mark
Raw Story
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[l] at 3/16/25 9:38am
CNN conservative Scott Jennings got a lecture from a Michigan Democratic lawmaker on Sunday morning after he tried to downplay the impact Donald Trump's tariffs are having on local economies.Sitting on a panel, moderated by "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper, Jennings attempted to downplay Trump's declining approval numbers and asserted, "My point is Trump is trying to make a long-term structural change to the economy. He's he's asked people to give him some time –– we'll see if they do it."ALSO READ:'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffsThat led Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) to jump into the fray and direct him to Trump's plan to cancel the CHIPS and Science Act, a law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022 that gives funding to companies to manufacture semiconductors stateside."He's going to cancel the CHIPS Act and he's putting on tariffs on steel and aluminum ––from Canada, from Canada," she emphasized. "That's my point here. Canada tariffs are not good for Michigan and I'll tell you what: it's $6 billion to build a new smelter in the United States of America. If you're canceling something like CHIPS, where is that $6 billion going to come from for these jobs?"Watch below or at the link - YouTube youtu.be
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[l] at 3/16/25 9:28am
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Oh) used a Fox News interview to yell suggestions that the FBI was responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. During an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Jordan crowed about the House Judiciary Committee's investigations into conservative grievances instead of how President Donald Trump was abusing the legal system. Jordan praised FBI Director Kash Patel for coordinating with his committee in a way the former leadership declined to do. "We still have answers there," he insisted, raising his voice. "Why were you investigating moms and dads showing up to speak up for their kids at a school board meeting?" "The Catholic memorandum in the Richmond field office, where they said if you're a pro-life Catholic, that somehow you're an extremist." Jordan then moved on to conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack. "We've asked for information regarding the 26 confidential human sources!" he exclaimed. "To me, this is huge. Twenty-six confidential human sources there on January 6th, 2021. Seventeen entered restricted space." "Four went inside the Capitol," the lawmaker continued. "They weren't authorized to do that. Two of the four who went inside the Capitol were actually asked to be there that day by our FBI at the time, by Christopher Wray. We got all kinds of questions." "What were they doing? How much were they paid? How did they go in the Capitol? Did they go through a broken window? Were they the first to enter?" Jordan also hinted that pipe bombs planted at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee were part of the plot. "There's a ton of questions I think the American people want answers to, not to mention who planted the pipe bombs," he said. "That's another issue!" ALSO READ: 'The Hard Reset': Here's how the U.S. is exporting terrorism around the world "Not to mention Iran hacking into President Trump's campaign," Jordan added. "So we've asked for all this!" A government investigation found that no FBI agents participated in the Jan. 6 riot, but informants did so without the agency's knowledge or authorization. Watch the video below from Fox News or at the link.
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[l] at 3/16/25 8:26am
On Sunday morning, MSNBC host Michael Steele used Donald Trump's attempt to boost Tesla sales by turning the front of the White House into a car lot, to make his feelings known about billionaire Elon Musk.After noting that Tesla's stock is in a death-spiral, he called the White House stunt "a sad PR stunt," before pointing out he has never had an interest in Musk's cars dating back long before the billionaire became Donald Trump's shadow and set about dismantling the government."Look, I never had a desire for one of these cars because of the man who designed the car," he told his MSNBC "The Weekend" co-hosts.ALSO READ:'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffs"So even back in the day, not like, even like a year?" co-host Symone Sanders Townsend asked."You know my mama taught me how to read, and she taught me how to read people and I saw this coming a long time ago," he explained. "It's the reason why I said every Bond villain rolled into one, you know? They they look good, they sound good, and they produce great stuff, you know, that lulls the masses into, 'Oh, wow, he's a great guy because he produces a car I like,' or 'He shoots rockets to the moon.'""But you've got to peel all that back, folks, and read what's on the next page," he elaborated. "And the next page will tell you what his history has been, what people say about him in his business, and how he runs his business. And if if you want to know everything you need to know, just look what he did with Twitter. I mean, that's what he's doing now."Watch below or at the link. - YouTube youtu.be
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[l] at 3/16/25 8:20am
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) suggested the United States could forgo elections in 2028 under President Donald Trump. During a Sunday interview on CNN, host Jake Tapper asked Crockett if Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) should challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to lead Democrats in the Senate four years from now. "Would you get behind that?" Tapper wondered. "That's four years from now," Crockett noted. "If you were asking me at least in two years, then I would have an absolute answer." "But I can tell you that there are a lot of people that are watching his leadership in this moment," she continued. "This is the moment. We don't even know what elections will look like in four years, if we will have elections." ALSO READ: The new guy in charge of USAID doesn't believe in foreign aid "And so I definitely think that younger, fresher leadership may be something that many of us, not just depending on what part of the spectrum you're on, but many Americans may be looking for, especially in the state of New York." Watch the video below from CNN or at the link..
