06/03 -- Yemen: Houthis, Saudi invaders agree to truce extension; Anti-LGBT Panics Are Bad for Everyone's Liberty
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 3, 2022, 7:04:21 AM6/3/22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/03/22
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https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Yemen: Houthis, Saudi invaders agree to truce extension
2) GA: Raffensperger testifies before grand jury investigating disgraced former president's election theft scheme
3) Biden whines for more victim disarmament legislation
4) Amid criticism, North Korea takes over UN disarmament presidency
5) Biden regime cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for people who attended for-profit college
6) Turkey: Regime seeks to rebrand, wants to be known as Turkiye instead of the bird
7) France: Diplomats strike over reforms, budget cuts
8) Syria: Militant attack on bus kills three, wounds 21
9) US Landfills Get Second Life as Solar Farms
10) "Consumer advocates" whine to US regime about other people spending money on stuff they want
11) Tunisia: Saied fires 57 judges accused of corruption
12) Average Long-Term US Mortgage Rates Edge Down, Still Over 5%
13) NY: Appeals court upholds Weinstein's rape conviction
14) LeBron James becomes NBA's first active player worth $1 billion
15) UK: Royal Family Gathers for Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
16) Ukraine war: Russians say UK MP's son involved in killing of Chechen commander
17) TX: Abbott wants "unannounced, random intruder" audits of government daycare centers
18) Chinese regime whines at US regime to stop trade talks with Taiwanese regime
19) Avenatti sentenced to four years for stealing nearly $300k from Stormy Daniels
20) NASA outsources development of Moon spacesuit to two private companies
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Anti-LGBT Panics Are Bad for Everyone's Liberty
22) Politics as the Leisure of the Theory Class
23) The Invisible Power vs. The Invisible Hand
24) Will Teaching Aggressors a Lesson Deter Future Wars?
25) Exposed: The Lies of Biden's Tax Policy
26) People Who Defend Empire Narratives Are Really Just Defending Their Worldview From Destruction
27) Solutions that start with "I'm sorry"
28) Democracy or autocracy? American business needs to choose
29) White House Disinformation about Kids and Covid
30) How Biden Admin Botched the Inflation Problem
31) The Trump census sabotage campaign might have backfired
32) Joe Biden's magical thinking on the economy has to stop
33) Ten Negative Consequences of Boundless US Militarism and Imperialism
34) Two words explain why Trump won't run in 2024
35) Lessons from the Quartering Acts of 1765 and 1774
36) Economics as an Antidote to Envy
37) Time to unleash oil and natural gas drilling in the US
38) Net Zero is a Stalinist fantasy
39) Why Russia's Authoritarian Regime Continues to Enjoy Public Support
40) Norm Macdonald Was Something Special
41) It's not just Uvalde: Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs?
42) The Woke Mob's Capitalism
43) What Are College Students Paying For?
44) If "No One Wants to Take Our Guns," Stop Saying the Opposite
45) Expired! Will Yemen ceasefire hold after today?
46) Destroying the Town Is Not Saving It
47) Biden's Dishonest Tax Obsession
48) Monkeypox and Leviathan?
49) I Went on Strike to Cancel My Student Debt and Won
50) What do our holidays mean to us?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/02/22
52) Free Talk Live, 06/02/22
53) JobMakers, 06/02/22
54) Rising, 06/02/22
55) Lessons from the pandemic: preparing for next time
56) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/02/22
57) The Experiment, 06/02/22
58) Finding Freedom, episode 335
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2136
60) Mad Dogs & Englishmen, episode 359
61) Conflicts of Interest, episode 282
62) The Learning Curve, 06/01/22
63) The Science of Politics, 06/01/22
64) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/01/22
65) Reason Interview: James Kirchick
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Yemen: Houthis, Saudi invaders agree to truce extension
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"A truce between the [Saudi puppet regime occupying Yemen] and the country's Houthi rebels [sic] has been extended for two months, the United Nations has announced. The initial two-month truce, the first since 2016, began on April 2 and was set to expire on Thursday. Still, after days of negotiations, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced that parties to the conflict had agreed to an extension. ... Despite violations reported by both sides, the front lines have generally seen a reduction in hostilities compared with previous months." (06/02/22)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/2/yemen-truce-extended-for-two-months-but-warring-sides-far-apart
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2) GA: Raffensperger testifies before grand jury investigating disgraced former president's election theft scheme
Source: NBC News
"Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testified Thursday before a special grand jury hearing evidence in an investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others, his office confirmed to NBC News. Raffensperger is a key witness in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into whether there were any 'coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections' in Georgia. Willis is reviewing several incidents, including Trump's Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Raffensperger in which he urged the state's top election official to overturn Joe Biden's win. 'All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,' Trump said in the call." (06/02/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/georgia-secretary-state-raffensperger-testifies-special-grand-jury-tru-rcna31720
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3) Biden whines for more victim disarmament legislation
Source: Politico
"For just the third time in office, President Joe Biden gave a prime-time address to the nation on Thursday evening .... Biden called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and, if such policies couldn't be passed, the raising of the age that one could purchase an assault weapon from 18 to 21. He called for strengthening background checks, repealing the legal immunity that gun manufacturers enjoy, and codifying a ban on so-called ghost guns, homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers. And he called for addressing what he deemed the "mental health crisis" in America while expanding 'red flag' laws, which allow law enforcement to confiscate guns if a person is deemed a threat to themself or others." (06/02/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/02/biden-demands-action-on-guns-how-much-more-carnage-are-we-willing-to-accept-00036916
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4) Amid criticism, North Korea takes over UN disarmament presidency
Source: CNN
"North Korea, which is under sanctions for developing nuclear weapons in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, has taken over as head of a UN body aimed at striking disarmament deals amid scorn from critics. This year North Korea has tested a flurry of ballistic missiles -- also banned by UNSC resolutions -- and appears to be preparing to conduct a new nuclear test for the first time since 2017. It gained the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament because it rotates alphabetically among its 65 members." (06/03/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/asia/north-korea-un-disarmament-president-intl-hnk/index.html
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5) Biden regime cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for people who attended for-profit college
Source: CBS News
"Hundreds of thousands of students who attended the for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain will automatically get their federal student loans canceled, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, a move that aims to bring closure to one of the most notorious cases of fraud in American higher education. Under the new action, anyone who attended the now-defunct chain from its founding in 1995 to its collapse in 2015 will get their federal student debt wiped clean. It will erase $5.8 billion in debt for more than 560,000 borrowers, the largest single loan discharge in Education Department history, according to the agency." (06/02/22)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-cancellation-6-billion-debt-corinthian-colleges/
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6) Turkey: Regime seeks to rebrand, wants to be known as Turkiye instead of the bird
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [Canadian state media]
"Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has sent a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that his country be referred to as Turkiye, the state-run news agency reported. The move is seen as part of a push by Ankara to rebrand the country and dissociate its name from the bird, turkey, and some negative connotations that are associated with it. ... President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has been pressing for the internationally recognized name Turkey to be changed to Turkiye (tur-key-YAY) as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The country called itself Turkiye in 1923 after its declaration of independence. In December, Erdogan ordered the use of Turkiye to better represent Turkish culture and values, including demanding that 'Made in Turkiye' be used instead of 'Made in Turkey' on exported products. Turkish ministries began using Turkiye in official documents." (06/02/22)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/turkey-t%C3%BCrkiye-name-1.6474780
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7) France: Diplomats strike over reforms, budget cuts
Source: France 24 [French state media]
"French diplomats went on strike Thursday for the first time in 20 years to protest against reforms and budget cuts proposed by President Emmanuel Macron. The unusual strike action is a symptom of the simmering problems that have been affecting France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in recent years as diplomats deal with existential questions about their shifting role. In a rare occurrence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known in France as the Quai d'Orsay, six unions and a group of 500 young diplomats called a strike for June 2 to protest against Macron's reforms, which would change the structure of diplomatic careers. Many of those striking believe that this would mean 'the end of French professional diplomacy.' The country has the world's third-largest diplomatic network behind the United States and China, with some 1,800 diplomats and about 13,500 officials working at the ministry." (06/02/22)
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220602-diplomacy-is-for-pros-not-improvisers-french-diplomats-strike-over-reforms-budget-cuts
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8) Syria: Militant attack on bus kills three, wounds 21
Source: ABC News
"Militants attacked a civilian bus in eastern Syria on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 21, Syrian state TV reported. The TV said the bus was attacked near a village in a desert area of the province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq. It did not say whether the bus was attacked with machinegun fire, a missile or a roadside bomb. The report gave no further details and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Large parts of Deir el-Zour were once controlled by the extremist Islamic State group, which in 2014 proclaimed a so-called 'caliphate' in a third of both Iraq and Syria." (06/02/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/militant-attack-bus-kills-wounds-21-eastern-syria-85137908
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9) US Landfills Get Second Life as Solar Farms
Source: Time
"When landfills get capped and grassed over, they have the appearance of lush, rolling hills. Despite their green appearance, however, these sites are known as 'brownfields' -- a term for an environmentally hazardous site without a promising future. Indeed, landfills are typically unsuitable for development because the contents below the surface are both contaminated and physically unstable. But what they can be repurposed for are solar farms, and these so-called 'brightfields' are growing in number and size. Last year, local governments across the U.S. announced a combined 207 megawatts of energy from 21 landfill solar projects, according to recent figures from the World Resources Institute and RMI, an organization that advances clean energy projects. That's a 10-fold increase in energy capacity compared with recent years, and it includes the three largest projects in the country to date." (06/02/22)
https://time.com/6183376/landfills-becoming-solar-farms/
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10) "Consumer advocates" whine to US regime about other people spending money on stuff they want
Source: Reuters
