US Actions Toward Cuba Are Criminal

Source: Libertarian Institute
by William Anderson

“While communist systems elsewhere fell like dominoes, beginning in the late 1980s, Cuba stubbornly kept its state-dominated economy, even as the standard of living deteriorated after Russia failed to continue subsidizing Cuba after the USSR disappeared into political history. Because of aggressive U.S. policies, Cuba’s political leaders — beginning with Castro — were able to appeal to Cuban patriotism and keep the communist system in place. Although U.S. government pressure has played a role in Cuba’s stubbornness of holding onto a failed system, American supporters of the revolution have also spread falsehoods about what they believe has been the superiority of communism over capitalism, especially in the areas of literacy and healthcare. Indeed, left-wing Americans have been supplying propaganda about Cuba since the late 1960s.” (02/23/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/u-s-actions-toward-cuba-are-criminal

Thomas L. Knapp

Judge who let Trump skate in classified documents theft case blocks release of special counsel’s report

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

“A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep under wraps the report detailing Smith’s findings in the probe that resulted in criminal charges in 2023. … Cannon, who in 2024 dismissed the case after concluding that Smith was unlawfully appointed, said the release of the report would present a ‘manifest injustice’ to Trump and his two co-defendants.” (02/23/26)

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/23/judge-special-counsel-trump-classified-documents/

Thomas L. Knapp

Rob Reiner’s son Nick pleads not guilty to double murder charges

Source: United Press International

“Nick Reiner pleaded not guilty to murder charges in Los Angeles on Monday in the deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michelle Singer Reiner. Nick Reiner, 32, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing of the couple in their Brentwood home in December. His public defender, Kimberly Greene, entered his plea as he appeared behind a glass partition. Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle scheduled the next hearing for April 29.” (02/23/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/23/rob-reiner-son-nick-reiner-plea-double-murder/3101771880984/

Thomas L. Knapp

Tariffs and the New Economic Lysenkoism

Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle

“Kevin Hassett’s recent call to ‘discipline’ Federal Reserve researchers over a New York Fed study on tariffs is not just a political swipe. It is a troubling signal about the growing willingness of policymakers to delegitimize economic analysis they find inconvenient or unsupportive. Disagreement with research is a normal, healthy part of scientific inquiry. But attempts to intimidate researchers because their findings conflict with a preferred narrative undermine the credibility of policymaking itself. At a moment when trade policy is already generating uncertainty across markets, this kind of rhetoric risks turning economic debate into a loyalty test rather than an evidence-based process.” (02/23/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/tariffs-and-the-new-economic-lysenkoism/

Thomas L. Knapp

NH: Feds investigate gang violence at Canada border crossing; suspected gang opponent hospitalized

Source: SFGate

“Authorities are investigating a shooting near the country’s northern border in New Hampshire in which a person is accused of firing a gun at a border patrol agent, who returned fire and struck the subject. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said the incident occurred at about 1 a.m. Sunday morning in Pittsburg, a town of about 800 people at the border with Canada. The FBI did not provide a name of the accused shooter, but said the person was receiving medical attention at a hospital. The border patrol agent, who the FBI also did not name, was unharmed in the incident, an agency spokesperson said. The shooting happened in a rural community that is home to the state’s sole border crossing with the Canadian province of Quebec.” (02/23/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/feds-investigate-shooting-at-new-hampshire-canada-21904725.php

Steve Trinward