NY Times - A federal appeals court agreed to temporarily preserve many of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on China and other trading partners, freezing a decision that had sent the administration scrambling to preserve a major weapon in its global trade war. The appeals court stayed a ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade while it sorted through the arguments in the case, including the administration’s request for a longer delay. Read more ›
May 29, 2025
Ocean crises show how quickly climate chaos can strike
New Scientist - Ocean temperatures have been rising steadily for decades, with our seas having absorbed much of the excess atmospheric heat generated by our relentless burning of fossil fuels. But in March 2023, almost overnight, they suddenly skyrocketed. Temperatures have since remained well above normal, reaching “hot tub” levels in some places, with disturbing consequences that suggest we have pushed ocean ecosystems to breaking point.
As we report on “How climate change has pushed our oceans to the brink of catastrophe”, the rapid rate of these changes and the severity of the havoc they are causing have taken scientists by surprise. But it should also serve as a stark reminder that the impacts of climate change won’t necessarily be slow, predictable declines but sudden cascades with grave consequences, many of which we don’t fully understand.
A black professor on problems with Gen Z
Genevieve S. Curlin, The Root - Ever get the impression that Gen-Z is lazy and shiftless? According to a slew of recent studies, you’re not alone. Sites from Fortune to Resume Builder have run stories on how disappointing recent college graduates have been in the workforce, and how their managers are so fed up that they actively avoid hiring them.
Companies and hiring managers agree that Gen-Z — which makes up folks born between 1995 and 2012 — is unmotivated, unprepared and unprofessional. They don’t have the stamina or the desire to do the work, and worst of all, they don’t feel like they should have to. Of course, this disproportionately impacts potential Black hires, according to a study from Oxford Economic Journal that confirms Black folks are scrutinized more in the workplace — as we always have been.
Of course, I didn’t need any studies to tell me how bad things are with Gen-Z: As a Black, tenured professor at a private university in New York and a hardworking, independent member of Gen-X, I’ve seen firsthand how so many of my students don’t have what it takes even to do an unpaid internship well, much less a job
Trump vs. Harvard
NY Times - A federal judge in Boston said on Thursday morning that she would issue an order blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students. The ruling was a win, at least temporarily, for the university in its ongoing confrontation with the White House, which has waged an all-out battle to undermine Harvard’s finances and global influence.
Graduates in Harvard Yard lined up to receive their diplomas on Thursday, even as the university’s future was under attack. The Trump administration stepped up its effort to restrict foreign students across higher education late Wednesday with an announcement by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, that officials would begin to “aggressively revoke” the visas of some Chinese students.
Many undergraduates wore white flowers to the graduation ceremonies to signal solidarity with foreign students, who make up about a quarter of the student body. And unlike last year, when administrators faced boos over their sanctions for pro-Palestinian protesters, President Alan Garber was greeted with a standing ovation after emerging as an unlikely leader of resistance against the White House.
Here’s what else to know:
Political target: The administration has accused Harvard of liberal bias, violating the Supreme Court ban on affirmative action and allowing antisemitic behavior. Harvard’s lawyers are expected to argue in court today — using the president’s own words and social media posts — that the institution is being politically targeted in violation of the First Amendment. Here’s a preview of the legal fight.
Funding fight: The Trump administration has frozen more than $3 billion in federal funding to the university, and Mr. Trump has said he would like to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status. This week the administration said it would also cancel the federal government’s remaining contracts with Harvard, worth an estimated $100 million.
Broader battle: In its larger struggle with higher education, the administration has significantly cut federal funding for research, and a Republican budget bill moving through Congress would impose higher taxes on university endowments. Here’s which schools the president has targeted, and why.
International students: One of the administration’s most significant broadsides against Harvard has been its effort to prevent it from enrolling international students. The institution says the move would be devastating, both academically and financially. A Harvard professor and faculty leader, Kirsten Weld, called it “an extinction-level event.”
Reporting from Cambridge, Mass.
Passings: Ronnie Dugger
NY Times - Ronnie Dugger, the crusading editor of a small but influential Texas journal who challenged presidents, corporations and America’s privileged classes to face their responsibility for racism, poverty and the perils of nuclear war, died on Tuesday at an assisted living facility in Austin, Texas. He was 95...
