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Politics

Iowa Shock

Plus: Mamdani's 2-K plans, bed bugs at the USDA, and more...

Liz Wolfe | 6.3.2026 9:30 AM

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Zach Lahn | Zach Lahn for Governor/Facebook
(Zach Lahn for Governor/Facebook)

Primary results trickle in: We have nothing useful out of California yet—current L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has advanced in her bid for reelection, but it's not clear who she'll be up against in the general, possibly Spencer Pratt; Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra are leading the results for governor. What we do have is an interesting upset in Iowa.

Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, lost his primary in the race for governor to Zach Lahn, a conservative farmer who was endorsed by former U.S. Rep. Steve King (R–Iowa), who has personal beef with Feenstra.

The Reason Roundup Newsletter by Liz Wolfe Liz and Reason help you make sense of the day's news every morning.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

"Iowa leans red and backed Trump by 13 percentage points in 2024, but Democrats think they can make the race unusually competitive this year with a strong candidate and a backlash to Trump's second term," reports The Washington Post. "The Republican nominee for governor will face Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary." There is, of course, always the temptation to extrapolate from a single political outcome; it remains to be seen how normal American voters will react to Trump-endorsed candidates. Is Trump still a kingmaker? When November rolls around, we'll learn more.

As for this race, Feenstra kind of phoned in his campaign, and Lahn was able to work the MAHA ("Make America Healthy Again") angle—an RFK-esque brand of Trumpism, but somewhat distinct from full MAGA. So Lahn's victory in Iowa probably shouldn't be read as a total repudiation of Trump.

"Feenstra's defeat makes him the highest-profile candidate endorsed by Mr. Trump to lose a Republican primary race in years—perhaps since Luther Strange, an appointed senator in Alabama, fell to Roy Moore in a 2017 special election primary," notes The New York Times. "Mr. Moore went on to lose the general election to Doug Jones, a Democrat."


Scenes from New York: Yesterday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani went down to Rockaway Beach (coincidentally, my old stomping grounds) to announce he'd be expanding the city's daycare program to cover 2-K—that is, "free" preschool for 2-year-olds—in addition to 3-K, which is already universally provided. (Nothing is ever free; more on that later.)

A limited number of spots (2,000 total) will be available for toddlers in School Districts 6, 10, 18, 23, and 27, so: Washington Heights, Inwood, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Canarsie, Brownsville, Ocean Hill, Ozone Park, and the Rockaways. These are all poorer neighborhoods in far north Manhattan, the Bronx, east Brooklyn, and south Queens. These spots will mostly be full-day, so from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the program is slated to expand over the next four years to cover the remaining roughly 48,000 2-year-olds who might want a spot.

Of course, the real Mamdani goal is not just to expand to 2-year-olds, but to cover every child in New York City from 6 weeks of life onward—at extraordinary cost to taxpayers. What this ends up being, in many cases, is a handout from the well-off to the well-off; but note how Mamdani's 2-K announcement tries to subliminally plant the idea in New Yorkers' heads, by prioritizing the poor neighborhoods, that actually it's just a necessary resource for the city's struggling working-class families.

More of my reporting on New York's childcare system and the socialists' dream of universal everything:


QUICK HITS

  • Florida tries suing ChatGPT's maker, OpenAI. "Sam Altman and ChatGPT have chosen the AI race over the safety and security of our kids. They have chosen profit over public safety, and we're not going to stand for it here in Florida," said the state's attorney general, James Uthmeier, at a press conference earlier this week. I don't anticipate this going especially far.
  • Huge advances in pancreatic cancer treatment: "Daraxonrasib hit every marker important to doctors and patients. The drug doubled survival time and kept tumors from growing for twice as long compared to conventional chemotherapy," reports Bloomberg. "Even better, people taking the drug had about five more months before their quality of life deteriorated compared to those on chemotherapy. And because daraxonrasib is a pill, patients are spared the burden of going to a facility and being tethered to an IV pump. For a cancer known for its brutal progression, those things—being able to receive care at home, having more quality time—truly matter."
  • There's a bed bug infestation at the USDA:

