06/24 -- Congress directs Trump to end Iran war; Kelo's Legacy: 21 Years of Economic Development Failures
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 24, 2026, 6:11:57 AM (13 days ago) Jun 24
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/24/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Congress directs Trump to end Iran war
2) NYC: Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries
3) FL: Vendors told to start dismantling “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp
4) Ukraine war: Kyiv regime says Crimea rail bridge “no longer exists” after drone strikes
5) SCOTUS backs US regime on unconstitutional immigration program
6) Turkey: Regime uses NATO summit as excuse for mass abduction operation
7) CA: Law that forbids forced outing of trans students blocked by 9th Circuit
8) Lithuania: Regime steps down after coalition reshuffle
9) Gold and silver tumble as rate-hike fears hit precious metals
10) UN report: Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children establishes “genocidal intent” in Gaza
11) SCOTUS: Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks
12) SpaceX stock tumbles 16.4%, shaving off most IPO gains since debut
13) Australia: “Ballista” spider discovered that uses spring trap to capture prey
14) China takes back top spot in latest supercomputer ranking
15) NY: From renter to owner, Sharpton locks in National Action Network’s Harlem foothold for the long haul
16) Judge scraps SNAP junk food rules, dealing a blow to MAHA
17) Tech giant Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs as it embraces AI
18) France: About 20 drown trying to escape heatwave sweeping much of Europe
19) UK: Burnham prepares for Labour leadership contest that may be a coronation
20) Judge rules DOJ subpoenas of Walz, others are unconstitutional
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Kelo’s Legacy: 21 Years of Economic Development Failures
22) War Isn’t Won on “Points”
23) Trump’s second term is a murky, embarrassing and costly spectacle
24) The Iran War won’t kill dollar dominance. But Washington might.
25) When Congress Waged War on Cheap Groceries
26) Don’t Forget the Broader Context of the Iranian Memorandum
27) Interpreting Epidemic Curves: The Big Picture
28) Thomas Massie Leads the Republican Revolt Against Trump’s Iran War
29) Colombians want security, with rule of law
30) The Secret Origins of “Conspiracy Theory”
31) Democrats Declare War on School Choice
32) JD Vance Infuriates the Neocons
33) Blaming Ordinary People For The Ecocidal Consequences Of AI
34) A Schematic History of Universities
35) A Healthy Constitutional Squabble
36) Term Limits? OK, But Here’s How To Do Them Right
37) Mamdani’s building a machine, and every Democrat may soon have to kiss his ring
38) We’ve had the answer for two centuries now
39) Leftist Attacks on American “Capitalism”
40) Why increases in money supply can’t cause economic growth?
41) Iran Challenges the US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare
42) Lies, Damn Lies, and the History of Capitalism
43) When Military Fellows Replace Hill Staff
44) Obesity, Wireheads, and the case for and Against Paternalism
45) Greenspan’s Philosophy of Freedom and Free Enterprise Prosperity
46) The Rise of “Geomaxxing”
47) Time for Term Limits
48) The Art of the Tax Deal
49) Has Netanyahu Destroyed the U.S.-Israel Alliance?
50) Enterprising the Final Frontier
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/23/26
52) Rising, 06/23/26
53) Cato Podcast, 06/23/26
54) Fountainhead Forum, episode 462
55) Trump Watch, 06/23/26
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/23/26
57) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/23/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/22/26
59) Sal and Mark, episode 7
60) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/22/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Congress directs Trump to end Iran war
Source: The Hill
“The Senate on Tuesday approved a House-passed resolution directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran after four GOP senators broke ranks and voted to undercut Trump’s authority as commander in chief. The Senate voted 50 to 48 to approve the resolution, which passed the House 215-208 earlier this month. The measure came straight to the Senate floor Tuesday for an up-or-down vote on final passage. It does not need Trump’s signature because it is a concurrent resolution.” [editor’s note: Many media outlets claim that this is “symbolic” or “does not have the force of law.” The War Powers Act says it is non-symbolic, does have the force of law, and is non-optional for Trump. It’s likely to end up in court – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5936650-iran-war-powers-senate/
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2) NYC: Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Zohran Mamdani’s growing influence over the Democratic party was on show in New York City on Tuesday as three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries …. Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, won his race comfortably, defeating the Democratic representative Dan Goldman. Another Mamdani ally, Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, defeated Antonio Reynoso, the preferred successor of retiring Democratic Representative Nydia Velázquez in New York’s seventh district, encompassing parts of Brooklyn and Queens. And in a stunning upset, the public defense investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled Representative Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the Congressional Hispanic caucus, in the state’s diverse 13th congressional district, which covers Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.” (06/24/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/23/new-york-primary-results-house
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3) FL: Vendors told to start dismantling “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
“Crews began dismantling a state-run immigration [concentration camp] in the Florida Everglades on Monday, signaling its closure even as state and federal officials continued to say little about the shutdown of a year-old facility that they once praised on a near-daily basis. State officials informed vendors in a call Monday morning that they could begin ‘demobilizing,’ or taking down, the tents, fences, trailers, and other structures at the [concentration camp], known as Alligator Alcatraz, according to three people familiar with the call. … The directive came days after the Department of Homeland Security said that all detainees had been transferred out of the remote center, which opened a little less than a year ago to much fanfare from President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, his fellow Republican.” (06/23/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/alligator-alcatraz-closing-dismantling-florida-everglades-detention-center-trump-desantis-hurricane-season-20260623.html
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4) Ukraine war: Kyiv regime says Crimea rail bridge “no longer exists” after drone strikes
Source: euronews [EU]
“Ukraine said it struck a major blow to Russia’s grip on the occupied Crimean peninsula, announcing the destruction of a key railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal in a series of strikes. The bridge is the ‘first one’ to be eliminated, Kyiv’s troops said. A railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal near the village of Rozdolne ‘no longer exists,’ Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) said on Tuesday …. The strike on the bridge will further complicate Moscow’s efforts to move troops, ammunition and fuel by rail, the crucial backbone of Russia’s military logistics.” (06/23/26)
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/23/ukraine-says-key-crimea-rail-bridge-no-longer-exists-after-drone-strikes
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5) SCOTUS backs US regime on unconstitutional immigration program
Source: Roll Call
“The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that federal border officials can use an indictment or other accusation to temporarily strip green cards from immigrants as they reenter the country. The 6-3 opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, says the officials do not need to have ‘clear and convincing’ evidence of offenses at the time of the decision to suspend the status of a Lawful [sic] Permanent Resident, commonly known as a green card holder. Under federal immigration law [sic], green card holders are presumed to be able to reenter the country. But there are certain exceptions, such as when the immigrant has ‘committed’ certain offenses, or admits to doing so, within five years of receiving the green card.” [editor’s note: “Federal immigration law” is found in Article I, Section 9 and Amendment 10 of the US Constitution, and forbids the US government to regulate immigration – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://rollcall.com/2026/06/23/supreme-court-backs-us-power-to-strip-green-cards/
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6) Turkey: Regime uses NATO summit as excuse for mass abduction operation
Source: US News & World Report
“Turkish authorities detained 209 people in anti-terrorism operations on Tuesday, prosecutors said, a day after Ankara imposed restrictions on public gatherings ahead of next month’s NATO summit. Opposition groups said the raids were part of what they called a broader crackdown on democracy and civic freedoms in Turkey. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said arrest warrants had been issued for 241 suspects under investigations into several militant organisations, including Islamic State and the far-left DHKP-C, MLKP and TKP/ML groups. It said 209 suspects had been detained and efforts to locate the remaining suspects were underway. … The operations came a day after the Ankara Governor’s Office announced a 13-day ban on demonstrations, press conferences, and other public gatherings from June 28 to July 10, citing security concerns related to the July 7-8 NATO summit.” (06/23/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-23/turkey-detains-209-in-anti-terror-raids-as-security-tightened-ahead-of-nato-summit
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7) CA: Law that forbids forced outing of trans students blocked by 9th Circuit
Source: Seattle Times
“California’s effort to shield the decisions of transgender students in public schools from the eyes of prying parents remains on hold this week after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found a state law designed to protect them was likely unconstitutional. … Passed in 2024, the California law known as Assembly Bill 1955 was intended to prevent school employees from notifying parents about a student’s gender expression without their consent. Boosters of the law [note that] it protects vulnerable students from ‘forced outing’ to families who may be hostile to their trans and nonbinary children. Opponents [pretend] it compels schools to ‘mislead’ parents about their children and leaves them ‘shut out’ of critical decisions.” (06/23/26)
https://archive.is/eh9Ax
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8) Lithuania: Regime steps down after coalition reshuffle
Source: ABC News
“Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet stepped down Tuesday after changes to the ruling coalition, setting the stage for the Baltic country’s third prime minister in two years and an incoming government that has pledged to pursue a more pragmatic relationship with China after years of strained ties. Ruginienė’s government collapsed after the center-left Social Democrats ended their coalition agreement earlier this month with the scandal-ridden populist Nemuno Aušra party as one of its former leaders faces allegations of antisemitic rhetoric.” (06/23/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/lithuanian-government-steps-after-coalition-reshuffle-134127077
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9) Gold and silver tumble as rate-hike fears hit precious metals
Source: CNBC
“Gold and silver tumbled on Tuesday, as a global sell-off in tech stocks stoked by fears of higher interest rates spilled over into metals. Gold futures fell 1.5% on Tuesday to $4,142 an ounce, while silver futures tumbled over 5% to $61.80 an ounce, before paring some losses to settle around $62.25. Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war on Feb. 28, gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset in times of turmoil has come under pressure as some of the drivers behind its ascendance have been called into question. An unexpectedly hawkish Fed meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh last week boosted expectations for a year-end interest rate hike, further pressuring gold prices, as the prospect of higher interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding precious metal.” (06/23/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/23/gold-silver-rate-hike-fears.html
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10) UN report: Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children establishes “genocidal intent” in Gaza
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in what has become a key factor in an ongoing ‘genocide’ in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that ‘Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces.’ This, it said, was a key factor in establishing ‘the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza.’ … Israel, which has long been harshly critical of the commission, slammed the report as ‘defamatory’ and a ‘libellous sham.’ It accused the investigators of ignoring ‘the brutal tactics of Hamas, which ruthlessly attacks Israeli children and uses Palestinian children as human shields.'” (06/23/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260623-israel-s-deliberate-targeting-of-children-part-of-ongoing-gaza-genocide-un-probe
