Gardner Goldsmith

Your Sunday News Assembly, for 4-19-26!


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Welcome, fellow Conspirators!

Although “peace talks” (properly read: “US shakedown of Iran” talks) are scheduled to resume this mid-week (and the “ceasefire” expires Wednesday - even though it never really started, thanks to Israel), Iran reportedly fired at two ships attempting to move through the Strait of Hormuz contrary to the rules laid out by Iran this week. This comes on the second day of Israel also breaching the “agreement” the US laid out with Iran that Israeli occupation forces would stop firing on Lebanon. The IDF continued to bomb southern Lebanon, intentionally blowing up houses, and raising the proverbial middle finger to any sort of peace process. What a surprise.

Let’s start this week’s Assembly. As always, please feel free to read all, or just portions, of the Assembly, to leave and return, and to SHARE the internal links and the whole release! Be sure to head to Rumble or Gardner’s X at 6 PM eastern each M-F for the news, from Liberty Conspiracy LIVE! We hope to provide as much big info for freedom fighters as we can!! ALSO, check out the new Former Star Trek Writing Fellow Channels - On YT, and on Rumble!

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And now, as Mario and Luigi might say, “Let’s-a-GO!!

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WARIRAN

Yep. Here are initial reports as the Strait Story unfolds, and unfolds, and unfolds. CNN reports on what they have for data, at the moment. Headline: “Iranian gunboats fire on tanker; second ship hit by projectile | CNN” LINK Here is Politico on it: “Trump rejects ‘blackmail’ by Tehran as Iranian military shuts Hormuz again – POLITICO” LINK
ANTIWAR has valuable information: “Tehran Recloses Strait of Hormuz, US Prepared to Seize Iranian Tankers - News From Antiwar.com” LINK
Iranian government figures were justified, as far as state-v-state debates go, to do this, because Israel kept attacking Lebanon, and because Trump repeatedly lied. Headline: “Trump lied seven times in one hour – Iran’s top negotiator — RT World News” LINK
Here is Daniel Davis, with key thoughts as he gathered the info Saturday afternoon:

** AND THIS IS BREAKING - MORE THREATS BY TRUMP


Daniel Davis also offers a key “before and after” to juxtapose Trump’s new world of mass-death in Iran, war crimes, energy shortage, price increases worldwide, increased US war-spending, etc., to what the world was like just two months ago.

Fuel? Trump would rather duel.

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STATE-WORSHIP, FROM HANNITY, OVER HIS CATHOLICISM

Yeah. What a shock. It was obvious, but he just expressed it aloud. Worship of lies, warfare, and statism, over the Golden Rule and Christianity.

OH, and by the way, someone rode Trump’s fake claims re the Strait, again, using insider info to gain in the oil market.

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LEBANON

One of the examples of not just Israeli breach of the ceasefire, but of egregious and intentionally in-your-face IDF aggression in southern Lebanon.

** If you would like to read a very good, very detailed, historical overview of the Israeli attacks against Lebanon, going back to the late 19th Century, this is a great option. Kudos to the team at The Public Source… Headline: ‘Crossing the “Security Belt:” A History of the Occupied Lebanese Border Strip | The Public Source’ LINK

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OVERALL US MILITARISM - BAKED IN

Yes. It is difficult to disambiguate all the multitudinous ways that the US uses the tax cash it steals, and this is especially true when it comes to the “you are unpatriotic if you question it” US base system, abroad, and in the States.

UKRAINE

Ukraine fired 207 drones at Russian targets (many, civilian) over the last 48 hours. This will lead to Russian retaliation, and if any European assistance was part of this (one of the drones was a Flamingo “FP-5”, designed in England and built in Abu Dhabi by UK companies), including European manufacturing plants all the way from England to the Baltic, the Russians might retaliate against those plants. The St. Petersburg Economic Forum is coming up in June. If Ukraine tries to strike the city while that is happening, Russia likely will retaliate against European arms manufacturing sites.

PRIVACY AND FREE TRADE

Here’s an example of the feds getting in the way of people making their own decisions, as usual. Many people focus on the KIND of product the feds are debating, weighing the relative merits or demerits of the product, as they see them. Their own views as to the pluses or minuses of such products are not relevant to the key aspect of the issue: the freedom of the individual to choose for himself what to ingest. Headline: “Trump signs order to speed review of psychedelics, including ibogaine - ABC News” LINK

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ECONOMICS

Trump’s tariffs partially were shot down (appx $175 BILL worth) by the Supreme Court two months ago. Sooo, after big delays, the Trumpites finally have allowed for the “rebate application portal” to open this week. It’s farcical. LINK Why? Let’s take a close look…

These tariffs were struck down as unlawful by the Supreme Court in February 2026 (in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump). And, of course, the portal is not an automatic payout system—importers must proactively opt in, submit detailed claims via the “Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) portal”, and meet strict documentation requirements. It sure is curious how the government can so easily claim that you pay it, but you are forced to navigate a maze, even after the SCOTUS said part of the tariff Tumpery is bogus (they SHOULD have noted it all was unconstitutional - and we know that the very act of govt forcing someone to pay something is immoral).

