08/06 -- Ukraine: Russian strikes kill six in Balakliia, Sumy; Tariffs Didn't Rebuild Factories. They Fueled a Lobbying Boom.
5 views
Skip to first unread message
Thomas L. Knapp
Aug 6, 2026, 6:07:37 AM (12 days ago) Aug 6
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 08/06/26
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Presented by the Liberty International
https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
More News, More Commentary, More Audio/Video at Our Web Edition!
https://news.rationalreview.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Freedom News:
1) Ukraine: Russian strikes kill six in Balakliia, Sumy
2) Iran: Regime says deal with Oman on Strait of Hormuz is in final stages
3) Bitcoin steadies above $64,000 as traders watch $100 billion SpaceX unlock
4) Three state AGs subpoena Fauci over Covid guidance
5) US mortgage rates rise to their highest level in a year
6) White House declassifies info on secret FBI probe into whether Trump fired Comey at Russia’s behest
7) Houthis Threaten to Expand Red Sea Attacks, Claim Strike on Saudi Tanker
8) MI: Trump-Endorsed Candidate Loses to Rival Who Stopped Campaigning
9) Anthropic’s Mythos created fake identities to fool humans in new cyber incident
10) Mexico: Popular social media influencer shot dead during livestream outside restaurant
11) MO: By 60-Point Margin, Voters Reject GOP Push to Make Ballot Measures Harder to Pass
12) NC: Edwards withdraws bid for reelection following ethics report
13) Disney agrees deal to let TikTokers use its films & TV shows in videos
14) Lebanese, Israeli regimes begin new round of talks in Rome
15) Brazil: Bolsonaro announces running mate for October election in bid against Lula
16) US DOJ charges 19 over alleged fake home healthcare shifts
17) Germany: Drone carrying explosives found at airport, police say
18) Taiwan launches annual war games as pressure from China grows
19) NM: Regime sues US Justice Department and Todd Blanche, saying they blocked Epstein probe
20) MO: Incumbent beats “Squad” member Bush’s comeback attempt in US House primary
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Tariffs Didn’t Rebuild Factories. They Fueled a Lobbying Boom.
22) America Reaps What Trump Sows: The Price of Policing the Globe
23) Maintaining liberty your responsibility
24) When these licenses can’t cross state lines, consumers suffer
25) Is Trump’s New Tariff Lever IEEPA 2.0?
26) Is Fauci’s Pardon Legit If His Pardon Was by AutoPen?
27) Who Decides What Makes A “Good” School?
28) Trade’s the way to guarantee food supplies
29) There Is Beauty Everywhere, Even In Dystopia or Armageddon
30) The Cuban Communist Threat Redux
31) Africa plows a different growth path
32) What Went Wrong
33) Marco “McCarthy” Rubio: Wrong on Cuba & Where “Terrorism” Coming From
34) The Vanishing Art of Presence
35) Investigated for saying “word salad!?”
36) Why Are We Still at War With Iran?
37) Americans deserve to know healthcare prices before the final bill arrives
38) Dropped Cases Against Alleged Reflecting Pool Vandals Followed a Rush to Judgment
39) Two Horrors Don’t Make It Right
40) The Helsinki Commission is a Cold War relic that needs to go
41) Progressives Make Major Gains in Michigan
42) What Anthony Fauci Teaches Us About the American Government
43) America’s Middle East Bases: An Imperial Burden
44) The Evil That Governments Do
45) The radicals won the Dem civil war; we’ll all pay the price
46) Ten Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Arguments for Socialism and Why They’re Wrong
47) Why Donald Trump Should Just Declare Victory in the Iran War
48) Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
49) The People Running Airlines Are Flying Private Jets
50) Trump’s Whining About Oil Companies Shows He Doesn’t Know Much About Free Enterprise
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/05/26
52) Reason Interview: Evan Barker
53) Rising, 08/05/26
54) Socialists Are Trying To Take Hold of the Democratic Party — and They’re Winning
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/05/26
56) The Permanent Problem, episode 19
57) Checks & Balances, 08/05/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/04/26
59) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/04/26
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/04/26
vvvvv SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS vvvvv
HOW INDEPENDENT ARE "YOUR" CONGRESS/SENATE MEMBERS?
https://congressionalindependence.deathbutt.org/
SAMUEL EDWARD KONKIN III REVOLUTIONARY FRIEND BY WENDY MCELROY
https://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Edward-Konkin-Revolutionary-Friend-ebook/dp/B0DP7B6127
SHARE YOUR OPINIONS. EARN POINTS. REDEEM POINTS FOR AWARDS
https://account.yougov.com/us-en/join?referral=eAi-FP2i9s1Jzb5lj2zw5A
THE CONSTITUTION OF NON-STATE GOVERNMENT: FIELD GUIDE TO TEXAS SECESSION (2nd edition), by TL Hulsey
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1883853117
Tyranny Demands AN ACT OF SELF-DEFENSE: A NOVEL BY ERNE LEWIS
https://tinyurl.com/actofselfdefense
^^^^^ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS ^^^^^
_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Ukraine: Russian strikes kill six in Balakliia, Sumy
Source: Reuters
“Rescuers worked on Thursday to douse fires and clear debris in Ukraine’s eastern city of Balakliia after Russian strikes on homes killed three overnight, authorities said on the Telegram messaging app. Three people were also killed overnight and at least 19 wounded in Russian attacks on settlements in the northern region of Sumy. … Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.” (08/06/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-strikes-kill-six-ukraines-balakliia-sumy-officials-say-2026-08-06/
-----
2) Iran: Regime says deal with Oman on Strait of Hormuz is in final stages
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Iran says it has reached an agreement with Oman on a route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei did not give any further details on the agreement, which he said was ‘in the final stages’. Baqaei warned, however, that a deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation through the strait, arguing security remained impacted by the US blockade of Iran’s ports. The US and Oman have not commented on the proposal. … His comments came after senior US officials said talks had progressed to allow shipments to potentially resume later this week, though Iran has maintained that it is not negotiating with the US and has no plans to do so.” (08/06/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg9d3eyeggo
-----
3) Bitcoin steadies above $64,000 as traders watch $100 billion SpaceX unlock
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin held above $64,600 on Thursday, up marginally on the day and 0.5% on the week, while the rest of the majors offered little in the way of direction. Attention is also on Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, where roughly $101 billion of stock becomes tradable Thursday as the first lockup expires. The company holds 18,712 BTC, worth about $1.1 billion at the end of June. Ether rose over 1% to $1,904 but remains down 0.7% over seven days.” (08/06/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/08/06/bitcoin-steadies-above-usd64-000-as-traders-watch-usd100-billion-spacex-unlock
-----
4) Three state AGs subpoena Fauci over Covid guidance
Source: NBC News
“Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Wednesday that his office is joining two other states in issuing a subpoena to Dr. Anthony Fauci, alleging that he ‘profited’ from the recommendations he gave during the handling of the Covid pandemic. Uthmeier, joined by West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, said in a news release that he was issuing an investigative subpoena to Fauci for ‘an official investigation into awards, professional opportunities, financial incentives, grants, and Covid-19 guidance that impacted Florida businesses and consumers.’ … Uthmeier said Fauci’s entries detail ‘substantial awards,’ including grants, book deals and board positions, linked to his public recommendations as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that affected Florida.” (08/05/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/three-state-attorneys-general-subpoena-anthony-fauci-covid-guidance-rcna591082
-----
5) US mortgage rates rise to their highest level in a year
Source: Axios
“The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.81% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday morning, the highest in a year. Mortgage applications fell 2.9%. It reflects a surge in global bond yields. Longer-term rates moved higher after Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh offered little guidance as to whether or when the Fed may raise rates to combat elevated inflation. That has particularly cut into refinancing activity, the MBA said, with its Refinance Index falling 1.9%. … Mortgage News Daily, which updates an average rate each day, put the 30-year rate at 6.75% Tuesday, down from 6.82% at the start of the week.” (08/05/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/05/mortgage-rates-bonds
-----
6) White House declassifies info on secret FBI probe into whether Trump fired Comey at Russia’s behest
Source: CBS News
“The White House on Wednesday released declassified information claiming the FBI opened an investigation into whether President Trump was acting as an asset for Russia when he fired FBI Director James Comey, a theory an administration official said was not backed up by evidence. The official said the investigation, known as Oxferd Comma, was a subcomponent of Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI probe into potential collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government — an investigation that has long drawn Mr. Trump’s ire. The predicate of Oxferd Comma was the newly elected president’s decision to fire Comey in 2017.” (08/05/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-comey-russia-fbi-probe-white-house-declassify-oxferd-comma/
-----
7) Houthis Threaten to Expand Red Sea Attacks, Claim Strike on Saudi Tanker
Source: New York Times
“The Houthis, [the government of much of] Yemen, said Wednesday that they had struck a Saudi oil tanker in the northern Red Sea, and they threatened to intensify attacks there in an effort to close ‘all access routes’ to Saudi oil shipments. The Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said the group had fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi tanker called Wafa near the Saudi port city of Yanbu, though he did not say when the attack had occurred. The Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Houthis’ claim. The Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi shipping last month. The territory they control in Yemen is near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow waterway that leads into the southern end of the Red Sea.” (08/05/26)
https://archive.is/q7jbJ
-----
8) MI: Trump-Endorsed Candidate Loses to Rival Who Stopped Campaigning
Source: Newsweek
