03/31 -- Iran war: Tanker hit in Dubai; Why Do We Have the Federal Reserve Bank?
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Thomas L. Knapp
Mar 31, 2026, 6:21:29 AM (11 days ago) Mar 31
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 03/31/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Iran war: Tanker hit in Dubai
2) Prosecutors Probe Polymarket As Traders Profit Off Iran War
3) Russia: Regime expels British diplomat over spying allegations
4) Israel: Knesset approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis
5) Spain: Regime closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran war
6) Founder of “orgasmic meditation” company sentenced to nine years in prison in forced labor case
7) OkCupid settles FTC case on alleged misuse of its users’ personal data
8) Spain: Bishops, Regime Sign Deal for Compensation of Church Sexual Abuse Victims
9) Trump says White House ballroom plans include “massive” underground military complex
10) GOP weighs health care cuts to pay for Iran war
11) Bluesky’s new AI tool Attie is already the most blocked account other than JD Vance
12) US Labor Department proposes rule for alternative 401(k) assets
13) CA: Los Angeles County sees largest population decline in the US, census data shows
14) South Sudan: Gold mine attack kills at least 73
15) France: Regime suspects “Iran link” after foiling bomb attack outside Bank of America
16) Kosovo: Regime Approves Troops to Gaza Under US-Backed Scheme
17) Italy: Thieves steal Renoir, Cézanne & Matisse paintings in three-minute heist
18) Homan: ICE gang may continue to menace air travelers even as usual gropers get paid
19) Central African Republic: President sworn in for third term after disputed election
20) Russian oil tanker arrives in Cuba
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Why Do We Have the Federal Reserve Bank?
22) In Criminal Justice, We Get What We Pay For
23) Hating Our American Legacy on the Fourth of July
24) Trump’s Executive Order Diverting Border Security Funds to TSA Is a Blatantly Criminal Act
25) What “deadline?”
26) Democrats Have a Rahm Emanuel Problem
27) Department of Justice proposes putting its attorneys above the law
28) Bring The Troops Back. End This War Now!
29) Will Donald Trump Take the Planet Down With Him?
30) A Retreat to the Western Hemisphere?
31) No Kings and No Intelligence
32) The UK is testing digital curfews. Social media bans for teens might be next.
33) The More Murderous Israel Gets, The More We Hear About “Antisemitism”
34) Crypto-Communism and Game Theory
35) It’s Time to Abolish the TSA
36) Once Again, A Crisis Raises the Question: Why Does the State Exist?
37) Cowardly GOP senators run home
38) Iran “Gone Wild” in Dimona: Is Tehran Using Israel-US Madman Doctrine?
39) Gulf states really stay out of war with Iran?
40) The Productivity Panic of 2026
41) The Three Phases of Trump’s Quagmire in Iran
42) The Villainization of Business: Corporate Tyrants and Government Sycophants
43) Why Do US Presidents Keep Risking Foreign Quagmires?
44) Iran Teaches America How to Lose a War in Thirty Days
45) Democrats could get an alarming wake-up call in 2026 election
46) Client Tails Wag the US Dog
47) How Clear Property Rights Built the American Frontier
48) “Worse Than the 1970s”
49) A K-Shaped Economy Requires K-Shaped Taxes
50) Thinking logically about slavery reparations
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/30/26
52) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/30/26
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/30/26
54) Finding Freedom, 03/30/26
55) EconTalk, 03/30/26
56) Chasing Ghosts, episode 80
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/29/26
58) Zooming In, 03/29/26
59) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/29/26
60) Dan Vergano on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Iran war: Tanker hit in Dubai
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker anchored at Dubai port, with the strike damaging the vessel’s hull, in the latest strike on merchant vessels in the Gulf and strait of Hormuz amid the US and Israel war on Iran. Dubai authorities said the drone attack on the Al Salmi tanker caused a fire on board that was extinguished early on Tuesday, hours after the attack was first reported. They later confirmed there was no oil leak.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/31/iran-latest-updates-trump-threats-oil-spill-dubai-tehran-jerusalem-strikes
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2) Prosecutors Probe Polymarket As Traders Profit Off Iran War
Source: Benzinga
“Manhattan’s top fraud prosecutors met with Polymarket to discuss whether lucrative bets on the prediction market platform have violated insider trading and other federal laws. The meeting follows a warning from Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District and former SEC chairman, who told a securities law conference that criminal cases involving prediction market activity were coming. … One newly created Polymarket account turned $32,000 into over $400,000 in less than 24 hours after the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In another instance, a trader netted nearly $1 million from making remarkably accurate Iran war bets on the platform. Polymarket and Kalshi are scrambling to get ahead of the scrutiny. Polymarket issued new rules last week banning trades based on confidential information. Kalshi, which has long banned insider trading, went further by blocking politicians and athletes from trading in their own markets and said it has referred over a dozen cases to law enforcement in the past year.” (03/30/26)
https://www.benzinga.com/news/26/03/51552899/polymarket-federal-prosecutors-probe-bets-maduro-capture-iran-war
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3) Russia: Regime expels British diplomat over spying allegations
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Russia has ordered a British diplomat to leave the country over allegations of spying, the latest in a series of expulsions of embassy staff from both sides. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claims the man provided false information when applying to enter the country, as well as trying to obtain sensitive information during informal economic meetings, according to state media reports. The diplomat has had their accreditation revoked and has been ordered to leave the country within two weeks. A UK Foreign Office spokesman called the move ‘complete nonsense’ and accused Russia of an ‘aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats.’ In a statement, they said Russia has been ‘pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work.’ ‘The UK does not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families,’ they added.” (03/30/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx94e7j5jpo
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4) Israel: Knesset approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Israel’s Parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. The bill’s passage marked the culmination of a years-long push by Israel’s far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retroactive and will apply only to future cases. The measure has been harshly condemned by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups, who say it is racist, draconian and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian attackers.” (03/30/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-death-penalty-law-palestinian-9.7147421
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5) Spain: Regime closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran war
Source: SFGate
“Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war, its defense minister said Monday, marking the latest step by Europe’s loudest opponent of U.S. and Israeli involvement in the conflict in the Middle East. The country earlier said the U.S. couldn’t use jointly operated military bases in the conflict, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust. Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace in the conflict. ‘This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,’ Robles told reporters, and called the war in Iran ‘profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.'” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/spain-says-it-has-closed-its-airspace-to-us-22159218.php
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6) Founder of “orgasmic meditation” company sentenced to nine years in prison in forced labor case
Source: Middletown Press
“The leader of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted ‘orgasmic meditation’ was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison on forced labor charges, federal prosecutors said. Nicole Daedone, co-founder of OneTaste Inc., was also ordered to forfeit $12 million during the hearing in Brooklyn. That was the amount she sold the California-based company for, according to John Marzulli, spokesperson for the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. … Daedone’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment after the sentencing. Rachel Cherwitz, the company’s former sales director, was set to be sentenced later Monday. During the roughly one-month trial, prosecutors said the two women ran a yearslong scheme that groomed adherents — many of them victims of sexual trauma — to do their bidding.” (03/30/26)
https://www.middletownpress.com/living/article/founder-of-orgasmic-meditation-company-gets-9-22160318.php
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7) OkCupid settles FTC case on alleged misuse of its users’ personal data
Source: Engadget
“Match Group and its subsidiary OkCupid has finally settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission that dates back to its alleged sharing of user data back in 2014. According to the lawsuit, the FTC accused OkCupid of inappropriately sharing personal user data that includes photos and location info with a third party company, Clarifai, which offers AI-powered software for uses like facial recognition and content moderation. … ‘While we do not admit any wrongdoing, we have settled this matter with the FTC with no monetary penalty to resolve an issue from 2014 and move forward,’ an OkCupid spokesperson told Engadget, adding that the allegations don’t reflect how OkCupid operates today.” (03/30/26)
https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/okcupid-settles-ftc-case-on-alleged-misuse-of-its-users-personal-data-175159228.html?src=rss
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8) Spain: Bishops, Regime Sign Deal for Compensation of Church Sexual Abuse Victims
Source: US News & World Report
“Spain’s Catholic bishops and the Spanish government took another step Monday toward compensating victims of sexual abuse by clergy members who have died or whose possible crimes are too old to be prosecuted. In January, Spain’s Catholic bishops agreed to let the country’s ombudsman have the final say in the church’s compensation of such victims. The government and Spain’s bishops signed paperwork Monday detailing how the new church-state reparation system, which takes effect April 15, would work. The agreement, which envisages a one-year window for claims, marks a rare concession by the Catholic hierarchy. It’s aimed at resolving disagreements between the left-wing government and church authorities over reparations after victims criticized the church’s original in-house compensation proposal. Archbishop Luis Argüello, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, said the text will not include number amounts for the compensation that sexual abuse victims could receive.” (03/30/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-30/spanish-bishops-and-government-sign-deal-for-compensation-of-church-sexual-abuse-victims
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9) Trump says White House ballroom plans include “massive” underground military complex
Source: NBC News
“President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that the military is building a ‘massive complex’ under the White House ballroom. … News outlets previously reported that a military bunker under the East Wing would be renovated. The East Wing was demolished in October to be replaced with a $400 million ballroom, which has sparked criticism from many Democrats and preservation advocates. Trump told reporters in his Sunday remarks that ‘the ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under.’ … The National Capital Planning Commission is set to vote on the ballroom plans in April. It has received a deluge of negative public comments about the ballroom, with critics calling it ‘appalling,’ ‘shameful’ and ‘hideous.'” (03/30/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-white-house-ballroom-underground-military-complex-rcna265822
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10) GOP weighs health care cuts to pay for Iran war
Source: Axios
“Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement. New efforts to rein in health programs are sure to be controversial and open the GOP up to election-year attacks that they’re cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war. … House Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) is reviving an idea that was considered last year to fund Affordable Care Act payments known as cost-sharing reductions. The Congressional Budget Office previously found the move would lower overall benchmark ACA premiums by 11% but result in 300,000 more uninsured people. It would cut the subsidy amount that some enrollees receive, thereby increasing out-of-pocket premium costs, while saving the government over $30 billion.” (03/30/26)
