08/22 -- South Africa: BRICS regime reps meet as bloc weighs expansion; The government doesn't feel your pain
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Thomas L. Knapp
Aug 22, 2023, 6:22:02 AM8/22/23
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 08/22/23
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Today's Freedom News:
1) South Africa: BRICS regime reps meet as bloc weighs expansion
2) Ukraine war: Major Russian airports closed as Moscow apartments hit in drone strike
3) Guatemala: Loser remains silent, indicating possible challenge to Arevalo presidential victory
4) Canada: Trudeau whines over results of his failed Facebook extortion attempt
5) Syria: Protests rock regime-held areas as economy crumbles
6) France: Regime puts four departments on red alert for Tuesday as country is gripped by heatwave
7) Chinese rover maps 1,000 feet of hidden “structures” deep below the dark side of the moon
8) GA: Sheriff resigns after pleading guilty to groping celebrity judge
9) UK: Police drop probe against King’s charity
10) Thailand: Pheu Thai party joins with pro-military parties in coalition to form new regime
11) Nigeria: Tinubu swears in 45-member cabinet with a promise to fast-track reforms
12) Pentagon announces new $1.5 billion corporate welfare feed to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
13) Spanish FA president apologises for kissing Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s World Cup win
14) Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits Athens to attend meeting of Balkan leaders with top EU officials
15) X will require Blue users to send selfie, data to Israeli software company
16) After admitting pandemic was over months ago, Biden regime to renew push for Americans to get COVID-19 boosters
17) Goldman Sachs weighs sale of part of its wealth business
18) Disgraced former president runs and hides from GOP nomination opponents
19) State legislators move to ban Chinese land ownership
20) Somalia: Regime Bans TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet, Citing “Horrific” Content, “Misinformation”
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The government doesn’t feel your pain
22) Tracking Orwellian Change: The Aristocratic Takeover of “Transparency”
23) My questions for the GOP candidates
24) The moral panic against social media threatens rights of young people
25) The Return of Country Protest Songs
26) Cutting US Aid to Israel Doesn’t Go Nearly Far Enough
27) On Being Manichae-ish
28) A Martyr for Free Speech: Helmuth Hubener
29) Americans Are More Propagandized Than Chinese People
30) The disqualification of Donald Trump and other legal urban legends
31) Why Are US Tax Dollars Still Flowing to Animal Testing Labs in China?
32) In Evidence
33) US Leads the World in Millionaires, but Wealth Not Trickling Down
34) The Coming Collapse of the Global Ponzi Scheme
35) Americans Vote Too Much
36) Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme
37) Actually, Joe, All Your “Objectives” Were Failures
38) Saudi sportswashing stonewalls the Senate
39) Quantum Vibe, 08/21/23
40) None of the above
41) Gringo Go Home! Puerto Rico Is Not for Sale!
42) The Case for Zombie Reaganites
43) Pakistan Events Confirm that Washington Prefers Compliant Autocrats Over Feisty Democrats
44) The natural affinity between evil and bureaucracy
45) Five indications Joe Biden will not run in 2024
46) The Free Market Should be a Weapon Against the Rich
47) Trump’s pre-trial “testimony”
48) The Crucifixion of Julian Assange
49) Meet the Left [sic] YouTubers Blowing Up the Alt-Right Pipeline
50) Adam Smith Provided a Moral Foundation for Workers’ Freedoms
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 08/21/23
52) EconTalk, 08/21/23
53) What Then Must We Do?, 08/21/23
54) Rising, 08/21/23
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 461
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 08/21/23
57) Finding Freedom, episode 399
58) Parallel Society Podcast, 08/21/23
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/21/23
60) Free Talk Live, 08/20/23
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) South Africa: BRICS regime reps meet as bloc weighs expansion
Source: Reuters
“Leaders of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West. … South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted China’s Xi Jinping, the leading proponent of enlarging BRICS, for a state visit on Tuesday morning ahead of meetings with the grouping’s other leaders later in the day. Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also attending the Aug. 22 to 24 summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin, wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not travel to South Africa and instead join virtually. … Over 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, say South African officials. Of them, nearly two dozen have formally asked to be admitted, with some expected to send delegations to Johannesburg.” (08/22/23)
https://www.reuters.com/world/brics-leaders-meet-south-africa-bloc-weighs-expansion-2023-08-22/
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2) Ukraine war: Major Russian airports closed as Moscow apartments hit in drone strike
Source: Independent [UK]
“Russia has again been forced to shut down its air space over the three biggest airports in Moscow, where arrivals and departures were suspended in the early hours of this morning after a swarm of Ukrainian drones reportedly hit buildings in the capital region, officials said. ‘Flights are not being received, departures are delayed’ a person aware of the situation told the Russian news agency TASS. … Russian air defence systems thwarted four nighttime Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, with the falling wreckage of one drone shattering an apartment building’s windows and damaging vehicles in Moscow’s western suburbs. There were no reports of injuries in the latest drone attacks that Russia blamed on Kyiv, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.” (08/22/23)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-putin-drone-strike-latest-b2397018.html
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3) Guatemala: Loser remains silent, indicating possible challenge to Arevalo presidential victory
Source: Associated Press
“Guatemalans overwhelmingly picked an independent progressive to be the country’s next president but his opponent remained silent Monday, leaving open the possibility of a challenge to landslide results that resoundingly rejected the country’s elite. With 100% of votes counted, anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo got 58% of the vote to 37% for former first lady Sandra Torres in her third bid for the presidency. The results still have to be certified to become official. Torres made no public statements in the hours after her loss …. Her party released a brief statement late Sunday that gave no indication about whether it would challenge the results. In the statement, the National Unity of Hope party said that it would take a ‘definitive position when the results are clarified with total transparency,’ and was disappointed that international observers had not reviewed irregularities, without being specific.” (08/21/23)
https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-bernardo-arevalo-election-11fb8f0983bfdc5e2382764df8618aee
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4) Canada: Trudeau whines over results of his failed Facebook extortion attempt
Source: US News & World Report
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Facebook on Monday of putting profits over people’s safety during the emergencies created by Canada’s record wildfire season. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this summer it would keep its promise to block news content from Canada on its platforms because of a new law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. … The company, which is headquartered in Northern California, stood by its decision and said in a statement about the wildfires that people in Canada can continue to use Instagram and Facebook ‘to connect with their communities and access reputable information, including content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations.'” (08/21/23)
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2023-08-21/prime-minister-justin-trudeau-slams-facebook-for-blocking-canada-wildfire-news
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5) Syria: Protests rock regime-held areas as economy crumbles
Source: ABC News
“Protests spread Monday in two government-held provinces in southern Syria amid widespread anger over increasing prices, the crash of the Syrian pound and the dwindling purchasing power of many people in the war-torn country, opposition activists said. The rare protests are still limited to southern Syria and are far from government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast, the capital Damascus and the largest cities, including Aleppo and Homs. The protests came a week after Syrian President Bashar Assad issued two decrees doubling public sector wages and pensions, sparking inflation and compounding economic woes for others.” (08/21/23)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/protests-rock-government-held-areas-southern-syria-economy-102419368
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6) France: Regime puts four departments on red alert for Tuesday as country is gripped by heatwave
Source: euronews [EU]
“Four French administrative regions have issued red alerts from Noon on Tuesday as a heat wave grips the country. The public has been ordered to be on the highest level of vigilance in the departments of Drome, Ardeche, Rhone and Haute-Loire. In addition, 49 other departments will be on orange alert on Tuesday.” [editor’s note: “Highest level of vigilance?” Are they supposed to stand near thermometers and call the police if a certain temperature is reached or something? – TLK] (08/21/23)
https://www.euronews.com/2023/08/21/france-puts-four-departments-on-red-alert-for-tuesday-as-country-is-gripped-by-heatwave
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7) Chinese rover maps 1,000 feet of hidden “structures” deep below the dark side of the moon
Source: Space.com
“Since it first landed in 2018, China’s Chang’e-4 — the first spacecraft to ever land on the far side of the moon — has been taking stunning panoramas of impact craters and sampling minerals from the moon’s mantle. Now, the spacecraft has enabled scientists to visualize the layer cake of structures that comprise the upper 1,000 feet (300 meters) of the moon’s surface in finer detail than ever before. Their results, which were published Aug. 7 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, reveal billions of years of previously hidden lunar history. A rover that traveled aboard Chang’e-4, named Yutu-2, is equipped with a technology called Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR). This device enables the rover to send radio signals deep into the moon’s surface, said lead study author Jianqing Feng, an astrogeological researcher at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.” (08/21/23)
https://www.space.com/china-moon-rover-maps-hidden-structures
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8) GA: Sheriff resigns after pleading guilty to groping celebrity judge
Source: Yahoo! News
“A Georgia sheriff has resigned effective immediately after he pleaded guilty to groping Judge Glenda Hatchett. Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was inside the courtroom Monday when Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody entered the plea to sexual battery charge. … An arrest warrant alleged that Coody grabbed Hatchett’s chest at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Bar while attending the Georgia Sheriffs Association’s winter meeting in January 2022.” (08/21/23)
https://news.yahoo.com/georgia-sheriff-pleads-guilty-groping-135803834.html
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9) UK: Police drop probe against King’s charity
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“British police dropped on Monday an 18-month investigation into one of King Charles III’s charities, after media reports suggested that a Saudi businessman was offered honors after making donations to the charity. … In 2021, British media alleged that people associated with Charles'[s] Prince’s Trust offered to help a Saudi billionaire secure honors and citizenship in return for donations. The man, tycoon Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, had donated large sums to restoration projects of particular interest to Charles. The head of the foundation, Michael Fawcett, resigned shortly afterward, after an internal investigation into the allegations. … Charles set up The Prince’s Fund in the 1970s to help vulnerable youths get their lives back on track, helping with things such as job search. However, in recent years, several of the king’s charities have come under scrutiny, facing accusations of accepting donations from dubious figures.” (08/21/23)
https://www.dw.com/en/british-police-drop-probe-against-king-charles-charity/a-66589764
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10) Thailand: Pheu Thai party joins with pro-military parties in coalition to form new regime
Source: Associated Press
“Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai party announced Monday that it plans to form a new government with an 11-party coalition that includes two pro-military parties affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Parliament is expected to confirm the country’s 30th prime minister on Tuesday after a three-month stalemate following elections in May. Pheu Thai leader Chonlanan Srikaew said the coalition partners have agreed to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as the new leader. Pheu Thai finished second in the elections but received a chance to form a government after members of the conservative unelected Senate repeatedly blocked the surprise winner, the progressive Move Forward Party.” (08/21/23)
https://apnews.com/article/thailand-pheu-thai-coalition-military-parties-b6d3076f3b237fade491bc6c7ba32856
