03/05 -- US Senate votes against doing its job on Iran war; The End of Scarcity: The Future That Won’t Happen
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Thomas L. Knapp
Mar 5, 2026, 6:26:57 AMMar 5
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 03/05/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) US Senate votes against doing its job on Iran war
2) Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court
3) Bitcoin tops $72k as ETFs pull $155 million, extending two week inflow streak
4) US submarine sinks Iranian warship by torpedo in a first since World War II
5) Rising energy prices from the Iran war could help Russia pay for fighting in Ukraine
6) Cuba: Regime files terrorism charges against suspects over fatal US boat shooting
7) US House ethics panel investigates Gonzales over affair allegations
8) TX: Regime to ban candy, soda from SNAP purchases starting April 1
9) EU lawmakers keep US trade deal in the freezer
10) Israel: AG urges High Court to force Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir; coalition fumes
11) State lawmakers seek restraints on wage garnishment for medical debt
12) Spain: Sánchez says “no to the war” in Iran despite Trump’s trade threat
13) Weekly US mortgage demand surged 11% higher last week, as rates sat near 4-year low
14) TX: Green, who has repeatedly tried to impeach Trump, heads to House runoff election
15) Japan: High court upholds dissolution order for Unification Church
16) CA: Teacher investigated due to reported “inappropriate” exam questions
17) Bayer annual losses top €1bn after weedkiller lawsuit settlements
18) US, Ecuadorian military operations in Ecuador target drug traffickers
19) Claims of “rediscovered” Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts
20) UK: Judge pauses trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The End of Scarcity: The Future That Won’t Happen
22) The War Powers Resolution Could Save the Country — and Trump
23) Full liberty makes our lives better
24) How the United States Propelled Tyranny in Africa
25) Bikes make life freer. These laws could change that.
26) Occupational hazards: How Trump can avoid “forever war” in Iran
27) Computer Scientists Caution Against Internet Age-Verification Mandates
28) The Republic and Its Enemies
29) Iran Is Morally Superior To The United States
30) Rubio’s Preposterous Preventive War Argument
31) March 4, 1801
32) The “Empire of Lies” Comes for Iran
33) Cilia Flores: A First Lady in a New York Cell
34) Brazil at a Historical Crossroads
35) The Nationalist Lost Cause
36) Digital ID: Security or Big Brother?
37) Unsung, but crucial foot soldiers in Trump’s war on fraud
38) They Are Still Lying About Iraq
39) “Un-American” critics of war represent the majority of Americans
40) California’s Age-Verification Law Is a Civil Liberties Test
41) EPA’s Endangerment Finding Repeal Stands on Shaky Foundations
42) The Tyranny of (Alleged) Experts
43) Labour’s War on UK Pubs
44) Trump’s Iran Tantrum: Because Nothing Screams “Leadership” Like a Government Throwing Tantrums With Other People’s Lives
45) San Francisco’s reparations program, and what it reveals about city leaders
46) Iran’s Youth Broke the Islamic Republic’s Spell Before the Airstrikes
47) A Very Stable War
48) Surveillence state: Time to opt out
49) We Can’t Let Trump Get Away With Another Endless War
50) The four kinds of Trump voters
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Science of Politics, 03/04/26
52) Rising, 03/04/26
53) Reason and Abortion
54) Reason Interview: Jonah Goldberg
55) SolutionsWatch, 03/04/26
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/04/26
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/04/26
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/03/26
59) Nonzero, 03/03/26
60) Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 03/03/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) US Senate votes against doing its job on Iran war
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A bipartisan resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war in Iran has failed in the US Senate, as the strikes continue. The war powers measure was rejected in a 53-47 vote largely along party lines. It would have halted US military action in Iran without congressional approval. Democrats argue that Trump has sidelined Congress and offered shifting reasons for the war. Most Republicans blocked the resolution, but some said they could change course if the war expands in the coming weeks.” [editor’s note: The Senate had two constitutionally legitimate options: Either vote to declare war and ask the House to agree, or ask the House to vote articles of impeachment. Without a declaration of war, the war is illegal (either way, it’s evil and stupid, but that’s a different subject) – TLK] (03/04/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yjj28jjd0o
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2) Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court
Source: Associated Press
“In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that companies that paid tariffs struck down last month by Supreme Court are due refunds. Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that ‘all importers of record’ were ‘entitled to benefit’ from the Supreme Court ruling that struck down sweeping double-digit import taxes President Donald Trump imposed last year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Supreme Court found those tariffs to be unconstitutional under the emergency powers law, including the sweeping ‘reciprocal’ tariffs he levied on nearly every other country. The majority ruled that the president could not unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress.” (03/04/26)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-refunds-09cd60a170d01d8d62739ab13086ff9e
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3) Bitcoin tops $72k as ETFs pull $155 million, extending two week inflow streak
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin hovered near $72,500 as U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs logged about $155 million in net inflows on Wednesday, extending a two-week run of roughly $1.47 billion in new allocations. … Institutional demand through ETFs has begun to stabilize after a difficult start to the year. Investors have poured roughly $1.7 billion into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs since Feb. 24, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data previously reported by CoinDesk, suggesting some investors are growing more comfortable that the market may have found at least a near term floor.” (03/05/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/03/05/bitcoin-tops-usd72k-as-etfs-pull-usd155-million-extending-two-week-inflow-streak
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4) US submarine sinks Iranian warship by torpedo in a first since World War II
Source: Fox News
“A U.S. submarine sank a prized Iranian warship by torpedo, the first such sinking of an enemy ship since World War II, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday morning. … The flagship was named for Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who the U.S. killed in a January 2020 drone strike during President Donald Trump’s first term.” (03/04/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-submarine-sinks-iranian-warship-torpedo-first-since-world-war-ii
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5) Rising energy prices from the Iran war could help Russia pay for fighting in Ukraine
Source: SFGate
“The Iran war’s disruption of Middle East oil and gas supplies and soaring prices are strengthening Russia’s ability to profit from its energy exports, a pillar of the Kremlin’s budget and a key to paying for its own war in Ukraine. Prices for Russia’s oil exports have risen from under $40 per barrel as recently as December to about $62 per barrel — first on fears of war and then due to interruption of almost all tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for some 20% of the world’s oil consumption. Russian oil still trades at a considerable discount to international benchmark Brent crude …. However, Russian crude is now above the benchmark of $59 per barrel that was assumed in the Russian Finance Ministry’s budget plan for 2026. Oil and gas tax revenues account for up to 30% of the Russian federal budget.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/rising-energy-prices-from-the-iran-war-could-help-21954898.php
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6) Cuba: Regime files terrorism charges against suspects over fatal US boat shooting
Source: ABC News
“Cuba said Wednesday it has filed terrorism charges against six suspects it claims were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that is alleged to have opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island’s north coast. The Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the suspects of Cuban origin remain in pretrial detention, adding that it will ensure ‘due process’ as it continues to act ‘in defense of our people and the country’s institutions.’ The government has said 10 heavily armed Cubans from the U.S. who were on board the boat opened fire as they tried to infiltrate the island to commit acts of terrorism. It said that Cuban soldiers returned fire, killing four suspects.” (03/04/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/cuba-files-terrorism-charges-suspects-fatal-us-boat-130752368
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7) US House ethics panel investigates Gonzales over affair allegations
Source: Seattle Times
“The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday that it has opened an investigation of Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, over allegations that include having an affair with an aide. The top Republican and Democratic members on the committee said in a joint statement that an investigative panel would look into whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office and whether he discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges. … The San Antonio Express-News reported that it had obtained text messages in which the former Gonzales staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the congressman. … Santos-Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her home in Uvalde, Texas.” (03/04/26)
https://archive.is/6zgKH
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8) TX: Regime to ban candy, soda from SNAP purchases starting April 1
Source: KDFW 4 News
“Starting April 1, Texas will become the first state to implement sweeping new restrictions on the types of food and beverages available for purchase through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), state officials announced Wednesday. Under the new rules, the 3.3 million Texans who rely on SNAP benefits will no longer be able to use their Lone Star Cards to buy candy, gum, or sweetened drinks. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) issued the reminder as part of a final push to educate retailers and recipients before the deadline. The policy change follows a waiver approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in August 2025, a move championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Trump Administration to shift the program’s focus toward long-term health outcomes.” (03/04/26)
https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-ban-candy-soda-from-snap-purchases-starting-april-1
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9) EU lawmakers keep US trade deal in the freezer
Source: Politico
“The European Parliament’s trade lawmakers decided on Wednesday to keep the EU-U.S. trade deal frozen amidst volatile transatlantic relations. A majority of political groups voted not to move ahead with legislation to implement the EU’s side of the bargain struck at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last summer. … The latest postponement follows Trump’s threat on Tuesday to impose a trade embargo on Spain for refusing to allow U.S. warplanes stationed there to launch air strikes on Iran.” (03/04/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-lawmakers-keep-us-trade-deal-in-the-freezer
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10) Israel: AG urges High Court to force Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir; coalition fumes
Source: Times of Israel [Jerusalem]
“Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Wednesday called on the High Court of Justice to order that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from his position, unless the premier explains why he hasn’t done so. In a new legal filing, Baharav-Miara accused Ben Gvir of violating court rulings and showing ‘contempt for the rule of law’ while ‘systematically undermining the independence of the police.’ … In February, the High Court ordered Netanyahu to explain why he hasn’t fired Ben Gvir amid an ongoing court case over the far-right politician’s practices and policies in office.” (03/04/26)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ag-urges-high-court-to-force-netanyahu-to-fire-ben-gvir-coalition-fumes/
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11) State lawmakers seek restraints on wage garnishment for medical debt
Source: Orange County Register
