“The lawyer for a prominent Palestinian doctor who was [abducted] by Israeli forces 18 months ago said his client has been abused in captivity and is in critical condition, according to the human rights group representing him. Hussam Abu Safiya who served as director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, became the face of health workers struggling to treat patients throughout the Israel-Hamas war. He led the facility through an 85-day siege by the Israeli military, releasing videos in which he pleaded for help before he was [abducted] in December 2024. He has not been charged.” (07/05/26)
“Two distinctly American traits that powered the Revolution: We don’t like being told what to do by our supposed betters, and we really don’t like being told to shut up.” (07/03/26)
“Monaco authorities have issued an Interpol Red Notice for a Ukrainian woman believed to have carried out a parcel bombing earlier this week that seriously wounded a Ukrainian-born oligarch and two others, including a 13-year-old. An Interpol Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a suspect. It is not an international arrest warrant. The alert lists three charges: ‘attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent’ and ‘criminal conspiracy.’ The Red Notice identifies the suspect as a 39-year-old woman, Anastasiia Berezovska, a Ukrainian national.” (07/03/26)
“If for no other reason, the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence deserves adoration for its invocation of each individual’s rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ The significance of that phrase, which overshadows everything else in Thomas Jefferson’s composition (it clarifies the meaning of ‘all men are created equal’), cannot be exaggerated. Unfortunately, those words are so familiar—which should have been a good thing—that they long ago blended with the landscape. By and large, people have stopped noticing it and lack appreciation for it. Unlike in the 1700s, it has become a cliché.” (07/03/26)
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.
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
“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)
“[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)
