06/07 -- UK: Johnson survives no-confidence vote; The Fed, And No One Else, Is Responsible for Inflation
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jun 7, 2022, 7:19:00 AM6/7/22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 06/07/22
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Today's Freedom News:
1) UK: Johnson survives no-confidence vote
2) US prosecutors charge five Proud Boys members, including informant/leader, with seditious conspiracy
3) Mexico: AMLO Boycotts Summit Over US Exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela
4) FIRE to expand portfolio, pick up free speech ball dropped by ACLU
5) Kazakhstan: Voters strip founding figure Nazarbayev of privileges in referendum
6) Axon halts plans for Taser drone as nine on ethics board resign
7) Shapiro resigns from Georgetown following reinstatement
8) US regime moves to steal Russian oligarch Abramovich's planes
9) Mexico: AMLO's party wins four of six governorships
10) Dominican Republic: Cabinet minister killed in his office
11) France: Macron's party leads as citizens living abroad vote for MPs
12) TN: Lee opposes disarming future victims after mass shootings
13) Ryanair Afrikaans test: South African fury over language quiz
14) US Senators "confident" new victim disarmament edicts are within reach
15) AK: House primary draws Palin, Santa, 46 others
16) India: Regime rushes to quell outrage after insulting remarks on Islam
17) CDC raises Monkeypox alert to level 2, recommends masks during travel
18) CA: 38-year-old man fatally shot after alleged attack on caretaker
19) GA: Atlanta rapper Trouble killed in home invasion
20) Serbia: Russian minister's visit canceled after overflight refusal
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The Fed, And No One Else, Is Responsible for Inflation
22) The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right
23) "Assault Weapons" Ban: First Step on the Road to Tyranny
24) Biden Isn't Taking His Presidency Seriously
25) Social Security Benefit Cuts Coming by 2035
26) It Doesn't Matter to the Oligarchy How Many Mass Shootings There Are
27) What Would You Die For?
28) Lingering COVID-19 Restrictions Are Costly Hazards
29) Rick Caruso's Potemkin Campaign
30) Congress must end the federal mask mandate once and for all
31) Respect the Fed? No, End the Fed
32) The Unbearably Predictable Prattle of the Boston Globe
33) Silicon Valley Corporations Taking Control Of History
34) The Rise of Libertarianism in Latin America
35) Florida's Social Media Anticensorship Law and the Court's Tortured Legal Logic
36) The War Against Cash Carriers
37) Biden's G-men go rogue
38) The Federal Government's Own Study Concluded Its Ban on "Assault Weapons" Didn't Reduce Gun Violence
39) Quantum Vibe, 06/06/22
40) The President's Policy is Dangerous: What Does Joe Biden Believe He is Doing in Ukraine?
41) Cancer Is an Environmental Problem
42) Modi's Multipolar Moment Has Arrived
43) Defund The Colleges
44) Hoarse race: California voters are about to lose their voice
45) No Compromise on Guns
46) Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Honkies: Or Why We Should All Resist the Great Assimilation
47) Human Rights and the Environment
48) Orwell and the left's problem with patriotism
49) Charity's shift on gun violence
50) Firemen and arsonists
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 06/06/22
52) Free Talk Live, 06/06/22
53) Hassan El-Tayyab on The Scott Horton Show
54) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/06/22
55) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 06/06/22
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/06/22
57) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/06/22
58) EconTalk, 06/06/22
59) Tom Secker on The Scott Horton Show
60) Conflicts of Interest, episode 284
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) UK: Johnson survives no-confidence vote
Source: NBC News
"Boris Johnson survives -- for now. The British prime minister narrowly won a confidence vote among his own lawmakers Monday, leaving him damaged but still in power and his ruling Conservative Party bitterly divided over its once-talismanic leader who has become beset by scandal. Johnson won by 211 votes to 148 in a high-drama secret ballot in Parliament that threatened to oust him from power. That's a majority of just 63, splitting his party 59 percent to 41 -- a far bigger mutiny than many pundits expected. Crucially for some, it's also a bigger revolt than the one suffered by Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, during her own confidence vote in 2019. Although she limped on wounded, she was gone within six months. The question that will dominate the halls of Westminster is how long Johnson, 57, can last now that almost half of his own parliamentary party have voted to kick him out." (06/06/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/british-prime-minister-boris-johnson-wins-confidence-vote-rcna32069
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2) US prosecutors charge five Proud Boys members, including informant/leader, with seditious conspiracy
Source: The Hill
"Federal prosecutors on Monday added seditious conspiracy to the list of charges five Proud Boys leaders are facing over their alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A superseding federal grand jury indictment unsealed Monday marks the second time the Justice Department has brought the serious charge following the attack. The five Proud Boys members, including the group's national leader [and previously outed federal informant], Enrique Tarrio, had been charged over the past year with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and various other counts. Both types of conspiracy charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors earlier this year charged members of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia with seditious conspiracy." (06/06/22)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3513522-prosecutors-charge-five-proud-boys-defendants-with-seditious-conspiracy/
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3) Mexico: AMLO Boycotts Summit Over US Exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela
Source: Common Dreams
"Mexico's leftist [sic] President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Monday that he is skipping the Summit of the Americas, following through on his threat to boycott the upcoming meeting if the White House refused to invite officials from all nations in the Western Hemisphere. The Biden administration's decision to bar the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from this week's gathering in Los Angeles was made final on Sunday. Unnamed sources familiar with deliberations between Washington officials and their Latin American and Caribbean counterparts, including those in Mexico, said that U.S. President Joe Biden's long-anticipated move was 'based on concerns about the lack of democracy and respect for human rights in the three countries,' Bloomberg reported." (06/06/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/06/mexican-president-boycotts-summit-over-us-exclusion-cuba-nicaragua-venezuela
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4) FIRE to expand portfolio, pick up free speech ball dropped by ACLU
Source: Politico
"An advocacy group that has spent more than two decades fighting for free expression on college campuses is broadening its efforts to fight so-called cancel culture and other perceived threats to free speech across American society. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is renaming itself the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and keeping the 'FIRE' acronym as it launches a drive to promote greater acceptance of a diversity of views in the workplace, pop culture and elsewhere. Part of the push may challenge the American Civil Liberties Union's primacy as a defender of free speech. ... [FIRE president Greg] Lukianoff said FIRE has raised $28.5 million for a planned three-year, $75 million litigation, opinion research and public education campaign aimed at boosting and solidifying support for free-speech values." [editor's note: ACLU gave up its claim to be "a defender of free speech" years ago – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/06/free-speech-group-first-amendment-00037320
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5) Kazakhstan: Voters strip founding figure Nazarbayev of privileges in referendum
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"Kazakhs have overwhelmingly voted for constitutional changes in a referendum after deadly unrest ended founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev's three-decade grip on Central Asia's richest country, the election commission says. 'The referendum can be considered validated,' electoral commission chair Nurlan Abdirov said on Monday, citing preliminary results that 77% of voters had backed the move. ... Even after stepping down as president, Nazarbayev retained the constitutional title of 'elbasy,' or 'leader of the nation' -- a role that afforded him influence over policymaking regardless of his formal position. The new constitution will exclude that status. Another amendment prevents relatives of the president from holding government positions -- a clear nod to the influence of Nazarbayev's family and in-laws, who lost powerful positions in the aftermath of the violence." (06/06/22)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/06/kazakhstan-vote-nazarbayev-privileges-referendum-constitution
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6) Axon halts plans for Taser drone as nine on ethics board resign
Source: SFGate
"Axon, the company best known for developing the Taser, said Monday it was halting plans to develop a Taser-equipped drone after a majority of its ethics board resigned over the controversial project. Axon's founder and CEO Rick Smith said the company's announcement last week (which drew a rebuke from its artificial intelligence ethics board) was intended to 'initiate a conversation on this as a potential solution.' Smith said the ensuing discussion 'provided us with a deeper appreciation of the complex and important considerations' around the issue. ... The board had voted 8-4 a few weeks ago to recommend Axon not proceed with a pilot of the Taser drone and had concerns about introducing weaponizing drones in over-policed communities of color." (06/06/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Axon-halts-plans-for-Taser-drone-as-9-on-ethics-17222032.php
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7) Shapiro resigns from Georgetown following reinstatement
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
"After a more than four-month investigation that led to his reinstatement last week, Ilya Shapiro resigned today from Georgetown University Law Center. On June 2, Shapiro was reinstated as senior lecturer and executive director for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution after a 122-day investigation -- which began before Shapiro started his first day on the job. ... When Georgetown reinstated Shapiro, it said that university policies did not apply to him when he tweeted on Jan. 26, as his employment was to begin Feb. 1. The university reasoned it could not punish him for tweets made when he was not a university employee. As Shapiro said in his resignation letter, Georgetown investigated him for four months when the situation 'apparently could've been resolved by looking at a calendar.'" (06/06/22)
https://www.thefire.org/ilya-shapiro-resigns-from-georgetown-following-reinstatement-after-122-day-investigation-of-tweets/
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8) US regime moves to steal Russian oligarch Abramovich's planes
Source: Reuters
"U.S. authorities have obtained warrants to [steal] two U.S.-origin planes owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich for flying to Russia without a license required due to U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine, a Department of Justice official said on Monday. The U.S. Department of Commerce also filed administrative charges against Abramovich, who it said in February named his Russian children the beneficiaries of the 'shell entities' that owned the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Gulfstream G650 ER aircraft, but that he continued to control them. The charges come as U.S. authorities seek to pressure business leaders close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to convince Moscow to halt what Kremlin calls its 'special military operation' in Ukraine." (06/06/22)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-charges-abramovich-with-exporting-planes-russia-without-license-2022-06-06/
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9) Mexico: AMLO's party wins four of six governorships
Source: Los Angeles Times
"The party of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has continued its consolidation of power by winning four of the six governorships on the ballot in local elections, according to electoral authorities Monday. Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement -- known as Morena -- along with its allied parties won in Tamaulipas, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca and Hidalgo on Sunday. An opposition coalition won in Aguascalientes and Durango. The victories give Morena control of 22 of Mexico's 32 states, an important advantage heading into the 2024 presidential elections." (06/06/22)
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-06-06/mexico-president-lopez-obrador-party-wins-governorships
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10) Dominican Republic: Cabinet minister killed in his office
Source: SFGate
"The Dominican Republic's minister of the environment and natural resources (the son of a former president) was shot and killed in his office on Monday by a close friend, the office of the president said in a statement. Authorities said Orlando Jorge Mera was shot by Miguel Cruz, who has been detained. No further details were immediately available, and it wasn't immediately clear if Cruz had an attorney. 'We express our deepest condolences,' the office of President Luis Abinader said. Jorge comes from a powerful political family. He is the son of former Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco and his sister is a vice minister in Abinader's administration. Jorge's son is a lawmaker for the Modern Revolutionary Party, of which he is a founding member. The family issued a statement saying that Cruz had been Jorge's friend since childhood, and that Jorge was shot multiple times." (06/06/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Dominican-Republic-cabinet-minister-killed-in-17222805.php
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11) France: Macron's party leads as citizens living abroad vote for MPs
Source: The Connexion [France]
"French people living abroad and in French Polynesia went to the polls this weekend (June 4-5), to vote for the MPs who will represent them in Parliament in the first round of the legislative elections. France has 11 overseas constituencies, created in 2010, allowing citizens living abroad to be represented on issues which affect them, rather than simply voting in their previous area of residence as, for example, happens with eligible Britons. Candidates aligned with President Emmanuel Macron came out on top in most constituencies, with the exception of former prime minister Manuel Valls, who only gained 16% of the vote." (06/06/22)
