08/13 -- Russian strike sparks fire at Ukraine port; Zelenskyy seeks interceptors | There's No Real Evidence That ALPRs Make Americans Safer
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Thomas L. Knapp
Aug 13, 2026, 6:05:32 AM (5 days ago) Aug 13
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 08/13/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Russian strike sparks fire at Ukraine port; Zelenskyy seeks interceptors
2) ICE gang plans to equip street-level thugs with electric shock gloves
3) Bitcoin Drops to $63,500 as CPI Data Meets Expectations While AI Stocks Rally
4) IRGC adviser: Iran could “prolong war” until Trump is out of office
5) Karoline Leavitt stepping down as White House press secretary
6) Rescuers evacuate more than 200 from a ferry fire that left at least 1 dead near Bali
7) US consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, putting the annual rate at 3.4%
8) Canada: 60,000+ sign petition calling for expulsion of US ambassador
9) Lebanon: Parliament passes long-sought amnesty law, a day after death penalty repeal
10) Putin Says Russia Will Respond in Kind if EU Nations Seize Russian Vessels
11) India: Landslide in Mumbai kills seven as monsoon rains drench country
12) Federal judge dismisses DOJ discrimination lawsuit against Minneapolis Public Schools
13) British driver who broke sound barrier sets new speed record
14) New Zealand: Luxon survives party vote that exposes cracks ahead of election
15) WHO: Congo’s Ebola outbreak on track to surpass deadliest one in history
16) MN: Republicans choose Demuth over Lindell in gubernatorial primary
17) Danube river’s low water levels reveal remains of WWII soldiers and motorcycle
18) North Korea: Regime conducts second ballistic missile test in less than a week
19) Colombia: Earthquake response strains new government and rescuers
20) DOJ opinion extends executive privilege to president’s communications with private advisers
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) There’s No Real Evidence That ALPRs Make Americans Safer
22) The Posse Comitatus Presidency: Trump’s Standing Army on American Streets
23) Problem? Government the worst solution
24) Stop taxing inflation
25) To Understand the AI Alignment Problem, Consider the Human Alignment Problem.
26) Beware “Tax the Rich”
27) The Supreme Court has a message for Kentucky on surveillance: Get a warrant
28) The Return of Economic Gaslighting
29) How Occupy Wall Street Still Explains Politics Today
30) Professionals to “Labor”: Why California’s Doctors Are Unionizing
31) Turkey brightens the outlook for peace
32) We Need to Do Nothing About AI
33) Joe Biden Should Be Dying Of Cancer In The Hague
34) Hume’s Perplexing Priorities
35) Putin just showed the world how afraid he is of his own people
36) Mandatory Testosterone Screening Is a Tactical Retreat from Medical Reason
37) Gavin Newsom, the DSA, and the Danton Delusion
38) Trump’s “National Socialism” Agenda
39) When US left Afghanistan, China moved in. So how’s it going?
40) Greg Abbott Abandons Free Enterprise with Texas AI Energy Regulations
41) DC Under Siege: One Year of Military Occupation
42) The New Apologists for American Empire
43) NATO? Just Say No!
44) Being a Veteran Is Not Enough
45) Miracle US economy zooms ahead, so DSA haters resort to lies
46) How Trump Can Break the Iran Logjam
47) The War on Drugs Has Come to the Maternity Ward
48) Federal Social Service Spending Creates a Sense of Entitlement Among Bureaucrats
49) Donald Trump Invented a New Forever War
50) Colorado sinking fast
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 166
52) Reason Interview: Jason Silva
53) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/12/26
54) Rising, 08/12/26
55) The Fifth Column, 08/12/26
56) Reasonably Optimistic, 08/12/26
57) Checks & Balances, 08/12/26
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/11/26
59) Free Speech Unmuted, 08/11/26
60) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/11/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Russian strike sparks fire at Ukraine port; Zelenskyy seeks interceptors
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Russian forces have struck Ukraine’s Izmail port in southern Odesa, setting off a fire, authorities said, a day after Kyiv pounded Russia’s Novorossiysk port. In a statement on the Telegram app early on Thursday, the Izmail Regional State Administration said Russian forces struck ‘port infrastructure’, causing damage and a fire. … Izmail, close to the Romanian border, is home to Ukraine’s largest Danube port, handling grain and other commodities. The attacks came as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN that the country needs 5 percent of the United States’s Patriot interceptor missiles to get through the winter and 10 percent to destroy all of Russia’s ballistic projectiles.” (08/13/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/13/russian-strike-sparks-fire-at-ukraine-port-zelenskyy-seeks-interceptors
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2) ICE gang plans to equip street-level thugs with electric shock gloves
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)[gang members] may soon be equipped with gloves that can deliver electric shocks as they carry out their law enforcement duties. ICE plans to spend up to $20m (£14.8m) to buy the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter (GLOVE), according to a note published on Monday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The gloves can deliver up to 380 volts of electricity, roughly three times the charge of a standard US power outlet.” (08/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20d292gdp4o
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3) Bitcoin Drops to $63,500 as CPI Data Meets Expectations While AI Stocks Rally
Source: Blockonomi [UK]
“Bitcoin retreated toward $63,500 during Thursday trading, declining approximately 0.5% for the session and approaching 2% losses for the week. July’s Consumer Price Index registered a monthly increase of 0.1% with annual inflation reaching 3.4%. The core measure, excluding volatile food and energy components, advanced 0.2% monthly while moderating to 2.5% annually. … Broader cryptocurrency weakness prevailed across major tokens. Dogecoin declined approximately 3% to 7 cents. XRP surrendered more than 1% to reach $1, extending weekly losses near 5%. Solana edged lower by under 1% to $76, while Ether dropped fractionally to $1,880.” (08/13/26)
https://blockonomi.com/bitcoin-drops-to-63500-as-cpi-data-meets-expectations-while-ai-stocks-rally/
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4) IRGC adviser: Iran could “prolong war” until Trump is out of office
Source: WION [India]
“A top adviser to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday that Iran could ‘prolong’ the war with the US until President Donald Trump is out of office. ‘We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security,’ Mohammad Reza Naqdi told PBS in an interview. … ‘One way is to prolong this war until we get to the next term of the presidency and cause attrition so that if anyone else wants to attack Iran, they will know there is a cost,’ he said.” (08/13/26)
https://www.wionews.com/world/iran-could-prolong-war-until-trump-is-out-of-office-says-irgc-adviser-1786565790697
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5) Karoline Leavitt stepping down as White House press secretary
Source: Axios
“Karoline Leavitt will be stepping down from her role as White House press secretary at the end of the month, President Trump announced Wednesday in a Truth Social post. Leavitt is leaving to spend more time with her family, the president said. A member of Trump’s team who followed him from his presidential campaign to the White House, she’s been a fiercely loyal face of the White House. Trump said in the surprise post that Leavitt will become one of his top outside advisers and ‘an influential voice within the Republican Party’ heading into the midterm elections.” (08/12/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/12/trump-karoline-leavitt-white-house-press
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6) Rescuers evacuate more than 200 from a ferry fire that left at least 1 dead near Bali
Source: Associated Press
“Crews rescued 211 people and recovered the body of a passenger from a ferry that caught fire in rough seas Wednesday near the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, authorities said. The Putri Yasmin ferry was traveling from Bali to the neighboring island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province when the fire broke out at about 4:15 a.m. The ferry was also transporting 44 vehicles and 53 motorcycles. … The rescue agency said that as of Wednesday afternoon, rescuers evacuated 211 people from the burned vessel, including 2 Australian tourists, and recovered the body of a 19-year-old Indonesian woman.” (08/12/26)
https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-bali-lombok-ferry-fire-ab527cf29730147f86c4c82f341584eb
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7) US consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, putting the annual rate at 3.4%
Source: CNBC
“A key inflation reading Wednesday showed prices moderating across a range of goods and services, possibly taking the urgency out of an imminent interest rate hike. The consumer price index, part of the Federal Reserve’s inflation dashboard, showed a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.1% during July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core CPI rose 0.2%. On an annual basis, the inflation rates were 3.4% and 2.5%, both down 0.1 percentage point from June.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/12/cpi-inflation-report-july-2026.html
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8) Canada: 60,000+ sign petition calling for expulsion of US ambassador
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country. The online petition, which is set to be presented in the House of Commons in the fall, says Pete Hoekstra should be declared persona non grata and the Canadian government should request his removal as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Nearly 60,000 people had signed the petition as of Wednesday morning, almost double the number of signatures 24 hours earlier. The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of ‘making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.’ It says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/petition-ambassador-hoekstra-removed-from-canada-9.7303372
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9) Lebanon: Parliament passes long-sought amnesty law, a day after death penalty repeal
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Lebanon’s parliament has approved a general amnesty law that is expected to benefit thousands of convicted prisoners, detainees and wanted people. The legislation passed Wednesday in a ‘show-of-hands vote’, reported Lebanon’s official National News Agency. It is the first law of its kind since 1991. … Long demanded by numerous Lebanese political factions, the amnesty law aims to reduce overcrowding in prisons, where many inmates await trial for years. However, it has faced backlash from some family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed in attacks, who fear the perpetrators could receive undue leniency.” (08/12/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/12/lebanon-passes-long-sought-amnesty-law-a-day-after-death-penalty-repeal
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10) Putin Says Russia Will Respond in Kind if EU Nations Seize Russian Vessels
Source: US News & World Report
“Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia will respond in kind if European countries seize ussian merchant vessels, the TASS state news agency reported. The comments come as the EU intensifies pressure on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, expanding sanctions against hundreds of vessels and detaining some ships and their crews for checks. Some European governments have said they are exploring tougher maritime enforcement measures against ships suspected of sanctions evasion.” (08/12/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-08-12/putin-says-russia-will-respond-in-kind-if-eu-nations-seize-russian-vessels
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11) India: Landslide in Mumbai kills seven as monsoon rains drench country
Source: SFGate
“Heavy monsoon rains triggered a landslide in a densely populated neighborhood in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, early Wednesday, killing at least seven people and injuring four others, authorities said. The landslide struck before dawn when a section of hillside collapsed onto two or three homes in a tightly packed cluster of houses in Mumbai’s suburb of Ghatkopar, said Tanaji Kambli, a civic official. Authorities immediately launched a rescue operation involving firefighters, police, the National Disaster Response Force and civic officials, but efforts were hampered by narrow access lanes that prevented the use of heavy machinery, officials said. Rescue teams pulled at least 10 people from the debris and rushed them to a government hospital. Six people, including two children and two teenagers, were declared dead on arrival, Tanaji said. Four others were hospitalized and were receiving treatment. Rescuers recovered a body later on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to seven, Tanaji said.” (08/12/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/landslide-in-mumbai-kills-6-as-india-is-drenched-22384722.php
