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)
https://www.carandbike.com/news/bmw-to-phase-out-fossil-fuel-burning-engines-from-main-plant-by-2024-2588473
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/
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/
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:
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
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)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/578397-white-house-rejects-latest-trump-claim-of-executive-privilege
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
Source: Reason
“Freedom, Responsibility, and Coronavirus Policy.” [various formats] (10/25/21)
https://reason.com/podcast/2021/10/25/freedom-responsibility-and-coronavirus-policy/
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)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-10-25/wife-of-jailed-turkish-activist-says-case-is-inexplicable
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Facebook “whistleblower” Frances Haugen, the Washington Post reports, has ‘repeatedly accused [Facebook CEO Mark] Zuckerberg of choosing growth over the public good.’ The Post’s headline puts it a slightly different way: ‘Growth over safety.’ The meaning of ‘growth’ in this context is pretty obvious: Zuckerberg’s company makes a lot of money, and he wants it to make even more. The meaning of ‘safety’ is somewhat more nebulous. Facebook spokeswoman Dani Lever refers to ‘difficult decisions between free expressions and harmful speech, security and other issues’ before going to a place that should chill the blood of anyone listening: ‘Drawing these societal lines is always better left to elected leaders which is why we’ve spent many years advocating for Congress to pass updated Internet regulations.'” (10/25/21)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/16365
Source: CBS News
“Blue Origin and Sierra Space are leading development of a privately-funded space station known as ‘Orbital Reef’ to provide a commercial destination in low-Earth orbit after the International Space Station is retired, officials announced Monday. Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Dubai, Brent Sherwood, senior vice president of Advanced Development Programs for Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said an initial version of the outpost will be flying before 2030. It would be built in partnership with Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering and Arizona State University. … He said the team believes Orbital Reef will appeal to three broad market segments: governments around the world, both space-faring nations and those without such capabilities; companies seeking research or industrial opportunities in space; and ‘adventurers, tourists and citizens.'” (10/25/21)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/blue-origin-sierra-space-orbital-reef-space-station-plans/
