“Roger Ver is a pioneering figure in the cryptocurrency world. A staunch advocate for economic freedom and decentralized finance, Ver earned the moniker ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ for his role in evangelizing Bitcoin and investing in its ecosystem during its nascent stages. His outspoken advocacy for Bitcoin as a path for financial freedom in order to escape the growing overreach and centralization of public and private institutions inspired many, but made him no friends with the powers that be.” (11/20/24)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Ukraine has already begun using US-supplied long-range missiles in Russia, despite Putin’s warning that this exact sort of escalation will place NATO at war with Russia. This happens as Russia officially changes its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for when it’s permissible to use nuclear weapons in retaliation for attacks on its territory. So far the attacks appear to have been mostly repelled without having done any significant damage. This is frightening, but I have a hard time imagining that Russia makes any extreme moves against the US before Trump takes office. It seems like they’d want to wait and see what Trump does once he gets in before taking any horrifying risks like that.” (11/20/24)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“I’m currently driving to Texas and have two goals before I return to Virginia: one, to finish listening to the audio version of Jim Bovard’s excellent book Last Rights (which I can already highly recommend even without yet finishing the book) and, two, listen to Linda Ronstadt’s 24 albums. Ronstadt is my favorite rock and roll singer of all time, even more so than Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez, all of whom are close behind. But it’s not just because of Ronstadt’s phenomenal voice and musical versatility that I have come to deeply admire her over the years. It’s also because of certain courageous political stands she has taken.” (11/20/24)
“Did the working class, especially its white members, elect Donald Trump again because they are basically racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic? Are they craving a strongman who can protect white supremacy from a flood of immigrants and put the woke liberals in their place? Didn’t Harris lose primarily because she’s a woman of color? More than a few progressives, as well as the New York Times, believe these are plausible explanations for Harris’s defeat. I’m not so sure. The working class started abandoning the Democrats long before Trump became a political figure, let alone a candidate. In 1976, Jimmy Carter received 52.3 percent of the working-class vote; In 1996, Clinton 50 percent; In 2012, Obama 40.6 percent; and in 2020, Biden received only 36.2 percent. This decline has little to do with illiberalism on social issues.” (11/20/24)
“The media is full of analyses as to why Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the recent election. At various times, I’ve mentioned factors like voter frustration over high inflation, illegal immigration, and woke excesses on college campuses. The more I think about the election, however, the less confidence I have in any single explanation. This is especially true in a close election. And while Trump had a comfortable majority in the Electoral College, if just 1% of the electorate had uniformly swung from Trump to Harris, she would have won both the popular vote and the Electoral College.” (11/20/24)
“Here’s a pop quiz: When can an Army colonel overrule the Secretary of Defense? It happened last week for probably the first time in modern history. The short answer is: Even in the military, the Secretary of Defense cannot change the rules and procedures for criminal prosecutions and tell military judges how to try cases.” (11/20/24)
“In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, a wave of fear and reflection has taken hold across much of America. Much like Trump’s initial 2016 win, when journalists rushed to small-town Ohio diners to gauge what ‘real America thinks,’ there’s a renewed sense that large swaths of experts and elites — not to mention the entire Democratic Party — may be out of touch with the zeitgeist and the electorate. This feeling isn’t unwarranted, and it’s worth taking time to study what went wrong. But it’s also worth remembering that “the electorate” can be as unpredictable as the weather. If today’s voter preferences seem unsettling, give it time — they will likely shift again.” (11/20/24)
“Earlier this year, in one of the most absurd court rulings in modern times, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google violated U.S. antitrust law by gaining a monopoly in the search engine markets. In the days or weeks ahead, the courts will decide whether to break up one of America’s most iconic companies or to sell off some of its activities and products. The latest reports are that the courts may require Google to sell off its popular Chrome browser. … Google is one of the five most profitable companies in the world. It got there by offering a search engine service FOR FREE to hundreds of millions of customers. This may be the largest benefit to consumers of any company in world history. Yet the courts ruled that: ‘Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.'” (11/20/24)
“‘The censorship cartel must be dismantled,’ Brendan Carr declared two days before President-elect Donald Trump picked him to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Trump described Carr as ‘a warrior for Free Speech.’ Carr’s plans for ‘reining in Big Tech’ understandably appeal to Trump, who has long complained that the leading social media platforms are biased against him. But Carr’s agenda is blatantly inconsistent with conservative principles, including limited government, free markets, freedom of speech, and opposition to lawless regulation.” (11/20/24)
