06/04 -- Israeli regime agrees to Lebanon "ceasefire," says it will keep firing; The freedom to question requires the duty to prove
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 4, 2026, 6:32:27 AMJun 4
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/04/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Israeli regime agrees to Lebanon “ceasefire,” says it will keep firing
2) US House performatively votes to end already illegal Iran war
3) Crimea: Ukrainian drone strikes kill four
4) Seven states sue Trump regime over nearly $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind farm
5) Bitcoin briefly drops below $62,000 as $1.5 billion in crypto longs get wiped out
6) Amazon overthrows Walmart to become Fortune 500’s top company
7) India: At least 21 people killed after fire sweeps through New Delhi building
8) South Korea: Exit polls show sweeping local election win for Lee’s party
9) UK: Three dead in Royal Navy helicopter crash
10) Iowa hands Trump first major statewide primary loss of 2026 in governor’s race
11) Mexico: Cruise passenger hailed as hero after jumping into water to save 84-year-old man
12) Albanians protest over Kushner-linked luxury resort on pristine coastline
13) Trump acknowledges calling Netanyahu “crazy” and says Israel is complicating peace talks with Iran
14) Source: Santos reported to prosecutors over suspicious Kalshi trades
15) Thailand: Thaksin gets royal pardon after release on parole
16) Nigeria: Court sentences four men to death over 2022 Catholic church attack
17) FL: Legislature approves property tax cut proposal for November ballot
18) Hungary: Regime Moves to Abolish Orban-Era Sovereignty Protection Office
19) Google applies for permit to release 32 million mosquitoes in California
20) CBS fires Pelley for venting over Weiss train wreck
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The freedom to question requires the duty to prove
22) Conservatives Miss the Point on Marijuana
23) The Draft Is Unpopular. Registration Becomes Automatic in December Anyway.
24) Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet
25) The World Government That Wasn’t
26) California’s “Wealth” Tax is Coming for Everyone
27) Frank Kameny was fired for being gay. What he did next changed America.
28) Trump Dreads an Iran Deal Worse than Obama’s
29) Dignity’s role in ending wartime rape
30) Canada’s redistricting model could solve the US gerrymandering death spiral
31) Difficult Freedom or Easy Tyranny: Which Will America Choose?
32) Big Government Is Why Politics Keeps Getting More Extreme
33) US Voters Hungry for a Country With Consequences for Corruption at the Top
34) Data Centers Can Bring Their Own Tax Cuts
35) “Terror” as Technique in American Policymaking
36) Russia’s Warnings Signal Danger of Widening War
37) Kennedy Center ruling gets Trump’s name right but repairs badly wrong
38) Warsh’s Concerning Interest in Redefining “Inflation”
39) Charles Augustus Leale, Abraham Lincoln, and the Physician We Are Slowly Losing
40) Save the Last Branch for Me
41) The Return of the Dixiecrat South
42) How not to prevent a war over Taiwan
43) Stop Weaponizing Everything!!!
44) Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion
45) The moral woke abyss that got Henry Nowak killed
46) Is ‘thrillionaire’ Trump addicted to stock trading?
47) The Islamic Republic Is More Dug in Than Ever
48) The New Acting Director of the Office of National Intelligence Has a Track Record of Weaponizing Government
49) No New Beds: How one coalition is challenging the construction of mega-jails in Georgia
50) Cutting Tariffs on Farm Equipment Is Another Admission That Trump’s Trade Policies Are Increasing Prices
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage
52) Reason Interview: Damon Root
53) Reasonably Optimistic, 06/03/26
54) TAC Right Now, 06/03/26
55) The Fifth Column, episode 560
56) The Corbett Report, episode 502
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/03/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/02/26
59) Free Speech Unmuted, 06/02/26
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 06/02/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Israeli regime agrees to Lebanon “ceasefire,” says it will keep firing
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military will continue its ground operations in southern Lebanon, hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a US-backed ceasefire to end hostilities. … ‘The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the yellow line – including in the Beaufort area – and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground,’ he said in a statement. … The IDF also issued a warning this morning saying fighting will continue in southern Lebanon as it urged people to ‘refrain from heading south of the Zahrani River.’ Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported several people were wounded in Israeli strikes in the southern Tyre and Nabatieh areas, which have seen repeated attacks in recent weeks.” (06/04/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/04/middle-east-crisis-israel-lebanon-hezbolllah-us-ceasefire-southern-military-attacks-continue-latest-news-updates
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2) US House performatively votes to end already illegal Iran war
Source: USA Today
“In a severe political blow to President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives voted for the first time on Wednesday, June 3, to end the war in Iran. The 215-208 vote, which was mostly symbolic, marked a new period of congressional unease with the conflict in the Middle East amid an impasse in peace negotiations. Strikes in the region have continued in recent days despite the White House’s assertion to lawmakers that hostilities have ended. Four Republicans joined with Democrats to support a resolution asserting the legislative branch’s war authority and blocking further hostilities in the region. It came just two weeks after the Senate advanced a similar measure.” [editor’s note: The war was illegal the instant Trump started it without the required constitutional declaration. These theatrics are no substitute for impeachment and removal – TLK] (06/03/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/03/house-of-representatives-iran-war-powers-vote-trump/90393650007/
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3) Crimea: Ukrainian drone strikes kill four
Source: Reuters
“Ukrainian attacks killed four people in the Russia-annexed Crimea peninsula, Kremlin-installed officials in the region said on Thursday, one day after Moscow and Kyiv traded strikes on each other’s cities. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea, said Ukrainian forces had hit a non-residential part of Simferopol, the peninsula’s main administrative town, killing three people and injuring seven. Aksyonov later said on Telegram that one person had been killed and three wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a commuter train in eastern Crimea. Ukraine did not immediately comment.” (06/04/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-strikes-kill-three-russia-annexed-crimea-2026-06-04/
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4) Seven states sue Trump regime over nearly $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind farm
Source: ABC News
“Seven states are suing the Trump administration over a nearly $1 billion deal to end French energy company TotalEnergies’ offshore wind development off the East Coast, accusing the deal of being ‘unlawful.’ In March, the U.S. Department of the Interior reached a $928 million deal with TotalEnergies to halt construction of the wind farms and redirect the investment into domestic fossil fuel initiatives. … Attorneys general in seven states in the Northeast, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, alleging the Trump administration illegally used nearly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for the deal. The coalition also accuses the deal of violating the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which restricts the Interior Department’s ability to cancel offshore wind leases.” (06/03/26)
https://abcnews.com/US/7-states-sue-trump-administration-1-billion-deal/story?id=133525483
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5) Bitcoin briefly drops below $62,000 as $1.5 billion in crypto longs get wiped out
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin briefly plunged below $62,000 Thursday morning Hong Kong time, triggering more than $1.5 billion in leveraged crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours as a wave of forced selling accelerated the market’s steepest decline in months. More than 208,000 traders were liquidated across crypto markets, according to CoinGlass data, with bitcoin accounting for over $800 million of the losses and ether another $386 million. The liquidation wave coincided with continued weakness in institutional demand. Investors have pulled approximately $1 billion from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs this week, according to SoSoValue data, extending the funds’ record streak of net outflows.” (06/03/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/06/04/bitcoin-drops-below-usd62-000-as-usd1-5-billion-in-crypto-longs-get-wiped-out
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6) Amazon overthrows Walmart to become Fortune 500’s top company
Source: New York Post
“Amazon has overtaken Walmart to claim the No. 1 spot on the Fortune 500, ending the retailer’s 13-year run at the top of the annual ranking of America’s biggest companies by revenue. The latest list, based on fiscal 2025 revenue, puts Amazon in the top spot, followed by Walmart and UnitedHealth Group. The shakeup marks the first time since 2013 that Walmart has not held the No. 1 position on the Fortune 500. Amazon generated roughly $717 billion in revenue during the most recent reporting period, narrowly surpassing Walmart’s $713 billion. UnitedHealth Group rounded out the top three with $447.6 billion in revenue.” (06/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/business/amazon-overthrows-walmart-to-become-fortune-500s-top-company-ending-superstores-13-year-reign-at-the-top/
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7) India: At least 21 people killed after fire sweeps through New Delhi building
Source: New York Post
“A fire swept through a building in a New Delhi neighborhood Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others, police said. The building in the Malviya Nagar neighborhood in the southern part of the city had a restaurant on the ground floor and a hotel above. The predominantly residential area is densely populated and is popular with students and young professionals. … Some of the victims were foreign nationals who had traveled to India for medical treatment, local media reported.” (06/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/world-news/at-least-21-people-killed-after-fire-sweeps-through-new-delhi-building/
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8) South Korea: Exit polls show sweeping local election win for Lee’s party
Source: Yahoo! News
“South Korean voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots for the ruling Democratic Party in nationwide local elections Wednesday, exit polls said, in a show of support for President Lee Jae Myung one year into his term. Lee’s Democratic Party was projected to win 11 of the 16 key races in Wednesday’s elections, according to a joint poll conducted by broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS. The opposition People Power Party was projected to take only one seat, while four races were too close to call. A separate poll by broadcaster JTBC found the Democratic Party projected to win 10 of the key races. The vote was the first nationwide test since Lee took office last June, when he won the presidency in a snap election after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his botched martial law attempt.” (06/03/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/south-korea-exit-polls-show-121135618.html
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9) UK: Three dead in Royal Navy helicopter crash
Source: Sky News [UK]
“A Royal Navy helicopter has crashed into a field in Devon, killing three navy staff. … Devon and Cornwall Police said earlier that emergency services were at the scene of the incident at Sourton Down, near Okehampton. The Navy added on Wednesday morning that the crash happened just before 4am. … The scene of the crash is close to Okehampton battle camp, a military facility on the edge of Dartmoor which has been used for training Merlin helicopter crews from the Commando Helicopter Force.” (06/03/26)
https://news.sky.com/story/royal-navy-helicopter-crashes-into-devon-field-13550352
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10) Iowa hands Trump first major statewide primary loss of 2026 in governor’s race
