07/27 -- SpaceX's Starship rocket chalks up mostly successful test flight; New Jersey Highlights the Problems with, and the Evils of, Automatic Voter Registration
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Thomas L. Knapp
6:12 AM (5 hours ago) 6:12 AM
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 07/27/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) SpaceX’s Starship rocket chalks up mostly successful test flight
2) HI: Luke indicted in alleged bribery scheme
3) Palestine: Squatters torch mosques in occupied West Bank
4) Iran warns Ukraine of retaliation after deadly Caspian Sea strike
5) Kremlin says too early to comment on reported US-Ukraine air ceasefire talks
6) Brazil: Bolsonaro launches presidential bid despite challenges
7) UK: Burnham vows no early general election before 2029
8) Tunisians mark fifth year of emergency rule with calls for Saied to go
9) FBI says alleged $32 million COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US
10) Germany: Suspect in deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in confrontation with police
11) OpenAI launches health bot a day after frivolous lawsuit says ChatGPT advice hospitalized a man
12) US regime lifts ban on cattle imports from Mexico
13) Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
14) ME: Democrats officially select Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner
15) India: “Cockroach” protest called off after education minister quits
16) Trump sued hours after new tariffs take effect, as experts say they may not hold up
17) Romanian F-16 shoots down drone after airspace breach
18) ICC member states vote to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan
19) Senile reality TV actor yells at journalists
20) Bangladesh: President Resigns Amid Uncertainty Over Ex-Leader’s Plans
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) New Jersey Highlights the Problems with, and the Evils of, Automatic Voter Registration
22) Judges Can Void a Tariff. They Can’t Rebuild Our Reputation.
23) “Revenge Mode” As “Strategy?”
24) Afghan Lessons for American Democracy
25) The MAGA “Anchor Baby” Myth Doesn’t Hold Water
26) The surveillance camera on your street corner: Lawful spying or constitutionally problematic?
27) Is Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Consistent with Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics?
28) A Curious Hospital Argument
29) The Saudi Nuclear Deal Is a Typical Trump Fiasco
30) Is training AI on copyrighted materials protected by the First Amendment?
31) Sorry, haters, Christopher Nolan’s Odysseus is no wimp — but a hero for our times
32) A Tale of Two Revolutions
33) De-Normalize Israel
34) Andy Burnham Takes the Stage
35) With Saudi Arabia, Another Inferior Nuclear Deal
36) Our Currency Icons and America’s National Character
37) The Manufactured “Bipartisan” Push for an AI Kill Switch
38) Iran War: Yes, We Can Cut and Run
39) Zelensky’s Military Overhaul Explodes Western Fantasies
40) Aiming at the Gulf, Iran shoots itself in the foot
41) Israel in Crisis: A Threat from Within
42) Keep Washington Out Of Artificial Intelligence Education
43) What if Canada Did an IPO?
44) Visas for 1st Amendment Foes?
45) Socialism Has Never Worked Anywhere on Earth, So Why Should It Work in Space?
46) Airports Are Opting for Private Security Over the TSA. The Union Says That’s a Public Safety Threat.
47) The Anti-Slavery Advocates of Disunion
48) Gemini, Hayek, and Me
49) Trump’s Tariff Sham
50) Could Zelensky Suffer Diem’s Fate?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Unattended Baggage, episode 349
52) Pink Flame of Liberty, 07/25/26
53) Free Talk Live, 07/25/26
54) The Climate Realism Show, episode 209
55) TAC Right Now, 07/24/26
56) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2781
57) Serious Trouble, 07/24/26
58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 07/24/26
59) Rising, 07/24/26
60) Freakonomics Radio, episode 682
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) SpaceX’s Starship rocket chalks up mostly successful test flight
Source: Spaceflight Now
“SpaceX launched it’s 13th Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday, with the giant booster chalking up an on-target but ‘hard’ splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast while the Starship upper stage carried out a successful sub-orbital hop to the Indian Ocean. … It was the second test flight of a third-generation Super Heavy-Starship, building on lessons learned during the initial flight of a ‘V3’ rocket in May when the booster missed its landing target and the Starship suffered an early engine shutdown on the way to space. This time around, the booster appeared to perform as planned throughout its ascent …. But as the booster dropped toward the Gulf, only 10 of 13 engines restarted and at the moment of splashdown, only five appeared to be running. … the Starship deployed 20 third-generation Starlink internet satellites in a real-world test of the rocket’s Pez-like payload dispenser, releasing the satellites one at a time from a slot near the nose of the vehicle.” (07/25/26)
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/07/25/super-heavy-starship-rocket-chalks-up-mostly-successful-test-flight/
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2) HI: Luke indicted in alleged bribery scheme
Source: The Hill
“Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) was indicted on bribery charges on Friday following a monthslong state investigation into a campaign finance scandal. Luke was accused of accepting campaign finance contributions in 2022 while she was a state lawmaker in exchange for securing funding for COVID-19 testing sites. A Hawaii grand jury returned a 12-count indictment charging Luke with criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports among other charges, according to the state’s Department of the Attorney General. … The charges stem from allegations that Luke accepted at least $35,000 in campaign contributions from businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum in exchange for support for testing sites operated by the National Kidney Foundation, where Solidum served as a lobbyist and consultant.” (07/25/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5990691-hawaii-sylvia-luke-indicted-bribery
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3) Palestine: Squatters torch mosques in occupied West Bank
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Israeli [squatters] in the occupied West Bank set fire to two mosques early Sunday as well as scrawling buildings with graffiti that local Palestinian officials near Nablus said called for ‘revenge.’ ‘The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers. It had already been furnished with couches. They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls,’ said Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council of Qusra outside Nablus. The Israeli military confirmed that graffiti and traces of arson were found when they inspected the area. … Separately, Palestinian authorities said Israeli [squatters] had sought to burn a mosque near Kour and attacked Palestinian laborers at a stone-cutting facility near Ramallah.” (07/26/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/israeli-settlers-torch-mosques-in-occupied-west-bank/a-78120749
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4) Iran warns Ukraine of retaliation after deadly Caspian Sea strike
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a deadly Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea ‘cannot go unanswered’, calling it a violation of the United Nations Charter. In a social media post on Sunday, Araghchi accused Israel of provoking the attack in an attempt to ‘drag Europe into its war’. … Ukraine said it had targeted a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iranian-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea. But the Foreign Ministry said Iran ‘has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine’. Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker has warned Ukraine could face retaliation over the strike.” (07/27/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/27/iran-warns-ukraine-of-retaliation-after-deadly-caspian-sea-strike
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5) Kremlin says too early to comment on reported US-Ukraine air ceasefire talks
Source: Reuters
“Russia considers it premature to comment on reports that the United States and Ukraine are discussing a possible halt to aerial attacks as part of efforts to end the war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday. A Ukrainian source told Reuters that Ukrainian and U.S. officials had discussed a proposal for an air ceasefire to present to Russia as part of a new push to revive peace talks aimed at ending the conflict triggered by Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The source said Ukraine had approached Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past with offers of a ceasefire, which had been turned down. However, some officials believe that pressure on Russia’s economy from ongoing Ukrainian drone and missile strikes may soften Putin’s stance.” (07/26/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-too-early-comment-reported-us-ukraine-air-ceasefire-talks-2026-07-26/
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6) Brazil: Bolsonaro launches presidential bid despite challenges
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Flavio Bolsonaro on Saturday formally launched his campaign for Brazil’s October presidential election, seeking to extend his family’s grip on the country’s far-right movement despite a series of scandals that have dented his once-strong challenge to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. … Far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro anointed his eldest son, a senator, as his successor after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s 2022 election.” (07/25/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260725-crisis-hit-flavio-bolsonaro-launches-presidential-candidacy-in-brazil
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7) UK: Burnham vows no early general election before 2029
Source: Metro [UK]
“Andy Burnham has ruled out calling an early general election and said he will ‘honour’ Keir Starmer’s manifesto. The new Prime Minister insisted he ‘faced the public’ in the Makerfield by-election and had a mandate for his sweeping changes to the country. Burnham was speaking after a busy first week in the top job, during which he pledged to roll out the biggest changes the UK has seen in four years. … Burnham’s vow means the country should not face a general election until 2029, five years after Keir Starmer swept to power in 2024. There had been speculation that the new PM would want to go to the polls after he wiped out Reform’s poll leader almost immediately after entering No 10.” (07/26/26)
https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/26/andy-burnham-vows-no-early-general-election-2029-29225911/
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8) Tunisians mark fifth year of emergency rule with calls for Saied to go
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Thousands of Tunisians have rallied in the capital to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied, denouncing worsening living conditions, democratic backsliding and mismanagement of the state. Crowds marched down Habib Bourguiba Avenue in central Tunis on Saturday as the country marked five years since Saied declared a national emergency, suspended parliament and later dissolved it in order to rule by decree. It’s the latest in a run of recent protests opposing crackdowns on dissent, a struggling economy and limits on press freedoms. Saied’s opponents accused him of abusing emergency measures to institute a reversal of Tunisia’s hard-won democratic transition process.” (07/26/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/26/tunisians-mark-fifth-year-of-emergency-rule-with-calls-for-saied-to-go
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9) FBI says alleged $32 million COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US
Source: Fox News
