08/14 -- Bitcoin touches record high, Ether keeps pace; Open Letter to Israel Foreign Minister Sa'ar
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Thomas L. Knapp
Aug 14, 2025, 6:24:11 AMAug 14
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 08/14/25
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Bitcoin touches record high, Ether keeps pace
2) Israel’s Smotrich Approves New Squat in Attempt to “Bury” State of Palestine
3) Russia: Ukrainian drone strikes hit two cities, injuring at least 16
4) Appeals court lets Trump regime suspend or end billions in foreign aid
5) Newsom: California regime will redraw maps after “missed” Trump deadline
6) Air Canada to begin canceling flights before possible strike by flight attendants
7) Chinese scientists build largest array of atoms for quantum computing in the world
8) Uganda: Opposition Seeks to Nullify Law on Military Prosecution of Civilians
9) Report: Inmates planned to make Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s life hell in prison
10) US regime sanctions Mexican drug cartel associates accused of scamming elderly Americans
11) French Guyana: Ariane 6 launches next-gen weather satellite
12) Canadadian Regime “Ready to Engage” With Chinese Regime on Trade as Canola Feud Escalates
13) CA: Man charged with crimes for resisting abduction by street gang
14) KY: Whistleblower claims licensing center sold IDs to immigrants “under the table”
15) Serbia: Clashes erupt at anti-regime protests
16) New draft of global plastic pollution treaty wouldn’t limit plastic production
17) Judge orders ICE gang to stop forcing abductees to sleep on dirty concrete floors in NYC
18) Record low number of Americans report drinking alcohol
19) Italy: Boat carrying migrants capsizes, killing at least 26
20) Trump regime orders Smithsonian museums to be reviewed for “Americanism”
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Open Letter to Israel Foreign Minister Sa’ar
22) Why the Supreme Court is Highly Unlikely to Overturn Obergefell in the Kim Davis Case
23) Government should become extinct
24) Judicial Deference to Unconstitutional Actions
25) Inflation or recession? Either way, Trump’s tariffs will leave lasting scars.
26) Why We Must Release the Epstein Files
27) Putin-Trump Meeting: Endgame or PR Event?
28) Criticizing Israel? This definition of antisemitism will take care of that.
29) Albanians cheer corruption cleanup
30) Facts About Crime Don’t Care About Trump’s Feelings
31) Mamdani’s NYC borough tour attacking Trump smacks of amateur hour
32) Bootstraps or Bailouts? The Hidden Truth of Israel’s Military Power
33) The Two-State Solution Sham, And Other Reader Questions
34) Stable/Genius: Stablecoins and Free Banking
35) The Trump-Putin Meeting: How We Got Here
36) Who pays for higher wages?
37) Is It Hopeless?
38) Americans Misunderstand Social Security but Appear Open to Reform
39) “Alligator Alcatraz” Is a Moral Stain
40) Important win for free speech against California’s overly restrictive deepfake laws
41) Fear Can’t Hold Forever: How the Machinery of Tyranny Destroys Itself
42) Satire Censorship, DOA
43) Washington Really Is Israeli-Occupied Territory
44) Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines
45) Trump-Putin Alaska summit: Ceasefire only, no territorial trade-off
46) Waiting for a Platonist Reform Plan
47) Federalism and Housing Policy
48) Rules Matter More Than Rulers
49) Establishment Struggles to Maintain Control of California
50) Green Markets, Not Green Leviathans
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/13/25
52) The Good Fight, 08/13/25
53) How To Fix The Internet, 08/13/25
54) Inside Trump’s Head, episode 1
55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/13/25
56) Fakertarians Podcast, episode 60
57) Soho Forum Debate: Are Trump’s Deportations Constitutional?
58) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/12/25
59) Matt Taibbi on The Scott Horton Show
60) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 08/12/25
61) Nonzero, 08/12/25
62) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/12/25
63) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/12/25
64) Capital Record, episode 248
65) Dangerous History Podcast, episode 281
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Bitcoin touches record high, Ether keeps pace
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“Bitcoin rose over 1% Thursday to just above $121,655 after hitting a record $123,500 Wednesday, driven by institutional demand and bets on looser monetary policy. The cryptocurrency has gained 31% year-to-date and is up 60% from April’s market lows. … Meanwhile ethereum (ETH-USD) prices rose to near record levels on Wednesday as Wall Street grows increasingly bullish on the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ethereum’s native token, ether jumped as much as 6% to hover above $4,700 per token, just shy of its 2021 record highs.” (08/14/25)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-touches-record-high-as-crypto-rally-rages-on-amid-bullish-fundamental-changes-231411045.html
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2) Israel’s Smotrich Approves New Squat in Attempt to “Bury” State of Palestine
Source: US News & World Report
“Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans overnight for a [squat] that would split [occupied] East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state. It was not immediately clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 scheme, which Palestinians and world powers have said would effectively lop the West Bank in two and will likely draw international ire. … Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand imposed sanctions in June on Smotrich and another far-right minister who advocates for [squat] expansion, accusing both of them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.” (08/14/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-14/israels-smotrich-approves-settlement-splitting-east-jerusalem-from-west-bank
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3) Russia: Ukrainian drone strikes hit two cities, injuring at least 16
Source: Malay Mail [Malaysia]
“Ukrainian drones struck two Russian cities on Thursday in attacks that injured at least 16 people, local authorities said, a day before a US-Russia summit on the war in Ukraine. Thirteen people were wounded, two seriously, when a drone struck an apartment building in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don …. Three civilians were wounded in the city of Belgorod …. Separately, the head of Russia’s Volgograd region said fallen debris from Ukrainian drones had caused a fire at an oil refinery.” (08/14/25)
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2025/08/14/ukrainian-drone-strikes-hit-two-russian-cities-injuring-at-least-16-ahead-of-us-russia-summit/187628
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4) Appeals court lets Trump regime suspend or end billions in foreign aid
Source: SFGate
“A divided panel of appeals court judges ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration can suspend or terminate billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for foreign aid. Two of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that grant recipients challenging the freeze did not meet the requirements for a preliminary injunction restoring the flow of money. In January, on the first day of his second term in the White House, Republican President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to freeze spending on foreign aid. After groups of grant recipients sued to challenge that order, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the administration to release the full amount of foreign assistance that Congress had appropriated for the 2024 budget year. The appeal court’s majority partially vacated Ali’s order.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/appeals-court-lets-the-white-house-suspend-or-end-20815922.php
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5) Newsom: California regime will redraw maps after “missed” Trump deadline
Source: The Hill
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Tuesday that his state would redraw its House maps after President Trump failed to respond to a letter the governor sent him urging Trump to have red states call off redistricting efforts. ‘DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),’ Newsom wrote in a statement on the social platform X put out through his press office, meant to mock how Trump writes his posts on Truth Social. … Newsom penned a letter to Trump on Monday pressing the president to have Texas and other red states stop their mid-decade redistricting efforts …. Newsom’s office gave Trump until Tuesday evening to reply to the letter.” (08/13/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5449851-newsom-trump-redistricting-clash/
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6) Air Canada to begin canceling flights before possible strike by flight attendants
Source: Seattle Times
“Air Canada said Wednesday it will begin a gradual suspension of flights to allow an orderly shutdown of the country’s largest airline as it faces a potential work stoppage by its flight attendants on Saturday. The airline said the first flights will be canceled Thursday, with more on Friday and a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge by the weekend. The union representing around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants issued a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday. In response, the airline issued a lockout notice.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/bzMyJ
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7) Chinese scientists build largest array of atoms for quantum computing in the world
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“A team led by renowned Chinese physicist Pan Jianwei has built a key component for a quantum computer — an atom-arranging setup capable of creating arrays 10 times larger than previous systems — that raised hopes it could one day be scaled to tens of thousands of these tiny building blocks. The approach taken by Pan and his team from the University of Science and Technology of China overcomes a major hurdle to atom-based quantum computing, according to a paper published last week in the peer-reviewed Physical Review Letters. The researchers designed an artificial intelligence system capable of arranging more than 2,000 rubidium atoms – each serving as a qubit, the two-state basic unit of quantum computing – into perfect patterns in a mere 60,000th of a second, it said.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/bUAUd
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8) Uganda: Opposition Seeks to Nullify Law on Military Prosecution of Civilians
Source: US News & World Report
“Uganda’s biggest opposition party on Wednesday filed a case in the constitutional court to nullify a newly enacted law that reinstated the right of military tribunals to try civilians, a lawyer and party official said. The Supreme Court proscribed the prosecution of civilians in the tribunals in January, saying they lacked legal competence to conduct criminal trials in a fair and impartial manner. Local and international rights campaigners have long accused Uganda’s government of using military courts to pursue political opponents of President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who has been in power for almost 40 years. His aides have denied this, saying only civilians who use guns for political violence are prosecuted in such tribunals.” (08/13/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-13/ugandan-opposition-seeks-to-nullify-law-on-military-prosecution-of-civilians
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9) Report: Inmates planned to make Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s life hell in prison
Source: New York Post
“The inmates making quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger’s time in prison a living hell knew he was coming to the high-security Idaho lockup and planned how they could carry out a campaign of harassment against him, according to a report. Kohberger was transferred from jail to the only high-security prison in the state after he received four life sentences last month for the gruesome slayings of four University of Idaho students in 2022. And the prisoners at Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna ‘were aware he was coming’, former homicide detective Chris McDonough told NewsNation Tuesday. ‘The inmates were apparently waiting for him,’ said McDonough, who now works for the Cold Case Foundation. ‘And when he got there, they are now making his life absolutely miserable.'” (08/13/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/13/us-news/inmates-planned-to-make-bryan-kohbergers-life-hell-in-jail/
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10) US regime sanctions Mexican drug cartel associates accused of scamming elderly Americans
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than a dozen Mexican companies and four people it says worked with a powerful drug trafficking cartel to scam elderly Americans in a multimillion-dollar timeshare fraud. The network of 13 businesses in areas near the seaside tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta were accused of working with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a group designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization. In a scheme dating back to 2012, four cartel associates are accused of defrauding American citizens of their life savings through elaborate rental and resale schemes, according to a Treasury statement. In the span of six months, officials said they were able to document $23.1 million sent from mostly people in the U.S. to scammers in Mexico.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/us-sanctions-mexican-drug-cartel-associates-20815962.php
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11) French Guyana: Ariane 6 launches next-gen weather satellite
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The Ariane 6 rocket on Wednesday blasted off carrying Europe’s next generation satellite for warning against extreme weather events. As many European countries simmer in a deadly heatwave, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) said its MetOp-SGA1 satellite will give ‘earlier warnings to help protect lives and property from extreme weather.’ … The rocket carrying the four-tonne satellite took off from France’s Kourou space base in French Guyana. MetOp-SGA1 was to be put into an 800 kilometre (500 mile) high orbit. It will be Europe’s first contribution to a US-led programme, the Joint Polar System, putting up satellites orbiting between the north and south poles.” (08/13/25)
