09/22 -- Lebanon: Israeli forces murder five, including four Americans; Brendan Carr and Donald Trump: Another Jawbone, Another Ass
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Thomas L. Knapp
Sep 22, 2025, 6:19:13 AMSep 22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 09/22/25
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Lebanon: Israeli forces murder five, including four Americans
2) British, Australian, Canadian regimes recognize Palestinian state
3) Shutdown theater: Schumer just might bend the knee as usual
4) Germany scrambles jets after Russia military aircraft flies over Baltic Sea
5) Trump regime officials shut down bribery probe of border gang shot-caller Tom Homan
6) Ireland: Sinn Féin backs independent in presidential race instead of running its own candidate
7) CA: Sacramento man accused of shooting local ABC affiliate’s offices
8) Ecuador: Electoral council approves referendum on foreign military bases
9) Christopher Nolan to lead Directors Guild of America
10) Trump wields “golden share” to halt US Steel plant shutdown
11) TikTok buyer group includes Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell, Trump says
12) Turkey: Main Opposition Re-Elects Leader Ahead of Key Court Ruling
13) SC: Barbershop employee fatally shoots machete-wielding robber
14) China: COVID whistleblower Zhang Zhan sentenced to four more years in jail, group says
15) Iran: Regime says it will suspend cooperation with UN’s nuclear watchdog
16) Duchess of York called Epstein “supreme friend” in 2011 email
17) H-1B workers abroad race to US as Trump extortion scheme sparks dismay, confusion
18) “Heavy soda” trend flows through US as super sweet fountain drinks spark buzz online
19) CA: Politicians, hangers- on descend into chaos after “armed” serf gets uppity
20) Pentagon demands approval for reporters’ coverage
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Brendan Carr and Donald Trump: Another Jawbone, Another Ass
22) Trump’s Censorship Binge After Kirk’s Killing Is Part of an All-Out Effort to Crush the Opposition
23) How Israel Captured TikTok
24) Art and The Search for Immortality
25) Americans Like Drugs. Killing Drug Traffickers Won’t Change That.
26) The internet made us stupid. AI promises to make it worse
27) Our Real Enemy in the Culture Wars Is Nihilism
28) Classical Wisdom: The Soul of Liberty
29) Lawmaking that operates – quietly
30) A vengeful Trump props up the unproductive as his economy falls apart
31) Far-left [sic] patronizing Kimmel while demonizing Charlie Kirk; how heartless are Dems?
32) FCC: Fostering Censorship and Corruption
33) Imagine There Was A Violent Cult Committing Atrocities With Impunity
34) The bipartisan war on free speech
35) In defense of fiery words
36) The First Amendment freedom of speech in theory and practice
37) What Charlie Kirk’s murder tells us about the American mind
38) The myth of the optimal level of incarceration
39) Why the Old Left–Right Divide No Longer Works
40) How the Kimmel saga reorders FCC politics
41) The Ugly Aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
42) In Search of “Good Government”
43) America the Irrelevant
44) The Violence Threat Matrix
45) To Hell With Jimmy Kimmel, and Anyone Who Can’t Condemn Murder
46) Social Peace Through Government Retrenchment
47) Trump Just Undercut His Defenders
48) AI Won’t Kill Work — It Will Reinvent It
49) DC’s Delegate Faces New Headwinds
50) As Trump blasts boats, Congress hits rock bottom
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 361
52) Unattended Baggage, episode 310
53) The Good Fight, 09/20/25
54) Underthrow Podcast, 09/19/25
55) The Dispatch Podcast, 09/19/25
56) Serious Trouble, 09/19/25
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 09/19/25
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 647
59) The Bulwark Podcast, 09/19/25
60) Dr. Anas Ahmed on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Lebanon: Israeli forces murder five, including four Americans
Source: Sky News [UK]
“An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon has killed five people including three children, the country’s health ministry said. Four of those killed, including the children and their father, held US citizenship, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said. Two others were wounded, including the children’s mother. … The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah terrorist who ‘operated from within a civilian population.’ The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledged “several uninvolved civilians” were killed and said the incident was being reviewed.” (09/22/25)
https://news.sky.com/story/israeli-drone-strike-in-lebanon-kills-five-people-including-three-children-13436030
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2) British, Australian, Canadian regimes recognize Palestinian state
Source: New York Times
“Britain, Canada and Australia confirmed on Sunday that they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood, piling pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but putting three major Western allies at odds with the Trump administration. The seemingly coordinated announcements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, at which France and Portugal are also expected to vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood. … Britain’s actions have chilled relations with Israel, with Mr. Netanyahu showing particular anger at the plan to recognize Palestine.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/Tk9kx
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3) Shutdown theater: Schumer just might bend the knee as usual
Source: New York Post
“Dem Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday refused to rule out caving to President Trump’s demand for a ‘clean’ stopgap funding bill — no poison pills attached — to avert a partial federal shutdown. The senior New York senator and most other Democrats in the chamber had rejected a ‘clean’ GOP-backed House bill Friday to keep the government’s lights on. Instead, they backed their own bill that would have averted a partial shutdown while achieving their demands on health care and restricting Trump’s ability to freeze funding. But Schumer, pressed Sunday about whether he would be on board with the Republicans’ ‘clean’ spending patch if time runs out, to avoid a shutdown, would not deny the possibility.” (09/21/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/09/21/us-news/schumer-refuses-to-rule-out-caving-to-trump-in-government-shutdown-fight/
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4) Germany scrambles jets after Russia military aircraft flies over Baltic Sea
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Germany’s air force says it has scrambled two Eurofighter jets to track a Russian reconnaissance aircraft after it had entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea. In a statement, the air force said its ‘quick reaction alert force’ was ordered on Sunday by NATO to investigate an unidentified aircraft flying without a plan or radio contact. … Tensions have been heightened in recent weeks by a series of airspace violations along NATO’s eastern flank. Romania said last week that its radar detected a Russian drone, prompting it to scramble fighter jets. Earlier this month, Poland reported that it had shot down several drones during a Russian aerial attack on Ukraine, marking the first time NATO forces have directly engaged in that conflict.” (09/21/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/21/germany-scrambles-jets-after-russia-military-aircraft-flies-over-baltic-sea
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5) Trump regime officials shut down bribery probe of border gang shot-caller Tom Homan
Source; Washington Post
“The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, was caught on tape accepting a bag filled with $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents in Texas in September 2024, when he was a private citizen, according to two people familiar with the matter and a government document confirming the existence of the probe. At the time, Homan was being floated for a top immigration job in the incoming administration and allegedly took the money from agents posing as businessmen in exchange for helping the men land contracts related to immigration enforcement if President Donald Trump won the election, the people said. The Justice Department in the final months of the Biden administration launched a bribery investigation into Homan, but the Trump administration shut it down this year, citing a lack of ‘credible evidence’ and calling it a ‘political investigation.'” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/9aNay
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6) Ireland: Sinn Féin backs independent in presidential race instead of running its own candidate
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Sinn Féin will back Catherine Connolly to be the next president of Ireland, the party has announced. Party president Mary Lou McDonald made the announcement on social media ahead of a much anticipated press conference in Dublin. She said the independent TD got their support as someone who would ‘champion a united Ireland, stand up for Ireland’s place in the world as a defender of neutrality and human rights, and speak out for fairness and economic justice,’ Connolly has already been backed by some left-wing parties, including Labour, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit.” (09/20/25)
https://archive.is/KlAZC
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7) CA: Sacramento man accused of shooting local ABC affiliate’s offices
Source: United Press International
“Sacramento Police officers arrested Anibal Hernandezsantana on Saturday morning for allegedly shooting at the occupied office of a local ABC affiliate. Hernandezsantana, 64, was arrested on charges that accuse him of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm, KXTV reported. … The motive for the shooting is under investigation, but it occurred within days of ABC announcing it was suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! over comments that Kimmel made during an opening monologue on Monday regarding the alleged shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.” (09/20/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/09/20/asacramento-shooting/8541758402543/
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8) Ecuador: Electoral council approves referendum on foreign military bases
Source: ABC News
“Ecuador’s electoral council approved Saturday a request by President Daniel Noboa to organize a referendum asking voters to approve key changes to the nation’s constitution, as its conservative government seeks more tools to fight drug-related violence. Voters will be asked whether a prohibition against foreign military bases in Ecuador should be eliminated. And whether the state should no longer have an obligation to fund political parties. Noboa called for the referendum through a decree issued earlier this week, which also said that voters should be asked if the nation should rewrite its constitution by organizing a constituent assembly. On Friday, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court suspended the request for voters to decide on a constituent assembly as it reviews several lawsuits against the move.” (09/20/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ecuadors-electoral-council-approves-referendum-foreign-military-bases-125771722
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9) Christopher Nolan to lead Directors Guild of America
Source: Seattle Times
“Christopher Nolan has been elected to lead the Directors Guild of America, the organization said late Saturday. The Oscar-winning ‘Oppenheimer’ filmmaker said in a statement that it is, ‘one of the greatest honors of my career.’ The guild represents the interests of some 19,500 film and television directors in the United States and abroad, in addition to hosting the DGA awards annually. … Nolan will take over for outgoing president Lesli Linka Glatter, who led the group for four years through the Hollywood strikes of 2023.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/EghdG
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10) Trump wields “golden share” to halt US Steel plant shutdown
Source: CNBC
“The Trump administration stepped in to stop U.S. Steel from idling operations at its Granite City, Ill., plant, exercising new powers tied to the company’s recent takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported. The steelmaker had informed nearly 800 workers that the plant would close in November, noting however that they would still be paid. But after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned CEO Dave Burritt the administration wouldn’t allow it, U.S. Steel reversed course on Friday, saying the facility would keep rolling slabs into sheet steel, the Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The intervention marked Trump’s first use of so-called ‘golden share’ rights, a condition of the $14.1 billion takeover by Japan’s Nippon that cleared in June. The national-security agreement gave the White House veto power over plant closures, offshore production shifts and other strategic decisions.” (09/20/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/20/trump-golden-share-us-steel.html
