American Free Press View RSS

Free Speech Is Worth Fighting for 17 Apr 9:58 AM (yesterday, 9:58 am)

By Dr. Ron Paul

We do not have free speech to talk about the weather. Our Founders, particularly James Madison, who drafted the Bill of Rights, understood that our rights are not privileges granted to us by government. Instead, it was understood at the founding that these basic natural rights outlined by Madison were granted by God and thus no mere mortal could take them away. First among these is the First Amendment, which recognizes that most basic of our natural rights: the right to express ourselves in any way we wish.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

Unfortunately the U.S. government has not always been in accord with this sentiment and has, many times in our history, been at war with our freedom of speech. From the Alien and Sedition Acts at the beginning of our republic to Abraham Lincoln’s war on speech to the jailing of antiwar activists during both world wars to Kent State, the political class is all for free speech unless it is threatening to the political class.

Recently a new front has been opened in the war on free speech and it is one that Americans must take seriously. On university campuses across the country students—both American and foreign guests—have taken to protesting U.S. support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, where tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed.

The political class in the United States is determined to defend Israel from its critics and has responded to these protests by threatening and blackmailing the universities if they do not crack down on speech the Powers That Be do not like. President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump have used the power of U.S. government funding to demand a crackdown on speech they don’t like, with Trump recently pulling $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University if they don’t silence the protesters.

The real scandal is that nearly every U.S. university—both public and “private”—is government funded in the first place. But, for politicians to use the power of the purse to deny students the right to express themselves—as long as they are peaceful—just adds insult to injury.

Last week a Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University was arrested on the street by plainclothes government agents for reportedly simply writing an editorial in her university newspaper expressing her views on the Israel/Palestine conflict. She faces deportation from the country. And she is not alone. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has openly bragged about sending hundreds of students home because they express a political position he disagrees with. Others—including American citizens—have been expelled from their schools and have even had their degrees rescinded for peacefully expressing a political position that powerful people in Washington disagree with.

You may also disagree with the political position of these students. But to cheer their punishment by the U.S. government is to turn your back on the founding principles of this country. Freedom of speech is a natural right not reserved for American citizens but for all of humanity. And it has been a natural right worth defending for nearly 250 years.

First they came for foreign students expressing controversial positions and many Americans cheered because they themselves were not foreign and did not like the opinions. But make no mistake: this war on speech will not end with only foreigners being punished. It never does.

Ron Paul, a former U.S. representative from Texas and medical doctor, continues to write his weekly column for the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, online at www.ronpaulinstitute.org.

Orwellian AI Being Used to Persecute Peaceful Anti-Genocide Protesters 17 Apr 9:52 AM (yesterday, 9:52 am)

By Kevin Barrett, Ph.D.

The radical Jewish extremist group Betar has been using AI-driven facial recognition technology to persecute peaceful protesters, according to a recent report by the Associated Press. Even more disturbingly, the Department of Homeland Security may be using information supplied by the suspected terrorist group to target legitimate American residents for kidnapping and deportation.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

Betar—whose Jewish terrorist credentials recall those of Irgun, the Stern Gang, the Jewish Defense League, Meyer Lansky’s “syndicate,” and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)—has surveilled anti-genocide protests and accumulated hundreds of hours of footage, which it runs through facial recognition systems like ClearviewAI. After identifying protesters, Betar “doxxes” them by publicizing their personal information and passing it to authorities, in hopes of damaging their careers and striking fear of Jewish terrorism into their hearts.

A group of California anti-genocide activists has filed a lawsuit against ClearviewAI. The group’s attorney, Sejal Zota, argues that providing extremist and terrorist groups like Betar with surveillance technology, previously used only by police and military agencies, is a very bad idea.

Betar’s state-supported terrorists, agents of a hostile foreign government, work directly with Israeli invaders, who have been working overtime to maintain their country’s stranglehold on the United States. Associated Press reports:

In early February, messages … were posted in an online chat group frequented by Israelis living in New York. “Do you know students at Columbia or any other university who are here on a study visa and participated in demonstrations against Israel?” one message said in Hebrew. “If so, now is our time!”

Imagine if Arabic-speaking Palestinians, or Farsi-speaking Persians, were doing the same thing to Jews. Imagine if the Arabs or Persians were agents of the Yemeni or Iranian government, and were working closely with al Qaeda or ISIS to persecute and terrorize Jewish students.

Another AI surveillance tool, NesherAI, was created specifically for Jewish terrorists. The company’s founder, Eliyahu Hawila, named the company after the Hebrew word for “eagle.” Hawila spends his days poring over photographs of peaceful protesters, figuring out who they are, and then trying to ruin their lives because they oppose genocide.

The Trump administration, which organized crime apparently bought by way of the Adelson Gang’s $100-million-plus bribe billed as a campaign contribution, has been extralegally kidnapping people fingered by Jewish terrorist groups. Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, and others have been snatched off the street by masked goons and disappeared to distant gulags in places like Louisiana—prisons considered among the worst in the world.

