02/09 -- Myanmar: Coup forces crack down on crowds defying protest ban; Instead of Lifting Trump's Tariffs, Biden Is Imposing More of Them
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Thomas L. Knapp
Feb 9, 2021, 8:16:42 AM2/9/21
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 02/09/21
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Myanmar: Coup forces crack down on crowds defying protest ban
2) SD: Judge rules against state's voters on ending marijuana prohibition
3) Kenya: Ruling Party Expels Lawmakers Tied to Deputy President
4) CBO: Biden's $15 minimum wage plan would cut 1.4 million jobs in 2025
5) China: Clubhouse discussion app knocked offline
6) Saudi Arabia: MbS announces new draft laws to reform judicial institutions
7) NY: Republican Tenney's narrow win certified in US House race
8) Judge agrees to release prominent Proud Boys leader facing Capitol riot charges
9) Unleashed Jeff Bezos shifting space venture Blue Origin into hyperdrive
10) Egypt: Hamas and Fatah Hold Regime-Brokered Reconciliation Talks
11) Biden regime to "reengage" with UN Human Rights Council
12) WHO: Virus variants raise questions about vaccines
13) Sweden: Two acquitted of "desecrating" sunken ferry with robot dive
14) MA: Downing announces run for governor
15) PA: Fetterman announces for US Senate
16) Haiti: Moise alleges coup plot; 20 arrested
17) UK: Johnson "very confident" in vaccines
18) Tesla buys $1.5 billion in BTC, plans to accept it as payment
19) MO: State legislator to seek Democratic Senate nomination vs. Blunt
20) Thailand: Court overturns takedown order over criticism of COVID-19 vaccine strategy
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Instead of Lifting Trump's Tariffs, Biden Is Imposing More of Them
22) Don't Impeach Trump. Impeach the Deep State for Its Conspiracy to Kill the Constitution
23) The Great Fear Machine of 2020
24) TSA's New Mask Mandate: Typhoid Marys to the Rescue
25) Libertarian Silence on the Kennedy Assassination
26) Remember When the CIA Set Back Polio Eradication?
27) The (New Normal) War on Domestic Terror
28) What Liberty Is Like and Unlike: 20 Analogies from F.A. "Baldy" Harper
29) Making Sense of America's Short Squeeze
30) What Will Biden Do if China Makes a "Limited" Military Move against Taiwan?
31) How a Virus Was Used To Transform a Free Country
32) Trump's First Amendment rights don't matter for his impeachment trial
33) Note to Democrats: $1400 + $600 Does NOT Equal $2000
34) In Search of Civic Virtue, part 2
35) The Uyghurs as Victims of Chinese National Socialism
36) The Trump Political Show Trial
37) Biden's Iran Policy: Trump's Policy With A Rainbow Flag Emoji
38) The Cult of Covid
39) Why Section 230 Repeal Is Not The Answer
40) Who Helped McVeigh Blow Up Oklahoma City?
41) The Superstar Research Driving the Checks Debate Has a Problem
42) Gold could offer a way out of Switzerland's failing inflationist experiment
43) Biden's Top Foreign Policy Challenge: Avoiding a Cold War With China
44) In America's "Uncivil War," Republicans Are The Aggressors
45) Overdosing On Wokeium
46) Big Brother comes to America
47) Make-Believe Sex
48) Let the Investigation Begin: the International Criminal Court, Israel and the Palestinian Territories
49) Devastation and Uprising: 2020 in 10 Numbers
50) Quantum Vibe, 02/08/21
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 02/08/21
52) Free Talk Live, 02/08/21
53) The Brian Nichols Show, episode 196
54) Lyle J. Goldstein on The Scott Horton Show
55) Everything Voluntary with Skyler J. Collins, episode 461
56) Conflicts Of Interest, episode 68
57) EconTalk, 02/08/21
58) Lions Of Liberty Podcast, episode 499
59) Kick the Puppy, season 2, episode 5
60) Agorist Nexus Podcast, episode 52
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Myanmar: Coup forces crack down on crowds defying protest ban
Source: Raleigh News & Observer
"Police cracked down on demonstrators opposing Myanmar's military takeover, firing warning shots and shooting water cannons to disperse crowds that took to the streets again Tuesday in defiance of rules making protests illegal. Water cannons were used in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, where witnesses said at least two warning shots were fired to try to break up the crowd. Reports on social media said police arrested more than two dozen people there. They also used water cannons in the capital, Natpyitaw, for a second day and fired shots into the air. Police were widely reported to have also shot rubber bullets at the crowd in Naypyitaw, wounding several people. ... The decrees issued Monday night for some areas of Yangon and Mandalay banned rallies and gatherings of more than five people, along with motorized processions, while also imposing a 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew." (02/09/21)
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2) SD: Judge rules against state's voters on ending marijuana prohibition
Source: Sioux Fall Argus Leader
"A Hughes County judge has ruled that a voter-approved amendment to the South Dakota Constitution ending marijuana prohibition in the state shouldn't go forward. Circuit Court Judge Christina Klinger ruled Monday that Constitutional Amendment A violates the state Constitution on two grounds: It violates the single subject rule, meaning it encompassed more than one topic, and it conflicts with language in the Constitution that provides for its modification. ... The decision is expected to be appealed to the South Dakota Supreme Court, though some of the defense attorneys in the case aren't sharing their plans yet." (02/08/21)
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3) Kenya: Ruling Party Expels Lawmakers Tied to Deputy President
Source: Bloomberg
"Kenya's ruling party expelled six senators aligned with Deputy President William Ruto, the latest sign that it won't support his plan to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in elections next year. The Jubilee Party's National Management Committee kicked out the lawmakers on Monday, after considering the findings of a disciplinary panel, Secretary-General Raphael Tuju said in a statement posted on Twitter. The expulsions are effective immediately, he said. ... Over the past three years, Kenyatta has struck alliances with opposition leaders who are seen as possible presidential contenders, undermining Ruto's bid to succeed him. One of the opposition leaders is Raila Odinga, who ran against Kenyatta in the past two elections." (02/09/21)
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4) CBO: Biden's $15 minimum wage plan would cut 1.4 million jobs in 2025
