08/25 -- UN Security Council (Except US Regime) Notes Gaza Famine is "Man-Made;" Why Enemies of Liberty Hate Economics
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Thomas L. Knapp
Aug 28, 2025, 6:22:26 AMAug 28
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 08/28/25
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Today's Freedom News:
1) UN Security Council (Except US Regime) Notes Gaza Famine is “Man-Made”
2) Ukraine: Russian strike damages EU delegation building
3) DC: Grand jury refuses to indict sandwich thrower
4) White House fires CDC director as other officials resign from health agency
5) Trump’s latest tax hike on American consumers takes effect
6) Germany: Regime launches military recruitment drive, threatens enslavement if unsuccessful
7) GA: Democrat heads to runoff in state Senate race with two Republicans competing for second
8) IL: Enraged Chicago woman gives gang member dressing down
9) IA: Democrats flip state Senate seat, breaking GOP supermajority
10) Google warns 2.5 billion Gmail users to update passwords after hackers complete “successful intrusions”
11) Musk’s lawyers try to stop OpenAI obtaining bid documents from Meta, filing shows
12) “Let the Public See Where Democrats Really Stand”: Full DNC Floor Vote Demanded on Gaza
13) Scientists get rare peek inside of an exploding star
14) Bolivia: Court orders the release of a prominent right-wing opposition leader
15) FL: Cities race to save rainbow crosswalks as state’s deadlines for removal loom
16) US Democrats weigh mini-convention before 2026 midterms
17) Jack Smith’s lawyers blast Hatch Act probe as “imaginary and unfounded”
18) China: Regime Says Trilateral Nuclear Disarmament Talks With US, Russian Regimes “Unreasonable”
19) US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers allegedly try to hide the planes
20) Cracker Barrel caves to woke right
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Why Enemies of Liberty Hate Economics
22) We Don’t Need More Federal Intervention in US Cities
23) The New State Interventions
24) Why Philosophy Has Failed Us
25) Why AI Could Be a Boon for Workers
26) Trump’s proposed snap Census won’t get him the seats he wants
27) Too many college students
28) The Emerging Liberal Minority
29) The Value of Medicaid: The Evolution of a Socially Undesirable Finding
30) Why Politicians Seek Power
31) Reclaiming God from Empire: Nonviolence in an Age of Religious Nationalism
32) It’s your job to defend liberty
33) Trump’s bold flag-burning crackdown sets up big fight down the road
34) Being Lovely: Adam Smith’s Call For a Humane Society
35) How Western Media Helped Turn Israel’s Genocide Into “Fake News”
36) The Real Problem with Trump’s Intel Deal
37) For Frantic Dems, Trump Bashing is the Only Game in Town
38) Peacemaking in the Borderlands: A Reflection on the Farce of “Border Security”
39) Politics, Culture, and Congressional Decadence
40) Too Virtuous to Win?
41) 21 Questions About The Claim That Iran Orchestrated Antisemitic Attacks In Australia
42) Why Putin is winning
43) Checking In on the Peace Administration
44) The Problem Is Solved by Art, Not Science
45) Trump needs to deploy the National Guard to Chicago immediately!
46) A Collectivist Judge Is a Contradiction in Terms
47) This 8th Amendment Clause Was Crafted for Common Folks. It Still Helped Donald Trump.
48) When Mamdani says it, it’s socialism. When Trump does it, it’s genius.
49) Foot Soldiers of the Trump Mafiacracy
50) Trump Promised To Cut Energy Bills “By Half.” His Trade War Could Drive Them Higher.
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Interview: Glenn Jacobs
52) Rising, 08/27/25
53) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/27/25
54) How To Fix The Internet, 08/27/25
55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/27/25
56) William Van Wagenen on The Scott Horton Show
57) System Update, episode 505
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/26/25
59) Nonzero, 08/26/25
60) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/26/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) UN Security Council (Except US Regime) Notes Gaza Famine is “Man-Made”
Source: Antiwar.com
“Every member nation of the United Nations Security Council except the United States on Wednesday affirmed that Israel’s engineered famine in Gaza is ‘man-made’ as 10 more Palestinians died of starvation amid what UN experts warned is a worsening crisis. Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members issued a joint statement calling for an immediate Gaza ceasefire, release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and lifting of all Israeli restrictions on aid delivery into the embattled strip, where hundreds of Palestinians have died from starvation and hundreds of thousands more are starving. … Israel, which is facing a genocide case at the UN’s International Court of Justice, denies the existence of famine in Gaza.” (08/27/25)
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2025/08/27/entire-un-security-council-except-us-says-gaza-famine-man-made-as-10-more-people-starve-to-death/
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2) Ukraine: Russian strike damages EU delegation building
Source: Politico
“Russia struck a building housing the EU’s delegation to Kyiv Thursday morning, causing significant damage. … The EU’s Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said the building was ‘severely damaged by the shock wave’ of the ‘massive’ wave of drone and ballistic missile strikes Russia launched at Ukraine overnight, in which she said at least 10 people had been killed and 30 injured. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia’s attack ‘targeted diplomats — in direct breach of the Vienna convention.'” (08/28/25)
https://archive.is/F3N4l
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3) DC: Grand jury refuses to indict sandwich thrower
Source: SFGate
“Federal prosecutors have failed to obtain a felony indictment against a man who was seen on camera hurling a sandwich at a federal law enforcement official in the nation’s capital, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Sean Charles Dunn was arrested on an assault charge after he threw a sub-style sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent. A video of the incident went viral, and shortly after he was fired from the Justice Department, where he worked as an international affairs specialist in the department’s criminal division. The case is one of the examples of the legal pushback to President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in Washington that has led to more than 1,000 arrests. It is highly unusual for grand jurors to refuse to return an indictment, and it was once said that prosecutors could persuade a grand jury ‘to indict a ham sandwich.'” (08/27/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/prosecutors-fail-to-indict-sandwich-thrower-in-21017834.php
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4) White House fires CDC director as other officials resign from health agency
Source: BBC Newsw [UK state media]
“The White House says it has fired the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, after she refused to resign on Wednesday. In a statement, it said she was ‘not aligned with the president’s agenda’ and she had been removed from her position at the health agency. The US health department earlier announced her departure, which prompted a statement from Dr Monarez’s lawyers who said she had not been told of her removal and she would not resign. They said she was being targeted for refusing ‘to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts’ and accused Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr of ‘weaponising public health.’ … Almost immediately after Dr Monarez’s departure was first announced by the health department, at least three senior CDC leaders resigned from the agency.” (08/28/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3zjxy3dwo
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5) Trump’s latest tax hike on American consumers takes effect
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“The US has slapped punitive tariffs on [American buyers of goods from] India over its purchases of discounted Russian oil, dealing a blow to the world’s fastest-growing large economy and deepening a rift between Washington and New Delhi. The 25 per cent levy, which came on top of a 25 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff, took effect at 12.01am US eastern time on Wednesday and raised duties on [American buyers of goods from] India to among the highest in the world. President Donald Trump’s announcement this month that the US would double its tariff rate on [American buyers of goods from] India marked a sudden escalation of tensions after the two sides failed to reach a breakthrough in trade talks.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/FzKh2
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6) Germany: Regime launches military recruitment drive, threatens enslavement if unsuccessful
Source: Associated Press
“Germany’s leaders on Wednesday launched a drive to attract more people into voluntary military service as the country scrambles to strengthen its armed forces in the face of growing fears about Russian aggression …. It aims to draw sufficient recruits without reviving compulsory conscription for men, which was suspended in 2011, but leaves the door open for parliament to do so if not enough people volunteer.” (08/27/25)
https://apnews.com/article/germany-voluntary-military-service-conscription-bundeswehr-d3c1c19b8371180f11b1ddc484f6be00
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7) GA: Democrat heads to runoff in state Senate race with two Republicans competing for second
Source: Georgia Recorder
“The lone Democrat in a seven-way race has advanced to a runoff in a special election that will decide who will replace former Alpharetta Republican state Sen. Brandon Beach, but the top GOP candidates in the contest were still battling it out for second place late Tuesday night. Democrat Debra Shigley had a strong showing Tuesday night, racking up about 40% of the vote. Republicans Jason Dickerson and Steve West were still neck and neck for second place Tuesday night, earning 17.4% and 17.1% of the vote, respectively. Dickerson held a narrow 65-vote edge over West. … Since no candidate cleared 50% of the vote to win the race outright Tuesday, the top two candidates will face off for a second time on Sept. 23.” (08/26/25)
https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/08/26/live-results-for-georgias-special-state-senate-election/
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8) IL: Enraged Chicago woman gives gang member dressing down
Source: New York Post
“An enraged Chicago woman allegedly told an ICE agent ‘I hope your kid dies’ and threatened to shoot officers ‘right in their f–king’ face as they carried out a recent immigration raid. Joshalin Rivera is accused of spewing the vile tirade as ICE and Border Patrol agents were [abducting victims] at an apartment building on Chicago’s West Side on Sunday morning, according to a criminal complaint. ‘I hope your kid dies a f–king miserable death, your f–king kid needs to get shot in the f–king face next bitch,’ Rivera allegedly shouted at the agent. ‘They lucky I ain’t got my s–t on me. I’d pop both of they ass … pop them right in their f–king face.’ Rivera was among a group of bystanders who swarmed the apartment building entrance just as the feds were trying to [abduct people], according to the filing. It wasn’t immediately clear who authorities were trying to [abduct].” (08/27/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/27/us-news/chicago-woman-allegedly-tells-ice-agent-i-hope-your-kid-dies-threatens-to-shoot-officers/
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9) IA: Democrats flip state Senate seat, breaking GOP supermajority
Source: The Hill
“Democrat Catelin Drey has flipped an open Iowa state Senate seat, adding to the party’s successes in special elections this year, Decision Desk HQ projected. Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in the race to replace the late state Sen. Rocky De Witt (R), who died in office in June from cancer. Democrats homed in on the Republican-leaning district as a pickup opportunity given their overperformance in many smaller elections through 2025. Drey’s victory breaks a GOP supermajority in the state Senate, giving her party more power despite its minority status in the body. In particular, the extra Democratic vote, which will bring the margin in the chamber to 33 Republicans to 17 Democrats, will ensure that nominees from the governor can’t get approved on a party-line vote.” (08/26/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5471284-drey-victory-breaks-gop-majority/
