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04/24 -- Palestine: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28; Tough Luck on Trade
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Thomas L. Knapp
Apr 24, 2025, 6:39:09 AMApr 24
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 04/24/25
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Presented by the Liberty International
https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Palestine: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28
2) At Least Nine Dead in Russian Airstrikes on Kyiv, Ukrainian Officials Say
3) Poll: Americans sour on Trump’s handling of the economy
4) NC: Judges temporarily prevent officials from contacting voters in close election
5) Trump targets college accreditation process in new executive order
6) Turkey: Swedish journalist faces 12 years in prison for “insulting” loathsome, whiny, butthurt politican
7) FL: Teacher Loses Job for Using Student’s Chosen Name
8) TN: Jelly Roll wins support of Tennessee parole board to receive full pardon for convictions
9) Jordan: Regime bans Muslim Brotherhood in a move that threatens its largest opposition party
10) Source: White House would consider cutting China tariffs as part of talks
11) Former OpenAI workers ask California and Delaware AGs to block for-profit conversion of ChatGPT maker
12) World Economic Forum board backs independent probe into founder Klaus Schwab
13) Palestinian regime might appoint a vice president to serve under the aging Abbas
14) EU demands $571 million bribe from Apple, $228 million bribe from Meta
15) KY: Child psychiatrist who criticized gender therapy receives $1.6 million from university after firing
16) Kenya: Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants to be sentenced in two weeks
17) Yemen’s Houthis launch rare missile attack on northern Israel
18) Researchers may have found reason for alarming spike in colon cancer among young people
19) Amazon and Walmart sellers hoard goods in Canada to wait out tariffs
20) Federal judge orders Trump admin to restore propaganda mill funding
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Tough Luck on Trade
22) All the Best People, Cont’d
23) Lessons from Early America’s Tariff Wars
24) The courage to be decent
25) Silver Linings and Green Clouds
26) Trump’s Tariffs Present Opportunity for Libertarian Party Revitalization
27) The Education Department was born of banality, and it shows
28) Mexico’s War on Snacks
29) Poor politics & bad optics: Dems’ decision to champion Abrego Garcia
30) Do the Rich Pay Their “Fair Share” of Taxes?
31) Amid the Pentagon Pandemonium, Personnel Is Policy
32) 21st Century Human Called Upon To Awaken Both Outwardly & Inwardly
33) Why the US can’t beat al-Shabaab in Somalia
34) Durbin won’t seek re-election to US Senate
35) Supporting politicians a waste of time
36) Turning Treasury Securities into Century Bonds Is a Dead End
37) Left & right can agree on one thing: Our government is a joke on the United States
38) Harvard University Should Emulate Hillsdale College and Cut Ties With the Government
39) Trump “Alarmists” Were Right. We Should Say So.
40) To Halve and Halve Not
41) Trump No Peace President; Call Him the Proliferation President
42) Putin is not interested in peace
43) NATO Membership for Ukraine Was Always Russia’s Red Line
44) Stop the US Abuse of Cuba
45) Trump vs Powell: An ugly fight we don’t need
46) A Good Man in a Strongman’s World
47) Psych Meds and Veblen Goods
48) Without Draconian Action Against American Citizens, Trump’s Crackdown on the Undocumented Cannot Succeed
49) The Trump Administration Is Objectively Pro-Cancer
50) A Ticking Clock On American Freedom
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Interview: Jeffrey Singer
52) The Learning Curve, 04/23/25
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 789
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 04/23/25
55) The Good Fight, 04/23/25
56) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 04/23/25
57) Serious Trouble, 04/23/25
58) Quillette Cetera, episode 44
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/23/25
60) System Update, episode 441
61) Freakonomics Radio, 04/22/25
62) Politics Politics Politics, 04/22/25
63) Free Speech Unmuted, 04/22/25
64) Nonzero, 04/22/25
65) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 04/22/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Palestine: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28
Source: Newsday
“Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. At least nine people were killed in a strike on a police station in the northern Jabaliya area, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted a command and control center for Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group. At least seven people were killed, including a mother and her two children, and another two children, in three strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis. Strikes in central Gaza killed six people, including two women and two children. An airstrike on a home in Gaza City killed four children and their parents, the Health Ministry said.” (04/24/25)
https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/mideast-gaza-israel-hamas-war-latest-04-24-2025-o51745
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2) At Least Nine Dead in Russian Airstrikes on Kyiv, Ukrainian Officials Say
Source: New York Times
“Russian forces launched a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least nine people in the city, and injuring more than 60, the Ukrainian authorities said, in the deadliest strike on the Ukrainian capital since last summer. Explosions could be heard throughout the night; clouds of brown smoke rose over the city as the sun came up. One missile hit a two-story building with eight apartments where emergency workers hunted for survivors Thursday morning.” (04/24/25)
https://archive.is/OShaf
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3) Poll: Americans sour on Trump’s handling of the economy
Source: Reuters
“Americans elected President Donald Trump in hopes that he would fight inflation and boost the U.S. economy, but as he approaches his 100th day in office they are giving the Republican poor marks for his handling of both, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. … Just 37% of respondents to the six-day poll that concluded on Monday approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, down from 42% in the hours after his January 20 inauguration, when he promised to supercharge the economy and bring about a ‘Golden Age of America.’ The reading is well below than at any point in his first term, when it ranged from the mid-40’s to mid-50’s. … three-quarters of the respondents in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll said they worried a recession was coming. Fifty-six percent of respondents, including one in four Republicans, said Trump’s moves to shake up the economy are ‘too erratic.'” (04/23/25)
https://archive.is/TjzGe
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4) NC: Judges temporarily prevent officials from contacting voters in close election
Source: SFGate
“A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked North Carolina election officials from contacting voters whose disputed ballots in an unresolved 2024 state Supreme Court race could be eliminated from the final count. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, granted the stay request of Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs, who has asked federal judges to throw out the recent rulings of state appellate courts that largely favored Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin’s requests to toss ballots that he challenged. Democrats and voting rights groups have raised alarm about Griffin’s effort, calling it an attack on democracy that would serve as a road map for the GOP to reverse future election results in other states. The state Republican Party says Griffin’s efforts are about ensuring that only legal votes are counted.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/judges-temporarily-prevent-north-carolina-20290479.php
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5) Trump targets college accreditation process in new executive order
Source: CNN
“President Donald Trump took aim at the college accreditation process with a new executive order Wednesday, his latest move to exact control over America’s higher education institutions. The order, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, targets the federal government’s process for deciding what colleges and universities can access billions of dollars in federal student loans and Pell grants – a significant source of indirect revenue for many of those institutions. The executive order asks the secretary of education to ‘hold higher education accreditors accountable including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination for poor performance or violations to the federal Civil Rights Act,’ a White House official told CNN ahead of the signing.” (04/23/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/23/politics/trump-college-accreditation-process-executive-order/index.html
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6) Turkey: Swedish journalist faces 12 years in prison for “insulting” loathsome, whiny, butthurt politican
Source: Politico
“A Swedish reporter detained in Turkey could be jailed for 12 years if convicted of insulting the country’s president and on terrorism charges, his employer said Wednesday. Joakim Medin, a journalist for Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, was arrested upon arriving in Turkey last month to cover nationwide protests that erupted after the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a popular opposition leader and primary challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Medin has been charged with insulting the president, a crime in Turkey that carries a three-year prison sentence, and with membership in the PKK Kurdish militant group, which Istanbul designates as a terrorist organization. The latter charge carries a nine-year prison sentence. ‘I can only repeat that he is a journalist who has done journalism,’ Dagens ETC Editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson said. ‘Joakim is not a criminal, definitely not some kind of terrorist.'” (04/23/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/swedish-journalist-joakim-medin-etc-faces-12-years-turkish-prison-insulting-recep-tayyip-erdogan/
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7) FL: Teacher Loses Job for Using Student’s Chosen Name
Source: US News & World Report
“School district officials on Florida’s Space Coast aren’t renewing the contract of a teacher who used a student’s chosen name without getting permission from the student’s parents in violation of Florida law. Dozens of students and parents showed up in support of teacher Melissa Calhoun at a Brevard Public Schools board meeting Tuesday night, demanding that her contract as an English teacher at Satellite High School be renewed. The 17-year-old student chose the preferred name to reflect the student’s gender identity and the teacher only was acting out of compassion, according to the supporters. Calhoun knowingly defied the law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 which requires parental consent to use an alternative to a student’s legal name, according to Janet Murnaghan, a spokeswoman for the Brevard Public Schools.” (04/23/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2025-04-23/florida-teacher-loses-job-for-using-students-chosen-name-in-violation-of-state-law
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8) TN: Jelly Roll wins support of Tennessee parole board to receive full pardon for convictions
Source: Fox News
“Jelly Roll has gotten one step closer to receiving a full pardon for his previous convictions. The Tennessee Board of Parole officially recommended the 40-year-old musician receive a full pardon following a 45-minute hearing which included statements from a number of witnesses, including Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall, who runs Nashville’s jail. The hearing ended with a vote, in which the board reached a unanimous agreement to recommend the musician be pardoned, with only one board member recusing themselves from voting. ‘This was incredible,’ Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, said after the vote, according to the board’s recording of the meeting. ‘I pray this goes through. But today was special for me, regardless.’ The board’s unanimous vote leaves the final decision in the hands of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jelly-roll-wins-support-tennessee-parole-board-he-fights-receive-full-pardon-convictions
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9) Jordan: Regime bans Muslim Brotherhood in a move that threatens its largest opposition party
Source: Seattle Times
“Jordan announced Wednesday a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood that could include shutting down the country’s largest opposition party, after accusing the group of planning attacks. The Islamic Action Front, a political party linked to the regionwide Brotherhood, won the most seats in parliamentary elections held last year against the backdrop of mass protests against Israel over its war with Hamas. The monarchy banned the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago but officially licensed a splinter group and continued to tolerate the Islamic Action Front while restricting some its activities. It was not immediately clear how far the latest ban would go.” (04/23/25)
https://archive.is/Tpg61
