06/26 -- NY: Israel lobby takes down "Squad" member in most expensive US House primary ever; The Injustice of Assange's Guilty Plea
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 26, 2024, 6:31:33 AMJun 26
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/26/24
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Today's Freedom News:
1) NY: Israel lobby takes down “Squad” member in most expensive US House primary ever
2) Renewed Bullishness Expected After Bitcoin, Ether’s $10 Billion Options Expiry on Friday
3) Ukraine: Zelenskyy fires top commander after claims his soldiers suffered heavy losses
4) NY: Judge alters disgraced former president’s gag order, letting him talk about witnesses, jury
5) ICC issues arrest warrants for alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine
6) US pedestrian deaths fall for first time since pandemic
7) Fed’s Bowman sees no interest rate cuts this year
8) Israel’s Supreme Court orders conscription for ultra-Orthodox men
9) Murthy plays “public health crisis” card versus gun rights
10) More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes under gun safety [sic] law Biden signed
11) Kenya: At least five killed and parliament set ablaze intax protests
12) WI: Judge orders election clerks to email absentee ballots to disabled voters
13) US Consumer Confidence Falls in June as Americans Fret About Near-Term Prospects
14) Puerto Rico: Regime sues former officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30M in public funds
15) Russia: Regime bans dozens of European news outlets
16) OK: Supreme Court rules tax-funded religious charter school is unconstitutional
17) Biden student debt scam halted by court challenges
18) China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returns to Earth with first-ever samples from far side of the moon
19) CA: Huge backup as truck carrying eight tons of avocados crashes on highway
20) DC: Hunter Biden’s law license suspended
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The Injustice of Assange’s Guilty Plea
22) A Holiday Proposal: Festivus in July!
23) How the Libertarian Party Lost Its Way
24) Ukraine’s Attacks on Freedom of Expression Continue
25) Did checks and balances protect your dishwasher?
26) Trump-Biden Drinking Game
27) The Supreme Court is about to decide: Can the government manipulate social media?
28) Something Worth Supporting for 2024
29) Philosopher Kings or New-Age Militarists? An AI Hell on Earth
30) The US Hands the Reckless Driver the Keys
31) Age of rage vs. free speech: We’ve been here before and here’s what happened
32) Elite Envy as a Civilizational Toxin
33) Assange Is Free, But Justice Has Not Been Done
34) Scotland’s buffer zones are an affront to freedom
35) The Two-Class System of Regulation Plaguing Europe
36) The Proper Role of a Political Economist
37) The Anatomy of a Protest
38) Trump’s Debate Prep Is Whining and Making Stuff Up
39) North Korea’s Russian Turn Is More Bark Than Bite
40) Is Saudi scoping out the Capitol before 9/11 enough evidence yet?
41) Those Who Violate the Rights of Children in War Must Be Held Accountable
42) Moliere’s Medicine for Wayward Youth
43) Brace Yourself & Your Gun
44) Schedule F vs. Reality
45) Don’t disavow your extremism, Tyler Cherry; you’re PERFECT for this White House
46) Interest on National Debt Surpasses Defense Spending
47) Western Protectionism Needs an End Date
48) Maybe We Should Legalize Child Labor After All
49) Bob Menendez and Biden’s Cuba Policy
50) Power From the People: The Revolutionary Roots of the 10th Amendment
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Rising, 06/25/24
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 622
53) The New Abnormal, 06/25/25
54) There’s A Policy For That With Susan Pendergrass, 06/25/24
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/25/24
56) Power Problems, episode 183
57) Across The Movie Aisle, 06/25/24
58) Hubwonk, 06/25/24
59) System Update, episode 288
60) Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 06/24/24
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) NY: Israel lobby takes down “Squad” member in most expensive US House primary ever
Source: Politico
“Rep. Jamaal Bowman was trounced in a suburban New York race that became a referendum on progressives’ attitudes toward Israel and the most expensive House primary in U.S. history. Moderate Democrat George Latimer bested Bowman on Tuesday by 17 points with 88 percent of the vote in, making Bowman the first member of the Squad to lose an election since the far-left [sic] group formed in 2018. … A leading pro-Israel group spent more than $14 million on TV ads to unseat [Bowman]. And as the results rolled in, it became clear that AIPAC and its super PAC United Democracy Project had succeeded in making an example of the two-term member of Congress for routinely criticizing the Israeli offensive in Gaza.” (06/25/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/25/jamaal-bowman-loses-george-latimer-00164997
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2) Renewed Bullishness Expected After Bitcoin, Ether’s $10 Billion Options Expiry on Friday
Source: CoinDesk
“On Friday at 08:00 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) options worth $6.68 billion and ether (ETH) options worth $3.5 billion are set to expire on the leading crypto derivatives exchange Deribit. The impending expiry, which represents over 40% of the current cumulative open interest of over $23 billion, could trigger a surge in market volatility. Large quarterly expiries often lead to increased volatility, making prices more unpredictable due to higher trading volumes and the closing/rollover of positions. … Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has dropped nearly 9% this month, testing bargain hunters below $60,000 at one point. As usual, the sell-off has weighed over the broader market, pulling ether down by almost 10%.” (06/26/24)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/26/renewed-bullishness-expected-after-bitcoin-ethers-10b-options-expiry-on-friday/
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3) Ukraine: Zelenskyy fires top commander after claims his soldiers suffered heavy losses
Source: NBC News
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he had replaced the commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Yuri Sodol, after reports surfaced that he had performed badly in the 28-month-old war against Russia. Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, gave no reason for the dismissal. He said Sodol had been replaced by Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov in the post, which involves strategic planning of operations. Sodol’s removal, one of a series of personnel changes, followed publication of a letter by the head of Ukraine’s revered Azov regiment, Bohdan Krotevych, in which he alleged that Sodol’s actions had led to serious military setbacks. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Krotevych did not identify Sodol by name, but said an unnamed general ‘has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general.'” (06/25/24)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/zelenskyy-fires-top-ukrainian-commander-sodol-soldiers-losses-rcna158754
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4) NY: Judge alters disgraced former president’s gag order, letting him talk about witnesses, jury
Source: Associated Press
“A judge on Tuesday modified Donald Trump’s gag order, freeing the former president to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors in the hush money criminal trial that led to his felony conviction, but keeping others connected to the former president’s case off limits until he is sentenced July 11. Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision … clears the presumptive Republican nominee to again go on the attack against his former lawyer Michael Cohen, porn actor Stormy Daniels and other witnesses. Trump was convicted May 30 of falsifying records to cover up a potential sex scandal, making him the first ex-president convicted of a crime. In a five-page ruling Tuesday, Merchan wrote that the gag order was meant to ‘protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings’ and that protections for witnesses and jurors no longer applied now that the trial has ended and the jury has been discharged.” (06/25/24)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-gag-order-ruling-hush-money-new-york-cd8e983664e238385572b9b6dff909ad
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5) ICC issues arrest warrants for alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine
Source: Axios
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two prominent Russian officials who are accused of violating international law during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The ICC has alleged that former Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian general Valery Gerasimov committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for targeting critical infrastructure and Ukrainian civilians. The ICC has issued other arrest warrants against Russian officials for their roles in the war in Ukraine, but Tuesday’s warrants are significant because they incriminate such high-ranking officials.” (06/25/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/icc-arrest-warrants-russia-ukraine
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6) US pedestrian deaths fall for first time since pandemic
Source: United Press International
“For the first time since the pandemic, it got a little safer to cross America’s streets in 2023, new statistics show. According to data released Monday from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 7,318 American pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles last year — a dip of 5.4% from 2022 and the first such decline seen since the pandemic ended. But it’s no time for celebration: The 2023 number for pedestrian deaths is still 14.1% above pre-pandemic levels. Still, the news is somewhat heartening, said GHSA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Adkins.” (06/25/24)
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2024/06/25/us-pedestrian-deaths-decline-2023/8281719319125/
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7) Fed’s Bowman sees no interest rate cuts this year
Source: Fox Business
“Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Tuesday that she does not expect to cut interest rates before the end of the year – and remains willing to hike again if progress on inflation stalls. ‘We are still not yet at the point where it is appropriate to lower the policy rate,’ Bowman said during a prepared speech in London. Reducing rates too soon could risk reigniting high inflation, she warned, which would require additional rate increases in order to tame price pressures within the economy. In a discussion following her speech, Bowman said she does not project any rate cuts happening this year, and has instead shifted those into future years.” (06/25/24)
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/feds-bowman-sees-no-interest-rate-cuts-year
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8) Israel’s Supreme Court orders conscription for ultra-Orthodox men
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for military service. The ruling announced on Tuesday seeks to overturn a longstanding practice under which Jewish seminary students are exempt from conscription. The decision threatens to help destabilise the government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition reliant on religiously conservative parties that oppose the move. … Under longstanding arrangements, ultra-Orthodox men have been exempt from the draft. However, the court found that the state was carrying out ‘invalid selective enforcement.'” (06/25/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/25/israels-supreme-court-orders-conscription-for-ultra-orthodox-men
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9) Murthy plays “public health crisis” card versus gun rights
Source: Politico
“Gun violence has created a large-scale cycle of trauma and fear that’s damaging Americans’ mental health, making children fearful of going to school and adults of going to public places, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in announcing a public health crisis Tuesday. Murthy’s report cites the mental health toll beyond direct victims in making the case to Congress to pass legislation to [disarm prospective victims]. … Murthy’s report endorses policies like universal background checks and safe firearm storage laws, regulating guns like other consumer products, and more funding for gun violence research, community-based violence prevention initiatives and emergency preparedness programs.” (06/25/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/25/gun-violence-is-fueling-national-trauma-surgeon-general-warns-00164756
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10) More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes under gun safety [sic] law Biden signed
Source: SFGate
“More than 500 people — some linked to transnational cartels and organized crime rings — have been charged with gun trafficking and other crimes under the landmark gun safety legislation President Joe Biden signed two years ago Tuesday. A White House report obtained by The Associated Press on the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also said that enhanced background checks under the new law have stopped roughly 800 sales of firearms to people under age 21 who would be prohibited from buying them. It highlights that 14 states are using or planning to use funding from the legislation to make better use of red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to remove weapons from people in crisis but are often underused or not well understood.” (06/25/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/more-than-500-people-have-been-charged-with-19538594.php
