The Myth of Nationalist Victory: The Articles of Confederation and the Bank of North America

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter

“It is not uncommon for people to conflate victory and liberty with centralization and inflation. Even in the case of the American Revolution—which was relatively decentralized—many at the time, and others since, argued that monetary inflation, standing armies and a state-centric approach to war, consolidation under a centralized national government, direct taxation, and central banking were all necessary to achieve victory and independence. The not-too-subtle implication is that liberty depends on big government.” (06/26/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/myth-nationalist-victory-articles-confederation-and-bank-north-america

Thomas L. Knapp

Vatican accuses EU of double standards on war

Source: Politico

“Opening Pope Leo XIV’s closed-door conference of the world’s cardinals on war, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief accused the European Union of applying international law selectively, sanctioning some military invasions while treating others differently. The rare gathering was called by Leo to examine what he calls a global “culture of power” that fuels modern conflict and to consider how the Church should respond. A central focus of the discussions was the pope’s effort to rethink the traditional doctrine of a just war, which he argues has too often been invoked to justify military action. That position has already brought Leo into conflict with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who challenged the pope’s interpretation of Catholic teaching after Leo questioned whether the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran could meet the criteria of a just war.” (06/28/26)

https://www.politico.eu/article/vatican-pope-leo-xiv-accuses-eu-of-double-standards-on-war

Thomas L. Knapp

Save American Lives & Prosperity by Cutting FDA Bureaucracy

Source: American Greatness
by Thaddeus G McCotter

“By statute, the approval process of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to determine the safety and effectiveness of a new drug. If both requirements are met, the new drug is approved. The process usually takes roughly a decade. Most people would reasonably assume the lengthy approval process is due to the need to prove a new drug is safe for use by patients. But the years-long lag between a drug’s submission for approval and its arrival on the market often stems from the process of assessing its effectiveness. The easiest way to think about it is this: determining safety protects patients; determining effectiveness protects consumers.” (06/27/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/27/save-american-lives-and-prosperity-by-cutting-the-fda-bureaucracy/

Steve Trinward

AOC whines that tech companies think they’re as very special and important as her

Source: Fox News

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., revealed that she believes Congress should look to break up companies like Apple amid news that the tech giant might soon raise its prices on phones and laptops due to a strained processing chip supply chain. ‘We need to break up a lot of these companies that are far, far too big and we need to be instituting consumer protections for people,’ Ocasio-Cortez said. … ‘The problem that we have is that these big companies think they are governments. They want to be governments. They want to have totally unchecked power,’ Ocasio-Cortez said.” (06/28/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-major-tech-company-on-notice-amid-looming-price-increases-far-too-big

Thomas L. Knapp

Don’t Let the Country’s Wet Blankets Ruin Independence Day

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“Leading up to our Independence Day party, my wife asked whether she should buy us T-shirts celebrating America’s 250th anniversary or stick with what we already have. We went with our existing garments. When the red, white, and blue string lights are up and the Gadsden flag is flying out front, my son will don his free speech shirt, my wife will wear one with USA printed across it, and my shirt will show an image of George Washington crossing the Delaware and text reading: ‘Americans. Willing to cross a frozen river to kill you. In your sleep. On Christmas. Not kidding, we’ve done it.’ It will be festive. But not everybody shares our enthusiasm for celebrating the nation’s birthday and the liberty at the core of its founding philosophy.” (06/26/26)

https://reason.com/2026/06/26/dont-let-the-countrys-wet-blankets-ruin-independence-day/

Thomas L. Knapp

Does US AI Depend on Big Companies Throwing Money in the Toilet? The Chinese Competition

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

‘Most of us tend to think that the people controlling billions, or even hundreds of billions of dollars, at major corporations have a pretty good idea of what they are doing with their companies’ money. But that clearly is not always the case.” (06/26/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/26/does-us-ai-depend-on-big-companies-throwing-money-in-the-toilet-the-chinese-competition/

Thomas L. Knapp