When Penguins Shame Us-

Bok Bok Bok by Clay Jones

Trump chickens out again Read on Substack

This is not a conspiracy theory, but it’s something to watch out for: Trump declares “Liberation Day” and raises tariffs on every nation in the world except Belarus and Russia. Stocks plummet, and Wall Street loses nearly $6 trillion. Then, after all sorts of promises from him and his goons about being tough, Trump chickens out and delays the tariffs for 90 days, and Wall Street rebounds. What needs to be questioned is if Trump gave any insider information to his friends that he was going to delay the tariffs, thus making Wall Street rebound. Can I get a “hmmm?”

Trump said, “I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are dying to make a deal. “Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything, sir.” And then, Trump chickened out again without making any deals. Not one.

One nation that did NOT kiss Trump’s ass is China, who retaliated by raising their tariffs on us to 84 percent. Trump retaliated by raising tariffs against China to 145 percent. China is the only nation not spared by Trump’s 90-day delay.

China threatens to stop buying our products and even stop watching our movies. This is bad news because not only will that hurt Hollywood’s revenue but also make our Chinese competitors smarter because they won’t be sitting around all day watching shit like Dude, Where’s My Car?.

Trump is mad at China for retaliating. In his feeble, twisted little mind, he believes it’s personal. How dare they retaliate, which the European Union did too. The EU is now delaying their retaliatory tariffs.

So, what happened to “Liberation Day?” There was a giant dog and pony show for “Liberation Day,” and now it’s “never mind?”

Trump claims 75 nations called to negotiate, but as we’ve learned over the years, Trump lies. I’m pretty positive nobody told him, “I’ll make a deal. I’ll do anything.” But, of course, other nations are willing to negotiate. That’s what diplomacy is. Diplomacy is NOT attacking an ally by saying they should stop being a country and join yours. Diplomacy is not demanding that it give you parts of its territory. Diplomacy is not attacking your friends with tariffs to make them negotiate. You could negotiate without the attack.

Trump is making every one of his policies personal, which is how a narcissistic toddler governs. This is bullying. I would not be surprised if this entire thing is only about Trump getting more people to kiss his ass.

Attacking the entire planet with tariffs, then backing down a few days later, isn’t strength; it’s cowardice. It also shows the world that Trump is indecisive, suffers from mood swings, and can’t be trusted.

Trump’s National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said, “This was Trump’s plan all along.” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said this was Trump’s “strategy all along.” White House spokesgoon Karoline Leavitt said, “Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal.”

I did miss “Art of the Deal,” Karoline, which Trump did NOT write and probably hasn’t even read. But do you know what I didn’t miss, Karoline? I didn’t miss Trump’s “art of the deal” when he negotiated ending a government shutdown with Nancy Pelosi. I didn’t miss that Trump walked into those negotiations with a little bit of something for his border wall and walked out of the negotiations with the government reopening and getting nothing for his stupid, racist border wall. Was that his strategy all along?

I also didn’t miss that Trump negotiated a new NAFTA with Canada and Mexico during his first term (sic) and broke those promises in his second term (sic).

I’m sure other nations didn’t miss those “arts of the deals,” nor did they miss that when Trump starts chaos, he’s impatient and will back down quickly. When push comes to shove, it’s easy to push Trump down. If you’re playing chicken with Trump, he’ll swerve first.

Every nation that negotiates with Trump on tariffs will start with the upper hand. Just like Obi-Wan Kenobi, they have the high ground.

Trump’s post about other nations kissing his ass is him showing his cards. All they have to do is kiss his ass by appealing to his giant ego, and they will out-negotiate him. It also helps them that our president (sic) is a dunderhead.

Fascist blogger Curtis Yarvin (anti-democracy, pro-slavery, says Whites have higher IQs than Blacks, cited by JD Vance as an “influence,” attended Trump’s inauguration), talked about Trump’s “confidence” in 2.0 in an interview with The New York Times, saying, “It’s almost like he actually feels like he knows what he’s doing.”

