Author: nick

June 1, 2026 Dean Baker Photo by Nazrin Babashova When the Commerce Department released April data on consumption, the uptick in reported inflation got most of the attention. While that is big news, there were several other items that were noteworthy. First, consumption growth was very weak in April, increasing by just 0.1%. That is not necessarily a big deal since it followed two months of rapid growth, and the falloff was mostly attributable to a drop in car purchases after two months of large purchases. Still, consumption is most of the economy, and if it’s not growing at a…

This just says so much about the true nature of the artificially manufactured panic around “antisemitism” in the West. By Caitlin Johnstone Caitlin’s NewsletterListen to Tim Foley read this article. The U.K. is getting crazier and crazier in its defense of Israel. Now they’re canceling the visas of mainstream normie political pundits for criticizing the state of Israel, and investigating people for antisemitic hate crimes when they denounce Zionists who aren’t even Jewish. American progressive commentator Cenk Uygur and his nephew Hasan Piker have both been denied visas by the British government, saying they were blocked from entering the country because of their…

Michael Saylor and team added 24,869 BTC last week, bringing total holdings to 843,738 coins. What to know: Strategy last week purchased 24,869 BTC for about $2.01 billion, or an average price of roughly $80,985 per coin. The purchase brings Strategy’s total holdings to 843,738 BTC, acquired for about $63.867 billion at an average cost of $75,700 per coin. This latest acquisition round was funded nearly entirely through sales of the company’s STRC preferred stock. Strategy made a massive bitcoin purchase last week, adding 24,869 coins for approximately $2.01 billion, or an average price of $80,985 each. The latest acquisition…

Wait, it’s June already?! ‘Is my brain wired to never see a ghost?’ A psychologist on three factors that make a paranormal experience more likely. Are there aliens on the famous exoplanet K2-18b? Scientists just scanned it for signals. We may have to rethink consciousness completely – here’s why. Brilliant-green fireball meteor explodes over erupting volcano in the Philippines. ‘A paradigm shift’: Supermassive black hole without a galaxy changes what we thought came first. OpenAI’s internal AI model just solved an 80-year-old math problem — and mathematicians verified it. Newly declassified FBI documents detail UFO sighting by Minnesota police officers…

In a special America 250 issue, Reason takes a look back at our country’s founding people and ideas. Read more here. Joanna Andreasson In July 1976, Queen Elizabeth II stood at the Old State House, the building where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Boston. Two hundred years after the colonists told her great-great-great-great-grandfather to bugger off, the British monarch was greeted with a 21-gun salute, a luncheon at City Hall, and cheering crowds. She had a good line for the occasion: If Paul Revere and Samuel Adams could have known a British monarch would…

Photo by Michael Discenza Sociologist Gregory D. Squires argues that it’s a myth that taxes drive millionaires to flee cities and states that tax them. An abridgment of Squire’s Baltimore Sun commentary, from Monday, January 26, 2026, forms the second half of this piece, where he provides empirical evidence that this belief is false. I believe it is false because many of the wealthy recognize that they need to be taxed, fairly, of course, to sustain a livable economic and social environment for all. Unfortunately, the belief that millionaires will flee is one both Republicans and Democrats often espouse. Squire quotes…

Consortium News is asking readers to become members of the first U.S. independent news site on the Web, founded by legendary investigative journalist Bob Parry 31 years ago in 1995. Robert Parry receiving the 2017 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London on June 28, 2017.  From left to right with Parry, are Victoria Brittain, John Pilger and Vanessa Redgrave. (Shirlee Matthews) To show your support for Consortium News and help it survive and expand its reach please join our membership program today to mark 31 years of continuous publication. Members who contribute $250 will receive a set of four…

A barricade thrown up by the Communard National Guard on 18 March 1871 – Public Domain May 28, 2026, marks the 155th anniversary of the Communards’ last stand at Père-Lachaise Cemetery and the end of the Paris Commune. A few days ago, the Tricontinental Institute published an article by our friend and comrade Vijay Prashad who seeks to draw lessons from past socialist experiences. On this occasion, he notes that “All socialist revolutions in the modern world have taken place in the poorer nations, where the peasantry predominates and where wealth has been systematically leached from their territory into distant…

Police in Ohio arrested Waterford High School teacher Matthew Warden on two charges of assault for allegedly punching one student in the jaw and trying to punch another during gym class. According to court documents, Warden told the students they were “pissing him off” and instructed them to “stick out their chins” before throwing punches. He missed one student but made contact with the other, reportedly leaving him with a red mark and jaw pain. Investigators said Warden confirmed that the incident happened but claimed he was “only joking around” with the students. School officials say the district is still…

F-35 in flight. Photo: Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen, US Air Force. “Whenever a fight occurs, airpower will be presupposed for projecting unmatched combat power, from the long-range strike capability of strategic bombing, to support for ground combat.  If the necessity of a substantial support infrastructure is an argument against the F-35, what of an aircraft carrier’s large enveloping group of support vessels?” – George F. Will, “Why the F-35 is a vital U.S. asset in this menacing era.”Washington Post, May 28, 2026. Thirteen years ago, I made the case against the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in National Insecurity: The…