Source: Reuters
"U.S. President Joe Biden's proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by June 2025 would reduce employment by 1.4 million jobs that year and increase the U.S. budget deficit by $54 billion over the 10 years from 2021 to 2031, the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday. In its cost assessment of Biden's 'Raise the Wage Act of 2021,' the non-partisan legislative budget referee agency said that the minimum wage increase also would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty in 2025." (02/08/21)
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5) China: Clubhouse discussion app knocked offline
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Discussion app Clubhouse appears to have been knocked offline in China, prompting fears it has been blocked by the state's so-called 'Great Firewall.' The invite-only app uses audio rather than text to let people chat in rooms. Until recently, it had mainly been used by tech enthusiasts in Silicon Valley -- but exploded in popularity in China in recent weeks. Unlike many Chinese apps, it is uncensored -- leading to discussions around topics rarely debated online. Chinese authorities retain significant control over what is published on the internet, censoring search results and limiting visibility of posts on many topics. But the audio of users' chats in the Clubhouse app is not recorded, allowing some measure of privacy -- something which was exploited last weekend before the apparent block kicked in." (02/08/21)
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6) Saudi Arabia: MbS announces new draft laws to reform judicial institutions
Source: US News & World Report
"Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the government will discuss a set of new draft laws designed to enhance the efficiency and integrity of the kingdom's judicial system, state news agency (SPA) reported on Monday. The new laws -- the personal status law, the civil transactions law, the penal code of discretionary sanctions and the law of evidence -- are currently being finalised and will then be submitted to the cabinet and relevant bodies as well as the advisory Shura Council, before they are finally approved. ... The Prince, known in the West as MbS, has launched a series of social and economic reforms aimed at modernising the conservative kingdom, which has no codified system of law to go with the texts making up sharia, or Islamic law." (02/08/21)
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7) NY: Republican Tenney's narrow win certified in US House race
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"New York state elections officials certified Republican Claudia Tenney's razor-thin victory over U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi on Monday, more than three months after Election Day. The certification came after a state judge ruled that Tenney won the race for central New York's 22nd Congressional District by 109 votes in the nation's last undecided congressional race. Judge Scott DelConte's decision Friday effectively cleared the way for Tenney to be sworn in, barring emergency intervention by a state appeals court. DelConte directed New York to certify results immediately. Commissioners with the state Board of Elections approved the results Monday in less than two minutes." (02/08/21)
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8) Judge agrees to release prominent Proud Boys leader facing Capitol riot charges
Source: CNN
"A federal judge in Seattle on Monday decided that a Proud Boys leader on the West Coast, Ethan Nordean, should be released pending trial, even after federal prosecutors warned he could coordinate with the Proud Boys for another attack on the federal government. Nordean has been charged with four counts relating to his actions outside and in the US Capitol building on January 6. Prosecutors have alleged he had prepared for the Capitol riot by gearing up and collecting money days before, suggesting he could face more charges in the future as investigators look more closely at the Proud Boys organization and coordination." (02/08/21)
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9) Unleashed Jeff Bezos shifting space venture Blue Origin into hyperdrive
Source: Reuters
"Freed from his daily obligations at Amazon.com Inc, Jeff Bezos is expected to turn up the heat on his space venture, Blue Origin, as it faces a pivotal year and fierce competition from Elon Musk's SpaceX, industry sources said. The 57-year-old Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and the world's second-richest person behind Musk, said last week he is stepping down as chief executive of the e-commerce company as he looks to focus on personal projects. Blue Origin has fallen far behind SpaceX on orbital transportation .... Now, Blue Origin is battling to win a competition with SpaceX and Dynetics to develop a new lunar lander for NASA's potentially multibillion-dollar push to return humans to the moon in a few years. Dynetics is owned by Leidos Holdings Inc." (02/08/21)
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10) Egypt: Hamas and Fatah Hold Regime-Brokered Reconciliation Talks
Source: US News & World Report
"Leaders of rival Palestinian factions began Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks in Cairo on Monday to try to heal long-standing internal divisions, ahead of planned Palestinian elections later this year. Egypt has tried in vain for 14 years to reconcile Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's nationalist Fatah faction and its bitter rival Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that opposes any negotiations with Israel. No Palestinian elections have been held in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem for 15 years. As well as Hamas and Fatah there are thought to be around a dozen other factions represented in the Cairo talks." (02/08/21)
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11) Biden regime to "reengage" with UN Human Rights Council
Source: CBS News
"The United States will 'reengage' with the United Nations Human Rights Council, the State Department announced Monday, reversing the Trump administration's withdrawal from the body nearly three years ago. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said President Biden instructed the State Department to move toward returning to the U.N. Human Rights Council, with the U.S. first engaging as an observer, as the Biden administration 'has committed the United States to a foreign policy centered on democracy, human rights and equality.' ... The Trump administration exited the U.N. Human Rights Council in mid-2018, citing issues with its membership, which includes authoritarian countries, and an unfair bias against Israel." (02/08/21)
