07/08 -- France: NPF wins most seats in parliamentary elections; The Supreme Court folds
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Thomas L. Knapp
Jul 8, 2024, 6:33:57 AM (8 days ago) Jul 8
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 07/08/24
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Today's Freedom News:
1) France: NPF wins most seats in parliamentary elections
2) TX: Beryl makes landfall as category 1 hurricane
3) Iran: Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian wins presidential vote
4) Judge pauses deadlines in disgraced former president’s classified documents case after SCOTUS rules disgraced former president is SPECIAL
5) Ten Billion Passwords Exposed in Largest Leak Ever
6) Iran: Warship Capsizes in Bandar Abbas Port
7) Dalai Lama turns 89, says he is physically fit
8) UK: Historic tourist attraction loses $170k worth of donations after going cashless
9) Junta-led Sahel states rule out return to West African economic bloc
10) NASCAR shows off an EV prototype
11) Crew of NASA’s earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year
12) Bangladesh: Protesters demand end to civil service job quotas
13) Papal arch enemy Archbishop Vigano found guilty of schism and excommunicated
14) John Deere to lay off roughly 600 employees from three US factories
15) UK: Starmer says he’s scrapping Rwanda migrant abduction/deportation plan
16) Green: Biden “could decide within days” whether to remain in POTUS race
17) SpaceX’s Starship to fly again “in four weeks,” Musk says
18) Taiwan: Central bank says no timetable for launching digital currency
19) Argentina: Milei heads to CPAC in Brazil, snubbing Lula & escalating political feud
20) FL: Homeowner shoots, kills intruder
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The Supreme Court folds
22) What did White House reporters know and when did they know it?
23) The Supreme Court is protecting the president from you. It should be the other way around.
24) After Biden’s ABC Interview, It’s Time to Pull the Emergency Cord
25) Who “Runs The Country?” We Do!
26) The Roberts Court’s Presidential Immunity Ruling Has Lost Nearly Everyone Except for the Far Right
27) Julian Assange Did the Time, but Who Did the Crime?
28) What Does It Mean to Govern?
29) Climate and Public Health: A Two-Headed Inquisition
30) Detroit’s sound of urban revival
31) Bureaucrats no longer judge, jury and executioner
32) Fiction or fact: The world of the 21st century
33) Keir Starmer Is Very Serious About the Status Quo
34) A Fool’s Hope
35) The Dreadful Continuity of British Foreign Policy
36) Assange deal undermines claims that leaks cause harm
37) Ukraine and the Winter War, 1939-1940
38) On the Pursuit of Happiness
39) The End of the Voting Methods Debate
40) The God-Empress of Washington
41) Trusting the “Five Eyes” Only: Early Signs of Failure of American Global Power?
42) A Better Way To Pick a President
43) The Growing Weaponization of Open-Source Information
44) The NATO Summit Is on July 9, but Zelensky Is Already Angry
45) Replacing Biden only a start; Democrats must also change their policies
46) I’ve Defended Biden for Years. Now, I’m Asking Him to Withdraw
47) Murthy’s Maddening Modesty
48) Noncriminal Advice Not a Crime
49) This Civilization Is Deeply Unnatural
50) Lessons from the European Legislative Elections
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 483
52) Anarcho Agenda, episode 120
53) Everyday Samurai, episode 65
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2514
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 629
56) The Corbett Report, episode 462
57) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 07/05/24
58) Debate: Austrian vs. Chicago Economics
59) ReImagining Liberty, 07/05/24
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 07/05/24
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) France: NPF wins most seats in parliamentary elections
Source: Firstpost [India]
“The French left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NPF), has said that it will name its prime ministerial candidate this week. In a stunning break from expectations, the NPF emerged as the single-largest bloc in the French parliamentary elections. The tactical voting arrangement between the NPF and the centrist bloc of President Emmanuel Macron relegated the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen, which was widely expected to storm to the first position with overwhelming majority, to the third position. Olivier Faure, the leader of the NPF-constituent Socialist Party, said that the coalition will name the prime ministerial candidate this week, according to AFP. In the French elections, the NPF won the most 181 of 577 seats, followed by Macron’s centrist bloc that won 160 seats, and the RN coming third with 143 seats, according to the Associated Press.” (07/08/24)
https://www.firstpost.com/world/france-election-results-left-wing-new-popular-front-pm-candidate-13790664.html
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2) TX: Beryl makes landfall as category 1 hurricane
Source: Houston Chronicle
“Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, Texas as a category 1 hurricane at around 3:30 a.m. Monday morning, pummeling the coastline with wind gusts as high as 89-mph and maximum sustained winds around 80 mph, according to Space City Weathaer. Beryl is now expected to weaken and track north-northeast over land, inundating Southeast Texas with rain and bringing life-threatening storm surge and winds to the region. … On July 2, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic.” (07/08/24)
https://www.chron.com/weather/article/hurricane-beryl-texas-landfall-19559810.php
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3) Iran: Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian wins presidential vote
Source: CNN
“Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s presidential election, the country’s electoral authority said Saturday, defeating his hardline rival in a pivotal vote amid heightened tensions both domestically and internationally. Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday’s runoff, Pezeshkian won 53.6%, edging out ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, who had 44.3% of the votes, state-run Press TV reported. Voter turnout was 49.8%, Press TV reported. Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after securing the highest number of ballots in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round saw the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. … The Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member body tasked with overseeing elections and legislation, must certify the vote before Pezeshkian can take office.” (07/06/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/05/middleeast/pezeshkian-wins-irans-vote-intl-hnk/index.html
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4) Judge pauses deadlines in disgraced former president’s classified documents case after SCOTUS rules disgraced former president is SPECIAL
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump has paused a few deadlines after Trump’s legal team requested a review of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. On Friday, Trump’s legal team presented a filing to the court that said this week’s ruling from the nation’s high court means he has blanket immunity from prosecution for his ‘official acts.’ As part of an effort to have the case dismissed, attorneys for the former president asked Judge Aileen Cannon to rule whether or not the conduct involved was official. Trump’s legal team had also asked to argue the immunity issue before Cannon between now and early September, which would have effectively delayed all aspects of the case for at least two months.” (07/06/24)
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/06/nx-s1-5031562/judge-pauses-deadlines-trump-classified-documents-case-supreme-court-immunity
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5) Ten Billion Passwords Exposed in Largest Leak Ever
Source: PC Mag
“Are you reusing your passwords across multiple sites? It’s time to reconsider. Researchers at Cybernews have uncovered a massive trove of nearly 10 billion passwords on a popular hacking forum in what they’re calling ‘largest password compilation’ ever. The file, titled rockyou2024.txt, was posted on July 4 by someone going by the name ObamaCare and contains a mind-boggling 9,948,575,739 unique plaintext passwords. The user only joined the forum in late May, but they’ve posted data from other breaches, too. According to Cybernews, this RockYou2024 file is ‘a mix of old and new data breaches.’ So it’s not necessarily a new breach that ensnared 10 billion passwords. But compiling all these passwords into one massive, searchable database ‘substantially heightens the risk of credential stuffing attacks,’ Cybernews says.” (07/06/24)
https://www.pcmag.com/news/rockyou2024-10-billion-passwords-exposed-largest-leak-ever
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6) Iran: Warship Capsizes in Bandar Abbas Port
Source: Bloomberg
“Several people were injured in an accident during repair work on Iran’s Sahand destroyer, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The incident likely occurred during repairs to Sahand’s propulsion system or its ballast tank at the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Fars reported. Unconfirmed images posted by local media showed the 96-meter (315-foot) vessel capsized in port.” (07/07/24)
https://archive.is/kte8f
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7) Dalai Lama turns 89, says he is physically fit
Source: Business Standard [India]
“Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama turned 89 on Saturday and in his birthday message said he is physically fit and is determined to continue his service to Lord Buddha’s teachings. The Dalai Lama is in the US where he is recovering from a knee-replacement surgery. ‘I am nearly 90 now but don’t feel unhealthy, except for the slight discomfort in my legs and would like to thank all my fellow Tibetans in and outside Tibet for your prayers on my birthday,’ he said in the text message issued here by his office.” (07/06/24)
https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/tibetan-spiritual-leader-dalai-lama-turns-89-says-he-is-physically-fit-124070600417_1.html
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8) UK: Historic tourist attraction loses $170k worth of donations after going cashless
Source: New York Post
“A popular UK tourist attraction has lost a whopping $170,000 worth of donations after it banned cash. Visitors to the Roman Baths in Bath have been stopped from throwing money into the historic attraction and are instead asked to make a contactless payment. But the move has had devastating consequences. The charity organisation behind the well-known site banned the use of the wishing well in March 2022. In the last financial year, it collected just $17,000 in donations despite welcoming one million visitors in 2023. … Prior to that it had raked in almost $200,000 from donations when it was fully open between 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic hit, with $170,000 coming from the 1.6m plunge pool that had been turned into a wishing well for visitors.” (07/07/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/07/07/lifestyle/historic-tourist-attraction-loses-170k-worth-of-donations-after-going-cashless/
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9) Junta-led Sahel states rule out return to West African economic bloc
Source: Reuters
“Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three military-led West African states, signed a confederation treaty on Saturday, underscoring their determination to chart a joint course outside the regional political and economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule. The signing took place at the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and signals an ever-closer alignment between the neighbours in the insurgency-torn central Sahel. Juntas seized control in a series of coups in the three states in 2020-2023 and severed military and diplomatic ties with regional allies and Western powers. … Formalising the treaty to establish a confederation confirms the rejection by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso of the 15-member Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS).” (07/06/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/junta-led-sahel-states-rule-out-return-west-african-economic-bloc-2024-07-06/
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10) NASCAR shows off an EV prototype
Source: The Verge
“NASCAR showed off a new EV prototype stock car at the Chicago Street Race today as part of a presentation on its sustainability initiatives, which it has a new partner for in Swedish electrification firm ABB. The car, which looks more like a performance crossover like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, is in many ways a total departure from the traditional stock car. … Traditional stock cars aren’t heading for their final left turn, though there are rumors it will introduce hybrids in a few years. Still, it could do something similar to the ABB-sponsored, all-electric Formula E series; NASCAR says it ‘may explore possibilities around high-performance racing,’ according to NBC News.” (07/06/24)
https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/6/24193272/nascar-ev-prototype-abb-electric-racing-sustainability
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11) Crew of NASA’s earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year
Source: Associated Press
