Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“Anonymously sourced hit pieces have hammered Tulsi Gabbard the past few months in the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Republic, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, you name it. They are part of a relentless campaign to undermine President Trump’s director of national intelligence because she is almost single-handedly revealing the dirty secrets of the Deep State. Rumors swirl around Washington that the president is displeased with her and she will soon follow Pam Bondi out the door. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.” (04/08/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/04/08/opinion/miranda-devine-tulsi-gabbard-keeps-her-focus-on-revealing-deep-states-dirty-secrets-even-as-they-try-to-take-her-down/
Source: SFGate
“In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorized direct negotiations ‘as soon as possible’ with Lebanon aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbors. The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948. There was no immediate response from Lebanese authorities, but the announcement appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that had staggered under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether planned peace talks can find common ground. Netanyahu’s announcement came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes that resulted in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began on Feb. 28.” (04/09/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/chart-shows-iran-may-have-put-sea-mines-in-strait-22196940.php
Source: Mother Jones
by Alex Nguyen
“Sam Altman wants you to know that he’s just fine. Sure, his company, OpenAI, is reportedly building technology that it fears and some of his former colleagues think he’s a pathological liar, but really? It’s no big deal.” (04/09/26)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/sam-altman-ronan-farrow-open-ai-report/
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“JD Vance stumps for Hungary’s Orbán.” (04/09/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/09/nx-s1-5779235/jd-vance-stumps-for-hungarys-orban
Source: New York Times
“A ‘Messy’ Cease-Fire, and a 15-Year Sentence for the ‘Ketamine Queen.’” (04/09/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABHfhYyNRb8
Source: The Dispatch
“Trump’s ‘War Crimes.’” (04/09/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/trumps-war-crimes/
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman
“Armageddon may (or may not) be on hold for a little while, so let’s talk about other issues, like the state of the economy — in particular, what’s going on with job growth, where important things are happening. Are they good things or bad? Well, it’s a bad news/good news/but the good news is really bad news situation.” (04/09/26)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/job-growth-on-ice
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by James R Webb
“Despite the challenges ahead for the U.S. in securing a durable peace, there is perhaps a massive potential political opportunity for President Trump to fulfill a campaign promise. A core promise that attracted independents and conservatives, and arguably was the single biggest driver of both of his electoral victories, was the removal of American troops from the Middle East. Preventing the continuation of, or yet another war with the U.S. is arguably Iran’s most meaningful demand, and perhaps the most valuable for the U.S. at the bargaining table. At this juncture, American basing across the region only serves to pressure and threaten Iran, whose existence is not and never has been an existential threat to the U.S. homeland. Further, what better way for President Trump to demonstrate victory than to publicly declare that our objectives have been met and that the troops are coming home, thus making a splash heading into midterms?” (04/09/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-ceasefire/
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jackie Calmes
“Amid all the alarming and unhinged comments of the president of the United States in recent days threatening Iran with genocide — remarks beyond even the usual cray-cray blather from Donald Trump — it was a statement from his spokesperson on Tuesday that really put the madness in the White House in perspective. ‘Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do,’ Karoline Leavitt said. … A mad king reigns, virtually unchecked. And as a practical matter, there is nothing under the Constitution, neither impeachment nor removal under the 25th Amendment, that can be done about him. There’s only voters’ opportunity to eject the complicit Republican majorities in the House and Senate in November’s midterm elections, to install a Democratic — and democratic — check on Trump for the remaining two years of his term.” (04/09/26)
https://archive.is/zrPPw
Source: Axios
“OpenAI is finalizing a model with advanced cybersecurity capabilities that it plans to release only to a small set of companies, similar to Anthropic’s limited roll out of Mythos, a source familiar told Axios. AI capabilities have reached a tipping point, at least in terms of autonomy and hacking capabilities. Model-makers are now so worried about the havoc their own tools could cause that they’re reluctant to release them into the wild. Anthropic announced plans Tuesday to limit access of its new Mythos Preview model to a hand-picked group of technology and cybersecurity companies over fears of its advanced hacking capabilities.” (04/09/26)
https://archive.is/o5rKu