June 18th
Mark David
1) Thought Crimes: The Knock on the Door Has Arrived
The pre-crime apparatus is no longer theoretical. Americans are now being prosecuted for meetings, messages, and protest activity…Thom Hartmann The Hartman Report
Back in April I wrote here about what I called the Department of Thought Crimes, the pre-crime apparatus the Trump regime had quietly stood up inside the FBI and DOJ to hunt for Americans who might someday break a law because of what they believe.
Ken Klippenstein first identified the GOP’s hit list in Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, often referred to as “NSPM-7,” which is apparently the basis for these arrests. It identified as potential “domestic terrorist” threats those Americans who espouse:
“[A]nti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity, … extremism on migration, extremism on race, extremism on gender, hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.”
2) Arizona emerges as test case for AI's energy and water crunch by Amy Harder for AXIOS
PHOENIX — This desert region has become a bellwether for the nation's data center growth as the tech sector grapples with rising temperatures and scarce resources.
Why it matters: Arizona is an extreme microcosm of the challenges the AI boom is running into across the country as tech companies race to build data centers demanding massive amounts of power and testing local water supplies.
"What took our utilities 100+ years to build, we need to double that within the next four to five years to keep up with demand," said Kevin Thompson, who serves on the Arizona Corporation Commission, a powerful utility regulator whose members are elected statewide.
3) How local communities are challenging Big Tech data centers’ noise, pollution and rising electricity bills BY Rachel Murel Senior Research Associate in Environment and Natural Resources and Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School for “The Conservation”
As the race to build data centers across the United States accelerates, local governments worry that the tech industry mantra of “move fast and break things” means their communities are at risk of being broken.
I’m a Harvard researcher studying the relationship between data centers and energy. I’ve closely monitored how local governments respond to proposals or even just concerns about the potential for data centers in their communities. What I’ve found is a complex story of community needs, political tensions and corporate power – all interacting with local, state and national democratic processes.
4) Don't Give the Clown a Flamethrower ADAM KINZINGER June 18th
Performance is not the same as governance. Surrender is not strength Adam Kinzinger
In a traveling circus, there’s a division of labor that everyone understands, even if nobody says it out loud.
The business manager runs the books. He’s not funny. He doesn’t drink on the job. He makes the hard calls — where the convoy moves next, which acts get cut, whether the whole operation survives the winter. Nobody loves him. Nobody needs to. His job isn’t to be loved. His job is to keep the lights on and the tent standing.
The clowns have a different job. They drink from flasks between acts. They fall down, honk horns, spray each other with seltzer. The crowd roars. It’s glorious and a little sad and completely necessary. The circus needs them.
5) What’s in Trump’s 14-Point US-Iran Peace Deal? Full Text and Breakdown
By Gabe Whisnant and Brendan Cole for NEWSWEEK
6) Why is Trump’s threat to the Ocean Observatories Initiative so monumental to scientists?
Researchers warn that shuttering a key network of research equipment and analysis will make the country less prepared for climate crises By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators delivered a letter to the National Science Foundation urging Acting Director Brian Stone to “reverse course” on a Trump administration plan to dismantle the “vital” Ocean Observatories Initiative. Comprising “over 900 unique deep-sea buoys and other instruments,” the OOI “provides insights into changing ecosystem conditions and extreme weather events,” said the group. The administration’s plan threatens the “safety of our coastal communities” and undermines the U.S.’s “ability to monitor coastal environments, marine currents and extreme weather events.”
7) Trump Lost And so did we Dan Rather and Team Steady Jun 17, 2026
Bombs and bullying didn’t cut it. Neither will real estate buddies as peace negotiators. Nevertheless, there is a deal to end it. Or so says the president.
With this war, as with almost everything else having to do with this president, skepticism is wise. For what it may be worth, we are told that after a 100-plus day war with Iran, it is over. By any objective analysis, Donald Trump lost. The buck and the blame begin and end with him.
American citizens lost too, those who voted for him and those who didn’t. Because of the president’s misguided adventure, we are all left with horrific inflation, much higher gas prices, and a country with diminished standing around the world.
8) NATO chief downplays US military cutbacks as top commander makes backup plans
LORNE COOK June 17, 2026 via AP Yahoo
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down on Wednesday the impact of the Trump administration's decision to cut back the number of troops and military equipment it would provide its allies should they come under attack.
NATO's supreme allied commander, an American, is working on backup plans to defend Europe after the U.S. signaled on June 3 that it would no longer supply an aircraft carrier and support ships, aerial refueling planes and dozens of fighter jets, among other military assets, in a crisis.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/nato-chief-downplays-us-military-134929178.html
9) DHS Rolls Back Civil Rights Rule, Limits Discrimination Cases by Hannab Parry for Newsweek
In a sweeping regulatory shift, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finalized a rule that dramatically narrows how discrimination can be penalized across billions of dollars in federal grants.
The decision strips the government of its ability to penalize funding recipients for policies that disproportionately harm minority groups—unless explicit discriminatory intent can be proven.
10) The Tradwife Trap: Sourdough, Silicon Valley, and the Far-Right War on Women's Independence
At the TPUSA Women’s Leadership Summit, wealthy influencers pitched a dark fantasy where women are happiest without pesky distractions like bodily autonomy or the right to vote. By Susan J. Demas for LINCOLN SQUARE
And then a 20-year-old tradwife influencer named Savanna Faith Stone stepped up and told the self-dubbed “cute-servatives” assembled there that they don’t deserve the right to vote.
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/the-tradwife-trap-sourdough-silicon?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3561893&post_id=202358461&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=5jaee&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email