Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Hamoon Soleimani

“Within digital-libertarian circles, there is a persistent, almost religious belief that decentralized cryptocurrencies will organically starve the state of its power by enabling parallel, untaxable counter-economies. This techno-optimistic prophecy assumes that because the state cannot break the underlying mathematics of cryptography, it is effectively disarmed. Yet, this worldview conflates economic friction with true sovereignty. Treating code as an exit strategy ignores the enduring reality that human beings reside in physical space, governed by Westphalian models of territorial jurisdiction.” (06/30/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/bitcoin-not-freedom-delusion-digital-escape

Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter

“The song ‘Right Here, Right Now’ by Jesus Jones opens with the line, ‘A woman on the radio talks about revolution, when it’s already passed her by’. There are some people who peaked in high school and never got over it – never changing their hair or general style from when they were at the pinnacle of popularity. It’s sad, really, not that the person seems frozen in the midst of good memories from long ago, but that they haven’t continued to advance since then. Life has lapped them; passed them by and left them in the dust. In many ways, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is like that person who hasn’t moved forward, having been lapped by events and left behind by the ‘revolution’ she was the spokesmodel for.” (06/30/26)

https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/06/30/has-the-revolution-already-passed-aoc-by-n2678535

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Daniel J Mitchell

“Recently, members of the Trump administration found themselves in a tug of war between two groups of people who have opposing views about how or whether the federal government should regulate artificial intelligence. Critics say that moving too fast on AI could create risks. Others say that America can’t compete against China under a tight regulatory regime. We are, after all, competing in one of the most important technological races of the 21st century. But the fundamental question is much bigger than AI. Whether it is regulatory debates centered around tech, housing, energy, or healthcare, American policymakers should start each policy debate by asking themselves one important question: How much progress must we sacrifice for the sake of caution?” (06/30/26)

https://fee.org/articles/the-hidden-impact-of-government-delays/

Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie

“The European Union presents itself to the world as the gold standard of regulated, enlightened governance. Nowhere is the gap between that self-image and reality more vivid than in its management, or rather mismanagement, of the seas. The Common Fisheries Policy, now over four decades old, stands as one of the more instructive monuments to what happens when a bureaucratic cartel manages a commons. Everyone takes as much as they can, the resource collapses, and Brussels announces a new action plan.” (06/30/26)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-seas-they-pillage

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“GPT-5.3-Codex, 5.5 Pro, and 5.6 Family. Gemini 3.1 Family and 3.5 Flash. DeepSeek-V4-Pro and Flash. Claude Opus 4.8, Fable 5, and Mythos 5. Voxtral TTS and Realtime … This hodgepodge of names and numbers captures only some of the many new or upgraded artificial intelligence models released in the first six months of 2026. The technology, it’s clear, is moving by leaps and bounds. In parallel, AI firms are taking smaller but arguably just as significant steps to incorporate core principles of ethics and moral and religious reasoning into model development. Some companies are embedding in-house ‘philosophers’ to help with complex questions surrounding design ethics at the human-AI interface. Google DeepMind reportedly has 10 such individuals on staff, hiring two from Cambridge and Carnegie Mellon universities this year. And Anthropic’s Amanda Askell has been featured in multiple media reports.” (06/29/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0629/Both-ingenuity-and-faith-deepen-the-AI-design-discussion

Source: Washington Post
by Bradley A Smith

“Americans of all persuasions routinely join and support groups — typically organized as corporations — to achieve their various goals, including political ones. However, critics of the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upheld the rights of corporations to spend money in support of political causes, insist the decision ‘corrupted’ American democracy. Hawaii has now taken the campaign against Citizens United to its logical endpoint. In May, the state enacted Act 11, a sweeping law designed to strip most incorporated organizations of the ability to engage in election- or ballot-related advocacy. Any corporations that spend money on such efforts could be suspended or dissolved. This new law is not evenhanded. Act 11 exempts newspapers, broadcasters and periodicals. These institutional media corporations retain full First Amendment rights while most other organizations lose theirs, making the government the arbiter of which corporations deserve a voice.” (06/30/26)

https://archive.is/Z2i4i