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250813-european-satellite-to-step-up-monitoring-of-extreme-weather
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12) Canadadian Regime “Ready to Engage” With Chinese Regime on Trade as Canola Feud Escalates
Source: Bloomberg
“Canada’s trade and agriculture ministers said they are ‘deeply disappointed’ with China’s decision to impose new duties on [Chinese buyers of] Canadian canola, but stand ready to engage with Beijing on the trade dispute. Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald issued a joint statement late Tuesday responding to China’s announcement of a 75.8% preliminary anti-dumping duty on [Chinese buyers of] canola seed from Canada. The new levy follows Beijing’s imposition earlier this year of a 100% tariff on [Chinese buyers of] canola oil and meal from the North American nation. … Canola meal prices in China — where the commodity is known as rapeseed — jumped following the announcement of the new duty.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/G7To5
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13) CA: Man charged with crimes for resisting abduction by street gang
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“A 19-year-old man was charged in San Diego federal court Tuesday with ramming a federal agent’s vehicle in Escondido during an immigration [abduction], prosecutors said. The man, a Mexican national, pleaded not guilty to assaulting a federal officer, assaulting a federal officer resulting in bodily injury and destruction of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Federal authorities later determined he was not the original target of the [kidnapping attempt], according to the complaint. Officials did not disclose his immigration status.” (08/12/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/12/man-arrested-after-allegedly-ramming-agents-vehicle-in-escondido-during-immigration-enforcement/
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14) KY: Whistleblower claims licensing center sold IDs to immigrants “under the table”
Source: Fox News
“Former Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) clerk Melissa Moorman sued her old employers for allegedly firing her because she reported on co-workers selling driver’s licenses to illegal [sic] immigrants. According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Moorman discovered in 2024 that two co-workers from the Department of Vehicle Regulation were selling documents to ‘nonresidents’ without proper immigration screenings or testing. Her lawyers argued that she knew of the crime after being invited to participate. ‘The employees were being paid under the table,’ Moorman told WDRB News on Monday. ‘I immediately let my supervisor know about it.’ She also informed WDRB News that these co-workers would sell licenses for $200 per person approximately four to five times a day, for over two years. Moorman said that every case she encountered involved an [sic] illegal immigrant.” (08/13/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/kentucky-whistleblower-claims-licensing-center-sold-ids-illegal-immigrants-under-table
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15) Serbia: Clashes erupt at anti-regime protests
Source: ABC News
“Clashes erupted at protests in Serbia between opponents and supporters of the government in an escalation of tensions following more than nine months of persistent demonstrations against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Incidents first started on Tuesday evening in Vrbas, northwest of the capital Belgrade, where riot police separated protesters from the opposed camps outside the ruling Serbian Progressive Party offices in the town. Video footages from the scene showed government supporters throwing flares, rocks and bottles at the protesters, who hurled back various objects. Police said dozens of people were injured, including 16 policemen. Similar incidents were reported at protests in other parts of the country.” (08/13/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/clashes-erupt-serbian-anti-government-protests-dozens-injured-124602317
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16) New draft of global plastic pollution treaty wouldn’t limit plastic production
Source: SFGate
“Negotiators working on a treaty to address global plastic pollution discussed a new draft of the text Wednesday that wouldn’t limit plastic production or address chemicals used in plastic products. The biggest issue of the talks has been whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic or focus instead on things like better design, recycling and reuse. About 100 countries want to limit production as well as tackle cleanup and recycling. Many have said it’s essential to address toxic chemicals. Powerful oil and gas-producing nations and the plastics industry oppose production limits. They want a treaty focused on better waste management and reuse. Countries with very divergent views expressed disappointment with the draft.” (08/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/new-draft-of-plastic-pollution-treaty-would-not-20815691.php
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17) Judge orders ICE gang to stop forcing abductees to sleep on dirty concrete floors in NYC
Source: Politico
“A federal judge ordered the Trump administration Tuesday to improve the conditions for ICE [abductees] in Manhattan after a lawsuit filed by a Peruvian immigrant complained of cramped and unsanitary holding cells. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered officials by Aug. 26 to provide more spacious accommodations that are equipped with a bedding mat for each [abductee] held overnight, have hygiene supplies and are cleaned ‘thoroughly’ at least three times a day. Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, also ordered officials to allow [abductees] private phone calls with their lawyers within 24 hours of being [kidnapped] and to give them a printed notice of their rights within one hour of being placed in a holding room. The notice, Kaplan ordered, should inform them that, upon request, they will be given bottled water and one additional meal per day beyond the two that are automatically provided to them.” (08/12/25)
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/12/ice-manahttan-detention-conditions-ruling-00505986
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18) Record low number of Americans report drinking alcohol
Source: Fox News
“More Americans than ever are choosing not to drink alcohol, according to a new Gallup Poll. Only 54% of respondents to Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits survey conducted last month say they consume alcohol, which is the lowest on record in nearly 90 years. ‘This coincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one’s health, now the majority view for the first time,’ Gallup said in a press release. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism cites nine body systems impacted by alcohol use. ‘Current research points to health risks even at low amounts of alcohol consumption, regardless of beverage type,’ its website says. Those who do drink are drinking less, Gallup reported, averaging about 2.8 drinks a week. Over the past two years, Republicans have reported a sharp drop in drinking habits, but Democrats’ percentage has held fairly steady.” (08/13/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/health/record-low-number-americans-report-drinking-alcohol-new-teetotalers-explaining-why
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19) Italy: Boat carrying migrants capsizes, killing at least 26
Source: SFGate
“A boat carrying nearly 100 migrants capsized Wednesday in international waters off the Italian island of Lampedusa, killing at least 26 people and leaving about a dozen missing, the Italian coast guard and U.N. agencies said. Sixty survivors were brought to a center in Lampedusa, said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesperson in Italy. There were 92 to 97 migrants on board when the boat departed Libya, according to survivor accounts. Authorities were still searching for any remaining survivors. The coast guard said in a statement that the death toll stood at 26, but was still ‘provisional and being updated.’ Based on survivor accounts, about 95 migrants left Libya on two boats, International Organization for Migration spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo said. When one of the two vessels started to take on water, all the passengers were transferred to the other boat — made of fiberglass — which then capsized because of overloading, he said.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/migrant-boat-capsizes-off-italy-and-leaves-at-20815585.php
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20) Trump regime orders Smithsonian museums to be reviewed for “Americanism”
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“The White House has ordered an extensive review of the Smithsonian museums and exhibitions in advance of next year’s 250th anniversary of the United States, with the goal of aligning the institution’s content with President Donald Trump’s [fantasies about] US history. In a letter sent on Tuesday to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the White House laid out in detail the steps it expects the organisation to take so that museum content can be reviewed for a focus on ‘Americanism.’ … ‘This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,’ the letter added.” (08/13/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/13/trump-admin-orders-smithsonian-museums-to-be-reviewed-for-americanism
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Open Letter to Israel Foreign Minister Sa’ar
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jeffrey D Sachs
“In the view of most of the world, with which I concur, Israel is engaged in mass murder and starvation; you would not have known it from your speech. You failed to acknowledge that Israel has caused the deaths to date of some 18,500 Palestinian children …. You blamed all the mass murder of civilians by Israeli forces on Hamas, even as the world watches video clips every day of Israeli forces killing starving civilians in cold blood as they approach food distribution points. You lamented the starvation of 20 hostages but failed to mention Israel’s starvation of 2 million Palestinians. … Whether your oversights are the result of obtuseness or prevarication, they would be a tragedy for Israel alone were it not for the fact that you attempted to rope me and millions of other Jews into your government’s crimes against humanity.” (08/13/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/jeffrey_sachs/2025/08/12/open-letter-to-israel-foreign-minister-saar/
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22) Why the Supreme Court is Highly Unlikely to Overturn Obergefell in the Kim Davis Case
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“[Davis’s] case has multiple flaws as a potential vehicle for the Obergefell issue. Among other things, that question is an appendage to a dubious religious-liberty claim, under which Davis claims that government officials have a First Amendment right to refuse to issue marriage licenses to couples they disapprove of on religious grounds. It’s worth noting, here, that some people have religious objections to interracial marriages and interfaith marriages, among other possibilities. Does a clerk with religious objections have a constitutional right to refuse to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple or to one involving an intermarriage between a Jew and a Christian? The question answers itself. … In the private sector, I think there often is a First Amendment free speech or religious liberty right to refuse to provide services …. Public employees engaged in their official duties are a very different matter.” (08/13/25)
https://reason.com/volokh/2025/08/13/why-the-supreme-court-is-highly-unlikely-to-overturn-obergefell-in-the-kim-davis-case/
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23) Government should become extinct
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Government is an unnecessary evil. Every government, not just the ones you dislike. The governments you are encouraged to hate are no worse than the one you look to for advice on which ones to hate. In fact, they are less harmful to you since they aren’t able to rule or tax you. People who try to justify government often admit it’s evil. Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet Common Sense from 1776, wrote, ‘Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.’ This doesn’t hold water. If something is evil, it’s not necessary, and if it’s necessary, it can’t be evil. It’s like arguing for a square circle. It’s one or the other, and government is always intolerable.” (08/13/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/08/13/voices/opinion-government-should-become-extinct/231446.html
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24) Judicial Deference to Unconstitutional Actions
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“When the U.S. Constitution called the federal government into existence, it was on the condition that federal officials could exercise only those powers that the Constitution delegated to the federal government. If a power wasn’t delegated, it could not be exercised. … The responsibility of the judicial branch was to determine whether laws enacted by Congress or actions taken by the president were constitutional or not. The federal judiciary would have the final say over the constitutionality of laws and actions. … after the federal government was converted to a national-security state in the late 1940s, the national-security establishment (i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA) effectively became a fourth branch of government — and the most powerful branch at that, one to which the other three branches ended up deferring.” (08/13/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/08/13/judicial-deference-to-unconstitutional-actions/
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25) Inflation or recession? Either way, Trump’s tariffs will leave lasting scars.
