04/01 -- Trump whines at allies, signals Iran war may end without opening Hormuz; In Iran, the US Manufactured an Enemy and Lost All Its Friends
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Thomas L. Knapp
Apr 1, 2026, 6:16:52 AM (10 days ago) Apr 1
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 04/01/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Trump whines at allies, signals Iran war may end without opening Hormuz
2) SCOTUS rules against Colorado’s “conversion therapy” ban on First Amendment grounds
3) Trump issues unconstitutional election-rigging order to Social Security, US Snail bureaucracies
4) Drones strike Russia’s Ust-Luga port again as EU officials visit Ukraine
5) Federal judge temporarily blocks construction of Trump’s White House ballroom
6) Google warns quantum computing may break Bitcoin earlier than thought, prepares 2029 transition
7) Federal “God Squad” exempts oil & gas drilling in Gulf from endangered species rules
8) Italy: Regime refuses US aircraft use of Sicily base for Middle East operations, sources say
9) Indonesia arrests Scottish man sought by Spain in connection with an international crime syndicate
10) Charlie Kirk bullet analysis finds no conclusive link to rifle found near scene
11) Malaysia: Court orders ex-PM Najib to pay US$1.3 billion to 1MDB unit
12) OK: Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris is free after six months in jail for child sex abuse
13) China: Regime bans storing cremated remains in empty “bone ash apartments”
14) US gasoline hits $4 per gallon, highest since 2022, as Iran war drives up fuel prices
15) Cuba: Sanctioned Russian tanker docks after US allows passage despite energy blockade
16) Japan: Regime deploys its first long-range missiles
17) Wrong sperm given to UK families by IVF clinics in northern Cyprus
18) Trump regime sues Minnesota regime as part of federal school sports takeover attempt
19) FBI director reportedly assigned San Francisco agents to look into Eric Swalwell
20) Australia: Regime whines at, threatens social media platforms to make their stupid and evil social media ban “work”
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) In Iran, the US Manufactured an Enemy and Lost All Its Friends
22) Chiles v. Salazar: One Cheer for SCOTUS
23) Ten Years Ago Today, Trump Promised To Eliminate the National Debt. Instead, It Has Doubled.
24) Dumb or Self-Interested Political Rulers
25) Against The Concept Of Telescopic Altruism
26) Lessons From the Vietnam War for Iran
27) The Monthly Table: March — Lemon Pound Cake
28) License plate readers are a privacy concern lacking oversight
29) Growing Up Means Realizing That None Of The Worst Villains Are In Prison
30) If Europe can control American speech, our liberties are at risk
31) Two Different Wars, Two Different Presidents, But the Same Lies
32) The Austrian Fix for the Manufactured Iranian Energy Crisis
33) US-Israel War on Iran Undermining Very Foundations of Rule of Law
34) What Nobel Minds Get Wrong
35) Bari Weiss and the “Four Horsemen of New Zionism”
36) But this is the very point of tariffs
37) No Kings: After the Splash, the Ripples Spread
38) Trump’s War on Lawyers Is a Threat to Everyone
39) Opposing ICE Might Save the Country. It Could Also Ruin Your Life
40) Consumption Tax on the Horizon
41) Private Equity’s Great Escape
42) The United States Is Already Headed for a Forever War
43) Inflated Grades Deflate Future Earnings
44) What’s behind Trump’s 180-degree turn, allowing Russian oil to Cuba?
45) China’s abuse makes birthright citizenship a life-or-death choice for America
46) The Tragicomic Death Throes of Canada’s (Former) Workers’ Party
47) The images a Florida city says only it can use
48) Sony’s Scam Scuttled
49) More Than A Slogan: Labor’s New Gambit to Tax the Rich
50) Don’t Let the Fed Off the Hook for “Oil Inflation”
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/31/26
52) Capital Record, episode 291
53) Trump Watch, 03/31/26
54) The Bryan Hyde Show, 03/31/26
55) The Dispatch Podcast, 03/31/26
56) The Corbett Report, episode 496
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/31/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/30/26
59) Nonzero, 03/30/26
60) You Are Paying for Retirees’ Lavish Lifestyles
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Trump whines at allies, signals Iran war may end without opening Hormuz
Source: Axios
“President Trump on Tuesday attacked European allies for not doing more to support the U.S. in its war with Iran and signaled they will have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on their own. This was the third time in recent days that Trump signaled publicly he could end the war in Iran without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. would be leaving other countries to clean up a hugely consequential economic quagmire and restore the flow of roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. When asked about Trump’s post on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stopped short of calling the strait’s reopening a core objective.” (03/31/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/31/trump-europe-strait-hormuz-iran-uk-france
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2) SCOTUS rules against Colorado’s “conversion therapy” ban on First Amendment grounds
Source: CBS News
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a Colorado counselor who challenged a state law that bans ‘conversion therapy’ for minors, ruling that lower courts failed to apply ‘sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny’ in the case. The high court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s law, when applied to talk therapy provided by counselor Kaley Chiles, regulates speech based on viewpoint. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter. The Supreme Court reversed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that found the law did not violate Chiles’ free-speech rights. The appeals court instead concluded that it regulates professional conduct and only incidentally burdens speech. The ruling from the high court is a narrow one and requires the lower courts to apply a more stringent level of review when evaluating the constitutionality of Colorado’s law.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-colorado-conversion-therapy-ban-chiles-v-salazar/
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3) Trump issues unconstitutional election-rigging order to Social Security, US Snail bureaucracies
Source: USA Today
“President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticizes, even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year. … Trump’s order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to create lists of voting-age U.S. citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election. The U.S. Postal Service would then oversee mail-in ballots, with the order directing the agency to develop rules establishing ‘uniform standards’ for the ballots and preventing it from transmitting ballots of individuals who are not approved. … States have the authority under the Constitution over ‘the times, places, and manner’ of federal elections.
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4) Drones strike Russia’s Ust-Luga port again as EU officials visit Ukraine
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Ukrainian drones have struck Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days, as Kyiv continues to step up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Tuesday that three people, including two children, were treated for injuries and several buildings were damaged in the overnight attacks. … Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure over the past month, launching its heaviest drone attacks of the more than four-year war against the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk. … The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers reiterated their support for Ukraine as they arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s massacre in Bucha, where Ukrainian officials and rights groups say Russian troops killed more than 400 people.” (03/31/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/31/drones-strike-russias-ust-luga-port-again-as-eu-officials-visit-ukraine
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5) Federal judge temporarily blocks construction of Trump’s White House ballroom
Source: NBC News
“A federal judge in Washington has issued an order temporarily blocking the construction of President Donald Trump’s expansive new White House ballroom and any further demolition of the East Wing. ‘I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,’ wrote U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush. … Leon paused his order from taking effect for 14 days to allow time for an appeal. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal roughly 90 minutes after he issued his ruling.” (03/31/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-demolition-white-house-trumps-ballroo-rcna266095
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6) Google warns quantum computing may break Bitcoin earlier than thought, prepares 2029 transition
Source: The Block
“Google Research published updated estimates warning that future quantum computers could break cryptocurrencies sooner than previously thought, though such an event is still several years away. In a Tuesday blog post, Google explained that most blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies rely on the 256-bit elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP-256) to secure wallets and transactions. Citing the latest whitepaper from Google Research, the blog post said that the necessary quantum computing resources to break the ECDLP-256 have decreased significantly. … Google’s white paper added that the reduced execution time allows quantum computers to conduct real-time attacks within bitcoin’s average block time of 10 minutes. This enables “on-spend” attacks, which are quantum computing attacks that target active cryptocurrency transactions while they are still in the mempool.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theblock.co/post/395814/google-quantum-computing-earlier
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7) Federal “God Squad” exempts oil & gas drilling in Gulf from endangered species rules
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits against the industry threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran. Critics said the move by the government’s Endangered Species Committee could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the ‘God Squad’ by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. It met Tuesday for the first time in more than three decades amid global oil shocks and soaring energy prices brought on by the Iran war.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/federal-god-squad-poised-to-exempt-oil-and-gas-22161189.php
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8) Italy: Regime refuses US aircraft use of Sicily base for Middle East operations, sources say
Source: Reuters
“Italy last week denied permission for U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily before heading to the Middle East, sources said on Tuesday, because Washington had not sought prior authorisation from the government in Rome. According to the Corriere della Sera daily, which first reported the news, ‘some U.S. bombers’ had been due to land at the base in eastern Sicily before flying on to the Middle East, where the United States is at war with Israel against Iran. The report did not specify when the aircraft were due to land but said permission was denied because the U.S. had not requested clearance and Italy’s military leadership had not been consulted, as required under treaties governing the use of U.S. military installations in the country.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/vWEC2
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9) Indonesia arrests Scottish man sought by Spain in connection with an international crime syndicate
Source: SFGate
“A Scottish man, described as a senior figure in an international crime syndicate, was arrested shortly after landing on the resort island of Bali, authorities in Indonesia said Tuesday. The 45-year-old, identified as Steven Lyons, was taken into custody by immigration officers at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Saturday on arrival from Singapore, according to Untung Widiyatmoko, head of Indonesia’s branch of Interpol. The immigration system had flagged him as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued at Spain’s request. A Red Notice is an alert issued by Interpol at the request of a member country for police worldwide to arrest a suspect for extradition. Lyons, who is wanted in Spain and the United Kingdom in connection with organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, will be extradited to Spain on Wednesday, Widiyatmoko told reporters in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/indonesia-arrests-scottish-man-sought-by-spain-in-22162200.php
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10) Charlie Kirk bullet analysis finds no conclusive link to rifle found near scene
