06/16 -- Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points for first time since 1994; Biden Lets Client States Get Away With Murder
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 16, 2022, 6:43:00 AM6/16/22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/16/22
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points for first time since 1994
2) EU sues UK over move to rewrite post-Brexit trade rules
3) SCOTUS limits California forced non-arbitration law
4) Russia: Regime transfers political prisoner Navalny to maximum security prison
5) Judge rejects Bannon's effort to dismiss criminal case for defying Capitol riot exploitation committee
6) China: Regime says it may have detected aliens, then deletes report
7) SCOTUS tosses Republican effort to defend Trump-era "public charge" immigration rule
8) Brazil: Police arrest second suspect in case of missing journalist
9) Despite push, states slow to make Juneteenth a paid holiday
10) US mortgage interest rates jump to highest level since 2008
11) Israel: Court finds Gaza aid worker guilty of diverting funds to Hamas
12) Tanzania: Rights groups condemn police violence against Maasai
13) Progressives Demand Windfall Profits Tax to Punish Big Oil for Effects of Progressives' Policies
14) After 27 years, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser hits retirement
15) WI: Election "investigator" fined $2k daily for contempt
16) Mali: French military claims capture of Islamic State figure
17) Biden announces $1.2 billion in additional Ukraine aid
18) NV: QAnon nutbar wins GOP nod for top elections post
19) Court rules North Carolina school skirt requirement unconstitutional
20) Qualcomm wins antitrust case against EU commission
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Biden Lets Client States Get Away With Murder
22) Anti-Gig-Work "Progressives" Are Not Gig Workers' Friends
23) Minority Report Tried to Warn Us About Technology
24) Debunking Ten of Joe Biden's lies about the state of the US economy
25) The Persistence of Memory
26) Democrats doomed by feeble Joe Biden and weak batch of candidates behind him
27) Now A Straight Answer?
28) The expansion of FIRE: Mission-creep or necessity?
29) Marijuana legalizers for illogical vape bans in California
30) How big of a wave can House Republicans expect?
31) Antitrust populism would shift US from free market to managed economy
32) Analysis of the Family Security Act 2.0
33) Gun Controllers Say They Want "Reform" but They're Really Pushing Criminalization
34) Senate Feminist Spends Last Days of "Roe" Shilling for Crypto Bros
35) An Endless Stream of Scary Official Enemies
36) The Great Reset: Turning Back the Clock on Civilization
37) The Incredible Persistence of the Myth of Masking
38) We're hitting our limits with wokeness
39) Will Erdogan be the biggest winner in the Ukraine crisis?
40) The January 6 Committee Is Telling a More Honest Story About Trump Than the Media Has
41) Government crushes individuality
42) A Great Idea: Largest Pentagon Budget Cut in History
43) An Argument for Deheroizing Democracies
44) Tuesday's election shows Trump still influences voters. Republicans, why do we allow it?
45) Corruption Allegations: Disappointing but Hardly Surprising
46) "Red Flag" Laws Require a Tricky Balance
47) Does Environmental Review Worsen the Wildfire Crisis?
48) No History of Education Vouchers Is Complete without Thomas Paine
49) Three Anti-Inflation Alternatives to Raising Interest Rates
50) Envisioning a Utopian Anarchism
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Inside a Republican PAC's Takeover of the Libertarian Party
52) Free Talk Live, 06/15/22
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/15/22
54) Year Zero with Tommy Salmons, 06/15/22
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/15/22
56) Mean Age Daydream, episode 11
57) The Argument, 06/15/22
58) Fever Dreams, 06/15/22
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2145
60) The Wright Show, 06/14/22
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points for first time since 1994
Source: The Hill
"The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it would hike interest rates this month at the fastest pace in nearly 30 years after a discouraging May surge in inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting interest rates, said it would raise the bank's baseline interest rate range to 1.5 to 1.75 percent, an increase of 0.75 percentage points. It is the first 0.75 percentage point rate hike issued by the Fed since 1994." (06/15/22)
https://thehill.com/policy/3524517-fed-hikes-rates-by-75-basis-points-for-first-time-since-1994/
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2) EU sues UK over move to rewrite post-Brexit trade rules
Source: Associated Press
"The European Union sued Britain on Wednesday over its move to rewrite the trade rules agreed to when the country left the EU two years ago, ratcheting up tensions between the major economic partners. Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government proposed legislation that would remove customs checks on some goods entering [occupied] Ireland from ... the U.K. ... The EU's decision to pursue legal action raises the possibility that either or both sides could impose punishing tariffs on the other." (06/15/22)
https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-business-brexit-northern-ireland-european-union-8ac35a7e98b3df6d6f378a46221f0a22
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3) SCOTUS limits California forced non-arbitration law
Source: Los Angeles Times
"In a victory for California employers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday placed limits on a state labor law that authorizes private lawsuits on behalf of groups of workers, even if they had agreed to resolve their disputes through individual arbitration. The majority ruled the Federal Arbitration Act preempts or overrides the state law. California is the only state to authorize such private suits as a means of enforcing its labor laws, the justices said. But by doing so, the state allows employees to escape the binding arbitration agreements they signed when they were hired, the court said." (06/15/22)
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-15/supreme-court-california-labor-law-that-allowed-private-suits-against-employers
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4) Russia: Regime transfers political prisoner Navalny to maximum security prison
Source: CNN
"Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been transferred from the penal colony where he was serving his term to a higher security prison facility. The jailed politician was relocated to a maximum-security prison in Melekhovo in the Vladimir Region, according to Russia's state media outlet TASS citing Sergey Yazhan, chairman of the regional public oversight commission." (06/15/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/14/europe/alexey-navalny-prison-transfer-intl/index.html
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5) Judge rejects Bannon's effort to dismiss criminal case for defying Capitol riot exploitation committee
Source: Politico
"A federal judge on Wednesday rejected former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon's effort to dismiss the criminal contempt case against him for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. In an oral ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols rebuffed a series of arguments Bannon had lodged, including that Trump had asserted executive privilege to block his former aide's testimony. Nichols contended that there's insufficient evidence that Trump truly did assert privilege or seek to block Bannon from testifying to the panel the House created to investigate the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and related events." (06/15/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/15/judge-rejects-bannons-effort-to-dismiss-criminal-case-for-defying-jan-6-select-committee-00039888
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6) China: Regime says it may have detected aliens, then deletes report
Source: New York Post
"There's something out there -- maybe. China's science ministry said this week that it picked up signs of alien life on the world's largest radio telescope -- then appeared to quickly delete a report about the discovery. The country's powerful Sky Eye telescope detected electromagnetic signals of possible civilizations on other planets, according to a report published Tuesday in Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology. '[There were] several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the earth,' the report said. ... the report had apparently been removed from the newspaper's website by Wednesday -- even as the news began trending on the nation's popular social network site, Weibo, along with other media outlets, according to TIME.com." (06/15/22)
https://nypost.com/2022/06/15/china-says-it-may-have-detected-aliens-then-deletes-report/
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7) SCOTUS tosses Republican effort to defend Trump-era "public charge" immigration rule
Source: CNN
"The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal brought by a group of Republican-led states seeking to intervene in a case challenging the Trump-era 'public charge' immigration policy, a version of which the Biden administration has abandoned. The case did not center on the legality of the rule, but instead, whether the Biden administration followed proper procedures when it set out to revoke the rule and dismiss pending legal challenges. The order is a blow to conservative [sic] states that had asked the court to step in Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurrence joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Neil Gorsuch." (06/15/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/15/politics/republicans-immigration-rule-supreme-court/index.html
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8) Brazil: Police arrest second suspect in case of missing journalist
Source: Reuters
"Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested a second suspect in the investigation of the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon rainforest in western Brazil. Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, also known as 'Dos Santos,' aged 41, was under temporary arrest on suspicion he was involved in the case with his brother Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, who was arrested last week, the federal police said a statement. ... In a letter addressed to the Phillips family, which was reviewed by Reuters, the Brazilian ambassador in London apologized on Tuesday for passing on incorrect information that bodies had been discovered." (06/15/22)
https://www.reuters.com/world/search-missing-journalist-brazil-nearing-end-indigenous-group-says-2022-06-14/
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9) Despite push, states slow to make Juneteenth a paid holiday
Source: SFGate
"Recognition of Juneteenth, the effective end of slavery in the U.S., gained traction after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. But after an initial burst of action, the movement to have it recognized as an official holiday in the states has largely stalled. Although almost every state recognizes Juneteenth in some fashion, many have been slow to do more than issue a proclamation or resolution, even as some continue to commemorate the Confederacy. Lawmakers in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and other states failed to advance proposals this year that would have closed state offices and given most of their public employees paid time off for the June 19 holiday. That trend infuriates [b]lack leaders and community organizers who view making Juneteenth a paid holiday the bare minimum state officials can do to help honor an often overlooked and ignored piece of American history." (06/15/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Despite-push-states-slow-to-make-Juneteenth-a-17243697.php
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10) US mortgage interest rates jump to highest level since 2008
Source: Yahoo! News
"The average interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan climbed to its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis and purchase applications were down more than 15% from last year, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data showed on Wednesday. Still, more homebuyers sought properties compared to a week earlier, perhaps signalling a flurry of activity before aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve further impacts the sector. ... The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 25 basis points to 5.65% for the week ended June 10, the highest level since late 2008, towards the end of the financial crisis and Great Recession. The MBA said its Purchase Composite Index, a measure of all mortgage loan applications for purchase of a single family home, increased 8.1% from a week earlier and its Refinance Index rose 3.7%." (06/15/22)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-mortgage-interest-rates-jump-110630024.html
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11) Israel: Court finds Gaza aid worker guilty of diverting funds to Hamas
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Israeli security officials accused a Gaza aid worker of diverting up to $50m (£41.5m) of donations to the Islamist militant group Hamas. It was alleged the money (which would have amounted to one of the biggest thefts of humanitarian funds in history) paid for rockets and tunnels used to attack Israel. After exactly six years in detention, Mohammed Halabi sat solemnly in the dock at Beersheba District Court in southern Israel as he was found guilty of 13 charges, including belonging to a terrorist organisation and transferring 'considerable sums' to Hamas. His employer, the global charity World Vision, stated: 'In our view there have been irregularities in the trial process and a lack of substantive, publicly available evidence.' International human rights groups described the verdict as 'a miscarriage of justice,' saying it was not supported by independent audits, with key evidence kept secret." (06/15/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-61808619
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12) Tanzania: Rights groups condemn police violence against Maasai