Source: The Hill
by Sheldon H Jacobson
“Tariffs will create a new market equilibrium. Higher prices will invariably shift consumer preferences and buying patterns. Given that consumers tend to be price sensitive, they may chase lower prices for the same goods by purchasing different brands, opt to purchase different goods (for example, switching from beef to chicken), or simply not make purchases. The net effect is less consumer spending, which invariably will lead to a shrinking economy. Recent GDP and labor force numbers support this trend, which will only accelerate as the tariffs become more widespread and ingrained into the economy.” (08/13/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5448330-trump-tariffs-economic-scars/
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26) Why We Must Release the Epstein Files
Source: The Nation
by US Representative Rho Khanna (D-CA)
“On his podcast, Joe Rogan recently asked Senator Bernie Sanders a question that reflects a concern many Americans have today: Why should people pay more in taxes to ‘an incompetent, corrupt government’ that lacks accountability? The truth is, we should be investing more in government programs for education, healthcare, and the creation of well-paid jobs. But decades of corruption and the unchecked influence of money in politics have fueled a deep distrust in our institutions. Overcoming this distrust is one of our greatest challenges as a country. If we want to enact initiatives like a 21st-century Marshall Plan for America or Medicare for All, we need people to believe that government works for them — not just for the rich and powerful.” [editor’s note: Rho Khanna is a multi-millionaire congresscritter. Rich? Check. Powerful? Check – TLK] (08/13/25)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/epstein-files-trump-transparency-corruption/
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27) Putin-Trump Meeting: Endgame or PR Event?
Source: CounterPunch
by Jack Rasmus
“Events that got the ball rolling toward a meeting in Alaska were set in motion by Trump’s sending his second special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow last week. (Trump’s other envoy is General Kellogg who had carried the water for the US neocons’ demands for Russia to ceasefire first, then negotiate). What provoked Trump to send Witkoff? It may have been Putin’s signal that Russia has now only two major demands: No NATO in Ukraine and Ukraine acceptance that the four provinces (+ Crimea) are now part of Russia. This appears as a concession without Russia actually making one. … Of course, Zelensky has also declared the four provinces and Crimea are part of the Ukrainian Constitution and are non-negotiable. What this means is one side or the other has to confront a Constitutional crisis in order to negotiate an end to the war. That will not happen.” (08/13/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/13/putin-trump-meeting-endgame-or-pr-event/
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28) Criticizing Israel? This definition of antisemitism will take care of that.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter
“Speech codes are popping up all over the US, chilling the right to question what another government is doing thousands of miles away.” (08/13/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/anti-semitism-speech-israel/
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29) Albanians cheer corruption cleanup
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Strategically located on the Adriatic Sea, between Eastern and Western Europe, Albania is a small country. However, after the downfall of a repressive communist regime in the early 1990s, it gained an outsize reputation as a hub of organized crime and corruption. Getting a handle on international drug-trafficking networks and pervasive graft at home has been a tall order. But pro-Western Prime Minster Edi Rama – at 6 foot, 7 inches, reputedly the world’s tallest leader – is proving up to the task. He decisively won a fourth term in May, riding on popular support for his cleanup campaign. Just last week, 10 suspected members of a cocaine and money-laundering ring were arrested by SPAK, a specialized anti-corruption unit set up in 2019. In recent months, SPAK has also gone after senior public officials, including from Mr. Rama’s governing Socialist Party.” (08/12/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0812/Albanians-cheer-corruption-cleanup
-----
30) Facts About Crime Don’t Care About Trump’s Feelings
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
”Facts don’t care about your feelings’ is a maxim popularized by the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. As I don’t expect rigorous fact-checking from Shapiro and his far-right content factory Daily Wire, I was not shocked to hear a Daily Wire podcaster Michael Knowles defend Donald Trump’s militaristic federal takeover of the Washington, D.C. police as being ‘in response to skyrocketing crime,’ despite the fact that the rate of violent crime in D.C in 2024 is down by more than a third since 2023, and more than half since 2010. … even if we are to consider ‘feelings,’ what is the evidence that there is a panic about crime — either in Washington or across the country — that would support Trump deploying the National Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take over local policing?” (08/13/25)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/13/facts-about-crime-dont-care-about-trumps-feelings/
-----
31) Mamdani’s NYC borough tour attacking Trump smacks of amateur hour
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
“It seems as if it was only yesterday that Zohran Mamdani was running to be mayor of New York on an agenda he vowed would solve the ‘affordability crisis’. He won the Democratic primary by pledging that wealthier New Yorkers would pay higher taxes so his City Hall could afford lots of free stuff for everyone else. Apparently that’s all it took to solve the crisis. Because just like that, the 33-year-old socialist assemblyman is saying he has a new agenda for the general election. He’s now running against President Trump, calling him an enemy and vowing ‘My administration will be Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.’ This week he’s touring the five boroughs, one borough per day, with a steady stream of warnings that the president’s policies will hurt the city, and that Mamdani should be elected to resist him.” (08/12/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/12/opinion/michael-goodwin-mamdanis-nyc-borough-tour-attacking-trump-smacks-of-amateur-hour/
-----
32) Bootstraps or Bailouts? The Hidden Truth of Israel’s Military Power
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“As America continues pouring billions into Israeli defense, the uncomfortable truth is that Israel’s security and strategic position have always depended on outside assistance — contrary to popular conservative claims. Conservative pundits like Ben Shapiro repeatedly boast about Israel’s alleged independence in the face of external foes, arguing that ‘Israel has bootstrapped its way into military dominance despite all of the internal obstacles’ it has faced. However, this claim contradicts the extensive evidence of American and Western support the Jewish state has received since 1948. From the crucial Soviet arms supplies in 1948 to the unprecedented $38 billion U.S. military aid package of 2016, Israel’s history reveals a persistent dependence on outside aid, belying its image of independence.” (08/13/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/bootstraps-or-bailouts-the-hidden-truth-of-israels-military-power
-----
33) The Two-State Solution Sham, And Other Reader Questions
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israeli officials have been telling us themselves that it’s a delusion for a while now, and I think we should believe them. Everything about Israel is stacked against allowing the creation of a Palestinian state, and even if the Palestinians do get a meaningful state somehow, what then? Israel is constantly at war with its neighbors who refuse to obey its dictates, so a ‘Palestinian state’ would likely either be (A) Israel continuing to bomb and massacre Palestinians just like they’re doing now, or (B) Palestinians obeying the dictates of Tel Aviv and not being meaningfully sovereign. The truth is that Palestinians will never be free as long as Israel exists as the hypermilitaristic racist settler-colonialist state that it is.” (08/13/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/08/13/the-two-state-solution-sham-and-other-reader-questions/
-----
34) Stable/Genius: Stablecoins and Free Banking
Source: EconLog
by Tyler Watts
“USD stablecoins have been in existence since the 2014 launches of Tether and BitUSD, but they’ve gained prominence in the last few years with an increasing number of issuers and widening acceptance. With the supportive regulatory environment of the GENIUS Act, they should surge in popularity and gain wide usage and acceptance. I’ll briefly address the uses and ostensible benefits of stablecoins, but I want to focus on what I think is the most exciting feature, which is their potential to herald a renewal of free banking.” (08/13/25)
https://www.econlib.org/stable-genius-stablecoins-and-free-banking/
-----
35) The Trump-Putin Meeting: How We Got Here
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“This Friday, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to sit down together in what will be the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of each country since the war in Ukraine broke out almost three and a half years ago. For many, this is a long-overdue step towards bringing this war to an end. For others, it marks the dangerous and unnecessary return of a policy of ‘appeasement’ that’s sure to prompt more invasions from Putin and other leaders that the US government does not back. There certainly will be plenty of debate in the coming days over the wisdom and likely consequences of this meeting. But, as with anything, the best way to understand both is to look back at how we got here.” (08/13/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-putin-meeting-how-we-got-here
-----
36) Who pays for higher wages?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Matthew Blakey
“While empirical studies can yield conflicting results depending on the methodology or timeframe used, the California findings reinforce what generations of economists — from classical economists to modern market theorists — have long understood: there’s no escaping trade-offs. California’s recent experience should serve as a cautionary tale for lawmakers around the country. While increasing the minimum wage may sound helpful, it carries hidden costs that disproportionately affect low-skilled workers, who face the highest risk of being priced out of the labor market. A review of Seattle’s experience from ten years ago would have demonstrated California’s likely outcome.” (08/13/25)
https://fee.org/articles/who-pays-for-higher-wages/
-----
37) Is It Hopeless?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“‘The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.’ (Historian Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler, late-1800s) Is it hopeless? Almost. Probably. But maybe not. As Sir Tytler so accurately illuminated in the quote above, nations rise and fall. That’s almost become axiomatic. But it is historically true. It isn’t quite that simple, however, and a little historical analysis would be helpful. Empires and nations sometimes bounce on a pogo stick before the stick finally breaks and the nation collapses into non-existence or feebleness.” (08/13/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2025/08/13/is-it-hopeless-n2661769#google_vignette
-----
38) Americans Misunderstand Social Security but Appear Open to Reform
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Despite his administration’s talk about shrinking the size and cost of government, President Donald Trump has been careful to exclude entitlements like Social Security from consideration for serious reform. That makes it essentially impossible to fix federal finances given the massive chunk of expenditures represented by these programs, but it’s understandable from a political perspective. The fact is that most Americans like Social Security, though they don’t understand how it works or why it’s headed for a fiscal cliff. The only good news is that the public gets that there is a problem, and some are open to changes.” (08/13/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/13/americans-misunderstand-social-security-but-appear-open-to-reform/
-----
39) “Alligator Alcatraz” Is a Moral Stain
Source: The Bulwark
by James F McHugh
“There is no doubt that the conditions of confinement in Alcatraz and ADX Florence were and are harsh, but the people incarcerated in those facilities committed serious crimes and had been convicted of those crimes after trials before juries of their peers — and in many cases, after appeals. The conditions under which they were incarcerated were designed to ensure that they would never again engage in similar behavior. By contrast, incarceration in the brutal confines of the Florida facility comes before decisions are made about whether the inmates have violated any laws …. When a cabinet secretary, the head of a major government department charged with making decisions that can affect every citizen of the United States, calls current and future detainees ‘scumbags,’ she creates a dehumanizing force that inevitably ripples through her entire organization.” (08/13/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/alligator-alcatraz-everglades-ice-dhs-detention-facility-is-a-moral-stain
-----
40) Important win for free speech against California’s overly restrictive deepfake laws
Source: Orange County Register
by Richard Sill
“Free speech rights recently secured an important legal win against one of California’s overly broad deepfake laws. The case underscores the ongoing difficulty of state legislators trying to regulate AI-generated content without infringing on constitutionally protected speech. … Rather than trying to overly regulate this fast-evolving technology in ways that restrict protected speech rights, California’s best course lies in leveraging existing legal tools. The state’s defamation, fraud, privacy, and right of publicity laws already provide strong remedies for victims of harmful deepfakes.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/efMpE
-----
41) Fear Can’t Hold Forever: How the Machinery of Tyranny Destroys Itself
Source: Common Dreams
by George Cassidy Payne
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu once warned, ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.’ Neutrality (that quiet silence born of fear and resignation) is the oxygen every autocrat breathes. They survive by persuading us that resistance is pointless, that solidarity is too dangerous, and that isolation is inevitable. But history has no mercy for regimes built on fear. They all fall. We are watching the same authoritarian script play out today, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia to Benjamin Netanyahu’s siege of Gaza, from Viktor Orbán’s Hungary to the United States itself. On Monday, President Trump invoked the Home Rule Act to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, installing Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as its leader.” (08/13/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/tyranny-self-destructs
-----
42) Satire Censorship, DOA
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In the endless battle to protect our freedom of speech, the forces for good can chalk up another victory, this one out in California. The Golden State government has been trying to impose censorship on so-called ‘deep-fake’ videos by forcing social-media platforms to find and eliminate ‘materially deceptive content’ about incumbents and candidates. Platforms like Twitter‑X and Rumble contend that the law would compel them to act as government censors. … A district judge, John Mendez, recently stated in court that since platforms are protected from being punished for third-party content under the Communications Decency Act, the California law seeking to punish platforms that fail to remove ‘deep-fake’ political criticism on behalf of pusillanimous pols is dead on arrival.” (08/12/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/08/12/satire-censorship-doa/
-----
43) Washington Really Is Israeli-Occupied Territory
Source: The American Conservative
by George D O’Neill Jr.
