05/21 -- Google reverses decision to cut ties with Huawei after US regime eases restrictions; What pleases Trump has the force of law
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Thomas L. Knapp
May 21, 2019, 11:31:53 AM5/21/19
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 05/21/19
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Presented by the Liberty International
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Google reverses decision to cut ties with Huawei after US regime eases restrictions
2) Judge upholds Democrats' subpoena for Trump financial records
3) Ukraine: Zelensky inaugurated, dissolves parliament, calls snap election
4) Russian reporters resign en masse in row over Putin ally report
5) White House tells McGahn to defy House subpoena as DOJ asserts "immunity"
6) Austria: Freedom Party ministers all resign amid scandal
7) House panel releases Michael Cohen transcripts
8) Report: North Korean women "forced into sex slavery" in China
9) CT: Complexity of toll bill could delay vote
10) France: Vincent Lambert life support must resume after court reverses ruling
11) In Alabama, Sanders makes appeal to Deep South black voters
12) American Airlines blames mechanics for flight delays, cancellations, warns of summer travel trouble
13) TX: Fifth child dies after abduction by "Border Patrol" gang
14) Switzerland: Voters approve more victim disarmament measures after EU pressure
15) SCOTUS rules for Crow tribe in Wyoming hunting rights case
16) Sprint and T-Mobile merger may be back on track after FCC hints it will bless the deal
17) Sweden: Regime seeks (another invalid) European Arrest Warrant for Assange
18) Zarif: Trump's "genocidal taunts" will not end Iran
19) MI: Trump cultist announces primary challenge versus Amash
20) Ford to cut 7,000 jobs by August, including 900 this week
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) What pleases Trump has the force of law
22) A US war on Iran would be evil, stupid, and self-damaging
23) Tucker Carlson and AOC are wrong about Christianity and usury
24) The time has come for patriotic dissent: Stopping war with Iran is essential
25) Impeach Trump but only for the right reason
26) Trump lowered tensions with Iran; why he had to step in
27) Violence Against Women Act does violence to the Constitution
28) DNA testing at the border could provide cover for more family separations
29) Have consumers already lost the online privacy war?
30) Socialism and the "democracy deficit"
31) Knock down the incumbency
32) "Equality Act" would crush religious freedom; Trump right to oppose it
33) Difficult to see how Americans suffer from Beijing's subsidies
34) Replies on political moderation
35) Joe Biden: Centrist?
36) Liberalism and Jewish emancipation
37) Epic fail of charter schools In Louisiana
38) Quantum Vibe, 05/20/19
39) Would it be okay to throw a milkshake at Anna Soubry?
40) The essence of goods prices determination
41) Reflections on this weird, wild job of mine
42) China victor assured with any US/Iran conflict
43) Pledging allegiance to the Divided States of America
44) Justin Amash gets what top Democrats don't -- it's time to impeach Trump
45) Here's exactly who's profiting from the war on Yemen
46) Notes from the Islamic Republic
47) Killing yourself slowly
48) Why the founders wanted you to own military-style weapons
49) Bernie Sanders's incredible, shrinking candidacy -- why he won't be Dem nominee
50) How will a second Trump term impact US gambling laws?
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Free Talk Live, 05/20/19
52) The Joe Rogan Experience, episode 1300
53) Foreign Policy Focus, episode 351
54) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/20/19
55) CQ Budget Podast, episode 110
56) The Bookmonger, episode 247
57) Scott Adams Says, 05/20/19
58) Free Man Beyond the Wall, episode 261
59) Lions of Liberty Podcast, episode 401
60) Harry Kazianis on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Google reverses decision to cut ties with Huawei after US regime eases restrictions
Source: CNBC
"Alphabet Inc's Google said Tuesday that it plans to work with China's Huawei over the next 90 days, shortly after the U.S. temporarily eased some trade restrictions on the world's second-largest smartphone maker. The move marks a sudden and dramatic turnabout for the U.S. tech conglomerate. On Sunday, Google said it would cut ties with Huawei in order to comply with Washington's decision to put China's telecom giant on the so-called Entity List. However, shortly thereafter, the U.S. Commerce Department announced it had granted a 90-day license for mobile phone companies and internet broadband providers to work with Huawei to keep existing networks online and protect users from security risks." [editor's note: The Trump regimes seems to make its more granular trade decisions with the aid of Mattel's high-tech "Magic 8-Ball" tool – TLK] (05/21/19)
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2) Judge upholds Democrats' subpoena for Trump financial records
Source: Politico
"A federal judge on Monday upheld a congressional subpoena seeking President Donald Trump's financial records from an accounting firm, arguing that Congress is well within its rights to investigate potential illegal behavior by a president -- even without opening a formal impeachment inquiry. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta's ruling delivers a striking blow to the president's efforts to resist Democratic investigations, and is certain to give Democrats further legal basis to investigate Trump, his finances, and his presidential campaign. In addition to upholding the House Oversight and Reform Committee's subpoena to accounting firm Mazars USA for eight years of Trump's financial records, Mehta took the extra step of denying the president's request for a stay pending appeal." (05/20/19)
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3) Ukraine: Zelensky inaugurated, dissolves parliament, calls snap election
Source: New York Times
"Minutes after taking office on Monday, Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced a snap parliamentary election that he hopes will consolidate his power and help him deliver on campaign promises to end endemic corruption and a prolonged separatist conflict. Mr. Zelensky, a political neophyte who gained popularity as a television comedian, said in his inaugural address that his first priority is to reach a cease-fire in the war against Russian proxies in [seceded republics] that has claimed 13,000 lives. ... At his request, the country's defense minister and the head of the security service, allies of Mr. Poroshenko, resigned. Volodymyr Groysman, the prime minister, said he would step down, too." (05/20/19)
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4) Russian reporters resign en masse in row over Putin ally report
Source: Reuters
