01/07 -- Iran: Regime thugs attack protesters as death toll rises; Regime Change and Nation-Building Are Back!
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jan 7, 2026, 6:18:09 AMJan 7
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 01/07/26
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Iran: Regime thugs attack protesters as death toll rises
2) Dow, S&P 500 set new record highs
3) European Allies Agree to Key Security Provisions for Ukraine
4) China: Regime bans export of dual-use items to Japan amid tantrum over Taiwan
5) MN: ICE gang brags it’s launching largest abduction operation ever
6) WY: Supreme Court Declares Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
7) Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at US factory from 2028
8) To play experts’ dismay, Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks
9) Pope Leo closes Holy Year with critique of consumerism and xenophobia
10) Maduro opponent Machado vows to return to Venezuela, wants an election
11) Dog bites man: Lying gang shot-caller can’t seem to keep his yap shut
12) Trump claims US oil firms could be “up and running” in Venezuela within 18 months
13) CT: Police chief resigns after admitting to stealing funds
14) White House gaslights public about Democrats’ Beer Belly Putsch “gaslighting”
15) Anonymous crypto gambler made $436,000 on Maduro capture
16) MN: Hotel chain caves, apologizes for refusing rooms to known gang members paying with stolen money
17) SCOTUS: Jasmine Crockett says “fuck you” over Texas redistricting decision
18) Switzerland: Regime freezes assets of Maduro, others following abduction
19) Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) dies, reducing GOP’s narrow control of US House to 218-213
20) Report: Trump regime sets meeting with Big Oil cronies on Venezuela
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Regime Change and Nation-Building Are Back!
22) Humanitarianism is the Warmest Place to Hide
23) Naked Imperialism in Venezuela
24) Trump promised he’d end forever wars. Now he’s starting one.
25) Trump’s Cargo Cult Imperialism in Venezuela
26) The Conquest of the United States by Venezuela
27) Judicial overreach
28) Whither Conservatism?
29) Trump’s War on Women: Bodies, Roles, and Futures at Risk
30) The Continuing Quest for Community
31) Why government, not greed, is to blame for NYC’s child-care crisis
32) Accounting vs. Economic Profit
33) Trump Wants Oil Companies To “Fix” Venezuela’s Infrastructure
34) The US Empire Needs Men Like Trump
35) The Declaration of Independence is Still Our Guidepost
36) Reports of Western Civilization’s Death at Harvard Are Greatly Exaggerated
37) I came here for my basketball dream; I stay for freedom & the American dream
38) Is Crypto Just a Meme Coin Casino?
39) Where “hate speech” censorship is even worse than on US campuses
40) Cornered
41) Trumpian Colonialism Is Not Freedom
42) Europe whistles past the Venezuelan graveyard
43) The New Neoconservatives
44) Liberation or Occupation? The illusion of US regime change
45) You Can’t Hate the Media Enough
46) Trump’s Retro Imperialism
47) Three Key Lessons from the US’s Venezuela Intervention
48) Pentagon Official on Venezuela War: “Following the Old, Failed Scripts”
49) How a legal group’s anti-LGBTQ [sic] policies took root in school districts across PA
50) Is Minnesota or California the Fraud Capital of America?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Trump Watch, 01/06/26
52) Capital Record, episode 277
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 01/06/26
54) Advisory Opinions, 01/06/26
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 01/06/26
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/06/26
57) System Update, episode 561
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 01/05/26
59) Politics Politics Politics, 01/05/26
60) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 01/05/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Iran: Regime thugs attack protesters as death toll rises
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Protesters angry over Iran’s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut down. The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran’s economic and political life, represented the latest signal that the demonstrations likely are to continue as the rial currency fell to a record low Tuesday. Already, violence surrounding the protests has killed at least 36 people with authorities detaining more than 2,000 others, activists abroad say. Meanwhile, the situation was likely to worsen as Iran’s Central Bank drastically reduced the subsidized exchange rates for dollars it offers to importers and producers.” (01/07/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/g-s1-104862/protesters-iran
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2) Dow, S&P 500 set new record highs
Source: Investor’s Business Daily
“Stock indexes gained momentum in the final hours of trading Tuesday as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at new highs. … The Dow ended the day 1% higher, or nearly 485 points, and closed at a record high for a second session in a row. In addition, the blue-chip index, which gained 1.2% on Monday, closed Tuesday above 49,000 for the first time ever. … Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed 0.6% higher, also a record. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.7%.” (01/06/26)
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-sp500-nasdaq-nvidia-nvda-stock-ai-chip/
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3) European Allies Agree to Key Security Provisions for Ukraine
Source: New York Times
“Ukraine’s allies agreed on Tuesday to provide key aspects of postwar security for the country in the event of a cease-fire with Russia, including a declaration by the leaders of France and Britain that they would commit troops to dissuadeRussia from invading again. President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain signed an agreement with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a meeting in Paris of more than 30 European leaders and other members of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. The countries in it have committed to strengthening Ukraine’s security. In addition to the troop commitment, the agreement also said that the United States would lead an effort to monitor any eventual cease-fire, and that a special commission would be created to ‘address any breaches, attribute responsibility and determine remedies.'” (01/06/25)
https://archive.is/m0cfC
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4) China: Regime bans export of dual-use items to Japan amid tantrum over Taiwan
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“China has unveiled new export controls on Japan amid elevated tensions over Taiwan, prompting a rebuke by Tokyo. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it had banned so-called dual-use items, with military applications, in light of Japan’s ‘erroneous’ and ‘egregious’ statements about the self-governing island, which Beijing [pretends is] its territory. … China and Japan have long been at odds over historical and territorial issues, but relations deteriorated sharply after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested late last year that Tokyo could intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan.” (01/07/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/7/china-bans-export-of-dual-use-items-to-japan-amid-tensions-over-taiwan
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5) MN: ICE gang brags it’s launching largest abduction operation ever
Source: USA Today
“Federal immigration agents are ‘surging’ into Minnesota, officials said, amid a deepening fraud scandal that’s enveloped state and national politics. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons described the deployment in an interview on Newsmax as ‘the largest immigration operation ever.’ He did not say how many agents the deployment would involve or how long it was expected to last. … The Twin Cities region is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, with about 84,000 residents living in the area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The majority of Somalis in Minnesota are U.S. citizens who were either born in the country or became citizens through the naturalization process.” (01/06/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/06/minnesota-fraud-scandal-ice-immigration-agents/88045918007/
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6) WY: Supreme Court Declares Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
Source: Cowboy State Daily
“The Wyoming Supreme Court in a 4-1 majority ruled Tuesday that Wyoming’s abortion bans are unconstitutional, under the state Constitution’s promise of health care autonomy. The decision doesn’t defer to an earlier decision by Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens, but charts its own course through the constitutional amendment to arrive at the same ultimate result. … The ruling concludes four years of legal challenges that have fraught Wyoming since its 2022 abortion ban ‘triggered’ into place with the overturn of the federal abortion right under Roe vs. Wade. One sequel to that law and other abortion bans and restrictions have followed.” (01/06/26)
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/01/06/wyoming-supreme-court-declares-abortion-bans-unconstitutional/
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7) Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at US factory from 2028
Source: CNBC
“Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at its U.S. manufacturing plant in Georgia starting in 2028, marking a step toward automating higher-risk and repetitive manufacturing tasks, the South Korean company said. Hyundai unveiled the production version of the Atlas humanoid robot, developed by its unit Boston Dynamics, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company did not disclose the volume or cost of the robots, but said in a statement it aims to roll out adoption across all of its manufacturing sites as part of a push into ‘physical AI.'” (01/06/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/06/hyundai-motor-group-plans-to-deploy-humanoid-robots-at-us-factory-from-2028.html
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8) To play experts’ dismay, Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Lego has unveiled Smart Bricks – tech-filled versions of its small building blocks – which it says will bring sets to life with sound, light and reaction to movement. However, the new product range is causing unease among play experts, who say it risks undermining what makes Lego special for children in an increasingly digital world. Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas, the Danish toymaker’s Smart Play system introduces new electronic components to the classic plastic blocks. Lego says its new tech-enabled products, launching in March with a new Star Wars set, are its most revolutionary innovation’ in nearly 50 years. But Josh Golin, executive director of children’s wellbeing group Fairplay, believes Smart Bricks ‘undermine what was once great about Legos’ – harnessing children’s own imagination during play.” (01/06/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmlnmnwzk2o
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9) Pope Leo closes Holy Year with critique of consumerism and xenophobia
Source: NBC News
“Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today’s consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition to the first American pontiff. With cardinals and diplomats looking on, Leo kneeled down in prayer on the stone floor at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. He then stood up and pulled the two doors shut, symbolically concluding the rarest of Jubilees: one that was opened by a feeble Pope Francis in December 2024, continued during his funeral and the conclave, and then was closed by Francis’[s] successor a year later. Only once before, in 1700, has a Holy Year been opened by one pope and closed by another.” (01/06/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/pope-leo-xiv/pope-leo-xiv-closes-2025-holy-year-critique-consumerism-xenophobia-rcna252520
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10) Maduro opponent Machado vows to return to Venezuela, wants an election
Source: Reuters
“Venezuela’s main opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has vowed to return home quickly, praising U.S. President Donald Trump for toppling her enemy Nicolas Maduro and declaring her movement ready to win a free election. Trump appears, however, to hope for now to work with interim President Delcy Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro’s government, disappointing the opposition and contributing to nervousness in Venezuela. ‘I’m planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible,’ said Machado, 58, who escaped from Venezuela in disguise in October to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump. ‘We believe that this transition should move forward,’ she told Fox News’ ‘Hannity’ program.” (01/06/25)
