06/19 -- North Korea: Kim vows "full support" for Russia in Ukraine as Putin visits Pyongyang; Will Trump Learn from Bump Stock Battering?
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 19, 2024, 6:38:24 AMJun 19
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/19/24
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Presented by the Liberty International
https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) North Korea: Kim vows “full support” for Russia in Ukraine as Putin visits Pyongyang
2) Hajj: At least 550 people die in annual Muslim pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca
3) Senate GOP blocks effort by Democrats to pass bump stock ban after Supreme Court ruling
4) NY: High court dismisses disgraced former president’s gag order challenge
5) Bitcoin Touches One-Month Low in Broad Crypto Market Selloff
6) NASA delays return of Boeing Starliner spacecraft to June 26
7) US regime suspends avocado and mango inspections in Mexico
8) UK’s richest family on trial for human trafficking
9) AZ: Epshteyn, Ellis, Lamon plead not guilty in fake elector case
10) FL: Mom says transphobic “investigation” has destroyed her daughter’s life
11) Meloni rejects deal struck over EU top jobs after talks snub
12) Parkinson’s blood test gives early-diagnosis hope
13) CO: In transgender discrimination case, justices consider pink or blue cake’s meaning
14) Toyota shareholders re-elect chairman despite governance concerns
15) Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Federal Action to Relieve Medical Debt
16) Kenya: Regime thugs attack protests over proposed tax hikes in finance bill with chemical weapons, abduct dozens
17) IRS to close “major” tax loophole
18) Stellantis Recalling Nearly 1.2 Million Vehicles to Fix Software Glitch That Disables Rear Camera
19) SCOTUS: In striking down victim disarmament law, Thomas quotes former San Francisco mayor
20) Thailand: Senate passes bill to end marriage apartheid
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Will Trump Learn from Bump Stock Battering?
22) All Vivek Murthy Wants for Christmas is a Label Maker
23) It Didn’t Start With Trump
24) One-Size-Fits-All Will Fail Every Time
25) The Netanyahu And Biden Doctrines
26) South Africa’s calming political center
27) Abundance in the age of revolt
28) Trump’s Conviction Was Supposed to Boost His Popularity. It Hasn’t.
29) Some 40 Years Later: A Nation STILL at Risk
30) Trump Is Haunted by Abortion — He Should Be
31) A National Climate Action Plan: Why We Need It and How to Do It
32) Why Trump is ready to go harder on China
33) Leave Us Alone to Do Our Work
34) While Expanding Draft Registration, US Preparing For WWIII
35) Is Promoting to Customers a Crime?
36) Who Pays?
37) Is the War on Drugs Constitutional?
38) Biden frailty no “cheap fake”: American voters WILL believe their eyes
39) Republicans Woo Libertarians, Democrats Ignore Them, at Their Peril
40) We Spent a Billion Dollars Fighting the Houthis … and Lost
41) Why these countries turned their backs on Ukraine “peace” doc
42) Former DCCC Leaders Working to Defeat Incumbent House Democrats
43) Why Economic Growth Causes Price Decline Not Increase?
44) NATO Must Make a Nuclear Deal With Russia
45) CNN Wants to Mute Trump at Its Debate. Good Luck With That
46) Congress’s Antisemitism Efforts Mask a Broader Assault on Free Speech
47) We Can’t Have a New Paradigm as Long as People Think the Old One Was Free-Market Fundamentalism
48) Nominal GDP as an indicator
49) Trump Conviction Doesn’t Change Fact: Criminal Justice System Rigged In Favor of Rich Elites
50) Recycling Plastic Is a Dangerous Waste of Time
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Vital Center, episode 68
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 617
53) Rising, 06/18/24
54) How To Fix The Internet, 06/18/24
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/18/24
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/18/24
57) The New Abnormal, 06/18/24
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 06/17/24
59) Free Talk Live, 06/17/24
60) Ill Literacy, episode 146
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) North Korea: Kim vows “full support” for Russia in Ukraine as Putin visits Pyongyang
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promised ‘full support and solidarity’ for Russia’s war in Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin said during their meeting in Pyongyang that Moscow is fighting against the decades-long ‘hegemonic and imperialist policy’ of the United States and its allies. Putin on Wednesday thanked Kim for ‘unwavering’ support on Ukraine. The Russian leader is on his first visit to North Korea in 24 years, with relations between the two countries growing closer in the months since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and rising concern that Pyongyang is providing Russia with weapons in return for Russian technological expertise. Russia and North Korea have denied arms transfers but have promised to strengthen military ties.” (06/19/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/19/putin-flies-into-pyongyang-to-waiting-kim-and-red-carpet-welcome
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2) Hajj: At least 550 people die in annual Muslim pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca
Source: Sky News [UK]
“At least 550 people have died during the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in the scorching heat, it has been reported. Temperatures reached at least 51.8C (125F) in the shade in the Saudi Arabian city, as huge crowds of Muslims undertook the annual religious journey — one of the five pillars of Islam. ‘Hajj is a difficult task, so you have to exert efforts and perform the rituals even in the conditions of heat and crowding,’ an Egyptian pilgrim said. Pilgrims used umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, as Saudi authorities warned pilgrims to stay hydrated and avoid being outdoors during the hottest hours between 11am and 3pm.” (06/19/24)
https://news.sky.com/story/hajj-at-least-550-people-die-in-annual-muslim-pilgrimage-to-holy-city-of-mecca-13155271
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3) Senate GOP blocks effort by Democrats to pass bump stock ban after Supreme Court ruling
Source: CNN
“Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked an attempt by Democrats to pass a bill to ban bump stocks in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling. The bill would enact a federal ban on the sale of bump stock devices. Bump stocks allow a shooter to convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute. The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a federal ban on bump stocks approved by former President Donald Trump, the latest opinion from the conservative court rolling back firearm regulations.” (06/18/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/18/politics/senate-bump-stock-ban-bill/index.html
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4) NY: High court dismisses disgraced former president’s gag order challenge
Source: The Hill
“New York’s top court on Tuesday turned away former President Trump’s challenge to a gag order imposed on his public statements in his hush money criminal case. The gag order, which remains in effect after being imposed weeks before his trial began, blocks Trump from publicly commenting about jurors, witnesses, court staff or the judge’s family, but it does not bar him from attacking the judge himself or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D). Bragg’s office contends the restrictions are necessary to protect the integrity of their case, but the former president has argued the gag order violates his First Amendment rights, appealing it all the way to the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, after losing in earlier stages.” (06/18/24)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4727420-new-york-high-court-dismisses-trump-gag-order-challenge/
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5) Bitcoin Touches One-Month Low in Broad Crypto Market Selloff
Source; Bloomberg
“Some $600 million was pulled from digital-asset products last week, the most since March, data from CoinShares International Ltd. show. Stubborn inflation has led traders to scale back expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year, posing a challenge for speculative investments such as crypto. Stocks and bonds have delivered better returns than Bitcoin this quarter, a turnaround from the three months through March, when digital assets outperformed traditional markets by a significant degree. … Bitcoin has quadrupled in price since the start of 2023 and scaled a record high of $73,798 in March, helped by demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds. The rally has cooled of late alongside a moderation in ETF inflows.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/CUSIO
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6) NASA delays return of Boeing Starliner spacecraft to June 26
Source: Washington Post
“Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was supposed to remain docked to the International Space Station for about a week, is getting some extra time in space, NASA said Tuesday, as officials troubleshoot helium leaks and study why some thrusters failed during the test flight. The capsule is now scheduled to fly a pair of NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, back to Earth and land in the New Mexico desert at 4:51 a.m. Eastern time June 26, which would mark a 20-day mission. The return leg, with a fiery plunge through the atmosphere, is a key part of the test flight that will stress the spacecraft’s heat shield with temperatures reaching about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/LX3do
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7) US regime suspends avocado and mango inspections in Mexico
Source: Axios
“U.S. authorities have temporarily halted avocado inspections from Mexico after Department of Agriculture inspectors were held and physically assaulted last week during a local protest, per several news reports. … Last week, two USDA inspectors in Uruapan, Michoacán, were among a group reportedly caught in a road blockade led by community police forces asking for better wages and work standards. Local media reports that the workers were temporarily detained and beaten while travelling with trucks carrying avocados. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Axios Latino but told Reuters that avocados and mangos already in transit are not affected by the suspension.” (06/18/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/18/avocado-mango-inspection-pause-mexican-state-security-concerns
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8) UK’s richest family on trial for human trafficking
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Four members of the UK’s richest family are on trial in Switzerland amid allegations they spent more money caring for their dog than their servants. The Hinduja family, worth an estimated £37bn ($47bn), is accused of exploitation and human trafficking. The family own a villa in Geneva’s wealthy neighbourhood of Cologny, and the charges against them all relate to their practice of importing servants from India to look after their children and household. It’s alleged that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, together with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, confiscated staff passports, paid them as little as $8 (£7) for 18-hour days, and allowed them little freedom to leave the house. Although a financial settlement over exploitation was reached last week, the Hindujas remain on trial for trafficking, which is a serious criminal offence in Switzerland.” (06/18/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm55gzvv1dro
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9) AZ: Epshteyn, Ellis, Lamon plead not guilty in fake elector case
Source: Seattle Times
“Lawyers Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis and former U.S. Senate candidate James Lamon have pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges for their roles in trying to overturn former President Donald Trump’s Arizona election loss to Joe Biden. The hearing Tuesday in a Phoenix courtroom marked the last of 18 arraignments in the fake elector case. Fifteen other people, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Epshteyn, a Trump adviser, is accused of assisting Giuliani in carrying out the scheme to submit fake electors for Trump in Arizona and obstruct the certification of election results by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/5e015
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10) FL: Mom says transphobic “investigation” has destroyed her daughter’s life
Source: SFGate
“A Florida public school employee who faces firing because she allowed her transgender daughter to play girls high school volleyball assailed those who outed her child, saying Tuesday that the ensuing investigation destroyed the girl’s life. Jessica Norton said her daughter was thriving at Monarch High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale before an anonymous tipster notified a Broward County school board member in November that the 16-year-old was playing on the girls varsity volleyball team in apparent violation of state law. … That November tip launched a school district investigation that has led to Norton facing the possible loss of her job as a computer information specialist at Monarch because she allowed her daughter to play. Investigators also said she didn’t, as part of her job, change the child’s gender on school records back to ‘male’ from ‘female,’ as required by district policy.” (06/18/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/mom-of-transgender-girl-athlete-says-florida-s-19520696.php
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11) Meloni rejects deal struck over EU top jobs after talks snub
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Giorgia Meloni was visibly upset when she was left out of a small group of EU leaders discussing top jobs. But snubbing the Italian prime minister could further complicate efforts to secure a swift deal on the bloc’s future leadership and priorities, according to officials involved in the talks. … Meloni raged at French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the prime ministers of the Netherlands, Greece and Spain for making her and others wait while they cooked up a deal that was then presented as a fait accompli. Afterwards, Meloni told reporters that ‘we will not accept a pre-packaged agreement.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/jKfWY
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12) Parkinson’s blood test gives early-diagnosis hope
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A simple blood test using artificial intelligence to predict Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms begin has been developed by researchers. They hope it can lead to a cheap, finger-prick test providing early diagnoses – and help find treatments to slow down the disease. Charity Parkinson’s UK said it was ‘a major step forward’ in the search for a non-invasive patient-friendly test. But larger trials are needed to prove its accuracy. Parkinson’s affects nearly 10 million people worldwide and more than 150,000 in the UK. Many are diagnosed having developed symptoms, such as tremors, movement and memory problems – caused by nerve cells dying in the part of the brain that controls movement. There is no cure, and no treatment to slow or stop the disease, although therapies exist to help manage symptoms.” (06/18/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c722yly6l6ro