Incredible scoop from @EricM_Katz https://t.co/ZiuwwYKgge pic.twitter.com/yxAFlTBymZ

— Jeff Stein (@jstein_star) June 2, 2026

  • I've noticed this too:

Something I've noticed quite a bit is that we have this ongoing subtle expansion of the service economy but it's often sort of intermingled with the healthcare economy. Every 6 months I will discover some sort of new-to-me profession (recent examples: Occupational Therapist,… https://t.co/B5A5atL9vC

— Scarlet Astrorum (@ScarletAstrorum) June 2, 2026

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NEXT: The Draft Is Unpopular. Registration Becomes Automatic in December Anyway.

Liz Wolfe is an associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    We have nothing useful out of California yet...

    Reagan was somewhat useful.

    1. Moonrocks   2 months ago

      I hope we'll have the results before election day.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    ...current mayor Karen Bass has advanced in her bid for reelection...

    She's on fire!

    1. Ska   2 months ago

      Man, remember the old NBA Jams arcade game?

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        Boom shakalaka.

    2. Moonrocks   2 months ago

      Yeah, she's burning down the house.

    3. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

      The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire...

  3. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

    Wow with no examples the Iowa reporting is completely useless

    1. rbike   2 months ago

      This independent Iowan only votes anti-D. Either one of these guys was OK. Neither was totally stupid or evil, unlike Sand who has a bit of both in him.

  4. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    Reason has hundreds of articles on George Floyd, pushing the cant breathe narrative while ignoring the drug use and likely cause of death (original medical examiner claim) of an OD.

    They've been silent on cops handcuffing a white British citizen who literally couldn't breathe due to being stabbed. Likely due monitor hurting their open borders demands.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/06/henry-nowak-killing-highlights-two-tier-standard-on-identity-policing-and-justice-in-britain/

    Video from the scene, which has sparked fury in the UK, shows Henry Nowak, 18, repeatedly telling police officers “I can’t breathe” after being stabbed with an 8-inch blade in an unprovoked attack in Southampton, England, according to authorities.

    I bet reason has an article against the British protests before they have one against the British DEI and immigration policies.

    1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

      "Restore Britain pounces..."

      1. But SkyNet is a Private Company   2 months ago

        This

      2. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

        It's too late to restore Britain. It's gone.

    2. damikesc   2 months ago

      Almost guaranteed to be the case.

      I guess Orban was so much worse than having blatantly two-tiered justice system.

      1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

        C'mon man, we all know Orban was the only corrupt politician in Europe.

    3. Rick James   2 months ago

      I've kind of given up on this. I've been following this story for a few weeks and at first I thought, "Man, Reason should cover th..." then my sanity kicked in and I realized that if you asked any random Reason writer who Henry Nowak was you'd get a "What's an Aleppo" response. It's not that they're ignoring it, it's not even on their radar.

      1. Sun Wukong   2 months ago

        They know about it. They just believe in covering for DEI more than they believe in telling the truth. Also, Nowak was just another white person. It is not like he was important. The Reason staff just assumes he got what he deserved since the wrong people are outraged about it. They really are scum, just absolute scum all of them.

  5. Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)   2 months ago

    In 2019, there were about 150,000 people working in autism therapy.
    Six years later, there were 654,000—more than the number of people who work in mining and logging, or telecommunications, or at the US Postal Service.

    I bet they are all Somalians.

    1. Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)   2 months ago

      Yup. This is pure graft.

      1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

        wait for the NYC daycare grift to start. its going to be catastrophic

        1. Ska   2 months ago

          The grift will be cheaper than the future lawsuits.

          1. Social Justice is neither   2 months ago

            Put a wall around the city and drop off criminals there as foretold.

          2. rbike   2 months ago

            My credit union shut down a couple of branches and they turned into Autism centers. ~ 4years ago. Nothing appears to happen there. Now things may start to make sense.

            1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

              You should go there and record what's happening. Or dm Nick Shirley if you want to stay anon.

