09/25 -- Ukraine war: Russian air strike damages Odesa port infrastructure, grain facilities; In Defense of Globalization
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Thomas L. Knapp
Sep 25, 2023, 6:33:35 AM9/25/23
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 09/25/23
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https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Ukraine war: Russian air strike damages Odesa port infrastructure, grain facilities
2) Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios that would end strike
3) Niger: French military to exit country following coup
4) Feds open investigation into claims Baton Rouge police tortured detainees
5) Poll: Disgraced former president leads senile incumbent by ten points
6) Report: Rite Aid eyes closing hundreds of stores as it mulls bankruptcy
7) FBI sued after allegedly losing hundreds of thousands in rare coins during raid
8) Nagorno-Karabakh: 120,000 Armenians will leave for Armenia, pols say
9) NASA hails “awesome” rescue mission as asteroid sample reaches military base
10) Spain: 40,000 march against amnesty for Catalan separatists
11) Lavrov: US is “directly at war” with Moscow
12) Biden handed major legal defeat in attempt to restrict oil, gas drilling in Gulf of Mexico
13) CA: Newsom vetoes bill requiring custody courts to weigh affirmation of gender identity
14) Nepal: Thousands of teachers protest against education bill
15) Somalia: Car bombing at Somali checkpoint kills at least 15
16) LA: Army Corps of Engineers to barge 36 million gallons of freshwater a day as saltwater intrusion threatens New Orleans-area drinking water
17) South China Sea: Philippines says Beijing installed floating barrier in contested area
18) France: Clashes in Paris as thousands march against police violence
19) Israel: Airstrikes hit Gaza for third day in a row
20) NJ: Menendez gets primary challenger after latest corruption indictment
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) In Defense of Globalization
22) Litigious Authors: Buy Our Books, But Don’t Read, Remember, Learn From, Or Be Influenced By Them
23) More choices than Red or Blue
24) Money Isn’t All That Matters, Redistribution Edition
25) Modi’s Bharat: Seeking Power, Becoming Pariah
26) There’ll Be No Escape for Bob Menendez This Time
27) Ron DeSantis’s Campaign Is Plummeting Because He Won’t Choose a Lane
28) How Uber Beat the Metro
29) Okinawa Disproves The US Narrative About Overseas Bases
30) Biden’s Oil Madness
31) Enough with this guilt by association
32) Once again, Big Tech plays judge, jury & executioner before a trial
33) There’s a Herd of Elephants in the Room
34) Nikki Haley thinks China is coming for your brain
35) Ukraine: Which Way Out?
36) Hurrah for Real Globalization!
37) New data confirms that the US rebuilt the refugee resettlement program
38) Taiwan Needs Our Weapons – Instead, We’re Sending Them to Bad Guys
39) Insurrectionists Who Think they are Upholding the Constitution are Still Insurrectionists — and Still Subject to Disqualification Under Section 3 the Fourteenth Amendment
40) The Biden-Schumer Military-Promotion Blockade
41) The Covid Narrative Flunked the Critical Thinking Test
42) Our Dangerous Narcissists
43) On Being Your Own Teacher
44) The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
45) Heads They “Cha-Ching!;” Tails They Take Away Your Malpractice Insurance
46) Did the NSA Invent Bitcoin? A 1996 Research Paper Reignites the Debate
47) Forget Bellingcat. Meet a Real “Open Source” Watchdog
48) Why Paul Krugman Can’t Admit Inflation Is Making Americans Poorer
49) The GOP Can’t Survive the Only Trumpers
50) Tel Aviv’s Losing Brands: Israeli “Coup” and the Death of False Democracy
51) Methinks the Mayor
52) The MAGA movement is channeling its inner Bernie Sanders
53) Don’t Fall for the Intelligence Community’s Monster of the Week Justifications
54) Autoworkers Strike Just Spread to Facilities Across the Country
55) Dark Matter and the Swimming Pool App
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
56) Fakertarians, episode 54
57) The Anarchist Experience, episode 442
58) Unattended Baggage, episode #215
59) Free Talk Live, 09/23/23
60) The Fifth Column, episode 422
61) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
62) The Bryan Hyde Show, 09/22/23
63) Meme Wars, episode 28
64) Conflicts of Interest, episode 475
65) Fintech Beat, 09/22/23
66) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/22/23
67) Nonzero, 09/22/23
68) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2396
69) Politics Politics Politics, 09/22/23
70) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/22/23
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Ukraine war: Russian air strike damages Odesa port infrastructure, grain facilities
Source: Reuters
“An overnight Russian air strike on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa caused ‘significant damage’ to port infrastructure and destroyed some grain storage facilities, Ukrainian officials said on Monday. No deaths were reported in the attack on Odesa, but at least one person was killed in a separate Russian air strike on the town of Beryslav in the southern region of Kherson region, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. … Russia’s defence ministry also reported Ukrainian attacks overnight, saying drones were shot down over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, over Crimea, and over the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod regions. It mentioned no deaths.” (09/26/23)
https://archive.ph/a9bhJ
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2) Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios that would end strike
Source: Axios
“The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced on Sunday that it had reached a ‘tentative agreement’ with the major Hollywood studios that would bring an end to the 146-day-strike. With a deal in hand with the writers, the studios can turn their attention toward cutting a deal with the actors’ union to end the Hollywood labor stoppage for good. … [A WGA statement] noted that union members are not to return to work ‘until specifically authorized’ to do so by the Guild. ‘We are still on strike until then. But we are, as of today, suspending WGA picketing,’ it added, encouraging writers to join the SAG-AFTRA picket lines this week.” (09/25/23)
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/25/wga-writers-strike-hollywood-studios-deal
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3) Niger: French military to exit country following coup
Source: United Press International
“France will remove its military from Niger by the end of the year, President Emmanuel Macron said, following growing outward animosity targeting Paris in the West African nation where its civilian-run government was overthrown in a July coup d’etat. Macron made the announcement Sunday during an interview with French television channels TFI and France 2. ‘We are putting an end to our military cooperation with the de facto authorities of Niger, because they no longer want to fight terrorism anymore,’ he said. … France has maintained some 1,500 troops and the United States some 1,100 for anti-terrorism purposes. But their future there came under question after Niger’s military under Abdourahamane Tchiani arrested Western ally and democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to seize control of Niamey on July 26.” (09/25/23)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/09/25/france-military-exit-Niger/3271695615708/
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4) Feds open investigation into claims Baton Rouge police tortured detainees
Source: Yahoo! News
“The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into claims that the police department for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, abused and tortured suspects, the FBI announced Friday. Numerous lawsuits allege that the Street Crimes Unit of the Baton Rouge Police Department abused drug suspects at a recently shuttered narcotics processing center — an unmarked warehouse nicknamed the ‘Brave Cave.’ The FBI said experienced prosecutors and agents are ‘reviewing allegations that members of the department may have abused their authority.’ Baton Rouge police said in a statement that its chief, Murphy Paul ‘met with FBI officials and requested their assistance to ensure an independent review of these complaints.’ In late August, Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome announced that the ‘Brave Cave’ was being permanently closed, and that the Street Crimes Unit was also being disbanded.” (09/22/23)
https://news.yahoo.com/feds-open-investigation-claims-baton-003401856.html
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5) Poll: Disgraced former president leads senile incumbent by ten points
Source: New York Post
“Donald Trump scored an explosive 10-point lead over President Biden in a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. The 77-year-old former president trounced the Democrat 52% to 42% in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 contest, up significantly from Trump’s 49% to 43% lead during a similar survey from the outlets in May. ‘Heads are EXPLODING at the Jeff Bezos Amazon Washington Post, as President Trump now leads Biden nationally by 10,’ senior Trump adviser Jason Miller boasted on X. During the 2016 election Trump clinched about 46% support and during 2020, he nabbed just shy of 47% support. Across the board, the poll spelled bad news for Biden, with voters souring on his stewardship of the economy, immigration, age, and more. Biden’s campaign and administration have boasted about the progress of so-called ‘Bidenomics,’ but 44% surveyed in the poll argued that their financial picture deteriorated under his watch.” (09/24/23)
https://nypost.com/2023/09/24/trump-scores-10-point-lead-over-biden-poll/
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6) Report: Rite Aid eyes closing hundreds of stores as it mulls bankruptcy
Source: Washington Examiner
“Pharmacy giant Rite Aid is planning to file for bankruptcy and expects to shutter 400 to 500 stores as part of that process, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. People familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the company could close up to 500 stores and either sell its remaining locations or turn them over to creditors. Since conversations surrounding the bankruptcy are ongoing, no final decisions have been made, Rite Aid said in a statement to news agencies. The pharmacy chain has its headquarters in Philadelphia and operates 2,330 stores in 17 states, according to Fox Business.” (09/23/23)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/rite-aid-eyes-closing-hundreds-of-stores-as-it-mulls-bankruptcy-report
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7) FBI sued after allegedly losing hundreds of thousands in rare coins during raid
Source: Fox News
“Two Americans are alleging the FBI lost or stole their property after seizing it through a ‘shady’ process. ‘All we know is that their property was in a box and safe before the FBI broke into the box,’ Joe Gay, an attorney with the nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, told Fox News. ‘Once the FBI broke into the box, we honestly don’t know exactly what happened. We don’t know if they lost it. We don’t know if somebody pocketed it and walked away. We have no way to know.’ The Institute for Justice filed two lawsuits Friday on behalf of clients who had property seized from their safety deposit boxes in a March 2021 FBI raid on U.S. Private Vaults, a Beverly Hills-based company.” (09/24/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/fbi-sued-allegedly-losing-hundreds-thousands-rare-coins-during-raid
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8) Nagorno-Karabakh: 120,000 Armenians will leave for Armenia, pols say
Source: Reuters
“The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. Armenia’s Prime Minister also said the Karabakh Armenians were likely to leave the region, and that Armenia was ready to take them in, following a defeat last week at the hands of Azerbaijan in a conflict dating to the fall of the Soviet Union. The Armenians of Karabakh — a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but previously beyond Baku’s control — were forced to declare a ceasefire on Sept. 20 after a lightning 24-hour military operation by the much larger Azerbaijani military.” (09/24/23)
https://archive.ph/9rckg
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9) NASA hails “awesome” rescue mission as asteroid sample reaches military base
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Dusty samples from the ‘most dangerous known rock in the Solar System’ have been brought to Earth. The American space agency Nasa landed the materials in a capsule that came down in the West Desert of Utah state. The samples had been scooped up from the surface of asteroid Bennu in 2020 by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. Nasa wants to learn more about the mountainous object, not least because it has an outside chance of hitting our planet in the next 300 years. But more than this, the samples are likely to provide fresh insights into the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago and possibly even how life got started on our world.” (09/24/23)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66893661
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10) Spain: 40,000 march against amnesty for Catalan separatists
Source: Reuters
“Tens of thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against possible plans by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatists to keep himself in office after an election he failed to win. Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) travelled from across Spain to attend the rally in Madrid. Authorities estimated the size of the crowd at 40,000. Sanchez, who came second in an election in July, could stay in office if he wins the support of exiled former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, whose Junts per Catalunya party controls seven seats in parliament. Puigdemont, wanted in Spain for attempting the region’s secession, has demanded that legal action be dropped against fellow separatists as a condition for his support.” (09/24/23)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/40000-march-spain-against-amnesty-catalan-separatists-2023-09-24/
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11) Lavrov: US is “directly at war” with Moscow
Source: United Press International
“The United States is ‘directly at war’ with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday, after the close of the high-level week of the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. Lavrov made his remarks just over half an hour into a lengthy question-and-answer session with reporters, which was broadcast by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter. He had been asked at what point would the U.S. be at war with Russia as opposed to being described as a ‘proxy conflict.’ ‘There are legal norms pursuant to which a country is identified as being a direct party to hostilities and Western countries are doing everything possible to avoid them, not to mention them,’ Lavrov said. ‘They are effectively engaged in hostilities with us using the Ukrainians as fodder.'” (09/23/23)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/09/23/us-directly-at-war-moscow-russia-lavrov/2571695511935/
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12) Biden handed major legal defeat in attempt to restrict oil, gas drilling in Gulf of Mexico
Source: Fox News
