05/24 -- UN: Number of displaced people passes 100 million for the first time; Rebellion in Shanghai

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Thomas L. Knapp

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May 24, 2022, 6:45:07 AM5/24/22
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 05/24/22
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https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:

1)  UN: Number of displaced people passes 100 million for the first time
2)  SCOTUS limits access to federal court review in death penalty cases
3)  Russian forces intensify Donbas offensive as Ukraine war enters fourth month
4)  Biden says US willing to respond "militarily" in event of Chinese attack on Taiwan
5)  FL: US appeals court rejects most of DeSantis's social media power grab
6)  Switzerland: Russian diplomat to UN resigns over invasion of Ukraine
7)  FL: Woman shoots, kills alleged intruder at her home
8)  US Census Bureau: Americans keep spending despite record inflation squeeze
9)  Pakistan: Khan calls for protests to force elections
10) Zimbabwe: Regime opens conference to promote sales of elephant ivory
11) Millionaires at Davos: "Tax us more"
12) Iran: Revolutionary Guard officer assassinated in Tehran
13) Opponents of federal vaccine mandate seek rehearing
14) IA: Two former city officials in Story County charged with fraud
15) China: Beijing regime extends work-from-home order as COVID-19 cases rise
16) Rwanda: Regime accuses Congolese military of shelling its territory
17) Chappelle attacker "wanted him to know what he said was triggering"
18) MN: Legislature misses deadline to pass tax cuts and budget bills; Walz says he'll call special session
19) North Korea: Kim Jong-un is seen at state funeral not wearing a mask
20) Spain: Hundreds protest return of former king Juan Carlos

Today's Freedom Commentary:

21) Rebellion in Shanghai
22) The delusion of a global democratic rebirth through war
23) Using War to Assault Freedom
24) In The Beginning: The Mont Pelerin Society, 1947
25) Sanctions Should Punish Putin, Not His Opponents
26) George W. Bush Is Not Even a Little Bit Funny
27) What's Biden's End Game in Ukraine?
28) Climate Change: Pro and Con, part 1
29) "Patriotic" Church Ministers
30) MSM: Empire Fanfic For Children
31) Thirty Years With No Strategy Brought Us the War in Ukraine
32) Preparing for Payment System Fragility
33) For Important Decisions, Turn Off The Story
34) The Through Line From "Brown" to "Dobbs"
35) How Londoners Survive Without a Food Czar
36) Economic Liberalization Stammers in Latin America
37) Biden created immigration crisis, Title 42 ruling a boon for border control
38) Election Deniers Haven't Won a Secretary of State Primary -- Yet
39) Biden's Hare-Brained Diplomacy
40) "Common sense" is vulgar reasoning
41) If Banks Want to Be Seen as Climate-Friendly, They Need to Exit Fossil Fuels
42) Russia, NATO and the Future of Neutrality
43) America's Nuclear Reluctance
44) Constantly on the Verge of Collapse: How Palestinians Became a Factor in Israeli Politics
45) Will the "Great Replacement" Smear Work?
46) Universities are sleepwalking into censorship
47) Progressives Need to Resist the Domestic "War on Terror"
48) Is money getting tighter?
49) The Ukraine War's "Collateral Damage"
50) Germophobes to the Left and Right

Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:

51) Reason Roundtable, 05/23/22
52) Free Talk Live, 05/23/22
53) EconTalk, 05/23/22
54) Rising, 05/23/22
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/23/22
56) Fakertarians Podcast, episode 48
57) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 05/22/22
58) Hassan El-Tayyab on The Scott Horton Show
59) The Fifth Column, episode 358
60) Conflicts of Interest, episode 279

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_____ Today's Freedom News _____

1)  UN: Number of displaced people passes 100 million for the first time
Source: The Guardian [UK]

"The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said the global number of forcibly displaced people has passed 100 million for the first time, describing it as a 'staggering milestone.' The UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said the grim new statistic should act as a wake-up call for the international community and that more action is needed internationally to address the root causes of forced displacement around the world. Officials said that the number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution had risen to an unprecedented level due to the war in Ukraine along with other deadly conflicts." (05/23/22)

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/23/total-displaced-people-now-at-staggering-milestone-of-100m-says-un

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2)  SCOTUS limits access to federal court review in death penalty cases
Source: Axios

"Federal judges cannot hear new evidence from death row inmates who argue that their state-appointed lawyers were constitutionally ineffective during state trials, a divided Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The dissent argued that the majority's 'perverse' and 'illogical' opinion effectively ends Sixth Amendment rights to counsel for people who might have been wrongfully convicted. ... Writing for the 6-3 majority, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that two death row inmates in Arizona can't raise evidence of ineffective counsel during their federal habeas appeal -- which allows a constitutional challenge to imprisonment, convictions or sentences -- because they had not presented the argument in state court." (05/23/22)

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/23/supreme-court-arizona-death-sentence

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3)  Russian forces intensify Donbas offensive as Ukraine war enters fourth month
Source: Bangkok Post [Thailand]

