01/26 -- MN: Resistance intensifies after gang members murder Minneapolis man; ICE Demonstrates Why We Need the Second Amendment
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jan 26, 2026, 6:31:18 AMJan 26
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 01/23/26
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Today's Freedom News:
0) A Note from the Publisher: All “Hybrid” All the Time!
1) MN: Resistance intensifies after gang members murder Minneapolis man
2) Gold rises after topping $5,000 for the first time in “breathtaking and profoundly scary” rally
3) Palestine: Israeli forces launch “large scale operation” to locate last hostage in Gaza
4) Uganda: Wine claims wife held “at gunpoint” after “hundreds of soldiers” raided his home
5) Ukraine: Russian strike on Kyiv leaves 1,330 buildings still without heat, mayor says
6) US Navy fires commodore of First Naval Construction Regiment
7) Power Outages Cascade as Massive Winter Storm Reaches US East Coast
8) Iraq: Dominant political bloc nominates former prime minister al-Maliki as its candidate
9) Trump threatens 100% tax hike on American consumers over Canada/China trade deal
10) Taiwan: Climber Dad Alex Honnold Successfully Scales 101-Story Building Without Ropes or Harnesses — All on Live TV
11) AZ: AG notes right to “defend yourself with lethal force” from ICE gang members
12) South Africa: Nelson Mandela Memorabilia Can Go to Auction, Court Says
13) DC: Norton ends reelection campaign
14) CO: Investigators confirm Hunter S. Thompson’s death as suicide
15) Venezuela: Rights Group Leader Says at Least 80 Political Prisoners Released
16) FBI agent resigns over investigation into ICE murder victim Renee Good
17) Air France resumes service to Dubai, KLM suspends Middle East flights as US forces head to Gulf
18) China: Top general under investigation in latest military purge
19) Pakistan: Suicide bombing at wedding kills seven
20) TX: Sheriff charged with fraud two months after Trump pardoned his brother
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) ICE Demonstrates Why We Need the Second Amendment
22) Ayn Rand, Illegal Immigrant
23) Donald Trump’s Board of Piece (of the Action)
24) Nullify the Police State: The People’s Veto to Rein in a Lawless Government
25) Will Trump’s DHS “Zone Out” the First Amendment?
26) Government-Controlled Digital ID is Not the Optional Convenience It Is Being Sold As
27) The Bourgeois Are (And Have Been) Building The Kingdom of Heaven
28) A Debate on the Transition, or Not, from Law and Politics to Legal Codes as Opportunities for Immoral AI
29) The Magic System Of Zionism
30) Illegal immigration was never an actual problem
31) Making kids do remote schooling on “snow days” sucks; get off the screens & go touch snow
32) The West needs a reckoning with America’s decline
33) The Gratuitous Barbarity of Trump’s So-Called “Board of Peace”
34) What the Grateful Dead Can Show a Fractured America
35) Profit-Led Inflation: Trivial or Wrong?
36) Inept Con Man in the White House
37) TN: Snow, ICE, & Pesticides
38) Academic freedom suffers blow after blow in Florida
39) A Small Tip Jar for the Administrative State
40) Left’s teachable moment about perils of unlimited government
41) The Big Winner: China
42) Why Trump Should Accept Putin’s New START Offer
43) The American Police State Has Arrived
44) Davos fracas hints at how Europe could fight economic warfare too
45) Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ICE And the “5-Year-Old Boy” Edition
46) Hey, Dummy
47) The Latest Trump Administration Grift: Tariff Checks
48) The Hawks’ New Plans for Iran Are Disastrous
49) “ICE Is Made Up of a Bunch of Cowards”
50) The Deportation Labor Shock
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Chris Spangle Show, 01/24/26
52) Bulwark Takes, 01/24/26
53) Unattended Baggage, episode 326
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2729
55) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
56) The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan, 01/23/26
57) Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became A Problem For Democracy (with Judith Resnik)
58) Serious Trouble, 01/23/26
59) Mixed Signals, 01/23/26
60) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/23/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
0) A Note from the Publisher: All "Hybrid" All the Time!
Hey, everyone ...
As I mentioned last week, we've recently found ourselves publishing more and more "hybrid" editions -- full-size daily email digests for readers of Rational Review News Digest and Freedom News Daily. And I always include one of these notes atop those "hybrid" editions.
It's become frequent enough now that I've decided to just make it "the way things are" -- instead of a note like this, EVERY daily email edition will include a one-line notice at the top to let readers know there's MORE content at our web edition:
https://news.rationalreview.com
Enjoy the new, BIGGER version of the freedom movement's daily newspaper!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
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1) MN: Resistance intensifies after gang members murder Minneapolis man
Source: The Hill
“The risk of a partial government shutdown at the end of January is growing more likely, as protesters demonstrated with renewed furor overnight after a second person in the span of a month was [murdered] by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis. Senate Democrats vowed to block a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding package on Saturday after Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse and Minneapolis resident, was [murdered] by U.S. Border Patrol agents. … President Trump and other administration officials defended the federal presence in Minnesota and tied the [murder] to an ongoing massive fraud investigation in the state.” (01/25/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5705063-live-updates-trump-minnesota-shutdown-winter-storm/
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2) Gold rises after topping $5,000 for the first time in “breathtaking and profoundly scary” rally
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“Gold continued to rise on Monday after breaking above $5,000 an ounce earlier than Wall Street expected. Futures hit the major milestone on Sunday, raising questions about the stunning speed of the rally in precious metals. Gold’s surge has become a hallmark of the so-called ‘debasement trade,’ with investors buying assets to protect against the erosion of purchasing power amid soaring government debt worldwide. ‘The rise in precious metals prices is breathtaking and profoundly scary,’ wrote Robin Brooks, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution on Sunday, noting the rise in gold prices is ‘part of something much bigger.’ … Bullion has made turns higher at every major geopolitical this year, including the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and President Trump’s tariff threats in pursuit of Greenland.” (01/26/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gold-rises-after-topping-5000-for-the-first-time-in-breathtaking-and-profoundly-scary-rally-013213961.html
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3) Palestine: Israeli forces launch “large scale operation” to locate last hostage in Gaza
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
“Israel said Sunday its military was conducting a ‘large-scale operation’ to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as Washington and other mediators pressure Israel and Hamas to move into the next phase of their ceasefire. The statement came as Israel’s cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top U.S. envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps. The return of the body of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely [used as an excuse to not move] ahead with opening the Rafah crossing, which would signal the ceasefire’s second phase. … Hamas in a statement Sunday said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.” (01/25/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/israel-gaza-hostage-remains-search-gvili-hamas-20260125.html
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4) Uganda: Wine claims wife held “at gunpoint” after “hundreds of soldiers” raided his home
Source: Sky News [UK]
“Uganda’s opposition leader claims ‘hundreds of soldiers’ raided his home overnight and held his wife at gunpoint, leaving destruction everywhere. Bobi Wine says his wife was assaulted and documents and electronic items were taken from his home. He made the claims on X on Saturday morning. Sky News has approached the Ugandan government for comment. It comes days after President Yoweri Museveni extended his decades-long rule of the African country in an election marred by claims of ballot stuffing.” (01/24/26)
https://news.sky.com/story/ugandan-opposition-leader-bobi-wine-claims-wife-held-at-gunpoint-after-hundreds-of-soldiers-raided-his-home-13498321
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5) Ukraine: Russian strike on Kyiv leaves 1,330 buildings still without heat, mayor says
Source: Reuters
“Around 1,700 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv were still without heating following a Russian missile and drone attack earlier this week, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Sunday. Moscow has sharply intensified bombardments of Ukraine’s energy system since it invaded its neighbour in 2022. Russia launched a vast attack on Ukraine’s energy system on Saturday, rocking Kyiv with explosions overnight, leaving 1.2 million properties without power countrywide during sub-zero winter temperatures.” (01/25/26)
https://archive.is/5iWqy
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6) US Navy fires commodore of First Naval Construction Regiment
Source: Stars and Stripes [US state media]
“The Navy has relieved the commodore of the First Naval Construction Regiment of his duties, the service said Friday. Capt. Douglas Whimpey, a Navy reservist, was relieved ‘due to loss of confidence in his ability to command.’ The U.S. military routinely cites only a vague ‘loss of confidence’ when removing commanders and other leaders from authority positions. … ‘Navy leaders are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership personally and professionally, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards,’ the Navy said in a statement.” (01/25/26)
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-01-25/naval-construction-regiment-commander-fired-20521096.html
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7) Power Outages Cascade as Massive Winter Storm Reaches US East Coast
Source: Bloomberg
“A colossal winter storm reached the US East Coast Sunday morning after dropping ice and snow across much of the nation, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power and causing a wave of flight cancellations that may last for days. New England may see up to 18 inches (0.46 meters) of snow through Monday, according to the US Weather Prediction Center, with up to a foot possible in New York City. Some of that snow may fall as sleet, leading to heavy icing on streets and roads. More than 750,000 homes and businesses across the US were without power as of 9 a.m. in New York. The majority are in Texas and Tennessee, where freezing rain has coated power lines and streets in a layer of ice.” (01/25/26)
https://archive.is/zp4Im
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8) Iraq: Dominant political bloc nominates former prime minister al-Maliki as its candidate
Source: ABC News
“Iraq ’s dominant political bloc announced Saturday that it had nominated former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister. The announcement came after caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, whose bloc won the largest share of seats in November’s parliamentary elections, stepped aside earlier this month. That cleared the field for al-Maliki after the two had competed for the backing of the Coordination Framework, a collection of Shiite parties. Under Iraq’s constitution, a president is elected by the parliament, then names a prime minister, with the premier tasked with forming a new government.” (01/24/26)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqs-dominant-political-bloc-nominates-former-prime-minister-129527146
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9) Trump threatens 100% tax hike on American consumers over Canada/China trade deal
Source: United Press International
“Canadian officials might ink a trade deal with China, and U.S. President Donald Trump said that would trigger a 100% tariff on [American buyers of] all Canadian goods sent to the United States. Trump announced the new tariffs would take effect immediately if Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney turns Canada into a conduit for Chinese-made goods intended for the United States. … Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week and made a deal to lower some of the tariffs imposed by one another on some of their trade goods. China will lower its tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, while Canada will lower its tariff on up to 49,000 electric vehicles that are made in China. The Canadian government in 2024 placed tariffs on Chinese vehicles in 2024 in a coordinated effort with the United States.” (01/24/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/01/24/canada-china-tariffs/7331769312226/
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10) Taiwan: Climber Dad Alex Honnold Successfully Scales 101-Story Building Without Ropes or Harnesses — All on Live TV
Source: People
“Alex Honnold has done it again. The 40-year-old climber and dad of two successfully climbed Taiwan’s Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world, without any ropes or harnesses on Sunday, Jan. 25 (or Saturday, Jan. 24 in America) — and the event aired live on Netflix. The free solo special, Skyscraper Live, was originally scheduled to take place on Friday, Jan. 23, but weather prompted the streamer to postpone the event by 24 hours. … Honnold has been climbing for about 30 years. He was previously featured in the Oscar-winning 2018 documentary Free Solo, which chronicled his successful 2017 attempt to become the first person to summit El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without safety ropes.” (01/24/26)
