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05/13 -- Rush of diplomatic calls follow Trump's offer to join potential Russia-Ukraine talks; Trump's Mega-Blink on China Tariffs
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Thomas L. Knapp
May 13, 2025, 6:25:30 AMMay 13
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 05/13/25
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Presented by the Liberty International
https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Rush of diplomatic calls follow Trump’s offer to join potential Russia-Ukraine talks
2) Trump signs executive order to impose price controls on drugs
3) Edan Alexander, US-Israeli POW, released after more than 19 months in captivity, Hamas says
4) Federal judge won’t block Trump’s plan to ensure fewer immigrants pay taxes
5) US, Chinese regimes slash tariffs
6) Poland: Regime to close Russian consulate in Kraków over Warsaw fire
7) Russia: Prosecutor Seeks Six Years in Jail for Independent Election Monitor
8) UK: Power outage disrupts London’s subway network in the afternoon rush hour
9) Prosecutor tells jury at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial that he treated women violently
10) Trump defends plan to use Qatari luxury jet for Air Force One
11) Argentina: Dozens of boxes of Nazi materials found in court basement
12) CA: ICE raids have “overwhelmed” coastal communities
13) First group of Afrikaners granted refugee status are on their way to the US
14) UK: Starmer promises migration drop as he unveils plans for “tightened” visa rules
15) Burkina Faso: Army, militias killed 130 members of ethnic group, HRW says
16) CA: Newsom urges cities and counties to ban homeless encampments
17) Gold falls over 2% as US and China strike tariff deal
18) Turkey: PKK Says It Will End Conflict With Regime
19) Webb Space Telescope captures bright auroras on Jupiter
20) Trump fires top US copyright official
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Trump’s Mega-Blink on China Tariffs
22) Turkey: A Rogue US Ally’s Territorial Conquests
23) The Stupidest “Red Line”
24) A violent cop’s plea deal could undermine justice in Los Angeles
25) Is that guy with a gun an ICE officer — or just a guy with a gun?
26) Yes, Republicans Should Absolutely Raise Taxes On The Rich
27) When the Tiger Drank Next to the Cow
28) Don’t Call This Conservatism
29) Multiple Western Press Outlets Have Suddenly Pivoted Hard Against Israel
30) Virginia Association of 1769: A Step Toward Continental Unity
31) Fetterman, Whitmer feel wrath of Dems for common-sense moves
32) Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes: Can It Be Done?
33) How Technology Fuels Awakening, And Punishes Dissent
34) How Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s Perverse Pardons Undermined the Rule of Law
35) US Trade Policy is a Humanitarian and Geopolitical Disaster
36) When Social Media Obscures Truth
37) Defunding PBS and NPR could make them even worse [sic]
38) Eighty Years After WWII Ended, Some Europeans Forget Who the Bad Guys Were
39) “Terrorism?” Israel has weaponized the charge for decades
40) Quantum Vibe, 05/12/25
41) Sinister Dark Money Is Consuming US Democracy
42) The Rare Earth Wars
43) The Great Rail Robbery
44) The Illusion of American Generosity
45) Biden’s term of anarchy [sic] left Democrats with a whole lot to answer for
46) Russian Treasure
47) The Postliberal Delusion that Trump will Restore Gods Allegedly Destroyed by the Open Society
48) RFK Jr.’s War on Neurodiversity is a War on Individualism
49) The Big Beautiful Bill Is Hanging by a Thread
50) Our Purpose Isn’t Efficiency
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 05/12/25
52) Politicks Podcast, episode 1
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 797
54) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 05/12/25
55) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 05/12/25
56) EconTalk, 05/12/25
57) Fountainhead Forum, episode 308
58) The Opinions, 05/12/25
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/12/25
60) Joseph Solis-Mullen on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Rush of diplomatic calls follow Trump’s offer to join potential Russia-Ukraine talks
Source: Reuters
“U.S. and European diplomats went on a flurry of calls in the hours after U.S. President Donald Trump offered on Monday to join prospective Ukraine-Russia talks later this week …. Trump’s surprise offer to join the talks on Thursday in Istanbul came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a fresh twist to the stop-start peace talks process, said he would travel Turkey and wait to meet President Vladimir Putin there. … It remained unclear who would travel from Moscow to Istanbul to take part in the direct talks, which would be the first between the two sides since the early days of the war that Russia launched with its invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. There has been no response from the Kremlin to Zelenskiy’s offer to meet Putin in Istanbul and Moscow was yet to comment on Trump’s offer to join the talks.” (05/13/25)
https://archive.is/StuaR
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2) Trump signs executive order to impose price controls on drugs
Source: NBC News
“President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Monday that aims to cut prescription drug costs in the U.S. by aligning what the government [and the private sector] pays for certain medications to the prices paid in other countries. … Most notably, officials said the policy will not be limited to certain drugs under Medicare, as it was in original version, but will also target medications covered by Medicaid and private insurance. … The Food and Drug Administration will also consider expanding the importation of prescription drugs from countries beyond Canada, where prices are often cheaper than in the U.S, officials said, and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will be directed to act against ‘anti-competitive’ actions by drugmakers that they say keep drug prices high.” (05/12/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-executive-order-prescription-drugs-price-match-rcna206218
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3) Edan Alexander, US-Israeli POW, released after more than 19 months in captivity, Hamas says
Source: CBS News
“Hamas said it had released Edan Alexander, believed to be the last living U.S. citizen held [prisoner of war] in Gaza, Monday as President Trump departed Washington for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Israel Defense Forces said a [POW] had been transferred to the Red Cross and was being transported to the IDF in Gaza. … Alexander, who is now 21, grew up in New Jersey before moving to Israel, where he was serving in the Israeli military on Oct. 7, 2023 when he was [taken prisoner] during the Hamas-orchestrated attack that sparked the war in Gaza.” (05/12/25)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/edan-alexander-us-israeli-hostage-released-hamas-after-more-than-19-months-captivity/
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4) Federal judge won’t block Trump’s plan to ensure fewer immigrants pay taxes
Source: CNN
“A federal judge won’t block a controversial Trump administration initiative to share highly sensitive taxpayer information with federal immigration authorities in hopes of tracking down undocumented immigrants and quickly deporting them out of the country. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Monday rejected arguments from several immigrant-rights groups, that claimed the data-sharing agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated taxpayer confidentiality laws. … The data-sharing deal allows DHS, which oversees ICE, to ask the IRS to confirm home addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants who are suspected of defying deportation orders. The deal was pushed through in early April over the objections of several top career IRS officials, who refused to sign it because of legal concerns.” (05/13/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/judge-wont-block-irs-data-sharing-track-undocumented-migrants
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5) US, Chinese regimes slash tariffs
Source: Politico
“The United States and China have agreed to slash punitive tariffs against each other in a major deescalation of Donald Trump’s trade war that sent stock markets sharply higher on Monday. The U.S. will cut tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent, while the Chinese side will drop measures from 125 percent to 10 percent. The suspension is temporary for now, lasting 90 days, allowing time for further negotiations.” (05/12/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-china-cut-tariffs-dramatically-donald-trump-trade-war/
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6) Poland: Regime to close Russian consulate in Kraków over Warsaw fire
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Poland has said it will close down the Russian consulate in Kraków, after authorities in Warsaw announced they had found evidence proving Russia’s intelligence services were behind a huge fire that destroyed a shopping centre in the Polish capital last year. … The fire, in May last year, damaged about 1,400 shops and service outlets, Polish authorities said. [Foreign minister Radosław] Sikorski said Poland would take further action if similar attacks occurred. Polish and other European intelligence services believe Russia is orchestrating a campaign of sabotage attacks in Europe, with some targets linked to the war in Ukraine but others picked at random with the aim of sowing chaos. Investigators have also linked Russia to arson attacks in Lithuania and the UK.” (05/12/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/12/poland-to-close-russian-consulate-krakow-warsaw-shopping-centre-fire
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7) Russia: Prosecutor Seeks Six Years in Jail for Independent Election Monitor
Source: US News & World Report
“A Russian prosecutor on Monday requested six years in prison for Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of an independent monitoring group that has criticised the conduct of Russian elections. Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023, accused of organising the work of an ‘undesirable organisation.’ He has pleaded innocent at his trial. Prosecutor Ekaterina Frolova demanded that Melkonyants be given the maximum prison term and banned from public activity for 10 years. The defence said investigators had failed to prove their case. … Melkonyants is co-chair of the Golos monitoring group which first angered the authorities by publicising evidence of what it said was fraud in a 2011 parliamentary election that sparked opposition protests, and then in the presidential vote that returned President Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012.” (05/12/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-05-12/russian-prosecutor-seeks-6-years-in-prison-for-independent-election-monitor
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8) UK: Power outage disrupts London’s subway network in the afternoon rush hour
Source: SFGate
“Multiple lines on the London Underground network were suspended or disrupted Monday because of a power outage, the British capital’s transport authority said. The Transport for London website showed that at least three subway lines were suspended due to a power failure, and there were severe delays and partial suspensions on at least six other lines during the Monday afternoon rush hour. The transport authority said it was working with the National Grid to determine the cause of the outage. ‘Due to a brief interruption of the power supply to our network, several lines lost power for a short period earlier this afternoon,’ said Claire Mann, TfL’s chief operating officer in a statement. ‘We are working to get the whole network up and running again as quickly as possible,’ she added. The National Grid said there was a ‘fault’ on its transmission network in central London and that it was ‘resolved within seconds.'” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/london-subway-network-disrupted-because-of-20322887.php
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9) Prosecutor tells jury at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial that he treated women violently
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“The public knew Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but behind the scenes, he was coercing women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and using violence to keep them in line, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday during opening statements in Combs’[s] sex trafficking trial. … Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could land him in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted on all charges. He has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest in September. Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but was not illegal. Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters, then kept them in line through violence.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/05/12/sexual-misconduct-diddy-trial-start/
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10) Trump defends plan to use Qatari luxury jet for Air Force One
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“US President Donald Trump has defended the White House plan to possibly receive a luxury jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar to be used as America’s Air Force One presidential plane. ‘They’re giving us a gift,’ Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, adding that he would be ‘a stupid person’ if he did not accept it. In an earlier statement, a Qatari spokesman described the claim that the plane would be a gift as ‘inaccurate.’ He said the transfer of an aircraft for ‘temporary use’ was under discussion between the two countries. … According to CBS News, the plane would be donated to Trump’s presidential library at the end of his term.” (05/12/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5ell3gkxvo
