… special edition, that is. It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in the United States. That generally means slow news days and not a whole lot of opinion publishing, but we’ve put together a short edition (five news stories, five opinion pieces, three audio/video links) to tide you over until Monday. Enjoy!
As always, we’re thankful for our readers and for their financial support during our annual fundraiser. Today, we’re ESPECIALLY thankful for DJ and GKL, whose $110 in contributions yesterday bring that fundraiser total to $2,103!
We’re now past the 80% point on the way to our goal — only $472 away from reaching the $2,575 mid-point (after which supporter GL will generously “match funds” to get us to $5,150 and the finish line).
Please help us wrap up this fundraiser by Monday! Finishing up means I can stop talking about money entirely for the rest of the year (and mostly until next October). Everybody wins! You can make that happen at:
“Hours after being tapped as Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson resigned Wednesday after suffering a budget defeat in parliament and her coalition partner, the Greens, left the two-party minority government. The government’s own budget proposal was rejected in favor of one presented by the opposition that includes the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. The Sweden Democrats, the country’s third-largest party, has roots in a national neo-Nazi movement, but has since disavowed fascism. The vote was 154-143 in favor of the opposition’s budget proposal. Andersson, leader of the Social Democratic party, decided it was best to step down from the post more than seven hours after she made history by becoming the first woman to lead the country. ‘For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,’ Andersson told a news conference.” (11/25/21)
“Bitcoin (BTC) shed almost $5,000 in a single day on Nov. 26 as bulls faced fresh disappointment. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it headed toward $54,000 at the time of writing amid intense volatility. Holders saw major selling pressure after coming within inches of $60,000 late Thursday, the latest attempt to beat resistance nonetheless ending in retreat.” (11/26/21)
“Security services in Kyrgyzstan say they have detained 15 ‘active members’ of a coup plot involving lawmakers and former officials ahead of a parliamentary vote at the weekend. The detained were part of a plan to get ‘1,000 aggressive young people’ to protest against the results of the vote, the state committee for national security said in a statement on Friday. ‘After the announcement of the results of the upcoming parliamentary elections … this group planned to organise mass protests in [the capital] Bishkek and subsequently to aggravate the situation, provoking clashes with the forces of law and order and further violent seizure of power,’ the statement said.” (11/26/21)
“A Russian cargo ship departed the International Space Station early Thursday (Nov. 25) to make room for a new docking port that’s already on its way to the orbiting laboratory. The automated Progress 78 cargo ship, also known as Progress MS-17, undocked from Russia’s Nauka science module on the station at 6:22 a.m. EST (1122 GMT) and is doomed to a fiery disposal in Earth’s atmosphere. Its departure clears the way for the arrival of Prichal, a new Russian docking port module, that launched to the International Space Station on Wednesday (Nov. 24).” (11/25/21)
“A small group of protesters broke into a ministry building in Beirut early Friday and removed a photo of the president from one of its main rooms, as the Lebanese pound hit new lows amid a worsening economic and political stalemate. The nearly dozen protesters who entered the Ministry of Social Affairs said conditions in the crisis-hit country have become unbearable as a result of the rapid economic collapse and ongoing crash of the pound, which reached 25,100 to the U.S. dollar. The previous record was 25,000. Prices have been skyrocketing in recent weeks as the government lifted subsidies on fuel and some medicines, making them out of reach of many in Lebanon. Some three quarters of the population of six million, including a million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty. The minimum monthly wage is now worth about $27.” (11/26/21)
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US — a holiday dedicated to reflecting on the things we’re grateful for. Among those things at MY Thanksgiving table and at Steve’s: YOU.
One month from yesterday will be Rational Review News Digest’s 19th birthday (our history stretches back to 1991 as Freedom News Daily and, before that, Libernet, but December 23, 2002 is the day we struck out on our own in the wake of the previous publisher’s bankruptcy). We estimate our reach, across our web, email, and social media editions, at about 5,000 readers per day, and we love the fact that we’re able to continue bringing all of you the Internet’s oldest daily email (and, later, other formats) news and commentary update for libertarians.
THANK you for reading.
And THANK YOU for the financial support that lets us keep bringing you the freedom movement’s daily newspaper.
Yesterday was our second “zero dollar day” in a row.
We’re only $582 away from wrapping up our annual fundraiser. We’re at $1,993. Once we reach $2,575, “matching funds” donor GL will kick in another $2,575 and get us to our goal of $5,150.
Our revenue model is, in a way, “Thanksgiving-based.” We provide the product at no up-front cost, and ask the readers who value it (that is, who are thankful to have it) to return some of that value in the form of financial support.
If you value Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily, PLEASE help us wrap this fundraiser up THIS WEEKEND. After which, you’ll hear not another word from me about money for the rest of the year (and very few such words until next October 1). “Our operators are standing by,” so to speak, at:
We take holidays off, so no edition tomorrow. There will probably be at least one “shorty” edition over the weekend, on Friday and/or Saturday. I have high hopes that one of those “shorty” editions, or Monday’s edition, will announce the successful END of this fundraiser. But that depends on you. The link again:
“The U.S. government asked a federal appeals court to immediately lift a court-ordered stay on a sweeping workplace COVID-19 vaccine rule to avoid ‘enormous’ harm to public health, or alternatively to allow a masking-and-testing requirement, according to a court filing. Delaying the rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that requires employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly would lead to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, the government said in a Tuesday filing with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. … The OSHA rule requires businesses with at least 100 employees, covering tens of millions of American workers, to comply by Jan. 4. Although 82% of U.S. adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose, requiring shots against COVID-19 has become a divisive political issue over trade-offs between civil liberty and public health.” (11/23/21)
“The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill is one of 26 new pieces of legislation for India’s lower house of parliament to consider when it convenes next Monday. The Indian government will be considering a bill that would create a digital rupee starting as early as next week, but may also ban certain cryptocurrencies in the country. … In March 2020, India’s supreme court overturned a blanket ban on crypto imposed by the central bank two years ago.” (11/23/21)
“President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from America’s strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations, including China, India and the United Kingdom. The move is aimed at global energy markets, but also at U.S. voters who are coping with higher inflation and rising prices ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel. … Administration officials said that reports of a possible release and consultations with other countries ahead of the announcement had caused oil prices to drop nearly 10% in anticipation of the news. The government will begin to move barrels into the market in mid to late December. But the actions are unlikely to immediately bring down gas prices significantly as families begin traveling for the holidays.” (11/23/21)