“The crew of a NASA mission to Mars emerged from their craft after a yearlong voyage that never left Earth. The four volunteer crew members spent more than 12 months inside NASA’s first simulated Mars environment at Johnson Space Center in Houston, coming out of the artificial alien enviroment Saturday around 5 p.m. Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones entered the 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023, as the maiden crew of the space agency’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project. … The quartet lived and worked inside the space of 17,000 square feet (1,579 square meters) to simulate a mission to the red planet, the fourth from the sun and a frequent focus of discussion among scientists and sci-fi fans alike concerning a possible voyage taking humans beyond our moon.” (07/07/24)
https://apnews.com/article/nasa-simulated-mars-habitat-exit-7fd7d511ca22016793d504b1a47f97ee
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12) Bangladesh: Protesters demand end to civil service job quotas
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Thousands of Bangladeshi university students threw roadblocks across key highways on Sunday, demanding the end of ‘discriminatory’ quotas for coveted government jobs, including reserving posts for children of liberation heroes. Students in almost all major universities took part, demanding a merit-based system for well-paid and massively oversubscribed civil service jobs. … Critics say the system benefits children of pro-government groups, who back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was Bangladesh’s founding leader. Hasina, 76, won her fourth consecutive general election in January, in a vote without genuine opposition parties, with a widespread boycott and a major crackdown against her political opponents.” (07/07/24)
https://archive.is/gMjZU
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13) Papal arch enemy Archbishop Vigano found guilty of schism and excommunicated
Source: NBC News
“Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a fierce ultra-conservative critic of Pope Francis, has been found guilty of schism and excommunicated, the Vatican’s doctrinal office said on Friday. Vigano, the papal envoy in Washington from 2011-2016, went into hiding in 2018 after alleging that the pope knew for years about sexual misconduct by U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and did nothing about it. He had said the pope should resign and subsequently branded him a ‘false prophet’ and a ‘servant of Satan.’ … In a statement on Friday, the doctrinal office said his public comments made it clear that he refused ‘to recognize and submit’ to Pope Francis. He had also rejected the legitimacy of liberal reforms made by the Roman Catholic Church in the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, it said.” (07/06/24)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-arch-enemy-archbishop-guilty-excommunicated-rcna160524
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14) John Deere to lay off roughly 600 employees from three US factories
Source: CNN Business
“John Deere announced it will lay off about 600 employees across three US factories as the Illinois-based company shifts production to a newly planned facility in Ramos, Mexico. Effective August 30, about 310 employees will be laid off at two Iowa-based plants in Dubuque and Davenport, as well as 280 from a factory in East Moline, Illinois. In total, the three factories have roughly 4,175 production and maintenance employees. The Illinois factory primarily produces harvesting equipment such as combines, while the two Iowa factories manufacture construction and forestry equipment. The decision is the latest in a string of production layoffs by the farm-equipment manufacturer over the past year. Deere has sought to reposition itself as a technology company amid falling agricultural revenue in the United States.” (07/07/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/07/business/john-deere-mass-layoffs-2024/index.html
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15) UK: Starmer says he’s scrapping Rwanda migrant abduction/deportation plan
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he will not continue with the previous Conservative government’s policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, in a move welcomed by rights advocates as long overdue. ‘The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It’s never been a deterrent,’ Starmer told his first news conference on Saturday, after his Labour Party won a landslide in the general election. … Parliament approved the contentious law in April, declaring Rwanda a safe third country, which bypassed an earlier UK Supreme Court ruling that said the scheme was unlawful on human rights grounds. The authorities started detaining asylum seekers in May. Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who promised to stop migrants and asylum seekers arriving on small boats from mainland Europe, had pushed for the policy.” (07/06/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/6/keir-starmer-says-scrapping-uks-rwanda-migrant-deportation-plan
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16) Green: Biden “could decide within days” whether to remain in POTUS race
Source: SFGate
“President Joe Biden could make a decision within days whether to remain a candidate for reelection, said Hawaii’s governor who participated in a recent meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors and whose family has known the president for years. And if Biden decides not to run, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press on Saturday that he believes the president will designate Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket. ‘I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn’t run,’ Green said. ‘If the president felt that he wasn’t up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down. We’ll probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this.'” (07/07/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/hawaii-governor-says-biden-could-decide-within-19558530.php
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17) SpaceX’s Starship to fly again “in four weeks,” Musk says
Source: Space.com
“We won’t have to wait much longer to see the most powerful rocket ever built take to the skies again, if all goes according to plan. That rocket, SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship, has flown four test flights to date. And number five should be just around the corner, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. ‘Flight 5 in 4 weeks,’ Musk said Friday (July 5) via X, the social media platform he owns. … Flight 5 will feature an exciting new twist, if all goes according to plan: SpaceX has said it aims to bring the giant booster back for a pinpoint landing on Starbase’s launch mount, an effort that will be aided by the ‘chopstick’ arms of the facility’s launch tower.” (07/06/24)
https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-flight-five-four-weeks-elon-musk
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18) Taiwan: Central bank says no timetable for launching digital currency
Source: Reuters
“Taiwan’s central bank said on Sunday that it has no timetable for launching a digital currency, warning the process will be ‘huge and complex,’ but it will hold public hearings on the matter next year to spread knowledge. Taiwan’s central bank has been working on a pilot for a government-run digital currency, to allow people to use a digital wallet and make payments without using a debit or credit card. … Given the currency’s launch will affect many people it is necessary to widely communicate about it, and public hearings and forums will happen next year to promote knowledge of the currency, the bank said, ahead of its governor Yang Chin-long taking lawmaker questions on Monday.” (07/07/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-cbank-says-no-timetable-launching-digital-currency-2024-07-07/
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19) Argentina: Milei heads to CPAC in Brazil, snubbing Lula & escalating political feud
Source: SFGate
“Given the choice between a far-right convention to bash his enemies and a presidential summit to discuss regional trade policy, Argentine President Javier Milei preferred the stadium packed with cheering fans. The libertarian leader was in Brazil on Sunday, preparing to headline the country’s version of CPAC, the conservative political action conference, alongside former President Javier Bolsonaro in Brazil’s southern city of Balneario Camboriu. In skipping the Mercosur trade bloc summit in Paraguay and sidling up to Bolsonaro just days after federal police indicted the right-wing populist in a scheme to embezzle Saudi diamonds, Milei delivered another harsh rebuke to Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, escalating a risky feud with his country’s biggest trading partner. It was the latest example of Milei’s provocative foreign policy, courting the global spotlight through friendships with hard-right allies rather than following diplomatic convention.” (07/07/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/argentine-president-milei-heads-to-cpac-in-19559173.php
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20) FL: Homeowner shoots, kills intruder
Source: Tampa Free Press
“A homeowner shot and killed a suspected burglar during a home invasion early Saturday morning in the Palmetto Beach community. According to Tampa Police, officers responded to a residence on the 1300 block of South Bermuda Boulevard just before 4:20 am. A resident reported that someone had broken into their home through a window and that they had shot the intruder after a confrontation. Upon arrival, officers found an adult male in his early 40s suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.” (07/06/24)
https://www.tampafp.com/homeowner-shoots-and-kills-intruder-during-home-invasion-in-palmetto-beach-tampa/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The Supreme Court folds
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“Faced with the most potent threat to democracy in more than a century, our most revered institution didn’t just fail to hold, it aligned itself with the threat.” (07/06/24)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-supreme-court-folds
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22) What did White House reporters know and when did they know it?
Source: Fox News
by Alex Berenson
“What did reporters who cover the White House know, and when did they know it? As President Biden lurches toward a withdrawal from the 2024 election that seems likelier by the hour, the question of the media’s role in hiding his mental decline is taking center stage. The greatest loser from Biden’s catastrophic meltdown during his debate last week with Donald Trump is not Biden himself. Somewhere deep inside, Biden may actually be relieved that he may soon be free of the obligation to perform (or pretend to perform) the world’s most important job. No, the greatest loser is the media, specifically elite news organizations like The New York Times that have teams of reporters covering the White House. These teams either entirely missed Biden’s sharp cognitive decline — or, worse, actively covered it up.” (07/05/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/what-did-white-house-reporters-know-when-did-know-it
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23) The Supreme Court is protecting the president from you. It should be the other way around.
Source: The Bulwark
by Jonathan V Last
“America is in an ongoing constitutional crisis. We are less than four years removed from our first [sic] attempted coup. The man most likely to be our next president is a convicted felon. If this man loses the election, he has already promised chaos. If he wins, he has said he would like to be a dictator. And last week the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are, for all intents and purposes, immune from criminal prosecution. … The conservative majority focused on protecting the president. They thought that the overriding concern in all scenarios is that the president must be allowed the latitude to act as he sees fit without worrying about his future. In this view, the most powerful person on the planet is merely a potential victim who must be shielded and insulated from possible harms. Which is insane.” (07/05/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-supreme-court-is-protecting-the
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24) After Biden’s ABC Interview, It’s Time to Pull the Emergency Cord
Source: Common Dreams
by Norman Solomon & Jeff Cohen
“When Joe Biden’s ABC News interview aired on Friday night, it made clear that he should not be running for reelection. Rather than reduce the concerns sparked by his abysmal debate performance eight days earlier, the interview underscored that the president is in denial about his current political standing and unable to offer reassurance that his mental capacities are unimpaired. Notably, Biden kept dodging and refusing to reply in the affirmative when journalist George Stephanopoulos asked whether he has had ‘a full neurological and cognitive evaluation’ and if he ‘would be willing to have the independent medical evaluation.’ While insisting that his behavior during the debate was ‘no indication of any serious condition,’ Biden evaded key questions while resorting to snippets of stump speeches emphasizing purported foreign policy ‘successes.'” (07/06/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/after-biden-s-abc-interview-it-s-time-to-pull-the-emergency-cord
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25) Who “Runs The Country?” We Do!