Source: The Hill
“President Trump saw his first major primary loss of the 2026 midterm election cycle in Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday as businessman Zach Lahn defeated Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa). Lahn narrowly defeated Feenstra in the primary by just less than 1 point. Feenstra’s primary loss comes less than a week after Trump formally backed Feenstra, calling him ‘MAGA all the way!’ in a post on Truth Social. The congressman told supporters Tuesday that he called Lahn to concede the race to him on Tuesday. … While Feenstra won the coveted Trump endorsement, Lahn was backed by Trump allies within the conservative universe, including the MAHA PAC and Turning Point Action. Most of Trump’s endorsed candidates have seen success in the 2026 primary season, with his backed challengers Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) defeating incumbent Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), respectively.” (06/03/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5907672-trump-iowa-primary-loss
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11) Mexico: Cruise passenger hailed as hero after jumping into water to save 84-year-old man
Source: Fox News
“A Carnival Cruise Line passenger is being praised as a hero after jumping into the water to help an elderly man who fell from a pier during a cruise stop in Mexico. The incident occurred May 19 while Carnival Jubilee was docked in Costa Maya. Carnival Cruise Line confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, saying an elderly guest fell into the water while returning to the ship. … Video of the rescue later circulated on social media — showing a passenger identified only as Myron removing his shoes and jumping into the water after spotting the man struggling near the ship.” (06/03/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/cruise-passenger-hailed-hero-after-jumping-water-save-84-year-old-man
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12) Albanians protest over Kushner-linked luxury resort on pristine coastline
Source: Reuters
“Thousands of Albanians took to the streets of Tirana on Tuesday night protesting against a development planned by a company linked with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast. The €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) resort is being led by Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners on an island off Albania and an undeveloped stretch of coastline near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, a wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites. … Protests by locals and non-profit organisations started after large barbed wire fences were erected by developers at the proposed site in Zvernec, near Vlora. Several hundred gathered and clashed with private guards on Saturday and some were injured, a Reuters witness said.” (06/03/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/albanians-protest-over-kushner-linked-luxury-resort-pristine-coastline-2026-06-03/
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13) Trump acknowledges calling Netanyahu “crazy” and says Israel is complicating peace talks with Iran
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump acknowledged criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘crazy’ in a phone call that involved expletives, saying he was ‘a little bit perturbed’ that Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran. But even as the U.S. president conceded the tensions in an interview released Wednesday, he insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu was solid and that they connected, in part, because they are both ‘wartime’ leaders. … The president’s comments about the Monday call offered a sign of the growing pressure he faces to resolve the Iran war as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty threaten Republican prospects in the midterm elections and hamper global commerce.” (06/03/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/israel-strikes-just-south-of-beirut-ahead-of-22289143.php
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14) Source: Santos reported to prosecutors over suspicious Kalshi trades
Source: Associated Press
“A prediction market reported U.S. Rep. George Santos to federal prosecutors after he boasted he’d be going to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, then bet against his own attendance, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Kalshi, the online prediction marketplace, referred Santos to the Department of Justice after detecting suspicious trades made by the former congressman ahead of Trump’s Feb. 24 speech, the person said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Kalshi also reported the trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal regulatory body that has vowed to crack down on insider trading in prediction marketplaces.” (06/03/26)
https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-kalshi-2ea925949a0f3f72ec46411b41344858
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15) Thailand: Thaksin gets royal pardon after release on parole
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Thailand’s divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was freed from parole on Wednesday after receiving a royal pardon from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as the 76-year-old billionaire businessman’s plans remain unclear. Thaksin, who stood at the heart of a two-decade power struggle with rival sections of the Thai elite, served eight months of a one-year jail term for corruption and abuse of power. He was released from jail early last month due to his advancing age, with his term originally set to end by September. A royal decree pardoning him at the king’s discretion became effective on Wednesday, the birthday of Queen Suthida. Royal birthdays and other symbolic dates are often marked with pardons of jailed prisoners.” (06/03/26)
https://archive.is/jUBHv
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16) Nigeria: Court sentences four men to death over 2022 Catholic church attack
Source: Associated Press
“A federal court in Nigeria on Wednesday sentenced four gunmen to death in the killing of at least 50 people during a 2022 attack on a church in a southwestern part of the country. Children were among those killed in the assault just as mass was ending at the St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo in Ondo State on June 5, 2022. Scores of people also were wounded, overwhelming hospital workers. The four men were convicted of terrorism charges. A fifth defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. Prosecutors said the defendants were members of the al-Shabab militant group and operated from a cell in Kogi State in north-central Nigeria, about 200 kilometers from the country’s capital.” (06/03/26)
https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-st-francis-church-attack-2022-owo-daba8c07d8ece82aea5dfe2f3c403f84
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17) FL: Legislature approves property tax cut proposal for November ballot
Source: WPTV News
“Florida lawmakers on Tuesday passed a property tax cut proposal that would create a $250,000 homestead exemption, securing it on the November ballot. On the second day of the special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Senate passed House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1-F, creating a $250,000 homestead exemption on non-school levies for homeowners. The Joint Resolution proposes a constitutional amendment to increase the current exemption for owner-occupied homestead property to $250,000 over two years and creates a framework for full exemption over time. The amendment will appear on the November 2026 General Election Ballot for approval by Florida voters.” [editor’s note: The current homestead exemption, not increased since 2008, is $50,000 – TLK] (06/02/26)
https://www.wptv.com/money/real-estate-news/florida-lawmakers-approved-property-tax-cut-proposal-measure-heads-to-november-ballot
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18) Hungary: Regime Moves to Abolish Orban-Era Sovereignty Protection Office
Source: US News & World Report
“Hungary’s governing Tisza party has submitted a bill to parliament to abolish an organisation set up by former Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that stigmatized opposition figures and journalists for serving ‘foreign interests.’ The SPO was created in 2023 to monitor risks of what Orban’s then-governing Fidesz party described as ‘undue political interference’ by foreign entities. However, critics said it was a tool to suppress dissent, and the European Commission launched an infringement procedure targeting the law behind the agency’s creation.” (06/03/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-03/hungarys-government-moves-to-abolish-orban-era-sovereignty-protection-office
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19) Google applies for permit to release 32 million mosquitoes in California
Source: SFGate
“Squashing bugs is the goal of every tech company, but typically not the blood-sucking kind. Google wants to do both. In a permit filing with the Environmental Protection Agency, Google wants to release millions of mosquitoes in California and Florida. The Debug Project’s goal is to decimate populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes by introducing what it calls ‘good bugs’ to the environment. Under its current application, Google is asking to release 64 million mosquitoes across the two states over two years. … Because male mosquitoes don’t bite, the company plans to release only sterile males, with the goal that they mate with potentially disease-carrying female mosquitoes. Those female mosquitoes will go on to lay unfertilized eggs, decreasing the population of potentially dangerous mosquitoes over time.” (06/02/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/google-mosquito-project-22286789.php
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20) CBS fires Pelley for venting over Weiss train wreck
Source: CNN
“CBS News fired veteran ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, one day after he sharply criticized the newsmagazine’s new leadership in front of the staff. CBS said Pelley was terminated for cause, and industry analysts immediately predicted that Pelley might take legal action against the network. The firing is sure to trigger even more scrutiny of CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and her controversial efforts to overhaul the network news division.” (06/02/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/02/media/scott-pelley-60-minutes-cbs-meeting-bari-weiss-cibrowski-bilton
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The freedom to question requires the duty to prove
Source: Students For Liberty
by Les Affranchis
“There is a particular intellectual posture that has become distinctly fashionable at the edges of the liberty movement. It goes roughly like this: a public figure makes a contested empirical claim. Experts in the relevant field find the claim unsupported by the available evidence and say so. The figure, rather than producing better evidence, reframes the disagreement as persecution and blames ‘the establishment’ for it. Sympathetic bystanders, some of them part of the pro-liberty movement, often rally to the outsiders’ defense, not because they sincerely agree with the underlying evidence, but because they see an outsider being criticized ‘by the establishment.’ The liberty tradition, they argue, must side with the outsider, regardless of evidence. Such reasoning is unpersuasive and it may come at a reputational cost for the pro-liberty movement.” (06/03/26)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/the-freedom-to-question-requires-the-duty-to-prove/
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22) Conservatives Miss the Point on Marijuana
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
“[T]he only real argument for the legalization of marijuana is freedom. It doesn’t matter if marijuana has no medical benefits and that advocates of the legalization of medical marijuana just want to get high. Just like it doesn’t matter if using marijuana for recreational purposes is addictive, harmful, risky, unhealthy, immoral, sinful, or dangerous. It is not the business of government at any level to concern itself in any way with the eating, drinking, and smoking habits of Americans. It is not the business of the American Enterprise Institute or any other conservative think tank. It is not the business of Naomi Schaefer Riley or any other nanny-state, conservative drug warrior.” (06/03/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/conservatives-miss-the-point-on-marijuana/
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23) The Draft Is Unpopular. Registration Becomes Automatic in December Anyway.