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12) Federal judge dismisses DOJ discrimination lawsuit against Minneapolis Public Schools
Source: CBS News
“A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division against Minneapolis Public Schools that alleged the district violated Title VII by discriminating against teachers based on their race, gender and national origin, court records show. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in December, claiming that teachers of color and ‘underrepresented’ teachers get preferential treatment in employment decisions due to a provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the teachers’ union and the district. … U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote in his order that the lawsuit must be dismissed since the union was not an included party. The Department of Justice did not include the union in the claim due to federal law stating the U.S. attorney general can only bring lawsuits alleging a practice of discrimination against governmental entities, but not against private entities like labor unions.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/doj-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-minneapolis-schools-dismissed/
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13) British driver who broke sound barrier sets new speed record
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A British driver who was the first person to break the sound barrier in a car on land has set a new speed record, this time in a hydrogen-powered vehicle. Andy Green, a 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot, reached a speed of 406mph (654km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the fastest a hydrogen-powered car has ever travelled. Green’s record was measured as an average of two runs in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines, with a combined 1,600 brake horsepower (bhp). In 1997, Green drove the jet-powered ThrustSSC across Nevada’s Black Rock Desert at 763mph (1,228km/h), making him the first, and still the only person, to break the sound barrier on land. Twenty years ago, Green also set a world land speed record for a diesel vehicle in the JCB Dieselmax, attaining a speed of over 350mph (563km/h).” (08/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjl2yzx8epo
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14) New Zealand: Luxon survives party vote that exposes cracks ahead of election
Source: Reuters
“New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote on Wednesday, seeing off a leadership challenge from his defence minister that exposed growing rifts in his National Party less than three months before a tight election. The bid by Chris Penk was the year’s second public test for Luxon, boosting concern over disquiet in his centre-right party as it struggles in opinion polls and fuelling fresh doubts about his grip on power ahead of the November 7 election. Luxon moved swiftly after the vote, sacking Penk from his defence, intelligence, space and building portfolios.” (08/12/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealands-luxon-faces-lawmakers-leadership-speculation-mounts-2026-08-11/
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15) WHO: Congo’s Ebola outbreak on track to surpass deadliest one in history
Source: SFGate
“The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history that killed over 11,000 people out of more than 28,000 cases, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. ‘At its current pace, it’s on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. That outbreak horrified the world and jolted efforts to develop a vaccine. The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing in history, has killed over 2,000 people out of more than 4,300 cases. The outbreak was declared on May 15, but health authorities now say sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February. It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, though efforts to address that are underway.” (08/12/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/who-says-congo-s-ebola-outbreak-is-on-track-to-22385162.php
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16) MN: Republicans choose Demuth over Lindell in gubernatorial primary
Source: Forbes
“MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’s GOP Gubernatorial primary for the state, while the Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar comfortably secured her party’s nomination in a state where the Democrats are heavily favored to win November’s general election. … The Associated Press called the race for Demuth at 11:26 p.m. ET as the state speaker had secured 43.6% of the 93% of the votes counted. Lindell, who was backed by President Donald Trump, came a distant second with 32.3%% of the votes.” (08/12/26)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/08/12/trump-backed-mypillow-founder-mike-lindell-loses-minnesota-republican-gubernatorial-primary/
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17) Danube river’s low water levels reveal remains of WWII soldiers and motorcycle
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The bodies of two World War Two German soldiers have been found in Budapest’s Danube river, due to record-low water levels after an intense drought. Found alongside their remains were the identification tags of the two soldiers, a largely intact German army Wehrmacht motorcycle, a wedding ring and a Kuban shield – a combat badge of the Wehrmacht, the German War Graves Commission said. The remarkable finds have sparked hope that some families could finally discover the fates of their ancestors, more than 80 years on from the war. ‘Now begins a puzzle, in which we will try to determine the identity of the two dead,’ Arne Schrader, of the German War Graves Commission, told German newspaper Bild. The wreck in the Danube was reportedly discovered on 2 August, when a passersby reported part of the motorcycle protruding from the rocks on the riverbank in downtown Budapest.” (08/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gp3zmkpmo
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18) North Korea: Regime conducts second ballistic missile test in less than a week
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“North Korea on Wednesday performed its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbours said, a likely protest of the upcoming South Korea-US military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a ballistic missile fired from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 a.m. flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles). The Japanese Defence Ministry also detected the launch, saying the weapon landed in waters outside its exclusive economic zone, between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launches, within days of each other, were seen as part of North Korea’s extended run of weapons tests as the country has refused to return to talks with the US and South Korea for years.” (08/12/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260812-north-korea-conducts-second-ballistic-missile-test-in-less-than-a-week
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19) Colombia: Earthquake response strains new government and rescuers
Source: SFGate
“The search for survivors in the rubble of Colombia’s powerful earthquake grew more desperate on Wednesday, two days after the quake brought down buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars. The devastation has tested Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government as it scrambles to respond to the natural disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the vulnerable communities most affected by the quake. By Tuesday, de la Espriella said the 7.4 magnitude earthquake had killed at least 181 people and left 2,595 more injured in the west of the country. He said at least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run databases put that number at more than 4,000 Wednesday morning.” (08/12/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/earthquake-response-strains-colombia-s-new-22384589.php
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20) DOJ opinion extends executive privilege to president’s communications with private advisers
Source: The Hill
“A new Department of Justice (DOJ) memo argues the president can assert executive privilege not just over communications with his White House staff, but also with ‘private advisors’ outside of government, an interpretation that would broaden the number of people President Trump could try to shield from congressional investigations. The Monday opinion from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) isn’t binding but nonetheless signals the Trump administration is thinking about how to respond to an expected bevy of investigations into the White House should Democrats retake the House. Traditionally, the president may assert executive privilege over communications only with executive branch staff. But the OLC argues the counsel the president might get from those outside the government could be just as important to the White House and also merits protection.” (08/11/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6022381-doj-executive-privilege-outside-advisers/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) There’s No Real Evidence That ALPRs Make Americans Safer
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“Flock says its network is now used by more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies and 6,000 communities, providing access to a massive and increasingly interconnected database of vehicle movements. Richard Hanania published a piece on Monday in which he rather boldly claims ‘Flock cameras likely explain the recent crime collapse.’ His theory is essentially a sort of Kalam cosmological argument for Flock. Crime fell rapidly at roughly the same time that Flock and other surveillance technologies proliferated, and Hanania treats that coincidence, combined with a plausible deterrent mechanism, as strong evidence of causation.” (08/12/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/theres-no-real-evidence-that-alprs
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22) The Posse Comitatus Presidency: Trump’s Standing Army on American Streets
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“The National Guard was just the beginning. One year after President Trump deployed military troops to the nation’s capital, we find ourselves navigating a posse comitatus presidency in which the visual trappings of martial law are the norm, not the exception. The Founders warned against standing armies on American soil, fearing that the military might someday be used not to defend the people but to control them. They understood something Americans are being encouraged to forget: soldiers and police serve fundamentally different purposes.” [editor’s note: Since the first US police force wasn’t founded until 1838, I doubt the founders thought in those precise terms – TLK] (08/12/26)
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_posse_comitatus_presidency_trumps_standing_army_on_american_streets
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23) Problem? Government the worst solution
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“If you count on government providing something, before long you may not have it at all. It’s the fox watching the henhouse. At the very least, government involvement doesn’t stop the inevitable. If something is not sustainable, putting government in charge won’t save the day.” (08/12/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/08/12/voices/problem-government-the-worst-solution/233975.html
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24) Stop taxing inflation
Source: The Hill
by Glenn Farley
“With the cost of living on every voter’s mind, an old idea is getting a new push on Capitol Hill: fixing a flaw in the tax code that makes everything more expensive. Anyone who has ever sold a home, stock, or even a collectible is familiar with it. When you sell an asset that has risen in price, the IRS taxes the gain. But that gain is measured against the price you paid, not your true cost. If you bought a stock, a bond, or a business many years ago, and its price merely kept pace with inflation, you are no richer in purchasing power than the day you bought it — yet the tax code treats the difference as income and taxes it anyway. This is especially noticeable in periods of high inflation, like the last five years. It is a tax on rising prices, dressed up as a tax on profit.” (08/12/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5980648-index-capital-gains-inflation/
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25) To Understand the AI Alignment Problem, Consider the Human Alignment Problem.