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10) Source: White House would consider cutting China tariffs as part of talks
Source: Reuters
“The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, adding that any action would not be made unilaterally. The source’s comments followed a Wall Street Journal report that the White House is considering cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports in a bid to de-escalate tensions.” (04/23/25)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/white-house-mulls-slashing-china-tariffs-between-50-65-wsj-reports-2025-04-23/
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11) Former OpenAI workers ask California and Delaware AGs to block for-profit conversion of ChatGPT maker
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Former employees of OpenAI are asking the top law enforcement officers in California and Delaware to stop the company from shifting control of its artificial intelligence technology from a nonprofit charity to a for-profit business. They’re concerned about what happens if the ChatGPT maker fulfills its ambition to build AI that outperforms humans, but is no longer accountable to its public mission to safeguard that technology from causing grievous harms. … Backed by three Nobel Prize winners and other advocates and experts, [Page] Hedley and nine other ex-OpenAI workers sent a letter this week to the two state attorneys general. The coalition is asking California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, both Democrats, to use their authority to protect OpenAI’s charitable purpose and block its planned restructuring. OpenAI is incorporated in Delaware and operates out of San Francisco.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/23/openai-for-profit-conversion-criticism/
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12) World Economic Forum board backs independent probe into founder Klaus Schwab
Source: ABC News
“The World Economic Forum, which runs an annual gathering of elites in Davos, Switzerland, says its board has given its unanimous support for an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by founder Klaus Schwab. The statement from the Geneva-based think tank and event organizer late on Tuesday came after a report published in the Wall Street Journal cited a whistleblower letter alleging financial and ethical misconduct by Schwab, 87, and his wife Hilde. The newspaper reported that the allegations were sent in an anonymous letter to the board last week and included claims that the Schwab family mixed their personal affairs with Forum resources. … The allegations emerged two days after the WEF announced Schwab had retired ‘with immediate effect’ as chairman, and that former Nestle Chairman and CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was taking over as interim chairman.” (04/23/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/world-economic-forum-board-backs-launch-independent-probe-121076120
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13) Palestinian regime might appoint a vice president to serve under the aging Abbas
Source: SFGate
“Senior Palestinian officials loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas are meeting to vote on the creation of a vice presidency and could choose a possible successor to the unpopular 89-year-old. The two-day meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council, beginning Wednesday, comes as Abbas seeks relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. In his opening speech, Abbas lashed out at Hamas, calling the militant group ‘sons of dogs,’ using unusually harsh language in an apparent strategy aimed at garnering international support for a future role in Gaza. The council is expected to vote on creating the role of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, who would also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine — which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/palestinians-might-appoint-a-vice-president-to-20290477.php
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14) EU demands $571 million bribe from Apple, $228 million bribe from Meta
Source: CNBC
The European Union on Wednesday fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros each for breaching the bloc’s digital competition laws. The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, said it was fining Apple 500 million euros ($571 million) and Meta 200 million euros ($228.4 million) for breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Officials said that Apple failed to comply with so-called ‘anti-steering’ obligations under the DMA. Under the EU’s tech law, Apple is required to allow developers to freely inform customers of alternative offers outside its App Store. … For Meta, the EU Commission found that the social media group illegally required users to consent to sharing their data with the company or pay for an ad-free service.” (04/23/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/23/eu-fines-meta-and-apple-for-breaching-digital-antitrust-rules.html
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15) KY: Child psychiatrist who criticized gender therapy receives $1.6 million from university after firing
Source: Fox News
“The University of Louisville has reportedly agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a former professor who was fired for criticizing transgender treatments for children experiencing gender dysphoria. Dr. Allan Josephson worked for nearly 15 years as chief of the University of Louisville’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology. According to his legal complaint, Josephson was able to turn around the struggling division during his tenure and received perfect scores in his 2014-2016 annual reviews. Despite his professional accomplishments, the complaint alleges that Josephson was demoted in 2017 and eventually fired after making comments in his own capacity challenging the push to use hormone therapy and surgery for children with gender dysphoria, according to legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). ADF, which represented Josephson in court, announced the settlement agreement Monday and hailed the case as a ‘major victory’ for free speech.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/child-psychiatrist-who-criticized-gender-therapy-receives-1-6-million-from-university-after-firing
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16) Kenya: Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants to be sentenced in two weeks
Source: SFGate
“Two Belgian teenagers who were found with thousands of ants valued at $9,200 and allegedly destined for European and Asian markets will be sentenced in two weeks, a Kenyan magistrate said Wednesday. Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya’s main airport, said she would not rush the case but would take time to review environmental impact and psychological reports filed in court before passing sentence on May 7. Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house. They were charged on April 15 with violating wildlife conservation laws. The teens have told the magistrate that they didn’t know that keeping the ants was illegal and were just having fun. The Kenya Wildlife Service had said the case represented ‘a shift in trafficking trends — from iconic large mammals to lesser-known yet ecologically critical species’.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/belgian-teenagers-found-with-5-000-ants-to-be-20290471.php
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17) Yemen’s Houthis launch rare missile attack on northern Israel
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Yemen’s Houthi rebels [sic] have launched a ballistic missile towards northern Israel, according to the Israeli military, which claimed to have shot down the projectile without causing any injuries. Shortly after 4am local time (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday, the Israeli army said that the missile triggered air raid sirens in Haifa, Krayot and other areas west of the Sea of Galilee. This area is a rare target for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels [sic], who continue to be the target of an intense United States air strike campaign.” (04/22/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/23/yemens-houthis-launch-rare-attack-on-northern-israel
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18) Researchers may have found reason for alarming spike in colon cancer among young people
Source: New York Post
“A groundbreaking new study suggests that a gut-dwelling bacteria may be behind the recent surge in early-onset colorectal cancer cases. The potential culprit? Colibactin, a toxin produced by certain strains of E. coli that thrive in the colon and rectum. ‘We believe this exposure occurs very early in life — likely during the first decade — when children are infected,’ Dr. Ludmil Alexandrov, senior study author and a professor at the University of California San Diego, told The Post. Once thought of as a disease that strikes later in life, colorectal cancer is now on the rise among young people in at least 27 countries. In the US, the number of people under 55 being diagnosed has nearly doubled over the past decade, and more people are dying from the disease each year, according to the American Cancer Society.” (04/23/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/04/23/health/early-onset-colon-cancer-breakthrough-scientists-find-new-cause/
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19) Amazon and Walmart sellers hoard goods in Canada to wait out tariffs
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Amazon and Walmart’s third-party sellers are hoarding stock in Canada as they try to wait out President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Independent vendors who sell products — from cheap dog toys to appliances — through the companies’ US ecommerce platforms are shifting goods from China to Canadian warehouses, according to half a dozen sellers, logistics providers and consultants. Several makers and distributors of Amazon’s and Walmart’s own products, as well as suppliers to companies such as Disney, are also using the tactic, some of the people said. … Flexport, a US logistics group, said there were early signs that shipments were being routed to Canada after it observed a 50 per cent increase in consignments from China to the country last week.” (04/22/25)
https://archive.is/dvdCW
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20) Federal judge orders Trump admin to restore propaganda mill funding
Source: Axios
“Voice of America workers who were placed on leave or fired should return to work and the Trump administration must restore funding to the VOA and other U.S. government-funded news outlets, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling effectively halts the Trump administration’s plan to gut the VOA and its parent, the government-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). In addition to VOA, USAGM houses several other internal broadcasters, some of which are waging their own legal battles against the administration in an attempt to survive.” (04/22/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/23/trump-voice-of-america-ruling-voa-employees-return
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Tough Luck on Trade
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
Suppose the U.S. Constitution mandated unilateral free trade with no exceptions. Much could go wrong. A pessimist could fairly ask all of the following: 1. What if other countries take advantage of our unilateralism to drastically raise their tariffs? 2. What if other countries strategically predate on our critical industries, leaving us vulnerable in a major crisis? 3. What if hostile countries buy and stockpile strategic resources from us, then get really hostile? 4. What if some unforeseen trade issue, an ‘unknown unknown,’ arises, and our leaders are unable to respond because the Constitution ties their hands? … When push comes to shove, the defender of unilateral free trade has no response better than, ‘Tough luck.’ Unconvincing, but as I’ve explained before, ‘Tough luck’ is what every conceivable social system tells you in the end …” (04/23/25)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/tough-luck-on-trade
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22) All the Best People, Cont’d
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Donald Trump says he stands behind Pete Hegseth, our entirely unqualified secretary of defense, a former Fox News weekend morning-show clown and future Brylcreem model who is in the habit of treating sensitive military information as though it were knitting-circle gossip. Hegseth has chatted about upcoming military actions with everyone and his brother — literally, his brother, as well as his wife — through an app that is in and of itself not sufficiently secure but which is even more insecure when it is being handled by tech-illiterate doofuses (and the Trump administration is full of these) who, in a related instance, accidentally copied the editor of The Atlantic on the conversation. The president says he has complete confidence in Hegseth. So, he’s probably cooked.” (04/23/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-pete-hegseth-kristi-noem-surgeon-general-dan-bongino/
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23) Lessons from Early America’s Tariff Wars
Source: Law & Liberty
by John C Pinheiro
