- At least eight dead in English Channel migrant crossing, French authorities say
Source: CBS News
“At least eight people died during a failed attempt to cross the English Channel from northern France, French maritime authorities said Sunday. The incident occurred Saturday just before midnight when authorities spotted a boat, carrying dozens, in distress near a beach in the northern town of Ambleteuse. A French rescue ship was deployed to the area and rescue services offered medical assistance to 53 migrants on the beach, a statement from the French maritime authorities in charge of the Channel and the North Sea said.” (09/15/24)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/english-channel-migrant-crossing-deaths/
- US regime rejects claims of CIA involvement in alleged plot to kill Maduro after Venezuelan regime arrests six
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The US state department rejected wild [sic] allegations of CIA involvement in an alleged assassination plot against Nicolas Maduro after Venezuelan officials announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech on Saturday. The claims of a plot against Maduro — the [former president who refuses to give up power after losing his re-election attempt] — were made on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens including a US navy member were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television programme, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the alleged plotters.” (09/15/24)
- India: New Delhi’s chief minister announces resignation two days after he was released on bail
Source: ABC News
“One of India’s main opposition figures and New Delhi’s chief minister said he would resign from office Sunday, two days after he was granted bail in a bribery case. Arvind Kejriwal, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was arrested nearly six months ago ahead of national elections on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor. India’s top court released him on bail Friday. Kejriwal has consistently denied the accusations and called them a political conspiracy.” (09/15/24)
- Poll: Voters Narrowly Support Disgraced Former President’s Scheme To Pick Their Pockets For Business Cronies
Source: US News & World Report
“Donald Trump’s campaign vow to increase tariffs on imported goods, particularly from China, has the support of a narrow majority of U.S. voters, illustrating his economic advantage over rival Vice President Kamala Harris, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. The Republican former president and his Democratic opponent have both vowed to pursue tax cuts if they win the Nov. 5 election. But voters also credit Trump with being more likely to lower the $35 trillion national debt — even though independent economic forecasters say his proposals would have the opposite effect. Some 56% of registered voters in the Sept. 11-12 poll said they were more likely to support a candidate backing a new 10% tariff, or tax, on all imports, as well as a 60% tariff on imports from China. By comparison, 41% said they were less likely to support a candidate attached to that proposal.” (09/15/24)
- Poll: Swift endorsement turns more voters from Harris than it attracts
Source: New York Post
“It might not be such a ‘Love Story’ after all. Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, may turn more voters away than it attracts. A new post-debate poll from YouGov released Saturday found that 8% of voters said the pop superstar’s nod is either ‘somewhat’ or ‘much more likely’ to convince them to cast their ballot for the Democrat. But a whopping 20% said they are ‘somewhat’ or ‘much less likely’ to vote for former President Donald Trump’s opponent now that Swift has spoken. Most of the respondents, 66%, said Swift’s endorsement made no difference on how they will vote in November.” (09/14/24)
- GA: Jones Won’t Be Charged in 2020 Election Interference Case
Source: US News & World Report
“A special prosecutor has decided not to pursue charges against Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss in the state. Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia on Friday announced that he had decided not to bring the matter to a grand jury. Skandalakis appointed himself to handle the matter in April, nearly two years after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was barred from prosecuting Jones as part of her election interference case against former Trump and others. Jones was one of 16 state Republicans who met at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 to sign a certificate stating that Trump had won Georgia and declaring themselves the state’s ‘duly elected and qualified’ electors even though Democrat Joe Biden had been declared the state’s winner.” (09/13/24)
- Trump Vows to Deport Haitians Legally in Ohio … to Venezuela
Source: Common Dreams
“U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his attack on the Haitian immigrant community of Springfield, Ohio on Friday when he promised to begin his mass deportation plan there if elected president. ‘We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations,’ Trump told reporters at his golf course near Los Angeles, California. ‘We’re going to get these people out. We’re bringing them back to Venezuela.’ Trump’s remarks come despite the fact that most of the immigrants in Springfield are from Haiti and are in the country legally. Trump had previously pledged to deport the 15 to 20 million people who he says are or will be in this country illegally by the time he takes office. Speaking on Friday, he repeated his vow to carry out ‘the largest deportations in the history of our country,’ starting in Springfield and Aurora, Colorado, where online rumors have exaggerated isolated incidents of Venezuelan gang activity.” (09/14/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-deportations-haitians
- Russia: Central bank hikes rates to fight inflation fuelled by military spending
Source: ABC News
“Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates to their highest since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine more than 2 1/2 years ago, a step aimed at combatting the inflation fuelled by massive government outlays for the military — and by robust spending from Russian consumers in shops. The bank raised its key rate to 19%, just below the level from late February 2022. Then the policy rate reached an unprecedented 20% in a desperate bid by the bank to shore up the ruble and ward off a financial collapse amid sanctions imposed by Western governments. Today’s situation is different: inflation is a sign of an economy overheating from government outlays and consumer demand that are outpacing the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services.” (09/13/24)
- California is raising the stakes in the country’s gas stove controversy
Source: SFGate
“Gas stoves sold in California could soon come with a warning to buyers if a bill passed by state lawmakers late last month wins the governor’s signature. Sponsored by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, Assembly Bill 2513 would require gas stoves sold online or in stores in California to come with a label that warns of the dangers of certain air pollutants emitted from the appliances. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until the end of September to sign the bill into law. In a legislative analysis of the bill, Pellerin cited ongoing health concerns with gas stoves that have led state and local governments around the country to consider regulating their use. ‘The emissions from the use of gas stoves inside without the proper ventilation can lead to multiple health problems for Californians,’ she said of the bill.” (09/13/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/california-passes-gas-stove-warning-label-bill-19763647.php
