That's one way to dodge the Federal Records Act, I guess

I'm still wondering about the implications of Warsh getting sworn in as Fed chair by Clarence Thomas, a judge known for very right wing views and who has been dogged by serious ethics concerns, among other controversies.

Wow 3-judge panel with two Trump appointees restores second majority Black congressional district in Alabama for midterms. "We cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination"

NY Fed on jobs and wages: "Since peaking in late 2021, [total wage infaltion] has been on a steady decline, reaching levels near those of the 2017-19 period. In the past few months, however, this decline seems to have lost momentum."

Trump repeated lies about 2020 election “points to a forward-looking strategy aimed at justifying new voting restrictions, reinforcing party loyalty ⁠and energizing supporters ahead of November elections.” Via Reuters

WashPost: “But as an aging president, he now receives some of the same questions that dogged Biden — namely, whether he is mentally and physically fit to perform the duties of commander in chief.”

Reuters: “Republican President Trump's regulators are undertaking the biggest overhaul of bank supervision since the 2008 financial crisis…Critics say that, together, the changes will weaken the ​financial system.”

ICE agents pepper-sprayed Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey.

Glad the rain finally stopped today.

Researchers gave three commercial AI models an exercise typically used to train human military strategists. Each system played the leader of a nuclear-armed country in a standoff. Across 21 simulations, the models chose to use nuclear weapons in all but one game. Read more from Hiranya Peiris.

A giant stage is being built so men can beat the shit out of each other on the White House lawn to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States: "While the UFC is paying for the event, sponsorship packages that include ringside tickets to the fight have been selling for $1 million or more."

Honor Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice with 20% off the president's pool floats today at Trump Store dot com.

Evercore ISI on Iran deal, should it actually happen: “Reduced risk to inflation expectations will greatly reduce pressure for a hike in the US and should allow the Fed to make do with an extended hold. It would keep open a path to a possible rate cut in December.”

Iran would open Strait of Hormuz 30 days after peace deal, Nikkei reports citing source

Average #gasprices continue to fall beyond what seemed optimistic a week ago, GasBuddy showing national average $4.45/gal for gasoline, $5.56/gal for diesel, price cycles could be delayed as oil prices fall on prospect of a deal- but too early to say how long the drop continues

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) says he will publicly read the names of Epstein clients before leaving Congress, adding that there will be no high-level arrests while Todd Blanche and Kash Patel remain in power.

I always come back to Lincoln on Memorial Day

Reuters: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told confidants in private conversations that Israel has little ability to influence Donald Trump's decision-making on Iran.”

Some truth here.

Is he trying to sabotage the whole Iran process?

“This really is a historic moment. It’s the quickest and might be the most decisive US military defeat in the history of the USA.”

I think the only reason anyone drinks Diet Coke anymore is they got hooked before the vastly superior Coke Zero arrived. Via WSJ

I went to an urgent care a few months back and noticed the iPad the healthcare worker left on the table was transcribing everything. No advance consent or anything and while I understand consent laws around taping I’m not clear if that extends to doctors.

While parts of the South have finally seen some beneficial rainfall in the last couple of weeks, the overall drought level in the CONUS is now at its highest point in more than a decade. Meanwhile, global warming is bringing more and more record warm minimum temps. tinyurl.com/47eftwuv

It's wild American taxpayers are covering the costs for this guy to post like this.

It’s worth noting that when Jan. 6 happened, the pro-Trump right used dozens of conspiracy theories to try and offload blame from themselves—e.g., claiming it was “antifa,” “feds.” Now, they seem keen to just admit they did it—all of it—and it was good.

You don't usually rely on Iran's Fars News Agency for unvarnished truth-telling, but we can make an exception in this case.

While we slept the DOJ deleted all press releases about charges against January 6 defendants: www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

The things you say when you’ve mired yourself in an unwinnable war in Iran and can only hope to come out of it with a nuclear deal that approximates the exact deal Obama had already forged years ago. Amateur hour:

"who was president from March 2020-January 20, 2021?" is one of the most fiercely contested questions in American politics

How did I only just discover that Don Jr is marrying the daughter of a prominent Epstein enabler? Her late dad, a banker, wrote Epstein a reference letter calling him "a gentleman of the highest integrity" to help get him tax breaks &… his island. Can’t make this stuff up.

Too busy for his son's wedding

Weekend project: Can we get a Roland MIDI pickup on a Jazzmaster without setting up for damage?

Bring back functional local government websites.

The Trump phone already has a privacy breach. Via Gizmodo.

Trump may well be losing his Iran war: “His repeated claims of complete victory ring hollow, some analysts say, as the two sides teeter between uncertain diplomacy and his on-again-off-again threats to resume strikes.” Via Reuters

Cult of personality watch

White House propaganda app, which IT experts say has security vulnerabilities, is to be installed on the work phones of every US government employee. www.govexec.com/management/20...

How are you bringing in the weekend? The president of the United States is posting about building a messianic golden defensive force field around the White House and annexing Greenland

Rob Base, one-half of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, who was best known for the hit “It Takes Two,” has died. He was 59

🚨 Reuters SCOOP IRS is considering a citizenship question to tax forms this year as the Trump admin continues attempts to link federal agencies to its “mass deportation” agenda. The Form 1040 may include a checkbox for non- and dual-citizens. 🔗: www.reuters.com/world/us-tax...

Trump lays out his Warsh expectations and it sure doesn’t square with the data.

I’m a huge fan of VIs and this new instrument from Eastwood is pretty cool, especially given the rarity of the Gibson it’s copying. Not sure there even is a production hollow body VI out there right now.

Warsh's current Fed bio a work in progress.

Kevin Warsh, sworn in earlier today as Fed chair, is now also Chair of the FOMC. He's been a critic of the central bank for a long time, so now we get to see if his way is the better way.

NYT: "The donation came at a sensitive time for Mr. Lutnick. Lawmakers have been scrutinizing his ties to Mr. Epstein since January, when the government released millions of pages of records related to Mr. Epstein."

“Because the presumption of vindictiveness remains unrebutted, the indictment must be dismissed,” Judge Waverly Crenshaw wrote.

Level-setting the Warsh Fed, in Warsh's own words reut.rs/4e36ucH