12/30 -- China: Evergrande shares fall after company misses coupon payments; Biden Covid Mandates Sow Chaos & Absurdity
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Thomas L. Knapp
Dec 30, 2021, 7:02:50 AM12/30/21
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 12/30/21
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Presented by the Liberty International
https://liberty-intl.org/
Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) China: Evergrande shares fall after company misses coupon payments
2) Maxwell convicted on five of six counts
3) Bitcoin tumbles 5% to below $47,000 as it heads toward its worst monthly slump since May
4) Federal Judge Denies Oklahoma Governor's Challenge to Military Vaccine Mandate
5) MT: Man shot, injured trying to break into home
6) France: Regime escalates plans to ghettoize the unvaccinated
7) Northvolt: Europe's $12 billion Tesla battery rival produces its first lithium-ion cell
8) Judge refuses to dismiss indictment against alleged Proud Boys leaders
9) Palestinian Authority's Abbas visits Israel's Gantz in rare trip
10) Harry Reid, 1939-2021
Today's Freedom Commentary:
11) Biden Covid Mandates Sow Chaos & Absurdity
12) Admitting it the first step? College administrators acknowledge free expression deficiency
13) The Case for Vaccine Mandates Has Collapsed
14) This Year Wasn't as Bad as 2020, But We Deserve Better
15) Refusing To Oppose US Tyranny Is Siding With It
16) 2021 Year In Review: Sex Online
17) Winning Freedom Requires Some Radical Solutions
18) Gridlock Cure: Democrats Should Get Off the (Omni)Bus and Walk
19) America's Wars Are Far More Costly than the Pentagon Admits
20) Choking the Afghan People to Death
21) Socialism and liberty, part 2
22) How to Go After Rogue Prosecutors
23) Can't call myself a political liberal
24) PEN America and the Betrayal of Julian Assange
25) Let the free market dictate the labor market, not the government
26) An African Perspective on Why the World Needs Cryptocurrencies
27) Out of sight, out of mind: Afghanistan vanishes from US news
28) The Hounding of Julian Assange Leaves Honest Journalism With No Refuge
29) Exactly who is targeting inflation at 2%?
30) Decarbonization Cannot Manufacture Products Demanded by Civilization
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
31) Parallel Society Podcast, 12/29/21
32) Free Talk Live, 12/29/21
33) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/29/21
34) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 12/29/21
35) Agorist Nexus Podcast, episode 102
36) Electric Libertyland, episode 260
37) Bloggingheads.tv, 12/28/21
38) Part Of The Problem, 12/28/21
39) The Enrages, episode 12
40) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2032
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) China: Evergrande shares fall after company misses coupon payments
Source: Reuters
"Shares of China Evergrande Group tumbled on Thursday after the embattled real estate developer did not pay offshore coupons due earlier this week. Evergrande, whose $19 billion in international bonds are in cross-default after missing a deadline to pay coupons earlier this month, had new coupon payments worth $255 million due on Tuesday for its June 2023 and 2025 notes. ... Evergrande has more than $300 billion in liabilities and is scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors. The fate of Evergrande and other indebted Chinese property companies has gripped financial markets in recent months amid fears of knock-on effects, with Beijing repeatedly seeking to reassure investors." (12/30/21)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-evergrande-shares-fall-after-report-missed-coupon-payment-2021-12-30/
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2) Maxwell convicted on five of six counts
Source: USA Today
"The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein's palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico. Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts. ... The defense had insisted Maxwell was a victim of a vindictive prosecution devised to deliver justice to women deprived of their main villain when Epstein [supposedly] killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019." (12/29/21)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/12/29/verdict-reached-ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-trial/8979922002/
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3) Bitcoin tumbles 5% to below $47,000 as it heads toward its worst monthly slump since May
Source: Market Insider
"Bitcoin fell for a third straight session Wednesday and is heading toward its worst monthly performance in seven months, as investors wrap up trading for 2021. The world's most valuable cryptocurrency was down 5.4% at $46,647.85 during Wednesday's session from Tuesday when it traded as high as $49,307.04, according to Coingecko. Bitcoin has failed to hold $52,000 following a 'short-term breakthrough' on Monday, said Adrian Kenny, senior sales trader at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, in a note Wednesday. ... Bitcoin is on track to lose roughly 17% for December, which would be its sharpest monthly decline since May when bitcoin sank about 35%." (12/29/21)
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitcoin-price-december-worst-month-may-cryptocurrency-selloff-digital-markets-2021-12
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4) Federal Judge Denies Oklahoma Governor's Challenge to Military Vaccine Mandate
Source: US News & World Report
"A federal judge on Tuesday denied a challenge to the Pentagon's vaccine mandate by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who filed a motion to halt the mandate for his state's National Guard members earlier this month. The court sided with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who announced a coronavirus vaccine mandate in August for all employees of the Defense Department .... The development comes after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, who maintains that he has the authority to waive requirements for the roughly 8,000 members of his state's Army and Air National Guard units to abide by the military-wide vaccine order, filed a motion for preliminary injunction on Dec. 2 and has been among those at the center of a standoff between federal officials and a handful of GOP leaders over the mandate." (12/29/21)
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-12-29/federal-judge-denies-oklahoma-governors-challenge-to-military-vaccine-mandate
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5) MT: Man shot, injured trying to break into home
Source: Missoulian
"An intruder suffered a gunshot wound after trying to break into the home of an off-duty Great Falls Police officer, the police department said. The incident just before 4:30 a.m. Monday 'evolved to the point the officer fired a gun and the male was shot,' the Great Falls Police Department said in a statement Tuesday evening. The alleged intruder's injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, but he was taken to the hospital, the department said. He was not acquainted with the officer, police said." (12/29/21)
https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/man-shot-injured-tried-to-break-into-police-officers-home/article_59bdae19-7cef-5829-b544-3194671b23ff.html
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6) France: Regime escalates plans to ghettoize the unvaccinated
Source: ABC News
"France's government is forging ahead with efforts to increase pressure on unvaccinated people to get coronavirus shots, as the country reported 208,000 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday -- a record fueled by the omicron variant. Health Minister Olivier Veran on Wednesday defended a government plan to allow only the fully vaccinated to enjoy continued access to places such as restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums, and sports arenas. The pass will also be required on inter-regional trains and buses and domestic flights. ... The bill is likely to be voted on quickly in parliament, with President Emmanuel Macron's party holding a majority at the National Assembly, which has the final say. If approved, its introduction will mean that unvaccinated people will no longer be able to use negative test results to access places where the vaccine pass is required." (12/29/21)
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/amid-record-infections-france-ups-pressure-unvaccinated-81983291
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7) Northvolt: Europe's $12 billion Tesla battery rival produces its first lithium-ion cell
Source: CNBC
"Swedish battery maker Northvolt announced Wednesday it has produced its first lithium-ion battery cell at its factory in Skelleftea, meeting its deadline to start production at the plant before the end of 2021. Northvolt, which competes with Tesla's battery-making division and was valued at $12 billion by investors in June, said it's the first battery of its kind to have been fully designed, developed and assembled at a so-called gigafactory by a homegrown European battery company. A gigafactory can be classed as a large-scale battery plant where the yearly output is measured in gigawatt-hours (GWh). The facility, Northvolt Ett in Skelleftea, is expected to have a yearly output of 60 GWh. The battery cell came off the production line at the gigafactory on Tuesday, Northvolt said." (12/29/21)