“Congressional candidate Amir Hassan, whom President Donald Trump endorsed last month, appears headed for defeat in the Republican primary for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, as he trails rival Thomas J. Smith, who suspended his campaign and endorsed another candidate less than three weeks before Election Day. With 99 percent of votes counted at the time of writing, according to Associated Press estimates, Smith led the three-way primary with 50.4 percent of the vote, compared with Hassan’s 33.2 percent and Al Lemmo’s 16.4 percent. Smith held a lead of more than 10,600 votes, larger than the estimated number of ballots left to count, meaning Hassan cannot catch him if the remaining-vote estimate is accurate.” (08/05/26)
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-endorsed-michigan-candidate-lose-rival-12285591
-----
9) Anthropic’s Mythos created fake identities to fool humans in new cyber incident
Source: CNBC
“Anthropic’s Mythos model created fake online identities as it looked to pressure humans into approving malicious code updates to an open source project, marking yet another cyber incident carried out by a frontier AI system. The incident happened during a cyber evaluation where the U.K.-based AI Security Institute (AISI), a research body, had removed safeguards, disabled some safety filters, and deliberately given the models Internet access. OpenAI’s GPT-5.6-Sol was also involved in other cybersecurity incidents during the evaluation. It comes after a series of cyber breaches carried out by models developed by Anthropic and OpenAI in recent weeks.” (08/05/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/05/anthropic-mythos-openai-security-breaches.html
-----
10) Mexico: Popular social media influencer shot dead during livestream outside restaurant
Source: CBS News
“A Mexican influencer was shot dead on Tuesday while streaming live on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where cartel and gang violence is rife. Cesar Gastelum, who had more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, was broadcasting with two friends — all dressed as food delivery workers as part of a challenge. Video circulating online showed a motorcycle carrying two people pull up beside them. In the recording of the livestream, seen by the Reuters news agency, the driver of the motorcycle appeared to fire a gun directly at Gastelum. Local police confirmed Gastelum’s death.” (08/05/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/influencer-killed-livestream-mexico-cesar-gastelum/
-----
11) MO: By 60-Point Margin, Voters Reject GOP Push to Make Ballot Measures Harder to Pass
Source: Common Dreams
“The Democratic mayor of Kansas City, Missouri was among those celebrating what he called the ‘TOTAL repudiation by Missouri voter of a core agenda of state GOP leadership’ on Tuesday night after the state voted by a 60-point margin against Amendment 4, a measure backed by the Republican governor which would have weakened voters’ ability to pass citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives. ‘We took over control of the state of Missouri tonight, repudiating absolutely atrocious ideas’, Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a video message addressing voters as election results came in. … The Republican supermajority in the state Legislature and Gov. Mike Kehoe supported Amendment 4, which was spurred by the passage of a ballot initiative in 2024 that had added the right to abortion care to the Missouri Constitution.” (08/05/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/missouri-amendment-4
-----
12) NC: Edwards withdraws bid for reelection following ethics report
Source: Spectrum News 1
“Rep. Chuck Edwards announced he won’t seek reelection in a post to social media early Wednesday morning. ‘Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America,’ Edwards said. He added he will fullfill the remainder of his term. This follows the release of a report by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which indicated that Edwards should face censure from the House for inappropriate conduct directed at two young female staffers.” (08/05/26)
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2026/08/05/rep–chuck-edwards-withdraws-bid-for-re-election
-----
13) Disney agrees deal to let TikTokers use its films & TV shows in videos
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Disney and TikTok have agreed a deal which will allow creators to use clips from Disney films, including its subsidiaries, in their videos. It means clips from hit franchises like Star Wars, Toy Story and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon start popping up in videos – which will also be shared on Disney’s short-form video platform, Verts. The scheme will be launched in the US before being rolled out to other countries. Neither company shared financial details of the agreement, although it follows the collapse of a $1bn (£745m) deal between Disney and OpenAI which would have let people use its characters in AI-generated videos. That agreement was cancelled in March when OpenAI shut down its AI video generation tool Sora, citing a decision to focus on other parts of its business.” (08/05/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c235ev9knm4o
-----
14) Lebanese, Israeli regimes begin new round of talks in Rome
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“Lebanon and Israel held a fresh round of US-sponsored talks in Rome on Tuesday, with Beirut seeking Israel’s phased withdrawal from the country’s south. Convoys carrying delegations from the two countries arrived in the morning to the US embassy in the Italian capital, where discussions are scheduled to run until Thursday. … This week’s negotiations are the seventh round of Washington-mediated talks since Israel launched its war on Lebanon that has killed more than 4,300 people.” (08/05/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/lebanon-and-israel-begin-new-round-direct-talks-rome
-----
15) Brazil: Bolsonaro announces running mate for October election in bid against Lula
Source: SFGate
“Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro on Wednesday picked his running mate, a lawmaker from his party who will run for vice president in the October election after centrist parties largely failed to endorse his candidacy or opted to stay neutral in the race. The senator and a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro was confirmed as the presidential candidate of his father’s Liberal Party last month. He will run against incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the two could go into a runoff if neither gets a majority vote. … Alfredo Gaspar has been a member of Brazil’s lower house since 2023. Before that, he worked as a prosecutor and served as secretary of public security of the northeastern state of Alagoas.” (08/05/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/fl-vio-bolsonaro-announces-his-running-mate-for-22375629.php
-----
16) US DOJ charges 19 over alleged fake home healthcare shifts
Source: United Press International
“The U.S. Justice Department has indicted 19 people in Pennsylvania for alleging [sic] billing the government for thousands of hours in fake home healthcare shifts, the department said Tuesday. The alleged fraud schemes involved more than $4 million in claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Those charged with healthcare fraud and other offenses include several home healthcare workers and owners of home healthcare companies. In one case, one home healthcare aide claimed to be providing billable services while they were incarcerated, while another did so while hospitalized, the government said. These two and the two Medicaid recipients accounted for more than $440,000 in claims.” (08/04/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/08/04/19-charged-in-home-healthcare-schemes/7141785870649/
-----
17) Germany: Drone carrying explosives found at airport, police say
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A drone carrying an explosive device has been found at a German airport, police say. A robot was deployed at Leipzig/Halle Airport after the device was spotted by an employee near Ukrainian cargo planes overnight, according to Saxony police. A second unidentified object also collided with a cargo aircraft near the same airport. Minor damage was detected on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover. German airports are on high alert following a series of unauthorised drone flights in recent months over sensitive sites including military bases, airports, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies. Police have warned that the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.” (08/05/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyvlg4q48l3o
-----
18) Taiwan launches annual war games as pressure from China grows
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Taiwan’s largest military drills of the year began Wednesday as the island democracy attempts to prepare its population for a potential Chinese invasion. The annual ‘Han Kuang’ exercise, which runs from August 5-14, stages combat scenarios for troops and reservists to practise responding to an attack on the island, defence officials say. Civilians will also be put through their paces during exercises that include a temporary slowdown of mobile internet speeds as well as air raid drills. China [pretends] Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize the island of 23 million people.” (08/05/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260805-taiwan-launches-major-war-games-as-china-pressure-grows
-----
19) NM: Regime sues US Justice Department and Todd Blanche, saying they blocked Epstein probe
Source: SFGate
“The state of New Mexico sued the Department of Justice and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday, saying the federal government blocked the state’s ability to investigate the sex crimes of financier Jeffrey Epstein at a ranch there. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the Justice Department and Blanche stonewalled New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s criminal investigation into Epstein and others, taking steps that ‘actively harms victims and undermines the public interest’. The lawsuit, which seeks judicial intervention to force the federal government to turn over relevant materials to New Mexico’s investigators, was filed on the same day that New Mexico is releasing a report showing its preliminary findings from an ongoing probe into Epstein and his ranch.” (08/05/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/state-of-new-mexico-sues-justice-department-and-22375604.php
-----
20) MO: Incumbent beats “Squad” member Bush’s comeback attempt in US House primary
Source: Roll Call
“Missouri Rep. Wesley Bell crushed a comeback attempt by his predecessor Cori Bush, a democratic socialist and sharp critic of the war in Gaza, in a high-profile Democratic primary Tuesday that drew millions of dollars in ads from pro-Israel groups. With more than 95 percent of votes in, Bell was leading Bush 59 percent to 37 percent in the Democratic contest for the St. Louis-anchored 1st District, The Associated Press reported. The result marks a victory for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group whose campaign arm spent more than $2.5 million targeting Bush.” (08/05/26)
https://rollcall.com/2026/08/05/rep-wesley-bell-defeats-predecessor-cori-bush-in-high-profile-missouri-primary/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Tariffs Didn’t Rebuild Factories. They Fueled a Lobbying Boom.