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11) Kenya: At least five killed and parliament set ablaze intax protests
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Police shot at protesters as they breached the parliament complex in Nairobi on Tuesday, with at least five demonstrators killed and dozens more wounded. Angry over proposed tax hikes, many protesters across the country are calling for President William Ruto to quit office. The mainly youth-led rallies, which began last week, have caught President William Ruto’s government off guard, with Ruto saying over the weekend he was ready to talk to the protesters. But tensions sharply escalated on Tuesday afternoon, as crowds began to throw stones at police and push back against barricades, making their way towards the parliament complex, which was sealed off by police in full riot gear.” (06/25/24)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240625-kenyan-police-fire-rubber-bullets-at-protesters-demonstrating-against-tax-hikes
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12) WI: Judge orders election clerks to email absentee ballots to disabled voters
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Wisconsin election officials will be required to email absentee ballots to voters who cannot vote independently under a new ruling from a Dane County judge. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell on Tuesday ordered clerks to allow voters with disabilities that include blindness or a physical disability that impairs manual dexterity to vote electronically, including with a screen reader. The temporary order covers the Nov. 5 election. The voters still would be required to return the ballots by mail or in person rather than by email. The ruling comes less than six months before Wisconsin is set to play a key role in another hard-fought presidential contest during which the battleground state could again be the tipping point, pushing partisan groups to battle over voting rules.” (06/25/24)
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/06/25/wisconsin-judge-orders-clerks-to-email-ballots-to-disabled-voters/74205997007/
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13) US Consumer Confidence Falls in June as Americans Fret About Near-Term Prospects
Source: US News & World Report
“American consumers lost some confidence in June as expectations over the near-term future fell again. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell in June to 100.4 from 101.3 in May. The index’s decline was not quite as bad as analysts were expecting. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell to 73 from 74.9 in May. A reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. Consumers’ view of current conditions rose in June to 141.5, up from 140.8 in May.” (06/25/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2024-06-25/consumer-confidence-in-u-s-falls-in-june-as-americans-fret-about-near-term-prospects
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14) Puerto Rico: Regime sues former officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30M in public funds
Source: SFGate
“Puerto Rico’s Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is suing at least 30 ex-government officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30 million in public funds. Among those sued are three former legislators, including Maria Milagros Charbonier, who was sentenced in May to eight years in federal prison after being found guilty of theft, bribery and a kickback scheme. … Also sued are eight former mayors including Felix Delgado of Catano and Angel Perez of Guaynabo. Delgado was sentenced to one year in federal prison in March after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for awarding millions of dollars’ worth of municipal contracts. Pérez was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison in February after being found guilty of bribery and extortion.” (06/25/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/puerto-rico-sues-former-officials-accused-of-19539038.php
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15) Russia: Regime bans dozens of European news outlets
Source: Semafor
“Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued bans on the distribution 81 media outlets from 25 European Union member states on Tuesday. The bans are a retaliation to the EU’s own block on some Russian outlets and broadcasters, issued in in May. The ministry accused the European outlets of ‘systematically distributing inaccurate information’ about Russia’s ‘special military operation’ — the Kremlin’s terminology for the war in Ukraine.” (06/25/24)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/25/2024/russia-ban-media-europe-news-publications
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16) OK: Supreme Court rules tax-funded religious charter school is unconstitutional
Source: Seattle Times
“An Oklahoma board’s approval of what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school is unconstitutional and must be rescinded, the state Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The high court determined the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s 3-2 vote last year to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violates both the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions, as well as state law. … The online public charter school would have been open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12, and part of its mission would have been to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith.” (06/25/24)
https://archive.is/2ZppT
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17) Biden student debt scam halted by court challenges
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Two federal courts have temporarily blocked key portions of US President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief and repayment plan. The dual rulings blocks potential debt relief that millions of borrowers may have seen in less than a week. The White House said it would ‘continue to vigorously defend’ its forgiveness and repayment proposals. More than one in 10 Americans hold federal student debt — and it is a major election issue for young voters. To date, Mr Biden has approved nearly $150bn (£118bn) in relief affecting close to five million people — but largely through executive actions, and not via Congress. The president’s broader ambitions for mass relief have, however, been stymied, with the Supreme Court last year striking down a major proposal to cancel as much as $400bn in loans.” (06/25/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0vveg0x594o
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18) China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returns to Earth with first-ever samples from far side of the moon
Source: CBS News
“China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returned to Earth on Tuesday with rock and soil samples from the little-explored far side of the moon in a global first. The probe landed in northern China on Tuesday afternoon in the Inner Mongolian region. … Chinese scientists anticipate the returned samples will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rock and other material that they hope will answer questions about geographic differences on the moon’s two sides.” (06/25/24)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-moon-lunar-probe-returns-to-earth-with-first-ever-samples-from-far-side/
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19) CA: Huge backup as truck carrying eight tons of avocados crashes on highway
Source: SFGate
“A truck carrying 16,000 pounds of avocados fell on its side on a major highway in the San Francisco Bay Area on Monday morning, creating a traffic jam during the morning commute, the California Highway Patrol said. The fallen truck was reported at 3:40 a.m. on northbound Highway 101 at the Third Avenue offramp in San Mateo, CHP spokesperson Sophie Lu told SFGATE. It remained on its side and was still blocking multiple lanes of traffic just before 8 a.m., Lu said. What caused the truck to flip on its side is under investigation. ‘It sounds like a few vehicles were involved,’ Lu said. KCBS Radio reported on social media that traffic on northbound 101 was backed up to Belmont, with traffic slowdowns also on westbound state Route 92 through Foster City on to the San Mateo Bridge.” (06/25/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/avocado-truck-tips-highway-101-19531886.php
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20) DC: Hunter Biden’s law license suspended
Source: Axios
“The D.C. Court of Appeals on Tuesday suspended Hunter Biden’s law license after he was convicted earlier this month of three federal gun charges. … The D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel wrote in an order earlier this month that Hunter Biden’s offenses in his federal gun case amount to a ‘serious crime.'” (06/25/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/hunter-biden-law-license-suspended
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The Injustice of Assange’s Guilty Plea
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
I can fully understand why Julian Assange has accept a plea deal in which he has agreed to plead guilty to a supposed conspiracy to disclose official secrets relating to U.S. ‘national security.’ Given the lapdog nature of the British government, it was a foregone conclusion that British officials would ultimately, one of these days, rule in favor of the U.S. government’s extradition demand for Assange to be delivered into the clutches of U.S. officials. Upon being brought to the United States, it also is a virtual certainty that Assange would have been convicted and sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison …. Nonetheless, it’s important that we recognize an important fact: A U.S. District Judge in the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a far-flung member of the U.S. Empire, will be accepting a plea of guilty from a man who isn’t guilty at all.” (06/25/24)
https://www.fff.org/2024/06/25/the-injustice-of-assanges-guilty-plea/
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22) A Holiday Proposal: Festivus in July!
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes obvious to all that the current American political system bears little if any resemblance to the values put forward in the 13 colonies’ July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, it’s time to consider doing away with ‘Independence Day’ as a positive commemoration. But not, I hold, worthy of cancellation as a holiday altogether. The Declaration still has some pretty good bones to base a holiday on, and who doesn’t love a day off work for grilling out and playing with explosives? Instead of celebrating the Big Lie that we live under a government which exists to ‘secure’ our rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ we’d do well to instead turn our attention to a Festivus-style ‘airing of the grievances.'” (06/25/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18757
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23) How the Libertarian Party Lost Its Way
Source: Reason
by Liz Wolfe
“Two years post-takeover, some longtime activists and donors claim the Mises Caucus has driven the party into the ground.” (06/25/24)
https://reason.com/2024/06/25/how-the-libertarian-party-lost-its-way/
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24) Ukraine’s Attacks on Freedom of Expression Continue
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“U.S. officials routinely portray Ukraine as a democratic ally and the symbol of an existential fight between freedom and authoritarianism. That simplistic portrayal has intensified since Russia launched its large-scale attack in February 2022. The reality is that Ukraine is a corrupt authoritarian state similar to Russia. Not only does Volodymyr Zelensky’s government not respect civil liberties at home, but also it has tried to impinge on such liberties in the United States.” (06/25/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2024/06/24/ukraines-attacks-on-freedom-of-expression-continue/
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25) Did checks and balances protect your dishwasher?
Source: Downsize DC
by Jim Babka
“The courts just protected your dishwasher from the Executive Branch! You probably didn’t even know your dishwasher was under attack. The Department of Energy issued a regulation limiting the amount of water dishwashers can use. They believed legislation that gave them the power to regulate energy efficiency could also allow them to regulate water usage. After all, it takes energy to move water. But their logic ran afoul of two harsh realities – one was practical and the other legal.” (06/25/24)
https://downsizedc.org/checks-and-balances-protect-dishwashers/
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26) Trump-Biden Drinking Game
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“I realize the first debate isn’t until Thursday, and I do have a Thursday Townhall column, so I could have saved this until then. However, if I had, this might have required those interested in playing to have to scramble to obtain the absolutely crushing amount of booze that you’d run risk of your local liquor store running out or thinking you’re a Kennedy. Best to give everyone a chance to plan; to give the boss a heads up that you may be late Friday morning or in the hospital having your stomach pumped. Since it’s best to avoid the latter (if you’re late, that’s on you), I’d suggest you just take a sip each time one of these things happens. What you’re drinking will determine just how much you regret watching, but the odds are pretty high you’ll regret watching no matter what.” (06/25/24)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2024/06/25/trump-biden-drinking-game-n2640902
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27) The Supreme Court is about to decide: Can the government manipulate social media?
