“Five years ago, climate activists stunned corporate America by winning three seats on Exxon Mobil’s board. Similar revolts have forced some of the nation’s biggest companies to address climate change. Now, the federal regulator overseeing shareholder rights is making it harder for small investors to convey their concerns. In November, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, announced that it would essentially stop weighing in on whether companies must put shareholder proposals to a vote. Then, in January, the agency said it would no longer allow investors with less than $5 million in shares to use its online system to send communiqués, known as exempt solicitations, to fellow shareholders.” (02/13/26)
“Britain’s High Court ruled Friday that the government’s decision last year to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a designated terrorist organization was unlawful, but it kept the ban in place pending an appeal. Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said ‘the nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities’ did not meet the ‘level, scale and persistence’ that would justify proscription. The judges said they were ‘satisfied that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was disproportionate.’ … Last year, the U.K. government declared the pro-Palestinian group a terrorist organization alongside the likes of al-Qaeda and Hamas, making membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Since then, more than 2,000 people have been arrested for holding signs saying, ‘I support Palestine Action.'” (02/13/26)
“It has been illegal since 1986 for the federal government to establish a national firearms registry. As you might expect of the sort of people who gravitate to government employment, the bureaucrats at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), enabled by Biden-era policy changes, have taken that as a challenge. Now, members of Congress want answers from the federal gun cops about a vast gun registry database that could threaten the liberty and privacy of firearms owners. They have been stonewalled so far.” (02/13/26)
“‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’ The line from Forrest Gump is meant to capture uncertainty in love and life, but every Valentine’s Day, it accidentally describes markets just as well. Chocolate prices rise, products take different shapes, and consumers are surprised once again at the checkout line. The usual explanation immediately turns to corporate greed. Yet what Forrest Gump’s chocolate box really reminds us is that uncertainty, timing, and expectations shape outcomes, and that prices exist to navigate uncertainty, not to exploit it.” (02/13/26)
“The concept of ‘filial piety’ is as old as Western civilization itself. From The Oresteia to Virgil’s Aeneid and Shakespeare’s King Lear, generational continuity has hinged on the children’s hierarchical duty to honor, obey, and sometimes even avenge their parents. But in the modern era, where individualism reigns, hierarchy is all but leveled, and historical change can occur within one generation, generational obligation feels more mutual. In literature, Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev was among the first to notice this shift.” (02/13/26)