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Americans aren’t interested in reinstating a military draft, but that’s not stopping the government from ‘streamlining’ Selective Service registration — for young men’s own good, we’re told. That’s right, the government is automating draft registration, using the excuse that it’s saving registrants from the legal peril inherent in choosing to not register. The real reason, of course, is that fewer men were voluntarily registering, and the government wants to gloss over that mass rejection by potential draftees.” (06/03/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/03/the-draft-is-unpopular-registration-becomes-automatic-in-december-anyway/
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24) Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet
Source: Liberalism.org
by Mike Masnick
“It’s not about whether technology is inherently good or bad, liberating or oppressive. Architecture shapes incentives; incentives shape outcomes.” (06/03/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/enshittification-despotification-and-the-open-internet
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25) The World Government That Wasn’t
Source: The Realist Review
by Pelle Taylor
“In 1961 Washington and Moscow agreed to abolish war. Then the men who meant it died.” (06/03/26)
https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/the-world-government-that-wasnt
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26) California’s “Wealth” Tax is Coming for Everyone
Source: American Greatness
by Edward Ring
“If you own property in California, you’re not safe. A new ballot measure will empower the state to confiscate a percentage of the assets of any resident, even though its initial provisions don’t communicate that intent. California’s ‘One-Time Wealth Tax for State-Funded Healthcare, Education, and Food Assistance Programs Initiative,’ which has already qualified for the November ballot, is even worse than it appears. It’s not as if appearances aren’t bad enough. The explicit intent of the initiative already chased at least six billionaires out of the state in 2025. … Just the departure of these six men has lowered the potential take from the wealth tax by an estimated $27 billion.” (06/03/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/03/californias-wealth-tax-is-coming-for-everyone/
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27) Frank Kameny was fired for being gay. What he did next changed America.
Source: Expression
by James Kirchick
“Though he had been, by his own description, ‘shy and retiring’ as a young man, Kameny was ‘radicalized’ by the way his government had treated him. How could his homosexual orientation possibly affect his work as an astronomer or, as he one day hoped to be, an astronaut floating hundreds of miles away from Earth’s surface? On the contrary, it was the government that had wronged him. ‘I simply felt something had to be done,’ he recalled. And so, Kameny did what no gay man or woman in his position had yet done: He fought back.” (06/03/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/frank-kameny-was-fired-for-being
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28) Trump Dreads an Iran Deal Worse than Obama’s
Source: The Atlantic
by Vivian Salama, Jonathan Lemire, & Nancy A Youssef
“[Trump]wanted the conflict over. But he had become irritated by comparisons between the emerging framework and the Obama-era agreement, which set restrictions and time limits on Iran’s nuclear-development program. Administration officials said Trump repeatedly complained that critics were calling his team’s draft agreement a weaker version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which he had spent years attacking and tore up in his first term. Trump wanted a way to argue that Iran had accepted terms from him that Obama never managed to extract, aides told us. … He may be content to simply wait rather than do a deal that invites unflattering comparisons to one that already existed — and which didn’t come at the cost of 13 U.S. service members and at least 1,700 Iranian civilians, tens of billions of dollars, the depletion of U.S. munitions stockpiles, and a global energy crisis.” (06/03/26)
https://archive.is/IYYgM
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29) Dignity’s role in ending wartime rape
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In 21 conflicts around the world, sexual violence as a tactic of war ‘surged’ last year, according to a new United Nations report. Yet in only one conflict – the civil war in Sudan – such atrocities are ‘a defining feature’, used in fear campaigns between rival ethnic groups, as explicitly stated by perpetrators. In Africa’s third-largest country by area, preventing conflict-related sexual violence or helping survivors has been difficult. The civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, now in its fourth year, has yet to yield to international efforts to end it. Sudan has become the world’s most dire displacement crisis. ‘Many women and girls fleeing the conflict only sought help after reaching neighbouring countries,’ the report stated, ‘which underscores the importance of assistance in all phases of displacement.'” (06/02/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0602/Dignity-s-role-in-ending-wartime-rape
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30) Canada’s redistricting model could solve the US gerrymandering death spiral
Source: The Hill
by Sheldon H Jacobson
“Much like House maps, districts in parliamentary systems are vulnerable to gerrymandering. In countries that use such systems, control of the government is determined by winning seats in parliament: The party or coalition that holds the majority of seats holds the levers of power. Given the large number of countries using a parliamentary system, one would expect widespread rampant gerrymandering. Yet many have installed checks and balances to prevent such egregious partisan actions. The nation’s northern neighbor sets an example that is worth emulating. Canada uses a parliamentary system for its government. To prevent gerrymandering that gives one party advantages on Election Day, Canada uses small independent commissions that work to keep the influence of elections in the hands of the voters, not the politicians.” (06/03/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5906418-gerrymandering-canada-usa-comparison/
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31) Difficult Freedom or Easy Tyranny: Which Will America Choose?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“‘Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.’ – Edmund Burke … Most men have never understood the point Burke made, which is why most men, down through history, have lived under government oppression. Americans, however, have absolutely no excuse for living under a tyranny like the Democratic Party is trying to establish. Our Founding Fathers constantly repeated the point so eloquently made by Burke: ‘Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.'” (06/03/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/06/03/difficult-freedom-or-easy-tyranny-which-will-america-choose-n2677114
-----
32) Big Government Is Why Politics Keeps Getting More Extreme
Source: The Daily Economy
by Ryan Yonk & Thomas Savidge
“James Buchanan’s Public Choice framework helps explain why political conflict intensifies and rhetoric becomes more divisive as government power grows.” (06/03/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/big-government-is-why-politics-keeps-getting-more-extreme/
-----
33) US Voters Hungry for a Country With Consequences for Corruption at the Top
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Michael Waldman
“I’ve written that corruption is the sleeper issue of 2026. Well, it’s awake. And the issue may be bigger than I realized. That’s the implication of a new national poll released Tuesday by the Brennan Center. The survey was conducted in late April and early May, just before the president’s attempt to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to funnel taxpayer money to his political allies. The results are striking. More than 9 in 10 voters believe corruption is a big problem across politics and government. Large majorities view corruption as endemic and deeply embedded in government institutions, from the Supreme Court to Congress to the presidency. They are dejected about the fact that scandals continuously go without consequences and shocking revelations fail to produce reform. Margins are overwhelming among Democrats, Republicans, and independents.” (06/03/26)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/americans-are-furious-about-corruption
-----
34) Data Centers Can Bring Their Own Tax Cuts
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
“Google just announced plans to build a $15 billion data center in Montgomery County, in east–central Missouri. It remains to be seen how much of that investment will be reflected in property tax totals, but since the largest expense is going to be for the very expensive equipment in the data center itself — and that equipment is taxable — we can safely assume the assessed valuation of the final project will be enormous and almost certainly measured in the billions. This for a county that had an entire assessed valuation in 2025 of $315 million. Again, that’s every farm, house, car, tractor, building, boat, and cow in the county. … What do you think happens when you add huge assessed valuations from businesses that don’t add much to the public service requirements? The answer should be tax cuts, which is exactly what happened in Loudon County, Virginia.” (06/03/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/corporate-welfare/data-centers-can-bring-their-own-tax-cuts/
-----
35) “Terror” as Technique in American Policymaking
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Matt Wolfson
“In a speech delivered in the autumn of 2002, as the United States moved inexorably toward war with Iraq, the late Joan Didion delivered an offhand remark that effectively summed up the flaw at the heart of the logic behind that coming war, and of the logic of a number of wars before it, and of a number of wars to come. Referring to ‘the ‘war on terror’ that the President had declared’ of which the operation against Iraq was the centerpiece, Didion added a parenthetical critique: ‘… as if terror were a state and not a technique.’ Twenty-three and a half years later, we live in the detritus of a general lack of understanding of precisely that point.” (06/03/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/terror-as-technique-in-american-policymaking
-----
36) Russia’s Warnings Signal Danger of Widening War
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider
“he United States and Russia have agreed on little in the war in Ukraine. The one thing they have agreed on is the existential necessity of avoiding a direct war between NATO and Russia, which could become a third world war or even a nuclear war. … The possibility of that caution failing is now at perhaps the highest level it has been at any time of the war. One flashpoint for a wider war is the Baltic states, while another is actually inside Ukraine, in the capital Kiev, which hosts American and European diplomats and military officers.” (06/03/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/russias-warnings-signal-danger-of-widening-war/
-----
37) Kennedy Center ruling gets Trump’s name right but repairs badly wrong
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“In a ruling Friday, District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the cessation of all repair plans for the Kennedy Center and the removal of Trump’s name from the building within two weeks. It is a detailed and comprehensive opinion, but I believe Judge Cooper is wrong about halting the repairs. I previously expressed skepticism over the claim that the board could order such a change unilaterally. At that time, I raised the very issues that Judge Cooper cited in his rejection of the right to rename the center without congressional approval. I agree with the court on its standing decision, which is hardly a surprise given my past writings in favor of broader standing. However, the opinion becomes more challengeable when the court addresses the decision to close the center for two years to carry out major renovations.” (06/03/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-kennedy-center-ruling-gets-trumps-name-right-repairs-badly-wrong
-----
38) Warsh’s Concerning Interest in Redefining “Inflation”
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Connor O’Keeffe
“As Kevin Warsh takes over as chair of the Federal Reserve, investors and financial media outlets are looking closely for any hints at how his appointment will impact monetary policy. One series of comments Warsh made while testifying to Congress back in April as a nominee has been getting more attention in recent weeks, following some high inflation reports. Essentially, Warsh signaled that he believed in focusing primarily on inflation data from core or even trimmed price indexes. To understand what that means or why it matters, it’s important to note that, originally, ‘inflation’ was a term that simply meant the act of increasing, or inflating, the money supply.” (06/03/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/warshs-concerning-interest-redefining-inflation
-----
39) Charles Augustus Leale, Abraham Lincoln, and the Physician We Are Slowly Losing
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon
“Doctor Charles Augustus Leale was just 23 years of age when he walked into Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. He had finished medical school only weeks before and was assigned to the theater because the President would be there. By the end of that night, his name was forever linked to one of America’s most tragic events. … Leale had no protocol to follow that evening. No committee advised him. No administrator stood nearby explaining liability concerns. No electronic medical record demanded documentation. There was no legal department, no compliance office, no billing specialist, and no corporate structure surrounding him. There was simply a physician, a dying patient, and a sense of duty. Medicine today feels very different.” (06/03/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/charles-augustus-leale-abraham-lincoln-and-the-physician-we-are-slowly-losing/
-----
40) Save the Last Branch for Me
Source: Law & Liberty
by Paul Moreno
“The belief that the Court has the last word in constitutional interpretation is a relatively late development.” (06/03/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/save-the-last-branch-for-me/
-----
41) The Return of the Dixiecrat South
Source: The American Prospect
by Jacob S Hacker, Zoltan Hajnal, G Agustin Markarian, & Mackenzie Lockhart
“It has been just one month since the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court effectively nullified Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), making it lawful for states to draw congressional districts that systematically dilute the votes of Black and Latino Americans. Within hours, Southern states responded. Florida legislators passed a GOP gerrymander the day the decision was announced. Alabama moved to eliminate majority-minority districts even after primary-election votes had been cast, though an appellate court has temporarily blocked the state from proceeding. (UPDATE: The Supreme Court waved the gerrymandered map through last night.) In Tennessee, the district representing Memphis—majority-Black—was cracked into three, all now majority-white, all expected to turn red. By 2028, South Carolina will likely gerrymander out of existence the district that has elected the state’s only Black congressman, civil rights icon James Clyburn.” (06/03/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/03/return-of-dixiecrat-south-voting-rights-act-racial-gerrymandering/
-----
42) How not to prevent a war over Taiwan
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“A new book from Eyck Freymann offers a questionable path forward for US-China relations.” (06/03/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/china-taiwan-war/
-----
43) Stop Weaponizing Everything!!!
