- Thursday March 13th, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
My son has narrated the last book I wrote.Please consider listening to it and encouraging others to do so too.(Click HERE)
World & Nation
Trump Threatens 200 Percent Wine Tariff on EU Imports: We Will Win
President Donald Trump has hit back at the European Union, which he
claimed was "screwing" the U.S. after saying Thursday that he would put
a 200% wine tariff on all wines and other alcoholic products coming out
of the EU if the bloc did not remove its tariff on whiskey.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that it will impose counter
tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of U.S. goods from next
month, ramping up a global trade war in response to blanket U.S.
tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Taking to social media Thursday, Trump slammed the EU.
Grenell: Venezuela Will Resume Flights to Collect Migrants
Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to collect citizens who have
entered the United States illegally, according to Ric Grenell,
President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions.
"I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights
to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered
the U.S. illegally," Grenell said on X Thursday. "The flights will
resume Friday."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said last Saturday that the flights
to bring migrants back from the United States were affected when Trump
canceled a license that allowed Chevron to continue to operate in his
country, citing a lack of progress on migrant returns and electoral
reforms, reported Reuters.
Tom Homan warns major sanctuary state will ‘get exactly what they don’t want’
'This is an attack on immigration enforcement, that’s plain what it is,' said Homan
While on a visit to the New York state Capitol, President Donald
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan warned migrant "sanctuary" jurisdictions
to "get out of the way" or they will "get exactly what they don’t want,
more ICE agents in your community."
New York state law restricts local and state law enforcement agencies
from complying with ICE detainers or holding illegal immigrants solely
based on their immigration status. Another policy, known as the "Green
Light Law," allows illegal immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses valid
in the state of New York.
Surrounded by Republican state lawmakers in the state Capitol building,
Homan renewed his promise to deport "the worst first" and decried
non-cooperation policies such as New York’s, saying that they pose a
threat to federal agents and communities.
Polish President Duda Calls on US to Place Nuclear Weapons in Poland
Poland's President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to
deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest
indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering
nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow.
Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published
on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in
2022.
Duda's adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed
up on Duda's appeal with an interview on Poland's RMF FM radio Thursday
morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve
security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliance's eastern flank
that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of
Kaliningrad.
'Retaliation!' GOP lawmaker lashes out after she's censured for 'reprehensible' post
A GOP state representative in Maine is suing the state's House Speaker
and other Democrats, accusing them of violating her rights under the
First Amendment and the Equal Protection, Due Process, and Guarantee
Clauses, when they prohibited her from speaking or voting on the floor
of the legislature, CNN reported.
That resolution was passed after Rep. Laurel Libby, who opposes the
state's policy of allowing transgender athletes to participate in the
sports league of their gender identity, "posted on social media to draw
attention to the Maine high school girls’ indoor track and field state
championship, where a student who competed as a boy last year but now
identifies as transgender took first place in girls’ pole vault. That
first-place finish propelled the student’s team to win the championship
by a single point."
In response, the Maine House of Representatives, which has a Democratic
majority, voted on party lines to declare her post “reprehensible” and
“incompatible with her duty and responsibilities as a member of the
House.”
Karoline Leavitt issues 2-word warning to Canada if they 'think about' cutting electricity
Karoline Leavitt issued a two-word warning of "grave consequences" for
Canada if they shut off electricity to millions of Americans.
Her message came amid the escalating trade war between the U.S. and
Canada, with Donald Trump declaring a 50% tariff on Canadian aluminum
and steel starting Monday, a significant increase from the initially
proposed tariffs.
Speaking to reporters at a tense press conference on Tuesday, the White
House spokesperson said: "There would be grave consequences imposed on
Canada if they think about shutting off electricity for the United
States of America and our citizens."
NATO warned that Russia could 'collapse it' with chilling map showing weakness
A leading voice on the Defence Select Committee, Mike Martin MP, who
also shares his expertise on the National Security Strategy Joint
Committee, has issued a stark warning that Russia has the potential to
"collapse NATO" - for whom Vladimir Putin is said to have sinister
plans and which, according to a NATO commander, could bring "rape and
massacre" - and bring "humiliation" upon the UK by making a shrewd
strategic maneuver.
