06/07 -- UN calls on Trump regime to stop separating migrant children from parents; There is no "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the president
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 7, 2018, 6:18:14 AM6/7/18
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/07/18
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
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Today's Freedom News:
1) UN calls on Trump regime to stop separating migrant children from parents
2) Report: Mueller "requests" witnesses' personal phones, access to their encrypted messages
3) UN peace plan for Yemen calls for ceasefire, Houthis giving up their most effective weapons
4) Bank rally gives Dow its best day in nearly two months; Nasdaq closes at another record
5) Report: DoJ watchdog will portray Comey as "insubordinate"
6) NY: Pizza delivery man faces deportation after delivering to Brooklyn military base
7) House GOP factions claim progress on immigration compromise
8) Report: Kim terrified someone will kill him at Singapore summit
9) CA: Voters oust Stanford sex attack judge Aaron Persky
10) Stormy Daniels files new lawsuit, alleging old lawyer "colluded" with Michael Cohen
11) Australia: Woman dies from hepatitis A after eating frozen pomegranate
12) OR: Water alert re-issued for capital area
13) OH: ICE gang abducts 114
14) Trump commutes sentence of Alice Marie Johnson
15) Republicans press top FBI official on Strzok's role in federal probes
16) MN: Ellison launches bid for attorney general
17) Germany: Nazi death squads focus of latest war crime cases
18) Court: EU countries must recognize foreign same-sex marriages
19) Trump appeals ruling that bars him from blocking Twitter users
20) UPS workers grant strike powers as July contract deadline looms
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) There is no "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the president
22) Rule by majority unfair to minority
23) How inflation drinks your milkshake
24) Ensuring you're not well
25) Seattle declares war on workers with wage and housing regulations
26) Dark money and the downfall of Eric Greitens
27) Apps, deliveries lay waste to free parking dream
28) In the economy of the future, you won't own your own kitchen
29) When democracy [sic] isn't enough
30) Review: Omnia Sunt Communia, by Massimo De Angelis
31) Pence's hypocritical speech to the OAS
32) What the G7 can still offer the world
33) John Brennan's slender Reid
34) Trade wars cause real wars? It's not that simple
35) From Starbucks to the White House? Howard Schultz needs some decaf!
36) Progress, DC-style
37) Could Trump pardon himself?
38) Bill Clinton again fails to own up to his misdeeds
39) SCOTUS may yet approve gay wedding cake demands
40) The Lady and the Trump
41) Mick Mulvaney right to rein in CFPB
42) Quantum Vibe, 06/06/18
43) Truth to power ...
44) Washington melts down over prospect of Trump-Putin meeting
45) Why we work for the Chinese
46) The Masterpiece Cakeshop dodge sets up an epic fight for the next Supreme Court vacancy
47) What lies ahead for Spain's new government?
48) Striking teachers a boon for homeschooling
49) A divergent convergence of epic proportions
50) A critic uses the DMCA to avoid criticism
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Political Research Digest, 06/06/18
52) Scott Adams Says, 06/06/18
53) Electric Libertyland, episode 75
54) Foreign Policy Focus, episode 203
55) Intercepted, 06/06/18
56) Essential Libertarianism, episode 33
57) Free Talk Live, 06/05/18
58) Cato Daily Podcast, 06/05/18
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 1172
60) One Free Family, episode 19
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) UN calls on Trump regime to stop separating migrant children from parents
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar]
"The UN human rights office is calling on the administration of US President Donald Trump to 'immediately halt' its policy of separating children from their parents after crossing the US border with Mexico. Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani scolded the US for its 'zero tolerance' policy in which some families have been separated after crossing the border. The rights office said in a statement that 'children should never be detained for reasons related to their own or their parents' migration status. Detention is never in the best interests of the child and always constitutes a child rights violation.'" (06/06/18)
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2) Report: Mueller "requests" witnesses' personal phones, access to their encrypted messages
Source: Raw Story
"Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is requesting [sic] that witnesses turn in their personal phones to inspect their encrypted messaging programs and potentially view conversations between associates linked to President Donald Trump, sources told CNBC. Since as early as April, Mueller's team has been asking [sic] witnesses in the Russia probe to turn over phones for agents to examine private conversations on WhatsApp, Confide, Signal and Dust, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Fearing a subpoena, the witnesses have complied with the request [sic] and have given over their phones, the sources said. ... The revelation that Trump associates are giving Mueller access to their encrypted apps comes as former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is being accused by investigators of tampering with witnesses through the same types of programs." (06/06/18)
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3) UN peace plan for Yemen calls for ceasefire, Houthis giving up their most effective weapons
Source: Reuters
"A U.N. peace plan for Yemen calls on the Houthi movement to give up its ballistic missiles in return for an end to a bombing campaign against it by a Saudi-led coalition and a transitional governance agreement, according to a draft of the document and sources. The plan, which has not yet been made public and could still be modified, is the latest effort to end Yemen's three-year-old civil war [sic], which has spawned one of the world's worst ongoing humanitarian calamities. The conflict pits the Iran-aligned Houthis, who took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, against other Yemeni forces backed by a coalition led by U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The coalition [claims] the Houthis are part of a regional power grab by Tehran. Previous efforts to end the conflict, which according to the United Nations has killed more than 10,000 people, have failed. It is unclear whether the new plan will fare any better given the divergent interests of fighters on the ground and international backers." (06/06/18)
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4) Bank rally gives Dow its best day in nearly two months; Nasdaq closes at another record
Source: MarketWatch
