“This month marks 20 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New London. This 5-4 ruling upheld the Court’s rational basis deference to legislatures in determining whether economic development (jobs, tax revenue, etc.) satisfies ‘public use,’ even when the government conveys the seized property to other private parties. Although Kelo was pretty controversial at the time, interest in it has naturally waned over the years. Under this diminishing spotlight, governments have gotten ever more creative in the ways they exercise eminent domain.” (06/26/25)
“Bryan Caplan raises a curious point in his essay The Strange Economics of HOT Lanes – if the private company in charge of congestion pricing on I-66 outside the Beltway is attempting to maximize profit, why does it seem to set the price so high as to keep the number of paying users low? Is it because the simple economics assumption of profit-maximizing firms fails in reality? Or are there hidden constraints that make the seemingly irrational price sensible? As it turns out, the evidence supports the latter interpretation.” (06/26/25)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sean Stevens & John Coleman
“As artificial intelligence plays a growing role in political discourse, lawmakers across the country have rushed to propose new regulations over fears that misinformation will proliferate with the new technology. But new polling suggests these efforts may not fully reflect public sentiment and serve as a red flag for lawmakers when their state legislatures reconvene in the fall. A recent national survey conducted by Morning Consult for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression finds that American voters strongly support prioritizing free speech when crafting AI regulations, even amid growing concerns about AI’s impact.” (06/26/25)
“At this week’s NATO summit in The Hague, leaders announced an alarming new goal: push military spending to 5% of nations’ GDP by 2035. Framed as a response to rising global threats, particularly from Russia and terrorism, the declaration was hailed as a historic step. But in truth, it represents a major step backwards—away from addressing the urgent needs of people and the planet, and toward an arms race that will impoverish societies while enriching weapons contractors. This outrageous 5% spending target didn’t come out of nowhere—it’s the direct result of years of bullying by U.S. President Donald Trump. During his first term, Trump repeatedly berated NATO members for not spending enough on their militaries, pressuring them to meet a 2% GDP threshold that was already controversial and so excessive that nine NATO countries still fall below that ‘target.'” (06/26/25)
“If you want to hear what Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ would sound like as yacht rock, or how Freddie Mercury might sound covering Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way,’ all you have to do is a quick Google search or run a new AI music generation app and you can instantly hear it for yourself. Or, can you? For some, this newfound capacity of AI algorithms represents the death knell of human creativity. After all, if an AI can instantly compose a song, draft a novel, or create visual art tailored precisely to our whims, flawlessly executing artistic ideas without the talent, skill, and practice that humans require to do the same, what incentive remains for us mere mortals to even bother creating? But I think this profoundly misunderstands the purpose of art and creative expression.” (06/26/25)
“I think a lot of humanity’s problems come down to the fact that most people cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. Some people are ideologues. They see the big-picture. They like rigid ideologies, clear rules, and systems. They’re very motivated by what they think is moral. Other people are activists. They like practical politics, action plans, white papers, studies, surveys, and polls. They’re very motivated by what they think will work. These two types tend to misunderstand and hate each other. For example: feminism.” (06/26/25)
“How deranged are the Trump-deranged? Are the deep-state leakers and their Democratic media mouthpieces so blinded by their hatred for the president that they will go to treasonous lengths just to deny him a victory? Or are they simply hellbent on provoking a full-scale war with Iran? CNN’s exclusive report of a leaked top secret US intelligence assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency on Tuesday suggested that the weekend B-2 bunker-buster sortie in Iran was a flop. This conveniently contradicted Trump’s claim that it was ‘a spectacular military success’ that had ‘completely and totally obliterated’ Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities and overshadowed the startlingly good news that the president had somehow pulled off a cease-fire between Iran and Israel, which was still holding more than 40 hours later, when we went to press.” [editor’s note: How is reporting news “treasonous” just because it makes Devine’s orange god look stupid? – TLK] (06/25/25)
“There is no agreement, pledge, or promise Donald Trump won’t break. His unwillingness to constrain his whims, impulses, and narcissism produces moral outrages and an ongoing threat to our democracy. However, it also creates an insoluble problem in our foreign policy: Who would ever make a deal with him?” (06/26/25)
