𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧, 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘, 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗡, 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗥𝗦~𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗙 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗦!

 

𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗣-𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗝𝗢𝗦𝗛 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗧 𝗢𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗨𝗕𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗

                                                           

35 year old topical comedian Josh Johnson, from Alexander, Louisiana, captured my attention a few days ago on YouTube, but, I suspect many of you were already familiar with his work.  His comedic story "Catfishing the KKK" already has 13M views.

You might be caught off guard by Johnson's self-deprecating humor, followed by a precise chronicling of events as he's obviously well-read, a writer for The Daily Show for 7 years before becoming a correspondent.  Occasionally, he'll remind his audience: "Now, you know I'm Black."

                                   

Johnson refers to 2024 as his "Sophomore Season," has a very interesting take on the psychological impact of the release of the 80,000 pages of the JFK files.

In a very short time Johnson has put out a huge amount of fresh material.  Some of my favorites so far:  

"New York: The Rats Have Personality"

"The Only Way to Survive a Recession"

"I'm Not an Alpha Male"

"Explaining Trump's Executive Orders"

After touring the major cities of the U.S. during 2024 with what he calls "The Flowers Tour," Johnson recently added a number of cities to the tour for 2025:

Paris                                                            Berlin

Antwerp

Amsterdam                                       

Brussels

Albuquerque, NM

Phoenix, AZ

Tucson, AZ

Santa Fe, NM

San Jose, CA

Oakland, CA

Atlanta, GA

Reno, NV

Iowa City, IA

Sacramento, CA

West Palm Beach, FL

Tampa, FL

Jacksonville, FL

Tallahassee, FL

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗟 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗢𝗪 𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦

                                            

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow, perhaps our nation's sharpest online commentator despite being hated with a purple passion by Trumpers, has gotten to the ugly bottom of our President's tariff nonsense.

Maddow's most recent report reveals that Trump's juvenile fixation with tariffs, that has wrecked havoc, not only with the U.S. stock market but markets globally, started with a request to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a presidential adviser in Trump's first term, to do research on China.

Kusher did his "research" by going to Amazon to look for book titles about China, finally settling on "Death by China," written by Peter Navarro, who was then called to the White House to be a Trump adviser.

Navarro's book, according to Maddow, contained tariff advice from a fictional character invented by the author, "economist" Ron Vara, whose name comes from rearranging the name Navarro, leaving out one letter.

                                           

This almost absurd story reveals the incompetence and recklessness of Trump’s administration and exposes the idiocy of his economic policy.

“You’d think it would take like a grand plan and some big brains to figure out how to destroy the economy of the richest nation on Earth, but that's not how it's working out,” stated Maddow.

“Turns out, it doesn't take a big idea or a lot of big brains working together.”

As to the made-up Ron Vara, Maddow says: “The problem is, Ron Vara doesn't exist, he never has. . . . The economics expert that Peter Navarro has long cited to explain why he's so gung-ho on tariffs, this person, Ron Vara, is a made-up person. He is a fictional person. Peter Navarro invented Ron Vara as his expert source, so he could quote this expert source over and over and over again in his crackpot books.”

Sadly, the man the American electorate put into the oval office is looking dumber and dumber every day.

𝗬𝗩𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗔, 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗧 𝟯, 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗦 𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘

                                                                        

L to R: David Barraza, Yvonne Barraza, Mario Saenz

"Brownsville's sky showcases all the stars for the world to see." Brownsville native Kris Kristofferson

 

Yvonne Barraza, a candidate for the Brownsville City Commission District 3, handed me an information sheet detailing her family history and her goals to improve Brownsville.

In the document, Barraza mentions her great-grandparents donating land for a school and church in El Ranchito, her grandfather's service in WWII, her Vietnam veteran father's long tenure at Pace High School and her mother's career in education.

Barraza is proud of our city's identification with SpaceX, but is also complimentary of the Brownsville Police Department, particularly its promotion of female sergeants to leadership positions and the establishment of the Brownsville Policy Academy, which she says helps to promote in-house talent.

If elected, Barraza promises to "uphold law enforcement" and to seek out the viewpoint of local citizens on critical issues facing our city.  She mentions immigration as a "sensitive issue," which she says needs to be handled with an emphasis on "local safety" while respecting federal governance.