"A senior editor and 10 journalists at Russian daily newspaper Kommersant said on Monday they were resigning to protest against the firing of two colleagues over an article about a possible reshuffle of President Vladimir Putin's close allies. The resignations, involving Kommersant's entire political staff, highlight tensions between publishers and newspaper staff in Russia's closely-controlled media landscape, which is dominated by pro-Kremlin state outlets. The two reporters, Ivan Safronov and Maxim Ivanov, said they had been forced to quit after Kommersant's publishing house -- owned by billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov -- took umbrage at an article they authored last month. Kommersant, a leading business broadsheet acquired by Usmanov in 2006, said it was not immediately able to respond to a Reuters request for comment." (05/20/19)
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5) White House tells McGahn to defy House subpoena as DOJ asserts "immunity"
Source: Fox News
"President Trump has directed former White House Counsel Don McGahn to skip a House Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, citing a Justice Department opinion that he cannot be compelled to testify about his official duties. In a statement released Monday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders blasted Democrats for continuing to pursue Trump investigations, saying they want a 'wasteful and unnecessary do-over' in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe -- and describing the subpoena for McGahn as part of that." (05/20/19)
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6) Austria: Freedom Party ministers all resign amid scandal
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"All ministers from Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) are resigning, throwing the government into chaos. The Freedom Party's leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who was also vice-chancellor, was forced to resign at the weekend after a video sting. Mr Strache was filmed proposing to offer government contracts to a supposed Russian oligarch's niece. The FPÖ threatened a mass resignation earlier on Monday if Interior Minister Herbert Kickl was also forced out. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had called over the weekend for Mr Kickl to be sacked, saying that as general secretary of the party he should take responsibility for the scandal." (05/20/19)
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7) House panel releases Michael Cohen transcripts
Source: The Hill
"The House Intelligence Committee has released transcripts of its private interviews with Michael Cohen, President Trump's former attorney. The panel voted 12-7 at a closed-door meeting Monday evening to release the transcripts, according to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). The committee interviewed Cohen behind closed doors on February 28 and March 6 -- before he reported to prison to serve a three-year sentence for bank fraud, campaign finance violations and other charges -- as part of an investigation into the president's business dealings in Russia and other foreign countries." (05/20/19)
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8) Report: North Korean women "forced into sex slavery" in China
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Thousands of North Korean women and girls are being forced to work in the sex trade in China, according to a new report by a London-based rights group. They are often abducted and sold as prostitutes, or compelled to marry Chinese men, says the Korea Future Initiative. The trade is worth $100m (£79m) a year for criminal organisations, it says. The women are often trapped because China repatriates North Koreans, who then face torture at home, it says. 'Victims are prostituted for as little as 30 Chinese yuan ($4.30; £3.40), sold as wives for just 1,000 yuan, and trafficked into cybersex dens for exploitation by a global online audience,' the report's author Yoon Hee-soon said." (05/20/19)
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9) CT: Complexity of toll bill could delay vote
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"Connecticut lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont are trying to craft a complicated plan in the waning days of the legislative session that could lead to electronic tolls on a handful of highways, a process that's been made more challenging by the need to ultimately obtain federal approval. Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz of Berlin, a toll proponent, suggested Monday that the General Assembly might return to Hartford for a special legislative session to vote on tolls, considering talks are still going on between lawmakers, Lamont's administration and the Federal Highway Administration. The regular session ends June 5. 'It is an incredibly complex bill to write,' he said. 'This is the type of issue I'd like to get done before we adjourn. But I wouldn't be opposed to coming back into special session too. It's that important to the state.' The plan currently calls for roughly 50 tolls on busy Interstates 84, 91, 95 and Route 15, in hopes of generating an estimated $928 million in annual gross revenues for transportation improvements. The push comes decades after Connecticut removed the state's old toll booths in the mid-1980s following a deadly toll plaza crash." (05/20/19)
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10) France: Vincent Lambert life support must resume after court reverses ruling
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"A French court has ordered doctors to resume life support for a quadriplegic man whose case has become central to the right-to-die debate in France. Doctors had begun switching off life support for Vincent Lambert, 42, on Monday, before the court order. Mr Lambert has been in a vegetative state since a 2008 motorcycle accident. His care has divided the country and his family. His wife has called for his feeding tubes to be withdrawn; his parents insist he be kept alive. Mr Lambert's mother Viviane, 73, hailed the latest ruling as 'a very big victory' in her struggle to maintain her son's life support. 'They are going to restore nutrition and give him drink. For once I am proud of the courts,' she said. Doctors had earlier Monday halted the nutrition and hydration Lambert receives, in line with the wishes of his wife and other relatives." (05/20/19)
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11) In Alabama, Sanders makes appeal to Deep South black voters
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made an appeal Monday to black voters in the Deep South, stopping at a historically African American church and calling health care a 'human right' that he equated to the civil rights movement. Speaking before a racially diverse crowd at Mt. Zion Church AME Church in Alabama's capital, Sanders renewed his calls for extending health care coverage to all Americans and reducing student debt. 'Just as civil rights is a human right, health care is a human right,' Sanders said to loud applause. The crowd for his midday speech was about half white despite the church's deep ties to the civil rights movement. Wrapping up a four-state swing that included stops in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, the Vermont senator is working to strengthen his support among black voters who comprise most of the Democratic primary electorate in many Southern states." (05/20/19)
