In the news, Saturday, April 7, 2018

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APR 06      INDEX      APR 08

________

Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from Asia Times Online

One important reason there isn’t any wage growth
As the wage growth trend continues to defy the Federal Reserve’s preferred Phillips Curve model, it’s worth looking at one of the reasons why. Older workers accept lower pay and their share of labor force is rising.

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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization

Free-Range Parenting Makes for Responsible Kids. We Shouldn't Penalize It
In the age of helicopter parenting, free-range parenting is under attack.

________

from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

Media/News Company in Washington, D. C.

Expert Says Chinese Are ‘Leaving the Trump Administration No Choice’
'The Coming Collapse of China' author argues on 'The Ingraham Angle' that trade war concerns are overblown, so president must stay firm

Don’t Be Fooled by Its Spin: Facebook Plans to Remain a Data Company
Mark Zuckerberg's apologies notwithstanding, his social media creation is first and foremost a tool for gathering information about everybody

________

from Mises Institute

[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

The Case for Revisionism (and Against A Priori History)
The task of the libertarian intellectual is not limited to political and economic theory, as this neglected essay by Murray Rothbard argues. It extends also to understanding history, not from the point of view of the state and the ruling class, or from a priori theorizing, but from looking at the raw facts of the case. Doing so yields results different from prevailing opinion, and has hence been called revisionism by both its detractors and supporters.

Why Businessmen Don't Make Good Politicians
It is a common fallacy, particularly (but not exclusively) among the conservative right, that if a person is successful in business, he or she must have the requisite knowledge to make wise decisions regarding economic policy. This, unfortunately, is dangerously naive. Just because you're good at business doesn't mean you'll be good at politics. There are two very different skill sets involved. 

________

from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

________

In the news, Friday, April 6, 2018

________

APR 05      INDEX      APR 07

________

Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from Asia Times Online

Trump brandishes art of the deal flair with new, bigger tariff threat
Beijing counters that negotiations haven’t started, impossible under these conditions

Generals board PLA’s gravy train, but the next stop is jail
China is under pressure to make its military spending more transparent, but has a big problem: not even the PLA knows where the money trail leads

________

from Competitive Enterprise Institute

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

Option for States Dealing with Illegal Teacher Union Strikes
An uptick in teacher union strikes has occurred over past few months. Teachers have abandoned students in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma with rumblings of a potential strike in Arizona. What is spurring this increase in union walk-outs? Governing magazine puts forth the idea that the labor laws in these Republican-dominated states, which limit union collective bargaining privileges, may be a contributing factor. But anyone who has been watching the U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME, which could eliminate public-sector union’s ability to compel workers to pay union fees, might have been able to predict labor unions would flex their power by walking off the job.

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from Conciliar Post

CREATION’S REVELATION AND THE HOPE FOR DISCOVERY

As the whales demonstrated, everything we know—everything—is given to us. What we discover we did not create. We can set up all the right conditions, prepare ourselves completely . . . and ultimately have no control over what is revealed (or not revealed) to us. Thank goodness there are things made known to us independent of our efforts. Not only does such disclosure add color to life, but it also serves as the distasteful medicine we desperately need to subdue the fever of our pride in progress. Knowledge, I suspect, has become the idol of our day.

________

from Defense News

Germany, France to move ahead on sixth-generation combat aircraft
Plans for a Franco-German combat aircraft are set to kick off in earnest at the Berlin Air Show later this month, officials told French media on the sidelines of a meeting of the two countries’ defense ministers in Paris on Thursday. The idea of a joint “systèmedecombat aérien dufutur,” or SCAF, came out of a bilateral Cabinet decision last summer, part of a larger effort to promote the Berlin-Paris relationship in a militarily stronger Europe. The aircraft program would initially be led by Germany and France, and later opened to other European states.

________

from EUobserver
Media/News Company in Brussels, Belgium

Opportunity not to be missed in Greece-Macedonia row
A long-running row over the ex-Yugolsav republic of Macedonia's name - which it shares with a region of neighbouring Greece, shows that words matter in EU politics.

Data breach affected 2.7 million people in EU, says Facebook
US social media giant Facebook has told the European Commission that information about up to 2.7 million people in the EU may have been compromised, in the scandal around UK consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. It is the first time a full figure for the entire 28 EU member states has emerged.

