“For the first time since World War II, Japanese combat troops are participating in live-fire, land-and-sea military exercises in an Asian country that was once under the harsh rule of imperial Japan. On Monday, some 1,400 Japanese soldiers joined with the forces of a few other democracies around the Pacific to practice mock battles for 19 days in the northern Philippines – not far from China and the islands it forcibly claims in the South China Sea. … For Japan, this overseas training under real-world conditions marks a historic turning point for its postwar pacifist tradition and its heavy reliance on the United States for external defense. Yet, on a larger scale, it puts on display a long-term effort by many Asian democracies and their Western partners to define the meaning of shared security, preferably the kind that cannot be seen as ganging up on China.” (04/21/26)
“I have known cardiologist Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, for many years. I’ve interviewed him multiple times on my show, ‘Doctor Radio Reports’ on SiriusXM, and have also spent time around the dinner table with him and his family. … Dr. Oz spends a lot of time with President Donald Trump these days as they travel to and attend events together. He told me recently on my show that he is struck by how clever and funny the president is and how he doesn’t actually have a bad diet.” (04/22/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“In February 2026, Indonesia and Australia signed the Treaty on Common Security (‘the Jakarta Treaty’), a commitment to developing joint training facilities in Indonesia, increased cooperation and information sharing, and consulting on security matters at ministerial level between the two countries. But in the last two months, this already important agreement gained greater significance, as it has expanded to include Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Japan. It seems that a new security paradigm and new trade partnerships are emerging in the Pacific.” (04/22/26)
“They understand that humans are storytelling animals whose inner lives are typically dominated by mental narratives about what’s happening, so if you can control those narratives, you can control the humans.” (04/22/26)
“On December 14, two ISIS-affiliated gunmen massacred 15 unarmed civilians at a Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach, the icon of Australia’s breezy way of life. Just three police officers guarded the festival. One of the shooters, Naveed Akram, had come to the attention of the Australian security services in 2019, and yet in 2020, his father, an Indian-born non-citizen, was able to legally purchase multiple firearms. Just weeks before their murder spree, the father and son duo spent nearly a month in the Southern Philippines, a hot spot for Islamic terrorism. … To cover for their incompetence, the government is now proposing a host of laws to restrict speech, protest, and gun ownership (Australia already has some of the world’s strictest gun laws).” (04/22/26)
“When Donald Trump first suggested that the United States should purchase Greenland, the reaction in Washington was disbelief mixed with ridicule. The United States, it had seemed, long ago settled its borders. Territorial expansion belonged to a different era. Yet in the longer arc of American history, expansion has been quite normal. For much of the nation’s first century and a half, Americans debated not whether the United States should grow, but where and by what means. The idea that borders might shift was a routine feature of statecraft. So why does the idea now seem so strange?” 904/22/26)
“Now that Donald Trump is visibly weakening, it’s important to start thinking seriously about what comes after him. It’s no secret that I’ve been a big fan of the Abundance movement, which was popularized by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson last year in a book by that name. The core of Abundance is to rebuild American state capacity and create a government that can build things once again. At the top of the list are housing and infrastructure — public goods that will make significant dents in the affordability crisis for ordinary Americans.” [editor’s note: Even if there were such a thing as a “public good,” housing wouldn’t be one — it’s neither non-rivalrous nor non-excludable – TLK] (04/22/26)
“You can credit President Trump with taking extreme risks for the sake of a possible peace, but we fear he’s simply putting off the inevitable by giving Tehran another cease-fire extension. At the least, he should set a deadline of a day or two for the Islamic Republic’s factions to agree on an offer; if they can’t do it fast, they never will. Caveat: The president has access to intelligence he can’t share; that we can’t make clear sense of his decision Tuesday doesn’t remotely mean he was wrong to delay a return to active operations. Still, his stated reasons don’t add up: So what if Pakistan’s leaders asked Washington to hold off until the Iranians ‘can come up with a unified proposal?'” [editor’s note: Anything but declaring “victory” — despite it actually being a fiasco — and knocking off is a stupid idea – TLK] (04/21/26)