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11) Argentina: Dozens of boxes of Nazi materials found in court basement
Source: CNN
“Dozens of boxes of Nazi material confiscated by Argentinean authorities during World War II were recently rediscovered in the Supreme Court’s basement, the court said on Sunday. The 83 boxes were sent by the Germany embassy in Tokyo to Argentina in June 1941 aboard the Japanese steamship ‘Nan-a-Maru,’ according to the history that the court was able to piece together, it said in a statement. At the time, the large shipment drew the attention of authorities, who feared its contents could affect Argentina’s neutrality in the war. … It was not immediately clear why the items were sent to Argentina or what, if any, action the Supreme Court took at the time. Eighty-four years later, court staffers came across the boxes as they prepared for a Supreme Court museum.” (05/12/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/americas/argentina-supreme-court-nazi-materials-scli-intl
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12) CA: ICE raids have “overwhelmed” coastal communities
Source: SFGate
“After a lull in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on California’s Central Coast, a rash of raids has reportedly swept through San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties over the past week. One notable arrest over the weekend left two children unattended after a man was taken from a gas station by what appeared to be a group of ICE agents. 805 UndocuFund, a collaborative nonprofit group that brings together immigrant-serving Central Coast organizations, reported what appeared to be a planned ICE arrest at the Sinclair gas station at 1050 South Ventura Road in Oxnard. Juan Conches, a gas station attendant, was an apparent witness, and recalled the arrest in Spanish for 805 UndocuFund’s Instagram account in a May 5 post.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/ice-raids-overwhelm-california-communities-20319412.php
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13) First group of Afrikaners granted refugee status are on their way to the US
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“A group of 49 white Afrikaners who have been given refugee status by the Trump administration departed South Africa Sunday night on a charter flight paid for by the U.S. government, and will be arriving at Dulles airport on Monday. The Afrikaners, descendants of mainly Dutch colonists, were seen at the airport in Johannesburg with trolleys full of suitcases, but declined to speak to the media. They are expected to give a press conference upon arrival in the United States., where they will be greeted by U.S. officials. … The resettlement effort comes after President Trump signed an executive order in February claiming minority Afrikaners were being unfairly treated in South Africa, and offering them possible resettlement in the U.S. Trump also cut off aid to South Africa, which has been in his crosshairs since he returned to office for its DEI policies and support of the Palestinians.” (05/12/25)
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395067/first-group-afrikaner-refugees-arrive
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14) UK: Starmer promises migration drop as he unveils plans for “tightened” visa rules
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Sir Keir Starmer has promised the government’s new immigration measures will mean net migration falls ‘significantly’ over the next four years. The prime minister unveiled plans to ban recruitment of care workers from overseas, tighten access to skilled worker visas and raise the costs to employers in an effort to curb near record net migration. He did not set a precise target, but the Home Office estimated the policies could lead to a 100,000 drop in immigration per year by 2029 – based on analysis of just eight of the core policies where ‘a quantitative assessment’ could be made. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘This is nowhere near the scale of the change we need to see.’ Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.” (05/12/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wgrv7pwrzo
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15) Burkina Faso: Army, militias killed 130 members of ethnic group, HRW says
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“At least 130 civilians belonging to the Fulani ethnic group were killed by Burkina Faso’s army and allied militias near the western town of Solenzo in March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. The killings took place amid a major weeks-long military campaign by special forces that resulted in ‘widespread civilian deaths and massive displacement’ of the Fulani pastoralist community in the region, the rights group said in a report on Monday. It added that an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group called the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) then carried out a series of retaliatory attacks, hitting villages that the armed group perceived as having assisted the military.” (05/12/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/12/burkina-faso-army-militias-killed-130-members-of-ethnic-group-hrw-says
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16) CA: Newsom urges cities and counties to ban homeless encampments
Source: SFGate
“Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged California cities to clear homeless encampments, escalating once again his efforts to address an intractable issue of his time in office: the makeshift tent camps that line underpasses, parks and local streets up and down the state. Newsom’s administration drafted a local law that counties, cities and towns can directly adopt or modify to achieve the Democratic governor’s goals. He’s also releasing $3.3 billion in voter-approved funds to expand housing and treatment options for homeless residents.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/gov-gavin-newsom-urges-california-cities-and-20322910.php
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17) Gold falls over 2% as US and China strike tariff deal
Source: Reuters
“Safe-haven gold fell more than 2% on Monday as risk sentiment crept in following the announcement of a temporary deal between the United States and China to reduce tariffs. Spot gold was down 2.6% at $3,237.04 an ounce, as of 1132 ET (15:32 GMT). Bullion, considered a hedge against economic and geopolitical turmoil, hit a record high of $3,500.05 last month amid increased tariff uncertainty. U.S. gold futures shed 3.1% to $3,241.70.” (05/12/25)
https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/gold-falls-positive-us-china-talks-erode-safe-haven-appeal-2025-05-12/
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18) Turkey: PKK Says It Will End Conflict With Regime
Source: New York Times
“A Kurdish group that has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades said on Monday that it would lay down its arms and end the conflict, a decision that could reverberate across neighboring countries. The announcement by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its Kurdish acronym, P.K.K., came a few months after its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, urged the group to disarm and disband. In his February message, he said the P.K.K.’s armed struggle had outlived its initial purpose. The P.K.K. began as a secessionist group that sought to create an independent state for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. More recently, it has said that it sought greater rights for Kurds inside Turkey.” (05/12/25)
https://archive.is/635EF
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19) Webb Space Telescope captures bright auroras on Jupiter
Source: SFGate
“Jupiter’s dazzling auroras are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth, new images from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal. The solar system’s largest planet displays striking dancing lights when high-energy particles from space collide with atoms of gas in the atmosphere near its magnetic poles, similar to how the northern lights are triggered on Earth. But Jupiter’s version has much greater intensity, according to an international team of scientists who analyzed the photos from Webb taken on Christmas in 2023. Webb previously captured Neptune’s glowing auroras in the best detail yet, many decades after they were first faintly detected during a flyby of the Voyager 2 spacecraft.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/bright-auroras-on-jupiter-are-captured-by-webb-20322935.php
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20) Trump fires top US copyright official
Source: Axios
“The Trump administration fired the top U.S. copyright official, days after removing the Librarian of Congress who appointed her. Politico first reported that Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter’s removal Saturday came soon after her office issued a report on artificial intelligence that raised concerns about using copyrighted works to train AI, an industry outgoing DOGE leader Elon Musk is involved in via his startup xAI. Musk last month responded to a call on X to ‘delete all IP [intellectual property] law’ by saying: ‘I agree.'” (05/12/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/trump-administration-fires-top-us-copyright-official
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Trump’s Mega-Blink on China Tariffs
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Trump steadfastly maintained that high tariffs and economic protectionism are good things in and of themselves. If that’s true, then why is he now backtracking by suspending them? Reason One: The advocates of free trade have absolutely decimated the Trumpsters’ arguments in favor of tariffs and economic protectionism. … Reason Two: Trump had to know that his tariffs and trade wars were already wreaking massive economic devastation, especially among small business owners in America. … Reason Three: Trump’s tariffs and trade wars caused sharp drops in the stock market and the bond market. … Reason Four: In retaliation for Trump’s tariffs and trade war, China imposed strict controls on the export of rare earth minerals, which are needed by the Pentagon for its enormous war machine.” (05/12/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/05/12/trumps-mega-blink-on-china-tariffs/
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22) Turkey: A Rogue US Ally’s Territorial Conquests
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“We often hear U.S. and NATO spokesmen claim that they believe in a rules-based international order. They don’t. The United States and its NATO allies have stressed repeatedly that Russia’s use of force to seize portions of Ukraine is reprehensible. … NATO’s hypocrisy on the issue of one country seizing another country’s territory by force is breathtaking. NATO as an entity committed the same offense when it bombed Serbia to compel Belgrade to relinquish control of its province of Kosovo in 1999. Moreover, a NATO member, Turkey, has committed blatant acts of aggression against three neighbors, Cyprus, Iraq, and Syria, to secure illicit territorial gains. NATO as an alliance, and the United States as NATO’s leading power, have tolerated Ankara’s rogue behavior, even as they express utter indignation at Moscow’s similar conduct.” (05/12/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2025/05/11/turkey-a-us-rogue-allys-territorial-conquests/
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23) The Stupidest “Red Line”
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“The president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff reconfirmed the administration’s extreme position on the nuclear issue. He said this in an interview with Breitbart: ‘An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment.’ … The U.S. acts as if it it is negotiating the terms of a surrender after a major defeat, but Iran doesn’t consider itself to have been defeated. Washington wants to dictate terms as if the U.S. were the conqueror, but it hasn’t conquered anything and it shouldn’t try. The diplomatic solution has been there for the taking all along, just as it was when Biden was president. The administration has to be willing to swallow its pride and accept something more or less like the original nuclear deal, or it will end up with nothing.” (05/12/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-stupidest-red-line
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24) A violent cop’s plea deal could undermine justice in Los Angeles
Source: Orange County Register
by Mike Fox
“Earlier this year, a jury found Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Trevor Kirk guilty of felony deprivation of rights by use of excessive force. As explained in a subsequent press release, Deputy Kirk overreacted when a woman recorded an arrest he was executing: Kirk attempted to grab her phone, threw her face-first on the ground, pressed his knee into her neck, threatened to punch her, and pepper-sprayed her twice in the face. Kirk then used his department-issued radio to give a misleading account of the incident, stating he was in a fight. But Kirk’s punishment is uncertain. … Kirk’s conviction could have led to a prison sentence of as much as ten years, but [Trump appointed interim US Attorny Billy] Essayli is now asking the court to set aside the jury’s verdict and replace it with a unicorn a post-conviction plea deal.” (05/12/25)
https://archive.is/EttY6
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25) Is that guy with a gun an ICE officer — or just a guy with a gun?