- Biden regime targets US customers of Shein, Temu to benefit domestic business cronies
Source: CNBC
“The Biden administration announced new steps on Friday to curtail what it calls the ‘overuse and abuse’ of a longstanding trade law that permits low-value shipments to enter the United States without paying import duties and processing fees. … Known as the de minimis loophole, the trade provision allows packages with a value of less than $800 to enter the United States with relatively little scrutiny. Over the past decade, the number of de minimis shipments has exploded, from roughly 140 million to more than a billion, according to a White House estimate. …Officials say the explosion in de minimis shipments is largely driven by a few Chinese-linked online retail giants like Shein and Temu, which use the exemption to ship millions of dollars worth of clothing and inexpensive household goods from factories in China directly to American customers.” (09/13/24)
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/13/de-minimis-shein-temu-biden-china-rules.html
- Cher drops bid for conservatorship over her son
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“US pop star Cher has dropped her bid for legal control over her son’s personal and financial affairs, according to his lawyers. The singer applied for a conservatorship last December, citing 48-year-old Elijah Blue Allman’s alleged substance abuse and mental health issues. The law firm representing him, Cage & Miles, told the BBC in a statement that the outcome ‘allows the parties to focus on healing and rebuilding their family bond, a process that began during mediation and continues today.’ Cher’s lawyers said during a brief hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday that the family members had reached a private settlement, US media report. The BBC has contacted Cher’s attorney for comment. The dismissal comes after the If I Could Turn Back Time singer and her son agreed to pause their court battle in May to try to resolve the matter privately, US media reported at the time.” (09/15/24)
- Congo: Military court sentences 37 to death in coup trial
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sentenced to death 37 people, including three United States citizens, on charges of taking part in a failed coup in May. ‘The court pronounces the harshest sentence: the death penalty for criminal association, the death penalty for attack, the death penalty for terrorism,’ the court’s president, Freddy Ehume, said in a verdict read on live television on Friday. The defendants – who also included a Briton, Belgian and Canadian – have five days to appeal the verdict. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in June. … military officials said armed men had briefly occupied an office of the presidency in the capital, Kinshasa, on May 19. Their leader, US-based Congolese politician Christian Malanga, was killed by security forces, and two security guards were also killed in the failed takeover.” (09/13/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/13/dr-congo-military-court-sentences-37-to-death-in-coup-trial
- MN: Election officials make changes to automatic voter registration system after issues arise
Source: SFGate
“Elections officials are making changes to Minnesota’s automatic voter registration system after finding some potentially problematic entries, but they say they are not aware of anyone ineligible who has been registered to vote via the system. The Secretary of State’s Office said this week that more than 90,000 people have been registered or pre-registered since April, when Minnesota’s new system went live. Residents who apply for and receive state-issued IDs such as driver’s licenses are now automatically registered to vote without having to opt in if they meet legal criteria. And 16- and 17-year-olds can pre-register to vote once they turn 18. Around 1 percent of those automatic registrations have been flagged for potential problems, said Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson, whose department issues driver’s licenses and other official identification cards, Minnesota Public Radio reported.” (09/14/24)
- TX: Homeowner shoots suspected burglar
Source: KENS 5 News
“A homeowner shot a suspected burglar on the southeast side [of San Antonio] early Thursday morning, according to authorities. San Antonio Police responded to a burglary in progress near the 2300 block of Hicks Avenue around 5 a.m. Neighbors told KENS 5 they heard about four ‘muffled gunshots’ before officers arrived. Police said the homeowner, 43, pulled out a handgun and shot the alleged thief, but no victims were found at the scene. A 48-year-old man believed to be the alleged burglar was found in a detached garage with apparent gunshot wounds near the 1400 block on Vanderbilt Street. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and was later placed in police custody.” (09/13/24)
- SpaceX astronauts complete first private spacewalk
Source: Associated Press
“A tech billionaire performed the first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth on Thursday, a high-risk endeavor reserved for professional astronauts — until now. Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman teamed up with SpaceX to test the company’s brand new spacesuits on his chartered flight. The daring feat also saw SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis going out once Isaacman was safely back inside. … There were a few glitches. Isaacman had to manually pull the hatch open instead of pushing a button on board. Before heading out, Gillis reported seeing bulges in the hatch seal. … Until Thursday, only 263 people had conducted a spacewalk, representing 12 countries. The Soviet Union’s Alexei Leonov kicked it off in 1965, followed a few months later by NASA’s Ed White.” (09/12/24)
https://apnews.com/article/spacex-spacewalk-private-polaris-dawn-87d4c78853f0249baf29631bedfac749
- Black Sea: Ukrainian Regime Says Russian Missile Hit Grain Ship
Source: New York Times
“President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Thursday that a Russian missile struck a cargo ship in the Black Sea that was carrying wheat to Egypt, and a Ukrainian military spokesman said that the attack took place in Romanian waters. If confirmed, it would be the first such direct attack on a civilian vessel in open water since Ukraine established a new maritime export route last year. Mr. Zelensky said on social media that there were no casualties in the attack, which he said had happened overnight. He did not describe the extent of any damage. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the claim; and Russia’s defense ministry did not mention it on its Telegram channel.” (09/12/24)
- Brave, brave Sir Robi … er, disgraced former president … flees challenge to additional debates with empty pantsuit
Source: CBS News
“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday said there will not be another debate against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president in a Truth Social post claimed that he won his first debate against Harris on Tuesday night. He cited as evidence the fact that Harris’ campaign had challenged him to another debate shortly after the first one ended. … ‘When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH.’’ … ‘KAMALA SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE DURING THE LAST ALMOST FOUR YEAR PERIOD. THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!'” (09/12/24)
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/12/trump-rejects-second-harris-debate.html
- Turkey: Regime Seeks International Arrest Warrants For Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s Murderers