Isn’t that exactly what we want in a president, for him to “almost feel like he knows what he’s doing?” That should have been one of the campaign messages.

What happened to make Trump chicken out with the tariffs wasn’t because he got 75 phone calls from nations ready to negotiate, but phone calls from oligarchs freaking out about the stock market. Trump says they got “yippy,” but nobody was saying, “Yippee.” Maybe something more like, “Yippee-ki-yay, Motherfucker.”

Cartooning colleagues, do NOT steal “yippee-ki-yay, Motherfucker” from me.

Trump gave himself credit for Wall Street’s rebound yesterday, but today, it’s going “yippy” again. But I’m sure Trump almost knows what he’s doing.

Creative note: I wanted to do something with “yippy,” but I couldn’t resist this penguin idea after it landed in my brain. I may do “yippee ki-yay” later if it’s not stolen from me.

Music note: I listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but only for a few minutes because this cartoon didn’t take long to color.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see)

Peace & Justice History for 4/10

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april10

Call it what it really is

Wednesdays cartoons / memes. Sorry it is so short. Hugs.

Image from Liberals Are Cool

#hands off from Liberals Are Cool

#gaza from tamarrud

#eat the rich from Liberals Are Cool

#bernie sanders from Liberals Are Cool

#tariffs from Liberals Are Cool

Image from Liberals Are Cool

#hands off from Liberals Are Cool

Image from Liberals Are Cool

#ai from Liberals Are Cool

#trumpcession from Liberals Are Cool

Perhaps “Liberation Day” referred to enough voters finally realizing Trump is a dangerous fool. I know, wishful thinking…

— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T16:30:00.870Z

CBS reviewed internal government documents:"Three weeks ago, 238 Venezuelan migrants were flown from Texas to a maximum security prison in El Salvador… We could not find criminal records for 75% of the Venezuelans – 179 men- now sitting in prison." http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-re…

— Emma Vigeland (@emmavigeland.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T15:30:57.162Z

75%

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T02:15:37.101Z

Vance has no conscience.

— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T16:02:46.005Z

After Trump and Trumpism are consigned to the dust bin of history, we will need to spend a long time earning back the trust and friendship of our allies.

— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) 2025-04-07T15:30:01.508Z

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Your reminder that the photo below is considered hateful by the regime.

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Peace & Justice History for 4/9

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april9

Texas Letting Teachers and School Workers Engage In Religious Speech

DHS revokes parole for hundreds of thousands who entered via the CBP One app

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/08/dhs-parole-revoked-app-00007326

So what happened to the idea of the right just wanting immigrants to come here legally. Right? All they wanted was to get the illegals and criminals out. But these are people who came here the legal way and are working, living their lives as good members of the communities. No see to the current white supremacists the crime was brown people coming to the US at all. They want a white majority in charge with others second class or lower people. tRump once asked why no one from the Scandinavian countries immigrate to the US. The reason tRump wants them is they are white. But their country is doing so much better than ours and rated so much higher on the happiness index so why would they. The only ones who want to come here are from countries the US has made worse, ruined, and allowed for dictators or drug lords to take over. Hugs

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The move could leave over 900,000 immigrants vulnerable to deportation — unless they self-deport, DHS said.

“Under federal law, Secretary [Kristi] Noem — in support of the president — has full authority to revoke parole,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told POLITICO in a statement. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

By Ali Bianco

04/08/2025 03:43 PM EDT

The Trump administration is revoking parole status for immigrants who entered the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One app, in a push to get immigrants to voluntarily leave the country.

“Under federal law, Secretary [Kristi] Noem — in support of the president — has full authority to revoke parole. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told POLITICO in a statement.

Some immigrants began receiving formal email notices from the DHS on Tuesday stating that the department would be using its discretionary authority to revoke parole. The move could leave over 900,000 immigrants vulnerable to deportation.

