Life in Post Democracy Era: The Trump 2/Elon Dictatatorship

[China]

She hoped Trump would revive her farm. Now she worries his policies could bankrupt it.

After Donald Trump won the presidency again, Rebecca Carlson was counting on this being the year things turned around for her 1,300-acre farm in northern Michigan.

The farm has been in her family for generations but has struggled over the past several years amid the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and other operating expenses. Then, last year, bad weather wiped out much of her crop. But the return of Trump, she thought, would help reverse things.

“I was expecting to see a drastic turnaround for the better for my farm because the Republicans have always been for the American farmer,” said Carlson, a longtime Republican and Trump supporter.

Prices for cherries, her main crop, had increased during Trump's first term after his policies cut down on competition from overseas, and she was hoping to see a similar economic boost this time around. Instead, her farm has been caught up in the widespread government funding freezes, jeopardizing her ability to hire the workers she needs for this season's harvest. It could leave her $200,000 in debt if she's unable to access the grant money that had been awarded to her farm.

“I’ll admit to you, I bleed Republican. However, this has left a sour taste in my mouth,” Carlson said. “During Trump’s first administration, a lot of farmers — not all, but a lot of farmers — saw the positive side to his tariffs and to his agricultural dealings."

"Now, we’re not seeing that," she said. "Now, we’re seeing the actual opposite.”

Voters in rural and agriculture-reliant areas have been one of Trump’s most consistent bases of support since he first emerged on the political scene a decade ago. But the early days of his second administration have introduced a lot of risk to this sector of the economy. Trump's proposed tariffs could drive up the price of grain and fertilizers while lowering demand overseas for U.S. agriculture products. Immigration crackdowns could cripple farm workforces, where an estimated 40% of workers lack the proper documentation to work in the U.S. Meanwhile, spending cuts and freezes have directly affected federally funded programs that provide loans and grants to farmers.

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Homeland Security revokes temporary status for 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans

The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it will revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, setting them up for potential deportation in about a month.

The order applies to about 532,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States since October 2022. They arrived with financial sponsors and were given two-year permits to live and work in the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they will lose their legal status on April 24, or 30 days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register.

The new policy impacts people who are already in the U.S. and who came under the humanitarian parole program. It follows an earlier Trump administration decision to end what it called the “broad abuse” of the humanitarian parole, a long-standing legal tool presidents have used to allow people from countries where there’s war or political instability to enter and temporarily live in the U.S.

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Trump travel ban 2.0 coming as soon as Friday. What countries it will affect

President Donald Trump is expected to ban or severely restrict travel to the United States by citizens of more than a dozen countries, including Iran and Venezuela, as soon as Friday.

Trump ordered his administration to establish vetting and screening standards and procedures for entry into the U.S. and submit a list of countries that do not meet them by March 21. The order follows on a campaign pledge and an initiative from Trump's first day in office.

He also directed officials to identify and potentially remove nationals from earmarked countries who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.

Click on the link for the full article

[Spaceman Spiff]

She hoped Trump would revive her farm. Now she worries his policies could bankrupt it.

After Donald Trump won the presidency again, Rebecca Carlson was counting on this being the year things turned around for her 1,300-acre farm in northern Michigan.

The farm has been in her family for generations but has struggled over the past several years amid the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and other operating expenses. Then, last year, bad weather wiped out much of her crop. But the return of Trump, she thought, would help reverse things.

“I was expecting to see a drastic turnaround for the better for my farm because the Republicans have always been for the American farmer,” said Carlson, a longtime Republican and Trump supporter.

Prices for cherries, her main crop, had increased during Trump's first term after his policies cut down on competition from overseas, and she was hoping to see a similar economic boost this time around. Instead, her farm has been caught up in the widespread government funding freezes, jeopardizing her ability to hire the workers she needs for this season's harvest. It could leave her $200,000 in debt if she's unable to access the grant money that had been awarded to her farm.

“I’ll admit to you, I bleed Republican. However, this has left a sour taste in my mouth,” Carlson said. “During Trump’s first administration, a lot of farmers — not all, but a lot of farmers — saw the positive side to his tariffs and to his agricultural dealings."

