Source: spiked
by Phil Mullan

“In The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, the Athenian historian and general, wrote: ‘What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear that this caused in Sparta.’ Thankfully, war is never inevitable, but historically, the circumstances Thucydides described have often proved dangerous. A great power that is past its prime, that senses its further decline, and targets the upcoming powers, creates a predicament that requires careful handling by all parties. But this is beyond the capacity of today’s Western rulers. … A key symptom of the West’s geopolitical fecklessness is that America’s relative decline – and its global implications – has not been properly grasped by most transatlantic governments.” (01/24/26)

https://archive.is/XB0tP

Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies

“At the opening ceremony for Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Jared Kushner unveiled glossy images of his vision for a ‘new Gaza’: shining apartment towers, luxury developments, and sweeping views of the Mediterranean. There were no Palestinians at the ceremony — and none on the Board of Peace itself. In Kushner’s fantasy, Palestinians appear only as an absence, buried beneath the rubble of the real Gaza. But how, exactly, are Palestinians to be ‘demilitarized’ and pacified to make way for this Riviera of the Middle East? The assassination of Gaza’s Khan Younis police chief in a drive-by shooting this January offers a chilling clue. It was not an isolated act of lawlessness, but an ominous signal of what lies ahead.” (01/23/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-board-of-peace-2675008811

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon

“Modern medicine is often portrayed as the culmination of rational progress. We refer to evidence-based care, standardized pathways, and algorithm-driven decisions as if they represent the highest achievement of scientific advancement. However, a recent meta-analysis of over 150 studies found that while 80% of protocols improve specific outcomes, only 45% lead to long-term health benefits. This discrepancy underscores the complexity of protocol effectiveness. The prevailing assumption is that protocols exist and persist solely because they are effective and have demonstrated their value. This assumption is fundamentally flawed.” (01/23/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/george-crile-epinephrine-and-the-collapse-of-thinking-in-modern-medicine/

Source: RealClearPolitics
by J Peder Zane

“As our great nation celebrates its 250th anniversary in a time of angry division, when we are wondering who we are as a people and what we stand for, the Grateful Dead’s legacy offers useful ways to think about such questions. Like the best ideas, they didn’t insist on answers but pushed us to consider possibilities. The band was quintessentially American because it gave equal play to the great forces of our society – rugged individualism and community – resolving the tension between ideas that our politics too often cast as conflicting. Or, as the group’s first-among-equals, Jerry Garcia, would have put it, every yin depends on a yang.” (01/23/26)

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/01/23/what_the_grateful_dead_can_show_a_fractured_america__153746.html

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott

“India has entered 2026 facing more economic challenges than headline growth figures alone would suggest. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded India’s growth projections for the 2025-26 economic year to 7.3% (up from 6%), the composition and durability of that growth is increasingly hostage to external shocks, policy trade-offs, and structural constraints, especially as the global economy grows more volatile. The challenge for New Delhi is not whether the Indian economy can grow — that is clearly evident — but whether it can seize the opportunities to continue this growth in an era of global instability.” (01/23/26)

https://fee.org/articles/indias-outlook/

Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne and Nathan Miller

“In recent years, I’ve offered several critiques of inflation theories variously described as ‘greedflation,’ ‘sellers’ inflation’ or ‘profit-led inflation.’ The economist Christopher Conlon has now offered a more formal treatment in a forthcoming paper in the International Journal of Industrial Organization. He comes to the same conclusions.” (01/23/26)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/profit-led-inflation-trivial-or-wrong