“One of the FBI’s most wanted alleged COVID-19 fraud fugitives has been returned to the United States after authorities captured her in Jamaica. FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital she had been living under the fake identity ‘Harley Newman’ while evading charges tied to an alleged $32 million pandemic relief fraud scheme. Elaine Angene Escoe, 41, arrived back in South Florida Thursday after Jamaican authorities arrested her after a federal manhunt. Prosecutors allege she helped fraudulently obtain more than $32 million in taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief funds before fleeing the country after failing to appear in federal court.” (07/25/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/exclusive-alleged-32m-covid-19-fraud-fugitive-captured-jamaica-returned-us-fbi-says
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10) Germany: Suspect in deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in confrontation with police
Source: Associated Press
"The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said. Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group. Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete in what authorities believe was an Islamic extremist terror attack." (07/26/26)
https://apnews.com/article/germany-berlin-lgbtq-pride-parade-van-ramming-3ba5e3f1becffd0da5f47b29aa08da9d
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11) OpenAI launches health bot a day after frivolous lawsuit says ChatGPT advice hospitalized a man
Source: SFGate
“Scott Winters was having dizzy spells but decided not to see a doctor after ChatGPT told him it would take several more serious episodes before he would need care. Instead, it recommended he lounge in a recliner. But weeks later, Winters would find himself being wheeled into an emergency room, convulsing and slipping in and out of consciousness, suffering from multiple blood clots in his lungs. … Winters is now suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI for not only providing unlicensed medical advice but also actively discouraging Winters from seeing a doctor. … Just one day after Winters filed his complaint, the company publicly released ChatGPT Health, a model based on a later version of ChatGPT, designed to interpret intimate medical records and give users health guidance.” (07/25/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/chatgpt-health-lawsuit-22359513.php
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12) US regime lifts ban on cattle imports from Mexico
Source: United Press International
“The Department of Agriculture on Friday lifted a ban on cattle imports from Mexico that had been in place to contain the spread of a parasite threatening U.S. livestock. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said Douglas, Ariz., would be the first port of entry to be open on Aug. 24. All cattle imports from Mexico were halted by the Biden administration in November 2024, when the first cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm were detected in the south of the country.” (07/25/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/07/25/cattle-imports/4011785017761/
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13) Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
Source: New York Post
“A federal appeals court on Saturday refused to let the Trump administration enforce key parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order [attempting to rig] mail-in voting rules in 23 Democratic-led states, a setback that could send the administration to the US Supreme Court ahead of this year’s midterm elections. In a 2-1 decision, the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to pause a June ruling blocking several provisions of Trump’s March executive order while the administration appeals. The DOJ previously told the court it could seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court if it did not prevail. The administration argued the lawsuit was premature because federal agencies had not finalized the policies needed to implement the executive order.” (07/26/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/07/26/us-news/federal-appeals-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-enforce-mail-ballot-order-ahead-of-midterm-elections/
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14) ME: Democrats officially select Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner
Source: Politico
“Troy Jackson has officially secured the Democratic nomination to replace Graham Platner — and now has 101 days to win a race that could determine whether Democrats control the Senate. The Maine Democratic Party convened Saturday morning and voted to make Jackson, a progressive fifth-generation logger and former state Senate president, their nominee.The party has its eyes set on what’s been a white whale for Democrats: knocking out five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Jackson has been hitting Collins since he entered the race following former Senate nominee Graham Platner’s exit from the race less than three weeks ago.” (07/25/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/25/maine-democrats-select-troy-jackson-graham-platner-01012130
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15) India: “Cockroach” protest called off after education minister quits
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called off its five-week-long protest, hours after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. The CJP has called it a win for democracy and thousands of jubilant supporters continue to celebrate at Jantar Mantar, the main protest venue in Delhi. An online satirical campaign with an AI-generated cockroach as its mascot, the CJP is not a real party but has evolved into a powerful platform for young people’s anxieties and dissent. The protest has been the most visible expression of public anger against PM Narendra Modi’s government in recent years and gained momentum after Monday’s police crackdown on people marching to parliament left dozens injured.” (07/25/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx828gj5xko
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16) Trump sued hours after new tariffs take effect, as experts say they may not hold up
Source: CNBC
“The Trump administration on Friday imposed broad tariffs on [American buyers of] goods from more than 80 countries, alleging they have failed to effectively prohibit the use of forced labor practices. The latest tariffs — applying to trade partners that cover 99.4% of U.S. trade — were brought under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which enables the government to impose import levies in response to unfair trade practices. … Just hours after they took effect, two small businesses sued, arguing that the government is using Section 301 as a pretext to re-create the same global tariff regime that the Supreme Court torpedoed five months earlier.” (07/24/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/24/trump-tariffs-lawsuit-301-ieepa.html
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17) Romanian F-16 shoots down drone after airspace breach
Source: Fox News
“A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone that entered the country’s airspace without authorization Friday, marking the first time the NATO member has intercepted and destroyed a drone inside its national airspace, authorities said. Romanian officials have not yet identified the drone’s origin or purpose. Romania’s army chief said pilots described it as appearing to be a Shahed-type drone, Reuters reported, the Iran-designed attack drone widely used by Russia against Ukraine.” (07/24/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/world/romanian-f-16-shoots-down-drone-after-airspace-breach-marking-first-nato-ally
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18) ICC member states vote to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The International Criminal Court voted to remove the global tribunal’s chief prosecutor on Friday, nearly two years after sexual misconduct allegations against him first emerged, the court’s oversight body announced. British barrister Karim Khan was accused of sexual misconduct with a female aide, as outlined by The Associated Press in a series of stories, allegations which he has steadfastly denied. By a large majority, the ICC’s 125-member states ousted Khan from his position, the first time a chief prosecutor has ever been removed from office.” (07/24/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/24/g-s1-135498/icc-court-prosecutor-karim-khan-vote
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19) Senile reality TV actor yells at journalists
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Friday night, delivering a rambling, hourlong speech that praised some journalists, took potshots at others, made jokes about public figures’ weight and intellect, and quipped about a third presidential term. He assured the crowd of journalists, though, that he’d scrapped the most biting parts of his remarks. … Trump had entered the ballroom to polite applause, and was thanked for his support by outgoing White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News. After dinner, he sat through more than an hour of awards presentations, shaking hands with each winner.” (07/25/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/white-house-correspondents-dinner-redux-what-22358930.php
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20) Bangladesh: President Resigns Amid Uncertainty Over Ex-Leader’s Plans
Source: New York Times
“President Mohammed Shahabuddin of Bangladesh resigned on Friday as Bangladeshis anticipated the return and surrender of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, his onetime ally who fled to India before being convicted of crimes against humanity last year. Mr. Shahabuddin, 76, who was halfway into his term in the largely ceremonial post of president, cited illness as the reason for his resignation. Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, the speaker of the country’s Parliament, announced at a news conference that he had assumed the role of interim president, in accordance with the country’s Constitution, which also states that an election to choose an official successor must be held within 90 days.” (07/24/26)
https://archive.is/P9FN1
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) New Jersey Highlights the Problems with, and the Evils of, Automatic Voter Registration
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“State ‘motor voter’ laws — especially those which, like New Jersey’s, automatically register people who interact with the license bureau to vote, only later allowing them to opt out — don’t just risk inaccuracies like those produced by this episode, they abandon a key element in any supposed democracy: Consent. When you beg the state of New Jersey for a driver’s license, government ID card, etc., the bureaucrat behind the counter doesn’t request your permission to add your name to yet another database and co-opt you as a ‘member of the electorate.’ It just happens without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ … If someone signed your name on a legal contract you didn’t agree to or a petition you didn’t agree with, you’d be angry — and you’d be right.” (07/26/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20773
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22) Judges Can Void a Tariff. They Can’t Rebuild Our Reputation.
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert
“[I]n the span of a week, the White House effectively told Canada, our closest trading partner and ally, that America’s word means nothing and then told them that they are complicit in forced labor. … Then we set a penalty that just so happens to approximate the Section 122 tariffs that just expired. Foreign officials must now contend with an even clearer reality: not only is an agreement with the United States not worth the paper it’s printed on, but we will accuse you of horrendous practices if it means that an administration can re-impose tariffs.” (07/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/judges-can-void-a-tariff-they-cant-rebuild-our-reputation/
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23) “Revenge Mode” As “Strategy?”
Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan
“Regime change failed, of course. Worse: the mullahs’ regime hardened and gained confidence from successfully resisting the might of America’s war machine. The US watched helplessly as Iran instantly blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and couldn’t prevent them from hitting the Gulf states, Israel, and Jordan with what seems like a robust supply of missiles. So we were almost instantly exposed, humiliated, checkmated. The MOU was a recognition of this, but it postponed all the hard stuff and was so vaguely drafted that it soon fell apart. The only clear result of the war is therefore Iran’s control of the strait and enhanced leverage over the gulf. So what now? Escalation to get out of this? That appears to be a live possibility. The president is now in ‘revenge mode,’ we’re told — which is, of course, an emotion, not a strategy.” (07/24/26)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/revenge-mode-as-strategy-a54
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24) Afghan Lessons for American Democracy
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard
“After Al Qaeda terrorists used Afghanistan for training bases for the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan and quickly routed the Taliban government. President George W. Bush boasted that U.S. troops brought freedom and democracy to Afghanistan. But rather than democracy, the United States brought Hamid Karzai, an oil pipeline lobbyist who was expected to slavishly follow U.S. orders.” (07/24/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/afghan-lessons-for-american-democracy/
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25) The MAGA “Anchor Baby” Myth Doesn’t Hold Water
Source: The UnPopulist
by Steve Chapman
“Why birth tourism should bother the president and his supporters is a bit of a puzzle. Americans who oppose immigration often allege that foreigners who migrate here take jobs, drive up housing prices, sponge off taxpayer-provided benefits, congregate in clannish enclaves, and implant alien religions and customs. So you would think the critics would take a benign view of foreigners who come briefly and immediately leave, interacting with hardly anyone and paying their own way before vanishing like footprints on an ocean beach. The longstanding complaint is that this option allows their citizen children—’anchor babies,’ as they are misleadingly called—to sponsor parents for legal admission to the U.S. But kids can’t do that until they reach the age of 21, and after they do, the process of securing green cards can take a full decade.” (07/25/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-maga-anchor-baby-myth-doesnt
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26) The surveillance camera on your street corner: Lawful spying or constitutionally problematic?
Source: Fox News
by Kerri Kupec Urbahn
“The cameras that scan your car on your commute to work have quietly become one of the most widespread surveillance tools in America. They record vehicle sightings, feed searchable databases and, when agencies choose to share data, can connect searches across jurisdictional lines. Recent courts have upheld the particular ALPR networks before them, but they have left open whether a denser, more revealing system could cross the constitutional line.” (07/24/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/surveillance-camera-your-street-corner-lawful-spying-constitutionally-problematic
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27) Is Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Consistent with Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics?
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Dr. Edward W Younkins
“The similarities between Rand and Aristotle are substantial. Both hold that ethics is grounded in a conception of human nature and that the good life consists in the fulfillment of that nature. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue; for Rand, happiness is the state of consciousness that proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. Both identify reason as the distinctive human capacity and the foundation of virtue. For Aristotle, the rational part of the soul is what distinguishes humans from other animals; for Rand, ‘reason is man’s basic means of survival’. Both conceive of virtue as a kind of excellence in functioning—the excellent exercise of one’s human capacities. … Despite these deep affinities, important differences separate Rand from Aristotle.” (07/25/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/07/is-ayn-rands-philosophy-consistent-with.html
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28) A Curious Hospital Argument
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Elias Tsapelas
“Everyone agrees that health care costs too much. The disagreements start when we have to decide who should receive less money. That’s a big reason why warnings about Medicaid ‘cuts’ often receive so much attention. But the latest claims from Missouri hospitals about the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) cuts hurting rural hospitals deserve a closer look. At first glance, the concern seems straightforward. Since the government is the single largest purchaser of health care in the country, hospitals operating on thin margins could understandably struggle if they were paid less by Medicare or Medicaid. The first question, though, is what exactly is being cut. The OBBB does not reduce the payment rates hospitals receive for treating Medicare patients or Medicaid patients who remain eligible. Instead, it implements community engagement requirements for some able-bodied Medicaid enrollees beginning next year …” (07/24/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/health-care/a-curious-hospital-argument/
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29) The Saudi Nuclear Deal Is a Typical Trump Fiasco
Source: The Nation
by Jeet Heer
“The deal as initially described would allow Saudi Arabia to achieve its long-standing goal of having the US greenlight and assist in its civilian nuclear program without having to make any of the compromises that had previously prevented an agreement. … But within 24 hours, the landmark deal was already starting to unravel. The New York Times reported that the deal was ‘in doubt’ because Trump had ‘added a new condition to the sale of nuclear reactors to the kingdom, declaring that the entire arrangement now depends on the Saudi willingness to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.’ This was a typical Trump negotiating tactic: pulling the rug out from someone after proclaiming a done deal.” (07/24/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal-analysis/
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30) Is training AI on copyrighted materials protected by the First Amendment?
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Tyler Tone
“Much like the information gleaned from reverse engineering Sega’s copyrighted software, the patterns an AI model learns are not necessarily copyrighted works. Copyright protects an author’s particular expression, not the broader relationships among words, concepts, themes, or writing techniques that readers — or even AI models — may learn and deploy from it.” (07/24/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/training-ai-copyrighted-materials-protected-first-amendment
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31) Sorry, haters, Christopher Nolan’s Odysseus is no wimp — but a hero for our times
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“Was Odysseus, the legendary Greek warrior, actually a wimp? The most trenchant criticisms of Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster movie ‘The Odyssey’ involve how he portrays the hero of the tale. In the original, Odysseus is a clever, multifaceted hero who comes up with the idea for the Trojan horse and then, after the Greeks win the decade-long war with Troy, embarks on his arduous journey home to Ithaca and his waiting wife Penelope. Now, it’s true that Nolan modernizes Odysseus for a contemporary audience, but what was he supposed to do? If he’d given us the 100% Homeric Odysseus — abducting women, slaughtering unarmed people, sleeping around with nymphs, ordering the execution of housemaids — there’d be little chance that movie-goers would be interested in shelling out to see a 3-hour movie about his adventures and travails.” (07/24/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/opinion/sorry-haters-christopher-nolans-odysseus-is-no-wimp-but-a-hero-for-our-times/
-----
32) A Tale of Two Revolutions
Source: Law & Liberty
by Luke Foster
“Pierre de Beaumarchais is a forgotten hero of the American Revolution—and a victim of the French.” (07/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/a-tale-of-two-revolutions/
-----
33) De-Normalize Israel
Source: Caitlin Johnstone
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Basically we’ve got two choices: we either aggressively denormalize Israel or we watch our society become more and more Israeli. We either collectively reject Israel, or we watch western militaries fuse inseparably with the IDF. We either turn support for Israel into political campaign poison, or we watch politicians obliterate our right to criticize Israel while backing increasingly evil Israeli military agendas. We either ferociously oppose our government’s involvement in middle eastern wars, or we watch Israeli leaders grow more and more ecstatic as more and more western blood and treasure flows into the war machine.” (07/25/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/07/25/de-normalize-israel/
-----
34) Andy Burnham Takes the Stage
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“On July 20, Andy Burnham attended Buckingham Palace, where King Charles III invited him to form a government—making him Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade. Burnham is nicknamed ‘the King of the North,’ inspired by the Game of Thrones series and also speaks to his extremely popular tenure as mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. As a politician, he reflects all of the establishment’s trusted elements and very little of its baggage. Having served as a minister in Blair’s government and won three landslide re-elections since becoming Manchester’s mayor, Burnham has managed to avoid the scandals associated with the Labour Party of the last two decades while building a prominent personal brand—and has cast a shadow over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership as a result.” (07/24/26)
https://fee.org/articles/andy-burnham-takes-the-stage/
-----
35) With Saudi Arabia, Another Inferior Nuclear Deal
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Once again, Mr. ‘Art of the Deal’ underperforms his predecessors.” (07/24/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/saudi-arabia-nuclear-deal-trump/
-----
36) Our Currency Icons and America’s National Character
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette
“In what is the monetary equivalent of tearing down statues, the British have decided they must replace iconic images on their currency. Out of an apparent fear of offending the stampede of human beings who have chosen to abandon their own homelands to live in Great Britain, the historic images on British currency of people instrumental in making that nation what it is, have been forced to yield to images of animals. Foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs are in the ascendency. Our problem in the United States is somewhat different. It appears that the iconography of our currency will be made to climax in images of Donald Trump.” (07/24/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/our-currency-icons-and-americas-national-character/
-----
37) The Manufactured “Bipartisan” Push for an AI Kill Switch
Source: American Greatness
by Jordan Schachtel
“The AI Kill Switch Act, introduced Thursday by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), seeks to hand the government unprecedented authority to order private companies to throttle, suspend, or shut down products in “kill switch” fashion, purely on their own arbitrary determination, with fines up to $20 million a day. Behind this carefully staged rollout is a fanatical coalition that looks like a broad consensus, but it is mostly one funding network with an arsenal of astroturf organizations at its disposal.” (07/24/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/07/24/the-manufactured-bipartisan-push-for-an-ai-kill-switch/
-----
38) Iran War: Yes, We Can Cut and Run
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
“President Donald Trump’s renewed escalation of the war on Iran is dangerous and needs to be immediately reversed. Investors in the stock market are often advised to admit they bought an investment lemon and cut their losses by selling, thus avoiding further disaster by riding the stock to the bottom and vainly hoping it will rebound. Given human nature, many investors struggle with the first part: admitting they made a mistake. Politicians involved in losing wars often exhibit similar behavior. And President Trump, never wanting to be labeled a ‘loser,’ is particularly prone to such psychological denial.” (07/24/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/24/iran-war-cut-and-run/
-----
39) Zelensky’s Military Overhaul Explodes Western Fantasies
Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day
“ver the past week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has faced his biggest political crisis since this time last year. And just as they did back then, Western analysts and media outlets have concocted a pro-Zelensky narrative that downplays evident political dysfunction and misrepresents the struggles for power that are actually driving events.” (07/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/zelenskys-military-overhaul-explodes-western-fantasies/
-----
40) Aiming at the Gulf, Iran shoots itself in the foot
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Qamar CheemaMir & Ahmad Murtiza
“For decades, Iran has sought to diminish America’s military presence and political influence in the Middle East. Yet some ambitions carry within them the seeds of their own undoing. The very policies intended to push out the United States have instead strengthened the rationale for Washington’s continued engagement. Before the erosion of its regional axis, Iran based its security doctrine on forward defense, projecting influence beyond its borders to keep threats at bay. However, what Tehran regarded as a defensive strategy, the Persian Gulf states perceived as an expansionist bid for regional primacy. As a result, they deepened their security ties with Washington, making the U.S. military presence more indispensable to Gulf security rather than less.” (07/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-gulf-states/
-----
41) Israel in Crisis: A Threat from Within
Source: Informed Comment
by Yajov M Rabkin
“Montreal (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – ‘If the state sends people, soldiers, for the honor of the state, and they kill people, is that permissible? It is plain murder. They [the government] incite murder. This is what they do. They wage wars not to save lives, but only for the honor of the state. Certainly, this is not new. So, is this permitted? Just to raise the status of the state or something else?’ These are not the words of a left-wing anti-Israeli activist from an Ivy League campus. They were spoken on July 19, 2026, by the 96-year-old Rabbi Dov Lando, a senior member of the Council of Torah Sages in Israel.” (07/24/26)
https://www.juancole.com/2026/07/israel-crisis-threat.html
-----
42) Keep Washington Out Of Artificial Intelligence Education
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“I got an email in my Inbox last night from Sen. Rick Scott, all proud that he’s introduced the ‘Safeguard Kids Act’ with the intention of protecting students K-12 from the evil risks of artificial intelligence (AI). I find his proposal preposterous for a few reasons, but much like my article last night on the SCOTUS reversal of Roe v. Wade, Washington has no place in our students’ local classrooms. While I agree with Scott that AI will likely be the greatest information innovation since Guttenberg’s printing press, his solution is misguided. The last thing AI needs is the stagnation of a federal government bureaucracy. I thought we were closing down the U.S. Dept of Education, anyway; what happened to that notion?” (07/24/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/keep-washington-out-of-artificial
-----
43) What if Canada Did an IPO?
