Reading archive 2025-04-09

How to Prepare for a Recession: The older you are, and the more likely you are to get laid off, the more important it is to have liquid savings.

Will Elise Stefanik Get the Last Laugh?: Inside Trump’s decision to kill the MAGA star’s Cabinet nomination

‘A Path of Perfect Lawlessness’: The Trump administration’s arguments in a high-profile immigration case have much broader implications. - "Even though the Trump administration conceded that Abrego Garcia was deported by mistake, it is insisting that federal courts cannot order his return. 'A judicial order that forces the Executive to engage with a foreign power in a certain way, let alone compel a certain action by a foreign sovereign, is constitutionally intolerable,' it said in a court filing. The implications of this argument may not be immediately obvious, but if federal courts cannot order the return of someone exiled to a foreign gulag by mistake, then the administration is free to exile citizens and then claim they did so in error, while leaving them to rot."

The Democrats Won’t Acknowledge the Scale of Trump’s Tariff Mess: The president’s allies are putting up a bigger fight than the opposition party is. - "Senator Bernie Sanders has endeared himself to the so-called resistance by giving Democrats the red-meat denunciations of Trump they crave from their leaders. Yet his critique of Trump's catastrophic global trade war is like mushy oatmeal. 'As someone who helped lead the effort against disastrous, unfettered free trade deals with China, Mexico and other low-wage countries, I understand that we need trade policies that benefit American workers, not just the CEOs of large corporations,' he declared in a statement. 'And that includes targeted tariffs which can be a powerful tool in stopping corporations from outsourcing American jobs and factories abroad. Bottom line: We need a rational, well-thought-out and fair trade policy.'"

Leave the Military: You're at risk of being told to betray your own values.

Police shoot knife-wielding autistic teen behind fence, sparking outrage: Pocatello, Idaho, police shot Victor Perez nine times even though he could “hardly walk,” according to his family. He’s in critical condition with his leg amputated.

What a bear market means and whether you should invest during one: The past few days of market losses have put the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average close to bear market territory.

Arrests made in shooting that killed three near Fredericksburg, sheriff says: Three died and three were injured in the Tuesday evening shooting in Spotsylvania County. The ages of the victims and motive of the shooting are unknown, officials said.

D.C. concert venues back bill to crack down on ticket scalpers: The phenomenon — known as selling a “speculative ticket” before even having possession of it — would be illegal under a bill unveiled by D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6).

Musk made direct appeals to Trump to reverse sweeping new tariffs: The world’s richest person, a key Trump adviser and political donor, was ultimately unsuccessful.

Scientists claim to find 'first observational evidence supporting string theory,' which could finally reveal the nature of dark energy News By Andrey Feldman published: Physicists have proposed a new model of space-time that may provide the 'first observational evidence supporting string theory,' a new preprint suggests.

I’m a brain health expert. Here’s why shingles vaccines may fight dementia.: The findings could have implications for managing the large and growing burden of dementia.

Trump has left himself open to a powerful constitutional counterpunch: Trump’s government by spite opens an avenue to challenging his score-settling.

As egg prices soared at the supermarket, so did producer profits: A USDA program doled out hundreds of millions in relief payments to big egg companies, even as the largest earned record profits. - "By wiping out millions of laying hens, the avian flu has slowed egg production for many companies. But the outbreak also has driven up prices enough for some companies to recoup losses and, for Cal-Maine, to record exceptional profits. Cal-Maine’s financial reports show it has been able to more than triple its price for a dozen eggs, from about $1.30 before the outbreak to as high as $4.06, while its feed costs for producing an egg have been relatively stable.

"At the same time, Cal-Maine and other large egg companies have received tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has been doling out relief payments to help egg companies restock after the virus strikes."

Many lawyers who argue for Trump at Supreme Court are heading for the exit: At least half of the front-line attorneys in the solicitor general’s office plan to leave, people familiar with the matter said, as Trump’s emergency requests pile up at the high court.

Navarro’s absurd claim of $6 trillion in revenue from Trump’s tariffs: Basic economics shows the revenue would be at least half as much — and probably less than that. - "Six trillion is the administration’s new favorite number. That’s what Navarro claims will be the revenue raised by tariffs. That’s also the size of the tax cut package Trump is pushing through Congress. Navarro often suggests the tariff revenue will make up for the reduction in the taxes — though it also means that there would be a huge transfer of the burden of running the government from the wealthy (who will get most of the tax cuts) to the less wealthy (who buy most of the imported products). 

"The value of stocks traded on U.S. markets also fell $6 trillion in the first two days after Trump’s tariff announcement — but that’s probably just a coincidence."