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11) TikTok buyer group includes Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell, Trump says
Source: Axios
“Media moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and tech entrepreneur Michael Dell are expected to be among the U.S. investors who will be part of the potential deal for TikTok, President Trump said on Sunday. The exact terms and timingremain unknown, but it’s becoming clearer that TikTok is getting closer to being sold and remaining in business in the U.S. What’s still entirely unclear, though, is exactly who’s involved, in what capacity, what price they will pay, who will lead the new entity, or when any deal will actually happen.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/DRSsm
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12) Turkey: Main Opposition Re-Elects Leader Ahead of Key Court Ruling
Source: US News & World Report
“Turkey’s main opposition re-elected Ozgur Ozel as leader on Sunday at an extraordinary congress called in a bid to shield him and other party chiefs from a court ruling next month that could order their ouster. An Ankara court is set to rule over whether to annul the 2023 congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) where Ozel was elected chairman over alleged irregularities, a case government critics say highlights Turkey’s slide towards autocracy under President Tayyip Erdogan. … Of 917 votes cast at Sunday’s CHP gathering, 835 were deemed valid and all went to Ozel, the party said. By securing a fresh mandate from party delegates, CHP officials hope to reduce the risk that the upcoming court ruling on the 2023 congress could unseat Ozel.” (09/21/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-09-21/turkeys-main-opposition-re-elects-leader-ahead-of-key-court-ruling
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13) SC: Barbershop employee fatally shoots machete-wielding robber
Source: WJCL 20 News
“A man was shot and killed after attempting to rob a barbershop in Ridgeland, according to police. The incident occurred Thursday, 30 minutes before the shop’s scheduled opening time. The barbershop, which typically opens at 11 a.m., was hosting an early appointment when the suspect, wearing a ski mask and armed with a machete, entered. One of the barbers, who asked not to be identified, shot the man before the situation could escalate. Police confirmed the barber is a legal [sic] firearm owner. … Police identified the suspect as 55-year-old Curtis Edward Scott. Witnesses said Scott had an accomplice who fled the scene as soon as the shot was fired.” [editor’s note: Why would you rob a place when it has just opened, before any significant cash receipts? – TLK] (09/20/25)
https://www.wjcl.com/article/ridgeland-barbershop-self-defense-shooting/67961552
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14) China: COVID whistleblower Zhang Zhan sentenced to four more years in jail, group says
Source: New York Post
“A Chinese journalist jailed for four years after documenting the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak from the pandemic’s epicenter was sentenced on Friday to four more years in prison, Reporters Without Borders said. Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced on a charge of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ in China, the same charge that led to her December 2020 imprisonment after she posted first-hand accounts from the central city of Wuhan on the early spread of coronavirus, the international press freedom group, known by its French initials RSF, said on Saturday. China’s Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached on Sunday for comment. Reuters could not determine whether the citizen-journalist had legal representation.” (09/21/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/09/21/world-news/chinese-covid-whistleblower-zhang-zhan-sentenced-to-4-more-years-in-jail-group-says/
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15) Iran: Regime says it will suspend cooperation with UN’s nuclear watchdog
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Iran’s top security body has warned that action by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to reimpose international sanctions will ‘effectively suspend’ its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog. The warning from the Supreme National Security Council came on Saturday, a day after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) failed to adopt a resolution to permanently lift sanctions against Iran. That vote was called after the three European nations launched a 30-day process on August 28 to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, claiming that Tehran has violated a deal it signed in 2015 to curb its nuclear programme.” (09/21/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/21/iran-says-e3-move-to-trigger-sanctions-will-halt-cooperation-with-iaea
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16) Duchess of York called Epstein “supreme friend” in 2011 email
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Two newspapers have published an email said to have been sent by the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, calling him a ‘supreme friend’ — despite his conviction for sex offences. The Sun and the Mail on Sunday reported that the email, from 2011, was sent weeks after the duchess had publicly distanced herself from the disgraced financier. A spokesperson for the duchess – the former wife of the Prince Andrew, the Duke of York — said the email was to counter a threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation. In an interview in 2011, the duchess said her involvement with Epstein had been a ‘gigantic error of judgment.'” (09/21/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj11l3wd35o
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17) H-1B workers abroad race to US as Trump extortion scheme sparks dismay, confusion
Source: Reuters
“Panic, confusion, and anger reigned as workers on H-1B visas from India and China were forced to abandon travel plans and rush back to the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed new visa fees, in line with his wide-ranging immigration crackdown. Tech companies and banks sent urgent memos to employees, advising them to return before a deadline of 12:01 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time Sunday (4:01 am GMT), and telling them not to leave the country. … Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday said companies would have to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas. However, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Saturday that this was not an annual fee, only a one-time fee that applied to each new petition.” (09/21/25)
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/fast-furious-h-1b-workers-abroad-race-us-trump-order-sparks-dismay-confusion-2025-09-21/
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18) “Heavy soda” trend flows through US as super sweet fountain drinks spark buzz online
Source: Fox News
“A sweet new drink craze is bubbling up online, and dentists are cringing. The latest fountain option, dubbed heavy soda, promises an extra blast of syrup for maximum sweetness and a flavor strong enough to withstand melting ice. According to Reddit threads and viral TikTok videos, some gas stations in southern Missouri have begun offering the concoction, with machines labeled ‘heavy’ for popular sodas like Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper. … The idea mirrors why McDonald’s Coke is famous for tasting better. Syrup to carbonated water ratios are boosted to account for melting ice. Unlike the popular new dirty soda trend, which dresses up soft drinks with creamers, fruit purées and syrups, heavy soda is all about maximum sweetness and flavor.” (09/20/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/heavy-soda-trend-flows-through-us-super-sweet-fountain-drinks-spark-buzz-online
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19) CA: Politicians, hangers- on descend into chaos after “armed” serf gets uppity
Source: SFGate
“A man armed with multiple weapons stormed the Arcata City Council on Wednesday night in a chaotic and violent encounter that local officials said is a reflection of heightened political tensions in the community. The Humboldt County town’s council had just started taking public comments when the man allegedly pushed toward the sitting council members, appearing to have a firearm under his clothes and refusing to sit down. City Manager Merritt Perry said he jumped up and restrained the man, who then punched Perry multiple times before police officers were able to arrest him. … The firearm turned out to be a Nerf gun, but the man was also armed with pepper spray and a switchblade, according to the Lost Coast Outpost, which first reported on the incident.” (09/19/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/northcoast/article/armed-man-storms-arcata-city-council-21056056.php
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20) Pentagon demands approval for reporters’ coverage
Source: Associated Press
“The Pentagon says it will require credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been authorized for release — including unclassified information. Journalists who don’t abide by the policy risk losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon, under a 17-page memo distributed Friday that steps up media restrictions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump. ‘Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,’ the directive states. The signature form includes an array of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon.” (09/20/25)
https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-media-restrictions-nondisclosure-8420d3a80de20a39605c588d9990c582
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Brendan Carr and Donald Trump: Another Jawbone, Another Ass
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“There’s nothing new about ‘jawboning,’ the practice of politicians and bureaucrats using political condemnation, often coupled with regulatory or legal threats, to bludgeon private sector actors into submission. … Everyone with so much as a smidgen of morality and/or common sense — and even most Republicans! — condemned that kind of jawboning when Biden and Co. did it. Everyone with so much as a smidgen of morality and/or common sense — and even most Democrats! — condemns it when Trump and Co. do it. … Using government threats to suppress discussions the government doesn’t want us to have is both an evil in itself and a reversal of proper roles.” (09/20/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/19950
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22) Trump’s Censorship Binge After Kirk’s Killing Is Part of an All-Out Effort to Crush the Opposition
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig
“‘When you have a [television] network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump,’ complained the most powerful man in the world while onboard Air Force One, returning from a white-tie dinner with King Charles III last week. ‘They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.’ As ever, the statement was unvarnished in its egotism, dropping the pretense that Trump’s latest attack on free speech had anything to do with the distasteful reaction in some quarters to the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk. Instead, fresh from Windsor Castle, Trump put on full view his impulse for a gilded lèse-majesté — avenging the alleged defamation of himself as head of state.” (09/20/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-censorship-binge-after-kirks
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23) How Israel Captured TikTok
Source: The American Conservative
by Harrison Berger
“Reports that TikTok will transfer an 80 percent stake in its U.S. operations to Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz are celebrated in Washington as a strategic victory over China, where its parent company is based. But a closer examination of the deal reveals a different winner: the foreign government of Israel and its lobby in the United States.” (09/21/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-israel-captured-tiktok/
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24) Art and The Search for Immortality
Source: Quillette
by Angel Eduardo
“In the 1982 film Blade Runner, a group of synthetic humans called replicants abandon their various posts off world and make an illegal return to Earth. Their motives become clear in a pivotal scene in which their leader, Roy Batty, meets Eldon Tyrell, the designer who created them. Batty tells Eldon, ‘I want more life, Father.’ Replicants are designed to live for only four years and Batty’s time is running out. And his life has been far too short for him to experience everything he knows that life can offer. While most of us have far longer lives, we share that same tragic limitation. … Art can’t give us immortality, but it can give us something better. It can give us what Roy Batty longed for: more life.” (09/19/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/09/19/art-and-the-search-for-immortality/
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25) Americans Like Drugs. Killing Drug Traffickers Won’t Change That.