Source: Washington Post
by Philip Bump
“We’ve already seen numerous examples this year of civilians pretending to be immigration agents in order to coerce or intimidate other people. In an environment where any guy on the street could turn out to be part of an ICE or Homeland Security sting operation, such impersonations become trivially easy. But even if this weren’t a country flooded with guns and a long history of vigilantism, unidentified federal agents would be a problem precisely because they are less likely to face accountability for their actions.” [editor’s note: Even if that guy IS an “ICE officer,” he’s still just a guy with a gun. Or, to be more precise, a thug with a gun attempting to kidnap people – TLK] (05/12/25)
https://archive.is/2u9NR
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26) Yes, Republicans Should Absolutely Raise Taxes On The Rich
Source: Town Hall
by Scott Morefield
“Democrats don’t have a lot of talking points that resonate with a majority of Americans anymore. Oddly enough, ‘We’re going to trans your kids’ doesn’t quite ring the same to ordinary parents as it does to the blue hairs. People care about the environment, but going back to the Stone Age, when China and India kept polluting the planet on a massive scale, it seems a bit much. And while most people don’t want to make every abortion in every situation illegal, late-term and partial birth procedures seem a bit murdery for most anyone except the most committed Commies. But one consistent talking point they do have, and have had for decades, is the contention that rich people should pay more taxes.” (05/12/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/scottmorefield/2025/05/12/yes-its-time-for-republicans-to-raise-taxes-on-the-rich-n2656897
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27) When the Tiger Drank Next to the Cow
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“Just when you realize you’re being pulled into the Zeitgeist of Acrimony, that’s the time to practice as if you were a monk in the meditation forest.” (05/12/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/when-the-tiger-drank-next-to-the
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28) Don’t Call This Conservatism
Source: The Dispatch
by Jonah Goldberg
“Is the ‘New Right’ conservative? If you spend any time following the most vocal defenders of Donald Trump or various populist causes generally, some version of this question may have occurred to you. If you find yourself listening to defenders of a supposedly extreme right-wing Republican president’s signature policies, and then wondering aloud, ‘Wait, I thought conservatives were in favor of free markets?’ you have an idea of what I am getting at. If you’re perplexed by the way many on the right celebrate and lionize a rogue’s gallery of libertines, scapegraces, sybarites, caitiffs, roues, abusers, and cads, you might wonder why you didn’t get the memo explaining that the right no longer cares about ‘moral rearmament,’ or ‘family values.’ In short, if you’re a lifelong conservative, you might be struggling with the question of whether ‘the right’ is where you belong.” (05/12/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/conservative-right-wing-terms-history-maga/
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29) Multiple Western Press Outlets Have Suddenly Pivoted Hard Against Israel
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“After a year and a half of genocidal atrocities, the editorial boards of numerous British press outlets have suddenly come out hard against Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza. The first drop of rain came last week from The Financial Times in a piece by the editorial board titled ‘The west’s shameful silence on Gaza,’ which denounces the US and Europe for having ‘issued barely a word of condemnation’ of their ally’s criminality, saying they ‘should be ashamed of their silence, and stop enabling Netanyahu to act with impunity.’ Then came The Economist with a piece titled ‘The war in Gaza must end,’ which argues that Trump should pressure the Netanyahu regime for a ceasefire …” (05/12/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/05/12/multiple-western-press-outlets-have-suddenly-pivoted-hard-against-israel/
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30) Virginia Association of 1769: A Step Toward Continental Unity
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Mike Maharrey
“In May 1769, Virginia took a decisive step beyond carefully worded protests by launching an organized and strategic boycott against British goods. Led by George Washington and George Mason, the Virginia Association adapted northern resistance models to fit local circumstances and laid critical groundwork for revolutionary unity and economic self-reliance. The Association became part of a growing and coordinated colonial response to the Townshend Acts – a series of laws that imposed new taxes on imported paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea, and expanded the British government’s power to fight smuggling. While historians often focus on resistance in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York during the early years of the American Revolution, Virginia’s actions were crucial threads in the broader fabric of unified colonial resistance to British government overreach.” (05/12/25)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2025/05/12/virginia-association-of-1769-a-step-toward-continental-unity/
-----
31) Fetterman, Whitmer feel wrath of Dems for common-sense moves
Source: Boston Herald
by staff
“‘Never take sides against the family’ — that’s the creed of the Corleone family in ‘The Godfather’ … and of the Democratic Party today. And Sen. John Fetterman is their Fredo. Not because of incompetence on his part, but Fetterman is being blasted for betraying ‘the family’ by his collegiality with President Trump. Fetterman has broken with his party on some policy issues and was the first Senate Democrat to meet with Trump after he was elected, despite slamming him on the campaign trail. ‘I haven’t changed my core values throughout out all this,’ the Pennsylvania senator told KDKA-AM radio in Pittsburgh. But, he said, engaging with Republicans is ‘one of the reasons why they elected me, they wanted me to do these things.’ ‘Engaging with Republicans’ is Democratic heresy these days. And Dems are working overtime to take Fetterman down.” (05/11/25)
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/05/11/editorial-fetterman-whitmer-feel-wrath-of-dems-for-common-sense-moves/
-----
32) Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes: Can It Be Done?
Source: CounterPunch
by Ellen Brown
“In February, President Trump said that tariffs would generate so much income that Americans would no longer need [sic] to pay income taxes. The latest plan, according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is to abolish income taxes for people who earn less than $150,000 yearly. … can tariffs and DOGE replace income taxes? If not, how else could the government fund itself? Is a growing debt bubble that is now carrying a $1.2 trillion interest tab, which must continue to expand just to sustain itself, the only alternative?” [editor’s note: No, it’s not “the only alternative.” The government could eliminate taxation, seek donations, and live within its means. The real question people like Brown really pose with pieces like this is “is there a way for the politicians to spend as much as they want on whatever they want in perpetuity with this specific tax policy, because anything else is unthinkable?” That’s a question not worth considering – TLK] (05/12/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/12/trumps-proposal-to-eliminate-income-taxes-can-it-be-done/
-----
33) How Technology Fuels Awakening, And Punishes Dissent
Source: Common Dreams
by Saleema Gul
“In the shadows of immigration raids, bipartisan backing for what many now call thea U.S.-Israeli genocide in Gaza, campus crackdowns, and detention centers holding even lawful permanent residents, a new reality is emerging: digital footprints now determine your fate — and political dissent is punished more swiftly than violence. Hannah and Aurélien once believed in the American dream. But they left in protest of what they came to see as the American nightmare. In an age of always-on surveillance and algorithmic profiling, dissent is no longer about what you do — it’s about what you signal. And for many, what you signal online can determine whether you’re allowed or welcome to stay. The same platforms exposing Israel’s genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza are also turning social networks into risks — where silence can sting, but speaking out can cost jobs, visas, friends, or even safety.” (05/12/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/technology-gaza-awakening-control
-----
34) How Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s Perverse Pardons Undermined the Rule of Law
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“During his 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden said he would ‘broadly use his clemency power’ to address ‘unduly long sentences for certain non-violent and drug crimes.’ … During his 2024 presidential run, Donald Trump said he would free Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who had received a life sentence for creating a website that connected drug buyers with drug sellers. … Like Biden, Trump kept his promise …. Anyone who questions long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders should recognize these actions as appropriate uses of presidential clemency, aimed at mitigating injustices caused by draconian criminal laws. But Biden and Trump also showed that presidents can abuse clemency in service of their personal interests.” (for publication 06/25)
https://reason.com/2025/05/12/biden-and-trumps-perverse-pardons-undermine-the-rule-of-law/
-----
35) US Trade Policy is a Humanitarian and Geopolitical Disaster
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“Trump’s tariffs killed the US’s soft power, leaving a geopolitical vacuum into which US rivals like China will expand.” (05/12/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/us-trade-policy-is-a-humanitarian-and-geopolitical-disaster/
-----
36) When Social Media Obscures Truth
Source: Law & Liberty
by Tori Tinsley
“The Digital Revolution may distort public discourse, but it is up to individuals — not the government — to think for themselves.” (05/12/25)
https://lawliberty.org/when-social-media-obscures-truth/
-----
37) Defunding PBS and NPR could make them even worse [sic]
Source: Fox News
by Howard Husock
“President Donald Trump has now made good on his threat to defund public media — to cut off the $535 million a year that public radio and television receive from the federal government. He’s not wrong that, too often, they’ve been vehicles for biased journalism — both by commission (all diversity and ‘reproductive choice’ stories all the time) or omission (not covering the Hunter Biden laptop story). But as satisfying as it might be to zero out the budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — where I once served on the board of directors and tried to warn my colleagues about the threat that liberal bias posed — Trump’s move could backfire. PBS and NPR could emerge both financially stronger and insulated from public accountability.” [editor’s note: No more “insulated from public accountability” than any other for-profit or non-profit enterprise – TLK] (05/12/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/defunding-pbs-npr-could-make-them-even-worse
-----
38) Eighty Years After WWII Ended, Some Europeans Forget Who the Bad Guys Were
Source: The Bulwark
by Dalibor Rohac
“It should be uncontroversial to say that both Hitler’s and Stalin’s regimes were unconscionably evil. It should be especially unremarkable to say so in free countries that were victimized by both during and after World War II. Yet, as the world commemorated the eightieth anniversary of the war’s end, a strange confusion reigned in parts of Eastern Europe about who the real bad guys had been back then — and about who they were today. Insisting that Slovakia was ‘liberated’ by the Soviets, Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, is the only EU and Western leader who traveled to Moscow to commemorate the end of World War II in the company of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Brazil’s Lula da Silva on May 9. … Unfortunately, Fico’s Soviet apologism is not unique to Slovakia.” (05/12/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/80-years-after-wwii-europe-klaus-fico-orban-czech-slovakia-hungary-putin-moscow-parade
-----
39) “Terrorism?” Israel has weaponized the charge for decades
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Josh Paul