"Consumer advocates [sic] on Thursday urged U.S. regulators to investigate video game maker Electronic Arts Inc for the misleading use of a digital 'loot box' that 'aggressively' urges players to spend more money while playing a popular soccer game. The groups Fairplay, Center for Digital Democracy and 13 other organizations urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe the EA game 'FIFA: Ultimate Team.' In the game, players build a soccer team using avatars of real players, and compete against other teams. In a letter to the FTC, the groups said the game usually costs $50 to $100 but that the company would push players to spend more while they played." [editor's note: Don't want to play the game? Don't. Don't want to spend additional money on the game? Don't. "Problems" solved – TLK] (06/02/22)
https://www.reuters.com/technology/groups-urge-us-probe-loot-box-electronic-arts-video-game-2022-06-02/
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11) Tunisia: Saied fires 57 judges accused of corruption
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
"Tunisian President Kais Saied has fired 57 of the country's judges, allegedly for involvement in corruption and obstructing hearings of terrorism cases. A list of names of those who had been sacked was published in the early hours of Thursday morning. Said accused the judges of financial and ethical corruption, collusion with political parties and 'deviating the course of terrorism cases,' among other allegations. In February, Saied gave himself power over the judiciary by establishing a new judicial watchdog which allowed him to fire judges and block promotions and appointments." (06/02/22)
https://www.dw.com/en/tunisias-president-fires-57-judges-accused-of-corruption/a-62014746
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12) Average Long-Term US Mortgage Rates Edge Down, Still Over 5%
Source: US News & World Report
"Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged down slightly this week, though interest rates on the key 30-year home loan remain elevated. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate ticked down to 5.09% from 5.1% last week. By contrast, the average rate stood at 2.99% a year ago. Until about six weeks ago, rates hadn't breached 5% in more than a decade. The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those refinancing their homes, edged up to 4.32% from 4.31% last week." (06/02/22)
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2022-06-02/average-long-term-us-mortgage-rates-edge-down-still-over-5
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13) NY: Appeals court upholds Weinstein's rape conviction
Source: Seattle Times
"A New York appellate court has upheld Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction, rejecting the disgraced movie mogul's claims that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced him by allowing women to testify about allegations that weren't part of the criminal case. The ruling Thursday by a five-judge panel in the state's intermediate appeals court affirmed the milestone verdict in America's reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures -- an era that began with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. Weinstein, 70, is jailed in California, where he was extradited last year and is awaiting trial on charges he assaulted five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013. Weinstein was convicted in New York in February 2020 of a criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013." (06/02/22)
https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/harvey-weinsteins-rape-conviction-upheld-by-appeals-court/
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14) LeBron James becomes NBA's first active player worth $1 billion
Source: ESPN
"LeBron James has become the first active NBA player to have a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes. The Los Angeles Lakers megastar, a four-time NBA champion and the league's No. 2 career scorer, made $121.2 million from May 2021 to May 2022 in on-court salary and off-court earnings, according to Forbes. The total trailed only that of Lionel Messi, who made $130 million, on Forbes' highest-paid athletes list. ... Off the court, James starred in 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' and, according to Forbes, sold a minority stake in his production company, SpringHill, at a $725 million valuation." (06/02/22)
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34025397/lebron-james-becomes-nba-first-active-player-worth-1-billion-per-forbes
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15) UK: Royal Family Gathers for Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
Source: Women's Wear Daily
"Queen Elizabeth gave well-wishers just what they wanted on Thursday, smiling broadly from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during a Trooping of the Colour birthday parade and a dramatic aerial display by Royal Air Force fighter jets. ... The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were there, too, along with their three children, who pointed excitedly, or held their hands over their ears, as the Red Arrows, Typhoons and Spitfires zoomed over the palace, trailing red, white and blue smoke or forming the number 70. The queen is the first British monarch to celebrate 70 years on the throne." (06/02/22)
https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/britains-royal-family-gathers-platinum-jubilee-celebrations-1235193487/
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16) Ukraine war: Russians say UK MP's son involved in killing of Chechen commander
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"Russia has accused the son of a Conservative MP of involvement in the killing of a Chechen brigade commander in Ukraine after footage emerged of the British national fighting in the country. Russia's National Guard, a force also known as Rosgvardia, said in a statement on its website that one of its commanders, the Chechen fighter Adam Bisultanov, was killed on 26 May in a clash with a 'group of mercenaries from the UK and the USA' that included the 'son of a British parliamentarian,' Ben Grant. Grant first arrived in Ukraine in March, when he told the Guardian he was moved to volunteer after seeing footage of a Russian bombing of a house where a child could be heard screaming. He said he went without telling his mother, the MP for Maidstone and The Weald, Helen Grant, he was going." (06/02/22)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/02/russia-says-tory-mps-son-involved-in-killing-chechen-commander-in-ukraine-ben-grant
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17) TX: Abbott wants "unannounced, random intruder" audits of government daycare centers
Source: Fox 29 News
"Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday instructed state school security and education officials to start conducting 'in-person, unannounced, random intruder detection audits on school districts' to find weak access points and see how quickly staff can enter a school building without being stopped. The mandate was one of several the governor laid out in a letter to school security authorities in an effort to ensure district emergency operations plans are solid and school buildings are protected in the wake of the Uvalde school massacre that left 19 children and two adults dead. ... On Twitter, Texas Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, a member of the House Education Committee, criticized the plan. 'So you want grown men to show up to schools unannounced and try as hard as they can to find a way in?' Bernal wrote on Twitter. 'This is a terrible idea.'" (06/02/22)
https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/gov-greg-abbott-wants-unannounced-random-intruder-audits-of-texas-public-schools-investigation-uvalde-texas-mass-shooting-students-teachers-staff-rifle
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18) Chinese regime whines at US regime to stop trade talks with Taiwanese regime
Source: Associated Press
"China's government on Thursday accused Washington of jeopardizing peace after U.S. envoys began trade talks with Taiwan aimed at deepening relations with the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing. ... Trade dialogues 'disrupt peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,' said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. He called on Washington to 'stop negotiating agreements with Taiwan that have sovereign connotations and official nature.'" (06/02/22)
https://apnews.com/article/politics-china-beijing-taiwan-2fb86ebfcca2ac5d28028df7e0b5a2cb
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19) Avenatti sentenced to four years for stealing nearly $300k from Stormy Daniels
Source: CNN
"Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing nearly $300,000 from his former client, adult film actress Stormy Daniels. ... Avenatti was convicted in February of one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faced as much as 20 years on the wire fraud charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. Avenatti is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence for attempting to extort over $20 million from Nike by threatening to go public with damaging information unless they paid him. He goes on trial next month in California on charges alleging that he embezzled $10 million in settlement funds from at least five clients. He has also been charged with tax fraud and bankruptcy fraud and pleaded not guilty to the charges." (06/02/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/politics/michael-avenatti-stormy-daniels-sentencing/index.html
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20) NASA outsources development of Moon spacesuit to two private companies
Source: The Verge
"Today, NASA announced that two private companies -- Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace -- will develop the next-generation spacesuits that future astronauts will wear to conduct spacewalks and eventually traverse the surface of the Moon. It's a bold new direction for spacesuit development at NASA, with the agency handing the job over to the private sector after years of struggling to develop a new suit of its own. These new spacesuits will play a critical role in NASA's Artemis program, the agency's flagship initiative to send humans back to the lunar surface. Currently, NASA is aiming to land the first Artemis astronauts on the Moon by 2025 -- a one-year delay from the 2024 deadline originally set by the Trump administration." (06/01/22)
https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/1/23149903/nasa-artemis-moon-spacesuits-design-axiom-space-collins-aerospace
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Anti-LGBT Panics Are Bad for Everyone's Liberty
Source: Reason
by Scott Shackford
"The year was 1952, and Sen. Clyde R. Hoey (D–N.C.) was investigating how many gay people worked for the federal government and whether these workers were a security threat. ... The year was 1978, and California state Rep. John Briggs (R–North Orange County) was launching Proposition 6, a ballot initiative that would have required school districts to fire teachers found to have engaged in homosexual conduct. ... The year is 2022, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is spearheading another moral panic. ... The contours and players of today's LGBT panics are different, but the underlying conflict is not new. And while stoking that conflict may be good for certain politicians' careers -- it is surely no coincidence that DeSantis is embarking on this crusade as his name is bandied about as a potential Republican presidential candidate -- it is bad for individual liberty." (06/02/22)
https://reason.com/2022/06/02/anti-lgbt-panics-are-bad-for-everyones-liberty/
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22) Politics as the Leisure of the Theory Class
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Michael Barone
"Politics has increasingly become, for many Americans, the leisure of the theory class. That's a phrase from the early 20th century sociologist Thorstein Veblen, which I turned on its head in a recent column. He was condemning the showy consumerism of the contemporary rich for having no economically practical purpose. I, on the other hand, was describing the political preoccupations of contemporary people, mainly high-education liberals [sic] but also low-education populists [sic], as having no practically achievable goals." (06/023/22)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/06/03/politics_as_the_leisure_of_the_theory_class_147685.html
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23) The Invisible Power vs. The Invisible Hand
Source: CounterPunch
by Steve O'Keefe
"Herein lies the real promise of wealth: that capitalism will make everything so cheap that material goods approach the cost of zero. Forbes describes this situation as 'bad news.' The magazine of 'affluent lifestyles,' Forbes argues, 'If it costs less to produce goods, companies can make more of them for the same price. This can result in more supply than demand and lower prices.' Sounds like a disaster, doesn't it? The only thing stopping capitalism from reaching this goal is capitalism. Successful corporations have taken over the mechanism of the state to gain unfair competitive advantage, which they use to suppress or eliminate competitors, including competition from their own employees and contractors for an equitable share of the revenue." (06/02/22)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/06/02/the-invisible-power-vs-the-invisible-hand/
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24) Will Teaching Aggressors a Lesson Deter Future Wars?
Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
"Westerners -- such as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg -- who favor ever-greater levels of support for Ukraine sometimes imply that inflicting a decisive defeat on Russia will prevent future wars in other places. If Russia is decisively beaten, or at least denied any significant gains, the West will have shown that 'aggression does not pay.' Not only will Russian President Vladimir Putin learn his lesson and never try something like this again, but other world leaders ... will think twice before trying something similar. ... If Ukraine and the West fail to inflict a crushing defeat on the Russian aggressor, however, and if Kyiv is eventually forced to compromise with Moscow, then illiberal ideals will be partly vindicated .... Like the domino theory, which refuses to die no matter how often it is disproved, such claims transform the outcome of a single conflict into a struggle for the fate of the entire planet." (06/02/22)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/02/will-teaching-aggressors-a-lesson-deter-future-wars/
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25) Exposed: The Lies of Biden's Tax Policy
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Lewis
"As President Joe Biden's tax policy discussions start heating up, some familiar lies have made their way back into the political parlance. There are four specific lies upon which I'll focus here: 1. The rich need to pay their 'fair share' 2. The Trump tax cuts only went to the wealthiest Americans 3. Nobody making less than $400k will see their taxes increase under the Biden plan 4. The wealthy pay less taxes than their secretaries." (06/02/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/exposed-the-lies-of-bidens-tax-policy/
-----
26) People Who Defend Empire Narratives Are Really Just Defending Their Worldview From Destruction
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"If you've publicly challenged the official narratives of the western political/media class about any major issue, you've probably noticed that people can get pretty upset about it. Like, actually upset. Not mildly annoyed like you might get at someone who is saying something that is obviously false and stupid, but burning hot emotional like you'd get if you heard someone insulting your loved one. Or like someone insulting you personally. That's the most surprising thing, when you first start speaking about this stuff. Not that people don't believe you or don't agree with you; that's to be expected when every screen in their lives is telling them one thing and you're telling them something else. But that people actually get deeply emotionally invested in it. That's your first clue that there's something else going on beneath the surface apart from what you're being presented with." (06/02/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/02/people-who-defend-empire-narratives-are-really-just-defending-their-worldview-from-destruction/
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27) Solutions that start with "I'm sorry"
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
"If the recent mass shootings in the United States result in meaningful reforms, one reason may be a rather rare but important moment of contrition. After the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, admitted that the hesitation by police to confront the gunman 'was the wrong decision, period.' Then he added: 'If I thought it would help, I'd apologize.' Such an admission by public officials is a door opener to reform. And Mr. McCraw isn't the only prominent figure expressing remorse these days. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN on May 31, 'I was wrong about the path inflation would take.' ... At a time when public leaders seem more apt to evade and deflect when things go wrong, it is worth noting when someone takes responsibility." (06/01/22)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2022/0601/Solutions-that-start-with-I-m-sorry
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28) Democracy or autocracy? American business needs to choose
Source: Niskanen Center
by Mark S Mizruchi
"Mikhail Khodorkovsky was one of the leading capitalists in early post-Soviet Russia. ... He was also a critic of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. ... he was arrested at gunpoint, charged with fraud, and -- after a trial that many international observers viewed as politically motivated -- sentenced to nine years in prison .... More recently, Jack Ma, the head of Ant Group (and a co-founder, former CEO, and board member of Ant's affiliate, Alibaba), criticized the Chinese financial system ... A few days later, Chinese regulators cancelled Ant Group's planned IPO ... In January 2022, Chinese state media accused the Ant Group of bribery of public officials. ... this sort of thing could not happen here in the United States, could it? Unfortunately, it is happening, and recent events may be a portent of things to come." (06/02/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/democracy-or-autocracy-american-business-needs-to-choose/
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29) White House Disinformation about Kids and Covid
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ian Miller
"As many pandemic restrictions have, at least temporarily, been lifted, many activist 'experts' have understandably become increasingly frustrated with the potential loss of influence. Perhaps that's one explanation for why pro-mandate and progressive policy activists like emergency medicine doctor Jeremy Faust have turned to desperate measures -- the purposeful exaggeration of the risks of COVID to kids."
https://brownstone.org/articles/white-house-disinformation-about-kids-and-covid/
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30) How Biden Admin Botched the Inflation Problem
Source: The Federalist
by David Harsanyi
"Joe Biden has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation. Well, perhaps the word 'detailing' is too generous. The preponderance of the column features Biden taking credit for economic growth that can be attributed to the reopening of an economy that was shuttered by the governing class during Covid. Biden, of course, not only championed those closings, but was critical of Republican governors who opened their states before he deemed it appropriate. But with midterms approaching, there's been a concerted effort underway to exonerate the president, and thus Democrats, of any culpability for rising prices. Biden sycophant 'Morning Joe', for example, contends that anyone who blames the president for more than a 'passing impact' on inflation is a 'lying hack or an ignorant rube.'" (06/02/22)
https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/01/yes-biden-deserves-the-blame-for-inflation/
-----
31) The Trump census sabotage campaign might have backfired
Source: Washington Post
by the Editorial Board
"In 2020, President Donald Trump tried to sabotage the census, the once-a-decade constitutionally mandated tallying of the U.S. population that determines how much political representation, federal money and other benefits communities receive. He failed to realize his most extreme plans to manipulate the count, through which he hoped to increase Republican representation and minimize Democrats'. But new numbers the Census Bureau released last month suggest that he still managed to do substantial damage both to the integrity of the process and to the confidence the public places in it. ... The undercounts might have deprived Florida and Texas -- both red states with large minority populations -- of congressional seats. On the flip side, Minnesota and Rhode Island, which are Whiter and run by Democrats, possibly retained congressional seats their population sizes did not warrant." (06/02/22)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/02/census-undercount-trump-sabotage/
-----
32) Joe Biden's magical thinking on the economy has to stop
Source: Orange County Register
"President Joe Biden wants you to know he is serious about taming inflation and that he has a plan to do so. Unfortunately, his plan reveals that his administration is either in deep denial or doesn't understand the real cause of inflation. His proposal, therefore, is all but guaranteed to fail." (06/02/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/02/joe-bidens-magical-thinking-on-the-economy-has-to-stop/
-----
33) Ten Negative Consequences of Boundless US Militarism and Imperialism
Source: Common Dreams
by Sam Carliner & Olivia DiNucci
"In recent years, the U.S. has seen great numbers of people and mass movements take to the streets to challenge the status quo. While domestic outrage grows, resistance to the U.S. war machine remains limited, even as President Joe Biden is looking to pass a military budget of $813 billion. This bloated budget proposal comes as inflation makes basic products unaffordable and funds for the ongoing pandemic are gutted. The militaristic and imperialist foreign policy of the United States has negative consequences for every aspect of life in the U.S. and abroad. As long as we're investing so much in the military, not only will we not have the money to invest in better things, but we are also exacerbating countless problems on a global level." (06/02/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/02/10-negative-consequences-boundless-us-militarism-and-imperialism
-----
34) Two words explain why Trump won't run in 2024
Source: The Hill
by Myra Adams
"Whenever two or more politically active people engage in conversation, invariably someone asks, 'Will Donald Trump run in 2024?' My standard answer is always 'I have no idea' -- until last week when Trump's much-ballyhooed vendetta campaigns to defeat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ended in embarrassing anti-Trump failures. ... Trump's repudiation in Georgia has Republicans speculating about his declining kingmaking powers, openly defying him as he loses his 'vice-like grip on the party' and potentially endangering his front-runner status. So, circling back to the most-asked question, my new answer is 'Trump won't run in 2024' -- based on personality traits rooted in the words 'fear' and 'fight.'" (06/02/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3508270-two-words-explain-why-trump-wont-run-in-2024/
-----
35) Lessons from the Quartering Acts of 1765 and 1774
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by TJ Martinell
"Most people are familiar with the Boston Tea Party, but not a lot of people know about the aftermath, and how that experience helped shape the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Although British attempts to confiscate arms and munitions directly triggered the initial battles in the War of Independence, there were numerous acts committed over the years leading up to it that convinced American colonists that separation from the motherland was necessary. Among these were four laws passed by the British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party, including the Quartering Act, passed on June 2, 1774." (06/02/22)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2022/06/02/lessons-from-the-quartering-acts-of-1765-and-1774/
-----
36) Economics as an Antidote to Envy
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Clara E Piano
"Fr. Robert Sirico's new book, The Economics of the Parables, opens by reflecting on why Jesus chose economic imagery so often for his parables. In the Gospels, we hear stories of investing, trading, planting, and managing estates (the book covers a baker's dozen of these parables), though not once of composing music, studying for a test, or playing sports. Fr. Sirico's answer is that economics is a universal human experience -- each person faces limited time and resources -- thus economic imagery is fitting for parables intended to last throughout history. ... This essay focuses on a theme that runs throughout the book, specifically, how understanding economics can be an antidote to the temptation of envy." (06/02/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/economics-as-an-antidote-to-envy/
-----
37) Time to unleash oil and natural gas drilling in the US
Source: Fox News
by US Representative Fred Keller (R-PA)
"Every day, energy prices in America hit new record highs, leaving American families wondering when relief will come. During a press conference last week, President Biden said that high gas prices were part of an "incredible transition" to become 'less reliant on fossil fuels.' This 'incredible transition' that the president referred to isn't fooling anybody. This administration has made clear -- in no uncertain terms -- that instead of working seriously to alleviate Americans' pain at the pump, the president will continue to suffocate the domestic oil and natural gas industry in hopes of replacing it with an unrealistic and far-left Green New Deal. ... Americans are on track to pay 78 percent more this year at the pump then they did a year ago." (06/02/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/its-time-to-unleash-oil-and-natural-gas-drilling-in-the-us
-----
38) Net Zero is a Stalinist fantasy
Source: spiked
by James Woudhuysen
"As energy prices soar, behind the scenes, the UK government is planning to make it even harder to heat our homes. The government is threatening to force manufacturers of gas boilers to switch to making heat pumps. From 2024 onwards, Whitehall plans to levy severe fines on UK-based boiler manufacturers that fail to meet production targets for heat pumps, hitting them with a £5,000 penalty for each failure to deliver a unit. These Stalinist reprisals are the latest absurdity to result from the government's hell-bent pursuit of Net Zero." (06/02/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/02/net-zero-is-a-stalinist-fantasy/
-----
39) Why Russia's Authoritarian Regime Continues to Enjoy Public Support
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Paul Tolmachev
"One of my areas of research in institutional economics is the social behavior of people under different political regimes, what Thomas Schelling called micromotives and macrobehavior. Of course, this topic is directly related to many related disciplines, from behavioral economics and political theory to the neurobiology of decision-making and the theory of biological markets. In addition, the theme raises the following question: what are the reasons for the broad social support of the current tightening Russian autocracy and its recent political decisions, including the aggressive invasion into Ukraine, which are condemned by most of the world community?" (06/02/22)
https://mises.org/wire/why-russias-authoritarian-regime-continues-enjoy-public-support
-----
40) Norm Macdonald Was Something Special
Source: The American Spectator
by Daniel J Flynn
"Macdonald's posthumously released comedy special rebuts its title. Nothing Special feels as unique, and surreal, as the comedian it celebrates. The pandemic took away his nightclub audiences; cancer prompted him to shoot this performance in case of death. Filmed with two camera angles presumably in the Saturday Night Live alum's apartment, the Netflix must-see features a since-deceased standup comedian sitting down and telling jokes to an audience of nobody save for an occasionally barking dog. It somehow works." (06/02/22)
https://spectator.org/norm-macdonald-was-something-special/
-----
41) It's not just Uvalde: Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs?