"Russian forces on Tuesday stepped up their offensive on the last pocket of resistance around Lugansk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, as the conflict entered its fourth month. Since Moscow's invasion in late February, Western support has helped Ukraine hold off its neighbour's advances in many areas -- including the capital Kyiv -- but Russia is now focused on securing and expanding its gains in Donbas and the southern coast." (05/24/22)

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2315010/russia-intensifies-donbas-offensive-as-war-enters-fourth-month

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4)  Biden says US willing to respond "militarily" in event of Chinese attack on Taiwan
Source: CNN

"President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States would intervene militarily if China attempts to take Taiwan by force, a warning that appeared to deviate from the deliberate ambiguity traditionally held by Washington. During a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Biden was asked if the US would be willing to go further to help Taiwan in the event of an invasion than it did with Ukraine. 'You didn't want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?' a reporter asked. 'Yes,' Biden replied. 'That's the commitment we made.'" (05/23/22)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/23/politics/biden-taiwan-china-japan-intl-hnk/index.html

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5)  FL: US appeals court rejects most of DeSantis's social media power grab
Source: Reuters

"Most of a Florida law that sought to stop social media companies from restricting users' political speech violates the companies' free speech rights and cannot be enforced, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday, agreeing with a lower court. However, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a part of the law requiring companies like Meta Platforms' Facebook, Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter Inc to disclose the standards they use to moderate content on their platforms. The unanimous decision was authored by Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, who was appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump. ... Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, called the decision 'stupefying' and said the governor's office was considering appeal." (05/23/22)

https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/us-appeals-court-rejects-most-florida-social-media-law-2022-05-23/

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6)  Switzerland: Russian diplomat to UN resigns over invasion of Ukraine
Source: Axios

"A Russian diplomat at the United Nations in Geneva said Monday that he resigned from his post over the 'aggressive war unleashed' by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It's a rare public condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine by a member of the Russian diplomatic corps. 'For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year,' Boris Bondarev wrote on LinkedIn in a post announcing his departure." (05/23/22)

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/23/russian-diplomat-united-nations-resigns-ukraine

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7)  FL: Woman shoots, kills alleged intruder at her home
Source: Fox 35 Orlando

"A 70-year-old woman said she fired a warning shot after a stranger walked into her home Sunday afternoon and wouldn't leave, before ultimately shooting him. The man died at the hospital. Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff's Office responded to the woman's home Sunday, near Brentwood Street and Farrell Avenue, and found a man in his 30s with a gunshot wound. 'He stepped in, and I turned around and I said 'who the hell are you? What do you want?' Nothing. This guy never said a word the whole time he was here,' said Virginia Morrison, 70, who lives at the home with her partner." (05/23/22)

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/im-a-fighter-70-year-old-florida-woman-shots-kills-intruder

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8)  US Census Bureau: Americans keep spending despite record inflation squeeze
Source: The Hill

"Despite high inflation, rising gas prices, deepening concern about the economy and rising recession risks, Americans keep spending money. ... Retail spending rose 0.9 percent in April, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday, with an uptick in spending at restaurants, bars and automobile dealers leading the increase. While spending dropped off at hobby, sporting goods, book and home supply stores, e-commerce and department store spending rose. Spending on airline tickets and other forms of transportation also skyrocketed last month, due in part to high gas prices pushing fares higher." (05/23/22)

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/3496301-americans-keep-spending-despite-record-inflation-squeeze/

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9)  Pakistan: Khan calls for protests to force elections
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]

"Recently ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asked his supporters to march on Islamabad, the nation's capital, for a sit-in on May 25 as a way to press the government to quit and call new elections. Khan's move is likely to fuel further political instability in a country already facing an economic crisis from rising inflation. At a Sunday press conference in Peshawar, the former cricket star urged his backers to protest for as long as needed. Khan recently has held a series of rallies -- aimed at channelling anger against the government of new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif -- drawing massive crowds across the country. 'We will not accept this government,' said Khan." (05/23/22)

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3178739/we-will-not-accept-government-says-pakistans-ex-pm-khan-calls

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10) Zimbabwe: Regime opens conference to promote sales of elephant ivory
Source: Associated Press

"Zimbabwe has opened an international conference to try to win international support for its campaign to be allowed to sell its stockpile of seized ivory. If the southern African country is not permitted to sell off its 130 tons of ivory, estimated to be worth $600 million, officials warn it may quit the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES. ... Zimbabwe's effort to sell that ivory is controversial with many conservation groups opposing it, saying any sale of ivory encourages poaching of the pachyderms." [editor's note: Holding that ivory off the market is what encourages poaching; if people want it, they're going to get it SOMEWHERE – TLK] (05/23/22)

https://apnews.com/article/zimbabwe-southern-africa-china-2ffd971174ccfc784005dc4cb0b9f3c8

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11) Millionaires at Davos: "Tax us more"
Source: BBC News [UK state media]

"A handful of wealthy attendees gathered in Davos are calling on world leaders to tackle the cost of living crisis by pushing up taxes for people like them. They took to the streets on Sunday alongside left-wing activists to call for fairer tax systems worldwide. Political and business leaders are at the first in-person World Economic Forum (WEF) since the pandemic began. But criticisms are mounting over the way the wealthy have profited in the last two years,' UK millionaire Phil White said .... 'The only credible outcome from this conference is to tax the richest and tax us now.'" [editor's note: He has a perfect right to "donate" all he wishes – SAT] (05/23/22)

