Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It’s all about the impulse to control. We come into this world boundless and free with eyes full of wonder, but within a few years our minds create and solidify a sense of self around which our mental lives revolve. We do this because we are helpless when we are born, and things happen which are uncomfortable or startling, so we naturally begin seeking out strategies to control what happens to us. Before you know it we’ve got vast spires of psychological architecture within us dedicated to using thought to promote the interests and security of an entirely symbolic me-character that we made up in our minds. And from that point on we are cut off from the Eden of perception.” (06/18/26)
“There is an indisputably crucial history of very close relations between Beijing and Pyongyang. In late 1950, PRC forces intervened in the war between communist North Korea and anti-communist South Korea (whose government was massively supported with military personnel and weaponry from the United States and other Western countries). The armistice that ended the fighting in 1953 left the Korean Peninsula split between two intensely hostile countries, with the United States and the PRC firmly backing their respective clients throughout the remainder of the Cold War. Despite that history, the current connection between the two communist states is decidedly more nuanced, ambiguous, and even contentious than the lips and teeth cliché would imply.” (06/18/26)
“From semiconductors to artificial intelligence, modern proposals for public ownership risk repeating the mistakes Smith identified 250 years ago.” (06/18/26)
“Code is speech (as ruled by a US district court and affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bernstein v. Department of Justice). AI models are code. Therefore, AI models are speech, and the government doesn’t get to control them. Not that the current administration, or any other, or Congress, or the courts, can be counted on to respect the Constitution. The ink wasn’t dry on that document before the American political establishment started ignoring its inconveniences. Which leaves Anthropic and other artificial intelligence firms in a bind. … As a practical matter, if Anthropic et al. want to innovate and compete in a growing market that’s already changing how the world works, they need to get away from the US government, which means getting away from the US.” (06/18/26)
Source: Washington Monthly
by David Lingelbach & Valentina Rodríguez Guerra
“Rule by the rich may look inevitable, but history shows it’s not. From ancient Greece to New Deal America to today’s Hungary, democracies have found ways to separate private fortunes from public power.” (06/18/26)
“Excuses protect us from guilt, but they also rob us of hope. The habit of denying responsibility may be one of the greatest obstacles to personal and social flourishing.” (06/18/26)
“Now that Graham Platner is officially the Democratic Party’s chosen candidate to face Sen. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins this November, his campaign staff and the far-left establishment that back him will undoubtedly spend the next five months trying to contain the fallout from his personal history. They will ask voters to look past the domestic abuse allegations, the rhetoric glorifying political violence, the racially charged comments and the Nazi tattoo. They will argue that those controversies are distractions and urge Mainers to focus instead on the issues facing our state. As a Republican serving in the Maine House, I wholeheartedly agree. Because when Mainers look beyond the colorful Platner headlines and turn their focus to his policies, they will find an extreme version of the same progressive agenda that has already made life harder for working families across our state.” (06/18/26)
“According to the International Energy Agency, the increase in low-emission power generation last year had already outstripped electricity supply growth, almost all of which was solar and wind as coal- and oil-fuelled power generation dropped. Even more energy dominoes have begun falling since the start of the US-Iran war, aided by rising gasoline prices, as much as 30% in the US and Europe. Reaching 20 million new car sales (roughly 25%) in 2025, increased EV adoption is also putting a dent in global petroleum sales.” (06/18/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“Thanks in large part to the erratic and often-destructive policies coming from Donald Trump’s White House, the Democrats are favored to win both houses of Congress, as they hope to flip several Republican-held seats in the House and the Senate. One of the most closely-watched races is the Senate campaign in Maine, where upstart Democrat Graham Platner is favored to end Sen. Susan Collins’s long political career. Platner’s campaign has been deemed controversial mostly because of his unhinged behavior with women, his Nazi tattoo, and social media statements that alone would have disqualified most people even before they could run for office. … the political crudeness that has become the hallmark of Trump and his MAGA followers is not the reason that someone as morally compromised as Platner is now the darling of the Democratic Party. Instead, they love Platner because of his unabashed fealty to socialism.” (06/18/26)
“Understanding what has gone wrong with journalism in the US requires an understanding of what has gone wrong with the country’s journalism schools.” (06/18/26)