Still, with respect to law enforcement and public safety, Barraza wants to emphasize advanced training, community policing programs, internship programs, along with adequate resources and equipment.

Improvements to public safety, Barraza feels, will attract families to Brownsville and improve our economy.

𝗛𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗪~~~~~~~~~~~ 𝗔 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗙 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜-𝗗𝗘𝗜 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

                  

Photo Collage from the Brownsville Observer, not the author of the article below

By Kristen Parisi

February 24, 2025

It may seem like the crusade against DEI initiatives sprang out of nowhere in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on affirmative action. But the arguments of DEI opponents—who claim the initiatives give minorities an unfair advantage and actively discriminate against white males—echo messages that have been circulating for more than 150 years.

The Reconstruction Era. After the Civil War and abolishment of slavery, structural barriers prevented newly freed slaves and their families from accessing housing and work. Meanwhile, many white Americans felt wronged by Reconstruction and felt that freedom and equality would harm White people, according to the Equal Justice Initiative.

Despite opposition, including from then-President Andrew Johnson, Congress passed the 14th Amendment, granting Black Americans the right to citizenship and equal protections.

During this time, a concept emerged known as “white backlash,” which describes white Americans’ anger about civil rights progress. Some scholars argue it persists to this day.

The Civil Rights movement. Fast-forward to the 1950s, and Black Americans still didn’t have equal protections or employment access. While many made gains in the federal workforce, racial segregation (and the racial wealth gap) persisted, stemming from a 1913 order from President Woodrow Wilson.

Jim Crow laws in the South made it especially difficult for Black Americans to thrive, contributing to a 10-to-1 wage gap between them and white Americans (a ratio that stands at 6-to-1 today).

When President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he committed to correcting some racial inequities. He signed an executive order on affirmative action and created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity to reduce workplace discrimination based on race and ethnic background, but many protested. Some Southern states ignored his direction, and continued hiring mostly white workers.

In 1964, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Civil Rights Act narrowly passed Congress. The legislation aimed to prevent workplace discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender, and expanded the committee created under Kennedy to become the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Yet, 31% of Americans opposed the law, including 66% white Southerners (66%), according to Gallup. Some felt it “went too far” and would give Black workers preferential treatment in the hiring process.

Enter the lawsuits. In the 1970s, for example, United Steelworkers of America was sued by a union worker named Brian Weber for setting aside a portion of training positions for Black workers. Weber, who was white, asserted that he was denied a position because of his company’s affirmative action plan, but the Supreme Court ruled against him.

“A really important part of the language of backlash that white people used in the 1960s was that they really emphasized their own fears, which were typically unfounded about what the consequences of racial equality would be,” Lawrence Glickman, American history professor at Cornell University, told CBS News in 2020. “A lot of proponents of the white backlash saw racial equality as some special gift, some special demand by African Americans, when it was simply a demand for social justice and equality.”

The Reagan Administration. The 40th president didn’t just coin the “Make America Great Again” slogan, but the concept of “reverse discrimination,” according to the Washington Post. He and many white Americans believed the Civil Rights Movement had turned into “anti-white racism,” and tried to reverse some of the work done in the 1960s. Like many of today’s DEI opponents, they focused on affirmative action and color blindness.

Reagan’s Justice Department filed suit over affirmative action programs (like the current DOJ has indicated it might), but the Supreme Court rebuked it. His Labor Department (which was re-staffed similar to changes in 2025) also didn’t enforce affirmative action mandates. He did not want companies tried for discrimination, but rather to address complaints internally.

Reagan tried to reverse course on Johnson’s affirmative action policies, but civil rights leaders and businesses protested, vowing to stick with their diversity programming, the Washington Post reported.

“We want a color-blind society. A society, that in the words of Dr. King, judges people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Reagan said during a 1985 radio address. While he admitted that discrimination was still a problem for the country, Reagan also asserted that the laws put into place in the 1960s were unfairly excluding white workers.

2025. Companies are facing another wave of anti-DEI sentiment. Some, like Costco and Apple, have loudly rebuked it, while others, including Target and Meta, have folded under pressure.

“It’s the latest term that serves as a proxy for race, and it’s used as a politically expedient slur, as a way to stoke white grievances and to give a convenient scapegoat to whatever ails our nation,” Timothy Welbeck, the director of Temple University’s Center for Anti-Racism, told the New York Times.

