If one wants to discuss the prospect of a new director unleashing the FBI on enemies, shouldn't he grapple with the reality of years of bureau leadership unleashing the FBI on enemies? [...]

I think 2013, we were sincerely searching for real life impact. When we couldn't find any, *that* should have been part of the story. Instead, we kept trying to create the appearance of an impact. [...]

He's done more than any other president to undermine public trust in the courts. [...]

Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday claimed he will fund moderate primary challenges to incumbent Democrats in heavy-blue districts around the country. [...]

Giving up the idea that 1989 marked an epochal victory for its worldview would reveal our current moment more clearly [...]

Nobel-winning economists warned that inequality erodes democracies. Rising economic frustration makes their insights impossible to ignore. [...]

Voters intuitively know that the economy has not worked well for most of us for decades. Democrats must offer them a transformative vision, and stick to it for as long as it takes. [...]

A decade ago, cultural norms in elite American institutions took a sharply illiberal turn. Professors would get disciplined, journalists fired, ordinary people harassed by social-media mobs, over some decontextualized phrase or weaponized misunderstanding. [...]

When Donald Trump returns to the White House, you can be sure that RealClearPolitics will feature supporters of his agenda. And also critics. [...]

Iran's supreme leader denied Sunday that militant groups around the region functioned as Tehran's proxies, warning that if his country chose to "take action", it would not need them anyway.The remarks came after a year in which Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza suffered heavy losses in wars with Israel, and two weeks after the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who had been a key link in Tehran's so-called axis of resistance. [...]

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 28 Palestinians, including at one family's home and at a school building the military said was used by Hamas.There was no let-up in the violence in the Gaza Strip more than 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war, even as Palestinian groups involved in the fighting said a ceasefire deal was "closer than ever". [...]

School lessons ended in Syria's biggest Palestinian refugee camp on October 18, 2012, judging by the date still chalked up on the board more than a decade later."I am playing football"; "She is eating an apple"; "The boys are flying a kite" are written in English.Outside, the remaining children in the Damascus suburb of Yarmuk now play among the shattered ruins left by Syria's years of civil war. [...]

Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as "cruelty", sparking a sharp response from Israel which accused him of double standards.The pontiff made his remarks a day after the rescue agency in Gaza said an Israeli air strike had killed seven children from one family."Yesterday they did not allow the Patriarch (of Jerusalem) into Gaza as promised," the pope told members of the government of the Holy See."Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war. "I want to say it because it touches my heart." [...]

In the towns and villages of southern Syria that Israel has occupied since the overthrow of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad, soldiers and residents size each other up from a distance.The main street of the village of Jabata al-Khashab is largely deserted as a foot patrol of Israeli troops passes through it.Most villagers have cloistered themselves inside their homes since the troops arrived. A few look on through windows and from rooftops. [...]

The United States on Saturday said it struck targets in Yemen's rebel-held capital, hours after a Huthi rebel missile wounded people in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv.The missile, which wounded 16 people, was the second such attack in two days.Among the targets of US forces was a rebel missile storage centre and a "command-and-control facility," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. [...]

The Israeli military said its forces shot a protester during a demonstration against the army's activities in a village in southern Syria on Friday, injuring him in the leg.Since Islamist-led rebels toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on December 8 Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian military facilities in what it says is a bid to prevent them from falling into hostile hands. [...]

The Islamic Republic is facing questions about its regional strength, and ferocious criticism from its loyalists, as it rethinks a promised response to Israel's October missile attack amid massive defense setbacks and fears of a yet more devastating cycle of escalation. [...]

The Islamic Republic is facing questions about its regional strength, and ferocious criticism from its loyalists, as it rethinks a promised response to Israel's October missile attack amid massive defense setbacks and fears of a yet more devastating cycle of escalation. [...]

US officials said Friday that Syria's new leaders had assisted in the hunt for missing journalist Austin Tice, with searches underway at sites of interest.US diplomats, paying the first visit to Damascus since Islamist-led rebels toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, said they told the new Islamist-led authorities of their priority of finding Tice and other missing Americans. [...]

Elizabeth O'Brien, Barrons The market may be heading to a bumpy end in 2024 and it's causing some unease. [...]

Joel Kotkin, UnHerd Texas today is irrepressible. [...]

Rob Smith, RealClearMarkets Recently, I sent out a number of distributions from various trusts. As trustee, I have discretion to do such things. I wanted [...]

Mark Hulbert, Marketwatch Hopeful signs in the short term, but the longer-term picture for stocks is troubling [...]

Robin Wigglesworth, FT Alphaville The latest three-letter acronym to excite and alarm people [...]

John Lloyd, Quillette European leaders are struggling to cope with the multiple crises now facing the beleaguered continent. [...]