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[l] at 3/16/25 7:53am
For hundreds of years, a myth has persisted about the first time tall ships landed in the Americas. Native people, so the story goes, did not fear the looming ships at first because they couldn’t register what they were.According to the theory, natives literally couldn’t “see” the ships, because they had no experiential familiarity with them. Quoting from What the Bleep do we know?, a paradigm-shifting take on human perception, native people ignored the huge ships because “their highly filtered perceptions couldn't register what was happening, and they literally failed to see them.”When Captain Cook/Columbus/Magellan sent their men ashore in smaller longboats loaded with guns, the natives registered what they saw and began their futile resistance.This is America’s tall ships momentExperiencing Trump/Musk’s takeover, an oligarchs’ revolution mapped out in Project 2025 that was kept under wraps for decades, it seems we’re the natives now. The possibility that a malign force would infiltrate the government to destroy all we’ve built over the past 250 years, to upend laws defining the relationship between government and the governed, is so foreign, so alien, that many cannot see what is happening even as it dominates the nightly news.To facilitate our blindness, Trump unleashes an attack against American interests so frequently there is no time to see the big picture. Trashing our national security by attacking our allies, comforting the enemy, threatening to invade our neighbors, shutting down science, national parks, and programs that keep tens of millions of Americans alive is so extreme, so bizarre, we can’t really register the macro. Surely an American president doesn’t want to harm or imprison half the population. Surely an American president is only causing temporary harm to benefit us in the long run. Surely Trump will reach a point of satisfaction, his deep thirst for power and money finally slaked, and we will all return to normal.Day after day, Fox News and the rightwing media sphere praises what Trump is doing, as if they must protect their viewers—and themselves—from the truth. As Mark Jacob points out in his excellent newsletter, main stream news media sources aren’t much better. At first, I thought national media’s perfidy was a reflection of naivete, of the same sort German society experienced in the 1930s, despite Trump dropping clear Nazi-adjacent warnings— controlling the media, arresting critics, dispatching jackboots in the night. But German people then, like most Americans today, went along with it. Surely Hitler would only get so bad before his malign forces were stopped. Surely the oligarchs who funded him would rein him in before he started cooking people alive, if for no other reason than to protect their own financial interests.Now I see it differently. Germany’s media knew what was happening in the beginning, but were conflicted because Hitler’s antics also made for saleable headlines. America’s main stream media is also governed by clicks, but with an added complication: their oligarch owners’ financial interests, which so far, have prevailed over any journalistic impulse to tell the truth.Dictators have followed the same playbook throughout historyDue to early delusion, encouraged by a compromised and later state-controlled national media, more than eighty million people perished in WWII. Fast forward to today, and very little has changed. Intentionally dumbed down by the Republican party, Americans seem to have forgotten what WWII was about, or how apathy and obeying in advance leads to death.When Hitler spread us vs. them culture wars to dehumanize “other,” as Trump and Vance are now doing, it was nothing new. It was the same playbook Julius Caesar followed, as have brutal dictators throughout history.Successful dehumanization was most blatantly reprised by American slave owners in the South, with the same oligarchic motivations, and the effects linger still. As Manisha Sinha wrote in The Oligarchs’ Revenge, even though slavery and Jim Crow were eventually defeated, their “language of oligarchy,” promoted through an appeal to racism, has been wholly “adopted by the modern Republican Party.”Corporate greed as governance is hereAs the Tesla protests suggest, the extent of Trump/Musk’s privatization efforts are starting to appear; the ships are becoming visible on the horizon. If Trump/Musk succeed, all walks of life will be governed by for-profit corporations, from education to health to national parks to accelerated climate disaster. Never mind that government is meant to protect and serve without a profit motive, or that both Trump and Musk have run several private businesses into the ground. Once their corporate takeover is complete, the uber wealthy will own or control all of America’s resources even as Trump searches distant shores for more.I have wondered all my adult life how the Germans let Hitler happen. And now, like the man who couldn’t live without knowing how his wife died until he met her same fate in The Vanishing, I know.People didn’t react because most couldn’t see what was happening. Those who could see Hitler--Germany’s tall ships--didn’t believe what they saw. And those who both saw and believed their own eyes thought there would be a sane stopping point. There wasn’t then, and there won’t be now.Sabrina Haake is a 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her columns are published in Alternet, Chicago Tribune, MSN, Out South Florida, Raw Story, Salon, Smart News and Windy City Times. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.
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[l] at 3/16/25 7:47am
Fox News host Jacqui Heinrich suggested President Donald Trump had been "played" by Russian President Vladimir Putin while trying to end the war in Ukraine. During a Fox News Sunday interview, Heinrich grilled National Security Advisor Mike Waltz about Trump's strategy in Ukraine. "A European intelligence service uncovered a document that was prepared for the Kremlin the same week the president's team met with the Russians in Saudi Arabia," the Fox News host explained. "According to the Washington Post, it details much of what we've already seen play out, basically telling Russia how to stall while it continues to dismantle the Ukrainian state." "It quote lays out ways in which Russia could boost its negotiating position by exacerbating tensions between the U.S. and both China and the European Union by proposing U.S. access to Russian minerals, including territories it occupies in Ukraine," she continued. "It also goes into how Putin should reject peacekeepers, propose demilitarized zones along the border." "How do you know President Trump isn't being played right now by Putin?" Heinrich asked. "Well, look, yeah, that's almost laughable," Waltz replied. "I'll take President Trump and dealing with the likes of Xi, of Kim Jong-un, with Putin and others, certainly ahead of his predecessor." ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill "Look, Jacqui, we know who we're dealing with," he insisted. "We know who we're dealing with on all sides. And we are going to engage in diplomacy. We are engaging in diplomacy." "And that will involve both carrots and sticks to get both sides to the table, but to also resolve this in a way that is permanent and enduring." Watch the video below from Fox News or at the link.
