09/02 -- Palestine: Israeli forces murder at least 31; Grand Jury Nullification Should Be The Final Word
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Thomas L. Knapp
Sep 2, 2025, 6:28:51 AM (10 days ago) Sep 2
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 09/02/25
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Palestine: Israeli forces murder at least 31
2) Report: Trump abduction schemes cut US labor force by 1.2 million
3) Serbia: Tens of thousands march, demanding snap vote
4) Proof of life: Trump to hold press conference amid health rumors
5) Putin says he reached “understandings” with Trump over end of Ukraine war
6) Australia: State regime bans fish-shaped soy sauce containers
7) Ursula von der Leyen’s plane hit by suspected Russian GPS interference
8) Oil rises on weaker dollar, Russia supply disruptions
9) Yemenis mourn killed prime minister as regime targets ship in Red Sea
10) Australia: Man arrested for allegedly ramming gate of Russia’s Sydney consulate
11) Trump claims India has offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero
12) NH: Giuliani injured but recovering after car accident
13) Argentina: Federal Judge Bars Publication of Audios Attributed to Milei’s Sister
14) Nestle fires boss after romantic relationship with employee
15) Indonesia: Delivery Driver’s Death Unleashes Rage at Elites
16) US regime reportedly suspends visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders
17) Ukraine: Police alleged Russian link to assassination of former parliament speaker
18) US judge blocks deportation of abducted Guatemalan children
19) Afghanistan: At least 800 killed as 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks country
20) US heimatschutz head threatens federal occupations of more cities
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Grand Jury Nullification Should Be The Final Word
22) American Radicals Cannot Afford to Ignore the Epstein Scandal
23) Are We Doomed to Repeat Economic History, Even When We Know It?
24) How Two Vague Words Were Used to Gut the Entire Constitution
25) Trump Just Made Burning the Flag a Little Easier
26) Europe’s future rests on these kindly ties
27) Quantum Vibe, 09/01/25
28) Being a Reserve Currency is Not a Zero-One Proposition
29) Western Civilization Is Not Worth Saving
30) Israel’s foreign influence is the most unrelenting in US history
31) Fed’s Lisa Cook doesn’t get the joke: Trump can fire her for ANY reason
32) The Price of Genocide: How US Funding Sustains an Unraveling Israeli Economy
33) To Create Shared Prosperity, Rebuild Trust in Government
34) The intermediate sphere and true social life
35) Hobbes With a Halo
36) The Partisan “Semi-Split” on the Recent Decision on Trump Tariffs
37) Here’s what can be done about the dump that is DC
38) Trump’s Tariffs and Immigration Policies Are Why Your Amazon Packages Are So Expensive and Will Take Forever
39) Robert Crumb at 82
40) Let’s Privatize the Post Office
41) The CDC Crisis [sic] and Republican Complicity
42) Enough Is Enough: What a CDC Resignation Letter Reveals
43) Freedom for Worship
44) A blow against local tyranny?
45) On Death, Dying And Unconditional Love
46) Take away the ABA’s monopoly on legal education
47) The Chicanery Behind Inequality Data
48) The Internet Revolutionized Porn. Age Verification Could Upend Everything
49) How Mamdani Achieved Escape Velocity from Politics as Usual
50) It’s a TARP!
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 351
52) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/01/25
53) Free Talk Live, 08/31/25
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 08/30/25
55) Unattended Baggage, episode 308
56) In The Tank Podcast, episode 508
57) Nonzero, 08/29/25
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 644
59) Half the Answer, episode 30
60) Politicks, episode 9
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Palestine: Israeli forces murder at least 31
Source: Seattle Times
“Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 31 people as it presses ahead with a major offensive in the territory’s largest city, according to health officials. Leading genocide scholars, meanwhile, accused Israel of genocide, allegations the government vehemently rejects. Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared it a combat zone last week. On the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp, residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/dLbFu
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2) Report: Trump abduction schemes cut US labor force by 1.2 million
Source: Greenville Reflector
“As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation’s labor force. More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally [sic] as well as legal residents. Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added.” (09/01/25)
https://www.reflector.com/news/national/1-2-million-immigrants-are-gone-from-the-us-labor-force-under-trump-preliminary-data/article_b6848467-41c5-5c80-8421-7e582734fc4d.html
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3) Serbia: Tens of thousands march, demanding snap vote
Source: Reuters
“Tens of thousands of protesters silently marched in Belgrade on Monday to commemorate the deaths of 16 people killed when a roof on a renovated railway station collapsed, demanding snap elections they hope would oust President Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling SNS party. The protesters, invited by high school pupils, gathered around 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) in front of the old railway station in Belgrade. Sixteen high school pupils walked down the Savski Trg square holding one white rose while names of the victims were read. Protests were held in several other towns including Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Aleksinac.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/2ksj8
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4) Proof of life: Trump to hold press conference amid health rumors
Source: Hindustan Times [India]
“President Donald Trump is set to appear for a press conference on Tuesday, the White House announced. Trump’s weeks-long absence from press interactions has sparked rumors about his health, especially amid his recent diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). The President’s long-awaited presser is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Oval Office. Over the last few days, unverified rumors about the President being unwell have gone viral. But Donald Trump was spotted on Sunday with his grandchildren as he unwound at his golf course in Northern Virginia.” (09/02/25)
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/trump-to-make-surprise-announcement-amid-health-rumors-internet-asks-is-he-resigning-101756779869138.html
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5) Putin says he reached “understandings” with Trump over end of Ukraine war
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russian President Vladimir Putin says he reached ‘understandings’ with US President Donald Trump over the end of the Ukraine war at their meeting in Alaska last month. But he did not say whether he would agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brokered by Trump, who had apparently given Monday as a deadline for Putin’s response. Speaking during a summit in China, Putin continued to defend his decision to invade Ukraine, once again blaming the West for the war.” (09/01/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qljy44553o
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6) Australia: State regime bans fish-shaped soy sauce containers
Source: Sky News [UK]
“South Australia will become the first place in the world to ban soy sauce fish-shaped containers as part of a wider cutdown on single-use plastic. From 1 September, the small dispensers often included in takeaway sushi meals will be phased out in the state. … Fish-shaped sauce containers were invented in Japan in the 1950s and were first made of glass or ceramics before they were plastic. According to experts, shoyu-tai, or soy sauce snappers, are often too small to be processed by recycling sorting machinery and often end up in landfill instead.” (09/01/25)
https://news.sky.com/story/south-australia-to-become-first-place-in-the-world-to-ban-soy-sauce-fish-shaped-containers-13422095
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7) Ursula von der Leyen’s plane hit by suspected Russian GPS interference
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“A suspected Russian interference attack targeting Ursula von der Leyen disabled GPS navigation services at a Bulgarian airport and forced the European Commission president’s plane to land using paper maps. A jet carrying von der Leyen to Plovdiv on Sunday afternoon was deprived of electronic navigational aids while on approach to the city’s airport, in what three officials briefed on the incident said was being treated as a Russian interference operation. … Other aircraft in the area appear to have been able to ascertain and report their positions without issue, according to online flight trackers, giving weight to the suspicion that the jamming of von der Leyen’s aircraft was a narrowly focused effort.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/GlmzJ
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8) Oil rises on weaker dollar, Russia supply disruptions
Source: Reuters
“Oil prices rose 1% on Monday on worries over supply disruptions stemming from intensified Russia-Ukraine airstrikes as well as a weaker dollar. Brent crude was up 62 cents, or 0.9%, at $68.10 a barrel by 1019 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 65 cents, or 1%, to $64.66. Trading is expected to be muted because of a U.S. public holiday. Brent and WTI crude registered their first monthly declines in four months in August, losing 6% or more on increased supply from the OPEC+ producer group.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/CIFti
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9) Yemenis mourn killed prime minister as regime targets ship in Red Sea
Source: Associated Press
“Hundreds of Yemenis mourned Monday the death of Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, killed last week along with several officials by an Israeli strike, as the group targeted an oil tanker in the Red Sea, renewing their attacks in the crucial global waterway. The Israeli attack came three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the Iranian-backed rebels [sic] had launched at it since 2023. In the capital city of Sanaa, mourners attended the funeral, held at Shaab Mosque and broadcast by Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel. Crowds inside the mosque chanted against Israel and the United States as they grieved the deaths of the officials, including the foreign affairs, media and culture, and industrial ministers.” (08/01/25)
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-israel-hamas-war-ship-attacked-595680cd6b9370e60a84002a31eb8735
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10) Australia: Man arrested for allegedly ramming gate of Russia’s Sydney consulate
Source: United Press International
“Australian police on Monday arrested a man accused of driving an SUV into the gates of Sydney’s Russian consulate, according to authorities and Russian officials. Russia’s Consulate General, located on Fullerton Street in Sydney, confirmed the crash in a statement on Telegram, stating the incident occurred at about 8:05 a.m. AEST. It said the driver had parked the SUV so as to block access to the premises and refused police orders to exit the vehicle. He then ‘deliberately rammed the gates’ of the mission, it said. No consulate general employees reported injuries and operations continued as normal, the consulate added.” (09/01/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/09/01/man-arrested-crash-Russian-consulate/2731756711589/
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11) Trump claims India has offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“United States President Donald Trump has criticised his country’s relationship with India as ‘very one-sided’ and stated that New Delhi had offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero. Trump castigated New Delhi for what he depicted as a slanted economic relationship and India’s purchases of Russian weapons and oil in a social media post on Monday, marking a further deterioration of ties between the two countries. … New Delhi has yet to comment on Trump’s most recent remarks, and the US president has often made unfounded claims about other countries offering the US extravagant economic concessions amid the threat of high tariffs.” (09/01/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/1/trump-calls-us-relationship-with-india-totally-one-sided?traffic_source=rss
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12) NH: Giuliani injured but recovering after car accident
Source: CNN
“Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was injured in a car accident in New Hampshire over the weekend but is recovering, his head of security and the New Hampshire State Police said Sunday. Giuliani’s vehicle was struck from behind at ‘high speed’ on Saturday evening, Michael Ragusa Giuliani’s head of security, announced in a statement on X. … Shortly before the accident, Ragusa said that Giuliani had been flagged down by a woman who was the victim of ‘a domestic violence incident,’ and ‘immediately rendered assistance and contacted 911.’ He remained on the scene until responding officers arrived. The New Hampshire State Police said it was investigating a report of domestic violence when Giuliani’s vehicle was struck by another. Three people, including Giuliani, were taken to the hospital by ambulance with ‘non-life threatening injuries,’ the police said.” [editor’s note: The main reason I consider this “news” is that Giuliani did a good deed – TLK] (08/31/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/politics/rudy-giuliani-injured-car-accident
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13) Argentina: Federal Judge Bars Publication of Audios Attributed to Milei’s Sister
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal civil court judge in Argentina on Monday barred media outlets from publishing audio recordings that were made inside the presidential palace, presumably of the sister of President Javier Milei, as the government weathers a storm of corruption allegations heading into elections. The president’s spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, posted on social media a court order that prohibits distribution of the audios recorded inside the Casa Rosada presidential palace via media outlets or social media platforms. The government had filed a complaint in federal court against an ‘operation of illegal intelligence with the aim of destabilizing the country in the middle of an election campaign,’ Adorni said. The recordings included private conversations of officials, including the president’s sister, Karina Milei, who is also chief of staff, Adorni said.” (09/01/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-09-01/argentina-federal-judge-bars-publication-of-audios-attributed-to-mileis-sister
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14) Nestle fires boss after romantic relationship with employee
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Nestle has fired its chief executive after just one year in the job because he failed to disclose a ‘romantic relationship’ with a “direct subordinate.’ The Swiss food giant, which makes Kit Kat chocolate bars and Nespresso coffee capsules, said Laurent Freixe had been dismissed with ‘immediate effect’ following an investigation led by Nestle’s chair and lead independent director. The BBC understands the inquiry was triggered by a report made through the company’s whistleblowing channel. … The relationship was with an employee who is not on the executive board and the investigation began because it represented a conflict of interest, the BBC has learned.” (09/01/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mpm9ee9p9o
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15) Indonesia: Delivery Driver’s Death Unleashes Rage at Elites
Source: Bloomberg
“Caught up in a crowd of protesters while delivering food in Indonesia’s capital on Thursday night, Affan Kurniawan dropped his mobile phone and knelt down to pick it up. At that moment an armored police vehicle slammed into the 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, pinning him under its front tires. As a crowd descended on the vehicle, the police officer hit the accelerator and ran over his body. Affan was rushed to a Jakarta hospital but didn’t survive. The fatal crash — caught on video and rapidly spread in group chats and on social media — turned what appeared to be manageable protests over rising costs of living into the most serious test yet for President Prabowo Subianto, who took power about 10 months ago. … While Jakarta appeared calmer on Monday morning, the past few days of protests have left at least four people dead and hundreds injured.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/J9jQD
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16) US regime reportedly suspends visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The United States has suspended visa approvals for nearly everyone who holds a Palestinian passport, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The restrictions go beyond those Donald Trump’s administration had previously announced on visitors from Gaza. They would prevent Palestinians from traveling to the United States for medical treatment, attending college and business travel, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified officials. The state department said two weeks ago that it was halting all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while it conducts ‘a full and thorough’ review, a move that has been condemned by pro-Palestinian groups.” (08/31/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/31/palestine-passport-visa-approval-suspension
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17) Ukraine: Police alleged Russian link to assassination of former parliament speaker
Source: Politico
“Ukrainian authorities have detained a suspect in the murder of Andriy Parubiy, a senior politician and former parliamentary speaker, and allege there is a Russian link to the killing. … On Saturday — in broad daylight — a gunman disguised as a food delivery worker fired eight bullets at Parubiy in central Kyiv, killing him. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the killer was well-prepared and organized. Parubiy’s murder is the latest in a string of killings of prominent Ukrainian politicians and activists this year, following the assassinations of former MP Iryna Farion in Lviv and anti-Russian activist Demian Hanul in Odesa.” (09/01/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/police-arrest-ukraine-ex-parliament-speaker-murder-suspect-claims-russian-trace-behind-andriy-parubiy/
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18) US judge blocks deportation of abducted Guatemalan children
Source: Associated Press
“With migrant children waiting on tarmacs to be sent to their native Guatemala, a federal judge Sunday temporarily blocked the flights, siding with attorneys for the children who said the government was breaking laws and sending their clients to potential peril. The extraordinary drama played out overnight on a holiday weekend and vaulted from tarmacs in Texas to a courtroom in Washington. It was the latest showdown over the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration — and the latest clash between the administration’s enforcement efforts and legal safeguards that Congress created for vulnerable migrants. Guatemalan children who arrived at the border without their parents or guardians will stay for at least two weeks while the legal fight unfolds, according to the ruling.” (08/31/25)
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-unaccompanied-children-trump-deportations-guatemala-3790909d69f19fd8cd8edffb6b3215c3
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19) Afghanistan: At least 800 killed as 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks country
Source: NBC News
“At least 800 people have been killed and more than 1,300 others injured in Afghanistan after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country, Taliban officials said Monday. … A U.N. team has been mobilized in Afghanistan, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a post on X. Several U.N. organizations, including the Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Organization for Migration, said on X that they were providing emergency assistance.” (09/01/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/least-250-killed-6-magnitude-earthquake-afghanistan-rcna228346
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20) US heimatschutz head threatens federal occupations of more cities
Source: Axios
“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that nothing is ‘off the table’ for cities with high crime rates and that others could see federal law enforcement on their streets — including in Republican-led states. President Trump’s activation of federal law enforcement and the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. has been met with backlash and controversy, but his administration has continued to double down on the move, with Chicago the latest city on notice. Noem confirmed Sunday while appearing on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ that DHS intends to ‘add more resources’ to operations being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Illinois and other states, but declined to give details over security concerns for agents and investigators on the ground.” (08/31/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/trump-noem-cities-federal-law-enforcement
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Grand Jury Nullification Should Be The Final Word
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Disappointed prosecutors often find other charges to file, or hand the same facts over to other levels of government for different framing (‘he was found not guilty of murder, but now we’re charging him with violating the civil rights of the person he murdered’). And unfortunately, as noted above, prosecutors can bring the same case before a grand jury (or more than one grand jury) over and over until they finally find enough servile citizens in one place to get the indictment they want … or just ‘re-charge’ the same allegation as a misdemeanor if grand jurors won’t indict for it as a felony. That seems to me to violate the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition on ‘any person be[ing] subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.'” (08/29/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/19889
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22) American Radicals Cannot Afford to Ignore the Epstein Scandal
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“[T]here is quite literally no legitimate reason for the most powerful people on earth to even associate with such well-renowned lecherous scum and yet associate they did, over and over again. … Bill Clinton, rode on Epstein’s Lolita Express on 27 known occasions and invited the man to the White House four times during his presidency, he even visited the bastard in prison after his first arrest …. former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, held three dozen meetings with the by then convicted child predator between 2013 and 2017, at one point hooking up once a month for eleven months straight. This isn’t fucking normal, and you don’t have to be paranoid to want some goddamn answers here. Even if these relationships don’t qualify as criminal they are at the very least indefensibly immoral, as is the Donald’s own account of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.” (08/31/25)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2025/08/american-radicals-cannot-afford-to.html
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23) Are We Doomed to Repeat Economic History, Even When We Know It?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jane Shaw Stroup
“I regret it, but George Santayana’s famous statement, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,’ is misleading at best. The statement implies that if we do remember the past, we will not repeat it. But, based on the history I’ve learned, that’s not true. We see a regrettable repetition right now: In 1930, more than a thousand economists signed a statement opposing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff bill, warning it would lead to a destructive trade war. Congress passed high tariffs anyway, and they contributed to the Great Depression. This year, nearly two thousand experts, also led by economists, warned against raising tariffs. Yet our president is slapping on tariffs right and left, and Congress is silent. There are three major reasons why historical remembrance does not bring enlightenment.” (08/29/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/those-who-know-economic-history-are-still-being-forced-to-relive-it/
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24) How Two Vague Words Were Used to Gut the Entire Constitution
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Boldin
“‘… do we live under a limited or an unlimited government?’ To you, that question probably sounds naive because the answer feels obvious. But in 1792, Thomas Jefferson saw it as the moment of truth. Alexander Hamilton had just laid out his vision for the ‘general welfare’ clause. His answer was simple. ‘The power … is … indefinite.’ To Jefferson and his allies, this was a scam. A complete betrayal of the constitutional system that was adopted. The clash over the meaning of these two words – general Welfare – set the stage for what became the largest government in history.” (08/30/25)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2025/08/30/how-two-vague-words-were-used-to-gut-the-entire-constitution/
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25) Trump Just Made Burning the Flag a Little Easier
Source: The Atlantic
by David Cole
“The order announces that Trump seeks to use content-neutral laws, which are agnostic about the message an act might convey, to prosecute flag-burners precisely because he doesn’t like their message. In so doing, Trump has furnished future defendants, and possibly the protesting veteran, with evidence to support a ‘selective prosecution’ defense. When the government selectively enforces an otherwise content-neutral law — say, by prosecuting those who burn flags but not those who burn trash — and does so because it disagrees with the message an individual expresses, the Constitution requires that the charges be dismissed. The difficulty in most cases is proving that the government’s purpose was illegal. But the Trump order proudly pronounces it.” (08/30/25)