Source: The American Prospect
by Alexander Sammon
"For all the panic about a burgeoning nationwide crime wave, only a few types of crime are actually up during the two-plus years since the pandemic began. Murders have increased since 2019, and violent crime, broadly defined, has also inched up slightly over the same period. Property crimes, on the other hand, are down .... People have every right to be concerned about rising murder rates. But another concerning statistic involves the fact that the nationwide 'crime wave,' in both its real and imagined components, has been met with a similar nationwide collapse in 'clearance rates,' the rate at which those crimes are 'solved' via an arrest and a charge being brought." (06/02/22)
https://prospect.org/justice/why-are-police-so-bad-at-their-jobs/
-----
42) The Woke Mob's Capitalism
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"A prominent rating system has gone 'woke.' 'Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500,' Elon Musk tweeted a few weeks ago, 'while Tesla' -- the billionaire's high-end electric car company -- 'didn't make the list! ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors.' We could quibble. Is 'phony' the right word? 'Social justice' has always been slippery. It's a 'mirage,' explained Hayek, really just a stalking horse for power. What Musk is objecting to, though, is worth thinking about." (06/02/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/06/02/the-woke-mobs-capitalism/
-----
43) What Are College Students Paying For?
Source: Quillette
by Robert Thornett
"My graduating class of 1995 was one of the last to start college without the Internet. The first browser, Netscape Mosaic, came along in 1993, but there wasn't yet much to browse. Writing papers required finding physical copies of books and journals in the library, as had been done for hundreds of years. Colleges held a monopoly on access to most academic publications, which helped them justify skyrocketing tuition. Professors were among the few who spent much of their adult lives in close proximity -- both physically and intellectually -- to these rare volumes. They were thought to be uniquely capable of navigating 'the literature.' So colleges held a monopoly on access to both the books and the expert guides who knew the books, which further justified jacking up tuition. ... If the books and their guides are now at anyone's fingertips online, what are students paying for when they go to college?" (06/02/22)
https://quillette.com/2022/06/02/what-are-college-students-paying-for-the-stephen-curry-effect-and-getting-back-to-basics/
-----
44) If "No One Wants to Take Our Guns," Stop Saying the Opposite
Source: Town Hall
by Larry Elder
"Almost immediately after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting came the calls for 'common sense' gun control. The quest almost always begins with a reassurance that 'no one wants to take away your guns'. Not everyone read the memo. Nelson Shields, founder of Handgun Control, Inc., the organization that became the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a 1976 interview could not have been more clear about his group's goals: 'Our ultimate goal -- total control of handguns in the United States -- is going to take time. ... the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition -- except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors -- totally illegal.'" (06/02/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2022/06/02/if-no-one-wants-to-take-our-guns-stop-saying-the-opposite-n2608101
-----
45) Expired! Will Yemen ceasefire hold after today?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Annelle Sheline
"Yemen's two month ceasefire is set to expire today. Will the warring parties agree to extend it? Whether the Houthis and forces commanded by the newly appointed Presidential Leadership Council return to the negotiating table or the battlefield depends on decisions made both inside and outside Yemen. ... Despite the nominal progress towards the conditions stated in the ceasefire agreement, both sides have accused the other of violating the truce. Observers fear that these accusations may be used to justify resuming hostilities." (06/02/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/06/02/expired-will-yemen-ceasefire-hold-after-today/
-----
46) Destroying the Town Is Not Saving It
Source: TomDispatch
by William Astore
"Twenty years ago, I left the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs for my next assignment. I haven't been back since, but today I travel there (if only in my imagination) to give my graduation address to the class of 2022. ... Congratulations to all you newly minted second lieutenants! As a former military professor who, for six years, taught cadets very much like you at the Academy, I salute you and your accomplishments. ... And I must say you do exude health, youth, and enthusiasm, as well as a feeling that you're about to graduate to better things, like pilot training or intelligence school, among so many other Air Force specialties. Some of you will even join America's newest service, the Space Force, which resonates with me, as my first assignment in 1985 was to Air Force Space Command." (06/02/22)
https://tomdispatch.com/destroying-the-town-is-not-saving-it/
-----
47) Biden's Dishonest Tax Obsession
Source: The American Conservative
by Lewis M Andrews
"As high inflation persists, why does President Joe Biden continue to argue for raising taxes, especially on corporations and individuals? ... Economists from his own party, including Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Obama Council of Economic Advisors chair Jason Furman, have failed to persuade the president that tax rates have little to do with inflation, which arises when too much money is chasing too few goods and services. If anything, these liberal experts have tried to explain, boosting marginal tax rates will only discourage the additional investment in goods and services needed to tame price increases. To understand Biden's stubborn preoccupation with raising taxes, one must understand the perspective of a Democrat who was elected president at a moment when the days of excessive federal money printing appeared to be numbered." (06/02/22)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/bidens-dishonest-tax-obsession/
-----
48) Monkeypox and Leviathan?
Source: Independent Institute
by Raymond J March
"While concerning, monkeypox outbreaks are nothing new. Regions of Western Africa have experienced them for decades. In 2003, the Midwest experienced a monkeypox outbreak that infected 71 Americans. None of these cases were fatal. Even if cases continue to rise, treatments exist. Smallpox vaccines provide effective cross-vaccination for monkeypox. Several antivirals may also provide effective treatment for already infected patients. Sadly, a far greater concern than monkeypox spreading across the country is how our government will respond to it. The precedent is not promising for liberty." (06/01/22)
https://blog.independent.org/2022/06/01/monkeypox-leviathan/
-----
49) I Went on Strike to Cancel My Student Debt and Won
Source: In These Times
by Ann Bowers
"This week, former students of Corinthian Colleges (a predatory for-profit school that once boasted more than 100 campuses across the country) received news that their student loans will be canceled. In an announcement, a Department of Education (DOE) press release called the move 'the largest single loan discharge the Department has made in history.' As a former student of Everest College, which is a branch of Corinthian, I am overjoyed that everyone who attended the scam school will finally be made whole. ... But I want to set the record straight. This victory is not the result of the Biden administration's good will. It is the outcome of a fierce organizing campaign by debtors that has been going on for almost eight years." (06/02/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/corinthian-colleges-student-debt-cancel-strike
-----
50) What do our holidays mean to us?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"On Monday the 30th, Americans observed Memorial Day. Later this new month of June, Americans will 'observe' the newest federal holiday, 'Juneteenth.' Next month, July, most Americans will 'celebrate' the Fourth of July -- and some will observe Independence Day on the 4th (and for some of us, the 2nd) of July. Each of these is supposed to have some national significance -- and each has a REAL significance. Let's take a quick look, from the point of view of a lover of liberty. Is there a connection between liberty -- personal freedom -- and holidays?" (06/01/22)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2022/06/01/what-do-our-holidays-mean-to-us/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/02/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"It's hard to overstate how powerful humor can be in helping us keep things in perspective. Annie Holmquist describes why laughter is the bane of tyrants and a legit tool to free us from mental tyranny." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://anchor.fm/bryan-hyde/episodes/2022-June-2-The-Bryan-Hyde-Show-e1jdhvv
-----
52) Free Talk Live, 06/02/22
Source: Free Talk Live
"Live from Honduras :: Emergency Sirens :: Amber Heard and Johnny Depp :: Bilderberg :: Retail Store Theft :: Special Economic Zones :: Carnivore Diet :: Living Without Electricity :: Show: 2022-06-02 Mark, Alex." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/02/22)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=a772e73fbd81b09144966ebccea04077
-----
53) JobMakers, 06/02/22
Source: Pioneer Institute
"Daniel Perez Takes Tenacity to Transport." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/economic_opportunity/daniel-perez-takes-tenacity-to-transport/
-----
54) Rising, 06/02/22
Source: The Hill
"Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave discuss the latest news from Uvalde, including Texas police dodging reporter questions." [Flash video] (06/02/22)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/3509292-rising-june-2-2022/
-----
55) Lessons from the pandemic: preparing for next time
Source: Niskanen Center
"In the latest in a series of video interviews on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, Brink Lindsey speaks with Nikki Teran, a senior biosecurity fellow at the Institute for Progress." [Flash video] (06/02/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/lessons-from-the-pandemic-preparing-for-next-time/
-----
56) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/02/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"Above The Law? What Clinton Lawyer Verdict Says About Politicization Of Justice." [Flash video] (06/02/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/above-the-law-what-clinton-lawyer-verdict-says-about-politicization-of-justice
-----
57) The Experiment, 06/02/22
Source: The Atlantic
"For The Experiment's final episode, a meditation on our strange, sometimes beautiful, often frustrating country." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/06/goodbye/661162/
-----
58) Finding Freedom, episode 335
Source: Lions of Liberty
"Sperm Donors Cannot be Trusted." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/sperm-donors-cannot-be-trusted
-----
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2136
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Can Capitalism Work in an Age of Digital Privacy?" [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2136-can-capitalism-work-in-an-age-of-digital-privacy/
-----
60) Mad Dogs & Englishmen, episode 359
Source: National Review
"Inflationary Language." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/mad-dogs-englishmen/episode-359-inflationary-language/
-----
61) Conflicts of Interest, episode 282
Source: Libertarian Institute
"Turkey's Military Operations in Iraq and Syria." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-282-turkeys-military-operations-in-iraq-and-syria/
-----
62) The Learning Curve, 06/01/22
Source: Pioneer Institute
"Smith College Prof. Paula Giddings on Ida B. Wells and Her Anti-Lynching Crusade." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/news/smith-college-paula-giddings-ida-wells-anti-lynching-crusade/
-----
63) The Science of Politics, 06/01/22
Source: Niskanen Center
"How much are polls misrepresenting Americans?" [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-much-are-polls-misrepresenting-americans/
-----
64) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/01/22
Source: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
"What's Going on Across the Pond w/ Steve Byrne of What Am Politics Podcast." [Flash audio] (06/01/22)
https://myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com/2022/06/01/whats-going-on-across-the-pond-w-steve-byrne-of-what-am-politics-podcast/
-----
65) Reason Interview: James Kirchick
Source: Reason
"How Homophobia Warped the Cold War." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://reason.com/podcast/2022/06/01/james-kirchick-homophobia-warped-the-cold-war/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Yemen: Houthis, Saudi invaders agree to truce extension
2) GA: Raffensperger testifies before grand jury investigating disgraced former president's election theft scheme
3) Biden whines for more victim disarmament legislation
4) Amid criticism, North Korea takes over UN disarmament presidency
5) Biden regime cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for people who attended for-profit college
6) Turkey: Regime seeks to rebrand, wants to be known as Turkiye instead of the bird
7) France: Diplomats strike over reforms, budget cuts
8) Syria: Militant attack on bus kills three, wounds 21
9) US Landfills Get Second Life as Solar Farms
10) "Consumer advocates" whine to US regime about other people spending money on stuff they want
11) Tunisia: Saied fires 57 judges accused of corruption
12) Average Long-Term US Mortgage Rates Edge Down, Still Over 5%
13) NY: Appeals court upholds Weinstein's rape conviction
14) LeBron James becomes NBA's first active player worth $1 billion
15) UK: Royal Family Gathers for Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
16) Ukraine war: Russians say UK MP's son involved in killing of Chechen commander
17) TX: Abbott wants "unannounced, random intruder" audits of government daycare centers
18) Chinese regime whines at US regime to stop trade talks with Taiwanese regime
19) Avenatti sentenced to four years for stealing nearly $300k from Stormy Daniels
20) NASA outsources development of Moon spacesuit to two private companies
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Anti-LGBT Panics Are Bad for Everyone's Liberty
22) Politics as the Leisure of the Theory Class
23) The Invisible Power vs. The Invisible Hand
24) Will Teaching Aggressors a Lesson Deter Future Wars?
