Source: Persuasion
by Dan Storyev & Maria Kuznetsova
“If Americans want to actually enact change, they seriously need to re-think their strategy. Take it from us: we both grew up in Putin’s Russia and saw well-intentioned protests fail to stop an aspiring despot. We know that authoritarians are typically unwilling to respond to the kind of protest No Kings exemplifies: loud, raucous, and ultimately harmless. These ‘festival protests,’ as we call them, are convenient for their participants. They are fun and usually do not require much sacrifice or risk. They also look good on TV and TikTok feeds. But they often achieve next to nothing. Why are so many people convinced they work?” (06/14/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/protests-are-not-emotional-support
Source: Seattle Times
“Four tons of invasive Burmese pythons were removed from South Florida ecosystems during the latest breeding season, setting a record for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The achievement marks a new milestone in the fight against the giant snakes, which are considered one of the greatest threats to the Everglades ecosystem because of their ability to prey on mammals, birds and other native wildlife. The Conservancy said it removed more python biomass this season than at any point since launching its research and removal program in 2013. … the team captured 177 invasive Burmese pythons with a combined weight of 8,080 pounds.” (06/14/26)
https://archive.is/qM1VJ
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews libertarian activist Eric Fowler about the so-called Flock cameras being put up in cities to illegally surveil Americans. Fowler explains what the cameras are, how they work, what laws they violate and how libertarians in Arizona are fighting back.” (06/14/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/6-11-26-eric-fowler-on-the-latest-form-of-illegal-government-surveillance/
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Rob Natelson
“[O]n July 1, convinced that while Independence might one day be necessary, it was as yet premature, Dickinson rose to make his case against the pending declaration. Only by understanding the risks and terrors Dickinson predicted can we fully appreciate the courage of those who were determined to face them. Let us, as President Richard Nixon used to say, make one thing perfectly clear: Dickinson was no coward. He was brave and a patriot. When Britain adopted the Townshend Duties in 1767, it was Dickinson who inspired the opposition. It was Dickinson who, again and again, had served as penman and point man for the colonial resistance. Yet Dickinson also loved the mother country.” (06/14/26)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2026/06/14/john-dickinson-and-the-case-against-independence/
Source: SFGate
“A group of Democratic senators and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent letters Monday to the National Science Foundation asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network, with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally. The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386 million. Over the last decade it has tracked ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change and extreme weather, producing data freely available to the public and informing more than 500 scientific publications. The project was slated to run another 15 to 20 years. The National Science Foundation had directed the removal of most of the system’s instruments from waters off Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina and Greenland by 2027 — a decision scientists said came with no warning and no scientific review.” (06/15/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/lawmakers-fight-to-stop-the-trump-22305520.php
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“If it’s June, then it must be Pride and straight people everywhere are celebrating how far you’ve come. You know, out of the closets and onto MTV. But what if you don’t particularly feel like celebrating?” (06/14/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/06/movies-for-queers-who-like-revolution.html
Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley
“Can the Graham Platner whirlwind sweep Susan Collins out of one of Maine’s Senate seats? Scandalous Reddit posts, tattoos, sexting, rapid-fire accusations, and denials didn’t make it any easier for Gov. Janet Mills to mount a serious challenge against the harbormaster of a small Maine town north of Acadia National Park. Platner soundly defeated the two-term governor who steered the state safely out of the COVID-19 pandemic and stood up to President Trump. Mills’s name was still on the ballot after she pulled out of the Senate primary race on the last day of April. Yet she didn’t get even a sympathy bump from voters in what turned out to be a contest of Platner against Platner: the champion of the aggrieved working class vs. the man who lived online too much.” (06/15/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/15/graham-platner-susan-collins-maine-senate/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“An Oslo district court has sentenced Marius Borg Hoiby, the stepson of Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, to four years in prison for rape and other crimes. Hoiby, 29, became part of the royal family when his mother, Mette-Marit, married Haakon in 2001. The court convicted Hoiby of two counts of rape as well as domestic violence against his former partner Nora Haukland and narcotics offences. He was acquitted on two separate rape counts with judges finding insufficient proof that the encounters were nonconsensual. One of the rapes he was convicted of took place in the basement of the crown prince’s official Skaugum residence. While denying the rape charges, Hoiby had pleaded guilty to domestic abuse and transporting 3.5kg (7.7lb) of marijuana in 2020.” (06/15/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/15/stepson-of-norways-crown-prince-jailed-for-four-years-in-rape-case
Source: The UnPopulist
“The Trump Administration’s Anti-Foreigner Animus Is a Betrayal of the World Cup — the Most Cosmopolitan Sport on Earth.” (06/14/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-trump-administrations-anti-foreigner
Source: The American Conservative
by Nicholas Mosvick
“he preeminent historian of the American Founding, Gordon Wood, died last week as the result of a traffic accident. Wood, a long-time professor at Brown University, had a profound and prolific effect upon the historiography of the American Revolution and the Founding in an academic career spanning six decades. Significantly, he was the first leading historian to emphasize the importance of republican thought and principles, both classical and modern, to 18th-century America, a tradition that later gave way to the totalizing force of equality and democratization.” (06/14/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/gordon-wood-the-bard-of-the-american-revolution/
