“The California Supreme Court has disbarred John Eastman, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, over his involvement in the so-called fake electors scheme to overturn the 2020 election. The state’s high court ruled Wednesday that Eastman, 65, is disbarred from practicing law in California and must pay a $5,000 sanction to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund, a discretionary fund that reimburses clients for financial losses caused by dishonest conduct or theft by their lawyers. Eastman is considered one of the main architects of the plan to replace legitimate electors of President Joe Biden with fakes supporting Trump in several battleground states, including Georgia where he was charged in the scheme.” (04/16/26)
“Elie Wiesel is often credited with the observation that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Indifference is clearly not morally neutral. To respond with indifference when love and concern are due is a sign that something has gone wrong — whether it’s a voluntary fault and thus immoral, or something involuntary and inculpable. But indifference in such cases is never something to praise or, worse, advocate for. Yet that is just what Vance consistently does. He is not alone in this. A growing current on the right has explicitly reframed indifference as a virtue — denouncing empathy toward immigrants, refugees, and foreign peoples as ‘suicidal,’ manipulative, or simply naive.” (04/15/26)
“There are three well-known, and well-trodden, families of explanation for the emergence of right-wing populism. There is the economic story: deindustrialization, stagnant wages, the hollowing out of the working class. The cultural story: immigration, demographic change, the anxiety of losing a familiar world. And the institutional/technological story: declining trust in democratic norms, the fragmentation of media, the algorithmic amplification of outrage. None of these, however, explain why this moment has coalesced not around a particular program or a set of policies but around a similar character type: the swaggering, transgressive, dominance-performing strongman.” (04/15/26)
“Kentucky’s next generation deserved better from this legislative session. For two years, Kentucky’s Housing Task Force built a record, heard from builders, experts, local officials, and families struggling to afford a place to live. Ultimately, the task force embraced recommendations advanced by the Bluegrass Institute last year. … Legislation that was one concurrence away from final passage would have altered the housing marketplace to make homes more affordable, enhance Kentuckians’ property rights, clear away needless regulatory barriers, and give developers greater confidence to undertake projects. Kentucky lawmakers couldn’t get the job done, and that failure carries real consequences for young people across our commonwealth.” (04/15/26)
“El Salvador has published a new law that will allow authorities to penalise minors as young as 12 with life imprisonment for severe crimes, including homicide, terrorism or rape. On Tuesday, the Salvadoran government released the law, which is slated to take effect on April 26. … The life sentences for minors was approved as part of a constitutional amendment in March, championed by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. The country’s legislative assembly is overwhelmingly controlled by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party.” (04/16/26)
“The U.S. government’s total public debt outstanding is on the verge of permanently surpassing $39 trillion. In truth, it already has, first breaching it on March 17, 2026. Since then, it’s bounced around that level, sometimes over, sometimes under. This situation won’t last. Soon, the U.S. government will borrow even more money to support its excessive spending. When it does, it will leave $39 trillion in the rear-view mirror, probably for good.” (04/15/26)
“Russian strikes killed at least 12 people in Ukraine, local authorities have said, after Moscow pummelled its neighbour in overnight attacks. Missile and drone attacks on the southern port city of Odesa killed six people, the head of the city’s military administration, Sergiy Lysak, wrote on Telegram on Thursday. Strikes on the capital Kyiv killed at least four people, including a 12-year-old, the state emergency service of Ukraine said, while another two people died in the central city of Dnipro, according to Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the regional administration.” 904/16/26)