"U.S. stocks closed firmly higher Wednesday, with two major indexes ending at records as equities extended a recent winning streak to a fourth straight session. The day's gains were broad based but led by financial stocks, which were the top-performing sector of the day as bond yields rose." (06/06/18)
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5) Report: DoJ watchdog will portray Comey as "insubordinate"
Source: The Hill
"The Department of Justice's inspector general has reportedly determined that former FBI Director James Comey defied authority at times, according to sources who viewed a draft report on the probe into the investigation to Hillary Clinton's private email server. A source told ABC News that the inspector general's draft report on the FBI's investigation into Clinton's use of a personal server while she was secretary of State calls Comey, who was fired by President Trump last year, 'insubordinate.' The draft report, which is subject to change, also reportedly criticizes former Attorney General Loretta Lynch's handling of the probe into Clinton's email use. Inspector General Michael Horowitz told lawmakers last month that a draft of the long-awaited report was complete. The final version is expected to be released in the coming days." (06/06/18)
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6) NY: Pizza delivery man faces deportation after delivering to Brooklyn military base
Source: USA Today
"A man is facing deportation after being arrested while making a pizza delivery to the Fort Hamilton military base in Brooklyn on Friday. Pablo Villavicencio, an Ecuadorian immigrant, showed his IDNYC, a free government-issued ID card that all New Yorkers can apply for regardless of immigration status, to gain access to the base. The guard asked for further identification, and when Villavicencio couldn't provide any, someone at the base called ICE, according to New York City Councilman Justin Brannan. 'We're still trying to figure out what happened,' said Brannan. 'Pablo has personally delivered to the army base in the past without incident. He used his NYC ID, his municipal ID, to gain access to the base in the past, that's what he did this time.' A statement from the Fort Hamilton base says Villavicencio agreed to a background check, which turned up an active Immigration and Customs Enforcement warrant. That warrant led to his detention." [editor's note: Hopefully the area's (better yet, the nation's) restaurants will announce an embargo on further deliveries to federal facilities until there's a commitment to never pull that shit again – TLK] (06/06/18)
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7) House GOP factions claim progress on immigration compromise
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"Leaders of opposing House GOP factions said Wednesday that they have made some progress toward an immigration deal after meeting with Speaker Paul Ryan. House GOP leadership has been trying to stop a breakaway group from forcing the passage of legislation that would protect young immigrants in the country illegally from deportation by providing them with a path toward citizenship. Agreement is not at all certain, but lawmakers appeared hopeful as they raced to meet a self-imposed deadline for a compromise. They're trying to find common ground between GOP centrists who are pushing the bill to help the immigrant 'Dreamers' (young people who have been living in the U.S. illegally since childhood) and conservatives who mostly oppose that approach and want stricter immigration limits and enforcement, as well as funding for President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico. Leadership is expected to present broad outline of a proposal at a private meeting of all Republicans on Thursday." (06/06/18)
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8) Report: Kim terrified someone will kill him at Singapore summit
Source: Fox News
"North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un reportedly fears an attempt on his life at the historic Singapore summit that will bring the hermit kingdom leader the furthest he's ever been from his country since coming to power. U.S. officials believe Kim is worried about security and the possibility of an assassination attempt at the high-stakes summit where he will meet President Trump for the first time after months of back-and-forth negotiations, sources told Bloomberg. In 2017, North Korea accused U.S. and South Korean intelligence services of hatching an assassination plot against Kim with a 'biochemical substance.' According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, 'a hideous terrorist group' directed by CIA and South Korean spies 'ideologically corrupted' a North Korean dissident identified as 'Kim' and paid the man more than $20,000 to carry out the attack." (06/06/18)
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9) CA: Voters oust Stanford sex attack judge Aaron Persky
Source: BBC [UK state media]
"A US judge who was widely criticised for his leniency towards a campus sex attacker has been removed from office by voters. Judge Aaron Persky handed Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner a six-month sentence in June 2016. But county judges in California are elected, and if a petition to remove them from office garners enough signatures a vote will be held. Such elections are rare; the last time a US judge was recalled was in 1977. Tuesday's vote in Santa Clara County marks the first time a Californian judge has been removed in this way for more than 80 years. Reacting to the result, the campaign to unseat Judge Persky said the voters of Santa Clara were the winners. 'We voted today against impunity for high status perpetrators of sexual assault and domestic violence,' Michelle Dauber, chair of Recall Persky, said." (06/06/18)
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10) Stormy Daniels files new lawsuit, alleging old lawyer "colluded" with Michael Cohen
Source: USA Today
"Adult film star Stormy Daniels filed a new lawsuit Wednesday, alleging her former attorney who represented her in a hush agreement with President Trump and his personal attorney betrayed her and instead acted as a 'puppet' for the two. The 16-page lawsuit, obtained first by NBC News, lays out a lengthy conspiracy against Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, and includes text messages between her former attorney Keith Davidson and Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Davidson and Cohen, claims the two lawyers 'hatched a plan' and 'colluded' together to get Daniels on Fox News and deny her alleged affair with Trump. In one text message, Cohen called Davidson a 'pal,' according to the complaint." [editor's note: The truly hilarious part of this is how many people still think this is the route by which they will "depose the sexist, racist evil dictator" – SAT] (06/06/18)
