Janet Hill
‪@saskajanet.bsky.social‬
FAIR WARNING: It’s ground squirrel kiddo season and excessive cuteness levels may occur or be occurring 🌿
A group of adorable ground squirrels frolics around the entrance to their burrow and then suddenly they all dive for cover.

May 22, 2025 at 6:58 PM

The Guardian - Trump’s latest Wall Street showdown pushes investor skepticism to the brink

US president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has rattled the bond market and will invariably have global consequences

Richard Partington
Senior economics correspondent
Sat 24 May 2025 07.00 EDT

Donald Trump calls his tax and spending plans “big, beautiful,” and a once-in-a generation opportunity to bolster the prosperity of the US economy. The bond market disagrees.

In his latest showdown with Wall Street, after the turmoil unleashed by his “liberation day” tariff announcement last month, global financial markets are rattled again, this time by the US president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Plans to hit the EU with 50% tariffs on all imports are adding to the investor headache.

Reflecting growing unease, the yield – in effect the interest rate – on 30-year US government bonds has risen above 5%, and is threatening to reach the highest level in 18 years. Meanwhile Moody’s, a leading credit ratings’ agency, relied on by big investors, last week stripped the US of its top-notch triple-A score.



Central to the concern is the US’s so-called “twin deficit” position – running a simultaneous budget deficit (when public spending exceeds revenues) and trade deficit (when imports outstrip exports) – and the worry that Trump’s policies will stoke inflation and sink the US economy into recession.

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NYT - (archived: https://archive.ph/YoABl ) Karen Dunn and Other Top Lawyers Depart Paul Weiss to Start Firm

They are leaving a few months after Paul Weiss cut a deal with the White House to avoid an executive order that would have restricted its business.

By Michael S. Schmidt, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Matthew Goldstein
May 23, 2025, 5:45 p.m. ET

Four top partners at Paul Weiss announced late Friday that they were leaving the law firm, a major blow to the firm in the wake of its decision to cut a deal with President Trump to head off an executive order against the firm.

The partners — Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee and Jessica Phillips — will form their own law firm.

“We were disappointed not to be able to tell each of you personally and individually the news that we have decided to leave Paul, Weiss to start a new law firm,” the lawyers said in an email message to the firm late Friday afternoon.

Ms. Dunn is a prominent Democratic lawyer, having overseen debate preparation for former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their presidential campaigns. She has also been a key partner at Paul Weiss, representing Alphabet, Apple, Uber and Amazon.

Ms. Rhee served as a top prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller III’s special counsel investigation and oversaw the firm’s Washington office.

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WYFF - FEMA denies North Carolina's appeal for hurricane debris cost reimbursement

Updated: 5:35 PM EDT May 23, 2025
Zach Rainey

RALEIGH, N.C. — On Friday afternoon, FEMA denied North Carolina's appeal to extend 100-percent cost reimbursement for debris removal cost-sharing related to Hurricane Helene recovery.

Read the full letter of denial, here.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein released the following statement in reaction to FEMA's decision:

"The first step to help western North Carolina recover is to clean up all the debris. So far, we have removed more than 12 million cubic yards of debris from roads and waterways, but given the immense scale of the wreckage, we have only scratched the surface. FEMA’s denial of our appeal will cost North Carolina taxpayers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up out west. The money we have to pay toward debris removal will mean less money towards supporting our small businesses, rebuilding downtown infrastructure, repairing our water and sewer systems, and other critical needs.

Despite this news, we are going to stay the course. We will keep pushing the federal and state governments to do right by western North Carolina. We will keep working with urgency, focus, and transparency to get any appropriated money on the ground as quickly as we can to speed the recovery. We will not forget the people of western North Carolina."

North Carolina has also requested $19 billion in disaster relief from the Trump administration and Congress.

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NBC News - Billy Joel cancels U.S. tour dates after being diagnosed with brain disorder

Joel announced he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus.

May 23, 2025, 12:52 PM EDT / Updated May 23, 2025, 1:06 PM EDT
By Minyvonne Burke
Billy Joel canceled his upcoming concerts following a recent diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus.

The announcement was made Friday in a statement shared across his social media accounts.

The statement said the condition has been "exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance," the statement read.

The "Piano Man" singer, 76, is currently receiving treatment.

"Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period," the statement said. "Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health."

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Kyiv Independent - Polish jets intercept Russian bomber over Baltic Sea after 'dangerous' maneuvers

by Tim Zadorozhnyy
May 23, 2025 8:33 PM



Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber in international airspace over the Baltic Sea on May 22, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said during a press conference on May 23, according to the Polish news outlet RMF24.

The incident marks the latest in a series of Russian provocations near NATO territory. According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Russian aircraft posed a threat to regional airspace safety.

"These maneuvers performed by the Russian Su-24 show that the actions were dangerous and intentional," the minister said. He added that Polish pilots quickly detected, intercepted, and forced the bomber to withdraw from the area.

The encounter took place near the heavily militarized Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania.

Russian aircraft often fly from Kaliningrad without using transponders, failing to file flight plans, and not establishing contact with regional air traffic control — a pattern that NATO officials have long described as high-risk behavior.

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Mediaite - BREAKING: Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Banning Foreign Students at Harvard

Tom Durante
May 23rd, 2025, 12:42 pm

A federal judge has stepped in to stop the Trump administration’s bid to ban foreign students from attending Harvard.

The ruling was handed down Friday, hours after the university announced it would be suing the White House’s bid to bar all international students from attending the Ivy League institution.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

WaPo - (archived: https://archive.ph/WhmpK ) GOP won’t install Jan. 6 plaque honoring law enforcement, Democrats say

Approved by Congress in 2022, the plaque can’t be installed until House Republican leadership gives the go-ahead.

May 23, 2025 at 6:00 am

By Joe Heim



More than three years after its installation was approved by Congress, a plaque honoring law enforcement personnel for defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is instead sitting in a Capitol basement utility room surrounded by tools and maintenance equipment.

The cast bronze memorial to the officers, which declares that “their heroism will never be forgotten,” was required by law to be installed by March 2023 near the west front of the building. That was the scene of some of the most intense battles between police and supporters of President Donald Trump who attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election of Joe Biden as president.

The legislation authorizing the memorial was part of an omnibus spending package approved by Democrats and 39 Republicans in 2022 and signed into law by Biden. Leadership of the House changed in 2023 when Republicans took control and before the plaque was ready to be installed. The memorial has been in limbo ever since.

Last week, House and Senate Democrats used the backdrop of National Police Week to highlight their ongoing efforts to have the legislation implemented. They say the only thing keeping the plaque from public view is that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Republican members have not yet instructed the Architect of the Capitol to install it.

At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing last month, Architect of the Capitol Thomas E. Austin said that modifications on the House side of the Capitol are directed by the office of the speaker and that he had not received instructions to install the plaque.

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