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11) SCOTUS: Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks
Source: SFGate
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday barred a former Louisiana inmate from suing prison officials who cut off his dreadlocks in violation of his Rastafari religious beliefs. The justices condemned what happened to the former inmate, Damon Landor. But they ruled that a federal law designed to protect the religious rights of inmates does not permit lawsuits for money damages against individuals even when rights are violated. The high court, in a 6-3 decision, agreed with lower courts that without exception had ruled that the law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, can’t be used to hold those who violate inmates’ rights financially responsible. The justices refused to apply the rationale from their decision in 2020 that allowed Muslim men to sue over their inclusion on the FBI’s no-fly list under a sister statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/supreme-court-rules-rastafari-man-can-t-sue-22316721.php
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12) SpaceX stock tumbles 16.4%, shaving off most IPO gains since debut
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“SpaceX stock fell before the bell on Tuesday, set to pick up on a three-day run of losses after a massive run-up following its IPO earlier this month. The company also confirmed its first-ever bond issuance in a filing. Shares in the Elon Musk-led company pulled back nearly 3% in premarket, on the cusp of dropping below $150 apiece.” (06/23/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/article/spacex-stock-tumbles-164-shaving-off-most-ipo-gains-since-debut-141725657.html
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13) Australia: “Ballista” spider discovered that uses spring trap to capture prey
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A new species of spider which weaves a catapult-like silk trap to snare a single type of ant has been discovered in the remote rainforests of northern Australia. Researchers believe the nocturnal predator developed the unique hunting method to make meals of aggressive ants which are notoriously dangerous – and unusual – prey for arachnids. The snare’s ‘exceptionally high power’ flings the ant into a bigger web at ’15 times the most extreme g-forces experienced by jet pilots,’ said lead researcher Prof Ajay Narendra. Though it is yet to be formally named, scientists have nicknamed the tiny spider ‘ballista,’ after the ancient weapon used to hurl stones in battle. ‘The snare mechanism seems to have evolved as a highly specialised way of allowing the spider to ‘pick off’ potentially hazardous prey one at a time and transport them a safe distance away from ant trails and nests,’ researcher Dr Jonas Wolff said.” (06/23/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70y138y995o
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14) China takes back top spot in latest supercomputer ranking
Source: Engadget
“China has taken the world’s fastest supercomputer crown for the first time since 2017. LineShine from the nation’s National Supercomputer Center hit 2.198 Exaflops of performance, beating the previous champ El Capitan (1.809 Exaflops), located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the USA. Lineshine, a previously unlisted machine, is the first supercomputer to exceed two exaflops of ‘sustained double-precision performance using CPUs only,’ according to Top500.org. China’s new machine was able to beat its US counterpart despite technology embargoes because it doesn’t rely on GPUs like other leading models. Instead, it’s designed around a custom 304-core processor, with 13.79 million cores running at 1.55GHz and linked by a proprietary interconnect. It draws around 42.2 megawatts of power, for an efficiency of 52.07 Gigaflops per watt.” (06/23/26)
https://www.engadget.com/2199608/china-lineshine-supercomputer-is-worlds-fastest/
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15) NY: From renter to owner, Sharpton locks in National Action Network’s Harlem foothold for the long haul
Source: SFGate
“The Rev. Al Sharpton’s staff and advisers stood around him just outside the doors of a cozy theater, where some of his most fervent supporters waited to greet him in the newly renovated headquarters of the National Action Network. When doors flung open, Sharpton entered to a standing ovation that continued until he was perched behind a lectern, on a stage decorated with a floor-to-ceiling video screen. The audience was not anticipating a call for justice. Instead, the rabble-rousing youth minister turned go-to national advocate was there to declare his organization was officially an owner, no longer a renter, in the historically [b]lack Harlem neighborhood it has called home for more than two decades. ‘I want to make something permanent,’ Sharpton said recently to the gathered crowd of NAN board members, local clergy and other allies. ‘When people see that you’ve bought a building, they say, ‘Wait a minute, they’re not going nowhere.’’ (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/from-renter-to-owner-sharpton-locks-in-national-22316653.php
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16) Judge scraps SNAP junk food rules, dealing a blow to MAHA
Source: Politico
“A federal judge on Monday scrapped a set of state pilot programs intended to restrict the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program money to purchase unhealthy foods. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, wrote in her decision that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the SNAP program, misapplied federal law in approving requests from states to allow them to impose limits on what participants can buy with funds from the nation’s largest food aid program. Her ruling applies to Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia. ‘With her solicitation and approval of the pilot projects in this case, the Secretary purports to waive not just a mere administrative or technical obstacle, but the very definition of ‘food’ as it was laid down by Congress,’ Berman wrote.” (06/22/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/22/judge-snap-junk-food-rules-maha-00970700
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17) Tech giant Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs as it embraces AI
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Oracle shed about 21,000 roles globally in the last year as the US technology giant reshapes its business around artificial intelligence (AI), the firm’s latest annual report shows. The software and cloud computing firm says it had around 141,000 full-time employees as of 31 May 2026, down from about 162,000 workers at the same time last year. The ‘deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce’, the report says. The cuts, which amount to about 13% of Oracle’s workforce, are part of a wider trend among tech firms as they spend hundreds of billions of dollars on building AI infrastructure like data centres. Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta have cut thousands of job in recent months as they invest heavily in AI.” (06/23/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gy0x0j5deo
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18) France: About 20 drown trying to escape heatwave sweeping much of Europe
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“French authorities say about 20 people have drowned over the weekend while swimming in unsupervised areas to seek relief from a heatwave gripping France and other parts of Europe. … Separately, local authorities said the heatwave was the most likely reason for the deaths of two children aged two and four who were found unconscious in a car outside their home in Carpentras in southeastern France. Three more people aged 80 to 95 died in the Bordeaux region from heat-related health issues, local official Sophie Brocas told France TV.” (06/23/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/23/about-20-drown-in-france-trying-to-escape-heatwave-sweeping-much-of-europe
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19) UK: Burnham prepares for Labour leadership contest that may be a coronation
Source: SFGate
“Newly elected British lawmaker Andy Burnham met the man he hopes to replace, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on Tuesday as he prepares for a leadership contest in which he may be the only contender. Burnham is the strong front-runner to succeed Starmer, who announced Monday that he would step down within weeks after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public. Burnham, a former Cabinet minister who served since 2017 as mayor of Greater Manchester, won a special election last week for a seat in Parliament with the express aim of challenging Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham’s chances got a big boost on Monday when former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who was considered his main rival, announced his support.” (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/andy-burnham-prepares-for-a-uk-labour-leadership-22316380.php
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20) Judge rules DOJ subpoenas of Walz, others are unconstitutional
Source: United Press International
“A federal judge on Monday threw out multiple Justice Department subpoenas issued to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials, saying they are unconstitutional and part of attempts to harass President Donald Trump’s political opponents. The subpoenas sought to force Walz and others to turn over records and information as part of a federal investigation into whether Democratic officials obstructed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown through public resistance. … District Judge Patrick Schiltz said the subpoenas were ‘part of an unconstitutional effort to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration laws and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so,’ CNN reported.” (06/22/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/22/judge-throws-out-DOJ-subpoenas/1341782167543/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Kelo’s Legacy: 21 Years of Economic Development Failures
Source: Independent Institute
by Edward J López
“This week marks the 21st anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New London. This landmark case allows local governments to take private properties by eminent domain, then transfer those properties to developers to promote economic development. Urban planners describe eminent domain, if used correctly, as a tool that can promote blight abatement, job creation, and tax base expansion. The Court did not express agreement with this in its ruling, but it said that as long as a local government’s plan for economic development was crafted through an open democratic process, then using eminent domain for economic development serves the public and is therefore legal. Taking homes and businesses by majority vote. If this strikes you as an idea ripe for unintended consequences, that’s because it is. Since Kelo, local governments across the country have advanced creative notions of public purpose.” (06/23/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/23/legacy-kelo-years-economic-failures/
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22) War Isn’t Won on “Points”
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Matt Kroenig has wanted the U.S. to attack Iran for more than a decade. Now that he got the war he wanted and it failed, he is reduced to arguing this: ‘To be sure, the United States did not register a knockout punch against the Islamic Republic, but to continue the boxing metaphor, it did win on points.’ War isn’t a sport, and there is no winning on ‘points.’ The ghouls that cheered this war on treat war as if it were a video game where you get more ‘points’ with every person you kill or maim. How many ‘points’ did the U.S. get from massacring the innocent schoolgirls in Minab with missiles? If the U.S. won, as Kroenig insists, what did we win? What does the U.S. have now that it didn’t have before?” (06/23/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/war-isnt-won-on-points
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23) Trump’s second term is a murky, embarrassing and costly spectacle
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“Every time I get asked by a TV anchor what I think about the drama of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, my favorite ‘historical’ headline from the Onion comes to mind: ‘World’s Largest Metaphor Hits Ice-Berg’ And every time I do, I hear from defenders of the Trump administration complaining about the disproportionate media coverage of what should be a very minor story in the grand sweep of things. They have a point. … I can think of scores of stories that deserve more attention on the merits. But there are two problems with this complaint. First, it was Trump who invited extensive scrutiny of the effort. … Second, there’s the metaphor-on-the-Mall problem. The Reflecting Pool is a microcosm of nearly everything that vexes people about the second Trump term.” (06/23/26)
https://archive.is/Ftqxn
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24) The Iran War won’t kill dollar dominance. But Washington might.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sam Fraser
