RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)

  • Poll: Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s war in Gaza

    Source: Independent [UK]

    “Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s war in Gaza, a new poll has found. Some 55 per cent disapprove of Israel’s ongoing offensive in the besieged territory, while 36 per cent approve, according to the Gallup poll released on Wednesday. It is the first time a poll has found that a majority of Americans do not support the war, a significant shift from when the same survey in November found most were in favour. The survey comes nearly six months into Israel’s war, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and brought Gaza to the brink of famine.” (03/28/24)

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/americans-poll-gaza-disapprove-biden-b2519611.html

  • Haiti: “Transitional council” issues first statement

    Source: Associated Press

    “Members of a transitional presidential council who will be responsible for selecting a new prime minister issued their first official statement on Wednesday, pledging to restore ‘public and democratic order’ in Haiti. The statement, although signed by eight members of what is supposed to be a nine-member council, is still considered a sign that a contentious and drawn-out nomination process is ending and that the council might soon assume its official duties. … The members said they have developed the criteria and mechanisms to choose a council president, a new prime minister and a ministerial cabinet. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who remains locked out of Haiti, has said he would resign once the council is formally established.” (03/27/24)

    https://apnews.com/article/haiti-transitional-council-democracy-violence-12e9e4f31400dd09c127038ee0fe0c3b


  • Repeal and Replace Today’s Education Cartel

    Source: Law & Liberty
    by Scott Yenor

    “Times of obvious collapse and corruption open up opportunities to rethink things to the root. Soon, perhaps, academies dedicated to trades or vocations may be popping up again, and trade schools supporting workforce education shall arise, and law schools based on apprenticeship models can be once again established. Simply clearing the underbrush of monopolistic practices is not enough in our environment, where money and honor are attached to the prevailing system.” (03/28/24)

    https://lawliberty.org/repeal-and-replace-todays-education-cartel/

  • Plato’s Cave Resurrected

    Source: Brownstone Institute
    by Bert Olivier

    “Having lived through more than four years of systematic subjection to gaslighting as well as misinformation by the mainstream media, governments and non-elected, private global companies, those among us who sojourn in the land of the awake and awakened, would understand the metaphor of ‘looking at shadows.’ And if you do, perhaps some readers might recall that in the 4th century BCE there was an ancient Greek philosopher named Plato, who invented a myth involving shadows to explain the congenitally deceptive character of the human world in space and time.” (03/28/24)

    https://brownstone.org/articles/platos-cave-resurrected/

  • Washington Mystery? Where Trump stands on Israel-Gaza war Washington Mystery? Where Trump stands on Israel-Gaza war

    Source: Responsible Statecraft
    by James Carden & Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

    “Trump has revealed little about his views on the Gaza war, from the possibility of a ceasefire to what might happen when the fighting eventually stops. It is difficult to suss out more, as he has offered little elaboration on the campaign trail. He does call progressive Democrats demanding a ceasefire ‘lunatics’ who ‘hate Israel.’ He said recently that Jews who vote Democratic hate Israel and ‘hate their religion.’ … can we actually discern what a U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinians might look like if Trump won the November election and was installed as the 47th president in January 2025? Maybe it’s best to go beyond his exhortations and take a look at the record instead.” (03/28/24)

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-israel-gaza/

  • US Officials Believe That “We” Are at War With Russia

    Source: The American Conservative
    by Doug Bandow

    “Could someone please tell Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the Senate’s premier warmongers, that ‘we’ are not at war with Russia? Ukraine is. The grandstanding warrior wannabe recently visited Kiev. The Zelensky government is under pressure to expand conscription to bulk up its army. Graham enthusiastically backed the effort. Reported the Washington Post: ”I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27,’ he told reporters Monday. ‘You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving—not at 25 or 27.” He insisted: ‘We need more people in the line.’ We? When did Graham accept Ukrainian citizenship and enter the Ukrainian Rada? Graham is one of many witless American officials who seem to believe that they are to represent foreign countries dealing with the U.S. rather than the U.S. in dealing with foreign countries.” (03/28/24)

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/u-s-officials-believe-that-we-are-at-war-with-russia/