The current Zionist war on anti-genocide protesters may be extreme, but it is hardly unprecedented. The ADL—a terrorist group created by rich Jews to defend one of their number, Leo Frank, who happened to be a child-rapist and child-murderer—has long been stalking, surveilling, and punishing those it deems a risk to Jewish supremacist control of America. As Ron Unz reports:

In January 1993, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) reported that it had recently raided the Northern California headquarters of the ADL based upon information provided by the FBI. The SFPD discovered that the organization had been keeping intelligence files on more than 600 civic organizations and 10,000 individuals, overwhelmingly of a liberal orientation, with the SFPD inspector estimating that 75% of the material had been illegally obtained, much of it by secret payments to police officials. This was merely the tip of the iceberg in what clearly amounted to the largest domestic spying operation by any private organization in American history.

That Orwellian monster is now destroying American higher education.

College campuses constantly host protests on a wide range of issues. Sometimes the students are right, and sometimes they’re wrong. But whatever the issue, university administrations have always gone out of their way to tolerate and even encourage protests—until now. Suddenly, the universities have begun quashing peaceful protests, expelling students, and cooperating with the government (and even private terrorist groups) to crush anti-genocide protests.

It seems there is only one group in America that must never be questioned. It tells outrageous lies about history and forces everyone to pretend to believe those lies. And it lies even more outrageously about current events, including the Israeli military’s mass slaughter of many of its own civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, and its vastly worse slaughter of civilians since then. Anyone who notices the lies, and the genocide driven by those lies, had better keep their mouths shut.

An alleged Voltaire quotation has never been more apropos: “If you want to know who rules over you, just look for who you are not allowed to criticize.” The people who rule over us and who won’t let us criticize them insist that the quotation is spurious. Maybe so. It’s quite possible that Voltaire never said anything that true, that powerful, and/or that relevant.

Kevin Barrett, Ph.D., is an Arabist-Islamologist scholar and one of America’s best-known critics of the War on Terror. From 1991 through 2006, Dr. Barrett taught at colleges and universities in San Francisco, Paris, and Wisconsin. In 2006, however, he was attacked by Republican state legislators who called for him to be fired from his job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison due to his political opinions.

Trump’s Election Order Sparks Legal Showdown: What’s at Stake 17 Apr 9:37 AM (yesterday, 9:37 am)

By José Niño

President Donald Trump’s first two months in office have been marked by a flurry of executive orders aimed at energizing the most zealous segments of his voter base.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

On March 25, 2025, Trump issued Executive Order 14248, titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which proposes sweeping changes to the federal election process—a central concern for Trump supporters who have long demanded election integrity.

The order requires states to mandate proof of citizenship from individuals registering to vote in federal elections. It also instructs states to disqualify mail-in ballots received after Election Day, even if postmarked by the deadline. Additionally, it grants the newly established Department of Government Efficiency—headed by tech guru Elon Musk—access to national voter registration data.

However, a coalition of Democratic lawmakers and organizations quickly pushed back. On March 31, 2025, the group filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs include Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. They allege the executive order “usurps powers the Constitution explicitly assigns to states and Congress.”

The lawsuit hinges on the Elections Clause (Article I, Section 4) of the U.S. Constitution, which gives states the authority to regulate elections, subject to congressional oversight. The plaintiffs argue that Trump’s order violates this structure by allowing the executive branch to dictate voter registration requirements, mail ballot deadlines, and data-sharing protocols.

The filing states:

The framers deliberately excluded the presidency from election administration to prevent exactly this kind of partisan overreach.

The complaint further asserts that the president “lacks any constitutional or statutory authority to regulate the conduct of federal elections” and describes the order as an “unprecedented power grab” by the chief executive. Legal scholars cited in the complaint underscore that the founding fathers intentionally excluded the presidency from conducting election operations to guard against political interference.

A major point of contention is the order’s treatment of mail ballot deadlines. It targets laws in approximately 30 states that accept ballots postmarked by Election Day but received shortly after. Democratic opponents argue this provision “directly nullifies state legislative choices” and could disenfranchise voters—especially military personnel and rural residents—who rely on mail services. The lawsuit emphasizes that many of these deadlines were enacted through bipartisan consensus and upheld by state courts, making federal intervention “legally indefensible.”

Another sticking point is the proof-of-citizenship requirement on federal voter registration forms, which plaintiffs liken to a modern-day poll tax. The complaint argues this disproportionately affects naturalized citizens, low-income voters, and domestic violence survivors, who may not have immediate access to official documents.

It also alleges a violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which prohibits states from imposing “discriminatory and unnecessary barriers” to voter registration.

Trump’s order also faces at least three additional legal challenges, including suits filed by 19 Democratic state attorneys general and civil rights groups. Collectively, these lawsuits characterize the order as a direct threat to both voting access and states’ rights.