“Lawmakers in at least eight states this year are aiming to reel in wage garnishment for unpaid medical bills. The legislation introduced in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington builds on efforts made in other states in past years. This latest push for patient protections comes as the Trump administration has backed away from federal debt protections, health care has become more costly, and more people are expected to go without medical coverage or choose cheaper but riskier high-deductible insurance plans that could lead them into debt. … Wage garnishment is one tool creditors can use in most states to recoup money from people with unpaid bills. In many states, they can garnish someone’s bank account or put a lien on their home, too.” (03/04/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/03/04/state-lawmakers-wage-garnishment-medical-debt/
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12) Spain: Sánchez says “no to the war” in Iran despite Trump’s trade threat
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez again criticized the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in Iran, standing firm on Wednesday against trade threats from Washington and warning that the war in the Middle East risked ‘playing Russian roulette’ with millions of lives. ‘We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,’ Sánchez said in a televised address. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end U.S. trade with Spain because of Spain’s refusal to allow the U.S. to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/03/04/pedro-sanchez-trump-iran/
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13) Weekly US mortgage demand surged 11% higher last week, as rates sat near 4-year low
Source: CNBC
“Mortgage rates hovered around a four-year low last week, prompting more borrowers to refinance and more potential homebuyers to get off the fence. Total mortgage application volume rose 11% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Last week, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, was unchanged from the previous week at 6.09%, with points decreasing to 0.52 from 0.53, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. That rate is the lowest since 2022. Last year that rate was 64 basis points higher.” (03/04/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/04/weekly-mortgage-demand-surged-11percent-higher-last-week.html
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14) TX: Green, who has repeatedly tried to impeach Trump, heads to House runoff election
Source: Fox News
“Eleven-term Veteran Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, and newly minted Rep. Christian Menefee [D-TX] will face off again after neither Democrat captured over 50% of the vote on Tuesday evening in their bids to represent Texas'[s] 18th Congressional District. Under Texas law, if no candidate has captured a majority of the vote, the race will head to a runoff election. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that Menefee received 46% of votes and Green 44.2%. Green has served in Congress since 2005, representing the Lone Star State’s 9th Congressional District. This year, because of redistricting changes advanced by Republicans, Green announced he would pursue reelection in the state’s 18th Congressional District, putting him on a collision course with Menefee. Menefee won election to the House of Representatives in a January special election to fill the seat of Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in office last March.” (03/04/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democrat-who-has-repeatedly-tried-impeach-trump-heads-runoff-election-amid-tight-primary
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15) Japan: High court upholds dissolution order for Unification Church
Source: Nikkei [Japan]
“A Japanese high court on Wednesday upheld a dissolution order for the Unification Church as requested by the central government on the grounds that it unlawfully solicited financially ruinous donations from its members. While the group can still appeal to the Supreme Court, the order by the Tokyo High Court will take immediate effect, with the controversial organization losing its status as a religious corporation with its associated tax advantages and liquidation procedures to begin. … The government argued that the organization’s tactics, which included approaching individuals without disclosing its identity and soliciting large donations, constituted violations of civil law. … The group argued that only criminal violations, not those under the Civil Code, meet the requirements for dissolution.” (03/04/26)
https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/society/japan-high-court-upholds-dissolution-order-for-unification-church
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16) CA: Teacher investigated due to reported “inappropriate” exam questions
Source: SFGate
“Officials from the San Francisco Unified School District have launched an investigation into a teacher at Lowell High School over allegations of ‘inappropriate questions’ on exams that reportedly included fat-shaming and sexist content. ‘SFUSD is aware of the allegations regarding inappropriate questions on a teacher’s exam and other related concerns,’ Laura Dudnick, the director of communications at SFUSD, said in an emailed statement to SFGATE. ‘We take these concerns seriously and are actively investigating.’ Lowell is known for its rigorous academics and has consistently ranked ‘one of the highest performing public high schools’ in the state. According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, Tom Chan, a Lowell math teacher, included quiz questions that asked students to figure out how much it would cost to pay for dinner for girls who weigh 120 versus 220 pounds. Another question, which was allegedly titled ‘Mr. Chan vs. The Fat Kid (part 2)’, appeared to be fat-shaming.” (03/03/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/teacher-inappropriate-exam-questions-21953130.php
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17) Bayer annual losses top €1bn after weedkiller lawsuit settlements
Source: ShareCast [UK]
“Bayer reported an operating loss of more than €1bn in 2025 as annual profits were wiped out by a €3.55bn hit from legal charges in the fourth quarter after resolving a years-long litigation related to its Roundup weedkiller. The German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, which last month agreed to pay $7.25bn to settle more than 100,000 lawsuits claiming that Roundup caused cancer, reported a net loss of €3.76bn in the fourth quarter, compared with a €355m loss the year before.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sharecast.com/news/international-companies/bayer-annual-losses-top-euro1bn-after-weedkiller-lawsuit-settlements–21927418.html
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18) US, Ecuadorian military operations in Ecuador target drug traffickers
Source: Axios
“U.S. and Ecuadorian forces announced drug-trafficking military crackdown operations in Ecuador on Tuesday. U.S. Southern Command in a Tuesday night statement said the operations targeted ‘Designated Terrorist Organizations’ and hailed the cooperation as ‘a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.'” (03/04/26)
https://archive.is/OREkT
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19) Claims of “rediscovered” Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts
Source: SFGate
“An independent researcher claimed on Wednesday that a marble bust of Christ in a Roman church is by Michelangelo, the latest purported attribution to the Renaissance genius who is one of the most imitated artists in the world. The unverified claim by Valentina Salerno has unsettled Renaissance scholars, especially since a recent sketch of a foot that was attributed to Michelangelo — but disputed by some as a copy — recently fetched $27.2 million at a Christie’s auction. Given the stakes — and Salerno’s suggestion that several other works can now be attributed to Michelangelo based on her documentary research — leading experts have declined to comment. Salerno has published her theory on the commercial website academia.edu, a non-peer reviewed social networking site academics use, and announced the first ‘rediscovery’ at a press conference Wednesday. The claims have drawn perhaps more attention than they normally would, given the Vatican seemed at least initially interested.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/claims-of-rediscovered-michelangelos-unsettle-21955153.php
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20) UK: Judge pauses trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“A UK judge on Tuesday put on hold all trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action, scheduling a blanket review of cases for July 30. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring’s decision, made at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court, comes after the High Court last month ruled the government’s ban on the group unlawful — though the government has been granted leave to appeal. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation last July, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the protest group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move was slammed by rights groups as a government overreach and breach of civil liberties. Since then, there have been nearly 3,000 arrests, mainly for carrying placards, according to the activist group Defend Our Juries. Hundreds of people are facing charges.” (03/03/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/uk-judge-pauses-palestine-action-trials-schedules-review
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The End of Scarcity: The Future That Won’t Happen
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Andy Fischer
“A growing chorus of technologists and futurists now argue that scarcity is ending. Artificial intelligence will automate cognition. Robotics will automate labor. Energy capture will scale beyond planetary limits. Manufacturing will approach zero marginal cost. In this telling, the central economic problem that has defined human civilization for millennia is dissolving. This essay accepts the rise of abundance. The empirical case is strong. Real prices for lighting, calories, communication, and computation have collapsed over centuries. Extreme poverty has fallen dramatically. Automation continues to erode historically-binding constraints. But, from this undeniable progress, a stronger claim is often made: that scarcity itself will disappear. That claim is not bold, it is confused. Scarcity is not primarily a supply shortage, it is the structural condition of action under constraint.” (03/04/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/end-scarcity-future-wont-happen
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22) The War Powers Resolution Could Save the Country — and Trump
Source: The American Conservative
by Branko Marcetic
“Trump has effectively put himself into a trap. On the one hand, Iran is determined to inflict pain on the United States and refuses to negotiate again, which means he cannot easily pull out without both personally looking weak and making the United States as a whole appear to have suffered a defeat. On the other hand, the longer the war goes on, the more Americans will die, the more the economy comes under strain, and the greater the likelihood that he is pressured into the politically toxic move of sending in ground troops or otherwise escalating U.S. involvement. In other words, to salvage his presidency in a year where many Republicans’ political futures are tied to his, Trump needs a way out of the war that will let him save face while also letting the Iranians claim a victory. This week’s War Powers Resolution vote offers exactly this chance.” (03/04/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-war-powers-resolution-could-save-the-country-and-trump/
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23) Full liberty makes our lives better
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“I don’t fear your liberty. Since liberty is the freedom to do everything you have a right to do, and nothing you have a right to do can violate me (or anyone else), I want you to exercise your rightful liberty every day of your life, all the time, without the fear of legislation enforcers and freelance creeps trying to stop or punish you. Then, I want the same for myself. I wish more people felt as I do. The world would be a better place if that were the case. If you are free to exercise your liberty, you’ll probably be happier. You’ll definitely be more mature and responsible. If not at first, soon. You’ll learn. People can’t learn to be responsible while being treated like children under the fist of an abusive parent.” (03/04/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/03/04/voices/opinion-full-liberty-makes-our-lives-better/232917.html
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24) How the United States Propelled Tyranny in Africa
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard
“Phony piety has long been one of America’s top political exports. President Barack Obama, in a 2015 speech to the African Union, the organization of the African heads of state, derided nations that institute ‘democracy in name, but not in substance.’ But Obama’s finger wagging could not expunge how the U.S. government had long propped up Africa’s most oppressive governments. In the 1990s, Africa saw a surge of democracies in areas that for centuries had known little except kings, tyrants, or colonial conquerors. While democracy is often touted as the best way to strengthen civic bonds, representative government has too often been a horror show in Africa.” (03/04/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/how-the-united-states-propelled-tyranny-in-africa/
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25) Bikes make life freer. These laws could change that.
