Source: Wired
by Makena Kelly & Vittoria Elliott

“On Monday, June 23, Edward ‘Big Balls’ Coristine, one of the first young, inexperienced technologists to join Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), disappeared from the internal directory of the General Services Administration (GSA). … But later that week, Coristine was back. This time he was at the Social Security Administration (SSA), working alongside another known DOGE member, Aram Moghaddassi. … Coristine’s disappearance from government — and sudden reappearance in it — is emblematic of DOGE 2.0, a new iteration of the organization that, post-Musk’s formal participation, is still very much present and continuing its wholesale assault on federal agencies. But without flashy leadership, DOGE technologists are now quietly cycling into federal agencies, spending days or weeks building products and cutting contracts before cycling out once again.” (07/10/25)

https://archive.is/LMe2e

Source: Common Dreams
by James Estrada

“In the three years since the Dobbs decision resulted in abortion bans in 42 states across the U.S, the ecosystem of abortion access in America has shifted and stretched to meet the ever-changing moment. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Planned Parenthood vs. Medina has paved the way for even more states to further target abortion providers by enabling states to withhold state funding to clinics that provide sexual health services from sexually transmitted infection tests to cervical cancer screenings simply because they also offer abortion care. With laws constantly changing and often unclear in the eyes on abortion seekers, being able to reach abortion seekers on an emotional level is a critical touchpoint in the new digital landscape of access. Innovators have stepped up to meet the demand for emotional support, helping individuals feel heard and get informed throughout the abortion process as laws change and stigma abounds.” (07/10/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/support-abortion-seekers

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

“Popular restaurants often have long waits for tables, especially on weekend nights. Why don’t the restaurants just raise their prices? … restaurants can just announce to the people standing in line that the menu prices have just gone up by 50 percent. If they still have a long line, they can announce they have doubled the price. And they can keep going until the line has been eliminated. This is a pretty surefire way to eliminate the line. It would also almost certainly mean a large increase in profits for the night. But it’s also something almost no restaurant would ever do. The reason is simple: there is probably no better way to antagonize customers than to play this sort of price-gouging game. … Donald Trump obviously never took an econ class with a professor who gave him this quiz.” (07/10/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/07/10/trumps-tariffs-and-price-gouging-restaurants/

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson

“Even while the search for missing people in flood-ravaged Texas continues, the politicized invective has come from the Left [sic]. … the politicization is not limited to the Left [sic]. For example, during the Los Angeles wildfires early this year, many conservatives [sic] blamed DEI for the carnage without taking into account the many factors that led to the out-of-control fires in the first place.” (07/10/25)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-every-natural-disaster-being-politicized

Source: The Dispatch
by Leah Libresco Sargeant

“Can you save the whales by ditching the kids? Some people seem to think so: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pledged in 2019 to have no more than two children for the sake of the earth, and some groups actively ask people to pledge to have no children at all. ‘You can protect children while fighting climate change and systematic corruption by refusing to procreate!’ reads the website of one such organization. But in their new book, After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People, the economists Dean Spears and Michael Geruso take steady aim at the claim that fewer children would mean a better world.” (07/10/25)

https://thedispatch.com/article/birthrate-population-climate-children-harm/

Source: Washington Post
by Daniel A Witt

“Here’s a not uncommon situation confronted by tax attorneys and advisers: A U.S. citizen is suddenly, perhaps unexpectedly, elevated to a CEO position. And that CEO holds dual citizenship in a country with which the United States does not have a bilateral tax treaty. To complicate the situation, the company’s headquarters — or siège social, in international law — are in a third country with which the United States also does not have a bilateral tax treaty. I’m referring, if you haven’t already guessed, to Pope Leo XIV. He is an American citizen and a citizen of Peru. He is now also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign nation. That’s a complicated tax posture under any circumstances. … absent some relief, His Holiness could spend next April 15 finishing a Form 1040. (One can only imagine the issues with valuing the Apostolic Palace as a fringe benefit or parsonage allowance.)” (07/10/25)

https://archive.is/a7UKC