Roben Farzad, BusinessWeek September is that cruelest month for the stock market. It's the only month that has dropped on average since the Roaring Twenties. Come Monday night, when Wall [...]

Carla Fried, CNNMoney Income-starved investors looking to amp up their portfolios have been turning to foreign bonds -- for obvious reasons. The 4.2% payout on the average foreign [...]

R. Ponnuru, Bloomberg While the Romney and Obama camps have made increasingly bitter accusations about each otherâ??s plans for Medicare, a bipartisan consensus on entitlements has emerged [...]

Doug Schoen, Forbes It's a testament to how bad the American employment market has gotten that the most recent jobs report was met with applause. The Labor Department's July jobs figures [...]

If you’ll be flying around the holidays this year, you may well already be taking steps to prepare for the experience. Air travel can be a challenge at the best of times, and the holiday season can involve longer lines, crowded planes and a sense of chaos at the airport. So clearly, this week’s Saturday […] The post A Star-Studded “SNL” Sketch Took on Holiday Travel appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

It’s been a long time since drivers in the U.S. — or anywhere — have had the opportunity to buy a new Honda Prelude. The last year the Prelude was manufactured was 2001 — a point in the automotive world where electric vehicles were practically unheard of and trucks and SUVs were more reasonably sized. […] The post The Honda Prelude Is Returning to the US Market appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

It began with an unsettling example of bad timing: earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times held an event to celebrate the city’s best restaurants. It was intended to showcase culinary excellence; unfortunately, what several attendees might remember more is the 80 cases of food poisoning that developed in the wake of the event. As […] The post Norovirus-Related Oyster Recalls Are Affecting Diners Across the Nation appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

In the fall of 2023, new regulations went into effect in New York City that dramatically restricted the operation of short-term rental services like Airbnb and Vrbo within the city’s five boroughs. New York is far from the only city to crack down on such services, and there are a few reasons that have been […] The post Airbnb Is Pushing for a Return to New York City appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

There are two kinds of luxury hotels in Los Angeles — the central, ostentatious properties where guests stay when they want to be seen, and the tucked-away, hidden gems where visitors check-in when they want to experience luxury in private. In Beverly Hills, there are two distinct Four Seasons properties, one for each kind of […] The post Caviar-Stuffed Olives and a Cheeseburger Royale Rule This Beverly Hills Speakeasy appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

The global automotive industry might soon have a new major player on its hands: a juggernaut formed from a combination of Honda and Nissan, with Mitsubishi potentially in the mix as well. What could prompt two historically independent companies to consider a merger? The short answer is the same one that’s seen Volkswagen and Rivian […] The post Honda and Nissan Are Considering an EV-Centric Merger appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

Each week, our inbox runneth over with news of gear, apparel and tech releases from around the world. In this feature, we’ll parse through the best of it. Today: A JW Anderson collaboration with Uniqulo, comfy Tekla moon boots and a seasonally appropriate Jeep Wagoneer collection. We've put in the work researching, reviewing and rounding […] The post Products of the Week: A Uniqlo Collab, Moon Boots and Trainers appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

I’m sweaty and panting hard by the time I reach the small chalet perched high in the Swiss Alps. But when I pause to catch my breath, I hear the faint jangle of cowbells — and smell the nutty, rich, unmistakable aroma of cheese. Michael Schläppi, a third-generation farmer and cheesemaker wearing a long vinyl […] The post A Cheese Lover’s Guide to Switzerland appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

Alright, you guys. I wrote in this space a few weeks ago that all the “last-minute” gift guides that start popping up around mid-November make my blood boil, but we’re now officially reaching the point of holiday shopping season where you’re…kinda fucked. Sure, you still have a few days to spare if you’re willing to […] The post Skincare Stocking Stuffers for Women of Literally Every Age appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

Walking into Clemente Bar, perched discreetly above the iconic (and somewhat infamous) Eleven Madison Park, feels like discovering a secret you can’t wait to divulge. While it shares DNA with its Michelin-starred sibling downstairs, Clemente Bar is definitely its own thing. You’ll see what I mean.  After checking my coat, I headed upstairs and down […] The post There’s a New Cocktail Bar Above Eleven Madison Park appeared first on InsideHook. [...]

R. Douglas Fields, Scientific American The centennial of the discovery of brain waves in humans exposes a chilling tale involving Nazis, war between Russia and Ukraine, suicide and the [...]

Luke Diaz, Simple Flying These 5 historic US military helos reshaped strategy, tactics and air power to redefine the realm of vertical flight. [...]

Chitralekha Zutshi, Historytoday Caught between the antagonistic states of India and Pakistan, Kashmir is stuck in geopolitical limbo. Its location - and its history - threaten to keep it [...]