The Trump administration has defended the executive order, arguing that mail-in voting and non-citizen registration pose systemic threats to electoral integrity. “Proof of citizenship is a common-sense step; you need it to get a library card,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Supporters of the order contend that different rules across states confuse voters—particularly military families—and that standardization is long overdue. “A soldier in Texas should not face different deadlines than one in New York,” argued Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

For now, the order remains in effect, leaving election officials across the country in a state of uncertainty. “We’re stuck between federal threats and our own laws,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “This chaos is exactly what the Constitution was designed to prevent.”

As the legal battle intensifies, it highlights a growing national debate over election integrity measures—and whether they safeguard democracy or suppress participation. At its core, the case poses a fundamental question: Who gets to shape America’s electoral processes in an era of escalating partisanship? The case is Democratic National Committee et al. v. Trump et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-00432 (D.D.C. 2025).

José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and  Twitter. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control at josealbertonino.gumroad.com. Subscribe to his “Substack” newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.

Issue 15&16 2025 News You May Have Missed 16 Apr 11:23 AM (2 days ago)

Ill Prepared for Attack

For the last three years, the United States has been giving Ukraine everything it needs in the form of offensive and defensive weapons in its war with Russia. This has included air defense systems, much of it taken from the U.S. military’s own vital stockpiles. America’s dwindling supplies of defensive weapons matter, because, on Jan. 18, 2024, three U.S. soldiers were killed after drones were repeatedly fired at a U.S. base. When the base asked for more defensive weapons, they were denied, leading to the deaths of American GIs. The drone assault had reportedly been launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a militia group that is at least partly funded by Iran and Russia. In a recent article, The Washington Post broke this story after reporters obtained access to an Army internal investigation of the incident that detailed how the small outpost was ill-prepared for the attack.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

New Fitness Standards

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered that the Pentagon eliminate rules that allow women’s physical fitness standards in combat units to be lower than men’s. Hegseth’s new policy now mandates that all physical fitness requirements for combat arms positions—units likely to see fighting in wartime—be “sex neutral.” The mainstream press whined that the new standards will likely “significantly reduce the number of women who meet the requirements,” but that is exactly the point. Enemy fighters in combat won’t make exceptions for women, who do not have the physical strength or stamina of men, so the U.S. military should not either.

Used as Human Shields

According to independent reports, new revelations have emerged about Israel’s use of the so-called “Mosquito Protocol,” a military tactic where Palestinian civilians, including children, are used to carry out dangerous tasks instead of Israeli soldiers. According to testimony, Israeli soldiers regularly force Palestinian civilians to be the first ones to enter homes and tunnels that are suspected of being booby-trapped to check for explosives or Hamas fighters—risking Palestinian lives by making them human shields. This practice is in violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions and is considered by all to be a war crime.

Waste and Fraud

As part of a new policy of eliminating waste and fraud, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to cut over $12 billion in taxpayers’ money that had been appropriated for federal grants. In all, the list of canceled programs totaled 51 pages. The grants included millions of dollars of handouts to the World Health Organization, Ivy League universities with billion-dollar endowments, and well-funded nonprofits.

Asteroid Update

There’s some good news and some bad news when it comes to 2024 YR4, the massive asteroid that is scheduled to pass by Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. On the bright side, scientists say it is not going to hit Earth. The bad news, however, is that astrophysicists say there’s a 4% chance it is going to smash into the Moon. Scientists say, if the asteroid hits the Moon, it will cause a two-mile-wide crater, but, other than that, they don’t know just how much damage it could do. The asteroid is large enough that it would likely level an entire U.S. city if it hit anywhere near one, and, judging from previous asteroid and comet strikes from the past, would cause widespread damage for hundreds of miles to surrounding areas from the resultant force of the impact.

Prescription for Disaster

Americans are increasingly waiting weeks or even months to get an appointment to see a doctor or healthcare specialist. The increasing delays couldn’t come at a worse time, because the population of aging adults is rising dramatically as people are living longer and longer. By 2050, the number of adults over 85 is expected to triple. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a national shortage of 140,000 physicians by 2036, with that shortfall spanning multiple specialties, including primary care, obstetrics, cardiology, and geriatrics. A number of reasons are behind these shortages, but the lack of affordable medical schools in the United States tops the list.

Gay Blades

On April 6, female fencer Stephanie Turner, aged 31, made the heartbreaking decision to forfeit her match in the women’s division at the state-sponsored Cherry Blossom Open sporting match rather than fight a male opponent, who claims he is a woman. In a photo that has been shown all over social media, Turner can be seen on one knee with her mask off, kneeling in front of transsexual male Redmond Sullivan before a judge comes over and calls the match. Turner said she came to the decision the night before the event when she checked the competition pools and saw that she would be competing against Sullivan. “I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women’s objections regarding [its gender eligibility policy],” Turner told Fox News. Last year, Redmond competed as a male and did not do well, ranking 29th in one men’s event. After moving over to the women’s division, Sullivan’s ranking improved significantly. In January 2025, Sullivan came in first out of six competitors in the Junior Women’s Foil event in Newtown, Conn.

