News of the Week for May ^18th, 2025

• Abortion
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Socialized Medicine
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

 

Abortion

Court Cases & Legislation

 

Investigators don’t know who leaked a Wisconsin Supreme Court draft abortion order
Investigators concluded in a report released Wednesday that the leak of a Wisconsin Supreme Court abortion order last year was likely deliberate, but they were unable to determine who was responsible.

Gun Rights

 

Second Amendment Roundup: Washington Supreme Court Upholds Mag Ban
It’s déjà vu all over again.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &“Green Energy”

 

Rivers Are People, Too
If Cambridge University’s professor of literature and environmental humanities, Robert Macfarlane, had his way, a little clever legal maneuvering may yet undo this injustice.

NOAA scrambles to fill forecasting jobs as hurricane season looms
The agency acknowledged “urgent action is needed to sustain mission-critical operations,” as peak severe weather and hurricane season approach.

 

Socialized Medicine

Government in Healthcare

 

RFK Jr. takes a dip in DC creek known for high levels of fecal bacteria and ‘infectious pathogens’
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took a plunge into the waters of Washington, DC’s notoriously contaminated Rock Creek – where swimming is banned because of high levels of fecal bacteria.

The Lies in New York’s Assisted Suicide Bill
New York is close to passing a bill to legalize assisted suicide. Having passed the assembly, it is currently being considered in the senate.

Men Can’t Get Pregnant—No Matter What Yale Says
When academic theory turns pregnancy into performance art, women and science are left behind.

War & Terror

 

Beware of Qataris bearing gifts
ABC News first reported that “the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar — a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News.”

Beware of Foreign Powers Bearing Gifts
On the menu today: The United States is cutting its defense budget (once you adjust for inflation) and eliminating 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs in the Defense Department, downsizing our intelligence community, and attempting to drastically cut Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia — our endeavors to send the truth, our message and worldview out across the globe. We’ve apparently decided that all these efforts, which are designed to increase our power and influence in the world, just aren’t worth the expenditure anymore. Meanwhile, China is increasing its defense budget by 7 percent, Russia is increasing its defense budget by 40 percent (!), and Iran is increasing its defense budget by 200 percent (!!).

A Clash of Foreign Policy Visions over Syria
For now, the Trump administration seems to be leaning tentatively toward engagement.

Gabbard fires two senior intelligence officials focused on assessing threats to US
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two career officials leading the National Intelligence Council, the senior most analytical group in the intelligence community whose job it is to understand and assess the biggest threats facing the United States.

Trump says the US and Iran have ‘sort of’ agreed on the terms for a nuclear deal
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran have “sort of” agreed to terms on a nuclear deal, offering a measure of confidence that an accord is coming into sharper focus.

Watch dramatic Nato vs Russia sea clash erupt as warplanes buzz Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’ vessel as it’s ordered ‘stop NOW’
Nato forces tried a daring mission to board a Russian tanker by helicopter

‘Restrainer’ Trump Now Vows Protection for Arab Royals
On the menu today: Put aside the proposed deal for a new, temporary Air Force One gift from the Qataris for a moment. President Trump wrapped up his big trip to the Middle East with an explicit pledge to militarily protect a pair of regimes who haven’t always been 100 percent stalwart American allies — royal families who have had some branches of the family support Islamist terror. It’s kind of amazing to see Donald Trump get accused of anti-Arab animus and Islamophobia, because once a Middle Eastern kingdom rolls out the red carpet and starts making deals with the Trump Organization, our president shows the most admiration and fascination for the Arab World from a white guy since T. E. Lawrence.

Terrifying satellite images show Russian army at Finland’s border as WW3 fears surge
Newly released satellite images show a Russian military buildup near a neighboring country’s border, sparking fears of an assault on NATO.

GOP congressman confirms Hegseth ordered pause in cyber operations against Russia, despite Pentagon denial
Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said the U.S. government halted cyber operations against Russia for one day in February as President Trump was trying to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, confirming CBS News reporting at the time and undercutting statements of denial from the Defense Department.

1 dead, 4 injured after bomb explodes outside Palm Springs fertility clinic in ‘intentional act of terrorism’
One person was killed Saturday and four people were injured when a bomb exploded outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, in what local officials called an “intentional act of terrorism.”

 

National

 

Oklahoma Legislature easily passes bill to prohibit DEI in public higher education
Oklahoma legislators have passed a bill to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at public colleges and universities. After the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 39-8 in March, House members gave their approval of Senate Bill 796 on Tuesday in a 77-18 vote.

Three and a Half Months Later, Los Angeles County Has Issued . . . Seven Rebuilding Permits
The wildfires that devastated Los Angeles tore through the city and county in January; the last of the fires were extinguished at the end of the month. Three and a half months have passed; last month, Los Angeles County launched a website that tracks how many rebuild permits have been issued in Pacific Palisades and Altadena following January’s fires.