https://people.com/alex-honnold-completes-taipei-101-free-solo-climb-netlix-special-11889009-11889935
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11) AZ: AG notes right to “defend yourself with lethal force” from ICE gang members
Source: mint [India]
“Kris Mayes, Arizona Attorney General (AG) and a Democrat, noted that residents might legally defend themselves against masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents by shooting them if they feel their lives are at risk, citing the state’s self-defence statutes. … ‘you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and mask’ …. ‘And we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force’ …. During the interview, the anchor expressed shock at Mayes’[s] statements, warning that they could be seen as giving residents a ‘licence’ to shoot federal agents. Mayes responded that she was simply noting a ‘fact’ rather than promoting violence.” (01/23/26)
https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/defend-yourself-with-lethal-force-arizona-ag-kris-mayes-shares-recipe-for-disaster-amid-ice-actions-11769172534113.html
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12) South Africa: Nelson Mandela Memorabilia Can Go to Auction, Court Says
Source: New York Times
“A South African court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the country’s heritage body to prevent the sale and export of memorabilia belonging to the anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. The items are in the hands of Mr. Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, and Christo Brand, a warden who worked at Robben Island while he was incarcerated there. The collection includes a Mandela coin from the U.S. Mint and gifts from former U.S. presidents, including a blanket from President Barack Obama, a champagne cooler from President Bill Clinton and a pen from President George W. Bush. … The Supreme Court of Appeal, with four of the five judges concurring, ruled that the state had failed to prove the items were protected under the heritage act.” (01/24/26)
https://archive.is/T9zj6
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13) DC: Norton ends reelection campaign
Source: Axios
“Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is terminating her reelection campaign after months of speculation that she would retire from Congress rather than seek reelection, according to a new campaign filing. The 88-year-old non-voting delegate has been subject to an intense pressure campaign from both colleagues in Congress and allies in Washington, D.C., to step down. She has repeatedly maintained over the last year that she is running for reelection despite her age and concerns about her cognitive state, with her office initially walking those statements back. … Norton’s principal campaign committee, Citizens for Eleanor Holmes Norton, filed a termination report with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.” (01/25/26)
https://archive.is/O1bL6
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14) CO: Investigators confirm Hunter S. Thompson’s death as suicide
Source: Denver Post
“Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials on Friday confirmed the 2005 death of renowned author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson was a result of suicide, almost six months after the state started reviewing the case by request of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office. State investigators started reviewing the case after Thompson’s widow, Anita, reached out to Sheriff Michael Buglione with concerns about her late husband’s death at their home, Owl Farm, in Woody Creek on Feb. 20, 2005. … Hunter S. Thompson was 67 years old when he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home near Aspen. Friends and family said he experienced suicidal ideation and had instructed them on what to do with his body.” (01/23/26)
https://www.denverpost.com/2026/01/23/hunter-s-thompson-suicide-death-investigation/
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15) Venezuela: Rights Group Leader Says at Least 80 Political Prisoners Released
Source: US News & World Report
“At least 80 people considered political prisoners by a leading Venezuelan rights group had been released on Sunday as part of an ongoing release process, according to the leader of the group. The people were released from prisons across the country and more releases were likely taking place, Alfredo Romero, the director of Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal, said on X. Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday that 626 people have been released from prison, yet she did not specify the timeline of the reported releases.” (01/25/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-01-25/rights-group-leader-says-at-least-80-political-prisoners-released-in-venezuela
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16) FBI agent resigns over investigation into ICE murder victim Renee Good
Source: NBC News
“An FBI agent has resigned over the investigation into the [murder] of Renee Good, after Trump administration officials focused the probe more on the actions of Good and her partner and less on the officer who [murdered] her, according to two people familiar with the decision. The agent, who was a supervisor in the Minneapolis field office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night. Good, 37, was [murdered] on Jan. 7 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross as she was in the driver’s seat of her SUV. … six prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota resigned over their concerns with the direction of the investigation. The investigation thus far has focused more on Good’s partner and whether she impeded a federal officer in the moments prior to the [murder] — and less on the officer’s direct actions.” (01/23/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-agent-resigns-investigation-shooting-renee-good-minneapolis-source-rcna255702
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17) Air France resumes service to Dubai, KLM suspends Middle East flights as US forces head to Gulf
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Air France resumed its service to Dubai on Saturday, after temporarily suspending it the previous day due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the airline announced. Dutch airline KLM halted flights until further notice to cities in the Middle East and would not fly through the airspace of several countries in the region, including Iraq and Iran, according to the Netherlands’ state broadcaster. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a US ‘armada’ was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely, even after downplaying the prospect of imminent military action and saying Tehran appeared interested in talks.” (01/24/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260124-air-france-halts-service-to-dubai-klm-suspends-middle-east-flights
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18) China: Top general under investigation in latest military purge
Source: ABC News
“The Chinese military’s top general is being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law the Defense Ministry said Saturday. Zhang Youxia, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the latest figure to fall in a long-running purge of military officials. Analysts believe the purges are designed both to reform the military and to ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also chairs the military commission. They are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has punished more than 200,000 officials since Xi came to power in 2012. Another member of the commission, Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation by China’s ruling Communist Party, a Defense Ministry statement said.” (01/24/26)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chinas-top-general-investigation-latest-military-purge-129514693
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19) Pakistan: Suicide bombing at wedding kills seven
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A suicide bombing attack at a wedding in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least seven people, according to the police. The bombing tore through a building housing members of a peace committee during a wedding ceremony on Friday in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police official Muhammad Adnan said on Saturday. The committees are made up of residents and elders and supported by Islamabad as part of its efforts to counter fighters in the regions along the Afghan border.” (01/24/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/24/suicide-bombing-at-wedding-in-northwest-pakistan-kills-seven
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20) TX: Sheriff charged with fraud two months after Trump pardoned his brother
Source: Independent [UK]
“A Texas sheriff has been charged with fraud two months after President Donald Trump pardoned his brother, Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar – although the president later accused him of being disloyal. Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar Jr., 67, from Laredo, was accused by federal prosecutors of defrauding his office by misappropriating funds to run a for-profit disinfecting business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, Cuellar’s brother and his brother’s wife, Imelda Cuellar, were pardoned by Trump in a federal bribery case. … Martin Cuellar, along with his assistant chief, Alejandro Gutierrez, 47, and a former assistant chief, Ricardo Rodriguez, 65, opened Disinfect Pro Master in April 2020 and used employees from the sheriff’s office to run the company’s day-to-day operations both on and off the clock with the county, prosecutors alleged.” (01/23/26)
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/texas-sheriff-fraud-trump-pardon-henry-cuellar-b2906103.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) ICE Demonstrates Why We Need the Second Amendment
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“This week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes warned that her state’s Stand Your Ground law makes confrontations between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the public potentially dangerous. Mayes, a Democrat, thinks she’s scoring points against the self-defense law while raising a caution to ICE agents, but she’s really underlining a feature of America’s political culture. It’s not Stand Your Ground that puts masked government agents in peril, but this country’s noble history of resistance to overbearing government and the Second Amendment in which that tradition is embodied. … Mayes told 12 News’s Brahm Resnik ‘… we have a Stand Your Ground law that says if you reasonably believe that your life in in danger, and you’re in your house, or your car, or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.'” (01/23/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/23/ice-demonstrates-why-we-need-the-second-amendment/
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22) Ayn Rand, Illegal Immigrant
Source: Notablog
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“On February 19, 1926, Ayn Rand arrived in the United States from the Soviet Union on a six-month visa to visit her Chicago relatives. She had every intention of remaining in the US permanently. But she knew that US immigration law was highly restrictive. She told officials that she fully intended to return to Russia to marry a man to whom she was engaged. This was a lie. However, given the restrictive immigration laws of the time, Rand’s entrance into the US would have been refused had she not lied about an imminent return to her native country.” (01/23/26)
https://notablog.net/2026/01/23/ayn-rand-illegal-immigrant/
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23) Donald Trump’s Board of Piece (of the Action)
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“We’ve already watched Trump knock down billions in new wealth as president, billing taxpayers for use of his own properties and tapping family and friends as proxies for everything from corporate takeovers to insider trading to cryptocurrency scams. Now he’s setting himself up as all-powerful chairman for life of an organization that will handle — and hand out contracts disposing of — untold additional billions in Gaza aid. Guess who will get those contracts? Oh, for the good old days of the Biden family’s mere ‘10% for the Big Guy.'” (01/24/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20286
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24) Nullify the Police State: The People’s Veto to Rein in a Lawless Government
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by John W Whitehead
“We are living through a period of open lawlessness at the highest levels of government. Executive orders are issued to sidestep Congress. Federal law enforcement is deployed as a tool of retaliation. Protest is criminalized. Surveillance expands. Due process becomes optional. Courts are packed, ignored, or bypassed. Entire communities are terrorized under the guise of ‘law and order.’ None of this is accidental. And none of it is temporary. … A president is not a monarch, a CEO, or a landlord over the republic. He is an employee — hired by ‘we the people,’ bound by a written contract called the Constitution, and subject to limits he did not write and cannot rewrite. When that employee ignores his limits, only one check remains: the people themselves.” (01/23/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/nullify-the-police-state-the-peoples-veto-to-rein-in-a-lawless-government/
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25) Will Trump’s DHS “Zone Out” the First Amendment?
