Source: SFGate
“Los Angeles schools avoided a strike that would have impacted nearly 400,000 students in Southern California as the school district and the union representing support staff reached a tentative deal early Tuesday. Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union announced on social media that it won a tentative agreement with ‘major gains’ including raises and more hours. The district announced that an agreement in principle had been reached with SEIU Local 99 allowing schools to be open Tuesday and they would work to finalize the details of a tentative agreement. SEIU Local 99 said the tentative deal also included protections against subcontracting, stopped IT layoffs and increased staffing. SEIU Local 99 told members to report to work as usual on Tuesday and thanked its fellow unions and the Los Angeles community, saying the ‘victory belongs to ALL of us.'” (04/14/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/los-angeles-schools-avoid-a-strike-as-a-22205414.php
Source: New York Times
“Two Resignations in Congress, and the Pope’s Back-and-Forth With Trump.” (04/14/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RFou3VsQjc
Source: The American Conservative
by W James Antle III
“There is simply nothing that has happened in American politics between Trump’s epic 2024 political comeback and the Democrats’ romp in last year’s off-year elections running on an affordability mantra that would suggest voters prioritize a foreign war over higher prices. A thousand clips of Trump expressing his distaste for the ayatollahs or a hundred polls showing rank-and-file Republicans still support him do not prove otherwise. … Salvaging the Republicans’ midterm election prospects is going to require extricating the U.S. from the war in Iran while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, whether GOP lawmakers know it (or are willing to publicly admit it) or not.” (04/14/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/this-is-the-basic-political-problem-for-republicans/
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Nearly 700 civilians have reportedly been killed in drone strikes in Sudan since January, the United Nations aid chief said Tuesday, decrying that three years of civil war had created the ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis.’ Now entering a fourth year, the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million, and thrust several areas into hunger and famine.” (04/14/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20260414-sudan-drone-strikes-kill-nearly-700-in-three-months-as-civil-war-reaches-grim-milestone
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson: Are Russia, China and Iran the Big Winners of Trump and Netanyahu’s War?” (04/13/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-larry-johnson-are-russia-china-and-iran-the-big-winners-of-trump-and-netanyahus-war/
Source: Washington Monthly
by Alison Gash
“In its 8–1 ruling on Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, the Supreme Court recast mental health care as protected expression.” [editor’s note: The First Amendment is not unclear. Speech is speech, Not liking particular content of speech doesn’t magically make it not speech – TLK] (04/13/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/04/13/chiles-v-salazar-conversion-therapy-a-new-frontier-of-speech/
Source: Town Hall
by EJ Antoni, Ph.D.
“While families struggle with high gas prices in the wake of the Iran war, many American workers are getting help this year from an unlikely place: the Internal Revenue Service. Tax refunds from the IRS are up almost 14% from last year — another reason to file your taxes by Wednesday’s deadline, especially if you’re affected by a handful of changes to the tax code. Last Summer, the One Big Beautiful Bill became law, preserving some tax cuts that would’ve expired but also introducing a few new tax cuts too. Because many of the law’s provisions were made retroactive for the entirety of 2025, these changes significantly reduced some Americans’ tax liabilities, resulting in today’s big refunds.” (04/14/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/ej-antoni/2026/04/14/big-beautiful-tax-returns-are-keeping-consumers-afloat-n2674389
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Spain’s government has approved plans to give legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, allowing them to be integrated formally into the workforce. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described his government’s decision as both ‘an act of justice’ and a necessity for Spain. In a letter to Spaniards posted on social media, Sánchez, a socialist, said the mass legalisation sought ‘to acknowledge the reality of nearly half a million people who already form part of our everyday lives’. Spain’s conservative opposition People’s Party (PP) has pledged to attempt to block the legalisation, which it said rewards illegal migrants and would encourage more to come. The government’s plan will offer a one-year, renewable residence permit to undocumented migrants. In order to be eligible, applicants must prove that they have already spent five months living in Spain and have a clean criminal record.” (04/14/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy511nln2xvo
Source: Independent Institute
by John C Goodman
“Healthcare usually benefits Democrats politically, but some of the most important health-policy changes of the past decade have come from Donald Trump’s White House. Now his administration is proposing a reform that could change the U.S. healthcare system as radically as Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act did. This latest proposed reform, the 2027 ACA Exchange Rule, would allow health insurers to offer nonnetwork plans on market exchanges where people buy their own insurance. Today, most healthcare plans cover care only from doctors and hospitals with which they have contracts for treatment and payment. Under the new rule, health insurers would be able to set ‘reference prices’ — say, for an MRI or a knee replacement — that would apply regardless of which provider a patient chooses.” (04/13/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/13/trump-is-making-the-best-of-obamacare/
Source: CBS News
“The U.S. military said it [murdered] two people in a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, bringing the death toll to at least 170 since strikes began last September. U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for Washington’s forces in the region, said in a post on X that ‘the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.’ … The latest strike comes two days after U.S. military strikes [murdered] five people in two boats, also in the eastern Pacific.” (04/13/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-alleged-drug-boat-strike-eastern-pacific/