https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Macron-s-party-leads-as-French-citizens-living-abroad-vote-for-MPs
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12) TN: Lee opposes disarming future victims after mass shootings
Source: US News & World Report
"Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that he does not support restricting firearms or strengthening gun control laws in response to recent mass shootings in Tennessee and around the country, including the gunning down of 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Texas. Instead, Lee joined the growing list of Republican governors who are stressing the need for more security at schools with the governor signing an executive order calling for enhancing safety measures that does not mention the word gun once. The directive largely encourages schools to continue to implement current school safety laws, directs state agencies to issue guidance on to improve school building security, and calls for law enforcement agencies to promote more people to join law enforcement careers." (06/06/22)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/tennessee/articles/2022-06-06/tennessee-gov-no-restricting-firearms-after-mass-shootings
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13) Ryanair Afrikaans test: South African fury over language quiz
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"South Africans have condemned Irish airline Ryanair for making them take a test in the Afrikaans language on UK flights, calling it discriminatory. The country has 11 official languages, and many say they cannot understand Afrikaans -- a language which was imposed during white-minority rule. The quiz contains questions on South African general knowledge. Ryanair defended the test, saying it weeds out those travelling on fraudulent South African passports. 'Due to the high prevalence of fraudulent South African passports, we require passengers travelling to the UK to fill out a simple questionnaire issued in Afrikaans,' it said in a statement. 'If they are unable to complete this questionnaire, they will be refused travel and issued with a full refund,' the airline continued." (06/06/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61703174
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14) US Senators "confident" new victim disarmament edicts are within reach
Source: Independent [UK]
"Urgent efforts to pass bipartisan [victim disarmament] legislation are making some serious strides as Republicans and Democrats seemed more agreeable to reaching a deal, key senators said on Sunday. But they also acknowledged concerns that the efforts could still collapse, with the delicate talks expected to continue this week while negotiators try to find a common ground to harden the nation's gun laws. ... Even if the compromise bill is passed in the Senate, it will fail to meet the standards laid out by US president Joe Biden in his passionate address after the Uvalde elementary school shooting, calling for the renewal of the federal ban on assault weapons [sic] that expired in 2004 during the Republican leadership." (06/06/22)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gun-control-law-senate-mass-shooting-b2094645.html
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15) AK: House primary draws Palin, Santa, 46 others
Source: SFGate
"Alaska voters are facing an election unlike any they've seen, with 48 candidates running to succeed the man who had held the state's only U.S. House seat for 49 years. While some of the candidates in this week's special primary have name recognition, including Sarah Palin and Santa Claus (yes, Santa Claus!), many are relative unknowns or political novices: a fishing guide, a contractor, a gold miner who went to prison for allegedly threatening federal land managers. The huge number of candidates and the short timeline for holding the election after Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young's death on March 18 has some voters overwhelmed and scrambling to learn more about their options. This will be the first election under a system approved by voters in 2020 that ends party primaries, meaning all candidates are on the same one-page ballot." (06/06/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alaska-s-unusual-House-primary-draws-Palin-17220783.php
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16) India: Regime rushes to quell outrage after insulting remarks on Islam
Source: Reuters
"India's government sought on Monday to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling BJP party made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, with 38 people arrested for rioting in a northern city and a protest planned later in Mumbai. ... The BJP suspended a spokesperson and expelled another official on Sunday for hurting religious sentiments of a minority community. Muslims make up around 13% of India's 1.35 billion people. Protests were planned against the anti-Muslim remarks in the financial capital Mumbai on Monday." [editor's note: The story doesn't specify what the alleged insults were. And rioting because you feel someone was insufficiently respectful of your religion is, let's be clear on this, pretty damn dumb – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-rushes-quell-outrage-after-insulting-remarks-islam-2022-06-06/
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17) CDC raises Monkeypox alert to level 2, recommends masks during travel
Source: Fox News
"The CDC raised its alert level for Monkeypox to level 2 on Monday, recommending that travelers wear masks, among other health measures. While not on the level of COVID-19, Monkeypox has spread across the globe out of Africa since March. Monkeypox symptoms begin as relatively flu-like but soon expand to the swelling of lymph nodes and a rash across the body and face. Ultimately, painful lesions form on rash areas, leaving severe scarring. 'Cases of monkeypox have been reported in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia,' the CDC wrote in its alert. 'Some cases were reported among men who have sex with men. Some cases were also reported in people who live in the same household as an infected person,' it added." (06/06/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-monkeypox-alert-level-2-recommends-masks-travel
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18) CA: 38-year-old man fatally shot after alleged attack on caretaker
Source: Yahoo! News
"A 38-year-old man was fatally shot Saturday after he attempted to attack a caretaker in the backyard of a Stockton home, in what appears to be justifiable homicide, police said. ... 'What we've learned during this investigation is that the 38-year-old tried to attack the caretaker at the home, at which point fearing for his life the caretaker shot the man, and then the caretaker called 911 for help,' Stockton police spokesman Officer Joseph Silva said. The caretaker, 43, is caring for a 93-year-old man living in the home." (06/05/22)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/38-old-man-fatally-shot-191029155.html
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19) GA: Atlanta rapper Trouble killed in home invasion
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"US rapper Trouble, who collaborated with Drake and The Weeknd in his career, has died at the age of 34. Drake is among the big-name stars who've paid tribute to the rapper since news of his death broke. Local authorities confirmed the death of the artist (real name Mariel Semonte Orr) on Sunday. A spokesperson for the Rockdale County Sheriff's office says Orr was shot and pronounced dead at an apartment in Conyers, Georgia. Orr was visiting a woman at the time, about 25 miles away from his hometown of Atlanta before the attack. The police have issued an arrest warrant for 33-year-old Jamichael Jones on allegations of murder, home invasion and aggravated assault. They say they do not believe Jones and Orr were known to each other, but that the woman and Jones were involved in a 'domestic situation.'" (06/06/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-61704298
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20) Serbia: Russian minister's visit canceled after overflight refusal
Source: ABC News
"Serbia on Monday confirmed that a planned visit by Russia's foreign minister to the Balkan country will not take place. The announcement followed reports that Serbia's neighbors, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had refused to allow Sergey Lavrov's plane to fly through their airspace to reach Serbia. President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday that Russia's ambassador to Serbia had met with him and informed him of the reasons why Lavrov could not come. Vucic offered no details, but the pro-Russian Vecernje Novosti daily carried photos of what it said were official documents rejecting the overflights. Late on Sunday, Moscow also accused the West of closing off lines of communication by forcing Lavrov to cancel Monday's planned visit." (06/06/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russian-ministers-visit-canceled-overflight-refusal-85209218
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The Fed, And No One Else, Is Responsible for Inflation
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"According to commentators in the mainstream press and various federal officials, inflation is like the coronavirus. It spreads around the world, hitting different countries in different ways. Sometimes a country will experience only mild symptoms and sometimes more severe symptoms, like what happens with Covid. Now that the inflation virus has hit America, the mainstream media, along with public officials, are coming up with all sorts of remedies to address the problem. This is all sheer nonsense, of course. There is one -- and only one -- entity that is responsible for inflating the money supply. That entity is the Federal Reserve." (06/06/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/06/06/the-fed-and-no-one-else-is-responsible-for-inflation/
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22) The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right
Source: The Nation
by Jeet Heer
"In July 28, 2017, Jeff Deist, the president of the Mises Institute, named for libertarian economist Ludwig von Mises, published a blog post arguing that 'blood and soil and God and nation still matter to people. Libertarians ignore this at the risk of irrelevance.' The phrase 'blood and soil' already had an unmistakable fascist overtone -- but it took on an even more gruesome connotation two weeks after the post during the infamous Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally of 2017 .... The ensuing arguments over 'blood and soil' lead to the creation of a Mises Caucus, which aimed to overthrow the pragmatic Gary Johnson wing of the [Libertarian Party] and adopt the incendiary culture war politics of the hard right." [editor's note: The Mises "Caucus" is actually a PAC, not a real caucus. And Heer doesn't really seem to understand HOW the PAC is set up to assist Republicans versus Libertarians, though he's correct that that's its purpose – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/libertarian-gop-alt-right/
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23) "Assault Weapons" Ban: First Step on the Road to Tyranny
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"President Joe Biden is seeking to revive his presidency by demolishing the Second Amendment. In a televised address last Thursday, Biden called for a ban on assault weapons, which he portrayed as the epitome of evil. Vice President Kamala Harris caterwauled that assault weapons are a 'weapon of war' with 'no place in civil society.' Assault weapons are a 'flag of convenience' for the Democrats' circus shell game with Americans' constitutional rights. Biden talks as if assault weapons are solely a moral issue. But once that premise is accepted, then he can move to ban vast numbers of firearms widely owned by Americans." (06/06/22)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2022/06/06/assault-weapons-ban-first-step-on-the-road-to-tyranny/
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24) Biden Isn't Taking His Presidency Seriously
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
"While worries about inflation, high gas prices, and baby formula shortages (just to name a few) continue to swirl, President Joe Biden is taking time on Wednesday to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live. What, did he run out of TikTok influencers? Modern presidents pandering to pop culture celebrities is not a new phenomenon. Richard Nixon said, 'Sock it to me,' and Barack Obama did an interview with that YouTube star who drinks cereal from a bathtub. But coming at this difficult moment -- and absent more robust or serious efforts to change course -- this just looks trivial and gimmicky. I'm starting to think Biden might not appreciate how bad things are or what little time he has to turn his administration around." (06/06/22)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-biden-isnt-taking-his-presidency-seriously
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25) Social Security Benefit Cuts Coming by 2035
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann
"Good news! Instead of going broke in 2033, Social Security's Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (OASI) trust fund will run out of money in 2034. If the program's Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund is diverted to pay retirement benefits, it will last until 2035! That's the latest projection from Social Security's trustees, who released their 2022 annual report last week. ... Those benefit reductions are also good news. A year ago, the cuts were projected to be bigger. Now, retired Americans relying on Social Security benefits will only lose 20 cents of every dollar they might have been expecting. That's a promise by the politicians who set Social Security's funding and benefits on their current scheme." (06/06/22)
https://blog.independent.org/2022/06/06/social-security-benefit-cuts-coming-by-2035/
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26) It Doesn't Matter to the Oligarchy How Many Mass Shootings There Are
Source: Common Dreams
by Chris Hedges
"Guns were a ubiquitous part of my childhood. My grandfather, who had been a master sergeant in the army, had a small arsenal in his house in Mechanic Falls, Maine. He gave me a 2020 bolt action Springfield rifle when I was 7. By the time I was 10, I had graduated to a Winchester lever action 30-30. I moved my way up the National Rifle Association's (NRA) Marksmanship Qualification Program ....Two decades as a reporter in war zones, however, resulted in a deep aversion to weapons. I saw what they did to human bodies. I inherited my grandfather's guns and gave them to my uncle. The fear of losing the gun is the final crushing blow to self-esteem and dignity, a surrender to the economic and political forces that have destroyed their lives." (06/06/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/06/it-doesnt-matter-oligarchy-how-many-mass-shootings-there-are
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27) What Would You Die For?