Orban, the 'anti-Merkel', emboldens European right
When in 2010 Viktor Orban returned to power in Hungary with a landslide two-thirds majority he promised a revolution. He delivered: his government rewrote economic rules, challenging foreign banks, imposing special taxes, he rolled back the rule of law, cracked down on a free press, changed election laws.

Germany's Puigdemont release puts Spanish court in bind
The German ruling not to extradite Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont to Spain will have major ramifications for the further course of Spain's legal action against the organisers of the independence referendum. By deciding that Puigdemont cannot be extradited on the charges of 'rebellion' – and to be released on bail on Friday morning – the German court in the state of Schleswig-Holstein on Thursday (5 April) has effectively intervened in the legal affairs of a fellow EU country.

________

from Mises Institute

[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

The Myth They Used to Pass Canada's Universal Healthcare
Tom Kent was the senior government policy person in Canada when the Medical Care Act was passed in 1966. Kent described the impetus to universal health care: "...many poorer people just did not get care when it was needed." Tom Kent wanted us to believe there was a crisis whereby health care was being denied to many poor people, thus justifying the imposition of universal health care in Canada. The evidence does not support his story.

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from Reuters

International news agency headquartered in London, England

Special Report: How a secret Russian airlift helps Syria's Assad
3:21 AM  In a corner of the departures area at Rostov airport in southern Russia, a group of about 130 men, many of them carrying overstuffed military-style rucksacks, lined up at four check-in desks beneath screens that showed no flight number or destination. The chartered Airbus A320 waiting on the tarmac for them had just flown in from the Syrian capital, Damascus, disgorging about 30 men with tanned faces into the largely deserted arrivals area. Most were in camouflage gear and khaki desert boots. Some were toting bags from the Damascus airport duty-free. The men were private Russian military contractors, the latest human cargo in a secretive airlift using civilian planes to ferry military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his six-year fight against rebels, a Reuters investigation of the logistical network behind Assad’s forces has uncovered.

________

from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

________

from The Times and The Sunday Times

London, UK

Salisbury poison ‘made at Russia’s Porton Down’
A Russian military research base has been identified as the source of the nerve agent used at Salisbury in a British intelligence briefing for its allies, The Times has learnt. It was used to persuade world leaders that Moscow was behind the poisoning and said that the novichok chemical was manufactured at the Shikhany facility in southwest Russia.

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In the news, Thursday, April 5, 2018

________

APR 04      INDEX      APR 06

________

Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from Conservative Intelligence Briefing

America First: President Trump Close To Historic New NAFTA Deal
President Trump is a step closer to making good on yet another campaign promise: a new NAFTA agreement that will be a better deal for America. The agreement may be announced next week.

President Trump’s Approval Rating Reaches Record Levels
Fifty-one percent of likely U.S. voters now approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance, while 48 percent disapprove, a new Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll reveals. It is Trump’s best overall job approval rating since April 2017, according to the poll. By comparison, President Barack Obama had a 46 percent job approval on April 4, 2010 in his second year in office.

Illlinois Town Bans Semi-Automatic Weapons
Owners of assault weapons living in north suburban Deerfield have until June 13 to remove the firearms from within village limits or face daily fines after a ban was approved Monday night,” the Chicago Tribune reports. The Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved a ban on certain types of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, amending a 2013 ordinance that regulated the storage of those items. Those who violate the ordinance could face fines of up to $1,000 per day.

U.S. Added 241,000 New Jobs in March
The U.S. economy felt yet another job increase last month, to the tune of 241,000 new jobs. This is the fifth month in a row that new jobs added or created numbers 200,000 or more. “Analysts had expected 205,000 to 210,000 new jobs,” to be added in March, according to Fox Business, but real numbers exceeded these expectations. The outlet also states that this news “augurs a strong report from the Labor Department’s employment report on Friday.”

________

from EUobserver
Media/News Company in Brussels, Belgium

New EU privacy rules to benefit Facebook users globally
New privacy rules coming into effect in the EU next month are "very positive", said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday (4 April) – announcing that they will have an effect beyond Europe. He spoke to reporters via a conference call to discuss the various issues that have put the social networking giant in a bad light recently, like fake news and the use of data by Cambridge Analytica.