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12) WHO: Virus variants raise questions about vaccines
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"The head of the World Health Organization said Monday the emergence of new COVID-19 variants has raised questions about whether or not existing vaccines will work, calling it 'concerning news' that the vaccines developed so far may be less effective against the variant first detected in South Africa. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing that South Africa's decision on Sunday to suspend its vaccination campaign using the AstraZeneca vaccine is 'a reminder that we need to do everything we can to reduce circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.' He said it was increasingly clear that vaccine manufacturers would need to tweak their existing shots to address the ongoing genetic evolution of the coronavirus, saying booster shots would most likely be necessary, especially since new variants of the virus are now spreading globally and appear likely to become the predominant strains." (02/08/21)
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13) Sweden: Two acquitted of "desecrating" sunken ferry with robot dive
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Two Swedish nationals were acquitted Monday of desecrating a sunken ferry by sending down a robot in the Baltic Sea to film the wreck of one of Europe's deadliest maritime disasters. In its ruling, the Goteborg District Court said that the men had 'committed acts that are punishable under the so-called Estonia Act' by sending down a cable-bound diving robot to the M/S Estonia, which sank Sept. 28, 1994, killing 852 people. 'However, the district court considers that the men, who are both Swedish citizens, cannot be punished because they have committed the act from a German-flagged ship in international waters.' The September 2019 dive was banned by the law protecting the car ferry that lies in international waters with most of the victims still entombed inside. The legislation has been signed by Sweden, Estonia and Finland but not by Germany." (02/08/21)
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14) MA: Downing announces run for governor
Source: Stamford Advocate
"Former Massachusetts state Sen. Ben Downing on Monday became the first Democrat to formally announce a run for governor in 2022. Downing, 39, said he wants to build 'a fairer, stronger Massachusetts,' because current leadership has shown a 'lack of urgency' to adequately address the coronavirus pandemic, racial inequity and climate change. He said he will also prioritize child care, affordable higher education, and transit investment. Current Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has not formally announced whether he would seek a third term. At least two other Democrats are exploring bids." (02/08/21)
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15) PA: Fetterman announces for US Senate
Source: NBC News
"Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Pat Toomey, who is retiring. ... Fetterman, who had been widely expected to run for the seat, has served as the state's Democratic lieutenant governor since 2019. A Harvard grad, Fetterman was elected in 2005 as the mayor of Braddock, his struggling hometown in Western Pennsylvania, and worked to revitalize it before running for Senate in 2016. He lost the primary to the Democratic Party's favored candidate, Katie McGinty, who went on to lose the general election. Fetterman, 51, has attracted national attention for his unorthodox style and frequent public fighting with Republicans, particularly on Twitter." (02/08/21)
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16) Haiti: Moise alleges coup plot; 20 arrested
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"Haitian President Jovenel Moise announced Sunday that police have arrested more than 20 people he accused of trying to kill him and overthrow his government, including a Supreme Court judge who has the support of opposition leaders demanding that Moise step down. ... Andre Michel, 44, a leader of the opposition coalition, the Democratic and Popular Sector, held a news conference hours after the arrests and called for civil disobedience and demanded that Moise be arrested. Michel, an attorney, said it was illegal to arrest Supreme Court Judge Yvickel Dabrezil because he has automatic immunity. Dabrezil is one of three judges that the opposition favors as a potential transitional president. ... The arrests come on the day that opposition leaders claim Moise should resign, saying that his term ends on Sunday. Moise has repeatedly stated that his five-year term ends in February 2022." (02/08/21)
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17) UK: Johnson "very confident" in vaccines
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"Boris Johnson says he is 'very confident' in the Covid vaccines being used in the UK, amid concerns about the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab's effectiveness against the South Africa variant. The vaccines are effective in delivering a high degree of protection against serious illness, the PM said. A small study found the Oxford jab gave 'minimal protection' against mild disease from the South Africa variant. But scientists are confident it will protect against serious disease. Some 147 cases of the South Africa variant have been found in the UK. However, the Oxford vaccine has shown to provide good protection against the so-called Kent variant, which remains the dominant strain in the UK." (02/08/21)
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18) Tesla buys $1.5 billion in BTC, plans to accept it as payment
Source: CNBC
"Tesla announced Monday it has bought $1.5 billion worth of [BTC]. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it bought the [BTC] for 'more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.' Tesla also said it will start accepting payments in [BTC] in exchange for its products. That would make Tesla the first major automaker to accept do so [sic]. ... [BTC] prices surged to new highs Monday following Tesla's announcement, reaching a price of at least $44,200. Tesla shares were up more than 2.5% in premarket trading. Tesla warned investors of the volatility of [BTC]'s price in its SEC filing." (02/08/21)
