Saturday Report 4/6/24 - The Alabama GOP is trying to criminalize librarians just for doing their jobs

The Best of the Rest of the News

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— How Trump is tapping into an “authoritarian axis” around the world. Throughout his presidency, Trump trash-talked our allies and embraced the world’s worst dictators, including Putin, Kim, MBS, Orbán, and Xi. They returned the favor: right now, as The New York Times revealed last week, Chinese social media trolls are impersonating Americans to push for a second Trump presidency, and Russian trolls never stopped even after Robert Mueller exposed their 2016 activity. Most recently, MBS and Putin have cut back oil production, like they did just in time for the 2022 midterms, to hurt President Biden (see story below). Most concerning, though, are possible violations of the Logan Act by Trump-aligned people: that law makes it a crime for any American not acting on behalf of the official US government to meddle in foreign policy. The Guardian released a blockbuster investigative report this week suggesting that Trump’s former German ambassador, Richard Grenell (who’s also now a senior executive at Newsmax), is doing something very much like that, traveling around the world on Trump’s behalf to build an “authoritarian axis.” Can you imagine how Trump would have reacted when he was president if Obama or Clinton had dispatched one of their former ambassadors to travel the planet sabotaging Trump’s foreign policy? This cries out for a serious FBI investigation.

Letitia James is not screwing around. It appears, according to a new investigative report from ProPublica, that Trump had already secured a commitment for the entire $434 million bond before his lawyers argued before the appeals court (which lowered the amount to $175 million) that he couldn’t find anybody to put up the money. If true, this is a serious breach of ethics on the part of his lawyers, or a breach of the law if Trump knew and let his lawyers lie for him anyway. Compounding this, New York State has very specific laws and rules about who can put up a bond and what kind of security they must have, and it appears that the California used car loan company that put up his bond doesn’t meet the qualifications. The court has given Trump 10 days to clear these matters up, and, after that, if he fails to fix the bond or secure another, AG Letitia James might start repossession of some of his properties. This story will mature the week-after-next, so stay tuned!

— Republicans hate Social Security and they’re never going to give up. For reasons nobody seems able to explain, the Biden administration has nominated a far-right crank, Andrew Biggs (a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute), to the Social Security Advisory Board. When Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown confronted Biggs about his views on Social Security “reforms,” Biggs argued that “Congress should keep all options on the table,” presumably including privatization, cutting benefits, means testing the program to turn it into a welfare program, and raising the retirement age. In the past, Biggs has also argued that Social Security isn’t an “earned benefit” because some people get more from it than they paid in (those who live really, really long). He’s also argued for raising the retirement age. Call your two senators at 202-224-3121 and encourage them to vote “No!” on Biggs’ appointment to the Board.

— Could states be the ones who bring in Medicare for all? As I lay out in detail in The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich, Canada got a nationwide single-payer Medicare For All system because one province, Saskatchewan, adopted it in 1962. When other provinces saw how well it worked and how it reduced healthcare costs, within a decade or so the program was adopted by every other province in the country. The barrier to that here in the US is the way the Medicare and Medicaid laws are written, preventing those agencies from reimbursing states for their expenses if they took over fulfillment of benefits as part of a statewide Medicare-for-All program. Now Congressman Ro Khanna (a twice-monthly guest on my program) and Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren have introduced legislation that would waive all those federal requirements so any state in the union can do what Saskatchewan did back in the day. It’s called the State-Based Universal Health Care Act, HR 6270, and worth calling your member of Congress at 202-224-3121 to encourage them to join as a co-sponsor. The legislation has no chance as long as Republicans control the House, but a healthy number of co-sponsors now will improve its chances for passage next year if Democrats can take the House and hold the Senate and White House.

— Is this how Saudi Arabia weighs in for Trump? Have you noticed that gasoline prices are rising, just like they did in the months leading up to the 2022 midterm elections when rightwingers were plastering gas pumps with “I did that” stickers featuring a picture of Biden pointing at the price? As I predicted on March 5th, when Saudi Arabia’s dictator joined Putin in cutting oil production by over 2 million barrels a day, prices are rising and could be heading toward $5/gallon or more by election day. Yesterday, Brent crude oil passed through the $91/barrel price point, and analysts are expecting it to be well over $100 in time for the summer driving season. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that Trump authorized the Saudis to purchase America’s largest oil refinery, at Port Arthur, Texas back in 2017: if they take that offline, even for a few weeks for “maintenance,” gas prices could hit $7/gallon. Both Putin and Crown Prince Bonesaw hate Biden and love Trump — who had a phone call with MBS just this past week — so expect major gas price election interference this fall.

— Might the FCC bring back Net Neutrality? What is that? FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has confirmed that the agency will vote later this month on reinstating so-called Net Neutrality rules. The action, vigorous opposed by tech giants, would again make it illegal for your internet service provider to monitor everything you do online, read your email, and sell your personal information and browsing history, as well as requiring all websites to be treated equally with regard to speed and access. Republicans are freaking out, as the telcom and ISP companies are reliable donors and they’re really putting on the pressure. The vote is scheduled for April 25, so keep an eye on this one.

— Geeky Science! Can a vegan diet help diabetics? In a 12-week randomized clinical trial of a vegan diet with type-1 diabetics, researchers turned up some eye-popping results. The study participants on the vegan diet saw their need for insulin drop by 28%, their sensitivity to insulin increase by 127%, an average weight loss of 11 pounds, total cholesterol drop by 32.3 mg/dL, and LDL cholesterol decrease by 18.6 mg/dL. These outcomes translate into a 20% reduction of risk for a major cardiac event like a heart attack or stroke. Time to dump — or, at least, dramatically cut back — on the meat, cheese, milk, and eggs and get healthy!

— Hunter in a Farmer’s World alert:

ADHD: Put a Notepad By Your Bed For Ideas

— Wisdom School Alert! Is Learned Resilience is a Key to a Good Life? So, the next time you’re finding yourself down ask yourself: “What story am I using that is producing this feeling?” That could lead to a healing you might not have even believed was possible… 

Learned Resilience is a Key to a Good Life