Commentary Podcast, 10/25/21
Source: Commentary
“The COVID Story is Coming Out.” [various formats] (10/25/21)
https://www.commentary.org/john-podhoretz/the-covid-story-is-coming-out/
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Settled Science
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Remember the blow-up last summer between Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Dr. Anthony Fauci over gain-of-function research? Paul charged that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had supported such research in China. ‘Senator Paul,’ Fauci fired back, ‘you don’t know what you are talking about, quite frankly.’ … Last week, the NIH sent a letter to Congress admitting that its grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, laundered through the infamous EcoHealth Alliance, resulted in research that even the NIH acknowledges was gain-of-function. Sen. Paul knew what he was talking about; Dr. Fauci did not.” (10/25/21)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2021/10/25/gain-of-function-admitted/
Germany: BMW To Phase Out Fossil-Fuel Burning Engines From Main Plant By 2024
Source: NDTV [India]
“BMW will stop making internal combustion engines at its main plant in Munich by 2024, its head of production said on Friday at a conference marking the start of production of its electric i4 model. The ICE engines currently made in Munich will be produced in BMW’s factories in Austria and the UK in future, production chief Milan Nedeljkovic said, though cars using the engines will still be assembled at the Munich plant. Still, by 2023 at least half the vehicles produced in Munich would be electrified – either battery electric or plug-in hybrid, the company said. BMW has set itself a target for at least 50% of new global car sales to be electric by 2030, and CEO Oliver Zipse said at a conference last week the company would be ready with an all-electric offering if any market banned ICEs by then.” (10/26/21)
Liberty Weekly Podcast, episode 188
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Our Duty to History ft. Keith Knight.” [various formats] (10/25/21)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/libertarianism/our-duty-to-history-ft-keith-knight-ep-188/
Hezbollah Has No Choice but Escalation
Source: Foreign Policy
by Oz Katerji
“After a week of violence and bloodshed on Beirut’s streets failed to disrupt the investigation into Beirut’s port blast, Hezbollah’s bellicose leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had little more than intimidation and absurd exaggerations to offer in his televised speech last Monday evening. But with the militia leader having played nearly all of his cards with no success at stopping an investigation that threatens the heart of Hezbollah’s power, an already badly battered Lebanon is entering a deeply dangerous crisis. Nasrallah, himself, dubbed the violence on Oct. 14 that left seven people dead, including multiple gunmen and a mother of five children who was shot dead in her own home, a ‘dangerous and critical new stage’ for Lebanon. He should know, given his direct responsibility for this escalation.” (10/25/21)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/10/25/hezbollah-escalation-lebanon-beirut-port-blast-amal-movement/
Year-End Fundraiser Update
Big thanks to long-time supporters DJ and SS! Their contributions yesterday, totaling $150, bring our year-end fundraiser total to $972.50!
Our goal is to raise $5,150 by December 31 … and, like the Van Halen song of that same name (not a coincidence!), we’ve got a supporter who will “meet you half the way” in reaching it. That’s right … GL is “matching funds” dollar for dollar, meaning we only have to raise $2,575 from all our other readers (that’s you!) to get where we’re trying to go!
This week’s “mini-goal” is to get “half the way” to “half the way” — that is, to the $1,287.50 mark. That means raising $315 between now and Friday. If you’ve never supported the freedom movement’s daily newspaper, now would be the perfect time to hit this link and do so:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
Thanks to all of you, for all you do, and have a great day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Biden regime rejects former president’s latest claims of “executive privilege”
Source: The Hill
“The White House is rejecting more claims of executive privilege from former President Trump over documents requested by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, directing the National Archives to turn over the Trump-era documents to the committee. In a new letter obtained by The Hill, White House counsel Dana Remus wrote that Biden consulted with the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and determined that the former president’s privilege assertion ‘is not justified.’ ‘President Biden has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified, as to the documents provided to the White House on September 16, 2021, and September 23, 2021,’ Remus wrote in a letter to National Archivist David Ferriero on Monday, indicating Trump has made two more such assertions.” [editor’s note: Even if such a thing as “executive privilege” exists, Trump is no longer chief executive and thus has no standing to invoke it – TLK] (10/25/21)
Epistemic Minor Leagues
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Athletes understand that not everyone can be Babe Ruth. That’s why you have local baseball leagues, or Little League, or the Minor Leagues, so that everybody can satisfy their sports competition drive whether they’re a superstar or not. But what’s the intellectual equivalent of the minor leagues? The place where, even if you’re not a superstar, you can have the experience of generating new insights which get appreciated by a community of like-minded knowledge-seekers? You can create a minor league in sports by matching the less-than-stellar players against each other. You can’t do that with intellectual curiosity; there’s no way to match dull people against each other to see who discovers gravity first. The closest you can come is to pull a QAnon — secede from reality, and then you’ll only be competing with other secedees.” (10/25/21)
https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/epistemic-minor-leagues
Reason Roundtable, 10/25/21
Source: Reason
“Freedom, Responsibility, and Coronavirus Policy.” [various formats] (10/25/21)
https://reason.com/podcast/2021/10/25/freedom-responsibility-and-coronavirus-policy/
Turkey: Erdogan Lifts Threat to Expel Western Ambassadors
Source: US News & World Report
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Monday stepped back from a threat to expel the ambassadors of 10 Western nations over their support for a jailed activist, defusing a potential diplomatic crisis. ‘We believe that these ambassadors, who have fulfilled their commitment to Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, will now be more careful in their statements,’ he said in televised remarks following a three-hour Cabinet meeting in Ankara. The envoys, including those of the U.S., Germany and France, last week called for the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala, who has been in a Turkish prison for four years awaiting trial on charges many view as unfounded. The ambassadors of the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and New Zealand also joined the appeal.” (10/25/21)