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“For a variety of reasons, the U.S. is the most significant illicit drug market in the world, with the most drug users. Though 45 percent of Americans describe the problem of drugs in the U.S. as ‘extremely serious,’ drug use is a growing trend. … Since most traffickers to the U.S. are citizens, killing suspects at sea is a hollow show — attacking supply while ignoring the demand that fuels it.” (09/19/25)
https://reason.com/2025/09/19/americans-like-drugs-killing-drug-traffickers-wont-change-that/
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26) The internet made us stupid. AI promises to make it worse
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Christopher Ketcham
“[Nicholas] Carr has argued, correctly, that with its endless distractions and fragmented structure, its flashing rabbit-holes, its emphasis on speed and constant switching (between subjects, links, pages, images, etc.), the internet causes cognitive damage, a rewiring of the brain so that we’re less able to ponder and meditate, to think at length and complexly — to go deep. … Now comes AI, and we face a new disaster for human cognition, as the prospect of artificial intelligence-induced imbecility is confirmed in study after study of the use of large-language models such as ChatGPT.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/o5iEx
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27) Our Real Enemy in the Culture Wars Is Nihilism
Source: The Dispatch
by Michael Reneau & Kevin Brown
“In the early 1990s, sociologist James Davison Hunter coined the expression ‘culture war’ as he described a country divided between competing moral visions of orthodox traditionalism and cultural progressivism. We are still in a culture war, says Hunter, but of a different character. ‘[B]eneath the apparent polarization, beneath our seemingly incommensurable differences, we increasingly inhabit a common culture,’ he writes. One that is ‘chillingly nihilistic.’ If Hunter is right, cultural battle lines cannot be neatly drawn between political typologies of left and right. In an After Virtue moment where, claims the late philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, universal norms no longer derive from traditional moral authorities so much as feelings and preferences, nihilism comes to occupy the space once held by transcendence. This, says Hunter, is the essence of our war.” (09/21/25)
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-faith/charlie-kirk-nihilism-culture-war/
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28) Classical Wisdom: The Soul of Liberty
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“How many of us believe that power and violence rule the world? Yet, there must be thoughts, beliefs, conditioning, and passions that enable violence. The enemies of freedom also understood that thoughts rule the world. Stalin said, ‘Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?’ In his essay ‘History,’ Emerson wrote, ‘Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.’ It is this profound, often unseen, power of thought that brings us directly from Emerson to the present moment.” (09/20/25)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/classical-wisdom-the-soul-of-liberty
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29) Lawmaking that operates – quietly
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“It’s fall. Seasonal pumpkin spice-flavored drinks are back. So are political battles over funding and a potential United States government shutdown. A stopgap spending bill from the House failed to pass in the Senate on Friday, and an alternative proposed by Senate Democrats also did not pass. But with all eyes on the shutdown showdown, it’s easy to overlook the full array of legislation that does make it through Congress. In the 2023–2024 legislative session, for example, 614 bills were enacted and 735 resolutions were passed, according to the accountability website GovTrack. The American public hears about contentious bills but may not ‘get a big picture of what all Congress is doing,’ according to University of Virgina public policy professor Craig Volden.” (09/19/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0919/Lawmaking-that-operates-quietly
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30) A vengeful Trump props up the unproductive as his economy falls apart
Source: The Hill
by JP Singh
“Government interventions in the U.S. economy are not new. Whether we like it or not, defense has encouraged innovation from Presdient Dwight Eisenhower’s ‘military-industrial complex,’ the DARPANET that was a precursor to the Internet, to President Ronald Reagan’s Sematech initiative that may be seen as good precursor to Biden’s Chips Act for semi-conductor manufacturing in the U.S. Trump’s wrecking ball is unique. It’s about destroying or weakening rather than strengthening American institutions. Don’t like the job numbers? Fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief. Don’t like Fed’s monetary policy in the face of inflationary pressures? Fire a Fed member and make its chief’s life miserable. … Trump ignores the most productive sectors of the U.S. economy and caters to the most unproductive, welfare-fed and militantly Christian rural areas of the U.S. Even his promise to bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S. is a myth.” (09/20/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5512232-a-vengeful-trump-props-up-the-unproductive-as-his-economy-falls-apart/
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31) Far-left [sic] patronizing Kimmel while demonizing Charlie Kirk; how heartless are Dems?
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
“Democrats have surely heard the sage advice that when you’re in a hole, drop the shovel and walk away. But they aren’t listening, and are still digging themselves in deeper and further out of favor. With the party out of power and wildly unpopular, last week demonstrated that many leading Dems are not just clueless — they’re also heartless. Their poor grip on reality surfaced through their choices of heroes and villains. Like so many junkies, they are driven by Trump Derangement Syndrome to make one terrible decision after another. On Thursday, some New York City officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander, were among a dirty dozen arrested by Homeland Security agents in lower Manhattan.” (09/20/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/09/20/opinion/the-far-left-patronizing-kimmel-while-calling-charlie-kirk-evil-shows-how-heartless-dems-have-become/
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32) FCC: Fostering Censorship and Corruption
Source: I Blog to Differ
by David R Henderson
“That the FCC actively judges the character of license holders is inevitable, given the powers granted the FCC. After all, if the government is to decide which applicants will best serve the ‘public interest, convenience, or necessity’ (the wording of the 1934 Act) then it must use some criterion for its decision. What more obvious criterion than the ethical character of the applicant, even if he has paid the price for past wrongdoings. But applying this criterion has two unfortunate results: (1) Since people differ about who is of good character and who is not, the decisions made are somewhat arbitrary. (The FCC renewed two Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. licenses the next week even though its parent company had pled guilty to bribery); (2) Censorship necessarily occurs because the FCC cannot choose between applicants without promoting some ideas instead of others.” (09/19/25)
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/fcc-fostering-censorship-and-corruption
-----
33) Imagine There Was A Violent Cult Committing Atrocities With Impunity
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Imagine there was a violent cult that used scriptures from an ancient religion to convince its followers to do evil things. Imagine the cult was given its own state. Imagine the cult was given machine guns, tanks and war planes. Imagine the cult obtained nuclear weapons. Imagine the cult started committing genocide against the indigenous people who’d been living in the area where the cult’s state was established. Imagine the cult had huge branches in the most powerful nation on earth, and the powerful nation defended the cult no matter what it did. Imagine the cult flipped out and started relentlessly attacking and invading the surrounding nations. Imagine the cult had so much influence and support in western society that western governments and institutions would censor, silence, fire, marginalize and deport anyone who criticized the cult’s actions.” (09/21/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/09/21/imagine-there-was-a-violent-cult-committing-atrocities-with-impunity/
-----
34) The bipartisan war on free speech
Source: Orange County Register
by Eric Preven
“Pam Bondi, the conservative U.S. attorney general, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the liberal president of the Los Angeles City Council, share a dirty secret: they both want speech that’s easy to manage — and they’re willing to treat the Constitution like a dimmer switch to get there. Different jerseys, same play: manage the message.” (09/19/25)
https://archive.is/NNjZN
-----
35) In defense of fiery words
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Jacob Gaba
“Throughout American history, especially during times of civil unrest, the government used the power of the state to criminalize what it perceived as advocacy of violence. For example, in 1927, the Supreme Court upheld Charlotte Whitney’s conviction for joining a socialist convention that advocated the overthrow of the government (Whitney v. California). The Court reasoned that advocating violence could present ‘danger to the public peace and security,’ and that the exercise of the state’s police powers therefore carries ‘great weight’ in such instances. Similarly, Attorney General Pam Bondi recently suggested the federal government might bring ‘incitement’ prosecutions of people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination. As the potential for political violence increases, what prevents the government from taking us back to 1927?” (09/19/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/defense-fiery-words
-----
36) The First Amendment freedom of speech in theory and practice
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“I happen to agree with Trump that Jimmy Kimmel is neither funny nor talented. A performer this bad could only have a show in a culture like ours. That said, this firing or dismissal — or whatever it is we’re watching right now — clearly came at the behest of FCC chair Brendan Carr, is based purely on Kimmel’s Democratic Party politics, and is therefore about as clear a violation of the First Amendment as you could have. It is not the kind of tricky hypothetical law professors might use to test their students on the requirements of the Constitution. It is not hard. But I would submit that the law, even as found in the First Amendment, is the wrong object of focus and inquiry.” (09/19/25)
https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/the-first-amendment-freedom-of-speech
-----
37) What Charlie Kirk’s murder tells us about the American mind
Source: Fox News
by William J Bennett
“‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.’ William Butler Yeats wrote those words about Europe after the Great War, but they ring with terrible clarity this week as we bury Charlie Kirk, murdered at 31 for the crime of arguing in public. The young man who built an empire of discourse from a suburban garage has been silenced by someone who apparently found bullets more persuasive than words. But here is what strikes me as I reflect on this tragedy: Charlie Kirk may have been the last American who genuinely believed you could change someone’s mind with a good argument. Think about that. When was the last time you saw someone actually switch positions during a debate? When did you last witness someone say three of the most treasured words in the English language: ‘I was wrong?'” (09/21/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/william-bennett-what-charlie-kirks-murder-tells-us-about-american-mind
-----
38) The myth of the optimal level of incarceration
Source: Niskanen Center
by Shawn Bushway
“The U.S. now incarcerates 25 percent fewer people than it did at its peak level of incarceration in 2009. Although this decline exceeds most projections from even 10 years ago, Stanford professor Keith Humphreys recently predicted in the Atlantic that even this smaller number would soon ‘fall off a cliff,’ leaving us with a prison population that is 60 percent smaller than it used to be. This decline has alarmed some people on the right, who believe we are now incarcerating too few people, rather than too many. All but the most extreme reformers accept that some number of people need to be incarcerated. The question then becomes, what is the optimal level for our society?” (09/19/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/why-we-can-safely-let-incarceration-drop/
-----
39) Why the Old Left–Right Divide No Longer Works
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“Michael Oakeshott’s distinction between government as referee and government as crusader sheds light on the identity-driven shifts remaking Western politics.” (09/19/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-the-old-left-right-divide-no-longer-works/
-----
40) How the Kimmel saga reorders FCC politics