Source: The Daily Economy
by Mitchel Bahnsen
“According to a new report from Advancing American Freedom’s Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise, tariff lobbying revenues reached $9.9 million for the second quarter of 2026, a 690 percent increase over the same quarter in 2024 and a 956 percent increase over 2016 (pre-Trump) levels. The number of registered tariff lobbying disclosures has jumped 230 percent in just two years. At least 22 contracts listed ‘tariffs’ as their sole lobbying issue. The surge is not surprising. When the federal government arrogates to itself the power to decide who receives carve-outs and exceptions, it transforms a free and open market into a system of cronyism and influence currying.” (08/05/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/tariffs-didnt-rebuild-factories-they-fueled-a-lobbying-boom/
-----
22) America Reaps What Trump Sows: The Price of Policing the Globe
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“Blowback isn’t just about war. It’s about the consequences of the rash, heedless and heartless decisions made every day by the actors of the American police state—and the fact that it is ‘we the people’ who will be paying the price for those terrible decisions for years to come. President Trump’s war with Iran is only the latest reminder that no government can bomb, threaten and police the world indefinitely without eventually bringing the consequences home. For months, the Trump administration has lurched between war and threatened war, massive bombing campaigns and aborted strikes, demands for surrender and claims that peace is imminent. There appears to be no coherent plan for ending the conflict. There is, however, a mounting bill—and it will be paid in American lives, American dollars, American security and American freedom.” (08/05/26)
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/america_reaps_what_trump_sows_the_price_of_policing_the_globe
-----
23) Maintaining liberty your responsibility
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Every system people create takes effort to keep working. Someone must keep fixing the problems that otherwise pile up until the system fails. None are ‘set it and forget it.’ This is true for all systems of government: democracies, constitutional republics, monarchies, and communist dictatorships. It even applies in the absence of a system of government, as detractors of anarchy like to point out while they carefully ignore how the same applies to the system they prefer.” (08/05/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/08/05/voices/maintaining-liberty-your-responsibility/233940.html
-----
24) When these licenses can’t cross state lines, consumers suffer
Source: Washington Post
by Jarrett Skorup
“Anne Davis is a psychotherapist who spent two decades counseling homeless people and patients with mental illness in Colorado. But when she moved home to Michigan — which has a severe shortage of counselors, social workers and therapists — it took more than a year for the state to allow her to get back to work. The state desperately needs therapists like Davis. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 3 million Michiganders live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals. The state is facing a shortage of therapists and psychiatrists. But Michigan’s licensing laws have made it difficult to fill these gaps. The Wolverine State’s struggle to attract mental health professionals is a symptom of the broader problems caused by America’s patchwork of occupational licensing laws.” (08/05/26)
https://archive.is/fymm8
-----
25) Is Trump’s New Tariff Lever IEEPA 2.0?
Source: The Dispatch
by Ilya Somin
“The administration’s latest import tax regime is similar to the illegal levies the Supreme Court struck down.” (08/05/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-tariffs-section-301-forced-labor/
-----
26) Is Fauci’s Pardon Legit If His Pardon Was by AutoPen?
Source: Town Hall
by Kevin McCullough
“Let’s play a fun little game of ‘what does ‘sign’ actually mean’, shall we? Because Dr. Anthony Fauci just spent a Senate hearing invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times — one hundred and eleven, an Olympic gold medal in constitutional dodging — and buried underneath that spectacle is a question that’s far more interesting than anything Fauci actually said, which was, of course, nothing. Was his blanket pardon from Joe Biden even valid in the first place? And if it wasn’t, does the Fifth Amendment even apply to a man who might not be pardoned at all?” [editor’s note: Are McCullough’s paychecks signed by autopen? If so, is he going to return the money? – TLK] (08/05/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2026/08/05/is-faucis-pardon-legit-if-his-pardon-was-by-autopen-n2680725
-----
27) Who Decides What Makes A “Good” School?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald
“We all have distinct needs and preferences. Some of us like pickup trucks; others like Priuses. Some of us demand Dunkin’ coffee (me!); others swear by Starbucks. Some of us prefer to live in the city; others in the suburbs. Some of us like to read mystery novels; others prefer science fiction. Some of us want one type of Airbnb experience; others prefer something else. We are all different, and that diversity is what makes our society so dynamic. It’s also why decentralization is crucial. No top-down policy could possibly satisfy all of our individual needs and preferences, and imposing such a policy would understandably breed discontent. … In education, we are thankfully starting to see the choice, variety, and abundance we enjoy in all other parts of our lives where market competition prevails. ” (08/05/26)
https://fee.org/articles/who-decides-what-makes-a-good-school/
-----
28) Trade’s the way to guarantee food supplies
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worsall
“Weather is local, weather that affects food production is local, therefore security of supply is gained by getting food from multiple local areas affected by different local weathers. Trade. We can go further too. Say that they’re right about this climate change thing. Weather is going to become more variable in each local area – this is indeed one of the predictions. That means that we must gain our food from many more local areas, local weathers, in order to have a consistent supply. The worse climate change is the more we not just desire but insist upon more trade in food. Climate change itself, that is, is the one single argument against local self-sufficiency in food.” (08/05/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/trades-the-way-to-guarantee-food-supplies
-----
29) There Is Beauty Everywhere, Even In Dystopia or Armageddon
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“One point I will always adamantly insist on is that it’s entirely possible to live a joyful and exuberant life in the midst of this abusive dystopia. There’s a pervasive, unexamined notion throughout revolutionary politics that there’s some kind of nobility in being miserable. If it isn’t seen as noble, it’s at least seen as rational, because everything is so unjust and unhealthy. There’s a widespread assumption that your level of political awareness should have an inverse correlation to your level of personal happiness, because of all the tyranny, injustice, poverty, genocide and ecocide. That it would be selfish to be happy in a world so deeply troubled. But that’s rubbish. Nobody is helped by your misery. By depriving yourself of joy, you are only depriving the world of that much joy.” (08/05/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/05/there-is-beauty-everywhere-even-in-dystopia-even-in-armageddon/
-----
30) The Cuban Communist Threat Redux
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The communist threat from Cuba has returned with a vengeance. According to a Washington Post article entitled ‘State Dept. Again Deems Cuba a Threat Amid Talk of U.S. Push for Regime Change,’ the Trump administration recently issued an official report ‘alleging that a multi-decade Cuban influence campaign in the United States has had ‘remarkable success’ in infiltrating ‘the highest reaches of the U.S. government,’ backing ‘left-wing terrorism on American soil’ and turning ‘America against itself.’’ Yikes! The Reds are coming to get us … again! Is it time to send the troops back into Vietnam to prevent the dominoes from falling to the commies? Is the international communist conspiracy still centered in Moscow? What about the terrorists? And the Muslims? And the drug dealers? And the illegal immigrants? Should we put those on the back burner?” (08/05/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/08/05/the-cuban-communist-threat-redux/
-----
31) Africa plows a different growth path
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Perhaps more so than in other parts of the world, Africa has been jolted by global trade shocks, epidemics, and climate uncertainties in recent years. At the same time, foreign aid has slowed to a trickle. Yet, amid all this, the continent’s one bright spot has been agriculture, which is evolving from subsistence farming into sustainable livelihoods. Investors from the Middle East, Asia, and Europe are putting money into African agriculture, seeding the ability of farmers there to intensify and diversify their crops and livestock with an eye toward processing raw materials for export. These investments signal a shift from resource exploitation by outside interests to an approach that recognizes African countries as reliable producers and trade partners.” (08/04/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0804/Africa-plows-a-different-growth-path
-----
32) What Went Wrong
Source: Law & Liberty
by David Lewis Schaefer
“The wave of anti-Semitic violence, threats, and harassment that swept US campuses immediately after the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, should have constituted a wake-up call to all Americans. It revealed the cowardly character of the country’s academic leaders, especially those directing our most prestigious universities. Over 1,200 Israeli civilians were murdered; another 250 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza; no attack of this scale had been perpetrated against Jews since the Holocaust. Yet, even as Israeli authorities began to respond, American campuses were filled with demonstrators denouncing Israel as a ‘genocidal’ state, calling to ‘Globalize the Intifada’ (that is, the waves of Islamist terror that struck Israel, killing thousands of civilians over two decades ago).” [editor’s note: How many Palestinian civilians have been murdered, both before and after that single day, by Israeli forces? As Ayn Rand would say, “blank out” – TLK] (08/05/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/what-went-wrong/
-----
33) Marco “McCarthy” Rubio: Wrong on Cuba & Where “Terrorism” Coming From
Source: Common Dreams
by Ann Wright
“Thin-skinned and heavy-handed, the Trump administration apparently feels like it is being singled out by those who dissent from its policies. As a result, Trump appointees are taking drastic ‘McCarthy’ tactics to stop dissent. In less than one month, alleging that dissent and protests are part of attempts of other governments ‘to overthrow the government of the United States’, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sponsored two major initiatives to frighten those who oppose the Trump administration’s policies. The first salvo was orchestrating a conference with 60 countries participating over ‘Threats From Left-Wing Terrorists’. The second was the report on Cuba that alleged virtually every group that has ever visited Cuba is paid by the Cuban government.” (08/05/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/marco-rubio-wrong-terrorism
-----
34) The Vanishing Art of Presence
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon
“Many studies show how valuable telemedicine is, especially in underserved areas and critical care settings where specialists are scarce. I welcome these innovations and use many of them daily. I am convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) will become one of the most important tools doctors have ever had. Recent reviews also suggest that AI will help doctors make decisions, not replace them. Still, no matter how advanced our tools get, they should help us do our jobs better, not change what our jobs are about.” (08/05/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-vanishing-art-of-presence/
-----
35) Investigated for saying “word salad!?”
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Daniel Burnett
“How far can a university stretch the definition of harassment? Far enough to investigate a professor over the phrase ‘word salad,’ apparently. Just ask Richard Himelfarb, a political science professor at Hofstra University. During a Nov. 3, 2025, faculty meeting, Himelfarb thought his colleague, Jewish Studies Chair Santiago Slabodsky, has proposed a Jewish Studies course that contained too little Jewish content. So, during the meeting, Himelfarb described the proposal as rambling ‘word salad.’ In response, Slabodsky filed a harassment complaint, alleging the phrase ‘word salad’ is discriminatory against his accent and Latino identity. But instead of opening a dialogue, the university opened a harassment investigation.” (08/05/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/investigated-saying-word-salad
-----
36) Why Are We Still at War With Iran?