Record-breaking late emergence: What Mojave Max’s tardy exit might tell us about summer
Guy Tannenbaum returned to the Springs Preserve to see if Southern Nevada’s celebrity desert tortoise’s emergence trends could help us predict what our summer looks like

Republican senator introduces bill to define ‘Obscenity’ may pose risk to video games and anime
A Republican senator has introduced a bill titled “S.1671 – A bill to define ‘obscenity’ for purposes of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes”.

Republicans Want To Redefine Obscenity
A new bill would ban sharing visual content that might “arouse” or “titillate.”

Can Georgia Republicans avoid a messy US Senate primary? Probably not
Your daily jolt of news and analysis from the AJC politics team.

James Carville warns Democrats far-left jargon like ‘equity’ is turning voters off: ‘Just not helpful’
Veteran campaign strategist James Carville warned Democrats Tuesday that using far-left political jargon is alienating persuadable voters.

First female mayor of Omaha concedes in race against likely first Black mayor
Omaha’s first female mayor has conceded the mayoral race to a man who will likely become the community’s first Black mayor.

Nevada State treasurer Conine to launch 2026 attorney general campaign
Conine, who moved to Nevada more than two decades ago and previously worked in hospitality and finance, was elected as treasurer in 2018.

‘The Titanic’: Johnson predicts House’s ‘big, beautiful’ bill will sink in the Senate
The Wisconsin senator also warned that President Donald Trump’s tariffs have created “enormous” economic uncertainty.

‘First time we were hearing of them’: The GOP megabill is packed with surprises for some Republicans
Senior Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee were caught off guard by Medicaid provisions in their own bill.

University of Redlands offers ‘Queer Dictionary’ to help students understand ‘queer existence’
A private university in Southern California instructs students and staff to advocate for the LGBT community through resources such as a ‘queer dictionary’ and ‘gender-inclusive housing.’ The Queer Dictionary includes terms such as ‘Skoliosexual,’ ‘Omnigender,’ ‘Neutrois’ and ‘Multisexual.’

Trump Administration Likely Violated American Bar Association’s First Amendment Rights
A federal court holds that “a series of grants with the ABA that funded services to victims of domestic and sexual violence” were terminated because the ABA had joined a lawsuit against the Administration.

Trump Is Not the First President to Confront the Courts
Any effort to classify Trump’s tactics should grapple with the history.

Now ICE Barbie Wants Her Own Brand New $50M Private Jet
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears to have taken her cue from President Donald Trump with a new request for her own private jet.

Who Is in Charge of the Library of Congress?
The past week has been witness to the rarest of rare Trump-era occurrences: Congress has been standing up for itself a little. It hasn’t happened over any of the numerous brazen abuses of the separation of powers that we have seen this year, like the administration’s withholding of appropriated spending, reorganizing of statutorily mandated agencies, or deformation of emergency powers. It has happened over control of the Library of Congress.

ICE Barbie Kristi Noem is backing insane reality TV show where immigrants compete for fast-tracked citizenship
She’s been called ‘ICE Barbie’ for treating her Cabinet position like a TV production, but now Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing for an actual reality show pitting immigrants against each other ‘for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship’.

Noem eyes $50M for new DHS jet
President Trump isn’t the only administration official eyeing a new jet: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is also set to get one under a last-minute addition to the Coast Guard budget.

Jury convicts ex-Tennessee House speaker and his aide in legislative mail scheme
A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Tennessee House speaker and his onetime chief of staff in a scheme to win taxpayer-funded mail business from state lawmakers even after scandals drove the two out of political power.

The Birthright Citizenship Showdown Focuses on Nationwide Injunctions
The Trump administration may regret making the birthright citizenship case its test of nationwide injunctions.

Supreme Court revives excessive force suit against officer in deadly Houston-area traffic stop
The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a lawsuit filed by the mother of a Texas man who was shot and killed during a traffic stop by a police officer on a highway outside Houston.

Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Unaccompanied kids, implied causes of action, and filming the police.

“Emergency Motion to Halt Unjust Wars, Defund Global Conflict, and Protect the Human Race under Natural Law and Spiritual Covenant”
From today’s decision by Judge Patrick Schiltz (D. Minn.) in Miller v. Macone

Oklahoma high schools to teach 2020 election conspiracy theories as fact
State superintendent Ryan Walters tapped chief of Heritage Foundation, key player behind Project 2025, for curriculum

Trump Rants as Supreme Court Extends Temporary Ban on Alien Enemy Act Deportations
Late Friday, the Supreme Court upheld its prior order that the Trump administration refrain from deporting Venezuelans alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua (TdA) under the Alien Enemy Act (AEA) until the justices determine whether doing so is legal. The president responded with an unhinged social media post that misstated basic facts.