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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization

Blow-Dry Bars Don't Even Cut Hair, So Why Do They Need Licenses?
The state’s willingness to prohibit and potentially imprison people for working to earn a living is shocking. Arizona law currently requires people to pay for at least 1,000 training hours, an exam, and various fees to get a license to style someone’s hair. That includes blowout stylists, who gain nothing from the many hours of training on using sharp tools and dangerous chemicals. But they face the threat of six months in prison and fines if they work without the license. As the late Justice Antonin Scalia would have said, “Stupid but constitutional.”

Reasons for Anti-Capitalism: Ignorance, Arrogance, and Envy
One would think that the market economy would be hailed as the most important social institution humanity had stumbled upon in all of human history. Ludwig von Mises observed, that any disappointments in life or failures to go as far professionally and financially as one had hoped falls mainly on oneself. Some find it hard to accept and deal with this. It is easier to say if not for greedy capitalists, or if not for the harsh coldness of the profit system, or if not for dog-eat-dog competition, I would have been more successful.

China’s ‘Social Credit System’ Sounds Pretty Dystopian, but Are We Far Behind?
The ACLU declared China’s system “nightmarish,” and it’s not difficult to see why. The same month the dystopian episode of "Black Mirror" premiered, China updated a policy—"Warning and Punishment Mechanisms for Persons Subject to Enforcement for Trust-Breaking"— that bears a striking resemblance. China’s “Social Credit System” literally rates its citizens. Those who score well get privileges; those who score poorly do not. A citizen with a high score is likely to enjoy various privileges—high-speed internet, the ability to travel freely, access to the best restaurants, golf courses and nightclubs—that fellow citizens do not.

Venezuela’s President Tackles Economic Crisis by Deleting 3 Zeros From its Currency
Nicolás Maduro's attempt to control hyper-inflation by deleting zeroes from its currency won't work.

________

from Foreign Affairs

Council on Foreign Relations

Perception and Misperception on the Korean Peninsula
North Korea has all but completed its quest for nuclear weapons. It has demonstrated its ability to produce boosted-fission bombs and may be able to make fusion ones, as well. It can likely miniaturize them to fit atop a missile. And it will soon be able to deliver this payload to the continental United States. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has declared his country’s nuclear deterrent complete and, despite his willingness to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, is unlikely to give it up. Yet Washington continues to demand that Pyongyang relinquish the nuclear weapons it already has, and the Trump administration has pledged that the North Korean regime will never acquire a nuclear missile that can hit the United States. The result is a new, more dangerous phase in the U.S.–North Korean relationship: a high-stakes nuclear standoff.

________

from The Inlander
Media/News Company in Spokane, WA

Idaho sets new rules on civil forfeiture
The rules just got a little clearer for what property Idaho police can and cannot take in connection to suspected crime. However, the new civil asset forfeiture rules, recently signed into law by Gov. BUTCH OTTER, do not address what critics argue is the most controversial part of this practice: That the government can take and keep citizens' property and cash without any criminal conviction.

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from The Liberty Review
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

Venezuelan President Tackles Inflation By Deleting Zeros From Currency
It seems that Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro has finally found the way to bring the country out of the unprecedented economic crisis Venezuela is immersed in since 2012. The ineffable leader of the Bolivarian Revolution has recently announced the launching of a new currency, the so-called Sovereign Bolivar, which will replace the bolivar as the official medium of exchange starting in June. The announcement was made via Twitter, where Maduro said that the current bolivar will be demonetized (cease to be legal tender) in favor of the new currency. The truth is that the bolivar was de facto demonetized a long time ago by the market due to the irresponsible monetary policy (basically, printing money to fund budget deficits year after year) undertaken by the Central Bank of Venezuela, fully controlled by the Bolivarian government.

________

from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

Media/News Company in Washington, D. C.

