Source: Axios
“A bipartisan group of senators held a virtual meeting on Wednesday with senior officials at the International Criminal Court to express their concern about possible arrest warrants being issued for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza, according to three sources who were in the meeting or briefed about it. Israeli officials have grown increasingly worried over the last two weeks that the ICC is preparing to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. … Republican lawmakers threatened to pass legislation against the ICC if it moves forward with the arrest warrants, which the Biden administration has said it opposes.” (05/02/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/02/israel-icc-warrants-us-senators-meeting
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Using tax policy to influence how much beer people drink, what kind of cars people drive, or how many babies people have is just a way of imposing some people’s social preferences (and the costs of exercising those preferences) on other people. Americans, [Catherine] Rampell tells us (citing polling data), are ‘having fewer kids than they say they want.’ She doesn’t cite any polling data on how many kids those same people want to pay the costs of conceiving, delivering, and raising. I suspect the latter number would be lower. I want one more Tesla than I currently own (the latter number is zero), but I don’t want to pay the advertised sticker price. Nor do I support taxing you, or Ms. Rampell, more to buy me one (or to give me a tax credit to reduce my cost of buying one).” (05/02/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18544
Source: Free Talk Live
“We are now live on Tik Tok! :: How did you find out about liberty? :: The gov doesn’t even know their own rules :: The legal way to steal kids :: Big pharma is truly evil :: US to move marijuana down the schedule but keep it illegal :: The US at war against crypto :: 2024-05-02 Hosts: Bonnie, Jay, Riley.” (05/02/24)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/free-talk-live-2024-05-02
Source: NBC News
“Britain’s governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as an array of election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. Labour won control of councils in England it hasn’t held for decades and was successful in a special by-election for Parliament that if repeated in a general election in coming months, would lead to one of the Conservative’s biggest-ever defeats. Its only negative for Labour has been in some areas with large Muslim populations, such as Oldham in northwest England, where the party’s candidates appear to have suffered as a result of leader Keir Starmer‘s strongly pro-Israel stance in the conflict in Gaza.” (05/02/24)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/uk-local-elections-sunak-conservatives-suffer-big-losses-labour-rcna150538
Source: The UnPopulist
by Trevor Burrus
“We haven’t always had presidents with integrity. But that doesn’t capture the fundamental problem: each president who decides to push the limits of his or her power creates a new baseline for the misuse of the office by unprincipled actors. Woodrow Wilson used a variety of means to prosecute those who opposed America’s involvement in World War I. Franklin Roosevelt used an executive order to create concentration camps to imprison more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry. John F. Kennedy used the IRS and the FCC to shut down ‘right-wing’ radio broadcasters who he thought would be a threat to the country and his reelection. … Given what purportedly ‘good’ presidents have done with the office, it’s worth considering what a petty and vindictive president would do. Unfortunately, we may learn that lesson if Donald Trump returns to the office.” (05/02/24)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/stopping-a-rogue-executive-from-abusing
Source: Associated Press
“President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that ‘order must prevail’ as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear. ‘Dissent is essential for democracy,’ Biden said at the White House. ‘But dissent must never lead to disorder.’ The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign.” (05/02/24)
https://apnews.com/article/biden-silence-college-protests-police-gaza-israel-d5f3092671951c3bc2968b8751c93ba6
Source: Judging Freedom
by Andrew P Napolitano
“Though the colonists deeply valued all the rights articulated in the Declaration, truly it was the freedom of speech that drove the revolution. Yes, the Americans had Kentucky long guns that enabled the colonial militias to shoot and kill British forces from distances that the British weaponry was unable to reach. Yes, the Americans were animated by defending their homeland. But it was speech — sung in taverns, written in broadsides, delivered in sermons, distributed in pamphlets, adopted by the Continental Congress and colonial legislatures, and proclaimed in town squares from Boston to Charleston — that whipped the brushfires of freedom into a revolution and a new nation. … Today, this most basic and utterly essential freedom — both a natural human right and a constitutionally protected right — is under assault by governments that hate or fear the content of the speech. I am addressing the demonstrations on college campuses today and the authoritarian responses to them by college presidents, governors and mayors.” (05/02/24)
https://archive.is/FJsiI
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Turkey has suspended all trade with Israel over its offensive in Gaza, citing the ‘worsening humanitarian tragedy’ in the strip. The Turkish trade ministry said the measures would be in place until Israel allowed an ‘uninterrupted and sufficient flow’ of aid into Gaza. Trade between the two countries was worth almost $7bn (£5.6bn) last year. Israel’s foreign minister accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of acting like a ‘dictator.’ Israel Katz said on X that Mr Erdogan was ‘disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen and ignoring international trade agreements.’ He added that he had instructed the foreign ministry to find alternatives for trade with Turkey, with a focus on local production and imports from other countries.” (05/03/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68945380
Source: The Nation
by Charles Glass
“President Joe Biden’s eloquence, such as it is, soars highest when he hymns alleluias to the free press. ‘Courageous journalists around the world have shown time and again that they will not be silenced or intimidated,’ he proclaimed last year on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. ‘The United States sees them and stands with them.’ He reprised the theme last week at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner …, ‘You literally risk your lives doing your job.’ The assembled correspondents, although themselves confronting no risk greater than crossing Pennsylvania Avenue to rewrite press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s handouts, applauded their stalwart champion. … American actions, however, send a message at odds with Biden’s and Lu’s rhetorical flourishes: Don’t mess with Uncle Sam. Those who do will end up like Julian Assange in London’s Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison and Imran Khan in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.” ()5/02/24)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/world-press-freedom-biden-assange-khan/
Source: US News & World Report
“Donald Trump cited U.S. President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency as he seeks to have criminal charges related to his own retention of sensitive records tossed out, court filings showed on Thursday. Trump, the former president and the Republican challenger to Democrat Biden in the Nov. 5 election, argued that the decision not to charge Biden and other senior U.S. officials who mishandled classified information shows he is being selectively targeted by prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case and who was nominated by Trump, will rule on Trump’s challenge.” (05/02/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-05-02/trump-cites-biden-classified-records-probe-as-he-seeks-to-toss-documents-case