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61549155

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12) Iran: Revolutionary Guard officer assassinated in Tehran
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]

"Gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on a senior officer of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) outside his home, killing him in his car in the capital, Tehran. Hassan Sayyad Khodayari was killed by five gunshots as he returned home near Mojahedin-e-Islam Street at about 4pm (11:30 GMT), reported the state news agency IRNA on Sunday. ... Khodayari was a member of the Quds Force, which is responsible for the IRGC's foreign operations, and he reportedly served in Syria in past years. Iran blamed the assassination on 'elements linked to the global arrogance' -- its term for the United States and its allies including Israel. The IRGC said it launched an investigation to identify the 'aggressors.'" (05/22/22)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/22/iran-irgc-quds-force-member-assassinated-in-tehran-state-media

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13) Opponents of federal vaccine mandate seek rehearing
Source: US News & World Report

"A federal appeals court is being asked to reconsider its decision allowing the Biden administration to require that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month vacated a lower court ruling blocking the mandate and ordered dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the policy, which was ordered by President Joe Biden in September. However, that 2-1 ruling by the appellate panel doesn't take effect until May 31. On Saturday, opponents of the mandate, led by a group called Feds for Medical Freedom, filed a petition asking that the April ruling be vacated and that the full 17-member court hear new arguments in the case." (05/23/22)

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-05-23/opponents-of-federal-vaccine-mandate-seek-rehearing

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14) IA: Two former city officials in Story County charged with fraud
Source: Des Moines Register

"Former McCallsburg Mayor Chris Erickson and City Clerk Jennifer Heithoff face criminal charges for fraud. The Story County Sheriff's office launched an investigation into Erickson and Heithoff after a 2020 state audit. The investigation found that Erickson owed $2,138.03 in water utility bills between September 2017 though July 2019. Throughout that period, Heithoff had allegedly adjusted Erickson's account balance to give the appearance that the balance had been paid, according to a press release from the Story County Sheriff's Office. Other findings from the audit found rampant misuse of city funds at a total of $90,000 between 2014-2019." (05/23/22)

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/05/23/two-story-county-city-officials-charged-fraud-chris-erickson-jennifer-heithoff/9879544002/

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15) China: Beijing regime extends work-from-home order as COVID-19 cases rise
Source: SFGate

"Beijing extended orders for workers and students to stay home and ordered additional mass testing Monday as cases of COVID-19 rose in the Chinese capital. Numerous residential compounds in the city have restricted movement in and out, although conditions remain far less severe than in Shanghai, where millions of citizens have been under varying degrees of lockdown for two months. Beijing on Monday reported an uptick in new cases to 99, up from a previous daily average of around 50. Two more districts, Shijingshan and Haidian, began a work-from-home policy this week, bringing the total to six. In cases where people need to go to their offices, the number of workers is limited to 30% of the normal level." (05/23/22)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Beijing-extends-work-from-home-order-as-COVID-19-17191377.php

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16) Rwanda: Regime accuses Congolese military of shelling its territory
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]

"Rwanda said on Monday that several civilians were injured in cross-border shelling of its territory by the military of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, known as Congo. Rwanda has called for an 'urgent investigation' into the incident. Rocket shells landed in the northern Musanze district, which borders Congo, 'injuring several civilians and damaging property,' the Rwandan army said in a statement. The shelling occurred on Monday morning and lasted 21 minutes, it said, without giving further details. The alleged incident could further inflame relations between the two countries, which have long traded accusations about support for militant groups." (05/23/22)

https://www.dw.com/en/rwanda-accuses-congo-of-shelling-its-territory/a-61907477

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17) Chappelle attacker "wanted him to know what he said was triggering"
Source: Fox News

"Dave Chappelle's alleged attacker revealed the motivation behind the moment in a recent jailhouse interview. Isaiah Lee, 23, explained in an interview with the New York Post that Chapelle's jokes about homelessness and the LGBTQ were 'triggering' for him. 'I identify as bisexual ... and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,' Lee told the outlet. 'I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.' ... Lee allegedly attacked Chappelle in the middle of his 'Netflix Is a Joke' festival on May 3. The suspect was carrying a replica gun with a knife blade inside when he allegedly attacked Chappelle during the Hollywood Bowl, police say. Lee was intercepted by security and suffered a broken arm and two black eyes, according to the New York Post." (05/23/22)

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/dave-chappelle-attacker-motivation

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18) MN: Legislature misses deadline to pass tax cuts and budget bills; Walz says he'll call special session
Source: Minnesota News Network

"Minnesota lawmakers missed their midnight deadline to pass agreed-on tax cuts, because of continuing disagreement over spending for health-and-human services, education and public safety. Governor Tim Walz says he'll call a special session, but Senate Republicans are resistant. Majority Leader Jeremy Miller says the midnight deadline has come and gone, and although they're happy to continue discussions, 'We're not interested in a special session. For goodness' sakes, get your work done on time!'" (05/23/22)

https://minnesotanewsnetwork.com/mn-legislature-misses-deadline-to-pass-tax-cuts-and-budget-bills-gov-walz-says-hell-call-special-session/