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider
“Despite being subjected to one of the most intensive bombing campaigns in modern history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has thus far failed to yield to any of the United States’ demands. There has been no regime change; no compromise on enrichment or the nuclear issue more broadly; no acceptance of conventional disarmament or an end to the so-called ‘axis of resistance;’ and no let-up of Iran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz. … Unfortunately, there are few signs this is winding down.” (08/05/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-are-we-still-at-war-with-iran/
-----
37) Americans deserve to know healthcare prices before the final bill arrives
Source: Fox News
by David Bernstein
“In an era of political gridlock, at least one clear area of bipartisan common ground continues to exist — the desire for real healthcare price transparency. In fact, a 2025 poll showed 96% of Americans across the political spectrum are in favor of the commonsense idea that you deserve to know the price of healthcare before receiving it. And finally, tangible progress is being made in both chambers of Congress to build upon numerous executive orders and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules and make healthcare price transparency the law of the land. … It allows for better, more accurate price signals, empowering patients with key information that allows them to shop for non-emergent healthcare goods and services. It also puts public pressure on care providers to justify prices, which may or may not be reasonable.” (08/05/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/americans-deserve-know-healthcare-prices-before-final-bill-arrives
-----
38) Dropped Cases Against Alleged Reflecting Pool Vandals Followed a Rush to Judgment
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“Trump still seems to think the question of individual guilt or innocence is irrelevant.” (08/05/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/05/dropped-cases-against-alleged-reflecting-pool-vandals-reflected-a-rush-to-judgment/
-----
39) Two Horrors Don’t Make It Right
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The mayor of New York City, commie Mamdani, is trying to raise more money to pay for his socialism.
One scheme is to punish owners of a second home by imposing a so-called ‘pied-à-terre tax,’ a tax on the second residence of wealthy New Yorkers above and beyond regular property taxes. Now, the assumption that anybody with a second home, or an expensive second home in an expensive property market, must be rolling in liquid funds is faulty. The notion that if you have more wealth than somebody else it should be taken from you? Also faulty. The new tax bill is going to many New Yorkers with only one home. And the website set up (speaking loosely) to permit challenges of the designation of one’s home as a pied-à-terre is proving nightmarish to navigate.” (08/05/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/08/05/2horrors/
-----
40) The Helsinki Commission is a Cold War relic that needs to go
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Steve Nicandros
“Every government institution should periodically be asked a simple question: is it still performing the mission for which Congress created it? That principle has become a hallmark of the Trump administration. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the closing of USAID, and the restructuring of federal agencies, the administration has encouraged the reexamination of longstanding institutions to ensure they remain faithful to their original purposes. That question should now be asked of one of Washington’s least scrutinized congressional bodies: the U.S. Helsinki Commission.” (08/05/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/helsinki-commission/
-----
41) Progressives Make Major Gains in Michigan
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Abdul El-Sayed earned a narrow victory in the Michigan Senate primary on Tuesday, coming from third place and withstanding a $62 million onslaught from his main opponent, Haley Stevens. He won a statewide primary in a swing state on a message that prominently featured Medicare for All. And he won despite Stevens’s outside backers using an eight-year-old quote from the most popular politician in the Democratic Party, Barack Obama, praising her for being part of his administration. Those facts and that framing do not necessarily reflect the way a lot of progressives are feeling right now. But if the past two weeks of bad polling had not appeared and the last survey of the race was the mid-July poll showing Stevens up by seven, that mood would be markedly different.” (08/05/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/05/progressives-make-major-gains-in-michigan-el-sayed/
-----
42) What Anthony Fauci Teaches Us About the American Government
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Fauci’s ‘personal diary’ was really a long digital document where he would write up a summary of his workday every night to help inform his post-retirement memoir and any sympathetic future biographers. The release provided some new details on the nature of the government’s response to the pandemic and, to an even greater extent, exposed the mentality of the bureaucrat who quickly emerged as the public face of it all. These insights are instructive because, perhaps more than any other government official in recent years, the career of Anthony Fauci can teach us a lot about where power actually resides in America and how our system really works.” (08/05/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/what-anthony-fauci-teaches-us-about-american-government
-----
43) America’s Middle East Bases: An Imperial Burden
Source: Antiwar.com
by Nolan Denaro
“While Trump repeatedly fails to grasp the seriousness of the situation, American bases are becoming more vulnerable. NBC News recently reported that in an effort to preserve the quickly-depleting supply of defensive systems, U.S. military commanders have begun allowing Iran to hit certain American targets. Not only does this report further prove that U.S. stockpiles of key missile interceptors are rapidly shrinking, but it also reveals the increased risk posed to U.S. troops. To put it simply, U.S. bases do not have the weapons or infrastructure needed to defend against extensive attacks during a prolonged conflict with Iran. For years, the Pentagon has warned presidents about this dynamic.” (08/05/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/nolan_denaro/2026/08/04/americas-middle-east-bases-an-imperial-burden/
-----
44) The Evil That Governments Do
Source: I Blog to Differ
by David R Henderson
“We’re pro-choice, and if you help people make those choices, we’ll sue your ass.” (08/04/26)
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/the-evil-that-governments-do
-----
45) The radicals won the Dem civil war; we’ll all pay the price
Source: New York Post
by Isaac Schorr
“If you’re surprised, you haven’t been paying attention. Abdul El-Sayed is a ‘Defund the Police’ socialist who has fantasized about putting an ‘ogre’ (fellow Democrat John Fetterman) on a pike, stumped alongside a 9/11 apologist and constructed an entire campaign around insidious Jew-baiting amid a raging epidemic of antisemitism. He is also the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan after narrowly dispatching establishment favorite Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s primary contest. El-Sayed’s triumph marks not the beginning of the end for the party’s old guard, but the final nail in its coffin. After all, the civil war was over before the (relative) moderates ever started fighting it in earnest.” (08/05/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/05/opinion/the-radicals-won-the-dem-civil-war-well-all-pay-the-price/
-----
46) Ten Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Arguments for Socialism and Why They’re Wrong
Source: Cato Institute
by Alex Nowrasteh
“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published a new policy program and platform this summer called Workers Deserve More. A committee elected under the group’s 2025 convention rules drafted it, its National Political Committee approved it, and it now stands as the clearest statement of what America’s largest socialist organization wants. Below are the DSA program’s main arguments for socialism, my short responses to them, and links to some of the most relevant evidence.” (08/04/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/ten-democratic-socialists-america-dsa-arguments-socialism-why-theyre-wrong
-----
47) Why Donald Trump Should Just Declare Victory in the Iran War
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
“As good investors know, it is often better to cut your losses and move on rather than ride a bad investment to the bottom. Despite his bluster, Trump is reluctant to pull the trigger on attacking Iran’s energy structure. He should follow that instinct and avoid such escalation. The next step will be harder for him, however. His psychology seems to prevent him from admitting that his war on Iran has failed. Yet, as a master of bending perceived reality to fit his own ends, Trump should take the famous advice that Rudy Giuliani gave him for a previous caper: ‘Just say we won.'” (08/04/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/04/why-donald-trump-should-just-declare-victory-in-the-iran-war/
-----
48) Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.” (08/04/26)
https://archive.is/V11Zl
-----
49) The People Running Airlines Are Flying Private Jets
Source: In These Times
by Jen Sorensen
Cartoon. (08/04/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/airline-ceos-are-profiting-and-flying-private-jets-comic-jen-sorensen
-----
50) Trump’s Whining About Oil Companies Shows He Doesn’t Know Much About Free Enterprise
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“During a press conference yesterday, Trump had a Bush moment. An unidentified reporter asked Trump about the ‘record profits’ that Exxon and Chevron have supposedly seen. Trump complained that oil companies are ‘making too much money,’ while, in the next breath, touting himself as ‘a big free enterprise guy.’ … If Trump didn’t want oil and gas prices to rise, then he shouldn’t have started bombing Iran, the inevitable consequence of which would be to close the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil supply.” (08/04/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/trumps-whining-about-oil-companies
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/05/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Why Can’t We Have Nice Trains?” (08/05/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/why-cant-we-have-nice-trains
-----
52) Reason Interview: Evan Barker
Source: Reason
“How a Top Democratic Operative Lost Faith in Her Party.” (08/05/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/05/how-a-top-democratic-operative-lost-faith-in-her-party/
-----
53) Rising, 08/05/26
Source: The Hill
“Socialist Francesca Hong wants to cancel Thanksgiving?” (08/05/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/6001473-rising-august-5-2026/
-----
54) Socialists Are Trying To Take Hold of the Democratic Party — and They’re Winning
Source: Reason
“The democratic socialists taking over the Democratic Party often say they just want affordable healthcare. They actually want to end America’s constitutional system as we know it.” (08/05/26)
https://reason.com/video/2026/08/05/socialists-are-trying-to-take-hold-of-the-democratic-party-and-theyre-winning/
-----
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/05/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“AIPAC Stumbles In Michigan Senate Race.” (08/05/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AxRnnDqPnvxl
-----
56) The Permanent Problem, episode 19
Source: Niskanen Center
“Everyday ambition, everyday abundance, with Virginia Postrel.” (08/05/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/everyday-ambition-everyday-abundance-with-virginia-postrel
-----
57) Checks & Balances, 08/05/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“The Past, Present, and Future of the Conservative Legal Movement.” (08/05/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/the-past-present-and-future-of-the
-----
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/04/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Netanyahu: Israel Didn’t Agree to Hamas Disarmament Deal, Yemeni Attack Hits Saudi Airport, and More.” (08/04/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3E78rHrpg
-----
59) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/04/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“After Trump, Who Will Trust The US Anymore?” (08/04/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1mxPaayDpDYKN
------
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/04/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson: Is WWIII INCOMING?! Zelensky Attempts to Merge Ukraine, Iran War.” (08/04/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-larry-johnson-is-wwiii-incoming-zelensky-attempts-to-merge-ukraine-iran-war/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FND is published every weekday except on holidays. Forward freely.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
http://groups.google.com/group/freedom-news-daily
Support the Liberty International (tax deductible)
https://liberty-intl.org/join-the-movement/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Presented by the Liberty International
https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
More News, More Commentary, More Audio/Video at Our Web Edition!