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11) Australia: Woman dies from hepatitis A after eating frozen pomegranate
Source: USA Today
"An Australian woman who ate a recalled frozen pomegranate product died of hepatitis A, health authorities announced Tuesday. The 64-year-old woman from southern Australia ate pomegranate seeds by Creative Gourmet, a product under a precautionary recall following a hepatitis A outbreak in New South Whales. 'This is a rare and tragic case and I offer my sincere condolences to the woman's family,' Paddy Phillips, chief medical officer at South Australian Health, said in a statement. 'The majority of people infected with hepatitis A recover fully and the woman's death is the only death linked to this recalled product nationally to date.' Now that the incubation period for hepatitis A has passed, Phillips said, he does not anticipate any other cases related to this product. The product was originally recalled two months ago." (06/06/18)
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12) OR: Water alert re-issued for capital area
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"A limited no-drink warning for tap water in and around the state capital was re-issued Wednesday, reinstating for at least two days guidelines advising medically sensitive people to find other water sources as a city spokesman acknowledged a lag in testing for toxins in the water. The advisory, linked to toxins caused by algae, warns children under 6, people with liver conditions or compromised immune systems, on dialysis, or pregnant or breastfeeding not to drink Salem's tap water. The re-issued alert also highlighted a delay in reporting of toxin levels: Elevated toxins in water samples collected Sunday and Monday did not prompt an advisory until Wednesday. Officials won't know if Tuesday's water samples were completely safe until test results are received Thursday, said Kenny Larson, a Salem city spokesman." (06/06/18)
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13) OH: ICE gang abducts 114
Source: Washington Post
"A swarm of immigration [thugs abducted] more than 100 workers at an Ohio gardening and landscaping company Tuesday morning, one of the largest of several recent workplace raids carried out as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration enforcement. About 200 federal [gang-bangers] blitzed two locations of Corso's Flower and Garden Center -- one in Sandusky, on the shoreline of Lake Erie, and another in nearby Castalia, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Associated Press. [The predators] surrounded the perimeter of the Castalia location, blocking off nearby streets as helicopters flew overhead, AP and local television stations reported. They [abducted] 114 workers suspected of being in the country illegally [sic] and loaded many onto buses bound for ICE detention facilities. Dozens of the workers' children were left stranded at day-care centers and with babysitters, local activists wrote on social media." (06/06/18)
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14) Trump commutes sentence of Alice Marie Johnson
Source: CNN
"President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender, a week after Kim Kardashian West pleaded her case during an Oval Office meeting with Trump. Johnson has already served 21 years of a life sentence after she was convicted on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine and attempted possession of cocaine, according to the nonprofit Can-Do, which advocates for clemency for non-violent drug offenders. She is expected to be released from prison soon. 'Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades. Despite receiving a life sentence, Alice worked hard to rehabilitate herself in prison, and act as a mentor to her fellow inmates,' the White House said in a statement Wednesday afternoon." (06/06/18)
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15) Republicans press top FBI official on Strzok's role in federal probes
Source: The Hill
"A top FBI official who oversees the bureau's counterintelligence division faced questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday about the role of FBI agent Peter Strzok in federal probes, The Hill has learned. Lawmakers and congressional staff questioned Bill Priestap behind closed-doors for several hours as part of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees' joint probe into the FBI's decision-making during the 2016 election. ... Allies of the president have alleged widespread misconduct within the FBI and the Justice Department during the presidential election, pointing to exchanges between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page as further proof of bias against Trump." (06/06/18)
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16) MN: Ellison launches bid for attorney general
Source: Politico
"Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison jumped into the race for Minnesota attorney general Tuesday, the final day candidates were allowed to file. Ellison won't leave Congress immediately, but he will not run for reelection. He will also remain deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee during his campaign. ... The decision follows several days of political chaos in Minnesota. Current Attorney General Lori Swanson failed to get re-nominated for her job at the Democrat-Farmer-Labor convention over the weekend. Then on Monday, she announced she would run for governor instead, with retiring Rep. Rick Nolan as her running mate." (06/06/18)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/05/ellison-launched-bid-for-minnesota-attorney-general-625455
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17) Germany: Nazi death squads focus of latest war crime cases
Source: ABC News
"German prosecutors are investigating a suspected former member of Adolf Hitler's mobile killing squads for involvement in World War II massacres carried out by the 'Einsatzgruppen,' part of an 11th-hour effort to bring elderly ex-Nazis to justice, The Associated Press has learned. It's the third case to be opened in Germany recent months targeting individuals who are believed to have been part of the death squads. All three are being investigated under a new legal argument, recently upheld by the country's top criminal court, that someone who helped the Nazi killing machinery run can be convicted of accessory to mass murder, even if they can't be linked to specific deaths." (06/06/18)
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18) Court: EU countries must recognize foreign same-sex marriages
Source: NBC News