Source: US News & World Report
“Turkey has opened an investigation into the death of a Turkish-American activist believed to have been shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank and will request international arrest warrants, Ankara said on Thursday. The body of the woman, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, will arrive in Turkey on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said. Israel has taken responsibility for the death of Eygi, who was killed last Friday while taking part in a protest against Jewish [squat] expansion in the West Bank. The Foreign Ministry said she ‘was deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli soldiers during a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians.'” (09/12/24)
- US regime supports two permanent UN Security Council seats for Africa
Source: Reuters
“The United States supports creating two permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African states and one seat to be rotated among small island developing states, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced on Thursday. The move comes as the U.S. seeks to repair ties with Africa, where many are unhappy about Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, and deepen relations with Pacific Island nations important to countering Chinese influence in the region. … The United States does not support expanding veto power beyond the five countries that hold it, Thomas-Greenfield said.” (09/13/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supports-two-permanent-un-security-council-seats-africa-2024-09-12/
- Alberto Fujimori, 1938-2024
Source: Irish Times [Ireland]
“Peru’s former president Alberto Fujimori has died of cancer aged 86, his family announced on Wednesday. The hardline conservative led the South American nation in 1990-2000, during which he oversaw an economic revival and crushed the Shining Path guerrilla group while exerting an authoritarian grip on the country’s politics. In 2009 he was convicted of human rights abuses and corruption during his tenure and given a 25-year sentence. … He was released from prison in December last year on humanitarian grounds over his ailing health and left jail on the outskirts of the capital Lima last year in an oxygen mask.” (09/12/24)
- Judge Overturns North Dakota’s Abortion Ban, Calling It Vague and Unconstitutional
Source: The Daily Beast
“A North Dakota judge vacated the state’s near-total abortion ban on Thursday, saying that a pregnant resident had a ‘fundamental right’ to choose an abortion until their fetus was viable. State District Judge Bruce Romanick also said that the ban was ‘unconstitutionally void for vagueness’ in how it defined exceptions. The ban, passed by the Republican-led state Legislature last year, allows abortions only in the case of rape or incest, and only then in the first six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they’re pregnant. An exception also exists for patients facing life-threatening health risks. The lawsuit challenging the ban was filed by several North Dakota physicians and the Red River Women’s Clinic, which until 2022 was the state’s sole abortion provider.” (09/12/24)
- NY: Top court throws out disgraced former president’s gag order appeal
Source: The Hill
“New York’s high court tossed out former President Trump’s appeal of the gag order in his hush money criminal case Thursday. The gag order, which remains in partial effect ahead of Trump’s sentencing, bars the former president from making public remarks about prosecutors involved in the case or their families. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) and Judge Juan Merchan remain fair game. In a brief order, the court said ‘no substantial constitutional question is directly involved’ and that it would dismiss Trump’s appeal. The former president has argued the gag order violates the First Amendment rights of him and his millions of supporters, emphasizing his status as a presidential candidate in this year’s election.” (09/12/24)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4876040-trump-gag-order-appeal
- ECB cuts interest rates for second time in three months
Source: Semafor
“The European Central Bank announced its second interest rate cuts in three months Thursday, with a quarter-point cut to the deposit rate, down to 3.5% from 3.75%. Analysts had anticipated the deposit rate cut, however the ECB declined to commit to any further cuts this year — most traders bet there will be at least one further 0.25% this year. The ECB’s move comes ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated meeting next week, at which it is also expected to cut the cost of borrowing by 0.25% as inflation comes into its target 2% range.” (09/12/24)
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/12/2024/european-central-bank-poised-to-cut-interest-rates
- NY: Weinstein indicted on new charges after conviction overturned
Source: New York Times
“Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges, Manhattan prosecutors said at a Thursday hearing, according to the Associated Press. The indictment for the disgraced Hollywood producer remains under seal until Wednesday. The new charges come ahead of a retrial for Weinstein, after a previous rape conviction collapsed this year. … Weinstein was originally sentenced to 23 years in prison in the New York trial. He was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on a former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, at his apartment in 2006; and of rape in the third degree for an attack on aspiring actress Jessica Mann at a hotel in 2013. But in a 4-3 split decision, a majority of the appellate judges concluded that the trial court erroneously allowed other women to testify about Weinstein’s alleged pattern of abuse, even though he was not being prosecuted for crimes against those witnesses.” (09/12/24)
- Venezuela: US sanctions 16 allies of former president over accusations of obstructing the election
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. government on Thursday responded to Venezuela’s disputed July presidential election by imposing sanctions against 16 allies of President [sic] Nicolás Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses. Those targeted by the Treasury Department include the head of the country’s high court, leaders of state security forces and prosecutors. The move came days after the departure into exile of Edmundo González Urrutia, the former diplomat who represented the main opposition parties and claimed to have won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin. Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but unlike previous presidential elections, they never released detailed vote tallies to back up their claim arguing that the National Electoral Council’s website was hacked.” (09/12/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-sanctions-16-allies-of-venezuela-s-president-19760420.php
- To beat Harris, Trump needs an argument
Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru“The strange circumstances of this presidential race put Trump in an unusual position. If Harris had won the Democratic nomination in the primaries, by now Trump would have had several months to try out various criticisms, choose the most effective and get it to sink in with the voters he’s trying to reach. Instead, she replaced President Joe Biden as the nominee in August. Trump had plenty of time to make contingency plans for that possibility, but not much, once it happened, to get voters to see her as he wants. It’s an especially urgent task for him because almost everyone in the country has a view of him that is set in stone. But Trump has been wasting the time he has.” (09/13/24)
- Are you racist, or am I?