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/maduro-opponent-machado-vows-return-venezuela-wants-election-2026-01-06/
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11) Dog bites man: Lying gang shot-caller can’t seem to keep his yap shut
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
“U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino’s mouth has got him in legal trouble again — this time in Tennessee. In Chicago, a federal judge found that Bovino lied in a court deposition in November …. Now Bovino is at the center of a legal controversy in Nashville for appearing on FOX News and NewsMax about the high-profile case against Kilmar Abrego, a man from El Salvador facing criminal charges of human trafficking. Lawyers for Abrego have asked the court to sanction the government for violating an October gag order in the case. … Without referring to him by name, Bovino appeared on TV news shows in mid-December and called Abrego ‘an alien smuggler,’ a ‘wife beater’ and an ‘MS-13 member;’ described judges presiding over his civil and criminal cases as ‘extremist’ and ‘activist;’ and promised that Abrego, who ‘wants to leech off the United States,’ would be taken ‘out of circulation’ and deported.” (01/06/26)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/01/06/greg-bovino-border-patrol-chief-federal-judge-chicago-tennessee
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12) Trump claims US oil firms could be “up and running” in Venezuela within 18 months
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“President Donald Trump says the US oil industry could be ‘up and running’ with increased operations in Venezuela within 18 months, after a surprise military operation removed President Nicolás Maduro from power. Trump told NBC News that ‘a tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue’. Representatives from major US petroleum companies planned to meet the Trump administration later this week, BBC’s partner CBS News reported.” (01/06/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4grxzxjjd8o
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13) CT: Police chief resigns after admitting to stealing funds
Source: Yale Daily News
“Both of the police departments operating on and around Yale’s campus are without permanent leadership after the sudden resignation of New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson on Monday. Jacobson resigned after being confronted with allegations that he appropriated city funds for personal use, Mayor Justin Elicker announced at a press conference …. According to Elicker, other officers ‘flagged irregularities’ with Jacobson’s use of a fund meant to support the police department’s confidential informant program. On Monday morning, assistant chiefs David Zannelli, Bertram Ettienne and Manmeet Bhagtana confronted Jacobson in his office at the police station, Elicker said. Following the confrontation, Jacobson ‘admitted to taking the funds for personal use’ and resigned, Elicker said.” (01/05/26)
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2026/01/05/city-police-chief-resigns-after-admitting-to-stealing-funds-mayor-says/
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14) White House gaslights public about Democrats’ Beer Belly Putsch “gaslighting”
Source: Fox News
“The White House published a new website Tuesday detailing the timeline of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, taking aim at Democrat lawmakers for allegedly promoting a ‘gaslighting narrative’ surrounding the protest to silence their political opponents. ‘The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ‘insurrectionists’ and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump — despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government,’ the new website states. ‘In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection,’ the website continued, pointing to the certification of the 2020 election that the White House described as ‘fraud-ridden’ and for allegedly ‘weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters.'” (01/06/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-torches-democrats-jan-6-gaslighting-claims-anniversary-takedown
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15) Anonymous crypto gambler made $436,000 on Maduro capture
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A gambler made nearly half a million dollars on the capture of Venezuela’s president just before it was officially announced, raising questions about whether someone profited from inside knowledge of the US operation. Wagers on Polymarket, a crypto-powered platform, that Nicolás Maduro would be out of power by the end of January rose in the hours before President Donald Trump announced on Saturday the Venezuelan leader had been seized. One account, which joined the platform last month and took four positions, all on Venezuela, made more than $436,000 (£322,000) from a $32,537 bet. It remains unclear who placed the bet.” (01/06/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2gn93292do
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16) MN: Hotel chain caves, apologizes for refusing rooms to known gang members paying with stolen money
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“A Minnesota hotel that wouldn’t allow federal immigration agents to stay there this month is apologizing and saying the refusal violated its own policies. The Department of Homeland Security had accused the global Hilton hotel chain of a ‘coordinated’ effort to refuse service to its employees. Hilton and local operators of the Hampton Inn Lakeville property released statements within hours apologizing and said the messages refusing to serve agents who were focused on immigration enforcement didn’t reflect their policies.” (01/05/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/01/05/federal-enforcement-minnesota-hotel/
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17) SCOTUS: Jasmine Crockett says “fuck you” over Texas redistricting decision
Source: Fox News
“Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said ‘fuck you’ to the Supreme Court over its decision to temporarily uphold Texas'[s] new congressional districts. In a video posted to her YouTube account on Sunday, Crockett commented on what she claims are efforts by President Donald Trump and the Republican Party to ‘rig the system’ ahead of the 2026 midterm elections using redistricting tactics. ‘Obviously, Trump is still doing his bidding with these state Houses and state Senates and governor’s mansions to try to rig the system,’ Crockett said. ‘Kudos to Indiana for saying f— you. Kudos to California for saying we’re going to fight back.’ She continued, ‘Definitely kudos to the Trump justice who wrote the 160-page opinion denouncing what took place in Texas and fuck you to the Supreme Court for what they did as well …'” (01/06/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/jasmine-crocket-says-f-you-supreme-court-over-texas-redistricting-decision
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18) Switzerland: Regime freezes assets of Maduro, others following abduction
Source: United Press International
“Switzerland has frozen any assets in the country owned by U.S.-detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and others associated with him to ensure that if they were stolen from the Venezuelan people, they can be rightly returned. The asset freeze went immediately into effect when it was announced on Monday, but does not impact members of the current Venezuelan government, Switzerland’s Federal Council said in a statement. The freeze is to prevent funds from leaving the country. In the case that future legal proceedings show that the assets were illicitly acquired, Switzerland said it will ‘endeavor to ensure that they benefit the Venezuelan people.'” (01/06/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/01/06/switzerland-Maduro-asset-freeze/6001767683840/
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19) Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) dies, reducing GOP’s narrow control of US House to 218-213
Source: SFGate
“Republican Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term U.S. representative from California and a reliable vote on President Donald Trump’s agenda, has died, reducing the GOP’s narrow control of the House. He was 65. A former state lawmaker and rice farmer, LaMalfa had more than a dozen years in Congress, where he regularly helped GOP leaders open the House floor and frequently gave speeches. His death, confirmed by Majority Whip Tom Emmer and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, trims the Republicans’ margin of control of the House to 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.” (01/06/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/rep-doug-lamalfa-of-california-dies-reducing-21279111.php
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20) Report: Trump regime sets meeting with Big Oil cronies on Venezuela
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“The administration of United States President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after US forces abducted its leader, Nicolas Maduro, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing unnamed sources. The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there, the Reuters news agency report said on Monday. The three biggest US oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the Trump administration about Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with ‘all’ the US oil companies, both before and since Maduro was abducted.” (01/05/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/1/5/trump-administration-sets-meetings-with-oil-companies-on-venezuela-report
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Regime Change and Nation-Building Are Back!
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ron Paul
“As was the case the morning after ‘Shock and Awe’ signaled the start of the Iraq war, many are cheering the US military raid on Venezuela and capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro. Overwhelming US military power – and likely some bribed Venezuelan officials – ensured that the operation was swift and dramatic. This was not a war, we were told. It was just a surgical operation to remove a criminal dictator and restore democracy to the country. American oil companies would soon get even richer exploiting the country’s vast oil reserves. This time it will be different! If all of this sounds familiar that’s because it is the same narrative used each time the US has launched a ‘regime change’ operation this century.” (01/06/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2026/01/05/regime-change-and-nation-building-are-back
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22) Humanitarianism is the Warmest Place to Hide
Source: Garrison Center
by Joel Schlosberg
“Zohran Mamdani’s promise to bring ‘the resurgent flame of hope’ to ‘the January chill’ as mayor of a literally frozen New York City during his January 1 inaugural address got the cold shoulder from conservative commentators. Despite his vow to move the city to unity past ‘a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor’ and highlighting constituents ‘who supported President Trump a year before they voted for me,’ some just aren’t buying Mamdani’s narrative. … Yet those red-baiting Mamdani’s ‘Red Apple’ could stand to scratch the surface and see how much the gilded apple of Trump Tower pokes through — and not just because he won’t be able to ‘deliver universal childcare for the many by taxing the wealthiest few’ if those fat cats pull up stakes.” (01/06/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20221
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23) Naked Imperialism in Venezuela
Source: CounterPunch
by David S D’Amato
“Trump has never been a peace president or a principled opponent of aggressive war and imperial looting. His crude rhetoric, with its open acknowledgement of Venezuela’s oil riches, merely removes the polite, decorous language we’ve come to expect from our political figureheads. The U.S. government is not pursuing a new logic or discarding old values. It is reinstating our political-economic system’s commitment to imperialism and extraction, only without any pretense to humanitarian motivations or democracy-building.” (01/06/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/06/naked-imperialism-in-venezuela/
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24) Trump promised he’d end forever wars. Now he’s starting one.
