Category Archive

This January, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Leqembi to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Leqembi is pathbreaking in two ways. First, while the vast majority of Alzheimer’s drugs can only help slow the progress of the disease, Leqembi can stop and reverse cognitive decline. As an FDA news release states, “This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease.” Second, Leqembi is one of only two drugs approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer’s in the past …

Mexico´s president, López Obrador, recently bestowed on his Cuban counterpart, Díaz-Canel, the highest honor his country confers on foreigners—the Order of the Aztec Eagle. This was not an ordinary diplomatic gesture, but a full-blown show of ideological, political, and even geopolitical support. AMLO (the Mexican president is widely known by his acronym) praised the Cuban revolution and Fidel Castro for “defining for more than sixty years, with the support of an indomitable people, the border that should always exist between sovereignty and the desire for hegemonic domination.” He called the current Cuban dictator “a distinguished, …

As we noted, Federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is fond of taking trips on private jets funded by taxpayers. As the nonprofit Americans for Public Trust revealed, Secretary Buttigieg has taken at least 18 trips on private jets funded by taxpayers, including a trip to Montreal, Canada, to receive an award. The Secretary’s response to a recent railway incident also deserves a closer look.  As Newsweek reports, on February 3rd, a train carrying vinyl chloride and other chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing “evacuations for thousands of residents living nearby.” People in the area and across the country …

Samantha Aschieris helpfully catalogs some hard questions following the flight of a Chinese spy balloon over the United States. Except for the matter of whether the overflight was somehow an “error,” these all deserve serious attention. As investigators should understand, the five queries do not exhaust the mysteries about this balloon.  Photographers first spotted the Chinese craft while the balloon flew over Montana. The Billings Gazette published the photos, which were quickly picked up by media around the nation. Only then did the U.S. military acknowledge the balloon, which overflew missile installations such as Malmstrom Air Force Base.  From there, …

The Independent Institute’s Williamson Evers and other past top U.S Education Department officials are chastising an accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), for attempting to block the creation of a new school based on free inquiry within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC-Chapel Hill’s trustees intend the new school to promote free and open dialogue, not intellectual and ideological conformity. The School of Civic Life and Leadership, as it has been named, will hire professors “from across the ideological spectrum” to teach in such academic fields as history, …

Questions flew Thursday as the Chinese spy balloon that floated last week above the U.S. was the subject of a hearing by a Senate subcommittee. U.S. officials revealed Feb. 2 that China’s surveillance balloon was flying over the country. Two days later, on Feb. 4, an American fighter jet fired one missile to shoot down the spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The public hearing by the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense occurred the same day that the House voted unanimously to condemn China’s infiltration of U.S. airspace. The Senate subcommittee later met behind closed doors with military …

History has always produced masterful rogues who seek riches by swindling others. During the 18th century Scotsman, John Law, a gambler who killed a man in a duel over a married woman, escaped from prison, and in 1716 wound up in France and established the Banque Royale that could print money to pay government expenses. Law created the Mississippi Company that issued shares with proceeds going directly to the French government to pay down debt. Throughout Law got a cut of the action that allowed him to buy estates, mansions, and diamonds and declare himself, …

Recent rainstorms caused flooding and power outages across northern California but also helped replenish the state’s water supply. On the other hand, as many Californians learned, storms can also reveal government incompetence.  As we noted in 2017, a massive spillway failure at the Oroville Dam prompted an evacuation order that sent 200,000 people running for shelter. According to experts, if the spillway collapsed, it would not be much different than total dam failure.  “The emergency spillway remained basically a dirt, soil rock facility,” Rep. John Garamendi told reporters, “and it worked fine until it had …

The recent incident involving Tyre Nichols received national attention and sparked discussions about systemic racism. But the Nichols case did not have the typical ingredients to fit into the narrative of systematic racism. Nichols was black, but all five officers involved in his arrest were black too—here was no Derek Chauvin figure. Never ones to yield to the facts, some see things differently. For example, in an article entitled “The fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, explained,” Vox tells us the following: “It’s systemic, and it’s ultimately state violence, which doesn’t really have a color except …