Inspired by Thomas Paine’s treatises on independence and human rights, Mr. Dugger was the founding editor, the publisher and an owner of The Texas Observer, a widely respected publication, based in Austin, that with few resources and a tiny staff took on powerful interests, exposed injustices with investigative reports and offered an urbane mix of political dissent, narrative storytelling and cultural criticism.
Sam Smith - In the spring of my sophomore year I read in Broadcasting magazine that WWDC, an independent station in Washington, DC, was developing a major news operation. Most stations at the time just ripped and read copy from the wires; the exceptions were usually network affiliates.
I immediately added WWDC to a list of 40 stations -- all the others in New England -- to which I sent summer job applications. All the New England stations rejected or ignored me, but WWDC took me on. And so I returned to my native Washington, which my family had left when I was ten...
My bosses were two Texas liberals -- news director Joe Phipps and his assistant Bob Robinson. Short and bald, Phipps appeared a bespectacled and ambulatory small mouth bass. When excited his eyeballs almost rubbed against his glasses. His voice ebbed and flowed between 1950s broadcast fog and full-blown southern oratorical eruption. Robinson, on the other hand, had an unflappable Texas drawl. A tall man with white hair, Robinson was as imperturbable as Phipps was instantly reactive.
I already knew that Texas liberals were special people; Tom Whitbread, a poet and Harvard tutor, had introduced me to the Texas Observer, newly started by Ronnie Dugger. The Observer was a remarkable voice of sense and liberty in an era turning dogmatically dumb and mean. In the first issue, Dugger quoted Thoreau: "The one great rule of composition is to speak the truth."
Beyond their politics, I liked that Texas liberals seemed to enjoy themselves and that even the worst election brought a new batch of stories. Such as the one about the freshman state legislator being advised that the best way to stay honest was to sell out to one interest group fast; that way the rest would leave you alone. Or about the Texas trial lawyer who stole from the rich . . . and gave approximately half to the poor. I liked the tales of Lyndon Johnson and Ralph Yarborough -- the yin and yang of the Texas senatorial delegation. Even the names that cropped up -- like Creekmore Fath or Cactus Prior -- were fun.
Law firms handling Trump okay
Axios - Only a few law firms chose to fight President Trump's threats in court — but those decisions are paying off, Axios' Sam Baker writes.,
- A federal judge today blocked Trump's executive order targeting the firm WilmerHale over its relationship with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
- "This Order must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional," Judge Richard Leon wrote in his opinion. "Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!"
Trump is now 0-3 in suits involving the handful of firms that opted to defend themselves in court after Trump targeted them with executive orders that threatened to cripple their businesses.
- Judges previously ruled against Trump's efforts to punish Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block for their past work.
- A fourth case is still awaiting a ruling.
Most of the firms in Trump's crosshairs have opted instead to cut deals and avoid going to court. They've now collectively offered up nearly $1 billion in free legal services.
- Paul, Weiss — the first major firm to capitulate to Trump — lost four of its most powerful senior partners last week. The attorneys, who represented some of the firm's biggest clients, including Amazon and Apple, plan to start their own firm, the NYT reported. ... Share this story
Microplastics in soil
EcoWatch - In a new study, scientists have found that soil used for growing crops can contain up to 23 times more microplastics than the concentration found in oceans.
In the comprehensive study, published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe, the study authors set out to explore 1) sources of microplastics in soil, 2) how the microplastics and nanoplastics impact soil and crops, 3) microplastic and nanoplastic uptake by crops and 4) how these plastics can carry other pollutants and additives.
The study authors explained that plastic particles can get into the soil from various sources, both on and off the farm. Runoff and atmospheric pollution can contribute, while everything from mulch film and silage wrapping to farm equipment, pesticide containers and sewage sludge fertilizer can also shed microplastics and nanoplastics onto agricultural land.
The uncomfortable truth about Democrats' problem reaching male voters
MSNBC - Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that Democratic donors are considering a $20 million “strategic plan” called “Speaking with American Men” that includes “study(ing) the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality” in male “spaces.” The initiative is yet another example of Democrats trying to make sense of the 2024 election and, in particular, how they can win back male voters.
But polling data from the last four presidential elections suggests the root of their male voter problem — and the potential solution — might be rather straightforward: Support for Democrats among male voters dropped most dramatically when the party’s presidential candidate was a woman — and rebounded when the party nominated a man.