Source: USA Today
by Sara Pequeño
“On the 2024 reelection campaign trail, President Donald Trump consistently heralded himself as the anti-war president. In his 2025 inaugural address, he said the power of the United States ‘will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.’ It’s a wonder that people actually believed him. This is the same man, after all, who ordered the assassination of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani and led missile strikes in Syria during his first term. This is the same man who has said that he would turn Gaza into a Mar-a-Lago-esque resort …. Is it really a surprise then that he has skirted congressional approval and allowed an act of war to take place by essentially kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela so that he can be tried on drug trafficking charges in the United States? No, no, it is not.” (01/06/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/01/06/trump-antiwar-president-venezuela-oil/88032823007/
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25) Trump’s Cargo Cult Imperialism in Venezuela
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“When the Bush administration was planning and selling its war of aggression against Iraq in 2002, a common argument made by anti-war activists was that the whole thing was about oil. … This didn’t make all that much sense (for one thing, the war and occupation ended up costing on the order of $3 trillion, and Hussein would have been more than willing to just sell us the oil for a lot less than that), but for an administration whose two top leaders were both former oilmen, it had a surface plausibility. Donald Trump has done Bush one better: He simply said outright that his military attack on Venezuela, in which commandos kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and transported him to Manhattan to be put on trial, was about oil.” (01/06/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/06/trump-maduro-venezuela-oil-imperialism/
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26) The Conquest of the United States by Venezuela
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The U.S. national-security state’s easy abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro brings to mind Albert J. Nock’s essay about U.S. interventionism in the Spanish-American War in 1898. The U.S. military victory over the third-rate Spanish Empire was as easy as the recent U.S. interventionism against Venezuela. As Nock pointed out in his essay ‘The Conquest of the United States by Spain,’ however, it was Spain that actually conquered the United States, not the other way around. Amidst all the celebrations among American statists over the easy military victory over Venezuela, what these statist fail to realize is that it actually Venezuela that has won the war against the United States.”: (01/06/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/01/06/the-conquest-of-the-united-states-by-venezuela/
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27) Judicial overreach
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“It used to be the United States that had problems trying to have its courts make rulings that would make other countries follow its rulings, but other courts have been ploughing the same furrow. And judicial activists in several countries have been using that tendency to subvert the decisions of elected governments and have them overruled by unelected judges. The UK’s Supreme Court has tried to extend a remit it was not given, namely to judge on the constitutionality of Parliamentary decisions. Its declaration that the late Queen’s prorogation of Parliament was illegal was described by Jacob Rees-Mogg as a ‘constitutional coup.’ He was correct. Its use of external courts such as the ECHR to void decisions made by elected UK governments effectively negates the sovereignty of Parliament, which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.” (01/06/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/judicial-overreach
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28) Whither Conservatism?
Source: Persuasion
by Damon Linker
“A new generation of right-wing culture warriors is sowing chaos. They will outlast Donald Trump.” (01/06/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/whither-conservatism
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29) Trump’s War on Women: Bodies, Roles, and Futures at Risk
Source: TomDispatch
by Karen J Greenberg
“‘Quiet, Piggy!’ The president was intent on silencing Catherine Lucey. The Bloomberg reporter had provoked him with a question about the release of the Epstein files. His insult caught the public’s attention. But Trump’s tongue-lashing lexicon against women has a long history. Other female journalists have been dubbed ‘obnoxious,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘third-rate’ and ‘ugly.’ Vice President Kamala Harris, opposing him in the 2024 presidential election, was labeled ‘retarded’ and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘crazy as a bedbug.’ The list goes on (and on and on). And who knows what was redacted from the Epstein files along those very lines? Mind you, those Trumpian insults hurled at women (and regularly offered about them) are anything but performative throwaways. They reveal Donald Trump’s deep and abiding contempt for females, an attitude that has taken a giant leap forward (or do I mean backward?) in policy terms in the Trump 2.0 years.” (01/06/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/trumps-war-on-women/
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30) The Continuing Quest for Community
Source: Law & Liberty
by Bradley J Birzer
“A new edition of Robert Nisbet’s neglected classic, The Social Philosophers, reveals what made the sociologist a first-rate conservative mind.” (01/06/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-continuing-quest-for-community/
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31) Why government, not greed, is to blame for NYC’s child-care crisis
Source: New York Post
by Nicole Huyer & William DuVall
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign message was simple: New York City’s cost of living is too high. True, starting a family and raising children have become unaffordable in New York City — and Mamdani believes his socialist plans are the answer. ‘We will deliver universal child care for the many by taxing the wealthiest few,’ he said in his inaugural speech last week. The scale of the city’s problem is undeniable: Three of the four most expensive US counties for child care, in terms of share of family income, are within New York City: The Bronx, Queens and Kings County (Brooklyn). Day-care center costs in The Bronx, for example, range from $300 to $406 per week ($15,600 to $21,112 a year) depending on the child’s age — but with a median household income of only $48,610, center-based child care is completely out of reach for most local families.” (01/05/25)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/05/opinion/government-not-greed-is-to-blame-for-nycs-childcare-crisis/
-----
32) Accounting vs. Economic Profit
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“In any principles of economics class, students learn the difference between accounting profit and economic profit. Accounting profit, which is what one typically understands when discussing ‘profit,’ is total revenue minus your monetary costs. It is what appears on the bottom line of an accounting statement as ‘profit.’ Economic profit is a broader term. Recall that, for economists, ‘cost’ is a term of art: it is the highest-valued alternative not undertaken. This includes both monetary costs and alternative uses of your resources, often called implicit costs. Economic profit, thus, is total revenue minus total costs (both your monetary and your implicit costs). Implicit costs do not show up on an accounting statement, yet they are still vital to making life decisions.” (01/06/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/accounting-vs-economic-profit
-----
33) Trump Wants Oil Companies To “Fix” Venezuela’s Infrastructure
Source: Reason
by Joe Lancaster
“Over the weekend, American military forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an operation in the capital city of Caracas. While the action was nominally undertaken to prosecute Maduro and his wife for ‘narcoterrorism,’ President Donald Trump soon added another potential justification: accessing the country’s generous oil reserves. If this is Trump’s plan, it will be easier said than done. … ‘American oil executives are unlikely to dive headfirst into Venezuela for multiple reasons: The situation on the ground remains very uncertain, Venezuela’s oil industry is in shambles and Caracas has a history of seizing US oil assets,’ reported CNN’s Matt Egan.” (01/06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/06/trump-wants-oil-companies-to-fix-venezuelas-infrastructure/
-----
34) The US Empire Needs Men Like Trump
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“If you were wondering why the US establishment was so much more chill about Trump becoming president this term than they were the first time around, you’re watching the reason now. The powers that be were assured that he’d carry out longstanding imperial agendas like kidnapping Maduro, bombing Iran and overseeing a final solution to the Palestinian problem, and they trusted him to carry out those plans. The MAGA narrative that the establishment hates Trump because he’s fighting the Deep State has never been true; there were certain factions within the US imperial power structure which disliked Trump, but that was only because he was not a proven commodity like Hillary Clinton and they didn’t trust him to be a reliable steward of the empire.” (01/06/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/01/06/the-us-empire-needs-men-like-trump/
-----
35) The Declaration of Independence is Still Our Guidepost
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Rachel Chiu
“Chief Justice John Roberts is right: The Declaration of Independence, while not law itself, must be the benchmark that guides all three branches of government. On New Year’s Eve, the Chief Justice released his annual year-end report on the state of the judiciary. Of particular note is the brief prefatory letter that Roberts has often used to opine on controversial issues such as judicial independence, artificial intelligence in the legal profession, and security threats against judges. This year’s letter focuses on the Declaration of Independence, which celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026. While many commentators have criticized Roberts for ‘dodging’ the biggest questions of the day — especially perceived favoritism for the Trump administration — his words are apt for the times, focusing on the foundational ideals that define the American experiment.” (01/06/25)
https://fee.org/articles/the-declaration-of-independence-is-still-our-guidepost/
-----
36) Reports of Western Civilization’s Death at Harvard Are Greatly Exaggerated
Source: Washington Monthly
by Alex Bronzini-Vender
“In the December 29 New York Post, Daniel McCarthy, the conservative columnist, declared that ‘at Harvard University today, professors who teach Western history are history.’ David Wolpe, a former visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School, posted that ‘Harvard has no one left who teaches Western Civilization.’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for his part, posted that ‘the study of western civilization’ has ‘completely cratered’ at institutions like Harvard. That’s news to me. Just last month, I was torn between enrolling in What is Global European History? or Political Debates in the Empire of New Rome. And this past fall, the department’s offerings included The Fall of the Roman Empire, Germany, 1848–1949, Early Modern Europe, Travelers in the Byzantine World, and Amsterdam: Portrait of an Early Modern Metropolis.” (01/06/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/01/06/harvard-western-civilization-humanities-decline/
-----
37) I came here for my basketball dream; I stay for freedom & the American dream
Source: Fox News
by Enes Kanter Freedom
“At a time when principles are tested and passions run high, we have to return to the heart of what America stands for. It’s not just about who raises a flag, but who upholds the values of generosity, unity and a shared future. In the end, the question is about the soul of our nation. Who stands with America’s deepest ideals, and who does not? I came to America chasing a basketball dream, but I stayed because I found something far greater: freedom. As a Muslim and a legal immigrant, I came to the United States because freedom here is not just an idea. It is a way of life. I did not come to impose my beliefs on anyone. I did not come to burn flags or hate this nation. I did not come to conquer America.” (01/06/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/enes-kanter-freedom-i-came-here-my-basketball-dream-stay-freedom-american-dream
-----
38) Is Crypto Just a Meme Coin Casino?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Thomas L Hogan
“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are widely – but wrongly – panned as unregulated casinos or Ponzi schemes that create no real value. For example, US Senator Elizabeth Warren called crypto a ‘threat to financial stability,’ while the UK’s Treasury Select Committee said that cryptocurrency ownership ‘more closely resembles gambling than a financial service.’ While some cryptocurrencies are mainly speculative, many serve specific business or functional purposes. We can identify some of the value created by cryptocurrencies by breaking them into four general categories: Bitcoin, stablecoins, meme coins, and utility tokens.” (01/06/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/is-crypto-just-a-meme-coin-casino/
-----
39) Where “hate speech” censorship is even worse than on US campuses
Source: Washington Post
by Greg Lukianoff
“Free-speech advocates have long warned Americans about the dangers of adopting ‘hate speech’ codes. If they became widely enforced, the result wouldn’t be the kinder society intended by such censorship; it would be an intimidated, even frightened one. Either you engage in mass arrests, or you enforce the rules selectively — which means targeting some viewpoints above others. For an indication of where this censorious impulse can lead even in a democratic society, look no further than European Union nations and Britain, where the experiment in speech control is running not on university campuses but on national scales, backed by the state’s monopoly on force. The results are so extreme that American readers might assume they’re exaggerated. They aren’t.” (01/06/26)