https://news.rationalreview.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Freedom News:
1) Ukraine: Russian strikes kill six in Balakliia, Sumy
2) Iran: Regime says deal with Oman on Strait of Hormuz is in final stages
3) Bitcoin steadies above $64,000 as traders watch $100 billion SpaceX unlock
4) Three state AGs subpoena Fauci over Covid guidance
5) US mortgage rates rise to their highest level in a year
6) White House declassifies info on secret FBI probe into whether Trump fired Comey at Russia’s behest
7) Houthis Threaten to Expand Red Sea Attacks, Claim Strike on Saudi Tanker
8) MI: Trump-Endorsed Candidate Loses to Rival Who Stopped Campaigning
9) Anthropic’s Mythos created fake identities to fool humans in new cyber incident
10) Mexico: Popular social media influencer shot dead during livestream outside restaurant
11) MO: By 60-Point Margin, Voters Reject GOP Push to Make Ballot Measures Harder to Pass
12) NC: Edwards withdraws bid for reelection following ethics report
13) Disney agrees deal to let TikTokers use its films & TV shows in videos
14) Lebanese, Israeli regimes begin new round of talks in Rome
15) Brazil: Bolsonaro announces running mate for October election in bid against Lula
16) US DOJ charges 19 over alleged fake home healthcare shifts
17) Germany: Drone carrying explosives found at airport, police say
18) Taiwan launches annual war games as pressure from China grows
19) NM: Regime sues US Justice Department and Todd Blanche, saying they blocked Epstein probe
20) MO: Incumbent beats “Squad” member Bush’s comeback attempt in US House primary
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Tariffs Didn’t Rebuild Factories. They Fueled a Lobbying Boom.
22) America Reaps What Trump Sows: The Price of Policing the Globe
23) Maintaining liberty your responsibility
24) When these licenses can’t cross state lines, consumers suffer
25) Is Trump’s New Tariff Lever IEEPA 2.0?
26) Is Fauci’s Pardon Legit If His Pardon Was by AutoPen?
27) Who Decides What Makes A “Good” School?
28) Trade’s the way to guarantee food supplies
29) There Is Beauty Everywhere, Even In Dystopia or Armageddon
30) The Cuban Communist Threat Redux
31) Africa plows a different growth path
32) What Went Wrong
33) Marco “McCarthy” Rubio: Wrong on Cuba & Where “Terrorism” Coming From
34) The Vanishing Art of Presence
35) Investigated for saying “word salad!?”
36) Why Are We Still at War With Iran?
37) Americans deserve to know healthcare prices before the final bill arrives
38) Dropped Cases Against Alleged Reflecting Pool Vandals Followed a Rush to Judgment
39) Two Horrors Don’t Make It Right
40) The Helsinki Commission is a Cold War relic that needs to go
41) Progressives Make Major Gains in Michigan
42) What Anthony Fauci Teaches Us About the American Government
43) America’s Middle East Bases: An Imperial Burden
44) The Evil That Governments Do
45) The radicals won the Dem civil war; we’ll all pay the price
46) Ten Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Arguments for Socialism and Why They’re Wrong
47) Why Donald Trump Should Just Declare Victory in the Iran War
48) Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
49) The People Running Airlines Are Flying Private Jets
50) Trump’s Whining About Oil Companies Shows He Doesn’t Know Much About Free Enterprise
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/05/26
52) Reason Interview: Evan Barker
53) Rising, 08/05/26
54) Socialists Are Trying To Take Hold of the Democratic Party — and They’re Winning
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/05/26
56) The Permanent Problem, episode 19
57) Checks & Balances, 08/05/26
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/04/26
59) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/04/26
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/04/26
vvvvv SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS vvvvv
HOW INDEPENDENT ARE "YOUR" CONGRESS/SENATE MEMBERS?
https://congressionalindependence.deathbutt.org/
SAMUEL EDWARD KONKIN III REVOLUTIONARY FRIEND BY WENDY MCELROY
https://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Edward-Konkin-Revolutionary-Friend-ebook/dp/B0DP7B6127
SHARE YOUR OPINIONS. EARN POINTS. REDEEM POINTS FOR AWARDS
https://account.yougov.com/us-en/join?referral=eAi-FP2i9s1Jzb5lj2zw5A
THE CONSTITUTION OF NON-STATE GOVERNMENT: FIELD GUIDE TO TEXAS SECESSION (2nd edition), by TL Hulsey
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1883853117
Tyranny Demands AN ACT OF SELF-DEFENSE: A NOVEL BY ERNE LEWIS
https://tinyurl.com/actofselfdefense
^^^^^ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS ^^^^^
_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Ukraine: Russian strikes kill six in Balakliia, Sumy
Source: Reuters
“Rescuers worked on Thursday to douse fires and clear debris in Ukraine’s eastern city of Balakliia after Russian strikes on homes killed three overnight, authorities said on the Telegram messaging app. Three people were also killed overnight and at least 19 wounded in Russian attacks on settlements in the northern region of Sumy. … Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.” (08/06/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-strikes-kill-six-ukraines-balakliia-sumy-officials-say-2026-08-06/
-----
2) Iran: Regime says deal with Oman on Strait of Hormuz is in final stages
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Iran says it has reached an agreement with Oman on a route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei did not give any further details on the agreement, which he said was ‘in the final stages’. Baqaei warned, however, that a deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation through the strait, arguing security remained impacted by the US blockade of Iran’s ports. The US and Oman have not commented on the proposal. … His comments came after senior US officials said talks had progressed to allow shipments to potentially resume later this week, though Iran has maintained that it is not negotiating with the US and has no plans to do so.” (08/06/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg9d3eyeggo
-----
3) Bitcoin steadies above $64,000 as traders watch $100 billion SpaceX unlock
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin held above $64,600 on Thursday, up marginally on the day and 0.5% on the week, while the rest of the majors offered little in the way of direction. Attention is also on Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, where roughly $101 billion of stock becomes tradable Thursday as the first lockup expires. The company holds 18,712 BTC, worth about $1.1 billion at the end of June. Ether rose over 1% to $1,904 but remains down 0.7% over seven days.” (08/06/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/08/06/bitcoin-steadies-above-usd64-000-as-traders-watch-usd100-billion-spacex-unlock
-----
4) Three state AGs subpoena Fauci over Covid guidance
Source: NBC News
“Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Wednesday that his office is joining two other states in issuing a subpoena to Dr. Anthony Fauci, alleging that he ‘profited’ from the recommendations he gave during the handling of the Covid pandemic. Uthmeier, joined by West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, said in a news release that he was issuing an investigative subpoena to Fauci for ‘an official investigation into awards, professional opportunities, financial incentives, grants, and Covid-19 guidance that impacted Florida businesses and consumers.’ … Uthmeier said Fauci’s entries detail ‘substantial awards,’ including grants, book deals and board positions, linked to his public recommendations as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that affected Florida.” (08/05/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/three-state-attorneys-general-subpoena-anthony-fauci-covid-guidance-rcna591082
-----
5) US mortgage rates rise to their highest level in a year
Source: Axios
“The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.81% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday morning, the highest in a year. Mortgage applications fell 2.9%. It reflects a surge in global bond yields. Longer-term rates moved higher after Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh offered little guidance as to whether or when the Fed may raise rates to combat elevated inflation. That has particularly cut into refinancing activity, the MBA said, with its Refinance Index falling 1.9%. … Mortgage News Daily, which updates an average rate each day, put the 30-year rate at 6.75% Tuesday, down from 6.82% at the start of the week.” (08/05/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/05/mortgage-rates-bonds
-----
6) White House declassifies info on secret FBI probe into whether Trump fired Comey at Russia’s behest
Source: CBS News
“The White House on Wednesday released declassified information claiming the FBI opened an investigation into whether President Trump was acting as an asset for Russia when he fired FBI Director James Comey, a theory an administration official said was not backed up by evidence. The official said the investigation, known as Oxferd Comma, was a subcomponent of Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI probe into potential collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government — an investigation that has long drawn Mr. Trump’s ire. The predicate of Oxferd Comma was the newly elected president’s decision to fire Comey in 2017.” (08/05/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-comey-russia-fbi-probe-white-house-declassify-oxferd-comma/
-----
7) Houthis Threaten to Expand Red Sea Attacks, Claim Strike on Saudi Tanker
Source: New York Times
“The Houthis, [the government of much of] Yemen, said Wednesday that they had struck a Saudi oil tanker in the northern Red Sea, and they threatened to intensify attacks there in an effort to close ‘all access routes’ to Saudi oil shipments. The Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said the group had fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi tanker called Wafa near the Saudi port city of Yanbu, though he did not say when the attack had occurred. The Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Houthis’ claim. The Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi shipping last month. The territory they control in Yemen is near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow waterway that leads into the southern end of the Red Sea.” (08/05/26)
https://archive.is/q7jbJ
-----
8) MI: Trump-Endorsed Candidate Loses to Rival Who Stopped Campaigning
Source: Newsweek
“Congressional candidate Amir Hassan, whom President Donald Trump endorsed last month, appears headed for defeat in the Republican primary for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, as he trails rival Thomas J. Smith, who suspended his campaign and endorsed another candidate less than three weeks before Election Day. With 99 percent of votes counted at the time of writing, according to Associated Press estimates, Smith led the three-way primary with 50.4 percent of the vote, compared with Hassan’s 33.2 percent and Al Lemmo’s 16.4 percent. Smith held a lead of more than 10,600 votes, larger than the estimated number of ballots left to count, meaning Hassan cannot catch him if the remaining-vote estimate is accurate.” (08/05/26)
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-endorsed-michigan-candidate-lose-rival-12285591
-----
9) Anthropic’s Mythos created fake identities to fool humans in new cyber incident
Source: CNBC
“Anthropic’s Mythos model created fake online identities as it looked to pressure humans into approving malicious code updates to an open source project, marking yet another cyber incident carried out by a frontier AI system. The incident happened during a cyber evaluation where the U.K.-based AI Security Institute (AISI), a research body, had removed safeguards, disabled some safety filters, and deliberately given the models Internet access. OpenAI’s GPT-5.6-Sol was also involved in other cybersecurity incidents during the evaluation. It comes after a series of cyber breaches carried out by models developed by Anthropic and OpenAI in recent weeks.” (08/05/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/05/anthropic-mythos-openai-security-breaches.html
-----
10) Mexico: Popular social media influencer shot dead during livestream outside restaurant
Source: CBS News
“A Mexican influencer was shot dead on Tuesday while streaming live on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where cartel and gang violence is rife. Cesar Gastelum, who had more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, was broadcasting with two friends — all dressed as food delivery workers as part of a challenge. Video circulating online showed a motorcycle carrying two people pull up beside them. In the recording of the livestream, seen by the Reuters news agency, the driver of the motorcycle appeared to fire a gun directly at Gastelum. Local police confirmed Gastelum’s death.” (08/05/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/influencer-killed-livestream-mexico-cesar-gastelum/
