Author: nick

Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week, we look at a few stories that highlight the challenges and risks that come with attempting to reform local land use regulations at the state level. Perhaps the major development in housing policy over the past five years has been state legislators’ increasing willingness to intervene in heretofore mostly local zoning decisions, generally with the goal of making those zoning regulations less discretionary and less burdensome. Rent Free Newsletter by Christian Britschgi. Get more of Christian’s urban regulation, development, and zoning coverage. It once seemed radical when a…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was asked by some allied nations to halt attacks on Russian oil infrastructure amid the US and Israeli war against Iran. The Middle East conflict has resulted in damage to energy infrastructure in a number of countries, and Tehran has closed the Strait of Hormuz.  Speaking with reporters via WhatsApp, Zelensky said on Monday. “We have received messages from some of our partners asking about how our responses against Russia’s oil sector – the energy sector – can be reduced.” Zelensky said he would not curtail attacks on Russian oil sites unless Moscow agreed…

Paramount Skydance’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is being protested by much of Hollywood. As of Tuesday afternoon, over 2,000 film and television professionals—including Mark Ruffalo, J.J. Abrams, Denis Villeneuve, and Ben Stiller—had signed an open letter opposing Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. The letter warns that the deal would reduce competition in the industry and accelerate consolidation, which the signatories say is responsible for “the disappearance of the mid-budget film, the erosion of independent distribution, [and] the collapse of the international sales market.” In December, Warner Bros. initially accepted Netflix’s $83 billion bid for Warner Bros. studio, HBO,…

If the US accepts Iran’s 10 demands, Trump reportedly has, including a toll booth, Iran will have won. Trump’s Statement Truth Social: The United States will work closely with Iran, which we have determined has gone through what will be a very productive Regime Change! There will be no enrichment of Uranium, and the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 Bombers) Nuclear “Dust.” It is now, and has been, under very exacting Satellite Surveillance (Space Force!). Nothing has been touched from the date of attack. We are, and will be, talking…

An excerpt from D.C. Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard, joined by Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and J. Michelle Childs in today’s Khalid v. TSA:Saad bin Khalid, a United States citizen, is on the No Fly List. As a result, he is barred from boarding any planes that fly in U.S. airspace. Believing that placement to be in error, Khalid sought redress through an administrative appeal process run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA Administrator, after reviewing Khalid’s submissions and the nonpublic recommendations of the government’s Threat Screening Center, determined by order that Khalid should remain on the list. Khalid…

The White House will allow the waiver on Iranian oil sanctions to expire on Sunday. The US granted sanctions waivers for Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil after starting a war against Iran in an effort to keep energy prices from spiking.  Two US officials speaking with Reuters said that the White House is not planning to further extend the waivers on Iranian oil. The move was expected after President Donald Trump announced a total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.  Tehran was already restricting the flow of ships in and out of the Persian Gulf. Iran has allowed vessels from…

Early Monday morning, President Donald Trump posted an image of himself as a robed, Jesus-like healer laying hands on a prone hospital patient. A bright golden light emanates from Trump’s left hand and from the point of contact between his left hand and the patient’s forehead. Several witnesses, including a nurse, a soldier, and a woman whose hands are tented in prayer, observe the scene with a combination of hope and awe. After Christians objected to the blatant blasphemy, Trump insisted that he did not understand what all the fuss was about. “I thought it was me as a doctor,”…

Marathon talks that failed to produce a breakthrough between the United States and Iran were not the final word in negotiations, officials in the US and the region said Monday, as the contours of the two sides’ disagreement — primarily over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions — came into sharper focus. Read Full Article ⟶ Source link

National conservatism was dealt a blow this week when Hungarians ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the country’s parliamentary elections on Sunday. The country turned out in record numbers to elect Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist and the leader of the center-right Tisza party, who declared that “together, we liberated Hungary.” With record turnout, preliminary election results put Magyar’s Tisza party on course for 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament, with Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party on course for 55, and the far-right Our Homeland on course for six. While Orbán’s defeat has undoubtedly been met with dismay by his…

The war on Iran was neither inevitable nor necessary. As recently as March 3, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi said the IAEA “has found no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.” On March 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee that since the first round of bombing Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer, “[t]here has been no efforts…to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.” She testified only that Iran “could…begin to develop a militarily viable ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] before 2035, should Tehran attempt to pursue the capability.” The…