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11) Nigeria: Tinubu swears in 45-member cabinet with a promise to fast-track reforms
Source: SFGate
“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in 45 ministers nearly three months after his election, promising that his government will accelerate its development agenda. The Cabinet is intended to help improve Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, where millions are grappling with economic hardship worsened by the new government’s policies which have had an immediate impact of further squeezing millions of poor Nigerians. At an inauguration ceremony in the capital, Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged Nigeria’s ‘daunting’ challenges and said the Cabinet brings an opportunity to implement ‘long overdue reforms.’ ‘We must hold each other responsible; we have to do the job to meet the expectations of all Nigerians,’ the president told the ministers. It is Nigeria’s largest Cabinet since the country’s return to democracy in 1999, triggering criticisms about high government expenditure despite Tinubu’s promises to cut costs.” (08/21/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/nigerian-leader-swears-in-45-member-cabinet-with-18306513.php
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12) Pentagon announces new $1.5 billion corporate welfare feed to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
Source: CNBC
“The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency on Monday awarded $1.5 billion in contracts to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for prototype communications satellites. SDA said the 72 satellites will be for the Beta variant of its Tranche 2 Transport Layer constellation, a network the U.S. military is building to provide encrypted communications through a fleet of hundreds of satellites, which it calls the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. … SDA has previously awarded contracts to build and operate satellites in its fleet to York Space, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris.” (08/21/23)
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/21/pentagon-awards-1point5-billion-to-lockheed-martin-northrop-grumman.html
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13) Spanish FA president apologises for kissing Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s World Cup win
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has apologised for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women’s World Cup. Rubiales kissed the Spain forward during the presentation ceremony following the team’s 1-0 win over England in Sunday’s final. ‘I didn’t like it,’ Hermoso said on Instagram, but a statement released later on her behalf defended Rubiales. On Monday, Rubiales said: ‘I was completely wrong, I have to admit it.’ He added: ‘It was without bad intention at a time with a lot of excitement. In the moment, we saw it as natural, but outside a commotion has formed. I have to apologise, learn from this, and understand that when you are president you have to be more careful.’ Rubiales had been criticised by some Spanish government ministers and come under fire on social media.” (08/21/23)
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66568226
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14) Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits Athens to attend meeting of Balkan leaders with top EU officials
Source: SFGate
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew to Greece on Monday for talks with the country’s leadership and to attend an informal meeting of Balkan leaders with top European Union officials. Zelenskyy met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and was scheduled to meet with the figurehead president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. In the evening, Zelenskyy was to join an informal dinner organized by Mitsotakis for top officials from nine Balkan nations, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel, Mitsotakis’ office said. The dinner was scheduled to discuss the Western Balkans region’s future in the EU, which many countries have already joined and the rest are jockeying to enter. Greece has joined its NATO and EU partners in strongly backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion and has provided military assistance in the form of armored personnel carriers and ammunition.” (08/21/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/ukraine-s-zelenskyy-visits-athens-to-attend-18306669.php
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15) X will require Blue users to send selfie, data to Israeli software company
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
“X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, will now require X Blue users to submit a selfie alongside a photo of a government-issued ID, according to a report by PC Magazine. The user’s personal information required by the verification process will be handled by Israeli company AU10TIX software which will store the information for up to 30 days. X said the data collected from a user’s profile will be used ‘for the purpose of safety and security, including preventing impersonation.’ Many X users were unhappy with the choice of the company to store user data, pointing out its employees’ links to Israeli intelligence. Others expressed their discomfort with giving a company their data when so many data breaches have been reported in the past.” (08/21/23)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/21/x-blue-users-will-need-to-send-selfie-data-to-israeli-software-company
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16) After admitting pandemic was over months ago, Biden regime to renew push for Americans to get COVID-19 boosters
Source: Fox News
“President Biden’s administration is preparing another program to encourage Americans to get booster shots for COVID-19 in the coming months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in COVID-19 infections across the U.S., though it remains far below levels seen during the pandemic. The Biden administration plans to urge Americans to get booster shots this fall, Reuters reported, citing a White House official. ‘We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,’ the official said. The news comes days after the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) revealed they are tracking another variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. The newly discovered variant, referred to as BA.2.86, has been designated as a ‘variant under monitoring’ by the WHO ‘due to the large number of mutations it carries.'” (08/21/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-renew-push-americans-get-covid-19-boosters
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17) Goldman Sachs weighs sale of part of its wealth business
Source: Reuters
“Goldman Sachs is weighing the sale of a part of its wealth business, it said on Monday, as it shifts its focus back to serving the ultra-rich and away from high-net-worth clients in mass markets. The Wall Street bank is evaluating alternatives for its registered investment adviser (RIA) unit, called Personal Financial Management (PFM), which manages about $29 billion, it said in a statement. The move comes as Goldman retreats from its consumer operations, which lost $3 billion in the last three years, and pushes ahead with a sale of its fintech business, GreenSky. Goldman bought the RIA, formerly known as United Capital Financial Partners, for $750 million in 2019 when it managed about $25 billion in funds. The purchase aimed to broaden Goldman’s client list beyond the ultra-rich, but the unit has remained a small part of the bank’s wealth business.” (08/21/23)
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/goldman-sachs-weighs-sale-part-its-wealth-business-2023-08-21/
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18) Disgraced former president runs and hides from GOP nomination opponents
Source: Politico
“Former President Donald Trump said he will not attend the first Republican primary debate scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by a Truth Social post Sunday. Trump’s decision to skip the first debate on Wednesday will leave the first showdown of Republican presidential hopefuls without the far-and-away frontrunner. ‘New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by ‘legendary’ numbers.’ Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday. ‘The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more.’ ‘I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!’ he wrote.” (08/20/23)
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/20/trump-fox-news-debates-00112017
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19) State legislators move to ban Chinese land ownership
Source: SFGate
“In Washington, the White House and federal lawmakers are pursuing ways to constrain Chinese-owned businesses like TikTok amid a bipartisan push to limit China’s reach. Now state legislators have embraced a novel, locally focused tactic aimed at China’s domestic investments: restrictions on Chinese land ownership. Lawmakers in 33 states have introduced 81 bills this year that would prohibit the Chinese government, some China-based businesses and many Chinese citizens from buying agricultural land or property near military bases, according to a Washington Post analysis of data compiled by the Asian Pacific American Justice, an advocacy group. A dozen of the bills are now law in states such Alabama, Idaho and Virginia.” (08/21/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/state-lawmakers-move-to-ban-chinese-land-ownership-18306431.php
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20) Somalia: Regime Bans TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet, Citing “Horrific” Content, “Misinformation”
Source: US News & World Report
“Somalia has banned TikTok, messaging app Telegram and online-betting website 1XBet to limit the spread of indecent content and propaganda, its communications minister said. ‘The minister of communications orders internet companies to stop the aforementioned applications, which terrorists and immoral groups use to spread constant horrific images and misinformation to the public,’ the minister, Jama Hassan Khalif, said in a statement late on Sunday. Members of insurgent group al Shabaab often post about their activities on TikTok and Telegram.” (08/21/23)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-08-21/somalia-bans-tiktok-telegram-and-1xbet-over-horrific-content-misinformation
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The government doesn’t feel your pain
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
“Bill Clinton famously told voters: ‘I feel your pain.’ Although I now look back on the Clinton years rather fondly, I suspect that even his strongest supporters would not view his soulful empathy as anything more than an act. The government does not feel your pain. The FDA does not feel your pain. Doctors and nurses do not feel your pain. You feel your pain. … The ideology of paternalism is based on the idea that the government understands your interests better than you do. There are undoubtedly cases where that assumption is correct. But on average? When children suffering from cancer are screaming in pain, are most of them just faking it? Would you want a government bureaucrat in the DEA to make that decision for you and your child’s doctor?” (08/21/23)
https://www.econlib.org/the-government-doesnt-feel-your-pain/
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22) Tracking Orwellian Change: The Aristocratic Takeover of “Transparency”
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“‘Transparency’ was one of America’s great postwar reforms. In 1955, a Democratic congressman named John Moss from California — who served in the Navy in World War II, was nominated for office by both Democrats and Republicans, and was never defeated in any election for public office — introduced legislation that would become one of the great triumphs of late-stage American democracy. … The Freedom of Information Act gave reporters and citizens alike extraordinary power to investigate once-impenetrable executive agencies that conduct the business of government. … By 2023, the transformation of the term ‘transparency’ has advanced to a stage where the word is now commonly understood by politicians to mean the mathematical opposite of what someone like John Moss would have thought. When elite politicians and media figures speak of ‘transparency’ now, they mean giving government power to obtain ‘transparency’ into the activities of private citizens.” (08/21/23)
https://www.racket.news/p/tracking-orwellian-change-the-aristocratic
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23) My questions for the GOP candidates
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“I’ve written posts like this for past elections. I’ve compiled lists of questions that I’d like to see someone ask, usually with an emphasis on my beat — questions about issues like post-conviction law, judicial philosophy, or the proper role of police and prosecutors. This post has some of that. But it’s more about questions that, frankly, no one should need to ask. It’s testament to the clown-show-in-a-dumpster-fire era through which we’re surviving that it’s actually now necessary to ask the leading lights of the Republican Party if, for example, suspected drug smugglers should be executed without a trial. Or if they support lining the border with saw blades and razor wire to mutilate migrants. … Yet this is where we are, now. Or at least, this is where the Republican Party seems to be.” (08/21/23)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/my-questions-for-the-gop-candidates
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24) The moral panic against social media threatens rights of young people
Source: Orange County Register
by Doris Morgan Rueda
