Author: Thomas L. Knapp

The enemy within the judicial gates

Source: The Hill
by Andrew Gould

“Chief Justice John Roberts famously identified violence, intimidation, disinformation, and defying lawfully entered judgements as four areas encroaching on the independence of judges. Now there’s a fifth: calculated infiltration of the judicial system to influence case outcomes.” (09/24/26)

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/6105662-the-enemy-within-the-judicial-gates/

Thomas L. Knapp

US Appeals Court Reinstates Ohio Law Requiring Voters to Prove Citizenship

Source: US News & World Report

“A US ⁠appeals ⁠court has for now ⁠reinstated an Ohio law requiring residents to present documentary ​proof of citizenship when registering to vote at the state’s motor vehicle offices, ‌in a boost for ‌allies of President Donald Trump who want tighter voter registration rules. The ⁠2-1 ⁠decision late on Wednesday by the Cincinnati-based 6th US Circuit ​Court of Appeals to pause a lower court ruling blocking the law was a win for Ohio’s Republican government ahead of the November 3 midterm ​elections.” (09/24/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2026-09-24/us-appeals-court-reinstates-ohio-law-requiring-voters-to-prove-citizenship

Thomas L. Knapp

Knowing Xi

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Chinese ruler Xi Jinping landed in Washington, DC, yesterday, to meet with President Donald Trump.
‘If you know the enemy and know yourself,’ Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, ‘you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.’ I pray President Trump understands this foe: Mr. Xi, and more generally, the Chinese Communist Party … enemies to all freedom-loving people across the globe. China is engaged in the largest military build-up since World War II, if not of all time. It is a threat on the march.” (09/24/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/09/24/knowing-xi/

Thomas L. Knapp

Global debt tops $365 trillion as economists sound alarm over ‘vicious cycle’

Source: CNBC

“Ever-higher costs to service mounting debt loads pose a major risk to governments around the world, economists have warned. Global debt rose by $10 trillion in the first half of the year to top $365 trillion, according to research published by the Institute of International Finance on Wednesday. State debts are rising as yields on medium- and long-term government bonds issued by a slew of the world’s biggest economies hit their highest levels in more than a decade — including in the U.S., Japan, France and the U.K. … The Washington-based group found that advanced economies paid over $3.3 trillion in interest on internationally traded government bonds last year, more than global spending on AI ($2.6 trillion), defense ($3.1 trillion), or clean energy ($2.3 trillion).” [editor’s note: From the article it’s not clear whether that “global debt” includes everyone’s assorted debts, or just the money borrowed by politicians – TLK] (09/24/26)

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/global-debt-bond-yields-inflation.html

Thomas L. Knapp

Inflation: Africa’s Tax Without a Tax Bill

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Oluwaseun Adeoye Oyebamiji

“The most accessible measure of inflation in most African states, especially in Nigeria, is not a bulletin but a chalkboard. In markets across the country, sellers write prices in chalk rather than paint, because paint assumes tomorrow will resemble today. A trader repricing her stock weekly is not being opportunistic. She is doing arithmetic the currency forces on her. Inflation is usually discussed here as a cost-of-living problem, which it is, and rarely as an information problem, which it also is. A price is how an economy signals what is scarce. When the general price level moves quickly and unevenly, that signal becomes unreadable. A manufacturer cannot tell whether his input costs rose because the material became scarcer, in which case he should substitute, or because money lost value, in which case he should not.” (09/24/26)

https://mises.org/power-market/inflation-africas-tax-without-tax-bill

Thomas L. Knapp