Behind the Eight Ball

A professional women’s pool tournament in the UK was hit with protests recently after a final match ended up being between two transsexual male players, each of whom went by their adopted female names, Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith. The two males, who say (and evidently believe) they are women, faced off in the Ultimate Pool Women’s Pro Series Event 2 in the United Kingdom on April 6, having each beaten four female opponents. Protesters inside the venue shouted: “He’s a man” and “We stand with Lynne Pinches.” They also held up banners saying “Save women’s sport.” Pinches is a female player who forfeited a pool game rather than play against a transsexual male. Given their overall scores, if Haynes and Smith had played against men, they would not have even qualified for the competition. Sports authorities say males have two significant advantages over women in pool. They are generally taller and have longer arms and can thus reach more difficult-to-make shots on the table, and hit harder during the initial break, giving them a significant jumpstart in the game.

Uncle Sam Needs to Stay Out of the Genocide Business 16 Apr 11:10 AM (2 days ago)

By Paul Angel

The recent rollercoaster ride on Wall Street, spurred by President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again and quite unpredictable actions on tariffs, has spooked a lot of investors. Many older Americans are especially worried that the stock market investments they are depending on to sustain them through retirement are going to evaporate in smoke, like Pacific Palisades.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

As I write this, Thursday, April 10, the market had rallied by thousands of points April 9 but is now taking another nose dive. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, or the day after, or the day after. Investors, of course, loath uncertainty, and Trump’s back-and-forth tariff announcements have some people thinking he is just winging it, with no detailed plan in place.

Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan Chase, pointed out in an interview on Fox News recently that these trade deals are extremely complicated. Agriculture deals with another nation, for instance, can average over 1,400 pages, and have hundreds of individual items within the agreement that require nuanced treatments depending on the product, a nation’s lack or excess of the product, etc.

Manufacturing tariff deals are the same way. Every nation is different and has varying needs and, thus, these trade deals require thorough contemplation by teams of real experts.

I am hoping all of this works itself out in the very near future. If the stock market has lost 75% of its value by the time this newspaper arrives in your mail box, then you can write me a note and offer me a well-deserved scolding.

Of course, all of this uncertainty scares investors, but it is not tariffs or the stock market I am most worried about right now. I am more concerned that Mr. Trump might heed the self-serving advice of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and participate in a war against Iran.

If you think you’ve seen uncertainty in the stock market, then wait until that happens. But is it going to? Signs don’t look good.

On April 7, Trump met with Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. Mr. Netanyahu is the first world leader to visit the White House since Trump announced tariffs on global trading partners on April 2. But fair trade was not all they were discussing. They were also conferring on how and when to bomb the living daylights out of the sovereign nation of Iran.

Now we find out that, according to the Pentagon, six B-2 “Spirit” aircraft have been sent to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in the largest single deployment of stealth bombers in U.S. history. The long-range bomb­ers are typically used because they can evade air defenses and carry the largest bunker-busting weapons the U.S. military has in its arsenal.

According to the website of Jane’s Defence Weekly, the famed  military and security news and analysis organization:

America’s bunker busters, particularly the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), are highly effective at penetrating deeply buried, hardened targets, capable of breaching up to 200 feet of reinforced concrete or soil.

The GBU-57A/B MOP is a precision-guided, 30,000-lb. bomb that can be fitted with a nuclear warhead, as well.

There can be no doubt, as AFP goes to press, sending these planes all the way from Missouri to a speck of land in the Indian Ocean is a message for Iran. In the past, Trump hasn’t been shy in threatening Iran, saying that, if the Persian nation doesn’t end its nuclear program—even its legal pursuit of nuclear power—Iranians will experience “bombing the likes of which they haven’t seen. … Hell will rain down on the country.”

I am not the only one anxious about this possibility. Popular newsman Tucker Carlson has also weighed in on the topic on “X”:

Whatever you think of tariffs, it’s clear that now is the worst possible time for the United States to participate in a military strike on Iran. We can’t afford it. Thousands of Americans would die. We’d lose the war that follows. Nothing would be more destructive to our country.

And, yet, we’re closer than ever, thanks to unrelenting pressure from the neocons [and Netanyahu]. This is suicidal. Anyone advocating for conflict with Iran is not an ally of the United States, but an enemy.

And, according to anti-war former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio):

The lies [of the Iraq war] cost U.S. taxpayers at least $3 trillion. Three trillion hard-earned tax dollars of the American people were spent to pay for the destruction of the people of Iraq while Americans struggled to pay bills. …

Now, the Trump administration, after a series of heady airstrikes against Yemen, is at this moment being beseeched by Netanyahu and his associates to prepare for a “consequence-free” nuclear strike against Iran, completing the trifecta of Netanyahu’s long-standing dream. …

It is not in America’s interest … to go to war with Iran, a nation of 90 million people, a technologically advanced society, with nearly a million-person army.

