“Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Wednesday against eight pro-Palestinian activists who are accused of conspiring to run a criminal intimidation campaign against University of Michigan officials while trying to force the school to cut financial ties to Israel. The indictment also describes vandalism against some companies that operate in Michigan and against the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. … The document highlights several incidents that made headlines in the past few years, including fake bloody corpses that were placed on an elected university board member’s lawn and the spray-painting of anti-Israel messages at the home of the school’s president at the time, Santa Ono.” (06/10/26)
“When discussions turn to free expression in higher education, a common assumption is that those with the lowest amount of job security feel the least free to speak. Junior faculty, adjunct instructors, and others without tenure are often presumed to be the most cautious, while senior professors are presumed to enjoy and exercise greater freedom to study, teach, or debate whatever they want without fear of reprisal. And survey data does support this. For example, among faculty in the academy at large non-tenured faculty are more likely to self-censor than tenured/tenure-track faculty. But results from FIRE’s 2026 survey of nearly 2,000 law faculty suggest the reality may be more complicated.” (06/09/26)
“House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that he would like to bring in acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and high-profile attorney Alan Dershowitz as part of his panel’s probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The desire to bring in Blanche comes after former Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a transcribed interview with the panel last month, repeatedly noted that Blanche had been tapped to lead many of the decisions surrounding the release of the Epstein files. Dershowitz, meanwhile, previously represented Epstein and helped secure a highly scrutinized plea deal for Epstein in 2008. Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre had accused Epstein of trafficking her to Dershowitz, which Dershowitz had denied; she later recanted the accusation as part of a settlement.” (06/10/26)
“Donald Trump’s policies, especially his war on Iran, are having the unintended effect of accelerating the very green transition project he scorns. The Left must ensure the renewable energy build-out advances the well-being of the US working class.” (06/09/26)
“Kennedy facilitated important changes in U.S.-Soviet relations. Less than two months later, the two nations and Great Britain signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited weapons testing in the atmosphere and in the water. The signatories agreed to work toward ending the arms race and, ultimately, complete disarmament. The treaty didn’t succeed — but that doesn’t mean it didn’t matter. Kennedy’s efforts showed how bitter rivals could nevertheless work toward a common goal. Though he wouldn’t live to see them, future diplomatic efforts enabled even the most ideologically opposed regimes to build institutions that constrained humanity’s worst impulses.” (06/09/26)
“The American Revolution was revolutionary. That’s the deceptively simple claim to which Gordon Wood, the historian who was tragically killed at the age of 92 on Sunday, devoted his career. The Revolution, of course, overthrew a monarchy — but the freedoms it advanced were unequally enjoyed, and the Founders left a great deal undone. But Wood insisted that, even so, we not lose sight of its fundamental character.” ()6/09/26)