Coming to a Brain Near You: A Tiny Computer
In the next 12 months, the number of people with a brain-computer interface is set to double

Mike Pence criticizes Trump on tariffs and key foreign policy issues as he watches from afar
In a “Meet the Press” interview, Trump’s former vice president was careful to balance praise of Trump with specific disapproval in certain areas.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

The Cumulative Effect of Minor Improvements
The automatic starter feature was one of the best things about our old car, a 2015 Buick Envision. It was a vital way to compensate for our lack of other creature comforts, like an attached garage, and we enjoyed it for the length of our lease. But when we replaced the car with an Audi, we found that this beloved attribute was not included. We had forgotten to assume that Europeans would sacrifice that convenience upon the altar of enlightenment and progress at every available turn, and we had to relearn that lesson the hard way.

The U.K. Trade Deal Screws American Consumers
Residents of the United Kingdom will get lower tariffs, while Americans are stuck paying higher ones.

The Republicans’ Debt Delusion
Tough talk on the budget is plentiful, but policy decisions tell a different story.

Inside the Arizona Warehouse That Has Become Shelter in Tariff Storm
Foreign-trade zones enable companies to defer tariffs on imported goods and materials, for a while

The GOP has a chance to improve Medicaid. Trump is making it harder.
Eliminating perverse incentives would strengthen the health-care program’s long-term prospects.

Trump tariffs look a lot like central planning
How should the economy’s mix of labor be determined? Who should determine which products are produced and how many?

The South Stole Your Job
Plus: Tulsi does Trump’s bidding, a new front opens in New York’s war on weed, and more…

Walmart Becomes Biggest Retailer Yet to Pass Through Tariff Price Increases
Walmart plans to raise prices this month and early this summer; other retailers likely will follow

Here Come the Tariff Price Hikes
“The magnitude and speed at which these prices are coming to us is somewhat unprecedented in history.”

Protectionists Are Counting Their Chickens Before the Hens Have Even Laid Their Eggs
Axios published a story for which the accompanying post on X reads, “Hard data suggests tariff-driven inflation and recession fears may be overblown.” A cavalcade of tariff supporters have touted it to say those who opposed the tariffs were wrong and Trump was right.

The Big but not so Beautiful Bill
As James Madison warned, “A public debt is a public curse.” That’s why I’m glad some House Republicans, including Representative Chip Roy, are pushing back on the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” It’s certainly big, but it’s not beautiful.

Tariffs to cost Michigan 13,000 jobs in coming years, UM economists predict
University of Michigan economists predicted Friday increased tariffs on cars, parts, aluminum and steel will reduce Michigan’s employment growth by 13,000 jobs over the next five years, but also acknowledged the state could see some long-term benefits from efforts to onshore manufacturing.

Trump says US will set new tariff rates for countries, skirting negotiations
“It’s not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us,” the president said.

Deere Projects Half a Billion Dollars in Tariff Costs This Year
Deere & Co. said it incurred about $100 million in tariff expenses during the quarter ended April 27—and executives said they expect the cost will reach just over $500 million this year.

U.S. Stocks Continue to Underperform European Stocks
U.S. stocks have been rallying for about the last month after having fallen in value following Trump’s various tariff announcements. The S&P 500 is now higher than it was on April 2, and the Dow is at roughly the same level it was then.

Tariffs aimed at bringing business back to the U.S. are actually driving it to Canada
While many Canadian companies are hurting because of the trade war, some are booming as clients look for ways to avoid doing business in the U.S.

Midpoint of Trump Tariff Hiatus to Reveal Increasingly Unsettled World
Reports in the coming week may give the fullest reading to date of how major economies are faring with trade disruptions, halfway through President Donald Trump’s 90-day hiatus on so-called reciprocal tariffs.

Why DOGE Failed
Elon Musk promised $2 trillion in cuts but delivered only a tiny portion of that total. We asked seven policy experts to explain what he got wrong.

 

International

 

Syria’s New President Pitches a ‘Trump Tower Damascus’
After my visit to Syria earlier this year, I wrote that the U.S. ought to cooperate in the work of rebuilding the country when it aligns with our interests, and also that it seems a little unfair to be sanctioning the current Syrian government for the actions of the Bashar al-Assad regime they overthrew.

This lawyer was counsel to El Chapo — and could soon be one of Mexico’s judges
When the Mexican government announced it was holding the world’s largest judicial election — with voters electing thousands of magistrates and an entirely new Supreme Court — it hoped to bring fresh faces into the legal system.

