“It’s no secret that one of Donald Trump’s favorite U.S. presidents is William McKinley, who led the country from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. Indeed, Trump recently changed the official name of Denali back to Mount McKinley in honor of the late president. In recent months, Trump has particularly emphasized McKinley’s protectionist policies, which Trump believes were a key part of America’s economic progress in the McKinley era. … The idea that tariffs historically helped spur American prosperity has become a common refrain for many in the Republican Party. And at first blush, it certainly seems plausible — the McKinley era witnessed a fair amount of protectionism alongside considerable economic growth. But there is a fatal flaw with this view, which has been pointed out most explicitly by Ludwig von Mises and his fellow Austrian economists.” (05/08/25)
“For decades, taxpayers have been forced to fund PBS and NPR, and with them any political tilts that we disagree with. For decades, some lawmakers have nominally agreed that taxpayers should be liberated from this unchosen obligation. But nothing has changed. Now, however, President Trump has issued an executive order to simply end ‘Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.’ … I say we have a right that our tax dollars not be used at all to fund public broadcasting. And that, also contrary to the text of the order, the government is not ‘entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize.’ It should have no authority to pay for any activities unrelated to the proper functions of government. I will, however, accept the result of the executive order, defunding of public broadcasting. If we do get this result.” (05/08/25)
“The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who President Donald Trump has publicly targeted because she pursued legal action against him. James has joined attorneys general from other states in challenging Trump’s second-term agenda. After Trump’s first term in office, she brought a civil fraud lawsuit against him that resulted in millions of dollars of penalties. Trump has called for the prosecution of James and New York State Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge who oversaw that case. Last month, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, a Trump appointee, sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department alleging James ‘falsified records’ to obtain favorable loans on a home she purchased in 2023 in Virginia and Brooklyn, the New York Post reported.” (05/08/25)
“Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut their doors on Thursday due to a lack of supplies, closing off a lifeline used by hundreds of thousands of people in a further blow to efforts to combat growing hunger in the enclave. The move followed hours after the U.S.-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity announced that it had run out of the ingredients necessary to provide much-needed free meals and had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid. Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza, told Reuters that most of the enclave’s 170 community kitchens had shut down after running out of stock due to Israel’s continued blockade on Gaza. Shawa said the decision by the WCK, announced late on Wednesday, and the closure of community kitchens on Thursday would cause a drop of between 400,000 to 500,000 free meals per day for the 2.3 million population.” (05/08/25)
“The radical libertarian city builders of the tech-bro set have an audacious new proposal: They want to convert Guantánamo Bay, host to the infamous prison, into the high-tech charter city of their wildest imaginations, which will double as a ‘proving ground’ for migrants seeking to enter the United States. The Charter Cities Institute, or CCI, which has lobbied the Trump administration on setting up so-called freedom cities in the U.S, suggests the president take advantage of Guantánamo’s special legal status to convert the controversial detention camp into ‘a beacon of 21st-century prosperity.’ … Charter cities have long been a fascination of Silicon Valley’s libertarian right. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel was an early investor in ‘seasteading,’ the dream of seaborne libertarian enclaves floating beyond sovereign jurisdiction.” [editor’s note: As soon as she invokes Thiel, it becomes obvious that Clarke doesn’t know what the word “libertarian” means – TLK] (05/08/25)
“Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion. The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett’s pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations. Gates’[s] donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years.” (05/08/25)
“China’s robotaxi revolution is moving along at an accelerated rate when compared to any other country. By the decade’s end, Goldman analysts forecast that half a million autonomous robotaxis will be operating across ten major cities. … This is wild. So what about a humanoid robot to load luggage? … Meanwhile, in the U.S., robotaxi operations have been lagging behind China, primarily due to regulatory fragmentation, a slower pace of infrastructure adaptation, and cautious public sentiment. … What’s becoming very clear is that automation is set to displace hundreds—if not millions— of transport jobs globally by 2035, as robotaxis, autonomous trucks, and drones become cheap enough to be deployable for the mass market.” (05/08/25)
“Using and misusing quotations from Shakespeare’s characters is a perennial problem. (The Bard didn’t hate attorneys.) Kudos to Judge Beryl Howell, in the Perkins Coie case, for getting it right.” (05/08/25)