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19) North Korea: Kim Jong-un is seen at state funeral not wearing a mask
Source: BBC News [UK state media]

"North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended the funeral of a top military official as the country faces a Covid outbreak. He was seen on state television not wearing a mask while carrying the coffin of Hyon Chol Hae." (05/23/22)

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-61550090

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20) Spain: Hundreds protest return of former king Juan Carlos
Source: Raidio Teilifis Eireann [Irish state media]

"Hundreds of protesters have demonstrated in Madrid today against tarnished former king Juan Carlos I, whose visit to Spain after almost two years of self-imposed exile in the UAE has sparked criticism. Holding signs reading 'Justice,' the demonstrators gathered near the Spanish capital's royal palace. A government spokesman put their number at 300. ... The 84-year-old was admired for his role in Spain's democratic transition following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, but revelations about the opaque origins of his fortune have tarnished his reputation among many Spaniards." (05/22/22)

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2022/0522/1300525-spain-king/

_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____

21) Rebellion in Shanghai
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

"In Shanghai, life has become almost impossibly difficult. The city's 26 million residents must resort to sometimes desperate measures to even eat. ... It's a classic non-cure-worse-than-disease scenario. The mild but super-infectious omicron version of COVID-19 has eluded all totalitarian expedients. Nevertheless, people are being killed to save them. Shanghai residents have started to rebel, banging pots and pans from their balconies, pulling down the makeshift barbed-wire fences designed to confine them, taking to the streets to protest, producing songs and videos that go viral despite what National Review calls 'the CCP's watertight censorship.' Singing China's national anthem, now being censored, has also become an act of rebellion. It has a line about refusing to be slaves." (05/23/22)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/05/23/rebellion-in-shanghai/

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22) The delusion of a global democratic rebirth through war
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Anatol Lieven

"The idea that war can be a source of national unity and national regeneration is one of the most dangerous in modern history. In 1914, it seduced a generation of European liberal intellectuals .... In the interwar years, it formed the very core of Fascist and Nazi ideology. One of the things that makes this idea so seductive is that it occasionally proves true. ... More often, however, wars are used by endangered regimes precisely in order to strengthen repressive institutions and gain popular support in order to co-opt or crush opponents and block necessary change (as indeed Putin has done in Ukraine). Partly as a result, wars only briefly paper over national divisions, while strengthening ideologies of hatred and extremism." (05/23/22)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/05/23/the-delusion-of-a-global-democratic-rebirth-through-war/

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23) Using War to Assault Freedom
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Andrew Napolitano

"Most judges and lawyers agree that the war on drugs in the past 50 years has seriously diminished the right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. Now a small group of legal academics is arguing that the war in Ukraine should be used to diminish property rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. ... When the feds seize a yacht from a person whom they claim may have financed Russian President Vladimir Putin's rise to power, they are doing so in direct violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Similarly, when they freeze Russian assets in American banks, they engage in a seizure, and seizures can only constitutionally be done with a search warrant based on probable cause of crime." (05/23/22)

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2022/05/23/using-war-to-assault-freedom/

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24) In The Beginning: The Mont Pelerin Society, 1947
Source: Cobden Centre
by Dr. Richard M Ebeling

"Seventy-five years ago, there occurred an important event in the post–World War II revival of free-market liberal ideas. Over the first ten days of April 1947, 39 people from Europe and the United States met in a hotel in Switzerland at a mountain place known as Mont Pelerin. They came together to discuss the future of economic, social, and political liberty in the face of the rise and growing influence of collectivist ideas, especially in the various forms of government central planning. The laissez-faire variation on the liberal theme never really had a chance." (05/23/22)

https://www.cobdencentre.org/2022/05/in-the-beginning-the-mont-pelerin-society-1947/

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25) Sanctions Should Punish Putin, Not His Opponents
Source: Foreign Policy
by Leonid Gozman

"I am one of those Russians who has actively and publicly opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war he has unleashed on the whole world. I publicly called Putin a war criminal long before the U.S. Senate did. After Feb. 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, I demanded the Russian Federal Assembly begin impeachment proceedings and went to the protest line carrying the slogan: 'No to war. Putin, resign.' I have been arrested and tried many times, including having my arm broken during arrest. Therefore, I have the right to say what I want to say now: Russian dissidents and emigres need protection from the West and should not be the target of sanctions. ... Many of Putin's opponents have now been forced to leave their homeland. In the West, they have met the moral support of ordinary citizens but face many discriminatory measures from the authorities of European states." (05/23/22)

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/23/russia-sanctions-dissidents/

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26) George W. Bush Is Not Even a Little Bit Funny
Source: Common Dreams
by Belen Fernandez

"Everyone has by now heard about the latest gaffe by former United States president and unconvicted war criminal George W Bush, father of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and other fantastically bloody escapades. Bush and his audience, on the other hand, are by virtue of imperial entitlement permitted to snicker at a reference to the mass slaughter of nonwhite non-Westerners as though it were merely an instance of self-deprecating humour. In a recent speech at his very own George W Bush Presidential Centre in Dallas, Texas, Bush condemned the 'absence of checks and balances' in Vladimir Putin's Russia, which had enabled 'one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq.' Quickly realising his not-really-mistake, Bush corrected himself: 'I mean, of Ukraine' -- but added slightly under his breath: 'Iraq, too, anyway.'" (05/23/22)

