“A couple of wars ago, when I gave readings from my book War Is Not a Game, I sometimes tried to liven things up by asking the audience to guess which of the names I mentioned were for video games and which were for actual U.S. military campaigns. It didn’t work when there were veterans in the audience — they were too familiar with both — but it did vividly point up the kinship of war and entertainment in our world. Now, welcome to Operation Epic Fury, the perfect name for an adolescent-id-on-steroids-style war. That name was, of course, chosen by Donald (‘How do you like the performance?’) Trump for his campaign against Iran, while his White House social-media team created actual mash-ups of games and reality to match.” (04/07/26)
“Donald Trump has claimed that the United States has never been as respected as it has been under his presidency. Of the very many untrue things he has said in his career, this is among the most absurd. There has never been a time when the United States was more distrusted, by both traditional friends and by rivals, as at the present. A successful dealmaker needs to generate a minimal amount of trust that he will uphold his end of the bargain. But reciprocity is a virtue that Trump has never understood or practiced.” (04/07/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“The principle of constitutional government is rendered meaningless if the Constitution is treated as a document whose meaning is endlessly malleable or, even worse, impossible to ascertain. At different times, different parties have deemed it expedient to construe the constitution in whichever way will rubber stamp their political policies. This lack of consensus on the interpretation of constitutional principles is strikingly clear in relation to the Tenth Amendment, which provides that, ‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'” (04/07/26)
“If you want to see this war brought to an end, remember this: An appropriations vote is a vote for war. If your congressional representative votes for the ‘National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA),’ they vote for war. This is not about disarming. It is about Congress deciding, on our behalf, limitations on aggression. If Congress votes for a supplemental appropriation to replenish missile stocks, and other armaments, they vote for war.” (04/07/26)
Source: New York Post
by Drew Pinsky & Mary LG Theroux
“San Francisco is making real progress in the fight against homelessness; Los Angeles is not. And the difference is how each city treats addiction among the homeless population. Addicts are a crucial subset of that population. It is a brain disease, and brain diseases, as they progress, result in the loss of the ability to manage the necessities of daily life. We are not referring to those who may experience transient homelessness, who can make use of various resources that are available for housing. We are concerned with those for whom their brain conditions have progressed to the point that they lie down on the sidewalk, and stay there.” (04/06/26)
“Betting markets now suggest the Democrats are strongly favored to take the House, and it’s a coin flip whether they’ll take the Senate. In consequence of these developments, debates between moderates and left-wingers about how the party needs to run have been largely shelved in favor of a comforting consensus that ‘we’re not Trump’ will be enough in 2026, and possibly in 2028 as well. … Democrats might well win in 2026 and even in 2028 without having had any serious discussion about what they want to do, or having determined whether what they want to do has anything to do with what the electorate wants or the country needs. And if that is how they win, then what happens after they do?” (04/07/26)
“The problem in Iran is not that the military has failed to destroy things. It is that destruction is not the same as control. Wars must be judged by the political conditions they produce, not simply by the targets they hit. The Iranian regime still holds its core position. It is still imposing costs and shaping the terms under which other nations, including the U.S., must operate. Tactical violence has not produced durable strategic effect. The administration’s justifications have shifted repeatedly, and its claims of victory have grown more theatrical as the war’s practical results have grown less convincing. … The president launched this war in the name of defending America from imminent threats. He is now applauding limited relief from a coercive order the war itself helped create. What began as a show of force is now a search for smaller and smaller signs of progress.” (04/07/26)
“Within a span of three weeks, the world’s main monotheistic religions have marked significant annual observances – Ramadan for Muslims, Easter for Christians, and Passover for Jews. Specific worship practices during these periods of prayer and reflection differ. But they all touch on common themes of forgiveness as well as redemption or liberation – both from severe external dangers and harsh inner sentiments. ‘Forgiveness … forms an important part of what it means to be a Christian (and to be a follower of many other major religions, too),’ Financial Times columnist Jemima Kelly wrote recently. In addition to benefiting individuals, she noted, ‘It can allow nations to heal after decades of conflict [and] bridge the kind of deep divides … we now see in our societies.’ Celebrating Eid, at the end of Ramadan, ‘is all about forgiving people,’ according to Sadaf Farooqi, a writer and Islamic educator based in Karachi, Pakistan.” (04/06/26)
“Let me be straight: the March jobs report was much better than I had expected. I always give my wife my predictions just before the report comes out, because that’s when I have all the data I’m going to have. My pre-release numbers were 40k jobs and 4.5% unemployment. The actual numbers were 178k jobs and 4.3% unemployment. That’s a big miss. Okay, so what did I get wrong?” (04/07/26)