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“Under the system that President Donald Trump inherited, the FCC decided which media companies could buy each other, networks decided what went on the air, and viewers decided whether to watch. If citizens wanted to protest a show or a star, they could go right ahead. If they preferred to watch alternative programming, more outlets were popping up every day. … Enter Trump and Carr’s new system, in which the FCC takes a side in what goes on the air. Nearly half of all voters supported Trump last year, and big stars on legacy broadcasters routinely mock their views. Conservatives beat those stars in the ratings, but they lack the major networks’ licenses and prestige. The president has realized he has power to revoke one of those two assets.” (09/19/25)
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/19/2025/how-the-jimmy-kimmel-saga-reorders-fcc-politics
-----
41) The Ugly Aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Source: Common Dreams
by Steven Harper
“In the final minutes of FBI Director Kash Patel’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 16, Sen. Thom Tillis [R-NC] acknowledged the obvious: Individuals on the left should not have celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but influential voices on the right were inflaming the situation. The bottom line, Tillis observed, was that escalation of the rhetoric on the right was making the FBI’s job of law enforcement more difficult. Sen. Tillis’s analysis would have come as a shock to President Donald Trump, who blamed the episode on ‘the radical left.’ Speaking Wednesday night from the Oval office only hours after Kirk’s death on September 10—before the identity or motives of the assassin were known — he issued a video message from the Oval Office.” (09/21/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/aftermath-charlie-kirk-assassination
-----
42) In Search of “Good Government”
Source: Law & Liberty
by Stephen M King
“Hanson and Kopstein declare the modern administrative state as a marvel of both human ingenuity and cultural and organizational progress. Humanity, they argue, would be incapable of living and working effectively and humanely without the institutional accouterments of the modern administrative state. Not only does the modern state exhibit procedural functionality, shown both through ‘civil servants, impartial judiciaries, and professional experts,’ but also in providing the rewards of public services. Therefore, they agree it must be preserved and protected. … Still, Hanson and Kopstein approach the efficaciousness of the modern state as suspect, even fragile, where too much of a patrimonial leader like Trump, Modi, or Netanyahu, and their disdain for the modern state, will soon lead to its demise.” (09/19/25)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/in-search-of-good-government/
-----
43) America the Irrelevant
Source: CounterPunch
by John Feffer
“Of the many savage ironies of the Trump administration, perhaps the greatest is the ever-diminishing stature of the United States — despite the president’s desire to make the country great again. MAGA was always something of a misnomer. As a modern-day Sun King, Trump has always believed that he is the state. If America somehow manages to shine, it’s really because of the light that reflects off the president’s bronzed brow. MAGA ultimately boils down to MTGA: Make Trump Great Again. … Trump is constantly in the news, and so is the United States. But don’t mistake coverage for relevance. In less than a year, Trump has steered the United States to the margins.” (09/19/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/19/america-the-irrelevant/
-----
44) The Violence Threat Matrix
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“Who’s on your side? In terms of politics, the answer, for the most part, has to do with whether people are on the left or right. Increasingly, though, we have to ask whether and how one is willing to use violence.” (09/19/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-violence-threat-matrix
-----
45) To Hell With Jimmy Kimmel, and Anyone Who Can’t Condemn Murder
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“I’m not a fan of Jimmy Kimmel; I prefer comedy to fat, angry political lectures. I’m old-fashioned that way. But I don’t think there is a story where more elements of it have been wrong or lied about – depending on whether the person doing it is a moron or evil – than the one about ‘Kimmel Being Canceled By Trump!’ It’s disgusting, it’s stupid and it is a fraud, which is why Democrats have embraced it, as the truth does them no good. The blackface aficionado has not been ‘fired’ at all; he’s suspended. … Donald Trump did not fire him. Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, did not force or threaten ABC into firing Kimmel because A) he wasn’t fired, and B) the FCC revoking a broadcast license is a long, arduous process that would likely fail.” (09/21/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2025/09/21/to-hell-with-jimmy-kimmel-and-anyone-who-cant-condemn-murder-n2663692
-----
46) Social Peace Through Government Retrenchment
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“For at least 200 years, classical liberals (aka libertarians) have warned that the more power the government wields, the greater the lengths people will go to get their hands on it before their ideological opponents do. This is not rocket science, yet resistance to the implications endures. If politicians and bureaucrats can readily confiscate wealth from its producers and distribute it to others, or if they can grant privileges to those they favor and impose restrictions on those they don’t, you can bet that individuals and groups will work overtime for access to that power. That’s a recipe for civil strife; it leads to what Ayn Rand called an institutionalized civil war.” (09/19/25)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/09/tgif-social-peace-through-government.html
-----
47) Trump Just Undercut His Defenders
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“Trump’s FCC chair threatened to destroy ABC’s business, and the network just so happened to then do something Trump very much wanted it to do, but only paranoid leftists would presume these two things were somehow related. Sure, the threat was ‘unhelpful’ for the way it might seem like coercion to the uninitiated. But if anybody was the victim here, it was Trump, who was unfairly blamed for the blunders of a subordinate. Alas, as often happens when his friends attempt to devise a tortured alibi, Trump promptly blurted out his intentions the following afternoon.” (09/19/25)
https://archive.is/KgB0v
-----
48) AI Won’t Kill Work — It Will Reinvent It
Source: EconLog
by Meg Tuszynski
“In 1995, Jeremy Rifkin published his book The End of Work, which argued that the dawn of the information technology age would create a massive and structural decline in jobs. He suggested that as many as two-thirds of all existing jobs could eventually be eliminated by machines. Jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, and clerical work were particularly vulnerable to this type of technology-based outsourcing. To be fair, machines did take over many of those jobs. But we didn’t have massive, enduring, structural unemployment as a result. Instead, new jobs emerged.” (09/19/25)
https://www.econlib.org/ai-wont-kill-work-it-will-reinvent-it/
-----
49) DC’s Delegate Faces New Headwinds
Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley
“House Republicans have unleashed their latest Trojan horse on the nation’s capital, namely law enforcement and criminal justice ‘reforms’ that promise to erode civil rights in Washington, D.C., and end up injuring and incarcerating more African Americans and Latinos. Over the course of two days this week, the GOP majority passed bills to allow 14-year-olds charged with major offenses to be tried as adults, prohibit judges from applying discretion in youth sentencing, relax police car chase rules, and axe a nomination commission for local judges. National Guard troops have been in the city since mid-August, with another two and a half months to go, ostensibly to help the local police keep order in one of the world’s ‘most dangerous cities’.” (09/19/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-09-19-dc-delegate-eleanor-holmes-norton-faces-new-headwinds/
-----
50) As Trump blasts boats, Congress hits rock bottom
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“Assume that the dead were cartel members. Assume the boats were carrying drugs. Assume the drugs were destined for Americans who would poison themselves. And assume that this story ages better than did the story of the August 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident. … The Supreme Court will soon consider Trump’s claim that a statute that does not mention tariffs gives him the power to impose tariffs as high as he chooses, on any country he chooses, for any reason he chooses, for as long as he chooses. About this claim, congressional Republicans are supine, because of fear or adoration. Congressional Democrats are dumbfounded by the president’s exercise of powers their party was complicit in Congress forfeiting.” (09/19/25)
https://archive.is/rhvJw
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 361
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Joshua Mitchell on Alexis de Tocqueville’s liberalism and how it can save the West.” (09/20/25)
https://rumble.com/v6z7w1k-ff-361-joshua-mitchell-on-alexis-de-tocquevilles-liberalism.html
-----
52) Unattended Baggage, episode 310
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Orange Snowflake makes mean talky people go away.” (09/20/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-310-orange-snowflake-makes
-----
53) The Good Fight, 09/20/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“The Good Fight Club: Populism in the UK, Threats to Free Speech, and the Future of the Middle East.” (09/20/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/the-good-fight-club-populism-in-the
-----
54) Underthrow Podcast, 09/19/25
Source: Underthrow
“Are We Watching the American Empire Decline?” (09/19/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOclGI-tI7U
-----
55) The Dispatch Podcast, 09/19/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Spinning Out of Control | Roundtable.” (09/19/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/spinning-out-of-control-roundtable/
-----
56) Serious Trouble, 09/19/25
Source: Serious Trouble
“There’s no great avenue for relief in the courts when the FCC pressures broadcasters; Tyler Robinson may not face federal charges; Luigi Mangione will stand trial for murder (but not terrorism).” (09/19/25)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/federal-censorship-commission
-----
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 09/19/25
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Crazed New Rants Make Jimmy Kimmel Mess Look Even More Corrupt.” (09/19/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/200680/trump-crazed-new-rants-make-jimmy-kimmel-mess-look-even-corrupt
-----
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 647
Source: Freakonomics
“China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.” (09/19/25)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/china-is-run-by-engineers-america-is-run-by-lawyers/
-----
59) The Bulwark Podcast, 09/19/25
Source: The Bulwark
“JD Vance Calls for Neighbors to SNITCH! (w/ Thomas Chatterton Williams).” (09/19/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-A4sst5v0
-----
60) Dr. Anas Ahmed on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews Dr. Anas Ahmed about his experience working in one of the only hospitals left in Gaza.” (09/19/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/9-17-25-dr-anas-ahmed-on-the-horror-he-witnessed-as-a-doctor-in-gaza/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Lebanon: Israeli forces murder five, including four Americans
2) British, Australian, Canadian regimes recognize Palestinian state
3) Shutdown theater: Schumer just might bend the knee as usual
4) Germany scrambles jets after Russia military aircraft flies over Baltic Sea
5) Trump regime officials shut down bribery probe of border gang shot-caller Tom Homan
6) Ireland: Sinn Féin backs independent in presidential race instead of running its own candidate
7) CA: Sacramento man accused of shooting local ABC affiliate’s offices
8) Ecuador: Electoral council approves referendum on foreign military bases
9) Christopher Nolan to lead Directors Guild of America
10) Trump wields “golden share” to halt US Steel plant shutdown
11) TikTok buyer group includes Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell, Trump says
12) Turkey: Main Opposition Re-Elects Leader Ahead of Key Court Ruling
13) SC: Barbershop employee fatally shoots machete-wielding robber
14) China: COVID whistleblower Zhang Zhan sentenced to four more years in jail, group says
15) Iran: Regime says it will suspend cooperation with UN’s nuclear watchdog
16) Duchess of York called Epstein “supreme friend” in 2011 email
17) H-1B workers abroad race to US as Trump extortion scheme sparks dismay, confusion
18) “Heavy soda” trend flows through US as super sweet fountain drinks spark buzz online
19) CA: Politicians, hangers- on descend into chaos after “armed” serf gets uppity
20) Pentagon demands approval for reporters’ coverage
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Brendan Carr and Donald Trump: Another Jawbone, Another Ass
22) Trump’s Censorship Binge After Kirk’s Killing Is Part of an All-Out Effort to Crush the Opposition
23) How Israel Captured TikTok
24) Art and The Search for Immortality
25) Americans Like Drugs. Killing Drug Traffickers Won’t Change That.