Source: Liberalism.org
by Rachel Lomasky
“The AI alignment problem asks whether the autonomous agents derived from Large Language Models and other AI technologies can reliably internalize the objectives for which they are optimized. The problem is magnified because human objectives are complex and hard to formalize, it is not possible to monitor the internals of the systems, and previous behavior is not necessarily a reliable predictor of how the AI will behave in novel situations. Worries that AIs might find goals that ‘score well’ but don’t match human intent have become a fashionable topic, driven in part by news stories about AI tools behaving in unexpected and disturbing ways, which can be difficult to monitor and reverse. … Human alignment, by comparison, has never been effectively enforced, although significant effort is spent on trying to determine our fellow humans’ motives.” (08/12/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/to-understand-the-ai-alignment-problem-consider-the-human-alignment-problem
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26) Beware “Tax the Rich”
Source: Town Hall
by Betsy McCaughey
“Taylor Swift is enemy No.1 to cash-grabbing Democrats in Rhode Island. They’ve named their new statewide vacation home property tax after her. But from the East Coast to the West Coast, ‘tax the rich’ is the battle cry of radical-left Democrats. They claim that by attacking the rich, including celebs like Swift, they’re saving democracy. Don’t be fooled. Their new forms of taxation — including wealth taxes, mansion taxes and pied-a-terre taxes — are fueled by jealousy and hatred for our free-market system, working people and everything American. You’re their next target.” [editor’s note: In fairness, McCaughey hates “free market systems” at least as much as Bernie Sanders or AOC. She just prefers different targets – TLK] (08/12/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/betsymccaughey/2026/08/12/beware-tax-the-rich-n2681079
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27) The Supreme Court has a message for Kentucky on surveillance: Get a warrant
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown & Dan Canon
“Kentucky’s new license plate camera law is now in effect, and it already looks out of step with the Constitution. Just before it took effect, the U.S. Supreme Court handed the commonwealth a warning its lawmakers cannot afford to ignore. On June 29, the Court ruled in Chatrie v. United States that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain a person’s location data — even from a private company, and even for a short window of time. … That case was about cell-phone data. But the reasoning lands squarely on the surveillance network Kentucky’s local governments have spent the last few years building through a single vendor: Flock Safety.” (08/12/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/scotus-flock/
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28) The Return of Economic Gaslighting
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Around two and a half years ago, as the Biden administration was entering what we now know was its final year, the then-president’s re-election campaign was growing frustrated. … In one of the most unsurprising developments in modern American politics, it turned out that people who were struggling to navigate the aftermath of the government’s destructive economic shutdowns and keep up with rising prices did not like being told by establishment-approved economic ‘experts’ that they were essentially stupid if they didn’t understand how excellent the economy actually was. … now, as the midterms approach and he and his party are the ones in charge, the Republicans are faced with the exact same choice the Democrats had been faced with before 2024. And, notably, they have decided to adopt the same strategy that helped torpedo the Democrats last time around.” (08/12/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/return-economic-gaslighting
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29) How Occupy Wall Street Still Explains Politics Today
Source: The Nation
by Yotam Marom
“It sowed the seeds for a new era of social movements—but its politics of powerlessness should act as a cautionary tale.” (08/12/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/occupy-wall-street-anniversary-social-movements/
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30) Professionals to “Labor”: Why California’s Doctors Are Unionizing
Source: The Daily Economy
by Richard Menger
“California’s unionization campaign reveals the economic and institutional shifts away from physician ownership and professional autonomy.” (08/12/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/from-profession-to-trade-why-californias-doctors-are-unionizing/
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31) Turkey brightens the outlook for peace
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In a region that’s a flash point for unrest, Turkey has taken a key step toward calming domestic as well as cross-border tensions – and it’s one that could lead to new conceptions of national identity that transcend ethnic or linguistic differences. On Monday, the country’s parliament overwhelmingly voted for a landmark bill aimed at conclusively ending more than 40 years of conflict with its substantial Kurdish ethnic minority. The legislation outlines processes for conditional amnesties and the reintegration of thousands of Kurds, including armed combatants who have lived or operated from strongholds in neighboring Iran, Iraq, and Syria for decades. Turkey’s separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union – abandoned the goal of full independence a few decades ago. And in May 2025, it announced it would disband and disarm, thus putting the onus on the Turkish government to move the process along.” (08/11/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0811/Turkey-brightens-the-outlook-for-peace
-----
32) We Need to Do Nothing About AI
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Man Basharzad
“The mindset that governments must immediately regulate AI may prove more dangerous than AI itself. Markets generally adapt to technological change. When genuine market failures emerge, there is a case for government intervention. But where, exactly, is the market failure in AI today that demands immediate regulation?” (08/12/26)
https://fee.org/articles/we-need-to-do-nothing-about-ai/
-----
33) Joe Biden Should Be Dying Of Cancer In The Hague
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Joe Biden’s cancer is moving into the advanced stages, according to the former president’s son Hunter. … I’ve seen a lot of people on social media expressing sadness and grief at the news of Biden’s situation, and I agree it is very sad that this is happening. Joe Biden shouldn’t be sitting at home dying of cancer, he should be sitting in a cell at The Hague dying of cancer. The world is a mess because men like Joe Biden get to die peacefully in their homes of cancer. They live long lives free from consequences for their monstrous actions. They don’t spend their final days rotting in a cage for war crimes. Nobody makes them pay for what they did.” (08/12/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/12/joe-biden-should-be-dying-of-cancer-in-the-hague/
-----
34) Hume’s Perplexing Priorities
Source: Law & Liberty
by Graham McAleer
“By focusing on Hume’s ideas about why we enter association and follow norms, [Max] Skjönsberg nicely puts in relief how Hume’s theory of historical association differs from the rationalism of the social contract theories of Hobbes and Locke: a motif of slow, uncertain growth marks Hume’s idea, whilst the mood of a blueprint marks social contract theory. Skjönsberg’s portrait also delivers a populist Hume which, I think, is something of a mischaracterization. Like other members of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hume makes establishment basic to governance.” (08/12/26)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/humes-perplexing-priorities/
-----
35) Putin just showed the world how afraid he is of his own people
Source: Washington Post
by Vladimir Kara-Murza
“When Russian authorities registered Yabloko for the parliamentary ballot in late July, the Kremlin’s thinking was not hard to read. After all, it had everything under control: the media, the electoral commissions, the repressive apparatus of the state. Why not allow an anti-war party on the ballot, announce its official result at 2 percent, and show to the world that — as Putin had said so many times — the Russian people overwhelmingly back his war in Ukraine? But things began to go wrong. What the regime failed to grasp was that Yabloko was no longer just a small liberal party ….It was now the only avenue for Russian citizens to express opposition to the war. They seized on it. Yabloko exploded on social media, overtaking pro-Kremlin parties in the number of subscribers. … And Putin panicked.” (08/12/26)
https://archive.is/feLzJ
-----
36) Mandatory Testosterone Screening Is a Tactical Retreat from Medical Reason
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels
“[H]ow useful is it to screen military personnel for low testosterone? Well, it might be useful to identify men who have had damaged testicles or who have hypogonadism (when the body produces little or no testosterone) but those cases are rare. But what will happen when you do test America’s servicepeople for ‘Low -T?’ Well, you will find that some of them ‘have it’ as identified. But if it’s not causing symptoms does this arbitrary ‘testosterone level’ really matter? For the answer to that you have to dig a bit into the weeds.” (08/12/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/mandatory-testosterone-screening-is-a-tactical-retreat-from-medical-reason/
-----
37) Gavin Newsom, the DSA, and the Danton Delusion
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley
“This week, Gavin Newsom made his latest pitch to the mob by proclaiming himself ‘an established insurgent’. It was vintage Newsom in trying to be everything to everyone, part of the establishment and part of the revolution. Like a violent pacifist or a preservation arsonist, it makes no sense to anyone else. However, with the victory of radicals across the country, Newsom is trying to join other armchair revolutionaries in seeking to lead the far-left mob. He believes that he can use a class war that will spare him while destroying his enemies. Call it the Danton delusion. … What became known as ‘The Terror’ was started not by the working class, but by educated lawyers, journalists, and even aristocrats as part of the Jacobin movement.” (08/12/26)
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/08/12/gavin-newsom-the-dsa-and-the-danton-delusion/
-----
38) Trump’s “National Socialism” Agenda
Source: CounterPunch
by David Rosen
“The process of corporate nationalization evolved over the last nearly two decades. In 2008, Pres. George W. Bush signed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry in the face of what was dubbed the ‘Great Recession.’ In 2009, the Obama administration directly intervened in the auto industry through the Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP), investing approximately $80 billion into the auto industry, including General Motors and Stellantis (i.e., Chrysler). Reich stresses that the Trump 2.0 regime has escalated federal investment in – and equity ownership of – traditionally private corporations.” (08/12/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/12/trumps-national-socialism-agenda/
-----
39) When US left Afghanistan, China moved in. So how’s it going?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Giorgio Cafiero
“When the Taliban reclaimed power five years ago, China appeared poised to capitalize on Afghanistan’s new realities. Beijing quickly took important steps to establish de facto relations with the Islamic Emirate, such as keeping its embassy open in Kabul, maintaining direct ties with Taliban leaders, and expanding political and security cooperation. In January 2024, Xi Jinping became the first head of state to accept credentials from a Taliban-appointed ambassador. Many analysts latched onto these moves as evidence that China would quickly assert great influence in Afghanistan after the hasty U.S. withdrawal in August 2021. Yet Beijing has pursued a far more cautious course, stopping short of formal recognition, which China sees as a bargaining chip for possible future use.” (08/12/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/afghanistan-china-taliban/
-----
40) Greg Abbott Abandons Free Enterprise with Texas AI Energy Regulations
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“What is going on in Texas? For all the talk that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is a principled Republican, he certainly reversed his free-market stance when it came to AI and hyperscale data center projects once polling showed how unpopular they are with his base. Abbott signed an executive directive requiring all kinds of roadblock-style regulations before any AI data centers can connect to the state’s grid. I am not saying it is right or wrong; I am just pointing out Abbott’s failure on the issue. Though I would suggest that government-managed energy monopolies and corporate tax subsidies always distort the free market, and he should just stand aside.” (08/12/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/greg-abbott-abandons-free-enterprise
-----
41) DC Under Siege: One Year of Military Occupation
Source: Common Dreams
by Olivia Dinucci
“One year ago, the Trump administration brought 800 National Guard troops to occupy the streets of Washington, DC, part of the ‘Safe and Beautiful Task Force’. There are now approximately 5,000 troops from 15 states deployed here, with some officially moved in and set to stay through 2029. This does not include the alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies swarming our neighborhoods across the city, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency, Park Police, and more. The National Guard can be found meandering around metro stations, museums, and grocery stores there for mere posture. Despite crime being down before they were deployed here. A new analysis from the Center for American Progress found the Guard deployment has not had a measurable impact on violent crime. They are not even trained in ‘civilian policing’, and are unable to make actual arrests.” (08/12/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dc-military-occupation
-----
42) The New Apologists for American Empire
Source: Antiwar.com
by Edward Hunt
“Despite the fact that Trump campaigned against endless war and the White House issued a National Security Strategy that rejected ‘global domination,’ the Trump administration celebrated the nation’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary by glorifying empire as one of the country’s highest achievements. Administration officials praised moments in U.S. history when U.S. leaders embraced empire, such as when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams spoke in favor of an ’empire of liberty’ and Theodore Roosevelt acted to take Panama. At a time when many people in the country were reflecting on the ideals of liberty and equality that Jefferson had emphasized in the Declaration of Independence, the Trump administration glorified the country’s imperial history, creating a rationale for Empire First.” (08/12/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/edward_hunt/2026/08/11/the-new-apologists-for-american-empire
-----
43) NATO? Just Say No!
