Source: Associated Press
“The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, along the border with Egypt, to start evacuating from the area, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent. The announcement complicated last-ditch efforts by international mediators, including the director of the CIA, to broker a cease-fire. The militant Hamas group and Qatar, a key mediator, have warned that an invasion of Rafah could derail the talks. The United States has repeatedly urged Israel against invading Rafah. However, Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said they need to carry out a ground invasion to defeat the Islamic militant group.” (06/06/24)
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-humanitarian-aid-8659eae6e0a7362504f0aa4aa4be53e0
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Greg Orman
“Earlier this week, Donald Trump posted one of his signature slam poetry missives on MAGA social media. For those trained in the art of deciphering his work, the post called out Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his voters for potentially casting a ‘wasted protest vote.’ And just that effortlessly, Trump aligned himself perfectly with President Biden and the leadership of the Democratic Party. It’s not a new phenomenon. Attacking competition to the two-party system is one of the few areas where Democrats and Republicans agree. … This bipartisan claim that political competition is a bad thing seems to be rooted in the shared self-serving argument that nothing is better for America than a perpetuation of two-party rule. To the reigning duopoly, it’s an entitlement, a birthright.” (05/03/24)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/05/03/the_wasted_vote_dodge_150883.html
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Donald Trump is speaking at the LP Convention? Huh?” (05/03/24)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/donald-trump-is-speaking-at-the-lp
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Jose Raul Mulino, a stand-in for a former president banned from running, has won the country’s presidential elections. Authorities unofficially called the race late on Sunday after three of Mulino’s closest competitors conceded defeat. The former security minister, who was a late entrant to the race after his mentor President Ricardo Martinelli was removed from power after being convicted of corruption, secured more than a third of the votes cast in the country of 4.4 million people. At stake for the new leader is the Central American country’s woes with government corruption, a severe drought that has affected maritime traffic in the economically important Panama Canal, as well as US-bound migrants passing through Panama’s jungles in droves.” (05/06/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/6/mulino-wins-panama-presidential-race
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“Roger Ver left the US in 2014. Roger Ver renounced his citizenship in 2014. He’s charged with not paying a $48 million bribe to the US government after selling some of his Bitcoin in 2017, when he was neither a citizen of, nor resident in, the US. In 1931, Germany’s Weimar Republic instituted something called the Reichsfluchtsteuer — ‘Reich Flight Tax’ — to prevent wealthy Germans from going, and taking their money, elsewhere … or at least to grab much of that money. After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, the tax was instead used to seize everything of value from Jews …. so far as I can tell, even the Third Reich didn’t display anything like the sheer gall and temerity of the US regime, chasing down emigrants years later and extorting additional money from them. Hitler’s goons limited themselves to things like pawing through emigrants’ luggage and stealing their jewelry.” (05/04/24)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/18547
Source: Yahoo! News
“President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered new nuclear weapons drills in the face of Western ‘threats,’ as a Ukrainian drone attack killed six people and wounded over 30 in Russia’s Belgorod border region. Russia’s defence ministry said the exercises would be held in the ‘near future’ and involve the air force, navy and troops stationed near Ukraine. Putin has upped his nuclear rhetoric, warning in an address to the nation in February there was a ‘real’ risk of nuclear war. The Kremlin meanwhile said the drills were a response to Western comments on sending troops to Ukraine. The defence ministry said the drills were aimed at ensuring Russian territorial integrity in the face of ‘threats by certain Western officials.'” (05/06/24)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-orders-nuclear-drills-troops-090626925.html
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Everyone has weaknesses and faults. This includes you and me. We need to acknowledge our weaknesses and work on doing better. Your life will also be easier and you’ll be a better person if you’re tolerant of the weaknesses and faults of others. Up to a point. This doesn’t mean you have to sit quietly while someone’s faults are damaging your life. Communicate the problem and, when it needs to be said, tell them clearly where your line in the sand is. Be polite when possible. You aren’t obligated to allow others to hurt you just because they don’t know a better way.” (05/05/24)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2024/05/05/voices/opinion-dont-let-others-weaknesses-control-you/178371.html
Source: Politico
“Republican National Committee chief counsel Charlie Spies has resigned after less than two months on the job, party officials confirmed. Spies, a longtime Republican election attorney, was brought on to the committee in March, amid a Trump-campaign-led overhaul of the committee. But over the following weeks, former President Donald Trump privately expressed anger over Spies’[s] hiring, as some allies began to tell him about the attorney’s past work for two former primary opponents — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.” (05/05/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/05/top-rnc-lawyer-resigns-00156163
Source: Reason
by Arnold Kling
“Hayek argued that some information is tacit, meaning that it will never be articulated in a form that can be input to a computer. He also argued that some information is dispersed, meaning that it is known only in small part to any one person. Given the decentralized character of information, a market system generates prices, which in turn generate the knowledge necessary to efficiently organize an economy. A central computer is not going to know how you as an individual would trade off between two goods. You may not be able to articulate your preferences yourself, until you are confronted with a choice at market prices. The computer is not going to know how consumers will respond to a new product or service, and it is not going to know how a new invention might change production patterns.” (for publication 06/24/)
https://reason.com/2024/05/04/wicked-problems-remain/
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Chinese passport holders will be able to enter Cuba without a visa this month as direct flights resume between the two countries. Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia announced the visa-free policy at the Cuban International Tourism Fair held in the seaside resort of Cayo Coco island on the weekend, saying China would also be the event’s ‘guest of honour’ next year. State news agency Xinhua quoted Garcia as saying the policy would come into effect this month and direct flights between China and Cuba would resume on May 17, after being suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.” (05/05/24)
https://archive.is/JDwpL