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12) American Airlines blames mechanics for flight delays, cancellations, warns of summer travel trouble
Source: USA Today
"American Airlines has filed a lawsuit against its mechanics unions, saying a concerted work slowdown has caused nearly 2,200 flight cancellations and delays since February and shows no signs of abating as the summer travel season begins on Friday. The airline filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in Texas against the Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (TWU). The two sides have been in contract talks since 2015 following the American-US Airways merger. American says mechanics are unlawfully engaging in a slowdown to gain leverage in negotiations. The lawsuit says they are taking an 'inordinately long time to repair aircraft' and refusing to work overtime. It says the moves have resulted in 644 unplanned canceled flights and 1,500 delays, including 270 delays of two plus hours. 'The odds of this being random as opposed to concerted activity is less than one-in-one billion,' the lawsuit says." (05/20/19)
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13) TX: Fifth child dies after abduction by "Border Patrol" gang
Source: Aol News
"The U.S. government says a 16-year-old Guatemalan died Monday at a Border Patrol station in South Texas, the fifth death of a migrant child [abducted] by border agents since December. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that Border Patrol [abducted] the teenager in South Texas'[s] Rio Grande Valley on May 13. The agency says the teenager was found unresponsive Monday morning during a welfare check at the agency's Weslaco, Texas, station. The teenager's cause of death is unknown. The agency did not say why the teenager had been detained for a week, but said he was 'due for placement' in a facility for youth operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services." (05/20/19)
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14) Switzerland: Voters approve more victim disarmament measures after EU pressure
Source: Daily Mail [UK]
"Swiss voters on Sunday approved a measure to tighten the Alpine nation's gun laws, bringing the country in line with many of its European partners despite the objections of local gun owners, official results showed. The Federal Chancellery said provisional results showed nearly 64 per cent of voters nationwide agreed to align with European Union firearms rules adopted two years ago after deadly attacks in France, Belgium, Germany and Britain. The vote was part of Switzerland's regular referendums that give citizens a direct say in policymaking." (05/20/19)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7048637/Switzerland-votes-toughen-gun-laws-pressure-EU.html
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15) SCOTUS rules for Crow tribe in Wyoming hunting rights case
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American rights in a 5-4 decision in a case out of Wyoming. Justice Gorsuch provided the decisive vote in this case, showing himself again, as a Coloradan, to be sensitive to Native American rights. The court held that hunting rights for the Crow tribe under a 19th Century treaty did not expire when Wyoming became a state. This case centered on a member of the tribe, Clayvin Herrera, who faced charges for off-season hunting in Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming. There isn't 'any evidence in the treaty itself that Congress intended the hunting right to expire at statehood, or that the Crow Tribe would have understood it to do so,' Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority." (05/20/19)
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16) Sprint and T-Mobile merger may be back on track after FCC hints it will bless the deal
Source: CNN
"Sprint and T-Mobile have been trying to get married for years. They just got a step closer. The companies announced Monday that they have adjusted their merger terms to address concerns brought to them by the FCC. The regulator and the US Department of Justice both have to approve the deal before the companies can complete their merger. The companies agreed to certain coverage commitments, including 100 Megabit-per-second download speeds (equivalent to fast home broadband speeds) accessible to about 66% of Americans within three years of the deal's closing. The companies pledged to build a 5G network within six years following the merger. That network will, they promised, also include coverage for some rural Americans, and they said the new company will offer an in-home broadband product." (05/20/19)
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17) Sweden: Regime seeks (another invalid) European Arrest Warrant for Assange
Source: The Sun [UK]
"Swedish prosecutors have asked for Julian Assange to be arrested over the re-opened probe into the rape allegations he faces. The 47-year-old Australian is currently being held in London's Belmarsh prison after he was sentenced to 50 weeks for bail violation. At the time he jumped bail he was facing extradition to Sweden for questioning over rape and sexual misconduct allegations made by two women after he visited the country in 2010. The sexual misconduct allegations have been dropped after time ran out to prosecute him but the time limit for the rape case is August 2020. Last month Swedish prosecutors said they reopened the case and have now have filed a request with a court for his arrest." [editor's note: European Arrest Warrants aren't valid for questioning, etc. They are only valid when actual charges have been filed (to bring the defendant to court) or when a sentence has been imposed (to force the convicted individual to prison) – TLK] (05/20/19)
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18) Zarif: Trump's "genocidal taunts" will not end Iran
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has dismissed US President Donald Trump's 'genocidal taunts' and warned him not to threaten the country. With tensions rising, Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday: 'If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran.' Mr Zarif said the president should look at history. 'Iranians have stood tall for millennia while aggressors all gone ... Try respect -- it works!' The US has deployed additional warships and planes to the Gulf in recent days. But Mr Trump's tweet marked a shift in tone after recent attempts by him to downplay the possibility of a military conflict with Iran." (05/20/19)
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19) MI: Trump cultist announces primary challenge versus Amash
Source: The Hill
"A Michigan state lawmaker on Monday announced he will mount a primary challenge to Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) after the congressman tweeted that he believed President Trump had committed impeachable offenses, according to the Detroit Free Press. State Rep. Jim Lower (R) said he would challenge Amash in the Republican primary for his western Michigan seat rather than seek a third term in the state legislature. ... 'Congressman Justin Amash's tweets yesterday calling for President Trump's impeachment show how out of touch he is with the truth and how out of touch he is with people he represents,' Lower said, according to the newspaper. 'He must be replaced and I am going to do it.'" (05/20/19)