"Now, we’re not seeing that," she said. "Now, we’re seeing the actual opposite.”

Voters in rural and agriculture-reliant areas have been one of Trump’s most consistent bases of support since he first emerged on the political scene a decade ago. But the early days of his second administration have introduced a lot of risk to this sector of the economy. Trump's proposed tariffs could drive up the price of grain and fertilizers while lowering demand overseas for U.S. agriculture products. Immigration crackdowns could cripple farm workforces, where an estimated 40% of workers lack the proper documentation to work in the U.S. Meanwhile, spending cuts and freezes have directly affected federally funded programs that provide loans and grants to farmers.

Click on the link for the full article

I get the desire to be like "Well, what the **** did you expect? You voted for this, it's your fault." I really, really do get that sentiment.

But I don't like seeing farmers being hurt.

[China]

Trump wants a ‘Golden Dome’ capable of defending the entire US: ‘Strategically, it doesn’t make any sense’

US military officials are scrambling to develop a “Golden Dome” defense system that can protect the country from long-range missile strikes and have been told by the White House that no expense will be spared in order to fulfill one of President Donald Trump’s top Pentagon priorities, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

“Golden Dome” is the Trump administration’s attempt to rebrand vague plans for developing a missile defense system akin to Israel’s Iron Dome.

At a time the Pentagon is looking to cut budgets, the Trump administration has ordered military officials to ensure future funding for “Golden Dome” is reflected in new budget estimates for 2026 to 2030 – but the system itself remains undefined beyond a name, the sources said.

“Right now, Golden Dome is, it’s really an idea,” one source familiar with internal discussions about the project said, adding there may be technology in the pipeline that, if ever scaled up, could apply to it, but as of now discussions are purely conceptual.

That makes projecting future costs nearly impossible, the source added, though it would likely cost billions of dollars to construct and maintain.

Trump has repeatedly insisted the US needs a missile defense program similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, but the systems are orders of magnitude apart. In practical terms, the comparison is less apples to oranges, and more apples to aircraft carriers.

For one thing, “Israel is tiny,” the source familiar with ongoing internal discussions about the Golden Dome project said. “So, it is 100% feasible to blanket Israel in things like radars and a combination of mobile and fixed interceptors.”

“How are you going to do that in the United States? You can’t do it just at the borders and the shoreline, because intercontinental ballistic missiles, they can re-enter the atmosphere over Kansas.”

Still, Trump issued an executive order during his first week in office ordering Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a plan for developing and implementing the next-generation missile defense shield by March 28.

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery believes creating a ballistic missile defense system may be possible in 7-10 years, but even then, it will have severe limitations, potentially capable of protecting only critical federal buildings and major cities.

“It has been long understood that defending against a sophisticated nuclear arsenal is technically and economically unfeasible,” Grego told CNN.

Click on the link for the full article

So he has the concept of a plan? Brilliant!

[Renegade7]

Trump wants a ‘Golden Dome’ capable of defending the entire US: ‘Strategically, it doesn’t make any sense’

US military officials are scrambling to develop a “Golden Dome” defense system that can protect the country from long-range missile strikes and have been told by the White House that no expense will be spared in order to fulfill one of President Donald Trump’s top Pentagon priorities, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

“Golden Dome” is the Trump administration’s attempt to rebrand vague plans for developing a missile defense system akin to Israel’s Iron Dome.

At a time the Pentagon is looking to cut budgets, the Trump administration has ordered military officials to ensure future funding for “Golden Dome” is reflected in new budget estimates for 2026 to 2030 – but the system itself remains undefined beyond a name, the sources said.

“Right now, Golden Dome is, it’s really an idea,” one source familiar with internal discussions about the project said, adding there may be technology in the pipeline that, if ever scaled up, could apply to it, but as of now discussions are purely conceptual.

That makes projecting future costs nearly impossible, the source added, though it would likely cost billions of dollars to construct and maintain.

Trump has repeatedly insisted the US needs a missile defense program similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, but the systems are orders of magnitude apart. In practical terms, the comparison is less apples to oranges, and more apples to aircraft carriers.