Source: Washington Post
by Kevin R Parker
“A bicycle doesn’t require a license, registration, insurance or fuel. You don’t need an app or a subscription. You just get on and go. In an era when your car can track where you drive and report it to your insurance company, the freedom a bicycle offers is appealing. It is a form of transportation available to children, grandparents, minimum-wage workers, and anyone with legs and a sense of balance. Bicycles offer genuine freedom of movement in a world that offers less of it every year. E-bikes extend that freedom. Those who can’t manage hills anymore can ride again. Someone who lives a little too far from work for a regular bike suddenly has another option for the commute. E-bikes make the world bigger for more people. But policymakers are hard at work designing regulations that curtail this freedom.” (03/04/26)
https://archive.is/tSICz
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26) Occupational hazards: How Trump can avoid “forever war” in Iran
Source: Washington Examiner
by W James Antle III
“President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to overthrow foreign leaders not seen since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in Iraq more than two decades ago, but he has yet to try to occupy and pacify another country militarily on that scale. That is why so far, none of Trump’s military actions have spiraled out of control like Iraq did, which raises questions about whether he can continue this pattern in Iran. It’s the occupation that turns a swift military action into a forever war. Trump tends to strike decisively and then quit while he is ahead, as evidenced by last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran, the toppling of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and the bombing of Syria.” (03/03/26)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/4477736/trump-avoid-forever-war-iran/
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27) Computer Scientists Caution Against Internet Age-Verification Mandates
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Published on March 2, an open letter signed by over 400 computer scientists from around the world cautions that ‘those deciding which age-based controls need to exist, and those enforcing them gain a tremendous influence on what content is accessible to whom on the internet.’ They add that ‘this influence could be used to censor information and prevent users from accessing services.’ Even short of the most authoritarian controls, they warn, age-verification mandates encourage centralization and favor large companies and services over smaller providers. The computer scientists aren’t just responding to California’s law. Age-verification requirements are spreading across the world.” (03/04/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/04/computer-scientists-caution-against-internet-age-verification-mandates/
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28) The Republic and Its Enemies
Source: Liberal Currents
by Thomas Pepinsky
“The anti-Trump coalition in the United States is broad, spanning the political spectrum from establishment conservatives and libertarians to social democrats, progressives, liberals, and those who prefer to avoid politics altogether. The breadth of this coalition is both its strength and its weakness. A coalition against the current president and administration has the numbers to win any national election, just so long as everyone votes together. But the same coalition can be easily divided over policy: over tax rates, over how to rein in ICE, over policies to address racial inequality, and anything else. In other words, the anti-Trump coalition is a negative coalition, defined by what it opposes rather than what it supports.” (03/04/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-republic-and-its-enemies/
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29) Iran Is Morally Superior To The United States
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Iran is better than the United States. The United States is worse than Iran. This is true not because Iran is especially good, but because the United States is especially evil. Iran isn’t blanketing a major metropolis with military explosives, killing over a thousand people including hundreds of children. The United States is doing this with its partner in crime Israel. Iran isn’t continuously bombing and invading countries around the world, toppling governments, circling the globe with hundreds of military bases, targeting civilian populations with siege warfare and brandishing nuclear weapons at its enemies in the name of securing planetary domination. Only the United States is. The US empire is the single most murderous and tyrannical power structure on earth, by an extremely massive margin. No one else comes anywhere remotely close.” (03/04/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/04/iran-is-morally-superior-to-the-united-states/
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30) Rubio’s Preposterous Preventive War Argument
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Marco Rubio tries to spin U.S.-Israeli aggression: ‘The bottom line is this: The president determined we were not going to get hit first. … If you tell the president of the United States that if we don’t go first, we’re going to have more people killed and more people injured, the president’s going to go first. That’s what he did. That’s what the president will always do.’ This is Rubio’s attempt at damage control, but this answer is even worse than the one he gave the day before. If the U.S. and Israel hadn’t attacked, U.S. forces weren’t going to get ‘hit’ at all. The president’s threat against Iran was the main reason that American troops were in any danger in the first place.” (03/04/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/rubios-preposterous-preventive-war
-----
31) March 4, 1801
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson delivered his inaugural address as our third president. Here is part of what he said: ‘Enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter. With all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens: a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned …'” (03/04/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/03/04/march-4-1801-n2672265
-----
32) The “Empire of Lies” Comes for Iran
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette
“Benjamin Franklin said it best: ‘There never was a good war, or a bad peace.’ Now that war is again underway — the third attack on Iran in two years — people of healthy human consciousness must pray that the destruction and carnage is limited. Yet the trajectory appears to be grim. Wars often progress in unexpected ways. The Persian Gulf region is a tangled spaghetti plate of interests including economic, religious, cultural, and geopolitical. None of our politicians have proved capable of comprehending those interests and foreseeing the consequences of their elective wars.” (03/04/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-empire-of-lies-comes-for-iran
-----
33) Cilia Flores: A First Lady in a New York Cell
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Michelle Ellner
“On International Working Women’s Day in 2025, Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, read a poem she wrote highlighting the historic role played by Latin American women in the fight against imperialism: ‘We’re not flowers the wind can pluck, / we’re roots of rebel and loyal land, / we’re grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters; / we are woman. / Our blood pulses with the Manuelas, / Luisas, Josefas, Juanas, Cecilias, / Apacuanas, Bartolinas, Eulalias, / Martas, Anas Marías, Barbaritas / and so many others who legacy inspires, / commits, and strengthens us / to continue walking and traveling our path. / And in our hands and chests / a light is on that nobody will ever turn off: / love, peace and liberty.’ One year later, she languishes in a cell in New York City, having been dragged out of her room and kidnapped by US forces on the January 3 attack on Venezuela.” (03/04/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/cilia-flores-first-lady-in-cell
-----
34) Brazil at a Historical Crossroads
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Deborah Palma
“Brazil finds itself at a historical crossroads that demands a rigorous analysis of its institutional structures. The release of the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), record-breaking data from the Impostômetro, and the persistence of an authoritarian labor framework expose a system of economic asphyxiation and moral erosion. The State, under the pretext of protecting the citizen, in reality hinders their initiative, their property, and their future.” (03/04/26)
https://fee.org/articles/brazil-at-a-historical-crossroads/
-----
35) The Nationalist Lost Cause
Source: Law & Liberty
by Aaron N Coleman
“In his famous draft of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Thomas Jefferson advised that ‘in questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.’ Jefferson’s rhetorically powerful phrase rested on a simple assumption: that the Constitution constrained federal power. That assumption is understandable. After all, the Constitution is written, and it contains a list of powers. For generations, most Americans have followed Jefferson down this well-worn interpretive path and assumed that enumeration equals limitation. It now appears, however, that we have all been profoundly mistaken.” (03/04/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-nationalist-lost-cause/
-----
36) Digital ID: Security or Big Brother?