Robby Starbuck, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Christopher Rufo—the names of the movement have changed over the past 150+ years, but the message has not. What remains unclear, however, is how businesses will move forward.

Correction 03/11/2025: This post has been updated since it was published; Andrew Johnson was president when the 14th Amendment passed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗢 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥

 

1965 BROWNSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL EAGLE STEALS SECOND AND THIRD, BUT GETS THROWN OUT AT HOME!

                                                                               submitted by Rene Torres

In 1965, A Brownsville High School Eagle replicated Jackie Robinson's slide while stealing  3rd base.  He stole second and third but was cut down at home

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦: 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 "𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟" 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗦~~𝗪𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗡𝗔𝗠

 From the editor:  At first glance, the chart below seems to portray the U.S. as very moderate in applying "reciprocal" tariffs to other countries.  One column portends to display the "Tariffs Charged to the U.S.A." and the adjacent column "U.S.A. Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs."

Would you be surprised to know that the entire chart is based on lies?

Let's use one country, Vietnam, as an example.  

According to the chart, Vietnam charges 90% on all products imported from the United States, while, in return, the United States has implemented a seemingly reasonable 46% tariff on the goods Vietnam sells the U.S.  

That is simply not true. 

The United States is given Most Favored Nation (MFN) status by Vietnam, meaning an applied tariff rate of 9.4%.  A few items exported to Vietnam get a higher tariff, 15%.  These include artificial sweeteners, candies, shelled walnuts, ketchup and other tomato sauces, inkjet printers, soda ash and stainless steel bars and tools.

So, why does the Trump administration chart indicate that Vietnam "charges" the U.S. a 90% tariff?  Well, Trump confuses trade deficits with tariffs.  The United States buys far more from Vietnam than they buy from us.

For example, in 2024, the United States bought $119,501,485,006 from Vietnam, while they bought 15,102,669,219 from us.  ($120B vs $15B, rounding off the numbers.) So, the Trump team adds that difference of $105B in trade into the "tariffs" they say Vietnam is charging the U.S., but that's simply not true.  

Of course, Vietnam is a smaller country compared to the U.S., 101M to 340M in population, but also with a much lower per capita income, $5,000 to $70,390.

The full U.S. Report on Vietnam/United States trade for 2024 is reported below as published by the U.S. Trade Representative(USTR).

Vietnam’s Key Exports to the US, 2024
Items	Value (US$)	Proportion
Total	119,501,485,006	100.00%
Computers, electrical products, spare-parts and components thereof	23,201,555,610	19.42%
Machine, equipment, tools and instruments	22,052,523,094	18.45%
Textiles and garments	16,151,794,382	13.52%
Telephones, mobile phones and parts thereof	9,824,431,700	8.22%
Wood and wooden products	9,056,598,490	7.58%
Foot-wears	8,284,399,219	6.93%
Other products	8,111,464,983	6.79%
Other means of transportation, parts and accessories thereof	3,273,825,912	2.74%
Plastic products	3,081,809,424	2.58%
Fishery products	1,832,900,465	1.53%
Handbags, purses, suit-cases, headgear and umbrellas	1,802,632,964	1.51%
Toys and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof	1,781,174,208	1.49%
Iron and steel products	1,331,044,294	1.11%
Iron and steel	1,318,963,272	1.10%
Still image, video cameras and sparts thereof	1,208,345,217	1.01%
Cashew nut	1,154,132,402	0.97%
Source: Vietnam Customs

 

Vietnam’s Key Imports from the US, 2024
Items	Value (US$)	Proportion
Total	15,102,669,219	100%
Computers, electrical products, spare-parts and components thereof	4,336,277,434	28.71%
Other products	1,580,331,721	10.46%
Machine, equipment, tools and instruments	1,099,999,051	7.28%
Animal folders and animal fodder materials	1,016,019,676	6.73%
Plastics	783,671,648	5.19%
Cotton	680,942,965	4.51%
Chemicals	637,544,790	4.22%
Fruits and vegetables	543,946,784	3.60%
Pharmaceutical products	512,534,682	3.39%
Other means of transportation, parts and accessories thereof	506,719,140	3.36%
Source: Vietnam Customs

How impactful is the new tariff on Vietnam’s trade?

