Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“The ‘progressive’ wing of the Democratic Party is on a roll, winning nominations and elections. Left-wing leaders are taking earned victory laps as they chalk up victories for candidates espousing socialism, hostility to Israel (and often Jews), identity politics, and other leftist positions that were until recently thankfully rare in American politics. But the radicals’ support for Maine’s deeply troubled Graham Platner, who won the party’s nod to compete in the U.S. Senate race, shows the dangers posed by a movement that seemingly holds ideological lunacy as its highest value. It’s not clear that anybody is in a position to stop them.” (06/12/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/12/graham-platner-signals-a-problem-for-democrats-and-the-rest-of-us/
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“On Thursday, Donald Trump belatedly reacted to the revolt (which included several key Republicans) over his preposterous installation of uber-loyalist Bill Pulte, who has not a shred of national security experience, as acting director of national intelligence, by nominating Jay Clayton for the position. But he has no such experience either. Clayton, SEC chair in Trump’s first term, was a longtime Wall Street lawyer at the power-law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. He now serves as U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Some Democrats were quick to take the bait, which matters at a time when the party is allowing a key warrantless wiretapping provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expire today, because of the Pulte appointment.” (06/12/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/12/trumps-bait-and-switch-top-intelligence-job-dni-clayton/
Source: United Press International
“The conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will stay after an appeals court shot down his bid to overturn his 2023 conviction of fraud. Bankman-Fried, 34, a former cryptocurrency mogul and CEO, argued that his trial was unfair and that the firm would have paid out to investors in the long term. Judge Barrington Parker wrote in the ruling that ‘the government’s evidence against him was, conservatively stated, robust,’ Politico reported.” (06/12/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/12/sam-bankman-fried-appeal-denied/9281781280437/
Source: Freedom Works
“Romina Boccia ‘The Social Security Trust Fund Myth.'” (06/12/26)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2026-06-12_zfw006102026.mp3
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Winton Bates
“Is the existence of government an issue that should occupy the minds of those who believe that liberty supports human flourishing? As far as I know, there is no country in the world in which citizens are currently faced with a choice between having a minimal state or no state at all. In liberal democracies – the countries that currently enjoy the greatest personal and economic freedom – liberty is being threatened by political movements with authoritarian tendencies. Authoritarianism is presented in the wrapping of different varieties of collectivist idealism which offer citizens the opportunity to attribute personal and social problems to immigration, foreign competition, the greed of the wealthy, systemic discrimination, environmental degradation or anything else that appears to justify a larger role for government. Shouldn’t libertarians be focusing their attention on supporting the political/legal order – democracy, or representative government – that has been most successful in promoting personal and economic freedom?” (06/12/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/06/why-bother-considering-whether.html
Source: Independent [UK]
“Iran has denied that the US and Tehran have finalised all points in peace negotiations, as claimed by Donald Trump, reiterating that the regime will not compromise on its ‘red lines.’ Speaking to Iranian state TV: ‘We have not reached a final conclusion on this matter. This is a very important issue that is currently being reviewed by the relevant decision-making bodies.’ It comes after Donald Trump walked back his threat to strike Iran ‘hard’ last night, citing progress being made in peace negotiations. The US president said he ‘cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.’ He added that ‘discussions and final points’ have been ‘approved by all parties involved.’ He later told reporters that a deal could be signed as soon as this weekend.” (06/12/26)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-us-war-live-trump-airstrikes-threat-israel-hormuz-deal-b2994438.html
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“FISA was always terrible, and section 702 always made it even worse. I’m glad it failed of re-passage. It needs to die in a fire, permanently. But there’s nothing really to celebrate here, because we’ve known — since at least as far back as 2013 — how the US regime operates with regard to its surveillance powers. If the US regime doesn’t like the law, it breaks the law. If US regime figures are asked (under oath) about breaking the law, they deny (under oath) breaking the law. If a whistleblower outs the evidence that the US regime is breaking the law, the US regime charges the whistleblower with espionage and chases him out of the country, while the perjurers continue their skulduggery without penalty or punishment.” (06/11/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20694
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“CHRISTLESS NATIONALISM: James White is Right!” (06/11/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeywxZWYN4I
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Three people have been killed in the border region between Russia and Ukraine, according to officials, as the two sides launched attacks on each other in the latest exchange of fire. In Russia, two civilians were killed and two wounded in the region of Bryansk after Kyiv struck the settlement of Suzemka with artillery, Acting Governor Egor Kovalchuk said in a post on Telegram on Friday. A drone also hit an apartment building in Russia’s central region of Tatarstan, injuring three people …. In Ukraine, a drone attack in the border region of Sumy caused casualties. A 44-year-old woman working as a rail station operator died on her way to a shelter during the strike, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Pertsovkyi. Another woman, a station attendant, was wounded in the attack, Pertsovkyi added. Three people were wounded in separate attacks on Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region.” (06/12/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/12/three-killed-as-ukraine-and-russia-exchange-cross-border-attacks
Source: Foreign Policy
by Rob Geist Pinfold
“U.S. President Donald Trump’s reason for launching a ‘special military operation’ against Iran in February remains disputed. But the United States’[s] broad goals were clear: compel Iran, which the 2025 National Security Strategy labeled as ‘the region’s chief destabilizing force,’ to abandon its sponsorship of a regional network of violent nonstate actors and curtail its nuclear program. In short, the United States sought to force Iran to comprehensively overhaul its grand strategy, through either regime change or a deal. To understand how badly this effort has failed, it’s important to understand how Iran’s grand strategy has shifted.” (06/11/26)
https://archive.is/vclJ1
