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LESSON for MARCH THIRTEENTH, 2025 – “A MANIAC’S MAD SCAM: GREENLAND?... and CANADA?” PART TWO: THE SPEECHER and the SPEAKER!

When last we left the SPEECHER, he was putting finis to his protracted discourse on the most dominant civilization ever to exist on the face of this Earth, promising to stand up and we fight, fight, fight for the new Golden Age during which we... Don Jones and Donald Trump... will conquer the vast frontiers of science, lead humanity into space and plant the American flag on the planet Mars, and even far beyond.

After ninety nine minutes of rhetoric, more than a few dissenting Democrats... and perhaps even a sleeping elephant or two... could be forgiven if their thoughts towards the Speecher involved planting a flag (American or other, even just the pole) on Uranus. The address writ down in History’s envelope, sealed and placed in a lock box (if one still remains on the street) to be posted to progeny any and everwhere... and now it was time for critics to begin their carping, barnacles to affix praises and the media to begin fishing for the platitudes as would define the day (or night, as it had, indeed, been a very long speech)!

And as the Speecher bowed and waved and kissed the rooters on his half of the Capitol chamber... and not a single ass among those!... the Speaker, whose body was present at the explication, was undoubtedly letting his mind wander back to those tasks an Almighty Lord and Unforgiving angels of expectation were pressing in upon him – specifically, the necessity of finding and pushing through a Federal budget as would satisfy enough of his base to prevent the total and uttermost collapse of the United States of America; howsoever secretly so many of his colleagues entertained fantasies of apocalypse.

These vectors of transactionalism (and not a little pure, unrefined hate) would have their say over the next week and some of them are here, so let us return to the Speech Itself, Attachment “A” (without commentary) in last week’s Lesson, in other words, and Lo! and Behold!... digging little moles at the Cable News Network (CNN) unearthed and published their own... perhaps biased, perhaps not... fact-checking results right beneath the pertinent paragraphs

This document (and whether or not one agrees with their commentary, it was a lot for work for the Messrs. Wolf and Merrill to cobble together over a hard day’s night) we have included as Attachment “B”.

A somewhat lesser anthology of fact-checks, if even more impressive owing to its publication only two hours after the closing of the Address, was also created by the nice (or nasty) government workers at NPR... an entity that is high on the list of candidates for closure as the Trump/Musk efficiencies take hold. NPR’s various reporters, checkers and historiacs broke THE SPEECH down into ten categories, some containing a few more sub-categories, and were able to throw them out across the nation while it was still Tuesday. You can read these as Attachment “C”.

And Attachment “D”, unsurprisingly, consists of the Democratic response to the Speech, which was delivered by freshman Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan wherein she counseled Americans who are not partisans of Trump 2.0 to become engaged, not necessarily enraged, like the volatile Al Green.

“We all know that our country is going through something right now,” Slotkin said, “(w)e’re not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade.” Had she waited a few days, she might have appended this to the next hour, even the next minute, but the time has come, the deed’s been done.

And the noise from the shelf is now coming from a plethora of pundits... more critical, a few cheering the President on. We’ll take these on... sometimes chronologically, sometimes by issue with, as above, the Speaker’s specters of administrative chainsaw chaos and the looming March Fourteenth destination date. From the short takes, takeoffs and takeaways provided for the week by the New York Times (E) and for Wednesday through Friday by Al Jazeera (Attachments F, G and H) and a few gaps are patched, holes in the wall boarded over to trap the rats.

“Swift and unrelenting action.” That’s how US President Donald Trump described the first forty-three days of his second term during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. In the longest presidential joint session speech in history, Trump touted his global tariff plans, spoke of “reclaiming” the Panama Canal with new US investments, promised to “wage war” on Mexican drug cartels, invited Greenland to join the United States, and pushed hard for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. The Atlantic Council reached out to its experts for insight on the global implications of Trump’s remarks – and collected the following excerpts from ten experts. (Attachment One)

Josh Lipsky: Attention world—Trump is serious about tariffs

Matthew Kroenig: Trump’s promising shipbuilding proposal deserves more attention

The United States can only produce 1.3 submarines per year—far short of the Navy’s target of three. As a member of Congress, Mike Waltz introduced legislation to revitalize the United States’ shipbuilding capability. Now that he is national security advisor, it is reassuring to know that he will carry this important priority with him to the White House.

John Herbst: Trump signals an end to his sparring with Zelenskyy

Leslie Shedd: Zelenskyy’s overtures to Trump should extend to congressional Republicans

The general consensus is that even though the minerals deal was not announced Tuesday night during the speech, it will be announced in the coming days. This deal creates an economic incentive—on top of the already existing moral incentive and national security incentive—for the United States to remain fully committed to a Ukraine free from long-term Russian aggression.

Torrey Taussig: Trump needles Europe and portrays himself as neutral on Ukraine

He first signaled his support for Greenland’s self-determination before threatening to seize it, stating “one way or the other, we’re going to get it.” These comments are sure to raise alarm bells in Greenland and Denmark. While Trump appeared to be lowering the temperature of his public feud with Zelenskyy, he missed an opportunity to announce a restart of US military assistance to Ukraine.

Graham Brookie: Trump shouldn’t reject bipartisan wins such as the CHIPS Act

The Trump administration announced this week that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)—the world’s largest maker of advanced semiconductors—will invest one hundred billion dollars in further fabrication capability in the United States. The United States has a generational opportunity to continue building on a popular agenda to maintain the United States’ technical edge, but it will require working together across party lines and industry segments.

Landon Derentz: Trump’s praise for Japan and South Korea reveals an energy playbook for US allies

Even though the US trade deficit with Japan and South Korea collectively exceeds $120 billion, the two countries have nonetheless found themselves on the right side of an assertive Trump administration tariff regime. It’s a testament to other allies and partners that US economic pressure can be allayed through investment in the United States that lowers trade deficits and bolsters alliances against China.

Thomas S. Warrick: Trump is right that border crossings are low today—but they are going to go up

There is a danger in believing too much in your own press clippings. Trump took pride in the low number of “illegal border crossings” in February, which he attributed to declaring a national emergency on the southern border and deploying the US military to help the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol would keep working during a shutdown, but the expansion of the capacity to deport millions of people would be delayed. Trump’s divisive language Tuesday night may discourage Democratic cooperation unless Trump agrees to fund other programs to attract Democratic votes.

Alex Plitsas: With his counterterrorism surprise, Trump shows that US-Pakistan cooperation continues

Trump revealed Tuesday night that the United States had apprehended Mohammad Sharifullah, the “top terrorist responsible” for the Abbey Gate suicide bombing at the Kabul airport during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021... speak(ing) to the importance of liaising with foreign intelligence services and continued cooperation with Pakistan despite a recent announcement that the United States would increase military sales to India by “many billions” and a pathway to India acquiring F-35 fighter jets.

Daniel Fried: The highs and the lows of Trump’s power plays

High: BlackRock, purchased key ports at either end of the canal from a Hong Kong company (which) suggests that rather than invade Panama to seize the canal, Trump might call it a win if key canal-related infrastructure were in US hands rather than Chinese hands.

Low: at his worst, (Trump) prefers to speak of and threaten raw power. If implemented, that is the nineteenth-century great power way, and it is Putin’s way. The way the United States rose to global leadership in the “American century” was different—exceptional, actually—and it served the United States and the free world well. Trump seems to have little patience for that approach.

CNN only utilized eight reporters to cover the “divisive agenda” of his speech... the tariff war with Canada, Al Green and rebutter Slotkin’s contention that Trump’s economic plan will only help billionaires and cost average Americans. (Attachment Two)

Carolyn Debuque, a retired Air National Guard probation officer from Quakertown, said Trump’s speech was “very positive.” A Republican who voted for Trump, she said the new tariffs on imports from China, Canada and Mexico “should have been done a long time ago.”

“I think now we’re taking back things that never should have been given away,” she said.

Democrats, though, were sharply critical.

“There wasn’t very much that was positive to me about the speech,” said Dr. Imogene Taylor-Kelly, a Democrat and Harris voter from Doylestown. “It’s more of a divisive method, that he tries to pit us against each other, whether it’s racially or economically or where we live.”

The BBC (Attachment Three) chose six takeaways as exemplary of the “rowdy primetime address.”

Trump predicts a bumpy ride ahead on tariffs

US and Ukraine could be mending relations

Greenland is in his sights, Lesotho isn't

He stood by Musk despite protests over cuts

Democratic pushback was loud and it was pink

Congressman Al Green ejected from chamber after disrupting Trump speech

He's betting on energy to bring down inflation

And the Brits, noting that the soaring cost of eggs has been headline news in recent weeks, said Trump had made clear who he felt was responsible.

"Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control - and we are working hard to get it back down," he added.