According to data from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), the US has been Vietnam’s largest export market for many years. For the US, Vietnam stands as the 8th largest trading partner, contributing 4.13 percent of total export turnover to this market. In 2024, Vietnam specifically exported goods worth US$119.5 billion to the US, representing 29.5 percent of the country’s total export turnover. 16 categories of goods exported to the US that achieved an export turnover of US$1 billion or more.

In the first two months of the year, the US remained Vietnam’s primary export market. Export turnover to the US reached US$19.56 billion, accounting for 30 percent of the total national export turnover, marking a 16.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

 

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗔𝗗𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗚𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗛 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗬

From the editor: I've been following the misguided attempts by the Trump administration to discredit the accomplishments and honors given to citizens of color.(Juan Montoya of "El Rrun Rrun" recently did an article featuring Freddy Gonzalez and others so discredited.)

Like a broken record, Trump and his minions claim the accomplishments of these groundbreakers were enhanced by DEI, a viewpoint that's simply an uneducated lie.

What's so ironic is that Trump himself came into the world with a silver spoon in his mouth, then, according to the "New York Times," promptly turned $413M of daddy's money into 6 bankruptcies.  

I started to do an article on Jackie Robinson, a couple weeks ago, when it was initially reported the legendary ballplayer who courageously broke the color barrier was being removed from government sites giving him due honor.  Then, when it looked like the Trumpies were backing off, I decided not to run the article.

Now, it appears that the Trump administration has reverted back to their original racist stance,  reportedly deciding to ban the Jackie Robinson biography from Naval Academy library.

For Trump to insinuate that Jackie Robinson's presence in baseball was some sort of DEI thing is beyond stupid as he was obviously the most talented player in the game the instant he stepped on the field, but racists like Trump find ways to rationalize their racism.

We post the article by Jack Baer below:

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗔𝗗𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗚𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗛 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗬

                                                

Jack Baer, Staff writer

Sat, March 29, 2025 at 6:53 PM CDT

                                        

Jackie Robinson, 1947

A week after removing, then restoring, an article about Jackie Robinson from the Pentagon's website, the Trump administration has reportedly gone back to that well.

A biography about Jackie Robinson has been identified as a candidate for removal from the Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy due to a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordering the school to identify books with diversity, equity and inclusion themes and remove them from circulation, according to The New York Times.

The Robinson biography is reportedly one of 900 books identified as conflicting with the order, with other examples including “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.” and “Einstein on Race and Racism.”

                                

The Naval Academy's statement, via NYT:

“The U.S. Naval Academy is fully committed to executing and implementing all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president and is currently reviewing the Nimitz Library collection to ensure compliance,” said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a Navy spokesman. “The Navy is carrying out these actions with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives.”

Hegseth is reportedly scheduled to visit the Naval Academy on Tuesday. It's unclear if the flagged books will be removed before his arrival.

The move to remove the Robinson biography comes less than two weeks after the Trump administration received a torrent of criticism for removing an article about the Dodgers legend's Army career from the Department of Defense's website, as well as articles on subjects such as the Navajo code talkers and the first Black recipient of the Medal of Honor.

The article in question, which discussed how Robinson was once court-martialed for refusing to move to the back of a bus, was later restored.

When asked for comment by ESPN's Jeff Passan, Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot released a statement doubling down on the administration's campaign against diversity initiatives and implying that some content might be removed by mistake

"Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others — we salute them for their strong and in many cases heroic service to our country, full stop. We do not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like every other American who has worn the uniform."

                                          

Robinson served in the Army from 1942 to 1944 as a second lieutenant in the 761st Tank Battalion. That unit went on to become the first Black tank unit to see combat in World War II. Robinson was unable to join them due to his court martial for protesting a racist policy. (He refused to go to the back of the bus as a Black soldier.) He was later acquitted and went on to break MLB's color barrier.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Robinson's team of 10 years, announced earlier this week that they will visit President Trump at the White House to celebrate their 2024 World Series title in April, the same month they will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on April 15.

𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗪𝗜𝗗𝗘~𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦, 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗣𝗢𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

                             

President Trump intentionally waited until just after 4 PM Eastern Time to execute his tariffs, just after the markets had closed, delaying the effects of those tariffs on the markets by one day.