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"Human rights organisations have accused Tanzanian police of using violence to evict members of the Masaai Indigenous community in Loliondo, in the country's northern district of Ngorongoro. Activists say at least 31 people were severely injured on June 10 as security forces started an eviction plan and demarcated a 1,500sq-kilometre plot being allocated by the authorities for conservation activities. The nomadic Maasai people consider the area, lying on the outskirts of the Serengeti National Park, as ancestral land essential to their livelihood of keeping livestock and guaranteeing food for the community. A change in its status would mean the banning of human activities or settlement there." (06/15/22)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/15/rights-groups-condemn-tanzanian-police-violence-over-maasai-land
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13) Progressives Demand Windfall Profits Tax to Punish Big Oil for Effects of Progressives' Policies
Source: Common Dreams
"Progressive members of Congress on Wednesday ramped up calls for a windfall profits tax on oil giants after President Joe Biden pleaded directly with Exxon, BP, Shell, and other companies to boost production instead of just padding their bottom lines -- and hitting consumers with huge cost increases. 'I understand that many factors contributed to the business decisions to reduce refinery capacity, which occurred before I took office,' Biden wrote in letters to the top executives of seven major oil corporations on Tuesday. 'But at a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable. The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action,' the president continued. 'Your companies with my administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis and respect the critical equities of energy workers and fence-line communities.'" (06/15/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/15/us-consumers-getting-fleeced-democrats-demand-windfall-profits-tax-big-oil
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14) After 27 years, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser hits retirement
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [Canadian state media]
"Internet Explorer is finally headed out to pasture. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate -- and a few still claim to adore. The 27-year-old application now joins BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems and Palm Pilots in the dustbin of tech history. IE's demise was not a surprise. A year ago, Microsoft said that it was putting an end to Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022, pushing users to its Edge browser, which was launched in 2015." (06/15/22)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/microsoft-internet-explorer-1.6489129
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15) WI: Election "investigator" fined $2k daily for contempt
Source: SFGate
"A judge on Wednesday issued a scathing ruling against the investigator [sic] hired by Republicans to look into [sic] the 2020 election in Wisconsin, forwarding his decision for possible disciplinary action and ordering that Michael Gableman be fined $2,000 a day until he complies with earlier rulings. Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington's written order determined that Gableman violated his oath as an attorney following his 'disruptive and disrespectful' appearance in court last week. At that hearing, Remington found a defiant Gableman to be in contempt after he refused to answer questions under subpoena in the courtroom. His attorneys tried unsuccessfully to block the subpoena. The order comes in an open records lawsuit filed by liberal [sic] government watchdog group American Oversight. It is one of three open records lawsuits the group filed against Gableman, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and the state Assembly." (06/15/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Wisconsin-election-investigator-fined-2K-daily-17243591.php
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16) Mali: French military claims capture of Islamic State figure
Source: France 24 [French state media]
"French troops in Mali have captured a senior member of the Sahel affiliate of the Islamic State group, the French military said Wednesday. 'In the night of 11-12 June, an operation of the Barkhane force allowed the capture of Oumeya Ould Albakaye, a senior figure in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS),' a spokesman for the chief of staff told AFP. The capture comes as France prepares to complete its withdrawal from Mali after almost a decade battling a jihadist insurgency in the country. Albakaye will be held by French forces for questioning for several days and then handed to the Malian authorities, the military added." (06/15/22)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20220615-france-captures-islamic-state-group-leader-in-mali
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17) Biden announces $1.2 billion in additional Ukraine aid
Source: Fox News
"On Wednesday President Biden announced that another $1.2 billion in security and humanitarian assistance will be granted to Ukraine as the deadly war with Russia continues. Biden said he informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that $1 billion in defensive aid will be sent in the form of artillery, coastal defense weapons, ammunition and advanced rocket systems. An additional $225 million of the funds will be sent for humanitarian assistance to supply 'safe drinking water, critical medical supplies and health care, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items,' the White House said in a statement. The decision to send additional aid comes as Zelenskyy repeatedly urged Western nations to send additional and timely assistance as Russian forces advance across eastern Ukraine." (06/15/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-1-billion-ukraine-aid#
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18) NV: QAnon nutbar wins GOP nod for top elections post
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"Jim Marchant, a QAnon-linked candidate who has unabashedly embraced the idea of overturning future election results, won the Republican nomination to be Nevada's top election official on Tuesday. Marchant has said that he ran for secretary of state at the urging of Juan O Savin, a prominent QAnon influencer. After losing a congressional bid by more than 16,000 votes in 2020, Marchant claimed he was the victim of fraud, but failed to produce any evidence of it in a lawsuit seeking to overturning the result. He has told voters that their vote hasn't mattered for decades because Nevada's leaders have 'been installed by the deep state cabal.' After Joe Biden won the state in 2020, Marchant supported sending an alternate pro-Trump slate of electors to Congress. He said in January he would be prepared to do the same in 2024." (06/15/22)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/nevada-elections-official-republican-primary-qanon
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19) Court rules North Carolina school skirt requirement unconstitutional
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"A North Carolina school violated the constitutional rights of its female pupils by requiring them to wear skirts, a US federal court has ruled. The Charter Day School, in the city of Leland, had said its uniform promoted girls as 'fragile vessels' deserving of courteous and gentle treatment. But a group of parents who challenged the policy said it put their daughters at a disadvantage compared to males. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed on Wednesday by a 10-6 vote. Writing the majority opinion, Senior Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said Charter Day had 'imposed the skirts requirement with the express purpose of telegraphing to children that girls are "fragile", require protection by boys, and warrant different treatment than male students, stereotypes with potentially devastating consequences for young girls'." (06/15/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61817667
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20) Qualcomm wins antitrust case against EU commission
Source: ABC News
"A European Union court on Wednesday invalidated a decision by the bloc's executive arm to fine technology company Qualcomm more than $1 billion in an antitrust case. In overruling the European Commission, the Luxembourg-based General Court cited 'a number of procedural irregularities' that affected the American company's defense rights and rejected the commission's 'analysis of the conduct alleged against Qualcomm.' European regulators fined Qualcomm $1.23 billion in 2018 after concluding the chip and software maker bribed Apple to exclusively use its products in iPhones and iPads, thereby stifling competition." (06/15/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/qualcomm-wins-antitrust-case-eu-commission-85405884
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Biden Lets Client States Get Away With Murder
Source: Antiwar.com
by Daniel Larison
"Biden will travel to Israel and Saudi Arabia next month on a trip that confirms that the worst of US policies in the Middle East remain unchanged. The visit to Saudi Arabia has rightly been the focus of much of the criticism in recent weeks, but the stop in Israel is just as outrageous in its own way. The White House announcement of the trip comes only a month after Israeli forces gunned down prominent Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin. Just as Biden's expected meeting with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman shows that the US will do nothing to hold the Saudi government accountable for its many crimes, the visit to Israel underscores that the Israeli government can kill an American citizen with impunity." (06/15/22)
https://original.antiwar.com/daniel_larison/2022/06/14/biden-lets-client-states-get-away-with-murder/
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22) Anti-Gig-Work "Progressives" Are Not Gig Workers' Friends
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"In attacking the gig economy, 'progressives' aren't supporting workers and trying to protect them from exploitation. They're attacking workers and trying to force those workers back onto what amounts to an exploitative, state-operated plantation where they'll do as they're told and gratefully accept whatever crumbs their 'progressive' masters deign to graciously feed them." (06/15/22)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/16895
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23) Minority Report Tried to Warn Us About Technology
Source: The Atlantic
by David Sims
"In Minority Report, when the detective John Anderton goes on the run in Washington, D.C., one of the first things he needs to do is swap out his eyes. The police of Steven Spielberg's film, set in 2054, are not the only ones tracking people with eye-scanning machines mounted around the city. Public transit does so too, as does every business, and even all the billboards, which scream slogans such as 'John Anderton! You could use a Guinness right about now!' as he walks by them. That tracking system is the most mundanely frightening part of the film's surveillance-state future, in which you might be arrested for a crime you haven't yet committed. ... when I watched Minority Report recently, in a time when every social-media app I use seems to be listening to and anticipating my wants and desires, the gag sent a new chill up my spine." (06/14/22)
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/06/minority-report-spielberg-movie-tom-cruise/661274/
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24) Debunking Ten of Joe Biden's lies about the state of the US economy
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"'Inflation is the bane of our existence,' President Biden lamented last week to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Unfortunately, he was referring to inflation's effect on presidential approval ratings, not the plight of average Americans brutalized to pay for gas and groceries. The president's speech Tuesday to the AFL-CIO was another Team Biden pity party that hard facts were not permitted to interrupt. ... Biden alternates between claiming credit for everything good that happens in America and swearing to be an innocent bystander to an economy going off the rails." (06/015/22)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2022/06/15/new-york-post-debunking-10-of-bidens-lies/
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25) The Persistence of Memory
Source: Liberty
by SH Chambers
Cartoon. (06/16/22)
https://libertyunbound.com/the-persistence-of-memory/
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26) Democrats doomed by feeble Joe Biden and weak batch of candidates behind him
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
"Everywhere you turn, there is suddenly a Dem willing to declare that Very Old Joe is in way over his head. The only surprise is that it took the naysayers so long to admit the obvious. But even now, they are only wrestling with part of the problem. It's not a serious question whether Biden can't serve six more years. He can't, and voters will tell him so if he dares to try. But even assuming he can be convinced to voluntarily step aside for '24, there are two additional hurdles that party leaders should consider before they stumble into a situation far more complex than just his age and disastrous presidency. The first is, after Biden, whom? Dems have the weakest possible bench and there's no viable candidate waiting in the wings." [editor's note: Jared Polis of Colorado andAndy Beshear of Kentucky might be worth a look – TLK] (06/14/22)
https://nypost.com/2022/06/14/democrats-doomed-by-feeble-joe-biden-and-weak-batch-of-candidates-behind-him/
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27) Now A Straight Answer?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Many UFO researchers believe that NASA has been 'in' on 'the UFO cover-up' from the beginning of its mission. I know nothing about that, but I do know that we cannot trust government. While rumors about NASA programs to scrub photos of the Moon and Mars to get rid of alien structures on the surfaces of those two bodies, as well as alien craft, are outlandish, so to speak -- it surely looks like something is going on regarding UFOs." (06/15/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/06/15/now-a-straight-answer/
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28) The expansion of FIRE: Mission-creep or necessity?
