“Data center panic is fueled by concerns about electricity and water usage. Many Americans wrongly believe that data centers are driving up their electric bill, even though evidence suggests the exact opposite: Data centers may actually decrease electricity costs for their neighbors. Water use fears are even more unreasonable. Data centers don’t actually use all that much water. … California’s almond farms consume 4.2 billion gallons of waters per day, according to Reason‘s Christian Britschgi. Data centers consume just 46 million gallons per day. Those numbers will certainly rise over time, but compared to all the other things that use water — golf courses account for 1.4 billion gallons per day — it’s just a drop in the bucket.” (05/20/26)
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it coordinated the transit of 26 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, as talks between Washington and Tehran over the resumption of traffic through the narrow waterway remain stalled. ‘Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is being carried out with permission and in coordination with the IRGC Navy,’ the statement carried by Iran’s state-affiliated ISNA news agency said on Wednesday.” (05/20/26)
“Qualified immunity, which we discussed in part one, is typically an issue only with state and local police. But that’s only because the protections afforded to federal police make them nearly untouchable. Those federal protections are getting more attention as state and federal police increasingly work together on issues like drug enforcement, gangs, and immigration. It used to be that federal agents were few, making their immunities less important. But as federal law enforcement has grown, the importance of these exceptional protections has grown along with it.” (05/20/26)
“A former Department of Justice prosecutor is facing felony charges after emailing herself a sealed Biden-era investigative report concerning Donald Trump and attempting to hide the documents as cake recipes, federal authorities said on Wednesday. Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who worked as a managing assistant US attorney in Florida, is facing two counts of theft [sic] of government money or property in addition to charges related to her alleged alteration of the documents [by renaming them to obscure the emailing], according to the indictment. … Meanwhile, advocacy groups have sought to unseal the report through court appeals. It’s unclear why Lineberger sent the report to herself. She faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted of the charges.” [editor’s note: All DOJ reports are “public property” and “sealing” them is the crime – TLK] (05/20/26)
“The idea of ‘the general welfare’ was a cancer. It has metastasized to include anything the control freaks in government want power over. And, they want to be involved in absolutely everything; those few things they aren’t yet meddling with, they’ll point to and call ‘freedom.’ Until they also take that away. … As for those antiquated justifications for government? Now, government sends its military around the world, creating enemies out of thin air, ultimately threatening the safety of all Americans. They ignored Thomas Jefferson’s advice of trade with all nations; entangling alliances with none, and we’re paying the price. Here at home, you’re now more likely to have your life, liberty, or property violated by a government employee enforcing a rule or ‘law’ than by a freelance criminal.” (05/20/26)
“What do the conflicts in Ukraine, Iran and Lebanon have in common? They each demonstrate how technology permits a weak state or even a non-state actor to hold a powerful adversary at bay. They are asymmetric wars, conflicts in which one side fights for its survival while the other has a limited objective. ‘Asymmetric warfare’ is a new term for an old phenomenon. The U.S. gained its independence in an asymmetric war. The small Continental Army and state militias never faced the might of the British Empire …. The U.S. faced a similar dilemma in Vietnam. … The lessons of history did not stop Russia from getting bogged down in Ukraine, the U.S. from attacking Iran or Israel from invading Lebanon. Now, however, technology has enhanced the ability of the weaker adversary to counter the stronger.” (05/20/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jason Edmonds
“Tennessee taxpayers are about to spend millions on a Starbucks order they didn’t ask for. In April, the world’s largest coffee chain announced it would be opening a Southeast corporate office in Music City. The state has done well in attracting businesses, both large and small, through a low-tax, business-friendly environment. Yet those bigger businesses sometimes get a free upgrade, courtesy of state taxpayers, and the Starbucks move is brewing up to be a burn for Tennesseans. Despite the coffee chain’s public and vocal decision to open an office in Tennessee, state leaders act as if Starbucks needs more convincing or as if its profits aren’t ‘grande’ enough to cover office space.” (05/20/26)
“French investigators are probing allegations of embezzlement involving high-profile presidential candidate Édouard Philippe over the allocation of a digital hub contract in the northern port city of Le Havre where he is mayor, prosecutors have said. The 55-year-old centrist, an ex-prime minister seen as one of the strongest contenders in next year’s election to replace President Emmanuel Macron, denies the accusations. Polls suggest that Philippe, a centrist with his Horizons party, could successfully take on the far right and win the vote. His team said that he took note of the probe and would ‘answer the questions put to him by the judiciary as he has always done in a very serene manner.'” (05/20/26)