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[l] at 3/16/25 7:06am
A longtime insider who has been at the center of the Washington, D.C. social scene for decade claims Donald Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center is destroying the venerable institution as ticket sales dry up, artists cancel and locals vow to stay home.In an interview with the Guardian's David Smith as part of a look at the MAGA takeover of the nation's capital, the Washington Post's Sally Quinn, lamented the sad new state of affairs in the city and railed at what is happening with the Kennedy Center where it has already been reported that ticket sales have plummeted.With Smith writing, "Trump has seized control of the Kennedy Center, the crown jewel of the city’s performing arts scene, installing himself as chair and loyalist Ric Grenell as president. Numerous artists and producers have cancelled shows, including Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical Hamilton, while ticket sales reportedly dropped roughly 50% week-over-week after Trump announced his takeover," Quinn, the wife of the late legendary Washington Post managing editor Ben Bradlee, piled on.ALSO READ:'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffs“They’re being very imaginative in their atrocities. They trashed the Kennedy Center and threw everybody out and put Laura Ingraham on the board. The Kennedy Center has been so much a part of the city for so long and suddenly it’s gone," she explained.She then added, "They’ve lost in the first couple of weeks 50% of their ticket sales. They’re not getting the donations they used to get. All kinds of acts are cancelling and people I know say they won’t ever set foot in that place.”Quinn then noted the overall change in D.C. with Trump and his team in control."It is a one industry town, and basically what they’re doing is destroying the government, which is what Trump said he would do," she noted before reporting, "Even Trump supporters are stunned. I know from some of my friends on the Hill that Republican senators and congressmen are freaking out, too, because they’re hearing from their constituents.”You can read more here.
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[l] at 3/16/25 6:52am
Fox News host Joey Jones argued that President Donald Trump should be able to use the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport immigrants because the law wasn't struck down when the U.S. used it for Japanese internment camps in World War II. Jones made the remarks on Sunday's Fox & Friends Weekend broadcast after a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from using the law. "You know, we spoke earlier with Jonathan Fahey, former acting director, and we're trying to understand, is this just taking issue with this law, this really old law, and the fact that's being used at all?" Jones opined. "Or is he taking issue with the way the Trump administration is interpreting it towards a gang or terrorist organization instead of a country?" ALSO READ: 'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffs "He seemed to really think that this is more the latter," he continued. "But in any case, this is the same law that was used to justify the internment camps in World War II, and it didn't get struck down by the Supreme Court then." "So they've had a long time to decide if this law is something the president should be able to use." Watch the video below from Fox News.
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[l] at 3/16/25 6:10am
Due to "ignorance, error and wilful blindness," whatever goodwill Donald Trump may have brought with him as he began his second stint in the Oval Office has dissipated as his administration is buffeted with increasing pushback.That is the opinion of the Guardian's Simon Tisdall, a longtime political observer and former White House correspondent, who wrote that the world is witnessing what he called the "briefest honeymoon in White House history" as his foreign initiatives struggle to take hold and his growing trade war roils economic markets.On Sunday he wrote that Trump is being buffeted by the "unintended consequences" of his actions that is leading to market crashes and an increasing belief that a recession is on the horizon.ALSO READ:'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffsWriting, "Trump won a mandate to make America great again, not greater," the columnist called out Trump's quixotic desire to take over Greenland and make Canada the 51st state that have fallen flat and have instead led to reviving "the fortunes of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party. Under the new 'elbows up' leadership of the former Bank of England chief Mark Carney, it has a good chance of winning this year’s election on an anti-Trump platform."He then added, "That was not the plan.""As Trump careers uncontrollably towards the 100-day mark, his approval ratings slide. He is already less popular than Joe Biden was at a similar stage. His honeymoon is history," he wrote. "Before November’s election, he claimed, falsely, that America was in an unprecedented mess. Such exaggeration is what [sociologist Robert K] Merton, who coined the phrase, called a 'self-fulfilling prophecy”' Now, unintentionally, it’s coming true."You can read more here
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[l] at 3/16/25 5:33am
On Saturday afternoon, March 15, President Donald Trump announced that he has ordered a "decisive" military action against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Trump vowed to use "overwhelming lethal force" against them "until we have achieved our objective." On his social media platform Truth Social, the president posted, "They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones…. The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated."Trump also posted, "Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom. No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.READ MORE:'Sounds like Putin': Trump blasted for declaring top news organizations 'illegal'CNN's Kevin Liptak reports, "The U,S, has been working to degrade Houthi capabilities for months as the entity worked to disrupt international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, calling the attacks a response to Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas. The group has targeted more than 100 ships and vessels, including with drones, missiles and small ships."Liptak adds, "The Biden Administration sought to respond by carrying out targeted strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, including attacking underground weapons storage facilities in October and November, but the actions did not prevent further attacks."Trump's announcement is receiving plenty of responses on X, formerly TwitterZahraddeen Saleh, a former assistant to ex-Nigerian Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Betta Edu, tweeted, "Military action should always be a last resort and this decision