“What do human rights activists in Jerusalem, humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, and college students in New York all have in common according to Israel and its influence network? They all purportedly have links to terrorism. Although such accusations are often baseless, they are frequently used to besmirch and undercut those who are unwilling to do Israel’s bidding. Although this is a tactic very much on display today, it is one I first came across while serving with the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC) in the West Bank, when a similar pattern of accusations and complaints from Israel, as documented in a report that has not been previously disclosed, threatened to wreck what was, back then in 2008, already a tenuous peace process in the West Bank.” (05/12/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-terrorism/
-----
40) Quantum Vibe, 05/12/25
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (05/12/25)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2535
-----
41) Sinister Dark Money Is Consuming US Democracy
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Daniel I Weiner
“Every day brings a new story about the outsized role of private wealth in American politics. Elon Musk slashing and burning his way through federal agencies. Billionaire campaign donors like Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon running cabinet departments. Other Trump patrons reportedly shaping policy on everything from crypto to the Middle East. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, a small group of major donors is organizing to fund the party’s 2026 push to retake Congress. And these are only the donors we know about. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision ushered in the era of ‘dark money’ — ballooning campaign spending by groups that do not disclose their funding sources. Today the Brennan Center published a study by the journalist Anna Massoglia. She found that dark money groups spent almost $2 billion on the 2024 election, roughly double the total spent in 2020.” (05/12/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dark-money-2024-election-2671936944
-----
42) The Rare Earth Wars
Source: Quillette
by Aaron Sarin
“New mining frontiers are opening up in Greenland, Brazil, Tanzania, and Australia. In no time at all, historically speaking, Beijing’s advantage will disappear. That is a relief, but it is also a concern.” (05/12/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/05/12/the-rare-earth-wars-china-trump-taiwan/
-----
43) The Great Rail Robbery
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“It’s unclear ‘what problem Amtrak privatization proposals are intended to solve,’ an Amtrak white paper argues. The authors assert that ‘giving the United States the passenger rail system it needs will require substantial, assured, multi-year federal funding.…’ That flies in the face of experience. But if you are looking for a problem to solve, consider the biggest current story about Amtrak, its thieving employees.” (05/12/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/05/12/the-great-rail-robbery/
-----
44) The Illusion of American Generosity
Source: The American Conservative
by George D O’Neill Jr.
“Because of our strong Christian heritage, most Americans innately believe in being generous to their neighbors. Good neighborliness was central to our country’s founding ethos. Locally and nationally, there are a myriad of groups and organizations that provide support and assistance to people in need. This tradition is an important component of our culture. Consequently, much of our populace believes the United States government is a force for good around the world and an important contributor to world stability. This is a myth. For decades, this traditional national embrace of generosity towards others has been used by our political and cultural elites to gull the American population into supporting many activities that are anything but generous, and often turn out to be extremely destructive.” (05/12/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-illusion-of-american-generosity/
-----
45) Biden’s term of anarchy [sic] left Democrats with a whole lot to answer for
Source: New York Post
by Victor Davis Hanson
“Somewhere between 10 million and 12 million illegal [sic] aliens were invited into the United States by the Biden administration. As far as logistics go, former President Joe Biden could not flee Afghanistan without getting 13 Marines killed and abandoning to the terrorist Taliban $50 billion in munitions, a billion-dollar embassy and a $300 million retrofitted huge airbase. But Biden and his handlers proved far more logistically capable when their target was fellow Americans. After all, they somehow managed to stop the congressionally approved continuance of the border wall, subvert federal immigration law [sic], emasculate the border patrol and ensure that millions of people around the world could simply walk into the US illegally [sic], unaudited and with impunity.” [editor’s note: I see Hanson is still hoping to win the “fucking stupidest guy on the planet” belt from reigning champion Douglas Feith – TLK] (05/11/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/05/11/opinion/bidens-term-of-anarchy-left-dems-with-a-lot-to-answer-for/
-----
46) Russian Treasure
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, $300 billion of Russian assets held in foreign countries were immediately frozen, the majority of which (about $200 billion) are within Europe. So far, despite pressure from the US, EU leaders have been reluctant to channel these funds into Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction, the latter of which is expected to cost $520 billion. Now that Donald Trump has turned his back on Ukraine, the idea of putting these frozen assets to work is being discussed more seriously—and there are good reasons for Europe to adopt a hawkish stance, as the US has done.” (05/11/25)
https://fee.org/articles/russian-treasure/
-----
47) The Postliberal Delusion that Trump will Restore Gods Allegedly Destroyed by the Open Society
Source: The UnPopulist
by Brink Lindsey
“A prominent critic of liberalism has no solutions so he puts his faith in Trump to resurrect the fallen gods of traditional orders.” (05/11/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-postliberal-delusion-that-trump
-----
48) RFK Jr.’s War on Neurodiversity is a War on Individualism
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“The fact that a political movement built on a foundation of demonizing refugees and Muslims would evolve into a cabal that seems to find a final solution to every problem they manufacture isn’t exactly new or even all that surprising but that doesn’t make it any less revolting, especially when you find yourself existing at the cross section of multiple genocides. On that note, apparently, it’s just my lucky day, because the latest target of Trump’s conspiracy to make America pure again is the neurodivergent and he’s backing a thinly veiled approach to eugenics to erase us. Cue Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; professional imbecile, craven opportunist, and somehow Secretary of Health and Human Services.” (05/11/25)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2025/05/rfk-jrs-war-on-neurodiversity-is-war-on.html
-----
49) The Big Beautiful Bill Is Hanging by a Thread
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Back on January 6, a day when important things tend to happen, I wrote about a quietly important moment in the as-yet-not-begun Trump presidency. Deciding whether to split up his agenda into multiple parts or to combine all of his tax cuts and all of his spending cuts into one overstuffed piece of legislation, Trump opted for the latter, calling it ‘the one big beautiful bill’. At the time, Speaker Mike Johnson surmised that everything could get wrapped up ‘by April or May.’ I said back then that one-bill agendas tended to fail, because they offer plentiful targets for opposition and maddening coalitional choices that typically leave everyone bruised and upset.” (05/12/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-05-12-big-beautiful-bill-hanging-by-a-thread/
-----
50) Our Purpose Isn’t Efficiency
Source: The Reframe
by AR Moxon
“Society is not a corporation and we are not its employees. Moving the sick American spirit toward health by abandoning fool notions and damned lies.” (05/11/25)
https://www.the-reframe.com/our-purpose-isnt-efficiency
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 05/12/25
Source: Reason
"What Did We Learn From DOGE?" (05/12/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/05/12/what-did-we-learn-from-doge/
-----
52) Politicks Podcast, episode 1
Source: Lions of Liberty
“They’re All Bloodsuckers.” (05/12/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/new-show-politicks-podcast-ep-01-theyre-all-bloodsuckers
-----
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 797
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Is Trump Really Breaking the US-Israel Relationship?” (05/12/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-797-is-trump-really-breaking-the-us-israel-relationship
-----
54) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 05/12/25
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Social Security, Tax Cuts, and the Future of Retirement with Andrew Biggs.” (05/12/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/economy/social-security-tax-cuts-and-the-future-of-retirement-with-andrew-biggs/
-----
55) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 05/12/25
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Press Sec’s Fawning Over Him to Media Takes Scary, Cultlike Turn.” (05/12/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/195103/trump-press-sec-fawning-media-takes-scary-cultlike-turn
-----
56) EconTalk, 05/12/25
Source: EconTalk
“The Past and Present of Privacy and Public Life (with Tiffany Jenkins).” (05/12/25)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-past-and-present-of-privacy-and-public-life-with-tiffany-jenkins/
-----
57) Fountainhead Forum, episode 308
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Brad Thompson on right-wing application of Gramsci tactics.” (05/12/25)
https://rumble.com/v6t9m7p-ff-308-brad-thompson-on-right-wing-application-of-gramsci-tactics.html
-----
58) The Opinions, 05/12/25
Source: New York Times
“Are Trump’s Tariffs Trying to Solve a Problem That Doesn’t Exist?” (05/12/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsSyKK4u58c
-----
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/12/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Hamas To Release US-Israeli Citizen, US and Iran Hold More Talks, India-Pakistan Ceasefire, and More.” (05/12/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYsRiuZXX8E
-----
60) Joseph Solis-Mullen on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Joseph Solis-Mullen on What’s Happening Between India and Pakistan.” (05/11/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/5-9-25-joseph-solis-mullen-on-whats-happening-between-india-and-pakistan/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Rush of diplomatic calls follow Trump’s offer to join potential Russia-Ukraine talks
2) Trump signs executive order to impose price controls on drugs
3) Edan Alexander, US-Israeli POW, released after more than 19 months in captivity, Hamas says
4) Federal judge won’t block Trump’s plan to ensure fewer immigrants pay taxes
5) US, Chinese regimes slash tariffs
6) Poland: Regime to close Russian consulate in Kraków over Warsaw fire
7) Russia: Prosecutor Seeks Six Years in Jail for Independent Election Monitor
8) UK: Power outage disrupts London’s subway network in the afternoon rush hour
9) Prosecutor tells jury at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial that he treated women violently
10) Trump defends plan to use Qatari luxury jet for Air Force One
11) Argentina: Dozens of boxes of Nazi materials found in court basement
12) CA: ICE raids have “overwhelmed” coastal communities
13) First group of Afrikaners granted refugee status are on their way to the US
14) UK: Starmer promises migration drop as he unveils plans for “tightened” visa rules
15) Burkina Faso: Army, militias killed 130 members of ethnic group, HRW says
16) CA: Newsom urges cities and counties to ban homeless encampments
17) Gold falls over 2% as US and China strike tariff deal
18) Turkey: PKK Says It Will End Conflict With Regime
19) Webb Space Telescope captures bright auroras on Jupiter
20) Trump fires top US copyright official
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Trump’s Mega-Blink on China Tariffs
22) Turkey: A Rogue US Ally’s Territorial Conquests
23) The Stupidest “Red Line”
24) A violent cop’s plea deal could undermine justice in Los Angeles
25) Is that guy with a gun an ICE officer — or just a guy with a gun?