https://archive.is/RazeT
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26) Europe’s future rests on these kindly ties
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Geographers often debate what is ‘the heart of Europe’ – some say Slovakia, others say Lithuania. Ask diplomats, however, and they might say Europe’s heart lies in the hugs, handshakes, and harmony between the leaders of France and Germany, the founders of the European Union. On Thursday and Friday, the two countries showed how personal bonds – built on a remarkable reconciliation between Paris and Berlin after World War II – can help Europe face its current challenges. First, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at his seaside home on the Mediterranean for a tie-free, one-on-one working dinner. The next day, the duo presided over the 25th joint cabinet meeting between the EU’s two most powerful economies. The cozy get-together, their second since Mr. Merz’s election earlier this year, resulted in a number of new initiatives on security, trade, industry, and energy.” (08/29/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0829/Europe-s-future-rests-on-these-kindly-ties
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27) Quantum Vibe, 09/01/25
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (09/01/25)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2550
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28) Being a Reserve Currency is Not a Zero-One Proposition
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“The dollar has fallen by more than 10 percent against the euro since Trump took office. This is despite the economics textbook prediction that tariffs should increase the value of the dollar. Also, the spread between the interest rate on 30-year Treasury bonds and 10-year Treasury bonds has increased from around 20 basis points last year to more than 60 basis points at present. That additional 40 basis points, which directly affects mortgage interest rates, can be seen as the Trump crazy premium to date. As the craziness deepens — for example, if Trump puts himself in charge of the statistical agencies or decides to do a few more Intel shakedowns — the Trump crazy premium will rise. … the country will be seeing much higher interest rates than if we had a sane person in the White House.” (09/01/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/01/being-a-reserve-currency-is-not-a-zero-one-proposition/
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29) Western Civilization Is Not Worth Saving
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Western civilization is not worth saving. I think that’s been pretty well established by now. That’s one of the silliest things about the way rightists are always babbling about how we need to protect our way of life from immigrants or Islam or ‘the trans agenda’ or whatever. They’re beginning with the assumption that this train wreck of a society is worth saving at all. I am not saying that westerners should die. I am not saying that all the ideals and values that westerners purport to hold are worthless. I am saying that this civilization, as it actually exists, is an indefensible disaster.” (08/29/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/08/29/western-civilization-is-not-worth-saving/
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30) Israel’s foreign influence is the most unrelenting in US history
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Michael Vlahos
“In his farewell address to the nation, George Washington included a special pleading: ‘Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.’ It is said that Israel’s influence over American military and foreign affairs is unique — that no small state in modern times has exerted such control over the affairs of a great power. This is a troubling claim. But is it true?” (09/01/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-washington-influence/
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31) Fed’s Lisa Cook doesn’t get the joke: Trump can fire her for ANY reason
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“Uncharacteristically for him, President Donald Trump is being too modest in asserting his power over the Federal Reserve. He has fired Lisa Cook ‘for cause,’ citing a clearly pretextual alleged mortgage infraction — when as a constitutional matter, he should be able to fire her, or Chairman Jerome Powell, for any reason he deems appropriate. The independence of the Federal Reserve largely rests on its status as a constitutional anomaly, exercising executive authority without being subject to the same rules as the rest of the executive branch.” [editor’s note: I wonder if Lowry can point me to the constitutional provision empowering the president to fire … well, anyone. It seems to be missing from my copy. He can appoint people to certain posts, sometimes requiring Senate permission, but firing isn’t mentioned – TLK] (08/31/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/31/opinion/the-feds-lisa-cook-doesnt-get-the-joke-trump-can-fire-her-for-any-reason/
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32) The Price of Genocide: How US Funding Sustains an Unraveling Israeli Economy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud
“Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has decided to divest from yet more Israeli companies. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the world’s largest, with total investments in Israel once estimated at $1.9 billion. The decision to divest was taken gradually but is consistent with the Norwegian government’s growing solidarity with Palestine and rising criticism of Israel. … Israel is the recipient of $3.8 billion of US taxpayer money per year, according to the latest 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016. Equally, if not more valuable than this large sum are the loan guarantees, which allow Israel to borrow money at a much lower interest rate on the global market. … Now that Israel has become a bad brand, affiliated with unethical investments due to the genocide in Gaza and growing illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, the US, as Israel’s main benefactor, has stepped in to fill the gaps.” (09/01/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2025/08/31/the-price-of-genocide-how-us-funding-sustains-an-unraveling-israeli-economy/
-----
33) To Create Shared Prosperity, Rebuild Trust in Government
Source: Common Dreams
by Alvaro S Sanchez
“We all want to live in healthy, safe, and thriving communities. We expect our tax dollars to serve the common good, and we want to trust that government represents our interests. But today, the federal government falls far short of this goal; only 22% of Americans trust it. Local governments, in many places but not all, continue to deliver for their residents. They are leading the fight against climate change without federal support. They took charge in their immediate and ongoing responses to Covid-19. And they continue to resist, creating sanctuary cities to protect immigrant communities threatened during the first Trump administration. Today, local governments prepare for a difficult future shaped by the policies of the current Trump administration, including the unnecessary deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles and Washington, DC.” [editor’s note: Trust in government reduces prosperity – TLK] (08/31/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/rebuild-trust-in-gov
-----
34) The intermediate sphere and true social life
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“The state and capital have, quite together, managed to hollow out true society, the kinds of community organizations (often volunteer-run, informal, controlled by neither government nor capitalists) that create a vibrant and diverse social ecosystem and collective culture. Without this intermediate social sphere, the popular masses become even more politically and economically atrophied and dependent, losing the strength and know-how to organize and bring out liberatory change. Perhaps the local, the tangible, and the practical can’t ever truly match the splendor of the state, with its stirring songs and symbols. And this may give us a plausible explanation of why it is that people continue to invest in the state (emotionally and in every other way) and to see it as an anchor of community, despite its history of mass murder and hateful disregard for human life.” (08/31/25)
https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/community-commons-and-the-state
-----
35) Hobbes With a Halo
Source: The American Conservative
by Robert Wyllie
“Mystery cults that formed around émigré professors in postwar America are sometimes accused of influencing politics, even as we leave the 20th century far behind. On the left, ‘cultural Marxist’ expatriates associated with the Frankfurt School, especially Herbert Marcuse, allegedly invented identity politics. On the right, the students of Leo Strauss, another refugee from the Third Reich, supposedly masterminded the Iraq War. Perhaps less well-known but more indirectly influential is René Girard, whose lectures about desire at Stanford University in the 1980s convinced Peter Thiel to invest in Facebook during the infancy of social media. Among these postwar émigré-professor scapegoats for our 21st-century problems, Girard is most like the classic cult leader who gathers disciples around a single apocalyptic insight. He also has much to say about scapegoating.” (08/31/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/hobbes-with-a-halo/
-----
36) The Partisan “Semi-Split” on the Recent Decision on Trump Tariffs
Source: I Blog to Differ
by David R Henderson
“And my concern for the how SCOTUS May Decide.” (08/30/25)
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/the-partisan-semi-split-on-the-recent
-----
37) Here’s what can be done about the dump that is DC
Source: Fox News
by Mike Davis
“The District of Columbia is our nation’s capital, where foreign leaders go to meet our presidents at the White House. On the way, these leaders do not see a shining city on a hill as they peer through the windows of their motorcades. Instead, they see a crime-infested dump riddled with drug addicts, disturbed homeless people milling zombie-like around their tents and gangs of thugs in stolen cars who yearn to target innocent residents. The D.C. legal system is an utter disaster. Richard Nixon won approximately 20% of the D.C. vote in 1972 in his landslide over George McGovern, the most ‘success’ any Republican presidential candidate has had since D.C. has been part of the Electoral College. In his three presidential elections, Donald Trump topped out at a whopping 6.6% of the vote in 2024, and the lowest performance by a Democrat was Hillary Clinton’s 90.9% in 2016.” (08/31/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mike-davis-can-anything-done-about-dumpd
-----
38) Trump’s Tariffs and Immigration Policies Are Why Your Amazon Packages Are So Expensive and Will Take Forever
Source: Reason
by Jack Nicastro
“President Donald Trump’s tariff regime is making everything from American-made steel weights, imported yarn, and Amazon’s ‘everyday essentials’ more expensive while his immigration crackdown is causing worker shortages in key industries. These policies will work in tandem to slow down already expensive deliveries of your favorite goods.” (08/29/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/29/trumps-tariffs-and-immigration-policies-are-why-your-amazon-packages-are-so-expensive-and-will-take-forever/
-----
39) Robert Crumb at 82
Source: Expression
by Boby Ramkissoon
“It’s perhaps hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s, comics were essentially anesthetized. Under the Comics Code Authority, formed in 1954, publishers were effectively banned from showing sex, drugs, and excessive violence — or anything that might ‘corrupt young readers’ — since distributors generally rejected comics without the Authority’s seal. Superman couldn’t so much as flirt with Lois Lane without a marriage license! Then along came Crumb.” (08/30/25)
https://expression.fire.org/p/robert-crumb-at-82
-----
40) Let’s Privatize the Post Office
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
“In 1934, a federal law was passed that banned any entity except the USPS from placing items in any mailbox. That is the law that limited UPS and, later, FedEx, to parcel delivery. Even your neighbor is not allowed to put that party invitation in your mailbox. (If you are the type of person who reports neighbors who do so to the USPS, you probably don’t receive many party invitations in the first place.) Until recently, the best defense of the post office monopoly was that, in all honesty, it worked fairly well. Sure, it was a monopoly that somehow managed to lose money each year, but at least the post office did a good job at its primary job of delivering the mail. … That is, unfortunately, no longer the case.” (08/29/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/economy/lets-privatize-the-post-office/
-----