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Davis Hunt“The last place one expects to see The Daily Wire personality Matt Walsh is in a ramshackle biker bar on the outskirts of Hartsville, TN. But midway through Am I Racist?, he’s in the thick of it as he converses with the watering hole’s regulars, including a guy in a shirt that says, ‘Vaginaterian.’ In his trademark plaid and oversized glasses that peek out from his impeccably trimmed beard, Walsh resembles an erudite lumberjack more partial to Crossfit than Paul Bunyan antics. But during this scene, he’s in disguise as a soy boy certified DEI trainer complete with man bun and skinny jeans, who hopes to get some deplorable perspectives on structural racism straight from the cis white male source. It’s a scene straight out of a Borat movie.” (09/13/24)
- VP Harris’s Proposal Will Increase Housing Prices
Source: Independent Institute
by Randall G Holcombe“Presidential candidate and VP Harris has proposed giving first-time home buyers up to $25,000 to go toward their down payments, plus another $10,000 tax credit. If enacted, this proposal would raise the price of housing. The price of anything is determined by supply and demand. If demand increases with no change in supply, the price of that item will rise. If supply increases with no change in demand, the price will fall. That’s basic economics. Kamala Harris’s proposal would enable more people to enter the market to buy homes, and that increase in demand would raise the price of housing.” (09/13/24)
https://blog.independent.org/2024/09/13/kamala-harris-increase-housing-prices
- DIY Guns Bring Libertarianism to the World, Says The New York Times
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“Illegal home-built guns are bringing libertarianism to the world. That’s what the good people at The New York Times say. DIY firearms are also helping rebels fight oppressive regimes and, as is inevitable when weapons make their way into the hands of regular people, fueling European officials’ fears of crime and terrorism. This is a result of recent technological developments that severely cramp governments’ ability to enforce restrictions — including when it comes to the FGC-9, a partially 3D-printed firearm.” (09/13/24)
https://reason.com/2024/09/13/diy-guns-bring-libertarianism-to-the-world-says-the-new-york-times/
- Yes, Democrats Win Elections, And Then They Commit Genocide
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Democrats are going after Jill Stein with surprising ferocity this election cycle, with their favorite line of attack being that the Green Party doesn’t win elections. At an appearance on the radio show The Breakfast Club with her running mate Butch Ware, Stein was slammed by host Angela Rye over her ongoing feud with celebrity congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. ‘The one thing that AOC has done that you haven’t is win some elections,’ Rye said. This line was later picked up by AOC, who tweeted, ‘Nobody needs talking points to know Jill Stein hasn’t won so much as a bingo game in the last decade and if you actually give a damn about people, you organize, build power and infrastructure, and win.'” [editor’s note” As it has been (from ‘both sides of the aisle’) toward libertarian efforts for … decades – SAT] (09/15/24)
- The Value of Principles
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“The late Bernie Baltic used to ask politicians, who invariably wanted him to write them a check, ‘What are your principles?’ They would then recite their key issues or the issues they thought were key to getting Bernie to write that check. He would stop them, saying, ‘Not your issues — issue positions can change — your principles.’ Values are like sorta like principles. In politician speak. ‘My values haven’t changed,’ Vice-President Kamala Harris assured us, after being quizzed about her flip-flopping on issues including fracking (hello Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes), defunding the police and building a border wall.” (09/13/24)
- Outsourcing Is Good
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes“In government outsourcing, governments contract with private-sector firms to have them perform certain services. Outsourcing is not as big of a step as privatization, because the government still owns the asset and is responsible for the service. It just pays a private company (sometime a non-profit) to perform the service being outsourced. St. Louis County government is considering outsourcing the facilities maintenance operations of county buildings to a private company. I think that is great, and I hope the county does it.” (09/13/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/privatization/outsourcing-is-good/
- Why are Police Entitled to Lie and Slander?