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Bovard
“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday called for Minneapolis to ‘set up a peaceful protest zone so that these individuals can exercise their First Amendment rights and do so peacefully.’ Since 9/11, ‘free speech zones’ have been one of the biggest constitutional shams around. Both major political parties have used ‘free speech zone’ restrictions to seek to silence dissent.” (01/23/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/will-trumps-dhs-zone-out-the-first-amendment
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26) Government-Controlled Digital ID is Not the Optional Convenience It Is Being Sold As
Source: Brownstone Institute
by David Thunder
“The UK government has pledged to introduce a digital ID system for all UK citizens and legal residents by the end of the current Parliament (so no later than 2029). The integration of digital ID into government services, though already under way, has hitherto been largely voluntary. However, it is becoming steadily less optional, as the government has said it will now be required as a precondition for work in the UK, and a version of it (GOV.UK One Login) is already being imposed unilaterally upon company directors throughout the UK.” (01/25/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/government-controlled-digital-id-is-not-the-optional-convenience-it-is-being-sold-as/
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27) The Bourgeois Are (And Have Been) Building The Kingdom of Heaven
Source: The Findings Substack
by Paul Rosenberg
“By the golden rule, humans are primary entities. By the iron rule, nearly all of them are demoted to the role of secondary or derivative entities. And this is made very clear by the fact that enforced hierarchies (states, large corporations and so on) require every occupant of their structure (save a very few at the pinnacle) to relinquish a good deal of their agency, their scope, their cognition, to the larger entity. It’s of great significance then, that humans of the bourgeois model are free agents, and not bound within an enforced hierarchy. These people are almost entirely free to operate via the golden rule, while people within hierarchies are forced to live by the iron rule for large portions of their lives.” (01/24/25)
https://thefindings.substack.com/p/the-bourgeois-are-and-have-been-building
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28) A Debate on the Transition, or Not, from Law and Politics to Legal Codes as Opportunities for Immoral AI
Source: Isonomia Quarterly
by Jason Morgan
“What takes the place of politics, however dirty and corrupt it was, once politics has broken down? This is where my fears show their faces. If it is true that we already live in an age of superintelligent agents, and if those agents are growing more powerful by the day, and if, on a separate track, our politics is broken and getting broken-er and broken-er, then the convergence of the two trends, superintelligence and political dysfunction, seems almost inevitable. What happens next, to my mind, is unpredictable, except that it will surely not redound to the benefit of mankind.” (01/24/26)
https://isonomiaquarterly.com/archive/volume-3-issue-4/a-debate-on-the-transition-or-not-from-law-and-politics-to-legal-codes-as-opportunities-for-immoral-ai/
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29) The Magic System Of Zionism
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“If I spoke critically of something abusive that India was doing in Kashmir, would you expect me to be accused of an anti-Hindu hate crime? If you criticized an Indian military operation, would you have to preface it with ‘I don’t hate Hindus or their religion and am not the slightest bit Hinduphobic?’ If there was worldwide opposition to something that Indian military forces were doing, would you expect western governments to start frantically churning out laws to ban that opposition because it was making members of the Hindu community feel unsafe? Would it ever in your wildest imaginings occur to you that a criticism of the violent actions of the government of India could in any way be interpreted as an attack on the Hindu faith and the membership of that religion? You can probably see where I’m going with this.” (01/24/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/01/24/the-magic-system-of-zionism/
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30) Illegal immigration was never an actual problem
Source: Sex and the State
by Cathy Reisenwitz
“Who could have predicted that hiring thousands of agents with no background checks, giving them barely any training, sending them into communities where they’re not wanted, and making it extremely clear to them that they would never be held accountable for any violence they perpetrate would lead to them escalating from hurting people with no remorse to increasingly murdering folks, in cold blood, on camera? Indeed, who would have thought that allowing Jonathan Ross to murder Renee Good in broad daylight, on camera, with zero consequences, would have emboldened other ICE officers to murder more innocent people in broad daylight on camera? … I just think it bears repeating, at this time and always, that illegal immigration was never an actual problem. Illegal aliens commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans, on average. They create more jobs and boost native-born wages, on average.” (01/24/26)
https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/illegal-immigration-was-never-an
-----
31) Making kids do remote schooling on “snow days” sucks; get off the screens & go touch snow
Source: New York Post
by Kirsten Fleming
“The forecast is grim for New York City school kids. On Friday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that, no matter how many inches of the white stuff drop during Sunday’s looming storm, there will be no snow day to start the week. ‘I know to the disappointment of any student that’s watching this right now, Monday is either going to be a remote learning day or it’s going to be an in-person school day,’ Mamdani said on NY1. ‘It’s not going to be a traditional snow day. That is a determination we’ve made.’ Give these kids a damn break. Remote learning — a horrifically ineffective holdover from the Covid lockdown era — has essentially wiped out the glorious snow day, a rite of passage for so many American kids, including right here in the Northeast.” (01/23/25)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/23/opinion/making-kids-do-remote-schooling-on-snow-days-sucks/
-----
32) The West needs a reckoning with America’s decline
Source: spiked
by Phil Mullan
“In The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, the Athenian historian and general, wrote: ‘What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear that this caused in Sparta.’ Thankfully, war is never inevitable, but historically, the circumstances Thucydides described have often proved dangerous. A great power that is past its prime, that senses its further decline, and targets the upcoming powers, creates a predicament that requires careful handling by all parties. But this is beyond the capacity of today’s Western rulers. … A key symptom of the West’s geopolitical fecklessness is that America’s relative decline – and its global implications – has not been properly grasped by most transatlantic governments.” (01/24/26)
https://archive.is/XB0tP
-----
33) The Gratuitous Barbarity of Trump’s So-Called “Board of Peace”
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies
“At the opening ceremony for Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Jared Kushner unveiled glossy images of his vision for a ‘new Gaza’: shining apartment towers, luxury developments, and sweeping views of the Mediterranean. There were no Palestinians at the ceremony — and none on the Board of Peace itself. In Kushner’s fantasy, Palestinians appear only as an absence, buried beneath the rubble of the real Gaza. But how, exactly, are Palestinians to be ‘demilitarized’ and pacified to make way for this Riviera of the Middle East? The assassination of Gaza’s Khan Younis police chief in a drive-by shooting this January offers a chilling clue. It was not an isolated act of lawlessness, but an ominous signal of what lies ahead.” (01/23/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-board-of-peace-2675008811
-----
34) What the Grateful Dead Can Show a Fractured America
Source: RealClearPolitics
by J Peder Zane
“As our great nation celebrates its 250th anniversary in a time of angry division, when we are wondering who we are as a people and what we stand for, the Grateful Dead’s legacy offers useful ways to think about such questions. Like the best ideas, they didn’t insist on answers but pushed us to consider possibilities. The band was quintessentially American because it gave equal play to the great forces of our society – rugged individualism and community – resolving the tension between ideas that our politics too often cast as conflicting. Or, as the group’s first-among-equals, Jerry Garcia, would have put it, every yin depends on a yang.” (01/23/26)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/01/23/what_the_grateful_dead_can_show_a_fractured_america__153746.html
-----
35) Profit-Led Inflation: Trivial or Wrong?