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13) CO: In transgender discrimination case, justices consider pink or blue cake’s meaning
Source: SFGate
“From plain white cakes to rainbow-colored ones, the Colorado Supreme Court considered a variety of hypothetical cake-design scenarios Tuesday as it heard arguments in the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a pink cake with blue icing to celebrate a gender transition. The case involving Denver-area baker Jack Phillips is the latest of three in Colorado pitting LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights. In a previous case, Phillips scored a partial victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 after refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. The Colorado Supreme Court took Tuesday’s oral arguments in the transgender celebration cake case under advisement without ruling right away. The case originated when Phillips initially agreed to make a cake for attorney Autumn Scardina but then refused after Scardina explained she was going to use it to celebrate her gender transition.” (06/18/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/colorado-supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-in-19519556.php
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14) Toyota shareholders re-elect chairman despite governance concerns
Source: Reuters
“Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda and nine other members of the automaker’s board were re-elected at an annual general meeting on Tuesday, with shareholders shrugging off concerns about governance and certification test scandals. Two leading proxy advisers had recommended against Toyoda’s re-election. But his re-appointment was widely expected given shareholdings in the automaker owned by other Toyota group firms, record business results and his popularity among Japanese retail investors. … Toyoda’s approval rating fell to 85% last year from 96% in 2022. Since then, the world’s biggest automaker has been bedevilled by a spate of safety and other certification testing violations at group firms including small car maker Daihatsu as well as at its parent company. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had taken issue with the way the automaker has dealt with problems.” (06/18/24)
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota-holds-agm-under-pressure-overseas-with-wide-support-home-2024-06-18/
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15) Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Federal Action to Relieve Medical Debt
Source: Common Dreams
“A majority of Americans support medical debt relief, with about half showing strong support, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll, firstreported by The Associated Press on Tuesday, found that 51% of Americans believe it’s ‘extremely or very important’ for the U.S. government to provide relief to people with medical debt, while another 30% believe it’s ‘somewhat important.’ The support for government action comes as a glimmer of hope for the roughly 14 million Americans who owe $1,000 or more in medical debt (a common cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.) and the even greater number who have medical debt on their credit reports.” (06/18/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/medical-debt-poll
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16) Kenya: Regime thugs attack protests over proposed tax hikes in finance bill with chemical weapons, abduct dozens
Source: ABC News
“Dozens of protesters have been arrested in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in ongoing protests against proposed tax hikes in a finance bill that is due to be tabled in parliament. Civil society groups say that despite the arrests, demonstrations and a planned sit-down outside the parliament buildings will continue. Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei on Tuesday said no group had been granted permission to protest in the capital. The right to peaceful protests is guaranteed in Kenya’s constitution but organizers are required to notify the police beforehand. Police generally give a go-ahead unless there are security concerns. Police hurled tear-gas canisters at hundreds of demonstrators on Tuesday, forcing businesses to temporarily close for fear of looting.” (06/18/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dozens-arrested-kenya-protests-proposed-tax-hikes-finance-111208434
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17) IRS to close “major” tax loophole
Source: New York Post
“The IRS and Treasury Department on Monday unveiled a plan to end a major tax loophole used by wealthy taxpayers, a move that could generate as much as $50 billion in revenue over the next decade. The plan targets so-called ‘partnership basis shifting,’ a transaction that allows a business or person to operate through many different legal entities in order to take more deductions and minimize what they owe [sic], according to Treasury. ‘These tax shelters allow wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying what they owe [sic],’ IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. Biden administration officials likened the practice of basis shifting to a ‘shell game’ that allows businesses and individuals to ‘hide from a tax bill.'” [editor’s note: Nobody “owes” the IRS anything. Extortion demands do not constitute legitimate debt – TLK] (06/18/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/06/18/business/irs-to-close-major-tax-loophole/
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18) Stellantis Recalling Nearly 1.2 Million Vehicles to Fix Software Glitch That Disables Rear Camera
Source: US News & World Report
“Stellantis is recalling nearly 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada to fix a software glitch that can disable the rearview cameras. The recall covers Jeep Compass, Grand Cherokee, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years. Also included are Ram ProMaster vans from 2022 and 2023, as well as the Ram 3500 chassis cabs and Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups from 2022. Also covered are 2021 through 2023 Chrysler Pacifica minivans and Jeep Grand Cherokee L SUVs, and 2021 and 2022 Dodge Durango SUVs. A company investigation found that the vehicles have radio software that can inadvertently shut down the cameras.” (06/18/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-06-18/stellantis-recalling-nearly-1-2-million-vehicles-to-fix-software-glitch-that-disables-rear-camera
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19) SCOTUS: In striking down victim disarmament law, Thomas quotes former San Francisco mayor
Source: SFGate
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas cited the late California Sen. and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein in a Friday decision that overturned a federal ban on bump stocks. The court’s conservative supermajority ruled 6-3 to overturn a Trump-era ban from 2019 on a firearm attachment that [hoplophobes pretend] turns a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic one. … ‘ATF’s about-face drew criticism from some observers, including those who agreed that bump stocks should be banned,’ Thomas wrote. ‘Senator Dianne Feinstein, for example, warned that ATF lacked statutory authority to prohibit bump stocks, explaining that the proposed regulation ‘hinge[d] on a dubious analysis’ and that the ‘gun lobby and manufacturers [would] have a field day with [ATF’s] reasoning’ in court.'” (06/18/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/former-sf-mayor-cited-in-supreme-court-gun-ruling-19519137.php
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20) Thailand: Senate passes bill to end marriage apartheid
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Thailand’s Senate has passed a marriage equality bill, paving the way for the country to become the first in Southeast Asia to recognise same-sex marriage. The upper house on Tuesday approved the measure in its final reading – with 130 votes in favour from the 152 members in attendance, four against and 18 abstentions. The legislation will now go to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for assent, a formality that is widely expected to be granted. It will come into force 120 days after it is published in the royal gazette. Once the law takes effect, Thailand will become the third Asian jurisdiction after Nepal and Taiwan to legalise gay marriage.” (06/18/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/18/thailand-passes-landmark-bill-to-legalise-same-sex-marriage
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Will Trump Learn from Bump Stock Battering?
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“The Supreme Court last Friday struck down one of the most controversial gun control edicts in recent years. The ruling on bump stocks is being widely hailed as a victory for an expansive reading of the Second Amendment. But it is also a stark rebuke to Donald Trump’s dictatorial tendencies and his Presidential Magic Felony Wand.” (06/18/24)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/06/18/will-trump-learn-from-bump-stock-battering/
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22) All Vivek Murthy Wants for Christmas is a Label Maker
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“‘It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms,’ Vivek Murthy writes in a New York Times op-ed, ‘stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.’ An incredibly dumb idea, but it enjoys a certain amount of public attention because Vivek Murthy’s day job is with the federal government as (checks notes) surgeon general. If Murthy wants a ‘warning label’ on something, why not just order it instead of whining about it in the Times? Two reasons: The first is that he can’t just order it. The office of surgeon general doesn’t come with a label maker. He only gets one if Congress gives him one. The other is that his op-ed isn’t about ‘protecting children’ or ‘the public health.’ It’s about grandstanding on a current moral panic …” (06/18/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18748
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23) It Didn’t Start With Trump
Source: Reason
by Brian Doherty
“When the Clock Broke, by the progressive essayist John Ganz, is a solidly educational and entertaining work of political history. While Ganz winningly doesn’t bash you over the head page by page with the larger point he’s trying to make, the stories he chooses to tell about the early 1990s are meant to hit home how elements of American political, cultural, economic, and ideological life back then laid the groundwork for Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement today. His title derives from an obscure 1992 speech by a figure most progressive readers have likely never heard of: the libertarian-movement founding father and gadfly Murray Rothbard, an economist who also explored political philosophy and history as he built a case for a totally stateless society.” (06/18/24)
https://reason.com/2024/06/18/it-didnt-start-with-trump/
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24) One-Size-Fits-All Will Fail Every Time
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Michael Tomlinson
“In my part of the world, ‘Wrong Way Go Back’ is what the signs say if you try to drive onto the freeway down a slipway that is meant for cars coming off the freeway in the other direction. The world is facing a similar scenario as governments prepare to fight the next pandemic with the methods that led to defeat in the Covid-19 pandemic. Except that they all believe the opposite – they think it was a great triumph, that millions of lives (which only exist in a counterfactual virtual world) were saved, and that some minor improvements are needed that will lead to even better results next time. And the vocal experts are telling them that the next time will be soon.” (06/18/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/one-size-fits-all-will-fail-every-time/
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25) The Netanyahu And Biden Doctrines
Source: Liberty International
by Walter E Block
“Notice that Joe Biden now holds the office of President of the United States. He is not now, and never has been, elected as the Prime Minister of Israel. Yet, we cannot but acknowledge that he is, according to Friedman, sticking his snout into the business of a foreign country. Given this situation, we cannot refrain from offering a Netanyahu Doctrine. Needless to say, to return the favor, the ND will have nothing whatsoever to do with Israel. Rather, so as to be responsive, it will concern, only, the US.” (06/17/24)
https://liberty-intl.org/2024/06/17/the-netanyahu-and-biden-doctrines
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26) South Africa’s calming political center
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“The French call it ‘cohabitation.’ When their country holds a parliamentary election in a few weeks, voters in France may hand control of the National Assembly to opponents of President Emmanuel Macron. Divided government – a president from one party, a prime minister from another – is rare in France. If it does happen, the European nation can turn for encouragement to a new model – in South Africa. Last Friday, South Africa saw its first coalition government in three decades after voters used an election in May to deprive the once-dominant party, the African National Congress, of its long-held majority. The new government – a team of rivals between the ANC and two other parties – shows how adversaries can forge unity and trust through a shared respect for voter preferences on issues.” (06/17/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0617/South-Africa-s-calming-political-center
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27) Abundance in the age of revolt
Source: hypertext
by Colin Mortimer
“Martin Gurri’s Revolt of the Public neatly delivers a thesis that many in politics and policy have long observed. In short, since the dawn of the digital age, the public, armed with devices of mass communication and the internet, has acquired unprecedented power to disrupt the political process. The failures of government and our elected officials are on display more starkly. When everyone has the ability to be a news source through social media, the bastions of traditional media can no longer control narratives and sway public opinion as they did before. When combined with intense partisan polarization, this potential for public intervention is profoundly threatening to lawmakers. Ironically, the era of transparency has thus encouraged legislating through the so-called ‘Secret Congress.'” (06/18/24)
https://hypertextjournal.substack.com/p/abundance-in-the-age-of-revolt
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28) Trump’s Conviction Was Supposed to Boost His Popularity. It Hasn’t.