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19) MO: State legislator to seek Democratic Senate nomination vs. Blunt
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
"Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt is running for another U.S. Senate term and former Democratic state Sen. Scott Sifton is challenging him. A spokeswoman for Blunt on Monday told The Associated Press that the two-term senator is planning to run shortly after Sifton announced his bid for the Senate seat. Blunt is up for re-election in 2022. Voters first sent him to the U.S. Senate in 2011, and he was re-elected in 2016. Sifton, a 46-year-old from the St. Louis suburb of Affton, served in the Missouri Legislature from 2011 to 2020 until he was barred by law from seeking re-election because of term limits." (02/08/21)
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20) Thailand: Court overturns takedown order over criticism of COVID-19 vaccine strategy
Source: Channel News Asia [Singapore]
"A Thai court on Monday (Feb 8) overturned its order for an opposition figure to remove social media videos in which he criticised the government's coronavirus vaccine strategy, which he had called opaque, slow and unfairly favourable to a royal-owned company. The government has also lodged a complaint separately over the same remarks by banned politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, accusing him of insulting the king, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. 'The court saw that Thanathorn's comments were honest opinions which didn't affect national security,' Kritsadang Nutcharat, Thanathorn's lawyer, told Reuters. A court official confirmed the decision to reverse the order but did not elaborate." (02/08/21)
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Instead of Lifting Trump's Tariffs, Biden Is Imposing More of Them
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm
"President Joe Biden's first major trade policy move will be disappointing for anyone who hoped his inauguration would put an end to the presidential practice of unilaterally imposing expensive, unnecessary tariffs for vacuous national security reasons. Biden's decision last week to reimpose 10 percent tariffs on aluminum imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contains all the major hallmarks of former President Donald Trump's misguided trade policies. Biden even sounded downright Trumpian as he announced the renewed tariffs -- which Trump had lifted during his final days in office. ... The idea that aluminum imports are a threat to national security was a bunch of nonsense when Trump did it, and it's still bunk when Biden says it." (02/08/21)
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22) Don't Impeach Trump. Impeach the Deep State for Its Conspiracy to Kill the Constitution
02/09/2021 Opinion No comments Edit This
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John W Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead
"Impeaching Trump will accomplish very little, and it will not in any way improve the plight of the average American. It will only reinforce the spectacle and farce that have come to be synonymous with politics today. While the nation allows itself to be distracted by yet more bread-and-circus politics, the American kakistocracy (a government run by unprincipled career politicians and corporate thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of the people) continues to suck the American people into a parallel universe in which the Constitution is meaningless, the government is all-powerful, and the citizenry are powerless to defend themselves against government agents who steal, spy, lie, plunder, kill, abuse and generally inflict mayhem and sow madness on everyone and everything in their sphere." (02/08/21)
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23) The Great Fear Machine of 2020
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg
"The events of 2020 were unique in human history, and so I think it's important to give them some perspective. What we experienced was the first televised plague. What it spawned was a unique fear machine. Fear delivery systems go back to the first tyrants, of course, but this one featured a scale and an intimacy that went beyond all others, even those of the vile USSR. The plague itself, COVID-19, was minor as such things go. The flu of 1919 was far worse, not to mention historical plagues that made this one look like a case of the sniffles. Nonetheless, it was enough to spawn something unique." (02/08/21)
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24) TSA's New Mask Mandate: Typhoid Marys to the Rescue
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that it will be fining travelers up to $1,500 for failing to wear a proper facemask. The TSA could also heavily fine people for wearing a facemask improperly and maybe also for some other offenses the agency hasn't yet created. It is ironic that a federal agency that helped compound the Covid pandemic just captured more arbitrary power over any American citizen who needs to catch a flight. ... Jay Brainard, the TSA's top official in Kansas, publicly complained last June that TSA agents 'became Typhoid Marys and contributed to the spread of that virus because TSA senior leadership did not make sure (screeners) were adequately protected.' Brainard was prohibited by TSA headquarters from requiring TSA agents in Kansas to wear masks." (02/08/21)
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25) Libertarian Silence on the Kennedy Assassination
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"One of the most noteworthy aspects of the Kennedy assassination is the silence among conservative, reform-oriented libertarians on the national-security state's assassination of President John F. Kennedy. What's up with that? After all, wouldn't you think that a domestic regime-change operation against a U.S. president would be something every libertarian would be condemning, even if it did happen more than 50 years ago? Libertarians, after all, condemn U.S. regime-change operations against foreign rulers that preceded the Kennedy assassination. Why the silence on a domestic regime-change operation?" [editor's note: Well, for one thing, not all libertarians agree (especially to any high level of confidence) that that's what happened – TLK] (02/08/21)
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26) Remember When the CIA Set Back Polio Eradication?