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20) Ford to cut 7,000 jobs by August, including 900 this week
Source: CNBC
"Ford Motor said Monday that it is laying off about 7,000 salaried workers, about 10% of that global workforce, as part of a restructuring plan designed to save the No. 2 automaker $600 million annually. The cuts, some of which were previously announced by Ford, will be completed by August, Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in an email to employees Monday. Most of the reductions are overseas with roughly 2,300 of the job cuts coming from the United States." (05/19/19)
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) What pleases Trump has the force of law
Source: The Atlantic
by Garrett Epps
"This is the climate of law in 2019. If a president obstructs justice, it's not illegal -- because, you see, he doesn't like being investigated. If Congress refuses to appropriate funds for a border wall, build it anyway. If the Posse Comitatus Act forbids use of the military in immigration enforcement, urge soldiers to shoot migrants anyway. If the Administrative Procedure Act requires a notice-and-comment procedure before changing regulations, skip the procedure and announce it anyway. If a racist sheriff gets caught harassing Latinos, pardon him. ... The Trump administration aspires to be the first of the post-legal era. It lives by a principle enunciated 2,000 years ago by the Roman jurist Ulpian and relied upon by tyrants ever since: Quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem. What pleases the prince has the force of law." (05/20/19)
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22) A US war on Iran would be evil, stupid, and self-damaging
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"Perhaps the most serious fiction at play here is the claim that the US seeks 'regime change' in Iran because Iran is a brutal Islamic theocracy. If that was the point, the US would also seek 'regime change' in, for example, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is at least as brutal, just as Islamic, and more of a theocracy. The US seeks 'regime change' in Iran because Iran goes its own way and refuses to take marching orders from the US." (05/20/19)
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23) Tucker Carlson and AOC are wrong about Christianity and usury
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Tyler Curtis
"Recently the nominally conservative, but increasingly populist firebrand Tucker Carlson joined self-proclaimed socialists Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders in calling for a federally-imposed 15 percent cap on interest rates. In a livestream video introducing their new bill, the Loan Shark Prevention Act , the two legislators lashed out against credit card companies and the payday loan industry for engaging in 'predatory' behavior. ... Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez joined Carlson in citing religious admonitions against lending at interest. While Carlson and Ocasio-Cortez are technically correct when they claim that Christians have condemned usury in the past, they have left out the other half of the story. It was primarily Christian thinkers, working within new market-based paradigms, who demonstrated that the collection of interest was not actually sinful and, what's more, that its prohibition was economically irrational." (05/21/19)
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24) The time has come for patriotic dissent: Stopping war with Iran is essential
Source: Antiwar.com
by Major Danny Sjursen, US Army (retired)
"What if they called a war and no one came? Well, now's the time folks. The apparent march to war with Iran represents a pivotal moment in the historical arc -- the rise and fall -- of our republic come empire. This potential war is so unnecessary, so irrational, that it borders on the absurd. Still, since the U.S. now fields a professional, volunteer military, few citizens have 'skin in the game.' As such, they could hardly care less. Unlike in past wars -- think Vietnam -- there is no longer a built in, established antiwar movement. This is unfortunate, and, dangerous for a democracy." (05/21/19)
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25) Impeach Trump but only for the right reason
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"Democrats hate Trump so much that they are willing to do anything they can to remove him from office before his term is up, including employing the nebulous crime of 'obstruction of justice' to do it. But no matter how much Democrats and others might dislike Trump, the fact is that he won the election. ... Does that mean that Trump should not be impeached? No. Trump should be impeached, but only for the right reason. What is that reason? Illegally waging war against foreign regimes without the congressional declaration of war that is required by the U.S. Constitution." (05/20/19)
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26) Trump lowered tensions with Iran; why he had to step in
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Howard LaFranchi
"According to administration officials, Donald Trump has privately groused to friends and advisers that John Bolton, with his preference for regime change in Iran, could lead to the Middle East war the president has pledged to avoid. In fact, says one expert on U.S.-Iran relations, there may have never been a president and a national security adviser 'less alike.' With tensions with Iran surging to their highest levels yet in his presidency, Mr. Trump used a White House national security meeting this week to tell acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan he doesn't want a war with Iran. He was sending a message to Iran and to others in the room. The spike in tensions with Iran parallels in many ways where the Trump White House was with North Korea in the months that led up to Mr. Trump's groundbreaking summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some analysts say. 'The North Korea scenario is absolutely what we're seeing here, in that the president is essentially envisioning a North Korea process with the Iranians that leads to negotiations,' says Ilan Berman, an expert in Middle East regional security." (05/17/19)
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27) Violence Against Women Act does violence to the Constitution
Source: Campaign For Liberty
by Ron Paul
