Trump seeks $152 million to reopen Alcatraz

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“US President Donald Trump is seeking $152m (£115m) to reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison as part of his proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year. Located near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the site, also known as The Rock, was once regarded as one of America’s most notorious prisons, but has served as a tourist attraction in recent years. The budget request is seeking money ‘to rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility’, with funds covering the first year of costs. The plan has been met with scepticism by a number of politicians in California, with questions raised about the final cost of the project and the challenges of running Alcatraz as an active prison. The maximum security facility was closed in 1963. As a tourist site, it is currently run by the National Park Service.'” (04/04/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3dlpk0zzy1o

Steve Trinward

Barter, Media of Exchange, and Colonial America

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter

“Where did money get its value? The original purchasing power of an ounce of gold (or another commodity) as money depended on the array of goods and services (or fractions thereof) for which that ounce of gold could have been exchanged in barter in the immediate past (e.g., the day before). In other words, a money’s purchasing power comes from its non-money exchange value. This leads to a logically-complete explanation for the origin of money’s purchasing power. It is also worth mentioning that this process happens spontaneously, through subjective valuations and market exchanges, rather than money being ‘invented.'” (04/03/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/barter-media-exchange-and-colonial-america

Thomas L. Knapp

No Sacred Ground

Source: Law & Liberty
by Daniel N Gullotta

“West Park Presbyterian Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is facing an existential reckoning. After more than 150 years in the neighborhood, the congregation has voted to sell its property, and the landmarked Romanesque Revival building now faces demolition. Long celebrated as one of the city’s architectural treasures, its potential loss has sparked public outrage, drawing protests and celebrity defenders such as Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, and Christian Slater. But despite these signs of support, weekly attendance hovers around a dozen people, the congregation is buried in unmanageable debt, and restoration would cost tens of millions of dollars. West Park Presbyterian isn’t unique.” (04/03/26)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/no-sacred-ground/

Thomas L. Knapp

Why Trump fired Bondi and chose this moment for a Justice Department reset

Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley

“There is an old joke that scientists switched from lab rats to lawyers because you do not get as attached to lawyers. President Donald Trump has shown the same tendency to avoid becoming attached to either private or government counsel. Attorney General Pam Bondi is only the latest in a long line of lawyers let go by a president who was made famous with the tagline ‘You’re fired.’ There is no evidence of bad blood between President Trump and Bondi. The attorney general has been attacked over her loyalty to the president and has been by his side in some of the most precarious moments, from impeachment to criminal defense. As his ‘apprentices’ learned, this is not personal; it’s business.” (04/03/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-trump-fired-bondi-chose-moment-justice-department-reset

Steve Trinward

Artemis II toilet acts up again as astronauts speed toward the moon

Source: SFGate

“Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts. On the downside, their toilet is on the blink again. The three Americans and one Canadian are set to reach their destination Monday, photographing the mysterious lunar far side as they zoom around. It is the first moon-bound crew in more than 53 years, picking up where NASA’s Apollo program left off. ‘The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,’ pilot Victor Glover reported. Until the Orion capsule’s bathroom is fixed, Mission Control has instructed the astronauts to break out more of the backup urine collection bags. The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned following Wednesday’s liftoff and has been hit-and-miss ever since. A version of the Artemis II toilet was tested on the International Space Station several years ago.” (04/04/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/artemis-ii-astronauts-are-more-than-halfway-to-22188970.php

Steve Trinward

Birthright and Wrong

Source: Unpopular Front
by John Ganz

“On Wednesday, Trump became the first president to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Maybe he is simply trying to intimidate the Justices who have already struck down much of his program, but it’s telling what case he picked: Trump v. Barbara concerns his executive order that attempted to effectively end birthright citizenship. I think if you wanted to boil down the Trumpist project to its essence, it’s an attack on American citizenship itself.” (04/03/26)

https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/birthright-and-wrong

Thomas L. Knapp