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/29/-northvolt-europes-tesla-battery-rival-produces-lithium-ion-cell-.html
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8) Judge refuses to dismiss indictment against alleged Proud Boys leaders
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
"A federal judge refused to dismiss an indictment charging four alleged leaders of the far-right Proud Boys with conspiring to attack the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday rejected defense attorneys' arguments that the four men -- Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe -- are charged with conduct that is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. ... Defense lawyers also argued that the obstruction charge doesn't apply to their clients' cases because Congress' certification of the Electoral College vote was not an 'official proceeding.' Kelly disagreed." (12/29/21)
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/29/1068703011/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-indictment-against-alleged-proud-boys-leaders
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9) Palestinian Authority's Abbas visits Israel's Gantz in rare trip
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has held talks with Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz during a rare visit to Israel. In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli defence ministry said 'the two men discussed security and civil matters' during the meeting, which Israeli media reported took place at Gantz's home in Rosh Ha'ayin in central Israel. ... In late August, Gantz visited the PA's headquarters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Abbas. It was the first official meeting at such a level in several years. But after those talks, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said there was no peace process ongoing with the Palestinians, 'and there won't be one.'" (12/29/21)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/29/palestinian-authoritys-abbas-visits-israels-gantz-in-rare-trip
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10) Harry Reid, 1939-2021
Source: Politico
"Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a direct and dogged figure who converted the lessons of a hardscrabble childhood into a leadership role in national Democratic politics, died Tuesday. He was 82. ... A former boxer who developed a rough-and-tumble approach to politics, the Nevada Democrat served five terms in the U.S. Senate and would be a particularly pivotal figure on Capitol Hill in two administrations, as an opposition figure pushing and prodding President George W. Bush and then as the Senate Majority Leader working to help President Barack Obama realize his agenda." (12/28/21)
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/28/harry-reid-nevada-senate-leader-obit-033261
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
11) Biden Covid Mandates Sow Chaos & Absurdity
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he will issue an edict requiring vaccines for domestic travel if his scientific advisers recommend it. Tony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser, has been yapping in favor of such a mandate in recent days, calling it 'another incentive to get more people vaccinated.' But requiring vax passports for domestic travel would devastate airlines and the tourism business while doing nothing to vanquish COVID. ... The feds previously claimed that masking on flights was sufficient to protect travelers, but the Zoom class is terrified and demanding a comforting placebo. Effectively adding tens of millions of names to the No Fly List would also satisfy the blue-state lust to punish Americans who have failed to comply with the latest commands from Washington." (12/29/21)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2021/12/29/new-york-post-biden-covid-mandates-sow-chaos-absurdity/
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12) Admitting it the first step? College administrators acknowledge free expression deficiency
Source: The Hill
by Jeffrey M McCall
"College administrators are now acknowledging they have created environments on their campuses that diminish free expression and choke intellectual liveliness. For years, the game plan was to simply disavow the stifling of free expression on college campuses, while at the same time imposing speech codes, running ideological orientation programs, and hiring faculty and student affairs staffers who all think alike. That denial strategy, however, has become unworkable as alums, prospective students and the public at large signal that the game is up. Acknowledgement that some colleges lack true commitment to free expression, backhanded as it was, came in a report released late in the fall semester by the Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression, an initiative of the Bipartisan Policy Center." (12/29/21)
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/587530-admitting-it-the-first-step-college-administrators-acknowledge-free
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13) The Case for Vaccine Mandates Has Collapsed
Source: Human Events
by Alexander Zubatov
"The case for mandates was shaky from the get-go. Forcing one and all to douse themselves with rushed-out vaccines with universally acknowledged higher-than-usual side effect rates was always a questionable choice. The failure to account for natural immunity -- providing significantly better protection than vaccines against earlier Covid variants and taken into account in comparable mandates throughout the E.U., in the U.K. and in Israel -- was a glaring instance of authoritarian partisan politicians running out ahead of the science in their eagerness to find comfort in demonizing the unvaccinated for a virus that has spread easily in both low-vaccine nations and highly vaccinated nations such as Israel and Germany. But we have reached the point now where we have no more reason to keep grinding that axe: we have clearly arrived at a juncture when even the tenuous case for vaccine mandates, such as it was, has completely and utterly collapsed." (12/29/21)
https://humanevents.com/2021/12/29/the-case-for-vaccine-mandates-has-collapsed/
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14) This Year Wasn't as Bad as 2020, But We Deserve Better
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"The year 2021 was supposed to be better than 2020, which wasn't asking much. After all, 2020 opened with a pandemic and closed with the introduction of vaccines for COVID-19. That should have bookended a challenging, but brief, blip in our existence. By some measures, 2021 met that low bar with every American who wants it having a choice of three flavors of viral protection and the widespread street violence of the previous year subsiding to a merely alarming roar. But the pandemic accelerated troubling developments while reversing good ones. It handed extraordinary power to officials who seem unwilling to surrender what they've gained." (12/29/21)
https://reason.com/2021/12/29/this-year-wasnt-as-bad-as-2020-but-we-deserve-better/
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15) Refusing To Oppose US Tyranny Is Siding With It
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"The US and its allies are pushing the world toward nuclear armageddon. The US and its allies armed Al Qaeda in Syria. The US and its allies are carrying out a literal genocide in Yemen. The US and its allies are deliberately starving children by the thousands. Shut up about Russia and China. Desmond Tutu said 'If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.' This is especially true of the unjust situation in which the largest power structure on earth oppresses and tyrannizes populations around the world to force their obedience. Refusing to take a clear stance against that power structure is siding with it." (12/29/21)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/12/29/refusing-to-oppose-us-tyranny-is-siding-with-it-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/
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16) 2021 Year In Review: Sex Online
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Daly Barnett
"We don't entrust Internet companies to be arbiters of morality. We shouldn't hand them the responsibility of making broad cultural decisions about the forms sexuality is allowed to take online. And yet, this last year has been a steady and consistent drum of Internet companies doing just that. Rather than seeking consensus among users, Apple, Mastercard, Amazon, Ebay and others chose to impose their own values on the world, negatively affecting a broad range of people. ... It's apt to take a look backwards at the events leading up to SESTA/FOSTA, the infamously harmful carveout to Section 230, as it set the stage for platforms to take severe moderation policies regarding sexual content." (12/29/21)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/year-review-sex-online