“During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress in July 2024, the Israeli premier received dozens of long and loud standing ovations. The enthusiastic response to his triumphalist speech brought to mind the joyous welcome given to a Roman general returning from a victorious campaign that brought glory to the Empire. Yet this was the leader of a small foreign country whose aggression brings it — and us — a cloud of shame. … Last month the House of Representatives approved another $500 million dollars in aid for Israel’s military. Shortly after that, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recessed the House early to avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Johnson then led a large congressional delegation to Israel.” (08/13/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washington-really-is-israeli-occupied-territory/
-----
44) Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines
Source: Washington Post
by Jay Bhattacharya, director, National Institutes of Health
“The mRNA platform is promising technology. I do not dispute its potential. In the future, it may yet deliver breakthroughs in treating diseases such as cancer, and HHS is continuing to invest in ongoing research on applications in oncology and other complex diseases. But as a vaccine intended for broad public use, especially during a public health emergency, the platform has failed a crucial test: earning public trust. No matter how elegant the science, a platform that lacks credibility among the people it seeks to protect cannot fulfill its public health mission.” (08/12/25)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/12/nih-mrna-vaccines-jay-bhattacharya/
-----
45) Trump-Putin Alaska summit: Ceasefire only, no territorial trade-off
Source: Fox News Forum
by Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis (USA, ret.)
“This Friday’s high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska could bring real relief to Ukraine – but only if it stays laser-focused on one goal: an enforceable ceasefire. No redraw of the map. No ‘land for peace’ concessions that reward Moscow’s aggression and punish Ukrainian sovereignty. Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance convened a secure call with European and Ukrainian officials. The message from allied capitals was blunt: halt the fighting first, then negotiate the rest – without giving up an inch of Ukrainian land. European leaders have repeated it publicly: ‘Peace cannot be decided without Ukraine.'” (08/13/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-putin-alaska-summit-ceasefire-only-no-territorial-trade-off
-----
46) Waiting for a Platonist Reform Plan
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“As an asymptotic anarchist, I recognize that moving toward the goal of rules without rulers might mean having today to choose between an imperfect autocrat like Lee Kuan Yew and independent federal agencies an authoritarian politburo like the EU or CCP. Of course, despite the bluster and bombast of another Trump term, what we have here in the US is still mutating rapidly into a Sino-European administrative regime. So I won’t always clutch my pearls about moralistic or legalistic administrivia as this ship of state approaches the icebergs. My kids need lifeboats. Perhaps my critics would retort that by accepting compromises against the *rule of law,* I prime the coercive apparatus for future authoritarians to seize. Perhaps. But so does twiddling one’s thumbs while waiting for Godot’s Platonist Plans.” (08/12/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/waiting-for-a-platonist-reform-plan
-----
47) Federalism and Housing Policy
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
“In previous posts I’ve discussed tax competition between states. This competition intensified after the SALT deduction was limited to $10,000. Congress recently increased the SALT limit back up to $40,000, however, which will significantly reduce tax competition between states. In the future, housing policy may become the number one factor in competition for new residents, especially as immigration restrictions and sharply lower birthrates slow or even end the growth of America’s population. Despite high taxes and burdensome regulations, California has extremely high housing prices. This suggests that there is still a strong demand to live here, which could lead to a large population inflow if regulations on building were further liberalized. ” (08/12/25)
https://www.econlib.org/federalism-and-housing-policy/
-----
48) Rules Matter More Than Rulers
Source: Persuasion
by Emily Chamlee-Wright
“Imagine you’re a contestant on a new gameshow. Let’s call it ‘The Future of American Democracy.’ The lights dim. A booming voice announces the stakes. You, the voter, must choose between two sealed doors. Behind each lies a prospective future. There is no third door. Pick wisely. Door #1: A Democrat occupies the Oval Office, committed to reversing the Trump Administration’s legacy. Given the expansion of executive power in recent years, the new president’s authority is largely unconstrained. … Door #2: A MAGA-aligned figure sits in the White House, eager to extend Trump’s protectionist policies and anti-immigrant, culture war agenda. But rather than enjoying expanded executive powers, the president is hemmed in by institutional guardrails. … The right answer, the responsible answer, is Door #2. And the reason is painfully simple: in a republic worth preserving, rules matter more than rulers.” (08/12/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/rules-matter-more-than-rulers
-----
49) Establishment Struggles to Maintain Control of California
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Katie Porter got in a lot of trouble at the end of her 2024 Senate campaign for using the word ‘rigged’ to describe the statewide primary race she lost. She was referring to a coordinated campaign by big money, particularly crypto interests, to drive up her negatives and hand California’s Senate seat to Adam Schiff. Those interests got their return on investment this year when Schiff supported the GENIUS Act. But underneath that was another kind of rigging, one that experienced observers of the political scene here have long witnessed. Schiff was anointed the front-runner by a class of influential politicians and consultants who have long played kingmaker in California. Contested elections between Democrats for major statewide offices in this one-party state have been nonexistent during the past 20 years, as establishment-chosen politicians have divvied up the spoils.” (08/13/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-08-13-establishment-struggles-control-california-governors-race/
-----
50) Green Markets, Not Green Leviathans
Source: Cobden Centre
by Elias Sanchez
“While travelling through the Bolivian Amazon, I read Market Ecology, a sharp, unconventional text by Jesús Huerta de Soto. Its central claim is deceptively simple: environmental sustainability and economic freedom are not at odds. On the contrary, secure property rights, voluntary exchange, and decentralised governance may be the most effective tools for ecological stewardship. Bolivia offers a telling example. In Parque Machía, near Cochabamba, it is community consensus — not state decree — that keeps environmental norms intact.” (08/12/25)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2025/08/green-markets-not-green-leviathans/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/13/25
Source: The Political Orphanage
“To Make a Terrifying Spoiler Candidate.” (08/13/25)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/to-make-a-terrifying-spoiler-candidate
-----
52) The Good Fight, 08/13/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“David Enoch on Certainty and Compromise.” (08/13/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/david-enoch-on-certainty-and-compromise
-----
53) How To Fix The Internet, 08/13/25
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
“Separating AI Hope from AI Hype.” (08/13/25)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/podcast-episode-separating-ai-hope-ai-hype
-----
54) Inside Trump’s Head, episode 1
Source: The Daily Beast
“Trump’s Twisted Move to Distract from Epstein.” (08/13/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By6j7kp9R5k
-----
55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/13/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Netanyahu ‘Very’ Attached to ‘Greater Israel,’ US Launches 57 Strikes in Somalia in 2025, and More.” (08/13/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0dXxqW-g4o
-----
56) Fakertarians Podcast, episode 60
Source: Fakertarians
“A SovCit!” (08/12/25)
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/fakertarians/episodes/Fakertarians-Episode-60-A-SovCit-e36p9rb
-----
57) Soho Forum Debate: Are Trump’s Deportations Constitutional?
