05/22 -- US navy chief says $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan paused due to Iran war; Only a Fool or a Politician Would Cap Food Prices
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Thomas L. Knapp
May 22, 2026, 6:12:21 AM (3 days ago) May 22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 05/22/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) US navy chief says $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan paused due to Iran war
2) Canada: Alberta voters to vote on prospective secession
3) Judges in Maine, Wisconsin dismiss federal demands for voter rolls
4) Iranian, Omani Regimes Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Whines
5) Russia holds nuclear drills on land, sea and air, joined by its ally Belarus
6) US jobless claims fall to 209,000
7) Retired police officer jailed over Charlie Kirk post settles lawsuit for more than $800k
8) UK: In bid to ease cost of living squeeze, cheaper chocolate & tickets to the zoo offered
9) Turkey: Court removes head of main opposition party
10) MN: “Quality Learing Center” raked in $215k federal payout; senator demands receipts
11) China: Regime says US should stop “threats” against Cuba after ex-leader charged
12) Judge Dismisses Frivolous Charges Against Educrat Accused After Student Shot Teacher
13) India: Parody “cockroach” party becomes major outlet for youth anger and protest
14) DC: Taxpayer spending on “exorcisms” derails Senate testimony
15) Democrats finally release 2024 election autopsy after criticism
16) US regime lifts sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN rapporteur on Palestinians
17) Gonorrhoea and syphilis hit record levels in Europe
18) Australia: Far Right Party Proposes Norway-Style Oil Fund and State Oil Company
19) Philippines: Justice chief orders arrest of senator wanted by ICC over Duterte-era killings
20) Ballroom won’t be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Only a Fool or a Politician Would Cap Food Prices
22) Trump’s Approval Rating Is Cratering. Tariffs Are a Big Reason Why.
23) Charge Obama? Great Idea, But Unlikely
24) The Boring Trump-Xi Summit: Boring Is Good
25) Controlled Commerce: The March of a New Global Economic Order
26) The vital voice of Congress in launching war
27) Price Inflation Accelerates as Wars and Deficits Expand
28) The Omnipotent Power to Kill
29) They’re Not Mad At Ben-Gvir For Being Evil, They’re Mad At Him For Being Honest
30) The Rise of the Meme Disease
31) Hunter Biden benefiting from Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would be a slap in the face
32) Obama’s strong terms curbed Iran. Trump struggles to secure even a weak deal
33) When Trump Targets the Media, the World’s Autocrats Are Taking Notes
34) Are British Censors Winning?
35) Nationalizing the Ten Commandments?
36) Buc-ee’s: Free-Market Triumph or Simply Capitalist Oppression?
37) Senate Republicans are running out of time to prove they can actually govern
38) NATO Should Stay Out of Iran
39) It’s Not Just ICE Stockpiling Weapons — the IRS, EPA, and Other Feds Are Arming Up Too
40) Trump’s Beijing Visit Shows the Limits of Diplomacy
41) Is Chaos the Point in South Carolina?
42) Is the petrodollar a war casualty or death greatly exaggerated?
43) Algorithmic Management, Monitoring, and Control: Worker Classification in the Digital Age
44) We the Victims: Who Pays When the Government Weaponizes Its Power?
45) Here Is Why Thomas Massie’s Loss Doesn’t Matter at All
46) The SNP’s John Swinney intends to impose price controls on food
47) The first two eras of administrative procedure
48) The Shuttering of Alligator Alcatraz Doesn’t Mean That Trump’s Terror Campaign Against Immigrants Is Ending
49) “The call for accountability must not go unanswered; we need an independent prosecutor.”
50) Thomas Paine: American history’s winter soldier
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Power and Market, 05/21/26
52) Advisory Opinions, 05/21/26
53) Cato Podcast, 05/21/26
54) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/21/26
55) Underthrow Podcast, 05/21/26
56) Rising, 05/21/26
57) The Libertarian Angle, 05/21/26
58) Kibbe on Liberty, episode 387
59) Dave DeCamp on The Scott Horton Show
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/20/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) US navy chief says $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan paused due to Iran war
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The US is pausing a $14bn (£10.4bn) arms sale to Taiwan to ensure it has enough weapons for the Iran war, acting Navy secretary Hung Cao has said. Cao confirmed this at a Senate hearing, days after President Donald Trump appeared non-committal about the sale following his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office told reporters on Friday that they had not received any information about ‘US adjustments to the arms sale.’ The sale of US arms to Taiwan has long irked Beijing, which [pretends] the self-governed island [i]s its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.” (05/22/26)
https://archive.is/ZPQ0N
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2) Canada: Alberta voters to vote on prospective secession
Source: Politico
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her United Conservative Party government will hold a referendum in October to ask Albertans if they want to remain in Canada, or start the process toward a binding separation referendum. … The announcement marks an escalation of separatist tensions in the oil-rich and staunchly conservative province, a flashpoint that will test Prime Minister Mark Carney’s leadership as Ottawa is forced to respond to a growing national unity crisis. For months, Smith been under fire from separatist groups demanding a vote on Alberta leaving Canada, a push largely driven by Stay Free Alberta, a grassroots movement that claims to have collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of a separation referendum.” (05/21/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/21/alberta-separation-referendum-00933323
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3) Judges in Maine, Wisconsin dismiss federal demands for voter rolls
Source: Yahoo! News
“Federal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to compel the states to hand over detailed voter registration information. U.S. District Judge James Pederson in Wisconsin said the state’s voter registration list is not a record that can be requested under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, as President Donald Trump’s administration argued. In Maine, Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker described the government’s claim as ‘half-hearted’ and granted a state motion to dismiss it. The rulings were the latest in a string of defeats for the Trump administration in its attempts to force states to turn over voter rolls. … The DOJ has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking to force release of the detailed voter data. It includes information such as dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.” (05/21/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/judges-maine-wisconsin-dismiss-justice-211527091.html
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4) Iranian, Omani Regimes Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Whines
Source: gCaptain
“Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. … ‘We’ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable,’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday when asked about Iran’s intentions. ‘No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible. It’s a threat to the world that they would try to do that, and it’s completely illegal.’ … Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US agrees to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.” (05/21/26)
https://gcaptain.com/iran-and-oman-discuss-hormuz-toll-regime-as-rubio-warns-it-cant-happen/
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5) Russia holds nuclear drills on land, sea and air, joined by its ally Belarus
Source: SFGate
“Trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled over forest roads, atomic-powered submarines set sail from Arctic and Pacific ports, and crews scrambled into warplanes as Russia and neighboring Belarus held the final stage of their joint nuclear drills Thursday. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko inspected Russian short-range nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit involved in the drills …. The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes, including on Moscow’s suburbs that killed three people and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities. The strikes made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the exercise involved 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/russia-holds-nuclear-drills-on-land-sea-and-air-22270103.php
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6) US jobless claims fall to 209,000
Source: Quartz
“Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in months, offering another sign that layoffs remain muted despite a range of economic pressures. Thursday’s Labor Department report showed 209,000 new applications for the week ending May 16, a decline of 3,000 from the previous week. The result came in below the 213,000 that FactSet-surveyed analysts had expected. At 202,500, the four-week average — which irons out week-to-week swings — marked its lowest reading since 2024, Bloomberg noted, representing a 1,500-point drop. Continuing claims, covering the week ending May 9, climbed to 1.78 million, an increase of 6,000.” (05/21/26)
https://qz.com/us-jobless-claims-209000-labor-market-052126
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7) Retired police officer jailed over Charlie Kirk post settles lawsuit for more than $800k
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A Tennessee man who was jailed for more than month following his arrest over a Facebook post related to the killing of Charlie Kirk has settled an ‘unlawful incarceration’ lawsuit for $835,000 (£621,000). Larry Bushart, a retired police officer, spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charges against him, during which he lost his post-retirement job and missed the birth of his grandchild. He was arrested last September by the Perry County Sheriff’s Office for sharing a meme in a thread about a vigil honouring the conservative activist. ‘I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,’ Bushart said in a statement announcing the settlement on Wednesday. ‘The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy,’ his statement went on to say. ‘I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.'” (05/21/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7pyjxjxrvo
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8) UK: In bid to ease cost of living squeeze, cheaper chocolate & tickets to the zoo offered
Source: SFGate
“The British government is offering cheaper chocolate and discounted entry to theme parks as it seeks to ease a cost-of-living squeeze and win back voters. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves on Thursday announced modest handouts to help alleviate rising costs sparked by the Iran war, including a reduction in import tax on cookies, chocolate and about 100 other supermarket products. U.K. inflation fell to 2.8% in April, down from 3.3% in March, but is expected to spike again on the back of higher prices for fuel, heating gas and electricity. To ease the impact, the government has postponed a planned increase in fuel duty and given truckers a yearlong reprieve from road tax to help offset soaring gasoline prices due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit route. But Reeves did not commit to broader support for household heating bills.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/uk-offers-cheaper-chocolate-and-tickets-to-the-22270092.php
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9) Turkey: Court removes head of main opposition party
Source: ABC News