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17) Winning Freedom Requires Some Radical Solutions
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Richard M Ebeling
"Suppose that there was a button in front of you that if you pushed, it would, in one instant, abolish all the governmental controls and regulations on the US economy. Would you push that button, and transform America into a society of free people? People who would associate with each other based on voluntary exchange, with government limited to protection of life, liberty and honestly acquired property?" (12/29/21)
https://www.aier.org/article/winning-freedom-requires-some-radical-solutions/
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18) Gridlock Cure: Democrats Should Get Off the (Omni)Bus and Walk
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"In mid-December, US Senate Democrats cried 'uncle,' at least temporarily, pulling President Biden's $2 trillion 'Build Back Better' agenda out from under the Christmas Tree. If the bill makes it to the Senate floor for an up or down vote, it won't be this year. I'm a big fan of gridlock, and not a fan at all of Biden's Big Basket of Boondoggles, so I can't say I'm terribly unhappy about this. Thanks, Joe Manchin! On the other hand, it seems to me that Democrats are missing a chance to save themselves a savage beating in next November's midterms. Which, as much as I dislike the Republicans too, might not be a bad thing from the 'gridlock is good' standpoint, but let's look at it as a nuts-and-bolts problem." (12/29/21)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/16490
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19) America's Wars Are Far More Costly than the Pentagon Admits
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Lipton Matthews
"America's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan was greeted with disdain in some quarters. But so far, most pundits have explored this debacle from the vantage point of foreign affairs by either lamenting the decline of American influence or lauding the move as a justified containment of an aggressive foreign policy. Both views are worth pondering. However, Afghanistan and other foreign policy failures should spark a broader debate on the economics of war. America's engagement in war has proven to be quite costly. According to a major 2019 study, from 2001 to 2019, taxpayers incurred a cost of $6.4 trillion for US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. A key finding of the report is that the total budgetary burden of the post-9/11 wars will continue to balloon as the American government remains committed to interest payments and funding the rising expenses of veteran care." (12/29/21)
https://mises.org/wire/americas-wars-are-far-more-costly-pentagon-admits
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20) Choking the Afghan People to Death
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
"The withdrawal from Afghanistan should have marked the end of the U.S. war there, but an even more destructive economic warfare had taken its place. The Afghan people are being punished more by our government's sanctions than they were by its bombs, and now they are staring one of the largest man-made famines in the face. I have made similar arguments over the last two months. I would add that the severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is an example of what sanctions can do to an economy that is also being starved of government reserves and international aid. Other economies targeted by broad and crippling sanctions have some resources to fall back on. Afghanistan was so dependent on U.S. and international support that the moment the funding spigot was turned off and the sanctions took effect the country went into freefall." (12/29/21)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/choking-the-afghan-people-to-death
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21) Socialism and liberty, part 2
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"[W]hat is the relationship of socialism and liberty? Can a system (economic and social -- therefore political) ensure liberty (short- or long-term) and still be socialist? Can liberty -- personal and economic -- survive and thrive -- in a socialist economy? I submit that it cannot. When other people are making decisions that you have the innate ability to make for yourself, and forcing you to abide by their decision, that is NOT liberty. You are being denied liberty – you are not free. At least not to some degree." (12/29/21)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2021/12/29/socialism-and-liberty-part-2/
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22) How to Go After Rogue Prosecutors
Source: The Atlantic
by Rory Fleming
"When prosecutors violate people's civil rights, they harm real people and violate their ethical obligations, and rarely face any legal or professional consequences. The people most directly aggrieved by their bad acts are criminal suspects -- or, in some cases, convicted felons. They are not adequately equipped to force compliance with the Constitution at a systemic level. That sort of systematic change will require a push for reform from the federal government itself -- and it already has in its possession a very good tool for making that push." (12/29/21)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/consent-decrees-rogue-prosecutors-defendant-rights/620988/
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23) Can't call myself a political liberal
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
"Once upon a time, the word 'liberal' was used to describe people who were 'generous,' 'open-minded,' and 'accepting of other opinions.' It was closely related to the word 'liberty.' This description no longer applies to political liberals. Describing their backward-thinking as 'progressive' or their nightmarish denial of reality as 'woke' is equally ridiculous." (12/29/21)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2021/12/29/voices/opinion-cant-call-myself-a-political-liberal/170777.html
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24) PEN America and the Betrayal of Julian Assange
Source: CounterPunch
by Chris Hedges
"Nils Melzer, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, is one of the very few establishment figures to denounce the judicial lynching of Julian Assange. Melzer's integrity and courage, for which he has been mercilessly attacked, stand in stark contrast to the widespread complicity of many human rights and press organizations, including PEN America, which has become a de facto subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee. ... Any group of artists or writers overseen by a CEO from corporate America inevitably become members of an updated version of the Union of Soviet Writers where the human rights violations by our enemies are heinous crimes and our own violations and those of our allies are ignored or whitewashed. As Julian Benda reminded us in 'The Treason of the Intellectuals,' we can serve privilege and power or we can serve justice and truth." (12/29/21)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/29/pen-america-and-the-betrayal-of-julian-assange/
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25) Let the free market dictate the labor market, not the government
Source: Orange County Register
by Elaine Parker
"As we head into the New Year, wages are rising at a breakneck pace. Why? Because available workers have become more rare and companies are willing to pay more to hire them. The market for labor follows the law of supply and demand, just like soybeans or iPhones. The best part is, when left alone, the mechanism benefits everyone involved. Government policies that throw the labor market out of whack should raise eyebrows. 'Exhibit A' is the looming coronavirus vaccine mandate initiated by the Biden administration." (12/29/21)
https://www.ocregister.com/2021/12/29/let-the-free-market-dictate-the-labor-market-not-the-government/
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26) An African Perspective on Why the World Needs Cryptocurrencies
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Terence Zimwara
"Rising cryptocurrency use in Africa over the past few years has not only shown that digital currencies are now a vital means of moving funds across borders and between people, but that cryptocurrencies are also an important means of accessing global markets for the financially excluded." (12/29/21)
https://news.bitcoin.com/an-african-perspective-on-why-the-world-needs-cryptocurrencies/
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27) Out of sight, out of mind: Afghanistan vanishes from US news
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jim Lobe