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by David French & Harvey Silverglate
"FIRE, the organization with which we both have an association, started out with one full-time paid staffer and two part-time volunteers (its co-founders). At present, the organization has a full-time staff of 80 employees, not counting interns. Since its founding FIRE has developed an unimpeachable reputation for non-partisan advocacy. It has defended the rights of all students and professors, regardless of faith or ideology, and it's been remarkably successful, winning victory after victory in courts of law and public opinion. Furthermore, reflecting the alarming spread of intolerance of viewpoint diversity beyond academia, FIRE this month announced a considerable expansion of its mission and a commensurate name change." (06/15/22)
https://www.thefire.org/the-expansion-of-fire-mission-creep-or-necessity/
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29) Marijuana legalizers for illogical vape bans in California
Source: Orange County Register
by The Editorial Board
"California is a funny place. A few years ago, marijuana users were put in jail, while smoking cigarettes was everywhere, even in hospitals. Today, pot has been legal for recreational use since 2016, but cigarette and other tobacco use increasingly is banned. Sure, it makes sense to ban using either in public places, and for youngsters. But can't the politicians just let adults alone to decide for themselves what they inhale in private? The latest example of regulatory overreach concerns 'synthetic nicotine.' It sounds sinister, but it's just a form of nicotine made for 'vapes,' especially the flavored kind. And it's supposedly behind a 'vaping epidemic' among young people." (06/15/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/15/pot-legalizers-for-illogical-vape-bans/
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30) How big of a wave can House Republicans expect?
Source: National Journal
by Josh Kraushaar
"Even if we assume that House Republicans will cash in on their favorable political environment, there's still plenty of confusion over how to predict the size of the wave. The Washington Post's Paul Kane wrote a smart piece last weekend underscoring the confusion over what the best metric is, citing a disputed quote by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that the 2022 midterms could be 'more competitive' than the 2010 midterms, when House Republicans netted 63 additional seats. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer walked back the leader's bullishness, suggesting that a mere 18-seat gain would already be historic for House Republicans. The reality: McCarthy was correct that the political environment in 2022 could potentially be even more favorable for Republicans than in 2010, but it's nearly impossible for the party to net 63 seats given that they're already within striking distance of the majority right now." (06/15/22)
https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/717898/how-big-of-a-wave-can-house-republicans-expect/?unlock=VJ04D8B5KA32DN02
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31) Antitrust populism would shift US from free market to managed economy
Source: The Hill
by Jonathan M Barnett
"Antitrust law has long relied on two cardinal principles: the consumer welfare standard and the 'rule of reason' balancing test. Both principles reflect the view that antitrust is hard and that it is easy for regulators and courts to make errors. The consumer welfare standard ensures that antitrust law is only deployed against business practices that injure competition, rather than practices that disadvantage less-adept competitors. The rule of reason standard recognizes that business practices often have ambiguous effects .... This organizing framework of modern antitrust is now under attack by a coalition of regulators, legislators, and like-minded supporters. For this coalition, antitrust is easy: The competitive threat posed by 'Big Tech' is so clear that it is appropriate to discard the procedural and substantive constraints that require evidence of competitive harm before wielding the powerful remedies available under the antitrust laws." (06/15/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3524213-antitrust-populism-would-shift-us-from-free-market-to-managed-economy/
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32) Analysis of the Family Security Act 2.0
Source: Niskanen Center
by Joshua McCabe & Robert Orr
"Policymakers are looking for ways to break the stalemate over extending temporary enhancements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that have now expired. Today, Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Richard Burr, and Steve Daines released a proposal that shows a possible way forward: the Family Security Act 2.0. It's the latest iteration of a previous Romney proposal aimed at supporting families and simplifying an array of family-related tax benefits. This report provides a preliminary analysis of the reform package." (06/15/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/analysis-of-the-family-security-act-2-0/
-----
33) Gun Controllers Say They Want "Reform" but They're Really Pushing Criminalization
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"Last week, the House passed a 'gun reform' package that's unlikely to pass the Senate. Then, a bipartisan group of senators struck a deal on modest 'gun reform' proposals with better prospects. Whatever your take on the merits of these bills, describing legislative proposals for restrictive measures as 'reform' is a jarring use of the word -- especially after recent national discussions about reducing criminalization as part of a genuine effort to reform the criminal justice system. Real gun reform should involve efforts to minimize conflicts between government enforcers and the public by doing away with intrusive restrictions on people who have done no harm to others." (06/15/22)
https://reason.com/2022/06/15/gun-controllers-say-reform-really-criminalization/
-----
34) Senate Feminist Spends Last Days of "Roe" Shilling for Crypto Bros
Source: The American Prospect
by Alexander Sammon
"Not quite a full week before 'Black Monday,' when the crypto market saw its total market cap drop over $100 billion in one day, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) unveiled their bipartisan cryptocurrency bill. ... Gillibrand's embrace [sic] of crypto comes at a particularly surprising moment, given the current political climate. Gillibrand has long been vocal about her position as the most avowedly feminist senator; her 2020 presidential run sported a 'fiercely feminist message' according to The New York Times, and featured policies attacking the gender pay gap, fighting abortion bans, and more. But in the final days before Roe v. Wade is expected to be struck down by the Supreme Court, snapping a number of statewide abortion bans into place, Gillibrand has trained her political capital on burnishing what many have decried as a financial deregulation [sic] bill, and courting the industry's political support." (06/15/22)
https://prospect.org/power/senate-feminist-spends-last-days-of-roe-shilling-for-crypto-bros/
-----
35) An Endless Stream of Scary Official Enemies
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Any government that is a national-security state needs big official enemies -- scary ones, ones that will cause the citizenry to continue supporting not only the continued existence of a national-security state form of government but also ever-growing budgets for it and its army of voracious 'defense' contractors. That's, of course, what the current brouhaha about Russia is all about. It's really a replay of the Cold War decades, when Americans were made to believe that the Reds were coming to get them, take over the federal government and the public schools, and indoctrinate everyone into loving communism and socialism." (06/15/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/06/15/an-endless-stream-of-scary-official-enemies/
-----
36) The Great Reset: Turning Back the Clock on Civilization
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Birsen Filip
"It is no secret that the WEF has focused on accelerating the implementation of central planning for the entire global population since the early days of pandemic. This plan to establish a new world order, known as the Great Reset, was a key theme at the recent annual meeting of the WEF, which was held during May 22–26 in Davos, Switzerland. Drastic changes to the world order like the Great Reset do not happen spontaneously; rather, they are designed by global policy makers, including influential billionaires, politicians, celebrities, biased academics, wealthy philanthropists, and the bureaucrats of international organizations and institutions. These types of people support social engineering, because it will enable them to acquire control over the world's wealth and natural resources, and strengthen their ability to shape society as they see fit." (06/15/22)
https://mises.org/wire/great-reset-turning-back-clock-civilization
-----
37) The Incredible Persistence of the Myth of Masking
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ian Miller
"At this point, it's no longer news that The Experts[TM] have lied to the public about masks. It's been proven time and time again that masks and the mandates enacted by terrified politicians do not work. And yet, the inaccuracies spread by 'experts' and their allies in the media have permanently taken hold for a significant portion of the population. ... At its heart, the debate around masks revolves around ideology. For years, 'experts' decried the importance of masking, quite literally laughing at suggestions that they would make a significant difference .... Ideology and groupthink has become so important and pervasive among 'experts' that they easily abandoned their previously stated positions in order to conform to what's expected of them politically." (06/15/22)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-incredible-persistence-of-the-myth-of-masking/
-----
38) We're hitting our limits with wokeness
Source: Fox News
by Greg Gutfeld
"So there are big changes afoot. ... Boils down to one-word 'limits.' We've reached them. Yep. We put our foot down like a drunk Paul Pelosi running a red light. Let's start at the beginning. The recall of the SF School Board members. After years of wokeness, voters finally put their sorry asses to sleep. Remember, they wanted to change the names of schools during a COVID crisis. The voters told them to hit the road. And in San Fran, that road is covered with ****. There's Netflix telling its employees, if you're too sensitive to work here, don't. God, if I had a nickel for every time I said that when I was directing those snuff films of the eighties." (06/15/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/greg-gutfeld-hitting-limits-wokeness
-----
39) Will Erdogan be the biggest winner in the Ukraine crisis?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
"Just a few months ago, Turkey was in a bit of a tough spot. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's years-long move away from Western liberalism had rendered Ankara the black sheep of the NATO family. President Joe Biden put a fine point on this when he called Erdogan an 'autocrat' during the campaign and left him out of last year's much-touted Summit of Democracies. ... But international events have a way of confounding expectations. As the war in Ukraine nears its fourth month, Turkey's international standing has risen thanks to a careful strategy in which Ankara has armed Ukraine with cheap drones, joined some (but not all) Western sanctions, and sat down with Russian leaders whenever possible." (06/15/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/06/15/will-erdogan-be-the-biggest-winner-in-the-ukraine-crisis/
-----
40) The January 6 Committee Is Telling a More Honest Story About Trump Than the Media Has
Source: The New Republic
by Alex Shepard
"The press'[s] reliance on (or, if you prefer, addiction to) 'both sides' coverage -- of insisting not on leading with the truth but in simply asking Democrats and Republicans what the truth is and then printing their responses. ... This ultimately points to the Commission's greatest strength: It's not beholden to both-sidesing the January 6 riots or Trump's efforts to overturn the election. It doesn't have to conform to any media filters or traditions that have served us so poorly as Trump and his coterie of villains have threatened to degrade the civic health of the nation. It succeeds in many ways where the press has failed over the previous six years: It can come right out and say, in no uncertain terms, that Donald Trump is corrupt and that he was out to steal the presidency despite knowing full well that he had lost the election." (06/15/22)
https://newrepublic.com/article/166819/january-6-committee-media-scoops
-----
41) Government crushes individuality
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
"Everyone has their own unique personal preferences. This is probably a good thing since it makes life interesting and keeps us from all fighting over the exact same stuff. Think how boring it would be if everyone preferred identical things. Variety is the spice of life. As long as everyone remembers their preferences are only preferences, not a matter of one being right and the other being wrong, there's no problem. It's only when people try to impose their preferences on everyone that it becomes an issue. It's the difference between preferring the color yellow and forbidding the color blue; making the demand that everyone else pretend to prefer yellow, too -- or else." (06/15/22)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2022/06/15/voices/opinion-government-crushes-individuality/172202.html
-----
42) A Great Idea: Largest Pentagon Budget Cut in History
Source: Common Dreams
by Connor Echols
"Reps Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) introduced a bill Monday that would cut $100 billion from the defense budget -- the largest single-year budget cut in Pentagon history. Lee and Pocan offered a range of ways to spend the $100 billion, claiming it could be used to create over one million green jobs or to provide healthcare for more than 28 million people. The text of the proposed People Over Pentagon Act says 'many of the most urgent threats to the United States are not military in nature,' and argues that Americans would be safer if this money was used to pay for major domestic projects." [editor's note: Or, you know, just not stolen from Americans in the first place ... – TLK] (06/15/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/15/largest-pentagon-budget-cut-history-great-idea
-----
43) An Argument for Deheroizing Democracies
Source: CounterPunch
by L Ali Khan
"This study explains that the notion of a cult hero is incompatible with democracy as a form of government. Heroes surface in all forms of government and thrive in empires, theocracies, and dictatorships. Democracy, too, is not immune from the rise of political heroes. A political hero is most lethal to the institutional fabric of democracy when they gain popularity as a cult figure. Cultish heroes undermine the national constitutions, pursue autocracy, nurture a law-defying following, incite hatred against opponents, and divide the public into hostile factions. They see themselves as indispensable geniuses, far superior to the system that brings them to power." (06/15/22)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/06/15/an-argument-for-deheroizing-democracies/
-----
44) Tuesday's election shows Trump still influences voters. Republicans, why do we allow it?
