Source: SFGate
“The Supreme Court will weigh arguments Wednesday over the Trump administration’s push to end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians as migrants fleeing war and natural disaster. Haitians and Syrians were among those from 17 countries with Temporary Protected Status, which allows migrants already in the U.S. to stay with work permits in 18-month increments, so long as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security deems their country of origin unsafe for return. Since President Donald Trump ’s second term began, Homeland Security has ended the protections for 13 countries, exposing their migrants to potential deportation. The case focuses on whether the administration properly weighed conditions in Haiti and Syria when it ended TPS and if it prejudiced non-white immigrants.” (04/29/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/the-latest-supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-on-22232130.php
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Florida Goes Hard on Redistricting! What the Correspondents’ Dinner Was Really Like (with Kirk Bado).” (04/28/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/florida-goes-hard-on-redistricting
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“‘Debate’ almost never corresponds to mappable arguments. The simplest ‘solve debate’ proposal is the argument map. Some technology helps people decompose arguments into premises and conclusions, then lets skeptics point out where the premises are wrong, or where the conclusion doesn’t follow from the premise. But almost no real argument works that way. Even in the best-case scenario, where an argument almost works that way, it doesn’t really work that way. Suppose you’re having an argument about COVID lockdowns. Someone says ‘lockdowns hurt the economy.’ Now you’re stuck in a giant fight about whether that claim is true (answer: compared to the counterfactual, certain kinds of lockdown measures hurt certain economic indicators in certain situations). But even if it is true, so what? What conclusion can you draw from that premise?” (04/28/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/your-attempt-to-solve-debate-will
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently said that America is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran: ‘The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,’ he said. The only issue with this argument is that Donald Trump is such an erratic lunatic that arguably no real negotiation has ever taken place and may not actually be possible. Principally what Trump has done is post random nonsense online. Among Tuesday’s posts was one in which he claimed that ‘Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse.’ They want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible.’ This did not happen. It is what it is, and it’s not going to get better so long as Trump remains president.” (04/29/26)
http://prospect.org/2026/04/29/aftermath-china-electrifying-freight-trucking/
Source: Bitcoin.com
“U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who presided over Bankman-Fried’s 2023 fraud trial and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, issued the ruling in New York, according to court records reported by Bloomberg and Inner City Press. The judge described Bankman-Fried’s arguments as ‘baseless on multiple independently sufficient levels.’ … Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of FTX and his trading firm Alameda Research. Billions in customer funds went missing. He was sentenced in March 2024. His direct appeal is pending before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments held in 2025. That case remains active and is separate from the Rule 33 motion Judge Kaplan just denied.” (04/28/26)
https://news.bitcoin.com/judge-kaplan-denies-sam-bankman-frieds-bid-for-a-new-trial-calling-claims-baseless/
Source: Liberal Currents
“The Cancel Culture Panic: Understanding How an American Obsession Went Global.” (04/28/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-cancel-culture-panic-understanding-how-an-american-obsession-went-global-half-the-answer-80-with-adrian-daub/
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson: Trump vs. Iran: Is the Ceasefire DOOMED?!” (04/28/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-larry-johnson-trump-vs-iran-is-the-ceasefire-doomed/
Source: Independent Institute
by Paige Lambermont
“Just as there is nothing as permanent as a temporary government program, there is often nothing as permanent as a temporary moratorium. California knows this all too well. The state’s nuclear moratorium was signed into law 50 years ago as part of a 1976 amendment to the Warren-Alquist Act and has remained in effect ever since. The time is ripe for the removal of this nonsensical ban.” 904/28/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/28/the-california-nuclear-moratorium-should-become-a-thing-of-the-past/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“Last weekend my Institute for Peace and Prosperity hosted another conference here on the Texas Gulf Coast. Not only did we have a full house attending the conference – which is in a way the most important thing – but in this era of profound disappointment and disillusionment, we struck a note of optimism thankfully due to our wonderful line-up of speakers. The main topic of the conference, titled ‘War is Back on the Menu,’ was of course the disastrous decision by the Trump Administration to launch an unprovoked war against Iran – both last June and again on February 28th.” (04/28/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/hope-for-america
Source: ABC News [Australian state media]
“Former FBI director James Comey has been charged over a social media photo of seashells that officials say constituted a threat against US President Donald Trump. The photo, which was uploaded nearly a year ago, showed seashells arranged on a beach to spell out the numbers 8-6-4-7, which critics have interpreted as a threat to kill Mr Trump. The two-count indictment charges Mr Comey with knowingly and wilfully making a threat to ‘take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon’ Mr Trump, and with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.Mr Comey deleted the photo soon after it was uploaded, saying he did not realise some would [pretend it was] a call for violence.” (04/29/26)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-29/former-fbi-director-james-comey-indicted/106619156