might only intensify the conflict leading to more suffering for innocent civiliansREAD MORE: 'A modern McCarthy moment': Outrage grows over Trump speechKrassenCast's Brian Krassenstein posted, "BREAKING: Trump has ordered strikes on pro-Iran Houthis in Yemen, including radars, missile systems and drone sites. Is this more peace or less peace? I'm confused."Republicans Against Trump tweeted, "Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce: 'To all Houthi terrorists, your time is up & your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don’t, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you’ve seen before!' Trump also sent a message to Iran: 'To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, or Worldwide shipping lanes.'"Democratic activist Rita Powell wrote, "So now he’s starting a war? Lookout for the draft, incels! Regret your vote now? Trump orders large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis - The Washington Post."Spokane, Washington's Channel 4 News noted that the military strikes " opening a new salvo against the Iran-backed group that has targeted shipping lanes in the Red Sea.READ MORE: 'Awful': This Navy vet turned down 6-figure job to work for VA — only to be fired by DOGE
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[l] at 3/16/25 5:29am
The creation of a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" in the United States is further proof of President Donald Trump's support for the cryptocurrency sector.Trump earlier this month signed an executive order establishing the reserve, which White House crypto chief David Sacks has likened to "a digital Fort Knox", comparing it to the stockpiling of gold bars at the US military base.Gold is held in reserves by countries worldwide as the metal is seen as a safe-haven asset, protecting against financial instability such as high inflation.The metal on Friday surpassed $3,000 per ounce for the first time, boosted by an uncertain economic outlook amid Trump's tariffs.Gold reserves can help also stabilise a country's currency, while bars are used as collateral for loans and transactions.- How will US bitcoin reserve work? -It is to be funded by about 200,000 bitcoins, worth around $17 billion in total, that have been seized in the United States as a result of civil and criminal cases.The reserve will be virtually secured for an indefinite time.Additional bitcoin can be added to the reserve as long as such action is "budget-neutral", thus not costing the taxpayer. - Announcement fails to impress -The price of bitcoin initially slid after Trump signed the executive order but has since stabilised.Analysts have blamed the lack of support on a failure to immediately buy more bitcoin.Dessislava Aubert, an analyst at crypto data provider Kaiko, told AFP that "legally" the US government must return bitcoin to all victims identified as suffering from a hack.According to Aubert, "a big chunk" of the bitcoin held by the United States -- estimated at around 198,000 tokens -- would have to be returned to victims of a hack at crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016.Sector watchers are also waiting to see if other digital tokens will be added to the reserve, which is possible according to the executive order.Trump has said that bitcoin's nearest rival, ether, along with three other tokens -- XRP, Solana and Cardano -- could be added.- Reason to copy gold reserve? -Critics of the US bitcoin reserve point out that, unlike gold, cryptocurrencies are risky assets and have no intrinsic value.However, Sacks believes that by storing bitcoin over time, the government would protect itself from the cryptocurrency's massive short-term volatility.Meanwhile, Stephane Ifrah, an investment director at crypto platform Coinhouse, said that bitcoin, like gold, can profit from its rarity thanks to a limited 21 million tokens.An advantage of the bitcoin reserve is its transparency, since the level of tokens will be known at all times -- unlike the amount of gold placed in Fort Knox.Additionally, with the bitcoin reserve, "we're dealing with a rare asset that's much more suited to today's world", Ifrah told AFP.Prominent cryptocurrency critic, Molly White, believes the "true reason" for the reserve "is a way to drive interest in the crypto industry", which could financially benefit investors.Trump has been accused by some of showing a conflict of interest, having vowed ahead of being elected to make the United States the "bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world". The Financial Times reported that Trump earned $350 million from launching a meme coin, $TRUMP, to coincide with his inauguration.The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Trump family discussed acquiring a possible stake in the Binance platform -- a report denied by the crypto exchange's founder.- Other country plans -Brazil is also considering the creation of a cryptocurrency reserve, an idea recently ruled out by the Swiss central bank.Governments around the world are partaking in cryptocurrency activity, notably by selling digital assets seized in court cases, as was the case in Germany last year with 50,000 bitcoins.El Salvador made bitcoin one of its official currencies, reversing the decision this year owing to a lack of take-up by citizens.Bhutan holds nearly $900 million worth of bitcoin, equivalent to nearly 30 percent of the kingdom's gross domestic product.
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[l] at 3/16/25 5:25am
For US craft brewer Bill Butcher, President Donald Trump's expanding range of tariffs have sparked an unexpected impact -- a shortage of bottles to package his beer -- while uncertainty looms over his business costs.From Canadian malted barley to aluminum beer cans, Trump's tariffs have hit multiple products that American craft breweries need, buffeting businesses in the world's biggest economy.Turbulence in supplies could ultimately translate to higher beer prices for consumers, brewers warn, even as importers and breweries try to absorb additional costs triggered by the levies and their consequent supply shocks.Similar conditions are playing out in various industries across the country, including construction and appliance production.In Trump's latest salvo, 25 percent levies on US steel and aluminum imports took effect this week."As the aluminum tariffs have kicked in, the major beer suppliers in the country are switching a lot of their production back to bottles," said Butcher, founder of Port City Brewing Company in the state of Virginia.As a result, his provider can no longer supply bottles to him after shipments through March. Aluminum levies also raise the cost of producing cans, threatening higher prices down the line."There's a lot of uncertainty. There's a lot of chaos that's been injected into our supply chain," Butcher told AFP.He typically goes through 90,000 bottles per month or so -- forming 70 percent of his packaged products -- and the rest goes into cans.But in the absence of bottle supplies he expects to use more aluminum cans anyway, or sell more beer in kegs.Atlas Brew Works founder Justin Cox, who packages his beers in aluminum cans, estimates their price form about a third of the total cost for a case of 24 beers.Aluminum tariffs add to packaging costs "in what's already a small-margin product going into the wholesale market," Cox said."All of this ends up with a higher price of our beer on the shelf," added Cox, who has facilities in Washington and Virginia."On average, about 10 percent of every can in the US is Canadian aluminum," said Bart Watson, president of the Brewers Association, a trade group.This piles further cost pressures on American craft brewers, he said.