25) Exposed: The Lies of Biden's Tax Policy
26) People Who Defend Empire Narratives Are Really Just Defending Their Worldview From Destruction
27) Solutions that start with "I'm sorry"
28) Democracy or autocracy? American business needs to choose
29) White House Disinformation about Kids and Covid
30) How Biden Admin Botched the Inflation Problem
31) The Trump census sabotage campaign might have backfired
32) Joe Biden's magical thinking on the economy has to stop
33) Ten Negative Consequences of Boundless US Militarism and Imperialism
34) Two words explain why Trump won't run in 2024
35) Lessons from the Quartering Acts of 1765 and 1774
36) Economics as an Antidote to Envy
37) Time to unleash oil and natural gas drilling in the US
38) Net Zero is a Stalinist fantasy
39) Why Russia's Authoritarian Regime Continues to Enjoy Public Support
40) Norm Macdonald Was Something Special
41) It's not just Uvalde: Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs?
42) The Woke Mob's Capitalism
43) What Are College Students Paying For?
44) If "No One Wants to Take Our Guns," Stop Saying the Opposite
45) Expired! Will Yemen ceasefire hold after today?
46) Destroying the Town Is Not Saving It
47) Biden's Dishonest Tax Obsession
48) Monkeypox and Leviathan?
49) I Went on Strike to Cancel My Student Debt and Won
50) What do our holidays mean to us?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/02/22
52) Free Talk Live, 06/02/22
53) JobMakers, 06/02/22
54) Rising, 06/02/22
55) Lessons from the pandemic: preparing for next time
56) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/02/22
57) The Experiment, 06/02/22
58) Finding Freedom, episode 335
59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2136
60) Mad Dogs & Englishmen, episode 359
61) Conflicts of Interest, episode 282
62) The Learning Curve, 06/01/22
63) The Science of Politics, 06/01/22
64) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/01/22
65) Reason Interview: James Kirchick
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Yemen: Houthis, Saudi invaders agree to truce extension
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"A truce between the [Saudi puppet regime occupying Yemen] and the country's Houthi rebels [sic] has been extended for two months, the United Nations has announced. The initial two-month truce, the first since 2016, began on April 2 and was set to expire on Thursday. Still, after days of negotiations, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced that parties to the conflict had agreed to an extension. ... Despite violations reported by both sides, the front lines have generally seen a reduction in hostilities compared with previous months." (06/02/22)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/2/yemen-truce-extended-for-two-months-but-warring-sides-far-apart
-----
2) GA: Raffensperger testifies before grand jury investigating disgraced former president's election theft scheme
Source: NBC News
"Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testified Thursday before a special grand jury hearing evidence in an investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others, his office confirmed to NBC News. Raffensperger is a key witness in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into whether there were any 'coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections' in Georgia. Willis is reviewing several incidents, including Trump's Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Raffensperger in which he urged the state's top election official to overturn Joe Biden's win. 'All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,' Trump said in the call." (06/02/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/georgia-secretary-state-raffensperger-testifies-special-grand-jury-tru-rcna31720
-----
3) Biden whines for more victim disarmament legislation
Source: Politico
"For just the third time in office, President Joe Biden gave a prime-time address to the nation on Thursday evening .... Biden called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and, if such policies couldn't be passed, the raising of the age that one could purchase an assault weapon from 18 to 21. He called for strengthening background checks, repealing the legal immunity that gun manufacturers enjoy, and codifying a ban on so-called ghost guns, homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers. And he called for addressing what he deemed the "mental health crisis" in America while expanding 'red flag' laws, which allow law enforcement to confiscate guns if a person is deemed a threat to themself or others." (06/02/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/02/biden-demands-action-on-guns-how-much-more-carnage-are-we-willing-to-accept-00036916
-----
4) Amid criticism, North Korea takes over UN disarmament presidency
Source: CNN
"North Korea, which is under sanctions for developing nuclear weapons in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, has taken over as head of a UN body aimed at striking disarmament deals amid scorn from critics. This year North Korea has tested a flurry of ballistic missiles -- also banned by UNSC resolutions -- and appears to be preparing to conduct a new nuclear test for the first time since 2017. It gained the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament because it rotates alphabetically among its 65 members." (06/03/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/asia/north-korea-un-disarmament-president-intl-hnk/index.html
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5) Biden regime cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for people who attended for-profit college
Source: CBS News
"Hundreds of thousands of students who attended the for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain will automatically get their federal student loans canceled, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, a move that aims to bring closure to one of the most notorious cases of fraud in American higher education. Under the new action, anyone who attended the now-defunct chain from its founding in 1995 to its collapse in 2015 will get their federal student debt wiped clean. It will erase $5.8 billion in debt for more than 560,000 borrowers, the largest single loan discharge in Education Department history, according to the agency." (06/02/22)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-cancellation-6-billion-debt-corinthian-colleges/
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6) Turkey: Regime seeks to rebrand, wants to be known as Turkiye instead of the bird
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [Canadian state media]
"Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has sent a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that his country be referred to as Turkiye, the state-run news agency reported. The move is seen as part of a push by Ankara to rebrand the country and dissociate its name from the bird, turkey, and some negative connotations that are associated with it. ... President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has been pressing for the internationally recognized name Turkey to be changed to Turkiye (tur-key-YAY) as it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The country called itself Turkiye in 1923 after its declaration of independence. In December, Erdogan ordered the use of Turkiye to better represent Turkish culture and values, including demanding that 'Made in Turkiye' be used instead of 'Made in Turkey' on exported products. Turkish ministries began using Turkiye in official documents." (06/02/22)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/turkey-t%C3%BCrkiye-name-1.6474780
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7) France: Diplomats strike over reforms, budget cuts
Source: France 24 [French state media]
"French diplomats went on strike Thursday for the first time in 20 years to protest against reforms and budget cuts proposed by President Emmanuel Macron. The unusual strike action is a symptom of the simmering problems that have been affecting France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in recent years as diplomats deal with existential questions about their shifting role. In a rare occurrence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known in France as the Quai d'Orsay, six unions and a group of 500 young diplomats called a strike for June 2 to protest against Macron's reforms, which would change the structure of diplomatic careers. Many of those striking believe that this would mean 'the end of French professional diplomacy.' The country has the world's third-largest diplomatic network behind the United States and China, with some 1,800 diplomats and about 13,500 officials working at the ministry." (06/02/22)
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220602-diplomacy-is-for-pros-not-improvisers-french-diplomats-strike-over-reforms-budget-cuts
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8) Syria: Militant attack on bus kills three, wounds 21
Source: ABC News
"Militants attacked a civilian bus in eastern Syria on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 21, Syrian state TV reported. The TV said the bus was attacked near a village in a desert area of the province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq. It did not say whether the bus was attacked with machinegun fire, a missile or a roadside bomb. The report gave no further details and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Large parts of Deir el-Zour were once controlled by the extremist Islamic State group, which in 2014 proclaimed a so-called 'caliphate' in a third of both Iraq and Syria." (06/02/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/militant-attack-bus-kills-wounds-21-eastern-syria-85137908
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9) US Landfills Get Second Life as Solar Farms
Source: Time
"When landfills get capped and grassed over, they have the appearance of lush, rolling hills. Despite their green appearance, however, these sites are known as 'brownfields' -- a term for an environmentally hazardous site without a promising future. Indeed, landfills are typically unsuitable for development because the contents below the surface are both contaminated and physically unstable. But what they can be repurposed for are solar farms, and these so-called 'brightfields' are growing in number and size. Last year, local governments across the U.S. announced a combined 207 megawatts of energy from 21 landfill solar projects, according to recent figures from the World Resources Institute and RMI, an organization that advances clean energy projects. That's a 10-fold increase in energy capacity compared with recent years, and it includes the three largest projects in the country to date." (06/02/22)
https://time.com/6183376/landfills-becoming-solar-farms/
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10) "Consumer advocates" whine to US regime about other people spending money on stuff they want
Source: Reuters
"Consumer advocates [sic] on Thursday urged U.S. regulators to investigate video game maker Electronic Arts Inc for the misleading use of a digital 'loot box' that 'aggressively' urges players to spend more money while playing a popular soccer game. The groups Fairplay, Center for Digital Democracy and 13 other organizations urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe the EA game 'FIFA: Ultimate Team.' In the game, players build a soccer team using avatars of real players, and compete against other teams. In a letter to the FTC, the groups said the game usually costs $50 to $100 but that the company would push players to spend more while they played." [editor's note: Don't want to play the game? Don't. Don't want to spend additional money on the game? Don't. "Problems" solved – TLK] (06/02/22)
https://www.reuters.com/technology/groups-urge-us-probe-loot-box-electronic-arts-video-game-2022-06-02/
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11) Tunisia: Saied fires 57 judges accused of corruption
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