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard“In a presidential race in which both major party candidates are kowtowing to law enforcement, don’t expect any candor about the perils that politicians have unleashed. To serve and protect, police are allowed to slander and destroy. Cops in many states and localities have acquired the right to lie about their shootings, searches, and practically anything else. Police have routinely planted drugs, guns, and other evidence to incriminate innocent people, while police labs have engaged in wholesale fraud blighting tens of thousands of lives. Supreme Court rulings turned a trickle of police perjury into a torrent.” (09/13/24)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/09/13/why-are-police-entitled-to-lie-and-slander/
- Kamala’s softball ABC sit-down shows network’s bias, and how she has nothing to say
Source: New York Post
by Michael Goodwin“There she goes again. Kamala Harris gave another interview that reveals why she hides from questions. She has nothing to say! In an 11-minute sit-down with a Pennsylvania ABC affiliate that has drawn over 5 million views on X, the vice president lapsed into recycled sound bites and snippets from past speeches. Reporter Brian Taff asked direct questions about policies, but never got direct answers. She filibustered with tales about her childhood, with the inane kicker being that ‘folks were very proud of their lawn.'” (09/14/24)
- Economists’ Damning Verdict on Both Presidential Candidates’ Pricing Policies
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne & Sophia Bagley“One of the underappreciated costs of high inflation is that volatile prices encourage bad policy responses. We’ve seen this in the presidential election. Former President Trump has used dissatisfaction with the cost of living to muse on the idea of the president having a more direct role in setting monetary policy. Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has dabbled with kook theories implying high inflation was driven by corporate greed or price gouging. This is the ‘intellectual’ fuel behind her promise of rent control and anti-price gouging laws for groceries. A new survey of the 44 prominent economists in the Kent Clark U.S. Economic Experts panel reminds us that economists overwhelmingly reject these ideas as nonsense.” (09/13/24)
- Russian asset seizure scheme will prolong war
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ian Proud“In an article in Politico, Dan Fried, Anders Aslund and Kurt Volker argue for the European Union to speed up arrangements to unlock the $50 billion loan package that was approved at the G7 Summit in June. This suggestion is poorly conceived and risks repeating mistakes that paved the road to war in Ukraine. The proposed arrangement would use the interest accrued on €200bn of frozen Russian assets held by Euroclear in Belgium, to repay loans amounting to a total of $50 billion provided by a syndicate of G7 Member States. Those loans would be made to Ukraine to fill the yawning gap in its budget at a time of war.” (09/13/24)
- Bizarre Verdict in the Tampa Free-Speech Trial
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“In the last week, I have been writing about the federal prosecution of a group named the African People’s Socialist Party and its related Uhuru movement …. The group has long criticized the U.S. national-security state and its foreign policy, including with respect to Ukraine, and the feds retaliated by prosecuting the group for failing to register as agents of the Russian government. The feds alleged that the defendants were doing the bidding of the Russian government by ‘sowing discord’ in America’s political process by promoting political views that were contrary to those of the U.S. government and favorable to those of the Russian government. Yesterday, the jury returned with a truly bizarre verdict — (1) not guilty of failing to register with the U.S. government as Russian agents but (2) guilty of conspiring to fail to register with the U.S. government as Russian agents.” (09/13/24)
https://www.fff.org/2024/09/13/bizarre-verdict-in-the-tampa-free-speech-trial/
- What Might a President Harris Do on Israel?
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner“I’ve been critical of President Biden for letting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brutalize Gazan civilians, permit the stealing of Palestinian land in the West Bank, and make a fool of Biden by repeatedly changing the terms of what kind of regional deal he might accept. I’ve also been cautiously hopeful that a President Harris, who at least has indicated greater sympathy for Palestinians as human beings and as a people with legitimate aspirations for statehood, might take a tougher line with Israel once she is in office. I’m also mindful of the fact that during the campaign, with Trump posing as a slavish friend of Israel and Netanyahu in effect trying to elect Trump, Harris can’t signal anything of the kind.” (09/13/24)
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-09-13-what-might-president-harris-do-israel/
- Elon Musk’s Creepy Politics of Birthing
Source: The Bulwark
by Alan Elrod“Why make siring offspring such a priority if you don’t actually want to be a father to them? Musk’s position in this area starts to get a bit clearer when you factor in some of his other views: He is an outspoken border hawk and a critic of what he views as a woke attempt to impose a regime of cultural and ethnic diversity in Western countries. Musk’s reply to Taylor Swift may have been an attempt to mockingly belittle her Harris endorsement. But it also treated her as a vessel in this larger ideological framework: She would need to have a child, he was saying, in order to feel political fulfillment. Across today’s hard right, white procreation is being held up as a solution to both America’s demographic challenges and its political and cultural ones.” (09/13/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/elon-musks-creepy-politics-of-birthing
- Scenes From The Literary Blacklist
Source: Persuasion
by Elizabeth Kaye Cook & Melanie Jennings“Widespread censorship is killing writers’ careers before they begin.” (09/13/24)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/scenes-from-the-literary-blacklist
- The Russians Are Coming? The Russians Are Coming?