"Despite unprecedented levels of hunger and starvation for which U.S. sanctions bear important responsibility, Afghanistan has once again virtually disappeared from the most important single source of world news for most Americans. Since September, which marked the end of U.S. efforts to evacuate its citizens and its foreign and Afghan allies, the evening news programs of the three dominant U.S. television networks -- ABC, NBC, and CBS -- have collectively devoted a grand total of 21 minutes -- spread over ten story segments -- to Afghanistan. " (12/29/21)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/12/29/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-afghanistan-vanishes-from-us-news/
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28) The Hounding of Julian Assange Leaves Honest Journalism With No Refuge
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jonathan Cook
"It is no accident that Julian Assange, the digital transparency activist and journalist who founded WikiLeaks to help whistleblowers tell us what western governments are really up to in the shadows, has spent 10 years being progressively disappeared into those very same shadows. His treatment is a crime similar to those WikiLeaks exposed when it published just over a decade ago hundreds of thousands of leaked materials -- documents we were never supposed to see -- detailing war crimes committed by the United States and Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan. .... Now with Assange locked up and silenced, western foreign policy can return comfortably to the era of zero accountability that existed before Assange shook up the whole system with his revelations. No journalist will dare to repeat what Assange did -- not unless they are ready to spend the rest of their days behind bars." (12/29/21)
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2021/12/28/the-hounding-of-julian-assange-leaves-honest-journalism-with-no-refuge/
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29) Exactly who is targeting inflation at 2%?
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
"To me, the answer to this question seems obvious. The central bank. But lots of very smart people don't agree. MMT proponents believe that when inflation is lower than target it can be increased only with fiscal stimulus -- monetary policy is ineffective. Similarly, they believe that high inflation can only be reduced with higher taxes or lower spending. On the right, some economists advocate a fiscal theory of the price level, the view that Congress determines the inflation rate through its spending and tax decisions (including actions that change the future expected path of fiscal policy)." (12/28/21)
https://www.econlib.org/exactly-who-is-targeting-inflation-at-2/
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30) Decarbonization Cannot Manufacture Products Demanded by Civilization
Source: Heartland Institute
by Ronald Stein
"As late as the 1800's, the world was 'decarbonized' as there were no coal or natural gas power plants, and what the Beverly Hillbillies situation comedies of the 1960's theme song called 'oil that is, black gold, Texas tea,' had not been discovered as something that could be manufactured into usable products. Before the 1900's life was hard and dirty, and most people never traveled 100-200 miles from where they were born, and life expectancy was short. Today, crude oil is manufactured into all the products used in the medical industry, fertilizers, electronics and more than 6,000 other products that are the basis of lifestyles and economies." [editor's note: In other words, history moved on. So why insist that it may not do so now? – TLK] (12/28/21)
https://blog.heartland.org/2021/12/decarbonization-cannot-manufacture-products-demanded-by-civilization/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
31) Parallel Society Podcast, 12/29/21
Source: Freeman's Perspective
"The Futility And Disaster of The Magic Fix." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://freemansperspective.com/podcast-the-futility-and-disaster-of-the-magic-fix/
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32) Free Talk Live, 12/29/21
Source: Free Talk Live
"Fingerquotes-wink-wink "Killed himself" :: Maxwell found guilty :: Teens are screwed up :: Sounds like parents are mostly to blame :: Sarah loves pedestrians :: Trans teens on TikTok :: Ratspeed thinks gay marriage made people trans? :: Child support and libertarians :: Buying freedom with money :: Mark wants you to move to Fantasy Land :: Show: 2021-12-29 Aria, Nikki." [Flash audio or MP3] (12/29/21)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2021-12-29
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33) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/29/21
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"People who question what those in power are telling them should be shunned by responsible members of society, right? Nope. James Bovard explains why those questions are well-founded–especially in the case of Covid and corrupt federal statistics." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://thebryanhydeshow.podbean.com/e/2021-december-29-the-bryan-hyde-show-hour-one/
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34) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 12/29/21
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"Fauci's Amazing Golden Parachute -- Will He Jump?" [Flash video] (12/29/21)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/faucis-amazing-golden-parachute-will-he-jump
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35) Agorist Nexus Podcast, episode 102
Source: Agorist Nexus
"Brandon and Dag go over New Years and Bold Predictions for 2022." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://www.agoristnexus.com/new-years-and-bold-predictions-for-2022-episode-102/
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36) Electric Libertyland, episode 260
Source: Lions of Liberty
"Why NORAD's Masked Santa is Everything." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ell-260-why-norads-masked-santa-is-everything
-----
37) Bloggingheads.tv, 12/28/21
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
"The Year in US Foreign Policy | Robert Wright, Daniel Larison, Kelley B. Vlahos | The Wright Show." [Flash video] (12/28/21)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/63402
-----
38) Part Of The Problem, 12/28/21
Source: GaS Digital Network
"Regimes Do Fall." [various formats] (12/28/21)
https://art19.com/shows/d0ab5d6f-1972-4441-b3f8-6b61d09f7f15/embed?playlist_type=playlist&playlist_size=10#
-----
39) The Enrages, episode 12
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
"Joel Williamson met with Shane Ross to discuss their article titled 'Malicious Faux-Individualism and Market Anti-Capitalism.'" [various formats] (12/28/21)
https://c4ss.org/content/55776
-----
40) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2032
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., joins us to discuss his new book The Real Anthony Fauci, which paints rather an unflattering portrait of the face of the American COVID response." [various formats] (12/28/21)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2032-rfk-jr-on-dr-fauci/
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https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
1) China: Evergrande shares fall after company misses coupon payments
2) Maxwell convicted on five of six counts
3) Bitcoin tumbles 5% to below $47,000 as it heads toward its worst monthly slump since May
4) Federal Judge Denies Oklahoma Governor's Challenge to Military Vaccine Mandate
5) MT: Man shot, injured trying to break into home
6) France: Regime escalates plans to ghettoize the unvaccinated
7) Northvolt: Europe's $12 billion Tesla battery rival produces its first lithium-ion cell
8) Judge refuses to dismiss indictment against alleged Proud Boys leaders
9) Palestinian Authority's Abbas visits Israel's Gantz in rare trip
10) Harry Reid, 1939-2021
Today's Freedom Commentary:
11) Biden Covid Mandates Sow Chaos & Absurdity
12) Admitting it the first step? College administrators acknowledge free expression deficiency
13) The Case for Vaccine Mandates Has Collapsed
14) This Year Wasn't as Bad as 2020, But We Deserve Better
15) Refusing To Oppose US Tyranny Is Siding With It
16) 2021 Year In Review: Sex Online
17) Winning Freedom Requires Some Radical Solutions
18) Gridlock Cure: Democrats Should Get Off the (Omni)Bus and Walk
19) America's Wars Are Far More Costly than the Pentagon Admits
20) Choking the Afghan People to Death
21) Socialism and liberty, part 2
22) How to Go After Rogue Prosecutors
23) Can't call myself a political liberal
24) PEN America and the Betrayal of Julian Assange
25) Let the free market dictate the labor market, not the government
26) An African Perspective on Why the World Needs Cryptocurrencies
27) Out of sight, out of mind: Afghanistan vanishes from US news
28) The Hounding of Julian Assange Leaves Honest Journalism With No Refuge
29) Exactly who is targeting inflation at 2%?
