Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Wandering down the unlit corridors of a six-storey building behind the Royal Hill casino, each door opens onto a different world. In one there is a perfect replica of a Vietnamese bank. In another, you’re in an Australian police station. A Chinese police officer’s shirt hangs in one corner. Motivational messages have been painted on the walls. ‘Money Coming From Everywhere,’ read the Chinese characters on one sign. Discarded fake hundred dollar bills are lying all over the floor. This was a massive scam compound, just inside Cambodia in a border town called O Smach. Thousands of people from different countries worked here, under a harsh regime which strictly regimented their lives, defrauding thousands of others across the world of their savings.” (04/07/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjenpy8gx71o
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Terrence McKenna Warned Us About This.” (04/06/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/patrick/terrence-mckenna-warned-us-about-this-ep-288
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“Rank-and-file Democratic support for Palestinians has surged since 2024 and risen more since last summer, but there are influential party leaders who disagree. The US-Israel attacks on Iran are more unifying inside the party. Democrats are against them and happy to blame them for rising prices. But the demand for the official party to take a position is fraught with risk, at a moment when the party is feeling good about the issues this midterm election will be fought over.” (04/06/26)
https://www.semafor.com/article/04/06/2026/democratic-party-faces-its-internal-demons-on-us-israel-policy-again
Source: Understanding AI
by Kai Williams
“With Republicans in charge of Congress and the White House, Sanders’s concrete proposal is unlikely to succeed in the near term; one superforecaster gave the data center moratorium bill a ‘less than zero’ chance of passing. But his proposal for a national moratorium conditioned on subsequent AI legislation could provide a rallying point for diverse anti-AI forces. If passed, it would give NIMBY activists what they want — a short-term reprieve from data center construction — while also providing leverage for advocates of AI safety, child welfare, labor rights, and other causes. Even some Republicans might get on board.” (04/06/26)
https://www.understandingai.org/p/bernie-sanders-has-a-plan-to-stop
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“United States-Israeli strikes have ‘completely destroyed’ a synagogue in Tehran, according to Iranian media, as the attacks across Iran killed more than a dozen people overnight. ‘According to preliminary information, the Rafi-Nia Synagogue … was completely destroyed in this morning’s attacks,’ the Shargh newspaper reported on Tuesday. … In a video published on Telegram by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet, Homayoun Sameh, a Jewish representative in the country’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, said ‘the Zionist regime showed no mercy to this community during the Jewish holidays and targeted one of our ancient and holy synagogues. Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble,’ he said.” (04/07/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/7/synagogue-in-tehran-destroyed-in-us-israeli-strikes-on-iran
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Threatens To ‘Take Out Entire Country’ of Iran, Israeli Attacks Pound Gaza, and More.” (04/06/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdqQLGxQGP0
Source: Independent Institute
by Alex Tokarev
“Year after year, we are told by whoever is in opposition and seeks to get elected to a public office that life is getting harder. Young people can’t afford anything. That America was somehow better ‘back then.’ And ‘back then’ usually means 50 or 100 years ago, times often romanticized by Hollywood, but when life was actually much harder and less enjoyable. The truth is that, in material terms, we live in the best of times. And it will get better even when we hit a few bumps by electing the occasional socialist. Life now is much more affordable, safer, healthier, and full of opportunity than it was a century ago. Profit-seeking undertakers, the ones politicians love to demonize, are making everything more abundant, convenient, and reliable.” (04/06/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/06/a-look-at-our-material-progress/
Source: Independent Institute
by Richard K Vedder
“I have worked and consulted with many congressmen, testifying at their hearings over several decades. They are mostly hard-working, bright, and reasonable people. Most have generally good, if not sterling, moral character, although the addiction to the money and fame associated with political power provides notable exceptions, leading occasionally to criminal convictions (Sen. Robert Mendenez and Representative George Santos are two recent examples). Especially worrisome: legislative branch dysfunctionality seems to be growing. Why does the system work so poorly these days?” (04/06/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/06/why-does-congress-keep-kicking-the-fiscal-can/
Source: SFGate
“The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement on Tuesday that it will release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week. The group said its decision came ‘in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing Prime Minister’ Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that ‘this initiative will not be repeated in future.’ Kataib Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the one responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both U.S. and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group. U.S. officials had previously alleged the group was responsible for abducting freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson from a Baghdad street corner on March 31. The Iraqi government has not publicly named the group responsible, and the militia has not claimed the kidnapping.” (04/07/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/iraqi-officials-believe-a-powerful-iran-backed-22193294.php
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Trump says Iran can be ‘taken out’ in one night.” (04/06/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/06/nx-s1-5775653/trump-says-iran-can-be-taken-out-in-one-night