March Illegal Border Crossings Are the Highest of the Trump Presidency
Officials say monthly total of more than 50,000 underscores the need for the chief executive to dispatch the National Guard

Trump Rips WaPo for ‘Typically Bad Reporting’ on China Tariffs
President highlighted the media outlet's negative coverage and 'phony headlines' while doubling down on his 'America First' policies

Three Statistics That Explain Trump’s National Guard Call-Up
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen revealed how dramatically illegal immigration has changed since 2008

Planned Parenthood Is (Still) Frightfully Out of Sync with America
As the Disney princess-with-an-abortion outrage made clear, group uses the web to spread deviant ideas however it can

Family’s Illegal Control of Clinton Charity Violates Multiple State Laws, Regs
New Hampshire, for example, bars members of a family from controlling nonprofits and requires at least five directors with overall authority

Trump Is ‘First President to Fight Back’ Against China, Kudlow Says
It's time to let the 'world know' that this commander-in-chief 'means business' when it comes to trade and tariffs

‘It Was the Biblical Truth That Lit the Fire in Dr. King’s Heart’
The 50th anniversary of the reverend's death serves as a powerful rebuttal to much of the misguided arrogance about faith today

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from Mises Institute

[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

THE REAL DATA SCANDAL
It's short and sweet, but Peter G. Klein eloquently highlights different American reactions to government data breaches vs. when private companies do it

4 Ways to Improve Immigration Policy — Without Growing Government
Ever since the early days of Donald Trump's campaign, his immigration policy has been centered around spending big bucks on immigration enforcement. From his famous border wall to stepped-up federal deportation operations, few would describe Trump's policies as laissez-faire, and most involve increasing the size and scope of government. But, there are other ways of addressing concerns around immigration, however, and they don't all require spending taxpayer money. Here are four ways to improve immigration policy that don't make government any bigger or more intrusive in our lives: One: Free Trade, Always; Two: Restrict Welfare Programs; Three: Don't Confuse Citizenship with Immigration; Four: Recognize that Government Enforcement Is a Mess.

Starbucks and Dick's Can be Anti-Gun If Customers Let Them
In the wake of Parkland, Walmart and Dick's announced new anti-gun policies. Bass Pro didn't. Who's right and who's wrong? YOU can decide by choosing which company you support. That's the free market.

________

from New York Times

Newspaper in New York

India Is Close to Buying a Russian Missile System, Despite U.S. Sanctions
India’s defense minister is visiting Moscow this week to finalize the purchase of a Russian missile defense system, Indian officials say, in a weapons deal that would violate American sanctions against Russia. The potential $6 billion deal comes at a time when the Trump administration is both weighing more extensive sanctions against Russia and trying to forge a military alliance with India. Indian officials say the agreement could be finalized as soon as this week, with India purchasing five S-400 Triumf systems, an antiaircraft missile array that can also intercept missiles. If the purchase goes through, the Trump administration would have to choose between punishing India for violating the sanctions or granting an exemption to avoid souring the relationship.

________

from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

________

from Sputnik

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, Broadcasting & Media Production Company out of Moscow, Russia

Boko Haram Militant Group 'Almost Beaten' - Cameroonian Defense Minister
Joseph Beti Assomo, the Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon in Charge of Defense in an exclusive interview with Sputnik spoke about the two security crises facing Cameroon – terrorism from Boko Haram, and the secessionist crisis in two Anglophone regions of the country.

Beijing May Have Upgraded J-10 Fighter to Become Stealthier
(PHOTOS)  The People’s Liberation Army-Air Force has modified the J-10 aircraft to have thrust vector control (TVC) capability, part of the service’s drive to make the aircraft more lethal. A recent image on a Chinese defense magazine showed the J-10 with a number of upgrades that haven't been seen before, including a new engine with "sawtooth" edges that make the engine less noticeable on enemy air radars. Engine specialists say that radar signals reflect well off straight lines, but that sawtooth patterns can smother the radar return.

What Russia Did With Its Soviet Chemical Weapons, and Where Else They Ended Up
On April 5, 1928, the Soviet Union signed the Geneva Protocol prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare. But the treaty did't ban production, and the USSR stockpiled the weapons until 1991. Military observer Andrei Kotz provides a short history of Soviet chemical weapons, and what happened to them after the USSR collapsed. Russia first began production of chemical weapons in 1915 during World War I, as a symmetrical response to Germany, which casually used the poison gas weapons on the battlefield on both the Western and Eastern fronts. The Czarist government speedily built three plants – in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Moscow and Kazan. In a year's time, the Imperial Russian Army amassed nearly 150,000 chemical shells, but would refrain from using them out of fears regarding their unpredictability depending on weather conditions.  After the Bolsheviks came to power, they quickly established the so-called Chemical Service of the Red Army. The military created chemical units in all rifle and cavalry divisions and brigades, and modern chemical training was established in 1925.

