Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Nearly a quarter century ago, Argentina became famous for the world’s biggest debt default in history. A string of populist governments had overspent, while endemic corruption had cut tax revenues. On Tuesday, the second-largest country in Latin America became famous for something else. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court upheld a six-year sentence for a former president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, affirming her conviction for fraud on public contracts during her presidency from 2007 to 2015. The court said it acted to ‘protect our republican and democratic system’. The decision marks another corner-turning moment for a nation witnessing rapid reforms under the latest president, Javier Milei. His reforms since late 2023, such as cutting the number of ministries in half, have eliminated many incentives for corruption.” (06/11/25)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0611/Argentina-s-win-for-clean-governance

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“‘All of the guardrails for this kind of a committee, which I served on many years ago, have simply disappeared,’ says Sara Rosenbaum, Professor Emerita of Health, Law and Policy at George Washington University. She’s referring to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy’s ‘retiring’ of the entire 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). You know, the group that did such a bang-up job for the Centers for Disease Control during the pandemic.” (06/12/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/06/12/rfkjs-clean-sweep/

Source: Common Dreams
by Christine Ahn & Leslie Cagan

“President Trump’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to quash peaceful demonstrations against brutal ICE raids is a wake up call. Now is the time to push back against this administration’s use of military violence against its own citizens to consolidate authoritarian power. As Trump threatens to arrest California Governor Newsom and unleash ‘troops everywhere’, the people of this country must reject militarization as a tool of authoritarianism and stand firm to defend and expand democracy. As tanks and troops descend upon Los Angeles to silence dissent, on Saturday, they will roll through Washington in a display of power, revealing the undercurrents of an administration that wields militarization not for defense, but for domination. On his 79th birthday, President Trump will finally get his ‘big, beautiful’ military parade, brandishing unrivaled U.S. military might on the streets of the nation’s capital.” (06/12/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/fascism-militarism

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Karthik Sankaran

“For years now, the United States has justifiably wanted its allies to pick up a bigger share of the burden of their own defense. But as America now asks its partners to boost military spending to 5% of GDP, the sheer scale of these demands — especially on allies in East Asia — could push yields higher on U.S. Treasury bonds at a time when they are already under pressure by skeptical global bond investors and ratings agencies.” (06/12/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/defense-spending-asia/

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Naomi Wolf

“I am in New York again, and I am sending you this postcard from a city I love and have loved; from a broken city. Broken; yet struggling to reimagine itself, as it has so many times before. Are we better? Are we lost? Are we changed, changed utterly? Here are some images, some moments, for you.” (06/12/25)

https://brownstone.org/articles/the-broken-city/