11/07 -- Ukraine war: Russian-occupied Kherson loses power after alleged "sabotage;" Election 2022: The More Things Change ...
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Thomas L. Knapp
Nov 7, 2022, 6:35:24 AM11/7/22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 11/07/22
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update
1) Ukraine war: Russian-occupied Kherson loses power after alleged "sabotage"
2) Twitter delays $8 "blue check" verification plan until after the midterms
3) Iran: Fresh protests after regime thugs murder Kurdish student
4) FL: Disgraced former president, careerist swamp creature hold dueling rallies
5) Italy: Regime blocks migrants from disembarking; ship's captain refuses to leave
6) Peru: Police attack protesters with chemical weapons
7) Haiti: Gang leader says fuel distribution can resume as blockade ends
8) UN: Last eight years on track to be warmest on record
9) Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station
10) China: Regime quashes rumours of quicker end to "zero COVID" insanity
11) Invest 98L likely to become tropical depression and drench Florida, southeast US with coastal flooding
12) South Korea: Miners rescued after nine days survived on instant coffee powder
13) AZ: Lake's campaign HQ receives "suspicious" white powder in mail
14) India: Punjab Right Wing Leader Sudhir Suri Shot Dead During Protest Outside Temple
15) CDC: US alcohol-induced deaths rose 26% from 2019 to 2020
16) IA: Teen who killed her rapist ditches regime surveillance
17) Kosovo: Serbs to quit state jobs over license plate row
18) US flu hospitalizations hit decade high amid early viral surge
19) Pakistan: Khan blames establishment figures for plot to kill him
20) Barrack acquitted of acting as UAE foreign agent
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Election 2022: The More Things Change ...
22) Liberalism's Greatest Gift
23) Sorry, But Your Vote Doesn't Count
24) Misinformation is bad, but 'solutions' to stop it are even worse
25) What Jesus Didn't Say
26) America's 9/11 Wars Created the Foot Soldiers of Far-Right Violence at Home
27) Mission creep at the Department of Homeland Security threatens liberty and free speech
28) "American Democracy" is the Real Threat to Democracy in America
29) The Week Corporate Power Started to Dissipate
30) This is why there is no "China-Russia alliance"
31) Maybe the Fed Too Was Trolled
32) Election Integrity Is a Winning Issue for Republicans
33) Opponents of Globalization Continue to Offer Only Weak Arguments
34) Walking Wide Awake into World War III
35) Biden's "Free Iran" Blunder
36) The Self-Licking Boot Of US Militarism
37) Free Trade Would Boost the Economy, But It's Not on the Ballot
38) Now Big Tech is coming for your money
39) Following the Law
40) The Big Con: How the American Public Is Being Bamboozled by Joe Biden & the Democrats
41) A Cut Below: Lessons from the History of Barber Licensure
42) Stop the Madness of Mandatory Time Changes!
43) It's [Way Past] Time For a Ceasefire in Ukraine
44) The doves were wrong
45) Science Fiction Got Surveillance All Wrong
46) Election Day 2022
47) The Misinformation Police Are Coming for You
48) The Cult of Modi
49) Not Yours to Give
50) The Republican Conundrum
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 296
52) Mike Swanson on The Scott Horton Show
53) Politics! Politics! Politics!, episode 340
54) KN@PPSTER: Thanks For Asking!, 11/04/22
55) Rising, 11/04/22
56) FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, 11/04/22
57) The Grayzone, 11/04/22
58) The Bryan Hyde Show, 11/04/22
59) Nonzero, 11/04/22
60) The Brian Nichols Show, episode 618
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update
Thanks to supporters DK, T, DM, AYCS, and ERW! Their contributions over the weekend, totaling $25.50, bring our year-end fundraiser total (as of 6am Eastern time this morning) to $1633.50!
The finish line is only $936.50 away ... once we reach $2,575, supporter GL will "match funds" to get us to our goal of $5,150.
Please support the freedom movement's daily newspaper TODAY so that we can wrap this up by the end of the week and I can stop talking about money for another year!
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
Have a great day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
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1) Ukraine war: Russian-occupied Kherson loses power after alleged "sabotage"
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"The Russian-installed administration in Ukraine's Kherson region has said that Kherson city lost water and power supplies after what it called an act of 'sabotage.' In a statement on Telegram, the Russian-installed administration of Kherson said a 'terrorist attack' damaged three power lines in the region. It said that the attack had been carried out by Ukraine, though it provided no evidence. The outages are a 'result of an attack organised by the Ukrainian side on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway that saw three concrete poles of high-voltage power lines damaged,' it said. It is the first time that Kherson -- which fell to Russian forces within days of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February -- has seen such a power cut. Kherson is one of four regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month." (11/06/22)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/6/russian-occupied-kherson-loses-power-after-alleged-sabotage
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2) Twitter delays $8 "blue check" verification plan until after the midterms
Source: CNN Business
"Twitter is delaying the rollout of account verifications for its paid Twitter Blue subscription plan until after the midterm elections, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed to CNN. The decision to push back the new feature comes one day after the platform launched an updated version of its iOS app that promises to allow users who pay a monthly subscription fee to get a blue checkmark on their profiles, a feature that CEO Elon Musk has proposed as a way to fight spam on the platform. The app's latest update was outlined on Apple's App Store, stating that users will now have to pay $7.99 per month for the company's Twitter Blue verification feature, 'just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.' The checkmark has long been used to confirm the authenticity of government officials, prominent figures and journalists." (11/06/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/tech/twitter-verification-delay-midterms/index.html
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3) Iran: Fresh protests after regime thugs murder Kurdish student
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
"Fresh demonstrations occurred in the northwestern Iranian city of Marivan on Sunday, following the death of Kurdish student Nasrin Ghaderi. The latest flare of protests comes as anti-government demonstrations in Iran continued for a seventh week in one of the biggest shows of dissent in years. Nasrin Ghaderi died on Saturday after falling into a coma. She was reportedly attacked by security forces in an anti-government demonstration in Tehran and suffered severe blows to her head. ... Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw said police shot at protesters in the city, wounding dozens. Hengaw reported that Ghaderi was buried without a memorial service, as Iranian authorities believed the event would lead to unrest. Iranian state media, citing a prosecutor, claimed that Ghaderi had a pre-existing heart condition and that she died from 'poisoning,' without offering specifics." (11/06/22)
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-fresh-protests-erupt-after-death-of-kurdish-student/a-63664570
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4) FL: Disgraced former president, careerist swamp creature hold dueling rallies
Source: The Week
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former President Donald Trump both headlined pre-election rallies in Florida on Sunday, but separately. Trump effusively praised Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during his 90-minute speech in Miami, mentioning DeSantis only once when he told the crowd they are going to reelect him as governor on Tuesday. DeSantis didn't mention Trump at all during his Sunday events. Trump, by all accounts preparing to announce another run for the White House, reportedly sees DeSantis as his biggest rival for the 2024 GOP nomination. At a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Trump tested out a new nickname: 'Ron DeSanctimonous.'" (11/07/22)
https://theweek.com/elon-musk/1018155/elon-musk-delays-twitter-paid-verification-bans-impersonators-reportedly-tries-to
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5) Italy: Regime blocks migrants from disembarking; ship's captain refuses to leave
Source: ABC News
"The captain of a charity-run migrant rescue ship refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port Sunday after authorities refused to let 35 of the migrants on his ship disembark -- part of directives by Italy's new far-right-led government targeting foreign-flagged rescue ships. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni's two-week-old government is refusing safe port to four ships operating in the central Mediterranean that have rescued migrants at sea in distress, some as many as 16 days ago, and is allowing only those identified as vulnerable to disembark. On Sunday, Italy ordered the Humanity 1 to vacate the port of Catania after disembarking 144 rescued migrants, including with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies. But its captain refused to comply 'until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked,' said SOS Humanity, the German charity that operates the ship." (11/06/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/italy-stops-35-migrants-off-rescue-ship-port-92753317
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6) Peru: Police attack protesters with chemical weapons
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Peru's capital Lima, as thousands of people took part in anti-government marches across the country. Demonstrators want embattled President Pedro Castillo to resign over allegations of corruption. The left-wing leader, who unexpectedly won power last year, is the subject of six criminal investigations -- but denies any wrongdoing. ... One of Saturday's protesters told the Reuters news agency she was taking part for the sake of her children and grandchildren, because 'this government is becoming hell.' Another told the AFP news agency that the country was 'on the edge of the precipice; economically everything has stagnated.' ... Peru has seen a number of presidents ousted from office in recent years. In 2020, it had three heads of state in the space of five days." (11/06/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63530879
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7) Haiti: Gang leader says fuel distribution can resume as blockade ends
Source: Yahoo! News
"Haitian gang leader Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier said on Sunday that fuel trucks can approach the Varreux terminal without fear for their safety, days after police broke up a blockade that had halted fuel distribution for nearly two months. The G9 coalition of gangs led by Cherizier in mid-September dug trenches and put up barricades at the entrance to Varreux, leading to crippling fuel shortages and creating a humanitarian crisis as Haitians struggled to find food and water. ... Haiti's police on Friday said they had retaken control of the terminal after confronting the gangs in the area. Heavy shooting continued on Saturday, said one source familiar with the situation, adding things had calmed down on Sunday. It was still not evident when fuel would begin flowing." (11/06/22)
https://news.yahoo.com/haiti-gang-leader-says-fuel-182010774.html
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8) UN: Last eight years on track to be warmest on record
Source: Raidio Teilifis Eireann [Irish state media]