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg
"Our title asks a rather uncomfortable question. But it's also an important question for every adult to face ... for young adults and even teenagers to face: For what would you risk a certain or near-certain death? It is by answering such a question that we define ourselves as more than 'intelligent meat machines.' Answering the question in any positive way defines us as deep beings ... as transcendent beings. This question, then, is a sort of pivot, upon which turn our beliefs about ourselves and our expressions of ourselves – and this on a very deep level." (06/06/22)
https://freemansperspective.com/what-would-you-die-for/
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28) Lingering COVID-19 Restrictions Are Costly Hazards
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"A friend of mine and his wife recently took a trip to Europe that almost ended in disaster because of positive COVID-19 tests. Fortunately, the results weren't theirs; four other members of their tour group who stood in line at the same pharmacy to get swabbed received the unwelcome results and remained stranded at their own expense while my friend and the rest of the group returned home. It was a reminder that some officials still have trouble letting go of pandemic-inflated power. ... Applying even to vaccinated and boosted travelers, and with a daunting 24-hour timeframe, the CDC rules make the U.S. an outlier in a world that otherwise seems eager to turn its back on two years of chaotic overreactions to COVID-19." (06/06/22)
https://reason.com/2022/06/06/lingering-covid-19-restrictions-are-costly-hazards/
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29) Rick Caruso's Potemkin Campaign
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
"My home city of Los Angeles hasn't seen many local tycoons attempt to buy their way into power. Richard Riordan was a white-shoe lawyer and founder of a private equity firm when he became the last Republican mayor in 1993, but he didn't have unlimited cash. Contra Riordan, recent history in California is that self-funding rich candidates lose, from legendary flop Al Checchi in the 1998 governor's race to Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in 2010. But Rick Caruso, the developer known for building garish, Disney-fied malls like the Americana in Glendale and The Grove in the Fairfax district, has spent roughly three out of every four dollars in L.A.'s mayoral campaign, nearly all of it from his own bank account, in advance of Tuesday's primary, in which 11 other candidates have also been running." (06/06/22)
https://prospect.org/politics/rick-carusos-potemkin-campaign/
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30) Congress must end the federal mask mandate once and for all
Source: The Hill
by Benjamin Powell
"The U.S. Department of Justice's appeal of a judge's ruling against the federal mask mandate on public transportation illustrates why the House of Representatives needs to join the Senate and vote to permanently end the mandate. It made little sense before, and it makes even less sense now. The DOJ filed the appeal last Tuesday, claiming that the federal district court's April ruling in Florida didn't come close to 'showing that the CDC has acted outside the 'zone of reasonableness'' and further that there was 'ample support for the agency's determination that there was good cause to make the order effective without delay.' The Biden administration could unilaterally reinstate the mandate if the appeal succeeds." (06/06/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3512918-congress-must-end-the-federal-mask-mandate-once-and-for-all/
-----
31) Respect the Fed? No, End the Fed
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
"President Joe Biden has unveiled a three-part plan to fight inflation -- or at least make people think he is fighting inflation. One part of the plan involves having government agencies 'fix' the supply chain problems that have led to shortages of numerous products. ... Deficit reduction is another part of Biden's anti-inflation plan. ... The last and most important part of Biden's inflation plan is recognizing that the Federal Reserve 'has the primary responsibility to control inflation.' President Biden has pledged to 'respect the Fed's independence,' unlike former President Trump, who Biden accused of 'demeaning the Fed' by subjecting the central bank to mean Tweets." (06/06/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/respect-the-fed-no-end-the-fed
-----
32) The Unbearably Predictable Prattle of the Boston Globe
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Thomas Harrington
"I've been reading the Boston Globe for nearly 50 years. And while it has never had the widespread cache of the New York Times, it has long had a very strong, and mostly well-deserved place among the still very august second tier of US newspapers. Yes, its superb sports section had something to do with that. But that was not all. Its reporting was quite solid and its editorial page, while reliably liberal, was seldom crudely partisan or condescending, seeking in general to elevate the higher civic sensibilities of its readers. That was before Covid and Woke 'changed everything'[TM] at the paper. The word that comes most immediately to mind when reading it today is grotesque, understood in the strict dictionary sense of being 'odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.'" (06/06/22)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-unbearably-predictable-prattle-of-the-boston-globe/
-----
33) Silicon Valley Corporations Taking Control Of History
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"Twitter has imposed a weeklong suspension on the account of writer and political activist Danny Haiphong for a thread he made on the platform disputing the mainstream Tiananmen Square massacre narrative. The notification Haiphong received informed him that Twitter had locked his account for 'Violating our rules against abuse and harassment,' presumably in reference to a rule the platform put in place a year ago which prohibits 'content that denies that mass murder or other mass casualty events took place, where we can verify that the event occured, and when the content is shared with abusive intent.' ... That we are now seeing this rule applied to protect narratives which support the geostrategic interests of the US-centralized empire is not in the least bit surprising." (06/06/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/06/silicon-valley-corporations-are-taking-control-of-history/
-----
34) The Rise of Libertarianism in Latin America
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Michael N Peterson
"Even before Donald Trump's entrance onto the political scene in the summer of 2015, a social and political eruption was taking place, not just in the United States but around the world. A quiet aching among many who felt abandoned by the political establishment has now morphed into a serious and gnawing illness that has yet to abate. Illiberalism rose out of fear and disillusionment among the 'forgotten classes,' and has spread to countries the world over. But there's a parallel trend that has been largely overlooked, partly because it takes place in less developed countries and partly because the rise of a libertarian resistance isn't as glamorous or eventful as the illiberal impulses gripping countries like Hungary, Poland, and of course, the United States." (06/06/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/the-rise-of-libertarianism-in-latin-america/
-----
35) Florida's Social Media Anticensorship Law and the Court's Tortured Legal Logic
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Tate Fegley
"Readers may recall Florida Senate Bill 7202, regulating social media platforms, which was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis about a year ago. The stated intention of the legislation is to combat social media censorship. ... Tech companies challenged the law and the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued an opinion that most provisions of the law are likely unconstitutional. Upon reading the opinion they issued, I have a number of observations." (06/06/22)
https://mises.org/wire/floridas-social-media-anticensorship-law-and-courts-tortured-legal-logic
-----
36) The War Against Cash Carriers
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Michigan's lawmakers and governor seem determined to remind us that history is no nonstop march into the light. In the Great Lake State, the latest confirmation is a return to virtually unrestricted legalized cash-grabbing at the airport, reversing halfhearted reforms of several years earlier. After those reforms were enacted, a traveler had to be toting in excess of $50,000 before officials a Michigan airport could be 'justified' in confiscating his cash on a mere suspicion that it is associated with a crime. But now, because of legislation just signed by Governor Whitmer, the threshold has been knocked down to $20,000. Maybe you must be naïve to carry so much cash where police and other functionaries can easily get at it, but as Dan King of the Institute for Justice observes, you don't have to be a criminal. And traveling with cash is not a crime." (06/06/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/06/06/the-war-against-cash-carriers/
-----
37) Biden's G-men go rogue
Source: Fox News
by Jason Chaffetz
"Surprise! The Biden Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, will not be prosecuting lawbreakers within its ranks. The Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its semiannual report to Congress of cases for which the IG recommends prosecutions. But in case after case, the DOJ is declining to prosecute its own. The one notable exception is Bureau of Prisons (BOP) personnel, who still have reason to fear repercussions if they break the law. But if you are in the FBI or DEA, you can be virtually assured you will not be prosecuted, based on the long list of cases DOJ has declined to prosecute. Apparently, if you work for the right agency, anything goes. Just how serious are the allegations of lawbreaking? Here are a few examples from Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report." (06/06/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-department-justice-fbi-merrick-garland
-----
38) The Federal Government's Own Study Concluded Its Ban on "Assault Weapons" Didn't Reduce Gun Violence
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
"Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris called for an all-out ban of 'assault weapons.' 'We know what works on this. It includes, let's have an assault weapons ban,' Harris told reporters in Buffalo after attending the funeral of a victim. On Thursday, President Joe Biden, while speaking from the White House Cross Hall before a candlelit backdrop, called on Congress to pass new gun control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons. 'How much more carnage are we willing to accept?' Biden asked. There are numerous problems with this proposal, starting with the sticky question of defining what an 'assault weapon' is." (06/06/22)
https://fee.org/articles/the-federal-government-s-own-study-concluded-its-ban-on-assault-weapons-didnt-reduce-gun-violence/
-----
39) Quantum Vibe, 06/06/22
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (06/06/22)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2346
-----
40) The President's Policy is Dangerous: What Does Joe Biden Believe He is Doing in Ukraine?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Doug Bandow
"President Joe Biden spoke to the American people after a fashion. He, or whoever writes his material, sought to calm rising fears about the consequences of intervening ever deeper in the Russo-Ukraine war. Early popular enthusiasm for the victims of Russian aggression has given way to more practical concerns over the potential for an expanded war, higher prices, a possible recession, and more. The president began with his war aim: 'We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.' That's a reasonable diplomatic end but not a very good cause for war. What Biden said about Ukraine also applies to most every other nation on earth." (06/06/22)
https://original.antiwar.com/doug-bandow/2022/06/05/the-presidents-policy-is-dangerous-what-does-joe-biden-believe-he-is-doing-in-ukraine/
-----
41) Cancer Is an Environmental Problem
Source: In These Times
by Anita Carraher
"'In my experience, the attitude of most clinicians and cancer researchers is that environmental causes of cancer are not very important. That was certainly my attitude.' This was how doctor and cancer researcher Margaret Kripke began her presentation at the Cancer and Environment Forum in March. ... 'My outlook on this subject changed very dramatically when I was a member of the President's Cancer Panel,' said Kripke, who served on the panel in 2010. That year, the panel produced its first ever report on environmental causes of cancer. Kripke continued, 'What I learned from this exercise was absolutely shocking to me.' That 2010 report found that environmental exposures play a larger role in cancer formation than once believed by clinicians, and that these cancer risks are especially dangerous to children." (06/06/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/cancer-moonshot-biden-environmental-problem-pollution-research
-----