“A federal court struck down the Biden administration’s last-minute restrictions on an upcoming offshore oil and gas lease sale in a ruling late Thursday evening. Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction request from plaintiffs — the State of Louisiana, industry association American Petroleum Institute (API) and oil companies Chevron and Shell — to block the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) restrictions on Lease Sale 261. The lease sale spanning millions of acres across the Gulf of Mexico is slated for next week. Cain ruled the federal government must proceed with the lease sale by Sept. 30 under its original conditions.” (09/24/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-handed-major-legal-defeat-attempt-restrict-oil-gas-drilling-gulf-of-mexico
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13) CA: Newsom vetoes bill requiring custody courts to weigh affirmation of gender identity
Source: ABC News
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have required judges to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions. In announcing his veto Friday night, Newsom released a statement saying he has ‘a deep commitment to advancing the rights of transgender Californians’ that has guided his decisions while in office. ‘That said, I urge caution when the Executive and Legislative branches of state government attempt to dictate — in prescriptive terms that single out one characteristic — legal standards for the Judicial branch to apply. Other-minded elected officials, in California and other states, could very well use this strategy to diminish the civil rights of vulnerable communities,’ the governor’s statement said.” (09/23/23)
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-governor-vetoes-bill-requiring-custody-courts-weigh-103437638
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14) Nepal: Thousands of teachers protest against education bill
Source: SFGate
“Schools for millions of students in Nepal were closed Friday as tens of thousands of teachers protested in the capital against an education reform bill in parliament. Teachers have been demonstrating in Kathmandu since Wednesday against the School Education Bill while teachers’ groups negotiate with government leaders over changes to the legislation. The teachers oppose provisions that would shift government-run schools to local control, saying it would lower their status, and that would scrap many temporary teacher positions. The teachers blocked the main street leading from the parliament building to key government ministries, disrupting traffic in the heart of the capital. Hundreds of police in riot gear blocked the road leading to parliament with barbed-wire barricades. The teachers have threatened to bring more protesters to Kathmandu if their demands are not addressed.” (09/24/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/thousands-of-teachers-protest-in-nepal-against-18382045.php
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15) Somalia: Car bombing at Somali checkpoint kills at least 15
Source: CBS News
“An explosives-laden vehicle detonated Saturday at a security checkpoint in the central Somalia city of Beledweyne, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40 others, authorities said. Abdifatah Mohamed Yusuf, the director-general of the Hirshabelle Ministry of Humanitarian and Disaster Management, confirmed the deaths. … Hirshabelle is a state that includes Beledweyne, which is the capital of the Hiran region and has been the center of the Somali government’s latest military offensive against extremists from East Africa’s al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Shabab.” (09/23/23)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/somali-car-bombing-at-checkpoint-kills-at-least-15-officials-say/
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16) LA: Army Corps of Engineers to barge 36 million gallons of freshwater a day as saltwater intrusion threatens New Orleans-area drinking water
Source: CNN
“The US Army Corps of Engineers is planning to barge 36 million gallons of freshwater daily into the lower Mississippi River near New Orleans as saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico continues to threaten drinking water supply, officials said Friday. The move comes as water levels are plummeting for the second consecutive year after this summer’s blistering heat and low rainfall triggered extreme drought over parts of the central US. As water levels drop, the threat of saltwater intrusion grows in Louisiana as ocean water pushes north into drinking water systems, unimpeded by the Mississippi’s normally mighty flow rate.” (09/23/23)
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/23/us/freshwater-new-orleans-saltwater-mississippi-river/index.html
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17) South China Sea: Philippines says Beijing installed floating barrier in contested area
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The Philippines has accused China of installing a ‘floating barrier’ to stop fishing boats from entering a disputed area in the South China Sea. The Philippines’ coast guard said the 300m (1,000ft) obstacle was preventing fishermen from working in a lagoon in the Scarborough Shoal. China claims more than 90% of the South China Sea and seized the shoal in 2012. Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine coast guard said the barrier was discovered by a patrol on Friday. Three Chinese coast guard boats and a Chinese maritime militia service boat installed the barrier when the Philippine vessel arrived, he said. The Chinese boats issued 15 radio challenges and accused the Philippine ship and fishermen of violating international and China’s laws, before moving away ‘upon realising the presence of media personnel onboard the (Filipino) vessel,’ he said.” (09/24/23)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66905093
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18) France: Clashes in Paris as thousands march against police violence
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
“Tens of thousands of people have marched in France to protest against police violence, with clashes breaking out on the margins of a rally organised in the capital, Paris. Saturday’s nationwide protests came within three months after the point-blank-range killing by a policeman of a teen at a traffic check sparked more than a week of rioting across the country. Demonstrators took aim at article 435-1 of the internal security code, introduced in 2017, which extends authorities’ leeway to shoot in the event of a suspect’s refusal to comply. Unions said some 80,000 people joined the protests across France, including 15,000 in Paris, but the Interior Ministry put the number at 31,300 nationwide and 9,000 in Paris. The government denounced ‘unacceptable violence’ on the margins of the march in Paris after officers were trapped in their police vehicle when it was attacked.” (09/24/23)
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/9/24/clashes-in-paris-as-thousands-march-against-police-violence
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19) Israel: Airstrikes hit Gaza for third day in a row
Source: SFGate
“Israeli airstrikes struck militant sites in Gaza on Sunday for the third straight day, the Israeli military said, after Palestinian militants near the border fence launched incendiary balloons into Israel and threw an explosive at soldiers. The strike came on the heels of an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank that Palestinian health officials said killed two Palestinians. It was the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence during a sensitive Jewish holiday period. A series of violent escalations on the border between Israel and Gaza over the past week has raised the specter of an escalation for the first time since a brief round of conflict last May between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.” (09/24/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/israeli-military-raid-kills-2-palestinians-in-18385317.php
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20) NJ: Menendez gets primary challenger after latest corruption indictment
Source: NBC News
“Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., has announced that he plans to run against Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who is facing mounting pressure from Democrats to resign after he was charged with bribery in a recent indictment filed in Manhattan federal court. After he called for Menendez to step down on Friday, Kim said Saturday that he plans on challenging Menendez for his Senate seat. … Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, according to his second indictment since becoming a senator. The senator allegedly wielded the power of his official position to enrich three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government.” (09/23/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democratic-pressure-mounts-sen-bob-menendez-resign-rcna117015
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) In Defense of Globalization
Source: Students For Liberty
by David Boaz
“We hear a lot of debates these days about globalization. What is globalization? Globalization is simply the process of the free movement of goods, capital, people, and ideas around the world and across borders. Globalization is a great boon to the world. It means more specialization and division of labor, which are vital components of economic progress. It makes rich countries richer and brings poor countries out of crushing poverty. … As Max Roser of Our World in Data points out, newspapers could have run the headline NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN EXTREME POVERTY FELL BY 137,000 SINCE YESTERDAY every day for 25 years. But people don’t know this! In a recent poll 66 percent of Americans thought world poverty had doubled. A free economy is not a zero-sum game. Trade and specialization are win-win. The pie grows for everyone.” (09/22/23)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/in-defense-of-globalization/
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22) Litigious Authors: Buy Our Books, But Don’t Read, Remember, Learn From, Or Be Influenced By Them
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“A group of 17 well-known authors — too many to usefully list here, but you’ve probably heard of, and certainly live in a world influenced by, the likes of John Grisham and George R.R. Martin — recently joined the stampede to sue artificial intelligence firm OpenAI. Following earlier plaintiffs, these authors allege that use of their work to ‘train’ Large Language Model products like ChatGPT amounts to ‘systematic theft on a mass scale.’ … Whatever the legal grounds for the lawsuit, its essence comes down to a claim that the function of a reader (whether that reader is ‘human’ or ‘artificial’) is to buy authors’ books … and do nothing with them except perhaps display them prettily on household shelves, if even that.” (09/23/23)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/17991
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23) More choices than Red or Blue
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Politics changes hearts and minds. Not in a good way. The more partisan the politics, the worse the obvious damage. Politics brainwashes people. It drives reasoned thought right out of the human brain. Being too political doesn’t do good things to your emotions, either. I try to warn people of this danger, whether they want to hear it or not. They usually don’t want to. A mind damaged by politics can lead the victim to say things like ‘If you don’t support my politician you support this other politician.’ Maybe they’ll substitute political parties for individual politicians. It’s a logical error either way. It requires ignoring the fact that there are almost always more than two choices.” (09/24/23)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2023/09/24/voices/opinion-more-choices-than-red-or-blue/176149.html
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24) Money Isn’t All That Matters, Redistribution Edition
Source: EconLog
by Kevin Corcoran
“In a previous post, I pondered whether certain critics of market outcomes might be committing an error that is inaccurately projected on economists – the assumption that money is all that matters. It turns out, another unfair criticism of economists also seems to follow a similar pattern. The unfair criticism goes something like this: ‘Economists misunderstand what motivates people. They speak as if people are only interested in narrow monetary rewards, but in reality we are driven by so much more than that. People are motivated by a wide range of values, and care about more things in life that just money.’ Of course, no halfway decent economist fails to recognize this. But there are some people who do seem to be guilty of this error.” (09/22/23/)
https://www.econlib.org/money-isnt-all-that-matters-redistribution-edition/
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25) Modi’s Bharat: Seeking Power, Becoming Pariah
Source: The UnPopulist
by Debasish Roy Chowdhury
“With a jazzed-up capital city, gaudy laser lighting, brand new public installations, and gold-plated tableware for the attendants, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big fat Indian G-20 meeting was a coming-out party of sorts for India as a world power. … Many Indians are already convinced and proud of India’s new status. Modi’s fans on social media are in fact exulting at the allegations that Indian agents killed a Sikh separatist activist in Canada, which they see as further proof of India’s arrival as the next big global power. But the self-belief as the country of the future is painfully at odds with India’s state-led obsession with the past. All the pomp and pageantry designed to project India’s new identity as a visvaguru (‘teacher to the world,’ in Modispeak) could not hide the many identity wars triggered by a surge of nativism in the country brought about by Modi’s politics.” (09/22/23)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/modis-bharat-seeking-power-becoming
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26) There’ll Be No Escape for Bob Menendez This Time
Source: The New Republic
by Matt Ford
“The Supreme Court’s threshold for bribery these days is almost indistinguishable from a Thomas Nast cartoon. Corruption, in the justices’ eyes, is when a railroad tycoon hands a politician a burlap sack with a big dollar sign on it. But that extraordinarily high hurdle allegedly didn’t stop New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez from leaping over it. Federal prosecutors charged Menendez, his wife, and three New Jersey businessmen with multiple counts related to bribery schemes over the past five years. The Menendezes allegedly took hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation — cash, gold bullion, and even a luxury car — in exchange for the senator ‘agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the government of Egypt,’ Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement on Friday.” (09/22/23)
https://newrepublic.com/article/175717/therell-no-escape-bob-menendez-time
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27) Ron DeSantis’s Campaign Is Plummeting Because He Won’t Choose a Lane
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“He coulda been somebody. He coulda been a contender. I once had high aspirations for Ron DeSantis. But those of us who were hoping he’d be an instrument to stop Donald Trump from winning a third Republican presidential nomination look to be out of luck, as the promise of DeSantis recedes with the summer of 2023. … There was a clear and obvious path for DeSantis to follow. The way to beat Trump, I argued last July, was by ‘assembling a coalition of (a) former Trumpers who believe it’s time to move on to a younger and less chaotic pugilist who actually wins his fights, and (b) Reagan conservatives who never liked Trump.’ DeSantis never tried to assemble this posse. Instead, he focused on exciting highly educated and very online right-wingers who were seeking a strongman.” (09/24/23)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ron-desantis-is-plummeting-because-he-wont-choose-a-lane
