Hey, everyone …
Sometimes living in Florida feels like each hurricane is a roll of the dice … and with Milton, my household threw a seven on the come-out: Zero damage, no substantial power outage (I’m told the lights flickered briefly in the night while I slept), etc. That meant we were able to publish as usual. Sorry for the prior alarmism, and I’m glad it worked out that way. Please keep Floridians living further south in your thoughts. The damage and danger has been substantial.
Yesterday was a “zero-dollar day” in our year-end fundraiser. Our total remains (as of 6am Eastern on Friday, October 11) at $344.50 versus our goal of $5,351, meaning we’re $2,331 short and only about 13% of the way to the finish line.
If the math looks strange there, remember: Supporter GL has pledged “matching funds” for half the goal, meaning we only have to raise $2,675.50 from our other readers.
It’s not a huge ask, folks. We don’t eat much, but we gotta eat. If you find the freedom movement’s daily newspaper valuable, show your valuation with a donation at:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
It’s one of those “the beatings will continue until morale improves” things: The sooner we hit the finish line, the sooner I get to stop running my mouth at you about money — entirely for the rest of the year, almost entirely until next October. That’s what we all want, right? Make it happen at:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous weekend!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: euronews [EU]
“Two UN Blue Helmets were injured after Israeli Forces fired at an observation tower at the UNIFIL mission’s Naqoura base. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has demanded accountability after Israel Defence Forces struck a watch tower at the local UN peacekeeping mission’s headquarters, injuring two peacekeepers. He said that there is no justification for the attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL. … The strike on UNIFIL’s headquarters comes amid a rapid escalation of conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.” (10/11/24)
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/10/11/eu-condemns-attack-on-un-peacekeeping-headquarters-in-lebanon
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken
“Throughout its history, liberalism — the ideology today called ‘classical liberalism’ or ‘libertarianism’ — has suffered from the impression that it is primarily against things. This is not entirely wrong. Historically, liberalism coalesced as a recognizable ideology in opposition largely to mercantilism and absolutism throughout western Europe. Over time, this opposition extended to socialism, protectionism, imperialism, aggressive warfare, and slavery as well. In this regard, liberals have for centuries fought against a wide array of moral and economic evils that spread poverty, injustice, and misery. Being ‘against’ things, however, has never been sufficient in itself, and liberals have never contented themselves with being so.” (10/10/24)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-its-not-enough-hate-state
Source: The Political Orphanage
“How Tribalism Ruined Politics (NEW HEATON BOOK!).” (10/10/24)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/how-tribalism-ruined-politics-new-heaton-book
Source: WESH 2 News
“Milton slammed into Florida’s west coast on Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Milton officially moved off Florida’s coast on Thursday and was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the National Hurricane Center. … According to the latest reports from the Associated Press, at least eight people were killed during Hurricane Milton. Officials confirmed that four people died during a destructive tornado outbreak in South Florida on Wednesday afternoon. … Near landfall, winds topping 100 mph destroyed buildings and even caused a crane to collapse in St. Petersburg. … Many counties in Central Florida and beyond are without power after intense winds disrupted lines.” (10/10/24)
https://www.wesh.com/article/hurricane-milton-destruction-florida-what-to-know/62573255
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“As a free speech fundamentalist, I’m not seeing much of value on offer from either Democrats or Republicans in this year’s presidential election. While I’m not especially surprised, I am somewhat unsettled by just how open both campaigns are about their desire to suppress speech that reflects negatively on either their ideas or on their candidates as people, sometimes while cosplaying as ‘free speech’ supporters. I’m not unsettled because I want to shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater (unless there IS a fire), or use racial slurs, or convince you that bad actors with space lasers are controlling the weather, or whatever. Nor is it that I want to hear other people doing those particular things, although I do — because it tells me who those people are and that I shouldn’t trust them with anything, especially political power. It’s because I’ve read George Orwell’s most popular work, 1984.” (10/10/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/19068
Source: US News & World Report
“Parliament approved Ukraine’s first major wartime tax increases on Thursday to shore up its finances as war with Russia drags on with no end in sight. Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker from the Holos party, said 247 of 450 deputies in the Verhovna Rada had approved the increase. Ukraine spends the bulk of its revenue on funding its army, and the current level of taxation has been insufficient to cover rising defence spending, which has boomed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the finance ministry said.” (10/10/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-10-10/ukraines-parliament-approves-first-wartime-tax-hikes
Source: CounterPunch
by Jon Grinspan
“There’s one question I get every time I give a talk. I’m a curator of political history at the Smithsonian Institution, and when I discuss the deep history of political division in our country, someone in the audience always asserts that we can’t possibly compare past divisions to the present, because our media landscape is doing unprecedented harm, unlike anything seen in the past. I’m always struck by people’s belief in a placid media landscape in the past, a time of calm before the internet blew everything up. In fact, the most divided period in the history of U.S. democracy – the mid-1800s – coincided with a sudden boom in new communications technologies, confrontational political influencers, widespread disinformation and nasty fights over free speech. This media landscape helped bring the Civil War.” (10/10/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/10/10/how-a-newspaper-revolution-sparked-protesters-and-influencers-disinformation-and-the-civil-war/
Source: Reuters
“Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has erased Republican rival Donald Trump’s advantage in the vast middle of American society: suburban residents and middle-income households, an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. Since President Joe Biden ended his flagging reelection bid on July 21, Vice President Harris has pulled into the lead in both of these large demographic groups, reinvigorating Democrats’ prospects in the Nov. 5 election, though the race remains exceptionally close. Suburbanites, who make up about half of the U.S. electorate and are as racially diverse as the nation at large, are a key prize.” (10/10/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harris-overtakes-trump-among-suburban-voters-reutersipsos-polling-shows-2024-10-10/
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Corbin Fraser
“A college degree has long been seen as the key to a stable career. But the landscape is changing fast, driven by ed-tech, AI, and a rapidly evolving workplace. Many previously unheard of career paths will be available to your children. Just like early adopters of the internet founded and built web2 giants like Google, Microsoft, Paypal, and Amazon, those who understand cryptocurrency and blockchain will enjoy a blue ocean of opportunity as the next evolution of the internet is built. Here’s why learning crypto and blockchain skills will be more valuable for your kids than a traditional degree.” (10/10/24)
https://news.bitcoin.com/why-your-kids-need-crypto-more-than-college/