“If you really want to get a European politician wound up, try suggesting that, in the 21st century, human civilization has progressed to the point that we need not be at the mercy of the elements; if the temperature outside is uncomfortable, we can adjust the climate in our homes and businesses to our taste. That will get you a stuffy lecture about the virtues of suffering for the good of the planet. Well, unless powerful people are being inconvenienced; then the air conditioning comes on.” (07/06/26)
“In ‘The Rise of Hip Capitalism,’ author Joseph de León traces how Rolling Stone fused countercultural rebellion with entrepreneurial ambition, turning cultural dissent into a media empire.” (07/06/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“How can Trump condemn socialism and communism in the run-up to the mid-terms, given that he fell in love with the brutal communist dictator of North Korea and is now partnering with the brutal socialist-communist regime in Venezuela? Or is that Trump is only prejudiced against Democratic Party socialists and communists but has nothing against foreign socialists and communists?” (07/06/26)
“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has finally reached his Terry Malloy moment. In the classic movie ‘On the Waterfront’, the character tells his brother of losing it all; his shot to be a champion and a person of respect: ‘You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.’ Shapiro decided to deliver his defining moment on MS NOW’s ‘Morning Joe’ when he abandoned all principle and decided to join other Democratic establishment leaders in offering up the Supreme Court to the radical left. Shapiro used the common coded reference to court packing, calling for ‘radical reform of the court’. The only ‘radical’ reform being seriously discussed is packing the institution with an immediate liberal majority to reverse a series of recent decisions and to greenlight an equally radical agenda for changes to our political system.” (07/05/26)
“President Donald Trump has proved, yet again, why America’s founders wisely insisted that only Congress could declare war. The legislative branch must empower the government’s chief executive to, in the words of Constitutional Convention delegate James Wilson, ‘involve us in such distress.’ Had Trump followed the law, he may never have launched his disastrous attack on Iran. Yet much worse would be a conflict between the U.S. and People’s Republic of China.” (07/06/26)
“In the annals of policy, strategy and budgeting, the AUKUS pact comprising Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States will be seen as one of the most mindless, absurd projects of tiny, poorly furnished minds. Not for those in the UK and US, with both receiving Croesus-rich dollops of Australian cash for stuttering submarine programs. Not for flabby think tankers who repeatedly run out bills on the advisory circuit lauding the importance of costly boats and the China threat. It will be down to Australian government officials, elected and appointed, who seek the imaginary assurance of nuclear-powered submarines that they do not need, expending money they can scarce afford (AU$368 billion), while surrendering the country’s sovereignty in carefree, even treasonous manner.” (07/06/26)
“The following invented interview has been edited for clarity and length: Norman Solomon: You’ve downplayed the importance of the individual in history. But the United States now has as president an individual who transformed power relations and the political landscape. Karl Marx: I can assure you that he did not do that by himself. Power relations are class relations. And by the way, I never said individuals are irrelevant to history. I exhorted individuals to get involved in changing history. NS: President Trump has rolled back gains from the last hundred years and more. Also, he’s mentally unstable, to put it mildly. KM: The basics still hold. As I wrote in 1869 about a situation in France where a cult existed around a tyrant, the class struggle ‘created circumstances and relationships that made it possible for a grotesque mediocrity to play a hero’s part’.” (07/06/26)