Source: Reason
“Glenn Greenwald and Anna K. Gorisch debate the resolution, ‘President Trump’s deportation policies generally violate key civil liberties as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.'” (08/12/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/08/12/are-trumps-deportations-constitutional/
-----
58) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/12/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Cuba Libre — Gaby Blanco Parses Truth & Commie Propaganda.” (08/12/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/the-lou-perez-podcast-cuba-libre-gaby-blanco-parses-truth-amp-commie-propaganda
-----
59) Matt Taibbi on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Matt Taibbi returns to the show to run through some of the new information we’ve learned about the origins of Russiagate.” (08/12/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/8-8-25-matt-taibbi-on-the-damning-new-details-about-russiagate/
-----
60) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 08/12/25
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“FIRE Reacts — Where does Harvard go from here? With Larry Summers.” (08/12/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/podcasts/so-speak-free-speech-podcast/fire-reacts-where-does-harvard-go-here-larry-summers
-----
61) Nonzero, 08/12/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump | Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus.” (08/12/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68928
-----
62) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/12/25
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Fear, Loathing, and Harassment on the LNC: Discussion with Brittany Kosin.” (08/12/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zlEEN_13_k
-----
63) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/12/25
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Crime, Public Safety, and Perception in St. Louis with Braxton Steele.” (08/12/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/state-and-local-government/crime-public-safety-and-perception-in-st-louis-with-braxton-steele/
-----
64) Capital Record, episode 248
Source: National Review
“Murder in the Building.” (08/12/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/murder-in-the-building/
-----
65) Dangerous History Podcast, episode 281
Source: Libertarian Institute
“‘The Best-Planned Mistake’: The Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty.” (08/12/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/dangerous-history-podcast/dhpep281
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Bitcoin touches record high, Ether keeps pace
2) Israel’s Smotrich Approves New Squat in Attempt to “Bury” State of Palestine
3) Russia: Ukrainian drone strikes hit two cities, injuring at least 16
4) Appeals court lets Trump regime suspend or end billions in foreign aid
5) Newsom: California regime will redraw maps after “missed” Trump deadline
6) Air Canada to begin canceling flights before possible strike by flight attendants
7) Chinese scientists build largest array of atoms for quantum computing in the world
8) Uganda: Opposition Seeks to Nullify Law on Military Prosecution of Civilians
9) Report: Inmates planned to make Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s life hell in prison
10) US regime sanctions Mexican drug cartel associates accused of scamming elderly Americans
11) French Guyana: Ariane 6 launches next-gen weather satellite
12) Canadadian Regime “Ready to Engage” With Chinese Regime on Trade as Canola Feud Escalates
13) CA: Man charged with crimes for resisting abduction by street gang
14) KY: Whistleblower claims licensing center sold IDs to immigrants “under the table”
15) Serbia: Clashes erupt at anti-regime protests
16) New draft of global plastic pollution treaty wouldn’t limit plastic production
17) Judge orders ICE gang to stop forcing abductees to sleep on dirty concrete floors in NYC
18) Record low number of Americans report drinking alcohol
19) Italy: Boat carrying migrants capsizes, killing at least 26
20) Trump regime orders Smithsonian museums to be reviewed for “Americanism”
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Open Letter to Israel Foreign Minister Sa’ar
22) Why the Supreme Court is Highly Unlikely to Overturn Obergefell in the Kim Davis Case
23) Government should become extinct
24) Judicial Deference to Unconstitutional Actions
25) Inflation or recession? Either way, Trump’s tariffs will leave lasting scars.
26) Why We Must Release the Epstein Files
27) Putin-Trump Meeting: Endgame or PR Event?
28) Criticizing Israel? This definition of antisemitism will take care of that.
29) Albanians cheer corruption cleanup
30) Facts About Crime Don’t Care About Trump’s Feelings
31) Mamdani’s NYC borough tour attacking Trump smacks of amateur hour
32) Bootstraps or Bailouts? The Hidden Truth of Israel’s Military Power
33) The Two-State Solution Sham, And Other Reader Questions
34) Stable/Genius: Stablecoins and Free Banking
35) The Trump-Putin Meeting: How We Got Here
36) Who pays for higher wages?
37) Is It Hopeless?
38) Americans Misunderstand Social Security but Appear Open to Reform
39) “Alligator Alcatraz” Is a Moral Stain
40) Important win for free speech against California’s overly restrictive deepfake laws
41) Fear Can’t Hold Forever: How the Machinery of Tyranny Destroys Itself
42) Satire Censorship, DOA
43) Washington Really Is Israeli-Occupied Territory
44) Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines
45) Trump-Putin Alaska summit: Ceasefire only, no territorial trade-off
46) Waiting for a Platonist Reform Plan
47) Federalism and Housing Policy
48) Rules Matter More Than Rulers
49) Establishment Struggles to Maintain Control of California
50) Green Markets, Not Green Leviathans
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/13/25
52) The Good Fight, 08/13/25
53) How To Fix The Internet, 08/13/25
54) Inside Trump’s Head, episode 1
55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/13/25
56) Fakertarians Podcast, episode 60
57) Soho Forum Debate: Are Trump’s Deportations Constitutional?
58) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/12/25
59) Matt Taibbi on The Scott Horton Show
60) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 08/12/25
61) Nonzero, 08/12/25
62) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/12/25
63) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/12/25
64) Capital Record, episode 248
65) Dangerous History Podcast, episode 281
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Bitcoin touches record high, Ether keeps pace
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“Bitcoin rose over 1% Thursday to just above $121,655 after hitting a record $123,500 Wednesday, driven by institutional demand and bets on looser monetary policy. The cryptocurrency has gained 31% year-to-date and is up 60% from April’s market lows. … Meanwhile ethereum (ETH-USD) prices rose to near record levels on Wednesday as Wall Street grows increasingly bullish on the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Ethereum’s native token, ether jumped as much as 6% to hover above $4,700 per token, just shy of its 2021 record highs.” (08/14/25)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-touches-record-high-as-crypto-rally-rages-on-amid-bullish-fundamental-changes-231411045.html
-----
2) Israel’s Smotrich Approves New Squat in Attempt to “Bury” State of Palestine
Source: US News & World Report
“Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans overnight for a [squat] that would split [occupied] East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state. It was not immediately clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 scheme, which Palestinians and world powers have said would effectively lop the West Bank in two and will likely draw international ire. … Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand imposed sanctions in June on Smotrich and another far-right minister who advocates for [squat] expansion, accusing both of them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.” (08/14/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-14/israels-smotrich-approves-settlement-splitting-east-jerusalem-from-west-bank
-----
3) Russia: Ukrainian drone strikes hit two cities, injuring at least 16
Source: Malay Mail [Malaysia]
“Ukrainian drones struck two Russian cities on Thursday in attacks that injured at least 16 people, local authorities said, a day before a US-Russia summit on the war in Ukraine. Thirteen people were wounded, two seriously, when a drone struck an apartment building in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don …. Three civilians were wounded in the city of Belgorod …. Separately, the head of Russia’s Volgograd region said fallen debris from Ukrainian drones had caused a fire at an oil refinery.” (08/14/25)
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2025/08/14/ukrainian-drone-strikes-hit-two-russian-cities-injuring-at-least-16-ahead-of-us-russia-summit/187628
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4) Appeals court lets Trump regime suspend or end billions in foreign aid
Source: SFGate
“A divided panel of appeals court judges ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration can suspend or terminate billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for foreign aid. Two of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that grant recipients challenging the freeze did not meet the requirements for a preliminary injunction restoring the flow of money. In January, on the first day of his second term in the White House, Republican President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to freeze spending on foreign aid. After groups of grant recipients sued to challenge that order, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the administration to release the full amount of foreign assistance that Congress had appropriated for the 2024 budget year. The appeal court’s majority partially vacated Ali’s order.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/appeals-court-lets-the-white-house-suspend-or-end-20815922.php
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5) Newsom: California regime will redraw maps after “missed” Trump deadline
Source: The Hill
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Tuesday that his state would redraw its House maps after President Trump failed to respond to a letter the governor sent him urging Trump to have red states call off redistricting efforts. ‘DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),’ Newsom wrote in a statement on the social platform X put out through his press office, meant to mock how Trump writes his posts on Truth Social. … Newsom penned a letter to Trump on Monday pressing the president to have Texas and other red states stop their mid-decade redistricting efforts …. Newsom’s office gave Trump until Tuesday evening to reply to the letter.” (08/13/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5449851-newsom-trump-redistricting-clash/
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6) Air Canada to begin canceling flights before possible strike by flight attendants
Source: Seattle Times
“Air Canada said Wednesday it will begin a gradual suspension of flights to allow an orderly shutdown of the country’s largest airline as it faces a potential work stoppage by its flight attendants on Saturday. The airline said the first flights will be canceled Thursday, with more on Friday and a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge by the weekend. The union representing around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants issued a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday. In response, the airline issued a lockout notice.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/bzMyJ
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7) Chinese scientists build largest array of atoms for quantum computing in the world
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“A team led by renowned Chinese physicist Pan Jianwei has built a key component for a quantum computer — an atom-arranging setup capable of creating arrays 10 times larger than previous systems — that raised hopes it could one day be scaled to tens of thousands of these tiny building blocks. The approach taken by Pan and his team from the University of Science and Technology of China overcomes a major hurdle to atom-based quantum computing, according to a paper published last week in the peer-reviewed Physical Review Letters. The researchers designed an artificial intelligence system capable of arranging more than 2,000 rubidium atoms – each serving as a qubit, the two-state basic unit of quantum computing – into perfect patterns in a mere 60,000th of a second, it said.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/bUAUd
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8) Uganda: Opposition Seeks to Nullify Law on Military Prosecution of Civilians
Source: US News & World Report
“Uganda’s biggest opposition party on Wednesday filed a case in the constitutional court to nullify a newly enacted law that reinstated the right of military tribunals to try civilians, a lawyer and party official said. The Supreme Court proscribed the prosecution of civilians in the tribunals in January, saying they lacked legal competence to conduct criminal trials in a fair and impartial manner. Local and international rights campaigners have long accused Uganda’s government of using military courts to pursue political opponents of President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who has been in power for almost 40 years. His aides have denied this, saying only civilians who use guns for political violence are prosecuted in such tribunals.” (08/13/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-08-13/ugandan-opposition-seeks-to-nullify-law-on-military-prosecution-of-civilians
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9) Report: Inmates planned to make Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s life hell in prison
Source: New York Post
“The inmates making quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger’s time in prison a living hell knew he was coming to the high-security Idaho lockup and planned how they could carry out a campaign of harassment against him, according to a report. Kohberger was transferred from jail to the only high-security prison in the state after he received four life sentences last month for the gruesome slayings of four University of Idaho students in 2022. And the prisoners at Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna ‘were aware he was coming’, former homicide detective Chris McDonough told NewsNation Tuesday. ‘The inmates were apparently waiting for him,’ said McDonough, who now works for the Cold Case Foundation. ‘And when he got there, they are now making his life absolutely miserable.'” (08/13/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/13/us-news/inmates-planned-to-make-bryan-kohbergers-life-hell-in-jail/
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10) US regime sanctions Mexican drug cartel associates accused of scamming elderly Americans
