Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
“Trump loves to compare himself to the 19th-century populist president Andrew Jackson, who began the brutal ethnic cleansing of Native Americans from their land. But his presidency more resembles that of William McKinley at the turn of the 20th century. McKinley, like Trump, favored high tariffs as a means to protect certain businesses. Also, in the closing years of that century, McKinley initially was reluctant to go to war with Spain over Spanish repression of an off-and-on again (since the mid-1800s) rebellion in its Cuban colony that did not threaten U.S. security. (This is similar to Trump’s desire to avoid ‘forever wars’ — uch as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya – during his first term.) … Yet after the decisive U.S. victory over Spain in the Caribbean and the Pacific, McKinley willingly reveled in grabbing Spanish colonies as imperial booty.” (01/12/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/01/12/mckinleys-ghost/
Source: US News & World Report
“Uganda’s government has ordered two local rights groups to halt their work days before Thursday’s election, which the United Nations Human Rights Office says is taking place in an atmosphere of repression and intimidation. The authorities have detained hundreds of opposition supporters, the UN agency had said in a report in November, ahead of the January 15 election in which President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is looking to extend his four-decade rule. Museveni, who came to power in 1986 after leading a five-year rebellion, is Africa’s third-longest ruling head of state. He has changed the constitution twice to remove age and term limits, and his dominance of Ugandan institutions means there is little prospect of an election upset in the East African country of 46 million, political analysts say.” (01/13/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-01-13/uganda-orders-two-rights-groups-to-halt-work-days-before-election
Source: Hoover Institution
“2025: The Year In Free Speech | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer.” (01/12/26)
https://free-speech-unmuted.podbean.com/e/2025-the-year-in-free-speech-eugene-volokh-and-jane-bambauer-hoover-institution/
Source: Quillette
by Benny Morris
“Amid the darkness of a communications blackout, Iranians are fighting for their freedom and the totalitarian theocracy under which they have lived since 1979 seems more threatened than ever before.” (01/12/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/01/12/can-the-ayatollahs-fall/
Source: SFGate
“Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists in Minneapolis on Tuesday as students walked out of a suburban school in protest at the Trump administration’s bold immigration sweeps. The government crackdown is next headed to a federal court where Minnesota and two mayors are asking a judge to immediately suspend the operation. No hearing has been set on the request. Gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where Renee Good was [murdered] by an immigration agent last week. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help as agents in an unmarked Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove away. It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets. ‘Who doesn’t have a whistle?’ a man with a bag of them yelled.” (01/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/tensions-flare-in-minnesota-as-protesters-and-21291914.php
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mitchell Palmer
“According to Ernest Hemingway, there are two ways to go bankrupt: ‘Gradually, then suddenly.’ It’s a lesson the UK would do well to remember. Rather than fixing our frayed social contract, successive governments have merely tinkered with the public finances, doing just enough to keep the ship afloat. This deck-chair rearranging cannot continue forever.” (01/12/26)
https://fee.org/articles/britain-does-not-have-long-to-avoid-economic-collapse/
Source: In These Times
by Brad Reed
“Thousands of nurses are hitting the picket lines in what will be the largest nurses strike in the history of New York City. The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) on Monday announced that nearly 15,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian are going on strike after ’greedy hospital management at these wealthy private hospitals have given frontline nurses no other choice.’ The NYSNA posted a long list of sticking points on contract negotiations, including ‘“safe staffing for our patients, protections from workplace violence, and healthcare for frontline nurses.’ NYSNA president Nancy Hagans said that any patients in need of care at these hospitals should enter them, emphasizing that ‘going into the hospital to get the care you need is not crossing our strike line.'” (01/12/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/largest-nurses-strike-in-new-york-city-history-zohran-mamdani
Source: Time
“As Donald Trump mulls whether or not the U.S. will intervene militarily in Iran in response to the deadliest anti-regime protests and riots there in years, the President is happy to employ one of his ‘favorite’ words to put pressure on Tehran: tariffs. ‘Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,’ Trump posted on Truth Social Monday night. ‘This Order is final and conclusive.’ It’s unclear what the President meant by ‘doing business,’ and which countries the latest policy actually covers. The White House has not yet published any information about the new tariff policy or what legal authority it relies on, nor did the White House immediately respond to TIME’s request for clarification.” (01/13/26)
https://time.com/7345774/trump-iran-tariffs-trade-china-india-uae-turkiye-brazil/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Will Trump Use US Military For Iran ‘Regime Change’ Operation?” (01/12/26)
https://rumble.com/v748cec-will-trump-use-us-military-for-iran-regime-change-operation.html
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Michael F Cannon
“States don’t need to wait for Congress. In Kentucky, Rep. Vanessa Grossl (R‑Georgetown) introduced legislation that would immediately let residents access Obama’s 2014 relief by removing barriers to Obamacare-exempt plans available in US territories.” (01/12/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/trump-promotes-regulatory-relief-not-subsidies-as-the-solution-to-obamacare/