https://archive.is/dijdT
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11) Bluesky’s new AI tool Attie is already the most blocked account other than JD Vance
Source: TechCrunch
“Bluesky has launched an AI assistant called Attie that allows users to design their own social media algorithms and create custom feeds within the company’s AT Protocol ecosystem. And let’s just say the response has been heated. Attie debuted this weekend at the ATmosphere conference, which Bluesky sponsors. But Bluesky’s userbase did not embrace the new product. Instead, about 125,000 users have already blocked Attie’s Bluesky account, making it the second most blocked account on the network, according to open source data. Attie only has 1,500 followers, meaning that about 83 times more users have blocked the account than followed it. The only account with more blocks than Bluesky’s AI agent is Vice President J.D. Vance, with about 180,000 blocks — Attie even surpassed the White House account (122,000 blocks) and the ICE account (112,460 blocks).” (03/30/26)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/30/blueskys-new-ai-tool-attie-is-already-the-most-blocked-account-other-than-j-d-vance/
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12) US Labor Department proposes rule for alternative 401(k) assets
Source: United Press International
“The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule on Monday that would allow people to invest alternative assets like cryptocurrency into their 401(k) plans. The department seeks to open 401(k) retirement investment up to assets like cryptocurrency, real estate and private-market assets. … There are already no restrictions on including alternative assets like cryptocurrency, real estate or private-market assets, though fiduciaries have treaded lightly on them out of fear that those assets may be challenged legally. The Labor Department’s proposed rule would create a ‘set of process-based safe harbors’ for plan fiduciaries, legally shielding them when they implement alternative assets.” (03/30/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/30/labor-department-alternative-assets-401k-plans/4461774881909/
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13) CA: Los Angeles County sees largest population decline in the US, census data shows
Source: KTLA 5 News
“Los Angeles County saw the largest decline of any county in the United States in 2025, according to new census data published on March 26. Nearly 54,000 people moved out of L.A. County between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, U.S. Census data shows. The decline is part of an ongoing trend. In 2020 L.A. County was estimated to have more than 10 million residents. As of 2025, the county was thought to have just under 9.7 million residents. It’s unclear where the fleeing Angelinos are moving. However, the neighboring counties of Riverside and San Bernardino saw a combined increase of 21,131 residents between 2024 and 2025, according to U.S. Census data. The greater Las Vegas area also saw a population boost of more than 21,000 people last year.” (03/30/26)
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/los-angeles-county-sees-largest-population-decline-in-the-u-s-according-to-census-data/
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14) South Sudan: Gold mine attack kills at least 73
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“An attack on a gold mine in South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest and most volatile countries, killed at least 73 people and wounded 25, the vice president said. The assault at the weekend targeted the mining area of Khor Kaltan, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) by road southwest of the capital Juba. … Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, the world’s youngest country has suffered a series of deadly conflicts. It has seen an uptick in violence between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters linked to First Vice President Riek Machar, mostly in the central-eastern Jonglei State. … A spokesman for Machar, who has been confined to house arrest for a year, denied that his forces were behind the attack and pointed the finger at the South Sudanese army.” (03/30/26)https://www.newarab.com/news/gold-mine-attack-south-sudan-kills-least-73-people
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15) France: Regime suspects “Iran link” after foiling bomb attack outside Bank of America
Source: SFGate
“French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris, the interior minister said Monday. Five people are in custody. Authorities suspect a link due to similarities with other recent attempted attacks in Europe for which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of America office in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office is looking into alleged terrorism-related offenses. The ‘modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium’, Nuñez said on French radio RTL. In those cases, there were claims by a pro-Iranian group that ‘linked them to the conflict’ in the Middle-East.” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/france-probes-possible-iran-link-after-bomb-22159139.php
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16) Kosovo: Regime Approves Troops to Gaza Under US-Backed Scheme
Source: US News & World Report
“Kosovo on Monday approved sending troops to Gaza for an international security force as part of a U.S.-backed initiative after last year’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Several nations including Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Albania have committed troops to the International Stabilization Force to keep peace and back a transitional administration in Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace.’ Kosovo’s government said in a televised ministerial meeting on Monday the defence ministry had decided to send a force to Gaza after receiving a U.S. invitation in December.” (03/30/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-30/kosovo-approves-troops-to-gaza-under-u-s-backed-scheme
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17) Italy: Thieves steal Renoir, Cézanne & Matisse paintings in three-minute heist
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions of euros were stolen in a heist on a museum near the Italian city of Parma, police say. Four masked men entered the Magnani Rocca Foundation villa on 22 March, police said, making off with Les Poissons by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cézanne and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse. The gang was in and out in three minutes, Italian media outlets have reported, and was only interrupted by the museum’s alarm system, preventing them from stealing more. … The thieves involved in the robbery forced their way through the main door to the Villa dei Capolavori, nestled in the Parma countryside, and nabbed the paintings from the French Room on the building’s first floor, Italian media outlets have reported.” (03/30/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4vw2xmpzzo
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18) Homan: ICE gang may continue to menace air travelers even as usual gropers get paid
Source: Time
“White House ‘border czar’ Tom Homan said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could remain at U.S. airports to assist security operations even though Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials are set to receive their paychecks. Homan, in news appearances Sunday, said that ICE’s presence at American airports hinges on how many TSA agents report back to work. More than 500 TSA workers have quit since a partial government shutdown in February over funding for the TSA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. Thousands of TSA employees, who as essential workers are expected to work without pay during the shutdown, called out sick, with many taking on other jobs to make ends meet, resulting in travelers trapped in long lines at airport security checkpoints.” (03/30/26)
https://time.com/article/2026/03/30/tom-homan-ice-airports-tsa-agents-pay-wait-times-lines/
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19) Central African Republic: President sworn in for third term after disputed election
Source: SFGate
“The president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, was sworn in for a third term on Monday three months after a disputed general election. Touadéra will be serving a new seven-year term. He was declared the winner of the vote in December, which was boycotted by the coalition opposition party following a 2023 constitutional referendum that removed term limits and increased the presidential term from five to seven years. ‘We aspire to build a sovereign economy and ensure transparent management of our natural resources,’ Touadéra said at the swearing-in ceremony in Bangui, attended by the presidents of Congo-Brazzaville and Comoros. Opposition parties and civil society rejected the results of the election, which the Constitutional Council said that Touadéra won with 77.9% of the vote. ‘You have to be a fool to believe that,’ said Frédéric Godoba, a civil society activist.” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/central-african-republic-s-president-sworn-in-for-22159878.php
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20) Russian oil tanker arrives in Cuba
Source: CNBC
“The Kremlin on Monday welcomed the arrival of a Russian-flagged oil tanker to Cuba, saying energy supplies to the fuel-starved island had been discussed with the U.S. ahead of its delivery. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow considered it its duty to help Cuba, according to Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti. He added that Havana needed petroleum products amid a de facto U.S. oil blockade. A Russian oil tanker carrying a humanitarian shipment of 100,000 tons of crude oil reportedly arrived in Cuba earlier in the day.” (03/30/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/30/cuba-crisis-trump-fuel-oil-bloackade-energy-russia-tanker-tariffs.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Why Do We Have the Federal Reserve Bank?
Source: The Heartland Institute
by Dalia Marciukaityte
“These days, most people assume that a central bank — in the United States that is the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) — is something that a country has to have. However, the declining purchasing power of our paper money makes more people realize that there is something very wrong with our monetary system, which is controlled by the Fed. Moreover, before the Fed was created in 1914, the United States prospered without experiencing prolonged recessions and depressions. Turns out that a central bank is not something that a country needs, but it is something that financially irresponsible governments and corrupt businesses desire.” (03/30/26)
https://heartland.org/opinion/why-do-we-have-the-federal-reserve-bank/
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22) In Criminal Justice, We Get What We Pay For
Source: Liberalism.org
by Radley Balko
“In 2017, six counties in North Carolina changed how they paid their public defenders. Previously, the counties paid private attorneys an hourly rate to represent indigent people charged with crimes. Under the new system, indigent defense would be handled with flat-fee contracts — an attorney would agree to represent a given percentage of a county’s indigent cases in exchange for a set amount of money. Five years later, a study documented the results: People represented under the flat-fee system were more likely to be convicted, far more likely to be incarcerated, and more likely to plead guilty without a trial. Flat-fee lawyers spent less time on each case and were significantly more likely to dispose of a case on the same day they met their clients. … Those outcomes were entirely predictable.” (03/30/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/in-criminal-justice-we-get-what-we-pay-for
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23) Hating Our American Legacy on the Fourth of July
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“This coming Fourth of July, when Americans will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, there will be an amusing aspect of the celebrations — the fact that Americans today hate everything our American ancestors stood for. But at least the feelings have been mutual; our American ancestors hated everything that today’s Americans stand for. No, I’m not referring to the issue of slavery. I’m referring to the issue of serfdom. Our American ancestors would never have countenanced a society in which the American people are serfs. Today’s Americans, on the other hand, wouldn’t have it any other way; they love their lives of serfdom.” (03/30/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/03/30/hating-our-american-legacy-on-the-fourth-of-july/
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24) Trump’s Executive Order Diverting Border Security Funds to TSA Is a Blatantly Criminal Act
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig
“Both the law and the Constitution expressely ban such diversions because they nullify Congress and turn the president into a king.” (03/30/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-executive-order-diverting
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25) What “deadline?”
