President Trump recently signed an executive order changing marijuana’s Controlled Substances Act classification from Schedule I to Schedule III. Schedule I is supposed to include especially dangerous drugs that are likely to be abused and have no medical purpose. Whatever one thinks of the wisdom and morality of using marijuana, the fact is it is less addictive, and quite possibly safer, than alcohol. Many Americans who live in one of the 40 states that have legalized medicinal marijuana use it for a variety of ailments.

The root cause of our current health care affordability crisis is a broken market structure on the supply side resulting in out-of-control costs. The (apparently) core public policy issues: insurance, pre-existing conditions, employment linkage, lack of portability, the extent of coverage, denials, out of pocket costs, and deductibles would all become non-issues if health care was a normal expense that people could afford out of their income.

Among the many rationalizations that the Trump administration is using to initiate massive force and violence against the Venezuelan people is that the Venezuelan government nationalized American oil interests many years ago. The notion is that since “they stole our oil” several decades ago, it is entirely proper, U.S. officials say, for the U.S. government to retaliate against Venezuela, including, presumably, getting back the oil they supposedly “stole from us.”

India saw a wave of anti-Christian attacks, including arson on homes and churches, over the Christmas period by Hindu extremists.

Trump and Netanyahu held a joint press conference where the US president again expressed support for the idea of another attack on Iran, though he suggested it wasn’t “confirmed” that Tehran was “building up” again.

In a provision that has drawn widespread opposition from conservation groups, the bill also declares that “reissuance of the final rule under Section 2 shall not be subject to judicial review.”

Trump said he would like to fire Powell during a Monday press conference, calling the Fed chief a “fool” and railing against renovations to the central bank’s headquarters. 

Wired: “2026 will be the year when US dollar dilution—the quiet erosion of its global dominance as countries trade and pay in alternatives—starts to build momentum.”