US News A former police officer from Loveland, Colorado, Daria Jalali, was sentenced to 45 days in jail for her role in the rough arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia in 2020. The woman suffered a dislocated shoulder and a fractured humerus bone during the interaction. Fox The US Senate passed a $430 billion spending bill after Vice President Kamala Harris voted in favor of the Democrats to break a tie against unanimous Republican opposition. Democrats say the bill will help curb inflation. DW Hundreds of Cubans and Haitians are being arrested after landing in Florida. CNN Former...
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The Loneliness of Ron Paul: By the Numbers, 1975-1985
In 2022, the ideological landscape of American foreign policy opposition is the most dynamic and diverse it has been in over eight decades. This newfound disorder is especially true for the right, as a new crop of libertarian-leaning and populist Republicans are challenging fundamental precepts of America’s mission in the world. For those who know their foreign policy history or are old enough to remember the Cold War, this represents a sea change in the American right. While the right has a long history of “isolationism,” that tradition of foreign policy restraint waned for much of the...
What Happens When a Town’s Entire Police Force Quits?
This month, without warning, the taxpayers of Kenly, N.C. found out that the police department they have been paying for “protection,” no longer wished to serve them. The entire department, including the police chief and every single officer on the force, turned in their resignation letters and abandoned their positions. The move caught the entire town, including the mayor and the town attorney off guard as there was no warning given or demands made prior to the mass exodus. WNCN reported that Kenly police chief Josh Gibson told the news outlet that he and his officers are quitting...
House Passes $850 Billion NDAA, Adding $37 Billion More Than Biden Requested
The House on Thursday passed its version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that authorizes $850.3 billion for military spending, increasing President Biden’s requested budget by $37 billion.
News Roundup 6/30/2022
US News Senator Van Hollen and Cardin, both from Maryland introduced the “Service to the Fleet Act,” a $632 million spending bill for the Coast Guard’s Baltimore-based shipyard. Forbes Russia Reuters reported on Wednesday that European officials are in talks on a possible compromise on goods traveling to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. AWC Russia and Ukraine are reacting to Turkey lifting its weeks-long hold on Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids. Kiev views NATO opening the door for Helsinki and Stockholm as a new chance at entering the alliance. In...
The Libertarian Party is Beating the Drums for Peace
For the people turning 21 this fall, America has been at war their entire lives. The Global War on Terror has reached its second generation of soldiers. Defense spending and the global presence of the U.S. military and armaments continue to proliferate. The Libertarian Party and its Veterans Caucus are fighting to bring this era of U.S. intervention to a close by bringing peace to the forefront of political discussion while providing a mechanism for other disillusioned service members and civilian antiwar activists to stop the wars. Ron Paul famously received more campaign donations from...
Not a ‘Soft Landing,’ But a Crash
After more than a decade of chained stimulus packages and extremely low rates, with trillions of dollars of monetary stimulus fueling elevated asset valuations and incentivizing an enormous leveraged bet on risk, the idea of a controlled explosion or a “soft landing” is impossible. In an interview with Marketplace, the Federal Reserve chairman admitted that “a soft landing is really just getting back to 2 percent inflation while keeping the labor market strong. And it’s quite challenging to accomplish that right now.” He went on to say that “nonetheless, we think there are pathways…for us...
The Fed’s Rate Hike Is a Shot in the Dark
The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today announced an increase of 75 basis points to the target federal funds rate, raising the rate to 1.75% from 1%. June’s meeting today was the third meeting this year at which the FOMC has raised rates. Coming into the March meeting this year, however, the FOMC had not raised the target rate since March of 2020, even though price inflation began to accelerate during the second half of 2021. Today’s 75-basis-point increase is the largest increase since late 1994 when the FOMC raised the target rate from 4.75% to 5.5%. Notably,...
News Roundup 6/3/2022
Assange A Spanish court summons former CIA Director Mike Pompeo to testify about the agency’s plan to kidnap and assassinate Julian Assange. [Link] Germany Germany will buy 60 Boeing Chinook heavy-lift helicopters from Germany for $4 billion. [Link] Russia The US announces a new round of sanctions on Russia. [Link] The US is carrying out offensive cyber operations against Russia in support of Ukraine. [Link] NATO will push its members to meet the 2% minimum requirement of spending 2% of GDP on defense. [Link] Zelensky says Russia controls 20% of Ukraine. [Link] Russia holds war games in...
The Need to Act
It’s hard not to fall into patterns. While some routines may be for the better, habits develop because they may be easier, comfortable. After weeks, months, or perhaps decades of neglect and self destructive behavior, a cycle can develop because of these bad practices. A promise is made that they will fix and recover, improve from their circumstances and rise from the ashes, ascending to heights of utopian glory...only to return to the habits that first inspired such a declaration (though each time it will be different). Ignoring the reality of accident and injury, for the purpose of the...