  • Funhouse-Mirror Fusionism

    Source: Quillette
    by Cincinnatus Smith

    “Like the traditionalists and libertarians, integralists and vitalists find themselves advancing analogous causes: one stands for a moral order and cohesive community, and the other for the exceptional individual.” (03/28/24)

    https://quillette.com/2024/03/28/traditionalists-libertarians-integralists-vitalists/

  • A City of Liberalism Means Becoming a City of Yes

    Source: Liberal Currents
    by Nick Felker

    “From the high-brow culture of Broadway to the grassroots organizing at Stonewall, New York City has been a city rich in culture, history, art, and food. Generations of people have come to this city in search of a better life, and they’ve found it. Dozens of museums scattered across the five boroughs tell the stories of the people who have met like-minded people and built something great. However, the city is now facing a crisis of its own creation. The price of housing is rising more than residents are able to afford. … It is a crisis that has been decades in the making, so it cannot be solved instantly. It will require an ongoing series of political reforms that dismantle the vetocracy and heavy-handed efforts to micromanage the city. The sooner it starts, the sooner New York can reclaim the dynamism of a city for everyone.” (03/28/24)

    https://www.liberalcurrents.com/a-city-of-liberalism-means-becoming-a-city-of-yes/

  • Distinctions Without Difference: The Security Council on Gaza Passes

    Source: CounterPunch
    by Binoy Kampmark

    “The UN Security Council presents one of the great contradictions of power in the international system. On the one hand vested with enormous latitude in order to preserve international peace and security, it remains checked, limited and, it can be argued, crippled by an all too regular use of the veto by members of the permanent five powers (US, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France). When it comes to the bleeding and crushing of human life in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces (32,300 dead Palestinians and rising), resolutions demanding a cease fire of a conflict that began with the attack on Israeli soil by Hamas militants have tended to pass into voting oblivion. The United States, Israel’s great power patron and defender, has been consistent in using its veto power to ensure it, exercising it on no less than three occasions since October 7. On March 25, a change of heart was registered.” (03/28/24)

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/03/28/distinctions-without-difference-the-security-council-on-gaza-passes/

  • Is America a Rogue Superpower?

    Source: Antiwar.com
    by Ted Snider

    “‘Unipolar’ used to mean that the United States was, at least in theory, alone in leading the world. Now ‘unipolar’ means that the United States is alone and isolated in opposition to the world. In global affairs, a hegemon is a nation that leads because it has the consent of the other nations who believe in its goals and values. The United States has recently demonstrated, though, that it has given up any pretense of using its leadership to pursue the goals of the global community, and instead is openly using the global community to pursue its own goals.” (03/29/24)

    https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2024/03/27/is-america-a-rogue-superpower/

  • Kennedy picked running mate Nicole Shanahan for one big reason: Money

    Source: Washington Post
    by Karen Tumulty

    “To paraphrase the memorable words of a notable figure who once ran for vice president on a third-party ticket: Who is she? Why is she here? With apologies to Adm. James Stockdale, a man with a distinguished military career who lightheartedly posed those questions about himself as Ross Perot’s running mate during his opening statement at the 1992 vice-presidential debate, they are worth asking in all seriousness about the selection that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday. … Whatever Shanahan’s other virtues, the most important reason for her selection is that she is worth a fortune as the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin …. Now that Shanahan is on the ticket with Kennedy, campaign finance law allows her to pour unlimited amounts of money into his campaign — something he badly needs.” (03/27/24)

    https://archive.is/DPVjV

  • The True Faith

    Source: The Dispatch
    by Nick Catoggio

    “I always assumed that if the American right were to embrace an authoritarian spouting Christian platitudes, that figure would labor to feign authenticity. He would teach himself to quote scripture by chapter and verse and provide all the right answers to questions about his relationship with God when asked. Evangelicals would be able to sniff out a phony, and would righteously despise him for his cynicism in trying to exploit their faith. So he’d need to present a convincing portrait of a follower of Jesus to earn their trust. That assumption was naive. Let’s talk about the ‘Trump Bible.’ The ‘Trump Bible’ isn’t actually a Trump Bible. It’s a Bible published by singer Lee Greenwood …. It is, however, officially now ‘the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!’ And yes, per the New York Times, Trump will be getting royalties from each purchase.” (03/27/24)

    https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/boilingfrogs/the-true-faith/