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Donald Trump did not ‘run the country’ from 2017 to 2021. Nor has Joe Biden ‘run the country’ since then. Whoever wins this November’s presidential election will not ‘run the country’ starting next January 20. What are you doing today? Whatever that might be, did you ask Joe Biden for permission to do it? Next January, will you start running your daily calendar by Joe Biden or Donald Trump for approval? Almost certainly not. The president is just one of more than 330 million Americans. He (or, someday, she) may be more powerful than most of us, But not so much more powerful that he ‘runs the country’ in any meaningful sense.” (07/06/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18809
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26) The Roberts Court’s Presidential Immunity Ruling Has Lost Nearly Everyone Except for the Far Right
Source: The UnPopulist
by Berny Belvedere & Landry Ayres
“Commentators across the ideological spectrum are puzzled to dismayed at the majority’s indifference to executive accountability.” (07/06/24)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-roberts-courts-presidential-immunity
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27) Julian Assange Did the Time, but Who Did the Crime?
Source: The American Prospect
by Mark Weisbrot
“Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, entered a guilty plea last week for allegedly violating the United States’ notorious 1917 Espionage Act; he was forced to do this in order to finally walk in fresh air after 14 years of confinement. The last five were in London’s Belmarsh prison, which Judge Ramona V. Manglona, who freed him last week, called ‘one of the harshest facilities’ in the UK. She also noted that Assange spent seven years trapped in an enclosed space in London. That was in the Embassy of Ecuador, which correctly granted him political asylum …. Assange’s ‘crime’ was summed up by Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, who told the press last week that ‘this deal contemplates that Assange will have served five years in prison for activities that journalists engage in every day.'” (07/05/24)
https://prospect.org/justice/2024-07-05-julian-assange-freed-plea-bargain/
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28) What Does It Mean to Govern?
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
“When a politician declares that he is ‘ready to govern,’ what does he mean by ‘govern?’ The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the verb ‘to govern’ came from a French word and first appeared in English in the 14th century. In its intransitive form, it meant ‘to direct or control the actions and affairs of a people or place’ … What we may call the naive conception of governing sees it as a way to please everybody, to make everybody happier. But it is not obvious how individuals with different preferences, values, and circumstances can all be made happier by the government’s decisions and policies. Moreover, how are the rulers incentivized to be benevolent angels? What we know from history shows the opposite.” (07/06/24)
https://www.econlib.org/what-does-it-mean-to-govern/
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29) Climate and Public Health: A Two-Headed Inquisition
Source: Brownstone Institute
by David Bell
“International public health operates around a clear set of dogmas, protected by maintaining taboos on discussion of subjects that might undermine them. This may seem backward or even alarming, but it is entirely logical. For a quarter century, the industry has been dominated by private investors and corporate interests who are attracted to a market for which products can be coerced and mandated without restrictive advertising standards. The growing narrative around climate and health promises to be the apogee of this approach.” (07/05/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/climate-and-public-health-a-two-headed-inquisition/
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30) Detroit’s sound of urban revival
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Last month, Detroit marked the reopening of a long-abandoned but iconic building, Michigan Central Station. It did so with a concert that featured famous artists of the Motor City: Diana Ross, Eminem, Big Sean, Jack White, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The event served as a reminder that the city, once known for its creative contributions to American culture, is becoming set to do something great again. For decades before it closed as a train depot in 1988, Michigan Central was the hub for nearly 4,000 passengers a day shuttling in and out of Detroit. Built in the beaux arts style of architecture, the 18-story structure was and still is visible for miles. After its closure, a cloud of decrepitness took over with broken windows, withered columns, and prominent graffiti.” (07/05/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0705/Detroit-s-sound-of-urban-revival
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31) Bureaucrats no longer judge, jury and executioner
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“After reading progressives analyze the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, I’m wondering if many of them read it or understand the underlying doctrine the court overturned. Common overwrought hot takes claim Loper Bright will obliterate federal regulations, give corporations power to self-regulate and even usher in fascism. Seriously. In reality, the court simply put federal bureaucracies in their rightful constitutional place, rather than allowing them to make stuff up as they implement ambiguous statutes. For a quick grade-school refresher: The legislative branch (Congress) writes laws. The executive (president and federal agencies) executes laws. The judiciary (federal courts) interprets law. Each branch is independent and serves as a check on the others as a means to limit power.” (07/05/24)
https://archive.is/CXarS
-----
32) Fiction or fact: The world of the 21st century
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“For many years, the Darien Gap, a dense jungle in the eastern end of the Republic of Panama, has featured, often prominently, in novels and movies. It was an impenetrable barrier to movement from Panama to the rest of South America. … Attempts to ‘bridge’ the gap were defeated by a combination of terrain, weather, and environist pressure. Today there are not even plans to construct a road or railroad. Despite the high demand for travel through the place. There are no highways or roads through its deadly mountains: only trails, if that. … hundreds of thousands of migrants trudge across this inhospitable land, seeking wealth (and perhaps peace) in Del Norte: the North, the United States. … No record of how many dead litter the trails. They probably number thousands.” (07/06/24)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2024/07/06/fiction-or-fact-the-world-of-the-21st-century/
-----
33) Keir Starmer Is Very Serious About the Status Quo
Source: In These Times
by Sarah Jaffe
“Prepare for Keir Starmer to be the new hero of the sensible center. As Democrats in the United States abandon Joe Biden like rats from the proverbial sinking ship and Emmanuel Macron spectacularly self-immolates over in France, Sir Keir’s wide margin on the Fourth of July in Britain is bucking the trend, claiming victory for the middle of the road. Labour won in what one commentator called a ‘loveless landslide’, winning at least 412 seats (a few are left to be counted) with a vote share possibly lower than it achieved in 2017 under Jeremy Corbyn, and just 1.4 points higher than 2019, which was counted a disaster for the party. It is the largest party in England, Scotland and Wales, but it lost votes and seats to its left. Voter turnout, perhaps the best indication of enthusiasm, was the lowest in a British election since 1886.” (07/05/24)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/britain-keir-starmer-corbyn-election-serious
-----
34) A Fool’s Hope
Source: The Reframe
by AR Moxon
“This will be one about hope, though maybe not ‘hope’ as it is usually meant. Real hope isn’t a passive mushy thing, you know; no, hope is a crucial step in the natural progressive process of repair. You can’t fix a problem until you have the conviction it should be fixed, and the expectant determination to see it done — and if that doesn’t describe hope, I don’t know what does. This makes hope a defiant and combative act against those who would sabotage any act of repair, which is exactly what fascism, like all forms of supremacism, always does. For this reason, hope is what is needed right now.” (07/05/24)
https://www.the-reframe.com/a-fools-hope
-----
35) The Dreadful Continuity of British Foreign Policy
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Prime Minister Starmer is the heir to Blair in more ways than one, and when it comes to foreign policy he has given us every reason to expect him to be almost as bad as his predecessor. His support for the war in Gaza is one important example of that, and that position has already cost Labour a few seats to independent candidates that ran in opposition to the war and the party. Judging from Labour’s election manifesto and Starmer’s record, we can expect mostly continuity in Britain’s foreign policy. That will be reassuring to many in Washington that count on having a subservient Britain as a reliable supporter of the U.S. position, but it will be bad news for Britain and for whichever countries next end up in the crosshairs of our two governments.” (07/05/24)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-dreadful-continuity-of-british
-----
36) Assange deal undermines claims that leaks cause harm
Source: Washington Post
by Erik Wemple
“Following one of WikiLeaks’[s] epic 2010 document dumps, then-Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) struck a tone common in official circles: ‘This is worse even than a physical attack on Americans, it’s worse than a military attack.’ At a plea hearing last week for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the Northern Mariana Islands, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona addressed the implications of those disclosures and many others: ‘The government has indicated there is no personal victim here. That tells me the dissemination of this information did not result in any known physical injury.’ Journalists, take note: For decades, big shots atop U.S. agencies have tried to stifle, delay or reshape certain sensitive stories by telling editors and reporters that their publication will compromise national security. Now, considering the Assange findings, we must apply steroidal skepticism to any such claims.” (07/05/24)
https://archive.is/Cr1Cc
-----
37) Ukraine and the Winter War, 1939-1940
Source: Town Hall
by Victor Davis Hanson
“In early World War II, on Nov. 30, 1939, a Soviet-Russian army invaded Finland in a surprise massive attack. The Finns were eventually outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. The population of the Soviet Union in 1940 was 50 times larger than that of Finland’s. Finland’s former anti-Soviet ally, Nazi Germany, had sold it out under the August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which made Germany and Russia de facto allies. Finland’s other allies, particularly France and Britain, were slow in giving aid. Both were unsure whether Finland had any chance of survival. And they were further confused as to whether their archenemy Germany was friendly or hostile to Finland. Yet for nearly the next four months, the Finns fought ferociously.” (07/06/24)
https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2024/07/06/ukraine-and-the-winter-war-1939-1940-n2641436
-----
38) On the Pursuit of Happiness
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“The most remarkable phrase in the Declaration of Independence, whose anniversary we just celebrated, is the pursuit of happiness. Looking back 248 years, that phrase may strike the modern ear as strange for a political document. But it apparently did not seem that way to Americans in 1776.” (07/05/24)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2024/07/tgif-on-pursuit-of-happiness.html
-----
39) The End of the Voting Methods Debate
Source: Reason
by Roy Minet
“Plurality is killing us. It is a cause of the increasing polarization that is rending the fabric of our society. It has forced voters to elect presidents that the majority of the voters themselves oppose. People are sick of having to vote for the ‘lesser evil.’ A new voting method, AADV (Approve/Approve/Disapprove Voting), was proposed in 2020. Each voter has the option to approve of either one or two of the candidates, and also has the option to disapprove of one candidate. Each candidate’s approvals and disapprovals are separately summed. Disapprovals are then subtracted from approvals to obtain the net approvals for each candidate. The candidate with the most (positive) net approvals is declared the winner. If no candidate achieves positive net approvals, NOTA (None Of The Above) has won. If NOTA should win, all candidates are disqualified and a new election must be held with new candidates.” (07/05/24)
https://reason.com/2024/07/05/the-end-of-the-voting-methods-debate/
-----
40) The God-Empress of Washington
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Kamala Harris can have anything she wants –except one thing. The only way Kamala Harris becomes president of these United States is if Joe Biden vacates the office before Election Day. Were that to happen, it is almost certain that her sole memorable act in office would be handing the keys over to Donald Trump, who is set to thrash Biden in the election and who might very well thrash Harris worse if the polls taken before eleven minutes ago are to be believed. … If Harris could admit to herself the reality of her political position — she isn’t going to be elected president in the foreseeable future and currently is pointed like a rocket at a career-and-reputation-ending disaster — then she would appreciate that she is in a terrific position nonetheless.” (07/05/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/the-god-empress-of-washington/
-----
41) Trusting the “Five Eyes” Only: Early Signs of Failure of American Global Power?