Source: The Hill
by Jeffrey M McCall
“The Supreme Court will soon hand down a decision with far-reaching implications for how the rhetorical marketplace functions in the social media era. The case is Murthy v. Missouri, and it deals with government efforts to manipulate and manage social media platforms for its own messaging purposes. It is important that the justices get this decision right. They must clearly define the extent to which the government can control the content of social media outlets, ultimately limiting the voices of regular people who might dare to post opinions unapproved by government. A limited or technical legal ruling will be insufficient if the court hopes to genuinely guide the nation, restrain government machinations, and protect robust rhetorical participation by a variety of citizen voices.” (06/25/24)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4737141-supreme-court-case-murthy-v-missouri/
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28) Something Worth Supporting for 2024
Source: The Dispatch
by Chris Stirewalt
“There are a lot of things that make America unique that are wonderful. When the rest of the world decided to report the weather in degrees Celsius, our country decided to stick with a Farenheit system in which 100 is very hot and zero is very cold as opposed to one in which 100 is hotter than any temperature ever recorded in nature and zero is just kinda chilly. Iced drinks, smiles for strangers, free speech, the McRib — there are lots of unusual things that make America great. Would that we could say primary elections were one of them.” (06/25/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/something-worth-supporting-for-2024/
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29) Philosopher Kings or New-Age Militarists? An AI Hell on Earth
Source: TomDispatch
by William D Hartung
“Venture capital and military startup firms in Silicon Valley have begun aggressively selling a version of automated warfare that will deeply incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). Those companies and their CEOs are now pressing full speed ahead with that emerging technology, largely dismissing the risk of malfunctions that could lead to the future slaughter of civilians, not to speak of the possibility of dangerous scenarios of escalation between major military powers. The reasons for this headlong rush include a misplaced faith in ‘miracle weapons’, but above all else, this surge of support for emerging military technologies is driven by the ultimate rationale of the military-industrial complex: vast sums of money to be made.” (06/25/24)
https://tomdispatch.com/philosopher-kings-or-new-age-militarists/
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30) The US Hands the Reckless Driver the Keys
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Escalation with Hezbollah would be disastrous for Israel and Lebanon, but it seems increasingly likely that Netanyahu will do this. The Biden administration has been credited with discouraging the Israeli government from escalating in Lebanon before now, but when it matters most they are failing to stop the conflict from spiraling out of control. The U.S. has reportedly been warning Hezbollah that it cannot restrain Israel, but the reality is that Biden simply will not. Given the choice between reining in its client or watching it set the region alight, the president will opt for the latter.” (06/25/24)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-us-hands-the-reckless-driver
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31) Age of rage vs. free speech: We’ve been here before and here’s what happened
Source: Fox News Forum
by Jonathan Turley
“As the nation heads into the July 4th holiday, we have rarely been more divided as a people. Ironically, we are still debating the core values that define us, particularly the right to free speech. Indeed, ‘debate’ hardly captures the rising anger and animosity from campuses to Congress. That is also nothing new. While I have called this ‘an age of rage,’ it is not our first. The United States was born in rage. Roughly 250 years ago, a group calling itself the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships and dumped almost 100,000 pounds of English tea into the Boston harbor. The ‘Boston Tea Party’is still celebrated as an act of defiance that helped spark the American Revolution.” (06/25/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/age-rage-vs-free-speech-weve-been-here-before-heres-what-happened
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32) Elite Envy as a Civilizational Toxin
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bert Olivier
“Historically, a ‘cynic’ was a member of an ancient Greek group of philosophers who showed ‘contempt for ease and pleasure,’ lived ‘in accord with nature,’ and scorned conventions. And what do ‘conventions’ suggest here, apart from its link with the emergence of (radical, passive, and active) nihilism, as explained in my previous post? That the ancient cynics already looked with suspicion at agreements among people, especially powerful lawmakers, in whose interest such conventions were established. It appears, then, that the term, cynicism, could more appropriately be used to characterise a justifiable attitude, not generally towards all people, but particularly towards those in public office who have consistently deceived the rest of us with ulterior motives since at least 2020.” (06/25/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/elite-envy-as-a-civilizational-toxin/
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33) Assange Is Free, But Justice Has Not Been Done
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Julian Assange is free. As of this writing he is en route to the Northern Mariana Islands, a remote US territory in the western Pacific, to finalize a plea deal with the US government which will see him sentenced to time served in Belmarsh Prison. Barring any shady shenanigans from the empire in the process, he will then return to his home country of Australia a free man. Importantly, according to experts I’ve seen commenting on this astonishing new development it doesn’t appear that his plea deal will set any new legal precedents that will be harmful to journalists …. There’s so very, very much work to be done in our collective struggle to liberate the world from the talons of the imperial murder machine, but I am overjoyed for Assange and his family, and it feels good to mark a solid win in this fight.” (06/25/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/06/25/assange-is-free-but-justice-has-not-been-done/
-----
34) Scotland’s buffer zones are an affront to freedom
Source: spiked
by Georgia L Gilholy
“A bill proposing the most extreme censorship zones in the world near abortion clinics has just been approved by the Scottish parliament. Earlier this month, MSPs in Holyrood overwhelmingly passed the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill, which will create so-called safe zones of a minimum of 200 metres around any facility that performs abortions. The bill is still awaiting royal assent. There will be no limit on the size of the buffer zone that can be created under this power. Within these zones, it will be illegal to influence a person regarding their decision ‘to access… the provision of abortion’ in an abortion clinic or a hospital. These provisions would make offering help to women seeking an abortion illegal within a buffer zone, and could potentially even criminalise the act of silently praying.” (06/25/24)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/06/25/scotlands-buffer-zones-are-an-affront-to-freedom/
-----
35) The Two-Class System of Regulation Plaguing Europe
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Sebastian Heine
“In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital finance, the emergence of crypto assets has introduced unprecedented challenges as well as opportunities for regulators who provide proactive frameworks across the globe. The European Union is the largest government body that has done so through the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), however, it finds itself at a critical juncture now, facing the task of navigating the complexities introduced by non-custodial crypto asset service providers.” (06/25/24)
https://news.bitcoin.com/the-two-class-system-of-regulation-plaguing-europe/
-----
36) The Proper Role of a Political Economist
Source: Students For Liberty
by Samrudha Surana
“By focusing on presenting options and scenarios based on economic theories and data, economists can facilitate informed decision-making processes. This way, a political economist becomes a facilitator of the democratic process. First, political economists do need to think more about how collective choices are made. This is not just in the context of social choice frameworks, which are deliberately designed, but also about allowing competition and a federal nature and allowing relatively smaller groups to figure out what collective choice mechanism for the proposed policy works best for them. Second, citizens of democracies need to think more about the idea of ‘democracy by discussion,’ and not just ‘democracy by vote.'” (06/25/24)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/the-proper-role-of-a-political-economist/
-----
37) The Anatomy of a Protest
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Davis Hunt
“The Tennessee State Fair is still six weeks away, but last Friday, the field by the James E. Ward Agriculture Center in Lebanon looked like it was already in full swing. More than thirty-five local farmers were behind the wheels of their John Deeres and Kubotas ready to make the 8:30 a.m. trek from the fairgrounds to the Wilson County Courthouse. They were showing up en masse at a Planning Commission meeting that would decide the fate of Tuckers Crossroads, the farming community they call home. ‘I am not a professional protestor by any means,’ Jack Pratt, the 48-year-old owner of two farms in Tuckers Crossing said. … When he got wind that Texas-based company Hillwood (founded by the son of former presidential candidate Ross Perot) proposed building a warehouse distribution campus on a 1,400-acre parcel it owned, he decided that it was time to do something.” (06/25/24)
https://pamphleteer.co/newsletter/the-anatomy-of-a-protest/
-----
38) Trump’s Debate Prep Is Whining and Making Stuff Up
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“The ex-president is on a long losing streak, and he needs his followers to believe it’s everyone’s fault but his own.” (06/25/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-debate-prep-is-whining-and-making-stuff-up
-----
39) North Korea’s Russian Turn Is More Bark Than Bite
Source: The American Conservative
by Rob York
“Kim Jong Un has been an inept diplomat and a poor steward of North Korea’s resources, such as they are, but he remains the gold standard internationally for outrageous sound bites. North Korea ended 2023 and began 2024 with the shocking declaration that South Korea is no longer, contrary to decades of declarations and internal propaganda, an entity with which the North can unify. Due to the ‘hostility’ of the Yoon Suk Yeol government — hostility manifested in Yoon’s refusal to do like his predecessor and offer concessions to the North and float symbolic but ultimately pointless proposals for inter-Korean cooperation — Kim declared that the entire proposition a waste of time. Unfortunately, North Korea seemingly has something other than peaceful coexistence in mind.” (06/25/24)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/north-koreas-russian-turn-is-more-bark-than-bite/
-----
40) Is Saudi scoping out the Capitol before 9/11 enough evidence yet?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“A video has been released that purportedly shows Omar al-Bayoumi, a man with ties to Saudi Arabia’s intelligence apparatus who has been alleged to have assisted 9/11 hijackers in California, engaging in what appears to be a reconnaissance mission a year before the attacks. Families of 9/11 victims are now in civil litigation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and have been alleging there are reams of documents including this video that prove Saudi Arabia’s official backing of the 2001 terror attacks. A federal judge in New York City is now deliberating a Saudi motion to dismiss the case. This video, recently unsealed in court, shows Bayoumi taking shots of Washington monuments and buildings and talking about ‘a plan’ back home, while zeroing in on entrances and exits to the U.S. Capitol, the Washington monument, and other places.” (06/25/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/911-hijackers-video-saudi-arabia/
-----
41) Those Who Violate the Rights of Children in War Must Be Held Accountable
Source: Common Dreams
by Ezequiel Heffes
