- Dorsey: Bitcoin At Risk Of Institutional Capture
Source: Bitcoinist
“In a ’21 and 21′ rapid-fire interview with Haley Berkoe at San Francisco’s Presidio Bitcoin workspace, Jack Dorsey — CEO of Block and former Twitter chief — cautioned that BTC’s growing popularity among major financial institutions could threaten the open ethos that gave rise to the world’s largest cryptocurrency. ‘It probably harms it a bit,’ Dorsey said when asked about institutional investment in Bitcoin. Yet he acknowledged that large-scale involvement is practically inevitable, adding, ‘I think it’s obvious that we’ll see more of it, and I hope that more people take on the principles of what made Bitcoin successful in the first place.’ … One of Dorsey’s main concerns is that Bitcoin might end up sidelined if it focuses too narrowly on serving as a store of value.” (04/03/25)
https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-at-risk-institutional-capture-jack-dorsey/
- Oil slides as Opec+ lifts production and tariffs fuel global growth fears
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Oil prices tumbled on Thursday as Opec+ unexpectedly announced plans to boost production just as sweeping US tariffs stoked fears of a global economic slowdown. Eight Opec+ members, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, said they would triple a planned increase in oil production in May, accelerating a commitment to reverse production cuts over the next 18 months. The move came hours after US President Donald Trump set out a new tariff regime that investors said was more severe than expected. The twin developments pushed Brent crude, the global benchmark, down 7 per to $73.24 cent in afternoon trading. WTI, the US benchmark, fell 7 per cent to $66.63.” (04/03/25)
- US regime bans employees in China from romantic or sexual relations with Chinese citizens
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“The U.S. government has banned American government personnel in China, as well as family members and contractors with security clearances, from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens, The Associated Press has learned. Four people with direct knowledge of the matter told the AP about the policy, which was put into effect by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January shortly before he left China. The people would speak only on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a confidential new directive. Though some U.S. agencies already had strict rules on such relationships, a blanket ‘non-fraternization’ policy, as it is known, has been unheard of publicly since the Cold War.” (04/03/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/03/us-china-diplomats-dating-banned/
- Bulgaria: Regime Survives No Confidence Vote
Source: US News & World Report
“The Bulgarian government, led by Rosen Zhelyazkov, survived a vote of no confidence on Thursday, launched over its foreign policy, BTA news agency reported. The no-confidence motion, initiated by the Vazrazhdane party and backed by lawmakers from Velichie and MECh, failed to secure the necessary majority.” (04/03/25)
- Stellantis says it will temporarily lay off 900 US workers following tariff announcement
Source: Reuters
“Stellantis NV (STLAM.MI), opens new tab said on Thursday it was temporarily laying off 900 workers at five U.S. facilities after President Donald Trump’s tariffs were announced, and temporarily pausing production at an assembly plant in Mexico and one in Canada. The maker of Ram trucks and Jeeps said the U.S. plants affected are powertrain and stamping facilities that provide parts for the two factories in Mexico and Canada that are being idled. Stellantis shares were down 7.7% at $10.40 in New York trading at midday on Thursday, in line with a broad decline in U.S. stocks on fears of an all-out trade war.” (04/03/25)
- NASA says asteroid 2024 YR4 size of a 10-story building; increases chances of moon impact
Source: United Press International
“NASA said that an asteroid previously believed to be destined for Earth is the size of a 10-story building and is now more likely to make impact with the moon. Designated as near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4, both NASA observers and members of the worldwide planetary defense community felt at first that the object, said to be 174-220 feet in size, might hit the Earth in 2032. Those same people have now decided it likely won’t strike the Earth.” (04/03/25)
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2025/04/03/NASA-asteroid-Earth-moon/5931743679330/
- UK: Insulin Test Used to Convict Lucy Letby in Babies’ Deaths Was Unreliable, Experts Say
Source: New York Times
“A half-dozen pediatric doctors and toxicology experts said on Thursday that jurors were misled by prosecutors who cited unreliable and misrepresented insulin tests during the trial of Lucy Letby, a nurse convicted of murdering seven babies at a British hospital. The doctors made their assertions in a new report that Ms. Letby’s lawyer submitted to Britain’s Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is responsible for investigating possible miscarriages of justice, in the hopes of being allowed to pursue a full appeal of her 15 life sentences. Ms. Letby, who worked as a nurse in a neonatal unit at a hospital in northern England, was found guilty in 2023 of deliberately harming — and in seven cases, murdering — babies by injecting them with air, overfeeding them with milk, infusing air into their gastrointestinal tracts or poisoning them with insulin.” (04/03/25)
- Tunisia: Political prisoner Jaouhar Ben Mbarek goes on hunger strike