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman“So once again a foreign power — usually Russia — is allegedly trying to manipulate the American people with disinformation as a presidential election is coming on. How dare the Russians do this? Political manipulation is allowed only to certain anointed Americans. It’s a position of privilege. So the government will protect us from ‘consuming’ Russian propaganda without knowing it. We’re too stupid to check claims out for ourselves when they sound fishy — even when they come from so-called ‘legitimate’ sources. (Point of information: are Russians incapable of saying anything accurate worth hearing? Just asking.) Before we get all primed for nuclear war, let’s take a deep breath.” (09/13/24)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2024/09/tgif-russians-are-coming-russians-are.html
- Kamala Harris Is Much Worse Than Anyone Ever Thought
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“All discussion around Joe Biden just 2 months ago was about who senile he was. The debate with Donald Trump laid bare what Democrats in and out of the media had denied for years – that Biden’s senility had overtaken his lifelong stupidity and he is unfit for office. Enter Nancy ‘Brutus’ Pelosi to stab him in the back and insert Kamala Harris to ‘save the Democratic Party.’ Then the public got a good look at her, and Kamala may be worse than Biden. It’s important to remember that Biden has only been going senile for the last 5 to 7 years, he’s been dumb his whole life. … When he crossed that line from simple boob to unaware shell we will never know. … Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has no excuse.” (09/15/24)
- Free Speech and the Department of Political Justice
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano“In 1966, two famous Russian literary dissidents, Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky, were tried and convicted on charges of disseminating propaganda against the Soviet state. The two were authors and humorists who published satire abroad that mocked Soviet leaders for failure to comply with the Soviet Constitution of 1936, which guaranteed the freedom of speech. Their convictions sparked international outrage. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and then America’s U.N. ambassador, Arthur Goldberg called the charges and the trial ‘an outrageous attempt to give the form of legality to the suppression of a basic human right.’ … Last week, the U.S. Department of Political Justice took a page from the Soviets and charged Americans and Russians with disseminating anti-Biden administration propaganda in Russia and here in the U.S. What ever happened to the freedom of speech?” (09/13/24)
- Lawmakers think they are smart enough to control AI
Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut“Quotation compilations are filled with jabs at lawmakers, as deep thinkers complain about the cravenness, venality and opportunism of politicians. Journalist H.L. Mencken complained that a ‘good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.’ Napoleon Bonaparte quipped that ‘in politics stupidity is not a handicap.’ I’ve known good, honest and smart politicians. My main beef is their overall lack of humility. Not so much personal humility, but a sense of limits on what government can accomplish. … Do you suppose lawmakers will protect us from unforeseen ‘critical harms’ from an almost unknowingly complex technology in ways we have yet to fathom? The government sometimes is efficient in twisting new regulatory tools to abuse our rights, but rarely in service to our protection.” (09/13/24)
https://www.ocregister.com/2024/09/13/ill-informed-lawmakers-think-they-can-control-ai/
- The Anti-Americanism of Donald Trump
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“Donald Trump is a funny kind of patriot. He loves America — except for the cities, the people who live in the cities, about half of the states, the universities, professional sports leagues, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Wall Street, the legal system, immigrants, the culture. He thinks the Capitol Police are murderers and that the FBI is a gestapo, that the government is an illegitimate junta maintained through election fraud, that the January 6 rioters are political prisoners, that the nation is a ruin, that it is ‘failed.’ And when it fell to him to explain to Tuesday’s debate audience why he should be president, he spent most of his time repeating the praise of Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban. Trump’s enemies are all Americans, his friends are all foreign dictators, and his money lives in Dubai and Indonesia. Some nationalist.” (09/13/24)
https://thedispatch.com/article/the-anti-americanism-of-donald-trump/
- Far-Right Endorsements Unmask Democratic Charade
Source: Common Dreams
Peter Bloom“In recent months, a curious phenomenon has emerged in American politics—the endorsement of Democratic candidates by figures traditionally associated with the Republican far right. Most notably, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney made headlines by throwing their support behind Kamala Harris’ presidential bid. This unexpected alliance has been framed by centrist media outlets as a heartening example of cross-party unity in the face of former President Donald Trump’s purported threat to democracy. However, a more critical examination reveals that these endorsements are less a triumph of democratic values and more a damning indictment of the current political status quo. Defenders of this unlikely alliance argue that it represents a necessary ‘popular front’ against the authoritarian threat posed by Trump and his supporters.” (09/14/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dick-cheney-endorses-harris
- Tariffs “Protect” Insiders, While Americans Pay the Price
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Vance Ginn“Tariffs, often promoted as a tool to protect American jobs and industries, are a hidden tax that disproportionately burdens consumers and producers alike. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have embraced these protectionist policies, and future administrations may likely do the same. But these policies do more harm than good, undermining the very people they are designed to protect.” (09/13/24)
- Election 2024: Finally Weird Enough?