“This week, the United Nations will hold an open debate on violations of children in wartime, and while this topic would seem morally clear, the debate is sure to be contentious. Earlier this month, with the U.N. Secretary-General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, the armed forces of Israel, as well as Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad, join the armed forces of and armed groups in Russia, Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria, and Sudan as documented perpetrators of grave violations of the rights of children. In nearly 33,000 documented incidents, children were killed, starved, maimed, kidnapped, and recruited as soldiers in more than two dozen war zones. The secretary-general’s annual report and its annexed list of perpetrators, the so-called ‘list of shame,’ have served as a unique and largely effective tool for identifying perpetrators and pressuring them to end violations and protect children in times of war.” (06/25/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/children-rights-war
-----
42) Moliere’s Medicine for Wayward Youth
Source: Law & Liberty
by Reuven Brenner
“Before the Internet and social media, there was Johann Gutenberg’s seventeenth-century movable-type printing innovation. (The Chinese invented something similar centuries before, but without impact). It revolutionized the spread of literacy and contributed to the Protestant movement’s break from the Catholic Church. Between the printing press and the Internet, there were other things: the telegraph, radio, and TV. None diffused written texts as the Internet and the printing press have done. Books became the ‘social media’ of the time — with many of the negative side effects the Internet has now. There have been endless studies over the centuries about how the fast spread of literacy disseminated general knowledge, but almost no mention of how, when accompanied by increased prosperity, it also gave rise to less elevated literature.” (06/25/24)
https://lawliberty.org/molieres-medicine-for-wayward-youth/
-----
43) Brace Yourself & Your Gun
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Many foes of Second Amendment rights want to outlaw guns for everybody except military, police, Secret Service, sundry federal agencies, and bodyguards for left-leaning celebrities. Since this isn’t politically feasible given at least intermittent legislative and judicial support for the right to bear arms, anti-gunners often pursue various piecemeal bans. The hope is that these will add up to an overall prohibition. Or at least provide an excuse to go after any particular gun owner for neglecting to comply with some subsidiary prohibition.” (06/25/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/06/25/brace-yourself-your-gun/
-----
44) Schedule F vs. Reality
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Thomas A Firey
“Acentral plank of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is to ‘totally obliterate the deep state.’ By this he means to take tight control of the operations of the federal bureaucracy, which he blames for obstructing his agenda during his 2017–2021 presidency. He and several allies have plans to bring the administrative state to heel, the centerpiece of which is Schedule F, a class of management-level bureaucrats that he could hire and fire at will. But Schedule F, whether implemented by a second Trump administration or some similarly aligned future president, would not yield the compliant administrative state its advocates envision. That’s not because bureaucrats are a rebellious or ideologically oppositional lot, but because they have strong incentives to follow established laws, administrative rules, and judicial decisions, few of which Trump sought to change while in office.” (06/25/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/schedule-f-vs-reality/
-----
45) Don’t disavow your extremism, Tyler Cherry; you’re PERFECT for this White House
Source: New York Post
by editorial board
“Meet Tyler Cherry, a new member of the Biden White House communications staff! Tyler looks like the love child of John Oates and Napoleon Dynamite, and he once posted stuff to X like ‘Time to recall that the modern day police system is a direct evolution of slave patrols and lynch mobs.’ And ‘Cheersing in bars to ending the occupation of Palestine – no shame and f— your glares.’ He also accused the GOP of focusing on ‘white grievance politics’ and demanded the abolition of ICE. Tyler got scared when these old posts resurfaced after he started his new gig and publicly disavowed them. Those statements reveal he’s literally the PERFECT guy to work on Biden’s comms team.” [editor’s note: They say it like those are bad things – TLK] (06/25/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/06/25/opinion/dont-disavow-your-extremism-tyler-cherry-youre-perfect-for-the-white-housedont-disavow-extremism-tyler-cherry-the-white-house-agrees-with-you/
-----
46) Interest on National Debt Surpasses Defense Spending
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann
“Interest on the national debt is rapidly becoming the biggest single category of spending by the U.S. government. As of May 2024, the amount of money spent to pay interest owed to the federal government’s creditors surpasses the annual amount it spends on national defense. … Defense spending represents the largest category of discretionary spending by the U.S. government appropriated by the U.S. Congress each year. Interest on the national debt represents mandatory spending. It now ranks third behind the annual spending to fund other mandatory spending programs like Social Security and Medicare. Fueled by excessive spending, the growth of the national debt and the surging amount of interest that must be paid on it is crowding out other parts of the U.S. government’s spending.” (06/24/24)
https://blog.independent.org/2024/06/24/interest-national-debt-defense-spending/
-----
47) Western Protectionism Needs an End Date
Source: Foreign Policy
by Jorge Guajardo
“The European Union and United States have joined in levying tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, with the EU blaming Chinese subsidies, while the United States points at overcapacity. China does have a big overcapacity problem in its manufacturing sector, but electric vehicles are not the best example of this. The challenge Chinese EV car companies present to Western legacy manufacturers is not because they are low-value or sold below market prices. The challenge is that Chinese EVs are better. Washington and Brussels are adopting the same protectionist strategies that Latin American states once did—and if they don’t have an exit strategy, they risk trapping themselves in an economic dead end.” (06/24/24)
https://archive.is/QWt2s
-----
48) Maybe We Should Legalize Child Labor After All
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Logan Marie Glitterbomb
“Recently there has been much fear surrounding the legalization of child labor in many states, but could legalizing child labor actually be a good thing? After all, the labor movement fought long and hard to ban child labor to protect children from exploitation. But some youth liberationists are challenging this perspective. … While the fear of dangerous conditions is real, it is one that all workers face regardless of age. Legalizing child labor would actually allow for more legal recourse for young workers who face such conditions and allow for more oversite from government agencies and, more importantly, labor unions.” (06/24/24)
https://c4ss.org/content/59728
-----
49) Bob Menendez and Biden’s Cuba Policy
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“The fall of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the now-suspended chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will produce many benefits, including the likely replacement of the corrupt Menendez with progressive Congressman Andy Kim, who won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat. But one benefit that has not gotten much notice is that Menendez’s ouster will remove a prime obstacle to normalization of relations with Cuba. With Democrats having the narrowest of Senate majorities, Menendez, whose family emigrated from Cuba in 1953 before Fidel Castro’s revolution, has repeatedly used his power to warn Biden against any normalization. He bragged in a November 2021 interview with Telemundo that he had blocked the administration from liberalization of Cuba policy. ‘On the contrary,’ he said, ‘President Biden has tightened our policy against the regime.'” (06/25/24)
https://prospect.org/world/2024-06-25-bob-menendez-bidens-cuba-policy/
-----
50) Power From the People: The Revolutionary Roots of the 10th Amendment
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Boldin
“Thomas Jefferson called the 10th Amendment the ‘foundation of the Constitution,’ and for good reason too. It enshrines many of the radical principles that sparked the ‘real American Revolution’ in the years before the War for Independence. John Adams noted that this ‘radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections,’ along with a ‘change in their Religious Sentiments, of their Duties and Obligations’ made up the ‘real American Revolution.’ Here are five core principles that form this foundation.” (06/24/24)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/06/24/power-from-the-people-the-revolutionary-roots-of-the-10th-amendment/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Rising, 06/25/24
Source: The Hill
“Julian Assange free at last, Wikileaks founder agrees to plea deal.” (06/25/24)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4738658-rising-june-25-2024/
-----
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 622
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Israel’s Plan to Annex the West Bank Is in Motion.” (06/25/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-622-israels-plan-to-annex-the-west-bank-is-in-motion
-----
53) The New Abnormal, 06/25/25
Source: The Daily Beast
“Trump’s Mental Acuity Has Declined Noticeably in the Last Four Years.” (06/25/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-mental-acuity-has-declined-noticeably-in-the-last-four-years
-----
54) There’s A Policy For That With Susan Pendergrass, 06/25/24
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Homelessness and Housing Policy with Judge Glock.” (06/25/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/state-and-local-government/homelessness-and-housing-policy-with-judge-glock/
-----
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/25/24
Source: The Dispatch
“Justice Stephen Breyer: Law Is Not a Science.” (06/25/24)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/justice-stephen-breyer-law-is-not-a-science/
-----
56) Power Problems, episode 183
Source: Cato Institute
“Ukraine, NATO, and the End of the War.” (06/25/24)
https://shows.acast.com/cato-power-problems/episodes/ukraine-nato-and-the-end-of-the-war
-----
57) Across The Movie Aisle, 06/25/24
Source: The Bulwark
“Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss two new movies this week.” (06/25/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/inside-out-2-and-the-bikeriders
-----
58) Hubwonk, 06/25/24
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Unlocking Affordable Housing: Sources and Solutions for Cost Crisis.” (06/25/24)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/unlocking-affordable-housing-sources-and-solutions-for-cost-crisis/
-----
59) System Update, episode 288
Source: System Update
“U.S./Russia Tensions Escalate Over Ukraine to Most Dangerous Level Yet; CNN’s Kasie Hunt has Humiliating Meltdown; PLUS: Journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson on Israeli Influence Campaign on U.S. Campuses.” (06/24/24)
https://rumble.com/v53i39l-system-update-show-288.html
-----
60) Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 06/24/24
Source: Freedom Works
“Dan Greenburg of CEI on on blocking water restrictions on appliances.” (06/24/24)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2024-06-24_zfw06172024.mp3
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Today's Freedom News:
1) NY: Israel lobby takes down “Squad” member in most expensive US House primary ever
2) Renewed Bullishness Expected After Bitcoin, Ether’s $10 Billion Options Expiry on Friday
3) Ukraine: Zelenskyy fires top commander after claims his soldiers suffered heavy losses
4) NY: Judge alters disgraced former president’s gag order, letting him talk about witnesses, jury
5) ICC issues arrest warrants for alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine
6) US pedestrian deaths fall for first time since pandemic
7) Fed’s Bowman sees no interest rate cuts this year
8) Israel’s Supreme Court orders conscription for ultra-Orthodox men
9) Murthy plays “public health crisis” card versus gun rights
10) More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes under gun safety [sic] law Biden signed
11) Kenya: At least five killed and parliament set ablaze intax protests
12) WI: Judge orders election clerks to email absentee ballots to disabled voters
13) US Consumer Confidence Falls in June as Americans Fret About Near-Term Prospects
14) Puerto Rico: Regime sues former officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30M in public funds
15) Russia: Regime bans dozens of European news outlets
16) OK: Supreme Court rules tax-funded religious charter school is unconstitutional
17) Biden student debt scam halted by court challenges
18) China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returns to Earth with first-ever samples from far side of the moon
19) CA: Huge backup as truck carrying eight tons of avocados crashes on highway
20) DC: Hunter Biden’s law license suspended
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The Injustice of Assange’s Guilty Plea
22) A Holiday Proposal: Festivus in July!
