Can We Win Back Rurals?
Source: Liberal Currents
by Paul Henry Rosenberg
“Rebuilding the Democratic Party in rural areas is necessary to halt the nation’s undemocratic slide.” (04/29/26)
North Korea: Kim praises troops who “self-blasted” to avoid capture by Ukraine
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Kim Jong Un has praised North Korean soldiers who killed themselves by detonating their grenades while fighting for Russia against Ukraine, confirming a long-suspected battlefield policy. In a speech this week, the North Korean leader said those who ‘unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack, in order to defend the great honour’ were ‘heroes.’ South Korea estimates at least 15,000 North Koreans have been sent to help Russia recapture parts of western Kursk, and more than 6,000 have been killed so far. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the numbers. Intelligence agencies and defectors have said the soldiers were under Pyongyang’s orders to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Ukraine.” (04/29/26)
The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 04/29/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Uses of Marxism | Interview: Tyler Austin Harper.” (04/29/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/the-uses-of-marxism-interview-tyler-austin-harper/
Congress Must End FISA Section 702
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jordan Liz
“Section 702 was added to FISA in 2008 with a provision that requires Congress to periodically reauthorize it. The measure allows national security agencies like the NSA, FBI and CIA to collect and monitor – without a warrant – any electronic communications sent to and from non-US persons ‘reasonably believed to be located’ outside the US. Notably, Americans who send messages to people abroad may likewise have their data surveilled. Law enforcement agencies have consistently abused this loophole to spy on US citizens in clear violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.” (04/29/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/jordan_liz/2026/04/28/congress-must-end-fisa-section-702/
Understanding the Link Between Capitalism [sic] and War
Source: Common Dreams
by Klaus Moegling
“Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels taught us that capitalism is a system primarily characterized by private control over the means of production. In other words: Factories and banks are privately owned. Business decisions are guided by whether they generate surplus value that can be appropriated as profit by the owners. Workers become a commodity, one that must, however, market itself and generate exchange value. In this context, the state’s primary role is to safeguard these relations of production and balance the interests of the various factions of capital. In doing so, the construction of neoliberal ideologies sought to minimize state benefits for the poorer strata of society, destroy the protective mechanisms of poorer societies, and simultaneously transfer state resources to capitalist oligarchies. Those who demanded the elimination of subsidies were, in fact, the very ones who benefited from them.” (04/29/26)
Former Fauci adviser indicted, accused of concealing Covid research communications
Source: Syracuse.com
“A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to COVID-19 research as the pandemic raged across the country, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institutes of Health. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.” (04/29/26)
The Libertarian Angle, 04/29/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“A Socialist Takeover of Spirit Airlines?” (04/29/26)
How Will the Iran War End?
Source: The American Conservative
by Peter Van Buren
“[T]he question hanging over the present war is whether we are witnessing the reassertion of American dominance or the continuation of its gradual displacement. The United States is still the meanest dog on the block. No nation can match our ability to destroy things, literally to erase a whole society off the face of the earth if we really wanted to. Even without our archipelago of bases worldwide, the U.S. can launch untouchable B-2s and other bombers from Missouri, bomb Tehran, and return them home safely. That is not the same as shaping what comes after — that is, primacy. The way the Iran War plays out says in part whether the U.S. is indispensable in reacting to nascent nuclear states or directing events on the very largest scales possible, as was envisioned in the postwar world.” (04/29/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-will-the-iran-war-end/
Religious Freedom Before Locke
Source: Law & Liberty
by Alexander William Salter
“John Locke’s A Letter Concerning Toleration is widely regarded as a foundational text of religious liberty. For centuries, thinkers have praised its clarity, moral confidence, and rejection of the coercive religious politics that prevailed in early modern Europe. On the surface, Locke offers a simple and powerful claim: the state has no authority over the salvation of souls, and therefore it ought not to coerce religious belief or practice. But this framing, so often viewed as self-evident, rests on claims that are highly contestable.” (04/29/26)
The Oligarchy Is Afraid of Itself Too
Source: Mother Jones
by Tim Murphy
“Musk v. Altman is a fight over how much power is too much in Silicon Valley.” (04/29/26)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-trial/