Activism, Uncensored, 09/16/25
Source: Racket News
“Charlie Kirk: Reactions from supporters and counter-protesters in four cities.” (09/16/25)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
The Attorney General’s Attack on Free Speech
Source: The Atlantic
by Conor Friedersdorf
“Attorney General Pam Bondi, America’s highest-ranking law-enforcement official, declared in an interview posted to YouTube yesterday that federal law enforcement will ‘go after’ Americans for hate speech. ‘There’s free speech, and then there’s hate speech,’ she said. In fact, there is no hate-speech exception to the First Amendment. In a post on X this morning, Bondi tried to qualify her comments. But the fact that the attorney general of the United States publicly misrepresented long-standing American speech law is ominous, especially in the context of threats made by other Trump-administration officials, their allies, and President Donald Trump himself to target ‘left-wing’ organizations that the administration says promote violence. … figures as varied as the anti-Trump independent Justin Amash and the MAGA-aligned culture warrior Matt Walsh are calling for Bondi to resign or be fired.” (09/16/25)
South Korea: Unification Church leader questioned about alleged bribery of former first lady
Source: ABC News
“The leader of the Unification Church was questioned by investigators on Wednesday over allegations that the church bribed the wife of South Korea’s jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker close to him in an effort to secure business favors. Hak Ja Han, the widow of church founder Sun Myung Moon, appeared before a special prosecutor just hours after a Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for the lawmaker, People Power Party’s Kweon Seong-dong, citing concerns he might destroy evidence. Han and her church have denied accusations that the church was directly involved in the alleged bribery of Yoon’s now-arrested wife, Kim Keon Hee, who is suspected of receiving luxury gifts from a jailed former church official, saying the official had overstepped his authority and acted on his own.” (09/16/25)
Trump Watch, 09/16/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Real Roots of the Charlie Kirk Murder.” (09/16/25)
Other Presidents Tried to Heal America After Political Violence — Trump Is Dividing It
Source: The UnPopulist
by Berny Belvedere
“The contrast between their and his behavior is a measure of America’s moral descent.” (09/16/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/other-presidents-tried-to-heal-america
Palestine: Israeli forces commence “Final Solution” phase of Gaza City ethnic cleansing operation
Source: Yahoo! News
“Israeli forces pressed on with a new ground offensive in Gaza City Wednesday as strikes overnight across the Palestinian territory killed at least 16 people, including women and children, hospital officials said. Hundreds of thousands remained in the city, the territory’s largest and already in ruins from nearly two years of war and struggling with a famine. The latest Israeli operation, which started Tuesday, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach.” (09/17/25)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/latest-israel-military-presses-ground-070556318.html
A Replacement for the Nation-State?
Source: Reason
by Scott Beyer
“The authors [of Farewell to Westphalia] premise the book around the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, a set of treaties that ended Europe’s 30 Years’ War and established state sovereignty as the principle for international relations. They argue that while this new order was effective at toppling monarchies, religious despots, and other so-called medieval institutions, the new nation-states haven’t been perfect either. At worst, they further inflamed tribal tensions by drawing arbitrary lines around them. At best, they produced mediocre governance. … Nation-states are also, they argue, already getting disrupted by alternative forms of governance, some preferable to others. These include large corporations, nongovernmental organizations, cartels, special economic zones (SEZs), and homeowners’ associations. It is within this disruption that new, anarchic Web3 technologies enter.” (09/16/25)
https://reason.com/2025/09/16/a-replacement-for-the-nation-state/
Reason Interview: Jacob Sullum
Source: Reason
“Why Banning Drugs and Guns Never Works.” (09/16/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/09/16/why-banning-drugs-and-guns-never-works/
UT: Robinson charged with Kirk murder, could face death penalty
Source: USA Today
“Utah officials on Tuesday formally charged the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk with capital murder and other crimes ahead of his first court appearance. Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and the commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said at a news conference.” (09/16/25)
Hoplophobes Say The Strangest Things
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“On September 10, Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal looked at the state’s law against ‘open carry’ of firearms, looked at the US Constitution’s 2nd Amendment, and noticed that the latter supersedes the former. Five days later, Florida Attorney General James Uthmier issued ‘guidance to Florida’s prosecutors and law enforcement,’ notifying them that ‘as of last week, open carry is the law of the state.’ … Such a straightforwardly correct court ruling, and its relatively quick acceptance by a power-hungry politician whom one might expect to reflexively contest it, may seem strange even by Florida standards (interestingly, the now-common ‘Florida Man’ phenomenon emerged a few months after I moved to the state … make of that what you will). Even stranger, though, is the reaction I’m seeing from some hoplophobes — people who suffer from an irrational fear of guns — in Florida (and elsewhere, but let’s stick to Florida).” (09/16/25)