“A volcano in southwestern Iceland that has erupted repeatedly for more than a year again belched lava and smoke into the air on Tuesday, just hours after authorities evacuated the few remaining residents of a nearby fishing village. The eruption began at 9:45 a.m. local time (0945 GMT), triggering warning sirens in the town of Grindavik where webcams showed molten rock spewing toward the community. It had subsided by late afternoon, though the volcano was still active, Iceland’s Met Office said. Police and civil defense officials evacuated Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, after an early morning earthquake swarm suggested an eruption was imminent. The community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, was largely evacuated in November 2023 when the volcano came to life after lying dormant for some 800 years. About 40 homes were evacuated on Tuesday, though police reported that some residents refused to leave their homes.” (04/01/25)
“Everyone in politics is against waste, fraud and abuse … until they find themselves in a position to do something about it, then they go radio silent. They talk a good game, but that’s it. Action, in politics at least, is a difficult commodity to come by. Rather than waiting for everyone to agree, or even some from the other side to come on board, Republicans need to strike hard while they can and gut as much of the garbage in government as they can, starting with National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. Isn’t it odd how so many people get rich off taxpayer money? ” [editor’s note: Given that taxpayer support is only ONE PERCENT of “public airwaves” budgeting, it is hardly going to “kill” them, but the sentiment is correct – SAT] (04/01/25)
“Capitol Police arrested a staffer for Sen. Cory Booker who was carrying a gun Monday evening, as the New Jersey Democrat kicked off a marathon filibuster in the upper chamber. ‘Yesterday afternoon a Member of Congress led an IDed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building. Later that evening, outside the Senate Galleries, the IDed staff member — who is a retired law enforcement officer — told our officers he was armed,’ a rep for US Capitol Police said in a statement Tuesday. ‘The staff member, 59-year-old Kevin A. Batts of New Jersey, was arrested for Carrying a Pistol Without a License. All weapons are prohibited from Capitol Grounds, even if you are a retired law enforcement officer, or have a permit to carry in another state or the District of Columbia.'” (04/01/25)
“Top minds at the world’s largest atom smasher have released a blueprint for a much bigger successor that could vastly improve research into the remaining enigmas of physics. The plans for the Future Circular Collider — a nearly 91-kilometer (56.5-mile) loop along the French-Swiss border and below Lake Geneva — published late Monday put the finishing details on a project roughly a decade in the making at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The FCC would carry out high-precision experiments in the mid-2040s to study ‘known physics’ in greater detail, then enter a second phase — planned for 2070 — that would conduct high-energy collisions of protons and heavy ions that would ‘open the door to the unknown,’ said Giorgio Chiarelli, a research director at Italy’s National Institute of Nuclear Physics.” (04/01/25)
Source: In These Times
by Adam Johnson & Sarah Lazare
“President Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on constitutionally-protected speech has solicited crickets from key Democratic Party leaders and self-described ’free speech’ advocates in the U.S. media. A review of public statements from influential pundits and Democratic Party leadership shows that while there has been a smattering of (heavily qualified) support for Mahmoud Khalil and other Palestine solidarity activists who are being deported or threatened with deportation, most have been muted as Trump continues his war on free speech. Particularly notable is the absence of meaningful criticism from major Democratic Party luminaries such as former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, former Secretary of State, former Democratic nominee for president — and Columbia lecturer — Hillary Clinton, none of whom have commented on the Khalil case or any of the other individuals the Trump administration is kidnapping off the streets.” (04/01/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The other day I shared a short post about a video that was going around showing a father in Gaza tearfully cradling the head of his son who was decapitated in an Israeli airstrike, and some guy responded with the comment ‘Good thing you helped get TRUMP ELECTED!!’ And I must admit I was actually, truly shocked. I mean, what exactly did this fellow think was happening under Biden that whole time? I saw a post on Twitter where a leftist responded to a liberal who was acting like ICE just suddenly transformed into a modern gestapo under Trump, saying, ‘Liberals believe in nothing and remember even less.’ And it’s just so true. They don’t believe in anything. They don’t stand for anything. It’s just a team sport for these people.” (03/31/25)
“President Donald Trump is clearly worried about the security of the Arctic. Most obviously, he has made numerous controversial statements about the need for the United States to have control over Greenland. Similar comments about Canada bespeak his underlying concern: Neither Greenland nor Canada is being vigilant enough about the threats facing them. Those threats are widely acknowledged. As a warming world makes the Arctic more navigable, Russia and China are seeking to take advantage. The Trump administration underlined its seriousness by sending Vice President JD Vance to an American air base in Greenland last week. In a different context, such demands for accountability are already driving change. In February, Mr. Vance made a similar trip to Europe, delivering rebukes. Europe has since taken dramatic steps to reimagine its security structure and free itself from dependence on the U.S.” (03/31/25)
“The news of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest surprised me. It’s not that I doubted the former leader of the Philippines was guilty of the horrific crimes detailed in his International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Duterte himself boasted quite openly of the mass killings he’s been accused of. But I always thought that the prospects of bringing that brutal, outspoken politician to justice were remote indeed. After all, Duterte’s daughter Sara is currently the vice president of the Philippines and that country is no longer a member of the ICC. On top of that, Duterte himself was so sure of his immunity that he was running for mayor of the city of Davao. In mid-March, after returning from campaigning in the Filipino community in Hong Kong, he suffered the indignity of being arrested in his own country.” (03/30/25)
“Before President Trump even took office in January, his personal envoy delivered an unlikely win. Since last spring, President Biden’s diplomats had been unable to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire. But Trump’s man, real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff, joined the Biden team’s effort weeks before the inauguration. Witkoff put immense pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly saying that his relationship with the incoming American president depended on him accepting the deal. After a 96-hour marathon of talks in Qatar, Witkoff clinched a cease-fire and hostage exchange. In so doing, Trump appeared to make good on his robust outreach to Arab and Muslim voters, who had helped him carry swing states.” (03/31/25)
“Iran’s military has reportedly readied ballistic missiles for possible launch against U.S. bases in the Middle East after President Donald Trump renewed his threat to wage war on the country if it does not reach an agreement with his administration regarding nuclear weapons — which American intelligence agencies have repeatedly found Tehran is not building. Trump discussed Iran during a Sunday phone call with NBC News'[s] Kristen Welker, telling her that ‘if they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing, and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before’ …. Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran’s theocratic government, warned Monday that ‘if any hostile act is committed from outside, though the likelihood is not high, it will undoubtedly be met with a strong counterstrike.'” (03/31/25)