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angelo Monaco
“A foundational premise of libertarian theory is straightforward: meaningful fiscal restraint is impossible while maintaining a global empire. For decades, federal budgets have bloated under the weight of an expansive foreign policy that treats the American military not as a lean, defensive shield for domestic soil, but as a global guarantor of foreign security. Because overseas deployments, foreign bases, and entangling alliances account for a massive portion of discretionary federal outlays, any serious effort to slash government spending, eliminate deficit-funded inflation, and reduce the tax burden on individual citizens must start at the water’s edge. True fiscal responsibility requires dismantling the garrison state, abandoning the pretense of global policing, and bringing American military forces back entirely within our own borders. From this perspective, America’s commitment to NATO functions as a massive, continuous transfer of assets seized from U.S. taxpayers to foreign governments.” (08/12/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/nato-just-say-no/
-----
44) Being a Veteran Is Not Enough
Source: The Dispatch
by Mike Nelson
“Military service alone doesn’t qualify anyone for office—nor excuse misconduct.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/veteran-war-politician-platner-kerry/
-----
45) Miracle US economy zooms ahead, so DSA haters resort to lies
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“The United States of America may be the greatest place for functionally illiterate people to live in all of human history. An eye-popping column in The Financial Times the other day noted how people in the United States with very low literacy make about as much per hour as the average worker in Great Britain. Is this the result of brilliant public policy, carefully crafted to boost the prospects of those on the margins? No, it’s a byproduct of the vast, endlessly dynamic wealth-generating machine that is the American economy. The Financial Times also compared cohorts of low-literacy workers in the US and the UK: ‘The same proportion of US workers who score stunningly low on literacy earn an average of almost $30 per hour, and two-thirds of them are in work. Their British counterparts make the equivalent of $20 and fewer than half are employed.'” (08/11/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/opinion/miracle-us-economy-zooms-ahead-so-dsa-haters-resort-to-lies/
-----
46) How Trump Can Break the Iran Logjam
Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day
“Time to face an uncomfortable truth: America lost the Iran War. It’s a development not only discomfiting but world-historical, marking the pitiful conclusion of American primacy and the ‘U.S.-led international order.’ President Donald Trump is in a bind. Escalating the war in hopes of changing the outcome would worsen its deleterious effects and almost certainly fail to force Iranian capitulation. But reaching a peace agreement is difficult, thanks to a near-total absence of Iranian trust in any commitments that Trump might make. The solution to Trump’s predicament, I’ve come to believe, can be found in an unlikely source: a little-discussed work of political psychology published more than a half century ago.” (08/12/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-trump-can-break-the-iran-logjam/
-----
47) The War on Drugs Has Come to the Maternity Ward
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“At first glance, a new mother taking part in a drug screening seems reasonable. For the sake of the mother and child, a doctor performs a clinical test to rule out any complications or signs of risks to the newborn. But the story quickly takes a dark turn. If there’s a positive test result, it doesn’t stay between the doctor and the patient. In 24 states and Washington, D.C., a positive test alone is enough to initiate a child welfare report, according to a report by the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association. Depending on the state, that test could land the mother on a child abuse registry. Worse still, the mother may be notified the test has occurred only after the fact.” (08/11/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/11/the-war-on-drugs-has-come-to-the-maternity-ward/
-----
48) Federal Social Service Spending Creates a Sense of Entitlement Among Bureaucrats
Source: Independent Institute
by Christopher J Calton
“Last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suspended funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which quickly sued to block the decision. The controversy raises an important question: to what extent are local bureaucracies entitled to federal funds?” (08/11/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/11/federal-social-service-spending-creates-a-sense-of-entitlement-among-bureaucrats/
-----
49) Donald Trump Invented a New Forever War
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“In one of America’s daily political subplots that would have been rejected from a pre-2025 Armando Iannucci script for being too silly, it turns out Donald Trump was recently smuggled out of Air Force One in a catering container for fear of being assassinated by Iran. He was visiting Turkey last month, and apparently intelligence came in warning of an Iranian threat. Trump had already forgone his Qatari bribe jet, which has not yet been outfitted with the usual security systems, and so was traveling on the old presidential 747. It seems he was too frightened to use that plane as well, so he boarded by the normal door in sight of the cameras, then was quickly bundled out the side entrance onto a catering truck and into a military jet.” (08/12/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/12/aftermath-donald-trump-invented-new-forever-war/
-----
50) Colorado sinking fast
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Colorado has been labeled as ‘increasingly blue’ for several decades. Not just the most recent governors (Hickenlooper and Polis) have been extremely liberal and left (‘Regressives’ as TPOL labels them), but the General Assembly (both houses) has had super-majority Democratic control for a long time as well. (Yes, the Colorado GOP is as much to blame for this, due to their own stupidity and lack of skills and internal cohesion, as the Colorado Democrats are. And don’t get us started on the worthlessness of the Colorado Libertarian Party.)” (08/11/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/08/11/colorado-sinking-fast/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 166
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“Four Tests of a Scapegoat.” (08/13/26)
https://rumble.com/v7dzivc-four-tests-of-a-scapegoat-gracearchy-with-jim-babka-166.html
-----
52) Reason Interview: Jason Silva
Source: Reason
“What if the Future Is Actually Good?” (08/12/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/12/what-if-the-future-is-actually-good/
-----
53) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/12/26
Source: The Dispatch
“What Happened to Liberal Democracy? | Interview: Daron Acemoglu.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/what-happened-to-liberal-democracy-interview-daron-acemoglu/
-----
54) Rising, 08/12/26
Source: The Hill
“The truth about data centers at last: lower property taxes!” (08/12/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/6016128-rising-august-12-2026/
-----
55) The Fifth Column, 08/12/26
Source: The Fifth Column
“Hasan Piker, the DSA, AOC, Jason Arday, Francesca Hong, and miscellaneous lunacy.” (08/12/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/the-politics-of-pretending-episode
-----
56) Reasonably Optimistic, 08/12/26
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle is joined by political commentator Josh Barro to talk about the ‘abundance’ agenda and what it could mean for the cost of living, housing and energy prices, and economic growth.” (08/12/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/why-your-cost-of-living-keeps-rising
-----
57) Checks & Balances, 08/12/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“Stephen Richer on How Elections Actually Work.” (08/12/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/stephen-richer-on-how-elections-actually
-----
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/11/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump EXPLODES Amid Iran War Debacle | Fauci’s Diary.” (08/11/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-trump-explodes-amid-iran-war-debacle-faucis-diary/
-----
59) Free Speech Unmuted, 08/11/26
Source: Hoover Institution
“Can AI Libel You? The Robby Starbuck Case | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer.” (08/11/26)
https://free-speech-unmuted.podbean.com/e/can-ai-libel-you-the-robbie-starbuck-case-eugene-volokh-and-jane-bambauer-hoover-institution/
-----
60) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/11/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s watch the LPNH Disaffiliation Judicial Committee Hearing (and looking at new amici).” (08/11/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra66bfXFYf0
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Russian strike sparks fire at Ukraine port; Zelenskyy seeks interceptors
2) ICE gang plans to equip street-level thugs with electric shock gloves
3) Bitcoin Drops to $63,500 as CPI Data Meets Expectations While AI Stocks Rally
4) IRGC adviser: Iran could “prolong war” until Trump is out of office
5) Karoline Leavitt stepping down as White House press secretary
6) Rescuers evacuate more than 200 from a ferry fire that left at least 1 dead near Bali
7) US consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, putting the annual rate at 3.4%
8) Canada: 60,000+ sign petition calling for expulsion of US ambassador
9) Lebanon: Parliament passes long-sought amnesty law, a day after death penalty repeal
10) Putin Says Russia Will Respond in Kind if EU Nations Seize Russian Vessels
11) India: Landslide in Mumbai kills seven as monsoon rains drench country
12) Federal judge dismisses DOJ discrimination lawsuit against Minneapolis Public Schools
13) British driver who broke sound barrier sets new speed record
14) New Zealand: Luxon survives party vote that exposes cracks ahead of election
15) WHO: Congo’s Ebola outbreak on track to surpass deadliest one in history
16) MN: Republicans choose Demuth over Lindell in gubernatorial primary
17) Danube river’s low water levels reveal remains of WWII soldiers and motorcycle
18) North Korea: Regime conducts second ballistic missile test in less than a week
19) Colombia: Earthquake response strains new government and rescuers
20) DOJ opinion extends executive privilege to president’s communications with private advisers
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) There’s No Real Evidence That ALPRs Make Americans Safer
22) The Posse Comitatus Presidency: Trump’s Standing Army on American Streets
23) Problem? Government the worst solution
24) Stop taxing inflation
25) To Understand the AI Alignment Problem, Consider the Human Alignment Problem.