26) The internet made us stupid. AI promises to make it worse
27) Our Real Enemy in the Culture Wars Is Nihilism
28) Classical Wisdom: The Soul of Liberty
29) Lawmaking that operates – quietly
30) A vengeful Trump props up the unproductive as his economy falls apart
31) Far-left [sic] patronizing Kimmel while demonizing Charlie Kirk; how heartless are Dems?
32) FCC: Fostering Censorship and Corruption
33) Imagine There Was A Violent Cult Committing Atrocities With Impunity
34) The bipartisan war on free speech
35) In defense of fiery words
36) The First Amendment freedom of speech in theory and practice
37) What Charlie Kirk’s murder tells us about the American mind
38) The myth of the optimal level of incarceration
39) Why the Old Left–Right Divide No Longer Works
40) How the Kimmel saga reorders FCC politics
41) The Ugly Aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
42) In Search of “Good Government”
43) America the Irrelevant
44) The Violence Threat Matrix
45) To Hell With Jimmy Kimmel, and Anyone Who Can’t Condemn Murder
46) Social Peace Through Government Retrenchment
47) Trump Just Undercut His Defenders
48) AI Won’t Kill Work — It Will Reinvent It
49) DC’s Delegate Faces New Headwinds
50) As Trump blasts boats, Congress hits rock bottom
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 361
52) Unattended Baggage, episode 310
53) The Good Fight, 09/20/25
54) Underthrow Podcast, 09/19/25
55) The Dispatch Podcast, 09/19/25
56) Serious Trouble, 09/19/25
57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 09/19/25
58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 647
59) The Bulwark Podcast, 09/19/25
60) Dr. Anas Ahmed on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Lebanon: Israeli forces murder five, including four Americans
Source: Sky News [UK]
“An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon has killed five people including three children, the country’s health ministry said. Four of those killed, including the children and their father, held US citizenship, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said. Two others were wounded, including the children’s mother. … The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah terrorist who ‘operated from within a civilian population.’ The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledged “several uninvolved civilians” were killed and said the incident was being reviewed.” (09/22/25)
https://news.sky.com/story/israeli-drone-strike-in-lebanon-kills-five-people-including-three-children-13436030
-----
2) British, Australian, Canadian regimes recognize Palestinian state
Source: New York Times
“Britain, Canada and Australia confirmed on Sunday that they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood, piling pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but putting three major Western allies at odds with the Trump administration. The seemingly coordinated announcements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, at which France and Portugal are also expected to vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood. … Britain’s actions have chilled relations with Israel, with Mr. Netanyahu showing particular anger at the plan to recognize Palestine.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/Tk9kx
-----
3) Shutdown theater: Schumer just might bend the knee as usual
Source: New York Post
“Dem Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday refused to rule out caving to President Trump’s demand for a ‘clean’ stopgap funding bill — no poison pills attached — to avert a partial federal shutdown. The senior New York senator and most other Democrats in the chamber had rejected a ‘clean’ GOP-backed House bill Friday to keep the government’s lights on. Instead, they backed their own bill that would have averted a partial shutdown while achieving their demands on health care and restricting Trump’s ability to freeze funding. But Schumer, pressed Sunday about whether he would be on board with the Republicans’ ‘clean’ spending patch if time runs out, to avoid a shutdown, would not deny the possibility.” (09/21/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/09/21/us-news/schumer-refuses-to-rule-out-caving-to-trump-in-government-shutdown-fight/
-----
4) Germany scrambles jets after Russia military aircraft flies over Baltic Sea
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Germany’s air force says it has scrambled two Eurofighter jets to track a Russian reconnaissance aircraft after it had entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea. In a statement, the air force said its ‘quick reaction alert force’ was ordered on Sunday by NATO to investigate an unidentified aircraft flying without a plan or radio contact. … Tensions have been heightened in recent weeks by a series of airspace violations along NATO’s eastern flank. Romania said last week that its radar detected a Russian drone, prompting it to scramble fighter jets. Earlier this month, Poland reported that it had shot down several drones during a Russian aerial attack on Ukraine, marking the first time NATO forces have directly engaged in that conflict.” (09/21/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/21/germany-scrambles-jets-after-russia-military-aircraft-flies-over-baltic-sea
-----
5) Trump regime officials shut down bribery probe of border gang shot-caller Tom Homan
Source; Washington Post
“The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, was caught on tape accepting a bag filled with $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents in Texas in September 2024, when he was a private citizen, according to two people familiar with the matter and a government document confirming the existence of the probe. At the time, Homan was being floated for a top immigration job in the incoming administration and allegedly took the money from agents posing as businessmen in exchange for helping the men land contracts related to immigration enforcement if President Donald Trump won the election, the people said. The Justice Department in the final months of the Biden administration launched a bribery investigation into Homan, but the Trump administration shut it down this year, citing a lack of ‘credible evidence’ and calling it a ‘political investigation.'” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/9aNay
-----
6) Ireland: Sinn Féin backs independent in presidential race instead of running its own candidate
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Sinn Féin will back Catherine Connolly to be the next president of Ireland, the party has announced. Party president Mary Lou McDonald made the announcement on social media ahead of a much anticipated press conference in Dublin. She said the independent TD got their support as someone who would ‘champion a united Ireland, stand up for Ireland’s place in the world as a defender of neutrality and human rights, and speak out for fairness and economic justice,’ Connolly has already been backed by some left-wing parties, including Labour, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit.” (09/20/25)
https://archive.is/KlAZC
-----
7) CA: Sacramento man accused of shooting local ABC affiliate’s offices
Source: United Press International
“Sacramento Police officers arrested Anibal Hernandezsantana on Saturday morning for allegedly shooting at the occupied office of a local ABC affiliate. Hernandezsantana, 64, was arrested on charges that accuse him of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm, KXTV reported. … The motive for the shooting is under investigation, but it occurred within days of ABC announcing it was suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! over comments that Kimmel made during an opening monologue on Monday regarding the alleged shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.” (09/20/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/09/20/asacramento-shooting/8541758402543/
-----
8) Ecuador: Electoral council approves referendum on foreign military bases
Source: ABC News
“Ecuador’s electoral council approved Saturday a request by President Daniel Noboa to organize a referendum asking voters to approve key changes to the nation’s constitution, as its conservative government seeks more tools to fight drug-related violence. Voters will be asked whether a prohibition against foreign military bases in Ecuador should be eliminated. And whether the state should no longer have an obligation to fund political parties. Noboa called for the referendum through a decree issued earlier this week, which also said that voters should be asked if the nation should rewrite its constitution by organizing a constituent assembly. On Friday, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court suspended the request for voters to decide on a constituent assembly as it reviews several lawsuits against the move.” (09/20/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ecuadors-electoral-council-approves-referendum-foreign-military-bases-125771722
-----
9) Christopher Nolan to lead Directors Guild of America
Source: Seattle Times
“Christopher Nolan has been elected to lead the Directors Guild of America, the organization said late Saturday. The Oscar-winning ‘Oppenheimer’ filmmaker said in a statement that it is, ‘one of the greatest honors of my career.’ The guild represents the interests of some 19,500 film and television directors in the United States and abroad, in addition to hosting the DGA awards annually. … Nolan will take over for outgoing president Lesli Linka Glatter, who led the group for four years through the Hollywood strikes of 2023.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/EghdG
-----
10) Trump wields “golden share” to halt US Steel plant shutdown
Source: CNBC
“The Trump administration stepped in to stop U.S. Steel from idling operations at its Granite City, Ill., plant, exercising new powers tied to the company’s recent takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported. The steelmaker had informed nearly 800 workers that the plant would close in November, noting however that they would still be paid. But after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned CEO Dave Burritt the administration wouldn’t allow it, U.S. Steel reversed course on Friday, saying the facility would keep rolling slabs into sheet steel, the Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The intervention marked Trump’s first use of so-called ‘golden share’ rights, a condition of the $14.1 billion takeover by Japan’s Nippon that cleared in June. The national-security agreement gave the White House veto power over plant closures, offshore production shifts and other strategic decisions.” (09/20/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/20/trump-golden-share-us-steel.html
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11) TikTok buyer group includes Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell, Trump says
Source: Axios
“Media moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and tech entrepreneur Michael Dell are expected to be among the U.S. investors who will be part of the potential deal for TikTok, President Trump said on Sunday. The exact terms and timingremain unknown, but it’s becoming clearer that TikTok is getting closer to being sold and remaining in business in the U.S. What’s still entirely unclear, though, is exactly who’s involved, in what capacity, what price they will pay, who will lead the new entity, or when any deal will actually happen.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/DRSsm
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12) Turkey: Main Opposition Re-Elects Leader Ahead of Key Court Ruling
Source: US News & World Report
