“A majority of Americans – two-thirds – feel that the nation’s corrections system does well on maintaining prison security, thus contributing to a sense of overall public safety. But only 16% believe that the system does a good job of rehabilitating incarcerated individuals. With 95% of these individuals rejoining society after serving an average of about three years, the likelihood of reoffending is concerning for families of those convicted, the communities to which they return, and local law enforcement and justice systems. In response, more than a dozen states have intensified efforts to reorient their correctional systems toward reformation and rehabilitation. Reforms range from providing more mentorship and educational access to the ambitious reconstruction of San Quentin State Prison in California and – on the East Coast – a statewide shift away from what the National Institute of Justice has described as ‘a command-and-control culture.'” (04/28/26)
“Julian Shapiro-Barnum is the host and creator of Recess Therapy, where he regularly records conversations with kids. Recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) joined his program to discuss healthcare policy. … AOC and the youngsters shown think healthcare should be free, which The Post used as a jumping off point to have an adult conversation about government-run healthcare, specifically the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. … The Brits ‘have learned the hard way that the promise of ‘free’ care is only as good as their ability to get an appointment,’ wrote the editors. … ‘the belief that a full government takeover would lead to better outcomes is just childish.’ One of the nation’s largest newspapers appears to be growing up.” (04/29/26)
“Barack Obama’s tacky, hyperpartisan post-presidency is welcome insofar as it serves to remind the public of his tacky, hyperpartisan leadership style. ‘Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner …’ began Obama’s Sunday evening statement about the gunman who showed up in Washington the night before. Except by the time Obama got around to acknowledging the attack, the entire world knew why Cole Tomas Allen had attempted to storm the ballroom where President Trump and much of his administration were breaking bread with their ancestral enemies in the Fourth Estate.” [editor’s note: The entire world still doesn’t know that — it just knows what the regime has claimed about it. There’s a difference – TLK](04/28/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“With regard to the long-running debate between Rothbardians and modern free bankers, most prominently Lawrence White and George Selgin, the question is less a matter of technical disagreements than one regarding fundamentally divergent conceptions of money, law, and the nature of banking itself. At stake is not merely the historical interpretation of Scottish or British banking, but the deeper question of whether fractional-reserve banking can ever be reconciled with a genuinely free and non-fraudulent market order. … As Rothbard illustrated in his comprehensive review of White’s book at the time, the narrative advanced by White rests on two claims that can be shown to be false: first, that Scottish banking operated as a genuinely free system, independent of central banking influence; and second, that this system exhibited superior stability and performance. Both propositions collapse under closer scrutiny.” (04/29/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Sure plutocrats are killing our biosphere, but hey, at least they’re creating technology that lets you avoid the cognitive discomfort of writing your own words and thinking your own thoughts. Sure the empire is butchering human beings at horrifying scale around the world, but on the bright side it’s creating refugees who will move to your country and bring you treats that you can order from an app on your phone. Sure imperialist extraction is robbing the resources and exploiting the workers of the global south at extortionate fees, but on the other hand you get to wear a new outfit every day because the clothes you ordered online are dirt cheap thanks to transcontinental slave labor.” (04/30/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“Europe’s current situation cannot be attributed entirely to events in the Middle East, either: while these have acted as a catalyst, they have exposed underlying problems with the European Union’s energy policies, and the disjointed nature of the member nations’ own energy sectors. The green transition, spearheaded by the European Green Deal and pursued with regulatory intensity and considerable haste, systematically dismantled the continent’s baseload capacity for energy provision and production long before replacement infrastructure was ready.” (04/29/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by Williamson M Evers
“What should education in Cuba look like after Communism? Assuming a decisive break with Communism — as happened, for example, in the Baltic States, Czech Republic, and Poland — the country will need to replace nationalization with pluralism, ill-advised pedagogy with scientific methods, and indoctrination with liberalization.” (04/29/26)
“[F]or two decades now, it seems that whenever political violence erupts, there’s a moment where partisans wait to learn the motives of the perpetrator so they can start blaming the other side for inciting it. Sometimes they don’t even wait. … American politics right now are almost defined by outgroup homogeneity. Many Democrats and progressives think all Republicans and conservatives are alike, and vice versa. That would be bad enough, but the problem is compounded by the fact that each side tends to think the consensus on the other side is defined by their worst actors and spokespeople.” (04/29/26)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Rob Jenkins & Michael R Jenkins
“ithin academia, there seems to be a growing consensus that the peer-review system — once the backbone of academic scholarship — is broken. But is it irreparably so? Perhaps. At the very least, the breakdown of its current form is worth exploring. However, rather than abandoning the entire endeavor, we believe we have a novel solution. First, though, let us examine where the system went wrong.” (04/29/26)