Small-business advocates, attorneys general, legal analysts, and importers have three main lines of “process” criticism, which all encompass the fact that rebates are difficult (or impossible) for smaller businesses to obtain.

One! Small importers lack the compliance teams, lawyers, consultants, and technical infrastructure that large firms have. The process requires:

  • Setting up or accessing an ACE portal account (setup can take 3–4 weeks; many small businesses don’t have one).

  • Enrolling in electronic ACH (automated clearinghouse, the main U.S. electronic funds transfer system operated by NACHA [National Automated Clearing House Association]) refunds.

  • Submitting precise claims that could be rejected for formatting errors or missing Chapter 99 tariff codes. (LINK)

  • Navigating a phased rollout that initially excludes about one-third of claims (roughly $55 billion worth).

The system is described as “deceptively easy” on the front end but with heavy back-end scrutiny. Critics say this creates a bureaucratic nightmare that favors big companies and forces smaller ones to either hire expensive help, sue in the Court of International Trade, or sell their refund rights to Wall Street investors at steep discounts (sometimes pennies on the dollar).

Key sources criticizing the small-business burden:

  • NPR (Feb 2026, still relevant post-rollout): Small-business owners describe needing lawyers and time-consuming paperwork they don’t have the bandwidth for. One owner called it frustrating that there isn’t a simple process. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/24/nx-s1-5723862/trump-tariffs-refunds-small-business

  • Notus (lawmakers’ concerns): Senators and small-business advocates warn the convoluted system leaves smaller firms behind because they lack legal/financial experts. https://www.notus.org/economy/lawmakers-worried-small-businesses-trump-tariff-refund-system

  • Cato Institute: The non-automatic, paperwork-heavy ACE/CAPE process “punish[es] small companies” that lack sophistication; many will be unable to get timely refunds. https://www.cato.org/blog/apparently-government-cant-refund-trumps-illegal-tariffs-easily-it-collected-them

  • New York Attorney General Letitia James and 17-state coalition (March 2026): The portal disadvantages small businesses and individuals without resources to navigate a “complicated application process or sue.” They urged Congress to legislate automatic refunds. https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-calls-congress-pass-legislation-requiring-tariff-refunds

2. Consumers cannot file for rebates, even though the costs were mostly passed on to them. Tariffs are paid by importers (the “importer of record”), not end consumers. Refunds therefore go only to businesses—not households or individuals who faced higher prices on imported goods (groceries, clothes, toys, etc.). A CNBC CFO Council survey found that while many companies plan to seek refunds, none intend to pass the money back to customers.

Key sources:

  • CNBC: “Tariff refunds unlikely to benefit consumers” — companies keep the money. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/13/tariff-refunds-unlikely-to-benefit-consumers.html

  • Time magazine: Consumers “are not eligible to apply directly for refunds.” https://time.com/article/2026/04/17/tariff-refund-cbp-import-duties-trump/

  • AG James coalition letter (cited above): Explicitly calls for legislation to make businesses reimburse customers who bore the “financial burden.”

3. The legal and bureaucratic morass of trying to get a rebate. The process is far from straightforward:

  • Not automatic; claims can be rejected, delayed, or require additional protests/litigation (especially for already-liquidated entries).

  • Portal limitations: Initially handles only ~63% of claims; unliquidated or certain anti-dumping entries are excluded.

  • Many importers are filing parallel lawsuits in the Court of International Trade (over 1,000 new cases since March) because they don’t trust the portal alone.

  • Potential government appeals, system glitches from high volume, and further delays (processing could take 60–90+ days, with interest accruing to taxpayers).

  • Dual-track strategy recommended by lawyers: file both administrative claims and sue.

Additional sources on the legal complications:

  • Reuters: Companies are scrambling and worried about glitches, last-minute Trump administration moves, and system crashes. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/companies-scramble-tariff-refunds-us-prepares-launch-claim-process-2026-04-17/

  • New York Post: Portal initially unable to process a third of requests. https://nypost.com/2026/04/02/business/tariff-refund-portal-will-initially-be-unable-to-process-a-third-of-requests/

