Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon
“Contemporary medicine is not failing for lack of knowledge. It is failing under the weight of its own complexity. The present era is defined by unprecedented access to data, advanced technologies, an ever-expanding network of subspecialties, and a dense architecture of protocols and performance metrics. Nearly every aspect of patient care can now be measured, quantified, and standardized. Interventions that were unimaginable only decades ago are now routine. Yet despite these advances, a fundamental element has been eroded. This erosion is philosophical.” (04/05/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-lost-art-of-medicine-what-maimonides-knew-that-we-forgot/
Source: CNN
“[US president Donald] Trump appeared to set a new deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. ‘Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time,’ he wrote, after issuing a profane message renewing threats to bomb key Iranian infrastructure, including power plants, if Tehran does not comply. Targeting critical civilian infrastructure could be considered a war crime. Trump has declared and then modified deadlines for the opening of the strait multiple times. Senior Iranian officials issued their own threats in response and said the strait will remain blocked until Iran receives payment for war damages. … Two people were killed in the Israeli city of Haifa after a missile struck a seven-story building, with emergency workers still searching for two more missing persons early Monday. … At least 13 people were killed by a US-Israeli attack early Monday on two residential buildings in Baharestan County, a densely populated area southwest of Tehran, according to state media.” (04/06/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/05/middleeast/iran-us-israel-war-what-we-know-week-6-intl-hnk
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“At the height of the US war in Vietnam, in 1969, the US government spent about $85.5 billion ($761 billion in inflated 2026 dollars) on ‘defense.’ In 1991, when the US deployed hundreds of thousands of troops for Desert Storm, the US government spent about $313 billion, or $750 billion accounting for inflation. In 2004, while fighting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, that number was about $450 billion, or $780 billion in 2026 dollars. … The president keeps telling us THIS war will be over Real Soon Now, and he started talking about a $1.5 trillion military budget months before he launched Operation Epic Fail, so the 40% bump clearly isn’t about Iran. In what universe does the already bloated US military need nearly half again as much money next year as this year, and twice as much as it needed during previous wars?” (04/03/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20499
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“The ‘Attractive’ Soft-Pedalling of Christian Nationalism.” (04/05/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nihEjHmry9Y
Source: WRAL News
“A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa killed two women and a toddler, authorities said Monday, while Ukrainian long-range drones targeted Russia’s key Black Sea port for oil exports. The nighttime attack on Odesa heavily damaged an apartment block, killing the women and a 2-year-old child, officials said. Rescuers working under floodlights pulled four people from the rubble. … Krasnodar Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said that eight people, including two children, were injured in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Novorossiisk, one of Russia’s largest Black Sea ports. The attack damaged six apartment buildings and two private houses, he said. Unconfirmed media reports said the drones targeted the Sheskharis oil terminal at the Black Sea port.” (04/06/26)
https://www.wral.com/news/ap/e455a-a-russian-attack-kills-3-in-odesa-while-ukraine-targets-russian-oil-infrastructure-officials-say/
Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut
“Under Donald Trump’s leadership, the GOP’s outlook is simple: Every election they win is a reflection of the will of the people. Every election they lose is rigged. The president never conceded the 2020 election, nor apologized for the January 6 Capitol attack. That was the result of angry partisans taking seriously Trump’s bogus election-fraud claims. Trump continues to push the tiresome rigged-election narrative even though he failed to win the dozens of court cases making such claims. Lately, Republicans aren’t doing well at the polls. … Instead of moderating their policies or engaging in normal soul searching, Republicans are doubling dow — and trying to nationalize elections by promoting something called the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) America Act.” (04/03/26)
https://reason.com/2026/04/03/the-republican-plan-to-nationalize-elections-is-performative-nonsense/
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin jumped 3% to $69,120 on Monday as traders returned from the Easter weekend to a burst of optimism around a potential Iran ceasefire, pushing the largest cryptocurrency to its highest level in over a week and squeezing $196 million in short positions over the past 24 hours. Ether led a bump among major tokens with a 3.7% gain to $2,130, its strongest daily move in the past week. SOL rose 2% to $82, XRP added 2.2% to $1.34, and dogecoin climbed 1.7% to $0.093. The broad rally pushed the total crypto market cap back above $2.5 trillion.” (04/06/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/06/bitcoin-reclaims-usd69-000-as-ceasefire-talks-surface-and-crypto-shorts-get-squeezed
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“What is sometimes described by the aggrandizing term ‘judicial activism’ is not really jurisprudence at all, properly understood: It is what happens when judges (and the legal commentariat) decide on the outcome first — ‘Of course Colorado can use the law to silence those homophobic creeps!’ — and then fill in the legal arguments post hoc and willy-nilly. But the desire for such outcome-driven jurisprudence, long a hallmark of the progressive model of social change, is increasingly prevalent among Republicans, for obvious reasons: There is no one in these United States more offended by a display of principle — or by adherence to official duties — than Donald Trump, who is the most profoundly morally corrupt man ever to occupy the office he holds.” (04/03/26)
https://archive.is/k8vFh
Source: Reuters
“United Parcel Service said on Sunday that it had reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to cap severance offers at 7,500 drivers after a dispute over the company’s plans to cut its workforce. Under the agreement, UPS will offer $150,000 for early retirement. The union has sought to block the package delivery giant’s Driver Choice Program, arguing that it was initiated without negotiations in violation of its 2023 labor contract.” (04/05/26)
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/ups-teamsters-reach-settlement-that-caps-driver-severance-offers-2026-04-06/
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Americans have not endured a military draft since the 1970s. Our bodies and very lives aren’t conscript. Just our fortunes. Not perfect, true, but as political trades go it’s better for equal freedom than slightly lower taxes and a return of the draft, which conscripts some to benefit (the story runs) ‘all.’ The all-volunteer force has produced the world’s best military … without ‘slave’ labor. Comedian Rob Schneider thinks differently.” (04/03/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/04/03/deuce-bigelow-political-philosopher/