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne and Nathan Miller
“In recent years, I’ve offered several critiques of inflation theories variously described as ‘greedflation,’ ‘sellers’ inflation’ or ‘profit-led inflation.’ The economist Christopher Conlon has now offered a more formal treatment in a forthcoming paper in the International Journal of Industrial Organization. He comes to the same conclusions.” (01/23/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/profit-led-inflation-trivial-or-wrong
-----
36) Inept Con Man in the White House
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“You hear that, MAGA? You got that, America Firsters? Your Dear Leader acknowledges that he has not been an America Firster at all, but a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump Firster. His goal wasn’t to Make America Great Again, but to make his White House or Mar-a-Lago mantelpiece great.” (01/23/26)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2026/01/tgif-inept-con-man-in-white-house.html
-----
37) TN: Snow, ICE, & Pesticides
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Megan Podsiedlik
“Last year, a controversial pest control bill started making its way through the General Assembly. The legislation, which passed through the senate, would prevent civil ‘failure to warn’ liability lawsuits from being filed against pesticide manufacturers and sellers in Tennessee as long as they have an EPA-approved label. Toward the end of last session, the House Judiciary Committee voted to place the bill on 2026’s calendar. The legislation was on the committee’s agenda for this Wednesday, with rumors that a new amendment rewriting the bill would be introduced by Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville). But when Wednesday rolled around, the bill was taken off notice, pausing its progress once again. The Lead Up Groups in favor of the GOP-sponsored legislation include the Tennessee Farm Bureau and the Modern Ag Alliance, which Bayer founded to protect, defend, and ensure continued farmer access to crop protection tools (specifically glyphosate) amidst mounting legal challenges.” (01/23/25)
https://pamphleteer.co/newsletter/snow-ice-pesticides/
-----
38) Academic freedom suffers blow after blow in Florida
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Garrett Gravley
“In 2023, FIRE raised the following question: What’s going on in Florida? In light of recent affronts to academic freedom in the Sunshine State, we regret to raise this question once again.” (01/23/26)
https://www.thefire.org/news/academic-freedom-suffers-blow-after-blow-florida
-----
39) A Small Tip Jar for the Administrative State
Source: Bet On It
by Ben Nadelstein
“Modern governments send a clear signal to their workers: individual citizens do not matter very much. Feedback for government is often collective rather than personal, delayed rather than immediate, and symbolic rather than material. As a result, government bureaucrats rationally optimize for rule compliance and blame avoidance, not for responsiveness, goodwill, or basic courtesy. … Suppose taxpayers received a small share of their yearly taxed salary, say 1%, that they could allocate annually to adjust the compensation (up or down) of specific government employees, agency heads, or even departments as a whole.” (01/23/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/a-small-tip-jar-for-the-administrative
-----
40) Left’s teachable moment about perils of unlimited government
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“In freer nations, the leader’s powers are strictly limited and the citizens’ rights are protected. Yet in America today, we are dependent on every whim, utterance and narcissistic rage post from our president, as he pursues policies that could disrupt our lives. In that way, we’re more like North Korea than our founders’ America. This has always been true to a degree, but since Donald Trump took office last year, Americans have been experiencing a severe form of political whiplash. Firmly in control of the nation’s massive federal apparatus, MAGA and its Republican lickspittles in Congress have thrived on chaos. … Both political sides assume they will always control the levers of power. But they forget this important axiom: Don’t ever support a new power that you wouldn’t want in the hands of your worst enemy.” (01/23/26)
https://archive.is/RrBPk
-----
41) The Big Winner: China
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Trump’s bizarre threats to take Greenland by military force, now rescinded, added one more signal to America’s usual allies that the U.S. could no longer be trusted. One ironic result is closer economic relations between the rest of the world and China. This is far more consequential than whatever deterrent effect on China that might be achieved by more U.S. bases in Greenland. Europe, especially Germany, was already moving in the direction of closer economic ties with China. In the wake of the Greenland debacle, there will be more trade deals and more investment, both by Europe in China and by China in Europe, increasing Europe’s dependence on Beijing.” (01/23/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/23/big-winner-china-trump-carney-greenland/
-----
42) Why Trump Should Accept Putin’s New START Offer
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ariel Petrovics
“The United States is approaching a decisive moment in its management of nuclear risk. New START — the last remaining arms control agreement between the United States and Russia — is scheduled to expire on Feb. 5. Signed in 2010, New START has helped limit nuclear competition between the world’s largest arsenals by capping warheads and delivery systems and enabling inspections and data exchanges. Although Russia suspended inspections and halted treaty-mandated data exchanges in 2023, protesting U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine, it promised to maintain treaty limits and has since offered to extend those limits by one year if the United States agrees to do the same.” (01/23/26)
https://archive.is/ibrZB
-----
43) The American Police State Has Arrived
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano
“In recent days, the government in America has not only failed to protect the freedom of speech, it has attacked it. Like authoritarians throughout history, it has sought to silence the speech it hates and fears. But most authoritarians did not have a Constitution that was written as an intentional obstacle to them.” (01/23/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/andrew-p-napolitano/2026/01/22/the-american-police-state-has-arrived
-----
44) Davos fracas hints at how Europe could fight economic warfare too
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Karthik Sankaran
“It has been an extraordinary few days for Washington’s economic and security relations with the world. On January 17, President Trump threatened 10-25% tariffs on 8 European countries if they did not agree to the U.S. executing a ‘complete and total purchase’ of Greenland. This then led to a furious response that united most of Europe, and a subsequent ‘framework for an agreement’ negotiated at Davos that seemed to reflect deescalation on all sides. But even if this particular storm may have passed with some kind of fudge that offers less than what Trump demanded, the episode raises a fresh round of questions about the increasingly tangled (and contradictory) economic, financial, and security connections between the U.S. and its allies, particularly those in the North Atlantic.” (01/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/davos-europe-trump/
-----
45) Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ICE And the “5-Year-Old Boy” Edition
Source: The Federalist
by Eddie Scarry
“Credit to the Department of Homeland Security and Vice President J.D. Vance for immediately nipping in the bud what was sure to be a hysterical weekend-long news cycle. And yet, the headlines remain: New York Times: ‘Detention of 5-Year-Old by Federal Agents Incenses Minneapolis’ … Washington Post: ‘ICE detains four children from Minnesota school district, including 5-year-old’ … CBS: ‘ICE takes 5-year-old boy and his father after using boy as ‘bait,’ school district says’ … Axios: ‘ICE’s detention of child puts new focus on Trump team’s tactics’ … They would have you believe that ICE snatched an adorable little boy out of preschool and marched him into the frigid air of a Minneapolis suburb.” (01/23/25)
https://thefederalist.com/2026/01/23/heres-how-the-media-are-lying-right-now-ice-and-5-year-old-boy-edition/
-----
46) Hey, Dummy
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Hank Jr. began his career performing his father’s songs and songs in his father’s style — he was something very close to what we would today call a ‘tribute’ act, his life dominated by the memory of a man he barely knew and could never live up to. (The family traditions must have aged him: He released ‘All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down,’ lamenting middle-aged decline, at 32.) And even after Hank Jr. went off to explore new musical directions, he continued to be ‘Bocephus,’ the little wooden man mouthing someone else’s words and dominated by forces beyond his control. The outline of the story is familiar enough, and one might wonder whether J.D. Vance, another obviously troubled son of an absent father, is entirely comfortable with Donald Trump’s hand up his backside working his mouth. It is fortunate for Vance that Trump has such famously diminutive fists.” (01/23/26)
https://archive.is/hM4X6
-----
47) The Latest Trump Administration Grift: Tariff Checks
Source: The Daily Economy
by Paul Mueller
“Trump’s tariffs haven’t boosted manufacturing; they’ve raised costs and disrupted supply chains. A redistributive dividend check can’t reverse the underlying economic harm.” (01/23/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-latest-trump-administration-grift-tariff-checks/
-----
48) The Hawks’ New Plans for Iran Are Disastrous
Source: The American Conservative
by Ali Rizk
“As President Donald Trump has shown reluctance to engage in a risky large-scale bombing campaign against Iran, hawkish voices are advocating for alternative courses of action in an apparent bid to keep Washington on a confrontational footing with Tehran. The proposals being put forward appear clearly designed to present Trump with what may look like risk-averse strategies but in fact are not. Two alternative courses of action in particular have emerged: the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the partitioning of Iran along ethnic lines. Both these options could have dramatic negative repercussions that would far outweigh any supposed benefits.” (01/23/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-hawks-new-plans-for-iran-are-disastrous/
-----
49) “ICE Is Made Up of a Bunch of Cowards”
Source: In These Times
Margaret Vail Palmquist
“he Minnesota shutdown is well underway, kicked off with a large picket line by workers and an act of civil disobedience Friday morning by faith leaders outside of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, where many protesters are decrying the abduction of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The preschooler, according to school officials, was used as ’bait’ when he arrived home from school in Columbia Heights on Tuesday, January 20. They say that agents led him to his door and instructed him to knock so that they could assess if anyone else was home.” [editor’s note: OR, as ICE alleges, the father ran and the agents took the child to warmer places so he did not freeze – SAT] [additional editor’s note: If you’ll believe the ICE gang, you’ll believe anyone and anything – TLK] (01/25/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ice-is-made-up-of-a-bunch-of-cowards
-----
50) The Deportation Labor Shock
Source: EconLog
by Tarnell Brown
“Mass deportation is often framed as a pro‑worker policy. Remove unauthorized immigrants, the argument goes, and native wages will rise as labor supply contracts. This logic is intuitive, politically potent, and economically incomplete. Mass deportation is a massive market intervention. When examined through the lens of labor markets, production complementarities, and historical evidence, mass deportation emerges not as a wage‑enhancing reform but as a broad negative shock — one that reduces output, raises prices, and ultimately leaves most American workers worse off.” (01/23/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/the-deportation-labor-shock
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Chris Spangle Show, 01/24/26
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Snowpocalypse and ICE murders again in Minneapolis.” (01/24/26)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/wal-snowpocalypse-and-ice-murders
-----
52) Bulwark Takes, 01/24/26
Source: The Bulwark
“MN Shooting Victim IDed, New Video of Incident.” (01/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdLhbQNELJY
-----
53) Unattended Baggage, episode 326
Source: Unattended Baggage
“The ICE/ice age cometh.” (01/24/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-326-the-iceice-age-cometh
-----
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2729
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Does Woke Really Go Broke?” (01/24/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2729-does-woke-really-go-broke/
-----
55) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Daniel Davis on Ukraine, Davos and the future of America’s Policy Towards Europe.” (01/24/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/1-22-26-daniel-davis-on-ukraine-davos-and-the-future-of-americas-policy-towards-europe/
-----
56) The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan, 01/23/26
Source: The Weekly Dish
“Kevin Williamson On The Perils Of Populism.” (01/23/26)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/kevin-williamson-on-the-perils-of
-----
57) Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became A Problem For Democracy (with Judith Resnik)
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“Listen as legal scholar Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School, explores the history of punishment within prisons and how governments contend with punishments they impose.” (01/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlVeu_zUHI
-----
58) Serious Trouble, 01/23/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“120 Days.” (01/23/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/120-days
-----
59) Mixed Signals, 01/23/26
Source: Semafor
“Stephen Dubner has spent 20 years proving that things aren’t what they seem—and now he’s not so sure that’s always true. The co-creator of Freakonomics and host of one of podcasting’s most enduring shows joins Ben and Max to talk about why he never sold to Spotify, how The New York Times shifted from telling readers things to telling them what to think, and his new self-funded TV experiment that’s ‘like laundering podcast money.'” (01/23/26)
https://www.semafor.com/article/01/23/2026/freakanomics-stephen-dubner-mixed-signals
-----
60) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/23/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Explodes in Wild Fury After Poll Hits Him with Worst Results Yet.” (01/23/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/205587/trump-explodes-wild-fury-poll-hits-worst-results-yet
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Today's Freedom News:
0) A Note from the Publisher: All “Hybrid” All the Time!
