Source: The Daily Economy
by Corey A DeAngelis
“Should taxpayers be required to subsidize unions’ lobbying for more taxpayer subsidies? Three states say ‘no, spend our money on students.'” (07/01/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/teachers-unions-are-losing-one-of-their-government-perks/
Source: Politico
“Running on an anti-establishment ticket.” (07/01/26)
Source: Cato Institute
“The Dangerous Push to Tax AI.” (06/30/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/dangerous-push-tax-ai
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Speaking Sunday night at the Trump Kennedy Center, where he was receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Bill Maher offered an excellent bit of advice for politicians who do not wish to be mocked: ‘Stop being funny.’ It is a simple thing, and a not-so-simple thing. When politicians are being ridiculous, Maher said, ‘I put them in jokes—jokes that work.’ Jokes that work is the key thing. It is axiomatic in comedy that the way to kill a joke is to explain it, but it is worth thinking about why and how Maher’s jokes, and other jokes about politicians, work. If politicians are to stop being funny, then they will need to answer the question: When are politicians funny? … Naked dishonesty in politicians is funny. So is incompetence. So is howling demagoguery. Quiet, unshowy competence is not very funny.” (07/01/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/bill-maher-politicians-humor/
Source: Reuters
“Anthropic said on Tuesday that the U.S. Commerce Department lifted export controls on its most advanced Fable and Mythos AI models, less than three weeks after the company was ordered to suspend their access over national security risks. Washington has stepped up oversight of new model releases to identify potential threats amid concerns that advanced AI models could be misused by military intelligence in China, Russia or other countries of concern. … Anthropic said the June 12 export-control order followed Amazon researchers reporting a way to bypass Fable 5’s safeguards, allowing the model to identify software vulnerabilities and, in one case, generate code demonstrating how one vulnerability could be exploited. Anthropic said it has now implemented a new safeguard that blocks the behavior described in the report.” (07/01/26)
Source: The New Republic
“MAGA Rage Takes Unnerving Turn as Birthright Loss Rattles Trump Badly.” (07/01/26)
Source: Antiwar.com
“Qatar Says No Direct US-Iran Talks, Israel Intensifies Military Operations in Gaza, and More.” (06/30/26)
Source: Washington Monthly
by Anne Kim
“The right-wing organization blames ‘feminism’ for falling fertility rates. Not surprisingly, its ‘solutions’ are hostile to women.” (07/01/26)
Source: Antiwar.com
by M Reza Behnam
“The February 2026 Iran war cannot be understood as an isolated event; but rather the outcome of over four decades of coordinated American and Israeli efforts to contain and topple the Islamic Republic. Similarly, Iran’s ability to withstand the military onslaught and emerge victorious must also be situated within that historical context. After weeks of U.S-Israeli bombardment, Iran has shown not only that it has been able to withstand an assault by the world’s strongest militaries, but that it could successfully exact substantial military, geopolitical and economic costs on its adversaries. Despite suffering significant damage, and the martyrdom of senior military commanders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the state survived. Tehran’s ability to maintain institutional continuity and operational resilience despite intense pressures could ultimately reshape the geopolitical landscape of West Asia.” (07/01/26)
Source: CounterPunch
by Binoy Kampmark
“Former US national security advisor John Bolton and President Donald J. Trump share traits neither probably knew they had. The latter, for one, is far more war-mongering than he let on to American voters, evidenced by his recently failed, disastrous foray into attacking Iran. Bolton, on the other hand, has been a consistent war addict …. That other commonly shared trait between the two is a rather sketchy approach to handling classified documents.” (07/01/26)