Source: Washington Monthly
by Linda Charnes
“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)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/05/08/lets-not-kill-all-the-lawyers/
Source: Reuters
“The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting the labor market continued to chug along, though risks are mounting from tariffs.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 228,000 for the week ended May 3, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 230,000 claims for the latest week.” (05/08/25)
Source: New York Times
“How Three Democrats Who Saved the Party Before Would Do It Again.” (05/08/25)
Source; Law & Liberty
by Michael Burger
“There is a battle over the university. Consider ‘DEI’ programs, long embedded in university life, or the fight over whether faculty should be permitted to ‘teach divisive concepts,’ or universities’ responses to the war in Gaza. But these are skirmishes. The real battle is over who runs the university anyway. One side claims that universities are independent, and so are free to determine for themselves whether to stay on the DEI trail, and so on. The other claims that universities are responsible to the societies that support them, especially financially. Accordingly, society’s elected representatives can and should actively determine what universities do or teach (e.g., by prohibiting campus DEI programs or mandating certain curriculum). To understand these arguments better, it’s best to step back, far back, to the Middle Ages.” (05/08/25)
Source: The Bulwark
by Jonathan Blanks
“When the administration claims a power without the force of law, the law remains available to those who would resist. Case in point: Trump issued an executive order to force states to take specific steps to prove citizenship to vote in federal elections even though the Constitution gives the power of setting terms for federal elections to Congress and leaves the regulation of those elections to states. The order has already been partially blocked in court for exceeding executive authority. To take another example, Judge Beryl Howell struck down Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie, which, unlike so many of their competitors, chose to fight the administration in court. What’s more, because these fights are maximally public, significant downstream effects will result from today’s acts of resistance or capitulation.” (05/08/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/popular-resistance-to-trump-is-working
Source: United Press International
“North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea between Korea and Japan on Thursday morning, Seoul’s military said, in what officials characterized as a potential weapons test ahead of export to Russia. In a text message to reporters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch of multiple short-range ballistic missiles of various types from the Wonsan area, on the peninsula’s east coast, between 8:10 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. KST. The missiles flew roughly 500 miles before landing in the East Sea.” (05/08/25)
Source: Politico
“Trump lands a trade deal.” (05/08/25)
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL1755594065.mp3?updated=1746685018
Source: The Dispatch
by Ilya Shapiro
“There’s no ‘right’ way to do DEI.” (05/08/25)
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“The United States is facing greater reputational damage than China in the ongoing trade war, as many global business leaders point to the current US administration’s policies as a principal cause driving the conflict, according to a recent survey. A poll conducted by the Sandpiper Group in April, covering 3,050 business leaders across 27 markets, found that nearly three-quarters of respondents blame the White House’s approach to trade for the escalating dispute. … The US has imposed 145 per cent tariffs on [American buyers of] most Chinese imports, pushing the effective rate to roughly 156 per cent. In response, Beijing has raised its own levies on [Chinese buyers of] US goods to as high as 125 per cent.” (05/08/25)
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Erupts as GOPers Quietly Ice His US Attorney Pick, Enraging MAGA.” (05/08/25)