1) MN: Resistance intensifies after gang members murder Minneapolis man
2) Gold rises after topping $5,000 for the first time in “breathtaking and profoundly scary” rally
3) Palestine: Israeli forces launch “large scale operation” to locate last hostage in Gaza
4) Uganda: Wine claims wife held “at gunpoint” after “hundreds of soldiers” raided his home
5) Ukraine: Russian strike on Kyiv leaves 1,330 buildings still without heat, mayor says
6) US Navy fires commodore of First Naval Construction Regiment
7) Power Outages Cascade as Massive Winter Storm Reaches US East Coast
8) Iraq: Dominant political bloc nominates former prime minister al-Maliki as its candidate
9) Trump threatens 100% tax hike on American consumers over Canada/China trade deal
10) Taiwan: Climber Dad Alex Honnold Successfully Scales 101-Story Building Without Ropes or Harnesses — All on Live TV
11) AZ: AG notes right to “defend yourself with lethal force” from ICE gang members
12) South Africa: Nelson Mandela Memorabilia Can Go to Auction, Court Says
13) DC: Norton ends reelection campaign
14) CO: Investigators confirm Hunter S. Thompson’s death as suicide
15) Venezuela: Rights Group Leader Says at Least 80 Political Prisoners Released
16) FBI agent resigns over investigation into ICE murder victim Renee Good
17) Air France resumes service to Dubai, KLM suspends Middle East flights as US forces head to Gulf
18) China: Top general under investigation in latest military purge
19) Pakistan: Suicide bombing at wedding kills seven
20) TX: Sheriff charged with fraud two months after Trump pardoned his brother
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) ICE Demonstrates Why We Need the Second Amendment
22) Ayn Rand, Illegal Immigrant
23) Donald Trump’s Board of Piece (of the Action)
24) Nullify the Police State: The People’s Veto to Rein in a Lawless Government
25) Will Trump’s DHS “Zone Out” the First Amendment?
26) Government-Controlled Digital ID is Not the Optional Convenience It Is Being Sold As
27) The Bourgeois Are (And Have Been) Building The Kingdom of Heaven
28) A Debate on the Transition, or Not, from Law and Politics to Legal Codes as Opportunities for Immoral AI
29) The Magic System Of Zionism
30) Illegal immigration was never an actual problem
31) Making kids do remote schooling on “snow days” sucks; get off the screens & go touch snow
32) The West needs a reckoning with America’s decline
33) The Gratuitous Barbarity of Trump’s So-Called “Board of Peace”
34) What the Grateful Dead Can Show a Fractured America
35) Profit-Led Inflation: Trivial or Wrong?
36) Inept Con Man in the White House
37) TN: Snow, ICE, & Pesticides
38) Academic freedom suffers blow after blow in Florida
39) A Small Tip Jar for the Administrative State
40) Left’s teachable moment about perils of unlimited government
41) The Big Winner: China
42) Why Trump Should Accept Putin’s New START Offer
43) The American Police State Has Arrived
44) Davos fracas hints at how Europe could fight economic warfare too
45) Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ICE And the “5-Year-Old Boy” Edition
46) Hey, Dummy
47) The Latest Trump Administration Grift: Tariff Checks
48) The Hawks’ New Plans for Iran Are Disastrous
49) “ICE Is Made Up of a Bunch of Cowards”
50) The Deportation Labor Shock
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Chris Spangle Show, 01/24/26
52) Bulwark Takes, 01/24/26
53) Unattended Baggage, episode 326
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2729
55) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
56) The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan, 01/23/26
57) Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became A Problem For Democracy (with Judith Resnik)
58) Serious Trouble, 01/23/26
59) Mixed Signals, 01/23/26
60) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/23/26
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0) A Note from the Publisher: All "Hybrid" All the Time!
Hey, everyone ...
As I mentioned last week, we've recently found ourselves publishing more and more "hybrid" editions -- full-size daily email digests for readers of Rational Review News Digest and Freedom News Daily. And I always include one of these notes atop those "hybrid" editions.
It's become frequent enough now that I've decided to just make it "the way things are" -- instead of a note like this, EVERY daily email edition will include a one-line notice at the top to let readers know there's MORE content at our web edition:
https://news.rationalreview.com
Enjoy the new, BIGGER version of the freedom movement's daily newspaper!
Yours in liberty,
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Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
-----
1) MN: Resistance intensifies after gang members murder Minneapolis man
Source: The Hill
“The risk of a partial government shutdown at the end of January is growing more likely, as protesters demonstrated with renewed furor overnight after a second person in the span of a month was [murdered] by federal immigration authorities in Minneapolis. Senate Democrats vowed to block a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding package on Saturday after Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse and Minneapolis resident, was [murdered] by U.S. Border Patrol agents. … President Trump and other administration officials defended the federal presence in Minnesota and tied the [murder] to an ongoing massive fraud investigation in the state.” (01/25/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5705063-live-updates-trump-minnesota-shutdown-winter-storm/
-----
2) Gold rises after topping $5,000 for the first time in “breathtaking and profoundly scary” rally
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“Gold continued to rise on Monday after breaking above $5,000 an ounce earlier than Wall Street expected. Futures hit the major milestone on Sunday, raising questions about the stunning speed of the rally in precious metals. Gold’s surge has become a hallmark of the so-called ‘debasement trade,’ with investors buying assets to protect against the erosion of purchasing power amid soaring government debt worldwide. ‘The rise in precious metals prices is breathtaking and profoundly scary,’ wrote Robin Brooks, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution on Sunday, noting the rise in gold prices is ‘part of something much bigger.’ … Bullion has made turns higher at every major geopolitical this year, including the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and President Trump’s tariff threats in pursuit of Greenland.” (01/26/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gold-rises-after-topping-5000-for-the-first-time-in-breathtaking-and-profoundly-scary-rally-013213961.html
-----
3) Palestine: Israeli forces launch “large scale operation” to locate last hostage in Gaza
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
“Israel said Sunday its military was conducting a ‘large-scale operation’ to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as Washington and other mediators pressure Israel and Hamas to move into the next phase of their ceasefire. The statement came as Israel’s cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top U.S. envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps. The return of the body of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely [used as an excuse to not move] ahead with opening the Rafah crossing, which would signal the ceasefire’s second phase. … Hamas in a statement Sunday said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.” (01/25/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/israel-gaza-hostage-remains-search-gvili-hamas-20260125.html
-----
4) Uganda: Wine claims wife held “at gunpoint” after “hundreds of soldiers” raided his home
Source: Sky News [UK]
“Uganda’s opposition leader claims ‘hundreds of soldiers’ raided his home overnight and held his wife at gunpoint, leaving destruction everywhere. Bobi Wine says his wife was assaulted and documents and electronic items were taken from his home. He made the claims on X on Saturday morning. Sky News has approached the Ugandan government for comment. It comes days after President Yoweri Museveni extended his decades-long rule of the African country in an election marred by claims of ballot stuffing.” (01/24/26)
https://news.sky.com/story/ugandan-opposition-leader-bobi-wine-claims-wife-held-at-gunpoint-after-hundreds-of-soldiers-raided-his-home-13498321
-----
5) Ukraine: Russian strike on Kyiv leaves 1,330 buildings still without heat, mayor says
Source: Reuters
“Around 1,700 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv were still without heating following a Russian missile and drone attack earlier this week, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Sunday. Moscow has sharply intensified bombardments of Ukraine’s energy system since it invaded its neighbour in 2022. Russia launched a vast attack on Ukraine’s energy system on Saturday, rocking Kyiv with explosions overnight, leaving 1.2 million properties without power countrywide during sub-zero winter temperatures.” (01/25/26)
https://archive.is/5iWqy
-----
6) US Navy fires commodore of First Naval Construction Regiment
Source: Stars and Stripes [US state media]
“The Navy has relieved the commodore of the First Naval Construction Regiment of his duties, the service said Friday. Capt. Douglas Whimpey, a Navy reservist, was relieved ‘due to loss of confidence in his ability to command.’ The U.S. military routinely cites only a vague ‘loss of confidence’ when removing commanders and other leaders from authority positions. … ‘Navy leaders are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership personally and professionally, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards,’ the Navy said in a statement.” (01/25/26)
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-01-25/naval-construction-regiment-commander-fired-20521096.html
-----
7) Power Outages Cascade as Massive Winter Storm Reaches US East Coast
Source: Bloomberg
“A colossal winter storm reached the US East Coast Sunday morning after dropping ice and snow across much of the nation, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power and causing a wave of flight cancellations that may last for days. New England may see up to 18 inches (0.46 meters) of snow through Monday, according to the US Weather Prediction Center, with up to a foot possible in New York City. Some of that snow may fall as sleet, leading to heavy icing on streets and roads. More than 750,000 homes and businesses across the US were without power as of 9 a.m. in New York. The majority are in Texas and Tennessee, where freezing rain has coated power lines and streets in a layer of ice.” (01/25/26)
https://archive.is/zp4Im
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8) Iraq: Dominant political bloc nominates former prime minister al-Maliki as its candidate
Source: ABC News
“Iraq ’s dominant political bloc announced Saturday that it had nominated former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister. The announcement came after caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, whose bloc won the largest share of seats in November’s parliamentary elections, stepped aside earlier this month. That cleared the field for al-Maliki after the two had competed for the backing of the Coordination Framework, a collection of Shiite parties. Under Iraq’s constitution, a president is elected by the parliament, then names a prime minister, with the premier tasked with forming a new government.” (01/24/26)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqs-dominant-political-bloc-nominates-former-prime-minister-129527146
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9) Trump threatens 100% tax hike on American consumers over Canada/China trade deal
Source: United Press International
“Canadian officials might ink a trade deal with China, and U.S. President Donald Trump said that would trigger a 100% tariff on [American buyers of] all Canadian goods sent to the United States. Trump announced the new tariffs would take effect immediately if Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney turns Canada into a conduit for Chinese-made goods intended for the United States. … Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week and made a deal to lower some of the tariffs imposed by one another on some of their trade goods. China will lower its tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, while Canada will lower its tariff on up to 49,000 electric vehicles that are made in China. The Canadian government in 2024 placed tariffs on Chinese vehicles in 2024 in a coordinated effort with the United States.” (01/24/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/01/24/canada-china-tariffs/7331769312226/
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10) Taiwan: Climber Dad Alex Honnold Successfully Scales 101-Story Building Without Ropes or Harnesses — All on Live TV
Source: People
“Alex Honnold has done it again. The 40-year-old climber and dad of two successfully climbed Taiwan’s Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world, without any ropes or harnesses on Sunday, Jan. 25 (or Saturday, Jan. 24 in America) — and the event aired live on Netflix. The free solo special, Skyscraper Live, was originally scheduled to take place on Friday, Jan. 23, but weather prompted the streamer to postpone the event by 24 hours. … Honnold has been climbing for about 30 years. He was previously featured in the Oscar-winning 2018 documentary Free Solo, which chronicled his successful 2017 attempt to become the first person to summit El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without safety ropes.” (01/24/26)
