On the Money: Congress has until June 5^th to approve the budget and debt ceiling deal reached over the weekend before the federal government goes into default on its debts and bills.

  It’s not a slam dunk. Party leaders will have to corral votes from the extreme wings of both the Democrats and Republicans. Asked by a reporter what he would say to reluctant Democrats, President Biden answered “Talk to me.” Asked what he would tell them, Biden said, “I’m not going to tell you.”

  Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis whined on Fox News that, “After this deal, our country will still be careening toward bankruptcy

  When you’re dealing with numbers as big as the federal budget and deficit, there’s a lot of funny money and shifty accounting. The White House estimates that the limits and trims in this deal will save $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The New York Times analyzed it and put it at a more modest $860 billion.  

  The current debt limit is $31.4 trillion, but the agreement only suspends the limit and doesn’t establish a new limit.  It sets the new limit at whatever the debt reaches in January 2025, putting the burden of what to do on the next Congress and whoever is president by then.  If Ron DeSantis is president, he will likely raise the debt ceiling again. 

The War Room: At least eight drones were used to attack Moscow early today, according to Russian authorities. It was the first attack on civilian areas in the Russian capital and a potent sign that the war is reaching the Russian people at home.

  Russian authorities described the drone strike as a “terrorist attack” even while they occupy and destroy large swaths of Ukraine.

  Whether the Ukraine government is behind the attack is hard to pin down. Some independent forces have shown their hand in recent weeks. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Kyiv was not “directly involved” in the drone assault on Moscow but was “happy” to watch. 

  Russian ballistic missiles also rained on Ukraine again overnight after attacks on the capital of Kyiv at about 11 yesterday morning. That was a rare daytime barrage but Ukraine claimed the missiles were shot down. Russia appears to be testing for soft spots in air defenses.

Driving While Black: A new study says the first 45 words spoken by a police officer to a black driver in a traffic stop are a strong indicator of how it’s going to go for the driver.

  Ominous signs are such commands as “Keep your hands on the wheel” or “Turn the car off.” Words like that can produce anxiety in the driver and lead to resistance. On the other hand, a good sign is when the cop tells the driver why he was stopped.

  This come from a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that examined police body-camera footage of 577 routine car stops involving black drivers.

  While interesting, this is not entirely new. It’s been previously established that, even for the safety of the officer, the best thing to do is tell the driver why he was stopped.

Intelligence Threat: Evidently smart can become too smart.  Leaders from OpenAI, Google Deepmind, Anthropic, and other artificial intelligence labs warn that the very artificial intelligence technology they are building could pose an existential threat to human life.

  “Mitigating the risk of extinction from A.I. should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks, such as pandemics and nuclear war,” according to a one-sentence statement expected to be released by the Center for AI Safety, and signed by more than 350 executives, researchers and engineers working in AI.

The Spin Rack: Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced and convicted founder of the Theranos blood-testing company reports to prison today for an 11-year hitch. She’s being sent to a minimum-security “prison camp” about 100 miles from Houston.—  Nine people were wounded yesterday when gunfire erupted along a beachside promenade in Hollywood, Florida. The injured included six adults and three children. — Russia issued an arrest warrant for US Senator Lindsey Graham after an edited video appeared to show him celebrating the death of Russian soldiers in the Ukraine War. — Despite condemnation from around the world, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has signed a law calling for life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality. The law also prescribes death for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as same-sex relations involving HIV-positive people, or children. — New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority is requiring passengers departing on international flights to be weighed in order to collect data on the weight load and distribution for planes. 

Below the Fold: About half the 450 graduates of Colorado College turned their backs on their commencement speaker, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, because of her stand against abortion, as well as on LGBTQ issues, and voting rights.

  But they were also turning their backs on someone who was heroic when democracy was at stake.“After the 2020 election, and the attack of Jan. 6, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie,” Cheney told the graduates. “They wanted me to say that the 2020 election was stolen, that the attack of Jan. 6 wasn’t a big deal, and that Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous. I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership.”

  Cheney chose to lose her House seat, a message of courage lost on those protesting graduates of Colorado College.

-30-