"A common trick of big-government loving politicians is to give legislation names so appealing that it seems no reasonable person could oppose it. The truth is, the more unobjectionable the title, the more objectionable the content. Two well-known examples are the 'PATRIOT Act' and the 'Access to Affordable and Quality Care Act.' Another great example is the Violence Against Women Act. Passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act provides federal grants to, and imposes federal mandates on, state and local governments with the goal of increasing arrests, prosecutions, and convictions of those who commit domestic violence. Like most federal laws, the Violence Against Women Act is unconstitutional." (05/20/19)
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28) DNA testing at the border could provide cover for more family separations
Source: The American Prospect
by Manuel Madrid
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is piloting a rapid DNA testing program to verify the biological relationship of migrant families at the border. The program, which was set to begin this month in undisclosed locations, is the latest attempt by Trump administration officials to crack down on migrants who they believe are exploiting the U.S. immigration system to evade detention. In effect, however, the testing provides one more tool that the administration can use to separate children from their families. Unless a child is accompanied by a biological parent or legal guardian (siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles won't do), they'll be taken from their relatives and placed in custody. DHS officials describe the new testing as an effort to tackle child trafficking at and around the border, where immigration agents claim that children are being 'rented out' to border crossers at increasing rates. ... The pilot program will focus on a select number of adults suspected by Customs and Border Protection agents of posing as the parents of migrant children. The tests will take about two hours and will require a cheek swab from both child and parent." (05/20/19)
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29) Have consumers already lost the online privacy war?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Sam Bocetta
"Technology has increasingly come to occupy a central role in our lives. Growing numbers of people, however, have expressed concerns over how much of our privacy we've sacrificed for the sake of convenience. Networks are under assault from cyber attacks like never before, resulting in frequent, massive data breaches. Perhaps even more significantly, companies seem to be gathering data on customers, often without their knowledge, in an effort to more precisely target their advertising." (05/20/19)
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30) Socialism and the "democracy deficit"
Source: The New Republic
by Robert Westbrook
"'What is Democratic Socialism? I read considerable talk about "the democratic" as applying to the process of getting socialism; damn little about it as an adjective applying to socialism when you get it.' -- John Dewey to James T. Farrell, 8 November, 1948 ... Socialism, the political economy that for a century dared not speak its name in American domestic politics, is enjoying a return to prominence it hasn't experienced since the early twentieth century. On the one hand, self-identified 'democratic socialists' such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have won considerable public approval and support, particularly from younger people. On the other hand, nervous defenders of plutocracy like President Trump have gone out of their way to renew warnings of a socialist threat to American freedom not heard much since the end of the Cold War. ... Beneath all the pundit-driven sound and fury here, it's possible to discern a much older and far more serious debate, concerning just what kind of society, and political economy, should sustain the American democratic republic." (05/20/19)
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31) Knock down the incumbency
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Over the weekend, I suffered through Knock Down the House ... so you don't have to. While the documentary heralding four inexperienced Democratic women running for Congress in 2018 cost Netflix $10 million, I did not have to spend a dime -- beyond my regular monthly subscription. The award-winning film, directed by Rachel Lears, who wrote it along with her husband, Robin Blotnick, is expertly crafted. Unfortunately, it is geared to democratic socialists predisposed to adoring the subjects." (05/20/19)
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32) "Equality Act" would crush religious freedom; Trump right to oppose it
Source: USA Today
by Brad Polumbo
"The future of the 'Equality Act,' the landmark LGBT rights bill passed last week by the House, is uncertain. Even if could somehow pass the Republican-controlled Senate, President Donald Trump would likely veto it. And that would be the right thing to do, no matter what the backlash. From my vantage point as a gay conservative, I can see that the Equality Act goes too far for any level-headed gay rights advocate to support, and its blatant disregard for the basic right to religious freedom is appalling. The bill purports to protect LGBT Americans like me by prohibiting discrimination 'based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit and the jury system.' On the surface, this sounds unobjectionable -- after all, no one deserves to face discrimination. Yet the bill defined 'public accommodations' so loosely and called for regulations so sweeping that it would crush religious freedom and radically reshape American society." [editor's note: IOW it is big an overstep (and as intrusive on privacy and freedom of association) as the Civil Rights Act was – SAT] (05/20/19)
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33) Difficult to see how Americans suffer from Beijing's subsidies
Source: Cafe Hayek
by Don Boudreaux
"So-called 'predatory pricing' is akin to the Loch Ness monster. It's much-mentioned and feared, yet history provides no real evidence of its existence. And for good reason: charging prices below cost is a lousy means of gaining monopoly power. Economic theory makes clear that any such 'predator' necessarily inflicts on itself losses greater than those that it inflicts on the rivals that it is trying to run from the market. Such self-imposed differentially high disadvantages pave no reliable road to monopoly power. Quite the opposite." (05/20/19)
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34) Replies on political moderation
Source: Cato Unbound
by Darrell M West
"Geoffrey Kabaservice discusses our 'looming disasters' in terms of health, climate change, and debt, and says Republicans bear much of the responsibility for the decline of moderation because of their sharp move to the right and embrace of extremist viewpoints. He certainly is correct in noting the GOP's lurch to the right. Tom Mann and Norman Ornstein popularized this notion of 'asymmetrical polarization' and trace its roots to Republican shifts in messaging, strategy, and policy over the past few decades. For much of the recent past, there is substantial evidence to support that interpretation. But now Democrats are moving significantly to the left." (05/20/19)
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35) Joe Biden: Centrist?