Source: Project Liberal
by Oliver Gale
“In the founding principles of liberalism, freedom is not merely the absence of chains; it is the presence of an unguarded space — a space where the individual can think, speak and organise without the omniscient state and its interference. That space has historically been protected by anonymity, especially in the online sphere of discourse. Today, that foundational protection is under substantial threat, more so than before. The new tool for the state to control its subjects is not only a physical prison, but also a digital cage. In this system, mandatory identification is designed to weave into every interaction.” (03/04/26)
https://projectliberal.substack.com/p/digital-id-security-or-big-brother
-----
37) Unsung, but crucial foot soldiers in Trump’s war on fraud
Source: Fox News
by Mike Davis
“In proclaiming ‘a golden age of America’ in his State of the Union address, President Trump correctly focused on his initiatives to fix the problems perpetrated by the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations that undermine the physical and economic security of the United States. One of those initiatives is Trump’s war on fraud, which, according to the president, is intended to root out and remedy the ‘corruption that shreds the fabric’ of our nation. … Trump’s war will be waged aggressively. As the president put it, ‘We are not playing games.’ But to win the war against fraud, the Trump administration must force the uniparty institutionalists at the Justice Department to change course and protect a key ally in the war on fraud: whistleblowers.” (03/04/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mike-davis-unsung-crucial-foot-soldiers-trumps-war-fraud
-----
38) They Are Still Lying About Iraq
Source: Antiwar.com
by Matthew Hoh
“The lack of shame exhibited by the US government as it lies about Iraqi improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that killed thousands of American service members to justify its new war on Iran is breathtaking. President Trump led off his press conference today, the first since the attacks began Saturday morning, with this lie. Trump’s proxies on cable news, in the newspapers and online have been repeating it non-stop. The lie is essentially that American soldiers were killed and wounded in Iraq at the orders of the Iranians. That the people responsible for blowing up American vehicles and sending home US soldiers in caskets or without body parts were Iranians, not Iraqis. The reality, of course, is that responsibility for those deaths and mutilations belongs to George W. Bush and every politician, general, government official, journalist, pundit and citizen who supported that war.” (03/04/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/matthew_hoh/2026/03/03/they-are-still-lying-about-iraq
-----
39) “Un-American” critics of war represent the majority of Americans
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter
“Mega-MAGA might be trying to purge them, but Tucker Carlson and other conservatives have their fingers on the real pulse after this week’s Iran strikes.” (03/04/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/reaction-to-iran-war/
-----
40) California’s Age-Verification Law Is a Civil Liberties Test
Source: The Daily Economy
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“The law classifies user identities at the operating system level. Once embedded, that regulatory architecture of control is easy to expand and difficult to roll back.” (03/04/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/californias-age-verification-law-is-a-civil-liberties-test/
-----
41) EPA’s Endangerment Finding Repeal Stands on Shaky Foundations
Source: The American Prospect
by James Baratta
“Months before overturning the scientific determination behind federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin restated his plans for the agency at an auto dealership in Indiana, saying, ‘The Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers’. The reality is that the Trump EPA has abdicated responsibility for the agency’s quintessential mandate of protecting human health and the environment. The EPA has elected not to contest climate science, instead relying on legal arguments that appear to be tweaked versions of what the Supreme Court rejected in its landmark 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. ‘To state the obvious, this White House doesn’t give a damn about clean air or clean water,’ Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) said in an interview with the Prospect.” (03/04/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/04/environmental-protection-agency-climate-endangerment-finding-repeal-trump-zeldin-supreme-court/
-----
42) The Tyranny of (Alleged) Experts
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“In short, there are experts, and they want to make health decisions for you. And no matter how many times they are wrong, their ignorance and arrogance are inexhaustible. How dispiriting it is to have to defend basic freedoms against these medical .bullies. Read on and see what is true about decision-making by experts.” (03/04/26)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-alleged-experts
-----
43) Labour’s War on UK Pubs
Source: The American Conservative
by Lauren Smith
“‘When you have lost your inns,’ warned writer Hilaire Belloc over 100 years ago, ‘drown your empty selves. For you have lost the heart of England.’ A century later, his message could not be more pertinent. Since the beginning of this year, roughly four pubs have permanently closed their doors every day. By the end of 2026, something like 540 pubs could shut for good. For this British institution, no help can be expected to come from the current Labour government.” (03/04/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/labours-war-on-uk-pubs/
-----
44) Trump’s Iran Tantrum: Because Nothing Screams “Leadership” Like a Government Throwing Tantrums With Other People’s Lives
Source: International Guild of Professional Anarchists
by Alexander Snitker
“Trump’s Iran policy isn’t ‘tough;’ it’s just the usual government cosplay: ‘I’m strong because I can make strangers halfway around the world suffer for my approval rating.’ We, the card-carrying, dues-paying members of the International Guild of Professional Anarchists are here to say: congratulations, you absolute clowns in suits. You’ve once again proven that the only thing governments are good at is inventing enemies so they can charge taxpayers for the fireworks.” (03/03/26)
https://alexandersnitker.substack.com/p/trumps-iran-tantrum-because-nothing
-----
45) San Francisco’s reparations program, and what it reveals about city leaders
Source: New York Post
by Erec Smith
“Recently, Evanston, Ill., enacted the first reparations program in the country. San Francisco is following suit, but its reparations plan is less about policy and more about performance. What is being sold as a moral reckoning and care for citizens in need feels more like a moral play, meant to lull the intended recipients into a false sense of hope. In December, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed a bill, unanimously passed by the city’s Board of Supervisors, that created a mechanism for distributing a one-time $5 million payment to eligible black residents as a form of reparations. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie speaking at a podium with a logo of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. It was not long before taxpayers and civil-rights advocacy organizations sued the city for violating the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.” (03/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/03/opinion/san-franciscos-reparations-plan-is-a-joke/
-----
46) Iran’s Youth Broke the Islamic Republic’s Spell Before the Airstrikes
Source: The UnPopulist
by Pouya Nikmand
“I fled Iran at 18 under the most desperate of circumstances, making a bargain with a human trafficker who secretly abused me for years in exchange for a visa that kept me out of Iran. My birth country was made so inhospitable that to return was to face death. Last week, when I heard that Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, had been killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike, I felt … thankful. My thanks mostly went not to the military operation that ended his life but to the millions of young Iranians who had prepared the ground for his regime’s demise long before the first bomb fell.” (03/03/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/irans-youth-broke-the-islamic-republics
-----
47) A Very Stable War
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“After the president of peace, a man who felt deserving of the Nobel Prize, authorized a massive aerial bombardment of Iran last summer, the task of explaining away the contradiction fell to J. D. Vance. … The difference was simple: Other wars were bad because they were led by dumb presidents, but a Trump war would be good because Donald Trump is smart. Yet after the administration’s second wave of air attacks on Iran, the president’s strategy seems more sundown than Sun Tzu.” (03/03/26)
https://archive.is/ezJqV
-----
48) Surveillence state: Time to opt out
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Gaining knowledge is critical. Not just about the presence and use of cameras, but what is done with the images and other data as well. (Examples: who it is provided to (first- and second-hand), how it can be used to track purchases and movements, and whom we have contact with.) Knowing how they work and how to avoid and disable them is also important. For example, the QR code or magnetic strip on many cards (such as driver’s licenses) allows linking to online databases, both for getting information about us and for providing info about us to others. Opting out, whenever that opportunity is available, is also an important action.” (03/03/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/03/03/surveillence-state-time-to-opt-out/
-----
49) We Can’t Let Trump Get Away With Another Endless War
Source: In These Times
by Negin Owliaei
“As news broke that the United States and Israel had launched war on Iran, two posts kept showing up over and over on my social media feeds. One was from the Israeli military’s official account, which stated an oft-repeated phrase: ’Israel has the right to defend itself’. The other was a video from the Iranian city of Minab, where the first reports of casualties were emerging. The joint U.S.-Israeli attack had hit a girls’ elementary school; the death toll kept ticking higher and higher. At the time of publication, Iranian authorities said 165 people, mostly schoolchildren, had been killed in the strike, with many more injured. Plenty has been written, in Truthout and elsewhere, about the totally incoherent justifications for this war, the illegality of it, the potential for regional disaster, the joke it has made of the very idea of diplomacy.” (03/03/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/iran-war-american-militarism-fight-despair
-----
50) The four kinds of Trump voters
Source: Expression
by Sean Stevens
“MAGA Hardliners are mostly evangelical Trump supporters who believe a ‘deep state’ runs politics and that ‘the Left’ hates America. About 25% hold college degrees. Anti-woke Conservatives say American identity is fading and ‘woke’ ideology has ruined American education, news, and entertainment. They are the least religious group (31% atheist, agnostic, or unaffiliated) and about 40% hold college degrees. Mainline Republicans are the most optimistic about the American dream and least likely to say the country is in decline. About 25% have some college experience but no degree, and 38% hold only a high school diploma. Reluctant Right voted for Trump because he seemed ‘less bad’ than Kamala Harris. They are the least likely to identify as Republican, the least hopeful about the next four years, and the most likely to say they vote across party lines. Those distinctions aren’t just academic. They predict meaningful differences in how Trump voters weigh rights, institutions, and presidential power.” (03/03/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-four-kinds-of-trump-voters
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Science of Politics, 03/04/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“What predicts midterm election results?” (03/04/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/what-predicts-midterm-election-results
-----
52) Rising, 03/04/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar arguing that the Trump administration needs to provide clearer answers as to what their plans are for the conflict with Iran.” (03/04/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5766506-rising-march-4-2026/
-----
53) Reason and Abortion
Source: Bet On It
“A conversation with Monica Snyder, Executive Director of Secular Pro-Life.” (03/04/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/reason-and-abortion
-----
54) Reason Interview: Jonah Goldberg
Source: Reason
“Jonah Goldberg discusses the Iran war, Trump’s governing style, the rise of the populist right, and why he believes the GOP is drifting away from conservatism.” (03/04/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/03/04/jonah-goldberg-the-gop-is-becoming-anti-conservative/
-----
55) SolutionsWatch, 03/04/26
Source: The Corbett Report
“Resistance Cinema.” (03/04/26)
https://corbettreport.com/resistance-cinema/
-----
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/04/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Blurts Out Damning Iran Admission as MAGA Turns Harshly on Him.” (03/04/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/207320/trump-blurts-damning-iran-admission-maga-turns-harshly
-----
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/04/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Eyes Backing Kurdish Militants in Iran, Trump Suggests He ‘Forced Israel’s Hand,’ and More.” (03/04/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoiv55ufB0c
-----
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/03/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Bloated Bureaucracy and Failing Kids The Case for School Choice with Christopher Talgo.” (03/03/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/bloated-bureaucracy-and-failing-kids-the-case-for-school-choice-with-christopher-talgo/
-----
59) Nonzero, 03/03/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Will the Iran War Spiral Out of Control? | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov.” (03/03/26)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69325
-----
60) Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 03/03/26
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“The Meaning of the Iran War: Tehran Challenges Trump’s Muscular Foreign Policy w/ James Dorsey.” (03/03/26)
https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/jdorsey3-3-26/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) US Senate votes against doing its job on Iran war
2) Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court
3) Bitcoin tops $72k as ETFs pull $155 million, extending two week inflow streak
4) US submarine sinks Iranian warship by torpedo in a first since World War II
5) Rising energy prices from the Iran war could help Russia pay for fighting in Ukraine
6) Cuba: Regime files terrorism charges against suspects over fatal US boat shooting
7) US House ethics panel investigates Gonzales over affair allegations
8) TX: Regime to ban candy, soda from SNAP purchases starting April 1
9) EU lawmakers keep US trade deal in the freezer
10) Israel: AG urges High Court to force Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir; coalition fumes
11) State lawmakers seek restraints on wage garnishment for medical debt
12) Spain: Sánchez says “no to the war” in Iran despite Trump’s trade threat
13) Weekly US mortgage demand surged 11% higher last week, as rates sat near 4-year low
14) TX: Green, who has repeatedly tried to impeach Trump, heads to House runoff election
15) Japan: High court upholds dissolution order for Unification Church
16) CA: Teacher investigated due to reported “inappropriate” exam questions
17) Bayer annual losses top €1bn after weedkiller lawsuit settlements
18) US, Ecuadorian military operations in Ecuador target drug traffickers
19) Claims of “rediscovered” Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts
20) UK: Judge pauses trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The End of Scarcity: The Future That Won’t Happen
22) The War Powers Resolution Could Save the Country — and Trump
23) Full liberty makes our lives better
24) How the United States Propelled Tyranny in Africa
25) Bikes make life freer. These laws could change that.