Source: USA Today
by Chris Schlak
"Former President Donald Trump has a successful endorsement track record in the GOP primaries so far. According to Ballotpedia, 119 of his endorsed candidates this year have won and eight have lost -- a 94% success rate. ... However, a high success rate does not necessarily make Trump a kingmaker. Although there have been instances of Trump making risky endorsements that have lifted candidates from the middle of the pack to front-runner, like in the Ohio and Pennsylvania Senate races, Trump has mostly picked incumbents who were going to win comfortably. ... I do not know why the Republican Party needs Trump's influence at all. Actually, I think his influence should be removed from the primaries, and any Republican who cares about the long-term future of the GOP should refuse to vote for his endorsed candidates." (06/15/22)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/06/15/primary-election-trump-endorsements/7574324001/
-----
45) Corruption Allegations: Disappointing but Hardly Surprising
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
"In 1977, the Chicago Sun Times newspaper bought a bar. They didn't just buy it to serve people drinks. They bought it -- under a fake name -- for the purpose of loading it up with video and audio recording equipment to expose the rampant political corruption in Chicago. For months, as the bar went through the standard process of getting permits, licenses, and so on, the operators recorded the unending stream of bribe requests, kickback demands, and more that were (and arguably still are) commonplace in Chicago. ... Which leads us to last week's news about the federal indictments of three St. Louis City aldermen on corruption charges. I may work at a think tank, but I know a little about bribery attempts. Back in 2001, I got a first-hand look at an attempted bribe for then-County Councilman John Campisi." (06/14/22)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/corporate-welfare/corruption-allegations-disappointing-but-hardly-surprising/
-----
46) "Red Flag" Laws Require a Tricky Balance
Source: Town Hall
by Jacob Sullum
"It is easy to understand the bipartisan appeal of a policy that promises to reduce gun violence by targeting dangerous individuals instead of imposing broad limits that affect millions of law-abiding Americans. So it's not surprising that the Senate gun control deal announced on Sunday includes federal grants aimed at encouraging states to pass and enforce 'red flag' laws, which authorize courts to prohibit people from possessing firearms when they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. However sensible that policy may seem, it suffers from two basic limitations that cannot be wished away by consensus-building rhetoric ..." (06/15/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/2022/06/15/red-flag-laws-require-a-tricky-balance-if-congress-decides-to-encourage-them-it-should-not-overlook-the-importance-of-due-process-protections-n2608735
-----
47) Does Environmental Review Worsen the Wildfire Crisis?
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Eric Edwards & Sara Sutherland
"To preemptively reduce the impacts of large and costly wildfires, forest managers use methods that remove fuels -- brush, trees, and other flammable materials--to lessen the intensity of burns. The two most common fuel treatments are prescribed burns and mechanical treatments. The effectiveness of these measures was demonstrated in 2021 during Oregon's Bootleg Fire, which ultimately burned 400,000 acres. Firefighters reported that where both treatments had been applied, fire intensity was reduced, the crowns of trees were left intact, and the blaze became a more manageable ground fire. Such low-intensity fires, which frequently burned in the West before aggressive fire suppression policies were adopted, are ecologically important. Managed forests are more resilient to drought, high temperatures, fire, and insects. In 2021, several proposed treatment areas burned in large wildfires while facing delays from environmental review and litigation." (06/14/22)
https://www.perc.org/2022/06/14/does-environmental-review-worsen-the-wildfire-crisis/
-----
48) No History of Education Vouchers Is Complete without Thomas Paine
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Garion Frankel
"[Milton] Friedman's landmark 1955 work, 'The Role of Government in Education,' certainly helped shape and solidify vouchers as a modern education policy tool. But while Friedman deserves great credit and acclaim for popularizing vouchers, he did not invent them. Neither did John Stuart Mill, the great British liberal of the 19th century who had similar ideas a hundred years before Friedman. The earliest known fully-fledged voucher proposal dates all the way back to the 18th century, and belongs to none other than the revolutionary American pamphleteer and political theorist Thomas Paine. Unfortunately, Paine's prickly personality, religious unorthodoxy, and unwillingness to back down from his beliefs caused later scholars to intentionally downplay his contributions." (06/14/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/no-history-of-education-vouchers-is-complete-without-thomas-paine/
-----
49) Three Anti-Inflation Alternatives to Raising Interest Rates
Source: In These Times
by Richard D Wolff
"A deafening silence defines 'debates' among U.S. leaders about stopping or slowing today's inflation. Alternatives to the Federal Reserve's raising of interest rates and curtailing money supply growth are ignored. It's as if there were no other ways to rein in price increases except to add more interest costs to the already excess debts of workers and small and medium businesses. ... As usual, the profit-driven concerns of big business and their result (a remarkably selective historical amnesia) fuel the silence about alternative anti-inflation policies. So too do the right-wing ideological blinders that now constrict U.S. politics. Yet, policy alternatives always exist, no matter how desperately partisans promoting one policy seek to obliterate debate and discussion of others." [editor's note: Tell me you don't understand what inflation is without telling me you don't understand what inflation is ... – TLK] (06/14/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/inflation-interest-rates-federal-reserve-capitalism
-----
50) Envisioning a Utopian Anarchism
Source: Everything Voluntary
by Ian Mayes
"The broad outline for my vision of a new society is the same as always: a world without domination or top-down hierarchy where people voluntarily associate as equals, where cooperation, mutual aid and sharing are done without coercion, and where everyone who is affected by a group decision has a voice in the process and collective agreements are based on consent. This vision remains the same, but I now have four different perspectives that I use to look at it. Each perspective is vitally important to keep in mind for the understanding, realization and maintainence of such a society. These four perspectives are the individual, the relational, the structural and the physical." (06/14/22)
https://everything-voluntary.com/envisioning-a-utopian-anarchism
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Inside a Republican PAC's Takeover of the Libertarian Party
Source: Reason
"Supporters say they want to 'make the Libertarian Party libertarian again.' Critics [notice] they're shitposting edgelords who will destroy the LP from within." [Flash video] (06/15/22)
https://reason.com/video/2022/06/15/inside-the-mises-caucus-takeover-of-the-libertarian-party/
-----
52) Free Talk Live, 06/15/22
Source: Free Talk Live
"Bonnie's take on LaMDA :: The future of AI :: Faith versus Science :: What is natural? :: Morality, Good and Evil :: The sun is frying people's brains :: Weaking immune systems in children :: Sudden Adult Death Syndrome :: :: Show: 2022-06-15 Aria, Nikki, Bonnie." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/16/22)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=5fded09d7bfccb4daf1754ca78732145
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/15/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"Green Reversal? Biden Screams At Oil Companies For NOT Drilling!" [Flash video] (06/15/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/green-reversal-biden-screams-at-oil-companies-for-not-drilling
-----
54) Year Zero with Tommy Salmons, 06/15/22
Source: Libertarian Institute
"The State of the Justice System w/Legalman and Patrick MacFarlane." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/15/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/uncategorized/the-state-of-the-justice-system-w-legalman-and-patrick-macfarlane/
-----
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/15/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"The people whose opinions carry legitimate weight are the ones who prize doing the right thing over their personal comfort." [Flash audio] (06/15/22)
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-gsvtr-124f318
-----
56) Mean Age Daydream, episode 11
Source: Lions of Liberty
"Beating Back The Impending Recession | Jan 6th Dogs and Ponies." [various formats] (06/15/22)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/beating-back-the-impending-recession-jan-6th-dogs-and-ponies
-----
57) The Argument, 06/15/22
Source: New York Times
"Who Can Write About What? A Conversation With Roxane Gay and Jay Caspian Kang." [Flash audio] (06/15/22)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/opinion/who-can-write-about-what.html
-----
58) Fever Dreams, 06/15/22
Source: The Daily Beast
"How the Proud Boys Became the Alleged 'Architects' of the Capitol Riot." [Flash audio] (06/15/22)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-proud-boys-became-the-alleged-architects-of-the-capitol-riot
-----
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2145
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Does Intellectual Property Exist?" [various formats] (06/14/22)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2145-does-intellectual-property-exist/
-----
60) The Wright Show, 06/14/22
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
"Who's to Blame for the State of Russia? | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov | The Wright Show." [Flash video] (06/14/22)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/64334
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points for first time since 1994
2) EU sues UK over move to rewrite post-Brexit trade rules
3) SCOTUS limits California forced non-arbitration law
4) Russia: Regime transfers political prisoner Navalny to maximum security prison
5) Judge rejects Bannon's effort to dismiss criminal case for defying Capitol riot exploitation committee
6) China: Regime says it may have detected aliens, then deletes report
7) SCOTUS tosses Republican effort to defend Trump-era "public charge" immigration rule
8) Brazil: Police arrest second suspect in case of missing journalist
9) Despite push, states slow to make Juneteenth a paid holiday
10) US mortgage interest rates jump to highest level since 2008
11) Israel: Court finds Gaza aid worker guilty of diverting funds to Hamas
12) Tanzania: Rights groups condemn police violence against Maasai
13) Progressives Demand Windfall Profits Tax to Punish Big Oil for Effects of Progressives' Policies
14) After 27 years, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser hits retirement
15) WI: Election "investigator" fined $2k daily for contempt
16) Mali: French military claims capture of Islamic State figure
17) Biden announces $1.2 billion in additional Ukraine aid
18) NV: QAnon nutbar wins GOP nod for top elections post
19) Court rules North Carolina school skirt requirement unconstitutional
20) Qualcomm wins antitrust case against EU commission
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Biden Lets Client States Get Away With Murder
22) Anti-Gig-Work "Progressives" Are Not Gig Workers' Friends
23) Minority Report Tried to Warn Us About Technology
24) Debunking Ten of Joe Biden's lies about the state of the US economy
25) The Persistence of Memory
26) Democrats doomed by feeble Joe Biden and weak batch of candidates behind him
27) Now A Straight Answer?
