Source: CNBC
“Bitcoin fell on Monday as volatility in the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency continues following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump to create a strategic bitcoin reserve for the United States. Earlier Monday, bitcoin prices slipped up to 6.5% to trade around $80,650 before paring most losses. By 4:12 a.m., the coin was down 0.74% at $82,050, according to Coin Metrics. The reserve will be funded by coins that have been seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases and there are no plans for the U.S. government to buy more bitcoin. After the strategic reserve announcement last Thursday, crypto prices declined as investors were disappointed it wasn’t a more aggressive program.” (03/10/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/10/bitcoin-falls-as-volatility-continues-after-trumps-bitcoin-reserve-plan.html
Source: Reason
by Brian Doherty
“Among the most damaging changes Trumpism has wrought on conservatism has been the rejection of core elements of Mises'[s] thought — the parts that undermined the idea that a ‘national interest’ should supersede individual choice and freedom in markets. Mises was an ardent free-trader. President Donald Trump promotes autarky and calls himself ‘Tariff Man.’ Mises was a devoted anti-inflationist …. Though Trump has given lip service to private cryptocurrency as part of his larger antiestablishment coalition, he also demanded in his first term that the Federal Reserve expand the money supply to goose the economy and give him a short-term political benefit. … Mises condemned forceful territorial expansion as one of the causes of Europe’s terrible 20th century wars. Since the election, Trump has publicly mulled territorial seizures around the globe. Trump ardently supports a restrictionist immigration policy. Mises believed the free flow of people, goods, and capital were linchpins of the ideal international system.” (for publication 04/25)
https://reason.com/2025/03/08/the-american-right-is-abandoning-mises/
Source: Associated Press
“Federal immigration authorities [abducted] a Palestinian activist Saturday who played a prominent role in Columbia University’s protests against Israel, a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s pledge to detain and deport student activists. Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia until this past December, was inside his university-owned apartment Saturday night when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered and [kidnapped him], his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press. Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the [abduction], who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the lawyer.” (03/09/25)
https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-15014bcbb921f21a9f704d5acdcae7a8
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“People in politics and media who oppose the status quo often drift rightward, especially in the US. Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr are some clear recent examples, but you see it happen all the time. This is because the Trumpian political wing offers mainstream power and influence to those with an ‘anti-establishment’ streak, while mainstream progressive politics doesn’t offer anything close. If you’re a right wing ‘populist’ you can get elected president, while anyone to the left of Kamala Harris sees their campaigns sabotaged with smears and rigged primaries. We see a similar dynamic play out in independent media …. anti-establishment sentiment is much more mainstream on the right. A much larger audience pool has been allowed to amass there for hostility toward establishment institutions — because the right poses no threat to real power.” (03/07/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/03/07/if-you-want-to-fight-the-machine-dont-move-to-the-right/
Source: Axios
The U.S. economy will experience a ‘period of transition’ as new trade and other policies take effect, President Trump said Sunday, though he hesitated to predict a full-blown recession. While the president may not be forecasting it, markets suggest a recession is at least more possible now than it was even a few weeks ago. … In late February, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the private sector has already been in a recession, with government spending keeping the economy as a whole from tipping over. But on ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued against a pullback. ‘There’s going to be no recession in America,’ Lutnick said, later adding ‘I would never bet on recession. No chance.'” (03/09/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/09/trump-recession-likelihood-2025-tariffs
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Jamie Redman
“In a letter addressed to David Sacks, Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) questions whether the Trump administration’s moves to establish a national crypto reserve and ease regulatory burdens are designed to enrich insiders at the expense of everyday Americans. Her letter paints a picture of shadowy dealings and conflicts of interest, yet fails to acknowledge the broader truth: Cryptocurrency represents an alternative to centralized control and promotes non-custodial ownership, something she has consistently opposed.” (03/07/25)
https://news.bitcoin.com/the-lefts-fear-of-financial-freedom-elizabeth-warrens-letter-to-david-sacks/
Source: Bangkok Post [Thailand]
“Russian special forces crept for kilometres through a major gas pipeline near the town of Sudzha to surprise Ukrainian forces as part of a major offensive to eject Ukrainian soldiers from the western Russian region of Kursk. The tactic was first reported by pro-Russian war bloggers and later confirmed by Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers seized about 1,300 square kilometres of Russia’s Kursk region in August last year in what Kyiv said was an attempt to gain a bargaining chip in future negotiations and to force Russia to shift military forces from eastern Ukraine. In its daily update on the situation in Kursk, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had retaken the village of Lebedevka, as well as seizing Novenke, a hamlet across the border in Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.” (03/09/25)
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2976163/russian-special-forces-creep-through-pipeline-to-attack-ukrainian-troops-in-kursk-
Source: The Daily Economy
by William J Luther
“When asked why Donald Trump won the presidency last November, most people point to inflation. That’s understandable. Prices soared under the Biden administration. In the run up to the election, voters cited inflation as a top concern — and most thought Trump would do a better job bringing inflation back down. ‘Nothing did more to deliver the White House to Donald Trump than inflation,’ Greg Ip recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal. It looks like an open and shut case. But I am not convinced. High inflation was salient. However, voters continued to cite high inflation even after their wages caught up and inflation declined. I suspect voters were actually disappointed in the slow real wage growth they experienced under the Biden administration.” (03/07/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/did-inflation-really-elect-trump-the-case-for-a-deeper-economic-frustration/
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A robotic private spacecraft designed to provide crucial data for returning humans to the moon toppled over as it landed on the lunar surface, bringing an immediate and premature end to the mission, its operators said on Friday. Athena, a probe launched by the Texas-based company Intuitive Machines (IM) last month, touched down about 250 miles from its intended landing site near the moon’s south pole on Thursday. Initially at least, it was generating some power and sending information to Earth as engineers worked to make sense of data showing an ‘incorrect attitude.’ On Friday, however, IM declared Athena dead. ‘With the direction of the sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,’ it said in a statement confirming that the 15ft (4.6 meter) spacecraft was on its side.” (03/07/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/07/athena-spacecraft-mission-dead
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Dan McKnight on the Recent Progress Made with Defend the Guard.” (03/08/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/3-7-25-dan-mcknight-on-the-recent-progress-made-with-defend-the-guard/