Source: The Contrarian
by Jennifer Rubin
“The ‘deadline’ for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face destruction of its power plants works like Donald Trump’s ‘concept of a plan’ on healthcare: it’s always two weeks away. Trump surprised no one with his decision Friday to extend the deadline (the second such postponement) until April 6. When that date arrives, Trump almost certainly will punt again. His ever-moving deadline strategy (on healthcare, tariffs, war, etc.) has become his predictable fallback when a pressure tactic (e.g., threats to bomb Iranian power plants or impose tariffs) proves impossible, too expensive, or just pointless. … time is on Iran’s side.” (03/30/26)
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/what-deadline
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26) Democrats Have a Rahm Emanuel Problem
Source: Politico
by Adam Wren
“This is how Rahm Emanuel eats a salad: He rips open its clear, clamshell container with two hands. He grabs the ramekin of the dressing. He pours it across the salad. Then he picks up the salad container, shaking it with an intensity and ferocity that forces the balsamic throughout, giving no quarter to the greens and the grilled chicken. This is material information, mind you, for his would-be 2028 Democratic presidential primary rivals. Because how Rahm eats a salad is how he does anything and everything: with intent and with verve and without mercy. The next presidential election is more than two years away. But Rahm, 66, is already saturating old (and new) media with his small-bore policy rollouts and white papers, spending hours cultivating Beltway and battleground state reporters with on and off-the-record bull sessions …” (03/30/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/29/rahm-emanuel-2028-presidential-election-campaign-primary-00848895
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27) Department of Justice proposes putting its attorneys above the law
Source: The Hill
by Mark Recktenwald
“The ethical standards for licensed attorneys, including those employed by the DOJ, are imposed and enforced by the states. They are an independent check on the temptation to mislead the court, disregard its orders, or engage in other unethical conduct. Rather than requiring more accountability of its attorneys, the department is proposing to eviscerate the controls that do exist, by making itself the judge of whether misconduct has occurred. This is why alarm bells should be sounded by the Department of Justice’s recent decision to issue a proposed rule which would turn the system on its head. The draft rule would effectively empower the department to indefinitely interrupt state disciplinary investigations by directing an internal ‘review’ of allegations of misconduct against its own attorneys.” (03/30/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5806968-federal-courts-trump-doj-ethics/
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28) Bring The Troops Back. End This War Now!
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“As we begin a new week, the media is filled with reports that President Trump is ready to approve a US ground operation against Iran, either to seize Iran’s uranium or to attack an island off the country’s coast. Thousands of US troops have sped to the conflict area to await President Trump’s decision. The President is on the verge of making a serious mistake to add to a series of deadly mistakes that have characterized this terrible war of choice against Iran. A US ground operation against Iran would only achieve the death of thousands of US servicemembers. Of course, if our Congress was doing its job, this debacle would never have started.” (03/30/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/bring-the-troops-back-end-this-war-now
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29) Will Donald Trump Take the Planet Down With Him?
Source: TomDispatch
by Tom Engelhardt
“Honestly, I can’t believe I’m in this world of ours (or do I mean His?). Yes, this very one and no other! Almost a quarter of a century after, in response to the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. launched its war in Afghanistan that would last a mere 20 years until Donald Trump prepared for and Joe Biden carried out a humiliating withdrawal of the last American troops there, the U.S. is back big time, dumber and more wildly destructive than ever. Whew! That’s a lot of (terrible) history to get into a single sentence! And so, here’s a TomDispatch question for you: What four-letter country, the first three of which are IRA, has the U.S. now been bombing? No, not Iraq! That war began in 2003 and ended a mere eight years later in 2011. And remind me, how did that work out?” (03/29/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/the-worlds-most-unbelievable-science-fiction-novel/
-----
30) A Retreat to the Western Hemisphere?
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“The American empire appears to be in retreat. Humiliated by Russia in Eastern Europe, outmaneuvered by China in East Asia, and bogged down in a conflict with Iran in the Middle East, the United States has turned its gaze southward. Unable to win the great power competition across Eurasia, the Trump administration has increasingly embarked on the most aggressive militarization of Latin America policy in a generation, seeking victories in what Washington has long considered its backyard. The result has been what observers are calling the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, a framework that envisions the Western Hemisphere as an American strategic priority zone requiring military suppression of cartel networks and exclusion of Chinese influence.” (03/30/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-retreat-to-the-western-hemisphere
-----
31) No Kings and No Intelligence
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“The mutants were on the march Saturday, or on the street corners, I should say. No, they weren’t hookers, at least in the traditional sense, but prostitutes nonetheless. Democrats came out of their basements, gave their controllers a chance to recharge, and got a little bit of vitamin D from the sun for the first time since COVID. Suckers, all of them.” (03/30/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/03/30/no-kings-and-no-intelligence-n2673612
-----
32) The UK is testing digital curfews. Social media bans for teens might be next.
Source: Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“The future of expression online will in part rest on today’s debates over what age groups can legally use platforms deemed ‘social media’ and what information we must provide to prove we’re adults and allowed to access them. This week, developments out of the UK and Australia continued the global age-verification campaign, as governments around the world push full steam ahead into dicey questions of who is allowed to speak, whether they can do so anonymously, and what responsibilities rest on platforms when teens are users.” (03/30/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-uk-is-testing-digital-curfews
-----
33) The More Murderous Israel Gets, The More We Hear About “Antisemitism”
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Whenever Israel is killing tons of civilians the western media always start churning out articles about ‘antisemitism’ and Jewish feelings. ‘Jews Begin to Wonder: Is Anywhere Safe?’ blares a recent headline from The Wall Street Journal, subtitled ‘‘It feels like the 1930s again.’ Hostility against Jews surges in Western countries where they felt safe in recent decades.’ An article for The Atlantic titled ‘Canada’s Polite Pogrom’ bizarrely tries to argue that ‘tolerance for zealotry’ is somehow ‘purging Jews from public life.’ A Washington Examiner headline proclaims that ‘Jewish voters feel ‘politically homeless’ as antisemitism rises on both sides.’ A headline for The Telegraph asserts that ‘Many Jews are sensing frightening echoes of 1930s Germany in 2020s Britain.’ War Criminal Tony Blair writes an article for The Free Press titled ‘Why the West Fails to Stop Antisemitism.'” (03/30/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/30/the-more-murderous-israel-gets-the-more-we-hear-about-antisemitism/
-----
34) Crypto-Communism and Game Theory
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“Once you admit the notable prevalence and grave danger of crypto-Communist politicians during a particular era, there is a clear-cut contemporary implication: A notable share of current and would-be leaders who say they aren’t Communists are probably lying. If you’re living through this era, this raises a thorny question: ‘How do we identify the crypto-Communists before it’s too late?’ Needless to say, you can’t just publicly ask them, because they’ll lie. You could do a thorough background check, but the people who know the most are usually fellow Communists eager to protect their own. So you’re usually left with three admittedly imperfect heuristics.” (03/30/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/crypto-communism-and-game-theory
-----
35) It’s Time to Abolish the TSA
Source: Independent Institute
by Benjamin Powell
“The congressional fight over funding the Department of Homeland Security has caused massive security lines at many large airports around the country. Privatizing airport security could avoid this problem in the future, but a more radical reform — abolishing the Transportation Security Administration and its monopoly on security procedures — would be a better solution.” (03/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/30/its-time-to-abolish-the-tsa/
-----
36) Once Again, A Crisis Raises the Question: Why Does the State Exist?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith
“Nock was persuaded by Franz Oppenheimer’s theory that people acquire wealth in one of two ways: either through work and exchange or theft. The first, Oppenheimer called the economic means, the second, the political means. States are the manifestation of the political means, the embodiment of a predatory class that coercively feeds off and controls its productive captives. Within the American state the occupants change periodically, and many people believe the troubles we’re experiencing are due to voting the wrong people into office. Better people would produce better government. There are several shortcomings to this idea.” (03/30/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/once-again-crisis-raises-question-why-does-state-exist
-----
37) Cowardly GOP senators run home
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“There is nothing more infuriating to a frustrated air traveler delayed for hours by the Democrat shutdown than to see senators strolling smugly by with VIP escorts. The worst offender last week was Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who hightailed it out of DC on Friday morning, hours after stitching up a duplicitous 2 a.m. deal to end the shutdown by caving to Democrat demands to defund ICE and border enforcement, at least for the time being. Elements of the Department of Homeland Security were funded in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, but Thune’s deal freezes out immigration enforcement and border security functions that are all-important as we go to war against the world’s largest sponsor of Islamic terrorism.” (03/29/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/29/opinion/miranda-devine-cowardly-gop-senators-run-home/
-----
38) Iran “Gone Wild” in Dimona: Is Tehran Using Israel-US Madman Doctrine?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo
“Dimona is not an ordinary town. It lies adjacent to the Negev Nuclear Research Center, widely understood to be central to Israel’s nuclear weapons program. Located deep in the Naqab desert, the facility has long been treated as one of Israel’s most sensitive strategic sites, associated with plutonium production and long-term weapons capability. That context gives the strike its meaning. The Iranian attack on Dimona came hours after a renewed US-Israeli strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility earlier the same day. … The sequence is not incidental. Natanz was struck in the morning; Dimona was hit later the same day. Even without an exact hour-by-hour timeline, the proximity establishes a clear operational logic: a nuclear facility in Iran is answered with a nuclear-adjacent site in Israel within hours.” (03/30/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2026/03/29/iran-gone-wild-in-dimona-is-tehran-using-israel-us-madman-doctrine/
-----
39) Gulf states really stay out of war with Iran?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
bvy Annelle Sheline
“President Donald Trump’s war on Iran is almost a month old, and, as expected, the countries most affected are the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The question now is whether these six governments will see no other option but to risk all by entering the military fight alongside the U.S. and Israel.” (03/30/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/saudi-arabia-war-iran/
-----
40) The Productivity Panic of 2026
Source: Law & Liberty
by Peter C Earle
“Technological acceleration always generates anxiety when it should promote confidence.” (03/30/26)
https://lawliberty.org/the-productivity-panic-of-2026/
-----
41) The Three Phases of Trump’s Quagmire in Iran
Source: Common Dreams
by Steven Harper
“President Donald Trump launched the Iran war based on his ‘gut instinct’. Global financial markets (the North Star that guides Trump) are telling him what his advisers and congressional Republicans won’t: His ‘gut’ blew it badly, and his efforts to appease the markets are making the debacle worse. He has proceeded in three phases. We’re now at the Trump panic phase. Phase No. 1: Trump’s Gut Was Wrong and the Markets Scolded Him. Trump ignored the facts and relied on gut instinct to launch the war without making the case to America’s allies or the public. … Trump’s baseless opinion contradicted the justification for war that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had provided to Congress a day earlier. Rubio said that Israel was going to attack and that Iran would retaliate by attacking US interests in the region.” (03/30/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-quagmire-iran
-----
42) The Villainization of Business: Corporate Tyrants and Government Sycophants
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“Across political eras, corporations have been recast as either predatory villains or tools of the state — distorting their proper role in a free economy.” (03/30/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-villainization-of-business-corporate-tyrants-and-government-sycophants/
-----
43) Why Do US Presidents Keep Risking Foreign Quagmires?