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall Blanco
"Recently I wrote about the origins of vaccine hesitancy among the African American population. While working on the piece, a friend and former colleague reminded me of another instance of the U.S. government thwarting vaccination efforts. This time it was polio. That may seem strange, given that the U.S. government desperately wanted a vaccine for polio, or 'infantile paralysis.' ... For a few years, it appeared as though polio would soon join smallpox and rinderpest -- the only two diseases declared 'eradicated' by the World Health Organization. Today, polio is endemic to only three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Unfortunately for the people of these countries and the rest of the world, polio isn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon. Why? The U.S. government." (02/08/21)
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27) The (New Normal) War on Domestic Terror
Source: Consent Factory Inc.
by CJ Hopkins
"If you enjoyed the Global War on Terror, you're going to love the new War on Domestic Terror! It's just like the original Global War on Terror, except that this time the 'Terrorists' are all 'Domestic Violent Extremists' ('DVEs'), 'Homegrown Violent Extremists' ('HVEs'), 'Violent Conspiracy-Theorist Extremists' ('VCTEs'), 'Violent Reality Denialist Extremists' (VRDEs'), 'Insurrectionary Micro-Aggressionist Extremists' ('IMAEs'), 'People Who Make Liberals Feel Uncomfortable' ('PWMLFUs'), and anyone else the Department of Homeland Security wants to label an 'extremist' and slap a ridiculous acronym on. ... The Department of Homeland Security is 'concerned,' as are its counterparts throughout the global capitalist empire." (02/08/21)
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28) What Liberty Is Like and Unlike: 20 Analogies from F.A. "Baldy" Harper
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Gary M Galles
"How can one 'fight' for liberty while renouncing both lying and the coercion of others? The answer is by using reason. Fortunately, liberty has a comparative advantage in logic. Unfortunately, it can struggle for acceptance in a complex, interdependent world whose workings are not intuitively obvious, and in the face of systematic efforts to mislead people about them. However, one corollary of liberty's comparative advantage in logic is a comparative advantage in using analogies. That is crucial, since much of what we know is by analogy. Analogies help us to recognize the half-truths that comprise arguments for coercion, because knowing what is left out of an analysis that should be included, or what is included that should not be, reveals what a more apt analogy should highlight." (02/08/21)
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29) Making Sense of America's Short Squeeze
Source: American Consequences
by Trish Regan
"Dear reader, By now, everyone and their mother knows about the GameStop story ... People with zero interest in the stock market suddenly have their ears perked up (and their wallets open). It's a tale framed as a 2021 David and Goliath, a feel-good underdog tale of a merry band of Redditors who took down the evil hedge-fund billionaires. Netflix is already in talks to take the story to the small screen. But beyond the Hollywood treatment, what happened? And more vitally, what does it mean for the typical retail investor? Is Wall Street safe for the average American?" (02/06/21)
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30) What Will Biden Do if China Makes a "Limited" Military Move against Taiwan?
Source: Cato Institute
by Ted Galen Carpenter
"Since the inauguration, administration officials have issued several statements emphasizing Washington's 'rock‐solid' commitment to Taiwan. Those expressions of support also entail tangible military moves. When Chinese military aircraft again penetrated Taiwan's self‐proclaimed air defense identification zone over the Taiwan Strait, Washington not only expressed sharp criticism, it dispatched an aircraft carrier battle group to the South China Sea as a display of U.S. military power. That deployment occurred barely a week after Biden took office. Given those actions, it seems clear that the Biden administration is at least as committed as its predecessors were to come to Taiwan's defense if Beijing makes a direct military assault against the island. But what if the PRC tests U.S. resolve by making a hostile, but less flagrant, move against a peripheral target -- specifically, tiny islands in the South China Sea over which Taipei claims sovereignty?" (02/08/21)
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31) How a Virus Was Used To Transform a Free Country
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Sandy Szwarc
"Declarations of Covid-19 as a health emergency, followed by extreme and continued government mitigation mandates, are unprecedented for any respiratory virus in our history. The economic consequences of these directives -- masks; social distancing; testing; travel, school and business restrictions -- have led to historic levels of job losses and businesses stopping new hiring. People looking for work have been crippled from finding jobs. Tens of millions of Americans are at risk of losing their group health insurance. As Americans grow increasingly more desperate, they are more willing to be convinced to accept government bailouts. Government handouts come with strings attached and lead all of us down a dangerous path." (02/08/21)
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32) Trump's First Amendment rights don't matter for his impeachment trial
Source: Washington Post
by Ilya Somin
"Trump's lawyers and some legal scholars claim it would be unconstitutional to convict Trump, because his speech was protected by the First Amendment. When he stood on the Ellipse and told the crowd that 'if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore,' and that 'we're going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue ... we're going to the Capitol,' he may have been provocative and unwise. But, so goes the argument, he was not inciting imminent violence, according to the standards established by the Supreme Court. There is indeed a high threshold for establishing that someone has crossed the line into speech subject to criminal prosecution. Scholars disagree about whether Trump did so. But this debate misses the point: Government officials can be impeached and removed for speech that is not criminal." (02/08/21)