- 'Impossible' -For Butcher, uncertainty also lingers over costs of the Canadian pilsner malt that forms the base of his beers -- and the bottle caps he imports from Mexico.While both products were hit by Trump's blanket tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods this month, the president's partial rollback of them within days has allowed him temporary relief.But it remains unclear if duties will return from April 2, when Trump has promised a new wave of "reciprocal tariffs" to tackle trade deemed as unfair. These will be tailored to each country, taking into consideration their tariff levels on US goods and other factors.Watson estimates the United States imported about $230 million of malt last year, much of it ending up with craft brewers."Most of the barley in the US is contracted for by large brewers or for export to Mexico," he said.Craft brewers therefore end up using malt containing some portion of imports, he added.Tariffs are paid by US importers of foreign goods, and breweries expect duties would filter to them over time.Butcher told AFP it has become "impossible for us to plan out our business, our production, if we don't know what the price of our supplies are going to be."- 'Sit and watch' -Brendan Chaney, Port City's logistics manager, noted that tariffs can be an economic tool when used in a targeted manner. But he cautioned that blanket levies create an atmosphere of fear "akin to five years ago, when Covid happened" and threw supply chains into disarray.Butcher and Cox warned that smaller businesses like theirs have limited capacity for storage -- and less cashflow -- making it harder to stockpile inventory to cushion the blow from tariffs."We can only hold so much in our small space, and a minimum order on aluminum cans is a full truckload," Cox of Atlas Brew Works said.The pricing of cans is also subject to flux, Cox noted. Breweries are billed for the final product after production, which can be weeks after orders are placed."We're having to just sit and watch, and hope that things get better before it's time for us to order (more)," he said.
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[l] at 3/16/25 5:20am
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week, treading carefully amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump's economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs.Since January, Trump has imposed levies on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, and on steel and aluminum imports, roiling financial markets and fanning fears that his plans could tip the world's biggest economy into a recession.The Trump administration has also embarked on unprecedented cost-cutting efforts that target staff and spending, while the president has promised tax reductions and deregulation down the road.But Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized this month that it is the "net effect" of policy changes that will matter for both the economy and monetary policy.Analysts widely expect the central bank to hold the benchmark lending rate steady at 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent, after similarly doing so in January."Recent Fed commentary has reinforced a wait-and-see approach, with officials signaling little urgency to adjust policy as they assess the economic impact of recent policy shifts," said EY chief economist Gregory Daco.Powell himself has said that policymakers are focused on separating signal from noise as the outlook evolves."We do not need to be in a hurry, and we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity," the Fed chief added in a recent speech in New York.- 'No pressing need' -Economist Michael Pearce at Oxford Economics said he expects the Fed will not want to "overreact" to early signs that inflation may pick up, or to indications that the economy is weakening more quickly than anticipated.The Fed has previously kept rates elevated to tamp down inflation. Cutting rates, conversely, typically stimulates economic activity, providing a boost to growth."It's a bit of a dilemma for the Fed," Pearce said, as there could be conflicting signals.ING analysts expect the Fed to signal its base case remains two 25 basis point cuts this year, noting "there is no pressing need for additional rate cuts given that unemployment is low and inflation is still tracking hot."In February, government data showed that the unemployment rate was a relatively low 4.1 percent, with the labor market remaining stable.The consumer price index -- a gauge of inflation -- came in at 2.8 percent for February as well, cooler than expected but still some distance from officials' two percent target.This boosts expectations that the Fed would proceed cautiously as it seeks to lower inflation sustainably.Inflation is "likely to remain above target through the rest of the year given the impetus from tariffs," ING analysts expect.They warned in a recent note that the use of levies could "escalate significantly" as Trump seeks to bring manufacturing back to US shores, potentially triggering price hikes.- 'Volatility' -Pearce of Oxford Economics expects that the economy is strong enough to weather a downturn from tariffs -- meaning the Fed will unlikely be forced to respond to weakening conditions.But there remains a risk that more weakness comes through, he said, and that the Fed "will react to a growth scare and loosen policy sooner."Daco of EY said Powell "will have to tap dance around policy uncertainty and its cousin market volatility" in a press conference after the Fed's rate decision is announced Wednesday.Private sector activity is slowing as policy uncertainty remains elevated, while stocks have pulled back notably, he said.GDP growth is also likely to stall in the first quarter in part due to weaker consumer spending."Powell may find it difficult to reaffirm that the economy is 'holding up just fine,' and that it 'doesn't need us to do anything,'" Daco added in a note.Looking ahead, he warned that the Fed's policy stance could shift rapidly with economic conditions."A reactionary monetary policy stance means policy direction could rapidly turn more dovish on weaker economic and labor market data, just like it could turn hawkish with hotter inflation readings," he said.
