Nostalgia

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mani Basharzad

“If someone asked me what the most dangerous economic ideology is, many would expect an Austrian to give a typical answer: Marxism, socialism, or Modern Monetary Theory. Yet I believe there is another way of thinking that is even more pervasive. It is not a coherent body of ideas like those ideologies. Rather, it is a sentiment so widespread and socially accepted that it threatens not merely economic freedom, but our very understanding of progress itself. I call it ‘nostalgia economics.'” (06/11/26)

https://fee.org/articles/nostalgia/

Thomas L. Knapp

In Syria, hope continues to bloom

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“In the Middle East, drones, missiles, and airstrikes continue to streak across the Gulf and, with more intensity, between Israel and Lebanon. Surrounded by these adjacent conflicts, Syria, however, as the Monitor’s Taylor Luck reports this week, is ‘an island of calm in the stormy Middle East’. And of buoyant hope. That is a credit to Syrians’ resilience and faith in progress, as they confront economic and political challenges and emerge from the aftermath of years of repression and civil war. Some credit is also due their former insurgent turned president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has sought to shore up stability and restore basic services, through civic conciliation and political pragmatism. For the international community, Syria’s current situation validates the hope and confidence placed in the government that ousted a brutal dictatorship in December 2024.” (06/10/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0610/In-Syria-hope-continues-to-bloom

Steve Trinward

Sudanese paramilitary drone strikes kill at least 15 people in central region, officials say

Source: ABC News

“Sudanese paramilitary forces carried out drone strikes overnight in central Sudan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, health officials said Thursday, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the more than three-year war in the African country. The attacks, which started late Wednesday, targeted various areas of the city of el-Obeid, including near an army position, according to two health officials at el-Obed Hospital, which received the victims. More than 10 people were also wounded, some critically, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, after long-simmering tensions between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million, and pushed many parts of the country into famine.” (06/11/26)

https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/sudanese-paramilitary-drone-strikes-kill-15-people-central-133784827

Thomas L. Knapp

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New Normal Reich

Source: Consent Factory, Inc.
by CJ Hopkins

”
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New Normal Reich
So the German Supreme Court has ruled on my case. Their ruling is that they will not rule on my case. They sent my attorney a letter to that effect. It literally says: ‘The constitutional complaint will not be accepted for a ruling. No explanation is provided. This ruling is incontestable.’ So I am now officially a ‘hate criminal’ in Germany. I was already pretty much a “hate criminal” in Germany, but now it’s official. This is Germany’s supreme court. There is no higher court to appeal to. OK, sure, there’s the European Court of Human Rights, the international court of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, but it doesn’t have the power to enforce its rulings, and the German authorities and courts have made it clear that they couldn’t care less about anyone’s opinion of their paranoid and authoritarian behavior.” (06/11/26)

https://consentfactory.org/2026/06/11/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-new-normal-reich/

Thomas L. Knapp

Jump the Inflation

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“A term in pop culture analysis, now a bit passé, is worth reviving: ‘jump the shark.’ … A spectacle so goofy that it can serve as a marker for any great moment when something really goes into steep decline. The second Trump Administration has had many such moments, but are any as odd and stupid as the president’s recent remark about the Consumer Price Index?” (06/11/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/06/11/jump-the-inflation/

Thomas L. Knapp

Trump and Co.’s Bumbling Attempt to Rob US Taxpayers Is Backfiring

Source: Truthdig
by Bill Blum

“Whoever designed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department must be a fan of the Ocean’s Eleven movie franchise. The multi-act plot lines are strikingly similar: Put together a motley crew of risk takers; pick a seemingly invincible target rich in treasure; infiltrate the target; exploit its weaknesses; and get away with an improbable heist while the guards are asleep, distracted, or otherwise occupied. Act One of Trump’s story arc began on January 29, when he and his eldest sons and the Trump Organization filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Miami. If only briefly, it seemed like the plan just might work.” (06/11/26)

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/in-his-own-heist-movie-donald-trump-stars-as-the-loser/

Steve Trinward