"Each of the last eight years, if projections for 2022 hold, will be hotter than any prior to 2015, the UN has said, detailing a dramatic increase in the rate of global warming. Sea level rise, glacier melt, torrential rains, heat waves -- and the deadly disasters they cause -- have all accelerated, the World Meteorological Organization said in a report as the COP27 UN climate summit opened in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. ... The UN's weather and climate body released its annual state of the global climate report with yet another warning that the target to limit temperature rises to 1.5C was 'barely within reach.'" (11/06/22)
https://www.rte.ie/news/weather/2022/1106/1333488-wmo-report/
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9) Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station
Source: Space.com
"A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying more than 4 tons of supplies for the International Space Station will have to wait at least one more day to launch after a fire alarm at its mission control center thwarted a liftoff early Sunday (Nov. 6). The Antares rocket was about 10 minutes away from a planned liftoff at 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, when Northrop Grumman called off the flight. A fire alarm at the company's control center in nearby Dulles, Virginia, forced a building evacuation, preventing launch controllers from going through with the launch. ... Liftoff is now set for Monday, Nov. 6 [sic], at 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT)." (11/06/22)
https://www.space.com/northrop-grumman-cygnus-rocket-launch-delayed-fire-alarm
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10) China: Regime quashes rumours of quicker end to "zero COVID" insanity
Source: Financial Times [UK]
"Beijing has quashed hopes for an immediate easing of the country's rigid zero-Covid restrictions, setting China-linked shares up for more volatile trading on Monday, analysts said. China's National Health Commission reiterated the country's commitment to eliminating Covid-19 at a press conference on Saturday and warned that the situation was set to become even 'more severe and complex' as the country entered the winter flu season. 'Practice has proved that our pandemic prevention and control strategy ... [is] completely correct, and such measures are proven the most economical and effective,' said Hu Xiang, an official with the NHC. Investors last week seized on rumours that Beijing was considering softening restrictions. Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong had their best week in more than seven years while Shanghai-listed shares recorded their highest weekly gain since July 2020." (11/06/22)
https://www.ft.com/content/99693f8f-c9fd-4f0e-85dd-2fcff12853b3
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11) Invest 98L likely to become tropical depression and drench Florida, southeast US with coastal flooding
Source: Fox Weather
"The National Hurricane Center labeled the tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea 98L and scheduled Hurricane Hunter aircraft to investigate. The agency gave the disturbance 80% chance to develop into a Tropical Depression or Tropical Storm over the next 2 days and 90% chance in 5 days. That system will bring strong winds, rain and coastal flooding to Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Invest is a naming convention used by the NHC to identify areas meteorologists are investigating for development into a tropical depression or storm in the next 5 days. FOX Weather has the area marked as tropical disturbance #1. The NHC says they could issue Tropical Storm, Hurricane and Storm Surge Watches for parts of the Bahamas and Florida Coast by early Monday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned Floridians to be prepared for coastal flooding, winds and rain as early as Tuesday in a Tweet." (11/06/22)
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/tracking-tropics-florida-november
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12) South Korea: Miners rescued after nine days survived on instant coffee powder
Source: Independent [UK]
"Two South Korean miners who were trapped underground were rescued after nine days, during which they ate instant coffee powder and drank water falling from the ceiling of a collapsed shaft, in what is being seen as a 'truly miraculous' survival. The two men, aged 62 and 56, were pulled out to safety on Friday night from the collapsed shaft at a zinc mine in the southeastern town of Bonghwa. Both men were in fairly good condition though they initially said they were suffering hypothermia and muscle pains, according to reports. The miners shared 30 sticks of instant coffee while trapped underground and kept warm by lighting a fire and building a tent out of plastic while stranded 200 metres (650 feet) under the ground, according to reports." (11/06/22)
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/east-asia/south-korea-miners-rescue-coffee-powder-b2218701.html
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13) AZ: Lake's campaign HQ receives "suspicious" white powder in mail
Source: Axios
"The campaign headquarters of Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake received an envelope containing 'suspicious white powder' on Saturday, CNN reports. There have been no reports of injury from the received mail, but one staff member is under medical watch. An investigation is ongoing." (11/06/22)
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/06/kari-lake-arizona-suspicious-mail-white-powder
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14) India: Punjab Right Wing Leader Sudhir Suri Shot Dead During Protest Outside Temple
Source: NDTV [India]
"Sudhir Suri, a Hindutva right wing leader in Punjab, was shot dead on a busy street in Amritsar this afternoon in an attack that was caught on camera while there were over a dozen cops around him. Leader of a local outfit that uses the name Shiv Sena Taksali, Mr Suri was holding protest outside a temple against its management when at least five shots were fired from a pistol, allegedly by a local shopkeeper. Due to threats from gangsters and Khalistani extremists, Mr Suri had police protection, yet the attacker -- Sandeep Singh, who has been arrested -- was successful in landing at least two shots that led to his death at a hospital. ... Mr Suri, who wasn't an electoral player, was mostly known for his fiery -- and allegedly communal -- video messages on social media targeting some Sikh outfits and Khalistan supporters in particular. Police did not draw a connection as yet." (11/04/22)
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/shiv-sena-leader-sudhir-suri-shot-dead-in-amritsar-3490229
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15) CDC: US alcohol-induced deaths rose 26% from 2019 to 2020
Source: News4JAX
"Medical experts recorded the highest number of alcohol-related deaths in at least 40 years during the first year of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found alcohol-induced deaths jumped 26% percent between 2019 and 2020, killing more than 49,000 people in 2020. This included men and women ages 55 to 64 and a dramatic 42% increase among women 35 to 44." (11/05/22)
https://www.news4jax.com/health/2022/11/05/alcohol-induced-deaths-rose-26-from-2019-to-2020-cdc-finds/
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16) IA: Teen who killed her rapist ditches regime surveillance
Source: KCCI Des Moines
"A teen convicted of killing her rapist escaped custody [sic]. The story of Pieper Lewis made national headlines when she was sentenced in September. Jerry Evans, executive director of the 5th Judicial District Dept. of Corrections, confirmed to KCCI Saturday that Lewis escaped custody at 6:19 a.m. on Friday. Evans said Lewis cut off her tracker but was not sure where she might be headed. Lewis was 15 years old when she admitted she killed 37-year-old Zachary Brooks in Des Moines in 2020. Lewis said she was a victim of human trafficking and said Brooks raped her several times before she killed him. A Polk County judge sentenced Lewis to five years probation and a deferred judgment." (11/05/22)
https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-pieper-lewis-escapes-custody-rapist/41875794
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17) Kosovo: Serbs to quit state jobs over license plate row
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
"Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo said they would quit their posts in state institutions Saturday over a row about vehicle license plates. The move came after Pristina declared that around 10,000 Kosovo Serbs with license plates issued by Serbia must replace them with plates issued by Kosovo starting this month. Following a meeting of Serb political representatives, the Minister of Communities and Returns Goran Rakic said he would resign from his post in the Pristina government over the issue. He said fellow Serbs, including those in the government, police and courts would also quit their jobs. The officials also demanded the formation of a union of Serb municipalities that would give Serb-majority districts greater autonomy. Saturday's move drew immediate alarm from the European Union, which has been mediating talks between Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations." (11/05/22)
https://www.dw.com/en/kosovo-serbs-to-quit-state-jobs-over-license-plate-row/a-63661511
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18) US flu hospitalizations hit decade high amid early viral surge
Source: NBC News
"The U.S. is seeing the highest flu hospitalization rates in a decade for this time of year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, with people ages 65 and up hit the hardest, followed by young children. The rise comes as other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also spreading early and rapidly. Common winter viruses tend to peak in December and January -- not October and November -- though it's unclear how the early and intense spread of respiratory viruses will ultimately play out this season." (11/04/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flu-hospitalizations-hit-decade-high-early-viral-surge-rcna55099
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19) Pakistan: Khan blames establishment figures for plot to kill him
Source: CNN
"Tensions escalated in Pakistan on Friday as former Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed establishment figures for a plot to kill him – a claim strenuously denied by governing and security officials. A day after after he survived a shooting at a political rally outside the town of Gujranwala, Punjab province, Khan gave a rambling speech at a hospital in the city of Lahore where he was recovering from the injuries he sustained. While sitting in a wheelchair, the cricket star-turned-politician cited three senior figures as being behind the attack. ... Without offering evidence, Khan blamed Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal, who is a senior intelligence official. ... Sanaullah rejected the accusation, calling it 'grievous.' The media wing of the Pakistani military condemned Khan's claims on Friday, calling them "baseless and irresponsible allegations" and threatened legal action." (11/04/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/04/asia/imran-khan-attack-pakistan-intl
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20) Barrack acquitted of acting as UAE foreign agent
Source: Reuters
"Tom Barrack, a onetime private equity executive and fundraiser for former President Donald Trump, was found not guilty by a jury on Friday of unlawfully acting as an agent of the United Arab Emirates. Barrack, who chaired the former president's 2017 inaugural committee and served as an informal adviser to the campaign, was acquitted of all nine counts he faced, including conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to the FBI in 2019 during their probe of his interactions with Emirati officials and their representatives. ... Prosecutors last year charged Barrack with using his influence with Trump's 2016 campaign and administration to push UAE policy interests, without notifying the U.S. attorney general as required by law that he was acting as an agent for the Middle Eastern country." (11/04/22)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-ally-barrack-acquitted-acting-uae-foreign-agent-2022-11-04/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Election 2022: The More Things Change ...