"In a landmark ruling for gay rights in Europe, the E.U.'s top court said Tuesday that Romania must grant residence to the American husband of a local man even though Romania does not itself permit same-sex marriage. In a case that has highlighted social differences between western Europe and the more conservative ex-Communist east, the European Court of Justice ruled that Romania must accept the validity of a 2010 Belgian marriage and treat American Clay Hamilton as Adrian Coman's spouse under E.U. law. ... The case did not touch on the freedom of member states to set their own matrimony laws, although campaigners have called on Brussels to push states to legalize same-sex marriage as a fundamental human right. The decision, though, did uphold the rights of E.U. citizens to move freely across the bloc along with their families." (06/06/18)
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19) Trump appeals ruling that bars him from blocking Twitter users
Source: Chicago Tribune
"President Donald Trump is asking an appeals court to restore his power to block critics on Twitter. Trump's lawyers gave notice Monday that they're appealing a federal judge's ruling that says blocking people from the @realDonaldTrump account is a violation of the First Amendment. The lawyers did not immediately respond to messages." (06/06/18)
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20) UPS workers grant strike powers as July contract deadline looms
Source: Bloomberg
"United Parcel Service Inc. workers authorized their union to call what would be the first strike since 1997, giving negotiators more leverage in talks to replace a labor contract that expires at the end of July. Of the workers from the package unit who voted, 93 percent favored the authorization and 91 percent of UPS freight employees agreed to the measure, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced on a webcast. The rate of voter participation wasn't provided. A strike authorization is common during negotiations to put pressure on the company, said UPS spokesman Glenn Zaccara. Even with that, the union can't go on strike until after the current contract expires on July 31." (06/06/18)
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) There is no "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the president
Source: OpEdNews
by John W Whitehead
"According to Trump's Twitter feed, he believes that he has an absolute right to pardon himself of any crimes for which he might be charged while serving in office. He's not alone in this imperial belief. Two of Trump's lawyers have attempted to float the idea that 'the president's powers are so broad as to make it impossible for him to have obstructed justice.' Rudy Giuliani, another of Trump's enablers, insists that Trump could even get away with shooting the FBI director in the Oval Office and not be prosecuted for murder. 'In no case can he be subpoenaed or indicted,' Giuliani argued, claiming a president's constitutional powers are that broad. It's a losing argument. Back in 1974, four days before Richard Nixon resigned, the Department of Justice concluded,'Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the president cannot pardon himself.'" (06/06/18)
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22) Rule by majority unfair to minority
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
"Politics might be an amusing hobby, but it is a horrible basis for a society. One should never confuse government with society. Society grows naturally from the voluntary interactions of people, while government is anti-social; imposed by those who imagine themselves at the 'top' onto everyone they see as beneath them. Unanimous consent is the way to get things done without coercion or theft. Let those who agree work together without forcing anyone else to go along. If your idea relies on forcing people to participate, it's probably a bad idea." (06/06/18)
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23) How inflation drinks your milkshake
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Dan Sanchez
"In the denouement of the film There Will Be Blood, the antihero Daniel Plainview dramatically reveals to his nemesis that he has secretly siphoned away all of the latter's underground oil. 'Drainage!' he bellows, as only Daniel Day-Lewis can, 'Drained dry. I'm so sorry. Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching? And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room and starts to drink your milkshake. I ... drink ... your ... milkshake! [sucking sound]' Through inflation (expanding the money supply), as I will show, the government 'drinks our milkshake' every day. Only, it does so even more surreptitiously than Plainview's straw, with nary a sucking sound to be heard." (06/06/18)
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24) Ensuring you're not well
Source: A Geek With Guns
by Christopher Burg
"What do you do if a friend of family member hasn't responded to your attempt to communicate for a while? What do you do if you think a friend of family member might be suicidal? In these cases it's not entirely uncommon from concerned parties to call 911 and ask emergency personnel to perform a wellness check. However, most of the time when you call 911 law enforcers are dispatched and that can turn a wellness check into a very dangerous situation." (06/06/18)
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25) Seattle declares war on workers with wage and housing regulations
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jose Nino
"In an attempt to compete with California for the political jurisdiction with the most economically destructive policies, Seattle's city council recently approved head taxes on large businesses in the city. The reasoning? Seattle is experiencing rising levels of homelessness and politicians believe that they can legislate poverty away and create affordable housing with these funds. Little do these politicians know that the laws of economics have a stubborn way of bringing political fantasies back down to reality." (06/06/18)
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26) Dark money and the downfall of Eric Greitens
Source: The American Prospect
by Chisun Lee
"Missouri Governor Eric Greitens announced his resignation last week, just 16 months into a term that saw a career's worth of scandals. But the spectacle continues. For those who haven't been following the man's political immolation, the tawdry parts are the stuff of prime-time TV: a Democrat-turned-Republican Navy SEAL; a dashing politician with presidential ambitions; an extramarital affair; alleged blackmail involving nude photos; and a felony charge over data tampering. For months, it seemed none of that was enough to knock Greitens from his perch. Then, in a move that was both overdue and unexpected, he resigned. Just hours earlier, a county court had ordered a shadowy nonprofit doing political work for Greitens to turn over internal documents to a state legislative committee investigating his misconduct. Questions had already swirled around this group, A New Missouri. Structured as a social welfare nonprofit, it gives donors anonymity while simultaneously boosting the governor's agenda." (06/06/18)