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28) How Uber Beat the Metro
Source: The American Conservative
by Nic Rowan
“Uber came to Washington, D.C. in 2011, the same year the city lost its designation as a majority-black district. The city’s population had been changing for about a decade: The Global War on Terror, the Great Recession, and the ascendance of Barack Obama all brought with them a mass of upwardly mobile outsiders determined to remake the city in their own image.” (09/23/23)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-uber-beat-the-metro/
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29) Okinawa Disproves The US Narrative About Overseas Bases
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has implored the UN for international backing in his opposition to the prefecture being overrun with US military bases. … Whenever I talk about the rapidly increasing number of US military bases and operations surrounding China I get empire simps telling me ‘But the people in those countries WANT us there!’ Okinawa shows it’s always been a nonconsensual relationship disguised as a consensual one. And it should here be noted that Japan’s national government was itself the product of extensive US manipulation after World War II.” (09/22/23)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2023/09/22/okinawa-disproves-the-us-narrative-about-overseas-bases/
-----
30) Biden’s Oil Madness
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
“The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve is down to forty-six days of consumption, a forty-year low. This is not surprising, given that the Biden administration has used some three hundred million barrels from the reserve to flood the market to keep crude oil prices low, a political imperative with his re-election in sight. The obsessive pursuit of ‘energy independence’ by U.S. policymakers has gone down the drain, in what seems a total contradiction with the aim of not having to rely — in normal times but, more importantly, in times of strategic peril — on foreign oil usually produced by ugly regimes with which Washington is at odds. Since the shale oil revolution is now clearly ending, the U.S. will be forced to import oil to build back its reserve — an ironic twist of fate, to say the least.” (09/22/23)
https://blog.independent.org/2023/09/22/biden-oil-madness
-----
31) Enough with this guilt by association
Source: spiked
by Fraser Myers
“Are you now or have you ever been a fan / supporter / associate of alleged sex offender Russell Brand? If so, you might have ‘hard questions’ to answer. You could be about to have your name splashed across the papers. Or you might end up being subjected to a fierce social-media pile-on. Ever since the allegations of sexual assault against Russell Brand came to light … the spotlight has all too often turned away from Brand himself and towards his past hangers-on. Anyone who once worked with him. Anyone who once admired and talked up his work. Anyone who may have so much as posed for a picture with him, it seems, is now considered to be tarnished, somehow or other, by his alleged crimes.” (09/22/23)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/22/enough-with-this-guilt-by-association/
-----
32) Once again, Big Tech plays judge, jury & executioner before a trial
Source: New York Post
by Karol Markowicz
“Are accusations enough to destroy someone’s life and remove his ability to make money? That certainly seems the case with actor and podcaster Russell Brand and the feverish push to make sure he is demonetized on every online platform. Brand has been accused of serious sexual offenses. He might be a terrible person, we really don’t know. He has not been charged with anything, and an accusation does not make it acceptable to take away his job. I get it: We live in a bifurcated world. We take sides. We make snap decisions. We read a headline and form an opinion. Or maybe we don’t need to read anything. I never liked that guy anyway. I love him. I hate him. He’s innocent. He’s guilty. We get caught up in a frenzy.” (09/22/23)
https://nypost.com/2023/09/21/russell-brand-big-tech-plays-judge-jury-and-executioner-before-a-trial-again/
-----
33) There’s a Herd of Elephants in the Room
Source: Cobden Centre
by Alasdair Macleod
“Among the many problems currencies the markets face, there is one that is undocumented: the eurodollar market. This is yet another very large elephant in the room. This article quantifies eurodollars and eurodollar bonds, which are additional to US money supply and credit.” (09/22/23)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2023/09/theres-a-herd-of-elephants-in-the-room/
-----
34) Nikki Haley thinks China is coming for your brain
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Matthew Petti
“The GOP presidential contender wooed potential donors at a low-profile event in New Jersey this week with hefty doses of fear-mongering about Beijing and Iran.” (09/22/23)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/nikki-haley-china/
-----
35) Ukraine: Which Way Out?
Source: Common Dreams
by Tom Gallagher
“The American Left’s relative silence regarding US involvement in the Ukraine War, while surprising, is also understandable. Surprising, given the Left’s nearly blanket opposition to 21st century American military-related operations of such magnitude; understandable, in that the U.S. is actually on the right side in this case (unfortunately, far from the norm for American foreign policy) and has committed no troops.Is the Left’s silence an uneasy one? Hard to say, but it should be. There are actually many legitimate reasons for unease about the current situation, not least among them the fact that not only is there no end to this war in sight, but also that there seem to be few actually looking for a realistic route to an end.” (09/23/23)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/how-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine
-----
36) Hurrah for Real Globalization!
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“Globalization, like the free market and classical liberalism generally, isn’t wildly popular these days, is it? People blame globalization for all sorts of bad things, and the raps are usually bum. In truth, to the extent that governments keep out so-called foreign people, goods, and money, they make nearly everyone poorer. Even the few immediate beneficiaries pay a price in the long run. So who speaks up for real globalization? I have to add the adjective real because counterfeit globalization has been circulating for a while. That’s politically managed commerce where governments, most prominently the U.S. government, manage cross-border private trade and migration.” (09/22/23)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2023/09/tgif-hurrah-for-real-globalization.html
-----
37) New data confirms that the US rebuilt the refugee resettlement program
Source: Niskanen Center
by Matthew La Corte & Claire Holba
“As fiscal year 2023 comes to a close at the end of September, the latest data from the State Department paints a clear picture: the U.S. refugee program is back. According to nearly all available program indicators, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is likely operating from a stronger position today than at any point during the 21st century.” (09/22/23)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/new-data-confirms-that-the-u-s-rebuilt-the-refugee-resettlement-program/
-----
38) Taiwan Needs Our Weapons – Instead, We’re Sending Them to Bad Guys
Source: Cato Institute
by Jordan Cohen & Jonathan Ellis Allen
“On September 13, the United States announced that it would redirect $85 million in foreign military financing from Egypt to Taiwan due to the former’s human rights abuses. Egypt’s disregard for human rights is an ongoing problem, with the government having recently detained a French journalist covering civilian bombings. While only a start, the Biden administration’s policy shift is long overdue: we cannot treat all weapon recipients as equal priorities.” (09/22/23)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/taiwan-needs-our-weapons-instead-were-sending-them-bad-guys#
-----
39) Insurrectionists Who Think they are Upholding the Constitution are Still Insurrectionists — and Still Subject to Disqualification Under Section 3 the Fourteenth Amendment
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“Some argue that Donald Trump is not subject to disqualification from holding public office under Section 3 the Fourteenth Amendment because Trump and those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 did not think of themselves as trying to overthrow the government. They instead believed Trump was the true winner of the 2020 election, and they were upholding the Constitution by preventing that victory from being ‘stolen’ from him. … In the case of Trump, there is a lot of evidence indicating he did know he had lost the election, and his public statements to the contrary were lies. But, for now, let’s set that aside. A false belief that you are acting in accordance with the Constitution does not exempt you from disqualification under Section 3. If it did, many of the leading Confederates who fought against the United States in the Civil War would also be exempt.” (09/22/23)
https://reason.com/volokh/2023/09/22/insurrectionists-who-think-they-are-upholding-the-constitution-are-still-insurrectionists-and-still-subject-to-disqualification-under-section-3-the-fourteenth-amendment/
-----
40) The Biden-Schumer Military-Promotion Blockade
Source: Wall Street Journal
by Kimberley A Strassel
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff has a new chairman, Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, after the Senate approved his promotion on Wednesday night, 83-11. Bear that vote in mind the next time anyone suggests that Republicans are standing in the way of military readiness. That’s certainly the common view in the Beltway echo chamber, which blames Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville for a pileup of military promotions. For months he has used ‘holds’ to block confirmation votes in frustration over the Biden White House’s imposition of its culture war on the military. The president and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have pummeled the GOP, accusing it of damaging military preparedness and acting callously toward military families. That turns reality on its head. No question the damage is real. More than 300 military officers are in limbo, with the paralysis hitting some services particularly hard.” (09/22/23)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biden-schumer-war-games-abortion-policy-military-politics-pentagon-9b4fd1a3
-----
41) The Covid Narrative Flunked the Critical Thinking Test
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bruce W Davidson
“At the height of the Covid hysteria, several times I encountered variations of the meme ‘It’s not a pandemic; it’s an IQ test.’ Probably the memesters were poking fun at those duped by the mainstream Covid messaging. In any case, that meme really misses the point. The essential problem has never been about one’s IQ. Many highly intelligent people (in an academic sense) swallowed a very dubious narrative, while others less academically gifted did not. The real divider was the ability and inclination to think critically about it. In a previous article I explained the basic concept of critical thinking, which can be defined as rational judgment about appeals to belief. Here I will lay out my own classroom approach to it in relation to the Covid messaging and policies.” (09/22/23)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-covid-narrative-flunked-the-critical-thinking-test/
-----
42) Our Dangerous Narcissists
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Mona Charen
“If you’re like me, you’ve gotten a bellyful of AI analysis, speculation and dire warnings over the past few months. Alongside hopes of cancer cures, obedient home robots, personalized tutors, energy efficiency and wildlife preservation, we’ve heard from leaders in the field that AI will definitely … kill us all. Soooo, that somewhat dims enthusiasm for those tidying up robots. But it strikes me that we have a different, more pressing problem. It concerns not artificial but organic intelligence, specifically one of its most destructive traits — narcissism. And while it may not have the capacity to annihilate humanity, it is dragging us closer to calamity than we can afford to ignore. From Donald Trump to Elon Musk to Tucker Carlson, our society is being deformed by egomaniacs.” (09/22/23)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/09/22/our_dangerous_narcissists_149792.html
-----
43) On Being Your Own Teacher
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert C Thornett
“Being one’s own teacher means taking responsibility for actively charting one’s own educational course, pressing far beyond ‘externally imposed classes,’ as Buchanan puts it, and refusing to settle for blaming the educational system for one’s shortcomings. But charting one’s own course does not mean always going alone. On the contrary, it means understanding that mentors and peers are essential — as is seeking them out. Humans are mimetic and social beings, and even the most independent individualist needs models, guides, and fellow seekers.” (09/22/23)
https://lawliberty.org/on-being-your-own-teacher/
-----
44) The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
“Ever since the war began, those who favor giving Ukraine ‘whatever it takes’ for as long as it takes have sought to portray the war in the usual U.S. fashion: as a straightforward contest between good and evil. In their telling, Russia is solely to blame for the war, and Western policy had absolutely nothing to do with the resulting tragedy. They portray Ukraine as a struggling but plucky democracy that has been brutally attacked by a corrupt, imperialist dictatorship. They see the moral stakes as nearly infinite, because the outcome of the war will supposedly have a far-reaching impact on the future of democracy, the fate of Taiwan, the preservation of a rules-based order, etc. Not surprisingly, they are quick to condemn anyone who challenges this view as a naïve appeaser, a Russian lackey, or someone lacking any sense of moral judgment.” (09/22/23)
https://archive.ph/4lgXd
-----
45) Heads They “Cha-Ching!;” Tails They Take Away Your Malpractice Insurance
Source: The American Prospect
by Maureen Tkacik
“Private equity firms swallowed nearly 1,100 medical practices from 2012 to 2022, in transactions so frequent and frenzied it appeared as though Wall Street had found some sort of ‘cheat code’ that promised unlimited profits. Now, in a first for antitrust regulators, the Federal Trade Commission has sued a private equity firm for a conspiracy to roll up a medical specialty. The 106-page complaint filed Thursday in Texas lays out in granular detail just how one firm’s serial acquisition strategy nearly doubled the cost of anesthesia services in the state over the course of a few years. Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, Delaware bankruptcy attorneys discussed the wreckage of a separate private equity medical rollup gone wrong.” (09/22/23)
https://prospect.org/health/2023-09-22-private-equity-medical-rollups-malpractice-insurance/
-----
46) Did the NSA Invent Bitcoin? A 1996 Research Paper Reignites the Debate