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“‘It never got weird enough for me,’ says Hunter S. Thompson — or, rather, Bill Murray as Hunter S. Thompson in 1980’s kinda sorta Thompson biopic, Where the Buffalo Roam. ‘I moved to the country when the boat got too crowded. Then I learned that President Nixon had been eaten by white cannibals on an island near Tijuana for no good reason at all.’ Thompson died by his own hand in 2005, no longer at the top of his gonzo game but still the reigning champion of American non-fiction (very loosely construed) and psychoactive substance ingestion (perhaps not quite as loosely construed). I woke up this morning thinking about Thompson, wondering if Election 2024 might just possibly have changed his mind on how weird it can get.” (09/12/24)
- Post-debate, the optimum 2024 political outcome comes into view
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will“The restoration of normal politics will require two things: The removal of Donald Trump — that Krakatau of volcanic, incoherent, fact-free bombast — from public life. And the rekindling of an irrepressible conflict. It is between progressivism, of which Kamala Harris is full to overflowing, and actual conservatism, about which Trump is contemptuous. … This election pits someone whose current persona is obviously synthetic against someone whose dishonesty in the service of his egotism is scarily authentic. Now, however, traditional conservatives can envision the least unpalatable November outcome. They have an unenthralled understanding of government’s proper scope and actual competence. So, their preferred outcome would be the election of Harris, and of a Republican Senate to regularly remind her that most Americans disagree with most of what she believes.” (09/12/24)
- The Ignorance of Censorship
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Why is Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, governor of Minnesota right now? Perhaps because government censors — functioning through agents like Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook — made it harder to hear his opponent, Dr. Scott Jensen, during Walz’s 2022 re-election campaign. A shift in a few percentage points would have tilted things in the challenger’s favor. But Jensen had made the government’s response to the pandemic — including the tyrannical policies of Walz’s state government — a central theme of his campaign. And in those days (as in these), all-out censorship of various deviations from the government line was de rigueur.” (09/12/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/09/12/the-ignorance-of-censorship/
- Trump Doesn’t Understand Tariffs, But He Knows Enough to Be Menacing
Source: Washington Monthly
by David Atkins“Tariffs are Trump’s crutch response to almost any overseas problem, his elixir for international ailments. If a country doesn’t do what he wants, he threatens a tariff. But the 2024 version of Trump is even more radical, extreme, and dangerous on this issue than his 2016 and 2020 equivalents — because now, instead of wielding tariffs to compel countries to do his bidding, he promotes these levies as a domestic fiscal remedy allowing him to balance the budget and even eliminate income taxes without the drawback of higher retail prices. But tariffs do not work the way Trump says they do and cannot accomplish what he claims they can.” (09/12/24)
- Is Israel intentionally attacking aid workers?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Stephen Semler“Israeli attacks on aid organizations have become routine, despite systems in place to avoid humanitarian deaths. Through a process called deconfliction, aid groups coordinate with warring parties to avoid being attacked. Popular deconfliction mechanisms used by aid groups in Gaza include clearly marking their assets, arranging their movements with Israeli authorities, and sharing their location with the Israeli military. However, a disturbing pattern has emerged: Aid groups share their coordinates with Israeli authorities and then are attacked by the IDF at those same coordinates.” (09/12/24)
- The Debate: Two Assholes Bragging About What Murderous Empire Sluts They Are
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“If you missed the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, this was pretty much the tone of it: Trump: She’s a communist. She’s literally a Marxist. Harris: Actually Goldman Sachs loves me. Trump: I saw her eat a cat. It was on the TV. Harris: Dick Cheney loves me too. Trump: She won’t kill any Palestinians at all. Harris: I’ll kill way more Palestinians than he’ll kill. Trump: I will kill the most Palestinians. I’ll kill more Palestinians than anyone. Harris: You couldn’t kill even one Palestinian. You are weak. Trump: I am not weak I am strong. I am the strongest. Harris: You’re a weak little girl and you’ll let China win.” [editor’s note: At least this pundit attacks both war party wings, instead of giving one the hall pass to lie as she chooses – SAT] (09/12/24)
- A Second Trump Presidency Would be Terrible for the Economy
Source: The Bulwark
by Mona Charen“It would not seem to be a tough call for undecideds, and yet, as we know from surveys, most low-information voters will not be prioritizing preserving democracy, the rule of law, or America’s role in the world when they come to decide whom to support. If the polls are correct, their decisions will rest heavily on the economy. A June Washington Post survey found that 61 percent of undecided voters rate the economy as the most important issue in the election, and 50 percent rated inflation as the top concern for the nation. … This is where Trump’s gross misbehavior may serve him well. His opponents spend so much time responding to his flagrant lies, unprecedented threats, invitations to violence, and crude sexual innuendos that we have little bandwidth to deal with his completely fantastical and absurd policy proposals.” (09/12/24)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/a-second-trump-presidency-would-be
- America’s Racist, Xenophobic, and Highly Specific Fear of Haiti
Source: The Intercept
by Jonah Valdez“Springfield, Ohio, resident Tracy Paschke-Johannes tuned into Tuesday night’s presidential debate from her home, anxious about whether former President Donald Trump would spew the anti-immigrant rumors about Haitians living in her city that have been circulating online and on TV over the last several days. It took Trump less than five minutes. … Experts and advocates who pay close attention to the issue share Paschke-Johannes’s concerns, fearing physical harm, loss of jobs, criminalization, and negative mental health affects for Haitian and other Black immigrants across the U.S., fueled by Trump’s comments on a stage that close to 67 million people watched. Such comments and the harm that follows, they said, didn’t begin with Trump but is rooted in a long legacy in the United States of discrimination against immigrants — specifically Black immigrants and people coming from Haiti.” (09/12/24)
https://theintercept.com/2024/09/12/trump-springfield-haiti-cats-dogs-racism-immigration/
- Interview: That High Carbon Lifestyle
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Davis Hunt“In light of Tennessee’s recent work to encourage statewide nuclear energy production, we sat down with Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, to discuss the country’s energy landscape. A staunch supporter of free-market energy solutions, Isaac has testified in front of Congress four times about the dangers of ESG and the importance of energy security. You may recognize him from his appearances on Fox News and PragerU, and his articles published in the Daily Wire.” (09/12/24)