“Turkey’s main opposition re-elected Ozgur Ozel as leader on Sunday at an extraordinary congress called in a bid to shield him and other party chiefs from a court ruling next month that could order their ouster. An Ankara court is set to rule over whether to annul the 2023 congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) where Ozel was elected chairman over alleged irregularities, a case government critics say highlights Turkey’s slide towards autocracy under President Tayyip Erdogan. … Of 917 votes cast at Sunday’s CHP gathering, 835 were deemed valid and all went to Ozel, the party said. By securing a fresh mandate from party delegates, CHP officials hope to reduce the risk that the upcoming court ruling on the 2023 congress could unseat Ozel.” (09/21/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-09-21/turkeys-main-opposition-re-elects-leader-ahead-of-key-court-ruling
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13) SC: Barbershop employee fatally shoots machete-wielding robber
Source: WJCL 20 News
“A man was shot and killed after attempting to rob a barbershop in Ridgeland, according to police. The incident occurred Thursday, 30 minutes before the shop’s scheduled opening time. The barbershop, which typically opens at 11 a.m., was hosting an early appointment when the suspect, wearing a ski mask and armed with a machete, entered. One of the barbers, who asked not to be identified, shot the man before the situation could escalate. Police confirmed the barber is a legal [sic] firearm owner. … Police identified the suspect as 55-year-old Curtis Edward Scott. Witnesses said Scott had an accomplice who fled the scene as soon as the shot was fired.” [editor’s note: Why would you rob a place when it has just opened, before any significant cash receipts? – TLK] (09/20/25)
https://www.wjcl.com/article/ridgeland-barbershop-self-defense-shooting/67961552
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14) China: COVID whistleblower Zhang Zhan sentenced to four more years in jail, group says
Source: New York Post
“A Chinese journalist jailed for four years after documenting the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak from the pandemic’s epicenter was sentenced on Friday to four more years in prison, Reporters Without Borders said. Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced on a charge of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ in China, the same charge that led to her December 2020 imprisonment after she posted first-hand accounts from the central city of Wuhan on the early spread of coronavirus, the international press freedom group, known by its French initials RSF, said on Saturday. China’s Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached on Sunday for comment. Reuters could not determine whether the citizen-journalist had legal representation.” (09/21/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/09/21/world-news/chinese-covid-whistleblower-zhang-zhan-sentenced-to-4-more-years-in-jail-group-says/
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15) Iran: Regime says it will suspend cooperation with UN’s nuclear watchdog
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Iran’s top security body has warned that action by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to reimpose international sanctions will ‘effectively suspend’ its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog. The warning from the Supreme National Security Council came on Saturday, a day after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) failed to adopt a resolution to permanently lift sanctions against Iran. That vote was called after the three European nations launched a 30-day process on August 28 to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, claiming that Tehran has violated a deal it signed in 2015 to curb its nuclear programme.” (09/21/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/21/iran-says-e3-move-to-trigger-sanctions-will-halt-cooperation-with-iaea
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16) Duchess of York called Epstein “supreme friend” in 2011 email
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Two newspapers have published an email said to have been sent by the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, calling him a ‘supreme friend’ — despite his conviction for sex offences. The Sun and the Mail on Sunday reported that the email, from 2011, was sent weeks after the duchess had publicly distanced herself from the disgraced financier. A spokesperson for the duchess – the former wife of the Prince Andrew, the Duke of York — said the email was to counter a threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation. In an interview in 2011, the duchess said her involvement with Epstein had been a ‘gigantic error of judgment.'” (09/21/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj11l3wd35o
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17) H-1B workers abroad race to US as Trump extortion scheme sparks dismay, confusion
Source: Reuters
“Panic, confusion, and anger reigned as workers on H-1B visas from India and China were forced to abandon travel plans and rush back to the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed new visa fees, in line with his wide-ranging immigration crackdown. Tech companies and banks sent urgent memos to employees, advising them to return before a deadline of 12:01 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time Sunday (4:01 am GMT), and telling them not to leave the country. … Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday said companies would have to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas. However, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Saturday that this was not an annual fee, only a one-time fee that applied to each new petition.” (09/21/25)
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/fast-furious-h-1b-workers-abroad-race-us-trump-order-sparks-dismay-confusion-2025-09-21/
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18) “Heavy soda” trend flows through US as super sweet fountain drinks spark buzz online
Source: Fox News
“A sweet new drink craze is bubbling up online, and dentists are cringing. The latest fountain option, dubbed heavy soda, promises an extra blast of syrup for maximum sweetness and a flavor strong enough to withstand melting ice. According to Reddit threads and viral TikTok videos, some gas stations in southern Missouri have begun offering the concoction, with machines labeled ‘heavy’ for popular sodas like Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper. … The idea mirrors why McDonald’s Coke is famous for tasting better. Syrup to carbonated water ratios are boosted to account for melting ice. Unlike the popular new dirty soda trend, which dresses up soft drinks with creamers, fruit purées and syrups, heavy soda is all about maximum sweetness and flavor.” (09/20/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/heavy-soda-trend-flows-through-us-super-sweet-fountain-drinks-spark-buzz-online
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19) CA: Politicians, hangers- on descend into chaos after “armed” serf gets uppity
Source: SFGate
“A man armed with multiple weapons stormed the Arcata City Council on Wednesday night in a chaotic and violent encounter that local officials said is a reflection of heightened political tensions in the community. The Humboldt County town’s council had just started taking public comments when the man allegedly pushed toward the sitting council members, appearing to have a firearm under his clothes and refusing to sit down. City Manager Merritt Perry said he jumped up and restrained the man, who then punched Perry multiple times before police officers were able to arrest him. … The firearm turned out to be a Nerf gun, but the man was also armed with pepper spray and a switchblade, according to the Lost Coast Outpost, which first reported on the incident.” (09/19/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/northcoast/article/armed-man-storms-arcata-city-council-21056056.php
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20) Pentagon demands approval for reporters’ coverage
Source: Associated Press
“The Pentagon says it will require credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been authorized for release — including unclassified information. Journalists who don’t abide by the policy risk losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon, under a 17-page memo distributed Friday that steps up media restrictions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump. ‘Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,’ the directive states. The signature form includes an array of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon.” (09/20/25)
https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-media-restrictions-nondisclosure-8420d3a80de20a39605c588d9990c582
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Brendan Carr and Donald Trump: Another Jawbone, Another Ass
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“There’s nothing new about ‘jawboning,’ the practice of politicians and bureaucrats using political condemnation, often coupled with regulatory or legal threats, to bludgeon private sector actors into submission. … Everyone with so much as a smidgen of morality and/or common sense — and even most Republicans! — condemned that kind of jawboning when Biden and Co. did it. Everyone with so much as a smidgen of morality and/or common sense — and even most Democrats! — condemns it when Trump and Co. do it. … Using government threats to suppress discussions the government doesn’t want us to have is both an evil in itself and a reversal of proper roles.” (09/20/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/19950
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22) Trump’s Censorship Binge After Kirk’s Killing Is Part of an All-Out Effort to Crush the Opposition
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig
“‘When you have a [television] network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump,’ complained the most powerful man in the world while onboard Air Force One, returning from a white-tie dinner with King Charles III last week. ‘They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.’ As ever, the statement was unvarnished in its egotism, dropping the pretense that Trump’s latest attack on free speech had anything to do with the distasteful reaction in some quarters to the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk. Instead, fresh from Windsor Castle, Trump put on full view his impulse for a gilded lèse-majesté — avenging the alleged defamation of himself as head of state.” (09/20/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-censorship-binge-after-kirks
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23) How Israel Captured TikTok
Source: The American Conservative
by Harrison Berger
“Reports that TikTok will transfer an 80 percent stake in its U.S. operations to Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz are celebrated in Washington as a strategic victory over China, where its parent company is based. But a closer examination of the deal reveals a different winner: the foreign government of Israel and its lobby in the United States.” (09/21/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-israel-captured-tiktok/
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24) Art and The Search for Immortality
Source: Quillette
by Angel Eduardo
“In the 1982 film Blade Runner, a group of synthetic humans called replicants abandon their various posts off world and make an illegal return to Earth. Their motives become clear in a pivotal scene in which their leader, Roy Batty, meets Eldon Tyrell, the designer who created them. Batty tells Eldon, ‘I want more life, Father.’ Replicants are designed to live for only four years and Batty’s time is running out. And his life has been far too short for him to experience everything he knows that life can offer. While most of us have far longer lives, we share that same tragic limitation. … Art can’t give us immortality, but it can give us something better. It can give us what Roy Batty longed for: more life.” (09/19/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/09/19/art-and-the-search-for-immortality/
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25) Americans Like Drugs. Killing Drug Traffickers Won’t Change That.