“In the wake of remote learning’s increased screen time and the rise of anti-LGBTQ legislation, predominately conservative lawmakers have been raising a new round of moral panic over young people’s mental health and their exposure to adult content. Their push for a radical new vision of internet access is rooted in political fears about youth and social media, and threatens decades of free speech protections. There is a long history of moral panics around youth and the popular technology of their eras. The Victorians worried that bicycles enabled teens and unmarried adults to avoid chaperones …. For Cold War parents, comic books symbolized the rise of the violent and crazed juvenile delinquent and sparked a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigation. These panics were less a reaction to reality, but rather, they represented cyclical anxieties of generational segregation and control over young people.” (08/21/23)
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/08/21/doris-morgan-rueda-the-moral-panic-against-social-media-threatens-rights-of-young-people/
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25) The Return of Country Protest Songs
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“It’s not a shock to find this particular moment producing protest songs; it just offends some journalists that a few of those songs come from the right, backed by twangy guitars. It’s tempting to over-parse protest art if you disagree with its messaging. It’s easy enough to point out that a song misstates policies, overlooks flaws on its own side, is logically inconsistent, or whatever. But musical protest represents an expression of anger and, potentially, a peek at what matters to a segment of society. The fact that these songs are finding large audiences is an indication that they tap into popular sentiment. That matters whether or not anybody else agrees with that sentiment. People act on what matters to them, not on what others think should matter or even on what makes sense.” (08/21/23)
https://reason.com/2023/08/21/the-return-of-country-protest-songs/
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26) Cutting US Aid to Israel Doesn’t Go Nearly Far Enough
Source: The Nation
by Tariq Kenney-Shawa
“For decades, unconditional support of Israel represented a rare source of elite consensus in US politics. That era is coming to an end. As the most far-right government in Israel’s history uproots its own institutions in order to further disenfranchise Palestinians and entrench Jewish supremacy, support for Palestinians in their struggle for liberation is on the rise. For the first time ever, polling shows Democrats saying they sympathize more with Palestinians (49 percent) than with Israelis (38 percent), and younger generations across the political spectrum are becoming increasingly pro-Palestinian. One area of the debate in particular is seeing an unexpected convergence of once-diametrically opposed voices: calls to condition or cut US military aid to Israel.” (08/21/23)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/united-states-cutting-israel-aid-not-enough/
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27) On Being Manichae-ish
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“While we should always try to take on others’ perspectives and acknowledge those perspectives as facets of a greater truth, we should not jettison good and evil.” (08/21/23)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/on-being-manichae-ish
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28) A Martyr for Free Speech: Helmuth Hubener
Source: Students For Liberty
by Paul Meany
“Today, 62% of Americans have political views they are afraid to share. Despite the extensive legal protections for freedom of speech in America. I worry the attitude and spirit of freedom will decay despite legal guarantees. To remedy this, I believe it is important to learn about the example of Helmuth Hubener, a German teenager who defied the Nazi regime and became a martyr for freedom. Alongside his friends, he spoke out when a minuscule number would. Despite the danger and futility of resisting the Nazi regime at the time, his conscience urged him to speak out. Most of us are not in such danger, yet we make copious excuses for why we do not speak out against injustices.” (08/21/23)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/a-martyr-for-free-speech-helmuth-hubener/
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29) Americans Are More Propagandized Than Chinese People
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The US government is far more abusive, destructive and tyrannical than the Chinese government and Americans are far more indoctrinated by propaganda than Chinese people. Americans don’t even know they’re continually ingesting US empire propaganda to inform their worldview, and they live under the most abusive regime on earth. There’s this weird propaganda two-step being performed where westerners are being told over and over and over again that Chinese people live in a freakish backwards mind-controlled dystopia, but somehow we westerners do not. … ‘Chinese people live in a freakish backwards mind-controlled dystopia where dissenting thought is crushed and everyone’s brainwashed by propaganda.’ ‘Oh yeah? How do you know?’ ‘Come on man, it’s all over the news all day every day!'” [editor’s note: Then there are certain Australians who are more indoctrinated by propaganda than either … – TLK] (08/21/23)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2023/08/21/americans-are-more-propagandized-than-chinese-people-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/
-----
30) The disqualification of Donald Trump and other legal urban legends
Source; The Hill
by Jonathan Turley
“The popularity of urban legends is a testament to the will to believe. The desire of people to keep Elvis alive or prove that a Sasquatch could exist furtively in our backyards shows the resilience of fables. Constitutional urban legends often have an even more immediate appeal and tend to arise out of the desperation of divided times. One of the most popular today is that former President Donald Trump can be barred from office, even if he is not convicted in any of the four indictments he faces, under a long-dormant clause of the 14th Amendment. This 14th Amendment theory is something that good liberals will read to their children at night. It goes something like this: Donald Trump can never be president again, because the 14th Amendment bars those who previously took federal oaths from assuming office if they engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” (08/21/23)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4158573-the-disqualification-of-donald-trump-and-other-legal-urban-legends/
-----
31) Why Are US Tax Dollars Still Flowing to Animal Testing Labs in China?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
“In May, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) did something extraordinary. The agency quietly scrubbed the Wuhan Institute of Virology from its list of pre-approved labs that can receive U.S. tax dollars to conduct animal testing. The Wuhan lab is, of course, noteworthy because an abundance of evidence suggests it’s likely the source of SARS-CoV-2. That the Wuhan lab was receiving millions of dollars from the NIH to conduct risky research on coronaviruses helps explain why the U.S. government worked so hard to convince people that COVID-19 was of natural origin. … There’s a dark, Frankenstein-like aspect to researchers who’d use such ethically compromised practices to advance humanity’s fortunes in the name of science.” (08/21/23)
https://fee.org/articles/why-are-us-tax-dollars-still-flowing-to-animal-testing-labs-in-china/
-----
32) In Evidence
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In yesterday’s Washington Post, fact-checker Glenn Kessler explained, per the headline: ‘How Republicans overhype the findings of their Hunter Biden probe.’ He has a point. For example, the official House committee staff carefully stated that they had ‘identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources to the Biden family and their business associates.’ But Committee Chairman Comer turned that into: ‘The Biden family received over $20 million from our enemies around the world.’ The whole $20M+ didn’t go to the Biden Crime Family. Kessler’s analysis puts that number at merely $7.5 million. I guess this is why gang members sometimes turn on each other.” (08/21/23)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2023/08/21/in-evidence/
-----
33) US Leads the World in Millionaires, but Wealth Not Trickling Down
Source: Common Dreams
by Sam Pizzigati
“Five-star hotels. So yesterday. Today’s super rich, The Wall Street Journalreports, are picking palatial luxury villas over swanky suites when they need a quick pick-me-up. Italy, France, and Greece currently offer the widest array of villa options, but Portugal seems to be catching up fast. So many options! How can our deepest pockets find the right one? A ‘high-end travel consultant,’ the Robb Report on luxury living points out, can identify just the perfect villa vacation. The cost for joining the circle that can access one top consultant’s advice: $25,000 in annual fees on top of a $150,000 joining fee. The cost of actually renting a high-end villa? The realtor agency Oliver’s Travels was offering at one point this summer three dozen villas renting for over $130,000 a week. How many people on our Earth today can afford to put down, without batting an eye, that sort of cash?” (08/21/23)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/millionaires-in-us
-----
34) The Coming Collapse of the Global Ponzi Scheme
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith
“It won’t be long before governments around the world, including the one in Washington, self-destruct. Strong words, but anything less would be naive. As economist Herbert Stein once said, ‘If something cannot go on forever, it has a tendency to stop.’ Case in point: fiat money political regimes. Interventionist economies of the West are in a fatal downward spiral, comparable to that of the Roman Empire in the second century, burdened with unsustainable debt and the antiprosperity policies of governments, especially the Green New Deal.” (08/21/23)
https://mises.org/wire/coming-collapse-global-ponzi-scheme
-----
35) Americans Vote Too Much
Source: The Atlantic
by Jerusalem Demsas
“Americans are used to pundits and civic leaders shaming them for low-turnout elections, as if they had failed a test of civic character. Voters are apathetic, parties don’t bother with the hard work of mobilization, and candidates are boring — or so the story goes. But this argument gets the problem exactly backwards. In America, voters don’t do too little; the system demands too much. We have too many elections, for too many offices, on too many days. We have turned the role of citizen into a full-time, unpaid job. Disinterest is the predictable, even rational response.” (08/21/23)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/american-election-frequency-voter-turnout/675054/
-----
36) Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“A Ponzi scheme involves investors, who are induced to invest in a particular product on the promise of a large return on their investment, say, 25% after one year. At the end of the year, when that 25% return is due to be paid, there is insufficient money to pay off the investors because the organizers of the scheme have spent the money on themselves. So, they use the money from new investors to pay off the old investors. This process goes on and on until one day new investors cannot be found. … That’s not the way Social Security operates. There are no investments when it comes to Social Security. That is, no one invests his money in the Social Security system. … Social Security is nothing more than a welfare program, one that is no different in principle than, say, food stamps.” (08/21/23)
https://www.fff.org/2023/08/21/social-security-is-not-a-ponzi-scheme/
-----
37) Actually, Joe, All Your “Objectives” Were Failures
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“Joe Biden in one of his now accustomed angry ‘get off my grass’ moods dared the press to find just one of his policies/objectives that has not worked. Silence followed. Perhaps it was polite to say nothing, given even the media knows almost every enacted Biden policy has failed. Here is a summation of what he should instead apologize for: Biden in late summer 2021 sought a 20th anniversary celebration of 9/11 and the 2001 subsequent invasion of Afghanistan. He wished to be the landmark president that yanked everyone out of Afghanistan after 20 years in country. But the result was the greatest military humiliation of the United States since the flight from Vietnam in 1975.” [editor’s note: The “military humiliations” were the losses of the wars, not the withdrawals – TLK] (08/21/23)
https://amgreatness.com/2023/08/21/actually-joe-all-your-objectives-were-failures/
-----
38) Saudi sportswashing stonewalls the Senate
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ben Freeman
“Late Wednesday, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent a letter admonishing the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for refusing to testify before — or provide documents to — the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Investigations, which is looking into the proposed merger of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour that is being bankrolled by the PIF. Blumenthal, who chairs the committee, did not mince words about the Saudi regime’s lack of transparency. ‘PIF cannot have it both ways: if it wants to engage with the United States commercially, it must be subject to United States law and oversight,’ the Democratic senator wrote. … What are the Saudis trying to hide? While we might not know the full extent for some time, when two PGA Tour officials testified before Blumenthal’s committee last month we learned of at least one goal of this Saudi sports-grab: censorship.” (08/21/23)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/08/21/saudi-sportswashing-stonewalls-the-senate/
-----
39) Quantum Vibe, 08/21/23
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (08/21/23)
https://quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2433
-----
40) None of the above
Source: Washington Post
Cartoon. (08/21/23)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/21/michael-ramirez-cartoon-political-party-choices/
-----
41) Gringo Go Home! Puerto Rico Is Not for Sale!
