Source: EconLog
by Bryan Cutsinger
“Consider the markets for fresh vegetables and instant noodles. Assume that fresh vegetables are a normal good, while instant noodles are an inferior good. Suppose Congress bans a commonly used fertilizer and pest-control chemical in vegetable farming. Without this input, vegetable yields fall and there is increased spoilage from pest damage.” (06/02/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/econlog-price-theory-veggies-or-noodles
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Jeremiah Johnson on Why Gen Z Isn’t Actually Doomed.” (06/02/26)
https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/jeremiah-johnson
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A British couple jailed in Iran on espionage charges have lost an appeal against their 10-year sentence, according to their family. Lindsay and Craig Foreman were arrested in January 2025 while passing through Iran on a round-the-world motorcycle trip. They were accused of spying – charges they adamantly deny – and were sentenced in February. Both are currently on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison. A member of their legal team in the UK told the BBC no reason was given for the rejection of their appeal. Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, said they were ‘not permitted to attend their own appeal hearing’. ‘It is a serious human rights violation, and it is one more reason why two British citizens, with no other options left, are now starving themselves in protest.’ Bennett said his mother and step-father had been asked to sign documents in Farsi which they could not read, and refused.” (06/02/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrpwxe82ypo
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jared Hillel
“While Hamas has previously stated, on numerous occasions, that it would lay down its weapons in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, Israel has repeatedly rejected such an offer. In fact, the IDF has pushed deeper into Gaza since the ceasefire was signed and now occupies 60% of the strip instead of the 53% that was originally agreed on. By refusing to consider Hamas’s core demand, a mutually respected long term peace deal becomes difficult to envision.” (06/02/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/hamas-disarmament-gaza/
Source: The Bulwark
by Will Sommer
“The conservative influencers have spoken: Harley-Davidson — whose motorcycles helped create the paradigm of American masculinity — is in fact woke and gay. The past week has seen wave after wave of MAGA personalities and meme accounts decide, seemingly out of nowhere, that Harley-Davidson was company non grata. MAGA influencer Priya Patel declared the manufacturer ‘fundamentally anti-American,’ while Hercules actor-turned-tweeter Kevin Sorbo said his friends were abandoning Harley-Davidson en masse. Conservative meme account ‘Prison Mitch’ told his more than 100,000 followers that Harley-Davidson is ‘woke and gay’ then posted a picture of a man in a biker’s vest having gay sex (jarring but basically SFW), quipping that Harley-Davidson riders rode a very different kind of ‘hog.'” (06/01/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/inside-maga-fake-gay-motorcycle-war-harley-davidson-freakout-indian
Source: TomDispatch
by Alfred McCoy
“While Washington’s war with Iran drags on, month after month, without any end in sight, the world is witnessing the very real limits of U.S. global power. As President Donald Trump lurches repeatedly from threats of devastation to promises of peace, it’s becoming increasingly clear that U.S. military might is no longer capable of subduing even a mid-sized power like Iran, much less holding the rest of the world in its thrall. Amid all the drama of air raids, drone strikes, and naval blockades, there are deeper geopolitical forces at play that lend a lasting historical import to events in the Persian Gulf — dynamics best seen by comparing two newspaper editorials with revealing similarities despite the 80 years separating their publication.” (06/02/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/after-america/
Source: US News & World Report
“Poland wants to ban under-16s from using mobile phones in schools from September 1 and plans to introduce stricter age verification rules to access pornography, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. Countries including the Netherlands, South Korea and Italy have banned smartphones in schools due to [feigned and/or irrational] concerns over their impact on concentration and behaviour. Others have banned – or are considering banning – children’s access to social media. The proposed bill would ban children aged 7-15 from using phones on school premises, including breaks between classes, and give schools legal bases for creating deposits to store phones.” (06/02/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-02/poland-to-ban-phones-in-schools-restrict-access-to-pornography
Source: The Corbett Report
“Toilet Paper Panic!!!” (06/02/26)
https://corbettreport.com/toilet-paper-panic-propagandawatch/
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“In the natural rights tradition, the rights to life, liberty, and property are inherent and inalienable. They are not “created” by the Constitution but are recognized and protected by it. It means each and every individual has these rights even if the law might deprive them of their rights. Justice Thomas explains how he learned this from his grandparents, who raised him, in Savannah, Georgia …. Justice Thomas was right to say that equality in this sense is a universal ideal, but he went astray when he attempted to ground this ideal in the Declaration of Independence.” (06/02/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/justice-clarence-thomas-harry-jaffa-and-declaration-independence
Source: The Dispatch
“President Trump’s Losing Streak.” (06/02/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/president-trumps-losing-streak/
