Source: SFGate
“Newly elected British lawmaker Andy Burnham met the man he hopes to replace, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on Tuesday as he prepares for a leadership contest in which he may be the only contender. Burnham is the strong front-runner to succeed Starmer, who announced Monday that he would step down within weeks after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public. Burnham, a former Cabinet minister who served since 2017 as mayor of Greater Manchester, won a special election last week for a seat in Parliament with the express aim of challenging Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham’s chances got a big boost on Monday when former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who was considered his main rival, announced his support.” (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/andy-burnham-prepares-for-a-uk-labour-leadership-22316380.php
Source: Hawaii Reporter
by Tom Yamachika
“One of the basic freedoms we have in this country, enshrined in our Constitution, is the freedom to contract. Two or more parties with differing interests can agree to just about anything, as long as it isn’t illegal, and our country’s court system will enforce that agreement. The rules work a little differently when the government is part of the agreement. The government has the ability to contract as well, but the ability is defined and limited by law. It should be. We, the people, have an interest in the deals that our government is making. Especially if tax money, or government resources paid for by tax money, is part of the deal.” (06/22/26)
https://www.hawaiireporter.com/the-art-of-the-tax-deal/
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Donald Trump’s Iran deal (or perhaps we should say ‘capitulation?’) is a fiasco for the United States and Trump’s presidency, but it is widely viewed as a catastrophe for Israel. The more Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu tries to undermine the deal by mounting attacks on southern Lebanon, the more he enrages Trump, who keeps pointing out that the U.S. is Israel’s only ally in the world. Israel is now more isolated than ever. Israel was deliberately excluded from negotiations with Iran, because Israel was known to oppose any deal that would shorten the war. Nonetheless, in the deal the U.S. bound Israel to cease attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Recent polls conducted in Israel show that some 92 percent of Israelis believe that Iran won the war. Comparable majorities say Netanyahu’s launching of the war was a calamitous mistake and achieved none of its objectives.” (06/23/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/23/has-netanyahu-destroyed-us-israel-alliance/
Source: United Press International
“A federal judge on Monday threw out multiple Justice Department subpoenas issued to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials, saying they are unconstitutional and part of attempts to harass President Donald Trump’s political opponents. The subpoenas sought to force Walz and others to turn over records and information as part of a federal investigation into whether Democratic officials obstructed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown through public resistance. … District Judge Patrick Schiltz said the subpoenas were ‘part of an unconstitutional effort to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration laws and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so,’ CNN reported.” (06/22/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/22/judge-throws-out-DOJ-subpoenas/1341782167543/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“US To Buy Iranian Oil – First Time In Decades!” (06/22/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AGRnnVgwoPGl
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“In his new book, New Space Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Path to the Stars, Rainer Zitelmann presents the idea that private enterprise is the best way for space exploration to go forward, pointing out the ways in which public funding, since the days of the Moon landing, has been too uneven (and insufficient) to make the advances possible. When reaching space initially was a political contest, the spirit was there, but since the end of the Cold War, it has been less of a priority. … But today, billionaires have become more involved, and the prospect of space tourism has also put more money into the enterprise.” (06/22/26)
https://fee.org/articles/enterprising-the-final-frontier/
Source: AOL
“Six people were wounded in Russian air strikes on Ukraine overnight on Tuesday, local authorities said, while Russia’s ongoing fuel crisis deepened into parts of Siberia. The strikes came in the wake of a Ukrainian attack on a plant producing electronics for missiles in Russia’s border Voronezh region on Monday that killed five people and injured dozens, according to the local governor. … Ukrainian attacks on maritime logistics and supply roads have sparked a fuel crisis in Russia and areas of Ukraine it controls. … The Omsk region, about 2,500 kilometres southeast of Moscow, is limiting fuel sales and the nearby Novosibirsk region is preparing to do the same, local governors said on Telegram. … From Tuesday, Lukoil, Russia’s second biggest oil producer, was limiting gasoline and diesel sales in Voronezh region, the regional government said on Telegram.” (06/23/26)
https://www.aol.com/articles/ukraines-kyiv-issues-air-raid-223451000.html
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“If the U.S. government is entitled to summarily kill suspected drug traffickers abroad, there is no reason why the same prerogative would not eventually be invoked on the home front. If politicians truly want to protect Americans, why not authorize the U.S. military, state police, and county government dog catchers to summarily attack any boat suspected of transporting drugs on the nation’s lakes, rivers, or overgrown puddles? Actually, such warped logic has already been taken to absurd ends. The core follies of the Trump-Hegseth war of extermination on drug suspects were established almost a quarter-century ago. American illicit drug users miraculously became collectively guilty for every terrorist attack in the world.” (06/22/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-demented-origin-of-the-war-on-drugs-and-war-on-terrorism-nexus/
Source: Reason
“Why U.K. Socialism Could Soon Be America’s Problem.” (06/22/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/22/why-u-k-socialism-could-soon-be-americas-problem/
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Iran has denied a claim by Vice-President JD Vance that it will allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, after the first round of talks between Washington and Tehran to reach a final deal to end the war. Following negotiations in Switzerland, Vance said discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could be happening ‘as soon as today.’ But Iran’s foreign ministry told state media that Tehran had made ‘no new commitments’ on nuclear inspections. It came as the US temporarily waived sanctions, allowing Iran to sell oil in US dollars for the first time in decades.” (06/23/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3vy3nr63gxo
