Conflicts of Interest, episode 765
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will the Trump, Zelensky Argument End US Support for Ukraine?” (03/03/25)
https://rumble.com/v6q1otk-will-the-trump-zelensky-argument-end-us-support-for-ukraine-coi-765.html
The flimsy UK, France, Ukraine “peace plan” discussed Sunday
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Anatol Lieven
“Full details are yet to emerge of the ‘peace plan’ that the UK, EU and Ukrainian leaders worked out in London on Sunday, and are to present to the Trump administration. But from what they have said so far, while one part is necessary and even essential, another is obstructive and potentially disastrous.” (03/03/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/uk-france-ukraine-meeting/
Germany: Driver kills two with car in Mannheim
Source: Reuters
“A car drove into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim on Monday, killing at least two people and seriously injuring several others, overshadowing carnival celebrations in the region where police had been on alert for attacks. Police detained the car’s driver and later said he had acted alone, with no broader threat seen for the public. The suspect is a 40-year-old German man from the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate who did not appear to be politically motivated, they said. People were seen lying on the ground at the scene and at least two were being resuscitated, a witness told Reuters. It was unclear whether the driver acted deliberately or if there was any connection to Germany’s carnival celebrations, which culminated on Rose Monday with a number of parades, although not in Mannheim, which held its main event on Sunday.” (03/03/25)
How to Kill a Bureau
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“First, Trump fires the holdover director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a radically anti-business agency. He appoints the new treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, as acting director. Bessent orders the agency to stop everything – ‘rulemaking, communications, litigation,’ Bloomberg Law reported. ‘A source inside the bureau who asked to remain anonymous said the order appeared to shut down the CFPB altogether, for the time being.’ So far, so good.” (03/03/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/03/03/how-to-kill-a-bureau/
Musk, Social Security, and the Ponzi-Scheme Boomerang
Source: Common Dreams
by Sanford F Schram
“In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, the world’s richest person Elon Musk late last week called Social Security ‘the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time’ It was yet another ‘pot calling the kettle black’ moment in the run-on sentence called Trumpism. I say run-on sentence because it is important to highlight Trumpism as featuring a nefarious discourse self-consciously deployed by Donald Trump and his acolytes to normalize their extremism. Trumpism as a discourse obfuscates so as to legitimate what has become its extremist threat to the existing political system, the rule of law and U.S. Constitution. It is a distinctive way of speaking that facilitates highly questionable action. We see this repeatedly in the Trump era. Trumpism as a discourse most prominently features three verbal maneuvers: gaslighting, coopting, and boomeranging.” [editor’s note: Well, at least this pundit considers the label correct, even though for the wrong reasons – SAT] (03/03/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/musk-ponzi-scheme-social-security
NY: Regime begins process of firing prison workfare clients who remain on strike
Source: WHEC 10 News
“New York State is cracking down on corrections officers who remain on strike at multiple prisons. Monday marks day 15 of the strikes. It comes after the union representing the prison staff and leaders of the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision have reached a deal. Now, the state is following through on its threats of firing some employees and pulling healthcare funding. As part of the deal reached on Thursday night, prison staff had until the start of their shift on Saturday to return to their post without any consequences. DOCCS said on social media that, if a guard missed 11 shifts in a row, they’ll get a termination letter. Prison staff went on strike to demand higher staffing levels, no mandated overtime over 16 hours, and increased measures to keep them safe.” (03/02/25)
EconTalk, 03/03/25
Source: EconLog
“The Unusual World of Israeli Democracy (with Rachel Gur).” (03/03/25)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-unusual-world-of-israeli-democracy-with-rachel-gur/
SLOCs and Chokepoints: Panama, Greenland, Canada — and Indigenous Peoples
Source: Antiwar.com
by Marc Sills
“Whoever controls a chokepoint has the obvious advantage of keeping it open to merchant transit, ideally under ‘freedom of navigation’ rules and norms, such as are enumerated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – which the US has not ratified. On the other side of the coin, the very definition of chokepoints implies that they can be closed off and blockaded by force – presumably given some alleged military necessity, legal or otherwise.” (03/03/25)
MA: Boston Mayor Wu offers condolences to family of suspect shot after allegedly trying to stab people
Source: Fox News
“Boston Mayor Michelle Wu raised eyebrows over the weekend after she expressed condolences to the family of a knife-wielding suspect who was shot and killed by an off-duty officer after he allegedly tried to stab two people on Saturday night. The suspect, whose identity was not released by police, brandished a knife near a Chick-fil-A on Boylston Street, a busy part of the Massachusetts capital. He was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer who saw him targeting the two victims, police said. During a Saturday night press conference, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said that the officer identified himself to the suspect and asked him to drop his weapon.” (03/03/25)
How Silicon Valley’s Corrupted Libertarianism Is Dismantling American Democracy
Source: The UnPopulist
by Mike Brock
“Donald Trump is a vehicle for Musk and Thiel to implement their radical ideas of replacing accountable governance with an unaccountable techno-monarchy.” (03/02/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/how-silicon-valleys-corrupted-libertarianism