“[A]rguing about tariffs has a long American pedigree, dating back to the administration of the first president, George Washington. There are three important lessons we can learn from this early American tariff debate. The first and most important lesson is that each system proposed in the 1790s, like all centralized systems of industrial policy and tariffs, allowed government to choose winners and losers. Second, at a time when some form of mercantilism was still the default position for nearly all Americans, there was still vigorous debate. And third, tariffs are fundamentally a moral issue.” (04/23/25)
https://lawliberty.org/lessons-from-early-americas-tariff-wars/
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24) The courage to be decent
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“Intimidating lawyers has become a key component of the Trump administration’s overall strategy, and this is especially true with respect to mass deportations. Immigrants detained for lacking documentation are more than 10 times more likely to get a favorable outcome if they have an attorney than if they don’t. Trump officials are certainly aware of this. During Trump’s first term, Attorney General Jeff Sessions decried ‘dirty immigration lawyers,’ claiming they were encouraging their clients to ‘make false claims of asylum, providing them with the magic words needed’ to get relief. There were also multiple incidents of DHS targeting immigration attorneys, advocates, and journalists with criminal investigations or by flagging their passports for extra scrutiny if they left and reentered the country. But this time around, they’re ratcheting up the pressure.” (04/23/25)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-courage-to-be-decent
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25) Silver Linings and Green Clouds
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“As I write this, it’s been about two weeks since the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were announced. While nobody expects political economic models to be stellar (see the myriad of ‘economic impact studies’ that come out for any project that just happen to coincide with what the local politician wants to hear), the model released by the USTR/CEA stands out. I, and many others, have already written about its numerous faults. It reads like an undergrad essay thrown together at the last minute following a furious run through Google Scholar rather than a considered scientific recommendation. Further defense by Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran has been inadequate as well as he continuously misapplies citations and uses discredited models to advance the plan. These are post hoc justifications for a desired policy rather than a policy crafted to solve a real problem.” (04/23/25)
https://www.econlib.org/silver-linings-and-green-clouds/
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26) Trump’s Tariffs Present Opportunity for Libertarian Party Revitalization
Source: Waste No More Time
by Nicholas Sarwark
“Did you know the Libertarian Party was founded over five decades ago in response to a corrupt Republican president using his executive authority to violate free market principles? … Trump’s tariffs create the same need for a strong Libertarian Party that Nixon’s wage and price controls did.” (04/23/25)
https://nsarwark.substack.com/p/trumps-tariffs-present-opportunity
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27) The Education Department was born of banality, and it shows
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“In 1977, millions of American tempers flared against the treaty giving Panama control of the canal that bisects its country. A bemused senator said: My state’s residents are of different races, ethnicities, religions and politics but are united in white-hot attachment to the canal, which until now they had not thought about since hearing of it in third grade. Today, there are widespread laments about the diminishment, perhaps to extinction, of the Education Department, although the lamenters cannot connect it with educational improvements since its founding nearly 46 years ago; there having been few, if any. Although the department has been often slathered with high-minded devotion, it was born from a banal political transaction between a notably pious politician and one of the principal causes of the subsequent decline in K-12 education quality.” (04/23/25)
https://archive.is/Zk2HW
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28) Mexico’s War on Snacks
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Daphne Posadas
“President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled Vive Saludable, Vive Feliz, a health initiative that includes a ban on the sale of candy, salty snacks, and sugary drinks in schools. The Internet quickly dubbed her Mexico’s ‘almond mom’ — referencing the diet-obsessed parents often mocked online. Images of empty shelves and beverage refrigerators stocked exclusively with bottled water flooded social media as the policy took effect on March 29. The ban has even extended to university cafeterias, impacting students who are legal adults. Several campuses have reported sharp declines in snack and beverage sales, with some establishments considering shutting down altogether to avoid fines or financial losses. Is this prohibition really the solution to Mexico’s obesity problem?” (04/23/25)
https://fee.org/articles/mexicos-war-on-snacks/
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29) Poor politics & bad optics: Dems’ decision to champion Abrego Garcia
Source: USA Today
by Nicole Russell
“I’m puzzled by Democratic politicians’ decision to turn Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal [sic] immigrant and alleged member of a violent gang who’s been deported from Maryland to El Salvador, into their latest cause célèbre. Four Democratic House members landed in the capital city of San Salvador on April 21 to appeal for his return to the United Sates … Just days earlier, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland made the same journey to meet with Abrego Garcia, who is being held in a Salvadoran prison. The Supreme Court has ruled that the deportation was illegal, and the Trump administration was instructed to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. But the Justice Department contends that it doesn’t have jurisdiction because he’s being held by a foreign government.” (04/23/25)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/04/23/trump-kilmar-abrego-garcia-illegal-immigration/83194255007/
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30) Do the Rich Pay Their “Fair Share” of Taxes?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“‘Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.’ ‘I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.’ — James Madison … I just thought I’d throw those two quotes above out there so you’d know what James Madison, the ‘Father’ of our Constitution, the guy who wrote most of it, thought about a government welfare state. There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that gives the federal government the right to spend one thin dime, much less trillions, on charity, even to their own constituents, much less to foreigners. But, it’s really a moot point; nobody in Washington, D.C., especially in Congress, pays the least bit of attention to what the Constitution authorizes them to do.” (04/23/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2025/04/23/do-the-rich-pay-their-fair-share-of-taxes-n2655961#google_vignette
-----
31) Amid the Pentagon Pandemonium, Personnel Is Policy
Source: The American Conservative
by W James Antle III
“The long knives are out at the Pentagon. We have in recent days seen the ouster of some of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top aides, including at least one leading voice for foreign-policy restraint within recent days. But the real target is clearly Hegseth himself. ‘If Mr. Hegseth is wise,’ the Wall Street Journal editorial board advises, ‘he’ll use the staff shakeup to hire some loyal grownups who know the building, instead of the self-promoting isolationists he first brought in.’ The end result of the shake-up could be that Hegseth is isolated himself. … President Donald Trump’s support is, and will continue to be, decisive.” (04/23/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/amid-the-pentagon-pandemonium-personnel-is-policy/
-----
32) 21st Century Human Called Upon To Awaken Both Outwardly & Inwardly
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Awakening outwardly is waking up from the trance of propaganda and indoctrination, and awakening inwardly is waking up from the trance of ego and delusion. Awakening outwardly means becoming fully conscious of what’s really happening in our world beyond the propaganda and what we were taught in school. Learning about all the ways we’ve been deceived and manipulated, learning the truth about war, militarism, imperialism, capitalism, authoritarianism, ecocide, and all the interrelated abuses and injustices caused by the systems and power structures we live under. Awakening inwardly means becoming fully conscious of the ways in which we have been deceiving ourselves. Doing the inner work necessary to bring consciousness to the delusions and dysfunction within us and discovering what’s really true about our unquestioned assumptions regarding basic elements of our experience like self, other, time, space, thought, consciousness, and separation.” (04/23/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/04/23/the-21st-century-human-is-called-upon-to-awaken-both-outwardly-and-inwardly/
-----
33) Why the US can’t beat al-Shabaab in Somalia
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ahmed Ibrahim
“The Trump team’s discussion about closing our embassy there is a smokescreen for deeper failures in Washington’s military approach.” (04/23/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-somalia-al-shabaab/
-----
34) Durbin won’t seek re-election to US Senate
Source: Fox News
“Sen. Dick Durbin [D-IL], the Senate Democratic whip and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2026. Durbin, 80, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, made the announcement in a video message on X Wednesday. ‘The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy,’ Durbin said. ‘I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.’ Durbin represents Illinois, a solidly Democratic state. His retirement is expected to set off a set off a flurry of activity among a scrum of would-be successors, both Democratic and Republican. However, the GOP has only captured a Senate seat just twice for six-year terms since 1984.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dick-durbin-no-2-senate-democrat-wont-seek-re-election
-----
35) Supporting politicians a waste of time
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“I want you to be free to do everything you have a right to do. That’s what liberty is. Even if you’d do something I wouldn’t do and don’t like. If I won’t respect your liberty, how can I demand you respect mine?” (04/23/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/04/23/voices/opinion-supporting-politicians-a-waste-of-time/230661.html
-----
36) Turning Treasury Securities into Century Bonds Is a Dead End
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle
“While the idea of reducing interest costs by converting existing debt into ultra-long, low-yielding bonds might sound like a creative solution to America’s debt challenges, it fails every test of financial realism.” (04/23/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/turning-treasury-securities-into-century-bonds-is-a-dead-end/
-----
37) Left & right can agree on one thing: Our government is a joke on the United States
Source: New York Post
by Martin Gurri
“The theme chosen by the anti-Trump protesters who took to the streets on April 5 (‘Hands Off’) was considered vague even by sympathetic observers and gave rise to a number of interesting questions: ‘Which hands?’ and ‘Off what, or whom?’ … The protesting hordes, apparently, wanted to keep the government just the way it is. There is, I have observed, a peculiar variety of liberal conservatism that insists nothing must ever change — the ecology must remain untouched and the cities must remain undeveloped in this best of all possible worlds. Progressivism, once a revolutionary faith, has evolved into your elderly grandmother, confused by the bustle of modern life and afraid of the new. Government, from the progressive perspective, exists to freeze society and nature into a comfy stasis.” (04/22/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/04/22/opinion/the-left-and-right-can-agree-on-one-thing-our-government-is-a-joke-on-the-united-states/
-----
38) Harvard University Should Emulate Hillsdale College and Cut Ties With the Government
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Given the censorious conduct of colleges and universities in recent years, it takes a lot to get free speech advocates to treat them as aggrieved parties. But the Trump administration has accomplished that by using the power of the state to coerce changes in campus political climates, disciplinary procedures, and hiring practices. Harvard University is digging in its heels and suing the federal government in response. But if institutions of higher learning really want to assert their independence, they should emulate a school with a lower profile and fewer resources that won its freedom by cutting ties with the government decades ago: They should follow the example of Hillsdale College.” (04/23/25)
https://reason.com/2025/04/23/harvard-university-should-emulate-hillsdale-college-and-cut-ties-with-the-government/
-----
39) Trump “Alarmists” Were Right. We Should Say So.
