Today marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.   Russia currently controls 20% of Ukraine's territory. Nearly half a million have died, with 1.5 million wounded or missing. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under heavy pressure, from the Trump administration, to cave-in.  Will he? This latest from  Truthout  on the Epstein files: Files relating to allegations of sexual abuse committed by President Donald Trump are being withheld or removed from the public database of files compiled by the Department of Justice (DOJ) relating to Jeffrey Epstein.    Some of these files are related to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor. They include over 50 pages of an FBI interview with a woman who accused Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor decades ago.   According to reporting from   NPR , the DOJ is withholding those files and others that feature Trump’s name from the searchable database of the Epstein files. Tonight...

This is not a great day for the USA, Planet Earth and Humanity.  MAGA for Donald Trump and our country today could well be the acronym for Make American Grim Again.  We've had worse days, but from all fronts, life is grueling. President Donald and Melania Trump went to Texas today, where flash flooding killed 120 people last weekend, with another 161 still missing.  Even though he will be in a Republican stronghold, he will be faced with the fact that  he cut back on FEMA and NOAA funding  that no doubt exacerbated the debacle.  This will not be a crowd that will heckle him for downplaying global warming, but the media will. The State Department will today fire 1300 employees, further drawing the U.S. into isolationism.  The Supreme Court this week cleared the way for these layoffs. The department has already dismantled the entire U.S. Agency for International Development. Is Elon Musk's American Party a concern? To Republicans and Donald Trump, yes. M...

Those Trump tariffs are roiling the stock markets of the world .  From the New York Times this morning: From CNBC today: The   Dow   on Monday saw its largest gap in points between session highs and lows on record. The blue-chip average traded up as high as by around 892 points and as low as about 1,703 points in the red, as of shortly after 3 p.m. ET. That 2,595.24-point swing is the widest in the 30-stock index’s history, according to a CNBC data analysis. Today is the third straight day of of more negatives . Trump   said   Sunday evening on the market rout: “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.” Further: Trump then threatened China on Monday via Truth Social: “If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th. Additionally, all talks with China concern...

  Before getting into the topic of the day, latest tidbits from those Trump follies: How are Patel, Gabbard and Kennedy doing on confirmation?  Here is a  video summary .  My prognostications?   Read my posting of yesterday . Those  tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from Canada (25%), Mexico (25%) and China (10%)  went into effect today, with retaliation expected from those countries and subsequent further penalties by Trump if they do.  A trade war could be sparked.   Which countries are next? The  Gaza Strip ceasefire  stumbles along.  This truce will eventually result in the release of 33 hostages for nearly 2000 Palestine prisoners. Two  judges halted the federal funding freeze attempt , but international funding money in foreign aid is proceeding.  The biggest benefactor is the United Nations.  Moneys will eventually be released to reliable and credible partners. As pushback increases on migran...