Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“If any Mideast country has a big heart these days, it would be Iraq. A country that has suffered so much from war and terrorist attacks made a magnanimous gesture this week toward its neighbor Syria, which itself is now emerging from years of conflict. The gesture was to invite Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to Baghdad for an Arab summit in May. The magnanimity lies in its measure of forgiveness: Mr. Sharaa was once a leader of Al Qaeda based in Iraq and was jailed for years after the 2003 American-led invasion. He left Al Qaeda in 2016 and formed a more moderate Islamist group that overthrew Syria’s dictator this past December. He now appears to be a reformist leader guiding Syria toward an inclusive democracy. There’s another aspect to Iraq’s generosity. The country’s majority Shiite Muslims have steadily learned to work toward a common good with the minority Sunnis and others.” (04/18/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/0418/Why-Iraq-gives-Syria-a-hand
Source: New York Times
“At least six people died in Australia as towering waves battered Sydney and other places along the country’s east coast over the Easter holiday weekend, the police said. A low pressure system brought powerful surf starting Friday, and waves taller than 24 feet were recorded off the coast of Brisbane in the state of Queensland on Friday, according to government data. … By the time the hazardous surf warning was lifted on Sunday, five people had died in New South Wales, including in Sydney, and another in the state of Victoria, officials said. Another two people were missing. On Sunday morning, a man who was fishing in Wattamolla, about 20 miles south of Sydney, died after being swept into the sea, the New South Wales police said.” (04/20/25)
https://archive.is/fh4wv
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich, MC, and KS discuss hyper inflation, tariffs, official government information releases, the troll blows another chance to rebut, and this HEADLINE: Georgia Police Tried To Arrest a Paralyzed Man for Kicking Down a Woman’s Door and Assaulting Her.” (04/19/25)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2025/04/19/the-anarchist-experience-524/
Source: The American Conservative
by Joseph Addington
“Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson have created a typical liberal artifact — a pleasant idea that can’t survive contact with political reality.” (04/19/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/abundant-fantasy/
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Bolding
“It was gun control.
That’s what kicked off the fighting at Lexington and Concord – and started the War for Independence. But they never teach that in government-run schools. It’s almost as if they want you to believe the Founders fought a long, bloody war just to get representatives to tax them. That’s a lie. The truth? Months before the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British launched a systematic campaign to disarm the people – confiscating powder, banning imports, carrying out warrantless searches and seizures, and more. On April 19, 1775, the revolutionaries finally fought back.” (04/18/25)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2025/04/18/how-british-gun-control-was-the-spark-that-started-the-war-for-independence/
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israel assassinated a photojournalist in Gaza in an airstrike targeting her family’s home on Wednesday, the day after it was announced that a documentary she appears in would premier in Cannes next month. Her name was Fatima Hassouna. Nine members of her family were also reportedly killed in the bombing. She was going to get married in a few days. The documentary is titled Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, and it’s about Israel’s crimes in Gaza. In an Instagram post from August of last year, Hassouna wrote the following: ‘If I die, I want a loud death. I don’t want to be just breaking news, or a number in a group; I want a death that the world will hear, an impact that will remain through time, and a timeless image that cannot be buried by time or place.'” (04/19/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/04/19/i-want-a-death-that-the-world-will-hear-journalist-assassinated-by-israel-for-telling-the-truth/
Source: KOMO News
“Four current and former Seattle police officers are seeking intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the release of their identities in connection with their attendance at President Donald Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. … married officers Caitlin and Alexander Everett crossed barriers set up by the Capitol police and were next to the Capitol Building, in violation of the law, prompting [Seattle police chief Adrian] Diaz to fire the pair. Investigators said three other officers had not violated policies and the fourth case was ruled ‘inconclusive.’ The four officers said they did nothing wrong and that revealing their names would violate their privacy, but those seeking disclosure said the officers’ attendance at a widely covered public demonstration that drew thousands was not a private activity.” (04/19/25)
https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-police-officers-file-to-protect-anonymity-in-jan-6-trump-rally-case-musk-insurrection-protest-court-illegal-law-prison-sentence-washington-biden-investigation-capitol
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump’s Luxury Beliefs (with Scott Lincicome).” (04/19/25)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-luxury-beliefs-with-scott-lincicome/id1586423406?i=1000704103238
Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan
“In some ways, the core character of the Trump administration can be seen in two Oval Office press conferences with two young, informally-dressed foreign leaders. The first was with Volodymyr Zelensky, president of a country invaded and now partly occupied by Russia, who has courageously kept his country free from total Russian domination. The second was with Nayib Bukele, a man who governs in a permanent emergency, has seized 83,000 people with no due process and put them in brutal gulags, strong-armed his Supreme Court to gain an unconstitutional second term, and is one of the worst human rights violators in Latin America. So it’s obvious which one Trump and Vance prefer, isn’t it?” (04/18/25)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-bukele-playbook-trump-is-following-7e1
Source: OtherWords
by Jim Hightower
“How ironic: The most inefficient bureaucracy in government turns out to be Donald Trump’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’ That could be humorous, except that DOGE — a creature of the right-wing Project 2025 — has been devastating to millions of people. And it’s about to get worse. Elon Musk — the flighty überrich autocrat put in charge of ‘efficiency’ by his buddy Trump — is now going after the Social Security deposits of 73 million senior citizens. But wait, hasn’t Trump himself promised (loudly and often) that he would not ax this essential retirement program? Yes … but Elon is his ‘gotcha.’ Rather than an honest kill, Musk is strangling the program with bureaucratic red tape.” (04/19/25)
https://otherwords.org/trump-and-musk-are-trying-to-kill-social-security/
