“The administration of United States President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after US forces abducted its leader, Nicolas Maduro, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing unnamed sources. The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there, the Reuters news agency report said on Monday. The three biggest US oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the Trump administration about Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with ‘all’ the US oil companies, both before and since Maduro was abducted.” (01/05/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by K Lloyd Billingsley
“Massive fraud in Minnesota, allegedly running into the billions, has caught the attention of California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who proclaims the Golden State ‘the fraud capital of America.’ First on his list is $32 billion in unemployment fraud, which took place under Harvard Law alum Julie Su, former head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), which oversees the state Employment Development Department (EDD). On Su’s watch, the Golden State became an open door for fraudsters nationwide. … Now, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tapped Julie Su as ‘deputy mayor for economic justice,’ a newly created position.” (01/05/26)
“At least 14 journalists and media employees, including 13 members of international media organisations, were [abducted] in Caracas on Monday, according to the union representing Venezuelan reporters. Thirteen of those [abducted] were later released, one of whom was deported. … Five of the [abducted] journalists had been covering the opening session of the National Assembly, where they were banned from recording, transmitting the event live, or taking photos. Others were [abducted] by military intelligence officers and taken to the National Guard command post in the Assembly building, according to the union. Their phones were confiscated and thoroughly searched, the union said, including contacts, conversations, voice notes, Instagram accounts, emails, and documents.” (01/06/26)
“Back in July 2016, when I predicted that Donald Trump would win his first campaign for the White House, I wrote skeptically about the coming ‘Trump Revolution.’ I was encouraged by only one thing: That Trump might foster a less interventionist foreign policy than, say, Hillary Clinton. He was belatedly critical of the Iraq War and when questioned by Bill O’Reilly about how Russia had interfered in U.S. elections, he replied correctly: ‘You think our country’s so innocent?’ Indeed, the United States government has been responsible for toppling more governments abroad (both covertly and overtly) than perhaps any other government in the history of the world. Unfortunately, not even in his first term did Trump live up to the ‘promise’ of a revolution in foreign policy.” (01/04/26)
“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Jan. 5 that its board voted to dissolve the nearly 60-year-old organization, attributing the decision to a lack of federal funding and ‘sustained political attacks.’ Such factors ‘made it impossible for CPB to continue operating as the Public Broadcasting Act intended,’ according to a news release announcing the vote. … Congress voted in July to claw back $1.1 billion that had been earmarked for public broadcasting over the next two years, prompting the corporation to announce the following month that it was starting an ‘orderly wind-down of its operations.'” (01/05/26)
“Mindwar creates false binaries. I don’t know who coined the phrase ‘rugged individualism,’ but surely there is something gentle in respecting the person and property of every individual. No doubt, there is a ruggedness to making one’s way in the world without government goodies and nationalized industries, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Nowadays, the phrase is almost always used sardonically. I also don’t see how communitarianism ever got associated with what government authorities ought to do, but community is not something that state officials can compel.” (01/05/26)
“Israel’s air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country’s third-largest city. A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon, a few days before Lebanon’s army commander is scheduled to brief the government on its mission of disarming militant group Hezbollah in areas along the border with Israel. … On Monday, the Israeli army hit several sites in southern and eastern Lebanon saying they held infrastructure for the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.” (01/05/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Peter G Klein
“Trump justifies his war on Venezuela by saying that ‘they’ stole ‘our’ oil. Unpacking this claim gives us insight into Trump’s version of crony capitalism – a system of private ownership in which the state intervenes to promote the interests of politically connected firms. … A common feature of crony capitalism is the subsidization of downside loss – owners keep the profits, but losses are passed onto the taxpayer. That is exactly what Trump and his allies propose here.” (01/05/26)