23) How the Libertarian Party Lost Its Way
24) Ukraine’s Attacks on Freedom of Expression Continue
25) Did checks and balances protect your dishwasher?
26) Trump-Biden Drinking Game
27) The Supreme Court is about to decide: Can the government manipulate social media?
28) Something Worth Supporting for 2024
29) Philosopher Kings or New-Age Militarists? An AI Hell on Earth
30) The US Hands the Reckless Driver the Keys
31) Age of rage vs. free speech: We’ve been here before and here’s what happened
32) Elite Envy as a Civilizational Toxin
33) Assange Is Free, But Justice Has Not Been Done
34) Scotland’s buffer zones are an affront to freedom
35) The Two-Class System of Regulation Plaguing Europe
36) The Proper Role of a Political Economist
37) The Anatomy of a Protest
38) Trump’s Debate Prep Is Whining and Making Stuff Up
39) North Korea’s Russian Turn Is More Bark Than Bite
40) Is Saudi scoping out the Capitol before 9/11 enough evidence yet?
41) Those Who Violate the Rights of Children in War Must Be Held Accountable
42) Moliere’s Medicine for Wayward Youth
43) Brace Yourself & Your Gun
44) Schedule F vs. Reality
45) Don’t disavow your extremism, Tyler Cherry; you’re PERFECT for this White House
46) Interest on National Debt Surpasses Defense Spending
47) Western Protectionism Needs an End Date
48) Maybe We Should Legalize Child Labor After All
49) Bob Menendez and Biden’s Cuba Policy
50) Power From the People: The Revolutionary Roots of the 10th Amendment
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Rising, 06/25/24
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 622
53) The New Abnormal, 06/25/25
54) There’s A Policy For That With Susan Pendergrass, 06/25/24
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/25/24
56) Power Problems, episode 183
57) Across The Movie Aisle, 06/25/24
58) Hubwonk, 06/25/24
59) System Update, episode 288
60) Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 06/24/24
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) NY: Israel lobby takes down “Squad” member in most expensive US House primary ever
Source: Politico
“Rep. Jamaal Bowman was trounced in a suburban New York race that became a referendum on progressives’ attitudes toward Israel and the most expensive House primary in U.S. history. Moderate Democrat George Latimer bested Bowman on Tuesday by 17 points with 88 percent of the vote in, making Bowman the first member of the Squad to lose an election since the far-left [sic] group formed in 2018. … A leading pro-Israel group spent more than $14 million on TV ads to unseat [Bowman]. And as the results rolled in, it became clear that AIPAC and its super PAC United Democracy Project had succeeded in making an example of the two-term member of Congress for routinely criticizing the Israeli offensive in Gaza.” (06/25/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/25/jamaal-bowman-loses-george-latimer-00164997
-----
2) Renewed Bullishness Expected After Bitcoin, Ether’s $10 Billion Options Expiry on Friday
Source: CoinDesk
“On Friday at 08:00 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) options worth $6.68 billion and ether (ETH) options worth $3.5 billion are set to expire on the leading crypto derivatives exchange Deribit. The impending expiry, which represents over 40% of the current cumulative open interest of over $23 billion, could trigger a surge in market volatility. Large quarterly expiries often lead to increased volatility, making prices more unpredictable due to higher trading volumes and the closing/rollover of positions. … Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has dropped nearly 9% this month, testing bargain hunters below $60,000 at one point. As usual, the sell-off has weighed over the broader market, pulling ether down by almost 10%.” (06/26/24)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/26/renewed-bullishness-expected-after-bitcoin-ethers-10b-options-expiry-on-friday/
-----
3) Ukraine: Zelenskyy fires top commander after claims his soldiers suffered heavy losses
Source: NBC News
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he had replaced the commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Yuri Sodol, after reports surfaced that he had performed badly in the 28-month-old war against Russia. Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, gave no reason for the dismissal. He said Sodol had been replaced by Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov in the post, which involves strategic planning of operations. Sodol’s removal, one of a series of personnel changes, followed publication of a letter by the head of Ukraine’s revered Azov regiment, Bohdan Krotevych, in which he alleged that Sodol’s actions had led to serious military setbacks. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Krotevych did not identify Sodol by name, but said an unnamed general ‘has killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general.'” (06/25/24)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/zelenskyy-fires-top-ukrainian-commander-sodol-soldiers-losses-rcna158754
-----
4) NY: Judge alters disgraced former president’s gag order, letting him talk about witnesses, jury
Source: Associated Press
“A judge on Tuesday modified Donald Trump’s gag order, freeing the former president to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors in the hush money criminal trial that led to his felony conviction, but keeping others connected to the former president’s case off limits until he is sentenced July 11. Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision … clears the presumptive Republican nominee to again go on the attack against his former lawyer Michael Cohen, porn actor Stormy Daniels and other witnesses. Trump was convicted May 30 of falsifying records to cover up a potential sex scandal, making him the first ex-president convicted of a crime. In a five-page ruling Tuesday, Merchan wrote that the gag order was meant to ‘protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings’ and that protections for witnesses and jurors no longer applied now that the trial has ended and the jury has been discharged.” (06/25/24)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-gag-order-ruling-hush-money-new-york-cd8e983664e238385572b9b6dff909ad
-----
5) ICC issues arrest warrants for alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine
Source: Axios
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two prominent Russian officials who are accused of violating international law during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The ICC has alleged that former Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian general Valery Gerasimov committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for targeting critical infrastructure and Ukrainian civilians. The ICC has issued other arrest warrants against Russian officials for their roles in the war in Ukraine, but Tuesday’s warrants are significant because they incriminate such high-ranking officials.” (06/25/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/icc-arrest-warrants-russia-ukraine
-----
6) US pedestrian deaths fall for first time since pandemic
Source: United Press International
“For the first time since the pandemic, it got a little safer to cross America’s streets in 2023, new statistics show. According to data released Monday from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 7,318 American pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles last year — a dip of 5.4% from 2022 and the first such decline seen since the pandemic ended. But it’s no time for celebration: The 2023 number for pedestrian deaths is still 14.1% above pre-pandemic levels. Still, the news is somewhat heartening, said GHSA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Adkins.” (06/25/24)
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2024/06/25/us-pedestrian-deaths-decline-2023/8281719319125/
-----
7) Fed’s Bowman sees no interest rate cuts this year
Source: Fox Business
“Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Tuesday that she does not expect to cut interest rates before the end of the year – and remains willing to hike again if progress on inflation stalls. ‘We are still not yet at the point where it is appropriate to lower the policy rate,’ Bowman said during a prepared speech in London. Reducing rates too soon could risk reigniting high inflation, she warned, which would require additional rate increases in order to tame price pressures within the economy. In a discussion following her speech, Bowman said she does not project any rate cuts happening this year, and has instead shifted those into future years.” (06/25/24)
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/feds-bowman-sees-no-interest-rate-cuts-year
-----
8) Israel’s Supreme Court orders conscription for ultra-Orthodox men
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for military service. The ruling announced on Tuesday seeks to overturn a longstanding practice under which Jewish seminary students are exempt from conscription. The decision threatens to help destabilise the government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition reliant on religiously conservative parties that oppose the move. … Under longstanding arrangements, ultra-Orthodox men have been exempt from the draft. However, the court found that the state was carrying out ‘invalid selective enforcement.'” (06/25/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/25/israels-supreme-court-orders-conscription-for-ultra-orthodox-men
-----
9) Murthy plays “public health crisis” card versus gun rights
Source: Politico
“Gun violence has created a large-scale cycle of trauma and fear that’s damaging Americans’ mental health, making children fearful of going to school and adults of going to public places, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in announcing a public health crisis Tuesday. Murthy’s report cites the mental health toll beyond direct victims in making the case to Congress to pass legislation to [disarm prospective victims]. … Murthy’s report endorses policies like universal background checks and safe firearm storage laws, regulating guns like other consumer products, and more funding for gun violence research, community-based violence prevention initiatives and emergency preparedness programs.” (06/25/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/25/gun-violence-is-fueling-national-trauma-surgeon-general-warns-00164756
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10) More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes under gun safety [sic] law Biden signed
Source: SFGate
“More than 500 people — some linked to transnational cartels and organized crime rings — have been charged with gun trafficking and other crimes under the landmark gun safety legislation President Joe Biden signed two years ago Tuesday. A White House report obtained by The Associated Press on the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also said that enhanced background checks under the new law have stopped roughly 800 sales of firearms to people under age 21 who would be prohibited from buying them. It highlights that 14 states are using or planning to use funding from the legislation to make better use of red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to remove weapons from people in crisis but are often underused or not well understood.” (06/25/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/more-than-500-people-have-been-charged-with-19538594.php
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11) Kenya: At least five killed and parliament set ablaze intax protests
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Police shot at protesters as they breached the parliament complex in Nairobi on Tuesday, with at least five demonstrators killed and dozens more wounded. Angry over proposed tax hikes, many protesters across the country are calling for President William Ruto to quit office. The mainly youth-led rallies, which began last week, have caught President William Ruto’s government off guard, with Ruto saying over the weekend he was ready to talk to the protesters. But tensions sharply escalated on Tuesday afternoon, as crowds began to throw stones at police and push back against barricades, making their way towards the parliament complex, which was sealed off by police in full riot gear.” (06/25/24)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240625-kenyan-police-fire-rubber-bullets-at-protesters-demonstrating-against-tax-hikes
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12) WI: Judge orders election clerks to email absentee ballots to disabled voters