    2. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

      The level of corruption in this country protects us from nationalizing medical care. If we set up a National Health Service in the USA, it would be looted to the bare walls within months. Politicians know that.

      1. Rick James   2 months ago

        That's a feature not a bug.

  6. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, lost his primary...

    Defeenstrated. (Feel free to use that.)

  7. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    Of course, the real Mamdani goal is not just to expand to 2-year-olds, but to cover every child in New York City from 6 weeks of life onward—at extraordinary cost to taxpayers.

    State indoctrination always ends up very expensive.

    1. But SkyNet is a Private Company   2 months ago

      They want to raise your kids. You can already lose them if you try to unlearn their programming. Soon, you will be arrested.

      1. Idaho-Bob   2 months ago

        Yep, just look at how they already vilify homeschoolers and the parents.

  8. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    So much of the outrage and political power of the left still comes from media activists pushing false narratives. Globe and Mail finally admits they were wrong on the Canadian mass Graves story. Most of media refuses. Despite the civil liberties abused due to the media driven story.

    https://thefederalist.com/2026/06/02/canada-needs-a-real-reckoning-for-the-mass-graves-hoax/

    We see the same issues with reason.

    But in 2021, evidence and actual reporting didn’t matter, and the hoax was simply reported as fact. The outrage that followed was immediate and forceful. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who sought to make this Canada’s very own “George Floyd incident,” ordered flags lowered to half-mast at all federal buildings “to honour the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloops residential school” — as if the children had been murdered by Catholic nuns.
    ...
    In the meantime, vigilante violence broke out across the country. Dozens of Catholic churches were set ablaze by arsonists or vandalized in the wake of the Kamloops story, including historic churches that belonged to indigenous congregations, as well as churches that had no connection whatsoever to the residential schools. The ones that weren’t burned to the ground often had “charge the priests” scrawled in red paint on the walls. Trudeau said nothing. Most local authorities said nothing. The executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association posted on X, “Burn it all down.”
    ..
    Ironically, while this anti-Catholic hysteria unfolded there was an effort underway to criminalize dissent on the question of the residential schools. Indigenous rights activists demanded a law criminalizing what they called “residential school denialism” and categorizing it as hate speech.

    We see the same behaviors against conservatives now. Democrats pushing for death and re-education of their enemies. Arson and assassination attempts. And Jacob sullum pushing the same bullshit narratives

    1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

      This one was in the same realm as Russia gate. It was so fervently pushed, by so many, for so long, that it was taken as basically religious dogma by party faithful.

      And similar to russiagate as well, now that its been thoroughly debunked, the retraction is on page 15 in small print, where no one will see it, and theyll go on thinking the narrative true.

      We just had one of the spergtards the other day on here doing the "Trump is a Russian plant" schtick that made me think it was 2016 again.

      The grave hoaxes had the same effect. Lefty headline readers still think the mass graves were real and talk about it like we havent seen it debunked at all. The propaganda worked as intended

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        Yeah. Canadian government is still continuing to push charges against those who deny it.

      2. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

        Children die. In the not too distant past, they died much more frequently. When large numbers of children were gathered together in one place, quite a few of them died there. Nothing to see here.

      3. Juliana Frink   2 months ago

        "...the retraction is on page 15 in small print..."

        Retractions of this scale should be printed on the front page in large print ahead of all other stories. Failure to do so would be duly registered, and automatically apply as evidence of Malicious Intent in defamation suits. Then, let the plaintiffs line up.

        Who would not savor the wailing and gnashing of teeth that would ensue?

      4. Ron   2 months ago

        Not Just lefty people still believe the graves were real i have a religious/conservative fanatic extremest relative who believed it, so I'm assuming many other still believe since it is rarely reported as false

      5. Sun Wukong   2 months ago

        A bunch of churches were burned down as a result of the story as well.

    2. TrickyVic (old school)   2 months ago

      ""We see the same behaviors against conservatives now.""

      Now? Where have you been for the last decade?

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        Fair.

    3. Spiritus Mundi   2 months ago

      The lies were so well crafted, they even made up ages of the 'victims':

      "We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify," said the band's chief, Rosanne Casimir.

