James Comey Is Insufferable. The Trump Charges Against Him Are Absurd
Source: Washington Monthly
by James D Zirin
“The former FBI director has been indicted for a threat spelled with seashells. Why this lawfare will falter.” (05/13/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Politics Politics Politics, 05/12/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Iran War Brings BIG Inflation. Is the UK Already in Need of Another PM? (with Stella Tsantekidou).” (05/12/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/iran-war-brings-big-inflation-is
Bob Dylan’s Argument With God
Source: The New Republic
by Alex Shephard
“Ron Rosenbaum’s latest book, Bob Dylan: Things Have Changed, is not a biography. It is instead a ‘kind of biography’ — which is a distinction with a difference. It is, in keeping with Rosenbaum’s long record of fine-tuned literary analysis mixed with historical and, yes, biographical detail, a study of Dylan’s songwriting and a reckoning with his moral, philosophical, and religious imagery and fixations. ‘Dylan has remade American speech, American thought, American attitude,’ Rosenbaum writes. Bob Dylan: Things Have Changed is an examination of how he remade those things, with a particular emphasis on ‘theodicy’ and what Rosenbaum calls Dylan’s ‘argument with god.’ Steering clear of the usual cloud of hagiography that hovers above most writing about Dylan, it’s a book that instead focuses on what makes him unique. ” (05/13/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/210326/bob-dylan-argument-god
US appeals court pauses sexual predator’s $83 million defamation payment to victim
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump will not have to pay the $83.3m defamation award to writer E Jean Carroll until the US supreme court either reviews the case or rejects an appeal. The second US circuit court of appeals in New York issued the order on Monday …. But the court also required that Trump increase the bond by $7.46m, to account for interest that would accrue on Carroll’s award during any further legal proceedings before the nation’s highest court. … In January 2024, a Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3m for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of raping her inside the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. It came a year after a separate jury awarded Carroll $5m in damages after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.” (05/13/26)
Reason Interview: John Fetterman
Source: Reason
“Sen. John Fetterman discusses the state of the Democratic Party, immigration, foreign policy, and the dangers of political extremism.” (05/13/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/05/13/john-fetterman-im-a-very-pro-capitalist-democrat/
Uganda’s Gold
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Arman Sidhu
“For a small-scale gold miner in Uganda, the question of where to sell has just been answered for him. Gold has surpassed coffee as Uganda’s largest export, and as of last month, the country’s central bank is positioning itself as the dominant legal buyer for nearly all of it. Late in April, the Bank of Uganda launched a three-year gold-buying program that registers it as a gold dealer purchasing directly from licensed Ugandan miners through contracts with two refiners.” (05/13/26)
Is Housing Less Affordable Than Ever? Sort Of
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle
“Home prices and financing costs are still high, but several indicators suggest the market has moved past peak distortion.” (05/13/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/is-housing-less-affordable-than-ever-sort-of/
Estimating the Iran War’s Effect on US Gasoline Prices
Source: The Daily Economy
by Antón Chamberlin
“Americans seldom experience war directly — World War II was the last time a war reached US soil. Since then, our wars have been experienced much more indirectly. No ration books appeared during Vietnam, no mass retooling of factories happened for Desert Storm, and daily life seems largely unchanged despite a decades-long War on Terror. The Iran War seems to be the same, at least in these respects. All wars still impose costs on ordinary Americans, of course; they simply arrive in quieter ways. Enter every trip to the gas station since February 28.” (05/13/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/estimating-the-iran-wars-effect-on-us-gasoline-prices/
Nonzero, 05/12/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Is the AI Takeoff Starting? | Robert Wright & Timothy B. Lee.” (05/12/26)
Sean Duffy’s family vacation was funded by companies he regulates
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“It’s not exactly a mystery why Sean Duffy, President Donald Trump’s secretary of Transportation, seems so befuddled and embittered about the backlash that followed his May 8 reveal that American corporations funded a five-part reality television series about a “Great American Road Trip” for his family. … Television shows have sponsors. And the Duffy family road trip has some of the biggest corporations paying the bills. And some of them are regulated by the Department of Transportation. Trump’s administration has always seemed at least as interested, if not more interested, in content generation than in governing. Why do boring public servants work when you can be an influencer on television and social media? But the look-at-me crowd gets pretty huffy when they receive actual scrutiny.” (05/13/26)