Declines were evident across every major demographic group.
At the outset, it’s important to note that there are significant caveats to this data. Four elections offer useful data, but it’s still a relatively small sample size. In addition, it’s impossible to say with certainty that the presence of a woman on the Democratic ticket sapped the party’s support in presidential elections. Some of the reasoning here is based on circumstantial evidence. Nonetheless, the numbers tell a sobering tale.
For example, last week, Catalist, a progressive organization that analyzes voter data, released its report entitled “What Happened in 2024,” and it’s clear that, across the board, Democrats lost ground with men. While women supported Kamala Harris at nearly the same levels that they supported Joe Biden in 2020, the share of men backing the Democratic ticket dropped from 48% in 2020 to 42% in 2024. In all, there was an 11-point shift from Democrats to Republicans. These declines were evident across every major demographic group.
For example, white and black women supported Biden and Harris at levels virtually unchanged from 2020, but there was a four-point drop among white men and a seven-point drop among Black men. Support for Democrats among Latino women fell by seven points, but among Latino men, the decline was 12 points.
Growing number of mothers with mental and physical health problems
ABC News - A growing number of mothers are struggling with their mental and physical health, according to a new study. The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine, surveyed 189,417 mothers from 2016 to 2023.
The findings show a sharp drop in maternal mental health, with only 25.8% reporting “excellent” mental health in 2023, down from 38.4% in 2016. In addition to the decline in "excellent" mental health, mothers describing their health as just "good" rose from 18.8% to 26.1%, and "fair/poor" rose from 5.5% to 8.5%.
“We found a dramatic increase in mothers reporting fair or poor health -- a 64% increase,” Jamie Daw, lead author of the study and assistant professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News. “These declines originated before the pandemic, suggesting this is due to broader societal and population level factors.”
Physical health also declined over this period, with 15% fewer mothers reporting “excellent” physical health, and more women reporting just “good” health. These effects, however, were felt disproportionately with vulnerable mothers -- single, younger, with less education and whose kids were multiracial, publicly insured, or uninsured.
Meanwhile. . . .
The Washington Post - An advisory committee of diverse historians helps ensure that the record of America’s history remains unbiased, transparent and thorough. President Trump just fired all of the members of the committee.
May 28, 2025
Tales from the Attic: 1964-65
From the Idler in 1964-1965 – precursor of the DC Gazette and Undernews
Lady from the phone company called up to find out whether we wanted our name listed in bold-face type in the new telephone book soon to come out. Would only cost us: $3.75 a month. She told us they had discovered that 75% of the people who use the phone directory have eyesight trouble. We don’t figure that the percentage is as high with our readers so we’re going to squeak by with the regular style of type. The lady said it would add to our prestige but far as we can determine it will only add $3.75 a month to our expenses. If we are wrong and you really do have trouble finding our number in the phone book, just dial Information and ask for The Idler. That even works in the dark.
UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson reports receiving some interesting mail. One lady wrote him: “Why couldn’t the delegates take a break every 20 minutes or so and go out into the corridors and sing songs? Surely this would show the delegates that they could be in harmony at some point.” Another said, “Your posture at the Security Council is negative. Please sit up straight so you’ll make a good impression on the underdeveloped nations.”
We sent a classified ad up to the Saturday Review not so long ago and got back a reply which said, in part, “After careful consideration, our Acceptability Board came to the conclusion that it would prefer not to run your ad.”
We had hoped that the Saturday Review would be able to find a little space for us amongst their other ads concerning Sell’s Famous Liver Pate, WBAI-FM, exotic tropical fruit, work for an exconvict, sex education records, and a private party wishing to buy Horatio Alger books. So we called them up to find out what was wrong.
Nothing wrong with the ad, the lady told us. “The board just decided your magazine was a little too liberal.”
A Berkley, Calif., school principal had the gall to ask Senator Gaylord Nelson to come speak to the student body, but not without first signing a loyalty oath. The senator, of course, refused . . .
The fad for restoration of houses around Washington has reached the point that a gentleman in Alexandria actually had two toilets placed in his bathroom side by side, then covered them with boards complete with appropriate holes. We suspect he is now looking around for antique copies of the Sears Roebuck catalog .
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