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Wisconsin election officials will be required to email absentee ballots to voters who cannot vote independently under a new ruling from a Dane County judge. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell on Tuesday ordered clerks to allow voters with disabilities that include blindness or a physical disability that impairs manual dexterity to vote electronically, including with a screen reader. The temporary order covers the Nov. 5 election. The voters still would be required to return the ballots by mail or in person rather than by email. The ruling comes less than six months before Wisconsin is set to play a key role in another hard-fought presidential contest during which the battleground state could again be the tipping point, pushing partisan groups to battle over voting rules.” (06/25/24)
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/06/25/wisconsin-judge-orders-clerks-to-email-ballots-to-disabled-voters/74205997007/
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13) US Consumer Confidence Falls in June as Americans Fret About Near-Term Prospects
Source: US News & World Report
“American consumers lost some confidence in June as expectations over the near-term future fell again. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell in June to 100.4 from 101.3 in May. The index’s decline was not quite as bad as analysts were expecting. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell to 73 from 74.9 in May. A reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. Consumers’ view of current conditions rose in June to 141.5, up from 140.8 in May.” (06/25/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2024-06-25/consumer-confidence-in-u-s-falls-in-june-as-americans-fret-about-near-term-prospects
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14) Puerto Rico: Regime sues former officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30M in public funds
Source: SFGate
“Puerto Rico’s Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is suing at least 30 ex-government officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30 million in public funds. Among those sued are three former legislators, including Maria Milagros Charbonier, who was sentenced in May to eight years in federal prison after being found guilty of theft, bribery and a kickback scheme. … Also sued are eight former mayors including Felix Delgado of Catano and Angel Perez of Guaynabo. Delgado was sentenced to one year in federal prison in March after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for awarding millions of dollars’ worth of municipal contracts. Pérez was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison in February after being found guilty of bribery and extortion.” (06/25/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/puerto-rico-sues-former-officials-accused-of-19539038.php
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15) Russia: Regime bans dozens of European news outlets
Source: Semafor
“Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued bans on the distribution 81 media outlets from 25 European Union member states on Tuesday. The bans are a retaliation to the EU’s own block on some Russian outlets and broadcasters, issued in in May. The ministry accused the European outlets of ‘systematically distributing inaccurate information’ about Russia’s ‘special military operation’ — the Kremlin’s terminology for the war in Ukraine.” (06/25/24)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/25/2024/russia-ban-media-europe-news-publications
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16) OK: Supreme Court rules tax-funded religious charter school is unconstitutional
Source: Seattle Times
“An Oklahoma board’s approval of what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school is unconstitutional and must be rescinded, the state Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The high court determined the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s 3-2 vote last year to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violates both the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions, as well as state law. … The online public charter school would have been open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12, and part of its mission would have been to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith.” (06/25/24)
https://archive.is/2ZppT
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17) Biden student debt scam halted by court challenges
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Two federal courts have temporarily blocked key portions of US President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief and repayment plan. The dual rulings blocks potential debt relief that millions of borrowers may have seen in less than a week. The White House said it would ‘continue to vigorously defend’ its forgiveness and repayment proposals. More than one in 10 Americans hold federal student debt — and it is a major election issue for young voters. To date, Mr Biden has approved nearly $150bn (£118bn) in relief affecting close to five million people — but largely through executive actions, and not via Congress. The president’s broader ambitions for mass relief have, however, been stymied, with the Supreme Court last year striking down a major proposal to cancel as much as $400bn in loans.” (06/25/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0vveg0x594o
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18) China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returns to Earth with first-ever samples from far side of the moon
Source: CBS News
“China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returned to Earth on Tuesday with rock and soil samples from the little-explored far side of the moon in a global first. The probe landed in northern China on Tuesday afternoon in the Inner Mongolian region. … Chinese scientists anticipate the returned samples will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rock and other material that they hope will answer questions about geographic differences on the moon’s two sides.” (06/25/24)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-moon-lunar-probe-returns-to-earth-with-first-ever-samples-from-far-side/
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19) CA: Huge backup as truck carrying eight tons of avocados crashes on highway
Source: SFGate
“A truck carrying 16,000 pounds of avocados fell on its side on a major highway in the San Francisco Bay Area on Monday morning, creating a traffic jam during the morning commute, the California Highway Patrol said. The fallen truck was reported at 3:40 a.m. on northbound Highway 101 at the Third Avenue offramp in San Mateo, CHP spokesperson Sophie Lu told SFGATE. It remained on its side and was still blocking multiple lanes of traffic just before 8 a.m., Lu said. What caused the truck to flip on its side is under investigation. ‘It sounds like a few vehicles were involved,’ Lu said. KCBS Radio reported on social media that traffic on northbound 101 was backed up to Belmont, with traffic slowdowns also on westbound state Route 92 through Foster City on to the San Mateo Bridge.” (06/25/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/avocado-truck-tips-highway-101-19531886.php
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20) DC: Hunter Biden’s law license suspended
Source: Axios
“The D.C. Court of Appeals on Tuesday suspended Hunter Biden’s law license after he was convicted earlier this month of three federal gun charges. … The D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel wrote in an order earlier this month that Hunter Biden’s offenses in his federal gun case amount to a ‘serious crime.'” (06/25/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/hunter-biden-law-license-suspended
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The Injustice of Assange’s Guilty Plea
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
I can fully understand why Julian Assange has accept a plea deal in which he has agreed to plead guilty to a supposed conspiracy to disclose official secrets relating to U.S. ‘national security.’ Given the lapdog nature of the British government, it was a foregone conclusion that British officials would ultimately, one of these days, rule in favor of the U.S. government’s extradition demand for Assange to be delivered into the clutches of U.S. officials. Upon being brought to the United States, it also is a virtual certainty that Assange would have been convicted and sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison …. Nonetheless, it’s important that we recognize an important fact: A U.S. District Judge in the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a far-flung member of the U.S. Empire, will be accepting a plea of guilty from a man who isn’t guilty at all.” (06/25/24)
https://www.fff.org/2024/06/25/the-injustice-of-assanges-guilty-plea/
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22) A Holiday Proposal: Festivus in July!
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes obvious to all that the current American political system bears little if any resemblance to the values put forward in the 13 colonies’ July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, it’s time to consider doing away with ‘Independence Day’ as a positive commemoration. But not, I hold, worthy of cancellation as a holiday altogether. The Declaration still has some pretty good bones to base a holiday on, and who doesn’t love a day off work for grilling out and playing with explosives? Instead of celebrating the Big Lie that we live under a government which exists to ‘secure’ our rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ we’d do well to instead turn our attention to a Festivus-style ‘airing of the grievances.'” (06/25/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18757
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23) How the Libertarian Party Lost Its Way
Source: Reason
by Liz Wolfe
“Two years post-takeover, some longtime activists and donors claim the Mises Caucus has driven the party into the ground.” (06/25/24)
https://reason.com/2024/06/25/how-the-libertarian-party-lost-its-way/
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24) Ukraine’s Attacks on Freedom of Expression Continue
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“U.S. officials routinely portray Ukraine as a democratic ally and the symbol of an existential fight between freedom and authoritarianism. That simplistic portrayal has intensified since Russia launched its large-scale attack in February 2022. The reality is that Ukraine is a corrupt authoritarian state similar to Russia. Not only does Volodymyr Zelensky’s government not respect civil liberties at home, but also it has tried to impinge on such liberties in the United States.” (06/25/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2024/06/24/ukraines-attacks-on-freedom-of-expression-continue/
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25) Did checks and balances protect your dishwasher?
Source: Downsize DC
by Jim Babka
“The courts just protected your dishwasher from the Executive Branch! You probably didn’t even know your dishwasher was under attack. The Department of Energy issued a regulation limiting the amount of water dishwashers can use. They believed legislation that gave them the power to regulate energy efficiency could also allow them to regulate water usage. After all, it takes energy to move water. But their logic ran afoul of two harsh realities – one was practical and the other legal.” (06/25/24)
https://downsizedc.org/checks-and-balances-protect-dishwashers/
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26) Trump-Biden Drinking Game
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“I realize the first debate isn’t until Thursday, and I do have a Thursday Townhall column, so I could have saved this until then. However, if I had, this might have required those interested in playing to have to scramble to obtain the absolutely crushing amount of booze that you’d run risk of your local liquor store running out or thinking you’re a Kennedy. Best to give everyone a chance to plan; to give the boss a heads up that you may be late Friday morning or in the hospital having your stomach pumped. Since it’s best to avoid the latter (if you’re late, that’s on you), I’d suggest you just take a sip each time one of these things happens. What you’re drinking will determine just how much you regret watching, but the odds are pretty high you’ll regret watching no matter what.” (06/25/24)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2024/06/25/trump-biden-drinking-game-n2640902
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27) The Supreme Court is about to decide: Can the government manipulate social media?