Source: The American Prospect
by Pedro Caban
“During the height of U.S. intervention and CIA meddling in Latin America, anti-imperialist protesters cried out ‘Gringo go home’ and ‘Yankee go home.’ But now these derogatory terms are plastered on walls in Puerto Rico, figure prominently on social media, are written on placards, appear on murals, and are regularly chanted at protest marches. It’s ironic that Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, want to expel the ‘Yankees,’ meaning other, typically white U.S. citizens from the mainland who have migrated to the archipelago in pursuit of lucrative, and exclusive, financial opportunities. The unexpected Puerto Rican antipathy to Yankee investors evolved gradually. In 2012, Gov. Luis Fortuno, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP), approved two controversial laws: Act 20 and Act 22 (consolidated into Act 60 in 2019).” (08/21/23)
https://prospect.org/power/2023-08-21-gringo-go-home-puerto-rico-not-for-sale/
-----
42) The Case for Zombie Reaganites
Source: Law & Liberty
by Rachel Lu
“I’ve been waiting a long time for the Zombie-Reaganite apocalypse. … it seems clear that a horde of walking dead can sometimes be the best fix for a dysfunctional political party. Happily, a window to this option opened this summer with the release of the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles. For the most part, this is a restatement of classically liberal principles that were once utterly uncontroversial among conservatives. Two or three decades ago, it would have felt ridiculous to lay these out in a dramatic, flag-planting gesture. … the New Right, as a movement, drew most of its start-up energy from fission, not fusion. It encouraged traditionalists to see classical liberalism not as a valued part of the conservative coalition, but as the genetic weakness in the old alliance that prevented culture warriors from reaching their goals.” (08/21/23)
https://lawliberty.org/the-case-for-zombie-reaganites/
-----
43) Pakistan Events Confirm that Washington Prefers Compliant Autocrats Over Feisty Democrats
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“All signs indicated that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the most popular political leader in Pakistan. Yet the country’s military worked behind the scenes to remove him from power through a cash-lubricated parliamentary vote. Subsequently, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and a 5-year ban on involvement in politics for alleged misuse of campaign contributions. That outcome is ironic. Veteran diplomat Craig Murray contends that ‘Imran Khan is almost certainly the least corrupt senior politician in Pakistan’s history.’ And given the long-standing, massive corruption in that country, he likely is correct.” (08/21/23)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2023/08/20/pakistan-events-confirm-that-washington-prefers-compliant-autocrats-over-feisty-democrats/
-----
44) The natural affinity between evil and bureaucracy
Source: spiked
by Brendan O’Neill
“Every detail of Lucy Letby’s mass murder of innocents at the Countess of Chester Hospital is bone-chilling. Her calmness as she poisoned the feeblest individuals in society: frail babies on a neonatal ward. The insatiable urge she seemed to feel for the destruction of blameless life: in one month alone – June 2015 – she murdered three babies and attempted to murder a fourth. She was found guilty of seven murders in total, and six attempted murders. … there is another detail that I found particularly chilling. It was a thing that happened not on the life-saving ward that Ms Letby turned into a death-giving hell, but in the dustless, no doubt jargon-filled offices of the hospital’s managers. It was there, in January 2017, 18 months after Letby began her monstrous campaign of infanticide, that the decision was taken to instruct the doctors who suspected her of killing babies to apologise to her.” (08/21/23)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/08/21/the-natural-affinity-between-evil-and-bureaucracy/
-----
45) Five indications Joe Biden will not run in 2024
Source: Fox News
by Jason Chaffetz
“Standing before a New Mexico audience recently, President Biden unintelligibly joked that, ‘I hibernated a while – all, you know, in Iowa for a while.’ It’s not clear what he meant by that, but hibernating is an apt descriptor of the Biden 2024 re-election campaign. Though Biden was mocked for seemingly campaigning from his basement in 2020, this summer he appears to be campaigning from the beach. That’s where he spent the weekend while Maui burned, and serious presidential contenders drummed up support at the Iowa State Fair. That’s just one of several indicators that Biden may not be planning to see his name on a ballot next year. Though Biden has begun hiring fundraisers for the 2024 campaign, his operation is a tiny skeleton crew of staffers working exclusively out of his home state of Delaware.” (08/21/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/5-indications-joe-biden-not-run-2024
-----
46) The Free Market Should be a Weapon Against the Rich
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, time and time again, the One Percent has dragged the rest of us to the edge of one abyss after another and they have learned absolutely nothing. If anything, they’ve gotten worse, exploiting every new crisis they provoke with another industrial complex that shakes us down for pocket change while they sodomize their cousins and bleach their assholes. It’s little wonder that class warfare has never been more popular. In fact, it’s become downright mainstream with even the Republicans getting in on the outrage. … it doesn’t take Antonio Gramsci to realize that this is just another work.” (08/20/23)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-free-market-should-be-weapon.html
-----
47) Trump’s pre-trial “testimony”
Source: The Hill
by Glenn C Altschuler
“Former President Donald Trump is the defendant in a slew of civil and criminal cases. The most serious charges against him include mishandling classified documents, obstructing justice, making false claims and engaging in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This week, a grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others for participating in a criminal enterprise to change the outcome of the election in Georgia. In response to these allegations, most of which rely on evidence presented by members of his own administration or Republicans who endorsed his reelection, the former president has launched personal attacks and portrayed himself as a victim and a martyr. This pre-trial ‘testimony’ reveals a lot about his temperament, his character and his priorities for a second term in the White House.” (08/20/23)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4159350-trumps-pre-trial-testimony/
-----
48) The Crucifixion of Julian Assange
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
by Chris Hedges
“Imperial powers do not forgive those who make public the sordid and immoral inner workings of Empire. Empires are fragile constructions. Their power is as much one of perception as of military strength. The virtues they claim to uphold and defend, usually in the name of their superior civilization, are a mask for pillage, corruption, lies, the exploitation of cheap labor, indiscriminate mass violence against innocents and state terror. The current American Empire, damaged and humiliated by troves of internal documents published by WikiLeaks, will, for this reason, persecute Julian for the rest of his life. It does not matter who is president or which political party is in power. Imperialists speak with one despotic voice. Julian, for this reason, is undergoing a slow-motion execution.” (08/20/23)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-crucifixion-of-julian-assange
-----
49) Meet the Left [sic] YouTubers Blowing Up the Alt-Right Pipeline
Source: In These Times
by Armand D Jackson, Ivonne Ortiz & Xuandi Wang
“If you are worried about whether the kids are alright, you should be. The Right has inundated social media with accessible misinformation, to put it charitably — and social media is exactly where teens spend half their waking hours, according to independent research group Common Sense. From disgraced psychologist Jordan Peterson’s bigotry masquerading as self-empowerment to media hubs like PragerU spoon-feeding rightwing talking points through brightly colored videos, it’s easy to lose one’s bearings, which is exactly by design. A 2018 study from the nonprofit Data & Society confirms this radicalization effect happening on social media, where recommendation algorithms gently lead viewers from one video to the next, heading down what’s become known as the ’alt-Right pipeline.’ Enter ‘BreadTube,’ also called ‘LeftTube,’ which has emerged to reroute that pipeline.” (08/21/23)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/breadtube-lefttube-youtube-olayemi-olurin-contrapoints-fabsocialism-hakim-midwestern-marx-natalie-wynn-altright-pipeline
-----
50) Adam Smith Provided a Moral Foundation for Workers’ Freedoms
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by staff
“There is abject silliness to occupational licensing requirements. Some people make colorable (though not undisputed) arguments for licensing high-skill, high-risk professions such as physicians. Most restrictions, though, do little besides benefitting established labor interests at the expense of workers and consumers. No public-policy or economic catastrophe will follow the repeal of licensing requirements for beauticians, bartenders, ‘temporary wrestler[s],’ or many other regulated professions. Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations eloquently raises the question of workforce restrictions, which conveys the very essence of free-market economics and natural-rights theory. ‘The property which every man has in his own labor, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable,’ Smith argues.” (08/20/23)
https://www.aier.org/article/adam-smith-provided-a-moral-foundation-for-workers-freedoms/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 08/21/23
Source: Reason
“The Argentine Libertarian Dog-Friendly Darling?” (08/21/23)
https://reason.com/podcast/2023/08/21/the-argentine-libertarian-dog-friendly-darling/
-----
52) EconTalk, 08/21/23
Source: EconTalk
“Walter Russell Mead on Innovation, Religion, and the State of the World.” (08/21/23)
https://www.econtalk.org/walter-russell-mead-on-innovation-religion-and-the-state-of-the-world/
-----
53) What Then Must We Do?, 08/21/23
Source: What Then Must We Do?