Source: The Nation
by Chris Lehmann
“Amid the steady torrent of MAGA-branded falsehoods and cynical spin jobs streaming through this election season, one whopper has stood out: the notion that Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in New York would prove an asset to his reelection campaign. Duly parroted among the Beltway press and right-wing pundits, this claim distilled a long series of GOP talking points on the reckless and tyrannical conduct of Democratic ‘lawfare’ targeting the former president. As righteous Americans saw the fallout from this campaign, they’d rise up in outrage on Trump’s behalf — or so went the standard MAGA refrain. But now that the verdict has sunk in — and Biden strategists have awakened to the advantages of pitching an aggressive message around Trump’s rampant criminality — voters are looking unlikely to join the retinue of MAGA leaders in storming the Bastille.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/nukJP
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29) Some 40 Years Later: A Nation STILL at Risk
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“School’s out for the summer, so now it is time to examine the state of our education system. By any objective measure, our school performance is fair or poor for most children. Math scores hit a 20-year low. ACT scores dropped to a 30-year low last year. In dozens of schools throughout the country, not one child is reading or practicing math at grade-level proficiency. Not one! Some of this poor performance is due to the unforgivable mistake of shutting down our schools during COVID-19 — despite children being less vulnerable to the virus. But our schools were in long-term decline BEFORE the pandemic. One of the world’s top education scholars, Eric Hanushek, recently issued a report on the 40-year anniversary of the famous federal study published in 1983 called ‘A Nation at Risk.'” (06/18/24)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2024/06/18/some-40-years-later-a-nation-still-at-risk-n2640605
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30) Trump Is Haunted by Abortion — He Should Be
Source: The Bulwark
by AB Stoddard
“Last week Donald Trump came to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional Republicans about the GOP’s policy agenda for next year when, they all confidently assume, Republicans will control the Congress and the presidency. But instead of a discussion of tax rates, or the urgent need to pass new immigration restrictions, Republicans listened to Trump’s trademark ‘rambling’ shtick — a performance one participant likened to ‘talking to your drunk uncle at the family reunion.’ Trump did make clear his one policy priority, however …. Republicans should not avoid [abortion] as Democrats emphasize the issue, Trump warned. Republicans must support exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. They need to ‘be smart.’ When Democrats mark the second anniversary of the Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade next week, Trump will be hating it.” (06/18/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-haunted-by-abortion-dobbs-roe
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31) A National Climate Action Plan: Why We Need It and How to Do It
Source: TomDispatch
by John J. Berger
“While April and May are usually the hottest months in many countries in Southeast Asia, hundreds of millions of people are now suffering in South Asia from an exceptionally intense heat wave that has killed hundreds. One expert has already called it the most extreme heat event in history. Record-breaking temperatures above 122º F were reported in the Indian capital of New Delhi and temperatures sizzled to an unheard of 127º F in parts of India and Pakistan. Nor was the blazing heat limited to Asia. Heat waves of exceptional severity and duration are now occurring simultaneously in many areas of the world. Mexico and parts of the United States, notably Miami and Phoenix, have recently been in the grip of intense heat events.” (06/18/24)
https://tomdispatch.com/a-national-climate-action-plan/
-----
32) Why Trump is ready to go harder on China
Source: Semafor
by Morgan Chalfant
“Donald Trump is gearing up for a sequel to his trade war with China if he returns to the White House. And this time, advisers and allies say he’s much less interested in a deal. … Trump, whose campaign did not respond to outreach from Semafor, has already floated imposing tariffs of 60% or more on all Chinese imports as part of a wider protectionist agenda. … allies and alums of Trump’s first administration say an aggressive China economic policy would potentially go much further than just tariffs. They say it could include more stringent export controls of key US technologies, aimed at hampering Chinese industry, and restrictions on US investments in China.” (06/18/24)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/17/2024/why-trump-is-ready-to-go-harder-on-china
-----
33) Leave Us Alone to Do Our Work
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Drearily, an appeals court has dismissed Uber’s challenge to California’s anti-gig-work law. According to the 9th Circuit, the ride-sharing company couldn’t show that the California anti-freelancer law AB5, which took effect in 2020, unfairly targeted Uber while allowing other types of contract work to continue unhindered. In fact, the many exceptions to AB5 — determined by abundance or lack of political pull of various groups — mean that Uber is hardly alone in suffering from uneven application of the law. But suppose AB5 had in fact been evenly imposed on everybody. Suppose every single gig worker in California, without exception, had been forced to become a regular employee of all of his clients — with all the additional costs for employers that this entails — or else lose all work altogether. This would be worse, not better.” (06/18/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/06/18/leave-us-alone-to-do-our-work/
-----
34) While Expanding Draft Registration, US Preparing For WWIII
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“So I guess we should probably talk about the way NATO powers are rapidly escalating toward hot war with Russia at the same time the US is expanding its draft policies to make it easier to force more Americans go and fight in a giant war. In an article titled ‘NATO: 500,000 Troops on High Readiness for War With Russia,’ Antiwar’s Kyle Anzalone highlights NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s comments on Friday stating the alliance actually has a far greater number of troops it could deploy than the 300,000 it had previously set as its goal. ‘Allies are offering forces to NATO’s command at a scale not seen in decades,’ Stoltenberg said on Friday. ‘Today we have 500,000 troops at high readiness across all domains, significantly more than the goal that was set at the 2022 Madrid Summit.'” (06/18/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/06/18/the-us-is-preparing-for-wwiii-while-expanding-draft-registration/
-----
35) Is Promoting to Customers a Crime?
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by David R Henderson & Charles L Hooper
“The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the Justice Department would conduct a ‘criminal investigation into consulting firm McKinsey related to its past role in advising some of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers on how to boost sales.’ … Imagine that. McKinsey allegedly tried to help Purdue tailor its sales efforts to doctors who already prescribed oral opioid drugs. There’s nothing mysterious or nefarious about this. It is standard and economically rational. To do otherwise would be inefficient and wasteful. Some consultants do this sort of work virtually every day. … But because OxyContin — the Food and Drug Administration-approved prescription opioid at the center of the opioid overdose epidemic — is involved, everything is suspect.” (06/18/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/is-promoting-to-customers-a-crime/
-----
36) Who Pays?
