“Israel will not withdraw from a strategic corridor in the Gaza Strip as called for by the ceasefire, an official said Thursday. Israel’s refusal could spark a crisis with Hamas and key mediator Egypt at a sensitive moment for the fragile truce. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Israeli forces needed to remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, to prevent weapons smuggling. The official spoke hours after Hamas released the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian [hostages], the last planned swap of the ceasefire’s first phase, which ends this weekend. Talks over the second and more difficult stage have yet to begin. Israel was supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor on Saturday, the last day of the first phase, and complete it within eight days.” (02/27/26)
“On ascending the throne in 1881, Tsar Alexander III of Russia proclaimed that ‘From henceforth, all matters of state will be discussed quietly between Ourselves and God.’ Both parts of this statement contain excellent advice for contemporary leaders. If you have a direct line to God (and several obviously think that they do), you should use it. And whether talking to the Divinity or anyone else, international affairs should be discussed quietly. This is probably pointless advice when offered to products of democratic political systems; and in the case of President Trump he would need to experience something like a lightning bolt on the road to Damascus to follow it. Nonetheless, recent days have, or should have, offered a lesson in the folly and dangers of megaphone ‘diplomacy.'” (02/26/25)
“Donald Trump has threatened to slap 25% tariffs on the European Union claiming the 27-country bloc was ‘formed to screw the United States.’ Speaking at his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the US president said he would soon release details of the latest tariff threat. ‘We have made a decision and we’ll be announcing it very soon. It’ll be 25%,’ he said. The EU is the US’s third largest trading partner alongside China. Trump has said he will impose 25% tariffs on the US’s two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, next week. Trump did not give further details but mentioned carmakers and said the levies would be applied ‘generally.’ ‘And that’ll be on cars and all other things,’ he said.” (02/26/25)
“I’m disappointed with how many former libertarians are now fans of big government just because Donald Trump is the president. Some have abandoned all pretense of supporting liberty. If this is all it takes to make someone turn their back on liberty, were they libertarian to begin with? To me, it matters what you do, not what you say you are. This includes some highly influential ‘libertarian’ social media accounts that now seem to be nothing more than Republicans using ‘libertarian’ in the name. … ‘Libertarian’ has a specific meaning; it means you reject the initiation of force, property rights violations, and fraud as ways of dealing with others; those are things no one has a right to do.” (02/26/25)
“Conflict theory is the belief that political disagreements come from material conflict. So for example, if rich people support capitalism, and poor people support socialism, this isn’t because one side doesn’t understand economics. It’s because rich people correctly believe capitalism is good for the rich, and poor people correctly believe socialism is good for the poor. Or if white people are racist, it’s not because they have some kind of mistaken stereotypes that need to be corrected — it’s because they correctly believe racism is good for white people. … I think simple versions of conflict theory are clearly wrong. This doesn’t mean that simple versions of mistake theory (the idea that people disagree because of reasoning errors, like not understanding Economics 101) are automatically right.” (02/26/25)
“Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 130 Ukrainian drones on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, in what appears to be among Kyiv’s largest ever long-range strike into Russian territory. Moscow said that 85 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the southern Russian region of Krasnodar Krai, with 30 more over Crimea. Another eight drones were downed over the Sea of Azov, five over the Black Sea and one each over Bryansk and Kursk regions, the ministry said. The drones over Krasnodar appeared to mass around the Black Sea port of Tuapse, which sits between the resort city of Sochi and the Russian naval base at Novorossiysk. … Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, reported another night of Russian cross-border attacks on Tuesday night. The air force said Russia fired 177 drones into Ukraine, of which 110 were shot down and 66 were lost in flight.” (02/26/25)
“Many Americans, including me, have had frustrating experiences with content moderation on social media platforms. Andrew Ferguson, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), wants us to know that such experiences are not just annoying or perplexing; they are ‘un-American’ and ‘potentially illegal.’ Ferguson, who began soliciting complaints about ‘Big Tech censorship’ last week, touts his initiative as a blow against ‘the tyranny of Big Tech’ and ‘an important step forward in restoring free speech.’ But like Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ferguson is flexing his regulatory powers in a way that undermines freedom of speech by meddling in private editorial choices.” (02/26/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Mani Basharzad
“Daniel Dennett, the renowned philosopher of science, proposed four steps for critiquing an intellectual opponent: First, one should attempt to re-express the opponent’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that the opponent would say, ‘Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.’ Second, one should list any points of agreement, particularly those that are not widely acknowledged. Third, one should highlight anything learned from the opponent. Only after completing these steps is one permitted to engage in rebuttal or criticism. It seems that Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz did not even pass the first step in critiquing Friedrich Hayek in his latest book, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society.” (02/26/25)