"Happy Susan's Still Alive Day!!!" (08/21/23)
https://whatthenmustwedo.buzzsprout.com/756260/13445507-happy-susan-s-still-alive-day
-----
54) Rising, 08/21/23
Source: The Hill
“Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave discuss updates on the war in Ukraine.” (08/21/23)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4162366-rising-august-21-2023/
-----
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 461
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Biden Throws Ukrainians Into the Meatgrinder to ‘Weaken’ Russia.” (08/21/23)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-461-biden-throws-ukrainians-into-the-meatgrinder-to-weaken-russia/
-----
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 08/21/23
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“I’ve spent many happy hours watching The Office purely for entertainment. Cody Cook says the popular sitcom about office politics can also teach us a lot about raw democracy.” (08/21/23)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-755dn-1486e55
-----
57) Finding Freedom, episode 399
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Fight Back Against ATF Gun Grabbers with Cody Wisniewski.” (08/21/23)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/fight-back-against-atf-gun-grabbers-with-cody-wisniewski
-----
58) Parallel Society Podcast, 08/21/23
Source: Freeman’s Perspective
“Post-Primate Society, Part 4.” (08/21/23)
https://freemansperspective.com/podcast-post-primate-society-part-4/
-----
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/21/23
Source: Antiwar.com
“US ‘Fears’ Ukraine Is Too ‘Casualty Averse,’ Niger Junta Holds Talks With ECOWAS, and More.” (08/21/23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVR2dfGo9Xo
-----
60) Free Talk Live, 08/20/23
Source: Free Talk Live
“Will Supercomputer Block the Sun? :: Dick Bigger loves to have politicians sign his balls :: Texas School District Threatens to Seize 79-Year-Old Man’s Home for Stadium Parking Lot :: Data or Data? :: The weirdness of language :: Sarah and the 15 minute city :: 2023-08-20 Captain Kickass, Off-Grid Angie, Steve Classic.” (08/20/23)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=c24789650c09d349560caec76bca51de
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Today's Freedom News:
1) South Africa: BRICS regime reps meet as bloc weighs expansion
2) Ukraine war: Major Russian airports closed as Moscow apartments hit in drone strike
3) Guatemala: Loser remains silent, indicating possible challenge to Arevalo presidential victory
4) Canada: Trudeau whines over results of his failed Facebook extortion attempt
5) Syria: Protests rock regime-held areas as economy crumbles
6) France: Regime puts four departments on red alert for Tuesday as country is gripped by heatwave
7) Chinese rover maps 1,000 feet of hidden “structures” deep below the dark side of the moon
8) GA: Sheriff resigns after pleading guilty to groping celebrity judge
9) UK: Police drop probe against King’s charity
10) Thailand: Pheu Thai party joins with pro-military parties in coalition to form new regime
11) Nigeria: Tinubu swears in 45-member cabinet with a promise to fast-track reforms
12) Pentagon announces new $1.5 billion corporate welfare feed to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
13) Spanish FA president apologises for kissing Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s World Cup win
14) Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits Athens to attend meeting of Balkan leaders with top EU officials
15) X will require Blue users to send selfie, data to Israeli software company
16) After admitting pandemic was over months ago, Biden regime to renew push for Americans to get COVID-19 boosters
17) Goldman Sachs weighs sale of part of its wealth business
18) Disgraced former president runs and hides from GOP nomination opponents
19) State legislators move to ban Chinese land ownership
20) Somalia: Regime Bans TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet, Citing “Horrific” Content, “Misinformation”
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The government doesn’t feel your pain
22) Tracking Orwellian Change: The Aristocratic Takeover of “Transparency”
23) My questions for the GOP candidates
24) The moral panic against social media threatens rights of young people
25) The Return of Country Protest Songs
26) Cutting US Aid to Israel Doesn’t Go Nearly Far Enough
27) On Being Manichae-ish
28) A Martyr for Free Speech: Helmuth Hubener
29) Americans Are More Propagandized Than Chinese People
30) The disqualification of Donald Trump and other legal urban legends
31) Why Are US Tax Dollars Still Flowing to Animal Testing Labs in China?
32) In Evidence
33) US Leads the World in Millionaires, but Wealth Not Trickling Down
34) The Coming Collapse of the Global Ponzi Scheme
35) Americans Vote Too Much
36) Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme
37) Actually, Joe, All Your “Objectives” Were Failures
38) Saudi sportswashing stonewalls the Senate
39) Quantum Vibe, 08/21/23
40) None of the above
41) Gringo Go Home! Puerto Rico Is Not for Sale!
42) The Case for Zombie Reaganites
43) Pakistan Events Confirm that Washington Prefers Compliant Autocrats Over Feisty Democrats
44) The natural affinity between evil and bureaucracy
45) Five indications Joe Biden will not run in 2024
46) The Free Market Should be a Weapon Against the Rich
47) Trump’s pre-trial “testimony”
48) The Crucifixion of Julian Assange
49) Meet the Left [sic] YouTubers Blowing Up the Alt-Right Pipeline
50) Adam Smith Provided a Moral Foundation for Workers’ Freedoms
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 08/21/23
52) EconTalk, 08/21/23
53) What Then Must We Do?, 08/21/23
54) Rising, 08/21/23
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 461
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 08/21/23
57) Finding Freedom, episode 399
58) Parallel Society Podcast, 08/21/23
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/21/23
60) Free Talk Live, 08/20/23
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) South Africa: BRICS regime reps meet as bloc weighs expansion
Source: Reuters
“Leaders of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge it into a counterweight to the West. … South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted China’s Xi Jinping, the leading proponent of enlarging BRICS, for a state visit on Tuesday morning ahead of meetings with the grouping’s other leaders later in the day. Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also attending the Aug. 22 to 24 summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin, wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not travel to South Africa and instead join virtually. … Over 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, say South African officials. Of them, nearly two dozen have formally asked to be admitted, with some expected to send delegations to Johannesburg.” (08/22/23)
https://www.reuters.com/world/brics-leaders-meet-south-africa-bloc-weighs-expansion-2023-08-22/
-----
2) Ukraine war: Major Russian airports closed as Moscow apartments hit in drone strike
Source: Independent [UK]
“Russia has again been forced to shut down its air space over the three biggest airports in Moscow, where arrivals and departures were suspended in the early hours of this morning after a swarm of Ukrainian drones reportedly hit buildings in the capital region, officials said. ‘Flights are not being received, departures are delayed’ a person aware of the situation told the Russian news agency TASS. … Russian air defence systems thwarted four nighttime Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, with the falling wreckage of one drone shattering an apartment building’s windows and damaging vehicles in Moscow’s western suburbs. There were no reports of injuries in the latest drone attacks that Russia blamed on Kyiv, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.” (08/22/23)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-putin-drone-strike-latest-b2397018.html
-----
3) Guatemala: Loser remains silent, indicating possible challenge to Arevalo presidential victory
Source: Associated Press
“Guatemalans overwhelmingly picked an independent progressive to be the country’s next president but his opponent remained silent Monday, leaving open the possibility of a challenge to landslide results that resoundingly rejected the country’s elite. With 100% of votes counted, anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo got 58% of the vote to 37% for former first lady Sandra Torres in her third bid for the presidency. The results still have to be certified to become official. Torres made no public statements in the hours after her loss …. Her party released a brief statement late Sunday that gave no indication about whether it would challenge the results. In the statement, the National Unity of Hope party said that it would take a ‘definitive position when the results are clarified with total transparency,’ and was disappointed that international observers had not reviewed irregularities, without being specific.” (08/21/23)
https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-bernardo-arevalo-election-11fb8f0983bfdc5e2382764df8618aee
-----
4) Canada: Trudeau whines over results of his failed Facebook extortion attempt
Source: US News & World Report
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Facebook on Monday of putting profits over people’s safety during the emergencies created by Canada’s record wildfire season. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this summer it would keep its promise to block news content from Canada on its platforms because of a new law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. … The company, which is headquartered in Northern California, stood by its decision and said in a statement about the wildfires that people in Canada can continue to use Instagram and Facebook ‘to connect with their communities and access reputable information, including content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations.'” (08/21/23)
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2023-08-21/prime-minister-justin-trudeau-slams-facebook-for-blocking-canada-wildfire-news
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5) Syria: Protests rock regime-held areas as economy crumbles
Source: ABC News
“Protests spread Monday in two government-held provinces in southern Syria amid widespread anger over increasing prices, the crash of the Syrian pound and the dwindling purchasing power of many people in the war-torn country, opposition activists said. The rare protests are still limited to southern Syria and are far from government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast, the capital Damascus and the largest cities, including Aleppo and Homs. The protests came a week after Syrian President Bashar Assad issued two decrees doubling public sector wages and pensions, sparking inflation and compounding economic woes for others.” (08/21/23)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/protests-rock-government-held-areas-southern-syria-economy-102419368
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6) France: Regime puts four departments on red alert for Tuesday as country is gripped by heatwave
Source: euronews [EU]
“Four French administrative regions have issued red alerts from Noon on Tuesday as a heat wave grips the country. The public has been ordered to be on the highest level of vigilance in the departments of Drome, Ardeche, Rhone and Haute-Loire. In addition, 49 other departments will be on orange alert on Tuesday.” [editor’s note: “Highest level of vigilance?” Are they supposed to stand near thermometers and call the police if a certain temperature is reached or something? – TLK] (08/21/23)
https://www.euronews.com/2023/08/21/france-puts-four-departments-on-red-alert-for-tuesday-as-country-is-gripped-by-heatwave
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7) Chinese rover maps 1,000 feet of hidden “structures” deep below the dark side of the moon
Source: Space.com
“Since it first landed in 2018, China’s Chang’e-4 — the first spacecraft to ever land on the far side of the moon — has been taking stunning panoramas of impact craters and sampling minerals from the moon’s mantle. Now, the spacecraft has enabled scientists to visualize the layer cake of structures that comprise the upper 1,000 feet (300 meters) of the moon’s surface in finer detail than ever before. Their results, which were published Aug. 7 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, reveal billions of years of previously hidden lunar history. A rover that traveled aboard Chang’e-4, named Yutu-2, is equipped with a technology called Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR). This device enables the rover to send radio signals deep into the moon’s surface, said lead study author Jianqing Feng, an astrogeological researcher at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.” (08/21/23)
https://www.space.com/china-moon-rover-maps-hidden-structures
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8) GA: Sheriff resigns after pleading guilty to groping celebrity judge
Source: Yahoo! News
“A Georgia sheriff has resigned effective immediately after he pleaded guilty to groping Judge Glenda Hatchett. Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was inside the courtroom Monday when Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody entered the plea to sexual battery charge. … An arrest warrant alleged that Coody grabbed Hatchett’s chest at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Bar while attending the Georgia Sheriffs Association’s winter meeting in January 2022.” (08/21/23)
https://news.yahoo.com/georgia-sheriff-pleads-guilty-groping-135803834.html
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9) UK: Police drop probe against King’s charity
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“British police dropped on Monday an 18-month investigation into one of King Charles III’s charities, after media reports suggested that a Saudi businessman was offered honors after making donations to the charity. … In 2021, British media alleged that people associated with Charles'[s] Prince’s Trust offered to help a Saudi billionaire secure honors and citizenship in return for donations. The man, tycoon Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, had donated large sums to restoration projects of particular interest to Charles. The head of the foundation, Michael Fawcett, resigned shortly afterward, after an internal investigation into the allegations. … Charles set up The Prince’s Fund in the 1970s to help vulnerable youths get their lives back on track, helping with things such as job search. However, in recent years, several of the king’s charities have come under scrutiny, facing accusations of accepting donations from dubious figures.” (08/21/23)
https://www.dw.com/en/british-police-drop-probe-against-king-charles-charity/a-66589764