Source: The American Conservative
by Ivan Eland
“uring the past three-quarters of a century, beginning in 1950 and continuing right through to the current war with Iran, U.S. presidents repeatedly have risked involvement in conflicts that resulted in military quagmires with disappointing endings. Why do presidents keep repeating the same mistakes in the name of ‘national security?'” (03/30/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-do-u-s-presidents-keep-risking-foreign-quagmires/
-----
44) Iran Teaches America How to Lose a War in Thirty Days
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“Iran as we once knew it has essentially been reduced to the world’s largest open-air burn unit, and yet no one but Donald Trump seems to be foolish enough to believe that America is actually winning this war. Iran may be devastated beyond belief, but someone is still fighting like hell from the smoldering ruins and the imperial machine tasked with swiftly containing this undead menace before the American people can smell a quagmire is beginning to show signs of desperation as they lose control of the narrative. You can see it written all over Donald Trump’s leather face as he attempts to make sense of the havoc in real time, declaring victory over and over again before announcing another escalation of violence, bragging about negotiations that Iran denies having any interest in as thousands of American troops are positioned in the region for an invasion.” (03/29/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/03/iran-teaches-america-how-to-lose-war-in.html
-----
45) Democrats could get an alarming wake-up call in 2026 election
Source: Fox News
by Newt Gingrich
“Despite all the current polling and the constant comments of the professional analyst class, the Democrats have the biggest problems going into the 2026 election. People know they have unpopular values. Their big government socialist models of taxing, spending and bureaucracy don’t work. The Democrats’ key institutions have long histories of performance failure. And the dominance of the hard left in the Democratic Party forces Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries into painfully tone-deaf positions. It all represents a huge burden, weakening the likelihood of a major Democratic victory this fall. Consider some of the burdens the Democrats will be carrying as they campaign this summer and fall.” (03/30/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-democrats-could-get-alarming-wake-up-call-2026-election
-----
46) Client Tails Wag the US Dog
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Since the end of World War II, the United States has built an ever-expanding global network of military allies. The term ‘ally’ may legitimately apply to Britain, France, Japan, Germany, and a few of Washington’s other security partners, but most of the so-called allies are merely small U.S. security dependents. They constitute potential burdens and dangerous geopolitical snares for the United States while providing few if any strategic benefits. An especially worrisome aspect of these relationships is that such clients spend considerable effort trying to manipulate, even pervert, U.S. policy to support their parochial objectives. That dynamic creates the danger of small clients gaining undue influence over Washington’s behavior. A security client tail thus may succeed in wagging the U.S. dog.” (03/29/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/client-tails-wag-the-u-s-dog/
-----
47) How Clear Property Rights Built the American Frontier
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Deborah Palma
“In the mid-19th century, the town of Peoria, Illinois, originally established as a French outpost in the 18th century, underwent a period of rapid expansion. Although not a newly founded settlement, its transformation during this period reflects a broader pattern seen across the American frontier. Within a few decades, it evolved into a regional agricultural and commercial hub. This was not the result of luck or central planning. The decisive factor was clear, recognized, and transferable property titles. Farmers knew that the land they cultivated belonged to them. Merchants felt secure investing in warehouses, mills, and river transportation. Families built homes with the expectation that their children would inherit the fruits of that effort. Where property was clearly defined, the future made sense.” (03/29/26)
https://fee.org/articles/how-clear-property-rights-built-the-american-frontier/
-----
48) “Worse Than the 1970s”
Source: Liberal Currents
by Ryan C Smith
“Donald Trump, it seems, has managed to outdo his first term’s mismanagement of COVID-19 with an economic crisis of extraordinary scope and scale, entirely of his making. In a recent interview, International Energy Agency (IEA) Chief Fatih Birol asserted the present energy crisis was already on track to be ‘worse than the 1970s.’ How bad is that exactly? The answer, unfortunately, is that this has the potential to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression” (03/29/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/worse-than-the-1970s/
-----
49) A K-Shaped Economy Requires K-Shaped Taxes
Source: The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson
“The overriding fact about the American economy in the past four decades, and even more so in the past four years and the past four quarters, is the massive upward redistribution of wealth and income. Therefore, the opposition to wealth taxes and income tax surcharges on the very rich that’s held by some prominent Democrats (particularly the governors of the two states that are home to the most billionaires) is intellectually and empirically (not to mention politically) indefensible. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are either oblivious to this massive change to our economy or complicit in it. These are not mutually exclusive alternatives. The K-shaping of our economy, in which the rich have both steadily and now suddenly amassed a far greater share of the nation’s income and wealth, while the working poor struggle, should be plain for all to see.” (03/30/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/30/k-shaped-economy-wealth-taxes-new-york-california/
-----
50) Thinking logically about slavery reparations
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
“No one living in Britain can be compensated for that past existence of slavery or the slave trade. This assertion depends upon a previous assertion, obviously. But, as is often so fun, we can take someone’s assertion and take it to be true and then see where that leads us. So, one assertion out there is that it was slavery — or the slave trade perhaps — which made Britain rich. … So, anyone living in a society made rich by slavery is themselves a beneficiary of slavery. For they’re gaining the high wages that come from living in a rich place. … It is wholly impossible to compensate, with money, someone for having made them rich.” (03/29/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/thinking-logically-about-slavery-reparations
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/30/26
Source: Reason
“You’re Wrong About Social Media Being Addictive.” (03/30/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/03/30/youre-wrong-about-social-media-being-addictive/
-----
52) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/30/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“AI, Think Tanks, and the Future of Policy Work with Todd Davidson.” (03/30/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/ai-think-tanks-and-the-future-of-policy-work-with-todd-davidson/
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/30/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“A Land Invasion Of Iran?” (03/30/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1aJbdbyobZdKX
-----
54) Finding Freedom, 03/30/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Five Keys to Winning Before the Results Show Up.” (03/30/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-5-keys-to-winning-before-the-results-show-up
-----
55) EconTalk, 03/30/26
Source: EconTalk
“AI, Employment, and Education (with Tyler Cowen).” (03/30/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/ai-employment-and-education-with-tyler-cowen/
-----
56) Chasing Ghosts, episode 80
Source: Libertarian Institute
“The Cargo Cult of Martial Belief, Wishcasting and Bloodshed.” (03/30/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/cgpodcast/ep-080-the-cargo-cult-of-martial-belief-wishcasting-and-bloodshed
-----
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/29/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Pentagon Preps for Weeks of Ground Ops in Iran, Israel Kills Three Journalists in Lebanon, and More.” (03/29/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usamjMytIAI
-----
58) Zooming In, 03/29/26
Source: The UnPopulist
“Not All Trump Voters Love Him but They Regard the Other Side as Out of Touch with Them: A Conversation with Jason Mangone.” (03/29/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/not-all-trump-voters-love-him-but
-----
59) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/29/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s Watch the Martin v. LNC JC hearing.” (03/29/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maEBThUEkU0
-----
60) Dan Vergano on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Iran was Nowhere Close to a Nuclear Bomb.” (03/29/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/3-26-26-dan-vergano-iran-was-nowhere-close-to-a-nuclear-bomb/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Iran war: Tanker hit in Dubai
2) Prosecutors Probe Polymarket As Traders Profit Off Iran War
3) Russia: Regime expels British diplomat over spying allegations
4) Israel: Knesset approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis
5) Spain: Regime closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran war
6) Founder of “orgasmic meditation” company sentenced to nine years in prison in forced labor case
7) OkCupid settles FTC case on alleged misuse of its users’ personal data
8) Spain: Bishops, Regime Sign Deal for Compensation of Church Sexual Abuse Victims
9) Trump says White House ballroom plans include “massive” underground military complex
10) GOP weighs health care cuts to pay for Iran war
11) Bluesky’s new AI tool Attie is already the most blocked account other than JD Vance
12) US Labor Department proposes rule for alternative 401(k) assets
13) CA: Los Angeles County sees largest population decline in the US, census data shows
14) South Sudan: Gold mine attack kills at least 73
15) France: Regime suspects “Iran link” after foiling bomb attack outside Bank of America
16) Kosovo: Regime Approves Troops to Gaza Under US-Backed Scheme
17) Italy: Thieves steal Renoir, Cézanne & Matisse paintings in three-minute heist
18) Homan: ICE gang may continue to menace air travelers even as usual gropers get paid
19) Central African Republic: President sworn in for third term after disputed election
20) Russian oil tanker arrives in Cuba
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Why Do We Have the Federal Reserve Bank?
