“Rothbard is surely right that, by definition, in a country or world of private property, the owners would set the rules for their own parcels, leaving others to shop around for situations that best suit their values. But let’s be clear here. It would not be the case that no one could enter a property ‘unless invited,’ as he put it in the first quotation above. Walmart does not invite particular people to its stores. Neither does McDonald’s. They have open borders during business hours. It’s a standing invitation to everyone and anyone who’s peaceful. So the word ‘invited’ is misleading.” (03/06/26)
“California lets interest groups propose measures for the state ballot. Anyone who gathers enough signatures (currently 874,641) can put their hare-brained plans before voters during the next election year. This year, the big story is the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, a 5% wealth tax on California’s billionaires. … On one level, it’s no surprise that California, a state full of bad socialists, is considering bad socialist policy. But I think this is the wrong perspective. This proposition isn’t being sponsored by some generic group of Piketty-reading leftists. It’s the project of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) a union of mostly healthcare workers.” (03/06/26)
“The Middle East is on fire, the planet on the verge of world war, the Homeland Security director just ousted. It’d hard to pay attention to anything else. Still, if you want to know why news that the FBI has begun to turn over long-concealed ‘prohibited access’ files to Congress might matter, just ask Seymour Hersh. Fifty-two years ago, on December 21, 1974, the famed muckraker printed ‘Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. Against Antiwar Forces, Other Dissidents In Nixon Years’ in the New York Times. … These misdeeds were part of a trove of dirty secrets in the CIA’s past that came to be known as the agency’s ‘Family Jewels.’ Some sources Racket spoke with this week recalled the case in conjunction with news about the discovery of a cache of secret files at the FBI.” (03/06/26)
“Donald Trump’s attack on Iran will have many unintended and unforeseen consequences. One consequence even I wasn’t thinking about, but which is already clear after less than a week, is that Trump has made a strong new case for renewable energy. The usual argument for promoting solar and wind power is that relying on renewable energy avoids the environmental damage caused by burning fossil fuels. This environmental damage includes, but isn’t limited to, climate change. In addition, air pollution imposes shockingly large direct and immediate costs by harming our health and reducing our life expectancy.” (03/06/26)
“Kari Lake was illegally empowered to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media — the federal agency that oversees Voice of America — and her actions in that role were illegitimate, a federal judge ruled Saturday. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth concluded that Lake was ineligible to serve as USAGM’s acting CEO when she was formally elevated to the position on July 31 in an ‘acting capacity’ and without Senate confirmation. She relinquished that position on Nov. 19. Lamberth said any actions Lake took in that four-month timeframe must be treated as ‘void,’ including an Aug. 29 reduction in USAGM’s workforce.” (03/07/26)
“In his recent comments justifying a preventive war against Iran, President Donald Trump declared, ‘In 1983, Iran’s proxies carried out the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel.’ Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has invoked that attack numerous times. The 1983 Beirut barracks attack is one of the most cited and least understood pretexts for the new war with Iran. That bombing was one of President Ronald Reagan’s biggest foreign debacles.” (03/06/26)