“Even if the framework agreement to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran War is successful, economic fallout from the conflict will persist at least through the end of the year. And the consequences for the global economic system — particularly the centrality of the U.S. dollar and its dominance of the oil trade — may be more far reaching. Analysts have suggested that the war may spell the end of the so-called petrodollar, or alternatively that it could bring about an era of renewed dollar dominance, or that really, the petrodollar ceased to be a meaningful driver of U.S. monetary hegemony decades ago. The latter vein of analysis is largely correct.” (06/23/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-dollar-iran-war/
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25) When Congress Waged War on Cheap Groceries
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jeffrey L Degner
“One of my earliest memories growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was a visit to the bakery at the A&P grocery store at 5800 Gull Road. It was one of a handful of places my parents could afford to shop at in the midst of the great stagflation of the 1970s. My mother made amazing birthday cakes for us as kids, and I presume she was there for some ideas. I had other things in mind. They gave away free ‘donut holes’ to kids who were presumably well-behaved, leading to my temporarily angelic behavior whenever we went there. Little did I know then, A&P was once regarded as a retail behemoth. A monopoly needing to be cut down to size. Their crime? Volume discounts. This allegedly nefarious practice was at the center of anti-chain-store sentiment that reached a fever pitch with the passage of the Robinson-Patman Act in 1936.” (06/23/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/when-congress-waged-war-on-cheap-groceries/
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26) Don’t Forget the Broader Context of the Iranian Memorandum
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“The tentative ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Iran has caused glee on the Left and furor among many on the Right. The Left might welcome ‘peace,’ but surely not as much as it enjoys infighting on the Right over the details. If last week Democrats were calling Trump a fascist warmonger, now they deride his peace efforts as those of a Neville Chamberlain patsy. Within 24 hours, the Left’s talking points shifted from a mad bomber-style Curtis LeMay in the White House to an impotent appeaser. A week ago, some Republicans were arguing that not one of the prior seven presidents had dared to use force to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Now some of them are deriding him as an Iranian enabler.” [editor’s note: Poor Vic never seems to handle the failures of his approved schemes very well – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/23/dont-forget-the-broader-context-of-the-iranian-memorandum/
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27) Interpreting Epidemic Curves: The Big Picture
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Michael Tomlinson
“If there is one thing we have learned since 2020 it is the power of confirmation bias. The public health establishment has presented a mass of data and analysis to show that it was right all along about the Covid-19 pandemic and saved millions of lives. This finding has been accepted at face value and incorporated into policy, but rests on shaky foundations. We need to look at the big picture. Apologists for vaccination generally use point-to-point comparisons – they pick an arbitrary date near the peak of the epidemic curve and compare it to a later date to show that an intervention is correlated with a reduction in infections or mortality. This is open to case-counting window bias and immortal time bias – another selection of dates could yield an entirely different result.” (06/23/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/interpreting-epidemic-curves-the-big-picture/
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28) Thomas Massie Leads the Republican Revolt Against Trump’s Iran War
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“No War Powers Resolution has ever successfully survived a presidential veto in U.S. history. The vote is therefore largely symbolic but politically potent as a sign of fracturing GOP unity. And for Massie, an outgoing congressman with nothing left to lose, it represents a final stand for the constitutional principle he spent his career defending. Massie’s resolution will almost certainly die in the Senate or fall to a presidential veto, not because the constitutional argument is weak but because the bipartisan addiction to executive war-making is stronger than any single congressman’s principles.” (06/23/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/thomas-massie-leads-the-republican-revolt-against-trumps-iran-war/
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29) Colombians want security, with rule of law
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“This month has seen two tightly contested runoff elections in South America. The results from Peru’s poll, held more than two weeks ago, are still not official – but indicate a razor-thin margin of 35,000 to 40,000 votes for the conservative candidate. The count of Sunday’s vote in Colombia has been much quicker, showing a win for right-wing political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, by a 1% margin over his rival. In the wake of highly polarizing campaign rhetoric, some observers might see the results as confirmation of a deep, irreconcilable divide within the electorate. But, viewed through a different lens, the results point to the virtually equal desire among citizens for safety and rule of law – as well as policies that offer pathways out of poverty and high economic inequality.” (06/22/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0622/Colombians-want-security-with-rule-of-law
-----
30) The Secret Origins of “Conspiracy Theory”
Source: Reason
by Jesse Walker
“A new book shows how a phrase made its way from the crime pages to our political arguments—and picked up a passel of meanings along the way.” (06/23/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/23/the-secret-origins-of-conspiracy-theory/
-----
31) Democrats Declare War on School Choice
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“Why are Democrats and their teachers’ union masters trying to shoot down parental choice in education even when we now have so many examples of these programs working? Choice and competition are two of the hallmarks of the American economy. When stores compete, customers win. Turns out this is also true for schools. That’s an inviolable law of economics. A corollary is that monopolies tend to put customers last. This is all happening at a time when public monopoly schools are showing flat or negative performance despite more funding than ever before. This is one reason why so many states are turning to the new model of school choice, with public funds going to scholarships and charter schools, and tax incentives for charitable donations to private and Catholic schools.” (06/23/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2026/06/23/democrats-declare-war-on-school-choice-n2678129
-----
332) JD Vance Infuriates the Neocons
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“The vice president is putting Israel in its place and making all the right people mad.” (06/23/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-infuriates-the-neocons/
-----
33) Blaming Ordinary People For The Ecocidal Consequences Of AI
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“I just saw an article in The Conversation titled ‘Your AI habit is wasting precious resources. Here’s how to use it responsibly,’ and it pisses me off because you can already see where this is going. Neoliberalism is already doing that thing where they shift all the blame for the environmental consequences of ecocidal capitalism to the individual consumer, like how they told everyone to ride bikes and recycle instead of regulating the corporations who are actually destroying our biosphere. There are plenty of reasons why we should all avoid using AI, but the push to offload all the responsibility for the ecological consequences of data centers onto individual users instead of just regulating AI companies is typical capitalist power-serving bullshit.” [editor’s note: Is there a moral panic Johnstone WON’T jump on and ride hard? – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/06/23/blaming-ordinary-people-for-the-ecocidal-consequences-of-ai-and-other-notes/
-----
34) A Schematic History of Universities
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“In my last post I discussed Early Twenty-First Century Universities. They involve 6 groups of participants, several of which are primarily involved because of ancillary provisions. The sort of college I favor—what I think of as the classic model—is different. To understand that, I here lay out an idealized and schematic history of the university system. In another post, I will discuss what I think universities should be.” (06/23/26)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/a-schematic-history-of-universities
-----
35) A Healthy Constitutional Squabble
Source: Law & Liberty
by James Valvo & Ryan Mulvey
“The Presidential Records Act (PRA) has lately been a source of controversy. The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) published an opinion at the beginning of April that concluded the PRA is unconstitutional because it ‘exceeds Congress’s enumerated and implied powers’ and ‘aggrandizes the Legislative Branch at the expense of the constitutional independence and autonomy of the Executive.’ OLC’s opinion has raised eyebrows. It may even be wrong on the law. Nevertheless, it is good to see the political branches jockeying for position over the constitutionality of one another’s actions. A healthy, antifragile government requires occasional interbranch battles over the structure of our government.” (06/23/26)
https://lawliberty.org/a-healthy-constitutional-squabble/
-----
36) Term Limits? OK, But Here’s How To Do Them Right
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I’m skeptical that term limits, as envisioned by their promoters, would do much to restrain or improve the quality of government, and as a political matter their opponents aren’t wrong when they point out that ‘we already have term limits, they’re called elections.’ … But if we want to give term limits a real try, I have some ideas on the matter. First, the limit should be one term. Second, the term should be fairly short — say, two years. Third, once a person has been elected to a particular office, that person becomes ineligible for election to any other office, and for employment by any branch of the government in question … ever, for life.” (06/23/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20709
-----
37) Mamdani’s building a machine, and every Democrat may soon have to kiss his ring
Source: New York Post
by John Ketcham
“On Tuesday, New York City’s Democratic voters will decide whether Zohran Mamdani controls the future of their party. With equal parts perfidy and chutzpah, Mamdani has broken with party leaders who supported his rapid rise in last year’s mayoral race to endorse three House candidates. Three-decade incumbent Nydia Velázquez, esteemed by progressives and Hispanic voters alike, was the first member of Congress to endorse Mamdani last April. ‘It’s just beautiful to have someone so authentic,’ she gushed in July. With Velázquez retiring from her NY-7 seat, she thought she could count on Mamdani to repay the favor for her chosen successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso — a union-backed progressive who isn’t part of the Democratic Socialists of America. But Mamdani, authentic to himself, failed to follow through.” (06/22/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/22/opinion/mamdanis-machine-means-every-dem-may-have-to-kiss-his-ring/
-----
38) We’ve had the answer for two centuries now
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
“Britain’s problems stem from no one being able to ever do anything. Therefore we’re short of things that have been done. Sorting this out so that more people can do more things seems sensible, for then we’d all enjoy more things that have been done. The New Manchesterism then suggests that government should do all those lovely long term things that markets can’t or don’t and thus will the land of milk and honey return. We do tend to think that the long term isn’t something that politics is going to look to. Not when a Prime Minister with a stonking majority gets – well, likely will – killed off by a chippy northerner after 2 years and how many days is it?” (06/23/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/weve-had-the-answer-for-two-centuries-now
-----
39) Leftist Attacks on American “Capitalism”
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“I’m always amused whenever I read some criticism of America’s ‘capitalist’ system by some leftist. Leftists rail against the evils of capitalism and cite American ‘capitalism’ as a prime example of such evil. I’m sure that such leftists are thoroughly confused when they encounter a libertarian. That’s because libertarians also condemn the economic system under which we Americans live. I’m sure that the leftists just don’t get it. How can a libertarian, they think, criticize and condemn America’s ‘capitalist’ system when libertarians are deeply committed to capitalism? The answer is very simple, but one that all too many leftists are loathe to consider: America doesn’t have a genuine capitalist system.” [editor’s note: Actually, it does. What it does not have is a free market system. There’s a difference – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/06/23/leftist-attacks-on-american-capitalism/
-----
40) Why increases in money supply can’t cause economic growth?