The MP for Tunbridge Wells acknowledged an emerging "ambivalence" from
America towards European security — a sentiment allowing Russia the
chance to "test Article 5," the core NATO principle, stating that an
attack on one ally is an attack on all.
Writing his thoughts on X, he pointed out that European nations, with
the exception of the UK, are coming to terms with the fact that "It is
clearly accepted by the European powers (but not the UK, yet) that
America is not interested in European security anymore, and probably
wouldn't respond to a testing of Article 5."
He elaborated on his stance, suggesting that "if Article 5 doesn't work
anymore, because the Americans don't support it, and the Europeans
can't fight without America, then Russia would be sensible to try and
test that premise."
Putin's fury at Trump's ceasefire deal for Ukraine
Russian lawmakers this morning said Vladimir Putin would be wary of
agreeing to a US-Ukraine proposed ceasefire deal at a time when his
army is making gains on the battlefield as Russian forces continue to
beat back Kyiv's troops in Kursk. Ukraine's army launched a lightning
offensive into the Russian border region last August, seizing a chunk
of land that Volodymyr Zelensky hoped to use as leverage in ceasefire
negotiations.
But the incursion force has sustained significant losses in recent
weeks with Russian troops taking back several settlements, including
most of the town of Sudzha. Footage emerged this morning of Moscow's
soldiers flying the tricolour in Sovetsyaka Square in central Sudzha as
other clips emerged purporting to show fleeing Ukrainian vehicles being
targeted by Russian drones. 'Our troops are successfully advancing in
the Kursk Region, liberating areas that were under the control of the
militants. The dynamic is good,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told
reporters today.
Inside 'Snow White' movie nightmare as Disney 'doesn't know what to do' with outspoken star Rachel Zegler
Rachel Zegler won’t sing “Some Day My Prince Will Come” in Disney’s new live-action remake of “Snow White.”
This princess doesn’t need a man and will instead warble the girl-boss anthem “Waiting on a Wish.”
But given all the controversy around the movie, in theaters March 21, it might be a long wait.
White House pulls nomination of David Weldon as CDC director
The White House is pulling the nomination of Dave Weldon for Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Fox News Digital has
confirmed. Weldon was expected to have his confirmation hearing on
Thursday.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee
announced that it canceled its hearing in a statement on Thursday
morning. However, it confirmed that lawmakers would still vote on the
nominations of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for National Institutes of Health
(NIH) director and Dr. Marty Makary for Commissioner of the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration.
A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sep. 30, 2014. (REUTERS/Tami
Chappell)
"It became clear that the votes weren't there in the Senate for him to
get confirmed. This would have been a futile effort," a source familiar
with the nomination told Fox News Digital. However, there is no
official reason for pulling the nomination at this time.
Trump’s key signals amidst the noise
Trump’s done so much so quickly, it is easy to miss the most important strokes
President Trump’s most important moves among the many important moves
that he has made in his first two months in office are those that
restored the hard line he had taken towards China in his first term, a
very firm line that has quickly been put back in its place of defining
priority for our foreign policy and national security. Trump began with
his support at the Pentagon and in Congress for defense spending
re-focused for the Indo-Pacific region and with tariffs on imports from
the People’s Republic of China.
The tariff arguments with Mexico, Canada and the European Union can be
resolved over the negotiating table. But not so the competition between
the superpowers. That competition will hopefully never become an armed
conflict, but it would almost certainly have become one if American
indifference to the ambitions of the PRC continued.
The United States finally began to develop a strategy for containing
China’s global ambitions in the first Trump term. All of that effort
was wasted by a disastrous four years of a leaderless country during
the regency years of Joe Biden’s infirmity.
Trump is deworming Washington — now to keep the parasites out for good
Washington, DC, is riddled with parasites sucking the life out of our nation.
Time for a thorough deworming.
Jonathan Rauch, in a book by the same name, called it “demosclerosis.”
Mancur Olson, in his classic “The Rise and Decline of Nations,” called it a “web of special interests.”
I call it the “parasite class.”