Source: Liberal Currents
by Toby Buckle
“Commentators who got it wrong wouldn’t listen, won’t learn, and can’t lead.” (04/23/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/trump-alarmists-were-right-we-should-say-so/
-----
40) To Halve and Halve Not
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“‘Why is Taiwan such a hot flash point?’ That’s what U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R‑Ark.) asked Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. ‘Why could it lead not only to a catastrophic war, but also global Great Depression? Why should Americans care about an island on the other side of the world?’ The admiral told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the senator’s ‘last point [was] quite salient. Many a research organization postulate that conflict in the western Pacific over the Taiwan question would result in a 25 percent GDP contraction in Asia and a knock-on effect of 10 to 12 percent GDP reduction in the United States of America, with unemployment spiking seven to 10 points above base and likely 500,000 excess deaths of despair above base as well.'” (04/23/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/04/23/2halve-and-halve-not/
-----
41) Trump No Peace President; Call Him the Proliferation President
Source: Common Dreams
by Kevin Martin
“Much to my astonishment, some voters thought Donald Trump might be a ‘peace president.’ I never bought it, so won’t outline the case for such magical thinking here, but his major increase already excessive U.S. weapons transfers to Israel as it continues its illegal genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and recent, contradictory statements by Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding working to end Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, or throwing in the towel on diplomacy, should by now have disabused anyone that Trump is a consistent peace advocate. In the wake of his and Elon Musk’s taking a sledgehammer to all manner of government programs, in both domestic and foreign policy, there is real concern more countries than the current nine … might decide to build their own nuclear weapons.” (04/23/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-peace-president
-----
42) Putin is not interested in peace
Source: spiked
by Tim Black
“Russian president Vladimir Putin continues to posture as a peacemaker – even as he pushes on with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. He struck his latest pacifist pose on Saturday, when he suddenly announced a truce for Easter, which would begin at 6pm that evening and end at midnight on Easter Sunday. ‘For this period, I order all military actions to cease,’ declared Putin. It was a grand gesture, made without the knowledge of Kyiv or indeed many within Putin’s own administration. And it proved predictably empty. Within hours of the truce supposedly beginning, Russian forces were busy violating it. … He tried, once again, to give the impression of being the peacemaker, while continuing to act as the aggressor.” (04/23/25)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/04/23/putin-is-not-interested-in-peace/
-----
43) NATO Membership for Ukraine Was Always Russia’s Red Line
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“This week, the Kremlin said it was finally satisfied with Washington’s position on future NATO membership for Kiev. ‘We have heard from Washington at various levels that NATO membership for Ukraine has been ruled out,’ Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained. ‘And of course this is something that brings us satisfaction and coincides with our position that Ukraine should not be a member of NATO and should not have prospects of integration with the North Atlantic Alliance.’ Since 2008, the North Atlantic Alliance has been promising to one day add Ukraine as a member of the bloc. However, Moscow protested Kiev accession to the alliance, arguing that it would present a major national security concern for Russia.” [editor’s note: It was never a “red line” because all concerned parties knew it was never going to happen – TLK] (04/23/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/scott/2025/04/22/nato-membership-for-ukraine-was-always-russias-red-line/
-----
44) Stop the US Abuse of Cuba
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Amidst the horrific U.S. abuse of foreigners through the use of tariffs and police-state enforcement of immigration controls, it’s easy to forget that the U.S. government abuses foreigners in other ways, such as sanctions, embargoes, invasions, occupations, wars of aggression, torture, indefinite detention, and state-sponsored assassinations. Perhaps the longest-lasting, continuous example of this foreigner-abuse syndrome is the U.S. government’s horrific abuse of the Cuban people, which has gone on for more than 60 years. Given that there is no good reason for abusing the Cuban people — and there never has been one — this would be a good place to begin breaking with the longstanding, ongoing U.S. policy of abusing foreigners.” (04/22/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/04/22/stop-the-u-s-abuse-of-cuba/
-----
45) Trump vs Powell: An ugly fight we don’t need
Source: Fox News
by Michael L Davis
“President Donald Trump wants to fire Jerome Powell, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. No word yet on what Powell thinks about Trump’s job performance, but Powell says he doesn’t intend to quit before the end of his term next year. If Trump does try to fire him, he’ll see Trump in court. It’s a mess. It’s like being a little kid in a big crazy family watching the grown-ups have a nasty, screaming fight in front of the neighbors. It’s embarrassing. But it’s more than that. This big crazy family needs the neighbors – which includes everyone in the world who participates in our financial system – more than ever. There’s probably not much we can do about the fight. The grown-ups clearly don’t care much about us kids – if they did, they’d quit fighting and figure all this out.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-vs-powell-an-ugly-fight-we-dont-need
-----
46) A Good Man in a Strongman’s World
Source: Persuasion
by Jeffery Tyler Syck
“The last twelve years have been turbulent. We have witnessed the rapid rise of populist politics, the advent of new, earth-shattering technologies, and the fracturing of a tenuous international peace. Throughout all of the chaos, the Catholic Church has been steered by the firmly gentle hand of Pope Francis. Even as the instability of the twenty-first century bled into religion, Pope Francis attempted to guide the church in the direction of compassion and humility. That he did not always succeed at this task is not entirely surprising and no doubt he could have gone much further. Yet the simple, unadorned goodness of the late Pope is something that will be missed in this age of bombastic cruelty.” (04/22/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-good-man-in-a-strongmans-world
-----
47) Psych Meds and Veblen Goods
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“In high school in West Texas in the late 1970s, psych meds were Veblen goods; that is, products desired as markers of status. They were conspicuously consumed by the children of the well-to-do with profound awareness that their schoolmates could afford neither the treatment nor the supposed cure. … in the decades since, this Veblen good went the way of all luxury purchases over time. It became mainstream. Psych meds are now common among adults and children. It’s a massive industry: like cell phones and TVs generations ago, they migrated through the class structure year by year. Now comes Unshrunk by Laura Delano, a book that could change everything. If it were not an autobiography, it would make great fiction of the gothic sort popular in the Victorian period.” (04/22/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/psych-meds-and-veblen-goods/
-----
48) Without Draconian Action Against American Citizens, Trump’s Crackdown on the Undocumented Cannot Succeed
Source: The UnPopulist
by Shikha Dalmia
“Usually, one hears one of two arguments for liberalizing immigration — the conservative, self-interested argument or the progressive, altruistic argument. The self-interested case for immigration basically emphasizes the economic benefits of immigration for the host country. The progressive case stresses the benefits for the immigrants themselves. But there is a third, classical liberal case, for immigration — namely that border controls and immigration restrictions lead to state violence not just against immigrants but citizens themselves. They curtail the liberties of native-borns because attempts to control outsiders inevitably result in controlling insiders as well.” (04/22/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/without-draconian-action-against
-----
49) The Trump Administration Is Objectively Pro-Cancer
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“Amid the chaos of Donald Trump’s misrule (with his on-again, off-again trade war causing a sharp slide in the dollar, a rise in American borrowing costs, accelerating inflation, and possibly a severe recession), his attack on basic medical research is getting less attention. Elon Musk’s DOGE goons have slashed federal grants across the country, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is putting through further sweeping layoffs and budget cuts. Meanwhile, Trump’s war on immigrants is targeting top medical researchers. In particular, cancer research and treatment in America is being gored. Development of promising diagnostics and treatments has been called into question or frozen, clinical trials are being halted, and (unless the cuts are stopped) hospitals around the country will be bankrupted. Many Americans will die soon, and many more will die in future who could have been saved.” (04/23/25)
https://prospect.org/health/2025-04-23-trump-administration-objectively-pro-cancer/
-----
50) A Ticking Clock On American Freedom
Source: The Atlantic
by Adrienne LaFrance
“The Trump administration’s breakneck pace is obviously no accident. While citizens are busy processing their shock over any one shattered norm or disregarded law, Trump is already on to the next one. This is the playbook authoritarians have used all over the world: First the leader removes those with expertise and independent thinking from the government and replaces them with leaders who are arrogant, ignorant, and extremely loyal. Next he takes steps to centralize his power and claim unprecedented authority. Along the way, he conducts an all-out assault on the truth so that the truth tellers are distrusted, corruption becomes the norm, and questioning him becomes impossible. The Constitution bends and then finally breaks. This is what tyrants do. Trump is doing it now in the United States.” (04/22/25)
https://archive.is/o5pVQ
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Interview: Jeffrey Singer
Source: Reason
“Longtime surgeon and Cato Institute fellow Jeffrey Singer argues that government overreach in health care undermines patient autonomy.” (04/23/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/04/23/jeffrey-singer-get-government-out-of-health-care/
-----
52) The Learning Curve, 04/23/25
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Dr. Sheila Harrity on Worcester Tech & MA’s Urban Voc-Tech Schools.” (04/23/25)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/dr-sheila-harrity-on-worcester-tech-mas-urban-voc-tech-schools/
-----
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 789
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Israel Flattens Gaza With Unmanned Bulldozers.” (04/23/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-789-israel-flattens-gaza-with-unmanned-bulldozers
-----
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 04/23/25
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Why Parents Are Skipping Michigan’s Free Preschool Program with Susannah Barnes Petitt.” (04/23/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/why-parents-are-skipping-michigans
-----
55) The Good Fight, 04/23/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Ivan Krastev on American Decline.” (04/23/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/ivan-krastev-on-american-decline
-----
56) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 04/23/25
Source: The New Republic
“‘Madness’: Trump Tariff Lunacy Suddenly Darkens Amid Brutal Poll Drop.” (04/23/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/194279/madness-trump-tariff-lunacy-suddenly-darkens-amid-brutal-poll-drop
-----
57) Serious Trouble, 04/23/25
Source: Serious Trouble
“The Emerging Presumption of Irregularity.” (04/23/25)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/the-emerging-presumption-of-irregularity
-----
58) Quillette Cetera, episode 44
Source: Quillette
“Australian Election 2025, The Nuclear Debate with Will Shackel.” (04/23/25)
https://quillette.com/blog/2025/04/23/australian-election-2025-the-nuclear-debate-with-will-shackel-quillette-cetera-episode-44/
-----
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/23/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Told Congress He Built Up Forces To Protect Israel, Houthis Shoot Down US MQ-9 Drone, and More.” (04/23/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aPhoSWqASs
-----
60) System Update, episode 441
Source: System Update
“Pentagon in Turmoil Over Iran Policy as Israel Pushes for War; Lee Fang on New NIH Censorship Policy Threatening Medical Researchers.” (04/22/25)
https://rumble.com/v6sfvax-system-update-show-441.html
-----
61) Freakonomics Radio, 04/22/25
Source: Freakonomics
“Is It a Theater Piece or a Psychological Experiment? (Update).” (04/22/25)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-it-a-theater-piece-or-a-psychological-experiment-update/
-----
62) Politics Politics Politics, 04/22/25
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“MAGA’s Secret Civil War! Is This The Year Congress Gets Serious About Stocks? (with Dave Leventhal)” (04/22/25)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/magas-secret-civil-war-is-this-the
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63) Free Speech Unmuted, 04/22/25
Source: Hoover Institution
“Harvard v. Trump: Free Speech and Government Grants | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer.” (04/22/25)
https://free-speech-unmuted.podbean.com/e/harvard-v-trump-free-speech-and-government-grants-eugene-volokh-and-jane-bambauer-hoover-institution/
-----
64) Nonzero, 04/22/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Trump, Modi, and the Authoritarian Playbook | Robert Wright & Pratap Bhanu Mehta.” (04/22/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68604
-----
65) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 04/22/25
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Tim Picciott (The Liberty Advisor) on economic and market conditions, bond market, precious metals, cryptos, etc.” (04/22/25)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/377820-2025-04-15-2025-04-22-ernest-interviews-tim-picciott-the-liberty-advisor.htm
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https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Palestine: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28
2) At Least Nine Dead in Russian Airstrikes on Kyiv, Ukrainian Officials Say
3) Poll: Americans sour on Trump’s handling of the economy
4) NC: Judges temporarily prevent officials from contacting voters in close election
5) Trump targets college accreditation process in new executive order
6) Turkey: Swedish journalist faces 12 years in prison for “insulting” loathsome, whiny, butthurt politican
7) FL: Teacher Loses Job for Using Student’s Chosen Name
8) TN: Jelly Roll wins support of Tennessee parole board to receive full pardon for convictions
9) Jordan: Regime bans Muslim Brotherhood in a move that threatens its largest opposition party
10) Source: White House would consider cutting China tariffs as part of talks
11) Former OpenAI workers ask California and Delaware AGs to block for-profit conversion of ChatGPT maker
12) World Economic Forum board backs independent probe into founder Klaus Schwab
13) Palestinian regime might appoint a vice president to serve under the aging Abbas
14) EU demands $571 million bribe from Apple, $228 million bribe from Meta
15) KY: Child psychiatrist who criticized gender therapy receives $1.6 million from university after firing
16) Kenya: Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants to be sentenced in two weeks
17) Yemen’s Houthis launch rare missile attack on northern Israel
18) Researchers may have found reason for alarming spike in colon cancer among young people
19) Amazon and Walmart sellers hoard goods in Canada to wait out tariffs
20) Federal judge orders Trump admin to restore propaganda mill funding
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Tough Luck on Trade
22) All the Best People, Cont’d
23) Lessons from Early America’s Tariff Wars
24) The courage to be decent
25) Silver Linings and Green Clouds
26) Trump’s Tariffs Present Opportunity for Libertarian Party Revitalization
27) The Education Department was born of banality, and it shows
28) Mexico’s War on Snacks
29) Poor politics & bad optics: Dems’ decision to champion Abrego Garcia
30) Do the Rich Pay Their “Fair Share” of Taxes?