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“An analysis from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during Charlie Kirk’s autopsy to the rifle found near the scene of the rightwing political activist’s killing – and the FBI is running additional tests, lawyers for Kirk’s accused murderer said in recent court filings. In the court filings, Tyler Robinson’s defense team also asked for a delay to a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review the bullet analysis as well as an enormous amount of other material that could contribute to the suspect’s defense. …The defense said in its motion that it may try to use the analysis to clear Robinson of blame during the preliminary hearing while prosecutors aim to show they have enough evidence against him to proceed with a trial.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/charlie-kirk-bullet-rifle
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11) Malaysia: Court orders ex-PM Najib to pay US$1.3 billion to 1MDB unit
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“A Malaysian court on Tuesday ordered jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to pay US$1.3 billion to a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, state media reported. The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Najib was liable for losses incurred by SRC International, a former subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, state news agency Bernama reported. High Court judge Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin ruled that Najib breached his fiduciary duties, abused his position as prime minister, and misappropriated SRC funds for personal gain, Bernama reported. … Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering over funds misappropriated from SRC in a separate case.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/2hbIm
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12) OK: Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris is free after six months in jail for child sex abuse
Source: SFGate
“The founder of a Texas megachurch who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child in the 1980s was released Tuesday after serving six months in an Oklahoma jail. Robert Preston Morris, 64, was released just after midnight, said Osage County Sheriff’s Capt. Matt Clark. Morris pleaded guilty last year to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child as part of a plea agreement under which he received a 10-year suspended sentence with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail. … Morris was the senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, where he led one of the nation’s largest megachurches until June 2024 when — faced with the victim’s allegations — he resigned. He was indicted last year by an Oklahoma grand jury.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/texas-megachurch-pastor-robert-morris-is-free-22162182.php
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13) China: Regime bans storing cremated remains in empty “bone ash apartments”
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The Chinese government is set to ban people from storing the cremated remains of their loved ones in empty apartments instead of paying for expensive cemetery plots. The new law will put an end to ‘bone ash apartments,’ which have risen in popularity as spaces in cemeteries remain scarce. Low property prices in the country mean that for many, it is more affordable to entomb the ashes of relatives in an empty apartment than pay for funeral costs. The legislation prohibits the use of residential properties ‘specifically for the placement of ashes’ as well as the burial of remains outside of cemeteries and areas where ecological burial is legal. Bone ash apartments are empty properties which are turned into ritual halls by family members of the deceased. Their loved one’s ashes are placed inside and the space turned into an ancestral shrine.” (03/31/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm25ynex2zxo
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14) US gasoline hits $4 per gallon, highest since 2022, as Iran war drives up fuel prices
Source: CNBC
“U.S. gasoline prices have surged above $4 per gallon for the first time in more than three years, as the oil supply shock triggered by the Middle East war rapidly drives up costs for families. Prices at the pump hit a nationwide average of $4.018, the highest level since August 2022 when Russia’s war against Ukraine shook energy markets, the travel association AAA said. Gas prices have soared more than 30% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, according to AAA data. … Vice President JD Vance told consumers they face ‘a rough road ahead’ on gas prices in the coming weeks. Vance promised that the spike is temporary and prices will fall after the war has ended.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/31/gas-oil-diesel-price-iran-war.html
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15) Cuba: Sanctioned Russian tanker docks after US allows passage despite energy blockade
Source: SFGate
“A Russian tanker docked Tuesday at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had allowed the Anatoly Kolodkin to proceed despite an ongoing U.S. energy blockade. Cubans including Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy cheered the ship’s arrival. A shortage of petroleum has exacerbated a deep economic crisis that has left the population mired in long blackouts and facing a severe shortage of food and medicine. … Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/russian-ship-carrying-oil-docks-in-cuba-allowed-22161614.php
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16) Japan: Regime deploys its first long-range missiles
Source: ABC News
“Japan’s first long-range missile was deployed at a southwestern army camp, officials said Tuesday, as the country pushes to bolster its offensive capabilities. The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles, developed and produced by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, became operational at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto prefecture. … The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), a significant extension from the 200-kilometer (125-mile) range of the original that would allow it to reach mainland China. The deployment of the long-range missile gives Japan a ‘standoff’ capability, meaning it can strike enemy missile bases from afar, marking a break from the self-defense-only policy the country long followed under its pacifist constitution.” (03/31/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/japan-deploys-long-range-missiles-131566210
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17) Wrong sperm given to UK families by IVF clinics in northern Cyprus
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“‘It was pretty soon after James was born that I knew something wasn’t right,’ says Laura. She and her partner, Beth, have two children — James, and their eldest Kate – both conceived through IVF treatment at a clinic in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus. The two women used their own eggs and carefully chose one anonymous, healthy sperm donor. They told the clinic which ordered the sperm for them that it was important the same donor was used for both babies — so their children would be biologically related. But when James was born, they both noticed that his ‘beautiful’ brown eyes were very different to those of his biological mum, Beth, and the sperm donor the family had requested. … Beth and Laura decided their children should take a DNA test. The results indicated neither child was related to the sperm donor their parents had selected.” (03/31/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74v5jd5zkjo
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18) Trump regime sues Minnesota regime as part of federal school sports takeover attempt
Source: United Press International
“The Justice Department is suing the Minnesota Department of Education, asking a federal court to force it to comply with the Trump administration’s policies prohibiting transgender student-athletes from competing in girls’ sports. … Federal prosecutors are asking the court to rule that the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title IX’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination over their policies allowing transgender student-athletes at federally funded schools to compete in girls’ sports and use spaces designated for girls, such as bathrooms and changing rooms.” (03/31/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/31/Trump-sues-Minnesota-transgender-sports/4431774932239/
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19) FBI director reportedly assigned San Francisco agents to look into Eric Swalwell
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration is pushing the FBI to look into an old investigation on California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a sitting member of Congress and leading Democratic candidate for California governor, the Washington Post reported last week. Swalwell, a former prosecutor and unsuccessful 2020 presidential candidate, called the FBI probe ‘nonsense’ and suggested last week that the president’s directive is an attempt to influence the California governor’s race in which Swalwell says he is ‘the favorite’. ‘Through great reporting, we now know the outrageous ends the White House will go to target political opponents,’ he said in an emailed statement to SFGATE. ‘As was Trump’s mortgage case against me, this decade-old story is, of course, nonsense.’ FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly has pushed investigators to revisit files from a decade-old investigation into Swalwell and a suspected Chinese operative, the outlet reported, citing three anonymous sources.” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/fbi-patel-eric-swalwell-22159434.php
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20) Australia: Regime whines at, threatens social media platforms to make their stupid and evil social media ban “work”
Source: Independent [UK]
“Australia’s e-safety commissioner warned platforms like Meta, YouTube and TikTok of ‘major gaps’ in their enforcement of the social media ban for under-16s, almost four months after the law came into effect. ‘While social media platforms have taken some initial action, I am concerned through our compliance monitoring that some may not be doing enough to comply with Australian law,’ commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement on Tuesday. The legislation requires 10 of the largest social media networks, including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, and X, to keep under-16s away or face fines of up to A$49.5m (£26.5m), making it one of the world’s toughest digital restrictions. … Ms Grant said the watchdog was ‘currently investigating potential non-compliance’ by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.” (03/31/26)
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/australasia/australia-social-media-ban-watchdog-warning-b2948822.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) In Iran, the US Manufactured an Enemy and Lost All Its Friends
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“As recently as March 3, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said the IAEA ‘has found no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.’ On March 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee that since the first round of bombing Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer, ‘[t]here has been no efforts … to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.’ … The United States opted for an offensive war of choice. The White House made that choice unilaterally. That is not hegemony: that is primacy that expects its vassal states to follow. NATO allies and EU friends were not consulted. Gulf States and Muslim partners lobbied with ferocity against it. Neither the American relationship with NATO nor with the Gulf States will end, but both have been badly damaged and will not look the same in the future.” (03/31/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2026/03/30/in-iran-the-us-manufactured-an-enemy-and-lost-all-its-friends
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22) Chiles v. Salazar: One Cheer for SCOTUS
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“As it happens, I’m extremely skeptical of ‘conversion therapy.’ So far as I can tell, sexual orientation isn’t something that can be consciously/intentionally altered using talk or any other kind of ‘therapy.’ Nor, for that matter, is it a ‘medical condition’ at all. It doesn’t need to be ‘treated.’ It’s just a characteristic (and perhaps an evolving, rather than static/permanent characteristic) that people discover in themselves. But that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be able to think or say otherwise, or to attempt to ‘convert’ consenting others through speech. Note the qualifier: ‘Consenting.'” (03/31/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20471
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23) Ten Years Ago Today, Trump Promised To Eliminate the National Debt. Instead, It Has Doubled.