The CBP One app, launched in January 2023, was one of the Biden administration’s key efforts to control illegal immigration, by organizing appointments at different ports of entry along the southern border for immigrants seeking asylum. The parole designation protected immigrants from deportation and also issued work authorizations for up to two years.

The Trump administration quickly suspended the app’s appointment system and rebranded it as CBP Home — with a built-in function for immigrants to report their intention to leave the U.S.

“Formal termination notices have been issued, and affected aliens are urged to voluntarily self-deport using the CBP Home App,” the DHS spokesperson said. “Those who refuse will be found, removed, and permanently barred from reentry.”

The parolees designated under United for Ukraine — which provided legal status for Ukrainians affected by the war — and Operation Allies Welcome — which resettled Afghans following the U.S. exit from Afghanistan — will not be affected, DHS added.

Russia is building an electronic registry of LGBTQ+ citizens

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/01/russia-is-building-an-electronic-registry-of-lgbtq-citizens/

You know this is what the fundamentalist religious right wants to do this here. This is one of the reasons the maga right loves Russia and Putin, he hates who they hate. He wants a straight cisgender stereotypical white society the same as they do. Hugs

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Raids across the country are yielding the data to supply it.

By Greg Owen Friday, January 31, 2025

Russia’s Interior Ministry has plans for a sweeping electronic database of LGBTQ+ people in the country, Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet, revealed this week.

Citing anonymous sources at the Interior Ministry, the outlet reported that the Orwellian plan has been in discussion since last year after Russia’s Supreme Court outlawed the so-called “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization” at the urging of President Vladimir Putin.

Related:

Life for LGBTQ+ Russians is getting more & more dangerous

Raids and arrests at LGBTQ+ clubs have become commonplace across the country.

The database will be a “large-scale” system to track members of the LGBTQ+ community at large, according to sources.

The plans were corroborated by Dmitry Chukreyev, an official with the Civic Chamber of Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city. He said police have been keeping informal lists of LGBTQ+ individuals since the Supreme Court ruling was announced.

In 2024, police conducted at least 42 raids on LGBTQ+-friendly venues across Russia, according to an investigation by independent news outlet Current Time and human rights organization Sphere. Beatings, forced confinement, and sadistic humiliations based on sexual and gender identities are regular features of the sweeps.

Russian officials and state-aligned media regularly describe Russia’s LGBTQ+ community as a network of “paramilitary groups” calling for an “open gender war,” who engage in “dehumanization” and “devil worship,” the outlet reports. Officials and media credit security forces’ actions with “suppressing” anti-state activity.

The raids, in addition to intimidating the queer community at large and forcing the closure of several venues, have provided security officials with information that would supply an electronic LGBTQ+ registry.

An employee at a Siberian queer establishment told Meduza, “Security forces copied the entire database from the computer where we keep track of reservations,” obtaining information about hundreds of clients. Fingerprints and mouth swabs were collected from visitors during a raid the Eden club in Chelyabinsk, and employees and patrons at the Orenburg club Pose were forced to state their registered residential address on camera.

At a house party raided by security forces in Leningrad Oblast, guests were forced to surrender their passports and unlock their phones; if someone refused, the others were subjected to collective punishment and forced to squat.

According to human rights activists, such raids are also aimed at exposing LGBTQ+ government officials. The organizer of one queer-friendly event in the Urals region revealed police who raided the venue hoped to “catch deputies [officeholders] and other significant individuals” at the event.

While security forces continue to collect data in ever-more sadistic operations, progress on a full-scale LGBTQ+ registry has been hampered by Putin’s other current obsession: the expansion of Greater Russia through his war on Ukraine. Forces assigned to that conflict are draining the ranks of police who would otherwise be hunting down members of the “international LGBT movement.”

But the raids continue to produce results.

One sweep at a restaurant and club in Gorno-Altaysk last year yielded data on 80 patrons and staff alone, an employee said.