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than a dozen Mexican companies and four people it says worked with a powerful drug trafficking cartel to scam elderly Americans in a multimillion-dollar timeshare fraud. The network of 13 businesses in areas near the seaside tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta were accused of working with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a group designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization. In a scheme dating back to 2012, four cartel associates are accused of defrauding American citizens of their life savings through elaborate rental and resale schemes, according to a Treasury statement. In the span of six months, officials said they were able to document $23.1 million sent from mostly people in the U.S. to scammers in Mexico.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/us-sanctions-mexican-drug-cartel-associates-20815962.php
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11) French Guyana: Ariane 6 launches next-gen weather satellite
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The Ariane 6 rocket on Wednesday blasted off carrying Europe’s next generation satellite for warning against extreme weather events. As many European countries simmer in a deadly heatwave, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) said its MetOp-SGA1 satellite will give ‘earlier warnings to help protect lives and property from extreme weather.’ … The rocket carrying the four-tonne satellite took off from France’s Kourou space base in French Guyana. MetOp-SGA1 was to be put into an 800 kilometre (500 mile) high orbit. It will be Europe’s first contribution to a US-led programme, the Joint Polar System, putting up satellites orbiting between the north and south poles.” (08/13/25)
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250813-european-satellite-to-step-up-monitoring-of-extreme-weather
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12) Canadadian Regime “Ready to Engage” With Chinese Regime on Trade as Canola Feud Escalates
Source: Bloomberg
“Canada’s trade and agriculture ministers said they are ‘deeply disappointed’ with China’s decision to impose new duties on [Chinese buyers of] Canadian canola, but stand ready to engage with Beijing on the trade dispute. Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald issued a joint statement late Tuesday responding to China’s announcement of a 75.8% preliminary anti-dumping duty on [Chinese buyers of] canola seed from Canada. The new levy follows Beijing’s imposition earlier this year of a 100% tariff on [Chinese buyers of] canola oil and meal from the North American nation. … Canola meal prices in China — where the commodity is known as rapeseed — jumped following the announcement of the new duty.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/G7To5
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13) CA: Man charged with crimes for resisting abduction by street gang
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“A 19-year-old man was charged in San Diego federal court Tuesday with ramming a federal agent’s vehicle in Escondido during an immigration [abduction], prosecutors said. The man, a Mexican national, pleaded not guilty to assaulting a federal officer, assaulting a federal officer resulting in bodily injury and destruction of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Federal authorities later determined he was not the original target of the [kidnapping attempt], according to the complaint. Officials did not disclose his immigration status.” (08/12/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/12/man-arrested-after-allegedly-ramming-agents-vehicle-in-escondido-during-immigration-enforcement/
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14) KY: Whistleblower claims licensing center sold IDs to immigrants “under the table”
Source: Fox News
“Former Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) clerk Melissa Moorman sued her old employers for allegedly firing her because she reported on co-workers selling driver’s licenses to illegal [sic] immigrants. According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Moorman discovered in 2024 that two co-workers from the Department of Vehicle Regulation were selling documents to ‘nonresidents’ without proper immigration screenings or testing. Her lawyers argued that she knew of the crime after being invited to participate. ‘The employees were being paid under the table,’ Moorman told WDRB News on Monday. ‘I immediately let my supervisor know about it.’ She also informed WDRB News that these co-workers would sell licenses for $200 per person approximately four to five times a day, for over two years. Moorman said that every case she encountered involved an [sic] illegal immigrant.” (08/13/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/kentucky-whistleblower-claims-licensing-center-sold-ids-illegal-immigrants-under-table
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15) Serbia: Clashes erupt at anti-regime protests
Source: ABC News
“Clashes erupted at protests in Serbia between opponents and supporters of the government in an escalation of tensions following more than nine months of persistent demonstrations against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Incidents first started on Tuesday evening in Vrbas, northwest of the capital Belgrade, where riot police separated protesters from the opposed camps outside the ruling Serbian Progressive Party offices in the town. Video footages from the scene showed government supporters throwing flares, rocks and bottles at the protesters, who hurled back various objects. Police said dozens of people were injured, including 16 policemen. Similar incidents were reported at protests in other parts of the country.” (08/13/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/clashes-erupt-serbian-anti-government-protests-dozens-injured-124602317
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16) New draft of global plastic pollution treaty wouldn’t limit plastic production
Source: SFGate
“Negotiators working on a treaty to address global plastic pollution discussed a new draft of the text Wednesday that wouldn’t limit plastic production or address chemicals used in plastic products. The biggest issue of the talks has been whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic or focus instead on things like better design, recycling and reuse. About 100 countries want to limit production as well as tackle cleanup and recycling. Many have said it’s essential to address toxic chemicals. Powerful oil and gas-producing nations and the plastics industry oppose production limits. They want a treaty focused on better waste management and reuse. Countries with very divergent views expressed disappointment with the draft.” (08/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/new-draft-of-plastic-pollution-treaty-would-not-20815691.php
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17) Judge orders ICE gang to stop forcing abductees to sleep on dirty concrete floors in NYC
Source: Politico
“A federal judge ordered the Trump administration Tuesday to improve the conditions for ICE [abductees] in Manhattan after a lawsuit filed by a Peruvian immigrant complained of cramped and unsanitary holding cells. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered officials by Aug. 26 to provide more spacious accommodations that are equipped with a bedding mat for each [abductee] held overnight, have hygiene supplies and are cleaned ‘thoroughly’ at least three times a day. Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, also ordered officials to allow [abductees] private phone calls with their lawyers within 24 hours of being [kidnapped] and to give them a printed notice of their rights within one hour of being placed in a holding room. The notice, Kaplan ordered, should inform them that, upon request, they will be given bottled water and one additional meal per day beyond the two that are automatically provided to them.” (08/12/25)
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/12/ice-manahttan-detention-conditions-ruling-00505986
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18) Record low number of Americans report drinking alcohol
Source: Fox News
“More Americans than ever are choosing not to drink alcohol, according to a new Gallup Poll. Only 54% of respondents to Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits survey conducted last month say they consume alcohol, which is the lowest on record in nearly 90 years. ‘This coincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one’s health, now the majority view for the first time,’ Gallup said in a press release. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism cites nine body systems impacted by alcohol use. ‘Current research points to health risks even at low amounts of alcohol consumption, regardless of beverage type,’ its website says. Those who do drink are drinking less, Gallup reported, averaging about 2.8 drinks a week. Over the past two years, Republicans have reported a sharp drop in drinking habits, but Democrats’ percentage has held fairly steady.” (08/13/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/health/record-low-number-americans-report-drinking-alcohol-new-teetotalers-explaining-why
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19) Italy: Boat carrying migrants capsizes, killing at least 26
Source: SFGate
“A boat carrying nearly 100 migrants capsized Wednesday in international waters off the Italian island of Lampedusa, killing at least 26 people and leaving about a dozen missing, the Italian coast guard and U.N. agencies said. Sixty survivors were brought to a center in Lampedusa, said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesperson in Italy. There were 92 to 97 migrants on board when the boat departed Libya, according to survivor accounts. Authorities were still searching for any remaining survivors. The coast guard said in a statement that the death toll stood at 26, but was still ‘provisional and being updated.’ Based on survivor accounts, about 95 migrants left Libya on two boats, International Organization for Migration spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo said. When one of the two vessels started to take on water, all the passengers were transferred to the other boat — made of fiberglass — which then capsized because of overloading, he said.” (08/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/migrant-boat-capsizes-off-italy-and-leaves-at-20815585.php
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20) Trump regime orders Smithsonian museums to be reviewed for “Americanism”
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“The White House has ordered an extensive review of the Smithsonian museums and exhibitions in advance of next year’s 250th anniversary of the United States, with the goal of aligning the institution’s content with President Donald Trump’s [fantasies about] US history. In a letter sent on Tuesday to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the White House laid out in detail the steps it expects the organisation to take so that museum content can be reviewed for a focus on ‘Americanism.’ … ‘This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,’ the letter added.” (08/13/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/13/trump-admin-orders-smithsonian-museums-to-be-reviewed-for-americanism
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Open Letter to Israel Foreign Minister Sa’ar
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jeffrey D Sachs
“In the view of most of the world, with which I concur, Israel is engaged in mass murder and starvation; you would not have known it from your speech. You failed to acknowledge that Israel has caused the deaths to date of some 18,500 Palestinian children …. You blamed all the mass murder of civilians by Israeli forces on Hamas, even as the world watches video clips every day of Israeli forces killing starving civilians in cold blood as they approach food distribution points. You lamented the starvation of 20 hostages but failed to mention Israel’s starvation of 2 million Palestinians. … Whether your oversights are the result of obtuseness or prevarication, they would be a tragedy for Israel alone were it not for the fact that you attempted to rope me and millions of other Jews into your government’s crimes against humanity.” (08/13/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/jeffrey_sachs/2025/08/12/open-letter-to-israel-foreign-minister-saar/
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22) Why the Supreme Court is Highly Unlikely to Overturn Obergefell in the Kim Davis Case
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“[Davis’s] case has multiple flaws as a potential vehicle for the Obergefell issue. Among other things, that question is an appendage to a dubious religious-liberty claim, under which Davis claims that government officials have a First Amendment right to refuse to issue marriage licenses to couples they disapprove of on religious grounds. It’s worth noting, here, that some people have religious objections to interracial marriages and interfaith marriages, among other possibilities. Does a clerk with religious objections have a constitutional right to refuse to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple or to one involving an intermarriage between a Jew and a Christian? The question answers itself. … In the private sector, I think there often is a First Amendment free speech or religious liberty right to refuse to provide services …. Public employees engaged in their official duties are a very different matter.” (08/13/25)
https://reason.com/volokh/2025/08/13/why-the-supreme-court-is-highly-unlikely-to-overturn-obergefell-in-the-kim-davis-case/
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23) Government should become extinct
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Government is an unnecessary evil. Every government, not just the ones you dislike. The governments you are encouraged to hate are no worse than the one you look to for advice on which ones to hate. In fact, they are less harmful to you since they aren’t able to rule or tax you. People who try to justify government often admit it’s evil. Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet Common Sense from 1776, wrote, ‘Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.’ This doesn’t hold water. If something is evil, it’s not necessary, and if it’s necessary, it can’t be evil. It’s like arguing for a square circle. It’s one or the other, and government is always intolerable.” (08/13/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/08/13/voices/opinion-government-should-become-extinct/231446.html
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24) Judicial Deference to Unconstitutional Actions
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“When the U.S. Constitution called the federal government into existence, it was on the condition that federal officials could exercise only those powers that the Constitution delegated to the federal government. If a power wasn’t delegated, it could not be exercised. … The responsibility of the judicial branch was to determine whether laws enacted by Congress or actions taken by the president were constitutional or not. The federal judiciary would have the final say over the constitutionality of laws and actions. … after the federal government was converted to a national-security state in the late 1940s, the national-security establishment (i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA) effectively became a fourth branch of government — and the most powerful branch at that, one to which the other three branches ended up deferring.” (08/13/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/08/13/judicial-deference-to-unconstitutional-actions/
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25) Inflation or recession? Either way, Trump’s tariffs will leave lasting scars.
