A Public Bank in California Would Be Costly, Risky, and Unnecessary

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Matt Fleming

“Forming a state-run bank in California would be a massive undertaking for which the state is woefully unqualified. It’s also a big risk to taxpayers and is totally unnecessary. But lawmakers were pushing forward anyway.” (06/08/26)

https://fee.org/articles/a-public-bank-in-california-would-be-costly-risky-and-unnecessary/

Gaza: A Meditation on Spirit and Survival

Source: Antiwar.com
by M Reza Behnam

“The human spirit cannot comprehend the reality of tens of thousands of Palestinians entombed beneath mountains of pulverized concrete. The very air of Gaza carries the heavy toxic dust of war and of extinguished lives. To gaze upon the ruins, is to confront not only its physical erasure, but the malign systematic campaign of the Israeli regime to wholly erase Palestinian ethnic, cultural and national identity – the very definition of genocide.” (06/08/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/reza_behnam/2026/06/07/gaza-a-meditation-on-spirit-and-survival/

We’re Freaking Doomed without Freedom from State Rule

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith

“For now, at least, we know what computers can and cannot do. Whatever their limitations, it is clear their development is on an exponential path, and any shortcomings will be short-lived. … The combination of these strengths will be formidable, to say the least. And these strengths will continue to grow exponentially. It’s quite possible this technology could become the exclusive domain of the state, the only organization that ‘legitimately’ acquires its revenue by theft, which it enforces with a vengeance. Despite its elaborate pretensions and propaganda, the state, by its nature, is the enemy of the people, as all criminals are.” (06/08/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/were-freaking-doomed-without-freedom-state-rule

Ship ferrying aid from Mexico and Belize docks in Cuba as crises deepen

Source: ABC News

“A ship laden with 1,700 tons of food and other aid collected in Mexico and Belize has docked in Cuba to help ease the island’s crises. Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that the aid was sent by government officials in both countries, as well as supporters and Cubans living abroad. ‘We appreciate the supportive embrace in such difficult times,’ Díaz-Canel wrote in a post on X on Sunday. A U.S. energy blockade that began in late January has halted oil shipments to Cuba, which is experiencing severe blackouts and food shortages.” (06/08/26)

https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/ship-ferrying-aid-mexico-belize-docks-cuba-crises-133683510

Trump Is Doing What FDR Could Not

Source: Foreign Policy
by Julian E Zelizer

“To understand the hold that Trump has on his party, it is useful to look back to the 1938 midterms, when Franklin D. Roosevelt — one of the most consequential presidents in U.S. history — failed to keep his party on the same page. When Roosevelt tried to purge the Democratic Party of conservative Southern legislators who were holding back his New Deal, the president found himself on the losing end of the battle, empowering the very forces he was trying to stop. … The irony, though, is that, despite his defeat in 1938, Roosevelt ultimately helped build a far more enduring Democratic coalition. … Trump, by contrast, has tied his party to a deeply unpopular leader and agenda.” (06/08/26)

https://archive.is/MNRZF

TX: Defense tries to buttress self-defense claim in trial over teen athlete’s killing

Source: SFGate

“Lawyers for a young man who fatally stabbed a competitor at a Texas high school track meet called more witnesses Monday to try to support a claim of self-defense as a trial entered a second week. Karmelo Anthony, now 19, is charged with murder in the death of Austin Metcalf, 17, at a school stadium in Frisco, a Dallas suburb, in April 2025. Prosecutors say the stabbing was an unprovoked attack related to a dispute over whether Anthony could be under the tent of Metcalf’s team during a rainy track meet. Defense attorneys insist Anthony felt threatened and believed he needed to defend himself when physical contact was made. Metcalf’s death drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony, who attended Frisco Centennial High School, is [b]lack, while Metcalf, who attended Frisco Memorial High School, was white. Prosecutors rested their case Saturday in Collin County court.” (06/08/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/defense-tries-to-buttress-self-defense-claim-in-22295877.php

First-ever bear sighting in Japanese city triggers suspensions at 94 schools

Source: New York Post

“The Japanese city of Utsunomiya has suspended all 94 of the primary and middle schools ​that it operates on Monday after its ‌first-ever bear sighting, a municipal official said. The city of half a million residents, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Tokyo, said ​the bear was first seen in a residential ​area near a park on Saturday evening. It ⁠remains at large after the last sighting early ​Monday morning about half a kilometer from a ​middle school. Bear attacks, including in urban areas, have been on the rise in Japan, prompting the government to set up a ​task force this year to reduce casualties.” (06/08/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/06/08/world-news/first-ever-bear-sighting-in-japanese-city-triggers-suspensions-at-94-schools/