41) The CDC Crisis [sic] and Republican Complicity
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Sometimes, events turn on the bravery of ordinary people. On Thursday, hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demonstrated outside their agency, all risking their jobs, to give a grateful send-off to three senior officials who had finally had enough and resigned in protest. The three were Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who headed the center that oversees new diseases and vaccine safety; Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s chief medical officer; and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, an infectious disease specialist who led the center that reviews respiratory illnesses such as COVID and issues vaccine recommendations. These senior scientists were the heart of the CDC. All objected to statements by new members of the agency’s vaccine advisory panel, which made clear that they would try to reduce access to several vaccines.” (08/29/25)
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-08-29-cdc-crisis-republican-complicity-vaccines/
-----
42) Enough Is Enough: What a CDC Resignation Letter Reveals
Source: Brownstone Institute
by James Lyons-Weiler
“When Demetre Daskalakis resigned as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC, his letter to leadership carried a tone of finality and moral conviction. ‘Enough is enough,’ he declared, explaining that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s leadership had made it impossible for him to continue. The letter has been praised as principled, but when read closely it is less a defense of science than a portrait of the very rhetorical habits that drove the public away from CDC in the first place: appeals to authority, catastrophic predictions, ad hominem attacks, and factual distortions.” (08/29/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/enough-is-enough-what-a-cdc-resignation-letter-reveals/
-----
43) Freedom for Worship
Source: Law & Liberty
by Daniel N Gullotta
“What is the United States’ greatest achievement? Winning World War II? Landing a man on the moon? Hollywood’s global reach? For Dartmouth College historian and Episcopal priest Randall Balmer, all these accomplishments pale in comparison to a less celebrated but more enduring breakthrough: the separation of church and state. Few ideas, he argues, have done more to preserve both religious vitality and civic peace. In America’s Best Idea, Balmer offers a spirited defense of this foundational principle, contending that the First Amendment’s twin guarantees — no establishment of religion and free exercise thereof — have made the United States a uniquely fertile ground for religious pluralism and, in turn, a more virtuous and democratic citizenry.” (08/29/25)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/freedom-for-worship/
-----
44) A blow against local tyranny?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“From Florida comes word that a State legislator is attempting to outlaw HOAs – Home Owners Associations. … All too often, the money is collected under the same threat of legal and law enforcement action that property taxes enjoy. And then the money is used to harass and otherwise abuse the members of the HOA: the homeowners or indirectly, the renters. Such matters as having a flag flying, leaving up Christmas decorations too long, leaving your garage doors open, or having a child set up a lemonade stand are prosecuted and fined.” (08/30/25)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2025/08/30/a-blow-against-local-tyranny/
-----
45) On Death, Dying And Unconditional Love
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“Death touches everyone – in the game of life, it’s undefeated. If you’re lucky, you get to live a lot of your life before it touches you, but it comes, and it never stops coming until you’re the one people are mourning. That may sound morbid, but it’s true. And no, I’m not dying – I mean, I am dying, we’re all dying, but I’m not about to die, at least as far as I know. But one of my family’s pets is, and that is really horrible. It will be the first time my children will be old enough to comprehend, and it has prompted me to think about many things. First, pets truly are the best. This cat was a 6-week-old girl when I got her 14 years ago; I’ll always remember the little head popping up from inside the carrying box when I got back to my apartment from the animal shelter in Baltimore.” (08/31/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2025/08/31/on-death-dying-and-unconditional-love-n2662575
-----
46) Take away the ABA’s monopoly on legal education
Source: Washington post
by Lael Weinberger
“The American Bar Association is the gatekeeper for legal education in this country. Every state lets graduates of ABA-accredited schools take the bar exam to become lawyers. In many states, it is necessary to graduate from an ABA-approved school to become a lawyer. Unfortunately, the ABA has become not a guarantor of quality but an obstacle to innovation and a burden on legal education. Several states are reconsidering their preferential treatment of the association. … we must confront what has become increasingly clear: The ABA does not deserve this power over the training of American legal professionals.” (08/29/25)
https://archive.is/veRJz
-----
47) The Chicanery Behind Inequality Data
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“You can’t go a day without hearing politicians and commentators complain about the top 1, 10, or 20 percent. Those complaints seem to be backed up by government statisticians and parts of the economics and sociology professions. Dissenters are rarely invited on television and podcasts. The impression given, to which compassionate laypeople will be vulnerable, is that America is riddled with extreme, even obscene (so Bernie Sanders says) inequality. Is it true?” (08/29/25)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/08/tgif-chicanery-behind-inequality-data.html
-----
48) The Internet Revolutionized Porn. Age Verification Could Upend Everything
Source: Wired
by Jason Parham
“So far at least 24 US states have sanctioned some form of ID verification, each with unique stipulations. Legislators argue that these laws are intended to keep minors safe from content deemed harmful to them. Critics say that argument doesn’t hold any weight because there are ‘easy solutions’ to the moral panic conservatives have created around the issue. They say the laws infringe on privacy rights and set an irreversibly dark precedent for the future of free speech. Perhaps even more terrifying is what it all signals: the death of the free web and an ushering in of a more puritanical version of America. That’s been a goal of Project 2025 all along.” (08/29/25)
https://archive.is/PnVuc
-----
49) How Mamdani Achieved Escape Velocity from Politics as Usual
Source: In These Times
by Dania Rajendra & Rebecca Vilkomerson
“Less than two minutes into Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic primary victory speech, he welcomed a former rival to the stage. ‘I want to thank Brad Lander,’ he said. The crowd took the cue and chanted, ‘Brad! Brad!’ Mamdani and Lander wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the upstart candidate for New York City mayor continued, ‘Together, we have shown the power of the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity.’ They raised their clasped hands, then embraced each other in a real, long hug. Mamdani and Lander wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the upstart candidate for New York City mayor continued, ‘Together, we have shown the power of the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity.’ They raised their clasped hands, then embraced each other in a real, long hug.” (08/31/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/zohran-mamdani-brad-lander-nyc-mayor
-----
50) It’s a TARP!
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“We live on the dumbest timeline. I know this because millions of Americans believed that they had to vote for Donald Trump to avert a national descent into socialism — ‘It was him or the commies, right?’ — and so they sent the malignant little criminal back to the White House, where he went about … setting up state-owned enterprises in order to seize the means of production on behalf of the workers. It’s still more Idiocracy than Watchmen or 1984, but it’s all in the mix. If it were a series of shorts, it would be called Way More Than Three Stooges. ‘Don’t get so excited,’ the apologists say. ‘This is basically like the financial crisis, with the bailouts and General Motors.’ Oh, is that it? In the words of CFO Gial Ackbar: ‘IT’S A TARP!'” (08/29/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/intel-bailout-trump-gm-tarp/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 351
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Suzanna Gratia Hupp on fighting for gun rights after tragedy.” (09/01/25)
https://rumble.com/v6yc9ye-ff-351-suzanna-gratia-hupp-on-fighting-for-gun-rights-after-tragedy.html
-----
52) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/01/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Israel May Cut All Aid to North Gaza, Houthis Defiant After Israel Kills PM, and More.” (09/01/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng2KSZdg_8
-----
53) Free Talk Live, 08/31/25
Source: Free Talk Live
“Stop calling early September ‘fall’ :: Secede for more daylight :: Immigration and welfare bad combo :: Private automatic license plate readers selling your info :: Those against risk taking take your right to take risks :: Communism is owning the red light cameras together :: Europe completely lost and unfree :: Move if you don’t like your state :: Caller doesn’t understand how tax threats are violent :: Riley’s story as a blind libertarian :: Trump wants to keep you poor :: Compulsory schooling laws :: 2025-08-31 Hosts: Bonnie, Riley, Mr.Penguin.” (08/31/25)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2025-08-31
-----
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 08/30/25
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Foundations of Liberty 002: Understanding Natural Rights vs. Legal Rights.” (08/30/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/foundations-of-liberty-002-understanding
-----
55) Unattended Baggage, episode 308
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Tech Bros deploying our Orangewellian future.” (08/30/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-308-tech-bros-deploying-our
-----
56) In The Tank Podcast, episode 508
Source: Heartland Institute
“Labor Day Has Been Hijacked by Socialists.” (08/29/25)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/labor-day-has-been-hijacked-by-socialists-in-the-tank-podcast-508-2/
-----
57) Nonzero, 08/29/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Is Trump Becoming Putin? | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov.” (08/29/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e21NRng3F80
-----
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 644
Source: Freakonomics
“Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good?” (08/29/25)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/has-america-lost-its-appetite-for-the-common-good/
-----
59) Half the Answer, episode 30
Source: Liberal Currents
“A Second American Midnight?” (08/29/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/half-the-answer-30-a-second-american-midnight/
-----
60) Politicks, episode 9
Source: Lions of Liberty
“The Scottish Joan of Arc.” (08/29/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/politicks-podcast-ep-9-the-scottish-joan-of-arc
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Palestine: Israeli forces murder at least 31
2) Report: Trump abduction schemes cut US labor force by 1.2 million
3) Serbia: Tens of thousands march, demanding snap vote
4) Proof of life: Trump to hold press conference amid health rumors
5) Putin says he reached “understandings” with Trump over end of Ukraine war
6) Australia: State regime bans fish-shaped soy sauce containers
7) Ursula von der Leyen’s plane hit by suspected Russian GPS interference
8) Oil rises on weaker dollar, Russia supply disruptions
9) Yemenis mourn killed prime minister as regime targets ship in Red Sea
10) Australia: Man arrested for allegedly ramming gate of Russia’s Sydney consulate
11) Trump claims India has offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero
12) NH: Giuliani injured but recovering after car accident
13) Argentina: Federal Judge Bars Publication of Audios Attributed to Milei’s Sister
14) Nestle fires boss after romantic relationship with employee
15) Indonesia: Delivery Driver’s Death Unleashes Rage at Elites
16) US regime reportedly suspends visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders
17) Ukraine: Police alleged Russian link to assassination of former parliament speaker
18) US judge blocks deportation of abducted Guatemalan children
19) Afghanistan: At least 800 killed as 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks country
20) US heimatschutz head threatens federal occupations of more cities
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Grand Jury Nullification Should Be The Final Word
22) American Radicals Cannot Afford to Ignore the Epstein Scandal
23) Are We Doomed to Repeat Economic History, Even When We Know It?