42) Modi's Multipolar Moment Has Arrived
Source: Foreign Policy
by Derek Grossman
"In every crisis, someone always benefits. In the case of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that someone is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By refusing to condemn Moscow and join Western-led sanctions, Modi has managed to elevate India's global stature. Each of the other major powers -- the United States, Russia, and China -- are intensely courting India to deny a strategic advantage to their adversaries. Relishing the spotlight, Modi and his Hindu-nationalist government will surely look to keep the momentum going. Their likely goal is to carve out an independent superpower role for India, hasten the transition to a multipolar international system, and ultimately cement its new status with a permanent United Nations Security Council seat for India." (06/06/22)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/06/modi-india-russia-ukraine-war-china-us-geopolitics-multipolar-quad/
-----
43) Defund The Colleges
Source: The American Conservative
by Teresa R Manning
"[A]bsolutely no action on student-loan forgiveness should happen unless the American higher-education system is reformed from top to bottom. Needed corrections are too numerous to list, though the National Association of Scholars has tried to document most, including reducing the amount of government funding to schools spent on administrators. In truth, a five-year moratorium on the Title IV student-loan program is necessary to give stakeholders ... a chance to audit leading state and private institutions before they produce yet more ignorant and indebted youth. In that time period, young Americans would undoubtedly do something far more productive than four years in campusland. In the meantime, instead of blanket, one-size-fits-all steps like the debt-forgiveness proposals currently under discussion, bankruptcy relief must extend to student-loan debt for those graduates who find themselves in financial hardship, just as it does to consumer debt for adults." (06/06/22)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/defund-the-colleges/
-----
44) Hoarse race: California voters are about to lose their voice
Source: Orange County Register
by Jackson Reese
"California's 2020 election results were stolen -- not by President Joe Biden, the DCCC, or ballot harvesters but by a guy named Frank. 'Frank' is Frank Roesch, an Alameda County judge who, on August 20, declared that the votes of nearly 10 million Californians in a 2020 initiative campaign weren't going to count. His ruling will be tested in a California appeals court. At issue in Roesch's courtroom was Assembly Bill 5, a 2019 change in state labor law that forced companies to transform independent contractors into regular employees." (06/05/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/05/hoarse-race-california-voters-are-about-to-lose-their-voice/
-----
45) No Compromise on Guns
Source: Town Hall
by Kurt Schlichter
"Here is my proposed gun control compromise following the latest attack on children that millions of us did not commit. Ready? You gun fascists can kiss my Schumer and we keep our guns. In fact, let's also repeal the National Firearms Act and impose national constitutional carry. I think this compromise fairly balances our respective legitimate interests regarding guns. Our legitimate interest is maintaining the capacity to deter and defeat tyrants and criminals. Your legitimate interest in limiting our ability to do so is non-existent. There are several Republicans who are apparently eager to come to a compromise on guns with the Democrats, whose ultimate goal is to rule unchallenged over a nation of disarmed, supine Canadian serfs." [editor's note: As if that's not the Republicans' ultimate goal too – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2022/06/06/no-compromise-on-guns-n2608232
-----
46) Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Honkies: Or Why We Should All Resist the Great Assimilation
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
"White people beware, 'they' are coming to America. They're coming in record numbers, and we know just who they are. They are not like us. They will trample our pristine Western Civilization with their dirty unwashed feet, and they're coming to a suburb near you. They come from all over. They come from all the scary places on the map. ... They're coming for our jobs, they're coming for our entitlements, and White Jesus knows they're coming for our women, and that liberal communist Joe Biden is just letting them in with borders wide open so he can steal another fucking election from the Great Orange Hope. If I have to listen to this Fox-and-Friends-approved campfire story one more goddamn time, I swear to Brown Jesus that I'm going to put that fire out with my own vomit." (06/05/22)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2022/06/mammas-dont-let-your-babies-grow-up-to.html
-----
47) Human Rights and the Environment
Source: The Jolly Libertarian
by Marco den Ouden
"In an environment where crime is rife and little is done to stop it, the individual has little to no security of person. It is the responsibility of government to control this environment to make individuals secure. Similarly, it could be argued that in an environment where pollution is rife, where the air we breathe or the water we drink is toxic, government has failed to protect the individual. One of the concerns are what are known economically as externalities, 'that is, the ecological costs that are not included in the market cost of a given commodity (because the producer does not have to pay for the costs).' Externalities, historically, have developed through ignorance. Most people do not set out to deliberately poison the air or foul the water or otherwise create environmental hazards." (06/05/22)
http://jollylibertarian.blogspot.com/2022/06/human-rights-and-environment.html
-----
48) Orwell and the left's problem with patriotism
Source: spiked
by Tim Black
"Writing in the Observer this weekend, shadow UK culture secretary Lucy Powell claims Labour is 'the party of patriotism.' Given the largely derogatory attitudes of Labour's predominantly middle-class, Remainer-ish support base towards Britain -- its history, people and no doubt future -- Powell's assertion is best consumed with a bucket-load of salt. ... To understand the nature and politics of patriotism, it is worth revisiting the work of George Orwell, the writer who did most to explore what he called 'the devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people' (as he put it in Notes on Nationalism)." (06/05/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/05/orwell-and-the-lefts-problem-with-patriotism/
-----
49) Charity's shift on gun violence
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
"Mass shootings that capture the national spotlight, like the recent events in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, tend to focus public attention on Washington -- specifically the stuck debate over gun control in Congress. That often reinforces frustration that from one tragedy to another nothing changes. That can obscure attention from the growth of solutions in cities that have cut gun homicides by as much as 60% in some urban neighborhoods, according to the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence. Those programs, called community violence intervention initiatives, seek local solutions to gun violence." (06/06/22)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2022/0606/Charity-s-shift-on-gun-violence
-----
50) Firemen and arsonists
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
"Today, I'd like to explain the cause of the current high inflation. Not the part of inflation caused by supply problems; rather the portion caused by excessive nominal spending, sometimes called excessive aggregate demand. The proximate cause of this excessive spending is obviously an overly expansionary monetary policy. But I'm interested in the deeper cause; why did the Fed allow spending to grow so rapidly? I'll show that the fundamental problem is that the Fed has the wrong policy framework." (06/05/22)
https://www.econlib.org/firemen-and-arsonists/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 06/06/22
Source: Reason
"Is DeSantis a Principled Governor or a Retaliatory Culture Warrior?" [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://reason.com/podcast/2022/06/06/is-desantis-a-principled-governor-or-a-retaliatory-culture-warrior/
-----
52) Free Talk Live, 06/06/22
Source: Free Talk Live
"Kim Dotcom on the Coming Collapse :: Hyperinflation and the Military :: The Great Reset :: Anti-war Protests :: Economic Hurricane :: Quantitative Tightening :: Ion Sarah :: Shrooms :: Conservatives Flipping Out over Kids Drag Show :: Show: 2022-06-06 Ian, Aria, Nobody." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/06/22)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=c3397225f9039be1f55ccb8c297fdd12
-----
53) Hassan El-Tayyab on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
"Hassan El-Tayyab came back on Antiwar Radio to give an update on the effort to end the war in Yemen." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/6-3-22-hassan-el-tayyab-some-good-news-on-yemen/
-----
54) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/06/22
Source: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
"Infringe: History of a Word and the Debate Over Guns." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/infringe-history-of-a-word-and-the-debate-over-guns/
-----
55) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 06/06/22
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
"Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education becomes the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. ... FIRE President & CEO Greg Lukianoff and FIRE COO Alisha Glennon join the show to discuss how the organization is changing and why." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://www.thefire.org/so-to-speak-podcast-the-new-fire/
-----
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/06/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"As much as we're all ready for a return to normalcy, there are some stubborn facts that remain to be faced. Jeffrey A. Tucker explains how elections won't fix our current battle with entrenched bureaucracy." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-evtva-123e94f
-----
57) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/06/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"NATO Launches Big Baltic War Games ... What Could Go Wrong?" [Flash video] (06/06/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/nato-launches-big-baltic-war-gameswhat-could-go-wrong
-----
58) EconTalk, 06/06/22
Source: EconTalk
"Matti Friedman on Leonard Cohen and the Yom Kippur War." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/06/22)
https://www.econtalk.org/matti-friedman-on-leonard-cohen-and-the-yom-kippur-war/
-----
59) Tom Secker on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
"Scott interviewed British journalist Tom Secker about the Pentagon's role in producing Top Gun: Maverick." [various formats] (06/05/22)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/6-3-22-tom-secker-on-the-pentagons-control-over-top-gun-maverick/
-----
60) Conflicts of Interest, episode 284
Source: Libertarian Institute
"As Moscow's Gains Mount, The West Plans to Drive Russia from Ukraine." [various formats] (06/05/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-284-as-moscows-gains-mount-the-west-plans-to-drive-russia-from-ukraine/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) UK: Johnson survives no-confidence vote
2) US prosecutors charge five Proud Boys members, including informant/leader, with seditious conspiracy
3) Mexico: AMLO Boycotts Summit Over US Exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela
4) FIRE to expand portfolio, pick up free speech ball dropped by ACLU
5) Kazakhstan: Voters strip founding figure Nazarbayev of privileges in referendum
6) Axon halts plans for Taser drone as nine on ethics board resign
7) Shapiro resigns from Georgetown following reinstatement
8) US regime moves to steal Russian oligarch Abramovich's planes
9) Mexico: AMLO's party wins four of six governorships
10) Dominican Republic: Cabinet minister killed in his office
11) France: Macron's party leads as citizens living abroad vote for MPs
12) TN: Lee opposes disarming future victims after mass shootings
13) Ryanair Afrikaans test: South African fury over language quiz
14) US Senators "confident" new victim disarmament edicts are within reach
15) AK: House primary draws Palin, Santa, 46 others
16) India: Regime rushes to quell outrage after insulting remarks on Islam
17) CDC raises Monkeypox alert to level 2, recommends masks during travel
18) CA: 38-year-old man fatally shot after alleged attack on caretaker
19) GA: Atlanta rapper Trouble killed in home invasion
20) Serbia: Russian minister's visit canceled after overflight refusal
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The Fed, And No One Else, Is Responsible for Inflation
22) The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right
23) "Assault Weapons" Ban: First Step on the Road to Tyranny
24) Biden Isn't Taking His Presidency Seriously
25) Social Security Benefit Cuts Coming by 2035
26) It Doesn't Matter to the Oligarchy How Many Mass Shootings There Are
27) What Would You Die For?