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"[E]ven though I'm writing this on the Saturday before 'Election Day,' there's a good chance you won't see it until Wednesday or later. So now feels like as good a time as any for the 'morning after' column. So, how was it for you? Are you basking in the afterglow of 'your team's' victories, or venting loudly about the unfairness of 'your team's' losses? Are you convinced that, after all the months of constant foofooraw leading up to 'Election Day,' anything substantial really changed between Monday and Wednesday? It didn't. We've still got the same problems we had before, and we've still got the same people (minus a few old faces and plus a few new) who will spend the next two years promising to solve those problems if we'll all just VOTE HARDER ... next time." (11/05/22)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/17238
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22) Liberalism's Greatest Gift
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Donald J Boudreaux
"Watching Ken Burns's, Lynn Novick's, and Sarah Botstein's brilliant 2022 documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust, is difficult. The viewer's heart is wrenched by photos and home movies of innocent people who would shortly be murdered simply because of their identity. Also distressing is encountering evidence of two other ugly realities: American antisemitism of the era, and the extent to which this bigotry affected American officials' cold political calculations. ... In 2022 America, it's tempting to conclude that we in western Europe and America are now, fortunately, past the stage of our social development that permitted this barbarism. ... Perhaps. But I have my doubts." (11/06/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/liberalisms-greatest-gift/
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23) Sorry, But Your Vote Doesn't Count
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
"Many people seem surprised when an economist or political scientist tells them that, with his single vote, an ordinary and rational voter has no reasonable hope of deciding an election, that is, of changing who is elected (or which proposition is adopted in a referendum) compared to what would have been the case had he voted differently or not at all. Some people either have never reflected on the mathematics of voting, or have never tried to find elections when one vote made a difference, or they are so engrossed in a simple democratic ideology that they just imagine a reality that matches it. ... the estimated 1-in-60,000,000 chance of an average American to elect the president he wants is still five times higher than his odds of winning the jackpot in a Powerball drawing (apparently 1 in 292,000,000)." (11/06/22)
https://www.econlib.org/sorry-your-vote-doesnt-count/
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24) Misinformation is bad, but 'solutions' to stop it are even worse
Source: The Hill
by Jeffrey M McCall
"Americans can agree that misinformation is bad. Stopping it, however, is not so easily accomplished. There are no simple fixes to the spread of misinformation in a free society in which expression is constitutionally protected. Further, reckless or ill-advised efforts to bring a stop to misinformation could be more harmful to American democracy than the misinformation itself. ... For many people, misinformation is just somebody else's information that they don't like. Yelling about misinformation stirs up the public sphere and provides a rhetorical club to discredit and even shut down sociopolitical opponents. This 'hair on fire' approach to misinformation doesn't lead to reasoned debate and correction of error, but instead to fear, confusion and anger." (11/05/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3721478-misinformation-is-bad-but-solutions-to-stop-it-are-even-worse/
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25) What Jesus Didn't Say
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg
"Without a doubt Jesus of Nazareth is one of the most influential beings ever to walk this planet ... perpetually influential. But I see him as greatly misunderstood. Most of the things people associate with Jesus are things he never said. Rather, they are things that other people said about him, and the two aren't remotely equivalent. But while I think this deserves to be pointed out, please understand that whatever comes of this will not be my choice; I have no religion to sell. I'm just a guy making what he thinks is an important point. It's my opinion that people should differentiate between what Jesus said, and what people said about him. I think that's a crucial line to draw. So, here's my list." (11/06/22)
https://freemansperspective.com/what-jesus-didnt-say/
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26) America's 9/11 Wars Created the Foot Soldiers of Far-Right Violence at Home
Source: The Intercept
by Peter Maass
"Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the most aggressive generals of his generation, and after his military service ended in a bitter fashion, he went home to Tennessee and found a new way to fight. A defeated general in the Confederate army, Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan and was named its inaugural 'grand wizard.' Forrest was in the first wave of American veterans who turned to domestic terror once they returned home. It also happened after World War I and II, after the Korean and Vietnam wars -- and it is happening after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The sedition trial now taking place in Washington, D.C., features five defendants accused of trying to overthrow the government on January 6, 2021, and four are veterans, including Stewart Rhodes, who founded the Oath Keepers militia." (11/06/22)
https://theintercept.com/2022/11/06/jan-6-far-right-us-military/
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27) Mission creep at the Department of Homeland Security threatens liberty and free speech
Source: Orange County Register
by Susan Shelley
"George W. Bush broke the country. Following the horrific attacks on 9/11, President Bush's response had horrific consequences. You know about the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq. To those debacles we can add the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which has now been turned against the American people." (11/06/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/11/06/mission-creep-at-dhs-threatens-your-liberty/
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28) "American Democracy" is the Real Threat to Democracy in America
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
"If you're reading this now, chances are you've already saved democracy by voting for some asshole and chances are you were probably guilted into it on the fear of semi-fascism by a relentless campaign of 24/7 multimedia harassment. Chances also are that in spite of all this heavy-handed peer pressure coming from the virtue signaling class, you probably still feel like shit about pulling that filthy lever on election day and I'd like to use my latest rant to try to explain to you exactly why you feel so damn cheated by this thing we call 'American Democracy' even though you're supposedly the last action hero for taking part in it." (11/06/22)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2022/11/american-democracy-is-real-threat-to.html
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29) The Week Corporate Power Started to Dissipate
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
"There are plenty of theories about why this is happening. But I think it could be tied to the fact that we have become culturally conditioned to expect the world to move at internet speed, while our governing system of checks and balances moves like an 18th-century carriage when it moves at all. ... Even when the system does get around to spitting out the progress we seek, it is often too late to save the skins of those who produced it. This is approximately the trajectory of the fight against corporate power. For nearly two years, the Biden administration worked to assemble the exact team you would want for an aggressive push against runaway monopolization. They said the right things and made the right decisions. The president signed an executive order outlining a whole-of-government approach to promoting competition across the economy." (11/04/22)
https://prospect.org/power/the-week-corporate-power-started-to-dissipate/
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30) This is why there is no "China-Russia alliance"
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Anatol Lieven
"There is indeed a Sino-Russian partnership; but there is no alliance. China will not fight for Russia in Ukraine any more than Russia will fight for China in the Far East. And if China has not joined the West in economic pressure against Russia, it has also given virtually no military or economic help to Russia, beyond -- like most of the world -- going on buying Russian oil and gas. ... one might have expected the Chinese government to do everything in its power to strengthen Russia against the United States; especially since Russia is almost the only powerful strategic partner that China possesses. The explanation for China's failure to help Russia lies partly in an ongoing Chinese tendency to strategic caution, which (outside the South and East China Seas) remains far greater than most Western commentary acknowledges." (11/05/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/11/05/this-is-why-there-is-no-china-russia-alliance
-----
31) Maybe the Fed Too Was Trolled
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
"The Federal Reserve -- and central banks the world over -- played a crucial role in making lockdowns possible and weaponizing the panic of politicians. As the lender of last resort and the provider of liquidity for the entire federal government, it removes normal fiscal restraint. It writes checks that cannot bounce to fuel governments in normal times but is always ready to make possible emergency spending too even if existing revenue and public consensus is otherwise absent. ... In short, the lockdown was monetized with the printing press." (11/05/22)
https://brownstone.org/articles/maybe-the-fed-too-was-trolled/
-----
32) Election Integrity Is a Winning Issue for Republicans
Source: The Federalist
by Mollie Hemingway
"If Republican candidates do as well as expected on Tuesday, they can credit the new, widespread, and coordinated effort to begin securing U.S. elections, helping give candidates the best opportunity possible to win a fair fight in the new voting environment of mail-in balloting. The Republican National Committee, other party entities, and dozens of public interest election nonprofit groups built over the last two years a multimillion-dollar election integrity infrastructure that passed laws improving voter ID and other election security measures, defended those laws from legal attacks by Democrats, and sued states and localities that failed to follow the law. They also recruited, educated, trained, and placed tens of thousands of new election observers and other workers throughout the long midterm voting season. And they did it all in one of the most hostile propaganda environments on record." (11/04/22)
https://thefederalist.com/2022/11/04/if-republicans-win-on-tuesday-thank-the-election-integrity-movement/
-----
33) Opponents of Globalization Continue to Offer Only Weak Arguments
Source: Cafe Hayek
by Don Boudreaux
"Sen. Chris Murphy's (D-CT) case for an American industrial policy is riddled with factual errors and legerdemain ('The Wreckage of Neoliberalism,' October 25). An example of the former is his assertion that the jobs created in America over the past 30 years by globalization 'offered lower pay, fewer benefits, and less opportunity for advancement.' In reality, economist Michael Strain found that real hourly wages -- excluding benefits -- earned by production and nonsupervisory workers were 34 percent higher in 2019 than in 1990. And according to the St. Louis Fed, which has data on fringe benefits going back only to 2001, the real value of fringe benefits paid by private employers to their workers is today 89 percent higher than it was in 2001." (11/05/22)
https://cafehayek.com/2022/11/opponents-of-globalization-continue-to-offer-only-weak-arguments.html
-----
34) Walking Wide Awake into World War III
Source: Libertarian Institute
by John Weeks
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with rising tensions between NATO and Russia, have drawn comparisons to the outbreak of World War I. In 2014, back when the open hostilities in Ukraine really began, the journalist Eric Margolis said 'We can stumble into a war with Russia. This reminds me of 1914 all over again.' This 'stumbling' of course refers to the 'sleepwalking thesis of war' that is part of both popular and scholarly narratives of World War I. ... Unfortunately, it's much worse than that. The United States is marching wide awake toward general nuclear war." (11/05/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/walking-wide-awake-into-world-war-iii
-----
35) Biden's "Free Iran" Blunder
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
"The United States is not going to 'free Iran,' because it is not within our government's power to do this and our government has no right to interfere there in any case. It is not up to 'us' to do this because it is not our country, and the Iranian people are the only ones that can change their political system to one that most of them would find acceptable. I might add that our government is not really interested in a free Iran, but in a compliant one, and a genuinely representative Iranian government is not what Washington wants. The U.S. would rather have a cooperative dictator in Iran than democratically elected leaders that pursued an independent course, and our government has never worked to make the Iranian people freer." (11/04/22)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/bidens-free-iran-blunder
-----
36) The Self-Licking Boot Of US Militarism
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"A new Bloomberg article titled ''Sloppy' US Talk on China's Threat Worries Some Skeptical Experts discusses the dangerous cycle in which pressures in the US political establishment to continually escalate hostilities with Beijing provokes responses that are then falsely interpreted as Chinese aggression. ... Bloomberg quotes Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund, who says this cycle of self-reinforcing escalation could 'end up provoking the war that we seek to deter.' We just saw this same self-perpetuating cycle of military escalation exemplified against North Korea, where tensions have again been flaring after a long pause. The US and South Korea initiated a provocative military drill designed to menace the DPRK, Pyongyang responded by launching missiles in its own show of strength, and the Pentagon announced an extension of the drills in response to that response." (11/05/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/11/05/the-self-licking-boot-of-us-militarism/
-----
37) Free Trade Would Boost the Economy, But It's Not on the Ballot
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"When Americans cast their ballots on Tuesday, surveys say the economy will weigh on most voters' minds. Pollsters give Republicans the advantage on pocketbook issues after the Biden administration presided over a spending spree and then downplayed the resulting inflation. But on one issue that could make a big difference, voters have little choice: President Biden is a protectionist just like his predecessor, and both major parties embrace trade barriers, further threatening, in an already tumultuous world, peace and prosperity." (11/04/22)
https://reason.com/2022/11/04/free-trade-would-boost-the-economy-but-its-not-on-the-ballot/
-----
38) Now Big Tech is coming for your money
Source: spiked
by Carrie Clark
"Did you know that payment-processing platforms are now taking confession? Yes, you read that right. US crowdfunding platform Patreon, valued at $4 billion, now has a clause in its Community Guidelines on 'renouncements.' The guidelines empower Patreon to cancel users' accounts -- and thus their income -- for a multitude of heresies. But if users 'renounce' their heretical beliefs to the high priests of Patreon's 'Trust and Safety' team, they may have their accounts and livelihoods restored. Patreon even generously promises to 'educate' creators who hold what it deems to be problematic views. ... Patreon's renunciation policy is only one example of a frightening trend. Payment processors and crowdfunding platforms -- as well as some high-street banks -- are weaponising their power as providers of financial services to police the political views of their users." (11/06/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/11/06/now-big-tech-is-coming-for-your-money/
-----
39) Following the Law
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"It's official. Well, it was already official because it was Pennsylvania law. And because the U.S. Supreme Court had confirmed it. What is it? Election officials may not count mail-in ballots that are undated or incorrectly dated. Official, yes, but now even more official." (11/04/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/11/04/following-the-law/
-----
40) The Big Con: How the American Public Is Being Bamboozled by Joe Biden & the Democrats
Source: Town Hall
by Ed Brodow
"American citizens enjoy being manipulated. They willingly accept the avalanche of lies that is thrown at them daily by the government, the Democratic Party, and the media. Here is an accounting of how we are being conned. Perhaps the biggest con is the climate argument. Government policy in the U.S. and most of Europe is based on the erroneous belief that human beings can control the climate. This is pure nonsense that is contradicted by the facts. Contrary to frightening warnings from Al Gore and Greta Thunberg, the glaciers have not melted and the world has not come to an end. We are not experiencing a climate crisis." (11/05/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/edbrodow/2022/11/05/the-big-con-how-the-american-public-is-being-bamboozled-by-joe-biden-and-the-democrats-n2615448
-----
41) A Cut Below: Lessons from the History of Barber Licensure
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Avery Frank
"In the Progressive Era of the United States (the late 1890s to the late 1910s), an increasing number of 'barber's itch' (a contagious skin infection spread by using unclean razors) outbreaks led to the creation of barber licensures to ensure the implementation of sanitation efforts to prevent the spread of this ailment. ... It didn't take long for the justification for regulation to evolve as motivations became increasingly self-interested. Unionized barbers began advocating for regulations in order to bar discount barbers from driving down prices. Lobbying included restricting barbers from working on Sunday (which affected discount barbers who worked part-time on the weekends), not allowing some barbers to offer free shoeshines with their haircut, and unique to Missouri, requiring 'conversational ability.' Most of us enjoy a barber who can carry on a conversation, but is this something that needs to be regulated by the state?" (11/04/22)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/regulation/a-cut-below-lessons-from-the-history-of-barber-licensure/
-----
42) Stop the Madness of Mandatory Time Changes!
