Notations On Our World (Special Thursday Edition): Out & About in The United States

Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US Supreme Court announced his retirement from the United States Supreme Court Yesterday.    Although there has been reporting on how he was the "Swing" vote, he has in fact been solidly conservative--and he himself noted at one time:  The Cases Swing, I don't!!!   It will give President Trump another shot at an appointment and the US Senate Majority Leader has promised a confirmation by the Fall--although he himself blocked a nomination as it was an election year.   As such, it will be an interesting political discourse to be witness though over the course of the Summer.

The New York Times' Deal Book put together this brief snapshot this morning that underscores how the Court will continue to act as it did, for instance, with Unions and Arbitration during this past term:

Justice Anthony Kennedy  Eric Thayer/Getty Images North America Corporate America is getting the Supreme Court it wants Justice Anthony Kennedy announced yesterday that he’s retiring this summer, setting off a political war over the future of the Supreme Court. As a result, companies can probably expect business-related cases to go their way for at least a generation. Many of the court’s biggest cases in recent years were decided by a 5-4 majority. Justice Kennedy often provided the deciding vote. Whoever President Trump picks to replace him — here’s a list of candidates — will almost certainly push the court to the right. For a taste of what may come, consider yesterday’s 5-4 ruling on labor unions. The majority found that government workers who don’t join a union can’t be required to pay for collective bargaining. Groups tied to Republican billionaires have already pledged to capitalize with anti-union campaigns. The bottom line: Expect the business community to enjoy more wins in cases involving antitrust, privacy and more.

Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): #RandomThoughts On Our World

As the debate over Immigrants continued, some very interesting insights were picked up by our Team over Twitter over the past 48 hours.   This is as our team also was assessing the latest out of the Middle East as President Trump's Envoys were touring Arab Capitals to entice Arab Governments to be on board on the proposed Peace Plan--and as we will keep an eye on Mexico as it gets ready to go to the Polls--and across the World, Turkey just gave Erdogran a new mandate.

This is as the team from the Economist released its' daily dispatch in the aftermath of the Supreme Court Decision Yesterday--as the President continued attacks on Democrats and BMW (even though BMW has its' largest plant in South Carolina): 

 

After months of legal wrangling over Donald Trump’s trio of executive orders banning travel from a number of Muslim-majority countries, the Supreme Court today voted 5-4 in favour of upholding the ban. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that it was promulgated “to protect national security and public safety”, and fits within the president’s powers. Though lower courts can take up the case again,the decision in effect ends the battle

China-US relationsTrading peace for war   As the risk of a serious Sino-American trade war grows, attention is mostly focused on the prospect of dearer iPhones and unhappy soyabean farmers. Yet the stakes are much higher. However warily American and Chinese leaders eye each other, economic self-interest keeps their most hawkish impulses in check. An end to the mutual entanglement of their economies would remove those constraints, writes our Free Exchange columnist

Tropical diseasesWinning the fight   Sierra Leone is doing a better job of tackling neglected tropical diseases—which affect 1.5 billion people worldwide—than almost any other country in Africa, despite having only 400 doctors for its 7m people. Half the population used to have river blindness in 2003, but now it affects only 2% of people. The country has pulled off this feat through a national control plan, by tackling several diseases at once and by fighting the stigma around them

Public transportNo use   In much of the the rich world, urban public transport is becoming emptier, even as populations continue to grow. City transport chiefs blame under-investment, roadworks, terrorists and high ticket costs. But the real change is in the way people travel. Developments such as video-conferencing and online shopping reduce the need for public transport, and the ubiquity of Uber and the like gives urbanitesmore options for getting around

Open FutureMusa Kart and Turkey’s illiberal slide   Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has been embroiled in a 15-year dispute with Musa Kart, a cartoonist. It all began with a benign depiction of Mr Erdogan as a cat entangled in a ball of wool. Since then Mr Kart has faced constant persecution. In 2016 he was sentenced to nearly four years in jail for drawing cartoons. His ordeal has become emblematic of the unravelling of democratic norms in Turkey

Notations On Our World (@POTUS Edition): @SethMeyers reflects Upon a @realDonaldTrump W-End