Source: Axios
“President Trump on Thursday threatened to deploy U.S. military forces under the Insurrection Act to Minneapolis if state officials don’t stop protests against the sprawling immigration enforcement operation. Every modern use of the Insurrection Act has come either at a governor’s request or to expand civil rights protections over state objections. Trump would flip that script, sending troops against a governor’s wishes to crush protests of the federal government’s own actions. The situation has grown increasingly amid a surge in ICE activity and last week’s [murder] of Renee Good by an ICE agent. … Trump’s threat, posted to Truth Social, came hours after the second ICE shooting in the Twin Cities in a week, when an agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg during what the Department of Homeland Security described as an ‘ambush.'” (01/15/26)
https://archive.is/tTD3z
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
“President Donald Trump’s push to seize Greenland might be the least popular idea in American political history. Is that hyperbole? If so, that’s only because reliable and fast public polling is a relatively recent development within our 250-year experiment in self-governance. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found a staggering 4 percent of Americans favor the idea of seizing Greenland with military force. Among Republicans, the idea is actually twice as popular: 8 percent say taking the island is a ‘good idea.’ … do you know how hard it is to get such a minuscule percentage on a public opinion survey? Secondly, there’s the Lizardman’s Constant. That’s a term coined by Scott Alexander in 2013 to describe the surprisingly consistent finding that 4 percent of people will say they believe utterly outlandish things when polled — things like ‘human-sized lizards wearing skin suits control the world.'” (01/15/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/15/seizing-greenland-might-be-the-least-popular-idea-in-american-political-history/
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich and Riley discuss the rise of Silver, is it now a better investment than crypto, whether or not we’ve finally reached another shoot back moment in history, and why so many racist libertarians in New Hampshire.” (01/15/26)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/the-anarchist-experience-563/
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol will be jailed for five years over abuse of power, obstructing justice and falsifying documents in relation to his failed martial law bid in 2024. This is the first of the verdicts in four trials linked to his shock martial law decree. Although short-lived, the move triggered nationwide turmoil, sparking protests as MPs rushed to the national assembly to overturn Yoon’s decision. Yoon’s actions ‘plunged the country into political crisis,’ a judge said on Friday, noting that Yoon had ‘consistently shown no remorse.’ Friday’s ruling offers clues as to how the rest of Yoon’s trials could go. His string of charges range from abuse of power to campaign law violations.” (01/16/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4qdpxp78po
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“The US Constitution assigns the power to declare war to Congress, not to the president. If the president attacks another country without such a declaration, it’s not a war, it’s just a crime — a ‘high crime’ legally meriting and ethically requiring that president’s impeachment and removal from office. Unfortunately, presidents have been getting away with such crimes on a routine basis since the end of World War 2. The list is too long to fit in an op-ed, but a few high points include Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Those conflicts weren’t wars, at least so far as US law was concerned. They were criminal acts carried out by lawless presidents with the acquiescence — and often co-conspiracy — of Congress.” (01/15/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20273
Source: Courthouse News Service
“A federal judge in Boston lambasted Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday for what he called an ‘unconstitutional conspiracy’ to target pro-Palestine students for their speech. ‘These cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution,’ U.S. District Judge William Young exclaimed, later invoking the Fugitive Slave Act to describe the modern-day conundrum of federal immigration enforcement. The impassioned statements came as Young mulled a remedy in a case involving the Trump administration’s attempts to deport college students and academics for protesting against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.” (01/15/26)
https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-slams-government-for-conspiring-to-chill-free-speech-of-pro-palestine-students/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Alice Johnson
“Wars don’t usually start with someone deciding to unleash chaos. They start with confidence—a belief that risks are manageable, responses predictable, consequences containable. History tells a different story. The most destructive conflicts emerge not from clear intent but from quiet assurance that this time will be different. Today’s danger isn’t a conscious rush toward war. It’s the growing faith in strategic assumptions that underestimate how quickly force escapes control.” (01/15/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/when-miscalculation-becomes-the-greatest-threat
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“The United States has finalised a sale of Venezuelan oil – the first since Washington took control of the sector following the toppling of Nicolas Maduro, a US official told Agence France-Presse on Thursday. According to the official, who did not identify the buyer, the deal is worth US$500 million, and additional sales could take place in the coming days or weeks. ‘President Trump brokered a historic energy deal with Venezuela, immediately following the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro, that will benefit the American and Venezuelan people,’ said White House spokesman Taylor Rogers. Last week, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform ‘the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.’ He added: ‘This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America.'” (01/15/26)
https://archive.is/zQiUX
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israel killed at least eight Palestinians across Gaza, just as the United States announced that the two sides had progressed to the second phase of a 20-point ceasefire deal with Hamas to end the conflict. The Wafa news agency reported that the Israeli military bombed two houses belonging to the al-Hawli and the al-Jarou families in the central town of Deir el-Balah on Thursday evening, with health officials confirming a 16-year-old minor was among those killed. The Israeli military announced that one of the victims, Muhammad al-Hawli, was a commander in the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.” (01/15/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/15/israel-kills-six-in-gaza-as-us-declares-phase-two-of-peace-plan-launched
Source: Cobden Centre
by Justin M Ptak
“Money is often described as neutral, technical, or merely instrumental — a passive medium facilitating exchange within an otherwise political society. This view is not only mistaken; it is profoundly misleading. Money is the hidden constitution of every political order. It determines which actions are possible, which institutions survive, which risks are rewarded, and which failures are forgiven. While constitutions proclaim rights and legislatures debate policy, money silently governs outcomes. For this reason, the structure of a monetary system is never merely economic. It is moral, political, and civilizational.” (01/15/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/01/money-and-power-fiat-currency-monetary-corruption-and-the-architecture-of-extraction/