Source: Independent Institute
by William F Shughart
"Hundreds of millions of Americans suffer the effects of being forced to move the hands of their clocks back or forth by an hour every year. Daylight saving time ends in the wee hours of Sunday, November 6, except for the residents of Arizona, Hawaii, and the outlying U.S. territories, where people avoid the hassle by remaining on standard time year-round. This weekend, at least, everyone else will be time-traveling in the right direction. The return to standard time (until early March 2023, a mere four months from now) will reset our body clocks (circadian rhythms) to their proper places. As physiological research teaches, body clocks and sleep cycles primarily are regulated by -- and adjust to -- light and darkness. Standard time helps synchronize body clocks with the sun's clock. When it is in effect, daylight saving time disrupts that synchronization." (11/04/22)
https://blog.independent.org/2022/11/04/mandatory-time-change-clock/
-----
43) It's [Way Past] Time For a Ceasefire in Ukraine
Source: In These Times
by Phyllis Bennis
"There is a desperate need for a ceasefire in Ukraine. ... A ceasefire to end the war was urgently needed on February 25, the day after the war began. A ceasefire was imperative when Russia escalated its attacks and seized Ukrainian territory in the south and east of the country starting in early April. A ceasefire was critically important when the Ukrainians succeeded at wresting back much of the seized territory in September. And a ceasefire is desperately required now as the Ukrainian counter-offensive continues and Russia persists in its retaliation against civilian targets across Ukraine." (11/04/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-nuclear-war-putin-biden
-----
44) The doves were wrong
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
"In late 2021 and early 2022, a number of pundits warned that the Fed was moving too quickly to tighten monetary policy. It is now clear that these pundits were wrong. Not only did the Fed not do too much tightening, there's almost no evidence that the Fed has tightened monetary policy at all, at least to any measurable extent." (11/04/22)
https://www.econlib.org/the-doves-were-wrong/
-----
45) Science Fiction Got Surveillance All Wrong
Source: The Atlantic
by Andrew Aoyama
"As a journalist contacting sources incarcerated in Pennsylvania state prisons, I must send letters to a warehouse hundreds of miles away in Florida, where they're digitized and kept indefinitely by a company called Smart Communications -- it's never clear how many people read them. Smart Communications earns millions of dollars from prisons and jails across the country each year, highlighting a bizarre contradiction in how the United States thinks of privacy: There are some people whose surveillance we hardly ever think about. And the literature we reach for to understand government scrutiny rarely takes them into account." (11/04/22)
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/11/books-briefing-george-orwell-namwali-serpell/671983/
-----
46) Election Day 2022
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
"Another election day is upon us. We're told that we have a duty to vote because so many Americans gave their lives for that right. But perhaps it ought to be spelled R-I-T-E, as in a religious ritual. Is it a duty or a right? Let's make up our minds. In 21 countries voting is mandatory -- although the law is not always enforced -- but that absurd idea has never had traction here. There is something weird about an alleged right that one is compelled to exercise. It certainly would be unique." (11/04/22)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/tgif-election-day-2022.html
-----
47) The Misinformation Police Are Coming for You
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Neil Patel
"If Democrats lose broadly in the election, their first move should be to look inward. Their policy choices have contributed to historically high and destructive inflation. ... Rather than wrestle with these self-inflicted mistakes, many Democrats and their media allies are going to be looking for scapegoats. The first will be the American people themselves. There's a growing sentiment on the left [sic] that the people have let down the country. According to this worldview, Republicans are now a threat to democracy. ... Voting Republican just because you think they may better manage the economy is, according to this growing worldview, essentially a selfish act. More than selfish though, this sort of behavior can only be explained by a breakdown in the system. The system must be reformed, they will say. The reform they will push hardest is an increased crackdown on misinformation." (11/04/22)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/11/04/the_misinformation_police_are_coming_for_you_148422.html
-----
48) The Cult of Modi
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ramachandra Guha
"India claims to be the largest democracy in the world, and its ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claims to be the largest political organization in the world (with a membership base even greater than that of the Chinese Communist Party). Since May 2014, both the BJP and the government have been in thrall to the wishes--and occasionally the whims--of a single individual, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An extraordinary personality cult has been constructed around Modi, its manifestations visible in state as well as party propaganda, in eulogies in the press, in adulatory invocations of his apparently transformative leadership by India's leading entrepreneurs, celebrities, and sports stars. This essay seeks to place the cult of Modi in comparative and cultural context." (11/04/22)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/04/modi-india-personality-cult-democracy/
-----
49) Not Yours to Give
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"When I first discovered libertarianism in the late 1970s, I came across an essay entitled 'Not Yours to Give.' The essay was published by The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, where I would go to work as program director in 1987. The essay had a big impact on me because it explained in a very simple, easy-to-understand way why it was morally wrong for the federal government to help people in need. That was a big revelation for me, given that I was a liberal Democrat in my hometown of Laredo, Texas. Before I discovered libertarianism, I couldn't understand how anyone could object to government helping people who needed help. After all, I figured, it was the government's money." (11/04/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/11/04/davy-crocketts-political-revelation/
-----
50) The Republican Conundrum
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Max Borders
"Our leaders on the left and right have been living in a fantasy world of unlimited spending, bailouts, and money-printing for far too long. The global economy now suffers from the consequences of expert opinion. An elite composed of interventionists, Keynesians, and Modern Monetary Theorists has been whispering into the ears of the powerful since 1913. Unless the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve can engineer some miracle recovery, we must confront harsh reality. Most of the country will have to navigate the coming hard times with little help from Congress or the Central Bank. After all, the interventionist machine has finally sputtered and stalled." (11/04/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/the-republican-conundrum/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 296
Source: The Anarchist Experience
"Rich E Rich Reads the News with a listener contributed HEADLINE: Facebook Hired Ex-CIA, FBI Agents to Censor Content That Deviates From Official Narrative ... Private versus Government Health Insurance: They Are Not the Same." (11/05/22)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2022/11/05/the-anarchist-experience-396/
-----
52) Mike Swanson on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
"Mike Swanson on our Strange and Troubling Economy." (11/05/22)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/10-31-22-mike-swanson-on-our-strange-and-troubling-economy/
-----
53) Politics! Politics! Politics!, episode 340
Source: Politics! Politics! Politics!