https://archive.is/tM5ix
-----
40) Cornered
Source: Cobden Centre
by Tim Price
“In June 1983, Paramount Studios released a comedy starring Dan Akyroyd and Eddie Murphy which culminates in an attempt by two wealthy commodity brokers to corner … the market in frozen concentrated orange juice futures, of all things. The film was called ‘Trading Places’ …. This was a peculiarly commercial example of Art imitating Life. Three years earlier, Bunker and Herbert Hunt, Texan heirs to an oil fortune, had attempted to corner the market in silver. … Although the current silver market environment would seem to suggest that the story of the Hunt Brothers – wild bull market followed by calamitous crash – is playing out all over again, there are some key distinctions this time around …” (01/06/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/01/cornered/
-----
41) Trumpian Colonialism Is Not Freedom
Source: Common Dreams
by Jordan Liz
“On January 3, the US launched an illegal attack in Venezuela that resulted in the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote via Twitter-X that the couple has been indicted and ‘will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.’ For Vice President JD Vance, because ‘Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism,’ these military strikes were legal. This, despite the fact that these strikes were conducted without congressional approval in a clear violation of the Constitution and the separation of powers. With Maduro out of power, President Donald Trump announced that, ‘We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.'” (01/06/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-colonialism-not-freedom
-----
42) Europe whistles past the Venezuelan graveyard
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov
“When Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas said that ‘sovereignty, territorial integrity and discrediting aggression as a tool of statecraft are crucial principles that must be upheld in case of Ukraine and globally.’ These were not mere words. The EU has adopted no less than 19 packages of sanctions against the aggressor — Russia — and allocated almost $200 billion in aid since 2022. Surely one would expect, then, the EU to condemn the U.S. unilateral attack on Venezuela in early days of 2026, resulting in an abduction of its leader Nicolás Maduro? Yet, nothing of the sort happened. In fact, the EU has already demonstrated its selective approach to the international legality when it failed to condemn its violations in Gaza half as vociferously as it did in Ukraine, shredding Europe’s credibility in the Global South and among many European citizens as well.” (01/06/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/europe-venezuela/
-----
43) The New Neoconservatives
Source: The American Conservative
by David Brady
“Bari Weiss gate-keeps the right against antiwar conservatives. Sound familiar?” (01/06/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-new-neoconservatives/
-----
44) Liberation or Occupation? The illusion of US regime change
Source: Orange County Register
by Patrik S Ward & Abigail R Hall
“In the early hours of January 3, U.S. forces entered and carried out strikes in Venezuela, removing Nicolas Maduro from power. The operation was swift, decisive, and framed as a necessary act — an intervention to combat narco-trafficking, restore order, and free a population suffering under an entrenched dictatorship. We’ve seen this movie before; we know better than to think it will be ‘smooth sailing’ from here. It is worth stating what is obvious: Maduro was a dictator. His government repressed political opposition, hollowed out democratic institutions, and oversaw an economic collapse that drove millions of Venezuelans to flee. Many Venezuelans — though not all — are celebrating his removal. The question is not whether Maduro was a problem. The question is whether the U.S. invasion and forced regime change can provide a long-term solution. History offers a sobering answer.” (01/05/26)
https://archive.is/S1TZh
-----
45) You Can’t Hate the Media Enough
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“Is there any media outlet in the country that does actual journalism? I’ll save you the time, the answer is a resounding ‘no!’ None, not one, is worth their weight in post-digested food, and neither are the people who work there (and I say this as someone who knows a lot of people who work there, and likes some of them). It is getting harder and harder to come away from consuming any ‘news’ from anywhere and not be dumber for the experience. No matter how much you dislike these people and that profession, you cannot hate them enough. How many ‘journalists,’ upon seeing the original video about fraud in the Minnesota welfare system committed by Somalis, set out to report on the substance of the story versus how many reports did you see of reporters calling Nick Shirley’s reporting ‘a viral video’ by ‘a right-wing blogger?'” (01/06/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/01/06/you-cant-hate-the-media-enough-n2668939
-----
46) Trump’s Retro Imperialism
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“President Donald Trump’s fans like to cheer on his most audacious moves by declaring, ‘I voted for this.’ It is safe to assume, though, that very few people who pulled the lever for Trump in 2024 expected that he would soon announce that he had seized control over Venezuela. One of Trump’s most popular qualities has always been his supposed opposition to foreign wars, his anti-imperialist isolationism. Yet J. D. Vance, who once wrote an op-ed headlined ‘Trump’s Best Foreign Policy? Not Starting Any Wars,’ now declares the new war in Venezuela to be a glorious and necessary exercise of America Firstism. MAGA is primarily a personality cult, the objectives of which evolve to suit Trump’s capricious moods. Yet his pivot to new wars of conquest is not some shocking reversal.” (01/05/26)
https://archive.is/26cB1
-----
47) Three Key Lessons from the US’s Venezuela Intervention
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken
“Countless conservatives who have long pretended to care about ‘the rule of law’ or a ‘strict constructionist’ view of the US constitution are now splitting hairs about whether or not the bombing of a foreign country and the kidnapping of its head of state counts as ‘war,’ and pretending to be confused as to why anyone would think a mere bombing operation constitutes warfare. This is the same tactic employed by the left: pretend to be confused by simple English words that are clear to honest people, but which are repeatedly redefined to fit a political agenda.” (01/05/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/three-key-lessons-uss-venezuela-intervention
-----
48) Pentagon Official on Venezuela War: “Following the Old, Failed Scripts”
Source: The Intercept
by Nick Turse
“The U.S. had attacked a sovereign nation with which it was not at war and did so without congressional authorization; kidnapped its leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and rendered them to the United States; announced plans to ‘run’ that country as a de facto colony; and threatened further attacks and military occupation unless the acting president does America’s bidding. ‘We’re in charge,’ Trump said of Venezuela on Sunday night, speaking to reporters on Air Force One. ‘We’re going to run everything.’ Reflecting on the operation, dubbed Absolute Resolve, a senior defense official called America a ‘rogue state’ and pronounced dead the liberal rules-based geopolitical order which U.S. administrations, of both parties, have championed since World War II.” (01/05/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/05/trump-venezuela-war/
-----
49) How a legal group’s anti-LGBTQ [sic] policies took root in school districts across PA
Source: In These Times
by Kathryn Joyce
“The West Shore school board policy committee meeting came to a halt almost as soon as it began. As a board member started going over the agenda on July 17, 2025, local parent Danielle Gross rose to object to a last-minute addition she said hadn’t been on the district’s website the day before. By posting notice of the proposal so close to the meeting, charged Gross, who is also a partner at a communications and advocacy firm that works on state education policy, the board had violated Pennsylvania’s open meetings law, failing to provide the public at least 24 hours’ notice about a topic ‘this board knows is of great concern for many community members interested in the rights of our LGBTQ students.’ The committee chair, relentlessly banging her gavel, adjourned the meeting to a nonpublic ‘executive session.'” (01/06/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/anti-lgbtq-policies-taking-root-in-local-school-districts-trans-gay-right-wing
-----
50) Is Minnesota or California the Fraud Capital of America?
Source: Independent Institute
by K Lloyd Billingsley
“Massive fraud in Minnesota, allegedly running into the billions, has caught the attention of California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who proclaims the Golden State ‘the fraud capital of America.’ First on his list is $32 billion in unemployment fraud, which took place under Harvard Law alum Julie Su, former head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), which oversees the state Employment Development Department (EDD). On Su’s watch, the Golden State became an open door for fraudsters nationwide. … Now, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tapped Julie Su as ‘deputy mayor for economic justice,’ a newly created position.” (01/05/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/01/05/minnesota-california-fraud/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Trump Watch, 01/06/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Trump’s Continuation of the Maduro Regime.” (01/06/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VgKqV-EYxc
-----
52) Capital Record, episode 277
Source: National Review
“Collectivism and Its 50,000 Empty Apartments.” (01/06/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/collectivism-and-its-50000-empty-apartments/
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 01/06/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Lies And Corruption Tarnish Trump’s Venezuela Operation.” (01/06/26)
https://rumble.com/v73ydmw-lies-and-corruption-tarnish-trumps-venezuela-operation.html
-----
54) Advisory Opinions, 01/06/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Legality of U.S. Operations in Venezuela.” (01/06/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/the-legality-of-u-s-operations-in-venezuela/
-----
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 01/06/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s time to check-in once again with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. A lot has happened since we last spoke and Eric and I will do our best to make sense of it all.” (01/06/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-mjnwg-1a0ed5c
-----
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/06/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Explodes at Media over Tariff Fiasco as Poll Delivers Harsh News.” (01/06/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/204953/trump-explodes-media-tariff-fiasco-poll-delivers-harsh-news
-----
57) System Update, episode 561
Source: System Update
“Removing Maduro: What is the Point? MAGA Goes Full Neocon: Embracing Lindsey Graham and Imperialism; Trump Influencers Spread Fake Videos as U.S. Government Propaganda.” (01/05/26)
https://rumble.com/v73x17a-removing-maduro-what-is-the-point-maga-goes-full-neocon.html
-----
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 01/05/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump Announces US Take Over of Venezuela, Kidnaps Maduro & Bombs Caracas.” (01/05/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/trump-announces-us-take-over-of-venezuela-kidnaps-maduro-bombs-caracas
-----
59) Politics Politics Politics, 01/05/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Tim Walz Shocker in Minnesota! Making Sense of the Iranian Protests (with Kirk Bado and Andrew Zarian).” (01/05/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/tim-walz-shocker-in-minnesota-making
-----
60) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 01/05/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“ACA Subsidies, Parks Policy, and Open Enrollment in Missouri.” (01/05/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/health-care/aca-subsidies-parks-policy-and-open-enrollment-in-missouri/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Iran: Regime thugs attack protesters as death toll rises
2) Dow, S&P 500 set new record highs
3) European Allies Agree to Key Security Provisions for Ukraine
4) China: Regime bans export of dual-use items to Japan amid tantrum over Taiwan
5) MN: ICE gang brags it’s launching largest abduction operation ever
6) WY: Supreme Court Declares Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
7) Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at US factory from 2028
8) To play experts’ dismay, Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks
9) Pope Leo closes Holy Year with critique of consumerism and xenophobia
10) Maduro opponent Machado vows to return to Venezuela, wants an election
11) Dog bites man: Lying gang shot-caller can’t seem to keep his yap shut
12) Trump claims US oil firms could be “up and running” in Venezuela within 18 months
13) CT: Police chief resigns after admitting to stealing funds
14) White House gaslights public about Democrats’ Beer Belly Putsch “gaslighting”
15) Anonymous crypto gambler made $436,000 on Maduro capture
16) MN: Hotel chain caves, apologizes for refusing rooms to known gang members paying with stolen money
17) SCOTUS: Jasmine Crockett says “fuck you” over Texas redistricting decision
18) Switzerland: Regime freezes assets of Maduro, others following abduction
19) Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) dies, reducing GOP’s narrow control of US House to 218-213
20) Report: Trump regime sets meeting with Big Oil cronies on Venezuela
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Regime Change and Nation-Building Are Back!