https://people.com/alex-honnold-completes-taipei-101-free-solo-climb-netlix-special-11889009-11889935
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11) AZ: AG notes right to “defend yourself with lethal force” from ICE gang members
Source: mint [India]
“Kris Mayes, Arizona Attorney General (AG) and a Democrat, noted that residents might legally defend themselves against masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents by shooting them if they feel their lives are at risk, citing the state’s self-defence statutes. … ‘you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and mask’ …. ‘And we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force’ …. During the interview, the anchor expressed shock at Mayes’[s] statements, warning that they could be seen as giving residents a ‘licence’ to shoot federal agents. Mayes responded that she was simply noting a ‘fact’ rather than promoting violence.” (01/23/26)
https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/defend-yourself-with-lethal-force-arizona-ag-kris-mayes-shares-recipe-for-disaster-amid-ice-actions-11769172534113.html
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12) South Africa: Nelson Mandela Memorabilia Can Go to Auction, Court Says
Source: New York Times
“A South African court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the country’s heritage body to prevent the sale and export of memorabilia belonging to the anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. The items are in the hands of Mr. Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, and Christo Brand, a warden who worked at Robben Island while he was incarcerated there. The collection includes a Mandela coin from the U.S. Mint and gifts from former U.S. presidents, including a blanket from President Barack Obama, a champagne cooler from President Bill Clinton and a pen from President George W. Bush. … The Supreme Court of Appeal, with four of the five judges concurring, ruled that the state had failed to prove the items were protected under the heritage act.” (01/24/26)
https://archive.is/T9zj6
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13) DC: Norton ends reelection campaign
Source: Axios
“Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is terminating her reelection campaign after months of speculation that she would retire from Congress rather than seek reelection, according to a new campaign filing. The 88-year-old non-voting delegate has been subject to an intense pressure campaign from both colleagues in Congress and allies in Washington, D.C., to step down. She has repeatedly maintained over the last year that she is running for reelection despite her age and concerns about her cognitive state, with her office initially walking those statements back. … Norton’s principal campaign committee, Citizens for Eleanor Holmes Norton, filed a termination report with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.” (01/25/26)
https://archive.is/O1bL6
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14) CO: Investigators confirm Hunter S. Thompson’s death as suicide
Source: Denver Post
“Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials on Friday confirmed the 2005 death of renowned author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson was a result of suicide, almost six months after the state started reviewing the case by request of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office. State investigators started reviewing the case after Thompson’s widow, Anita, reached out to Sheriff Michael Buglione with concerns about her late husband’s death at their home, Owl Farm, in Woody Creek on Feb. 20, 2005. … Hunter S. Thompson was 67 years old when he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home near Aspen. Friends and family said he experienced suicidal ideation and had instructed them on what to do with his body.” (01/23/26)
https://www.denverpost.com/2026/01/23/hunter-s-thompson-suicide-death-investigation/
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15) Venezuela: Rights Group Leader Says at Least 80 Political Prisoners Released
Source: US News & World Report
“At least 80 people considered political prisoners by a leading Venezuelan rights group had been released on Sunday as part of an ongoing release process, according to the leader of the group. The people were released from prisons across the country and more releases were likely taking place, Alfredo Romero, the director of Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal, said on X. Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday that 626 people have been released from prison, yet she did not specify the timeline of the reported releases.” (01/25/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-01-25/rights-group-leader-says-at-least-80-political-prisoners-released-in-venezuela
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16) FBI agent resigns over investigation into ICE murder victim Renee Good
Source: NBC News
“An FBI agent has resigned over the investigation into the [murder] of Renee Good, after Trump administration officials focused the probe more on the actions of Good and her partner and less on the officer who [murdered] her, according to two people familiar with the decision. The agent, who was a supervisor in the Minneapolis field office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night. Good, 37, was [murdered] on Jan. 7 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross as she was in the driver’s seat of her SUV. … six prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota resigned over their concerns with the direction of the investigation. The investigation thus far has focused more on Good’s partner and whether she impeded a federal officer in the moments prior to the [murder] — and less on the officer’s direct actions.” (01/23/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-agent-resigns-investigation-shooting-renee-good-minneapolis-source-rcna255702
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17) Air France resumes service to Dubai, KLM suspends Middle East flights as US forces head to Gulf
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Air France resumed its service to Dubai on Saturday, after temporarily suspending it the previous day due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the airline announced. Dutch airline KLM halted flights until further notice to cities in the Middle East and would not fly through the airspace of several countries in the region, including Iraq and Iran, according to the Netherlands’ state broadcaster. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a US ‘armada’ was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely, even after downplaying the prospect of imminent military action and saying Tehran appeared interested in talks.” (01/24/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260124-air-france-halts-service-to-dubai-klm-suspends-middle-east-flights
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18) China: Top general under investigation in latest military purge
Source: ABC News
“The Chinese military’s top general is being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law the Defense Ministry said Saturday. Zhang Youxia, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the latest figure to fall in a long-running purge of military officials. Analysts believe the purges are designed both to reform the military and to ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also chairs the military commission. They are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has punished more than 200,000 officials since Xi came to power in 2012. Another member of the commission, Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation by China’s ruling Communist Party, a Defense Ministry statement said.” (01/24/26)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chinas-top-general-investigation-latest-military-purge-129514693
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19) Pakistan: Suicide bombing at wedding kills seven
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A suicide bombing attack at a wedding in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least seven people, according to the police. The bombing tore through a building housing members of a peace committee during a wedding ceremony on Friday in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police official Muhammad Adnan said on Saturday. The committees are made up of residents and elders and supported by Islamabad as part of its efforts to counter fighters in the regions along the Afghan border.” (01/24/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/24/suicide-bombing-at-wedding-in-northwest-pakistan-kills-seven
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20) TX: Sheriff charged with fraud two months after Trump pardoned his brother
Source: Independent [UK]
“A Texas sheriff has been charged with fraud two months after President Donald Trump pardoned his brother, Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar – although the president later accused him of being disloyal. Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar Jr., 67, from Laredo, was accused by federal prosecutors of defrauding his office by misappropriating funds to run a for-profit disinfecting business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, Cuellar’s brother and his brother’s wife, Imelda Cuellar, were pardoned by Trump in a federal bribery case. … Martin Cuellar, along with his assistant chief, Alejandro Gutierrez, 47, and a former assistant chief, Ricardo Rodriguez, 65, opened Disinfect Pro Master in April 2020 and used employees from the sheriff’s office to run the company’s day-to-day operations both on and off the clock with the county, prosecutors alleged.” (01/23/26)
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/texas-sheriff-fraud-trump-pardon-henry-cuellar-b2906103.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) ICE Demonstrates Why We Need the Second Amendment
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“This week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes warned that her state’s Stand Your Ground law makes confrontations between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the public potentially dangerous. Mayes, a Democrat, thinks she’s scoring points against the self-defense law while raising a caution to ICE agents, but she’s really underlining a feature of America’s political culture. It’s not Stand Your Ground that puts masked government agents in peril, but this country’s noble history of resistance to overbearing government and the Second Amendment in which that tradition is embodied. … Mayes told 12 News’s Brahm Resnik ‘… we have a Stand Your Ground law that says if you reasonably believe that your life in in danger, and you’re in your house, or your car, or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.'” (01/23/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/23/ice-demonstrates-why-we-need-the-second-amendment/
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22) Ayn Rand, Illegal Immigrant
Source: Notablog
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“On February 19, 1926, Ayn Rand arrived in the United States from the Soviet Union on a six-month visa to visit her Chicago relatives. She had every intention of remaining in the US permanently. But she knew that US immigration law was highly restrictive. She told officials that she fully intended to return to Russia to marry a man to whom she was engaged. This was a lie. However, given the restrictive immigration laws of the time, Rand’s entrance into the US would have been refused had she not lied about an imminent return to her native country.” (01/23/26)
https://notablog.net/2026/01/23/ayn-rand-illegal-immigrant/
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23) Donald Trump’s Board of Piece (of the Action)
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“We’ve already watched Trump knock down billions in new wealth as president, billing taxpayers for use of his own properties and tapping family and friends as proxies for everything from corporate takeovers to insider trading to cryptocurrency scams. Now he’s setting himself up as all-powerful chairman for life of an organization that will handle — and hand out contracts disposing of — untold additional billions in Gaza aid. Guess who will get those contracts? Oh, for the good old days of the Biden family’s mere ‘10% for the Big Guy.'” (01/24/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20286
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24) Nullify the Police State: The People’s Veto to Rein in a Lawless Government
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by John W Whitehead
“We are living through a period of open lawlessness at the highest levels of government. Executive orders are issued to sidestep Congress. Federal law enforcement is deployed as a tool of retaliation. Protest is criminalized. Surveillance expands. Due process becomes optional. Courts are packed, ignored, or bypassed. Entire communities are terrorized under the guise of ‘law and order.’ None of this is accidental. And none of it is temporary. … A president is not a monarch, a CEO, or a landlord over the republic. He is an employee — hired by ‘we the people,’ bound by a written contract called the Constitution, and subject to limits he did not write and cannot rewrite. When that employee ignores his limits, only one check remains: the people themselves.” (01/23/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/nullify-the-police-state-the-peoples-veto-to-rein-in-a-lawless-government/
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25) Will Trump’s DHS “Zone Out” the First Amendment?