Source: TomDispatch
by Michael Klare
“Wherever he travels globally, President Biden has sought to project the United States as the rejuvenated leader of a broad coalition of democratic nations seeking to defend the ‘rules-based international order’ against encroachments by hostile autocratic powers, especially China, Russia, and North Korea. ‘We established NATO, the greatest military alliance in the history of the world,’ he told veterans of D-Day while at Normandy, France on June 6th. ‘Today… NATO is more united than ever and even more prepared to keep the peace, deter aggression, defend freedom all around the world.’ In other venues, Biden has repeatedly highlighted Washington’s efforts to incorporate the ‘Global South’ (the developing nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East) into just such a broad-based U.S.-led coalition.” (07/04/24)
https://tomdispatch.com/trusting-the-five-eyes-only
-----
42) A Better Way To Pick a President
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Nick Troiano
“The problem with the way we pick our president is not that 20th-century election reforms gave voters a direct influence in candidate selection, but that these reforms did not go far enough to truly reflect the will of the people. The combination of closed partisan primaries, which produce unrepresentative candidates, and plurality general elections, which thwart alternatives to both major parties, conspire to give voters only two viable choices that they often do not like. The good news is that these structural problems are fixable. … we can make 2024 the last presidential election that, by design, produces two choices a majority of Americans do not want. A realistic prescription for a more representative presidential election process includes ditching party caucuses, allowing all voters to participate in party primaries, using instant runoffs, and awarding Electoral College votes on a proportional basis.” (07/05/24)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/07/05/a_better_way_to_pick_a_president_151209.html
-----
43) The Growing Weaponization of Open-Source Information
Source: CounterPunch
by John P Ruehl
“Within a day of the June 2, 2024, release of a video documenting the abuse of prisoners of war by a Russian soldier in Ukraine, open-source intelligence (OSINT) researchers had identified the Russian citizen and his involvement in Ukraine going back a decade. Ukrainian officials subsequently sent letters to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations to document the abuse for potential use in a future criminal trial. This case is just one example of how OSINT is influencing the war in Ukraine. …Though the Russia-Ukraine war has shown the latest innovations in wartime OSINT, online platforms and global technologies have increased public involvement in conflicts for years recently. OSINT is being used to shape perceptions of wars, aid in military operations, provide insight into military performances, and expose wrongdoing.” (07/05/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/05/the-growing-weaponization-of-open-source-information/
-----
44) The NATO Summit Is on July 9, but Zelensky Is Already Angry
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“Another year of war and another NATO summit, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is still not going to get the NATO membership Ukrainians are fighting and dying for.” (07/05/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2024/07/04/the-nato-summit-is-on-july-9-but-zelensky-is-already-angry/
-----
45) Replacing Biden only a start; Democrats must also change their policies
Source: New York Post
by Julian Epstein
“Like a hangover after a bad bender, Democrats woke up last week realizing their binge of lies on Pres. Biden’s condition had reached toxic levels. The day-after is always a harsh one but this one was especially so. The veil has now been pulled back on a frail and foggy incumbent president (and his enablers) whose candidacy is opposed by the vast majority of the American public. The question now is not just who should replace Biden as the party’s nominee — as important as that is. The question is also whether the party will engage in much needed self-examination about the unpopularity of its policies that predate the debate.” (07/06/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/07/06/opinion/replacing-biden-is-only-a-start-the-dems-must-replace-their-policies/
-----
46) I’ve Defended Biden for Years. Now, I’m Asking Him to Withdraw
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“Running a presidential campaign is never easy. It is a Herculean challenge for a candidate to start one about three months before Election Day. Biden should not wait until the Democratic convention to decide on withdrawal. (The in-person convention is scheduled for mid-August, but Democrats plan to formally nominate its presidential candidate at a virtual meeting in late July or early August.) Biden must give whoever would replace him as much time as possible to mount an organized campaign.” (07/05/24)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/07/05/ive-defended-biden-for-years-now-im-asking-him-to-withdraw/
-----
47) Murthy’s Maddening Modesty
Source: Law & Liberty
by David B. McGarry
“The long-awaited Supreme Court case concerning social media culminated not with a bang but with a whimper. Murthy v. Missouri ruled on the Biden Administration’s efforts to shape social media platforms’ content-moderation policies. But the Court ruled not on the case’s merits but on standing. Writing for a 6–3 majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett reasoned that the plaintiffs — two states and several individuals — failed to establish the likelihood of future injury required to sue for a forward-looking injunction. Nonetheless, Murthy’s sound and fury signifies a great deal. The case’s protracted saga, and even the Supreme Court’s sidestep, reveals much about both the proper workings of America’s constitutional cosmos and the derangements that today afflict it.” (07/05/24)
https://lawliberty.org/murthys-maddening-modesty/
-----
48) Noncriminal Advice Not a Crime
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“I have now learned, or relearned, that doing legal things may well be illegal. A recent example of the legal-is-illegal syndrome is the apparent criminalization, ex post facto, of helping your clients legally promote their legally vendible wares. According to an April 2024 Wall Street Journal report, the consulting firm McKinsey is in trouble with the Justice Department for advising Purdue on how to sell more of its drug OxyContin, which is legal to sell. The Department has criminally opened a criminal investigation into McKinsey’s ‘role in advising’ opioid manufacturers like Purdue ‘on how to boost sales.’ McKinsey consultants suggested pitching more to doctors who prescribe OxyContin the most, pitching less to docs who don’t prescribe it. Which part of this shockingly standard advice is the criminal activity?” (07/05/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/07/05/noncriminal-advice-not-a-crime/
-----
49) This Civilization Is Deeply Unnatural
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“There is nothing natural about this. The way things are. The way we are living. If this was the natural and healthy way for human society to exist, it wouldn’t require mountains of propaganda spin to keep it going. Without copious amounts of mental narratives being fed to us by people in power, it would never occur to anyone that it’s a good or normal idea to commit to wars of aggression on the other side of the planet, or to back genocides, or to militarize globally with hundreds of military outposts around the world, or to foster systems which allow a few people to have far too much while others have far too little, or to destroy the biosphere we depend on for survival for the sake of shareholder profits.” (07/04/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/07/04/this-civilization-is-deeply-unnatural/
-----
50) Lessons from the European Legislative Elections
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Nikolai G Wenzel
“Two weeks ago, citizens throughout the European Union voted in legislative elections for the European Parliament. Within Europe, the European Parliament is itself a sideshow. It does have the power to approve laws, and a majority of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) must approve the choice of European President. But the Parliament is a self-described ‘co-legislator’ and the real action happens at the level of the bureaucratic machinery (the EU Commission in Brussels). Still, it is worth looking at the election results.” (07/05/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/lessons-from-the-european-legislative-elections/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 483
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich & MC discuss how video games can make you sick, how not to be sore after a workout, upcoming Democratic shenanigans, and is the Chevron deference really an improvement.” (07/06/24)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2024/07/06/the-anarchist-experience-483/
-----
52) Anarcho Agenda, episode 120
Source: Anarcho Agenda
“I sit down with Bonnie Freeman to discuss Meeting her husband Ian, her parking ticket trial, and more.” (07/06/24)
https://anarchoagenda.libsyn.com/anarcho-agenda-ep-120-2024-07-06
-----
53) Everyday Samurai, episode 65
Source: Everyday Samurai
“Attitudes of Occupying Martial Governors.” (07/06/24)
https://pod.co/everyday-samurai-life/ep65-attitudes-of-occupying-martial-governors
-----
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2514
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Nobody Cares About the Federal Debt.” (07/05/24)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2514-nobody-cares-about-the-federal-debt/
-----
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 629
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Zelensky Says No to a Ceasefire with Russia.” (07/05/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-629-zelensky-says-no-to-a-ceasefire-with-russia/
-----
56) The Corbett Report, episode 462
Source: The Corbett Report
“The Corbett Report Hall of Shame.” (07/05/24)
https://corbettreport.com/hall-of-shame/
-----
57) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 07/05/24
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Danny Sessom (The Crypto Show, Hush.is , Manureo.io, DragonX) comes on the podcast to discuss a new project, Agorax.is, a Digital Farmer’s Market and Social Hub for Privacy Coin Enthusiasts to Speak and Transact Freely.” (07/05/24)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/364919-2024-07-05-2024-07-05-ernest-hancock-interviews-danny-sessom-mp3-4.htm
-----
58) Debate: Austrian vs. Chicago Economics
Source: Reason
“Economists Gene Epstein and David Friedman debate the merits of the Austrian and Chicago schools of economics.” (07/05/24)
https://reason.com/podcast/2024/07/05/debate-austrian-vs-chicago-economics/
-----
59) ReImagining Liberty, 07/05/24
Source: ReImagining Liberty
“We Need More Emotion in Politics.” (07/05/24)
https://www.reimaginingliberty.com/p/need-emotion-politics-a5a4
-----
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 07/05/24
Source: Antiwar.com
“NATO To Give Ukraine $43 Billion for 2025, Israel Sends Delegation for Hostage Talks, and More.” (07/05/24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbTG858JeuU
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Today's Freedom News:
1) France: NPF wins most seats in parliamentary elections
2) TX: Beryl makes landfall as category 1 hurricane
3) Iran: Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian wins presidential vote
4) Judge pauses deadlines in disgraced former president’s classified documents case after SCOTUS rules disgraced former president is SPECIAL
5) Ten Billion Passwords Exposed in Largest Leak Ever
6) Iran: Warship Capsizes in Bandar Abbas Port
7) Dalai Lama turns 89, says he is physically fit
8) UK: Historic tourist attraction loses $170k worth of donations after going cashless
9) Junta-led Sahel states rule out return to West African economic bloc
10) NASCAR shows off an EV prototype
11) Crew of NASA’s earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year
12) Bangladesh: Protesters demand end to civil service job quotas
13) Papal arch enemy Archbishop Vigano found guilty of schism and excommunicated
14) John Deere to lay off roughly 600 employees from three US factories
15) UK: Starmer says he’s scrapping Rwanda migrant abduction/deportation plan
16) Green: Biden “could decide within days” whether to remain in POTUS race
17) SpaceX’s Starship to fly again “in four weeks,” Musk says
18) Taiwan: Central bank says no timetable for launching digital currency
19) Argentina: Milei heads to CPAC in Brazil, snubbing Lula & escalating political feud
20) FL: Homeowner shoots, kills intruder
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) The Supreme Court folds
22) What did White House reporters know and when did they know it?
