“The US military has been carrying out extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific over the past nine months with impunity. On May 8, the US military struck another boat in the eastern Pacific, killing two people and leaving one survivor. US Southern Command claimed ‘the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes’ and ‘was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.’ According to The Intercept, there have now been 58 such boat strikes since September that have killed at least 193 people. As with the May 8 attack, the names and nationalities of most of these victims remain unknown. The Trump administration has accused civilian boats of transporting narcotics to the US and says its killing ‘narco-terrorists.’ But the Pentagon has provided no evidence for these claims or any indication that the people killed posed an imminent threat” (05/16/26)
“First, some good news. Almost no American surveyed, regardless of their ideological views, said that it is ever unacceptable to peacefully protest outside [a] speech. That said, significantly more liberals were accepting of peaceful protest than their moderate and conservative counterparts — but not their very conservative counterparts. If nothing else, these findings show that Lizardman’s Constant, which says about 4% of any survey will give bizarre or insincere results, is alive and well. Yet, when it comes to other protected forms of protest, very liberal and liberal Americans were significantly more supportive of their use than moderate, conservative, or very conservative Americans.” (05/15/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“Poland is one of the most dynamic and promising economies in the European Union. With GDP growth of 3.6% in 2025 and forecasts pointing to 3.7% in 2026, the country continues to establish itself as one of the continent’s engines of growth. However, there is a European regulation threatening one of the sectors that contributes most to this success: the timber and furniture industry.” (05/15/26)
“The liberal Christianity of the American founding came from authentic, in-person faith communities. Can it survive in a time of influencers and vertical video?” (05/16/26)
“Back when George W. Bush was doing his big drive to privatize Social Security, I got upset because he was using bogus numbers that grossly exaggerated what his private accounts would yield. The basic story was that his team assumed that stocks would provide the same returns they had in prior decades, even though the price-to-earnings ratios in the stock market were far higher than in the past, and projected GDP and profit growth were much lower. Given the assumptions being used on profit growth, their assumptions on returns were virtually impossible. To illustrate this point, I developed the ‘No Economist Left Behind Test.’ … If the Bush Team could get away with promising an impossible bonanza from their accounts, privatization would look much better than it actually is. It was important to set the record straight.” (05/15/26)
“As we celebrate America at 250, there is a part of our founding in the Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 2), about which some on the left gnash their teeth — the Electoral College. For example, a few days ago, a former Biden administration official asked publicly, ‘What if we selected our President by letting the person who got the most votes take the office, instead of the Electoral College?’ … Meanwhile, many blue states, including just recently Virginia, have signed on to a compact to try and effectively nullify the Electoral College.” [editor’s note: To make the EC relevant to today, they only need to follow the lead of Maine and Nebraska, and DECENTRALIZE it – SAT] (05/16/26)
“America is in long-term decline, but it has proved more resilient than critics allow. But China too now encounters unmistakable problems. The US is growing, but saddled with burgeoning debt – and China also has trouble brewing in that domain. Of course, Trump faces domestic dissent – but so, in a very different form, does the CCP. China has long had too much housing built, is heavily indebted and is hurtling towards a demographic cliff.” (05/15/26)
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye & Eric Harrison
“Of course, Congress needs to find a way to ease the pain Americans feel at the pump. This is why it was so critical for lawmakers to exercise their constitutional and statutory powers to stop the military action against Iran, which led to higher gas prices. Unfortunately, Americans are paying the price for that military action in more ways than just higher gas prices.” (05/15/26)
“The opportunity for government interference grows because of fear. Which is no doubt one reason that certain groups of people encourage and do the fearmongering. Wealth and power is a constant theme.” (05/15/26)
“In their otherwise valuable new book, two prominent professors acknowledge the need for diverse viewpoints on campuses but don’t offer a cure for intellectual uniformity.” (05/15/26)