Further complementing some reports, confounding others, Al Jazeera, on Tuesday before their exhaustive three reports later that week, teased readers with seven takeaways (Attachment Four... the DJI found only six) in the wake of the Speech... some of which were somewhat harsher than those chosen by the BBC

Return to nativist themes and attacks on immigrants

Ukraine and Gaza get brief mention

Democrats struggle to muster a response

Trump continues his love affair with ‘beautiful’ tariffs

Trump claims he is tackling inflation

US has caught person behind 2021 Kabul airport bombing

On the American left, the Huffington Post chose its five takeaways (Attachment Five) with an eye towards the legal ramifications of Trump 2.0’s “viciously partisan” address,

“In touting the work of billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump thanked Musk and declared that the agency is “headed by Elon Musk.” That is going to be a major problem for Trump, Musk and DOGE,” the Huffies puffed, “as Musk’s position and many of the actions taken by DOGE are challenged in numerous lawsuits as illegal due to Musk exercising power that he should not legally have.”

Trump’s declaration to the whole nation that DOGE is “headed up by Elon Musk” undermines ostensible Amy Gleason’s alleged appointment and the arguments Trump’s Justice Department is making in court.

Plaintiffs in one case challenging DOGE’s actions and Musk’s appointment filed a notice of new evidence highlighting Trump’s comment after his speech concluded.

Oops!

The other four takeaways...

Social Security Appears To Be In Trump’s Sights

The “Little Disturbance,” Trump Says While Touting Tariffs

“Protecting” Women As A Justification For GOP Goals

And, as with the others...

Democrat Al Green Becomes First Member Ejected During A Presidential Address

Time (Attachment Six) selected its “biggest moments” from the address as being when...

Trump point(ed) the finger at Biden

Democrats (including Green) shouted, walked out, held up signs and wore pink (except for the few Ukrainian supporters who wore blue and yellow), while a few others, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a handful of Senators, chose not to attend the speech. None of the donkeys clapped, despite Trump’s dare. (It was not disclosed whether or not Rep. Jeffries or Sen. Fetterman wore pink.)

Trump pushed for more border security funding

Trump defended his tariffs amid trade war

Elon Musk got a warm welcome from Republicans

Trump warned federal workers who resist ‘will be removed’

Trump criticized transgender athletes

Trump defended approach to Ukraine

Trump makes Abbey Gate announcement

Trump still wants Greenland

And even the left-center (now) biweekly had to applaud the fighting spirit of D. J. Daniel - diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 – who dreams of becoming a police officer. The President directed his newly appointed director of the U.S. Secret Service, Sean Curran, to officially make DJ an honorary Secret Service agent whereupon both halves of the chamber erupted in cheers as DJ was handed his badge, and lawmakers chanted “DJ! DJ!” in celebration.

A sampling of media reports in the days following the speech revealed many mentions of the issues of the day (as had been reported by NPR’s fact-checkers... Attachment Two, above) with many, many more coming from the takeaways and timelines of the Times (New York, not Washington) and Al Jazeera.

In the topical order as the NPR designated them, now, those issues who garnered at least one full or largely full article were attached, after which excerpts from the summarizers were added, designated in a tropical green for those as enjoy following notes through the spiderweb.

IMMIGRATION

Trump pushes for more border security funding

Time (Attachment Seven) expanded its (third) biggest moment of The Speech to encompass the “grim picture of the state of the U.S. border” and blaming... natch!... Old Goneaway Joe for what he described as “less safe” immigration policy with a tip of the toupe to President Dwight D. Eisenhower—“a moderate man but someone who believed very strongly in borders,” Trump said.

In attendance in the chamber as guests of the First Lady were the families of two young women who were murdered by Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. unlawfully that had been previously apprehended and released by authorities.

Trump can genuinely take a victory lap on the border. The CNN fact-checkers look a little ridiculous when Trump claims, “Illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded. Ever,” and the CNN team “corrects” that claim by pointing out, “There were fewer Border Patrol encounters with migrants at the southwest border in some of the months of the early 1960s.”

Ah! So it’s merely the lowest number of attempts to cross the southern border since John F. Kennedy was chasing 19-year-old interns,” wisecracked Buckley boy Jim Geraghty in Tuesday’s National Review (#).

And USA Today (#, below) editorialized that, when it comes to the border, “Trump’s immediate steps to reduce illegal entry into the U.S. are already paying off big time.” One of Trump's standout lines during his speech was when he said, "It turned out that all we really needed was a new president" in response to how former President Joe Biden and Democrats complained they needed legislation to tackle soaring illegal immigration.

Last month, the Border Patrol recorded 8,450 migrants who crossed the southern border illegally – the lowest level in at least 25 years. For perspective, most months during the Biden administration had well over 100,000 border encounters.

During his speech, Trump paid tribute to the mother and sister (who were in attendance) of Laken Riley, the young woman who was murdered by an illegal immigrant and who inspired a recent law to help keep criminal migrants off the streets.

It was a heartbreaking and heartfelt moment – and one of several that the President employed to show that the Biden years had been lucrative for criminals... terrifying for everybody else.

CRIME

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are asking the group that governs the legal bar in the District of Columbia to investigate Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney in the capital, saying that he had “abused” prosecutorial power by threatening his political opponents.

In a letter to the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary counsel on Thursday, the senators, led by Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat, also accused Mr. Martin of violating professional standards by refusing to recuse himself from a case involving a Capitol rioter he privately represented and dismissing charges against the man.

Mr. Martin, a Missouri Republican who has used social media to threaten critics of President Trump and Elon Musk, has upended one of the most important U.S. attorney’s offices in the country. He has purged nonpolitical career staff involved in the investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and at times directly interceded in prosecutorial decision-making.

This week, Mr. Martin took yet another provocative step — sending a letter to the dean of Georgetown University’s law school threatening to investigate the school if it did not scrub its policies and curriculum of diversity and inclusion initiatives, a move made public on Thursday after the Democrats’ letter was sent.

(NYT, March 6^th)

ECONOMY

X69 X69 FROM NATIONAL REVIEW

The eldest of the Old Right rags raged against both Trump and his speech and the ghost of Old Joe – calling the former “economically shaky” (Above, #)

“Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country.”

On the “swift and unrelenting action” part, fact-check: True. The “greatest and most successful era in the history of our country” part is murkier.

“The president really wants you and everyone else to believe that the economy is roaring.”

Time’s resident Opinionator Philip Elliott discoursed often and at length upon various issues raised in the President’s speech... not the least of which was that Wall Street was already “exhausted” six weeks into Trump 2.0 (March 8, #)... contending that “even in a truly head-spinning week in this new era in Washington”, one Trump remark stood out in how utterly unbelievable it was.

“I’m not even looking at the market,” the President said Thursday in a fib that left even his defenders with little response save the anonymous elephant from Trump 1.0 who now believes that Djonald UnEarthed has perhaps “fallen into a parallel universe.”

“Undergirding much of this market turmoil is Trump’s capricious nature,” Elliott opined, inasmuch as that there is nothing investors despise so much as uncertainty.

Wall Street is decidedly not adjusting to the Reconstruction. “It truly has become an hour-to-hour crisis; market-moving decisions can come between phone calls, and then revert back soon after.”

INFLATION

Despite a campaign pledge to bring grocery prices down “on day one” of Donnie’s new administration, “the price of eggs has continued to rise dramatically under his presidency due primarily to the slaughter of millions of chickens to stem the spread of bird flu. (Yahoo News, #)

"Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control. The egg price is out of control, and we’re working hard to get it back down,” Trump said. “[Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins] inherited a total mess from the previous administration.”

“Are the American people ready to get the country back on track and do what it takes to make that happen? Absolutely. . . . It’s going to affect a lot of companies. We’re going to have to adjust some prices for it, but the president is tired of people taking advantage of our country.”

Asked if his constituents are ready to pay higher prices, Mullin said: “I think our constituents are going to do what it takes to get America back on track. We’re tired of countries taking advantage of us.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Ok)

The Yale University Budget Lab has estimated that the tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico would increase inflation by a full percentage point, cut growth by half a percentage point and cost the average household about $1,600 in disposable income. (Time, 3/6)

ENERGY

“We don’t need trees from Canada,” Mr. Trump said Thursday. “We don’t need cars from Canada. We don’t need energy from Canada.”

“So where we can be self-sustaining, which is in most things, if we have more oil and gas than anybody — our forests are massive, massive forests,” he continued. “We’re just not allowed to use it because of the environmental lunatics that stopped us.” (NYT 3/6)

CULTURE

“Woke” is dead, U.S. News proclaimed; DEI is vanquished. Joe Biden was “the worst president in American history” according to his predecessor (and successor... and it’s his fault that eggs are pricey). “Murderous immigrants, here illegally, have overrun America. Trading partners have taken advantage of the U.S., but now we will retaliate.” (#)

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump gave his first speech to Congress since the electorate returned him to the White House. “He was combative, derisive toward Democrats and focused heavily on the kinds of culture war issues that helped him win in 2024.”

