Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by Jianlu Bi
“The meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump at the White House ‘devolved into a shouting match’ in the Oval Office. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Zelenskyy’s approach, with Trump accusing him of ‘gambling with World War III.’ Meanwhile, Zelenskyy voiced concerns that deals with Russia would not be kept and that Ukraine needed stronger security guarantees. The recent clash between the two wasn’t merely a diplomatic hiccup; it was a stark illustration of the West’s eroding credibility and the precarious position in which Ukraine finds itself. The fallout from this meeting reverberates far beyond the walls of the Oval Office, exposing deep fissures and eliciting widespread repercussions that shake the very foundations of the global order.” [editor’s note: Yet another distortion of what actually happened there – SAT] (03/03/25)
https://fpif.org/a-diplomatic-debacle-when-the-wests-facade-crumbles/
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to a deadly shooting at a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb that killed seven and injured dozens. It is a surprise reversal for Robert Crimo III, who previously pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and attempted murder charges. Crimo, 23, entered his guilty plea on Monday moments before opening arguments were due to begin in his trial. He is accused of shooting at celebrating crowds from a roof in downtown Highland Park, about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of Chicago. Authorities had arrested him on the day of the shooting after a manhunt. Crimo pleaded guilty before Judge Victoria Rossetti in a Lake County circuit courtroom, and did not say anything else before he was dismissed.” (03/03/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78e7gjz387o
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“If DOGE and agency heads succeed in their mission, it will be nothing less than the greatest deregulatory achievement seen in the modern world.” (03/03/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/doge-gets-serious-in-its-war-on-the-administrative-state/
Source: Bloomberg
“American farmers will soon start receiving the first tranche of $30 billion in funding approved by Congress to fight a downturn in the markets, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Speaking at the Commodity Classic event in Denver, Rollins said that the first $10 billion in assistance should start moving in the next few weeks.” (03/02/25)
https://archive.is/W8dNz
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will the Trump, Zelensky Argument End US Support for Ukraine?” (03/03/25)
https://rumble.com/v6q1otk-will-the-trump-zelensky-argument-end-us-support-for-ukraine-coi-765.html
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Anatol Lieven
“Full details are yet to emerge of the ‘peace plan’ that the UK, EU and Ukrainian leaders worked out in London on Sunday, and are to present to the Trump administration. But from what they have said so far, while one part is necessary and even essential, another is obstructive and potentially disastrous.” (03/03/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/uk-france-ukraine-meeting/
Source: Reuters
“A car drove into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim on Monday, killing at least two people and seriously injuring several others, overshadowing carnival celebrations in the region where police had been on alert for attacks. Police detained the car’s driver and later said he had acted alone, with no broader threat seen for the public. The suspect is a 40-year-old German man from the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate who did not appear to be politically motivated, they said. People were seen lying on the ground at the scene and at least two were being resuscitated, a witness told Reuters. It was unclear whether the driver acted deliberately or if there was any connection to Germany’s carnival celebrations, which culminated on Rose Monday with a number of parades, although not in Mannheim, which held its main event on Sunday.” (03/03/25)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/car-drives-into-crowd-german-city-mannheim-newspaper-reports-2025-03-03/
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“First, Trump fires the holdover director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a radically anti-business agency. He appoints the new treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, as acting director. Bessent orders the agency to stop everything – ‘rulemaking, communications, litigation,’ Bloomberg Law reported. ‘A source inside the bureau who asked to remain anonymous said the order appeared to shut down the CFPB altogether, for the time being.’ So far, so good.” (03/03/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/03/03/how-to-kill-a-bureau/
Source: Common Dreams
by Sanford F Schram
“In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, the world’s richest person Elon Musk late last week called Social Security ‘the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time’ It was yet another ‘pot calling the kettle black’ moment in the run-on sentence called Trumpism. I say run-on sentence because it is important to highlight Trumpism as featuring a nefarious discourse self-consciously deployed by Donald Trump and his acolytes to normalize their extremism. Trumpism as a discourse obfuscates so as to legitimate what has become its extremist threat to the existing political system, the rule of law and U.S. Constitution. It is a distinctive way of speaking that facilitates highly questionable action. We see this repeatedly in the Trump era. Trumpism as a discourse most prominently features three verbal maneuvers: gaslighting, coopting, and boomeranging.” [editor’s note: Well, at least this pundit considers the label correct, even though for the wrong reasons – SAT] (03/03/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/musk-ponzi-scheme-social-security
Source: WHEC 10 News
“New York State is cracking down on corrections officers who remain on strike at multiple prisons. Monday marks day 15 of the strikes. It comes after the union representing the prison staff and leaders of the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision have reached a deal. Now, the state is following through on its threats of firing some employees and pulling healthcare funding. As part of the deal reached on Thursday night, prison staff had until the start of their shift on Saturday to return to their post without any consequences. DOCCS said on social media that, if a guard missed 11 shifts in a row, they’ll get a termination letter. Prison staff went on strike to demand higher staffing levels, no mandated overtime over 16 hours, and increased measures to keep them safe.” (03/02/25)
https://www.whec.com/top-news/new-york-state-issues-warning-begins-terminations-for-corrections-officers-after-two-weeks-of-strikes/