      "Some were as young as three years old," she continued, asserting "the final resting place of these children" was in the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        Sounds like the Iranian school bombing where names/ages/images were made up and kept growing.

    4. Mickey Rat   2 months ago

      The Canadian government and media were complicit in creating a moral panic and encouraging anti-Catholic bigotry that led to violent attacks. This should be an incredible scandal for the Canadian Liberal Party.

  9. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    The Justice Department announced Tuesday that two foreign researchers with the National Institutes of Health have been charged with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and giving false statements to federal law enforcement.
    . ..
    The two men, who worked at the NIH's Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana, claimed the case contained diagnostics and testing equipment, but a subsequent investigation by CBP and the FBI revealed it contained 113 vials in Styrofoam coolers. The FBI has tested 20 of the vials so far and 17 have contained deactivated monkeypox virus.

    “These NIH experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo," United States Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement. "Let that sink in."

    https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/doj-charges-foreign-nationals-working-nih-smuggling-monkeypox-us-lying

    1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      The article says 2 men so are they chinks or muzzies?

      1. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

        Montana men.

        1. Liberty_Belle   2 months ago

          Beards, baseball caps, and flannel ?

      2. Spiritus Mundi   2 months ago

        The department accused 53-year-old Vincent Munster, a citizen of the Netherlands, and 38-year-old Claude Kwe, a citizen of Cameroon,

  10. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

    Daraxonrasib hit every marker important to doctors and patients. The drug doubled survival time and kept tumors from growing for twice as long compared to conventional chemotherapy,"

    Unfortunately Trump said it look like a great drug and a promising drug, so naturally all of the beaurocrats banned it

    1. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

      I would just go ahead and check out rather than be gravely ill for five more months.

      1. rbike   2 months ago

        Had two friends die of pancreatic cancer. Almost immediate death sentence upon diagnosis. Doubling survival tim is not much extra time.

        1. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

          It's common for doctors and nurses to end their lives after receiving a diagnosis of an aggressive cancer. Despite constant news about
          "advances" in cancer treatment, allopathic medicine still has very little to offer for most cancers.

  11. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    While Reason fights against restitution for conservative lawfare they are largely ignoring the growing movement of socialism abd communism. Sorry, they call it inefficient.

    https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/01/politics/kfile-ny-13-darializa-avila-chevalier-deleted-tweets-defund-abolish-police-prisons-deportations?Date=20260601

    Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist congressional candidate endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, deleted a previous Twitter account that included thousands of posts and reposts expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.

    1. Idaho-Bob   2 months ago

      expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.

      So Mamdani endorsed his mini-me.

    2. Rick James   2 months ago

      Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist congressional candidate endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, deleted a previous Twitter account that included thousands of posts and reposts expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.

      Why was that twitter account deleted? Isn't that the DNC platform now?

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        To lie about them being moderate.

        If they can trick even one reason editor it was worth it. Bonus when they trick them all.

  12. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    Stanford caught engaged in money laundering with china to hide donations from CCP connected donations. Using pass through orgs to hide source of donations.

    https://stanfordreview.org/investigation-stanford-receives-chinese-state-linked-donations-2/

  13. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    If there was one thing you'd think a libertarian magazine would be pushing strongly it would be the uncovering and investigations into fraud. Some estimates out it at 1T a year in federal program fraud.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fraud-game-worn-kobe-bryant-sneakers-ferraris-taxpayer-funds/

    Sadly crickets.

    1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      Reason is a globalist diversity is our strength outlet. Go to spiked if you want libritarian

      1. damikesc   2 months ago

        Indeed. Reason would not know libertarianism if it raped their children.

  14. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    No duh. Glad reason didnt fall for it. Oh wait...

    former senior intelligence community official under President Barack Obama reported concerns earlier this year that the Hunter Biden laptop letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials in 2020 bore characteristics “consistent with coordinated intelligence deception operations,” according to a memo the ex-official submitted to the intelligence community inspector general.

    https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/ex-obama-intel-official-referred-hunter-biden-letter-over-concerns

    1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      Also hunter Biden is a gifted artist. It is odd that no one buys his art anymore

      1. MasterThief   2 months ago

        Saw Gillespie shilling for him on X

  15. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    Woman brings cameras and eats woth detainees in Delaney Hall who media was pushing a Hunger Strike story. Glad reason didnt fall for it. Oh wait..