A U.S. News editorial from a different perspective (# below) charged the minority (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) party still embracing identity politics and losing cultural issues: relating to...

GOD

Salon’s Amanda Marcott fingered one of the middlest deepfakers salting Trump’s cabinet of furiosities and Christian Nationalist proponents as none other than Elon Musk!... and, further, made her accusations on Valentine’s Day!!! (Attachment # )

“Mother Jones” excused the melon, writing that, while people's approval of Musk is sinking the more they see of him, his clownishness and personal success “probably soften people's willingness to see him as the threat he is,” Marcott believes. Russell Vought, an admitted and proud ChriNat appointed to head the Office of Management and the budget is however, “every inch a type most Americans know well and loathe: the creepy religious fanatic.” If one looks away from Musk to other Trump officials who have legal appointments, the Christian nationalist agenda that Musk is assisting becomes more obvious. Another example in Marcott’s prosecutorial parade of horribles included Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, who announced the suspension of rules barring discrimination against LGBTQ people in low-income housing and even homeless shelters. The move will especially affect queer teenagers, who are often homeless after being kicked out by right-wing parents and then Marcott shot straight to the heart of the heap by asserting that Turner justified putting teenagers on the street by declaring, in his official statement, that this is what "the Lord established from the beginning."

Neither he, HUD nor Salon specified whether the Lord of Lands was THAT Lord, or the one in the White House – but Don Jones can glean a sort of a meaning from the perp walk described here.

ABORTION

At the confirmation hearing for Dr. Marty Makary, the nominee to run the F.D.A., the subject of the abortion pill has come up again. Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said she is concerned that Makary is “going to unilaterally overrule the data that currently exists for political purposes and for political reasons.” (NYT 3/6)

MINORITIES (Racial)

After the vote, as the resolution required of him, Green stood in the well of the House chamber while Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the censure resolution to him.

Dozens of Democrats, including many fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, surrounded Green in the well and sang "We Shall Overcome" in a show of solidarity as the speaker repeatedly told them to stop and clear the well.

Republicans in the chamber yelled, "Order! Order!" And two CBC members, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, shot back: “Shame on you!" (NBC 3/6)

About 40 of the more than 700 immigration judges in place when Mr. Trump took office have now been fired or agreed to leave.

A loss of immigration judges is likely to undercut Mr. Trump’s efforts to deport millions of immigrants, since delays in adjudicating immigration claims contribute to the number of undocumented immigrants living in the United States while waiting for their cases to be resolved.

“Donald Trump ran for office promising to boost deportations, but as president, his administration’s policies are actually decreasing the number of immigration judges and judge teams who hold deportation hearings,” Matthew Biggs, the president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, said in a statement on Thursday. (NYT 3/6)

In his executive order in January setting in motion the restoration and expansion of travel bans, Mr. Trump said he was acting to protect American citizens “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.” (NYT 3/6)

MINORITIES (Sexual)

USA’s editorial by Jacques continued that, in addition to the economy and the border, voters in November stood against some of the Democrats’ most extreme views. Top among those is the belief that biological males belong in women’s sports and that gender identity should trump biological sex.

It’s a deeply unpopular issue, and Trump was smart to campaign on it. He’s followed through with executive orders protecting women and girls.

On Monday, though, Senate Democrats – all 45 of them who showed up – voted against advancing a bill that would offer the same protections in women’s sports.

In contrast, Trump invited Payton McNabb as a guest to his speech. She is a former high school volleyball player who suffered a severe injury playing against a transgender athlete.

SELF-PITY

After calling Democrats “radical left lunatics” and comparing himself to teenage victims of revenge porn... in and of itself a grisly, if imaginary, spectacle, the Speecher whined: “Nobody gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody!”

SPENDING AND TAX CUTS

ENTITLEMENTS

What remains open during a shutdown?

Agencies that have already received funding approval or operate on a permanent funding basis would continue to operate as usual. Veterans Affairs benefits, including pensions and disability checks, would also continue as normal under a shutdown.

SOCIAL SECURITY

For instance, the Postal Service and entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, would continue to run during a shutdown because they are funded by permanent appropriations that do not need to be renewed every year.

Some of Mr. Trump’s allies have privately pointed out that his own voters are part of the federal work force, including veterans. And some of his most loyal supporters depend on Social Security benefits. (NYT

HEALTH

The IRS

TRUMP’S CABINET of CURIOSITIES

THE VILE

TULSI

BOBBY

KASH

GAETZ

DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY (DOGE)

Named for an Internet joke according to the Democrat & Chronicle of Rochester, New York (#), Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE,” has already cancelled government contracts, laid off thousands of workers (with millions more facing eviction and evisceration over the coming weeks) – all as part of a wider effort to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. “The president and his allies have touted it as a long-overdue measure to cut down on inefficiencies and fraud in government.”

Trump celebrated arbitrary federal spending cuts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, “who with the blessing of congressional Republicans has taken over Congress’ constitutional prerogative to fund or abolish federal programs.” (Yahoo, # above) – not cheering on the performance of the queasy quasi-Cabinet creature as yet.

“DOGE has repeatedly identified cuts only to roll them back when staff either realize they’ve cut essential federal personnel (nuclear safety staff, for example) or misidentified or inflated the actual size of the savings.”

ELON MUSK

Yahoo’s unkind cut also revealed that Elon wasn’t even the top dog at DOGE... that position being relegated to one Amy Gleason, formerly of the U.S. Digital Service.

FEDERAL BUREAUCRACIES

With so many Federal agencies being trimmed or terminated there are not... in addition to the millions now unemployed with debts to pay and American children to feed... numerous empty gumment buildings standing ripe for squatters and vandals, as well as many, many more cancelled leases (many of these headed to court)... 700 in all so far according to the Rochester D&C (above) inasmuch as Buffalo and New York City have seen the most lease cancelations so far with four-a-piece. (See a list of the New York leases cancelled, with details, in the Attachment.)

WASTE and FRAUD

TRADE AND TARIFFS

Media mouseketeers, MAGA or not, have been reacting to the bouncy bouncy “roller coaster ride” of Trump tariffs... on again, off again, on and multiplied by 1000% or, then, maybe “carved out” for certain FOPs (Friends of the President)

On Thursday, the President postponed the 25% tariffs he had promised on most goods from Mexico during his speech for a month “amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war.” (Time, #)

“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump said on Truth Social. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border.”

Sheinbaum said she and Trump “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results,” on a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Inasmuch as Trumpthings have asserted the tariffs on Mexico (and Canada, too!) are all about a War on Drugs (specifically fentanyl, but also cocaine, marijuana and... maybe if the trade wars escalate... tequila), not a War on Trade, the Mexicans quickly crawled on their knees to crack down on cartels... sort of... sent troops to the U.S. border and delivered 29 top cartel bosses long chased by American authorities to the Trump administration in a span of weeks.

Included among these reprobates was @ whose cozy comfort with police and politicians apparently came to an end.

Up North a ways, Canada x77 - fentanyl

“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and it is happening, and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we are okay with that.” Trump’s dismissal of higher prices as “a little disturbance” that all Americans, collectively, are “okay” with reminded NatReview’s Geraghty (above) of a statement from GOP Representative Mark Alford of Missouri:

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): We all have a role to play in this to right- size our government. And if I have to pay a little bit more for something, I’m all for it to get America right again, to start whittling down this $36.5 billion or trillion worth of debt that we have that’s unsustainable.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You think that a lot of your constituents feel the same way, they’re willing to pay a little bit more?

ALFORD: Well, I think so.

“And this perspective from Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma who, asked if his constituents were ready to pay higher prices, said: “I think our constituents are going to do what it takes to get America back on track. We’re tired of countries taking advantage of us.”

“Do you remember the Trump or Republican campaign message on inflation last year being, “If I have to pay a little bit more for something, I’m all for it”? Geraghty asked? “No, I don’t, either.”

U.S. News (# above) warned that the President’s threat to expand the trade war to agricultural products was expected to bring more disruptions; Trump, in his first term, having to throw billions of federal dollars at farmers hurt by Beijing’s retaliation for a suite of tariffs he imposed.

Trump admitted the agricultural sector might be in for “a little bit of an adjustment period” but wished farmers would “have a lot of fun.”

RECIPROCITY

PIVOTS

Nonetheless, the tax on imports from both Canada and Mexico was quickly reversed by President Trump, extending until April 2 a 25% tax on goods coming to the US. The decision comes less than 48 hours after levies were placed on goods coming from both countries. (1440 #)

DRUG WAR

CLIMATE

PARIS ACCORDS

ALTERNATE ENERGIES

FOREIGN POLICY

WAR – UKRAINE

The Yahoo takeaways (# above) also highlighted a pivot... this time by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy after Trump announced he was cutting off military provisions to Kyev... including the anti-drone-and-missile drones and missiles, without which Bad Vlad Putin’s attacks on civilians would be markedly more effective and, perhaps, complete conquest could be achieved – followed by whatever Moscow wanted,,, Moldova, the Baltics, Poland and on and on west...

