Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The U.S. national-security state’s easy abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro brings to mind Albert J. Nock’s essay about U.S. interventionism in the Spanish-American War in 1898. The U.S. military victory over the third-rate Spanish Empire was as easy as the recent U.S. interventionism against Venezuela. As Nock pointed out in his essay ‘The Conquest of the United States by Spain,’ however, it was Spain that actually conquered the United States, not the other way around. Amidst all the celebrations among American statists over the easy military victory over Venezuela, what these statist fail to realize is that it actually Venezuela that has won the war against the United States.”: (01/06/26)
“It used to be the United States that had problems trying to have its courts make rulings that would make other countries follow its rulings, but other courts have been ploughing the same furrow. And judicial activists in several countries have been using that tendency to subvert the decisions of elected governments and have them overruled by unelected judges. The UK’s Supreme Court has tried to extend a remit it was not given, namely to judge on the constitutionality of Parliamentary decisions. Its declaration that the late Queen’s prorogation of Parliament was illegal was described by Jacob Rees-Mogg as a ‘constitutional coup.’ He was correct. Its use of external courts such as the ECHR to void decisions made by elected UK governments effectively negates the sovereignty of Parliament, which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.” (01/06/26)
“‘Quiet, Piggy!’ The president was intent on silencing Catherine Lucey. The Bloomberg reporter had provoked him with a question about the release of the Epstein files. His insult caught the public’s attention. But Trump’s tongue-lashing lexicon against women has a long history. Other female journalists have been dubbed ‘obnoxious,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘third-rate’ and ‘ugly.’ Vice President Kamala Harris, opposing him in the 2024 presidential election, was labeled ‘retarded’ and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘crazy as a bedbug.’ The list goes on (and on and on). And who knows what was redacted from the Epstein files along those very lines? Mind you, those Trumpian insults hurled at women (and regularly offered about them) are anything but performative throwaways. They reveal Donald Trump’s deep and abiding contempt for females, an attitude that has taken a giant leap forward (or do I mean backward?) in policy terms in the Trump 2.0 years.” (01/06/25)
“A new edition of Robert Nisbet’s neglected classic, The Social Philosophers, reveals what made the sociologist a first-rate conservative mind.” (01/06/26)
Source: New York Post
by Nicole Huyer & William DuVall
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign message was simple: New York City’s cost of living is too high. True, starting a family and raising children have become unaffordable in New York City — and Mamdani believes his socialist plans are the answer. ‘We will deliver universal child care for the many by taxing the wealthiest few,’ he said in his inaugural speech last week. The scale of the city’s problem is undeniable: Three of the four most expensive US counties for child care, in terms of share of family income, are within New York City: The Bronx, Queens and Kings County (Brooklyn). Day-care center costs in The Bronx, for example, range from $300 to $406 per week ($15,600 to $21,112 a year) depending on the child’s age — but with a median household income of only $48,610, center-based child care is completely out of reach for most local families.” (01/05/25)
“In any principles of economics class, students learn the difference between accounting profit and economic profit. Accounting profit, which is what one typically understands when discussing ‘profit,’ is total revenue minus your monetary costs. It is what appears on the bottom line of an accounting statement as ‘profit.’ Economic profit is a broader term. Recall that, for economists, ‘cost’ is a term of art: it is the highest-valued alternative not undertaken. This includes both monetary costs and alternative uses of your resources, often called implicit costs. Economic profit, thus, is total revenue minus total costs (both your monetary and your implicit costs). Implicit costs do not show up on an accounting statement, yet they are still vital to making life decisions.” (01/06/26)
“Over the weekend, American military forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an operation in the capital city of Caracas. While the action was nominally undertaken to prosecute Maduro and his wife for ‘narcoterrorism,’ President Donald Trump soon added another potential justification: accessing the country’s generous oil reserves. If this is Trump’s plan, it will be easier said than done. … ‘American oil executives are unlikely to dive headfirst into Venezuela for multiple reasons: The situation on the ground remains very uncertain, Venezuela’s oil industry is in shambles and Caracas has a history of seizing US oil assets,’ reported CNN’s Matt Egan.” (01/06/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“If you were wondering why the US establishment was so much more chill about Trump becoming president this term than they were the first time around, you’re watching the reason now. The powers that be were assured that he’d carry out longstanding imperial agendas like kidnapping Maduro, bombing Iran and overseeing a final solution to the Palestinian problem, and they trusted him to carry out those plans. The MAGA narrative that the establishment hates Trump because he’s fighting the Deep State has never been true; there were certain factions within the US imperial power structure which disliked Trump, but that was only because he was not a proven commodity like Hillary Clinton and they didn’t trust him to be a reliable steward of the empire.” (01/06/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Rachel Chiu
“Chief Justice John Roberts is right: The Declaration of Independence, while not law itself, must be the benchmark that guides all three branches of government. On New Year’s Eve, the Chief Justice released his annual year-end report on the state of the judiciary. Of particular note is the brief prefatory letter that Roberts has often used to opine on controversial issues such as judicial independence, artificial intelligence in the legal profession, and security threats against judges. This year’s letter focuses on the Declaration of Independence, which celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026. While many commentators have criticized Roberts for ‘dodging’ the biggest questions of the day — especially perceived favoritism for the Trump administration — his words are apt for the times, focusing on the foundational ideals that define the American experiment.” (01/06/25)