While the President has done most of his public tussling with our two evil neighbors, Canada and Mexico, he did not neglect to add tariffs to worldwide locations with few residents and no exportable economy, but even some with no residents besides penguins (Canada may have even escaped Trump tariffs for now).  We've chronicled a few of those below:

1. Tokelau

                                                                 

Some residents of Tokelau

Thanks to the wisdom and insight of President Trump, the residents of the tiny island of Tokelau will be screwing us over no more.      

Situated between New Zealand and Hawaii, Tokelau has few physical links with the wider world. There is no airport and it takes more than a day at sea to reach its southern neighbour, Samoa. Most of the 1,500 islanders live by subsistence farming. Thousands have chosen to leave, usually for New Zealand or Samoa.

Should the greedy Islanders on Tokelau ever decide to start exporting to the U.S., Trump has a 10% tariff waiting for them. 

 

2. Keeling Islands

                                        

Long Beach on Home Island in the Keeling Islands

The Keeling Islands are two atolls made up of 27 coral islands, of which only two – West Island and Home Island – are inhabited. The population of around 600 people consists mainly of Cocos Malays.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands consist of two flat, low-lying coral atolls with an area of 14.2 square kilometres (5.5 sq mi), 26 kilometres (16 mi) of coastline, a highest elevation of 5 metres (16 ft) and thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation. The climate is pleasant, moderated by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year and with moderate rainfall. Tropical cyclones may occur in the early months of the year.

President Trump has put a stop to economic warfare by the Cocos against the United States with a 10% tariff on anything these Islanders decide to ship to our country.

3. Jan Mayen Island

                                           

Jan Mayen Island

President Trump is really getting ahead of the game as the island of Jan Mayen, given a 10% tariff by the U.S., has no permanent residents.  

The Norwegian Armed Forces and the Norwegian Meteorologican Institute do operate a weather station there with a staff of 18 in the winter and 35 in the summer.

Should anyone decide to make Jan Mayen their permanent home and start shipping goods to the United States, President Trump has a 10% tariff waiting for them.

4. Heard and McDonald Islands

                               

Proud Penguins of Heard and McDonald Islands

                            

The Heard and McDonald Islands are two volcanic islands totally uninhabited except for a sizeable population of penguins.  The island can be accessed by a two week boat ride from Western Australia. Should someone decide to move to either of these islands, possibly exporting penguin excrement to the United States, President Trump has that potential economic warfare already covered with a 10% tariff on anything exported from either Heard or McDonald Island.

4. The Falkland Islands

                                          

The Falklands, with 3,200 people and over one million penguins, has been given a 41% tariff, perhaps a bit harsher because it's a territory of Great Britain.  

The Falkland Islands do export products to the United States and other countries in the following amounts USD: molluscs ($309M), non-fillet frozen fish ($41.5M), wool ($6.32M), sheep and goat meat ($2.2M), and fish fillets ($949k), exporting mostly to Spain ($248M), Morocco ($36.6M), United States ($27.4M), Namibia ($10M), and Germany ($6.16M).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~𝗥.𝗜.𝗣. 𝗝𝗢𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔!!!!

                                                                 

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗬𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗭 𝟯𝟬𝗧𝗛 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗔𝗧 𝗟𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗔 𝗗𝗘 𝗟𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔

 Photos courtesy of Jerry Danache

𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗞'𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗬 𝗜𝗦 "𝗡𝗢 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗" 𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘

                                      

Well, maybe the Musk/Trump tide is turning.  After Musk bought the U.S. presidency for Donald Trump in 2024, donating $277M to the campaign, then, after the inauguration, pledging another $100M to Trump's America P.A.C., he turned his attention to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

After jumping up and down for Donald Trump, Musk donned a Wisconsin cheese hat and spent $21M on conservative Brad Schimel, but that went for naught as Susan Crawford won handily, 55% to 45%.

“Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court,” Crawford said in her victory speech. “And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale.”

                                 

Susan Crawford wins Supreme Court judgeship in Wisconsin

Republicans did win a couple races in super red Florida, but not by the margins anticipated, but America is not out of the woods yet, as Trump increasingly mimicks his dictatorial idols; Putin, Orban, Jong Un, etc.  

Hopefully, the Statue of Liberty will not "sail away to sea" just yet.