-----
11) MO: By 60-Point Margin, Voters Reject GOP Push to Make Ballot Measures Harder to Pass
Source: Common Dreams
“The Democratic mayor of Kansas City, Missouri was among those celebrating what he called the ‘TOTAL repudiation by Missouri voter of a core agenda of state GOP leadership’ on Tuesday night after the state voted by a 60-point margin against Amendment 4, a measure backed by the Republican governor which would have weakened voters’ ability to pass citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives. ‘We took over control of the state of Missouri tonight, repudiating absolutely atrocious ideas’, Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a video message addressing voters as election results came in. … The Republican supermajority in the state Legislature and Gov. Mike Kehoe supported Amendment 4, which was spurred by the passage of a ballot initiative in 2024 that had added the right to abortion care to the Missouri Constitution.” (08/05/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/missouri-amendment-4
-----
12) NC: Edwards withdraws bid for reelection following ethics report
Source: Spectrum News 1
“Rep. Chuck Edwards announced he won’t seek reelection in a post to social media early Wednesday morning. ‘Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America,’ Edwards said. He added he will fullfill the remainder of his term. This follows the release of a report by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which indicated that Edwards should face censure from the House for inappropriate conduct directed at two young female staffers.” (08/05/26)
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2026/08/05/rep–chuck-edwards-withdraws-bid-for-re-election
-----
13) Disney agrees deal to let TikTokers use its films & TV shows in videos
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Disney and TikTok have agreed a deal which will allow creators to use clips from Disney films, including its subsidiaries, in their videos. It means clips from hit franchises like Star Wars, Toy Story and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon start popping up in videos – which will also be shared on Disney’s short-form video platform, Verts. The scheme will be launched in the US before being rolled out to other countries. Neither company shared financial details of the agreement, although it follows the collapse of a $1bn (£745m) deal between Disney and OpenAI which would have let people use its characters in AI-generated videos. That agreement was cancelled in March when OpenAI shut down its AI video generation tool Sora, citing a decision to focus on other parts of its business.” (08/05/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c235ev9knm4o
-----
14) Lebanese, Israeli regimes begin new round of talks in Rome
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“Lebanon and Israel held a fresh round of US-sponsored talks in Rome on Tuesday, with Beirut seeking Israel’s phased withdrawal from the country’s south. Convoys carrying delegations from the two countries arrived in the morning to the US embassy in the Italian capital, where discussions are scheduled to run until Thursday. … This week’s negotiations are the seventh round of Washington-mediated talks since Israel launched its war on Lebanon that has killed more than 4,300 people.” (08/05/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/lebanon-and-israel-begin-new-round-direct-talks-rome
-----
15) Brazil: Bolsonaro announces running mate for October election in bid against Lula
Source: SFGate
“Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro on Wednesday picked his running mate, a lawmaker from his party who will run for vice president in the October election after centrist parties largely failed to endorse his candidacy or opted to stay neutral in the race. The senator and a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro was confirmed as the presidential candidate of his father’s Liberal Party last month. He will run against incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the two could go into a runoff if neither gets a majority vote. … Alfredo Gaspar has been a member of Brazil’s lower house since 2023. Before that, he worked as a prosecutor and served as secretary of public security of the northeastern state of Alagoas.” (08/05/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/fl-vio-bolsonaro-announces-his-running-mate-for-22375629.php
-----
16) US DOJ charges 19 over alleged fake home healthcare shifts
Source: United Press International
“The U.S. Justice Department has indicted 19 people in Pennsylvania for alleging [sic] billing the government for thousands of hours in fake home healthcare shifts, the department said Tuesday. The alleged fraud schemes involved more than $4 million in claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Those charged with healthcare fraud and other offenses include several home healthcare workers and owners of home healthcare companies. In one case, one home healthcare aide claimed to be providing billable services while they were incarcerated, while another did so while hospitalized, the government said. These two and the two Medicaid recipients accounted for more than $440,000 in claims.” (08/04/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/08/04/19-charged-in-home-healthcare-schemes/7141785870649/
-----
17) Germany: Drone carrying explosives found at airport, police say
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A drone carrying an explosive device has been found at a German airport, police say. A robot was deployed at Leipzig/Halle Airport after the device was spotted by an employee near Ukrainian cargo planes overnight, according to Saxony police. A second unidentified object also collided with a cargo aircraft near the same airport. Minor damage was detected on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover. German airports are on high alert following a series of unauthorised drone flights in recent months over sensitive sites including military bases, airports, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies. Police have warned that the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.” (08/05/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyvlg4q48l3o
-----
18) Taiwan launches annual war games as pressure from China grows
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Taiwan’s largest military drills of the year began Wednesday as the island democracy attempts to prepare its population for a potential Chinese invasion. The annual ‘Han Kuang’ exercise, which runs from August 5-14, stages combat scenarios for troops and reservists to practise responding to an attack on the island, defence officials say. Civilians will also be put through their paces during exercises that include a temporary slowdown of mobile internet speeds as well as air raid drills. China [pretends] Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize the island of 23 million people.” (08/05/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260805-taiwan-launches-major-war-games-as-china-pressure-grows
-----
19) NM: Regime sues US Justice Department and Todd Blanche, saying they blocked Epstein probe
Source: SFGate
“The state of New Mexico sued the Department of Justice and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday, saying the federal government blocked the state’s ability to investigate the sex crimes of financier Jeffrey Epstein at a ranch there. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the Justice Department and Blanche stonewalled New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s criminal investigation into Epstein and others, taking steps that ‘actively harms victims and undermines the public interest’. The lawsuit, which seeks judicial intervention to force the federal government to turn over relevant materials to New Mexico’s investigators, was filed on the same day that New Mexico is releasing a report showing its preliminary findings from an ongoing probe into Epstein and his ranch.” (08/05/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/state-of-new-mexico-sues-justice-department-and-22375604.php
-----
20) MO: Incumbent beats “Squad” member Bush’s comeback attempt in US House primary
Source: Roll Call
“Missouri Rep. Wesley Bell crushed a comeback attempt by his predecessor Cori Bush, a democratic socialist and sharp critic of the war in Gaza, in a high-profile Democratic primary Tuesday that drew millions of dollars in ads from pro-Israel groups. With more than 95 percent of votes in, Bell was leading Bush 59 percent to 37 percent in the Democratic contest for the St. Louis-anchored 1st District, The Associated Press reported. The result marks a victory for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group whose campaign arm spent more than $2.5 million targeting Bush.” (08/05/26)
https://rollcall.com/2026/08/05/rep-wesley-bell-defeats-predecessor-cori-bush-in-high-profile-missouri-primary/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Tariffs Didn’t Rebuild Factories. They Fueled a Lobbying Boom.
Source: The Daily Economy
by Mitchel Bahnsen
“According to a new report from Advancing American Freedom’s Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise, tariff lobbying revenues reached $9.9 million for the second quarter of 2026, a 690 percent increase over the same quarter in 2024 and a 956 percent increase over 2016 (pre-Trump) levels. The number of registered tariff lobbying disclosures has jumped 230 percent in just two years. At least 22 contracts listed ‘tariffs’ as their sole lobbying issue. The surge is not surprising. When the federal government arrogates to itself the power to decide who receives carve-outs and exceptions, it transforms a free and open market into a system of cronyism and influence currying.” (08/05/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/tariffs-didnt-rebuild-factories-they-fueled-a-lobbying-boom/
-----
22) America Reaps What Trump Sows: The Price of Policing the Globe
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“Blowback isn’t just about war. It’s about the consequences of the rash, heedless and heartless decisions made every day by the actors of the American police state—and the fact that it is ‘we the people’ who will be paying the price for those terrible decisions for years to come. President Trump’s war with Iran is only the latest reminder that no government can bomb, threaten and police the world indefinitely without eventually bringing the consequences home. For months, the Trump administration has lurched between war and threatened war, massive bombing campaigns and aborted strikes, demands for surrender and claims that peace is imminent. There appears to be no coherent plan for ending the conflict. There is, however, a mounting bill—and it will be paid in American lives, American dollars, American security and American freedom.” (08/05/26)
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/america_reaps_what_trump_sows_the_price_of_policing_the_globe
-----
23) Maintaining liberty your responsibility
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Every system people create takes effort to keep working. Someone must keep fixing the problems that otherwise pile up until the system fails. None are ‘set it and forget it.’ This is true for all systems of government: democracies, constitutional republics, monarchies, and communist dictatorships. It even applies in the absence of a system of government, as detractors of anarchy like to point out while they carefully ignore how the same applies to the system they prefer.” (08/05/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/08/05/voices/maintaining-liberty-your-responsibility/233940.html
-----
24) When these licenses can’t cross state lines, consumers suffer
Source: Washington Post
by Jarrett Skorup
“Anne Davis is a psychotherapist who spent two decades counseling homeless people and patients with mental illness in Colorado. But when she moved home to Michigan — which has a severe shortage of counselors, social workers and therapists — it took more than a year for the state to allow her to get back to work. The state desperately needs therapists like Davis. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 3 million Michiganders live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals. The state is facing a shortage of therapists and psychiatrists. But Michigan’s licensing laws have made it difficult to fill these gaps. The Wolverine State’s struggle to attract mental health professionals is a symptom of the broader problems caused by America’s patchwork of occupational licensing laws.” (08/05/26)
https://archive.is/fymm8
-----
25) Is Trump’s New Tariff Lever IEEPA 2.0?