“A Turkish court on Thursday issued a ruling that effectively removed the head of the country’s main opposition party by annulling a 2023 congress that elected him. The move deals a serious blow to the beleaguered Republican People’s Party, or CHP, as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials. An appeals court in Turkey’s capital Ankara declared the CHP congress that picked Ozgur Ozel as chairman to be null, ordering that he should be replaced by his predecessor Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.” (05/21/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/turkish-court-rules-remove-head-main-opposition-party-133192160
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10) MN: “Quality Learing Center” raked in $215k federal payout; senator demands receipts
Source: New York Post
“Fraudsters behind the notorious ‘Quality Learing Center’ day care facility in Minnesota raked in nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of pandemic-era loans from the Small Business Administration, according to a senator’s investigation. That day care center, which had a misspelled name and a near-empty parking lot when YouTuber Nick Shirley stopped by for his viral video last year, became the poster child of the fraud scandal that rocked Minnesota. The facility, which shuttered in January, had garnered some $1.9 million from Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program last year and some $10 million in state funding since 2019. But a probe by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) found that it had also received federal assistance from the Small Business Administration back in April and May 2020 during the first Trump administration.” (05/21/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/05/21/us-news/minnesotas-quality-learing-center-raked-in-215k-federal-payout-senator-demands-receipts/
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11) China: Regime says US should stop “threats” against Cuba after ex-leader charged
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“China has called on the US to stop using ‘coercion’ and ‘threats’ against its ally Cuba, after Washington indicted former leader Raúl Castro on murder charges. An American court has accused the 94-year-old former president of conspiracy to kill US nationals over the 1996 downing of two planes, an incident which killed four people and fuelled diplomatic tensions between Washington and the Caribbean island. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to exert pressure on Cuba and has openly discussed toppling its communist regime. On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the US should ‘stop threatening force at every turn,’ and that Beijing ‘firmly supports Cuba.'” (05/21/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clype0x7pkgo
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12) Judge Dismisses Frivolous Charges Against Educrat Accused After Student Shot Teacher
Source: US News & World Report
“A judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before a teacher was shot. Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson in Newport News, Virginia, issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect. ‘The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,’ Robinson said. The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner ’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.” (05/21/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/virginia/articles/2026-05-21/judge-dismisses-charges-against-ex-administrator-accused-after-student-shot-teacher
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13) India: Parody “cockroach” party becomes major outlet for youth anger and protest
Source: SFGate
“It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, set up its website and social media accounts on Saturday. By Thursday, its Instagram page had amassed more than 15 million followers, far surpassing the 8.8 million followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party on the platform.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/a-parody-cockroach-party-in-india-becomes-22270096.php
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14) DC: Taxpayer spending on “exorcisms” derails Senate testimony
Source: Fox News
“Sen. John Kennedy [R-LA] railed against California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, which is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration over fraud allegations, as Kennedy highlighted reports during a Tuesday hearing that the state covers exorcisms and other faith-based healing practices. Medi-Cal’s spending practices have faced growing scrutiny as California’s Medicaid spending has more than doubled since 2019, rising from roughly $100.7 billion to a projected $222 billion in 2026. Just last week, the Trump administration suspended $1.4 billion in federal funding for California home health and hospice programs after Vice President J.D. Vance’s anti-fraud task force identified an estimated $600 million in suspected fraud within the state’s Medicaid system. Kennedy alleged during his line of questioning to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that taxpayer dollars were being used to cover the cost of exorcisms, a religious practice most commonly associated with the Catholic Church, and other indigenous spiritual practices.” (05/21/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/taxpayer-spending-exorcisms-derails-senate-testimony-what-hell-we-doing-about-it
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15) Democrats finally release 2024 election autopsy after criticism
Source: Axios
“The Democratic National Committee released what it said was its full, unredacted autopsy of the 2024 presidential election on Thursday after months of mounting pressure on party chair Ken Martin, who was keeping the report secret. … Martin released the report, first obtained by CNN, but simultaneously issued a statement distancing himself from it and its conclusions. ‘I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards and it won’t meet your standards,’ he wrote in a Substack post. … The report has an unusual disclaimer, saying it ‘reflects the views of the author, not the DNC. The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.'” (05/21/26)
https://archive.is/Jp2gc
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16) US regime lifts sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN rapporteur on Palestinians
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories who has harshly criticised Israel, following a court order. A notice on the Treasury Department’s website showed that it had removed a sanctions designation on Albanese that had blacklisted her globally, making it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out bank transactions. Albanese, who is Italian, has been a relentless critic of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in her role as the UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.” (05/20/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260520-us-lifts-sanctions-francesca-albanese-un-rapporteur-on-palestinians
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17) Gonorrhoea and syphilis hit record levels in Europe
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including gonorrhoea and syphilis have hit record levels in Europe, according to new data. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said both diseases had reached their highest levels in over 10 years in 2024. Gonorrhoea hit 106,331 cases – a 303% increase since 2015 – while syphilis more than doubled in the same period to 45,557. The health agency said ‘widening gaps in testing and prevention’ were partly behind the surge in transmission, and called for urgent action. ‘These infections can cause severe complications, such as chronic pain and infertility and, in the case of syphilis, problems with the heart or nervous system,’ said Bruno Ciancio, the head of the agency’s Directly Transmitted and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases unit. He said congenital syphilis cases – ‘where infections pass directly to newborns, leading to potentially lifelong complications’ – had nearly doubled from 2023 to 2024.” (05/21/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2pj07dr7lo
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18) Australia: Far Right Party Proposes Norway-Style Oil Fund and State Oil Company
Source: US News & World Report
“Australian populist party Pauline Hanson’s One Nation said it wanted to create a Norway-style sovereign wealth fund and for the government to take a share of offshore production licences in federal waters as it unveiled its energy policy at the Australian Energy Producers conference in Adelaide on Thursday. One Nation has surged in popularity this year, winning its first House of Representatives seat, and has backing from Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart, who recently donated a plane and hosted dinners for the party. … Her plan would see the federal government take a 30% stake in offshore licences, share development and decommissioning costs, and retain part of production for domestic use, including fertiliser and fuels.” (05/21/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-05-21/australian-far-right-party-proposes-norway-style-oil-fund-and-state-oil-company
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19) Philippines: Justice chief orders arrest of senator wanted by ICC over Duterte-era killings
Source: SFGate
“The Philippine justice chief ordered authorities Thursday to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of a senator wanted on an alleged crime against humanity. He warned that anyone helping the senator evade a nationwide hunt would face criminal charges. Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa ‘is a fugitive from justice,’ Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said in a news conference. ‘He should be brought to the ICC to face the charges.’ Dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against illegal drugs that killed thousands of mostly petty suspects. The killings alarmed Western governments and human rights groups. Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested last year and flown to the The Hague, where is he is on trial at the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/philippine-justice-chief-orders-arrest-of-senator-22270093.php
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20) Ballroom won’t be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request
Source: Politico
“In a blow to the White House, Senate Republicans will remove a $1 billion Secret Service funding request that would help President Donald Trump’s ballroom project from their immigration enforcement funding bill amid internal objections. … The decision to omit the security funding came after twin blows: Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled over the weekend that the provision didn’t comply with the strict rules governing what Republicans can put in their filibuster-skirting bill because it funded activities outside of the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction. And several GOP senators aired public concerns about including any ballroom funding in a bill otherwise dedicated to immigration enforcement.” (05/20/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/20/ballroom-security-funding-reconciliation-00930193
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Only a Fool or a Politician Would Cap Food Prices
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Andrew Lilico
“It sounds so simple. If consumers are suffering because prices are going up, then forbid that. Who could object, beyond greedy firms profiteering by pushing prices up? … If the government caps the prices of supermarket products, that will make those products unprofitable for the supermarket to stock and also mean that consumers have to pay less for them than their economic value, the consequence being that they will sell out and not be available. Why would I, as a consumer, want key products to be unavailable in supermarkets?” (05/21/26)
https://fee.org/articles/only-a-fool-or-a-politician-would-cap-food-prices/
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22) Trump’s Approval Rating Is Cratering. Tariffs Are a Big Reason Why.
Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy
“Donald Trump is now an unpopular president. Some of this dissatisfaction is due to the war in Iran. Some of it springs from the unanticipated speed, chaos, and perceived brutality of several of his administration’s actions over the past year and a half. But a significant part of his political problem has a straightforward economic explanation: Everything feels expensive, and his tariffs are a major reason why. If the president wants to help himself and his party ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the most effective thing he can do is eliminate the tariffs. The evidence in favor of this move is overwhelming, and it comes from his own tenure.” (05/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/21/trumps-approval-rating-is-cratering-tariffs-are-a-big-reason-why/
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23) Charge Obama? Great Idea, But Unlikely
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I’d love to see Barack Obama charged with, tried for, and convicted of crimes that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt he’s guilty of. For example: Obama ordered the murders of at least two American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and his son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki (Donald Trump later ordered the murder of eight-year-old Nawar Anwar al-Awlaki, also a US citizen). Obama also illegally took the US to war in Libya, never even seeking the constitutionally required declaration of war. For those crimes, and many others, I’d very much like to see Obama face legal consequences. But there’s a problem with the idea …” (05/21/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20627
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24) The Boring Trump-Xi Summit: Boring Is Good
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Critics of the May 2026 summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), widely condemned the outcome as being long on pomp and ceremony but short on meaningful substantive results. They noted that most of the agreements reached, especially on trade and other economic issues, were either preliminary or relatively minor. There was a virtual consensus among the opinion-shaping elites that Trump had secured no major concessions on either his commercial or his security objectives. In other words, the outcome of the summit was rather bland and boring. That criticism may be true, but in international affairs boring is usually good.” (05/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/05/20/the-boring-trump-xi-summit-boring-is-good/
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25) Controlled Commerce: The March of a New Global Economic Order
Source: The Daily Economy
by Stefan Bartl
“Washington, Beijing, and Brussels are all moving toward state-managed commerce and geopolitical trade blocs. The recent US-China summit accelerates the shift.” (05/21/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/controlled-commerce-the-march-of-a-new-global-economic-order/
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26) The vital voice of Congress in launching war
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Americans are contending with almost daily shifts in how the Trump administration characterizes the war-slash-ceasefire with Iran that began Feb. 28. Yet just as important to this current Middle East struggle is a series of resolutions proposed in Congress to either end the conflict or seek approval by lawmakers to continue it. On Tuesday – in its eighth such vote since strikes against Iran began – the Senate advanced a measure to debate a requirement of the 1973 War Powers Resolution that a president obtain congressional approval within 60 days of starting a conflict. The House is expected to vote shortly on a similar measure for the fourth time.” [editor’s note: None of these resolutions are necessary — absent a declaration of war, the war is illegal, full stop – TLK] (05/20/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0520/The-vital-voice-of-Congress-in-launching-war
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27) Price Inflation Accelerates as Wars and Deficits Expand
Source: Cobden Centre
by Ryan McMaken
“Fears over price inflation returned in a big way this week as bond yields rose in the wake of recent government reports on consumer and producer prices. The US-Israel war on Iran continues to take a toll on global supply chains, and related price hikes appear to be partly driving growth in long term yields for both US, British, and Japanese debt. This week’s CPI and PPI reports both showed price inflation surging to multi-year highs, and not just on oil prices. This, combined with new increases in oil prices, appears to have spooked investors who are now, in the face of rising prices, are demanding higher yields for long-term debt.” (05/21/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/05/price-inflation-accelerates-as-wars-and-deficits-expand/
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28) The Omnipotent Power to Kill
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law. Like all the other amendments to the Constitution, the Fifth Amendment operates as an express higher-law restriction that the people of the United States have placed on federal officials. The idea is that federal officials are expected to obey our higher law just as they expect us to obey their lower laws. … No more. Today, it is undisputed that the president, the military, and the CIA wield the omnipotent power to deprive people of life (i.e., kill them), without due process of law. In other words, federal officials are no longer complying with the Fifth Amendment restriction on their power.” (05/22/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/05/21/the-omnipotent-power-to-kill/
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29) They’re Not Mad At Ben-Gvir For Being Evil, They’re Mad At Him For Being Honest
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Western and Israeli officials are currently wagging their fingers in faux outrage at Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for publicly boasting about the mistreatment of flotilla activists attempting to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. Ben-Gvir’s Twitter account shared a video of the minister taunting activists who were abducted by Israeli forces in international waters earlier this week, captioning it ‘This is how we accept the supporters of terrorism’ in Hebrew and ‘Welcome to Israel’ in English. The video shows flotilla activists from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand being shoved, held in stress positions on the ground, and mocked by Ben-Gvir while restrained. This all of course pales in comparison to the abuses endured by Palestinian captives on a daily basis, but it’s the subject of international outcry today because the victims are from the west.” (05/21/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/05/21/theyre-not-mad-at-ben-gvir-for-being-evil-theyre-mad-at-him-for-being-honest/
-----
30) The Rise of the Meme Disease
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Steven Kritz
“Beginning about 25 years ago, shortly after ending my rural primary care practice as a Board Certified Internist, I began to recognize that from the 1960s through the end of the 20th century, there were a series of illnesses that I initially referred to as ‘fad’ diseases. Given that each of these diseases were in vogue for at least a decade (a bit too long to be a fad), and in an attempt to be more ‘woke,’ I now refer to these conditions as ‘meme’ diseases.” (05/21/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-rise-of-the-meme-disease/
-----
31) Hunter Biden benefiting from Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would be a slap in the face
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“It’s not just crackpot antisemite podcaster Candace Owens who is giving Hunter Biden uncritical attention so he can rewrite history. Inexplicably, top Trump administration officials are also validating the former crackhead first son’s outrageous lie that he was prosecuted only because he was Joe Biden’s son. It’s not clear why Acting AG Todd Blanche and VP JD Vance cited Hunter this week as their exemplar of bipartisan largesse to defend the new $1.7 billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ for victims of lawfare, but it was a terrible idea. It’s so terrible, you could be forgiven for wondering if it was dreamed up by deep-staters intent on denying justice to the real victims of the Biden administration’s lawfare.” [editor’s note: Wow, what a day — Miranda Devine, like Derek Hunter, got something right! But the whole “weaponization fund” idea is stupid and evil, regardless of whether Biden fils gets a cut – TLK] (05/20/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/05/20/opinion/miranda-devine-hunter-biden-benefiting-from-trumps-noble-anti-weaponization-fund-would-be-a-slap-in-the-face/
-----
32) Obama’s strong terms curbed Iran. Trump struggles to secure even a weak deal
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jackie Calmes
“The president, along with his Republican cheerleaders, counts his first-term abrogation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as a signature achievement. This week, yet again, he falsely claimed that had he not done so, Iran would have a nuclear weapon. In fact, his action in 2018 taking the United States out of the multinational deal subsequently led to Iran’s rebuilding of its nuclear program, the emboldening of the Iranian hard-liners now in power and the Middle East morass in which the United States is now mired. That quagmire has left Trump seeming desperate for a deal — almost certainly a worse deal than the one Obama struck.” (05/21/26)
https://archive.is/G0t1K
-----
33) When Trump Targets the Media, the World’s Autocrats Are Taking Notes
Source: Common Dreams
by Scott Griffen
“Only a day after President Donald Trump spoke of unity following a gunman’s abhorrent attempt to kill him and members of his administration at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, the president quickly returned to his regularly scheduled programming of berating members of the press that ask him unwanted questions. In a ’60 Minutes’ interview with CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell taped and aired the day following the assassination attempt, Trump repeated many of his now-tired insults about the press, referring to the media in general as ‘horrible people’, and calling O’Donnell a ‘disgrace’ who should be ‘ashamed’ of herself for raising excerpts of the alleged gunman’s manifesto in a question to the president. At this point, understandably, many of us have simply begun to tune out Trump’s now-frequent diatribes against the press.” (05/21/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-targets-media
-----
34) Are British Censors Winning?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“An outfit in the United Kingdom called Ofcom, the main enforcer of the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, is requiring social platforms to implement onerous procedures to censor ‘hate,’ including stripping users of anonymity — or face mammoth fines, bans in the U.K., and other draconian penalties. Nobody would object to compelling the removal of content that is clearly criminal. But is that what most so-called ‘hate’ content really is? Of course not. Much of what irks censors and the merely censorious is merely vituperative, and no small part of what gets their goat is nothing other than sharp disagreement with those authorities who decide what ‘hate’ is — that is, the censors themselves.” (05/21/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/05/21/are-british-censors-winning/
-----
35) Nationalizing the Ten Commandments?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Zachary Chambers
“Laws to place copies of the Ten Commandments in classrooms may undermine the very American tradition their proponents claim to defend.” (05/21/26)
https://lawliberty.org/nationalizing-the-ten-commandments/
-----
36) Buc-ee’s: Free-Market Triumph or Simply Capitalist Oppression?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“Of course, one would expect socialists to hate a business like Buc-ee’s. Socialists claim to hate ‘consumerism’ (whatever that is) and the availability of inexpensive and plentiful goods all the while claiming that consumers are being oppressed by capitalists, who apparently are withholding goods from the market. (No, that doesn’t make sense, but when have socialists ever made sense when describing anything that occurs in the marketplace?) At least some of the arguments against the presence of Buc-ee’s mirror the opposition to construction of data centers, as Connor O’Keeffe recently pointed out why some communities are fighting the location of such operations near their homes. The old canards of ‘traffic and pollution’ are always thrown out any time someone wishes to open a business — especially a large one — in a new locality.” (05/21/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/buc-ees-free-market-triumph-or-simply-capitalist-oppression
-----
37) Senate Republicans are running out of time to prove they can actually govern
Source: Fox News Forum
by Mehek Cooke
“Republicans spent the last four years convincing voters they understood the stakes at the southern border as they fought to return to power. They promised to restore law and order, fund immigration enforcement and end Washington’s habit of turning procedure into an excuse for national decline. But today’s reconciliation fight is exposing an uncomfortable truth: the clock is ticking, and the GOP still must prove it can convert a clear electoral mandate into governing power. The immediate fight is whether Senate Republicans can deliver their reconciliation package, which includes critical funding for ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the broader infrastructure for enforcement. Even with control of Washington and a public mandate to restore law and order, the path is narrow.” (05/21/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/senate-republicans-running-time-prove-actually-govern
-----
38) NATO Should Stay Out of Iran
Source: Liberal Currents
by Matthew Downhour
“Dragging NATO into Iran, or making American participation in NATO contingent on action in Iran, threatens to erode the basics that make NATO functional in the first place. And European NATO states (and Canada) would be foolish to give in to this petulance — there is no formal understanding, ethical motivation, or even pragmatic consideration that would obligate or even argue in favor of Europe joining this American misadventure. If the Iran war is a test for NATO, it is a test of whether the alliance can retain a defined mission, or whether it will be subjected to perpetual mission creep. In the latter case, it cannot possibly survive.” (05/21/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/nato-should-stay-out-of-iran/
-----
39) It’s Not Just ICE Stockpiling Weapons — the IRS, EPA, and Other Feds Are Arming Up Too
Source: Reason
by CJ Ciaramella
“An armed IRS agent roaming the streets should send shivers down the spine of any freedom-loving American.” (for publication 06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/21/beware-the-blob-of-federal-police/
-----
40) Trump’s Beijing Visit Shows the Limits of Diplomacy
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“President Donald Trump’s recent two-day summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded much as anticipated. In an article written ahead of the trip, I noted that expectations for substantive breakthroughs in the fraught Sino-American relationship were likely to be disappointed. The events of the visit bore this out. While the tone was notably, and welcomely, warmer than in recent years and both sides touted ‘fantastic trade deals,’ the core structural tensions — trade imbalances, technology restrictions, Taiwan, and regional security — remain largely unaddressed.” (05/21/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/trumps-beijing-visit-shows-the-limits-of-diplomacy
-----
41) Is Chaos the Point in South Carolina?
Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley
“After the Supreme Court gutted voting rights in Louisiana v. Callais, it was all over but the shouting. This week in South Carolina, state lawmakers are proceeding with the Great Erasure of African American voters without the legal hindrances of the Voting Rights Act, that now timeworn relic of the late Great Society. Their goal? To create a congressional dream team of seven GOP House members by zeroing out Rep. James Clyburn, a longtimer with 33 years in Congress, and the only Black Democrat to represent South Carolina in the House in state history. Indeed, Clyburn is the ninth Black person to represent the state in Congress; the first eight were all Republicans elected during Reconstruction in the late 19th century, before Jim Crow ended Black voting in the South, and when the parties had opposite views on civil rights compared to today.” (05/21/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/05/21/is-chaos-the-point-south-carolina-congress-redistricting-clyburn/
-----
42) Is the petrodollar a war casualty or death greatly exaggerated?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Michael Corbin
“The US has a choice between managing what is a shift away from US backed currency using military and economic restraint, or accelerating it.” (05/21/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/petrodollar-death-exaggerated/
-----
43) Algorithmic Management, Monitoring, and Control: Worker Classification in the Digital Age
Source: EconLog
by Alex MacDonald & Tammy McCutchen
“Nowadays, it’s hard to read anything about workplace policy without running into ‘“algorithmic management.’ Companies, we’re told, are increasingly controlling workers through an array of digital ‘tricks.’ These companies record our keystrokes, track our locations, and even watch us through our webcams. We hear this same story in academic journals, government reports, and the popular press. In fact, the story has even made its way into federal regulations — specifically, in the U.S. Department of Labor’s current rule about independent contractors. Like the more popular accounts, this rule assumes that algorithmic management is pervasive. And it treats the practice as a form of ‘control.’ There’s only one problem: algorithmic management isn’t a real thing.” (05/21/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/algorithmic-management-monitoring-and-control
-----
44) We the Victims: Who Pays When the Government Weaponizes Its Power?
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“One way or another, the American taxpayers always get screwed by politicians eager to spend our hard-earned dollars on programs and projects that do little to improve our lives, safeguard our freedoms, or secure our future. Donald Trump — the billionaire trust-fund baby/reality TV showman who transformed himself into a populist champion of working-class Americans — has proven to be no different, and in many ways worse, than the politicians who came before him. Trump has given new meaning to government corruption, graft, grift, profiteering, self-dealing and pay-to-play politics.” (05/20/26)
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/we_the_victims_who_pays_when_the_government_weaponizes_its_power
-----
45) Here Is Why Thomas Massie’s Loss Doesn’t Matter at All
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“I know, a lot of people are very excited about the primary defeat of U.S. Republican Thomas Massie (KY-4). I’m just not one of them. Not because I liked him, I honestly couldn’t care less about any politician and found him particularly annoying on quite a few issues, but because his defeat won’t make a single bit of difference in the grand scheme of things. No individual politician, especially in Congress, will. They are all temporary and don’t deserve your loyalty, ideas and ideals do. Massie was a reliable vote on most things for Republicans, but he started to get high on his own supply – seduced by the media coverage of his obsession with Jeffrey Epstein and the idea that there is a network of pervert monsters out there somewhere that he could help put away.” [editor’s note: He’s right that one congresscritter is unlikely to make a difference. And it’s so unusual for Derek Hunter to be right about ANYTHING that I considered it worth noting – TLK] (05/21/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/05/21/here-is-why-thomas-massies-loss-doesnt-matter-at-all-n2676431
-----
46) The SNP’s John Swinney intends to impose price controls on food
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“Price controls are one of the most studied policy interventions in economics, and the near-universal verdict among economists is that they backfire. The core problem is that prices are signals, not villains. Prices convey information about scarcity, cost of production, and consumer demand. When a government artificially suppresses a price below the market-clearing level, it does not eliminate the underlying cost pressures; it merely hides them while creating new distortions. The basic supply-and-demand mechanism explains clearly why shortages result. A price cap set below the market price simultaneously increases demand because more consumers want the now-cheaper product, and decreases supply; producers and retailers earn less, so they reduce output, stock less, or exit the market entirely.” (05/20/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-snps-john-swinney-intends-to-impose-price-controls-on-food
-----
47) The first two eras of administrative procedure
Source: Niskanen Center
by Alexander Mechanick
“I argue that the United States has had three systems of federal administrative procedure: a two-track system lasting from the Founding to the Gilded Age, a second system from the late 1800s to the 1960s that would be codified in the APA, and the third system that was constructed beginning in the 1960s and that we still live in today. This piece covers the first two of these systems: the development of federal administrative procedure from the Founding to the enactment of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946.” (05/20/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-first-two-eras-of-administrative-procedure-from-the-founding-to-the-administrative-procedure-act/
-----
48) The Shuttering of Alligator Alcatraz Doesn’t Mean That Trump’s Terror Campaign Against Immigrants Is Ending
Source: The UnPopulist
by Berny Belvedere
“Trump and Miller understand that immigration is most valuable to them as a source of perpetual outrage and political mobilization. A humane, functional immigration system would be a liability, not an achievement, because it would deprive them of the issue. Trump literally instructed his party to back away from immigration legislation — legislation that included everything his side had been asking for — so that the issue would retain its political salience and he could continue to campaign on it. The Alligator Alcatraz cruelty thus satisfies the ideological commitment while simultaneously keeping the cameras on how Trump is steamrolling the undocumented, one merch push and viral image at a time.” (05/20/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-shuttering-of-alligator-alcatraz
-----
49) “The call for accountability must not go unanswered; we need an independent prosecutor.”
Source: In These Times
by Delia Ramirez
“Illinoisans know the terror the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can inflict with its unlimited resources and unchecked power. We have been surveilled, threatened, tear-gassed, shot, subjected to warrantless arrest, rammed with vehicles, kidnapped and disappeared. In the time since Donald Trump regained the White House, our communities documented, witnessed and testified to DHS’s abuses. In April, the Illinois Accountability Commission published its final report, which included recommendations that local law enforcement pursue criminal and civil prosecutions against federal agents who used excessive force. One incident highlighted in their report is the violence that occurred on Oct. 3, 2025, in Logan Square at Funston Elementary, when federal agents deployed tear gas close to the recreational area where children were present. The Commission determined what we already knew: Federal agents should be formally investigated for possible violations of agency policy, state and federal criminal laws and individuals’ constitutional rights.” (05/20/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ramirez-delia-ice-special-prosecutor-midway-blitz
-----
50) Thomas Paine: American history’s winter soldier
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Matthew Harwood
“By the time of his death and subsequent desecration, Paine had fallen out of the American pantheon of Founding Fathers, reviled as an alcoholic infidel. But as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of both Common Sense and the American independence his pen sparked, Paine deserves his due and our gratitude. Without the words of Paine, the most modern of the Founding Fathers, there may be no United States of America to even celebrate today.” (05/20/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/thomas-paine-american-historys-winter-soldier
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Power and Market, 05/21/26
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
“Ryan, Connor, and Tho discuss the results of the most expensive Congressional race in American history. What does the defeat of Thomas Massie tell us? What does this mean for libertarian strategy? Should we blackpill?” (05/21/26)
https://mises.org/podcasts/power-and-market/post-massie-america
-----
52) Advisory Opinions, 05/21/26
Source: The Dispatch
“All the Things Wrong with Trump’s Billion-Dollar Fund.” (05/21/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/all-the-things-wrong-with-trumps-billion-dollar-fund/
-----
53) Cato Podcast, 05/21/26
Source: Cato Institute
“Out to Lunch: California’s $20 Fast-Food Wage.” (05/21/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/out-lunch-californias-20-fast-food-wage
-----
54) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/21/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Desperate For A Win, Trump Indicts Cuba’s Raul Castro.” (05/21/26)
https://rumble.com/v7a6mgg-desperate-for-a-win-trump-indicts-cubas-raul-castro.html
-----
55) Underthrow Podcast, 05/21/26
Source: Underthrow
“We’ve Been Running on DOS for 250 Years and it’s Time for an Update.” (05/21/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWwu-DKFEV4
-----
56) Rising, 05/21/26
Source: The Hill
“Kevin O’Leary destroys Gen Z: Stop Spending $28 on lunch!” (05/21/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5875554-rising-may-21-2026/
-----
57) The Libertarian Angle, 05/21/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Mundane Politics of Democrats and Republicans.” (05/21/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/libertarian-angle-the-mundane-politics-of-democrats-and-republicans/
-----
58) Kibbe on Liberty, episode 387
Source: Free the People
“Don’t Fall for Hantavirus Fearmongering | Guest: Dr. Mary Talley Bowden.” (05/20/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk04OlnHLP8
-----
59) Dave DeCamp on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Dave DeCamp on China, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza.” (05/20/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/5-19-26-dave-decamp-on-china-iran-iraq-lebanon-and-gaza/
-----
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/20/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Indicts Former Cuban President in Move Toward War, Trump Delays Iran Attack Over Hajj, and More.” (05/20/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sATY9twYxww
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Today's Freedom News:
1) US navy chief says $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan paused due to Iran war
2) Canada: Alberta voters to vote on prospective secession
3) Judges in Maine, Wisconsin dismiss federal demands for voter rolls
4) Iranian, Omani Regimes Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Whines
5) Russia holds nuclear drills on land, sea and air, joined by its ally Belarus
6) US jobless claims fall to 209,000
7) Retired police officer jailed over Charlie Kirk post settles lawsuit for more than $800k
8) UK: In bid to ease cost of living squeeze, cheaper chocolate & tickets to the zoo offered
9) Turkey: Court removes head of main opposition party
10) MN: “Quality Learing Center” raked in $215k federal payout; senator demands receipts
11) China: Regime says US should stop “threats” against Cuba after ex-leader charged
12) Judge Dismisses Frivolous Charges Against Educrat Accused After Student Shot Teacher
13) India: Parody “cockroach” party becomes major outlet for youth anger and protest
14) DC: Taxpayer spending on “exorcisms” derails Senate testimony
15) Democrats finally release 2024 election autopsy after criticism
16) US regime lifts sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN rapporteur on Palestinians
17) Gonorrhoea and syphilis hit record levels in Europe
18) Australia: Far Right Party Proposes Norway-Style Oil Fund and State Oil Company
19) Philippines: Justice chief orders arrest of senator wanted by ICC over Duterte-era killings
20) Ballroom won’t be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Only a Fool or a Politician Would Cap Food Prices
22) Trump’s Approval Rating Is Cratering. Tariffs Are a Big Reason Why.