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
“Ten years ago today, Donald Trump said he would pay off the national debt in the span of just eight years. That did not happen. Instead, the gross national debt has doubled since that day — from about $19 trillion to over $39 trillion. Much of that additional borrowing has taken place during Trump’s five-plus years in the White House. The gap between Trump’s outlandish promise and the brutal fiscal reality of the past decade is not just a political gotcha. It’s also an apt illustration of how far and how fast the debt has spiraled. And it’s a painful reminder of a missed opportunity that Americans will be facing for a long, long time. The bill for these 10 years of fiscal profligacy will be coming due long after Trump has finally departed from the political scene.” (03/31/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/31/10-years-ago-today-trump-promised-to-eliminate-the-national-debt-instead-it-has-doubled/
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24) Dumb or Self-Interested Political Rulers
Source: Pierre Lemieux
by Pierre Lemieux
“To understand politics, we must presume that a head of state or other political ruler is, like the rest of us, primarily concerned with his own interests. When he does favor somebody else’s interests, it is as he interprets them (as a normal human being does toward his children), or simply because he thereby buys the beneficiary’s support. Thus, political and social institutions should be such that when a ruler acts foolishly or self-interestedly, he still furthers the common interests of his subjects (‘citizens’), instead of the interests of a favored group or his own interests against other people.” (03/31/26)
https://pierrelemieux.substack.com/p/dumb-or-self-interested-political
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25) Against The Concept Of Telescopic Altruism
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“‘Telescopic altruism’ is a supposed tendency for some people to ignore those close to them in favor of those further away. Like its cousin ‘virtue signaling,’ it usually gets used to own the libs. Some lib cares about people in Gaza — why? Shouldn’t she be thinking about her friends and neighbors instead? The only possible explanation is that she’s an evil person who hates everyone around her, but manages to feel superior to decent people by pretending to ‘care’ about foreigners who she’ll never meet. This collapses upon five seconds’ thought. Okay, so the lib is angry about the Israeli military killing 50,000 people in Gaza. Do you think she would be angry if the Israeli military killed 50,000 of her neighbors? Probably yes? Then what’s the problem?” (03/31/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/against-the-concept-of-telescopic
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26) Lessons From the Vietnam War for Iran
Source: Townhall
by Cal Thomas
“We Americans are an impatient lot. If we must engage in warfare, we would prefer it be wrapped up in weeks, not months, and certainly not years like World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. In those wars, we had the draft, so more Americans were engaged in fighting and watching their progress, or lack thereof. Today, while recruiting numbers have increased in our all-volunteer military, the taste for war among the public has declined. One of President Trump’s positions that attracted voters was his promise to end wars, not start new ones.” (03/31/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2026/03/31/lessons-from-the-vietnam-war-for-iran-n2673663
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27) The Monthly Table: March — Lemon Pound Cake
Source: Roads Go Ever On
by Bekah Graham
“Bright, sharp, velvety smooth, this elegant and opulent Lemon Pound Cake answers the call. Another musical performance captured attention recently—this one involving an iconic rapper, a bungled police raid, and a lawsuit five officers are no doubt now regretting. While you gather your tools and ingredients and begin zesting a few lemons, filling the room with that bright, beautiful aroma, allow me to briefly recount the tale of Afroman and the Adams County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Department (working title).” (03/31/26)
https://bekahgwen.substack.com/p/the-monthly-table-march-lemon-pound
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28) License plate readers are a privacy concern lacking oversight
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown & Alasdair Whitney
“Privacy is not a loophole for criminals. it’s a precondition for a free society. The government needs far more than administrative convenience to justify eroding it.” (03/31/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/license-plate-readers/
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29) Growing Up Means Realizing That None Of The Worst Villains Are In Prison
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“When we’re kids we play cops and robbers, and watch cartoons about evil criminals being stopped by virtuous crime fighters. Then when we mature we learn that all the most evil people are operating within the laws of our nation, and nobody ever sends them to jail. Ask a child to draw a Bad Guy and they’ll probably draw a bank robber, a thief, a supervillain, or somebody breaking the law in some way, because that’s what young people are trained to believe wickedness looks like in their world. They won’t usually draw a politician, a billionaire, a media mogul, a tech plutocrat, a warmonger, or any of the rich and powerful people who are causing the real suffering in our world. The ones who impose laws upon our society ensuring the continuation of poverty, inequality, war, oppression and tyranny. ” (03/31/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/31/growing-up-means-realizing-that-none-of-the-worst-villains-are-in-prison/
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30) If Europe can control American speech, our liberties are at risk
Source: The Hill
by Kristen Waggoner
“Who has power over your online speech? Ask most Americans that question, and they are likely to name tech giants like Meta, our elected representatives or federal agencies. Hopefully, some would mention our Constitution. But few would agree to the idea that unelected bureaucrats in Europe can control what Americans see or say online. Yet that is increasingly a reality — and one that Elon Musk and X are challenging with a new lawsuit at the General Court of the European Union.” (03/31/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5807626-if-europe-can-control-american-speech-our-liberties-are-at-risk/
-----
31) Two Different Wars, Two Different Presidents, But the Same Lies
Source: TomDispatch
by Helen Benedict
“I’m writing this piece well into President Donald Trump’s new war with Iran, which, with the help of Israel, has already killed more than 2,000 civilians, including 175 schoolgirls and staff; displaced some 3.2 million people; and is costing the American taxpayer at least one billion dollars a day. All of which is tragically reminiscent of the last time a Republican president led the U.S. into a war on a river of lies and greed. I’m thinking, of course, about George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Weapons that don’t exist. Threats to this country that aren’t real. Liberation for a people that the U.S. will never win over. Freedom for women about whom nobody in power cares a jot. A war that will bring total victory in only a few days or weeks. All this we heard in 2003, and all this we are hearing again now.” (03/31/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/from-baghdad-to-albany/
-----
32) The Austrian Fix for the Manufactured Iranian Energy Crisis
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Lucas Peters
“The ongoing destruction of the world’s largest natural-gas reservoir at South Pars and Qatar has produced exactly what Austrian economics predicts: sudden, irreplaceable capital destruction followed by a violent supply shock. Oil has spiked, European gas prices have jumped, and the Strait of Hormuz is now a flashpoint. Everyday Americans already face higher gasoline, heating, trucking, and grocery costs; businesses confront malinvestment cascades; and central planners are salivating over the opportunity to impose rationing, digital IDs, CBDCs, and ‘energy lockdowns.’ This is not mere geopolitics; it is state warfare smashing the capital structure and then using the resulting artificial scarcity to expand control. From a strict libertarian and Austrian standpoint, two interlocking ideas cut through the chaos and point to the only workable solution today: immediate, total disentanglement from the conflict, and uncompromising reliance on free-market prices, sound money, and voluntary exchange instead of any form of central planning.” (03/31/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/austrian-fix-manufactured-iranian-energy-crisis
-----
33) US-Israel War on Iran Undermining Very Foundations of Rule of Law
Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by Phyllis Bennis
“The US and Israeli war has, from its very beginning, violated both US domestic and international law. The legal consequences go beyond specific violations. Washington and Tel Aviv’s breaches of the United Nations Charter and other legal frameworks also undermine the very foundations of the rule of law. Even while international legal institutions too often lack sufficient capacity to enforce their decisions, they still provide a crucial framework for protest, for pressure on individual governments, and for the hope of a future world where the rule of law is paramount. Now, however, that future is in more danger than any other time in recent memory. Right now, Iranian civilians are paying the highest price. But the collapse of the rule of law makes the future more dangerous for everyone else, too.” (03/31/26)
https://fpif.org/the-u-s-israeli-war-on-iran-is-illegal-heres-why-that-matters/
-----
34) What Nobel Minds Get Wrong
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mani Basharzad
“Each year after the Nobel Prize announcements, laureates, who are among the greatest minds of their generation, gather and shape a broader intellectual conversation. At this year’s gathering, a Nobel laureate in physics posed a question to the economic laureates: ‘Can we grow without limit? What about finite resources?’ He added, ‘At some point, must we also modify this growth system — which wants to consume more and more of the Earth’s resources?’ To answer this question, we need to go back to a bet made about humanity’s fate in 1980. Economist Julian Simon and biologist Paul Ehrlich made a wager about the future of humanity. At the heart of the bet was a simple question: Would population growth lead to resource scarcity and human decline, or to greater prosperity and innovation?” (03/31/26)
https://fee.org/articles/what-nobel-minds-get-wrong/
-----
35) Bari Weiss and the “Four Horsemen of New Zionism”
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Brandt Burleson
“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has received over two-hundred complaints from American troops that their commanders used the Book of Revelation to frame the Iran War as a ‘Holy War’ in which President Donald Trump was chosen to ignite ‘The End Times’ as part of ‘God’s divine plan.’ When I decided to make this series about the ‘Four Horsemen of New Zionism,’ I meant it purely metaphorically. It seems some of our top brass have a more literal interpretation (welcome to the End Times). The Horseman, or rather Horsewoman, we will be spotlighting in this article is none other than the Empress of Identity, the Herald of Cancellation, Bari Weiss.” (03/31/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/bari-weiss-and-the-four-horsemen-of-new-zionism
-----
36) But this is the very point of tariffs
Source: Cobden Centre
by Tim Worstall
“The point of tariffs is not to make those things made by evil Johnny Foreigner more expensive. It is to enable the domestic capitalists to raise the prices of their domestically made goods: ‘HS2 firm says new steel tariffs will ‘exacerbate’ cost pressures for UK construction industry’ Doubling tariffs on imported steel will raise cost of the metal when Iran war is already inflating steel and concrete prices This is not an error nor a happenstance: it’s the whole and precise point of the act itself. … So, let’s not do that. Let’s not make everything in the country more expensive just to benefit that fraction of the 1%.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/03/but-this-is-the-very-point-of-tariffs/
-----
37) No Kings: After the Splash, the Ripples Spread
Source: Common Dreams
by Steve Kaagan
“The numbers from No Kings protests made a big splash. Roughly 8 million people declared their opposition to the present administration this past weekend in over 3100 cities and towns across the nation. But in the long run the impact of quality will be greater than quantity. Beyond the splash, the values expressed in the protests will continue to ripple through our collective consciousness. Here are some of those ripples that will spread out and energize resistance efforts in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Harmony and Equality: Those who showed up on the streets joined as one, all equal, no person better or more entitled than the other. Their participation loudly reaffirmed cherished democratic values as expressed in the First Amendment and human values anchored in the world’s religions.” (03/31/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/no-kings-ripples
-----
38) Trump’s War on Lawyers Is a Threat to Everyone
Source: The Dispatch
by Greg Lukianoff & Adam Goldstein
“Everybody understands, at least instinctively, why it matters when a president threatens the press. People also more or less understand why it matters when he menaces universities, museums, or other cultural institutions. Those are visible targets, and they read as political in an obvious way.