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10) Google warns 2.5 billion Gmail users to update passwords after hackers complete “successful intrusions”
Source: New York Post
“Google has warned most of its 2.5 billion Gmail users to update their passwords and strengthen their account security as password hackers have carried out a significant amount of ‘successful intrusions’. It is advising users to be on high alert for suspicious activity and add extra security measures, like two-factor authentication, if they have not already. Hackers often access Gmail passwords by sending emails with links to fake sign-in pages, or by tricking users into sharing their two-factor authentication codes. While most users have strong, unique passwords, only a third regularly update these keys, according to Google data. Separately, Google has also advised customers to ramp up their security measures after a breach of its own Salesforce database.” (08/27/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/27/business/google-warns-2-5-billion-gmail-users-to-update-passwords-after-hackers-complete-successful-intrusions/
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11) Musk’s lawyers try to stop OpenAI obtaining bid documents from Meta, filing shows
Source: Reuters
“Lawyers for Elon Musk have asked a U.S. judge to block ChatGPT-owner OpenAI from obtaining documents from Meta Platforms related to a previous $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI’s assets, a court filing showed. OpenAI said last week Musk had tried to enlist his rival Mark Zuckerberg in his bid for the AI company earlier this year, but that the Meta boss did not come on board. OpenAI then requested the judge to order Meta to produce documents and communications related to any bid for the company. Meta asked the judge to deny the request, saying it should seek relevant documents directly from Musk and his AI startup xAI. … Earlier in August, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk must face OpenAI’s claims that the billionaire, through press statements, social media posts, legal claims and ‘a sham bid for OpenAI’s assets,’ had attempted to harm the AI startup.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/cNoc2
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12) “Let the Public See Where Democrats Really Stand”: Full DNC Floor Vote Demanded on Gaza
Source: Common Dreams
“Those hoping that Democratic Party leaders have finally learned some lessons in the political thrashing they received in last year’s elections are not yet done fighting for a resolution they argue would put the party back on the right side of moral history and also improve its prospects going forward against an increasingly authoritarian Republican Party led by President Donald Trump. A day following a failed vote in the resolutions committee, members of the Democratic National Committee and grassroots groups demanding the DNC to take a stronger stand against US complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza are not giving up, pushing now for a full floor vote to take place Wednesday on a resolution which calls for an immediate ceasefire, an arms embargo, and suspension of military aid to Israel.” (08/27/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/dnc-gaza-resolution
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13) Scientists get rare peek inside of an exploding star
Source: SFGate
“Scientists for the first time have spotted the insides of a dying star as it exploded, offering a rare peek into stellar evolution. Stars can live for millions to trillions of years until they run out of fuel. The most massive ones go out with a bang in an explosion called a supernova. Using telescopes that peer deep into space, researchers have observed many such explosions. The cosmic outbursts tend to jumble up a dying star’s layers, making it hard for scientists to observe the inner structure. But that wasn’t the case for the new discovery, a supernova called 2021yfj located more than 2 billion light years from Earth. The collapsing star’s outermost layers of hydrogen and helium had peeled away long ago, which wasn’t surprising. But the star’s dense, innermost layers of silicon and sulfur had also shed during the explosion.” (08/26/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/scientists-get-a-rare-peek-inside-of-an-exploding-20825682.php
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14) Bolivia: Court orders the release of a prominent right-wing opposition leader
Source: ABC News
“A Bolivian judge ordered the release of powerful opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho Tuesday, ending over two years of pretrial detention for the conservative politician. His impending release is a victory for his supporters, who long criticized his prosecution as politically motivated, and a blow for his detractors who see the judicial pendulum swinging to the right. Camacho, the governor of Bolivia’s easternmost province of Santa Cruz, has served two years and eight months behind bars on charges of sedition tied to his involvement in violent unrest over the disputed 2019 reelection of socialist former President Evo Morales. The firebrand Christian leader of a powerful Santa Cruz business association, Camacho gained prominence while leading protests against Morales in 2019 that ultimately forced Bolivia’s first Indigenous leader to resign under pressure from the military and flee to exile.” (08/27/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bolivian-court-orders-release-prominent-wing-opposition-leader-125012602
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15) FL: Cities race to save rainbow crosswalks as state’s deadlines for removal loom
Source: SFGate
“Fort Lauderdale city leaders will host an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the state’s order to remove rainbow-colored crosswalks and other street art throughout Florida, with deadlines to comply looming. The Department of Transportation under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered communities to remove the crosswalks and other street art by early next month or risk millions of dollars in state funding. Many of the painted crossings celebrate gay rights and LGBTQ+ pride, while others are tributes to [b]lack people and the police. DeSantis'[s] critics said it was just the latest attack by his administration, as well as the Republican-controlled Legislature, against LGBTQ visibility …” [editor’s note: The “attack” effects are side effects. The actual purpose is to energize the GOP base by “owning the libs” – TLK] (08/27/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/florida-cities-race-to-save-rainbow-crosswalks-as-21017662.php
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16) US Democrats weigh mini-convention before 2026 midterms
Source: Axios
“Senior Democratic officials want to hold a rare national convention before the 2026 midterms to showcase candidates and emerging leaders of the party, people familiar with the conversations tell Axios. The event — a smaller version of the national conventions the party holds in presidential election years — would allow the party to fundraise and get media attention as it tries to win back both chambers of Congress next year. … Ken Martin, the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, quietly has been pushing the idea with party leaders in Minneapolis this week during his first meeting as DNC chair. Martin has noted that the party has held midterm-focused conventions in the past, though not for decades.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/Rig1t
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17) Jack Smith’s lawyers blast Hatch Act probe as “imaginary and unfounded”
Source: Fox News
“Former special counsel Jack Smith responded through his lawyers on Tuesday to news that a government watchdog had opened an investigation into his two prosecutions of President Donald Trump, calling the inquiry baseless. Smith’s attorneys at Covington & Burling wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that the predicate for its investigation was ‘imaginary and unfounded’ and that Smith followed all the Department of Justice’s rules and principles in his work. ‘Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, not because of them,’ his attorneys wrote. The Office of Special Counsel is an independent agency unrelated to the DOJ or the special counsels, such as Smith, who have worked there.” (08/27/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jack-smiths-lawyers-blast-hatch-act-probe-as-imaginary-and-unfounded
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18) China: Regime Says Trilateral Nuclear Disarmament Talks With US, Russian Regimes “Unreasonable”
Source: US News & World Report
“China said on Wednesday that it is ‘unreasonable and unrealistic’ to ask the country to join nuclear disarmament negotiations with the United States and Russia. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, made the remarks after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had discussed nuclear arms control with Russian President Vladimir Putin and wanted China to be involved too. ‘The nuclear forces of China and the United States are not at the same level at all, and the strategic security environment and nuclear policies of the two countries are totally different,’ Guo said. China pursues a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons and a nuclear strategy of self-defence, he said, adding Beijing will not engage in an arms race with any other country.” (08/27/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-27/china-says-trilateral-nuclear-disarmament-talks-with-us-russia-unreasonable
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19) US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers allegedly try to hide the planes
Source: SFGate
“Immigration advocates gather like clockwork outside Seattle’s King County International Airport to witness deportation flights and spread word of where they are going and how many people are aboard. Until recently, they could keep track of the flights using publicly accessible websites. But the monitors and others say airlines are now using dummy call signs for deportation flights and are blocking the planes’ tail numbers from tracking websites, even as the number of deportation flights hits record highs under President Donald Trump. The changes forced them to find other ways to follow the flights, including by sharing information with other groups and using data from an open-source exchange that tracks aircraft transmissions. Their work helps people locate loved ones who are deported in the absence of information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which rarely discloses flights. News organizations have used such flight tracking in reporting.” (08/27/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-deportation-flights-hit-record-highs-as-21017550.php
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20) Cracker Barrel caves to woke right
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Cracker Barrel, the US restaurant chain known for its southern-style cuisine, has abandoned a controversial rebrand following a backlash stoked by prominent right-wing figures including Donald Trump. The Lebanon, Tennessee-based chain said on Tuesday that it would bring back its decades-old logo after its announcement of a simplified design provoked a firestorm of criticism online.” (08/27/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/8/27/cracker-barrel-revives-old-logo-after-backlash-stoked-by-trump
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Why Enemies of Liberty Hate Economics
Source: The Daily Economy
by Mani Basharzad
“As Deirdre McCloskey put it: ‘The phrase ‘the dismal science’ was coined by Thomas Carlyle not because economics was gloomy or mathematical — but because economists opposed slavery. That made their science dismal — in Carlyle’s eyes.’ The basic facts of supply and demand weren’t pleasant to extremists then, and still aren’t. Carlyle first used the term in his essay Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question, where he mocked economics for explaining the world with such ‘simplistic’ tools as supply and demand. Did he offer a better alternative? No — but he worried that a world governed by price theory would reduce ‘the duty of human governors’ to ‘letting men alone.’ One may call it simplistic, dismal, or even cold, but the simple idea of price theory — letting people decide for themselves — has been a guardian of liberty from the time of Hume and Smith to today.” (08/27/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-enemies-of-liberty-hate-economics/