26) Occupational hazards: How Trump can avoid “forever war” in Iran
27) Computer Scientists Caution Against Internet Age-Verification Mandates
28) The Republic and Its Enemies
29) Iran Is Morally Superior To The United States
30) Rubio’s Preposterous Preventive War Argument
31) March 4, 1801
32) The “Empire of Lies” Comes for Iran
33) Cilia Flores: A First Lady in a New York Cell
34) Brazil at a Historical Crossroads
35) The Nationalist Lost Cause
36) Digital ID: Security or Big Brother?
37) Unsung, but crucial foot soldiers in Trump’s war on fraud
38) They Are Still Lying About Iraq
39) “Un-American” critics of war represent the majority of Americans
40) California’s Age-Verification Law Is a Civil Liberties Test
41) EPA’s Endangerment Finding Repeal Stands on Shaky Foundations
42) The Tyranny of (Alleged) Experts
43) Labour’s War on UK Pubs
44) Trump’s Iran Tantrum: Because Nothing Screams “Leadership” Like a Government Throwing Tantrums With Other People’s Lives
45) San Francisco’s reparations program, and what it reveals about city leaders
46) Iran’s Youth Broke the Islamic Republic’s Spell Before the Airstrikes
47) A Very Stable War
48) Surveillence state: Time to opt out
49) We Can’t Let Trump Get Away With Another Endless War
50) The four kinds of Trump voters
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Science of Politics, 03/04/26
52) Rising, 03/04/26
53) Reason and Abortion
54) Reason Interview: Jonah Goldberg
55) SolutionsWatch, 03/04/26
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/04/26
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/04/26
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/03/26
59) Nonzero, 03/03/26
60) Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 03/03/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) US Senate votes against doing its job on Iran war
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A bipartisan resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war in Iran has failed in the US Senate, as the strikes continue. The war powers measure was rejected in a 53-47 vote largely along party lines. It would have halted US military action in Iran without congressional approval. Democrats argue that Trump has sidelined Congress and offered shifting reasons for the war. Most Republicans blocked the resolution, but some said they could change course if the war expands in the coming weeks.” [editor’s note: The Senate had two constitutionally legitimate options: Either vote to declare war and ask the House to agree, or ask the House to vote articles of impeachment. Without a declaration of war, the war is illegal (either way, it’s evil and stupid, but that’s a different subject) – TLK] (03/04/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yjj28jjd0o
-----
2) Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court
Source: Associated Press
“In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that companies that paid tariffs struck down last month by Supreme Court are due refunds. Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that ‘all importers of record’ were ‘entitled to benefit’ from the Supreme Court ruling that struck down sweeping double-digit import taxes President Donald Trump imposed last year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Supreme Court found those tariffs to be unconstitutional under the emergency powers law, including the sweeping ‘reciprocal’ tariffs he levied on nearly every other country. The majority ruled that the president could not unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress.” (03/04/26)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariff-refunds-09cd60a170d01d8d62739ab13086ff9e
-----
3) Bitcoin tops $72k as ETFs pull $155 million, extending two week inflow streak
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin hovered near $72,500 as U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs logged about $155 million in net inflows on Wednesday, extending a two-week run of roughly $1.47 billion in new allocations. … Institutional demand through ETFs has begun to stabilize after a difficult start to the year. Investors have poured roughly $1.7 billion into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs since Feb. 24, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data previously reported by CoinDesk, suggesting some investors are growing more comfortable that the market may have found at least a near term floor.” (03/05/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/03/05/bitcoin-tops-usd72k-as-etfs-pull-usd155-million-extending-two-week-inflow-streak
-----
4) US submarine sinks Iranian warship by torpedo in a first since World War II
Source: Fox News
“A U.S. submarine sank a prized Iranian warship by torpedo, the first such sinking of an enemy ship since World War II, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday morning. … The flagship was named for Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who the U.S. killed in a January 2020 drone strike during President Donald Trump’s first term.” (03/04/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-submarine-sinks-iranian-warship-torpedo-first-since-world-war-ii
-----
5) Rising energy prices from the Iran war could help Russia pay for fighting in Ukraine
Source: SFGate
“The Iran war’s disruption of Middle East oil and gas supplies and soaring prices are strengthening Russia’s ability to profit from its energy exports, a pillar of the Kremlin’s budget and a key to paying for its own war in Ukraine. Prices for Russia’s oil exports have risen from under $40 per barrel as recently as December to about $62 per barrel — first on fears of war and then due to interruption of almost all tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for some 20% of the world’s oil consumption. Russian oil still trades at a considerable discount to international benchmark Brent crude …. However, Russian crude is now above the benchmark of $59 per barrel that was assumed in the Russian Finance Ministry’s budget plan for 2026. Oil and gas tax revenues account for up to 30% of the Russian federal budget.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/rising-energy-prices-from-the-iran-war-could-help-21954898.php
-----
6) Cuba: Regime files terrorism charges against suspects over fatal US boat shooting
Source: ABC News
“Cuba said Wednesday it has filed terrorism charges against six suspects it claims were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that is alleged to have opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island’s north coast. The Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the suspects of Cuban origin remain in pretrial detention, adding that it will ensure ‘due process’ as it continues to act ‘in defense of our people and the country’s institutions.’ The government has said 10 heavily armed Cubans from the U.S. who were on board the boat opened fire as they tried to infiltrate the island to commit acts of terrorism. It said that Cuban soldiers returned fire, killing four suspects.” (03/04/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/cuba-files-terrorism-charges-suspects-fatal-us-boat-130752368
-----
7) US House ethics panel investigates Gonzales over affair allegations
Source: Seattle Times
“The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday that it has opened an investigation of Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, over allegations that include having an affair with an aide. The top Republican and Democratic members on the committee said in a joint statement that an investigative panel would look into whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office and whether he discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges. … The San Antonio Express-News reported that it had obtained text messages in which the former Gonzales staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the congressman. … Santos-Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her home in Uvalde, Texas.” (03/04/26)
https://archive.is/6zgKH
-----
8) TX: Regime to ban candy, soda from SNAP purchases starting April 1
Source: KDFW 4 News
“Starting April 1, Texas will become the first state to implement sweeping new restrictions on the types of food and beverages available for purchase through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), state officials announced Wednesday. Under the new rules, the 3.3 million Texans who rely on SNAP benefits will no longer be able to use their Lone Star Cards to buy candy, gum, or sweetened drinks. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) issued the reminder as part of a final push to educate retailers and recipients before the deadline. The policy change follows a waiver approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in August 2025, a move championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Trump Administration to shift the program’s focus toward long-term health outcomes.” (03/04/26)
https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-ban-candy-soda-from-snap-purchases-starting-april-1
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9) EU lawmakers keep US trade deal in the freezer
Source: Politico
“The European Parliament’s trade lawmakers decided on Wednesday to keep the EU-U.S. trade deal frozen amidst volatile transatlantic relations. A majority of political groups voted not to move ahead with legislation to implement the EU’s side of the bargain struck at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last summer. … The latest postponement follows Trump’s threat on Tuesday to impose a trade embargo on Spain for refusing to allow U.S. warplanes stationed there to launch air strikes on Iran.” (03/04/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-lawmakers-keep-us-trade-deal-in-the-freezer
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10) Israel: AG urges High Court to force Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir; coalition fumes
Source: Times of Israel [Jerusalem]
“Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Wednesday called on the High Court of Justice to order that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from his position, unless the premier explains why he hasn’t done so. In a new legal filing, Baharav-Miara accused Ben Gvir of violating court rulings and showing ‘contempt for the rule of law’ while ‘systematically undermining the independence of the police.’ … In February, the High Court ordered Netanyahu to explain why he hasn’t fired Ben Gvir amid an ongoing court case over the far-right politician’s practices and policies in office.” (03/04/26)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ag-urges-high-court-to-force-netanyahu-to-fire-ben-gvir-coalition-fumes/
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11) State lawmakers seek restraints on wage garnishment for medical debt
Source: Orange County Register
“Lawmakers in at least eight states this year are aiming to reel in wage garnishment for unpaid medical bills. The legislation introduced in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington builds on efforts made in other states in past years. This latest push for patient protections comes as the Trump administration has backed away from federal debt protections, health care has become more costly, and more people are expected to go without medical coverage or choose cheaper but riskier high-deductible insurance plans that could lead them into debt. … Wage garnishment is one tool creditors can use in most states to recoup money from people with unpaid bills. In many states, they can garnish someone’s bank account or put a lien on their home, too.” (03/04/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/03/04/state-lawmakers-wage-garnishment-medical-debt/
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12) Spain: Sánchez says “no to the war” in Iran despite Trump’s trade threat
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez again criticized the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in Iran, standing firm on Wednesday against trade threats from Washington and warning that the war in the Middle East risked ‘playing Russian roulette’ with millions of lives. ‘We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,’ Sánchez said in a televised address. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end U.S. trade with Spain because of Spain’s refusal to allow the U.S. to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/03/04/pedro-sanchez-trump-iran/