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“For a variety of reasons, the U.S. is the most significant illicit drug market in the world, with the most drug users. Though 45 percent of Americans describe the problem of drugs in the U.S. as ‘extremely serious,’ drug use is a growing trend. … Since most traffickers to the U.S. are citizens, killing suspects at sea is a hollow show — attacking supply while ignoring the demand that fuels it.” (09/19/25)
https://reason.com/2025/09/19/americans-like-drugs-killing-drug-traffickers-wont-change-that/
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26) The internet made us stupid. AI promises to make it worse
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Christopher Ketcham
“[Nicholas] Carr has argued, correctly, that with its endless distractions and fragmented structure, its flashing rabbit-holes, its emphasis on speed and constant switching (between subjects, links, pages, images, etc.), the internet causes cognitive damage, a rewiring of the brain so that we’re less able to ponder and meditate, to think at length and complexly — to go deep. … Now comes AI, and we face a new disaster for human cognition, as the prospect of artificial intelligence-induced imbecility is confirmed in study after study of the use of large-language models such as ChatGPT.” (09/21/25)
https://archive.is/o5iEx
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27) Our Real Enemy in the Culture Wars Is Nihilism
Source: The Dispatch
by Michael Reneau & Kevin Brown
“In the early 1990s, sociologist James Davison Hunter coined the expression ‘culture war’ as he described a country divided between competing moral visions of orthodox traditionalism and cultural progressivism. We are still in a culture war, says Hunter, but of a different character. ‘[B]eneath the apparent polarization, beneath our seemingly incommensurable differences, we increasingly inhabit a common culture,’ he writes. One that is ‘chillingly nihilistic.’ If Hunter is right, cultural battle lines cannot be neatly drawn between political typologies of left and right. In an After Virtue moment where, claims the late philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, universal norms no longer derive from traditional moral authorities so much as feelings and preferences, nihilism comes to occupy the space once held by transcendence. This, says Hunter, is the essence of our war.” (09/21/25)
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-faith/charlie-kirk-nihilism-culture-war/
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28) Classical Wisdom: The Soul of Liberty
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“How many of us believe that power and violence rule the world? Yet, there must be thoughts, beliefs, conditioning, and passions that enable violence. The enemies of freedom also understood that thoughts rule the world. Stalin said, ‘Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?’ In his essay ‘History,’ Emerson wrote, ‘Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.’ It is this profound, often unseen, power of thought that brings us directly from Emerson to the present moment.” (09/20/25)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/classical-wisdom-the-soul-of-liberty
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29) Lawmaking that operates – quietly
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“It’s fall. Seasonal pumpkin spice-flavored drinks are back. So are political battles over funding and a potential United States government shutdown. A stopgap spending bill from the House failed to pass in the Senate on Friday, and an alternative proposed by Senate Democrats also did not pass. But with all eyes on the shutdown showdown, it’s easy to overlook the full array of legislation that does make it through Congress. In the 2023–2024 legislative session, for example, 614 bills were enacted and 735 resolutions were passed, according to the accountability website GovTrack. The American public hears about contentious bills but may not ‘get a big picture of what all Congress is doing,’ according to University of Virgina public policy professor Craig Volden.” (09/19/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0919/Lawmaking-that-operates-quietly
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30) A vengeful Trump props up the unproductive as his economy falls apart
Source: The Hill
by JP Singh
“Government interventions in the U.S. economy are not new. Whether we like it or not, defense has encouraged innovation from Presdient Dwight Eisenhower’s ‘military-industrial complex,’ the DARPANET that was a precursor to the Internet, to President Ronald Reagan’s Sematech initiative that may be seen as good precursor to Biden’s Chips Act for semi-conductor manufacturing in the U.S. Trump’s wrecking ball is unique. It’s about destroying or weakening rather than strengthening American institutions. Don’t like the job numbers? Fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief. Don’t like Fed’s monetary policy in the face of inflationary pressures? Fire a Fed member and make its chief’s life miserable. … Trump ignores the most productive sectors of the U.S. economy and caters to the most unproductive, welfare-fed and militantly Christian rural areas of the U.S. Even his promise to bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S. is a myth.” (09/20/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5512232-a-vengeful-trump-props-up-the-unproductive-as-his-economy-falls-apart/
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31) Far-left [sic] patronizing Kimmel while demonizing Charlie Kirk; how heartless are Dems?
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
“Democrats have surely heard the sage advice that when you’re in a hole, drop the shovel and walk away. But they aren’t listening, and are still digging themselves in deeper and further out of favor. With the party out of power and wildly unpopular, last week demonstrated that many leading Dems are not just clueless — they’re also heartless. Their poor grip on reality surfaced through their choices of heroes and villains. Like so many junkies, they are driven by Trump Derangement Syndrome to make one terrible decision after another. On Thursday, some New York City officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander, were among a dirty dozen arrested by Homeland Security agents in lower Manhattan.” (09/20/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/09/20/opinion/the-far-left-patronizing-kimmel-while-calling-charlie-kirk-evil-shows-how-heartless-dems-have-become/
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32) FCC: Fostering Censorship and Corruption
Source: I Blog to Differ
by David R Henderson
“That the FCC actively judges the character of license holders is inevitable, given the powers granted the FCC. After all, if the government is to decide which applicants will best serve the ‘public interest, convenience, or necessity’ (the wording of the 1934 Act) then it must use some criterion for its decision. What more obvious criterion than the ethical character of the applicant, even if he has paid the price for past wrongdoings. But applying this criterion has two unfortunate results: (1) Since people differ about who is of good character and who is not, the decisions made are somewhat arbitrary. (The FCC renewed two Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. licenses the next week even though its parent company had pled guilty to bribery); (2) Censorship necessarily occurs because the FCC cannot choose between applicants without promoting some ideas instead of others.” (09/19/25)
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/fcc-fostering-censorship-and-corruption
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33) Imagine There Was A Violent Cult Committing Atrocities With Impunity
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Imagine there was a violent cult that used scriptures from an ancient religion to convince its followers to do evil things. Imagine the cult was given its own state. Imagine the cult was given machine guns, tanks and war planes. Imagine the cult obtained nuclear weapons. Imagine the cult started committing genocide against the indigenous people who’d been living in the area where the cult’s state was established. Imagine the cult had huge branches in the most powerful nation on earth, and the powerful nation defended the cult no matter what it did. Imagine the cult flipped out and started relentlessly attacking and invading the surrounding nations. Imagine the cult had so much influence and support in western society that western governments and institutions would censor, silence, fire, marginalize and deport anyone who criticized the cult’s actions.” (09/21/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/09/21/imagine-there-was-a-violent-cult-committing-atrocities-with-impunity/
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34) The bipartisan war on free speech
Source: Orange County Register
by Eric Preven
“Pam Bondi, the conservative U.S. attorney general, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the liberal president of the Los Angeles City Council, share a dirty secret: they both want speech that’s easy to manage — and they’re willing to treat the Constitution like a dimmer switch to get there. Different jerseys, same play: manage the message.” (09/19/25)
https://archive.is/NNjZN
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35) In defense of fiery words
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Jacob Gaba
“Throughout American history, especially during times of civil unrest, the government used the power of the state to criminalize what it perceived as advocacy of violence. For example, in 1927, the Supreme Court upheld Charlotte Whitney’s conviction for joining a socialist convention that advocated the overthrow of the government (Whitney v. California). The Court reasoned that advocating violence could present ‘danger to the public peace and security,’ and that the exercise of the state’s police powers therefore carries ‘great weight’ in such instances. Similarly, Attorney General Pam Bondi recently suggested the federal government might bring ‘incitement’ prosecutions of people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination. As the potential for political violence increases, what prevents the government from taking us back to 1927?” (09/19/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/defense-fiery-words
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36) The First Amendment freedom of speech in theory and practice
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“I happen to agree with Trump that Jimmy Kimmel is neither funny nor talented. A performer this bad could only have a show in a culture like ours. That said, this firing or dismissal — or whatever it is we’re watching right now — clearly came at the behest of FCC chair Brendan Carr, is based purely on Kimmel’s Democratic Party politics, and is therefore about as clear a violation of the First Amendment as you could have. It is not the kind of tricky hypothetical law professors might use to test their students on the requirements of the Constitution. It is not hard. But I would submit that the law, even as found in the First Amendment, is the wrong object of focus and inquiry.” (09/19/25)
https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/the-first-amendment-freedom-of-speech
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37) What Charlie Kirk’s murder tells us about the American mind
Source: Fox News
by William J Bennett
“‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.’ William Butler Yeats wrote those words about Europe after the Great War, but they ring with terrible clarity this week as we bury Charlie Kirk, murdered at 31 for the crime of arguing in public. The young man who built an empire of discourse from a suburban garage has been silenced by someone who apparently found bullets more persuasive than words. But here is what strikes me as I reflect on this tragedy: Charlie Kirk may have been the last American who genuinely believed you could change someone’s mind with a good argument. Think about that. When was the last time you saw someone actually switch positions during a debate? When did you last witness someone say three of the most treasured words in the English language: ‘I was wrong?'” (09/21/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/william-bennett-what-charlie-kirks-murder-tells-us-about-american-mind
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38) The myth of the optimal level of incarceration
Source: Niskanen Center
by Shawn Bushway
“The U.S. now incarcerates 25 percent fewer people than it did at its peak level of incarceration in 2009. Although this decline exceeds most projections from even 10 years ago, Stanford professor Keith Humphreys recently predicted in the Atlantic that even this smaller number would soon ‘fall off a cliff,’ leaving us with a prison population that is 60 percent smaller than it used to be. This decline has alarmed some people on the right, who believe we are now incarcerating too few people, rather than too many. All but the most extreme reformers accept that some number of people need to be incarcerated. The question then becomes, what is the optimal level for our society?” (09/19/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/why-we-can-safely-let-incarceration-drop/
