“By now, a Lexington resident would have to be a recluse to not know that the area’s public school system is facing major financial problems. Coverage of issues like a $16 million budget shortfall and a contingency fund that might be only around $15 to $22 million — not the supposed $42 million — has gotten just about everyone’s attention. … One can only wonder what is going on when the district’s new, chief interim financial officer admits the district grossly overestimated revenue from property, motor vehicle and occupational taxes. Things got more odiferous when the Herald-Leader reported ‘Emails show suspended FCPS budget director warned of needed cuts’ after former district Budget director Ann Sampson-Grimes’[s] lawsuit broke. The suit alleges she was improperly removed from her position after trying to inform district leadership about serious budget issues.” (06/11/26)
“Look at our battered world, and you see two presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, caught in wars that they are struggling to finish. There’s a common theme with the Iran and Ukraine conflicts that we might call ‘the power trap.’ These two men can’t escape the consequences of their mistakes. Both leaders thought their enemies would capitulate in weeks. Both ignored advisers who warned that victory wouldn’t come so easily. Both still believe they can dictate the outcome, even as the chances of full success recede. Both have isolated themselves in bubbles of adulation and ignorance. The closer each gets to retreat, the more they seem to think that they’re winning.” ()6/11/26)
“Law professors have finally found a positive aspect of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overruled Roe v. Wade’s creation of constitutionally protected abortion rights. They claim that its jurisprudential logic requires overruling two of the cases most hated by the left-liberal legal academy — Buckley v. Valeo, which recognized the right of citizens to spend money on candidates and causes at election time, and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which invalidated a regime that required a license granted only under strict conditions to carry a gun. But these claims misunderstand the common originalist basis, if not all the reasoning, of these decisions.” (06/11/26)
Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by Elena Gutiérrez
“Since January 2026, when the intensification of US policies aimed at suffocating the Cuban people began, I have had the opportunity to travel to the island three times. Each time I return with my heart a little more broken, but also with a stronger conviction that we need to defend Cuba. As a Mexican, I have received, on behalf of my compatriots, thousands of expressions of gratitude and hugs that the Cuban people send to the Mexican people. Every time I am there, I speak about the empathy and understanding we have toward Cuba, about the great efforts ordinary Mexicans make to bring a few kilos of rice to collection centers. And when I listen to Cubans, I learn a little more about the deep history that unites us.” (06/11/26)
“Nicholas Lemann’s family history illuminates what it means to be Jewish in America and explains how we choose our religious and ethnic identities.” (06/11/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“In a recent article, I agreed with Justice Clarence Thomas that progressivism did (and still does) much damage to our body politic and our society. Obviously, the so-called intelligentsia in academe, politics, and the media didn’t agree. What really set off the critics, however, was Thomas’s claim that progressivism had helped pave the way for Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Hitler, of course, is universally hated while both Stalin and Mao — despite their mass murdering — were roundly praised by the western intellectuals and journalists. … [E]was not a minor point of progressive thinking and held only by a small minority at that. Instead, eugenics as promoted by American progressives was an important part of their entire belief system, which held to the supremacy of ‘science,’ as opposed to governance by mere passions.” (06/11/26)
“AI has gone from ‘dumber than a child’ to ‘expert level’ in a few years in many domains. The gap between ‘expert level’ and ‘above top geniuses’ is smaller, so we expect it to take less time. This has been a pattern in fields like chess and Go, where it’s only a been a few years from beating professional players at all to beating all humans.” (06/11/26)
“From goblin banks to unbreakable galleons, the wizarding world of Harry Potter reflects a form of folk economics that clashes with the realities of prosperity and growth.” (06/11/26)