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/05/23/george-w-bush-not-even-little-bit-funny

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27) What's Biden's End Game in Ukraine?
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul

"The Biden Administration claims that Ukraine is winning the war with Russia and that such an expenditure to protect Ukraine's borders is critical to our national interests and worth risking a nuclear war over. But protecting Ukraine's democracy is no longer the stated goal of the Administration. Defense Secretary Austin outlined the Administration's new intention not long ago when he said that the real goal is to weaken Russia. Biden's neocons are fighting a war with Russia, but once again Congress has no interest in voting on a war declaration or even in debating whether war with Russia 30 years after the end of the Cold War is a good idea. There is a reason our Constitution grants war powers to the legislative branch." (05/23/22)

http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/whats-bidens-end-game-in-ukraine

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28) Climate Change: Pro and Con, part 1
Source: The Jolly Libertarian
by Marco den Ouden

"The extent of the mainstream acknowledgement of climate change can be seen by the accolades awarded [Greta Thunberg] including a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2019, numerous environmental activism awards and two honorary doctorates including one from the University of British Columbia. With this much acknowledgement of climate change as real, with climate change leaders like Thunberg, David Suzuki, Bill McKibben and others widely lauded and followed, is there even any opposition to this overwhelming support?" (05/23/22)

https://jollylibertarian.blogspot.com/2022/05/climate-change-pro-and-conpart-1.html

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29) "Patriotic" Church Ministers
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

"Pope Francis is taking the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church to task for supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Francis told Patriarch Kirill not to be 'Putin's altar boy.' If only that same message had been received and understood by Catholic priests here in the United States when it was the Pentagon and the CIA that were the invaders of Afghanistan and Iraq. During those two invasions, there were priests who were exhorting their congregations to 'support the troops.' ... it wasn't just Catholic priests who felt that they were doing their 'patriotic' duty by rallying to the Pentagon and the CIA and coming to the support of the troops in their invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. There were plenty of Protestant ministers .... I have no doubts that there were also lots of Jewish rabbis doing the same thing." (05/23/22)

https://www.fff.org/2022/05/23/patriotic-church-ministers/

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30) MSM: Empire Fanfic For Children
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

"It's often a long, awkward process learning that literally everyone in both mainstream political factions serves the oligarchic empire. For most people you have to get your hopes dashed over and over again by your heroes before learning this lesson, and even then many don't. It runs counter to everything you're taught in life that nobody in either camp is there to help you. There's a fundamental assumption that someone among them must be decent. But if you watch carefully with enough intellectual honesty you'll see it again and again: there's a line that, for one justification or another, none of them ever end up crossing, and it's the line where they would have to begin providing meaningful opposition to the oligarchic empire." (05/23/22)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/05/23/msm-is-empire-fanfic-for-children-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/

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31) Thirty Years With No Strategy Brought Us the War in Ukraine
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Douglas MacGregor

"Washington DC has not excelled in grand strategy; the art and science of cost-effectively employing the diplomatic, economic, and informational powers of the United States in combination with its armed forces to secure its national goals and interests. Most of the strategic decisions to use American military power that were made over the last 30 years resulted in one of two strategic outcomes: abject failure (Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Iraq) or a new regional status quo that is untenable without a permanent U.S. military presence far from America's borders (the Balkans). The reasons for the discouraging outcomes of the last 30 years can be traced to Washington's failure to clearly define realistic, attainable goals for U.S. military power." (05/23/22)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/30-years-with-no-strategy-brought-us-the-war-in-ukraine/

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32) Preparing for Payment System Fragility
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Robert E Wright

"In previous posts, I suggested ways to cope with rising prices (COLA) and food insecurity (wild game and liberty gardens). Inflation creates many problems, including an increased risk of payment system glitches, like the shuttering of banking and credit card networks, leaving individuals economically stranded. Cyberattacks, power outages, financial crises, and other unexpected shocks can slow, or even disable, the payment system. True, a de facto or de jure moratorium on payments would ensue but don't forget that if you can't make payments, your employer and other debtors (like Social Security or retirement or investment funds) may not be able to pay you either. How, then, will you buy gas or groceries?" (05/23/22)

https://www.aier.org/article/preparing-for-payment-system-fragility/

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33) For Important Decisions, Turn Off The Story
Source: Freeman's Perspective
by Paul Rosenberg

"Humans have a complicated relationship with the stories they tell themselves. Sometimes they tell themselves stories to practice real-life situations, sometimes they go through 'I should have said' scenarios either to improve or to wallow in their misery, and sometimes they tell themselves lies to make themselves feel better about something. And, of course, there are almost infinite variations. I am aware that I don't fully understand this subject ... I don't think anyone does. But I know we do these things. I can point to beneficial instances and harmful instances, but I definitely don't understand everything that lies behind them. That said, I know enough to discuss certain instances of self-stories, and one of those is the clash between our stories and our choices." (05/23/22)

https://freemansperspective.com/for-important-decisions-turn-off-the-story/

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34) The Through Line From "Brown" to "Dobbs"
Source: The American Prospect
by David Gans

