Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“Few predicted that blaming Israel and the Jews who support it would flare up in the early 21st century (and in America of all places, where there are nearly as many Jews as there are in Israel). After all, Israel is the only consensual society in the Middle East. It holds regular elections and maintains tripartite judicial, executive, and legislative checks and balances. Free speech is found in the Middle East only in Israel, where religious apostasy, criticism of one’s own country, gender equity, and tolerance of gays are guaranteed in marked contrast to all its neighbors.” [editor’s note: Israel holds regular elections from which unwelcome parties and voters are banned, has government censorship of all media bearing on “national security,” and doesn’t allow, among other things, interfaith marriage. The difference between it and the more “moderate” Arab states is that it supposedly caters to a different ethnic group – TLK] (05/12/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/12/the-four-horsemen-of-the-new-antisemitism/
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“There is ‘no sign’ of a larger hantavirus outbreak after the evacuation of the last passengers from a disease-stricken cruise ship, the head of the UN health agency has said. But the World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned ‘the situation could change’ and there could still be more confirmed virus cases. The MV Hondius left Spain’s Tenerife island on Monday and is sailing to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Two flights with the final group of 28 passengers landed in nearby Eindhoven on Tuesday. Three people have died after travelling on the ship. An American and a French national who previously returned home have tested positive. Overall, seven cases have been confirmed.” (05/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjpqynj1nlo
Source: Washington Post
“The hantavirus outbreak has reminded many about the mistakes of covid-19. In this episode, hosts Adam O’Neal, James Hohmann, Carine Hajjar and Kate Andrews discuss whether the confirmed cases on the Hondius cruise ship should cause concern — or if the media and public are overreacting.” (05/11/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/introducing-make-it-make-sense-should-you-be-worried-about-hantavirus/
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Zellie McClelland
“As a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal reports, high-tax states continue to bleed residents and income. Between 2022 and 2023, California lost a net $11.9 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI), New York $9.9 billion, and Illinois $6 billion. Higher earners with income over $200,000 drove much of this exodus. In Massachusetts, they accounted for 70% of outflows, doubling the 2019 share. Meanwhile, no-income-tax states saw the largest gains. Florida added $20.6 billion in AGI, Texas $5.5 billion, and Tennessee $2.8 billion. Even non-income tax states with more frigid climes saw significant inflows, including Wyoming and South Dakota. In short, states without income taxes dominated the top destinations for both people and wealth. Missouri, with its current 4.7% top individual income tax rate, sits in the middle of the pack.” (05/11/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/missouris-opportunity-to-attract-talent-latest-irs-data-on-voting-with-their-feet/
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig
“An outlandish scenario to refuse to seat newly elected blue state representatives just became more plausible.” (05/11/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-vra-ruling-might-have-handed
Source: Axios
“Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary is stepping down after a turbulent 13-month term marked by organizational upheaval, controversies over drug approvals and tensions with the White House. Kyle Diamantas, the agency’s deputy commissioner for food, will serve as acting commissioner, according to sources familiar. … Makary, a Johns Hopkins physician and researcher, faced a series of controversies over abortion pills, flavored vapes, vaccines and rare disease drugs as the agency he oversaw underwent substantial turnover. He faced internal criticism for not accommodating some of President Trump’s priorities, along with complaints from health care investors about unpredictable regulatory decisions that rejected some promising drugs.” (05/11/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/12/makary-out-fda-chief-turmoil
Source: Property and Environment Research
by Dylan Soares
“Restoring flows to California’s rivers is a worthy goal. But in a water-scarce state, lasting conservation requires incentive-driven, voluntary efforts, not litigation that upends centuries of water law. It involves careful balancing among fish, wetlands, farms, cities, and using tools that bring people together to solve hard water conflicts. That principle is at the center of PERC’s amicus brief in Bring Back the Kern v. City of Bakersfield, now before the California Supreme Court.” (05/11/26)
https://www.perc.org/2026/05/11/restoring-rivers-requires-cooperation-not-litigation-shortcuts/
Source: United Press International
“Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, Calif., has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of acting as an illegal agent for China, federal prosecutors announced Monday, the same day she resigned from office. The 58-year-old is expected to formally plead guilty in the coming weeks to the charge of acting in the United States as an illegal agent, which is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. The Justice Department said in a release that Wang admits in her plea agreement to working with Yaoning ‘Mike’ Sun, 65, to operate U.S. News Center, which purported to be a news source for the Chinese-American community, but was used to spread pro-People’s Republic of China content.” (05/11/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/05/11/Arcadia-mayor-charged/3651778548120/
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Talking Money and Baseball with my Daughter.” (05/11/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-talking-money-and-baseball-with-my-daughter
Source: Aaron Ross Powell’s Blog
by Aaron Ross Powell
“To harm someone is to inflict suffering on them and to do so out of greed, hatred, or delusion — the three roots Pali Buddhism calls unwholesome. The suffering itself and the mental state and motivations of the person causing it go together in the analysis. The upshot is that, even toward enemies, it’s wrong and, well, harmful to cause harm. What we actually want is for our enemies to be less harmful, which means released from the unwholesome states that drive their harm-doing in the first place, and so less likely to inflict suffering on others, including on us.” (05/11/26)
https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/3mlmbawtres2j