26) Yes, Republicans Should Absolutely Raise Taxes On The Rich
27) When the Tiger Drank Next to the Cow
28) Don’t Call This Conservatism
29) Multiple Western Press Outlets Have Suddenly Pivoted Hard Against Israel
30) Virginia Association of 1769: A Step Toward Continental Unity
31) Fetterman, Whitmer feel wrath of Dems for common-sense moves
32) Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes: Can It Be Done?
33) How Technology Fuels Awakening, And Punishes Dissent
34) How Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s Perverse Pardons Undermined the Rule of Law
35) US Trade Policy is a Humanitarian and Geopolitical Disaster
36) When Social Media Obscures Truth
37) Defunding PBS and NPR could make them even worse [sic]
38) Eighty Years After WWII Ended, Some Europeans Forget Who the Bad Guys Were
39) “Terrorism?” Israel has weaponized the charge for decades
40) Quantum Vibe, 05/12/25
41) Sinister Dark Money Is Consuming US Democracy
42) The Rare Earth Wars
43) The Great Rail Robbery
44) The Illusion of American Generosity
45) Biden’s term of anarchy [sic] left Democrats with a whole lot to answer for
46) Russian Treasure
47) The Postliberal Delusion that Trump will Restore Gods Allegedly Destroyed by the Open Society
48) RFK Jr.’s War on Neurodiversity is a War on Individualism
49) The Big Beautiful Bill Is Hanging by a Thread
50) Our Purpose Isn’t Efficiency
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 05/12/25
52) Politicks Podcast, episode 1
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 797
54) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 05/12/25
55) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 05/12/25
56) EconTalk, 05/12/25
57) Fountainhead Forum, episode 308
58) The Opinions, 05/12/25
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/12/25
60) Joseph Solis-Mullen on The Scott Horton Show
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Rush of diplomatic calls follow Trump’s offer to join potential Russia-Ukraine talks
Source: Reuters
“U.S. and European diplomats went on a flurry of calls in the hours after U.S. President Donald Trump offered on Monday to join prospective Ukraine-Russia talks later this week …. Trump’s surprise offer to join the talks on Thursday in Istanbul came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a fresh twist to the stop-start peace talks process, said he would travel Turkey and wait to meet President Vladimir Putin there. … It remained unclear who would travel from Moscow to Istanbul to take part in the direct talks, which would be the first between the two sides since the early days of the war that Russia launched with its invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. There has been no response from the Kremlin to Zelenskiy’s offer to meet Putin in Istanbul and Moscow was yet to comment on Trump’s offer to join the talks.” (05/13/25)
https://archive.is/StuaR
-----
2) Trump signs executive order to impose price controls on drugs
Source: NBC News
“President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Monday that aims to cut prescription drug costs in the U.S. by aligning what the government [and the private sector] pays for certain medications to the prices paid in other countries. … Most notably, officials said the policy will not be limited to certain drugs under Medicare, as it was in original version, but will also target medications covered by Medicaid and private insurance. … The Food and Drug Administration will also consider expanding the importation of prescription drugs from countries beyond Canada, where prices are often cheaper than in the U.S, officials said, and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will be directed to act against ‘anti-competitive’ actions by drugmakers that they say keep drug prices high.” (05/12/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-executive-order-prescription-drugs-price-match-rcna206218
-----
3) Edan Alexander, US-Israeli POW, released after more than 19 months in captivity, Hamas says
Source: CBS News
“Hamas said it had released Edan Alexander, believed to be the last living U.S. citizen held [prisoner of war] in Gaza, Monday as President Trump departed Washington for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Israel Defense Forces said a [POW] had been transferred to the Red Cross and was being transported to the IDF in Gaza. … Alexander, who is now 21, grew up in New Jersey before moving to Israel, where he was serving in the Israeli military on Oct. 7, 2023 when he was [taken prisoner] during the Hamas-orchestrated attack that sparked the war in Gaza.” (05/12/25)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/edan-alexander-us-israeli-hostage-released-hamas-after-more-than-19-months-captivity/
-----
4) Federal judge won’t block Trump’s plan to ensure fewer immigrants pay taxes
Source: CNN
“A federal judge won’t block a controversial Trump administration initiative to share highly sensitive taxpayer information with federal immigration authorities in hopes of tracking down undocumented immigrants and quickly deporting them out of the country. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Monday rejected arguments from several immigrant-rights groups, that claimed the data-sharing agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated taxpayer confidentiality laws. … The data-sharing deal allows DHS, which oversees ICE, to ask the IRS to confirm home addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants who are suspected of defying deportation orders. The deal was pushed through in early April over the objections of several top career IRS officials, who refused to sign it because of legal concerns.” (05/13/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/judge-wont-block-irs-data-sharing-track-undocumented-migrants
-----
5) US, Chinese regimes slash tariffs
Source: Politico
“The United States and China have agreed to slash punitive tariffs against each other in a major deescalation of Donald Trump’s trade war that sent stock markets sharply higher on Monday. The U.S. will cut tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent, while the Chinese side will drop measures from 125 percent to 10 percent. The suspension is temporary for now, lasting 90 days, allowing time for further negotiations.” (05/12/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-china-cut-tariffs-dramatically-donald-trump-trade-war/
-----
6) Poland: Regime to close Russian consulate in Kraków over Warsaw fire
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Poland has said it will close down the Russian consulate in Kraków, after authorities in Warsaw announced they had found evidence proving Russia’s intelligence services were behind a huge fire that destroyed a shopping centre in the Polish capital last year. … The fire, in May last year, damaged about 1,400 shops and service outlets, Polish authorities said. [Foreign minister Radosław] Sikorski said Poland would take further action if similar attacks occurred. Polish and other European intelligence services believe Russia is orchestrating a campaign of sabotage attacks in Europe, with some targets linked to the war in Ukraine but others picked at random with the aim of sowing chaos. Investigators have also linked Russia to arson attacks in Lithuania and the UK.” (05/12/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/12/poland-to-close-russian-consulate-krakow-warsaw-shopping-centre-fire
-----
7) Russia: Prosecutor Seeks Six Years in Jail for Independent Election Monitor
Source: US News & World Report
“A Russian prosecutor on Monday requested six years in prison for Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of an independent monitoring group that has criticised the conduct of Russian elections. Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023, accused of organising the work of an ‘undesirable organisation.’ He has pleaded innocent at his trial. Prosecutor Ekaterina Frolova demanded that Melkonyants be given the maximum prison term and banned from public activity for 10 years. The defence said investigators had failed to prove their case. … Melkonyants is co-chair of the Golos monitoring group which first angered the authorities by publicising evidence of what it said was fraud in a 2011 parliamentary election that sparked opposition protests, and then in the presidential vote that returned President Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012.” (05/12/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-05-12/russian-prosecutor-seeks-6-years-in-prison-for-independent-election-monitor
-----
8) UK: Power outage disrupts London’s subway network in the afternoon rush hour
Source: SFGate
“Multiple lines on the London Underground network were suspended or disrupted Monday because of a power outage, the British capital’s transport authority said. The Transport for London website showed that at least three subway lines were suspended due to a power failure, and there were severe delays and partial suspensions on at least six other lines during the Monday afternoon rush hour. The transport authority said it was working with the National Grid to determine the cause of the outage. ‘Due to a brief interruption of the power supply to our network, several lines lost power for a short period earlier this afternoon,’ said Claire Mann, TfL’s chief operating officer in a statement. ‘We are working to get the whole network up and running again as quickly as possible,’ she added. The National Grid said there was a ‘fault’ on its transmission network in central London and that it was ‘resolved within seconds.'” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/london-subway-network-disrupted-because-of-20322887.php
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9) Prosecutor tells jury at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial that he treated women violently
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“The public knew Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but behind the scenes, he was coercing women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and using violence to keep them in line, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday during opening statements in Combs’[s] sex trafficking trial. … Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could land him in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted on all charges. He has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest in September. Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but was not illegal. Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters, then kept them in line through violence.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/05/12/sexual-misconduct-diddy-trial-start/
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10) Trump defends plan to use Qatari luxury jet for Air Force One
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“US President Donald Trump has defended the White House plan to possibly receive a luxury jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar to be used as America’s Air Force One presidential plane. ‘They’re giving us a gift,’ Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, adding that he would be ‘a stupid person’ if he did not accept it. In an earlier statement, a Qatari spokesman described the claim that the plane would be a gift as ‘inaccurate.’ He said the transfer of an aircraft for ‘temporary use’ was under discussion between the two countries. … According to CBS News, the plane would be donated to Trump’s presidential library at the end of his term.” (05/12/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5ell3gkxvo
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11) Argentina: Dozens of boxes of Nazi materials found in court basement
Source: CNN
“Dozens of boxes of Nazi material confiscated by Argentinean authorities during World War II were recently rediscovered in the Supreme Court’s basement, the court said on Sunday. The 83 boxes were sent by the Germany embassy in Tokyo to Argentina in June 1941 aboard the Japanese steamship ‘Nan-a-Maru,’ according to the history that the court was able to piece together, it said in a statement. At the time, the large shipment drew the attention of authorities, who feared its contents could affect Argentina’s neutrality in the war. … It was not immediately clear why the items were sent to Argentina or what, if any, action the Supreme Court took at the time. Eighty-four years later, court staffers came across the boxes as they prepared for a Supreme Court museum.” (05/12/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/americas/argentina-supreme-court-nazi-materials-scli-intl