Despite a contentious White House meeting last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that resulted in accusations that Trump had sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said Tuesday that a deal to end the war was still possible.

“Earlier today I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine,” Trump said. “The letter reads, ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,’”

“I appreciate that he sent this letter,” Trump said, adding that his administration had been conducting simultaneous negotiations with Russia and has received strong signals that they are ready for peace.

WAR – MIDEAST

RUSSIA and CHINA

The EU and NATO

GLOBAL SOUTH

FOREIGN AID

TAKEOVERS

The Yahoo takeaways (above #) included commentary on the President’s Speechist promise to take over the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada.

“The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others, but others could use it. But it was built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure. Thirty-eight thousand workers died building the Panama Canal,” Trump said, adding, “We’re taking it back.”

“We have Marco Rubio in charge. Good luck, Marco,” he continued.

Trump then moved on to his next already-spoken-for conquest: Greenland.

“We need Greenland for national security and even international security and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it.”

“I think we’re going to get it,” Trump channeled Blondie: “one way or the other we’re going to get it,” he said, “getchit, getchit, getchit, getchit!”

And then turn east to Canada, beginning with the Maritimes, then headed west (Montreal may be somewhat of a problem, due to the Speecher’s intent to make America an English-only country.

But he’ll make them submit – right?

By Thursday, however, nobody seemed to care much about the issues – great groundswells of vile vapors were swirling up concerning Rep. Al Green (D-Tx), his golden (?) headed cane and his interruption of the President’s speech, shouting “You have no mandate!"

Republicans across the aisle, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, jeered and booed. The usually even-tempered Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., screamed at Green: "Sit down!"

Johnson banged the gavel and gave several warnings to Green, but the congressman refused to sit down or be quiet – so Speaker Mike called in the Sergeant-at-Arms and Capitol police (themselves under attack from the MAGAmob four years earlier).

Green did not resist and walked out of the room as Republicans chanted in unison, "Na-nah, na-na-nah-na ... goodbye!” The donkeys did not bray or sing back “Let’s Stay Together” but some members of the Congressional Black Caucus preferred to further disrupt the censure by warbling “We Shall Overcome”.

Ten Democrats joined Republicans in voting to censure the loudmouth; Green himself voted "present," along with first-term Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala. The backstabbing donkeys were Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif.; Ed Case, D-Hawaii; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; Laura Gillen, D-N.Y.; Jim Himes, D-Conn.; Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.; and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.

Republican support was unanimous... the resolution by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wa), prevailing over competing censure proponent Troy Nehls (R-Tx). Newhouse told Fox News Digital after the vote: "President Trump’s address to Congress was not a debate or a forum; he was invited by the speaker to outline his agenda for the American people. The actions by my colleague from Texas broke the rules of decorum in the House, and he must be held accountable.”

"Despite my repeated warnings, he refused to cease his antics, and I was forced to remove him from the chamber," Johnson posted on X. "He deliberately violated House rules, and an expeditious vote of censure is an appropriate remedy. Any Democrat who is concerned about regaining the trust and respect of the American people should join House Republicans in this effort."

Green, who shook Newhouse's hand before speaking out during debate on his own censure, stood by his actions on Wednesday.

"I heard the speaker when he said that I should cease. I did not, and I did not with intentionality. It was not done out of a burst of emotion," Green said.

"I think that on some questions, questions of conscience, you have to be willing to suffer the consequences. And I have said I will. I will suffer whatever the consequences are, because I don't believe that in the richest country in the world, people should be without good healthcare."

In fact, there are no consequences to censure except as an expression of disapproval which the censured often wear as a badge of honor.

After the vote, as the resolution required of him, Green stood in the well of the House chamber while Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the censure resolution to him. (NBC#)

While the CBC was singing "We Shall Overcome", Republicans in the chamber yelled, "Order! Order!" while two CBC members, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, shot back: “Shame on you!"

Democrats ignored the speaker's request, and Johnson then recessed the House.

Dissatisfied with their weak revenge and retribution against the censurecrat, the far-right House Freedom Caucus, who had been racing to introduce their own resolution to censure Green, said after the vote its members plan to roll out another resolution seeking to remove Green from the House Financial Services Committee. The group said on X it expects Johnson to bring the resolution to the floor next week.

The last two House members to be censured, NBC noted, were another progressive Black Caucus member, then-Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y who, on Dec. 7, 2023, was censured for pulling a fire alarm and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian from Michigan censured for comments she made about the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.

The last Republican censured was Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar in 2021 after he posted an animated video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking President Joe Biden.

While Republicans were united in their outrage, Fox contended that Green’s interruption only deepened the division between moderate Democrats “a part of leadership or more aligned with the establishment” (Fox, #) and progressives.

Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., told Axios he believed the outbursts were "inappropriate."

"When a president — my president, your president — is speaking, we don't interrupt, we don't pull those stunts," he said... but did not vote for censure.

"People are pissed at leadership too," one senior House Democrat told Axios. "Everyone is mad at everyone."

Instead of shouting down the President, many of the disloyal opposition simply held up signs on paddles or wore statementslike-ish clothes.

On the Senatorial side, an increasingly Trumpish Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., took to X to condemn the "sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance."

"It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained," he wrote of the Democrats' outbursts. "We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to – and it may not be the winning message."

"I don't think that's the way forward," Fetterman added to Axios.

Fox (Thursday, #) interviewed "Jesse Watters Primetime" producer Johnny Belisario, who traveled to Capitol Hill to track down Democratic lawmakers and ask why they refused to stand and clap for the nonpartisan moments in the address.

"You didn't stand up for anything," Belisario noted to New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

"The president got before the American people and didn’t talk about how he could drive down grocery prices," Booker responded.

When Foxie Madison Colonbo asked why she didn’t applaud for certain guests at the speech, including the mother of slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren refused to answer.

"I did clap, when he said that the United States has supported Ukraine," Warren said.

However, when pressed on why she did not clap for Riley’s mother, she declined to respond.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman acknowledged that some Democratic protests during the speech may not have been well-received.

"I don’t think that was the best look for our party last night," he admitted.

Even late-night host Stephen Colbert, whose show often aligns with liberal viewpoints, mocked the paddle protest, holding up his own sign that read, "Try doing something."

GUK’s Robert Tait reported that the Democratic resistance was chaotic and as diverse as a gathering at Columbia University... walkouts, costumes, placards that were disparagingly compared to bingo signs by one normally sympathetic commentator, Symne Sanders-Townsend, a host on the MSNBC channel.

“Why are democrats just sitting there? The signs are not landing. It is giving bingo! Sigh,” she posted on X.

“Why are we fighting with Greenland?” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, (D-Tx), asked Adam Mockler of the progressive MeidasTouch Network. “We’re fighting with Canada, we’re fighting with Mexico, yet we’re in love with Putin? What is happening? This is not America. This is a terrible nightmare. Somebody slap me and wake me the fuck up because I’m ready to get on with it.”

While Crockett called Trump “psychotic”, Time’s Elliott (sort of) hailed Donnie as a fighter for humanity against the living dead (i.e. old people) – citing the Presidential premise for making cuts to Social Security, a program he cast as ripe with fraudulent payments to zombies. (#)

“Over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are aged over 160 years old,” Trump asserted. He then added there are 1,041 people over the age of 220. The claims have been thoroughly debunked, with even his own Social Security chief explaining it is a misreading of an ancient federal database, one that could cost $9 million to update, and none of those “people” were getting monthly checks.

But facts were not the point in the speech. This was a night entirely about feelings, and many of Trump’s promises sounded good to his ear with him at the center of the circus.

There is strategy lurking beneath the weirdness. If cruelty was the point of the first Trump term, then chaos is the thesis of the second. “For the last six weeks,” Elliott opined, “Americans have been yanked and ghosted, lurched and launched with a merciless urgency.

“Nothing has been beyond Trump’s boorish reach,” he added, “not even a Kennedy Center musical about a shark who befriends would-be prey or, briefly, the building that houses the American Red Cross.”

And the weirdness dances on, onwards into spring.

House Speaker Mike Johnson's chief of staff, Hayden Haynes, was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence after President Trump’s address.

Asked to confirm the report, U.S. Capitol Police said a driver backed into a parked vehicle near the Capitol around 11:40 p.m. and was taken into custody.

"We responded and arrested them for DUI," police said in a statement, which did not identify the driver. (CBS #)

Haynes has been a longtime aide to Johnson, serving as his chief of staff since 2017 and as his campaign manager in 2016. "The Speaker is aware of the encounter that occurred last night involving his Chief of Staff and the Capitol Police,” spake spokesperson Taylor Haulsee. “The Speaker has known and worked closely with Hayden for nearly a decade and trusted him to serve as his Chief of Staff for his entire tenure in Congress.”

But perhaps not to drive him home from a Trump after-party.