23) Charge Obama? Great Idea, But Unlikely
24) The Boring Trump-Xi Summit: Boring Is Good
25) Controlled Commerce: The March of a New Global Economic Order
26) The vital voice of Congress in launching war
27) Price Inflation Accelerates as Wars and Deficits Expand
28) The Omnipotent Power to Kill
29) They’re Not Mad At Ben-Gvir For Being Evil, They’re Mad At Him For Being Honest
30) The Rise of the Meme Disease
31) Hunter Biden benefiting from Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would be a slap in the face
32) Obama’s strong terms curbed Iran. Trump struggles to secure even a weak deal
33) When Trump Targets the Media, the World’s Autocrats Are Taking Notes
34) Are British Censors Winning?
35) Nationalizing the Ten Commandments?
36) Buc-ee’s: Free-Market Triumph or Simply Capitalist Oppression?
37) Senate Republicans are running out of time to prove they can actually govern
38) NATO Should Stay Out of Iran
39) It’s Not Just ICE Stockpiling Weapons — the IRS, EPA, and Other Feds Are Arming Up Too
40) Trump’s Beijing Visit Shows the Limits of Diplomacy
41) Is Chaos the Point in South Carolina?
42) Is the petrodollar a war casualty or death greatly exaggerated?
43) Algorithmic Management, Monitoring, and Control: Worker Classification in the Digital Age
44) We the Victims: Who Pays When the Government Weaponizes Its Power?
45) Here Is Why Thomas Massie’s Loss Doesn’t Matter at All
46) The SNP’s John Swinney intends to impose price controls on food
47) The first two eras of administrative procedure
48) The Shuttering of Alligator Alcatraz Doesn’t Mean That Trump’s Terror Campaign Against Immigrants Is Ending
49) “The call for accountability must not go unanswered; we need an independent prosecutor.”
50) Thomas Paine: American history’s winter soldier
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Power and Market, 05/21/26
52) Advisory Opinions, 05/21/26
53) Cato Podcast, 05/21/26
54) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/21/26
55) Underthrow Podcast, 05/21/26
56) Rising, 05/21/26
57) The Libertarian Angle, 05/21/26
58) Kibbe on Liberty, episode 387
59) Dave DeCamp on The Scott Horton Show
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/20/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) US navy chief says $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan paused due to Iran war
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The US is pausing a $14bn (£10.4bn) arms sale to Taiwan to ensure it has enough weapons for the Iran war, acting Navy secretary Hung Cao has said. Cao confirmed this at a Senate hearing, days after President Donald Trump appeared non-committal about the sale following his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office told reporters on Friday that they had not received any information about ‘US adjustments to the arms sale.’ The sale of US arms to Taiwan has long irked Beijing, which [pretends] the self-governed island [i]s its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.” (05/22/26)
https://archive.is/ZPQ0N
-----
2) Canada: Alberta voters to vote on prospective secession
Source: Politico
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her United Conservative Party government will hold a referendum in October to ask Albertans if they want to remain in Canada, or start the process toward a binding separation referendum. … The announcement marks an escalation of separatist tensions in the oil-rich and staunchly conservative province, a flashpoint that will test Prime Minister Mark Carney’s leadership as Ottawa is forced to respond to a growing national unity crisis. For months, Smith been under fire from separatist groups demanding a vote on Alberta leaving Canada, a push largely driven by Stay Free Alberta, a grassroots movement that claims to have collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of a separation referendum.” (05/21/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/21/alberta-separation-referendum-00933323
-----
3) Judges in Maine, Wisconsin dismiss federal demands for voter rolls
Source: Yahoo! News
“Federal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to compel the states to hand over detailed voter registration information. U.S. District Judge James Pederson in Wisconsin said the state’s voter registration list is not a record that can be requested under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, as President Donald Trump’s administration argued. In Maine, Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker described the government’s claim as ‘half-hearted’ and granted a state motion to dismiss it. The rulings were the latest in a string of defeats for the Trump administration in its attempts to force states to turn over voter rolls. … The DOJ has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking to force release of the detailed voter data. It includes information such as dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.” (05/21/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/judges-maine-wisconsin-dismiss-justice-211527091.html
-----
4) Iranian, Omani Regimes Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Whines
Source: gCaptain
“Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. … ‘We’ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable,’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday when asked about Iran’s intentions. ‘No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible. It’s a threat to the world that they would try to do that, and it’s completely illegal.’ … Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US agrees to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.” (05/21/26)
https://gcaptain.com/iran-and-oman-discuss-hormuz-toll-regime-as-rubio-warns-it-cant-happen/
-----
5) Russia holds nuclear drills on land, sea and air, joined by its ally Belarus
Source: SFGate
“Trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled over forest roads, atomic-powered submarines set sail from Arctic and Pacific ports, and crews scrambled into warplanes as Russia and neighboring Belarus held the final stage of their joint nuclear drills Thursday. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko inspected Russian short-range nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit involved in the drills …. The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes, including on Moscow’s suburbs that killed three people and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities. The strikes made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the exercise involved 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/russia-holds-nuclear-drills-on-land-sea-and-air-22270103.php
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6) US jobless claims fall to 209,000
Source: Quartz
“Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in months, offering another sign that layoffs remain muted despite a range of economic pressures. Thursday’s Labor Department report showed 209,000 new applications for the week ending May 16, a decline of 3,000 from the previous week. The result came in below the 213,000 that FactSet-surveyed analysts had expected. At 202,500, the four-week average — which irons out week-to-week swings — marked its lowest reading since 2024, Bloomberg noted, representing a 1,500-point drop. Continuing claims, covering the week ending May 9, climbed to 1.78 million, an increase of 6,000.” (05/21/26)
https://qz.com/us-jobless-claims-209000-labor-market-052126
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7) Retired police officer jailed over Charlie Kirk post settles lawsuit for more than $800k
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A Tennessee man who was jailed for more than month following his arrest over a Facebook post related to the killing of Charlie Kirk has settled an ‘unlawful incarceration’ lawsuit for $835,000 (£621,000). Larry Bushart, a retired police officer, spent 37 days behind bars before authorities dropped the felony charges against him, during which he lost his post-retirement job and missed the birth of his grandchild. He was arrested last September by the Perry County Sheriff’s Office for sharing a meme in a thread about a vigil honouring the conservative activist. ‘I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,’ Bushart said in a statement announcing the settlement on Wednesday. ‘The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy,’ his statement went on to say. ‘I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.'” (05/21/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7pyjxjxrvo
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8) UK: In bid to ease cost of living squeeze, cheaper chocolate & tickets to the zoo offered
Source: SFGate
“The British government is offering cheaper chocolate and discounted entry to theme parks as it seeks to ease a cost-of-living squeeze and win back voters. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves on Thursday announced modest handouts to help alleviate rising costs sparked by the Iran war, including a reduction in import tax on cookies, chocolate and about 100 other supermarket products. U.K. inflation fell to 2.8% in April, down from 3.3% in March, but is expected to spike again on the back of higher prices for fuel, heating gas and electricity. To ease the impact, the government has postponed a planned increase in fuel duty and given truckers a yearlong reprieve from road tax to help offset soaring gasoline prices due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit route. But Reeves did not commit to broader support for household heating bills.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/uk-offers-cheaper-chocolate-and-tickets-to-the-22270092.php
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9) Turkey: Court removes head of main opposition party
Source: ABC News
“A Turkish court on Thursday issued a ruling that effectively removed the head of the country’s main opposition party by annulling a 2023 congress that elected him. The move deals a serious blow to the beleaguered Republican People’s Party, or CHP, as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials. An appeals court in Turkey’s capital Ankara declared the CHP congress that picked Ozgur Ozel as chairman to be null, ordering that he should be replaced by his predecessor Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.” (05/21/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/turkish-court-rules-remove-head-main-opposition-party-133192160
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10) MN: “Quality Learing Center” raked in $215k federal payout; senator demands receipts
Source: New York Post