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22) We Don’t Need More Federal Intervention in US Cities
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“President Donald Trump and Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are undoubtedly enjoying the media spotlight accompanying their feud over possible deployment of federalized National Guard troops to Chicago after the crackdown in Washington, D.C. Neither man has ever shied away from a television camera, and Pritzker has White House ambitions of his own. But while both men savor the attention, the fact is that Pritzker has the better hand to play. Trump doesn’t have the same authority in Chicago that he has in D.C. And the president has more to lose in a showdown over law and order in a city — or any jurisdiction — governed by his political opponents.” (08/27/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/27/we-dont-need-more-federal-intervention-in-u-s-cities/
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23) The New State Interventions
Source: Notablog
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“I am appalled that some ‘libertarians’ continue to defend Trump and MAGA, as if there is some broader strategy at work here. That somehow the more blatant shift toward state capitalism is going to lead to some kind of ‘free market/free trade’ utopia in the future. Add in Trump’s amping-up of domestic police actions in urban centers and across the United States with the goal of terrorizing and deporting millions of peaceful, productive ‘illegal’ immigrants, as well as his intimidation of educational, cultural, and legal institutions, and his various interventions abroad and what you have is nothing resembling the libertarianism I grew up with.” ()8/27/25)
https://notablog.net/2025/08/27/the-new-state-interventions/
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24) Why Philosophy Has Failed Us
Source: Ten-Second Thoughts
by Paul Rosenberg
“Philosophers have, for a very long time, looked down at people who produce physical goods. Few professional philosophers have labored on loading docks, construction sites or similar places. They’ve had little experience with the creativity that keeps a farm, ranch or truck terminal functioning … that against the odds keeps a small business operating. As a rule they haven’t much appreciation for the people who accomplish such crucial things. This situation is deeply problematic, because without physical production we all die. Any philosophy that doesn’t major on it is therefore misguided, and the famous philosophers have in fact ignored production.” (08/27/25)
https://tensecondthoughts.substack.com/p/why-philosophy-has-failed-us
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25) Why AI Could Be a Boon for Workers
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bruno V Manno
“David Autor, an MIT economist, argues that AI changes the nature of jobs by automating routine tasks, which ‘allows people with less formal education to perform more complex tasks.’ Instead of hollowing out the labor market, AI could create more opportunity and upward mobility. Expertise has long been equated with diplomas, degrees, and seniority. But what if it meant the ability to receive immediate feedback and learn on the fly? … Is there a remedy to the Catch-22 in which young job seekers need experience to get hired, but need a job to gain it? A promising answer can be found in an approach to workforce preparation with a long and rich history, from ancient times to the modern era: apprenticeships.” (08/27/25)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/27/ai-boon-for-jobs/
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26) Trump’s proposed snap Census won’t get him the seats he wants
Source: The Hill
by Christopher Kenny & Tyler Simko
“As academic experts in elections, redistricting and the U.S. Census, we offer three conclusions on this order here. First, President Trump’s demand for a new Census that excludes undocumented immigrants is not just immoral and regressive, but unquestionably unconstitutional in at least two ways. The text of Article One is clear (and echoed by Title 13 of the U.S. Code): the Census is conducted every 10 years, not whenever it is politically convenient. The last decennial Census was conducted in 2020, and preparations are well underway for the 2030 Census. Further, the 14th Amendment plainly states that apportionment in the House of Representatives is based on the ‘whole number of persons in each State.’ … Second, conducting a surprise Census is infeasible and would require compromising data quality.” (08/27/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5471013-trump-census-undocumented-immigrants/
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27) Too many college students
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“The ‘everyone must go to college’ mindset has been a disservice to millions of young people.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/AppMa
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28) The Emerging Liberal Minority
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Conservatives alienated from the Republican Party (as conservatives must be) may make their peace with the Democratic Party, as some have, but many (I suppose most) cannot muster much more than an ‘Ugh!’ for a party whose moderate wing is characterized by Joe Biden and whose radical camp is rallying behind Zohran Mamdani …. But while there probably are not many estranged liberals who feel about the Democratic Party precisely the way conservatives are obliged to feel about the current Republican Party — in part because the Democrats are not at this moment led by a man who attempted a coup d’état the last time he lost an election — they are frustrated and disappointed and, at times, full of very reasonable contempt for their ancestral party.” (08/27/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/the-emerging-liberal-minority/
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29) The Value of Medicaid: The Evolution of a Socially Undesirable Finding
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“In 2015, Amy Finkelstein, Nathaniel Hendren, and Erzo Luttmer released an NBER working paper called ‘The Value of Medicaid: Interpreting Results from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment.’ The paper’s results were a slap in the face of Social Desirability Bias — and the authors boldly advertised them right in the abstract: ‘Our baseline estimates of Medicaid’s welfare benefit to recipients per dollar of government spending range from about $0.2 to $0.4, depending on the framework, with at least two-fifths – and as much as four-fifths – of the value of Medicaid coming from a transfer component, as opposed to its ability to move resources across states of the world. ‘Translation: Medicaid drastically fails a cost-benefit test by giving extremely expensive health care to recipients who barely appreciate it. Using standard economic logic, the poor themselves would be far better-off if the government cut the Medicaid budget in half, then handed current recipients the remaining money.” (08/27/25)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/the-value-of-medicaid-the-evolution
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30) Why Politicians Seek Power
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jeb Smith
“Just as a bank is a target for robbers, power and money make the government a target for bureaucracies, corporations, and national parties. These interest groups seek politicians who will bend to their will, giving them access to that power and to funds. So politicians willing to give them what they desire are the most secure in their position. … Like giving drug addicts their fix, we hand power over to those who crave it most. Similar to the negative consequences of drug use, both the power user and the taxpayers they abuse, suffer from it.” (08/27/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/why-politicians-seek-power
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31) Reclaiming God from Empire: Nonviolence in an Age of Religious Nationalism
Source: Common Dreams
by George Cassidy Payne
“I didn’t set out to study nonviolence. Like many, I stumbled upon it in fragments, quotes that refused to leave me, the persistent sense that some ancient wisdom was trying to cut through the noise of our modern world. Over time, through teaching, crisis counseling, community organizing, and meditation, I’ve come to a radical realization: Nonviolence is not merely a political tactic or a personal ethic. It is a global resistance movement against the fusion of religion and empire. It is how we reclaim God from the powers that abuse the sacred to justify violence. Together, we can defend the truth when it’s under siege.” (08/27/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/nonviolence-vs-religious-nationalism
-----
32) It’s your job to defend liberty
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Liberty isn’t a gift handed to you by benevolent rulers; it’s your birthright to either exercise or lose. It won’t be preserved by hoping someone else will do it for you — it’s everyone’s job, every day, to defend it. No exceptions and no excuses. The greatest threat to liberty isn’t necessarily a tyrant’s jackboot or a lawmaker’s pen; it’s apathy.” (08/27/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/08/27/voices/opinion-its-your-job-to-defend-liberty/231535.html
-----
33) Trump’s bold flag-burning crackdown sets up big fight down the road
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“In the advertising world, there is an old adage that there are times when you take a pitch and ‘run it up the flagpole to see who salutes.’ That expression came to mind Wednesday when President Donald Trump signed an order to punish flag burning. The president may be hoping the Supreme Court might salute and reverse long-standing precedent declaring flag burning to be protected speech under the First Amendment. If so, he is likely to be disappointed. The proposed prosecutions would be unconstitutional and, absent an unlikely major reversal of prior precedent by the court, flag burning will remain a protected form of free speech. The Supreme Court has repeatedly, and correctly, declared flag desecration to be protected speech in such cases as Texas v. Johnson (1989) and United States v. Eichman (1990).” (08/26/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-trumps-bold-flag-burning-crackdown-sets-big-fight-down-road
-----
34) Being Lovely: Adam Smith’s Call For a Humane Society
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“Liberty is not merely about what one is permitted to do, but about the character one chooses to embody within a free society. Liberty is not sustainable without a populace capable of widespread self-governance, cultivated through an internalized moral framework. Understanding Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments is essential for preserving liberty because it helps us see the fundamental connection between individual character, collective societal culture, and the environment in which humanity can truly flourish.” (08/27/25)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/being-lovely-adam-smiths-call-for
-----
35) How Western Media Helped Turn Israel’s Genocide Into “Fake News”
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jonathan Cook
“Israel’s justification for the mass slaughter of Gaza’s people and their starvation – now officially confirmed as a famine engineered by Israel – was built on a parade of easily discredited lies from the start: of beheaded infants, of babies in ovens, of mass rape. It should surprise no one that Israel continued advancing similarly outrageous lies as it set about – as all genocidal regimes must do – dismantling the most basic infrastructure of survival for Gaza’s population. … The western press corps, which barely raised a peep about its exclusion for most of the past 22 months of genocide, collectively shrugged its shoulders as its colleagues in Gaza were slowly exterminated. Nothing to see here. That was until this month, when Israel celebrated an air strike that killed six Palestinian journalists, including the entire five-person team covering Gaza City for Al Jazeera.” (08/27/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2025/08/26/how-western-media-helped-turn-israels-genocide-into-fake-news/