24) How Two Vague Words Were Used to Gut the Entire Constitution
25) Trump Just Made Burning the Flag a Little Easier
26) Europe’s future rests on these kindly ties
27) Quantum Vibe, 09/01/25
28) Being a Reserve Currency is Not a Zero-One Proposition
29) Western Civilization Is Not Worth Saving
30) Israel’s foreign influence is the most unrelenting in US history
31) Fed’s Lisa Cook doesn’t get the joke: Trump can fire her for ANY reason
32) The Price of Genocide: How US Funding Sustains an Unraveling Israeli Economy
33) To Create Shared Prosperity, Rebuild Trust in Government
34) The intermediate sphere and true social life
35) Hobbes With a Halo
36) The Partisan “Semi-Split” on the Recent Decision on Trump Tariffs
37) Here’s what can be done about the dump that is DC
38) Trump’s Tariffs and Immigration Policies Are Why Your Amazon Packages Are So Expensive and Will Take Forever
39) Robert Crumb at 82
40) Let’s Privatize the Post Office
41) The CDC Crisis [sic] and Republican Complicity
42) Enough Is Enough: What a CDC Resignation Letter Reveals
43) Freedom for Worship
44) A blow against local tyranny?
45) On Death, Dying And Unconditional Love
46) Take away the ABA’s monopoly on legal education
47) The Chicanery Behind Inequality Data
48) The Internet Revolutionized Porn. Age Verification Could Upend Everything
49) How Mamdani Achieved Escape Velocity from Politics as Usual
50) It’s a TARP!
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 351
52) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/01/25
53) Free Talk Live, 08/31/25
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 08/30/25
55) Unattended Baggage, episode 308
56) In The Tank Podcast, episode 508
57) Nonzero, 08/29/25
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 644
59) Half the Answer, episode 30
60) Politicks, episode 9
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Palestine: Israeli forces murder at least 31
Source: Seattle Times
“Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 31 people as it presses ahead with a major offensive in the territory’s largest city, according to health officials. Leading genocide scholars, meanwhile, accused Israel of genocide, allegations the government vehemently rejects. Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared it a combat zone last week. On the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp, residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/dLbFu
-----
2) Report: Trump abduction schemes cut US labor force by 1.2 million
Source: Greenville Reflector
“As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation’s labor force. More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally [sic] as well as legal residents. Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added.” (09/01/25)
https://www.reflector.com/news/national/1-2-million-immigrants-are-gone-from-the-us-labor-force-under-trump-preliminary-data/article_b6848467-41c5-5c80-8421-7e582734fc4d.html
-----
3) Serbia: Tens of thousands march, demanding snap vote
Source: Reuters
“Tens of thousands of protesters silently marched in Belgrade on Monday to commemorate the deaths of 16 people killed when a roof on a renovated railway station collapsed, demanding snap elections they hope would oust President Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling SNS party. The protesters, invited by high school pupils, gathered around 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) in front of the old railway station in Belgrade. Sixteen high school pupils walked down the Savski Trg square holding one white rose while names of the victims were read. Protests were held in several other towns including Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Aleksinac.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/2ksj8
-----
4) Proof of life: Trump to hold press conference amid health rumors
Source: Hindustan Times [India]
“President Donald Trump is set to appear for a press conference on Tuesday, the White House announced. Trump’s weeks-long absence from press interactions has sparked rumors about his health, especially amid his recent diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). The President’s long-awaited presser is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Oval Office. Over the last few days, unverified rumors about the President being unwell have gone viral. But Donald Trump was spotted on Sunday with his grandchildren as he unwound at his golf course in Northern Virginia.” (09/02/25)
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/trump-to-make-surprise-announcement-amid-health-rumors-internet-asks-is-he-resigning-101756779869138.html
-----
5) Putin says he reached “understandings” with Trump over end of Ukraine war
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russian President Vladimir Putin says he reached ‘understandings’ with US President Donald Trump over the end of the Ukraine war at their meeting in Alaska last month. But he did not say whether he would agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brokered by Trump, who had apparently given Monday as a deadline for Putin’s response. Speaking during a summit in China, Putin continued to defend his decision to invade Ukraine, once again blaming the West for the war.” (09/01/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qljy44553o
-----
6) Australia: State regime bans fish-shaped soy sauce containers
Source: Sky News [UK]
“South Australia will become the first place in the world to ban soy sauce fish-shaped containers as part of a wider cutdown on single-use plastic. From 1 September, the small dispensers often included in takeaway sushi meals will be phased out in the state. … Fish-shaped sauce containers were invented in Japan in the 1950s and were first made of glass or ceramics before they were plastic. According to experts, shoyu-tai, or soy sauce snappers, are often too small to be processed by recycling sorting machinery and often end up in landfill instead.” (09/01/25)
https://news.sky.com/story/south-australia-to-become-first-place-in-the-world-to-ban-soy-sauce-fish-shaped-containers-13422095
-----
7) Ursula von der Leyen’s plane hit by suspected Russian GPS interference
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“A suspected Russian interference attack targeting Ursula von der Leyen disabled GPS navigation services at a Bulgarian airport and forced the European Commission president’s plane to land using paper maps. A jet carrying von der Leyen to Plovdiv on Sunday afternoon was deprived of electronic navigational aids while on approach to the city’s airport, in what three officials briefed on the incident said was being treated as a Russian interference operation. … Other aircraft in the area appear to have been able to ascertain and report their positions without issue, according to online flight trackers, giving weight to the suspicion that the jamming of von der Leyen’s aircraft was a narrowly focused effort.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/GlmzJ
-----
8) Oil rises on weaker dollar, Russia supply disruptions
Source: Reuters
“Oil prices rose 1% on Monday on worries over supply disruptions stemming from intensified Russia-Ukraine airstrikes as well as a weaker dollar. Brent crude was up 62 cents, or 0.9%, at $68.10 a barrel by 1019 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 65 cents, or 1%, to $64.66. Trading is expected to be muted because of a U.S. public holiday. Brent and WTI crude registered their first monthly declines in four months in August, losing 6% or more on increased supply from the OPEC+ producer group.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/CIFti
-----
9) Yemenis mourn killed prime minister as regime targets ship in Red Sea
Source: Associated Press
“Hundreds of Yemenis mourned Monday the death of Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, killed last week along with several officials by an Israeli strike, as the group targeted an oil tanker in the Red Sea, renewing their attacks in the crucial global waterway. The Israeli attack came three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the Iranian-backed rebels [sic] had launched at it since 2023. In the capital city of Sanaa, mourners attended the funeral, held at Shaab Mosque and broadcast by Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled satellite news channel. Crowds inside the mosque chanted against Israel and the United States as they grieved the deaths of the officials, including the foreign affairs, media and culture, and industrial ministers.” (08/01/25)
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-rebels-israel-hamas-war-ship-attacked-595680cd6b9370e60a84002a31eb8735
-----
10) Australia: Man arrested for allegedly ramming gate of Russia’s Sydney consulate
Source: United Press International
“Australian police on Monday arrested a man accused of driving an SUV into the gates of Sydney’s Russian consulate, according to authorities and Russian officials. Russia’s Consulate General, located on Fullerton Street in Sydney, confirmed the crash in a statement on Telegram, stating the incident occurred at about 8:05 a.m. AEST. It said the driver had parked the SUV so as to block access to the premises and refused police orders to exit the vehicle. He then ‘deliberately rammed the gates’ of the mission, it said. No consulate general employees reported injuries and operations continued as normal, the consulate added.” (09/01/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/09/01/man-arrested-crash-Russian-consulate/2731756711589/
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11) Trump claims India has offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“United States President Donald Trump has criticised his country’s relationship with India as ‘very one-sided’ and stated that New Delhi had offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero. Trump castigated New Delhi for what he depicted as a slanted economic relationship and India’s purchases of Russian weapons and oil in a social media post on Monday, marking a further deterioration of ties between the two countries. … New Delhi has yet to comment on Trump’s most recent remarks, and the US president has often made unfounded claims about other countries offering the US extravagant economic concessions amid the threat of high tariffs.” (09/01/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/1/trump-calls-us-relationship-with-india-totally-one-sided?traffic_source=rss
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12) NH: Giuliani injured but recovering after car accident
Source: CNN
“Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was injured in a car accident in New Hampshire over the weekend but is recovering, his head of security and the New Hampshire State Police said Sunday. Giuliani’s vehicle was struck from behind at ‘high speed’ on Saturday evening, Michael Ragusa Giuliani’s head of security, announced in a statement on X. … Shortly before the accident, Ragusa said that Giuliani had been flagged down by a woman who was the victim of ‘a domestic violence incident,’ and ‘immediately rendered assistance and contacted 911.’ He remained on the scene until responding officers arrived. The New Hampshire State Police said it was investigating a report of domestic violence when Giuliani’s vehicle was struck by another. Three people, including Giuliani, were taken to the hospital by ambulance with ‘non-life threatening injuries,’ the police said.” [editor’s note: The main reason I consider this “news” is that Giuliani did a good deed – TLK] (08/31/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/politics/rudy-giuliani-injured-car-accident
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13) Argentina: Federal Judge Bars Publication of Audios Attributed to Milei’s Sister
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal civil court judge in Argentina on Monday barred media outlets from publishing audio recordings that were made inside the presidential palace, presumably of the sister of President Javier Milei, as the government weathers a storm of corruption allegations heading into elections. The president’s spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, posted on social media a court order that prohibits distribution of the audios recorded inside the Casa Rosada presidential palace via media outlets or social media platforms. The government had filed a complaint in federal court against an ‘operation of illegal intelligence with the aim of destabilizing the country in the middle of an election campaign,’ Adorni said. The recordings included private conversations of officials, including the president’s sister, Karina Milei, who is also chief of staff, Adorni said.” (09/01/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-09-01/argentina-federal-judge-bars-publication-of-audios-attributed-to-mileis-sister