Source: EconLog
by Valentin Boboc
“Can a private company be worth more than Canada’s entire economy? Some people seem to think so. Every so often, a superstar company, usually in the tech sector, hits a record valuation, prompting comparisons to a country’s GDP. For example, NVIDIA’s market capitalization surpassed Canada’s GDP in 2025. By May 2026, the chip designer was worth more than the annual GDP of every country except the United States and China. The reason this comparison doesn’t give us much information beyond the emotional reaction is that the two numbers are measured in different units, so they are incomparable.” (07/24/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/what-if-canada-did-an-ipo
-----
44) Visas for 1st Amendment Foes?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Last December, the U.S. State Department imposed visa bans on five persons who, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, ‘have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.’ But is it okay for the U.S. government to withhold visas from foreigners acting to undermine the freedom of speech of Americans?” (07/24/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/07/24/visas4foes
-----
45) Socialism Has Never Worked Anywhere on Earth, So Why Should It Work in Space?
Source: Townhall
by Dr. Rainer Zitelmann
“Some left-wing ideologues reject space exploration altogether—especially private space exploration—while others dream of a planned economy in space or even socialism. We should not underestimate the danger of such ideas. They have already caused enormous harm on Earth. Around two dozen socialist experiments have failed over the past 100 years. Every single one. Without exception. Yet the failed ideas of central planning and socialism have become popular once again.” (07/25/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/rainerzitelmann/2026/07/25/socialism-has-never-worked-anywhere-on-earth-so-why-should-it-work-in-space-n2680085
-----
46) Airports Are Opting for Private Security Over the TSA. The Union Says That’s a Public Safety Threat.
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“Airport security screeners at the 20 private-contract airports get paid during a government shutdown. A public sector union wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.” (07/24/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/24/airports-are-opting-for-private-security-over-the-tsa-the-union-says-thats-a-public-safety-threat/
-----
47) The Anti-Slavery Advocates of Disunion
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter
“Contrary to the popular assumption that centralized political power was necessary to destroy slavery, federal power spent much of its history protecting and enforcing the institution. This privatized costs for a privileged few and socialized and diffused the costs onto others in society. This is a common reality with any state intervention, indeed, it is the point of state intervention. … Only after certain slaveholding states attempted to leave the Union—explicitly citing slavery as a principal cause of secession—did the federal government cease acting as slavery’s protector and begin acting as its destroyer. … By the 1840s, William Lloyd Garrison and the Garrisonian wing of the abolitionist movement had made disunion a central part of their program. Convinced that the Constitution and Union protected slavery, they adopted ‘No Union with Slaveholders’ as a rallying cry and urged Northern separation from the slaveholding South.” (07/24/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/anti-slavery-advocates-disunion
-----
48) Gemini, Hayek, and Me
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“I’ve been testing Google’s large language model, Gemini, by asking specialized questions that I know the answers to. For example, I asked, ‘Why does [Objectivist philosopher and Ayn Rand protoge] Leonard Peikoff agree with [British idealist and matter denier] Bishop Berkeley?’ I admit that was badly worded, but Gemini understood and gave the right answer. (Peikoff agrees, as Rand did, with Berkeley that John Locke had incorrectly distinguished primary from secondary qualities in material objects.) Alas, Gemini’s answers were not always flawless.” (07/24/26)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/tgif-gemini-hayek-and-me
-----
49) Trump’s Tariff Sham
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“With the Iran war a failure on all fronts, Trump predictably has tried to change the subject yet again. His abrupt imposition of tariffs on some 60 nations generated the desired headlines. But every aspect of Trump’s new tariffs is a fraud, from the professed justification to the supposed economic benefit.” (07/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/07/24/trumps-tariff-sham-jamieson-greer-canada/
-----
50) Could Zelensky Suffer Diem’s Fate?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Western leaders have redoubled their propaganda initiatives efforts in recent months to sell the proposition that underdog Ukraine is beginning to win the military contest against Russia. Despite a few flashy Ukrainian military successes, however, the overall picture of an eventual Russian victory in a war of attrition remains essentially the same. Domestic developments in Ukraine even more strongly suggest that Zelensky may be closer to the precipice of disaster than to the summit of victory. Indeed, his position bears an eerie resemblance to that of an earlier U.S. client and political darling, South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem.” (07/24/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/07/23/could-zelensky-suffer-diems-fate
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Unattended Baggage, episode 349
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Lube up, because oil is going bye-bye.” (07/25/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-349-lube-up-because-oil-is
-----
52) Pink Flame of Liberty, 07/25/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s Examine JC Filings of Appeal of the Disaffiliation of the Libertarian Party of NH.” (07/25/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoB6vwCVcaA
-----
53) Free Talk Live, 07/25/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Dave Ridley calls about Venice.AI and open claw. Also, talks about the recent discovery of ‘j space’ :: Sarah in NM calls about Z-trip replacing yellow cab :: 1.15 trillion dollar ndaa merges U.S. and Israel militaries :: Activist opposed to ‘cop city’ development indicted for giving a duress code to CPB that wiped his phone :: Florida pastor sues openAI for bad medical advice :: Major data center complex in Virginia halted after public pushback :: David in NM calls in his usual disjointed style :: Hosts: Stu, Angelo, Riley O’Bill.” (07/25/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-07-25
-----
54) The Climate Realism Show, episode 209
Source: Heartland Institute
“Blame Canada! Smoky Skies and Climate Change.” (07/24/26)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/blame-canada-smoky-skies-and-climate-change-the-climate-realism-show-209/
-----
55) TAC Right Now, 07/24/26
Source: The American Conservative
“The Emerging Bipartisan Anti-War Movement w/Ana Kasparian.” (07/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-the-emerging-bipartisan-anti-war-movement-w-ana-kasparian/
-----
56) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2781
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Four Forgotten (or Suppressed) Right-Wing Books.” (07/24/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2781-four-forgotten-or-suppressed-right-wing-books/
-----
57) Serious Trouble, 07/24/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“Andrew and Tristan Tate are detained pending extradition to the UK; a fired interim US Attorney sues to get his job back; people file stupid defamation lawsuits.” (07/24/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/later-tater
-----
58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 07/24/26
Source: The New Republic
“Angry Trump Openly Urges GOP to Rig Midterms as Brutal Fox Poll Hits.” (07/24/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/213478/angry-trump-urges-gop-rig-midterms-fox-poll-delivers-brutal-news
-----
59) Rising, 07/24/26
Source: The Hill
“Lindsey Granger gives her lens on congressmen Ted Lieu and Nathanial Moran introducing a bill that’s been dubbed an ‘AI kill switch act.'” (07/24/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5978091-rising-july-24-2026/
-----
60) Freakonomics Radio, episode 682
Source: Freakonomics
“Should A.I. Move to Space?” (07/24/26)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should-a-i-move-to-space/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) SpaceX’s Starship rocket chalks up mostly successful test flight
2) HI: Luke indicted in alleged bribery scheme
3) Palestine: Squatters torch mosques in occupied West Bank
4) Iran warns Ukraine of retaliation after deadly Caspian Sea strike
5) Kremlin says too early to comment on reported US-Ukraine air ceasefire talks
6) Brazil: Bolsonaro launches presidential bid despite challenges
7) UK: Burnham vows no early general election before 2029
8) Tunisians mark fifth year of emergency rule with calls for Saied to go
9) FBI says alleged $32 million COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US
10) Germany: Suspect in deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in confrontation with police
11) OpenAI launches health bot a day after frivolous lawsuit says ChatGPT advice hospitalized a man
12) US regime lifts ban on cattle imports from Mexico
13) Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
14) ME: Democrats officially select Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner
15) India: “Cockroach” protest called off after education minister quits
16) Trump sued hours after new tariffs take effect, as experts say they may not hold up
17) Romanian F-16 shoots down drone after airspace breach
18) ICC member states vote to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan
19) Senile reality TV actor yells at journalists
20) Bangladesh: President Resigns Amid Uncertainty Over Ex-Leader’s Plans
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) New Jersey Highlights the Problems with, and the Evils of, Automatic Voter Registration
22) Judges Can Void a Tariff. They Can’t Rebuild Our Reputation.
