“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)
“President Trump’s ‘border czar,’ Tom Homan, announced Thursday that Operation Metro Surge (the violent occupation of Minneapolis and surrounding regions by DHS kidnapping squads) was going to end. At a minimum, it’s unclear how honest Homan was being; if the Minneapolis city council is any judge, ICE kidnappings were still ongoing Thursday, and Homan said that some officers would remain. On Wednesday, one particularly violent kidnapping in St. Paul left three cars wrecked and someone being taken out in an ambulance. Given the Trump administration’s outrageous dishonesty about every possible subject, it would be wise to assume that the occupation (with kidnapping squads regularly snatching people off the streets, with cars full of ICE goons hanging menacingly around workplaces, schools, and even day cares) will continue until proven otherwise.” (02/13/26)
“Economic reasoning explains why sports gambling reliably makes the average bettor poorer. Point-shaving scandals and information asymmetries reveal why the odds are stacked against participants.” (02/13/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by Phillip W Magness
“In 2007, a prominent conservative academic predicted civilization would collapse within months. The culprit: peak oil. The collapse never came but the philosophy he built around it — postliberalism — is now in the White House. The growing influence of postliberals is undeniable, but liberals on the left and right seem taken aback, confused about an ideology that marries extreme social conservatism with a hostility to mainstream economics, the latter a conventionally left-wing position.” (02/13/26)
“On January 25, 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a U.S. naval ‘quarantine’ of Cuba. ‘If they are hungry,’ the president fumed, ‘they will throw Castro out.’ His ambassador to Cuba, Philip W. Bonsal, chided him with a moral reminder: ‘We should not punish the whole Cuban people for the acts of one abnormal man.’ If it was hard for the U.S. to hear that restraint then, it has become deaf to it now. For over 65 years, U.S. policy has been to employ an embargo to pressure Cuba until the regime collapses. … Despite the decades of economic and personal suffering, the policy has failed. The embargo has brought Cuba misery but not regime change. And yet, in the absence of a more promising plan, the Trump administration seems intent on simply intensifying the current plan. The result will not be regime change but more suffering.” (02/13/26)
“Let’s not pretend to be so naive to act like official deceit began on the June 2015 day that Donald Trump descended on that Trump Tower escalator. It was the late 1960s — the era of Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam ‘credibility gap’ — when the investigative journalist I.F. Stone famously wrote, ‘All governments lie.’ I became an opinion journalist because of my disgust over George W. Bush’s lies that drove the Iraq War. That said, the outrageous, Soviet-caliber falsehoods of the Trump regime feel much worse. These are not ‘plausible denial’ fairy tales to push an unpopular policy or cover up some dirty deeds, like Watergate, but a vast empire of Big Lies — easily disprovable, about everything from election results to economic statistics — with a much more ambitious goal of undermining the very notion of objective reality.” (02/12/26)
“A few presidencies ago, Washington politicians used boundless political and intellectual chicanery to drag America into a ruinous war. Thousands of Americans died and scores of thousands of Iraqis perished due to the official myth of Saddam Hussein as the twentieth hijacker. Last November, Axios published new damning information on the role of Saudi government officials in bankrolling the 9/11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. Private lawsuits against the Saudi regime ‘unearthed evidence showing one Saudi official — who acknowledges aiding two men who became hijackers — made a drawing of a plane and a mathematical formula that allegedly could have been used to fly into the World Trade Center.’ That was only the latest stunning revelation in a coverup that will celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday this year.” (02/12/26)
“The idea of credibility probably looms even larger in foreign policy than in economics. Everyone knows that you can’t trust other countries’ promises of good intentions, right? The reason, supposedly, is that national leaders are tirelessly scheming to advance their national interests — and will happily lie, cheat, and betray rival countries to do so. This, in turn, sustains the international deadlocks that dominate headlines decade after decade.” (02/12/26)
“In recent years, the Arctic has returned to the center of public attention: the renewed interest in Greenland, the progressive opening of maritime routes due to ice melt, and the claims over areas like the Svalbard archipelago are clear signals that Arctic policy will remain in the public eye. … These profound developments in the Arctic, evident in the renewed scramble for resources and strategic positioning, are naturally subject to a plurality of interpretations. Analysts might foreground military superpower competition, climate security, international legal disputes, or economic opportunity. I propose applying a theoretical lens often overlooked in public debate: Harold Demsetz’s theory of property rights.” (02/12/26)
“Once again, President Trump is steering the U.S. toward a perilous and unnecessary confrontation with Iran. In January, Trump threatened to topple the Iranian regime for violently crushing protests. Now, as U.S. forces amass in the Middle East, his rationale for pressuring Iran has shifted. Trump is demanding new concessions from the regime, including caps on Iran’s missile program and the total removal of enriched uranium from the country. He is also threatening consequences ‘far worse’ than last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer. The president’s ultimate goals in the region remain unclear, as are the military measures he might adopt, which could include airstrikes, a naval blockade, or even regime change. The risks of escalation are grave, with each side poised to misjudge the other’s determination.” (02/12/26)