Attacks on law firms land differently. Part of that is because many major firms are hardly natural objects of public sympathy. Most everyday Americans won’t shed many tears for institutions associated with enormous hourly rates, corporate power, and a profession that people tend to joke about until they need a lawyer. … But that perception is exactly why this threat is so easy to underestimate.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/OuOmq
-----
39) Opposing ICE Might Save the Country. It Could Also Ruin Your Life
Source: Wired
by Brendan I Koerner
“For months, lone vibe coder Rafael Concepcion has obsessively built tools to counter the federal immigration crackdown — pivoting as he’s been outmatched. He’s also lost his job and become a target.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/Xfazb
-----
40) Consumption Tax on the Horizon
Source: Law & Liberty
by Mitch Daniels
“Entitlement costs keep rising, which means new experiments in taxation are coming. They may already be here.” (03/31/26)
https://lawliberty.org/consumption-tax-on-the-horizon/
-----
41) Private Equity’s Great Escape
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen & Maureen Tkacik
“For 14 years, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) remained silent about John Raymond’s woefully underperforming Houston private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group (EMG). The $330 billion sovereign wealth fund’s leadership made no public pronouncements when Raymond, son of the iconic Exxon chief executive who masterminded the merger with Mobil, agreed to invest some $3 billion in the new venture of extravagant fracking mogul Aubrey McClendon, who’d just been forced out of the company he’d founded for looting corporate coffers …. They raised no alarm bells when McClendon and his new company American Energy Partners were sued a few years later for stealing trade secrets, or when the next year he was indicted for orchestrating a vast bid-rigging conspiracy, or when following his spectacular death the day after the indictment by driving 75 miles per hour into an overpass wall, EMG’s investments were themselves set ablaze.” (03/31/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/31/apr-2026-magazine-private-equitys-great-escape-continuation-funds-rollup-retirement-abu-dhabi-investment-council-energy-mineral-group/
-----
42) The United States Is Already Headed for a Forever War
Source: The American Conservative
by Jude Russo
“Let’s all give a hand for Marco Rubio, secretary of state, favored champion of the White House, and all-around cretinous worm. The Amazing Plastic Man — the adjective refers to his flexible principles, not his increasingly inflexible face — was hitting the airwaves this Monday morning to articulate the latest version of what the Trump administration regards as its war aims. Excuse me, military operation aims; President Donald Trump has figured out the One Weird Trick around constitutional checks on executive war powers. You just have to use the right words! … Stupendously expensive and destructive military operations every six to 18 months for the foreseeable future does not seem like an appreciably better outcome than the Bush-era occupations.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-united-states-is-already-headed-for-a-forever-war/
-----
43) Inflated Grades Deflate Future Earnings
Source: The Daily Economy
by Julia R Cartwright
“Educators continue to debate a question that sounds philosophical but is actually quite practical: when a student earns a diploma, what exactly have they earned? Is it proof of real, transferable, labor-market-ready skills? Or is it a signal, a flag planted in the employer’s field of view that says this person showed up, tried hard, and turned things in on time? Most honest observers land somewhere in the middle. Yes, school teaches skills. And yes, the diploma itself also signals something beyond the skills taught. The degree is both product and receipt. New research throws a wrench into both sides of that supposed balance.” (03/31/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/inflated-grades-deflate-future-earnings/
-----
44) What’s behind Trump’s 180-degree turn, allowing Russian oil to Cuba?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Lee Schlenker
“In a positive twist, the Trump administration said it does not plan to block a Russian oil tanker from delivering 730,000 barrels of crude to Cuba, which has been suffering from acute fuel shortages since the U.S. imposed a de facto oil blockade on the island in late January. … On the one hand, the administration may be concerned about the dire humanitarian impacts of ongoing fuel shortages and a potential migratory crisis brewing just off U.S. shores in an election season. The island’s worsening crisis risks undermining U.S. moral standing and leverage in ongoing negotiations with Cuba, particularly if the country collapses before a deal can be reached. On the other hand, the U.S. may simply need to focus on other priorities.” (03/30/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/cuba-russian-oil/
-----
45) China’s abuse makes birthright citizenship a life-or-death choice for America
Source: New York Post
by Daniel McCarthy
“Get ready for the next Roe v. Wade — as a new Supreme Court case threatens to split the country, not over abortion, but over ‘birthright citizenship.’ Trump v. Barbara is before the court this week, and with it comes the very question of who is an American. On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order [pretending] that the children of illegal immigrants or temporary residents aren’t American citizens just by virtue of being born on American soil. People born here to at least one citizen parent are automatically citizens, and Trump’s order recognizes the children of lawful permanent residents as birthright citizens, too. But that’s not enough for those who insist the Constitution’s 14th Amendment establishes a radical definition of birthright citizenship.” [editor’s note: It didn’t “establish” anything — birthright citizenship was the case from the beginning of the US, except for slaves, and in England before that – TLK] (03/31/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/31/opinion/chinas-abuse-makes-birthright-citizenship-a-life-or-death-ruling/
-----
46) The Tragicomic Death Throes of Canada’s (Former) Workers’ Party
Source: Quillette
by Jonathan Kay
“The New Democratic Party, which once championed the country’s unions, is now in the hands of a radicalised anti-Israel activist who wants to nationalise grocery sales and shut down oil production.” (03/30/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/03/30/the-tragicomic-death-throes-of-canadas-former-workers-party-2/
-----
47) The images a Florida city says only it can use
Source: Expression
by helloiamcarrie
“Imagine you are engaging in the time-honored American tradition of criticizing your local government. You air your complaints on a website you’ve set up to report on city news — and then the city threatens you with legal action and potential jail time, all because some of your comments feature the city’s seal and logos. That’s what happened to Kyle L’Hommedieu and the local watchdog group he chairs, Take Out The Trash Committee of Cape Coral.” (03/30/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-images-a-florida-city-says-only
-----
48) Sony’s Scam Scuttled
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can’t be forced to deprive customers of Internet access on the basis of an unverified complaint about copyright violation. And can’t be held liable for refusing to kill a customer’s access. … Had the high court ruled otherwise, the consequences would have been dire.” (03/30/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/03/30/sonys-scam-scuttled/
-----
49) More Than A Slogan: Labor’s New Gambit to Tax the Rich
Source: In These Times
by Rebecca Burns
“The threat of a city government shutdown loomed large in Chicago in December 2025 as the city faced an end-of-year deadline to close a projected $1.2 billion deficit. To counteract the impact of President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law, Mayor Brandon Johnson had pitched a budget in October that would require some of the law’s biggest beneficiaries to pay more. His proposed payroll tax — on corporations with more than 1,000 employees — would, according to his administration, amount to less than 0.01% of the Trump tax cuts bestowed on companies like Google and Walmart. But a standoff ensued after a group of Chicago City Council alderpersons — led by Nicole Lee, a former United Airlines executive — announced they would refuse to cross a ’red line’: a new tax on the city’s largest corporations, including United. The group raised the specter of businesses fleeing Chicago in droves, despite a Chicago Sun-Times analysis casting doubt on this claim.” (03/31/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/slogan-inside-labors-new-strategy-tax-the-rich
-----
50) Don’t Let the Fed Off the Hook for “Oil Inflation”
Source: Independent Institute
by Kristian Fors
“Milton Friedman once famously stated that ‘inflation always and everywhere is a monetary phenomenon.’ Inflation results from an increase in the money supply and a decline in the real value of fiat currency relative to goods and services. Prices can increase for a variety of reasons unrelated to the money supply, but that is not inflation. While the Iran conflict is certainly going to cause government policy-fueled price increases, there is a technical difference between that and inflation. Military actions do not directly cause inflation; however, they can be enabled by inflation, given the government’s capacity to print money and expand the budget.” (03/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/30/not-everthing-is-inflation/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/31/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump Looking For ‘Off-Ramp?’ It’s Not That Easy.” (03/31/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1vJpPrBpPmOJE
-----
52) Capital Record, episode 291
Source: National Review
“Social Media and the Crisis of Responsibility.” (03/31/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/social-media-and-the-crisis-of-responsibility/
-----
53) Trump Watch, 03/31/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Distraction of the Iran War.” (03/31/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBcTYQinjUg
-----
54) The Bryan Hyde Show, 03/31/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly visit with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. Now more than ever, Eric is a voice of reason in a culture that is drifting dangerously close to the edge.” (03/31/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-wypav-1a87f7a
-----
55) The Dispatch Podcast, 03/31/26
Source: The Dispatch
“How Far Will Trump Go in Cuba?” (03/31/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/how-far-will-trump-go-in-cuba/
-----
56) The Corbett Report, episode 496
Source: The Corbett Report
“The Most Important Bet You’ve Never Heard Of.” (03/31/26)
https://corbettreport.com/the-most-important-bet-youve-never-heard-of/
-----
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/31/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Erupts over War Failures as Pope’s Harsh Rebuke Hits Hard.” (03/31/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/208379/trump-rage-erupts-war-failures-pope-harsh-rebuke-hits-hard
-----
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/30/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Threatens To ‘Blow Up’ Iran’s Desalination, Israel Passes Palestinian Death Penalty, and More.” (03/30/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2dMl4jAgLY
-----
59) Nonzero, 03/30/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Averting a Superintelligence Takeover | Robert Wright & Andrea Miotti.” (03/30/26)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69386
-----
60) You Are Paying for Retirees’ Lavish Lifestyles
Source: Reason
“How America’s old-age entitlement system became a sprawling lifestyle-subsidy program that steals from the poor to give to the rich.” (03/30/26)
https://reason.com/video/2026/03/30/you-are-paying-for-retirees-lavish-lifestyles/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Trump whines at allies, signals Iran war may end without opening Hormuz
2) SCOTUS rules against Colorado’s “conversion therapy” ban on First Amendment grounds
3) Trump issues unconstitutional election-rigging order to Social Security, US Snail bureaucracies
4) Drones strike Russia’s Ust-Luga port again as EU officials visit Ukraine
5) Federal judge temporarily blocks construction of Trump’s White House ballroom
6) Google warns quantum computing may break Bitcoin earlier than thought, prepares 2029 transition
7) Federal “God Squad” exempts oil & gas drilling in Gulf from endangered species rules
8) Italy: Regime refuses US aircraft use of Sicily base for Middle East operations, sources say
9) Indonesia arrests Scottish man sought by Spain in connection with an international crime syndicate
10) Charlie Kirk bullet analysis finds no conclusive link to rifle found near scene
11) Malaysia: Court orders ex-PM Najib to pay US$1.3 billion to 1MDB unit
12) OK: Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris is free after six months in jail for child sex abuse
13) China: Regime bans storing cremated remains in empty “bone ash apartments”
14) US gasoline hits $4 per gallon, highest since 2022, as Iran war drives up fuel prices
15) Cuba: Sanctioned Russian tanker docks after US allows passage despite energy blockade
16) Japan: Regime deploys its first long-range missiles
17) Wrong sperm given to UK families by IVF clinics in northern Cyprus
18) Trump regime sues Minnesota regime as part of federal school sports takeover attempt
19) FBI director reportedly assigned San Francisco agents to look into Eric Swalwell
20) Australia: Regime whines at, threatens social media platforms to make their stupid and evil social media ban “work”
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) In Iran, the US Manufactured an Enemy and Lost All Its Friends
22) Chiles v. Salazar: One Cheer for SCOTUS
23) Ten Years Ago Today, Trump Promised To Eliminate the National Debt. Instead, It Has Doubled.
