The Kyle Anzalone Show, 04/13/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson: Are Russia, China and Iran the Big Winners of Trump and Netanyahu’s War?” (04/13/26)
Chiles v. Salazar: A New Frontier of Speech
Source: Washington Monthly
by Alison Gash
“In its 8–1 ruling on Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, the Supreme Court recast mental health care as protected expression.” [editor’s note: The First Amendment is not unclear. Speech is speech, Not liking particular content of speech doesn’t magically make it not speech – TLK] (04/13/26)
Big Beautiful Tax Returns Are Keeping Consumers Afloat
Source: Town Hall
by EJ Antoni, Ph.D.
“While families struggle with high gas prices in the wake of the Iran war, many American workers are getting help this year from an unlikely place: the Internal Revenue Service. Tax refunds from the IRS are up almost 14% from last year — another reason to file your taxes by Wednesday’s deadline, especially if you’re affected by a handful of changes to the tax code. Last Summer, the One Big Beautiful Bill became law, preserving some tax cuts that would’ve expired but also introducing a few new tax cuts too. Because many of the law’s provisions were made retroactive for the entirety of 2025, these changes significantly reduced some Americans’ tax liabilities, resulting in today’s big refunds.” (04/14/26)
Spain: Regime approves plan to give around 500,000 undocumented migrants legal status
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Spain’s government has approved plans to give legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, allowing them to be integrated formally into the workforce. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described his government’s decision as both ‘an act of justice’ and a necessity for Spain. In a letter to Spaniards posted on social media, Sánchez, a socialist, said the mass legalisation sought ‘to acknowledge the reality of nearly half a million people who already form part of our everyday lives’. Spain’s conservative opposition People’s Party (PP) has pledged to attempt to block the legalisation, which it said rewards illegal migrants and would encourage more to come. The government’s plan will offer a one-year, renewable residence permit to undocumented migrants. In order to be eligible, applicants must prove that they have already spent five months living in Spain and have a clean criminal record.” (04/14/26)
Trump Is Making the Best of ObamaCare
Source: Independent Institute
by John C Goodman
“Healthcare usually benefits Democrats politically, but some of the most important health-policy changes of the past decade have come from Donald Trump’s White House. Now his administration is proposing a reform that could change the U.S. healthcare system as radically as Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act did. This latest proposed reform, the 2027 ACA Exchange Rule, would allow health insurers to offer nonnetwork plans on market exchanges where people buy their own insurance. Today, most healthcare plans cover care only from doctors and hospitals with which they have contracts for treatment and payment. Under the new rule, health insurers would be able to set ‘reference prices’ — say, for an MRI or a knee replacement — that would apply regardless of which provider a patient chooses.” (04/13/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/13/trump-is-making-the-best-of-obamacare/
US regime publicly confesses to two more maritime murders
Source: CBS News
“The U.S. military said it [murdered] two people in a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, bringing the death toll to at least 170 since strikes began last September. U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for Washington’s forces in the region, said in a post on X that ‘the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.’ … The latest strike comes two days after U.S. military strikes [murdered] five people in two boats, also in the eastern Pacific.” (04/13/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-alleged-drug-boat-strike-eastern-pacific/
AI Summer, 04/13/26
Source: AI Summer
“Sayash Kapoor on Claude Mythos as normal technology.” (04/13/26)
https://www.aisummer.org/p/sayash-kapoor-on-claude-mythos-as
The Supreme Court’s refusal to stand up for press freedom is catastrophic
Source: The Hill
by Austin Sarat
“In 2017, journalist Priscilla Villarreal did what good journalists ordinarily do. She was working on two stories — one about the suicide of a border agent and the other about a serious car accident. To confirm the names of the people involved in those incidents, Villarreal texted a member of the Laredo Police Department. The officer responded and provided the information she was looking for. … But then someone in the police department got wind of what Villarreal was up to. Soon afterward, she was charged with violating an obscure, Orwellian provision of the Texas Penal Code, the Misuse of Official Information Act. … the Misuse of Official Information Act cannot be reconciled with the First Amendment’s protection of press freedom. But on March 23, the U.S. Supreme Court let it stand by declining to hear the case.” (04/13/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5826184-texas-law-muzzles-journalists/
Can You Beat ‘Em If You Don’t Join ‘Em?
Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman
“It’s far from unheard of in world history for leaders, faced with losing an election, to cancel said election, or falsify the results, or in other ways more or less openly admit that they are ruling without popular consent. So it’s good to know that Hungary has not become one of these. But there are two other possible lessons to draw from the Hungarian election that should be more sobering for opponents of the right-wing populist turn in politics, here in America and elsewhere in the world.” (04/13/26)
https://gideons.substack.com/p/can-you-beat-em-if-you-dont-join
US forces to join combat drills in Philippines to show commitment to Asia while fighting Iran
Source: SFGate
“More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in one of their largest annual combat exercises in the Philippines that underscore the United States’ staunch commitment to Asia despite its preoccupation with the Middle East, a U.S. military official said Tuesday. During the April 20-May 8 maneuvers, called the Balikatan, Japanese forces will fire a missile in a ship-sinking exercise in northwestern Philippine waters facing the disputed South China Sea. Japan’s defense chief has been invited to witness the live-fire drill, Philippine military officials said. The large-scale combat drills between the U.S. and Philippines, which are longtime treaty allies, will expand this year to include other friendly forces, including those from Japan, France and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said.” (04/14/26)