Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jayanta Bhattacharya
“What if the coronavirus pandemic was not a once-in-a-century event but the beginning of a new era of regular deadly respiratory viral pandemics? The Biden administration is already planning for this future. Last year, it unveiled a national strategy to develop pharmaceutical firms’ capacity to create vaccines within 130 days of a pandemic emergency declaration. The Biden plan enshrines former president Donald Trump‘s Operation Warp Speed as the model response for the next century of pandemics. Left unsaid is that, for the new pandemic plan to work as envisioned, it will require us to conduct dangerous gain-of-function research. It will also require cutting corners in the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of novel vaccines. And while the studies are underway, politicians will face tremendous pressure to impose draconian lockdowns to keep the population ‘safe.'” (06/05/23)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-plan-lock-you-down-for-130-days/
Source: Free Talk Live
“Dennis Pratt, Porcfest Organizer Joins Us :: Converting People to Libertarian :: Who Owns Porcfest? :: Porcfest Controversies :: Aftershow — More with Dennis :: 2023-06-05 Ian, Aria, Bonnie.” (06/05/23)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=944f124e7243e15e80b4ec7579c3b872
Source: Miami Herald
“A Texas sheriff’s department has recommended that the district attorney in Bexar County bring criminal charges over the first iteration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’[s] so-called migrant relocation program. Those flights last September sent 49 asylum seekers, most of them Venezuelans, from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. According to a statement provided to the Miami Herald, the Bexar County sheriff completed its criminal investigation into the on-the-ground operation that allegedly lured migrants onto the flights with false promises of jobs and opportunities on the other end. ‘The case filed includes both felony and misdemeanor charges of Unlawful Restraint,’ according to the statement. … it’s up to prosecutors in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, to decide whether to follow the sheriff’s recommendation. The district attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.” (06/05/23)
https://archive.is/3KvA7
Source: The Daily Beast
by Joe Berkowitz
“Being a conservative these days sounds emotionally exhausting. At any given moment, you might find out, for instance, that your favorite light beer sent a brew to a transgendered influencer and get so mad about it you have to film yourself using that beer for target practice. Or you might discover — gasp! — that Target is selling T-shirts with little rainbows on them for Pride Month and simply have no choice but drive to the nearest Target, threaten employees with violence, write a song about it, and whine that the song is being censored. … Lately, it seems that many of the same MAGA Republicans who once wore ‘Fuck Your Feelings’ T-shirts to Trump rallies now exist in a perpetual state of emotional outpouring.” (06/05/23)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-did-the-fck-your-feelings-maga-crowd-get-so-triggered
Source: Independent Political Report
“Philosopher and progressive intellectual Dr. Cornel West announced a presidential bid for the nomination of the People’s Party on Twitter early Monday afternoon. ‘I am running for truth and justice as a presidential candidate for the People’s Party to reintroduce America to the best of itself — fighting to end poverty, mass incarceration, ending wars and ecological collapse, guaranteeing housing, health care, education and living wages for all,’ West posted on Twitter. West, a social critic and a professor of philosophy at Union Theological Seminary, is best known for his outspoken views on leftist politics and thought.” [editor’s note: Actually, he’s probably best known for playing Councilor West in the second and third Matrix films – TLK] (06/05/23)
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2023/06/cornel-west-announces-presidential-bid-as-peoples-party-candidate/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard
“Edward Snowden did heroic service in awakening Americans to Washington ravishing their privacy. Snowden’s ‘reward’ is to be banished in Russia without a snowball’s chance in hell of a fair trial if he returns to America. But as he courageously declared, ‘I would rather be without a state than without a voice.’ He explained why he leaked classified information: ‘I can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.’ To recognize Snowden’s contribution to liberty, it helps to review the political and legal landscape before his revelations.” (06/05/23)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/snowden-and-the-fight-for-american-privacy/
Source: WPTV 5 News
“A grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the classified document case against former President Donald Trump is expected to meet this week in Washington, D.C., according to NBC News. The grand jury is meeting after a long hiatus. It’s part of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago last year. Prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith have been presenting the grand jury with evidence and witness testimony for months. It’s unclear whether prosecutors are preparing to seek an indictment at this point.” (06/05/23)
https://www.wptv.com/news/political/grand-jury-in-trump-classified-documents-case-expected-to-meet-this-week
Source: Niskanen Center
by Brink Lindsey
“Over the course of twenty essays so far, I’ve attempted to describe the nature of the predicament now facing the United States and other rich democracies — and, by extension, all of humanity in the longer run. We have achieved material plenty, and a corresponding expansion of human possibilities beyond all prior imagining, but we have thus far been unable to translate this achievement into the widespread flourishing that constitutes the next great leap of progress. We feel stuck, and tantalized — our expectations raised but unmet, the possibility of a much better life within our view but beyond our grasp. There is the sense that we are living in a no-man’s-land, a time of transition, that we are moving beyond one stage of history but have not yet found the next.” (06/05/23)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-case-for-muddling-through/
Source: Semafor
“A deep fake video depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring martial law and warning that he would order a general mobilization briefly dominated televisions and radios in some of the country’s border cities Monday. The broadcast, which also claimed there was an ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Russia, was aired in Belgorod, Voronezh, and Rostov, cities in close proximity to Ukraine’s border. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to state-affiliated news agency TASS that the deep fake video had aired, adding there was no state media address made by Putin on Monday.” (06/05/23)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/05/2023/putin-deep-fake-broadcast-in-parts-of-russia-declares-martial-law
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Thierry Breton, one of the European Union’s more obnoxious bureaucrats, is visiting social media companies in the U.S. to check on their readiness to comply with a controversial — indeed, deeply troubling — new E.U. law regulating online content. That law commits private firms to apply E.U. rules to broadly defined ‘illegal content’ and whatever officials consider to be ‘disinformation.’ While they probably won’t do it, tech company executives should tell Breton to get lost and work to insulate themselves from Europe’s control freaks.” (06/05/23)
https://reason.com/2023/06/05/e-u-s-digital-services-act-threatens-americans-free-speech/