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“If Donald Trump has a superpower, it is being so brazen and insistent in his stupidity and dishonesty that his lackeys, sycophants, and credulous marks have no choice but to adopt his stupidity and dishonesty as their own. … As heuristics go, that’s a time-saving line in the sand: Either people actually believe it when they repeat Trump’s baloney, in which case they are too stupid for further conversation to be of any value, or they don’t believe it, in which case they are dishonest — and there’s never any point talking to a dishonest person. Meet today’s contestant in ‘Stupid Or Dishonest?’ — Republic National Committee spokeswoman Anna Kelly, who claimed: ‘The notion that tariffs are a tax on U.S. consumers is a lie pushed by outsourcers and the Chinese Communist Party.'” (06/18/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/who-pays/
-----
37) Is the War on Drugs Constitutional?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert VerBruggen
“David Pozen’s The Constitution of the War on Drugs is a fascinating and thorough history of constitutional challenges to drug laws, and well worth reading — though the way this history is framed can be maddening. In the book’s strident introduction, Pozen declares the drug war to be a ‘policy fiasco’ with virtually no support among serious experts. The book’s purpose, he says, is to explain why the resistance to this fiasco so rarely takes the form of constitutional challenges, rather than policy arguments and legislative efforts.” (06/18/24)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/is-the-war-on-drugs-constitutional/
-----
38) Biden frailty no “cheap fake”: American voters WILL believe their eyes
Source: New York Post
by staff
“The Biden White House is yet again asking you not to believe your lyin’ eyes — this time about the president’s (quite obvious, and frighteningly rapid) advancing frailty. Just in the past week or so Joe has frozen up at a Juneteenth musical celebration and a megabucks LA fundraiser, where he was led off the stage by his former boss Barack Obama. He also pulled one of his trademark wander-offs during a public meeting with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. The administration’s response to The Post’s reporting on these worrying and embarrassing moments? White House flack Karine Jean-Pierre is calling them ‘cheap fakes,’ i.e. dishonestly edited pieces of right-wing propaganda, and trying to pretend Biden’s behavior was normal.” (06/18/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/06/18/opinion/joe-bidens-frailty-is-no-cheapfake-and-american-voters-will-believe-their-eyes/
-----
39) Republicans Woo Libertarians, Democrats Ignore Them, at Their Peril
Source: CounterPunch
by Nick Licata
“It’s easy to ignore or even belittle the Libertarian Party’s past election results. Admittedly, the Libertarian presidential candidate’s performance has been minuscule. They’ve been at one or three percent of the popular vote in the last three presidential races. Nevertheless, they are the best-organized independent party, having their presidential candidate on every state’s ballot in five of the last eight presidential elections and more times on the ballot than any other third party. Libertarian Party members will most likely vote for their candidate in any presidential election. However, if the Democrats and Republicans make a pitch that appeals to their values, some may vote for Biden or Trump. Those voters could make a crucial difference in the swing states that narrowly went to Trump in 2016 when he carried more independent voters than Clinton.” (06/18/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/06/18/republicans-woo-libertarians-democrats-ignore-them-at-their-peril/
-----
40) We Spent a Billion Dollars Fighting the Houthis … and Lost
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ron Paul
“To great fanfare, last December the Pentagon announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a joint US/UK military operation to halt the Yemeni Houthi disruption of Israel-linked commercial shipping through the Red Sea. The Houthis announced their policy in response to civilian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, but when the US and UK military became involved they announced they would target US and UK shipping as well. The operation was supposed to be quick and easy. After all, the rag-tag Houthi militia was no match for the mighty US and UK navies. But it didn’t work out that way at all. Over the weekend the Wall Street Journal published a devastating article revealing that after spending more than one billion dollars on munitions alone, the operation had failed to deter the Houthis and failed to re-open commercial shipping in the Red Sea.” (06/18/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2024/06/17/we-spent-a-billion-dollars-fighting-the-houthis-and-lost/
-----
41) Why these countries turned their backs on Ukraine “peace” doc
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sarang Shidore
“Key Global South middle powers India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates declined to sign the joint communique at a summit in Switzerland on resolving the Ukraine war. (Another key middle power Brazil had decided to attend only as an observer.) These Global South middle powers did not endorse the communique despite the text’s recitation of the importance of ‘sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity’ and food security, both of which are key points of concern and consensus across developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. … These middle powers are skeptical that a summit that excluded Russia, the biggest combatant in the conflict, could achieve a peace deal to end the war.” (06/18/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-peace-summit-2668538161/
-----
42) Former DCCC Leaders Working to Defeat Incumbent House Democrats
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“In 2019, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which exists to elect House Democrats, instituted what came to be known as the blacklist. Any vendor—a consultant, media placement firm, pollster, or provider of services to campaigns—who worked for a challenger to an incumbent House Democrat would be barred from working for the DCCC, and the DCCC would block them from an approved vendor list used to recommend firms to other campaigns. While the blacklist was a blanket proposal, it was rather obviously targeted to progressive groups that had provided support to successful primary challengers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) in the previous cycle. The DCCC steers millions of dollars to vendors through independent expenditures and recommendations for frontline races; the ban threatened to bankrupt campaign firms for working with progressives.” (06/18/24)
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-06-18-former-dccc-leaders-incumbent-house-democrats/
-----
43) Why Economic Growth Causes Price Decline Not Increase?
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Frank Shostak
“Some economic commentators are of the view that whenever the economy strengthens it should be the role of the Federal Reserve (Fed) to step in at some stage and introduce a tighter interest rate stance in order to prevent general increases in the prices of goods getting out of control. However, why should economic growth be positively associated with general increase in the prices of goods and services? We suggest that economic growth is about an increase in the production of goods and services that individuals require to support their life and wellbeing.” (06/18/24)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2024/06/why-economic-growth-causes-price-decline-not-increase/
-----
44) NATO Must Make a Nuclear Deal With Russia
Source: The American Conservative
by Matthew Mai
“NATO’s 75th anniversary might seem to some like a good opportunity for the alliance to double down on its core mission: deterring and, if necessary, defending member states from Russian aggression. But increasing defense capabilities alone isn’t enough to reduce the risk of conflict with Russia. NATO, and especially the United States, should consider negotiations with Russia to reduce the dangerous nuclear risks that have been exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict.” (06/18/24)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/nato-must-make-a-nuclear-deal-with-russia/
-----
45) CNN Wants to Mute Trump at Its Debate. Good Luck With That
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“Will CNN enforce the rules — and what happens if Trump tries to break them?” (06/17/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-wants-to-mute-trump-at-its-debate-good-luck-with-that
-----
46) Congress’s Antisemitism Efforts Mask a Broader Assault on Free Speech
Source: New York Post
by Hanna Dasoo
“Over the past few months, lawmakers in Washington have pushed a wave of bills and held multiple hearings that ostensibly aim to address the rise in antisemitism. These measures have caught lawmakers and the public off-guard with their swift movement through the House. Certainly, some of these lawmakers are well-intentioned. But by and large, these efforts mask a much larger, darker agenda: Many far-right lawmakers are seizing an opportunity to fashion yet another political weapon against free speech and thought. It’s part of a tried-and-true playbook. Consider just a few of the recent legislative moves to address antisemitism. The House recently passed a bill to sanction the ICC for seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On the day of the vote, Rep. Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) tweeted, ‘We can’t sit by idly as antisemitism takes root in the International Criminal Court.'” (06/18/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/antisemitism-free-speech
-----
47) We Can’t Have a New Paradigm as Long as People Think the Old One Was Free-Market Fundamentalism
Source: Beat The Press
by Dean Baker
“The belief in free-market fundamentalism runs very deep. When I say that, I don’t mean that support for the concept runs deep, I mean the belief that we had been pursuing free-market policies in the years before the Trump and Biden presidency runs very deep. I was reminded of this fact in a New York Times column by Farah Stockman, touting the development of a new post-free-market fundamentalist paradigm. … Our policies were never about free trade. They were about selective protectionism, where we expose manufacturing workers to direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world, but we protect our most highly-paid professionals from the same sort of competition. Again, it’s not surprising that the winners from this policy would like to call it ‘free trade.’ That sounds much better than structuring trade to make the rich richer. But why would opponents of this policy accept this dishonest terminology?” (06/17/24)
https://cepr.net/we-cant-have-a-new-paradigm-as-long-as-people-think-the-old-one-was-free-market-fundamentalism/
-----
48) Nominal GDP as an indicator
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
“Many of my contrarian opinions derive from my focus on a single macroeconomic variable — NGDP. Consider the recent period of high inflation. Almost all economists believe the inflation was caused by a mix of supply and demand side shocks. In contrast, I believe the high inflation was all demand-side, with supply shocks playing no role at all, at least over the 2019-24 period as a whole.” (06/17/24)
https://www.econlib.org/nominal-gdp-as-an-indicator/
-----
49) Trump Conviction Doesn’t Change Fact: Criminal Justice System Rigged In Favor of Rich Elites
Source: In These Times
by Sonali Kolhatkar
“Many Americans are celebrating the news of Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges in a hush-money incident that took place ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Newspaper headlines screamed ’TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS’ and media reports relied on superlatives such as ‘historic’ and ‘unprecedented’ to label the unanimous jury verdict. Given that Trump has been unusually adept at avoiding accountability for a staggering number of alleged crimes, the verdict felt like a long-overdue comeuppance. It was even more shocking than the news of Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the murder of George Floyd four years ago — but not by much. The United States criminal justice system was not designed to be applied equally across race and class. It was designed to protect men like Trump and Chauvin — powerful elites who bend laws to suit their purpose and the henchmen who serve them.” (06/18/24)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/trump-conviction-hush-money-trial-2024
-----
50) Recycling Plastic Is a Dangerous Waste of Time
Source: Quillette
by Frank Celia
“[A]mid calls to reduce plastic garbage in the 1970s and ’80s, the petrochemical industry put forth recycling as a red herring to create the appearance of a solution while it continued to make as much plastic as it pleased. Multiple paper trails indicate that industry leaders knew from the start that recycling could never work at scale. And indeed, it hasn’t. Only about nine percent of plastic worldwide gets recycled, and the US manages only about six percent. As bad as this is, the situation might actually be much worse. According to an emerging field of study, the facilities that recycle plastic have been spewing massive amounts of toxins called microplastics into local waterways, soil, and air for decades. In other words, the very industry created to solve the plastic-waste problem has only succeeded in making it worse, possibly exponentially so.” (06/17/24)
https://quillette.com/2024/06/17/recycling-plastic-is-a-dangerous-waste-of-time-microplastics-health/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Vital Center, episode 68
Source: Niskanen Center
“The Latino century, with Mike Madrid.” (06/18/24)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-latino-century-with-mike-madrid
-----
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 617
Source: Libertarian Institute
“NATO Mulling Ramping Up Nuclear Deployments.” (06/18/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-617-nato-mulling-ramping-up-nuclear-deployments
-----
53) Rising, 06/18/24
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave and Michael Starr Hopkins preview Boeing CEO David Calhoun’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.” (06/18/24)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4727370-rising-june-18-2024/
-----
54) How To Fix The Internet, 06/18/24
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
“AI in Kitopia.” (06/18/24)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/podcast-episode-ai-kitopia
-----
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/18/24
Source: The Dispatch
“Living Anachronism.” (06/18/24)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/living-anachronism/
-----
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/18/24
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly visit with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. If you need encouragement, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear.” (06/18/24)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-kcqct-1645d79
-----
57) The New Abnormal, 06/18/24
Source: The Daily Beast
“Stop Inviting Trump Toadies Like Kellyanne Conway on Cable News Shows.” (06/18/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/stop-inviting-trump-toadies-like-kellyanne-conway-on-cable-news-shows
-----
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 06/17/24
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Longer Days and Fewer Hours with James V. Shuls and Avery Frank.” (06/17/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/education/longer-days-and-fewer-hours-with-james-v-shuls-and-avery-frank/
-----
59) Free Talk Live, 06/17/24
Source: Free Talk Live
“Aria forgot to take show notes :: An awesome person talks about a compelling book :: Bonnie, Aria, and dogs :: Hosts: Aria, Peakless, Bonnie.” (06/17/24)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2024-06-17
-----
60) Ill Literacy, episode 146
Source: Heartland Institute
“Arabella (Guest: Scott Walter).” (06/17/24)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/ill-literacy-episode-146-arabella-guest-scott-walter/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) North Korea: Kim vows “full support” for Russia in Ukraine as Putin visits Pyongyang
2) Hajj: At least 550 people die in annual Muslim pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca
3) Senate GOP blocks effort by Democrats to pass bump stock ban after Supreme Court ruling
4) NY: High court dismisses disgraced former president’s gag order challenge
5) Bitcoin Touches One-Month Low in Broad Crypto Market Selloff
6) NASA delays return of Boeing Starliner spacecraft to June 26
7) US regime suspends avocado and mango inspections in Mexico
8) UK’s richest family on trial for human trafficking
9) AZ: Epshteyn, Ellis, Lamon plead not guilty in fake elector case
10) FL: Mom says transphobic “investigation” has destroyed her daughter’s life
11) Meloni rejects deal struck over EU top jobs after talks snub
12) Parkinson’s blood test gives early-diagnosis hope
13) CO: In transgender discrimination case, justices consider pink or blue cake’s meaning
14) Toyota shareholders re-elect chairman despite governance concerns
15) Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Federal Action to Relieve Medical Debt
16) Kenya: Regime thugs attack protests over proposed tax hikes in finance bill with chemical weapons, abduct dozens
17) IRS to close “major” tax loophole
18) Stellantis Recalling Nearly 1.2 Million Vehicles to Fix Software Glitch That Disables Rear Camera
19) SCOTUS: In striking down victim disarmament law, Thomas quotes former San Francisco mayor
20) Thailand: Senate passes bill to end marriage apartheid
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Will Trump Learn from Bump Stock Battering?
