Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov
“On May 2, U.S. law enforcement indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) on charges of taking at least $360,000 in bribes from companies controlled by the government of Azerbaijan. In exchange for money, Cuellar would attempt to shape the U.S. foreign policy towards Azerbaijan by spreading narratives favorable to that nation’s interests through speeches and legislative measures. While the challenge of undue foreign interference in U.S. politics is not new, the case of Azerbaijan highlights a particular vulnerability in U.S. foreign policy: Washington’s fixation on inflexible alliances and enmities provides a fertile ground for foreign actors to exploit it to promote their own parochial agendas that have little to do with U.S. interests.” (05/09/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/cuellar-azerbaijan/
Source: US Newes & World Report
“India has replaced some 80 soldiers on the Maldives with civilians after a demand by President Mohamed Muizzu who has pivoted the archipelago’s ties towards China, New Delhi officials said on Thursday. The Indian troops supported two helicopters and an aircraft that were given by New Delhi and mainly used for marine surveillance, search-and-rescue and medical evacuation operations on the islands of about half a million people. … Maldivian leaders traditionally made New Delhi their first port of call after coming to office but Muizzu has courted China instead and deepened defence ties as global powers jostle for influence in the Indo-Pacific region.” (05/09/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-05-09/india-completes-troop-exit-from-maldives-at-pro-china-leaders-request
Source: Antiwar.com
“Israel Tightens Starvation Blockade, Most Democrats Believe Israel Is Committing Genocide, and More.” (05/09/24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aWGtB-tHSA
Source: Law & Liberty
by John G Grove
“Comprehensive politics is characterized by a tendency to focus on the aggregate social conditions of the whole. It is monistic, seeing social life as a fundamental unity: the overriding goal of political activity is to make the various parts of society conform to the vision or contribute to the mission of the whole. In the words of Robert Nisbet, this kind of political community seeks to bring ‘all lives, all ends, all values, and all means into total articulation with one another.’ Comprehensive politics implies a plasticity of human beings, who are the product of their broader social context. … While comprehensive politics starts with a dream of what could be, constitutional politics starts with what is: the actual people, institutions, and authorities of any given society.” ()5/09/24)
https://lawliberty.org/comprehensive-or-constitutional-politics/
Source: Hoover Institution
by Bill Whalen
“As California hasn’t witnessed a competitive presidential race since the late 1980s and the twilight of the Reagan era, it’s tempting to assume that the Golden State yet again will not be a questionable factor in 2024’s outcome. That said, let’s take a look at the significance of presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s qualifying for this fall’s California ballot, now that the 70-year-old Kennedy — the nephew of a martyred president and the namesake son of a fabled presidential contender who famously battled for California’s Democratic delegates back in the summer of 1968 before he himself was assassinated — has secured the nomination of the American Independent Party. Could RFK Jr. actually carry the Golden State come November? Don’t bet on it.” (05/09/24)
https://www.hoover.org/research/will-rfk-jr-hold-sway-california
Source: Reuters
“Argentine unions launched a huge general strike on Thursday against painful austerity measures and planned reforms by new libertarian President Javier Milei, whose cost-cutting drive has stabilized local markets but hammered the real economy. The South American country saw public transport, the important grains crushing sector, supermarkets, airports and banks grind to a halt for 24 hours as most of the major unions joined the protest action against the government. Milei, an economist and former media pundit, won a shock election last year pledging to fix with a ‘chainsaw’ an economic crisis that snowballed under previous governments, leading to depleted reserves and triple-digit inflation. … Hugo Yasky, secretary general of the major CTA union, posted on X that the strike was against ‘a government that only benefits the rich at the expense of the people, gives away natural resources and seeks to eliminate workers’ rights.'” (05/09/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentine-workers-launch-general-strike-against-milei-reforms-austerity-2024-05-09/
Source: ABC News
“Puerto Rico’s governor has declared a state of emergency following heavy rains, widespread flooding and landslides in the U.S. territory. One person has been reported missing. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi also activated the National Guard on Wednesday to help 22 of the island’s 78 municipalities that were hardest hit by incessant rains. More than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain were reported over two days in Puerto Rico’s interior, with some streets turning into flowing rivers.” (05/09/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/puerto-rico-declares-state-emergency-persistent-rains-unleash-110071764
Source: Show-Me Institute
“On May 8, 2024, Show-Me Institute hosted a virtual event where EdChoice’s Marty Lueken and Reason Foundation’s Christian Barnard discussed and demoed their K-12 School Choice Calculator.” (05/08/24)
https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/state-and-local-government/watch-k-12-school-choice-calculator-webinar-with-edchoice-and-reason-foundation/
Source: Orange County Register
by Veronique de Rugy
“Unions are said to be having a moment. The story goes something like this: Helped by a presidential administration that touts itself as the ‘most pro-union in history,’ labor unions — after decades of decline — are winning big victories against anti-union corporations and extracting impressive concessions for their workers. But is it all true?” (05/09/24)
https://www.ocregister.com/2024/05/09/is-the-union-resurgence-real-does-it-matter-for-workers/
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Vincent Geloso
“Bipartisanship is often heralded as the pinnacle of legislative achievement. The recent votes on foreign aid to Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine offered a display of this heraldry. But we should stop praising bipartisanship as a virtue. It is not inherently praiseworthy. Bipartisanship is praiseworthy as a byproduct of the legislative process. When powers are divided, mechanisms slow down legislation and encourage debate, and legislators will pass fewer laws. Those they do pass will tend to reflect consensus. Bipartisanship is an outcome of a better legislative process, not a good in itself. History gives us many examples of how bipartisan consensus is not inherently virtuous and can lead to grievous mistakes. A poignant example is the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a dark piece of legislative bipartisanship driven by political expediency.” (05/09/24)
https://www.aier.org/article/bipartisan-but-brutal-lessons-from-the-chinese-exclusion-act/
