Year-End Fundraiser Update: Nearly There!

THANK YOU to DZ, DFD, SLH, DG, CH, and SH! Their “subscribing donor” payments and one-time contributions yesterday, totaling $158, bring our year-end fundraiser total (as of 5:30am on Wednesday, December 4) to $2,252.50!

That leaves us only $423 short of our $5,531 goal (with supporter GL “matching funds” for half the goal, we only have to raise $2,675.50 from our other readers).

Can we finish the fundraiser this week? YES — if those of you who haven’t supported the freedom movement’s daily newspaper lately (maybe ever) weigh in at:

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

Your contribution need not be large. If If 170 readers donate $2.50 each, or 85 readers donate $5 each, we’ll be done. But ten readers donating $43 each works just as well … as does any other combination. We love you, and we love your support in any amount. Hit us at:

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

Have a great day!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily

Musk Has Defended His Right-Wing Bro in Brazil, Not Free Speech

Source: The UnPopulist
by Hugo Bueno

“Elon Musk, the U.S. tech magnate and world’s richest man, regularly presents himself as one of society’s greatest champions of free speech. When he bought Twitter two years ago, he promised to reconfigure the social media behemoth so that it reflects his ‘free speech absolutism.’ But the billionaire businessman … has a selective commitment to ‘free speech,’ invoking it only when it advances his anti-left crusade and abandoning it when it doesn’t. On X, his rebrand of Twitter, he has suppressed benign terms used by political outgroups, banned accounts critical of him or his companies, and petitioned the state to take punitive action against organizations for their constitutionally-protected speech. But Musk’s cynicism about free speech is evident even in the event he’s gotten the most credit for: his protracted international standoff with Brazilian authorities, particularly Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.” (12/04/24)

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/musk-has-defended-his-right-wing

Trump’s Billionaires Cometh

Source: Inequality.org
by Sarah Anderson

“President-elect Donald Trump has selected an unprecedented total of seven reported billionaires for senior positions in his administration. Including himself, that makes eight. This figure could continue to grow as Trump fully staffs up. After all, he has nearly 800 additional U.S. billionaires to choose from. Here’s a quick rundown of the ‘original seven’ members of the nine-figure club on Trump’s employee wish list …” [editor’s note: So by picking people who will neither collect a salary nor need money, he is corrupting the process? – SAT] [additional editor’s note: How many of them are corporate welfare queens who will likely steer yet more government money to their enterprises? – TLK] (12/04/24)

https://inequality.org/great-divide/billionaires-trump-has-tapped-for-top-jobs/

Iran: Nobel Prize Winner Mohammadi Released From Jail for Medical Treatment

Source: US News & World Report

“Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi was released from Evin prison after the suspension of her jail term to undergo medical treatment, her husband Taqi Rahmani told Reuters on Wednesday. Mohammadi is serving multiple sentences in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on charges including spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. … Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2023, following her three-decade campaign for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty in Iran.” (12/04/24)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-12-04/iranian-nobel-prize-winner-mohammadi-released-from-jail-for-medical-treatment

Disaffirmative Action

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Since December 2023, Oklahoma state law has prohibited universities from requiring anybody ‘to participate in … or receive any education … to the extent such education … grants preference based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin over another’s.’ Nevertheless, Oklahoma University requires undergrads pursuing a degree in education to take a course preaching alleged white-person complicity in institutional racism. We do find organizational racism in today’s world. But not quite in the way preached. It’s not hidden beneath surfaces and doesn’t have to be arbitrarily imputed. The course itself, full of topics like ‘Critical Whiteness in Education’ and ‘Microaggressions in Educational Spaces,’ manifests such racism.” (12/04/24)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/12/04/disaffirmative-action/

CA: Church cleared in ballot collection investigation

Source: SFGate

“A Northern California church at the center of a ballot collection controversy was cleared of wrongdoing after an investigation sparked by SFGATE’s reporting. The Tehama County District Attorney’s Office determined that Calvary Chapel Red Bluff, which encouraged congregants to drop off their completed ballots at Sunday services, complied with California election law. The case ignited sharp debate over the intersection of religion and politics in California’s election system. Critics saw a partisan agenda at play, while supporters called it a bold effort by faith-based groups to reclaim their voice in public affairs — much to the dismay of what church officials called ‘the woke world.'” (12/03/24)

https://www.sfgate.com/northcoast/article/northern-california-church-ballot-collection-19952476.php

Neocons Try Again in Syria

Source: Antiwar.com
by Ray McGovern

“A day after Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last week the long dormant war in Syria reignited as jihadist forces seized the city of Aleppo and advanced virtually unhindered in its quest to overthrow the Syrian government until finally meeting resistance from the Syrian Army backed up by Russia. This is the last chance for neocons in the United States to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before Donald Trump, who tried [sic] to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, resumes the presidency in 49 days.” [editor’s note: Trump didn’t “try” to withdraw troops from Syria. He massively escalated from Obama’s involvement, then SAID he was going to withdraw, then didn’t. In each case, the decision was entirely his – TLK] (12/04/24)

https://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2024/12/03/neocons-try-again-in-syria/

GA: Judge orders Fani Willis to turn over records over Judicial Watch suit

Source: United Press International

“A Georgia judge ordered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to turn over records from special counsel Jack Smith and the House Select Committee of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots to a conservative legal watchdog group. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney gave Willis five days to produce the records related to a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch in March. The group said Willis'[s] office declined to respond to requests for records they charged, which were covered under the state’s open records act. McBurney argued that Willis failed to make a ‘meritorious defense’ of the case, instead relying on the claim that she had not been properly served. Thus, Judicial Watch was granted the ruling by default.” (12/04/24)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/12/04/Fani-Willis-Judicial-Watch-records-Trump/4231733313361/

Reagan Resurgent?

Source: Law & Liberty
by Anthony Eames

“For a president dubbed the ‘Great Communicator,’ it is remarkable how little consensus exists concerning Ronald Reagan’s record. Two new entries into the Reagan imaginary, Max Boot’s weighty biography of the 40th president and the new Ronald Reagan biopic starring Dennis Quaid, have reminded readers and filmgoers of the enduring Reagan enigma that continues to occupy a place of debate in conservative politics and American culture. They each present a vastly different interpretation of Reagan: Boot styles the Gipper as a pragmatic governor and president, who rhetorically promoted extreme political views …. Quaid’s cinematic portrayal shows Reagan as a hero in a fallen world, deeply committed to values rooted in his midwestern upbringing that would ultimately win the Cold War for the United States and restore American morale and economic vitality.” (12/04/24)

https://lawliberty.org/reagan-resurgent/