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2026/06/02/homan-and-gop-rep-destroy-dem-propaganda-on-delaney-hall-ice-facility-n2202947

    The detention center uses the same cafeteria services as event halls and sports stadiums. Easy to confirm with simple research. But they fell for it.

    1. Quicktown Brix   2 months ago

      That should read "Homan brings cameras and eats with detainees in Delaney Hall who media was pushing a Hunger Strike story." in case anyone thought it was a private citizen's narrative and not the state's narrative being pushed here.

      1. Jefferson Paul   2 months ago

        "Woman" could be correct. Perhaps that's how Homan identifies now. It's not your place to question her gender identity, you bigot!

        1. Quicktown Brix   2 months ago

          You can call me Quicktown Bigot now.

          1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

            Unless you're Quicktown Biologist how would you even know?

            1. Jefferson Paul   2 months ago

              lol

    2. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

      Homan*

  16. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

    Maines own Nazi goes with the Massie strategy.

    Graham Platner for Senate
    @grahamformaine
    Susan Collins's latest financial report just came out.

    A staggering one-third of her money raised this quarter came directly from AIPAC.

    Senator Collins is bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu, and she votes accordingly.

    Of course he is terrible at math. Why he is a socialist.

    Emily Zanotti
    @emzanotti
    They clearly don’t teach decimal points at Platner’s five-figure-a-year prep school. Collins raised $10M. AIPAC donated $350K. That is…not one third of her money.

    1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

      ADL weighs in.

      ADL
      @ADL
      You can disagree with AIPAC and the policies it supports or oppose the presence of money in politics completely. But claiming that American officials who receive support from an American organization composed of Americans citizens are "bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu" invokes classic antisemitic rhetoric.

      Such accusations call up the age-old dual loyalty trope that casts Jewish Americans as more loyal to Israel than their own country. This hateful undermines their civic credibility and marginalizes their voices in public life.

      1. Quicktown Brix   2 months ago

        You can disagree with AIPAC and the policies it supports or oppose the presence of money in politics completely.

        And you will also be called an antisemite if you do. Ask me how I know.

        1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

          Poor qb.

          1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

            Funny how their clown masks always come off.

            1. Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)   2 months ago

              It's all about QB. He doesn't give a fuck that Platner misrepresented a contribution of 3% as 33% and got away with it.

              1. Quicktown Brix   2 months ago

                *QB pokes at bait*

                Nah, not today.

      2. Jefferson Paul   2 months ago

        JesseAz quoting the ADL now. What's next, the SPLC?

        1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

          When they make a good point i post it. True of NYT and MS NOW even. Its rare. But it happens.

    2. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      Nazi hates jews? Really? Jesse, your loosing your fastball

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        It was a knuckle ball this time.

        Mostly a dig at the new anti israel shit we've been seeing in big L and GOPe circles, blaming them for the losses.

    3. MasterThief   2 months ago

      Maybe the NAZI shouldn't be so open about attacking someone over Jewish influence. It just supports the accusation that he's a new age SS wannabe.

      1. DesigNate   2 months ago

        They can’t help themselves.

  17. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

    ""free" preschool for 2-year-olds—in addition to 3-K"

    We dont have pre-K in my state until kids are 4. This isn't pre school, nor does the 2 year old need it. The kid needs its parents.

    This is the state raising your kids for you.

    1. TrickyVic (old school)   2 months ago

      This is the state raising your kids for you.

      Deserves repeating.

      1. But SkyNet is a Private Company   2 months ago

        Yes, and as I already pointed out, you will not be free to counter their programming

        1. damikesc   2 months ago

          You'd think Reason, since it is overpopulated with New Yorkers, would be more upset over the blatant corruption involving their tax dollars.

          But...you would be extremely incorrect.

