This week, the dominating question is "Why?" In the modern world, the smart person should be asking it about...everything. It's such a useful question because it applies to so many things. When you look at what any major institutiuon in modern life is doing, the question of "Why?" opens up an almost endless avenue of inquiry. Whether it's criminal charges for Jan 6, a lack of effort to stop human trafficking, electric vehicle mandates, why journalism fails to inform, COVID policy, or sexualizing school instruction, asking "Why?" is becoming the most valuable tool we have.

Dale starts by discussing the injunction announced this week by Federal Judge Terry Doughty. It prevents the FBI and other government agencies from contacting any social media company to induce them to restrict Constitutionally-protected speech in any way. It's a clear win for free speech. Dale then discusses the vitriolic response to the movie, The Sound of Freedom, linking it explicitly to Qanon, primarily to prevent normal people from going to see it. Still, human trafficking, as the Variety review points out, is a growing and serious issue. While the vast majority of government effort goes into drug interdiction, uncounted numbers of children--and adults--are routinely trafficked into sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiering. Perhaps going after drug dealers is just more profitable, and stopping child trafficking isn't worth the effort.

A week of riots broke out in France this week after police shot an immigrant teen during a traffic stop. Starting in Paris, it spread to other cities across the country. We wonder how and if something similar might happen here. Hint: Yes. We then turn to the four big Supreme Court decisions announced this week, and their immediate fallout.

This weekend, Yevgeny Progozhin launched a brief attempt at...something in Russia. Was it a coup attempt against Vladimir Putin? An armed revolt against Defense Minister Shoigu? A desperate cry for help? Whatever it was, after launching it on Friday, it was over on Saturday, and Pregozhin was winging his way to Belarus. Where, presumably, he'll fall out of a 22nd-story window in a few months. Russia. It's crazy, man. Then there was the IRS whistleblowers who alleged to Congress that the DoJ did, in fact, interfere heavily into the investigation of Hunter Biden's taxes, even to the point that AUSA Lesley Wolf is alleged to have tipped off Hunter Biden's attorneys about an upcoming search warrant. We're not sure how this system can ever be reformed.

This week, a special counsel indicted Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act of 1917. We spend some time looking at the indictment, but the bigger--much bigger--issue is the response to what increasingly seems like a two-tiered system of justice, and an increasing loss of faith in the American government's fairness and impartiality. There are two completely different, and completely unreconcilable views on the the nature and purpose of government in America. Neither side of this argument wants to be ruled by the other. For decades, this conflict has been piling up a huge mound of gunpowder under American culture. All it's going to take is a match to light that gunpowder and kick off a crisis, one which may very well culminate in a Jugoslavian-style civil war. That would be a disaster not only for the US, but the entire world.

We start this week by looking at the theory proposed by Dale last week, and looking at examples of both how democratization if in formation is overcoming gatekeepers, and how gatekeepers are trying to keep their Book Age power. We then dive into the latest events in Disney's Federal case against Ron DeSantis. They lost their hand-picked judge, Obama appointee Alex Walker, who threw a petulant little fit on his way out the door. His replacement is Trump appointee Allen Winsor, who's already ruled in DeSantis' favor in previous cases. We then ask why Disney would undertake this risky legal strategy, in light of the relatively marginal effect losing Reedy Creek would have on the company. Finally, we geek out on some Star Trek.

In this Podcast, Dale makes up for Michael's absence by presenting a theory about why our societies seem to be going through so much turmoil. From 1450-2000, we were living in the Book Age, which created a world and culture built on the innovations and cultural changes that followed the creation of the movable type printing press in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg. Since sometime around 2000, we've moved out of the Book Age, and into a new Information Age. It's going to be every bit as disruptive, illuminating, exciting, dangerous, and unpredictable as the Book Age was in replacing the Age of the Church in 1450.

After briefly discussing the arguments about using the 14th Amendment to override the debt ceiling, we delve into the latest Harvard-Harris Poll. We discuss the dichotomy between the political/media class and the general electorate, along with how the two political parties appear live in what are almost entirely different factual realities.

This is a complex one, though each of our topics this week ties together into a single theme: The prosecution of Daniel Penny, lawlessness at the border, failure to enforce gun laws, ignoring prima facie evidence of Joe Biden's corruption, the FBI refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena...all of this points to a system where the rule of law is routinely ignored. Whatever you might want to call the American system, it is no longer a system that values--or provides--justice.

Dale starts the podcast solo, talking about Florida vs Disney. Michael joins to kick of a discussion of our national health. It's not great. It's difficult to see how the US can avoid a national divorce of some kind. Our institutions are failing,. Our political establishment seems more keen on stoking differences than creating unity. Without a thorough reform of the US system, we're heading to a dark place.