30) Decarbonization Cannot Manufacture Products Demanded by Civilization
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
31) Parallel Society Podcast, 12/29/21
32) Free Talk Live, 12/29/21
33) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/29/21
34) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 12/29/21
35) Agorist Nexus Podcast, episode 102
36) Electric Libertyland, episode 260
37) Bloggingheads.tv, 12/28/21
38) Part Of The Problem, 12/28/21
39) The Enrages, episode 12
40) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2032
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) China: Evergrande shares fall after company misses coupon payments
Source: Reuters
"Shares of China Evergrande Group tumbled on Thursday after the embattled real estate developer did not pay offshore coupons due earlier this week. Evergrande, whose $19 billion in international bonds are in cross-default after missing a deadline to pay coupons earlier this month, had new coupon payments worth $255 million due on Tuesday for its June 2023 and 2025 notes. ... Evergrande has more than $300 billion in liabilities and is scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors. The fate of Evergrande and other indebted Chinese property companies has gripped financial markets in recent months amid fears of knock-on effects, with Beijing repeatedly seeking to reassure investors." (12/30/21)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-evergrande-shares-fall-after-report-missed-coupon-payment-2021-12-30/
-----
2) Maxwell convicted on five of six counts
Source: USA Today
"The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein's palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico. Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts. ... The defense had insisted Maxwell was a victim of a vindictive prosecution devised to deliver justice to women deprived of their main villain when Epstein [supposedly] killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019." (12/29/21)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/12/29/verdict-reached-ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-trial/8979922002/
-----
3) Bitcoin tumbles 5% to below $47,000 as it heads toward its worst monthly slump since May
Source: Market Insider
"Bitcoin fell for a third straight session Wednesday and is heading toward its worst monthly performance in seven months, as investors wrap up trading for 2021. The world's most valuable cryptocurrency was down 5.4% at $46,647.85 during Wednesday's session from Tuesday when it traded as high as $49,307.04, according to Coingecko. Bitcoin has failed to hold $52,000 following a 'short-term breakthrough' on Monday, said Adrian Kenny, senior sales trader at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, in a note Wednesday. ... Bitcoin is on track to lose roughly 17% for December, which would be its sharpest monthly decline since May when bitcoin sank about 35%." (12/29/21)
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/bitcoin-price-december-worst-month-may-cryptocurrency-selloff-digital-markets-2021-12
-----
4) Federal Judge Denies Oklahoma Governor's Challenge to Military Vaccine Mandate
Source: US News & World Report
"A federal judge on Tuesday denied a challenge to the Pentagon's vaccine mandate by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who filed a motion to halt the mandate for his state's National Guard members earlier this month. The court sided with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who announced a coronavirus vaccine mandate in August for all employees of the Defense Department .... The development comes after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, who maintains that he has the authority to waive requirements for the roughly 8,000 members of his state's Army and Air National Guard units to abide by the military-wide vaccine order, filed a motion for preliminary injunction on Dec. 2 and has been among those at the center of a standoff between federal officials and a handful of GOP leaders over the mandate." (12/29/21)
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-12-29/federal-judge-denies-oklahoma-governors-challenge-to-military-vaccine-mandate
-----
5) MT: Man shot, injured trying to break into home
Source: Missoulian
"An intruder suffered a gunshot wound after trying to break into the home of an off-duty Great Falls Police officer, the police department said. The incident just before 4:30 a.m. Monday 'evolved to the point the officer fired a gun and the male was shot,' the Great Falls Police Department said in a statement Tuesday evening. The alleged intruder's injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, but he was taken to the hospital, the department said. He was not acquainted with the officer, police said." (12/29/21)
https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/man-shot-injured-tried-to-break-into-police-officers-home/article_59bdae19-7cef-5829-b544-3194671b23ff.html
-----
6) France: Regime escalates plans to ghettoize the unvaccinated
Source: ABC News
"France's government is forging ahead with efforts to increase pressure on unvaccinated people to get coronavirus shots, as the country reported 208,000 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday -- a record fueled by the omicron variant. Health Minister Olivier Veran on Wednesday defended a government plan to allow only the fully vaccinated to enjoy continued access to places such as restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums, and sports arenas. The pass will also be required on inter-regional trains and buses and domestic flights. ... The bill is likely to be voted on quickly in parliament, with President Emmanuel Macron's party holding a majority at the National Assembly, which has the final say. If approved, its introduction will mean that unvaccinated people will no longer be able to use negative test results to access places where the vaccine pass is required." (12/29/21)
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/amid-record-infections-france-ups-pressure-unvaccinated-81983291
-----
7) Northvolt: Europe's $12 billion Tesla battery rival produces its first lithium-ion cell
Source: CNBC
"Swedish battery maker Northvolt announced Wednesday it has produced its first lithium-ion battery cell at its factory in Skelleftea, meeting its deadline to start production at the plant before the end of 2021. Northvolt, which competes with Tesla's battery-making division and was valued at $12 billion by investors in June, said it's the first battery of its kind to have been fully designed, developed and assembled at a so-called gigafactory by a homegrown European battery company. A gigafactory can be classed as a large-scale battery plant where the yearly output is measured in gigawatt-hours (GWh). The facility, Northvolt Ett in Skelleftea, is expected to have a yearly output of 60 GWh. The battery cell came off the production line at the gigafactory on Tuesday, Northvolt said." (12/29/21)
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/29/-northvolt-europes-tesla-battery-rival-produces-lithium-ion-cell-.html
-----
8) Judge refuses to dismiss indictment against alleged Proud Boys leaders
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
"A federal judge refused to dismiss an indictment charging four alleged leaders of the far-right Proud Boys with conspiring to attack the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday rejected defense attorneys' arguments that the four men -- Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe -- are charged with conduct that is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. ... Defense lawyers also argued that the obstruction charge doesn't apply to their clients' cases because Congress' certification of the Electoral College vote was not an 'official proceeding.' Kelly disagreed." (12/29/21)
