Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Wendy McElroy
“The U.S. border and the requirements for U.S. citizenship or residency are defining issues of this decade. But almost all the attention they receive focuses on one side of the coin: namely, how to control immigration and who is entitled to citizenship or residency. The other side: how easily can Americans emigrate and renounce their citizenship? Expatriation is rare in comparison to the deluge of immigration in recent years, but the ease with which a citizen can become an expatriate is a litmus test of a government’s authoritarianism. How tight a grip does America claim to have over an individual and his wealth because of a geographical accident of birth? Exit taxes provide an answer.” (06/04/26)
“It may be 64 years after the New York Mets losing 120 baseball matches in their debut season led manager Casey Stengel to plead ‘Can’t anyone here play this game?’ Yet The Wall Street Journal columnist William A. Galston notes that the same question could still apply to another ‘two monumentally inept teams.’ … Galston has in mind the Democrats and Republicans, ‘Capitol Hill’s Unlovable Losers’ (May 27). Less than two full years after the 2024 presidential election, Galston has merely to nod at the former party’s abject failure to learn from their loss, and the latter’s squandering of what little momentum remains from their win.” (06/04/26)
“Some argue that to sacralize others is not a legal contrivance, but an ontological discovery. Rights are real, some insist. Rights are a derivation, others argue. We need not settle that debate. Every tradition that has ever produced wisdom — whether Mosaic, Stoic, Vedic, or Taoist — arrives at the same conclusion: To trespass upon others without cause is not merely a crime, it is a desecration. … The very foundation of law, in every civilization that has not entirely lost its way, is an elaboration on this. One may not injure the innocent. One may not seize what is not his. One may not constrain a person without justification sufficient to meet the scrutiny of a free people who seek similar protections.” (06/04/26)
“The evidence is persuasive that AI and related advances are already boosting the economy in the most important way possible, by raising productivity. That’s the biggest reason that GDP is surprising on the upside while job growth remains tepid. Moreover, forecasts that this favorable windage will accelerate seem highly credible. What’s not credible is the idea that even an AI-led productivity surge can suffice to offset our decades of dereliction. The Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve, and other forecasters peg average future economic growth at a little under 2 percent. Assume a 70 percent boost from the AI revolution, to 3 percent or so, and it becomes possible to imagine our [sic] current debt level stabilizing, not improving but merely getting no worse. But even this daydream requires far too many improbable breaks.” [editor’s note: The US government debt isn’t “our” debt, it’s the US government’s debt. There’s a difference – TLK] (06/04/26)
“Progressives rallying around the troubled candidacy of Graham Platner, the habitually dishonest skirt-chasing Totenkopf enthusiast challenging that nice Maine lady for a Senate seat, have learned precisely the wrong lessons from Republicans’ experience with Donald Trump, an experience that has left the GOP morally debased and ethically discredited and—perhaps Republicans will actually care about this part—unable to get much of what it wants politically. Legitimate issues, such as immigration control and abortion regulation, have been tainted by association with Trump and Trumpism, which means dishonesty and stupidity in the formulation of policy followed by incompetence and corruption in the execution of policy. Progressives will get the same thing from such a figure as Platner.” (06/04/26)
“‘Trump is a convicted felon!’ Who hasn’t heard this attack line made constantly by critics of President Donald Trump? For them, Trump’s conviction settles the debate about his character and fitness for office. But consider what one prominent legal analyst — not from Fox News, Newsmax or a conservative publication — wrote about the case. The charge against Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg boils down to this. Trump recorded payments connected to the Stormy Daniels matter as legal expenses. Bragg transformed that into 34 felony counts and secured a conviction in a jurisdiction where Trump remains unpopular. Elie Honig, CNN’s senior legal analyst, outlined his objections in New York Magazine. He was brutal.” (06/04/26)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Rachel Levine & Maggie Zhang
“High-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology is widely recognized as the preferred solution for long-distance power transmission, but it also plays a critical role in ‘back to back’ connections that transfer power between neighboring grids. Electricity sharing among the nation’s three grid interconnections relies entirely on these back-to-back facilities, but most were built decades ago and have limited transfer capability. Upgrading these HVDC back-to-backs is an opportunity to help meet the nation’s rapidly rising demand for energy.” (06/04/26)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Cooper Quintin
“Meta has deployed facial recognition code to millions of their always-on surveillance glasses, according to new reporting by Wired. EFF’s Threat Lab was able to confirm that the facial recognition code is present through static analysis of the application. This dangerous new Meta functionality stores faceprints as a series of 2,048 numbers uniquely representing the positioning of a person’s facial features. When this feature is activated, it will convert every new face in the sightlines of the surveillance glasses into a series of numbers, and compare it to all the existing faceprints in the user’s database. Wired and EFF confirmed that the code is present and active, though not yet exposed to consumers.” (06/04/26)
“In our College Free Speech Rankings survey, we ask students how often they feel they cannot express their opinions. Around one in six say they self-censor fairly often or very often. What can we say about what causes this? First, self-censorship is more common on the right …. Why are conservatives, and especially conservative women, more likely to self-censor? One reason might be to hide their political beliefs from professors (who skew heavily liberal) in order to get a better grade in class …” (06/04/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna falsely reported that antiwar activist Medea Benjamin ‘smacked’ her during a confrontation on Thursday, subsequently calling the police in an effort to get the Code Pink leader charged with assault. If you watch the video of the so-called ‘assault,’ it’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen in your life. The 73 year-old activist barely grazes the clothing on Luna’s arm with her hand while speaking, after which the US Air Force veteran Luna collapses into a pile of blubbering victimhood. Benjamin reports that she was briefly detained by Capitol Police after the incident, but was released without charges after officers reviewed the video footage.” (06/04/26)