23) “Revenge Mode” As “Strategy?”
24) Afghan Lessons for American Democracy
25) The MAGA “Anchor Baby” Myth Doesn’t Hold Water
26) The surveillance camera on your street corner: Lawful spying or constitutionally problematic?
27) Is Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Consistent with Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics?
28) A Curious Hospital Argument
29) The Saudi Nuclear Deal Is a Typical Trump Fiasco
30) Is training AI on copyrighted materials protected by the First Amendment?
31) Sorry, haters, Christopher Nolan’s Odysseus is no wimp — but a hero for our times
32) A Tale of Two Revolutions
33) De-Normalize Israel
34) Andy Burnham Takes the Stage
35) With Saudi Arabia, Another Inferior Nuclear Deal
36) Our Currency Icons and America’s National Character
37) The Manufactured “Bipartisan” Push for an AI Kill Switch
38) Iran War: Yes, We Can Cut and Run
39) Zelensky’s Military Overhaul Explodes Western Fantasies
40) Aiming at the Gulf, Iran shoots itself in the foot
41) Israel in Crisis: A Threat from Within
42) Keep Washington Out Of Artificial Intelligence Education
43) What if Canada Did an IPO?
44) Visas for 1st Amendment Foes?
45) Socialism Has Never Worked Anywhere on Earth, So Why Should It Work in Space?
46) Airports Are Opting for Private Security Over the TSA. The Union Says That’s a Public Safety Threat.
47) The Anti-Slavery Advocates of Disunion
48) Gemini, Hayek, and Me
49) Trump’s Tariff Sham
50) Could Zelensky Suffer Diem’s Fate?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Unattended Baggage, episode 349
52) Pink Flame of Liberty, 07/25/26
53) Free Talk Live, 07/25/26
54) The Climate Realism Show, episode 209
55) TAC Right Now, 07/24/26
56) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2781
57) Serious Trouble, 07/24/26
58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 07/24/26
59) Rising, 07/24/26
60) Freakonomics Radio, episode 682
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) SpaceX’s Starship rocket chalks up mostly successful test flight
Source: Spaceflight Now
“SpaceX launched it’s 13th Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday, with the giant booster chalking up an on-target but ‘hard’ splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast while the Starship upper stage carried out a successful sub-orbital hop to the Indian Ocean. … It was the second test flight of a third-generation Super Heavy-Starship, building on lessons learned during the initial flight of a ‘V3’ rocket in May when the booster missed its landing target and the Starship suffered an early engine shutdown on the way to space. This time around, the booster appeared to perform as planned throughout its ascent …. But as the booster dropped toward the Gulf, only 10 of 13 engines restarted and at the moment of splashdown, only five appeared to be running. … the Starship deployed 20 third-generation Starlink internet satellites in a real-world test of the rocket’s Pez-like payload dispenser, releasing the satellites one at a time from a slot near the nose of the vehicle.” (07/25/26)
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/07/25/super-heavy-starship-rocket-chalks-up-mostly-successful-test-flight/
-----
2) HI: Luke indicted in alleged bribery scheme
Source: The Hill
“Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) was indicted on bribery charges on Friday following a monthslong state investigation into a campaign finance scandal. Luke was accused of accepting campaign finance contributions in 2022 while she was a state lawmaker in exchange for securing funding for COVID-19 testing sites. A Hawaii grand jury returned a 12-count indictment charging Luke with criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports among other charges, according to the state’s Department of the Attorney General. … The charges stem from allegations that Luke accepted at least $35,000 in campaign contributions from businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum in exchange for support for testing sites operated by the National Kidney Foundation, where Solidum served as a lobbyist and consultant.” (07/25/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5990691-hawaii-sylvia-luke-indicted-bribery
-----
3) Palestine: Squatters torch mosques in occupied West Bank
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Israeli [squatters] in the occupied West Bank set fire to two mosques early Sunday as well as scrawling buildings with graffiti that local Palestinian officials near Nablus said called for ‘revenge.’ ‘The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers. It had already been furnished with couches. They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls,’ said Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council of Qusra outside Nablus. The Israeli military confirmed that graffiti and traces of arson were found when they inspected the area. … Separately, Palestinian authorities said Israeli [squatters] had sought to burn a mosque near Kour and attacked Palestinian laborers at a stone-cutting facility near Ramallah.” (07/26/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/israeli-settlers-torch-mosques-in-occupied-west-bank/a-78120749
-----
4) Iran warns Ukraine of retaliation after deadly Caspian Sea strike
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a deadly Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea ‘cannot go unanswered’, calling it a violation of the United Nations Charter. In a social media post on Sunday, Araghchi accused Israel of provoking the attack in an attempt to ‘drag Europe into its war’. … Ukraine said it had targeted a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iranian-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea. But the Foreign Ministry said Iran ‘has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine’. Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker has warned Ukraine could face retaliation over the strike.” (07/27/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/27/iran-warns-ukraine-of-retaliation-after-deadly-caspian-sea-strike
-----
5) Kremlin says too early to comment on reported US-Ukraine air ceasefire talks
Source: Reuters
“Russia considers it premature to comment on reports that the United States and Ukraine are discussing a possible halt to aerial attacks as part of efforts to end the war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday. A Ukrainian source told Reuters that Ukrainian and U.S. officials had discussed a proposal for an air ceasefire to present to Russia as part of a new push to revive peace talks aimed at ending the conflict triggered by Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The source said Ukraine had approached Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past with offers of a ceasefire, which had been turned down. However, some officials believe that pressure on Russia’s economy from ongoing Ukrainian drone and missile strikes may soften Putin’s stance.” (07/26/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-too-early-comment-reported-us-ukraine-air-ceasefire-talks-2026-07-26/
-----
6) Brazil: Bolsonaro launches presidential bid despite challenges
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Flavio Bolsonaro on Saturday formally launched his campaign for Brazil’s October presidential election, seeking to extend his family’s grip on the country’s far-right movement despite a series of scandals that have dented his once-strong challenge to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. … Far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro anointed his eldest son, a senator, as his successor after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s 2022 election.” (07/25/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260725-crisis-hit-flavio-bolsonaro-launches-presidential-candidacy-in-brazil
-----
7) UK: Burnham vows no early general election before 2029
Source: Metro [UK]
“Andy Burnham has ruled out calling an early general election and said he will ‘honour’ Keir Starmer’s manifesto. The new Prime Minister insisted he ‘faced the public’ in the Makerfield by-election and had a mandate for his sweeping changes to the country. Burnham was speaking after a busy first week in the top job, during which he pledged to roll out the biggest changes the UK has seen in four years. … Burnham’s vow means the country should not face a general election until 2029, five years after Keir Starmer swept to power in 2024. There had been speculation that the new PM would want to go to the polls after he wiped out Reform’s poll leader almost immediately after entering No 10.” (07/26/26)
https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/26/andy-burnham-vows-no-early-general-election-2029-29225911/
-----
8) Tunisians mark fifth year of emergency rule with calls for Saied to go
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Thousands of Tunisians have rallied in the capital to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied, denouncing worsening living conditions, democratic backsliding and mismanagement of the state. Crowds marched down Habib Bourguiba Avenue in central Tunis on Saturday as the country marked five years since Saied declared a national emergency, suspended parliament and later dissolved it in order to rule by decree. It’s the latest in a run of recent protests opposing crackdowns on dissent, a struggling economy and limits on press freedoms. Saied’s opponents accused him of abusing emergency measures to institute a reversal of Tunisia’s hard-won democratic transition process.” (07/26/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/26/tunisians-mark-fifth-year-of-emergency-rule-with-calls-for-saied-to-go
-----
9) FBI says alleged $32 million COVID-19 fraud fugitive captured in Jamaica and returned to US
Source: Fox News
“One of the FBI’s most wanted alleged COVID-19 fraud fugitives has been returned to the United States after authorities captured her in Jamaica. FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital she had been living under the fake identity ‘Harley Newman’ while evading charges tied to an alleged $32 million pandemic relief fraud scheme. Elaine Angene Escoe, 41, arrived back in South Florida Thursday after Jamaican authorities arrested her after a federal manhunt. Prosecutors allege she helped fraudulently obtain more than $32 million in taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief funds before fleeing the country after failing to appear in federal court.” (07/25/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/exclusive-alleged-32m-covid-19-fraud-fugitive-captured-jamaica-returned-us-fbi-says
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10) Germany: Suspect in deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in confrontation with police
Source: Associated Press
"The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said. Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group. Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete in what authorities believe was an Islamic extremist terror attack." (07/26/26)