Worse than driving drunk, a Democrat... former Houston mayor and newly sworn-in Sylvester Turner... was taken to the hospital after enduring the speech and was later released, but, reported the Wall Street Journal (#) died at his home early Wednesday morning from “enduring health complications,” giving new meaning to Ms. Jacques contention that “Trump slays Democrats.”

Some liberals and Democratic-aligned organizations... many of whom will directly or indirectly be facing Elon’s chainsaw massacre, are choosing another tactic: litigation. Not surprisingly, many of these lawsuits are about money

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is suing the Trump administration for denying it access to nearly $240 million in congressionally approved funding. The suit, which was filed Wednesday night in federal district court in the District of the Columbia, is the latest in which an organization has sued the government for refusing to release money already approved by Congress.

The NED, created by Ronald Reagan in 1983 with bipartisan concurrence, supports everything from democracy activists in Hong Kong to independent press coverage of Iran.

One of those named in NED’s suit was SecState Rubio, who is a former board member of the International Republican Institute, which receives funding from the NED. In 2017, Rubio thanked the Endowment for its work to "advance the cause of freedom and carry out the vision President Reagan articulated those many years ago."

By holding up funding for the NED and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Trump administration is now making moves that would dismantle that infrastructure. (NPR #)

While the NED has enjoyed decades of support on both sides of the aisle, it does have critics.

The Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank previously run by Vought, has called the NED a "partisan political weapon" that meddles in the internal affairs of other countries and creates turmoil. Chinese Communist Party leaders have accused the NED of trying to destabilize the country by supporting Tibetan, Uyghur and Hong Kong human rights activists.

Former Republican congressman and current NED Chair Peter Roskam said that the biggest beneficiaries from the Trump administration's funding halt were authoritarian leaders from Moscow to Havana.

"The best way to challenge tyrants is to empower their citizens," Roskam wrote in the National Review. "That's exactly what NED does."

THE PARTISANS REACT in VOICE, PRINT and PIXELS

Democrats

X62 X62 FROM NBC

Even as Sen. Elissa Slotkin was winding up her rebuttal to THE SPEECH (See Attachment “#D”), NBC was profiling the rebutter-er as “one of the Democratic Party’s few bright spots last year” — a moderate, opposed to the progressive left, who won an open seat by less than a percentage point in Michigan, a state that Kamala Harris lost who could both criticize Trump for “trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends” while also alleging that Ronald Reagan would be “rolling in his grave” over 47’s preference for Putin over the Ukrainians.

“As a Cold War kid, I’m thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s,” she declaimed. “Trump would have lost us the Cold War.”

Republicans

60 cbs habba before 5:49 PM

As the Muskmelons were slashing at veterans’ services and benefits up to and including commencement of the SPEECH, Counselor to the president Alina Habba on Tuesday said veterans who were let go from their federal jobs "perhaps" are "not fit to have a job at this moment or are not willing to come to work."

“(T)he president has always cared about (a)nybody in blue, anybody that serves this country,” Habba said. (CBS, #) “But at the same time, we have taxpayer dollars, we have a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people that actually work."

Perhaps, she added, “they're not fit to have a job at this moment or are not willing to come to work. And we can't — you know, I wouldn't take money from you and pay somebody and say, 'Sorry, you know, they're not gonna come to work.' It's just not acceptable."

For Mr. Trump's joint address to Congress, Democratic Rep. Eric Sorenson of Illinois invited James Diaz, a disabled veteran who was laid off in February as a fuel compliance officer at the IRS.

"I've given my life to this country, and to be laid off without warning or respect is disheartening," Diaz said in a statement. "My notice of termination cited performance, and I know my performance was documented as excellent, yet we were treated like garbage. I understand the need to trim the fat, but you can't treat people this way."

THE MEDIA

RED LETTER DAZE

The Trumpaholic media was pounding the presses on Tuesday midnight, even before Slotkin finished her rebuttal and the partisan nightly news ghosts cheered their favorites and boo’ed their enemies.

At 10:52 AM (Attachment #), the 10:52 PM, three (New York) Post Toasties wrapped a rap on Djonald – blasting Dems for never applauding him even if he cures ‘devastating’ disease, roasting Biden on failed prosecutions and asking: ‘How’d that work out?’

The gladrag reported Trump’s complaints that there’s “absolutely nothing” he could do to get Democrats to applaud his addresses to Congress during his Tuesday night speech — and then lashed out at his predecessor Joe Biden for the Justice Department’s criminal prosecutions against him.

“This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,” he said.

(Well, resign, maybe... but that would leave America with President Vance. And beyond him, Speaker Mike, ol’ Chuck Grassley then, from the Cabinet, Rubio, Bessent and on and down to, finally, Kristi Noem.)

“I can find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history,” he continued, “or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”

Including, even, promoting the first American mission to Mars.

“We’ve ended weaponized government where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent like me,” Trump said before asking rhetorically, “How did that work out?”

And then, on the other side of midnight, another Post ghostwritten editorial by what was represented as the Entire Editorial Board (!!!) called THE SPEECH a tour de force; putting a “coherent and reassuring” frame on his insanely busy first weeks in office :even as he made viewers laugh and cry — finishing up with an inspiring crescendo from the successes of America’s past and present to his promised new Golden Age.” (12:24 AM, Attachment #)

All speech long, Trump offered common sense — two genders; hiring and promotion on merit; DOGE shutting down utter nonsense; a border closed without the bill that Democrats had insisted all year was the only possible solution; real prospects for peace with honor in Ukraine.

Democrats, on the other hand, “came off as hopelessly churlish, from Rep. Al Green’s indecorous ranting before his ejection to the pathetic round protest signs they held up all speech long to their insistence on sitting on their hands even for the most uplifting moments.”

“It was one speech on one night still early in his term, but Donald Trump did his cause and the nation’s as much good as he possibly could,” assuring America that “for all the sound, fury and (for many) confusion of the early going, he’s in total command and he has Americans dreaming”... not just dozing in their chairs.

X58 X58 FROM FOX

Eleven minutes earlier, a couple of Foxes waxed astronomical by contending that 47 “has been moving at warp speed since his Jan. 20 inauguration”, and using his Tuesday speech “to deliver a full-throated defense of his avalanche of activity.”

Snap polls from CNN (69% positive or very positive) and CBS (see Attachment #) both showed a high favorability rating for the President’s proposals... but carpers carped that the intended and affected audience would naturally have favored a preponderance of loyalists “because speech-watchers represent a small portion of the public, and they are usually much more likely to be from the president's own party, which is reflected in the poll results.”

CNN found disapproval of Al Green’s interruption reached 80%

Among the media, partisans more or less stuck to their guns on the process and policies of the speech... although the usually-centrist USA Today ran an editorial by Ingrid Jacques, who hailed Djonald UnChained as being “in control and confident”, and “slaying” (presumably figuratively except as above) the Democrats “who came off as unhinged and pathetic.” (USA Today #)

The liberal Guardian U.K. called the speech “a sordid campaign rally” but did acknowledge that the President “didn’t give a Nazi salute, declare war on Canada or pull the plug on NATO,” sneered David Smith early Wednesday morning (#)

“But this was a Trump rally with a difference, putting all the tensions and faultlines and sickness of the American body politic on full display. Half the chamber was made up of Democrats, forced to sit and have their noses rubbed in the dirt like Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at last week’s Oval Office shakedown.

“They looked grim, they looked glum, they looked as if they were reliving the 5 November election nightmare all over again. More than a dozen Democratic women wore pink in protest.” When Trump entered, the Democrat Melanie Stansbury held up a sign that said, “This is NOT Normal,” until the Republican Lance Gooden grabbed the sign out of her hand and tossed it in the air.

Rarely has the divide across the aisle been so bitter and glaring. It was hard to believe that, when Trump first stood on this spot eight years ago, he repeatedly called for unity, proclaiming: “We all bleed the same blood. We all salute the same great American flag. And we all are made by the same God.”

There was none of that in 2025. These are the days of miracles and thunder, of owning the libs and perhaps owning chunks of the world too. Trump described his own presidency as the most successful in history, beating George Washington into second, and Biden’s as the worst ever.

Then he whined: “I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realise there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud – nothing I can do... these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”

Poor unloved, unappreciated Donald! But as Speaker Johnson and vice-president JD Vance giggled like mischievous schoolboys, Republicans again stood to applaud and Democrats remained riveted to their seats in silence.

“Still Trump kept going, delivering a speech that somehow managed to be both menacing and boring at the same time, spending less than two minutes on inflation and prices, the issue that was arguably central to his election. At one point there was even a yawn on the Republican side from congresswoman Nancy Mace. People have been primaried for less.”

When it was over, however, Mace went up to him and gushed: “Best speech ever!” Greene was not far behind with: “Mr President, that was a great speech!” Other voices chimed in: “Home run!”, “Slam dunk!”, “You rocked it, Mr President.”