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39) Why the Old Left–Right Divide No Longer Works
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“Michael Oakeshott’s distinction between government as referee and government as crusader sheds light on the identity-driven shifts remaking Western politics.” (09/19/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-the-old-left-right-divide-no-longer-works/
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40) How the Kimmel saga reorders FCC politics
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“Under the system that President Donald Trump inherited, the FCC decided which media companies could buy each other, networks decided what went on the air, and viewers decided whether to watch. If citizens wanted to protest a show or a star, they could go right ahead. If they preferred to watch alternative programming, more outlets were popping up every day. … Enter Trump and Carr’s new system, in which the FCC takes a side in what goes on the air. Nearly half of all voters supported Trump last year, and big stars on legacy broadcasters routinely mock their views. Conservatives beat those stars in the ratings, but they lack the major networks’ licenses and prestige. The president has realized he has power to revoke one of those two assets.” (09/19/25)
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/19/2025/how-the-jimmy-kimmel-saga-reorders-fcc-politics
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41) The Ugly Aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Source: Common Dreams
by Steven Harper
“In the final minutes of FBI Director Kash Patel’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 16, Sen. Thom Tillis [R-NC] acknowledged the obvious: Individuals on the left should not have celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but influential voices on the right were inflaming the situation. The bottom line, Tillis observed, was that escalation of the rhetoric on the right was making the FBI’s job of law enforcement more difficult. Sen. Tillis’s analysis would have come as a shock to President Donald Trump, who blamed the episode on ‘the radical left.’ Speaking Wednesday night from the Oval office only hours after Kirk’s death on September 10—before the identity or motives of the assassin were known — he issued a video message from the Oval Office.” (09/21/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/aftermath-charlie-kirk-assassination
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42) In Search of “Good Government”
Source: Law & Liberty
by Stephen M King
“Hanson and Kopstein declare the modern administrative state as a marvel of both human ingenuity and cultural and organizational progress. Humanity, they argue, would be incapable of living and working effectively and humanely without the institutional accouterments of the modern administrative state. Not only does the modern state exhibit procedural functionality, shown both through ‘civil servants, impartial judiciaries, and professional experts,’ but also in providing the rewards of public services. Therefore, they agree it must be preserved and protected. … Still, Hanson and Kopstein approach the efficaciousness of the modern state as suspect, even fragile, where too much of a patrimonial leader like Trump, Modi, or Netanyahu, and their disdain for the modern state, will soon lead to its demise.” (09/19/25)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/in-search-of-good-government/
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43) America the Irrelevant
Source: CounterPunch
by John Feffer
“Of the many savage ironies of the Trump administration, perhaps the greatest is the ever-diminishing stature of the United States — despite the president’s desire to make the country great again. MAGA was always something of a misnomer. As a modern-day Sun King, Trump has always believed that he is the state. If America somehow manages to shine, it’s really because of the light that reflects off the president’s bronzed brow. MAGA ultimately boils down to MTGA: Make Trump Great Again. … Trump is constantly in the news, and so is the United States. But don’t mistake coverage for relevance. In less than a year, Trump has steered the United States to the margins.” (09/19/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/19/america-the-irrelevant/
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44) The Violence Threat Matrix
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“Who’s on your side? In terms of politics, the answer, for the most part, has to do with whether people are on the left or right. Increasingly, though, we have to ask whether and how one is willing to use violence.” (09/19/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-violence-threat-matrix
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45) To Hell With Jimmy Kimmel, and Anyone Who Can’t Condemn Murder
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“I’m not a fan of Jimmy Kimmel; I prefer comedy to fat, angry political lectures. I’m old-fashioned that way. But I don’t think there is a story where more elements of it have been wrong or lied about – depending on whether the person doing it is a moron or evil – than the one about ‘Kimmel Being Canceled By Trump!’ It’s disgusting, it’s stupid and it is a fraud, which is why Democrats have embraced it, as the truth does them no good. The blackface aficionado has not been ‘fired’ at all; he’s suspended. … Donald Trump did not fire him. Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, did not force or threaten ABC into firing Kimmel because A) he wasn’t fired, and B) the FCC revoking a broadcast license is a long, arduous process that would likely fail.” (09/21/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2025/09/21/to-hell-with-jimmy-kimmel-and-anyone-who-cant-condemn-murder-n2663692
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46) Social Peace Through Government Retrenchment
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“For at least 200 years, classical liberals (aka libertarians) have warned that the more power the government wields, the greater the lengths people will go to get their hands on it before their ideological opponents do. This is not rocket science, yet resistance to the implications endures. If politicians and bureaucrats can readily confiscate wealth from its producers and distribute it to others, or if they can grant privileges to those they favor and impose restrictions on those they don’t, you can bet that individuals and groups will work overtime for access to that power. That’s a recipe for civil strife; it leads to what Ayn Rand called an institutionalized civil war.” (09/19/25)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/09/tgif-social-peace-through-government.html
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47) Trump Just Undercut His Defenders
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“Trump’s FCC chair threatened to destroy ABC’s business, and the network just so happened to then do something Trump very much wanted it to do, but only paranoid leftists would presume these two things were somehow related. Sure, the threat was ‘unhelpful’ for the way it might seem like coercion to the uninitiated. But if anybody was the victim here, it was Trump, who was unfairly blamed for the blunders of a subordinate. Alas, as often happens when his friends attempt to devise a tortured alibi, Trump promptly blurted out his intentions the following afternoon.” (09/19/25)
https://archive.is/KgB0v
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48) AI Won’t Kill Work — It Will Reinvent It
Source: EconLog
by Meg Tuszynski
“In 1995, Jeremy Rifkin published his book The End of Work, which argued that the dawn of the information technology age would create a massive and structural decline in jobs. He suggested that as many as two-thirds of all existing jobs could eventually be eliminated by machines. Jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, and clerical work were particularly vulnerable to this type of technology-based outsourcing. To be fair, machines did take over many of those jobs. But we didn’t have massive, enduring, structural unemployment as a result. Instead, new jobs emerged.” (09/19/25)
https://www.econlib.org/ai-wont-kill-work-it-will-reinvent-it/
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49) DC’s Delegate Faces New Headwinds
Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley
“House Republicans have unleashed their latest Trojan horse on the nation’s capital, namely law enforcement and criminal justice ‘reforms’ that promise to erode civil rights in Washington, D.C., and end up injuring and incarcerating more African Americans and Latinos. Over the course of two days this week, the GOP majority passed bills to allow 14-year-olds charged with major offenses to be tried as adults, prohibit judges from applying discretion in youth sentencing, relax police car chase rules, and axe a nomination commission for local judges. National Guard troops have been in the city since mid-August, with another two and a half months to go, ostensibly to help the local police keep order in one of the world’s ‘most dangerous cities’.” (09/19/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-09-19-dc-delegate-eleanor-holmes-norton-faces-new-headwinds/
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50) As Trump blasts boats, Congress hits rock bottom
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“Assume that the dead were cartel members. Assume the boats were carrying drugs. Assume the drugs were destined for Americans who would poison themselves. And assume that this story ages better than did the story of the August 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident. … The Supreme Court will soon consider Trump’s claim that a statute that does not mention tariffs gives him the power to impose tariffs as high as he chooses, on any country he chooses, for any reason he chooses, for as long as he chooses. About this claim, congressional Republicans are supine, because of fear or adoration. Congressional Democrats are dumbfounded by the president’s exercise of powers their party was complicit in Congress forfeiting.” (09/19/25)
https://archive.is/rhvJw
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Fountainhead Forum, episode 361
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Joshua Mitchell on Alexis de Tocqueville’s liberalism and how it can save the West.” (09/20/25)
https://rumble.com/v6z7w1k-ff-361-joshua-mitchell-on-alexis-de-tocquevilles-liberalism.html
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52) Unattended Baggage, episode 310
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Orange Snowflake makes mean talky people go away.” (09/20/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-310-orange-snowflake-makes
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53) The Good Fight, 09/20/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“The Good Fight Club: Populism in the UK, Threats to Free Speech, and the Future of the Middle East.” (09/20/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/the-good-fight-club-populism-in-the
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54) Underthrow Podcast, 09/19/25
Source: Underthrow
“Are We Watching the American Empire Decline?” (09/19/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOclGI-tI7U
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55) The Dispatch Podcast, 09/19/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Spinning Out of Control | Roundtable.” (09/19/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/spinning-out-of-control-roundtable/
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56) Serious Trouble, 09/19/25
Source: Serious Trouble
“There’s no great avenue for relief in the courts when the FCC pressures broadcasters; Tyler Robinson may not face federal charges; Luigi Mangione will stand trial for murder (but not terrorism).” (09/19/25)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/federal-censorship-commission
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57) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 09/19/25
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Crazed New Rants Make Jimmy Kimmel Mess Look Even More Corrupt.” (09/19/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/200680/trump-crazed-new-rants-make-jimmy-kimmel-mess-look-even-corrupt
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58) Freakonomics Radio, episode 647
Source: Freakonomics
“China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.” (09/19/25)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/china-is-run-by-engineers-america-is-run-by-lawyers/
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59) The Bulwark Podcast, 09/19/25
Source: The Bulwark
“JD Vance Calls for Neighbors to SNITCH! (w/ Thomas Chatterton Williams).” (09/19/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-A4sst5v0
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60) Dr. Anas Ahmed on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews Dr. Anas Ahmed about his experience working in one of the only hospitals left in Gaza.” (09/19/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/9-17-25-dr-anas-ahmed-on-the-horror-he-witnessed-as-a-doctor-in-gaza/
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