Source: Fox News Forum
by Deroy Murdock
"Poor Joe Biden. The Delaware Democrat has served the liberal cause since he reached the U.S. Senate in 1973 as a barely legal 30-year-old, just 46 days after he fulfilled the Constitution's senatorial-age requirement. He voted reliably with the left and was a loyal vice president to Barack Obama, the most big-government POTUS since LBJ, if not FDR. Biden's fellow statists now slam him for not being leftist enough. Biden must feel as would Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, if he ran for president in 2024 and other Republicans called him a RINO. 'I think if you look at Joe's record, and you look at my record, I don't think there's much question about who's more progressive,' Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist, Vt.) told ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl. Biden 'does not particularly animate [me] right now,' said U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., 'I don't want to go back. I want to go forward.'" (05/19/19)
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36) Liberalism and Jewish emancipation
Source: Notes On Liberty
by Mark Koyama
"The struggle for Jewish emancipation was a long one. When it finally took place it was closely associated with the emergence of modern liberal states. It was only once the institutional basis for political authority had changed that granting Jews full civil rights became feasible or even conceivable. Here I will focus on the removal of Jewish disabilities in England. And in particular, I'll focus on one paradigmatic statement of religious liberty that Thomas Babington Macaulay made in Parliament in 1829 in favor of ending all civil disabilities on Jews. As a statement of religious freedom and liberalism more generally, it is sadly neglected." (05/20/19)
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37) Epic fail of charter schools In Louisiana
Source: Our Future
by Jeff Bryant
"When Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama, said Hurricane Katrina was the 'best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans,' he was no doubt referring in part to how the storm and its aftermath led to the spread of charter schools across the city. But if he had looked more closely before making his remark (he eventually apologized for his poor word choice), he would have noticed some of the new charter schools being created in New Orleans were already failing. The very first charter school created in the post-Katrina era to close was Free Academy, which shuttered in early 2009 -- well before Duncan made his remarks -- due to financial problems, lack of academic progress, and disputes with the school's for-profit management company. After Free Academy closed, many of the students scrambling to find new schools likely ended up in the Crocker Arts & Technology School, another charter school, which opened in the fall in the same building." (05/20/19)
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38) Quantum Vibe, 05/20/19
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser & Gus Mendes
Cartoon. (05/20/19)
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39) Would it be okay to throw a milkshake at Anna Soubry?
Source: spiked
by Brendan O'Neill
"Would it be okay for someone to throw a milkshake at Anna Soubry? After all, she has devoted herself to overthrowing the largest act of democracy in UK history. She also voted for the bombing of Libya in 2011, which destabilised entire swathes of northern Africa and caused untold suffering. Does such anti-democracy and imperialism deserve a milkshake? What about Emily Thornberry? Another anti-democrat and cheerleader for the destruction in Libya. Can she be 'milkshaked?' Ed Miliband, perhaps? ... Fear not. I am not planning on throwing a milkshake at any of those people. Because I am not a child. I also think nobody else should throw a milkshake at them. If you disagree with a politician, let them know -- send them a letter, write them an email, discourage people from voting for their parties. ... But there's a point here: who gets to decide who we are allowed to milkshake? If the throwing of milkshakes comes to be viewed as acceptable political behaviour, isn't it possible all sorts of politicians will end up with strawberry ice-cream on their faces?" (05/20/19)
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40) The essence of goods prices determination
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Frank Shostak
"Why do individuals pay much higher prices for some goods versus other goods? The common reply to this is the law of supply and demand. What is behind this law? To provide an answer to this question economists refer to the law of diminishing marginal utility. Mainstream economics explains the law of diminishing marginal utility in terms of the satisfaction that one derives from consuming a particular good. For instance, an individual derives vast satisfaction from consuming one cone of ice cream. The satisfaction he will derive from consuming a second cone might also be big but not as big as the satisfaction derived from the first cone. The satisfaction from the consumption of a third cone is likely to diminish further, and so on." (05/20/19)
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41) Reflections on this weird, wild job of mine
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"Sometimes really really famous people share my stuff and a deluge of haters rush in to admonish them for doing so because I am evil. I am still not used to either of these things. I took a couple of days off for my wedding anniversary and during that time Susan Sarandon shared my last article, demanding to know why we're not discussing the important fact that a document from the OPCW's investigation contradicting the official OPCW findings on an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria was not shared with the public. Just as when Roger Waters promoted me on his Twitter account, any time I checked Twitter I saw a bunch of people arguing about whether or not I'm a secret Nazi or a plagiarist or an Assad lover or a racist, all in response to the sharing of an article that questioned a narrative used to support western imperialism. It's a weird experience. This whole job has been weird, really, and with some days off I've had time to reflect on that." [editor's note: A very nice personal account of how she got where she is now – SAT] (05/20/19)
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42) China victor assured with any US/Iran conflict
Source: Antiwar.com
by James Kennedy
"The outcome of a U.S. war with Iran is as predictable as the outcome of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. The great ship of state ends up at the bottom of the ocean -- everything else is just small drama. The above is not a desperate cry for caution or pragmatism. It is based on the fact that our military is 100 percent reliant on China for critical technology metals, alloys, magnets, garnets and other post-oxide rare earth materials. China relies on Iranian oil and has clearly signaled that it will defy US sanctions on Iran. China has also recently signaled that it is hunkering down for what may prove to be a protracted trade war. A US war with Iran now will turn China's already powerful rare earth trade-weapon into a terminal nuclear strike. Withholding these materials would not just neuter our military during a conflict, it would shut down every automobile and aircraft manufacturer in the US. The shutdowns would extend to what remains of our electronics and green technology industries." (05/20/19)
