Trader Joe’s to pay $7.4 million to settle suit over receipt information

Source: Independent [UK]

“A 10-number mistake is costing a popular grocery store a seven-figure settlement. Trader Joe’s has agreed to pay out a $7.4 million settlement for a 2019 receipt snafu, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court documents. Affected customers could receive an estimated $102.45, although the figure could change depending on how many people join the lawsuit. … The lawsuit began on July 17, 2019, when a customer filed a class-action lawsuit in Florida against Trader Joe’s, court documents note. He claimed the company printed receipts for debit and credit card transactions that included 10 digits of the card number. Card transaction receipts can show a maximum of the last five digits of a card number, per the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.” (04/16/26)

https://www.the-independent.com/us/money/trader-joes-receipt-lawsuit-b2959053.html

War and Trade Restrictions: Fallacious Paths to National Security and Prosperity

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Patrick Barron

“The US is ignorant of how to achieve two major goals: security and prosperity. Due to this ignorance, it has engaged in an undeclared war in the Middle East and has instituted protective tariffs at home. The war in the Middle East will not enhance American security, and the protective tariffs will cause economic harm at home, both completely opposite results of their authors’ intentions.” (04/16/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/war-and-trade-restrictions-fallacious-paths-national-security-and-prosperity

Three Winners at the Latest DNC Meeting: Israel, Ethnic Cleansing, and Genocide

Source: Common Dreams
by Norman Solomon

“In the aftermath of last week’s big meeting of the Democratic National Committee in New Orleans, supporters of the US-Israel alliance have been quite content. ‘We’re pleased that the DNC Resolutions Committee rejected a set of divisive, anti-Israel resolutions,’ the president of Democratic Majority for Israel said. The CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, a former national security advisor to Kamala Harris, expressed gratitude to the DNC’s leadership. Why did pro-Israel groups voice so much pleasure and praise—not only for the sidelining of pro-human-rights resolutions but also for the process that sidelined them? The answer has to do with the DNC’s mechanism that thwarted changes in positions on Israel. A panel named the Middle East Working Group gummed up all efforts to align the DNC with the views of most Democratic voters, even while supposedly hard at work.” (04/16/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dnc-resolutions-israel-genocide

IMF rules out augmentation of Egypt’s $8 billion loan program

Source: Middle East Online [UK]

“International Monetary Fund is not currently discussing an augmentation of Egypt’s two-year-old, $8 billion IMF loan program despite a severe impact from the Middle East war on the country’s economy, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday. … Speaking to reporters, Georgieva made it clear that the existing Extended Fund Facility arrangement, approved in late 2024, remains unchanged and that no talks are taking place to expand its size or scope. … The announcement comes as Egypt grapples with significant economic challenges triggered by the Iran-Gulf war that erupted on February 28. The conflict has disrupted regional energy markets, raised global oil prices, and created uncertainty in maritime trade routes, all of which have strained Egypt’s key revenue sources — particularly Suez Canal receipts and tourism.” (04/16/26)

https://middle-east-online.com/en/imf-rules-out-augmentation-egypt%E2%80%99s-8-billion-loan-program

“Men of Narrow Hearts and Little Minds in High Places”

Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison

“It is a fitting description of so many of the political leaders we have had in the last twenty-five years. It is no accident that this has been an era defined by almost constant warfare. War is the ‘solution’ favored by the cruel and stupid. Our men of narrow hearts and little minds in high places resort to the same failed policies year after year, and they produce the same miserable results every time. They hallucinate or fabricate threats, overreact to the imaginary threats, and then needlessly kill a lot of people to ‘solve’ a problem that never existed.” (04/16/26)

https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/men-of-narrow-hearts-and-little-minds

Trump and Vance versus Pope Leo on War and Peace

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

President Trump’s and Vice-President Vance’s criticisms of Pope Leo on matters of war and peace bring to mind important points that others have historically made about America’s current system of militarism, imperialism, warmongering, and the destruction of the liberty and well-being of the American people at the hands of their own government.” (04/16/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/04/16/trump-and-vance-versus-pope-leo-on-war-and-peace/