Source: Cato Institute
by Nicholas Anthony
“No government should pressure a bank to cut off customers innocent of any wrongdoing. Yet that is what happened with Operation Choke Point under the Obama administration and that is what happened again with ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0’ under the Biden administration. Even today, countless customers are debanked because the laws and regulations in place have made banks too cautious. It’s time to bring governmental debanking to an end.” (01/13/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/end-debanking-removing-government-reputation-regulation
Source: Washington Examiner
by Byron York
“On Saturday, Larry Krasner, the elected Democratic district attorney of Philadelphia, posted a photo of himself on social media. It was a black-and-white picture of a stern-looking Krasner in a dark suit, one hand to his sunglasses. At the bottom of the photo, in all caps, was ‘FAFO’, which of course stands for ‘f*** around and find out.’ The accompanying message said, ‘To [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and the National Guard: if you commit crimes in Philadelphia, we will charge you and hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.’ Made in the context of the Minneapolis shooting, the post was part of a new wave of tough-guy progressivism in which state and local Democratic officials around the country apparently hope to intimidate the federal government over the enforcement of federal immigration law.” (01/13/25)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/4415211/prime-tough-guy-progressivism-minneapolis-ice-shooting/
Source: Newsweek
“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the U.S. is ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals and set a March 17 deadline for them to leave the country. The move came without an official announcement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday morning, with the latter generally required to officially terminate TPS. DHS later confirmed the decision to Newsweek but did not provide further background.” (01/13/26)
https://www.newsweek.com/tps-somali-nationals-noem-dhs-trump-minnesota-11351039
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin Carroll
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth censured Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, last week for truthfully instructing service members in November that they ‘can refuse illegal orders.’ If anything, Kelly — who on Monday sued Hegseth for violating his First and Fifth Amendment rights –put the matter too mildly: Troops must disobey — and also report — illegal orders. … Last week, in the wake of the U.S. military’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump spoke generally of his desire to obtain Greenland, while deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and press secretary Karoline Leavitt explicitly raised the possibility of the United States seizing territory belonging to our ally Denmark by force. Such orders are precisely the kind that our military must refuse to obey.” (01/13/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/greenland-trump-military-illegal-orders/
Source: EconLog
by Leonida Zelmanovitz
“The recent removal of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela’s presidency is a dramatic development after more than two decades of socialist experimentation under Hugo Chávez and Maduro, characterized by expropriation, macroeconomic mismanagement, and political repression. Although there is much uncertainty about the economic and political future of Venezuela, economics can offer some guidance — and warnings. One such lesson has to do with the dangerous temptation to base economic recovery solely on the oil sector. Venezuela’s prospects depend critically on the quality of its institutional and policy choices from now on.” (01/13/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/avoiding-the-resource-trap-in-post-maduro-venezuela
Source: Common Dreams
by Crystal Coache
“None of us should have to watch videos of our fellow citizens and neighbors being killed to get factual information about what happened. Yet the way President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, described the moment an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a 37-year-old mom and American citizen in broad daylight was so blatantly far off from what happened that I fear we will need to keep seeing for ourselves. I never watch videos of people being killed on purpose. Yet, I clicked on a video of a woman in Minnesota in her SUV who seemed to be in a heated verbal exchange with an ICE agent. I saw her try to pull away from an agent who was reaching into her car, only to be shot at close range as she was trying to leave.” (01/13/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/renee-good-murder-lies
Source: The Hill
“An independent counsel on Tuesday demanded the death sentence for former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion charges in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024. Yoon, who was removed from office last April and is in jail, faces eight trials over various criminal charges related to his martial law debacle and other scandals related to his time in office. Charges that he directed a rebellion are the most significant ones. Independent counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team requested the Seoul Central District Court to sentence Yoon to death, according to the court, which is expected to deliver a verdict in February. Experts say the court will likely sentence Yoon to life in prison. South Korea hasn’t executed anyone since 1997, and local courts rarely issue the death penalty in recent years.” (01/13/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-international/ap-independent-counsel-seeks-death-sentence-for-ex-south-korean-leader-yoon-over-martial-law-imposition/
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Chris Brunet on the People Getting Rich Off of Trump’s Intervention in Venezuela.” (01/13/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/1-9-26-chris-brunet-on-the-people-getting-rich-off-of-trumps-intervention-in-venezuela/
Source: Law & Liberty
by Sam Negus
“The Early Republic’s maritime jurisprudence is even more relevant given the immense power of the modern executive.” (01/13/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/judicial-nation-building/
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Jamie Redman
“Plenty of people think U.S. President Donald Trump’s verbal shots at the central bank, complete with name-calling aimed at Powell, amount to pressure on the Fed’s independence. According to a Fox Business report, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said Trump’s plan was to ‘install another sock puppet to complete his corrupt takeover of America’s central bank.’ Still, some voices are cutting through the noise, arguing that the idea of an independent U.S. Federal Reserve is merely fiction.” (01/13/26)
https://news.bitcoin.com/fed-and-powell-under-fire-but-some-argue-independence-was-always-an-illusion/