  • The Hail of It

    Source: Common Sense
    by Paul Jacob

    “Early yesterday, an out-of-control container ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore. Early reports claimed that a dozen vehicles and 20 people went into the cold water, with only two survivors, so far, being rescued; last I heard, however, the total went down to six missing after the initial rescues. It looks like an accident, and accidents happen, sometimes horrific ones. There’s a reason ‘thoughts and prayers’ are mentioned at such times, all other talk seeming vastly inappropriate. Nevertheless, President Joe Biden immediately promised that the federal government would pay to replace the bridge. Eleven days earlier a more humdrum disaster gave us greater license to speculate.” (03/27/24)

    https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/03/27/the-hail-of-it/

  • Boeing’s Problems Are Not Due to Free Markets

    Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
    by Connor O’Keeffe

    “On Monday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced he will step down at the end of the year. The news comes months after a door plug blew out midflight on a Boeing 737 …. When incidents as serious as this happen, the public is rarely satisfied with the label of ‘accident.’ People want accountability for those responsible and the proper changes made to prevent similar emergencies from happening again. Accountability is relatively straightforward. Investigations determine how an incident happened and who is responsible. Then, depending on the nature of the actions and the extent of the resulting damage, offenders can be disciplined, fired, or charged with crimes. … The discourse gets messy, however, when the focus shifts to institutional change. Often, advocates for more government control will seize on any bad thing done by a company to attack markets. That’s exactly what we’re seeing with Boeing.” (03/27/24)

    https://mises.org/mises-wire/boeings-problems-are-not-due-free-markets

  • YIMBYs Are Winning Local Housing Battles, but Can They Win the National Housing War?

    Source: Cato Institute
    by Scott Lincicome

    “On Monday, I was in USA Today talking about the National Association of Realtors settlement and the future of U.S. housing prices. For those unwilling to click, here’s the even‐​shorter version: Yes, the settlement might lower realtor commissions and thus shave a few thousand bucks off a home’s all‐​in sales price, but Americans shouldn’t expect a reprieve from ever‐​increasing housing prices without far more fundamental reforms to occupational licensing, zoning and land use regulation, construction materials tariffs, and other policies that increase building costs and restrict housing supply.” (03/27/24)

    https://www.cato.org/commentary/yimbys-are-winning-local-housing-battles-can-they-win-national-housing-war

  • Ukraine Takes the War to Russia’s Oil Refineries

    Source: Foreign Policy
    by Keith Johnson

    “In recent weeks, Ukraine has found a way to overcome a lack of aid and a dearth of ammunition, using long-range drones to strike oil industry assets deep inside Russia. The attacks on Russian oil refineries — which number at least a dozen so far, including some very long-range strikes — have damaged Russia’s ability to process and refine its huge output of crude oil, dealing a small but meaningful blow to a Russian energy sector that has so far weathered the war and Western sanctions in surprisingly good shape. The campaign, which has been tacitly acknowledged by Ukrainian security services and officials, is meant to strike at both the economic and logistic sinews of Russia’s war effort, which is still grinding its way through the third year of its invasion of Ukraine.” (03/27/24)

    https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/27/ukraine-drone-strikes-russia-oil-refineries/

  • There Ain’t No Libertarians, Just Politicians Who Want to Give All the Money to the Rich

    Source: Beat The Press
    by Dean Baker

    “David Wallace-Wells had a column discussing the trip by Javier Milei, Argentina’s new president, to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos Switzerland. The WEF forum is an annual gathering of many of the world’s richest people, where they also invite politicians, academics, and others who they think may amuse them. According to Wallace-Wells, Mr. Milei definitely fits into that category. The piece talked about how Milei calls himself as an anarchist, with the government just doing basic functions, like defending the country and running the criminal justice system. Otherwise, Milei would eliminate any role for government, if he had his choice. It is humorous to hear politicians make declarations like this. As a practical matter, almost all of these self-described anarchists would have a very large role for the government.” (03/27/24)

    https://cepr.net/there-aint-no-libertarians-just-politicians-who-want-to-give-all-the-money-to-the-rich/