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43) Pledging allegiance to the Divided States of America
Source: exile in happy valley
by comrade hermit
"In the case of a post-racial/post-colonial America, I see the opportunity for a thousand utopias. Cleaved from the chains of more traditional national identities, American's and the citizenry of other vast neocolonial experiments like Canada and Australia have been granted the ability to redefine themselves however they goddamn please. What race do you want to be? What gender feels like freedom? What do you want to call your new species? We can choose to cling to our past as prisoners of a horrific imperial experiment, we can wallow in aggrievement and victimhood and go down with this rusted hulk of a slave ship, or we can rise above it, wipe the slate clean and create new tribes around the more abstract and less constraining concepts of love and community, family and kinship, anarchy and liberty." (05/19/19)
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44) Justin Amash gets what top Democrats don't -- it's time to impeach Trump
Source: The Intercept
by Mehdi Hasan
"Congratulations to Justin Amash! On Saturday, the representative from Michigan's 3rd district became the first Republican member of Congress to call for impeachment, arguing that President Trump's actions and behavior, as detailed in special counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report, 'meet the threshold' for high crimes and misdemeanors. Amash, who is Palestinian American and a proud Tea Party libertarian, has clashed with the president and his GOP colleagues before, on a range of issues -- from the war in Yemen to funding for the border wall to the Muslim ban. But his decision to declare his open support for impeachment is far and away the most dramatic and defiant moment of his political career." (05/20/19)
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45) Here's exactly who's profiting from the war on Yemen
Source: In These Times
by Alex Kane
"Priyanka Motaparthy, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, arrived at a market in the Yemeni village of Mastaba on March 28, 2016, to find large craters, destroyed buildings, debris, shredded bits of clothing and small pieces of human bodies. Two weeks earlier, a warplane had bombed the market with two guided missiles. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says the missiles hit around noon on March 15, killing 97 civilians, including 25 children. 'When the first strike came, the world was full of blood,' Mohammed Yehia Muzayid, a market cleaner, told HRW. 'People were all in pieces; their limbs were everywhere. People went flying.' As Muzayid rushed in, he was hit in the face by shrapnel from the second bomb. 'There wasn't more than five minutes between the first and second strikes,' he said. 'People were taking the injured out, and it hit the wounded and killed them. A plane was circling overhead.' Saudi Arabia, one of the world's richest countries, has been bombing Yemen, the fifth-poorest nation in the world, since 2015 -- with support from the United States." (05/20/19)
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46) Notes from the Islamic Republic
Source: Liberty Unbound
by Bill Merritt
"Walking down the street in Tehran, if you're from the Great Satan, is like starring in a triumphal procession, you attract so much attention. I was there last week and it's the oddest feeling, nothing like what you expect, especially not those of us whose strongest images of Iranians involve mobs tearing into the American Embassy. People come up to you, not by ones and twos, but by the scores and hundreds and snap selfies and tell you how much they like Americans. If you happen to pass by a picnic, whole families will wave you over to join them. If it's close to a mealtime, and it's always close to a mealtime, strangers will invite you into their homes to eat. Sometimes Iranians will elaborate a bit and tell you that, although they really do like Americans, they don't approve of our government ... which struck me as profoundly sensible, since I feel exactly the same way." (05/19/19)
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47) Killing yourself slowly
Source: A Geek With Guns
by Christopher Burg
"Trump is working to take this country back to the good old days of mercantilism when governments decided who would succeed and who would fail. Implementing tariffs was just the first act in his strategy to provide a supposed advantage to American companies. His latest act was far more blatant. He issued an executive order to prohibit Huawei from the United States market. In the aftermath of this executive order Google has revoked Huawei's use of its services, including its Play Store .... That'll give a much needed boost to American device manufacturers, right? You know, all of those device manufacturers who manufacture their devices in China, where Huawei is headquartered. Because I'm sure this executive order won't result in any reciprocation from the Chinese government. But even if we set aside the likelihood of a Chinese retaliatory response, this executive order sends a rather clear message for companies headquartered outside of the United States. That message is that they shouldn't rely on products or services from companies headquartered in the United States. " (05/20/19)
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48) Why the founders wanted you to own military-style weapons
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by TJ Martinell
"Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago this month, the U.S. Congress passed the Militia Acts of 1792. This pair of bills authorized the president to lead the state militias in war and to conscript all able-bodied free men to fight with self-provided arms and munitions. To a modern American living in the midst of an empire with a permanent military presence both here and abroad, there might be little reason to acknowledge this anniversary. However, it offers an example of how the founders believed military defense and war should be handled, and why so many modern arguments against civilian gun ownership don't match the history." (05/20/19)
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49) Bernie Sanders's incredible, shrinking candidacy -- why he won't be Dem nominee
Source: Fox News Forum
by Mary Anne Marsh
"In 2016 Bernie Sanders was a force in Democratic politics, challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in a bitter and hard-fought contest. Sanders is running again for the Democratic nomination and finds himself mired in second place and sinking. Today he sees Joe Biden in front of him in first place and looks over his shoulder at Elizabeth Warren who is gaining on him every day. The same guy who beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 New Hampshire primary by 22 points is currently polling at 18 percent there, while Biden is in first place with double the support at 36 percent, in the latest Monmouth poll in early May. So what changed? Everything and nothing. The fact is Bernie Sanders is the same candidate as he was in 2016. And that's the problem. He has all the same problems today that he had in the last race -- problems that were either never exposed then or were overlooked." (05/20/19)
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50) How will a second Trump term impact US gambling laws?
