Source: United Press International
“The city of Baltimore is blaming the the owner and manager of a merchant vessel that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge late last month of negligence. In a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division, the city of Baltimore and its council said Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine ‘were grossly and potentially criminally negligent’ in their operations of the Dali container ship. The 985-foot Dali container ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private and it is managed by Synergy Marine. Early March 26, the vessel lost power shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore and crashed into the bridge, causing it to immediately collapse.” (04/23/24)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/04/23/Baltimore-accuses-ship-firms-negligence/6261713860485/
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Preparing Major Arms Package for Ukraine, Attack on US Bases in Iraq and Syria, and More.” (04/23/24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lirF-OE1jzA
Source: The American Conservative
by Michael Warren Davis
“Everyone knows that the Moscow Patriarchate is in bed with the Kremlin. Few realize that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is deeply beholden to the United States government. This ignorance is surprising, given that many Greek Orthodox leaders are quite proud of the fact.” (04/23/24)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-cias-man-in-constantinople/
Source: SFGate
“What began last week when students at a New York Ivy League school refused to end their protest against Israel’s war with Hamas had turned into a much larger movement by Tuesday as students across the nation set up encampments, occupied buildings and ignored demands to leave. Protests against the war had been bubbling for months but kicked into a higher gear after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia University’s upper Manhattan campus were arrested Thursday. Dozens more protesters have been arrested at other campuses since, and many now face charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct. With tensions at Columbia continuing to run high and some students afraid to set foot on the campus, officials said the university will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester.” (04/23/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/columbia-switches-to-hybrid-learning-amid-19417611.php
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“The Eighth Amendment provides little, if any, protection for the homeless. But courts can help them by striking down exclusionary zoning, which is the major cause of housing shortages that lead to homelessness.” (04/22/24)
https://reason.com/volokh/2024/04/22/fight-homelessness-by-ending-exclusionary-zoning/
Source: ABC News
“A man who works for a German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, authorities said Tuesday. The detention came less than 24 hours after three people were arrested for spying for China in a separate German case. The suspect was arrested Monday in the eastern German city of Dresden, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They said that he has worked for a German lawmaker in the European Union’s legislature since 2019. The German national is accused of working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament in January. Prosecutors allege that he also snooped on Chinese dissidents in Germany.” (04/23/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/german-eu-lawmakers-aide-arrested-suspicion-spying-china-109523643
Source: Show-Me Institute
“SB 727 Reaction with Susan Pendergrass and James Shuls.” (04/22/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/education/sb-727-reaction-with-susan-pendergrass-and-james-shuls/
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“The term in the headline was first applied, I think, to the strongly Pentecostal roving brush arbor preachers of the Great Awakening in the States back in the early 1800s – whom Westerners referred to as ‘sky pilots.’ It was picked up by ‘knights of the road’ (hobos) and the dispossessed and displaced of the Dirty Thirties. It poked fun at these iterant preachers – mostly scam artists – who made a living by preaching about ‘giving to God’ (meaning, in the preacher’s contribution basket) would reap wonderful benefits in heaven after death. Politicians, of course, have been preaching a version of this for millennia – especially here in the States.” (04/22/24)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2024/04/22/pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by-prophets-of-science/
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“A new course offered for students in many of China’s vocational schools is a drama workshop. The goal, however, is not a job in theater. Rather, students are encouraged to speak out in a theater setting about the public stigma – and self-stigma – of being in vocational school. They are taught to write a play and perform it before an audience based on their feelings about a deep social prejudice in China against those who do not follow the academic track for a university degree. They verbalize the internal shame, helping them reshape a negative identity, according to Wang Zijin, former program director at Hope School, a platform designed for mainly rural schools. ” (04/23/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0423/Lifting-a-stigma-in-China
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The US justice department will pay $138.7m (£110m) to survivors of disgraced national gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. In a 2022 lawsuit, some of Nassar’s victims alleged that the FBI mishandled credible complaints of sexual assaults and failed to take them seriously. The 139 claimants included US Olympic gymnastics gold medallists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney. Nassar is currently serving up to 175 years in prison for sexual assault. In 2021, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, which serves as a watchdog for the FBI, concluded that the agency disregarded allegations about Nassar and made a raft of errors. … including a failure to formally document meeting with USA Gymnastics officials after they concluded their own five-week internal probe into Nassar’s behaviour. It also cited a failure to contact state and local authorities about the potential risk he continued to pose to athletes.” (04/23/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68841682