-----
36) The Real Problem with Trump’s Intel Deal
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Last Friday, Trump triumphantly announced the deal — celebrating the fact that the US government would come to own a share of the company. The reaction on the right was mixed. Plenty of Trump’s acolytes dutifully hopped on board and echoed Trump’s framing that the federal government is ‘us,’ and so any deal that moves money or financial assets into federal accounts is equivalent to transferring that money to all of us Americans. Others were not convinced. Plenty pointed out, correctly, that the government embedding and allying itself with nominally private companies is the literal definition of economic fascism. Establishment critics, who are not put off by economic fascism as long as they get to call it something else, thought the move was a bit strategically misguided.” (08/27/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/real-problem-trumps-intel-deal
-----
37) For Frantic Dems, Trump Bashing is the Only Game in Town
Source: Town Hall
by Byron York
“The Democratic National Committee is holding its summer meeting in Minneapolis. There is a lot to talk about. The party, of course, is suffering through a major slide in popularity. A Wall Street Journal poll a few weeks ago found that voters’ approval of the party is its lowest in 35 years. A New York Times report this month found that, ‘Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections — and often by a lot.’ Democrats have also shown a knack for getting on the unpopular side of a number of issues, like the border and crime. They’re also deeply divided on Israel and Gaza. And they’re in a terrible money crunch …” (08/27/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/byronyork/2025/08/27/columnistsbyronyork20250826for-frantic-dems-trump-bashing-is-the-only-game-in-town-n2662384
-----
38) Peacemaking in the Borderlands: A Reflection on the Farce of “Border Security”
Source: CounterPunch
by Todd Miller
“Since Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has deployed 8,500 active-duty military to the U.S.-Mexico border, turned vast areas of the border into restricted military zones known as National Defense Areas, deployed Stryker combat vehicles to the NDAs, and built large detention camps on military bases like Fort Bliss in El Paso. This is only the last eight months, but it follows three decades of persistent border militarization executed by multiple administrations, both Democratic and Republican. Over these decades, the U.S.-Mexico land border has become one of the most militarized and deadly places on the planet. In other words, it is time to retire the term border security. It is inaccurate. What we are witnessing on the border is an act of war.” (08/27/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/27/peacemaking-in-the-borderlands-a-reflection-on-the-farce-of-border-security/
-----
39) Politics, Culture, and Congressional Decadence
Source: Law & Liberty
by R Shep Melnick
“Congressional revival is possible but must first overcome a matrix of polarization, fiscal plight, and democracy’s cultural decay.” (08/27/25)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/politics-culture-and-congressional-decadence/
-----
40) Too Virtuous to Win?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The Democrats lost a presidential election where the biggest issue, shared by both contenders, was The Other Side Is Off-putting, Icky and Crazy. Third Way, a think tank pushing for ‘moderate’ policy, almost acknowledged this in a widely-shared memo: ‘For a party that spends billions of dollars trying to find the perfect language to connect to voters, Democrats and their allies use an awful lot of words and phrases no ordinary person would ever dream of saying.’ So it’s not without reason that Third Way suggests Democrats drop the ‘therapy-speak,’ for example — words like privilege, violence (‘as in ‘environmental violence’’), othering, etc. Also to be nixed? ‘Seminar room language,’ featuring jargon like subverting norms, systems of oppression, heuristic, etc.” (08/27/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/08/26/2virtuous2win/
-----
41) 21 Questions About The Claim That Iran Orchestrated Antisemitic Attacks In Australia
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Canberra will be expelling the Iranian ambassador and legislating to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. Albanese says the move is because an assessment by the intelligence agency ASIO has concluded that Iran used ‘a complex web of proxies’ to orchestrate two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia in order to ‘undermine social cohesion and sow discord.’ As you might expect, not one shred of evidence has been provided for this assertion, much less the giant mountain of rock-solid proof required for intelligence agency credibility in a post-Iraq invasion world. This hasn’t stopped the Murdoch press from going ballistic and framing the assertion as a ‘bombshell revelation’ of an established fact.” (08/27/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/08/27/21-questions-about-the-claim-that-iran-orchestrated-antisemitic-attacks-in-australia/
-----
42) Why Putin is winning
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh
“After a furious week of diplomacy in Alaska and Washington D.C., U.S. President Donald Trump signaled on Friday that he would be pausing his intensive push to end war in Ukraine. His frustration was obvious. ‘I’m not happy about anything about that war. Nothing. Not happy at all,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office. To be sure, Trump’s high-profile engagements fell short of his own promises. But almost two weeks after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and European leaders in Washington, it is clear that there were real winners and losers …. Putin clearly fared best of all. He got a face-to-face meeting with his American counterpart on U.S. soil, avoided the economic penalties that Trump had threatened, and continued his war without making notable concessions.” (08/27/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-ukraine-putin/
-----
43) Checking In on the Peace Administration
Source: The American Conservative
by Jude Russo
“One of the recurring motifs of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric these days is that he’s Mr. Peace, settling wars left and right across the globe. Certainly this is better than styling himself as Mr. War, who is a character who has been found wanting these past few decades and whose departure from the stage is not much mourned. Of course, there’s a bit of slippage between style and substance. Yes, wars have been settled …. On the other hand, in the first eight months of the second Trump administration, the U.S. has bombed the daylights out of Yemen’s Houthis (ineffectually) and was buffaloed by a junior partner into bombing the daylights out of Iran (also ineffectually, so far as anyone can tell); we’re still funding and arming the Ukrainians and Israelis, and we’re now directly menacing various South American potentates with war ships and strike plans.” (08/27/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/checking-in-on-the-peace-administration/
-----
44) The Problem Is Solved by Art, Not Science
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“So much of what is considered science today is really just art. It’s a subjective interpretation of the meaning of data. Data does not speak for itself. It does not tell you cause and effect. It provides no predictive map for the future. It’s often incorrect or merely a proximate rendering of the full reality. Even the best and most experienced experts and invested stakeholders cannot overcome this problem. The implications of this insight are vast. Let’s start with an easy example.” (08/26/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-problem-is-solved-by-art-not-science/
-----
45) Trump needs to deploy the National Guard to Chicago immediately!
Source: New York Post
by Gianno Caldwell
“On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order ending cashless bail nationwide and creating rapid-response National Guard units that can be deployed to any city in need. Chicago, which Trump has aptly said ‘is a killing field right now,’ is one of the candidates. Send in the feds, Mr. President. Those forces should include ATF, DEA and FBI agents and other Department of Justice resources, as well as federalized National Guard troops if necessary. It’s high time to act against the dereliction of duty we’ve seen from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.” [editor’s note: In English, Caldwell is saying “unleash the same kinds of thugs who killed my brother” – TLK] (08/26/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/26/opinion/trump-needs-to-deploy-the-national-guard-to-chicago-immediately/
-----
46) A Collectivist Judge Is a Contradiction in Terms
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
“It is a bit of a mystery why people who claim to be American-style conservatives do not embrace Friedrich Hayek, the economist and legal theorist who was awarded a Nobel Prize in economics in 1974. The mystery dissipates when one realizes that most self-identified conservatives are in fact as collectivist as the self-defined progressives (‘liberals’ in the confusing American terminology). Each side gives primacy to collective and political choices over individual and private choices, except that it is different collective choices that each side wants to impose. The difference is typically about which groups in society will be favored and which ones harmed.” (08/26/25)
https://www.econlib.org/a-collectivist-judge-is-a-contradiction-in-terms/
-----
47) This 8th Amendment Clause Was Crafted for Common Folks. It Still Helped Donald Trump.
Source: Cato Institute
by Matthew Cavedon
“[O]n Thursday, a New York appellate court, citing that clause, struck down a $500 million fine against the president for filing dishonest business records. Regardless of whether Trump’s case was decided rightly or wrongly, it isn’t typical, and focus on it threatens to obscure the clause’s role in protecting everyday Americans. Blackstone had much more modest circumstances in mind when he wrote that fines could not deprive landowners of their land, merchants of their businesses, or farmers of their animals and equipment. A court imposing a fine had to recognize that what ‘is ruin to one man’s fortune, may be matter of indifference to another’s’ and adjust the amount accordingly. We should all be thankful that such a clause exists and that it prohibits excessive fines — even if in addition to protecting people with average assets, it also protects people with great fortunes.” (08/26/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/8th-amendment-clause-was-crafted-common-folks-it-still-helped-donald-trump
-----
48) When Mamdani says it, it’s socialism. When Trump does it, it’s genius.
Source: Washington Post
by Jim Geraghty
“It’s a good thing we have President Donald Trump and his administration to stop the spread of Mamdani’s socialist agenda. Instead of having the government take greater control of private companies the way Mamdani wants, the administration is having the government take greater control of private companies the way Trump wants.” (08/26/25)
https://archive.is/Wlubj
-----
49) Foot Soldiers of the Trump Mafiacracy
Source: The American Prospect
by Maureen Tkacik
“Sigal Chattah, the Israeli-born acting U.S. attorney in Nevada, who declined to prosecute an Israeli government official arrested last month for attempting to go on a date with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old girl, has drawn attention for her seemingly bottomless online footprint of unapologetically genocidal social media posts, text messages likening a political opponent to Hamas, and a campaign ad featuring a photo of Rep. Ilhan Omar engulfed by flames. But a shallow dive into the long list of donors who contributed to her 2022 Nevada attorney general campaign gives a fuller picture of Chattah, and by extension the emerging Mafia bureaucracy comprising Trump’s Department of Justice.” (08/27/25)
https://prospect.org/justice/2025-08-27-foot-soldiers-trump-mafiacracy-sigal-chattah-nevada/
-----
50) Trump Promised To Cut Energy Bills “By Half.” His Trade War Could Drive Them Higher.