24) Dumb or Self-Interested Political Rulers
25) Against The Concept Of Telescopic Altruism
26) Lessons From the Vietnam War for Iran
27) The Monthly Table: March — Lemon Pound Cake
28) License plate readers are a privacy concern lacking oversight
29) Growing Up Means Realizing That None Of The Worst Villains Are In Prison
30) If Europe can control American speech, our liberties are at risk
31) Two Different Wars, Two Different Presidents, But the Same Lies
32) The Austrian Fix for the Manufactured Iranian Energy Crisis
33) US-Israel War on Iran Undermining Very Foundations of Rule of Law
34) What Nobel Minds Get Wrong
35) Bari Weiss and the “Four Horsemen of New Zionism”
36) But this is the very point of tariffs
37) No Kings: After the Splash, the Ripples Spread
38) Trump’s War on Lawyers Is a Threat to Everyone
39) Opposing ICE Might Save the Country. It Could Also Ruin Your Life
40) Consumption Tax on the Horizon
41) Private Equity’s Great Escape
42) The United States Is Already Headed for a Forever War
43) Inflated Grades Deflate Future Earnings
44) What’s behind Trump’s 180-degree turn, allowing Russian oil to Cuba?
45) China’s abuse makes birthright citizenship a life-or-death choice for America
46) The Tragicomic Death Throes of Canada’s (Former) Workers’ Party
47) The images a Florida city says only it can use
48) Sony’s Scam Scuttled
49) More Than A Slogan: Labor’s New Gambit to Tax the Rich
50) Don’t Let the Fed Off the Hook for “Oil Inflation”
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/31/26
52) Capital Record, episode 291
53) Trump Watch, 03/31/26
54) The Bryan Hyde Show, 03/31/26
55) The Dispatch Podcast, 03/31/26
56) The Corbett Report, episode 496
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/31/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/30/26
59) Nonzero, 03/30/26
60) You Are Paying for Retirees’ Lavish Lifestyles
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Trump whines at allies, signals Iran war may end without opening Hormuz
Source: Axios
“President Trump on Tuesday attacked European allies for not doing more to support the U.S. in its war with Iran and signaled they will have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on their own. This was the third time in recent days that Trump signaled publicly he could end the war in Iran without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. would be leaving other countries to clean up a hugely consequential economic quagmire and restore the flow of roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. When asked about Trump’s post on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stopped short of calling the strait’s reopening a core objective.” (03/31/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/31/trump-europe-strait-hormuz-iran-uk-france
-----
2) SCOTUS rules against Colorado’s “conversion therapy” ban on First Amendment grounds
Source: CBS News
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a Colorado counselor who challenged a state law that bans ‘conversion therapy’ for minors, ruling that lower courts failed to apply ‘sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny’ in the case. The high court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s law, when applied to talk therapy provided by counselor Kaley Chiles, regulates speech based on viewpoint. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter. The Supreme Court reversed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that found the law did not violate Chiles’ free-speech rights. The appeals court instead concluded that it regulates professional conduct and only incidentally burdens speech. The ruling from the high court is a narrow one and requires the lower courts to apply a more stringent level of review when evaluating the constitutionality of Colorado’s law.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-colorado-conversion-therapy-ban-chiles-v-salazar/
-----
3) Trump issues unconstitutional election-rigging order to Social Security, US Snail bureaucracies
Source: USA Today
“President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticizes, even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year. … Trump’s order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to create lists of voting-age U.S. citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election. The U.S. Postal Service would then oversee mail-in ballots, with the order directing the agency to develop rules establishing ‘uniform standards’ for the ballots and preventing it from transmitting ballots of individuals who are not approved. … States have the authority under the Constitution over ‘the times, places, and manner’ of federal elections.
-----
4) Drones strike Russia’s Ust-Luga port again as EU officials visit Ukraine
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Ukrainian drones have struck Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga for the fifth time in 10 days, as Kyiv continues to step up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Tuesday that three people, including two children, were treated for injuries and several buildings were damaged in the overnight attacks. … Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure over the past month, launching its heaviest drone attacks of the more than four-year war against the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk. … The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers reiterated their support for Ukraine as they arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s massacre in Bucha, where Ukrainian officials and rights groups say Russian troops killed more than 400 people.” (03/31/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/31/drones-strike-russias-ust-luga-port-again-as-eu-officials-visit-ukraine
-----
5) Federal judge temporarily blocks construction of Trump’s White House ballroom
Source: NBC News
“A federal judge in Washington has issued an order temporarily blocking the construction of President Donald Trump’s expansive new White House ballroom and any further demolition of the East Wing. ‘I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,’ wrote U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush. … Leon paused his order from taking effect for 14 days to allow time for an appeal. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal roughly 90 minutes after he issued his ruling.” (03/31/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-demolition-white-house-trumps-ballroo-rcna266095
-----
6) Google warns quantum computing may break Bitcoin earlier than thought, prepares 2029 transition
Source: The Block
“Google Research published updated estimates warning that future quantum computers could break cryptocurrencies sooner than previously thought, though such an event is still several years away. In a Tuesday blog post, Google explained that most blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies rely on the 256-bit elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP-256) to secure wallets and transactions. Citing the latest whitepaper from Google Research, the blog post said that the necessary quantum computing resources to break the ECDLP-256 have decreased significantly. … Google’s white paper added that the reduced execution time allows quantum computers to conduct real-time attacks within bitcoin’s average block time of 10 minutes. This enables “on-spend” attacks, which are quantum computing attacks that target active cryptocurrency transactions while they are still in the mempool.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theblock.co/post/395814/google-quantum-computing-earlier
-----
7) Federal “God Squad” exempts oil & gas drilling in Gulf from endangered species rules
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits against the industry threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran. Critics said the move by the government’s Endangered Species Committee could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life. Nicknamed the ‘God Squad’ by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate, the committee comprises several Trump administration officials and is chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. It met Tuesday for the first time in more than three decades amid global oil shocks and soaring energy prices brought on by the Iran war.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/federal-god-squad-poised-to-exempt-oil-and-gas-22161189.php
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8) Italy: Regime refuses US aircraft use of Sicily base for Middle East operations, sources say
Source: Reuters
“Italy last week denied permission for U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily before heading to the Middle East, sources said on Tuesday, because Washington had not sought prior authorisation from the government in Rome. According to the Corriere della Sera daily, which first reported the news, ‘some U.S. bombers’ had been due to land at the base in eastern Sicily before flying on to the Middle East, where the United States is at war with Israel against Iran. The report did not specify when the aircraft were due to land but said permission was denied because the U.S. had not requested clearance and Italy’s military leadership had not been consulted, as required under treaties governing the use of U.S. military installations in the country.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/vWEC2
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9) Indonesia arrests Scottish man sought by Spain in connection with an international crime syndicate
Source: SFGate
“A Scottish man, described as a senior figure in an international crime syndicate, was arrested shortly after landing on the resort island of Bali, authorities in Indonesia said Tuesday. The 45-year-old, identified as Steven Lyons, was taken into custody by immigration officers at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Saturday on arrival from Singapore, according to Untung Widiyatmoko, head of Indonesia’s branch of Interpol. The immigration system had flagged him as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued at Spain’s request. A Red Notice is an alert issued by Interpol at the request of a member country for police worldwide to arrest a suspect for extradition. Lyons, who is wanted in Spain and the United Kingdom in connection with organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, will be extradited to Spain on Wednesday, Widiyatmoko told reporters in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/indonesia-arrests-scottish-man-sought-by-spain-in-22162200.php
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10) Charlie Kirk bullet analysis finds no conclusive link to rifle found near scene
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“An analysis from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during Charlie Kirk’s autopsy to the rifle found near the scene of the rightwing political activist’s killing – and the FBI is running additional tests, lawyers for Kirk’s accused murderer said in recent court filings. In the court filings, Tyler Robinson’s defense team also asked for a delay to a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review the bullet analysis as well as an enormous amount of other material that could contribute to the suspect’s defense. …The defense said in its motion that it may try to use the analysis to clear Robinson of blame during the preliminary hearing while prosecutors aim to show they have enough evidence against him to proceed with a trial.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/charlie-kirk-bullet-rifle
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11) Malaysia: Court orders ex-PM Najib to pay US$1.3 billion to 1MDB unit