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14) Nestle fires boss after romantic relationship with employee
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Nestle has fired its chief executive after just one year in the job because he failed to disclose a ‘romantic relationship’ with a “direct subordinate.’ The Swiss food giant, which makes Kit Kat chocolate bars and Nespresso coffee capsules, said Laurent Freixe had been dismissed with ‘immediate effect’ following an investigation led by Nestle’s chair and lead independent director. The BBC understands the inquiry was triggered by a report made through the company’s whistleblowing channel. … The relationship was with an employee who is not on the executive board and the investigation began because it represented a conflict of interest, the BBC has learned.” (09/01/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mpm9ee9p9o
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15) Indonesia: Delivery Driver’s Death Unleashes Rage at Elites
Source: Bloomberg
“Caught up in a crowd of protesters while delivering food in Indonesia’s capital on Thursday night, Affan Kurniawan dropped his mobile phone and knelt down to pick it up. At that moment an armored police vehicle slammed into the 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, pinning him under its front tires. As a crowd descended on the vehicle, the police officer hit the accelerator and ran over his body. Affan was rushed to a Jakarta hospital but didn’t survive. The fatal crash — caught on video and rapidly spread in group chats and on social media — turned what appeared to be manageable protests over rising costs of living into the most serious test yet for President Prabowo Subianto, who took power about 10 months ago. … While Jakarta appeared calmer on Monday morning, the past few days of protests have left at least four people dead and hundreds injured.” (09/01/25)
https://archive.is/J9jQD
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16) US regime reportedly suspends visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The United States has suspended visa approvals for nearly everyone who holds a Palestinian passport, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The restrictions go beyond those Donald Trump’s administration had previously announced on visitors from Gaza. They would prevent Palestinians from traveling to the United States for medical treatment, attending college and business travel, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified officials. The state department said two weeks ago that it was halting all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while it conducts ‘a full and thorough’ review, a move that has been condemned by pro-Palestinian groups.” (08/31/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/31/palestine-passport-visa-approval-suspension
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17) Ukraine: Police alleged Russian link to assassination of former parliament speaker
Source: Politico
“Ukrainian authorities have detained a suspect in the murder of Andriy Parubiy, a senior politician and former parliamentary speaker, and allege there is a Russian link to the killing. … On Saturday — in broad daylight — a gunman disguised as a food delivery worker fired eight bullets at Parubiy in central Kyiv, killing him. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the killer was well-prepared and organized. Parubiy’s murder is the latest in a string of killings of prominent Ukrainian politicians and activists this year, following the assassinations of former MP Iryna Farion in Lviv and anti-Russian activist Demian Hanul in Odesa.” (09/01/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/police-arrest-ukraine-ex-parliament-speaker-murder-suspect-claims-russian-trace-behind-andriy-parubiy/
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18) US judge blocks deportation of abducted Guatemalan children
Source: Associated Press
“With migrant children waiting on tarmacs to be sent to their native Guatemala, a federal judge Sunday temporarily blocked the flights, siding with attorneys for the children who said the government was breaking laws and sending their clients to potential peril. The extraordinary drama played out overnight on a holiday weekend and vaulted from tarmacs in Texas to a courtroom in Washington. It was the latest showdown over the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration — and the latest clash between the administration’s enforcement efforts and legal safeguards that Congress created for vulnerable migrants. Guatemalan children who arrived at the border without their parents or guardians will stay for at least two weeks while the legal fight unfolds, according to the ruling.” (08/31/25)
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-unaccompanied-children-trump-deportations-guatemala-3790909d69f19fd8cd8edffb6b3215c3
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19) Afghanistan: At least 800 killed as 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks country
Source: NBC News
“At least 800 people have been killed and more than 1,300 others injured in Afghanistan after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country, Taliban officials said Monday. … A U.N. team has been mobilized in Afghanistan, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a post on X. Several U.N. organizations, including the Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Organization for Migration, said on X that they were providing emergency assistance.” (09/01/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/least-250-killed-6-magnitude-earthquake-afghanistan-rcna228346
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20) US heimatschutz head threatens federal occupations of more cities
Source: Axios
“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that nothing is ‘off the table’ for cities with high crime rates and that others could see federal law enforcement on their streets — including in Republican-led states. President Trump’s activation of federal law enforcement and the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. has been met with backlash and controversy, but his administration has continued to double down on the move, with Chicago the latest city on notice. Noem confirmed Sunday while appearing on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ that DHS intends to ‘add more resources’ to operations being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Illinois and other states, but declined to give details over security concerns for agents and investigators on the ground.” (08/31/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/trump-noem-cities-federal-law-enforcement
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Grand Jury Nullification Should Be The Final Word
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Disappointed prosecutors often find other charges to file, or hand the same facts over to other levels of government for different framing (‘he was found not guilty of murder, but now we’re charging him with violating the civil rights of the person he murdered’). And unfortunately, as noted above, prosecutors can bring the same case before a grand jury (or more than one grand jury) over and over until they finally find enough servile citizens in one place to get the indictment they want … or just ‘re-charge’ the same allegation as a misdemeanor if grand jurors won’t indict for it as a felony. That seems to me to violate the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition on ‘any person be[ing] subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.'” (08/29/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/19889
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22) American Radicals Cannot Afford to Ignore the Epstein Scandal
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“[T]here is quite literally no legitimate reason for the most powerful people on earth to even associate with such well-renowned lecherous scum and yet associate they did, over and over again. … Bill Clinton, rode on Epstein’s Lolita Express on 27 known occasions and invited the man to the White House four times during his presidency, he even visited the bastard in prison after his first arrest …. former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, held three dozen meetings with the by then convicted child predator between 2013 and 2017, at one point hooking up once a month for eleven months straight. This isn’t fucking normal, and you don’t have to be paranoid to want some goddamn answers here. Even if these relationships don’t qualify as criminal they are at the very least indefensibly immoral, as is the Donald’s own account of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.” (08/31/25)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2025/08/american-radicals-cannot-afford-to.html
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23) Are We Doomed to Repeat Economic History, Even When We Know It?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jane Shaw Stroup
“I regret it, but George Santayana’s famous statement, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,’ is misleading at best. The statement implies that if we do remember the past, we will not repeat it. But, based on the history I’ve learned, that’s not true. We see a regrettable repetition right now: In 1930, more than a thousand economists signed a statement opposing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff bill, warning it would lead to a destructive trade war. Congress passed high tariffs anyway, and they contributed to the Great Depression. This year, nearly two thousand experts, also led by economists, warned against raising tariffs. Yet our president is slapping on tariffs right and left, and Congress is silent. There are three major reasons why historical remembrance does not bring enlightenment.” (08/29/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/those-who-know-economic-history-are-still-being-forced-to-relive-it/
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24) How Two Vague Words Were Used to Gut the Entire Constitution
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Boldin
“‘… do we live under a limited or an unlimited government?’ To you, that question probably sounds naive because the answer feels obvious. But in 1792, Thomas Jefferson saw it as the moment of truth. Alexander Hamilton had just laid out his vision for the ‘general welfare’ clause. His answer was simple. ‘The power … is … indefinite.’ To Jefferson and his allies, this was a scam. A complete betrayal of the constitutional system that was adopted. The clash over the meaning of these two words – general Welfare – set the stage for what became the largest government in history.” (08/30/25)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2025/08/30/how-two-vague-words-were-used-to-gut-the-entire-constitution/
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25) Trump Just Made Burning the Flag a Little Easier
Source: The Atlantic
by David Cole
“The order announces that Trump seeks to use content-neutral laws, which are agnostic about the message an act might convey, to prosecute flag-burners precisely because he doesn’t like their message. In so doing, Trump has furnished future defendants, and possibly the protesting veteran, with evidence to support a ‘selective prosecution’ defense. When the government selectively enforces an otherwise content-neutral law — say, by prosecuting those who burn flags but not those who burn trash — and does so because it disagrees with the message an individual expresses, the Constitution requires that the charges be dismissed. The difficulty in most cases is proving that the government’s purpose was illegal. But the Trump order proudly pronounces it.” (08/30/25)
https://archive.is/RazeT
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26) Europe’s future rests on these kindly ties