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/29/1068703011/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-indictment-against-alleged-proud-boys-leaders
-----
9) Palestinian Authority's Abbas visits Israel's Gantz in rare trip
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
"Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has held talks with Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz during a rare visit to Israel. In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli defence ministry said 'the two men discussed security and civil matters' during the meeting, which Israeli media reported took place at Gantz's home in Rosh Ha'ayin in central Israel. ... In late August, Gantz visited the PA's headquarters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Abbas. It was the first official meeting at such a level in several years. But after those talks, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said there was no peace process ongoing with the Palestinians, 'and there won't be one.'" (12/29/21)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/29/palestinian-authoritys-abbas-visits-israels-gantz-in-rare-trip
-----
10) Harry Reid, 1939-2021
Source: Politico
"Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a direct and dogged figure who converted the lessons of a hardscrabble childhood into a leadership role in national Democratic politics, died Tuesday. He was 82. ... A former boxer who developed a rough-and-tumble approach to politics, the Nevada Democrat served five terms in the U.S. Senate and would be a particularly pivotal figure on Capitol Hill in two administrations, as an opposition figure pushing and prodding President George W. Bush and then as the Senate Majority Leader working to help President Barack Obama realize his agenda." (12/28/21)
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/28/harry-reid-nevada-senate-leader-obit-033261
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
11) Biden Covid Mandates Sow Chaos & Absurdity
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
"President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he will issue an edict requiring vaccines for domestic travel if his scientific advisers recommend it. Tony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser, has been yapping in favor of such a mandate in recent days, calling it 'another incentive to get more people vaccinated.' But requiring vax passports for domestic travel would devastate airlines and the tourism business while doing nothing to vanquish COVID. ... The feds previously claimed that masking on flights was sufficient to protect travelers, but the Zoom class is terrified and demanding a comforting placebo. Effectively adding tens of millions of names to the No Fly List would also satisfy the blue-state lust to punish Americans who have failed to comply with the latest commands from Washington." (12/29/21)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2021/12/29/new-york-post-biden-covid-mandates-sow-chaos-absurdity/
-----
12) Admitting it the first step? College administrators acknowledge free expression deficiency
Source: The Hill
by Jeffrey M McCall
"College administrators are now acknowledging they have created environments on their campuses that diminish free expression and choke intellectual liveliness. For years, the game plan was to simply disavow the stifling of free expression on college campuses, while at the same time imposing speech codes, running ideological orientation programs, and hiring faculty and student affairs staffers who all think alike. That denial strategy, however, has become unworkable as alums, prospective students and the public at large signal that the game is up. Acknowledgement that some colleges lack true commitment to free expression, backhanded as it was, came in a report released late in the fall semester by the Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression, an initiative of the Bipartisan Policy Center." (12/29/21)
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/587530-admitting-it-the-first-step-college-administrators-acknowledge-free
-----
13) The Case for Vaccine Mandates Has Collapsed
Source: Human Events
by Alexander Zubatov
"The case for mandates was shaky from the get-go. Forcing one and all to douse themselves with rushed-out vaccines with universally acknowledged higher-than-usual side effect rates was always a questionable choice. The failure to account for natural immunity -- providing significantly better protection than vaccines against earlier Covid variants and taken into account in comparable mandates throughout the E.U., in the U.K. and in Israel -- was a glaring instance of authoritarian partisan politicians running out ahead of the science in their eagerness to find comfort in demonizing the unvaccinated for a virus that has spread easily in both low-vaccine nations and highly vaccinated nations such as Israel and Germany. But we have reached the point now where we have no more reason to keep grinding that axe: we have clearly arrived at a juncture when even the tenuous case for vaccine mandates, such as it was, has completely and utterly collapsed." (12/29/21)
https://humanevents.com/2021/12/29/the-case-for-vaccine-mandates-has-collapsed/
-----
14) This Year Wasn't as Bad as 2020, But We Deserve Better
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
"The year 2021 was supposed to be better than 2020, which wasn't asking much. After all, 2020 opened with a pandemic and closed with the introduction of vaccines for COVID-19. That should have bookended a challenging, but brief, blip in our existence. By some measures, 2021 met that low bar with every American who wants it having a choice of three flavors of viral protection and the widespread street violence of the previous year subsiding to a merely alarming roar. But the pandemic accelerated troubling developments while reversing good ones. It handed extraordinary power to officials who seem unwilling to surrender what they've gained." (12/29/21)
https://reason.com/2021/12/29/this-year-wasnt-as-bad-as-2020-but-we-deserve-better/
-----
15) Refusing To Oppose US Tyranny Is Siding With It
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
"The US and its allies are pushing the world toward nuclear armageddon. The US and its allies armed Al Qaeda in Syria. The US and its allies are carrying out a literal genocide in Yemen. The US and its allies are deliberately starving children by the thousands. Shut up about Russia and China. Desmond Tutu said 'If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.' This is especially true of the unjust situation in which the largest power structure on earth oppresses and tyrannizes populations around the world to force their obedience. Refusing to take a clear stance against that power structure is siding with it." (12/29/21)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/12/29/refusing-to-oppose-us-tyranny-is-siding-with-it-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/
-----
16) 2021 Year In Review: Sex Online
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Daly Barnett
"We don't entrust Internet companies to be arbiters of morality. We shouldn't hand them the responsibility of making broad cultural decisions about the forms sexuality is allowed to take online. And yet, this last year has been a steady and consistent drum of Internet companies doing just that. Rather than seeking consensus among users, Apple, Mastercard, Amazon, Ebay and others chose to impose their own values on the world, negatively affecting a broad range of people. ... It's apt to take a look backwards at the events leading up to SESTA/FOSTA, the infamously harmful carveout to Section 230, as it set the stage for platforms to take severe moderation policies regarding sexual content." (12/29/21)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/year-review-sex-online