"Justice Samuel Alito's leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which would overrule Roe v. Wade and permit states to ban abortion throughout pregnancy, is based on the idea that state practice at the time of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 should prevail in deciding what rights are protected by the Constitution. Alito's argument is not new; since Brown v. Board of Education, conservatives have been making this argument to gut the Fourteenth Amendment's promise of true freedom and equal citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment expanded the meaning of freedom. Written in the wake of a bloody civil war fought over slavery, it sought to redress the longstanding suppression of fundamental rights. ... Roe's roots can be found in the Fourteenth Amendment's embrace of these fundamental aspects of freedom." [editor's note: Once again, the conflation of these issues is seen as "slippery slope," to blur some very discrete legal and ethical lines – SAT] (05/23/22)

https://prospect.org/justice/throughline-from-brown-to-dobbs/

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35) How Londoners Survive Without a Food Czar
Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux

"The so-called shortage of baby formulas, which appeared earlier this year in the United States, is a strange phenomenon. It is actually, or at least it started with, localized 'shortages' in free baby formulas for poor mothers under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, Children (WIC). For the purpose of this program, about half the baby formulas produced in the United States are purchased by state governments with federal money. ... At least until very recently, anybody could buy baby formula, including families who are eligible to get it free from WIC. Those who can't get their WIC allocation can purchase formulas on the open market at the market price." (05/23/22)

https://www.econlib.org/how-londoners-survive-without-a-food-czar/

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36) Economic Liberalization Stammers in Latin America
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa

"Liberalization is taking a back seat. Almost everywhere you look in Latin America, the left [sic] is running the show -- or on the verge of doing so if Gustavo Petro wins the soon-to-be presidential elections in Colombia and Lula da Silva (yes, the corrupt former president who presided over a vast empire of graft and spent time in jail) is elected again in October in Brazil. From Mexico to Chile, it is the archaic, not the social-democratic, version of the left [sic] that is in control and steering the subcontinent away from the path of liberalization it had embarked on in recent years. " (05/23/22)

https://blog.independent.org/2022/05/23/liberalization-stammers-latin-america/

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37) Biden created immigration crisis, Title 42 ruling a boon for border control
Source: Fox News Forum
by Brandon Judd

"Against his will, President Joe Biden got a small reprieve from his self-inflicted border crisis [sic] by U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays when he issued a temporary injunction on Friday, May 20 against Biden's order to end Title 42, which was supposed to happen Monday, May 23. To the consternation of not a few of his fellow Democrats, Biden's administration issued the order to end the CDC's public health [sic] order meant to protect Americans from infectious diseases and viruses such as COVID-19 by allowing CBP to immediately expel illegal [sic] border-crossers back to Mexico or country of origin in early April." [editor's note: The only "border crisis" is the abduction of travelers by government thugs. And what authoritarian mandate HASN'T COVID-19 been used as an excuse for – TLK] (05/23/22)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/immigration-title-42-border-control

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38) Election Deniers Haven't Won a Secretary of State Primary -- Yet
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Bill Scher

"The 2022 elections for secretary of state positions have attracted an unusual amount of attention, because most of the 27 Republican contests feature at least one candidate who echoes Donald Trump's baseless insistence that Joe Biden's election was fraudulent. The obvious problem here is that installing people as election supervisors who flog debunked allegations about the 2020 vote count will corrode confidence in the 2024 election before it even starts. But I have good news to report: In the first three Republican primary contests, the proponents of Trump's 2020 election conspiracy theory lost. ... The primary results to date don't prove that most Republican voters are committed to fair elections or are prepared to accept election results when their preferred candidates lose. Moreover, the election denialists may soon snag their first victory. Georgia's secretary of state primary is Tuesday, May 24, and no GOP secretary of state has been more maligned by Trump than Georgia's Brad Raffensperger." (05/23/22)

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/05/23/election_deniers_havent_won_a_secretary_of_state_primary__yet_147637.html

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39) Biden's Hare-Brained Diplomacy
Source: The American Conservative
by Peter Van Buren

"Looking back just a few years, the world seemed to be a powder keg. Trump's remarks about Taiwan and his imposition of aggressive sanctions threatened war with China. The only question at the time seemed to be whether war would erupt in the Taiwan Strait or over some lousy lump of rock in the South China Sea, an archduke's assassination for our time. Elsewhere in Asia, Trump's clumsy mano-a-mano with North Korea set the world on edge. ... So with the warmongering Trump safely stowed away in his lair at Mar-a-Lago, what of the peacemaker Biden? Biden took office with no immediate crisis at hand. Yet since taking office, he has committed blunder after blunder, wading into potential conflicts with nuclear-armed powers." (05/23/22)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/bidens-hare-brained-diplomacy/

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40) "Common sense" is vulgar reasoning
Source: Kent's "Hooligan Libertarian" Blog
by Kent McManigal