22) Humanitarianism is the Warmest Place to Hide
23) Naked Imperialism in Venezuela
24) Trump promised he’d end forever wars. Now he’s starting one.
25) Trump’s Cargo Cult Imperialism in Venezuela
26) The Conquest of the United States by Venezuela
27) Judicial overreach
28) Whither Conservatism?
29) Trump’s War on Women: Bodies, Roles, and Futures at Risk
30) The Continuing Quest for Community
31) Why government, not greed, is to blame for NYC’s child-care crisis
32) Accounting vs. Economic Profit
33) Trump Wants Oil Companies To “Fix” Venezuela’s Infrastructure
34) The US Empire Needs Men Like Trump
35) The Declaration of Independence is Still Our Guidepost
36) Reports of Western Civilization’s Death at Harvard Are Greatly Exaggerated
37) I came here for my basketball dream; I stay for freedom & the American dream
38) Is Crypto Just a Meme Coin Casino?
39) Where “hate speech” censorship is even worse than on US campuses
40) Cornered
41) Trumpian Colonialism Is Not Freedom
42) Europe whistles past the Venezuelan graveyard
43) The New Neoconservatives
44) Liberation or Occupation? The illusion of US regime change
45) You Can’t Hate the Media Enough
46) Trump’s Retro Imperialism
47) Three Key Lessons from the US’s Venezuela Intervention
48) Pentagon Official on Venezuela War: “Following the Old, Failed Scripts”
49) How a legal group’s anti-LGBTQ [sic] policies took root in school districts across PA
50) Is Minnesota or California the Fraud Capital of America?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Trump Watch, 01/06/26
52) Capital Record, episode 277
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 01/06/26
54) Advisory Opinions, 01/06/26
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 01/06/26
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/06/26
57) System Update, episode 561
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 01/05/26
59) Politics Politics Politics, 01/05/26
60) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 01/05/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Iran: Regime thugs attack protesters as death toll rises
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Protesters angry over Iran’s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut down. The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran’s economic and political life, represented the latest signal that the demonstrations likely are to continue as the rial currency fell to a record low Tuesday. Already, violence surrounding the protests has killed at least 36 people with authorities detaining more than 2,000 others, activists abroad say. Meanwhile, the situation was likely to worsen as Iran’s Central Bank drastically reduced the subsidized exchange rates for dollars it offers to importers and producers.” (01/07/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/g-s1-104862/protesters-iran
-----
2) Dow, S&P 500 set new record highs
Source: Investor’s Business Daily
“Stock indexes gained momentum in the final hours of trading Tuesday as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at new highs. … The Dow ended the day 1% higher, or nearly 485 points, and closed at a record high for a second session in a row. In addition, the blue-chip index, which gained 1.2% on Monday, closed Tuesday above 49,000 for the first time ever. … Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed 0.6% higher, also a record. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.7%.” (01/06/26)
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-sp500-nasdaq-nvidia-nvda-stock-ai-chip/
-----
3) European Allies Agree to Key Security Provisions for Ukraine
Source: New York Times
“Ukraine’s allies agreed on Tuesday to provide key aspects of postwar security for the country in the event of a cease-fire with Russia, including a declaration by the leaders of France and Britain that they would commit troops to dissuadeRussia from invading again. President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain signed an agreement with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a meeting in Paris of more than 30 European leaders and other members of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. The countries in it have committed to strengthening Ukraine’s security. In addition to the troop commitment, the agreement also said that the United States would lead an effort to monitor any eventual cease-fire, and that a special commission would be created to ‘address any breaches, attribute responsibility and determine remedies.'” (01/06/25)
https://archive.is/m0cfC
-----
4) China: Regime bans export of dual-use items to Japan amid tantrum over Taiwan
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“China has unveiled new export controls on Japan amid elevated tensions over Taiwan, prompting a rebuke by Tokyo. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it had banned so-called dual-use items, with military applications, in light of Japan’s ‘erroneous’ and ‘egregious’ statements about the self-governing island, which Beijing [pretends is] its territory. … China and Japan have long been at odds over historical and territorial issues, but relations deteriorated sharply after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested late last year that Tokyo could intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan.” (01/07/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/7/china-bans-export-of-dual-use-items-to-japan-amid-tensions-over-taiwan
-----
5) MN: ICE gang brags it’s launching largest abduction operation ever
Source: USA Today
“Federal immigration agents are ‘surging’ into Minnesota, officials said, amid a deepening fraud scandal that’s enveloped state and national politics. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons described the deployment in an interview on Newsmax as ‘the largest immigration operation ever.’ He did not say how many agents the deployment would involve or how long it was expected to last. … The Twin Cities region is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, with about 84,000 residents living in the area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The majority of Somalis in Minnesota are U.S. citizens who were either born in the country or became citizens through the naturalization process.” (01/06/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/06/minnesota-fraud-scandal-ice-immigration-agents/88045918007/
-----
6) WY: Supreme Court Declares Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
Source: Cowboy State Daily
“The Wyoming Supreme Court in a 4-1 majority ruled Tuesday that Wyoming’s abortion bans are unconstitutional, under the state Constitution’s promise of health care autonomy. The decision doesn’t defer to an earlier decision by Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens, but charts its own course through the constitutional amendment to arrive at the same ultimate result. … The ruling concludes four years of legal challenges that have fraught Wyoming since its 2022 abortion ban ‘triggered’ into place with the overturn of the federal abortion right under Roe vs. Wade. One sequel to that law and other abortion bans and restrictions have followed.” (01/06/26)
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/01/06/wyoming-supreme-court-declares-abortion-bans-unconstitutional/
-----
7) Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at US factory from 2028
Source: CNBC
“Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy humanoid robots at its U.S. manufacturing plant in Georgia starting in 2028, marking a step toward automating higher-risk and repetitive manufacturing tasks, the South Korean company said. Hyundai unveiled the production version of the Atlas humanoid robot, developed by its unit Boston Dynamics, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company did not disclose the volume or cost of the robots, but said in a statement it aims to roll out adoption across all of its manufacturing sites as part of a push into ‘physical AI.'” (01/06/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/06/hyundai-motor-group-plans-to-deploy-humanoid-robots-at-us-factory-from-2028.html
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8) To play experts’ dismay, Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Lego has unveiled Smart Bricks – tech-filled versions of its small building blocks – which it says will bring sets to life with sound, light and reaction to movement. However, the new product range is causing unease among play experts, who say it risks undermining what makes Lego special for children in an increasingly digital world. Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas, the Danish toymaker’s Smart Play system introduces new electronic components to the classic plastic blocks. Lego says its new tech-enabled products, launching in March with a new Star Wars set, are its most revolutionary innovation’ in nearly 50 years. But Josh Golin, executive director of children’s wellbeing group Fairplay, believes Smart Bricks ‘undermine what was once great about Legos’ – harnessing children’s own imagination during play.” (01/06/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmlnmnwzk2o
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9) Pope Leo closes Holy Year with critique of consumerism and xenophobia
Source: NBC News
“Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today’s consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition to the first American pontiff. With cardinals and diplomats looking on, Leo kneeled down in prayer on the stone floor at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. He then stood up and pulled the two doors shut, symbolically concluding the rarest of Jubilees: one that was opened by a feeble Pope Francis in December 2024, continued during his funeral and the conclave, and then was closed by Francis’[s] successor a year later. Only once before, in 1700, has a Holy Year been opened by one pope and closed by another.” (01/06/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/pope-leo-xiv/pope-leo-xiv-closes-2025-holy-year-critique-consumerism-xenophobia-rcna252520
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10) Maduro opponent Machado vows to return to Venezuela, wants an election
Source: Reuters
“Venezuela’s main opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has vowed to return home quickly, praising U.S. President Donald Trump for toppling her enemy Nicolas Maduro and declaring her movement ready to win a free election. Trump appears, however, to hope for now to work with interim President Delcy Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro’s government, disappointing the opposition and contributing to nervousness in Venezuela. ‘I’m planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible,’ said Machado, 58, who escaped from Venezuela in disguise in October to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump. ‘We believe that this transition should move forward,’ she told Fox News’ ‘Hannity’ program.” (01/06/25)
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/maduro-opponent-machado-vows-return-venezuela-wants-election-2026-01-06/
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11) Dog bites man: Lying gang shot-caller can’t seem to keep his yap shut
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
