Source: Washington Post
by Catherine Rampell
“Tariffs are kind of funny. Politicians sometimes acknowledge that they raise prices and kill jobs. But they seem to realize this only when the other team proposes them. On Wednesday, President Biden called for tripling the tariffs on steel and aluminum from China, an announcement he coincidentally made while visiting the United Steelworkers union headquarters in Pittsburgh. This isn’t pandering ahead of an election, the White House insists; it’s about protecting U.S. manufacturing from ‘unfair trade practices’ overseas. Because it apparently bears repeating: No, steel and aluminum tariffs are not good for the U.S. manufacturing sector or its workers.” (04/18/24)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/18/biden-trump-tariffs-steel-aluminum-protectionism-china/
Source: The Nation
by James Bamford
“Standing at the thick, eavesdropper-proof windows of his office suite on the eighth floor of OPS 2B, newly appointed NSA director Timothy Haugh, an Air Force general, has a commanding view of his hidden empire. The size of a small city, it is the largest, most secret, most powerful, and most intrusive spy organization ever created. And last Friday, General Haugh was likely smiling very broadly as he looked out on his secret world. The House of Representatives had just passed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This legislation would permit the agency, without a warrant, to collect from Google and other US Big Tech companies the communications of Americans talking, e-mailing, or texting with non-Americans outside the country—in theory to gather foreign intelligence, but in practice amassing an enormous amount of data on American citizens.” (04/18/24)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/nsa-warrantless-surveillance/
Source: Politico
“A top Iranian commander has delivered a strong hint Iran could develop nuclear weapons if Israel were to launch an attack on its atomic facilities. Ahmad Haqtalab, a Revolutionary Guards’ officer who heads the nuclear protection and security corps, said Tehran could review its long-standing ‘doctrine and nuclear policies,’ in which Iran has insisted it is running an atomic program only for civilian — and not military — ends. … His remarks are the latest in a string of warnings from Iranian officials to Israel, which is weighing its response to a barrage of 300 drones and missiles that Tehran launched toward Israeli territory over the weekend. Iran has always insisted its uranium enrichment program is only intended for the production of electricity. Its senior leaders — many with memories of the use of chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980-1988 war with Iraq — have also said they oppose the development of weapons of mass destruction on moral and religious grounds.” (04/18/24)
https://www.politico.eu/article/iran-hints-nuclear-weapons-if-israel-attacks/
Source: Politico
“One weird detail about Trump’s trial jury.” (04/18/24)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/april-18-2024-one-weird-detail-about-trumps-trial-jury/id1169056746?i=1000652847614
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“For the last few years, advocates of immigration controls have claimed, with all seriousness, that migrants who enter the United States illegally [sic] are ‘invaders.’ Whenever I receive an email from them, I give them free legal advice: Don’t kill the ‘invaders.’ … the flood of illegal migrants into the United States is not an ‘invasion.’ An invasion is what Nazi Germany did to Czechoslovakia, what the U.S. did to Iraq, and what Russia has done to Ukraine. Bombs, missiles, bullets, soldiers, planes, drones, violence, death, destruction, assassinations, and devastation. Migrants are engaged in a purely peaceful act of crossing a border illegally [sic].” (04/18/24)
https://www.fff.org/2024/04/18/dont-kill-migrant-invaders/
Source: Common Dreams
by Dopn Wiener
“In March 2023, a group of House Republicans launched a new Anti-Woke Caucus to ‘root out all far-left political programs from the federal government’ — including those focused on ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, in both hiring and workplace practices. The group wants to ‘protect taxpayer’s [sic] from being forced to fund woke and divisive ideologies.’ Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) chairs the caucus, which has 26 members, half of whom are also members of the far-right, obstructionist House Freedom Caucus. The major difference between the two special interest groups is that the more radical Freedom Caucus seeks to completely change the direction and approach of the House GOP, which it believes is too accommodating to Democrats and the few moderate Republicans still in office.” (04/18/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gop-pro-business-or-anti-woke
Source: Reuters
“The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits was unchanged at a low level last week, pointing to continued labor market strength. Labor market resilience, which is driving the economy, together with elevated inflation have led financial markets and some economists to expect that the Federal Reserve could delay cutting interest rates until September. A few economists doubt that the U.S. central bank will lower borrowing costs this year.” (04/18/24)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-weekly-jobless-claims-unchanged-low-levels-2024-04-18/
Source: National Review
“The Right Side of the Desk.” (04/18/24)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/the-right-side-of-the-desk/
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“The Biden administration still hasn’t given up on its terrible plan for a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal. The Wall Street Journal reports: ‘The Biden administration is pushing for a long-shot diplomatic deal in coming months that presses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a new commitment to Palestinian statehood in exchange for diplomatic recognition by Riyadh, U.S. and Saudi officials said.’ The outlines of the deal are the same as they have been for the last year: the U.S. bribes the Saudis with major favors and commitments, the Saudis agree to recognize Israel, and the Israeli government doesn’t have to do much of anything. This was a terrible deal for the United States last year, it was a terrible deal before the start of the war in Gaza six months ago, and it will still be a terrible deal six months from now.” (04/18/24)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/pursuing-saudi-israeli-normalization
Source: EconLog
by Kevin Corcoran
“The YouTube algorithm is a mysterious thing. It’s supposed to recommend videos you might like, based on videos you’ve watched and rated before, but as far as I can tell the recommendations are generated randomly by a half-asleep chimpanzee. Still, just as broken clocks are still right twice a day, random suggestions can manage to highlight things worth checking out. A while back, the YouTube algorithm put, of all things, a clip from Sesame Street in my recommended videos. This episode featured a guest appearance by Brett Goldstein, best known for his role in Ted Lasso as the hot-tempered and extremely foul-mouthed professional athlete Roy Kent. Curiosity got the better of me, so I checked it out.” (04/18/24)
https://www.econlib.org/on-fairness-aesop-vs-sesame-street/