22) In Criminal Justice, We Get What We Pay For
23) Hating Our American Legacy on the Fourth of July
24) Trump’s Executive Order Diverting Border Security Funds to TSA Is a Blatantly Criminal Act
25) What “deadline?”
26) Democrats Have a Rahm Emanuel Problem
27) Department of Justice proposes putting its attorneys above the law
28) Bring The Troops Back. End This War Now!
29) Will Donald Trump Take the Planet Down With Him?
30) A Retreat to the Western Hemisphere?
31) No Kings and No Intelligence
32) The UK is testing digital curfews. Social media bans for teens might be next.
33) The More Murderous Israel Gets, The More We Hear About “Antisemitism”
34) Crypto-Communism and Game Theory
35) It’s Time to Abolish the TSA
36) Once Again, A Crisis Raises the Question: Why Does the State Exist?
37) Cowardly GOP senators run home
38) Iran “Gone Wild” in Dimona: Is Tehran Using Israel-US Madman Doctrine?
39) Gulf states really stay out of war with Iran?
40) The Productivity Panic of 2026
41) The Three Phases of Trump’s Quagmire in Iran
42) The Villainization of Business: Corporate Tyrants and Government Sycophants
43) Why Do US Presidents Keep Risking Foreign Quagmires?
44) Iran Teaches America How to Lose a War in Thirty Days
45) Democrats could get an alarming wake-up call in 2026 election
46) Client Tails Wag the US Dog
47) How Clear Property Rights Built the American Frontier
48) “Worse Than the 1970s”
49) A K-Shaped Economy Requires K-Shaped Taxes
50) Thinking logically about slavery reparations
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/30/26
52) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/30/26
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/30/26
54) Finding Freedom, 03/30/26
55) EconTalk, 03/30/26
56) Chasing Ghosts, episode 80
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/29/26
58) Zooming In, 03/29/26
59) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/29/26
60) Dan Vergano on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Iran war: Tanker hit in Dubai
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker anchored at Dubai port, with the strike damaging the vessel’s hull, in the latest strike on merchant vessels in the Gulf and strait of Hormuz amid the US and Israel war on Iran. Dubai authorities said the drone attack on the Al Salmi tanker caused a fire on board that was extinguished early on Tuesday, hours after the attack was first reported. They later confirmed there was no oil leak.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/31/iran-latest-updates-trump-threats-oil-spill-dubai-tehran-jerusalem-strikes
-----
2) Prosecutors Probe Polymarket As Traders Profit Off Iran War
Source: Benzinga
“Manhattan’s top fraud prosecutors met with Polymarket to discuss whether lucrative bets on the prediction market platform have violated insider trading and other federal laws. The meeting follows a warning from Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District and former SEC chairman, who told a securities law conference that criminal cases involving prediction market activity were coming. … One newly created Polymarket account turned $32,000 into over $400,000 in less than 24 hours after the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In another instance, a trader netted nearly $1 million from making remarkably accurate Iran war bets on the platform. Polymarket and Kalshi are scrambling to get ahead of the scrutiny. Polymarket issued new rules last week banning trades based on confidential information. Kalshi, which has long banned insider trading, went further by blocking politicians and athletes from trading in their own markets and said it has referred over a dozen cases to law enforcement in the past year.” (03/30/26)
https://www.benzinga.com/news/26/03/51552899/polymarket-federal-prosecutors-probe-bets-maduro-capture-iran-war
-----
3) Russia: Regime expels British diplomat over spying allegations
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Russia has ordered a British diplomat to leave the country over allegations of spying, the latest in a series of expulsions of embassy staff from both sides. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claims the man provided false information when applying to enter the country, as well as trying to obtain sensitive information during informal economic meetings, according to state media reports. The diplomat has had their accreditation revoked and has been ordered to leave the country within two weeks. A UK Foreign Office spokesman called the move ‘complete nonsense’ and accused Russia of an ‘aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats.’ In a statement, they said Russia has been ‘pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work.’ ‘The UK does not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families,’ they added.” (03/30/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx94e7j5jpo
-----
4) Israel: Knesset approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Israel’s Parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. The bill’s passage marked the culmination of a years-long push by Israel’s far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retroactive and will apply only to future cases. The measure has been harshly condemned by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups, who say it is racist, draconian and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian attackers.” (03/30/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-death-penalty-law-palestinian-9.7147421
-----
5) Spain: Regime closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran war
Source: SFGate
“Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war, its defense minister said Monday, marking the latest step by Europe’s loudest opponent of U.S. and Israeli involvement in the conflict in the Middle East. The country earlier said the U.S. couldn’t use jointly operated military bases in the conflict, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust. Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace in the conflict. ‘This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,’ Robles told reporters, and called the war in Iran ‘profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.'” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/spain-says-it-has-closed-its-airspace-to-us-22159218.php
-----
6) Founder of “orgasmic meditation” company sentenced to nine years in prison in forced labor case
Source: Middletown Press
“The leader of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted ‘orgasmic meditation’ was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison on forced labor charges, federal prosecutors said. Nicole Daedone, co-founder of OneTaste Inc., was also ordered to forfeit $12 million during the hearing in Brooklyn. That was the amount she sold the California-based company for, according to John Marzulli, spokesperson for the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. … Daedone’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment after the sentencing. Rachel Cherwitz, the company’s former sales director, was set to be sentenced later Monday. During the roughly one-month trial, prosecutors said the two women ran a yearslong scheme that groomed adherents — many of them victims of sexual trauma — to do their bidding.” (03/30/26)
https://www.middletownpress.com/living/article/founder-of-orgasmic-meditation-company-gets-9-22160318.php
-----
7) OkCupid settles FTC case on alleged misuse of its users’ personal data
Source: Engadget
“Match Group and its subsidiary OkCupid has finally settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission that dates back to its alleged sharing of user data back in 2014. According to the lawsuit, the FTC accused OkCupid of inappropriately sharing personal user data that includes photos and location info with a third party company, Clarifai, which offers AI-powered software for uses like facial recognition and content moderation. … ‘While we do not admit any wrongdoing, we have settled this matter with the FTC with no monetary penalty to resolve an issue from 2014 and move forward,’ an OkCupid spokesperson told Engadget, adding that the allegations don’t reflect how OkCupid operates today.” (03/30/26)
https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/okcupid-settles-ftc-case-on-alleged-misuse-of-its-users-personal-data-175159228.html?src=rss
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8) Spain: Bishops, Regime Sign Deal for Compensation of Church Sexual Abuse Victims
Source: US News & World Report
“Spain’s Catholic bishops and the Spanish government took another step Monday toward compensating victims of sexual abuse by clergy members who have died or whose possible crimes are too old to be prosecuted. In January, Spain’s Catholic bishops agreed to let the country’s ombudsman have the final say in the church’s compensation of such victims. The government and Spain’s bishops signed paperwork Monday detailing how the new church-state reparation system, which takes effect April 15, would work. The agreement, which envisages a one-year window for claims, marks a rare concession by the Catholic hierarchy. It’s aimed at resolving disagreements between the left-wing government and church authorities over reparations after victims criticized the church’s original in-house compensation proposal. Archbishop Luis Argüello, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, said the text will not include number amounts for the compensation that sexual abuse victims could receive.” (03/30/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-30/spanish-bishops-and-government-sign-deal-for-compensation-of-church-sexual-abuse-victims
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9) Trump says White House ballroom plans include “massive” underground military complex
Source: NBC News
“President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that the military is building a ‘massive complex’ under the White House ballroom. … News outlets previously reported that a military bunker under the East Wing would be renovated. The East Wing was demolished in October to be replaced with a $400 million ballroom, which has sparked criticism from many Democrats and preservation advocates. Trump told reporters in his Sunday remarks that ‘the ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under.’ … The National Capital Planning Commission is set to vote on the ballroom plans in April. It has received a deluge of negative public comments about the ballroom, with critics calling it ‘appalling,’ ‘shameful’ and ‘hideous.'” (03/30/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-white-house-ballroom-underground-military-complex-rcna265822
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10) GOP weighs health care cuts to pay for Iran war
Source: Axios
“Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement. New efforts to rein in health programs are sure to be controversial and open the GOP up to election-year attacks that they’re cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war. … House Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) is reviving an idea that was considered last year to fund Affordable Care Act payments known as cost-sharing reductions. The Congressional Budget Office previously found the move would lower overall benchmark ACA premiums by 11% but result in 300,000 more uninsured people. It would cut the subsidy amount that some enrollees receive, thereby increasing out-of-pocket premium costs, while saving the government over $30 billion.” (03/30/26)
https://archive.is/dijdT
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11) Bluesky’s new AI tool Attie is already the most blocked account other than JD Vance
Source: TechCrunch
“Bluesky has launched an AI assistant called Attie that allows users to design their own social media algorithms and create custom feeds within the company’s AT Protocol ecosystem. And let’s just say the response has been heated. Attie debuted this weekend at the ATmosphere conference, which Bluesky sponsors. But Bluesky’s userbase did not embrace the new product. Instead, about 125,000 users have already blocked Attie’s Bluesky account, making it the second most blocked account on the network, according to open source data. Attie only has 1,500 followers, meaning that about 83 times more users have blocked the account than followed it. The only account with more blocks than Bluesky’s AI agent is Vice President J.D. Vance, with about 180,000 blocks — Attie even surpassed the White House account (122,000 blocks) and the ICE account (112,460 blocks).” (03/30/26)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/30/blueskys-new-ai-tool-attie-is-already-the-most-blocked-account-other-than-j-d-vance/