“U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino’s mouth has got him in legal trouble again — this time in Tennessee. In Chicago, a federal judge found that Bovino lied in a court deposition in November …. Now Bovino is at the center of a legal controversy in Nashville for appearing on FOX News and NewsMax about the high-profile case against Kilmar Abrego, a man from El Salvador facing criminal charges of human trafficking. Lawyers for Abrego have asked the court to sanction the government for violating an October gag order in the case. … Without referring to him by name, Bovino appeared on TV news shows in mid-December and called Abrego ‘an alien smuggler,’ a ‘wife beater’ and an ‘MS-13 member;’ described judges presiding over his civil and criminal cases as ‘extremist’ and ‘activist;’ and promised that Abrego, who ‘wants to leech off the United States,’ would be taken ‘out of circulation’ and deported.” (01/06/26)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/01/06/greg-bovino-border-patrol-chief-federal-judge-chicago-tennessee
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12) Trump claims US oil firms could be “up and running” in Venezuela within 18 months
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“President Donald Trump says the US oil industry could be ‘up and running’ with increased operations in Venezuela within 18 months, after a surprise military operation removed President Nicolás Maduro from power. Trump told NBC News that ‘a tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue’. Representatives from major US petroleum companies planned to meet the Trump administration later this week, BBC’s partner CBS News reported.” (01/06/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4grxzxjjd8o
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13) CT: Police chief resigns after admitting to stealing funds
Source: Yale Daily News
“Both of the police departments operating on and around Yale’s campus are without permanent leadership after the sudden resignation of New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson on Monday. Jacobson resigned after being confronted with allegations that he appropriated city funds for personal use, Mayor Justin Elicker announced at a press conference …. According to Elicker, other officers ‘flagged irregularities’ with Jacobson’s use of a fund meant to support the police department’s confidential informant program. On Monday morning, assistant chiefs David Zannelli, Bertram Ettienne and Manmeet Bhagtana confronted Jacobson in his office at the police station, Elicker said. Following the confrontation, Jacobson ‘admitted to taking the funds for personal use’ and resigned, Elicker said.” (01/05/26)
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2026/01/05/city-police-chief-resigns-after-admitting-to-stealing-funds-mayor-says/
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14) White House gaslights public about Democrats’ Beer Belly Putsch “gaslighting”
Source: Fox News
“The White House published a new website Tuesday detailing the timeline of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, taking aim at Democrat lawmakers for allegedly promoting a ‘gaslighting narrative’ surrounding the protest to silence their political opponents. ‘The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ‘insurrectionists’ and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump — despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government,’ the new website states. ‘In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection,’ the website continued, pointing to the certification of the 2020 election that the White House described as ‘fraud-ridden’ and for allegedly ‘weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters.'” (01/06/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-torches-democrats-jan-6-gaslighting-claims-anniversary-takedown
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15) Anonymous crypto gambler made $436,000 on Maduro capture
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A gambler made nearly half a million dollars on the capture of Venezuela’s president just before it was officially announced, raising questions about whether someone profited from inside knowledge of the US operation. Wagers on Polymarket, a crypto-powered platform, that Nicolás Maduro would be out of power by the end of January rose in the hours before President Donald Trump announced on Saturday the Venezuelan leader had been seized. One account, which joined the platform last month and took four positions, all on Venezuela, made more than $436,000 (£322,000) from a $32,537 bet. It remains unclear who placed the bet.” (01/06/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2gn93292do
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16) MN: Hotel chain caves, apologizes for refusing rooms to known gang members paying with stolen money
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“A Minnesota hotel that wouldn’t allow federal immigration agents to stay there this month is apologizing and saying the refusal violated its own policies. The Department of Homeland Security had accused the global Hilton hotel chain of a ‘coordinated’ effort to refuse service to its employees. Hilton and local operators of the Hampton Inn Lakeville property released statements within hours apologizing and said the messages refusing to serve agents who were focused on immigration enforcement didn’t reflect their policies.” (01/05/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/01/05/federal-enforcement-minnesota-hotel/
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17) SCOTUS: Jasmine Crockett says “fuck you” over Texas redistricting decision
Source: Fox News
“Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said ‘fuck you’ to the Supreme Court over its decision to temporarily uphold Texas'[s] new congressional districts. In a video posted to her YouTube account on Sunday, Crockett commented on what she claims are efforts by President Donald Trump and the Republican Party to ‘rig the system’ ahead of the 2026 midterm elections using redistricting tactics. ‘Obviously, Trump is still doing his bidding with these state Houses and state Senates and governor’s mansions to try to rig the system,’ Crockett said. ‘Kudos to Indiana for saying f— you. Kudos to California for saying we’re going to fight back.’ She continued, ‘Definitely kudos to the Trump justice who wrote the 160-page opinion denouncing what took place in Texas and fuck you to the Supreme Court for what they did as well …'” (01/06/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/jasmine-crocket-says-f-you-supreme-court-over-texas-redistricting-decision
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18) Switzerland: Regime freezes assets of Maduro, others following abduction
Source: United Press International
“Switzerland has frozen any assets in the country owned by U.S.-detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and others associated with him to ensure that if they were stolen from the Venezuelan people, they can be rightly returned. The asset freeze went immediately into effect when it was announced on Monday, but does not impact members of the current Venezuelan government, Switzerland’s Federal Council said in a statement. The freeze is to prevent funds from leaving the country. In the case that future legal proceedings show that the assets were illicitly acquired, Switzerland said it will ‘endeavor to ensure that they benefit the Venezuelan people.'” (01/06/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/01/06/switzerland-Maduro-asset-freeze/6001767683840/
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19) Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) dies, reducing GOP’s narrow control of US House to 218-213
Source: SFGate
“Republican Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term U.S. representative from California and a reliable vote on President Donald Trump’s agenda, has died, reducing the GOP’s narrow control of the House. He was 65. A former state lawmaker and rice farmer, LaMalfa had more than a dozen years in Congress, where he regularly helped GOP leaders open the House floor and frequently gave speeches. His death, confirmed by Majority Whip Tom Emmer and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, trims the Republicans’ margin of control of the House to 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.” (01/06/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/rep-doug-lamalfa-of-california-dies-reducing-21279111.php
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20) Report: Trump regime sets meeting with Big Oil cronies on Venezuela
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“The administration of United States President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after US forces abducted its leader, Nicolas Maduro, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing unnamed sources. The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there, the Reuters news agency report said on Monday. The three biggest US oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the Trump administration about Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with ‘all’ the US oil companies, both before and since Maduro was abducted.” (01/05/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/1/5/trump-administration-sets-meetings-with-oil-companies-on-venezuela-report
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Regime Change and Nation-Building Are Back!
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ron Paul
“As was the case the morning after ‘Shock and Awe’ signaled the start of the Iraq war, many are cheering the US military raid on Venezuela and capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro. Overwhelming US military power – and likely some bribed Venezuelan officials – ensured that the operation was swift and dramatic. This was not a war, we were told. It was just a surgical operation to remove a criminal dictator and restore democracy to the country. American oil companies would soon get even richer exploiting the country’s vast oil reserves. This time it will be different! If all of this sounds familiar that’s because it is the same narrative used each time the US has launched a ‘regime change’ operation this century.” (01/06/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2026/01/05/regime-change-and-nation-building-are-back
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22) Humanitarianism is the Warmest Place to Hide
Source: Garrison Center
by Joel Schlosberg
“Zohran Mamdani’s promise to bring ‘the resurgent flame of hope’ to ‘the January chill’ as mayor of a literally frozen New York City during his January 1 inaugural address got the cold shoulder from conservative commentators. Despite his vow to move the city to unity past ‘a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor’ and highlighting constituents ‘who supported President Trump a year before they voted for me,’ some just aren’t buying Mamdani’s narrative. … Yet those red-baiting Mamdani’s ‘Red Apple’ could stand to scratch the surface and see how much the gilded apple of Trump Tower pokes through — and not just because he won’t be able to ‘deliver universal childcare for the many by taxing the wealthiest few’ if those fat cats pull up stakes.” (01/06/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20221
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23) Naked Imperialism in Venezuela
Source: CounterPunch
by David S D’Amato
“Trump has never been a peace president or a principled opponent of aggressive war and imperial looting. His crude rhetoric, with its open acknowledgement of Venezuela’s oil riches, merely removes the polite, decorous language we’ve come to expect from our political figureheads. The U.S. government is not pursuing a new logic or discarding old values. It is reinstating our political-economic system’s commitment to imperialism and extraction, only without any pretense to humanitarian motivations or democracy-building.” (01/06/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/06/naked-imperialism-in-venezuela/
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24) Trump promised he’d end forever wars. Now he’s starting one.