22) All Vivek Murthy Wants for Christmas is a Label Maker
23) It Didn’t Start With Trump
24) One-Size-Fits-All Will Fail Every Time
25) The Netanyahu And Biden Doctrines
26) South Africa’s calming political center
27) Abundance in the age of revolt
28) Trump’s Conviction Was Supposed to Boost His Popularity. It Hasn’t.
29) Some 40 Years Later: A Nation STILL at Risk
30) Trump Is Haunted by Abortion — He Should Be
31) A National Climate Action Plan: Why We Need It and How to Do It
32) Why Trump is ready to go harder on China
33) Leave Us Alone to Do Our Work
34) While Expanding Draft Registration, US Preparing For WWIII
35) Is Promoting to Customers a Crime?
36) Who Pays?
37) Is the War on Drugs Constitutional?
38) Biden frailty no “cheap fake”: American voters WILL believe their eyes
39) Republicans Woo Libertarians, Democrats Ignore Them, at Their Peril
40) We Spent a Billion Dollars Fighting the Houthis … and Lost
41) Why these countries turned their backs on Ukraine “peace” doc
42) Former DCCC Leaders Working to Defeat Incumbent House Democrats
43) Why Economic Growth Causes Price Decline Not Increase?
44) NATO Must Make a Nuclear Deal With Russia
45) CNN Wants to Mute Trump at Its Debate. Good Luck With That
46) Congress’s Antisemitism Efforts Mask a Broader Assault on Free Speech
47) We Can’t Have a New Paradigm as Long as People Think the Old One Was Free-Market Fundamentalism
48) Nominal GDP as an indicator
49) Trump Conviction Doesn’t Change Fact: Criminal Justice System Rigged In Favor of Rich Elites
50) Recycling Plastic Is a Dangerous Waste of Time
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Vital Center, episode 68
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 617
53) Rising, 06/18/24
54) How To Fix The Internet, 06/18/24
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/18/24
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/18/24
57) The New Abnormal, 06/18/24
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 06/17/24
59) Free Talk Live, 06/17/24
60) Ill Literacy, episode 146
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) North Korea: Kim vows “full support” for Russia in Ukraine as Putin visits Pyongyang
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promised ‘full support and solidarity’ for Russia’s war in Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin said during their meeting in Pyongyang that Moscow is fighting against the decades-long ‘hegemonic and imperialist policy’ of the United States and its allies. Putin on Wednesday thanked Kim for ‘unwavering’ support on Ukraine. The Russian leader is on his first visit to North Korea in 24 years, with relations between the two countries growing closer in the months since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and rising concern that Pyongyang is providing Russia with weapons in return for Russian technological expertise. Russia and North Korea have denied arms transfers but have promised to strengthen military ties.” (06/19/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/19/putin-flies-into-pyongyang-to-waiting-kim-and-red-carpet-welcome
-----
2) Hajj: At least 550 people die in annual Muslim pilgrimage to holy city of Mecca
Source: Sky News [UK]
“At least 550 people have died during the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in the scorching heat, it has been reported. Temperatures reached at least 51.8C (125F) in the shade in the Saudi Arabian city, as huge crowds of Muslims undertook the annual religious journey — one of the five pillars of Islam. ‘Hajj is a difficult task, so you have to exert efforts and perform the rituals even in the conditions of heat and crowding,’ an Egyptian pilgrim said. Pilgrims used umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, as Saudi authorities warned pilgrims to stay hydrated and avoid being outdoors during the hottest hours between 11am and 3pm.” (06/19/24)
https://news.sky.com/story/hajj-at-least-550-people-die-in-annual-muslim-pilgrimage-to-holy-city-of-mecca-13155271
-----
3) Senate GOP blocks effort by Democrats to pass bump stock ban after Supreme Court ruling
Source: CNN
“Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked an attempt by Democrats to pass a bill to ban bump stocks in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling. The bill would enact a federal ban on the sale of bump stock devices. Bump stocks allow a shooter to convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute. The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a federal ban on bump stocks approved by former President Donald Trump, the latest opinion from the conservative court rolling back firearm regulations.” (06/18/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/18/politics/senate-bump-stock-ban-bill/index.html
-----
4) NY: High court dismisses disgraced former president’s gag order challenge
Source: The Hill
“New York’s top court on Tuesday turned away former President Trump’s challenge to a gag order imposed on his public statements in his hush money criminal case. The gag order, which remains in effect after being imposed weeks before his trial began, blocks Trump from publicly commenting about jurors, witnesses, court staff or the judge’s family, but it does not bar him from attacking the judge himself or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D). Bragg’s office contends the restrictions are necessary to protect the integrity of their case, but the former president has argued the gag order violates his First Amendment rights, appealing it all the way to the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, after losing in earlier stages.” (06/18/24)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4727420-new-york-high-court-dismisses-trump-gag-order-challenge/
-----
5) Bitcoin Touches One-Month Low in Broad Crypto Market Selloff
Source; Bloomberg
“Some $600 million was pulled from digital-asset products last week, the most since March, data from CoinShares International Ltd. show. Stubborn inflation has led traders to scale back expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year, posing a challenge for speculative investments such as crypto. Stocks and bonds have delivered better returns than Bitcoin this quarter, a turnaround from the three months through March, when digital assets outperformed traditional markets by a significant degree. … Bitcoin has quadrupled in price since the start of 2023 and scaled a record high of $73,798 in March, helped by demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds. The rally has cooled of late alongside a moderation in ETF inflows.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/CUSIO
-----
6) NASA delays return of Boeing Starliner spacecraft to June 26
Source: Washington Post
“Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was supposed to remain docked to the International Space Station for about a week, is getting some extra time in space, NASA said Tuesday, as officials troubleshoot helium leaks and study why some thrusters failed during the test flight. The capsule is now scheduled to fly a pair of NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, back to Earth and land in the New Mexico desert at 4:51 a.m. Eastern time June 26, which would mark a 20-day mission. The return leg, with a fiery plunge through the atmosphere, is a key part of the test flight that will stress the spacecraft’s heat shield with temperatures reaching about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/LX3do
-----
7) US regime suspends avocado and mango inspections in Mexico
Source: Axios
“U.S. authorities have temporarily halted avocado inspections from Mexico after Department of Agriculture inspectors were held and physically assaulted last week during a local protest, per several news reports. … Last week, two USDA inspectors in Uruapan, Michoacán, were among a group reportedly caught in a road blockade led by community police forces asking for better wages and work standards. Local media reports that the workers were temporarily detained and beaten while travelling with trucks carrying avocados. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Axios Latino but told Reuters that avocados and mangos already in transit are not affected by the suspension.” (06/18/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/18/avocado-mango-inspection-pause-mexican-state-security-concerns
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8) UK’s richest family on trial for human trafficking
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Four members of the UK’s richest family are on trial in Switzerland amid allegations they spent more money caring for their dog than their servants. The Hinduja family, worth an estimated £37bn ($47bn), is accused of exploitation and human trafficking. The family own a villa in Geneva’s wealthy neighbourhood of Cologny, and the charges against them all relate to their practice of importing servants from India to look after their children and household. It’s alleged that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, together with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, confiscated staff passports, paid them as little as $8 (£7) for 18-hour days, and allowed them little freedom to leave the house. Although a financial settlement over exploitation was reached last week, the Hindujas remain on trial for trafficking, which is a serious criminal offence in Switzerland.” (06/18/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm55gzvv1dro
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9) AZ: Epshteyn, Ellis, Lamon plead not guilty in fake elector case
Source: Seattle Times
“Lawyers Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis and former U.S. Senate candidate James Lamon have pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges for their roles in trying to overturn former President Donald Trump’s Arizona election loss to Joe Biden. The hearing Tuesday in a Phoenix courtroom marked the last of 18 arraignments in the fake elector case. Fifteen other people, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Epshteyn, a Trump adviser, is accused of assisting Giuliani in carrying out the scheme to submit fake electors for Trump in Arizona and obstruct the certification of election results by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/5e015
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10) FL: Mom says transphobic “investigation” has destroyed her daughter’s life
Source: SFGate
“A Florida public school employee who faces firing because she allowed her transgender daughter to play girls high school volleyball assailed those who outed her child, saying Tuesday that the ensuing investigation destroyed the girl’s life. Jessica Norton said her daughter was thriving at Monarch High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale before an anonymous tipster notified a Broward County school board member in November that the 16-year-old was playing on the girls varsity volleyball team in apparent violation of state law. … That November tip launched a school district investigation that has led to Norton facing the possible loss of her job as a computer information specialist at Monarch because she allowed her daughter to play. Investigators also said she didn’t, as part of her job, change the child’s gender on school records back to ‘male’ from ‘female,’ as required by district policy.” (06/18/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/mom-of-transgender-girl-athlete-says-florida-s-19520696.php
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11) Meloni rejects deal struck over EU top jobs after talks snub
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Giorgia Meloni was visibly upset when she was left out of a small group of EU leaders discussing top jobs. But snubbing the Italian prime minister could further complicate efforts to secure a swift deal on the bloc’s future leadership and priorities, according to officials involved in the talks. … Meloni raged at French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the prime ministers of the Netherlands, Greece and Spain for making her and others wait while they cooked up a deal that was then presented as a fait accompli. Afterwards, Meloni told reporters that ‘we will not accept a pre-packaged agreement.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/jKfWY
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12) Parkinson’s blood test gives early-diagnosis hope
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A simple blood test using artificial intelligence to predict Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms begin has been developed by researchers. They hope it can lead to a cheap, finger-prick test providing early diagnoses – and help find treatments to slow down the disease. Charity Parkinson’s UK said it was ‘a major step forward’ in the search for a non-invasive patient-friendly test. But larger trials are needed to prove its accuracy. Parkinson’s affects nearly 10 million people worldwide and more than 150,000 in the UK. Many are diagnosed having developed symptoms, such as tremors, movement and memory problems – caused by nerve cells dying in the part of the brain that controls movement. There is no cure, and no treatment to slow or stop the disease, although therapies exist to help manage symptoms.” (06/18/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c722yly6l6ro
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13) CO: In transgender discrimination case, justices consider pink or blue cake’s meaning
Source: SFGate
“From plain white cakes to rainbow-colored ones, the Colorado Supreme Court considered a variety of hypothetical cake-design scenarios Tuesday as it heard arguments in the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a pink cake with blue icing to celebrate a gender transition. The case involving Denver-area baker Jack Phillips is the latest of three in Colorado pitting LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights. In a previous case, Phillips scored a partial victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 after refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. The Colorado Supreme Court took Tuesday’s oral arguments in the transgender celebration cake case under advisement without ruling right away. The case originated when Phillips initially agreed to make a cake for attorney Autumn Scardina but then refused after Scardina explained she was going to use it to celebrate her gender transition.” (06/18/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/colorado-supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-in-19519556.php