28) Lingering COVID-19 Restrictions Are Costly Hazards
29) Rick Caruso's Potemkin Campaign
30) Congress must end the federal mask mandate once and for all
31) Respect the Fed? No, End the Fed
32) The Unbearably Predictable Prattle of the Boston Globe
33) Silicon Valley Corporations Taking Control Of History
34) The Rise of Libertarianism in Latin America
35) Florida's Social Media Anticensorship Law and the Court's Tortured Legal Logic
36) The War Against Cash Carriers
37) Biden's G-men go rogue
38) The Federal Government's Own Study Concluded Its Ban on "Assault Weapons" Didn't Reduce Gun Violence
39) Quantum Vibe, 06/06/22
40) The President's Policy is Dangerous: What Does Joe Biden Believe He is Doing in Ukraine?
41) Cancer Is an Environmental Problem
42) Modi's Multipolar Moment Has Arrived
43) Defund The Colleges
44) Hoarse race: California voters are about to lose their voice
45) No Compromise on Guns
46) Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Honkies: Or Why We Should All Resist the Great Assimilation
47) Human Rights and the Environment
48) Orwell and the left's problem with patriotism
49) Charity's shift on gun violence
50) Firemen and arsonists
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 06/06/22
52) Free Talk Live, 06/06/22
53) Hassan El-Tayyab on The Scott Horton Show
54) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/06/22
55) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 06/06/22
56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/06/22
57) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/06/22
58) EconTalk, 06/06/22
59) Tom Secker on The Scott Horton Show
60) Conflicts of Interest, episode 284
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) UK: Johnson survives no-confidence vote
Source: NBC News
"Boris Johnson survives -- for now. The British prime minister narrowly won a confidence vote among his own lawmakers Monday, leaving him damaged but still in power and his ruling Conservative Party bitterly divided over its once-talismanic leader who has become beset by scandal. Johnson won by 211 votes to 148 in a high-drama secret ballot in Parliament that threatened to oust him from power. That's a majority of just 63, splitting his party 59 percent to 41 -- a far bigger mutiny than many pundits expected. Crucially for some, it's also a bigger revolt than the one suffered by Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, during her own confidence vote in 2019. Although she limped on wounded, she was gone within six months. The question that will dominate the halls of Westminster is how long Johnson, 57, can last now that almost half of his own parliamentary party have voted to kick him out." (06/06/22)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/british-prime-minister-boris-johnson-wins-confidence-vote-rcna32069
-----
2) US prosecutors charge five Proud Boys members, including informant/leader, with seditious conspiracy
Source: The Hill
"Federal prosecutors on Monday added seditious conspiracy to the list of charges five Proud Boys leaders are facing over their alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A superseding federal grand jury indictment unsealed Monday marks the second time the Justice Department has brought the serious charge following the attack. The five Proud Boys members, including the group's national leader [and previously outed federal informant], Enrique Tarrio, had been charged over the past year with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and various other counts. Both types of conspiracy charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors earlier this year charged members of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia with seditious conspiracy." (06/06/22)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3513522-prosecutors-charge-five-proud-boys-defendants-with-seditious-conspiracy/
-----
3) Mexico: AMLO Boycotts Summit Over US Exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela
Source: Common Dreams
"Mexico's leftist [sic] President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Monday that he is skipping the Summit of the Americas, following through on his threat to boycott the upcoming meeting if the White House refused to invite officials from all nations in the Western Hemisphere. The Biden administration's decision to bar the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from this week's gathering in Los Angeles was made final on Sunday. Unnamed sources familiar with deliberations between Washington officials and their Latin American and Caribbean counterparts, including those in Mexico, said that U.S. President Joe Biden's long-anticipated move was 'based on concerns about the lack of democracy and respect for human rights in the three countries,' Bloomberg reported." (06/06/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/06/mexican-president-boycotts-summit-over-us-exclusion-cuba-nicaragua-venezuela
-----
4) FIRE to expand portfolio, pick up free speech ball dropped by ACLU
Source: Politico
"An advocacy group that has spent more than two decades fighting for free expression on college campuses is broadening its efforts to fight so-called cancel culture and other perceived threats to free speech across American society. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is renaming itself the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and keeping the 'FIRE' acronym as it launches a drive to promote greater acceptance of a diversity of views in the workplace, pop culture and elsewhere. Part of the push may challenge the American Civil Liberties Union's primacy as a defender of free speech. ... [FIRE president Greg] Lukianoff said FIRE has raised $28.5 million for a planned three-year, $75 million litigation, opinion research and public education campaign aimed at boosting and solidifying support for free-speech values." [editor's note: ACLU gave up its claim to be "a defender of free speech" years ago – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/06/free-speech-group-first-amendment-00037320
-----
5) Kazakhstan: Voters strip founding figure Nazarbayev of privileges in referendum
Source: The Guardian [UK]
"Kazakhs have overwhelmingly voted for constitutional changes in a referendum after deadly unrest ended founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev's three-decade grip on Central Asia's richest country, the election commission says. 'The referendum can be considered validated,' electoral commission chair Nurlan Abdirov said on Monday, citing preliminary results that 77% of voters had backed the move. ... Even after stepping down as president, Nazarbayev retained the constitutional title of 'elbasy,' or 'leader of the nation' -- a role that afforded him influence over policymaking regardless of his formal position. The new constitution will exclude that status. Another amendment prevents relatives of the president from holding government positions -- a clear nod to the influence of Nazarbayev's family and in-laws, who lost powerful positions in the aftermath of the violence." (06/06/22)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/06/kazakhstan-vote-nazarbayev-privileges-referendum-constitution
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6) Axon halts plans for Taser drone as nine on ethics board resign
Source: SFGate
"Axon, the company best known for developing the Taser, said Monday it was halting plans to develop a Taser-equipped drone after a majority of its ethics board resigned over the controversial project. Axon's founder and CEO Rick Smith said the company's announcement last week (which drew a rebuke from its artificial intelligence ethics board) was intended to 'initiate a conversation on this as a potential solution.' Smith said the ensuing discussion 'provided us with a deeper appreciation of the complex and important considerations' around the issue. ... The board had voted 8-4 a few weeks ago to recommend Axon not proceed with a pilot of the Taser drone and had concerns about introducing weaponizing drones in over-policed communities of color." (06/06/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Axon-halts-plans-for-Taser-drone-as-9-on-ethics-17222032.php
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7) Shapiro resigns from Georgetown following reinstatement
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
"After a more than four-month investigation that led to his reinstatement last week, Ilya Shapiro resigned today from Georgetown University Law Center. On June 2, Shapiro was reinstated as senior lecturer and executive director for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution after a 122-day investigation -- which began before Shapiro started his first day on the job. ... When Georgetown reinstated Shapiro, it said that university policies did not apply to him when he tweeted on Jan. 26, as his employment was to begin Feb. 1. The university reasoned it could not punish him for tweets made when he was not a university employee. As Shapiro said in his resignation letter, Georgetown investigated him for four months when the situation 'apparently could've been resolved by looking at a calendar.'" (06/06/22)
https://www.thefire.org/ilya-shapiro-resigns-from-georgetown-following-reinstatement-after-122-day-investigation-of-tweets/
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8) US regime moves to steal Russian oligarch Abramovich's planes
Source: Reuters
"U.S. authorities have obtained warrants to [steal] two U.S.-origin planes owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich for flying to Russia without a license required due to U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine, a Department of Justice official said on Monday. The U.S. Department of Commerce also filed administrative charges against Abramovich, who it said in February named his Russian children the beneficiaries of the 'shell entities' that owned the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Gulfstream G650 ER aircraft, but that he continued to control them. The charges come as U.S. authorities seek to pressure business leaders close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to convince Moscow to halt what Kremlin calls its 'special military operation' in Ukraine." (06/06/22)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-charges-abramovich-with-exporting-planes-russia-without-license-2022-06-06/
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9) Mexico: AMLO's party wins four of six governorships
Source: Los Angeles Times
"The party of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has continued its consolidation of power by winning four of the six governorships on the ballot in local elections, according to electoral authorities Monday. Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement -- known as Morena -- along with its allied parties won in Tamaulipas, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca and Hidalgo on Sunday. An opposition coalition won in Aguascalientes and Durango. The victories give Morena control of 22 of Mexico's 32 states, an important advantage heading into the 2024 presidential elections." (06/06/22)
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-06-06/mexico-president-lopez-obrador-party-wins-governorships
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10) Dominican Republic: Cabinet minister killed in his office
Source: SFGate
"The Dominican Republic's minister of the environment and natural resources (the son of a former president) was shot and killed in his office on Monday by a close friend, the office of the president said in a statement. Authorities said Orlando Jorge Mera was shot by Miguel Cruz, who has been detained. No further details were immediately available, and it wasn't immediately clear if Cruz had an attorney. 'We express our deepest condolences,' the office of President Luis Abinader said. Jorge comes from a powerful political family. He is the son of former Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco and his sister is a vice minister in Abinader's administration. Jorge's son is a lawmaker for the Modern Revolutionary Party, of which he is a founding member. The family issued a statement saying that Cruz had been Jorge's friend since childhood, and that Jorge was shot multiple times." (06/06/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Dominican-Republic-cabinet-minister-killed-in-17222805.php
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11) France: Macron's party leads as citizens living abroad vote for MPs
Source: The Connexion [France]
"French people living abroad and in French Polynesia went to the polls this weekend (June 4-5), to vote for the MPs who will represent them in Parliament in the first round of the legislative elections. France has 11 overseas constituencies, created in 2010, allowing citizens living abroad to be represented on issues which affect them, rather than simply voting in their previous area of residence as, for example, happens with eligible Britons. Candidates aligned with President Emmanuel Macron came out on top in most constituencies, with the exception of former prime minister Manuel Valls, who only gained 16% of the vote." (06/06/22)
https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Macron-s-party-leads-as-French-citizens-living-abroad-vote-for-MPs
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12) TN: Lee opposes disarming future victims after mass shootings
Source: US News & World Report
"Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that he does not support restricting firearms or strengthening gun control laws in response to recent mass shootings in Tennessee and around the country, including the gunning down of 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Texas. Instead, Lee joined the growing list of Republican governors who are stressing the need for more security at schools with the governor signing an executive order calling for enhancing safety measures that does not mention the word gun once. The directive largely encourages schools to continue to implement current school safety laws, directs state agencies to issue guidance on to improve school building security, and calls for law enforcement agencies to promote more people to join law enforcement careers." (06/06/22)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/tennessee/articles/2022-06-06/tennessee-gov-no-restricting-firearms-after-mass-shootings