WHITE NIGHTS

From the Nation

The Nation

Project 2025 in the Original German

Project 2025 in the Original German: How Nazi family policies seem to be the model for Trump's abortion playbook.

Oct 30, 2024

Center

Halloween eve!

POLITICS / OCTOBER 30, 2024

Project 2025 in the Original German

How Nazi family policies seem to be the model for Trump’s abortion playbook.

REBECCA DONNER

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a Biden-Harris campaign and DNC press conference on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.(Jim Vondruska / Getty Images)

All fascist regimes seek to control women’s bodies.

As we careen toward the 2024 presidential election, let’s focus on one irrefutable fact: 13 states have banned abortion. This trend shows no sign of slowing down. Women who are victims of incest or rape can’t get an abortion in nine states. The Heritage Foundation supports even more extensive restrictions in Project 2025. Of course, control of reproductive choices was a central tenet of authoritarian regimes, including Mussolini’s Italy and Stalin’s Soviet Union. It was also one of the first pages of the Nazi playbook, constituting a conservative backlash to the significant gains women in Germany had made in education, employment, and sexual independence over the previous decade.

00:01

03:12

Four months after Hitler took power, women lost their reproductive rights. Abortion, which had been decriminalized in 1927—an era when pregnancy commonly endangered a woman’s life—was completely banned. The Nazi government reinstated an 1871 law that criminalized abortion.

Women’s clinics—which provided abortion services and birth control—were shut down.

Nineteen thousand women who held positions in regional and local government offices were abruptly fired. Women lawyers were barred from serving as judges or public prosecutors. Women physicians could no longer receive compensation from government-sponsored insurance plans. A new quota restricted the number of women who could attend a German university. In 1932—the year before Hitler took power—18,315 women were enrolled in German universities; in 1938 there were 5,447. The high school curriculum for girls was revamped to focus on cooking, cleaning, and mending. Kindersegen—women blessed with children—were celebrated as national heroines.

In an impassioned speech, Hitler criticized “women’s emancipation”: “We do not think it proper for woman to invade the world of man, to enter his territory; instead, we think it natural for these worlds to remain separate.” Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels echoed this idea in a speech of his own: “The first, best, and most suitable place for the woman is in the family, and her most glorious duty is to bear children.”

Current Issue

April 2025 Issue

Nazi policies encouraged a return to traditional gender roles by incentivizing women to abandon their careers. Under the terms of the 1933 Law for the Encouragement of Marriage, couples could receive a government loan of 1,000 Reichsmark if an employed wife quit her job. If she bore no children, the couple was required to pay back the full amount. If she gave birth to one baby, the couple received a credit of 250 Reichsmark; if she gave birth to two babies, 500 Reichsmark; if she gave birth to three, 750 Reichsmark. The entire loan was forgiven the day she had her fourth baby. Nazi propaganda fetishized the farmer’s wife as the feminine ideal. Images of young, blond women in peasant garb cradling babies proliferated in posters, magazines, and newspapers. “German men want real German women again,” asserted a 1933 Nazi handbook.

Abortion legislation in Nazi Germany unquestionably reflected a deeply misogynistic ideology. The pronatalist agenda underpinning the legislation was also unquestionably racist. Alarmed by the declining birth rate in Germany, Hitler and his lackeys believed that only “racially pure” women belonging to the so-called Aryan race should have babies. Abortion was permitted for Jews.

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Project 2025 calls for the implementation of a national surveillance program overseen by the US Department of Health and Human Services to track women in all 50 states who seek abortions. “HHS should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method.” Every state would also be required to submit data on spontaneous miscarriages, stillbirths, and induced abortions and “ensure that statistics are separated by category.” This language is alarmingly reminiscent of a mandate implemented by the Nazi regime in 1935, which required hospitals to submit detailed reports of every premature birth, miscarriage, and pregnancy termination. Gestapo files bulged with the names, addresses, and occupations of women suspected of aborting their fetuses, the dates of their procedures, and the instruments used to perform them.

In 1940, SS chief Heinrich Himmler was dismayed by a report that an estimated 600,000 illegal abortions were performed in Germany annually. Surveillance efforts intensified. Prison sentences lengthened. The 1943 Law on Protection of Marriage, Family, and Motherhood instituted the death penalty for doctors and anyone else who dared to perform an abortion. Still, women continued to terminate their pregnancies.

The same holds true in the United States today. In spite of abortion bans across the country, over 1 million abortions were performed in 2023, an increase of 11 percent since 2020.

While comparisons between Nazi Germany and the United States can yield facile and decidedly false analogies, there is sufficient reason for alarm. Fringe neofascists and mainstream Republicans share the belief that women should not have sovereignty over their own bodies. So does Project 2025’s coalition of 100 conservative organizations, which have united to support a massive expansion of presidential power. Trump brags that he will gut the Constitution if he is reelected president, and what was once unimaginable is very much upon us.

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Control of women’s reproductive choices is a bellwether of a more expansive assault on democracy. This is no time for complacency.

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BILL PRESS In

Project 2025: You can’t say Trump didn’t warn us

by Bill Press, opinion contributor - 03/11/25 7:30 AM ET

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Someday presidential historians will have a field day trying to decide what was the biggest lie Donald Trump told during his romp across the American political landscape. Their challenge will be to decide, out of tens of thousands of lies — 30,573 in his first term alone, according to the Washington Post — which was the biggest whopper?

Among the front-runners: He would have won the popular vote in 2016 if illegal votes hadn’t been counted. He didn’t know anything about Russian interference in the 2016 election. He didn’t know that fixer Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money. The crowd at his first inaugural was the biggest ever. His first-term marked the best economy in history. Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. And, of course, he won the 2020 election.

None of which is true. But none of them tops the lie that’s most relevant today: that he knew nothing about Project 2025. That lie alone is worthy of four Pinocchios.

Project 2025 is the 922-page blueprint for a second Trump administration prepared by the conservative Heritage Foundation and published in April 2023. As soon as it was made public, however, then-candidate Trump tried to distance himself from it. “I know nothing about Project 2025,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social network last July. “I have no idea who is behind it.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire! Trump’s professed innocence is manifestly false. He was in on Project 2025 from the start. At a 2022 Heritage Foundation dinner, Trump thanked the organization for preparing the report, saying it was “going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do…when the American people give us a colossal mandate.” And he knew well the people behind it.

CNN identified at least 140 authors and contributors to Project 2025 who had worked in the first Trump administration, including six of his Cabinet secretaries. Christopher Miller, acting Defense secretary for the last month of Trump’s first term, wrote the report’s chapter on defense. Deputy White House Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, former OMB director Russ Vought and top Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli, among others, wrote chapters. In essence, Project 2025 consisted of officials of Trump One, with Trump’s full blessing, laying out the road map for Trump Two.

Up Next - Trump: We're 'not going to bend' on tariffs

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And that’s exactly what we’re seeing today. The moment Trump was sworn in, Project 2025 kicked into high gear. Time magazine reported that two-thirds of the executive orders signed by Trump in his first week mirrored or partially mirrored proposals from Project 2025. Not only that, but Trump has also facilitated Project 2025’s implementation by naming scores of its contributors to top positions in his administration, including OMB Director Russell Vought, FCC Chair Brendan Carr, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

They wrote Project 2025. Now they and President Trump are carrying it out. In fact, I’d bet that somewhere near the Oval Office there’s a white board with a list of all the recommendations contained in Project 2025 — and every time President Trump signs another executive order, Stephen Miller picks up his Sharpie and adds another checkmark on the board. He’s been busy so far.

In the last month, actions taken or proposed by President Trump right out of the pages of Project 2025 include: Sending troops to the border. Check. Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization. Check. Shutting down the Department of Education. Check. Gutting the Environmental Protection Agency. Check. Getting rid of any program promoting diversity, equality or inclusion. Check. Eliminating the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Check. Imposing tariffs on major trading partners. Check.

Overall, Trump’s actions have followed the three most important recommendations of Project 2025. First, that a new president must move fast; in his first month, Trump signed close to 100 executive orders. Second, that a president must expand the powers of the presidency; Trump declared that Article Two of the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” Three, that a president must have the “boldness to break the bureaucracy” by firing career civil servants who are not MAGA loyalists; as of Feb. 25, Trump had already fired about 30,000 federal employees.

Trump hit the ground running — but only because the Project 2025 team wrote it all out for him. And Democrats can only sigh and say: “I told you so.”

BLUE MOVIES

After the SPEECH came the party, the pressbites and boastings. “We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started,” he said, with Vice President JD Vance and House speaker Mike Johnson behind him on the dais, and his near-constant companion and adviser Elon Musk in the gallery above. (Huffington Post, March 5^th, # Attachment @)

Posties allege that Trump lied about the state of the economy on the day of his return to office: “We inherited from the previous administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”

He blamed the current price of eggs on the former president, lied about absurdly old people on the Social Security rolls: “1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159” and all those new auto plants as are “opening up all over the place.”