Liberty Nation Authors, Liberty Nation News This speech was delivered by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775. No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the [...]

Robert Frost, The Imaginative Conservative One aged man—one man—can't fill a house,/ A farm, a countryside, or if he can,/ It's thus he does it of a winter night. (poem by Robert Frost) [...]

By Daisy Fried, The New York Times With "Context Collapse," Ryan Ruby aims to explain poetry's origins and its waves of innovation all the way to the present. [...]

Michael Scanlon, SSRN This is a near-author's cut of an essay entitled "Odysseus Lost" that was published by Chronicles on January 26, 2024. The Chronicles version, which benefited f [...]

Sean Durns, Washington Examiner "Someday science may have the existence of mankind in its power," the American intellectual Henry Adams wrote in 1862, "and the human race commit suicide, [...]

Reuters History buffs will be able to stroll close to the spot where legend says Julius Caesar met his bloody end, when Rome authorities open a new walkway on the ancient site on [...]

Christine Chung, New York Times A submersible craft carrying five people in the area of the Titanic wreck in the North Atlantic has been missing since Sunday, setting off a search and [...]

“I am definitely not following the news anymore,” one patient told me when I asked about her political news consumption in the weeks before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This conversation happened around the time I talked with a local TV channel about why we saw fewer political yard signs during this year’s election season, compared with past ones.read more [...]

A few years ago I noted that French motility was in freefall, down 30% in 30 years, and it was due in large part to the vast quantities of "organic" pesticides they consumed as the country switched to more organic food.read more [...]

On this day in 1768, eight years before the Declaration of Independence, an anonymous article in the Boston Gazette protested the military presence in Boston as a violation of civil liberties.In 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued another "state of emergency", this time over bird flu...in Louisiana.read more [...]

Ebba Busch, Swedish Deputy PM&Minister for Energy, says they need to go back to conventional energy, especially if they're going to continue to carry countries like Germany, that closed their nuclear plants. Their decade-long focus on wind has caused prices to soar and reliability to decline, and even calls out Germany's Green Guru and Vice Chancellor, the philosopher Robert Habeck, PhD.Ebba Busch, Swedish Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Ministerread more [...]

If you're an agenda-driven, lawyer-funded epidemiologist and really want to move the needle in media on scaring people, be so bad at math - literally the only thing an epidemiologist does - that you are off by an order of magnitude.Because if 60 x 7000 equals 42,000, you're either in third grade or you are an anti-science mullah like everyone at Toxic-Free Future, who know a journal they pay to publish in isn't doing any peer review, and know that media allies like the SEO tinkerers who rewrite press releases for LA Times and Salon will be excited about the [...]

Over 50,000,000 Americans get subsidized or free health under the Affordable Care Act but that doesn't mean usage of preventive care increased across the board. Instead, a new analysis found that the inflationary spike which led to much higher costs for housing, food, and utilities are barriers.Data from 186 community-based health organizations in 13 states found that despite higher rates of primary care visits, patients experiencing social risks like concerns about food or rent were less likely to complete screenings when recommended by doctors.read more [...]

Friends of the Earth and other litigation groups opposed to science are cheering the closure of AquaBounty's AquAdvantage salmon - the poster-child (decades of regulatory roadblocks) for how the US regulatory system is manipulated by lawyers to hold back technology and medicine - but progress marches on despite the public relations campaign by Greenpeace, NRDC, and others who stand against it.Their persistent efforts to get pesticides either banned or regulated so tightly they act as bans have been wildly successful during the Biden years, but with Chevron Deference overturned at the Supreme Court political appointees can no longer get science [...]

A few years ago, Nissan was the leader in electric cars. Now they may go bankrupt due to the electric car business. Some of it is that other companies are just smarter. An American company that sees Democrats are going to mandate and subsidize electric cars, dictating a percentage of cars sold, wisely fire employees and cut lines to be the most profitable in the pool of money that government mandates. And some cars are just better. read more [...]

Vaping in kids had its day. While useful before and since for smoking cessation and harm reduction in cigarette smokers, vaping only became a fad in teens when, as predicted, social authoritarians in the Obama administration declared it an epidemic - if on a survey a young person claimed to have tried one in the previous year and began rolling out commercials of children filmed in black and white looking like zombies.(1) It was Reefer Madness for the 2010s and did the same thing Reefer Madness did; it caused teens to think it was cool to outrage their elders.read more [...]

If you read Twitter, and probably Bluesky, if anyone reads that, Republicans are in a War On Science and the proof is (1) being Republican and (2) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former darling of Democrats and once pushed to run EPA by President Obama, is in their camp.Except he didn't take his allies against science with him. They are still firmly anti-science progressives, which means they still vote Democrat, and they are still cheering every time science is suppressed.read more [...]