"Final Midterm Prediction Show." (11/04/22)
https://politicspoliticspolitics.fireside.fm/340
-----
54) KN@PPSTER: Thanks For Asking!, 11/04/22
Source: KN@PPSTER
"November AMA." (11/04/22)
https://www.callin.com/episode/november-ama-hoHmeNBQvj
-----
55) Rising, 11/04/22
Source: The Hill
"Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave break down their predictions for the outcomes of next week's midterm elections." (11/04/22)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/3719307-rising-november-4-2022/
-----
56) FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, 11/04/22
Source: FiveThirtyEight
"The Issues Worth $9 Billion In Ad Spending." (11/04/22)
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/politics-podcast-the-issues-worth-9-billion-in-ad-spending/
-----
57) The Grayzone, 11/04/22
Source: The Grayzone
"'Make Peace Non-Partisan' -- Interview with (retired Green Beret) House Candidate Joe Kent [R-WA]." (11/04/22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBAdzRt9i54
-----
58) The Bryan Hyde Show, 11/04/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"Why did the lockdowns feel so much like martial law? The Brownstone institute has been connecting the dots and the answer is that the government's national security arm led the covid response." (11/04/22)
https://anchor.fm/bryan-hyde/episodes/2022-Nov-4-The-Bryan-Hyde-Show-e1q7unq
-----
59) Nonzero, 11/04/22
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
"Bull in a Twitter Shop | Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus." (11/04/22)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65167
-----
60) The Brian Nichols Show, episode 618
Source: We Are Libertarians
"CONFIRMED!? -- Donald Trump 2024!?" (11/04/22)
https://wearelibertarians.com/bns-618-confirmed-donald-trump-2024/
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Today's Freedom News:
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update
1) Ukraine war: Russian-occupied Kherson loses power after alleged "sabotage"
2) Twitter delays $8 "blue check" verification plan until after the midterms
3) Iran: Fresh protests after regime thugs murder Kurdish student
4) FL: Disgraced former president, careerist swamp creature hold dueling rallies
5) Italy: Regime blocks migrants from disembarking; ship's captain refuses to leave
6) Peru: Police attack protesters with chemical weapons
7) Haiti: Gang leader says fuel distribution can resume as blockade ends
8) UN: Last eight years on track to be warmest on record
9) Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station
10) China: Regime quashes rumours of quicker end to "zero COVID" insanity
11) Invest 98L likely to become tropical depression and drench Florida, southeast US with coastal flooding
12) South Korea: Miners rescued after nine days survived on instant coffee powder
13) AZ: Lake's campaign HQ receives "suspicious" white powder in mail
14) India: Punjab Right Wing Leader Sudhir Suri Shot Dead During Protest Outside Temple
15) CDC: US alcohol-induced deaths rose 26% from 2019 to 2020
16) IA: Teen who killed her rapist ditches regime surveillance
17) Kosovo: Serbs to quit state jobs over license plate row
18) US flu hospitalizations hit decade high amid early viral surge
19) Pakistan: Khan blames establishment figures for plot to kill him
20) Barrack acquitted of acting as UAE foreign agent
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Election 2022: The More Things Change ...
22) Liberalism's Greatest Gift
23) Sorry, But Your Vote Doesn't Count
24) Misinformation is bad, but 'solutions' to stop it are even worse
25) What Jesus Didn't Say
26) America's 9/11 Wars Created the Foot Soldiers of Far-Right Violence at Home
27) Mission creep at the Department of Homeland Security threatens liberty and free speech
28) "American Democracy" is the Real Threat to Democracy in America
29) The Week Corporate Power Started to Dissipate
30) This is why there is no "China-Russia alliance"
31) Maybe the Fed Too Was Trolled
32) Election Integrity Is a Winning Issue for Republicans
33) Opponents of Globalization Continue to Offer Only Weak Arguments
34) Walking Wide Awake into World War III
35) Biden's "Free Iran" Blunder
36) The Self-Licking Boot Of US Militarism
37) Free Trade Would Boost the Economy, But It's Not on the Ballot
38) Now Big Tech is coming for your money
39) Following the Law
40) The Big Con: How the American Public Is Being Bamboozled by Joe Biden & the Democrats
41) A Cut Below: Lessons from the History of Barber Licensure
42) Stop the Madness of Mandatory Time Changes!
43) It's [Way Past] Time For a Ceasefire in Ukraine
44) The doves were wrong
45) Science Fiction Got Surveillance All Wrong
46) Election Day 2022
47) The Misinformation Police Are Coming for You
48) The Cult of Modi
49) Not Yours to Give
50) The Republican Conundrum
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 296
52) Mike Swanson on The Scott Horton Show
53) Politics! Politics! Politics!, episode 340
54) KN@PPSTER: Thanks For Asking!, 11/04/22
55) Rising, 11/04/22
56) FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, 11/04/22
57) The Grayzone, 11/04/22
58) The Bryan Hyde Show, 11/04/22
59) Nonzero, 11/04/22
60) The Brian Nichols Show, episode 618
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1) Ukraine war: Russian-occupied Kherson loses power after alleged "sabotage"
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"The Russian-installed administration in Ukraine's Kherson region has said that Kherson city lost water and power supplies after what it called an act of 'sabotage.' In a statement on Telegram, the Russian-installed administration of Kherson said a 'terrorist attack' damaged three power lines in the region. It said that the attack had been carried out by Ukraine, though it provided no evidence. The outages are a 'result of an attack organised by the Ukrainian side on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway that saw three concrete poles of high-voltage power lines damaged,' it said. It is the first time that Kherson -- which fell to Russian forces within days of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February -- has seen such a power cut. Kherson is one of four regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month." (11/06/22)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/6/russian-occupied-kherson-loses-power-after-alleged-sabotage
-----
2) Twitter delays $8 "blue check" verification plan until after the midterms
Source: CNN Business
"Twitter is delaying the rollout of account verifications for its paid Twitter Blue subscription plan until after the midterm elections, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed to CNN. The decision to push back the new feature comes one day after the platform launched an updated version of its iOS app that promises to allow users who pay a monthly subscription fee to get a blue checkmark on their profiles, a feature that CEO Elon Musk has proposed as a way to fight spam on the platform. The app's latest update was outlined on Apple's App Store, stating that users will now have to pay $7.99 per month for the company's Twitter Blue verification feature, 'just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.' The checkmark has long been used to confirm the authenticity of government officials, prominent figures and journalists." (11/06/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/tech/twitter-verification-delay-midterms/index.html
-----
3) Iran: Fresh protests after regime thugs murder Kurdish student
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
"Fresh demonstrations occurred in the northwestern Iranian city of Marivan on Sunday, following the death of Kurdish student Nasrin Ghaderi. The latest flare of protests comes as anti-government demonstrations in Iran continued for a seventh week in one of the biggest shows of dissent in years. Nasrin Ghaderi died on Saturday after falling into a coma. She was reportedly attacked by security forces in an anti-government demonstration in Tehran and suffered severe blows to her head. ... Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw said police shot at protesters in the city, wounding dozens. Hengaw reported that Ghaderi was buried without a memorial service, as Iranian authorities believed the event would lead to unrest. Iranian state media, citing a prosecutor, claimed that Ghaderi had a pre-existing heart condition and that she died from 'poisoning,' without offering specifics." (11/06/22)
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-fresh-protests-erupt-after-death-of-kurdish-student/a-63664570
-----
4) FL: Disgraced former president, careerist swamp creature hold dueling rallies
Source: The Week
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former President Donald Trump both headlined pre-election rallies in Florida on Sunday, but separately. Trump effusively praised Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during his 90-minute speech in Miami, mentioning DeSantis only once when he told the crowd they are going to reelect him as governor on Tuesday. DeSantis didn't mention Trump at all during his Sunday events. Trump, by all accounts preparing to announce another run for the White House, reportedly sees DeSantis as his biggest rival for the 2024 GOP nomination. At a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Trump tested out a new nickname: 'Ron DeSanctimonous.'" (11/07/22)
https://theweek.com/elon-musk/1018155/elon-musk-delays-twitter-paid-verification-bans-impersonators-reportedly-tries-to
-----
5) Italy: Regime blocks migrants from disembarking; ship's captain refuses to leave
Source: ABC News
"The captain of a charity-run migrant rescue ship refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port Sunday after authorities refused to let 35 of the migrants on his ship disembark -- part of directives by Italy's new far-right-led government targeting foreign-flagged rescue ships. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni's two-week-old government is refusing safe port to four ships operating in the central Mediterranean that have rescued migrants at sea in distress, some as many as 16 days ago, and is allowing only those identified as vulnerable to disembark. On Sunday, Italy ordered the Humanity 1 to vacate the port of Catania after disembarking 144 rescued migrants, including with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies. But its captain refused to comply 'until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked,' said SOS Humanity, the German charity that operates the ship." (11/06/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/italy-stops-35-migrants-off-rescue-ship-port-92753317
-----
6) Peru: Police attack protesters with chemical weapons
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Peru's capital Lima, as thousands of people took part in anti-government marches across the country. Demonstrators want embattled President Pedro Castillo to resign over allegations of corruption. The left-wing leader, who unexpectedly won power last year, is the subject of six criminal investigations -- but denies any wrongdoing. ... One of Saturday's protesters told the Reuters news agency she was taking part for the sake of her children and grandchildren, because 'this government is becoming hell.' Another told the AFP news agency that the country was 'on the edge of the precipice; economically everything has stagnated.' ... Peru has seen a number of presidents ousted from office in recent years. In 2020, it had three heads of state in the space of five days." (11/06/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63530879
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7) Haiti: Gang leader says fuel distribution can resume as blockade ends
Source: Yahoo! News
"Haitian gang leader Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier said on Sunday that fuel trucks can approach the Varreux terminal without fear for their safety, days after police broke up a blockade that had halted fuel distribution for nearly two months. The G9 coalition of gangs led by Cherizier in mid-September dug trenches and put up barricades at the entrance to Varreux, leading to crippling fuel shortages and creating a humanitarian crisis as Haitians struggled to find food and water. ... Haiti's police on Friday said they had retaken control of the terminal after confronting the gangs in the area. Heavy shooting continued on Saturday, said one source familiar with the situation, adding things had calmed down on Sunday. It was still not evident when fuel would begin flowing." (11/06/22)
https://news.yahoo.com/haiti-gang-leader-says-fuel-182010774.html