31) Amid the Pentagon Pandemonium, Personnel Is Policy
32) 21st Century Human Called Upon To Awaken Both Outwardly & Inwardly
33) Why the US can’t beat al-Shabaab in Somalia
34) Durbin won’t seek re-election to US Senate
35) Supporting politicians a waste of time
36) Turning Treasury Securities into Century Bonds Is a Dead End
37) Left & right can agree on one thing: Our government is a joke on the United States
38) Harvard University Should Emulate Hillsdale College and Cut Ties With the Government
39) Trump “Alarmists” Were Right. We Should Say So.
40) To Halve and Halve Not
41) Trump No Peace President; Call Him the Proliferation President
42) Putin is not interested in peace
43) NATO Membership for Ukraine Was Always Russia’s Red Line
44) Stop the US Abuse of Cuba
45) Trump vs Powell: An ugly fight we don’t need
46) A Good Man in a Strongman’s World
47) Psych Meds and Veblen Goods
48) Without Draconian Action Against American Citizens, Trump’s Crackdown on the Undocumented Cannot Succeed
49) The Trump Administration Is Objectively Pro-Cancer
50) A Ticking Clock On American Freedom
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Interview: Jeffrey Singer
52) The Learning Curve, 04/23/25
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 789
54) The Chris Spangle Show, 04/23/25
55) The Good Fight, 04/23/25
56) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 04/23/25
57) Serious Trouble, 04/23/25
58) Quillette Cetera, episode 44
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/23/25
60) System Update, episode 441
61) Freakonomics Radio, 04/22/25
62) Politics Politics Politics, 04/22/25
63) Free Speech Unmuted, 04/22/25
64) Nonzero, 04/22/25
65) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 04/22/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Palestine: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28
Source: Newsday
“Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. At least nine people were killed in a strike on a police station in the northern Jabaliya area, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted a command and control center for Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group. At least seven people were killed, including a mother and her two children, and another two children, in three strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis. Strikes in central Gaza killed six people, including two women and two children. An airstrike on a home in Gaza City killed four children and their parents, the Health Ministry said.” (04/24/25)
https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/mideast-gaza-israel-hamas-war-latest-04-24-2025-o51745
-----
2) At Least Nine Dead in Russian Airstrikes on Kyiv, Ukrainian Officials Say
Source: New York Times
“Russian forces launched a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least nine people in the city, and injuring more than 60, the Ukrainian authorities said, in the deadliest strike on the Ukrainian capital since last summer. Explosions could be heard throughout the night; clouds of brown smoke rose over the city as the sun came up. One missile hit a two-story building with eight apartments where emergency workers hunted for survivors Thursday morning.” (04/24/25)
https://archive.is/OShaf
-----
3) Poll: Americans sour on Trump’s handling of the economy
Source: Reuters
“Americans elected President Donald Trump in hopes that he would fight inflation and boost the U.S. economy, but as he approaches his 100th day in office they are giving the Republican poor marks for his handling of both, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. … Just 37% of respondents to the six-day poll that concluded on Monday approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, down from 42% in the hours after his January 20 inauguration, when he promised to supercharge the economy and bring about a ‘Golden Age of America.’ The reading is well below than at any point in his first term, when it ranged from the mid-40’s to mid-50’s. … three-quarters of the respondents in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll said they worried a recession was coming. Fifty-six percent of respondents, including one in four Republicans, said Trump’s moves to shake up the economy are ‘too erratic.'” (04/23/25)
https://archive.is/TjzGe
-----
4) NC: Judges temporarily prevent officials from contacting voters in close election
Source: SFGate
“A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked North Carolina election officials from contacting voters whose disputed ballots in an unresolved 2024 state Supreme Court race could be eliminated from the final count. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, granted the stay request of Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs, who has asked federal judges to throw out the recent rulings of state appellate courts that largely favored Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin’s requests to toss ballots that he challenged. Democrats and voting rights groups have raised alarm about Griffin’s effort, calling it an attack on democracy that would serve as a road map for the GOP to reverse future election results in other states. The state Republican Party says Griffin’s efforts are about ensuring that only legal votes are counted.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/judges-temporarily-prevent-north-carolina-20290479.php
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5) Trump targets college accreditation process in new executive order
Source: CNN
“President Donald Trump took aim at the college accreditation process with a new executive order Wednesday, his latest move to exact control over America’s higher education institutions. The order, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, targets the federal government’s process for deciding what colleges and universities can access billions of dollars in federal student loans and Pell grants – a significant source of indirect revenue for many of those institutions. The executive order asks the secretary of education to ‘hold higher education accreditors accountable including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination for poor performance or violations to the federal Civil Rights Act,’ a White House official told CNN ahead of the signing.” (04/23/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/23/politics/trump-college-accreditation-process-executive-order/index.html
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6) Turkey: Swedish journalist faces 12 years in prison for “insulting” loathsome, whiny, butthurt politican
Source: Politico
“A Swedish reporter detained in Turkey could be jailed for 12 years if convicted of insulting the country’s president and on terrorism charges, his employer said Wednesday. Joakim Medin, a journalist for Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, was arrested upon arriving in Turkey last month to cover nationwide protests that erupted after the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a popular opposition leader and primary challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Medin has been charged with insulting the president, a crime in Turkey that carries a three-year prison sentence, and with membership in the PKK Kurdish militant group, which Istanbul designates as a terrorist organization. The latter charge carries a nine-year prison sentence. ‘I can only repeat that he is a journalist who has done journalism,’ Dagens ETC Editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson said. ‘Joakim is not a criminal, definitely not some kind of terrorist.'” (04/23/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/swedish-journalist-joakim-medin-etc-faces-12-years-turkish-prison-insulting-recep-tayyip-erdogan/
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7) FL: Teacher Loses Job for Using Student’s Chosen Name
Source: US News & World Report
“School district officials on Florida’s Space Coast aren’t renewing the contract of a teacher who used a student’s chosen name without getting permission from the student’s parents in violation of Florida law. Dozens of students and parents showed up in support of teacher Melissa Calhoun at a Brevard Public Schools board meeting Tuesday night, demanding that her contract as an English teacher at Satellite High School be renewed. The 17-year-old student chose the preferred name to reflect the student’s gender identity and the teacher only was acting out of compassion, according to the supporters. Calhoun knowingly defied the law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 which requires parental consent to use an alternative to a student’s legal name, according to Janet Murnaghan, a spokeswoman for the Brevard Public Schools.” (04/23/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2025-04-23/florida-teacher-loses-job-for-using-students-chosen-name-in-violation-of-state-law
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8) TN: Jelly Roll wins support of Tennessee parole board to receive full pardon for convictions
Source: Fox News
“Jelly Roll has gotten one step closer to receiving a full pardon for his previous convictions. The Tennessee Board of Parole officially recommended the 40-year-old musician receive a full pardon following a 45-minute hearing which included statements from a number of witnesses, including Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall, who runs Nashville’s jail. The hearing ended with a vote, in which the board reached a unanimous agreement to recommend the musician be pardoned, with only one board member recusing themselves from voting. ‘This was incredible,’ Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, said after the vote, according to the board’s recording of the meeting. ‘I pray this goes through. But today was special for me, regardless.’ The board’s unanimous vote leaves the final decision in the hands of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jelly-roll-wins-support-tennessee-parole-board-he-fights-receive-full-pardon-convictions
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9) Jordan: Regime bans Muslim Brotherhood in a move that threatens its largest opposition party
Source: Seattle Times
“Jordan announced Wednesday a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood that could include shutting down the country’s largest opposition party, after accusing the group of planning attacks. The Islamic Action Front, a political party linked to the regionwide Brotherhood, won the most seats in parliamentary elections held last year against the backdrop of mass protests against Israel over its war with Hamas. The monarchy banned the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago but officially licensed a splinter group and continued to tolerate the Islamic Action Front while restricting some its activities. It was not immediately clear how far the latest ban would go.” (04/23/25)
https://archive.is/Tpg61
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10) Source: White House would consider cutting China tariffs as part of talks
Source: Reuters
“The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, adding that any action would not be made unilaterally. The source’s comments followed a Wall Street Journal report that the White House is considering cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports in a bid to de-escalate tensions.” (04/23/25)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/white-house-mulls-slashing-china-tariffs-between-50-65-wsj-reports-2025-04-23/
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11) Former OpenAI workers ask California and Delaware AGs to block for-profit conversion of ChatGPT maker
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Former employees of OpenAI are asking the top law enforcement officers in California and Delaware to stop the company from shifting control of its artificial intelligence technology from a nonprofit charity to a for-profit business. They’re concerned about what happens if the ChatGPT maker fulfills its ambition to build AI that outperforms humans, but is no longer accountable to its public mission to safeguard that technology from causing grievous harms. … Backed by three Nobel Prize winners and other advocates and experts, [Page] Hedley and nine other ex-OpenAI workers sent a letter this week to the two state attorneys general. The coalition is asking California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, both Democrats, to use their authority to protect OpenAI’s charitable purpose and block its planned restructuring. OpenAI is incorporated in Delaware and operates out of San Francisco.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/23/openai-for-profit-conversion-criticism/
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12) World Economic Forum board backs independent probe into founder Klaus Schwab
Source: ABC News
