Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie

“It used to be the United States that had problems trying to have its courts make rulings that would make other countries follow its rulings, but other courts have been ploughing the same furrow. And judicial activists in several countries have been using that tendency to subvert the decisions of elected governments and have them overruled by unelected judges. The UK’s Supreme Court has tried to extend a remit it was not given, namely to judge on the constitutionality of Parliamentary decisions. Its declaration that the late Queen’s prorogation of Parliament was illegal was described by Jacob Rees-Mogg as a ‘constitutional coup.’ He was correct. Its use of external courts such as the ECHR to void decisions made by elected UK governments effectively negates the sovereignty of Parliament, which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.” (01/06/26)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/judicial-overreach

Source: Persuasion
by Damon Linker

“A new generation of right-wing culture warriors is sowing chaos. They will outlast Donald Trump.” (01/06/26)

https://www.persuasion.community/p/whither-conservatism

Source: TomDispatch
by Karen J Greenberg

“‘Quiet, Piggy!’ The president was intent on silencing Catherine Lucey. The Bloomberg reporter had provoked him with a question about the release of the Epstein files. His insult caught the public’s attention. But Trump’s tongue-lashing lexicon against women has a long history. Other female journalists have been dubbed ‘obnoxious,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘third-rate’ and ‘ugly.’ Vice President Kamala Harris, opposing him in the 2024 presidential election, was labeled ‘retarded’ and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘crazy as a bedbug.’ The list goes on (and on and on). And who knows what was redacted from the Epstein files along those very lines? Mind you, those Trumpian insults hurled at women (and regularly offered about them) are anything but performative throwaways. They reveal Donald Trump’s deep and abiding contempt for females, an attitude that has taken a giant leap forward (or do I mean backward?) in policy terms in the Trump 2.0 years.” (01/06/25)

https://tomdispatch.com/trumps-war-on-women/

Source: Law & Liberty
by Bradley J Birzer

“A new edition of Robert Nisbet’s neglected classic, The Social Philosophers, reveals what made the sociologist a first-rate conservative mind.” (01/06/26)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-continuing-quest-for-community/

Source: New York Post
by Nicole Huyer & William DuVall

“Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign message was simple: New York City’s cost of living is too high. True, starting a family and raising children have become unaffordable in New York City — and Mamdani believes his socialist plans are the answer. ‘We will deliver universal child care for the many by taxing the wealthiest few,’ he said in his inaugural speech last week. The scale of the city’s problem is undeniable: Three of the four most expensive US counties for child care, in terms of share of family income, are within New York City: The Bronx, Queens and Kings County (Brooklyn). Day-care center costs in The Bronx, for example, range from $300 to $406 per week ($15,600 to $21,112 a year) depending on the child’s age — but with a median household income of only $48,610, center-based child care is completely out of reach for most local families.” (01/05/25)

https://nypost.com/2026/01/05/opinion/government-not-greed-is-to-blame-for-nycs-childcare-crisis/