Source: Brownstone Institute
by David Bell

“Hard times. Emerging from an apparently engineered pandemic, now in another war for ephemeral reasons, a resultant economic crisis that is exacerbating unmanageable debt, we find ethnic cleansing and inter-ethnic hatred are increasingly back in vogue. It’s easy to imagine a nefarious program is being orchestrated by a nasty and entrenched elite, aiming to plunder and enslave the rest of us. Such an idea is clearly not baseless, but nonetheless completely misleading in the solutions it suggests. ‘If only we could jail them, or have a Nuremberg Two, things would be better …’ However, Nuremberg One did not stop ethnic cleansing, targeting of religious groups, wars and mass death based on straight-out lies, or mass medical coercion for power and money. A couple of obvious reasons stand out for this.” (04/02/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/the-behemoth-of-global-corruption-is-an-extension-of-ourselves/

Source: CounterPunch
by Masoud Pezeshkian, President, Islamic Republic of Iran

“The Iranian people harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries. Even in the face of repeated foreign interventions and pressures throughout their proud history, Iranians have consistently drawn a clear distinction between governments and the peoples they govern. This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness — not a temporary political stance. For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts. Such a perception is the product of political and economic whims of the powerful — the need to manufacture an enemy in order to justify pressure, maintain military dominance, sustain the arms industry, and control strategic markets. In such an environment, if a threat does not exist, it is invented.” (04/02/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/02/letter-to-the-people-of-the-usa/

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen

“As the United States and Israel press their war of aggression against Iran — now entering its second month — attention has understandably focused on the carnage in the Middle East. Yet with the Strait of Hormuz effectively blockaded and global energy markets in turmoil, the conflict’s ripples extend far beyond the Persian Gulf. In East Asia, America’s closest treaty allies, Japan and South Korea, are absorbing punishing economic shocks from their dependence on Middle Eastern oil, while Washington’s diversion of military assets has left them feeling exposed and annoyed. Meanwhile, Beijing, Washington’s bete noire, looks on with barely concealed satisfaction, its state media churning out satirical videos that mock yet another American entanglement in the region’s endless conflicts. For those who have long warned that empire abroad undermines security and prosperity at home, the spectacle offers a textbook case of the predictable, if unintended, costs of interventionism.” (04/02/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/east-asia-foots-the-bill-for-washingtons-iran-war

Source: Los Angeles Times
by LZ Granderson

“In President Trump’s first term, many members of his Cabinet were establishment conservatives with tangible, executive experience who were willing to follow the president far to the right … but had lines in the sand they were unwilling to cross. In this second term, Trump has prioritized surrounding himself with those who are unwilling to cross him. And during her time as attorney general, Pam Bondi was unquestionably one of those people. On Thursday, she lost her job anyway. Not because Bondi wasn’t loyal but because she couldn’t make ‘it’ go away. And you know what I mean about ‘it.'” (04/02/26)

https://archive.is/JhvGO

Source: Law & Liberty
by Rachel Mackey

“The Harvard professor’s new book is an invitation to escape history through liberal education.” (04/02/26)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/harvey-mansfields-master-class/