Source: CounterPunch
by Robert Koehler

“Freedom of speech is kind of like eggs nowadays – too expensive! For Columbia University, the cost imposed on it by the Trump administration was suddenly $400 million in rescinded federal funding, at least if the speech was pro-Palestinian and critical of Israel.” (04/03/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/04/03/freedom-of-speech-keeping-sanity-alive/

Source: Common Dreams
by John Marks

“‘We’ve seen encampments cleared, phones tapped, and permits held up—but this? This feels like they’re preparing for war,’ said Marisol Jennings, a D.C.-based organizer who has coordinated protests since 2017. Just days before thousands of Americans are expected to gather in Washington, D.C. to protest the Trump administration’s policies, a sweeping new executive order threatens to transform the nation’s capital into a showcase for authoritarian policing. Signed on March 27, the order—Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful—appears less concerned with beautification than with containment. Its provisions call for surging federal law enforcement, accelerating immigration crackdowns, and strictly enforcing vague ‘quality-of-life’ directives for the city. And its timing, just a week before what organizers are calling the most consequential day of protest since President Donald Trump’s return to office, is raising alarm from civil rights lawyers, city officials, and veteran demonstrators.” (04/03/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-dc-order

Source: Chasing Liberty
by Jeff Charles

“Most people automatically assume the War on Drugs is necessary. It’s something Americans have taken for granted. But what if it is causing more harm than good?” (04/03/25)

https://www.libertychasers.com/p/does-the-drug-war-save-lives

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov

“At first glance, Le Pen’s disqualification could weaken the anti-war voices in France and the EU by reducing their cohesion and visibility. Her party is a founding member of the Patriots for Europe (PfE), the third largest political group in the European Parliament, where it sits with influential like-minded parties like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz, and Italian Deputy Prime Minster Matteo Salvini’s Lega. All of them have been vocal critics of the EU’s unconditional support for Ukraine, anti-Russia sanctions, and the dogmatic refusal to engage in direct diplomacy with Moscow to end the war.” (04/03/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/marine-le-pen/

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“The Summer of 2024 was a political maëlstrom. It included a near-miss assassination attempt and a withdrawal of a sitting president of the United States from his re-election campaign, almost at the last possible moment. We still do not know much about Trump’s would-be assassin on that roof in Butler, Pennsylvania. Nor does there seem much media interest in that still mysterious criminal episode. But we are learning more about Joe Biden’s stepping down from the campaign, and Kamala Harris’s taking the reins of the Democratic ticket.” (04/03/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/04/03/2024switcheroo/