Sammy Davis Jr’s rendition of the theme song from the seventies show Baretta was so stellar that it created an adage that has lasted for half a century. But has the phrase Don’t do the crime if you can do the time finally run out of steam? These days, if you commit the right kind of crime or are connected to the right people, it may not lead to much time at all. From ProPublica: Trump’s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration. “The change in priorities was outlined in a series of memos sent to attorneys early last year. Trump’s DOJ has said it is ‘turning a new page on white-collar and corporate enforcement’ and emphasizing the pursuit of drug cartels, illegal immigrants and institutions that promote ‘divisive DEI policies.’” Of course, this trend doesn’t do much to help those who were sentenced for their crimes before the big shift. For them, we have the now wildly popular pardon program. And you’ll never guess what happens when you pardon a large group of criminals without any legitimate reasons. (Hint: They don’t keep their eye on the sparrow.) NYT Editorial Board (Gift Article): The People Trump Pardoned Are on a Crime Spree. Trump “has created a veritable pardon industry, in which people with White House connections accept payments from wealthy convicts ... Worst of all, Mr. Trump granted clemency on the first day of his second term to everyone who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 ... The results have been disastrous. At least 12 of the pardoned rioters have since been charged with other serious crimes, including child molestation, assault, harassment, murder plots and charges related to a vicious dog attack. The outcome was predictable.” 2Conversion Reversion“Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.” So wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch as the Supreme Court Rejected a Colorado Law Banning ‘Conversion Therapy’ for L.G.B.T.Q. Minors. “Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, reading a lengthy summary of her opposition from the bench ... ‘This decision might make speech-only therapies and other medical treatments involving practitioner speech effectively unregulatable,’ she wrote, criticizing her eight colleagues for having made ‘this momentous decision without adequately grappling with the potential long-term and disastrous implications.’” 3Pump Your Own Gas“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump tells Europe ‘Go get your own oil,’ Iran hits oil tanker off Dubai. Meanwhile, Trump said to tell aides he’s willing to end Iran war without reopening Hormuz. Are these mood swings and outbursts part of a broader pullback? The market seems to think so. (But as I’ve written, like everything else, the market has been a little off lately...) 4To Some Degree“The report, based on research from the Yale Tobin Center for Economic Policy, found that graduate degrees in medicine, law and pharmacy generally have the highest return on investment. By contrast, degrees in popular fields such as social work, psychology, and curriculum and instruction may actually have a zero to negative return after factoring in the full cost.” WaPo(Gift Article): Some of the most popular graduate degrees don’t pay off financially, study finds. (I’m still confident that my PhD in Newsletters will pay off eventually...) 5Extra, ExtraRefined Crude Policy: “The Trump administration has blocked energy shipments to Cuba since January as part of a strategy to force the Communist government into submission. Mr. Trump said in a January social media post: ‘THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA — ZERO!’” So what made him change his mind as a Russian tanker full of crude approached Cuba? After Months of Threats, Trump Softens His Stance on Blocking Oil to Cuba. 6Bottom of the News“On Saturday afternoon, Downey joined around 200 strangers at Ocean Beach for the 13th ‘Hole Party,’ a loosely organized gathering dedicated to the ancient, questionably productive act of digging.” SF’s most pointless gathering is surprisingly popular. Basically, a bunch of people meet at the beach where they dig a giant hole and then fill it back in. (Maybe they’re training to be news curators...)
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