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“A Malaysian court on Tuesday ordered jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to pay US$1.3 billion to a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, state media reported. The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Najib was liable for losses incurred by SRC International, a former subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, state news agency Bernama reported. High Court judge Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin ruled that Najib breached his fiduciary duties, abused his position as prime minister, and misappropriated SRC funds for personal gain, Bernama reported. … Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering over funds misappropriated from SRC in a separate case.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/2hbIm
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12) OK: Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris is free after six months in jail for child sex abuse
Source: SFGate
“The founder of a Texas megachurch who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child in the 1980s was released Tuesday after serving six months in an Oklahoma jail. Robert Preston Morris, 64, was released just after midnight, said Osage County Sheriff’s Capt. Matt Clark. Morris pleaded guilty last year to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child as part of a plea agreement under which he received a 10-year suspended sentence with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail. … Morris was the senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, where he led one of the nation’s largest megachurches until June 2024 when — faced with the victim’s allegations — he resigned. He was indicted last year by an Oklahoma grand jury.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/texas-megachurch-pastor-robert-morris-is-free-22162182.php
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13) China: Regime bans storing cremated remains in empty “bone ash apartments”
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The Chinese government is set to ban people from storing the cremated remains of their loved ones in empty apartments instead of paying for expensive cemetery plots. The new law will put an end to ‘bone ash apartments,’ which have risen in popularity as spaces in cemeteries remain scarce. Low property prices in the country mean that for many, it is more affordable to entomb the ashes of relatives in an empty apartment than pay for funeral costs. The legislation prohibits the use of residential properties ‘specifically for the placement of ashes’ as well as the burial of remains outside of cemeteries and areas where ecological burial is legal. Bone ash apartments are empty properties which are turned into ritual halls by family members of the deceased. Their loved one’s ashes are placed inside and the space turned into an ancestral shrine.” (03/31/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm25ynex2zxo
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14) US gasoline hits $4 per gallon, highest since 2022, as Iran war drives up fuel prices
Source: CNBC
“U.S. gasoline prices have surged above $4 per gallon for the first time in more than three years, as the oil supply shock triggered by the Middle East war rapidly drives up costs for families. Prices at the pump hit a nationwide average of $4.018, the highest level since August 2022 when Russia’s war against Ukraine shook energy markets, the travel association AAA said. Gas prices have soared more than 30% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, according to AAA data. … Vice President JD Vance told consumers they face ‘a rough road ahead’ on gas prices in the coming weeks. Vance promised that the spike is temporary and prices will fall after the war has ended.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/31/gas-oil-diesel-price-iran-war.html
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15) Cuba: Sanctioned Russian tanker docks after US allows passage despite energy blockade
Source: SFGate
“A Russian tanker docked Tuesday at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had allowed the Anatoly Kolodkin to proceed despite an ongoing U.S. energy blockade. Cubans including Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy cheered the ship’s arrival. A shortage of petroleum has exacerbated a deep economic crisis that has left the population mired in long blackouts and facing a severe shortage of food and medicine. … Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.” (03/31/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/russian-ship-carrying-oil-docks-in-cuba-allowed-22161614.php
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16) Japan: Regime deploys its first long-range missiles
Source: ABC News
“Japan’s first long-range missile was deployed at a southwestern army camp, officials said Tuesday, as the country pushes to bolster its offensive capabilities. The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles, developed and produced by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, became operational at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto prefecture. … The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), a significant extension from the 200-kilometer (125-mile) range of the original that would allow it to reach mainland China. The deployment of the long-range missile gives Japan a ‘standoff’ capability, meaning it can strike enemy missile bases from afar, marking a break from the self-defense-only policy the country long followed under its pacifist constitution.” (03/31/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/japan-deploys-long-range-missiles-131566210
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17) Wrong sperm given to UK families by IVF clinics in northern Cyprus
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“‘It was pretty soon after James was born that I knew something wasn’t right,’ says Laura. She and her partner, Beth, have two children — James, and their eldest Kate – both conceived through IVF treatment at a clinic in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus. The two women used their own eggs and carefully chose one anonymous, healthy sperm donor. They told the clinic which ordered the sperm for them that it was important the same donor was used for both babies — so their children would be biologically related. But when James was born, they both noticed that his ‘beautiful’ brown eyes were very different to those of his biological mum, Beth, and the sperm donor the family had requested. … Beth and Laura decided their children should take a DNA test. The results indicated neither child was related to the sperm donor their parents had selected.” (03/31/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74v5jd5zkjo
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18) Trump regime sues Minnesota regime as part of federal school sports takeover attempt
Source: United Press International
“The Justice Department is suing the Minnesota Department of Education, asking a federal court to force it to comply with the Trump administration’s policies prohibiting transgender student-athletes from competing in girls’ sports. … Federal prosecutors are asking the court to rule that the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title IX’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination over their policies allowing transgender student-athletes at federally funded schools to compete in girls’ sports and use spaces designated for girls, such as bathrooms and changing rooms.” (03/31/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/31/Trump-sues-Minnesota-transgender-sports/4431774932239/
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19) FBI director reportedly assigned San Francisco agents to look into Eric Swalwell
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration is pushing the FBI to look into an old investigation on California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a sitting member of Congress and leading Democratic candidate for California governor, the Washington Post reported last week. Swalwell, a former prosecutor and unsuccessful 2020 presidential candidate, called the FBI probe ‘nonsense’ and suggested last week that the president’s directive is an attempt to influence the California governor’s race in which Swalwell says he is ‘the favorite’. ‘Through great reporting, we now know the outrageous ends the White House will go to target political opponents,’ he said in an emailed statement to SFGATE. ‘As was Trump’s mortgage case against me, this decade-old story is, of course, nonsense.’ FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly has pushed investigators to revisit files from a decade-old investigation into Swalwell and a suspected Chinese operative, the outlet reported, citing three anonymous sources.” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/fbi-patel-eric-swalwell-22159434.php
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20) Australia: Regime whines at, threatens social media platforms to make their stupid and evil social media ban “work”
Source: Independent [UK]
“Australia’s e-safety commissioner warned platforms like Meta, YouTube and TikTok of ‘major gaps’ in their enforcement of the social media ban for under-16s, almost four months after the law came into effect. ‘While social media platforms have taken some initial action, I am concerned through our compliance monitoring that some may not be doing enough to comply with Australian law,’ commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement on Tuesday. The legislation requires 10 of the largest social media networks, including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, and X, to keep under-16s away or face fines of up to A$49.5m (£26.5m), making it one of the world’s toughest digital restrictions. … Ms Grant said the watchdog was ‘currently investigating potential non-compliance’ by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.” (03/31/26)
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/australasia/australia-social-media-ban-watchdog-warning-b2948822.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) In Iran, the US Manufactured an Enemy and Lost All Its Friends
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“As recently as March 3, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said the IAEA ‘has found no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.’ On March 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee that since the first round of bombing Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer, ‘[t]here has been no efforts … to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.’ … The United States opted for an offensive war of choice. The White House made that choice unilaterally. That is not hegemony: that is primacy that expects its vassal states to follow. NATO allies and EU friends were not consulted. Gulf States and Muslim partners lobbied with ferocity against it. Neither the American relationship with NATO nor with the Gulf States will end, but both have been badly damaged and will not look the same in the future.” (03/31/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2026/03/30/in-iran-the-us-manufactured-an-enemy-and-lost-all-its-friends
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22) Chiles v. Salazar: One Cheer for SCOTUS
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“As it happens, I’m extremely skeptical of ‘conversion therapy.’ So far as I can tell, sexual orientation isn’t something that can be consciously/intentionally altered using talk or any other kind of ‘therapy.’ Nor, for that matter, is it a ‘medical condition’ at all. It doesn’t need to be ‘treated.’ It’s just a characteristic (and perhaps an evolving, rather than static/permanent characteristic) that people discover in themselves. But that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be able to think or say otherwise, or to attempt to ‘convert’ consenting others through speech. Note the qualifier: ‘Consenting.'” (03/31/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20471
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23) Ten Years Ago Today, Trump Promised To Eliminate the National Debt. Instead, It Has Doubled.