23) The Supreme Court is protecting the president from you. It should be the other way around.
24) After Biden’s ABC Interview, It’s Time to Pull the Emergency Cord
25) Who “Runs The Country?” We Do!
26) The Roberts Court’s Presidential Immunity Ruling Has Lost Nearly Everyone Except for the Far Right
27) Julian Assange Did the Time, but Who Did the Crime?
28) What Does It Mean to Govern?
29) Climate and Public Health: A Two-Headed Inquisition
30) Detroit’s sound of urban revival
31) Bureaucrats no longer judge, jury and executioner
32) Fiction or fact: The world of the 21st century
33) Keir Starmer Is Very Serious About the Status Quo
34) A Fool’s Hope
35) The Dreadful Continuity of British Foreign Policy
36) Assange deal undermines claims that leaks cause harm
37) Ukraine and the Winter War, 1939-1940
38) On the Pursuit of Happiness
39) The End of the Voting Methods Debate
40) The God-Empress of Washington
41) Trusting the “Five Eyes” Only: Early Signs of Failure of American Global Power?
42) A Better Way To Pick a President
43) The Growing Weaponization of Open-Source Information
44) The NATO Summit Is on July 9, but Zelensky Is Already Angry
45) Replacing Biden only a start; Democrats must also change their policies
46) I’ve Defended Biden for Years. Now, I’m Asking Him to Withdraw
47) Murthy’s Maddening Modesty
48) Noncriminal Advice Not a Crime
49) This Civilization Is Deeply Unnatural
50) Lessons from the European Legislative Elections
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 483
52) Anarcho Agenda, episode 120
53) Everyday Samurai, episode 65
54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2514
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 629
56) The Corbett Report, episode 462
57) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 07/05/24
58) Debate: Austrian vs. Chicago Economics
59) ReImagining Liberty, 07/05/24
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 07/05/24
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) France: NPF wins most seats in parliamentary elections
Source: Firstpost [India]
“The French left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NPF), has said that it will name its prime ministerial candidate this week. In a stunning break from expectations, the NPF emerged as the single-largest bloc in the French parliamentary elections. The tactical voting arrangement between the NPF and the centrist bloc of President Emmanuel Macron relegated the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen, which was widely expected to storm to the first position with overwhelming majority, to the third position. Olivier Faure, the leader of the NPF-constituent Socialist Party, said that the coalition will name the prime ministerial candidate this week, according to AFP. In the French elections, the NPF won the most 181 of 577 seats, followed by Macron’s centrist bloc that won 160 seats, and the RN coming third with 143 seats, according to the Associated Press.” (07/08/24)
https://www.firstpost.com/world/france-election-results-left-wing-new-popular-front-pm-candidate-13790664.html
-----
2) TX: Beryl makes landfall as category 1 hurricane
Source: Houston Chronicle
“Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, Texas as a category 1 hurricane at around 3:30 a.m. Monday morning, pummeling the coastline with wind gusts as high as 89-mph and maximum sustained winds around 80 mph, according to Space City Weathaer. Beryl is now expected to weaken and track north-northeast over land, inundating Southeast Texas with rain and bringing life-threatening storm surge and winds to the region. … On July 2, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic.” (07/08/24)
https://www.chron.com/weather/article/hurricane-beryl-texas-landfall-19559810.php
-----
3) Iran: Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian wins presidential vote
Source: CNN
“Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s presidential election, the country’s electoral authority said Saturday, defeating his hardline rival in a pivotal vote amid heightened tensions both domestically and internationally. Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday’s runoff, Pezeshkian won 53.6%, edging out ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, who had 44.3% of the votes, state-run Press TV reported. Voter turnout was 49.8%, Press TV reported. Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after securing the highest number of ballots in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round saw the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. … The Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member body tasked with overseeing elections and legislation, must certify the vote before Pezeshkian can take office.” (07/06/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/05/middleeast/pezeshkian-wins-irans-vote-intl-hnk/index.html
-----
4) Judge pauses deadlines in disgraced former president’s classified documents case after SCOTUS rules disgraced former president is SPECIAL
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump has paused a few deadlines after Trump’s legal team requested a review of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. On Friday, Trump’s legal team presented a filing to the court that said this week’s ruling from the nation’s high court means he has blanket immunity from prosecution for his ‘official acts.’ As part of an effort to have the case dismissed, attorneys for the former president asked Judge Aileen Cannon to rule whether or not the conduct involved was official. Trump’s legal team had also asked to argue the immunity issue before Cannon between now and early September, which would have effectively delayed all aspects of the case for at least two months.” (07/06/24)
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/06/nx-s1-5031562/judge-pauses-deadlines-trump-classified-documents-case-supreme-court-immunity
-----
5) Ten Billion Passwords Exposed in Largest Leak Ever
Source: PC Mag
“Are you reusing your passwords across multiple sites? It’s time to reconsider. Researchers at Cybernews have uncovered a massive trove of nearly 10 billion passwords on a popular hacking forum in what they’re calling ‘largest password compilation’ ever. The file, titled rockyou2024.txt, was posted on July 4 by someone going by the name ObamaCare and contains a mind-boggling 9,948,575,739 unique plaintext passwords. The user only joined the forum in late May, but they’ve posted data from other breaches, too. According to Cybernews, this RockYou2024 file is ‘a mix of old and new data breaches.’ So it’s not necessarily a new breach that ensnared 10 billion passwords. But compiling all these passwords into one massive, searchable database ‘substantially heightens the risk of credential stuffing attacks,’ Cybernews says.” (07/06/24)
https://www.pcmag.com/news/rockyou2024-10-billion-passwords-exposed-largest-leak-ever
-----
6) Iran: Warship Capsizes in Bandar Abbas Port
Source: Bloomberg
“Several people were injured in an accident during repair work on Iran’s Sahand destroyer, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The incident likely occurred during repairs to Sahand’s propulsion system or its ballast tank at the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Fars reported. Unconfirmed images posted by local media showed the 96-meter (315-foot) vessel capsized in port.” (07/07/24)
https://archive.is/kte8f
-----
7) Dalai Lama turns 89, says he is physically fit
Source: Business Standard [India]
“Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama turned 89 on Saturday and in his birthday message said he is physically fit and is determined to continue his service to Lord Buddha’s teachings. The Dalai Lama is in the US where he is recovering from a knee-replacement surgery. ‘I am nearly 90 now but don’t feel unhealthy, except for the slight discomfort in my legs and would like to thank all my fellow Tibetans in and outside Tibet for your prayers on my birthday,’ he said in the text message issued here by his office.” (07/06/24)
https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/tibetan-spiritual-leader-dalai-lama-turns-89-says-he-is-physically-fit-124070600417_1.html
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8) UK: Historic tourist attraction loses $170k worth of donations after going cashless
Source: New York Post
“A popular UK tourist attraction has lost a whopping $170,000 worth of donations after it banned cash. Visitors to the Roman Baths in Bath have been stopped from throwing money into the historic attraction and are instead asked to make a contactless payment. But the move has had devastating consequences. The charity organisation behind the well-known site banned the use of the wishing well in March 2022. In the last financial year, it collected just $17,000 in donations despite welcoming one million visitors in 2023. … Prior to that it had raked in almost $200,000 from donations when it was fully open between 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic hit, with $170,000 coming from the 1.6m plunge pool that had been turned into a wishing well for visitors.” (07/07/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/07/07/lifestyle/historic-tourist-attraction-loses-170k-worth-of-donations-after-going-cashless/
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9) Junta-led Sahel states rule out return to West African economic bloc
Source: Reuters
“Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three military-led West African states, signed a confederation treaty on Saturday, underscoring their determination to chart a joint course outside the regional political and economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule. The signing took place at the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and signals an ever-closer alignment between the neighbours in the insurgency-torn central Sahel. Juntas seized control in a series of coups in the three states in 2020-2023 and severed military and diplomatic ties with regional allies and Western powers. … Formalising the treaty to establish a confederation confirms the rejection by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso of the 15-member Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS).” (07/06/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/junta-led-sahel-states-rule-out-return-west-african-economic-bloc-2024-07-06/
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10) NASCAR shows off an EV prototype
Source: The Verge
“NASCAR showed off a new EV prototype stock car at the Chicago Street Race today as part of a presentation on its sustainability initiatives, which it has a new partner for in Swedish electrification firm ABB. The car, which looks more like a performance crossover like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, is in many ways a total departure from the traditional stock car. … Traditional stock cars aren’t heading for their final left turn, though there are rumors it will introduce hybrids in a few years. Still, it could do something similar to the ABB-sponsored, all-electric Formula E series; NASCAR says it ‘may explore possibilities around high-performance racing,’ according to NBC News.” (07/06/24)
https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/6/24193272/nascar-ev-prototype-abb-electric-racing-sustainability
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11) Crew of NASA’s earthbound simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year
Source: Associated Press
“The crew of a NASA mission to Mars emerged from their craft after a yearlong voyage that never left Earth. The four volunteer crew members spent more than 12 months inside NASA’s first simulated Mars environment at Johnson Space Center in Houston, coming out of the artificial alien enviroment Saturday around 5 p.m. Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones entered the 3D-printed habitat on June 25, 2023, as the maiden crew of the space agency’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project. … The quartet lived and worked inside the space of 17,000 square feet (1,579 square meters) to simulate a mission to the red planet, the fourth from the sun and a frequent focus of discussion among scientists and sci-fi fans alike concerning a possible voyage taking humans beyond our moon.” (07/07/24)
https://apnews.com/article/nasa-simulated-mars-habitat-exit-7fd7d511ca22016793d504b1a47f97ee
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12) Bangladesh: Protesters demand end to civil service job quotas