Source: The Dispatch
by Ilya Somin
“The administration’s latest import tax regime is similar to the illegal levies the Supreme Court struck down.” (08/05/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-tariffs-section-301-forced-labor/
-----
26) Is Fauci’s Pardon Legit If His Pardon Was by AutoPen?
Source: Town Hall
by Kevin McCullough
“Let’s play a fun little game of ‘what does ‘sign’ actually mean’, shall we? Because Dr. Anthony Fauci just spent a Senate hearing invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times — one hundred and eleven, an Olympic gold medal in constitutional dodging — and buried underneath that spectacle is a question that’s far more interesting than anything Fauci actually said, which was, of course, nothing. Was his blanket pardon from Joe Biden even valid in the first place? And if it wasn’t, does the Fifth Amendment even apply to a man who might not be pardoned at all?” [editor’s note: Are McCullough’s paychecks signed by autopen? If so, is he going to return the money? – TLK] (08/05/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2026/08/05/is-faucis-pardon-legit-if-his-pardon-was-by-autopen-n2680725
-----
27) Who Decides What Makes A “Good” School?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald
“We all have distinct needs and preferences. Some of us like pickup trucks; others like Priuses. Some of us demand Dunkin’ coffee (me!); others swear by Starbucks. Some of us prefer to live in the city; others in the suburbs. Some of us like to read mystery novels; others prefer science fiction. Some of us want one type of Airbnb experience; others prefer something else. We are all different, and that diversity is what makes our society so dynamic. It’s also why decentralization is crucial. No top-down policy could possibly satisfy all of our individual needs and preferences, and imposing such a policy would understandably breed discontent. … In education, we are thankfully starting to see the choice, variety, and abundance we enjoy in all other parts of our lives where market competition prevails. ” (08/05/26)
https://fee.org/articles/who-decides-what-makes-a-good-school/
-----
28) Trade’s the way to guarantee food supplies
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worsall
“Weather is local, weather that affects food production is local, therefore security of supply is gained by getting food from multiple local areas affected by different local weathers. Trade. We can go further too. Say that they’re right about this climate change thing. Weather is going to become more variable in each local area – this is indeed one of the predictions. That means that we must gain our food from many more local areas, local weathers, in order to have a consistent supply. The worse climate change is the more we not just desire but insist upon more trade in food. Climate change itself, that is, is the one single argument against local self-sufficiency in food.” (08/05/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/trades-the-way-to-guarantee-food-supplies
-----
29) There Is Beauty Everywhere, Even In Dystopia or Armageddon
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“One point I will always adamantly insist on is that it’s entirely possible to live a joyful and exuberant life in the midst of this abusive dystopia. There’s a pervasive, unexamined notion throughout revolutionary politics that there’s some kind of nobility in being miserable. If it isn’t seen as noble, it’s at least seen as rational, because everything is so unjust and unhealthy. There’s a widespread assumption that your level of political awareness should have an inverse correlation to your level of personal happiness, because of all the tyranny, injustice, poverty, genocide and ecocide. That it would be selfish to be happy in a world so deeply troubled. But that’s rubbish. Nobody is helped by your misery. By depriving yourself of joy, you are only depriving the world of that much joy.” (08/05/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/05/there-is-beauty-everywhere-even-in-dystopia-even-in-armageddon/
-----
30) The Cuban Communist Threat Redux
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The communist threat from Cuba has returned with a vengeance. According to a Washington Post article entitled ‘State Dept. Again Deems Cuba a Threat Amid Talk of U.S. Push for Regime Change,’ the Trump administration recently issued an official report ‘alleging that a multi-decade Cuban influence campaign in the United States has had ‘remarkable success’ in infiltrating ‘the highest reaches of the U.S. government,’ backing ‘left-wing terrorism on American soil’ and turning ‘America against itself.’’ Yikes! The Reds are coming to get us … again! Is it time to send the troops back into Vietnam to prevent the dominoes from falling to the commies? Is the international communist conspiracy still centered in Moscow? What about the terrorists? And the Muslims? And the drug dealers? And the illegal immigrants? Should we put those on the back burner?” (08/05/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/08/05/the-cuban-communist-threat-redux/
-----
31) Africa plows a different growth path
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Perhaps more so than in other parts of the world, Africa has been jolted by global trade shocks, epidemics, and climate uncertainties in recent years. At the same time, foreign aid has slowed to a trickle. Yet, amid all this, the continent’s one bright spot has been agriculture, which is evolving from subsistence farming into sustainable livelihoods. Investors from the Middle East, Asia, and Europe are putting money into African agriculture, seeding the ability of farmers there to intensify and diversify their crops and livestock with an eye toward processing raw materials for export. These investments signal a shift from resource exploitation by outside interests to an approach that recognizes African countries as reliable producers and trade partners.” (08/04/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0804/Africa-plows-a-different-growth-path
-----
32) What Went Wrong
Source: Law & Liberty
by David Lewis Schaefer
“The wave of anti-Semitic violence, threats, and harassment that swept US campuses immediately after the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, should have constituted a wake-up call to all Americans. It revealed the cowardly character of the country’s academic leaders, especially those directing our most prestigious universities. Over 1,200 Israeli civilians were murdered; another 250 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza; no attack of this scale had been perpetrated against Jews since the Holocaust. Yet, even as Israeli authorities began to respond, American campuses were filled with demonstrators denouncing Israel as a ‘genocidal’ state, calling to ‘Globalize the Intifada’ (that is, the waves of Islamist terror that struck Israel, killing thousands of civilians over two decades ago).” [editor’s note: How many Palestinian civilians have been murdered, both before and after that single day, by Israeli forces? As Ayn Rand would say, “blank out” – TLK] (08/05/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/what-went-wrong/
-----
33) Marco “McCarthy” Rubio: Wrong on Cuba & Where “Terrorism” Coming From
Source: Common Dreams
by Ann Wright
“Thin-skinned and heavy-handed, the Trump administration apparently feels like it is being singled out by those who dissent from its policies. As a result, Trump appointees are taking drastic ‘McCarthy’ tactics to stop dissent. In less than one month, alleging that dissent and protests are part of attempts of other governments ‘to overthrow the government of the United States’, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sponsored two major initiatives to frighten those who oppose the Trump administration’s policies. The first salvo was orchestrating a conference with 60 countries participating over ‘Threats From Left-Wing Terrorists’. The second was the report on Cuba that alleged virtually every group that has ever visited Cuba is paid by the Cuban government.” (08/05/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/marco-rubio-wrong-terrorism
-----
34) The Vanishing Art of Presence
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon
“Many studies show how valuable telemedicine is, especially in underserved areas and critical care settings where specialists are scarce. I welcome these innovations and use many of them daily. I am convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) will become one of the most important tools doctors have ever had. Recent reviews also suggest that AI will help doctors make decisions, not replace them. Still, no matter how advanced our tools get, they should help us do our jobs better, not change what our jobs are about.” (08/05/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-vanishing-art-of-presence/
-----
35) Investigated for saying “word salad!?”
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Daniel Burnett
“How far can a university stretch the definition of harassment? Far enough to investigate a professor over the phrase ‘word salad,’ apparently. Just ask Richard Himelfarb, a political science professor at Hofstra University. During a Nov. 3, 2025, faculty meeting, Himelfarb thought his colleague, Jewish Studies Chair Santiago Slabodsky, has proposed a Jewish Studies course that contained too little Jewish content. So, during the meeting, Himelfarb described the proposal as rambling ‘word salad.’ In response, Slabodsky filed a harassment complaint, alleging the phrase ‘word salad’ is discriminatory against his accent and Latino identity. But instead of opening a dialogue, the university opened a harassment investigation.” (08/05/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/investigated-saying-word-salad
-----
36) Why Are We Still at War With Iran?