26) Beware “Tax the Rich”
27) The Supreme Court has a message for Kentucky on surveillance: Get a warrant
28) The Return of Economic Gaslighting
29) How Occupy Wall Street Still Explains Politics Today
30) Professionals to “Labor”: Why California’s Doctors Are Unionizing
31) Turkey brightens the outlook for peace
32) We Need to Do Nothing About AI
33) Joe Biden Should Be Dying Of Cancer In The Hague
34) Hume’s Perplexing Priorities
35) Putin just showed the world how afraid he is of his own people
36) Mandatory Testosterone Screening Is a Tactical Retreat from Medical Reason
37) Gavin Newsom, the DSA, and the Danton Delusion
38) Trump’s “National Socialism” Agenda
39) When US left Afghanistan, China moved in. So how’s it going?
40) Greg Abbott Abandons Free Enterprise with Texas AI Energy Regulations
41) DC Under Siege: One Year of Military Occupation
42) The New Apologists for American Empire
43) NATO? Just Say No!
44) Being a Veteran Is Not Enough
45) Miracle US economy zooms ahead, so DSA haters resort to lies
46) How Trump Can Break the Iran Logjam
47) The War on Drugs Has Come to the Maternity Ward
48) Federal Social Service Spending Creates a Sense of Entitlement Among Bureaucrats
49) Donald Trump Invented a New Forever War
50) Colorado sinking fast
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 166
52) Reason Interview: Jason Silva
53) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/12/26
54) Rising, 08/12/26
55) The Fifth Column, 08/12/26
56) Reasonably Optimistic, 08/12/26
57) Checks & Balances, 08/12/26
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/11/26
59) Free Speech Unmuted, 08/11/26
60) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/11/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Russian strike sparks fire at Ukraine port; Zelenskyy seeks interceptors
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Russian forces have struck Ukraine’s Izmail port in southern Odesa, setting off a fire, authorities said, a day after Kyiv pounded Russia’s Novorossiysk port. In a statement on the Telegram app early on Thursday, the Izmail Regional State Administration said Russian forces struck ‘port infrastructure’, causing damage and a fire. … Izmail, close to the Romanian border, is home to Ukraine’s largest Danube port, handling grain and other commodities. The attacks came as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN that the country needs 5 percent of the United States’s Patriot interceptor missiles to get through the winter and 10 percent to destroy all of Russia’s ballistic projectiles.” (08/13/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/13/russian-strike-sparks-fire-at-ukraine-port-zelenskyy-seeks-interceptors
-----
2) ICE gang plans to equip street-level thugs with electric shock gloves
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)[gang members] may soon be equipped with gloves that can deliver electric shocks as they carry out their law enforcement duties. ICE plans to spend up to $20m (£14.8m) to buy the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter (GLOVE), according to a note published on Monday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The gloves can deliver up to 380 volts of electricity, roughly three times the charge of a standard US power outlet.” (08/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20d292gdp4o
-----
3) Bitcoin Drops to $63,500 as CPI Data Meets Expectations While AI Stocks Rally
Source: Blockonomi [UK]
“Bitcoin retreated toward $63,500 during Thursday trading, declining approximately 0.5% for the session and approaching 2% losses for the week. July’s Consumer Price Index registered a monthly increase of 0.1% with annual inflation reaching 3.4%. The core measure, excluding volatile food and energy components, advanced 0.2% monthly while moderating to 2.5% annually. … Broader cryptocurrency weakness prevailed across major tokens. Dogecoin declined approximately 3% to 7 cents. XRP surrendered more than 1% to reach $1, extending weekly losses near 5%. Solana edged lower by under 1% to $76, while Ether dropped fractionally to $1,880.” (08/13/26)
https://blockonomi.com/bitcoin-drops-to-63500-as-cpi-data-meets-expectations-while-ai-stocks-rally/
-----
4) IRGC adviser: Iran could “prolong war” until Trump is out of office
Source: WION [India]
“A top adviser to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday that Iran could ‘prolong’ the war with the US until President Donald Trump is out of office. ‘We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security,’ Mohammad Reza Naqdi told PBS in an interview. … ‘One way is to prolong this war until we get to the next term of the presidency and cause attrition so that if anyone else wants to attack Iran, they will know there is a cost,’ he said.” (08/13/26)
https://www.wionews.com/world/iran-could-prolong-war-until-trump-is-out-of-office-says-irgc-adviser-1786565790697
-----
5) Karoline Leavitt stepping down as White House press secretary
Source: Axios
“Karoline Leavitt will be stepping down from her role as White House press secretary at the end of the month, President Trump announced Wednesday in a Truth Social post. Leavitt is leaving to spend more time with her family, the president said. A member of Trump’s team who followed him from his presidential campaign to the White House, she’s been a fiercely loyal face of the White House. Trump said in the surprise post that Leavitt will become one of his top outside advisers and ‘an influential voice within the Republican Party’ heading into the midterm elections.” (08/12/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/12/trump-karoline-leavitt-white-house-press
-----
6) Rescuers evacuate more than 200 from a ferry fire that left at least 1 dead near Bali
Source: Associated Press
“Crews rescued 211 people and recovered the body of a passenger from a ferry that caught fire in rough seas Wednesday near the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, authorities said. The Putri Yasmin ferry was traveling from Bali to the neighboring island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province when the fire broke out at about 4:15 a.m. The ferry was also transporting 44 vehicles and 53 motorcycles. … The rescue agency said that as of Wednesday afternoon, rescuers evacuated 211 people from the burned vessel, including 2 Australian tourists, and recovered the body of a 19-year-old Indonesian woman.” (08/12/26)
https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-bali-lombok-ferry-fire-ab527cf29730147f86c4c82f341584eb
-----
7) US consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, putting the annual rate at 3.4%
Source: CNBC
“A key inflation reading Wednesday showed prices moderating across a range of goods and services, possibly taking the urgency out of an imminent interest rate hike. The consumer price index, part of the Federal Reserve’s inflation dashboard, showed a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.1% during July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core CPI rose 0.2%. On an annual basis, the inflation rates were 3.4% and 2.5%, both down 0.1 percentage point from June.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/12/cpi-inflation-report-july-2026.html
-----
8) Canada: 60,000+ sign petition calling for expulsion of US ambassador
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country. The online petition, which is set to be presented in the House of Commons in the fall, says Pete Hoekstra should be declared persona non grata and the Canadian government should request his removal as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Nearly 60,000 people had signed the petition as of Wednesday morning, almost double the number of signatures 24 hours earlier. The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of ‘making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.’ It says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/petition-ambassador-hoekstra-removed-from-canada-9.7303372
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9) Lebanon: Parliament passes long-sought amnesty law, a day after death penalty repeal
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Lebanon’s parliament has approved a general amnesty law that is expected to benefit thousands of convicted prisoners, detainees and wanted people. The legislation passed Wednesday in a ‘show-of-hands vote’, reported Lebanon’s official National News Agency. It is the first law of its kind since 1991. … Long demanded by numerous Lebanese political factions, the amnesty law aims to reduce overcrowding in prisons, where many inmates await trial for years. However, it has faced backlash from some family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed in attacks, who fear the perpetrators could receive undue leniency.” (08/12/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/12/lebanon-passes-long-sought-amnesty-law-a-day-after-death-penalty-repeal
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10) Putin Says Russia Will Respond in Kind if EU Nations Seize Russian Vessels
Source: US News & World Report
“Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia will respond in kind if European countries seize ussian merchant vessels, the TASS state news agency reported. The comments come as the EU intensifies pressure on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, expanding sanctions against hundreds of vessels and detaining some ships and their crews for checks. Some European governments have said they are exploring tougher maritime enforcement measures against ships suspected of sanctions evasion.” (08/12/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-08-12/putin-says-russia-will-respond-in-kind-if-eu-nations-seize-russian-vessels
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11) India: Landslide in Mumbai kills seven as monsoon rains drench country
Source: SFGate
“Heavy monsoon rains triggered a landslide in a densely populated neighborhood in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, early Wednesday, killing at least seven people and injuring four others, authorities said. The landslide struck before dawn when a section of hillside collapsed onto two or three homes in a tightly packed cluster of houses in Mumbai’s suburb of Ghatkopar, said Tanaji Kambli, a civic official. Authorities immediately launched a rescue operation involving firefighters, police, the National Disaster Response Force and civic officials, but efforts were hampered by narrow access lanes that prevented the use of heavy machinery, officials said. Rescue teams pulled at least 10 people from the debris and rushed them to a government hospital. Six people, including two children and two teenagers, were declared dead on arrival, Tanaji said. Four others were hospitalized and were receiving treatment. Rescuers recovered a body later on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to seven, Tanaji said.” (08/12/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/landslide-in-mumbai-kills-6-as-india-is-drenched-22384722.php
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12) Federal judge dismisses DOJ discrimination lawsuit against Minneapolis Public Schools
Source: CBS News
“A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division against Minneapolis Public Schools that alleged the district violated Title VII by discriminating against teachers based on their race, gender and national origin, court records show. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in December, claiming that teachers of color and ‘underrepresented’ teachers get preferential treatment in employment decisions due to a provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the teachers’ union and the district. … U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote in his order that the lawsuit must be dismissed since the union was not an included party. The Department of Justice did not include the union in the claim due to federal law stating the U.S. attorney general can only bring lawsuits alleging a practice of discrimination against governmental entities, but not against private entities like labor unions.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/doj-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-minneapolis-schools-dismissed/
