Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“The Biden administration believes it should be a federal crime to refuse to hire ex-convicts. There is no such federal statute, but that hasn’t stopped President Biden’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from seizing dictatorial power to impose its own decrees. The EEOC sued Sheetz Inc. Thursday for using criminal background checks to staff its 600+ convenience stores in six states. The agency does not allege Sheetz is biased against minorities per se — only against minorities who failed the background check.” (04/22/24)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/04/22/n-y-post-biden-and-the-great-sheetz-shakedown/
Source: Politico
“Lawmakers in California want to double the penalty for protesters who block highways, a sign of increased frustration among both Republicans and Democrats with demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war such as the one that recently snarled traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Legislation authored by a Republican cleared a key committee vote Monday at the Capitol with crucial support from four Democrats, who defied the committee chair to advance the bill. The measure still has to pass the full Assembly and Senate and win the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, but the vote signals a split among Democrats, who dominate the state Legislature and have been divided by the protests over the war that have roiled major cities and universities.” (04/22/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/22/double-fines-protesters-california-00153778
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“Putin, AI, Ukraine, Crypto, the Noosphere, Futurism & Other Stuff | Robert Wright & Anatoly Karlin.” (04/22/24)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/67556
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Madison Yablonski
“This Earth Day, it’s time to reflect on the gains of conservation. Doom-and-gloom Earth Day messaging often paints a depressing future, but there is plenty of progress to celebrate. Here are three examples of innovative conservation happening all across the American West to celebrate our planet and our progress.” (04/22/24)
https://www.perc.org/2024/04/22/creative-conservation-inspires-hope-this-earth-day/
Source: SFGate
“A state senator from Orange County wants to reform how passenger security screening is conducted at California airports. His complaint lies not with full body scanners, but with programs that allow some passengers to jump to the front of security lines. Authored by Democratic state Sen. Josh Newman, Senate Bill 1372 would prohibit public airports in California from entering into new agreements with third-party vendors that allow certain passengers to skip ahead of other travelers after passing a biometric scanner. It also would require vendors like Clear Secure Inc. to create their own dedicated queues separate from a general security lane, rather than sharing the lines used by other passengers. Newman, whose district encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, said the bill will make airports safer and more equitable.” (04/23/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/calif-bill-would-ban-cutting-airport-security-line-19416953.php
Source: Quillette
by Marian L Tupy
“The 2024 Simon Abundance Index was released today to coincide with the annual celebration of Earth Day. This was no coincidence: the Index aims to modify Earth Day’s empirical and metaphysical bearings. When it was first observed in 1970, Earth Day justifiably bemoaned the harm caused to the planet over the preceding two centuries by massive, though mostly beneficial, economic expansion, and called upon our species to be better stewards of the planet. Over the succeeding 54 years, the growing influence and legislative triumphs of the environmental movement have led it to radicalize and become more anti-human and apocalyptic. … Between 1980 and 2023, the average time price of the 50 basic commodities fell by 70.4 percent. For the time required to earn the money to buy one unit of this commodity basket in 1980, you would get 3.38 units in 2023. In other words, your resource abundance increased by 238 percent.” (04/22/24)
https://quillette.com/2024/04/22/simon-abundance-index-prosperity-innovation-population/
Source: The American Prospect
by Gerard Edic
“Nearly every day for the past month, the Biden administration has made an announcement about a finalized regulation. They have completed a minimum staffing ratio for nursing homes, conserved 13 million acres in the Alaskan Arctic, designated ‘forever chemicals’ as hazardous substances, invested in rooftop solar panels in low-income communities, banned most noncompete agreements at U.S. businesses, directed federal agencies to purchase sustainable products, and closed the ‘gun show loophole’, to name just a few. Why has April been a month of regulatory action? The administration surely wants to show key constituencies that they have made progress. But policymakers are also racing to get regulations done to protect them from being overturned in the next Congress.” [editor’s note: As if we needed another reason NOT to support this regime – SAT] (04/23/24)
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-04-23-biden-administration-regulations-congressional-review-act/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israel looks ready to escalate its devastating war on Gaza after stationing troops and vehicles at nearby army bases and outposts just outside the enclave, according to satellite imagery obtained and assessed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit. The analysis indicates that Israel has deployed more than 800 military vehicles to two bases. At least 120 vehicles are stationed at the northern border of the Gaza Strip and 700 are in the Negev desert, to the south. The satellite imagery also reveals that Israel has established nine military outposts just outside the enclave. … The findings indicate that Israel plans to continue its war on Gaza, which was launched after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israeli communities and military outposts on October 7, despite global condemnation.” (04/23/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/23/satellite-images-show-israeli-forces-gathered-for-gaza-escalation
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Daniel Davis was on Antiwar Radio to discuss the West’s effort to extend the war in Ukraine. He and Scott review some of the arguments he faced in a recent debate where he and John Mearsheimer faced off against some members of the foreign policy blob. They use some of the claims made in that debate to explain why extending the war is not just a mistake, but deeply immoral.” (04/22/24)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/4-18-24-daniel-davis-it-is-immoral-to-keep-the-war-in-ukraine-going/
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Corbin Fraser
“Amidst a decline in traditional democratic structures and financial systems, cryptocurrencies emerge as a revitalizing force, offering a new form of accountability and transparency that could potentially restore public institutions.” (04/22/24)
https://news.bitcoin.com/democracy-fails-without-cryptocurrency/