"So many people seem to imagine some legislation is 'common sense.' It 'makes sense' to them, and they believe it 'makes sense' to most others -- in common -- too. Which raises the question, what is 'sense' in this context? Well, checking the dictionary, it means 'what is reasonable.' So, if it 'makes sense' to them, they imagine it aligns with what is reasonable. In this case, common sense would mean a majority of people (or maybe, just v*ters) imagines something is what is reasonable." (05/23/22)

https://kentmcmanigal.blogspot.com/2022/05/common-sense-is-vulgar-reasoning.html

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41) If Banks Want to Be Seen as Climate-Friendly, They Need to Exit Fossil Fuels
Source: In These Times
by Ariell Swernoff

"Twelve years ago, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill devastated the Gulf Coast. The spill caused serious health issues in cleanup workers and coastal communities, cost billions of dollars in economic losses and fundamentally disrupted the Gulf of Mexico's marine ecology. Deepwater Horizon was an awful chapter in the toxic nightmare that oil, gas and petrochemical operations have long imposed on the region and its residents. Though it has widely been known as 'Cancer Alley,' the stretch of land along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is now often referred to by residents as  'Death Alley.' Instead of attempting to right its horrific legacy, the oil and gas industry is only doubling down. It has plans to build 20 new and expanded export facilities to liquify and ship fracked gas (what the industry calls LNG) in the Gulf Coast." (05/23/22)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/banks-climate-change-fossil-fuels-environment

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42) Russia, NATO and the Future of Neutrality
Source: CounterPunch
by John Feffer

"Neutrality was once an attractive option in Europe. Switzerland made non-alignment look almost sexy, with its ski resorts, excellent chocolates, and secure banking system. Then there was Sweden, which refused to join NATO or subordinate its military policy to Moscow, offering instead to broker peaceful compromises between east and west as well as north and south. Austria, divided into four occupation zones after World War II just like Germany, embraced neutrality as the last foreign troops exited the country in 1955. It has sent peacekeepers around the world and offered Vienna as a neutral place for negotiations, like the ones that produced the Iran nuclear deal. ... Russia's invasion of Ukraine has ended even this attenuated sense of non-alignment." (05/23/22)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/05/23/russia-nato-and-the-future-of-neutrality/

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43) America's Nuclear Reluctance
Source: Reason
by Ronald Bailey

"On February 14, 2022, Oregon's NuScale Power signed an agreement with the Polish mining and processing firm KGHM to deploy NuScale's innovative small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Poland by 2029. At the U.N.'s Glasgow Climate Change Conference in November, NuScale contracted with a Romanian energy company to deploy its SMR technology in that country by 2028. NuScale has signed similar memoranda of understanding with electric power companies in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine. This kind of advanced energy technology will likely be powering homes and businesses in Europe before the first reactor is completed in the United States. That's because the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is in no hurry to help." (for publication 06/22)

https://reason.com/2022/05/23/americas-nuclear-reluctance/

-----

44) Constantly on the Verge of Collapse: How Palestinians Became a Factor in Israeli Politics
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud

"Israel's coalition government of right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is on the verge of collapse, which is unsurprising. Israeli politics, after all, is among the most fractious in the world, and this particular coalition was born out of the obsessive desire to dethrone Israel's former leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. While Netanyahu was successfully ousted in June 2021, Bennett's coalition has been left to contend with the painful reality that its odd political components have very little in common." (05/23/22)

https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2022/05/22/constantly-on-the-verge-of-collapse-how-palestinians-became-a-factor-in-israeli-politics/

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45) Will the "Great Replacement" Smear Work?
Source: Town Hall
by Scott Morefield

"The actions and written motivations of an evil, crazed mass shooter in Buffalo, New York earlier this month has forced the purportedly white nationalist phrase 'Great Replacement Theory' to the forefront of the public consciousness. Ever true to form, the political left [sic] sees this as an opportunity to tarnish the right with the 'white nationalist' label, seizing on aspects of the conspiracy theory that on the surface, if twisted enough, might seem remotely like things they've heard Fox News host Tucker Carlson and other conservative media and politicians say. It's completely dishonest, of course, but when has the left [sic] ever let actual facts get in the way of the opportunity for a good smear?" [editor's note: And when has the "right" ever let actual facts get in the way of yelling "smear?" – TLK] (05/23/22)

https://townhall.com/columnists/scottmorefield/2022/05/23/will-the-great-replacement-smear-work-n2607621

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46) Universities are sleepwalking into censorship
Source: spiked
by Arif Ahmed

"History hardly lacks examples of unintended consequences, but Hanoi 1902 remains especially instructive. Having caused a rat infestation by laying nine miles of sewage pipes, the colonial government of French Indochina reckoned it could fix things by paying locals to catch them: one cent per tail handed in at the local municipal office. The scheme began in April and by June the Vietnamese were producing up to 20,000 tails per day. And yet the rat population seemed only to increase – to the point where bubonic plague returned to the city. Why? Instead of killing rats, hunters simply docked their tails and set them free to breed more rats. There were even reports of rat farms popping up just outside the city. ... Something very similar has happened in the UK's higher-education sector." (05/23/22)

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/05/23/universities-are-sleepwalking-into-censorship/

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47) Progressives Need to Resist the Domestic "War on Terror"
Source: Jacobin
by Branko Marcetic

