Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“I might not win an argument explaining how San Jose’s public surveillance relates to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. But. … That amendment insists that people have a right ‘to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,’ and that governments may not search and seize property without a warrant ‘upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’ … I’m biased: mass surveillance is Orwellian. Do we want our government keeping track of us that much? Especially as in San Jose, where not only can over a thousand police department employees scour the data sans any legal warrant, but the department also shares this resource with over 300 agencies across the state. Creepy. That’s the word for it.” (04/20/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/04/20/c-word-in-surveillance/
Source: Forbes
“China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Iran War and said the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened for shipping traffic, in his first public remarks calling for the critical waterway to be opened just weeks before he is set to host President Donald Trump in Beijing. Xi’s remarks were included in a readout of a call between him and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, released by Chinese State media. Xi said the strait should ‘remain open for normal passage,’ without singling out either Iran or the U.S. blockade. The Chinese leader also added that his country wants an ‘immediate and comprehensive ceasefire’ and is willing to support all diplomatic efforts to restore peace.” (04/21/26)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/04/20/chinas-xi-finally-speaks-on-trumps-iran-war-says-strait-hormuz-must-reopen/
Source: Reason
by Jeff Luse
“From higher crime to teenage stoners, here are things that the weed debate got wrong.” (04/20/26)
https://reason.com/2026/04/20/3-disasters-that-legal-weed-didnt-unleash-despite-the-forecasts/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Berlin has summoned the Russian ambassador to condemn what it calls ‘direct threats’ against ‘targets in Germany.’ The threats, which were not detailed, are aimed at undermining Germany’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, Berlin’s Federal Foreign Office said in a statement on Monday. … Last week, Russia’s Ministry of Defence published a list of 21 companies that Moscow believes are subsidiaries of Ukrainian defence companies or suppliers of key components. At least three German firms were among those listed as supplying drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to Ukraine. The post included a vague suggestion that those locations could be targeted.” (04/20/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/20/germany-summons-russian-ambassador-citing-direct-threats
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“Supporters of the income tax implicitly endorse the idea that our rights are gifts from government and, thus, can be revoked by government at the will of our rulers. Adoption of the income tax signified the abandonment of the belief that individuals have inalienable rights granted them by the Creator. Therefore, those who believe in natural rights must reject income taxation. It is also a violation of the people’s rights when the central bank reduces the value of the dollar, and thus the people’s purchasing power, via the hidden inflation tax.” (04/20/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/america-land-of-the-not-really-free
Source: CNN
“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will step down from the Trump administration to take a job in the private sector, according to a statement posted Monday by White House communications director Steven Cheung. … Chavez-DeRemer’s brief tenure has been one marked by turmoil as she’s come under internal investigation following complaints within the department about her conduct. The New York Times previously reported that her husband had been banned from the department’s headquarters amid sexual assault allegations. A criminal investigation into that matter has been closed. In March, two of her top aides were forced out amid an investigation into misconduct at the agency, the Times reported.” (04/20/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/20/politics/lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-out-trump
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Philippe Lemieux
“Modern economic policies increasingly give an impression of unreality. Governments announce reassuring indicators while individuals experience something entirely different: persistent inflation, housing shortages, stagnating purchasing power. This gap is not merely an analytical error. It reveals a deeper problem: the state no longer reacts to economic reality as it is lived, but to a reconstructed version built from models, indicators, and abstract categories. The market, by contrast, does not rely on representation. It emerges directly from human action.” 904/20/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/hyperreality-state
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“We all sense it deep in our marrow. We all know something has gone terribly wrong. If you lived in an alternate reality without wars or poverty, where everyone had enough and governments did what’s in the interests of the people and the ecosystem, it would never occur to you that there was anything odd about it. It would feel completely normal. Things would be more or less how you’d expect them to be. You can’t say the same about the present status quo. The whole thing instinctively scans as weird and counterintuitive. The more you learn about the way the world works, the more insane it all looks to you. Have you ever had to explain war to a young child? It’s terrible. If you’re actually honest with them about what war is and why it is waged, it completely shatters their understanding of the world.” (04/20/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/04/20/nothing-about-this-dystopia-feels-natural/
Source: US News & World Report
“Peru’s electoral authorities began reviewing thousands of contested ballots on Monday, stalling the count in the April 12 general election and delaying final results, as no clear presidential rival has emerged to face conservative frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in a June runoff. Roughly 6% of polling stations — representing more than one million votes — were challenged last week due to missing information or errors on tally sheets, according to Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE). Peru’s top electoral body, the National Jury of Elections (JNE), said it has started reviewing disputed polling stations in public hearings before adding them to the final tally, a process that could take weeks.” (04/20/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-04-20/peru-reviews-disputed-election-ballots-with-final-result-likely-stalled-until-may
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on Rep. Ilhan Omar claiming her net worth to be less than $100,000, after a report from last year showed that her and her husband held assets worth up to $30 million.” (04/20/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/5834599-rising-april-20-2026/
