Tim Carney Catherine Ruth Pakaluk Ross Douthat Elsewhere in the newsletter: reporting by Morgan Chalfant, @loisco, and Zachary Halaschak, reports by Elliot Haspel and Robert VerBruggen, and California (!) may join the age-verification revolution.

Full newsletter here: mailchi.mp/eppc/tortured-…

Another interesting-looking study on the Texas 10 Percent Plan. From abstract, seems a big part of effect is basically advertising: smart poor kids know they have a sure shot. Lot of 'em would've gotten in anyway *if* they applied. nber.org/papers/w32372?…

Staring at the coffeemaker telepathically begging it to go faster

Trump is basically the Howard Stern of presidents which is why it feels so wrong when Howard sucks up to Biden.

Are the intra-right arguments over intellectual property going to start heating up again? nationalreview.com/2024/04/both-s…

The Anglosphere has an advantage on immigration - John Burn-Murdoch
ft.com/content/c6bb73…

That ring finger has really seen some things

The class that graduated high school via zoom doesn’t get a traditional college graduation either. axios.com/2024/04/25/usc…

3 things are clear:
(1) nobody is inclined to grant absolute immunity, BUT
(2) the conservatives are not happy with the black-and-white DC circuit ruling against Trump, WHICH MEANS
(3) the ruling *won't* come quickly and will likely call for further proceedings in lower courts

Ooooooooooooof

More man-on-man smackdowns but less killing, male-on-female violence, and rape seems like a decent trade though:

Cruelty reigns in homeless encampments, and to an unusual degree; a more civilized society would put up with them less. | Stephen Eide

trib.al/qMS5ost

New paper from Norway: Banning smartphones in school

- significantly decreased doctors visits for psychological symptoms and diseases among girls
- reduced bullying among both genders
- improved girls’ GPA and attendance rates
- largest effect sizes were among the poorest kids

The White House wants it every way on the TCJA:
1) They demand to end the 'Trump tax cuts' - and write a budget claiming all the deficit savings from full expiration, but then also:
2) Pledge to extend for the bottom 98%, which costs $2 trillion over the decade.

Which is it?

So either some White House media intern is over-caffeinated...
....or Biden just endorsed a $2 trillion tax hike on earners under $400k (breaking his no-new-taxes pledge for such earners), and and endorsed cutting the child credit down to $1,000.

Expulsion, not arrest, is the effective way to discourage campus protest encampments.

An arrest can burnish an activist resume; loss of a prestigious degree is a more serious penalty.