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10) Thailand: Pheu Thai party joins with pro-military parties in coalition to form new regime
Source: Associated Press
“Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai party announced Monday that it plans to form a new government with an 11-party coalition that includes two pro-military parties affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Parliament is expected to confirm the country’s 30th prime minister on Tuesday after a three-month stalemate following elections in May. Pheu Thai leader Chonlanan Srikaew said the coalition partners have agreed to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin as the new leader. Pheu Thai finished second in the elections but received a chance to form a government after members of the conservative unelected Senate repeatedly blocked the surprise winner, the progressive Move Forward Party.” (08/21/23)
https://apnews.com/article/thailand-pheu-thai-coalition-military-parties-b6d3076f3b237fade491bc6c7ba32856
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11) Nigeria: Tinubu swears in 45-member cabinet with a promise to fast-track reforms
Source: SFGate
“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in 45 ministers nearly three months after his election, promising that his government will accelerate its development agenda. The Cabinet is intended to help improve Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, where millions are grappling with economic hardship worsened by the new government’s policies which have had an immediate impact of further squeezing millions of poor Nigerians. At an inauguration ceremony in the capital, Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged Nigeria’s ‘daunting’ challenges and said the Cabinet brings an opportunity to implement ‘long overdue reforms.’ ‘We must hold each other responsible; we have to do the job to meet the expectations of all Nigerians,’ the president told the ministers. It is Nigeria’s largest Cabinet since the country’s return to democracy in 1999, triggering criticisms about high government expenditure despite Tinubu’s promises to cut costs.” (08/21/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/nigerian-leader-swears-in-45-member-cabinet-with-18306513.php
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12) Pentagon announces new $1.5 billion corporate welfare feed to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
Source: CNBC
“The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency on Monday awarded $1.5 billion in contracts to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for prototype communications satellites. SDA said the 72 satellites will be for the Beta variant of its Tranche 2 Transport Layer constellation, a network the U.S. military is building to provide encrypted communications through a fleet of hundreds of satellites, which it calls the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. … SDA has previously awarded contracts to build and operate satellites in its fleet to York Space, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris.” (08/21/23)
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/21/pentagon-awards-1point5-billion-to-lockheed-martin-northrop-grumman.html
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13) Spanish FA president apologises for kissing Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s World Cup win
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has apologised for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women’s World Cup. Rubiales kissed the Spain forward during the presentation ceremony following the team’s 1-0 win over England in Sunday’s final. ‘I didn’t like it,’ Hermoso said on Instagram, but a statement released later on her behalf defended Rubiales. On Monday, Rubiales said: ‘I was completely wrong, I have to admit it.’ He added: ‘It was without bad intention at a time with a lot of excitement. In the moment, we saw it as natural, but outside a commotion has formed. I have to apologise, learn from this, and understand that when you are president you have to be more careful.’ Rubiales had been criticised by some Spanish government ministers and come under fire on social media.” (08/21/23)
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66568226
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14) Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits Athens to attend meeting of Balkan leaders with top EU officials
Source: SFGate
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew to Greece on Monday for talks with the country’s leadership and to attend an informal meeting of Balkan leaders with top European Union officials. Zelenskyy met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and was scheduled to meet with the figurehead president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. In the evening, Zelenskyy was to join an informal dinner organized by Mitsotakis for top officials from nine Balkan nations, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel, Mitsotakis’ office said. The dinner was scheduled to discuss the Western Balkans region’s future in the EU, which many countries have already joined and the rest are jockeying to enter. Greece has joined its NATO and EU partners in strongly backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion and has provided military assistance in the form of armored personnel carriers and ammunition.” (08/21/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/ukraine-s-zelenskyy-visits-athens-to-attend-18306669.php
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15) X will require Blue users to send selfie, data to Israeli software company
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
“X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, will now require X Blue users to submit a selfie alongside a photo of a government-issued ID, according to a report by PC Magazine. The user’s personal information required by the verification process will be handled by Israeli company AU10TIX software which will store the information for up to 30 days. X said the data collected from a user’s profile will be used ‘for the purpose of safety and security, including preventing impersonation.’ Many X users were unhappy with the choice of the company to store user data, pointing out its employees’ links to Israeli intelligence. Others expressed their discomfort with giving a company their data when so many data breaches have been reported in the past.” (08/21/23)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/21/x-blue-users-will-need-to-send-selfie-data-to-israeli-software-company
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16) After admitting pandemic was over months ago, Biden regime to renew push for Americans to get COVID-19 boosters
Source: Fox News
“President Biden’s administration is preparing another program to encourage Americans to get booster shots for COVID-19 in the coming months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in COVID-19 infections across the U.S., though it remains far below levels seen during the pandemic. The Biden administration plans to urge Americans to get booster shots this fall, Reuters reported, citing a White House official. ‘We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,’ the official said. The news comes days after the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) revealed they are tracking another variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. The newly discovered variant, referred to as BA.2.86, has been designated as a ‘variant under monitoring’ by the WHO ‘due to the large number of mutations it carries.'” (08/21/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-renew-push-americans-get-covid-19-boosters
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17) Goldman Sachs weighs sale of part of its wealth business
Source: Reuters
“Goldman Sachs is weighing the sale of a part of its wealth business, it said on Monday, as it shifts its focus back to serving the ultra-rich and away from high-net-worth clients in mass markets. The Wall Street bank is evaluating alternatives for its registered investment adviser (RIA) unit, called Personal Financial Management (PFM), which manages about $29 billion, it said in a statement. The move comes as Goldman retreats from its consumer operations, which lost $3 billion in the last three years, and pushes ahead with a sale of its fintech business, GreenSky. Goldman bought the RIA, formerly known as United Capital Financial Partners, for $750 million in 2019 when it managed about $25 billion in funds. The purchase aimed to broaden Goldman’s client list beyond the ultra-rich, but the unit has remained a small part of the bank’s wealth business.” (08/21/23)
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/goldman-sachs-weighs-sale-part-its-wealth-business-2023-08-21/
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18) Disgraced former president runs and hides from GOP nomination opponents
Source: Politico
“Former President Donald Trump said he will not attend the first Republican primary debate scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by a Truth Social post Sunday. Trump’s decision to skip the first debate on Wednesday will leave the first showdown of Republican presidential hopefuls without the far-and-away frontrunner. ‘New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by ‘legendary’ numbers.’ Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday. ‘The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more.’ ‘I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!’ he wrote.” (08/20/23)
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/20/trump-fox-news-debates-00112017
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19) State legislators move to ban Chinese land ownership
Source: SFGate
“In Washington, the White House and federal lawmakers are pursuing ways to constrain Chinese-owned businesses like TikTok amid a bipartisan push to limit China’s reach. Now state legislators have embraced a novel, locally focused tactic aimed at China’s domestic investments: restrictions on Chinese land ownership. Lawmakers in 33 states have introduced 81 bills this year that would prohibit the Chinese government, some China-based businesses and many Chinese citizens from buying agricultural land or property near military bases, according to a Washington Post analysis of data compiled by the Asian Pacific American Justice, an advocacy group. A dozen of the bills are now law in states such Alabama, Idaho and Virginia.” (08/21/23)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/state-lawmakers-move-to-ban-chinese-land-ownership-18306431.php
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20) Somalia: Regime Bans TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet, Citing “Horrific” Content, “Misinformation”
Source: US News & World Report
“Somalia has banned TikTok, messaging app Telegram and online-betting website 1XBet to limit the spread of indecent content and propaganda, its communications minister said. ‘The minister of communications orders internet companies to stop the aforementioned applications, which terrorists and immoral groups use to spread constant horrific images and misinformation to the public,’ the minister, Jama Hassan Khalif, said in a statement late on Sunday. Members of insurgent group al Shabaab often post about their activities on TikTok and Telegram.” (08/21/23)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-08-21/somalia-bans-tiktok-telegram-and-1xbet-over-horrific-content-misinformation
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The government doesn’t feel your pain
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
“Bill Clinton famously told voters: ‘I feel your pain.’ Although I now look back on the Clinton years rather fondly, I suspect that even his strongest supporters would not view his soulful empathy as anything more than an act. The government does not feel your pain. The FDA does not feel your pain. Doctors and nurses do not feel your pain. You feel your pain. … The ideology of paternalism is based on the idea that the government understands your interests better than you do. There are undoubtedly cases where that assumption is correct. But on average? When children suffering from cancer are screaming in pain, are most of them just faking it? Would you want a government bureaucrat in the DEA to make that decision for you and your child’s doctor?” (08/21/23)
https://www.econlib.org/the-government-doesnt-feel-your-pain/
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22) Tracking Orwellian Change: The Aristocratic Takeover of “Transparency”
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“‘Transparency’ was one of America’s great postwar reforms. In 1955, a Democratic congressman named John Moss from California — who served in the Navy in World War II, was nominated for office by both Democrats and Republicans, and was never defeated in any election for public office — introduced legislation that would become one of the great triumphs of late-stage American democracy. … The Freedom of Information Act gave reporters and citizens alike extraordinary power to investigate once-impenetrable executive agencies that conduct the business of government. … By 2023, the transformation of the term ‘transparency’ has advanced to a stage where the word is now commonly understood by politicians to mean the mathematical opposite of what someone like John Moss would have thought. When elite politicians and media figures speak of ‘transparency’ now, they mean giving government power to obtain ‘transparency’ into the activities of private citizens.” (08/21/23)
https://www.racket.news/p/tracking-orwellian-change-the-aristocratic
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23) My questions for the GOP candidates
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“I’ve written posts like this for past elections. I’ve compiled lists of questions that I’d like to see someone ask, usually with an emphasis on my beat — questions about issues like post-conviction law, judicial philosophy, or the proper role of police and prosecutors. This post has some of that. But it’s more about questions that, frankly, no one should need to ask. It’s testament to the clown-show-in-a-dumpster-fire era through which we’re surviving that it’s actually now necessary to ask the leading lights of the Republican Party if, for example, suspected drug smugglers should be executed without a trial. Or if they support lining the border with saw blades and razor wire to mutilate migrants. … Yet this is where we are, now. Or at least, this is where the Republican Party seems to be.” (08/21/23)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/my-questions-for-the-gop-candidates
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24) The moral panic against social media threatens rights of young people
Source: Orange County Register
by Doris Morgan Rueda