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33) Note to Democrats: $1400 + $600 Does NOT Equal $2000
Source: Common Dreams
by Richard Eskow
"Under the current Democratic proposal, eligibility for COVID relief will be based on last year's income. That's like prescribing medicine today based on your temperature last April. That's not the only problem with the Democrats' cumbersome plan for what have come to be known as 'stimulus checks.' By imposing complex, impractical, and ever-changing rules on the process, Democrats have sent the wrong 'meta-political' message to the America people. It's bad enough that this plan needs more coherence. It also needs more soul. That's not to minimize the suffering that will be relieved by this or any aid package. If the Democrats can get $1,400 out to millions of Americans, however imperfectly chosen, that will be an accomplishment. But it will neglect millions of desperate people." (02/08/21)
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34) In Search of Civic Virtue, part 2
Source: Niskanen Center
by Brink Lindsey
"In my previous essay, I examined our current political crisis through the lens of civic virtue. At present one of our two major political parties is actively threatening the future of constitutional democracy, while the other party is unable to rally public opinion sufficiently to quash that threat. The conventional approach to understanding this predicament is through concepts taken from social science -- in particular, polarization and negative partisanship. But there is an older way of framing the problem, one that dates back to ancient times and runs through the whole republican political tradition. A longstanding element of that tradition holds that self-government can remain functional and stable only as long as citizens and their leaders maintain a certain level of public-spirited civic virtue. And indeed, that thesis does much to illuminate the troubled state of our democracy today." (02/08/21)
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35) The Uyghurs as Victims of Chinese National Socialism
Source: Heartland Institute
by Richard Ebeling
"News outlets in the United States and in Europe have again been drawing attention to the oppression and persecution being suffered by the Uyghurs in the western region of China known as Xinjiang. Somewhere between one and two million of them have been rounded up and placed in 'reeducation' camps by the Chinese government, with smuggled out stories telling of beatings, torture, organ-transplant harvesting, gang rape, and ideological indoctrination sessions, along with executions. ... The Uyghurs, like the Tibetans, and other minority groups in China, have been the victims of Chinese political and ethnic imperialism. The Chinese government has attempted to assure the political unification and integration of, especially, Tibet and Xinjiang by a policy of ethnic and cultural 'sterilization.'" (02/08/21)
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36) The Trump Political Show Trial
Source: Campaign For Liberty
by Ron Paul
"The Senate trial for now twice-impeached former President Donald Trump is set to begin this week, with little doubt over the outcome. A procedural vote in the Senate on the constitutionality of 'removing from office' someone who is not in office revealed that nowhere near enough Republicans were willing to join their Democrat counterparts in voting to convict. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is required by the Constitution to preside, has by refusing to participate made it clear that he does not consider the upcoming action in the Senate to be a legitimate impeachment trial. So if it is not a legitimate trial, what is it, then?" [editor's note: Roberts is required to preside at the impeachment trial of a president, not of a former president -- and there's no serious and honest argument against the constitutionality of the trial – TLK] (02/0821)
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37) Biden's Iran Policy: Trump's Policy With A Rainbow Flag Emoji
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"In a new interview with CBS Evening News, President Biden confirmed that his administration will not be lifting sanctions imposed upon Iran in order to bring Tehran to the negotiating table for the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. 'Will the U.S. lift sanctions first in order to get Iran back to the negotiating table?' Biden was asked by CBS's Norah O'Donnell. 'No,' the president replied. 'They have to stop enriching uranium first?' asked O'Donnell. Biden nodded in response. There are a few things that are ridiculous about this, the first being that the JCPOA does not require that Iran 'stop enriching uranium' at all." (02/08/21)
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38) The Cult of Covid
Source: Kent's "Hooligan Libertarian" Blog
by Kent McManigal
"Branch Covidians have their own religious canon -- handed down from the politicized Experts, put into action by the political Rulers, and preached by the priests of the Mainstream Media. It has sacred garments (face masks) and rituals (anti-social distancing). Sacrifices are required; both human sacrifice (people killed by shutdowns) and 'covenants of flesh' (vaccinations), and tithes (economic ruin through shutdowns and stimulus money). And most of it is divorced from reality -- including science -- in a big way. In spite of the craziness, the Branch Covidians have gone mainstream -- pushing their religion from the media and government buildings -- and it's bizarre." (02/08/21)
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39) Why Section 230 Repeal Is Not The Answer
Source: The American Conservative
by Rick Santorum
"I want to put an end to cancel culture like every other freedom-loving American, but I certainly don't trust the federal government to be our savior. I voted for and support Section 230 because my colleagues and I saw the internet as an opportunity to expand freedom by shielding tech companies from trial lawyers and government regulators. Now conservatives who are rightfully angry about unfair treatment are hoping a Democrat-controlled Congress and the Biden administration's regulators and trial lawyers will to come to their rescue. Good luck with that." (02/08/21)
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40) Who Helped McVeigh Blow Up Oklahoma City?
