Iran’s previous offer, which Trump rejected last week as ‘garbage.'” (05/20/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tankers-exit-hormuz-trump-vance-talk-up-iran-deal-prospects-2026-05-20/
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“Businesses have an unsung superpower. They aren’t just awesome at producing and marketing goods and services. They are also awesome at coping with government stupidity …. Thanks to competition, consumers ultimately pay the price of wasteful government policies. This is Econ 1: As long as prices remain free, government stupidity reduces supply and raises prices, allowing businesses to remain profitable despite their hostile economic environment. Crucially, however, the process of complying with sheer idiocy is itself competitive!” (05/19/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/the-superpower-of-coping-with-government
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“The European Union reached a late-night provisional deal on Tuesday to remove import duties on [European buyers of] US goods, a key part of the bloc’s trade pact with the United States. This kept the EU on track to meet President Donald Trump’s July 4 deadline and avoid higher US tariffs on [American buyers of] European goods. … EU lawmakers softened several demands during negotiations, including a proposal to suspend favorable [sic] tariffs for [European buyers of goods from] US exporters if Washington breached the terms of the deal. The final text also gives the US until the end of the year to remove steel surtaxes above 15%, instead of making it a precondition for the agreement.” (05/19/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-strikes-deal-on-us-trade-pact-ahead-of-trump-tariff-deadline/a-77222972
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“‘Some men,’ an old saying has it, ‘are sent to Washington because their hometowns want them somewhere else.’ Although Melbourne Beach, Florida isn’t US Representative Randy Fine’s hometown — he was born in Arizona, raised in Kentucky, and subsequently managed to wear out his welcome in Massachusetts, Nevada, and Michigan before landing there — I have to think the remark explains his career in the state legislature and now Congress. … Sample recent tweet: ‘You CANNOT serve two masters. My bill makes it simple: Only Americans. Full allegiance to the United States and the United States alone. No more dual loyalty in Congress.’ Unfortunately for the PR angle, Fine spends a great deal of time and effort publicly demonstrating his own loyalty — not to the US, and not to his constituents, but to a foreign power.” (05/19/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20624
Source: CoinMarketCap
“Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $77,000 on May 19 as surging US Treasury yields pushed investors away from risk assets. The 30-year yield reached its highest level since July 2007, adding to a difficult week for equities and commodities alike. Gold dropped below $4,500 on May 19, reaching its lowest price since late March. Silver also fell as markets recalibrated around inflation expectations and central bank rate forecasts.” (05/19/26)
https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/%20bitcoin-below-77000-bond-yields
Source: Reason
by Ronald Bailey
“Caffeine is the most widely used legal psychoactive drug in the world. Nearly two-thirds of American adults get their daily doses from coffee, according to a 2025 National Coffee Association poll, and they seem to be getting more than a jolt of energy. A study published by JAMA in February tracked the brain health of 130,000 people for more than 40 years. It found that moderate daily consumption of coffee was associated with a reduced risk of dementia and slower cognitive decline. … A roundup of studies compiled by the National Center for Health Research (NCHR), a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., details the manifold other health benefits of drinking coffee. … Coffee drinkers have enjoyed the beverage’s benefits for centuries and will do so for years to come. After all, Starfleet Capt. Kathryn Janeway in the 24th century declared coffee ‘the finest organic suspension ever devised.'” (for publication 06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/19/coffee-is-good-for-your-brain/
Source: SFGate
“Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Tuesday night in China for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up his own trip to Beijing. Putin’s plane landed in Beijing, where it was greeted by an honor guard and youths in light blue shirts. Putin’s two-day visit is likely to be closely watched as Beijing seeks to maintain stable relations with the United States while also preserving strong ties with Russia. The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi plan to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, but also ‘key international and regional issues’. The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001. China is a key trading partner for Russia, especially after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.” (05/19/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/putin-visits-china-to-reaffirm-russia-ties-as-xi-22265595.php
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Let’s face it: It doesn’t really matter whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge. The big spending and the big debt will continue to grow, whether it’s on welfare, warfare, regulation, or control. There are always projects, programs, wars, conflicts, regulations, and controls on which to spend money. As we have seen, both Republicans and Democrats always find ways to spend and borrow ever-increasing amounts of money. … But the fact is that neither Republicans nor Democrats are the root cause of America’s fiscal woes. Instead, the root cause is a systemic one — the welfare-warfare state, regulated-managed economy system, and national-security state system that have come to characterize our nation.” (05/19/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/05/19/republicans-and-democrats-are-not-the-root-cause-of-big-spending-and-big-debt/
Source: Common Dreams
Richard Heinberg
“The nuclear power industry is currently promoting designs for small modular reactors, or SMRs, that will supposedly be cheaper, safer, and faster to build than older nuclear power plants. Bill Gates and Amazon are investing in the technology. Moreover, some environmentalists, including Mark Lynas and Bill McKibben, support SMRs in the hope that they can lower carbon emissions. And, according to polls, far more Americans now approve of the development of nuclear energy than was the case just a decade or two ago.” (05/19/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/smrs-dead-end
Source: CBS News
“The Trump administration is doubling down on efforts to resettle [w]hite Afrikaners from South Africa as refugees in the U.S., proposing to increase the government’s refugee cap to welcome thousands more of them, according to a State Department plan sent to Congress and obtained by CBS News. The administration has effectively closed the U.S. refugee program for most nationalities, except Afrikaners from South Africa, arguing they’re the victims of racial oppression for being [w]hite. The South African government has denied persecuting the ethnic minority, composed of descendants of European settlers, mostly from the Netherlands.” (05/19/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-thousands-more-afrikaners-refugees/