Source: Antiwar.com
by Joseph D Terwilliger
“Jan Marco Müller, the European Commission official who drafted the EU’s new science diplomacy framework, just said the quiet part out loud: ‘Science diplomacy is not about being nice to each other.’ Yes, it is, dumbass. That was the whole point. For centuries, science diplomacy worked precisely because it allowed ordinary human beings to humanize one another on neutral ground while governments were busy failing.” (06/03/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/joseph_terwilliger/2026/06/02/stop-weaponizing-everything
-----
44) Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion
Source: Quillette
by Sean Welsh
“In a recent article for UnHerd, Richard Dawkins revealed that he had spent three days trying to persuade himself that Claudia — an instance of Anthropic’s Claude — was not conscious. He failed. This raised some eyebrows. A number of people retorted that the man who wrote a book about anthropomorphic misattributions of consciousness (The God Delusion) was himself deluded; conned by the Eliza Effect into thinking that text-generating script was a ‘friend’ who cared. This may be eyebrow-raising, but it is not overly interesting. More interesting is a question Dawkins asks: ‘If my friend Claudia is not conscious, then what the hell is consciousness for?'” (06/02/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/06/02/the-claude-delusion-richard-dawkins-ai-consciousness/
-----
45) The moral woke abyss that got Henry Nowak killed
Source: New York Post
by Brendan O’Neill
“So this is the moral abyss wokeness has dragged us into. A society where a dying teenage boy can be roughly handcuffed by cops because someone accused him of being racist. A hellish dystopia where the last thing a kid hears as he gasps his final breaths is a politically correct police officer reading him his rights. A nightmare world where not even the victim of a vicious stabbing can escape the haughty suspicion of the state’s DEI-trained goons. The cruel, lonely death of Henry Nowak has caused a storm here in the United Kingdom. It should send a shiver down your spine too — for it provides a chilling insight into the barbarism of wokeness. To see where the state’s embrace of critical race theory can lead, look no further than the horrors inflicted on poor Henry.” (06/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/opinion/the-moral-woke-abyss-that-got-henry-nowak-killed/
-----
46) Is ‘thrillionaire’ Trump addicted to stock trading?
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by Will Bunch
“Calling all ‘thrillionaires,’ if you don’t mind me quoting that incessant and thoroughly annoying TV commercial for the betting site FanDuel that some critics have described as an ode to the national pastime of addictive gambling. It may be time for an intervention with the newest member of your totally invented club, who’s buying and selling stocks an average of more than 40 times a day, which is about four or five times the number of daily races at Aqueduct. This guy seems to think he’s found a surefire way to beat the market. OK, maybe he has. The stock degenerate in question is, after all, the 47th president of the United States. He hears things.” (06/02/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/attytood/trump-grift-boredom-gambling-stock-trades-wall-street-20260602.html
-----
47) The Islamic Republic Is More Dug in Than Ever
Source: Persuasion
by Mitra Vand
“After weeks of joint U.S. and Israeli strikes, the elimination of its top leaders, and President Trump’s repeated threats, the Islamic Republic appears not weaker but something else … exposed. The war pulled back the curtain. What was standing behind the regime was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), now more powerful than before and more visible than ever. At the same time ordinary Iranians have lost more freedom and access to basic rights. With the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the regime displayed how far it could flex its muscles and hold global markets hostage, while the United States appeared far less decisive than initially expected. Both sides have declared victory, and neither can explain what was won.” (06/02/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-islamic-republic-is-more-dug
-----
48) The New Acting Director of the Office of National Intelligence Has a Track Record of Weaponizing Government
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“Although [Tulsi] Gabbard won’t formally leave the role until June 30, Trump announced on Tuesday that he would appoint Bill Pulte in charge of ODNI as acting director. There’s little question that Gabbard’s tenure intensified concerns about the politicization of intelligence. If Pulte’s record thus far is any indication, those concerns are unlikely to fade. … Pulte’s demonstrated pattern of going after Trump’s enemies shows that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the levers of power.” (06/02/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-new-acting-director-of-the-office
-----
49) No New Beds: How one coalition is challenging the construction of mega-jails in Georgia
Source: In These Times
by Micah Herskind, Priscilla Grim & October Krausch
“New jail construction is quietly booming across the United States. Some may be surprised to learn that during the most intense jail-building years, from 1990 to 2005, a new facility opened every 10 days. There are nearly 2 million people presently caged in more than 6,000 correctional facilities across the country, including 1,566 state prisons and 3,116 local jails. Recent data shows that number has only grown, and the push to build new jails and prisons continues. Currently, a new $3 billion jail in Brooklyn is moving ahead, a $1.25 billion prison in Alabama is nearly complete and, among many others, lawmakers in Hawai’i are considering a new $1 billion mega-jail, a facility with more than 1,000 beds.” (06/02/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/no-new-beds-organizers-resist-another-fulton-county-jail
-----
50) Cutting Tariffs on Farm Equipment Is Another Admission That Trump’s Trade Policies Are Increasing Prices
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
“President Donald Trump and some of his top advisers have routinely insisted that the administration’s new, higher tariffs would not burden American consumers because foreign governments or corporations would pay for those tax increases. But with inflation rising and consumers (and voters) increasingly grumpy about the cost of living, the White House has turned to a telling strategy: cutting tariffs to make some products less expensive.” (06/02/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/02/cutting-tariffs-on-farm-equipment-is-another-admission-that-trumps-trade-policies-are-increasing-prices/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Privacy Through a Cop’s Eyes.” (06/03/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/privacy-through-a-cops-eyes
-----
52) Reason Interview: Damon Root
Source: Reason
“Was Lincoln More Radical Than We Remember?” (06/03/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/03/was-lincoln-more-radical-than-we-remember/
-----
53) Reasonably Optimistic, 06/03/26
Source: Washington Post
“The average American household is now worth more than $1 million. Yet Gen Z is increasingly pessimistic about its economic future. Why does it feel like so many people are falling behind? Is homeownership out of reach? And how can young people build wealth in an economy that seems both richer and more uncertain than ever? Megan McArdle talks with Ed Elson, co-host of Prof G Markets, about wealth inequality, housing affordability, social media and the frustrations shaping younger generations’ outlook.” (06/03/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/why-1-million-doesnt-feel-rich-for-gen-z
-----
54) TAC Right Now, 06/03/26
Source: The American Conservative
“Trump, Iran, and Greater Israel (w/ Max Blumenthal).” (06/03/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-trump-iran-and-greater-israel-w-max-blumenthal/
-----
55) The Fifth Column, episode 560
Source: The Fifth Column
“Populism for Morons, Journalism for Martyrs.” (06/03/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/populism-for-morons-journalism-for
-----
56) The Corbett Report, episode 502
Source: The Corbett Report
“James goes to Osaka for an informal book launch, speaks to the book’s translator, and pays respects to a dearly departed Corbett Report member. And he even encounters some facial recognition gates along the way!” (06/03/26)
https://corbettreport.com/reportage-in-japan/
-----
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/03/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Push to Jail Foes Takes Darker Turn — and GOP Senators Are Rattled.” (06/03/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/211288/trump-push-jail-foes-takes-darker-turn-and-gop-senators-rattled
-----
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/02/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Iran Targets US Bases in Kuwait, Bahrain After US Attack, Major Russian Attacks in Ukraine, and More.” (06/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkq_Jdrd5RA
-----
59) Free Speech Unmuted, 06/02/26
Source: Hoover Institution
“The First Amendment and Privacy Rights.” (06/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmFcTNp0l8
-----
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 06/02/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Daniel McAdams: Axios Says US–Iran Deal Reached as U.S. and IRAN Trade Missile Fire.” (06/02/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-with-daniel-mcadams-axios-says-us-iran-deal-reached-as-u-s-and-iran-trade-missile-fire/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Israeli regime agrees to Lebanon “ceasefire,” says it will keep firing
2) US House performatively votes to end already illegal Iran war
3) Crimea: Ukrainian drone strikes kill four
4) Seven states sue Trump regime over nearly $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind farm
5) Bitcoin briefly drops below $62,000 as $1.5 billion in crypto longs get wiped out
6) Amazon overthrows Walmart to become Fortune 500’s top company
7) India: At least 21 people killed after fire sweeps through New Delhi building
8) South Korea: Exit polls show sweeping local election win for Lee’s party
9) UK: Three dead in Royal Navy helicopter crash
10) Iowa hands Trump first major statewide primary loss of 2026 in governor’s race
11) Mexico: Cruise passenger hailed as hero after jumping into water to save 84-year-old man
12) Albanians protest over Kushner-linked luxury resort on pristine coastline
13) Trump acknowledges calling Netanyahu “crazy” and says Israel is complicating peace talks with Iran
14) Source: Santos reported to prosecutors over suspicious Kalshi trades
15) Thailand: Thaksin gets royal pardon after release on parole
16) Nigeria: Court sentences four men to death over 2022 Catholic church attack
17) FL: Legislature approves property tax cut proposal for November ballot
18) Hungary: Regime Moves to Abolish Orban-Era Sovereignty Protection Office
19) Google applies for permit to release 32 million mosquitoes in California
20) CBS fires Pelley for venting over Weiss train wreck
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The freedom to question requires the duty to prove
22) Conservatives Miss the Point on Marijuana
23) The Draft Is Unpopular. Registration Becomes Automatic in December Anyway.
24) Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet
25) The World Government That Wasn’t
26) California’s “Wealth” Tax is Coming for Everyone
27) Frank Kameny was fired for being gay. What he did next changed America.
28) Trump Dreads an Iran Deal Worse than Obama’s
29) Dignity’s role in ending wartime rape
30) Canada’s redistricting model could solve the US gerrymandering death spiral
31) Difficult Freedom or Easy Tyranny: Which Will America Choose?
32) Big Government Is Why Politics Keeps Getting More Extreme
33) US Voters Hungry for a Country With Consequences for Corruption at the Top
34) Data Centers Can Bring Their Own Tax Cuts
35) “Terror” as Technique in American Policymaking
36) Russia’s Warnings Signal Danger of Widening War
37) Kennedy Center ruling gets Trump’s name right but repairs badly wrong
38) Warsh’s Concerning Interest in Redefining “Inflation”
39) Charles Augustus Leale, Abraham Lincoln, and the Physician We Are Slowly Losing
40) Save the Last Branch for Me
41) The Return of the Dixiecrat South
42) How not to prevent a war over Taiwan
43) Stop Weaponizing Everything!!!
44) Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion
45) The moral woke abyss that got Henry Nowak killed
46) Is ‘thrillionaire’ Trump addicted to stock trading?
47) The Islamic Republic Is More Dug in Than Ever
48) The New Acting Director of the Office of National Intelligence Has a Track Record of Weaponizing Government
49) No New Beds: How one coalition is challenging the construction of mega-jails in Georgia
50) Cutting Tariffs on Farm Equipment Is Another Admission That Trump’s Trade Policies Are Increasing Prices
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage
52) Reason Interview: Damon Root
53) Reasonably Optimistic, 06/03/26
54) TAC Right Now, 06/03/26
55) The Fifth Column, episode 560
56) The Corbett Report, episode 502
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/03/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/02/26
59) Free Speech Unmuted, 06/02/26
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 06/02/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Israeli regime agrees to Lebanon “ceasefire,” says it will keep firing
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military will continue its ground operations in southern Lebanon, hours after Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a US-backed ceasefire to end hostilities. … ‘The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the yellow line – including in the Beaufort area – and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground,’ he said in a statement. … The IDF also issued a warning this morning saying fighting will continue in southern Lebanon as it urged people to ‘refrain from heading south of the Zahrani River.’ Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported several people were wounded in Israeli strikes in the southern Tyre and Nabatieh areas, which have seen repeated attacks in recent weeks.” (06/04/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/04/middle-east-crisis-israel-lebanon-hezbolllah-us-ceasefire-southern-military-attacks-continue-latest-news-updates
-----
2) US House performatively votes to end already illegal Iran war
Source: USA Today
“In a severe political blow to President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives voted for the first time on Wednesday, June 3, to end the war in Iran. The 215-208 vote, which was mostly symbolic, marked a new period of congressional unease with the conflict in the Middle East amid an impasse in peace negotiations. Strikes in the region have continued in recent days despite the White House’s assertion to lawmakers that hostilities have ended. Four Republicans joined with Democrats to support a resolution asserting the legislative branch’s war authority and blocking further hostilities in the region. It came just two weeks after the Senate advanced a similar measure.” [editor’s note: The war was illegal the instant Trump started it without the required constitutional declaration. These theatrics are no substitute for impeachment and removal – TLK] (06/03/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/03/house-of-representatives-iran-war-powers-vote-trump/90393650007/
-----
3) Crimea: Ukrainian drone strikes kill four
Source: Reuters
“Ukrainian attacks killed four people in the Russia-annexed Crimea peninsula, Kremlin-installed officials in the region said on Thursday, one day after Moscow and Kyiv traded strikes on each other’s cities. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea, said Ukrainian forces had hit a non-residential part of Simferopol, the peninsula’s main administrative town, killing three people and injuring seven. Aksyonov later said on Telegram that one person had been killed and three wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a commuter train in eastern Crimea. Ukraine did not immediately comment.” (06/04/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-strikes-kill-three-russia-annexed-crimea-2026-06-04/
-----
4) Seven states sue Trump regime over nearly $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind farm
Source: ABC News
“Seven states are suing the Trump administration over a nearly $1 billion deal to end French energy company TotalEnergies’ offshore wind development off the East Coast, accusing the deal of being ‘unlawful.’ In March, the U.S. Department of the Interior reached a $928 million deal with TotalEnergies to halt construction of the wind farms and redirect the investment into domestic fossil fuel initiatives. … Attorneys general in seven states in the Northeast, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, alleging the Trump administration illegally used nearly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for the deal. The coalition also accuses the deal of violating the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which restricts the Interior Department’s ability to cancel offshore wind leases.” (06/03/26)
https://abcnews.com/US/7-states-sue-trump-administration-1-billion-deal/story?id=133525483
-----
5) Bitcoin briefly drops below $62,000 as $1.5 billion in crypto longs get wiped out
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin briefly plunged below $62,000 Thursday morning Hong Kong time, triggering more than $1.5 billion in leveraged crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours as a wave of forced selling accelerated the market’s steepest decline in months. More than 208,000 traders were liquidated across crypto markets, according to CoinGlass data, with bitcoin accounting for over $800 million of the losses and ether another $386 million. The liquidation wave coincided with continued weakness in institutional demand. Investors have pulled approximately $1 billion from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs this week, according to SoSoValue data, extending the funds’ record streak of net outflows.” (06/03/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/06/04/bitcoin-drops-below-usd62-000-as-usd1-5-billion-in-crypto-longs-get-wiped-out
-----
6) Amazon overthrows Walmart to become Fortune 500’s top company
Source: New York Post
“Amazon has overtaken Walmart to claim the No. 1 spot on the Fortune 500, ending the retailer’s 13-year run at the top of the annual ranking of America’s biggest companies by revenue. The latest list, based on fiscal 2025 revenue, puts Amazon in the top spot, followed by Walmart and UnitedHealth Group. The shakeup marks the first time since 2013 that Walmart has not held the No. 1 position on the Fortune 500. Amazon generated roughly $717 billion in revenue during the most recent reporting period, narrowly surpassing Walmart’s $713 billion. UnitedHealth Group rounded out the top three with $447.6 billion in revenue.” (06/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/business/amazon-overthrows-walmart-to-become-fortune-500s-top-company-ending-superstores-13-year-reign-at-the-top/
-----
7) India: At least 21 people killed after fire sweeps through New Delhi building
Source: New York Post
“A fire swept through a building in a New Delhi neighborhood Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others, police said. The building in the Malviya Nagar neighborhood in the southern part of the city had a restaurant on the ground floor and a hotel above. The predominantly residential area is densely populated and is popular with students and young professionals. … Some of the victims were foreign nationals who had traveled to India for medical treatment, local media reported.” (06/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/world-news/at-least-21-people-killed-after-fire-sweeps-through-new-delhi-building/
-----
8) South Korea: Exit polls show sweeping local election win for Lee’s party
Source: Yahoo! News
“South Korean voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots for the ruling Democratic Party in nationwide local elections Wednesday, exit polls said, in a show of support for President Lee Jae Myung one year into his term. Lee’s Democratic Party was projected to win 11 of the 16 key races in Wednesday’s elections, according to a joint poll conducted by broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS. The opposition People Power Party was projected to take only one seat, while four races were too close to call. A separate poll by broadcaster JTBC found the Democratic Party projected to win 10 of the key races. The vote was the first nationwide test since Lee took office last June, when he won the presidency in a snap election after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his botched martial law attempt.” (06/03/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/south-korea-exit-polls-show-121135618.html
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9) UK: Three dead in Royal Navy helicopter crash
Source: Sky News [UK]
“A Royal Navy helicopter has crashed into a field in Devon, killing three navy staff. … Devon and Cornwall Police said earlier that emergency services were at the scene of the incident at Sourton Down, near Okehampton. The Navy added on Wednesday morning that the crash happened just before 4am. … The scene of the crash is close to Okehampton battle camp, a military facility on the edge of Dartmoor which has been used for training Merlin helicopter crews from the Commando Helicopter Force.” (06/03/26)
https://news.sky.com/story/royal-navy-helicopter-crashes-into-devon-field-13550352
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10) Iowa hands Trump first major statewide primary loss of 2026 in governor’s race
Source: The Hill
“President Trump saw his first major primary loss of the 2026 midterm election cycle in Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday as businessman Zach Lahn defeated Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa). Lahn narrowly defeated Feenstra in the primary by just less than 1 point. Feenstra’s primary loss comes less than a week after Trump formally backed Feenstra, calling him ‘MAGA all the way!’ in a post on Truth Social. The congressman told supporters Tuesday that he called Lahn to concede the race to him on Tuesday. … While Feenstra won the coveted Trump endorsement, Lahn was backed by Trump allies within the conservative universe, including the MAHA PAC and Turning Point Action. Most of Trump’s endorsed candidates have seen success in the 2026 primary season, with his backed challengers Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) defeating incumbent Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), respectively.” (06/03/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5907672-trump-iowa-primary-loss
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11) Mexico: Cruise passenger hailed as hero after jumping into water to save 84-year-old man