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13) Ryanair Afrikaans test: South African fury over language quiz
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"South Africans have condemned Irish airline Ryanair for making them take a test in the Afrikaans language on UK flights, calling it discriminatory. The country has 11 official languages, and many say they cannot understand Afrikaans -- a language which was imposed during white-minority rule. The quiz contains questions on South African general knowledge. Ryanair defended the test, saying it weeds out those travelling on fraudulent South African passports. 'Due to the high prevalence of fraudulent South African passports, we require passengers travelling to the UK to fill out a simple questionnaire issued in Afrikaans,' it said in a statement. 'If they are unable to complete this questionnaire, they will be refused travel and issued with a full refund,' the airline continued." (06/06/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61703174
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14) US Senators "confident" new victim disarmament edicts are within reach
Source: Independent [UK]
"Urgent efforts to pass bipartisan [victim disarmament] legislation are making some serious strides as Republicans and Democrats seemed more agreeable to reaching a deal, key senators said on Sunday. But they also acknowledged concerns that the efforts could still collapse, with the delicate talks expected to continue this week while negotiators try to find a common ground to harden the nation's gun laws. ... Even if the compromise bill is passed in the Senate, it will fail to meet the standards laid out by US president Joe Biden in his passionate address after the Uvalde elementary school shooting, calling for the renewal of the federal ban on assault weapons [sic] that expired in 2004 during the Republican leadership." (06/06/22)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gun-control-law-senate-mass-shooting-b2094645.html
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15) AK: House primary draws Palin, Santa, 46 others
Source: SFGate
"Alaska voters are facing an election unlike any they've seen, with 48 candidates running to succeed the man who had held the state's only U.S. House seat for 49 years. While some of the candidates in this week's special primary have name recognition, including Sarah Palin and Santa Claus (yes, Santa Claus!), many are relative unknowns or political novices: a fishing guide, a contractor, a gold miner who went to prison for allegedly threatening federal land managers. The huge number of candidates and the short timeline for holding the election after Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young's death on March 18 has some voters overwhelmed and scrambling to learn more about their options. This will be the first election under a system approved by voters in 2020 that ends party primaries, meaning all candidates are on the same one-page ballot." (06/06/22)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alaska-s-unusual-House-primary-draws-Palin-17220783.php
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16) India: Regime rushes to quell outrage after insulting remarks on Islam
Source: Reuters
"India's government sought on Monday to calm anger at home and abroad after two officials of the ruling BJP party made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, with 38 people arrested for rioting in a northern city and a protest planned later in Mumbai. ... The BJP suspended a spokesperson and expelled another official on Sunday for hurting religious sentiments of a minority community. Muslims make up around 13% of India's 1.35 billion people. Protests were planned against the anti-Muslim remarks in the financial capital Mumbai on Monday." [editor's note: The story doesn't specify what the alleged insults were. And rioting because you feel someone was insufficiently respectful of your religion is, let's be clear on this, pretty damn dumb – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-rushes-quell-outrage-after-insulting-remarks-islam-2022-06-06/
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17) CDC raises Monkeypox alert to level 2, recommends masks during travel
Source: Fox News
"The CDC raised its alert level for Monkeypox to level 2 on Monday, recommending that travelers wear masks, among other health measures. While not on the level of COVID-19, Monkeypox has spread across the globe out of Africa since March. Monkeypox symptoms begin as relatively flu-like but soon expand to the swelling of lymph nodes and a rash across the body and face. Ultimately, painful lesions form on rash areas, leaving severe scarring. 'Cases of monkeypox have been reported in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia,' the CDC wrote in its alert. 'Some cases were reported among men who have sex with men. Some cases were also reported in people who live in the same household as an infected person,' it added." (06/06/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-monkeypox-alert-level-2-recommends-masks-travel
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18) CA: 38-year-old man fatally shot after alleged attack on caretaker
Source: Yahoo! News
"A 38-year-old man was fatally shot Saturday after he attempted to attack a caretaker in the backyard of a Stockton home, in what appears to be justifiable homicide, police said. ... 'What we've learned during this investigation is that the 38-year-old tried to attack the caretaker at the home, at which point fearing for his life the caretaker shot the man, and then the caretaker called 911 for help,' Stockton police spokesman Officer Joseph Silva said. The caretaker, 43, is caring for a 93-year-old man living in the home." (06/05/22)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/38-old-man-fatally-shot-191029155.html
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19) GA: Atlanta rapper Trouble killed in home invasion
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
"US rapper Trouble, who collaborated with Drake and The Weeknd in his career, has died at the age of 34. Drake is among the big-name stars who've paid tribute to the rapper since news of his death broke. Local authorities confirmed the death of the artist (real name Mariel Semonte Orr) on Sunday. A spokesperson for the Rockdale County Sheriff's office says Orr was shot and pronounced dead at an apartment in Conyers, Georgia. Orr was visiting a woman at the time, about 25 miles away from his hometown of Atlanta before the attack. The police have issued an arrest warrant for 33-year-old Jamichael Jones on allegations of murder, home invasion and aggravated assault. They say they do not believe Jones and Orr were known to each other, but that the woman and Jones were involved in a 'domestic situation.'" (06/06/22)
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-61704298
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20) Serbia: Russian minister's visit canceled after overflight refusal
Source: ABC News
"Serbia on Monday confirmed that a planned visit by Russia's foreign minister to the Balkan country will not take place. The announcement followed reports that Serbia's neighbors, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had refused to allow Sergey Lavrov's plane to fly through their airspace to reach Serbia. President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday that Russia's ambassador to Serbia had met with him and informed him of the reasons why Lavrov could not come. Vucic offered no details, but the pro-Russian Vecernje Novosti daily carried photos of what it said were official documents rejecting the overflights. Late on Sunday, Moscow also accused the West of closing off lines of communication by forcing Lavrov to cancel Monday's planned visit." (06/06/22)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russian-ministers-visit-canceled-overflight-refusal-85209218
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The Fed, And No One Else, Is Responsible for Inflation
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
"According to commentators in the mainstream press and various federal officials, inflation is like the coronavirus. It spreads around the world, hitting different countries in different ways. Sometimes a country will experience only mild symptoms and sometimes more severe symptoms, like what happens with Covid. Now that the inflation virus has hit America, the mainstream media, along with public officials, are coming up with all sorts of remedies to address the problem. This is all sheer nonsense, of course. There is one -- and only one -- entity that is responsible for inflating the money supply. That entity is the Federal Reserve." (06/06/22)
https://www.fff.org/2022/06/06/the-fed-and-no-one-else-is-responsible-for-inflation/
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22) The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right
Source: The Nation
by Jeet Heer
"In July 28, 2017, Jeff Deist, the president of the Mises Institute, named for libertarian economist Ludwig von Mises, published a blog post arguing that 'blood and soil and God and nation still matter to people. Libertarians ignore this at the risk of irrelevance.' The phrase 'blood and soil' already had an unmistakable fascist overtone -- but it took on an even more gruesome connotation two weeks after the post during the infamous Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally of 2017 .... The ensuing arguments over 'blood and soil' lead to the creation of a Mises Caucus, which aimed to overthrow the pragmatic Gary Johnson wing of the [Libertarian Party] and adopt the incendiary culture war politics of the hard right." [editor's note: The Mises "Caucus" is actually a PAC, not a real caucus. And Heer doesn't really seem to understand HOW the PAC is set up to assist Republicans versus Libertarians, though he's correct that that's its purpose – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/libertarian-gop-alt-right/
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23) "Assault Weapons" Ban: First Step on the Road to Tyranny
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"President Joe Biden is seeking to revive his presidency by demolishing the Second Amendment. In a televised address last Thursday, Biden called for a ban on assault weapons, which he portrayed as the epitome of evil. Vice President Kamala Harris caterwauled that assault weapons are a 'weapon of war' with 'no place in civil society.' Assault weapons are a 'flag of convenience' for the Democrats' circus shell game with Americans' constitutional rights. Biden talks as if assault weapons are solely a moral issue. But once that premise is accepted, then he can move to ban vast numbers of firearms widely owned by Americans." (06/06/22)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2022/06/06/assault-weapons-ban-first-step-on-the-road-to-tyranny/
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24) Biden Isn't Taking His Presidency Seriously
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
"While worries about inflation, high gas prices, and baby formula shortages (just to name a few) continue to swirl, President Joe Biden is taking time on Wednesday to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live. What, did he run out of TikTok influencers? Modern presidents pandering to pop culture celebrities is not a new phenomenon. Richard Nixon said, 'Sock it to me,' and Barack Obama did an interview with that YouTube star who drinks cereal from a bathtub. But coming at this difficult moment -- and absent more robust or serious efforts to change course -- this just looks trivial and gimmicky. I'm starting to think Biden might not appreciate how bad things are or what little time he has to turn his administration around." (06/06/22)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-biden-isnt-taking-his-presidency-seriously
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25) Social Security Benefit Cuts Coming by 2035
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann
"Good news! Instead of going broke in 2033, Social Security's Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (OASI) trust fund will run out of money in 2034. If the program's Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund is diverted to pay retirement benefits, it will last until 2035! That's the latest projection from Social Security's trustees, who released their 2022 annual report last week. ... Those benefit reductions are also good news. A year ago, the cuts were projected to be bigger. Now, retired Americans relying on Social Security benefits will only lose 20 cents of every dollar they might have been expecting. That's a promise by the politicians who set Social Security's funding and benefits on their current scheme." (06/06/22)
https://blog.independent.org/2022/06/06/social-security-benefit-cuts-coming-by-2035/
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26) It Doesn't Matter to the Oligarchy How Many Mass Shootings There Are
Source: Common Dreams
by Chris Hedges
"Guns were a ubiquitous part of my childhood. My grandfather, who had been a master sergeant in the army, had a small arsenal in his house in Mechanic Falls, Maine. He gave me a 2020 bolt action Springfield rifle when I was 7. By the time I was 10, I had graduated to a Winchester lever action 30-30. I moved my way up the National Rifle Association's (NRA) Marksmanship Qualification Program ....Two decades as a reporter in war zones, however, resulted in a deep aversion to weapons. I saw what they did to human bodies. I inherited my grandfather's guns and gave them to my uncle. The fear of losing the gun is the final crushing blow to self-esteem and dignity, a surrender to the economic and political forces that have destroyed their lives." (06/06/22)
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/06/it-doesnt-matter-oligarchy-how-many-mass-shootings-there-are
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27) What Would You Die For?
