“After protests across Iran turned deadly in January, President Donald Trump promised Iranians that ‘help is on the way’. On February 28th, the U.S. and Israel launched what immediately became a devastating war on Iran. American and Israeli warplanes began dropping bombs on a country of some 93 million people. Trump soon put out a video address, telling Iranians that ‘the hour of your freedom is at hand’. Around the time that video appeared, Iranians in the city of Minab were sorting through the corpses of more than 165 people killed in an airstrike on an elementary school for girls. That same day, an airstrike killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an 86-year-old who was supposedly already in poor health. Throughout the ensuing days, American and Israeli attacks struck hospitals, historic sites, and more schools.” (03/22/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Sergio Martinez
“During the early 1970s, the Chilean government imposed price controls on thousands of goods while expanding state control over industry. Shortages multiplied, black markets expanded, and economic coordination deteriorated. Political instability soon followed, culminating in the military coup of 1973. At first glance, the lesson seemed clear: central planning could not replicate the complex coordination performed by markets. And yet the idea never completely disappeared. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have revived an old argument. If earlier socialist planners failed because they lacked sufficient computing power, perhaps modern algorithms could finally solve the problem. Some contemporary writers have openly suggested this possibility.” (03/23/26)
“As we enter the fourth week of the Iran war (or ‘excursion’), here are two great ideas about how to deal with some of the consequences — both from outside the Beltway. In fact, right in New York. One idea, unusually, is from longtime President Trump critic and former swamp creature Richard Haass, now back in his hometown. The other is from Wall Street guru Larry Kudlow, Trump’s great friend and former economic adviser. Both ideas are elegantly unconventional. In his Substack last week, Haass took a moment from trashing the president to suggest an alternative to boots on the ground for the prickly problem of opening the Strait of Hormuz, where tankers carrying one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas are being throttled by Iran. Don’t send the Marines in to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s principal export terminal — just close the Strait.” (03/22/26)
“A confluence of trends, events, and crises are all hitting the West at about the same time. We have entered an era of profound transformation. What lies beyond the pain?” (03/23/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israel’s Foreign Ministry has posted a statement on Twitter which reads, ‘The Iranian regime devastated Arad and Dimona by deliberately striking civilians with missiles. Over 100 people were injured, including children. A blatant war crime. Pure terrorism.’ I don’t want to be one of those people who wastes their time criticizing ‘hypocrisy’ in foreign policy, but holy fucking shit, dude. Jesus Christ. My God. I will never, ever express sympathy for Israelis. Ever. Under any circumstances. To do so would be irresponsible, because Israel always weaponizes sympathy and then uses that weapon to commit mass atrocities. If the world gives Israel sympathy for civilians injured by an Iranian airstrike over the weekend in a war Israel started, by Friday they’ll be using that sympathy to justify nuking Tehran. I don’t enjoy holding this position.” [editor’s note: Then perhaps you should start distinguishing Israeli non-combatants from the Israeli regime, Ms. Johnstone; then you’d have a shot at getting it right – TLK] (03/22/26)
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“Its common today to talk about an individual’s ‘identity’ and mean the group or groups they either associate themselves with (i.e., take themselves to be members of) or that they are, ascriptively, taken by others to be associated with. People ‘identify as’ straight, gay, trans, black, Hispanic, Latino, Conservative, Christian, Jewish, etc. etc. etc. What is this really? On one influential account, from (I think) Kwame Appiah (see his The Ethics of Identity), to ‘identify with’ a group is to take reasons from that group as one’s own reasons. This strikes me as a plausible way to understand the term. If Joe identifies as Hispanic, he would take reasons common to other Hispanic people as his own. Ascriptively, I gather, others would assume — rightly or wrongly — that Joe has such reasons. All of that seems entirely plausible. I also think it is (if accurate) unfortunate.” (03/23/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Michael Matulef
“AI is everywhere now — woven into our workplaces, our devices, and our daily routines — and with its spread comes a rising fear: what happens when there’s no meaningful work left for humans? AI is becoming the silent collaborator behind almost everything we make. Yet its presence creates a new kind of tension: not whether we can use it, but how we should. Regardless of the advancements in AI, the central question does not change: given scarcity, what should you do with your time, and what should you let the tools do?” (03/23/26)
“‘Authoritarian regimes have developed strong cyber espionage capabilities that enable their influence and coercion operations,’ explains a National Intelligence Council ‘assessment,’ dated April 7, 2020. … The report calls this technological capacity ‘digital authoritarian capabilities’ — yet our own government has the same. It accuses China of marshaling ‘mass surveillance and AI-driven algorithmic tracking of its citizens’ behavior at home to inform the use of soft or coercive incentives and disincentives to control them,’ but that, I’m afraid, is what our government does, too.” (03/24/26)
“When singer Joseph E. Foreman took the stand recently in Ohio, his message, like his lyrics, was hardly subtle. Indeed, counsel may have been unsure whether to examine or to hoist him. The rapper, known as ‘Afroman,’ appeared in a suit modeled after an American flag with matching flag-patterned sunglasses. He lashed out at the seven police officers who raided his home and then sued him for publicly mocking them. He insisted that he was the virtual embodiment of the First Amendment in all of its glory. The jury agreed, at least insofar as finding him protected in his parody and public portrayal of the officers. Almost three years ago, I wrote about the case and expressed deep skepticism about the legal viability of the case in light of free speech protections for filming and criticizing public officials.” (03/23/26)