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12) US Labor Department proposes rule for alternative 401(k) assets
Source: United Press International
“The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule on Monday that would allow people to invest alternative assets like cryptocurrency into their 401(k) plans. The department seeks to open 401(k) retirement investment up to assets like cryptocurrency, real estate and private-market assets. … There are already no restrictions on including alternative assets like cryptocurrency, real estate or private-market assets, though fiduciaries have treaded lightly on them out of fear that those assets may be challenged legally. The Labor Department’s proposed rule would create a ‘set of process-based safe harbors’ for plan fiduciaries, legally shielding them when they implement alternative assets.” (03/30/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/30/labor-department-alternative-assets-401k-plans/4461774881909/
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13) CA: Los Angeles County sees largest population decline in the US, census data shows
Source: KTLA 5 News
“Los Angeles County saw the largest decline of any county in the United States in 2025, according to new census data published on March 26. Nearly 54,000 people moved out of L.A. County between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, U.S. Census data shows. The decline is part of an ongoing trend. In 2020 L.A. County was estimated to have more than 10 million residents. As of 2025, the county was thought to have just under 9.7 million residents. It’s unclear where the fleeing Angelinos are moving. However, the neighboring counties of Riverside and San Bernardino saw a combined increase of 21,131 residents between 2024 and 2025, according to U.S. Census data. The greater Las Vegas area also saw a population boost of more than 21,000 people last year.” (03/30/26)
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/los-angeles-county-sees-largest-population-decline-in-the-u-s-according-to-census-data/
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14) South Sudan: Gold mine attack kills at least 73
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“An attack on a gold mine in South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest and most volatile countries, killed at least 73 people and wounded 25, the vice president said. The assault at the weekend targeted the mining area of Khor Kaltan, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) by road southwest of the capital Juba. … Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, the world’s youngest country has suffered a series of deadly conflicts. It has seen an uptick in violence between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters linked to First Vice President Riek Machar, mostly in the central-eastern Jonglei State. … A spokesman for Machar, who has been confined to house arrest for a year, denied that his forces were behind the attack and pointed the finger at the South Sudanese army.” (03/30/26)https://www.newarab.com/news/gold-mine-attack-south-sudan-kills-least-73-people
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15) France: Regime suspects “Iran link” after foiling bomb attack outside Bank of America
Source: SFGate
“French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris, the interior minister said Monday. Five people are in custody. Authorities suspect a link due to similarities with other recent attempted attacks in Europe for which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of America office in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office is looking into alleged terrorism-related offenses. The ‘modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium’, Nuñez said on French radio RTL. In those cases, there were claims by a pro-Iranian group that ‘linked them to the conflict’ in the Middle-East.” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/france-probes-possible-iran-link-after-bomb-22159139.php
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16) Kosovo: Regime Approves Troops to Gaza Under US-Backed Scheme
Source: US News & World Report
“Kosovo on Monday approved sending troops to Gaza for an international security force as part of a U.S.-backed initiative after last year’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Several nations including Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Albania have committed troops to the International Stabilization Force to keep peace and back a transitional administration in Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace.’ Kosovo’s government said in a televised ministerial meeting on Monday the defence ministry had decided to send a force to Gaza after receiving a U.S. invitation in December.” (03/30/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-30/kosovo-approves-troops-to-gaza-under-u-s-backed-scheme
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17) Italy: Thieves steal Renoir, Cézanne & Matisse paintings in three-minute heist
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions of euros were stolen in a heist on a museum near the Italian city of Parma, police say. Four masked men entered the Magnani Rocca Foundation villa on 22 March, police said, making off with Les Poissons by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cézanne and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse. The gang was in and out in three minutes, Italian media outlets have reported, and was only interrupted by the museum’s alarm system, preventing them from stealing more. … The thieves involved in the robbery forced their way through the main door to the Villa dei Capolavori, nestled in the Parma countryside, and nabbed the paintings from the French Room on the building’s first floor, Italian media outlets have reported.” (03/30/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4vw2xmpzzo
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18) Homan: ICE gang may continue to menace air travelers even as usual gropers get paid
Source: Time
“White House ‘border czar’ Tom Homan said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could remain at U.S. airports to assist security operations even though Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials are set to receive their paychecks. Homan, in news appearances Sunday, said that ICE’s presence at American airports hinges on how many TSA agents report back to work. More than 500 TSA workers have quit since a partial government shutdown in February over funding for the TSA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. Thousands of TSA employees, who as essential workers are expected to work without pay during the shutdown, called out sick, with many taking on other jobs to make ends meet, resulting in travelers trapped in long lines at airport security checkpoints.” (03/30/26)
https://time.com/article/2026/03/30/tom-homan-ice-airports-tsa-agents-pay-wait-times-lines/
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19) Central African Republic: President sworn in for third term after disputed election
Source: SFGate
“The president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, was sworn in for a third term on Monday three months after a disputed general election. Touadéra will be serving a new seven-year term. He was declared the winner of the vote in December, which was boycotted by the coalition opposition party following a 2023 constitutional referendum that removed term limits and increased the presidential term from five to seven years. ‘We aspire to build a sovereign economy and ensure transparent management of our natural resources,’ Touadéra said at the swearing-in ceremony in Bangui, attended by the presidents of Congo-Brazzaville and Comoros. Opposition parties and civil society rejected the results of the election, which the Constitutional Council said that Touadéra won with 77.9% of the vote. ‘You have to be a fool to believe that,’ said Frédéric Godoba, a civil society activist.” (03/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/central-african-republic-s-president-sworn-in-for-22159878.php
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20) Russian oil tanker arrives in Cuba
Source: CNBC
“The Kremlin on Monday welcomed the arrival of a Russian-flagged oil tanker to Cuba, saying energy supplies to the fuel-starved island had been discussed with the U.S. ahead of its delivery. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow considered it its duty to help Cuba, according to Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti. He added that Havana needed petroleum products amid a de facto U.S. oil blockade. A Russian oil tanker carrying a humanitarian shipment of 100,000 tons of crude oil reportedly arrived in Cuba earlier in the day.” (03/30/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/30/cuba-crisis-trump-fuel-oil-bloackade-energy-russia-tanker-tariffs.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Why Do We Have the Federal Reserve Bank?
Source: The Heartland Institute
by Dalia Marciukaityte
“These days, most people assume that a central bank — in the United States that is the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) — is something that a country has to have. However, the declining purchasing power of our paper money makes more people realize that there is something very wrong with our monetary system, which is controlled by the Fed. Moreover, before the Fed was created in 1914, the United States prospered without experiencing prolonged recessions and depressions. Turns out that a central bank is not something that a country needs, but it is something that financially irresponsible governments and corrupt businesses desire.” (03/30/26)
https://heartland.org/opinion/why-do-we-have-the-federal-reserve-bank/
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22) In Criminal Justice, We Get What We Pay For
Source: Liberalism.org
by Radley Balko
“In 2017, six counties in North Carolina changed how they paid their public defenders. Previously, the counties paid private attorneys an hourly rate to represent indigent people charged with crimes. Under the new system, indigent defense would be handled with flat-fee contracts — an attorney would agree to represent a given percentage of a county’s indigent cases in exchange for a set amount of money. Five years later, a study documented the results: People represented under the flat-fee system were more likely to be convicted, far more likely to be incarcerated, and more likely to plead guilty without a trial. Flat-fee lawyers spent less time on each case and were significantly more likely to dispose of a case on the same day they met their clients. … Those outcomes were entirely predictable.” (03/30/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/in-criminal-justice-we-get-what-we-pay-for
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23) Hating Our American Legacy on the Fourth of July
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“This coming Fourth of July, when Americans will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, there will be an amusing aspect of the celebrations — the fact that Americans today hate everything our American ancestors stood for. But at least the feelings have been mutual; our American ancestors hated everything that today’s Americans stand for. No, I’m not referring to the issue of slavery. I’m referring to the issue of serfdom. Our American ancestors would never have countenanced a society in which the American people are serfs. Today’s Americans, on the other hand, wouldn’t have it any other way; they love their lives of serfdom.” (03/30/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/03/30/hating-our-american-legacy-on-the-fourth-of-july/
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24) Trump’s Executive Order Diverting Border Security Funds to TSA Is a Blatantly Criminal Act
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig
“Both the law and the Constitution expressely ban such diversions because they nullify Congress and turn the president into a king.” (03/30/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-executive-order-diverting
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25) What “deadline?”
