Juneteenth '26 Meditations on Freedom for Texans

FOCUS ON TEXAS »NATURAL HISTORY The Alamo’s Archaeology Team Discovers Second Battle-Era Cannonball In Three Months Texas congressman introduces plan to create National Recreation Area along Gulf Coast »DATACENTER LAND & WATER HASSLES Abbott orders regulators to protect Texans from data center costs Texas agriculture commissioner candidate calls for moratorium on data centers Texas farmers say they’ve been enduring many hardships, particularly over the past five years. Between higher production costs and low commodity prices, many have not been able to break even. With data centers popping up throughout the state, some are worried these projects could exacerbate the problems affecting the already strained industry. »LIFE’S A BEACH Personal info of 3 million Texas hunters, anglers possibly exposed in data breach The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that private groups do not have the right to sue over public beach access * Environmental groups filed a lawsuit in 2021 seeking to stop the closure of Boca Chica Beach during rocket launches. * Access to public beaches was codified in the Texas Constitution in 2009, but the Texas Supreme Court said that did not allow for a private citizens right of enforcement. »BATTLE FOR THE BORDER Customs and Border Protection requests public comment on Big Bend construction Texas development group sues Trump administration over Big Bend border wall plans »TEXANS LIVING WITH A.I. Automated license plate reader debate continues in Texas Poll: Texans support autonomous vehicles, but want stronger safety standards For months, Big Tech’s Washington lobbyists have chased after the holy grail of pro-AI legislation: preemption. Their dream would be a comprehensive federal law, passed in Congress and signed by the president, applying one set of AI rules across the entire country and overriding the legally messy state-by-state approach to regulation. For months, lobbyists have run into roadblocks and incurred nationwide political blowback, and they now face the possibility that after the midterms, Congress will flip to hostile Democrats unwilling to work with them. But their final, most desperate attempt at preemption is coming with new baggage, related to an entirely different fight in Congress that predates the public launch of ChatGPT: child safety. Liberty in Many Directions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. SOURCES OF NOTE Sideritis scardica extracts inhibit aggregation and toxicity of amyloid-β in Caenorhabditis elegans used as a model for Alzheimer’s disease - NIH Can GLP-1s Cause Emotional ‘Flattening,’ Nicknamed ‘Ozempic Personality’? ‘A signal of where power sits’: Trump and world leaders joined by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google at G7 ### This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sheilamdean.substack.com/subscribe