Source: The Hill
by Sheldon H Jacobson
“Tariffs will create a new market equilibrium. Higher prices will invariably shift consumer preferences and buying patterns. Given that consumers tend to be price sensitive, they may chase lower prices for the same goods by purchasing different brands, opt to purchase different goods (for example, switching from beef to chicken), or simply not make purchases. The net effect is less consumer spending, which invariably will lead to a shrinking economy. Recent GDP and labor force numbers support this trend, which will only accelerate as the tariffs become more widespread and ingrained into the economy.” (08/13/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5448330-trump-tariffs-economic-scars/
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26) Why We Must Release the Epstein Files
Source: The Nation
by US Representative Rho Khanna (D-CA)
“On his podcast, Joe Rogan recently asked Senator Bernie Sanders a question that reflects a concern many Americans have today: Why should people pay more in taxes to ‘an incompetent, corrupt government’ that lacks accountability? The truth is, we should be investing more in government programs for education, healthcare, and the creation of well-paid jobs. But decades of corruption and the unchecked influence of money in politics have fueled a deep distrust in our institutions. Overcoming this distrust is one of our greatest challenges as a country. If we want to enact initiatives like a 21st-century Marshall Plan for America or Medicare for All, we need people to believe that government works for them — not just for the rich and powerful.” [editor’s note: Rho Khanna is a multi-millionaire congresscritter. Rich? Check. Powerful? Check – TLK] (08/13/25)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/epstein-files-trump-transparency-corruption/
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27) Putin-Trump Meeting: Endgame or PR Event?
Source: CounterPunch
by Jack Rasmus
“Events that got the ball rolling toward a meeting in Alaska were set in motion by Trump’s sending his second special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow last week. (Trump’s other envoy is General Kellogg who had carried the water for the US neocons’ demands for Russia to ceasefire first, then negotiate). What provoked Trump to send Witkoff? It may have been Putin’s signal that Russia has now only two major demands: No NATO in Ukraine and Ukraine acceptance that the four provinces (+ Crimea) are now part of Russia. This appears as a concession without Russia actually making one. … Of course, Zelensky has also declared the four provinces and Crimea are part of the Ukrainian Constitution and are non-negotiable. What this means is one side or the other has to confront a Constitutional crisis in order to negotiate an end to the war. That will not happen.” (08/13/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/08/13/putin-trump-meeting-endgame-or-pr-event/
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28) Criticizing Israel? This definition of antisemitism will take care of that.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter
“Speech codes are popping up all over the US, chilling the right to question what another government is doing thousands of miles away.” (08/13/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/anti-semitism-speech-israel/
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29) Albanians cheer corruption cleanup
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Strategically located on the Adriatic Sea, between Eastern and Western Europe, Albania is a small country. However, after the downfall of a repressive communist regime in the early 1990s, it gained an outsize reputation as a hub of organized crime and corruption. Getting a handle on international drug-trafficking networks and pervasive graft at home has been a tall order. But pro-Western Prime Minster Edi Rama – at 6 foot, 7 inches, reputedly the world’s tallest leader – is proving up to the task. He decisively won a fourth term in May, riding on popular support for his cleanup campaign. Just last week, 10 suspected members of a cocaine and money-laundering ring were arrested by SPAK, a specialized anti-corruption unit set up in 2019. In recent months, SPAK has also gone after senior public officials, including from Mr. Rama’s governing Socialist Party.” (08/12/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0812/Albanians-cheer-corruption-cleanup
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30) Facts About Crime Don’t Care About Trump’s Feelings
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
”Facts don’t care about your feelings’ is a maxim popularized by the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. As I don’t expect rigorous fact-checking from Shapiro and his far-right content factory Daily Wire, I was not shocked to hear a Daily Wire podcaster Michael Knowles defend Donald Trump’s militaristic federal takeover of the Washington, D.C. police as being ‘in response to skyrocketing crime,’ despite the fact that the rate of violent crime in D.C in 2024 is down by more than a third since 2023, and more than half since 2010. … even if we are to consider ‘feelings,’ what is the evidence that there is a panic about crime — either in Washington or across the country — that would support Trump deploying the National Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take over local policing?” (08/13/25)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/13/facts-about-crime-dont-care-about-trumps-feelings/
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31) Mamdani’s NYC borough tour attacking Trump smacks of amateur hour
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin
“It seems as if it was only yesterday that Zohran Mamdani was running to be mayor of New York on an agenda he vowed would solve the ‘affordability crisis’. He won the Democratic primary by pledging that wealthier New Yorkers would pay higher taxes so his City Hall could afford lots of free stuff for everyone else. Apparently that’s all it took to solve the crisis. Because just like that, the 33-year-old socialist assemblyman is saying he has a new agenda for the general election. He’s now running against President Trump, calling him an enemy and vowing ‘My administration will be Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.’ This week he’s touring the five boroughs, one borough per day, with a steady stream of warnings that the president’s policies will hurt the city, and that Mamdani should be elected to resist him.” (08/12/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/12/opinion/michael-goodwin-mamdanis-nyc-borough-tour-attacking-trump-smacks-of-amateur-hour/
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32) Bootstraps or Bailouts? The Hidden Truth of Israel’s Military Power
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“As America continues pouring billions into Israeli defense, the uncomfortable truth is that Israel’s security and strategic position have always depended on outside assistance — contrary to popular conservative claims. Conservative pundits like Ben Shapiro repeatedly boast about Israel’s alleged independence in the face of external foes, arguing that ‘Israel has bootstrapped its way into military dominance despite all of the internal obstacles’ it has faced. However, this claim contradicts the extensive evidence of American and Western support the Jewish state has received since 1948. From the crucial Soviet arms supplies in 1948 to the unprecedented $38 billion U.S. military aid package of 2016, Israel’s history reveals a persistent dependence on outside aid, belying its image of independence.” (08/13/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/bootstraps-or-bailouts-the-hidden-truth-of-israels-military-power
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33) The Two-State Solution Sham, And Other Reader Questions
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israeli officials have been telling us themselves that it’s a delusion for a while now, and I think we should believe them. Everything about Israel is stacked against allowing the creation of a Palestinian state, and even if the Palestinians do get a meaningful state somehow, what then? Israel is constantly at war with its neighbors who refuse to obey its dictates, so a ‘Palestinian state’ would likely either be (A) Israel continuing to bomb and massacre Palestinians just like they’re doing now, or (B) Palestinians obeying the dictates of Tel Aviv and not being meaningfully sovereign. The truth is that Palestinians will never be free as long as Israel exists as the hypermilitaristic racist settler-colonialist state that it is.” (08/13/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/08/13/the-two-state-solution-sham-and-other-reader-questions/
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34) Stable/Genius: Stablecoins and Free Banking
Source: EconLog
by Tyler Watts
“USD stablecoins have been in existence since the 2014 launches of Tether and BitUSD, but they’ve gained prominence in the last few years with an increasing number of issuers and widening acceptance. With the supportive regulatory environment of the GENIUS Act, they should surge in popularity and gain wide usage and acceptance. I’ll briefly address the uses and ostensible benefits of stablecoins, but I want to focus on what I think is the most exciting feature, which is their potential to herald a renewal of free banking.” (08/13/25)
https://www.econlib.org/stable-genius-stablecoins-and-free-banking/
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35) The Trump-Putin Meeting: How We Got Here
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“This Friday, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to sit down together in what will be the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of each country since the war in Ukraine broke out almost three and a half years ago. For many, this is a long-overdue step towards bringing this war to an end. For others, it marks the dangerous and unnecessary return of a policy of ‘appeasement’ that’s sure to prompt more invasions from Putin and other leaders that the US government does not back. There certainly will be plenty of debate in the coming days over the wisdom and likely consequences of this meeting. But, as with anything, the best way to understand both is to look back at how we got here.” (08/13/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-putin-meeting-how-we-got-here
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36) Who pays for higher wages?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Matthew Blakey
“While empirical studies can yield conflicting results depending on the methodology or timeframe used, the California findings reinforce what generations of economists — from classical economists to modern market theorists — have long understood: there’s no escaping trade-offs. California’s recent experience should serve as a cautionary tale for lawmakers around the country. While increasing the minimum wage may sound helpful, it carries hidden costs that disproportionately affect low-skilled workers, who face the highest risk of being priced out of the labor market. A review of Seattle’s experience from ten years ago would have demonstrated California’s likely outcome.” (08/13/25)
https://fee.org/articles/who-pays-for-higher-wages/
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37) Is It Hopeless?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“‘The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.’ (Historian Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler, late-1800s) Is it hopeless? Almost. Probably. But maybe not. As Sir Tytler so accurately illuminated in the quote above, nations rise and fall. That’s almost become axiomatic. But it is historically true. It isn’t quite that simple, however, and a little historical analysis would be helpful. Empires and nations sometimes bounce on a pogo stick before the stick finally breaks and the nation collapses into non-existence or feebleness.” (08/13/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2025/08/13/is-it-hopeless-n2661769#google_vignette
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38) Americans Misunderstand Social Security but Appear Open to Reform
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Despite his administration’s talk about shrinking the size and cost of government, President Donald Trump has been careful to exclude entitlements like Social Security from consideration for serious reform. That makes it essentially impossible to fix federal finances given the massive chunk of expenditures represented by these programs, but it’s understandable from a political perspective. The fact is that most Americans like Social Security, though they don’t understand how it works or why it’s headed for a fiscal cliff. The only good news is that the public gets that there is a problem, and some are open to changes.” (08/13/25)
https://reason.com/2025/08/13/americans-misunderstand-social-security-but-appear-open-to-reform/
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39) “Alligator Alcatraz” Is a Moral Stain
Source: The Bulwark
by James F McHugh
“There is no doubt that the conditions of confinement in Alcatraz and ADX Florence were and are harsh, but the people incarcerated in those facilities committed serious crimes and had been convicted of those crimes after trials before juries of their peers — and in many cases, after appeals. The conditions under which they were incarcerated were designed to ensure that they would never again engage in similar behavior. By contrast, incarceration in the brutal confines of the Florida facility comes before decisions are made about whether the inmates have violated any laws …. When a cabinet secretary, the head of a major government department charged with making decisions that can affect every citizen of the United States, calls current and future detainees ‘scumbags,’ she creates a dehumanizing force that inevitably ripples through her entire organization.” (08/13/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/alligator-alcatraz-everglades-ice-dhs-detention-facility-is-a-moral-stain
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40) Important win for free speech against California’s overly restrictive deepfake laws
Source: Orange County Register
by Richard Sill
“Free speech rights recently secured an important legal win against one of California’s overly broad deepfake laws. The case underscores the ongoing difficulty of state legislators trying to regulate AI-generated content without infringing on constitutionally protected speech. … Rather than trying to overly regulate this fast-evolving technology in ways that restrict protected speech rights, California’s best course lies in leveraging existing legal tools. The state’s defamation, fraud, privacy, and right of publicity laws already provide strong remedies for victims of harmful deepfakes.” (08/13/25)
https://archive.is/efMpE
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41) Fear Can’t Hold Forever: How the Machinery of Tyranny Destroys Itself
Source: Common Dreams
by George Cassidy Payne
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu once warned, ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.’ Neutrality (that quiet silence born of fear and resignation) is the oxygen every autocrat breathes. They survive by persuading us that resistance is pointless, that solidarity is too dangerous, and that isolation is inevitable. But history has no mercy for regimes built on fear. They all fall. We are watching the same authoritarian script play out today, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia to Benjamin Netanyahu’s siege of Gaza, from Viktor Orbán’s Hungary to the United States itself. On Monday, President Trump invoked the Home Rule Act to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, installing Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as its leader.” (08/13/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/tyranny-self-destructs
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42) Satire Censorship, DOA
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In the endless battle to protect our freedom of speech, the forces for good can chalk up another victory, this one out in California. The Golden State government has been trying to impose censorship on so-called ‘deep-fake’ videos by forcing social-media platforms to find and eliminate ‘materially deceptive content’ about incumbents and candidates. Platforms like Twitter‑X and Rumble contend that the law would compel them to act as government censors. … A district judge, John Mendez, recently stated in court that since platforms are protected from being punished for third-party content under the Communications Decency Act, the California law seeking to punish platforms that fail to remove ‘deep-fake’ political criticism on behalf of pusillanimous pols is dead on arrival.” (08/12/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/08/12/satire-censorship-doa/
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43) Washington Really Is Israeli-Occupied Territory
Source: The American Conservative
by George D O’Neill Jr.
