Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“It’s Law and Order Two: Electric Boogaloo. But here’s the rub; nobody is actually asking for a sequel. Even amidst this synergistic propaganda deluge, most major polls show crime trailing behind the shit that causes it, like inflation, recession, and shitty leadership, on the list of demands for both Democrats and Republicans. In other words, average Americans don’t want law and order. They would much rather watch the Temple of Emptiness burn like their savings. But American power desperately wants us to want law and order to save their hides from the fire the way they did the last time around.” (03/31/24)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2024/03/law-and-order-is-republicrat-for-fascism.html
Source: CNN
“Israeli military forces have withdrawn from Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a 14-day siege that witnesses and Gazan authorities say left the medical facility largely destroyed. ‘The situation is very bad,’ said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, on Monday. Al-Shifa is ‘completely destroyed and burned down. Many of its buildings are totally destroyed or charred,’ he said. ‘Injured and dead bodies fill the hospital grounds,’ he added. ‘There are bodies buried in the hospital yards.’ … The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed their withdrawal in a statement on Monday, saying they had completed ‘precise operational activity’ in the area. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said about 3,000 people were inside Al-Shifa when the IDF began its raid on March 18, and that those attempting to leave were being targeted by snipers and fire from helicopters.” (04/01/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/middleeast/israel-idf-withdraws-al-shifa-hospital-intl-hnk/index.html
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Once again, for those who didn’t pay attention during Econ 101, if you artificially hike the price of labor, you reduce demand for workers. In California, this is playing out in terms of lost jobs, increased automation, and other consequences that result when politicians signal a unicorns-and-rainbows vision of the marketplace to their allies and leave the public to deal with the resulting mess.” (03/29/24)
https://reason.com/2024/03/29/minimum-wage-laws-make-for-great-politics-but-fewer-jobs/
Source: (Re)Imagining Liberty
“Misogyny and the Political Divide (w/ Cathy Reisenwitz).” (03/31/24)
https://reimagining-liberty-1.castos.com/episodes/misogyny-and-the-political-divide-w-cathy-reisenwitz-1
Source: Reuters
“Gold prices rose to a record high on Monday, as a softer U.S. inflation reading cemented bets that the Federal Reserve would deliver its first interest rate cut of the year in June. Spot gold was up 1.2% at $2,258.53 per ounce, as of 0815 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of $2,262.19 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures gained 1.8% to $2,279.50. … Gold logged its biggest monthly rise in more than three years in March after a blistering rally fuelled by rate-cut bets, strong safe-haven demand and central bank buying.” (04/01/24)
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-hits-record-high-soft-us-data-cements-june-rate-cut-bets-2024-04-01/
Source: Orange County Register
by Susan Shelley
“The last chapter has now been written in one of the strangest and most disturbing stories of the COVID pandemic era. It’s strange and disturbing because the U.S. government intentionally misled the public about an approved drug that has been around long enough for a cheap generic version to be readily available. The drug is ivermectin, and the ‘last chapter’ is the settlement of a lawsuit by three doctors who charged that the Food and Drug Administration acted beyond its legal authority with its campaign to prevent the use of ivermectin to treat COVID. While refusing to admit any wrongdoing, the FDA has now agreed to remove from its website a page titled, ‘Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.'” (03/30/24)
https://www.ocregister.com/2024/03/30/fda-overstepped-on-ivermectin/
Source: SFGate
“Turkey’s main opposition party retained its control over key cities and made huge gains elsewhere in Sunday’s local elections, preliminary results showed, in a major upset to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas. With nearly 60% of the ballot boxes counted, incumbent Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was leading in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city and economic hub, according to state broadcaster TRT. Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital Ankara, retained his seat with a large margin, the results indicated. The CHP was leading in 36 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to the results reported by TRT. The vote was seen as a barometer of President Erdogan’s popularity as he sought to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition in elections five years ago.” (03/31/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/the-race-is-on-for-key-cities-as-turkey-holds-19377591.php
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“People admire different qualities in others. The traits each of us admires are shaped by our own values and experiences. What some see as a virtue, others see as a vice. Or worse. It seems most people admire obedience — they voice admiration for those who follow orders without hesitation. This isn’t something I admire. Too much depends on who is giving the orders and what those orders are. This can include bad parents as well as people wearing uniforms or holding a political office. I can’t excuse anyone for obeying when the orders are clearly evil.” (03/31/24)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2024/03/31/voices/opinion-blind-loyalty-not-a-trait-i-admire/178047.html
Source: CNBC
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the Kremlin’s website showed on Sunday. All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27. The new legislation came into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.” (03/31/24)
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/31/russias-putin-signs-decree-on-spring-military-conscription.html
Source: The Daily Beast
by Matt Lewis
“Donald Trump needs to advance the notion that things have never been worse. Indeed, this is the fundamental premise of his re-election bid. … Vibes aside, there is ample evidence that America is not a shithole, and that we are not, in fact, experiencing ‘American carnage.’ But to admit that things are actually going pretty well in America is perceived as an existential threat in the MAGA messaging world. You’ve heard the expression ‘talking down the economy.’ Well, the 2024 version is talking down the country.” (03/29/24)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-needs-his-maga-followers-to-believe-america-is-screwed
