Source: Common Dreams
by Ralph Brauer
“In his stumbling explanation of the muddled autopsy report on the 2024 election debacle, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin uttered two pieces of wisdom that regrettably, neither he nor the party has heeded: ‘The Democratic brand is in trouble and needs repair’ and ‘I agree with folks who have said we have to learn from the past to win the future.’ Had they followed that advice, they would have seen how history tells a neglected and important story. It begins when Bill Clinton was handed the keys to the White House by a group of largely Southern officials who formed the New Democrats with the mission of putting a Southern, pro-business candidate in the White House. With its pointed references to Reagan speeches and policies, Clinton’s Second Inaugural signaled a devil’s bargain that ended a century of Democratic Party policies.” (05/28/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dem-party-history-problem
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“France will reimburse the cost of weight-loss drugs prescribed to severely obese patients from mid-June in a first for a European Union country, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Thursday. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro medications have led a boom in anti-obesity treatment, attracting interest from governments keen to address rising overweight levels worldwide. Rist estimated the annual cost to the state at around €100 million (US$116 million) at full roll-out. Patients in France are currently paying around €300 per month on average for the drugs, she said, without indicating how many people currently follow such treatments.” (05/28/26)
https://archive.is/GfBOS
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Escalation? US/Iran Exchange Fire As Yet Another ‘Breakthrough’ Announced.” (05/28/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1RKZzzwEdpoKB
Source: Niskanen Center
by Erich Battistin, Richard Hahn, Samantha Pérez-Dávila, & Borui Sun
“Washington, D.C., offers a rare opportunity to study how police departments throughout the country might, and in fact must, do more with less. Since reaching a dramatic peak in 2023, violent and property crime in the District has fallen sharply — even as the police force shrank to its smallest size in half a century. This essay draws on Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) crime and arrest data, officer deployment records, and independent data sources to explain the role police management played in that paradox and extract lessons for American cities facing similar constraints.” (05/28/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/washington-dc-crime-decline-and-its-lessons-for-american-policing
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown, Liam Sigaud, & Edgar Orozco
“Indiana and Ohio didn’t fall apart when they pared back certificate of need programs. Their patients ended up with more choices and shorter drives.” (05/28/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/con-cj/
Source: The Daily Economy
by Walter Donway
“AI enables Americans to navigate the legal system without attorneys, operationalizing the right to self-representation and expanding access to justice on an unprecedented scale. Can courts cope?” (05/28/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/ai-enters-the-courtroom-how-chatbots-are-reshaping-litigation/
Source: SFGate
“The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for a [b]lack death row inmate from Mississippi who claims there was racial bias in the makeup of the jury that convicted him. By a 5-4 vote, the justices sided with Terry Pitchford, who was sentenced to death for his role in the killing of a grocery store owner. ‘In this case, whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down,’ Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices joined with Kavanaugh. There were 11 white jurors and one [b]lack juror in a trial with similarities to that of another [b]lack man on Mississippi’s death row, whose conviction the high court overturned seven years ago.” (05/28/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/supreme-court-rules-for-black-death-row-inmate-22280494.php
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“The increasing arc of instability running across Africa today resembles less a series of isolated crises than a single, widening belt of state collapse, insurgency, proxy war, and foreign intervention stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. From Mali and Niger to Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the same themes recur with grim consistency: weak post-colonial states, ethnic and religious fragmentation, weapons flows across porous borders, foreign meddling, and Washington repeatedly insisting it can manage extraordinarily complex societies with bombs, military trainers, intelligence partnerships, and favored clients. It cannot.” (05/28/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/washington-and-africa-are-intertwining-their-chaos
Source: Liberal Currents
by Lucy
‘The strength and reliability of a government’s word is a critical factor in its ability to make the deals and exert the leverage which allow it to pursue an agenda at home and abroad. By altering expectations of the future, both the government and opposition can affect how much credibility the government has. This opens several options for undermining the current regime, but also carries danger for the next Democratic president. In the here and now, I see no reason to avoid using our advantage.” (05/28/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/credibility-and-consequences/
Source: CNBC
“Inflation continued to hit consumer wallets in April, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until the current wave subsides, fresh pricing data released Thursday showed. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.8%, the Commerce Department reported. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective readings of 0.5% and 3.8%. Excluding food and energy, core prices rose 0.2% for the month and 3.3% for the year, against estimates of 0.3% and 3.3%.” (05/28/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/28/core-inflation-hit-an-annual-rate-of-3point3percent-in-april-as-expected-feds-preferred-gauge-shows-.html