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Thousands of Bangladeshi university students threw roadblocks across key highways on Sunday, demanding the end of ‘discriminatory’ quotas for coveted government jobs, including reserving posts for children of liberation heroes. Students in almost all major universities took part, demanding a merit-based system for well-paid and massively oversubscribed civil service jobs. … Critics say the system benefits children of pro-government groups, who back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was Bangladesh’s founding leader. Hasina, 76, won her fourth consecutive general election in January, in a vote without genuine opposition parties, with a widespread boycott and a major crackdown against her political opponents.” (07/07/24)
https://archive.is/gMjZU
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13) Papal arch enemy Archbishop Vigano found guilty of schism and excommunicated
Source: NBC News
“Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a fierce ultra-conservative critic of Pope Francis, has been found guilty of schism and excommunicated, the Vatican’s doctrinal office said on Friday. Vigano, the papal envoy in Washington from 2011-2016, went into hiding in 2018 after alleging that the pope knew for years about sexual misconduct by U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and did nothing about it. He had said the pope should resign and subsequently branded him a ‘false prophet’ and a ‘servant of Satan.’ … In a statement on Friday, the doctrinal office said his public comments made it clear that he refused ‘to recognize and submit’ to Pope Francis. He had also rejected the legitimacy of liberal reforms made by the Roman Catholic Church in the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, it said.” (07/06/24)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-arch-enemy-archbishop-guilty-excommunicated-rcna160524
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14) John Deere to lay off roughly 600 employees from three US factories
Source: CNN Business
“John Deere announced it will lay off about 600 employees across three US factories as the Illinois-based company shifts production to a newly planned facility in Ramos, Mexico. Effective August 30, about 310 employees will be laid off at two Iowa-based plants in Dubuque and Davenport, as well as 280 from a factory in East Moline, Illinois. In total, the three factories have roughly 4,175 production and maintenance employees. The Illinois factory primarily produces harvesting equipment such as combines, while the two Iowa factories manufacture construction and forestry equipment. The decision is the latest in a string of production layoffs by the farm-equipment manufacturer over the past year. Deere has sought to reposition itself as a technology company amid falling agricultural revenue in the United States.” (07/07/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/07/business/john-deere-mass-layoffs-2024/index.html
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15) UK: Starmer says he’s scrapping Rwanda migrant abduction/deportation plan
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he will not continue with the previous Conservative government’s policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, in a move welcomed by rights advocates as long overdue. ‘The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It’s never been a deterrent,’ Starmer told his first news conference on Saturday, after his Labour Party won a landslide in the general election. … Parliament approved the contentious law in April, declaring Rwanda a safe third country, which bypassed an earlier UK Supreme Court ruling that said the scheme was unlawful on human rights grounds. The authorities started detaining asylum seekers in May. Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who promised to stop migrants and asylum seekers arriving on small boats from mainland Europe, had pushed for the policy.” (07/06/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/6/keir-starmer-says-scrapping-uks-rwanda-migrant-deportation-plan
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16) Green: Biden “could decide within days” whether to remain in POTUS race
Source: SFGate
“President Joe Biden could make a decision within days whether to remain a candidate for reelection, said Hawaii’s governor who participated in a recent meeting with Biden and other Democratic governors and whose family has known the president for years. And if Biden decides not to run, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press on Saturday that he believes the president will designate Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket. ‘I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn’t run,’ Green said. ‘If the president felt that he wasn’t up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down. We’ll probably know in the next couple of days how the president feels about all this.'” (07/07/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/hawaii-governor-says-biden-could-decide-within-19558530.php
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17) SpaceX’s Starship to fly again “in four weeks,” Musk says
Source: Space.com
“We won’t have to wait much longer to see the most powerful rocket ever built take to the skies again, if all goes according to plan. That rocket, SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship, has flown four test flights to date. And number five should be just around the corner, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. ‘Flight 5 in 4 weeks,’ Musk said Friday (July 5) via X, the social media platform he owns. … Flight 5 will feature an exciting new twist, if all goes according to plan: SpaceX has said it aims to bring the giant booster back for a pinpoint landing on Starbase’s launch mount, an effort that will be aided by the ‘chopstick’ arms of the facility’s launch tower.” (07/06/24)
https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-flight-five-four-weeks-elon-musk
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18) Taiwan: Central bank says no timetable for launching digital currency
Source: Reuters
“Taiwan’s central bank said on Sunday that it has no timetable for launching a digital currency, warning the process will be ‘huge and complex,’ but it will hold public hearings on the matter next year to spread knowledge. Taiwan’s central bank has been working on a pilot for a government-run digital currency, to allow people to use a digital wallet and make payments without using a debit or credit card. … Given the currency’s launch will affect many people it is necessary to widely communicate about it, and public hearings and forums will happen next year to promote knowledge of the currency, the bank said, ahead of its governor Yang Chin-long taking lawmaker questions on Monday.” (07/07/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-cbank-says-no-timetable-launching-digital-currency-2024-07-07/
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19) Argentina: Milei heads to CPAC in Brazil, snubbing Lula & escalating political feud
Source: SFGate
“Given the choice between a far-right convention to bash his enemies and a presidential summit to discuss regional trade policy, Argentine President Javier Milei preferred the stadium packed with cheering fans. The libertarian leader was in Brazil on Sunday, preparing to headline the country’s version of CPAC, the conservative political action conference, alongside former President Javier Bolsonaro in Brazil’s southern city of Balneario Camboriu. In skipping the Mercosur trade bloc summit in Paraguay and sidling up to Bolsonaro just days after federal police indicted the right-wing populist in a scheme to embezzle Saudi diamonds, Milei delivered another harsh rebuke to Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, escalating a risky feud with his country’s biggest trading partner. It was the latest example of Milei’s provocative foreign policy, courting the global spotlight through friendships with hard-right allies rather than following diplomatic convention.” (07/07/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/argentine-president-milei-heads-to-cpac-in-19559173.php
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20) FL: Homeowner shoots, kills intruder
Source: Tampa Free Press
“A homeowner shot and killed a suspected burglar during a home invasion early Saturday morning in the Palmetto Beach community. According to Tampa Police, officers responded to a residence on the 1300 block of South Bermuda Boulevard just before 4:20 am. A resident reported that someone had broken into their home through a window and that they had shot the intruder after a confrontation. Upon arrival, officers found an adult male in his early 40s suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.” (07/06/24)
https://www.tampafp.com/homeowner-shoots-and-kills-intruder-during-home-invasion-in-palmetto-beach-tampa/
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) The Supreme Court folds
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“Faced with the most potent threat to democracy in more than a century, our most revered institution didn’t just fail to hold, it aligned itself with the threat.” (07/06/24)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-supreme-court-folds
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22) What did White House reporters know and when did they know it?
Source: Fox News
by Alex Berenson
“What did reporters who cover the White House know, and when did they know it? As President Biden lurches toward a withdrawal from the 2024 election that seems likelier by the hour, the question of the media’s role in hiding his mental decline is taking center stage. The greatest loser from Biden’s catastrophic meltdown during his debate last week with Donald Trump is not Biden himself. Somewhere deep inside, Biden may actually be relieved that he may soon be free of the obligation to perform (or pretend to perform) the world’s most important job. No, the greatest loser is the media, specifically elite news organizations like The New York Times that have teams of reporters covering the White House. These teams either entirely missed Biden’s sharp cognitive decline — or, worse, actively covered it up.” (07/05/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/what-did-white-house-reporters-know-when-did-know-it
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23) The Supreme Court is protecting the president from you. It should be the other way around.
Source: The Bulwark
by Jonathan V Last
“America is in an ongoing constitutional crisis. We are less than four years removed from our first [sic] attempted coup. The man most likely to be our next president is a convicted felon. If this man loses the election, he has already promised chaos. If he wins, he has said he would like to be a dictator. And last week the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are, for all intents and purposes, immune from criminal prosecution. … The conservative majority focused on protecting the president. They thought that the overriding concern in all scenarios is that the president must be allowed the latitude to act as he sees fit without worrying about his future. In this view, the most powerful person on the planet is merely a potential victim who must be shielded and insulated from possible harms. Which is insane.” (07/05/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-supreme-court-is-protecting-the
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24) After Biden’s ABC Interview, It’s Time to Pull the Emergency Cord
Source: Common Dreams
by Norman Solomon & Jeff Cohen
“When Joe Biden’s ABC News interview aired on Friday night, it made clear that he should not be running for reelection. Rather than reduce the concerns sparked by his abysmal debate performance eight days earlier, the interview underscored that the president is in denial about his current political standing and unable to offer reassurance that his mental capacities are unimpaired. Notably, Biden kept dodging and refusing to reply in the affirmative when journalist George Stephanopoulos asked whether he has had ‘a full neurological and cognitive evaluation’ and if he ‘would be willing to have the independent medical evaluation.’ While insisting that his behavior during the debate was ‘no indication of any serious condition,’ Biden evaded key questions while resorting to snippets of stump speeches emphasizing purported foreign policy ‘successes.'” (07/06/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/after-biden-s-abc-interview-it-s-time-to-pull-the-emergency-cord
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25) Who “Runs The Country?” We Do!