“The World Economic Forum, which runs an annual gathering of elites in Davos, Switzerland, says its board has given its unanimous support for an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by founder Klaus Schwab. The statement from the Geneva-based think tank and event organizer late on Tuesday came after a report published in the Wall Street Journal cited a whistleblower letter alleging financial and ethical misconduct by Schwab, 87, and his wife Hilde. The newspaper reported that the allegations were sent in an anonymous letter to the board last week and included claims that the Schwab family mixed their personal affairs with Forum resources. … The allegations emerged two days after the WEF announced Schwab had retired ‘with immediate effect’ as chairman, and that former Nestle Chairman and CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was taking over as interim chairman.” (04/23/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/world-economic-forum-board-backs-launch-independent-probe-121076120
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13) Palestinian regime might appoint a vice president to serve under the aging Abbas
Source: SFGate
“Senior Palestinian officials loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas are meeting to vote on the creation of a vice presidency and could choose a possible successor to the unpopular 89-year-old. The two-day meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council, beginning Wednesday, comes as Abbas seeks relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. In his opening speech, Abbas lashed out at Hamas, calling the militant group ‘sons of dogs,’ using unusually harsh language in an apparent strategy aimed at garnering international support for a future role in Gaza. The council is expected to vote on creating the role of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, who would also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine — which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/palestinians-might-appoint-a-vice-president-to-20290477.php
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14) EU demands $571 million bribe from Apple, $228 million bribe from Meta
Source: CNBC
The European Union on Wednesday fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros each for breaching the bloc’s digital competition laws. The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, said it was fining Apple 500 million euros ($571 million) and Meta 200 million euros ($228.4 million) for breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Officials said that Apple failed to comply with so-called ‘anti-steering’ obligations under the DMA. Under the EU’s tech law, Apple is required to allow developers to freely inform customers of alternative offers outside its App Store. … For Meta, the EU Commission found that the social media group illegally required users to consent to sharing their data with the company or pay for an ad-free service.” (04/23/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/23/eu-fines-meta-and-apple-for-breaching-digital-antitrust-rules.html
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15) KY: Child psychiatrist who criticized gender therapy receives $1.6 million from university after firing
Source: Fox News
“The University of Louisville has reportedly agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a former professor who was fired for criticizing transgender treatments for children experiencing gender dysphoria. Dr. Allan Josephson worked for nearly 15 years as chief of the University of Louisville’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology. According to his legal complaint, Josephson was able to turn around the struggling division during his tenure and received perfect scores in his 2014-2016 annual reviews. Despite his professional accomplishments, the complaint alleges that Josephson was demoted in 2017 and eventually fired after making comments in his own capacity challenging the push to use hormone therapy and surgery for children with gender dysphoria, according to legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). ADF, which represented Josephson in court, announced the settlement agreement Monday and hailed the case as a ‘major victory’ for free speech.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/child-psychiatrist-who-criticized-gender-therapy-receives-1-6-million-from-university-after-firing
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16) Kenya: Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants to be sentenced in two weeks
Source: SFGate
“Two Belgian teenagers who were found with thousands of ants valued at $9,200 and allegedly destined for European and Asian markets will be sentenced in two weeks, a Kenyan magistrate said Wednesday. Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya’s main airport, said she would not rush the case but would take time to review environmental impact and psychological reports filed in court before passing sentence on May 7. Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house. They were charged on April 15 with violating wildlife conservation laws. The teens have told the magistrate that they didn’t know that keeping the ants was illegal and were just having fun. The Kenya Wildlife Service had said the case represented ‘a shift in trafficking trends — from iconic large mammals to lesser-known yet ecologically critical species’.” (04/23/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/belgian-teenagers-found-with-5-000-ants-to-be-20290471.php
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17) Yemen’s Houthis launch rare missile attack on northern Israel
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Yemen’s Houthi rebels [sic] have launched a ballistic missile towards northern Israel, according to the Israeli military, which claimed to have shot down the projectile without causing any injuries. Shortly after 4am local time (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday, the Israeli army said that the missile triggered air raid sirens in Haifa, Krayot and other areas west of the Sea of Galilee. This area is a rare target for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels [sic], who continue to be the target of an intense United States air strike campaign.” (04/22/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/23/yemens-houthis-launch-rare-attack-on-northern-israel
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18) Researchers may have found reason for alarming spike in colon cancer among young people
Source: New York Post
“A groundbreaking new study suggests that a gut-dwelling bacteria may be behind the recent surge in early-onset colorectal cancer cases. The potential culprit? Colibactin, a toxin produced by certain strains of E. coli that thrive in the colon and rectum. ‘We believe this exposure occurs very early in life — likely during the first decade — when children are infected,’ Dr. Ludmil Alexandrov, senior study author and a professor at the University of California San Diego, told The Post. Once thought of as a disease that strikes later in life, colorectal cancer is now on the rise among young people in at least 27 countries. In the US, the number of people under 55 being diagnosed has nearly doubled over the past decade, and more people are dying from the disease each year, according to the American Cancer Society.” (04/23/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/04/23/health/early-onset-colon-cancer-breakthrough-scientists-find-new-cause/
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19) Amazon and Walmart sellers hoard goods in Canada to wait out tariffs
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Amazon and Walmart’s third-party sellers are hoarding stock in Canada as they try to wait out President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Independent vendors who sell products — from cheap dog toys to appliances — through the companies’ US ecommerce platforms are shifting goods from China to Canadian warehouses, according to half a dozen sellers, logistics providers and consultants. Several makers and distributors of Amazon’s and Walmart’s own products, as well as suppliers to companies such as Disney, are also using the tactic, some of the people said. … Flexport, a US logistics group, said there were early signs that shipments were being routed to Canada after it observed a 50 per cent increase in consignments from China to the country last week.” (04/22/25)
https://archive.is/dvdCW
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20) Federal judge orders Trump admin to restore propaganda mill funding
Source: Axios
“Voice of America workers who were placed on leave or fired should return to work and the Trump administration must restore funding to the VOA and other U.S. government-funded news outlets, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling effectively halts the Trump administration’s plan to gut the VOA and its parent, the government-funded U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). In addition to VOA, USAGM houses several other internal broadcasters, some of which are waging their own legal battles against the administration in an attempt to survive.” (04/22/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/23/trump-voice-of-america-ruling-voa-employees-return
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Tough Luck on Trade
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
Suppose the U.S. Constitution mandated unilateral free trade with no exceptions. Much could go wrong. A pessimist could fairly ask all of the following: 1. What if other countries take advantage of our unilateralism to drastically raise their tariffs? 2. What if other countries strategically predate on our critical industries, leaving us vulnerable in a major crisis? 3. What if hostile countries buy and stockpile strategic resources from us, then get really hostile? 4. What if some unforeseen trade issue, an ‘unknown unknown,’ arises, and our leaders are unable to respond because the Constitution ties their hands? … When push comes to shove, the defender of unilateral free trade has no response better than, ‘Tough luck.’ Unconvincing, but as I’ve explained before, ‘Tough luck’ is what every conceivable social system tells you in the end …” (04/23/25)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/tough-luck-on-trade
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22) All the Best People, Cont’d
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Donald Trump says he stands behind Pete Hegseth, our entirely unqualified secretary of defense, a former Fox News weekend morning-show clown and future Brylcreem model who is in the habit of treating sensitive military information as though it were knitting-circle gossip. Hegseth has chatted about upcoming military actions with everyone and his brother — literally, his brother, as well as his wife — through an app that is in and of itself not sufficiently secure but which is even more insecure when it is being handled by tech-illiterate doofuses (and the Trump administration is full of these) who, in a related instance, accidentally copied the editor of The Atlantic on the conversation. The president says he has complete confidence in Hegseth. So, he’s probably cooked.” (04/23/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-pete-hegseth-kristi-noem-surgeon-general-dan-bongino/
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23) Lessons from Early America’s Tariff Wars
Source: Law & Liberty
by John C Pinheiro
“[A]rguing about tariffs has a long American pedigree, dating back to the administration of the first president, George Washington. There are three important lessons we can learn from this early American tariff debate. The first and most important lesson is that each system proposed in the 1790s, like all centralized systems of industrial policy and tariffs, allowed government to choose winners and losers. Second, at a time when some form of mercantilism was still the default position for nearly all Americans, there was still vigorous debate. And third, tariffs are fundamentally a moral issue.” (04/23/25)
https://lawliberty.org/lessons-from-early-americas-tariff-wars/
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24) The courage to be decent
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“Intimidating lawyers has become a key component of the Trump administration’s overall strategy, and this is especially true with respect to mass deportations. Immigrants detained for lacking documentation are more than 10 times more likely to get a favorable outcome if they have an attorney than if they don’t. Trump officials are certainly aware of this. During Trump’s first term, Attorney General Jeff Sessions decried ‘dirty immigration lawyers,’ claiming they were encouraging their clients to ‘make false claims of asylum, providing them with the magic words needed’ to get relief. There were also multiple incidents of DHS targeting immigration attorneys, advocates, and journalists with criminal investigations or by flagging their passports for extra scrutiny if they left and reentered the country. But this time around, they’re ratcheting up the pressure.” (04/23/25)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-courage-to-be-decent