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13) Weekly US mortgage demand surged 11% higher last week, as rates sat near 4-year low
Source: CNBC
“Mortgage rates hovered around a four-year low last week, prompting more borrowers to refinance and more potential homebuyers to get off the fence. Total mortgage application volume rose 11% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Last week, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, was unchanged from the previous week at 6.09%, with points decreasing to 0.52 from 0.53, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. That rate is the lowest since 2022. Last year that rate was 64 basis points higher.” (03/04/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/04/weekly-mortgage-demand-surged-11percent-higher-last-week.html
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14) TX: Green, who has repeatedly tried to impeach Trump, heads to House runoff election
Source: Fox News
“Eleven-term Veteran Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, and newly minted Rep. Christian Menefee [D-TX] will face off again after neither Democrat captured over 50% of the vote on Tuesday evening in their bids to represent Texas'[s] 18th Congressional District. Under Texas law, if no candidate has captured a majority of the vote, the race will head to a runoff election. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that Menefee received 46% of votes and Green 44.2%. Green has served in Congress since 2005, representing the Lone Star State’s 9th Congressional District. This year, because of redistricting changes advanced by Republicans, Green announced he would pursue reelection in the state’s 18th Congressional District, putting him on a collision course with Menefee. Menefee won election to the House of Representatives in a January special election to fill the seat of Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in office last March.” (03/04/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democrat-who-has-repeatedly-tried-impeach-trump-heads-runoff-election-amid-tight-primary
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15) Japan: High court upholds dissolution order for Unification Church
Source: Nikkei [Japan]
“A Japanese high court on Wednesday upheld a dissolution order for the Unification Church as requested by the central government on the grounds that it unlawfully solicited financially ruinous donations from its members. While the group can still appeal to the Supreme Court, the order by the Tokyo High Court will take immediate effect, with the controversial organization losing its status as a religious corporation with its associated tax advantages and liquidation procedures to begin. … The government argued that the organization’s tactics, which included approaching individuals without disclosing its identity and soliciting large donations, constituted violations of civil law. … The group argued that only criminal violations, not those under the Civil Code, meet the requirements for dissolution.” (03/04/26)
https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/society/japan-high-court-upholds-dissolution-order-for-unification-church
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16) CA: Teacher investigated due to reported “inappropriate” exam questions
Source: SFGate
“Officials from the San Francisco Unified School District have launched an investigation into a teacher at Lowell High School over allegations of ‘inappropriate questions’ on exams that reportedly included fat-shaming and sexist content. ‘SFUSD is aware of the allegations regarding inappropriate questions on a teacher’s exam and other related concerns,’ Laura Dudnick, the director of communications at SFUSD, said in an emailed statement to SFGATE. ‘We take these concerns seriously and are actively investigating.’ Lowell is known for its rigorous academics and has consistently ranked ‘one of the highest performing public high schools’ in the state. According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, Tom Chan, a Lowell math teacher, included quiz questions that asked students to figure out how much it would cost to pay for dinner for girls who weigh 120 versus 220 pounds. Another question, which was allegedly titled ‘Mr. Chan vs. The Fat Kid (part 2)’, appeared to be fat-shaming.” (03/03/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/teacher-inappropriate-exam-questions-21953130.php
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17) Bayer annual losses top €1bn after weedkiller lawsuit settlements
Source: ShareCast [UK]
“Bayer reported an operating loss of more than €1bn in 2025 as annual profits were wiped out by a €3.55bn hit from legal charges in the fourth quarter after resolving a years-long litigation related to its Roundup weedkiller. The German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, which last month agreed to pay $7.25bn to settle more than 100,000 lawsuits claiming that Roundup caused cancer, reported a net loss of €3.76bn in the fourth quarter, compared with a €355m loss the year before.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sharecast.com/news/international-companies/bayer-annual-losses-top-euro1bn-after-weedkiller-lawsuit-settlements–21927418.html
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18) US, Ecuadorian military operations in Ecuador target drug traffickers
Source: Axios
“U.S. and Ecuadorian forces announced drug-trafficking military crackdown operations in Ecuador on Tuesday. U.S. Southern Command in a Tuesday night statement said the operations targeted ‘Designated Terrorist Organizations’ and hailed the cooperation as ‘a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.'” (03/04/26)
https://archive.is/OREkT
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19) Claims of “rediscovered” Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts
Source: SFGate
“An independent researcher claimed on Wednesday that a marble bust of Christ in a Roman church is by Michelangelo, the latest purported attribution to the Renaissance genius who is one of the most imitated artists in the world. The unverified claim by Valentina Salerno has unsettled Renaissance scholars, especially since a recent sketch of a foot that was attributed to Michelangelo — but disputed by some as a copy — recently fetched $27.2 million at a Christie’s auction. Given the stakes — and Salerno’s suggestion that several other works can now be attributed to Michelangelo based on her documentary research — leading experts have declined to comment. Salerno has published her theory on the commercial website academia.edu, a non-peer reviewed social networking site academics use, and announced the first ‘rediscovery’ at a press conference Wednesday. The claims have drawn perhaps more attention than they normally would, given the Vatican seemed at least initially interested.” (03/04/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/claims-of-rediscovered-michelangelos-unsettle-21955153.php
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20) UK: Judge pauses trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“A UK judge on Tuesday put on hold all trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action, scheduling a blanket review of cases for July 30. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring’s decision, made at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court, comes after the High Court last month ruled the government’s ban on the group unlawful — though the government has been granted leave to appeal. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation last July, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the protest group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move was slammed by rights groups as a government overreach and breach of civil liberties. Since then, there have been nearly 3,000 arrests, mainly for carrying placards, according to the activist group Defend Our Juries. Hundreds of people are facing charges.” (03/03/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/uk-judge-pauses-palestine-action-trials-schedules-review
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The End of Scarcity: The Future That Won’t Happen
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Andy Fischer
“A growing chorus of technologists and futurists now argue that scarcity is ending. Artificial intelligence will automate cognition. Robotics will automate labor. Energy capture will scale beyond planetary limits. Manufacturing will approach zero marginal cost. In this telling, the central economic problem that has defined human civilization for millennia is dissolving. This essay accepts the rise of abundance. The empirical case is strong. Real prices for lighting, calories, communication, and computation have collapsed over centuries. Extreme poverty has fallen dramatically. Automation continues to erode historically-binding constraints. But, from this undeniable progress, a stronger claim is often made: that scarcity itself will disappear. That claim is not bold, it is confused. Scarcity is not primarily a supply shortage, it is the structural condition of action under constraint.” (03/04/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/end-scarcity-future-wont-happen
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22) The War Powers Resolution Could Save the Country — and Trump
Source: The American Conservative
by Branko Marcetic
“Trump has effectively put himself into a trap. On the one hand, Iran is determined to inflict pain on the United States and refuses to negotiate again, which means he cannot easily pull out without both personally looking weak and making the United States as a whole appear to have suffered a defeat. On the other hand, the longer the war goes on, the more Americans will die, the more the economy comes under strain, and the greater the likelihood that he is pressured into the politically toxic move of sending in ground troops or otherwise escalating U.S. involvement. In other words, to salvage his presidency in a year where many Republicans’ political futures are tied to his, Trump needs a way out of the war that will let him save face while also letting the Iranians claim a victory. This week’s War Powers Resolution vote offers exactly this chance.” (03/04/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-war-powers-resolution-could-save-the-country-and-trump/
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23) Full liberty makes our lives better
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“I don’t fear your liberty. Since liberty is the freedom to do everything you have a right to do, and nothing you have a right to do can violate me (or anyone else), I want you to exercise your rightful liberty every day of your life, all the time, without the fear of legislation enforcers and freelance creeps trying to stop or punish you. Then, I want the same for myself. I wish more people felt as I do. The world would be a better place if that were the case. If you are free to exercise your liberty, you’ll probably be happier. You’ll definitely be more mature and responsible. If not at first, soon. You’ll learn. People can’t learn to be responsible while being treated like children under the fist of an abusive parent.” (03/04/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/03/04/voices/opinion-full-liberty-makes-our-lives-better/232917.html
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24) How the United States Propelled Tyranny in Africa
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard
“Phony piety has long been one of America’s top political exports. President Barack Obama, in a 2015 speech to the African Union, the organization of the African heads of state, derided nations that institute ‘democracy in name, but not in substance.’ But Obama’s finger wagging could not expunge how the U.S. government had long propped up Africa’s most oppressive governments. In the 1990s, Africa saw a surge of democracies in areas that for centuries had known little except kings, tyrants, or colonial conquerors. While democracy is often touted as the best way to strengthen civic bonds, representative government has too often been a horror show in Africa.” (03/04/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/how-the-united-states-propelled-tyranny-in-africa/
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25) Bikes make life freer. These laws could change that.