28) The expansion of FIRE: Mission-creep or necessity?
29) Marijuana legalizers for illogical vape bans in California
30) How big of a wave can House Republicans expect?
31) Antitrust populism would shift US from free market to managed economy
32) Analysis of the Family Security Act 2.0
33) Gun Controllers Say They Want "Reform" but They're Really Pushing Criminalization
34) Senate Feminist Spends Last Days of "Roe" Shilling for Crypto Bros
35) An Endless Stream of Scary Official Enemies
36) The Great Reset: Turning Back the Clock on Civilization
37) The Incredible Persistence of the Myth of Masking
38) We're hitting our limits with wokeness
39) Will Erdogan be the biggest winner in the Ukraine crisis?
40) The January 6 Committee Is Telling a More Honest Story About Trump Than the Media Has
41) Government crushes individuality
42) A Great Idea: Largest Pentagon Budget Cut in History
43) An Argument for Deheroizing Democracies
44) Tuesday's election shows Trump still influences voters. Republicans, why do we allow it?
45) Corruption Allegations: Disappointing but Hardly Surprising
46) "Red Flag" Laws Require a Tricky Balance
47) Does Environmental Review Worsen the Wildfire Crisis?
48) No History of Education Vouchers Is Complete without Thomas Paine
49) Three Anti-Inflation Alternatives to Raising Interest Rates
50) Envisioning a Utopian Anarchism
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Inside a Republican PAC's Takeover of the Libertarian Party
52) Free Talk Live, 06/15/22
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/15/22
54) Year Zero with Tommy Salmons, 06/15/22
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/15/22
56) Mean Age Daydream, episode 11
57) The Argument, 06/15/22
58) Fever Dreams, 06/15/22
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2145
60) The Wright Show, 06/14/22
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points for first time since 1994
Source: The Hill
"The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it would hike interest rates this month at the fastest pace in nearly 30 years after a discouraging May surge in inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting interest rates, said it would raise the bank's baseline interest rate range to 1.5 to 1.75 percent, an increase of 0.75 percentage points. It is the first 0.75 percentage point rate hike issued by the Fed since 1994." (06/15/22)
https://thehill.com/policy/3524517-fed-hikes-rates-by-75-basis-points-for-first-time-since-1994/
-----
2) EU sues UK over move to rewrite post-Brexit trade rules
Source: Associated Press
"The European Union sued Britain on Wednesday over its move to rewrite the trade rules agreed to when the country left the EU two years ago, ratcheting up tensions between the major economic partners. Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government proposed legislation that would remove customs checks on some goods entering [occupied] Ireland from ... the U.K. ... The EU's decision to pursue legal action raises the possibility that either or both sides could impose punishing tariffs on the other." (06/15/22)
https://apnews.com/article/boris-johnson-business-brexit-northern-ireland-european-union-8ac35a7e98b3df6d6f378a46221f0a22
-----
3) SCOTUS limits California forced non-arbitration law
Source: Los Angeles Times
"In a victory for California employers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday placed limits on a state labor law that authorizes private lawsuits on behalf of groups of workers, even if they had agreed to resolve their disputes through individual arbitration. The majority ruled the Federal Arbitration Act preempts or overrides the state law. California is the only state to authorize such private suits as a means of enforcing its labor laws, the justices said. But by doing so, the state allows employees to escape the binding arbitration agreements they signed when they were hired, the court said." (06/15/22)
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-15/supreme-court-california-labor-law-that-allowed-private-suits-against-employers
-----
4) Russia: Regime transfers political prisoner Navalny to maximum security prison
Source: CNN
"Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been transferred from the penal colony where he was serving his term to a higher security prison facility. The jailed politician was relocated to a maximum-security prison in Melekhovo in the Vladimir Region, according to Russia's state media outlet TASS citing Sergey Yazhan, chairman of the regional public oversight commission." (06/15/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/14/europe/alexey-navalny-prison-transfer-intl/index.html
-----
5) Judge rejects Bannon's effort to dismiss criminal case for defying Capitol riot exploitation committee
Source: Politico
"A federal judge on Wednesday rejected former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon's effort to dismiss the criminal contempt case against him for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. In an oral ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols rebuffed a series of arguments Bannon had lodged, including that Trump had asserted executive privilege to block his former aide's testimony. Nichols contended that there's insufficient evidence that Trump truly did assert privilege or seek to block Bannon from testifying to the panel the House created to investigate the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and related events." (06/15/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/15/judge-rejects-bannons-effort-to-dismiss-criminal-case-for-defying-jan-6-select-committee-00039888
-----
6) China: Regime says it may have detected aliens, then deletes report
Source: New York Post
"There's something out there -- maybe. China's science ministry said this week that it picked up signs of alien life on the world's largest radio telescope -- then appeared to quickly delete a report about the discovery. The country's powerful Sky Eye telescope detected electromagnetic signals of possible civilizations on other planets, according to a report published Tuesday in Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology. '[There were] several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the earth,' the report said. ... the report had apparently been removed from the newspaper's website by Wednesday -- even as the news began trending on the nation's popular social network site, Weibo, along with other media outlets, according to TIME.com." (06/15/22)
https://nypost.com/2022/06/15/china-says-it-may-have-detected-aliens-then-deletes-report/
-----
7) SCOTUS tosses Republican effort to defend Trump-era "public charge" immigration rule
Source: CNN
"The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal brought by a group of Republican-led states seeking to intervene in a case challenging the Trump-era 'public charge' immigration policy, a version of which the Biden administration has abandoned. The case did not center on the legality of the rule, but instead, whether the Biden administration followed proper procedures when it set out to revoke the rule and dismiss pending legal challenges. The order is a blow to conservative [sic] states that had asked the court to step in Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurrence joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Neil Gorsuch." (06/15/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/15/politics/republicans-immigration-rule-supreme-court/index.html
-----
8) Brazil: Police arrest second suspect in case of missing journalist
Source: Reuters
"Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested a second suspect in the investigation of the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon rainforest in western Brazil. Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, also known as 'Dos Santos,' aged 41, was under temporary arrest on suspicion he was involved in the case with his brother Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, who was arrested last week, the federal police said a statement. ... In a letter addressed to the Phillips family, which was reviewed by Reuters, the Brazilian ambassador in London apologized on Tuesday for passing on incorrect information that bodies had been discovered." (06/15/22)
https://www.reuters.com/world/search-missing-journalist-brazil-nearing-end-indigenous-group-says-2022-06-14/
-----
9) Despite push, states slow to make Juneteenth a paid holiday
Source: SFGate
"Recognition of Juneteenth, the effective end of slavery in the U.S., gained traction after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. But after an initial burst of action, the movement to have it recognized as an official holiday in the states has largely stalled. Although almost every state recognizes Juneteenth in some fashion, many have been slow to do more than issue a proclamation or resolution, even as some continue to commemorate the Confederacy. Lawmakers in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and other states failed to advance proposals this year that would have closed state offices and given most of their public employees paid time off for the June 19 holiday. That trend infuriates [b]lack leaders and community organizers who view making Juneteenth a paid holiday the bare minimum state officials can do to help honor an often overlooked and ignored piece of American history." (06/15/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Despite-push-states-slow-to-make-Juneteenth-a-17243697.php
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10) US mortgage interest rates jump to highest level since 2008
Source: Yahoo! News
"The average interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan climbed to its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis and purchase applications were down more than 15% from last year, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data showed on Wednesday. Still, more homebuyers sought properties compared to a week earlier, perhaps signalling a flurry of activity before aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve further impacts the sector. ... The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 25 basis points to 5.65% for the week ended June 10, the highest level since late 2008, towards the end of the financial crisis and Great Recession. The MBA said its Purchase Composite Index, a measure of all mortgage loan applications for purchase of a single family home, increased 8.1% from a week earlier and its Refinance Index rose 3.7%." (06/15/22)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-mortgage-interest-rates-jump-110630024.html
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11) Israel: Court finds Gaza aid worker guilty of diverting funds to Hamas
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Israeli security officials accused a Gaza aid worker of diverting up to $50m (£41.5m) of donations to the Islamist militant group Hamas. It was alleged the money (which would have amounted to one of the biggest thefts of humanitarian funds in history) paid for rockets and tunnels used to attack Israel. After exactly six years in detention, Mohammed Halabi sat solemnly in the dock at Beersheba District Court in southern Israel as he was found guilty of 13 charges, including belonging to a terrorist organisation and transferring 'considerable sums' to Hamas. His employer, the global charity World Vision, stated: 'In our view there have been irregularities in the trial process and a lack of substantive, publicly available evidence.' International human rights groups described the verdict as 'a miscarriage of justice,' saying it was not supported by independent audits, with key evidence kept secret." (06/15/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-61808619
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12) Tanzania: Rights groups condemn police violence against Maasai
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"Human rights organisations have accused Tanzanian police of using violence to evict members of the Masaai Indigenous community in Loliondo, in the country's northern district of Ngorongoro. Activists say at least 31 people were severely injured on June 10 as security forces started an eviction plan and demarcated a 1,500sq-kilometre plot being allocated by the authorities for conservation activities. The nomadic Maasai people consider the area, lying on the outskirts of the Serengeti National Park, as ancestral land essential to their livelihood of keeping livestock and guaranteeing food for the community. A change in its status would mean the banning of human activities or settlement there." (06/15/22)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/15/rights-groups-condemn-tanzanian-police-violence-over-maasai-land
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13) Progressives Demand Windfall Profits Tax to Punish Big Oil for Effects of Progressives' Policies
Source: Common Dreams
