“We don’t know whether the trade war triggered by President Donald Trump stems from his ignorance of the potential consequences, it is a poorly conceived strategy of ‘conquering’ global markets, or simply a botched attempt to impose his negotiation rules on other countries. Certainly, acts of commercial hostility are multiplying, and the possibility of a significant contraction in international trade (one of the greatest drivers of global growth) has become real. What about financial markets? Investors are typically averse to uncertain environments, as it complicates the process of valuing a company. Stock markets rely on predictions of future performance and it is hard to make informed guesses if you cannot predict future profits and at what interest rate future cash flows should be discounted (the value of a sum received must be brought to the present, discounted by an interest rate).” (04/22/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“If you believe that all the violence and destruction in Gaza is the fault of Hamas, then by your own logic you must also accept that the coming wave of violent extremism and antisemitism which is going to ensue from the incineration of Gaza will exclusively be the fault of Israel. I said this on Twitter the other day and Israel supporters got outraged and shared screenshots of my post shrieking with indignation that anyone would say such a thing, which is funny because I’m just reading their own line of reasoning back to them. I’m not the one who says an act of violence excuses any violence done in response to it.” (04/22/25)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Nick Cleveland-Stout & Ashley Gate
“A new scandal is embroiling Israel, one that threatens to take down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It calls into question the level of foreign influence that may have flowed into the prime minister’s office — and Netanyahu is already looking to escalate the war in Gaza as a distraction.” (04/22/25)
“It’s been a long time since I’ve received so much as an email from GMU’s DEI office. In fact, the last email I received about GMU DEI was a message from President Gregory Washington announcing that ‘Our DEI office is now the Office of Access, Compliance, and Community.’ Given the current political climate, why would any reasonable person consider the full abolition of this renamed DEI office, including the firing of all DEI staff, to be an important and valuable goal? My answer: The current political climate will not last. Political climates never do. And once the political climate for DEI is once again favorable, the office will resume its ultimate mission: transforming GMU from a university where people can freely discuss the most controversial issues into a seminary where people are taught one controversial philosophy as established fact — and dissenters are intimidated into silence.” (04/22/25)
“In April 2022, Melissa [Corichi] received an alarming call from the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) of Palm Beach County. They demanded an inspection of her farm headquarters and ordered her to cease operations within the county. ‘I was initially surprised and confused,’ Melissa recalls. ‘After operating for 8 years and growing the collection business to 250 customers, I was getting ready to scale up my operation. But they told me businesses like mine aren’t allowed to exist in Palm Beach County.’ The SWA’s argument was rooted in the Flow Code, a regulation that grants SWA exclusive control over waste processing. They accused her of undermining their waste-to-energy initiatives by diverting organic waste from incinerators, even though Let it Rot focused on composting using worms — vermiculture. The implications of this monopolistic enforcement are far-reaching, with the SWA claiming all rights to the waste produced in the county.” (04/22/25)
“When race is the only lens, it blinds us to due process and justice. Those screaming the loudest and strutting like cocks on social media are not trying to heal. They’re hustling in the tradition of Al Sharpton. All because, in today’s culture, the race card is still too valuable to put down. When a black teenager stabbed a white teenager at a recent Texas high school track meet, it was not long before Americans online predictably turned this into a racial controversy — even before the facts were known.” (04/22/25)
“Confucius wrote some 2,000 years ago that ‘good government obtains when those who are near are made happy, and those who are far off are attracted.’ If this is true, then it might help us to recognize societies where people hope to pursue happiness for themselves and their offspring. If many people vote with their feet toward some countries, and citizens of these same countries are having kids, those might be telltale signs. This could reflect favorably on the United States and Canada, which have long been two of the most desired destinations for would-be immigrants. But are the citizens of these countries ‘happy?’ Some insist that that they are not.” (04/22/25)
“They were gathered again, the lawyers and the judge, at an hour when the courts of a well-ordered society should be still. This country once divided against itself over the fate of fugitive slaves. Those ‘held to service or labour in one state,’ in the Constitution’s shameful euphemism, were to ‘be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due.’ Our greatest president gave his life to end the fettered bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil. Our current president is no emancipator. Indeed, history will count him among the traffickers.” (04/22/25)
“This is not the first time Germany has resorted to censorship in the mistaken belief that the state can contain dangerous ideas. The last time they tried this, it facilitated the rise of the Nazis.” (04/22/25)
“President Donald Trump is again loudly complaining that the U.S. military bases in Asia are too costly for the U.S. to bear. As part of the new round of tariff negotiations with Japan and Korea, Trump is calling on Japan and Korea to pay for stationing the US troops. Here’s a much better idea: close the bases and bring the U.S. servicemen home. Trump implies that the U.S. is providing a great service to Japan and Korea by stationing 50,000 troops in Japan and nearly 30,000 in Korea. Yet these countries do not need the U.S. to defend themselves. They are wealthy and can certainly provide their own defense. Far more importantly, diplomacy can ensure the peace in northeast Asia far more effectively and far less expensively than U.S. troops.” (04/22/25)
