- US Senate kills Mayorkas impeachment trial, votes both articles “unconstitutional”
Source: ABC News
“The Senate on Wednesday dismissed both impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, deeming them ‘unconstitutional.’ The trial against Mayorkas, long a target of Republican criticism over his handling of immigration policy and the southern border, lasted just three hours after senators were sworn in as jurors. The votes to kill the articles and adjourn the trial were along party lines, 51-49.” (04/17/24)
- Israeli regime blames Gaza starvation on UN as UNICEF says a third of Gazan infants and toddlers acutely malnourished
Source: CBS News
“Under pressure from the U.S. and other allies to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid, Israel insists it’s doing everything it can, and it blames the United Nations for the starvation of thousands of Palestinians in the war-torn enclave. In a Wednesday morning social media post, the Israeli government said it had ‘scaled up our capabilities’ and it included a video clip showing hundreds of white containers that it said were loaded with aid and waiting for collection inside Gaza. ‘This is what the content of 700 aid trucks looks like. It is waiting on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom to be picked up by UN agencies,’ COGAT, the Israeli government agency that handles affairs in the Palestinian territories, said in the post. ‘All the UN did was make up excuses. Aid needs to be collected and delivered. The UN needs to do its job.'” (04/17/24)
- Bitcoin Dominance Increases as Halving Nears and BTC Price Lingers Near $61k
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin (BTC) has become more dominant in the crypto market thanks to impending halving and broader market risk aversion, despite the price correction. The largest cryptocurrency by market value was trading below $61,400 during Asian trading hours on Thursday, according to CoinDesk Indices data, as the sell-off in risk assets, fueled by difficult macroeconomic conditions, rages. The CoinDesk 20, a measure of the world’s most liquid digital assets, is down 3.3%, trading at 2,125.” (04/18/24)
- OH: AG shuts down Democratic proposal to skirt election deadline to get Biden on ballots
Source: Fox News
“Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office rejected an effort by state Democrats to circumvent a key election deadline to allow President Biden on state ballots this week, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital. The documents show correspondence from Yost’s office and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, as well as attorney Donald McTigue, who is representing Democrats on the matter. LaRose, a Republican, had notified state Democrats earlier this month that the Democratic National Convention would not occur until more than a week after Ohio’s Aug. 7 deadline for certifying presidential candidates. LaRose warned that either the Ohio assembly would have to vote to change the law, or Democrats would have to move up their plans for certifying Biden and Vice President Harris.” (04/17/24)
- US House sets long-awaited vote on billions more for Ukraine & Israel
Source: Reuters
“The U.S. House of Representatives will have its long-awaited vote on aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific as soon as Saturday, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday, more than two months after a similar package passed the Senate. The House Appropriations Committee unveiled legislation providing more than $95 billion in security assistance, including $60.84 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine and assist regional partners as they handle Russia’s invasion, of which $23.2 billion would be used to replenish U.S. weapons, stocks and facilities. The Israel bill totals $26.38 billion, for Israel and funds to cover the cost of U.S. military operations in response to recent attacks. The Indo-Pacific measure totals $8.12 billion.” (04/17/24)
- NPR editor who penned scathing piece criticizing the public broadcaster resigns
Source: CNN
“Uri Berliner, a National Public Radio senior editor who wrote a scathing online essay accusing the public radio network of harboring a liberal bias, said Wednesday he had resigned from the outlet. ‘I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years,’ Berliner wrote in a resignation letter to NPR chief executive Katherine Maher, which he posted to his X account. An NPR spokesperson declined to comment. Berliner’s resignation came after he was suspended for five days without pay over his 3,500-word piece in the anti-establishment publication The Free Press. In the essay, Berliner claimed NPR had failed to properly cover allegations Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the runup to the 2016 election, the controversial Covid-19 lab-leak theory and New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop.” (04/17/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/media/npr-editor-resigns/index.html
- Ukraine war: Strike on radar could serve as pretext for Russian nuclear strike
Source: Times of India [India]
“Recent drone attacks by Ukraine on a Russian radar installation may have breached one of Russia’s declared red lines for deploying nuclear weapons, raising fears of an escalation in the ongoing conflict. The attacks targeted the 590th separate radio engineering center in Kovilkino, Mordovia, which houses the 29B6 ‘Container’ radar. This radar is a crucial component of Russia’s early-warning network against aerospace attacks, including ballistic missiles. The Kremlin’s 2020 decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin, explicitly outlines conditions under which Russia could use nuclear weapons. One of these conditions includes attacks that disrupt the ‘response actions of nuclear forces.’ Given the strategic importance of the “Container” radar in detecting missile threats, the attacks could be seen as meeting this criterion, a Newsweek report said. The first attack occurred on April 11, reportedly damaging the site’s command post, while the second followed on Wednesday morning.” (04/18/24)
- OH: Man, 81, charged with killing Uber driver after both targeted by scam calls
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Police in Ohio have arrested a man accused of shooting dead an Uber driver he mistakenly believed was part of a scam. According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, driver Loletha Hall, 61, was shot multiple times by William Brock, 81, outside his South Charleston home last month. A scammer had contacted Mr Brock, threatened him and demanded money. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge. Ms Hall, according to officials, was also sent to Mr Brock’s house by a scammer and instructed to pick up a package. Police released dashcam footage of the 25 March incident showing Mr Brock brandishing a pistol and pointing it at Ms Hall to prevent her from leaving. During their investigation, officials discovered that an unknown man had called Mr Brock and told him he needed to pay $12,000 (£9,600) to get his nephew out of jail. Police say the caller threatened to kill his nephew if he did not pay.” (04/17/24)
- Canada: Police charge nine suspects in historic $20 million airport gold heist
Source: CBS News
“One year after a brazen gold heist at the Toronto airport, nine suspects have been charged in an investigation police said ‘belongs in a Netflix series.’ In total, 6,600 gold bars weighing over 800 pounds, worth an estimated $20 million, and about $2.5 million in foreign currencies were stolen from Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023. At the time, police described the case as ‘very rare.’ Now they call it the largest gold heist in Canadian history. … Five suspects, including an Air Canada employee, were arrested then released with conditions and will appear in court at a later date. A warrant was issued for another man who was also an employee of the airline at the time of the theft. In addition to the warrant for the former employee, two more Canada-wide warrants were issued for those not yet apprehended.” (04/17/24)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-gold-heist-toronto-police-charge-suspects/
- NYC: Catholic officials in Brooklyn agree to an independent oversight of clergy sex abuse allegations
Source: Seattle Times
“An independent monitor will oversee the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s handling of sexual abuse allegations under a settlement between the diocese and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The agreement announced Tuesday will address ‘years of mismanaging clergy sexual abuse cases,’ James said. Investigators with the attorney general’s office found that officials with the diocese failed to comply with their own sex abuse policies put in place after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002. … As part of the settlement, the diocese has agreed to strengthen its procedures for handling allegations of clergy sexual abuse and misconduct, including publicly posting an explanation of the complaint and investigation process.” (04/17/24)
- Sweden: Parliament Passes a Law to Make It Easier for Young People to Legally Change Their Gender
Source: US News & World Report
“The Swedish parliament passed a law Wednesday lowering the age required for people to legally change their gender from 18 to 16. Those under 18 still need approval from a guardian, a doctor and the National Board of Health and Welfare. No longer required is a gender dysphoria diagnosis, defined by medical professionals as psychological distress experienced by those whose gender expression does not match their gender identity. Sweden joins a number of countries with similar laws including Denmark, Norway, Finland and Spain.” (04/17/24)
- Report Sounds Alarm Over Growing Role of Big Tech in US Military-Industrial Complex
Source: New York Post
“The center of the U.S. military-industrial complex has been shifting over the past decade from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to Northern California — a shift that is accelerating with the rise of artificial intelligence-based systems, according to a report published Wednesday. The report (entitledHow Big Tech and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Military-Industrial Complex) was authored by Roberto J. Gonzalez, a professor of cultural anthropology at San Jose State University, for the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs. The new paper comes amid the contentious rise of AI-powered lethal autonomous weapons systems, or killer robots; increasing reliance upon AI on battlefields from Gaza to Ukraine; and growing backlash from tech workers opposed to their companies’ products and services being used to commit or enable war crimes.” (04/17/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/military-industrial-complex-big-tech
- UK: Idiot pols back bill to boost nicotine black market
Source: Associated Press
“The British government’s plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009. If passed, the bill will give Britain some of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the world. Authorities say it will create modern Britain’s ‘first smoke-free generation.’ … The bill also includes measures to crack down on youth vaping, such as banning the sale of cheap disposable vapes and restricting their flavors to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine.” (04/17/24)
https://apnews.com/article/britain-smoking-ban-0780fd4fc9afcdc002a0544252ef907a
- Biden may triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum
Source: Axios
“President Biden will use a visit to the United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh today to announce that his administration is considering tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. Biden is determined not to allow former President Trump to outflank him on who is tougher on China. He’s also bent on winning Pennsylvania, a state he considers a second home. So Biden will zero in on steel and shipbuilding as industries that need protection from cheaper Chinese imports. … Steel and aluminum imports from China currently face 7.5% tariffs under Section 301 of Trade Act of 1974. Biden is directing Tai to consider raising them to 25%.” (04/17/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/17/biden-triple-tariffs-china-steel-aluminum
- KS: As legislators press for a law, higher ed board considers anti-DEI policy
Source: SFGate
“State universities in Kansas would be banned from requiring prospective students, potential hires and staffers seeking promotion to disclose their views on diversity initiatives under a policy change being considered by the state’s higher education board. The Kansas Board of Regents was set to discuss the policy change during a meeting Wednesday at Fort Hays University. The proposal would revise policy language that currently emphasizes ‘multiculturism and diversity’ on campus and replace it with language barring universities from requiring statements ‘pledging allegiance to, support for or opposition to’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in applications for admission, hiring or promotion — without setting any penalties for violations. The proposed change comes as the state’s Democratic governor faces pressure to enshrine the anti-DEI policy in law following Republicans’ approval of a bill in the Legislature that would put the same policy into state law.” (04/17/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/kansas-higher-ed-board-is-considering-an-19408182.php
- NC: High school student suspended for using term “illegal alien” in class discussion
Source: New York Post
“A 16-year-old North Carolina high school student says he was suspended just for saying ‘illegal alien’ while discussing word meaning in English class — possibly ruining his chances of landing a college sports scholarship. Christian McGhee, a student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, received a three-day suspension last week after he used the term in English class, the Carolina Journal reported. His mother, Leah McGhee, said his teacher had given an assignment that used the word ‘alien,’ and Christian asked: ‘Like space aliens or illegal aliens without green cards?’ Another student reportedly took offense and threatened to fight Christian, so the teacher took the matter to the assistant principal, according to the Carolina Journal. Eventually, his words were determined to be offensive and disrespectful to Hispanic classmates, so he was suspended.” [editor’s note: I would call this “entrapment” – SAT] (04/17/24)
- Progressives seek to neutralize AIPAC’s spending threats
Source: Politico