https://apnews.com/article/germany-berlin-lgbtq-pride-parade-van-ramming-3ba5e3f1becffd0da5f47b29aa08da9d
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11) OpenAI launches health bot a day after frivolous lawsuit says ChatGPT advice hospitalized a man
Source: SFGate
“Scott Winters was having dizzy spells but decided not to see a doctor after ChatGPT told him it would take several more serious episodes before he would need care. Instead, it recommended he lounge in a recliner. But weeks later, Winters would find himself being wheeled into an emergency room, convulsing and slipping in and out of consciousness, suffering from multiple blood clots in his lungs. … Winters is now suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI for not only providing unlicensed medical advice but also actively discouraging Winters from seeing a doctor. … Just one day after Winters filed his complaint, the company publicly released ChatGPT Health, a model based on a later version of ChatGPT, designed to interpret intimate medical records and give users health guidance.” (07/25/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/chatgpt-health-lawsuit-22359513.php
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12) US regime lifts ban on cattle imports from Mexico
Source: United Press International
“The Department of Agriculture on Friday lifted a ban on cattle imports from Mexico that had been in place to contain the spread of a parasite threatening U.S. livestock. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said Douglas, Ariz., would be the first port of entry to be open on Aug. 24. All cattle imports from Mexico were halted by the Biden administration in November 2024, when the first cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm were detected in the south of the country.” (07/25/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/07/25/cattle-imports/4011785017761/
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13) Federal appeals court rejects Trump bid to enforce mail ballot order ahead of midterm elections
Source: New York Post
“A federal appeals court on Saturday refused to let the Trump administration enforce key parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order [attempting to rig] mail-in voting rules in 23 Democratic-led states, a setback that could send the administration to the US Supreme Court ahead of this year’s midterm elections. In a 2-1 decision, the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to pause a June ruling blocking several provisions of Trump’s March executive order while the administration appeals. The DOJ previously told the court it could seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court if it did not prevail. The administration argued the lawsuit was premature because federal agencies had not finalized the policies needed to implement the executive order.” (07/26/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/07/26/us-news/federal-appeals-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-enforce-mail-ballot-order-ahead-of-midterm-elections/
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14) ME: Democrats officially select Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner
Source: Politico
“Troy Jackson has officially secured the Democratic nomination to replace Graham Platner — and now has 101 days to win a race that could determine whether Democrats control the Senate. The Maine Democratic Party convened Saturday morning and voted to make Jackson, a progressive fifth-generation logger and former state Senate president, their nominee.The party has its eyes set on what’s been a white whale for Democrats: knocking out five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Jackson has been hitting Collins since he entered the race following former Senate nominee Graham Platner’s exit from the race less than three weeks ago.” (07/25/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/25/maine-democrats-select-troy-jackson-graham-platner-01012130
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15) India: “Cockroach” protest called off after education minister quits
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called off its five-week-long protest, hours after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. The CJP has called it a win for democracy and thousands of jubilant supporters continue to celebrate at Jantar Mantar, the main protest venue in Delhi. An online satirical campaign with an AI-generated cockroach as its mascot, the CJP is not a real party but has evolved into a powerful platform for young people’s anxieties and dissent. The protest has been the most visible expression of public anger against PM Narendra Modi’s government in recent years and gained momentum after Monday’s police crackdown on people marching to parliament left dozens injured.” (07/25/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx828gj5xko
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16) Trump sued hours after new tariffs take effect, as experts say they may not hold up
Source: CNBC
“The Trump administration on Friday imposed broad tariffs on [American buyers of] goods from more than 80 countries, alleging they have failed to effectively prohibit the use of forced labor practices. The latest tariffs — applying to trade partners that cover 99.4% of U.S. trade — were brought under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which enables the government to impose import levies in response to unfair trade practices. … Just hours after they took effect, two small businesses sued, arguing that the government is using Section 301 as a pretext to re-create the same global tariff regime that the Supreme Court torpedoed five months earlier.” (07/24/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/24/trump-tariffs-lawsuit-301-ieepa.html
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17) Romanian F-16 shoots down drone after airspace breach
Source: Fox News
“A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone that entered the country’s airspace without authorization Friday, marking the first time the NATO member has intercepted and destroyed a drone inside its national airspace, authorities said. Romanian officials have not yet identified the drone’s origin or purpose. Romania’s army chief said pilots described it as appearing to be a Shahed-type drone, Reuters reported, the Iran-designed attack drone widely used by Russia against Ukraine.” (07/24/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/world/romanian-f-16-shoots-down-drone-after-airspace-breach-marking-first-nato-ally
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18) ICC member states vote to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The International Criminal Court voted to remove the global tribunal’s chief prosecutor on Friday, nearly two years after sexual misconduct allegations against him first emerged, the court’s oversight body announced. British barrister Karim Khan was accused of sexual misconduct with a female aide, as outlined by The Associated Press in a series of stories, allegations which he has steadfastly denied. By a large majority, the ICC’s 125-member states ousted Khan from his position, the first time a chief prosecutor has ever been removed from office.” (07/24/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/24/g-s1-135498/icc-court-prosecutor-karim-khan-vote
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19) Senile reality TV actor yells at journalists
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Friday night, delivering a rambling, hourlong speech that praised some journalists, took potshots at others, made jokes about public figures’ weight and intellect, and quipped about a third presidential term. He assured the crowd of journalists, though, that he’d scrapped the most biting parts of his remarks. … Trump had entered the ballroom to polite applause, and was thanked for his support by outgoing White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News. After dinner, he sat through more than an hour of awards presentations, shaking hands with each winner.” (07/25/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/white-house-correspondents-dinner-redux-what-22358930.php
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20) Bangladesh: President Resigns Amid Uncertainty Over Ex-Leader’s Plans
Source: New York Times
“President Mohammed Shahabuddin of Bangladesh resigned on Friday as Bangladeshis anticipated the return and surrender of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, his onetime ally who fled to India before being convicted of crimes against humanity last year. Mr. Shahabuddin, 76, who was halfway into his term in the largely ceremonial post of president, cited illness as the reason for his resignation. Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, the speaker of the country’s Parliament, announced at a news conference that he had assumed the role of interim president, in accordance with the country’s Constitution, which also states that an election to choose an official successor must be held within 90 days.” (07/24/26)
https://archive.is/P9FN1
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) New Jersey Highlights the Problems with, and the Evils of, Automatic Voter Registration
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“State ‘motor voter’ laws — especially those which, like New Jersey’s, automatically register people who interact with the license bureau to vote, only later allowing them to opt out — don’t just risk inaccuracies like those produced by this episode, they abandon a key element in any supposed democracy: Consent. When you beg the state of New Jersey for a driver’s license, government ID card, etc., the bureaucrat behind the counter doesn’t request your permission to add your name to yet another database and co-opt you as a ‘member of the electorate.’ It just happens without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ … If someone signed your name on a legal contract you didn’t agree to or a petition you didn’t agree with, you’d be angry — and you’d be right.” (07/26/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20773
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22) Judges Can Void a Tariff. They Can’t Rebuild Our Reputation.
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert
“[I]n the span of a week, the White House effectively told Canada, our closest trading partner and ally, that America’s word means nothing and then told them that they are complicit in forced labor. … Then we set a penalty that just so happens to approximate the Section 122 tariffs that just expired. Foreign officials must now contend with an even clearer reality: not only is an agreement with the United States not worth the paper it’s printed on, but we will accuse you of horrendous practices if it means that an administration can re-impose tariffs.” (07/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/judges-can-void-a-tariff-they-cant-rebuild-our-reputation/
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23) “Revenge Mode” As “Strategy?”
Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan
“Regime change failed, of course. Worse: the mullahs’ regime hardened and gained confidence from successfully resisting the might of America’s war machine. The US watched helplessly as Iran instantly blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and couldn’t prevent them from hitting the Gulf states, Israel, and Jordan with what seems like a robust supply of missiles. So we were almost instantly exposed, humiliated, checkmated. The MOU was a recognition of this, but it postponed all the hard stuff and was so vaguely drafted that it soon fell apart. The only clear result of the war is therefore Iran’s control of the strait and enhanced leverage over the gulf. So what now? Escalation to get out of this? That appears to be a live possibility. The president is now in ‘revenge mode,’ we’re told — which is, of course, an emotion, not a strategy.” (07/24/26)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/revenge-mode-as-strategy-a54
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24) Afghan Lessons for American Democracy
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by James Bovard
“After Al Qaeda terrorists used Afghanistan for training bases for the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan and quickly routed the Taliban government. President George W. Bush boasted that U.S. troops brought freedom and democracy to Afghanistan. But rather than democracy, the United States brought Hamid Karzai, an oil pipeline lobbyist who was expected to slavishly follow U.S. orders.” (07/24/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/afghan-lessons-for-american-democracy/
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25) The MAGA “Anchor Baby” Myth Doesn’t Hold Water
Source: The UnPopulist
by Steve Chapman
“Why birth tourism should bother the president and his supporters is a bit of a puzzle. Americans who oppose immigration often allege that foreigners who migrate here take jobs, drive up housing prices, sponge off taxpayer-provided benefits, congregate in clannish enclaves, and implant alien religions and customs. So you would think the critics would take a benign view of foreigners who come briefly and immediately leave, interacting with hardly anyone and paying their own way before vanishing like footprints on an ocean beach. The longstanding complaint is that this option allows their citizen children—’anchor babies,’ as they are misleadingly called—to sponsor parents for legal admission to the U.S. But kids can’t do that until they reach the age of 21, and after they do, the process of securing green cards can take a full decade.” (07/25/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-maga-anchor-baby-myth-doesnt
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26) The surveillance camera on your street corner: Lawful spying or constitutionally problematic?
Source: Fox News
by Kerri Kupec Urbahn
“The cameras that scan your car on your commute to work have quietly become one of the most widespread surveillance tools in America. They record vehicle sightings, feed searchable databases and, when agencies choose to share data, can connect searches across jurisdictional lines. Recent courts have upheld the particular ALPR networks before them, but they have left open whether a denser, more revealing system could cross the constitutional line.” (07/24/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/surveillance-camera-your-street-corner-lawful-spying-constitutionally-problematic
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27) Is Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Consistent with Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics?
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Dr. Edward W Younkins
“The similarities between Rand and Aristotle are substantial. Both hold that ethics is grounded in a conception of human nature and that the good life consists in the fulfillment of that nature. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue; for Rand, happiness is the state of consciousness that proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. Both identify reason as the distinctive human capacity and the foundation of virtue. For Aristotle, the rational part of the soul is what distinguishes humans from other animals; for Rand, ‘reason is man’s basic means of survival’. Both conceive of virtue as a kind of excellence in functioning—the excellent exercise of one’s human capacities. … Despite these deep affinities, important differences separate Rand from Aristotle.” (07/25/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/07/is-ayn-rands-philosophy-consistent-with.html
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28) A Curious Hospital Argument
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Elias Tsapelas
“Everyone agrees that health care costs too much. The disagreements start when we have to decide who should receive less money. That’s a big reason why warnings about Medicaid ‘cuts’ often receive so much attention. But the latest claims from Missouri hospitals about the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) cuts hurting rural hospitals deserve a closer look. At first glance, the concern seems straightforward. Since the government is the single largest purchaser of health care in the country, hospitals operating on thin margins could understandably struggle if they were paid less by Medicare or Medicaid. The first question, though, is what exactly is being cut. The OBBB does not reduce the payment rates hospitals receive for treating Medicare patients or Medicaid patients who remain eligible. Instead, it implements community engagement requirements for some able-bodied Medicaid enrollees beginning next year …” (07/24/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/health-care/a-curious-hospital-argument/
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29) The Saudi Nuclear Deal Is a Typical Trump Fiasco
Source: The Nation
by Jeet Heer
“The deal as initially described would allow Saudi Arabia to achieve its long-standing goal of having the US greenlight and assist in its civilian nuclear program without having to make any of the compromises that had previously prevented an agreement. … But within 24 hours, the landmark deal was already starting to unravel. The New York Times reported that the deal was ‘in doubt’ because Trump had ‘added a new condition to the sale of nuclear reactors to the kingdom, declaring that the entire arrangement now depends on the Saudi willingness to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.’ This was a typical Trump negotiating tactic: pulling the rug out from someone after proclaiming a done deal.” (07/24/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal-analysis/
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30) Is training AI on copyrighted materials protected by the First Amendment?
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Tyler Tone
“Much like the information gleaned from reverse engineering Sega’s copyrighted software, the patterns an AI model learns are not necessarily copyrighted works. Copyright protects an author’s particular expression, not the broader relationships among words, concepts, themes, or writing techniques that readers — or even AI models — may learn and deploy from it.” (07/24/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/training-ai-copyrighted-materials-protected-first-amendment
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31) Sorry, haters, Christopher Nolan’s Odysseus is no wimp — but a hero for our times
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“Was Odysseus, the legendary Greek warrior, actually a wimp? The most trenchant criticisms of Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster movie ‘The Odyssey’ involve how he portrays the hero of the tale. In the original, Odysseus is a clever, multifaceted hero who comes up with the idea for the Trojan horse and then, after the Greeks win the decade-long war with Troy, embarks on his arduous journey home to Ithaca and his waiting wife Penelope. Now, it’s true that Nolan modernizes Odysseus for a contemporary audience, but what was he supposed to do? If he’d given us the 100% Homeric Odysseus — abducting women, slaughtering unarmed people, sleeping around with nymphs, ordering the execution of housemaids — there’d be little chance that movie-goers would be interested in shelling out to see a 3-hour movie about his adventures and travails.” (07/24/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/opinion/sorry-haters-christopher-nolans-odysseus-is-no-wimp-but-a-hero-for-our-times/
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32) A Tale of Two Revolutions
Source: Law & Liberty
by Luke Foster
“Pierre de Beaumarchais is a forgotten hero of the American Revolution—and a victim of the French.” (07/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/a-tale-of-two-revolutions/
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33) De-Normalize Israel
Source: Caitlin Johnstone
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Basically we’ve got two choices: we either aggressively denormalize Israel or we watch our society become more and more Israeli. We either collectively reject Israel, or we watch western militaries fuse inseparably with the IDF. We either turn support for Israel into political campaign poison, or we watch politicians obliterate our right to criticize Israel while backing increasingly evil Israeli military agendas. We either ferociously oppose our government’s involvement in middle eastern wars, or we watch Israeli leaders grow more and more ecstatic as more and more western blood and treasure flows into the war machine.” (07/25/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/07/25/de-normalize-israel/
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34) Andy Burnham Takes the Stage
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“On July 20, Andy Burnham attended Buckingham Palace, where King Charles III invited him to form a government—making him Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade. Burnham is nicknamed ‘the King of the North,’ inspired by the Game of Thrones series and also speaks to his extremely popular tenure as mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. As a politician, he reflects all of the establishment’s trusted elements and very little of its baggage. Having served as a minister in Blair’s government and won three landslide re-elections since becoming Manchester’s mayor, Burnham has managed to avoid the scandals associated with the Labour Party of the last two decades while building a prominent personal brand—and has cast a shadow over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership as a result.” (07/24/26)
https://fee.org/articles/andy-burnham-takes-the-stage/
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35) With Saudi Arabia, Another Inferior Nuclear Deal
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Once again, Mr. ‘Art of the Deal’ underperforms his predecessors.” (07/24/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/saudi-arabia-nuclear-deal-trump/
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36) Our Currency Icons and America’s National Character
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette
“In what is the monetary equivalent of tearing down statues, the British have decided they must replace iconic images on their currency. Out of an apparent fear of offending the stampede of human beings who have chosen to abandon their own homelands to live in Great Britain, the historic images on British currency of people instrumental in making that nation what it is, have been forced to yield to images of animals. Foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs are in the ascendency. Our problem in the United States is somewhat different. It appears that the iconography of our currency will be made to climax in images of Donald Trump.” (07/24/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/our-currency-icons-and-americas-national-character/
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37) The Manufactured “Bipartisan” Push for an AI Kill Switch
Source: American Greatness
by Jordan Schachtel
“The AI Kill Switch Act, introduced Thursday by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), seeks to hand the government unprecedented authority to order private companies to throttle, suspend, or shut down products in “kill switch” fashion, purely on their own arbitrary determination, with fines up to $20 million a day. Behind this carefully staged rollout is a fanatical coalition that looks like a broad consensus, but it is mostly one funding network with an arsenal of astroturf organizations at its disposal.” (07/24/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/07/24/the-manufactured-bipartisan-push-for-an-ai-kill-switch/
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38) Iran War: Yes, We Can Cut and Run
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
“President Donald Trump’s renewed escalation of the war on Iran is dangerous and needs to be immediately reversed. Investors in the stock market are often advised to admit they bought an investment lemon and cut their losses by selling, thus avoiding further disaster by riding the stock to the bottom and vainly hoping it will rebound. Given human nature, many investors struggle with the first part: admitting they made a mistake. Politicians involved in losing wars often exhibit similar behavior. And President Trump, never wanting to be labeled a ‘loser,’ is particularly prone to such psychological denial.” (07/24/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/24/iran-war-cut-and-run/
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39) Zelensky’s Military Overhaul Explodes Western Fantasies
Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day
“ver the past week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has faced his biggest political crisis since this time last year. And just as they did back then, Western analysts and media outlets have concocted a pro-Zelensky narrative that downplays evident political dysfunction and misrepresents the struggles for power that are actually driving events.” (07/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/zelenskys-military-overhaul-explodes-western-fantasies/
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40) Aiming at the Gulf, Iran shoots itself in the foot
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Qamar CheemaMir & Ahmad Murtiza
“For decades, Iran has sought to diminish America’s military presence and political influence in the Middle East. Yet some ambitions carry within them the seeds of their own undoing. The very policies intended to push out the United States have instead strengthened the rationale for Washington’s continued engagement. Before the erosion of its regional axis, Iran based its security doctrine on forward defense, projecting influence beyond its borders to keep threats at bay. However, what Tehran regarded as a defensive strategy, the Persian Gulf states perceived as an expansionist bid for regional primacy. As a result, they deepened their security ties with Washington, making the U.S. military presence more indispensable to Gulf security rather than less.” (07/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-gulf-states/
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41) Israel in Crisis: A Threat from Within
Source: Informed Comment
by Yajov M Rabkin
“Montreal (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – ‘If the state sends people, soldiers, for the honor of the state, and they kill people, is that permissible? It is plain murder. They [the government] incite murder. This is what they do. They wage wars not to save lives, but only for the honor of the state. Certainly, this is not new. So, is this permitted? Just to raise the status of the state or something else?’ These are not the words of a left-wing anti-Israeli activist from an Ivy League campus. They were spoken on July 19, 2026, by the 96-year-old Rabbi Dov Lando, a senior member of the Council of Torah Sages in Israel.” (07/24/26)
https://www.juancole.com/2026/07/israel-crisis-threat.html
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42) Keep Washington Out Of Artificial Intelligence Education
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“I got an email in my Inbox last night from Sen. Rick Scott, all proud that he’s introduced the ‘Safeguard Kids Act’ with the intention of protecting students K-12 from the evil risks of artificial intelligence (AI). I find his proposal preposterous for a few reasons, but much like my article last night on the SCOTUS reversal of Roe v. Wade, Washington has no place in our students’ local classrooms. While I agree with Scott that AI will likely be the greatest information innovation since Guttenberg’s printing press, his solution is misguided. The last thing AI needs is the stagnation of a federal government bureaucracy. I thought we were closing down the U.S. Dept of Education, anyway; what happened to that notion?” (07/24/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/keep-washington-out-of-artificial
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43) What if Canada Did an IPO?