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[l] at 3/16/25 5:14am
Frightened by the prospect of US security disengagement and three years of Moscow's war against Ukraine, European countries are debating reinstating compulsory military service to boost their defences in the face of Russian aggression.Russian leader Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caught Europe off guard, and fears about the strength of NATO surged further after US President Donald Trump upended the transatlantic alliance, saying Europe must take care of its own security.Both military analysts and European governments acknowledge that the threat of Russian aggression is real, today even more so than three years ago."The Russian military today is larger and better than on February 24, 2022. The Russians have hostile intent against the Baltic states and the EU's eastern flank," said Alexandr Burilkov, a researcher at the Institute of Political Science (IPW) at Heidelberg University.According to a study Burilkov co-authored for think tank Bruegel and the Kiel Institute, Europe could need 300,000 more troops to deter Russian aggression, in addition to 1.47 million active-duty military personnel."Conscription would have to play a role in any such large numbers of new troops," he said. From Paris to Warsaw, leaders have been looking to boost defence spending in the face of US threats to withdraw its European security guarantees.But many countries, including France and Britain, have struggled with recruiting and retaining troops. Reintroducing some form of national service -- compulsory or voluntary -- might be even more difficult. According to a YouGov poll, most people in France (68 percent) and Germany (58 percent) support mandatory military service for young people. Italian and British people are divided, while a majority of Spaniards (53 percent) are against it.But studies also show that many Europeans are not prepared to defend their countries on the battlefield."In a liberal society, the imposition of military constraints has become nearly impossible to implement," said Benedicte Cheron, a French expert who studies links between society and the armed forces."As long as there is no invasion of the territory, accepting the political costs of imposing sanctions on those who do not comply with the call-up seems unthinkable."- 'Incentives' -After the Cold War, most European countries ended compulsory conscription. Just nine countries -- Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Turkey -- never suspended it.Lithuania reintroduced conscription in 2015, a year after Russia annexed Crimea. Sweden followed suit in 2017 and Latvia in 2023.But mindful of political and economic costs, most of NATO's five biggest European spenders -- France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Poland -- are not planning to make participation in armed forces mandatory.But Poland, which ended conscription in 2008, recently announced plans to offer military training to 100,000 civilians a year, starting in 2027. The scheme will be voluntary but the authorities are planning a system of "motivations and incentives", said Prime Minister Donald Tusk.Germany's likely future chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has said he favours the reintroduction of a compulsory year in which young people could perform either military or community service.In Britain, the last national servicemen were demobilised in 1963 and the government does not plan to reverse course."We're not considering conscription, but, of course, we've announced a major increase in defence expenditure," said Cabinet Office minister Pat McFaddenIn France, where compulsory military service ended in 2001, President Emmanuel Macron has been looking for ways to encourage young people to serve.In comments to reporters published Saturday, he said France no longer had the "logistics" to re-introduce compulsory service, but he wanted to "look at ways to mobilise civilians" and would be making an announcement in the coming weeks.Reintroducing national service "would mean transforming a large part of the army into training centres", said French military historian Michel Goya.In Italy, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has ruled out reintroducing national service but spoken in favour of a reserve force.- 'East-wide divide' -Researchers say Western European politicians should learn from Nordic and Baltic countries, particularly Finland and Sweden.Finland, which shares a long border with Russia and was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939, has one of the largest reserve forces in Europe."The east-west divide is still a problem. Few people in western Europe are willing to fight," said Burilkov. Convincing Europeans to volunteer would require advocacy campaigns, he said."There is also a relationship between whether people see the war as winnable and whether they want to serve, so dramatically improving European military capabilities will make people more confident in them."Goya said Europeans had been suddenly struck by their vulnerability."It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked," he said."The American sea is receding, and many European countries are saying to themselves that yes, in the end, they are a little bit exposed."
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[l] at 3/15/25 8:51pm
At least 27 people were killed and dozens more injured Saturday when tornadoes and violent storms raked across the central United States, officials said.Local news showed roofs torn off homes and large trucks overturned, as forecasters warned of more tornadoes to come this weekend.Eight people died in Kansas in a crash involving more than 50 vehicles, caused by low visibility during a "severe dust storm," local police said.Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related fatalities and shared images of boats piled on top of one another at a marina destroyed by the weather. The state police reported downed trees and power lines, as well as damage to buildings, with some areas severely impacted by "tornadoes, thunderstorms and large hail.""It was the scariest thing I've ever been through, it was so fast, our ears were all about to burst," Alicia Wilson, who was evacuated from her home in Missouri, told TV station KSDK.Six fatalities were reported in Missouri's Wayne County, three in Ozark County -- where multiple injuries were also reported -- and one each in Butler, Jefferson and St Louis counties, police said.Further south in Texas, local authorities told AFP that four people had died in vehicle accidents linked to dust storms and fires that reduced visibility on the roads.In the neighboring state of Arkansas, officials said three people had died and 29 had been injured in the storm.Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in response and said she had spoken with President Donald Trump."He said to tell the people of Arkansas he loves them and he and his administration are here to help with whatever we need following last night's tornadoes," Sanders wrote on X.At least 200,000 homes and businesses across the central United States were without power by Saturday evening, according to tracking site poweroutage.us.More tornadoes were forecast Saturday in the central Gulf Coast states including Mississippi and Tennessee."Numerous significant tornadoes, some of which may be long-track and potentially violent, should continue into this evening," the National Weather Service said.Tornadoes are spinning columns of air that touch the ground from massive cumulonimbus thunderstorm clouds.The central and southern American states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas get the most violent ones due to unique geographical and meteorological conditions.Dubbed "Tornado Alley," this is where winds of widely varying temperatures meet in volatile, potent storm clouds, with most storms occurring from May to June.In 2024, 54 people died in tornado-related incidents in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.md/bbk/bjt/dc© Agence France-Presse
