It has been a while since I have conducted a political interview with a candidate of public office. Ahead of the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, you can expect a couple more in the coming months.

Over at LibertyNation.com, I spoke with Libertarian Party 27th Congressional District of Texas candidate Daniel Tinus.

The interview was primarily about foreign policy, but we discussed three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul and if the party is ready for 2018.

Here is an excerpt:

Over the last 60 years, the U.S. government has been eager to send young men and women to the deserts of the Middle East, the jungles of Asia, and the remote lands of Africa to fight conflicts that do not threaten the nation’s security. These costly battles, whether in Iraq or Vietnam, have resulted in immense and tragic death tolls. Considering that only one-fifth of the representatives and senators on Capitol Hill are retired military veterans, perhaps it is time that there are more voices from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and other branches heard in Washington – men and women who have witnessed first-hand the hells of the previous administration’s foreign policy.

Daniel Tinus, an Army veteran who served in North Africa and the Middle East, is looking to lend his voice to Capitol Hill and represent the 27^th Congressional District of Texas.

Tinus has the credentials: a family man (married for 33 years, three children, and two grandchildren), an active community leader, a fiscal conservative, a civil libertarian, and a strict constitutionalist. This would be the resume of a frontrunner, but Tinus may have one obstacle in his path to the Capitol Building: he is a Libertarian Party candidate.

Libertarians have never elected a member to Congress –the party presently has 158 officeholders across the country. Tinus is attempting to be the first sitting Libertarian at the federal level. Is it achievable? Tinus is optimistic, adhering to the old adage of “all politics is local,” though his sanguinity would have been greater if he had the support of Representative Ron Paul (R-TX), who endorsed Michael Cloud, a Republican.

Liberty Nation spoke with Tinus about Ron Paul, foreign policy, President Donald Trump, and his party’s chances of making history in November’s midterm elections.

You can read the rest here.

Here is my annual list of the best books I read over the last year (in no particular order):

• “Dumb Witness” – Agatha Christie
• “Crooked House” – Agatha Christie
• “Brave New World” – Aldous Huxley
• “The Little Sister” – Raymond Chandler
• “Playback” – Raymond Chandler
• “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” – D.H. Lawrence
• “Old Goriot” – Honore de Balzac
• “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” – Agatha Christie
• “Murder on the Orient Express” – Agatha Christie
• “Despair” – Vladimir Nabokov

Here is my 2016 list.

What makes the history of cinema so fascinating is that you keep coming across gems. After you think you have seen them all, more and more continue to pop up. Whether it is a riveting war movie or a drama that captures your heart, your search for the next great picture doesn’t end.

My wife and I said at the end of last year that there won’t be much to see in 2017. Boy, were we wrong!

Here are the top 10 films I watched in 2017 (in no particular order):

• “A Patch of Blue” (1965)
• “The Bedford Incident” (1965)
• “The Verdict” (1946)
• “The Story on Page One” (1959)
• “Odds Against Tomorrow” (1959)
• “The Last Holiday” (1950)
• “Five Fingers” (1952)
• “Street Scene” (1931)
• “Once a Thief” (1965)
• “Day of Wrath” (1943)

Here are five honourable mentions:

• “Woman on the Run” (1950)
• “Edge of the City” (1957)
• “Leather Boys” (1964)
• “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” (1962)
• “Dear Heart” (1964)

Well, that was fast – or was it? Perhaps it depends on your point of view.

It was a busy 2017 for business, markets, and economics. Billion-dollar acquisitions, anti-speech universities crumbling, and the Trump administration needing a necessary economics lesson. A lot happened.

Over at Liberty Nation, I wrote about the top 10 business, markets, and econ stories of 2017 in the United States.

Here is a brief rundown:

– Bitcoin
– Stock market
– GOP tax plan
– Jerome Powell
– U.S. debt
– U.S. shale revolution
– M&A activity
– Anti-speech universities
– Household debt
– Labor market

Read more here.

(I’ll be sure to write about the top underreported econ stories of 2017 at Economic Collapse News.)

I am designated as the Economics Correspondent at LibertyNation.com, but I regularly opine on foreign policy. Since being hired by the website this past spring, I have criticized neoconservatives, the Democrats, President Donald Trump, NATO and many other individuals and entities.

One of my foreign policy articles landed me a spot on RT’s “CrossTalk” in July, which was my very first television appearance.

After taking a look through my catalogue of news stories, op-eds and analytical pieces on LN, I decided to list my foreign policy articles here for future reference, or if anyone wants to republish or discuss the content.

Here they are:

Is NATO a Cult That Needs to be Disbanded?

Neocons and The Left Both Want War

U.S. Sanctions Pave Road to War

War is Alive and Well Under Trump Administration

Happy Birthday CIA, Well Maybe Not

Facebook Taps Neo-Conservative Outlets as Fake News Fact-Checkers

The Neocons’ African ‘Adventures’

Are the New Cuba Restrictions Going to Work?

Proposed Foreign Aid Cuts Merely a Good Start

Iranians Fight in Streets While Neocons and Journos Beat War Drums

I will try to update this post as much as I can.