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Geographers often debate what is ‘the heart of Europe’ – some say Slovakia, others say Lithuania. Ask diplomats, however, and they might say Europe’s heart lies in the hugs, handshakes, and harmony between the leaders of France and Germany, the founders of the European Union. On Thursday and Friday, the two countries showed how personal bonds – built on a remarkable reconciliation between Paris and Berlin after World War II – can help Europe face its current challenges. First, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at his seaside home on the Mediterranean for a tie-free, one-on-one working dinner. The next day, the duo presided over the 25th joint cabinet meeting between the EU’s two most powerful economies. The cozy get-together, their second since Mr. Merz’s election earlier this year, resulted in a number of new initiatives on security, trade, industry, and energy.” (08/29/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0829/Europe-s-future-rests-on-these-kindly-ties
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27) Quantum Vibe, 09/01/25
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (09/01/25)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2550
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28) Being a Reserve Currency is Not a Zero-One Proposition
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“The dollar has fallen by more than 10 percent against the euro since Trump took office. This is despite the economics textbook prediction that tariffs should increase the value of the dollar. Also, the spread between the interest rate on 30-year Treasury bonds and 10-year Treasury bonds has increased from around 20 basis points last year to more than 60 basis points at present. That additional 40 basis points, which directly affects mortgage interest rates, can be seen as the Trump crazy premium to date. As the craziness deepens — for example, if Trump puts himself in charge of the statistical agencies or decides to do a few more Intel shakedowns — the Trump crazy premium will rise. … the country will be seeing much higher interest rates than if we had a sane person in the White House.” (09/01/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/01/being-a-reserve-currency-is-not-a-zero-one-proposition/
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29) Western Civilization Is Not Worth Saving
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Western civilization is not worth saving. I think that’s been pretty well established by now. That’s one of the silliest things about the way rightists are always babbling about how we need to protect our way of life from immigrants or Islam or ‘the trans agenda’ or whatever. They’re beginning with the assumption that this train wreck of a society is worth saving at all. I am not saying that westerners should die. I am not saying that all the ideals and values that westerners purport to hold are worthless. I am saying that this civilization, as it actually exists, is an indefensible disaster.” (08/29/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/08/29/western-civilization-is-not-worth-saving/
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30) Israel’s foreign influence is the most unrelenting in US history
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Michael Vlahos
“In his farewell address to the nation, George Washington included a special pleading: ‘Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.’ It is said that Israel’s influence over American military and foreign affairs is unique — that no small state in modern times has exerted such control over the affairs of a great power. This is a troubling claim. But is it true?” (09/01/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-washington-influence/
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31) Fed’s Lisa Cook doesn’t get the joke: Trump can fire her for ANY reason
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“Uncharacteristically for him, President Donald Trump is being too modest in asserting his power over the Federal Reserve. He has fired Lisa Cook ‘for cause,’ citing a clearly pretextual alleged mortgage infraction — when as a constitutional matter, he should be able to fire her, or Chairman Jerome Powell, for any reason he deems appropriate. The independence of the Federal Reserve largely rests on its status as a constitutional anomaly, exercising executive authority without being subject to the same rules as the rest of the executive branch.” [editor’s note: I wonder if Lowry can point me to the constitutional provision empowering the president to fire … well, anyone. It seems to be missing from my copy. He can appoint people to certain posts, sometimes requiring Senate permission, but firing isn’t mentioned – TLK] (08/31/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/31/opinion/the-feds-lisa-cook-doesnt-get-the-joke-trump-can-fire-her-for-any-reason/
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32) The Price of Genocide: How US Funding Sustains an Unraveling Israeli Economy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud
“Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has decided to divest from yet more Israeli companies. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the world’s largest, with total investments in Israel once estimated at $1.9 billion. The decision to divest was taken gradually but is consistent with the Norwegian government’s growing solidarity with Palestine and rising criticism of Israel. … Israel is the recipient of $3.8 billion of US taxpayer money per year, according to the latest 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016. Equally, if not more valuable than this large sum are the loan guarantees, which allow Israel to borrow money at a much lower interest rate on the global market. … Now that Israel has become a bad brand, affiliated with unethical investments due to the genocide in Gaza and growing illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, the US, as Israel’s main benefactor, has stepped in to fill the gaps.” (09/01/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2025/08/31/the-price-of-genocide-how-us-funding-sustains-an-unraveling-israeli-economy/
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33) To Create Shared Prosperity, Rebuild Trust in Government
Source: Common Dreams
by Alvaro S Sanchez
“We all want to live in healthy, safe, and thriving communities. We expect our tax dollars to serve the common good, and we want to trust that government represents our interests. But today, the federal government falls far short of this goal; only 22% of Americans trust it. Local governments, in many places but not all, continue to deliver for their residents. They are leading the fight against climate change without federal support. They took charge in their immediate and ongoing responses to Covid-19. And they continue to resist, creating sanctuary cities to protect immigrant communities threatened during the first Trump administration. Today, local governments prepare for a difficult future shaped by the policies of the current Trump administration, including the unnecessary deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles and Washington, DC.” [editor’s note: Trust in government reduces prosperity – TLK] (08/31/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/rebuild-trust-in-gov
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34) The intermediate sphere and true social life
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“The state and capital have, quite together, managed to hollow out true society, the kinds of community organizations (often volunteer-run, informal, controlled by neither government nor capitalists) that create a vibrant and diverse social ecosystem and collective culture. Without this intermediate social sphere, the popular masses become even more politically and economically atrophied and dependent, losing the strength and know-how to organize and bring out liberatory change. Perhaps the local, the tangible, and the practical can’t ever truly match the splendor of the state, with its stirring songs and symbols. And this may give us a plausible explanation of why it is that people continue to invest in the state (emotionally and in every other way) and to see it as an anchor of community, despite its history of mass murder and hateful disregard for human life.” (08/31/25)
https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/community-commons-and-the-state
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35) Hobbes With a Halo
Source: The American Conservative
by Robert Wyllie
“Mystery cults that formed around émigré professors in postwar America are sometimes accused of influencing politics, even as we leave the 20th century far behind. On the left, ‘cultural Marxist’ expatriates associated with the Frankfurt School, especially Herbert Marcuse, allegedly invented identity politics. On the right, the students of Leo Strauss, another refugee from the Third Reich, supposedly masterminded the Iraq War. Perhaps less well-known but more indirectly influential is René Girard, whose lectures about desire at Stanford University in the 1980s convinced Peter Thiel to invest in Facebook during the infancy of social media. Among these postwar émigré-professor scapegoats for our 21st-century problems, Girard is most like the classic cult leader who gathers disciples around a single apocalyptic insight. He also has much to say about scapegoating.” (08/31/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/hobbes-with-a-halo/
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36) The Partisan “Semi-Split” on the Recent Decision on Trump Tariffs
Source: I Blog to Differ
by David R Henderson
“And my concern for the how SCOTUS May Decide.” (08/30/25)
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/the-partisan-semi-split-on-the-recent
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37) Here’s what can be done about the dump that is DC
Source: Fox News
by Mike Davis
“The District of Columbia is our nation’s capital, where foreign leaders go to meet our presidents at the White House. On the way, these leaders do not see a shining city on a hill as they peer through the windows of their motorcades. Instead, they see a crime-infested dump riddled with drug addicts, disturbed homeless people milling zombie-like around their tents and gangs of thugs in stolen cars who yearn to target innocent residents. The D.C. legal system is an utter disaster. Richard Nixon won approximately 20% of the D.C. vote in 1972 in his landslide over George McGovern, the most ‘success’ any Republican presidential candidate has had since D.C. has been part of the Electoral College. In his three presidential elections, Donald Trump topped out at a whopping 6.6% of the vote in 2024, and the lowest performance by a Democrat was Hillary Clinton’s 90.9% in 2016.” (08/31/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mike-davis-can-anything-done-about-dumpd
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38) Trump’s Tariffs and Immigration Policies Are Why Your Amazon Packages Are So Expensive and Will Take Forever
Source: Reason
by Jack Nicastro
“President Donald Trump’s tariff regime is making everything from American-made steel weights, imported yarn, and Amazon’s ‘everyday essentials’ more expensive while his immigration crackdown is causing worker shortages in key industries. These policies will work in tandem to slow down already expensive deliveries of your favorite goods.” (08/29/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/29/trumps-tariffs-and-immigration-policies-are-why-your-amazon-packages-are-so-expensive-and-will-take-forever/
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39) Robert Crumb at 82
Source: Expression
by Boby Ramkissoon
“It’s perhaps hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s, comics were essentially anesthetized. Under the Comics Code Authority, formed in 1954, publishers were effectively banned from showing sex, drugs, and excessive violence — or anything that might ‘corrupt young readers’ — since distributors generally rejected comics without the Authority’s seal. Superman couldn’t so much as flirt with Lois Lane without a marriage license! Then along came Crumb.” (08/30/25)
https://expression.fire.org/p/robert-crumb-at-82
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40) Let’s Privatize the Post Office
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
“In 1934, a federal law was passed that banned any entity except the USPS from placing items in any mailbox. That is the law that limited UPS and, later, FedEx, to parcel delivery. Even your neighbor is not allowed to put that party invitation in your mailbox. (If you are the type of person who reports neighbors who do so to the USPS, you probably don’t receive many party invitations in the first place.) Until recently, the best defense of the post office monopoly was that, in all honesty, it worked fairly well. Sure, it was a monopoly that somehow managed to lose money each year, but at least the post office did a good job at its primary job of delivering the mail. … That is, unfortunately, no longer the case.” (08/29/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/economy/lets-privatize-the-post-office/
