Source: Associated Press
“A federal judge in Arkansas has thrown out a handful of state laws that put extra restrictions on citizen efforts to gather signatures for ballot initiatives, agreeing with challengers that they violated the constitutional free speech rights of voters. The decision handed several victories to the League of Women Voters of Arkansas and other plaintiffs, which sued last year amid efforts in various states to make it harder for regular citizens to make laws or amend their states’ constitution through ballot initiatives. One such measure required someone signing a petition to show photo ID. That and other additional ballot-initiative restrictions were imposed by Arkansas’ GOP-controlled state government after election officials cited a legal technicality to reject petitions submitted by abortion rights supporters in a 2024 effort to legalize abortion in the conservative state.” (07/01/26)
https://apnews.com/article/ballot-measures-arkansas-lawsuit-petitions-2219ea055b52a7759682368da9950e9c
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“Former FBI director Robert Mueller was a twenty-first century version of J. Edgar Hoover, trampling the Constitution and seizing new power on any pretext. When Mueller died in March, the New York Times eulogized him as a ‘button-down, lockjawed, rock-ribbed exemplar of a vanishing caste.’ Media tributes poured in as if Mueller was the law-enforcement version of Mother Theresa. But tell that to the Liberty City Seven, victims in a landmark case in the war on terror that should have defined Mueller’s legacy far more than his photo ops at congressional hearings. The FBI completely fabricated the Liberty City plot in Miami. But Mueller lied, telling America that the arrestees — mostly Haitian-Americans — a ‘homegrown terrorist cell … self-recruited, self-trained, and self-executing.'” (07/01/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/07/01/fbi-boss-robert-mueller-conned-america-to-ravage-our-rights/
Source: Haaretz [Israel]
“The former head of the IDF’s Hostages and Missing Persons Command said on Wednesday that after October 7, Israel ‘conducted a long war that could have ended at least a year earlier,’ adding that there were hostages held in Gaza that could have ‘been returned alive.’ According to the former chief of the unit, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Alon, Israel ‘could have achieved the same results or avoided failing to achieve those we did not achieve, such as disarming Hamas, and so on.’ … The Likud party responded to Alon, saying that he ‘asked to surrender to Hamas’s conditions, withdraw from Gaza and end the war, while simultaneously leaking briefings from the most sensitive discussions and harming the negotiations.'” (07/01/26)
https://archive.is/c8e0h
Source: The Daily Economy
by Lawrence W Reed
“Both the American and French Revolutions promised ‘power to the people.’ One delivered it; the other descended into bloodshed and chaos. Why?” (07/01/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/revolutions-worlds-apart-why-america-chose-liberty-and-france-chose-terror/
Source: Mother Jones
by Amy Hawkins
“China has emerged as the sole winner in Asia from the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report by the geopolitical consulting firm Asia Group concluded that China had weathered the storm of the global commodities crisis resulting from the closure of the Middle Eastern waterway, and also stood to gain from the economic and geopolitical trends sparked by the wider conflict. … China’s electric vehicle exports soared by more than 110 percent in May compared with the previous year, while solar shipments in April increased by 60 percent.” (07/01/26)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/07/trump-iran-war-middle-east-winner-china-clean-energy/
Source: CNBC
“Private sector employment grew by a seasonally adjusted 98,000 for the month, down from 122,000 in May and a bit below the forecast for 110,000, ADP reported Wednesday. Nearly half the job creation in June — 48,000 — came from the education and health services sector, a consistent leader for payroll growth. All but 2,000 of the new jobs came from services. Annual pay gains for those staying in their jobs held steady at 4.4% while edging higher to 6.6% for job switchers.” (07/01/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/01/private-payrolls-rose-by-98000-in-june-less-than-expected-adp-reports.html
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on leftist candidates like Graham Platner and Darializa Avila Chevalier finding support among more affluent voters rather than the working class.” (07/01/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5942763-rising-july-1-2026/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Among the silliest arguments employed by proponents of America’s socialist (i.e., central planning) system of immigration controls — and the deadly and ruthless immigration police state that comes with it — is the assimilation argument. Immigration statists say that under a free-market immigration system — that is, one based on open borders — there is a risk that immigrants won’t ‘assimilate’ into the general population. Therefore, immigration statists argue, it is necessary that the federal government be in charge of the movements of people into the United States so that it will accept only those who will be likely to ‘assimilate.’ Really? For one thing, what does ‘assimilate’ mean?” (07/01/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/07/01/lets-reject-assimilation-nonsense/
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Angel Eduardo
“The First Amendment was ratified in 1791, guaranteeing that Congress shall make no law abridging our freedom to speak, publish, assemble, worship, and petition the government. But as anyone with a passing knowledge of our history knows, the fight was far from over then. In fact, it was only just beginning — and Philadelphia was ground zero for much of it.” (07/01/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/250-years-later-free-speech-is-still
Source: Town Hall
by Joe Abraham
“Pete Buttigieg and his family should never have endured a malicious false report that brought police and Child Protective Services to their home, temporarily separated him from his young children, and forced his family through a needless ordeal. Authorities quickly determined the allegations were baseless. The bipartisan condemnation that followed was appropriate. Political leaders from across the country spoke with one voice. Commentators expressed outrage. The message was unmistakable: there are lines that should never be crossed. They were right. But watching the response unfold left me asking a question I have carried since my daughter Katie was killed. Why does our political class know exactly how to respond when one of its own is harmed, yet struggle to summon the same moral urgency when ordinary Americans are actually buried?” (07/01/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/joe-abraham/2026/07/01/the-hierarchy-of-compassion-who-counts-n2678594
