Do What I Say, Not What I Do

"Zarif’s comments prefigured the strategy that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is following today in his brinksmanship with President Trump. Playing on the fear, especially prevalent among European elites and American Democrats, that Trump is, precisely, an agent of chaos, Khamenei has taken a leaf from the book of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who in 2017 appeared at the World Economic Forum as the representative of enlightened globalism. “We should adhere to multilateralism to uphold the authority and efficacy of multilateral institutions,” Xi declared. “We should honor promises and abide by rules.”"
https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/politics-current-affairs/2019/06/what-iran-is-really-up-to/

I agree with Xi. He and the Chinese should honor promises and abide by rules. Perhaps one day they will.

Tamny on CO Tax Hike

Tamny's gift for seeing things more clearly, for reframing the question, is unique in the econ world.

https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2019/04/26/gov_jared_poliss_rocky_mountain_tax_hike_is_a_self-defeating_non_sequitur_103716.html

Looking Back at Barbarossa

Stalin either believed Hitler, or was trying to "first punch" Hitler. 

Trying to understand the decisions of a crazy idealist and a crazy, drunken murderer, whoa. Then millions died because they put these two in charge. 

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol50no1/9_BK_What_Stalin_Knew.htm

Never Would Have Guessed This

When I was a Patrolman in the late 80s, about 100 police officers were shot to death each year. One of my most frightening moments was when I received my body armor (relatively new then). I had been waiting a month, still on the job each night working 11-7, and when I put the vest on the first time - I could see how much of me was not protected. Not comforting at all. Lucky for me I was never in need of the vest or more than the vest in 3 years of police work.

I'm glad that it is safer now, and I believe it will be safer still when the US finally gets over drug prohibition.

https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/police-deaths-study.php

Fine Mess Yes, Other Options ... Which?

The author rightfully bashes FDR for, like TR, making treaties with a foreign nation without the legislative branch's endorsement. However, the problem it addressed was not one so simple that I feel any need to judge FDR. As for the oil and Saudi Arabia leading the US by the nose - nope. I don't see it.

Mark this down under a general category which is "no government is smart enough to run its own  business, much less the business of others". The less influence the US Govt provides, the less the US Govt will goon it up.

https://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2019/04/11/another_fine_mess_in_the_middle_east_431.html

Flying Into One's Own Bullets

My dad told me this story many years ago, but I didn't realize it took a minute to catch up to the fired bullets.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a27967/the-fighter-plane-that-shot-itself-down/

Government, a monopoly on coercion by force

Under the bill, all federally funded entities, from educational programs (college sports teams, school bathrooms) to public accommodations (women’s shelters, locker rooms), would be forced to interpret “sex” to include “gender identity.” In other words, to treat men as women if they identify as such, and vice versa.

Already we are seeing the harmful effects of such policies. In the state of Connecticut, two biologically male students who self-identified as transgender finished first and second in an event in the girls’ high-school track championships. A biological man asked the Massachusetts attorney general’s office to force a women’s spa to wax his genitals. In Palm Springs, Calif., three teenage girls encountered a naked man showering in the women’s locker room. All of these incidents are part of a social and legal revolution that the Equality Act would advance.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/the-equality-act-is-about-coercion/

This is a no win for all sides - I empathize with those who live with the issue in question. What to do by force to the rest of us for the sake of possibly ameliorating the suffering of this population is vexing. Use of the vast coercive power of the government in this way will hurt more people than it helps.