Source: ABC News
“The prime minister of Thailand, the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis two years ago, said Wednesday that he wants to outlaw the drug again amid concerns that the lack of regulation had made it available to children and increased crimes. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wrote on the social media platform X that he asked the Health Ministry to amend its list of narcotics to again include cannabis, and issue new rules to allow its use for medical purposes only. Srettha also ordered local authorities to suppress criminal activities linked to the illegal drug trade and demanded to see progress within 90 days.” (05/08/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thailands-prime-minister-outlaw-cannabis-2-years-after-110021706
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Biden’s Mushy Middle Israel Policy. The Politics of Liberty, Trump at the LP (with Eric Brakey).” (05/08/24)
https://shows.acast.com/63f52ee5886da70011a1a1ec/episodes/bidens-mushy-middle-israel-policy-the-politics-of-liberty-tr
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Tom Collina
“Six years after former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the disastrous consequences of this decision are still adding up. In addition to Iran being closer than ever to a nuclear weapons capability, now we must consider how the declining security situation in the Middle East has raised the stakes significantly. Trump promised a ‘better deal’ but instead we got an increasingly costly blunder that may be impossible to fix.” (05/08/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-nuclear-deal/
Source: SFGate
“The Biden administration paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that the country was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the United States, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday. The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. The focus of U.S. concern was the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting like Rafah where more than 1 million civilians are sheltering after evacuating other parts of Gaza amid Israel’s war on Hamas …. Austin confirmed the weapons delay, telling the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense that the U.S. paused ‘one shipment of high payload munitions.'” (05/08/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/pentagon-chief-confirms-us-has-paused-bomb-19446406.php
Source: CounterPunch
by Stewart Lawrence
“It may not be a fool’s errand – but it’s close. Biden and the Democrats have announced their intention to vie for Florida’s 30 electoral votes in November. This, notwithstanding the political headwinds they face in a one-time battleground state that has turned decidedly Red of late. … most sober political analysts have concluded that Florida is too far gone at this point to be pulled back ‘Blue.’ So what are Democrats thinking? Abortion, mainly. The state’s 6-week abortion ban just went into effect … leading anti-Trump forces to conclude that the state night be ripe for reconquest. … the real problem with trying to use abortion as a ‘wedge’ issue in Florida is that it may not work as intended. Florida has a long history of seeing ballot measures pass on issues like medical marijuana legalization without those votes carrying over to statewide candidates.” (05/08/24)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/08/flipping-florida-abortion-alone-wont-be-enough/
Source: American Prospect
by Rick Perlstein
“No matter how much I try to ward it off, a certain curse of my career repeats: Every time protest signs bloom, scribes seek my input for ‘historical parallels’ pieces. Isn’t this just like in Nixonland when …? My initial response is always the same: Maybe … but there will be time to reflect on that later, and wouldn’t it be better to spend energy figuring out what’s going on now? I’ve never felt more that way than during these past several weeks. Angry kids setting up tents on university quads, taking over administration buildings, cops dragging them away: The more energy we spend on baby boomer games of compare and contrast, the less we can understand how, this time, the response to students protesting Israel’s war on Gaza has taken shape as a pure product of the interlocking derangements of the Trumpocene.” (05/08/24)
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-05-08-new-anti-antisemitism-college-protests-gaza/
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Adam Kokesh (FREEDOM!) comes on the show to provide and update on what he has been doing as of late; also has a story to tell about the FBI.” (05/08/24)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/362115-2024-05-07-2024-05-08-ernest-hancock-touches-base-with-adam-kokesh.htm
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne
“‘Greedflation.’ ‘Shrinkflation.’ ‘Junk fees.’ ‘Price gouging.’ ‘Monopoly power.’ Barely a week goes by without President Biden or some other politician slamming companies for the prices they charge. It’s not surprising. We’ve just experienced the first major burst of inflation since the early 1980s. American families are angry that grocery prices rose 21 percent in three years after January 2021, as interest rates for new mortgages and auto loans have surged. Politicians and central bankers have every incentive to blame external forces or greedy businesses, rather than their own macroeconomic stimulus, for these consequences of inflation. Depressingly, the buck‐passing is working.” (05/08/24)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/costly-ignorance
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Police have arrested 33 people at George Washington University (GW) after officers moved to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment from the campus. A spokesperson for Washington DC Metro Police told the BBC that ‘a number of arrests’ were made for assaults on a police officer and unlawful entry. University students had been inside the encampment since 25 April. Since mid-April pro-Palestinian demonstrations have broken out at nearly 140 US colleges. According to the university’s independent student-run newspaper, GW Hatchet: ‘Officers gave their third and final warning to demonstrators to move at about 03:30 local time, saying all who remained in U-Yard and the stretch of H Street in front of the plaza would be arrested.’ Previously, despite GW’s efforts to offer an alternative protest site, the encampment remained. University officials say they are unsure how many of the demonstrators were students.” (05/08/24)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68976244
Source: mint [India]
“Scientists have developed a vaccine with a new approach called ‘proactive vaccinology,’ which has shown protection in mice against a broad range of coronaviruses with potential for future disease outbreaks, according to a new study published in the journal, ‘Nature Nanotechnology’ on Monday. Under the proactive vaccinology vaccine development process, scientists develop vaccines preemptively, often before the disease-causing pathogen even emerges. The vaccine, ‘Quartet Nanocage,’ developed by Oxford and Caltech, is expected to commence phase one clinical trials in early 2025. However, its intricate design poses manufacturing challenges that may constrain large-scale production. The new vaccine functions by instructing the body’s immune system to identify particular regions of eight distinct coronaviruses, encompassing SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and several strains presently prevalent in bats, which hold the potential to cross over to humans and trigger a pandemic.” (05/08/24)
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/our-vaccine-may-protect-against-future-coronaviruses-says-oxford-study-11715147790346.html
