Source: spiked
by Cory Franklin
“In a Chicago Tribune article last year I wrote, ‘In an ever more complex society, have we run the risk of becoming overly dependent on experts – delegating decisions and responsibilities to them that are outside their domain?’ Several readers called me out, justifiably. They asked whether it was a good idea for anyone other than an expert to fly my plane or perform my open-heart surgery. Point taken. I have spent a lot of time both in planes and operating rooms. Without question, I want experts calling the shots in both of them. … My mistake was in failing to point out the distinction between experts with technical knowledge (the ones who actually know how to do things) and experts who have earned their status primarily as a result of their educational credentials or public opinions.” (04/06/26)
https://archive.is/mC3hH
Source: The Contrarian
by Jennifer Rubin
“Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi for doing his bidding poorly. Her vindictive prosecutions flamed out. Her refusal to abide by the law Trump signed to require disclosure of all of the Epstein pedophile files incurred the ire even of Republicans. Trump insists that the fault for serial losses in court and scandals lies with Bondi’s lack of finesse in carrying out his orders, certainly not the underlying unconstitutionality, unreasonableness, and baseless actions he demands. He craved a more ruthless hired gun to oversee the weaponization of the Justice Department.” (04/06/26)
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/bondis-replacement-will-be-just-as
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Scientists have identified a hallmark signature produced by psychedelic drugs in the human brain when users experience their mind-altering effects. The ‘neural fingerprint’ of the psychedelic trip was spotted among hundreds of brain scans of people on LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and ayahuasca, pointing to a shared impact on the brain’s behaviour. The finding emerged from a major study that combined 11 brain imaging datasets from around the world in an effort to build a reliable picture of how the substances temporarily rewire the brain. The insights are increasingly important as researchers investigate the drugs in clinical trials as potential therapies for severe mental health and neurological conditions such as depression, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.” (04/06/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/06/scientists-identify-neural-fingerprint-of-psychedelic-drugs-in-the-brain
Source: EconTalk
“The Unseen Work: Stewart Brand on Maintenance and Civilization.” (04/06/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-unseen-work-stewart-brand-on-maintenance-and-civilization/
Source: Law & Liberty
by DG Hart
“Younger Americans, born after 1985, may have no frame of reference for the current state of journalism which is highly partisan and considered untrustworthy (at least to partisans on the opposite side). The Gallup Organization’s data shows that trust in ‘Mass Media’ (not identical to but related to journalism) is way down, from 72 percent in 1976 to 28 percent in 2025. The reverse is also true. People who answered positively to survey questions about trust in media, whether they had ‘None at all,’ went from 4 percent in 1976 to 34 percent in 2025. In between those answers was ‘Not very much’ trust in media, which hit a high point of 41 percent in 2016 and has fluctuated since (36 percent in 2025).” (04/06/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/journalisms-better-days/
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bruno V Manno
“The erosion of early work experience is widening inequality. A modern apprenticeship system could rebuild the first rung of the career ladder.” (04/06/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/04/06/making-apprenticeships-part-of-civic-infrastructure/
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The Democratic Republic of Congo has agreed to accept migrants deported from the US who are not themselves Congolese under a deal effective from this month, officials said. The Ministry of Communication said a temporary reception system had been set up, while facilities to accommodate arrivals had been selected in the capital, Kinshasa. ‘Logistical and technical support’ will be provided by the US, the statement on Sunday said, adding that the Congolese government would bear no financial cost for the scheme. The government did not say how many deportees they would accept. The US has already sent deportees to several other countries in Africa as part of Washington’s crackdown on immigration. Amid concerns that migrants could be returned to their home countries – where some fear persecution – Congolese officials said no such transfers are being planned.” (04/06/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20d35eejxgo
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump’s Iran Endgame Fantasy.” (04/05/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPcHswR0bC0
Source: The Daily Economy
by Romina Boccia
“Washington has a habit of changing its budget goals — not because the country solved the spending-driven debt problem, but because each goal proved harder than lawmakers were willing to confront. I remember working on fiscal policy in 2011, when lawmakers still talked about balancing the budget. It was an intuitive target. If the government only spent what it collected in revenues, the debt problem would eventually disappear. Simple in theory. Difficult to achieve in practice.” (04/06/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/congress-is-moving-the-goalposts-on-fiscal-responsibility/
Source: The American Prospect
by James Baratta
“After being ambushed by privacy activists outside a town hall in southern Connecticut last week, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, spoke at length about the urgency of extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the warrantless spying program he has been actively lobbying Democratic colleagues to support without reforms. The 702 program is set to expire on April 20. Himes assured protestors that ‘anything I said today, you can sort of check if you want’. In a press release Friday, organizers with QuitGPT and a number of Connecticut-based advocacy groups held him to it: ‘Unfortunately, Himes repeated several false and misleading statements about FISA, the data broker loophole, and AI surveillance.’ Their comments came just hours after a separate virtual town hall last Friday where Himes ‘repeated many of the same statements’ about Section 702.” (04/06/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/04/06/jim-himes-warrantless-spying-fisa-house-committee-intelligence-ai-surveillance/