Source: Fox News
“A Carnival Cruise Line passenger is being praised as a hero after jumping into the water to help an elderly man who fell from a pier during a cruise stop in Mexico. The incident occurred May 19 while Carnival Jubilee was docked in Costa Maya. Carnival Cruise Line confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, saying an elderly guest fell into the water while returning to the ship. … Video of the rescue later circulated on social media — showing a passenger identified only as Myron removing his shoes and jumping into the water after spotting the man struggling near the ship.” (06/03/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/cruise-passenger-hailed-hero-after-jumping-water-save-84-year-old-man
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12) Albanians protest over Kushner-linked luxury resort on pristine coastline
Source: Reuters
“Thousands of Albanians took to the streets of Tirana on Tuesday night protesting against a development planned by a company linked with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast. The €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) resort is being led by Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners on an island off Albania and an undeveloped stretch of coastline near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, a wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites. … Protests by locals and non-profit organisations started after large barbed wire fences were erected by developers at the proposed site in Zvernec, near Vlora. Several hundred gathered and clashed with private guards on Saturday and some were injured, a Reuters witness said.” (06/03/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/albanians-protest-over-kushner-linked-luxury-resort-pristine-coastline-2026-06-03/
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13) Trump acknowledges calling Netanyahu “crazy” and says Israel is complicating peace talks with Iran
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump acknowledged criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘crazy’ in a phone call that involved expletives, saying he was ‘a little bit perturbed’ that Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran. But even as the U.S. president conceded the tensions in an interview released Wednesday, he insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu was solid and that they connected, in part, because they are both ‘wartime’ leaders. … The president’s comments about the Monday call offered a sign of the growing pressure he faces to resolve the Iran war as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty threaten Republican prospects in the midterm elections and hamper global commerce.” (06/03/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/israel-strikes-just-south-of-beirut-ahead-of-22289143.php
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14) Source: Santos reported to prosecutors over suspicious Kalshi trades
Source: Associated Press
“A prediction market reported U.S. Rep. George Santos to federal prosecutors after he boasted he’d be going to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, then bet against his own attendance, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Kalshi, the online prediction marketplace, referred Santos to the Department of Justice after detecting suspicious trades made by the former congressman ahead of Trump’s Feb. 24 speech, the person said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Kalshi also reported the trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal regulatory body that has vowed to crack down on insider trading in prediction marketplaces.” (06/03/26)
https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-kalshi-2ea925949a0f3f72ec46411b41344858
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15) Thailand: Thaksin gets royal pardon after release on parole
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Thailand’s divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was freed from parole on Wednesday after receiving a royal pardon from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as the 76-year-old billionaire businessman’s plans remain unclear. Thaksin, who stood at the heart of a two-decade power struggle with rival sections of the Thai elite, served eight months of a one-year jail term for corruption and abuse of power. He was released from jail early last month due to his advancing age, with his term originally set to end by September. A royal decree pardoning him at the king’s discretion became effective on Wednesday, the birthday of Queen Suthida. Royal birthdays and other symbolic dates are often marked with pardons of jailed prisoners.” (06/03/26)
https://archive.is/jUBHv
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16) Nigeria: Court sentences four men to death over 2022 Catholic church attack
Source: Associated Press
“A federal court in Nigeria on Wednesday sentenced four gunmen to death in the killing of at least 50 people during a 2022 attack on a church in a southwestern part of the country. Children were among those killed in the assault just as mass was ending at the St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo in Ondo State on June 5, 2022. Scores of people also were wounded, overwhelming hospital workers. The four men were convicted of terrorism charges. A fifth defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. Prosecutors said the defendants were members of the al-Shabab militant group and operated from a cell in Kogi State in north-central Nigeria, about 200 kilometers from the country’s capital.” (06/03/26)
https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-st-francis-church-attack-2022-owo-daba8c07d8ece82aea5dfe2f3c403f84
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17) FL: Legislature approves property tax cut proposal for November ballot
Source: WPTV News
“Florida lawmakers on Tuesday passed a property tax cut proposal that would create a $250,000 homestead exemption, securing it on the November ballot. On the second day of the special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Senate passed House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1-F, creating a $250,000 homestead exemption on non-school levies for homeowners. The Joint Resolution proposes a constitutional amendment to increase the current exemption for owner-occupied homestead property to $250,000 over two years and creates a framework for full exemption over time. The amendment will appear on the November 2026 General Election Ballot for approval by Florida voters.” [editor’s note: The current homestead exemption, not increased since 2008, is $50,000 – TLK] (06/02/26)
https://www.wptv.com/money/real-estate-news/florida-lawmakers-approved-property-tax-cut-proposal-measure-heads-to-november-ballot
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18) Hungary: Regime Moves to Abolish Orban-Era Sovereignty Protection Office
Source: US News & World Report
“Hungary’s governing Tisza party has submitted a bill to parliament to abolish an organisation set up by former Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that stigmatized opposition figures and journalists for serving ‘foreign interests.’ The SPO was created in 2023 to monitor risks of what Orban’s then-governing Fidesz party described as ‘undue political interference’ by foreign entities. However, critics said it was a tool to suppress dissent, and the European Commission launched an infringement procedure targeting the law behind the agency’s creation.” (06/03/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-03/hungarys-government-moves-to-abolish-orban-era-sovereignty-protection-office
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19) Google applies for permit to release 32 million mosquitoes in California
Source: SFGate
“Squashing bugs is the goal of every tech company, but typically not the blood-sucking kind. Google wants to do both. In a permit filing with the Environmental Protection Agency, Google wants to release millions of mosquitoes in California and Florida. The Debug Project’s goal is to decimate populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes by introducing what it calls ‘good bugs’ to the environment. Under its current application, Google is asking to release 64 million mosquitoes across the two states over two years. … Because male mosquitoes don’t bite, the company plans to release only sterile males, with the goal that they mate with potentially disease-carrying female mosquitoes. Those female mosquitoes will go on to lay unfertilized eggs, decreasing the population of potentially dangerous mosquitoes over time.” (06/02/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/google-mosquito-project-22286789.php
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20) CBS fires Pelley for venting over Weiss train wreck
Source: CNN
“CBS News fired veteran ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, one day after he sharply criticized the newsmagazine’s new leadership in front of the staff. CBS said Pelley was terminated for cause, and industry analysts immediately predicted that Pelley might take legal action against the network. The firing is sure to trigger even more scrutiny of CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and her controversial efforts to overhaul the network news division.” (06/02/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/02/media/scott-pelley-60-minutes-cbs-meeting-bari-weiss-cibrowski-bilton
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The freedom to question requires the duty to prove
Source: Students For Liberty
by Les Affranchis
“There is a particular intellectual posture that has become distinctly fashionable at the edges of the liberty movement. It goes roughly like this: a public figure makes a contested empirical claim. Experts in the relevant field find the claim unsupported by the available evidence and say so. The figure, rather than producing better evidence, reframes the disagreement as persecution and blames ‘the establishment’ for it. Sympathetic bystanders, some of them part of the pro-liberty movement, often rally to the outsiders’ defense, not because they sincerely agree with the underlying evidence, but because they see an outsider being criticized ‘by the establishment.’ The liberty tradition, they argue, must side with the outsider, regardless of evidence. Such reasoning is unpersuasive and it may come at a reputational cost for the pro-liberty movement.” (06/03/26)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/the-freedom-to-question-requires-the-duty-to-prove/
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22) Conservatives Miss the Point on Marijuana
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
“[T]he only real argument for the legalization of marijuana is freedom. It doesn’t matter if marijuana has no medical benefits and that advocates of the legalization of medical marijuana just want to get high. Just like it doesn’t matter if using marijuana for recreational purposes is addictive, harmful, risky, unhealthy, immoral, sinful, or dangerous. It is not the business of government at any level to concern itself in any way with the eating, drinking, and smoking habits of Americans. It is not the business of the American Enterprise Institute or any other conservative think tank. It is not the business of Naomi Schaefer Riley or any other nanny-state, conservative drug warrior.” (06/03/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/conservatives-miss-the-point-on-marijuana/
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23) The Draft Is Unpopular. Registration Becomes Automatic in December Anyway.