German Court Releases Ex-Catalan Leader Puigdemont on Bail
Carles Puigdemont, charged with organizing an insurrection and embezzling state funds, is currently in custody in the German city of Neumunster after he was detained earlier in March on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge. The court of the German federal state Schleswig-Holstein has ruled to release former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont on bail in the sum of 75,000 Euro (about $92,000) for the duration of extradition hearings.

Saudi Arabia Poised to Be Part of Israel-Palestine Talks - Analyst
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recognizing Israel's right to exist indicates Riyadh's drive to oversee the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the head of the Center for Strategic Studies in Saudi Arabia has told Sputnik. Major-General Anwar Ishqi, head of the Saudi Center for Strategic Studies,said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's latest statements were made to designate Riyadh's direction in its foreign policy rather than signal a shift in Saudi Arabia's stance on the Palestinian issue.

Trade War Is First Shot, More to Come as China Infringes on Dollar – Economist
The trade war between China and the US continues to unfold as Donald Trump imposes $50 billion tariffs on Chinese products. Beijing plans to respond with symmetrical actions. The financial expert Ernst Wolff told Sputnik that more threats are to follow as China financially challenges the US.

US to Supply Ukrainian Army With Sniper Equipment – Reports
The US authorities made a decision to provide the Ukrainian military with a batch of sniper equipment, the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency reported, citing US Senator Rob Portman said on Thursday. Last month, the majority of the killed Ukrainian soldiers were likely killed by sniper fire, Portman, who is currently visiting Kiev, said, as quoted by the media. One of the US legislative amendments, and a decision of the White House, taken over the past month, stipulates sniper equipment provision to the Ukrainian army, to make it able to respond to sniper fire, the senator explained.

________

In the news, Wednesday, April 4, 2018

________

APR 03      INDEX      APR 05

________

Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from Christianity Today

Media/News Company based in Carol Stream, Illinois

6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More
For most pastors, a desk in an office is one of the least creative spaces imaginable. Many of us don’t need an office, because we don’t need a desk. And we don’t need a desk because we don’t need to put a phone on it. Or a typewriter. Or a computer, a Rolodex, or a fax machine. It’s been more than a decade since I used a desk to spread out an array of Bible translations, a lexicon, a Bible encyclopedia, a concordance and commentaries to prepare a sermon. All those tools are on my laptop now, which fits very efficiently on… my lap.

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from CNN

Trump says he'll send the military to the border. Bush and Obama did, too

President Trump says he's sending the military to help guard the border until his long-promised wall is built. Key details about the President's plans to deploy National Guard troops have yet to be announced -- including how many troops he's requesting, where they'll go, how long they'll be there, exactly what they'll do and how much it will cost. But the idea of deploying the National Guard to help enforcement along the border is nothing new. President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama both did it, in two operations that cost a total of more than $1.3 billion.

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from Conciliar Post

IS DOUBT A GOOD THING?
Considered generally, doubt is beneficial to human beings. While we all begin life in a state of ignorance—relying upon the care and concern of others to survive—too many of us eventually enter a state of arrogance. Neither position is desirable, but these are the two ends of the spectrum of knowledge spectrum toward which we gravitate. The object of Theology is not to know, but rather to love.

________

from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization

Trump’s Failing Grade on Trade Threatens His Overall GPA on Economic Policy
Speaking of report cards, here’s a mock report card I created for the President. It’s not as amusing as the mock college transcript from Obama’s time at Columbia, but it highlights how bad policy—on spending as well as trade—is offsetting good policy. He is hopeless on trade, and I sometimes wonder if he wants a failing grade.

Social Security Is Doomed. Now What?
No matter how you slice it, the program is going to fail.

________

from The Hill

LEFT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, newspaper in Washington, D.C.