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[l] at 3/15/25 8:14pm
Donald Trump's MAGA allies on Saturday had two conservative Supreme Court justices in their crosshairs after a federal judge put a stop to the President's plans to deport individuals the administration says are members of a gang. Inner City Press reported on Saturday that Chief Judge Boasberg said, "AUSA, you must inform your client immediately. Any plane in the air must be returned to the US. You must make sure this is complied with immediately." That order requiring Trump to turn planes around didn't sit well with MAGA followers. ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill Trump legal ally and GOP insider Mike Davis said, "An activist Obama DC judge thinks he has the power to order the President to turn around planes deporting vicious Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members? When will the Chief Justice and Justice Barrett end this extremely dangerous judicial sabotage of the presidency?" "The President of the United States correctly designated Tren de Aragua (TdA), a vicious Venezuelan gang, as a foreign-terrorist organization. The President correctly put these terrorists on planes to get them the hell out of our country. Yet DC Obama Judge James Boasberg thinks he has the power to order the President to turn around the planes in mid-air and bring back these terrorists into America," he added. "This is the most dangerous constitutional crisis imaginable. I do not say this lightly: The President has a constitutional duty, as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief, to ignore Judge Boasberg's lawless and dangerous order," Davis then said. "The Supreme Court must use the emergency docket to immediately stay Judge Boasberg's order. Next week, the House must impeach Judge Boasberg. And defund his court." He said, "It’s time to ignore these illegal orders. It’s time to impeach these lawless judges. It’s time to defund these lawless courts." "Today's constitutional crisis is the direct result of the Chief Justice and Justice Barrett's horrifying judgment less than two weeks ago. They've emboldened these judicial saboteurs. This is an extremely dangerous game," Davis concluded. Mike Fragoso, former counsel to Mitch McConnell, chimed in, "CJ Boasberg is probably the most well respected, mainstream D on DDC. He’s old pals with Brett Kavanaugh." "And yet he’s issuing orders to planes in the air to bring their gang-members back," Fragoso then added. "The most right-wing Texas judge wouldn’t dream of this. Food for thought." Fragoso then added, "At some point Trump is just going to order the plane to Honduras and then pardon everyone involved. I’d tag the Chief Justice if I knew his alt. Because that’s what’s coming his way if he doesn’t put a stop to the TRO madness." Former GOP Senator Jim DeMint said, "TDA is a designated terrorist organization working with the Venezuelan government to conduct violent attacks on American soil. Obama Judge Boasberg is now demanding Trump fly known terrorists back into the US. If ever there was a judge to impeach, start with this radical." Current GOP Senator Mike Lee also added, "Federal judges remain in office 'during good behaviour.'" "Time to file a petition for an extraordinary writ of mandamus," the lawmaker also said. "This isn’t funny." Lee also put the Supreme Court on the spot. "Too bad SCOTUS didn’t put an end to this nonsense two weeks ago," he said on X.
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[l] at 3/15/25 6:58pm
Donald Trump's decision to cut back significantly on Kari Lake's Voice of America caused some outrage on Saturday. David Enrich of the New York Times reported on Saturday that, "Journalists at Voice of America were just informed that they’ve been put on administrative leave." "Two people there told me this went to all fulltime employees," he said, including a purported email to the journalists. Authoritarian expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat responded to that development, saying, "Trump's mandate as a Putin partner and ally of autocracy is to erase American democracy's global footprint in terms of military scientific informational humanitarian and every other kind of influence: it's all going to be shut off, go dark, be diminished." ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill VOA Director Michael Abramowitz said, "I am deeply saddened that for the 1st time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced." "VOA needs thoughtful reform and we have made progress in that regard. But today’s action will leave VOA unable to carry out its vital mission," he added. Failed GOP candidate Kari Lake, installed by Trump to oversee VOA, said she supported the move by Trump. Other observers were outraged. Journalist Josh Marshall chimed in, "When you see headlines like 'Trump orders closure of Voice of America'. That's not how it works." "Congressional created, funded part of the US government. All of this stuff is illegal. Just because it's happening doesn't make it less illegal," Marshall then added. The founder of the Frontelligence Insight said that "emails placing Voice of America employees on indefinite leave" along with other actions by the Trump administration are a "devastating blow to democracy and a major gift to anti-American authoritarian regimes worldwide." Branislav Slantchev, Professor of Political Science at the University of California San Diego, added, "So it is. I can’t even begin to describe how an Eastern European who grew up on the other side of the Iron Curtain feels about this." "VoA and [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] were the beacons of hope, the window into what the free world looked like, and they gave people hope to persist and eventually bring down the communist regimes that many thought would last forever," he added. Trump ally Richard Grenell, on the other hand, celebrated the cuts. "VOA and RFE lost its original mission a long time ago. I was complaining about their activism in 2005 when I saw the UN VOA correspondent embarrassed to push US government policy despite being paid by US taxpayers," he then added. "They aren’t journalists. They are paid by the American people." Christian Christensen, Professor at Stockholm University, said, "Trump/Musk fans calling Voice of America things like 'global PBS' and 'left-wing propaganda.' VOA has been pumping out anti-leftist, pro-Capitalism propaganda for decades." "These people literally have no idea what they are shutting down or why. The ignorance is utterly toxic," he added. Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, most recently Executive Vice-President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, said, "Trump just closed Voice of America. Autocrats worldwide are rejoicing. In 1979 I was in China and VOA was the only source of info on the war raging between China and Vietnam. The Chinese employees in the hotel where we listened to it were even more interested."