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Bovard
“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday called for Minneapolis to ‘set up a peaceful protest zone so that these individuals can exercise their First Amendment rights and do so peacefully.’ Since 9/11, ‘free speech zones’ have been one of the biggest constitutional shams around. Both major political parties have used ‘free speech zone’ restrictions to seek to silence dissent.” (01/23/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/will-trumps-dhs-zone-out-the-first-amendment
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26) Government-Controlled Digital ID is Not the Optional Convenience It Is Being Sold As
Source: Brownstone Institute
by David Thunder
“The UK government has pledged to introduce a digital ID system for all UK citizens and legal residents by the end of the current Parliament (so no later than 2029). The integration of digital ID into government services, though already under way, has hitherto been largely voluntary. However, it is becoming steadily less optional, as the government has said it will now be required as a precondition for work in the UK, and a version of it (GOV.UK One Login) is already being imposed unilaterally upon company directors throughout the UK.” (01/25/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/government-controlled-digital-id-is-not-the-optional-convenience-it-is-being-sold-as/
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27) The Bourgeois Are (And Have Been) Building The Kingdom of Heaven
Source: The Findings Substack
by Paul Rosenberg
“By the golden rule, humans are primary entities. By the iron rule, nearly all of them are demoted to the role of secondary or derivative entities. And this is made very clear by the fact that enforced hierarchies (states, large corporations and so on) require every occupant of their structure (save a very few at the pinnacle) to relinquish a good deal of their agency, their scope, their cognition, to the larger entity. It’s of great significance then, that humans of the bourgeois model are free agents, and not bound within an enforced hierarchy. These people are almost entirely free to operate via the golden rule, while people within hierarchies are forced to live by the iron rule for large portions of their lives.” (01/24/25)
https://thefindings.substack.com/p/the-bourgeois-are-and-have-been-building
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28) A Debate on the Transition, or Not, from Law and Politics to Legal Codes as Opportunities for Immoral AI
Source: Isonomia Quarterly
by Jason Morgan
“What takes the place of politics, however dirty and corrupt it was, once politics has broken down? This is where my fears show their faces. If it is true that we already live in an age of superintelligent agents, and if those agents are growing more powerful by the day, and if, on a separate track, our politics is broken and getting broken-er and broken-er, then the convergence of the two trends, superintelligence and political dysfunction, seems almost inevitable. What happens next, to my mind, is unpredictable, except that it will surely not redound to the benefit of mankind.” (01/24/26)
https://isonomiaquarterly.com/archive/volume-3-issue-4/a-debate-on-the-transition-or-not-from-law-and-politics-to-legal-codes-as-opportunities-for-immoral-ai/
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29) The Magic System Of Zionism
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“If I spoke critically of something abusive that India was doing in Kashmir, would you expect me to be accused of an anti-Hindu hate crime? If you criticized an Indian military operation, would you have to preface it with ‘I don’t hate Hindus or their religion and am not the slightest bit Hinduphobic?’ If there was worldwide opposition to something that Indian military forces were doing, would you expect western governments to start frantically churning out laws to ban that opposition because it was making members of the Hindu community feel unsafe? Would it ever in your wildest imaginings occur to you that a criticism of the violent actions of the government of India could in any way be interpreted as an attack on the Hindu faith and the membership of that religion? You can probably see where I’m going with this.” (01/24/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/01/24/the-magic-system-of-zionism/
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30) Illegal immigration was never an actual problem
Source: Sex and the State
by Cathy Reisenwitz
“Who could have predicted that hiring thousands of agents with no background checks, giving them barely any training, sending them into communities where they’re not wanted, and making it extremely clear to them that they would never be held accountable for any violence they perpetrate would lead to them escalating from hurting people with no remorse to increasingly murdering folks, in cold blood, on camera? Indeed, who would have thought that allowing Jonathan Ross to murder Renee Good in broad daylight, on camera, with zero consequences, would have emboldened other ICE officers to murder more innocent people in broad daylight on camera? … I just think it bears repeating, at this time and always, that illegal immigration was never an actual problem. Illegal aliens commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans, on average. They create more jobs and boost native-born wages, on average.” (01/24/26)
https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/illegal-immigration-was-never-an
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31) Making kids do remote schooling on “snow days” sucks; get off the screens & go touch snow
Source: New York Post
by Kirsten Fleming
“The forecast is grim for New York City school kids. On Friday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that, no matter how many inches of the white stuff drop during Sunday’s looming storm, there will be no snow day to start the week. ‘I know to the disappointment of any student that’s watching this right now, Monday is either going to be a remote learning day or it’s going to be an in-person school day,’ Mamdani said on NY1. ‘It’s not going to be a traditional snow day. That is a determination we’ve made.’ Give these kids a damn break. Remote learning — a horrifically ineffective holdover from the Covid lockdown era — has essentially wiped out the glorious snow day, a rite of passage for so many American kids, including right here in the Northeast.” (01/23/25)
https://nypost.com/2026/01/23/opinion/making-kids-do-remote-schooling-on-snow-days-sucks/
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32) The West needs a reckoning with America’s decline
Source: spiked
by Phil Mullan
“In The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, the Athenian historian and general, wrote: ‘What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear that this caused in Sparta.’ Thankfully, war is never inevitable, but historically, the circumstances Thucydides described have often proved dangerous. A great power that is past its prime, that senses its further decline, and targets the upcoming powers, creates a predicament that requires careful handling by all parties. But this is beyond the capacity of today’s Western rulers. … A key symptom of the West’s geopolitical fecklessness is that America’s relative decline – and its global implications – has not been properly grasped by most transatlantic governments.” (01/24/26)
https://archive.is/XB0tP
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33) The Gratuitous Barbarity of Trump’s So-Called “Board of Peace”
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies
“At the opening ceremony for Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Jared Kushner unveiled glossy images of his vision for a ‘new Gaza’: shining apartment towers, luxury developments, and sweeping views of the Mediterranean. There were no Palestinians at the ceremony — and none on the Board of Peace itself. In Kushner’s fantasy, Palestinians appear only as an absence, buried beneath the rubble of the real Gaza. But how, exactly, are Palestinians to be ‘demilitarized’ and pacified to make way for this Riviera of the Middle East? The assassination of Gaza’s Khan Younis police chief in a drive-by shooting this January offers a chilling clue. It was not an isolated act of lawlessness, but an ominous signal of what lies ahead.” (01/23/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-board-of-peace-2675008811
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34) What the Grateful Dead Can Show a Fractured America
Source: RealClearPolitics
by J Peder Zane
“As our great nation celebrates its 250th anniversary in a time of angry division, when we are wondering who we are as a people and what we stand for, the Grateful Dead’s legacy offers useful ways to think about such questions. Like the best ideas, they didn’t insist on answers but pushed us to consider possibilities. The band was quintessentially American because it gave equal play to the great forces of our society – rugged individualism and community – resolving the tension between ideas that our politics too often cast as conflicting. Or, as the group’s first-among-equals, Jerry Garcia, would have put it, every yin depends on a yang.” (01/23/26)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/01/23/what_the_grateful_dead_can_show_a_fractured_america__153746.html
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35) Profit-Led Inflation: Trivial or Wrong?