“The promise of an onslaught of spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has loomed over Democratic primaries for months — but it hasn’t yet materialized. Progressives critical of Israel, however, think they can exploit even the threat of AIPAC’s involvement in their races, in yet another sign of the schism among Democrats over the escalating Israel-Hamas war. Their digital ads warn of the group’s influence and seek to energize small-dollar donors. Advocacy groups supporting them have formed an anti-AIPAC coalition to coordinate a defense against the expected influx of cash. Progressive incumbents have sought assistance from their leadership, demanding unified party support to block challenges. It’s an effort to neutralize AIPAC, which has vowed to drop $100 million this cycle to support pro-Israel candidates, including ousting progressives, in part, for their support for Palestinians amid the war.” (04/17/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/17/democrats-aipac-election-spending-00152616
- Russian peacekeepers start withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Russian peacekeepers have begun withdrawing from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, ending Moscow’s years-long military presence there, according to officials. ‘This is indeed the case,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday in response to media inquiries without giving a timeframe for the withdrawal. Nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeeping soldiers were deployed to the breakaway South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020 under a Moscow-brokered deal that halted six weeks of fighting between Azerbaijani and ethnic Armenian forces. Despite the deployment, Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh by force in September last year in a move that triggered an exodus of 120,000 ethnic Armenians living there and the arrest of the breakaway area’s ethnic Armenian leaders.” (04/17/24)
- CA: Squirrel named Furry Boi elected to UC Berkeley student government
Source: SFGate
“A lack of affordable housing is such a critical issue at UC Berkeley that even the squirrels roaming the wooded campus are worried about it. Or at least that’s what a satirical — and successful — candidate in the university’s recent student government elections is saying. Last week, Furry Boi, a squirrel from Berkeley’s eucalyptus grove, won a student senate seat for the next academic year alongside 19 human candidates. And he barely squeaked in, coming in with the second-lowest number of votes. But it’s not all as nuts as it may sound: A person is behind the squirrel. Ethan Hu, a 19-year-old sophomore computer science major from the Bay Area, told SFGATE he wanted to avoid a performative campaign that would be just for his resume, which can be a trait of some student government candidates.” (04/16/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/furry-boi-squirrel-berkeley-senate-19404639.php
- CA: Intruder shot by resident in home invasion
Source: NBC 4 Los Angeles
“Authorities responded to a Newport Beach home early Tuesday following a report of a shooting during a possible home invasion. The break-in was reported at about 4:45 a.m. at a residence on Newport Coast Drive between Ocean Ridge and Ridge Park. The caller reported that a resident shot one of the intruders, police said. The injured intruder and another person left the house. Officers searching nearby the home later found an armed man with gunshot wounds. He was hospitalized, but details about his condition were not immediately available. ‘The crime appears to be a targeted incident involving a prior connection between the suspects and victims,’ police said in a statement.” (04/17/24)
- Ukraine: Zelenskyy signs law overhauling regime’s military enslavement scheme
Source: CNN
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a key piece of legislation overhauling the country’s [military enslavement] rules. The legislation places a new requirement on all men between 18 and 60 to register with Ukraine’s military and to carry their registration documents on them at all times. The aim is to make [enslavement] processes more efficient and more transparent, the government says. Men of service age who are living abroad will not be able to renew their passports at Ukrainian consulates without producing up-to-date registration paperwork. The new law does not cover any potential increase in the number of people who might be [enslaved].” (04/16/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/europe/zelensky-signs-mobilization-law-intl-latam/index.html
- NY: First seven jurors picked in disgraced former president’s porn star hush money trial
Source: USA
“The first-ever criminal prosecution of an ex-president picked up speed Tuesday, with seven jurors seated in Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial. Opening arguments could begin within days. Tuesday’s proceedings saw the presumptive Republican presidential nominee warned by Judge Juan Merchan over potential juror intimidation, while several possible jurors were confronted with social media posts that Trump’s lawyers said showed bias against the onetime reality TV star. … More than half of the first 96 prospective jurors were dismissed on Monday after most said they couldn’t be impartial in a trial of the former president. By Tuesday, prosecutors and defense attorneys were questioning possible jurors one by one over their feelings for Trump.” (04/17/24)
- Lebanon: Hezbollah commander “killed in Israeli airstrike”
Source: Sky News [UK]
“Israel has claimed a Hezbollah commander has been killed in an airstrike in Lebanon. According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the commander of the militant group’s coastal sector, Ismail Yusaf Baz, has been ‘eliminated’ in a strike in the Ain Ebel area. It claims one of its aircraft made the hit on the region roughly 7km north of the Israeli border. … Earlier, Hezbollah said it attacked Israel’s Iron Dome air defence units in the area of Beit Hillel, claiming they made direct hits and had killed or wounded crew members. Hezbollah has not yet commented on Israel’s claims.” (04/16/24)
https://news.sky.com/story/hezbollah-commander-killed-in-israeli-airstrike-idf-claims-13116638
- Johnson says he won’t resign as Republican anger grows over foreign aid
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Defiant and determined, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, pushed back on Tuesday against mounting Republican anger over his proposed US aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, and rejected a call to step aside or risk a vote to oust him from office. ‘I am not resigning,’ Johnson said after a testy morning meeting of fellow House Republicans at the Capitol. Johnson referred to himself as a ‘wartime speaker’ of the House and indicated in his strongest self-defense yet he would press forward with a US national security aid package, a situation that would force him to rely on Democrats to help pass it, over objections from his weakened majority.” (04/16/24)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/johnson-foreign-aid-resign-republican
- China: Regime thugs abduct more than 1,500 in online censorship gambit
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“China’s Ministry of Public Security said police around the country have made over 1,500 arrests and solved 10,000 cases since the launch of a campaign targeting online rumours in December. The ministry has imposed administrative penalties on about 10,700 people and debunked more than 4,200 rumours since it launched the campaign last December, according to a Tuesday report by People’s Daily. The numbers were first released on Saturday on the official WeChat account of the ministry’s cybersecurity office. The campaign has identified and investigated illegal activities that make money from spreading rumours about hot-button issues.” (04/16/24)
- The Bank Secrecy Act Is a Bigger Threat than FISA
Source: Cato Institute
by Norbert Michel“Last week the U.S. House reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, continuing a controversial foreign intelligence collection program. Still, reauthorization took some political arm twisting because several members wanted to add protection against warrantless surveillance under the FISA 702 program. … It’s no surprise that privacy advocates are upset about this reauthorization. But while it’s good to see Congress at least debating these issues during the Section 702 reauthorization, it’s even better to see the House Judiciary Committee recognizing how the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 enables warrantless searches of Americans’ financial records. The BSA is an even bigger threat to the Fourth Amendment.” (04/17/24)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/bank-secrecy-act-bigger-threat-fisa
- The Justice of an All-Volunteer Military
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Donald J Boudreaux“It’s understandable to think that, if the enlistees in America’s military come disproportionately from lower-income groups, the all-volunteer nature of the military results in lower-income individuals bearing a disproportionate share of the burden of providing America’s military services. It’s understandable, too, to suppose that conscription would spread this burden more equally across income groups. But economics reveals that this way of thinking is mistaken. The most equitable and just sharing of the burden of America’s military is assured by its all-volunteer nature, and that conscription would be inequitable and unjust.” (04/17/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/the-justice-of-an-all-volunteer-military/
- Why Religious Beliefs Are Irrational, and Why Economists Should Care
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“To tell people that their non-religious beliefs are just a religion is an insult. Why is it an insult? There isn’t any nice way to answer, so I’ll be blunt. It is an insult because the way that people form religious beliefs is so intellectually irresponsible that their conclusions are almost guaranteed to be false. People: * accept their religious beliefs with little or no evidence * accept religious beliefs that are contrary to the evidence * accept religious beliefs without studying competing views * are certain about religious beliefs that are dubious at best, and *accept their religious beliefs not because they are intellectually compelling, but because they are emotionally comforting. Forming non-religious beliefs in a religious way is irrational because forming any beliefs in a religious way is irrational.” (04/17/24)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/why-religious-beliefs-are-irrational
- How About Just Cracking Down to Win the Drug War?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“The drug war, as most everyone knows has been going on a long time — decades! It’s just your standard government program. It keeps going and going no matter how much failure, death, and destruction it produces. … there have been drug warriors who have exclaimed, ‘If we would just really crack down in the war on drugs, we could win it.’ (They say the same thing in the war on immigrants, which has been going on at least as long as the war on drugs.) But the fact is that the drug warriors have been cracking down in the drug war the entire time. … there is only one solution to the drug war — end it.” (04/17/24)
https://www.fff.org/2024/04/17/how-about-just-cracking-down-to-win-the-drug-war/
- Is the Overton Window Real, Imagined, or Constructed?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker“To notice and comply with the Overton window is not the same as merely favoring incremental change over dramatic reform. There is not and should never be an issue with marginal change. That’s not what is at stake. To be aware of the Overton window, and fit within it, means to curate your own advocacy. You should do so in a way that is designed to comply with a structure of opinion that is pre-existing as a kind of template we are all given. It means to craft a strategy specifically designed to game the system, which is said to operate according to acceptable and unacceptable opinionizing.” (04/17/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/is-the-overton-window-real-imagined-or-constructed/
- World Paying Deadly Price For Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Legacy
Source: The Federalist
by David Harsanyi“If a belligerent state launched 186 explosive drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 110 surface-to-surface missiles from three fronts against civilian targets within the United States, would Joe Biden call it a ‘win?’ Would the president tell us that the best thing we can do now is show ‘restraint?’ What if that same terror state’s proxy armies had recently helped murder, rape, and kidnap more than 1,000 American men, women, and children? What if this terror state were trying to obtain nuclear weapons so it could continue to agitate without any consequences? This is what Joe Biden and the Barack Obama acolytes, Iranian dupes, and Israel antagonists he’s surrounded himself with demand of Jewish State.” (04/17/24)
- Why the Status Quo Matters
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy“In an earlier post, I listed some questions for interventionists to consider before advocating their interventions. This is part of my ongoing crusade to get interventionists to think about things as they actually are as opposed to a blank slate. These two modes of thinking I call ‘status quo reasoning’ (seeing the world as it is) versus ‘state of nature reasoning’ (seeing the world as a blank slate). Some recent research demonstrates the importance of status quo reasoning.” (04/17/24)
- Hungary’s “Surprise Attack”
Source: Law & Liberty
by David P Goldman“Ajoke told often in Budapest says that World War III will be lost by whichever side Hungary is on. Balazs Orban, the political director for Prime Minister Viktor Orban (the two are not related), notes in his new book, Hussar Cut, that the political compromise of 1867 that incorporated Hungary into the Austrian Empire ‘involved the voluntary surrender of our independent foreign policy, so we had no say on whether or not to participate in the first great global military conflagration of the twentieth century.’ Hungary had little choice in the Second World War, either: in 1944 it fell under German occupation, followed by Soviet occupation. Hungary’s national revival is one of the most noteworthy events in the West since the fall of Communism.” (04/17/24)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/hungarys-surprise-attack/
- Assange Extradition Case Moves Forward While CIA Covers Its Tracks
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“So they’re really doing it. The Biden administration is really ignoring Australia’s request to end the case against Julian Assange, and they’re proceeding with their campaign to extradite a journalist for telling the truth about US war crimes. In order to move the extradition case forward, per a British high court ruling US prosecutors needed to provide ‘assurances’ that the US would not seek the death penalty and would not deprive Assange of his human right to free speech because of his nationality. The US provided the assurance against the death penalty (which they’d previously opposed doing), and for the free speech assurance they said only that Assange will be able to ‘raise and seek to rely upon’ US First Amendment rights …. Which is basically just saying ‘I mean, you’re welcome to TRY to have free speech protections?'” (04/17/24)