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14) Toyota shareholders re-elect chairman despite governance concerns
Source: Reuters
“Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda and nine other members of the automaker’s board were re-elected at an annual general meeting on Tuesday, with shareholders shrugging off concerns about governance and certification test scandals. Two leading proxy advisers had recommended against Toyoda’s re-election. But his re-appointment was widely expected given shareholdings in the automaker owned by other Toyota group firms, record business results and his popularity among Japanese retail investors. … Toyoda’s approval rating fell to 85% last year from 96% in 2022. Since then, the world’s biggest automaker has been bedevilled by a spate of safety and other certification testing violations at group firms including small car maker Daihatsu as well as at its parent company. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had taken issue with the way the automaker has dealt with problems.” (06/18/24)
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota-holds-agm-under-pressure-overseas-with-wide-support-home-2024-06-18/
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15) Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Federal Action to Relieve Medical Debt
Source: Common Dreams
“A majority of Americans support medical debt relief, with about half showing strong support, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll, firstreported by The Associated Press on Tuesday, found that 51% of Americans believe it’s ‘extremely or very important’ for the U.S. government to provide relief to people with medical debt, while another 30% believe it’s ‘somewhat important.’ The support for government action comes as a glimmer of hope for the roughly 14 million Americans who owe $1,000 or more in medical debt (a common cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.) and the even greater number who have medical debt on their credit reports.” (06/18/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/medical-debt-poll
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16) Kenya: Regime thugs attack protests over proposed tax hikes in finance bill with chemical weapons, abduct dozens
Source: ABC News
“Dozens of protesters have been arrested in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in ongoing protests against proposed tax hikes in a finance bill that is due to be tabled in parliament. Civil society groups say that despite the arrests, demonstrations and a planned sit-down outside the parliament buildings will continue. Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei on Tuesday said no group had been granted permission to protest in the capital. The right to peaceful protests is guaranteed in Kenya’s constitution but organizers are required to notify the police beforehand. Police generally give a go-ahead unless there are security concerns. Police hurled tear-gas canisters at hundreds of demonstrators on Tuesday, forcing businesses to temporarily close for fear of looting.” (06/18/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dozens-arrested-kenya-protests-proposed-tax-hikes-finance-111208434
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17) IRS to close “major” tax loophole
Source: New York Post
“The IRS and Treasury Department on Monday unveiled a plan to end a major tax loophole used by wealthy taxpayers, a move that could generate as much as $50 billion in revenue over the next decade. The plan targets so-called ‘partnership basis shifting,’ a transaction that allows a business or person to operate through many different legal entities in order to take more deductions and minimize what they owe [sic], according to Treasury. ‘These tax shelters allow wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying what they owe [sic],’ IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. Biden administration officials likened the practice of basis shifting to a ‘shell game’ that allows businesses and individuals to ‘hide from a tax bill.'” [editor’s note: Nobody “owes” the IRS anything. Extortion demands do not constitute legitimate debt – TLK] (06/18/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/06/18/business/irs-to-close-major-tax-loophole/
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18) Stellantis Recalling Nearly 1.2 Million Vehicles to Fix Software Glitch That Disables Rear Camera
Source: US News & World Report
“Stellantis is recalling nearly 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada to fix a software glitch that can disable the rearview cameras. The recall covers Jeep Compass, Grand Cherokee, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years. Also included are Ram ProMaster vans from 2022 and 2023, as well as the Ram 3500 chassis cabs and Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups from 2022. Also covered are 2021 through 2023 Chrysler Pacifica minivans and Jeep Grand Cherokee L SUVs, and 2021 and 2022 Dodge Durango SUVs. A company investigation found that the vehicles have radio software that can inadvertently shut down the cameras.” (06/18/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-06-18/stellantis-recalling-nearly-1-2-million-vehicles-to-fix-software-glitch-that-disables-rear-camera
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19) SCOTUS: In striking down victim disarmament law, Thomas quotes former San Francisco mayor
Source: SFGate
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas cited the late California Sen. and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein in a Friday decision that overturned a federal ban on bump stocks. The court’s conservative supermajority ruled 6-3 to overturn a Trump-era ban from 2019 on a firearm attachment that [hoplophobes pretend] turns a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic one. … ‘ATF’s about-face drew criticism from some observers, including those who agreed that bump stocks should be banned,’ Thomas wrote. ‘Senator Dianne Feinstein, for example, warned that ATF lacked statutory authority to prohibit bump stocks, explaining that the proposed regulation ‘hinge[d] on a dubious analysis’ and that the ‘gun lobby and manufacturers [would] have a field day with [ATF’s] reasoning’ in court.'” (06/18/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/former-sf-mayor-cited-in-supreme-court-gun-ruling-19519137.php
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20) Thailand: Senate passes bill to end marriage apartheid
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Thailand’s Senate has passed a marriage equality bill, paving the way for the country to become the first in Southeast Asia to recognise same-sex marriage. The upper house on Tuesday approved the measure in its final reading – with 130 votes in favour from the 152 members in attendance, four against and 18 abstentions. The legislation will now go to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for assent, a formality that is widely expected to be granted. It will come into force 120 days after it is published in the royal gazette. Once the law takes effect, Thailand will become the third Asian jurisdiction after Nepal and Taiwan to legalise gay marriage.” (06/18/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/18/thailand-passes-landmark-bill-to-legalise-same-sex-marriage
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Will Trump Learn from Bump Stock Battering?
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“The Supreme Court last Friday struck down one of the most controversial gun control edicts in recent years. The ruling on bump stocks is being widely hailed as a victory for an expansive reading of the Second Amendment. But it is also a stark rebuke to Donald Trump’s dictatorial tendencies and his Presidential Magic Felony Wand.” (06/18/24)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/06/18/will-trump-learn-from-bump-stock-battering/
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22) All Vivek Murthy Wants for Christmas is a Label Maker
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“‘It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms,’ Vivek Murthy writes in a New York Times op-ed, ‘stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.’ An incredibly dumb idea, but it enjoys a certain amount of public attention because Vivek Murthy’s day job is with the federal government as (checks notes) surgeon general. If Murthy wants a ‘warning label’ on something, why not just order it instead of whining about it in the Times? Two reasons: The first is that he can’t just order it. The office of surgeon general doesn’t come with a label maker. He only gets one if Congress gives him one. The other is that his op-ed isn’t about ‘protecting children’ or ‘the public health.’ It’s about grandstanding on a current moral panic …” (06/18/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18748
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23) It Didn’t Start With Trump
Source: Reason
by Brian Doherty
“When the Clock Broke, by the progressive essayist John Ganz, is a solidly educational and entertaining work of political history. While Ganz winningly doesn’t bash you over the head page by page with the larger point he’s trying to make, the stories he chooses to tell about the early 1990s are meant to hit home how elements of American political, cultural, economic, and ideological life back then laid the groundwork for Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement today. His title derives from an obscure 1992 speech by a figure most progressive readers have likely never heard of: the libertarian-movement founding father and gadfly Murray Rothbard, an economist who also explored political philosophy and history as he built a case for a totally stateless society.” (06/18/24)
https://reason.com/2024/06/18/it-didnt-start-with-trump/
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24) One-Size-Fits-All Will Fail Every Time
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Michael Tomlinson
“In my part of the world, ‘Wrong Way Go Back’ is what the signs say if you try to drive onto the freeway down a slipway that is meant for cars coming off the freeway in the other direction. The world is facing a similar scenario as governments prepare to fight the next pandemic with the methods that led to defeat in the Covid-19 pandemic. Except that they all believe the opposite – they think it was a great triumph, that millions of lives (which only exist in a counterfactual virtual world) were saved, and that some minor improvements are needed that will lead to even better results next time. And the vocal experts are telling them that the next time will be soon.” (06/18/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/one-size-fits-all-will-fail-every-time/
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25) The Netanyahu And Biden Doctrines
Source: Liberty International
by Walter E Block
“Notice that Joe Biden now holds the office of President of the United States. He is not now, and never has been, elected as the Prime Minister of Israel. Yet, we cannot but acknowledge that he is, according to Friedman, sticking his snout into the business of a foreign country. Given this situation, we cannot refrain from offering a Netanyahu Doctrine. Needless to say, to return the favor, the ND will have nothing whatsoever to do with Israel. Rather, so as to be responsive, it will concern, only, the US.” (06/17/24)
https://liberty-intl.org/2024/06/17/the-netanyahu-and-biden-doctrines
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26) South Africa’s calming political center
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“The French call it ‘cohabitation.’ When their country holds a parliamentary election in a few weeks, voters in France may hand control of the National Assembly to opponents of President Emmanuel Macron. Divided government – a president from one party, a prime minister from another – is rare in France. If it does happen, the European nation can turn for encouragement to a new model – in South Africa. Last Friday, South Africa saw its first coalition government in three decades after voters used an election in May to deprive the once-dominant party, the African National Congress, of its long-held majority. The new government – a team of rivals between the ANC and two other parties – shows how adversaries can forge unity and trust through a shared respect for voter preferences on issues.” (06/17/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0617/South-Africa-s-calming-political-center
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27) Abundance in the age of revolt
Source: hypertext
by Colin Mortimer
“Martin Gurri’s Revolt of the Public neatly delivers a thesis that many in politics and policy have long observed. In short, since the dawn of the digital age, the public, armed with devices of mass communication and the internet, has acquired unprecedented power to disrupt the political process. The failures of government and our elected officials are on display more starkly. When everyone has the ability to be a news source through social media, the bastions of traditional media can no longer control narratives and sway public opinion as they did before. When combined with intense partisan polarization, this potential for public intervention is profoundly threatening to lawmakers. Ironically, the era of transparency has thus encouraged legislating through the so-called ‘Secret Congress.'” (06/18/24)
https://hypertextjournal.substack.com/p/abundance-in-the-age-of-revolt
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28) Trump’s Conviction Was Supposed to Boost His Popularity. It Hasn’t.