"Tunisian President Kais Saied has fired 57 of the country's judges, allegedly for involvement in corruption and obstructing hearings of terrorism cases. A list of names of those who had been sacked was published in the early hours of Thursday morning. Said accused the judges of financial and ethical corruption, collusion with political parties and 'deviating the course of terrorism cases,' among other allegations. In February, Saied gave himself power over the judiciary by establishing a new judicial watchdog which allowed him to fire judges and block promotions and appointments." (06/02/22)
https://www.dw.com/en/tunisias-president-fires-57-judges-accused-of-corruption/a-62014746
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12) Average Long-Term US Mortgage Rates Edge Down, Still Over 5%
Source: US News & World Report
"Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged down slightly this week, though interest rates on the key 30-year home loan remain elevated. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate ticked down to 5.09% from 5.1% last week. By contrast, the average rate stood at 2.99% a year ago. Until about six weeks ago, rates hadn't breached 5% in more than a decade. The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those refinancing their homes, edged up to 4.32% from 4.31% last week." (06/02/22)
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2022-06-02/average-long-term-us-mortgage-rates-edge-down-still-over-5
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13) NY: Appeals court upholds Weinstein's rape conviction
Source: Seattle Times
"A New York appellate court has upheld Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction, rejecting the disgraced movie mogul's claims that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced him by allowing women to testify about allegations that weren't part of the criminal case. The ruling Thursday by a five-judge panel in the state's intermediate appeals court affirmed the milestone verdict in America's reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures -- an era that began with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. Weinstein, 70, is jailed in California, where he was extradited last year and is awaiting trial on charges he assaulted five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013. Weinstein was convicted in New York in February 2020 of a criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013." (06/02/22)
https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/harvey-weinsteins-rape-conviction-upheld-by-appeals-court/
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14) LeBron James becomes NBA's first active player worth $1 billion
Source: ESPN
"LeBron James has become the first active NBA player to have a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes. The Los Angeles Lakers megastar, a four-time NBA champion and the league's No. 2 career scorer, made $121.2 million from May 2021 to May 2022 in on-court salary and off-court earnings, according to Forbes. The total trailed only that of Lionel Messi, who made $130 million, on Forbes' highest-paid athletes list. ... Off the court, James starred in 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' and, according to Forbes, sold a minority stake in his production company, SpringHill, at a $725 million valuation." (06/02/22)
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34025397/lebron-james-becomes-nba-first-active-player-worth-1-billion-per-forbes
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15) UK: Royal Family Gathers for Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
Source: Women's Wear Daily
"Queen Elizabeth gave well-wishers just what they wanted on Thursday, smiling broadly from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during a Trooping of the Colour birthday parade and a dramatic aerial display by Royal Air Force fighter jets. ... The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were there, too, along with their three children, who pointed excitedly, or held their hands over their ears, as the Red Arrows, Typhoons and Spitfires zoomed over the palace, trailing red, white and blue smoke or forming the number 70. The queen is the first British monarch to celebrate 70 years on the throne." (06/02/22)
https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/britains-royal-family-gathers-platinum-jubilee-celebrations-1235193487/
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16) Ukraine war: Russians say UK MP's son involved in killing of Chechen commander
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"Russia has accused the son of a Conservative MP of involvement in the killing of a Chechen brigade commander in Ukraine after footage emerged of the British national fighting in the country. Russia's National Guard, a force also known as Rosgvardia, said in a statement on its website that one of its commanders, the Chechen fighter Adam Bisultanov, was killed on 26 May in a clash with a 'group of mercenaries from the UK and the USA' that included the 'son of a British parliamentarian,' Ben Grant. Grant first arrived in Ukraine in March, when he told the Guardian he was moved to volunteer after seeing footage of a Russian bombing of a house where a child could be heard screaming. He said he went without telling his mother, the MP for Maidstone and The Weald, Helen Grant, he was going." (06/02/22)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/02/russia-says-tory-mps-son-involved-in-killing-chechen-commander-in-ukraine-ben-grant
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17) TX: Abbott wants "unannounced, random intruder" audits of government daycare centers
Source: Fox 29 News
"Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday instructed state school security and education officials to start conducting 'in-person, unannounced, random intruder detection audits on school districts' to find weak access points and see how quickly staff can enter a school building without being stopped. The mandate was one of several the governor laid out in a letter to school security authorities in an effort to ensure district emergency operations plans are solid and school buildings are protected in the wake of the Uvalde school massacre that left 19 children and two adults dead. ... On Twitter, Texas Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, a member of the House Education Committee, criticized the plan. 'So you want grown men to show up to schools unannounced and try as hard as they can to find a way in?' Bernal wrote on Twitter. 'This is a terrible idea.'" (06/02/22)
https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/gov-greg-abbott-wants-unannounced-random-intruder-audits-of-texas-public-schools-investigation-uvalde-texas-mass-shooting-students-teachers-staff-rifle
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18) Chinese regime whines at US regime to stop trade talks with Taiwanese regime
Source: Associated Press
"China's government on Thursday accused Washington of jeopardizing peace after U.S. envoys began trade talks with Taiwan aimed at deepening relations with the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing. ... Trade dialogues 'disrupt peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,' said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. He called on Washington to 'stop negotiating agreements with Taiwan that have sovereign connotations and official nature.'" (06/02/22)
https://apnews.com/article/politics-china-beijing-taiwan-2fb86ebfcca2ac5d28028df7e0b5a2cb
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19) Avenatti sentenced to four years for stealing nearly $300k from Stormy Daniels
Source: CNN
"Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing nearly $300,000 from his former client, adult film actress Stormy Daniels. ... Avenatti was convicted in February of one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faced as much as 20 years on the wire fraud charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. Avenatti is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence for attempting to extort over $20 million from Nike by threatening to go public with damaging information unless they paid him. He goes on trial next month in California on charges alleging that he embezzled $10 million in settlement funds from at least five clients. He has also been charged with tax fraud and bankruptcy fraud and pleaded not guilty to the charges." (06/02/22)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/politics/michael-avenatti-stormy-daniels-sentencing/index.html
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20) NASA outsources development of Moon spacesuit to two private companies
Source: The Verge
"Today, NASA announced that two private companies -- Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace -- will develop the next-generation spacesuits that future astronauts will wear to conduct spacewalks and eventually traverse the surface of the Moon. It's a bold new direction for spacesuit development at NASA, with the agency handing the job over to the private sector after years of struggling to develop a new suit of its own. These new spacesuits will play a critical role in NASA's Artemis program, the agency's flagship initiative to send humans back to the lunar surface. Currently, NASA is aiming to land the first Artemis astronauts on the Moon by 2025 -- a one-year delay from the 2024 deadline originally set by the Trump administration." (06/01/22)
https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/1/23149903/nasa-artemis-moon-spacesuits-design-axiom-space-collins-aerospace
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Anti-LGBT Panics Are Bad for Everyone's Liberty
Source: Reason
by Scott Shackford
"The year was 1952, and Sen. Clyde R. Hoey (D–N.C.) was investigating how many gay people worked for the federal government and whether these workers were a security threat. ... The year was 1978, and California state Rep. John Briggs (R–North Orange County) was launching Proposition 6, a ballot initiative that would have required school districts to fire teachers found to have engaged in homosexual conduct. ... The year is 2022, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is spearheading another moral panic. ... The contours and players of today's LGBT panics are different, but the underlying conflict is not new. And while stoking that conflict may be good for certain politicians' careers -- it is surely no coincidence that DeSantis is embarking on this crusade as his name is bandied about as a potential Republican presidential candidate -- it is bad for individual liberty." (06/02/22)
https://reason.com/2022/06/02/anti-lgbt-panics-are-bad-for-everyones-liberty/
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22) Politics as the Leisure of the Theory Class
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Michael Barone
"Politics has increasingly become, for many Americans, the leisure of the theory class. That's a phrase from the early 20th century sociologist Thorstein Veblen, which I turned on its head in a recent column. He was condemning the showy consumerism of the contemporary rich for having no economically practical purpose. I, on the other hand, was describing the political preoccupations of contemporary people, mainly high-education liberals [sic] but also low-education populists [sic], as having no practically achievable goals." (06/023/22)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/06/03/politics_as_the_leisure_of_the_theory_class_147685.html
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23) The Invisible Power vs. The Invisible Hand
Source: CounterPunch
by Steve O'Keefe
"Herein lies the real promise of wealth: that capitalism will make everything so cheap that material goods approach the cost of zero. Forbes describes this situation as 'bad news.' The magazine of 'affluent lifestyles,' Forbes argues, 'If it costs less to produce goods, companies can make more of them for the same price. This can result in more supply than demand and lower prices.' Sounds like a disaster, doesn't it? The only thing stopping capitalism from reaching this goal is capitalism. Successful corporations have taken over the mechanism of the state to gain unfair competitive advantage, which they use to suppress or eliminate competitors, including competition from their own employees and contractors for an equitable share of the revenue." (06/02/22)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/06/02/the-invisible-power-vs-the-invisible-hand/
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24) Will Teaching Aggressors a Lesson Deter Future Wars?
Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
"Westerners -- such as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg -- who favor ever-greater levels of support for Ukraine sometimes imply that inflicting a decisive defeat on Russia will prevent future wars in other places. If Russia is decisively beaten, or at least denied any significant gains, the West will have shown that 'aggression does not pay.' Not only will Russian President Vladimir Putin learn his lesson and never try something like this again, but other world leaders ... will think twice before trying something similar. ... If Ukraine and the West fail to inflict a crushing defeat on the Russian aggressor, however, and if Kyiv is eventually forced to compromise with Moscow, then illiberal ideals will be partly vindicated .... Like the domino theory, which refuses to die no matter how often it is disproved, such claims transform the outcome of a single conflict into a struggle for the fate of the entire planet." (06/02/22)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/02/will-teaching-aggressors-a-lesson-deter-future-wars/
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25) Exposed: The Lies of Biden's Tax Policy
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Lewis
"As President Joe Biden's tax policy discussions start heating up, some familiar lies have made their way back into the political parlance. There are four specific lies upon which I'll focus here: 1. The rich need to pay their 'fair share' 2. The Trump tax cuts only went to the wealthiest Americans 3. Nobody making less than $400k will see their taxes increase under the Biden plan 4. The wealthy pay less taxes than their secretaries." (06/02/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/exposed-the-lies-of-bidens-tax-policy/
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26) People Who Defend Empire Narratives Are Really Just Defending Their Worldview From Destruction
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"If you've publicly challenged the official narratives of the western political/media class about any major issue, you've probably noticed that people can get pretty upset about it. Like, actually upset. Not mildly annoyed like you might get at someone who is saying something that is obviously false and stupid, but burning hot emotional like you'd get if you heard someone insulting your loved one. Or like someone insulting you personally. That's the most surprising thing, when you first start speaking about this stuff. Not that people don't believe you or don't agree with you; that's to be expected when every screen in their lives is telling them one thing and you're telling them something else. But that people actually get deeply emotionally invested in it. That's your first clue that there's something else going on beneath the surface apart from what you're being presented with." (06/02/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/02/people-who-defend-empire-narratives-are-really-just-defending-their-worldview-from-destruction/
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27) Solutions that start with "I'm sorry"
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
"If the recent mass shootings in the United States result in meaningful reforms, one reason may be a rather rare but important moment of contrition. After the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, admitted that the hesitation by police to confront the gunman 'was the wrong decision, period.' Then he added: 'If I thought it would help, I'd apologize.' Such an admission by public officials is a door opener to reform. And Mr. McCraw isn't the only prominent figure expressing remorse these days. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN on May 31, 'I was wrong about the path inflation would take.' ... At a time when public leaders seem more apt to evade and deflect when things go wrong, it is worth noting when someone takes responsibility." (06/01/22)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2022/0601/Solutions-that-start-with-I-m-sorry
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28) Democracy or autocracy? American business needs to choose
Source: Niskanen Center
by Mark S Mizruchi
"Mikhail Khodorkovsky was one of the leading capitalists in early post-Soviet Russia. ... He was also a critic of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. ... he was arrested at gunpoint, charged with fraud, and -- after a trial that many international observers viewed as politically motivated -- sentenced to nine years in prison .... More recently, Jack Ma, the head of Ant Group (and a co-founder, former CEO, and board member of Ant's affiliate, Alibaba), criticized the Chinese financial system ... A few days later, Chinese regulators cancelled Ant Group's planned IPO ... In January 2022, Chinese state media accused the Ant Group of bribery of public officials. ... this sort of thing could not happen here in the United States, could it? Unfortunately, it is happening, and recent events may be a portent of things to come." (06/02/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/democracy-or-autocracy-american-business-needs-to-choose/
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29) White House Disinformation about Kids and Covid
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ian Miller
"As many pandemic restrictions have, at least temporarily, been lifted, many activist 'experts' have understandably become increasingly frustrated with the potential loss of influence. Perhaps that's one explanation for why pro-mandate and progressive policy activists like emergency medicine doctor Jeremy Faust have turned to desperate measures -- the purposeful exaggeration of the risks of COVID to kids."
https://brownstone.org/articles/white-house-disinformation-about-kids-and-covid/
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30) How Biden Admin Botched the Inflation Problem
Source: The Federalist
by David Harsanyi
"Joe Biden has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation. Well, perhaps the word 'detailing' is too generous. The preponderance of the column features Biden taking credit for economic growth that can be attributed to the reopening of an economy that was shuttered by the governing class during Covid. Biden, of course, not only championed those closings, but was critical of Republican governors who opened their states before he deemed it appropriate. But with midterms approaching, there's been a concerted effort underway to exonerate the president, and thus Democrats, of any culpability for rising prices. Biden sycophant 'Morning Joe', for example, contends that anyone who blames the president for more than a 'passing impact' on inflation is a 'lying hack or an ignorant rube.'" (06/02/22)
https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/01/yes-biden-deserves-the-blame-for-inflation/
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31) The Trump census sabotage campaign might have backfired
Source: Washington Post
by the Editorial Board
"In 2020, President Donald Trump tried to sabotage the census, the once-a-decade constitutionally mandated tallying of the U.S. population that determines how much political representation, federal money and other benefits communities receive. He failed to realize his most extreme plans to manipulate the count, through which he hoped to increase Republican representation and minimize Democrats'. But new numbers the Census Bureau released last month suggest that he still managed to do substantial damage both to the integrity of the process and to the confidence the public places in it. ... The undercounts might have deprived Florida and Texas -- both red states with large minority populations -- of congressional seats. On the flip side, Minnesota and Rhode Island, which are Whiter and run by Democrats, possibly retained congressional seats their population sizes did not warrant." (06/02/22)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/02/census-undercount-trump-sabotage/
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32) Joe Biden's magical thinking on the economy has to stop
Source: Orange County Register
"President Joe Biden wants you to know he is serious about taming inflation and that he has a plan to do so. Unfortunately, his plan reveals that his administration is either in deep denial or doesn't understand the real cause of inflation. His proposal, therefore, is all but guaranteed to fail." (06/02/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/02/joe-bidens-magical-thinking-on-the-economy-has-to-stop/
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33) Ten Negative Consequences of Boundless US Militarism and Imperialism
Source: Common Dreams
by Sam Carliner & Olivia DiNucci
"In recent years, the U.S. has seen great numbers of people and mass movements take to the streets to challenge the status quo. While domestic outrage grows, resistance to the U.S. war machine remains limited, even as President Joe Biden is looking to pass a military budget of $813 billion. This bloated budget proposal comes as inflation makes basic products unaffordable and funds for the ongoing pandemic are gutted. The militaristic and imperialist foreign policy of the United States has negative consequences for every aspect of life in the U.S. and abroad. As long as we're investing so much in the military, not only will we not have the money to invest in better things, but we are also exacerbating countless problems on a global level." (06/02/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/02/10-negative-consequences-boundless-us-militarism-and-imperialism
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34) Two words explain why Trump won't run in 2024
Source: The Hill
by Myra Adams
"Whenever two or more politically active people engage in conversation, invariably someone asks, 'Will Donald Trump run in 2024?' My standard answer is always 'I have no idea' -- until last week when Trump's much-ballyhooed vendetta campaigns to defeat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ended in embarrassing anti-Trump failures. ... Trump's repudiation in Georgia has Republicans speculating about his declining kingmaking powers, openly defying him as he loses his 'vice-like grip on the party' and potentially endangering his front-runner status. So, circling back to the most-asked question, my new answer is 'Trump won't run in 2024' -- based on personality traits rooted in the words 'fear' and 'fight.'" (06/02/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3508270-two-words-explain-why-trump-wont-run-in-2024/
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35) Lessons from the Quartering Acts of 1765 and 1774
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by TJ Martinell
"Most people are familiar with the Boston Tea Party, but not a lot of people know about the aftermath, and how that experience helped shape the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Although British attempts to confiscate arms and munitions directly triggered the initial battles in the War of Independence, there were numerous acts committed over the years leading up to it that convinced American colonists that separation from the motherland was necessary. Among these were four laws passed by the British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party, including the Quartering Act, passed on June 2, 1774." (06/02/22)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2022/06/02/lessons-from-the-quartering-acts-of-1765-and-1774/
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36) Economics as an Antidote to Envy
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Clara E Piano
"Fr. Robert Sirico's new book, The Economics of the Parables, opens by reflecting on why Jesus chose economic imagery so often for his parables. In the Gospels, we hear stories of investing, trading, planting, and managing estates (the book covers a baker's dozen of these parables), though not once of composing music, studying for a test, or playing sports. Fr. Sirico's answer is that economics is a universal human experience -- each person faces limited time and resources -- thus economic imagery is fitting for parables intended to last throughout history. ... This essay focuses on a theme that runs throughout the book, specifically, how understanding economics can be an antidote to the temptation of envy." (06/02/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/economics-as-an-antidote-to-envy/
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37) Time to unleash oil and natural gas drilling in the US
Source: Fox News
by US Representative Fred Keller (R-PA)
"Every day, energy prices in America hit new record highs, leaving American families wondering when relief will come. During a press conference last week, President Biden said that high gas prices were part of an "incredible transition" to become 'less reliant on fossil fuels.' This 'incredible transition' that the president referred to isn't fooling anybody. This administration has made clear -- in no uncertain terms -- that instead of working seriously to alleviate Americans' pain at the pump, the president will continue to suffocate the domestic oil and natural gas industry in hopes of replacing it with an unrealistic and far-left Green New Deal. ... Americans are on track to pay 78 percent more this year at the pump then they did a year ago." (06/02/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/its-time-to-unleash-oil-and-natural-gas-drilling-in-the-us
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38) Net Zero is a Stalinist fantasy
Source: spiked
by James Woudhuysen
"As energy prices soar, behind the scenes, the UK government is planning to make it even harder to heat our homes. The government is threatening to force manufacturers of gas boilers to switch to making heat pumps. From 2024 onwards, Whitehall plans to levy severe fines on UK-based boiler manufacturers that fail to meet production targets for heat pumps, hitting them with a £5,000 penalty for each failure to deliver a unit. These Stalinist reprisals are the latest absurdity to result from the government's hell-bent pursuit of Net Zero." (06/02/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/02/net-zero-is-a-stalinist-fantasy/
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39) Why Russia's Authoritarian Regime Continues to Enjoy Public Support
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Paul Tolmachev
"One of my areas of research in institutional economics is the social behavior of people under different political regimes, what Thomas Schelling called micromotives and macrobehavior. Of course, this topic is directly related to many related disciplines, from behavioral economics and political theory to the neurobiology of decision-making and the theory of biological markets. In addition, the theme raises the following question: what are the reasons for the broad social support of the current tightening Russian autocracy and its recent political decisions, including the aggressive invasion into Ukraine, which are condemned by most of the world community?" (06/02/22)
https://mises.org/wire/why-russias-authoritarian-regime-continues-enjoy-public-support
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40) Norm Macdonald Was Something Special
Source: The American Spectator
by Daniel J Flynn
"Macdonald's posthumously released comedy special rebuts its title. Nothing Special feels as unique, and surreal, as the comedian it celebrates. The pandemic took away his nightclub audiences; cancer prompted him to shoot this performance in case of death. Filmed with two camera angles presumably in the Saturday Night Live alum's apartment, the Netflix must-see features a since-deceased standup comedian sitting down and telling jokes to an audience of nobody save for an occasionally barking dog. It somehow works." (06/02/22)
https://spectator.org/norm-macdonald-was-something-special/
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41) It's not just Uvalde: Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs?