“Fraudsters behind the notorious ‘Quality Learing Center’ day care facility in Minnesota raked in nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of pandemic-era loans from the Small Business Administration, according to a senator’s investigation. That day care center, which had a misspelled name and a near-empty parking lot when YouTuber Nick Shirley stopped by for his viral video last year, became the poster child of the fraud scandal that rocked Minnesota. The facility, which shuttered in January, had garnered some $1.9 million from Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program last year and some $10 million in state funding since 2019. But a probe by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) found that it had also received federal assistance from the Small Business Administration back in April and May 2020 during the first Trump administration.” (05/21/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/05/21/us-news/minnesotas-quality-learing-center-raked-in-215k-federal-payout-senator-demands-receipts/
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11) China: Regime says US should stop “threats” against Cuba after ex-leader charged
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“China has called on the US to stop using ‘coercion’ and ‘threats’ against its ally Cuba, after Washington indicted former leader Raúl Castro on murder charges. An American court has accused the 94-year-old former president of conspiracy to kill US nationals over the 1996 downing of two planes, an incident which killed four people and fuelled diplomatic tensions between Washington and the Caribbean island. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to exert pressure on Cuba and has openly discussed toppling its communist regime. On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the US should ‘stop threatening force at every turn,’ and that Beijing ‘firmly supports Cuba.'” (05/21/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clype0x7pkgo
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12) Judge Dismisses Frivolous Charges Against Educrat Accused After Student Shot Teacher
Source: US News & World Report
“A judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before a teacher was shot. Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson in Newport News, Virginia, issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect. ‘The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,’ Robinson said. The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner ’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.” (05/21/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/virginia/articles/2026-05-21/judge-dismisses-charges-against-ex-administrator-accused-after-student-shot-teacher
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13) India: Parody “cockroach” party becomes major outlet for youth anger and protest
Source: SFGate
“It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, set up its website and social media accounts on Saturday. By Thursday, its Instagram page had amassed more than 15 million followers, far surpassing the 8.8 million followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party on the platform.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/a-parody-cockroach-party-in-india-becomes-22270096.php
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14) DC: Taxpayer spending on “exorcisms” derails Senate testimony
Source: Fox News
“Sen. John Kennedy [R-LA] railed against California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, which is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration over fraud allegations, as Kennedy highlighted reports during a Tuesday hearing that the state covers exorcisms and other faith-based healing practices. Medi-Cal’s spending practices have faced growing scrutiny as California’s Medicaid spending has more than doubled since 2019, rising from roughly $100.7 billion to a projected $222 billion in 2026. Just last week, the Trump administration suspended $1.4 billion in federal funding for California home health and hospice programs after Vice President J.D. Vance’s anti-fraud task force identified an estimated $600 million in suspected fraud within the state’s Medicaid system. Kennedy alleged during his line of questioning to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that taxpayer dollars were being used to cover the cost of exorcisms, a religious practice most commonly associated with the Catholic Church, and other indigenous spiritual practices.” (05/21/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/taxpayer-spending-exorcisms-derails-senate-testimony-what-hell-we-doing-about-it
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15) Democrats finally release 2024 election autopsy after criticism
Source: Axios
“The Democratic National Committee released what it said was its full, unredacted autopsy of the 2024 presidential election on Thursday after months of mounting pressure on party chair Ken Martin, who was keeping the report secret. … Martin released the report, first obtained by CNN, but simultaneously issued a statement distancing himself from it and its conclusions. ‘I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards and it won’t meet your standards,’ he wrote in a Substack post. … The report has an unusual disclaimer, saying it ‘reflects the views of the author, not the DNC. The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.'” (05/21/26)
https://archive.is/Jp2gc
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16) US regime lifts sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN rapporteur on Palestinians
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories who has harshly criticised Israel, following a court order. A notice on the Treasury Department’s website showed that it had removed a sanctions designation on Albanese that had blacklisted her globally, making it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out bank transactions. Albanese, who is Italian, has been a relentless critic of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in her role as the UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.” (05/20/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260520-us-lifts-sanctions-francesca-albanese-un-rapporteur-on-palestinians
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17) Gonorrhoea and syphilis hit record levels in Europe
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including gonorrhoea and syphilis have hit record levels in Europe, according to new data. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said both diseases had reached their highest levels in over 10 years in 2024. Gonorrhoea hit 106,331 cases – a 303% increase since 2015 – while syphilis more than doubled in the same period to 45,557. The health agency said ‘widening gaps in testing and prevention’ were partly behind the surge in transmission, and called for urgent action. ‘These infections can cause severe complications, such as chronic pain and infertility and, in the case of syphilis, problems with the heart or nervous system,’ said Bruno Ciancio, the head of the agency’s Directly Transmitted and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases unit. He said congenital syphilis cases – ‘where infections pass directly to newborns, leading to potentially lifelong complications’ – had nearly doubled from 2023 to 2024.” (05/21/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2pj07dr7lo
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18) Australia: Far Right Party Proposes Norway-Style Oil Fund and State Oil Company
Source: US News & World Report
“Australian populist party Pauline Hanson’s One Nation said it wanted to create a Norway-style sovereign wealth fund and for the government to take a share of offshore production licences in federal waters as it unveiled its energy policy at the Australian Energy Producers conference in Adelaide on Thursday. One Nation has surged in popularity this year, winning its first House of Representatives seat, and has backing from Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart, who recently donated a plane and hosted dinners for the party. … Her plan would see the federal government take a 30% stake in offshore licences, share development and decommissioning costs, and retain part of production for domestic use, including fertiliser and fuels.” (05/21/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-05-21/australian-far-right-party-proposes-norway-style-oil-fund-and-state-oil-company
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19) Philippines: Justice chief orders arrest of senator wanted by ICC over Duterte-era killings
Source: SFGate
“The Philippine justice chief ordered authorities Thursday to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of a senator wanted on an alleged crime against humanity. He warned that anyone helping the senator evade a nationwide hunt would face criminal charges. Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa ‘is a fugitive from justice,’ Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said in a news conference. ‘He should be brought to the ICC to face the charges.’ Dela Rosa is a former national police chief who enforced then President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown against illegal drugs that killed thousands of mostly petty suspects. The killings alarmed Western governments and human rights groups. Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested last year and flown to the The Hague, where is he is on trial at the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/philippine-justice-chief-orders-arrest-of-senator-22270093.php
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20) Ballroom won’t be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request
Source: Politico
“In a blow to the White House, Senate Republicans will remove a $1 billion Secret Service funding request that would help President Donald Trump’s ballroom project from their immigration enforcement funding bill amid internal objections. … The decision to omit the security funding came after twin blows: Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled over the weekend that the provision didn’t comply with the strict rules governing what Republicans can put in their filibuster-skirting bill because it funded activities outside of the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction. And several GOP senators aired public concerns about including any ballroom funding in a bill otherwise dedicated to immigration enforcement.” (05/20/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/20/ballroom-security-funding-reconciliation-00930193
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Only a Fool or a Politician Would Cap Food Prices
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Andrew Lilico
“It sounds so simple. If consumers are suffering because prices are going up, then forbid that. Who could object, beyond greedy firms profiteering by pushing prices up? … If the government caps the prices of supermarket products, that will make those products unprofitable for the supermarket to stock and also mean that consumers have to pay less for them than their economic value, the consequence being that they will sell out and not be available. Why would I, as a consumer, want key products to be unavailable in supermarkets?” (05/21/26)
https://fee.org/articles/only-a-fool-or-a-politician-would-cap-food-prices/
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22) Trump’s Approval Rating Is Cratering. Tariffs Are a Big Reason Why.
Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy
“Donald Trump is now an unpopular president. Some of this dissatisfaction is due to the war in Iran. Some of it springs from the unanticipated speed, chaos, and perceived brutality of several of his administration’s actions over the past year and a half. But a significant part of his political problem has a straightforward economic explanation: Everything feels expensive, and his tariffs are a major reason why. If the president wants to help himself and his party ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the most effective thing he can do is eliminate the tariffs. The evidence in favor of this move is overwhelming, and it comes from his own tenure.” (05/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/21/trumps-approval-rating-is-cratering-tariffs-are-a-big-reason-why/
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23) Charge Obama? Great Idea, But Unlikely
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I’d love to see Barack Obama charged with, tried for, and convicted of crimes that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt he’s guilty of. For example: Obama ordered the murders of at least two American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and his son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki (Donald Trump later ordered the murder of eight-year-old Nawar Anwar al-Awlaki, also a US citizen). Obama also illegally took the US to war in Libya, never even seeking the constitutionally required declaration of war. For those crimes, and many others, I’d very much like to see Obama face legal consequences. But there’s a problem with the idea …” (05/21/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20627
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24) The Boring Trump-Xi Summit: Boring Is Good
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Critics of the May 2026 summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), widely condemned the outcome as being long on pomp and ceremony but short on meaningful substantive results. They noted that most of the agreements reached, especially on trade and other economic issues, were either preliminary or relatively minor. There was a virtual consensus among the opinion-shaping elites that Trump had secured no major concessions on either his commercial or his security objectives. In other words, the outcome of the summit was rather bland and boring. That criticism may be true, but in international affairs boring is usually good.” (05/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/05/20/the-boring-trump-xi-summit-boring-is-good/
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25) Controlled Commerce: The March of a New Global Economic Order
Source: The Daily Economy
by Stefan Bartl
“Washington, Beijing, and Brussels are all moving toward state-managed commerce and geopolitical trade blocs. The recent US-China summit accelerates the shift.” (05/21/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/controlled-commerce-the-march-of-a-new-global-economic-order/
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26) The vital voice of Congress in launching war
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Americans are contending with almost daily shifts in how the Trump administration characterizes the war-slash-ceasefire with Iran that began Feb. 28. Yet just as important to this current Middle East struggle is a series of resolutions proposed in Congress to either end the conflict or seek approval by lawmakers to continue it. On Tuesday – in its eighth such vote since strikes against Iran began – the Senate advanced a measure to debate a requirement of the 1973 War Powers Resolution that a president obtain congressional approval within 60 days of starting a conflict. The House is expected to vote shortly on a similar measure for the fourth time.” [editor’s note: None of these resolutions are necessary — absent a declaration of war, the war is illegal, full stop – TLK] (05/20/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0520/The-vital-voice-of-Congress-in-launching-war
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27) Price Inflation Accelerates as Wars and Deficits Expand
Source: Cobden Centre
by Ryan McMaken
“Fears over price inflation returned in a big way this week as bond yields rose in the wake of recent government reports on consumer and producer prices. The US-Israel war on Iran continues to take a toll on global supply chains, and related price hikes appear to be partly driving growth in long term yields for both US, British, and Japanese debt. This week’s CPI and PPI reports both showed price inflation surging to multi-year highs, and not just on oil prices. This, combined with new increases in oil prices, appears to have spooked investors who are now, in the face of rising prices, are demanding higher yields for long-term debt.” (05/21/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/05/price-inflation-accelerates-as-wars-and-deficits-expand/
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28) The Omnipotent Power to Kill
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law. Like all the other amendments to the Constitution, the Fifth Amendment operates as an express higher-law restriction that the people of the United States have placed on federal officials. The idea is that federal officials are expected to obey our higher law just as they expect us to obey their lower laws. … No more. Today, it is undisputed that the president, the military, and the CIA wield the omnipotent power to deprive people of life (i.e., kill them), without due process of law. In other words, federal officials are no longer complying with the Fifth Amendment restriction on their power.” (05/22/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/05/21/the-omnipotent-power-to-kill/
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29) They’re Not Mad At Ben-Gvir For Being Evil, They’re Mad At Him For Being Honest
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Western and Israeli officials are currently wagging their fingers in faux outrage at Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for publicly boasting about the mistreatment of flotilla activists attempting to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. Ben-Gvir’s Twitter account shared a video of the minister taunting activists who were abducted by Israeli forces in international waters earlier this week, captioning it ‘This is how we accept the supporters of terrorism’ in Hebrew and ‘Welcome to Israel’ in English. The video shows flotilla activists from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand being shoved, held in stress positions on the ground, and mocked by Ben-Gvir while restrained. This all of course pales in comparison to the abuses endured by Palestinian captives on a daily basis, but it’s the subject of international outcry today because the victims are from the west.” (05/21/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/05/21/theyre-not-mad-at-ben-gvir-for-being-evil-theyre-mad-at-him-for-being-honest/
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30) The Rise of the Meme Disease
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Steven Kritz
“Beginning about 25 years ago, shortly after ending my rural primary care practice as a Board Certified Internist, I began to recognize that from the 1960s through the end of the 20th century, there were a series of illnesses that I initially referred to as ‘fad’ diseases. Given that each of these diseases were in vogue for at least a decade (a bit too long to be a fad), and in an attempt to be more ‘woke,’ I now refer to these conditions as ‘meme’ diseases.” (05/21/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-rise-of-the-meme-disease/
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31) Hunter Biden benefiting from Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would be a slap in the face
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“It’s not just crackpot antisemite podcaster Candace Owens who is giving Hunter Biden uncritical attention so he can rewrite history. Inexplicably, top Trump administration officials are also validating the former crackhead first son’s outrageous lie that he was prosecuted only because he was Joe Biden’s son. It’s not clear why Acting AG Todd Blanche and VP JD Vance cited Hunter this week as their exemplar of bipartisan largesse to defend the new $1.7 billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ for victims of lawfare, but it was a terrible idea. It’s so terrible, you could be forgiven for wondering if it was dreamed up by deep-staters intent on denying justice to the real victims of the Biden administration’s lawfare.” [editor’s note: Wow, what a day — Miranda Devine, like Derek Hunter, got something right! But the whole “weaponization fund” idea is stupid and evil, regardless of whether Biden fils gets a cut – TLK] (05/20/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/05/20/opinion/miranda-devine-hunter-biden-benefiting-from-trumps-noble-anti-weaponization-fund-would-be-a-slap-in-the-face/
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32) Obama’s strong terms curbed Iran. Trump struggles to secure even a weak deal
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jackie Calmes
“The president, along with his Republican cheerleaders, counts his first-term abrogation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as a signature achievement. This week, yet again, he falsely claimed that had he not done so, Iran would have a nuclear weapon. In fact, his action in 2018 taking the United States out of the multinational deal subsequently led to Iran’s rebuilding of its nuclear program, the emboldening of the Iranian hard-liners now in power and the Middle East morass in which the United States is now mired. That quagmire has left Trump seeming desperate for a deal — almost certainly a worse deal than the one Obama struck.” (05/21/26)
https://archive.is/G0t1K
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33) When Trump Targets the Media, the World’s Autocrats Are Taking Notes
Source: Common Dreams
by Scott Griffen
“Only a day after President Donald Trump spoke of unity following a gunman’s abhorrent attempt to kill him and members of his administration at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, the president quickly returned to his regularly scheduled programming of berating members of the press that ask him unwanted questions. In a ’60 Minutes’ interview with CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell taped and aired the day following the assassination attempt, Trump repeated many of his now-tired insults about the press, referring to the media in general as ‘horrible people’, and calling O’Donnell a ‘disgrace’ who should be ‘ashamed’ of herself for raising excerpts of the alleged gunman’s manifesto in a question to the president. At this point, understandably, many of us have simply begun to tune out Trump’s now-frequent diatribes against the press.” (05/21/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-targets-media
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34) Are British Censors Winning?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“An outfit in the United Kingdom called Ofcom, the main enforcer of the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, is requiring social platforms to implement onerous procedures to censor ‘hate,’ including stripping users of anonymity — or face mammoth fines, bans in the U.K., and other draconian penalties. Nobody would object to compelling the removal of content that is clearly criminal. But is that what most so-called ‘hate’ content really is? Of course not. Much of what irks censors and the merely censorious is merely vituperative, and no small part of what gets their goat is nothing other than sharp disagreement with those authorities who decide what ‘hate’ is — that is, the censors themselves.” (05/21/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/05/21/are-british-censors-winning/
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35) Nationalizing the Ten Commandments?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Zachary Chambers
“Laws to place copies of the Ten Commandments in classrooms may undermine the very American tradition their proponents claim to defend.” (05/21/26)
https://lawliberty.org/nationalizing-the-ten-commandments/
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36) Buc-ee’s: Free-Market Triumph or Simply Capitalist Oppression?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“Of course, one would expect socialists to hate a business like Buc-ee’s. Socialists claim to hate ‘consumerism’ (whatever that is) and the availability of inexpensive and plentiful goods all the while claiming that consumers are being oppressed by capitalists, who apparently are withholding goods from the market. (No, that doesn’t make sense, but when have socialists ever made sense when describing anything that occurs in the marketplace?) At least some of the arguments against the presence of Buc-ee’s mirror the opposition to construction of data centers, as Connor O’Keeffe recently pointed out why some communities are fighting the location of such operations near their homes. The old canards of ‘traffic and pollution’ are always thrown out any time someone wishes to open a business — especially a large one — in a new locality.” (05/21/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/buc-ees-free-market-triumph-or-simply-capitalist-oppression
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37) Senate Republicans are running out of time to prove they can actually govern
Source: Fox News Forum
by Mehek Cooke
“Republicans spent the last four years convincing voters they understood the stakes at the southern border as they fought to return to power. They promised to restore law and order, fund immigration enforcement and end Washington’s habit of turning procedure into an excuse for national decline. But today’s reconciliation fight is exposing an uncomfortable truth: the clock is ticking, and the GOP still must prove it can convert a clear electoral mandate into governing power. The immediate fight is whether Senate Republicans can deliver their reconciliation package, which includes critical funding for ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the broader infrastructure for enforcement. Even with control of Washington and a public mandate to restore law and order, the path is narrow.” (05/21/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/senate-republicans-running-time-prove-actually-govern
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38) NATO Should Stay Out of Iran
Source: Liberal Currents
by Matthew Downhour
“Dragging NATO into Iran, or making American participation in NATO contingent on action in Iran, threatens to erode the basics that make NATO functional in the first place. And European NATO states (and Canada) would be foolish to give in to this petulance — there is no formal understanding, ethical motivation, or even pragmatic consideration that would obligate or even argue in favor of Europe joining this American misadventure. If the Iran war is a test for NATO, it is a test of whether the alliance can retain a defined mission, or whether it will be subjected to perpetual mission creep. In the latter case, it cannot possibly survive.” (05/21/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/nato-should-stay-out-of-iran/
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39) It’s Not Just ICE Stockpiling Weapons — the IRS, EPA, and Other Feds Are Arming Up Too
Source: Reason
by CJ Ciaramella
“An armed IRS agent roaming the streets should send shivers down the spine of any freedom-loving American.” (for publication 06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/21/beware-the-blob-of-federal-police/
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40) Trump’s Beijing Visit Shows the Limits of Diplomacy
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“President Donald Trump’s recent two-day summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded much as anticipated. In an article written ahead of the trip, I noted that expectations for substantive breakthroughs in the fraught Sino-American relationship were likely to be disappointed. The events of the visit bore this out. While the tone was notably, and welcomely, warmer than in recent years and both sides touted ‘fantastic trade deals,’ the core structural tensions — trade imbalances, technology restrictions, Taiwan, and regional security — remain largely unaddressed.” (05/21/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/trumps-beijing-visit-shows-the-limits-of-diplomacy
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41) Is Chaos the Point in South Carolina?
Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley
“After the Supreme Court gutted voting rights in Louisiana v. Callais, it was all over but the shouting. This week in South Carolina, state lawmakers are proceeding with the Great Erasure of African American voters without the legal hindrances of the Voting Rights Act, that now timeworn relic of the late Great Society. Their goal? To create a congressional dream team of seven GOP House members by zeroing out Rep. James Clyburn, a longtimer with 33 years in Congress, and the only Black Democrat to represent South Carolina in the House in state history. Indeed, Clyburn is the ninth Black person to represent the state in Congress; the first eight were all Republicans elected during Reconstruction in the late 19th century, before Jim Crow ended Black voting in the South, and when the parties had opposite views on civil rights compared to today.” (05/21/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/05/21/is-chaos-the-point-south-carolina-congress-redistricting-clyburn/
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42) Is the petrodollar a war casualty or death greatly exaggerated?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Michael Corbin
“The US has a choice between managing what is a shift away from US backed currency using military and economic restraint, or accelerating it.” (05/21/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/petrodollar-death-exaggerated/
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43) Algorithmic Management, Monitoring, and Control: Worker Classification in the Digital Age
Source: EconLog
by Alex MacDonald & Tammy McCutchen
“Nowadays, it’s hard to read anything about workplace policy without running into ‘“algorithmic management.’ Companies, we’re told, are increasingly controlling workers through an array of digital ‘tricks.’ These companies record our keystrokes, track our locations, and even watch us through our webcams. We hear this same story in academic journals, government reports, and the popular press. In fact, the story has even made its way into federal regulations — specifically, in the U.S. Department of Labor’s current rule about independent contractors. Like the more popular accounts, this rule assumes that algorithmic management is pervasive. And it treats the practice as a form of ‘control.’ There’s only one problem: algorithmic management isn’t a real thing.” (05/21/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/algorithmic-management-monitoring-and-control
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44) We the Victims: Who Pays When the Government Weaponizes Its Power?
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“One way or another, the American taxpayers always get screwed by politicians eager to spend our hard-earned dollars on programs and projects that do little to improve our lives, safeguard our freedoms, or secure our future. Donald Trump — the billionaire trust-fund baby/reality TV showman who transformed himself into a populist champion of working-class Americans — has proven to be no different, and in many ways worse, than the politicians who came before him. Trump has given new meaning to government corruption, graft, grift, profiteering, self-dealing and pay-to-play politics.” (05/20/26)
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/we_the_victims_who_pays_when_the_government_weaponizes_its_power
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45) Here Is Why Thomas Massie’s Loss Doesn’t Matter at All
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“I know, a lot of people are very excited about the primary defeat of U.S. Republican Thomas Massie (KY-4). I’m just not one of them. Not because I liked him, I honestly couldn’t care less about any politician and found him particularly annoying on quite a few issues, but because his defeat won’t make a single bit of difference in the grand scheme of things. No individual politician, especially in Congress, will. They are all temporary and don’t deserve your loyalty, ideas and ideals do. Massie was a reliable vote on most things for Republicans, but he started to get high on his own supply – seduced by the media coverage of his obsession with Jeffrey Epstein and the idea that there is a network of pervert monsters out there somewhere that he could help put away.” [editor’s note: He’s right that one congresscritter is unlikely to make a difference. And it’s so unusual for Derek Hunter to be right about ANYTHING that I considered it worth noting – TLK] (05/21/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/05/21/here-is-why-thomas-massies-loss-doesnt-matter-at-all-n2676431
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46) The SNP’s John Swinney intends to impose price controls on food
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“Price controls are one of the most studied policy interventions in economics, and the near-universal verdict among economists is that they backfire. The core problem is that prices are signals, not villains. Prices convey information about scarcity, cost of production, and consumer demand. When a government artificially suppresses a price below the market-clearing level, it does not eliminate the underlying cost pressures; it merely hides them while creating new distortions. The basic supply-and-demand mechanism explains clearly why shortages result. A price cap set below the market price simultaneously increases demand because more consumers want the now-cheaper product, and decreases supply; producers and retailers earn less, so they reduce output, stock less, or exit the market entirely.” (05/20/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-snps-john-swinney-intends-to-impose-price-controls-on-food
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47) The first two eras of administrative procedure
Source: Niskanen Center
by Alexander Mechanick
“I argue that the United States has had three systems of federal administrative procedure: a two-track system lasting from the Founding to the Gilded Age, a second system from the late 1800s to the 1960s that would be codified in the APA, and the third system that was constructed beginning in the 1960s and that we still live in today. This piece covers the first two of these systems: the development of federal administrative procedure from the Founding to the enactment of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946.” (05/20/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-first-two-eras-of-administrative-procedure-from-the-founding-to-the-administrative-procedure-act/
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48) The Shuttering of Alligator Alcatraz Doesn’t Mean That Trump’s Terror Campaign Against Immigrants Is Ending
Source: The UnPopulist
by Berny Belvedere
“Trump and Miller understand that immigration is most valuable to them as a source of perpetual outrage and political mobilization. A humane, functional immigration system would be a liability, not an achievement, because it would deprive them of the issue. Trump literally instructed his party to back away from immigration legislation — legislation that included everything his side had been asking for — so that the issue would retain its political salience and he could continue to campaign on it. The Alligator Alcatraz cruelty thus satisfies the ideological commitment while simultaneously keeping the cameras on how Trump is steamrolling the undocumented, one merch push and viral image at a time.” (05/20/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-shuttering-of-alligator-alcatraz
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49) “The call for accountability must not go unanswered; we need an independent prosecutor.”
Source: In These Times
by Delia Ramirez
“Illinoisans know the terror the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can inflict with its unlimited resources and unchecked power. We have been surveilled, threatened, tear-gassed, shot, subjected to warrantless arrest, rammed with vehicles, kidnapped and disappeared. In the time since Donald Trump regained the White House, our communities documented, witnessed and testified to DHS’s abuses. In April, the Illinois Accountability Commission published its final report, which included recommendations that local law enforcement pursue criminal and civil prosecutions against federal agents who used excessive force. One incident highlighted in their report is the violence that occurred on Oct. 3, 2025, in Logan Square at Funston Elementary, when federal agents deployed tear gas close to the recreational area where children were present. The Commission determined what we already knew: Federal agents should be formally investigated for possible violations of agency policy, state and federal criminal laws and individuals’ constitutional rights.” (05/20/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ramirez-delia-ice-special-prosecutor-midway-blitz
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50) Thomas Paine: American history’s winter soldier
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Matthew Harwood
“By the time of his death and subsequent desecration, Paine had fallen out of the American pantheon of Founding Fathers, reviled as an alcoholic infidel. But as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of both Common Sense and the American independence his pen sparked, Paine deserves his due and our gratitude. Without the words of Paine, the most modern of the Founding Fathers, there may be no United States of America to even celebrate today.” (05/20/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/thomas-paine-american-historys-winter-soldier
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Power and Market, 05/21/26
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
“Ryan, Connor, and Tho discuss the results of the most expensive Congressional race in American history. What does the defeat of Thomas Massie tell us? What does this mean for libertarian strategy? Should we blackpill?” (05/21/26)
https://mises.org/podcasts/power-and-market/post-massie-america
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52) Advisory Opinions, 05/21/26
Source: The Dispatch
“All the Things Wrong with Trump’s Billion-Dollar Fund.” (05/21/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/all-the-things-wrong-with-trumps-billion-dollar-fund/
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53) Cato Podcast, 05/21/26
Source: Cato Institute
“Out to Lunch: California’s $20 Fast-Food Wage.” (05/21/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/out-lunch-californias-20-fast-food-wage
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54) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/21/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Desperate For A Win, Trump Indicts Cuba’s Raul Castro.” (05/21/26)
https://rumble.com/v7a6mgg-desperate-for-a-win-trump-indicts-cubas-raul-castro.html
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55) Underthrow Podcast, 05/21/26
Source: Underthrow
“We’ve Been Running on DOS for 250 Years and it’s Time for an Update.” (05/21/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWwu-DKFEV4
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56) Rising, 05/21/26
Source: The Hill
“Kevin O’Leary destroys Gen Z: Stop Spending $28 on lunch!” (05/21/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5875554-rising-may-21-2026/
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57) The Libertarian Angle, 05/21/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Mundane Politics of Democrats and Republicans.” (05/21/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/libertarian-angle-the-mundane-politics-of-democrats-and-republicans/
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58) Kibbe on Liberty, episode 387
Source: Free the People
“Don’t Fall for Hantavirus Fearmongering | Guest: Dr. Mary Talley Bowden.” (05/20/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk04OlnHLP8
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59) Dave DeCamp on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Dave DeCamp on China, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza.” (05/20/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/5-19-26-dave-decamp-on-china-iran-iraq-lebanon-and-gaza/
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60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/20/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Indicts Former Cuban President in Move Toward War, Trump Delays Iran Attack Over Hajj, and More.” (05/20/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sATY9twYxww
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