Source: SFGate
“Multiple people in Glendale have been sentenced in a bizarre felony insurance fraud case involving a bear costume and luxury cars. Officials from the California Department of Insurance launched the investigation back in 2024 after an insurance company flagged an unusual claim of a Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan being damaged after a bear climbed inside near Lake Arrowhead. The grainy surveillance footage appeared to show a bear rummaging through the vehicle, and photos submitted showed scratches on the interior of the car, which can retail for over $400,000 when new. But the video and photos from the scene didn’t look quite right. During the investigation, detectives sent the footage to a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who ‘concluded the animal shown was clearly a human in a bear suit,’ according to the news release from the California Department of Insurance.” (04/17/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/fake-bear-attack-22211907.php
Source: The Bulwark
“Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV are probably the two most prominent Americans in the world right now, and they’re fighting. So we asked American Catholics (including those who voted for Trump) what they thought of their feud, and about Trump’s Truth Social Post depicting himself as Jesus. JVL returns to the show with some choice words for some of his fellow Catholics, and discusses the role the Catholic Church has played in American politics more broadly.” (04/18/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k4VOBfdCso
Source: The Atlantic
by Adam Serwer
“The Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán, who lost his election in a landslide on Sunday after 16 years in power, presented himself as a defender of Western civilization. But at best, his lofty rhetoric was a code for bigotry and a justification for the persecution of minorities; at worst, it was a scam to fleece Hungarians by persuading them to blame everyone but those responsible for their problems. Maybe both. Eventually Hungarians decided that a major source of their problems was Orbán himself.” (04/17/26)
https://archive.is/Gthb8
Source: Roll Call
“The numbers that define Congress.” (04/17/26)
https://chrt.fm/track/D3F8DG/traffic.megaphone.fm/FISCAL7854245420.mp3
Source: Desultory Scribblings
by Tyler Harris
“Delaware and Vermont only have one Congressional representative each, elected statewide. It is literally impossible to gerrymander a statewide district. There is no process of drawing boundary lines; the state’s borders are the boundary lines. This in itself should be enough to completely discredit the argument being put forth. Anyone claiming a nefarious Democratic Congressional gerrymander of Delaware should take a big step back. If, after all, they have been fed and subsequently repeated a lie so moronic on its face, then what subtler lies are they also being fed and repeating?” (04/17/26)
https://tylerjohnharris.substack.com/p/no-virginia-delawares-congressional
Source: The Nation
by Maryam Jamshidi
“The US/Israeli war is indisputably unlawful. It constitutes one of the gravest crimes under international law — the crime of aggression. The legality of Iran’s regulation of the Strait is, however, less clear-cut. Though Iran has not formally blockaded the Strait, it required ships to coordinate with it and abide by its regulatory regime in order to pass through during the war and ceasefire. … Iran has also reportedly charged a fee to some passing ships. Unlike the United States, however, Iran can make a reasonable case that it is within its rights to do all these things under international law.” (04/17/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/iran-strait-of-hormuz-international-law/
Source: Times of India [India]
“A Canadian man facing murder charges for allegedly selling lethal substances online to people at risk of self-harm has agreed to plead guilty to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, his lawyer said on Saturday. In turn, Canadian prosecutors will withdraw all 14 murder charges filed against Kenneth Law, lawyer Matthew Gourlay told The Associated Press in a email. … Canadian police say Law, from the Toronto area, used a series of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, a substance commonly used to cure meats that can be deadly if ingested.” (04/18/26)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/canadian-man-facing-14-murder-charges-to-plead-guilty-to-aiding-suicide-his-lawyer-says/articleshow/130367041.cms
Source: Crooked Media
“The Gospel According to Trump.” (04/17/26)
https://audioboom.com/posts/8891175-the-gospel-according-to-trump
Source: The Daily Economy
by Richard Menger
“CON laws give regulators — and incumbent providers — the power to block new competition, at the expense of access and affordability.” (04/17/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/certificate-of-need-laws-how-government-permission-slips-restrict-care-and-raise-costs/
Source: Antiwar.com
“Hegseth: US Ready To Bomb Iran’s Power Plants, Trump Announces Lebanon Ceasefire, and More.” (04/17/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji1t-rUWE3M