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Jamie Redman
“A recent buzz within crypto circles revolves around a 1996 research paper from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). There’s burgeoning speculation: did the NSA lay the groundwork for Bitcoin? Indeed, there are striking similarities between the NSA document and the Bitcoin white paper. However, a detailed look suggests a tighter connection to centralized Chaumian models described years prior.” (09/22/23)
https://news.bitcoin.com/did-the-nsa-invent-bitcoin-a-1996-research-paper-reignites-the-debate/
-----
47) Forget Bellingcat. Meet a Real “Open Source” Watchdog
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“Jack Poulson has an insider’s background, an outsider’s perspective, and unique technical expertise, making him an invaluable resource for monitoring the world of national security contracting.” (09/22/23)
https://www.racket.news/p/forget-bellingcat-meet-a-real-open
-----
48) Why Paul Krugman Can’t Admit Inflation Is Making Americans Poorer
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
“New government data have some unwelcome news: The public is getting poorer. Census Bureau data released last week show that median household income fell to $74,580 last year, down nearly $1,800 from the previous year, $76,330. The 2.3% drop was the sharpest annual decline since 2010, financial observers noted , and marks the third consecutive year that household incomes have fallen. With median household income down nearly 5% since 2019, many families are struggling. Yet economist Paul Krugman insists the economy is thriving.” (09/22/23)
https://fee.org/articles/why-paul-krugman-cant-admit-inflation-is-making-americans-poorer/
-----
49) The GOP Can’t Survive the Only Trumpers
Source: Town Hall
by Michael Reagan
“Too bad Donald Trump won’t attend the second Republican presidential primary debate next week at the Ronald Reagan Library. His friends and enemies in the media will miss him and the high ratings he automatically generates, but he’s leading by a huge margin in the polls and he doesn’t need the TV time or media attention. … Trump’s decision serves his campaign’s purposes in the same way President Biden helps his campaign by refusing to take part in a primary debate. But by skipping the primary debates Trump is making a serious mistake that undermines the strength of the Republican Party – which already is weak and in deep doo-do.” (09/22/23)
https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelreagan/2023/09/23/the-gop-cant-survive-the-only-trumpers-n2628831
-----
50) Tel Aviv’s Losing Brands: Israeli “Coup” and the Death of False Democracy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud
“From its very onset, Israel has constructed a brand for itself, a powerful gimmick that was predicated on two main pillars: democracy and stability. The main target audience for this brand has been powerful Western states that wielded disproportionate political, economic and military powers. These Western governments, along with their influential mainstream corporate media, did their part, by polishing Israel’s image – as most democratic and most stable – while tarnishing that of their Arab and Palestinian enemies – or anyone else who dared criticize Israel. It mattered little whether Israel was truly a beacon of democracy and stability, because these terms are often conjured up and used to conveniently fit the interest of those in power.” (09/22/23)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2023/09/21/tel-avivs-losing-brands-israeli-coup-and-the-death-of-false-democracy/
-----
51) Methinks the Mayor
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“‘So, Walmart has no rights?!’ The frustration flowed from Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio to a 911 operator. Her compassionate heart bled profusely for the long-suffering stockholders and executives of one of the world’s richest companies. ‘Hi, this is Mayor Deccio. I know that this isn’t an emergency call, but I need to talk to somebody,’ she told the dispatcher. ‘There are far rightwing petitioners at Walmart and they are not leaving after Walmart has asked them repeatedly to do so. And the police have not taken them off the premises.’ But, as the voice at 911 explained to the distraught officeholder, Washington State law requires that commercial property must make a public accommodation for First Amendment activity such as petitioning. The mayor’s thirst for a police solution to these ‘far rightwing’ petitioners went unquenched.” (09/22/23)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2023/09/22/methinks-the-mayor/
-----
52) The MAGA movement is channeling its inner Bernie Sanders
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“[M]any progressives aren’t even progressive in the old parlance, but ‘democratic socialists.’ This philosophy’s most notable champion – Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and onetime Democratic presidential candidate – calls for a re-ordering of the economy. He’s sounds like a scold who rails against capitalism, describes our system as corrupt and has a soft spot for certain despots. The most significant aspect of Donald Trump’s takeover of the GOP wasn’t his obliteration of norms, but his re-configuring of the conservative brand into something reminiscent of European conservatism. … In terms of economic policy, the populist right embraces tariffs, which are nothing more than massive taxes on American consumers in the name of fighting foreign products. Now even more of the MAGA movement’s economic policy is in view and, predictably, it has more in common with Sanders’[s] ideals than Reagan’s.” (09/22/23)
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/09/22/the-maga-movement-is-channeling-its-inner-bernie-sanders/
-----
53) Don’t Fall for the Intelligence Community’s Monster of the Week Justifications
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Matthew Guariglia
“In the beloved episodic television shows of yesteryear, the antagonists were often ‘monsters of the week’: villains who would show up for one episode and get vanquished by the heroes just in time for them to fight the new monster in the following episode. Keeping up with the Intelligence Community and law enforcement’s justifications for invasive, secretive, and uncontrollable surveillance powers and authorities is a bit like watching one of these shows. This week, they could say they need it to fight drugs or other cross-border contraband. Next week, they might need it to fight international polluters or revert to the tried-and-true national security justifications. The fight over the December 31, 2023 expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is no exception to the Monster of the Week phenomenon.” (09/22/23)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/dont-fall-intelligence-communitys-monster-week-justifications
-----
54) Autoworkers Strike Just Spread to Facilities Across the Country
Source: In These Times
by Luis Feliz Leon & Lisa Xu
“The clock has ticked and tocked for two of the Big 3 automakers. At noon 5,000 more members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) at 38 parts distribution centers for Stellantis and General Motors are walking off the job. The facilities are spread across 20 states. They join 13,000 workers at assembly plants in Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri who have been out for a week — for a total of 18,000 Big 3 auto workers on picket lines nationwide. The escalation adds a new type of facility to the mix. Parts distribution centers (PDCs) supply after-sales spare parts and accessories to dealerships, a very profitable part of the companies’ business. Most facilities have between 50 and 150 workers, but some are much larger. According to GM, the Davison Road Processing Center in Burton, Michigan, has more than 1,200 employees and processes 9.9 million pieces per month, filling orders for domestic and international customers.” (09/22/23)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/autoworkers-strike-uaw-ford-gm-stellantis
-----
55) Dark Matter and the Swimming Pool App
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Jon Sanders
“On July 24, at the peak of a hot summer, a local news station in North Carolina reported on a new example of the sharing economy. It’s a swimming pool app that connects homeowners saddled with expensive swimming pools they rarely use to neighbors who’d like to take a peaceful dip in a private setting without all the hassle and noise of public pools. The news told viewers they could ‘Use the app to rent a pool for the day.’ The app, Swimply, has been described as ‘the Airbnb of pools.’ That description says more than you might think. It gets across the basic idea — a service that links people who want a pool for the afternoon with pool owners willing to rent out — while illustrating just how ingrained this kind of service has become.” (09/22/23)
https://www.aier.org/article/dark-matter-and-the-swimming-pool-app/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
56) Fakertarians, episode 54
Source: Fakertarians
“The McArdle Papers — Part 2.” (09/23/23)
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fakertarians/episodes/Fakertarians-Episode-54-The-McArdle-Papers—Part-2-e29mn1r
-----
57) The Anarchist Experience, episode 442
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich, MC, and KS discuss the pros and cons of unionizing, collective bargaining, and striking, and this HEADLINE: Chicago’s Dem Mayor Brandon Johnson now wants to create city-run grocery stores to promote ‘equitable’ access to food after Walmart and Whole Foods close stores.” (09/23/23)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2023/09/23/the-anarchist-experience-442/
-----
58) Unattended Baggage, episode #215
Source: International Guild of Professional Anarchists
“Americans shocked stealth jet can’t be tracked on radar.” (09/23/23)
https://alexandersnitker.substack.com/p/unattended-baggage-episode-215-americans
-----
59) Free Talk Live, 09/23/23
Source: Free Talk Live
“UK Online ‘Safety’ Legislation Destroying Internet Freedom :: Chris Christie on Secession :: Americans Frustrated with Fed Gov :: NH Nation :: Crypto Adoption :: Australia to be Functionally Cashless by 2025? :: CBDC? :: Housing Rates :: Encryption and Backdoors :: George Alan Kelly, Alleged Migrant Murderer :: 2023-09-23 Ian, Peakless Mountaineer, Captain Kickass.” (09/23/23)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2023-09-23
-----
60) The Fifth Column, episode 422
Source: The Fifth Column
“Introducing The Fifth Column Center for Antiracist Research.” (09/22/23)
https://wethefifth.substack.com/p/422-introducing-the-fifth-column
-----
61) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Daniel Davis on Why People Can’t Admit Ukraine is Losing.” (09/22/23)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/9-21-23-daniel-davis-on-why-people-cant-admit-ukraine-is-losing/
-----
62) The Bryan Hyde Show, 09/22/23
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“We’re now learning that the FBI had so many paid informants taking part in Jan 6 that they lost count. Are we sure we can trust them to be honest on other matters?” (09/22/23)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-rna62-14b0b62
-----
63) Meme Wars, episode 28
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Sloppy Senator Shit Show as Biden Bends Over for Zelenskyy.” (09/22/23)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/meme-wars-28-sloppy-senator-shit-show-as-biden-bends-over-for-zelenskyy
-----
64) Conflicts of Interest, episode 475
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Is Support for Ukraine Fading?” (09/22/23)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-475-is-support-for-ukraine-fading/
-----
65) Fintech Beat, 09/22/23
Source: Roll Call
“Portabl CEO Nate Soffio explains how reliant we are on others to construct our digital identities and the possibility of restoring consumer control of our data and our identities in a digital world.” (09/22/23)
https://chrt.fm/track/D3F8DG/traffic.megaphone.fm/FISCAL9683776808.mp3
-----
66) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/22/23
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Road To Ruin: U.S. Government Adds $1 Trillion In Debt In 3 Months!” (09/22/23)
https://rumble.com/v3jurl8-the-road-to-ruin-u.s.-government-adds-1-trillion-in-debt-in-3-months.html
-----
67) Nonzero, 09/22/23
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“Biden’s Border Disorder | Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus.” (09/22/23)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66755
-----
68) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2396
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“The Oliver Anthony Problem.” (09/22/23)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2396-the-oliver-anthony-problem/
-----
69) Politics Politics Politics, 09/22/23
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“All The News You Missed This Summer (with Andrew Heaton).” (09/22/23)
https://shows.acast.com/63f52ee5886da70011a1a1ec/episodes/all-the-news-you-missed-this-summer-with-andrew-heaton
-----
70) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/22/23
Source: Antiwar.com
“Zelensky Gets More Cluster Bombs in DC, US Will Exempt Ukraine Operations from Shutdown, and More.” (09/22/23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4DUKliz1Co
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Ukraine war: Russian air strike damages Odesa port infrastructure, grain facilities
2) Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios that would end strike
3) Niger: French military to exit country following coup
4) Feds open investigation into claims Baton Rouge police tortured detainees
5) Poll: Disgraced former president leads senile incumbent by ten points
6) Report: Rite Aid eyes closing hundreds of stores as it mulls bankruptcy
7) FBI sued after allegedly losing hundreds of thousands in rare coins during raid
8) Nagorno-Karabakh: 120,000 Armenians will leave for Armenia, pols say
9) NASA hails “awesome” rescue mission as asteroid sample reaches military base
10) Spain: 40,000 march against amnesty for Catalan separatists
11) Lavrov: US is “directly at war” with Moscow
12) Biden handed major legal defeat in attempt to restrict oil, gas drilling in Gulf of Mexico
13) CA: Newsom vetoes bill requiring custody courts to weigh affirmation of gender identity
14) Nepal: Thousands of teachers protest against education bill
15) Somalia: Car bombing at Somali checkpoint kills at least 15
16) LA: Army Corps of Engineers to barge 36 million gallons of freshwater a day as saltwater intrusion threatens New Orleans-area drinking water
17) South China Sea: Philippines says Beijing installed floating barrier in contested area
18) France: Clashes in Paris as thousands march against police violence
19) Israel: Airstrikes hit Gaza for third day in a row
20) NJ: Menendez gets primary challenger after latest corruption indictment
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) In Defense of Globalization
22) Litigious Authors: Buy Our Books, But Don’t Read, Remember, Learn From, Or Be Influenced By Them
23) More choices than Red or Blue
24) Money Isn’t All That Matters, Redistribution Edition
25) Modi’s Bharat: Seeking Power, Becoming Pariah
26) There’ll Be No Escape for Bob Menendez This Time
27) Ron DeSantis’s Campaign Is Plummeting Because He Won’t Choose a Lane
28) How Uber Beat the Metro
29) Okinawa Disproves The US Narrative About Overseas Bases
30) Biden’s Oil Madness
31) Enough with this guilt by association
32) Once again, Big Tech plays judge, jury & executioner before a trial
33) There’s a Herd of Elephants in the Room
34) Nikki Haley thinks China is coming for your brain
35) Ukraine: Which Way Out?
