Source: Reuters
“Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation — a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war. The limited scale of the attack and Iran’s muted response both appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working round the clock to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday. Iranian media and officials described a small number of explosions, which they said resulted from Iran’s air defences hitting three drones over the city of Isfahan. Notably, they referred to the incident as an attack by ‘infiltrators,’ rather than by Israel, obviating the need for retaliation. An Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond against Israel for the incident.” (04/19/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-missiles-hit-site-iran-abc-news-reports-2024-04-19/
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“Giving kidney donors a $50,000 tax credit isn’t as good as full legalization of organ markets would be. But it would still be a major step in the right direction.” (04/18/24)
https://reason.com/volokh/2024/04/18/two-cheers-for-the-proposed-end-kidney-deaths-act/
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“Just ONE MAGA Juror is All TRUMP Needs.” (04/18/24)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/67549
Source: Independent [UK]
“The US vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Thursday that would have allowed [sic] Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the international body and effectively recognised its statehood. The Biden administration said that while it supports Palestinian statehood, it could only be granted [sic] as part of wide-ranging peace negotiations with Israel. … The 15-member council voted on a draft resolution that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly that ‘the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations.’ Twelve members voted in favour, two abstained and the US vetoed.” [editor’s note: Palestine is already a state, already recognized as a state by the majority of UN member states, already a UN observer state, and doesn’t need to have its statehood “granted” or “allowed.” The UN General Assembly should take up and approve the application even without a Security Council endorsement – TLK] (04/18/24)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/palestine-united-nations-us-veto-b2531156.html
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“There is no federal power to regulate immigration, no such power can be created without a constitutional amendment, and, as John Marshall, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, wrote in the court’s ruling in Marbury v. Madison, ‘an act of the legislature repugnant to the constitution is void.’ Mayorkas was impeached for displaying insufficient enthusiasm in enforcing ‘laws’ that aren’t actual laws. He should have been impeached for, and convicted of, violating the ACTUAL ‘Supreme Law of the Land’ by enforcing those fake ‘laws’ at all. Unfortunately, both branches of Congress, as well as the executive and judicial branches, are co-conspirators in Mayorkas’s crimes.” (04/18/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18519
Source: United Press International
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified for Michigan’s 2024 presidential ballot, his campaign announced Thursday. The environmental lawyer and notoriously anti-vaccine member of one of America’s most famous political families has support from the Natural Law Party in Michigan, which gained enough signatures and filed the paperwork to validate his independent run in Michigan. ‘He’s the most-qualified candidate in the modern-day history of America,’ Doug Dern, chair of the Natural Law Party, said in a statement. ‘We welcome Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Shanahan to the party.'” (04/18/24)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/04/18/rfk-jr-qualifies-michigan-ballot/4971713463119/
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jonathan Cook
“Suddenly, western politicians from US President Joe Biden to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have become ardent champions of ‘restraint’ – in a very last-minute scramble to avoid regional conflagration. Iran launched a salvo of drones and missiles at Israel at the weekend in what amounted a largely symbolic show of strength. Many appear to have been shot down, either by Israel’s layers of US-funded interception systems or by US, British and Jordanian fighter jets. No one was killed. … western leaders showed no restraint when Israel bombed Iran’s consulate in Damascus two weeks ago, killing a senior general and more than a dozen other Iranians – the proximate cause of Tehran’s retaliation on Saturday night. Under the Vienna Convention, the consulate is not only a protected diplomatic mission but is viewed as sovereign Iranian territory.” (04/18/24)
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2024/04/17/the-west-now-wants-restraint-after-months-of-fueling-a-genocide-in-gaza/
Source: New York Times
“Immigration officials sent dozens of Haitians back to their home country on Thursday, according to three government officials, in the first deportation flight conducted by the United States government in months to the country, which has been gripped by widespread violence. Deportation flights are generally viewed as a way to deter migrants from crossing the southern border without authorization. The United States has been concerned about migration from Haiti after a gang takeover of its capital, Port-au-Prince, this year led to the planned resignation of the prime minister, Ariel Henry. The deportation flight, the first since January, comes as the Biden administration continues to turn toward tougher measures at the southern border as a way to bring down the number of migrants entering the country without authorization.” (04/18/24)
https://archive.is/YXghr
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Mike Maharrey
“Thomas Jefferson’s chilling warnings about unchecked fiat, paper money proved prophetic as the U.S. plunged into its first boom-bust economic crisis in the early 19th century. In an 1814 letter to Thomas Cooper, Jefferson wrote, ‘Every thing predicted by the enemies of banks, in the beginning, is now coming to pass. we are to be ruined now by the deluge of bank paper as we were formerly by the old Continental paper.’ Just one year later, a depression gripped the United States kicked off by financial panic. This economic downturn lasted until 1821 and is widely viewed as the first boom-bust period in U.S. history. And it was exactly what Jefferson predicted. The depression was rooted in an all-too-familiar problem – excessive money printing.” (04/18/24)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/04/18/thomas-jeffersons-warnings-and-predictions-about-the-dangers-of-money-printing/
Source: The Hill
“Jury selection consumed the third day of former President Trump’s hush money trial on Thursday. All 12 jurors have been seated for Trump’s hush money trial after two were dismissed earlier in the day. Dozens of jurors were almost immediately excused after admitting they could not be fair or impartial during the politically divisive trial. Each side, the defense and prosecution, only has about a handful of strikes left. … The first of six alternate jurors was also selected.” (04/18/24)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4602135-jury-selection-day-3-trump-hush-money-trial-live-updates/