“During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress in July 2024, the Israeli premier received dozens of long and loud standing ovations. The enthusiastic response to his triumphalist speech brought to mind the joyous welcome given to a Roman general returning from a victorious campaign that brought glory to the Empire. Yet this was the leader of a small foreign country whose aggression brings it — and us — a cloud of shame. … Last month the House of Representatives approved another $500 million dollars in aid for Israel’s military. Shortly after that, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recessed the House early to avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Johnson then led a large congressional delegation to Israel.” (08/13/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washington-really-is-israeli-occupied-territory/
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44) Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines
Source: Washington Post
by Jay Bhattacharya, director, National Institutes of Health
“The mRNA platform is promising technology. I do not dispute its potential. In the future, it may yet deliver breakthroughs in treating diseases such as cancer, and HHS is continuing to invest in ongoing research on applications in oncology and other complex diseases. But as a vaccine intended for broad public use, especially during a public health emergency, the platform has failed a crucial test: earning public trust. No matter how elegant the science, a platform that lacks credibility among the people it seeks to protect cannot fulfill its public health mission.” (08/12/25)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/12/nih-mrna-vaccines-jay-bhattacharya/
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45) Trump-Putin Alaska summit: Ceasefire only, no territorial trade-off
Source: Fox News Forum
by Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis (USA, ret.)
“This Friday’s high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska could bring real relief to Ukraine – but only if it stays laser-focused on one goal: an enforceable ceasefire. No redraw of the map. No ‘land for peace’ concessions that reward Moscow’s aggression and punish Ukrainian sovereignty. Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance convened a secure call with European and Ukrainian officials. The message from allied capitals was blunt: halt the fighting first, then negotiate the rest – without giving up an inch of Ukrainian land. European leaders have repeated it publicly: ‘Peace cannot be decided without Ukraine.'” (08/13/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-putin-alaska-summit-ceasefire-only-no-territorial-trade-off
-----
46) Waiting for a Platonist Reform Plan
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“As an asymptotic anarchist, I recognize that moving toward the goal of rules without rulers might mean having today to choose between an imperfect autocrat like Lee Kuan Yew and independent federal agencies an authoritarian politburo like the EU or CCP. Of course, despite the bluster and bombast of another Trump term, what we have here in the US is still mutating rapidly into a Sino-European administrative regime. So I won’t always clutch my pearls about moralistic or legalistic administrivia as this ship of state approaches the icebergs. My kids need lifeboats. Perhaps my critics would retort that by accepting compromises against the *rule of law,* I prime the coercive apparatus for future authoritarians to seize. Perhaps. But so does twiddling one’s thumbs while waiting for Godot’s Platonist Plans.” (08/12/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/waiting-for-a-platonist-reform-plan
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47) Federalism and Housing Policy
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
“In previous posts I’ve discussed tax competition between states. This competition intensified after the SALT deduction was limited to $10,000. Congress recently increased the SALT limit back up to $40,000, however, which will significantly reduce tax competition between states. In the future, housing policy may become the number one factor in competition for new residents, especially as immigration restrictions and sharply lower birthrates slow or even end the growth of America’s population. Despite high taxes and burdensome regulations, California has extremely high housing prices. This suggests that there is still a strong demand to live here, which could lead to a large population inflow if regulations on building were further liberalized. ” (08/12/25)
https://www.econlib.org/federalism-and-housing-policy/
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48) Rules Matter More Than Rulers
Source: Persuasion
by Emily Chamlee-Wright
“Imagine you’re a contestant on a new gameshow. Let’s call it ‘The Future of American Democracy.’ The lights dim. A booming voice announces the stakes. You, the voter, must choose between two sealed doors. Behind each lies a prospective future. There is no third door. Pick wisely. Door #1: A Democrat occupies the Oval Office, committed to reversing the Trump Administration’s legacy. Given the expansion of executive power in recent years, the new president’s authority is largely unconstrained. … Door #2: A MAGA-aligned figure sits in the White House, eager to extend Trump’s protectionist policies and anti-immigrant, culture war agenda. But rather than enjoying expanded executive powers, the president is hemmed in by institutional guardrails. … The right answer, the responsible answer, is Door #2. And the reason is painfully simple: in a republic worth preserving, rules matter more than rulers.” (08/12/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/rules-matter-more-than-rulers
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49) Establishment Struggles to Maintain Control of California
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Katie Porter got in a lot of trouble at the end of her 2024 Senate campaign for using the word ‘rigged’ to describe the statewide primary race she lost. She was referring to a coordinated campaign by big money, particularly crypto interests, to drive up her negatives and hand California’s Senate seat to Adam Schiff. Those interests got their return on investment this year when Schiff supported the GENIUS Act. But underneath that was another kind of rigging, one that experienced observers of the political scene here have long witnessed. Schiff was anointed the front-runner by a class of influential politicians and consultants who have long played kingmaker in California. Contested elections between Democrats for major statewide offices in this one-party state have been nonexistent during the past 20 years, as establishment-chosen politicians have divvied up the spoils.” (08/13/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-08-13-establishment-struggles-control-california-governors-race/
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50) Green Markets, Not Green Leviathans
Source: Cobden Centre
by Elias Sanchez
“While travelling through the Bolivian Amazon, I read Market Ecology, a sharp, unconventional text by Jesús Huerta de Soto. Its central claim is deceptively simple: environmental sustainability and economic freedom are not at odds. On the contrary, secure property rights, voluntary exchange, and decentralised governance may be the most effective tools for ecological stewardship. Bolivia offers a telling example. In Parque Machía, near Cochabamba, it is community consensus — not state decree — that keeps environmental norms intact.” (08/12/25)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2025/08/green-markets-not-green-leviathans/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/13/25
Source: The Political Orphanage
“To Make a Terrifying Spoiler Candidate.” (08/13/25)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/to-make-a-terrifying-spoiler-candidate
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52) The Good Fight, 08/13/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“David Enoch on Certainty and Compromise.” (08/13/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/david-enoch-on-certainty-and-compromise
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53) How To Fix The Internet, 08/13/25
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
“Separating AI Hope from AI Hype.” (08/13/25)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/podcast-episode-separating-ai-hope-ai-hype
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54) Inside Trump’s Head, episode 1
Source: The Daily Beast
“Trump’s Twisted Move to Distract from Epstein.” (08/13/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By6j7kp9R5k
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55) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/13/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Netanyahu ‘Very’ Attached to ‘Greater Israel,’ US Launches 57 Strikes in Somalia in 2025, and More.” (08/13/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0dXxqW-g4o
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56) Fakertarians Podcast, episode 60
Source: Fakertarians
“A SovCit!” (08/12/25)
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/fakertarians/episodes/Fakertarians-Episode-60-A-SovCit-e36p9rb
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57) Soho Forum Debate: Are Trump’s Deportations Constitutional?
Source: Reason
“Glenn Greenwald and Anna K. Gorisch debate the resolution, ‘President Trump’s deportation policies generally violate key civil liberties as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.'” (08/12/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/08/12/are-trumps-deportations-constitutional/
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58) The Lou Perez Podcast, 08/12/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Cuba Libre — Gaby Blanco Parses Truth & Commie Propaganda.” (08/12/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/the-lou-perez-podcast-cuba-libre-gaby-blanco-parses-truth-amp-commie-propaganda
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59) Matt Taibbi on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Matt Taibbi returns to the show to run through some of the new information we’ve learned about the origins of Russiagate.” (08/12/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/8-8-25-matt-taibbi-on-the-damning-new-details-about-russiagate/
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60) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 08/12/25
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“FIRE Reacts — Where does Harvard go from here? With Larry Summers.” (08/12/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/podcasts/so-speak-free-speech-podcast/fire-reacts-where-does-harvard-go-here-larry-summers
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61) Nonzero, 08/12/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump | Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus.” (08/12/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68928
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62) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/12/25
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Fear, Loathing, and Harassment on the LNC: Discussion with Brittany Kosin.” (08/12/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zlEEN_13_k
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63) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/12/25
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Crime, Public Safety, and Perception in St. Louis with Braxton Steele.” (08/12/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/state-and-local-government/crime-public-safety-and-perception-in-st-louis-with-braxton-steele/
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64) Capital Record, episode 248
Source: National Review
“Murder in the Building.” (08/12/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/murder-in-the-building/
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65) Dangerous History Podcast, episode 281
Source: Libertarian Institute
“‘The Best-Planned Mistake’: The Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty.” (08/12/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/dangerous-history-podcast/dhpep281
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