Source: Axios
“Several members of President Trump’s embattled National Security Council have been fired, a U.S. official and a second source familiar told Axios on Thursday. The firings come a day after conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer visited the Oval Office and pressed Trump to fire specific NSC staffers. Axios has not confirmed whether the firings were directly linked to that incident, but the source familiar said they were ‘being labeled as an anti-neocon move.’ … Axios has not confirmed whether any of the individuals let go were in any way connected to the separate controversy about the use of Signal and private email accounts by national security adviser Michael Waltz and NSC staff to discuss sensitive information.” (04/03/25)
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/03/trump-laura-loomer-fire-national-security-council
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“With the United States functionally at war for more than two decades — against terrorism, against drugs, against invisible viruses, and against geopolitical rivals — the presidency has accrued a staggering array of emergency powers. These powers, initially intended for rare and exceptional circumstances, have become permanent features of executive governance. As recent presidents — Bill Clinton, W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and now Trump again — have each pushed the boundaries of executive authority, a troubling pattern has emerged. What one party celebrates as strong leadership under ‘their guy’ becomes an established and dangerous precedent when the other side takes the reins. No one who favors liberty and limited government should be cheering this on, but as shall be shown the trend toward increasing executive power goes back over a century.” (04/03/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-imperial-presidency-long-predates-donald-trump
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed at least 27 Palestinians sheltering at a school in northern Gaza and wounded 70 more, said Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi, as Israeli forces have expanded their strikes and evacuation orders across the war-torn territory in recent days. The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, and the death toll could still rise because some of the wounded had critical injuries, al-Wahidi said. The Israeli military said it struck a ‘Hamas command and control center’ in the Gaza City area, and said it took steps to lessen harm to civilians. It was not immediately clear if the military statement was referring to the strike on the school.” (04/03/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/03/mideast-wars-israel-strike/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“For many Americans, it is an article of faith that a vast and powerful federal government equals a great and strong nation. Actually, it’s the exact opposite. The more powerful the federal government, the weaker the nation. Contrariwise, the smaller and weaker the federal government, the more powerful the nation. Part of the problem here is that many Americans have been taught to believe that the federal government and the nation are one and the same thing. They aren’t. They are two completely separate and distinct entities.” (04/03/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/04/03/a-powerful-government-and-a-weak-nation/
Source: US News & World Report
“A Russian court on Thursday rejected an appeal by dissident Alexei Gorinov against a three-year prison sentence for ‘justifying terrorism,’ a human rights group said. The sentence was meted out to Gorinov last November on top of a seven-year term he was already serving after being convicted in 2022 of spreading ‘deliberately false information’ about the Russian army and its actions in Ukraine. … Gorinov, 63, is one of the most prominent remaining jailed critics of Russia’s government and the war in Ukraine following a big East-West prisoner swap in August 2024 that saw the release of others including politician Vladimir Kara-Murza and human rights activist Oleg Orlov. Last month he was placed on an official register of ‘terrorists and extremists.’ (04/03/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-04-03/russian-dissident-gorinov-fails-in-appeal-against-sentence-for-justifying-terrorism
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ian Garner
“Why does Putin, three years after it became clear that his army could not destroy Ukraine in battle, seem so unwilling to countenance any sort of cease-fire? Despite some recent gains on the ground — notably in pushing the Ukrainians out of Russia’s own Kursk region — the chance of a decisive Russian military victory remains vanishingly small. Indeed, the clock appears to be ticking on Russia’s war effort. … Putin, eager to preserve his own security above all, may judge that the risks of ending the war are greater than those of continuing it. … Pulling the rug out from under the conflict — and ending the vast spending stimulus the war has brought — may also end the social stability on which Putin has built his 25-year rule.” (04/03/25)
https://archive.is/OEJaZ
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“New chat logs released by the House Judiciary Committee this week show the extraordinary lengths the FBI went to behind the scenes to shut down any discussion of Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020 after the New York Post broke the story. The conversations, withheld by the FBI under Director Chris Wray, show that senior leadership issued an internal ‘gag order’ on the laptop. The FBI had been in possession of the abandoned MacBook Pro for 10 months by that stage, after computer repair shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac handed it over and warned of the potential crimes and national security concerns he had found. The FBI’s forensic analysts quickly determined the laptop belonged to Hunter, had not been tampered with or altered in any way, and was suitable to be used in court.” (04/02/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/04/02/opinion/miranda-devine-new-fbi-chat-logs-reveal-extraordinary-gag-order-senior-leadership-used-to-shutdown-any-hunter-biden-laptop-discussion/
Source: Bitcoinist
“In a ’21 and 21′ rapid-fire interview with Haley Berkoe at San Francisco’s Presidio Bitcoin workspace, Jack Dorsey — CEO of Block and former Twitter chief — cautioned that BTC’s growing popularity among major financial institutions could threaten the open ethos that gave rise to the world’s largest cryptocurrency. ‘It probably harms it a bit,’ Dorsey said when asked about institutional investment in Bitcoin. Yet he acknowledged that large-scale involvement is practically inevitable, adding, ‘I think it’s obvious that we’ll see more of it, and I hope that more people take on the principles of what made Bitcoin successful in the first place.’ … One of Dorsey’s main concerns is that Bitcoin might end up sidelined if it focuses too narrowly on serving as a store of value.” (04/03/25)
https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-at-risk-institutional-capture-jack-dorsey/
Source: National Review
“Liberation Day, Bernie Style.” (04/03/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/liberation-day-bernie-style/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Double Whammy: Trade Wars And Real Wars!” (04/03/25)
https://rumble.com/v6rlnm9-double-whammy-trade-wars-and-real-wars.html
