Source: The Daily Economy
by Christopher Freiman
“Many socialists condemn trade barriers while supporting bans on wage labor and private ownership. Can that logic be reconciled?” (05/14/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/can-socialists-support-commerce-but-not-capitalism/
Source: The Atlantic
“America Has Always Had a Gerrymandering Problem. This Is New.” (05/14/26)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Yaffa Shir-Raz
“On the surface, an international cruise ship experiencing serious illnesses and deaths during a voyage would seem destined to become an immediate global news story. But that did not happen. Only weeks later, on May 1, the story suddenly received intense international coverage. Within a short time, headlines around the world warned of a ‘plague ship’ at sea, passengers from 23 countries under monitoring, quarantine measures, and fears of human-to-human transmission. After the Covid years, and the way the crisis unfolded in early 2020, the sense of déjà vu was almost unavoidable. … This time, the timing is particularly striking. On May 1, three days before the MV Hondius story received widespread international media attention, the World Health Organization announced yet another one-year delay in negotiations over the PABS annex of the Pandemic Agreement.” (05/14/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/return-of-the-next-pandemic-script/
Source: Seattle Times
“Honda racked up a 423.9 billion yen ($2.7 billion) loss Thursday, the first-ever full year loss for the Japanese automaker, acknowledging heavy costs for its electric-vehicle plans, stemming from President Donald Trump’s pro-U.S. [sic] policies. The Japanese automaker said losses related to its EV operations are estimated to total 2.5 trillion yen ($16 billion), incurred mostly in the fiscal year just ended and the current fiscal year. Analysts say Honda Motor Co. might have been too ambitious too fast, when many markets weren’t ready. As a result, Honda abandoned many of its plans for EV models, including those in the works in a joint venture with Sony Corp.” (05/14/26)
Source: The Fifth Column
“When Everyone Stops Pretending w/ Steven Pinker.” (05/14/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/when-everyone-stops-pretending-w
Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru
“Trump has made next to no attempt to justify his Iran policy using the traditional criteria for just war, and sometimes he broadcasts contempt for the idea that war could be subject to moral evaluation. When he threatens to end Iran’s civilization, it can’t plausibly be spun as anything but placing large-scale war crimes on the table. Though just-war theory is frequently associated with the Catholic Church, its influence extends to non-Catholics and it rests on no distinctively Christian premises. It holds that war is permissible when (among other conditions) it serves a just cause, is declared by a legitimate authority, has a reasonable chance of success and can be expected to do more good than harm.
There is plenty of room to debate when these conditions have been met, but they clearly rule out some wars.” (05/14/26)
Source: CBS News
“The House voted for a third time against acting as a check on President Trump’s military powers in Iran, even as a growing number of Republicans express concern about the prolonged conflict. Thursday’s vote on a Democratic resolution to rein in Mr. Trump’s authority was 212-212, falling just short of a majority. Originally introduced on March 4, the measure as written would have directed the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities within 30 days of the start of the war, which began on Feb. 28. … The war passed a critical deadline on May 1 under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which says the president must remove armed forces from hostilities after 60 days if Congress has not authorized the war. The 60-day clock started once the president sent formal notification to Congress of the hostilities on March 2.” [editor’s note: the 0-day clock started the instant he started a war without the required congressional declaration – TLK] (05/14/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-iran-war-powers-resolution/
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Iran Tirade Visibly Rattles GOPers as Leaks Expose New Blunders.” (05/14/26)
Source: ABC News
“Latvian center-right Prime Minister Evika Silina announced her resignation on Thursday, after the Progressives Party, her left-leaning coalition partner, pulled support from the government and left her without a majority. Her resignation came after Latvia’s Defense Minister Andris Spruds, from the Progressives Party, was forced to resign last week over the government’s handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine crossing into Latvian territory. Silina said at the time Spruds had lost her trust and that of the public.” (05/14/26)
Source: Law & Liberty
by Mike Watson
“Deterring China is about more than chip manufacturing and foreign democracy.” (05/14/26)