    2. Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)   2 months ago

      Yes, and that is the goal. Marginalize the role of the family in the life of the child.

      1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

        It takes a village...

        Straight out of the communist playback.

    3. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

      Stop subsidizing the reproduction of indigent unmarried women.

    4. I, Woodchipper   2 months ago

      from 8am to 6pm. this is just sad.

      1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

        Yup. At one point we had our Kindergartener in a summer camp for a week that was just 9-3, music themed. They had an option that you could keep your kid there until 6pm. Just the thought of that for our 5 yo Kindergartener made me feel sad.

        For a 2 year old? I realize people have different careers and situations, but having your 2yo gone for basically *all* of the waking hours of the day, and then just seeing them at dinner and going to bed (essentially what you would expect from a high school senior that drives), that's just feels wrong to me. Like wtf is your life that at such an important developmental time your 2 yo is just gone, in some state workers care, for the majority of their awake hours. This is dystopian shit

        1. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

          That was normal for affluent Victorians.

        2. Rick James   2 months ago

          We need to bring back latchkey kids.

    5. Rick James   2 months ago

      We dont have pre-K in my state until kids are 4. This isn't pre school, nor does the 2 year old need it. The kid needs its parents.

      lol... check out Jordan Peterson over here.

  18. Medulla Oblongata   2 months ago

    Scenes from NYC:

    Mamdani breaks promise, pays bribes to do the right thing on class-size law

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mamdani-breaks-promise-pays-bribes-to-do-the-right-thing-on-class-size-law/ar-AA24Ila8

    Insane: Mayor Zohran Mamdani has to bribe the city teachers union so that it will OK the Legislature delaying the impact of the noxious class-size law to help him balance his budget.

    This deal not only exposes how closely state lawmakers guard the interests of the United Federation of Teachers, its details reveal how perverse that law truly is.

    1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      New law, for every student that isn't reading at grade level the adult paid to be in the room looses 1% of its pay

      1. Ska   2 months ago

        "isn't reading at grade level"

        "looses 1%"

        *facepalm*

        Sorry, the lose/loose misspelling drives me up a fucking wall. I see it spelled wrong more often than spelled right.

        1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

          Dont loose your mind over it.

        2. Eeyore   2 months ago

          I spell the wrong word on purpose just to make people like you mad.

          You are going to loose to me.
          That screw is lose.

          1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

            Me to.

          2. Eeyore   2 months ago

            One of my favorite misspellings is wierd. It makes thier heads boil.

            1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

              Eye before E accept after see. Know, you spelled it write.

              1. See.More   2 months ago

                hukd on fonix wrkd for me

        3. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

          There's a reason I'm an engineer. And my company has someone do my documentation for me

          1. Eeyore   2 months ago

            You document stuff?

            1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

              Nodded my head to this comment.

            2. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

              No, someone does it for me

        4. Fats of Fury   2 months ago

          Loose Lips Lose Ships. That's how they should have phrased it in 1941.

    2. TrickyVic (old school)   2 months ago

      If Citizens United is overturned. A law should be passed to keep union money out of politics.

      ""to help him balance his budget.""

      He also is deferring pension payments for four years.

    3. Rick James   2 months ago

      This deal not only exposes how closely state lawmakers guard the interests of the United Federation of Teachers, its details reveal how perverse that law truly is.

      But the Democrats are the best party to rally 'round if you want to reform Qualified Immunity!

  19. Adans smith   2 months ago

    'Teaching' 2 year old kindergarten will be a very shitty job.

    1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

      ripe for 'learing center' level fraud as well

    2. Jefferson Paul   2 months ago

      But a very necessary one. How else will 2 year olds learn that they are a different "gender"?

  20. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    Sam Altman and ChatGPT have chosen the AI race over the safety and security of our kids. They have chosen profit over public safety, and we're not going to stand for it here in Florida...

    No particular fan of Altman but does this hackneyed spiel still work on people?

    1. Rick James   2 months ago

      I believe Sam Altman believes it.