For one thing, “Israel is tiny,” the source familiar with ongoing internal discussions about the Golden Dome project said. “So, it is 100% feasible to blanket Israel in things like radars and a combination of mobile and fixed interceptors.”

“How are you going to do that in the United States? You can’t do it just at the borders and the shoreline, because intercontinental ballistic missiles, they can re-enter the atmosphere over Kansas.”

Still, Trump issued an executive order during his first week in office ordering Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a plan for developing and implementing the next-generation missile defense shield by March 28.

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery believes creating a ballistic missile defense system may be possible in 7-10 years, but even then, it will have severe limitations, potentially capable of protecting only critical federal buildings and major cities.

“It has been long understood that defending against a sophisticated nuclear arsenal is technically and economically unfeasible,” Grego told CNN.

Click on the link for the full article

So he has the concept of a plan? Brilliant!

Broken clock right twice a day...

Even if we can only start with individual cities like Iron dome does, I agree with the goal, especially with advent of using lasers for missile defense.

This is something you keep trying until it is feasible l, I don't want to hear less with the size of our Department of Defense budget right now.

Opinion.

[China]

Trump has big dreams for the Kennedy Center but doesn't seem to know what it does

The president's hostile takeover of the Washington, D.C. cultural institution will probably chase away the very people who like to attend shows there.

The president, who is also now the board chair for the Kennedy Center, convened a meeting of said board on Monday. In a recording of the meeting shared with The Washington Post, Trump and members said they’d like to see “Camelot,” “Cats,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “The Phantom of the Opera” featured at the Kennedy Center. Speaking with reporters, Trump said, “We’re going to get some very good shows.”

There are a number of practical problems with this wish list, the first of which is that none of those musicals are touring in North America (although a tour of “Phantom” does launch in November). And if the Kennedy Center were to try to mount its own nonunion productions, it would run into a brick wall of standing labor contracts.

“We’re gonna fix that,” the president said upon learning that the Kennedy Center would have had to pay the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees in order to have board member Lee Greenwood sing at the meeting. “They wanted $30,000 to move a piano,” Trump claimed.

And yet, none of these obstacles prevent the president of the United States from assuming “Cats” will be onstage at the Kennedy Center next year, as if he has the power to summon Mr. Mistoffelees and Rum Tum Tugger through sheer will.

Since Feb. 7, when Trump announced plans to appoint himself America’s arts impresario in chief, he has fired roughly two dozen board members appointed by President Joe Biden, had the remaining trustees elect a new president of the board and dismissed Kennedy Center leader Deborah Rutter, who had helmed the institution for 11 years.

Life at the center has been a tumultuous free fall ever since, with a series of cancellations and missed deadlines. The second week of March, when the Kennedy Center typically announces programming for the next season, has come and gone. Across Washington, venues like The Anthem and Shakespeare Theatre Company are fielding calls from artists and organizations looking for somewhere else to perform. Most notably, the producers and creators of the musical theater juggernaut “Hamilton” announced they were canceling a two-month run, which most likely have generated more money than any other show in the 2025-26 Kennedy Center season.

Yet alleged financial mismanagement at the Kennedy Center has been top of mind for Trump and his surrogates, including Ric Grenell, the former ambassador whom the president appointed to replace Rutter on at least an interim basis, who accused the center of having low cash reserves.

As a nonprofit organization, the Kennedy Center is required to submit public tax returns, and the most recently available filings indicate it is not in financial distress, with a total budget of $268 million and a surplus of $6 million. About 16% percent of the budget comes from a congressional appropriation specifically earmarked for physical upkeep, because the center was dedicated in 1971 as a national memorial to slain President John F. Kennedy Jr.

Click on the link for more

[The Evil Genius]

She hoped Trump would revive her farm. Now she worries his policies could bankrupt it.



After Donald Trump won the presidency again, Rebecca Carlson was counting on this being the year things turned around for her 1,300-acre farm in northern Michigan.

The farm has been in her family for generations but has struggled over the past several years amid the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and other operating expenses. Then, last year, bad weather wiped out much of her crop. But the return of Trump, she thought, would help reverse things.

“I was expecting to see a drastic turnaround for the better for my farm because the Republicans have always been for the American farmer,” said Carlson, a longtime Republican and Trump supporter.