Source: The Hill
by Jeffrey M McCall
“The Supreme Court will soon hand down a decision with far-reaching implications for how the rhetorical marketplace functions in the social media era. The case is Murthy v. Missouri, and it deals with government efforts to manipulate and manage social media platforms for its own messaging purposes. It is important that the justices get this decision right. They must clearly define the extent to which the government can control the content of social media outlets, ultimately limiting the voices of regular people who might dare to post opinions unapproved by government. A limited or technical legal ruling will be insufficient if the court hopes to genuinely guide the nation, restrain government machinations, and protect robust rhetorical participation by a variety of citizen voices.” (06/25/24)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4737141-supreme-court-case-murthy-v-missouri/
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28) Something Worth Supporting for 2024
Source: The Dispatch
by Chris Stirewalt
“There are a lot of things that make America unique that are wonderful. When the rest of the world decided to report the weather in degrees Celsius, our country decided to stick with a Farenheit system in which 100 is very hot and zero is very cold as opposed to one in which 100 is hotter than any temperature ever recorded in nature and zero is just kinda chilly. Iced drinks, smiles for strangers, free speech, the McRib — there are lots of unusual things that make America great. Would that we could say primary elections were one of them.” (06/25/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/something-worth-supporting-for-2024/
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29) Philosopher Kings or New-Age Militarists? An AI Hell on Earth
Source: TomDispatch
by William D Hartung
“Venture capital and military startup firms in Silicon Valley have begun aggressively selling a version of automated warfare that will deeply incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). Those companies and their CEOs are now pressing full speed ahead with that emerging technology, largely dismissing the risk of malfunctions that could lead to the future slaughter of civilians, not to speak of the possibility of dangerous scenarios of escalation between major military powers. The reasons for this headlong rush include a misplaced faith in ‘miracle weapons’, but above all else, this surge of support for emerging military technologies is driven by the ultimate rationale of the military-industrial complex: vast sums of money to be made.” (06/25/24)
https://tomdispatch.com/philosopher-kings-or-new-age-militarists/
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30) The US Hands the Reckless Driver the Keys
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Escalation with Hezbollah would be disastrous for Israel and Lebanon, but it seems increasingly likely that Netanyahu will do this. The Biden administration has been credited with discouraging the Israeli government from escalating in Lebanon before now, but when it matters most they are failing to stop the conflict from spiraling out of control. The U.S. has reportedly been warning Hezbollah that it cannot restrain Israel, but the reality is that Biden simply will not. Given the choice between reining in its client or watching it set the region alight, the president will opt for the latter.” (06/25/24)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-us-hands-the-reckless-driver
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31) Age of rage vs. free speech: We’ve been here before and here’s what happened
Source: Fox News Forum
by Jonathan Turley
“As the nation heads into the July 4th holiday, we have rarely been more divided as a people. Ironically, we are still debating the core values that define us, particularly the right to free speech. Indeed, ‘debate’ hardly captures the rising anger and animosity from campuses to Congress. That is also nothing new. While I have called this ‘an age of rage,’ it is not our first. The United States was born in rage. Roughly 250 years ago, a group calling itself the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships and dumped almost 100,000 pounds of English tea into the Boston harbor. The ‘Boston Tea Party’is still celebrated as an act of defiance that helped spark the American Revolution.” (06/25/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/age-rage-vs-free-speech-weve-been-here-before-heres-what-happened
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32) Elite Envy as a Civilizational Toxin
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bert Olivier
“Historically, a ‘cynic’ was a member of an ancient Greek group of philosophers who showed ‘contempt for ease and pleasure,’ lived ‘in accord with nature,’ and scorned conventions. And what do ‘conventions’ suggest here, apart from its link with the emergence of (radical, passive, and active) nihilism, as explained in my previous post? That the ancient cynics already looked with suspicion at agreements among people, especially powerful lawmakers, in whose interest such conventions were established. It appears, then, that the term, cynicism, could more appropriately be used to characterise a justifiable attitude, not generally towards all people, but particularly towards those in public office who have consistently deceived the rest of us with ulterior motives since at least 2020.” (06/25/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/elite-envy-as-a-civilizational-toxin/
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33) Assange Is Free, But Justice Has Not Been Done
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Julian Assange is free. As of this writing he is en route to the Northern Mariana Islands, a remote US territory in the western Pacific, to finalize a plea deal with the US government which will see him sentenced to time served in Belmarsh Prison. Barring any shady shenanigans from the empire in the process, he will then return to his home country of Australia a free man. Importantly, according to experts I’ve seen commenting on this astonishing new development it doesn’t appear that his plea deal will set any new legal precedents that will be harmful to journalists …. There’s so very, very much work to be done in our collective struggle to liberate the world from the talons of the imperial murder machine, but I am overjoyed for Assange and his family, and it feels good to mark a solid win in this fight.” (06/25/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/06/25/assange-is-free-but-justice-has-not-been-done/
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34) Scotland’s buffer zones are an affront to freedom
Source: spiked
by Georgia L Gilholy
“A bill proposing the most extreme censorship zones in the world near abortion clinics has just been approved by the Scottish parliament. Earlier this month, MSPs in Holyrood overwhelmingly passed the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill, which will create so-called safe zones of a minimum of 200 metres around any facility that performs abortions. The bill is still awaiting royal assent. There will be no limit on the size of the buffer zone that can be created under this power. Within these zones, it will be illegal to influence a person regarding their decision ‘to access… the provision of abortion’ in an abortion clinic or a hospital. These provisions would make offering help to women seeking an abortion illegal within a buffer zone, and could potentially even criminalise the act of silently praying.” (06/25/24)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/06/25/scotlands-buffer-zones-are-an-affront-to-freedom/
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35) The Two-Class System of Regulation Plaguing Europe
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Sebastian Heine
“In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital finance, the emergence of crypto assets has introduced unprecedented challenges as well as opportunities for regulators who provide proactive frameworks across the globe. The European Union is the largest government body that has done so through the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), however, it finds itself at a critical juncture now, facing the task of navigating the complexities introduced by non-custodial crypto asset service providers.” (06/25/24)
https://news.bitcoin.com/the-two-class-system-of-regulation-plaguing-europe/
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36) The Proper Role of a Political Economist
Source: Students For Liberty
by Samrudha Surana
“By focusing on presenting options and scenarios based on economic theories and data, economists can facilitate informed decision-making processes. This way, a political economist becomes a facilitator of the democratic process. First, political economists do need to think more about how collective choices are made. This is not just in the context of social choice frameworks, which are deliberately designed, but also about allowing competition and a federal nature and allowing relatively smaller groups to figure out what collective choice mechanism for the proposed policy works best for them. Second, citizens of democracies need to think more about the idea of ‘democracy by discussion,’ and not just ‘democracy by vote.'” (06/25/24)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/the-proper-role-of-a-political-economist/
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37) The Anatomy of a Protest
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Davis Hunt
“The Tennessee State Fair is still six weeks away, but last Friday, the field by the James E. Ward Agriculture Center in Lebanon looked like it was already in full swing. More than thirty-five local farmers were behind the wheels of their John Deeres and Kubotas ready to make the 8:30 a.m. trek from the fairgrounds to the Wilson County Courthouse. They were showing up en masse at a Planning Commission meeting that would decide the fate of Tuckers Crossroads, the farming community they call home. ‘I am not a professional protestor by any means,’ Jack Pratt, the 48-year-old owner of two farms in Tuckers Crossing said. … When he got wind that Texas-based company Hillwood (founded by the son of former presidential candidate Ross Perot) proposed building a warehouse distribution campus on a 1,400-acre parcel it owned, he decided that it was time to do something.” (06/25/24)
https://pamphleteer.co/newsletter/the-anatomy-of-a-protest/
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38) Trump’s Debate Prep Is Whining and Making Stuff Up
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“The ex-president is on a long losing streak, and he needs his followers to believe it’s everyone’s fault but his own.” (06/25/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-debate-prep-is-whining-and-making-stuff-up
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39) North Korea’s Russian Turn Is More Bark Than Bite
Source: The American Conservative
by Rob York
“Kim Jong Un has been an inept diplomat and a poor steward of North Korea’s resources, such as they are, but he remains the gold standard internationally for outrageous sound bites. North Korea ended 2023 and began 2024 with the shocking declaration that South Korea is no longer, contrary to decades of declarations and internal propaganda, an entity with which the North can unify. Due to the ‘hostility’ of the Yoon Suk Yeol government — hostility manifested in Yoon’s refusal to do like his predecessor and offer concessions to the North and float symbolic but ultimately pointless proposals for inter-Korean cooperation — Kim declared that the entire proposition a waste of time. Unfortunately, North Korea seemingly has something other than peaceful coexistence in mind.” (06/25/24)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/north-koreas-russian-turn-is-more-bark-than-bite/
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40) Is Saudi scoping out the Capitol before 9/11 enough evidence yet?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“A video has been released that purportedly shows Omar al-Bayoumi, a man with ties to Saudi Arabia’s intelligence apparatus who has been alleged to have assisted 9/11 hijackers in California, engaging in what appears to be a reconnaissance mission a year before the attacks. Families of 9/11 victims are now in civil litigation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and have been alleging there are reams of documents including this video that prove Saudi Arabia’s official backing of the 2001 terror attacks. A federal judge in New York City is now deliberating a Saudi motion to dismiss the case. This video, recently unsealed in court, shows Bayoumi taking shots of Washington monuments and buildings and talking about ‘a plan’ back home, while zeroing in on entrances and exits to the U.S. Capitol, the Washington monument, and other places.” (06/25/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/911-hijackers-video-saudi-arabia/