In the end, Iran will never crush Donald Trump. The U.S. will crush itself trying to wipe out Iran.

I think you would agree: Uncle Sam must not get back into the genocide business. This is not what America firsters voted for. How does $10-a-gallon gas sound should the Persian Gulf be shut down? And what about more dead U.S. servicemen? Would not a billion Muslims across the globe be thirsting for revenge? Of course—and rightfully so. Protests in the U.S. could dwarf the pro-Palestinian ones being held now. It’s a recipe for disaster—and a mid-term Democrat sweep.

Contact your representative and senators and tell them unequivocally that you do not support mass murder and economic devastation  for the sake of Israel, because that is the nation for whom this war would be fought.

Paul Angel is AFP’s Managing Editor.

37 States Take Steps to Ensure Honest Voting 16 Apr 11:00 AM (2 days ago)

By the staff of AFP

Concerned that radical far-left activists could undermine election integrity in the future, Wisconsinites recently voted overwhelmingly in favor of an amendment to the state’s constitution that says voters must show photo identification when casting their ballots. As of the last national election in November 2024, 37 states have now enacted similar laws to make sure U.S. elections will continue to be secure.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

“This will help maintain integrity in the electoral process, no matter who controls the legislature,” announced state Sen. Van Wanggaard (R), who co-authored the amendment.

Conservatives have long argued that voter ID is a critical step in safeguarding election security, given that liberal activists have been agitating for removing the requirement so that anyone can vote even illegal immigrants. Radical activists have argued that these laws disenfranchise minorities, who, they claim, often do not have any form of identification—an absurd stance since showing an official photo ID is commonplace around the country for even everyday activities like buying alcohol, driving a car, and boarding an airplane.

Wisconsin already had a law in place that required ID at the voting booth. That requirement had been enacted in 2011 under Gov. Scott Walker (R), but it did not take effect until 2015 due to multiple court challenges, which were eventually tossed out.

Even though Wisconsin is not considered to be a conservative state, the constitutional amendment won by a sizable margin, with 63% of the electorate backing it. Its governor, Tony Evers, is a Democrat—though he is a moderate—while Republicans control the legislature.

Wisconsin has joined many other Democrat-run states that believe you can’t have election integrity if you don’t ask people to confirm their identity. Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Washington are a few of the states with Democrat governors that have enacted some form of voter ID laws. Even Michigan, led by far-left Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, requires voters to show ID when they vote, though there are avenues for voters if they do not have an official state or military ID, like signing an affidavit of identity that the election agency will then keep on file for the voter.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan research organization, even the remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., that do not have specific laws that require voters show proof of identity when they go to vote, are stepping up their game to ensure election integrity with other methods.

“Most frequently, other identifying information provided at the polling place, such as a signature, is checked against information on file,” reports NCSL.

Following reports that the law passed on the evening of April 1, President Donald Trump took to social media to echo what many conservatives felt about this election victory.

“Voter ID just approved in Wisconsin election,” wrote Trump. “Democrats fought hard against this, presumably so they can cheat. This is a big win for Republicans.”

The truth is, this is a big win for every American voter, whether they know it or not.

Dyed-in-the-Wool  Libertarian Warns: ‘Tariffs Are Theft’ 21 Mar 5:48 AM (28 days ago)

By Dr. Ron Paul

The United States and China came closer to a full-fledged trade war in early March when China imposed tariffs of up to 15% on key U.S. agricultural exports. This was retaliation for Donald Trump’s increasing of tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States from 10% to 20%.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

China’s retaliatory tariffs show how export-dependent industries are harmed by protectionist policies. Even if other countries refrain from imposing retaliatory tariffs, exporters can still suffer from reduced demand for their products in countries targeted by U.S. tariffs. Businesses that rely on imported materials to manufacture their products also suffer from increased production costs thanks to tariffs. President Trump acknowledged how tariffs harm U.S. manufacturers when he granted the request of U.S. automakers for a one-month delay in new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.

Many American consumers who are struggling with high prices are concerned that Trump’s tariff policy will further increase prices. They are right to be concerned.

Contrary to popular belief, foreign businesses do not pay tariffs. Tariffs are paid by U.S. businesses that wish to sell the imported goods. When tariffs are increased, the importing businesses try to recoup their increased costs by increasing their prices. Consumers then must choose whether to pay the higher price, find a cheaper alternative, or do without. Whatever they choose, consumers will be worse off because they cannot spend their money the way they prefer.

Tariffs may provide a short-term benefit to the protected businesses. However, tariffs could keep businesses alive that should be allowed to fail so the business owners and workers can put their talents to use in other endeavors that would more greatly benefit and the whole economy.

