“The war launched by Israel and the United States on Iran on February 28 has already proven a turning point in world history. So many elements of geopolitics have coalesced in it that we won’t understand its full significance for some time to come. A ceasefire, especially one as chaotic and fragile as this one, is not the end of war, so the new realities may soon be replaced by others. But safe to say that none of the countries of the regions directly impacted by this war so far (from the Levant and the Persian Gulf all the way to South Asia, and of course the United States and Israel) will be able to return to the status quo antebellum.” (05/12/26)
“What will happen when Americans realize how miserable we are? Not in all respects, of course. But my guess is that relatively few Americans realize how much we are falling behind other nations on basic aspects of a civilized life, like health and safety.” (05/11/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“Mill depicted socialist precepts in a way that would seem attractive to liberals who are constantly striving to create a better world. The quest for utopia — or as close to utopia as can be achieved with the right sorts of government interventions — is the quintessential mindset of the progressive liberal. … David Gordon has observed that Mill was not only a utopian, he was also ‘a propagandist anxious to replace Christianity with a Religion of Humanity, guided by intellectuals such as himself.’ In that sense Mill can be seen as typical of “The Anointed” as identified by Thomas Sowell.” (05/11/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“The type of hero worship of Ukraine and its leader that French, Thiessen, Lévy, and others have expressed deserves disdain from any analyst displaying even a scintilla of realism. Kiev’s military achievements have been overwhelmingly the result of extensive outside assistance. The United States and its European allies have poured several hundred billion dollars into Ukraine — despite ample evidence of the regime’s authoritarianism and corruption. … Ukraine’s Western cheerleaders habitually ignore such troublesome details. They also conveniently ignore the many abuses that Zelensky’s regime has committed over the years.” (05/11/26)
“My admiration for Denmark is somewhat different from that of Senator Bernie Sanders. He likes Denmark’s social democracy. I instead marvel at the quality of government in this country, its efficiency and relative lack of corruption. We scarcely understand how the Denmark of the Vikings got to be modern Denmark, much less how to transform a contemporary underdeveloped country in a similar fashion. I knew that I had to return to Denmark last February when my president, Donald Trump, began threatening your country and talked once again about taking over Greenland. World order cannot exist without a minimal degree of trust, and today the United States has become a giant source of distrust.” (05/11/26)
Source: Independent Political Report
by Kimber Fountain
“Critics can blame caucuses and opportunistic former chairpersons eternally, but that will not change the fact that the underlying reason the Libertarian Party cratered is because when it mattered, when the country needed it most, the party was recklessly usurped by people who abandoned an entire half of core libertarian values and chose instead the last thing independent voters desire: a small-minded, watered-down version of bigoted Republican tribalism with directions on the package that read, ‘just add weed.’ In the truth-bound, honest world where most libertarians and independents reside, integrity is what sells. Conviction is what drives the masses. Contrary to common protestations, the party was not destroyed by infighting; that is a convenient detraction from the fact that the breakdown was entirely due to the ease with which external forces infiltrated.” (05/11/26)
“Few predicted that blaming Israel and the Jews who support it would flare up in the early 21st century (and in America of all places, where there are nearly as many Jews as there are in Israel). After all, Israel is the only consensual society in the Middle East. It holds regular elections and maintains tripartite judicial, executive, and legislative checks and balances. Free speech is found in the Middle East only in Israel, where religious apostasy, criticism of one’s own country, gender equity, and tolerance of gays are guaranteed in marked contrast to all its neighbors.” [editor’s note: Israel holds regular elections from which unwelcome parties and voters are banned, has government censorship of all media bearing on “national security,” and doesn’t allow, among other things, interfaith marriage. The difference between it and the more “moderate” Arab states is that it supposedly caters to a different ethnic group – TLK] (05/12/26)
“As a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal reports, high-tax states continue to bleed residents and income. Between 2022 and 2023, California lost a net $11.9 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI), New York $9.9 billion, and Illinois $6 billion. Higher earners with income over $200,000 drove much of this exodus. In Massachusetts, they accounted for 70% of outflows, doubling the 2019 share. Meanwhile, no-income-tax states saw the largest gains. Florida added $20.6 billion in AGI, Texas $5.5 billion, and Tennessee $2.8 billion. Even non-income tax states with more frigid climes saw significant inflows, including Wyoming and South Dakota. In short, states without income taxes dominated the top destinations for both people and wealth. Missouri, with its current 4.7% top individual income tax rate, sits in the middle of the pack.” (05/11/26)