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8) UN: Last eight years on track to be warmest on record
Source: Raidio Teilifis Eireann [Irish state media]
"Each of the last eight years, if projections for 2022 hold, will be hotter than any prior to 2015, the UN has said, detailing a dramatic increase in the rate of global warming. Sea level rise, glacier melt, torrential rains, heat waves -- and the deadly disasters they cause -- have all accelerated, the World Meteorological Organization said in a report as the COP27 UN climate summit opened in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. ... The UN's weather and climate body released its annual state of the global climate report with yet another warning that the target to limit temperature rises to 1.5C was 'barely within reach.'" (11/06/22)
https://www.rte.ie/news/weather/2022/1106/1333488-wmo-report/
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9) Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station
Source: Space.com
"A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying more than 4 tons of supplies for the International Space Station will have to wait at least one more day to launch after a fire alarm at its mission control center thwarted a liftoff early Sunday (Nov. 6). The Antares rocket was about 10 minutes away from a planned liftoff at 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, when Northrop Grumman called off the flight. A fire alarm at the company's control center in nearby Dulles, Virginia, forced a building evacuation, preventing launch controllers from going through with the launch. ... Liftoff is now set for Monday, Nov. 6 [sic], at 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT)." (11/06/22)
https://www.space.com/northrop-grumman-cygnus-rocket-launch-delayed-fire-alarm
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10) China: Regime quashes rumours of quicker end to "zero COVID" insanity
Source: Financial Times [UK]
"Beijing has quashed hopes for an immediate easing of the country's rigid zero-Covid restrictions, setting China-linked shares up for more volatile trading on Monday, analysts said. China's National Health Commission reiterated the country's commitment to eliminating Covid-19 at a press conference on Saturday and warned that the situation was set to become even 'more severe and complex' as the country entered the winter flu season. 'Practice has proved that our pandemic prevention and control strategy ... [is] completely correct, and such measures are proven the most economical and effective,' said Hu Xiang, an official with the NHC. Investors last week seized on rumours that Beijing was considering softening restrictions. Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong had their best week in more than seven years while Shanghai-listed shares recorded their highest weekly gain since July 2020." (11/06/22)
https://www.ft.com/content/99693f8f-c9fd-4f0e-85dd-2fcff12853b3
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11) Invest 98L likely to become tropical depression and drench Florida, southeast US with coastal flooding
Source: Fox Weather
"The National Hurricane Center labeled the tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea 98L and scheduled Hurricane Hunter aircraft to investigate. The agency gave the disturbance 80% chance to develop into a Tropical Depression or Tropical Storm over the next 2 days and 90% chance in 5 days. That system will bring strong winds, rain and coastal flooding to Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Invest is a naming convention used by the NHC to identify areas meteorologists are investigating for development into a tropical depression or storm in the next 5 days. FOX Weather has the area marked as tropical disturbance #1. The NHC says they could issue Tropical Storm, Hurricane and Storm Surge Watches for parts of the Bahamas and Florida Coast by early Monday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned Floridians to be prepared for coastal flooding, winds and rain as early as Tuesday in a Tweet." (11/06/22)
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/tracking-tropics-florida-november
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12) South Korea: Miners rescued after nine days survived on instant coffee powder
Source: Independent [UK]
"Two South Korean miners who were trapped underground were rescued after nine days, during which they ate instant coffee powder and drank water falling from the ceiling of a collapsed shaft, in what is being seen as a 'truly miraculous' survival. The two men, aged 62 and 56, were pulled out to safety on Friday night from the collapsed shaft at a zinc mine in the southeastern town of Bonghwa. Both men were in fairly good condition though they initially said they were suffering hypothermia and muscle pains, according to reports. The miners shared 30 sticks of instant coffee while trapped underground and kept warm by lighting a fire and building a tent out of plastic while stranded 200 metres (650 feet) under the ground, according to reports." (11/06/22)
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/east-asia/south-korea-miners-rescue-coffee-powder-b2218701.html
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13) AZ: Lake's campaign HQ receives "suspicious" white powder in mail
Source: Axios
"The campaign headquarters of Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake received an envelope containing 'suspicious white powder' on Saturday, CNN reports. There have been no reports of injury from the received mail, but one staff member is under medical watch. An investigation is ongoing." (11/06/22)
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/06/kari-lake-arizona-suspicious-mail-white-powder
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14) India: Punjab Right Wing Leader Sudhir Suri Shot Dead During Protest Outside Temple
Source: NDTV [India]
"Sudhir Suri, a Hindutva right wing leader in Punjab, was shot dead on a busy street in Amritsar this afternoon in an attack that was caught on camera while there were over a dozen cops around him. Leader of a local outfit that uses the name Shiv Sena Taksali, Mr Suri was holding protest outside a temple against its management when at least five shots were fired from a pistol, allegedly by a local shopkeeper. Due to threats from gangsters and Khalistani extremists, Mr Suri had police protection, yet the attacker -- Sandeep Singh, who has been arrested -- was successful in landing at least two shots that led to his death at a hospital. ... Mr Suri, who wasn't an electoral player, was mostly known for his fiery -- and allegedly communal -- video messages on social media targeting some Sikh outfits and Khalistan supporters in particular. Police did not draw a connection as yet." (11/04/22)
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/shiv-sena-leader-sudhir-suri-shot-dead-in-amritsar-3490229
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15) CDC: US alcohol-induced deaths rose 26% from 2019 to 2020
Source: News4JAX
"Medical experts recorded the highest number of alcohol-related deaths in at least 40 years during the first year of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found alcohol-induced deaths jumped 26% percent between 2019 and 2020, killing more than 49,000 people in 2020. This included men and women ages 55 to 64 and a dramatic 42% increase among women 35 to 44." (11/05/22)
https://www.news4jax.com/health/2022/11/05/alcohol-induced-deaths-rose-26-from-2019-to-2020-cdc-finds/
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16) IA: Teen who killed her rapist ditches regime surveillance
Source: KCCI Des Moines
"A teen convicted of killing her rapist escaped custody [sic]. The story of Pieper Lewis made national headlines when she was sentenced in September. Jerry Evans, executive director of the 5th Judicial District Dept. of Corrections, confirmed to KCCI Saturday that Lewis escaped custody at 6:19 a.m. on Friday. Evans said Lewis cut off her tracker but was not sure where she might be headed. Lewis was 15 years old when she admitted she killed 37-year-old Zachary Brooks in Des Moines in 2020. Lewis said she was a victim of human trafficking and said Brooks raped her several times before she killed him. A Polk County judge sentenced Lewis to five years probation and a deferred judgment." (11/05/22)
https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-pieper-lewis-escapes-custody-rapist/41875794
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17) Kosovo: Serbs to quit state jobs over license plate row
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
"Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo said they would quit their posts in state institutions Saturday over a row about vehicle license plates. The move came after Pristina declared that around 10,000 Kosovo Serbs with license plates issued by Serbia must replace them with plates issued by Kosovo starting this month. Following a meeting of Serb political representatives, the Minister of Communities and Returns Goran Rakic said he would resign from his post in the Pristina government over the issue. He said fellow Serbs, including those in the government, police and courts would also quit their jobs. The officials also demanded the formation of a union of Serb municipalities that would give Serb-majority districts greater autonomy. Saturday's move drew immediate alarm from the European Union, which has been mediating talks between Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations." (11/05/22)
https://www.dw.com/en/kosovo-serbs-to-quit-state-jobs-over-license-plate-row/a-63661511
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18) US flu hospitalizations hit decade high amid early viral surge
Source: NBC News
"The U.S. is seeing the highest flu hospitalization rates in a decade for this time of year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, with people ages 65 and up hit the hardest, followed by young children. The rise comes as other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also spreading early and rapidly. Common winter viruses tend to peak in December and January -- not October and November -- though it's unclear how the early and intense spread of respiratory viruses will ultimately play out this season." (11/04/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flu-hospitalizations-hit-decade-high-early-viral-surge-rcna55099
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19) Pakistan: Khan blames establishment figures for plot to kill him
Source: CNN
"Tensions escalated in Pakistan on Friday as former Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed establishment figures for a plot to kill him – a claim strenuously denied by governing and security officials. A day after after he survived a shooting at a political rally outside the town of Gujranwala, Punjab province, Khan gave a rambling speech at a hospital in the city of Lahore where he was recovering from the injuries he sustained. While sitting in a wheelchair, the cricket star-turned-politician cited three senior figures as being behind the attack. ... Without offering evidence, Khan blamed Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal, who is a senior intelligence official. ... Sanaullah rejected the accusation, calling it 'grievous.' The media wing of the Pakistani military condemned Khan's claims on Friday, calling them "baseless and irresponsible allegations" and threatened legal action." (11/04/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/04/asia/imran-khan-attack-pakistan-intl
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20) Barrack acquitted of acting as UAE foreign agent
Source: Reuters
"Tom Barrack, a onetime private equity executive and fundraiser for former President Donald Trump, was found not guilty by a jury on Friday of unlawfully acting as an agent of the United Arab Emirates. Barrack, who chaired the former president's 2017 inaugural committee and served as an informal adviser to the campaign, was acquitted of all nine counts he faced, including conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to the FBI in 2019 during their probe of his interactions with Emirati officials and their representatives. ... Prosecutors last year charged Barrack with using his influence with Trump's 2016 campaign and administration to push UAE policy interests, without notifying the U.S. attorney general as required by law that he was acting as an agent for the Middle Eastern country." (11/04/22)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-ally-barrack-acquitted-acting-uae-foreign-agent-2022-11-04/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Election 2022: The More Things Change ...