Citizenship question won't be most pernicious aspect of US Census
From 1890 through 2000 (excluding the 1960 Census), the long version of the Census form asked about citizenship status, as the Census’s American Community Survey, received by around 3.5 million households each year, currently does. At what point did inquiries about citizenship become the moral equivalent of a “direct attack” on our country? Regardless of whether the citizenship question is included in the 2020 Census, respondents will be assured that they have nothing to fear because the information they provide will never be used against them. In 2010, the House of Representatives passed a resolution assuring Americans that “the data obtained from the Census are protected under United States privacy laws.” But the Census Bureau has a long history of betraying respondents. In the early 1940s, the Census brazenly violated federal law by providing key information on Japanese Americans so that the Army could round as many as 120,000 people up for internment camps. The detentions were among the worst civil liberties violations in modern U.S. history.

________

from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

Media/News Company in Washington, D. C.

Sorry, Mark Zuckerberg — No Oval Office for You
Facebook co-founder is widely thought to be ambitious for the nation's highest office, but losing the trust of Americans is a serious blow

Huntington Beach Challenges the Legality of Sanctuary Bill
California city goes one step beyond other municipalities, counties in Golden State that are rising up against Sacramento's rogue immigration policies

________

from Miami Herald

Leonard Pitts Jr.: King lives on that mountaintop because our zeal for justice keeps him there

The words, image and memory of King have been ubiquitous here this week, 50 years after he “got into Memphis” to lead a march on behalf of striking sanitation workers.

________

from Mises Institute

[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

CITIZENSHIP QUESTION WON'T BE MOST PERNICIOUS ASPECT OF US CENSUS
The hubbub over the Trump administration’s proposal to ask respondents about citizenship in the 2020 Census is mystifying because the response is so far out of proportion to the White House’s request. But the dispute is obscuring a much greater peril that the Census Bureau poses to Americans.

________

from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

________

In the news, Tuesday, April 3, 2018

________

APR 02      INDEX      APR 04

________

Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from The Archive

7 Female Pirates You Might Not Know About
They may not be household names, but these swashbuckling female pirates left their mark on history.

________

from Competitive Enterprise Institute

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

How Amazon Wins if Internet Sales Tax Goes Into Effect
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that could affect the future of online commerce, specifically small online sellers and those who purchase their products online. In South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., the court will determine whether state government officials may collect an Internet sales tax on purchases coming from a seller that is not physically present in a consumer's state. Revenue-hungry state and local officials and retail giants have lobbied members of Congress for nearly two decades to eliminate the physical presence limit on state taxing powers. These politicians would love to tax sellers in other states, who can't vote them out of office, while retail giants welcome any policy that will squash their competition. But when it comes to protecting consumers and the rule of law, it would be better for everyone if the Supreme Court resists the special interests of state politicians and retail lobbyists, upholds the physical presence standard, and relies on Congress to address this issue.

________

from Conservative Intelligence Briefing

President Trump Says It’S Time For US Troops To Leave Syria After ISIS Defeat
President Trump says he wants to bring US troops in Syria home after the defeat of the Islamic State. According to Politico: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday again voiced support for pulling U.S. troops out of Syria, saying his administration would make a decision on the matter “very quickly.” “I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home,” the president said during a multilateral news conference with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. He added: “Sometimes it’s time to come back home. And we’re thinking about that very seriously.”

________

from The Liberty Review
[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

Even After $6,000 Raise, Oklahoma Teachers Still Walking Out
Thousands of Oklahoma teachers walked out of school Monday and protested at the state capitol for higher salaries and increased funding. Oklahoma legislators approved a $6,100 raise for state teachers across the board in an attempt to evade the walk-out, but teachers proceeded with the protest, NBC News reported.

________

from LiveScience

New 'Nightmare' Bacteria Are Popping Up All Over the US
What's worse than "nightmare" bacteria that are resistant to nearly all antibiotics? New nightmare bacteria that have the potential to spread their resistance genes to germs in hospitals around the country. Researchers say that last year, they identified more than 200 cases of these "nightmare" bacteria with new or rare antibiotic-resistance genes, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These rare types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria popped up all over the country, in 27 states. The good news is that researchers have come up with an aggressive strategy to identify, track and contain these germs, which appears to help stop their spread, according to the report.