36) Hurrah for Real Globalization!
37) New data confirms that the US rebuilt the refugee resettlement program
38) Taiwan Needs Our Weapons – Instead, We’re Sending Them to Bad Guys
39) Insurrectionists Who Think they are Upholding the Constitution are Still Insurrectionists — and Still Subject to Disqualification Under Section 3 the Fourteenth Amendment
40) The Biden-Schumer Military-Promotion Blockade
41) The Covid Narrative Flunked the Critical Thinking Test
42) Our Dangerous Narcissists
43) On Being Your Own Teacher
44) The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
45) Heads They “Cha-Ching!;” Tails They Take Away Your Malpractice Insurance
46) Did the NSA Invent Bitcoin? A 1996 Research Paper Reignites the Debate
47) Forget Bellingcat. Meet a Real “Open Source” Watchdog
48) Why Paul Krugman Can’t Admit Inflation Is Making Americans Poorer
49) The GOP Can’t Survive the Only Trumpers
50) Tel Aviv’s Losing Brands: Israeli “Coup” and the Death of False Democracy
51) Methinks the Mayor
52) The MAGA movement is channeling its inner Bernie Sanders
53) Don’t Fall for the Intelligence Community’s Monster of the Week Justifications
54) Autoworkers Strike Just Spread to Facilities Across the Country
55) Dark Matter and the Swimming Pool App
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
56) Fakertarians, episode 54
57) The Anarchist Experience, episode 442
58) Unattended Baggage, episode #215
59) Free Talk Live, 09/23/23
60) The Fifth Column, episode 422
61) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
62) The Bryan Hyde Show, 09/22/23
63) Meme Wars, episode 28
64) Conflicts of Interest, episode 475
65) Fintech Beat, 09/22/23
66) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/22/23
67) Nonzero, 09/22/23
68) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2396
69) Politics Politics Politics, 09/22/23
70) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/22/23
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Ukraine war: Russian air strike damages Odesa port infrastructure, grain facilities
Source: Reuters
“An overnight Russian air strike on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa caused ‘significant damage’ to port infrastructure and destroyed some grain storage facilities, Ukrainian officials said on Monday. No deaths were reported in the attack on Odesa, but at least one person was killed in a separate Russian air strike on the town of Beryslav in the southern region of Kherson region, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. … Russia’s defence ministry also reported Ukrainian attacks overnight, saying drones were shot down over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, over Crimea, and over the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod regions. It mentioned no deaths.” (09/26/23)
https://archive.ph/a9bhJ
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2) Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios that would end strike
Source: Axios
“The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced on Sunday that it had reached a ‘tentative agreement’ with the major Hollywood studios that would bring an end to the 146-day-strike. With a deal in hand with the writers, the studios can turn their attention toward cutting a deal with the actors’ union to end the Hollywood labor stoppage for good. … [A WGA statement] noted that union members are not to return to work ‘until specifically authorized’ to do so by the Guild. ‘We are still on strike until then. But we are, as of today, suspending WGA picketing,’ it added, encouraging writers to join the SAG-AFTRA picket lines this week.” (09/25/23)
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/25/wga-writers-strike-hollywood-studios-deal
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3) Niger: French military to exit country following coup
Source: United Press International
“France will remove its military from Niger by the end of the year, President Emmanuel Macron said, following growing outward animosity targeting Paris in the West African nation where its civilian-run government was overthrown in a July coup d’etat. Macron made the announcement Sunday during an interview with French television channels TFI and France 2. ‘We are putting an end to our military cooperation with the de facto authorities of Niger, because they no longer want to fight terrorism anymore,’ he said. … France has maintained some 1,500 troops and the United States some 1,100 for anti-terrorism purposes. But their future there came under question after Niger’s military under Abdourahamane Tchiani arrested Western ally and democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to seize control of Niamey on July 26.” (09/25/23)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/09/25/france-military-exit-Niger/3271695615708/
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4) Feds open investigation into claims Baton Rouge police tortured detainees
Source: Yahoo! News
“The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into claims that the police department for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, abused and tortured suspects, the FBI announced Friday. Numerous lawsuits allege that the Street Crimes Unit of the Baton Rouge Police Department abused drug suspects at a recently shuttered narcotics processing center — an unmarked warehouse nicknamed the ‘Brave Cave.’ The FBI said experienced prosecutors and agents are ‘reviewing allegations that members of the department may have abused their authority.’ Baton Rouge police said in a statement that its chief, Murphy Paul ‘met with FBI officials and requested their assistance to ensure an independent review of these complaints.’ In late August, Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome announced that the ‘Brave Cave’ was being permanently closed, and that the Street Crimes Unit was also being disbanded.” (09/22/23)
https://news.yahoo.com/feds-open-investigation-claims-baton-003401856.html
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5) Poll: Disgraced former president leads senile incumbent by ten points
Source: New York Post
“Donald Trump scored an explosive 10-point lead over President Biden in a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. The 77-year-old former president trounced the Democrat 52% to 42% in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 contest, up significantly from Trump’s 49% to 43% lead during a similar survey from the outlets in May. ‘Heads are EXPLODING at the Jeff Bezos Amazon Washington Post, as President Trump now leads Biden nationally by 10,’ senior Trump adviser Jason Miller boasted on X. During the 2016 election Trump clinched about 46% support and during 2020, he nabbed just shy of 47% support. Across the board, the poll spelled bad news for Biden, with voters souring on his stewardship of the economy, immigration, age, and more. Biden’s campaign and administration have boasted about the progress of so-called ‘Bidenomics,’ but 44% surveyed in the poll argued that their financial picture deteriorated under his watch.” (09/24/23)
https://nypost.com/2023/09/24/trump-scores-10-point-lead-over-biden-poll/
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6) Report: Rite Aid eyes closing hundreds of stores as it mulls bankruptcy
Source: Washington Examiner
“Pharmacy giant Rite Aid is planning to file for bankruptcy and expects to shutter 400 to 500 stores as part of that process, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. People familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the company could close up to 500 stores and either sell its remaining locations or turn them over to creditors. Since conversations surrounding the bankruptcy are ongoing, no final decisions have been made, Rite Aid said in a statement to news agencies. The pharmacy chain has its headquarters in Philadelphia and operates 2,330 stores in 17 states, according to Fox Business.” (09/23/23)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/rite-aid-eyes-closing-hundreds-of-stores-as-it-mulls-bankruptcy-report
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7) FBI sued after allegedly losing hundreds of thousands in rare coins during raid
Source: Fox News
“Two Americans are alleging the FBI lost or stole their property after seizing it through a ‘shady’ process. ‘All we know is that their property was in a box and safe before the FBI broke into the box,’ Joe Gay, an attorney with the nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, told Fox News. ‘Once the FBI broke into the box, we honestly don’t know exactly what happened. We don’t know if they lost it. We don’t know if somebody pocketed it and walked away. We have no way to know.’ The Institute for Justice filed two lawsuits Friday on behalf of clients who had property seized from their safety deposit boxes in a March 2021 FBI raid on U.S. Private Vaults, a Beverly Hills-based company.” (09/24/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/fbi-sued-allegedly-losing-hundreds-thousands-rare-coins-during-raid
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8) Nagorno-Karabakh: 120,000 Armenians will leave for Armenia, pols say
Source: Reuters
“The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. Armenia’s Prime Minister also said the Karabakh Armenians were likely to leave the region, and that Armenia was ready to take them in, following a defeat last week at the hands of Azerbaijan in a conflict dating to the fall of the Soviet Union. The Armenians of Karabakh — a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but previously beyond Baku’s control — were forced to declare a ceasefire on Sept. 20 after a lightning 24-hour military operation by the much larger Azerbaijani military.” (09/24/23)
https://archive.ph/9rckg
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9) NASA hails “awesome” rescue mission as asteroid sample reaches military base
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Dusty samples from the ‘most dangerous known rock in the Solar System’ have been brought to Earth. The American space agency Nasa landed the materials in a capsule that came down in the West Desert of Utah state. The samples had been scooped up from the surface of asteroid Bennu in 2020 by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. Nasa wants to learn more about the mountainous object, not least because it has an outside chance of hitting our planet in the next 300 years. But more than this, the samples are likely to provide fresh insights into the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago and possibly even how life got started on our world.” (09/24/23)
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66893661
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10) Spain: 40,000 march against amnesty for Catalan separatists
Source: Reuters
“Tens of thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against possible plans by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatists to keep himself in office after an election he failed to win. Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) travelled from across Spain to attend the rally in Madrid. Authorities estimated the size of the crowd at 40,000. Sanchez, who came second in an election in July, could stay in office if he wins the support of exiled former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, whose Junts per Catalunya party controls seven seats in parliament. Puigdemont, wanted in Spain for attempting the region’s secession, has demanded that legal action be dropped against fellow separatists as a condition for his support.” (09/24/23)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/40000-march-spain-against-amnesty-catalan-separatists-2023-09-24/
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11) Lavrov: US is “directly at war” with Moscow
Source: United Press International
“The United States is ‘directly at war’ with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday, after the close of the high-level week of the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. Lavrov made his remarks just over half an hour into a lengthy question-and-answer session with reporters, which was broadcast by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter. He had been asked at what point would the U.S. be at war with Russia as opposed to being described as a ‘proxy conflict.’ ‘There are legal norms pursuant to which a country is identified as being a direct party to hostilities and Western countries are doing everything possible to avoid them, not to mention them,’ Lavrov said. ‘They are effectively engaged in hostilities with us using the Ukrainians as fodder.'” (09/23/23)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/09/23/us-directly-at-war-moscow-russia-lavrov/2571695511935/
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12) Biden handed major legal defeat in attempt to restrict oil, gas drilling in Gulf of Mexico
Source: Fox News
“A federal court struck down the Biden administration’s last-minute restrictions on an upcoming offshore oil and gas lease sale in a ruling late Thursday evening. Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction request from plaintiffs — the State of Louisiana, industry association American Petroleum Institute (API) and oil companies Chevron and Shell — to block the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) restrictions on Lease Sale 261. The lease sale spanning millions of acres across the Gulf of Mexico is slated for next week. Cain ruled the federal government must proceed with the lease sale by Sept. 30 under its original conditions.” (09/24/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-handed-major-legal-defeat-attempt-restrict-oil-gas-drilling-gulf-of-mexico
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13) CA: Newsom vetoes bill requiring custody courts to weigh affirmation of gender identity
Source: ABC News
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have required judges to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions. In announcing his veto Friday night, Newsom released a statement saying he has ‘a deep commitment to advancing the rights of transgender Californians’ that has guided his decisions while in office. ‘That said, I urge caution when the Executive and Legislative branches of state government attempt to dictate — in prescriptive terms that single out one characteristic — legal standards for the Judicial branch to apply. Other-minded elected officials, in California and other states, could very well use this strategy to diminish the civil rights of vulnerable communities,’ the governor’s statement said.” (09/23/23)
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-governor-vetoes-bill-requiring-custody-courts-weigh-103437638
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14) Nepal: Thousands of teachers protest against education bill
Source: SFGate