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41) Those Who Violate the Rights of Children in War Must Be Held Accountable
Source: Common Dreams
by Ezequiel Heffes
“This week, the United Nations will hold an open debate on violations of children in wartime, and while this topic would seem morally clear, the debate is sure to be contentious. Earlier this month, with the U.N. Secretary-General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, the armed forces of Israel, as well as Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad, join the armed forces of and armed groups in Russia, Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria, and Sudan as documented perpetrators of grave violations of the rights of children. In nearly 33,000 documented incidents, children were killed, starved, maimed, kidnapped, and recruited as soldiers in more than two dozen war zones. The secretary-general’s annual report and its annexed list of perpetrators, the so-called ‘list of shame,’ have served as a unique and largely effective tool for identifying perpetrators and pressuring them to end violations and protect children in times of war.” (06/25/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/children-rights-war
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42) Moliere’s Medicine for Wayward Youth
Source: Law & Liberty
by Reuven Brenner
“Before the Internet and social media, there was Johann Gutenberg’s seventeenth-century movable-type printing innovation. (The Chinese invented something similar centuries before, but without impact). It revolutionized the spread of literacy and contributed to the Protestant movement’s break from the Catholic Church. Between the printing press and the Internet, there were other things: the telegraph, radio, and TV. None diffused written texts as the Internet and the printing press have done. Books became the ‘social media’ of the time — with many of the negative side effects the Internet has now. There have been endless studies over the centuries about how the fast spread of literacy disseminated general knowledge, but almost no mention of how, when accompanied by increased prosperity, it also gave rise to less elevated literature.” (06/25/24)
https://lawliberty.org/molieres-medicine-for-wayward-youth/
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43) Brace Yourself & Your Gun
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Many foes of Second Amendment rights want to outlaw guns for everybody except military, police, Secret Service, sundry federal agencies, and bodyguards for left-leaning celebrities. Since this isn’t politically feasible given at least intermittent legislative and judicial support for the right to bear arms, anti-gunners often pursue various piecemeal bans. The hope is that these will add up to an overall prohibition. Or at least provide an excuse to go after any particular gun owner for neglecting to comply with some subsidiary prohibition.” (06/25/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/06/25/brace-yourself-your-gun/
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44) Schedule F vs. Reality
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Thomas A Firey
“Acentral plank of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is to ‘totally obliterate the deep state.’ By this he means to take tight control of the operations of the federal bureaucracy, which he blames for obstructing his agenda during his 2017–2021 presidency. He and several allies have plans to bring the administrative state to heel, the centerpiece of which is Schedule F, a class of management-level bureaucrats that he could hire and fire at will. But Schedule F, whether implemented by a second Trump administration or some similarly aligned future president, would not yield the compliant administrative state its advocates envision. That’s not because bureaucrats are a rebellious or ideologically oppositional lot, but because they have strong incentives to follow established laws, administrative rules, and judicial decisions, few of which Trump sought to change while in office.” (06/25/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/schedule-f-vs-reality/
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45) Don’t disavow your extremism, Tyler Cherry; you’re PERFECT for this White House
Source: New York Post
by editorial board
“Meet Tyler Cherry, a new member of the Biden White House communications staff! Tyler looks like the love child of John Oates and Napoleon Dynamite, and he once posted stuff to X like ‘Time to recall that the modern day police system is a direct evolution of slave patrols and lynch mobs.’ And ‘Cheersing in bars to ending the occupation of Palestine – no shame and f— your glares.’ He also accused the GOP of focusing on ‘white grievance politics’ and demanded the abolition of ICE. Tyler got scared when these old posts resurfaced after he started his new gig and publicly disavowed them. Those statements reveal he’s literally the PERFECT guy to work on Biden’s comms team.” [editor’s note: They say it like those are bad things – TLK] (06/25/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/06/25/opinion/dont-disavow-your-extremism-tyler-cherry-youre-perfect-for-the-white-housedont-disavow-extremism-tyler-cherry-the-white-house-agrees-with-you/
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46) Interest on National Debt Surpasses Defense Spending
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann
“Interest on the national debt is rapidly becoming the biggest single category of spending by the U.S. government. As of May 2024, the amount of money spent to pay interest owed to the federal government’s creditors surpasses the annual amount it spends on national defense. … Defense spending represents the largest category of discretionary spending by the U.S. government appropriated by the U.S. Congress each year. Interest on the national debt represents mandatory spending. It now ranks third behind the annual spending to fund other mandatory spending programs like Social Security and Medicare. Fueled by excessive spending, the growth of the national debt and the surging amount of interest that must be paid on it is crowding out other parts of the U.S. government’s spending.” (06/24/24)
https://blog.independent.org/2024/06/24/interest-national-debt-defense-spending/
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47) Western Protectionism Needs an End Date
Source: Foreign Policy
by Jorge Guajardo
“The European Union and United States have joined in levying tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, with the EU blaming Chinese subsidies, while the United States points at overcapacity. China does have a big overcapacity problem in its manufacturing sector, but electric vehicles are not the best example of this. The challenge Chinese EV car companies present to Western legacy manufacturers is not because they are low-value or sold below market prices. The challenge is that Chinese EVs are better. Washington and Brussels are adopting the same protectionist strategies that Latin American states once did—and if they don’t have an exit strategy, they risk trapping themselves in an economic dead end.” (06/24/24)
https://archive.is/QWt2s
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48) Maybe We Should Legalize Child Labor After All
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Logan Marie Glitterbomb
“Recently there has been much fear surrounding the legalization of child labor in many states, but could legalizing child labor actually be a good thing? After all, the labor movement fought long and hard to ban child labor to protect children from exploitation. But some youth liberationists are challenging this perspective. … While the fear of dangerous conditions is real, it is one that all workers face regardless of age. Legalizing child labor would actually allow for more legal recourse for young workers who face such conditions and allow for more oversite from government agencies and, more importantly, labor unions.” (06/24/24)
https://c4ss.org/content/59728
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49) Bob Menendez and Biden’s Cuba Policy
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“The fall of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the now-suspended chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will produce many benefits, including the likely replacement of the corrupt Menendez with progressive Congressman Andy Kim, who won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat. But one benefit that has not gotten much notice is that Menendez’s ouster will remove a prime obstacle to normalization of relations with Cuba. With Democrats having the narrowest of Senate majorities, Menendez, whose family emigrated from Cuba in 1953 before Fidel Castro’s revolution, has repeatedly used his power to warn Biden against any normalization. He bragged in a November 2021 interview with Telemundo that he had blocked the administration from liberalization of Cuba policy. ‘On the contrary,’ he said, ‘President Biden has tightened our policy against the regime.'” (06/25/24)
https://prospect.org/world/2024-06-25-bob-menendez-bidens-cuba-policy/
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50) Power From the People: The Revolutionary Roots of the 10th Amendment
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Boldin
“Thomas Jefferson called the 10th Amendment the ‘foundation of the Constitution,’ and for good reason too. It enshrines many of the radical principles that sparked the ‘real American Revolution’ in the years before the War for Independence. John Adams noted that this ‘radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections,’ along with a ‘change in their Religious Sentiments, of their Duties and Obligations’ made up the ‘real American Revolution.’ Here are five core principles that form this foundation.” (06/24/24)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/06/24/power-from-the-people-the-revolutionary-roots-of-the-10th-amendment/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Rising, 06/25/24
Source: The Hill
“Julian Assange free at last, Wikileaks founder agrees to plea deal.” (06/25/24)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4738658-rising-june-25-2024/
-----
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 622
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Israel’s Plan to Annex the West Bank Is in Motion.” (06/25/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-622-israels-plan-to-annex-the-west-bank-is-in-motion
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53) The New Abnormal, 06/25/25
Source: The Daily Beast
“Trump’s Mental Acuity Has Declined Noticeably in the Last Four Years.” (06/25/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-mental-acuity-has-declined-noticeably-in-the-last-four-years
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54) There’s A Policy For That With Susan Pendergrass, 06/25/24
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Homelessness and Housing Policy with Judge Glock.” (06/25/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/state-and-local-government/homelessness-and-housing-policy-with-judge-glock/
-----
55) Advisory Opinions, 06/25/24
Source: The Dispatch
“Justice Stephen Breyer: Law Is Not a Science.” (06/25/24)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/justice-stephen-breyer-law-is-not-a-science/
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56) Power Problems, episode 183
Source: Cato Institute
“Ukraine, NATO, and the End of the War.” (06/25/24)
https://shows.acast.com/cato-power-problems/episodes/ukraine-nato-and-the-end-of-the-war
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57) Across The Movie Aisle, 06/25/24
Source: The Bulwark
“Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) discuss two new movies this week.” (06/25/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/inside-out-2-and-the-bikeriders
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58) Hubwonk, 06/25/24
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Unlocking Affordable Housing: Sources and Solutions for Cost Crisis.” (06/25/24)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/unlocking-affordable-housing-sources-and-solutions-for-cost-crisis/
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59) System Update, episode 288
Source: System Update
“U.S./Russia Tensions Escalate Over Ukraine to Most Dangerous Level Yet; CNN’s Kasie Hunt has Humiliating Meltdown; PLUS: Journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson on Israeli Influence Campaign on U.S. Campuses.” (06/24/24)
https://rumble.com/v53i39l-system-update-show-288.html
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60) Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 06/24/24
Source: Freedom Works
“Dan Greenburg of CEI on on blocking water restrictions on appliances.” (06/24/24)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2024-06-24_zfw06172024.mp3
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