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne and Nathan Miller
“In recent years, I’ve offered several critiques of inflation theories variously described as ‘greedflation,’ ‘sellers’ inflation’ or ‘profit-led inflation.’ The economist Christopher Conlon has now offered a more formal treatment in a forthcoming paper in the International Journal of Industrial Organization. He comes to the same conclusions.” (01/23/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/profit-led-inflation-trivial-or-wrong
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36) Inept Con Man in the White House
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“You hear that, MAGA? You got that, America Firsters? Your Dear Leader acknowledges that he has not been an America Firster at all, but a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump Firster. His goal wasn’t to Make America Great Again, but to make his White House or Mar-a-Lago mantelpiece great.” (01/23/26)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2026/01/tgif-inept-con-man-in-white-house.html
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37) TN: Snow, ICE, & Pesticides
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Megan Podsiedlik
“Last year, a controversial pest control bill started making its way through the General Assembly. The legislation, which passed through the senate, would prevent civil ‘failure to warn’ liability lawsuits from being filed against pesticide manufacturers and sellers in Tennessee as long as they have an EPA-approved label. Toward the end of last session, the House Judiciary Committee voted to place the bill on 2026’s calendar. The legislation was on the committee’s agenda for this Wednesday, with rumors that a new amendment rewriting the bill would be introduced by Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville). But when Wednesday rolled around, the bill was taken off notice, pausing its progress once again. The Lead Up Groups in favor of the GOP-sponsored legislation include the Tennessee Farm Bureau and the Modern Ag Alliance, which Bayer founded to protect, defend, and ensure continued farmer access to crop protection tools (specifically glyphosate) amidst mounting legal challenges.” (01/23/25)
https://pamphleteer.co/newsletter/snow-ice-pesticides/
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38) Academic freedom suffers blow after blow in Florida
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Garrett Gravley
“In 2023, FIRE raised the following question: What’s going on in Florida? In light of recent affronts to academic freedom in the Sunshine State, we regret to raise this question once again.” (01/23/26)
https://www.thefire.org/news/academic-freedom-suffers-blow-after-blow-florida
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39) A Small Tip Jar for the Administrative State
Source: Bet On It
by Ben Nadelstein
“Modern governments send a clear signal to their workers: individual citizens do not matter very much. Feedback for government is often collective rather than personal, delayed rather than immediate, and symbolic rather than material. As a result, government bureaucrats rationally optimize for rule compliance and blame avoidance, not for responsiveness, goodwill, or basic courtesy. … Suppose taxpayers received a small share of their yearly taxed salary, say 1%, that they could allocate annually to adjust the compensation (up or down) of specific government employees, agency heads, or even departments as a whole.” (01/23/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/a-small-tip-jar-for-the-administrative
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40) Left’s teachable moment about perils of unlimited government
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“In freer nations, the leader’s powers are strictly limited and the citizens’ rights are protected. Yet in America today, we are dependent on every whim, utterance and narcissistic rage post from our president, as he pursues policies that could disrupt our lives. In that way, we’re more like North Korea than our founders’ America. This has always been true to a degree, but since Donald Trump took office last year, Americans have been experiencing a severe form of political whiplash. Firmly in control of the nation’s massive federal apparatus, MAGA and its Republican lickspittles in Congress have thrived on chaos. … Both political sides assume they will always control the levers of power. But they forget this important axiom: Don’t ever support a new power that you wouldn’t want in the hands of your worst enemy.” (01/23/26)
https://archive.is/RrBPk
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41) The Big Winner: China
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Trump’s bizarre threats to take Greenland by military force, now rescinded, added one more signal to America’s usual allies that the U.S. could no longer be trusted. One ironic result is closer economic relations between the rest of the world and China. This is far more consequential than whatever deterrent effect on China that might be achieved by more U.S. bases in Greenland. Europe, especially Germany, was already moving in the direction of closer economic ties with China. In the wake of the Greenland debacle, there will be more trade deals and more investment, both by Europe in China and by China in Europe, increasing Europe’s dependence on Beijing.” (01/23/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/23/big-winner-china-trump-carney-greenland/
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42) Why Trump Should Accept Putin’s New START Offer
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ariel Petrovics
“The United States is approaching a decisive moment in its management of nuclear risk. New START — the last remaining arms control agreement between the United States and Russia — is scheduled to expire on Feb. 5. Signed in 2010, New START has helped limit nuclear competition between the world’s largest arsenals by capping warheads and delivery systems and enabling inspections and data exchanges. Although Russia suspended inspections and halted treaty-mandated data exchanges in 2023, protesting U.S. and NATO support for Ukraine, it promised to maintain treaty limits and has since offered to extend those limits by one year if the United States agrees to do the same.” (01/23/26)
https://archive.is/ibrZB
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43) The American Police State Has Arrived
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano
“In recent days, the government in America has not only failed to protect the freedom of speech, it has attacked it. Like authoritarians throughout history, it has sought to silence the speech it hates and fears. But most authoritarians did not have a Constitution that was written as an intentional obstacle to them.” (01/23/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/andrew-p-napolitano/2026/01/22/the-american-police-state-has-arrived
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44) Davos fracas hints at how Europe could fight economic warfare too
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Karthik Sankaran
“It has been an extraordinary few days for Washington’s economic and security relations with the world. On January 17, President Trump threatened 10-25% tariffs on 8 European countries if they did not agree to the U.S. executing a ‘complete and total purchase’ of Greenland. This then led to a furious response that united most of Europe, and a subsequent ‘framework for an agreement’ negotiated at Davos that seemed to reflect deescalation on all sides. But even if this particular storm may have passed with some kind of fudge that offers less than what Trump demanded, the episode raises a fresh round of questions about the increasingly tangled (and contradictory) economic, financial, and security connections between the U.S. and its allies, particularly those in the North Atlantic.” (01/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/davos-europe-trump/
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45) Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ICE And the “5-Year-Old Boy” Edition
Source: The Federalist
by Eddie Scarry
“Credit to the Department of Homeland Security and Vice President J.D. Vance for immediately nipping in the bud what was sure to be a hysterical weekend-long news cycle. And yet, the headlines remain: New York Times: ‘Detention of 5-Year-Old by Federal Agents Incenses Minneapolis’ … Washington Post: ‘ICE detains four children from Minnesota school district, including 5-year-old’ … CBS: ‘ICE takes 5-year-old boy and his father after using boy as ‘bait,’ school district says’ … Axios: ‘ICE’s detention of child puts new focus on Trump team’s tactics’ … They would have you believe that ICE snatched an adorable little boy out of preschool and marched him into the frigid air of a Minneapolis suburb.” (01/23/25)
https://thefederalist.com/2026/01/23/heres-how-the-media-are-lying-right-now-ice-and-5-year-old-boy-edition/
-----
46) Hey, Dummy
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Hank Jr. began his career performing his father’s songs and songs in his father’s style — he was something very close to what we would today call a ‘tribute’ act, his life dominated by the memory of a man he barely knew and could never live up to. (The family traditions must have aged him: He released ‘All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down,’ lamenting middle-aged decline, at 32.) And even after Hank Jr. went off to explore new musical directions, he continued to be ‘Bocephus,’ the little wooden man mouthing someone else’s words and dominated by forces beyond his control. The outline of the story is familiar enough, and one might wonder whether J.D. Vance, another obviously troubled son of an absent father, is entirely comfortable with Donald Trump’s hand up his backside working his mouth. It is fortunate for Vance that Trump has such famously diminutive fists.” (01/23/26)
https://archive.is/hM4X6
-----
47) The Latest Trump Administration Grift: Tariff Checks
Source: The Daily Economy
by Paul Mueller
“Trump’s tariffs haven’t boosted manufacturing; they’ve raised costs and disrupted supply chains. A redistributive dividend check can’t reverse the underlying economic harm.” (01/23/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-latest-trump-administration-grift-tariff-checks/
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48) The Hawks’ New Plans for Iran Are Disastrous
Source: The American Conservative
by Ali Rizk
“As President Donald Trump has shown reluctance to engage in a risky large-scale bombing campaign against Iran, hawkish voices are advocating for alternative courses of action in an apparent bid to keep Washington on a confrontational footing with Tehran. The proposals being put forward appear clearly designed to present Trump with what may look like risk-averse strategies but in fact are not. Two alternative courses of action in particular have emerged: the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the partitioning of Iran along ethnic lines. Both these options could have dramatic negative repercussions that would far outweigh any supposed benefits.” (01/23/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-hawks-new-plans-for-iran-are-disastrous/
-----
49) “ICE Is Made Up of a Bunch of Cowards”
Source: In These Times
Margaret Vail Palmquist
“he Minnesota shutdown is well underway, kicked off with a large picket line by workers and an act of civil disobedience Friday morning by faith leaders outside of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, where many protesters are decrying the abduction of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The preschooler, according to school officials, was used as ’bait’ when he arrived home from school in Columbia Heights on Tuesday, January 20. They say that agents led him to his door and instructed him to knock so that they could assess if anyone else was home.” [editor’s note: OR, as ICE alleges, the father ran and the agents took the child to warmer places so he did not freeze – SAT] [additional editor’s note: If you’ll believe the ICE gang, you’ll believe anyone and anything – TLK] (01/25/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ice-is-made-up-of-a-bunch-of-cowards
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50) The Deportation Labor Shock
Source: EconLog
by Tarnell Brown
“Mass deportation is often framed as a pro‑worker policy. Remove unauthorized immigrants, the argument goes, and native wages will rise as labor supply contracts. This logic is intuitive, politically potent, and economically incomplete. Mass deportation is a massive market intervention. When examined through the lens of labor markets, production complementarities, and historical evidence, mass deportation emerges not as a wage‑enhancing reform but as a broad negative shock — one that reduces output, raises prices, and ultimately leaves most American workers worse off.” (01/23/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/the-deportation-labor-shock
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Chris Spangle Show, 01/24/26
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Snowpocalypse and ICE murders again in Minneapolis.” (01/24/26)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/wal-snowpocalypse-and-ice-murders
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52) Bulwark Takes, 01/24/26
Source: The Bulwark
“MN Shooting Victim IDed, New Video of Incident.” (01/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdLhbQNELJY
-----
53) Unattended Baggage, episode 326
Source: Unattended Baggage
“The ICE/ice age cometh.” (01/24/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-326-the-iceice-age-cometh
-----
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2729
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Does Woke Really Go Broke?” (01/24/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2729-does-woke-really-go-broke/
-----
55) Daniel Davis on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Daniel Davis on Ukraine, Davos and the future of America’s Policy Towards Europe.” (01/24/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/1-22-26-daniel-davis-on-ukraine-davos-and-the-future-of-americas-policy-towards-europe/
-----
56) The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan, 01/23/26
Source: The Weekly Dish
“Kevin Williamson On The Perils Of Populism.” (01/23/26)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/kevin-williamson-on-the-perils-of
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57) Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became A Problem For Democracy (with Judith Resnik)
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“Listen as legal scholar Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School, explores the history of punishment within prisons and how governments contend with punishments they impose.” (01/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlVeu_zUHI
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58) Serious Trouble, 01/23/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“120 Days.” (01/23/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/120-days
-----
59) Mixed Signals, 01/23/26
Source: Semafor
“Stephen Dubner has spent 20 years proving that things aren’t what they seem—and now he’s not so sure that’s always true. The co-creator of Freakonomics and host of one of podcasting’s most enduring shows joins Ben and Max to talk about why he never sold to Spotify, how The New York Times shifted from telling readers things to telling them what to think, and his new self-funded TV experiment that’s ‘like laundering podcast money.'” (01/23/26)
https://www.semafor.com/article/01/23/2026/freakanomics-stephen-dubner-mixed-signals
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60) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 01/23/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Explodes in Wild Fury After Poll Hits Him with Worst Results Yet.” (01/23/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/205587/trump-explodes-wild-fury-poll-hits-worst-results-yet
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