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Trump Moves to Control Strait of Hormuz
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This after no significant breakthrough with Iran in talks this weekend. Scott McClallen at Townhall: The U.S. will start the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday at 10 a.m. ET. President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday morning after negotiations failed. Iran refused to stop seeking nuclear weapons, Trump said in a Truth Social post. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will run the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation ( Townhall). From the President: I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL! Iran knows, better than anyone, how to END this situation which has already devastated their Country. Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft and Radar are useless, Khamenei, and most of their “Leaders,” are dead, all because of their Nuclear ambition. The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade. Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION ( Truth). CENTCOM adds some specificity: The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports ( CENTCOM).
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Islamabad Meetings Reveal an Intransigent Iran
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Which means: The radical Islamist republic is still a radical Islamist republic, even if weaker. Israel Hayom: virtually no progress was made on the overwhelming majority of issues on the agenda. On the question of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran reversed its earlier agreement to fully open the strait, announcing it would do so only in exchange for a long-term ceasefire and a transit-fee payment arrangement. On the nuclear file, the Iranians walked back previous understandings and flatly refused to halt uranium enrichment on their soil. They also opposed the entry of international bodies such as the IAEA for oversight purposes. A third issue Iran raised was the unfreezing of Iranian assets held in the US and other countries; the Americans responded that this would happen only gradually and only after specific provisions of any future agreement were implemented ( Israel Hayom). President Trump: I could go into great detail, and talk about much that has been gotten but, there is only one thing that matters— IRAN IS UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS! …. they were very unyielding as to the single most important issue and, as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON! ( Truth).
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Swalwell Drops Gubernatorial Bid
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After a wave of disgusting allegations. Making his announcement Sunday evening: I am suspending my campaign for Governor. To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s ( Swalwell). Wall Street Journal: Before the allegations emerged, Swalwell was one of the leading candidates in the California governor’s race. But the reports of abuse quickly derailed his run. Some lawmakers of both parties demanded he resign Congress as well. “What he did is sick and disgusting,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) on Fox News on Sunday. “I believe that he should resign” ( Wall Street Journal). Swalwell staffer’s disturbing testimony: ( CNN). And, with the San Fracisco Chronicle, quoting the physician’s assistant who treated the staffer after the alleged assault: “You are a survivor, always so proud and admire your strength. Shine on!” the provider wrote in her treatment plan ( Chronicle).
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House Republicans Move to Expel Swalwell From Congress
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The effort in the House is led by Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna—and it may lead to more. Luna: On Friday, I had my staff initiate the process and file or set the process to file motions for expulsions for multiple members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican. And I think even though Democrats and Republicans might have ideological differences, I think we should be able to all agree on the basics that maybe if you’re, I don’t know, sexually harassing or assaulting or have issues of domestic violence or you’re stealing funds from FEMA, maybe you should not be in Congress…. This is way overdue. I think that this is just the bare minimum that we can deliver for the American people is not tolerate public corruption in the House of Representatives. This is not rocket science. This is basic 101. Most people go to jail over this, so it’s time for these people to go. So yes, I’ll be voting to expel members of Congress, and I hope my colleagues join me. We need two thirds of the vote ( Luna). Axios: The scandal surrounding Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is rapidly ballooning and could jolt a surge of expulsion votes for at least three of his House colleagues as soon as the chamber returns from recess next week…. Democrats plan to counter with a vote to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), as Axios first reported. If those votes succeed — which may be a long-shot, given that expulsion requires a two-thirds majority in the House — votes to expel Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) could follow, sources said ( Axios).
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Victor Orbán Concedes Defeat in Hungary Election
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Orbán had been the longest-serving leader in the European Union, having led the nation for over 16 years. Financial Times: Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat in parliamentary elections on Sunday night after voters handed the opposition Tisza party a landslide victory. With 99 per cent of the votes counted, the Tisza (Respect and Freedom) party led by Péter Magyar was projected to win 138 out of 199 seats in parliament, a two-thirds majority that would enable it to change the constitution. Orbán’s Fidesz party was projected to win just 55 seats, down from 133 in 2022…. In a concession speech to party supporters, Orbán, who is the EU’s longest-serving premier, said “whatever happens we will serve our country and the Hungarian nation from opposition as well” ( Financial Times). On the victor: Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues like health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO — ties that frayed under Orbán. European leaders quickly congratulated Magyar. His victory was expected to transform political dynamics within the EU, where Orbán had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, prompting concerns he sought to break it up from the inside ( AP).