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12) CA: ICE raids have “overwhelmed” coastal communities
Source: SFGate
“After a lull in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on California’s Central Coast, a rash of raids has reportedly swept through San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties over the past week. One notable arrest over the weekend left two children unattended after a man was taken from a gas station by what appeared to be a group of ICE agents. 805 UndocuFund, a collaborative nonprofit group that brings together immigrant-serving Central Coast organizations, reported what appeared to be a planned ICE arrest at the Sinclair gas station at 1050 South Ventura Road in Oxnard. Juan Conches, a gas station attendant, was an apparent witness, and recalled the arrest in Spanish for 805 UndocuFund’s Instagram account in a May 5 post.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/ice-raids-overwhelm-california-communities-20319412.php
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13) First group of Afrikaners granted refugee status are on their way to the US
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“A group of 49 white Afrikaners who have been given refugee status by the Trump administration departed South Africa Sunday night on a charter flight paid for by the U.S. government, and will be arriving at Dulles airport on Monday. The Afrikaners, descendants of mainly Dutch colonists, were seen at the airport in Johannesburg with trolleys full of suitcases, but declined to speak to the media. They are expected to give a press conference upon arrival in the United States., where they will be greeted by U.S. officials. … The resettlement effort comes after President Trump signed an executive order in February claiming minority Afrikaners were being unfairly treated in South Africa, and offering them possible resettlement in the U.S. Trump also cut off aid to South Africa, which has been in his crosshairs since he returned to office for its DEI policies and support of the Palestinians.” (05/12/25)
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395067/first-group-afrikaner-refugees-arrive
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14) UK: Starmer promises migration drop as he unveils plans for “tightened” visa rules
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Sir Keir Starmer has promised the government’s new immigration measures will mean net migration falls ‘significantly’ over the next four years. The prime minister unveiled plans to ban recruitment of care workers from overseas, tighten access to skilled worker visas and raise the costs to employers in an effort to curb near record net migration. He did not set a precise target, but the Home Office estimated the policies could lead to a 100,000 drop in immigration per year by 2029 – based on analysis of just eight of the core policies where ‘a quantitative assessment’ could be made. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘This is nowhere near the scale of the change we need to see.’ Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.” (05/12/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wgrv7pwrzo
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15) Burkina Faso: Army, militias killed 130 members of ethnic group, HRW says
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“At least 130 civilians belonging to the Fulani ethnic group were killed by Burkina Faso’s army and allied militias near the western town of Solenzo in March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. The killings took place amid a major weeks-long military campaign by special forces that resulted in ‘widespread civilian deaths and massive displacement’ of the Fulani pastoralist community in the region, the rights group said in a report on Monday. It added that an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group called the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) then carried out a series of retaliatory attacks, hitting villages that the armed group perceived as having assisted the military.” (05/12/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/12/burkina-faso-army-militias-killed-130-members-of-ethnic-group-hrw-says
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16) CA: Newsom urges cities and counties to ban homeless encampments
Source: SFGate
“Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged California cities to clear homeless encampments, escalating once again his efforts to address an intractable issue of his time in office: the makeshift tent camps that line underpasses, parks and local streets up and down the state. Newsom’s administration drafted a local law that counties, cities and towns can directly adopt or modify to achieve the Democratic governor’s goals. He’s also releasing $3.3 billion in voter-approved funds to expand housing and treatment options for homeless residents.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/gov-gavin-newsom-urges-california-cities-and-20322910.php
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17) Gold falls over 2% as US and China strike tariff deal
Source: Reuters
“Safe-haven gold fell more than 2% on Monday as risk sentiment crept in following the announcement of a temporary deal between the United States and China to reduce tariffs. Spot gold was down 2.6% at $3,237.04 an ounce, as of 1132 ET (15:32 GMT). Bullion, considered a hedge against economic and geopolitical turmoil, hit a record high of $3,500.05 last month amid increased tariff uncertainty. U.S. gold futures shed 3.1% to $3,241.70.” (05/12/25)
https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/gold-falls-positive-us-china-talks-erode-safe-haven-appeal-2025-05-12/
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18) Turkey: PKK Says It Will End Conflict With Regime
Source: New York Times
“A Kurdish group that has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades said on Monday that it would lay down its arms and end the conflict, a decision that could reverberate across neighboring countries. The announcement by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its Kurdish acronym, P.K.K., came a few months after its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, urged the group to disarm and disband. In his February message, he said the P.K.K.’s armed struggle had outlived its initial purpose. The P.K.K. began as a secessionist group that sought to create an independent state for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. More recently, it has said that it sought greater rights for Kurds inside Turkey.” (05/12/25)
https://archive.is/635EF
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19) Webb Space Telescope captures bright auroras on Jupiter
Source: SFGate
“Jupiter’s dazzling auroras are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth, new images from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal. The solar system’s largest planet displays striking dancing lights when high-energy particles from space collide with atoms of gas in the atmosphere near its magnetic poles, similar to how the northern lights are triggered on Earth. But Jupiter’s version has much greater intensity, according to an international team of scientists who analyzed the photos from Webb taken on Christmas in 2023. Webb previously captured Neptune’s glowing auroras in the best detail yet, many decades after they were first faintly detected during a flyby of the Voyager 2 spacecraft.” (05/12/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/bright-auroras-on-jupiter-are-captured-by-webb-20322935.php
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20) Trump fires top US copyright official
Source: Axios
“The Trump administration fired the top U.S. copyright official, days after removing the Librarian of Congress who appointed her. Politico first reported that Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter’s removal Saturday came soon after her office issued a report on artificial intelligence that raised concerns about using copyrighted works to train AI, an industry outgoing DOGE leader Elon Musk is involved in via his startup xAI. Musk last month responded to a call on X to ‘delete all IP [intellectual property] law’ by saying: ‘I agree.'” (05/12/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/trump-administration-fires-top-us-copyright-official
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Trump’s Mega-Blink on China Tariffs
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Trump steadfastly maintained that high tariffs and economic protectionism are good things in and of themselves. If that’s true, then why is he now backtracking by suspending them? Reason One: The advocates of free trade have absolutely decimated the Trumpsters’ arguments in favor of tariffs and economic protectionism. … Reason Two: Trump had to know that his tariffs and trade wars were already wreaking massive economic devastation, especially among small business owners in America. … Reason Three: Trump’s tariffs and trade wars caused sharp drops in the stock market and the bond market. … Reason Four: In retaliation for Trump’s tariffs and trade war, China imposed strict controls on the export of rare earth minerals, which are needed by the Pentagon for its enormous war machine.” (05/12/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/05/12/trumps-mega-blink-on-china-tariffs/
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22) Turkey: A Rogue US Ally’s Territorial Conquests
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“We often hear U.S. and NATO spokesmen claim that they believe in a rules-based international order. They don’t. The United States and its NATO allies have stressed repeatedly that Russia’s use of force to seize portions of Ukraine is reprehensible. … NATO’s hypocrisy on the issue of one country seizing another country’s territory by force is breathtaking. NATO as an entity committed the same offense when it bombed Serbia to compel Belgrade to relinquish control of its province of Kosovo in 1999. Moreover, a NATO member, Turkey, has committed blatant acts of aggression against three neighbors, Cyprus, Iraq, and Syria, to secure illicit territorial gains. NATO as an alliance, and the United States as NATO’s leading power, have tolerated Ankara’s rogue behavior, even as they express utter indignation at Moscow’s similar conduct.” (05/12/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2025/05/11/turkey-a-us-rogue-allys-territorial-conquests/
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23) The Stupidest “Red Line”
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“The president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff reconfirmed the administration’s extreme position on the nuclear issue. He said this in an interview with Breitbart: ‘An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment.’ … The U.S. acts as if it it is negotiating the terms of a surrender after a major defeat, but Iran doesn’t consider itself to have been defeated. Washington wants to dictate terms as if the U.S. were the conqueror, but it hasn’t conquered anything and it shouldn’t try. The diplomatic solution has been there for the taking all along, just as it was when Biden was president. The administration has to be willing to swallow its pride and accept something more or less like the original nuclear deal, or it will end up with nothing.” (05/12/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-stupidest-red-line
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24) A violent cop’s plea deal could undermine justice in Los Angeles
Source: Orange County Register
by Mike Fox
“Earlier this year, a jury found Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Trevor Kirk guilty of felony deprivation of rights by use of excessive force. As explained in a subsequent press release, Deputy Kirk overreacted when a woman recorded an arrest he was executing: Kirk attempted to grab her phone, threw her face-first on the ground, pressed his knee into her neck, threatened to punch her, and pepper-sprayed her twice in the face. Kirk then used his department-issued radio to give a misleading account of the incident, stating he was in a fight. But Kirk’s punishment is uncertain. … Kirk’s conviction could have led to a prison sentence of as much as ten years, but [Trump appointed interim US Attorny Billy] Essayli is now asking the court to set aside the jury’s verdict and replace it with a unicorn a post-conviction plea deal.” (05/12/25)
https://archive.is/EttY6
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25) Is that guy with a gun an ICE officer — or just a guy with a gun?