Source: The American Prospect
by Alexander Sammon
"For all the panic about a burgeoning nationwide crime wave, only a few types of crime are actually up during the two-plus years since the pandemic began. Murders have increased since 2019, and violent crime, broadly defined, has also inched up slightly over the same period. Property crimes, on the other hand, are down .... People have every right to be concerned about rising murder rates. But another concerning statistic involves the fact that the nationwide 'crime wave,' in both its real and imagined components, has been met with a similar nationwide collapse in 'clearance rates,' the rate at which those crimes are 'solved' via an arrest and a charge being brought." (06/02/22)
https://prospect.org/justice/why-are-police-so-bad-at-their-jobs/
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42) The Woke Mob's Capitalism
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"A prominent rating system has gone 'woke.' 'Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500,' Elon Musk tweeted a few weeks ago, 'while Tesla' -- the billionaire's high-end electric car company -- 'didn't make the list! ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors.' We could quibble. Is 'phony' the right word? 'Social justice' has always been slippery. It's a 'mirage,' explained Hayek, really just a stalking horse for power. What Musk is objecting to, though, is worth thinking about." (06/02/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/06/02/the-woke-mobs-capitalism/
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43) What Are College Students Paying For?
Source: Quillette
by Robert Thornett
"My graduating class of 1995 was one of the last to start college without the Internet. The first browser, Netscape Mosaic, came along in 1993, but there wasn't yet much to browse. Writing papers required finding physical copies of books and journals in the library, as had been done for hundreds of years. Colleges held a monopoly on access to most academic publications, which helped them justify skyrocketing tuition. Professors were among the few who spent much of their adult lives in close proximity -- both physically and intellectually -- to these rare volumes. They were thought to be uniquely capable of navigating 'the literature.' So colleges held a monopoly on access to both the books and the expert guides who knew the books, which further justified jacking up tuition. ... If the books and their guides are now at anyone's fingertips online, what are students paying for when they go to college?" (06/02/22)
https://quillette.com/2022/06/02/what-are-college-students-paying-for-the-stephen-curry-effect-and-getting-back-to-basics/
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44) If "No One Wants to Take Our Guns," Stop Saying the Opposite
Source: Town Hall
by Larry Elder
"Almost immediately after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting came the calls for 'common sense' gun control. The quest almost always begins with a reassurance that 'no one wants to take away your guns'. Not everyone read the memo. Nelson Shields, founder of Handgun Control, Inc., the organization that became the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a 1976 interview could not have been more clear about his group's goals: 'Our ultimate goal -- total control of handguns in the United States -- is going to take time. ... the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition -- except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors -- totally illegal.'" (06/02/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2022/06/02/if-no-one-wants-to-take-our-guns-stop-saying-the-opposite-n2608101
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45) Expired! Will Yemen ceasefire hold after today?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Annelle Sheline
"Yemen's two month ceasefire is set to expire today. Will the warring parties agree to extend it? Whether the Houthis and forces commanded by the newly appointed Presidential Leadership Council return to the negotiating table or the battlefield depends on decisions made both inside and outside Yemen. ... Despite the nominal progress towards the conditions stated in the ceasefire agreement, both sides have accused the other of violating the truce. Observers fear that these accusations may be used to justify resuming hostilities." (06/02/22)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/06/02/expired-will-yemen-ceasefire-hold-after-today/
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46) Destroying the Town Is Not Saving It
Source: TomDispatch
by William Astore
"Twenty years ago, I left the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs for my next assignment. I haven't been back since, but today I travel there (if only in my imagination) to give my graduation address to the class of 2022. ... Congratulations to all you newly minted second lieutenants! As a former military professor who, for six years, taught cadets very much like you at the Academy, I salute you and your accomplishments. ... And I must say you do exude health, youth, and enthusiasm, as well as a feeling that you're about to graduate to better things, like pilot training or intelligence school, among so many other Air Force specialties. Some of you will even join America's newest service, the Space Force, which resonates with me, as my first assignment in 1985 was to Air Force Space Command." (06/02/22)
https://tomdispatch.com/destroying-the-town-is-not-saving-it/
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47) Biden's Dishonest Tax Obsession
Source: The American Conservative
by Lewis M Andrews
"As high inflation persists, why does President Joe Biden continue to argue for raising taxes, especially on corporations and individuals? ... Economists from his own party, including Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Obama Council of Economic Advisors chair Jason Furman, have failed to persuade the president that tax rates have little to do with inflation, which arises when too much money is chasing too few goods and services. If anything, these liberal experts have tried to explain, boosting marginal tax rates will only discourage the additional investment in goods and services needed to tame price increases. To understand Biden's stubborn preoccupation with raising taxes, one must understand the perspective of a Democrat who was elected president at a moment when the days of excessive federal money printing appeared to be numbered." (06/02/22)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/bidens-dishonest-tax-obsession/
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48) Monkeypox and Leviathan?
Source: Independent Institute
by Raymond J March
"While concerning, monkeypox outbreaks are nothing new. Regions of Western Africa have experienced them for decades. In 2003, the Midwest experienced a monkeypox outbreak that infected 71 Americans. None of these cases were fatal. Even if cases continue to rise, treatments exist. Smallpox vaccines provide effective cross-vaccination for monkeypox. Several antivirals may also provide effective treatment for already infected patients. Sadly, a far greater concern than monkeypox spreading across the country is how our government will respond to it. The precedent is not promising for liberty." (06/01/22)
https://blog.independent.org/2022/06/01/monkeypox-leviathan/
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49) I Went on Strike to Cancel My Student Debt and Won
Source: In These Times
by Ann Bowers
"This week, former students of Corinthian Colleges (a predatory for-profit school that once boasted more than 100 campuses across the country) received news that their student loans will be canceled. In an announcement, a Department of Education (DOE) press release called the move 'the largest single loan discharge the Department has made in history.' As a former student of Everest College, which is a branch of Corinthian, I am overjoyed that everyone who attended the scam school will finally be made whole. ... But I want to set the record straight. This victory is not the result of the Biden administration's good will. It is the outcome of a fierce organizing campaign by debtors that has been going on for almost eight years." (06/02/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/corinthian-colleges-student-debt-cancel-strike
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50) What do our holidays mean to us?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"On Monday the 30th, Americans observed Memorial Day. Later this new month of June, Americans will 'observe' the newest federal holiday, 'Juneteenth.' Next month, July, most Americans will 'celebrate' the Fourth of July -- and some will observe Independence Day on the 4th (and for some of us, the 2nd) of July. Each of these is supposed to have some national significance -- and each has a REAL significance. Let's take a quick look, from the point of view of a lover of liberty. Is there a connection between liberty -- personal freedom -- and holidays?" (06/01/22)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2022/06/01/what-do-our-holidays-mean-to-us/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/02/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"It's hard to overstate how powerful humor can be in helping us keep things in perspective. Annie Holmquist describes why laughter is the bane of tyrants and a legit tool to free us from mental tyranny." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://anchor.fm/bryan-hyde/episodes/2022-June-2-The-Bryan-Hyde-Show-e1jdhvv
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52) Free Talk Live, 06/02/22
Source: Free Talk Live
"Live from Honduras :: Emergency Sirens :: Amber Heard and Johnny Depp :: Bilderberg :: Retail Store Theft :: Special Economic Zones :: Carnivore Diet :: Living Without Electricity :: Show: 2022-06-02 Mark, Alex." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/02/22)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=a772e73fbd81b09144966ebccea04077
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53) JobMakers, 06/02/22
Source: Pioneer Institute
"Daniel Perez Takes Tenacity to Transport." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/economic_opportunity/daniel-perez-takes-tenacity-to-transport/
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54) Rising, 06/02/22
Source: The Hill
"Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave discuss the latest news from Uvalde, including Texas police dodging reporter questions." [Flash video] (06/02/22)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/3509292-rising-june-2-2022/
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55) Lessons from the pandemic: preparing for next time
Source: Niskanen Center
"In the latest in a series of video interviews on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, Brink Lindsey speaks with Nikki Teran, a senior biosecurity fellow at the Institute for Progress." [Flash video] (06/02/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/lessons-from-the-pandemic-preparing-for-next-time/
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56) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/02/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"Above The Law? What Clinton Lawyer Verdict Says About Politicization Of Justice." [Flash video] (06/02/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/above-the-law-what-clinton-lawyer-verdict-says-about-politicization-of-justice
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57) The Experiment, 06/02/22
Source: The Atlantic
"For The Experiment's final episode, a meditation on our strange, sometimes beautiful, often frustrating country." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/06/goodbye/661162/
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58) Finding Freedom, episode 335
Source: Lions of Liberty
"Sperm Donors Cannot be Trusted." [various formats] (06/02/22)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/sperm-donors-cannot-be-trusted
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59) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2136
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Can Capitalism Work in an Age of Digital Privacy?" [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2136-can-capitalism-work-in-an-age-of-digital-privacy/
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60) Mad Dogs & Englishmen, episode 359
Source: National Review
"Inflationary Language." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/mad-dogs-englishmen/episode-359-inflationary-language/
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61) Conflicts of Interest, episode 282
Source: Libertarian Institute
"Turkey's Military Operations in Iraq and Syria." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-282-turkeys-military-operations-in-iraq-and-syria/
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62) The Learning Curve, 06/01/22
Source: Pioneer Institute
"Smith College Prof. Paula Giddings on Ida B. Wells and Her Anti-Lynching Crusade." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/news/smith-college-paula-giddings-ida-wells-anti-lynching-crusade/
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63) The Science of Politics, 06/01/22
Source: Niskanen Center
"How much are polls misrepresenting Americans?" [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-much-are-polls-misrepresenting-americans/
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64) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/01/22
Source: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
"What's Going on Across the Pond w/ Steve Byrne of What Am Politics Podcast." [Flash audio] (06/01/22)
https://myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com/2022/06/01/whats-going-on-across-the-pond-w-steve-byrne-of-what-am-politics-podcast/
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65) Reason Interview: James Kirchick
Source: Reason
"How Homophobia Warped the Cold War." [various formats] (06/01/22)
https://reason.com/podcast/2022/06/01/james-kirchick-homophobia-warped-the-cold-war/
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