Source: Show-Me Institute
by Cory Koedel
“Most schools embraced digital learning during and after the COVID pandemic, dramatically increasing students’ screen time during the school day. Combined with the long hours many children already spend on screens outside of school, the result has been an unprecedented amount of daily screen exposure. But people are starting to push back. More than half of states have policies that limit or fully ban cell phones in schools. And many states and school districts have also enacted, or are considering, policies that limit screen use for instruction.” (07/17/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/technology-and-our-children-theyre-almost-like-addicts/
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“France said Friday it was blocking access to the online prediction market Polymarket, as punters continued to make bets despite a ban already in place. The national gaming authority ANJ said Friday that Polymarket’s webpage would be blocked on French territory, which adds to a November 2024 ban on financial transactions to the site. Polymarket is one of a number of online prediction markets which allow people to bet on the outcome of future events.” (07/17/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260717-france-orders-internet-service-providers-to-block-access-to-polymarket
Source: Reason
“Journalist Michael Tracey and professor Marcella Szablewicz debate the Epstein scandal and the public reaction to the files.” (07/17/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/07/17/are-the-epstein-files-a-moral-panic/
Source: Law & Liberty
by Tyler Syck
“With the exception of the Caesars, no ancient Roman political figure is as famous as Marcus Tullius Cicero. Like the Caesars, the myth of Cicero has taken on a life of its own: the philosopher-statesman who, until his final breath, withstood the forces of totalitarianism in defense of the republic. Certainly, there is a great deal of truth to this story. Cicero’s literary output is prodigious, and his defense of the Roman republic against Caesarism should remain an example to us all. However, as with most myths, the truth of the man is far richer and far more complicated.” (07/17/26)
https://lawliberty.org/ciceros-life-in-the-arena/
Source: American Greatness
by Jordan Schachtel
“merican technological infrastructure is the building block for our modern lives. Data centers are not some side issue or a fringe zoning dispute; they account for a significant part of the physical foundation of the American economy. They are the functional infrastructure that can put the United States in a position to reindustrialize and onshore our economy, while allowing us to have the tools we need to compete with China. The loudest forces working to stop that buildout fall into exactly two categories: people who are simply misinformed about what these facilities actually do, and people who are being actively used, wittingly or not, to psyop American communities into fighting against their own country’s interests.” (07/17/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/07/17/the-new-american-industrial-revolution-runs-on-data-centers/
Source: Fox News
“China pushed back Friday after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of ‘working to influence the results’ of the 2020 presidential election, describing his accusation as ‘entirely fabricated.’ Trump said in a primetime speech Thursday night that ‘in mid 2018, China was working to influence the results of the U.S. midterm elections and later the results of the 2020 presidential election itself.’ … China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday said ‘the relevant allegations by the U.S. are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China.’ ‘We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so,’ Jian said. … He added that ‘China reserves the right to take reciprocal countermeasures.'” (07/17/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/china-dismisses-trump-election-interference-accusations-entirely-fabricated-threatens-countermeasures
Source: The Intercept
“Spencer Ackerman on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s warmongering legacy and next U.S. forever war in Iran.” (07/17/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/07/17/spencer-ackerman-lindsey-graham-iran-war/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry Jackson
“The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, passed and signed in 2022, went into effect on May 1. It demands a lot. By 2032, every shred of single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware sold in the state has to be recyclable or compostable. The law covers not just items made and consumed in California, but also those imported from outside the state. Because California is a massive market, many companies don’t produce one package for California and another for the other 49 states. Instead, they use a single design for everyone. That’s why the 17 states and other critics argue that California’s regulations have increasingly become national regulations.” (07/17/26)
https://fee.org/articles/how-californias-plastic-ban-could-change-what-every-american-buys/
Source: Liberal Currents
by Guillaume AW Attia
“Citizens of liberal democratic societies have grown rich and prosperous off the ideology of rational control, but have unfortunately become complacent in its defense.” (07/17/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-empire-of-reason/
Source: NBC News
“A former loyalist blogger turned fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been detained and accused of spreading false information about the armed forces, state media reported Friday. The news came just as a court hearing was being held for another Kremlin critic and opposition politician, Boris Nadezhdin, in a sign of an intensified response to mounting internal dissent over the war in Ukraine and its impact on Russian life. The blogger, Ilya Remeslo, stunned many in Russia when he published a scathing manifesto against the Russian leader that went viral in March. He was detained in St. Petersburg early Friday and could face up to 10 years in prison, state news agency Tass reported, citing law enforcement sources. The charge he faces is a common one for opponents of the war in Ukraine and has been used to jail numerous dissidents since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.” (07/17/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/ilya-remeslo-arrested-kremlin-crackdown-putin-critic-nadezhdin-court-rcna587962