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27) Apps, deliveries lay waste to free parking dream
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Nick Zaiac
"When left to the commons, road space gets misused and wasted. Underpriced street parking has made road space scarce, as UCLA parking guru Donald Shoup has spent his life demonstrating. The rise of e-commerce and the advent of ridesharing has increased demand for short-term parking, putting pressure on policymakers to act to accommodate it." (06/06/18)
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28) In the economy of the future, you won't own your own kitchen
Source: Libertarianism.org
by Pamela J Hobart
Review of Tomorrow 3.0, by Mike Munger: "By reducing transaction costs, the economy of the future will decentralize workplaces and transform ownership of consumer goods." (06/06/18)
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29) When democracy [sic] isn't enough
Source: The New Republic
by Ioan Grillo
"When the early returns of the November 26 presidential election in Honduras began coming in, supporters of the leftist opposition candidate, Salvador Nasralla, had cause to celebrate. With 57 percent of polling stations counted, he had a five-point lead, a seemingly irreversible advantage. But then the vote-counting system went dark, victim of a computer glitch. A day and a half later, the system began working again, only now the conservative incumbent, Juan Orlando Hernandez, had suspiciously caught up, and soon after, he took the lead. Cities throughout the country erupted in protest, and military police responded with force, firing at demonstrators. After three weeks of turmoil, electoral officials finally declared Hernandez the winner; by the time he began his second term, on January 27, more than 30 people had been killed. Media in the United States and other countries seemed hardly to have noticed. Perhaps it's because Honduras is small and poor, with a population of nine million, little oil, and no Islamist radicals. Or perhaps it's because stories of rigged elections and crackdowns on protesters have become a global commonplace." [editor's note: As if it ever was? – SAT] (06/06/18)
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30) Review: Omnia Sunt Communia, by Massimo De Angelis
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
"Massimo De Angelis is a thinker very much in the autonomist tradition; he mentions being a student of Harry Cleaver. This comes through loud and clear in his focus on the self-activity of ordinary people, and on the centrality of their self-created and -governed institutions as the kernel of a postcapitalist successor society." (06/06/18)
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31) Pence's hypocritical speech to the OAS
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"In a speech this week to the Organization of American States, Vice President Mike Pence issued the standard, obligatory denunciation of the communist regime in Cuba, which the U.S. national-security establishment (i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA) have targeted for regime change ever since the Cuban revolution in 1959. Pence stated: 'In Cuba, the Castro name has begun to fade, but under a handpicked successor, their legacy endures and the oppressive police state they established is ever-present. Under President Donald Trump, America will always stand for Que Viva Cuba Libre.' That's pure nonsense. Under American conservatives and the U.S. national-security establishment, America has always stood for 'Que Viva Una Dictadura conservativa en Cuba.' The last thing that American conservatives and Pentagon, CIA, and NSA officials want for Cuba is genuine freedom." (06/06/18)
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32) What the G7 can still offer the world
Source: Reuters
by Peter Apps
"Meetings of the G8 group comprising the world's richest nations used to be an exercise in well-choreographed consensus. The largely technocratic, centrist leadership of major countries would discuss how to tweak the global economy, help those they believed were being left behind and generally congratulate each other on their overlapping progressive and largely democratic values. The June 8-9 gathering in Quebec of the now G7 (Russia was suspended for annexing the Crimea in 2014) could hardly look more different, much to the alarm and irritation of its host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. U.S. President Donald Trump last week alienated the other six nations by effectively starting a trade war, plus the meeting will be overshadowed by the growing worry that the new populist Italian government will throw the euro back into crisis." (06/06/18)
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33) John Brennan's slender Reid
Source: The American Spectator
by George Neumayr
"IA interference in elections used to be a major no-no in the liberal catechism. At Jesuit Fordham University in the radical 1970s, a young John Brennan had devoured anti-American literature portraying the CIA as a wicked meddler in the political affairs of other countries. This radicalism had bred in Brennan, according to his own admission, a very dim view of America -- an 'unhappiness with the system,' he recalled once, that led him in 1980 to support Gus Hall, the presidential candidate for the Soviet-controlled American Communist Party. At one of the most crucial moments in the Cold War, America's future CIA director was rooting for the Reds. It sounds like an Onion parody, but it isn't. It is the story of America's decline, marked by a generation of radicals who rose to the top of agencies and institutions they once tried to destroy. The irony is no doubt lost on Brennan, who went from condemning CIA election interference abroad to spearheading it at home." (06/06/18)
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34) Trade wars cause real wars? It's not that simple
Source: spiked
by Phil Mullan
"The International Monetary Fund, a bastion of globalist thinking, regularly warns of the dangers of trade wars threatening the world's trading system and economic growth. Such fears are often ratcheted up with the suggestion that trade wars become military wars. Jack Ma, the CEO of Alibaba, recently articulated this common presumption: 'If trade stops, war starts.' Frequently, commentators point to the '1930s trade war' as a key driver in the outbreak of the Second World War. While most economists now reject the notion that trade protectionism caused the Great Depression, they go along with the still-popular idea that trade wars risk actual wars. Escalating trade protectionism is widely believed to have brought about war in 1939. ... But this simplifies how intensified competition and rivalries between advanced market economies can turn into real wars." (06/06/18)
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35) From Starbucks to the White House? Howard Schultz needs some decaf!
