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: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“The Biden administration believes it should be a federal crime to refuse to hire ex-convicts. There is no such federal statute, but that hasn’t stopped President Biden’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from seizing dictatorial power to impose its own decrees. The EEOC sued Sheetz Inc. Thursday for using criminal background checks to staff its 600+ convenience stores in six states. The agency does not allege Sheetz is biased against minorities per se — only against minorities who failed the background check.” (04/22/24)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/04/22/n-y-post-biden-and-the-great-sheetz-shakedown/
Source: Politico
“Lawmakers in California want to double the penalty for protesters who block highways, a sign of increased frustration among both Republicans and Democrats with demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war such as the one that recently snarled traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Legislation authored by a Republican cleared a key committee vote Monday at the Capitol with crucial support from four Democrats, who defied the committee chair to advance the bill. The measure still has to pass the full Assembly and Senate and win the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, but the vote signals a split among Democrats, who dominate the state Legislature and have been divided by the protests over the war that have roiled major cities and universities.” (04/22/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/22/double-fines-protesters-california-00153778
Source: Bloggingheads.tv
“Putin, AI, Ukraine, Crypto, the Noosphere, Futurism & Other Stuff | Robert Wright & Anatoly Karlin.” (04/22/24)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/67556
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Madison Yablonski
“This Earth Day, it’s time to reflect on the gains of conservation. Doom-and-gloom Earth Day messaging often paints a depressing future, but there is plenty of progress to celebrate. Here are three examples of innovative conservation happening all across the American West to celebrate our planet and our progress.” (04/22/24)
https://www.perc.org/2024/04/22/creative-conservation-inspires-hope-this-earth-day/
Source: Quillette
by Marian L Tupy
“The 2024 Simon Abundance Index was released today to coincide with the annual celebration of Earth Day. This was no coincidence: the Index aims to modify Earth Day’s empirical and metaphysical bearings. When it was first observed in 1970, Earth Day justifiably bemoaned the harm caused to the planet over the preceding two centuries by massive, though mostly beneficial, economic expansion, and called upon our species to be better stewards of the planet. Over the succeeding 54 years, the growing influence and legislative triumphs of the environmental movement have led it to radicalize and become more anti-human and apocalyptic. … Between 1980 and 2023, the average time price of the 50 basic commodities fell by 70.4 percent. For the time required to earn the money to buy one unit of this commodity basket in 1980, you would get 3.38 units in 2023. In other words, your resource abundance increased by 238 percent.” (04/22/24)
https://quillette.com/2024/04/22/simon-abundance-index-prosperity-innovation-population/
Source: The American Prospect
by Gerard Edic
“Nearly every day for the past month, the Biden administration has made an announcement about a finalized regulation. They have completed a minimum staffing ratio for nursing homes, conserved 13 million acres in the Alaskan Arctic, designated ‘forever chemicals’ as hazardous substances, invested in rooftop solar panels in low-income communities, banned most noncompete agreements at U.S. businesses, directed federal agencies to purchase sustainable products, and closed the ‘gun show loophole’, to name just a few. Why has April been a month of regulatory action? The administration surely wants to show key constituencies that they have made progress. But policymakers are also racing to get regulations done to protect them from being overturned in the next Congress.” [editor’s note: As if we needed another reason NOT to support this regime – SAT] (04/23/24)
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-04-23-biden-administration-regulations-congressional-review-act/
