“All in all, this is Trump’s formula for reviving stateside manufacturing: punishing tariffs on other nations, more expensive input parts for the factories and machines needed here, fewer government supports for existing facilities, an overall climate of uncertainty and distrust when it comes to safe investments and long-term contracts, and domestic industries that are neither willing nor able to do the types of work that foreign workers are trained and ready to do.”
A few tips on how to travel abroad as an American these days.
“But as dangerous to democracy as the outside-in authoritarian meddling, perhaps worse (and more disturbing) is the increasing use of disinformation from actors within once-stable democracies.”
“The Executive Orders are unconstitutional. They violate the First Amendment right of lawyers and their clients to speak, petition, and associate. They are also designed to discourage lawyers from representing unpopular clients—even clients with meritorious cases—and in so doing, they profoundly distort the judicial system. If anyone should be standing on principle and attempting to vindicate the rule of law, it is our nation’s lawyers.”
The original version of the Serenity Prayer is not the same as the one we all now know.
“Iguanas have invaded a Florida island. One man is on a quest to stop them.”
“The public should anticipate significant negative repercussions for both the land and user experiences.”
“Donald Trump has long railed against everything from low-flow showerheads to LED lightbulbs. After failed attempts to undo appliance regulations in his first term, he may have found a new end-run to achieve his goal — but for now confusion reigns.”
“This is like the one of the 15 round heavyweight fights I used to watch with my dad back in the 1970s. It’s a slog. Your goal is to win but it almost certainly won’t be by a knock out. You’re going to punch a lot and you’re going to get hit a lot. And sometimes you’ll take some punches to wear your opponent out or to shepherd your own strength. It’s not a purity thing. It’s a survival and winning thing. As long as you’re fighting that’s all fine.”
Sadly, there will be no Gathering of the Kyles this year. Hopefully next year.
RIP, Don Mischer, 15-time Emmy-winning director of live TV events.
“TV Writing Jobs Fell by 42 Percent in 2023-24 Season, WGA Says”.
“Living here in America right now feels like that time. Stuck riding shotgun in a car with a drunk driver.”
“As stupid as I thought it would be, it was even stupider.”
“My point here isn’t to say these agreements are fine. It’s that they amount to agreements to lie to each other. And everyone else.”
Even cybersecurity professionals can fall for phishing emails. Be careful out there.
“Our findings indicate that political connections, in the form of campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures, have an impact on the likelihood of firms being approved for trade-tariff exemptions.”
“There is much absurdity and much shame to go around here. None more so than the fact that Rachel Robinson—the 102-year-old widow of one Jack Roosevelt Robinson—woke up to an affront on her dead husband’s legacy by the very country he served with honor, only to rise a few weeks later and witness not just the utter silence of the league he integrated, but her husband’s old employer specifically fawning over the brute who ordered the whole thing. A week has passed since that spectacle. Tuesday is the 22nd annual leaguewide celebration MLB formed in Robinson’s honor. Players and coaches of all backgrounds, hues, nationalities, and creeds will wear across their backs, this afternoon and evening, his number, 42. If the events of the last month are any proof, his team, his sport, even some of the folks who are his most direct inheritors will each be largely undeserving of the privilege of that association.”
RIP, Wink Martindale, disc jockey, singer, and legendary game show host.
RFK Jr doesn’t know jack shit about autism.
“The “Katy Perry Goes to Space” Debacle Has Now Taken the Most Hilarious Turn Possible”.
I’m perfectly fine with some of the backlash against Bezos’ little joyride. Trying to spin it as anything but that is an insult to the women astronauts who actually did noteworthy and pioneering things. And took much bigger risks.
The “My question is, have y’all been to space? ” reply is a contender for our era’s version of “Let them eat cake.” Although I think our billionaire SecTreas’ comments about his MIL not sweating a late Social Security check has the lead.