“Schools for millions of students in Nepal were closed Friday as tens of thousands of teachers protested in the capital against an education reform bill in parliament. Teachers have been demonstrating in Kathmandu since Wednesday against the School Education Bill while teachers’ groups negotiate with government leaders over changes to the legislation. The teachers oppose provisions that would shift government-run schools to local control, saying it would lower their status, and that would scrap many temporary teacher positions. The teachers blocked the main street leading from the parliament building to key government ministries, disrupting traffic in the heart of the capital. Hundreds of police in riot gear blocked the road leading to parliament with barbed-wire barricades. The teachers have threatened to bring more protesters to Kathmandu if their demands are not addressed.” (09/24/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/thousands-of-teachers-protest-in-nepal-against-18382045.php
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15) Somalia: Car bombing at Somali checkpoint kills at least 15
Source: CBS News
“An explosives-laden vehicle detonated Saturday at a security checkpoint in the central Somalia city of Beledweyne, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40 others, authorities said. Abdifatah Mohamed Yusuf, the director-general of the Hirshabelle Ministry of Humanitarian and Disaster Management, confirmed the deaths. … Hirshabelle is a state that includes Beledweyne, which is the capital of the Hiran region and has been the center of the Somali government’s latest military offensive against extremists from East Africa’s al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Shabab.” (09/23/23)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/somali-car-bombing-at-checkpoint-kills-at-least-15-officials-say/
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16) LA: Army Corps of Engineers to barge 36 million gallons of freshwater a day as saltwater intrusion threatens New Orleans-area drinking water
Source: CNN
“The US Army Corps of Engineers is planning to barge 36 million gallons of freshwater daily into the lower Mississippi River near New Orleans as saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico continues to threaten drinking water supply, officials said Friday. The move comes as water levels are plummeting for the second consecutive year after this summer’s blistering heat and low rainfall triggered extreme drought over parts of the central US. As water levels drop, the threat of saltwater intrusion grows in Louisiana as ocean water pushes north into drinking water systems, unimpeded by the Mississippi’s normally mighty flow rate.” (09/23/23)
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/23/us/freshwater-new-orleans-saltwater-mississippi-river/index.html
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17) South China Sea: Philippines says Beijing installed floating barrier in contested area
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The Philippines has accused China of installing a ‘floating barrier’ to stop fishing boats from entering a disputed area in the South China Sea. The Philippines’ coast guard said the 300m (1,000ft) obstacle was preventing fishermen from working in a lagoon in the Scarborough Shoal. China claims more than 90% of the South China Sea and seized the shoal in 2012. Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine coast guard said the barrier was discovered by a patrol on Friday. Three Chinese coast guard boats and a Chinese maritime militia service boat installed the barrier when the Philippine vessel arrived, he said. The Chinese boats issued 15 radio challenges and accused the Philippine ship and fishermen of violating international and China’s laws, before moving away ‘upon realising the presence of media personnel onboard the (Filipino) vessel,’ he said.” (09/24/23)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66905093
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18) France: Clashes in Paris as thousands march against police violence
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
“Tens of thousands of people have marched in France to protest against police violence, with clashes breaking out on the margins of a rally organised in the capital, Paris. Saturday’s nationwide protests came within three months after the point-blank-range killing by a policeman of a teen at a traffic check sparked more than a week of rioting across the country. Demonstrators took aim at article 435-1 of the internal security code, introduced in 2017, which extends authorities’ leeway to shoot in the event of a suspect’s refusal to comply. Unions said some 80,000 people joined the protests across France, including 15,000 in Paris, but the Interior Ministry put the number at 31,300 nationwide and 9,000 in Paris. The government denounced ‘unacceptable violence’ on the margins of the march in Paris after officers were trapped in their police vehicle when it was attacked.” (09/24/23)
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/9/24/clashes-in-paris-as-thousands-march-against-police-violence
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19) Israel: Airstrikes hit Gaza for third day in a row
Source: SFGate
“Israeli airstrikes struck militant sites in Gaza on Sunday for the third straight day, the Israeli military said, after Palestinian militants near the border fence launched incendiary balloons into Israel and threw an explosive at soldiers. The strike came on the heels of an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank that Palestinian health officials said killed two Palestinians. It was the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence during a sensitive Jewish holiday period. A series of violent escalations on the border between Israel and Gaza over the past week has raised the specter of an escalation for the first time since a brief round of conflict last May between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.” (09/24/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/israeli-military-raid-kills-2-palestinians-in-18385317.php
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20) NJ: Menendez gets primary challenger after latest corruption indictment
Source: NBC News
“Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., has announced that he plans to run against Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who is facing mounting pressure from Democrats to resign after he was charged with bribery in a recent indictment filed in Manhattan federal court. After he called for Menendez to step down on Friday, Kim said Saturday that he plans on challenging Menendez for his Senate seat. … Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, according to his second indictment since becoming a senator. The senator allegedly wielded the power of his official position to enrich three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government.” (09/23/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democratic-pressure-mounts-sen-bob-menendez-resign-rcna117015
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) In Defense of Globalization
Source: Students For Liberty
by David Boaz
“We hear a lot of debates these days about globalization. What is globalization? Globalization is simply the process of the free movement of goods, capital, people, and ideas around the world and across borders. Globalization is a great boon to the world. It means more specialization and division of labor, which are vital components of economic progress. It makes rich countries richer and brings poor countries out of crushing poverty. … As Max Roser of Our World in Data points out, newspapers could have run the headline NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN EXTREME POVERTY FELL BY 137,000 SINCE YESTERDAY every day for 25 years. But people don’t know this! In a recent poll 66 percent of Americans thought world poverty had doubled. A free economy is not a zero-sum game. Trade and specialization are win-win. The pie grows for everyone.” (09/22/23)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/in-defense-of-globalization/
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22) Litigious Authors: Buy Our Books, But Don’t Read, Remember, Learn From, Or Be Influenced By Them
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“A group of 17 well-known authors — too many to usefully list here, but you’ve probably heard of, and certainly live in a world influenced by, the likes of John Grisham and George R.R. Martin — recently joined the stampede to sue artificial intelligence firm OpenAI. Following earlier plaintiffs, these authors allege that use of their work to ‘train’ Large Language Model products like ChatGPT amounts to ‘systematic theft on a mass scale.’ … Whatever the legal grounds for the lawsuit, its essence comes down to a claim that the function of a reader (whether that reader is ‘human’ or ‘artificial’) is to buy authors’ books … and do nothing with them except perhaps display them prettily on household shelves, if even that.” (09/23/23)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/17991
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23) More choices than Red or Blue
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Politics changes hearts and minds. Not in a good way. The more partisan the politics, the worse the obvious damage. Politics brainwashes people. It drives reasoned thought right out of the human brain. Being too political doesn’t do good things to your emotions, either. I try to warn people of this danger, whether they want to hear it or not. They usually don’t want to. A mind damaged by politics can lead the victim to say things like ‘If you don’t support my politician you support this other politician.’ Maybe they’ll substitute political parties for individual politicians. It’s a logical error either way. It requires ignoring the fact that there are almost always more than two choices.” (09/24/23)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2023/09/24/voices/opinion-more-choices-than-red-or-blue/176149.html
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24) Money Isn’t All That Matters, Redistribution Edition
Source: EconLog
by Kevin Corcoran
“In a previous post, I pondered whether certain critics of market outcomes might be committing an error that is inaccurately projected on economists – the assumption that money is all that matters. It turns out, another unfair criticism of economists also seems to follow a similar pattern. The unfair criticism goes something like this: ‘Economists misunderstand what motivates people. They speak as if people are only interested in narrow monetary rewards, but in reality we are driven by so much more than that. People are motivated by a wide range of values, and care about more things in life that just money.’ Of course, no halfway decent economist fails to recognize this. But there are some people who do seem to be guilty of this error.” (09/22/23/)
https://www.econlib.org/money-isnt-all-that-matters-redistribution-edition/
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25) Modi’s Bharat: Seeking Power, Becoming Pariah
Source: The UnPopulist
by Debasish Roy Chowdhury
“With a jazzed-up capital city, gaudy laser lighting, brand new public installations, and gold-plated tableware for the attendants, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big fat Indian G-20 meeting was a coming-out party of sorts for India as a world power. … Many Indians are already convinced and proud of India’s new status. Modi’s fans on social media are in fact exulting at the allegations that Indian agents killed a Sikh separatist activist in Canada, which they see as further proof of India’s arrival as the next big global power. But the self-belief as the country of the future is painfully at odds with India’s state-led obsession with the past. All the pomp and pageantry designed to project India’s new identity as a visvaguru (‘teacher to the world,’ in Modispeak) could not hide the many identity wars triggered by a surge of nativism in the country brought about by Modi’s politics.” (09/22/23)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/modis-bharat-seeking-power-becoming
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26) There’ll Be No Escape for Bob Menendez This Time
Source: The New Republic
by Matt Ford
“The Supreme Court’s threshold for bribery these days is almost indistinguishable from a Thomas Nast cartoon. Corruption, in the justices’ eyes, is when a railroad tycoon hands a politician a burlap sack with a big dollar sign on it. But that extraordinarily high hurdle allegedly didn’t stop New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez from leaping over it. Federal prosecutors charged Menendez, his wife, and three New Jersey businessmen with multiple counts related to bribery schemes over the past five years. The Menendezes allegedly took hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation — cash, gold bullion, and even a luxury car — in exchange for the senator ‘agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the government of Egypt,’ Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement on Friday.” (09/22/23)
https://newrepublic.com/article/175717/therell-no-escape-bob-menendez-time
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27) Ron DeSantis’s Campaign Is Plummeting Because He Won’t Choose a Lane
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“He coulda been somebody. He coulda been a contender. I once had high aspirations for Ron DeSantis. But those of us who were hoping he’d be an instrument to stop Donald Trump from winning a third Republican presidential nomination look to be out of luck, as the promise of DeSantis recedes with the summer of 2023. … There was a clear and obvious path for DeSantis to follow. The way to beat Trump, I argued last July, was by ‘assembling a coalition of (a) former Trumpers who believe it’s time to move on to a younger and less chaotic pugilist who actually wins his fights, and (b) Reagan conservatives who never liked Trump.’ DeSantis never tried to assemble this posse. Instead, he focused on exciting highly educated and very online right-wingers who were seeking a strongman.” (09/24/23)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ron-desantis-is-plummeting-because-he-wont-choose-a-lane
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28) How Uber Beat the Metro
Source: The American Conservative
by Nic Rowan
“Uber came to Washington, D.C. in 2011, the same year the city lost its designation as a majority-black district. The city’s population had been changing for about a decade: The Global War on Terror, the Great Recession, and the ascendance of Barack Obama all brought with them a mass of upwardly mobile outsiders determined to remake the city in their own image.” (09/23/23)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-uber-beat-the-metro/
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29) Okinawa Disproves The US Narrative About Overseas Bases