- Americans Want Germany’s Weed Laws
Source: CounterPunch
by Chloe Atkinson“Much to the joy of many of its citizens, and perhaps to the chagrin of a significant number of others, Germany has just decriminalized marijuana. Adults in Germany can now carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own consumption and store up to 50 grams at home, as well as keep three plants for home cultivation. Public consumption will be allowed, so long as it is not within sight of children or near sports facilities. … While the move comes with these crucial caveats, it is still a major step for a country that until now avoided stepping into the weed abyss. Across the pond, many Americans are still waiting to gain the freedoms Germans now have and as time passes, more Americans support the move.” (04/17/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/04/17/americans-want-germanys-weed-laws/
- Imagine There’s No Putin
Source: Hoover Institution
by Michael McFaul“Putin’s alleged final tally [in the recent election] — 88 percent of the vote! — underscored the farcical nature of the whole event. In the old days, Putin tried to make his election victories look competitive. Last month, he didn’t even try. Public opinion polls in totalitarian dictatorships also reveal little knowledge about actual societal preferences. In a heavily surveilled country where you can go to jail for even uttering the word ‘war,’ there is only one rational response to a call from an unknown poll worker from Moscow asking you if you support Putin and his policies. Yes. We know from previous breakdowns of autocracies that real preferences about dictators are revealed only when it is safe to do. … Yet, even with all these caveats, I still believe that most Russians—actively and passively — support Putin today.” (04/17/24)
- The government wants to play God. What does that mean for our freedoms?
Source: Orange County Register
by John Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead“The government wants to play god. It wants the power to decide who lives or dies and whose rights are worthy of protection. Abortion may still be front and center in the power struggle between the Left and the Right over who has the right to decide — the government or the individual — when it comes to bodily autonomy, the right to privacy, sexual freedom, the rights of the unborn, and property interests in one’s body, but there’s so much more at play. In the 50-plus years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, the government has come to believe that it not only has the power to determine who is deserving of constitutional rights in the eyes of the law but it also has the authority to deny those rights to an American citizen.” (04/17/24)
- If US & UK Have Any Shame, They’ll Welcome Palestine as UN Member State
Source: Common Dreams
by Jeffrey D Sachs & Sybil Fares“This week, the U.S. and U.K. have the chance to correct decades of their blatant geopolitical errors in the Israel-Palestine conflict by welcoming Palestine as the 194th United Nations member state. More than any other countries, the U.S. and U.K. have wrecked the Middle East through their non-stop meddling and imperial arrogance. This week they have the chance to make some amends. A total of 139 countries already recognize the State of Palestine, more than two-thirds of the U.N. member states. Several European states will soon join the list. Yet the U.S. has so far blocked Palestine’s membership in the U.N., with the U.K. always sticking close to the U.S. lead. Both have relentlessly backed Israel’s apartheid rule over Palestine and are currently actively backing Israel in its horrific destruction of Gaza.” (04/17/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/us-uk-welcome-palestine-to-un
- The War in Ukraine and Judeo-Christian Values
Source: Antiwar.com
by Edward Lozansky“Mixing religion with politics is generally not a good idea. Still, it looks like it is one of the few remaining options to avoid what then-Senator Sam Nunn and his colleagues described in 2020 as continuing to sleepwalk towards a nuclear WWIII. … One would think that since the majority in the West are Christians, shouldn’t they listen to the Pope’s arguments, if those of the distinguished individuals mentioned above are ignored? What about those in the West who claim to adhere to Judeo-Christian values? In the US Congress, many repeat these lines at any opportunity. If this is true, how can they justify this proxy war between two Christian nations who, for many centuries, were bound by close religious, historical, economic, cultural, and family ties?” (04/17/24)
- The Federal Phase-Out of Gasoline Cars Has Begun
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore“The Biden administration recently rolled out new emissions regulations that the New York Times said will ‘transform the American automobile market.’ … the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is mandating that a majority of new passenger vehicles sold in America be hybrids or EVs by 2032. The Biden administration and defenders of the policy argue that the EPA’s regulation is ‘not a ban’ on gas-powered cars, since carmakers are not prohibited from producing gas-powered vehicles. Instead, automakers are required to meet a government-mandated ‘average emissions limit’ across their entire vehicle line, to force them to produce more EVs and fewer gas-powered cars. It’s a clever ruse in that it allows the Biden administration to use regulatory power to force automobile manufactures off of gas-powered vehicles while denying that they are banning them. Whatever one chooses to call the regulation, its purpose is clear.” (04/17/24)
https://fee.org/articles/the-federal-phase-out-of-gasoline-cars-has-begun/
- Is Mike Johnson playing chicken with detractors over foreign aid?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Blaise Malley“After months of waiting, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) is expected to unveil an ambitious foreign aid plan this week. According to a one-pager that contained an incomplete list of the items in the bill posted on X on Monday by PBS News correspondent Lisa Desjardins, the plan includes at least $48 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, as well as money for allies in the Indo-Pacific and operations in the Red Sea. … The problem for Johnson has never been procedural or substantive — the Speaker will likely need Democratic support to bring the legislation to a vote, and each element of the package should have enough votes to pass on its own. But none of Johnson’s maneuvering over the past few months is likely to relieve him of the accompanying political headache.” (04/17/24)
- Listening while on the stump
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“For many voters around the world, trusting an election result matters almost more than who wins. A December poll in the United States, for example, showed that a large majority of Republicans and Democrats worry about inaccurate or misleading election information in 2024. Recent state-level reforms in the U.S. could help assuage those concerns. But the main need, argues Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor and author of the new book ‘How To Steal a Presidential Election,’ is for something softer. Dissolving distrust, he told NPR, requires that ‘people face to face, one to one, begin to just talk to each other and engage on – about – this reality of our division and how we need to get beyond it.’ The idea of listening to those with whom we disagree is seldom measured in global surveys on democracy.” (04/16/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0416/Listening-while-on-the-stump