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider
“Despite being subjected to one of the most intensive bombing campaigns in modern history, the Islamic Republic of Iran has thus far failed to yield to any of the United States’ demands. There has been no regime change; no compromise on enrichment or the nuclear issue more broadly; no acceptance of conventional disarmament or an end to the so-called ‘axis of resistance;’ and no let-up of Iran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz. … Unfortunately, there are few signs this is winding down.” (08/05/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-are-we-still-at-war-with-iran/
-----
37) Americans deserve to know healthcare prices before the final bill arrives
Source: Fox News
by David Bernstein
“In an era of political gridlock, at least one clear area of bipartisan common ground continues to exist — the desire for real healthcare price transparency. In fact, a 2025 poll showed 96% of Americans across the political spectrum are in favor of the commonsense idea that you deserve to know the price of healthcare before receiving it. And finally, tangible progress is being made in both chambers of Congress to build upon numerous executive orders and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules and make healthcare price transparency the law of the land. … It allows for better, more accurate price signals, empowering patients with key information that allows them to shop for non-emergent healthcare goods and services. It also puts public pressure on care providers to justify prices, which may or may not be reasonable.” (08/05/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/americans-deserve-know-healthcare-prices-before-final-bill-arrives
-----
38) Dropped Cases Against Alleged Reflecting Pool Vandals Followed a Rush to Judgment
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“Trump still seems to think the question of individual guilt or innocence is irrelevant.” (08/05/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/05/dropped-cases-against-alleged-reflecting-pool-vandals-reflected-a-rush-to-judgment/
-----
39) Two Horrors Don’t Make It Right
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“The mayor of New York City, commie Mamdani, is trying to raise more money to pay for his socialism.
One scheme is to punish owners of a second home by imposing a so-called ‘pied-à-terre tax,’ a tax on the second residence of wealthy New Yorkers above and beyond regular property taxes. Now, the assumption that anybody with a second home, or an expensive second home in an expensive property market, must be rolling in liquid funds is faulty. The notion that if you have more wealth than somebody else it should be taken from you? Also faulty. The new tax bill is going to many New Yorkers with only one home. And the website set up (speaking loosely) to permit challenges of the designation of one’s home as a pied-à-terre is proving nightmarish to navigate.” (08/05/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/08/05/2horrors/
-----
40) The Helsinki Commission is a Cold War relic that needs to go
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Steve Nicandros
“Every government institution should periodically be asked a simple question: is it still performing the mission for which Congress created it? That principle has become a hallmark of the Trump administration. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the closing of USAID, and the restructuring of federal agencies, the administration has encouraged the reexamination of longstanding institutions to ensure they remain faithful to their original purposes. That question should now be asked of one of Washington’s least scrutinized congressional bodies: the U.S. Helsinki Commission.” (08/05/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/helsinki-commission/
-----
41) Progressives Make Major Gains in Michigan
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Abdul El-Sayed earned a narrow victory in the Michigan Senate primary on Tuesday, coming from third place and withstanding a $62 million onslaught from his main opponent, Haley Stevens. He won a statewide primary in a swing state on a message that prominently featured Medicare for All. And he won despite Stevens’s outside backers using an eight-year-old quote from the most popular politician in the Democratic Party, Barack Obama, praising her for being part of his administration. Those facts and that framing do not necessarily reflect the way a lot of progressives are feeling right now. But if the past two weeks of bad polling had not appeared and the last survey of the race was the mid-July poll showing Stevens up by seven, that mood would be markedly different.” (08/05/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/05/progressives-make-major-gains-in-michigan-el-sayed/
-----
42) What Anthony Fauci Teaches Us About the American Government
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Fauci’s ‘personal diary’ was really a long digital document where he would write up a summary of his workday every night to help inform his post-retirement memoir and any sympathetic future biographers. The release provided some new details on the nature of the government’s response to the pandemic and, to an even greater extent, exposed the mentality of the bureaucrat who quickly emerged as the public face of it all. These insights are instructive because, perhaps more than any other government official in recent years, the career of Anthony Fauci can teach us a lot about where power actually resides in America and how our system really works.” (08/05/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/what-anthony-fauci-teaches-us-about-american-government
-----
43) America’s Middle East Bases: An Imperial Burden
Source: Antiwar.com
by Nolan Denaro
“While Trump repeatedly fails to grasp the seriousness of the situation, American bases are becoming more vulnerable. NBC News recently reported that in an effort to preserve the quickly-depleting supply of defensive systems, U.S. military commanders have begun allowing Iran to hit certain American targets. Not only does this report further prove that U.S. stockpiles of key missile interceptors are rapidly shrinking, but it also reveals the increased risk posed to U.S. troops. To put it simply, U.S. bases do not have the weapons or infrastructure needed to defend against extensive attacks during a prolonged conflict with Iran. For years, the Pentagon has warned presidents about this dynamic.” (08/05/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/nolan_denaro/2026/08/04/americas-middle-east-bases-an-imperial-burden/
-----
44) The Evil That Governments Do
Source: I Blog to Differ
by David R Henderson
“We’re pro-choice, and if you help people make those choices, we’ll sue your ass.” (08/04/26)
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/the-evil-that-governments-do
-----
45) The radicals won the Dem civil war; we’ll all pay the price
Source: New York Post
by Isaac Schorr
“If you’re surprised, you haven’t been paying attention. Abdul El-Sayed is a ‘Defund the Police’ socialist who has fantasized about putting an ‘ogre’ (fellow Democrat John Fetterman) on a pike, stumped alongside a 9/11 apologist and constructed an entire campaign around insidious Jew-baiting amid a raging epidemic of antisemitism. He is also the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan after narrowly dispatching establishment favorite Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s primary contest. El-Sayed’s triumph marks not the beginning of the end for the party’s old guard, but the final nail in its coffin. After all, the civil war was over before the (relative) moderates ever started fighting it in earnest.” (08/05/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/05/opinion/the-radicals-won-the-dem-civil-war-well-all-pay-the-price/
-----
46) Ten Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Arguments for Socialism and Why They’re Wrong
Source: Cato Institute
by Alex Nowrasteh
“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) published a new policy program and platform this summer called Workers Deserve More. A committee elected under the group’s 2025 convention rules drafted it, its National Political Committee approved it, and it now stands as the clearest statement of what America’s largest socialist organization wants. Below are the DSA program’s main arguments for socialism, my short responses to them, and links to some of the most relevant evidence.” (08/04/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/ten-democratic-socialists-america-dsa-arguments-socialism-why-theyre-wrong
-----
47) Why Donald Trump Should Just Declare Victory in the Iran War
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
“As good investors know, it is often better to cut your losses and move on rather than ride a bad investment to the bottom. Despite his bluster, Trump is reluctant to pull the trigger on attacking Iran’s energy structure. He should follow that instinct and avoid such escalation. The next step will be harder for him, however. His psychology seems to prevent him from admitting that his war on Iran has failed. Yet, as a master of bending perceived reality to fit his own ends, Trump should take the famous advice that Rudy Giuliani gave him for a previous caper: ‘Just say we won.'” (08/04/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/04/why-donald-trump-should-just-declare-victory-in-the-iran-war/
-----
48) Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.” (08/04/26)
https://archive.is/V11Zl
-----
49) The People Running Airlines Are Flying Private Jets
Source: In These Times
by Jen Sorensen
Cartoon. (08/04/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/airline-ceos-are-profiting-and-flying-private-jets-comic-jen-sorensen
-----
50) Trump’s Whining About Oil Companies Shows He Doesn’t Know Much About Free Enterprise
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“During a press conference yesterday, Trump had a Bush moment. An unidentified reporter asked Trump about the ‘record profits’ that Exxon and Chevron have supposedly seen. Trump complained that oil companies are ‘making too much money,’ while, in the next breath, touting himself as ‘a big free enterprise guy.’ … If Trump didn’t want oil and gas prices to rise, then he shouldn’t have started bombing Iran, the inevitable consequence of which would be to close the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil supply.” (08/04/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/trumps-whining-about-oil-companies
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage, 08/05/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Why Can’t We Have Nice Trains?” (08/05/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/why-cant-we-have-nice-trains
-----
52) Reason Interview: Evan Barker
Source: Reason
“How a Top Democratic Operative Lost Faith in Her Party.” (08/05/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/05/how-a-top-democratic-operative-lost-faith-in-her-party/
-----
53) Rising, 08/05/26
Source: The Hill
“Socialist Francesca Hong wants to cancel Thanksgiving?” (08/05/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/6001473-rising-august-5-2026/
-----
54) Socialists Are Trying To Take Hold of the Democratic Party — and They’re Winning
Source: Reason
“The democratic socialists taking over the Democratic Party often say they just want affordable healthcare. They actually want to end America’s constitutional system as we know it.” (08/05/26)
https://reason.com/video/2026/08/05/socialists-are-trying-to-take-hold-of-the-democratic-party-and-theyre-winning/
-----
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/05/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“AIPAC Stumbles In Michigan Senate Race.” (08/05/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1AxRnnDqPnvxl
-----
56) The Permanent Problem, episode 19
Source: Niskanen Center
“Everyday ambition, everyday abundance, with Virginia Postrel.” (08/05/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/everyday-ambition-everyday-abundance-with-virginia-postrel
-----
57) Checks & Balances, 08/05/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“The Past, Present, and Future of the Conservative Legal Movement.” (08/05/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/the-past-present-and-future-of-the
-----
58) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/04/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Netanyahu: Israel Didn’t Agree to Hamas Disarmament Deal, Yemeni Attack Hits Saudi Airport, and More.” (08/04/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3E78rHrpg
-----
59) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/04/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“After Trump, Who Will Trust The US Anymore?” (08/04/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1mxPaayDpDYKN
------
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/04/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson: Is WWIII INCOMING?! Zelensky Attempts to Merge Ukraine, Iran War.” (08/04/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-larry-johnson-is-wwiii-incoming-zelensky-attempts-to-merge-ukraine-iran-war/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FND is published every weekday except on holidays. Forward freely.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
http://groups.google.com/group/freedom-news-daily
Support the Liberty International (tax deductible)
https://liberty-intl.org/join-the-movement/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages