Month: June 2024

Baldur’s Game 3 admittedly doesn’t look this sharp on the Steam Deck, but it plays really well. | Image: Larian

For many of us, summer can get just too hot to go outside and have fun. Thankfully, though, this season brings more than just heatwaves — there are also sales like Steam’s, so you can enjoy gaming while keeping cool inside. Along with discounting the Steam Deck as we highlighted earlier this week, Valve is also now discounting a ton of games through July 11th as a part of the Steam Summer Sale.

There are hundreds of discounted games with some, like Celeste, going for just $1.99 ($18 off) — and there are other well-known titles on sale. One of my favorites, for instance, is Steam’s 2023 Game of the Year, Baldur’s Gate 3, which I found particularly enjoyable to play on the Steam Deck, even if the graphics weren’t the best. It’s now down to its all-time low of $47.99 ($12 off).
Other newer games are also on sale, like Dragon’s Dogma 2, with its endearing NPC pawns that make the game a true delight. Normally $69.99, you can buy the fantasy action RPG game for just $55.99. Even the odd yet strangely engrossing Animal Well is on sale for $22.49, which is a small $2.50 discount but also the best price we’ve seen since its release in May.

A couple more deals to wrap up the week

If you’re looking for a way to keep mosquitoes at bay without using a spray, right now, the Thermacell E55 Rechargeable Mosquito Repeller is down to its all-time low of about $29.89 ($10 off) at REI, Amazon and Best Buy. When turned on, the gadget creates a 20-foot zone of protection that repels mosquitoes. It can last up to 12 hours when you use the included scent-free refill and then can quickly recharge via USB-C.
Belkin is currently taking 50 percent off various refurbished chargers and other accessories, including the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe from 2021. Regularly selling for $149.99 when purchased in new condition, you can buy it refurbished for just $52.49 from Belkin when you apply promo code REFURB50 at checkout. The stand is a MagSafe charger that can deliver 15 watts of power to compatible iPhones and can also charge your Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously.
Now through July 14th, you can buy a digital copy of Dave the Diver for Nintendo Switch directly from Nintendo for $13.99 ($6 off), which is one of its better prices to date. My colleague Jay Peters called the game one of his favorites from last year, thanks to its charming characters and deep main campaign, as well as stunning pixel art. Read Jay’s hands-on impressions of Dave the Diver.

Baldur’s Game 3 admittedly doesn’t look this sharp on the Steam Deck, but it plays really well. | Image: Larian

For many of us, summer can get just too hot to go outside and have fun. Thankfully, though, this season brings more than just heatwaves — there are also sales like Steam’s, so you can enjoy gaming while keeping cool inside. Along with discounting the Steam Deck as we highlighted earlier this week, Valve is also now discounting a ton of games through July 11th as a part of the Steam Summer Sale.

There are hundreds of discounted games with some, like Celeste, going for just $1.99 ($18 off) — and there are other well-known titles on sale. One of my favorites, for instance, is Steam’s 2023 Game of the Year, Baldur’s Gate 3, which I found particularly enjoyable to play on the Steam Deck, even if the graphics weren’t the best. It’s now down to its all-time low of $47.99 ($12 off).

Other newer games are also on sale, like Dragon’s Dogma 2, with its endearing NPC pawns that make the game a true delight. Normally $69.99, you can buy the fantasy action RPG game for just $55.99. Even the odd yet strangely engrossing Animal Well is on sale for $22.49, which is a small $2.50 discount but also the best price we’ve seen since its release in May.

A couple more deals to wrap up the week

If you’re looking for a way to keep mosquitoes at bay without using a spray, right now, the Thermacell E55 Rechargeable Mosquito Repeller is down to its all-time low of about $29.89 ($10 off) at REI, Amazon and Best Buy. When turned on, the gadget creates a 20-foot zone of protection that repels mosquitoes. It can last up to 12 hours when you use the included scent-free refill and then can quickly recharge via USB-C.
Belkin is currently taking 50 percent off various refurbished chargers and other accessories, including the Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe from 2021. Regularly selling for $149.99 when purchased in new condition, you can buy it refurbished for just $52.49 from Belkin when you apply promo code REFURB50 at checkout. The stand is a MagSafe charger that can deliver 15 watts of power to compatible iPhones and can also charge your Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously.
Now through July 14th, you can buy a digital copy of Dave the Diver for Nintendo Switch directly from Nintendo for $13.99 ($6 off), which is one of its better prices to date. My colleague Jay Peters called the game one of his favorites from last year, thanks to its charming characters and deep main campaign, as well as stunning pixel art. Read Jay’s hands-on impressions of Dave the Diver.

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ASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 11: Exterior view of the U.S. Supreme Court building. | Photo: Getty Images

