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: CNBC
“Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at its U.S. manufacturing plant in Georgia starting in 2028, marking a step toward automating higher-risk and repetitive manufacturing tasks, the South Korean company said. Hyundai unveiled the production version of the Atlas humanoid robot, developed by its unit Boston Dynamics, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company did not disclose the volume or cost of the robots, but said in a statement it aims to roll out adoption across all of its manufacturing sites as part of a push into ‘physical AI.'” (01/06/26)
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“In any principles of economics class, students learn the difference between accounting profit and economic profit. Accounting profit, which is what one typically understands when discussing ‘profit,’ is total revenue minus your monetary costs. It is what appears on the bottom line of an accounting statement as ‘profit.’ Economic profit is a broader term. Recall that, for economists, ‘cost’ is a term of art: it is the highest-valued alternative not undertaken. This includes both monetary costs and alternative uses of your resources, often called implicit costs. Economic profit, thus, is total revenue minus total costs (both your monetary and your implicit costs). Implicit costs do not show up on an accounting statement, yet they are still vital to making life decisions.” (01/06/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/accounting-vs-economic-profit
Source: NBC News
“Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today’s consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition to the first American pontiff. With cardinals and diplomats looking on, Leo kneeled down in prayer on the stone floor at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. He then stood up and pulled the two doors shut, symbolically concluding the rarest of Jubilees: one that was opened by a feeble Pope Francis in December 2024, continued during his funeral and the conclave, and then was closed by Francis’[s] successor a year later. Only once before, in 1700, has a Holy Year been opened by one pope and closed by another.” (01/06/26)
Source: The Dispatch
“The Legality of U.S. Operations in Venezuela.” (01/06/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/the-legality-of-u-s-operations-in-venezuela/
Source: Reason
by Joe Lancaster
“Over the weekend, American military forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an operation in the capital city of Caracas. While the action was nominally undertaken to prosecute Maduro and his wife for ‘narcoterrorism,’ President Donald Trump soon added another potential justification: accessing the country’s generous oil reserves. If this is Trump’s plan, it will be easier said than done. … ‘American oil executives are unlikely to dive headfirst into Venezuela for multiple reasons: The situation on the ground remains very uncertain, Venezuela’s oil industry is in shambles and Caracas has a history of seizing US oil assets,’ reported CNN’s Matt Egan.” (01/06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/06/trump-wants-oil-companies-to-fix-venezuelas-infrastructure/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Rachel Chiu
“Chief Justice John Roberts is right: The Declaration of Independence, while not law itself, must be the benchmark that guides all three branches of government. On New Year’s Eve, the Chief Justice released his annual year-end report on the state of the judiciary. Of particular note is the brief prefatory letter that Roberts has often used to opine on controversial issues such as judicial independence, artificial intelligence in the legal profession, and security threats against judges. This year’s letter focuses on the Declaration of Independence, which celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026. While many commentators have criticized Roberts for ‘dodging’ the biggest questions of the day — especially perceived favoritism for the Trump administration — his words are apt for the times, focusing on the foundational ideals that define the American experiment.” (01/06/25)
https://fee.org/articles/the-declaration-of-independence-is-still-our-guidepost/
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
“U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino’s mouth has got him in legal trouble again — this time in Tennessee. In Chicago, a federal judge found that Bovino lied in a court deposition in November …. Now Bovino is at the center of a legal controversy in Nashville for appearing on FOX News and NewsMax about the high-profile case against Kilmar Abrego, a man from El Salvador facing criminal charges of human trafficking. Lawyers for Abrego have asked the court to sanction the government for violating an October gag order in the case. … Without referring to him by name, Bovino appeared on TV news shows in mid-December and called Abrego ‘an alien smuggler,’ a ‘wife beater’ and an ‘MS-13 member;’ described judges presiding over his civil and criminal cases as ‘extremist’ and ‘activist;’ and promised that Abrego, who ‘wants to leech off the United States,’ would be taken ‘out of circulation’ and deported.” (01/06/26)
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s time to check-in once again with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. A lot has happened since we last spoke and Eric and I will do our best to make sense of it all.” (01/06/26)
Source: Washington Monthly
by Alex Bronzini-Vender
“In the December 29 New York Post, Daniel McCarthy, the conservative columnist, declared that ‘at Harvard University today, professors who teach Western history are history.’ David Wolpe, a former visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School, posted that ‘Harvard has no one left who teaches Western Civilization.’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for his part, posted that ‘the study of western civilization’ has ‘completely cratered’ at institutions like Harvard. That’s news to me. Just last month, I was torn between enrolling in What is Global European History? or Political Debates in the Empire of New Rome. And this past fall, the department’s offerings included The Fall of the Roman Empire, Germany, 1848–1949, Early Modern Europe, Travelers in the Byzantine World, and Amsterdam: Portrait of an Early Modern Metropolis.” (01/06/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/01/06/harvard-western-civilization-humanities-decline/