“I’d love to see Barack Obama charged with, tried for, and convicted of crimes that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt he’s guilty of. For example: Obama ordered the murders of at least two American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and his son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki (Donald Trump later ordered the murder of eight-year-old Nawar Anwar al-Awlaki, also a US citizen). Obama also illegally took the US to war in Libya, never even seeking the constitutionally required declaration of war. For those crimes, and many others, I’d very much like to see Obama face legal consequences. But there’s a problem with the idea …” (05/21/26)
“Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. … ‘We’ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable,’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday when asked about Iran’s intentions. ‘No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible. It’s a threat to the world that they would try to do that, and it’s completely illegal.’ … Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US agrees to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.” (05/21/26)
“Critics of the May 2026 summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), widely condemned the outcome as being long on pomp and ceremony but short on meaningful substantive results. They noted that most of the agreements reached, especially on trade and other economic issues, were either preliminary or relatively minor. There was a virtual consensus among the opinion-shaping elites that Trump had secured no major concessions on either his commercial or his security objectives. In other words, the outcome of the summit was rather bland and boring. That criticism may be true, but in international affairs boring is usually good.” (05/21/26)
“Washington, Beijing, and Brussels are all moving toward state-managed commerce and geopolitical trade blocs. The recent US-China summit accelerates the shift.” (05/21/26)
“Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in months, offering another sign that layoffs remain muted despite a range of economic pressures. Thursday’s Labor Department report showed 209,000 new applications for the week ending May 16, a decline of 3,000 from the previous week. The result came in below the 213,000 that FactSet-surveyed analysts had expected. At 202,500, the four-week average — which irons out week-to-week swings — marked its lowest reading since 2024, Bloomberg noted, representing a 1,500-point drop. Continuing claims, covering the week ending May 9, climbed to 1.78 million, an increase of 6,000.” (05/21/26)
“Rich and Riley discuss the modern use and function of AI chatbot girlfriends and explain how the price signal works to the troll in spite of his perfect game theory example.” (05/21/26)
“Chicago’s top federal prosecutor announced Thursday he was dropping charges against the remaining members of the ‘Broadview Six’ in a stunning hearing that revealed apparent misconduct before a grand jury by his assistants — but which he insisted he knew nothing about until recently. … Boutros said events on Sept. 26, 2025, outside an immigration holding facility in Broadview — in which the defendants and others allegedly surrounded a federal agent’s vehicle and slowed its approach to the building — is ‘unacceptable in a civilized society. It is for the grace of God that that agent moved at 2 miles per hour.’ … Specific details of the misconduct were still coming to light Thursday afternoon …. a prosecutor allegedly had a conversation with a grand juror outside the jury room. And some grand jurors who disagreed with the case were allegedly prevented from participating further.” (05/21/26)
“Fears over price inflation returned in a big way this week as bond yields rose in the wake of recent government reports on consumer and producer prices. The US-Israel war on Iran continues to take a toll on global supply chains, and related price hikes appear to be partly driving growth in long term yields for both US, British, and Japanese debt. This week’s CPI and PPI reports both showed price inflation surging to multi-year highs, and not just on oil prices. This, combined with new increases in oil prices, appears to have spooked investors who are now, in the face of rising prices, are demanding higher yields for long-term debt.” (05/21/26)
“In a rare move on Thursday, the Supreme Court spared the life of an ‘intellectually disabled’ death row inmate, dismissing an appeal by Alabama officials who claimed the man’s multiple IQ scores show he is competent and eligible for execution. The justices were narrowly divided, 5-4, in allowing a lower court ruling to stand that determined death for Joseph Clifton Smith, a convicted first-degree murderer, would violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition of ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment. The high court did not formally explain its decision. … Two lower federal courts ruled that a holistic analysis of Smith’s IQ scores and other evidence, including his behavioral history and school records, proved he is intellectually disabled.” (05/21/26)