"The Squad and other progressives voted this week to ramp up the 'war on terror' here at home. Right now, they might find it politically convenient to prop up draconian national security measures -- but at some point, they're going to have to take a stand." (05/22/22)

https://jacobinmag.com/2022/05/domestic-terrorism-prevention-act-biden-house-squad/

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48) Is money getting tighter?
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner

"Probably, but not tight enough. In recent months, I've expressed skepticism about the claim that the Fed has been tightening monetary policy since last fall, via forward guidance. In my view, most of the increase in interest rates over the past year is due to the Fisher (expected inflation) effect, not the liquidity effect of tight money. But in the past few weeks there is some evidence that monetary tightening might be beginning to take hold." (05/22/22)

https://www.econlib.org/is-money-getting-tighter/

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49) The Ukraine War's "Collateral Damage"
Source: TomDispatch
by Michael Klare

"The war in Ukraine has already caused massive death and destruction, with more undoubtedly to come as the fighting intensifies in the country's east and south. Many thousands of soldiers and civilians have already been killed or wounded, some 13 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes, and an estimated one-third of the country's infrastructure has been destroyed. Worse yet, that war's brutal consequences have in no way been limited to Ukraine and Russia: hunger and food insecurity are increasing across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East as grain deliveries from two of the world's leading wheat producers have been severed. People are also suffering globally from another harsh consequence of that war: soaring fuel prices. And yet even those manifestations of the war's 'collateral damage' don't come close to encompassing what could be the greatest casualty of all: planet Earth itself." (05/22/22)

https://tomdispatch.com/the-ukraine-wars-collateral-damage

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50) Germophobes to the Left and Right
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Steve Templeton

"With two years of overreaction to and media obsession with the myriad of ways that COVID-19 can kill or permanently disable people, there's reason to believe a major subset of the population that was faithfully adherent to public health edicts about non-pharmaceutical interventions will remain mentally scarred. Some might not be able to shake themselves out of the nascent germophobia that wasn't just encouraged, but mandated. Good thing that a manual for post-pandemic germophobia is on the way. But it's not just me; others are voicing concern as well. The media did a heckuva job scaring the hell out of people, and someone has got to clean up the mess." (05/22/22)

https://brownstone.org/articles/germophobes-to-the-left-and-right/

_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____

51) Reason Roundtable, 05/23/22
Source: Reason

"Blundering Into Escalation in Ukraine?" [various formats] (05/23/22)

https://reason.com/podcast/2022/05/23/blundering-into-escalation-in-ukraine/

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52) Free Talk Live, 05/23/22
Source: Free Talk Live

"World Economic Forum Evil Fascist Plot :: Revoking Corporate Citizenship? :: It's About Numbers :: Prove Your Theory :: Ian Hostile? :: Madeline Albright :: Free State Project :: Independence Legislation :: Human Nature :: Show: 2022-05-23 Ian, Nobody, Bonnie." [Flash audio or MP3] (05/23/22)

https://freetalklive.com/archives?ppplayer=5c48425a5422918dc6f904bd1cb7e00f&ppepisode=9e2317d1f8f59f5ff04b9e3d21f8dd33

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53) EconTalk, 05/23/22
Source: EconTalk

"Diane Coyle on Cogs, Monsters, and Better Economics." [Flash audio or MP3] (05/23/22)

https://www.econtalk.org/diane-coyle-on-cogs-monsters-and-better-economics/

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54) Rising, 05/23/22
Source: The Hill

"Ryan Grim and Robby Soave discuss the Monkeypox virus and its cases around the world, including new U.S. cases, as well as Bill Gates'[s] predictions for the next pandemic." [Flash video] (05/23/22)

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/3497903-rising-may-23-2022/

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55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/23/22
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report

"The Number One Fallacy That Brought On This Economic Calamity." [Flash video] (05/23/22)

http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/the-number-one-fallacy-that-brought-on-this-economic-calamity

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56) Fakertarians Podcast, episode 48
Source: Fakertarians

"We discuss the upcoming LP convention and our thoughts, predictions, and more." [various formats] (05/22/22)

https://anchor.fm/fakertarians/episodes/Fakertarians-Episode-48-A-Week-Until-Reno-e1isakf

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57) My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, 05/22/22
Source: My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

"Free Speech is Easy, and Hard." [Flash audio] (05/22/22)

https://myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com/2022/05/22/free-speech-is-easy-and-hard/

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58) Hassan El-Tayyab on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show

"Hassan El-Tayyab of the Friends Committee on National Legislation joins Scott on Antiwar Radio to discuss the effort to end the war in Yemen." [various formats] (05/22/22)

https://scotthorton.org/interviews/5-21-22-hassan-el-tayyab-now-is-the-time-to-end-the-war-in-yemen/

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59) The Fifth Column, episode 358
Source: The Fifth Column

"Live at the Comedy Cellar w/ Michael Rapaport and Colin Quinn." [Flash audio] (05/22/22)

https://wethefifth.substack.com/p/358-live-at-the-comedy-cellar-w-michael

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60) Conflicts of Interest, episode 279
Source: Libertarian Institute

"The Evil Republicans guest Patrick MacFarlane." [various formats] (05/22/22)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-279-the-evil-republicans-guest-patrick-macfarlane/

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