Defenders of tariffs, including President Trump, claim the revenue from tariffs can be used to “offset” the revenue government loses from tax cuts. Some even claim that tariffs can generate enough revenue to allow the government to repeal the income tax. The problem with this is that a tariff brings in more revenue to “pay for” tax cuts only to the extent the tariff does not cause consumers to cease buying imported goods. Thus, the tariffs, to bring revenue to the government, must not be large enough to discourage Americans from buying foreign products.

The more tariffs increase government revenue, the more they will fail in bringing about another often-promoted tariff goal—an increase in the purchase of domestic goods.

According to the Tax Foundation, if President Trump’s tariff plan for China, Mexico, and Canada were fully implemented, it would increase federal tax revenue by $142 billion this year—an average tax increase of over $1,000 per household. The tariffs would also decrease economic output.

This does not account for the decline in consumer satisfaction caused by consumers being forced to alter their consumption choices because of government-caused price increases.

It also does not account for the new businesses, products, and jobs that could have been created had government not drained resources from the productive economy via tariffs.

The economic effects are a good enough reason to oppose raising tariffs. However, the main reason to oppose tariffs is that tariffs, like all taxes (including the inflation tax), are theft.

Ron Paul,writes a weekly column for the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. Visit his website at www.ronpaulinstitute.org.

China, Nicaragua Plan New Canal 21 Mar 3:31 AM (28 days ago)

By Donald Jeffries

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega recently announced plans for a canal spanning over 276 miles through his country, linking the Caribbean with the Pacific Ocean. The timing is interesting, given President Donald Trump’s pronouncements about taking back the Panama Canal, which Jimmy Carter sold back to Panama for $1 in 1978.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

Recently, Ortega declared:

Every day it is more complicated to pass through Panama. …  Nicaragua is ready to contribute with this passage that will give greater fluidity to maritime transport, to commerce, and we invite you all. I am sure that even North American businessmen would be interested in the canal

We are seeing the difficulties that the Panama Canal has, they have problems with the water, in terms of fluidity, the capacity for ships to pass. So traffic is slow. There are no alternatives.

Ortega claimed that the United States had already intended to build a Nicaragua canal back in 1854.

We are going to send them more information, because many studies have been made, since [the] one made by the U.S. Navy Corps of Engineers in 1866. Nicaragua can offer for the benefit of the people, for the benefit of commercial activities, for the benefit of the growth of the economy in all our countries and that we have better conditions for peace, for stability, for security, and, with this, we can put an end to misery, we can put an end to poverty, we can live with dignity.

In 2013, Ortega signed a 50-year concession to design, build, and operate a new canal, with an estimated initial cost of $40-$50 billion. The project was to include not only the canal, but ports, a new airport, free trade zones, and infrastructure for tourism.

The Chinese businessman the deal was originally made with, Wang Jing, reportedly lost much of his fortune in 2015 due to stock market losses. That being said, many experts were skeptical that Jing could raise sufficient  funds for the project. Environmentalists were concerned that the canal would cut through Lake Nicaragua, the largest freshwater body in Central America, and negatively impact its ecosystem.

In addition, thousands of Nicara­guans, especially indigenous groups and farmers, protested against the project, fearing land seizures and displacement. In 2019, an incredibly stern Nicaraguan judge sentenced three of the leaders of the farmer pro­tests to anywhere from 159 to 216 years in prison for promoting a “failed coup.”

Some Nicaraguans were suspicious of China’s motives, and saw it as an attempt for them to gain influence in Central America. Despite a symbolic “groundbreaking” in 2014, no actual construction has ever been done on the project, and it was seemingly canceled in May 2024 by the Nica­raguan congress.

However, in December 2024, Ortega submitted a new proposal to China, with a revamped route designed to make international maritime transport more efficient.

Ortega has long desired to compete with the Panama Canal, with the goal of being the alternative for world trade in the face of cyclical drought conditions that limited ship transits through Panama in 2023.

The second proposal consists of a longer route than the one promoted in 2013. Ortega made the announcement at the XVII China-LAC Business Summit, which met under the motto “Joining forces, creating opportunities: New horizons for China and Latin America and the Caribbean.” Ortega focused on promoting trade relations and coordination to deepen economic ties with the People’s Republic of China in the face of the presence of some 200 representatives and companies from China and more than 70 business leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the benefits of which Ortega boasted was competition with the Panama Canal, greater efficiency in international maritime transportation, and reducing travel times and transportation costs, boosting international trade and the economy of Nicaragua.

The Nicara­guan president also promised the creation of jobs and infrastructure development. In an interview with official Nicara­guan media, Óscar Mojica, minister of transportation and infrastructure, acknowledged that the previous route “did not respect protected areas.” Mojica estimated that the new route would cost $64.5 billion. He said:

It is a formidable investment, but we also have income estimates and results projections, and we are sure that this route is perfectly viable and profitable. Nicaragua has the capacity to provide tax exemptions to foreign investment that participates in this great project, in imports, services, exemptions for talents who come to work there, materials … machinery, property rights are guaranteed. Of course, all these incentives have a direct impact on investment.