- The Rise of the MAGA Democrat
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“There is an ancient magical belief that to know the true name of someone or something is to hold a special power over that person or thing; relatedly, a change in one’s metaphysical status is accompanied by a change in name. … It is a very long way down to the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. But the belief that magical words can transform facts on the ground persists there, too. Hence the peculiar phenomenon of Democrats’ adopting MAGA-style rhetoric and speech. The winner of the Democratic primary on April 23 will have the honor of almost certainly losing the R+8 district to House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, the sycophantic cretin and half-assed QAnon cultist who helped to execute the legislative leg of Donald Trump’s failed coup d’etat in early 2021. There must be something in the water down in Dillsburg.” (04/17/24)
- Exodus Reconsidered
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders“Some battles are better fought from a distance. Indeed, it can be better to exit and build something great than to stay and fight but build nothing.” (04/17/24)
- The FISA expansion turning cable installers into spies cannot stand
Source: The Hill
by Elizabeth Goitein“Buried in a bill the House passed Friday is a provision that would create the largest expansion of government surveillance on U.S. soil since the Patriot Act. The potential for abuse of this new power, included in the House’s reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is staggering. … Under current law, the government can compel ‘electronic communications service providers’ that have direct access to our communications, such as Verizon, AT&T, Google or Microsoft, to provide assistance — generally by turning over the communications of targets identified by the government. Under the House-passed bill, the government can compel the assistance of individuals or companies that provide any service at all, as long as they have access to the equipment (for instance, servers, routers or cell towers) on which communications are transmitted.” (04/17/24)
- Our Uniquely American Drug Shortages
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen“Last week, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) announced that the United States has the largest number of medicines in short supply in the history of its survey, which dates back to 2001. As of the end of March, 323 drugs were in shortage, disrupting treatment for patients and in many cases risking prolonged injury or death. The news was accompanied by the usual parade of ignorance. ‘Health care is the US’s most highly regulated, socialist industry and shortages are endemic under socialism so the pattern fits,’ mused libertarian Alex Tabarrok of George Mason University about a system where every single pharmaceutical manufacturer (save for a nascent effort in California) is private and for-profit, and pretty much every provider too (unless you believe the convenient fiction that ‘nonprofit’ hospitals are not adopting that status as a tax dodge).” (04/17/24)
https://prospect.org/health/2024-04-17-our-uniquely-american-drug-shortages/
- Limited or Absolute Power: Warnings from Anti-Federalist Agrippa
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by TJ Martinell“The Anti-Federalist writer Agrippa powerfully expressed many of the same reservations about the Constitution as other opponents – that it would create a consolidated government leading to a loss of liberty. But unlike most others, Agrippa was also concerned with the implications a strong central government would have on the economies of the states and their people. The Agrippa letters were influential enough for Alexander Hamilton to dedicate at least one Federalist Paper, No. 11, countering these positions.” (04/17/24)
- Pensions — net matters, not gross
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“People eat their capital to finance their retirements. This might be done inside a pension fund, a tax wrapper or simply directly and individually. But it is not true that a pension is simply the income made from some pot of money. It’s eating into that pot itself, that stock, over time. Therefore it is necessary that those assets — whatever they are, shares, bonds, direct assets like buildings, windmills, anything — be bought from the retiring generation by those now beginning to save themselves. Which is why much of the financial markets is indeed trading second hand pieces of paper. Because this generation of retirees needs to sell the things they invested in 30 and 50 years ago.” (04/17/24)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/pensions-net-matters-not-gross
- COVID Stimulus Money Lined the Pockets of Scammers and Fueled Inflation
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“It’s a given at this point that much pandemic-related fiscal stimulus was lost to fraud. The government flooded the world with money, we were told, to offset the disruption of economies paralyzed by people minimizing social contact and (especially) by mandated closures. Sure, that was a crude ‘solution’ to an avoidable problem. But government officials insist things would have been worse without stimulus. Is that true, though, given that stimulus money not only padded the pockets of grifters but fueled the surging prices of recent years?” (04/17/24)
- “Our Constitution Was Made Only for a Moral and Religious People,” part 2
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis“‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.’ — John Adams … What did Adams mean and why do Leftists [sic] hate him and our Founders so much? To our Founders, there is only so much ‘power’ in a political system, a true ‘zero sum’ situation. People ‘power’ is called ‘freedom.’ Government ‘power’ is called ‘tyranny.’ And because only so much power is available, the only place government obtains power is by taking freedoms from the people. The more ‘power’ government has, the less ‘free’ the people are. As they viewed history, our Founders perceived that the constant, unchanging tendency of governments was to gain more and more power, thus leaving their people less and less free.” (04/17/24)
- What Pfizer Pfolks Got
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Yesterday, a whole lot of people paid a whole lot of taxes. It was Tax Day — filing day — for most Americans. Truth is, American workers pay income tax with every paycheck. And they pay other taxes too. Somehow, though, Pfizer — one of the world’s most profitable companies — did much better than we did. ‘Drugmakers make big profits in the U.S.,’ explains Sydney Lupkin at NPR. ‘But many pay taxes far below the 21% corporate tax rate. Pfizer’s effective tax rate is so low it’s getting a big refund despite booking $59 billion in revenue.’ Did you get a big refund on top of a huge wage hike? No? Well, you should lobby Congress more.” (04/16/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/04/16/what-pfizer-pfolks-got/
- Ecuador’s Undiplomatic Basta!