Source: USA Today
by Sara Pequeño
“On the 2024 reelection campaign trail, President Donald Trump consistently heralded himself as the anti-war president. In his 2025 inaugural address, he said the power of the United States ‘will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.’ It’s a wonder that people actually believed him. This is the same man, after all, who ordered the assassination of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani and led missile strikes in Syria during his first term. This is the same man who has said that he would turn Gaza into a Mar-a-Lago-esque resort …. Is it really a surprise then that he has skirted congressional approval and allowed an act of war to take place by essentially kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela so that he can be tried on drug trafficking charges in the United States? No, no, it is not.” (01/06/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/01/06/trump-antiwar-president-venezuela-oil/88032823007/
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25) Trump’s Cargo Cult Imperialism in Venezuela
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“When the Bush administration was planning and selling its war of aggression against Iraq in 2002, a common argument made by anti-war activists was that the whole thing was about oil. … This didn’t make all that much sense (for one thing, the war and occupation ended up costing on the order of $3 trillion, and Hussein would have been more than willing to just sell us the oil for a lot less than that), but for an administration whose two top leaders were both former oilmen, it had a surface plausibility. Donald Trump has done Bush one better: He simply said outright that his military attack on Venezuela, in which commandos kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and transported him to Manhattan to be put on trial, was about oil.” (01/06/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/06/trump-maduro-venezuela-oil-imperialism/
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26) The Conquest of the United States by Venezuela
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The U.S. national-security state’s easy abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro brings to mind Albert J. Nock’s essay about U.S. interventionism in the Spanish-American War in 1898. The U.S. military victory over the third-rate Spanish Empire was as easy as the recent U.S. interventionism against Venezuela. As Nock pointed out in his essay ‘The Conquest of the United States by Spain,’ however, it was Spain that actually conquered the United States, not the other way around. Amidst all the celebrations among American statists over the easy military victory over Venezuela, what these statist fail to realize is that it actually Venezuela that has won the war against the United States.”: (01/06/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/01/06/the-conquest-of-the-united-states-by-venezuela/
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27) Judicial overreach
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“It used to be the United States that had problems trying to have its courts make rulings that would make other countries follow its rulings, but other courts have been ploughing the same furrow. And judicial activists in several countries have been using that tendency to subvert the decisions of elected governments and have them overruled by unelected judges. The UK’s Supreme Court has tried to extend a remit it was not given, namely to judge on the constitutionality of Parliamentary decisions. Its declaration that the late Queen’s prorogation of Parliament was illegal was described by Jacob Rees-Mogg as a ‘constitutional coup.’ He was correct. Its use of external courts such as the ECHR to void decisions made by elected UK governments effectively negates the sovereignty of Parliament, which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.” (01/06/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/judicial-overreach
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28) Whither Conservatism?
Source: Persuasion
by Damon Linker
“A new generation of right-wing culture warriors is sowing chaos. They will outlast Donald Trump.” (01/06/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/whither-conservatism
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29) Trump’s War on Women: Bodies, Roles, and Futures at Risk
Source: TomDispatch
by Karen J Greenberg
“‘Quiet, Piggy!’ The president was intent on silencing Catherine Lucey. The Bloomberg reporter had provoked him with a question about the release of the Epstein files. His insult caught the public’s attention. But Trump’s tongue-lashing lexicon against women has a long history. Other female journalists have been dubbed ‘obnoxious,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘third-rate’ and ‘ugly.’ Vice President Kamala Harris, opposing him in the 2024 presidential election, was labeled ‘retarded’ and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘crazy as a bedbug.’ The list goes on (and on and on). And who knows what was redacted from the Epstein files along those very lines? Mind you, those Trumpian insults hurled at women (and regularly offered about them) are anything but performative throwaways. They reveal Donald Trump’s deep and abiding contempt for females, an attitude that has taken a giant leap forward (or do I mean backward?) in policy terms in the Trump 2.0 years.” (01/06/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/trumps-war-on-women/
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30) The Continuing Quest for Community
Source: Law & Liberty
by Bradley J Birzer
“A new edition of Robert Nisbet’s neglected classic, The Social Philosophers, reveals what made the sociologist a first-rate conservative mind.” (01/06/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-continuing-quest-for-community/
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31) Why government, not greed, is to blame for NYC’s child-care crisis
Source: New York Post
by Nicole Huyer & William DuVall
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign message was simple: New York City’s cost of living is too high. True, starting a family and raising children have become unaffordable in New York City — and Mamdani believes his socialist plans are the answer. ‘We will deliver universal child care for the many by taxing the wealthiest few,’ he said in his inaugural speech last week. The scale of the city’s problem is undeniable: Three of the four most expensive US counties for child care, in terms of share of family income, are within New York City: The Bronx, Queens and Kings County (Brooklyn). Day-care center costs in The Bronx, for example, range from $300 to $406 per week ($15,600 to $21,112 a year) depending on the child’s age — but with a median household income of only $48,610, center-based child care is completely out of reach for most local families.” (01/05/25)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/05/opinion/government-not-greed-is-to-blame-for-nycs-childcare-crisis/
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32) Accounting vs. Economic Profit
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“In any principles of economics class, students learn the difference between accounting profit and economic profit. Accounting profit, which is what one typically understands when discussing ‘profit,’ is total revenue minus your monetary costs. It is what appears on the bottom line of an accounting statement as ‘profit.’ Economic profit is a broader term. Recall that, for economists, ‘cost’ is a term of art: it is the highest-valued alternative not undertaken. This includes both monetary costs and alternative uses of your resources, often called implicit costs. Economic profit, thus, is total revenue minus total costs (both your monetary and your implicit costs). Implicit costs do not show up on an accounting statement, yet they are still vital to making life decisions.” (01/06/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/accounting-vs-economic-profit
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33) Trump Wants Oil Companies To “Fix” Venezuela’s Infrastructure
Source: Reason
by Joe Lancaster
“Over the weekend, American military forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an operation in the capital city of Caracas. While the action was nominally undertaken to prosecute Maduro and his wife for ‘narcoterrorism,’ President Donald Trump soon added another potential justification: accessing the country’s generous oil reserves. If this is Trump’s plan, it will be easier said than done. … ‘American oil executives are unlikely to dive headfirst into Venezuela for multiple reasons: The situation on the ground remains very uncertain, Venezuela’s oil industry is in shambles and Caracas has a history of seizing US oil assets,’ reported CNN’s Matt Egan.” (01/06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/06/trump-wants-oil-companies-to-fix-venezuelas-infrastructure/
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34) The US Empire Needs Men Like Trump
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“If you were wondering why the US establishment was so much more chill about Trump becoming president this term than they were the first time around, you’re watching the reason now. The powers that be were assured that he’d carry out longstanding imperial agendas like kidnapping Maduro, bombing Iran and overseeing a final solution to the Palestinian problem, and they trusted him to carry out those plans. The MAGA narrative that the establishment hates Trump because he’s fighting the Deep State has never been true; there were certain factions within the US imperial power structure which disliked Trump, but that was only because he was not a proven commodity like Hillary Clinton and they didn’t trust him to be a reliable steward of the empire.” (01/06/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/01/06/the-us-empire-needs-men-like-trump/
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35) The Declaration of Independence is Still Our Guidepost
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Rachel Chiu
“Chief Justice John Roberts is right: The Declaration of Independence, while not law itself, must be the benchmark that guides all three branches of government. On New Year’s Eve, the Chief Justice released his annual year-end report on the state of the judiciary. Of particular note is the brief prefatory letter that Roberts has often used to opine on controversial issues such as judicial independence, artificial intelligence in the legal profession, and security threats against judges. This year’s letter focuses on the Declaration of Independence, which celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026. While many commentators have criticized Roberts for ‘dodging’ the biggest questions of the day — especially perceived favoritism for the Trump administration — his words are apt for the times, focusing on the foundational ideals that define the American experiment.” (01/06/25)
https://fee.org/articles/the-declaration-of-independence-is-still-our-guidepost/
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36) Reports of Western Civilization’s Death at Harvard Are Greatly Exaggerated
Source: Washington Monthly
by Alex Bronzini-Vender
“In the December 29 New York Post, Daniel McCarthy, the conservative columnist, declared that ‘at Harvard University today, professors who teach Western history are history.’ David Wolpe, a former visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School, posted that ‘Harvard has no one left who teaches Western Civilization.’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for his part, posted that ‘the study of western civilization’ has ‘completely cratered’ at institutions like Harvard. That’s news to me. Just last month, I was torn between enrolling in What is Global European History? or Political Debates in the Empire of New Rome. And this past fall, the department’s offerings included The Fall of the Roman Empire, Germany, 1848–1949, Early Modern Europe, Travelers in the Byzantine World, and Amsterdam: Portrait of an Early Modern Metropolis.” (01/06/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/01/06/harvard-western-civilization-humanities-decline/
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37) I came here for my basketball dream; I stay for freedom & the American dream
Source: Fox News
by Enes Kanter Freedom
“At a time when principles are tested and passions run high, we have to return to the heart of what America stands for. It’s not just about who raises a flag, but who upholds the values of generosity, unity and a shared future. In the end, the question is about the soul of our nation. Who stands with America’s deepest ideals, and who does not? I came to America chasing a basketball dream, but I stayed because I found something far greater: freedom. As a Muslim and a legal immigrant, I came to the United States because freedom here is not just an idea. It is a way of life. I did not come to impose my beliefs on anyone. I did not come to burn flags or hate this nation. I did not come to conquer America.” (01/06/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/enes-kanter-freedom-i-came-here-my-basketball-dream-stay-freedom-american-dream
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38) Is Crypto Just a Meme Coin Casino?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Thomas L Hogan
“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are widely – but wrongly – panned as unregulated casinos or Ponzi schemes that create no real value. For example, US Senator Elizabeth Warren called crypto a ‘threat to financial stability,’ while the UK’s Treasury Select Committee said that cryptocurrency ownership ‘more closely resembles gambling than a financial service.’ While some cryptocurrencies are mainly speculative, many serve specific business or functional purposes. We can identify some of the value created by cryptocurrencies by breaking them into four general categories: Bitcoin, stablecoins, meme coins, and utility tokens.” (01/06/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/is-crypto-just-a-meme-coin-casino/
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39) Where “hate speech” censorship is even worse than on US campuses