Source: USA Today
by Brian Dickerson
"Let's take a beat, Mr. Schultz, and think this through. You don't even have to order anything, unless you're hungry: Everyone in this restaurant has completed the sensitivity module. Nobody is going to call the cops if you just want to sit there (even if you are sounding a little crazy right now). Before we talk about your political aspirations, though, I'd like to give you the props your entrepreneurial record deserves: Your 27,000-outlet empire is a magnificent achievement, and you've leveraged it to do a lot of good in the world. Plus, you make a swell cup of joe, or at least a consistent one. Politicians who insist they prefer Dunkin' Donuts coffee are mostly feigning solidarity with constituents who would sooner buy a gold-plated Prius than plunk down $5 for a non-alcoholic beverage." (06/06/18)
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36) Progress, DC-style
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Is the black, Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., actually a 'racist?' What about the city council, which is 46 percent African-American, 85 percent Democrat, and 100 percent liberal/progressive? That's what a lawsuit argues -- the DC 'powers that be' are racist in their development and housing policies. Filed on behalf of several African-American DC residents, it alleges that Mayor Muriel Bowser and the council have been striving mightily, as the Washington Post reported, 'to 'lighten' African American neighborhoods and break up long-established communities.' 'Every city planning agency,' states the complaint, '... conspired to make D.C. very welcoming for preferred residents and sought to displace residents inimical to the creative economy.' Nothing that a billion dollars couldn't make right, of course -- for which the plaintiffs ask. But is gentrification a crime?" (06/06/18)
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37) Could Trump pardon himself?
Source: National Review
by Jonah Goldberg
"It's complicated." (06/06/18)
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38) Bill Clinton again fails to own up to his misdeeds
Source: Town Hall
by SE Cupp
"Turns out, the third time is not the charm. Not for Bill Clinton, who took yet another attempt to explain his affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky within the context of the current #MeToo movement. Stephen Colbert offered him a do-over Tuesday night, after Clinton botched his first interview with NBC News' Craig Melvin a day earlier. Clinton admitted it 'wasn't my finest hour,' and insisted he was mad at himself as much as everyone else. He said, again, that he apologized at the time to Lewinsky and her family. 'I meant it then; I mean it now.' Of course, that's not the point of any of these questions. We all know Clinton apologized; he did so publicly nearly two decades ago." (06/06/18)
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39) SCOTUS may yet approve gay wedding cake demands
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
"Kamala Harris, a Democratic senator from California, says Jack Phillips should have been forced to bake gay wedding cakes because 'our constitution requires equal protection under the law.' Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, says this week's Supreme Court ruling in Phillips' favor is 'a major victory for religious liberty,' upholding the Colorado baker's 'constitutional right to live according to his faith.' Although Harris and Cruz are both lawyers, they are both wrong. Harris conflates discrimination by individuals with discrimination by the government, while Cruz overlooks the Supreme Court's approval of laws based on that false equivalence." (06/06/18)
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40) The Lady and the Trump
Source: CounterPunch
by Vern Loomis
"Isn't it time? You know it's dangerous to leave her out there on her own. She's vulnerable and prone to poor judgment. She forgets to lock doors and who knows what kind of people she's letting in. She repeats herself incessantly and the words are like totally disconnected from reality. She's just not taking care of herself anymore, and you should know, our lives are pretty busy, too. Realistically we can't give her the kind of care she needs (and why should we be expected to?). It's not just to herself either; she's dangerous to others, even to children. You can see it too, right? I mean, what choice do we really have? Shouldn't we do what needs to be done and find an appropriate place for her, something with a little supervision? It will be best for her and for everyone really, and it's not like we're abandoning her. She'll be in our hearts forever, and we'll always be there for her, for sure on holidays. So really, what to do with her? She stands there in the harbor, day after day, with the lamp and that constant message ..." (06/06/18)
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41) Mick Mulvaney right to rein in CFPB
Source: Investors Business Daily
by Jamey Bowers
"Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), recently announced plans to turn his agency into a 'gold-standard' regulator. To reach that elusive standard, Mulvaney plans to reduce the regulatory oversight of an agency that has long run amok. Mulvaney's CFPB will create an 'office of cost benefit analysis' to evaluate the economic cost of the agency's enforcement actions and heighten scrutiny of its operational costs. In Mulvaney's words: 'I've read through a couple of the cost-benefit analyses on a couple of the previous rules that we put out. It would not have met my test.'" (06/06/18)
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42) Quantum Vibe, 06/06/18
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser & Gus Mendes
Cartoon. (06/06/18)
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43) Truth to power ...
