“[A]s a matter of history, the BMT and the IRT were originally built, owned and operated by private companies. That ought to put paid to the notion that there is a ‘market failure’ going on in this sector of the economy, and that free enterprise, which has done so much for our prosperity … is an utter failure here, and, necessarily so. Nonsense on a pogo stick. If the marketplace is so great, why, then, are these NYC subways under government control? The market couldn’t hack it after all? Not a bit of it. These two subways were in the process of raising their fares from a nickel to a dime, and the government authorities were horrified! So, in 1940, they nationalized these entities, or, rather, municipalized them (soon afterward, they doubled the fare that had so horrified them when under private control).” (03/17/26)
“I doubt the Iranian regime WANTED the US and Israeli regimes to escalate the region’s long-standing tension, constant low-intensity fighting, and occasional flare-ups to full-on war for the second time in less than a year … but now that it’s happened, the Iranians seem intent on extracting a real price for the blunder instead of negotiating another lull or, as some keep putting it, giving Donald Trump an excuse to ‘declare victory’ and take an ‘off-ramp’ back to the status quo ante. Can you blame them? … Getting out won’t be quite so smart and easy. We’re seeing.” (03/17/26)
Even in conservative Texas, I didn’t think a jury would buy the government’s case that these defendants were ‘North Texas Antifa Cell operatives’ — an organization fabricated whole cloth by the Trump administration — who had orchestrated an elaborate ambush of the ICE facility. Last week, a jury found eight of the defendants guilty of terrorism charges for simply being present and wearing black at the protest. The government scored a resounding victory: A few of the protesters, none of whom had fired any weapons, were acquitted of attempted murder charges, but the Justice Department won on almost all the other charges. … If that can be sold to juries as the work of an organized terrorist cell, deserving of up to 15 years in prison, then Trump’s fantasy of rounding up and imprisoning leftists en masse becomes a reality.” (03/17/26)
“What distinguishes [Leonard] Read from many contemporary libertarians is his insistence that liberty is not merely an efficient social or political technology but a moral imperative. This is exemplified in his reflections on security and dependence. ‘True security is an outgrowth of freedom, not an alternative to it,’ he writes in an essay on the welfare state, warning that being made dependent on political favor is ‘a move away from true security.’ In other words, security does not come from concentrating power in benevolent hands but from preserving the conditions under which individuals bear responsibility for their own choices.” (03/17/26)
“The law is clear that the First Amendment bars the government from dictating news coverage or punishing outlets for publishing what the president claims is ‘false.’ The American people are entitled to uncensored news about what their government and military are doing. No matter who occupies the White House, war does not justify the government erecting barriers between the people and the press. To the contrary, the life-and-death stakes of war make public scrutiny and accountability more important than ever. … The law is also clear that broadcast licensees which operate under the public interest standard are shielded from [Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan] Carr’s threats.” (03/17/26)
“Two weeks after the start of the war in Iran, the picture is coming into focus. Why would a president who promised countless times not to start new wars, particularly ‘forever wars’ in the Middle East, have leapt into this conflict? As always in the age of Trump, it’s necessary to separate the president’s motives and mindset from the old ways we used to decide questions of war and peace, tariffs, sanctions, immigration, taxes, and other matters. Before venturing into Trump’s mind, let’s consider the shape of the discussion. People who imagine that we are still operating in a normal world are making arguments in favor of military action as if we were engaged in a national debate.” (03/17/26)
“Jeffrey Epstein was not only a rapist and a child predator, but also — wait for it — a White supremacist. While some speculate that the Epstein issue is just a distraction from President Trump’s virulent and endless racism, others feel that the video the president posted at the beginning of Black History Month of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes was meant to divert attention from the growing Epstein fallout. Well, as it turns out, the two crises are not as far apart as you might imagine. Bombshell articles in The Atlantic, Mother Jones, and at MS Now pulled the covers off Jeffrey Epstein’s noxious racism.” [editor’s note: I will leave it to the reader to decipher this mess of lies and context drops – SAT] [additional editor’s note: Probably a good idea, SAT … I suspect they’ll do a better job than your note indicates you did – TLK] (03/17/26)
“Bettors traded more than $529 million in forecasts of when the U.S. would next strike Iran in a market opened last year on Polymarket, the self-described world’s largest prediction market. Bets on Polymarket are made with cryptocurrency, and each trade is countered by another user, so not exactly versus ‘the house.’ By contrast, $133.8 million was bet on last month’s Super Bowl across Nevada’s 186 sportsbooks, representing a 10-year low, according to data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. … But betting big on war is not exactly a new phenomenon and the outcomes are far from guaranteed, as America’s enemies found out the hard way 250 years ago. Over drinks at Brooke’s in London on Christmas Day, 1776, legend has it British Gen. John Burgoyne bet a colleague 50 guineas he would return by the following Christmas having squashed the American patriots’ rebellion.” (03/17/26)
“The window for Donald Trump to end the Iran war by simply declaring victory and walking away is rapidly closing. Soon he will face a stark choice: He can take greater risks in pursuit of a decisive tactical success, prepare the country for a prolonged conflict that could last for many months, or seek a negotiated settlement that involves a real compromise with Tehran.” (03/17/26)
“This war did not come out of nowhere. To be sure, the United States and Iran have been at odds for decades, and neither Israel nor the lobby is solely responsible for the suspicion with which each country views the other. Nonetheless, lobby groups such as AIPAC, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the Zionist Organization of America, and United Against Nuclear Iran have worked to demonize Iran over the years, prevent U.S. companies from doing business there, and derail prior attempts by former Iranian presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammed Khatami to improve relations. … by making it almost impossible for either Democratic or Republican presidents to put meaningful pressure on Israel, the lobby has enabled Netanyahu to engage in ‘reckless driving’ all over the region, whether in Israel’s sustained efforts to oppress its Palestinian subjects or in its repeated attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iran, and even Qatar.” (03/17/26)