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A jailed Tunisian opposition activist facing state conspiracy charges has launched a hunger strike to protest against being barred from appearing in person at his own trial, according to his defence team. Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, member of the opposition National Salvation Front and Citizens Against the Coup group which oppose President Kais Saied, insists on his right to be present in court to ‘refute the false charges’ against him, lawyer Samir Dilou said in a statement on Facebook on behalf of Ben Mbarek’s defence team. … Detained since February 2023, Ben Mbarek is one of dozens of Tunisian politicians, activists, journalists and other critics of the president who have been targeted in what rights groups describe as a sweeping crackdown on dissent.” (04/03/25)
- “Liberation Day” Tariffs Will Liberate People — From Their Income
Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy“If you don’t believe that Liberation Day is bad news for the overwhelming majority of us, first remember that U.S. consumers are, as always, the ones who pay U.S. tariffs. Whatever the Trump team collects from foreign imports will be shifted back to us in the form of higher prices. Then there is the fact that the administration is already preparing for economic damage control with emergency aid for U.S. farmers. The need for such aid is a tacit admission that the president’s trade policy — marketed as a tool to strengthen America — will trigger retaliations from our trading partners that will hurt many American producers, including farmers who export this country’s agricultural bounty to help feed the world. And to paper over this destructive policy, the administration will blow another gaping hole in the federal budget with bailout money to compensate the victims. How do I know? We’ve been here before.” (04/03/25)
https://reason.com/2025/04/03/liberation-day-tariffs-will-liberate-people-from-their-income/
- Trump Makes History Again? Great.
Source: Garrison Center
by Joel Schlosberg“[T]he administration’s very heavy-handedness might make Americans think twice about what they think they know about their history. On April 2, New York Times contributor David W. Blight insisted that what Trump dubs a ‘revisionist’ approach is necessary to ‘maintain relevance,’ and that ‘many Americans … actually prefer complexity to patriotic straitjackets.’ The newspaper wasn’t always so charitable to the revisionists.” (04/03/25)
- The Imperial Presidency Long Predates Donald Trump
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen“With the United States functionally at war for more than two decades — against terrorism, against drugs, against invisible viruses, and against geopolitical rivals — the presidency has accrued a staggering array of emergency powers. These powers, initially intended for rare and exceptional circumstances, have become permanent features of executive governance. As recent presidents — Bill Clinton, W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and now Trump again — have each pushed the boundaries of executive authority, a troubling pattern has emerged. What one party celebrates as strong leadership under ‘their guy’ becomes an established and dangerous precedent when the other side takes the reins. No one who favors liberty and limited government should be cheering this on, but as shall be shown the trend toward increasing executive power goes back over a century.” (04/03/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-imperial-presidency-long-predates-donald-trump
- A Powerful Government and a Weak Nation
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“For many Americans, it is an article of faith that a vast and powerful federal government equals a great and strong nation. Actually, it’s the exact opposite. The more powerful the federal government, the weaker the nation. Contrariwise, the smaller and weaker the federal government, the more powerful the nation. Part of the problem here is that many Americans have been taught to believe that the federal government and the nation are one and the same thing. They aren’t. They are two completely separate and distinct entities.” (04/03/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/04/03/a-powerful-government-and-a-weak-nation/
- Why Putin Is Stalling Trump on Ukraine
Source: Foreign Policy
by Ian Garner“Why does Putin, three years after it became clear that his army could not destroy Ukraine in battle, seem so unwilling to countenance any sort of cease-fire? Despite some recent gains on the ground — notably in pushing the Ukrainians out of Russia’s own Kursk region — the chance of a decisive Russian military victory remains vanishingly small. Indeed, the clock appears to be ticking on Russia’s war effort. … Putin, eager to preserve his own security above all, may judge that the risks of ending the war are greater than those of continuing it. … Pulling the rug out from under the conflict — and ending the vast spending stimulus the war has brought — may also end the social stability on which Putin has built his 25-year rule.” (04/03/25)
- New FBI chat logs reveal extraordinary “gag order” used to shut down laptop discussion
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine“New chat logs released by the House Judiciary Committee this week show the extraordinary lengths the FBI went to behind the scenes to shut down any discussion of Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020 after the New York Post broke the story. The conversations, withheld by the FBI under Director Chris Wray, show that senior leadership issued an internal ‘gag order’ on the laptop. The FBI had been in possession of the abandoned MacBook Pro for 10 months by that stage, after computer repair shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac handed it over and warned of the potential crimes and national security concerns he had found. The FBI’s forensic analysts quickly determined the laptop belonged to Hunter, had not been tampered with or altered in any way, and was suitable to be used in court.” (04/02/25)
- DOGE’s War on Waste: A Libertarian Dream or Government Overreach?
Source: Palm Beach Examiner
by Karl Dickey“So, it’s almost 2 1/2 months in with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the U.S. government, and I thought we’d take a look at what they are up to. DOGE, by the way, is simply the renaming of former President Obama’s Digital Services Agency. You will remember that Obama wanted to do the same thing as DOGE; see the video below to see how Obama wanted to ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse similar to what DOGE is doing. Strangely, now that Republicans are in office, this is now bad.” (04/03/25)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/doges-war-on-waste-a-libertarian
- Will the Deep Fracture Between Tech Oligarchs and White Working Class Nativists Split MAGA?
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matthew McManus“Trumpism’s novelty, in the vast historical sweep of era-defining ideologies, means it is still quite possible for any faction within it to effectively shape it in its own image. Of course, any faction that does seek to define it will need to incorporate some of the other groups in temporary alliances and sideline yet others. What can the Musk-Bannon dispute tell us about how this might happen?” (04/03/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/will-the-deep-fracture-between-tech
- An Economic War Based on Lies
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison“Trump’s massive escalation of his trade war was far worse than expected. … Many news reports have referred to these tariffs as reciprocal because that is what the administration calls them, but there is nothing reciprocal about any of this. The countries targeted with significantly higher tariffs have generally low tariffs on American goods. Trump’s trade war is as far from tariff reciprocity as it is possible to get. The president has arbitrarily imposed one of the largest tax increases in American history. As Americans realize what he has done and how much it is costing them, the political backlash will likely be severe. If there is any good news in all of this insanity, it is that Trump has probably destroyed his presidency in just the first three months of the new term.” (04/03/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/an-economic-war-based-on-lies
- Ending Militarism in America: Taking on the MICIMATT(SH)
Source: TomDispatch
by William J Astore“I read the news today, oh boy. About a lucky man named Elon Musk. But he lost out on one thing: he didn’t get a top secret briefing on Pentagon war plans for China. And the news people breathed a sigh of relief. With apologies to John Lennon and The Beatles, a day in the life is getting increasingly tough to take here in the land of the free. I’m meant to be reassured that Musk didn’t get to see America’s top-secret plans for — yes! — going to war with China, even as I’m meant to ignore the constant drumbeat of propaganda, the incessant military marches that form America’s background music, conveying the message that America must have war plans for China, that indeed war in or around China is possible, even probable, in the next decade. Maybe in 2027?” (04/03/25)
- The Domicile Dead-End
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Evan Bernick“I’ve spent the last two posts critiquing Kurt Lash’s shockingly weak argument that the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause excludes the children of unlawful entrants from citizenship. But not even Lash commits to defending the component of Trump’s EO which excludes lawful temporary visitors. The obvious problem with this component from the standpoint of Lash’s parental-loyalty-based account of birthright citizenship is that lawful temporary visitors have voluntarily submitted themselves to the sovereign power of the United States, which has authorized their presence within its borders. There’s nothing ‘disloyal’ about this that would rebut Lash’s crucial presumption in favor of parental loyalty — and thus birthright citizenship.” (04/03/25)
- Brace Yourselves, Coffee Lovers!