  • “The people”/personhood paradox

    Source: Orange County Register
    by Erin M Carr

    “Two years after the Dobbs decision, the court now prepares to decide another landmark abortion case made possible precisely because of the unworkable legal landscape created by the overruling of Roe. As the court considers the fate of abortion medication in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, it has become clear which ‘people’ the court seeks to delegate power to determine the precious contours of reproductive health rights. … The ‘people,’ as the post-Dobbs landscape has shown us, is mostly comprised of conservative state judges and legislators who subscribe to a concept of ‘fetal personhood’ in which non-viable fetuses are assigned greater social value and legal rights than the women whose bodies carry them.” (03/27/24)

    https://www.ocregister.com/2024/03/27/the-people-personhood-paradox/

  • Where RFK Jr. Goes From Here

    Source: The Atlantic
    by John Hendrickson

    “Wasn’t Robert F. Kennedy jr. supposed to have flamed out by now? At a rally yesterday in Oakland, California, Kennedy — a lifelong Democrat turned independent — unveiled his 2024 running mate, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan. Kennedy selected Shanahan from a motley crew of reported vice-presidential contenders: Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura, Mike Rowe, Tulsi Gabbard, and the rapper Killer Mike, to name a few. Shanahan is by no means a household name. Yet she could bolster Kennedy’s outsider ticket in three pivotal ways. She’s just 38 years old and may help him appeal to younger voters. Several states require candidates to file a two-person ticket as a ballot-eligibility requirement, so her sheer addition could help move those efforts forward. And, of course, she has money …” (03/27/24)

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/robert-f-kennedy-election/677891/

  • If Ronna McDaniel Is Beyond the Pale, NBC May Have Trouble Presenting “Diverse Viewpoints”

    Source: Reason
    by Jacob Sullum

    “NBC’s conclusion that McDaniel is beyond the pale raises questions about where exactly a network should draw that line when it tries to present a mix of political viewpoints. Given Trump’s domination of the Republican Party, finding former GOP officials who did not acquiesce in his increasingly desperate attempts to remain in office after he lost reelection may prove challenging. And if dissident Never Trumpers are the only acceptable on-air Republicans, news outlets like NBC will be presenting a highly skewed selection that does not reflect prevailing opinions within the party.” (03/27/24)

    https://reason.com/2024/03/27/if-ronna-mcdaniel-is-beyond-the-pale-nbc-may-have-trouble-presenting-diverse-viewpoints/

  • Most New Ideas Are Terrible

    Source: EconLog
    by Kevin Corcoran

    “[The Rabbit R1] is a small device that uses AI to perform automated tasks on your behalf – they give the example of using a voice command to tell the R1 to order you an Uber, and it places the order itself without you needing to unlock your phone and use the Uber app. … I’m not sure why I’d pay $200 to pull one device out of my pocket and tell it to operate an app for me, rather than just pull my phone out of my pocket and just use the app myself. … most new ideas seem pretty ill-considered to me, and most new product innovations seem likely to fail, or at best find only niche appeal. And this very fact – the fact that new ideas mostly seem pretty terrible – highlights something I think is great about markets.” (03/27/24)

    https://www.econlib.org/most-new-ideas-are-terrible/

  • The Right’s Infatuation With Fascist Strongmen Is Nothing New

    Source: The UnPopulist
    by Steve Chapman

    “The Republican Party’s descent from Reagan’s principled and eloquent conservatism to Trump’s toxic narcissism and unabashed yearning for unbridled power is, for many, one of the great mysteries of our time. The party that was once fiercely committed to limited government, individual freedom, and the value of democracy at home and abroad no longer honors those ideals. Today, it has become a haven for Putin apologists, anti-Semites, insurrectionists, white supremacists, conspiracy nuts, and theocrats. Since 2016, the party has been engaged in a ceaseless flirtation with fascism. … To Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest, there is no mystery here. In his brisk, concise, and thoroughly documented new book, America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators, he argues that the right has always had a fondness for tyrants of a particular sort.” (03/26/24)

    https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-rights-infatuation-with-fascist