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has implored the UN for international backing in his opposition to the prefecture being overrun with US military bases. … Whenever I talk about the rapidly increasing number of US military bases and operations surrounding China I get empire simps telling me ‘But the people in those countries WANT us there!’ Okinawa shows it’s always been a nonconsensual relationship disguised as a consensual one. And it should here be noted that Japan’s national government was itself the product of extensive US manipulation after World War II.” (09/22/23)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2023/09/22/okinawa-disproves-the-us-narrative-about-overseas-bases/
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30) Biden’s Oil Madness
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
“The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve is down to forty-six days of consumption, a forty-year low. This is not surprising, given that the Biden administration has used some three hundred million barrels from the reserve to flood the market to keep crude oil prices low, a political imperative with his re-election in sight. The obsessive pursuit of ‘energy independence’ by U.S. policymakers has gone down the drain, in what seems a total contradiction with the aim of not having to rely — in normal times but, more importantly, in times of strategic peril — on foreign oil usually produced by ugly regimes with which Washington is at odds. Since the shale oil revolution is now clearly ending, the U.S. will be forced to import oil to build back its reserve — an ironic twist of fate, to say the least.” (09/22/23)
https://blog.independent.org/2023/09/22/biden-oil-madness
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31) Enough with this guilt by association
Source: spiked
by Fraser Myers
“Are you now or have you ever been a fan / supporter / associate of alleged sex offender Russell Brand? If so, you might have ‘hard questions’ to answer. You could be about to have your name splashed across the papers. Or you might end up being subjected to a fierce social-media pile-on. Ever since the allegations of sexual assault against Russell Brand came to light … the spotlight has all too often turned away from Brand himself and towards his past hangers-on. Anyone who once worked with him. Anyone who once admired and talked up his work. Anyone who may have so much as posed for a picture with him, it seems, is now considered to be tarnished, somehow or other, by his alleged crimes.” (09/22/23)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/22/enough-with-this-guilt-by-association/
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32) Once again, Big Tech plays judge, jury & executioner before a trial
Source: New York Post
by Karol Markowicz
“Are accusations enough to destroy someone’s life and remove his ability to make money? That certainly seems the case with actor and podcaster Russell Brand and the feverish push to make sure he is demonetized on every online platform. Brand has been accused of serious sexual offenses. He might be a terrible person, we really don’t know. He has not been charged with anything, and an accusation does not make it acceptable to take away his job. I get it: We live in a bifurcated world. We take sides. We make snap decisions. We read a headline and form an opinion. Or maybe we don’t need to read anything. I never liked that guy anyway. I love him. I hate him. He’s innocent. He’s guilty. We get caught up in a frenzy.” (09/22/23)
https://nypost.com/2023/09/21/russell-brand-big-tech-plays-judge-jury-and-executioner-before-a-trial-again/
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33) There’s a Herd of Elephants in the Room
Source: Cobden Centre
by Alasdair Macleod
“Among the many problems currencies the markets face, there is one that is undocumented: the eurodollar market. This is yet another very large elephant in the room. This article quantifies eurodollars and eurodollar bonds, which are additional to US money supply and credit.” (09/22/23)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2023/09/theres-a-herd-of-elephants-in-the-room/
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34) Nikki Haley thinks China is coming for your brain
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Matthew Petti
“The GOP presidential contender wooed potential donors at a low-profile event in New Jersey this week with hefty doses of fear-mongering about Beijing and Iran.” (09/22/23)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/nikki-haley-china/
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35) Ukraine: Which Way Out?
Source: Common Dreams
by Tom Gallagher
“The American Left’s relative silence regarding US involvement in the Ukraine War, while surprising, is also understandable. Surprising, given the Left’s nearly blanket opposition to 21st century American military-related operations of such magnitude; understandable, in that the U.S. is actually on the right side in this case (unfortunately, far from the norm for American foreign policy) and has committed no troops.Is the Left’s silence an uneasy one? Hard to say, but it should be. There are actually many legitimate reasons for unease about the current situation, not least among them the fact that not only is there no end to this war in sight, but also that there seem to be few actually looking for a realistic route to an end.” (09/23/23)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/how-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine
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36) Hurrah for Real Globalization!
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“Globalization, like the free market and classical liberalism generally, isn’t wildly popular these days, is it? People blame globalization for all sorts of bad things, and the raps are usually bum. In truth, to the extent that governments keep out so-called foreign people, goods, and money, they make nearly everyone poorer. Even the few immediate beneficiaries pay a price in the long run. So who speaks up for real globalization? I have to add the adjective real because counterfeit globalization has been circulating for a while. That’s politically managed commerce where governments, most prominently the U.S. government, manage cross-border private trade and migration.” (09/22/23)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2023/09/tgif-hurrah-for-real-globalization.html
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37) New data confirms that the US rebuilt the refugee resettlement program
Source: Niskanen Center
by Matthew La Corte & Claire Holba
“As fiscal year 2023 comes to a close at the end of September, the latest data from the State Department paints a clear picture: the U.S. refugee program is back. According to nearly all available program indicators, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is likely operating from a stronger position today than at any point during the 21st century.” (09/22/23)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/new-data-confirms-that-the-u-s-rebuilt-the-refugee-resettlement-program/
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38) Taiwan Needs Our Weapons – Instead, We’re Sending Them to Bad Guys
Source: Cato Institute
by Jordan Cohen & Jonathan Ellis Allen
“On September 13, the United States announced that it would redirect $85 million in foreign military financing from Egypt to Taiwan due to the former’s human rights abuses. Egypt’s disregard for human rights is an ongoing problem, with the government having recently detained a French journalist covering civilian bombings. While only a start, the Biden administration’s policy shift is long overdue: we cannot treat all weapon recipients as equal priorities.” (09/22/23)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/taiwan-needs-our-weapons-instead-were-sending-them-bad-guys#
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39) Insurrectionists Who Think they are Upholding the Constitution are Still Insurrectionists — and Still Subject to Disqualification Under Section 3 the Fourteenth Amendment
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“Some argue that Donald Trump is not subject to disqualification from holding public office under Section 3 the Fourteenth Amendment because Trump and those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 did not think of themselves as trying to overthrow the government. They instead believed Trump was the true winner of the 2020 election, and they were upholding the Constitution by preventing that victory from being ‘stolen’ from him. … In the case of Trump, there is a lot of evidence indicating he did know he had lost the election, and his public statements to the contrary were lies. But, for now, let’s set that aside. A false belief that you are acting in accordance with the Constitution does not exempt you from disqualification under Section 3. If it did, many of the leading Confederates who fought against the United States in the Civil War would also be exempt.” (09/22/23)
https://reason.com/volokh/2023/09/22/insurrectionists-who-think-they-are-upholding-the-constitution-are-still-insurrectionists-and-still-subject-to-disqualification-under-section-3-the-fourteenth-amendment/
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40) The Biden-Schumer Military-Promotion Blockade
Source: Wall Street Journal
by Kimberley A Strassel
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff has a new chairman, Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, after the Senate approved his promotion on Wednesday night, 83-11. Bear that vote in mind the next time anyone suggests that Republicans are standing in the way of military readiness. That’s certainly the common view in the Beltway echo chamber, which blames Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville for a pileup of military promotions. For months he has used ‘holds’ to block confirmation votes in frustration over the Biden White House’s imposition of its culture war on the military. The president and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have pummeled the GOP, accusing it of damaging military preparedness and acting callously toward military families. That turns reality on its head. No question the damage is real. More than 300 military officers are in limbo, with the paralysis hitting some services particularly hard.” (09/22/23)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biden-schumer-war-games-abortion-policy-military-politics-pentagon-9b4fd1a3
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41) The Covid Narrative Flunked the Critical Thinking Test
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bruce W Davidson
“At the height of the Covid hysteria, several times I encountered variations of the meme ‘It’s not a pandemic; it’s an IQ test.’ Probably the memesters were poking fun at those duped by the mainstream Covid messaging. In any case, that meme really misses the point. The essential problem has never been about one’s IQ. Many highly intelligent people (in an academic sense) swallowed a very dubious narrative, while others less academically gifted did not. The real divider was the ability and inclination to think critically about it. In a previous article I explained the basic concept of critical thinking, which can be defined as rational judgment about appeals to belief. Here I will lay out my own classroom approach to it in relation to the Covid messaging and policies.” (09/22/23)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-covid-narrative-flunked-the-critical-thinking-test/
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42) Our Dangerous Narcissists
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Mona Charen
“If you’re like me, you’ve gotten a bellyful of AI analysis, speculation and dire warnings over the past few months. Alongside hopes of cancer cures, obedient home robots, personalized tutors, energy efficiency and wildlife preservation, we’ve heard from leaders in the field that AI will definitely … kill us all. Soooo, that somewhat dims enthusiasm for those tidying up robots. But it strikes me that we have a different, more pressing problem. It concerns not artificial but organic intelligence, specifically one of its most destructive traits — narcissism. And while it may not have the capacity to annihilate humanity, it is dragging us closer to calamity than we can afford to ignore. From Donald Trump to Elon Musk to Tucker Carlson, our society is being deformed by egomaniacs.” (09/22/23)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/09/22/our_dangerous_narcissists_149792.html
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43) On Being Your Own Teacher
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert C Thornett
“Being one’s own teacher means taking responsibility for actively charting one’s own educational course, pressing far beyond ‘externally imposed classes,’ as Buchanan puts it, and refusing to settle for blaming the educational system for one’s shortcomings. But charting one’s own course does not mean always going alone. On the contrary, it means understanding that mentors and peers are essential — as is seeking them out. Humans are mimetic and social beings, and even the most independent individualist needs models, guides, and fellow seekers.” (09/22/23)
https://lawliberty.org/on-being-your-own-teacher/
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44) The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
“Ever since the war began, those who favor giving Ukraine ‘whatever it takes’ for as long as it takes have sought to portray the war in the usual U.S. fashion: as a straightforward contest between good and evil. In their telling, Russia is solely to blame for the war, and Western policy had absolutely nothing to do with the resulting tragedy. They portray Ukraine as a struggling but plucky democracy that has been brutally attacked by a corrupt, imperialist dictatorship. They see the moral stakes as nearly infinite, because the outcome of the war will supposedly have a far-reaching impact on the future of democracy, the fate of Taiwan, the preservation of a rules-based order, etc. Not surprisingly, they are quick to condemn anyone who challenges this view as a naïve appeaser, a Russian lackey, or someone lacking any sense of moral judgment.” (09/22/23)
https://archive.ph/4lgXd
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45) Heads They “Cha-Ching!;” Tails They Take Away Your Malpractice Insurance
Source: The American Prospect
by Maureen Tkacik
“Private equity firms swallowed nearly 1,100 medical practices from 2012 to 2022, in transactions so frequent and frenzied it appeared as though Wall Street had found some sort of ‘cheat code’ that promised unlimited profits. Now, in a first for antitrust regulators, the Federal Trade Commission has sued a private equity firm for a conspiracy to roll up a medical specialty. The 106-page complaint filed Thursday in Texas lays out in granular detail just how one firm’s serial acquisition strategy nearly doubled the cost of anesthesia services in the state over the course of a few years. Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, Delaware bankruptcy attorneys discussed the wreckage of a separate private equity medical rollup gone wrong.” (09/22/23)