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Daphne Posadas“Your daily cup of coffee and favorite chocolate bar might soon become luxury items.” (04/03/25)
- When It Comes to Trump, It’s Time To Choose
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Keth Raffel“There’s a tendency among Americans to seek compromise, to have a win-win solution for both sides in any controversy, but you cannot compromise with someone like Donald Trump. You either give in or resist. Since Jan. 20, Trump has issued an executive order violating the 14th Amendment, refused to spend funds appropriated by Congress, called for the impeachment of a judge ruling against him, threatened to invade the sovereign territory of a NATO ally and suggested a run for a third presidential term despite the 22nd Amendment. His appointees have overseen the roundup and deportation of legal residents by masked personnel. How to react to this second coming of Donald Trump?” (04/03/25)
- It’s Up To Us How We Respond To The Gaza Holocaust
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“[I publish my work in print form every month in a collection called JOHNSTONE magazine. The new edition is now available to order in print or download as a pay-what-you-want e-book version.] The holocaust in Gaza has been reignited after a brief intermission. The bodies are piling up again. Food is running out. Netanyahu and Trump are working to end the existence of Palestinians in their historic homeland. The suffering is unfathomable. And it’s all being supported by the western empire under which we live. It’s up to each of us how we’re going to respond to this nightmare. This month’s issue of JOHNSTONE features UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, because she is an exemplary embodiment of what it looks like to live a life that answers this urgent call.” (04/03/25)
- Two Questions and Four Ironies About Trump’s Tariffs
Source: Coyote Blog
by Warren Meyer“Is this the most destructive Federal economic action in my 63-year lifetime? I am trying to think about the competition for this title. Certainly Nixon’s wage and price controls would be up there in the top 5. The banking regulations that treated mortgages as preferred risk-free bank capital might be on the list. Perhaps we would include something like Biden’s attempt to forgive a trillion dollars in student loans. There was some COVID craziness, including lockdowns and eviction moratoriums. But even looking at this collective Mt Rushmore of economic fail, I still think Trump’s tariffs are at or near the top. This is as dumb as even the worst ideas of folks like AOC who the Republicans mock.” (04/03/25)
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2025/04/two-questions-and-four-ironies-about-trumps-taxes.html
- In Canada, Trump Is on the Ballot
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“And he is losing. So are U.S. interests.” (04/03/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/canada-elections-mark-carney-liberal-party-tariffs-trump/
- Liberalism’s Bleak Future?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Graham McAleer“Robert D. Kaplan is one of America’s most prolific and important writers. Presidents have consulted his books, and as an expert in geopolitics, he is a member of both the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board and the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. Astonishingly, Kaplan publishes a book most years and his latest Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis contends that the West’s democratic liberalism is caught in a fatal pincer of conformity and conspiracy. Taking his theme from T. S. Eliot’s long form poem written in the wake of World War I, Kaplan argues that the West is a declining civilization but not on account of pressure from other great powers. China and Russia are also declining powers, so the West’s problem is internal. A gifted civilization, the West has unleashed powerful forces that have boomeranged.” (04/03/25)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/liberalisms-bleak-future/
- Tariffs Can Be Useful, But Not How Trump Is Using Them
Source: OtherWords
by Sonali Kolhatkar“President Donald Trump has called ‘tariff’ ‘the most beautiful word in the dictionary.’ He claims tariffs will restore American trade supremacy, bring lost jobs back to the United States, and most bizarrely, replace income taxes. Tariffs can be a useful tool to regulate global trade in the interest of jobs, wages, labor rights, the environment, and consumers — if applied correctly. But Trump’s chaotic, overly broad tariffs are only likely to hurt working people. They won’t ensure labor rights or protect the environment. They won’t even return jobs to the U.S., if his first term tariffs are any indication. Because new tariffs require congressional approval, Trump manufactured a crisis about the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants across U.S. borders in order to use executive power to unilaterally impose tariffs.” (04/03/25)
https://otherwords.org/tariffs-can-be-useful-but-not-how-trump-is-using-them/
- Stop Groping Greenland
Source: The Bulwark
by Will Saletan“Trump’s belligerent pursuit of this fantasy is a convergence of his pathologies. Among them: 1. He’s a narcissist. He thinks the world should serve and bow to him. 2. He’s obsessed with money. He seeks oil in Iraq, waterfront property in Gaza, and minerals in Ukraine and Greenland. 3. He sees all land as real estate. He wants Canada and Greenland not just for their wealth but for their size. 4. He’s willing to use violence. He proved that on January 6th. … But to understand Trump’s attacks on Denmark, you have to consider one more thing: his history of sexual predation. Trump notoriously boasted about grabbing women without their consent — and about not caring whether they’re attached to other people. In a twisted way, this sheds light on his disregard for Danish sovereignty and Greenlandic autonomy.” (04/03/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/stop-groping-greenland-predatory-denmark-psychosexually-sick