________

from Miami Herald

Leonard Pitts Jr.: 50 years after his murder, it’s time to kill the myth of Martin Luther King

Fear purchased the gun. Delusion loaded it. Ignorance adjusted the sight. Intolerance pulled the trigger. Fifty years ago, those forces killed the man. They have sought ever since to kill the memory. The myth of an inoffensive King is a dangerous one that allows the willfully, woefully gullible to believe we have won the battle for social justice when, in truth, we have yet to seriously engage it.

________

from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

________

In the news, Monday, April 2, 2018

________

APR 01      INDEX      APR 03

________

Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

________

from Aeon

Media/News Company

What we talk about when we talk about post-truth
As I write this and as you read it, and indeed for several million years into the future, there will be a dummy named Starman in a red Tesla cruising through outer space, playing an infinite loop of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. This achievement of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket carries multiple meanings, but one of them, enthusiastically driven home on Twitter, is that the livestreamed pictures of Starman set against the Earth’s sphere would finally put an end to Flat Earth theories, whose proponents often cite as proof the absence of a clearly distinguishable curve in photographs of the Earth. For their part, the Flat Earthers, like anti-vaxxers and Pizzagate-believers among other crusaders in our post-truth world, remained unshaken. They cautioned Flat and Round Earthers alike against uncritically trusting all the information shared on the internet via fake-news websites, and asked people to exercise greater critical judgment regarding the sources of online content – in this case, a private company guided by a quest for profit, not truth. They claimed that to use ‘a good car ad’ to establish so crucial a matter as the Earth’s shape is simply ‘a poor argument’. Committed to seeing our planet as a floating two-dimensional circle, they appealed precisely to objectivity, critical judgment and the quest for truth.

________

from Competitive Enterprise Institute

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

Cutting Tailpipe Emission Not That Effective Against Global Warming
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it will reconsider the federal government’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for passenger cars for model years 2022-25. The Obama administration set very stringent standards, peaking at 54.5 miles per gallon in 2025. After the EPA’s midterm review, it found these standards to be inappropriate. Automakers also warn that the standards are too strict and potentially price millions of consumers out of the market for new cars. The EPA’s decision could save car buyers thousands of dollars in the showroom, make auto companies more attuned to what consumers want rather than what bureaucrats want, and increase autoworkers’ wages. At the same time, and contrary to what the EPA’s critics claim, relaxing the standards would have no discernible impact on either climate change or energy security.

CEI Commends EPA for Reviewing CAFE Rules
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the result of its mid-term evaluation. As a result of the EPA’s review and analysis, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the current greenhouse-gas emission standards for light-duty vehicles for model year 2022-2025 are not appropriate and should be revised.

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from Conciliar Post

ROUND TABLE: CAN WE BE CERTAIN OF OUR SALVATION?
Throughout church history, the question, “Can we be certain of our salvation?,” has troubled many believers. This question naturally arises because different Christian traditions have divergent teachings on the nature of salvation itself. How one is saved and whether or not this salvation can be subsequently lost are the subject of much discussion between believers. One noteworthy response to these questions from church history was the development of the so-called “Protestant work ethic.” This idea suggests that living a moral, prosperous, and productive lifestyle is proof of one’s eternal salvation. In the spirit of Christian charity, we have asked our regular authors and contributors to weigh in on this question from their own personal perspective and from the perspective of their Christian traditions.

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from General Aviation News

Magazine in Lakewood, WA

Miss Veedol’s victory spanned the Pacific
Long before entrepreneurs launched cars into space, pilots of the 1920s and 1930s were beholden to people of wealth who could sponsor record flights or offer cash prizes for the first intrepid aviator to achieve a specific milestone flight. Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon teamed up in an effort to be the first to span the Pacific from Tokyo to the United States, but only after a round-the-world record attempt eluded them. A native of Bridgeport, Washington, Pangborn was an adroit aviator who first groomed his skills during World War I. Herndon had the good fortune of access to sufficient wealth to underwrite his aviation interests.

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from KING 5 (NBC)

Broadcasting & Media Production Company in Seattle, Washington

Involuntary commitment law goes into effect in Washington
Ricky's Law is named after a suicide survivor and former drug addict who pushed for involuntary commitment if someone threatens to harm themselves.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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