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Donald Trump did not ‘run the country’ from 2017 to 2021. Nor has Joe Biden ‘run the country’ since then. Whoever wins this November’s presidential election will not ‘run the country’ starting next January 20. What are you doing today? Whatever that might be, did you ask Joe Biden for permission to do it? Next January, will you start running your daily calendar by Joe Biden or Donald Trump for approval? Almost certainly not. The president is just one of more than 330 million Americans. He (or, someday, she) may be more powerful than most of us, But not so much more powerful that he ‘runs the country’ in any meaningful sense.” (07/06/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18809
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26) The Roberts Court’s Presidential Immunity Ruling Has Lost Nearly Everyone Except for the Far Right
Source: The UnPopulist
by Berny Belvedere & Landry Ayres
“Commentators across the ideological spectrum are puzzled to dismayed at the majority’s indifference to executive accountability.” (07/06/24)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-roberts-courts-presidential-immunity
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27) Julian Assange Did the Time, but Who Did the Crime?
Source: The American Prospect
by Mark Weisbrot
“Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, entered a guilty plea last week for allegedly violating the United States’ notorious 1917 Espionage Act; he was forced to do this in order to finally walk in fresh air after 14 years of confinement. The last five were in London’s Belmarsh prison, which Judge Ramona V. Manglona, who freed him last week, called ‘one of the harshest facilities’ in the UK. She also noted that Assange spent seven years trapped in an enclosed space in London. That was in the Embassy of Ecuador, which correctly granted him political asylum …. Assange’s ‘crime’ was summed up by Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, who told the press last week that ‘this deal contemplates that Assange will have served five years in prison for activities that journalists engage in every day.'” (07/05/24)
https://prospect.org/justice/2024-07-05-julian-assange-freed-plea-bargain/
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28) What Does It Mean to Govern?
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
“When a politician declares that he is ‘ready to govern,’ what does he mean by ‘govern?’ The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the verb ‘to govern’ came from a French word and first appeared in English in the 14th century. In its intransitive form, it meant ‘to direct or control the actions and affairs of a people or place’ … What we may call the naive conception of governing sees it as a way to please everybody, to make everybody happier. But it is not obvious how individuals with different preferences, values, and circumstances can all be made happier by the government’s decisions and policies. Moreover, how are the rulers incentivized to be benevolent angels? What we know from history shows the opposite.” (07/06/24)
https://www.econlib.org/what-does-it-mean-to-govern/
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29) Climate and Public Health: A Two-Headed Inquisition
Source: Brownstone Institute
by David Bell
“International public health operates around a clear set of dogmas, protected by maintaining taboos on discussion of subjects that might undermine them. This may seem backward or even alarming, but it is entirely logical. For a quarter century, the industry has been dominated by private investors and corporate interests who are attracted to a market for which products can be coerced and mandated without restrictive advertising standards. The growing narrative around climate and health promises to be the apogee of this approach.” (07/05/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/climate-and-public-health-a-two-headed-inquisition/
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30) Detroit’s sound of urban revival
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Last month, Detroit marked the reopening of a long-abandoned but iconic building, Michigan Central Station. It did so with a concert that featured famous artists of the Motor City: Diana Ross, Eminem, Big Sean, Jack White, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The event served as a reminder that the city, once known for its creative contributions to American culture, is becoming set to do something great again. For decades before it closed as a train depot in 1988, Michigan Central was the hub for nearly 4,000 passengers a day shuttling in and out of Detroit. Built in the beaux arts style of architecture, the 18-story structure was and still is visible for miles. After its closure, a cloud of decrepitness took over with broken windows, withered columns, and prominent graffiti.” (07/05/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0705/Detroit-s-sound-of-urban-revival
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31) Bureaucrats no longer judge, jury and executioner
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“After reading progressives analyze the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, I’m wondering if many of them read it or understand the underlying doctrine the court overturned. Common overwrought hot takes claim Loper Bright will obliterate federal regulations, give corporations power to self-regulate and even usher in fascism. Seriously. In reality, the court simply put federal bureaucracies in their rightful constitutional place, rather than allowing them to make stuff up as they implement ambiguous statutes. For a quick grade-school refresher: The legislative branch (Congress) writes laws. The executive (president and federal agencies) executes laws. The judiciary (federal courts) interprets law. Each branch is independent and serves as a check on the others as a means to limit power.” (07/05/24)
https://archive.is/CXarS
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32) Fiction or fact: The world of the 21st century
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“For many years, the Darien Gap, a dense jungle in the eastern end of the Republic of Panama, has featured, often prominently, in novels and movies. It was an impenetrable barrier to movement from Panama to the rest of South America. … Attempts to ‘bridge’ the gap were defeated by a combination of terrain, weather, and environist pressure. Today there are not even plans to construct a road or railroad. Despite the high demand for travel through the place. There are no highways or roads through its deadly mountains: only trails, if that. … hundreds of thousands of migrants trudge across this inhospitable land, seeking wealth (and perhaps peace) in Del Norte: the North, the United States. … No record of how many dead litter the trails. They probably number thousands.” (07/06/24)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2024/07/06/fiction-or-fact-the-world-of-the-21st-century/
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33) Keir Starmer Is Very Serious About the Status Quo
Source: In These Times
by Sarah Jaffe
“Prepare for Keir Starmer to be the new hero of the sensible center. As Democrats in the United States abandon Joe Biden like rats from the proverbial sinking ship and Emmanuel Macron spectacularly self-immolates over in France, Sir Keir’s wide margin on the Fourth of July in Britain is bucking the trend, claiming victory for the middle of the road. Labour won in what one commentator called a ‘loveless landslide’, winning at least 412 seats (a few are left to be counted) with a vote share possibly lower than it achieved in 2017 under Jeremy Corbyn, and just 1.4 points higher than 2019, which was counted a disaster for the party. It is the largest party in England, Scotland and Wales, but it lost votes and seats to its left. Voter turnout, perhaps the best indication of enthusiasm, was the lowest in a British election since 1886.” (07/05/24)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/britain-keir-starmer-corbyn-election-serious
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34) A Fool’s Hope
Source: The Reframe
by AR Moxon
“This will be one about hope, though maybe not ‘hope’ as it is usually meant. Real hope isn’t a passive mushy thing, you know; no, hope is a crucial step in the natural progressive process of repair. You can’t fix a problem until you have the conviction it should be fixed, and the expectant determination to see it done — and if that doesn’t describe hope, I don’t know what does. This makes hope a defiant and combative act against those who would sabotage any act of repair, which is exactly what fascism, like all forms of supremacism, always does. For this reason, hope is what is needed right now.” (07/05/24)
https://www.the-reframe.com/a-fools-hope
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35) The Dreadful Continuity of British Foreign Policy
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Prime Minister Starmer is the heir to Blair in more ways than one, and when it comes to foreign policy he has given us every reason to expect him to be almost as bad as his predecessor. His support for the war in Gaza is one important example of that, and that position has already cost Labour a few seats to independent candidates that ran in opposition to the war and the party. Judging from Labour’s election manifesto and Starmer’s record, we can expect mostly continuity in Britain’s foreign policy. That will be reassuring to many in Washington that count on having a subservient Britain as a reliable supporter of the U.S. position, but it will be bad news for Britain and for whichever countries next end up in the crosshairs of our two governments.” (07/05/24)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-dreadful-continuity-of-british
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36) Assange deal undermines claims that leaks cause harm
Source: Washington Post
by Erik Wemple
“Following one of WikiLeaks’[s] epic 2010 document dumps, then-Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) struck a tone common in official circles: ‘This is worse even than a physical attack on Americans, it’s worse than a military attack.’ At a plea hearing last week for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the Northern Mariana Islands, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona addressed the implications of those disclosures and many others: ‘The government has indicated there is no personal victim here. That tells me the dissemination of this information did not result in any known physical injury.’ Journalists, take note: For decades, big shots atop U.S. agencies have tried to stifle, delay or reshape certain sensitive stories by telling editors and reporters that their publication will compromise national security. Now, considering the Assange findings, we must apply steroidal skepticism to any such claims.” (07/05/24)
https://archive.is/Cr1Cc
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37) Ukraine and the Winter War, 1939-1940
Source: Town Hall
by Victor Davis Hanson
“In early World War II, on Nov. 30, 1939, a Soviet-Russian army invaded Finland in a surprise massive attack. The Finns were eventually outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. The population of the Soviet Union in 1940 was 50 times larger than that of Finland’s. Finland’s former anti-Soviet ally, Nazi Germany, had sold it out under the August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which made Germany and Russia de facto allies. Finland’s other allies, particularly France and Britain, were slow in giving aid. Both were unsure whether Finland had any chance of survival. And they were further confused as to whether their archenemy Germany was friendly or hostile to Finland. Yet for nearly the next four months, the Finns fought ferociously.” (07/06/24)
https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2024/07/06/ukraine-and-the-winter-war-1939-1940-n2641436
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38) On the Pursuit of Happiness
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“The most remarkable phrase in the Declaration of Independence, whose anniversary we just celebrated, is the pursuit of happiness. Looking back 248 years, that phrase may strike the modern ear as strange for a political document. But it apparently did not seem that way to Americans in 1776.” (07/05/24)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2024/07/tgif-on-pursuit-of-happiness.html
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39) The End of the Voting Methods Debate
Source: Reason
by Roy Minet
“Plurality is killing us. It is a cause of the increasing polarization that is rending the fabric of our society. It has forced voters to elect presidents that the majority of the voters themselves oppose. People are sick of having to vote for the ‘lesser evil.’ A new voting method, AADV (Approve/Approve/Disapprove Voting), was proposed in 2020. Each voter has the option to approve of either one or two of the candidates, and also has the option to disapprove of one candidate. Each candidate’s approvals and disapprovals are separately summed. Disapprovals are then subtracted from approvals to obtain the net approvals for each candidate. The candidate with the most (positive) net approvals is declared the winner. If no candidate achieves positive net approvals, NOTA (None Of The Above) has won. If NOTA should win, all candidates are disqualified and a new election must be held with new candidates.” (07/05/24)
https://reason.com/2024/07/05/the-end-of-the-voting-methods-debate/
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40) The God-Empress of Washington
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Kamala Harris can have anything she wants –except one thing. The only way Kamala Harris becomes president of these United States is if Joe Biden vacates the office before Election Day. Were that to happen, it is almost certain that her sole memorable act in office would be handing the keys over to Donald Trump, who is set to thrash Biden in the election and who might very well thrash Harris worse if the polls taken before eleven minutes ago are to be believed. … If Harris could admit to herself the reality of her political position — she isn’t going to be elected president in the foreseeable future and currently is pointed like a rocket at a career-and-reputation-ending disaster — then she would appreciate that she is in a terrific position nonetheless.” (07/05/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/the-god-empress-of-washington/
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41) Trusting the “Five Eyes” Only: Early Signs of Failure of American Global Power?