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg
"Our title asks a rather uncomfortable question. But it's also an important question for every adult to face ... for young adults and even teenagers to face: For what would you risk a certain or near-certain death? It is by answering such a question that we define ourselves as more than 'intelligent meat machines.' Answering the question in any positive way defines us as deep beings ... as transcendent beings. This question, then, is a sort of pivot, upon which turn our beliefs about ourselves and our expressions of ourselves – and this on a very deep level." (06/06/22)
https://freemansperspective.com/what-would-you-die-for/
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28) Lingering COVID-19 Restrictions Are Costly Hazards
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"A friend of mine and his wife recently took a trip to Europe that almost ended in disaster because of positive COVID-19 tests. Fortunately, the results weren't theirs; four other members of their tour group who stood in line at the same pharmacy to get swabbed received the unwelcome results and remained stranded at their own expense while my friend and the rest of the group returned home. It was a reminder that some officials still have trouble letting go of pandemic-inflated power. ... Applying even to vaccinated and boosted travelers, and with a daunting 24-hour timeframe, the CDC rules make the U.S. an outlier in a world that otherwise seems eager to turn its back on two years of chaotic overreactions to COVID-19." (06/06/22)
https://reason.com/2022/06/06/lingering-covid-19-restrictions-are-costly-hazards/
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29) Rick Caruso's Potemkin Campaign
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
"My home city of Los Angeles hasn't seen many local tycoons attempt to buy their way into power. Richard Riordan was a white-shoe lawyer and founder of a private equity firm when he became the last Republican mayor in 1993, but he didn't have unlimited cash. Contra Riordan, recent history in California is that self-funding rich candidates lose, from legendary flop Al Checchi in the 1998 governor's race to Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in 2010. But Rick Caruso, the developer known for building garish, Disney-fied malls like the Americana in Glendale and The Grove in the Fairfax district, has spent roughly three out of every four dollars in L.A.'s mayoral campaign, nearly all of it from his own bank account, in advance of Tuesday's primary, in which 11 other candidates have also been running." (06/06/22)
https://prospect.org/politics/rick-carusos-potemkin-campaign/
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30) Congress must end the federal mask mandate once and for all
Source: The Hill
by Benjamin Powell
"The U.S. Department of Justice's appeal of a judge's ruling against the federal mask mandate on public transportation illustrates why the House of Representatives needs to join the Senate and vote to permanently end the mandate. It made little sense before, and it makes even less sense now. The DOJ filed the appeal last Tuesday, claiming that the federal district court's April ruling in Florida didn't come close to 'showing that the CDC has acted outside the 'zone of reasonableness'' and further that there was 'ample support for the agency's determination that there was good cause to make the order effective without delay.' The Biden administration could unilaterally reinstate the mandate if the appeal succeeds." (06/06/22)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3512918-congress-must-end-the-federal-mask-mandate-once-and-for-all/
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31) Respect the Fed? No, End the Fed
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
"President Joe Biden has unveiled a three-part plan to fight inflation -- or at least make people think he is fighting inflation. One part of the plan involves having government agencies 'fix' the supply chain problems that have led to shortages of numerous products. ... Deficit reduction is another part of Biden's anti-inflation plan. ... The last and most important part of Biden's inflation plan is recognizing that the Federal Reserve 'has the primary responsibility to control inflation.' President Biden has pledged to 'respect the Fed's independence,' unlike former President Trump, who Biden accused of 'demeaning the Fed' by subjecting the central bank to mean Tweets." (06/06/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/respect-the-fed-no-end-the-fed
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32) The Unbearably Predictable Prattle of the Boston Globe
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Thomas Harrington
"I've been reading the Boston Globe for nearly 50 years. And while it has never had the widespread cache of the New York Times, it has long had a very strong, and mostly well-deserved place among the still very august second tier of US newspapers. Yes, its superb sports section had something to do with that. But that was not all. Its reporting was quite solid and its editorial page, while reliably liberal, was seldom crudely partisan or condescending, seeking in general to elevate the higher civic sensibilities of its readers. That was before Covid and Woke 'changed everything'[TM] at the paper. The word that comes most immediately to mind when reading it today is grotesque, understood in the strict dictionary sense of being 'odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.'" (06/06/22)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-unbearably-predictable-prattle-of-the-boston-globe/
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33) Silicon Valley Corporations Taking Control Of History
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"Twitter has imposed a weeklong suspension on the account of writer and political activist Danny Haiphong for a thread he made on the platform disputing the mainstream Tiananmen Square massacre narrative. The notification Haiphong received informed him that Twitter had locked his account for 'Violating our rules against abuse and harassment,' presumably in reference to a rule the platform put in place a year ago which prohibits 'content that denies that mass murder or other mass casualty events took place, where we can verify that the event occured, and when the content is shared with abusive intent.' ... That we are now seeing this rule applied to protect narratives which support the geostrategic interests of the US-centralized empire is not in the least bit surprising." (06/06/22)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/06/silicon-valley-corporations-are-taking-control-of-history/
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34) The Rise of Libertarianism in Latin America
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Michael N Peterson
"Even before Donald Trump's entrance onto the political scene in the summer of 2015, a social and political eruption was taking place, not just in the United States but around the world. A quiet aching among many who felt abandoned by the political establishment has now morphed into a serious and gnawing illness that has yet to abate. Illiberalism rose out of fear and disillusionment among the 'forgotten classes,' and has spread to countries the world over. But there's a parallel trend that has been largely overlooked, partly because it takes place in less developed countries and partly because the rise of a libertarian resistance isn't as glamorous or eventful as the illiberal impulses gripping countries like Hungary, Poland, and of course, the United States." (06/06/22)
https://www.aier.org/article/the-rise-of-libertarianism-in-latin-america/
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35) Florida's Social Media Anticensorship Law and the Court's Tortured Legal Logic
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Tate Fegley
"Readers may recall Florida Senate Bill 7202, regulating social media platforms, which was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis about a year ago. The stated intention of the legislation is to combat social media censorship. ... Tech companies challenged the law and the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued an opinion that most provisions of the law are likely unconstitutional. Upon reading the opinion they issued, I have a number of observations." (06/06/22)
https://mises.org/wire/floridas-social-media-anticensorship-law-and-courts-tortured-legal-logic
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36) The War Against Cash Carriers
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
"Michigan's lawmakers and governor seem determined to remind us that history is no nonstop march into the light. In the Great Lake State, the latest confirmation is a return to virtually unrestricted legalized cash-grabbing at the airport, reversing halfhearted reforms of several years earlier. After those reforms were enacted, a traveler had to be toting in excess of $50,000 before officials a Michigan airport could be 'justified' in confiscating his cash on a mere suspicion that it is associated with a crime. But now, because of legislation just signed by Governor Whitmer, the threshold has been knocked down to $20,000. Maybe you must be naïve to carry so much cash where police and other functionaries can easily get at it, but as Dan King of the Institute for Justice observes, you don't have to be a criminal. And traveling with cash is not a crime." (06/06/22)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/06/06/the-war-against-cash-carriers/
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37) Biden's G-men go rogue
Source: Fox News
by Jason Chaffetz
"Surprise! The Biden Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, will not be prosecuting lawbreakers within its ranks. The Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its semiannual report to Congress of cases for which the IG recommends prosecutions. But in case after case, the DOJ is declining to prosecute its own. The one notable exception is Bureau of Prisons (BOP) personnel, who still have reason to fear repercussions if they break the law. But if you are in the FBI or DEA, you can be virtually assured you will not be prosecuted, based on the long list of cases DOJ has declined to prosecute. Apparently, if you work for the right agency, anything goes. Just how serious are the allegations of lawbreaking? Here are a few examples from Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report." (06/06/22)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-department-justice-fbi-merrick-garland
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38) The Federal Government's Own Study Concluded Its Ban on "Assault Weapons" Didn't Reduce Gun Violence
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
"Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris called for an all-out ban of 'assault weapons.' 'We know what works on this. It includes, let's have an assault weapons ban,' Harris told reporters in Buffalo after attending the funeral of a victim. On Thursday, President Joe Biden, while speaking from the White House Cross Hall before a candlelit backdrop, called on Congress to pass new gun control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons. 'How much more carnage are we willing to accept?' Biden asked. There are numerous problems with this proposal, starting with the sticky question of defining what an 'assault weapon' is." (06/06/22)
https://fee.org/articles/the-federal-government-s-own-study-concluded-its-ban-on-assault-weapons-didnt-reduce-gun-violence/
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39) Quantum Vibe, 06/06/22
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (06/06/22)
https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2346
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40) The President's Policy is Dangerous: What Does Joe Biden Believe He is Doing in Ukraine?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Doug Bandow
"President Joe Biden spoke to the American people after a fashion. He, or whoever writes his material, sought to calm rising fears about the consequences of intervening ever deeper in the Russo-Ukraine war. Early popular enthusiasm for the victims of Russian aggression has given way to more practical concerns over the potential for an expanded war, higher prices, a possible recession, and more. The president began with his war aim: 'We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.' That's a reasonable diplomatic end but not a very good cause for war. What Biden said about Ukraine also applies to most every other nation on earth." (06/06/22)
https://original.antiwar.com/doug-bandow/2022/06/05/the-presidents-policy-is-dangerous-what-does-joe-biden-believe-he-is-doing-in-ukraine/
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41) Cancer Is an Environmental Problem
Source: In These Times
by Anita Carraher