Source: The Libertarian Republic
by Maggie Novak
"Around the globe, the international online gambling industry is waiting with bated breath as the US, by far the biggest potential market, openly flirts with legalized igaming. Indeed, many of the biggest players in the industry, mainly European, have already pre-empted the potential windfall by partnering up with casinos and other gambling enterprises in America. Legalized sports betting is a huge industry globally and we have witnessed a stampede of UK betting operators trying to establish a name for themselves on this side of the pond. ... Unfortunately, since taking office, Trump's administration has attacked all forms of gambling. The former Atlantic City casino owner originally tasked Jeffrey B. Wall to block the federal abolition of the prohibition of sports betting in New Jersey, a mission that ultimately proved unsuccessful. The ill-fated attempt to interfere with sports betting controls hasn't dented the administration's ambitions however and they have now set their sights on all online gambling activity, which includes daily fantasy sports, lotteries and poker, itself still to recover from 2011's Black Friday." (05/19/19)
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Free Talk Live, 05/20/19
Source: Free Talk Live
"Relaunching of the Ridley Report :: Accountability, family court :: Tulsa Gabbard :: Pedestrian fatalaties :: Ron Paul attack pieces :: Activism :: Facebook :: Trump v. Sanders :: Military Industrial Complex :: U.S. interventionism :: Edgington Post -- interview of Iga Ronald Lubega, SFL Uganda :: Hosts -- Aria, Mark, Dave." [Flash audio or MP3] (05/20/19)
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52) The Joe Rogan Experience, episode 1300
Source: The Joe Rogan Experience
"Michael Malice is an author and also host a podcast called 'Your Welcome with Michael Malice' available on the GaS Digital Network. His new book called 'The New Right' is available now." [various formats] (05/20/19)
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53) Foreign Policy Focus, episode 351
Source: Foreign Policy Focus
"On FPF #351, I discuss weapon sales and their impact on geopolitics. Turkey said it will buy the S-400 and S-500 air defense systems from Russia. The US approved $1 billion in Raytheon made missiles to Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Google is funding a company that is developing targeting AI for the Pentagon drones. I break down how global nuclear weapons are becoming more advanced and dangerous." [various formats] (05/20/19)
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54) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/20/19
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"A small rocket was fired in Baghdad's Green Zone (the US Embassy neighborhood) yesterday and the Trump Administration has been quick to take advantage of the apparent attack to blame Iran. There was little damage and no casualties, but Bolton is using it to maximum advantage to push Trump toward war. Will Trump bite?" [Flash video] (05/20/19)
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55) CQ Budget Podast, episode 110
Source: Roll Call
"House appropriators this week will take up the biggest of the 12 annual spending bills, the $690 billion Pentagon measure that includes some prickly issues such as funding for Taliban expenses for peace talks with the U.S. and money to give the Pentagon more F-35 fighter jets than it requested, says CQ Roll Call's senior defense reporter John M. Donnelly. He lays out what is likely to happen to the measure that assumes higher spending levels for fiscal 2020." [various format] (05/20/19)
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56) The Bookmonger, episode 247
Source: National Review
"John J. Miller is joined by Richard Gamble to discuss his book, A Fiery Gospel." [various formats] (05/20/19)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-bookmonger/episode-247-a-fiery-gospel-by-richard-gamble/
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57) Scott Adams Says, 05/20/19
Source: Scott Adams Says
"Scott Adams talks about predicting, Deutsche Bank, Brennan, China, Iran, and coffee." [Flash video] (05/20/19)
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58) Free Man Beyond the Wall, episode 261
Source: Free Man Beyond the Wall
"'Babylon Bee' Editor-in-Chief Kyle Mann." [various formats] (05/20/19)
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59) Lions of Liberty Podcast, episode 401
Source: Lions of Liberty
"In today's episode of the flagship Lions of Liberty podcast, Marc continues the trend of debates after the episode 400 discussion on abortion by hosting a conversation about the Labor Theory of Value, a key component of Marxist economic theory. Speaking in favor the theory is Marxist economic and professor Dr. Richard Wolff, while taking the negative is our old friend Antony Sammeroff, who was most recently on the show debating Universal Basic Income." [various formats] (05/20/19)
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60) Harry Kazianis on The Scott Horton Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
"Harry Kazianis discusses the negotiations between North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. Kazianis says that although North Korea has some nuclear weapon capability, they're not a real threat to America, because the moment they launched a missile they would be wiped off the map in minutes. Their economy is also so small that they pose no possible economic threat. He says the very best thing for everyone involved -- especially the North Korean people -- is to try to reach a peace deal, something that many Democrats seem intent on opposing in order to score political points against President Trump." (05/19/19)
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