"Progressive members of Congress on Wednesday ramped up calls for a windfall profits tax on oil giants after President Joe Biden pleaded directly with Exxon, BP, Shell, and other companies to boost production instead of just padding their bottom lines -- and hitting consumers with huge cost increases. 'I understand that many factors contributed to the business decisions to reduce refinery capacity, which occurred before I took office,' Biden wrote in letters to the top executives of seven major oil corporations on Tuesday. 'But at a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable. The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action,' the president continued. 'Your companies with my administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis and respect the critical equities of energy workers and fence-line communities.'" (06/15/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/15/us-consumers-getting-fleeced-democrats-demand-windfall-profits-tax-big-oil
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14) After 27 years, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser hits retirement
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [Canadian state media]
"Internet Explorer is finally headed out to pasture. As of Wednesday, Microsoft will no longer support the once-dominant browser that legions of web surfers loved to hate -- and a few still claim to adore. The 27-year-old application now joins BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems and Palm Pilots in the dustbin of tech history. IE's demise was not a surprise. A year ago, Microsoft said that it was putting an end to Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022, pushing users to its Edge browser, which was launched in 2015." (06/15/22)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/microsoft-internet-explorer-1.6489129
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15) WI: Election "investigator" fined $2k daily for contempt
Source: SFGate
"A judge on Wednesday issued a scathing ruling against the investigator [sic] hired by Republicans to look into [sic] the 2020 election in Wisconsin, forwarding his decision for possible disciplinary action and ordering that Michael Gableman be fined $2,000 a day until he complies with earlier rulings. Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington's written order determined that Gableman violated his oath as an attorney following his 'disruptive and disrespectful' appearance in court last week. At that hearing, Remington found a defiant Gableman to be in contempt after he refused to answer questions under subpoena in the courtroom. His attorneys tried unsuccessfully to block the subpoena. The order comes in an open records lawsuit filed by liberal [sic] government watchdog group American Oversight. It is one of three open records lawsuits the group filed against Gableman, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and the state Assembly." (06/15/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Wisconsin-election-investigator-fined-2K-daily-17243591.php
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16) Mali: French military claims capture of Islamic State figure
Source: France 24 [French state media]
"French troops in Mali have captured a senior member of the Sahel affiliate of the Islamic State group, the French military said Wednesday. 'In the night of 11-12 June, an operation of the Barkhane force allowed the capture of Oumeya Ould Albakaye, a senior figure in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS),' a spokesman for the chief of staff told AFP. The capture comes as France prepares to complete its withdrawal from Mali after almost a decade battling a jihadist insurgency in the country. Albakaye will be held by French forces for questioning for several days and then handed to the Malian authorities, the military added." (06/15/22)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20220615-france-captures-islamic-state-group-leader-in-mali
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17) Biden announces $1.2 billion in additional Ukraine aid
Source: Fox News
"On Wednesday President Biden announced that another $1.2 billion in security and humanitarian assistance will be granted to Ukraine as the deadly war with Russia continues. Biden said he informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that $1 billion in defensive aid will be sent in the form of artillery, coastal defense weapons, ammunition and advanced rocket systems. An additional $225 million of the funds will be sent for humanitarian assistance to supply 'safe drinking water, critical medical supplies and health care, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items,' the White House said in a statement. The decision to send additional aid comes as Zelenskyy repeatedly urged Western nations to send additional and timely assistance as Russian forces advance across eastern Ukraine." (06/15/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-1-billion-ukraine-aid#
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18) NV: QAnon nutbar wins GOP nod for top elections post
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"Jim Marchant, a QAnon-linked candidate who has unabashedly embraced the idea of overturning future election results, won the Republican nomination to be Nevada's top election official on Tuesday. Marchant has said that he ran for secretary of state at the urging of Juan O Savin, a prominent QAnon influencer. After losing a congressional bid by more than 16,000 votes in 2020, Marchant claimed he was the victim of fraud, but failed to produce any evidence of it in a lawsuit seeking to overturning the result. He has told voters that their vote hasn't mattered for decades because Nevada's leaders have 'been installed by the deep state cabal.' After Joe Biden won the state in 2020, Marchant supported sending an alternate pro-Trump slate of electors to Congress. He said in January he would be prepared to do the same in 2024." (06/15/22)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/nevada-elections-official-republican-primary-qanon
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19) Court rules North Carolina school skirt requirement unconstitutional
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"A North Carolina school violated the constitutional rights of its female pupils by requiring them to wear skirts, a US federal court has ruled. The Charter Day School, in the city of Leland, had said its uniform promoted girls as 'fragile vessels' deserving of courteous and gentle treatment. But a group of parents who challenged the policy said it put their daughters at a disadvantage compared to males. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed on Wednesday by a 10-6 vote. Writing the majority opinion, Senior Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said Charter Day had 'imposed the skirts requirement with the express purpose of telegraphing to children that girls are "fragile", require protection by boys, and warrant different treatment than male students, stereotypes with potentially devastating consequences for young girls'." (06/15/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61817667
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20) Qualcomm wins antitrust case against EU commission
Source: ABC News
"A European Union court on Wednesday invalidated a decision by the bloc's executive arm to fine technology company Qualcomm more than $1 billion in an antitrust case. In overruling the European Commission, the Luxembourg-based General Court cited 'a number of procedural irregularities' that affected the American company's defense rights and rejected the commission's 'analysis of the conduct alleged against Qualcomm.' European regulators fined Qualcomm $1.23 billion in 2018 after concluding the chip and software maker bribed Apple to exclusively use its products in iPhones and iPads, thereby stifling competition." (06/15/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/qualcomm-wins-antitrust-case-eu-commission-85405884
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Biden Lets Client States Get Away With Murder
Source: Antiwar.com
by Daniel Larison
"Biden will travel to Israel and Saudi Arabia next month on a trip that confirms that the worst of US policies in the Middle East remain unchanged. The visit to Saudi Arabia has rightly been the focus of much of the criticism in recent weeks, but the stop in Israel is just as outrageous in its own way. The White House announcement of the trip comes only a month after Israeli forces gunned down prominent Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin. Just as Biden's expected meeting with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman shows that the US will do nothing to hold the Saudi government accountable for its many crimes, the visit to Israel underscores that the Israeli government can kill an American citizen with impunity." (06/15/22)
https://original.antiwar.com/daniel_larison/2022/06/14/biden-lets-client-states-get-away-with-murder/
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22) Anti-Gig-Work "Progressives" Are Not Gig Workers' Friends
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"In attacking the gig economy, 'progressives' aren't supporting workers and trying to protect them from exploitation. They're attacking workers and trying to force those workers back onto what amounts to an exploitative, state-operated plantation where they'll do as they're told and gratefully accept whatever crumbs their 'progressive' masters deign to graciously feed them." (06/15/22)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/16895
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23) Minority Report Tried to Warn Us About Technology
Source: The Atlantic
by David Sims
"In Minority Report, when the detective John Anderton goes on the run in Washington, D.C., one of the first things he needs to do is swap out his eyes. The police of Steven Spielberg's film, set in 2054, are not the only ones tracking people with eye-scanning machines mounted around the city. Public transit does so too, as does every business, and even all the billboards, which scream slogans such as 'John Anderton! You could use a Guinness right about now!' as he walks by them. That tracking system is the most mundanely frightening part of the film's surveillance-state future, in which you might be arrested for a crime you haven't yet committed. ... when I watched Minority Report recently, in a time when every social-media app I use seems to be listening to and anticipating my wants and desires, the gag sent a new chill up my spine." (06/14/22)
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/06/minority-report-spielberg-movie-tom-cruise/661274/
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24) Debunking Ten of Joe Biden's lies about the state of the US economy
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"'Inflation is the bane of our existence,' President Biden lamented last week to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Unfortunately, he was referring to inflation's effect on presidential approval ratings, not the plight of average Americans brutalized to pay for gas and groceries. The president's speech Tuesday to the AFL-CIO was another Team Biden pity party that hard facts were not permitted to interrupt. ... Biden alternates between claiming credit for everything good that happens in America and swearing to be an innocent bystander to an economy going off the rails." (06/015/22)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2022/06/15/new-york-post-debunking-10-of-bidens-lies/
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25) The Persistence of Memory
Source: Liberty
by SH Chambers
Cartoon. (06/16/22)
https://libertyunbound.com/the-persistence-of-memory/
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26) Democrats doomed by feeble Joe Biden and weak batch of candidates behind him
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
"Everywhere you turn, there is suddenly a Dem willing to declare that Very Old Joe is in way over his head. The only surprise is that it took the naysayers so long to admit the obvious. But even now, they are only wrestling with part of the problem. It's not a serious question whether Biden can't serve six more years. He can't, and voters will tell him so if he dares to try. But even assuming he can be convinced to voluntarily step aside for '24, there are two additional hurdles that party leaders should consider before they stumble into a situation far more complex than just his age and disastrous presidency. The first is, after Biden, whom? Dems have the weakest possible bench and there's no viable candidate waiting in the wings." [editor's note: Jared Polis of Colorado andAndy Beshear of Kentucky might be worth a look – TLK] (06/14/22)
https://nypost.com/2022/06/14/democrats-doomed-by-feeble-joe-biden-and-weak-batch-of-candidates-behind-him/
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27) Now A Straight Answer?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Many UFO researchers believe that NASA has been 'in' on 'the UFO cover-up' from the beginning of its mission. I know nothing about that, but I do know that we cannot trust government. While rumors about NASA programs to scrub photos of the Moon and Mars to get rid of alien structures on the surfaces of those two bodies, as well as alien craft, are outlandish, so to speak -- it surely looks like something is going on regarding UFOs." (06/15/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/06/15/now-a-straight-answer/
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28) The expansion of FIRE: Mission-creep or necessity?