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
“Ten years ago today, Donald Trump said he would pay off the national debt in the span of just eight years. That did not happen. Instead, the gross national debt has doubled since that day — from about $19 trillion to over $39 trillion. Much of that additional borrowing has taken place during Trump’s five-plus years in the White House. The gap between Trump’s outlandish promise and the brutal fiscal reality of the past decade is not just a political gotcha. It’s also an apt illustration of how far and how fast the debt has spiraled. And it’s a painful reminder of a missed opportunity that Americans will be facing for a long, long time. The bill for these 10 years of fiscal profligacy will be coming due long after Trump has finally departed from the political scene.” (03/31/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/31/10-years-ago-today-trump-promised-to-eliminate-the-national-debt-instead-it-has-doubled/
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24) Dumb or Self-Interested Political Rulers
Source: Pierre Lemieux
by Pierre Lemieux
“To understand politics, we must presume that a head of state or other political ruler is, like the rest of us, primarily concerned with his own interests. When he does favor somebody else’s interests, it is as he interprets them (as a normal human being does toward his children), or simply because he thereby buys the beneficiary’s support. Thus, political and social institutions should be such that when a ruler acts foolishly or self-interestedly, he still furthers the common interests of his subjects (‘citizens’), instead of the interests of a favored group or his own interests against other people.” (03/31/26)
https://pierrelemieux.substack.com/p/dumb-or-self-interested-political
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25) Against The Concept Of Telescopic Altruism
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“‘Telescopic altruism’ is a supposed tendency for some people to ignore those close to them in favor of those further away. Like its cousin ‘virtue signaling,’ it usually gets used to own the libs. Some lib cares about people in Gaza — why? Shouldn’t she be thinking about her friends and neighbors instead? The only possible explanation is that she’s an evil person who hates everyone around her, but manages to feel superior to decent people by pretending to ‘care’ about foreigners who she’ll never meet. This collapses upon five seconds’ thought. Okay, so the lib is angry about the Israeli military killing 50,000 people in Gaza. Do you think she would be angry if the Israeli military killed 50,000 of her neighbors? Probably yes? Then what’s the problem?” (03/31/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/against-the-concept-of-telescopic
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26) Lessons From the Vietnam War for Iran
Source: Townhall
by Cal Thomas
“We Americans are an impatient lot. If we must engage in warfare, we would prefer it be wrapped up in weeks, not months, and certainly not years like World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. In those wars, we had the draft, so more Americans were engaged in fighting and watching their progress, or lack thereof. Today, while recruiting numbers have increased in our all-volunteer military, the taste for war among the public has declined. One of President Trump’s positions that attracted voters was his promise to end wars, not start new ones.” (03/31/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2026/03/31/lessons-from-the-vietnam-war-for-iran-n2673663
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27) The Monthly Table: March — Lemon Pound Cake
Source: Roads Go Ever On
by Bekah Graham
“Bright, sharp, velvety smooth, this elegant and opulent Lemon Pound Cake answers the call. Another musical performance captured attention recently—this one involving an iconic rapper, a bungled police raid, and a lawsuit five officers are no doubt now regretting. While you gather your tools and ingredients and begin zesting a few lemons, filling the room with that bright, beautiful aroma, allow me to briefly recount the tale of Afroman and the Adams County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Department (working title).” (03/31/26)
https://bekahgwen.substack.com/p/the-monthly-table-march-lemon-pound
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28) License plate readers are a privacy concern lacking oversight
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown & Alasdair Whitney
“Privacy is not a loophole for criminals. it’s a precondition for a free society. The government needs far more than administrative convenience to justify eroding it.” (03/31/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/license-plate-readers/
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29) Growing Up Means Realizing That None Of The Worst Villains Are In Prison
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“When we’re kids we play cops and robbers, and watch cartoons about evil criminals being stopped by virtuous crime fighters. Then when we mature we learn that all the most evil people are operating within the laws of our nation, and nobody ever sends them to jail. Ask a child to draw a Bad Guy and they’ll probably draw a bank robber, a thief, a supervillain, or somebody breaking the law in some way, because that’s what young people are trained to believe wickedness looks like in their world. They won’t usually draw a politician, a billionaire, a media mogul, a tech plutocrat, a warmonger, or any of the rich and powerful people who are causing the real suffering in our world. The ones who impose laws upon our society ensuring the continuation of poverty, inequality, war, oppression and tyranny. ” (03/31/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/31/growing-up-means-realizing-that-none-of-the-worst-villains-are-in-prison/
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30) If Europe can control American speech, our liberties are at risk
Source: The Hill
by Kristen Waggoner
“Who has power over your online speech? Ask most Americans that question, and they are likely to name tech giants like Meta, our elected representatives or federal agencies. Hopefully, some would mention our Constitution. But few would agree to the idea that unelected bureaucrats in Europe can control what Americans see or say online. Yet that is increasingly a reality — and one that Elon Musk and X are challenging with a new lawsuit at the General Court of the European Union.” (03/31/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5807626-if-europe-can-control-american-speech-our-liberties-are-at-risk/
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31) Two Different Wars, Two Different Presidents, But the Same Lies
Source: TomDispatch
by Helen Benedict
“I’m writing this piece well into President Donald Trump’s new war with Iran, which, with the help of Israel, has already killed more than 2,000 civilians, including 175 schoolgirls and staff; displaced some 3.2 million people; and is costing the American taxpayer at least one billion dollars a day. All of which is tragically reminiscent of the last time a Republican president led the U.S. into a war on a river of lies and greed. I’m thinking, of course, about George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Weapons that don’t exist. Threats to this country that aren’t real. Liberation for a people that the U.S. will never win over. Freedom for women about whom nobody in power cares a jot. A war that will bring total victory in only a few days or weeks. All this we heard in 2003, and all this we are hearing again now.” (03/31/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/from-baghdad-to-albany/
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32) The Austrian Fix for the Manufactured Iranian Energy Crisis
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Lucas Peters
“The ongoing destruction of the world’s largest natural-gas reservoir at South Pars and Qatar has produced exactly what Austrian economics predicts: sudden, irreplaceable capital destruction followed by a violent supply shock. Oil has spiked, European gas prices have jumped, and the Strait of Hormuz is now a flashpoint. Everyday Americans already face higher gasoline, heating, trucking, and grocery costs; businesses confront malinvestment cascades; and central planners are salivating over the opportunity to impose rationing, digital IDs, CBDCs, and ‘energy lockdowns.’ This is not mere geopolitics; it is state warfare smashing the capital structure and then using the resulting artificial scarcity to expand control. From a strict libertarian and Austrian standpoint, two interlocking ideas cut through the chaos and point to the only workable solution today: immediate, total disentanglement from the conflict, and uncompromising reliance on free-market prices, sound money, and voluntary exchange instead of any form of central planning.” (03/31/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/austrian-fix-manufactured-iranian-energy-crisis
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33) US-Israel War on Iran Undermining Very Foundations of Rule of Law
Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by Phyllis Bennis
“The US and Israeli war has, from its very beginning, violated both US domestic and international law. The legal consequences go beyond specific violations. Washington and Tel Aviv’s breaches of the United Nations Charter and other legal frameworks also undermine the very foundations of the rule of law. Even while international legal institutions too often lack sufficient capacity to enforce their decisions, they still provide a crucial framework for protest, for pressure on individual governments, and for the hope of a future world where the rule of law is paramount. Now, however, that future is in more danger than any other time in recent memory. Right now, Iranian civilians are paying the highest price. But the collapse of the rule of law makes the future more dangerous for everyone else, too.” (03/31/26)
https://fpif.org/the-u-s-israeli-war-on-iran-is-illegal-heres-why-that-matters/
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34) What Nobel Minds Get Wrong
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mani Basharzad
“Each year after the Nobel Prize announcements, laureates, who are among the greatest minds of their generation, gather and shape a broader intellectual conversation. At this year’s gathering, a Nobel laureate in physics posed a question to the economic laureates: ‘Can we grow without limit? What about finite resources?’ He added, ‘At some point, must we also modify this growth system — which wants to consume more and more of the Earth’s resources?’ To answer this question, we need to go back to a bet made about humanity’s fate in 1980. Economist Julian Simon and biologist Paul Ehrlich made a wager about the future of humanity. At the heart of the bet was a simple question: Would population growth lead to resource scarcity and human decline, or to greater prosperity and innovation?” (03/31/26)
https://fee.org/articles/what-nobel-minds-get-wrong/
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35) Bari Weiss and the “Four Horsemen of New Zionism”
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Brandt Burleson
“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has received over two-hundred complaints from American troops that their commanders used the Book of Revelation to frame the Iran War as a ‘Holy War’ in which President Donald Trump was chosen to ignite ‘The End Times’ as part of ‘God’s divine plan.’ When I decided to make this series about the ‘Four Horsemen of New Zionism,’ I meant it purely metaphorically. It seems some of our top brass have a more literal interpretation (welcome to the End Times). The Horseman, or rather Horsewoman, we will be spotlighting in this article is none other than the Empress of Identity, the Herald of Cancellation, Bari Weiss.” (03/31/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/bari-weiss-and-the-four-horsemen-of-new-zionism
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36) But this is the very point of tariffs
Source: Cobden Centre
by Tim Worstall
“The point of tariffs is not to make those things made by evil Johnny Foreigner more expensive. It is to enable the domestic capitalists to raise the prices of their domestically made goods: ‘HS2 firm says new steel tariffs will ‘exacerbate’ cost pressures for UK construction industry’ Doubling tariffs on imported steel will raise cost of the metal when Iran war is already inflating steel and concrete prices This is not an error nor a happenstance: it’s the whole and precise point of the act itself. … So, let’s not do that. Let’s not make everything in the country more expensive just to benefit that fraction of the 1%.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/03/but-this-is-the-very-point-of-tariffs/
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37) No Kings: After the Splash, the Ripples Spread
Source: Common Dreams
by Steve Kaagan
“The numbers from No Kings protests made a big splash. Roughly 8 million people declared their opposition to the present administration this past weekend in over 3100 cities and towns across the nation. But in the long run the impact of quality will be greater than quantity. Beyond the splash, the values expressed in the protests will continue to ripple through our collective consciousness. Here are some of those ripples that will spread out and energize resistance efforts in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Harmony and Equality: Those who showed up on the streets joined as one, all equal, no person better or more entitled than the other. Their participation loudly reaffirmed cherished democratic values as expressed in the First Amendment and human values anchored in the world’s religions.” (03/31/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/no-kings-ripples
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38) Trump’s War on Lawyers Is a Threat to Everyone
Source: The Dispatch
by Greg Lukianoff & Adam Goldstein
“Everybody understands, at least instinctively, why it matters when a president threatens the press. People also more or less understand why it matters when he menaces universities, museums, or other cultural institutions. Those are visible targets, and they read as political in an obvious way.