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[l] at 3/15/25 6:06pm
Donald Trump's Department of Justice stunned numerous experts on Saturday with a request in a court that some said is without precedent in the U.S. A judge over the weekend blocked the President's move to invoke war powers to deport individuals the DOJ says are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Trump's administration moved to appeal, but the language and the request at the heart of the appeal raised eyebrows with some experts. ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill Chris “Law Dork” Geidner reported the news on social media, writing, "DOJ asks the D.C. Circuit to 'halt' the district court in response to the TRO blocking the Trump administration from immediately deporting 5 men without any process." "DOJ asks for an 'immediate administrative stay' allowing the deportations," Geidner added. Part of the appeal stood out to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at American Immigration Council and former immigration lawyer for Immigrant Justice Corps. "Holy crap," he said on Saturday. "The DOJ is arguing that the President can unilaterally deport anyone he wants without ANY statutory authority, just on his inherent authority as President over national security. That is a terrifying claim to make and has never been recognized before in US history." Reichlin-Melnick added, "While of course deporting citizens is unlawful, I see nothing specific in the argument that would purport to limit that claim to noncitizens, since it's based on membership in a gang. But this is also a badly written brief with a stupid and unlawful argument at its core." Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat also flagged the appeal, writing on social media, "Everyone who thought he was joking about being a dictator, are you waking up now?"
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[l] at 3/15/25 5:26pm
by Francesco FONTEMAGGIFrench President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that Europe and the United States had to put pressure on Russia to accept a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine.Russia "does not give the impression it sincerely wants peace," Macron said in a statement provided to AFP following a Saturday morning video conference of countries backing Ukraine organised by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.On the contrary, Russian President Vladimir Putin is "escalating the fighting" and "wants to get everything, then negotiate," he said."Russia must respond clearly and the pressure must be clear, in conjunction with the United States, to obtain this ceasefire," he added.In a statement released later Saturday, his office said Macron would Canada's new prime minister Mark Carney on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine and "other international crises".Since returning to the White House in January, US President Donald Trump has stressed his desire to end the three-year old conflict, and has made a spectacular rapprochement with Vladimir Putin.After a very public falling out between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last month, Kyiv has worked to restore relations. It has backed Washington's proposed a 30-day ceasefire, which Russia has not accepted.- 'Moment of truth' -"This is a moment of truth because if Russia does not sincerely commit to peace, President Trump will toughen sanctions and retaliation, and so that will completely change the dynamic," Macron said in a interview Friday with French regional papers that was posted late Saturday.He said planning was accelerating among countries willing to provide security guarantees for Ukraine following any eventual ceasefire, such as France and Britain. Military leaders from some 30 countries met in Paris on March 11 to discuss plans for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, and will meet again Thursday in Britain."Several European countries, and indeed non-European ones, have expressed their willingness to join" a possible deployment to Ukraine to secure a future peace agreement with Russia, said Macron.This would involve "a few thousand troops" per state, deployed at key points, to conduct training programmes and "show our long-term support", he told the regional papers.Moscow has firmly opposed such a deployment.But Macron said: "If Ukraine requests allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or reject them.AFPFrench President Macron attends a coalition call on Ukraine hosted by UK PM StarmerHe added: "Under no circumstances can the Ukrainians make territorial concessions without having any security guarantees."Macron will travel to Berlin Tuesday for talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz for talks on Ukraine ahead of an EU summit, Berlin has announced.
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[l] at 3/15/25 5:23pm
Donald Trump on Saturday hit a legal roadblock. The President over the weekend "invoked rarely used war powers in a bid to deport foreign nationals that the federal government deems to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua," according to a Politico report. But that plan was thwarted by a judge immediately after. ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill Politico's Kyle Cheney broke the new development on social media. "Judge Boasberg has issued a sweeping block of Trump’s effort to invoke wartime [powers] to quickly deport Venezuelan nationals, telling the administration to go as far as turning around planes already in the air," he wrote. In an article, Cheney and Myah Ward write that the decision "comes hours after a federal judge issued an urgent ruling temporarily blocking the removal of five Venezuelans." The report notes that, "The order by Boasberg was issued with unusual urgency, before the Trump administration had a chance to respond." "But the administration quickly filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking Saturday afternoon for an emergency stay of Boasberg’s ruling. In their motion, the administration said that the argument over the use of the Alien Enemies Act was hypothetical — which is no longer the case — and 'fundamentally a political question to be resolved by the President.'" it states. "Boasberg’s Saturday order prevents any of the five plaintiffs from being deported for 14 days." Read the full piece here. NEWS: Judge Boasberg has issued a sweeping block of Trump’s effort to invoke wartime Powers’s to quickly deport Venezuelan nationals, telling the administration to go as far as turning around planes already in the air. https://t.co/3AsW0aDWB9— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 15, 2025
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[l] at 3/15/25 4:35pm
Donald Trump's former campaign adviser and a Kamala Harris spokesperson spoke over each other on CNN on Saturday.Trump ally David Urban appeared alongside Democratic campaign strategist Adrienne Elrod, and they were both asked about Trump's recent Justice Department speech.While Urban cast the speech as a much-needed return to how things should be, Elrod had an entirely different view.ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding billWhen Urban tries to say Trump didn't speak about vengeance during his DOJ presentation, Elrod cuts in with, "He did, David. He did."Urban continues to make similar claims until Elrod cuts him off again, this time asking, "David, why is he calling out names? Why is he calling out attorneys?""Just let me finish," Urban says in response. "Are you going to let me finish?" Watch below or click here.

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