Source: Washington Post
by Greg Lukianoff
“Free-speech advocates have long warned Americans about the dangers of adopting ‘hate speech’ codes. If they became widely enforced, the result wouldn’t be the kinder society intended by such censorship; it would be an intimidated, even frightened one. Either you engage in mass arrests, or you enforce the rules selectively — which means targeting some viewpoints above others. For an indication of where this censorious impulse can lead even in a democratic society, look no further than European Union nations and Britain, where the experiment in speech control is running not on university campuses but on national scales, backed by the state’s monopoly on force. The results are so extreme that American readers might assume they’re exaggerated. They aren’t.” (01/06/26)
https://archive.is/tM5ix
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40) Cornered
Source: Cobden Centre
by Tim Price
“In June 1983, Paramount Studios released a comedy starring Dan Akyroyd and Eddie Murphy which culminates in an attempt by two wealthy commodity brokers to corner … the market in frozen concentrated orange juice futures, of all things. The film was called ‘Trading Places’ …. This was a peculiarly commercial example of Art imitating Life. Three years earlier, Bunker and Herbert Hunt, Texan heirs to an oil fortune, had attempted to corner the market in silver. … Although the current silver market environment would seem to suggest that the story of the Hunt Brothers – wild bull market followed by calamitous crash – is playing out all over again, there are some key distinctions this time around …” (01/06/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/01/cornered/
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41) Trumpian Colonialism Is Not Freedom
Source: Common Dreams
by Jordan Liz
“On January 3, the US launched an illegal attack in Venezuela that resulted in the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote via Twitter-X that the couple has been indicted and ‘will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.’ For Vice President JD Vance, because ‘Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism,’ these military strikes were legal. This, despite the fact that these strikes were conducted without congressional approval in a clear violation of the Constitution and the separation of powers. With Maduro out of power, President Donald Trump announced that, ‘We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.'” (01/06/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-colonialism-not-freedom
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42) Europe whistles past the Venezuelan graveyard
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov
“When Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas said that ‘sovereignty, territorial integrity and discrediting aggression as a tool of statecraft are crucial principles that must be upheld in case of Ukraine and globally.’ These were not mere words. The EU has adopted no less than 19 packages of sanctions against the aggressor — Russia — and allocated almost $200 billion in aid since 2022. Surely one would expect, then, the EU to condemn the U.S. unilateral attack on Venezuela in early days of 2026, resulting in an abduction of its leader Nicolás Maduro? Yet, nothing of the sort happened. In fact, the EU has already demonstrated its selective approach to the international legality when it failed to condemn its violations in Gaza half as vociferously as it did in Ukraine, shredding Europe’s credibility in the Global South and among many European citizens as well.” (01/06/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/europe-venezuela/
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43) The New Neoconservatives
Source: The American Conservative
by David Brady
“Bari Weiss gate-keeps the right against antiwar conservatives. Sound familiar?” (01/06/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-new-neoconservatives/
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44) Liberation or Occupation? The illusion of US regime change
Source: Orange County Register
by Patrik S Ward & Abigail R Hall
“In the early hours of January 3, U.S. forces entered and carried out strikes in Venezuela, removing Nicolas Maduro from power. The operation was swift, decisive, and framed as a necessary act — an intervention to combat narco-trafficking, restore order, and free a population suffering under an entrenched dictatorship. We’ve seen this movie before; we know better than to think it will be ‘smooth sailing’ from here. It is worth stating what is obvious: Maduro was a dictator. His government repressed political opposition, hollowed out democratic institutions, and oversaw an economic collapse that drove millions of Venezuelans to flee. Many Venezuelans — though not all — are celebrating his removal. The question is not whether Maduro was a problem. The question is whether the U.S. invasion and forced regime change can provide a long-term solution. History offers a sobering answer.” (01/05/26)
https://archive.is/S1TZh
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45) You Can’t Hate the Media Enough
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“Is there any media outlet in the country that does actual journalism? I’ll save you the time, the answer is a resounding ‘no!’ None, not one, is worth their weight in post-digested food, and neither are the people who work there (and I say this as someone who knows a lot of people who work there, and likes some of them). It is getting harder and harder to come away from consuming any ‘news’ from anywhere and not be dumber for the experience. No matter how much you dislike these people and that profession, you cannot hate them enough. How many ‘journalists,’ upon seeing the original video about fraud in the Minnesota welfare system committed by Somalis, set out to report on the substance of the story versus how many reports did you see of reporters calling Nick Shirley’s reporting ‘a viral video’ by ‘a right-wing blogger?'” (01/06/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/01/06/you-cant-hate-the-media-enough-n2668939
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46) Trump’s Retro Imperialism
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“President Donald Trump’s fans like to cheer on his most audacious moves by declaring, ‘I voted for this.’ It is safe to assume, though, that very few people who pulled the lever for Trump in 2024 expected that he would soon announce that he had seized control over Venezuela. One of Trump’s most popular qualities has always been his supposed opposition to foreign wars, his anti-imperialist isolationism. Yet J. D. Vance, who once wrote an op-ed headlined ‘Trump’s Best Foreign Policy? Not Starting Any Wars,’ now declares the new war in Venezuela to be a glorious and necessary exercise of America Firstism. MAGA is primarily a personality cult, the objectives of which evolve to suit Trump’s capricious moods. Yet his pivot to new wars of conquest is not some shocking reversal.” (01/05/26)
https://archive.is/26cB1
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47) Three Key Lessons from the US’s Venezuela Intervention
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken
“Countless conservatives who have long pretended to care about ‘the rule of law’ or a ‘strict constructionist’ view of the US constitution are now splitting hairs about whether or not the bombing of a foreign country and the kidnapping of its head of state counts as ‘war,’ and pretending to be confused as to why anyone would think a mere bombing operation constitutes warfare. This is the same tactic employed by the left: pretend to be confused by simple English words that are clear to honest people, but which are repeatedly redefined to fit a political agenda.” (01/05/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/three-key-lessons-uss-venezuela-intervention
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48) Pentagon Official on Venezuela War: “Following the Old, Failed Scripts”
Source: The Intercept
by Nick Turse
“The U.S. had attacked a sovereign nation with which it was not at war and did so without congressional authorization; kidnapped its leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and rendered them to the United States; announced plans to ‘run’ that country as a de facto colony; and threatened further attacks and military occupation unless the acting president does America’s bidding. ‘We’re in charge,’ Trump said of Venezuela on Sunday night, speaking to reporters on Air Force One. ‘We’re going to run everything.’ Reflecting on the operation, dubbed Absolute Resolve, a senior defense official called America a ‘rogue state’ and pronounced dead the liberal rules-based geopolitical order which U.S. administrations, of both parties, have championed since World War II.” (01/05/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/01/05/trump-venezuela-war/
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49) How a legal group’s anti-LGBTQ [sic] policies took root in school districts across PA
Source: In These Times
by Kathryn Joyce
“The West Shore school board policy committee meeting came to a halt almost as soon as it began. As a board member started going over the agenda on July 17, 2025, local parent Danielle Gross rose to object to a last-minute addition she said hadn’t been on the district’s website the day before. By posting notice of the proposal so close to the meeting, charged Gross, who is also a partner at a communications and advocacy firm that works on state education policy, the board had violated Pennsylvania’s open meetings law, failing to provide the public at least 24 hours’ notice about a topic ‘this board knows is of great concern for many community members interested in the rights of our LGBTQ students.’ The committee chair, relentlessly banging her gavel, adjourned the meeting to a nonpublic ‘executive session.'” (01/06/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/anti-lgbtq-policies-taking-root-in-local-school-districts-trans-gay-right-wing
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50) Is Minnesota or California the Fraud Capital of America?
Source: Independent Institute
by K Lloyd Billingsley
“Massive fraud in Minnesota, allegedly running into the billions, has caught the attention of California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who proclaims the Golden State ‘the fraud capital of America.’ First on his list is $32 billion in unemployment fraud, which took place under Harvard Law alum Julie Su, former head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), which oversees the state Employment Development Department (EDD). On Su’s watch, the Golden State became an open door for fraudsters nationwide. … Now, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tapped Julie Su as ‘deputy mayor for economic justice,’ a newly created position.” (01/05/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/01/05/minnesota-california-fraud/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Trump Watch, 01/06/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Trump’s Continuation of the Maduro Regime.” (01/06/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VgKqV-EYxc
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52) Capital Record, episode 277
Source: National Review
“Collectivism and Its 50,000 Empty Apartments.” (01/06/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/collectivism-and-its-50000-empty-apartments/
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 01/06/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Lies And Corruption Tarnish Trump’s Venezuela Operation.” (01/06/26)
https://rumble.com/v73ydmw-lies-and-corruption-tarnish-trumps-venezuela-operation.html
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54) Advisory Opinions, 01/06/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Legality of U.S. Operations in Venezuela.” (01/06/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/the-legality-of-u-s-operations-in-venezuela/
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55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 01/06/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s time to check-in once again with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. A lot has happened since we last spoke and Eric and I will do our best to make sense of it all.” (01/06/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-mjnwg-1a0ed5c
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56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/06/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Explodes at Media over Tariff Fiasco as Poll Delivers Harsh News.” (01/06/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/204953/trump-explodes-media-tariff-fiasco-poll-delivers-harsh-news
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57) System Update, episode 561
Source: System Update
“Removing Maduro: What is the Point? MAGA Goes Full Neocon: Embracing Lindsey Graham and Imperialism; Trump Influencers Spread Fake Videos as U.S. Government Propaganda.” (01/05/26)
https://rumble.com/v73x17a-removing-maduro-what-is-the-point-maga-goes-full-neocon.html
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58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 01/05/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump Announces US Take Over of Venezuela, Kidnaps Maduro & Bombs Caracas.” (01/05/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/trump-announces-us-take-over-of-venezuela-kidnaps-maduro-bombs-caracas
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59) Politics Politics Politics, 01/05/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Tim Walz Shocker in Minnesota! Making Sense of the Iranian Protests (with Kirk Bado and Andrew Zarian).” (01/05/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/tim-walz-shocker-in-minnesota-making
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60) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 01/05/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“ACA Subsidies, Parks Policy, and Open Enrollment in Missouri.” (01/05/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/health-care/aca-subsidies-parks-policy-and-open-enrollment-in-missouri/
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