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa“[S]torming embassies constitutes a violation of international law. Diplomatic conventions, including the much-cited Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), clarify that the premises of diplomatic missions are inviolable. Ecuadorean president Daniel Noboa knew this when he ordered the extraordinary measure — and fully expected the condemnations from many countries around the western hemisphere and other parts. However, his decision has highlighted the fact that Latin American left-wing populists have made a mockery of international law by granting protection, for ideological reasons, to people for whom the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other conventions protecting the sanctity of diplomatic missions were not meant, blatantly interfering in the affairs of other states to destabilize them. Such hostile conduct directly opposes the letter and the spirit of international law governing relations among states.” (04/17/24)
https://blog.independent.org/2024/04/16/ecuadors-undiplomatic-basta/
- How Political Campaigns Use Your Data to Target You
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Thorin Klosowki“Data about potential voters — who they are, where they are, and how to reach them — is an extremely valuable commodity during an election year. And while the right to a secret ballot is a cornerstone of the democratic process, your personal information is gathered, used, and sold along the way. It’s not possible to fully shield yourself from all this data processing, but you can take steps to at least minimize and understand it. Political campaigns use the same invasive tricks that behavioral ads do — pulling in data from a variety of sources online to create a profile — so they can target you. Your digital trail is a critical tool for campaigns, but the process starts in the real world, where longstanding techniques to collect data about you can be useful indicators of how you’ll vote. This starts with voter records.” (04/17/24)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/04/how-political-campaigns-use-your-data-target-you
- The War on Protest
Source: In These Times
by Adam Federman“Amin Chaoui had been in Atlanta less than 24 hours when things took an unexpected turn. Chaoui, then 31, drove down from Richmond, Va., to attend a March 2023 music festival organized by activists trying to stop the construction of the police training facility known as Cop City. The sprawling compound in one of Atlanta’s largest urban parks would require clearing at least 85 acres of partly forested land that abuts a predominantly Black neighborhood in DeKalb County. It faced growing opposition from racial and environmental justice advocates, including an occupation of the forest that began in November 2021. Chaoui was loosely familiar with Cop City — he’d seen flyers around Richmond — but hadn’t been involved in the campaign. He’d also never been to Atlanta, and was especially drawn to the music.” (04/17/24)
- The Market Is Rigged to Give All the Money to the Rich: The Case of Covid Boosters
Source: Beat The Press
by Dean Baker“It is much more acceptable in policy circles to talk about ways to make tax and transfer policy more progressive than ways to structure the market to prevent the distribution of income from being so unequal in the first place. I always harp on this failure, since it seems much easier to keep rich people from getting so rich in the first place than to try to tax away their money once they have it. Unfortunately, there is little place in policy circles for this sort of discussion. … we created at least five Moderna billionaires by allowing the company to have control of a vaccine that the government paid to develop. The proponents of these government-granted monopolies always argue that they provide incentives to innovate and do creative work. That is true, but also not the issue.” (04/17/24)
https://cepr.net/the-market-is-rigged-to-give-all-the-money-to-the-rich-the-case-of-covid-boosters/
- Social Media Platforms Have Property Rights Too
Source: Reason
by Ethan Blevins“While pundits and lawyers cross swords over free speech on social media, a quieter yet critically important principle is being ignored: property rights. In addition to violating the First Amendment, the rush to force social media platforms to host content violates the Fifth Amendment as well — in particular, the Takings Clause. … Likewise, the Takings Clause shields social media platforms from regulations requiring they host content or users they want to exclude. These platforms have as much right to eject unwelcome digital interlopers as homeowners do to stop the government from using their yard as a public right of way — unless they are given just compensation. If states intend to force social media apps to host users and content against their wishes, they will have to pay for it.” (04/16/24)
https://reason.com/2024/04/16/social-media-platforms-have-property-rights-too/
- The Spectacular Implosion of the Libertarian Party
Source: Mother Jones
by Tim Murphy“In 2016, the Libertarians had their best-ever presidential election showing by a factor of three. Dissatisfied by two unpopular major-party nominees, nearly 4.5 million people voted for the strange-but-plausible pairing of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and ex–Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. Running on a promise of ‘socially liberal, fiscally conservative’ governance, they exceeded the margin of victory in 11 states and raised more than $11 million. It was the best performance by a third party in a presidential election since Ross Perot. Then it all fell apart. Under the auspices of expanding the tent, some within the LP — and a fair number outside of it — began clamoring for a different kind of party: more aggressive, more offensive, and more right-wing. They weren’t interested in third-place showings; it wasn’t entirely clear if they were interested in competing at all. What’s followed has been more than seven years of spectacularly messy infighting.” (for publication 05/24)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/04/the-spectacular-implosion-of-the-libertarian-party/
- FISA Exchanges Real Liberty for Phantom Security
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ron Paul“Section 702 authorizes warrantless surveillance of foreign citizens. When the FISA Act was passed, surveillance state boosters promised that 702 warrantless surveillances would never be used against American citizens. However, intelligence agencies have used a loophole in 702, allowing them to subject to warrantless surveillance any American who communicated with a non-US citizen who was a 702 target. Intelligence agencies could then also conduct warrantless surveillance on any Americans who communicated with the new American target. This Section 702 loophole has been used so often to subject Americans to warrantless wiretapping that it has been referred to as the surveillance state’s crown jewel.” (04/16/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2024/04/15/fisa-exchanges-real-liberty-for-phantom-security/
- Two Different Days, Same Terrible Tax News
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“The message of ‘tax day’ and ‘Tax Freedom Day’ is really the same: For nearly 1/3 of the year, the government considers itself entitled to everything YOU earn or produce, and demands that YOU do the work of documenting whether it took ‘enough.’ There’s a word for that kind of claim … but we supposedly ended slavery in 1865. I guess there are reasonable arguments for using weaker terms like ‘theft’ or ‘extortion,’ but there’s no honest way of making taxation sound moral. The dishonest way is best exemplified by Oliver Wendell Holmes’s claim that ‘taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society,’ or Barney Frank’s definition of ‘government’ as ‘simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.'” (04/16/24)
- Can India’s Liberal Democracy Recover After a Third Modi Term?