https://pamphleteer.co/newsletter/that-high-carbon-lifestyle/
- Innovations in care delivery can improve access to primary care for Medicaid beneficiaries
Source: Niskanen Center
by Lawson Mansell & Daphne Hansell“This year, the House passed the Medicaid Primary Care Improvement Act (H.3836) sponsored by Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA). The legislation ensures that state Medicaid programs can contract with direct primary care (DPC) providers, a membership-based primary care model that gives patients virtually unlimited access to a doctor for an affordable monthly fee. The primary care shortage necessitates innovation in care models and state financing to ensure access to primary care physicians. The passage of H.3836 would facilitate easier access for Medicaid patients to receive consistent and reliable preventive care, thereby optimizing the safety net that Medicaid provides to low-income Americans and enhancing the healthcare options available to patients.” (09/12/24)
- Carbon taxes vs. regulation
Source: EconLog
by Scott Sumner“What is better for the environment, selling a few cars that are 100% emission free, or selling a lot of cars that are 95% emission free? Governments are generally not very good at making this sort of calculation; hence ‘command and control’ regulations often end up being relatively inefficient. In contrast, a carbon tax encourages consumers to make the decision that is best for the economy, including the external costs of emissions.” (09/12/24)
- 21 Observations About China
Source: Yascha Mounk
by Yascha Mounk“Yesterday, I returned from a one-week visit to Shanghai, where I spoke at an academic conference at Fudan University and gave a public lecture about the U.S. elections. I came away with a lot of thoughts and observations — and a keen awareness that I know the country far too little to sculpt them into a coherent whole. So instead of pretending to a wisdom I do not possess, I thought I would share with you the different ideas swirling around in my head. In that spirit, here are 21 observations about China based on my recent visit.” (09/12/24)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/21-observations-about-china
- The Trump-Harris Debate: Racist Lies Vs. Military Clichés
Source: Common Dreams
by Robert C Koehler“If nothing else, former U.S. President Donald Trump is forcing mainstream America out of its jail cell of clichés and political correctness, even though his apparent ‘vision’ for America is primarily a dark comedy of lies. Yeah, I watched the debate. Was the Trump character played by Rodney Dangerfield? Maybe Don Rickles? He could have been. The problem, however, is that there’s nothing funny about racism, which seemed to be the primary core of Trump’s blather. Did Vice President Kamala Harris ‘win’ the debate? Uh … this wasn’t a ping-pong game, much as ‘Who won?’ seems to be the media focal point. My question is: Did anybody win? Did the whole country lose?” [editor’s note: The answer to that is yes, as well as that the “three against one” nature of the “event” rendered it useless to any sense of journalism, objectivity or fairness – SAT] (09/12/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-harris-debate-racism
- The Anarchist Experience, episode 493
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich, MC, and KS discuss why Malaysian Flight 370 was disappeared, and thoughts on the debate. No Troll.” (09/14/24)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2024/09/14/the-anarchist-experience-493/
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 09/13/24
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“No matter how much of our world appears to be spinning out of control, we call the shots as to where we choose to focus our attention. Walker Larson explains what we lose with our attention spans.” (09/13/24)
- Rising, 09/13/24
Source: The Hill
“Jessica Burbank and Amber Duke give latest update on the 2024 presidential race.” (09/13/24)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4878312-rising-september-13-2024/
- The Political Orphanage, 09/13/24
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Maybe I’m Wrong About Woke?” (09/13/24)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/maybe-im-wrong-about-woke
- Serious Trouble, 09/13/24
Source: Serious Trouble
“Reversible Error.” (09/13/24)
- Jim Bovard on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Jim Bovard on IRS Election Meddling and the Trump-Harris Debate.” (09/13/24)
- Meme Wars, 09/13/24
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Just One Pet a Month is All it Takes.” (09/13/24)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/meme-wars-just-one-pet-a-month-is-all-it-takes
- The Bulwark Podcast, 09/13/24
Source: The Bulwark
“Jeffrey Goldberg: Trump Doesn’t Believe in America.” (09/13/24)
- The Dispatch Podcast, 09/13/24
Source: The Dispatch
“Who Moderates the Moderators.” (09/13/24)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/who-moderates-the-moderators/
- The New Abnormal, 09/13/24
Source: The Daily Beast
“How To Trigger Donald Trump With These Simple Words.” (09/13/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-simple-keywords-that-are-setting-trump-off
- The Chris Spangle Show, 09/13/24
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Why Does Everything Feel So Absurd?” (09/13/24)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/why-does-everything-feel-so-absurd
- Politics Politics Politics, 09/13/24
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Did I Totally Misread the Debate? (with Tom LoBianco and Michael Cohen).” (09/13/24)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/13/24
Source: Antiwar.com
“Investigation Refutes Israel’s Claim on Aysenur Eygi, Putin Warning on Long-Range Strikes, and More.” (09/13/24)
- So To Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, episode 224
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and free speech.” (09/12/24)
- Just Asking Questions, 09/12/24
Source: Reason
“Glenn Greenwald: Why Did Brazil Ban X?” (09/12/24)
https://reason.com/podcast/2024/09/12/glenn-greenwald-why-did-brazil-ban-x/
- Homeschooling Journeys, 09/12/24
Source: Pioneer Institute
“From Stress to Success: How Daniella Transformed Her Son’s Learning with ESA Funds.” (09/12/24)
- The Libertarian Angle, 09/12/24
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Jacob and Richard discuss the political and economic crisis in Venezuela and the lessons the crisis holds for Americans.” (09/12/24)
https://libertarianangle.libsyn.com/lessons-for-america-from-the-crisis-in-venezuela
- Free Talk Cast, episode 14
Source: Free Talk Live
“Aria and Nikki talk about the difficulties and futility of trying to protect your data online.” (09/12/24)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-cast-014-online-privacy
- Rising, 09/12/24
Source: The Hill
“Jessica Burbank and Robby Soave discuss Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris.” (09/12/24)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/4876050-rising-september-12-2024/
- DMZ with Bill Scher and Matt Lewis, 09/12/24
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“Kamala Set 3 Traps in the Debate.” (09/12/24)