The Trillion-Dollar Alarm Bell

Source: CounterPunch
by David S D’Amato

“Last week’s SpaceX IPO made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, despite the fact that the company has lost tens of billions of dollars since it was founded almost 25 years ago. Shares of the company climbed steadily after markets closed on Friday, pushing its market cap to $2.2 trillion. The public conversation about Musk’s vast wealth often obscures the fact that he is actually a very fancy welfare recipient, having taken billions of dollars from the public coffers by even the most conservative measures.” (06/17/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/17/the-trillion-dollar-alarm-bell/

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)

https://original.antiwar.com/david_stockman/2026/06/16/hey-potus-the-point-of-the-war-was-what-again/

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)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0616/Iran-US-and-Israel-Which-will-win-a-peace-within

US DOJ accuses New York regime of unlawful Medicaid home care “scheme”

Source: Politico

“The Justice Department sued Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration Tuesday over its handling of a popular Medicaid home care program that enables over 200,000 New Yorkers to hire their own caregivers, court records show. The civil lawsuit accuses state Health Commissioner James McDonald and Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri of making false or misleading statements about the consolidation of Medicaid’s consumer-directed personal assistance program, or CDPAP, under financial services company Public Partnerships LLC. The DOJ’s complaint also accuses PPL of creating an ‘artificially attractive proposal’ to administer the Medicaid program through a ‘sham bid process,’ making false statements about its communications with state officials before winning the CDPAP contract and improperly inflating hourly billable rates upon taking over the program in 2025.” (06/16/26)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/16/doj-accuses-new-york-of-unlawful-medicaid-home-care-scheme-00964284

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/

NY: Mangione will assert psychiatric defense in murder case in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Luigi Mangione plans to assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial, claiming he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday. That could mean less prison time if he’s convicted. A jury that accepts such a defense would be obligated to convict Mangione of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. An emotional disturbance defense isn’t available in Mangione’s federal case, where he also faces a possible life sentence. New York Judge Gregory Carro announced the defense’s decision in court two weeks after holding a secret hearing on the matter. He said he will unseal a transcript and other records from that hearing once redactions are made.” (06/17/26)

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2026/06/17/luigi-mangione-defense-argument-ruling/stories/202606170041