Starmer’s social-media ban will do huge harm to young people
Source: spiked
by Emma Gillan
“Children and teenagers need more freedom, not less.” (06/17/26)
Category: Opinion
Hey, POTUS, The Point of the War Was What Again?
Source: Antiwar.com
by David Stockman
“Self-evidently, the reason for the attack is not that Iran was days, weeks or months away from a nuke: Even the Donald’s own former DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, had recently affirmed in Congressional testimony that the long-standing assessment of the US intelligence agencies that Iran had ceased all research and activities designed to weaponize HEUs was still the case, and with a high degree of confidence. Likewise, the January 2026 street uprisings throughout Iran, which had been the catalyst for war that Netanyahu had peddled to the SUCKER he finally found in the Oval Office, has long since become a moot point. … what the hell was the reason for going to war on February 28th when there was no bomb and, self-evidently, no prospect of a regime change uprising, as MOU item #3 makes clear as a bell?” (06/17/26)
Iran, US, and Israel: Which will win a peace within?
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Of all the reasons that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has ceased, leading to a tentative deal, at least one had a common thread: Each nation seemed to worry more about internal political ruptures than about winning the war. In each country, then, a desire to keep hold of national cohesion might have helped silence the guns – and could influence the difficult negotiations still to come. In Israel, for example, a newly released poll showed some 55% of the public sees internal political polarization as the most dangerous threat to the country’s existence – far more than threats of violence from Iran. That widespread concern over domestic friction also carries some hope for national unity. ‘It is possible to cultivate space of agreement in Israeli society, but it requires a practical action plan aimed at that, and not at defeating the identity-based rival,’ Yedidia Stern, president of the Jewish People Policy Institute that conducted the survey, told The Jerusalem Post.” (06/16/26)
My 40 Year War on Psychiatry
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“Forty years ago, I attended the annual meetings of the American Psychiatric Association in Washington and my sanity never recovered. Or at least that is what therapists presume based on my writings about their endless fabrication of bogus mental illnesses.” (06/16/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/06/16/my-40-year-war-on-psychiatry/
NY unions put a target on my back, for helping their members escape
Source: New York Post
by Aaron Withe
“I run the organization New York is trying to shut down. A few days ago, at the tail end of its legislative session, Albany lawmakers passed a bill giving Attorney General Letitia James sweeping new powers to investigate and fine any organization — even those based in other states — for communications she determines to ‘falsely impersonate’ a union. The fine is $1,000 per incident: $1,000 for every mailer or email my group, the Freedom Foundation, sends to tens of thousands of workers annually. The bill claims it’s meant to stop the impersonation of union representatives, but its real purpose is to stop groups like mine from telling public employees what their unions don’t want them to know: That they have a constitutional right to decline union membership and dues without losing their jobs.” (06/17/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/17/opinion/ny-unions-put-a-target-on-my-back-for-helping-members-escape/
This Land Is Your Land? This Land Is My Land.
Source: The Bulwark
by Michael Albertus
“The American Revolution began as a land grab. Our politics still revolve around the same hunger.” (06/17/26)
Does Immigration Lead to “Democratic Drain” and Illiberalism in Native Countries?
Source: The UnPopulist
by Stan Veuger
“A fascinating book by a political scientist says yes — but, in fact, there is strong evidence for the opposite case, too.” (06/16/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/does-immigration-lead-to-democratic
May Iran Keep Winning And The US Empire Keep Losing
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Everyone’s talking about the Memo of Understanding that has been reached between the US and Iran, set to be signed on Friday. All the most fanatical Zionist warmongers are rending their garments in heartbreak over the development, which is always a good sign, but it remains to be seen how much of this thing actually happens and for how long. One major sticking point in the deal is ending Israel’s assault on Lebanon, which Tehran remains adamant about, warning of an Iranian military response if the IDF doesn’t cease its constant attacks on the country. This could easily end up tanking the whole thing. Either way, I personally can’t see a whole lot to get excited about right now. Any ‘peace deal’ with Iran is at best a temporary pause in the US/Israeli efforts to topple Tehran while the US pursues other war agendas like regime change in Cuba.” (06/17/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/06/17/i-hope-iran-keeps-winning-and-the-us-empire-keeps-losing/
The FDA Can’t Manage Its Own Risk Problem
Source: Independent Institute
by Raymond J March
“Private companies—whether making medical goods or anything else — flourish or fail by assessing risk well. The FDA doesn’t face that discipline. The agency’s only real power is to remove products from the market or stop them from entering it. That is a blunt instrument applied to an incredibly dynamic market for medical goods. More importantly, accepting risk is a matter of personal preference and available alternatives — circumstances that differ for every patient and cannot be aggregated into a one-size-fits-all standard without discarding what makes medical treatment effective in the first place.” (06/16/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/16/fda-risk-problem/
Never Cross a River Four Feet Deep on Average
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Sasha Putilin
“The results of my ACX Grants 2024 project are in. The project attempted to replicate the 2023 study ‘Learning at your brain’s rhythm: individualized entrainment boosts learning for perceptual decisions.’ It claimed that if you read a person’s brain waves, figured out an individual peak alpha frequency, and flashed a bright white light at that frequency, then they learned a certain perceptual task faster. Why bother? The result hinted that learning may depend in part on how well the brain keeps its rhythms coordinated.” (06/16/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/never-cross-a-river-four-feet-deep