During a recent Texas Senate Higher Education Committee hearing, lawmakers asked an important question: Is Texas doing enough to protect our universities from hostile foreign influence? The executive director of the newly established Texas Research Security Council, Kevin Gamache, Ph.D., answered in the affirmative. HB 127, he told lawmakers, “provides the flexibility for the universities...
“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” —George Orwell, “1984″ If science fiction has taught us anything, it is that the danger of mind reading is not the technology itself, but the power that comes with the control of information. George Orwell’s...
“Have you ever been to the U.S.-Mexico Border?” “No.” One word. That may have been the most revealing moment of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recent interview with the New York Times. During the exchange, Mamdani defended New York City’s sanctuary policies. Since taking office, he has reinforced that position by signing an executive...
Filled with anticipation, a woman in her early 30s downloads a fertility-tracking app. She and her husband are finally ready to start their young family and have a baby. Every morning she logs her cycle, her basal temperature, her symptoms. She grants the app access to her Apple Health data because the onboarding screen says...
Mexico’s 2027 midterm elections will constitute the most consequential political contest since the 2024 presidential election. Beyond the routine renewal of public offices, these elections will serve as a national referendum on the governing project of Morena and will determine whether opposition forces can preserve the territorial strongholds necessary to rebuild a competitive national alternative...
It’s Your Data What to know: Open AI has launched Health in ChatGPT, which connects users’ health data to the AI assistant so that users can have “personalized health conversations” with the AI. The TPPF take: The federal healthcare data privacy act, HIPAA, doesn’t apply to apps and AI. “That failure has a name, though most people...
Whose Property is It? What to know: An Austin homeowner is being fined nearly $9,000 for having his own trees trimmed. The TPPF take: Attorneys with TPPF’s Center for the American Future are representing homeowner Michael Petrick in a lawsuit against the city. “This is exactly the sort of thing that makes housing too expensive in Austin,”...
High Lines What to know: The Texas Public Utilities Commission will meet today to deliberate the latest planned segment of a high-powered electric transmission line. Lawmakers have asked commissioners to pause until the Legislature can meet. The TPPF take: Those transmission lines will solve none of the problems with the Texas grid. “Other plans exist that can...
The EPA’s 2025 decision to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding is being called one of the largest deregulatory actions in US history. But what exactly is the Endangerment Finding, and why do supporters say this change matters for American families and businesses? In this Fast Facts breakdown, we explain the 16-year history of greenhouse gas...
Since it has been unable to pass new gun restrictions through the legislative process, President Biden’s Administration is intentionally ignoring and misinterpreting well-established law to shut down lawfully operating gun dealers. TPPF Senior Attorney Matt Miller breaks down how this backdoor scheme works and explains TPPF’s lawsuit to restore Americans’ legal right to purchase firearms.
Illegal activity that harms the U.S. is coming from Mexico in much the same way as it does from other corrupt individuals in other countries the U.S. currently sanctions. Texas should compile a list of corrupt Mexican elites and request the federal government to deny them entry to the U.S. or revoke their visas. Read...
On July 4, I stood at the site of the Boston Massacre, in front of the Old Massachusetts State House, and heard the Declaration of Independence read from the same balcony where it was first read 250 years ago. Standing on the streets where it all started, I pondered the miracle of those first patriots...
Even though I’ve taken off from my Winners & Losers newsletter this summer, I still join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin Friday mornings at 8:30 a.m. to announce the week’s list. You can listen live here every week or download the broadcast anytime by clicking here. This week I...
June is here and Pride Month is back—but it’s not all rainbows and parades like it used to be. For years, Americans were told that so-called Pride events were all about tolerance and equal treatment, something we should celebrate like the Fourth of July. Ultimately it didn’t sell. Pride celebrations have become inextricably linked to...
Democrats and the progressive left continue to lambast the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais to strike down the Bayou State’s second majority-Black congressional district as a racial gerrymander. Democrat leaders have used vicious and ugly attacks to pronounce the decision as racist and insist that it guts the Voting Rights Act (VRA). In...