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"The media is appalled at Trump, outraged at the NRA, and shocked beyond belief at the American public, who refuses to follow the advice of their betters in Hollywood, academia, medicine, the media, and the Tranzi (liberal or progressive) political realm. What it boils down to, is that the media, and European elites, cannot abide truth -- even the tiny little bit that Trump is willing to speak. It is against their agenda. And what is their agenda? To gain more and more power (and wealth). They can most easily do that by taking that power from other people. Including the power to defend themselves against those who would steal away that." (06/05/18)
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44) Washington melts down over prospect of Trump-Putin meeting
Source: The American Conservative
by Daniel R DePetris
"The bipartisan foreign policy establishment in Washington is united behind the idea that to grace Putin with a visit is to reward him for hostile behavior. When reports surfaced earlier in the Trump presidency that the White House was thinking about arranging a visit with the Russian president, you'd have thought Trump was preparing to sign Eastern Europe over to the Kremlin. How could Trump, Russia hawks asked, consider boosting Putin's legitimacy? Only when Putin changes his behavior and begins acting like a civilized human being can he be invited to Washington for a photo opportunity with the American president. Statecraft, however, is not like elementary school. Timeouts may be effective penalties for kindergarteners messing with other kids' building blocks, but those same juvenile tactics are highly unlikely to deter a man like Putin who has persuaded himself that it is his destiny to make Russia great again and protect the Russian people from Washington's wicked machinations." (06/05/18)
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45) Why we work for the Chinese
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
"Regarding the offer of the Chinese government to force or incentivize (or stop disincentivizing with import barriers) Chinese importers to buy $70 billion more in food and energy products from America, a story in the Wall Street Journal of June 5 says: 'U.S. officials ... argue that Chinese energy purchases would largely divert U.S. sales to other nations and have no overall impact on the U.S. trade deficit.' The problem is much deeper than what these U.S. officials believe. Anything imported from America by Chinese firms or consumers is diverted from others, whether from other international importers or from American producers and consumers." (06/05/18)
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46) The Masterpiece Cakeshop dodge sets up an epic fight for the next Supreme Court vacancy
Source: Cato Institute
by Ilya Shapiro
"How do we decide what kinds of professions get that kind of First Amendment protection? Does it matter whether the objection is religious? Does it matter that, unlike the oft-invoked Jim Crow analogy, gay couples can generally get cakes, flowers, and other wedding products and services without having to travel too far? All of these questions are left for some future case, when the swing vote may belong to someone other than [Anthony] Kennedy. In that way, this squib of a ruling -- 18 pages, most of which just recites factual and procedural background -- underlines how the battle over the 81-year-old Kennedy's successor will be, whenever that happens." (06/05/18)
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47) What lies ahead for Spain's new government?