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by David French & Harvey Silverglate
"FIRE, the organization with which we both have an association, started out with one full-time paid staffer and two part-time volunteers (its co-founders). At present, the organization has a full-time staff of 80 employees, not counting interns. Since its founding FIRE has developed an unimpeachable reputation for non-partisan advocacy. It has defended the rights of all students and professors, regardless of faith or ideology, and it's been remarkably successful, winning victory after victory in courts of law and public opinion. Furthermore, reflecting the alarming spread of intolerance of viewpoint diversity beyond academia, FIRE this month announced a considerable expansion of its mission and a commensurate name change." (06/15/22)
https://www.thefire.org/the-expansion-of-fire-mission-creep-or-necessity/
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29) Marijuana legalizers for illogical vape bans in California
Source: Orange County Register
by The Editorial Board
"California is a funny place. A few years ago, marijuana users were put in jail, while smoking cigarettes was everywhere, even in hospitals. Today, pot has been legal for recreational use since 2016, but cigarette and other tobacco use increasingly is banned. Sure, it makes sense to ban using either in public places, and for youngsters. But can't the politicians just let adults alone to decide for themselves what they inhale in private? The latest example of regulatory overreach concerns 'synthetic nicotine.' It sounds sinister, but it's just a form of nicotine made for 'vapes,' especially the flavored kind. And it's supposedly behind a 'vaping epidemic' among young people." (06/15/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/15/pot-legalizers-for-illogical-vape-bans/
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30) How big of a wave can House Republicans expect?
Source: National Journal
by Josh Kraushaar
"Even if we assume that House Republicans will cash in on their favorable political environment, there's still plenty of confusion over how to predict the size of the wave. The Washington Post's Paul Kane wrote a smart piece last weekend underscoring the confusion over what the best metric is, citing a disputed quote by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that the 2022 midterms could be 'more competitive' than the 2010 midterms, when House Republicans netted 63 additional seats. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer walked back the leader's bullishness, suggesting that a mere 18-seat gain would already be historic for House Republicans. The reality: McCarthy was correct that the political environment in 2022 could potentially be even more favorable for Republicans than in 2010, but it's nearly impossible for the party to net 63 seats given that they're already within striking distance of the majority right now." (06/15/22)
https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/717898/how-big-of-a-wave-can-house-republicans-expect/?unlock=VJ04D8B5KA32DN02
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31) Antitrust populism would shift US from free market to managed economy
Source: The Hill
by Jonathan M Barnett
"Antitrust law has long relied on two cardinal principles: the consumer welfare standard and the 'rule of reason' balancing test. Both principles reflect the view that antitrust is hard and that it is easy for regulators and courts to make errors. The consumer welfare standard ensures that antitrust law is only deployed against business practices that injure competition, rather than practices that disadvantage less-adept competitors. The rule of reason standard recognizes that business practices often have ambiguous effects .... This organizing framework of modern antitrust is now under attack by a coalition of regulators, legislators, and like-minded supporters. For this coalition, antitrust is easy: The competitive threat posed by 'Big Tech' is so clear that it is appropriate to discard the procedural and substantive constraints that require evidence of competitive harm before wielding the powerful remedies available under the antitrust laws." (06/15/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3524213-antitrust-populism-would-shift-us-from-free-market-to-managed-economy/
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32) Analysis of the Family Security Act 2.0
Source: Niskanen Center
by Joshua McCabe & Robert Orr
"Policymakers are looking for ways to break the stalemate over extending temporary enhancements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that have now expired. Today, Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Richard Burr, and Steve Daines released a proposal that shows a possible way forward: the Family Security Act 2.0. It's the latest iteration of a previous Romney proposal aimed at supporting families and simplifying an array of family-related tax benefits. This report provides a preliminary analysis of the reform package." (06/15/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/analysis-of-the-family-security-act-2-0/
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33) Gun Controllers Say They Want "Reform" but They're Really Pushing Criminalization
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"Last week, the House passed a 'gun reform' package that's unlikely to pass the Senate. Then, a bipartisan group of senators struck a deal on modest 'gun reform' proposals with better prospects. Whatever your take on the merits of these bills, describing legislative proposals for restrictive measures as 'reform' is a jarring use of the word -- especially after recent national discussions about reducing criminalization as part of a genuine effort to reform the criminal justice system. Real gun reform should involve efforts to minimize conflicts between government enforcers and the public by doing away with intrusive restrictions on people who have done no harm to others." (06/15/22)
https://reason.com/2022/06/15/gun-controllers-say-reform-really-criminalization/
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34) Senate Feminist Spends Last Days of "Roe" Shilling for Crypto Bros
Source: The American Prospect
by Alexander Sammon
"Not quite a full week before 'Black Monday,' when the crypto market saw its total market cap drop over $100 billion in one day, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) unveiled their bipartisan cryptocurrency bill. ... Gillibrand's embrace [sic] of crypto comes at a particularly surprising moment, given the current political climate. Gillibrand has long been vocal about her position as the most avowedly feminist senator; her 2020 presidential run sported a 'fiercely feminist message' according to The New York Times, and featured policies attacking the gender pay gap, fighting abortion bans, and more. But in the final days before Roe v. Wade is expected to be struck down by the Supreme Court, snapping a number of statewide abortion bans into place, Gillibrand has trained her political capital on burnishing what many have decried as a financial deregulation [sic] bill, and courting the industry's political support." (06/15/22)
https://prospect.org/power/senate-feminist-spends-last-days-of-roe-shilling-for-crypto-bros/
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35) An Endless Stream of Scary Official Enemies
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Any government that is a national-security state needs big official enemies -- scary ones, ones that will cause the citizenry to continue supporting not only the continued existence of a national-security state form of government but also ever-growing budgets for it and its army of voracious 'defense' contractors. That's, of course, what the current brouhaha about Russia is all about. It's really a replay of the Cold War decades, when Americans were made to believe that the Reds were coming to get them, take over the federal government and the public schools, and indoctrinate everyone into loving communism and socialism." (06/15/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/06/15/an-endless-stream-of-scary-official-enemies/
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36) The Great Reset: Turning Back the Clock on Civilization
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Birsen Filip
"It is no secret that the WEF has focused on accelerating the implementation of central planning for the entire global population since the early days of pandemic. This plan to establish a new world order, known as the Great Reset, was a key theme at the recent annual meeting of the WEF, which was held during May 22–26 in Davos, Switzerland. Drastic changes to the world order like the Great Reset do not happen spontaneously; rather, they are designed by global policy makers, including influential billionaires, politicians, celebrities, biased academics, wealthy philanthropists, and the bureaucrats of international organizations and institutions. These types of people support social engineering, because it will enable them to acquire control over the world's wealth and natural resources, and strengthen their ability to shape society as they see fit." (06/15/22)
https://mises.org/wire/great-reset-turning-back-clock-civilization
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37) The Incredible Persistence of the Myth of Masking
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ian Miller
"At this point, it's no longer news that The Experts[TM] have lied to the public about masks. It's been proven time and time again that masks and the mandates enacted by terrified politicians do not work. And yet, the inaccuracies spread by 'experts' and their allies in the media have permanently taken hold for a significant portion of the population. ... At its heart, the debate around masks revolves around ideology. For years, 'experts' decried the importance of masking, quite literally laughing at suggestions that they would make a significant difference .... Ideology and groupthink has become so important and pervasive among 'experts' that they easily abandoned their previously stated positions in order to conform to what's expected of them politically." (06/15/22)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-incredible-persistence-of-the-myth-of-masking/
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38) We're hitting our limits with wokeness
Source: Fox News
by Greg Gutfeld
"So there are big changes afoot. ... Boils down to one-word 'limits.' We've reached them. Yep. We put our foot down like a drunk Paul Pelosi running a red light. Let's start at the beginning. The recall of the SF School Board members. After years of wokeness, voters finally put their sorry asses to sleep. Remember, they wanted to change the names of schools during a COVID crisis. The voters told them to hit the road. And in San Fran, that road is covered with ****. There's Netflix telling its employees, if you're too sensitive to work here, don't. God, if I had a nickel for every time I said that when I was directing those snuff films of the eighties." (06/15/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/greg-gutfeld-hitting-limits-wokeness
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39) Will Erdogan be the biggest winner in the Ukraine crisis?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
"Just a few months ago, Turkey was in a bit of a tough spot. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's years-long move away from Western liberalism had rendered Ankara the black sheep of the NATO family. President Joe Biden put a fine point on this when he called Erdogan an 'autocrat' during the campaign and left him out of last year's much-touted Summit of Democracies. ... But international events have a way of confounding expectations. As the war in Ukraine nears its fourth month, Turkey's international standing has risen thanks to a careful strategy in which Ankara has armed Ukraine with cheap drones, joined some (but not all) Western sanctions, and sat down with Russian leaders whenever possible." (06/15/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/06/15/will-erdogan-be-the-biggest-winner-in-the-ukraine-crisis/
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40) The January 6 Committee Is Telling a More Honest Story About Trump Than the Media Has
Source: The New Republic
by Alex Shepard
"The press'[s] reliance on (or, if you prefer, addiction to) 'both sides' coverage -- of insisting not on leading with the truth but in simply asking Democrats and Republicans what the truth is and then printing their responses. ... This ultimately points to the Commission's greatest strength: It's not beholden to both-sidesing the January 6 riots or Trump's efforts to overturn the election. It doesn't have to conform to any media filters or traditions that have served us so poorly as Trump and his coterie of villains have threatened to degrade the civic health of the nation. It succeeds in many ways where the press has failed over the previous six years: It can come right out and say, in no uncertain terms, that Donald Trump is corrupt and that he was out to steal the presidency despite knowing full well that he had lost the election." (06/15/22)
https://newrepublic.com/article/166819/january-6-committee-media-scoops
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41) Government crushes individuality
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
"Everyone has their own unique personal preferences. This is probably a good thing since it makes life interesting and keeps us from all fighting over the exact same stuff. Think how boring it would be if everyone preferred identical things. Variety is the spice of life. As long as everyone remembers their preferences are only preferences, not a matter of one being right and the other being wrong, there's no problem. It's only when people try to impose their preferences on everyone that it becomes an issue. It's the difference between preferring the color yellow and forbidding the color blue; making the demand that everyone else pretend to prefer yellow, too -- or else." (06/15/22)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2022/06/15/voices/opinion-government-crushes-individuality/172202.html
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42) A Great Idea: Largest Pentagon Budget Cut in History
Source: Common Dreams
by Connor Echols
"Reps Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) introduced a bill Monday that would cut $100 billion from the defense budget -- the largest single-year budget cut in Pentagon history. Lee and Pocan offered a range of ways to spend the $100 billion, claiming it could be used to create over one million green jobs or to provide healthcare for more than 28 million people. The text of the proposed People Over Pentagon Act says 'many of the most urgent threats to the United States are not military in nature,' and argues that Americans would be safer if this money was used to pay for major domestic projects." [editor's note: Or, you know, just not stolen from Americans in the first place ... – TLK] (06/15/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/15/largest-pentagon-budget-cut-history-great-idea
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43) An Argument for Deheroizing Democracies
Source: CounterPunch
by L Ali Khan
"This study explains that the notion of a cult hero is incompatible with democracy as a form of government. Heroes surface in all forms of government and thrive in empires, theocracies, and dictatorships. Democracy, too, is not immune from the rise of political heroes. A political hero is most lethal to the institutional fabric of democracy when they gain popularity as a cult figure. Cultish heroes undermine the national constitutions, pursue autocracy, nurture a law-defying following, incite hatred against opponents, and divide the public into hostile factions. They see themselves as indispensable geniuses, far superior to the system that brings them to power." (06/15/22)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/06/15/an-argument-for-deheroizing-democracies/
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44) Tuesday's election shows Trump still influences voters. Republicans, why do we allow it?
