APRIL 04, 2025

POLITICAL HANGOVER

Pride Month ends with a bang (the bad kind)

Well, there we have it folks. The Supreme Court struck down Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan and opened the door to businesses being allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and other groups. We’ve also got an investigation into a cover-up of sexual assaults at the Coast Guard Academy and a study that says people have been nostalgic for “the good old days” forever (whether or not they ever actually existed.) Personally, I am nostalgic for a time before these rulings were released.

Supreme Court kills Biden student loan forgiveness plan

In a 6-3 majority, the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief plan, meaning the long-delayed campaign trail promise will not go into effect without congressional intervention. The Biden administration had argued that the plan was lawful under a 2003 law called the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act, which says the government can provide relief to recipients of student loans when there is a “national emergency” in order to ensure the country doesn't end up in “a worse position financially.” Chief Justice John Roberts rejected that argument and said the HEROES Act language was not specific enough to justify loan cancellation. The White House has promised to announce other protections for borrowers later today. This week the Supreme Court really said they only want rich white people going to college. Read more.

Court rules in favor of web designer who refused to work on same-sex weddings

On the last day of Pride Month, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian web designer from Colorado who doesn't want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples, despite the state’s anti-discrimination law. (A sidenote is that the designer in question was never actually asked to create a website for same-sex couples.) While the justices insist this will only impact business owners whose product involves their free expression, legal experts note that the lack of clarity could embolden hateful companies in all sectors. The case, 303 Creative L.L.C. v. Elenis, is the latest in a string of Supreme Court rulings in favor of “religious freedom” brought by groups backed by far-right interests. This ruling could tear apart many states’ anti-discrimination laws and allow businesses to refuse service to other groups based on religious convictions. In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote, “The immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status.” Read more.

"Did you hear?The World Health Organization is set to declare aspartame, a the sweetener in Diet Coke, a carcinogen. Counterpoint: Diet Coke is medically necessary to me."

Investigation into Coast Guard Academy revealed years of sexual assault cover-ups

As if the ocean needs one more human-caused problem. A secret investigation into alleged sexual abuse at the US Coast Guard Academy uncovered a long history of rapes, assaults and other serious misconduct. These incidents were ignored at best and covered up by high-ranking officials at worst. The findings of the investigation, dubbed “Operation Fouled Anchor,” were kept confidential by the Coast Guard’s top leadership for years, while members of Congress were only briefed this month after CNN, which had reviewed internal documents from the probe, started asking questions. Going all the way back the 1980s, perpetrators of alleged assault at the Coast Guard Academy were not criminally investigated and the incidents were treated as "administrative violations.” Punishments, if they even happened, were as minor as extra homework. Many of the alleged perpetrators rose to the top ranks within the Coast Guard and other branches of the military, while victims often dropped out. With the current state of the sea, I will be spending the rest of the summer firmly on land, thank you very much. Read more.

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Psychologists say nostalgia for the good old days is actually very old

Remember when you were a kid and everything was simpler and nicer? Well, it wasn’t, you were a child and had limited understanding of how the world worked. And it turns out that kind of thinking has been going on forever. A series of studies published in Nature have found that people tend to believe morality has declined over time, regardless of the decade or country they were in. And they also tend to think the decline started around the time they were born. Adam Mastroianni, one of the psychologists behind the study said, “Most people in the world believe that humans are less good to one another than they used to be, but they’re almost certainly wrong about that.” The data this study looked at only went back to 1949, but I am absolutely sure cavemen were sitting around saying “Things were so much better when we were fish.” Read more.

LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS

The Netherlands expected to apologize for slavery

On Saturday, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands will commemorate the 160th anniversary of the country’s abolition of slavery, and he is widely expected to apologize for the Dutch imperial slave trade. Campaigners in former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean have been pushing for an apology for decades, and more importantly, have called on the Netherlands to pay reparations. On that question, a spokesperson for the Dutch government told reporters, that various assistance packages were already in place to help former colonies, designed to improve local economies. It’s possible this might start a royal trend, with many looking at King Charles to make a similar move. Frankly the only royal trend I'm interested in is the one where they all lose their jobs. Read more.

INTERNET THOUGHT OF THE DAY