-----
17) Winning Freedom Requires Some Radical Solutions
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Richard M Ebeling
"Suppose that there was a button in front of you that if you pushed, it would, in one instant, abolish all the governmental controls and regulations on the US economy. Would you push that button, and transform America into a society of free people? People who would associate with each other based on voluntary exchange, with government limited to protection of life, liberty and honestly acquired property?" (12/29/21)
https://www.aier.org/article/winning-freedom-requires-some-radical-solutions/
-----
18) Gridlock Cure: Democrats Should Get Off the (Omni)Bus and Walk
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
"In mid-December, US Senate Democrats cried 'uncle,' at least temporarily, pulling President Biden's $2 trillion 'Build Back Better' agenda out from under the Christmas Tree. If the bill makes it to the Senate floor for an up or down vote, it won't be this year. I'm a big fan of gridlock, and not a fan at all of Biden's Big Basket of Boondoggles, so I can't say I'm terribly unhappy about this. Thanks, Joe Manchin! On the other hand, it seems to me that Democrats are missing a chance to save themselves a savage beating in next November's midterms. Which, as much as I dislike the Republicans too, might not be a bad thing from the 'gridlock is good' standpoint, but let's look at it as a nuts-and-bolts problem." (12/29/21)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/16490
-----
19) America's Wars Are Far More Costly than the Pentagon Admits
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Lipton Matthews
"America's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan was greeted with disdain in some quarters. But so far, most pundits have explored this debacle from the vantage point of foreign affairs by either lamenting the decline of American influence or lauding the move as a justified containment of an aggressive foreign policy. Both views are worth pondering. However, Afghanistan and other foreign policy failures should spark a broader debate on the economics of war. America's engagement in war has proven to be quite costly. According to a major 2019 study, from 2001 to 2019, taxpayers incurred a cost of $6.4 trillion for US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. A key finding of the report is that the total budgetary burden of the post-9/11 wars will continue to balloon as the American government remains committed to interest payments and funding the rising expenses of veteran care." (12/29/21)
https://mises.org/wire/americas-wars-are-far-more-costly-pentagon-admits
-----
20) Choking the Afghan People to Death
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
"The withdrawal from Afghanistan should have marked the end of the U.S. war there, but an even more destructive economic warfare had taken its place. The Afghan people are being punished more by our government's sanctions than they were by its bombs, and now they are staring one of the largest man-made famines in the face. I have made similar arguments over the last two months. I would add that the severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is an example of what sanctions can do to an economy that is also being starved of government reserves and international aid. Other economies targeted by broad and crippling sanctions have some resources to fall back on. Afghanistan was so dependent on U.S. and international support that the moment the funding spigot was turned off and the sanctions took effect the country went into freefall." (12/29/21)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/choking-the-afghan-people-to-death
-----
21) Socialism and liberty, part 2
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
"[W]hat is the relationship of socialism and liberty? Can a system (economic and social -- therefore political) ensure liberty (short- or long-term) and still be socialist? Can liberty -- personal and economic -- survive and thrive -- in a socialist economy? I submit that it cannot. When other people are making decisions that you have the innate ability to make for yourself, and forcing you to abide by their decision, that is NOT liberty. You are being denied liberty – you are not free. At least not to some degree." (12/29/21)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2021/12/29/socialism-and-liberty-part-2/
-----
22) How to Go After Rogue Prosecutors
Source: The Atlantic
by Rory Fleming
"When prosecutors violate people's civil rights, they harm real people and violate their ethical obligations, and rarely face any legal or professional consequences. The people most directly aggrieved by their bad acts are criminal suspects -- or, in some cases, convicted felons. They are not adequately equipped to force compliance with the Constitution at a systemic level. That sort of systematic change will require a push for reform from the federal government itself -- and it already has in its possession a very good tool for making that push." (12/29/21)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/consent-decrees-rogue-prosecutors-defendant-rights/620988/
-----
23) Can't call myself a political liberal
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
"Once upon a time, the word 'liberal' was used to describe people who were 'generous,' 'open-minded,' and 'accepting of other opinions.' It was closely related to the word 'liberty.' This description no longer applies to political liberals. Describing their backward-thinking as 'progressive' or their nightmarish denial of reality as 'woke' is equally ridiculous." (12/29/21)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2021/12/29/voices/opinion-cant-call-myself-a-political-liberal/170777.html
-----
24) PEN America and the Betrayal of Julian Assange
Source: CounterPunch
by Chris Hedges
"Nils Melzer, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, is one of the very few establishment figures to denounce the judicial lynching of Julian Assange. Melzer's integrity and courage, for which he has been mercilessly attacked, stand in stark contrast to the widespread complicity of many human rights and press organizations, including PEN America, which has become a de facto subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee. ... Any group of artists or writers overseen by a CEO from corporate America inevitably become members of an updated version of the Union of Soviet Writers where the human rights violations by our enemies are heinous crimes and our own violations and those of our allies are ignored or whitewashed. As Julian Benda reminded us in 'The Treason of the Intellectuals,' we can serve privilege and power or we can serve justice and truth." (12/29/21)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/29/pen-america-and-the-betrayal-of-julian-assange/
-----
25) Let the free market dictate the labor market, not the government
Source: Orange County Register
by Elaine Parker
"As we head into the New Year, wages are rising at a breakneck pace. Why? Because available workers have become more rare and companies are willing to pay more to hire them. The market for labor follows the law of supply and demand, just like soybeans or iPhones. The best part is, when left alone, the mechanism benefits everyone involved. Government policies that throw the labor market out of whack should raise eyebrows. 'Exhibit A' is the looming coronavirus vaccine mandate initiated by the Biden administration." (12/29/21)
https://www.ocregister.com/2021/12/29/let-the-free-market-dictate-the-labor-market-not-the-government/
-----
26) An African Perspective on Why the World Needs Cryptocurrencies
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Terence Zimwara
"Rising cryptocurrency use in Africa over the past few years has not only shown that digital currencies are now a vital means of moving funds across borders and between people, but that cryptocurrencies are also an important means of accessing global markets for the financially excluded." (12/29/21)
https://news.bitcoin.com/an-african-perspective-on-why-the-world-needs-cryptocurrencies/
-----
27) Out of sight, out of mind: Afghanistan vanishes from US news
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jim Lobe
"Despite unprecedented levels of hunger and starvation for which U.S. sanctions bear important responsibility, Afghanistan has once again virtually disappeared from the most important single source of world news for most Americans. Since September, which marked the end of U.S. efforts to evacuate its citizens and its foreign and Afghan allies, the evening news programs of the three dominant U.S. television networks -- ABC, NBC, and CBS -- have collectively devoted a grand total of 21 minutes -- spread over ten story segments -- to Afghanistan. " (12/29/21)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/12/29/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-afghanistan-vanishes-from-us-news/
-----
28) The Hounding of Julian Assange Leaves Honest Journalism With No Refuge
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jonathan Cook
"It is no accident that Julian Assange, the digital transparency activist and journalist who founded WikiLeaks to help whistleblowers tell us what western governments are really up to in the shadows, has spent 10 years being progressively disappeared into those very same shadows. His treatment is a crime similar to those WikiLeaks exposed when it published just over a decade ago hundreds of thousands of leaked materials -- documents we were never supposed to see -- detailing war crimes committed by the United States and Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan. .... Now with Assange locked up and silenced, western foreign policy can return comfortably to the era of zero accountability that existed before Assange shook up the whole system with his revelations. No journalist will dare to repeat what Assange did -- not unless they are ready to spend the rest of their days behind bars." (12/29/21)
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2021/12/28/the-hounding-of-julian-assange-leaves-honest-journalism-with-no-refuge/
-----
29) Exactly who is targeting inflation at 2%?
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner
"To me, the answer to this question seems obvious. The central bank. But lots of very smart people don't agree. MMT proponents believe that when inflation is lower than target it can be increased only with fiscal stimulus -- monetary policy is ineffective. Similarly, they believe that high inflation can only be reduced with higher taxes or lower spending. On the right, some economists advocate a fiscal theory of the price level, the view that Congress determines the inflation rate through its spending and tax decisions (including actions that change the future expected path of fiscal policy)." (12/28/21)
https://www.econlib.org/exactly-who-is-targeting-inflation-at-2/
-----
30) Decarbonization Cannot Manufacture Products Demanded by Civilization
Source: Heartland Institute
by Ronald Stein
"As late as the 1800's, the world was 'decarbonized' as there were no coal or natural gas power plants, and what the Beverly Hillbillies situation comedies of the 1960's theme song called 'oil that is, black gold, Texas tea,' had not been discovered as something that could be manufactured into usable products. Before the 1900's life was hard and dirty, and most people never traveled 100-200 miles from where they were born, and life expectancy was short. Today, crude oil is manufactured into all the products used in the medical industry, fertilizers, electronics and more than 6,000 other products that are the basis of lifestyles and economies." [editor's note: In other words, history moved on. So why insist that it may not do so now? – TLK] (12/28/21)
https://blog.heartland.org/2021/12/decarbonization-cannot-manufacture-products-demanded-by-civilization/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
31) Parallel Society Podcast, 12/29/21
Source: Freeman's Perspective
"The Futility And Disaster of The Magic Fix." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://freemansperspective.com/podcast-the-futility-and-disaster-of-the-magic-fix/
-----
32) Free Talk Live, 12/29/21
Source: Free Talk Live
"Fingerquotes-wink-wink "Killed himself" :: Maxwell found guilty :: Teens are screwed up :: Sounds like parents are mostly to blame :: Sarah loves pedestrians :: Trans teens on TikTok :: Ratspeed thinks gay marriage made people trans? :: Child support and libertarians :: Buying freedom with money :: Mark wants you to move to Fantasy Land :: Show: 2021-12-29 Aria, Nikki." [Flash audio or MP3] (12/29/21)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2021-12-29
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33) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/29/21
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
"People who question what those in power are telling them should be shunned by responsible members of society, right? Nope. James Bovard explains why those questions are well-founded–especially in the case of Covid and corrupt federal statistics." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://thebryanhydeshow.podbean.com/e/2021-december-29-the-bryan-hyde-show-hour-one/
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34) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 12/29/21
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
"Fauci's Amazing Golden Parachute -- Will He Jump?" [Flash video] (12/29/21)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/faucis-amazing-golden-parachute-will-he-jump
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35) Agorist Nexus Podcast, episode 102
Source: Agorist Nexus
"Brandon and Dag go over New Years and Bold Predictions for 2022." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://www.agoristnexus.com/new-years-and-bold-predictions-for-2022-episode-102/
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36) Electric Libertyland, episode 260
Source: Lions of Liberty
"Why NORAD's Masked Santa is Everything." [various formats] (12/29/21)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ell-260-why-norads-masked-santa-is-everything
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37) Bloggingheads.tv, 12/28/21
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
"The Year in US Foreign Policy | Robert Wright, Daniel Larison, Kelley B. Vlahos | The Wright Show." [Flash video] (12/28/21)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/63402
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38) Part Of The Problem, 12/28/21
Source: GaS Digital Network
"Regimes Do Fall." [various formats] (12/28/21)
https://art19.com/shows/d0ab5d6f-1972-4441-b3f8-6b61d09f7f15/embed?playlist_type=playlist&playlist_size=10#
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39) The Enrages, episode 12
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
"Joel Williamson met with Shane Ross to discuss their article titled 'Malicious Faux-Individualism and Market Anti-Capitalism.'" [various formats] (12/28/21)
https://c4ss.org/content/55776
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40) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2032
Source: The Tom Woods Show
"Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., joins us to discuss his new book The Real Anthony Fauci, which paints rather an unflattering portrait of the face of the American COVID response." [various formats] (12/28/21)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2032-rfk-jr-on-dr-fauci/
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