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Frank Shostak
“The view that an increase in the money supply could revive an economy is based on the idea that money transmits its effect through the aggregate expenditure. With more money in their pockets, people will be able to spend more and the rest will follow suit. Money, however, only enables one producer to exchange his produce with another producer.” (06/23/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/06/why-increases-in-money-supply-cant-cause-economic-growth/
-----
41) Iran Challenges the US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies
“The 60-day extension of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran may lead to lasting peace or it may be over within a week, doomed by the dysfunctional alliance between the US and Israel. If it holds, it could mark the beginning of a transition away from the doctrine of ‘low-intensity conflict’ that has shaped US foreign policy for decades. Talks between the US, Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar began in Switzerland on June 21. But Iran was firm that it holds the United States responsible for Israel’s violations of the US-Iran memorandum and cannot move forward with other parts of the agreement until the US fulfills its part in Article 1, which requires an actual Israeli ceasefire and withdrawal from Lebanon.” (06/23/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/iran-challenges-us-war
-----
42) Lies, Damn Lies, and the History of Capitalism
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“Mark Twain popularized the phrase, ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.’ This phrase could equally well be adapted to depict the role of socialist narratives taught as ‘history’—narratives that wreak even more economic havoc than outright lies. Lies can be debunked with facts, but socialist narratives appeal to political and moral ideologies that are less easily dislodged once they take root.” (06/23/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/lies-damn-lies-and-history-capitalism
-----
43) When Military Fellows Replace Hill Staff
Source: Antiwar.com
by Graham Markiewicz
“The pattern is obvious. In an overworked House office, whoever has time and capacity to produce a clean draft often decides what gets written. On defense portfolios, that is increasingly a uniformed fellow on detail from the Department of Defense. In practice, executive-branch detailees do not supplement staff capacity; they replace it on key tasks, shaping agendas, drafting text, and gatekeeping information that will later govern their own departments. About ninety military fellows cycle through the Hill each year, with roughly two dozen each from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and a dozen more from the Marine Corps. Their credentials are strong and intentions usually public-spirited. The problem is institutional. A congressional staffer owes undivided loyalty to Article I. An officer owes loyalty to a chain of command that runs to Article II. When workloads are crushing, that conflict is resolved by inertia rather than deliberation.” (06/23/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/graham_markiewicz/2026/06/22/when-military-fellows-replace-hill-staff
-----
44) Obesity, Wireheads, and the case for and Against Paternalism
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Suppose we come up with really good pleasure drugs, drugs that give us lots of pleasure without negative side effects such as hangovers or cirhosis of the liver. If we accept the economist’s model of the rational actor, their invention is clearly a good thing. It expands our choice set, provides us one more and possibly better way of getting what we want. To people skeptical of the rational model, that conclusion is less clear. To see the problem, consider an extreme version. Larry Niven, in some of his stories, describes wireheads, people who have had a wire inserted into the pleasure center of their brain and stimulate it with a mild electric current. The intense pleasure that results dominates all other concern, making it possible for a wirehead to die of hunger and thirst because getting food or drink is simply more trouble than it is worth.” (06/22/26)
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/obesity-wireheads-and-the-case-for
-----
45) Greenspan’s Philosophy of Freedom and Free Enterprise Prosperity
Source: New York Sun
by Larry Kudlow
“America’s most powerful central banker and an apostle of freedom and free enterprise, Alan Greenspan, passed away at age 100 early this morning. May he rest in peace. He served as Federal Reserve chairman between 1987 and 2006. Nearly 20 years. He was a great man. And a friend and mentor to myself and many other conservative economists. And during his period as Federal Reserve chairman, he prosperously piloted our economy through 3.2 percent annualized real GDP growth per year and an average of 2.5 percent inflation, even as he successfully navigated us through a number of crises. Meanwhile, job creation boomed during his tenure, stock markets soared, real incomes rose. Greenspan was at heart an old-fashioned conservative business economist with a strong belief in limited government, lower taxes, and minimal regulation.” (06/23/26)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/06/23/greenspans_philosophy_of_freedom_and_free_enterprise_prosperity_154252.html
-----
46) The Rise of “Geomaxxing”
Source: Independent Institute
by Scott Beyer
“America was founded on the idea that individuals should be free to pursue their own lives, fortunes, and happiness without excess government interference. The nation’s story has long been one of people fleeing constraints and moving towards opportunity. As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, it’s natural to ask whether the nation still embodies this. My answer is mostly yes. The U.S. remains one of the freest and most prosperous societies in human history, and continues to attract millions of immigrants. But do Americans themselves still intuitively feel this way about their country? Increasingly, the answer appears to be no. That is reflected in the rise of ‘geomaxxing,’ a buzzy internet term that describes a serious trend. More Americans are looking beyond their own borders for better quality of life, lower costs, and greater freedom.” (06/22/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/22/the-rise-of-geomaxxing/
-----
47) Time for Term Limits
Source: Checks & Balances
by Donald Ayer
“As public trust in the Supreme Court wavers, term limits provide a possible solution.” (06/22/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/time-for-term-limits
-----
48) The Art of the Tax Deal
Source: Hawaii Reporter
by Tom Yamachika
“One of the basic freedoms we have in this country, enshrined in our Constitution, is the freedom to contract. Two or more parties with differing interests can agree to just about anything, as long as it isn’t illegal, and our country’s court system will enforce that agreement. The rules work a little differently when the government is part of the agreement. The government has the ability to contract as well, but the ability is defined and limited by law. It should be. We, the people, have an interest in the deals that our government is making. Especially if tax money, or government resources paid for by tax money, is part of the deal.” (06/22/26)
https://www.hawaiireporter.com/the-art-of-the-tax-deal/
-----
49) Has Netanyahu Destroyed the U.S.-Israel Alliance?
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Donald Trump’s Iran deal (or perhaps we should say ‘capitulation?’) is a fiasco for the United States and Trump’s presidency, but it is widely viewed as a catastrophe for Israel. The more Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu tries to undermine the deal by mounting attacks on southern Lebanon, the more he enrages Trump, who keeps pointing out that the U.S. is Israel’s only ally in the world. Israel is now more isolated than ever. Israel was deliberately excluded from negotiations with Iran, because Israel was known to oppose any deal that would shorten the war. Nonetheless, in the deal the U.S. bound Israel to cease attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Recent polls conducted in Israel show that some 92 percent of Israelis believe that Iran won the war. Comparable majorities say Netanyahu’s launching of the war was a calamitous mistake and achieved none of its objectives.” (06/23/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/23/has-netanyahu-destroyed-us-israel-alliance/
-----
50) Enterprising the Final Frontier
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“In his new book, New Space Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Path to the Stars, Rainer Zitelmann presents the idea that private enterprise is the best way for space exploration to go forward, pointing out the ways in which public funding, since the days of the Moon landing, has been too uneven (and insufficient) to make the advances possible. When reaching space initially was a political contest, the spirit was there, but since the end of the Cold War, it has been less of a priority. … But today, billionaires have become more involved, and the prospect of space tourism has also put more money into the enterprise.” (06/22/26)
https://fee.org/articles/enterprising-the-final-frontier/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/23/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Tucker To GOP: ‘I’m Outta Here!'” (06/23/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1qxoNNLvdNzJv
-----
52) Rising, 06/23/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers his radar on Elon Musk’s new trillions, and Democrats’ promises to both rein in his wealth and prosecute him once they return to power.” (06/23/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5931929-rising-june-23-2026/
-----
53) Cato Podcast, 06/23/26
Source: Cato Institute
“What the Declaration Still Has to Say in 2026.” (06/23/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/what-declaration-still-has-say-2026
-----
44) Fountainhead Forum, episode 462
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Chip Joyce on teaching your kids to think and the decline of New York City.” (06/23/26)
https://rumble.com/v7boxuy-ff-462-chip-joyce-on-teaching-your-kids-to-think-and-the-decline-of-new-yor.html
-----
55) Trump Watch, 06/23/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Is Trump Now Free of His Iran Tar Baby?” (06/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0TOthrN5fE
-----
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/23/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Rages Over Reflecting Pool Fiasco—and Arrests Over It Get Darker.” (06/23/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/212187/trump-rages-reflecting-pool-fiasco-and-arrests-get-darker
-----
57) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/23/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly chat with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. If you’re needing a quick reality supplement, this is an extra-strength dose, served up in less than 30 minutes.” (06/23/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-82vuf-1af6aac
-----
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/22/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Issues Waivers for Iranian Oil Sales, US and Iran Establish Lebanon Deconfliction Cell, and More.” (06/22/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3eTAZ2MhU
-----
59) Sal and Mark, episode 7
Source: Free Talk Live
“Mark is in Costa Rica, so Sal Mayweather and Free Talk Live veteran Wayne Quinn hold it down for a packed episode covering everything from the Zcash exploit to the future of financial privacy.” (06/22/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/samsep7
-----
60) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/22/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“US To Buy Iranian Oil – First Time In Decades!” (06/22/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AGRnnVgwoPGl
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Congress directs Trump to end Iran war
2) NYC: Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries
3) FL: Vendors told to start dismantling “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp
4) Ukraine war: Kyiv regime says Crimea rail bridge “no longer exists” after drone strikes
5) SCOTUS backs US regime on unconstitutional immigration program
6) Turkey: Regime uses NATO summit as excuse for mass abduction operation
7) CA: Law that forbids forced outing of trans students blocked by 9th Circuit
8) Lithuania: Regime steps down after coalition reshuffle
9) Gold and silver tumble as rate-hike fears hit precious metals
10) UN report: Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children establishes “genocidal intent” in Gaza
11) SCOTUS: Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks
12) SpaceX stock tumbles 16.4%, shaving off most IPO gains since debut
13) Australia: “Ballista” spider discovered that uses spring trap to capture prey
14) China takes back top spot in latest supercomputer ranking
15) NY: From renter to owner, Sharpton locks in National Action Network’s Harlem foothold for the long haul
16) Judge scraps SNAP junk food rules, dealing a blow to MAHA
17) Tech giant Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs as it embraces AI
18) France: About 20 drown trying to escape heatwave sweeping much of Europe
19) UK: Burnham prepares for Labour leadership contest that may be a coronation
20) Judge rules DOJ subpoenas of Walz, others are unconstitutional
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Kelo’s Legacy: 21 Years of Economic Development Failures
22) War Isn’t Won on “Points”
23) Trump’s second term is a murky, embarrassing and costly spectacle
24) The Iran War won’t kill dollar dominance. But Washington might.
