Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“It is hard to believe that ‘once upon a time’ labor unions were enemies of government. Fedgov and State governments both. 150 years ago, and much more recently, the FedGov and States used the Army and National Guard (Organized Militia) to suppress labor union activities. Especially strikes. … Today, to some degree, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. In Colorado, for example, we find the Regressive-controlled General Assembly (the Legislature, both upper and lower houses) pushing for government to treat labor unions like the senior house of the General Assembly. In some really stupid ways! Especially since what the unions want means government agencies snatching more power to micro-manage everyday life, and create opportunities for new government jobs (more government parasites) and fees and fines, and at the same time increase the incentives to shove campaign contributions into the pockets of politicians.” (04/22/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/04/22/the-nanny-state-being-pushed/
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Drew Bennett, Travis Brammer, Jerod Merkle, Kurt Smith, Shawn Regan, Temple Stoellinger, Arthur Middleton, Kristin Barker, Jacob Hochard, Patrick Lendrum, Erin Welty, Craig Benjamin, & Brian Yablonski
“Virtual fencing technology holds the potential to modernize and transform livestock management, with significant but still underexplored biodiversity conservation applications. The technology uses Global Positioning System-enabled collars on livestock and software-defined boundaries to provide a virtual alternative to traditional physical fencing, creating opportunities to remove or reduce physical fences.” (04/22/26)
https://www.perc.org/2026/04/22/advancing-conservation-through-virtual-livestock-fencing/
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump’s Idiotic ‘Mad Man’ Strategy Has Collapsed (w/ Sam Stein).” (04/22/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPO8fVpMUHY
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Carolyn Iodice
“A new bill under consideration in California is facing criticism for censoring speech about immigration. Elon Musk has claimed the bill would ‘make investigating fraud illegal.’ One opponent has dubbed it the ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act,’ named after the YouTuber known for filming alleged fraud at child care centers in Somali immigrant communities in Minnesota. But its sponsor says the bill simply protects immigrant organizations from threats of violence. So which is it? The bill, AB 2624, does two things. First, it allows people who’ve faced threats or violence for providing or receiving immigration services to join California’s ‘Safe at Home’ program, which allows people to keep their residential address out of state records. Second — and this is the part we’re focusing on — it limits what regular people are allowed to post online about immigrants and the people who help them.” (04/22/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/california-lawmakers-threaten-free-speech-regarding-immigration-groups
Source: US News & World Report
“Pope Leo returns to Rome on Thursday after wrapping up an ambitious four-nation Africa tour in which he forcefully decried the direction of global leadership, denouncing despotism and war, and drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump. The first U.S. pope closed the nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) tour with a final Mass in a stadium in Equatorial Guinea, where tens of thousands began gathering in pouring rain before dawn for a last chance to see him. Leo told worshippers in a homily, his 25th speech over the 10-day tour, that the Christian message means ‘every people is set free from the slavery of evil.’ He urged them to live their faith with joy. The pope has taken on a new forceful speaking style during his time in Africa, in which he also visited Algeria, Cameroon and Angola.” (04/23/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-04-23/pope-leo-heading-back-to-rome-after-outspoken-africa-tour
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Virginia beats back Trump’s redistricting gamble.” (04/22/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/22/nx-s1-5795491/virginia-beats-back-trumps-redistricting-gamble
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Lt Col Karen Kwiatkowski: Trump Orders Hormuz Blockade After Talks Fail — Ceasefire at Risk?” (04/22/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-lt-col-karen-kwiatkowski-trump-orders-hormuz-blockade-after-talks-fail-ceasefire-at-risk/
Source: Show-Me Institute
by Cory Koedel
“We’ve written a lot at the Show-Me Institute lately about A–F letter grades for public schools. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will soon begin assigning these grades to all schools and districts under an executive order from Governor Kehoe. Legislation to codify the order may follow, depending on how the 2026 session unfolds. A central component of these letter grades is student growth. Growth measures how much students learn over the course of a year, based on state assessments. … I’ve studied academic growth extensively and believe it is the most accurate indicator of school effectiveness we have. No other measure comes close.” (04/22/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/test-score-growth-is-the-best-metric-we-have-for-understanding-school-performance/
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized two vessels in the strait of Hormuz for what it called maritime violations and escorted them to Iranian shores, according to the shipping companies and Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. Wednesday’s move was the first time Iran has seized ships since the war began in late February. … Iranian officials said they had not agreed to any extension of the truce, and criticised Trump’s decision to maintain the US naval blockade. Lead Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said a full ceasefire only made sense if the blockade was lifted. … The Pentagon said the US secretary of the navy, John Phelan, would depart the office ‘effective immediately,’ without providing an explanation for his sudden exit amid the naval blockade.” (04/23/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/apr/23/middle-east-crisis-live-news-us-iran-ceasefire-strait-of-hormuz-blockade-ships-latest-updates
Source: Liberalism.org
by Michael C Munger
“In policy debates, some see state action as the obvious solution; others say the same about civil society and/or markets. But listen closely, and you’ll often find that everyone’s gone negative: They have lots of bad things to say about the other side, and not much in favor of their own. That’s the ‘pretty pig’ problem: We can all see the downsides — many of them quite real — with one system, and so we conclude, a bit too quickly, that the other one must be better. As I’ve noted before, that approach leads to disagreement without engagement, as the advocates on both sides ignore the problems of their own preferred system: The state I can imagine is clearly a good solution to the real world commercial system I’m immersed in, but that state doesn’t exist, and its powers are not stable or reliable.” [editor’s note: Nietzsche offered a neat, concise, and true “theory of the state” … “Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.” – TLK] (04/22/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/yours-mine-or-ours-liberals-need-a-theory-of-the-state
