“You could almost feel sorry for Joe Biden when he crashed his wife Jill’s debut book talk in New York last week. Standing in the shadows at the 92nd Street Y, and with no microphone in sight, the former president looked lost as he rasped at his wife: ‘Who do you love most in the whole world?’ Up on stage, resplendent in a pastel skirt suit in her starring role alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Jill responds, ‘Whoopi,’ laughs and turns on her stiletto heel. Maybe it was a comedy routine the former first couple had practiced, but it fell flat. There wasn’t much laughter from the audience. Who humiliates her 83-year-old husband in public to try to boost lackluster book sales? ‘Dr.’ Jill Biden, that’s who …” (06/07/26)
“The average parent of a young American child is now a Millennial. They remember growing up with technology, with computer class, with laptops in high school. They have cellphones, use the internet, and may even work in tech or communications. They have concerns about technology but are happy to incorporate it into their family life when it makes sense. However, they are often deeply shocked when they find out that their 4 year-old is about to be given a Chromebook or an iPad upon entry to kindergarten. They think: isn’t that a little young? They discover that this is now common practice. According to 2022 data, 73% of K-2 classrooms have a 1-to-1 device policy. They ask: Who made this decision?” (06/07/26)
“The harsh reality is that while Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender are each specific categories of people who are traditionally Queer, ‘LGBT’ itself is more of a brand than an identity. It is a label used to market these sexual and/or gender minorities to straight people for mainstream consumption. Liberals love it because it’s clean and neat and hyper-specific. Everybody gets a letter and every letter fits into a consumer-friendly box.” (06/07/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish
“As immigrant prisoners inside Newark’s Delaney Hall enter their third week of collective action against increasingly inhumane conditions, attorneys for the private prison company that runs it are attempting a new gambit to evade responsibility. GEO Group lawyers argued in a recent court filing that the company is exempt from legal action because it is subject to government oversight …. Plaintiffs allege that GEO systematically forced Aurora, Colorado, ICE prisoners into forced labor, a similar complaint to that of detainees in Delaney Hall. But GEO says it has ‘qualified immunity,’ a doctrine the Supreme Court invented out of whole cloth that is meant to protect government officials from cases brought against them as individuals.” (06/08/26)
“The cacophony for and against vaccines – even what is a vaccine is in broad dispute – has reached new level of deafening absurdity. There isn’t just one rabbit hole but hundreds. Compliance is tanking, which is what one would expect after brutal mandates and ubiquitous injury and death. Meanwhile, pharma bots are dominating social media to shame dissidents, while legacy media turns news pages into nonstop shot-and-pill advertising. Everyone is left with questions about whom to trust and what is true. Several states have already seceded from the CDC’s own attempt to change the childhood schedule even slightly. That’s how contentious this issue has become. My thesis: this epistemic nihilism is born of the deliberate subversion of economic signaling systems that would otherwise reveal inconvenient truths.” (06/07/26)
“By virtually any metric, Trump is devoted to central economic planning and government control of American industry. To, that is, socialism. What separates him from other, actually admitted, socialists like [US Senator Bernie] Sanders and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t that they’re any more or less committed to ‘socialism,’ it’s the specific TYPE of socialism.” (06/07/26)
“After a trip to Japan, tourists often return dazzled by the beauty of the land, the politeness of the people, the safety of the cities, the world-class transportation systems, and the delicious food. Many also come away with the impression that Japan enjoys a high degree of economic and personal freedom. Construction flourishes. Businesses thrive. Goods from all over the world are available, and shopping seems to be a national pastime. Homeless people are nowhere to be seen. People travel freely throughout the country. But behind Japan’s economic success lies a government and a legal system that clearly prioritize social stability and group harmony over individual rights.” (06/07/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Last month’s summit meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping — during which the leaders signed over 40 cooperation agreements and deepened their nations’ strategic partnership — provides just the latest sign that diplomatic, economic, and military cooperation between Russia and China is robust and continues to rise. That trend is profoundly distressing to political and media elites in the United States, most of whom are fervent defenders of America’s fading global hegemony. But they can hardly claim that Russian–Chinese cooperation was unforeseeable, considering Washington’s own clumsy and inept policies have been its chief cause, as many warned would be the case. Hostile measures that successive, post-Cold War U.S. administrations pursued toward Moscow virtually drove Russia into Beijing’s arms.” (06/07/26)