25) When Congress Waged War on Cheap Groceries
26) Don’t Forget the Broader Context of the Iranian Memorandum
27) Interpreting Epidemic Curves: The Big Picture
28) Thomas Massie Leads the Republican Revolt Against Trump’s Iran War
29) Colombians want security, with rule of law
30) The Secret Origins of “Conspiracy Theory”
31) Democrats Declare War on School Choice
32) JD Vance Infuriates the Neocons
33) Blaming Ordinary People For The Ecocidal Consequences Of AI
34) A Schematic History of Universities
35) A Healthy Constitutional Squabble
36) Term Limits? OK, But Here’s How To Do Them Right
37) Mamdani’s building a machine, and every Democrat may soon have to kiss his ring
38) We’ve had the answer for two centuries now
39) Leftist Attacks on American “Capitalism”
40) Why increases in money supply can’t cause economic growth?
41) Iran Challenges the US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare
42) Lies, Damn Lies, and the History of Capitalism
43) When Military Fellows Replace Hill Staff
44) Obesity, Wireheads, and the case for and Against Paternalism
45) Greenspan’s Philosophy of Freedom and Free Enterprise Prosperity
46) The Rise of “Geomaxxing”
47) Time for Term Limits
48) The Art of the Tax Deal
49) Has Netanyahu Destroyed the U.S.-Israel Alliance?
50) Enterprising the Final Frontier
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/23/26
52) Rising, 06/23/26
53) Cato Podcast, 06/23/26
54) Fountainhead Forum, episode 462
55) Trump Watch, 06/23/26
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/23/26
57) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/23/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/22/26
59) Sal and Mark, episode 7
60) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/22/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Congress directs Trump to end Iran war
Source: The Hill
“The Senate on Tuesday approved a House-passed resolution directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran after four GOP senators broke ranks and voted to undercut Trump’s authority as commander in chief. The Senate voted 50 to 48 to approve the resolution, which passed the House 215-208 earlier this month. The measure came straight to the Senate floor Tuesday for an up-or-down vote on final passage. It does not need Trump’s signature because it is a concurrent resolution.” [editor’s note: Many media outlets claim that this is “symbolic” or “does not have the force of law.” The War Powers Act says it is non-symbolic, does have the force of law, and is non-optional for Trump. It’s likely to end up in court – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5936650-iran-war-powers-senate/
-----
2) NYC: Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Zohran Mamdani’s growing influence over the Democratic party was on show in New York City on Tuesday as three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries …. Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, won his race comfortably, defeating the Democratic representative Dan Goldman. Another Mamdani ally, Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, defeated Antonio Reynoso, the preferred successor of retiring Democratic Representative Nydia Velázquez in New York’s seventh district, encompassing parts of Brooklyn and Queens. And in a stunning upset, the public defense investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled Representative Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the Congressional Hispanic caucus, in the state’s diverse 13th congressional district, which covers Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.” (06/24/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/23/new-york-primary-results-house
-----
3) FL: Vendors told to start dismantling “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
“Crews began dismantling a state-run immigration [concentration camp] in the Florida Everglades on Monday, signaling its closure even as state and federal officials continued to say little about the shutdown of a year-old facility that they once praised on a near-daily basis. State officials informed vendors in a call Monday morning that they could begin ‘demobilizing,’ or taking down, the tents, fences, trailers, and other structures at the [concentration camp], known as Alligator Alcatraz, according to three people familiar with the call. … The directive came days after the Department of Homeland Security said that all detainees had been transferred out of the remote center, which opened a little less than a year ago to much fanfare from President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, his fellow Republican.” (06/23/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/alligator-alcatraz-closing-dismantling-florida-everglades-detention-center-trump-desantis-hurricane-season-20260623.html
-----
4) Ukraine war: Kyiv regime says Crimea rail bridge “no longer exists” after drone strikes
Source: euronews [EU]
“Ukraine said it struck a major blow to Russia’s grip on the occupied Crimean peninsula, announcing the destruction of a key railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal in a series of strikes. The bridge is the ‘first one’ to be eliminated, Kyiv’s troops said. A railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal near the village of Rozdolne ‘no longer exists,’ Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) said on Tuesday …. The strike on the bridge will further complicate Moscow’s efforts to move troops, ammunition and fuel by rail, the crucial backbone of Russia’s military logistics.” (06/23/26)
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/23/ukraine-says-key-crimea-rail-bridge-no-longer-exists-after-drone-strikes
-----
5) SCOTUS backs US regime on unconstitutional immigration program
Source: Roll Call
“The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that federal border officials can use an indictment or other accusation to temporarily strip green cards from immigrants as they reenter the country. The 6-3 opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, says the officials do not need to have ‘clear and convincing’ evidence of offenses at the time of the decision to suspend the status of a Lawful [sic] Permanent Resident, commonly known as a green card holder. Under federal immigration law [sic], green card holders are presumed to be able to reenter the country. But there are certain exceptions, such as when the immigrant has ‘committed’ certain offenses, or admits to doing so, within five years of receiving the green card.” [editor’s note: “Federal immigration law” is found in Article I, Section 9 and Amendment 10 of the US Constitution, and forbids the US government to regulate immigration – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://rollcall.com/2026/06/23/supreme-court-backs-us-power-to-strip-green-cards/
-----
6) Turkey: Regime uses NATO summit as excuse for mass abduction operation
Source: US News & World Report
“Turkish authorities detained 209 people in anti-terrorism operations on Tuesday, prosecutors said, a day after Ankara imposed restrictions on public gatherings ahead of next month’s NATO summit. Opposition groups said the raids were part of what they called a broader crackdown on democracy and civic freedoms in Turkey. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said arrest warrants had been issued for 241 suspects under investigations into several militant organisations, including Islamic State and the far-left DHKP-C, MLKP and TKP/ML groups. It said 209 suspects had been detained and efforts to locate the remaining suspects were underway. … The operations came a day after the Ankara Governor’s Office announced a 13-day ban on demonstrations, press conferences, and other public gatherings from June 28 to July 10, citing security concerns related to the July 7-8 NATO summit.” (06/23/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-23/turkey-detains-209-in-anti-terror-raids-as-security-tightened-ahead-of-nato-summit
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7) CA: Law that forbids forced outing of trans students blocked by 9th Circuit
Source: Seattle Times
“California’s effort to shield the decisions of transgender students in public schools from the eyes of prying parents remains on hold this week after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found a state law designed to protect them was likely unconstitutional. … Passed in 2024, the California law known as Assembly Bill 1955 was intended to prevent school employees from notifying parents about a student’s gender expression without their consent. Boosters of the law [note that] it protects vulnerable students from ‘forced outing’ to families who may be hostile to their trans and nonbinary children. Opponents [pretend] it compels schools to ‘mislead’ parents about their children and leaves them ‘shut out’ of critical decisions.” (06/23/26)
https://archive.is/eh9Ax
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8) Lithuania: Regime steps down after coalition reshuffle
Source: ABC News
“Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet stepped down Tuesday after changes to the ruling coalition, setting the stage for the Baltic country’s third prime minister in two years and an incoming government that has pledged to pursue a more pragmatic relationship with China after years of strained ties. Ruginienė’s government collapsed after the center-left Social Democrats ended their coalition agreement earlier this month with the scandal-ridden populist Nemuno Aušra party as one of its former leaders faces allegations of antisemitic rhetoric.” (06/23/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/lithuanian-government-steps-after-coalition-reshuffle-134127077
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9) Gold and silver tumble as rate-hike fears hit precious metals
Source: CNBC
“Gold and silver tumbled on Tuesday, as a global sell-off in tech stocks stoked by fears of higher interest rates spilled over into metals. Gold futures fell 1.5% on Tuesday to $4,142 an ounce, while silver futures tumbled over 5% to $61.80 an ounce, before paring some losses to settle around $62.25. Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war on Feb. 28, gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset in times of turmoil has come under pressure as some of the drivers behind its ascendance have been called into question. An unexpectedly hawkish Fed meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh last week boosted expectations for a year-end interest rate hike, further pressuring gold prices, as the prospect of higher interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding precious metal.” (06/23/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/23/gold-silver-rate-hike-fears.html
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10) UN report: Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children establishes “genocidal intent” in Gaza
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in what has become a key factor in an ongoing ‘genocide’ in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that ‘Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces.’ This, it said, was a key factor in establishing ‘the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza.’ … Israel, which has long been harshly critical of the commission, slammed the report as ‘defamatory’ and a ‘libellous sham.’ It accused the investigators of ignoring ‘the brutal tactics of Hamas, which ruthlessly attacks Israeli children and uses Palestinian children as human shields.'” (06/23/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260623-israel-s-deliberate-targeting-of-children-part-of-ongoing-gaza-genocide-un-probe
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11) SCOTUS: Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks
Source: SFGate
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday barred a former Louisiana inmate from suing prison officials who cut off his dreadlocks in violation of his Rastafari religious beliefs. The justices condemned what happened to the former inmate, Damon Landor. But they ruled that a federal law designed to protect the religious rights of inmates does not permit lawsuits for money damages against individuals even when rights are violated. The high court, in a 6-3 decision, agreed with lower courts that without exception had ruled that the law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, can’t be used to hold those who violate inmates’ rights financially responsible. The justices refused to apply the rationale from their decision in 2020 that allowed Muslim men to sue over their inclusion on the FBI’s no-fly list under a sister statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/supreme-court-rules-rastafari-man-can-t-sue-22316721.php
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12) SpaceX stock tumbles 16.4%, shaving off most IPO gains since debut
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“SpaceX stock fell before the bell on Tuesday, set to pick up on a three-day run of losses after a massive run-up following its IPO earlier this month. The company also confirmed its first-ever bond issuance in a filing. Shares in the Elon Musk-led company pulled back nearly 3% in premarket, on the cusp of dropping below $150 apiece.” (06/23/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/article/spacex-stock-tumbles-164-shaving-off-most-ipo-gains-since-debut-141725657.html