“We know all of you now,” security forces repeated as the raid dragged on.

Trump plans to fine migrants $998 a day for failing to leave after deportation order

The reason they are doing this is clear. They want to make sure that no one can afford to fight their deportation order in the courts. Think of it is you were required to pay that money daily how long could you afford to do so? Hugs

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By Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke

April 8, 20256:11 AM EDTUpdated 5 hours ago

Summary

Trump turns to rarely used 1996 law to fine and potentially seize migrant assets
Administration calls on migrants to “self deport and leave the country now”
Memo obtained by Reuters says implementing fines would require system overhaul

WASHINGTON, April 8 – The Trump administration plans to fine migrants under deportation orders up to $998 a day if they fail to leave the United States and to seize their property if they do not pay, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

The fines stem from a 1996 law, opens new tab that was enforced for the first time in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. The Trump administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively for up to five years, which could result in fines of more than $1 million, a senior Trump official said, requesting anonymity to discuss non-public plans.

The Trump administration is also considering seizing the property of immigrants who do not pay the fines, according to government emails reviewed by Reuters.

In response to questions from Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that immigrants in the U.S. illegally should use a mobile app formerly known as CBP One – rebranded as CBP Home under Trump – to “self deport and leave the country now.”

“If they don’t, they will face the consequences,” McLaughlin said. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.”

DHS warned, opens new tab of the fines in a March 31 social media post.

Emails reviewed by Reuters show the White House has pressed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to handle the issue of penalties, property seizures for migrants who don’t pay, and the sale of their assets.

The Department of Justice’s civil asset forfeiture division could be another option for the seizures, one email said.

President Donald Trump kicked off a sweeping immigration crackdown after taking office in January, testing the bounds of U.S. law to increase arrests and deportations. The planned fines target the roughly 1.4 million migrants who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge.

WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE

Trump invoked the 1996 law during his first term to levy fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars against nine migrants seeking sanctuary in churches. The administration withdrew the penalties, but then proceeded with smaller fines of about $60,000 per person against at least four of the migrants, according to court records.

President Joe Biden stopped issuing the fines and rescinded, opens new tab related policies when he took office in 2021.

Scott Shuchart, a top ICE policy official under Biden, said migrants and their supporters could challenge the fines in court but that the threat alone could have a chilling effect.

“Their point isn’t really to enforce the law, it’s to project fear in communities,” he said.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The proposed asset seizures against the migrants who fail to comply with final deportation orders could impact U.S. citizens or permanent residents in their households.

The immigration advocacy group FWD.us estimates that some 10 million migrants with no legal status or temporary protections are living with U.S. citizens or permanent residents in what are known as “mixed status households.”

The steep fines could hit lower-income immigrants. An analysis of 2019 Census data by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute found 26% of households with unauthorized immigrants had incomes below the federal poverty line.

Trump has said people with final deportation orders should be a priority for removal although many have families, jobs and established ties in the U.S.

The White House National Security Council and Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy, have been pressing CBP to administer the fines and handle seizures, a CBP official wrote in a March 31 email reviewed by Reuters.

But a CBP memo a day later, also reviewed by Reuters, argued for ICE to take on the task instead. The memo said that CBP’s systems do not currently support this type of immigration fine and that upgrading it could lead to significant costs and implementation delays.

The memo anticipated CBP would need at least 1,000 new paralegal specialists, up from the current staffing of 313.

The start date for the fines remained unclear. DHS did not comment on Miller’s involvement or the technical aspects of implementing the penalties.

Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Mary Milliken and Suzanne Goldenberg

Exclusive: ICE decides who’s linked to gangs, border czar says

https://www.axios.com/2025/04/08/immigration-ice-gangs-deport-decisions

The tRump admin has dehumanized the immigrant population to the point that they feel they can deny them due process. Stop and think about it. Anyone not white citizen or not, legal or not, can be taken and disappeared. What is to stop them from snatching a US citizen they want gone? Think of the police being able to be judge, jury, and if they decide to be the executioner. Pulled over by a cop for driving too fast, he just takes you from your car, arrests you, transports you to jail where you stay for as long as they want, maybe forever. ICE is taking these people and sending them to a prison that no one has ever been released from. Homan said “I’ve talked to the highest level at ICE and they’ve reassured me several times: Everyone that was removed under the Alien Enemies Act was a gang member and a terrorist,” Homan said. But we know that is not true. Several that were removed were not gang members nor terrorist. These ICE and administration people want to just declare someone is something and that is the end of it. But that is what due process is for, to find the truth and protect the innocent. Plus due process and rights extend to anyone on US soil, not just white people or citizens. Hugs

Hugs

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Brittany Gibson

Tom Homan talks with reporters on the West Wing driveway on March 17. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Immigration agents are the “principal” deciders on whether a detainee is linked to a gang and should be deported immediately, border czar Tom Homan told Axios in an exclusive interview.

If agents determine the answer is yes, Homan said, the Trump administration believes that detainee’s rights to due process are limited.

Not so fast, the Supreme Court said late Monday. The court signaled that detainees designated as “enemies” of the U.S. could be deported, but should have some way to challenge their removal.

Driving the news: Homan’s comments to Axios came on a day when the Supreme Court began to sort out how far President Trump can go in his aggressive push to deport immigrants the administration sees as threats to the U.S.

In a separate decision, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a lower court’s order that the U.S. return a Maryland man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whom the administration admits was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.

Garcia, a Salvadoran who had been in the U.S. since 2011 and was here legally, was among those swept up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in raids last month that officials say targeted alleged gang members and criminals.

Many of those arrested were men like Garcia who say they weren’t in gangs or wanted for crimes, civil rights advocates and other critics say. Garcia’s case has become a much-watched test of the White House’s zealous push for deportations.

Zoom in: Homan declined to comment on Garcia’s case. But he told Axios that Trump is simply “using the laws on the books” to quickly deport unauthorized and potentially dangerous immigrants under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act.

“People who are enemies of the United States don’t have the same level [of] due process [as in] the normal process,” Homan said.

“People keep saying they have no criminal history,” he added. “I’ve been doing law enforcement since 1984. Many gang members don’t have criminal history. It’s more than criminal history.”

Homan said ICE conducts “deep dive” investigations into detainees being considered for removal, looking at their social media posts, criminal records, immigration records and information from confidential informants and surveillance.

“ICE is the principal arbiter” in weighing whether such factors warrant deportation, Homan said. “There’s a Homeland Security task force and a lot of agents involved. … But it starts with ICE.”

The administration claims Garcia is a member of MS-13, a transnational gang that U.S. officials have designated as a terrorist organization.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinia in Maryland said Trump’s team made a “grievous error” deporting Garcia, and that evidence indicating he’s a gang member “consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie.”

Between the lines: Homan said agents use several factors in determining membership in a designated terrorist gang such as MS-13 or the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua.

He said those factors include, but aren’t limited to, tattoos or religious emblems: “It can be one factor or up to 20 factors … It’s a case-by-case analysis.”

Agents’ decisions for identifying gang members are made using a rubric with an eight-point threshold for removal, according to a court document.

In the case of Tren de Aragua, a tattoo “denoting membership/loyalty to TDA” would count four points toward a removal action, according to the document. If a person admits being a gang member, that alone would be enough for removal from the U.S.

“I’ve talked to the highest level at ICE and they’ve reassured me several times: Everyone that was removed under the Alien Enemies Act was a gang member and a terrorist,” Homan said.

The other side: “Just the word of an ICE officer should not suffice as the final word that someone is covered by the Alien Enemies Act,” said Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.

Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said it was “wild” that the administration would seek to ignore due process for accused immigrants.

She noted that when the Alien Enemies Act was used against people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War II, there was a hearing process for the accused.