Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“Thanks in large part to the erratic and often-destructive policies coming from Donald Trump’s White House, the Democrats are favored to win both houses of Congress, as they hope to flip several Republican-held seats in the House and the Senate. One of the most closely-watched races is the Senate campaign in Maine, where upstart Democrat Graham Platner is favored to end Sen. Susan Collins’s long political career. Platner’s campaign has been deemed controversial mostly because of his unhinged behavior with women, his Nazi tattoo, and social media statements that alone would have disqualified most people even before they could run for office. … the political crudeness that has become the hallmark of Trump and his MAGA followers is not the reason that someone as morally compromised as Platner is now the darling of the Democratic Party. Instead, they love Platner because of his unabashed fealty to socialism.” (06/18/26)
“Understanding what has gone wrong with journalism in the US requires an understanding of what has gone wrong with the country’s journalism schools.” (06/18/26)
“Since 2009, Social Security has been running in the red, paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes imposed on both employees and employers. They have been making up the difference by drawing down the program’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund. But as they’ve just indicated, under current law, they expect to only be able to do that until sometime in the fourth quarter of 2032, which is just over eight years from now. When that money runs out, everyone receiving Social Security benefits will see them reduced by 22%.” (06/18/26)
“Public Choice is more than you think. The usual quick definition — ‘applying economics to the study of politics’ — is not wrong, but it’s facile. Public Choice asks how political actors use information and respond to incentives. That’s a lot more than just an application of economic tools to a new context.” (06/18/26)
“The approach of July Fourth is making my heart hurt. Love of this country is deep-dyed in my soul, but pondering how or even whether to celebrate the semiquincentennial provokes a riot of mixed feelings.” (06/18/26)
“The roles played by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey in facilitating the ‘Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding’ underscore the extent to which regional actors have invested in creating off-ramps for the United States and Iran, and steering the conflict away from further escalation. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this diplomatic off-ramp has garnered broad relief that the conflict appears to be moving toward de-escalation as Washington and Tehran prepare for talks on the sensitive nuclear and non-nuclear issues. But where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fits into this broader picture is far from straightforward.” (06/18/26)
Source: Common Dreams
by Roger D Harris & John Perry
“Donald Trump’s second term has precipitated a tsunami of criticism from Democrats over his foreign policy. Yet when it comes to Washington’s efforts to dominate Latin America and the Caribbean, the substantive dispute (if there is any substance remaining, once stripped of partisan bickering) is less about ends than means. Beneath the rhetoric of inter-party conflict lies a broad bipartisan consensus in favor of promoting US hemispheric hegemony and crushing governments that resist it, with Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua at the forefront. While Democrats frequently portray Trump as reckless, they generally accept the underlying premises of economic coercion, political intervention, and regime-change pressure. Their objections mainly focus on the execution of policy rather than its legitimacy. Under Democratic administrations, the US forged and institutionalized what may be its most effective instrument of hegemony.” (06/18/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“In recent years, critics on both sides of the aisle have taken aim at the longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan. They argue that Washington should abandon ambiguity and embrace ‘strategic clarity,’ explicitly pledging to fight China over Taiwan. Others, such as Hoover Institute Fellow Eyck Freymann, have offered more sophisticated sounding alternatives like ‘structured ambiguity,’ attempting to codify precisely what America would and would not do in various contingencies, particularly involving gray zone activities. But abandoning a long-established policy that, whatever its faults, has prevented a major war between great powers for over half a century, in favor of a new policy, would be a serious mistake.” (06/18/26)
“In 1917, three children in Fatima, Portugal claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. They promised she would perform a miracle on a certain day in October. Nearly 100,000 pilgrims arrived, hoping to see whatever happened, and nearly all report that the sun turned pale, changed color, and spun around. Many other writers have investigated the children and their visions, but I was fixated on this sun miracle. … One of the first things I found was that there were many other sun miracles – at least ten! – similar to Fatima.” (06/18/26)