“In the wake of remote learning’s increased screen time and the rise of anti-LGBTQ legislation, predominately conservative lawmakers have been raising a new round of moral panic over young people’s mental health and their exposure to adult content. Their push for a radical new vision of internet access is rooted in political fears about youth and social media, and threatens decades of free speech protections. There is a long history of moral panics around youth and the popular technology of their eras. The Victorians worried that bicycles enabled teens and unmarried adults to avoid chaperones …. For Cold War parents, comic books symbolized the rise of the violent and crazed juvenile delinquent and sparked a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigation. These panics were less a reaction to reality, but rather, they represented cyclical anxieties of generational segregation and control over young people.” (08/21/23)
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/08/21/doris-morgan-rueda-the-moral-panic-against-social-media-threatens-rights-of-young-people/
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25) The Return of Country Protest Songs
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“It’s not a shock to find this particular moment producing protest songs; it just offends some journalists that a few of those songs come from the right, backed by twangy guitars. It’s tempting to over-parse protest art if you disagree with its messaging. It’s easy enough to point out that a song misstates policies, overlooks flaws on its own side, is logically inconsistent, or whatever. But musical protest represents an expression of anger and, potentially, a peek at what matters to a segment of society. The fact that these songs are finding large audiences is an indication that they tap into popular sentiment. That matters whether or not anybody else agrees with that sentiment. People act on what matters to them, not on what others think should matter or even on what makes sense.” (08/21/23)
https://reason.com/2023/08/21/the-return-of-country-protest-songs/
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26) Cutting US Aid to Israel Doesn’t Go Nearly Far Enough
Source: The Nation
by Tariq Kenney-Shawa
“For decades, unconditional support of Israel represented a rare source of elite consensus in US politics. That era is coming to an end. As the most far-right government in Israel’s history uproots its own institutions in order to further disenfranchise Palestinians and entrench Jewish supremacy, support for Palestinians in their struggle for liberation is on the rise. For the first time ever, polling shows Democrats saying they sympathize more with Palestinians (49 percent) than with Israelis (38 percent), and younger generations across the political spectrum are becoming increasingly pro-Palestinian. One area of the debate in particular is seeing an unexpected convergence of once-diametrically opposed voices: calls to condition or cut US military aid to Israel.” (08/21/23)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/united-states-cutting-israel-aid-not-enough/
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27) On Being Manichae-ish
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“While we should always try to take on others’ perspectives and acknowledge those perspectives as facets of a greater truth, we should not jettison good and evil.” (08/21/23)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/on-being-manichae-ish
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28) A Martyr for Free Speech: Helmuth Hubener
Source: Students For Liberty
by Paul Meany
“Today, 62% of Americans have political views they are afraid to share. Despite the extensive legal protections for freedom of speech in America. I worry the attitude and spirit of freedom will decay despite legal guarantees. To remedy this, I believe it is important to learn about the example of Helmuth Hubener, a German teenager who defied the Nazi regime and became a martyr for freedom. Alongside his friends, he spoke out when a minuscule number would. Despite the danger and futility of resisting the Nazi regime at the time, his conscience urged him to speak out. Most of us are not in such danger, yet we make copious excuses for why we do not speak out against injustices.” (08/21/23)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/a-martyr-for-free-speech-helmuth-hubener/
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29) Americans Are More Propagandized Than Chinese People
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The US government is far more abusive, destructive and tyrannical than the Chinese government and Americans are far more indoctrinated by propaganda than Chinese people. Americans don’t even know they’re continually ingesting US empire propaganda to inform their worldview, and they live under the most abusive regime on earth. There’s this weird propaganda two-step being performed where westerners are being told over and over and over again that Chinese people live in a freakish backwards mind-controlled dystopia, but somehow we westerners do not. … ‘Chinese people live in a freakish backwards mind-controlled dystopia where dissenting thought is crushed and everyone’s brainwashed by propaganda.’ ‘Oh yeah? How do you know?’ ‘Come on man, it’s all over the news all day every day!'” [editor’s note: Then there are certain Australians who are more indoctrinated by propaganda than either … – TLK] (08/21/23)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2023/08/21/americans-are-more-propagandized-than-chinese-people-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/
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30) The disqualification of Donald Trump and other legal urban legends
Source; The Hill
by Jonathan Turley
“The popularity of urban legends is a testament to the will to believe. The desire of people to keep Elvis alive or prove that a Sasquatch could exist furtively in our backyards shows the resilience of fables. Constitutional urban legends often have an even more immediate appeal and tend to arise out of the desperation of divided times. One of the most popular today is that former President Donald Trump can be barred from office, even if he is not convicted in any of the four indictments he faces, under a long-dormant clause of the 14th Amendment. This 14th Amendment theory is something that good liberals will read to their children at night. It goes something like this: Donald Trump can never be president again, because the 14th Amendment bars those who previously took federal oaths from assuming office if they engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” (08/21/23)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4158573-the-disqualification-of-donald-trump-and-other-legal-urban-legends/
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31) Why Are US Tax Dollars Still Flowing to Animal Testing Labs in China?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
“In May, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) did something extraordinary. The agency quietly scrubbed the Wuhan Institute of Virology from its list of pre-approved labs that can receive U.S. tax dollars to conduct animal testing. The Wuhan lab is, of course, noteworthy because an abundance of evidence suggests it’s likely the source of SARS-CoV-2. That the Wuhan lab was receiving millions of dollars from the NIH to conduct risky research on coronaviruses helps explain why the U.S. government worked so hard to convince people that COVID-19 was of natural origin. … There’s a dark, Frankenstein-like aspect to researchers who’d use such ethically compromised practices to advance humanity’s fortunes in the name of science.” (08/21/23)
https://fee.org/articles/why-are-us-tax-dollars-still-flowing-to-animal-testing-labs-in-china/
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32) In Evidence
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In yesterday’s Washington Post, fact-checker Glenn Kessler explained, per the headline: ‘How Republicans overhype the findings of their Hunter Biden probe.’ He has a point. For example, the official House committee staff carefully stated that they had ‘identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources to the Biden family and their business associates.’ But Committee Chairman Comer turned that into: ‘The Biden family received over $20 million from our enemies around the world.’ The whole $20M+ didn’t go to the Biden Crime Family. Kessler’s analysis puts that number at merely $7.5 million. I guess this is why gang members sometimes turn on each other.” (08/21/23)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2023/08/21/in-evidence/
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33) US Leads the World in Millionaires, but Wealth Not Trickling Down
Source: Common Dreams
by Sam Pizzigati
“Five-star hotels. So yesterday. Today’s super rich, The Wall Street Journalreports, are picking palatial luxury villas over swanky suites when they need a quick pick-me-up. Italy, France, and Greece currently offer the widest array of villa options, but Portugal seems to be catching up fast. So many options! How can our deepest pockets find the right one? A ‘high-end travel consultant,’ the Robb Report on luxury living points out, can identify just the perfect villa vacation. The cost for joining the circle that can access one top consultant’s advice: $25,000 in annual fees on top of a $150,000 joining fee. The cost of actually renting a high-end villa? The realtor agency Oliver’s Travels was offering at one point this summer three dozen villas renting for over $130,000 a week. How many people on our Earth today can afford to put down, without batting an eye, that sort of cash?” (08/21/23)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/millionaires-in-us
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34) The Coming Collapse of the Global Ponzi Scheme
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith
“It won’t be long before governments around the world, including the one in Washington, self-destruct. Strong words, but anything less would be naive. As economist Herbert Stein once said, ‘If something cannot go on forever, it has a tendency to stop.’ Case in point: fiat money political regimes. Interventionist economies of the West are in a fatal downward spiral, comparable to that of the Roman Empire in the second century, burdened with unsustainable debt and the antiprosperity policies of governments, especially the Green New Deal.” (08/21/23)
https://mises.org/wire/coming-collapse-global-ponzi-scheme
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35) Americans Vote Too Much
Source: The Atlantic
by Jerusalem Demsas
“Americans are used to pundits and civic leaders shaming them for low-turnout elections, as if they had failed a test of civic character. Voters are apathetic, parties don’t bother with the hard work of mobilization, and candidates are boring — or so the story goes. But this argument gets the problem exactly backwards. In America, voters don’t do too little; the system demands too much. We have too many elections, for too many offices, on too many days. We have turned the role of citizen into a full-time, unpaid job. Disinterest is the predictable, even rational response.” (08/21/23)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/american-election-frequency-voter-turnout/675054/
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36) Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“A Ponzi scheme involves investors, who are induced to invest in a particular product on the promise of a large return on their investment, say, 25% after one year. At the end of the year, when that 25% return is due to be paid, there is insufficient money to pay off the investors because the organizers of the scheme have spent the money on themselves. So, they use the money from new investors to pay off the old investors. This process goes on and on until one day new investors cannot be found. … That’s not the way Social Security operates. There are no investments when it comes to Social Security. That is, no one invests his money in the Social Security system. … Social Security is nothing more than a welfare program, one that is no different in principle than, say, food stamps.” (08/21/23)
https://www.fff.org/2023/08/21/social-security-is-not-a-ponzi-scheme/
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37) Actually, Joe, All Your “Objectives” Were Failures
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“Joe Biden in one of his now accustomed angry ‘get off my grass’ moods dared the press to find just one of his policies/objectives that has not worked. Silence followed. Perhaps it was polite to say nothing, given even the media knows almost every enacted Biden policy has failed. Here is a summation of what he should instead apologize for: Biden in late summer 2021 sought a 20th anniversary celebration of 9/11 and the 2001 subsequent invasion of Afghanistan. He wished to be the landmark president that yanked everyone out of Afghanistan after 20 years in country. But the result was the greatest military humiliation of the United States since the flight from Vietnam in 1975.” [editor’s note: The “military humiliations” were the losses of the wars, not the withdrawals – TLK] (08/21/23)
https://amgreatness.com/2023/08/21/actually-joe-all-your-objectives-were-failures/
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38) Saudi sportswashing stonewalls the Senate
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ben Freeman
“Late Wednesday, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent a letter admonishing the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for refusing to testify before — or provide documents to — the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Investigations, which is looking into the proposed merger of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour, and the DP World Tour that is being bankrolled by the PIF. Blumenthal, who chairs the committee, did not mince words about the Saudi regime’s lack of transparency. ‘PIF cannot have it both ways: if it wants to engage with the United States commercially, it must be subject to United States law and oversight,’ the Democratic senator wrote. … What are the Saudis trying to hide? While we might not know the full extent for some time, when two PGA Tour officials testified before Blumenthal’s committee last month we learned of at least one goal of this Saudi sports-grab: censorship.” (08/21/23)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/08/21/saudi-sportswashing-stonewalls-the-senate/
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39) Quantum Vibe, 08/21/23
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (08/21/23)
https://quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2433
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40) None of the above
Source: Washington Post
Cartoon. (08/21/23)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/21/michael-ramirez-cartoon-political-party-choices/
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41) Gringo Go Home! Puerto Rico Is Not for Sale!