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13) Australia: “Ballista” spider discovered that uses spring trap to capture prey
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A new species of spider which weaves a catapult-like silk trap to snare a single type of ant has been discovered in the remote rainforests of northern Australia. Researchers believe the nocturnal predator developed the unique hunting method to make meals of aggressive ants which are notoriously dangerous – and unusual – prey for arachnids. The snare’s ‘exceptionally high power’ flings the ant into a bigger web at ’15 times the most extreme g-forces experienced by jet pilots,’ said lead researcher Prof Ajay Narendra. Though it is yet to be formally named, scientists have nicknamed the tiny spider ‘ballista,’ after the ancient weapon used to hurl stones in battle. ‘The snare mechanism seems to have evolved as a highly specialised way of allowing the spider to ‘pick off’ potentially hazardous prey one at a time and transport them a safe distance away from ant trails and nests,’ researcher Dr Jonas Wolff said.” (06/23/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70y138y995o
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14) China takes back top spot in latest supercomputer ranking
Source: Engadget
“China has taken the world’s fastest supercomputer crown for the first time since 2017. LineShine from the nation’s National Supercomputer Center hit 2.198 Exaflops of performance, beating the previous champ El Capitan (1.809 Exaflops), located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the USA. Lineshine, a previously unlisted machine, is the first supercomputer to exceed two exaflops of ‘sustained double-precision performance using CPUs only,’ according to Top500.org. China’s new machine was able to beat its US counterpart despite technology embargoes because it doesn’t rely on GPUs like other leading models. Instead, it’s designed around a custom 304-core processor, with 13.79 million cores running at 1.55GHz and linked by a proprietary interconnect. It draws around 42.2 megawatts of power, for an efficiency of 52.07 Gigaflops per watt.” (06/23/26)
https://www.engadget.com/2199608/china-lineshine-supercomputer-is-worlds-fastest/
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15) NY: From renter to owner, Sharpton locks in National Action Network’s Harlem foothold for the long haul
Source: SFGate
“The Rev. Al Sharpton’s staff and advisers stood around him just outside the doors of a cozy theater, where some of his most fervent supporters waited to greet him in the newly renovated headquarters of the National Action Network. When doors flung open, Sharpton entered to a standing ovation that continued until he was perched behind a lectern, on a stage decorated with a floor-to-ceiling video screen. The audience was not anticipating a call for justice. Instead, the rabble-rousing youth minister turned go-to national advocate was there to declare his organization was officially an owner, no longer a renter, in the historically [b]lack Harlem neighborhood it has called home for more than two decades. ‘I want to make something permanent,’ Sharpton said recently to the gathered crowd of NAN board members, local clergy and other allies. ‘When people see that you’ve bought a building, they say, ‘Wait a minute, they’re not going nowhere.’’ (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/from-renter-to-owner-sharpton-locks-in-national-22316653.php
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16) Judge scraps SNAP junk food rules, dealing a blow to MAHA
Source: Politico
“A federal judge on Monday scrapped a set of state pilot programs intended to restrict the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program money to purchase unhealthy foods. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, wrote in her decision that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the SNAP program, misapplied federal law in approving requests from states to allow them to impose limits on what participants can buy with funds from the nation’s largest food aid program. Her ruling applies to Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia. ‘With her solicitation and approval of the pilot projects in this case, the Secretary purports to waive not just a mere administrative or technical obstacle, but the very definition of ‘food’ as it was laid down by Congress,’ Berman wrote.” (06/22/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/22/judge-snap-junk-food-rules-maha-00970700
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17) Tech giant Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs as it embraces AI
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Oracle shed about 21,000 roles globally in the last year as the US technology giant reshapes its business around artificial intelligence (AI), the firm’s latest annual report shows. The software and cloud computing firm says it had around 141,000 full-time employees as of 31 May 2026, down from about 162,000 workers at the same time last year. The ‘deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce’, the report says. The cuts, which amount to about 13% of Oracle’s workforce, are part of a wider trend among tech firms as they spend hundreds of billions of dollars on building AI infrastructure like data centres. Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta have cut thousands of job in recent months as they invest heavily in AI.” (06/23/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gy0x0j5deo
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18) France: About 20 drown trying to escape heatwave sweeping much of Europe
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“French authorities say about 20 people have drowned over the weekend while swimming in unsupervised areas to seek relief from a heatwave gripping France and other parts of Europe. … Separately, local authorities said the heatwave was the most likely reason for the deaths of two children aged two and four who were found unconscious in a car outside their home in Carpentras in southeastern France. Three more people aged 80 to 95 died in the Bordeaux region from heat-related health issues, local official Sophie Brocas told France TV.” (06/23/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/23/about-20-drown-in-france-trying-to-escape-heatwave-sweeping-much-of-europe
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19) UK: Burnham prepares for Labour leadership contest that may be a coronation
Source: SFGate
“Newly elected British lawmaker Andy Burnham met the man he hopes to replace, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on Tuesday as he prepares for a leadership contest in which he may be the only contender. Burnham is the strong front-runner to succeed Starmer, who announced Monday that he would step down within weeks after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public. Burnham, a former Cabinet minister who served since 2017 as mayor of Greater Manchester, won a special election last week for a seat in Parliament with the express aim of challenging Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham’s chances got a big boost on Monday when former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who was considered his main rival, announced his support.” (06/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/andy-burnham-prepares-for-a-uk-labour-leadership-22316380.php
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20) Judge rules DOJ subpoenas of Walz, others are unconstitutional
Source: United Press International
“A federal judge on Monday threw out multiple Justice Department subpoenas issued to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials, saying they are unconstitutional and part of attempts to harass President Donald Trump’s political opponents. The subpoenas sought to force Walz and others to turn over records and information as part of a federal investigation into whether Democratic officials obstructed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown through public resistance. … District Judge Patrick Schiltz said the subpoenas were ‘part of an unconstitutional effort to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration laws and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so,’ CNN reported.” (06/22/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/22/judge-throws-out-DOJ-subpoenas/1341782167543/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Kelo’s Legacy: 21 Years of Economic Development Failures
Source: Independent Institute
by Edward J López
“This week marks the 21st anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New London. This landmark case allows local governments to take private properties by eminent domain, then transfer those properties to developers to promote economic development. Urban planners describe eminent domain, if used correctly, as a tool that can promote blight abatement, job creation, and tax base expansion. The Court did not express agreement with this in its ruling, but it said that as long as a local government’s plan for economic development was crafted through an open democratic process, then using eminent domain for economic development serves the public and is therefore legal. Taking homes and businesses by majority vote. If this strikes you as an idea ripe for unintended consequences, that’s because it is. Since Kelo, local governments across the country have advanced creative notions of public purpose.” (06/23/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/23/legacy-kelo-years-economic-failures/
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22) War Isn’t Won on “Points”
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Matt Kroenig has wanted the U.S. to attack Iran for more than a decade. Now that he got the war he wanted and it failed, he is reduced to arguing this: ‘To be sure, the United States did not register a knockout punch against the Islamic Republic, but to continue the boxing metaphor, it did win on points.’ War isn’t a sport, and there is no winning on ‘points.’ The ghouls that cheered this war on treat war as if it were a video game where you get more ‘points’ with every person you kill or maim. How many ‘points’ did the U.S. get from massacring the innocent schoolgirls in Minab with missiles? If the U.S. won, as Kroenig insists, what did we win? What does the U.S. have now that it didn’t have before?” (06/23/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/war-isnt-won-on-points
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23) Trump’s second term is a murky, embarrassing and costly spectacle
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“Every time I get asked by a TV anchor what I think about the drama of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, my favorite ‘historical’ headline from the Onion comes to mind: ‘World’s Largest Metaphor Hits Ice-Berg’ And every time I do, I hear from defenders of the Trump administration complaining about the disproportionate media coverage of what should be a very minor story in the grand sweep of things. They have a point. … I can think of scores of stories that deserve more attention on the merits. But there are two problems with this complaint. First, it was Trump who invited extensive scrutiny of the effort. … Second, there’s the metaphor-on-the-Mall problem. The Reflecting Pool is a microcosm of nearly everything that vexes people about the second Trump term.” (06/23/26)
https://archive.is/Ftqxn
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24) The Iran War won’t kill dollar dominance. But Washington might.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sam Fraser
“Even if the framework agreement to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran War is successful, economic fallout from the conflict will persist at least through the end of the year. And the consequences for the global economic system — particularly the centrality of the U.S. dollar and its dominance of the oil trade — may be more far reaching. Analysts have suggested that the war may spell the end of the so-called petrodollar, or alternatively that it could bring about an era of renewed dollar dominance, or that really, the petrodollar ceased to be a meaningful driver of U.S. monetary hegemony decades ago. The latter vein of analysis is largely correct.” (06/23/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-dollar-iran-war/
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25) When Congress Waged War on Cheap Groceries
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jeffrey L Degner