Source: Acton Institute
by Angel Manuel Garcia Carmona
"Over the weekend, Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez became president of Spain after the former president and People's Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy lost a no-confidence vote. That vote came in reaction to the judicial sentence in the corruption case Gurtel -- in which officials such as the former treasurer Luis Barcenas took bribes that financially benefited the People's Party. The motion went forward with the support of the far-Left party Podemos, as well as Catalan and Basque pro-secession parties. That alliance resembles the 1936 Popular Front formula: a coalition of left-wing and pro-secession nationalist parties. That confluence explains why we will find economic and political interventionism increasing -- as will state-sponsored threats to religious liberty arising from anti-Christian bias." (06/05/18)
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48) Striking teachers a boon for homeschooling
Source: Heartland Institute
by Robert Holland
"It doesn't take much effort to cause offense in our supersensitive times. Practically any statement uttered with passionate conviction can provoke angry condemnation, after which an apology is practically de rigueur. Sure enough, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, apologized two days after asserting in the following manner his frustration with a walkout of thousands of Bluegrass State teachers: 'I guarantee you somewhere in Kentucky today a child was sexually assaulted that was left at home because there was nobody there to watch them. I guarantee you somewhere today, a child was physically harmed or ingested poison because they were home alone because a single parent didn't have enough money to take care of them.' Apart from the hyperbolic use of dire predictions and the mangled syntax, Bevin's statement should have provoked more reflection than anger. His blast was not so much a personal attack on individual teachers as a commentary on the extent to which public schools have become a babysitting service." (06/05/18)
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49) A divergent convergence of epic proportions
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
"Social Security is in dire straits. Payroll tax increases and benefit cuts are on the horizon. According to the latest annual report by the Social Security Board of Trustees ('The 2017 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds'), Social Security's combined trust funds face depletion in 2034, which means that 23 percent of benefits would lack financing. That results from a number of divergent factors." (06/06/18)
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50) A critic uses the DMCA to avoid criticism
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by staff
"Critics, perhaps more than anyone, should know fair use. It's impossible to review a book, movie, or a video game without using text or images from that same copyrighted work -- that's why fair use is so critical to free speech. So a professional critic is the last person you'd expect to use copyright to try to squelch someone else's fair use rights. But that's exactly what happened last month, when James Grubb, a journalist from VentureBeat, used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to censor a critic just for highlighting a few paragraphs of his work on Twitter." (06/05/18)
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Political Research Digest, 06/06/18
Source: Niskanen Center
"Public debate on genetic research often assumes that conservatives will prefer genetic explanations for human differences, while liberals will point to environmental factors -- perhaps exacerbating political divides on race. But Stephen Schneider finds that conservatives prefer explanations based on personal choice; attributing individual differences to genetics is associated with liberalism and higher tolerance. But when asked to explain racial group differences, Elizabeth Suhay finds that conservatives are attracted to genetic explanations if they are exposed to media messages on genetics and race. Both say people choose their political views first and then select the explanations that fit them." [various formats] (06/06/18)
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52) Scott Adams Says, 06/06/18
Source: Scott Adams Says
"Scott Adams tells you what he would do about Iran. With coffee." [Flash video] (06/06/18)
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53) Electric Libertyland, episode 75
Source: Lions of Liberty
"On this week's Electric Libertyland host Brian McWilliams welcomes in epic libertarian / volantaryist memer, podcaster and author Mance Rayder. Brian and Mance discuss the plague of locusts that are the defenders of socialism, including John Oliver of HBO, before discussing Samantha Bee, Joy Reid and the SCOTUS punt on Masterpiece Bakeshop Ltd. vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission." [various formats] (06/06/18)
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54) Foreign Policy Focus, episode 203
Source: Foreign Policy Focus
"On FPF #203, I discuss recent news showing the Afghanistan War is lost. The Trump policy has been in place since August, but the militant groups continue to control a significant portion of the country. After 17 years of US intervention, only 44% of Afghani children go to school, and militant groups continue to carry out high profile attacks. Casualties from the war were up 42% in May. I also update the Isreali occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Civil War." [various formats] (06/06/18)
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55) Intercepted, 06/06/18
Source: The Intercept
"This week: an Intercepted special on the case of alleged whistleblower Reality Winner. While Paul Manafort enjoyed the comforts of his Hamptons mansion on house arrest, Winner was denied bond, kept in a jail, and has been subjected to a public smear campaign by Jeff Sessions' Justice Department. She was the first whistleblower charged under President Trump and her treatment is unprecedented. Former drone technician-turned-whistleblower Lisa Ling talks about the campaign to free Winner. Trevor Timm of Freedom of the Press Foundation breaks down how the government is stripping Winner of her right to a fair trial. The Intercept's Peter Maass highlights the injustice and hypocrisy of her treatment. Intercept Editor-in-Chief Betsy Reed and reporter Sam Biddle talk about the top secret NSA document she allegedly leaked, the irony of the media silence about Winner's treatment, and why First Look Media is funding her defense." [various formats] (06/06/18)
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56) Essential Libertarianism, episode 33
Source: Pax Libertas Productions
"The Ethics of Voting, part 2, by George H. Smith." [various formats] (06/06/18)
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57) Free Talk Live, 06/05/18
Source: Free Talk Live
"Rob Viglione from Zencash Explains the 51% Attack :: Zencash Future Plans :: Decentralized Autonomous Organization :: Louisiana Budget Woes :: Corrupt Cop Fired :: Man Arrested for Talking Trash About Cops :: Asset Forfeiture and Taking Children :: Power Corrupts :: Stossel Exposes NJ Corruption :: Crypto Newbie :: HOSTS -- Ian, Mark, Johnson." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/05/18)
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58) Cato Daily Podcast, 06/05/18
Source: Cato Institute
"Can the President pardon himself? Donald Trump thinks so. Gene Healy comments." [various formats] (06/05/18)
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59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 1172
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"What if the problem with the state's police isn't bad apples but the fact that they're the state's police? Is it possible to imagine policing without the state?" [various formats] (06/05/18)
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60) One Free Family, episode 19
Source: Pax Libertas Productions
"Teaching kids about money is one of the most important things you can do for your child, as a responsible parent. In this episode, James and Taylor talk about why it is so important to give your children a firm financial education." [Flash audio] (06/05/18)
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