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Richard Booth
"By most contemporary accounts, the April 19th, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by two disgruntled far-right extremists: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. McVeigh was taken into custody by the FBI within days of the deadly attack, which killed 168 people and injured many more. Terry Nichols turned himself in to the police in Herington, Kansas, after hearing his name on the radio. ... However, at the time of the bombing, several additional suspects were sought by the FBI. Hundreds of press accounts document the FBI's unsuccessful pursuit to identify, locate, and arrest the other suspects. Perhaps the most well-known other suspect is a man dubbed 'John Doe #2' by the FBI. ... Long after the McVeigh and Nichols trials, the suspect would remain an elusive figure: he was never captured, and the FBI later declared that the man simply did not exist." (02/08/21)
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41) The Superstar Research Driving the Checks Debate Has a Problem
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
"Despite Larry Summers'[s] best efforts, it doesn't look like there's much in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that's going to change from Joe Biden's initial proposal. The Senate parliamentarian will determine the fate of the $15 an hour minimum wage (Biden is being rather defeatist in predicting it won't make it, considering the budget impact is as much as $500 billion.) This may also doom the paid leave sections of the bill, and the $3,000-$3,600 annual child allowance, though if 'giving money to families with kids' doesn't have a direct budget impact we have to rethink the whole process. The real variable is whether direct payments to Americans will have the same means test threshold as in prior COVID relief bills, or whether it will be narrowed, phasing out beginning at $50,000 in income for individuals rather than $75,000 ($100,000 rather than $150,000 for couples)." (02/08/21)
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42) Gold could offer a way out of Switzerland's failing inflationist experiment
Source: Cobden Centre
by Brendan Brown
"[H]ow could Switzerland as a nation repent for its recent past and open a brighter chapter in its history as a haven for freedom, in this case monetary? Here is a suggestion which draws on this nation's key position in the world gold market. Switzerland could break with the globally pervasive regulations which suppress the potential of gold to develop fully as a nonstate money. Swiss banks, already expert at servicing gold deposit accounts for their clients, would get permission to establish a clearinghouse in Zurich for settling transactions between themselves in the yellow metal (in, say, kilogram gold bars deliverable in Switzerland), thereby facilitating direct payments in gold by their clients for goods or assets without having to pass through the US dollar. All regulatory restrictions on making gold-denominated loans would lapse." (02/08/21)
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43) Biden's Top Foreign Policy Challenge: Avoiding a Cold War With China
Source: Antiwar.com
by Conn Hallinan
"President Joe Biden's administration faces a host of difficult problems, but in foreign policy its thorniest will be its relations with the People's Republic of China. How the new administration handles issues of trade, security, and human rights will either allow both countries to hammer out a working relationship or pull the U.S. into an expensive -- and unwinnable -- cold war that will shelve existential threats like climate change and nuclear war. The stakes could not be higher -- and Washington may be off on the wrong foot." (02/08/21)
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44) In America's "Uncivil War," Republicans Are The Aggressors
Source: FiveThirtyEight
by Perry Bacon Jr.
"In his inaugural address, President Biden described America as in the midst of an 'uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.' His invocation of a civil war and the American Civil War was provocative. It was also accurate. There is no formal definition of an uncivil war, but America is increasingly split between members of two political parties that hate each other. ... Biden didn't explicitly say that the extremism, domestic terrorism and white supremacy is largely coming from one side of the uncivil war. But that's the reality. In America's uncivil war, both sides may hate the other, but one side -- conservatives and Republicans -- is more hostile and aggressive, increasingly willing to engage in anti-democratic and even violent attacks on their perceived enemies." (02/08/21)
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45) Overdosing On Wokeium
Source: Town Hall
by Kurt Schlichter
"Karl Marx, who is really popular among stupid and evil people, once called religion 'the opiate of the masses,' and while that is ridiculous (real religion, far from lulling people into a stupor, activates them, which is why our garbage Establishment hates it and wants to replace it with gooey Methodism), the fact is that wokeness is itself a drug. Wokeium is the opiate of the jackasses. And our garbage Establishment is the pusher. Why push the wokeness drug on the young, vulnerable, dumb and disenfranchised? Because if you are obsessed with your next woke fix, with jousting with the phantom 'white supremacists' who allegedly lurk around every corner, with purging the bad-thought havers who are the cause of all your disappointments and failures, you aren't seeing who is really running the okey-doke on you. Wokeium distorts reality. You don't see the scam." (02/08/21)
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46) Big Brother comes to America
Source: spiked
by Frank Furedi
"At first I couldn't believe what I was reading. A writer for the New York Times was enthusiastically supporting a call made by 'several experts' around the Biden administration to create a Reality Czar. Apparently, a Reality Czar is needed to counter the campaign of disinformation being pushed by bitter conservatives. The NYT commentator concedes that giving someone the authority to pronounce on what is and isn't real 'sounds a little dystopian,' but suggests it is warranted by the threat of 'disinformation and domestic extremism'. The experts promoting the enthronement of a Reality Czar are unapologetic advocates of giving the government the power to decide what is true, what is real." (02/08/21)