Source: Washington Post
by Kevin R Parker
“A bicycle doesn’t require a license, registration, insurance or fuel. You don’t need an app or a subscription. You just get on and go. In an era when your car can track where you drive and report it to your insurance company, the freedom a bicycle offers is appealing. It is a form of transportation available to children, grandparents, minimum-wage workers, and anyone with legs and a sense of balance. Bicycles offer genuine freedom of movement in a world that offers less of it every year. E-bikes extend that freedom. Those who can’t manage hills anymore can ride again. Someone who lives a little too far from work for a regular bike suddenly has another option for the commute. E-bikes make the world bigger for more people. But policymakers are hard at work designing regulations that curtail this freedom.” (03/04/26)
https://archive.is/tSICz
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26) Occupational hazards: How Trump can avoid “forever war” in Iran
Source: Washington Examiner
by W James Antle III
“President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to overthrow foreign leaders not seen since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in Iraq more than two decades ago, but he has yet to try to occupy and pacify another country militarily on that scale. That is why so far, none of Trump’s military actions have spiraled out of control like Iraq did, which raises questions about whether he can continue this pattern in Iran. It’s the occupation that turns a swift military action into a forever war. Trump tends to strike decisively and then quit while he is ahead, as evidenced by last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran, the toppling of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and the bombing of Syria.” (03/03/26)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/4477736/trump-avoid-forever-war-iran/
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27) Computer Scientists Caution Against Internet Age-Verification Mandates
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Published on March 2, an open letter signed by over 400 computer scientists from around the world cautions that ‘those deciding which age-based controls need to exist, and those enforcing them gain a tremendous influence on what content is accessible to whom on the internet.’ They add that ‘this influence could be used to censor information and prevent users from accessing services.’ Even short of the most authoritarian controls, they warn, age-verification mandates encourage centralization and favor large companies and services over smaller providers. The computer scientists aren’t just responding to California’s law. Age-verification requirements are spreading across the world.” (03/04/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/04/computer-scientists-caution-against-internet-age-verification-mandates/
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28) The Republic and Its Enemies
Source: Liberal Currents
by Thomas Pepinsky
“The anti-Trump coalition in the United States is broad, spanning the political spectrum from establishment conservatives and libertarians to social democrats, progressives, liberals, and those who prefer to avoid politics altogether. The breadth of this coalition is both its strength and its weakness. A coalition against the current president and administration has the numbers to win any national election, just so long as everyone votes together. But the same coalition can be easily divided over policy: over tax rates, over how to rein in ICE, over policies to address racial inequality, and anything else. In other words, the anti-Trump coalition is a negative coalition, defined by what it opposes rather than what it supports.” (03/04/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-republic-and-its-enemies/
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29) Iran Is Morally Superior To The United States
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Iran is better than the United States. The United States is worse than Iran. This is true not because Iran is especially good, but because the United States is especially evil. Iran isn’t blanketing a major metropolis with military explosives, killing over a thousand people including hundreds of children. The United States is doing this with its partner in crime Israel. Iran isn’t continuously bombing and invading countries around the world, toppling governments, circling the globe with hundreds of military bases, targeting civilian populations with siege warfare and brandishing nuclear weapons at its enemies in the name of securing planetary domination. Only the United States is. The US empire is the single most murderous and tyrannical power structure on earth, by an extremely massive margin. No one else comes anywhere remotely close.” (03/04/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/04/iran-is-morally-superior-to-the-united-states/
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30) Rubio’s Preposterous Preventive War Argument
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Marco Rubio tries to spin U.S.-Israeli aggression: ‘The bottom line is this: The president determined we were not going to get hit first. … If you tell the president of the United States that if we don’t go first, we’re going to have more people killed and more people injured, the president’s going to go first. That’s what he did. That’s what the president will always do.’ This is Rubio’s attempt at damage control, but this answer is even worse than the one he gave the day before. If the U.S. and Israel hadn’t attacked, U.S. forces weren’t going to get ‘hit’ at all. The president’s threat against Iran was the main reason that American troops were in any danger in the first place.” (03/04/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/rubios-preposterous-preventive-war
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31) March 4, 1801
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson delivered his inaugural address as our third president. Here is part of what he said: ‘Enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter. With all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens: a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned …'” (03/04/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/03/04/march-4-1801-n2672265
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32) The “Empire of Lies” Comes for Iran
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette
“Benjamin Franklin said it best: ‘There never was a good war, or a bad peace.’ Now that war is again underway — the third attack on Iran in two years — people of healthy human consciousness must pray that the destruction and carnage is limited. Yet the trajectory appears to be grim. Wars often progress in unexpected ways. The Persian Gulf region is a tangled spaghetti plate of interests including economic, religious, cultural, and geopolitical. None of our politicians have proved capable of comprehending those interests and foreseeing the consequences of their elective wars.” (03/04/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-empire-of-lies-comes-for-iran
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33) Cilia Flores: A First Lady in a New York Cell
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Michelle Ellner
“On International Working Women’s Day in 2025, Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, read a poem she wrote highlighting the historic role played by Latin American women in the fight against imperialism: ‘We’re not flowers the wind can pluck, / we’re roots of rebel and loyal land, / we’re grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters; / we are woman. / Our blood pulses with the Manuelas, / Luisas, Josefas, Juanas, Cecilias, / Apacuanas, Bartolinas, Eulalias, / Martas, Anas Marías, Barbaritas / and so many others who legacy inspires, / commits, and strengthens us / to continue walking and traveling our path. / And in our hands and chests / a light is on that nobody will ever turn off: / love, peace and liberty.’ One year later, she languishes in a cell in New York City, having been dragged out of her room and kidnapped by US forces on the January 3 attack on Venezuela.” (03/04/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/cilia-flores-first-lady-in-cell
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34) Brazil at a Historical Crossroads
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Deborah Palma
“Brazil finds itself at a historical crossroads that demands a rigorous analysis of its institutional structures. The release of the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), record-breaking data from the Impostômetro, and the persistence of an authoritarian labor framework expose a system of economic asphyxiation and moral erosion. The State, under the pretext of protecting the citizen, in reality hinders their initiative, their property, and their future.” (03/04/26)
https://fee.org/articles/brazil-at-a-historical-crossroads/
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35) The Nationalist Lost Cause
Source: Law & Liberty
by Aaron N Coleman
“In his famous draft of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Thomas Jefferson advised that ‘in questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.’ Jefferson’s rhetorically powerful phrase rested on a simple assumption: that the Constitution constrained federal power. That assumption is understandable. After all, the Constitution is written, and it contains a list of powers. For generations, most Americans have followed Jefferson down this well-worn interpretive path and assumed that enumeration equals limitation. It now appears, however, that we have all been profoundly mistaken.” (03/04/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-nationalist-lost-cause/
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36) Digital ID: Security or Big Brother?
