Source: Sex and the State
by Cathy Reisenwitz

“What’s the point of trying to civilize the barbarians? Why demonstrate what liberal democracy can offer to a fundamentally illiberal civilization? Why bother trying to make inroads with a ‘basket of deplorables?’ Why bother trying to reason with people who ‘get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations?’ The irony is that the entire argument is fundamentally illiberal. The whole point of liberalism is that your ‘civilization’ does not define you. Nor does your race, sex, nationality, or religion. The whole point of liberalism is that the world is not divided into us versus them. Creating outgroups and outgroup hostility and moral panics is the authoritarian’s playbook. It’s immiserating.” (06/02/26)

https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/no-one-is-inexorably-illiberal

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“Multiple far right Israeli ministers attended New York City’s Israel Day Parade on Sunday, including Israel’s genocidal finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich is ideologically not significantly different from a Nazi. Which means New York City just hosted a Nazi parade that was attended by thousands of people. New York officials are acting shocked and appalled by Smotrich’s appearance at the march, but ‘I can’t believe there were Israeli officials at the Israel parade’ is kind of a hard sell. This is just what supporting Israel looks like: standing shoulder to shoulder with genocidal extremists and making common cause with them. That’s what Israel is.” (06/02/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/06/02/thousands-of-new-yorkers-just-attended-a-nazi-parade-and-other-notes/

Source: Bet On It
by Ilya Somin

“I will start by noting I am not an academic expert on dating and relationships, nor am I any kind of professional dating guru. Far from it. But what I learned may be useful to some people, in part for those very reasons. If I could make this strategy work, the same may be true for others.” (06/02/26)

https://www.betonit.ai/p/rationalist-dating-strategy

Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter

“I grew up in Michigan, so even though I didn’t go to the University of Michigan (too rich for my blood), college football was all about the maize and blue. My dad loved Wolverines football and gave my brother-in-law all sorts of a hard time about his having gone to Michigan State (only way it could’ve been worse is if he’d gone to Ohio State). They’ve both passed away in the last couple of years, but the spirit of their love of their respective schools and their football teams lives on in our family. It’s getting, well, different now, however. When I was a kid, college sports were the audition for the pros and occasional scandals would see heralded universities across the country – including Michigan – penalized, both as programs and individual players for violating the NCAA rules.” [editor’s note: I wonder if Hunter’s opposition to government interference in sports extends to gender rules? – TLK] (06/02/26)

https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/06/02/the-last-thing-we-need-is-government-interference-in-college-sports-n2677058