“In 1977, Congress enacted the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. This law permitted the president to impose tariffs on goods emanating from outside the U.S. in the case of an economic emergency. The statute defined an emergency as a sudden and unexpected event that adversely affects U.S. national security or economic prosperity. … imbalance of trade means that persons and businesses in the U.S. spend more money on the goods and services that they buy from foreign sellers than they receive from sales of goods and services to foreign buyers. The executive order signed last week by Trump reflects that the U.S. has experienced this trade imbalance since 1934! Thus, by definition, it is not a sudden or unexpected event, and thus, it is not an emergency as defined in the statute. … There is also no constitutional basis for the statute.” (04/11/25)
“President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs – duties on imports – have brought recriminations and specific threats by most nations. Notably, the European Union has struck a decidedly mild tone. ‘What’s important here is that Europe reacts in a calm and measured way’, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said. Britain, an EU member until 2020, said it, too, would negotiate calmly with Washington. For the EU, the stakes in a trade war with the United States would not be low. But its mild reaction so far comes from a need to navigate the divergent interests of 27 member countries. Patient listening and consensus-making are the only options. That can be infuriating for some. The bloc’s bureaucracy can be a faceless force, binding energy and ideas in endless process. But recent weeks have shown the flip side.” (04/11/25)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“A common criticism of Christianity is that it is internally inconsistent, that a loving god could not condemn souls to an eternity of Hell. I usually see this as an argument for atheism. I have recently encountered it not as a reason to doubt the existence of a Hell and its creator but as a criticism of Him. Or, in this case, Her.” (04/12/25)
“Imagine yourself driving down A1A in Palm Beach County, enjoying a nice relaxing drive along the ocean when suddenly you are detained without cause, taken away from your family and shipped like cargo to a foreign prison and told ‘it’s all a mistake’ — but yet the U.S. government shrugs claiming, it can’t fix the situation they created. That is what happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man legally living in the U.S., deported to El Salvador’s brutal CECOT prison designed for the worst of the worst of our society despite a court order for his return. Many Americans are angry at the judge who gave that court order. What sense does any of this make?” (04//12/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Computer scientist and futurist Jaron Lanier made some comments on Vox’s The Gray Area podcast the other day that I’d like to make a quick observation about. In the podcast, titled ‘Will AI become God? That’s the wrong question,’ Lanier talks about how artificial ‘intelligence’ has become a sort of quasi religion in Silicon Valley, complete with its own deity-like entity, and a kind of Armageddon-cult-like vision for our future. Asked by host Sean Illing about people’s anxiety regarding AI and the possibility of human extinction, Lanier said many in Silicon Valley have come to view humanity as a mere birthing vessel for these new technologies, which will become our vastly superior replacement. ‘What drives me crazy about this is that this is my world,’ Lanier said.” (04/12/25)
“When governments blatantly instrumentalize and cynically interpret statutes to justify punishing political dissent and intimidating the public into silence and obedience, it doesn’t fool anyone. We all recognize what they are doing. We get the message they are sending. The tactic wouldn’t work if we didn’t. The message is that our ‘democratic rights and principles’ are meaningless. They are empty platitudes, which will be violated whenever it is convenient to whichever party is in power. They will be sanctimoniously recited whenever one party wants to shame another political party — or another country, or union of countries — and then ignored and made a mockery of the moment it is expedient.” (04/12/25)
“Previous administrations would have never dreamed of direct talks with a pariah state like Iran so early in a new administration. They would have favored a slower technocratic process of preliminary proposals, proffers, and, above all else, insulating the principals from any blame in the event the talks failed. Not Trump. He has never been much for bureaucratic foreplay. He’s bored by conventions and processes. And as we saw after the Saturday meeting, his instincts may again be right. Trump’s message to Iran is simple. You have no cards. The walls are closing in. Abandon your nuclear program, or else. To most observers, this appears to be the use of hard power, or the threat of it, by someone with a bigger gun.” [editor’s note: Epstein doesn’t mention that the situation Trump is trying to address is 100%, completely, totally of his own making – TLK] (04/12/25)
“Immanent critique is the ultimate academic flex. It shows that you understand your opponent’s argument better than they understand it themselves. It disarms your opponent without a clash of swords (metaphorical or literal). In general, it’s really difficult to change someone’s mind. But if one is to have any chance of changing someone’s mind, immanent critique is probably one of the best ways to do it. A strong case can be made that the success of the abolition movement, the Suffragette movement, Gandhi’s anti-colonial movement in India, and the civil rights movement, to name a few, stems at least in part from their skillful use of immanent critique (although one would have called it something different at the time and each of these movements used a blend of rhetorical and political organizing strategies).” (04/12/25)
Source: Common Dreams
by Martin Burns & Mary Liz Burns
“No media outlet has done a better job on reporting on the havoc that special government employee Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump have unleashed than Wired. Their outstanding reporting continued Friday as they scooped everyone by reporting that ‘the Social Security Administration will no longer be communicating with the media and the public through press releases and ‘dear colleague’ letters, as it shifts its public communication exclusively to X, sources tell WIRED. The news comes amid major staffing cuts at the agency.’ That’s right — all public information about Social Security will come via X.” (04/12/25)
“Markets have swooned and spiked and swooned again as President Donald Trump has alternately imposed and then paused large new tariffs. What has stayed consistent through every announcement is the dismal quality of the public arguments for these spasms of protectionism. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has run through many of the worst ones. ‘A lot of our trading partners, including some of our allies, have not been good partners,’ he told Tucker Carlson. ‘If tariffs are so bad, why do they have them?’ Governments throughout history have pursued policies that impoverish their people. Many countries, including our own, have recently had high inflation. If it’s so bad, why has it been so widespread? But Bessent’s point is even weaker than that.” (04/11/25)