He lied about how the United States has spent $350 billion to support Ukraine to fight Russia compared to $100 million from western Europe, even though the actual numbers are $204 billion from Europe and $183 billion from the United States -

An hour later, the Post (Huffy) singled out Five Takeaways from the President’s joint speech to congress

Trump broke the record for the longest such speech in history, clocking in at 1 hour and 40 minutes. To be fair, though, it only felt like 15 hours and, an hour after Attachment #, the Huffers cited a few of the other important things he said that, in another world, would be full news cycles of their own.

DONALD TRUMP, HIMSELF

Let’s tiptoe through a few other important tulips: he said that, in another world, would be full news cycles of their own...

ELON MUSK

HOWARD LUTNICK

RICHARD HUDSON

“EAGLE” ED MARTIN

TROLLER-IN-CHIEF

When Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, he assumed one of his favorite roles: Troller in Chief. (Time, Attachment #)

He was twisting the knife into a Democratic Party that has struggled to find its footing in Trump 2.0. “America is back!” he said at the beginning. “We’re just getting started.” To half the chamber, it surely sounded like a threat.

Throughout the evening, Trump needled Democrats on everything from his first six weeks in office to his electoral victory in November. He spoke of his “swift and unrelenting action” since taking office, including imposing stiff tariffs, signing boundary-pushing executive orders, cutting off aid to Ukraine, and letting billionaire Elon Musk loose to slash government spending. Trump berated his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for the woes bedeviling the country. He openly mocked his rivals, calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahantas.” And he relished reclaiming the White House in the face of four criminal indictments. “How did that work out?” he asked Democrats.

It was both a form of ridicule and strategy. Trump, still smarting from the resistance he faced in his first term, plainly likes to taunt his adversaries, especially after vanquishing them. But Trump’s rhetoric was also an attempt to depict the Democrats as obstructionists, signalling to the nation that he’s confronting them on behalf of his agenda.

Democrats helped make his point – Green, of course, but the placards and fashions also drew contempt from liberals opposed to the Carvillian “roll over and play dead” because these creatures – well, they weren’t playing.

POLLERS-in-CHIEF

A CBS News survey found that 76% of viewers, who were primarily Republican, approved of Trump’s speech, citing his focus on reducing government waste, imposing tariffs, and securing the border.

When asked about the survey results, Schiff remained skeptical.

"I don’t know what speech they were watching…it really wasn’t worth watching," he said.

Begin excerpts (before ny

@ See, also, these (New York) Timepieces from Thursday *reverse)

March 6, 2025, 10:50 p.m. ETMarch 6, 2025

Eileen Sullivan

Reporting from Washington

Immigration judges and court staff take payout offers to leave.

March 6, 2025, 9:56 p.m. ETMarch 6, 2025

Chris Cameron and Rebecca Davis O’Brien

A judge reinstated a labor board member fired by Trump.

March 6, 2025, 8:58 p.m. ETMarch 6, 2025

David Yaffe-Bellany

Trump signs an order to create a ‘crypto reserve.’

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to create a national stockpile of Bitcoin and other digital currencies, an audacious idea that has been widely criticized as a scheme to enrich crypto investors.

Trump’s tariffs by whim are keeping allies and markets off balance.

On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick went on Fox Business to reassure nervous allies and even more twitchy investors that the Trump administration was negotiating a deal to avoid tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, and that the president is “gonna work something out with them.”

Elon Musk proposed privatizing Amtrak, calling it ‘sad.’

Almost since Amtrak’s creation in 1971, the 21,000-mile U.S. intercity passenger rail service has been fighting calls that it should be privatized.

Now it may have met one of its most aggressive and powerful skeptics yet.

Strange praise from a strange quarter

While I can't say much for how Democrats behaved during Trump's speech, scoffed USA Today’s right-wing editorialist Ingrid Jacques (# above), Democratic congressional leaders were smart to choose newly elected Sen. Elissa Slotkin from Michigan to give the rebuttal to Trump.

Slotkin narrowly defeated Republican candidate former Rep. Mike Rogers by outperforming Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris. “She has an ability to appeal to a broad base of voters and comes across as a moderate, and that's what she did following Trump's speech.”

“I personally think that identity politics needs to go the way of the dodo,” Slotkin told NBC News after her victory last year. “People need to be looked at as independent Americans.”

I’m not sure how independent Slotkin actually is in practice, Jacques opined, but it’s still a refreshing message “and one that her fellow Democrats should take to heart, especially given their petty performance Tuesday night.”

@organize excerpts

1 text

2 npr

B CNN edit

C pbs

D slot

E nyt

f aj 1

g aj 2

h aj 3

	Our Lesson: March 3 through March 9, 2025
Thursday, March 6, 2025 Dow: 43,239.60	President Trump procures a panoply of pivots – postponing tariffs on autos, first, then other things from Canada and Mexico until April 2^nd. He does not admit influence from investors, saying “I’m not looking at the markets. While he eases off, DOGE keeps on trucking; cutting employees at the VA and NIH despite objections from lawyers, even some Republicans – next: privatizing the post office and Amtrack. When issues arise between Doge and the cabinet, Djonald comes down on the side of his cabinet, warning Elon that the cuts should be made with a scalpel, not a chainsaw. More guff for Musk: personality polls put him in the red at 34 to 49% and the latest Space X rocket explodes. Rockfans who missed the Fyre Festival (featuring no shows and putting the organizer in prison for fraud) get another chance as Fyre Two is announced. Octomom’s octuplets finally meet the press. Mom says “I wanted one more, not eight.”
Friday, March 7, 2025 Dow: 43,840.91	With tariffs on hold, Trump turns his attention to revenge and retribution against Hillary’s law firm and drawing up lists of consulates to be closed. He collects a few more pocket clowns – Go. Newsome (D-Ca) joins in his war on trannies by banning male athletes in women’s sports. More of his tariffs and personnel firings ride the roller coaster as Trump now wants to put a 250% tariff on Canadian imports and the lawyers are gathering. On the private side, Idaho killer Kohberger says he wants to claim autism as a defense, Adnan Syed released after 20 years for killing girlfriend and cellies Diddy and Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly enjoying bromance. Coroners determine that Gene Hackman wandered about for a week after his wife died of hantivirus (caused by mice) until he died in the Mud Room. Dolly Parton’s tribute to her late husband is “If You Hadn’t been There” while Lady Gaga releases a new album “Mayhem” and goes on SNL while Ringo will do a country concert in Nashville. Harry Styles will do 35 shows at the Sphere in Vegas.
Saturday, March 8, 2025 Dow: Closed	Labor divides over tariffs. UAW Shawn Fain, a big Harris supporter, switches to Trump because tariffs on foreign automakers will increase domestic sales, and jobs. But Canadian lumber tariffs are crushing the construction industry, builders say housing prices will go up. Fed Chair Powell says the U.S. economy is still “in a good place.” Parents and experts say that closing the Dept. of Education will cut school budgets being devolved to the states with cuts of as high as 14%. Especially impacted will students with disabilities, the poor and homeless and non-English speakers. Florida police declare war on spring breakers despite complaints from bartenders – mass arrests for drinking on the beach and violating curfews. Gov. DeSantis says “we cannot have chaos, madness and mayhem. Lady Gaga objects. Daylight Savings begins at 2 AM Sunday and objections are rising. Politicians promote a “Sunshine Protection Act to lock the clocks... doctors say the change will disrupt sleep and kill people.
Sunday, March 9, 2025 Dow: Closed	Wildfires spring up in the ritzy Hamptons on Long Island as those in California are contained. Talkshows feature maverick Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa) who says that Democratic opposition to Trump speech is “a cavalcade of petulance”. Trump cabinet curiosities @ Lutnick and @ Hassett explicate on tariffs with moderate Lutnick predicting more carve-outs while loyal Hasett... bearing a resemblance to the Jardiance turtle... says that the tariffs are not about a trade war but about a drug war. Canada only contributed forty pounds of fentanyl across the border (all year!) but no matter... the Drug War is on. Democrat Schiff says that the tariffs are chaotic and destructive while ABC host Jonathan Karl shows a video of Clintonian “Snake” Carville saying the best things that Dems can do is “roll over and play dead” and let Trump 2.0 self-destruct. Among the Round Tablers, Faiz Shafur compares Trump/Musk to Homer Simpson while former RNC chair Reince suggests that elephants should “act like ninjas”. Former DNC chair Brazile says the battle is already in the courts, while opinionator Sara Isgur says that Trump may lose a few key hard-right basers because he’s not cutting entitlements fast enough. Kristi Noem calls Canada her dog for having to appoint a fentanyl czar and praises Donnie for deporting 70 terrorists and 280 gang members.
Monday, March 10, 2025 Dow: 41,911.71	National Sleep Week begins and the Dow dreams of better days – losing nine hundred points while NASDAQ drops four percent after China begins its retaliatory tariffs on American farmers and President Trump declines to rule out a recession. The 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum begin tomorrow and ahead... a shutdown? Mark Zandi of Moody’s says that if they last, “recession is unavoidable.” Canada’s liberal party chooses Mark Carney to replace Trudau – he’s a banker who foresees “dark days” ahead. Roman doctors say the Pope is out of danger and the Long Island wildfires are contained, but the toxic smoke remains. More toxicity occurs as a Portuguese ship carrying alcohol and cyanide crashes into a US Navy jet fuel carrier, creating a massive fire on the coast off Grimsby Fish Market. A strange affair, that!
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 Dow: 42,520.99	Stocks continue falling – Tesla is down 15% as Musk calls entitlements the key to solvency. Trump promises to help him out by buying a brand new Tesla. Musk calls Sen. Kelly (D-Az) a traitor for supporting Ukraine as vandals start hitting dealership and even random cars on the street. Ukraine launches its own drone strikes on Russia closing three airports in Moscow as Uke and US representatives rassle in Saudi Arabia. SecState Marco says Russia should get territory in any deal (and the slaves that live on the conquered territory). To fend off confiscation, Tik Tok rolls out new apps for parental control of kids’ social media use. There are now four competitors ready to buy it for a price estimated at $100 - $200 billion. FDA races to ban generic weight loss drugs whose profits are soaring... consumers are blaming Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are accused of gouging customers and killing patients.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Dow: 43,006.59
@

