Source: Axios
“Speaker Mike Johnson says he wants to lead the House in 2025, and isn’t apologizing for meeting with his defectors as he works to beat back an ouster attempt. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are making demands of Johnson as he looks to stave off a motion to strip him of his gavel. But GOP members argue concessions could come at a price. … ‘It’s not a negotiation, okay, this is how I’ve operated as speaker,’ Johnson told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. ‘I committed to do it before I became speaker and we’ve been doing this for the last, last six months.’ ‘On almost on an hourly basis I hear suggestions and ideas and thoughts from members, my door has been open from day one.'” (05/07/24)
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/07/mike-johnson-marjorie-taylor-greene-meetings
Source: Niskanen Center
“Decoding the birth rate decline, with Tim Carney.” (05/07/24)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/decoding-the-birth-rate-decline-with-tim-carney
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“This is a line endlessly repeated in the media. Somehow, we face a terrible risk if people decide to have fewer kids. While this is the accepted wisdom in elite circles, there is remarkably little basis in reality for this view.” (05/07/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/07/do-we-need-more-people/
Source: Associated Press
“In April, Bernie Sanders repeatedly stood shoulder to shoulder with President Joe Biden, promoting their joint accomplishments on health care and climate at formal White House events while eviscerating Donald Trump in a widely viewed campaign TikTok video. Then just last week, Sanders was bluntly warning that the crisis in Gaza could be ‘Biden’s Vietnam’ and invoking President Lyndon B. Johnson’s decision not to run for reelection as the nation was in an uproar over his support of that war. … in this election year, Sanders will be Biden’s most powerful emissary to progressives and younger voters — a task that will test the senator’s pull with the sectors of the Democratic Party most disillusioned with the president and his policies, especially on Gaza.” (05/07/24)
https://apnews.com/article/sanders-biden-gaza-election-trump-ea2720446481f1e77cd7b79b28ca4abe
Source: Students For Liberty
by Paramie Jayakody
“Fiction for many years has been cemented as an effective and worthy medium of communicating messages, philosophies, ideas and ideals, with multiple studies and research papers on the subject. Mar and Oatley note that immersing oneself in fictional stories is a form of learning through experience, serving to increase empathy and social inference. This is backed up by evolutionary science, which hypothesizes that fiction transferred knowledge as early as humankind’s foraging days. As per Ray, fiction ‘can be a powerful vehicle for delivering nuanced messages in a more approachable and digestible manner,’ with literary techniques enabling writers to impart their wisdom by subtle means. Why then, are the liberty book lists overrun with non-fiction to an alarming degree, particularly when it comes to modern day works?” (05/07/24)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/ayn-rand-and-beyond-the-future-of-liberty-in-fiction/
Source: ABC News
“The Czech Republic’s highest court on Tuesday ruled to dismiss part of a law requiring people to undergo gender-affirmation surgery, including sterilization, in order to officially change their gender. The Constitutional Court said the requirements are ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘in conflict with the fundamental right of trans people to have protected their physical integrity and personal autonomy in connection with their human dignity.’ Only two of the court’s 15 judges opposed the verdict, which cannot be appealed. Lawmakers must change the affected sections of the law by the middle of next year.” (05/07/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/czech-republics-top-court-rules-surgery-required-officially-109984751
Source: Crooked Media
“Trump Holds VP Auditions.” (05/07/24)
https://stitcher.simplecastaudio.com/9aa1e238-cbed-4305-9808-c9228fc6dd4f/episodes/d3c7dc0f-988a-4bd8-9959-f0c55030892a/audio/128/default.mp3
Source: Cobden Centre
by Thorsten Polleit
“In a nutshell, Hayek, in his ‘Denationalization Of Money’ calls for putting an end to the state’s (or government’s) monopoly of money production, replacing it by a free market in money. At first glance, this seems to be a rather radical proposal. At a second glance, however, we would realize that there is actually strong economic and ethical support for Hayek’s idea. And Hayek is actually not alone. Quite a few economists have challenged and even opposed the status quo, namely that money production is monopolized by the state(s).” (05/07/24)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2024/05/hayeks-denationalization-of-money-some-critical-remarks/
Source: Fox News
by Liz Peek
“Between now and July 15, when the GOP convention kicks off in Milwaukee, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will pick a running mate. Oftentimes the vice presidential choice is not especially consequential; this time it is. Trump can only serve one term. If you believe, like two-thirds of your fellow Americans, that the country is on the wrong track, you must agree that four years of Donald Trump will not suffice. To fix our open border, restore law and order, unleash our domestic energy industries, bring federal spending under control and so much more, will take 8 to 12 years. That is what our nation needs and, with the help of his vice president, that is what Trump must deliver.” [editor’s note: C’mon DJT, take a step forward; choose Vivek and be done with it – SAT] [additional editor’s note: Vivek would serve the same purpose as Kamala – TLK] (05/07/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-critical-vp-pick-5-criteria-president-consider
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Special services in Poland have discovered and removed bugging devices in a room where cabinet ministers were due to meet. The weekly cabinet meeting normally takes place in the prime minister’s office in Warsaw. But Tuesday’s session was relocated to the southern city of Katowice because several ministers, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, were due to attend a major economic conference there. Poland has seen increased spying activity since it became an international hub for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion. In a separate case this week a judge has sought asylum in neighbouring Belarus, and Mr Tusk said on Tuesday he had access to confidential documents. ‘The State Protection Service, in co-operation with the Internal Security Agency, detected and dismantled devices that could be used for eavesdropping,’ wrote security services spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski on X.” (05/07/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4n15l9076xo