Prices for cherries, her main crop, had increased during Trump's first term after his policies cut down on competition from overseas, and she was hoping to see a similar economic boost this time around. Instead, her farm has been caught up in the widespread government funding freezes, jeopardizing her ability to hire the workers she needs for this season's harvest. It could leave her $200,000 in debt if she's unable to access the grant money that had been awarded to her farm.

“I’ll admit to you, I bleed Republican. However, this has left a sour taste in my mouth,” Carlson said. “During Trump’s first administration, a lot of farmers — not all, but a lot of farmers — saw the positive side to his tariffs and to his agricultural dealings."

"Now, we’re not seeing that," she said. "Now, we’re seeing the actual opposite.”

Voters in rural and agriculture-reliant areas have been one of Trump’s most consistent bases of support since he first emerged on the political scene a decade ago. But the early days of his second administration have introduced a lot of risk to this sector of the economy. Trump's proposed tariffs could drive up the price of grain and fertilizers while lowering demand overseas for U.S. agriculture products. Immigration crackdowns could cripple farm workforces, where an estimated 40% of workers lack the proper documentation to work in the U.S. Meanwhile, spending cuts and freezes have directly affected federally funded programs that provide loans and grants to farmers.

Click on the link for the full article

I get the desire to be like "Well, what the **** did you expect? You voted for this, it's your fault." I really, really do get that sentiment.

But I don't like seeing farmers being hurt.

It's too bad farmers don't care about hurting others with their vote. They knew Trump would target minorities. They knew he'd target women. They knew he'd target immigrants. They knew he'd target the poor.

They. Didn't. Care.

[The Sisko]

She hoped Trump would revive her farm. Now she worries his policies could bankrupt it.



After Donald Trump won the presidency again, Rebecca Carlson was counting on this being the year things turned around for her 1,300-acre farm in northern Michigan.

The farm has been in her family for generations but has struggled over the past several years amid the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and other operating expenses. Then, last year, bad weather wiped out much of her crop. But the return of Trump, she thought, would help reverse things.

“I was expecting to see a drastic turnaround for the better for my farm because the Republicans have always been for the American farmer,” said Carlson, a longtime Republican and Trump supporter.

Prices for cherries, her main crop, had increased during Trump's first term after his policies cut down on competition from overseas, and she was hoping to see a similar economic boost this time around. Instead, her farm has been caught up in the widespread government funding freezes, jeopardizing her ability to hire the workers she needs for this season's harvest. It could leave her $200,000 in debt if she's unable to access the grant money that had been awarded to her farm.

“I’ll admit to you, I bleed Republican. However, this has left a sour taste in my mouth,” Carlson said. “During Trump’s first administration, a lot of farmers — not all, but a lot of farmers — saw the positive side to his tariffs and to his agricultural dealings."

"Now, we’re not seeing that," she said. "Now, we’re seeing the actual opposite.”

Voters in rural and agriculture-reliant areas have been one of Trump’s most consistent bases of support since he first emerged on the political scene a decade ago. But the early days of his second administration have introduced a lot of risk to this sector of the economy. Trump's proposed tariffs could drive up the price of grain and fertilizers while lowering demand overseas for U.S. agriculture products. Immigration crackdowns could cripple farm workforces, where an estimated 40% of workers lack the proper documentation to work in the U.S. Meanwhile, spending cuts and freezes have directly affected federally funded programs that provide loans and grants to farmers.

Click on the link for the full article

I get the desire to be like "Well, what the **** did you expect? You voted for this, it's your fault." I really, really do get that sentiment.

But I don't like seeing farmers being hurt.

It's too bad farmers don't care about hurting others with their vote. They knew Trump would target minorities. They knew he'd target women. They knew he'd target immigrants. They knew he'd target the poor.

They. Didn't. Care.

Exactly. Not that it’s a sentiment I haven’t expressed before, but urban and educated people need to understand that they see us as the enemy and govern ourselves accordingly.

[The Evil Genius]

Fwiw I have lots of family and friends still doing the farm life in rural WV. Mostly good people who can't see past the end of their prejudices and small social circles that have bought in to the lie that the Republican MAGA party actually cares about them.