https://prospect.org/health/2023-09-22-private-equity-medical-rollups-malpractice-insurance/
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46) Did the NSA Invent Bitcoin? A 1996 Research Paper Reignites the Debate
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Jamie Redman
“A recent buzz within crypto circles revolves around a 1996 research paper from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). There’s burgeoning speculation: did the NSA lay the groundwork for Bitcoin? Indeed, there are striking similarities between the NSA document and the Bitcoin white paper. However, a detailed look suggests a tighter connection to centralized Chaumian models described years prior.” (09/22/23)
https://news.bitcoin.com/did-the-nsa-invent-bitcoin-a-1996-research-paper-reignites-the-debate/
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47) Forget Bellingcat. Meet a Real “Open Source” Watchdog
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“Jack Poulson has an insider’s background, an outsider’s perspective, and unique technical expertise, making him an invaluable resource for monitoring the world of national security contracting.” (09/22/23)
https://www.racket.news/p/forget-bellingcat-meet-a-real-open
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48) Why Paul Krugman Can’t Admit Inflation Is Making Americans Poorer
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
“New government data have some unwelcome news: The public is getting poorer. Census Bureau data released last week show that median household income fell to $74,580 last year, down nearly $1,800 from the previous year, $76,330. The 2.3% drop was the sharpest annual decline since 2010, financial observers noted , and marks the third consecutive year that household incomes have fallen. With median household income down nearly 5% since 2019, many families are struggling. Yet economist Paul Krugman insists the economy is thriving.” (09/22/23)
https://fee.org/articles/why-paul-krugman-cant-admit-inflation-is-making-americans-poorer/
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49) The GOP Can’t Survive the Only Trumpers
Source: Town Hall
by Michael Reagan
“Too bad Donald Trump won’t attend the second Republican presidential primary debate next week at the Ronald Reagan Library. His friends and enemies in the media will miss him and the high ratings he automatically generates, but he’s leading by a huge margin in the polls and he doesn’t need the TV time or media attention. … Trump’s decision serves his campaign’s purposes in the same way President Biden helps his campaign by refusing to take part in a primary debate. But by skipping the primary debates Trump is making a serious mistake that undermines the strength of the Republican Party – which already is weak and in deep doo-do.” (09/22/23)
https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelreagan/2023/09/23/the-gop-cant-survive-the-only-trumpers-n2628831
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50) Tel Aviv’s Losing Brands: Israeli “Coup” and the Death of False Democracy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud
“From its very onset, Israel has constructed a brand for itself, a powerful gimmick that was predicated on two main pillars: democracy and stability. The main target audience for this brand has been powerful Western states that wielded disproportionate political, economic and military powers. These Western governments, along with their influential mainstream corporate media, did their part, by polishing Israel’s image – as most democratic and most stable – while tarnishing that of their Arab and Palestinian enemies – or anyone else who dared criticize Israel. It mattered little whether Israel was truly a beacon of democracy and stability, because these terms are often conjured up and used to conveniently fit the interest of those in power.” (09/22/23)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2023/09/21/tel-avivs-losing-brands-israeli-coup-and-the-death-of-false-democracy/
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51) Methinks the Mayor
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“‘So, Walmart has no rights?!’ The frustration flowed from Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio to a 911 operator. Her compassionate heart bled profusely for the long-suffering stockholders and executives of one of the world’s richest companies. ‘Hi, this is Mayor Deccio. I know that this isn’t an emergency call, but I need to talk to somebody,’ she told the dispatcher. ‘There are far rightwing petitioners at Walmart and they are not leaving after Walmart has asked them repeatedly to do so. And the police have not taken them off the premises.’ But, as the voice at 911 explained to the distraught officeholder, Washington State law requires that commercial property must make a public accommodation for First Amendment activity such as petitioning. The mayor’s thirst for a police solution to these ‘far rightwing’ petitioners went unquenched.” (09/22/23)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2023/09/22/methinks-the-mayor/
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52) The MAGA movement is channeling its inner Bernie Sanders
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“[M]any progressives aren’t even progressive in the old parlance, but ‘democratic socialists.’ This philosophy’s most notable champion – Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and onetime Democratic presidential candidate – calls for a re-ordering of the economy. He’s sounds like a scold who rails against capitalism, describes our system as corrupt and has a soft spot for certain despots. The most significant aspect of Donald Trump’s takeover of the GOP wasn’t his obliteration of norms, but his re-configuring of the conservative brand into something reminiscent of European conservatism. … In terms of economic policy, the populist right embraces tariffs, which are nothing more than massive taxes on American consumers in the name of fighting foreign products. Now even more of the MAGA movement’s economic policy is in view and, predictably, it has more in common with Sanders’[s] ideals than Reagan’s.” (09/22/23)
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/09/22/the-maga-movement-is-channeling-its-inner-bernie-sanders/
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53) Don’t Fall for the Intelligence Community’s Monster of the Week Justifications
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Matthew Guariglia
“In the beloved episodic television shows of yesteryear, the antagonists were often ‘monsters of the week’: villains who would show up for one episode and get vanquished by the heroes just in time for them to fight the new monster in the following episode. Keeping up with the Intelligence Community and law enforcement’s justifications for invasive, secretive, and uncontrollable surveillance powers and authorities is a bit like watching one of these shows. This week, they could say they need it to fight drugs or other cross-border contraband. Next week, they might need it to fight international polluters or revert to the tried-and-true national security justifications. The fight over the December 31, 2023 expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is no exception to the Monster of the Week phenomenon.” (09/22/23)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/dont-fall-intelligence-communitys-monster-week-justifications
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54) Autoworkers Strike Just Spread to Facilities Across the Country
Source: In These Times
by Luis Feliz Leon & Lisa Xu
“The clock has ticked and tocked for two of the Big 3 automakers. At noon 5,000 more members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) at 38 parts distribution centers for Stellantis and General Motors are walking off the job. The facilities are spread across 20 states. They join 13,000 workers at assembly plants in Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri who have been out for a week — for a total of 18,000 Big 3 auto workers on picket lines nationwide. The escalation adds a new type of facility to the mix. Parts distribution centers (PDCs) supply after-sales spare parts and accessories to dealerships, a very profitable part of the companies’ business. Most facilities have between 50 and 150 workers, but some are much larger. According to GM, the Davison Road Processing Center in Burton, Michigan, has more than 1,200 employees and processes 9.9 million pieces per month, filling orders for domestic and international customers.” (09/22/23)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/autoworkers-strike-uaw-ford-gm-stellantis
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55) Dark Matter and the Swimming Pool App
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Jon Sanders
“On July 24, at the peak of a hot summer, a local news station in North Carolina reported on a new example of the sharing economy. It’s a swimming pool app that connects homeowners saddled with expensive swimming pools they rarely use to neighbors who’d like to take a peaceful dip in a private setting without all the hassle and noise of public pools. The news told viewers they could ‘Use the app to rent a pool for the day.’ The app, Swimply, has been described as ‘the Airbnb of pools.’ That description says more than you might think. It gets across the basic idea — a service that links people who want a pool for the afternoon with pool owners willing to rent out — while illustrating just how ingrained this kind of service has become.” (09/22/23)
https://www.aier.org/article/dark-matter-and-the-swimming-pool-app/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
56) Fakertarians, episode 54
Source: Fakertarians
“The McArdle Papers — Part 2.” (09/23/23)
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fakertarians/episodes/Fakertarians-Episode-54-The-McArdle-Papers—Part-2-e29mn1r
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57) The Anarchist Experience, episode 442
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich, MC, and KS discuss the pros and cons of unionizing, collective bargaining, and striking, and this HEADLINE: Chicago’s Dem Mayor Brandon Johnson now wants to create city-run grocery stores to promote ‘equitable’ access to food after Walmart and Whole Foods close stores.” (09/23/23)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2023/09/23/the-anarchist-experience-442/
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58) Unattended Baggage, episode #215
Source: International Guild of Professional Anarchists
“Americans shocked stealth jet can’t be tracked on radar.” (09/23/23)
https://alexandersnitker.substack.com/p/unattended-baggage-episode-215-americans
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59) Free Talk Live, 09/23/23
Source: Free Talk Live
“UK Online ‘Safety’ Legislation Destroying Internet Freedom :: Chris Christie on Secession :: Americans Frustrated with Fed Gov :: NH Nation :: Crypto Adoption :: Australia to be Functionally Cashless by 2025? :: CBDC? :: Housing Rates :: Encryption and Backdoors :: George Alan Kelly, Alleged Migrant Murderer :: 2023-09-23 Ian, Peakless Mountaineer, Captain Kickass.” (09/23/23)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2023-09-23
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60) The Fifth Column, episode 422
Source: The Fifth Column
“Introducing The Fifth Column Center for Antiracist Research.” (09/22/23)
https://wethefifth.substack.com/p/422-introducing-the-fifth-column
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61) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Daniel Davis on Why People Can’t Admit Ukraine is Losing.” (09/22/23)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/9-21-23-daniel-davis-on-why-people-cant-admit-ukraine-is-losing/
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62) The Bryan Hyde Show, 09/22/23
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“We’re now learning that the FBI had so many paid informants taking part in Jan 6 that they lost count. Are we sure we can trust them to be honest on other matters?” (09/22/23)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-rna62-14b0b62
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63) Meme Wars, episode 28
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Sloppy Senator Shit Show as Biden Bends Over for Zelenskyy.” (09/22/23)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/meme-wars-28-sloppy-senator-shit-show-as-biden-bends-over-for-zelenskyy
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64) Conflicts of Interest, episode 475
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Is Support for Ukraine Fading?” (09/22/23)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-475-is-support-for-ukraine-fading/
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65) Fintech Beat, 09/22/23
Source: Roll Call
“Portabl CEO Nate Soffio explains how reliant we are on others to construct our digital identities and the possibility of restoring consumer control of our data and our identities in a digital world.” (09/22/23)
https://chrt.fm/track/D3F8DG/traffic.megaphone.fm/FISCAL9683776808.mp3
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66) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/22/23
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Road To Ruin: U.S. Government Adds $1 Trillion In Debt In 3 Months!” (09/22/23)
https://rumble.com/v3jurl8-the-road-to-ruin-u.s.-government-adds-1-trillion-in-debt-in-3-months.html
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67) Nonzero, 09/22/23
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“Biden’s Border Disorder | Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus.” (09/22/23)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66755
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68) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2396
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“The Oliver Anthony Problem.” (09/22/23)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2396-the-oliver-anthony-problem/
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69) Politics Politics Politics, 09/22/23
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“All The News You Missed This Summer (with Andrew Heaton).” (09/22/23)
https://shows.acast.com/63f52ee5886da70011a1a1ec/episodes/all-the-news-you-missed-this-summer-with-andrew-heaton
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70) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/22/23
Source: Antiwar.com
“Zelensky Gets More Cluster Bombs in DC, US Will Exempt Ukraine Operations from Shutdown, and More.” (09/22/23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4DUKliz1Co
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