On Friday the Supreme Court overturned a longstanding legal doctrine in the US, making a transformative ruling that could hamper federal agencies’ ability to regulate all kinds of industry. Six Republican-appointed justices voted to overturn the doctrine, called Chevron deference, which could affect everything from pollution limits to consumer protections in the US.
Chevron deference allows courts to defer to federal agencies when there are disputes over how to interpret ambiguous language in legislation passed by Congress. That’s supposed to lead to more informed decisions by leaning on expertise within those agencies. By overturning the Chevron doctrine, the conservative-dominated SCOTUS decided that judges ought to make the call instead of agency experts.
“Perhaps most fundamentally, Chevron’s presumption is misguided because agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do,” Chief Justice John Roberts writes in his opinion.
The decision effectively strips federal agencies of a tool they’ve been able to use to take action on pressing issues while Congress tries to catch up with new laws. Chevron deference has come up, for instance, in efforts to use the 1970 Clean Air Act to prevent greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. Overturning it is a big win for lobbyists and anyone else who might want to make it harder to crack down on industry through federal regulation.
“It would really unleash a kind of chaotic period of time where federal courts are deciding what they think all these laws mean. And that can lead to a lot of inconsistency and confusion for agencies and for regulated parties.” Jody Freeman, director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard, previously told The Verge when SCOTUS heard oral arguments over Chevron deference in January.
It’s called Chevron deference because of a 1984 lawsuit, Chevron USA, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In that case, the Supreme Court sided with Chevron rather than the environmental group NRDC — allowing the then industry-friendly Environmental Protection Agency under Ronald Reagan to stick with a more lax interpretation of the Clean Air Act. It shows how Chevron deference has been sort of politically agnostic in the past, even though the more recent push to overrule it has aligned with a deregulatory agenda.
“If they toss Chevron out, the Court would be inviting unaccountable judges to freely impose their policy preferences over those of the political branches — exactly what Chevron sought to stop,” David Doniger, a senior advisor to the NRDC Action Fund and an attorney who litigated the 1984 case, said in a press briefing earlier this month.
SCOTUS took up Chevron deference this year because of two cases brought by the fishing industry: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. The plaintiffs challenged a federal rule that makes fishing companies pay for the cost of observers on vessels to monitor their operations, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) doesn’t actually have the authority to force them to pay because it’s not explicitly written into the fishery conservation statute. Lower courts upheld the mandate, applying Chevron deference.
But there’s a lot more at stake with these cases than fishing boats. Trade groups representing a broad swath of interests from Gun Owners of America to e-cigarette companies have all pushed to overturn or limit Chevron deference.
The fate of net neutrality in the US, for instance, has been tied to Chevron deference. Courts have previously deferred to the FCC on how to define broadband. Is it considered a telecommunications or information service? If it’s telecommunications, then it’s subject to common-carrier regulations and restrictions placed on public utilities to ensure fair access. The FCC has flip-flopped on the issue between the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations — with the FCC deciding in April to restore net neutrality rules.
The Supreme Court’s decision risks bogging down courts with all these nitty gritty questions. They used to be able to punt much of that over to federal agencies, a move that’s out of the playbook now.
Developing…

ASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 11: Exterior view of the U.S. Supreme Court building. | Photo: Getty Images

On Friday the Supreme Court overturned a longstanding legal doctrine in the US, making a transformative ruling that could hamper federal agencies’ ability to regulate all kinds of industry. Six Republican-appointed justices voted to overturn the doctrine, called Chevron deference, which could affect everything from pollution limits to consumer protections in the US.

Chevron deference allows courts to defer to federal agencies when there are disputes over how to interpret ambiguous language in legislation passed by Congress. That’s supposed to lead to more informed decisions by leaning on expertise within those agencies. By overturning the Chevron doctrine, the conservative-dominated SCOTUS decided that judges ought to make the call instead of agency experts.

“Perhaps most fundamentally, Chevron’s presumption is misguided because agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do,” Chief Justice John Roberts writes in his opinion.

The decision effectively strips federal agencies of a tool they’ve been able to use to take action on pressing issues while Congress tries to catch up with new laws. Chevron deference has come up, for instance, in efforts to use the 1970 Clean Air Act to prevent greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. Overturning it is a big win for lobbyists and anyone else who might want to make it harder to crack down on industry through federal regulation.

“It would really unleash a kind of chaotic period of time where federal courts are deciding what they think all these laws mean. And that can lead to a lot of inconsistency and confusion for agencies and for regulated parties.” Jody Freeman, director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard, previously told The Verge when SCOTUS heard oral arguments over Chevron deference in January.

It’s called Chevron deference because of a 1984 lawsuit, Chevron USA, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In that case, the Supreme Court sided with Chevron rather than the environmental group NRDC — allowing the then industry-friendly Environmental Protection Agency under Ronald Reagan to stick with a more lax interpretation of the Clean Air Act. It shows how Chevron deference has been sort of politically agnostic in the past, even though the more recent push to overrule it has aligned with a deregulatory agenda.

“If they toss Chevron out, the Court would be inviting unaccountable judges to freely impose their policy preferences over those of the political branches — exactly what Chevron sought to stop,” David Doniger, a senior advisor to the NRDC Action Fund and an attorney who litigated the 1984 case, said in a press briefing earlier this month.

SCOTUS took up Chevron deference this year because of two cases brought by the fishing industry: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. The plaintiffs challenged a federal rule that makes fishing companies pay for the cost of observers on vessels to monitor their operations, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) doesn’t actually have the authority to force them to pay because it’s not explicitly written into the fishery conservation statute. Lower courts upheld the mandate, applying Chevron deference.

But there’s a lot more at stake with these cases than fishing boats. Trade groups representing a broad swath of interests from Gun Owners of America to e-cigarette companies have all pushed to overturn or limit Chevron deference.

The fate of net neutrality in the US, for instance, has been tied to Chevron deference. Courts have previously deferred to the FCC on how to define broadband. Is it considered a telecommunications or information service? If it’s telecommunications, then it’s subject to common-carrier regulations and restrictions placed on public utilities to ensure fair access. The FCC has flip-flopped on the issue between the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations — with the FCC deciding in April to restore net neutrality rules.

The Supreme Court’s decision risks bogging down courts with all these nitty gritty questions. They used to be able to punt much of that over to federal agencies, a move that’s out of the playbook now.

Developing…

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