Ungrateful Ilhan Omar & the Somali scammers: The immigrants we DON’T want

Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry

“Is it too much to ask for immigrants who love America and its system of government? That’s a question that President Trump has been asking, with an especially high level of vitriol, in the wake of the horrific shooting of members of the National Guard in Washington, DC, the day before Thanksgiving. In a corker of a Truth Social post announcing ‘a permanent pause’ in immigration from Third World countries, Trump went after Minneapolis-area Rep. Ilhan Omar, and for good reason. Omar stands for everything we shouldn’t want an immigrant to be — ungrateful, hostile to the American system as such, and perhaps not above perpetrating immigration fraud. Maybe the next time that Omar is a refugee from a war-torn, desperately poor African country looking for a safe haven in the West, she should try Canada or Australia.” (12/02/25)

https://nypost.com/2025/12/02/opinion/ilhan-omar-and-somali-scammers-are-the-immigrants-we-dont-want/

Steve Trinward

Tunisia: Regime Arrests Prominent Opponent Hammami to Enforce 5-Year Jail Term

Source: US News & World Report

“Police arrested prominent Tunisian opposition figure Ayachi Hammami at his home on Tuesday to enforce a five-year prison term on a conviction for conspiracy against state security, his family told Reuters. An appeals court handed down jail terms of up to 45 years last week to dozens of opposition leaders including Hammami, business figures and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow President Kais Saied. Critics called the sentences a sign of Saied’s increasingly authoritarian rule. … The opposition says the charges are fabricated and aim to crush Saied’s critics through the judiciary.” (12/02/25)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-12-02/tunisia-arrests-prominent-opposition-figure-hammami-to-enforce-5-year-jail-term

Thomas L. Knapp

Michael Jordan is suing Nascar, accusing it of being an illegal monopoly

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“NBA legend Michael Jordan is suing Nascar, the biggest US motorsports company, accusing it of operating an illegal monopoly that has caused financial harm to a team he partly owns. On Monday, he sat in the front row of the courtroom for the first day of the lawsuit’s trial, listening to emotional testimony from Denny Hamlin, the three-time champion in the Daytona 500 and a co-owner of Jordan’s team, 23XI racing. Jordan and Hamlin, along with Front Row Motorsports, are accusing Nascar of illegally making hundreds of millions of dollars by stifling opportunity. Nascar CEO Jim France, who inherited the stock car racing business from his father, Nascar’s founder, denies any wrongdoing. Jordan’s 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, which is led by fast food franchise owner Bob Jenkins, brought the lawsuit in October 2024. The trial in Charlotte, North Carolina, is being presided over by Judge Kenneth Bell.” (12/02/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgj80pg49go

Steve Trinward

The Free Market Case for Property Taxes

Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Jared Walczak

“Americans have been paying property taxes since the colonial era — and complaining about them for just as long. It’s about as American as you can get. (The paying and the complaining.) These days, the complaints are getting louder, with calls for abolition. The objections are understandable: far too often, local government officials have failed to reduce rates as assessed values have skyrocketed, yielding large unlegislated tax increases. Reforms are warranted. But repeal? It may be asking too much for most people to like property taxes, but all policy choices involve trade-offs, and for those who care about economic efficiency, neutrality, decentralization, and government accountability, the property tax deserves to be rated highly, if not in absolute terms, at least relative to the alternatives.” (12/01/25)

https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/the-free-market-case-for-property-taxes/

Thomas L. Knapp

The One Number That Should Terrify Trump Right Now

Source: The Daily Beast
by Chris Cillizza

“One of the questions I get asked the most goes like this: When are Republican elected officials finally going to start standing up to Donald Trump? And my answer is always the same: As soon as Republican base voters start to turn on him. Well, we may be there — or heading in that direction. … In Gallup’s poll last month, Trump was at 91% among Republicans. Now he’s at 84%. Look, this isn’t the end of the world. If Trump stays in the mid to high 80s among Republican base voters, it is very unlikely there will be a stampede of elected GOP officials breaking with him publicly. But that trend line is not encouraging for Trump.” (12/01/25)

https://archive.is/qmHpT

Thomas L. Knapp

Belgium: Cops raid EU foreign service in fraud probe

Source: Politico

“Authorities detained three suspects and raided the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the College of Europe as part of a probe into suspected fraud related to EU-funded training for junior diplomats. The searches — conducted at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and approved by the investigating judge and Belgium’s Federal Police — were conducted at the EEAS in Brussels, in buildings of the College of Europe in Bruges and at private homes, according to a statement from the EPPO. Belgian authorities are investigating the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a training program for junior diplomats across EU countries. The raids were first reported by Euractiv.” (12/02/25)

https://www.politico.eu/article/belgian-cops-raid-eu-foreign-service-in-fraud-probe

Thomas L. Knapp