Think More: Wednesday, June 10, 2026
NIH biosafety failures, vaccine-injury accountability, the Maine Senate primary, DSA militancy, California's broken count, and more.
Lead · The Things They Buried
Senate Files Detail a Decade of NIH Biosafety Failures
Documents released by Senator Rand Paul show NIH virologists Vincent Munster and Claude Kwe were charged June 2 with conspiring to smuggle monkeypox samples from Congo into Detroit, declaring the case held only “testing equipment.” FBI testing found deactivated virus in most of the 113 hidden tubes. The files trace a decade of mislabeled, lost, and hand-carried pathogen shipments that staff knew skirted the rules.
The Things They Buried
Johnson Presses HHS to Recognize Covid Vaccine Injuries
Christina Park | Just The News
Senator Ron Johnson is urging the administration to create an insurance billing code so patients who claim Covid vaccine injuries can be treated and reimbursed. His subcommittee alleges that flawed FDA algorithms masked safety signals under the Biden administration. The asserted link between the shots and serious harm remains contested; the American Medical Association maintains the vaccines are safe and effective.
Trustees Move Up the Retirement Fund’s Depletion Date
Social Security’s trustees now project the retirement trust fund will empty in the fourth quarter of 2032, a quarter earlier than last year’s estimate. At that point payroll taxes would cover only 78% of scheduled benefits. The Bipartisan Policy Center attributes part of the acceleration to last year’s tax law, which trimmed the revenue collected from taxing benefits.
The Left’s New Face
Maine Democrats Nominate Graham Platner Despite the Tattoo
Graham Platner won Maine’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday and will face Susan Collins in November. The oyster farmer prevailed after revelations that he wore a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo for nearly two decades, which he says he got while drunk as a Marine and did not recognize. Governor Janet Mills, who had already folded her campaign, still drew nearly 20% of the vote.
The DSA’s “Red Rabbits” Build a Street-Security Network
The Democratic Socialists of America launched a “Red Rabbits” security commission at its 2026 convention, training chapters in self-defense, crowd control, and confronting opponents at protests. City Journal reports the trainings could test the limits of the group’s tax-exempt status, since a street force built for confrontation sits uneasily with a legal mandate to serve the common good.
The Count
John Fund Lays Out the Case Against California’s Count
California mails ballots to 23.2 million registered voters, counts those arriving up to a week late, and permits unlimited ballot harvesting. John Fund cites a Judicial Watch suit alleging 873,000 ineligible names on the rolls. Two decades ago the state counted 80% of ballots within two days; it now counts below half, a delay that steadily corrodes public trust.
Spencer Pratt Fades as Late Ballots Reshape the L.A. Race
Chris Bray | Tell Me How This Ends
Conservative Spencer Pratt led on election night, then slipped to third as mail ballots broke for Nithya Raman in the Los Angeles mayoral primary. Chris Bray reads the result as confirmation that California’s governing model faces no real accountability at the ballot box, even as residents and businesses, the A’s and now the Bears among them, head for the exits.
Built to Last
The Tariff Strategy Designed to Survive the Courts
Aiden Buzzetti | The American Mind
After courts blocked the administration’s earlier tariffs, Aiden Buzzetti argues the next round will rely on Section 301 of the Trade Act, which authorizes duties only after formal hearings and comment periods. The slower process is the point: tariffs grounded in explicit statute are far harder for judges to strike or for a successor to unwind. Investigations already span more than 60 countries.
Congress Funds ICE and Border Patrol Through 2029
Ben Smith | Legal Insurrection
The House passed the $70 billion Secure America Act on a 214 to 212 party-line vote, sending immigration enforcement money to the President’s desk through fiscal 2029. Speaker Mike Johnson framed the three-year horizon as stripping Democrats of any leverage to defund the agencies. The bill ended a standoff that began with January’s shutdown over DHS funding.
Abbott Orders Texas Regulators to Make Data Centers Pay
Office of the Texas Governor | gov.texas.gov
Governor Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to require data centers to fund the electric infrastructure their operations demand, rather than pass those costs to households. He set July deadlines for the agencies and pledged legislation requiring water-efficient cooling and accurate usage reporting. The order aims to make grid expansion an asset for Texas rather than a burden on ratepayers.
One vote locks in immigration enforcement for the rest of the term
$70B
ICE and CBP package
214–212
House passage margin
2029
Funded through fiscal year
Campus and the Screen
Parents Revolt as Schools Hand Tablets to Kindergartners
Nicholas Smyth interviewed 30 parents alarmed that 1-to-1 devices now reach pre-kindergarten, with 73% of K-2 classrooms issuing a tablet or Chromebook to every child. Parents describe gamified apps displacing books, opt-out requests denied, and “equity” invoked to justify universal screens. Vermont and Iowa have begun weighing limits, but most families who object are simply told no.
Katherine Dee Argues the University Should Shrink
With private tuition often topping $70,000 a year and student debt past $1 trillion, Katherine Dee contends that AI will hollow out the credential mill and leave a smaller, stranger university behind. She points to 1890, when Oxford and Harvard each enrolled fewer than 3,000 students who read the classics aloud to their tutors, as the model higher education may rediscover by necessity.
Fires Abroad
Paris Burns Again After PSG’s Champions League Win
Itxu Díaz reports that Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory on May 30 triggered roughly 900 arrests, about 200 injured officers, and unrest across 75 French cities, despite 22,000 deployed police. He reads the recurring riots as evidence of a failed integration model in the banlieues, citing surveys on alienation that French officials prefer not to discuss.
Trump Threatens Iran’s Power Plants and Bridges
President Trump said he is close to ordering strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges, accusing Tehran of stringing along peace talks and warning it will “pay the price.” The threat follows U.S. Central Command strikes near the Strait of Hormuz that answered the downing of an Army Apache helicopter. Trump told Fox News he might keep going.