“One of my earliest memories growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was a visit to the bakery at the A&P grocery store at 5800 Gull Road. It was one of a handful of places my parents could afford to shop at in the midst of the great stagflation of the 1970s. My mother made amazing birthday cakes for us as kids, and I presume she was there for some ideas. I had other things in mind. They gave away free ‘donut holes’ to kids who were presumably well-behaved, leading to my temporarily angelic behavior whenever we went there. Little did I know then, A&P was once regarded as a retail behemoth. A monopoly needing to be cut down to size. Their crime? Volume discounts. This allegedly nefarious practice was at the center of anti-chain-store sentiment that reached a fever pitch with the passage of the Robinson-Patman Act in 1936.” (06/23/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/when-congress-waged-war-on-cheap-groceries/
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26) Don’t Forget the Broader Context of the Iranian Memorandum
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“The tentative ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Iran has caused glee on the Left and furor among many on the Right. The Left might welcome ‘peace,’ but surely not as much as it enjoys infighting on the Right over the details. If last week Democrats were calling Trump a fascist warmonger, now they deride his peace efforts as those of a Neville Chamberlain patsy. Within 24 hours, the Left’s talking points shifted from a mad bomber-style Curtis LeMay in the White House to an impotent appeaser. A week ago, some Republicans were arguing that not one of the prior seven presidents had dared to use force to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Now some of them are deriding him as an Iranian enabler.” [editor’s note: Poor Vic never seems to handle the failures of his approved schemes very well – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/06/23/dont-forget-the-broader-context-of-the-iranian-memorandum/
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27) Interpreting Epidemic Curves: The Big Picture
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Michael Tomlinson
“If there is one thing we have learned since 2020 it is the power of confirmation bias. The public health establishment has presented a mass of data and analysis to show that it was right all along about the Covid-19 pandemic and saved millions of lives. This finding has been accepted at face value and incorporated into policy, but rests on shaky foundations. We need to look at the big picture. Apologists for vaccination generally use point-to-point comparisons – they pick an arbitrary date near the peak of the epidemic curve and compare it to a later date to show that an intervention is correlated with a reduction in infections or mortality. This is open to case-counting window bias and immortal time bias – another selection of dates could yield an entirely different result.” (06/23/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/interpreting-epidemic-curves-the-big-picture/
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28) Thomas Massie Leads the Republican Revolt Against Trump’s Iran War
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“No War Powers Resolution has ever successfully survived a presidential veto in U.S. history. The vote is therefore largely symbolic but politically potent as a sign of fracturing GOP unity. And for Massie, an outgoing congressman with nothing left to lose, it represents a final stand for the constitutional principle he spent his career defending. Massie’s resolution will almost certainly die in the Senate or fall to a presidential veto, not because the constitutional argument is weak but because the bipartisan addiction to executive war-making is stronger than any single congressman’s principles.” (06/23/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/thomas-massie-leads-the-republican-revolt-against-trumps-iran-war/
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29) Colombians want security, with rule of law
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“This month has seen two tightly contested runoff elections in South America. The results from Peru’s poll, held more than two weeks ago, are still not official – but indicate a razor-thin margin of 35,000 to 40,000 votes for the conservative candidate. The count of Sunday’s vote in Colombia has been much quicker, showing a win for right-wing political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, by a 1% margin over his rival. In the wake of highly polarizing campaign rhetoric, some observers might see the results as confirmation of a deep, irreconcilable divide within the electorate. But, viewed through a different lens, the results point to the virtually equal desire among citizens for safety and rule of law – as well as policies that offer pathways out of poverty and high economic inequality.” (06/22/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0622/Colombians-want-security-with-rule-of-law
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30) The Secret Origins of “Conspiracy Theory”
Source: Reason
by Jesse Walker
“A new book shows how a phrase made its way from the crime pages to our political arguments—and picked up a passel of meanings along the way.” (06/23/26)
https://reason.com/2026/06/23/the-secret-origins-of-conspiracy-theory/
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31) Democrats Declare War on School Choice
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“Why are Democrats and their teachers’ union masters trying to shoot down parental choice in education even when we now have so many examples of these programs working? Choice and competition are two of the hallmarks of the American economy. When stores compete, customers win. Turns out this is also true for schools. That’s an inviolable law of economics. A corollary is that monopolies tend to put customers last. This is all happening at a time when public monopoly schools are showing flat or negative performance despite more funding than ever before. This is one reason why so many states are turning to the new model of school choice, with public funds going to scholarships and charter schools, and tax incentives for charitable donations to private and Catholic schools.” (06/23/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2026/06/23/democrats-declare-war-on-school-choice-n2678129
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332) JD Vance Infuriates the Neocons
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“The vice president is putting Israel in its place and making all the right people mad.” (06/23/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-infuriates-the-neocons/
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33) Blaming Ordinary People For The Ecocidal Consequences Of AI
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“I just saw an article in The Conversation titled ‘Your AI habit is wasting precious resources. Here’s how to use it responsibly,’ and it pisses me off because you can already see where this is going. Neoliberalism is already doing that thing where they shift all the blame for the environmental consequences of ecocidal capitalism to the individual consumer, like how they told everyone to ride bikes and recycle instead of regulating the corporations who are actually destroying our biosphere. There are plenty of reasons why we should all avoid using AI, but the push to offload all the responsibility for the ecological consequences of data centers onto individual users instead of just regulating AI companies is typical capitalist power-serving bullshit.” [editor’s note: Is there a moral panic Johnstone WON’T jump on and ride hard? – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/06/23/blaming-ordinary-people-for-the-ecocidal-consequences-of-ai-and-other-notes/
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34) A Schematic History of Universities
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“In my last post I discussed Early Twenty-First Century Universities. They involve 6 groups of participants, several of which are primarily involved because of ancillary provisions. The sort of college I favor—what I think of as the classic model—is different. To understand that, I here lay out an idealized and schematic history of the university system. In another post, I will discuss what I think universities should be.” (06/23/26)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/a-schematic-history-of-universities
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35) A Healthy Constitutional Squabble
Source: Law & Liberty
by James Valvo & Ryan Mulvey
“The Presidential Records Act (PRA) has lately been a source of controversy. The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) published an opinion at the beginning of April that concluded the PRA is unconstitutional because it ‘exceeds Congress’s enumerated and implied powers’ and ‘aggrandizes the Legislative Branch at the expense of the constitutional independence and autonomy of the Executive.’ OLC’s opinion has raised eyebrows. It may even be wrong on the law. Nevertheless, it is good to see the political branches jockeying for position over the constitutionality of one another’s actions. A healthy, antifragile government requires occasional interbranch battles over the structure of our government.” (06/23/26)
https://lawliberty.org/a-healthy-constitutional-squabble/
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36) Term Limits? OK, But Here’s How To Do Them Right
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I’m skeptical that term limits, as envisioned by their promoters, would do much to restrain or improve the quality of government, and as a political matter their opponents aren’t wrong when they point out that ‘we already have term limits, they’re called elections.’ … But if we want to give term limits a real try, I have some ideas on the matter. First, the limit should be one term. Second, the term should be fairly short — say, two years. Third, once a person has been elected to a particular office, that person becomes ineligible for election to any other office, and for employment by any branch of the government in question … ever, for life.” (06/23/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20709
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37) Mamdani’s building a machine, and every Democrat may soon have to kiss his ring
Source: New York Post
by John Ketcham
“On Tuesday, New York City’s Democratic voters will decide whether Zohran Mamdani controls the future of their party. With equal parts perfidy and chutzpah, Mamdani has broken with party leaders who supported his rapid rise in last year’s mayoral race to endorse three House candidates. Three-decade incumbent Nydia Velázquez, esteemed by progressives and Hispanic voters alike, was the first member of Congress to endorse Mamdani last April. ‘It’s just beautiful to have someone so authentic,’ she gushed in July. With Velázquez retiring from her NY-7 seat, she thought she could count on Mamdani to repay the favor for her chosen successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso — a union-backed progressive who isn’t part of the Democratic Socialists of America. But Mamdani, authentic to himself, failed to follow through.” (06/22/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/06/22/opinion/mamdanis-machine-means-every-dem-may-have-to-kiss-his-ring/
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38) We’ve had the answer for two centuries now
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
“Britain’s problems stem from no one being able to ever do anything. Therefore we’re short of things that have been done. Sorting this out so that more people can do more things seems sensible, for then we’d all enjoy more things that have been done. The New Manchesterism then suggests that government should do all those lovely long term things that markets can’t or don’t and thus will the land of milk and honey return. We do tend to think that the long term isn’t something that politics is going to look to. Not when a Prime Minister with a stonking majority gets – well, likely will – killed off by a chippy northerner after 2 years and how many days is it?” (06/23/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/weve-had-the-answer-for-two-centuries-now
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39) Leftist Attacks on American “Capitalism”
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“I’m always amused whenever I read some criticism of America’s ‘capitalist’ system by some leftist. Leftists rail against the evils of capitalism and cite American ‘capitalism’ as a prime example of such evil. I’m sure that such leftists are thoroughly confused when they encounter a libertarian. That’s because libertarians also condemn the economic system under which we Americans live. I’m sure that the leftists just don’t get it. How can a libertarian, they think, criticize and condemn America’s ‘capitalist’ system when libertarians are deeply committed to capitalism? The answer is very simple, but one that all too many leftists are loathe to consider: America doesn’t have a genuine capitalist system.” [editor’s note: Actually, it does. What it does not have is a free market system. There’s a difference – TLK] (06/23/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/06/23/leftist-attacks-on-american-capitalism/
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40) Why increases in money supply can’t cause economic growth?
