Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
“[S]torming embassies constitutes a violation of international law. Diplomatic conventions, including the much-cited Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), clarify that the premises of diplomatic missions are inviolable. Ecuadorean president Daniel Noboa knew this when he ordered the extraordinary measure — and fully expected the condemnations from many countries around the western hemisphere and other parts. However, his decision has highlighted the fact that Latin American left-wing populists have made a mockery of international law by granting protection, for ideological reasons, to people for whom the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other conventions protecting the sanctity of diplomatic missions were not meant, blatantly interfering in the affairs of other states to destabilize them. Such hostile conduct directly opposes the letter and the spirit of international law governing relations among states.” (04/17/24)
https://blog.independent.org/2024/04/16/ecuadors-undiplomatic-basta/
Source: System Update
“SCOTUS Skeptical of Main Jan. 6 Prosecution Theory. Neocons Try to Destroy Tucker over Israel. PLUS: Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich.” (04/16/24)
https://rumble.com/v4puyq9-system-update-show-258.html
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Thorin Klosowki
“Data about potential voters — who they are, where they are, and how to reach them — is an extremely valuable commodity during an election year. And while the right to a secret ballot is a cornerstone of the democratic process, your personal information is gathered, used, and sold along the way. It’s not possible to fully shield yourself from all this data processing, but you can take steps to at least minimize and understand it. Political campaigns use the same invasive tricks that behavioral ads do — pulling in data from a variety of sources online to create a profile — so they can target you. Your digital trail is a critical tool for campaigns, but the process starts in the real world, where longstanding techniques to collect data about you can be useful indicators of how you’ll vote. This starts with voter records.” (04/17/24)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/04/how-political-campaigns-use-your-data-target-you
Source: In These Times
by Adam Federman
“Amin Chaoui had been in Atlanta less than 24 hours when things took an unexpected turn. Chaoui, then 31, drove down from Richmond, Va., to attend a March 2023 music festival organized by activists trying to stop the construction of the police training facility known as Cop City. The sprawling compound in one of Atlanta’s largest urban parks would require clearing at least 85 acres of partly forested land that abuts a predominantly Black neighborhood in DeKalb County. It faced growing opposition from racial and environmental justice advocates, including an occupation of the forest that began in November 2021. Chaoui was loosely familiar with Cop City — he’d seen flyers around Richmond — but hadn’t been involved in the campaign. He’d also never been to Atlanta, and was especially drawn to the music.” (04/17/24)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/war-protest-standing-rock-cop-city-repression-criminalize-dissent-political-rights-first-amendment
Source: NBC 4 Los Angeles
“Authorities responded to a Newport Beach home early Tuesday following a report of a shooting during a possible home invasion. The break-in was reported at about 4:45 a.m. at a residence on Newport Coast Drive between Ocean Ridge and Ridge Park. The caller reported that a resident shot one of the intruders, police said. The injured intruder and another person left the house. Officers searching nearby the home later found an armed man with gunshot wounds. He was hospitalized, but details about his condition were not immediately available. ‘The crime appears to be a targeted incident involving a prior connection between the suspects and victims,’ police said in a statement.” (04/17/24)
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/1-intruder-shot-second-sought-in-newport-beach-home-invasion/3389339/
Source: Heartland Institute
“On Great Fields (Guest: Ronald C. White).” (04/16/24)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/ill-literacy-episode-139-on-great-fields-guest-ronald-c-white/
Source: Beat The Press
by Dean Baker
“It is much more acceptable in policy circles to talk about ways to make tax and transfer policy more progressive than ways to structure the market to prevent the distribution of income from being so unequal in the first place. I always harp on this failure, since it seems much easier to keep rich people from getting so rich in the first place than to try to tax away their money once they have it. Unfortunately, there is little place in policy circles for this sort of discussion. … we created at least five Moderna billionaires by allowing the company to have control of a vaccine that the government paid to develop. The proponents of these government-granted monopolies always argue that they provide incentives to innovate and do creative work. That is true, but also not the issue.” (04/17/24)
https://cepr.net/the-market-is-rigged-to-give-all-the-money-to-the-rich-the-case-of-covid-boosters/
Source: CNN
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a key piece of legislation overhauling the country’s [military enslavement] rules. The legislation places a new requirement on all men between 18 and 60 to register with Ukraine’s military and to carry their registration documents on them at all times. The aim is to make [enslavement] processes more efficient and more transparent, the government says. Men of service age who are living abroad will not be able to renew their passports at Ukrainian consulates without producing up-to-date registration paperwork. The new law does not cover any potential increase in the number of people who might be [enslaved].” (04/16/24)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/europe/zelensky-signs-mobilization-law-intl-latam/index.html
Source: Reason
by Ethan Blevins
“While pundits and lawyers cross swords over free speech on social media, a quieter yet critically important principle is being ignored: property rights. In addition to violating the First Amendment, the rush to force social media platforms to host content violates the Fifth Amendment as well — in particular, the Takings Clause. … Likewise, the Takings Clause shields social media platforms from regulations requiring they host content or users they want to exclude. These platforms have as much right to eject unwelcome digital interlopers as homeowners do to stop the government from using their yard as a public right of way — unless they are given just compensation. If states intend to force social media apps to host users and content against their wishes, they will have to pay for it.” (04/16/24)
https://reason.com/2024/04/16/social-media-platforms-have-property-rights-too/
Source: Serious Trouble
“Blasts From the Past.” (04/16/24)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/blasts-from-the-past