An American Black Out
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The Supreme Court majority and the Trump administration seem to be collaborating to rewrite that Emma Lazarus line to something more like: Give me your white people. Consider today’s 6-3 (of course) Supreme Court decisions that “allowed President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration to move forward, permitting the administration to both expel some migrants from the country and to turn away others at the southern border.” The ruling that allows Trump to remove Temporary Legal Status “clears a path for the potential deportation of 350,000 Haitians.” NYT (Gift Article): Supreme Court Expands Trump’s Power Over Immigration. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan referred to Trump’s constant derogatory comments about Haitian immigrants: “The statements fairly shout, in their racial undertones and overtones alike, that race entered into the president’s resolve to remove Haitians from this country.” Race isn’t just a factor in who the president (and let’s be honest, the SCOTUS majority) wants out of the country, it’s also the key factor in who is getting in. Mojo: US Accepts Only White Refugees For Sixth Consecutive Month. And from the NYT (Gift Article): How Trump Turned America’s Refugee Program Into a Pathway for White People.
Decisions, Decisions
In other SCOTUS decisions announced today, the Court Rejected a Lawsuit Alleging Roundup Weedkiller Caused Cancer and overturned a Hawaii gun law “that barred carrying concealed weapons without permission onto private property open to the public.”
+ Here’s a look at The Major Supreme Court Decisions in 2026.
+ Few SCOTUS decisions have had as big an impact on modern America as Citizens United. We’re seeing that impact play out bigly as we approach the midterms. WaPo (Gift Article): Meet the megadonors pouring more than $1.3 billion into the 2026 election.
French Toasting
Americans who travel to Europe and complain about the shortage of AC and the lack of ice in their beverages might be relieved to learn that even the French are starting to come around. But it wasn’t your complaining that convinced them. “A summer escape to Paris, at least in the American mind, evokes a certain set of images: quiet strolls along the canals, long hours in bookstores and museums, a pleasant park bench, a glass of wine. Those pleasures are now contending with one of the most brutal and dangerous heat waves that Europe has faced in decades, a muggy, enervating stretch of weather that has forced millions of people across Europe, many of them in homes without air-conditioning and with few options for refuge, to endure triple-digit temperatures.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Perhaps France Should Reconsider AC. (The tricky part is that more AC causes more climate change which causes the need for more AC, and so on…)
We Won’t Swallow Our Pride
This headline probably won’t surprise you much: FIFA clashes with Iran, Egypt over rainbow symbols at World Cup Pride Match, considering the two countries playing the game criminalize homosexuality. But you might be surprised that we have a Pride controversy in San Francisco. It started when four Giants pitchers responded to Pride Night by writing Bible verses on their caps. And it’s only gotten worse from there as the Giants organization has utterly failed to address the situation for their inclusive fanbase in a city where the rainbow flag was first unfurled on this day in 1978. “The team’s president of baseball operations and face of the franchise refused to comment on the Pride Night fallout, which was the result of three pitchers adding a Bible verse to their Pride cap and another choosing not to wear the hat for the June 12 game. Posey declined to speak about his own experience as a member of the team that has celebrated and recognized the gay community for the past 32 years.” Ann Killion: Buster Posey didn’t just fail to meet the moment, he made Giants’ Pride controversy worse. There’s a decent chance Posey and other Giants brass are covering their ass to avoid the wrath of Trump’s justice department. But these fraught times are precisely the reason why it’s so important that leaders, especially in San Francisco, stand up for inclusivity and decency. I’m a season ticket holder and an addicted fan, and I turn the channel whenever one of the Giants’ Phobic Four takes the mound, and I know others who have turned off the Giants altogether. The team can’t ignore the fans and the Pride Day controversy. It may be your team, but it’s our town.
Extra, Extra
Venezuela Quakes: “At least 188 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured in back-to-back quakes on Wednesday, the president of Venezuela’s national assembly said. The toll from the quakes, which struck the country’s populous northern states, was virtually certain to rise as rescuers began to reach the hardest-hit areas.” Here’s the latest on the earthquakes that hit Venezuela. And from The Guardian: Some of the scenes of destruction.
+ Post Dobbs: “You might have guessed that when more than a dozen states banned abortion, there would be fewer abortions happening in those states and that the overall number of abortions would go down. That’s not what has happened.” 4 surprising things to know about abortion in America since Dobbs.
+ A Trip Up Memory Lane: Apple is so big and so powerful that they can usually hold off trends like higher memory prices. Not this time. “Apple Inc. shares fell after it raised prices of all Macs, iPads, home devices and the Vision Pro on Thursday, seeking to offset cost hikes caused by an unprecedented shortage of memory chips and storage … An Apple spokesperson said that ‘the rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage’ and that the company has ‘never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.'”
+ For Whom the Toll Tolls: “The Islamic Republic estimates that charging for security, safety and environmental services in the strait would bring in $40 billion a year in revenue for states involved, according to officials familiar with the matter. The idea, if implemented, would give Tehran cash flow and control that it didn’t command before the war.” WSJ (Gift Article): Iran Estimates $40 Billion Windfall From Reopening Hormuz With Gulf States. Remember, nothing about the new deal that emerges can be assessed without comparing it to the deal Trump foolishly tore up. Here’s some background on that in a good interview of one of the people who negotiated it, John Kerry.
+ OMG: “Texas is on the verge of passing a sweeping, new state book list, which will establish for the first time a common set of books that millions of students across the state must read, including excerpts from the Bible.” NYT (Gift Article): Texas Public School Students May Soon Be Required to Read the Bible.
+ The Grass Got Greener: “I’ve been working on a golf book for the past two years, and I can tell you the phone-app wrecking of the sport is getting worse. Jabronis have realized they can’t do anything at an NFL or NBA game to improve their chances of cashing in, but they sure can at a golf tournament, where the traditional cocoon of silence before a shot is just waiting to be trashed.” Rick Reilly: Heckling from app-wielding bettors is wrecking golf. The age of betting on everything is going to impact more than just golf.
Bottom of the News
“Lebowski used to stand out because he didn’t hold a steady job. Today, that makes him mainstream. Some 10% of California adults are unemployed or underemployed, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. On top of that, another 11% of the state’s workforce is primarily self-employed, and nearly two-thirds do independent contracting or own unincorporated businesses, like the Dude.” The Big Lebowskization of California. “Aging. Jobless. Drinking Canned White Russians and Smoking Pot. Golden State Residents Resemble the Dude.” (There’s really no need to get personal…)
