Source: The Atlantic
by Charles Sykes
“In our digitally chaotic world, relying on the reporting strategies of the past is like bringing the rules of chess to the Thunderdome. There has, of course, been some progress. The major cable networks no longer carry Trump’s rallies live without context, but they still broadcast town-hall meetings and interviews with the former president, which boost ratings. NBC’s abortive decision to hire Ronna McDaniel, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, as a contributor, despite her role in spreading lies about the 2020 election, highlighted the disconnect between this moment and much of the national media. And then there is the internet. It is certainly possible that richer, more insightful media will emerge from the digital revolution, but we’re obviously not there now.” (04/17/24)
https://archive.is/wXLSI
Source: Politico
“Former President Donald Trump is cutting deeper into President Joe Biden’s lead among young voters, according to a new poll. Biden leads Trump, 45 percent to 37 percent, among people ages 18 to 29 in a Harvard Youth Poll released Thursday, with 16 percent undecided. That 8 percentage point margin is much smaller than at this point in the 2020 election. At that time, Biden was leading Trump by 23 percentage points among young people. Biden’s margins widen when the pool is restricted to registered and likely voters. But, still, his 19-point lead over Trump among the voters under 30 who are considered likely to turn out is significantly smaller than his 30-point advantage this time four years ago.” (04/18/24)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/18/poll-trump-cuts-into-bidens-lead-among-young-people-00152970
Source: US News & World Report
“Missouri lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to significantly expand a low-interest loan program for farmers and small businesses, in a move that reflects strong consumer demand for such government aid amid persistently high borrowing costs. … Under so-called linked-deposit programs, states deposit money in banks at below-market interest rates. Banks then leverage those funds to provide short-term, low-interest loans to particular borrowers, often in agriculture or small business. The programs can save borrowers thousands of dollars by reducing their interest rates by an average of 2-3 percentage points.” (04/18/24)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/missouri/articles/2024-04-18/missouri-lawmakers-back-big-expansion-of-low-interest-loans-amid-growing-demand-for-state-aid
Source: Pioneer Institute
“Johns Hopkins’[s] Ashley Berner on Educational Pluralism & Democracy.” (04/17/24)
https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/johns-hopkins-ashley-berner-on-educational-pluralism-democracy/
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“How to sue supermarkets for shutting down: One. Move to San Francisco. Two. Support a proposed ordinance ‘amending the Police Code to require large supermarkets to provide six months notice to their customers and the City before permanently closing, and to explore ways to allow for the continued sale of groceries at the location.’ Three. If the ordinance passes, wait for a large supermarket to go out of business without having known six months in advance that it would need to do so. Four. Sue.” (04/17/24)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/04/17/supermarket-slavery/
Source: Fox News
by Sultan Meghji
“Over 112,000 Americans overdosed in 2023. Over 70,000 overdosed on fentanyl, a particularly dangerous synthetic opioid. While it’s easy to focus on numbers, we can’t forget that these aren’t statistics. They’re people. They leave behind parents, brothers, sisters and children. They’re futures lost. They’re lives squandered. We owe it to victims of this epidemic to do everything we can to curb the flow of fentanyl from overseas (where the vast majority of it originates) into American cities and towns. This poison is a direct threat to the security of America’s citizens. And, though America’s borders are a point of grave concern, they are also the best opportunity we have to seize fentanyl and damage the cartels responsible. And here, there is good news.” (04/18/24)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/lets-ai-stop-fentanyl-border-killing-americans
Source: Common Dreams
“As the United Nations Security Council prepares to vote Thursday on Palestine’s bid to become a full U.N. member, the Biden administration (which claims to support Palestinian statehood) is lobbying UNSC nations in an effort to wrangle enough ‘no’ votes so that the United States can avoid resorting to a veto. Leaked cables obtained by The Intercept show U.S. pressure on Security Council members including Malta (which currently presides over the body) and Ecuador. While claiming that President Joe Biden backs ‘Palestinian aspirations for statehood,’ one of the cables asserts that ‘it remains the U.S. view that the most expeditious path toward a political horizon for the Palestinian people is in the context of a normalization agreement between Israel and its neighbors.'” (04/17/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/palestinian-statehood
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Burkina Faso has expelled three French diplomats for ‘subversive activities,’ according to a foreign ministry note seen by FRANCE 24 on Thursday. The three were declared ‘persona non grata’ and told to leave the country within 48 hours, the foreign ministry said in a note dated Tuesday that was sent to the French embassy. Since coming to power in a September 2022 coup, the junta has distanced the West African nation from France, which ruled the country until 1960. It has notably cancelled a 1961 military accord between the two countries. The French ambassador was recalled after the coup and is yet to return to Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital.” (04/18/24)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240418-burkina-faso-expels-three-french-diplomats-accused-of-subversive-activities
Source: Crooked Media
“Black voters’ views on Biden.” (04/17/24)
https://stitcher.simplecastaudio.com/9aa1e238-cbed-4305-9808-c9228fc6dd4f/episodes/b0c9a72a-1cb7-4ac9-80a0-36996fc6470f/audio/128/default.mp3
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ian Miller
“As the Covid vaccines failed spectacularly to stop the spread of infections and did nothing to lessen all-cause mortality or even decrease population level Covid-associated deaths in highly vaccinated countries, Pfizer saw another opportunity. Sure, their signature product failed to perform as expected. So why not create another one as an antidote? Enter Paxlovid. Paxlovid, an antiviral drug, was supposed to help individuals with symptomatic Covid, who’d already been infected, recover more quickly and lessen the risk of severe illness. Sounds great right? … A newly released study on Paxlovid on randomized adults with symptomatic Covid; one subset was given Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir-ritonavir) or a placebo every 12 hours for five days, with the intent of determining how effective it was at ‘sustained alleviation’ of Covid-19 symptoms. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t effective at all.” (04/17/24)
https://brownstone.org/articles/pfizer-lied-to-us-again/