Source: USA Today
by Chris Schlak
"Former President Donald Trump has a successful endorsement track record in the GOP primaries so far. According to Ballotpedia, 119 of his endorsed candidates this year have won and eight have lost -- a 94% success rate. ... However, a high success rate does not necessarily make Trump a kingmaker. Although there have been instances of Trump making risky endorsements that have lifted candidates from the middle of the pack to front-runner, like in the Ohio and Pennsylvania Senate races, Trump has mostly picked incumbents who were going to win comfortably. ... I do not know why the Republican Party needs Trump's influence at all. Actually, I think his influence should be removed from the primaries, and any Republican who cares about the long-term future of the GOP should refuse to vote for his endorsed candidates." (06/15/22)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/06/15/primary-election-trump-endorsements/7574324001/
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45) Corruption Allegations: Disappointing but Hardly Surprising
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
"In 1977, the Chicago Sun Times newspaper bought a bar. They didn't just buy it to serve people drinks. They bought it -- under a fake name -- for the purpose of loading it up with video and audio recording equipment to expose the rampant political corruption in Chicago. For months, as the bar went through the standard process of getting permits, licenses, and so on, the operators recorded the unending stream of bribe requests, kickback demands, and more that were (and arguably still are) commonplace in Chicago. ... Which leads us to last week's news about the federal indictments of three St. Louis City aldermen on corruption charges. I may work at a think tank, but I know a little about bribery attempts. Back in 2001, I got a first-hand look at an attempted bribe for then-County Councilman John Campisi." (06/14/22)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/corporate-welfare/corruption-allegations-disappointing-but-hardly-surprising/
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46) "Red Flag" Laws Require a Tricky Balance
Source: Town Hall
by Jacob Sullum
"It is easy to understand the bipartisan appeal of a policy that promises to reduce gun violence by targeting dangerous individuals instead of imposing broad limits that affect millions of law-abiding Americans. So it's not surprising that the Senate gun control deal announced on Sunday includes federal grants aimed at encouraging states to pass and enforce 'red flag' laws, which authorize courts to prohibit people from possessing firearms when they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. However sensible that policy may seem, it suffers from two basic limitations that cannot be wished away by consensus-building rhetoric ..." (06/15/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/2022/06/15/red-flag-laws-require-a-tricky-balance-if-congress-decides-to-encourage-them-it-should-not-overlook-the-importance-of-due-process-protections-n2608735
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47) Does Environmental Review Worsen the Wildfire Crisis?
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Eric Edwards & Sara Sutherland
"To preemptively reduce the impacts of large and costly wildfires, forest managers use methods that remove fuels -- brush, trees, and other flammable materials--to lessen the intensity of burns. The two most common fuel treatments are prescribed burns and mechanical treatments. The effectiveness of these measures was demonstrated in 2021 during Oregon's Bootleg Fire, which ultimately burned 400,000 acres. Firefighters reported that where both treatments had been applied, fire intensity was reduced, the crowns of trees were left intact, and the blaze became a more manageable ground fire. Such low-intensity fires, which frequently burned in the West before aggressive fire suppression policies were adopted, are ecologically important. Managed forests are more resilient to drought, high temperatures, fire, and insects. In 2021, several proposed treatment areas burned in large wildfires while facing delays from environmental review and litigation." (06/14/22)
https://www.perc.org/2022/06/14/does-environmental-review-worsen-the-wildfire-crisis/
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48) No History of Education Vouchers Is Complete without Thomas Paine
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Garion Frankel
"[Milton] Friedman's landmark 1955 work, 'The Role of Government in Education,' certainly helped shape and solidify vouchers as a modern education policy tool. But while Friedman deserves great credit and acclaim for popularizing vouchers, he did not invent them. Neither did John Stuart Mill, the great British liberal of the 19th century who had similar ideas a hundred years before Friedman. The earliest known fully-fledged voucher proposal dates all the way back to the 18th century, and belongs to none other than the revolutionary American pamphleteer and political theorist Thomas Paine. Unfortunately, Paine's prickly personality, religious unorthodoxy, and unwillingness to back down from his beliefs caused later scholars to intentionally downplay his contributions." (06/14/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/no-history-of-education-vouchers-is-complete-without-thomas-paine/
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49) Three Anti-Inflation Alternatives to Raising Interest Rates
Source: In These Times
by Richard D Wolff
"A deafening silence defines 'debates' among U.S. leaders about stopping or slowing today's inflation. Alternatives to the Federal Reserve's raising of interest rates and curtailing money supply growth are ignored. It's as if there were no other ways to rein in price increases except to add more interest costs to the already excess debts of workers and small and medium businesses. ... As usual, the profit-driven concerns of big business and their result (a remarkably selective historical amnesia) fuel the silence about alternative anti-inflation policies. So too do the right-wing ideological blinders that now constrict U.S. politics. Yet, policy alternatives always exist, no matter how desperately partisans promoting one policy seek to obliterate debate and discussion of others." [editor's note: Tell me you don't understand what inflation is without telling me you don't understand what inflation is ... – TLK] (06/14/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/inflation-interest-rates-federal-reserve-capitalism
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50) Envisioning a Utopian Anarchism
Source: Everything Voluntary
by Ian Mayes
"The broad outline for my vision of a new society is the same as always: a world without domination or top-down hierarchy where people voluntarily associate as equals, where cooperation, mutual aid and sharing are done without coercion, and where everyone who is affected by a group decision has a voice in the process and collective agreements are based on consent. This vision remains the same, but I now have four different perspectives that I use to look at it. Each perspective is vitally important to keep in mind for the understanding, realization and maintainence of such a society. These four perspectives are the individual, the relational, the structural and the physical." (06/14/22)
https://everything-voluntary.com/envisioning-a-utopian-anarchism
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Inside a Republican PAC's Takeover of the Libertarian Party
Source: Reason
"Supporters say they want to 'make the Libertarian Party libertarian again.' Critics [notice] they're shitposting edgelords who will destroy the LP from within." [Flash video] (06/15/22)
https://reason.com/video/2022/06/15/inside-the-mises-caucus-takeover-of-the-libertarian-party/
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52) Free Talk Live, 06/15/22
Source: Free Talk Live
"Bonnie's take on LaMDA :: The future of AI :: Faith versus Science :: What is natural? :: Morality, Good and Evil :: The sun is frying people's brains :: Weaking immune systems in children :: Sudden Adult Death Syndrome :: :: Show: 2022-06-15 Aria, Nikki, Bonnie." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/16/22)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=5fded09d7bfccb4daf1754ca78732145
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53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/15/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"Green Reversal? Biden Screams At Oil Companies For NOT Drilling!" [Flash video] (06/15/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/green-reversal-biden-screams-at-oil-companies-for-not-drilling
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54) Year Zero with Tommy Salmons, 06/15/22
Source: Libertarian Institute
"The State of the Justice System w/Legalman and Patrick MacFarlane." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/15/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/uncategorized/the-state-of-the-justice-system-w-legalman-and-patrick-macfarlane/
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55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/15/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"The people whose opinions carry legitimate weight are the ones who prize doing the right thing over their personal comfort." [Flash audio] (06/15/22)
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-gsvtr-124f318
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56) Mean Age Daydream, episode 11
Source: Lions of Liberty
"Beating Back The Impending Recession | Jan 6th Dogs and Ponies." [various formats] (06/15/22)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/beating-back-the-impending-recession-jan-6th-dogs-and-ponies
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57) The Argument, 06/15/22
Source: New York Times
"Who Can Write About What? A Conversation With Roxane Gay and Jay Caspian Kang." [Flash audio] (06/15/22)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/opinion/who-can-write-about-what.html
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58) Fever Dreams, 06/15/22
Source: The Daily Beast
"How the Proud Boys Became the Alleged 'Architects' of the Capitol Riot." [Flash audio] (06/15/22)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-proud-boys-became-the-alleged-architects-of-the-capitol-riot
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59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2145
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Does Intellectual Property Exist?" [various formats] (06/14/22)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2145-does-intellectual-property-exist/
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60) The Wright Show, 06/14/22
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
"Who's to Blame for the State of Russia? | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov | The Wright Show." [Flash video] (06/14/22)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/64334
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