As I’ve mentioned several times in recent weeks, I’ll be traveling this weekend (starting about the time you read this, and that’s if you read it EARLY). I expect that the Friday, Monday, and Tuesday editions of the freedom movement’s daily newspaper will be “web-only,” and probably not as large as usual. That may extend to Wednesday, depending on when I arrive home and start getting work done. There may not even be email reminders, but I’ll see what I can do.
I’m going to PorcFest / ForkFest in New Hampshire! If you’re going too, I hope we run into each other!
And, of course, the usual: We’re a reader-supported publication and appreciate any and all value returned for the value we provide. For more info, see:
“John McAfee, the controversial antivirus software magnate who’d had multiple recent run-ins with the US law, has died at 75. McAfee was awaiting extradition in a [Catalan] prison after being charged with tax evasion in the United States last year. McAfee was found dead in his cell in a prison near Barcelona on Wednesday around 1 p.m. ET and a medical examiner is on the scene, a spokeswoman for the Superior Court of Catalonia told CNN. She said the cause of death is under investigation. A statement from the Catalonia regional government Justice Department, which manages prisons there, said that prison medical personnel and guards attempted to perform life-saving procedures after finding McAfee, but were unsuccessful. The statement said ‘everything indicates’ that McAfee could have died by suicide.” [editor’s note: No informed opinion yet on what happened, but I hope he went out on his terms rather than theirs – TLK] (06/23/21)
“During the last two years, I’ve personally met quite a few people who loathe the woke movement. They complain about it incessantly and see its wicked influence everywhere. If the woke are for it, they’re reflexively against it. If the woke movement did not exist, all of these people would obviously be doing something else. They’d probably still be obsessive and negative, but they wouldn’t be daydreaming about wiping woke ideology off the surface of the Earth. Should we therefore say that such people constitute a ‘backlash’ to wokism? Should we conclude that the woke movement is sowing the seeds of its own demise? Would the woke movement have been more successful if it had pursued the path of moderation? My answer: No on all counts.” (06/23/21)
“Porcfest/Forkfest Broadcast Day 2 :: The mobile house :: David Friedman discusses his book :: Kratom and protectionism :: Patrick Newman of the Mises Institute :: Inflation & the money supply :: Mises, Rothbard, and the FSP :: Peter St. Onge :: Spencer Flagg & Sea Steading :: Sky Simons, Ecological Systems :: The FBI threatened to shoot Aria :: The Crypto Six :: Hosts — Aria, Mark.” [Flash audio or MP3] (06/23/21)
“Britain was unexpectedly embroiled in a diplomatic and military dispute with Russia on Wednesday after Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender briefly sailed through territorial waters off the coast of the disputed territory of Crimea. The warship sailed for about an hour in the morning within the 12-mile limit off Cape Fiolent on a direct route between the Ukrainian port of Odesa and Georgia …. Russia’s defence ministry initially claimed warning shots had been fired at HMS Defender and that one of its war planes had dropped four bombs nearby to force the destroyer to leave the area. Britain’s Ministry of Defence denied both incidents took place, saying in a statement ‘no warning shots had been fired,’ but a BBC journalist who was on the board the destroyer said the Russian military had ‘harassed’ the ship.” (06/23/21)
“A recent GoBankingRates survey found that over 50% of Americans want student-loan forgiveness for everyone with any student-loan debt. … To many libertarians, the fact that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) owns more than 92% of all student debt makes loan forgiveness a no-brainer. They argue that as long as the federal government owns the loans, we shouldn’t dismiss complete forgiveness. But as pointed out by the same writers, giving the government the ability to erase such loans without first repealing its ability to subsidize higher ed won’t attack the root of the problem.” (06/23/21)
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with a Pennsylvania cheerleader punished for a vulgar message shared on Snapchat, with the justices ruling the school violated the student’s First Amendment rights when it disciplined her for the off-campus rant. The high court rule 8-1 in favor of the cheerleader, Brandi Levy, with Justice Stephen Breyer writing the majority opinion. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.” (06/23/21)
“I get it. Reading legislation is incredibly boring. But if you’re going to report on it, carefully reading it first seems like part of the job.” (06/23/21)
“Next Digital Ltd. plans to stop publishing Apple Daily later this week if authorities don’t allow access to its bank accounts, and will make a final decision on Friday, the pro-democracy newspaper reported on Monday. In an internal memo at the flagship newspaper of media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a senior editor said online news would stop at 11:59 p.m. on Friday night and the final print edition would be distributed on Saturday if the funds remain frozen. … Hong Kong [Beijing quisling] officials are blocking the newspaper’s bank accounts, and it may need to close its print and digital operations unless authorities allow access to the funds, Mark Simon, a top adviser to Lai, said earlier on Monday. Companies that regularly do business with the newspaper tried to deposit money in its accounts on Friday but were prevented from doing so, he said.” (06/23/21)
“I’m suffering the sudden onset of optimism. Don’t worry, the condition probably won’t be fatal or chronic. I’ll be back to my normal, healthy, pessimistic self in a week or two. But meanwhile I can’t get rid of this feeling that everything may turn out okay out there in the world. Well, not everything. But outcomes of the current madness may be better than we expect. I feel this way precisely because everything’s falling apart. And all kinds of people are recognizing that everything’s falling apart or has already fallen and can’t be raised back up. That’s the part that suddenly cripples me with optimism. Even people who exist in the thick of our cultural and political insanity are beginning to recognize and respond to reality.” (06/23/21)
