Hey, everyone …
Friday kicks off Independence Day weekend in the US, but we’re not taking the day off! We’ve got more than 100 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links lined up for you in “FIREHOSE FRIDAY” format here at the web edition.
I’m not sure the name “Independence Day” really reflects the American situation anymore, or that it has since at least as far back as FDR’s New Deal. The state revels in its hope of ruling a population of perpetually dependent serfs, not in securing our real independence as exercised in our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I like to think that Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily is pretty independent, though.
As the freedom movement’s oldest and longest running daily news and commentary roundup, we do our best to keep you informed and energized without support from government or “the corporate establishment.” We’re funded solely by the willingness of our readers to reward us for our work.
Which you can (and I hope will) do at:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
If you’d like to use that support to celebrate “Independence Day,” might I suggest a contribution of $2.50, $7.04, or $17.76 (please feel free to move the decimal points) to mark “250 years of America,” 07/04, aka July 4, or the year of the Declaration of Independence? Just a suggestion, of course — any amount you think reflects the value you get out of RRND/FND is welcome.
Have a great weekend and we’ll be back on Monday!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: Reuters
“Iran’s ruling clerics are preparing days of mass funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic and proof that its revolutionary fervour still burns strong. Iran’s supreme leader was killed by U.S. and Israeli strikes in their first attack of the war and the funeral events will begin over the weekend in Tehran, with mass processions planned next week in Qom and Mashhad and ceremonies in Iraq. ‘The large public turnout at the funeral procession of the martyred leader and the other martyrs will, in effect, be another referendum for the Islamic Republic,’ Qom Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Saidi declared to state media. If they do see it as a referendum, authorities are not leaving the result to chance. They hope to mobilise millions of supporters to flood Iran’s cities, laying on transport, accommodation and food, to proclaim the might of their theocratic state after it survived what they saw as an existential war.” (07/03/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-prepares-bury-slain-supreme-leader-with-week-mass-mourning-2026-07-02/
Source: Reason
by Katherine Mangu-Ward
“[Bernie Sanders] proposed a one-time 50 percent tax on the largest AI companies, to be paid in shares held by a government-run sovereign wealth fund. The federal government would get voting shares, board representation, and the power to ‘block decisions’ it decides are bad for citizens. This is the worst idea Bernie Sanders has ever had, in a long and illustrious career of terrible ideas. … President Donald Trump’s economic nationalism has made federal ownership, veto rights, and backdoor nationalization feel terribly normal. His administration converted federal grants into a roughly 10 percent stake in Intel, using already-promised CHIPS Act and Secure Enclave money to make Washington one of the company’s largest shareholders. … The right calls it national security. The left calls it democracy. The results are the same: Washington wants shares, seats, vetoes, and a cut of the upside.” (for publication 08/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/02/no-one-can-control-the-future/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Two Revolutions in 1776.” (07/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsoYtnmwokc
Source: New York Times
“A former Olympic canoeist who had been arrested in June on charges that he had vandalized the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been indicted, according to court documents. He is charged with ‘destruction of property $1,000 or more,’ a felony. President Trump blamed vandals for the problems following a quick and costly makeover of the pool, and the canoeist, David Carter Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md., was among the first to be charged. The U.S. Park Police had arrested Mr. Hearn near the pool on June 19, and accused him of destroying government property. … Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said in a news briefing that prosecutors had ‘tremendous evidence’ underpinning the indictment, and she condemned what she called ‘unchecked vandalism and civil disorder.’” (07/02/26)
https://archive.is/r9mEd
Source: The UnPopulist
by Paul Gowder
“The chief justice, writing for the court, achieved a competent version of standard originalism. Heavily relying on historical sources and historically informed amicus briefs, the chief points out—correctly—that the English common law rule that shaped the background of U.S. citizenship law treated all kinds of temporary visitors and even persons subject to expulsion as nonetheless capable of producing British children if those children were born within the territory. (Anthony Michael Kreis has recently written a comprehensive account of the development of this principle that is worth your time.) Roberts also correctly points out that the most natural reading of the word ‘jurisdiction,’ being subject to the laws of the United States, is that the framers of the Amendment meant what they said.” (07/02/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/there-is-no-originalist-rationale
Source: AOL
“At least two people were killed in Russia’s border regions and several industrial sites suffered damage during Ukrainian drone attacks overnight, local authorities and media said on Friday. … Ukrainian officials said on Telegram that four people were killed and a further 10 people were injured in Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine.” (07/03/26)
https://www.aol.com/articles/least-two-dead-russian-border-062918000.html
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“While Elon Musk is being criticized for his role in slashing the budget of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), our foreign aid programs have been killing people for more than 50 years. American food aid has sabotaged foreign farmers since the 1960s, causing waves of bankruptcies and subverting foreign nations’ ability to feed themselves. I have been hammering this program since 1984.” (07/02/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/07/02/our-foreign-aid-programs-have-killed-people-for-50-years/
Source: The Telegraph [UK]
“German workers will have to report to a doctor in person to get a sick note on the first day they are ill, under strict proposals from Friedrich Merz. The tough new rules, aimed at boosting productivity in Germany’s stagnant economy, replace a system where employees could get a note by phoning a doctor and did not need to do so until their third day off work. … The move will be welcomed by employers, but has angered Germany’s powerful trade unions. Frank Werneke, the head of the services sector union Verdi, accused Mr Merz of creating ‘a culture of distrust of employees.’ Doctors also opposed the change, warning it would swamp Germany’s GPs with unnecessary appointments.” [editor’s note: The claim that any of that is any of the government’s business is both idiotic and horrifying – TLK] (07/02/26)
https://archive.is/pbb7x
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle
“Since 1776, at least 120 peoples have declared independence, echoing Jefferson’s universal claim about natural rights, self-government, and political legitimacy.” (07/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-american-revolution-redefined-freedom-itself/