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47) Make-Believe Sex
Source: The Honest Courtesan
by Maggie McNeill
"From what I can tease out of the moralistic, hyperbolic language in the statement quoted in this article, plus online comments by others, a computer programmer who helped develop a modification for a popular video game intended for adults posted some animated cartoons on his own personal website that might potentially upset extremely sheltered people who have neither heard of Fritz the Cat nor paid much attention to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and his employer has as a result censored the modification. ... the material that the company claims is 'deeply disturbing to the entire team' of adults who not only play but program a post-apocalyptic game full of violence and gore .... was 'furry cub porn,' ie cartoons depicting imaginary sexual behavior of wholly imaginary anthropomorphic animal characters who within the fictional universe depicted in the cartoons are 'underage.'" (02/08/21)
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48) Let the Investigation Begin: the International Criminal Court, Israel and the Palestinian Territories
Source: CounterPunch
by Binoy Kampmark
"International tribunals tend to be praised, in principle, by those they avoid investigating. Once interest shifts to those parties, such bodies become the subject of accusations: bias, politicisation, crude arbitrariness. The United States, whose legal and political personnel have expended vast resources on the machinery of international courts and jurisprudence, remains cold to the International Criminal Court. The sceptics have tended to win out in Washington, restraining any consent to its jurisdiction. ... US President Joe Biden and the State Department under Antony Blinken are unlikely to be as vicious as the Trump administration towards the ICC, but remain clear about keeping Israel out of the international court's judicial orbit." (02/08/21)
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49) Devastation and Uprising: 2020 in 10 Numbers
Source: In These Times
by staff
"We've compiled 10 statistics that sum up a chart-breaking year: $282 billion was added to the personal wealth of America's billionaires within the first month of lockdown. 10% of Black workers, 9% of Latino workers and 6% of white workers were unemployed in December 2020. 52% of young adults age 18-29 lived with their parents in July 2020, the most ever recorded. 51% of Chinese American parents of school-aged children (and half of 10- to 18-year-old Chinese American children) say they experienced discrimination fueled by Covid-19 rhetoric, according to Pediatrics. 34% of women said they wanted to delay pregnancy or have fewer children because of the pandemic, according to the Guttmacher Institute. 215% more time was spent in March 2020 accessing news on mobile devices than the previous year, according to Nielsen. $80 Million was donated to community bail funds the month after George Floyd was murdered. 26 Million people protested police violence by July 4, 2020, the largest protest movement in U.S. history." (02/08/21)
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50) Quantum Vibe, 02/08/21
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (02/08/21)
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 02/08/21
Source: Reason
"Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie come together to discuss Biden administration's newest policies on this week's Reason Roundtable. After lamenting the latest examples of bad government behavior, the group contemplates what a opioid-legal world would look like." [various formats] (02/08/21)
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52) Free Talk Live, 02/08/21
Source: Free Talk Live
"Tesla buys $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin & Plans to Accept BTC :: Satoshi and his vision :: Medical Providers Are Sexually Assaulting Patients and It's Legal :: Radio host in AZ does his own investigations :: Vonnegut monkey house :: Supreme Court to Decide if Police Can Warrantlessly Raid Homes and Seize Guns of Innocent Citizens :: Hosts: Captain Kickass, Nobody, Ian." [Flash audio or MP3] (02/08/21)
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53) The Brian Nichols Show, episode 196
Source: We Are Libertarians
"How the Free State Project is Bringing Liberty to New Hampshire -- with Jeremy Kaufman." [various formats] (02/08/21)
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54) Lyle J. Goldstein on The Scott Horton Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
"Scott talks to Lyle Goldstein about the U.S.-Russia relationship and the future of global nuclear arms negotiations." [various formats] (02/08/21)
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55) Everything Voluntary with Skyler J. Collins, episode 461
Source: Everything Voluntary
"When Are You Willing to Take Responsibility?" [various formats] (02/08/21)
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56) Conflicts Of Interest, episode 68
Source: Libertarian Institute
"Will Porter and Kyle Anazlone break down Biden's first foreign policy speech as president." [various formats] (02/08/21)
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57) EconTalk, 02/08/21
Source: EconTalk
"Lamorna Ash talks about her book Dark, Salt, Clear with EconTalk host Russ Roberts." [Flash audio] (02/08/21)
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58) Lions Of Liberty Podcast, episode 499
Source: Lions Of Liberty
"Thaddeus Russell on Why He Rejects the 'Libertarian' Label, and Why You Should Too." [various formats] (02/08/21)
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59) Kick the Puppy, season 2, episode 5
Source: Attack The System
"... left-anarchists, outsiders and unconventional creativity, Keith Preston is not in the club, the heroic significance of the anarchist melodrama ..." [Flash audio] (02/07/21)
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60) Agorist Nexus Podcast, episode 52
Source: Agorist Nexus
"An Agorist take on Bitcoin Cash BCH." [Flash audio or Flash video] (02/07/21)
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