Source: The American Prospect
by Pedro Caban
“During the height of U.S. intervention and CIA meddling in Latin America, anti-imperialist protesters cried out ‘Gringo go home’ and ‘Yankee go home.’ But now these derogatory terms are plastered on walls in Puerto Rico, figure prominently on social media, are written on placards, appear on murals, and are regularly chanted at protest marches. It’s ironic that Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, want to expel the ‘Yankees,’ meaning other, typically white U.S. citizens from the mainland who have migrated to the archipelago in pursuit of lucrative, and exclusive, financial opportunities. The unexpected Puerto Rican antipathy to Yankee investors evolved gradually. In 2012, Gov. Luis Fortuno, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP), approved two controversial laws: Act 20 and Act 22 (consolidated into Act 60 in 2019).” (08/21/23)
https://prospect.org/power/2023-08-21-gringo-go-home-puerto-rico-not-for-sale/
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42) The Case for Zombie Reaganites
Source: Law & Liberty
by Rachel Lu
“I’ve been waiting a long time for the Zombie-Reaganite apocalypse. … it seems clear that a horde of walking dead can sometimes be the best fix for a dysfunctional political party. Happily, a window to this option opened this summer with the release of the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles. For the most part, this is a restatement of classically liberal principles that were once utterly uncontroversial among conservatives. Two or three decades ago, it would have felt ridiculous to lay these out in a dramatic, flag-planting gesture. … the New Right, as a movement, drew most of its start-up energy from fission, not fusion. It encouraged traditionalists to see classical liberalism not as a valued part of the conservative coalition, but as the genetic weakness in the old alliance that prevented culture warriors from reaching their goals.” (08/21/23)
https://lawliberty.org/the-case-for-zombie-reaganites/
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43) Pakistan Events Confirm that Washington Prefers Compliant Autocrats Over Feisty Democrats
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“All signs indicated that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the most popular political leader in Pakistan. Yet the country’s military worked behind the scenes to remove him from power through a cash-lubricated parliamentary vote. Subsequently, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and a 5-year ban on involvement in politics for alleged misuse of campaign contributions. That outcome is ironic. Veteran diplomat Craig Murray contends that ‘Imran Khan is almost certainly the least corrupt senior politician in Pakistan’s history.’ And given the long-standing, massive corruption in that country, he likely is correct.” (08/21/23)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2023/08/20/pakistan-events-confirm-that-washington-prefers-compliant-autocrats-over-feisty-democrats/
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44) The natural affinity between evil and bureaucracy
Source: spiked
by Brendan O’Neill
“Every detail of Lucy Letby’s mass murder of innocents at the Countess of Chester Hospital is bone-chilling. Her calmness as she poisoned the feeblest individuals in society: frail babies on a neonatal ward. The insatiable urge she seemed to feel for the destruction of blameless life: in one month alone – June 2015 – she murdered three babies and attempted to murder a fourth. She was found guilty of seven murders in total, and six attempted murders. … there is another detail that I found particularly chilling. It was a thing that happened not on the life-saving ward that Ms Letby turned into a death-giving hell, but in the dustless, no doubt jargon-filled offices of the hospital’s managers. It was there, in January 2017, 18 months after Letby began her monstrous campaign of infanticide, that the decision was taken to instruct the doctors who suspected her of killing babies to apologise to her.” (08/21/23)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/08/21/the-natural-affinity-between-evil-and-bureaucracy/
-----
45) Five indications Joe Biden will not run in 2024
Source: Fox News
by Jason Chaffetz
“Standing before a New Mexico audience recently, President Biden unintelligibly joked that, ‘I hibernated a while – all, you know, in Iowa for a while.’ It’s not clear what he meant by that, but hibernating is an apt descriptor of the Biden 2024 re-election campaign. Though Biden was mocked for seemingly campaigning from his basement in 2020, this summer he appears to be campaigning from the beach. That’s where he spent the weekend while Maui burned, and serious presidential contenders drummed up support at the Iowa State Fair. That’s just one of several indicators that Biden may not be planning to see his name on a ballot next year. Though Biden has begun hiring fundraisers for the 2024 campaign, his operation is a tiny skeleton crew of staffers working exclusively out of his home state of Delaware.” (08/21/23)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/5-indications-joe-biden-not-run-2024
-----
46) The Free Market Should be a Weapon Against the Rich
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, time and time again, the One Percent has dragged the rest of us to the edge of one abyss after another and they have learned absolutely nothing. If anything, they’ve gotten worse, exploiting every new crisis they provoke with another industrial complex that shakes us down for pocket change while they sodomize their cousins and bleach their assholes. It’s little wonder that class warfare has never been more popular. In fact, it’s become downright mainstream with even the Republicans getting in on the outrage. … it doesn’t take Antonio Gramsci to realize that this is just another work.” (08/20/23)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-free-market-should-be-weapon.html
-----
47) Trump’s pre-trial “testimony”
Source: The Hill
by Glenn C Altschuler
“Former President Donald Trump is the defendant in a slew of civil and criminal cases. The most serious charges against him include mishandling classified documents, obstructing justice, making false claims and engaging in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This week, a grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others for participating in a criminal enterprise to change the outcome of the election in Georgia. In response to these allegations, most of which rely on evidence presented by members of his own administration or Republicans who endorsed his reelection, the former president has launched personal attacks and portrayed himself as a victim and a martyr. This pre-trial ‘testimony’ reveals a lot about his temperament, his character and his priorities for a second term in the White House.” (08/20/23)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4159350-trumps-pre-trial-testimony/
-----
48) The Crucifixion of Julian Assange
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
by Chris Hedges
“Imperial powers do not forgive those who make public the sordid and immoral inner workings of Empire. Empires are fragile constructions. Their power is as much one of perception as of military strength. The virtues they claim to uphold and defend, usually in the name of their superior civilization, are a mask for pillage, corruption, lies, the exploitation of cheap labor, indiscriminate mass violence against innocents and state terror. The current American Empire, damaged and humiliated by troves of internal documents published by WikiLeaks, will, for this reason, persecute Julian for the rest of his life. It does not matter who is president or which political party is in power. Imperialists speak with one despotic voice. Julian, for this reason, is undergoing a slow-motion execution.” (08/20/23)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-crucifixion-of-julian-assange
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49) Meet the Left [sic] YouTubers Blowing Up the Alt-Right Pipeline
Source: In These Times
by Armand D Jackson, Ivonne Ortiz & Xuandi Wang
“If you are worried about whether the kids are alright, you should be. The Right has inundated social media with accessible misinformation, to put it charitably — and social media is exactly where teens spend half their waking hours, according to independent research group Common Sense. From disgraced psychologist Jordan Peterson’s bigotry masquerading as self-empowerment to media hubs like PragerU spoon-feeding rightwing talking points through brightly colored videos, it’s easy to lose one’s bearings, which is exactly by design. A 2018 study from the nonprofit Data & Society confirms this radicalization effect happening on social media, where recommendation algorithms gently lead viewers from one video to the next, heading down what’s become known as the ’alt-Right pipeline.’ Enter ‘BreadTube,’ also called ‘LeftTube,’ which has emerged to reroute that pipeline.” (08/21/23)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/breadtube-lefttube-youtube-olayemi-olurin-contrapoints-fabsocialism-hakim-midwestern-marx-natalie-wynn-altright-pipeline
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50) Adam Smith Provided a Moral Foundation for Workers’ Freedoms
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by staff
“There is abject silliness to occupational licensing requirements. Some people make colorable (though not undisputed) arguments for licensing high-skill, high-risk professions such as physicians. Most restrictions, though, do little besides benefitting established labor interests at the expense of workers and consumers. No public-policy or economic catastrophe will follow the repeal of licensing requirements for beauticians, bartenders, ‘temporary wrestler[s],’ or many other regulated professions. Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations eloquently raises the question of workforce restrictions, which conveys the very essence of free-market economics and natural-rights theory. ‘The property which every man has in his own labor, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable,’ Smith argues.” (08/20/23)
https://www.aier.org/article/adam-smith-provided-a-moral-foundation-for-workers-freedoms/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 08/21/23
Source: Reason
“The Argentine Libertarian Dog-Friendly Darling?” (08/21/23)
https://reason.com/podcast/2023/08/21/the-argentine-libertarian-dog-friendly-darling/
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52) EconTalk, 08/21/23
Source: EconTalk
“Walter Russell Mead on Innovation, Religion, and the State of the World.” (08/21/23)
https://www.econtalk.org/walter-russell-mead-on-innovation-religion-and-the-state-of-the-world/
-----
53) What Then Must We Do?, 08/21/23
Source: What Then Must We Do?
"Happy Susan's Still Alive Day!!!" (08/21/23)
https://whatthenmustwedo.buzzsprout.com/756260/13445507-happy-susan-s-still-alive-day
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54) Rising, 08/21/23
Source: The Hill
“Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave discuss updates on the war in Ukraine.” (08/21/23)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4162366-rising-august-21-2023/
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55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 461
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Biden Throws Ukrainians Into the Meatgrinder to ‘Weaken’ Russia.” (08/21/23)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-461-biden-throws-ukrainians-into-the-meatgrinder-to-weaken-russia/
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56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 08/21/23
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“I’ve spent many happy hours watching The Office purely for entertainment. Cody Cook says the popular sitcom about office politics can also teach us a lot about raw democracy.” (08/21/23)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-755dn-1486e55
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57) Finding Freedom, episode 399
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Fight Back Against ATF Gun Grabbers with Cody Wisniewski.” (08/21/23)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/fight-back-against-atf-gun-grabbers-with-cody-wisniewski
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58) Parallel Society Podcast, 08/21/23
Source: Freeman’s Perspective
“Post-Primate Society, Part 4.” (08/21/23)
https://freemansperspective.com/podcast-post-primate-society-part-4/
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59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 08/21/23
Source: Antiwar.com
“US ‘Fears’ Ukraine Is Too ‘Casualty Averse,’ Niger Junta Holds Talks With ECOWAS, and More.” (08/21/23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVR2dfGo9Xo
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60) Free Talk Live, 08/20/23
Source: Free Talk Live
“Will Supercomputer Block the Sun? :: Dick Bigger loves to have politicians sign his balls :: Texas School District Threatens to Seize 79-Year-Old Man’s Home for Stadium Parking Lot :: Data or Data? :: The weirdness of language :: Sarah and the 15 minute city :: 2023-08-20 Captain Kickass, Off-Grid Angie, Steve Classic.” (08/20/23)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=c24789650c09d349560caec76bca51de
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