Argentina’s Supreme Court finds archives linked to the Nazi regime
The Argentine Supreme Court has found documentation associated with the Nazi regime among its archives including propaganda material that was used to spread Adolf Hitler’s ideology in the South American nation, a judicial authority from the Court told the Associated Press on Sunday

Russia announces plan to ban anime figurines
A new report made the rounds that Russia is moving to ban the sale of anime figures in the country. The new ban follows a series of speeches by right-wing Russian media figures warning about the “dangerous psychological impact” that watching anime can have on the minds of children.

Russia recreates giant Stalin monument in Moscow metro
The statue is a replica of one removed more than 50 years ago. It is the latest pro-Stalin move by President Putin’s regime

 

Opinion

 

In Praise of Big Pharma
Watch a movie or a TV show these days and there is a good chance that you’ll see a scheming pharmaceutical executive among the ranks of the villains. These white-collar masterminds dominate the category of America’s pop-culture bad guys, often resorting to the most nefarious of means—hiring assassins, employing hit squads, destroying evidence, and subverting justice—all in the pursuit of profit. The biggest TV hit of the year is Matlock, in which Kathy Bates infiltrates a law firm to get the inside story on a pharma firm whose product killed her addict daughter.

The ‘Restrainers’ Risk Repeating Obama’s Mistakes
He treated America’s allies like problems to be solved while approaching our adversaries as though they were assets to be unlocked.

Don’t Call This Conservatism
Much of American ‘conservatism’ today doesn’t deserve the label.

Trump Should Heed His Own Warning About Qatar
On the menu today: A lot more information about P4-HBJ, the Qatari-owned plane that President Trump envisions becoming his new “Air Force One” for the remainder of his term and transferring to his presidential library, and everything you need to know about gifts to U.S. government officials from foreign governments — including what happens to the Rolexes given to the CIA director, the honey given from King Charles to President Biden, the napkin rings and linens given to Hunter Biden’s daughter, who gave chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley skincare products, and which foreign government covered the lodging costs for two Supreme Court justices in 2023. Read on.

Do Democrats Win Most of the Close Ones?
There’s a perception, at least among Republicans, that Democrats are just better at winning really close elections than Republicans are. That bleeds into conspiratorial thinking (after all, in today’s world, only very close elections can be tipped by fraud or other forms of mischief) as well as a more general pessimism that Republicans need to beat the margin of recounts and sketchy practices in order to win.

Sweden: Time to “Wake Up” to Dangers of New Gender Legislation
A new law set to come into effect on July 1st will make it easier for Swedes to legally change their gender, with reports claiming that a single digital healthcare ‘visit’ will suffice.

The Republican Trainwreck of the 2026 Election Cycle
John Cornyn is one of the winningest politicians in Texas history. But he might not even make it out of the GOP primary this time.

Why does Alabama’s GOP chairman have a Tennessee driver’s license under a different name?
Stories involving Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl tend to wind up in strange places.

The Root of Our Dysfunction? Congress.
Legislators have conceded too much power to the president, and judges are left to clean up the mess.

Republicans’ One, Big, Beautiful Tax Bill Needs a Makeover
The Ways and Means Committee recently passed its “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” to extend many of the expiring 2017 tax cuts. But this opening bid falls short of delivering serious, pro-growth tax reform. It misses the opportunity to make the most important incentives for long-term growth permanent and includes at least 20 new or expanded tax subsidies, dramatically increasing the complexity of the tax code.

Elite Theory, Descriptive and Prescriptive
Are we ruled by elites? Must we be? Should we be? These are the key questions addressed by a school of thought that’s sometimes called “elite theory,” or, when answering in the affirmative to the question of whether elites should rule us, “elitism.” It’s a thoroughly unAmerican idea that is a sure threat to liberty. But what is it, how does it think, where does it come from, and isn’t that what Lenin was doing with his Bolshevik Vanguard in the first place? In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay dives into the various faces of elite theory and elitism and gives a trenchant warning against a rising tide of elitist thought, not just on the Left but also on the Right. Join him to better understand the elitist idea that, when your guys do it, it’s not hypocrisy, it’s hierarchy.

Can We 86 the ’86 47′?
Each day brings a new demonstration of the idiocy of our politics. Today it’s the Comey story.

The Solicitor General Embraces Judicial Supremacy
He had to for his argument against universal injunctions to work

The tide has not turned against woke. The backlash is the mirror of what it dislikes
The kind of people who make a point of calling the Tory leader Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke are louder and more visible than ever

Trump is singlehandedly destroying global conservatism
The entire Right is being undermined by President Donald Trump. When the impact of his tariffs is felt, people won’t blame interventionism, protectionism, or economic nationalism. They will blame capitalism.

James Comey Wrecked Institutions, But Fury Over ’86 47′ Post Is Way Overblown
“And James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.”

Republicans’ populism can sound very progressive
Pay attention to an important shift in tone in Washington as Republicans evolve with President Donald Trump’s brand of populism. Some of the president’s goals dovetail with things Democrats have been talking about for a long time.