I hope everyone's spring is unfolding nicely. It has been lovely here.

To my mind, staying rooted in nature helps to keep reality in focus. Today I'm putting out wood chips on the garden paths. Always something to do...which is good.

Hope all is well in your world. Thanks for the OT!

When I was in the third grade, I believed, with all the fervor of a 21st century internet agenda troll, that anything written in a book was ironclad truth. My parents had subscribed to the Weekly Reader Book Club for me, and one of the books I got was a non-fiction tome, called The Planets. It related the "facts" about each of the 9 planets of the solar system including size, mass, orbit period and rotation period.

I was shocked and indignant when my 3rd grade science teacher, Mr. Kirkpatrick, told our class something different from what the book said about the planet, Mercury. If I recall correctly, it was on the vital question of the rotation period -- the length in hours or days of the "day" on Mercury. The following day, I brought my book with me to school and I got my first lesson about "facts" and reality. A third grader with a book in his hands vs. Mr. Kirkpatrick was resolved the old fashioned way -- with power.

Of course, the irony is that my 1962 book is long obsolete, and both my book and my teacher were all "wrong" as the authority of science has revised its estimate of Mercury's rotation period. 62 years later, I have long since forgotten the three different asserted facts but I still vividly recall the frustration I felt as a nine-year-old boy when Mr. Kirkpatrick pulled rank on me.

As an adult I made peace with the question of authority by recognizing that everybody is a liar at one time or another and that pompous assertions about The Facts are the surest tell of bullshit.

Today instead of books, we have bloggers who preach to particular market niches and there are contemporaries in our careening civilization who cite blog presentations as The Facts.

Oy ve.

The most effective propaganda is when those fantasies become part of our understanding of reality. When we come to believe that 2 plus 2 equals 5. Caitlin Johnston has always said that the work of the elites is for narrative control.

Charles Schultz and the original Snoopy, 1950s pic.twitter.com/1AzZZLIf5w

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) March 25, 2025

Only someone who has had a beagle could capture Snoopy. Their personality is so much different from other dawgs. Most have a habit of ignoring what their owners say to them.

Charlie was the best minded beagle I had because she was taught by Abby. When I said come she actually did. I never got over that. It surprised me every time.

with regards to his tariff announcements?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/trump-tariffs-live-updates-trump-set...

President Trump's tariffs are reshaping US trade policy and overhauling decades of free-trade agreements with friend and foe alike.

Trump is just more than a week away from potentially imposing so-called retaliatory tariffs on all US trade partners. That could happen as soon as April 2, a day Trump has taken to calling "Liberation Day."

The market is keen to find out how broad those duties will end up, and Trump has provided mixed signals. He has signaled "flexibility" and plans to give "a lot of countries breaks" as speculation has centered on the "dirty 15," or the roughly 15% of countries with a trade balance unfavorable to the US. Subsequently, Trump has said he doesn't want "too many" exemptions on the like-for-like tariffs.

Meanwhile, the White House press secretary confirmed Trump will unveil new tariffs on autos later on Wednesday.

Here's the latest on where things stand on various other, related fronts:

Steel and aluminum: A 25% US tariff on imports of steel and aluminum from all countries took effect on Wednesday, March 12.

European Union: The EU has responded to those metals duties with counter-tariffs on $28 billion in US goods from April, bringing Trump's trade war across the Atlantic. However, the EU delayed the implementation of some of those tariffs until mid-April — including a 50% duty on American whiskey, which had prompted Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European spirits.

Canada and Mexico: Trump's 25% across-the-board tariffs on its US neighbors went into effect on Tuesday, March 4. Just two days later, Trump confirmed the US would pause tariffs on goods and services compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) until April 2. For its part, Canada retaliated to the steel and aluminum tariffs with new duties on about $20 billion of US goods. The two countries have agreed to new trade talks.

China: Trump has enacted new blanket tariffs of around 20% on top of existing 10% duties that went into place during Trump's first term. China has responded with up to 15% duties on US farm goods such as chicken and pork, which went into effect Monday, March 10.

Venezuela: Trump said the US will impose a "secondary tariff" on Venezuela, to take effect on April 2 — any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela would face a 25% tariff when trading with the US.

Had a friend who grew up without electricity, kero stove, oil lamps, outhouse. Rural electrification didn't come through until the mid '50s. He said he had no idea how poor he and his family were until he first watched television.