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13) British driver who broke sound barrier sets new speed record
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A British driver who was the first person to break the sound barrier in a car on land has set a new speed record, this time in a hydrogen-powered vehicle. Andy Green, a 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot, reached a speed of 406mph (654km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the fastest a hydrogen-powered car has ever travelled. Green’s record was measured as an average of two runs in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines, with a combined 1,600 brake horsepower (bhp). In 1997, Green drove the jet-powered ThrustSSC across Nevada’s Black Rock Desert at 763mph (1,228km/h), making him the first, and still the only person, to break the sound barrier on land. Twenty years ago, Green also set a world land speed record for a diesel vehicle in the JCB Dieselmax, attaining a speed of over 350mph (563km/h).” (08/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjl2yzx8epo
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14) New Zealand: Luxon survives party vote that exposes cracks ahead of election
Source: Reuters
“New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote on Wednesday, seeing off a leadership challenge from his defence minister that exposed growing rifts in his National Party less than three months before a tight election. The bid by Chris Penk was the year’s second public test for Luxon, boosting concern over disquiet in his centre-right party as it struggles in opinion polls and fuelling fresh doubts about his grip on power ahead of the November 7 election. Luxon moved swiftly after the vote, sacking Penk from his defence, intelligence, space and building portfolios.” (08/12/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealands-luxon-faces-lawmakers-leadership-speculation-mounts-2026-08-11/
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15) WHO: Congo’s Ebola outbreak on track to surpass deadliest one in history
Source: SFGate
“The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history that killed over 11,000 people out of more than 28,000 cases, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. ‘At its current pace, it’s on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. That outbreak horrified the world and jolted efforts to develop a vaccine. The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing in history, has killed over 2,000 people out of more than 4,300 cases. The outbreak was declared on May 15, but health authorities now say sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February. It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, though efforts to address that are underway.” (08/12/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/who-says-congo-s-ebola-outbreak-is-on-track-to-22385162.php
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16) MN: Republicans choose Demuth over Lindell in gubernatorial primary
Source: Forbes
“MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’s GOP Gubernatorial primary for the state, while the Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar comfortably secured her party’s nomination in a state where the Democrats are heavily favored to win November’s general election. … The Associated Press called the race for Demuth at 11:26 p.m. ET as the state speaker had secured 43.6% of the 93% of the votes counted. Lindell, who was backed by President Donald Trump, came a distant second with 32.3%% of the votes.” (08/12/26)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/08/12/trump-backed-mypillow-founder-mike-lindell-loses-minnesota-republican-gubernatorial-primary/
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17) Danube river’s low water levels reveal remains of WWII soldiers and motorcycle
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The bodies of two World War Two German soldiers have been found in Budapest’s Danube river, due to record-low water levels after an intense drought. Found alongside their remains were the identification tags of the two soldiers, a largely intact German army Wehrmacht motorcycle, a wedding ring and a Kuban shield – a combat badge of the Wehrmacht, the German War Graves Commission said. The remarkable finds have sparked hope that some families could finally discover the fates of their ancestors, more than 80 years on from the war. ‘Now begins a puzzle, in which we will try to determine the identity of the two dead,’ Arne Schrader, of the German War Graves Commission, told German newspaper Bild. The wreck in the Danube was reportedly discovered on 2 August, when a passersby reported part of the motorcycle protruding from the rocks on the riverbank in downtown Budapest.” (08/12/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gp3zmkpmo
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18) North Korea: Regime conducts second ballistic missile test in less than a week
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“North Korea on Wednesday performed its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbours said, a likely protest of the upcoming South Korea-US military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a ballistic missile fired from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 a.m. flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles). The Japanese Defence Ministry also detected the launch, saying the weapon landed in waters outside its exclusive economic zone, between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launches, within days of each other, were seen as part of North Korea’s extended run of weapons tests as the country has refused to return to talks with the US and South Korea for years.” (08/12/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260812-north-korea-conducts-second-ballistic-missile-test-in-less-than-a-week
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19) Colombia: Earthquake response strains new government and rescuers
Source: SFGate
“The search for survivors in the rubble of Colombia’s powerful earthquake grew more desperate on Wednesday, two days after the quake brought down buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars. The devastation has tested Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government as it scrambles to respond to the natural disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the vulnerable communities most affected by the quake. By Tuesday, de la Espriella said the 7.4 magnitude earthquake had killed at least 181 people and left 2,595 more injured in the west of the country. He said at least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run databases put that number at more than 4,000 Wednesday morning.” (08/12/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/earthquake-response-strains-colombia-s-new-22384589.php
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20) DOJ opinion extends executive privilege to president’s communications with private advisers
Source: The Hill
“A new Department of Justice (DOJ) memo argues the president can assert executive privilege not just over communications with his White House staff, but also with ‘private advisors’ outside of government, an interpretation that would broaden the number of people President Trump could try to shield from congressional investigations. The Monday opinion from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) isn’t binding but nonetheless signals the Trump administration is thinking about how to respond to an expected bevy of investigations into the White House should Democrats retake the House. Traditionally, the president may assert executive privilege over communications only with executive branch staff. But the OLC argues the counsel the president might get from those outside the government could be just as important to the White House and also merits protection.” (08/11/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6022381-doj-executive-privilege-outside-advisers/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) There’s No Real Evidence That ALPRs Make Americans Safer
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“Flock says its network is now used by more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies and 6,000 communities, providing access to a massive and increasingly interconnected database of vehicle movements. Richard Hanania published a piece on Monday in which he rather boldly claims ‘Flock cameras likely explain the recent crime collapse.’ His theory is essentially a sort of Kalam cosmological argument for Flock. Crime fell rapidly at roughly the same time that Flock and other surveillance technologies proliferated, and Hanania treats that coincidence, combined with a plausible deterrent mechanism, as strong evidence of causation.” (08/12/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/theres-no-real-evidence-that-alprs
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22) The Posse Comitatus Presidency: Trump’s Standing Army on American Streets
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“The National Guard was just the beginning. One year after President Trump deployed military troops to the nation’s capital, we find ourselves navigating a posse comitatus presidency in which the visual trappings of martial law are the norm, not the exception. The Founders warned against standing armies on American soil, fearing that the military might someday be used not to defend the people but to control them. They understood something Americans are being encouraged to forget: soldiers and police serve fundamentally different purposes.” [editor’s note: Since the first US police force wasn’t founded until 1838, I doubt the founders thought in those precise terms – TLK] (08/12/26)
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_posse_comitatus_presidency_trumps_standing_army_on_american_streets
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23) Problem? Government the worst solution
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“If you count on government providing something, before long you may not have it at all. It’s the fox watching the henhouse. At the very least, government involvement doesn’t stop the inevitable. If something is not sustainable, putting government in charge won’t save the day.” (08/12/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/08/12/voices/problem-government-the-worst-solution/233975.html
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24) Stop taxing inflation
Source: The Hill
by Glenn Farley
“With the cost of living on every voter’s mind, an old idea is getting a new push on Capitol Hill: fixing a flaw in the tax code that makes everything more expensive. Anyone who has ever sold a home, stock, or even a collectible is familiar with it. When you sell an asset that has risen in price, the IRS taxes the gain. But that gain is measured against the price you paid, not your true cost. If you bought a stock, a bond, or a business many years ago, and its price merely kept pace with inflation, you are no richer in purchasing power than the day you bought it — yet the tax code treats the difference as income and taxes it anyway. This is especially noticeable in periods of high inflation, like the last five years. It is a tax on rising prices, dressed up as a tax on profit.” (08/12/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5980648-index-capital-gains-inflation/
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25) To Understand the AI Alignment Problem, Consider the Human Alignment Problem.
