Author: nick
Government officials may not fully understand what social media is, but they damned well plan to do something about the ills it may or may not inflict on our society. They’ll happily start with extracting some money from the companies behind social media, though it may take a few tries, given politicians’ complete lack of understanding of the thing they want to tax. Illinois is a good example, where legislators just passed an attempt at a social media levy that runs afoul of its authors’ ignorance. You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason. Get more of J.D.’s…
A coastline erodes as sea levels rise. Long Beach, California. Photo by Joshua Frank. This week in the Anthropocene The first major swell of the year pummeled Southern California this week, and onlookers flocked to Balboa Peninsula in ritzy Newport Beach to watch adrenaline junkies attack the Wedge – a mutant wave that ricochets off a rock jetty, forming a steep, heavy wall of water that accelerates and breaks chaotically. Only the bravest (craziest?) dare to face it down. A wild storm system, nearly the size of the United States, took shape in the central South Pacific last week and…
On this segment of Free Media, Senior Editor Robby Soave and Daily Caller Editor in Chief Amber Duke react to Donald Trump storming out of an NBC interview after clashing with host Kristen Welker. Before calling it quits, the two discussed how the president did not keep his promise of “no new wars,” and he called Welker “crooked.” Source link
On this segment of Free Media, Senior Editor Robby Soave and Daily Caller Editor in Chief Amber Duke discuss the turmoil at CBS surrounding its flagship news program, 60 Minutes, as the network faces internal backlash and questions about editorial independence after Bari Weiss took over the network. Source link
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its May 2026 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on June 10, confirming what many Americans already feel at the pump and in their wallets. Headline CPI rose 0.5% month-over-month and climbed to 4.2% year-over-year, the highest rate in roughly three years. This marks a sharp acceleration from April’s 3.8%. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, increased a milder 0.2% MoM and reached 2.9% YoY, up slightly from 2.8%. Energy prices dominated the headline figure. The energy index surged 3.9% in May, accounting for the lion’s share, over 60%, of the monthly CPI…
June 11, 2026 Ed Sanders A song for the Fugs’ upcoming reunion concerts in Woodstock, New York. Oh, sometimes the Ship of Stateseems to face a shaky fateBut you know our Ship of Statealways has an eternal matein the United States Constitution Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!We keep the U.S. freefrom any monarch dingalingor authoritarian king! Hallelujah! Our nation shall never fall!It’s strong and wide enough for All!! Sing! Sing! Sing! America’s coming through!Sing! Sing! Sing! Surviving all the wayCoast to Coast, and Sea to lustrous Sea! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!We keep the U.S. free to singWe banish ANY DINGALING!!!who would try to…
Nobody in the United Kingdom can do arithmetic these days—especially not when it comes to the nation’s supermarkets. I once observed with amusement a shopper in the line ahead of me confused over a “Buy One, Get One Free” offer. The shopper had only brought one of said items to the checkout desk. The girl on duty mentioned the sale. “I know,” replied the woman. “But I don’t want two of them. So I’ve chosen to get the one I’ve bought for free instead.” I now realize this mathematical moron must have been Rachel Reeves, the current UK Chancellor of…
Human beings are “creatures of matter who long to matter,” says novelist and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein, whose new book is The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us. She talks with Nick Gillespie about how all humans struggle to figure out how to lead lives that justify our existence, both in the eyes of others and ourselves, and she describes remarkable cases of people who rescued children discarded during China’s one-child policy era, atheists who led leper colonies so the afflicted could die with dignity, and former neo-Nazis who seek to reform racist skinheads. A MacArthur…
Today, Lawfare published my article “Callais Doesn’t Justify Court-Packing.” Here is an excerpt summarizing key points: The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais—barring nearly all use of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to create majority-minority congressional districts—has been met with outrage by many on the political left and led to renewed calls for court-packing. For example Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has said that “[w]e need to expand this morally bankrupt court from nine to 13.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has said that “everything should be on the table,” presumably including court-packing. Former vice president and 2024…
News from White House suggests Trump imposing limits on partner Netanyahu and that US did not provide missile defense in latest exchange of fire It remains unclear whether Iran’s effort to establish a new equation in the region has truly succeeded — an equation in which, for the first time, Iran would directly strike Israel if Israel attacks Lebanon. What is clear is that recent events suggest the strategic landscape may be shifting. Israel chose to defy President Trump and carry out strikes against Iran. Yet according to both Iranian and American sources, those Israeli attacks appear to have been…