“Section 702 authorizes the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect communications of non-U.S. persons located abroad without a warrant. However, because of the structure of the global telecommunications system, the text messages, phone calls, and other digital data of people in the United States are invariably captured during FISA Section 702 collection activities. That information is stored in databases that are queried by the NSA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and even some Central Intelligence Agency personnel — all without having to obtain a warrant from a federal judge before conducting such searches. The prior abuses of such Section 702 collection and warrantless database querying are well documented. This month, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a 116-page bill—the Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act — ostensibly designed to bring an end to nearly 20 years of constitutional rights violations under Section 702.” (03/24/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Claus Wiemann Frølund
“Critics of markets often argue that capitalism systematically fails consumers. Firms collude, corporations exploit their power, and powerful companies crush competitors. But there is a curious pattern in these critiques: regardless of what actually happens in the marketplace, the outcome is treated as proof that markets are broken.” (03/24/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Karthik Sankaran & Sarang Shidore
“The ‘Yuxi Circle,’ named for the Chinese city at its center, has a radius of roughly 2500 miles and contains about 55% of the world’s population within it – the Indian subcontinent, China, Japan, the Koreas, and all the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. For the last four decades, this region has benefited from GDP growth of about 5% each year, driven by the expansion of industrialization, trade, agricultural productivity, and urbanization. This has led to extraordinary increases in human welfare and a shift in the economic geography of the world away from the North Atlantic basin. But these achievements could all be seriously jeopardized by ongoing events in the Persian Gulf.” (03/24/26)
“Anew Harvard-Harris poll shows that 60 percent of voters believe teachers unions should stay out of politics. A differently worded poll would likely reveal even stronger sentiment. Ask voters whether union dues pulled straight from teachers’ paychecks should fund political activity, and the numbers would likely climb higher. The public already senses what many teachers have lived: unions exist more for activism than for academics. The National Education Association’s annual financial report confirms the imbalance.” (03/24/26)
“‘I’m not saying we should run government like a business,’ Tom Steyer told a questioner at the latest in a series of question-and-answer sessions he’s been holding around the state as he campaigns for governor of California. ‘There’s a big fight right now between working people and rich companies who want to control our government and rip people off.’ If I didn’t tell you that Steyer was himself a billionaire business titan until he left the hedge fund he founded, Farallon Capital Management, in 2012, you might have assumed from the above exchange that he was a Bernie Sanders acolyte who camped overnight at Occupy Wall Street. He’s running for governor, even more so than in his unsuccessful 2020 presidential run, as a traitor to his class …” (03/24/26)
“From Korea to Iran, the United States has employed countless euphemisms that not only obscure the true nature of its wars but also the constitutional limits designed to constrain them.” (03/24/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“Individualism certainly means different things to different people, a point which Friedrich von Hayek highlighted in distinguishing between true and false individualism. He observed that individualism ‘has been used to describe several attitudes toward society which have as little in common among themselves as they have with those traditionally regarded as their opposites.’ It is important to bear this in mind when considering whether a political view is compatible with individualism. Much depends on what is meant by individualism in the first place.” (03/24/26)
“About 10 years ago, backlash against an influx of Eastern European immigrants – mainly from Poland – helped propel Brexit, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. (That, in turn, led thousands of Poles to leave the U.K.) A little more than 10 days ago, The London Times published a guide for citizens of the U.K. about picking up their lives and moving … to Poland! ‘With a lower cost of living and a booming tech industry, [Poland] is calling to many Brits,’ the Times stated. This turnaround highlights how economic progress in the formerly communist nation has taken place side by side with growth in democratic values and institutions that reward individual effort and innovation. ‘Poland … stands as one of history’s most remarkable examples of how embracing democratic institutions and a free-market economy can radically transform a nation and propel it [to] rapid development,’ the Atlantic Council noted in a report last year.” (03/23/26)
“The logic of the war at present offers a stark choice: either expand the mission to regime change — which will entail the use of large numbers of ground troops for an extended period of time — or else pocket the tactical gains achieved today and pursue an off-ramp. In light of the costs and with the war’s stated goals secure, Trump should work to end the conflict and reestablish the stable flow of oil and natural gas onto world markets, shoring up the U.S. and global economies. Caution is called for: However hard the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program were, talks to end the war are likely to be harder. Both sides will need to ignore things they want, stop doing things they want to keep doing, and restrain potential spoilers.” (03/24/26)
