Source: RealClearPolitics
by Mark Mayfield & Megan Cannedy
“Headlines for the past few weeks have capitalized on the cruel connotations surrounding conversion therapy, proclaiming that the United States Supreme Court struck down ‘a conversion therapy ban.’ The problem is that the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision that included Justices Kagan and Sotomayor, told Colorado something that needed to be said: Your law was never actually about that. Chiles v. Salazar is being reported as a ‘conversion therapy’ ruling. That framing is a political bait-and-switch. What the court struck down was a government mandate on what therapists may say to a consenting minor, forbidden words depending entirely on which direction they pointed. That is not a ban on conversion therapy. That is ideological discrimination dressed in therapeutic clothing.” (04/14/26)
“Like the old Wild West, the Moon offers the prospect of resources to exploit and land to settle. Artemis II’s successful mission is just the beginning.” (04/14/26)
“Thanks to NCLA, I paid nothing to sue the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for violating my Fourth Amendment rights except some of my time, a little here and a little there, spread over half a decade. The suit never went to trial, so I did not even have to appear in court, though I could have gone to a preliminary hearing once if I wanted. I declined because I had already fled Massachusetts for distant freer climes. I also received nothing from the settlement except the satisfaction of helping to make my fellow Americans a little less like the subjects of a monarchy and a little more like the citizens of a free country. My name came first on the plaintiff side because I was the first to sign on, blazing a trail that made it easier for others aggrieved to join later.” (04/14/26)
“Amazon.com said on Tuesday it would acquire Globalstar in an $11.57 billion deal, bolstering its fledgling satellite business as it tries to catch up with Elon Musk’s Starlink. Tech companies are pouring in billions of dollars to capture the lucrative market for satellite-based connectivity, but it will be a tall order to match Starlink’s 10,000-unit-strong network. Through the deal, Amazon adds Globalstar’s two dozen satellites to its existing network of more than 200. Amazon has been working to ramp up its network by deploying about 3,200 satellites in Earth’s low orbit by 2029, with roughly half required to be in place by a July regulatory deadline. It is also preparing to roll out its satellite internet services later this year.” (04/14/26)
“U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s effort to investigate possible criminal contempt by Kristi Noem and other senior Trump administration officials in connection with deportation flights last year has been blocked — for the second time — by a bitterly divided appeals court panel. In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that Boasberg, the chief federal district court judge in Washington, had overstepped his authority by continuing to pursue possible contempt charges against administration officials who signed off on deportations to El Salvador despite the judge’s effort to halt them.” (04/14/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Lawrence W Reed
“When Liberty International in collaboration with Libertarianism.org engaged me a year ago to apply the insights of Leonard E. Read’s famous 1958 essay, ‘I, Pencil,’ to the smartphone, I eagerly accepted the challenge. All of us involved in the project believed that it was time to ‘update’ the essay by adapting its message to a product everybody uses today. Why? Because, we thought, pencils are fading into memory, overtaken by a growing number of competing writing implements. Then I ran across some information that surprised me. Global pencil production is actually setting records year after year.” (04/14/26)
“To build public support for rolling back marriage rights, new campaigns have been repeating the claims that legal recognition of same-sex marriages may harm children or even the stability of different-sex marriages. These are some of the same concerns that were raised in the years prior to the Obergefell decision. They were groundless then, and, more than 10 years later, the data confirm these fears to be unfounded.” (04/14/26)