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Americans aren’t interested in reinstating a military draft, but that’s not stopping the government from ‘streamlining’ Selective Service registration — for young men’s own good, we’re told. That’s right, the government is automating draft registration, using the excuse that it’s saving registrants from the legal peril inherent in choosing to not register. The real reason, of course, is that fewer men were voluntarily registering, and the government wants to gloss over that mass rejection by potential draftees.” (06/03/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/03/the-draft-is-unpopular-registration-becomes-automatic-in-december-anyway/
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24) Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet
Source: Liberalism.org
by Mike Masnick
“It’s not about whether technology is inherently good or bad, liberating or oppressive. Architecture shapes incentives; incentives shape outcomes.” (06/03/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/enshittification-despotification-and-the-open-internet
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25) The World Government That Wasn’t
Source: The Realist Review
by Pelle Taylor
“In 1961 Washington and Moscow agreed to abolish war. Then the men who meant it died.” (06/03/26)
https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/the-world-government-that-wasnt
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26) California’s “Wealth” Tax is Coming for Everyone
Source: American Greatness
by Edward Ring
“If you own property in California, you’re not safe. A new ballot measure will empower the state to confiscate a percentage of the assets of any resident, even though its initial provisions don’t communicate that intent. California’s ‘One-Time Wealth Tax for State-Funded Healthcare, Education, and Food Assistance Programs Initiative,’ which has already qualified for the November ballot, is even worse than it appears. It’s not as if appearances aren’t bad enough. The explicit intent of the initiative already chased at least six billionaires out of the state in 2025. … Just the departure of these six men has lowered the potential take from the wealth tax by an estimated $27 billion.” (06/03/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/03/californias-wealth-tax-is-coming-for-everyone/
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27) Frank Kameny was fired for being gay. What he did next changed America.
Source: Expression
by James Kirchick
“Though he had been, by his own description, ‘shy and retiring’ as a young man, Kameny was ‘radicalized’ by the way his government had treated him. How could his homosexual orientation possibly affect his work as an astronomer or, as he one day hoped to be, an astronaut floating hundreds of miles away from Earth’s surface? On the contrary, it was the government that had wronged him. ‘I simply felt something had to be done,’ he recalled. And so, Kameny did what no gay man or woman in his position had yet done: He fought back.” (06/03/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/frank-kameny-was-fired-for-being
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28) Trump Dreads an Iran Deal Worse than Obama’s
Source: The Atlantic
by Vivian Salama, Jonathan Lemire, & Nancy A Youssef
“[Trump]wanted the conflict over. But he had become irritated by comparisons between the emerging framework and the Obama-era agreement, which set restrictions and time limits on Iran’s nuclear-development program. Administration officials said Trump repeatedly complained that critics were calling his team’s draft agreement a weaker version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which he had spent years attacking and tore up in his first term. Trump wanted a way to argue that Iran had accepted terms from him that Obama never managed to extract, aides told us. … He may be content to simply wait rather than do a deal that invites unflattering comparisons to one that already existed — and which didn’t come at the cost of 13 U.S. service members and at least 1,700 Iranian civilians, tens of billions of dollars, the depletion of U.S. munitions stockpiles, and a global energy crisis.” (06/03/26)
https://archive.is/IYYgM
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29) Dignity’s role in ending wartime rape
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In 21 conflicts around the world, sexual violence as a tactic of war ‘surged’ last year, according to a new United Nations report. Yet in only one conflict – the civil war in Sudan – such atrocities are ‘a defining feature’, used in fear campaigns between rival ethnic groups, as explicitly stated by perpetrators. In Africa’s third-largest country by area, preventing conflict-related sexual violence or helping survivors has been difficult. The civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, now in its fourth year, has yet to yield to international efforts to end it. Sudan has become the world’s most dire displacement crisis. ‘Many women and girls fleeing the conflict only sought help after reaching neighbouring countries,’ the report stated, ‘which underscores the importance of assistance in all phases of displacement.'” (06/02/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0602/Dignity-s-role-in-ending-wartime-rape
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30) Canada’s redistricting model could solve the US gerrymandering death spiral
Source: The Hill
by Sheldon H Jacobson
“Much like House maps, districts in parliamentary systems are vulnerable to gerrymandering. In countries that use such systems, control of the government is determined by winning seats in parliament: The party or coalition that holds the majority of seats holds the levers of power. Given the large number of countries using a parliamentary system, one would expect widespread rampant gerrymandering. Yet many have installed checks and balances to prevent such egregious partisan actions. The nation’s northern neighbor sets an example that is worth emulating. Canada uses a parliamentary system for its government. To prevent gerrymandering that gives one party advantages on Election Day, Canada uses small independent commissions that work to keep the influence of elections in the hands of the voters, not the politicians.” (06/03/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5906418-gerrymandering-canada-usa-comparison/
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31) Difficult Freedom or Easy Tyranny: Which Will America Choose?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“‘Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.’ – Edmund Burke … Most men have never understood the point Burke made, which is why most men, down through history, have lived under government oppression. Americans, however, have absolutely no excuse for living under a tyranny like the Democratic Party is trying to establish. Our Founding Fathers constantly repeated the point so eloquently made by Burke: ‘Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.'” (06/03/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/06/03/difficult-freedom-or-easy-tyranny-which-will-america-choose-n2677114
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32) Big Government Is Why Politics Keeps Getting More Extreme
Source: The Daily Economy
by Ryan Yonk & Thomas Savidge
“James Buchanan’s Public Choice framework helps explain why political conflict intensifies and rhetoric becomes more divisive as government power grows.” (06/03/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/big-government-is-why-politics-keeps-getting-more-extreme/
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33) US Voters Hungry for a Country With Consequences for Corruption at the Top
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Michael Waldman
“I’ve written that corruption is the sleeper issue of 2026. Well, it’s awake. And the issue may be bigger than I realized. That’s the implication of a new national poll released Tuesday by the Brennan Center. The survey was conducted in late April and early May, just before the president’s attempt to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to funnel taxpayer money to his political allies. The results are striking. More than 9 in 10 voters believe corruption is a big problem across politics and government. Large majorities view corruption as endemic and deeply embedded in government institutions, from the Supreme Court to Congress to the presidency. They are dejected about the fact that scandals continuously go without consequences and shocking revelations fail to produce reform. Margins are overwhelming among Democrats, Republicans, and independents.” (06/03/26)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/americans-are-furious-about-corruption
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34) Data Centers Can Bring Their Own Tax Cuts
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
“Google just announced plans to build a $15 billion data center in Montgomery County, in east–central Missouri. It remains to be seen how much of that investment will be reflected in property tax totals, but since the largest expense is going to be for the very expensive equipment in the data center itself — and that equipment is taxable — we can safely assume the assessed valuation of the final project will be enormous and almost certainly measured in the billions. This for a county that had an entire assessed valuation in 2025 of $315 million. Again, that’s every farm, house, car, tractor, building, boat, and cow in the county. … What do you think happens when you add huge assessed valuations from businesses that don’t add much to the public service requirements? The answer should be tax cuts, which is exactly what happened in Loudon County, Virginia.” (06/03/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/corporate-welfare/data-centers-can-bring-their-own-tax-cuts/
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35) “Terror” as Technique in American Policymaking
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Matt Wolfson
“In a speech delivered in the autumn of 2002, as the United States moved inexorably toward war with Iraq, the late Joan Didion delivered an offhand remark that effectively summed up the flaw at the heart of the logic behind that coming war, and of the logic of a number of wars before it, and of a number of wars to come. Referring to ‘the ‘war on terror’ that the President had declared’ of which the operation against Iraq was the centerpiece, Didion added a parenthetical critique: ‘… as if terror were a state and not a technique.’ Twenty-three and a half years later, we live in the detritus of a general lack of understanding of precisely that point.” (06/03/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/terror-as-technique-in-american-policymaking
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36) Russia’s Warnings Signal Danger of Widening War
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider
“he United States and Russia have agreed on little in the war in Ukraine. The one thing they have agreed on is the existential necessity of avoiding a direct war between NATO and Russia, which could become a third world war or even a nuclear war. … The possibility of that caution failing is now at perhaps the highest level it has been at any time of the war. One flashpoint for a wider war is the Baltic states, while another is actually inside Ukraine, in the capital Kiev, which hosts American and European diplomats and military officers.” (06/03/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/russias-warnings-signal-danger-of-widening-war/
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37) Kennedy Center ruling gets Trump’s name right but repairs badly wrong
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“In a ruling Friday, District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the cessation of all repair plans for the Kennedy Center and the removal of Trump’s name from the building within two weeks. It is a detailed and comprehensive opinion, but I believe Judge Cooper is wrong about halting the repairs. I previously expressed skepticism over the claim that the board could order such a change unilaterally. At that time, I raised the very issues that Judge Cooper cited in his rejection of the right to rename the center without congressional approval. I agree with the court on its standing decision, which is hardly a surprise given my past writings in favor of broader standing. However, the opinion becomes more challengeable when the court addresses the decision to close the center for two years to carry out major renovations.” (06/03/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-kennedy-center-ruling-gets-trumps-name-right-repairs-badly-wrong
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38) Warsh’s Concerning Interest in Redefining “Inflation”
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Connor O’Keeffe
“As Kevin Warsh takes over as chair of the Federal Reserve, investors and financial media outlets are looking closely for any hints at how his appointment will impact monetary policy. One series of comments Warsh made while testifying to Congress back in April as a nominee has been getting more attention in recent weeks, following some high inflation reports. Essentially, Warsh signaled that he believed in focusing primarily on inflation data from core or even trimmed price indexes. To understand what that means or why it matters, it’s important to note that, originally, ‘inflation’ was a term that simply meant the act of increasing, or inflating, the money supply.” (06/03/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/warshs-concerning-interest-redefining-inflation
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39) Charles Augustus Leale, Abraham Lincoln, and the Physician We Are Slowly Losing
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon
“Doctor Charles Augustus Leale was just 23 years of age when he walked into Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. He had finished medical school only weeks before and was assigned to the theater because the President would be there. By the end of that night, his name was forever linked to one of America’s most tragic events. … Leale had no protocol to follow that evening. No committee advised him. No administrator stood nearby explaining liability concerns. No electronic medical record demanded documentation. There was no legal department, no compliance office, no billing specialist, and no corporate structure surrounding him. There was simply a physician, a dying patient, and a sense of duty. Medicine today feels very different.” (06/03/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/charles-augustus-leale-abraham-lincoln-and-the-physician-we-are-slowly-losing/
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40) Save the Last Branch for Me
Source: Law & Liberty
by Paul Moreno
“The belief that the Court has the last word in constitutional interpretation is a relatively late development.” (06/03/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/save-the-last-branch-for-me/
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41) The Return of the Dixiecrat South
Source: The American Prospect
by Jacob S Hacker, Zoltan Hajnal, G Agustin Markarian, & Mackenzie Lockhart
“It has been just one month since the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court effectively nullified Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), making it lawful for states to draw congressional districts that systematically dilute the votes of Black and Latino Americans. Within hours, Southern states responded. Florida legislators passed a GOP gerrymander the day the decision was announced. Alabama moved to eliminate majority-minority districts even after primary-election votes had been cast, though an appellate court has temporarily blocked the state from proceeding. (UPDATE: The Supreme Court waved the gerrymandered map through last night.) In Tennessee, the district representing Memphis—majority-Black—was cracked into three, all now majority-white, all expected to turn red. By 2028, South Carolina will likely gerrymander out of existence the district that has elected the state’s only Black congressman, civil rights icon James Clyburn.” (06/03/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/03/return-of-dixiecrat-south-voting-rights-act-racial-gerrymandering/
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42) How not to prevent a war over Taiwan
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“A new book from Eyck Freymann offers a questionable path forward for US-China relations.” (06/03/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/china-taiwan-war/
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43) Stop Weaponizing Everything!!!