Source: Washington Post
by Philip Bump
“We’ve already seen numerous examples this year of civilians pretending to be immigration agents in order to coerce or intimidate other people. In an environment where any guy on the street could turn out to be part of an ICE or Homeland Security sting operation, such impersonations become trivially easy. But even if this weren’t a country flooded with guns and a long history of vigilantism, unidentified federal agents would be a problem precisely because they are less likely to face accountability for their actions.” [editor’s note: Even if that guy IS an “ICE officer,” he’s still just a guy with a gun. Or, to be more precise, a thug with a gun attempting to kidnap people – TLK] (05/12/25)
https://archive.is/2u9NR
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26) Yes, Republicans Should Absolutely Raise Taxes On The Rich
Source: Town Hall
by Scott Morefield
“Democrats don’t have a lot of talking points that resonate with a majority of Americans anymore. Oddly enough, ‘We’re going to trans your kids’ doesn’t quite ring the same to ordinary parents as it does to the blue hairs. People care about the environment, but going back to the Stone Age, when China and India kept polluting the planet on a massive scale, it seems a bit much. And while most people don’t want to make every abortion in every situation illegal, late-term and partial birth procedures seem a bit murdery for most anyone except the most committed Commies. But one consistent talking point they do have, and have had for decades, is the contention that rich people should pay more taxes.” (05/12/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/scottmorefield/2025/05/12/yes-its-time-for-republicans-to-raise-taxes-on-the-rich-n2656897
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27) When the Tiger Drank Next to the Cow
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“Just when you realize you’re being pulled into the Zeitgeist of Acrimony, that’s the time to practice as if you were a monk in the meditation forest.” (05/12/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/when-the-tiger-drank-next-to-the
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28) Don’t Call This Conservatism
Source: The Dispatch
by Jonah Goldberg
“Is the ‘New Right’ conservative? If you spend any time following the most vocal defenders of Donald Trump or various populist causes generally, some version of this question may have occurred to you. If you find yourself listening to defenders of a supposedly extreme right-wing Republican president’s signature policies, and then wondering aloud, ‘Wait, I thought conservatives were in favor of free markets?’ you have an idea of what I am getting at. If you’re perplexed by the way many on the right celebrate and lionize a rogue’s gallery of libertines, scapegraces, sybarites, caitiffs, roues, abusers, and cads, you might wonder why you didn’t get the memo explaining that the right no longer cares about ‘moral rearmament,’ or ‘family values.’ In short, if you’re a lifelong conservative, you might be struggling with the question of whether ‘the right’ is where you belong.” (05/12/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/conservative-right-wing-terms-history-maga/
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29) Multiple Western Press Outlets Have Suddenly Pivoted Hard Against Israel
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“After a year and a half of genocidal atrocities, the editorial boards of numerous British press outlets have suddenly come out hard against Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza. The first drop of rain came last week from The Financial Times in a piece by the editorial board titled ‘The west’s shameful silence on Gaza,’ which denounces the US and Europe for having ‘issued barely a word of condemnation’ of their ally’s criminality, saying they ‘should be ashamed of their silence, and stop enabling Netanyahu to act with impunity.’ Then came The Economist with a piece titled ‘The war in Gaza must end,’ which argues that Trump should pressure the Netanyahu regime for a ceasefire …” (05/12/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/05/12/multiple-western-press-outlets-have-suddenly-pivoted-hard-against-israel/
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30) Virginia Association of 1769: A Step Toward Continental Unity
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Mike Maharrey
“In May 1769, Virginia took a decisive step beyond carefully worded protests by launching an organized and strategic boycott against British goods. Led by George Washington and George Mason, the Virginia Association adapted northern resistance models to fit local circumstances and laid critical groundwork for revolutionary unity and economic self-reliance. The Association became part of a growing and coordinated colonial response to the Townshend Acts – a series of laws that imposed new taxes on imported paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea, and expanded the British government’s power to fight smuggling. While historians often focus on resistance in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York during the early years of the American Revolution, Virginia’s actions were crucial threads in the broader fabric of unified colonial resistance to British government overreach.” (05/12/25)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2025/05/12/virginia-association-of-1769-a-step-toward-continental-unity/
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31) Fetterman, Whitmer feel wrath of Dems for common-sense moves
Source: Boston Herald
by staff
“‘Never take sides against the family’ — that’s the creed of the Corleone family in ‘The Godfather’ … and of the Democratic Party today. And Sen. John Fetterman is their Fredo. Not because of incompetence on his part, but Fetterman is being blasted for betraying ‘the family’ by his collegiality with President Trump. Fetterman has broken with his party on some policy issues and was the first Senate Democrat to meet with Trump after he was elected, despite slamming him on the campaign trail. ‘I haven’t changed my core values throughout out all this,’ the Pennsylvania senator told KDKA-AM radio in Pittsburgh. But, he said, engaging with Republicans is ‘one of the reasons why they elected me, they wanted me to do these things.’ ‘Engaging with Republicans’ is Democratic heresy these days. And Dems are working overtime to take Fetterman down.” (05/11/25)
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/05/11/editorial-fetterman-whitmer-feel-wrath-of-dems-for-common-sense-moves/
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32) Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes: Can It Be Done?
Source: CounterPunch
by Ellen Brown
“In February, President Trump said that tariffs would generate so much income that Americans would no longer need [sic] to pay income taxes. The latest plan, according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is to abolish income taxes for people who earn less than $150,000 yearly. … can tariffs and DOGE replace income taxes? If not, how else could the government fund itself? Is a growing debt bubble that is now carrying a $1.2 trillion interest tab, which must continue to expand just to sustain itself, the only alternative?” [editor’s note: No, it’s not “the only alternative.” The government could eliminate taxation, seek donations, and live within its means. The real question people like Brown really pose with pieces like this is “is there a way for the politicians to spend as much as they want on whatever they want in perpetuity with this specific tax policy, because anything else is unthinkable?” That’s a question not worth considering – TLK] (05/12/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/12/trumps-proposal-to-eliminate-income-taxes-can-it-be-done/
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33) How Technology Fuels Awakening, And Punishes Dissent
Source: Common Dreams
by Saleema Gul
“In the shadows of immigration raids, bipartisan backing for what many now call thea U.S.-Israeli genocide in Gaza, campus crackdowns, and detention centers holding even lawful permanent residents, a new reality is emerging: digital footprints now determine your fate — and political dissent is punished more swiftly than violence. Hannah and Aurélien once believed in the American dream. But they left in protest of what they came to see as the American nightmare. In an age of always-on surveillance and algorithmic profiling, dissent is no longer about what you do — it’s about what you signal. And for many, what you signal online can determine whether you’re allowed or welcome to stay. The same platforms exposing Israel’s genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza are also turning social networks into risks — where silence can sting, but speaking out can cost jobs, visas, friends, or even safety.” (05/12/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/technology-gaza-awakening-control
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34) How Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s Perverse Pardons Undermined the Rule of Law
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“During his 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden said he would ‘broadly use his clemency power’ to address ‘unduly long sentences for certain non-violent and drug crimes.’ … During his 2024 presidential run, Donald Trump said he would free Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who had received a life sentence for creating a website that connected drug buyers with drug sellers. … Like Biden, Trump kept his promise …. Anyone who questions long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders should recognize these actions as appropriate uses of presidential clemency, aimed at mitigating injustices caused by draconian criminal laws. But Biden and Trump also showed that presidents can abuse clemency in service of their personal interests.” (for publication 06/25)
https://reason.com/2025/05/12/biden-and-trumps-perverse-pardons-undermine-the-rule-of-law/
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35) US Trade Policy is a Humanitarian and Geopolitical Disaster
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“Trump’s tariffs killed the US’s soft power, leaving a geopolitical vacuum into which US rivals like China will expand.” (05/12/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/us-trade-policy-is-a-humanitarian-and-geopolitical-disaster/
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36) When Social Media Obscures Truth
Source: Law & Liberty
by Tori Tinsley
“The Digital Revolution may distort public discourse, but it is up to individuals — not the government — to think for themselves.” (05/12/25)
https://lawliberty.org/when-social-media-obscures-truth/
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37) Defunding PBS and NPR could make them even worse [sic]
Source: Fox News
by Howard Husock
“President Donald Trump has now made good on his threat to defund public media — to cut off the $535 million a year that public radio and television receive from the federal government. He’s not wrong that, too often, they’ve been vehicles for biased journalism — both by commission (all diversity and ‘reproductive choice’ stories all the time) or omission (not covering the Hunter Biden laptop story). But as satisfying as it might be to zero out the budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — where I once served on the board of directors and tried to warn my colleagues about the threat that liberal bias posed — Trump’s move could backfire. PBS and NPR could emerge both financially stronger and insulated from public accountability.” [editor’s note: No more “insulated from public accountability” than any other for-profit or non-profit enterprise – TLK] (05/12/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/defunding-pbs-npr-could-make-them-even-worse
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38) Eighty Years After WWII Ended, Some Europeans Forget Who the Bad Guys Were
Source: The Bulwark
by Dalibor Rohac