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NY Mayor Mamdani Moves Forward on His Socialist Experiment: Reveals Plans for First City-Own Grocery Store to Open in East Harlem
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The Muslim socialist revealed his plans on Sunday: Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first city-owned grocery store will be in East Harlem and cost taxpayers about $30 million to open, hizzoner announced Sunday. The store will be in La Marqueta — a marketplace under the train tracks running over Park Avenue — and is scheduled to be up and running for business next year. Mamdani revealed the plan at a Queens bash celebrating his first 100 days in office Sunday, and declared that all five of his planned city-owned grocery stores would be open by the time his first term ends at the close of 2029…. But the first store alone will cost about $30 million, the New York Times reported. That would eat up nearly half of the $70 million he proposed for the five-store program as recently as February. Mamdani’s plan was to put one market in each of the five boroughs. He believes the move will lower food costs for poorer New Yorkers. “We’re going to make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table,” Mamdani said at the 100-day party, where his fellow socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) made a surprise appearance. “Since the pandemic grocery prices have gone up and they haven’t come back down,” he added. ( New York Post). Why let the private sector continue to do what the public sector can do much with more waste and inefficiency?
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China Feeling Strain of War With Iran; ‘worse’ than Covid-19 pandemic
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No: China is not alone in feeling the economic strain of the war with Iran. But: The pain is particularly acute for Beijing and the CCP. Financial Times: China’s supply chains are beginning to show signs of acute strain as the US war in Iran tests the limits of President Xi Jinping’s years-long effort to prepare his nation for external shocks…. In March China recorded its first year-on-year increase in factory gate prices since 2022…. Cameron Johnson, a senior partner at Shanghai supply chain consultancy Tidalwave Solutions, warned that the supply disruptions could be “worse” than during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that prices in China had doubled for some polyethylenes, disrupting the market for materials needed to make everything from plastic bags and bottles to clothing and toys. Prices for some carbon fibres, which rely on some feedstocks from the Middle East and are widely used across the auto and consumer goods industries, had risen 20 per cent, he added. “It’s all the raw inputs — particularly anything that might be imported or where there’s already tight supply,” Johnson said. “It’s scarcity, it’s supply tightness, it’s a lack of visibility when things will be turned back on” ( Financial Times).
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After Successful Mission, Artemis II Crew Returns to Houston
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And NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Astronaut Victor Glover continued his bold expression of his Christian faith. Glover, with voice trembling: When this started on April 3rd, I wanted to thank God in public and I want to thank God again because even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the gratitude of seeing what we saw, doing what we did and being with who I was with, it’s too big to just be in one body ( Daugherty). Houston Chronicle: “I have not processed what we just did,” Glover said. [Astronaut Christina] Koch, after describing what it means to be part of a crew, emphasized the blackness of space that she saw around Earth. “Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe,” she said. “I know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there’s one new thing I know. Planet Earth, you are a crew” ( Chronicle). The Orion space capsule was successfully docked in San Diego on Saturday morning: The USS John P. Murtha — a transport ship longer than two football fields — arrived at Naval Base San Diego playing Elton John’s beloved song “Rocket Man” over its speakers, tapping into the public’s deep interest in the historic 10-day mission ( San Diego Union Tribune).
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The Message of Artemis for a Polarized Nation
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The entire mission embodied uniquely American optimism, hopefulness, wonder at the created order and pride in American excellence in being able to pull it off. Josh Hammer: Space exploration has long been one of the clearest arenas in which American leadership manifests itself. At the height of the Cold War, NASA’s Apollo program had a loftier mission than merely beating the Soviets to the moon; the goal was to demonstrate to the world the superiority of American freedom and the American way of life. Now, Artemis II carries forward that legacy in a new geopolitical context — one in which rivals like China are racing to assert dominance on land, air, sea and beyond. The Artemis II mission and the individuals who have carried it out offer a powerful counternarrative to the dour pessimism, censorious wokeism and rampant atheism of our age. This is a mission that embodies the best of America: technological prowess, individual excellence and a willingness to venture into the unknown to do big, bold and beautiful things. It is a story that has united Americans of all political, religious, racial and ethnic stripes. In short, Artemis II is a feel-good story. And frankly, we could use more of those. The United States has always been at its best when it chooses outward-looking hope over inward-looking cynicism. Artemis II is a reminder that such a choice is still readily available to us. The question is whether we will choose correctly — and, in turn, help make the 21st century a distinctly American century ( Hot Air).
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Does Trump Have Plans to Make Pluto Great Again?
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First, a reminder on the scandal of the diminished classification of what used to be our ninth planet: In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted the much-loved Pluto from its position as the ninth planet from the Sun to one of five “dwarf planets.” The IAU had likely not anticipated the widespread outrage that followed the change in the solar system’s lineup ( Britannica). Late last week: NASA admin Jared Isaacman responds to a letter from a 10-year-old asking to make Pluto a planet again “We are looking into this” ( Space). Ajit Pai (former FCC Chairman, now President and CEO of CTIA—The Wireless Association): Never forget what they took from us. We fight for you now and always, Pluto! ( Pai).
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