Ivo Vegter
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ivovegter.bsky.social
Ivo Vegter
@ivovegter.bsky.social
770 followers 1.3K following 490 posts
South African. Columnist at The Daily Friend (http://dailyfriend.co.za/author/ivo/). I advocate classical liberalism, free markets, science and reason. I oppose authoritarianism, socialism, nationalism, and prejudice.
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What is fascism, and is Trump’s America it? (Part 1)
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/21/w...
(My latest column. Supporters of Donald Trump are quick to disavow the label “fascist”, which really is no surprise. It is damning, and is often used gratuitously.)
What is fascism, and is Trump’s America it? (Part 1) - Daily Friend
Supporters of Donald Trump are quick to disavow the label “fascist”, which really is no surprise. It is damning, and is often used gratuitously.
dailyfriend.co.za
Trump Dares Congress To Take Its War Powers Seriously in Venezuela |
The president bet that no one would stop him from land attacks in Venezuela. And Congress hasn’t given him any reason to think otherwise.
reason.com/2025/10/24/t...
Trump dares Congress to take its war powers seriously in Venezuela
The president bet that no one would stop him from land attacks in Venezuela. And Congress hasn’t given him any reason to think otherwise.
reason.com
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages plummet after a “breakdown” in archiving projects |
Between May and October 2025, homepage snapshots fell by 87% across 100 news publications.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
(Troubling. The IA is such an important project.)
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages plummet after a “breakdown” in archiving projects
Between May and October 2025, homepage snapshots fell by 87% across 100 news publications.
www.niemanlab.org
What is fascism, and is Trump’s America it? (Part 1)
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/21/w...
(My latest column. Supporters of Donald Trump are quick to disavow the label “fascist”, which really is no surprise. It is damning, and is often used gratuitously.)
What is fascism, and is Trump’s America it? (Part 1) - Daily Friend
Supporters of Donald Trump are quick to disavow the label “fascist”, which really is no surprise. It is damning, and is often used gratuitously.
dailyfriend.co.za
Suddenly MAGA fans don’t want free speech anymore
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/17/s...
(My latest column. South African fans of Donald Trump don’t seem to understand what “free speech” means. No, it doesn’t mean “speech has consequences”. It means the exact opposite.)
Suddenly MAGA fans don’t want free speech anymore - Daily Friend
South African fans of Donald Trump don’t seem to understand what “free speech” means. No, it doesn’t mean “speech has consequences”. It means the exact opposite.
dailyfriend.co.za
Reposted by Ivo Vegter
Huh. Gonna be an awkward day for Secretary of State-National Security Advisor-Acting Archivist Marco Rubio.

www.rickscott.senate.gov/services/fil...
An artificial intelligence reckoning is coming
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/10/a...
(My latest column. Truly disruptive technologies are relatively rare, despite what marketers will tell you. AI is worthy of the adjective.)
An artificial intelligence reckoning is coming - Daily Friend
Truly disruptive technologies are relatively rare, despite what marketers will tell you. AI is worthy of the adjective.
dailyfriend.co.za
Help, I’ve run out of exasperated headlines
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/08/h...
(My latest column. Last time, I said “Ramaphosa will talk this country to death”. Now he’s foisting yet another talk shop on us: an “economic war room”. It will fail.)
Help, I’ve run out of exasperated headlines - Daily Friend
I said “Ramaphosa will talk this country to death”. Now he’s foisting yet another talk shop on us: an “economic war room”. It will fail.
dailyfriend.co.za
Will the NCOP shield failing municipalities from accountability?
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/07/w...
(My latest column. The National Council of Provinces vetoed the Western Cape's decision to place Knysna municipality into administration. Why should other provinces have that right?)
Will the NCOP shield failing municipalities from accountability? - Daily Friend
The wheels of government grind slowly on, until they run up against the immovable wall of the National Council of Provinces.
dailyfriend.co.za
The ghoul of McCarthyism lurches forth again
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/03/t...
(My latest column. Trump is siccing the cops on people who hold views he falsely maligns as "indicia" of political violence, which will make those views look mighty noble to younger generations.)
The ghoul of McCarthyism lurches forth again - Daily Friend
In a new national security memorandum, Donald Trump has warned of thoughts and opinions that are “motivations and indicia” of political violence.
dailyfriend.co.za
A fun new consequence of MAGA cruelty: If you're a victim of human trafficking and cannot immediately prove your citizenship because someone else has your papers, don't bother complaining to the authorities. Make sex slavery great again!
The insidiousness of universal digital identification
dailyfriend.co.za/2025/10/02/t...
(@Martin_ASFL is right to warn about the privacy and control implications of digital ID schemes. The US never introduced even an old-fashioned universal IDs because it violates individual freedom.)
The insidiousness of universal digital identification - Daily Friend
Few tools have been as seductive as the promise of a universal identification system that the state can at will rely upon to enforce its
dailyfriend.co.za
South African pastor sets NEW date for ‘Rapture’
www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/pa...
(Today I learnt God is still stuck on the Julian Calendar, even though a dinkum pope replaced it with his own in 1582. How can we ever be sure of the date of Easter again?)
South African pastor sets NEW date for 'Rapture'
South African preacher Joshua Mhlakela has set a new date for the 'Rapture', adding that the 'delay' was due to this simple oversight...
www.thesouthafrican.com