- The open society and the friends it needs
Source: Niskanen Center
by Brink Lindsey“Trump’s return to the presidency is certainly bad news for the constitutional separation of powers and the rule of law more generally – and thus must be seen as a setback, and possibly a grave one, for the political institutions of the open society. But is a broader turn against the open society under way as well? Are post-liberals like N.S. Lyons correct to see in Trump’s victory a repudiation of the open society’s failing shibboleths? And, beyond that, to see it as a vehicle for the revitalization of older, deeper, neglected loyalties?” (04/03/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-open-society-and-the-friends-it-needs
- America Is Losing Trump’s Trade War to Itself
Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm“In order for a tariff to work as a revenue-generating policy, it must actually exist — because a threatened tariff generates no revenue. For the same reason, a tariff that exists only to persuade another country to take some specified action is useless for revenue, because it would be removed once the other country complies. Tariffs cannot be both the primary means of funding the federal government’s budget and a tool of foreign policy. In fact, they’re not particularly effective at either of those jobs. Unfortunately, Trump seemingly lacks any awareness about the economic costs of his tariff obsession, and he does not have a strong sense of intellectual consistency.” (04/03/25)
https://reason.com/2025/04/03/the-trade-war-were-losing-to-ourselves/
- Contra Bessent, Affordability Contributes to American Greatness
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle“Claiming consumer access to affordable goods is somehow trivial or un-American betrays a condescending view of the working classes and economic agency.” (04/03/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/contra-bessent-affordability-contributes-to-american-greatness/
- America needs more immigrants, not fewer
Source: Orange County Register
by John Stossel“President Donald Trump is deporting immigrants — 11,000 in February. Some people are unhappy about that. I definitely want immigrant criminals deported. Trump says migrant crime is ‘happening at levels that nobody thought possible!’ But that’s not true. Researching my new video, I learned that immigrants are actually less likely to get into trouble than native-born Americans.” (04/03/25)
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/04/03/john-stossel-america-needs-more-immigrants-not-fewer/
- NATO, More Militarism No Defense Against US Expansionists
Source: Antiwar.com
by Yves Engler“If you believe Donald Trump might invade you should be calling for Canada to withdraw from NATO. The alliance won’t defend Canada, has enabled US interference and gobbles up resources. During a recent meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, US President Donald Trump questioned the border and Canadian sovereignty. He said, ‘if you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S. … somebody did it a long time ago, many many decades ago, and (it) makes no sense.’ Trump also repeatedly said Canada should be a US state, noting ‘to be honest with you, Canada only works as a state.’ Sitting next to the US president, Rutte stayed silent.” (04/03/25)
- Freedom of Speech: Keeping Sanity Alive
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/
- Libertarian Angle, 04/03/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Capitulation of Columbia University.” (04/03/25)
- Capital Record, episode 224
Source: National Review
“Liberation Day, Bernie Style.” (04/03/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/liberation-day-bernie-style/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 04/03/25
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Double Whammy: Trade Wars And Real Wars!” (04/03/25)
https://rumble.com/v6rlnm9-double-whammy-trade-wars-and-real-wars.html
- Rising, 04/03/25
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers radar on a new book, ‘Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for The White House,’ that shines a light on the extent of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.” (04/03/25)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5229963-rising-april-3-2025/
- Advisory Opinions, 04/03/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Evangelizing vs. Proselytizing.” (04/03/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/evangelizing-vs-proselytizing/
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 04/03/25
Source: Politico
“Trump sets off a global trade war.” (04/03/25)
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL3946970286.mp3?updated=1743657276
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2626
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Trump Off the Rails?” (04/03/25)
- Political Theater, 04/03/25
Source: Roll Call
“Much ado about special elections.” (04/03/25)
https://chrt.fm/track/D3F8DG/traffic.megaphone.fm/FISCAL6144210608.mp3?updated=1743658086
- SolutionsWatch, 04/03/25
Source: The Corbett Report
“Enhancing Fertility Naturally.” (04/03/25)
- Free Speech Unmuted, 04/03/25
Source: Hoover Institution
“Trump’s War on Big Law | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer.” (04/03/25)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/03/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Report Says Trump Preparing To Bomb Iran, 22 Killed by Israeli Strike on UN Clinic in Gaza, and More.” (04/03/25)
- System Update, episode 433
Source: System Update
“Substack CEO on Protecting Writers from Speech Crackdowns; Week in Review: Matt Taibbi’s Censorship Hearing Testimony, Fascism Expert Flees the U.S., and More.” (04/02/25)