Advice from Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani, who won the New York City mayoral election in November, provided some advice in a video monologue this week regarding interacting with agents of the United States government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In the minute and a half video titled “Know Your Rights When Dealing With ICE” at Mamdani’s YouTube page, Mamdani, who will become mayor on January 1, provided several pieces of advice that, if employed, may protect people from abuse and harm at the hands of government agents.

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President Trump’s Drug War Bad Math

You may have heard President Donald Trump declare once or more his often repeated claim that the United States government has saved the lives of 25,000 Americans each time its military has blown up a purported drug trafficking boat over the last few months in the Caribbean and Pacific. That sounds impressive. But, as Jacob Sullum explained in a Tuesday Reason article, Trump’s numbers don’t make sense.

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US May Remove Shots from Childhood Vaccine Schedule after Considering Other Nations’ Policies

President Donald Trump, in a Friday memorandum, directed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acting Director Jim O’Neill “to review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices.” If Kennedy and O’Neill “determine that those best practices are superior to current domestic recommendations,” Trump further directed that Kennedy and O’Neill update the US government’s childhood vaccine schedule accordingly.

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TSA’s New Confirm.ID Tax

Back in March of 2014, I wrote about how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operates an extortion racket-style scheme via its PreCheck program that gives travelers who pay a fee and jump through a bunch of hoops including submitting to fingerprinting and a background check a chance, though no guarantee, that they can evade some harassment from the TSA itself. In the same vein, starting in February, TSA is planning to roll out a new tax and other demands, termed Confirm.ID, that will be required of individuals who do not have REAL ID compliant identification documentation in order for them to travel from point A or point B.

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The DOJ is Prosecuting a Drug Kingpin, Blah, Blah, Blah

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was patting itself on the back with gusto last week in publicizing it is prosecuting alleged drug kingpin Zhi Dong Zhang upon his extradition from Mexico. The prosecution is a really big deal in the US government’s effort to win the war on drugs according to the assertions of several government employees in the DOJ press release.

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Poll Finds the Majority of Americans Are Not Buying the Trump Administration’s Excuse for Military Action Against Venezuela

A CBS poll conducted November 19-21 has found that 70 percent of polled Americans oppose the United States government taking military action in Venezuela. This result is in line with polling earlier in November by Reuters/Ipsos that found that only 21 percent of polled Americans support the US government using military force for the specific objective of removing from office Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.

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Justin Raimondo, an Irreplaceable Communicator

Long-term visitors to the Ron Paul Institute website will recall the editorials by Justin Raimondo posted on the website during the institute’s early years. Raimondo’s commentary concerning current events, with focus on United States foreign policy, was unique and valuable. Raimondo, who died in 2019, was an irreplaceable communicator.

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