Source: The Daily Economy
by Donald J Boudreaux
“The golden age of airline service was also an era of restriction and high prices. From deregulation to the downfall of no-frills Spirit, competition exposes what travelers are truly willing to pay for.” (05/15/26)
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A five-month investigation has named 13 previously unidentified victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in a campaign that has [murdered] nearly 200 people in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. It is unclear if the US has ever identified any of its 194 victims before attacking them, and the names of just three had previously emerged, after their families launched legal cases against the White House. … a joint effort by 20 journalists led by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) this week published the identities of 13 of those killed, some of whom showed no indication of involvement in drug trafficking.” (05/15/26)
Source: Reason
“Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff discuss the global decline of free speech, why democracies are embracing censorship, and what can be done to protect open debate.” (05/15/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/05/15/the-global-war-on-free-speech/
Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut
“The federal Food and Drug Administration nannies have been tormenting Americans for decades, which is no surprise given the pitfalls of putting bureaucrats in charge of such an important function as determining the safety of our food supply, and evaluating drugs and medical devices. Frankly, it’s amazing that we all haven’t starved to death or been denied basic medications, given the FDA’s Byzantine approval process. … One of the benefits, however, of the Trump administration’s Overton-Window-shifting approach toward health policy is its lighter touch toward substances that previous administrations had approached with a prohibitionist view.” (05/15/26)
Source: NBC News
“New York officials urged commuters to work from home Monday as a strike by Long Island Rail Road workers threatened to disrupt travel for hundreds of thousands of riders across the region. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were preparing emergency transit alternatives, including shuttle buses from Long Island into Queens and additional subway service, after negotiations between the MTA and rail unions broke down this weekend, prompting workers to walk off the job and shutting down the railroad Saturday. … The strike — the LIRR’s first in roughly 30 years — has halted service on one of the nation’s busiest commuter rail systems, which carries hundreds of thousands of riders between Long Island and New York City.” (05/17/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/long-island-railroad-strike-monday-commute-rcna345567
Source: American Greatness
by Thaddeus G McCotter
“Two recent news items have spurred the return of the tariff issue to the front burner of American politics. First (at the time of writing), President Trump will attend a summit with People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping in May. Second, U.S. Steel has announced plans to resume operations at its Gary, Indiana, tin mill. And, again, one will hear the Free Traders shrilly bemoaning how ‘tariffs are a tax on consumers.’ If one were to honestly accept the Free Traders’ logic that a company passing off its costs of compliance with a federal statute and/or regulation on to consumers constitutes a ‘tax,’ one would then be required to declare almost every governmental decision touching upon the health, safety, and welfare of the nation a tax as well.” (05/16/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/16/the-free-trade-tax-on-americans/
Source: Fox News
“Protesters gathered Thursday outside The New York Times building in New York City expressing outrage over an opinion piece by liberal columnist Nicholas Kristof that contained allegations of serial sexual abuse by Israelis against Palestinian detainees. The article featured the testimony of men and women who alleged ‘brutal sexual abuse at the hands of Israel’s prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators.’ The article mentioned several claims, including that Palestinians ‘had their genitals yanked or were beaten on the testicles,’ ‘some men had to have their testicles amputated by doctors,’ and metal batons were used to rape men. Kristof also said a Gaza journalist claimed he was ‘mounted’ by a dog before adding that ‘[o]ther Palestinian prisoners and human rights monitors have also cited reports of police dogs being coached to rape prisoners.'” (05/16/26)
Source: Serious Trouble
“‘Advice of Counsel’ Does Not Apply to Advice from Licensed Airboat Captains.” (05/15/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/advice-of-counsel-does-not-apply
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“‘Could this be the Antichrist?’ So wondered out loud today’s most popular conservative voice … about President Donald J. Trump. That commentator, Tucker Carlson, then answered himself: ‘Well, who knows?’ Later, speaking to Lulu Garcia-Navarro with The New York Times, Mr. Carlson denied (thrice) ever verbalizing that eschatological question. Of course, as Scott Jennings points out, Tucker contextualized the matter by asserting that the president was ‘more of a hostage’ to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in deciding to go to war against Iran. ‘Seems to me it has to be one or the other,’ offered Jennings. ‘Are you a supernatural evil being or are you some weak hostage or slave to other people?'” (05/15/26)
Source: Associated Press
“Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday commuted the sentence of election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters following pressure from President Donald Trump, the latest instance of the president using his powers to reward those who echoed his baseless claims of mass fraud as the cause of his 2020 loss. Trump has championed the case of Peters, a 70-year-old former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in a scheme to make a copy of her county’s election computer system. She gets released June 1. In April, a Colorado appeals court upheld her conviction but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud, a decision that Polis praised.” (05/15/26)