Source: The UnPopulist
by Birch Smith
“It may have reached a point when its only option for avoiding accountability would be keeping Democrats out of power.” (01/29/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/has-the-trump-administration-crossed
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
“Over the past two decades, U.S. immigration officials have maintained a close relationship with the Israeli government. This collaboration has included trips ferrying high-level U.S. law enforcement officials around Israel, joint training for immigration officers, and technology transfers that have put sophisticated surveillance capabilities in the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The result has been an increasing mind meld between security agencies in Israel and the United States.” (01/29/26)
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by the editorial board
“Amid criticism from friendly leaders, the EU holds an emergency summit to find ways to boost innovation and productivity. Its leaders even thank the continent’s bashers.” (01/28/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0128/A-Europe-grateful-for-reproofs
Source: Econlog
by Bryan Cutsinger
“Question: Is the following true or false? Explain your reasoning. If the quantity of higher education services supplied does not rise with the price of those services, i.e., if supply is perfectly inelastic, then subsidizing the demand for higher education services will primarily benefit universities and their employees. Solution: I use this question in my microeconomic principles class to get my students to think about the actual beneficiaries of a real-world policy that many of them likely believe is intended to benefit students.” (01/29/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/cutsingers-solution-the-price-of-education
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Laurent Hynes
“Glimpses into the offices of modern financial institutions reveal dizzyingly-intricate algorithmic and computationally-driven investment strategies. Machine learning techniques and the methods of applied physics confound the layman and foster a reputation of unapproachable complexity around the realm of quantitative finance. The intricate probabilistic methods of academic economics and their required mathematical erudition seem to bar entrance to those more intent on cultivating the techniques of causal realism. Yet such models ultimately rest upon a fundamental assumption concerning the nature of human action, the validity of which is hardly addressed within academia and whose ontological fallaciousness fatally undermines their applicability.” (01/29/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/quantitative-finance-has-rotten-foundation
Source: Antiwar.com
by Harris Jenner
“A specter is haunting the transatlantic alliance – not from the East, but from within. What began as a seemingly quixotic real estate fantasy has evolved, through weeks of escalating pressure, into the most profound stress test of U.S.-European relations since the Cold War. President Donald Trump’s campaign to acquire Greenland has laid bare a stark reality: the alliance’s most powerful member is willing to wield coercion against its own partners, treating sovereignty as a transactional commodity. While an eleventh-hour tactical retreat has pulled the world back from the brink of immediate conflict, the crisis has illuminated a fatal flaw in the alliance’s foundation.” (01/29/26)
Source: Persuasion
by Adam Mastroianni
“Why the written word will never die.” (01/29/26)
Source: Law & Liberty
by Gianna Englert
“In his essays on French history, John Stuart Mill (1806–73) praised François Guizot (1787–1874) as one of Europe’s preeminent historians. Guizot’s writings would become ‘immortal,’ Mill expected. Because of his great ‘historical impartiality,’ future generations would surely ‘forgive [Guizot] the grave faults of his political career.’ For all of Mill’s confidence, his predictions about the Frenchman’s reputation did not exactly come to pass. If we remember Guizot today, it is likely as prime minister of the July Monarchy, the bourgeois government overthrown by the Revolution of 1848. Yet, in the first half of the nineteenth century, Guizot was renowned as a teacher of history.” (01/29/26)
https://lawliberty.org/classic/guizot-and-the-recovery-of-political-liberty/
Source: The Intercept
by Fatima Khan
“When Maher Tarabishi got a phone call from his family on January 23, he expected an update on his son’s health. Tarabishi had been held for three months at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and his 30-year-old son Wael’s health had been on the decline. Still, Tarabishi was hoping for a full recovery. The news, though, was not good: Wael had passed away. Maher Tarabishi was in disbelief, breaking down on the phone, according to an account of the call from his daughter-in-law Shahd Arnaout.” (01/28/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/28/ice-family-funeral-texas-maher-tarabishi/
Source: Wired
by John Publius
“As a veteran of the war on terror, I have spent the past year watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers expand their operations across the country on a heretofore unprecedented scale and with a new faux-military bearing. From equipment to weapons to tactics, ICE and other immigration enforcement bodies want to be seen as combat forces carrying out their missions. Witness on Thursday, when White House border czar Tom Homan talked about Minneapolis as a ‘theater’ for his agents. Overlooking that ICE is not, in fact, part of the armed services of the US — it’s a civilian law enforcement agency — it is useful to break down their operations through a military lens to find the strategic implications. Because if an agency wants to cosplay as a military force, it deserves to be evaluated as one.” (01/29/26)