Source: The UnPopulist
by Raghu Karnad“The cult of personality built around Narendra Modi now aims to make him seem immortal. That he is too strong to beat in a national election, is mundane; instead, Modi now seems permanently appointed, a figure fixed in the longue durée of India’s governance. In his own recent speeches, Modi has placed the country and himself at only the start of a new era. The next quarter century, which he has dubbed the Amrit Kaal (the ‘Elixir Age’) will ‘decide our direction for the next one thousand years,’ he said. This January, after Modi led inaugural rituals at a new temple in Ayodhya, one built over the rubble of a mosque razed by a mob in 1992, his ministers — calling themselves ‘the Cabinet of the Millennium’ — praised him in terms once reserved for kings.” (04/16/24)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/can-indias-liberal-democracy-recover
- Reason Interview: Jonathan Haidt
Source: Reason
“The author of The Anxious Generation argues that parents, schools, and society must keep kids off of social media.” (04/17/24)
https://reason.com/podcast/2024/04/17/regulating-smartphones-jonathan-haidt-vs-libertarians/
- The Science of Politics, 04/17/24
Source: Niskanen Center
“The politics of our jobs.” (04/17/24)
- Stay Free With Russell Brand, episode 347
Source: Stay Free With Russell Brand
“WARNING: US Approves Israel STRIKES Against Iran!” (04/17/24)
https://rumble.com/v4pypl9-warning-us-approves-israel-strikes-against-iran-stay-free-347.html
- Quillette Narrated, 04/16/24
Source: Quillette
“Jean-Luc Godard in Retrospect Part II: Fanaticism and Failure (1966–2022).” (04/16/24)
- Conflicts of Interest, episode 577
Source: Libertarian Institute
“US Will Try to Gather International Support for Sanctioning Iran.” (04/17/24)
- SolutionsWatch, 04/17/24
Source: The Corbett Report
“Suing the Tyrants.” (04/17/24)
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 04/17/24
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“There’s something very satisfying about having a hand in producing the food that you eat. George Ford Smith says, savor the tast of independence, grow your own!” (04/17/24)
- Politics Politics Politics, 04/17/24
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Trump’s Martyr Strategy. NPR bias. Speaker Johnson out? Religion and politics (with Corey Nathan).” (04/17/24)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/17/24
Source: Antiwar.com
“Iran Attack Delays Israel’s Invasion of Rafah, Johnson Says He’s a ‘Wartime Speaker,’ and More.” (04/17/24)
- Cato Daily Podcast, 04/16/24
Source: Cato Institute
“Bitcoin Mining and the Price of Energy.” (04/16/24)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/bitcoin-mining-price-energy
- Liberty at Night, 04/16/24
Source: Free Talk Live
“Liberty at Night :: Iran attacks Israel :: Americans feelings on taxes have worsened :: Spike Cohen debates David Hogg on gun rights :: FISA renewal :: Dumb Bleep of the Week :: 2024-04-16 Hosts: Nate, Chuck.” (04/16/24)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/liberty-at-night-2024-04-16
- Nonzero, 04/16/24
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“How Iran’s Attack Benefits Israel | Robert Wright & Joshua Landis.” (04/16/24)
- Hubwonk, 04/16/24
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Industrial Policy Reimaged: Can Government Improve Free Markets.” (04/16/24)
- System Update, episode 258
Source: System Update
“SCOTUS Skeptical of Main Jan. 6 Prosecution Theory. Neocons Try to Destroy Tucker over Israel. PLUS: Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich.” (04/16/24)
- Ill Literacy, episode 139
Source: Heartland Institute
“On Great Fields (Guest: Ronald C. White).” (04/16/24)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/ill-literacy-episode-139-on-great-fields-guest-ronald-c-white/
- Serious Trouble, 04/16/24
Source: Serious Trouble
“Blasts From the Past.” (04/16/24)
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 04/16/24
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos joins me for another thoughtful conversation about current events.” (04/16/24)
- Conflicts of Interest, episode 576
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will Israel Attack Iran?” (04/16/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-576-will-israel-attack-iran
- Power Problems, 04/16/24
Source: Cato Institute
“Regional ‘Push Factors’ in the Emigration Upsurge.” (04/16/24)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/power-problems/regional-push-factors-emigration-upsurge
- Advisory Opinions, 04/16/24
Source: The Dispatch
“The Enormous Powers of the President.” (04/16/24)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/the-enormous-powers-of-the-president/