Source: The American Conservative
by Eldar Mamedov
“The threat of war had preserved American leverage, and the waging of war destroyed it. So long as the prospect of the use of force remained ambiguous, Iran had to hedge. Once force was actually applied and failed to produce decisive results, Tehran learned that the United States could not achieve its maximalist objectives militarily. That knowledge permanently shifted the bargaining dynamic. But this outcome need not be seen as catastrophic. It can instead produce a realistic reassessment of American presence and partnerships in the Middle East.” (06/17/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-u-s-iran-deal-could-help-transform-americas-mideast-strategy/
Source: Flagler Live
by Pierre Tristam
“Simon Kuper is 56 now. His first memory of a World Cup, if not his first-ever vivid memory — for many of us who grew up outside the United States, the two are often the same — was the 1978 final between the Netherlands and Argentina. ‘I recall that night as vividly as almost anything else in my childhood,’ he writes in World Cup Fever. ‘A World Cup is like Proust’s Madeleine. Each new World Cup reminds you of past World Cups, and the people you watched them with.’ The book is a history of the World Cup through a few dozen madeleines. For Americans, it’s as good a guide as any to a tournament of paradoxes, this too-big-to-fail quadrennial festival of corruption, cheating, profiteering, nationalist chauvinism, and mostly crappy soccer that nevertheless can hypnotize and transport to a utopia of competition as idealized and convincing as Pelé’s deification of the sport as ‘the beautiful game.'” (06/17/26)
https://flaglerlive.com/world-cup-fever/
Source: The Hill
“The Justice Department is seeking to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging a Chicago suburb’s housing reparations program for [b]lack residents, arguing it is ‘racially discriminatory’ and unconstitutional. The city council in Evanston, Ill., earmarked $10 million in revenue generated from cannabis sales taxes in 2019 for a first-of-its-kind local reparations program for [b]lack residents and their direct descendants who suffered housing discrimination due to the city’s policies and practices between 1919 and 1969. … The Justice Department has alleged that the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the Fair Housing Act because it is ‘not narrowly tailored to remediating specific, identified instances of past discrimination’ and public money is distributed solely based on race.” (06/17/26)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5927763-justice-department-evanston-reparations-housing-discrimination/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Iran Deal – Who’s The Most Unhappy Now?” (06/17/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OxwbbvzqdmJB
Source: Reason
“What 1976 Got Right About America.” (06/17/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/17/what-1976-got-right-about-america/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“When a government grants a monopoly in certain industries, it is protecting itself from competition it cannot control. The cost of that decision always falls on the people who depend on services that become more expensive, slower, and less innovative by decree. This is exactly what the European Commission proposed on June 3, 2026, this time applied to the digital infrastructure that supports hospitals, universities, public administrations, and businesses across Europe. It is called the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), and it is the centerpiece of the Tech Sovereignty Package. The logic behind it is protectionist: restrict who can compete, and guarantee market share for alternatives selected by the state.” (06/17/26)
https://fee.org/articles/europes-digital-protectionism/
Source: American Greatness
by Connor Echols
“As Israeli officials lash out against a preliminary deal to end the war in Iran, President Donald Trump is returning the favor. ‘I’m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon,’ Trump said Tuesday. ‘Israel would have been blown up a long time ago had I not gotten involved.’ The comments represent a nadir in U.S.-Israel relations under Trump. The dispute is fundamental. Trump is determined to end the war with Iran, and Iran has made clear that a peace deal is only possible if Israel halts its operations against Hezbollah, an Iranian ally, in Lebanon. … Israel, for its part, believes its interests are best served by continued war with both Hezbollah and Iran, and it’s insisting that it won’t be bound by the terms of any deal negotiated between Tehran and Washington alone.” (06/17/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-aid-to-israel/
Source: United Press International
“The Department of Justice is trying to quash a lawsuit against a power plant that supports an xAI data center and is arguing that the turbines are essential to national security. The suit, filed by the NAACP and several environmental groups against Elon Musk’s xAI, alleges that a power plant in Southaven, Miss., is operating without permits and violates the Clean Air Act. The plant powers the xAI Colossus 2 data center, which is over the state line in Memphis, Tenn. Colossus 2 supports the Grok artificial intelligence bot. The NAACP alleges that the power plant runs 57 turbines with no pollution controls, making it one of the biggest single industrial sources of smog-forming nitrogen oxide in the United States and a significant source of other harmful air pollutants like particulate matter and formaldehyde, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups like children, older adults and low-income or minority households.” (06/17/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/17/doj-elon-musk-xai-naacp/9421781703391/
Source: SFGate
“African and Commonwealth nations called Tuesday for a swift implementation of a landmark treaty protecting the high seas, warning that despite record commitments to marine conservation, much of the world’s ocean protection still exists only on paper. The call to action was issued at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, the first time an African nation has hosted the major annual event, which focuses on addressing critical ocean issues, including climate change, biodiversity and pollution. Hundreds of delegates from Africa, the United States, the European Union, and climate-vulnerable Caribbean and Pacific island nations are taking part in the conference, where leaders have sought to position Africa as a driving force in global ocean governance.” (06/16/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/african-and-commonwealth-nations-in-kenya-urge-22307870.php
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“When the state is so big and intrusive that people need its permission to do everything from building a house to merging businesses, it’s easy for the lines to blur between conversations in which government officials merely voice preferences and those in which they twist arms to get their way. That creates room for partisans to defend ‘jawboning’ — government bullying of private parties to do what officials won’t or can’t do themselves — as nothing more than casual chats. The best way to handle jawboning is to strip government of power so it has little coercive leverage, and we should always work to do just that. Another good approach, embodied in legislation cosponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) and Ron Wyden (D–Ore.), is to make it easier to monitor government communications with private parties and to punish officials who cross the line.” (06/17/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/17/bipartisan-jawbone-act-targets-government-censorship-threats/