Source: Reason
by Jeff Luse
“On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to cut ‘electricity prices by half’ within 18 months of becoming president. In the eight months since he took office, Trump’s plans haven’t worked, and electricity prices have steadily increased, rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation over the past 12 months. Predictably, the Trump administration has blamed renewables for this trend, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently saying that the ‘momentum’ of the policies enacted by Barack Obama and Joe Biden is responsible for electricity price increases. … The government’s preferential treatment of renewables is partially responsible for these price hikes; flood the grid with intermittent [sic] energy sources, while making it harder for fossil fuels to operate, and electricity prices will rise. But this isn’t the only reason why electricity costs have gone up.” (08/26/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/26/trump-promised-lower-electricity-bills-his-trade-war-could-drive-them-higher/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Interview: Glenn Jacobs
Source: Reason
“The former WWE star and current mayor of Knox County explains how limiting government, protecting economic freedom, and trusting communities over bureaucrats can build a stronger foundation for liberty.” (08/27/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/08/27/glenn-jacobs-body-slams-big-government/
-----
52) Rising, 08/27/25
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers a radar on President Trump’s crime crackdown expanding to Chicago.” (08/27/25)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5472576-rising-august-27-2025/
-----
53) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/27/25
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Is Screwing His Voters So Badly that It Shocked This GOP Senator.” (08/27/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/199656/trump-screwing-voters-badly-shocked-gop-senator
-----
54) How To Fix The Internet, 08/27/25
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
“Protecting Privacy in Your Brain.” (08/27/25)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/podcast-episode-protecting-privacy-your-brain
-----
55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/27/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Shatters Record for US Airstrikes in Somalia, Christian Clergy To Stay in Gaza City, and More.” (08/27/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Izx-3GE38I
-----
56) William Van Wagenen on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“William Van Wagenen on the CIA’s Covert War to Remake the Middle East.” (08/26/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/8-22-25-william-van-wagenen-on-the-cias-covert-war-to-remake-the-middle-east/
-----
57) System Update, episode 505
Source: System Update
“Glenn Takes Your Questions on Censorship, Epstein, and More; DNC Rejects Embargo of Weapons to Israel with Journalist Dave Weigel.” (08/26/25)
https://rumble.com/v6y45hi-system-update-show-505.html
-----
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/26/25
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Why America Can’t Build Enough Housing with Edward L. Glaeser.” (08/26/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/economy/why-america-cant-build-enough-housing-with-edward-l-glaeser/
-----
59) Nonzero, 08/26/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“The MAGA Case Against AI Accelerationism | Robert Wright & Joe Allen.” (08/26/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68967
-----
60) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/26/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Weaponize Culture with Author Rian Stone.” (08/26/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/tlpp-weaponize-culture-with-author-rian-stone
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Today's Freedom News:
1) UN Security Council (Except US Regime) Notes Gaza Famine is “Man-Made”
2) Ukraine: Russian strike damages EU delegation building
3) DC: Grand jury refuses to indict sandwich thrower
4) White House fires CDC director as other officials resign from health agency
5) Trump’s latest tax hike on American consumers takes effect
6) Germany: Regime launches military recruitment drive, threatens enslavement if unsuccessful
7) GA: Democrat heads to runoff in state Senate race with two Republicans competing for second
8) IL: Enraged Chicago woman gives gang member dressing down
9) IA: Democrats flip state Senate seat, breaking GOP supermajority
10) Google warns 2.5 billion Gmail users to update passwords after hackers complete “successful intrusions”
11) Musk’s lawyers try to stop OpenAI obtaining bid documents from Meta, filing shows
12) “Let the Public See Where Democrats Really Stand”: Full DNC Floor Vote Demanded on Gaza
13) Scientists get rare peek inside of an exploding star
14) Bolivia: Court orders the release of a prominent right-wing opposition leader
15) FL: Cities race to save rainbow crosswalks as state’s deadlines for removal loom
16) US Democrats weigh mini-convention before 2026 midterms
17) Jack Smith’s lawyers blast Hatch Act probe as “imaginary and unfounded”
18) China: Regime Says Trilateral Nuclear Disarmament Talks With US, Russian Regimes “Unreasonable”
19) US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers allegedly try to hide the planes
20) Cracker Barrel caves to woke right
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Why Enemies of Liberty Hate Economics
22) We Don’t Need More Federal Intervention in US Cities
23) The New State Interventions
24) Why Philosophy Has Failed Us
25) Why AI Could Be a Boon for Workers
26) Trump’s proposed snap Census won’t get him the seats he wants
27) Too many college students
28) The Emerging Liberal Minority
29) The Value of Medicaid: The Evolution of a Socially Undesirable Finding
30) Why Politicians Seek Power
31) Reclaiming God from Empire: Nonviolence in an Age of Religious Nationalism
32) It’s your job to defend liberty
33) Trump’s bold flag-burning crackdown sets up big fight down the road
34) Being Lovely: Adam Smith’s Call For a Humane Society
35) How Western Media Helped Turn Israel’s Genocide Into “Fake News”
36) The Real Problem with Trump’s Intel Deal
37) For Frantic Dems, Trump Bashing is the Only Game in Town
38) Peacemaking in the Borderlands: A Reflection on the Farce of “Border Security”
39) Politics, Culture, and Congressional Decadence
40) Too Virtuous to Win?
41) 21 Questions About The Claim That Iran Orchestrated Antisemitic Attacks In Australia
42) Why Putin is winning
43) Checking In on the Peace Administration
44) The Problem Is Solved by Art, Not Science
45) Trump needs to deploy the National Guard to Chicago immediately!
46) A Collectivist Judge Is a Contradiction in Terms
47) This 8th Amendment Clause Was Crafted for Common Folks. It Still Helped Donald Trump.
48) When Mamdani says it, it’s socialism. When Trump does it, it’s genius.
49) Foot Soldiers of the Trump Mafiacracy
50) Trump Promised To Cut Energy Bills “By Half.” His Trade War Could Drive Them Higher.
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Interview: Glenn Jacobs
52) Rising, 08/27/25
53) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/27/25
54) How To Fix The Internet, 08/27/25
55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/27/25
56) William Van Wagenen on The Scott Horton Show
57) System Update, episode 505
58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/26/25
59) Nonzero, 08/26/25
60) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/26/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) UN Security Council (Except US Regime) Notes Gaza Famine is “Man-Made”
Source: Antiwar.com
“Every member nation of the United Nations Security Council except the United States on Wednesday affirmed that Israel’s engineered famine in Gaza is ‘man-made’ as 10 more Palestinians died of starvation amid what UN experts warned is a worsening crisis. Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members issued a joint statement calling for an immediate Gaza ceasefire, release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and lifting of all Israeli restrictions on aid delivery into the embattled strip, where hundreds of Palestinians have died from starvation and hundreds of thousands more are starving. … Israel, which is facing a genocide case at the UN’s International Court of Justice, denies the existence of famine in Gaza.” (08/27/25)
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2025/08/27/entire-un-security-council-except-us-says-gaza-famine-man-made-as-10-more-people-starve-to-death/
-----
2) Ukraine: Russian strike damages EU delegation building
Source: Politico
“Russia struck a building housing the EU’s delegation to Kyiv Thursday morning, causing significant damage. … The EU’s Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said the building was ‘severely damaged by the shock wave’ of the ‘massive’ wave of drone and ballistic missile strikes Russia launched at Ukraine overnight, in which she said at least 10 people had been killed and 30 injured. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia’s attack ‘targeted diplomats — in direct breach of the Vienna convention.'” (08/28/25)
https://archive.is/F3N4l
-----
3) DC: Grand jury refuses to indict sandwich thrower
Source: SFGate
“Federal prosecutors have failed to obtain a felony indictment against a man who was seen on camera hurling a sandwich at a federal law enforcement official in the nation’s capital, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Sean Charles Dunn was arrested on an assault charge after he threw a sub-style sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent. A video of the incident went viral, and shortly after he was fired from the Justice Department, where he worked as an international affairs specialist in the department’s criminal division. The case is one of the examples of the legal pushback to President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in Washington that has led to more than 1,000 arrests. It is highly unusual for grand jurors to refuse to return an indictment, and it was once said that prosecutors could persuade a grand jury ‘to indict a ham sandwich.'” (08/27/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/prosecutors-fail-to-indict-sandwich-thrower-in-21017834.php
-----
4) White House fires CDC director as other officials resign from health agency
Source: BBC Newsw [UK state media]
“The White House says it has fired the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, after she refused to resign on Wednesday. In a statement, it said she was ‘not aligned with the president’s agenda’ and she had been removed from her position at the health agency. The US health department earlier announced her departure, which prompted a statement from Dr Monarez’s lawyers who said she had not been told of her removal and she would not resign. They said she was being targeted for refusing ‘to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts’ and accused Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr of ‘weaponising public health.’ … Almost immediately after Dr Monarez’s departure was first announced by the health department, at least three senior CDC leaders resigned from the agency.” (08/28/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3zjxy3dwo
-----
5) Trump’s latest tax hike on American consumers takes effect
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“The US has slapped punitive tariffs on [American buyers of goods from] India over its purchases of discounted Russian oil, dealing a blow to the world’s fastest-growing large economy and deepening a rift between Washington and New Delhi. The 25 per cent levy, which came on top of a 25 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff, took effect at 12.01am US eastern time on Wednesday and raised duties on [American buyers of goods from] India to among the highest in the world. President Donald Trump’s announcement this month that the US would double its tariff rate on [American buyers of goods from] India marked a sudden escalation of tensions after the two sides failed to reach a breakthrough in trade talks.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/FzKh2
-----
6) Germany: Regime launches military recruitment drive, threatens enslavement if unsuccessful
Source: Associated Press
“Germany’s leaders on Wednesday launched a drive to attract more people into voluntary military service as the country scrambles to strengthen its armed forces in the face of growing fears about Russian aggression …. It aims to draw sufficient recruits without reviving compulsory conscription for men, which was suspended in 2011, but leaves the door open for parliament to do so if not enough people volunteer.” (08/27/25)
https://apnews.com/article/germany-voluntary-military-service-conscription-bundeswehr-d3c1c19b8371180f11b1ddc484f6be00
-----
7) GA: Democrat heads to runoff in state Senate race with two Republicans competing for second
Source: Georgia Recorder
“The lone Democrat in a seven-way race has advanced to a runoff in a special election that will decide who will replace former Alpharetta Republican state Sen. Brandon Beach, but the top GOP candidates in the contest were still battling it out for second place late Tuesday night. Democrat Debra Shigley had a strong showing Tuesday night, racking up about 40% of the vote. Republicans Jason Dickerson and Steve West were still neck and neck for second place Tuesday night, earning 17.4% and 17.1% of the vote, respectively. Dickerson held a narrow 65-vote edge over West. … Since no candidate cleared 50% of the vote to win the race outright Tuesday, the top two candidates will face off for a second time on Sept. 23.” (08/26/25)
https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/08/26/live-results-for-georgias-special-state-senate-election/
-----
8) IL: Enraged Chicago woman gives gang member dressing down
Source: New York Post
“An enraged Chicago woman allegedly told an ICE agent ‘I hope your kid dies’ and threatened to shoot officers ‘right in their f–king’ face as they carried out a recent immigration raid. Joshalin Rivera is accused of spewing the vile tirade as ICE and Border Patrol agents were [abducting victims] at an apartment building on Chicago’s West Side on Sunday morning, according to a criminal complaint. ‘I hope your kid dies a f–king miserable death, your f–king kid needs to get shot in the f–king face next bitch,’ Rivera allegedly shouted at the agent. ‘They lucky I ain’t got my s–t on me. I’d pop both of they ass … pop them right in their f–king face.’ Rivera was among a group of bystanders who swarmed the apartment building entrance just as the feds were trying to [abduct people], according to the filing. It wasn’t immediately clear who authorities were trying to [abduct].” (08/27/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/27/us-news/chicago-woman-allegedly-tells-ice-agent-i-hope-your-kid-dies-threatens-to-shoot-officers/