Source: The Contrarian
by Jennifer Rubin
“The ‘deadline’ for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face destruction of its power plants works like Donald Trump’s ‘concept of a plan’ on healthcare: it’s always two weeks away. Trump surprised no one with his decision Friday to extend the deadline (the second such postponement) until April 6. When that date arrives, Trump almost certainly will punt again. His ever-moving deadline strategy (on healthcare, tariffs, war, etc.) has become his predictable fallback when a pressure tactic (e.g., threats to bomb Iranian power plants or impose tariffs) proves impossible, too expensive, or just pointless. … time is on Iran’s side.” (03/30/26)
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/what-deadline
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26) Democrats Have a Rahm Emanuel Problem
Source: Politico
by Adam Wren
“This is how Rahm Emanuel eats a salad: He rips open its clear, clamshell container with two hands. He grabs the ramekin of the dressing. He pours it across the salad. Then he picks up the salad container, shaking it with an intensity and ferocity that forces the balsamic throughout, giving no quarter to the greens and the grilled chicken. This is material information, mind you, for his would-be 2028 Democratic presidential primary rivals. Because how Rahm eats a salad is how he does anything and everything: with intent and with verve and without mercy. The next presidential election is more than two years away. But Rahm, 66, is already saturating old (and new) media with his small-bore policy rollouts and white papers, spending hours cultivating Beltway and battleground state reporters with on and off-the-record bull sessions …” (03/30/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/29/rahm-emanuel-2028-presidential-election-campaign-primary-00848895
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27) Department of Justice proposes putting its attorneys above the law
Source: The Hill
by Mark Recktenwald
“The ethical standards for licensed attorneys, including those employed by the DOJ, are imposed and enforced by the states. They are an independent check on the temptation to mislead the court, disregard its orders, or engage in other unethical conduct. Rather than requiring more accountability of its attorneys, the department is proposing to eviscerate the controls that do exist, by making itself the judge of whether misconduct has occurred. This is why alarm bells should be sounded by the Department of Justice’s recent decision to issue a proposed rule which would turn the system on its head. The draft rule would effectively empower the department to indefinitely interrupt state disciplinary investigations by directing an internal ‘review’ of allegations of misconduct against its own attorneys.” (03/30/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5806968-federal-courts-trump-doj-ethics/
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28) Bring The Troops Back. End This War Now!
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“As we begin a new week, the media is filled with reports that President Trump is ready to approve a US ground operation against Iran, either to seize Iran’s uranium or to attack an island off the country’s coast. Thousands of US troops have sped to the conflict area to await President Trump’s decision. The President is on the verge of making a serious mistake to add to a series of deadly mistakes that have characterized this terrible war of choice against Iran. A US ground operation against Iran would only achieve the death of thousands of US servicemembers. Of course, if our Congress was doing its job, this debacle would never have started.” (03/30/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/bring-the-troops-back-end-this-war-now
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29) Will Donald Trump Take the Planet Down With Him?
Source: TomDispatch
by Tom Engelhardt
“Honestly, I can’t believe I’m in this world of ours (or do I mean His?). Yes, this very one and no other! Almost a quarter of a century after, in response to the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. launched its war in Afghanistan that would last a mere 20 years until Donald Trump prepared for and Joe Biden carried out a humiliating withdrawal of the last American troops there, the U.S. is back big time, dumber and more wildly destructive than ever. Whew! That’s a lot of (terrible) history to get into a single sentence! And so, here’s a TomDispatch question for you: What four-letter country, the first three of which are IRA, has the U.S. now been bombing? No, not Iraq! That war began in 2003 and ended a mere eight years later in 2011. And remind me, how did that work out?” (03/29/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/the-worlds-most-unbelievable-science-fiction-novel/
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30) A Retreat to the Western Hemisphere?
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“The American empire appears to be in retreat. Humiliated by Russia in Eastern Europe, outmaneuvered by China in East Asia, and bogged down in a conflict with Iran in the Middle East, the United States has turned its gaze southward. Unable to win the great power competition across Eurasia, the Trump administration has increasingly embarked on the most aggressive militarization of Latin America policy in a generation, seeking victories in what Washington has long considered its backyard. The result has been what observers are calling the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, a framework that envisions the Western Hemisphere as an American strategic priority zone requiring military suppression of cartel networks and exclusion of Chinese influence.” (03/30/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-retreat-to-the-western-hemisphere
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31) No Kings and No Intelligence
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“The mutants were on the march Saturday, or on the street corners, I should say. No, they weren’t hookers, at least in the traditional sense, but prostitutes nonetheless. Democrats came out of their basements, gave their controllers a chance to recharge, and got a little bit of vitamin D from the sun for the first time since COVID. Suckers, all of them.” (03/30/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/03/30/no-kings-and-no-intelligence-n2673612
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32) The UK is testing digital curfews. Social media bans for teens might be next.
Source: Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“The future of expression online will in part rest on today’s debates over what age groups can legally use platforms deemed ‘social media’ and what information we must provide to prove we’re adults and allowed to access them. This week, developments out of the UK and Australia continued the global age-verification campaign, as governments around the world push full steam ahead into dicey questions of who is allowed to speak, whether they can do so anonymously, and what responsibilities rest on platforms when teens are users.” (03/30/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-uk-is-testing-digital-curfews
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33) The More Murderous Israel Gets, The More We Hear About “Antisemitism”
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Whenever Israel is killing tons of civilians the western media always start churning out articles about ‘antisemitism’ and Jewish feelings. ‘Jews Begin to Wonder: Is Anywhere Safe?’ blares a recent headline from The Wall Street Journal, subtitled ‘‘It feels like the 1930s again.’ Hostility against Jews surges in Western countries where they felt safe in recent decades.’ An article for The Atlantic titled ‘Canada’s Polite Pogrom’ bizarrely tries to argue that ‘tolerance for zealotry’ is somehow ‘purging Jews from public life.’ A Washington Examiner headline proclaims that ‘Jewish voters feel ‘politically homeless’ as antisemitism rises on both sides.’ A headline for The Telegraph asserts that ‘Many Jews are sensing frightening echoes of 1930s Germany in 2020s Britain.’ War Criminal Tony Blair writes an article for The Free Press titled ‘Why the West Fails to Stop Antisemitism.'” (03/30/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/30/the-more-murderous-israel-gets-the-more-we-hear-about-antisemitism/
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34) Crypto-Communism and Game Theory
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“Once you admit the notable prevalence and grave danger of crypto-Communist politicians during a particular era, there is a clear-cut contemporary implication: A notable share of current and would-be leaders who say they aren’t Communists are probably lying. If you’re living through this era, this raises a thorny question: ‘How do we identify the crypto-Communists before it’s too late?’ Needless to say, you can’t just publicly ask them, because they’ll lie. You could do a thorough background check, but the people who know the most are usually fellow Communists eager to protect their own. So you’re usually left with three admittedly imperfect heuristics.” (03/30/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/crypto-communism-and-game-theory
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35) It’s Time to Abolish the TSA
Source: Independent Institute
by Benjamin Powell
“The congressional fight over funding the Department of Homeland Security has caused massive security lines at many large airports around the country. Privatizing airport security could avoid this problem in the future, but a more radical reform — abolishing the Transportation Security Administration and its monopoly on security procedures — would be a better solution.” (03/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/30/its-time-to-abolish-the-tsa/
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36) Once Again, A Crisis Raises the Question: Why Does the State Exist?