Source: Project Liberal
by Oliver Gale
“In the founding principles of liberalism, freedom is not merely the absence of chains; it is the presence of an unguarded space — a space where the individual can think, speak and organise without the omniscient state and its interference. That space has historically been protected by anonymity, especially in the online sphere of discourse. Today, that foundational protection is under substantial threat, more so than before. The new tool for the state to control its subjects is not only a physical prison, but also a digital cage. In this system, mandatory identification is designed to weave into every interaction.” (03/04/26)
https://projectliberal.substack.com/p/digital-id-security-or-big-brother
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37) Unsung, but crucial foot soldiers in Trump’s war on fraud
Source: Fox News
by Mike Davis
“In proclaiming ‘a golden age of America’ in his State of the Union address, President Trump correctly focused on his initiatives to fix the problems perpetrated by the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations that undermine the physical and economic security of the United States. One of those initiatives is Trump’s war on fraud, which, according to the president, is intended to root out and remedy the ‘corruption that shreds the fabric’ of our nation. … Trump’s war will be waged aggressively. As the president put it, ‘We are not playing games.’ But to win the war against fraud, the Trump administration must force the uniparty institutionalists at the Justice Department to change course and protect a key ally in the war on fraud: whistleblowers.” (03/04/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mike-davis-unsung-crucial-foot-soldiers-trumps-war-fraud
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38) They Are Still Lying About Iraq
Source: Antiwar.com
by Matthew Hoh
“The lack of shame exhibited by the US government as it lies about Iraqi improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that killed thousands of American service members to justify its new war on Iran is breathtaking. President Trump led off his press conference today, the first since the attacks began Saturday morning, with this lie. Trump’s proxies on cable news, in the newspapers and online have been repeating it non-stop. The lie is essentially that American soldiers were killed and wounded in Iraq at the orders of the Iranians. That the people responsible for blowing up American vehicles and sending home US soldiers in caskets or without body parts were Iranians, not Iraqis. The reality, of course, is that responsibility for those deaths and mutilations belongs to George W. Bush and every politician, general, government official, journalist, pundit and citizen who supported that war.” (03/04/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/matthew_hoh/2026/03/03/they-are-still-lying-about-iraq
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39) “Un-American” critics of war represent the majority of Americans
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter
“Mega-MAGA might be trying to purge them, but Tucker Carlson and other conservatives have their fingers on the real pulse after this week’s Iran strikes.” (03/04/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/reaction-to-iran-war/
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40) California’s Age-Verification Law Is a Civil Liberties Test
Source: The Daily Economy
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“The law classifies user identities at the operating system level. Once embedded, that regulatory architecture of control is easy to expand and difficult to roll back.” (03/04/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/californias-age-verification-law-is-a-civil-liberties-test/
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41) EPA’s Endangerment Finding Repeal Stands on Shaky Foundations
Source: The American Prospect
by James Baratta
“Months before overturning the scientific determination behind federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin restated his plans for the agency at an auto dealership in Indiana, saying, ‘The Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers’. The reality is that the Trump EPA has abdicated responsibility for the agency’s quintessential mandate of protecting human health and the environment. The EPA has elected not to contest climate science, instead relying on legal arguments that appear to be tweaked versions of what the Supreme Court rejected in its landmark 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. ‘To state the obvious, this White House doesn’t give a damn about clean air or clean water,’ Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) said in an interview with the Prospect.” (03/04/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/04/environmental-protection-agency-climate-endangerment-finding-repeal-trump-zeldin-supreme-court/
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42) The Tyranny of (Alleged) Experts
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“In short, there are experts, and they want to make health decisions for you. And no matter how many times they are wrong, their ignorance and arrogance are inexhaustible. How dispiriting it is to have to defend basic freedoms against these medical .bullies. Read on and see what is true about decision-making by experts.” (03/04/26)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-alleged-experts
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43) Labour’s War on UK Pubs
Source: The American Conservative
by Lauren Smith
“‘When you have lost your inns,’ warned writer Hilaire Belloc over 100 years ago, ‘drown your empty selves. For you have lost the heart of England.’ A century later, his message could not be more pertinent. Since the beginning of this year, roughly four pubs have permanently closed their doors every day. By the end of 2026, something like 540 pubs could shut for good. For this British institution, no help can be expected to come from the current Labour government.” (03/04/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/labours-war-on-uk-pubs/
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44) Trump’s Iran Tantrum: Because Nothing Screams “Leadership” Like a Government Throwing Tantrums With Other People’s Lives
Source: International Guild of Professional Anarchists
by Alexander Snitker
“Trump’s Iran policy isn’t ‘tough;’ it’s just the usual government cosplay: ‘I’m strong because I can make strangers halfway around the world suffer for my approval rating.’ We, the card-carrying, dues-paying members of the International Guild of Professional Anarchists are here to say: congratulations, you absolute clowns in suits. You’ve once again proven that the only thing governments are good at is inventing enemies so they can charge taxpayers for the fireworks.” (03/03/26)
https://alexandersnitker.substack.com/p/trumps-iran-tantrum-because-nothing
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45) San Francisco’s reparations program, and what it reveals about city leaders
Source: New York Post
by Erec Smith
“Recently, Evanston, Ill., enacted the first reparations program in the country. San Francisco is following suit, but its reparations plan is less about policy and more about performance. What is being sold as a moral reckoning and care for citizens in need feels more like a moral play, meant to lull the intended recipients into a false sense of hope. In December, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed a bill, unanimously passed by the city’s Board of Supervisors, that created a mechanism for distributing a one-time $5 million payment to eligible black residents as a form of reparations. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie speaking at a podium with a logo of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. It was not long before taxpayers and civil-rights advocacy organizations sued the city for violating the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.” (03/03/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/03/opinion/san-franciscos-reparations-plan-is-a-joke/
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46) Iran’s Youth Broke the Islamic Republic’s Spell Before the Airstrikes
Source: The UnPopulist
by Pouya Nikmand
“I fled Iran at 18 under the most desperate of circumstances, making a bargain with a human trafficker who secretly abused me for years in exchange for a visa that kept me out of Iran. My birth country was made so inhospitable that to return was to face death. Last week, when I heard that Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, had been killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike, I felt … thankful. My thanks mostly went not to the military operation that ended his life but to the millions of young Iranians who had prepared the ground for his regime’s demise long before the first bomb fell.” (03/03/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/irans-youth-broke-the-islamic-republics
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47) A Very Stable War
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“After the president of peace, a man who felt deserving of the Nobel Prize, authorized a massive aerial bombardment of Iran last summer, the task of explaining away the contradiction fell to J. D. Vance. … The difference was simple: Other wars were bad because they were led by dumb presidents, but a Trump war would be good because Donald Trump is smart. Yet after the administration’s second wave of air attacks on Iran, the president’s strategy seems more sundown than Sun Tzu.” (03/03/26)
https://archive.is/ezJqV
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48) Surveillence state: Time to opt out
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Gaining knowledge is critical. Not just about the presence and use of cameras, but what is done with the images and other data as well. (Examples: who it is provided to (first- and second-hand), how it can be used to track purchases and movements, and whom we have contact with.) Knowing how they work and how to avoid and disable them is also important. For example, the QR code or magnetic strip on many cards (such as driver’s licenses) allows linking to online databases, both for getting information about us and for providing info about us to others. Opting out, whenever that opportunity is available, is also an important action.” (03/03/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/03/03/surveillence-state-time-to-opt-out/
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49) We Can’t Let Trump Get Away With Another Endless War
Source: In These Times
by Negin Owliaei
“As news broke that the United States and Israel had launched war on Iran, two posts kept showing up over and over on my social media feeds. One was from the Israeli military’s official account, which stated an oft-repeated phrase: ’Israel has the right to defend itself’. The other was a video from the Iranian city of Minab, where the first reports of casualties were emerging. The joint U.S.-Israeli attack had hit a girls’ elementary school; the death toll kept ticking higher and higher. At the time of publication, Iranian authorities said 165 people, mostly schoolchildren, had been killed in the strike, with many more injured. Plenty has been written, in Truthout and elsewhere, about the totally incoherent justifications for this war, the illegality of it, the potential for regional disaster, the joke it has made of the very idea of diplomacy.” (03/03/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/iran-war-american-militarism-fight-despair
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50) The four kinds of Trump voters
Source: Expression
by Sean Stevens
“MAGA Hardliners are mostly evangelical Trump supporters who believe a ‘deep state’ runs politics and that ‘the Left’ hates America. About 25% hold college degrees. Anti-woke Conservatives say American identity is fading and ‘woke’ ideology has ruined American education, news, and entertainment. They are the least religious group (31% atheist, agnostic, or unaffiliated) and about 40% hold college degrees. Mainline Republicans are the most optimistic about the American dream and least likely to say the country is in decline. About 25% have some college experience but no degree, and 38% hold only a high school diploma. Reluctant Right voted for Trump because he seemed ‘less bad’ than Kamala Harris. They are the least likely to identify as Republican, the least hopeful about the next four years, and the most likely to say they vote across party lines. Those distinctions aren’t just academic. They predict meaningful differences in how Trump voters weigh rights, institutions, and presidential power.” (03/03/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-four-kinds-of-trump-voters
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Science of Politics, 03/04/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“What predicts midterm election results?” (03/04/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/what-predicts-midterm-election-results
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52) Rising, 03/04/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar arguing that the Trump administration needs to provide clearer answers as to what their plans are for the conflict with Iran.” (03/04/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5766506-rising-march-4-2026/
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53) Reason and Abortion
Source: Bet On It
“A conversation with Monica Snyder, Executive Director of Secular Pro-Life.” (03/04/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/reason-and-abortion
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54) Reason Interview: Jonah Goldberg
Source: Reason
“Jonah Goldberg discusses the Iran war, Trump’s governing style, the rise of the populist right, and why he believes the GOP is drifting away from conservatism.” (03/04/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/03/04/jonah-goldberg-the-gop-is-becoming-anti-conservative/
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55) SolutionsWatch, 03/04/26
Source: The Corbett Report
“Resistance Cinema.” (03/04/26)
https://corbettreport.com/resistance-cinema/
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56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/04/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Blurts Out Damning Iran Admission as MAGA Turns Harshly on Him.” (03/04/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/207320/trump-blurts-damning-iran-admission-maga-turns-harshly
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57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/04/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Eyes Backing Kurdish Militants in Iran, Trump Suggests He ‘Forced Israel’s Hand,’ and More.” (03/04/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoiv55ufB0c
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58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/03/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Bloated Bureaucracy and Failing Kids The Case for School Choice with Christopher Talgo.” (03/03/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/bloated-bureaucracy-and-failing-kids-the-case-for-school-choice-with-christopher-talgo/
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59) Nonzero, 03/03/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Will the Iran War Spiral Out of Control? | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov.” (03/03/26)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69325
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60) Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 03/03/26
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“The Meaning of the Iran War: Tehran Challenges Trump’s Muscular Foreign Policy w/ James Dorsey.” (03/03/26)
https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/jdorsey3-3-26/
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