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41) The CDC Crisis [sic] and Republican Complicity
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Sometimes, events turn on the bravery of ordinary people. On Thursday, hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demonstrated outside their agency, all risking their jobs, to give a grateful send-off to three senior officials who had finally had enough and resigned in protest. The three were Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who headed the center that oversees new diseases and vaccine safety; Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s chief medical officer; and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, an infectious disease specialist who led the center that reviews respiratory illnesses such as COVID and issues vaccine recommendations. These senior scientists were the heart of the CDC. All objected to statements by new members of the agency’s vaccine advisory panel, which made clear that they would try to reduce access to several vaccines.” (08/29/25)
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-08-29-cdc-crisis-republican-complicity-vaccines/
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42) Enough Is Enough: What a CDC Resignation Letter Reveals
Source: Brownstone Institute
by James Lyons-Weiler
“When Demetre Daskalakis resigned as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC, his letter to leadership carried a tone of finality and moral conviction. ‘Enough is enough,’ he declared, explaining that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s leadership had made it impossible for him to continue. The letter has been praised as principled, but when read closely it is less a defense of science than a portrait of the very rhetorical habits that drove the public away from CDC in the first place: appeals to authority, catastrophic predictions, ad hominem attacks, and factual distortions.” (08/29/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/enough-is-enough-what-a-cdc-resignation-letter-reveals/
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43) Freedom for Worship
Source: Law & Liberty
by Daniel N Gullotta
“What is the United States’ greatest achievement? Winning World War II? Landing a man on the moon? Hollywood’s global reach? For Dartmouth College historian and Episcopal priest Randall Balmer, all these accomplishments pale in comparison to a less celebrated but more enduring breakthrough: the separation of church and state. Few ideas, he argues, have done more to preserve both religious vitality and civic peace. In America’s Best Idea, Balmer offers a spirited defense of this foundational principle, contending that the First Amendment’s twin guarantees — no establishment of religion and free exercise thereof — have made the United States a uniquely fertile ground for religious pluralism and, in turn, a more virtuous and democratic citizenry.” (08/29/25)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/freedom-for-worship/
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44) A blow against local tyranny?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“From Florida comes word that a State legislator is attempting to outlaw HOAs – Home Owners Associations. … All too often, the money is collected under the same threat of legal and law enforcement action that property taxes enjoy. And then the money is used to harass and otherwise abuse the members of the HOA: the homeowners or indirectly, the renters. Such matters as having a flag flying, leaving up Christmas decorations too long, leaving your garage doors open, or having a child set up a lemonade stand are prosecuted and fined.” (08/30/25)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2025/08/30/a-blow-against-local-tyranny/
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45) On Death, Dying And Unconditional Love
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“Death touches everyone – in the game of life, it’s undefeated. If you’re lucky, you get to live a lot of your life before it touches you, but it comes, and it never stops coming until you’re the one people are mourning. That may sound morbid, but it’s true. And no, I’m not dying – I mean, I am dying, we’re all dying, but I’m not about to die, at least as far as I know. But one of my family’s pets is, and that is really horrible. It will be the first time my children will be old enough to comprehend, and it has prompted me to think about many things. First, pets truly are the best. This cat was a 6-week-old girl when I got her 14 years ago; I’ll always remember the little head popping up from inside the carrying box when I got back to my apartment from the animal shelter in Baltimore.” (08/31/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2025/08/31/on-death-dying-and-unconditional-love-n2662575
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46) Take away the ABA’s monopoly on legal education
Source: Washington post
by Lael Weinberger
“The American Bar Association is the gatekeeper for legal education in this country. Every state lets graduates of ABA-accredited schools take the bar exam to become lawyers. In many states, it is necessary to graduate from an ABA-approved school to become a lawyer. Unfortunately, the ABA has become not a guarantor of quality but an obstacle to innovation and a burden on legal education. Several states are reconsidering their preferential treatment of the association. … we must confront what has become increasingly clear: The ABA does not deserve this power over the training of American legal professionals.” (08/29/25)
https://archive.is/veRJz
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47) The Chicanery Behind Inequality Data
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“You can’t go a day without hearing politicians and commentators complain about the top 1, 10, or 20 percent. Those complaints seem to be backed up by government statisticians and parts of the economics and sociology professions. Dissenters are rarely invited on television and podcasts. The impression given, to which compassionate laypeople will be vulnerable, is that America is riddled with extreme, even obscene (so Bernie Sanders says) inequality. Is it true?” (08/29/25)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/08/tgif-chicanery-behind-inequality-data.html
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48) The Internet Revolutionized Porn. Age Verification Could Upend Everything
Source: Wired
by Jason Parham
“So far at least 24 US states have sanctioned some form of ID verification, each with unique stipulations. Legislators argue that these laws are intended to keep minors safe from content deemed harmful to them. Critics say that argument doesn’t hold any weight because there are ‘easy solutions’ to the moral panic conservatives have created around the issue. They say the laws infringe on privacy rights and set an irreversibly dark precedent for the future of free speech. Perhaps even more terrifying is what it all signals: the death of the free web and an ushering in of a more puritanical version of America. That’s been a goal of Project 2025 all along.” (08/29/25)
https://archive.is/PnVuc
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49) How Mamdani Achieved Escape Velocity from Politics as Usual
Source: In These Times
by Dania Rajendra & Rebecca Vilkomerson
“Less than two minutes into Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic primary victory speech, he welcomed a former rival to the stage. ‘I want to thank Brad Lander,’ he said. The crowd took the cue and chanted, ‘Brad! Brad!’ Mamdani and Lander wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the upstart candidate for New York City mayor continued, ‘Together, we have shown the power of the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity.’ They raised their clasped hands, then embraced each other in a real, long hug. Mamdani and Lander wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and the upstart candidate for New York City mayor continued, ‘Together, we have shown the power of the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity.’ They raised their clasped hands, then embraced each other in a real, long hug.” (08/31/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/zohran-mamdani-brad-lander-nyc-mayor
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50) It’s a TARP!
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“We live on the dumbest timeline. I know this because millions of Americans believed that they had to vote for Donald Trump to avert a national descent into socialism — ‘It was him or the commies, right?’ — and so they sent the malignant little criminal back to the White House, where he went about … setting up state-owned enterprises in order to seize the means of production on behalf of the workers. It’s still more Idiocracy than Watchmen or 1984, but it’s all in the mix. If it were a series of shorts, it would be called Way More Than Three Stooges. ‘Don’t get so excited,’ the apologists say. ‘This is basically like the financial crisis, with the bailouts and General Motors.’ Oh, is that it? In the words of CFO Gial Ackbar: ‘IT’S A TARP!'” (08/29/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/intel-bailout-trump-gm-tarp/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 351
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Suzanna Gratia Hupp on fighting for gun rights after tragedy.” (09/01/25)
https://rumble.com/v6yc9ye-ff-351-suzanna-gratia-hupp-on-fighting-for-gun-rights-after-tragedy.html
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52) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/01/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Israel May Cut All Aid to North Gaza, Houthis Defiant After Israel Kills PM, and More.” (09/01/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng2KSZdg_8
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53) Free Talk Live, 08/31/25
Source: Free Talk Live
“Stop calling early September ‘fall’ :: Secede for more daylight :: Immigration and welfare bad combo :: Private automatic license plate readers selling your info :: Those against risk taking take your right to take risks :: Communism is owning the red light cameras together :: Europe completely lost and unfree :: Move if you don’t like your state :: Caller doesn’t understand how tax threats are violent :: Riley’s story as a blind libertarian :: Trump wants to keep you poor :: Compulsory schooling laws :: 2025-08-31 Hosts: Bonnie, Riley, Mr.Penguin.” (08/31/25)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2025-08-31
-----
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 08/30/25
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Foundations of Liberty 002: Understanding Natural Rights vs. Legal Rights.” (08/30/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/foundations-of-liberty-002-understanding
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55) Unattended Baggage, episode 308
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Tech Bros deploying our Orangewellian future.” (08/30/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-308-tech-bros-deploying-our
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56) In The Tank Podcast, episode 508
Source: Heartland Institute
“Labor Day Has Been Hijacked by Socialists.” (08/29/25)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/labor-day-has-been-hijacked-by-socialists-in-the-tank-podcast-508-2/
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57) Nonzero, 08/29/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Is Trump Becoming Putin? | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov.” (08/29/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e21NRng3F80
-----
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 644
Source: Freakonomics
“Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good?” (08/29/25)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/has-america-lost-its-appetite-for-the-common-good/
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59) Half the Answer, episode 30
Source: Liberal Currents
“A Second American Midnight?” (08/29/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/half-the-answer-30-a-second-american-midnight/
-----
60) Politicks, episode 9
Source: Lions of Liberty
“The Scottish Joan of Arc.” (08/29/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/politicks-podcast-ep-9-the-scottish-joan-of-arc
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