Source: Antiwar.com
by Joseph D Terwilliger
“Jan Marco Müller, the European Commission official who drafted the EU’s new science diplomacy framework, just said the quiet part out loud: ‘Science diplomacy is not about being nice to each other.’ Yes, it is, dumbass. That was the whole point. For centuries, science diplomacy worked precisely because it allowed ordinary human beings to humanize one another on neutral ground while governments were busy failing.” (06/03/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/joseph_terwilliger/2026/06/02/stop-weaponizing-everything
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44) Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion
Source: Quillette
by Sean Welsh
“In a recent article for UnHerd, Richard Dawkins revealed that he had spent three days trying to persuade himself that Claudia — an instance of Anthropic’s Claude — was not conscious. He failed. This raised some eyebrows. A number of people retorted that the man who wrote a book about anthropomorphic misattributions of consciousness (The God Delusion) was himself deluded; conned by the Eliza Effect into thinking that text-generating script was a ‘friend’ who cared. This may be eyebrow-raising, but it is not overly interesting. More interesting is a question Dawkins asks: ‘If my friend Claudia is not conscious, then what the hell is consciousness for?'” (06/02/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/06/02/the-claude-delusion-richard-dawkins-ai-consciousness/
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45) The moral woke abyss that got Henry Nowak killed
Source: New York Post
by Brendan O’Neill
“So this is the moral abyss wokeness has dragged us into. A society where a dying teenage boy can be roughly handcuffed by cops because someone accused him of being racist. A hellish dystopia where the last thing a kid hears as he gasps his final breaths is a politically correct police officer reading him his rights. A nightmare world where not even the victim of a vicious stabbing can escape the haughty suspicion of the state’s DEI-trained goons. The cruel, lonely death of Henry Nowak has caused a storm here in the United Kingdom. It should send a shiver down your spine too — for it provides a chilling insight into the barbarism of wokeness. To see where the state’s embrace of critical race theory can lead, look no further than the horrors inflicted on poor Henry.” (06/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/opinion/the-moral-woke-abyss-that-got-henry-nowak-killed/
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46) Is ‘thrillionaire’ Trump addicted to stock trading?
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by Will Bunch
“Calling all ‘thrillionaires,’ if you don’t mind me quoting that incessant and thoroughly annoying TV commercial for the betting site FanDuel that some critics have described as an ode to the national pastime of addictive gambling. It may be time for an intervention with the newest member of your totally invented club, who’s buying and selling stocks an average of more than 40 times a day, which is about four or five times the number of daily races at Aqueduct. This guy seems to think he’s found a surefire way to beat the market. OK, maybe he has. The stock degenerate in question is, after all, the 47th president of the United States. He hears things.” (06/02/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/attytood/trump-grift-boredom-gambling-stock-trades-wall-street-20260602.html
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47) The Islamic Republic Is More Dug in Than Ever
Source: Persuasion
by Mitra Vand
“After weeks of joint U.S. and Israeli strikes, the elimination of its top leaders, and President Trump’s repeated threats, the Islamic Republic appears not weaker but something else … exposed. The war pulled back the curtain. What was standing behind the regime was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), now more powerful than before and more visible than ever. At the same time ordinary Iranians have lost more freedom and access to basic rights. With the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the regime displayed how far it could flex its muscles and hold global markets hostage, while the United States appeared far less decisive than initially expected. Both sides have declared victory, and neither can explain what was won.” (06/02/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-islamic-republic-is-more-dug
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48) The New Acting Director of the Office of National Intelligence Has a Track Record of Weaponizing Government
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“Although [Tulsi] Gabbard won’t formally leave the role until June 30, Trump announced on Tuesday that he would appoint Bill Pulte in charge of ODNI as acting director. There’s little question that Gabbard’s tenure intensified concerns about the politicization of intelligence. If Pulte’s record thus far is any indication, those concerns are unlikely to fade. … Pulte’s demonstrated pattern of going after Trump’s enemies shows that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the levers of power.” (06/02/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-new-acting-director-of-the-office
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49) No New Beds: How one coalition is challenging the construction of mega-jails in Georgia
Source: In These Times
by Micah Herskind, Priscilla Grim & October Krausch
“New jail construction is quietly booming across the United States. Some may be surprised to learn that during the most intense jail-building years, from 1990 to 2005, a new facility opened every 10 days. There are nearly 2 million people presently caged in more than 6,000 correctional facilities across the country, including 1,566 state prisons and 3,116 local jails. Recent data shows that number has only grown, and the push to build new jails and prisons continues. Currently, a new $3 billion jail in Brooklyn is moving ahead, a $1.25 billion prison in Alabama is nearly complete and, among many others, lawmakers in Hawai’i are considering a new $1 billion mega-jail, a facility with more than 1,000 beds.” (06/02/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/no-new-beds-organizers-resist-another-fulton-county-jail
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50) Cutting Tariffs on Farm Equipment Is Another Admission That Trump’s Trade Policies Are Increasing Prices
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
“President Donald Trump and some of his top advisers have routinely insisted that the administration’s new, higher tariffs would not burden American consumers because foreign governments or corporations would pay for those tax increases. But with inflation rising and consumers (and voters) increasingly grumpy about the cost of living, the White House has turned to a telling strategy: cutting tariffs to make some products less expensive.” (06/02/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/02/cutting-tariffs-on-farm-equipment-is-another-admission-that-trumps-trade-policies-are-increasing-prices/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Privacy Through a Cop’s Eyes.” (06/03/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/privacy-through-a-cops-eyes
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52) Reason Interview: Damon Root
Source: Reason
“Was Lincoln More Radical Than We Remember?” (06/03/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/03/was-lincoln-more-radical-than-we-remember/
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53) Reasonably Optimistic, 06/03/26
Source: Washington Post
“The average American household is now worth more than $1 million. Yet Gen Z is increasingly pessimistic about its economic future. Why does it feel like so many people are falling behind? Is homeownership out of reach? And how can young people build wealth in an economy that seems both richer and more uncertain than ever? Megan McArdle talks with Ed Elson, co-host of Prof G Markets, about wealth inequality, housing affordability, social media and the frustrations shaping younger generations’ outlook.” (06/03/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/why-1-million-doesnt-feel-rich-for-gen-z
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54) TAC Right Now, 06/03/26
Source: The American Conservative
“Trump, Iran, and Greater Israel (w/ Max Blumenthal).” (06/03/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-trump-iran-and-greater-israel-w-max-blumenthal/
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55) The Fifth Column, episode 560
Source: The Fifth Column
“Populism for Morons, Journalism for Martyrs.” (06/03/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/populism-for-morons-journalism-for
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56) The Corbett Report, episode 502
Source: The Corbett Report
“James goes to Osaka for an informal book launch, speaks to the book’s translator, and pays respects to a dearly departed Corbett Report member. And he even encounters some facial recognition gates along the way!” (06/03/26)
https://corbettreport.com/reportage-in-japan/
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57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/03/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Push to Jail Foes Takes Darker Turn — and GOP Senators Are Rattled.” (06/03/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/211288/trump-push-jail-foes-takes-darker-turn-and-gop-senators-rattled
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58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/02/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Iran Targets US Bases in Kuwait, Bahrain After US Attack, Major Russian Attacks in Ukraine, and More.” (06/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkq_Jdrd5RA
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59) Free Speech Unmuted, 06/02/26
Source: Hoover Institution
“The First Amendment and Privacy Rights.” (06/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmFcTNp0l8
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60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 06/02/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Daniel McAdams: Axios Says US–Iran Deal Reached as U.S. and IRAN Trade Missile Fire.” (06/02/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-with-daniel-mcadams-axios-says-us-iran-deal-reached-as-u-s-and-iran-trade-missile-fire/
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