Source: The Nation
by Chris Lehmann
“Amid the steady torrent of MAGA-branded falsehoods and cynical spin jobs streaming through this election season, one whopper has stood out: the notion that Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in New York would prove an asset to his reelection campaign. Duly parroted among the Beltway press and right-wing pundits, this claim distilled a long series of GOP talking points on the reckless and tyrannical conduct of Democratic ‘lawfare’ targeting the former president. As righteous Americans saw the fallout from this campaign, they’d rise up in outrage on Trump’s behalf — or so went the standard MAGA refrain. But now that the verdict has sunk in — and Biden strategists have awakened to the advantages of pitching an aggressive message around Trump’s rampant criminality — voters are looking unlikely to join the retinue of MAGA leaders in storming the Bastille.” (06/18/24)
https://archive.is/nukJP
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29) Some 40 Years Later: A Nation STILL at Risk
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“School’s out for the summer, so now it is time to examine the state of our education system. By any objective measure, our school performance is fair or poor for most children. Math scores hit a 20-year low. ACT scores dropped to a 30-year low last year. In dozens of schools throughout the country, not one child is reading or practicing math at grade-level proficiency. Not one! Some of this poor performance is due to the unforgivable mistake of shutting down our schools during COVID-19 — despite children being less vulnerable to the virus. But our schools were in long-term decline BEFORE the pandemic. One of the world’s top education scholars, Eric Hanushek, recently issued a report on the 40-year anniversary of the famous federal study published in 1983 called ‘A Nation at Risk.'” (06/18/24)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2024/06/18/some-40-years-later-a-nation-still-at-risk-n2640605
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30) Trump Is Haunted by Abortion — He Should Be
Source: The Bulwark
by AB Stoddard
“Last week Donald Trump came to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional Republicans about the GOP’s policy agenda for next year when, they all confidently assume, Republicans will control the Congress and the presidency. But instead of a discussion of tax rates, or the urgent need to pass new immigration restrictions, Republicans listened to Trump’s trademark ‘rambling’ shtick — a performance one participant likened to ‘talking to your drunk uncle at the family reunion.’ Trump did make clear his one policy priority, however …. Republicans should not avoid [abortion] as Democrats emphasize the issue, Trump warned. Republicans must support exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. They need to ‘be smart.’ When Democrats mark the second anniversary of the Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade next week, Trump will be hating it.” (06/18/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-haunted-by-abortion-dobbs-roe
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31) A National Climate Action Plan: Why We Need It and How to Do It
Source: TomDispatch
by John J. Berger
“While April and May are usually the hottest months in many countries in Southeast Asia, hundreds of millions of people are now suffering in South Asia from an exceptionally intense heat wave that has killed hundreds. One expert has already called it the most extreme heat event in history. Record-breaking temperatures above 122º F were reported in the Indian capital of New Delhi and temperatures sizzled to an unheard of 127º F in parts of India and Pakistan. Nor was the blazing heat limited to Asia. Heat waves of exceptional severity and duration are now occurring simultaneously in many areas of the world. Mexico and parts of the United States, notably Miami and Phoenix, have recently been in the grip of intense heat events.” (06/18/24)
https://tomdispatch.com/a-national-climate-action-plan/
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32) Why Trump is ready to go harder on China
Source: Semafor
by Morgan Chalfant
“Donald Trump is gearing up for a sequel to his trade war with China if he returns to the White House. And this time, advisers and allies say he’s much less interested in a deal. … Trump, whose campaign did not respond to outreach from Semafor, has already floated imposing tariffs of 60% or more on all Chinese imports as part of a wider protectionist agenda. … allies and alums of Trump’s first administration say an aggressive China economic policy would potentially go much further than just tariffs. They say it could include more stringent export controls of key US technologies, aimed at hampering Chinese industry, and restrictions on US investments in China.” (06/18/24)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/17/2024/why-trump-is-ready-to-go-harder-on-china
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33) Leave Us Alone to Do Our Work
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Drearily, an appeals court has dismissed Uber’s challenge to California’s anti-gig-work law. According to the 9th Circuit, the ride-sharing company couldn’t show that the California anti-freelancer law AB5, which took effect in 2020, unfairly targeted Uber while allowing other types of contract work to continue unhindered. In fact, the many exceptions to AB5 — determined by abundance or lack of political pull of various groups — mean that Uber is hardly alone in suffering from uneven application of the law. But suppose AB5 had in fact been evenly imposed on everybody. Suppose every single gig worker in California, without exception, had been forced to become a regular employee of all of his clients — with all the additional costs for employers that this entails — or else lose all work altogether. This would be worse, not better.” (06/18/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/06/18/leave-us-alone-to-do-our-work/
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34) While Expanding Draft Registration, US Preparing For WWIII
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“So I guess we should probably talk about the way NATO powers are rapidly escalating toward hot war with Russia at the same time the US is expanding its draft policies to make it easier to force more Americans go and fight in a giant war. In an article titled ‘NATO: 500,000 Troops on High Readiness for War With Russia,’ Antiwar’s Kyle Anzalone highlights NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s comments on Friday stating the alliance actually has a far greater number of troops it could deploy than the 300,000 it had previously set as its goal. ‘Allies are offering forces to NATO’s command at a scale not seen in decades,’ Stoltenberg said on Friday. ‘Today we have 500,000 troops at high readiness across all domains, significantly more than the goal that was set at the 2022 Madrid Summit.'” (06/18/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/06/18/the-us-is-preparing-for-wwiii-while-expanding-draft-registration/
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35) Is Promoting to Customers a Crime?
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by David R Henderson & Charles L Hooper
“The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the Justice Department would conduct a ‘criminal investigation into consulting firm McKinsey related to its past role in advising some of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers on how to boost sales.’ … Imagine that. McKinsey allegedly tried to help Purdue tailor its sales efforts to doctors who already prescribed oral opioid drugs. There’s nothing mysterious or nefarious about this. It is standard and economically rational. To do otherwise would be inefficient and wasteful. Some consultants do this sort of work virtually every day. … But because OxyContin — the Food and Drug Administration-approved prescription opioid at the center of the opioid overdose epidemic — is involved, everything is suspect.” (06/18/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/is-promoting-to-customers-a-crime/
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36) Who Pays?