Source: EconLog
by Valentin Boboc
“Can a private company be worth more than Canada’s entire economy? Some people seem to think so. Every so often, a superstar company, usually in the tech sector, hits a record valuation, prompting comparisons to a country’s GDP. For example, NVIDIA’s market capitalization surpassed Canada’s GDP in 2025. By May 2026, the chip designer was worth more than the annual GDP of every country except the United States and China. The reason this comparison doesn’t give us much information beyond the emotional reaction is that the two numbers are measured in different units, so they are incomparable.” (07/24/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/what-if-canada-did-an-ipo
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44) Visas for 1st Amendment Foes?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Last December, the U.S. State Department imposed visa bans on five persons who, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, ‘have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.’ But is it okay for the U.S. government to withhold visas from foreigners acting to undermine the freedom of speech of Americans?” (07/24/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/07/24/visas4foes
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45) Socialism Has Never Worked Anywhere on Earth, So Why Should It Work in Space?
Source: Townhall
by Dr. Rainer Zitelmann
“Some left-wing ideologues reject space exploration altogether—especially private space exploration—while others dream of a planned economy in space or even socialism. We should not underestimate the danger of such ideas. They have already caused enormous harm on Earth. Around two dozen socialist experiments have failed over the past 100 years. Every single one. Without exception. Yet the failed ideas of central planning and socialism have become popular once again.” (07/25/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/rainerzitelmann/2026/07/25/socialism-has-never-worked-anywhere-on-earth-so-why-should-it-work-in-space-n2680085
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46) Airports Are Opting for Private Security Over the TSA. The Union Says That’s a Public Safety Threat.
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“Airport security screeners at the 20 private-contract airports get paid during a government shutdown. A public sector union wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.” (07/24/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/24/airports-are-opting-for-private-security-over-the-tsa-the-union-says-thats-a-public-safety-threat/
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47) The Anti-Slavery Advocates of Disunion
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter
“Contrary to the popular assumption that centralized political power was necessary to destroy slavery, federal power spent much of its history protecting and enforcing the institution. This privatized costs for a privileged few and socialized and diffused the costs onto others in society. This is a common reality with any state intervention, indeed, it is the point of state intervention. … Only after certain slaveholding states attempted to leave the Union—explicitly citing slavery as a principal cause of secession—did the federal government cease acting as slavery’s protector and begin acting as its destroyer. … By the 1840s, William Lloyd Garrison and the Garrisonian wing of the abolitionist movement had made disunion a central part of their program. Convinced that the Constitution and Union protected slavery, they adopted ‘No Union with Slaveholders’ as a rallying cry and urged Northern separation from the slaveholding South.” (07/24/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/anti-slavery-advocates-disunion
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48) Gemini, Hayek, and Me
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“I’ve been testing Google’s large language model, Gemini, by asking specialized questions that I know the answers to. For example, I asked, ‘Why does [Objectivist philosopher and Ayn Rand protoge] Leonard Peikoff agree with [British idealist and matter denier] Bishop Berkeley?’ I admit that was badly worded, but Gemini understood and gave the right answer. (Peikoff agrees, as Rand did, with Berkeley that John Locke had incorrectly distinguished primary from secondary qualities in material objects.) Alas, Gemini’s answers were not always flawless.” (07/24/26)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/tgif-gemini-hayek-and-me
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49) Trump’s Tariff Sham
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“With the Iran war a failure on all fronts, Trump predictably has tried to change the subject yet again. His abrupt imposition of tariffs on some 60 nations generated the desired headlines. But every aspect of Trump’s new tariffs is a fraud, from the professed justification to the supposed economic benefit.” (07/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/07/24/trumps-tariff-sham-jamieson-greer-canada/
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50) Could Zelensky Suffer Diem’s Fate?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Western leaders have redoubled their propaganda initiatives efforts in recent months to sell the proposition that underdog Ukraine is beginning to win the military contest against Russia. Despite a few flashy Ukrainian military successes, however, the overall picture of an eventual Russian victory in a war of attrition remains essentially the same. Domestic developments in Ukraine even more strongly suggest that Zelensky may be closer to the precipice of disaster than to the summit of victory. Indeed, his position bears an eerie resemblance to that of an earlier U.S. client and political darling, South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem.” (07/24/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/07/23/could-zelensky-suffer-diems-fate
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Unattended Baggage, episode 349
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Lube up, because oil is going bye-bye.” (07/25/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-349-lube-up-because-oil-is
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52) Pink Flame of Liberty, 07/25/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s Examine JC Filings of Appeal of the Disaffiliation of the Libertarian Party of NH.” (07/25/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoB6vwCVcaA
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53) Free Talk Live, 07/25/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Dave Ridley calls about Venice.AI and open claw. Also, talks about the recent discovery of ‘j space’ :: Sarah in NM calls about Z-trip replacing yellow cab :: 1.15 trillion dollar ndaa merges U.S. and Israel militaries :: Activist opposed to ‘cop city’ development indicted for giving a duress code to CPB that wiped his phone :: Florida pastor sues openAI for bad medical advice :: Major data center complex in Virginia halted after public pushback :: David in NM calls in his usual disjointed style :: Hosts: Stu, Angelo, Riley O’Bill.” (07/25/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-07-25
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54) The Climate Realism Show, episode 209
Source: Heartland Institute
“Blame Canada! Smoky Skies and Climate Change.” (07/24/26)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/blame-canada-smoky-skies-and-climate-change-the-climate-realism-show-209/
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55) TAC Right Now, 07/24/26
Source: The American Conservative
“The Emerging Bipartisan Anti-War Movement w/Ana Kasparian.” (07/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-the-emerging-bipartisan-anti-war-movement-w-ana-kasparian/
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56) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2781
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Four Forgotten (or Suppressed) Right-Wing Books.” (07/24/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2781-four-forgotten-or-suppressed-right-wing-books/
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57) Serious Trouble, 07/24/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“Andrew and Tristan Tate are detained pending extradition to the UK; a fired interim US Attorney sues to get his job back; people file stupid defamation lawsuits.” (07/24/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/later-tater
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58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 07/24/26
Source: The New Republic
“Angry Trump Openly Urges GOP to Rig Midterms as Brutal Fox Poll Hits.” (07/24/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/213478/angry-trump-urges-gop-rig-midterms-fox-poll-delivers-brutal-news
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59) Rising, 07/24/26
Source: The Hill
“Lindsey Granger gives her lens on congressmen Ted Lieu and Nathanial Moran introducing a bill that’s been dubbed an ‘AI kill switch act.'” (07/24/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5978091-rising-july-24-2026/
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60) Freakonomics Radio, episode 682
Source: Freakonomics
“Should A.I. Move to Space?” (07/24/26)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should-a-i-move-to-space/
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