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN. Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation. (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES		(60%)
CATEGORY	VALUE	BASE	RESULTS by PERCENTAGE			SCORE		OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS
INCOME	(24%)	6/17/13 revised 1/1/22	LAST	CHANGE	NEXT	LAST WEEK	THIS WEEK	THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...
Wages (hrly. Per cap)	9%	1350 points	2/27/25	+0.72%	3/25	1,558.65	1,558.65	https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages 30.84 .89
Median Inc. (yearly)	4%	600	2/27/25	+0.064%	3/13/25	739.64	740.12	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 43,459 484
Unempl. (BLS – in mi)	4%	600	2/27/25	+2.5%	3/25	570.29	570.29	http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/ 4.0 .1
Official (DC – in mi)	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.17%	3/13/25	231.05	230.65	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 6,990 7,270
Unofficl. (DC – in mi)	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.47%	3/13/25	250.01	251.18	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 12,794 15,079
Workforce Participation Number Percent	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.007% -0.0045%	3/13/25	299.35	299.34	In 161,759 3,387 Out 101,190 2,565 Total: 262,949 61.517
WP % (ycharts)*	1%	150	2/27/25	+0.16%	3/25	151.19	151.19	https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 62.60 .40
OUTGO	(15%)
Total Inflation	7%	1050	2/27/25	+0.5%	3/25	944.32	944.32	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.5 .2
Food	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.4%	3/25	268.64	268.64	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.4 .2
Gasoline	2%	300	2/27/25	+1.8%	3/25	236.15	236.15	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +1.8 -1.0
Medical Costs	2%	300	2/27/25	0.0%	3/25	284.53	284.53	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.0 .3
Shelter	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.4%	3/25	256.38	256.38	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.4 .3
WEALTH
*Dow* Jones Index	2%	300	2/27/25	-0.98%	3/13/25	358.11	354.59	https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/ 43,006.59
Home (Sales) (Valuation)	1% 1%	150 150	2/27/25	-3.77% -1.85%	3/25	123.25 281.21	123.25 281.21	https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics Sales (M): 4.08 Valuations (K): 396.9
Debt (Personal)	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.036%	3/13/25	265.48	265.39	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 75,613 130

GOVERNMENT	(10%)
Revenue (trilns.)	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.18%	3/13/25	429.47	430.24	debtclock.org/ 5,048 055
Expenditures (tr.)	2%	300	2/27/25	+2.16%	3/13/25	286.67	292.85	debtclock.org/ 7,053 061
National Debt tr.)	3%	450	2/27/25	+0.17%	3/13/25	368.32	367.69	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 36,563 592
Aggregate Debt (tr.)	3%	450	2/27/25	+0.16%	3/13/25	387.81	387.18	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 102,331 2,474

TRADE	(5%)
Foreign Debt (tr.)	2%	300	2/27/25	+0.23%	3/13/25	277.94	277.30	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 8,724 629
Exports (in billions)	1%	150	2/27/25	-1.22%	3/25	169.58	167.51	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 269.8
Imports (in billions))	1%	150	2/27/25	+9.05%	“	149.45	135.93	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 401.2
Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)	1%	150	2/27/25	-25.11%	“	214.48	160.62	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 131.4

SOCIAL INDICES		(40%)
ACTS of MAN	(12%)
World Affairs	3%	450	2/27/25	-0.1%	3/13/25	475.94	475.46	Incoming Canadian candidate Carney says tariffs wars were like hockey: Canada will win. Syrian pro-Hamas regime cuts deal with Kurds to join in fighting Assad loyalists.
War and terrorism	2%	300	2/27/25	-0.2%	3/13/25	289.61	289.03	Israelis cut off electricity and water to Gaza as Hamas dithers on Phase Two. Ukraine reciprocates by launching drone attacks on Moscow.
Politics	3%	450	2/27/25	-0.4%	3/13/25	476.61	474.70	Trump shows his support of Musk by buying a new, red Tesla. Musk calls Sen. Kelly (R-Az) a traitor for supporting Ukraine.
Economics	3%	450	2/27/25	-0.1%	3/13/25	442.31	441.86	Mark Zandi of Moody’s says tariffs will lead to recession. Atlanta Fed reports GDP is down 2.8%. Investors say they are used to uncertainty “but this is a mess.”
Crime	1%	150	2/27/25	-0.1%	3/13/25	217.94	217.72	New York fires 2,000 striking prison guards – mayhem ensues. InfoWars reporter killed in Austin.
ACTS of GOD	(6%)
Environment/Weather	3%	450	2/27/25	-0.1%	3/13/25	370.84	370.47	*Deadly storms cause chaos in Midwest; South heats up and Hamptons really* heats up.**
Disasters	3%	450	2/27/25	nc	3/13/25	414.06	414.06	Plane crashes in retirement home parking lot, no fatalities. Indiana woman survives six days after crashing into ravine. School bus crash injures fifteen in New Jersey. Woman drowned in Georgia lake, another missing on Dominican beach. Long Island fires contained, investigators say it was caused by people cooking Smores.
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX		(15%)
Science, Tech, Education	4%	600	2/27/25	+0.2%	3/13/25	614.62	615.85	NTSB and FAA quarrelling over ban on helicopters near some airports. INS rounding up Palestinians who demonstrate at Columbia U. Tik Tok rolls out new apps to extend parental control of kids and fend off prohibition.
Equality (econ/social)	4%	600	2/27/25	+0.1%	3/13/25	658.50	659.16	Rump’s DEI police ban use of the word Enola Gay to describe WW2 nuke plane.
Health	4%	600	2/27/25	-0.1%	3/13/25	437.26	436.82	TV docs say Slushies KILL, so drink Smoothies. Roman doctors say that the Pope is out of danger. FDA moves to ben generic weight loss drugs so poor people have to remain fat. PBMs (Pharmacy Benefit Managers) accused of gouging sick people.
Freedom and Justice	3%	450	2/27/25	-0.1%	3/13/25	483.56	483.08	International Criminal Court indicts ex-Philippine Pres. Duterte. Tupac killer says he was framed. South Carolina executes killer by firing squad, New California DA says Menendez Bros. must stay in jail.
CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS			(6%)
Cultural incidents	3%	450	2/27/25	+0.1%	3/13/25	552.49	553.04	“Mickey 17” tops box office but still loses money. Rapper DoeChii named Billboard’s Woman of the Year. @ NCAA conference finales feature buzzer beaters and upsets – next up comes March Madness. RIP: NBS star and billionaire Junior Bridgeman
Misc. incidents	4%	450	2/27/25	+0.1%	3/13/25	534.51	535.04	It’s National Sleep Week and Wednesday is National Girl Scout Day. King Charles names his favorite musicians: Bob Marley and Beyonce. Danish art exhibition’s starving pigs stolen.

The Don Jones Index for the week of March 6^th through March 12^th, 2025 was DOWN 68.04 points

The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator. The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.

Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.

ATTACHMENT “B” – FROM CNN

TRUMP’S 2025 JOINT SESSION ADDRESS, FACT CHECKED AND ANNOTATED

By Zachary B. Wolf and Curt Merrill, CNN Published March 5, 2025

Americans are reeling from the early weeks of Trump 2.0, and President Donald Trump got a prime-time chance to explain the fast and furious start to his return to power in an address to a joint session of Congress.

He made the case for the trade wars he’s started with Canada and Mexico, defended his effort with Elon Musk to downsize and remake American government, and faced loud opposition and heckling from Democrats, one of whom was removed from the chamber.

Read Trump’s speech, annotated with context and fact checks, below.

What did Trump spend time talking about?

Domestic policy