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9) IA: Democrats flip state Senate seat, breaking GOP supermajority
Source: The Hill
“Democrat Catelin Drey has flipped an open Iowa state Senate seat, adding to the party’s successes in special elections this year, Decision Desk HQ projected. Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in the race to replace the late state Sen. Rocky De Witt (R), who died in office in June from cancer. Democrats homed in on the Republican-leaning district as a pickup opportunity given their overperformance in many smaller elections through 2025. Drey’s victory breaks a GOP supermajority in the state Senate, giving her party more power despite its minority status in the body. In particular, the extra Democratic vote, which will bring the margin in the chamber to 33 Republicans to 17 Democrats, will ensure that nominees from the governor can’t get approved on a party-line vote.” (08/26/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5471284-drey-victory-breaks-gop-majority/
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10) Google warns 2.5 billion Gmail users to update passwords after hackers complete “successful intrusions”
Source: New York Post
“Google has warned most of its 2.5 billion Gmail users to update their passwords and strengthen their account security as password hackers have carried out a significant amount of ‘successful intrusions’. It is advising users to be on high alert for suspicious activity and add extra security measures, like two-factor authentication, if they have not already. Hackers often access Gmail passwords by sending emails with links to fake sign-in pages, or by tricking users into sharing their two-factor authentication codes. While most users have strong, unique passwords, only a third regularly update these keys, according to Google data. Separately, Google has also advised customers to ramp up their security measures after a breach of its own Salesforce database.” (08/27/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/27/business/google-warns-2-5-billion-gmail-users-to-update-passwords-after-hackers-complete-successful-intrusions/
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11) Musk’s lawyers try to stop OpenAI obtaining bid documents from Meta, filing shows
Source: Reuters
“Lawyers for Elon Musk have asked a U.S. judge to block ChatGPT-owner OpenAI from obtaining documents from Meta Platforms related to a previous $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI’s assets, a court filing showed. OpenAI said last week Musk had tried to enlist his rival Mark Zuckerberg in his bid for the AI company earlier this year, but that the Meta boss did not come on board. OpenAI then requested the judge to order Meta to produce documents and communications related to any bid for the company. Meta asked the judge to deny the request, saying it should seek relevant documents directly from Musk and his AI startup xAI. … Earlier in August, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk must face OpenAI’s claims that the billionaire, through press statements, social media posts, legal claims and ‘a sham bid for OpenAI’s assets,’ had attempted to harm the AI startup.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/cNoc2
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12) “Let the Public See Where Democrats Really Stand”: Full DNC Floor Vote Demanded on Gaza
Source: Common Dreams
“Those hoping that Democratic Party leaders have finally learned some lessons in the political thrashing they received in last year’s elections are not yet done fighting for a resolution they argue would put the party back on the right side of moral history and also improve its prospects going forward against an increasingly authoritarian Republican Party led by President Donald Trump. A day following a failed vote in the resolutions committee, members of the Democratic National Committee and grassroots groups demanding the DNC to take a stronger stand against US complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza are not giving up, pushing now for a full floor vote to take place Wednesday on a resolution which calls for an immediate ceasefire, an arms embargo, and suspension of military aid to Israel.” (08/27/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/dnc-gaza-resolution
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13) Scientists get rare peek inside of an exploding star
Source: SFGate
“Scientists for the first time have spotted the insides of a dying star as it exploded, offering a rare peek into stellar evolution. Stars can live for millions to trillions of years until they run out of fuel. The most massive ones go out with a bang in an explosion called a supernova. Using telescopes that peer deep into space, researchers have observed many such explosions. The cosmic outbursts tend to jumble up a dying star’s layers, making it hard for scientists to observe the inner structure. But that wasn’t the case for the new discovery, a supernova called 2021yfj located more than 2 billion light years from Earth. The collapsing star’s outermost layers of hydrogen and helium had peeled away long ago, which wasn’t surprising. But the star’s dense, innermost layers of silicon and sulfur had also shed during the explosion.” (08/26/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/scientists-get-a-rare-peek-inside-of-an-exploding-20825682.php
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14) Bolivia: Court orders the release of a prominent right-wing opposition leader
Source: ABC News
“A Bolivian judge ordered the release of powerful opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho Tuesday, ending over two years of pretrial detention for the conservative politician. His impending release is a victory for his supporters, who long criticized his prosecution as politically motivated, and a blow for his detractors who see the judicial pendulum swinging to the right. Camacho, the governor of Bolivia’s easternmost province of Santa Cruz, has served two years and eight months behind bars on charges of sedition tied to his involvement in violent unrest over the disputed 2019 reelection of socialist former President Evo Morales. The firebrand Christian leader of a powerful Santa Cruz business association, Camacho gained prominence while leading protests against Morales in 2019 that ultimately forced Bolivia’s first Indigenous leader to resign under pressure from the military and flee to exile.” (08/27/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bolivian-court-orders-release-prominent-wing-opposition-leader-125012602
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15) FL: Cities race to save rainbow crosswalks as state’s deadlines for removal loom
Source: SFGate
“Fort Lauderdale city leaders will host an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the state’s order to remove rainbow-colored crosswalks and other street art throughout Florida, with deadlines to comply looming. The Department of Transportation under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered communities to remove the crosswalks and other street art by early next month or risk millions of dollars in state funding. Many of the painted crossings celebrate gay rights and LGBTQ+ pride, while others are tributes to [b]lack people and the police. DeSantis'[s] critics said it was just the latest attack by his administration, as well as the Republican-controlled Legislature, against LGBTQ visibility …” [editor’s note: The “attack” effects are side effects. The actual purpose is to energize the GOP base by “owning the libs” – TLK] (08/27/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/florida-cities-race-to-save-rainbow-crosswalks-as-21017662.php
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16) US Democrats weigh mini-convention before 2026 midterms
Source: Axios
“Senior Democratic officials want to hold a rare national convention before the 2026 midterms to showcase candidates and emerging leaders of the party, people familiar with the conversations tell Axios. The event — a smaller version of the national conventions the party holds in presidential election years — would allow the party to fundraise and get media attention as it tries to win back both chambers of Congress next year. … Ken Martin, the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, quietly has been pushing the idea with party leaders in Minneapolis this week during his first meeting as DNC chair. Martin has noted that the party has held midterm-focused conventions in the past, though not for decades.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/Rig1t
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17) Jack Smith’s lawyers blast Hatch Act probe as “imaginary and unfounded”
Source: Fox News
“Former special counsel Jack Smith responded through his lawyers on Tuesday to news that a government watchdog had opened an investigation into his two prosecutions of President Donald Trump, calling the inquiry baseless. Smith’s attorneys at Covington & Burling wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that the predicate for its investigation was ‘imaginary and unfounded’ and that Smith followed all the Department of Justice’s rules and principles in his work. ‘Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, not because of them,’ his attorneys wrote. The Office of Special Counsel is an independent agency unrelated to the DOJ or the special counsels, such as Smith, who have worked there.” (08/27/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jack-smiths-lawyers-blast-hatch-act-probe-as-imaginary-and-unfounded
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18) China: Regime Says Trilateral Nuclear Disarmament Talks With US, Russian Regimes “Unreasonable”
Source: US News & World Report
“China said on Wednesday that it is ‘unreasonable and unrealistic’ to ask the country to join nuclear disarmament negotiations with the United States and Russia. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, made the remarks after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had discussed nuclear arms control with Russian President Vladimir Putin and wanted China to be involved too. ‘The nuclear forces of China and the United States are not at the same level at all, and the strategic security environment and nuclear policies of the two countries are totally different,’ Guo said. China pursues a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons and a nuclear strategy of self-defence, he said, adding Beijing will not engage in an arms race with any other country.” (08/27/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-27/china-says-trilateral-nuclear-disarmament-talks-with-us-russia-unreasonable
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19) US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers allegedly try to hide the planes
Source: SFGate
“Immigration advocates gather like clockwork outside Seattle’s King County International Airport to witness deportation flights and spread word of where they are going and how many people are aboard. Until recently, they could keep track of the flights using publicly accessible websites. But the monitors and others say airlines are now using dummy call signs for deportation flights and are blocking the planes’ tail numbers from tracking websites, even as the number of deportation flights hits record highs under President Donald Trump. The changes forced them to find other ways to follow the flights, including by sharing information with other groups and using data from an open-source exchange that tracks aircraft transmissions. Their work helps people locate loved ones who are deported in the absence of information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which rarely discloses flights. News organizations have used such flight tracking in reporting.” (08/27/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-deportation-flights-hit-record-highs-as-21017550.php
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20) Cracker Barrel caves to woke right
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Cracker Barrel, the US restaurant chain known for its southern-style cuisine, has abandoned a controversial rebrand following a backlash stoked by prominent right-wing figures including Donald Trump. The Lebanon, Tennessee-based chain said on Tuesday that it would bring back its decades-old logo after its announcement of a simplified design provoked a firestorm of criticism online.” (08/27/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/8/27/cracker-barrel-revives-old-logo-after-backlash-stoked-by-trump
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Why Enemies of Liberty Hate Economics
Source: The Daily Economy
by Mani Basharzad
“As Deirdre McCloskey put it: ‘The phrase ‘the dismal science’ was coined by Thomas Carlyle not because economics was gloomy or mathematical — but because economists opposed slavery. That made their science dismal — in Carlyle’s eyes.’ The basic facts of supply and demand weren’t pleasant to extremists then, and still aren’t. Carlyle first used the term in his essay Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question, where he mocked economics for explaining the world with such ‘simplistic’ tools as supply and demand. Did he offer a better alternative? No — but he worried that a world governed by price theory would reduce ‘the duty of human governors’ to ‘letting men alone.’ One may call it simplistic, dismal, or even cold, but the simple idea of price theory — letting people decide for themselves — has been a guardian of liberty from the time of Hume and Smith to today.” (08/27/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-enemies-of-liberty-hate-economics/
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22) We Don’t Need More Federal Intervention in US Cities
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“President Donald Trump and Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are undoubtedly enjoying the media spotlight accompanying their feud over possible deployment of federalized National Guard troops to Chicago after the crackdown in Washington, D.C. Neither man has ever shied away from a television camera, and Pritzker has White House ambitions of his own. But while both men savor the attention, the fact is that Pritzker has the better hand to play. Trump doesn’t have the same authority in Chicago that he has in D.C. And the president has more to lose in a showdown over law and order in a city — or any jurisdiction — governed by his political opponents.” (08/27/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/27/we-dont-need-more-federal-intervention-in-u-s-cities/
