“It is hard to overstate what a massive fraud Donald Trump, his campaign and his political movement are. For more than a decade, Trump has ranted and raved against the evils of regime-change wars and neoconservative dogma, only to launch a new war that most perfectly encapsulates and aggressively advances both. … This new war against Iran is as pure a continuation of the bipartisan DC posture of endless war that has, more than any single cause, destroyed American prosperity, standing, and future over the last six decades at least.”
(02/28/26)
“Now that President Trump has launched an illegal, unprovoked war of choice on Iran, the next question inevitably becomes: how does this end? Or, what are some off ramps Trump can take to end it before the situation turns out of control? There are three broad scenarios; the first and most likely is that Trump continues this until he gets some sort of regime implosion and then declares victory, while also washing his hands of whatever follows. This has been very clear in internal conversations: no one wants to take responsibility for the aftermath.” (02/28/26)
“I’ll grant that at the founding, rulers thought that importation was a privilege, not a right. Who cares? We know better now. Besides, to regular people in those days, the smuggler of goods was a hero. The villain was the meddlesome customs official. He, not the smuggler, was likely be tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. I’ll give Thomas this: he and his clerks were certainly able to find many legal citations to back his claim. I’ll tell you what that means. It means that legal scholar John Hasnas is right. His paper ‘The Myth of the Rule of Law’ demonstrates that the legal system in America is like ‘Alice’s Restaurant,’ where ‘you can get anything you want.'” (02/27/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The US and Israel have launched their long-planned attack on Iran. President Trump said in a speech that the US military is engaged in ‘major combat operations’ intended to cripple Iran’s military and topple the Iranian government. Iran has reportedly been retaliating with missile strikes on Israel and US military bases in the region. This is going to get ugly, folks. I don’t even know what to write about this one, honestly. What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey everybody, they’re lying to us about this war?’ Everyone already knows that. Even the people who support this war know all the justifications for it are lies.” (03/01/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“According to Cass, we are now allies. I am as willing to argue with my allies as with my opponents, perhaps more willing; allies are more likely to have enough in common with me to be willing to be listen to my arguments. Hence this post.” (02/28/26)
“Fresh off a record 18 gold medals at the February Winter Olympics, Norway heads into the March Winter Paralympics holding the most cumulative golds in the history of those games (140). But its international sports successes are not confined just to those performed on snow and ice, both of which are plentiful in Norway. The country of just 5.6 million people also fields winning athletes in soccer, tennis, golf – and even Olympic beach volleyball. This record is all the more notable for Norwegians’ unconventional approach to developing high-caliber athletes: When introducing children to sports, schools, parents, and local sports clubs seek to build on their innate joy in the fun and friendship of physical activity. Youthful curiosity and interest in exploring a variety of sports are encouraged, through high school and up to college age. National guidelines forbid competitive teams, scorekeeping, or ranking for children below age 12.” (02/27/26)
“If it’s February, then some liberal white dude is probably telling you about Black history and he’s probably totally missing the point, going on about how far someone else’s people have come and how far the nation that brought them here in chains has come along with them. If it’s March, then this pale-faced genderfuck bitch is probably just waking from a seasonal depression coma to chase liberal white dudes off her stoop with a broom and apologize to the neighborhood for the inconvenience.” (02/28/26)
“It is the most significant economic and sociological challenge we face. It’s worldwide. It has been worsening for decades. And there is no reason to expect the trend to change. People are not having as many children as they used to. Almost all the developed countries are below the ‘replacement rate’ of 2.1 children per woman of childbearing age. (The U.S. number is 1.6.) Overall, two-thirds of the world’s population now lives in countries below the replacement rate. If a country is below the replacement rate, its population will eventually peak and begin to decline.” [editor’s note: “Worsening” implies that it’s necessarily negative. It isn’t – TLK] (02/28/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Anne Strickland
“Britain’s national debt is now rising by more than £500 million a day. Every single day. It’s the kind of figure that should prompt a national emergency, but instead it’s been met with the kind of collective shrug that suggests we’ve all decided it’s someone else’s problem. Future Chancellor, future Parliament, future generation. Someone will sort it eventually, surely? Half a billion pounds doesn’t really sound like a real number to most people though. It’s too big, too abstract. So let’s translate it into something that matters.” (02/27/26)