Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“Trump pardoned a right-wing authoritarian convicted of cocaine trafficking, apparently to reinstate him to power in Honduras and undermine left-wing governments in Mexico and Colombia. So why isn’t America media covering it?” (05/11/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/05/12/hondurasgate-trump-honduras-juan-orlando-hernandez/
Source: Reuters
“Japan’s top maker of snacks has landed on a creative solution to conserve oil-derived input materials: it will switch its brightly coloured packaging to black and white. In an eye-catching move, Tokyo-based Calbee on Tuesday said it would temporarily use only two ink colours on 14 of its products including its Potato Chips, Kappa Ebisen snacks and the Frugra breakfast cereal. Products with the revised packaging will hit store shelves from May 25, it said. … Japanese companies have lately sought to minimise the impact of rising costs and input material shortages even as the government seeks to reassure the public and businesses over supplies. Printing ink requires naphtha, an oil derivative for which Japan relies on imports from the Middle East for about 40% of its consumption.” (05/11/26)
Source: National Review
“Ben Sasse Writes About Kids and Technology.” (05/11/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/ben-sasse-writes-about-kids-and-technology/
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“A leading columnist for the Washington Post just wrote: ‘Hantavirus has an incubation period of up to 8 weeks and kills 30-40% of people who show symptoms …. It’s not pandemic yet and probably won’t be, but if it were, the rational action would be — lockdown.’ She added: ‘If this thing goes pandemic, I personally will be hiding in my house.’ Yes, and let the workers and peasants deliver food and drink to you while you safely type and tell the rest of what to do. We know how this works. Keep in mind that no one thought this way a quarter century ago. No one was pushing for society-wide lockdowns in the event of a pandemic. That changed in 2005.” (05/12/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/george-bushs-2005-fowl-play/
Source: New York Times
“How Iran’s Internet Blackout Is Crippling Its Economy, and the Fight Over Fruit-Flavored Vapes.” (05/11/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Amidst soaring gasoline prices and significant economic damage for the American people arising from President Trump’s war on Iran, we must never forget the most important factor in America’s never-ending foreign wars: the destruction of our liberty here at home. In this regard, it’s helpful to recall the wise and insightful words of James Madison, the father of our nation’s Constitution: ‘Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.'” (05/11/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/05/12/lets-not-forget-what-madison-said-about-war/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Karat
“At 6:49 a.m. on Monday, March 23, the oil futures market was quiet. Pre-dawn Mondays are always quiet. There was no scheduled data release, no Federal Reserve speech, no obvious catalyst for any significant market activity. Then, in the span of 27 seconds, roughly 6,200 Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures contracts were sold — a notional value of approximately $580 million …. Simultaneously, approximately 6,000 S&P 500 e-Mini futures contracts were purchased, representing more than $2 billion in notional value. Sell oil. Buy stocks. A perfectly paired bet that would only make sense if you knew — if you were certain — that the geopolitical picture was about to improve dramatically. At 7:05 a.m., sixteen minutes later, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States and Iran had been engaged in ‘productive conversations’ to end the war.” (05/11/26)
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“Many of the Trump crew seem to be delusional about Trump accounts. They claim to believe that they will replace Social Security. It shouldn’t be a surprise to us that many supporters of Trump are out of touch with reality, but that is not a reason for the rest of us to take their nonsense seriously. Let’s keep our eyes on the ball. This is not 3-dimensional chess; it is an account for newborn kids in which the government deposits $1,000.” (05/11/26)
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defied calls to resign on Tuesday, telling ministers he would ‘get on with governing’ despite a ‘destabilizing’ 48 hours of growing calls to set out a timetable for his departure after an election drubbing. At a meeting of his cabinet team of ministers, Starmer, in the top job for less than two years, repeated that while he took responsibility for one of his Labour Party’s worst election defeats, there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest. … Starmer’s defiance was in marked contrast to the feelings of many in his Labour Party. On Tuesday, a junior minister resigned after a handful of ministerial aides also left the government. Housing, communities and local government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh stepped down and urged Starmer ‘to do the right thing for the country.'” (05/11/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/starmer-uk-resign-cabinet-9.7196157
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Sunsetting Visibly Worsens as Aides Go Full Cult All Around Him.” (05/11/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/210287/trump-sunsetting-visibly-worsens-aides-go-full-cult-around