  21. Medulla Oblongata   2 months ago

    All lives matter, right? Nope, skin color is the most important thing.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-police-have-been-failing-white-victims-for-decades/ar-AA24IAN4

    The police have been failing white victims for decades

    The deaths of Henry Nowak and George Floyd share unsettling parallels: arrested by officers who put them in handcuffs as they told them “I can’t breathe”, dying in front of the people who should have assisted them. Only one, however, triggered a sudden desire in Westminster’s establishment parties to reform the British state.

    1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      For the record Floyd said he couldn't breath while he was in his car

      1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

        Turns out when you house a few speedballs of meth and enough fent to kill a horse, you may go into fulminant heart failure and pulmonary edema from it.

        1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

          *cue music
          The more you know

      2. damikesc   2 months ago

        Also said he could not breathe when he was standing against the police car.

        But, yes, Chauvin "killed" him.

  22. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    The drug doubled survival time and kept tumors from growing for twice as long compared to conventional chemotherapy...

    Anything to avoid releasing an actual cure.

    1. Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)   2 months ago

      Think of how far cancer research would be if the US didn't waste time money and brain power finding a treatment for aids, the desires that would be ended by fags not being headonists

    2. Rick James   2 months ago

      That would qualify it as a vaccine.

  23. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

    There's a bed bug infestation at the USDA...

    SLEEP AT HOME YOU LAZY FUCKS

    1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

      USDA employees should try a hunger strike or complain to activists.

    2. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

      They already hired a carpenter to put a shelf for an alarm clock under their desk.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   2 months ago

        Seinfeld reference.

      2. Jefferson Paul   2 months ago

        One of my all-time favorite Seinfeld episodes.

    3. Eeyore   2 months ago

      If you wanted to eliminate the infestation at USDA you would have to lay everyone off and shut it down.

  24. Medulla Oblongata   2 months ago

    Remove SAT requirements from college admission, sounds like a great idea, what could possibly go wrong?

    https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/university-california-sat-requirement-reinstate-c3e32712?mod=hp_lead_pos10

    University of California Professors Are Begging Schools to Reinstate the SAT

    Open letter cites ‘severe preparation deficits’ among incoming students

    More than 1,100 University of California math and science professors are urging UC regents to reinstate college-entrance exams, saying that unprepared students are lowering academic standards and draining teaching resources.

    The request, delivered in a two-page letter last week, cites a sharp decline in readiness among students studying science, technology, engineering and math. Nearly one-third of students taking first-semester calculus at UC Berkeley “displayed severe preparation deficits,” the letter said.

    1. Mike Parsons   2 months ago

      getting really tired of the same old 'stupid leftist policy had the exact consequences everyone said it would but was called racist for'

      1. GOD OF PENGUIN ISLAND   2 months ago

        You should get used to it.

        1. Social Justice is neither   2 months ago

          I've gotten used to my in-laws, doesn't mean I like it.

        2. Medulla Oblongata   2 months ago

          It's like rape that way.

    2. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

      The STEM professors state they are having to teach remedial middle school math.

      1. But SkyNet is a Private Company   2 months ago

        Here’s an idea, flunk them out. Or is that also now against the rules?

        1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

          Worse. It would be racist.

        2. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

          A fake college degree is a human right.

    3. Rick James   2 months ago

      Open letter cites ‘severe preparation deficits’ among incoming students

      What's their LGBTQI2MAP+ score?

  25. Medulla Oblongata   2 months ago

    California getting what they ask for, good and hard.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/california-gas-prices-set-to-rise-again-but-gavin-newsom-says-voters-made-the-call-back-in-2018/ar-AA24HShd

    Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has defended the California gas tax as the national average fuel cost in the U.S. continues to remain above $4/gallon amid the Iran war.

    Newsom Defends California Gas Tax

    In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, Newsom’s official Press Office handle quoted a post by the tabloid New York Post, which claimed that California had hiked gas prices again.

    “Totally FALSE story,” the Press Office said, adding that the state’s gas tax increases “automatically” every year to “adjust for inflation.” The post also said that the decision was voted on by California’s voters before Newsom took office. “California voters said so back in 2018,” the post said.