Source: Liberalism.org
by Rachel Lomasky
“The AI alignment problem asks whether the autonomous agents derived from Large Language Models and other AI technologies can reliably internalize the objectives for which they are optimized. The problem is magnified because human objectives are complex and hard to formalize, it is not possible to monitor the internals of the systems, and previous behavior is not necessarily a reliable predictor of how the AI will behave in novel situations. Worries that AIs might find goals that ‘score well’ but don’t match human intent have become a fashionable topic, driven in part by news stories about AI tools behaving in unexpected and disturbing ways, which can be difficult to monitor and reverse. … Human alignment, by comparison, has never been effectively enforced, although significant effort is spent on trying to determine our fellow humans’ motives.” (08/12/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/to-understand-the-ai-alignment-problem-consider-the-human-alignment-problem
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26) Beware “Tax the Rich”
Source: Town Hall
by Betsy McCaughey
“Taylor Swift is enemy No.1 to cash-grabbing Democrats in Rhode Island. They’ve named their new statewide vacation home property tax after her. But from the East Coast to the West Coast, ‘tax the rich’ is the battle cry of radical-left Democrats. They claim that by attacking the rich, including celebs like Swift, they’re saving democracy. Don’t be fooled. Their new forms of taxation — including wealth taxes, mansion taxes and pied-a-terre taxes — are fueled by jealousy and hatred for our free-market system, working people and everything American. You’re their next target.” [editor’s note: In fairness, McCaughey hates “free market systems” at least as much as Bernie Sanders or AOC. She just prefers different targets – TLK] (08/12/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/betsymccaughey/2026/08/12/beware-tax-the-rich-n2681079
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27) The Supreme Court has a message for Kentucky on surveillance: Get a warrant
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown & Dan Canon
“Kentucky’s new license plate camera law is now in effect, and it already looks out of step with the Constitution. Just before it took effect, the U.S. Supreme Court handed the commonwealth a warning its lawmakers cannot afford to ignore. On June 29, the Court ruled in Chatrie v. United States that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain a person’s location data — even from a private company, and even for a short window of time. … That case was about cell-phone data. But the reasoning lands squarely on the surveillance network Kentucky’s local governments have spent the last few years building through a single vendor: Flock Safety.” (08/12/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/scotus-flock/
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28) The Return of Economic Gaslighting
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“Around two and a half years ago, as the Biden administration was entering what we now know was its final year, the then-president’s re-election campaign was growing frustrated. … In one of the most unsurprising developments in modern American politics, it turned out that people who were struggling to navigate the aftermath of the government’s destructive economic shutdowns and keep up with rising prices did not like being told by establishment-approved economic ‘experts’ that they were essentially stupid if they didn’t understand how excellent the economy actually was. … now, as the midterms approach and he and his party are the ones in charge, the Republicans are faced with the exact same choice the Democrats had been faced with before 2024. And, notably, they have decided to adopt the same strategy that helped torpedo the Democrats last time around.” (08/12/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/return-economic-gaslighting
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29) How Occupy Wall Street Still Explains Politics Today
Source: The Nation
by Yotam Marom
“It sowed the seeds for a new era of social movements—but its politics of powerlessness should act as a cautionary tale.” (08/12/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/occupy-wall-street-anniversary-social-movements/
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30) Professionals to “Labor”: Why California’s Doctors Are Unionizing
Source: The Daily Economy
by Richard Menger
“California’s unionization campaign reveals the economic and institutional shifts away from physician ownership and professional autonomy.” (08/12/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/from-profession-to-trade-why-californias-doctors-are-unionizing/
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31) Turkey brightens the outlook for peace
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In a region that’s a flash point for unrest, Turkey has taken a key step toward calming domestic as well as cross-border tensions – and it’s one that could lead to new conceptions of national identity that transcend ethnic or linguistic differences. On Monday, the country’s parliament overwhelmingly voted for a landmark bill aimed at conclusively ending more than 40 years of conflict with its substantial Kurdish ethnic minority. The legislation outlines processes for conditional amnesties and the reintegration of thousands of Kurds, including armed combatants who have lived or operated from strongholds in neighboring Iran, Iraq, and Syria for decades. Turkey’s separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union – abandoned the goal of full independence a few decades ago. And in May 2025, it announced it would disband and disarm, thus putting the onus on the Turkish government to move the process along.” (08/11/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0811/Turkey-brightens-the-outlook-for-peace
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32) We Need to Do Nothing About AI
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Man Basharzad
“The mindset that governments must immediately regulate AI may prove more dangerous than AI itself. Markets generally adapt to technological change. When genuine market failures emerge, there is a case for government intervention. But where, exactly, is the market failure in AI today that demands immediate regulation?” (08/12/26)
https://fee.org/articles/we-need-to-do-nothing-about-ai/
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33) Joe Biden Should Be Dying Of Cancer In The Hague
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Joe Biden’s cancer is moving into the advanced stages, according to the former president’s son Hunter. … I’ve seen a lot of people on social media expressing sadness and grief at the news of Biden’s situation, and I agree it is very sad that this is happening. Joe Biden shouldn’t be sitting at home dying of cancer, he should be sitting in a cell at The Hague dying of cancer. The world is a mess because men like Joe Biden get to die peacefully in their homes of cancer. They live long lives free from consequences for their monstrous actions. They don’t spend their final days rotting in a cage for war crimes. Nobody makes them pay for what they did.” (08/12/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/12/joe-biden-should-be-dying-of-cancer-in-the-hague/
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34) Hume’s Perplexing Priorities
Source: Law & Liberty
by Graham McAleer
“By focusing on Hume’s ideas about why we enter association and follow norms, [Max] Skjönsberg nicely puts in relief how Hume’s theory of historical association differs from the rationalism of the social contract theories of Hobbes and Locke: a motif of slow, uncertain growth marks Hume’s idea, whilst the mood of a blueprint marks social contract theory. Skjönsberg’s portrait also delivers a populist Hume which, I think, is something of a mischaracterization. Like other members of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hume makes establishment basic to governance.” (08/12/26)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/humes-perplexing-priorities/
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35) Putin just showed the world how afraid he is of his own people
Source: Washington Post
by Vladimir Kara-Murza
“When Russian authorities registered Yabloko for the parliamentary ballot in late July, the Kremlin’s thinking was not hard to read. After all, it had everything under control: the media, the electoral commissions, the repressive apparatus of the state. Why not allow an anti-war party on the ballot, announce its official result at 2 percent, and show to the world that — as Putin had said so many times — the Russian people overwhelmingly back his war in Ukraine? But things began to go wrong. What the regime failed to grasp was that Yabloko was no longer just a small liberal party ….It was now the only avenue for Russian citizens to express opposition to the war. They seized on it. Yabloko exploded on social media, overtaking pro-Kremlin parties in the number of subscribers. … And Putin panicked.” (08/12/26)
https://archive.is/feLzJ
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36) Mandatory Testosterone Screening Is a Tactical Retreat from Medical Reason
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels
“[H]ow useful is it to screen military personnel for low testosterone? Well, it might be useful to identify men who have had damaged testicles or who have hypogonadism (when the body produces little or no testosterone) but those cases are rare. But what will happen when you do test America’s servicepeople for ‘Low -T?’ Well, you will find that some of them ‘have it’ as identified. But if it’s not causing symptoms does this arbitrary ‘testosterone level’ really matter? For the answer to that you have to dig a bit into the weeds.” (08/12/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/mandatory-testosterone-screening-is-a-tactical-retreat-from-medical-reason/
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37) Gavin Newsom, the DSA, and the Danton Delusion
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley
“This week, Gavin Newsom made his latest pitch to the mob by proclaiming himself ‘an established insurgent’. It was vintage Newsom in trying to be everything to everyone, part of the establishment and part of the revolution. Like a violent pacifist or a preservation arsonist, it makes no sense to anyone else. However, with the victory of radicals across the country, Newsom is trying to join other armchair revolutionaries in seeking to lead the far-left mob. He believes that he can use a class war that will spare him while destroying his enemies. Call it the Danton delusion. … What became known as ‘The Terror’ was started not by the working class, but by educated lawyers, journalists, and even aristocrats as part of the Jacobin movement.” (08/12/26)
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/08/12/gavin-newsom-the-dsa-and-the-danton-delusion/
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38) Trump’s “National Socialism” Agenda
Source: CounterPunch
by David Rosen
“The process of corporate nationalization evolved over the last nearly two decades. In 2008, Pres. George W. Bush signed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry in the face of what was dubbed the ‘Great Recession.’ In 2009, the Obama administration directly intervened in the auto industry through the Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP), investing approximately $80 billion into the auto industry, including General Motors and Stellantis (i.e., Chrysler). Reich stresses that the Trump 2.0 regime has escalated federal investment in – and equity ownership of – traditionally private corporations.” (08/12/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/12/trumps-national-socialism-agenda/
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39) When US left Afghanistan, China moved in. So how’s it going?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Giorgio Cafiero
“When the Taliban reclaimed power five years ago, China appeared poised to capitalize on Afghanistan’s new realities. Beijing quickly took important steps to establish de facto relations with the Islamic Emirate, such as keeping its embassy open in Kabul, maintaining direct ties with Taliban leaders, and expanding political and security cooperation. In January 2024, Xi Jinping became the first head of state to accept credentials from a Taliban-appointed ambassador. Many analysts latched onto these moves as evidence that China would quickly assert great influence in Afghanistan after the hasty U.S. withdrawal in August 2021. Yet Beijing has pursued a far more cautious course, stopping short of formal recognition, which China sees as a bargaining chip for possible future use.” (08/12/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/afghanistan-china-taliban/
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40) Greg Abbott Abandons Free Enterprise with Texas AI Energy Regulations
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“What is going on in Texas? For all the talk that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is a principled Republican, he certainly reversed his free-market stance when it came to AI and hyperscale data center projects once polling showed how unpopular they are with his base. Abbott signed an executive directive requiring all kinds of roadblock-style regulations before any AI data centers can connect to the state’s grid. I am not saying it is right or wrong; I am just pointing out Abbott’s failure on the issue. Though I would suggest that government-managed energy monopolies and corporate tax subsidies always distort the free market, and he should just stand aside.” (08/12/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/greg-abbott-abandons-free-enterprise
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41) DC Under Siege: One Year of Military Occupation
Source: Common Dreams
by Olivia Dinucci
“One year ago, the Trump administration brought 800 National Guard troops to occupy the streets of Washington, DC, part of the ‘Safe and Beautiful Task Force’. There are now approximately 5,000 troops from 15 states deployed here, with some officially moved in and set to stay through 2029. This does not include the alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies swarming our neighborhoods across the city, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency, Park Police, and more. The National Guard can be found meandering around metro stations, museums, and grocery stores there for mere posture. Despite crime being down before they were deployed here. A new analysis from the Center for American Progress found the Guard deployment has not had a measurable impact on violent crime. They are not even trained in ‘civilian policing’, and are unable to make actual arrests.” (08/12/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dc-military-occupation
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42) The New Apologists for American Empire
Source: Antiwar.com
by Edward Hunt
“Despite the fact that Trump campaigned against endless war and the White House issued a National Security Strategy that rejected ‘global domination,’ the Trump administration celebrated the nation’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary by glorifying empire as one of the country’s highest achievements. Administration officials praised moments in U.S. history when U.S. leaders embraced empire, such as when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams spoke in favor of an ’empire of liberty’ and Theodore Roosevelt acted to take Panama. At a time when many people in the country were reflecting on the ideals of liberty and equality that Jefferson had emphasized in the Declaration of Independence, the Trump administration glorified the country’s imperial history, creating a rationale for Empire First.” (08/12/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/edward_hunt/2026/08/11/the-new-apologists-for-american-empire
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43) NATO? Just Say No!
