“A bipartisan House bill slated to be introduced on Thursday would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to order top artificial intelligence firms to shut down or slow AI models that the government deems too dangerous, according to legislative text viewed first by POLITICO. The proposal, dubbed the ‘AI Kill Switch Act’ and sponsored by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), would also require those companies to report incidents and create the technical capacity to shut down, throttle or suspend their powerful AI systems. The legislation comes days after OpenAI disclosed what it called an ‘unprecedented’ cyber incident in which two of its most advanced AI models escaped a sandboxed research environment and autonomously hacked into AI platform Hugging Face.”
(07/22/26)
“Immigration restrictionists are losing their collective minds over recently introduced legislation that would overhaul the H-2A visa program. Their loudest criticism centers on one provision involving undocumented agricultural workers already in the United States. We’ll come back to that provision shortly because understanding the rest of the bill provides important context. The bill in question is the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act, H.R. 9535. It was introduced on June 30 by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, and it boasts a bipartisan group of 51 original sponsors. You may think that the cosponsors are mostly moderates, but that’s not the case. Although the bill has bipartisan support, the cosponsors are overwhelmingly Republican and include Reps. Brian Jack (R-GA), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Austin Scott (R-GA), and Brett Guthrie (R-KY).” (07/22/26)
“President Donald Trump on Tuesday set a two-year deadline for manufacturers of generic drugs to move production plants to the United States, lest they face a 100 percent tariff. That would be a great way to jack up prices for lower-cost drugs that millions of Americans rely on — just ahead of the 2028 election. … Trump made lowering drug prices a central promise of his campaign. Voters will see these tariffs for what they are: a tax that will make health care more expensive.” (07/22/26)
“Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia said it attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, with a Saudi news agency later confirming one of the vessels was ablaze on Thursday. The strikes came after the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia – a move that current and former US officials said could significantly widen the US-Iran war and strain the American military. The US launched its 12th successive night of strikes against Iran, saying military targets were hit to degrade Tehran’s ability to attack commercial vessels. … Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it attacked US forces in Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem airbase, while the army said its attacks there included on the Arifjan and Doha camps.” (07/23/26)
“There has been a quiet expansion of ‘must be certified’ rules across trades and services marking a backward step toward ‘guild’ rules, and therefore marking a setback for the free exchange of goods and services. The pattern is real, and it rhymes with guild practice. Modern licensing schemes rarely announce themselves as guilds, but they perform the same function. They restrict entry, they raise the cost of setting up in a trade, and they hand incumbents a legal shield against new competition. The language has changed from ‘guild’ to ‘professional standards’ or ‘consumer protection,’ but the effect is often the same gate.” (07/22/26)
“Republicans in the United States House of Representatives have narrowly passed a massive $1.15bn military spending package, despite concerns from Democratic lawmakers over the price tag and enhanced military technology collaboration with Israel. The bill passed in the House on Wednesday by a margin of 216 to 212, largely adhering to party lines, with the exception of six Democrats who voted in favour and seven Republicans who opposed it. … The bill now faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Democrats are likely to object to the high cost at a time when the White House is moving to slash access to social programmes. Senate Democrats blocked debate on the NDAA in a vote last week, with Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it a ‘permission slip’ for the government’s war on Iran.” (07/23/26)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Athena Rem
“Televangelist Jerry Falwell once confessed in an interview to drunken sex with his unconscious mother in an outhouse. Except it wasn’t a real interview. It was a fake Campari ad in a 1983 issue of adult magazine Hustler. Falwell sued the magazine and its publisher Larry Flynt for emotional distress, libel, and invasion of privacy. … Flynt won the case, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988), because parody is not a statement of fact made with ‘actual malice’ and because print media, shows, or any other publications can generally criticize public figures under the First Amendment. Yet such critical speech is under fire today more than ever before.” (07/22/26)
