“New York farmers can start submitting applications for up to $25,000 in relief from the state as part of a $30 million aid effort aimed at easing the hit to farmers from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday. Over the last year, Trump has imposed an array of tariffs, including a global 10% tariff and retaliatory tariffs on China, which led Beijing to levy its own tariffs on U.S. soybean exports. … The program, which will be funded by a $30 million allocation in the state budget, will grant direct payments starting at $1,000 to eligible agricultural producers, including dairy farmers and those working with livestock, specialty crops and aquaculture.” (06/29/26)
“For much of the eighty years following the end of the Second World War, there existed a healthy, sometimes fierce competition among Democrats regarding the US and its role in the world: On one side, there were what I call the Rooseveltians; on the other side, the Achesonians. The competition between the two camps shaped US foreign policy throughout the Cold War. It was only with the arrival of the post-Cold War era that the competition dried up—and turned into a rout in which the Achesonians triumphed. The dueling camps take their names from, of course, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) and Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893–1971).” (06/28/26)
“This! Dearest motherfuckers! Is the Pride Industrial Complex! A network of once-benevolent LGBTQ+ organizations, operated by rich old white lesbians, spending most of their time and millions of your donation dollars on throwing parades just so they can raise enough money to throw more goddamn parades, all of which serve little other purpose than to offer diabolical corporations and two-timing politicians’ platforms to celebrate themselves celebrating diversity while they murder entire populations behind the rainbow flag. What more can I say without literally smashing things? Big money does hideous things to beautiful people and beautiful things for hideous operations.” (06/28/26)
“After becoming the first in the world to implement a social media ban for those under 16, Australia isn’t doubling down. In a press release, the Australian government announced that it will double the maximum penalty for any social media companies breaking its minimum age law, from 49.5 million to 99 million AUD, or more than $68 million. … Along with the new penalty threshold, the Australian government is granting its eSafety [sic] Commissioner, Julie Grant, more enforcement power. Now, the commissioner can demand social media companies provide evidence of how they’re stopping children under 16 years old from starting an account. Notably, the Australian agency can gather evidence regarding compliance with the ban from third parties, like from age verification or app store providers, according to the press release.” (06/28/26)
“Next month, Americans mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. Although the present US Constitution was written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and first implemented in 1789, during the anniversary celebrations this summer we can expect to hear widespread encomia to the genius of the Constitution as well as of the eloquence of Thomas Jefferson’s preamble to the declaration. Don’t believe it. While it was a milestone for its era, the US Constitution is deeply flawed. The most successful contemporary democracies have learned from America’s mistakes in designing their own, more recent national constitutions. Pious American patriots sometimes say that ‘the Founders built better than they knew.’ In reality, the Founders botched the job.” (06/28/26)
“Overnight air strikes by Pakistani forces have killed at least 36 civilians and injured more than 160 others, Afghan officials said Monday, as tensions between the neighbours further escalated. Pakistani security forces carried out a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said. They said the operations were launched in response to multiple militant attacks across Pakistan. … The Pakistani security operation followed a militant attack targeting the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi that killed three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another assailant, whom the military identified as an Afghan national in wounded condition. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack.” (06/29/26)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“Among social media commenters, columnists, and even heads of state, it’s a typical refrain: If we just rid ourselves of that pesky internet anonymity and pseudonymity, we will have a cleaner, better, happier world. Anonymity, the common sentiment goes, is the weapon of the evil and the cruel. Despite some prevalent misconceptions, anonymity is not an invention of social media, email, or the internet age. The American founding fathers, for example, took great advantage of pseudonymous and anonymous expression, as have denizens of Rome for hundreds of years on the city’s ‘talking statues.’ Opposition to anonymity is not new either — far from it. … Anonymity and pseudonymity are not weapons trained upon the vulnerable. Rather, anonymity is the protector of the vulnerable, the shield between them and consequences ranging from embarrassment to social fallout to the worst forms of government oppression.” (06/26/26)