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23) The New State Interventions
Source: Notablog
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“I am appalled that some ‘libertarians’ continue to defend Trump and MAGA, as if there is some broader strategy at work here. That somehow the more blatant shift toward state capitalism is going to lead to some kind of ‘free market/free trade’ utopia in the future. Add in Trump’s amping-up of domestic police actions in urban centers and across the United States with the goal of terrorizing and deporting millions of peaceful, productive ‘illegal’ immigrants, as well as his intimidation of educational, cultural, and legal institutions, and his various interventions abroad and what you have is nothing resembling the libertarianism I grew up with.” ()8/27/25)
https://notablog.net/2025/08/27/the-new-state-interventions/
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24) Why Philosophy Has Failed Us
Source: Ten-Second Thoughts
by Paul Rosenberg
“Philosophers have, for a very long time, looked down at people who produce physical goods. Few professional philosophers have labored on loading docks, construction sites or similar places. They’ve had little experience with the creativity that keeps a farm, ranch or truck terminal functioning … that against the odds keeps a small business operating. As a rule they haven’t much appreciation for the people who accomplish such crucial things. This situation is deeply problematic, because without physical production we all die. Any philosophy that doesn’t major on it is therefore misguided, and the famous philosophers have in fact ignored production.” (08/27/25)
https://tensecondthoughts.substack.com/p/why-philosophy-has-failed-us
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25) Why AI Could Be a Boon for Workers
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bruno V Manno
“David Autor, an MIT economist, argues that AI changes the nature of jobs by automating routine tasks, which ‘allows people with less formal education to perform more complex tasks.’ Instead of hollowing out the labor market, AI could create more opportunity and upward mobility. Expertise has long been equated with diplomas, degrees, and seniority. But what if it meant the ability to receive immediate feedback and learn on the fly? … Is there a remedy to the Catch-22 in which young job seekers need experience to get hired, but need a job to gain it? A promising answer can be found in an approach to workforce preparation with a long and rich history, from ancient times to the modern era: apprenticeships.” (08/27/25)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/27/ai-boon-for-jobs/
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26) Trump’s proposed snap Census won’t get him the seats he wants
Source: The Hill
by Christopher Kenny & Tyler Simko
“As academic experts in elections, redistricting and the U.S. Census, we offer three conclusions on this order here. First, President Trump’s demand for a new Census that excludes undocumented immigrants is not just immoral and regressive, but unquestionably unconstitutional in at least two ways. The text of Article One is clear (and echoed by Title 13 of the U.S. Code): the Census is conducted every 10 years, not whenever it is politically convenient. The last decennial Census was conducted in 2020, and preparations are well underway for the 2030 Census. Further, the 14th Amendment plainly states that apportionment in the House of Representatives is based on the ‘whole number of persons in each State.’ … Second, conducting a surprise Census is infeasible and would require compromising data quality.” (08/27/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5471013-trump-census-undocumented-immigrants/
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27) Too many college students
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“The ‘everyone must go to college’ mindset has been a disservice to millions of young people.” (08/27/25)
https://archive.is/AppMa
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28) The Emerging Liberal Minority
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Conservatives alienated from the Republican Party (as conservatives must be) may make their peace with the Democratic Party, as some have, but many (I suppose most) cannot muster much more than an ‘Ugh!’ for a party whose moderate wing is characterized by Joe Biden and whose radical camp is rallying behind Zohran Mamdani …. But while there probably are not many estranged liberals who feel about the Democratic Party precisely the way conservatives are obliged to feel about the current Republican Party — in part because the Democrats are not at this moment led by a man who attempted a coup d’état the last time he lost an election — they are frustrated and disappointed and, at times, full of very reasonable contempt for their ancestral party.” (08/27/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/the-emerging-liberal-minority/
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29) The Value of Medicaid: The Evolution of a Socially Undesirable Finding
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“In 2015, Amy Finkelstein, Nathaniel Hendren, and Erzo Luttmer released an NBER working paper called ‘The Value of Medicaid: Interpreting Results from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment.’ The paper’s results were a slap in the face of Social Desirability Bias — and the authors boldly advertised them right in the abstract: ‘Our baseline estimates of Medicaid’s welfare benefit to recipients per dollar of government spending range from about $0.2 to $0.4, depending on the framework, with at least two-fifths – and as much as four-fifths – of the value of Medicaid coming from a transfer component, as opposed to its ability to move resources across states of the world. ‘Translation: Medicaid drastically fails a cost-benefit test by giving extremely expensive health care to recipients who barely appreciate it. Using standard economic logic, the poor themselves would be far better-off if the government cut the Medicaid budget in half, then handed current recipients the remaining money.” (08/27/25)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/the-value-of-medicaid-the-evolution
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30) Why Politicians Seek Power
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jeb Smith
“Just as a bank is a target for robbers, power and money make the government a target for bureaucracies, corporations, and national parties. These interest groups seek politicians who will bend to their will, giving them access to that power and to funds. So politicians willing to give them what they desire are the most secure in their position. … Like giving drug addicts their fix, we hand power over to those who crave it most. Similar to the negative consequences of drug use, both the power user and the taxpayers they abuse, suffer from it.” (08/27/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/why-politicians-seek-power
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31) Reclaiming God from Empire: Nonviolence in an Age of Religious Nationalism
Source: Common Dreams
by George Cassidy Payne
“I didn’t set out to study nonviolence. Like many, I stumbled upon it in fragments, quotes that refused to leave me, the persistent sense that some ancient wisdom was trying to cut through the noise of our modern world. Over time, through teaching, crisis counseling, community organizing, and meditation, I’ve come to a radical realization: Nonviolence is not merely a political tactic or a personal ethic. It is a global resistance movement against the fusion of religion and empire. It is how we reclaim God from the powers that abuse the sacred to justify violence. Together, we can defend the truth when it’s under siege.” (08/27/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/nonviolence-vs-religious-nationalism
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32) It’s your job to defend liberty
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Liberty isn’t a gift handed to you by benevolent rulers; it’s your birthright to either exercise or lose. It won’t be preserved by hoping someone else will do it for you — it’s everyone’s job, every day, to defend it. No exceptions and no excuses. The greatest threat to liberty isn’t necessarily a tyrant’s jackboot or a lawmaker’s pen; it’s apathy.” (08/27/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/08/27/voices/opinion-its-your-job-to-defend-liberty/231535.html
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33) Trump’s bold flag-burning crackdown sets up big fight down the road
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“In the advertising world, there is an old adage that there are times when you take a pitch and ‘run it up the flagpole to see who salutes.’ That expression came to mind Wednesday when President Donald Trump signed an order to punish flag burning. The president may be hoping the Supreme Court might salute and reverse long-standing precedent declaring flag burning to be protected speech under the First Amendment. If so, he is likely to be disappointed. The proposed prosecutions would be unconstitutional and, absent an unlikely major reversal of prior precedent by the court, flag burning will remain a protected form of free speech. The Supreme Court has repeatedly, and correctly, declared flag desecration to be protected speech in such cases as Texas v. Johnson (1989) and United States v. Eichman (1990).” (08/26/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-trumps-bold-flag-burning-crackdown-sets-big-fight-down-road
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34) Being Lovely: Adam Smith’s Call For a Humane Society
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“Liberty is not merely about what one is permitted to do, but about the character one chooses to embody within a free society. Liberty is not sustainable without a populace capable of widespread self-governance, cultivated through an internalized moral framework. Understanding Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments is essential for preserving liberty because it helps us see the fundamental connection between individual character, collective societal culture, and the environment in which humanity can truly flourish.” (08/27/25)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/being-lovely-adam-smiths-call-for
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35) How Western Media Helped Turn Israel’s Genocide Into “Fake News”
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jonathan Cook
“Israel’s justification for the mass slaughter of Gaza’s people and their starvation – now officially confirmed as a famine engineered by Israel – was built on a parade of easily discredited lies from the start: of beheaded infants, of babies in ovens, of mass rape. It should surprise no one that Israel continued advancing similarly outrageous lies as it set about – as all genocidal regimes must do – dismantling the most basic infrastructure of survival for Gaza’s population. … The western press corps, which barely raised a peep about its exclusion for most of the past 22 months of genocide, collectively shrugged its shoulders as its colleagues in Gaza were slowly exterminated. Nothing to see here. That was until this month, when Israel celebrated an air strike that killed six Palestinian journalists, including the entire five-person team covering Gaza City for Al Jazeera.” (08/27/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2025/08/26/how-western-media-helped-turn-israels-genocide-into-fake-news/
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36) The Real Problem with Trump’s Intel Deal
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Last Friday, Trump triumphantly announced the deal — celebrating the fact that the US government would come to own a share of the company. The reaction on the right was mixed. Plenty of Trump’s acolytes dutifully hopped on board and echoed Trump’s framing that the federal government is ‘us,’ and so any deal that moves money or financial assets into federal accounts is equivalent to transferring that money to all of us Americans. Others were not convinced. Plenty pointed out, correctly, that the government embedding and allying itself with nominally private companies is the literal definition of economic fascism. Establishment critics, who are not put off by economic fascism as long as they get to call it something else, thought the move was a bit strategically misguided.” (08/27/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/real-problem-trumps-intel-deal
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37) For Frantic Dems, Trump Bashing is the Only Game in Town
Source: Town Hall
by Byron York
“The Democratic National Committee is holding its summer meeting in Minneapolis. There is a lot to talk about. The party, of course, is suffering through a major slide in popularity. A Wall Street Journal poll a few weeks ago found that voters’ approval of the party is its lowest in 35 years. A New York Times report this month found that, ‘Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections — and often by a lot.’ Democrats have also shown a knack for getting on the unpopular side of a number of issues, like the border and crime. They’re also deeply divided on Israel and Gaza. And they’re in a terrible money crunch …” (08/27/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/byronyork/2025/08/27/columnistsbyronyork20250826for-frantic-dems-trump-bashing-is-the-only-game-in-town-n2662384
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38) Peacemaking in the Borderlands: A Reflection on the Farce of “Border Security”
Source: CounterPunch
by Todd Miller
“Since Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has deployed 8,500 active-duty military to the U.S.-Mexico border, turned vast areas of the border into restricted military zones known as National Defense Areas, deployed Stryker combat vehicles to the NDAs, and built large detention camps on military bases like Fort Bliss in El Paso. This is only the last eight months, but it follows three decades of persistent border militarization executed by multiple administrations, both Democratic and Republican. Over these decades, the U.S.-Mexico land border has become one of the most militarized and deadly places on the planet. In other words, it is time to retire the term border security. It is inaccurate. What we are witnessing on the border is an act of war.” (08/27/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/27/peacemaking-in-the-borderlands-a-reflection-on-the-farce-of-border-security/