The Trump administration has remained oddly silent on the proposed new canal. However, Trump’s rather abrupt vow to reclaim the Panama Canal came at approximately the same time as Ortega’s new offer to China for a competing canal in Nicaragua. Since Trump had not mentioned the Panama Canal before, it is impossible not to believe there is a connection.

New FBI Director Promises Transparency on Epstein Files 21 Mar 2:26 AM (28 days ago)

By Donald Jeffries

Last year, a judge ordered the “official” Epstein list—related to billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s procurement of underage girls to his private island—to be released to the public. No “official” list appears to have ever been released. The ones that were produced were quickly met with allegations that they weren’t really legitimate.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

In late February, Attorney General Pam Bondi became involved. First, she announced that the Epstein list was sitting on her desk. She said it was being reviewed, at the “directive” of President Donald Trump. At the same time, Trump told a podcaster that he would “be inclined” to release Epstein’s entire client list.

Documents released in January 2024, connected to the lawsuit of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, named high-profile figures like Prince Andrew of Great Britain and former President Bill Clinton. For unclear reasons, a group of conservative influencers, including Liz Wheeler, Mike Cernovich, and the woman who tweets as Libs of Tik Tok, were presented with binders that read “Epstein Files—Phase 1” by Bondi, then photographed holding them up for members of the press.

Bondi had told Fox News the night before that “Phase 1” would consist of “flight logs, names, and a lot of information.” These files consisted of some 200 pages, but turned out to contain more redactions than actual information.

An angry Bondi claimed that the FBI had betrayed her, and publicly charged that the Southern District of New York was concealing potentially thousands of files related to Epstein.

In a new interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, Bondi said FBI Director Kash Patel and others were going over “thousands” of Epstein documents.

In a related development, James Dennehy, director of the FBI’s New York office, tendered his resignation in the wake of news reports blaming his office for withholding the files.

Making the case even more problematic, the crucial hard drives and videotapes seized by authorities from a safe in Epstein’s mansion in 2019 were inexplicably not entered into evidence. Suspiciously, they have now been “lost.”

During the 2021 trial of Epstein’s key cohort, Ghislaine Maxwell, an FBI special agent testified that key evidence “went missing.” Also mysteriously missing are carefully organized binders that contained CDs and photos, found on a shelf on the fifth floor of Epstein’s upper east side mansion. According to one report, authorities found damning photos of recognizable VIPs with nude underage girls. Epstein was known to have installed video cameras everywhere, and this lost evidence undoubtedly included film of famous figures consorting with minors.

During Giuffre’s trial, a witness testified to the “very troubling removal of evidence” from Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion as well.

The focus on the Epstein “list” is curious. A list is not a legal document. The lists that have appeared online could have been typed up by anyone. Every famous name that appears there will have top-notch lawyers, and they will insist either that the list is fake, or that their client knew Epstein, perhaps flew on his private plane, but knew nothing about any underage girls.

Prosecuting such big names is always difficult but, in this case, the fact that Epstein was found dead in his prison cell under very questionable circumstances, while most of the best evidence against him has been “lost,” makes it almost impossible.

Maxwell was offered a lighter sentence if she named names, but she refused to. Maxwell was essentially convicted of procuring minors for unknown persons.

Trump being friendly with Epstein presents another problem. Given the divisiveness in the country, any list that doesn’t include his name will be declared fake by those who hate him, while any list that has his name will be declared fake by his most devoted supporters.

An FBI whistleblower recently alleged that FBI employees had been deleting Epstein files. These files may well be related to Epstein’s reported connections to Israeli intelligence. An angry Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Texas) tweeted to Bondi, “This is not what we or the American people asked for and a complete disappointment. Get us the information we asked for!”

Director Kash Patel may find it hard to live up to the following declaration he made:

The FBI is entering a new era—one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned—and anyone from the prior or current bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be. The oath we take is to the Constitution, and, under my leadership, that promise will be upheld without compromise.

Donald Jeffries is a highly respected author and researcher whose work on the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations and other high crimes of the Deep State has been read by millions of people across the world. Jeffries is also the author of three books currently being sold by AFP Bookstore.

Issue 11&12 2025 News You May Have Missed 20 Mar 10:24 AM (29 days ago)

Peace—Not War—With Iran

Warmongering Republicans have worked themselves into a lather over President Donald Trump saying in a recent interview that he would prefer a nuclear deal with Iran over war. “I said, I hope you’re going to negotiate, because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran,” Trump told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. Trump was referring to a letter he sent to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal,” he said. “I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been agitating for war with Iran for over a decade and would like nothing more than to drag the United States into it.

Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article

Ukraine Targets U.S. Officials

According to independent media outlet “The Grayzone,” the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been implicated in funding a Ukrainian organization called Molfar, which labeled Vice President JD Vance, when he was a senator, along with other U.S. officials and public figures as “foreign propagandists” aligned with Russia, because those individuals wanted to end the war. Established in 2019, Molfar describes itself as an “open-source intelligence community platform” that “collects lists of Ukrainian enemies to bring war criminals to justice.” The group’s website identifies USAID and the U.S. Civil Research and Development Fund (CRDF) as partners—meaning there was financial and operational backing from U.S. government agencies.

Lowest Support Ever for Israel

According to a new Gallup poll, for the first time ever, a minority of Americans—only 46%—say they are sympathetic to the Israelis. It is the lowest support Gallup has logged in 25 years of tracking the issue.

A 21st-Century Black Death

As the new secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first initiative should have been to make Americans more healthy by encouraging them to quit junk food and exercise more, but that’s not what he did. On March 3, RFK Jr. announced America’s pre-eminent health organization would be going after Columbia University for the university’s “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students.” RFK Jr. announced the creation of the federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which would be going after millions of dollars in federal grant money given to Columbia. Administrators at Columbia had actually called in a SWAT team to remove pro-Palestine student protesters, who were peacefully occupying a college building, but that apparently wasn’t good enough for RFK Jr. “Anti-Semitism—like racism—is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues,” said RFK in his press release on the issue.

A Biden Crony’s Housing Scam

The Department of Government Efficiency recently took steps to cancel a $215 million contract for a Texas nonprofit that operated a housing facility for migrants. The catch was, the housing facility sat empty for months with no one occupying it. Who benefited from the wasteful deal? The administrator of the nonprofit was an immigration official who had worked in the Biden administration.

No Way to Stop It

Whether you like it or not, completely automated cars will soon be traveling on the roads around the country. Zoox, an Amazon-backed self-driving taxi company, has already been rolling out cars in cities in the United States. Regulators want to pump the brakes, however. According to reports, Zoox failed to meet vehicle safety standards, because the cars lack the basics like a brake pedal, a steering wheel, and rearview mirrors. In 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) produced a report as part of a review of Zoox that noted, without a steering wheel or other human controls, there is no way for a person to drive the car if it goes out of control. Zoox has asserted that the vehicle’s technology, backed by artificial intelligence, complies with the agency’s standards.

End the Fed

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) recently re-introduced an “end the Fed” bill, officially titled “the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act” (H.R. 1846). The measure would abolish the privately owned and controlled Fed. “Americans would be better off if the Federal Reserve did not exist,” he said in announcing his bill. “The Fed devalues our currency by monetizing the debt, causing inflation.”

Spring Forward, Fall Backward

Since 2022, 20 states have permanently adopted so-called “Daylight Savings Time” (DST), the period of the year when Americans “spring forward” one hour to shift more daylight into the evening hours. Those states include Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. States, by federal law, can only remain on standard time year round—something done in Hawaii and parts of Arizona—but they cannot choose to stay on DST unless there is congressional action allowing them to do so. Earlier this term, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the “Lock the Clock” bill, which would make DST year-round. It is stuck in committee..

Blue Ghost on the Moon

On March 2, the privately owned company Firefly announced that its unmanned Blue Ghost spaceship completed its 45-day mission to the Moon, landing on its surface that day. Firefly is now the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. As AFP goes to press, the ship is sending high resolution photos back to Earth, including photos of the Earth eclipsing the Sun.

Musk’s Dead Satellites

There are growing concerns that there could be problems related to the thousands of satellites that Starlink has launched in the sky and are currently orbiting Earth. According to the latest reports, every few years, Starlink needs to replace older satellites with newer ones, and the lifespan of around 500 of the first-generation Starlink satellites has already ended. There are currently around 7,000 satellites being operated by Starlink, and the company is planning to refresh its satellite network every five years. Starlink representatives say the satellites will burn up entirely upon re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere, but researchers worry about falling debris as well as pollution that will come about from these dead satellites.

New UFO Documentary

A new UFO documentary titled The Age of Disclosure has been making waves since it debuted at a recent film festival in Texas. The documentarian behind it, Dan Farah, told reporters about the secret effort involved to make what he is calling “the most credible nonfiction movie ever about the topic.” According to published reports, what makes The Age of Disclosure stand out among the thousands of previous UFO film and TV documentary efforts over the past several decades is that Farah only included on-record interviews with current and former senior members of the U.S. government, military, and intelligence community who say they have direct knowledge of unidentified anomalous phenomena, the official name for UFOs.

Democrats Block Bill

In early March, the House of Representatives passed landmark legislation that would ban all males from competing in female sports—something that 80% of Americans support. The measure, however, died in the Senate as Democrats moved to block the perfectly reasonable bill. It required a 60% majority.