“I’ve written an analysis of the April 21st redistricting vote here in Virginia. At that time, I made the urgent and emphatic point that this is an egregious power grab on the part of Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger and the Democrat majority in our legislature. Not content with their good fortune in the most recent electoral cycle, they now insist that this should be made permanent by rigging our congressional districts in their favor — and permanent it will be, despite the dishonest framing of the measure as temporary. We’ve seen how this works too many times in the years since the left [sic] has taken control of the culture.” (04/14/26)
“With one question, Rep. Elise Stefanik became the general of a war against antisemitism on college campuses across America: ‘Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct?’ The Ivy League presidents she questioned in December 2023 — just weeks after the atrocities of Oct. 7 led to an explosion of antisemitism at their schools — couldn’t answer it. The viral video of her query became the most-watched congressional hearing clip in history. Stefanik’s new book Poisoned Ivies explains how elite universities arrived at that moment — and why it was no flash-in-the-pan controversy, but an indicator of a long decline. The story she tells is about everything that led up to that hearing, and everything that followed — as reactions and responses came pouring into her office over weeks and months.” (04/15/26)
“It’s tax time, and talk of budget reconciliation is in the air on Capitol Hill. There is no better time than now to tackle one of the more bizarre features of our tax code: a phantom capital gains tax on mutual fund savers. Most taxpayers assume confusing tax rules have at least one constant: that capital gains tax is only owed when an asset is sold. If only that were true. Each year at this time, millions of Americans open their brokerage statements and find capital gains reported in Box 2a of their 1099 tax forms, despite never having sold a single share of stock or a mutual fund.” (04/14/26)
“I was born in the American South in 1942 ‘in the land of the free and the home of the brave’ (as the final stanza of the national anthem puts it). Francis Scott Key wrote those words in 1814. However, they were not true then, or in 1942, or today in Donald Trump’s all too reactionary America. My Blackness consigned obstacles to me (as it would have in 1814 and 1942) that White people simply don’t have. Let me explain. Throughout the 1950s, living in a segregated project in Kinston, North Carolina, there were several odd characters who (I now understand) were mentally ill.” (04/14/26)
“I have worked on board tankers for almost 20 years, which means that difficult situations are nothing new. I’ve encountered difficult captains, old vessels, and truly exhausting voyages across incredible distances. I’ve experienced bullying and harassment, and even been uncomfortably close to piracy. At a port in Nigeria, I once loaded a tanker while pirates raided ships within miles of us; and I passed through the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, in 2008, when its security corridor was in its infancy. As we sailed, my crewmates and I could see the pirate skiffs prowling, waiting for a ship to hijack. But the Strait of Hormuz crisis is something else entirely.” (04/14/26)
Source: In These Times
by Meghan Schneider & Cass DiPaola
“Our dependence on fossil fuels does more than pollute our air. It destabilizes the world and empowers the ultra-wealthy to profit off of that volatility, leaving working families to pay the price. This dynamic has been on full display since President Trump’s attack on Iran. Trump’s invasion of one of the world’s most oil-rich regions jolted energy markets, sending gas prices soaring to the highest level in either of his terms. In 2024 he campaigned on cutting them in half. Instead, Americans are now on track to pay roughly $720 more for gasoline this year. The full cost to working families will be much steeper as high gas prices drive up prices on consumer goods across the board.” [editor’s note: And additional taxes will drive those prices even higher, geniuses – TLK] (04/14/26)
“Recent calls for a more realistic shift from ‘decarbonization’ to ‘low carbon’ suggest that discomfort with ideology-driven climate policy is finally beginning to surface in public debate. For years, climate discussions in many countries have been dominated by abstract targets, slogans, and numerical commitments. Yet behind these lofty ideals lies a deeper and more practical question: have we come to understand energy far too narrowly? Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz in early 2026 have made that question impossible to ignore.” (04/14/26)
“The deadline for filing US federal income tax returns falls (usually) on April 15, a date that’s worked its way into the American vocabulary as ‘tax day.’ That’s really not a very accurate term. For one thing, most Americans pay all sorts of other taxes (sales taxes, excise taxes, property taxes, etc.) all the time. You can’t swing a cat without hitting a tax … and there’s probably a tax on swinging cats, which I recommend against doing for all kinds of reasons other than potential tax implications. For another, most Americans pay federal income tax year-round through withholding from their paychecks (or quarterly ‘estimated’ payments). April 15 is just the day when the government demands that you do their paperwork for them to make sure they took as much as they wanted to take from you last year.” (04/14/26)