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Frank Shostak
“The view that an increase in the money supply could revive an economy is based on the idea that money transmits its effect through the aggregate expenditure. With more money in their pockets, people will be able to spend more and the rest will follow suit. Money, however, only enables one producer to exchange his produce with another producer.” (06/23/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/06/why-increases-in-money-supply-cant-cause-economic-growth/
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41) Iran Challenges the US Doctrine of Low-Intensity Warfare
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies
“The 60-day extension of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran may lead to lasting peace or it may be over within a week, doomed by the dysfunctional alliance between the US and Israel. If it holds, it could mark the beginning of a transition away from the doctrine of ‘low-intensity conflict’ that has shaped US foreign policy for decades. Talks between the US, Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar began in Switzerland on June 21. But Iran was firm that it holds the United States responsible for Israel’s violations of the US-Iran memorandum and cannot move forward with other parts of the agreement until the US fulfills its part in Article 1, which requires an actual Israeli ceasefire and withdrawal from Lebanon.” (06/23/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/iran-challenges-us-war
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42) Lies, Damn Lies, and the History of Capitalism
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“Mark Twain popularized the phrase, ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.’ This phrase could equally well be adapted to depict the role of socialist narratives taught as ‘history’—narratives that wreak even more economic havoc than outright lies. Lies can be debunked with facts, but socialist narratives appeal to political and moral ideologies that are less easily dislodged once they take root.” (06/23/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/lies-damn-lies-and-history-capitalism
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43) When Military Fellows Replace Hill Staff
Source: Antiwar.com
by Graham Markiewicz
“The pattern is obvious. In an overworked House office, whoever has time and capacity to produce a clean draft often decides what gets written. On defense portfolios, that is increasingly a uniformed fellow on detail from the Department of Defense. In practice, executive-branch detailees do not supplement staff capacity; they replace it on key tasks, shaping agendas, drafting text, and gatekeeping information that will later govern their own departments. About ninety military fellows cycle through the Hill each year, with roughly two dozen each from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and a dozen more from the Marine Corps. Their credentials are strong and intentions usually public-spirited. The problem is institutional. A congressional staffer owes undivided loyalty to Article I. An officer owes loyalty to a chain of command that runs to Article II. When workloads are crushing, that conflict is resolved by inertia rather than deliberation.” (06/23/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/graham_markiewicz/2026/06/22/when-military-fellows-replace-hill-staff
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44) Obesity, Wireheads, and the case for and Against Paternalism
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Suppose we come up with really good pleasure drugs, drugs that give us lots of pleasure without negative side effects such as hangovers or cirhosis of the liver. If we accept the economist’s model of the rational actor, their invention is clearly a good thing. It expands our choice set, provides us one more and possibly better way of getting what we want. To people skeptical of the rational model, that conclusion is less clear. To see the problem, consider an extreme version. Larry Niven, in some of his stories, describes wireheads, people who have had a wire inserted into the pleasure center of their brain and stimulate it with a mild electric current. The intense pleasure that results dominates all other concern, making it possible for a wirehead to die of hunger and thirst because getting food or drink is simply more trouble than it is worth.” (06/22/26)
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/obesity-wireheads-and-the-case-for
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45) Greenspan’s Philosophy of Freedom and Free Enterprise Prosperity
Source: New York Sun
by Larry Kudlow
“America’s most powerful central banker and an apostle of freedom and free enterprise, Alan Greenspan, passed away at age 100 early this morning. May he rest in peace. He served as Federal Reserve chairman between 1987 and 2006. Nearly 20 years. He was a great man. And a friend and mentor to myself and many other conservative economists. And during his period as Federal Reserve chairman, he prosperously piloted our economy through 3.2 percent annualized real GDP growth per year and an average of 2.5 percent inflation, even as he successfully navigated us through a number of crises. Meanwhile, job creation boomed during his tenure, stock markets soared, real incomes rose. Greenspan was at heart an old-fashioned conservative business economist with a strong belief in limited government, lower taxes, and minimal regulation.” (06/23/26)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/06/23/greenspans_philosophy_of_freedom_and_free_enterprise_prosperity_154252.html
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46) The Rise of “Geomaxxing”
Source: Independent Institute
by Scott Beyer
“America was founded on the idea that individuals should be free to pursue their own lives, fortunes, and happiness without excess government interference. The nation’s story has long been one of people fleeing constraints and moving towards opportunity. As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, it’s natural to ask whether the nation still embodies this. My answer is mostly yes. The U.S. remains one of the freest and most prosperous societies in human history, and continues to attract millions of immigrants. But do Americans themselves still intuitively feel this way about their country? Increasingly, the answer appears to be no. That is reflected in the rise of ‘geomaxxing,’ a buzzy internet term that describes a serious trend. More Americans are looking beyond their own borders for better quality of life, lower costs, and greater freedom.” (06/22/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/22/the-rise-of-geomaxxing/
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47) Time for Term Limits
Source: Checks & Balances
by Donald Ayer
“As public trust in the Supreme Court wavers, term limits provide a possible solution.” (06/22/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/time-for-term-limits
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48) The Art of the Tax Deal
Source: Hawaii Reporter
by Tom Yamachika
“One of the basic freedoms we have in this country, enshrined in our Constitution, is the freedom to contract. Two or more parties with differing interests can agree to just about anything, as long as it isn’t illegal, and our country’s court system will enforce that agreement. The rules work a little differently when the government is part of the agreement. The government has the ability to contract as well, but the ability is defined and limited by law. It should be. We, the people, have an interest in the deals that our government is making. Especially if tax money, or government resources paid for by tax money, is part of the deal.” (06/22/26)
https://www.hawaiireporter.com/the-art-of-the-tax-deal/
-----
49) Has Netanyahu Destroyed the U.S.-Israel Alliance?
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Donald Trump’s Iran deal (or perhaps we should say ‘capitulation?’) is a fiasco for the United States and Trump’s presidency, but it is widely viewed as a catastrophe for Israel. The more Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu tries to undermine the deal by mounting attacks on southern Lebanon, the more he enrages Trump, who keeps pointing out that the U.S. is Israel’s only ally in the world. Israel is now more isolated than ever. Israel was deliberately excluded from negotiations with Iran, because Israel was known to oppose any deal that would shorten the war. Nonetheless, in the deal the U.S. bound Israel to cease attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Recent polls conducted in Israel show that some 92 percent of Israelis believe that Iran won the war. Comparable majorities say Netanyahu’s launching of the war was a calamitous mistake and achieved none of its objectives.” (06/23/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/06/23/has-netanyahu-destroyed-us-israel-alliance/
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50) Enterprising the Final Frontier
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“In his new book, New Space Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Path to the Stars, Rainer Zitelmann presents the idea that private enterprise is the best way for space exploration to go forward, pointing out the ways in which public funding, since the days of the Moon landing, has been too uneven (and insufficient) to make the advances possible. When reaching space initially was a political contest, the spirit was there, but since the end of the Cold War, it has been less of a priority. … But today, billionaires have become more involved, and the prospect of space tourism has also put more money into the enterprise.” (06/22/26)
https://fee.org/articles/enterprising-the-final-frontier/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/23/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Tucker To GOP: ‘I’m Outta Here!'” (06/23/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1qxoNNLvdNzJv
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52) Rising, 06/23/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers his radar on Elon Musk’s new trillions, and Democrats’ promises to both rein in his wealth and prosecute him once they return to power.” (06/23/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5931929-rising-june-23-2026/
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53) Cato Podcast, 06/23/26
Source: Cato Institute
“What the Declaration Still Has to Say in 2026.” (06/23/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/what-declaration-still-has-say-2026
-----
44) Fountainhead Forum, episode 462
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Chip Joyce on teaching your kids to think and the decline of New York City.” (06/23/26)
https://rumble.com/v7boxuy-ff-462-chip-joyce-on-teaching-your-kids-to-think-and-the-decline-of-new-yor.html
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55) Trump Watch, 06/23/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Is Trump Now Free of His Iran Tar Baby?” (06/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0TOthrN5fE
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56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/23/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Rages Over Reflecting Pool Fiasco—and Arrests Over It Get Darker.” (06/23/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/212187/trump-rages-reflecting-pool-fiasco-and-arrests-get-darker
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57) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/23/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly chat with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. If you’re needing a quick reality supplement, this is an extra-strength dose, served up in less than 30 minutes.” (06/23/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-82vuf-1af6aac
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58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 06/22/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Issues Waivers for Iranian Oil Sales, US and Iran Establish Lebanon Deconfliction Cell, and More.” (06/22/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3eTAZ2MhU
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59) Sal and Mark, episode 7
Source: Free Talk Live
“Mark is in Costa Rica, so Sal Mayweather and Free Talk Live veteran Wayne Quinn hold it down for a packed episode covering everything from the Zcash exploit to the future of financial privacy.” (06/22/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/samsep7
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60) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/22/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“US To Buy Iranian Oil – First Time In Decades!” (06/22/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AGRnnVgwoPGl
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