“It should be uncontroversial to say that both Hitler’s and Stalin’s regimes were unconscionably evil. It should be especially unremarkable to say so in free countries that were victimized by both during and after World War II. Yet, as the world commemorated the eightieth anniversary of the war’s end, a strange confusion reigned in parts of Eastern Europe about who the real bad guys had been back then — and about who they were today. Insisting that Slovakia was ‘liberated’ by the Soviets, Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, is the only EU and Western leader who traveled to Moscow to commemorate the end of World War II in the company of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Brazil’s Lula da Silva on May 9. … Unfortunately, Fico’s Soviet apologism is not unique to Slovakia.” (05/12/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/80-years-after-wwii-europe-klaus-fico-orban-czech-slovakia-hungary-putin-moscow-parade
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39) “Terrorism?” Israel has weaponized the charge for decades
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Josh Paul
“What do human rights activists in Jerusalem, humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, and college students in New York all have in common according to Israel and its influence network? They all purportedly have links to terrorism. Although such accusations are often baseless, they are frequently used to besmirch and undercut those who are unwilling to do Israel’s bidding. Although this is a tactic very much on display today, it is one I first came across while serving with the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC) in the West Bank, when a similar pattern of accusations and complaints from Israel, as documented in a report that has not been previously disclosed, threatened to wreck what was, back then in 2008, already a tenuous peace process in the West Bank.” (05/12/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-terrorism/
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40) Quantum Vibe, 05/12/25
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (05/12/25)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2535
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41) Sinister Dark Money Is Consuming US Democracy
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Daniel I Weiner
“Every day brings a new story about the outsized role of private wealth in American politics. Elon Musk slashing and burning his way through federal agencies. Billionaire campaign donors like Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon running cabinet departments. Other Trump patrons reportedly shaping policy on everything from crypto to the Middle East. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, a small group of major donors is organizing to fund the party’s 2026 push to retake Congress. And these are only the donors we know about. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision ushered in the era of ‘dark money’ — ballooning campaign spending by groups that do not disclose their funding sources. Today the Brennan Center published a study by the journalist Anna Massoglia. She found that dark money groups spent almost $2 billion on the 2024 election, roughly double the total spent in 2020.” (05/12/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dark-money-2024-election-2671936944
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42) The Rare Earth Wars
Source: Quillette
by Aaron Sarin
“New mining frontiers are opening up in Greenland, Brazil, Tanzania, and Australia. In no time at all, historically speaking, Beijing’s advantage will disappear. That is a relief, but it is also a concern.” (05/12/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/05/12/the-rare-earth-wars-china-trump-taiwan/
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43) The Great Rail Robbery
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“It’s unclear ‘what problem Amtrak privatization proposals are intended to solve,’ an Amtrak white paper argues. The authors assert that ‘giving the United States the passenger rail system it needs will require substantial, assured, multi-year federal funding.…’ That flies in the face of experience. But if you are looking for a problem to solve, consider the biggest current story about Amtrak, its thieving employees.” (05/12/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/05/12/the-great-rail-robbery/
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44) The Illusion of American Generosity
Source: The American Conservative
by George D O’Neill Jr.
“Because of our strong Christian heritage, most Americans innately believe in being generous to their neighbors. Good neighborliness was central to our country’s founding ethos. Locally and nationally, there are a myriad of groups and organizations that provide support and assistance to people in need. This tradition is an important component of our culture. Consequently, much of our populace believes the United States government is a force for good around the world and an important contributor to world stability. This is a myth. For decades, this traditional national embrace of generosity towards others has been used by our political and cultural elites to gull the American population into supporting many activities that are anything but generous, and often turn out to be extremely destructive.” (05/12/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-illusion-of-american-generosity/
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45) Biden’s term of anarchy [sic] left Democrats with a whole lot to answer for
Source: New York Post
by Victor Davis Hanson
“Somewhere between 10 million and 12 million illegal [sic] aliens were invited into the United States by the Biden administration. As far as logistics go, former President Joe Biden could not flee Afghanistan without getting 13 Marines killed and abandoning to the terrorist Taliban $50 billion in munitions, a billion-dollar embassy and a $300 million retrofitted huge airbase. But Biden and his handlers proved far more logistically capable when their target was fellow Americans. After all, they somehow managed to stop the congressionally approved continuance of the border wall, subvert federal immigration law [sic], emasculate the border patrol and ensure that millions of people around the world could simply walk into the US illegally [sic], unaudited and with impunity.” [editor’s note: I see Hanson is still hoping to win the “fucking stupidest guy on the planet” belt from reigning champion Douglas Feith – TLK] (05/11/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/05/11/opinion/bidens-term-of-anarchy-left-dems-with-a-lot-to-answer-for/
-----
46) Russian Treasure
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, $300 billion of Russian assets held in foreign countries were immediately frozen, the majority of which (about $200 billion) are within Europe. So far, despite pressure from the US, EU leaders have been reluctant to channel these funds into Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction, the latter of which is expected to cost $520 billion. Now that Donald Trump has turned his back on Ukraine, the idea of putting these frozen assets to work is being discussed more seriously—and there are good reasons for Europe to adopt a hawkish stance, as the US has done.” (05/11/25)
https://fee.org/articles/russian-treasure/
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47) The Postliberal Delusion that Trump will Restore Gods Allegedly Destroyed by the Open Society
Source: The UnPopulist
by Brink Lindsey
“A prominent critic of liberalism has no solutions so he puts his faith in Trump to resurrect the fallen gods of traditional orders.” (05/11/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-postliberal-delusion-that-trump
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48) RFK Jr.’s War on Neurodiversity is a War on Individualism
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“The fact that a political movement built on a foundation of demonizing refugees and Muslims would evolve into a cabal that seems to find a final solution to every problem they manufacture isn’t exactly new or even all that surprising but that doesn’t make it any less revolting, especially when you find yourself existing at the cross section of multiple genocides. On that note, apparently, it’s just my lucky day, because the latest target of Trump’s conspiracy to make America pure again is the neurodivergent and he’s backing a thinly veiled approach to eugenics to erase us. Cue Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; professional imbecile, craven opportunist, and somehow Secretary of Health and Human Services.” (05/11/25)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2025/05/rfk-jrs-war-on-neurodiversity-is-war-on.html
-----
49) The Big Beautiful Bill Is Hanging by a Thread
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Back on January 6, a day when important things tend to happen, I wrote about a quietly important moment in the as-yet-not-begun Trump presidency. Deciding whether to split up his agenda into multiple parts or to combine all of his tax cuts and all of his spending cuts into one overstuffed piece of legislation, Trump opted for the latter, calling it ‘the one big beautiful bill’. At the time, Speaker Mike Johnson surmised that everything could get wrapped up ‘by April or May.’ I said back then that one-bill agendas tended to fail, because they offer plentiful targets for opposition and maddening coalitional choices that typically leave everyone bruised and upset.” (05/12/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-05-12-big-beautiful-bill-hanging-by-a-thread/
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50) Our Purpose Isn’t Efficiency
Source: The Reframe
by AR Moxon
“Society is not a corporation and we are not its employees. Moving the sick American spirit toward health by abandoning fool notions and damned lies.” (05/11/25)
https://www.the-reframe.com/our-purpose-isnt-efficiency
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 05/12/25
Source: Reason
"What Did We Learn From DOGE?" (05/12/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/05/12/what-did-we-learn-from-doge/
-----
52) Politicks Podcast, episode 1
Source: Lions of Liberty
“They’re All Bloodsuckers.” (05/12/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/new-show-politicks-podcast-ep-01-theyre-all-bloodsuckers
-----
53) Conflicts of Interest, episode 797
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Is Trump Really Breaking the US-Israel Relationship?” (05/12/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-797-is-trump-really-breaking-the-us-israel-relationship
-----
54) Show-Me Institute Podcast, 05/12/25
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Social Security, Tax Cuts, and the Future of Retirement with Andrew Biggs.” (05/12/25)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/economy/social-security-tax-cuts-and-the-future-of-retirement-with-andrew-biggs/
-----
55) The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 05/12/25
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Press Sec’s Fawning Over Him to Media Takes Scary, Cultlike Turn.” (05/12/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/195103/trump-press-sec-fawning-media-takes-scary-cultlike-turn
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56) EconTalk, 05/12/25
Source: EconTalk
“The Past and Present of Privacy and Public Life (with Tiffany Jenkins).” (05/12/25)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-past-and-present-of-privacy-and-public-life-with-tiffany-jenkins/
-----
57) Fountainhead Forum, episode 308
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Brad Thompson on right-wing application of Gramsci tactics.” (05/12/25)
https://rumble.com/v6t9m7p-ff-308-brad-thompson-on-right-wing-application-of-gramsci-tactics.html
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58) The Opinions, 05/12/25
Source: New York Times
“Are Trump’s Tariffs Trying to Solve a Problem That Doesn’t Exist?” (05/12/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsSyKK4u58c
-----
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/12/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Hamas To Release US-Israeli Citizen, US and Iran Hold More Talks, India-Pakistan Ceasefire, and More.” (05/12/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYsRiuZXX8E
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60) Joseph Solis-Mullen on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Joseph Solis-Mullen on What’s Happening Between India and Pakistan.” (05/11/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/5-9-25-joseph-solis-mullen-on-whats-happening-between-india-and-pakistan/
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