Source: TomDispatch
by Michael Klare
“Wherever he travels globally, President Biden has sought to project the United States as the rejuvenated leader of a broad coalition of democratic nations seeking to defend the ‘rules-based international order’ against encroachments by hostile autocratic powers, especially China, Russia, and North Korea. ‘We established NATO, the greatest military alliance in the history of the world,’ he told veterans of D-Day while at Normandy, France on June 6th. ‘Today… NATO is more united than ever and even more prepared to keep the peace, deter aggression, defend freedom all around the world.’ In other venues, Biden has repeatedly highlighted Washington’s efforts to incorporate the ‘Global South’ (the developing nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East) into just such a broad-based U.S.-led coalition.” (07/04/24)
https://tomdispatch.com/trusting-the-five-eyes-only
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42) A Better Way To Pick a President
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Nick Troiano
“The problem with the way we pick our president is not that 20th-century election reforms gave voters a direct influence in candidate selection, but that these reforms did not go far enough to truly reflect the will of the people. The combination of closed partisan primaries, which produce unrepresentative candidates, and plurality general elections, which thwart alternatives to both major parties, conspire to give voters only two viable choices that they often do not like. The good news is that these structural problems are fixable. … we can make 2024 the last presidential election that, by design, produces two choices a majority of Americans do not want. A realistic prescription for a more representative presidential election process includes ditching party caucuses, allowing all voters to participate in party primaries, using instant runoffs, and awarding Electoral College votes on a proportional basis.” (07/05/24)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/07/05/a_better_way_to_pick_a_president_151209.html
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43) The Growing Weaponization of Open-Source Information
Source: CounterPunch
by John P Ruehl
“Within a day of the June 2, 2024, release of a video documenting the abuse of prisoners of war by a Russian soldier in Ukraine, open-source intelligence (OSINT) researchers had identified the Russian citizen and his involvement in Ukraine going back a decade. Ukrainian officials subsequently sent letters to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations to document the abuse for potential use in a future criminal trial. This case is just one example of how OSINT is influencing the war in Ukraine. …Though the Russia-Ukraine war has shown the latest innovations in wartime OSINT, online platforms and global technologies have increased public involvement in conflicts for years recently. OSINT is being used to shape perceptions of wars, aid in military operations, provide insight into military performances, and expose wrongdoing.” (07/05/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/05/the-growing-weaponization-of-open-source-information/
-----
44) The NATO Summit Is on July 9, but Zelensky Is Already Angry
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“Another year of war and another NATO summit, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is still not going to get the NATO membership Ukrainians are fighting and dying for.” (07/05/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2024/07/04/the-nato-summit-is-on-july-9-but-zelensky-is-already-angry/
-----
45) Replacing Biden only a start; Democrats must also change their policies
Source: New York Post
by Julian Epstein
“Like a hangover after a bad bender, Democrats woke up last week realizing their binge of lies on Pres. Biden’s condition had reached toxic levels. The day-after is always a harsh one but this one was especially so. The veil has now been pulled back on a frail and foggy incumbent president (and his enablers) whose candidacy is opposed by the vast majority of the American public. The question now is not just who should replace Biden as the party’s nominee — as important as that is. The question is also whether the party will engage in much needed self-examination about the unpopularity of its policies that predate the debate.” (07/06/24)
https://nypost.com/2024/07/06/opinion/replacing-biden-is-only-a-start-the-dems-must-replace-their-policies/
-----
46) I’ve Defended Biden for Years. Now, I’m Asking Him to Withdraw
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“Running a presidential campaign is never easy. It is a Herculean challenge for a candidate to start one about three months before Election Day. Biden should not wait until the Democratic convention to decide on withdrawal. (The in-person convention is scheduled for mid-August, but Democrats plan to formally nominate its presidential candidate at a virtual meeting in late July or early August.) Biden must give whoever would replace him as much time as possible to mount an organized campaign.” (07/05/24)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/07/05/ive-defended-biden-for-years-now-im-asking-him-to-withdraw/
-----
47) Murthy’s Maddening Modesty
Source: Law & Liberty
by David B. McGarry
“The long-awaited Supreme Court case concerning social media culminated not with a bang but with a whimper. Murthy v. Missouri ruled on the Biden Administration’s efforts to shape social media platforms’ content-moderation policies. But the Court ruled not on the case’s merits but on standing. Writing for a 6–3 majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett reasoned that the plaintiffs — two states and several individuals — failed to establish the likelihood of future injury required to sue for a forward-looking injunction. Nonetheless, Murthy’s sound and fury signifies a great deal. The case’s protracted saga, and even the Supreme Court’s sidestep, reveals much about both the proper workings of America’s constitutional cosmos and the derangements that today afflict it.” (07/05/24)
https://lawliberty.org/murthys-maddening-modesty/
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48) Noncriminal Advice Not a Crime
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“I have now learned, or relearned, that doing legal things may well be illegal. A recent example of the legal-is-illegal syndrome is the apparent criminalization, ex post facto, of helping your clients legally promote their legally vendible wares. According to an April 2024 Wall Street Journal report, the consulting firm McKinsey is in trouble with the Justice Department for advising Purdue on how to sell more of its drug OxyContin, which is legal to sell. The Department has criminally opened a criminal investigation into McKinsey’s ‘role in advising’ opioid manufacturers like Purdue ‘on how to boost sales.’ McKinsey consultants suggested pitching more to doctors who prescribe OxyContin the most, pitching less to docs who don’t prescribe it. Which part of this shockingly standard advice is the criminal activity?” (07/05/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/07/05/noncriminal-advice-not-a-crime/
-----
49) This Civilization Is Deeply Unnatural
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“There is nothing natural about this. The way things are. The way we are living. If this was the natural and healthy way for human society to exist, it wouldn’t require mountains of propaganda spin to keep it going. Without copious amounts of mental narratives being fed to us by people in power, it would never occur to anyone that it’s a good or normal idea to commit to wars of aggression on the other side of the planet, or to back genocides, or to militarize globally with hundreds of military outposts around the world, or to foster systems which allow a few people to have far too much while others have far too little, or to destroy the biosphere we depend on for survival for the sake of shareholder profits.” (07/04/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/07/04/this-civilization-is-deeply-unnatural/
-----
50) Lessons from the European Legislative Elections
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Nikolai G Wenzel
“Two weeks ago, citizens throughout the European Union voted in legislative elections for the European Parliament. Within Europe, the European Parliament is itself a sideshow. It does have the power to approve laws, and a majority of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) must approve the choice of European President. But the Parliament is a self-described ‘co-legislator’ and the real action happens at the level of the bureaucratic machinery (the EU Commission in Brussels). Still, it is worth looking at the election results.” (07/05/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/lessons-from-the-european-legislative-elections/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Anarchist Experience, episode 483
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich & MC discuss how video games can make you sick, how not to be sore after a workout, upcoming Democratic shenanigans, and is the Chevron deference really an improvement.” (07/06/24)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2024/07/06/the-anarchist-experience-483/
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52) Anarcho Agenda, episode 120
Source: Anarcho Agenda
“I sit down with Bonnie Freeman to discuss Meeting her husband Ian, her parking ticket trial, and more.” (07/06/24)
https://anarchoagenda.libsyn.com/anarcho-agenda-ep-120-2024-07-06
-----
53) Everyday Samurai, episode 65
Source: Everyday Samurai
“Attitudes of Occupying Martial Governors.” (07/06/24)
https://pod.co/everyday-samurai-life/ep65-attitudes-of-occupying-martial-governors
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54) The Tom Woods Show, episode 2514
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Nobody Cares About the Federal Debt.” (07/05/24)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2514-nobody-cares-about-the-federal-debt/
-----
55) Conflicts of Interest, episode 629
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Zelensky Says No to a Ceasefire with Russia.” (07/05/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-629-zelensky-says-no-to-a-ceasefire-with-russia/
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56) The Corbett Report, episode 462
Source: The Corbett Report
“The Corbett Report Hall of Shame.” (07/05/24)
https://corbettreport.com/hall-of-shame/
-----
57) Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 07/05/24
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Danny Sessom (The Crypto Show, Hush.is , Manureo.io, DragonX) comes on the podcast to discuss a new project, Agorax.is, a Digital Farmer’s Market and Social Hub for Privacy Coin Enthusiasts to Speak and Transact Freely.” (07/05/24)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/364919-2024-07-05-2024-07-05-ernest-hancock-interviews-danny-sessom-mp3-4.htm
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58) Debate: Austrian vs. Chicago Economics
Source: Reason
“Economists Gene Epstein and David Friedman debate the merits of the Austrian and Chicago schools of economics.” (07/05/24)
https://reason.com/podcast/2024/07/05/debate-austrian-vs-chicago-economics/
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59) ReImagining Liberty, 07/05/24
Source: ReImagining Liberty
“We Need More Emotion in Politics.” (07/05/24)
https://www.reimaginingliberty.com/p/need-emotion-politics-a5a4
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60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 07/05/24
Source: Antiwar.com
“NATO To Give Ukraine $43 Billion for 2025, Israel Sends Delegation for Hostage Talks, and More.” (07/05/24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbTG858JeuU
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