Source: The Daily Economy
by Jeffery L Degner
“The Church Committee exposed sweeping abuses by America’s intelligence agencies 50 years ago. Section 702’s recent reauthorization suggests lawmakers are increasingly comfortable with expansive spying on American citizens.” (05/07/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by Stephen P Halbrook
“Post-Bruen, courts have sought to uphold restrictions that ban firearms in various ‘sensitive places’ based on a misunderstanding of the Founding-era offense of going armed in a manner that terrorized the public. Antonyuk v. James upheld New York’s place restrictions based on its claim that Founding-era Virginia and North Carolina laws banned going armed per se in fairs and markets. However, it conceded that Virginia only prohibited going armed ‘in terror of the Country,’ but maintained that North Carolina had no such element of the offense, adding that place restrictions in the late 19th century followed the North Carolina model. That historical tradition of regulation, the Second Circuit held, justifies New York’s current law.” (05/06/26)
Source: Foreign Policy
by Adam Weinstein
“The United States’[s] leaders are still chasing the fantasy of a perfect war—one in which Washington’s technological and logistical might leads to a clear, swift victory. It’s a misconception rooted in what U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal called the ‘three great seductions’ of modern warfare: covert action, surgical special operations raids, and airpower. Together, they sustain the illusion that war can be precise and controlled.” (05/06/26)
Source: Reason
by Christian Britschgi
“Despite their limited negative externalities and extreme economic importance, people’s hatred of data centers is only growing.” (05/07/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/07/expect-the-data-center-backlash-to-get-worse/
Source: Town Hall
by Victor Davis Hanson
“For the past century, the agendas of the Democratic Party were predictable. They professed concern for working Americans and supported blue-collar unions. Unemployment insurance, a 40-hour work week, disability insurance, and Social Security were their trademarks — often rapidly achieved by growing government bureaucracies and continually raising taxes. Still, many Democrats were socially conservative. By the 1970s, Democrats still deplored antisemitism. Party officials had rejected their own segregationists to champion civil rights. Presidents like Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy all supported strong defense and military deterrence. All that is now passe. The only vestigial Democrat left in Congress is Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, himself roundly despised by Democrat leaders. Today, supporting Israel and calling for campuses to stop their institutionalized antisemitism is Democratic political suicide.” (05/07/26)
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Brian Yablonski
“Theodore Roosevelt coined the term ‘crowded hour’ about his moments of battle in the Spanish-American War. When I think of Ted Turner’s life, the bigger term ‘crowded life’ comes to mind. His impact on how we communicate and take our news today all starts with his founding of CNN. And who hasn’t pulled up an old film on Turner Classic Movies as late-night comfort food? Speaking of comfort food, he almost single handedly reintroduced the bison at scale to the West and bison meat to the world through his Ted’s Montana Grill restaurants. But these episodes in a crowded life are not Ted’s most consequential impact. His true lasting impact will have been on the larger natural world.” (05/06/26)
https://www.perc.org/2026/05/06/reflecting-on-ted-turners-crowded-life/
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Elias Tsapelas
“As Missouri’s legislative session winds down, lawmakers took a major step toward eliminating the state’s individual income tax. Both chambers of the general assembly approved HJRs 173 and 174, a proposed constitutional amendment. Voters will now decide whether to authorize the legislature to begin the process of phasing out the income tax. Here’s a short summary of what voter approval of the amendment would set in motion …” (05/06/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/a-big-step-toward-ending-the-income-tax/
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“In exercising their liberty, some people will do things that offend you. Many people want you to believe if they’ve been offended, they’ve been violated somehow. They haven’t. Being offended isn’t the same as having your life, liberty, or property violated, even though weak people who want to control others often use this ploy. Don’t play along.” (05/06/26)
Source: TomDispatch
by Eduardo Galeano
“In 1919 Rosa Luxemburg, the revolutionary, was murdered in Berlin. Her killers bludgeoned her with rifle blows and tossed her into the waters of a canal. Along the way, she lost a shoe. Some hand picked it up, that shoe dropped in the mud. Rosa longed for a world where justice would not be sacrificed in the name of freedom, nor freedom sacrificed in the name of justice. Every day, some hand picks up that banner. Dropped in the mud, like the shoe. The peons on the farms of Argentina’s Patagonia went out on strike against stunted wages and overgrown workdays, and the army took charge of restoring order. Executions are grueling. On this night in 1922, soldiers exhausted from so much killing went to the bordello at the port of San Julián for their well-deserved reward. But the five women who worked there closed the door in their faces and chased them away, screaming, ‘You murderers! Murderers, get out of here!'” (05/07/26)
Source: Understanding AI
by Timothy B Lee
“Recently, there has been a lot of excitement about AI agents like Claude Code and OpenClaw. Much of the hype is justified. Claude Code really is revolutionizing computer programming, and agents like OpenClaw very well might transform other parts of the economy and our daily lives. Industry leaders expect even bigger changes in the near future. In an interview last month, Sam Altman said that OpenAI is aiming to build an ‘automated AI researcher’ by March 2028. Some people expect this (or similar breakthroughs by rivals) to set off a recursive self-improvement loop that radically accelerates scientific and technological progress. That might happen eventually, but I think it will take a while.” (05/06/26)
https://www.understandingai.org/p/i-dont-think-we-are-close-to-ai-scientists