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angelo Monaco
“A foundational premise of libertarian theory is straightforward: meaningful fiscal restraint is impossible while maintaining a global empire. For decades, federal budgets have bloated under the weight of an expansive foreign policy that treats the American military not as a lean, defensive shield for domestic soil, but as a global guarantor of foreign security. Because overseas deployments, foreign bases, and entangling alliances account for a massive portion of discretionary federal outlays, any serious effort to slash government spending, eliminate deficit-funded inflation, and reduce the tax burden on individual citizens must start at the water’s edge. True fiscal responsibility requires dismantling the garrison state, abandoning the pretense of global policing, and bringing American military forces back entirely within our own borders. From this perspective, America’s commitment to NATO functions as a massive, continuous transfer of assets seized from U.S. taxpayers to foreign governments.” (08/12/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/nato-just-say-no/
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44) Being a Veteran Is Not Enough
Source: The Dispatch
by Mike Nelson
“Military service alone doesn’t qualify anyone for office—nor excuse misconduct.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/veteran-war-politician-platner-kerry/
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45) Miracle US economy zooms ahead, so DSA haters resort to lies
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“The United States of America may be the greatest place for functionally illiterate people to live in all of human history. An eye-popping column in The Financial Times the other day noted how people in the United States with very low literacy make about as much per hour as the average worker in Great Britain. Is this the result of brilliant public policy, carefully crafted to boost the prospects of those on the margins? No, it’s a byproduct of the vast, endlessly dynamic wealth-generating machine that is the American economy. The Financial Times also compared cohorts of low-literacy workers in the US and the UK: ‘The same proportion of US workers who score stunningly low on literacy earn an average of almost $30 per hour, and two-thirds of them are in work. Their British counterparts make the equivalent of $20 and fewer than half are employed.'” (08/11/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/opinion/miracle-us-economy-zooms-ahead-so-dsa-haters-resort-to-lies/
-----
46) How Trump Can Break the Iran Logjam
Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day
“Time to face an uncomfortable truth: America lost the Iran War. It’s a development not only discomfiting but world-historical, marking the pitiful conclusion of American primacy and the ‘U.S.-led international order.’ President Donald Trump is in a bind. Escalating the war in hopes of changing the outcome would worsen its deleterious effects and almost certainly fail to force Iranian capitulation. But reaching a peace agreement is difficult, thanks to a near-total absence of Iranian trust in any commitments that Trump might make. The solution to Trump’s predicament, I’ve come to believe, can be found in an unlikely source: a little-discussed work of political psychology published more than a half century ago.” (08/12/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-trump-can-break-the-iran-logjam/
-----
47) The War on Drugs Has Come to the Maternity Ward
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“At first glance, a new mother taking part in a drug screening seems reasonable. For the sake of the mother and child, a doctor performs a clinical test to rule out any complications or signs of risks to the newborn. But the story quickly takes a dark turn. If there’s a positive test result, it doesn’t stay between the doctor and the patient. In 24 states and Washington, D.C., a positive test alone is enough to initiate a child welfare report, according to a report by the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association. Depending on the state, that test could land the mother on a child abuse registry. Worse still, the mother may be notified the test has occurred only after the fact.” (08/11/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/11/the-war-on-drugs-has-come-to-the-maternity-ward/
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48) Federal Social Service Spending Creates a Sense of Entitlement Among Bureaucrats
Source: Independent Institute
by Christopher J Calton
“Last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suspended funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which quickly sued to block the decision. The controversy raises an important question: to what extent are local bureaucracies entitled to federal funds?” (08/11/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/11/federal-social-service-spending-creates-a-sense-of-entitlement-among-bureaucrats/
-----
49) Donald Trump Invented a New Forever War
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“In one of America’s daily political subplots that would have been rejected from a pre-2025 Armando Iannucci script for being too silly, it turns out Donald Trump was recently smuggled out of Air Force One in a catering container for fear of being assassinated by Iran. He was visiting Turkey last month, and apparently intelligence came in warning of an Iranian threat. Trump had already forgone his Qatari bribe jet, which has not yet been outfitted with the usual security systems, and so was traveling on the old presidential 747. It seems he was too frightened to use that plane as well, so he boarded by the normal door in sight of the cameras, then was quickly bundled out the side entrance onto a catering truck and into a military jet.” (08/12/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/12/aftermath-donald-trump-invented-new-forever-war/
-----
50) Colorado sinking fast
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Colorado has been labeled as ‘increasingly blue’ for several decades. Not just the most recent governors (Hickenlooper and Polis) have been extremely liberal and left (‘Regressives’ as TPOL labels them), but the General Assembly (both houses) has had super-majority Democratic control for a long time as well. (Yes, the Colorado GOP is as much to blame for this, due to their own stupidity and lack of skills and internal cohesion, as the Colorado Democrats are. And don’t get us started on the worthlessness of the Colorado Libertarian Party.)” (08/11/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/08/11/colorado-sinking-fast/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 166
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“Four Tests of a Scapegoat.” (08/13/26)
https://rumble.com/v7dzivc-four-tests-of-a-scapegoat-gracearchy-with-jim-babka-166.html
-----
52) Reason Interview: Jason Silva
Source: Reason
“What if the Future Is Actually Good?” (08/12/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/12/what-if-the-future-is-actually-good/
-----
53) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/12/26
Source: The Dispatch
“What Happened to Liberal Democracy? | Interview: Daron Acemoglu.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/what-happened-to-liberal-democracy-interview-daron-acemoglu/
-----
54) Rising, 08/12/26
Source: The Hill
“The truth about data centers at last: lower property taxes!” (08/12/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/6016128-rising-august-12-2026/
-----
55) The Fifth Column, 08/12/26
Source: The Fifth Column
“Hasan Piker, the DSA, AOC, Jason Arday, Francesca Hong, and miscellaneous lunacy.” (08/12/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/the-politics-of-pretending-episode
-----
56) Reasonably Optimistic, 08/12/26
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle is joined by political commentator Josh Barro to talk about the ‘abundance’ agenda and what it could mean for the cost of living, housing and energy prices, and economic growth.” (08/12/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/why-your-cost-of-living-keeps-rising
-----
57) Checks & Balances, 08/12/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“Stephen Richer on How Elections Actually Work.” (08/12/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/stephen-richer-on-how-elections-actually
-----
58) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/11/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump EXPLODES Amid Iran War Debacle | Fauci’s Diary.” (08/11/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-trump-explodes-amid-iran-war-debacle-faucis-diary/
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59) Free Speech Unmuted, 08/11/26
Source: Hoover Institution
“Can AI Libel You? The Robby Starbuck Case | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer.” (08/11/26)
https://free-speech-unmuted.podbean.com/e/can-ai-libel-you-the-robbie-starbuck-case-eugene-volokh-and-jane-bambauer-hoover-institution/
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60) Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/11/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s watch the LPNH Disaffiliation Judicial Committee Hearing (and looking at new amici).” (08/11/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra66bfXFYf0
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