Sooo, while the portal provides a mechanism for businesses to recover funds, it is overly complex, excludes consumers entirely, burdens small businesses disproportionately, and risks turning into a years-long legal slog. Some small-business coalitions are still pushing Congress for automatic refunds to fix these problems.
Meanwhile:

richmondfed.org/publications/r… ","username":"scottlincicome","name":"Scott Lincicome","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1186591326147616768/Q-yJBoFh_normal.jpg","date":"2026-04-18T14:47:39.000Z","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/HGMgsKJXgAAXx8B.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/SeRAnQAdLP"}],"quoted_tweet":{},"reply_count":26,"retweet_count":277,"like_count":538,"impression_count":26698,"expanded_url":null,"video_url":null,"belowTheFold":true}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM">

And here is a reminder of how Trump’s foolish and evil tariffs already have damaged farms and the food chain. Headline: “Trump’s agricultural tariffs hit all 50 states—driving up food prices, crushing exports, and leaving farmers with nowhere to turn” LINK
On the topic of foolish… Here is a toweringly foolish and disingenuous statement by Treas Sec Bessent, accusing you of not knowing what is best for you.

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COVIDIOTS CONTINUE TO CROW

Indeed. Boris Johnson can’t help but pat himself on the back for the clearly corrupt, mass-casualty-creating rollout of the British mRNA jab protocol. This immoral and deadly fascist plot is something he claims is an example of Britain doing things “right”. Seriously. He wrote this, or an acolyte wrote it for him. Headline: “BORIS JOHNSON: The Great Covid Vaccine Roll-Out proves Britain isn't broken. We just need to throw off the dead hand of Starmerism | Daily Mail Online” LINK

US IMMIGRATION POLICE STATE

Markwayne Mullen is saying that the US immigration gestapo is designed to welcome only the people who enter the us and go through the process “the right way.” On a moral basis, he has no right to tell anyone they cannot move and try to live someplace in a peaceful manner. He and his gang are the aggressors in that case. Second, on a constitutional level, immigration is left to the states. Third, many of the people the US ICE gang is trying to deport actually ENTERED the US under what the PREVIOUS central-planning gang of the Biden Admin said were “legal” means. Headline: “New DHS chief doubles down on mass deportations, says 'we only want the right kind of immigrants'“ LINK
And here is another nightmare story, from the police state. Headline “Raleigh father thought he'd die in a Georgia ICE facility. What happened next?” LINK
On the 16th Hennepin County MN, Attorney, Mary Moriarty held a press conference in Minneapolis to announce felony second-degree assault charges against ICE agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. The charges stemmed from a February 5, 2026, incident on Minnesota State Highway 62, where the agent (driving an unmarked rented SUV) allegedly pointed a gun at the occupants of another vehicle. LINK

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ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRAL PLANNING

Yep. The leftists insist that the feds have to keep doing “environmental policing” via the EPA, despite the fact that the EPA exists under a highly-stretched interpretation of the Interstate Commerce clause (Art 1, Sec 8) of the US Constitution. Now, the environmentally concerned see what central planning gets them, a central planner tied to the very interests they fear.

ONE MORE, FOR “FUN”, ABOUT GAVIN NEWSOM

It’s been a long time since we linked to anything from Gateway Pundit, but this is fun… Headline “BUSTED: Gavin Newsom's New Book is a Best Seller Because His Own Political Action Committee Spent $1.5 Million Buying Thousands of Copies | The Gateway Pundit | by Mike LaChance” LINK

VIDEO LINKS!

This is an important conversation, btwn our friend Mark Edge, and Stephan Kinsella, re the Mises Institute and some changes there that have affected the Mises relationship with Hans Herman Hoppe.

And this, from Consortium News, is a very valuable chat with Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern concerning Iran, Lebanon, and Ukraine!

That’s it for now, all! Thank you for caring about freedom and being energized to push the principles! And come back Monday for our new DAILY NEWS NOTES! It’s for paid subscribers, and will give you a midday look at some of the breaking news you might want to follow, to compare notes with others, and utilize to keep an eye on the statists in politics and the statists in the “commentary/reporting” realm! Remember, you can watch Liberty Conspiracy Live, each weeknight, at 6 eastern! Help others learn about all the facets of freedom, from markets, to privacy, to speech, to parental control and education, and much MORE! You can watch, listen, and join the chat for freedom as we broadcast on my X and Rumble. Hit me up at X as @gardgoldsmith there and on GAB as “GardnerGoldsmith”! And, of course, I want to mention that if you’d like to get some of my fiction, grab my current novellas at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!! As a rocking opener, I recommend “Fishing” as a dark, well-composed crime tale with some very unusual turns (this contains some scenes of dark violence, so please, be warned)…

…Or feel free to get “Bite” for a different take on vampirism, and “Wall” for a cryptoarcheological adventure set in 1960s China. And I have three novels and two more novellas in their final editing phases, soon to be on the way!

You also can donate to help the Liberty Conspiracy, itself! Just visit PayPal to help out! You also can mail GG at:

Gardner Goldsmith
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Gardner GoldsmithBy Gardner Goldsmith