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"[E]ven though I'm writing this on the Saturday before 'Election Day,' there's a good chance you won't see it until Wednesday or later. So now feels like as good a time as any for the 'morning after' column. So, how was it for you? Are you basking in the afterglow of 'your team's' victories, or venting loudly about the unfairness of 'your team's' losses? Are you convinced that, after all the months of constant foofooraw leading up to 'Election Day,' anything substantial really changed between Monday and Wednesday? It didn't. We've still got the same problems we had before, and we've still got the same people (minus a few old faces and plus a few new) who will spend the next two years promising to solve those problems if we'll all just VOTE HARDER ... next time." (11/05/22)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/17238
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22) Liberalism's Greatest Gift
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Donald J Boudreaux
"Watching Ken Burns's, Lynn Novick's, and Sarah Botstein's brilliant 2022 documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust, is difficult. The viewer's heart is wrenched by photos and home movies of innocent people who would shortly be murdered simply because of their identity. Also distressing is encountering evidence of two other ugly realities: American antisemitism of the era, and the extent to which this bigotry affected American officials' cold political calculations. ... In 2022 America, it's tempting to conclude that we in western Europe and America are now, fortunately, past the stage of our social development that permitted this barbarism. ... Perhaps. But I have my doubts." (11/06/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/liberalisms-greatest-gift/
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23) Sorry, But Your Vote Doesn't Count
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
"Many people seem surprised when an economist or political scientist tells them that, with his single vote, an ordinary and rational voter has no reasonable hope of deciding an election, that is, of changing who is elected (or which proposition is adopted in a referendum) compared to what would have been the case had he voted differently or not at all. Some people either have never reflected on the mathematics of voting, or have never tried to find elections when one vote made a difference, or they are so engrossed in a simple democratic ideology that they just imagine a reality that matches it. ... the estimated 1-in-60,000,000 chance of an average American to elect the president he wants is still five times higher than his odds of winning the jackpot in a Powerball drawing (apparently 1 in 292,000,000)." (11/06/22)
https://www.econlib.org/sorry-your-vote-doesnt-count/
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24) Misinformation is bad, but 'solutions' to stop it are even worse
Source: The Hill
by Jeffrey M McCall
"Americans can agree that misinformation is bad. Stopping it, however, is not so easily accomplished. There are no simple fixes to the spread of misinformation in a free society in which expression is constitutionally protected. Further, reckless or ill-advised efforts to bring a stop to misinformation could be more harmful to American democracy than the misinformation itself. ... For many people, misinformation is just somebody else's information that they don't like. Yelling about misinformation stirs up the public sphere and provides a rhetorical club to discredit and even shut down sociopolitical opponents. This 'hair on fire' approach to misinformation doesn't lead to reasoned debate and correction of error, but instead to fear, confusion and anger." (11/05/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3721478-misinformation-is-bad-but-solutions-to-stop-it-are-even-worse/
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25) What Jesus Didn't Say
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg
"Without a doubt Jesus of Nazareth is one of the most influential beings ever to walk this planet ... perpetually influential. But I see him as greatly misunderstood. Most of the things people associate with Jesus are things he never said. Rather, they are things that other people said about him, and the two aren't remotely equivalent. But while I think this deserves to be pointed out, please understand that whatever comes of this will not be my choice; I have no religion to sell. I'm just a guy making what he thinks is an important point. It's my opinion that people should differentiate between what Jesus said, and what people said about him. I think that's a crucial line to draw. So, here's my list." (11/06/22)
https://freemansperspective.com/what-jesus-didnt-say/
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26) America's 9/11 Wars Created the Foot Soldiers of Far-Right Violence at Home
Source: The Intercept
by Peter Maass
"Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the most aggressive generals of his generation, and after his military service ended in a bitter fashion, he went home to Tennessee and found a new way to fight. A defeated general in the Confederate army, Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan and was named its inaugural 'grand wizard.' Forrest was in the first wave of American veterans who turned to domestic terror once they returned home. It also happened after World War I and II, after the Korean and Vietnam wars -- and it is happening after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The sedition trial now taking place in Washington, D.C., features five defendants accused of trying to overthrow the government on January 6, 2021, and four are veterans, including Stewart Rhodes, who founded the Oath Keepers militia." (11/06/22)
https://theintercept.com/2022/11/06/jan-6-far-right-us-military/
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27) Mission creep at the Department of Homeland Security threatens liberty and free speech
Source: Orange County Register
by Susan Shelley
"George W. Bush broke the country. Following the horrific attacks on 9/11, President Bush's response had horrific consequences. You know about the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq. To those debacles we can add the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which has now been turned against the American people." (11/06/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/11/06/mission-creep-at-dhs-threatens-your-liberty/
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28) "American Democracy" is the Real Threat to Democracy in America
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
"If you're reading this now, chances are you've already saved democracy by voting for some asshole and chances are you were probably guilted into it on the fear of semi-fascism by a relentless campaign of 24/7 multimedia harassment. Chances also are that in spite of all this heavy-handed peer pressure coming from the virtue signaling class, you probably still feel like shit about pulling that filthy lever on election day and I'd like to use my latest rant to try to explain to you exactly why you feel so damn cheated by this thing we call 'American Democracy' even though you're supposedly the last action hero for taking part in it." (11/06/22)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2022/11/american-democracy-is-real-threat-to.html
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29) The Week Corporate Power Started to Dissipate
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
"There are plenty of theories about why this is happening. But I think it could be tied to the fact that we have become culturally conditioned to expect the world to move at internet speed, while our governing system of checks and balances moves like an 18th-century carriage when it moves at all. ... Even when the system does get around to spitting out the progress we seek, it is often too late to save the skins of those who produced it. This is approximately the trajectory of the fight against corporate power. For nearly two years, the Biden administration worked to assemble the exact team you would want for an aggressive push against runaway monopolization. They said the right things and made the right decisions. The president signed an executive order outlining a whole-of-government approach to promoting competition across the economy." (11/04/22)
https://prospect.org/power/the-week-corporate-power-started-to-dissipate/
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30) This is why there is no "China-Russia alliance"
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Anatol Lieven
"There is indeed a Sino-Russian partnership; but there is no alliance. China will not fight for Russia in Ukraine any more than Russia will fight for China in the Far East. And if China has not joined the West in economic pressure against Russia, it has also given virtually no military or economic help to Russia, beyond -- like most of the world -- going on buying Russian oil and gas. ... one might have expected the Chinese government to do everything in its power to strengthen Russia against the United States; especially since Russia is almost the only powerful strategic partner that China possesses. The explanation for China's failure to help Russia lies partly in an ongoing Chinese tendency to strategic caution, which (outside the South and East China Seas) remains far greater than most Western commentary acknowledges." (11/05/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/11/05/this-is-why-there-is-no-china-russia-alliance
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31) Maybe the Fed Too Was Trolled
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
"The Federal Reserve -- and central banks the world over -- played a crucial role in making lockdowns possible and weaponizing the panic of politicians. As the lender of last resort and the provider of liquidity for the entire federal government, it removes normal fiscal restraint. It writes checks that cannot bounce to fuel governments in normal times but is always ready to make possible emergency spending too even if existing revenue and public consensus is otherwise absent. ... In short, the lockdown was monetized with the printing press." (11/05/22)
https://brownstone.org/articles/maybe-the-fed-too-was-trolled/
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32) Election Integrity Is a Winning Issue for Republicans
Source: The Federalist
by Mollie Hemingway
"If Republican candidates do as well as expected on Tuesday, they can credit the new, widespread, and coordinated effort to begin securing U.S. elections, helping give candidates the best opportunity possible to win a fair fight in the new voting environment of mail-in balloting. The Republican National Committee, other party entities, and dozens of public interest election nonprofit groups built over the last two years a multimillion-dollar election integrity infrastructure that passed laws improving voter ID and other election security measures, defended those laws from legal attacks by Democrats, and sued states and localities that failed to follow the law. They also recruited, educated, trained, and placed tens of thousands of new election observers and other workers throughout the long midterm voting season. And they did it all in one of the most hostile propaganda environments on record." (11/04/22)
https://thefederalist.com/2022/11/04/if-republicans-win-on-tuesday-thank-the-election-integrity-movement/
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33) Opponents of Globalization Continue to Offer Only Weak Arguments
Source: Cafe Hayek
by Don Boudreaux
"Sen. Chris Murphy's (D-CT) case for an American industrial policy is riddled with factual errors and legerdemain ('The Wreckage of Neoliberalism,' October 25). An example of the former is his assertion that the jobs created in America over the past 30 years by globalization 'offered lower pay, fewer benefits, and less opportunity for advancement.' In reality, economist Michael Strain found that real hourly wages -- excluding benefits -- earned by production and nonsupervisory workers were 34 percent higher in 2019 than in 1990. And according to the St. Louis Fed, which has data on fringe benefits going back only to 2001, the real value of fringe benefits paid by private employers to their workers is today 89 percent higher than it was in 2001." (11/05/22)
https://cafehayek.com/2022/11/opponents-of-globalization-continue-to-offer-only-weak-arguments.html
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34) Walking Wide Awake into World War III
Source: Libertarian Institute
by John Weeks
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with rising tensions between NATO and Russia, have drawn comparisons to the outbreak of World War I. In 2014, back when the open hostilities in Ukraine really began, the journalist Eric Margolis said 'We can stumble into a war with Russia. This reminds me of 1914 all over again.' This 'stumbling' of course refers to the 'sleepwalking thesis of war' that is part of both popular and scholarly narratives of World War I. ... Unfortunately, it's much worse than that. The United States is marching wide awake toward general nuclear war." (11/05/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/walking-wide-awake-into-world-war-iii
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35) Biden's "Free Iran" Blunder
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
"The United States is not going to 'free Iran,' because it is not within our government's power to do this and our government has no right to interfere there in any case. It is not up to 'us' to do this because it is not our country, and the Iranian people are the only ones that can change their political system to one that most of them would find acceptable. I might add that our government is not really interested in a free Iran, but in a compliant one, and a genuinely representative Iranian government is not what Washington wants. The U.S. would rather have a cooperative dictator in Iran than democratically elected leaders that pursued an independent course, and our government has never worked to make the Iranian people freer." (11/04/22)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/bidens-free-iran-blunder
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36) The Self-Licking Boot Of US Militarism
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"A new Bloomberg article titled ''Sloppy' US Talk on China's Threat Worries Some Skeptical Experts discusses the dangerous cycle in which pressures in the US political establishment to continually escalate hostilities with Beijing provokes responses that are then falsely interpreted as Chinese aggression. ... Bloomberg quotes Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund, who says this cycle of self-reinforcing escalation could 'end up provoking the war that we seek to deter.' We just saw this same self-perpetuating cycle of military escalation exemplified against North Korea, where tensions have again been flaring after a long pause. The US and South Korea initiated a provocative military drill designed to menace the DPRK, Pyongyang responded by launching missiles in its own show of strength, and the Pentagon announced an extension of the drills in response to that response." (11/05/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/11/05/the-self-licking-boot-of-us-militarism/
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37) Free Trade Would Boost the Economy, But It's Not on the Ballot
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"When Americans cast their ballots on Tuesday, surveys say the economy will weigh on most voters' minds. Pollsters give Republicans the advantage on pocketbook issues after the Biden administration presided over a spending spree and then downplayed the resulting inflation. But on one issue that could make a big difference, voters have little choice: President Biden is a protectionist just like his predecessor, and both major parties embrace trade barriers, further threatening, in an already tumultuous world, peace and prosperity." (11/04/22)
https://reason.com/2022/11/04/free-trade-would-boost-the-economy-but-its-not-on-the-ballot/
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38) Now Big Tech is coming for your money
Source: spiked
by Carrie Clark
"Did you know that payment-processing platforms are now taking confession? Yes, you read that right. US crowdfunding platform Patreon, valued at $4 billion, now has a clause in its Community Guidelines on 'renouncements.' The guidelines empower Patreon to cancel users' accounts -- and thus their income -- for a multitude of heresies. But if users 'renounce' their heretical beliefs to the high priests of Patreon's 'Trust and Safety' team, they may have their accounts and livelihoods restored. Patreon even generously promises to 'educate' creators who hold what it deems to be problematic views. ... Patreon's renunciation policy is only one example of a frightening trend. Payment processors and crowdfunding platforms -- as well as some high-street banks -- are weaponising their power as providers of financial services to police the political views of their users." (11/06/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/11/06/now-big-tech-is-coming-for-your-money/
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39) Following the Law
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"It's official. Well, it was already official because it was Pennsylvania law. And because the U.S. Supreme Court had confirmed it. What is it? Election officials may not count mail-in ballots that are undated or incorrectly dated. Official, yes, but now even more official." (11/04/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/11/04/following-the-law/
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40) The Big Con: How the American Public Is Being Bamboozled by Joe Biden & the Democrats
Source: Town Hall
by Ed Brodow
"American citizens enjoy being manipulated. They willingly accept the avalanche of lies that is thrown at them daily by the government, the Democratic Party, and the media. Here is an accounting of how we are being conned. Perhaps the biggest con is the climate argument. Government policy in the U.S. and most of Europe is based on the erroneous belief that human beings can control the climate. This is pure nonsense that is contradicted by the facts. Contrary to frightening warnings from Al Gore and Greta Thunberg, the glaciers have not melted and the world has not come to an end. We are not experiencing a climate crisis." (11/05/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/edbrodow/2022/11/05/the-big-con-how-the-american-public-is-being-bamboozled-by-joe-biden-and-the-democrats-n2615448
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41) A Cut Below: Lessons from the History of Barber Licensure
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Avery Frank
"In the Progressive Era of the United States (the late 1890s to the late 1910s), an increasing number of 'barber's itch' (a contagious skin infection spread by using unclean razors) outbreaks led to the creation of barber licensures to ensure the implementation of sanitation efforts to prevent the spread of this ailment. ... It didn't take long for the justification for regulation to evolve as motivations became increasingly self-interested. Unionized barbers began advocating for regulations in order to bar discount barbers from driving down prices. Lobbying included restricting barbers from working on Sunday (which affected discount barbers who worked part-time on the weekends), not allowing some barbers to offer free shoeshines with their haircut, and unique to Missouri, requiring 'conversational ability.' Most of us enjoy a barber who can carry on a conversation, but is this something that needs to be regulated by the state?" (11/04/22)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/regulation/a-cut-below-lessons-from-the-history-of-barber-licensure/
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42) Stop the Madness of Mandatory Time Changes!