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith
“Nock was persuaded by Franz Oppenheimer’s theory that people acquire wealth in one of two ways: either through work and exchange or theft. The first, Oppenheimer called the economic means, the second, the political means. States are the manifestation of the political means, the embodiment of a predatory class that coercively feeds off and controls its productive captives. Within the American state the occupants change periodically, and many people believe the troubles we’re experiencing are due to voting the wrong people into office. Better people would produce better government. There are several shortcomings to this idea.” (03/30/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/once-again-crisis-raises-question-why-does-state-exist
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37) Cowardly GOP senators run home
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“There is nothing more infuriating to a frustrated air traveler delayed for hours by the Democrat shutdown than to see senators strolling smugly by with VIP escorts. The worst offender last week was Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who hightailed it out of DC on Friday morning, hours after stitching up a duplicitous 2 a.m. deal to end the shutdown by caving to Democrat demands to defund ICE and border enforcement, at least for the time being. Elements of the Department of Homeland Security were funded in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, but Thune’s deal freezes out immigration enforcement and border security functions that are all-important as we go to war against the world’s largest sponsor of Islamic terrorism.” (03/29/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/29/opinion/miranda-devine-cowardly-gop-senators-run-home/
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38) Iran “Gone Wild” in Dimona: Is Tehran Using Israel-US Madman Doctrine?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo
“Dimona is not an ordinary town. It lies adjacent to the Negev Nuclear Research Center, widely understood to be central to Israel’s nuclear weapons program. Located deep in the Naqab desert, the facility has long been treated as one of Israel’s most sensitive strategic sites, associated with plutonium production and long-term weapons capability. That context gives the strike its meaning. The Iranian attack on Dimona came hours after a renewed US-Israeli strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility earlier the same day. … The sequence is not incidental. Natanz was struck in the morning; Dimona was hit later the same day. Even without an exact hour-by-hour timeline, the proximity establishes a clear operational logic: a nuclear facility in Iran is answered with a nuclear-adjacent site in Israel within hours.” (03/30/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2026/03/29/iran-gone-wild-in-dimona-is-tehran-using-israel-us-madman-doctrine/
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39) Gulf states really stay out of war with Iran?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
bvy Annelle Sheline
“President Donald Trump’s war on Iran is almost a month old, and, as expected, the countries most affected are the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The question now is whether these six governments will see no other option but to risk all by entering the military fight alongside the U.S. and Israel.” (03/30/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/saudi-arabia-war-iran/
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40) The Productivity Panic of 2026
Source: Law & Liberty
by Peter C Earle
“Technological acceleration always generates anxiety when it should promote confidence.” (03/30/26)
https://lawliberty.org/the-productivity-panic-of-2026/
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41) The Three Phases of Trump’s Quagmire in Iran
Source: Common Dreams
by Steven Harper
“President Donald Trump launched the Iran war based on his ‘gut instinct’. Global financial markets (the North Star that guides Trump) are telling him what his advisers and congressional Republicans won’t: His ‘gut’ blew it badly, and his efforts to appease the markets are making the debacle worse. He has proceeded in three phases. We’re now at the Trump panic phase. Phase No. 1: Trump’s Gut Was Wrong and the Markets Scolded Him. Trump ignored the facts and relied on gut instinct to launch the war without making the case to America’s allies or the public. … Trump’s baseless opinion contradicted the justification for war that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had provided to Congress a day earlier. Rubio said that Israel was going to attack and that Iran would retaliate by attacking US interests in the region.” (03/30/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-quagmire-iran
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42) The Villainization of Business: Corporate Tyrants and Government Sycophants
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“Across political eras, corporations have been recast as either predatory villains or tools of the state — distorting their proper role in a free economy.” (03/30/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-villainization-of-business-corporate-tyrants-and-government-sycophants/
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43) Why Do US Presidents Keep Risking Foreign Quagmires?
Source: The American Conservative
by Ivan Eland
“uring the past three-quarters of a century, beginning in 1950 and continuing right through to the current war with Iran, U.S. presidents repeatedly have risked involvement in conflicts that resulted in military quagmires with disappointing endings. Why do presidents keep repeating the same mistakes in the name of ‘national security?'” (03/30/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-do-u-s-presidents-keep-risking-foreign-quagmires/
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44) Iran Teaches America How to Lose a War in Thirty Days
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“Iran as we once knew it has essentially been reduced to the world’s largest open-air burn unit, and yet no one but Donald Trump seems to be foolish enough to believe that America is actually winning this war. Iran may be devastated beyond belief, but someone is still fighting like hell from the smoldering ruins and the imperial machine tasked with swiftly containing this undead menace before the American people can smell a quagmire is beginning to show signs of desperation as they lose control of the narrative. You can see it written all over Donald Trump’s leather face as he attempts to make sense of the havoc in real time, declaring victory over and over again before announcing another escalation of violence, bragging about negotiations that Iran denies having any interest in as thousands of American troops are positioned in the region for an invasion.” (03/29/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/03/iran-teaches-america-how-to-lose-war-in.html
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45) Democrats could get an alarming wake-up call in 2026 election
Source: Fox News
by Newt Gingrich
“Despite all the current polling and the constant comments of the professional analyst class, the Democrats have the biggest problems going into the 2026 election. People know they have unpopular values. Their big government socialist models of taxing, spending and bureaucracy don’t work. The Democrats’ key institutions have long histories of performance failure. And the dominance of the hard left in the Democratic Party forces Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries into painfully tone-deaf positions. It all represents a huge burden, weakening the likelihood of a major Democratic victory this fall. Consider some of the burdens the Democrats will be carrying as they campaign this summer and fall.” (03/30/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-democrats-could-get-alarming-wake-up-call-2026-election
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46) Client Tails Wag the US Dog
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Since the end of World War II, the United States has built an ever-expanding global network of military allies. The term ‘ally’ may legitimately apply to Britain, France, Japan, Germany, and a few of Washington’s other security partners, but most of the so-called allies are merely small U.S. security dependents. They constitute potential burdens and dangerous geopolitical snares for the United States while providing few if any strategic benefits. An especially worrisome aspect of these relationships is that such clients spend considerable effort trying to manipulate, even pervert, U.S. policy to support their parochial objectives. That dynamic creates the danger of small clients gaining undue influence over Washington’s behavior. A security client tail thus may succeed in wagging the U.S. dog.” (03/29/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/client-tails-wag-the-u-s-dog/
-----
47) How Clear Property Rights Built the American Frontier
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Deborah Palma
“In the mid-19th century, the town of Peoria, Illinois, originally established as a French outpost in the 18th century, underwent a period of rapid expansion. Although not a newly founded settlement, its transformation during this period reflects a broader pattern seen across the American frontier. Within a few decades, it evolved into a regional agricultural and commercial hub. This was not the result of luck or central planning. The decisive factor was clear, recognized, and transferable property titles. Farmers knew that the land they cultivated belonged to them. Merchants felt secure investing in warehouses, mills, and river transportation. Families built homes with the expectation that their children would inherit the fruits of that effort. Where property was clearly defined, the future made sense.” (03/29/26)
https://fee.org/articles/how-clear-property-rights-built-the-american-frontier/
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48) “Worse Than the 1970s”
Source: Liberal Currents
by Ryan C Smith
“Donald Trump, it seems, has managed to outdo his first term’s mismanagement of COVID-19 with an economic crisis of extraordinary scope and scale, entirely of his making. In a recent interview, International Energy Agency (IEA) Chief Fatih Birol asserted the present energy crisis was already on track to be ‘worse than the 1970s.’ How bad is that exactly? The answer, unfortunately, is that this has the potential to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression” (03/29/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/worse-than-the-1970s/
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49) A K-Shaped Economy Requires K-Shaped Taxes
Source: The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson
“The overriding fact about the American economy in the past four decades, and even more so in the past four years and the past four quarters, is the massive upward redistribution of wealth and income. Therefore, the opposition to wealth taxes and income tax surcharges on the very rich that’s held by some prominent Democrats (particularly the governors of the two states that are home to the most billionaires) is intellectually and empirically (not to mention politically) indefensible. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are either oblivious to this massive change to our economy or complicit in it. These are not mutually exclusive alternatives. The K-shaping of our economy, in which the rich have both steadily and now suddenly amassed a far greater share of the nation’s income and wealth, while the working poor struggle, should be plain for all to see.” (03/30/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/30/k-shaped-economy-wealth-taxes-new-york-california/
-----
50) Thinking logically about slavery reparations
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
“No one living in Britain can be compensated for that past existence of slavery or the slave trade. This assertion depends upon a previous assertion, obviously. But, as is often so fun, we can take someone’s assertion and take it to be true and then see where that leads us. So, one assertion out there is that it was slavery — or the slave trade perhaps — which made Britain rich. … So, anyone living in a society made rich by slavery is themselves a beneficiary of slavery. For they’re gaining the high wages that come from living in a rich place. … It is wholly impossible to compensate, with money, someone for having made them rich.” (03/29/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/thinking-logically-about-slavery-reparations
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/30/26
Source: Reason
“You’re Wrong About Social Media Being Addictive.” (03/30/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/03/30/youre-wrong-about-social-media-being-addictive/
-----
52) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 03/30/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“AI, Think Tanks, and the Future of Policy Work with Todd Davidson.” (03/30/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/ai-think-tanks-and-the-future-of-policy-work-with-todd-davidson/
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 03/30/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“A Land Invasion Of Iran?” (03/30/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1aJbdbyobZdKX
-----
54) Finding Freedom, 03/30/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Five Keys to Winning Before the Results Show Up.” (03/30/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-5-keys-to-winning-before-the-results-show-up
-----
55) EconTalk, 03/30/26
Source: EconTalk
“AI, Employment, and Education (with Tyler Cowen).” (03/30/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/ai-employment-and-education-with-tyler-cowen/
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56) Chasing Ghosts, episode 80
Source: Libertarian Institute
“The Cargo Cult of Martial Belief, Wishcasting and Bloodshed.” (03/30/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/cgpodcast/ep-080-the-cargo-cult-of-martial-belief-wishcasting-and-bloodshed
-----
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/29/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Pentagon Preps for Weeks of Ground Ops in Iran, Israel Kills Three Journalists in Lebanon, and More.” (03/29/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usamjMytIAI
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58) Zooming In, 03/29/26
Source: The UnPopulist
“Not All Trump Voters Love Him but They Regard the Other Side as Out of Touch with Them: A Conversation with Jason Mangone.” (03/29/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/not-all-trump-voters-love-him-but
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59) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/29/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s Watch the Martin v. LNC JC hearing.” (03/29/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maEBThUEkU0
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60) Dan Vergano on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Iran was Nowhere Close to a Nuclear Bomb.” (03/29/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/3-26-26-dan-vergano-iran-was-nowhere-close-to-a-nuclear-bomb/
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