    “If you are going to cover the golden state, at least learn the laws first…or reach out ahead of time,” the post said. The New York Post report had cited a notice from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration that outlined excise tax on gas would increase to $0.634/gallon from July 1st, 2026.

    Notably, California charges an excise tax of $0.60/gallon of gas, as well as a state sales tax of $0.10/gallon, according to data shared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The U.S. also levies a federal tax of $0.18/gallon that is uniform across the 50 states.

    1. JesseAz (RIP CK)   2 months ago

      I blame tariffs and Iran.

      1. DesigNate   2 months ago

        This guy Reason’s.

    2. Rick James   2 months ago

      But is it regressive?

    3. Its_Not_Inevitable   2 months ago

      Well, technically, the State is raising the gas tax again. It's just already been voted on and built in. Ain't it cool the way that works? "Not my fault!" Maybe Newsome could introduce a bill to stop that automatic increase?

  26. Spiritus Mundi   2 months ago

    ...make the race unusually competitive this year with a strong candidate and a backlash to Trump's second term," reports The Washington Post.

    Is there really blacklash, or is this just framing by people who hate Trump? Looks like wishcasting propoganda from the commies at WaPo.

  27. Spiritus Mundi   2 months ago

    From the why I need an AR and 30 round magazines department:

    Paul Krugman calls for purging his political enemies.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/columnist-attacked-by-trump-calls-for-de-magafication-of-us-similar-to-de-nazification-of-germany/ar-AA24AiRx

    And the liberal media framing this as 'he was attacked by Trump' is priceless.

    1. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

      The power elite are working to start a civil war. It's beyond obvious now.

      1. Rick James   2 months ago

        I tremble at the thought of childless cat ladies coming for me.

        1. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

          You might be making an incorrect assumption about who the armed forces will side with.

          1. Rick James   2 months ago

            An armed forces populated by childless cat ladies. Hmm... I never looked at it that way.

    2. I, Woodchipper   2 months ago

      several leftoid pundits have been speaking openly about doing this.

      They get no push back from normie leftoids. It would be best to prepare for the possibility of this actually happening if they gain the upper hand again.

      The left must be destroyed utterly.

      1. DesigNate   2 months ago

        Yeah, it’s gotten bad enough that Mrs. Designate has talked about getting something.

    3. Vernon Depner   2 months ago

      De-nazification was very unpopular and largely a failure in West Germany. It was far more successful in East Germany. This tells us where Krugman's aspirations lie.

      1. Michael Ejercito   2 months ago

        How was de-Nazification a failure in West Germany?

  28. Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment   2 months ago

    "...reports The Washington Post..."

    Just go with CNN and be done with it.

  29. Michael Ejercito   2 months ago

    We have nothing useful out of California yet—current L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has advanced in her bid for reelection
    Only advanced, not won re-election outright, due to her mishandling of the Palisades fire.

    1. Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)   2 months ago

      Only advanced, not won re-election outright, due to her mishandling of the Palisades fire everything.

  30. TangoDelta   2 months ago

    "reigniting frustrations over remote work policy" at "the agency responsible for containing and mitigating the spread of invasive pests in the U.S."

    Yeah, certainly not an inside job. I mean there's no way specialists in containing pests would purposefully cause an infestation at their workplace just so they could work from home again, amirite?

  31. Rick James   2 months ago

    Something I’ve noticed quite a bit is that we have this ongoing subtle expansion of the service economy but it’s often sort of intermingled with the healthcare economy. Every 6 months I will discover some sort of new-to-me profession (recent examples: Occupational Therapist, Child Passenger Safety Technician) that is credentialed and fundamentally a service but possibly billable to insurance.

    I’m not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand it does seem good as we get better at automating manufacturing and logistics to divert human ability to solving smaller but still important problems for others. OTOH, a lot of it does feel like it has the potential to be a grift or at the least interact in very undesirable ways with regulated, insured, and obscure parts of the economy.

    Um, this is the shit that allows Reason to keep saying, "Bbbuuuut GDP Hockeystick go up!"

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