Source: Independent Institute
by William F Shughart
"Hundreds of millions of Americans suffer the effects of being forced to move the hands of their clocks back or forth by an hour every year. Daylight saving time ends in the wee hours of Sunday, November 6, except for the residents of Arizona, Hawaii, and the outlying U.S. territories, where people avoid the hassle by remaining on standard time year-round. This weekend, at least, everyone else will be time-traveling in the right direction. The return to standard time (until early March 2023, a mere four months from now) will reset our body clocks (circadian rhythms) to their proper places. As physiological research teaches, body clocks and sleep cycles primarily are regulated by -- and adjust to -- light and darkness. Standard time helps synchronize body clocks with the sun's clock. When it is in effect, daylight saving time disrupts that synchronization." (11/04/22)
https://blog.independent.org/2022/11/04/mandatory-time-change-clock/
-----
43) It's [Way Past] Time For a Ceasefire in Ukraine
Source: In These Times
by Phyllis Bennis
"There is a desperate need for a ceasefire in Ukraine. ... A ceasefire to end the war was urgently needed on February 25, the day after the war began. A ceasefire was imperative when Russia escalated its attacks and seized Ukrainian territory in the south and east of the country starting in early April. A ceasefire was critically important when the Ukrainians succeeded at wresting back much of the seized territory in September. And a ceasefire is desperately required now as the Ukrainian counter-offensive continues and Russia persists in its retaliation against civilian targets across Ukraine." (11/04/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-nuclear-war-putin-biden
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44) The doves were wrong
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
"In late 2021 and early 2022, a number of pundits warned that the Fed was moving too quickly to tighten monetary policy. It is now clear that these pundits were wrong. Not only did the Fed not do too much tightening, there's almost no evidence that the Fed has tightened monetary policy at all, at least to any measurable extent." (11/04/22)
https://www.econlib.org/the-doves-were-wrong/
-----
45) Science Fiction Got Surveillance All Wrong
Source: The Atlantic
by Andrew Aoyama
"As a journalist contacting sources incarcerated in Pennsylvania state prisons, I must send letters to a warehouse hundreds of miles away in Florida, where they're digitized and kept indefinitely by a company called Smart Communications -- it's never clear how many people read them. Smart Communications earns millions of dollars from prisons and jails across the country each year, highlighting a bizarre contradiction in how the United States thinks of privacy: There are some people whose surveillance we hardly ever think about. And the literature we reach for to understand government scrutiny rarely takes them into account." (11/04/22)
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/11/books-briefing-george-orwell-namwali-serpell/671983/
-----
46) Election Day 2022
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
"Another election day is upon us. We're told that we have a duty to vote because so many Americans gave their lives for that right. But perhaps it ought to be spelled R-I-T-E, as in a religious ritual. Is it a duty or a right? Let's make up our minds. In 21 countries voting is mandatory -- although the law is not always enforced -- but that absurd idea has never had traction here. There is something weird about an alleged right that one is compelled to exercise. It certainly would be unique." (11/04/22)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/tgif-election-day-2022.html
-----
47) The Misinformation Police Are Coming for You
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Neil Patel
"If Democrats lose broadly in the election, their first move should be to look inward. Their policy choices have contributed to historically high and destructive inflation. ... Rather than wrestle with these self-inflicted mistakes, many Democrats and their media allies are going to be looking for scapegoats. The first will be the American people themselves. There's a growing sentiment on the left [sic] that the people have let down the country. According to this worldview, Republicans are now a threat to democracy. ... Voting Republican just because you think they may better manage the economy is, according to this growing worldview, essentially a selfish act. More than selfish though, this sort of behavior can only be explained by a breakdown in the system. The system must be reformed, they will say. The reform they will push hardest is an increased crackdown on misinformation." (11/04/22)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/11/04/the_misinformation_police_are_coming_for_you_148422.html
-----
48) The Cult of Modi
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ramachandra Guha
"India claims to be the largest democracy in the world, and its ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claims to be the largest political organization in the world (with a membership base even greater than that of the Chinese Communist Party). Since May 2014, both the BJP and the government have been in thrall to the wishes--and occasionally the whims--of a single individual, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An extraordinary personality cult has been constructed around Modi, its manifestations visible in state as well as party propaganda, in eulogies in the press, in adulatory invocations of his apparently transformative leadership by India's leading entrepreneurs, celebrities, and sports stars. This essay seeks to place the cult of Modi in comparative and cultural context." (11/04/22)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/04/modi-india-personality-cult-democracy/
-----
49) Not Yours to Give
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"When I first discovered libertarianism in the late 1970s, I came across an essay entitled 'Not Yours to Give.' The essay was published by The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, where I would go to work as program director in 1987. The essay had a big impact on me because it explained in a very simple, easy-to-understand way why it was morally wrong for the federal government to help people in need. That was a big revelation for me, given that I was a liberal Democrat in my hometown of Laredo, Texas. Before I discovered libertarianism, I couldn't understand how anyone could object to government helping people who needed help. After all, I figured, it was the government's money." (11/04/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/11/04/davy-crocketts-political-revelation/
-----
50) The Republican Conundrum
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Max Borders
"Our leaders on the left and right have been living in a fantasy world of unlimited spending, bailouts, and money-printing for far too long. The global economy now suffers from the consequences of expert opinion. An elite composed of interventionists, Keynesians, and Modern Monetary Theorists has been whispering into the ears of the powerful since 1913. Unless the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve can engineer some miracle recovery, we must confront harsh reality. Most of the country will have to navigate the coming hard times with little help from Congress or the Central Bank. After all, the interventionist machine has finally sputtered and stalled." (11/04/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/the-republican-conundrum/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 296
Source: The Anarchist Experience
"Rich E Rich Reads the News with a listener contributed HEADLINE: Facebook Hired Ex-CIA, FBI Agents to Censor Content That Deviates From Official Narrative ... Private versus Government Health Insurance: They Are Not the Same." (11/05/22)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2022/11/05/the-anarchist-experience-396/
-----
52) Mike Swanson on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
"Mike Swanson on our Strange and Troubling Economy." (11/05/22)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/10-31-22-mike-swanson-on-our-strange-and-troubling-economy/
-----
53) Politics! Politics! Politics!, episode 340
Source: Politics! Politics! Politics!
"Final Midterm Prediction Show." (11/04/22)
https://politicspoliticspolitics.fireside.fm/340
-----
54) KN@PPSTER: Thanks For Asking!, 11/04/22
Source: KN@PPSTER
"November AMA." (11/04/22)
https://www.callin.com/episode/november-ama-hoHmeNBQvj
-----
55) Rising, 11/04/22
Source: The Hill
"Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave break down their predictions for the outcomes of next week's midterm elections." (11/04/22)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/3719307-rising-november-4-2022/
-----
56) FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast, 11/04/22
Source: FiveThirtyEight
"The Issues Worth $9 Billion In Ad Spending." (11/04/22)
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/politics-podcast-the-issues-worth-9-billion-in-ad-spending/
-----
57) The Grayzone, 11/04/22
Source: The Grayzone
"'Make Peace Non-Partisan' -- Interview with (retired Green Beret) House Candidate Joe Kent [R-WA]." (11/04/22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBAdzRt9i54
-----
58) The Bryan Hyde Show, 11/04/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"Why did the lockdowns feel so much like martial law? The Brownstone institute has been connecting the dots and the answer is that the government's national security arm led the covid response." (11/04/22)
https://anchor.fm/bryan-hyde/episodes/2022-Nov-4-The-Bryan-Hyde-Show-e1q7unq
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59) Nonzero, 11/04/22
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
"Bull in a Twitter Shop | Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus." (11/04/22)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65167
-----
60) The Brian Nichols Show, episode 618
Source: We Are Libertarians
"CONFIRMED!? -- Donald Trump 2024!?" (11/04/22)
https://wearelibertarians.com/bns-618-confirmed-donald-trump-2024/
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