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25) Silver Linings and Green Clouds
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“As I write this, it’s been about two weeks since the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were announced. While nobody expects political economic models to be stellar (see the myriad of ‘economic impact studies’ that come out for any project that just happen to coincide with what the local politician wants to hear), the model released by the USTR/CEA stands out. I, and many others, have already written about its numerous faults. It reads like an undergrad essay thrown together at the last minute following a furious run through Google Scholar rather than a considered scientific recommendation. Further defense by Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran has been inadequate as well as he continuously misapplies citations and uses discredited models to advance the plan. These are post hoc justifications for a desired policy rather than a policy crafted to solve a real problem.” (04/23/25)
https://www.econlib.org/silver-linings-and-green-clouds/
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26) Trump’s Tariffs Present Opportunity for Libertarian Party Revitalization
Source: Waste No More Time
by Nicholas Sarwark
“Did you know the Libertarian Party was founded over five decades ago in response to a corrupt Republican president using his executive authority to violate free market principles? … Trump’s tariffs create the same need for a strong Libertarian Party that Nixon’s wage and price controls did.” (04/23/25)
https://nsarwark.substack.com/p/trumps-tariffs-present-opportunity
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27) The Education Department was born of banality, and it shows
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“In 1977, millions of American tempers flared against the treaty giving Panama control of the canal that bisects its country. A bemused senator said: My state’s residents are of different races, ethnicities, religions and politics but are united in white-hot attachment to the canal, which until now they had not thought about since hearing of it in third grade. Today, there are widespread laments about the diminishment, perhaps to extinction, of the Education Department, although the lamenters cannot connect it with educational improvements since its founding nearly 46 years ago; there having been few, if any. Although the department has been often slathered with high-minded devotion, it was born from a banal political transaction between a notably pious politician and one of the principal causes of the subsequent decline in K-12 education quality.” (04/23/25)
https://archive.is/Zk2HW
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28) Mexico’s War on Snacks
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Daphne Posadas
“President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled Vive Saludable, Vive Feliz, a health initiative that includes a ban on the sale of candy, salty snacks, and sugary drinks in schools. The Internet quickly dubbed her Mexico’s ‘almond mom’ — referencing the diet-obsessed parents often mocked online. Images of empty shelves and beverage refrigerators stocked exclusively with bottled water flooded social media as the policy took effect on March 29. The ban has even extended to university cafeterias, impacting students who are legal adults. Several campuses have reported sharp declines in snack and beverage sales, with some establishments considering shutting down altogether to avoid fines or financial losses. Is this prohibition really the solution to Mexico’s obesity problem?” (04/23/25)
https://fee.org/articles/mexicos-war-on-snacks/
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29) Poor politics & bad optics: Dems’ decision to champion Abrego Garcia
Source: USA Today
by Nicole Russell
“I’m puzzled by Democratic politicians’ decision to turn Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal [sic] immigrant and alleged member of a violent gang who’s been deported from Maryland to El Salvador, into their latest cause célèbre. Four Democratic House members landed in the capital city of San Salvador on April 21 to appeal for his return to the United Sates … Just days earlier, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland made the same journey to meet with Abrego Garcia, who is being held in a Salvadoran prison. The Supreme Court has ruled that the deportation was illegal, and the Trump administration was instructed to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. But the Justice Department contends that it doesn’t have jurisdiction because he’s being held by a foreign government.” (04/23/25)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/04/23/trump-kilmar-abrego-garcia-illegal-immigration/83194255007/
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30) Do the Rich Pay Their “Fair Share” of Taxes?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“‘Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.’ ‘I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.’ — James Madison … I just thought I’d throw those two quotes above out there so you’d know what James Madison, the ‘Father’ of our Constitution, the guy who wrote most of it, thought about a government welfare state. There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that gives the federal government the right to spend one thin dime, much less trillions, on charity, even to their own constituents, much less to foreigners. But, it’s really a moot point; nobody in Washington, D.C., especially in Congress, pays the least bit of attention to what the Constitution authorizes them to do.” (04/23/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2025/04/23/do-the-rich-pay-their-fair-share-of-taxes-n2655961#google_vignette
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31) Amid the Pentagon Pandemonium, Personnel Is Policy
Source: The American Conservative
by W James Antle III
“The long knives are out at the Pentagon. We have in recent days seen the ouster of some of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top aides, including at least one leading voice for foreign-policy restraint within recent days. But the real target is clearly Hegseth himself. ‘If Mr. Hegseth is wise,’ the Wall Street Journal editorial board advises, ‘he’ll use the staff shakeup to hire some loyal grownups who know the building, instead of the self-promoting isolationists he first brought in.’ The end result of the shake-up could be that Hegseth is isolated himself. … President Donald Trump’s support is, and will continue to be, decisive.” (04/23/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/amid-the-pentagon-pandemonium-personnel-is-policy/
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32) 21st Century Human Called Upon To Awaken Both Outwardly & Inwardly
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Awakening outwardly is waking up from the trance of propaganda and indoctrination, and awakening inwardly is waking up from the trance of ego and delusion. Awakening outwardly means becoming fully conscious of what’s really happening in our world beyond the propaganda and what we were taught in school. Learning about all the ways we’ve been deceived and manipulated, learning the truth about war, militarism, imperialism, capitalism, authoritarianism, ecocide, and all the interrelated abuses and injustices caused by the systems and power structures we live under. Awakening inwardly means becoming fully conscious of the ways in which we have been deceiving ourselves. Doing the inner work necessary to bring consciousness to the delusions and dysfunction within us and discovering what’s really true about our unquestioned assumptions regarding basic elements of our experience like self, other, time, space, thought, consciousness, and separation.” (04/23/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/04/23/the-21st-century-human-is-called-upon-to-awaken-both-outwardly-and-inwardly/
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33) Why the US can’t beat al-Shabaab in Somalia
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ahmed Ibrahim
“The Trump team’s discussion about closing our embassy there is a smokescreen for deeper failures in Washington’s military approach.” (04/23/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-somalia-al-shabaab/
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34) Durbin won’t seek re-election to US Senate
Source: Fox News
“Sen. Dick Durbin [D-IL], the Senate Democratic whip and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2026. Durbin, 80, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, made the announcement in a video message on X Wednesday. ‘The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy,’ Durbin said. ‘I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.’ Durbin represents Illinois, a solidly Democratic state. His retirement is expected to set off a set off a flurry of activity among a scrum of would-be successors, both Democratic and Republican. However, the GOP has only captured a Senate seat just twice for six-year terms since 1984.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dick-durbin-no-2-senate-democrat-wont-seek-re-election
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35) Supporting politicians a waste of time
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“I want you to be free to do everything you have a right to do. That’s what liberty is. Even if you’d do something I wouldn’t do and don’t like. If I won’t respect your liberty, how can I demand you respect mine?” (04/23/25)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/04/23/voices/opinion-supporting-politicians-a-waste-of-time/230661.html
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36) Turning Treasury Securities into Century Bonds Is a Dead End
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle
“While the idea of reducing interest costs by converting existing debt into ultra-long, low-yielding bonds might sound like a creative solution to America’s debt challenges, it fails every test of financial realism.” (04/23/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/turning-treasury-securities-into-century-bonds-is-a-dead-end/
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37) Left & right can agree on one thing: Our government is a joke on the United States
Source: New York Post
by Martin Gurri
“The theme chosen by the anti-Trump protesters who took to the streets on April 5 (‘Hands Off’) was considered vague even by sympathetic observers and gave rise to a number of interesting questions: ‘Which hands?’ and ‘Off what, or whom?’ … The protesting hordes, apparently, wanted to keep the government just the way it is. There is, I have observed, a peculiar variety of liberal conservatism that insists nothing must ever change — the ecology must remain untouched and the cities must remain undeveloped in this best of all possible worlds. Progressivism, once a revolutionary faith, has evolved into your elderly grandmother, confused by the bustle of modern life and afraid of the new. Government, from the progressive perspective, exists to freeze society and nature into a comfy stasis.” (04/22/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/04/22/opinion/the-left-and-right-can-agree-on-one-thing-our-government-is-a-joke-on-the-united-states/
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38) Harvard University Should Emulate Hillsdale College and Cut Ties With the Government
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Given the censorious conduct of colleges and universities in recent years, it takes a lot to get free speech advocates to treat them as aggrieved parties. But the Trump administration has accomplished that by using the power of the state to coerce changes in campus political climates, disciplinary procedures, and hiring practices. Harvard University is digging in its heels and suing the federal government in response. But if institutions of higher learning really want to assert their independence, they should emulate a school with a lower profile and fewer resources that won its freedom by cutting ties with the government decades ago: They should follow the example of Hillsdale College.” (04/23/25)
https://reason.com/2025/04/23/harvard-university-should-emulate-hillsdale-college-and-cut-ties-with-the-government/
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39) Trump “Alarmists” Were Right. We Should Say So.