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“If Donald Trump has a superpower, it is being so brazen and insistent in his stupidity and dishonesty that his lackeys, sycophants, and credulous marks have no choice but to adopt his stupidity and dishonesty as their own. … As heuristics go, that’s a time-saving line in the sand: Either people actually believe it when they repeat Trump’s baloney, in which case they are too stupid for further conversation to be of any value, or they don’t believe it, in which case they are dishonest — and there’s never any point talking to a dishonest person. Meet today’s contestant in ‘Stupid Or Dishonest?’ — Republic National Committee spokeswoman Anna Kelly, who claimed: ‘The notion that tariffs are a tax on U.S. consumers is a lie pushed by outsourcers and the Chinese Communist Party.'” (06/18/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/who-pays/
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37) Is the War on Drugs Constitutional?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert VerBruggen
“David Pozen’s The Constitution of the War on Drugs is a fascinating and thorough history of constitutional challenges to drug laws, and well worth reading — though the way this history is framed can be maddening. In the book’s strident introduction, Pozen declares the drug war to be a ‘policy fiasco’ with virtually no support among serious experts. The book’s purpose, he says, is to explain why the resistance to this fiasco so rarely takes the form of constitutional challenges, rather than policy arguments and legislative efforts.” (06/18/24)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/is-the-war-on-drugs-constitutional/
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38) Biden frailty no “cheap fake”: American voters WILL believe their eyes
Source: New York Post
by staff
“The Biden White House is yet again asking you not to believe your lyin’ eyes — this time about the president’s (quite obvious, and frighteningly rapid) advancing frailty. Just in the past week or so Joe has frozen up at a Juneteenth musical celebration and a megabucks LA fundraiser, where he was led off the stage by his former boss Barack Obama. He also pulled one of his trademark wander-offs during a public meeting with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. The administration’s response to The Post’s reporting on these worrying and embarrassing moments? White House flack Karine Jean-Pierre is calling them ‘cheap fakes,’ i.e. dishonestly edited pieces of right-wing propaganda, and trying to pretend Biden’s behavior was normal.” (06/18/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/06/18/opinion/joe-bidens-frailty-is-no-cheapfake-and-american-voters-will-believe-their-eyes/
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39) Republicans Woo Libertarians, Democrats Ignore Them, at Their Peril
Source: CounterPunch
by Nick Licata
“It’s easy to ignore or even belittle the Libertarian Party’s past election results. Admittedly, the Libertarian presidential candidate’s performance has been minuscule. They’ve been at one or three percent of the popular vote in the last three presidential races. Nevertheless, they are the best-organized independent party, having their presidential candidate on every state’s ballot in five of the last eight presidential elections and more times on the ballot than any other third party. Libertarian Party members will most likely vote for their candidate in any presidential election. However, if the Democrats and Republicans make a pitch that appeals to their values, some may vote for Biden or Trump. Those voters could make a crucial difference in the swing states that narrowly went to Trump in 2016 when he carried more independent voters than Clinton.” (06/18/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/06/18/republicans-woo-libertarians-democrats-ignore-them-at-their-peril/
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40) We Spent a Billion Dollars Fighting the Houthis … and Lost
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ron Paul
“To great fanfare, last December the Pentagon announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a joint US/UK military operation to halt the Yemeni Houthi disruption of Israel-linked commercial shipping through the Red Sea. The Houthis announced their policy in response to civilian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, but when the US and UK military became involved they announced they would target US and UK shipping as well. The operation was supposed to be quick and easy. After all, the rag-tag Houthi militia was no match for the mighty US and UK navies. But it didn’t work out that way at all. Over the weekend the Wall Street Journal published a devastating article revealing that after spending more than one billion dollars on munitions alone, the operation had failed to deter the Houthis and failed to re-open commercial shipping in the Red Sea.” (06/18/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2024/06/17/we-spent-a-billion-dollars-fighting-the-houthis-and-lost/
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41) Why these countries turned their backs on Ukraine “peace” doc
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sarang Shidore
“Key Global South middle powers India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates declined to sign the joint communique at a summit in Switzerland on resolving the Ukraine war. (Another key middle power Brazil had decided to attend only as an observer.) These Global South middle powers did not endorse the communique despite the text’s recitation of the importance of ‘sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity’ and food security, both of which are key points of concern and consensus across developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. … These middle powers are skeptical that a summit that excluded Russia, the biggest combatant in the conflict, could achieve a peace deal to end the war.” (06/18/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-peace-summit-2668538161/
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42) Former DCCC Leaders Working to Defeat Incumbent House Democrats
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“In 2019, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which exists to elect House Democrats, instituted what came to be known as the blacklist. Any vendor—a consultant, media placement firm, pollster, or provider of services to campaigns—who worked for a challenger to an incumbent House Democrat would be barred from working for the DCCC, and the DCCC would block them from an approved vendor list used to recommend firms to other campaigns. While the blacklist was a blanket proposal, it was rather obviously targeted to progressive groups that had provided support to successful primary challengers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) in the previous cycle. The DCCC steers millions of dollars to vendors through independent expenditures and recommendations for frontline races; the ban threatened to bankrupt campaign firms for working with progressives.” (06/18/24)
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-06-18-former-dccc-leaders-incumbent-house-democrats/
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43) Why Economic Growth Causes Price Decline Not Increase?
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Frank Shostak
“Some economic commentators are of the view that whenever the economy strengthens it should be the role of the Federal Reserve (Fed) to step in at some stage and introduce a tighter interest rate stance in order to prevent general increases in the prices of goods getting out of control. However, why should economic growth be positively associated with general increase in the prices of goods and services? We suggest that economic growth is about an increase in the production of goods and services that individuals require to support their life and wellbeing.” (06/18/24)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2024/06/why-economic-growth-causes-price-decline-not-increase/
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44) NATO Must Make a Nuclear Deal With Russia
Source: The American Conservative
by Matthew Mai
“NATO’s 75th anniversary might seem to some like a good opportunity for the alliance to double down on its core mission: deterring and, if necessary, defending member states from Russian aggression. But increasing defense capabilities alone isn’t enough to reduce the risk of conflict with Russia. NATO, and especially the United States, should consider negotiations with Russia to reduce the dangerous nuclear risks that have been exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict.” (06/18/24)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/nato-must-make-a-nuclear-deal-with-russia/
-----
45) CNN Wants to Mute Trump at Its Debate. Good Luck With That
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“Will CNN enforce the rules — and what happens if Trump tries to break them?” (06/17/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-wants-to-mute-trump-at-its-debate-good-luck-with-that
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46) Congress’s Antisemitism Efforts Mask a Broader Assault on Free Speech
Source: New York Post
by Hanna Dasoo
“Over the past few months, lawmakers in Washington have pushed a wave of bills and held multiple hearings that ostensibly aim to address the rise in antisemitism. These measures have caught lawmakers and the public off-guard with their swift movement through the House. Certainly, some of these lawmakers are well-intentioned. But by and large, these efforts mask a much larger, darker agenda: Many far-right lawmakers are seizing an opportunity to fashion yet another political weapon against free speech and thought. It’s part of a tried-and-true playbook. Consider just a few of the recent legislative moves to address antisemitism. The House recently passed a bill to sanction the ICC for seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On the day of the vote, Rep. Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) tweeted, ‘We can’t sit by idly as antisemitism takes root in the International Criminal Court.'” (06/18/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/antisemitism-free-speech
-----
47) We Can’t Have a New Paradigm as Long as People Think the Old One Was Free-Market Fundamentalism
Source: Beat The Press
by Dean Baker
“The belief in free-market fundamentalism runs very deep. When I say that, I don’t mean that support for the concept runs deep, I mean the belief that we had been pursuing free-market policies in the years before the Trump and Biden presidency runs very deep. I was reminded of this fact in a New York Times column by Farah Stockman, touting the development of a new post-free-market fundamentalist paradigm. … Our policies were never about free trade. They were about selective protectionism, where we expose manufacturing workers to direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world, but we protect our most highly-paid professionals from the same sort of competition. Again, it’s not surprising that the winners from this policy would like to call it ‘free trade.’ That sounds much better than structuring trade to make the rich richer. But why would opponents of this policy accept this dishonest terminology?” (06/17/24)
https://cepr.net/we-cant-have-a-new-paradigm-as-long-as-people-think-the-old-one-was-free-market-fundamentalism/
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48) Nominal GDP as an indicator
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
“Many of my contrarian opinions derive from my focus on a single macroeconomic variable — NGDP. Consider the recent period of high inflation. Almost all economists believe the inflation was caused by a mix of supply and demand side shocks. In contrast, I believe the high inflation was all demand-side, with supply shocks playing no role at all, at least over the 2019-24 period as a whole.” (06/17/24)
https://www.econlib.org/nominal-gdp-as-an-indicator/
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49) Trump Conviction Doesn’t Change Fact: Criminal Justice System Rigged In Favor of Rich Elites
Source: In These Times
by Sonali Kolhatkar
“Many Americans are celebrating the news of Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges in a hush-money incident that took place ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Newspaper headlines screamed ’TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS’ and media reports relied on superlatives such as ‘historic’ and ‘unprecedented’ to label the unanimous jury verdict. Given that Trump has been unusually adept at avoiding accountability for a staggering number of alleged crimes, the verdict felt like a long-overdue comeuppance. It was even more shocking than the news of Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the murder of George Floyd four years ago — but not by much. The United States criminal justice system was not designed to be applied equally across race and class. It was designed to protect men like Trump and Chauvin — powerful elites who bend laws to suit their purpose and the henchmen who serve them.” (06/18/24)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/trump-conviction-hush-money-trial-2024
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50) Recycling Plastic Is a Dangerous Waste of Time
Source: Quillette
by Frank Celia
“[A]mid calls to reduce plastic garbage in the 1970s and ’80s, the petrochemical industry put forth recycling as a red herring to create the appearance of a solution while it continued to make as much plastic as it pleased. Multiple paper trails indicate that industry leaders knew from the start that recycling could never work at scale. And indeed, it hasn’t. Only about nine percent of plastic worldwide gets recycled, and the US manages only about six percent. As bad as this is, the situation might actually be much worse. According to an emerging field of study, the facilities that recycle plastic have been spewing massive amounts of toxins called microplastics into local waterways, soil, and air for decades. In other words, the very industry created to solve the plastic-waste problem has only succeeded in making it worse, possibly exponentially so.” (06/17/24)
https://quillette.com/2024/06/17/recycling-plastic-is-a-dangerous-waste-of-time-microplastics-health/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Vital Center, episode 68
Source: Niskanen Center
“The Latino century, with Mike Madrid.” (06/18/24)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-latino-century-with-mike-madrid
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52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 617
Source: Libertarian Institute
“NATO Mulling Ramping Up Nuclear Deployments.” (06/18/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-617-nato-mulling-ramping-up-nuclear-deployments
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53) Rising, 06/18/24
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave and Michael Starr Hopkins preview Boeing CEO David Calhoun’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.” (06/18/24)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4727370-rising-june-18-2024/
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54) How To Fix The Internet, 06/18/24
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
“AI in Kitopia.” (06/18/24)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/podcast-episode-ai-kitopia
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55) Advisory Opinions, 06/18/24
Source: The Dispatch
“Living Anachronism.” (06/18/24)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/living-anachronism/
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56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/18/24
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly visit with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos. If you need encouragement, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear.” (06/18/24)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-kcqct-1645d79
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57) The New Abnormal, 06/18/24
Source: The Daily Beast
“Stop Inviting Trump Toadies Like Kellyanne Conway on Cable News Shows.” (06/18/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/stop-inviting-trump-toadies-like-kellyanne-conway-on-cable-news-shows
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58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 06/17/24
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Longer Days and Fewer Hours with James V. Shuls and Avery Frank.” (06/17/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/education/longer-days-and-fewer-hours-with-james-v-shuls-and-avery-frank/
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59) Free Talk Live, 06/17/24
Source: Free Talk Live
“Aria forgot to take show notes :: An awesome person talks about a compelling book :: Bonnie, Aria, and dogs :: Hosts: Aria, Peakless, Bonnie.” (06/17/24)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2024-06-17
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60) Ill Literacy, episode 146
Source: Heartland Institute
“Arabella (Guest: Scott Walter).” (06/17/24)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/ill-literacy-episode-146-arabella-guest-scott-walter/
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