Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Here is the argument that Trump and his army of Trumpsters use: Even though the vast number of immigrants do not commit violent crimes, a small percentage does. Therefore, to protect Americans from the small percentage of illegal immigrants who commit crimes, they say that it is necessary to have a strict system of immigration controls that vets all immigrants, so that the only the peaceful, law-abiding ones are permitted to enter the United States. Never mind that that has been the system for some 100 years …. Let’s stick with Trump’s reasoning in order to show how ludicrous it is and now destructive of liberty it is. … there are other killers in Texas. … Under Trump’s rationale, why shouldn’t the people of Louisiana be free to impose a system of border controls against the people of Texas?” (01/03/25)
“In the winter issue of Cato Institute’s Regulation, economist Pierre Lemieux acknowledges H.L. Mencken’s famous line — ’Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard’ — and sympathizes with ‘disappointed voters’ following last November’s election. ‘The common person does know what he wants,’ argues Lemieux, explaining that ‘he succeeds so well in his private life.’ Of course, our economic marketplace and our political marketplace are markedly different.” (01/03/25)
“In recent years, Europe has struggled to find the right balance between freedom of expression and the protean security concerns it faces. Plenty of rights watchdogs see a drift toward more censorship. Now Poland is about to challenge that view. On New Year’s Day, the country took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has laid out an agenda under the motto ‘Security, Europe!’ It involves boosting economic competitiveness and food production, defending Ukraine, and finding new solutions to immigration and disinformation. Yet the inaugural gala at the Teatr Wielki, the Polish National Opera, in Warsaw, signaled that Poland’s concept of security has a deeper dimension rooted in creativity and individual liberty. It featured the debut of a work by Radzimir Dębski, a young Polish composer and conductor known for blending classical music with modern genres, particularly hip-hop.” (01/03/25)
“Lysenko — a crackpot with the power of the Soviet state behind him — was the recipient of numerous awards, including, on eight occasions, the Order of Lenin, and on three occasions, the Stalin Prize. Lysenko died of natural causes in 1976. This history of massive state-sponsored scientific fraud is pertinent to Trump’s attempt to install [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] to the highest-ranking healthcare position in the U.S. government. The secretary of health and human services has oversight of everything from food safety to medical research to private health insurance to epidemiology to Medicare and Medicaid and much, much more. Like Lysenko, RFK Jr. has departed from science even as he claims its mantle.” (01/03/25)
“Irecently returned from Spain where I participated in a seminar on The Defeat of the West, the most recent book by the well-known French historian Emmanuel Todd. Whether one agrees with all, part, or none of his thesis — I find myself in the second category — it is a compelling and suggestive read, one that in typical Todd style relies on the innovative mixing of demographic, anthropological, religious, and sociological theories to make its case. One would think that here in what we are constantly told is the beating heart of the West, a book such as this … would be the subject of lively speculation on these shores. But as of yesterday this book, unlike so many of his others, was still unavailable in English, nearly a year after its publication.” (01/03/25)
“Breaking News Alert: Joe Biden to resign so Kamala Harris can become first female president. OK, it hasn’t happened yet, but don’t be shocked if the president makes the dramatic move to improve his awful legacy. He’s already using every trick in the book to try to wipe away the Big Stink from his tenure, but nothing is working. Following the election, Biden has spent two months trying to get people to forget the last four years. The effort hit a cringe-inducing low this week when he awarded prestigious civilian medals to the undeserving likes of Liz Cheney, Hillary Clinton, George Soros and a list of left-leaning celebrities. The one consistency is that they all supported him. Instead of medals, they ought to get free psychiatric care. In the real world, Biden leaves office in utter disgrace.” (01/04/25)
“President-elect Donald Trump has made Ukraine peace talks a focus of his foreign policy, previously saying he’ll get a Ukraine deal ‘within 24 hours’ and readying his envoy Keith Kellogg for a fact finding/listening tour of Ukraine and European capitals first thing after inauguration. But Russian officials don’t appear all together convinced by ideas that Trump and his team have been putting out in circulation, suggesting a steep hill to climb regarding Ukraine negotiations. Namely, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov posits that some of these proposals, if implemented, will simply pass the war effort on to Europeans while failing to address the conflict’s root causes.” (01/03/25)
“Advertising has never been a popular thing amongst pundits. It is depicted as an attempt to manipulate consumers into desiring things they do not (or should not) need. Others depict it – as is often seen in series like Mad Men which was popular a decade ago – ‘selling dreams’ to consumers by perpetuating unrealistic standards of success and well-being tied to a product or a service. These criticisms have existed since the late nineteenth century, remaining largely unchanged except for the language and imagery used in public discourse. The most recent reiteration is President-elect Donald Trump’s prospective nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr.) who has been on the record as advocating for banning pharmaceutical companies from advertising on television.” (01/03/25)
“Of course, theoretically, all libertarians should be eagerly participating in this fun but important activity. Constantly, everywhere. Sadly some do not – instead being selective, and accepting way too much human authority. That is, any human authority. It is very easy to fall prey to the temptation to accept pronouncements of those in authority regarding the facts of the matter. What matter? Anything.” (01/03/25)
“Based on an Institute for Policy Studies analysis of data from the ForbesReal-Time billionaire list from December 31, 2024, the last day of market activity, there are 813 billionaires with combined wealth totaling $6.72 trillion. The total number of billionaires has remained constant at 813 when Forbes published their 38th annual World’s Billionaire List on April 2, 2024. But the combined wealth of U.S. billionaires increased over the last 9 months by $1 trillion, from $5.7 trillion at the beginning of April 2024 rising to $6.72 trillion at the end of 2024. The top five billionaires and their individual wealth are: * Elon Musk of Tesla/X and SpaceX with $428 billion (up from $252.5 billion in September 2024). * Jeff Bezos of Amazon with $235.2 billion. Larry Ellison of Oracle fame moving into number three spot with $210.5 billion, surpassing Marc Zuckerberg. * Mark Zuckerberg of Meta with $204.4 billion. * Larry Page of Google, with $157.6 billion.” (01/04/25)