Source: Liberal Currents
by Toby Buckle
“Commentators who got it wrong wouldn’t listen, won’t learn, and can’t lead.” (04/23/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/trump-alarmists-were-right-we-should-say-so/
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40) To Halve and Halve Not
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“‘Why is Taiwan such a hot flash point?’ That’s what U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R‑Ark.) asked Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. ‘Why could it lead not only to a catastrophic war, but also global Great Depression? Why should Americans care about an island on the other side of the world?’ The admiral told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the senator’s ‘last point [was] quite salient. Many a research organization postulate that conflict in the western Pacific over the Taiwan question would result in a 25 percent GDP contraction in Asia and a knock-on effect of 10 to 12 percent GDP reduction in the United States of America, with unemployment spiking seven to 10 points above base and likely 500,000 excess deaths of despair above base as well.'” (04/23/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/04/23/2halve-and-halve-not/
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41) Trump No Peace President; Call Him the Proliferation President
Source: Common Dreams
by Kevin Martin
“Much to my astonishment, some voters thought Donald Trump might be a ‘peace president.’ I never bought it, so won’t outline the case for such magical thinking here, but his major increase already excessive U.S. weapons transfers to Israel as it continues its illegal genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and recent, contradictory statements by Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding working to end Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, or throwing in the towel on diplomacy, should by now have disabused anyone that Trump is a consistent peace advocate. In the wake of his and Elon Musk’s taking a sledgehammer to all manner of government programs, in both domestic and foreign policy, there is real concern more countries than the current nine … might decide to build their own nuclear weapons.” (04/23/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-peace-president
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42) Putin is not interested in peace
Source: spiked
by Tim Black
“Russian president Vladimir Putin continues to posture as a peacemaker – even as he pushes on with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. He struck his latest pacifist pose on Saturday, when he suddenly announced a truce for Easter, which would begin at 6pm that evening and end at midnight on Easter Sunday. ‘For this period, I order all military actions to cease,’ declared Putin. It was a grand gesture, made without the knowledge of Kyiv or indeed many within Putin’s own administration. And it proved predictably empty. Within hours of the truce supposedly beginning, Russian forces were busy violating it. … He tried, once again, to give the impression of being the peacemaker, while continuing to act as the aggressor.” (04/23/25)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/04/23/putin-is-not-interested-in-peace/
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43) NATO Membership for Ukraine Was Always Russia’s Red Line
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“This week, the Kremlin said it was finally satisfied with Washington’s position on future NATO membership for Kiev. ‘We have heard from Washington at various levels that NATO membership for Ukraine has been ruled out,’ Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained. ‘And of course this is something that brings us satisfaction and coincides with our position that Ukraine should not be a member of NATO and should not have prospects of integration with the North Atlantic Alliance.’ Since 2008, the North Atlantic Alliance has been promising to one day add Ukraine as a member of the bloc. However, Moscow protested Kiev accession to the alliance, arguing that it would present a major national security concern for Russia.” [editor’s note: It was never a “red line” because all concerned parties knew it was never going to happen – TLK] (04/23/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/scott/2025/04/22/nato-membership-for-ukraine-was-always-russias-red-line/
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44) Stop the US Abuse of Cuba
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Amidst the horrific U.S. abuse of foreigners through the use of tariffs and police-state enforcement of immigration controls, it’s easy to forget that the U.S. government abuses foreigners in other ways, such as sanctions, embargoes, invasions, occupations, wars of aggression, torture, indefinite detention, and state-sponsored assassinations. Perhaps the longest-lasting, continuous example of this foreigner-abuse syndrome is the U.S. government’s horrific abuse of the Cuban people, which has gone on for more than 60 years. Given that there is no good reason for abusing the Cuban people — and there never has been one — this would be a good place to begin breaking with the longstanding, ongoing U.S. policy of abusing foreigners.” (04/22/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/04/22/stop-the-u-s-abuse-of-cuba/
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45) Trump vs Powell: An ugly fight we don’t need
Source: Fox News
by Michael L Davis
“President Donald Trump wants to fire Jerome Powell, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. No word yet on what Powell thinks about Trump’s job performance, but Powell says he doesn’t intend to quit before the end of his term next year. If Trump does try to fire him, he’ll see Trump in court. It’s a mess. It’s like being a little kid in a big crazy family watching the grown-ups have a nasty, screaming fight in front of the neighbors. It’s embarrassing. But it’s more than that. This big crazy family needs the neighbors – which includes everyone in the world who participates in our financial system – more than ever. There’s probably not much we can do about the fight. The grown-ups clearly don’t care much about us kids – if they did, they’d quit fighting and figure all this out.” (04/23/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-vs-powell-an-ugly-fight-we-dont-need
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46) A Good Man in a Strongman’s World
Source: Persuasion
by Jeffery Tyler Syck
“The last twelve years have been turbulent. We have witnessed the rapid rise of populist politics, the advent of new, earth-shattering technologies, and the fracturing of a tenuous international peace. Throughout all of the chaos, the Catholic Church has been steered by the firmly gentle hand of Pope Francis. Even as the instability of the twenty-first century bled into religion, Pope Francis attempted to guide the church in the direction of compassion and humility. That he did not always succeed at this task is not entirely surprising and no doubt he could have gone much further. Yet the simple, unadorned goodness of the late Pope is something that will be missed in this age of bombastic cruelty.” (04/22/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-good-man-in-a-strongmans-world
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47) Psych Meds and Veblen Goods
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“In high school in West Texas in the late 1970s, psych meds were Veblen goods; that is, products desired as markers of status. They were conspicuously consumed by the children of the well-to-do with profound awareness that their schoolmates could afford neither the treatment nor the supposed cure. … in the decades since, this Veblen good went the way of all luxury purchases over time. It became mainstream. Psych meds are now common among adults and children. It’s a massive industry: like cell phones and TVs generations ago, they migrated through the class structure year by year. Now comes Unshrunk by Laura Delano, a book that could change everything. If it were not an autobiography, it would make great fiction of the gothic sort popular in the Victorian period.” (04/22/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/psych-meds-and-veblen-goods/
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48) Without Draconian Action Against American Citizens, Trump’s Crackdown on the Undocumented Cannot Succeed
Source: The UnPopulist
by Shikha Dalmia
“Usually, one hears one of two arguments for liberalizing immigration — the conservative, self-interested argument or the progressive, altruistic argument. The self-interested case for immigration basically emphasizes the economic benefits of immigration for the host country. The progressive case stresses the benefits for the immigrants themselves. But there is a third, classical liberal case, for immigration — namely that border controls and immigration restrictions lead to state violence not just against immigrants but citizens themselves. They curtail the liberties of native-borns because attempts to control outsiders inevitably result in controlling insiders as well.” (04/22/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/without-draconian-action-against
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49) The Trump Administration Is Objectively Pro-Cancer
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“Amid the chaos of Donald Trump’s misrule (with his on-again, off-again trade war causing a sharp slide in the dollar, a rise in American borrowing costs, accelerating inflation, and possibly a severe recession), his attack on basic medical research is getting less attention. Elon Musk’s DOGE goons have slashed federal grants across the country, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is putting through further sweeping layoffs and budget cuts. Meanwhile, Trump’s war on immigrants is targeting top medical researchers. In particular, cancer research and treatment in America is being gored. Development of promising diagnostics and treatments has been called into question or frozen, clinical trials are being halted, and (unless the cuts are stopped) hospitals around the country will be bankrupted. Many Americans will die soon, and many more will die in future who could have been saved.” (04/23/25)
https://prospect.org/health/2025-04-23-trump-administration-objectively-pro-cancer/
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50) A Ticking Clock On American Freedom
Source: The Atlantic
by Adrienne LaFrance
“The Trump administration’s breakneck pace is obviously no accident. While citizens are busy processing their shock over any one shattered norm or disregarded law, Trump is already on to the next one. This is the playbook authoritarians have used all over the world: First the leader removes those with expertise and independent thinking from the government and replaces them with leaders who are arrogant, ignorant, and extremely loyal. Next he takes steps to centralize his power and claim unprecedented authority. Along the way, he conducts an all-out assault on the truth so that the truth tellers are distrusted, corruption becomes the norm, and questioning him becomes impossible. The Constitution bends and then finally breaks. This is what tyrants do. Trump is doing it now in the United States.” (04/22/25)
https://archive.is/o5pVQ
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Interview: Jeffrey Singer
Source: Reason
“Longtime surgeon and Cato Institute fellow Jeffrey Singer argues that government overreach in health care undermines patient autonomy.” (04/23/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/04/23/jeffrey-singer-get-government-out-of-health-care/
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52) The Learning Curve, 04/23/25
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Dr. Sheila Harrity on Worcester Tech & MA’s Urban Voc-Tech Schools.” (04/23/25)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/dr-sheila-harrity-on-worcester-tech-mas-urban-voc-tech-schools/
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53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 789
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Israel Flattens Gaza With Unmanned Bulldozers.” (04/23/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-789-israel-flattens-gaza-with-unmanned-bulldozers
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54) The Chris Spangle Show, 04/23/25
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Why Parents Are Skipping Michigan’s Free Preschool Program with Susannah Barnes Petitt.” (04/23/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/why-parents-are-skipping-michigans
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55) The Good Fight, 04/23/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Ivan Krastev on American Decline.” (04/23/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/ivan-krastev-on-american-decline
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56) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 04/23/25
Source: The New Republic
“‘Madness’: Trump Tariff Lunacy Suddenly Darkens Amid Brutal Poll Drop.” (04/23/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/194279/madness-trump-tariff-lunacy-suddenly-darkens-amid-brutal-poll-drop
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57) Serious Trouble, 04/23/25
Source: Serious Trouble
“The Emerging Presumption of Irregularity.” (04/23/25)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/the-emerging-presumption-of-irregularity
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58) Quillette Cetera, episode 44
Source: Quillette
“Australian Election 2025, The Nuclear Debate with Will Shackel.” (04/23/25)
https://quillette.com/blog/2025/04/23/australian-election-2025-the-nuclear-debate-with-will-shackel-quillette-cetera-episode-44/
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59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/23/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Told Congress He Built Up Forces To Protect Israel, Houthis Shoot Down US MQ-9 Drone, and More.” (04/23/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aPhoSWqASs
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60) System Update, episode 441
Source: System Update
“Pentagon in Turmoil Over Iran Policy as Israel Pushes for War; Lee Fang on New NIH Censorship Policy Threatening Medical Researchers.” (04/22/25)
https://rumble.com/v6sfvax-system-update-show-441.html
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61) Freakonomics Radio, 04/22/25
Source: Freakonomics
“Is It a Theater Piece or a Psychological Experiment? (Update).” (04/22/25)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-it-a-theater-piece-or-a-psychological-experiment-update/
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62) Politics Politics Politics, 04/22/25
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“MAGA’s Secret Civil War! Is This The Year Congress Gets Serious About Stocks? (with Dave Leventhal)” (04/22/25)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/magas-secret-civil-war-is-this-the
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63) Free Speech Unmuted, 04/22/25
Source: Hoover Institution
“Harvard v. Trump: Free Speech and Government Grants | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer.” (04/22/25)
https://free-speech-unmuted.podbean.com/e/harvard-v-trump-free-speech-and-government-grants-eugene-volokh-and-jane-bambauer-hoover-institution/
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64) Nonzero, 04/22/25
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Trump, Modi, and the Authoritarian Playbook | Robert Wright & Pratap Bhanu Mehta.” (04/22/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68604
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65) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 04/22/25
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Tim Picciott (The Liberty Advisor) on economic and market conditions, bond market, precious metals, cryptos, etc.” (04/22/25)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/377820-2025-04-15-2025-04-22-ernest-interviews-tim-picciott-the-liberty-advisor.htm
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