Attacks on law firms land differently. Part of that is because many major firms are hardly natural objects of public sympathy. Most everyday Americans won’t shed many tears for institutions associated with enormous hourly rates, corporate power, and a profession that people tend to joke about until they need a lawyer. … But that perception is exactly why this threat is so easy to underestimate.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/OuOmq
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39) Opposing ICE Might Save the Country. It Could Also Ruin Your Life
Source: Wired
by Brendan I Koerner
“For months, lone vibe coder Rafael Concepcion has obsessively built tools to counter the federal immigration crackdown — pivoting as he’s been outmatched. He’s also lost his job and become a target.” (03/31/26)
https://archive.is/Xfazb
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40) Consumption Tax on the Horizon
Source: Law & Liberty
by Mitch Daniels
“Entitlement costs keep rising, which means new experiments in taxation are coming. They may already be here.” (03/31/26)
https://lawliberty.org/consumption-tax-on-the-horizon/
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41) Private Equity’s Great Escape
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen & Maureen Tkacik
“For 14 years, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) remained silent about John Raymond’s woefully underperforming Houston private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group (EMG). The $330 billion sovereign wealth fund’s leadership made no public pronouncements when Raymond, son of the iconic Exxon chief executive who masterminded the merger with Mobil, agreed to invest some $3 billion in the new venture of extravagant fracking mogul Aubrey McClendon, who’d just been forced out of the company he’d founded for looting corporate coffers …. They raised no alarm bells when McClendon and his new company American Energy Partners were sued a few years later for stealing trade secrets, or when the next year he was indicted for orchestrating a vast bid-rigging conspiracy, or when following his spectacular death the day after the indictment by driving 75 miles per hour into an overpass wall, EMG’s investments were themselves set ablaze.” (03/31/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/31/apr-2026-magazine-private-equitys-great-escape-continuation-funds-rollup-retirement-abu-dhabi-investment-council-energy-mineral-group/
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42) The United States Is Already Headed for a Forever War
Source: The American Conservative
by Jude Russo
“Let’s all give a hand for Marco Rubio, secretary of state, favored champion of the White House, and all-around cretinous worm. The Amazing Plastic Man — the adjective refers to his flexible principles, not his increasingly inflexible face — was hitting the airwaves this Monday morning to articulate the latest version of what the Trump administration regards as its war aims. Excuse me, military operation aims; President Donald Trump has figured out the One Weird Trick around constitutional checks on executive war powers. You just have to use the right words! … Stupendously expensive and destructive military operations every six to 18 months for the foreseeable future does not seem like an appreciably better outcome than the Bush-era occupations.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-united-states-is-already-headed-for-a-forever-war/
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43) Inflated Grades Deflate Future Earnings
Source: The Daily Economy
by Julia R Cartwright
“Educators continue to debate a question that sounds philosophical but is actually quite practical: when a student earns a diploma, what exactly have they earned? Is it proof of real, transferable, labor-market-ready skills? Or is it a signal, a flag planted in the employer’s field of view that says this person showed up, tried hard, and turned things in on time? Most honest observers land somewhere in the middle. Yes, school teaches skills. And yes, the diploma itself also signals something beyond the skills taught. The degree is both product and receipt. New research throws a wrench into both sides of that supposed balance.” (03/31/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/inflated-grades-deflate-future-earnings/
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44) What’s behind Trump’s 180-degree turn, allowing Russian oil to Cuba?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Lee Schlenker
“In a positive twist, the Trump administration said it does not plan to block a Russian oil tanker from delivering 730,000 barrels of crude to Cuba, which has been suffering from acute fuel shortages since the U.S. imposed a de facto oil blockade on the island in late January. … On the one hand, the administration may be concerned about the dire humanitarian impacts of ongoing fuel shortages and a potential migratory crisis brewing just off U.S. shores in an election season. The island’s worsening crisis risks undermining U.S. moral standing and leverage in ongoing negotiations with Cuba, particularly if the country collapses before a deal can be reached. On the other hand, the U.S. may simply need to focus on other priorities.” (03/30/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/cuba-russian-oil/
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45) China’s abuse makes birthright citizenship a life-or-death choice for America
Source: New York Post
by Daniel McCarthy
“Get ready for the next Roe v. Wade — as a new Supreme Court case threatens to split the country, not over abortion, but over ‘birthright citizenship.’ Trump v. Barbara is before the court this week, and with it comes the very question of who is an American. On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order [pretending] that the children of illegal immigrants or temporary residents aren’t American citizens just by virtue of being born on American soil. People born here to at least one citizen parent are automatically citizens, and Trump’s order recognizes the children of lawful permanent residents as birthright citizens, too. But that’s not enough for those who insist the Constitution’s 14th Amendment establishes a radical definition of birthright citizenship.” [editor’s note: It didn’t “establish” anything — birthright citizenship was the case from the beginning of the US, except for slaves, and in England before that – TLK] (03/31/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/31/opinion/chinas-abuse-makes-birthright-citizenship-a-life-or-death-ruling/
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46) The Tragicomic Death Throes of Canada’s (Former) Workers’ Party
Source: Quillette
by Jonathan Kay
“The New Democratic Party, which once championed the country’s unions, is now in the hands of a radicalised anti-Israel activist who wants to nationalise grocery sales and shut down oil production.” (03/30/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/03/30/the-tragicomic-death-throes-of-canadas-former-workers-party-2/
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47) The images a Florida city says only it can use
Source: Expression
by helloiamcarrie
“Imagine you are engaging in the time-honored American tradition of criticizing your local government. You air your complaints on a website you’ve set up to report on city news — and then the city threatens you with legal action and potential jail time, all because some of your comments feature the city’s seal and logos. That’s what happened to Kyle L’Hommedieu and the local watchdog group he chairs, Take Out The Trash Committee of Cape Coral.” (03/30/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-images-a-florida-city-says-only
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48) Sony’s Scam Scuttled
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can’t be forced to deprive customers of Internet access on the basis of an unverified complaint about copyright violation. And can’t be held liable for refusing to kill a customer’s access. … Had the high court ruled otherwise, the consequences would have been dire.” (03/30/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/03/30/sonys-scam-scuttled/
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49) More Than A Slogan: Labor’s New Gambit to Tax the Rich
Source: In These Times
by Rebecca Burns
“The threat of a city government shutdown loomed large in Chicago in December 2025 as the city faced an end-of-year deadline to close a projected $1.2 billion deficit. To counteract the impact of President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law, Mayor Brandon Johnson had pitched a budget in October that would require some of the law’s biggest beneficiaries to pay more. His proposed payroll tax — on corporations with more than 1,000 employees — would, according to his administration, amount to less than 0.01% of the Trump tax cuts bestowed on companies like Google and Walmart. But a standoff ensued after a group of Chicago City Council alderpersons — led by Nicole Lee, a former United Airlines executive — announced they would refuse to cross a ’red line’: a new tax on the city’s largest corporations, including United. The group raised the specter of businesses fleeing Chicago in droves, despite a Chicago Sun-Times analysis casting doubt on this claim.” (03/31/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/slogan-inside-labors-new-strategy-tax-the-rich
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50) Don’t Let the Fed Off the Hook for “Oil Inflation”
Source: Independent Institute
by Kristian Fors
“Milton Friedman once famously stated that ‘inflation always and everywhere is a monetary phenomenon.’ Inflation results from an increase in the money supply and a decline in the real value of fiat currency relative to goods and services. Prices can increase for a variety of reasons unrelated to the money supply, but that is not inflation. While the Iran conflict is certainly going to cause government policy-fueled price increases, there is a technical difference between that and inflation. Military actions do not directly cause inflation; however, they can be enabled by inflation, given the government’s capacity to print money and expand the budget.” (03/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/30/not-everthing-is-inflation/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/31/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump Looking For ‘Off-Ramp?’ It’s Not That Easy.” (03/31/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1vJpPrBpPmOJE
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52) Capital Record, episode 291
Source: National Review
“Social Media and the Crisis of Responsibility.” (03/31/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/social-media-and-the-crisis-of-responsibility/
-----
53) Trump Watch, 03/31/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Distraction of the Iran War.” (03/31/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBcTYQinjUg
-----
54) The Bryan Hyde Show, 03/31/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly visit with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. Now more than ever, Eric is a voice of reason in a culture that is drifting dangerously close to the edge.” (03/31/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-wypav-1a87f7a
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55) The Dispatch Podcast, 03/31/26
Source: The Dispatch
“How Far Will Trump Go in Cuba?” (03/31/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/how-far-will-trump-go-in-cuba/
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56) The Corbett Report, episode 496
Source: The Corbett Report
“The Most Important Bet You’ve Never Heard Of.” (03/31/26)
https://corbettreport.com/the-most-important-bet-youve-never-heard-of/
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57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/31/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Erupts over War Failures as Pope’s Harsh Rebuke Hits Hard.” (03/31/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/208379/trump-rage-erupts-war-failures-pope-harsh-rebuke-hits-hard
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58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/30/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Threatens To ‘Blow Up’ Iran’s Desalination, Israel Passes Palestinian Death Penalty, and More.” (03/30/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2dMl4jAgLY
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59) Nonzero, 03/30/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Averting a Superintelligence Takeover | Robert Wright & Andrea Miotti.” (03/30/26)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69386
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60) You Are Paying for Retirees’ Lavish Lifestyles
Source: Reason
“How America’s old-age entitlement system became a sprawling lifestyle-subsidy program that steals from the poor to give to the rich.” (03/30/26)
https://reason.com/video/2026/03/30/you-are-paying-for-retirees-lavish-lifestyles/
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