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39) Politics, Culture, and Congressional Decadence
Source: Law & Liberty
by R Shep Melnick
“Congressional revival is possible but must first overcome a matrix of polarization, fiscal plight, and democracy’s cultural decay.” (08/27/25)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/politics-culture-and-congressional-decadence/
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40) Too Virtuous to Win?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The Democrats lost a presidential election where the biggest issue, shared by both contenders, was The Other Side Is Off-putting, Icky and Crazy. Third Way, a think tank pushing for ‘moderate’ policy, almost acknowledged this in a widely-shared memo: ‘For a party that spends billions of dollars trying to find the perfect language to connect to voters, Democrats and their allies use an awful lot of words and phrases no ordinary person would ever dream of saying.’ So it’s not without reason that Third Way suggests Democrats drop the ‘therapy-speak,’ for example — words like privilege, violence (‘as in ‘environmental violence’’), othering, etc. Also to be nixed? ‘Seminar room language,’ featuring jargon like subverting norms, systems of oppression, heuristic, etc.” (08/27/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/08/26/2virtuous2win/
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41) 21 Questions About The Claim That Iran Orchestrated Antisemitic Attacks In Australia
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Canberra will be expelling the Iranian ambassador and legislating to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. Albanese says the move is because an assessment by the intelligence agency ASIO has concluded that Iran used ‘a complex web of proxies’ to orchestrate two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia in order to ‘undermine social cohesion and sow discord.’ As you might expect, not one shred of evidence has been provided for this assertion, much less the giant mountain of rock-solid proof required for intelligence agency credibility in a post-Iraq invasion world. This hasn’t stopped the Murdoch press from going ballistic and framing the assertion as a ‘bombshell revelation’ of an established fact.” (08/27/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/08/27/21-questions-about-the-claim-that-iran-orchestrated-antisemitic-attacks-in-australia/
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42) Why Putin is winning
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh
“After a furious week of diplomacy in Alaska and Washington D.C., U.S. President Donald Trump signaled on Friday that he would be pausing his intensive push to end war in Ukraine. His frustration was obvious. ‘I’m not happy about anything about that war. Nothing. Not happy at all,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office. To be sure, Trump’s high-profile engagements fell short of his own promises. But almost two weeks after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and European leaders in Washington, it is clear that there were real winners and losers …. Putin clearly fared best of all. He got a face-to-face meeting with his American counterpart on U.S. soil, avoided the economic penalties that Trump had threatened, and continued his war without making notable concessions.” (08/27/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-ukraine-putin/
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43) Checking In on the Peace Administration
Source: The American Conservative
by Jude Russo
“One of the recurring motifs of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric these days is that he’s Mr. Peace, settling wars left and right across the globe. Certainly this is better than styling himself as Mr. War, who is a character who has been found wanting these past few decades and whose departure from the stage is not much mourned. Of course, there’s a bit of slippage between style and substance. Yes, wars have been settled …. On the other hand, in the first eight months of the second Trump administration, the U.S. has bombed the daylights out of Yemen’s Houthis (ineffectually) and was buffaloed by a junior partner into bombing the daylights out of Iran (also ineffectually, so far as anyone can tell); we’re still funding and arming the Ukrainians and Israelis, and we’re now directly menacing various South American potentates with war ships and strike plans.” (08/27/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/checking-in-on-the-peace-administration/
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44) The Problem Is Solved by Art, Not Science
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“So much of what is considered science today is really just art. It’s a subjective interpretation of the meaning of data. Data does not speak for itself. It does not tell you cause and effect. It provides no predictive map for the future. It’s often incorrect or merely a proximate rendering of the full reality. Even the best and most experienced experts and invested stakeholders cannot overcome this problem. The implications of this insight are vast. Let’s start with an easy example.” (08/26/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-problem-is-solved-by-art-not-science/
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45) Trump needs to deploy the National Guard to Chicago immediately!
Source: New York Post
by Gianno Caldwell
“On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order ending cashless bail nationwide and creating rapid-response National Guard units that can be deployed to any city in need. Chicago, which Trump has aptly said ‘is a killing field right now,’ is one of the candidates. Send in the feds, Mr. President. Those forces should include ATF, DEA and FBI agents and other Department of Justice resources, as well as federalized National Guard troops if necessary. It’s high time to act against the dereliction of duty we’ve seen from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.” [editor’s note: In English, Caldwell is saying “unleash the same kinds of thugs who killed my brother” – TLK] (08/26/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/26/opinion/trump-needs-to-deploy-the-national-guard-to-chicago-immediately/
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46) A Collectivist Judge Is a Contradiction in Terms
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
“It is a bit of a mystery why people who claim to be American-style conservatives do not embrace Friedrich Hayek, the economist and legal theorist who was awarded a Nobel Prize in economics in 1974. The mystery dissipates when one realizes that most self-identified conservatives are in fact as collectivist as the self-defined progressives (‘liberals’ in the confusing American terminology). Each side gives primacy to collective and political choices over individual and private choices, except that it is different collective choices that each side wants to impose. The difference is typically about which groups in society will be favored and which ones harmed.” (08/26/25)
https://www.econlib.org/a-collectivist-judge-is-a-contradiction-in-terms/
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47) This 8th Amendment Clause Was Crafted for Common Folks. It Still Helped Donald Trump.
Source: Cato Institute
by Matthew Cavedon
“[O]n Thursday, a New York appellate court, citing that clause, struck down a $500 million fine against the president for filing dishonest business records. Regardless of whether Trump’s case was decided rightly or wrongly, it isn’t typical, and focus on it threatens to obscure the clause’s role in protecting everyday Americans. Blackstone had much more modest circumstances in mind when he wrote that fines could not deprive landowners of their land, merchants of their businesses, or farmers of their animals and equipment. A court imposing a fine had to recognize that what ‘is ruin to one man’s fortune, may be matter of indifference to another’s’ and adjust the amount accordingly. We should all be thankful that such a clause exists and that it prohibits excessive fines — even if in addition to protecting people with average assets, it also protects people with great fortunes.” (08/26/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/8th-amendment-clause-was-crafted-common-folks-it-still-helped-donald-trump
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48) When Mamdani says it, it’s socialism. When Trump does it, it’s genius.
Source: Washington Post
by Jim Geraghty
“It’s a good thing we have President Donald Trump and his administration to stop the spread of Mamdani’s socialist agenda. Instead of having the government take greater control of private companies the way Mamdani wants, the administration is having the government take greater control of private companies the way Trump wants.” (08/26/25)
https://archive.is/Wlubj
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49) Foot Soldiers of the Trump Mafiacracy
Source: The American Prospect
by Maureen Tkacik
“Sigal Chattah, the Israeli-born acting U.S. attorney in Nevada, who declined to prosecute an Israeli government official arrested last month for attempting to go on a date with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old girl, has drawn attention for her seemingly bottomless online footprint of unapologetically genocidal social media posts, text messages likening a political opponent to Hamas, and a campaign ad featuring a photo of Rep. Ilhan Omar engulfed by flames. But a shallow dive into the long list of donors who contributed to her 2022 Nevada attorney general campaign gives a fuller picture of Chattah, and by extension the emerging Mafia bureaucracy comprising Trump’s Department of Justice.” (08/27/25)
https://prospect.org/justice/2025-08-27-foot-soldiers-trump-mafiacracy-sigal-chattah-nevada/
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50) Trump Promised To Cut Energy Bills “By Half.” His Trade War Could Drive Them Higher.
Source: Reason
by Jeff Luse
“On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to cut ‘electricity prices by half’ within 18 months of becoming president. In the eight months since he took office, Trump’s plans haven’t worked, and electricity prices have steadily increased, rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation over the past 12 months. Predictably, the Trump administration has blamed renewables for this trend, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently saying that the ‘momentum’ of the policies enacted by Barack Obama and Joe Biden is responsible for electricity price increases. … The government’s preferential treatment of renewables is partially responsible for these price hikes; flood the grid with intermittent [sic] energy sources, while making it harder for fossil fuels to operate, and electricity prices will rise. But this isn’t the only reason why electricity costs have gone up.” (08/26/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/26/trump-promised-lower-electricity-bills-his-trade-war-could-drive-them-higher/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Interview: Glenn Jacobs
Source: Reason
“The former WWE star and current mayor of Knox County explains how limiting government, protecting economic freedom, and trusting communities over bureaucrats can build a stronger foundation for liberty.” (08/27/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/08/27/glenn-jacobs-body-slams-big-government/
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52) Rising, 08/27/25
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers a radar on President Trump’s crime crackdown expanding to Chicago.” (08/27/25)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5472576-rising-august-27-2025/
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53) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/27/25
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Is Screwing His Voters So Badly that It Shocked This GOP Senator.” (08/27/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/199656/trump-screwing-voters-badly-shocked-gop-senator
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54) How To Fix The Internet, 08/27/25
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
“Protecting Privacy in Your Brain.” (08/27/25)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/podcast-episode-protecting-privacy-your-brain
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55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/27/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Shatters Record for US Airstrikes in Somalia, Christian Clergy To Stay in Gaza City, and More.” (08/27/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Izx-3GE38I
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56) William Van Wagenen on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“William Van Wagenen on the CIA’s Covert War to Remake the Middle East.” (08/26/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/8-22-25-william-van-wagenen-on-the-cias-covert-war-to-remake-the-middle-east/
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57) System Update, episode 505
Source: System Update
“Glenn Takes Your Questions on Censorship, Epstein, and More; DNC Rejects Embargo of Weapons to Israel with Journalist Dave Weigel.” (08/26/25)
https://rumble.com/v6y45hi-system-update-show-505.html
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58) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/26/25
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Why America Can’t Build Enough Housing with Edward L. Glaeser.” (08/26/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/economy/why-america-cant-build-enough-housing-with-edward-l-glaeser/
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59) Nonzero, 08/26/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“The MAGA Case Against AI Accelerationism | Robert Wright & Joe Allen.” (08/26/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68967
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60) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/26/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Weaponize Culture with Author Rian Stone.” (08/26/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/tlpp-weaponize-culture-with-author-rian-stone
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