"'In my experience, the attitude of most clinicians and cancer researchers is that environmental causes of cancer are not very important. That was certainly my attitude.' This was how doctor and cancer researcher Margaret Kripke began her presentation at the Cancer and Environment Forum in March. ... 'My outlook on this subject changed very dramatically when I was a member of the President's Cancer Panel,' said Kripke, who served on the panel in 2010. That year, the panel produced its first ever report on environmental causes of cancer. Kripke continued, 'What I learned from this exercise was absolutely shocking to me.' That 2010 report found that environmental exposures play a larger role in cancer formation than once believed by clinicians, and that these cancer risks are especially dangerous to children." (06/06/22)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/cancer-moonshot-biden-environmental-problem-pollution-research
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42) Modi's Multipolar Moment Has Arrived
Source: Foreign Policy
by Derek Grossman
"In every crisis, someone always benefits. In the case of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that someone is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By refusing to condemn Moscow and join Western-led sanctions, Modi has managed to elevate India's global stature. Each of the other major powers -- the United States, Russia, and China -- are intensely courting India to deny a strategic advantage to their adversaries. Relishing the spotlight, Modi and his Hindu-nationalist government will surely look to keep the momentum going. Their likely goal is to carve out an independent superpower role for India, hasten the transition to a multipolar international system, and ultimately cement its new status with a permanent United Nations Security Council seat for India." (06/06/22)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/06/modi-india-russia-ukraine-war-china-us-geopolitics-multipolar-quad/
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43) Defund The Colleges
Source: The American Conservative
by Teresa R Manning
"[A]bsolutely no action on student-loan forgiveness should happen unless the American higher-education system is reformed from top to bottom. Needed corrections are too numerous to list, though the National Association of Scholars has tried to document most, including reducing the amount of government funding to schools spent on administrators. In truth, a five-year moratorium on the Title IV student-loan program is necessary to give stakeholders ... a chance to audit leading state and private institutions before they produce yet more ignorant and indebted youth. In that time period, young Americans would undoubtedly do something far more productive than four years in campusland. In the meantime, instead of blanket, one-size-fits-all steps like the debt-forgiveness proposals currently under discussion, bankruptcy relief must extend to student-loan debt for those graduates who find themselves in financial hardship, just as it does to consumer debt for adults." (06/06/22)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/defund-the-colleges/
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44) Hoarse race: California voters are about to lose their voice
Source: Orange County Register
by Jackson Reese
"California's 2020 election results were stolen -- not by President Joe Biden, the DCCC, or ballot harvesters but by a guy named Frank. 'Frank' is Frank Roesch, an Alameda County judge who, on August 20, declared that the votes of nearly 10 million Californians in a 2020 initiative campaign weren't going to count. His ruling will be tested in a California appeals court. At issue in Roesch's courtroom was Assembly Bill 5, a 2019 change in state labor law that forced companies to transform independent contractors into regular employees." (06/05/22)
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/05/hoarse-race-california-voters-are-about-to-lose-their-voice/
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45) No Compromise on Guns
Source: Town Hall
by Kurt Schlichter
"Here is my proposed gun control compromise following the latest attack on children that millions of us did not commit. Ready? You gun fascists can kiss my Schumer and we keep our guns. In fact, let's also repeal the National Firearms Act and impose national constitutional carry. I think this compromise fairly balances our respective legitimate interests regarding guns. Our legitimate interest is maintaining the capacity to deter and defeat tyrants and criminals. Your legitimate interest in limiting our ability to do so is non-existent. There are several Republicans who are apparently eager to come to a compromise on guns with the Democrats, whose ultimate goal is to rule unchallenged over a nation of disarmed, supine Canadian serfs." [editor's note: As if that's not the Republicans' ultimate goal too – TLK] (06/06/22)
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2022/06/06/no-compromise-on-guns-n2608232
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46) Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Honkies: Or Why We Should All Resist the Great Assimilation
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
"White people beware, 'they' are coming to America. They're coming in record numbers, and we know just who they are. They are not like us. They will trample our pristine Western Civilization with their dirty unwashed feet, and they're coming to a suburb near you. They come from all over. They come from all the scary places on the map. ... They're coming for our jobs, they're coming for our entitlements, and White Jesus knows they're coming for our women, and that liberal communist Joe Biden is just letting them in with borders wide open so he can steal another fucking election from the Great Orange Hope. If I have to listen to this Fox-and-Friends-approved campfire story one more goddamn time, I swear to Brown Jesus that I'm going to put that fire out with my own vomit." (06/05/22)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2022/06/mammas-dont-let-your-babies-grow-up-to.html
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47) Human Rights and the Environment
Source: The Jolly Libertarian
by Marco den Ouden
"In an environment where crime is rife and little is done to stop it, the individual has little to no security of person. It is the responsibility of government to control this environment to make individuals secure. Similarly, it could be argued that in an environment where pollution is rife, where the air we breathe or the water we drink is toxic, government has failed to protect the individual. One of the concerns are what are known economically as externalities, 'that is, the ecological costs that are not included in the market cost of a given commodity (because the producer does not have to pay for the costs).' Externalities, historically, have developed through ignorance. Most people do not set out to deliberately poison the air or foul the water or otherwise create environmental hazards." (06/05/22)
http://jollylibertarian.blogspot.com/2022/06/human-rights-and-environment.html
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48) Orwell and the left's problem with patriotism
Source: spiked
by Tim Black
"Writing in the Observer this weekend, shadow UK culture secretary Lucy Powell claims Labour is 'the party of patriotism.' Given the largely derogatory attitudes of Labour's predominantly middle-class, Remainer-ish support base towards Britain -- its history, people and no doubt future -- Powell's assertion is best consumed with a bucket-load of salt. ... To understand the nature and politics of patriotism, it is worth revisiting the work of George Orwell, the writer who did most to explore what he called 'the devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people' (as he put it in Notes on Nationalism)." (06/05/22)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/05/orwell-and-the-lefts-problem-with-patriotism/
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49) Charity's shift on gun violence
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
"Mass shootings that capture the national spotlight, like the recent events in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, tend to focus public attention on Washington -- specifically the stuck debate over gun control in Congress. That often reinforces frustration that from one tragedy to another nothing changes. That can obscure attention from the growth of solutions in cities that have cut gun homicides by as much as 60% in some urban neighborhoods, according to the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence. Those programs, called community violence intervention initiatives, seek local solutions to gun violence." (06/06/22)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2022/0606/Charity-s-shift-on-gun-violence
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50) Firemen and arsonists
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
"Today, I'd like to explain the cause of the current high inflation. Not the part of inflation caused by supply problems; rather the portion caused by excessive nominal spending, sometimes called excessive aggregate demand. The proximate cause of this excessive spending is obviously an overly expansionary monetary policy. But I'm interested in the deeper cause; why did the Fed allow spending to grow so rapidly? I'll show that the fundamental problem is that the Fed has the wrong policy framework." (06/05/22)
https://www.econlib.org/firemen-and-arsonists/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 06/06/22
Source: Reason
"Is DeSantis a Principled Governor or a Retaliatory Culture Warrior?" [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://reason.com/podcast/2022/06/06/is-desantis-a-principled-governor-or-a-retaliatory-culture-warrior/
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52) Free Talk Live, 06/06/22
Source: Free Talk Live
"Kim Dotcom on the Coming Collapse :: Hyperinflation and the Military :: The Great Reset :: Anti-war Protests :: Economic Hurricane :: Quantitative Tightening :: Ion Sarah :: Shrooms :: Conservatives Flipping Out over Kids Drag Show :: Show: 2022-06-06 Ian, Aria, Nobody." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/06/22)
https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=c3397225f9039be1f55ccb8c297fdd12
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53) Hassan El-Tayyab on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
"Hassan El-Tayyab came back on Antiwar Radio to give an update on the effort to end the war in Yemen." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/6-3-22-hassan-el-tayyab-some-good-news-on-yemen/
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54) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 06/06/22
Source: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
"Infringe: History of a Word and the Debate Over Guns." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/infringe-history-of-a-word-and-the-debate-over-guns/
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55) So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 06/06/22
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
"Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education becomes the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. ... FIRE President & CEO Greg Lukianoff and FIRE COO Alisha Glennon join the show to discuss how the organization is changing and why." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://www.thefire.org/so-to-speak-podcast-the-new-fire/
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56) The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/06/22
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"As much as we're all ready for a return to normalcy, there are some stubborn facts that remain to be faced. Jeffrey A. Tucker explains how elections won't fix our current battle with entrenched bureaucracy." [various formats] (06/06/22)
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-evtva-123e94f
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57) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/06/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"NATO Launches Big Baltic War Games ... What Could Go Wrong?" [Flash video] (06/06/22)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/nato-launches-big-baltic-war-gameswhat-could-go-wrong
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58) EconTalk, 06/06/22
Source: EconTalk
"Matti Friedman on Leonard Cohen and the Yom Kippur War." [Flash audio or MP3] (06/06/22)
https://www.econtalk.org/matti-friedman-on-leonard-cohen-and-the-yom-kippur-war/
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59) Tom Secker on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
"Scott interviewed British journalist Tom Secker about the Pentagon's role in producing Top Gun: Maverick." [various formats] (06/05/22)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/6-3-22-tom-secker-on-the-pentagons-control-over-top-gun-maverick/
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60) Conflicts of Interest, episode 284
Source: Libertarian Institute
"As Moscow's Gains Mount, The West Plans to Drive Russia from Ukraine." [various formats] (06/05/22)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-284-as-moscows-gains-mount-the-west-plans-to-drive-russia-from-ukraine/
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