Wednesday, April 08, 2026

No one trusts the Crooked Court

The Crooked Court has six people on the bench who lied in their confirmation hearings in order to win Senate approval. Now on the bench, they show who they really are. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is not part of that group.  She's part of the three functioning members of the Court.  Will Neal (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Liberal SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused one of Donald Trump’s appointees to the nation’s top court of being clueless about the impact of the policies they’re being asked to rule on.

Sotomayor ripped into Brett Kavanaugh, whom Trump appointed amid significant controversy to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Anthony Kennedy in 2018, during a Tuesday event at the University of Kansas, Bloomberg reports.
Her anger was largely directed at Kavanaugh’s concurrence with an emergency order last September that paused prior rulings, issued by the lower courts, barring immigration agents from going after people based on their race, employment, language or presence at car washes, bus stops, and other working locations.
“I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, these are only temporary stops,” Sotomayor said. Kavanaugh had written in a concurrence with that emergency order that migrants’ encounters with law enforcement tend to be “typically brief,” and that most “promptly go free.”
“This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour,” Sotomayor went on. “Those hours that they took you away, nobody’s paying that person,” she added. “And that makes a difference between a meal for him and his kids that night and maybe just cold supper.”

Sotomayor is correct.  And these people who have a very limited life experience really shouldn't be basing their judgments on their limited experiences.  Kavanaugh has been sheltered his entire life and it shows in his judgments.  Sarah K Burris adds:

In 170 cases, U.S. citizens were detained for days, kicked and brutalized, one ProPublic report revealed, just one month after Kavanaugh's ruling.
As the only Latino person on the court, Sotomayor said that she has a responsibility to speak out when her white, privileged colleagues are ignorant of the daily reality most Americans live with.

“Life experiences teach you to think more broadly and to see things others may not,” Sotomayor said. “And when I have a moment where I can express that on behalf of people who have no other voice, then I’m being given a very rare privilege.”

However, when she wrote her dissent, she said she was trying to explain to Kavanaugh that he would be responsible for overturning years of court precedent.

“I was not talking as a Latino justice,” she said. “I was talking about a justice who respects precedent. And I was explaining why that precedent is being violated.”

And a Court that doesn't get it -- deliberately or not -- is one that doesn't get trust from the American people.  Jenna Sundel (NEWSWEEK) notes:


Trust in the Supreme Court remains at historic lows. A Gallup poll released in October 2025 found that 49 percent of Americans say they trust the Supreme Court either “a great deal” (16 percent) or “a fair amount” (33 percent).   

“That level of trust is among the lowest in Gallup’s trend, essentially matching the low point of 47% from 2022,” Gallup said.   


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, March 8, 2026.  Chump chickens out, people worry about what Pete Hegseth is whispering to Chump, ICE shoots a man in California, Bill Gates set to be deposed by Congress in the ongoing Epstein investigation, and much more. 


Let's start with a reality from Catherine Bouris (THE DAILY BEAST), that the number injured in the Iran War is now 373. That's the official DoD figure.  


Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called on President Donald Trump to back off his threats to kill “a whole civilization,” issuing a rare direct rebuke of Trump as he faces growing criticism from Catholic leaders over his war against Iran.
Coakley said Tuesday, “the threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified,” calling on Trump “to step back from the precipice of war.”


If you missed it, last night was supposed to be Convicted Felon Donald Chump bombing Iran into "the stone age."  

What happened?

Chump caved. 

As Ben notes this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Chump decided to go along with Iran's previous ten-point proposal.




Monday, the proposal wasn't good enough for Chump.  Tyler Pager and Erika Solomon (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:

President Trump said on Monday that a cease-fire proposal put forth by mediators between the United States and Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal approached.

Iran, for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that any peace plan include a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing, officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what any cessation of hostilities would look like.

If Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could be a gigantic conflagration.







Today, MORNING JOE talked about Chump's cave.  





As the war continues to drag on and as things continue to get uglier, there's a need on the part of some to rush to Chump's defense and find an Iago bringing about the downfall of the hero.  For some, the Iago whispering falsehoods to Chump is Pete Hegseth.  Zoe Engels (MEDIAITE) reports:

Officials have accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of misleading President Donald Trump about the Iran War, declaring that “Pete is not speaking the truth.”

Hegseth has been feverishly blasting the media’s coverage of the Iran War, saying Americans would not believe U.S. “success” in the war if they “listened” to the mainstream media.
On March 6, he told CBS’s 60 Minutes that Iranians are the only people who should be concerned about the war.

“No one’s putting us in danger,” Hegseth said of the U.S. “We’re putting the other guys in danger. That’s our job. So, we’re not concerned about that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this, but the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”

In a new report by The Washington Post, anonymous officials and analysts are quoted as showing concern about the negative influence that Hegseth’s overzealous, false optimism is having on Trump.



Hegseth’s triumphant rhetoric has stood in contrast to that of Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has not suggested U.S. pilots can use Iranian airspace without concern of enemy threats.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called scrutiny of Hegseth’s public messaging “lies and propaganda.”

“Secretary Hegseth has provided the Commander-in-Chief with decisive military options to achieve our clear, scoped objectives: destroy Iran’s missile arsenal, annihilate their Navy, destroy their terrorist proxies, and ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said in a statement. “The Washington Post is pushing a fake story of failure.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly rejected any assertion that Hegseth has misinformed the president and said Trump always knew the Iranians would shoot back. “He has always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any possible contingency,” she said.


[. . .]

Another source of scrutiny emerged March 31, when Hegseth told reporters the number of Iranian missile and drone launches had fallen to a lower level than any other 24-hour period since the war began. The figure was presented as evidence that “relentless” U.S. and Israeli strikes were degrading Iran’s ability to sustain attacks.

But administration officials said Hegseth’s claim was incorrect and that lower 24-hour periods occurred March 14, 15 and 22. “Documents sent around internally contradict Hegseth’s claims,” one official said.


I don't doubt that Hegseth is whispering errors and outright lies into Chump's ear.  But that's why Chump chose him.  Hegseth wasn't forced off on Chump -- no, Chump chose him.  So he's only whispering to Chump what Chump wants to hear. Hegseth was a known liar before his confirmation hearing.  Chump knew what he was getting. 


Now he knew JD Vance was a liar as well and he thought he could count on him.  But Chump decided he was wrong there so he has now distanced himself from Miss Sassy.  Matthew Rozsa notes:


President Donald Trump is degrading his own vice president, JD Vance, over the latter’s opposition to the former’s Iran war — and it is painfully obvious to White House observers.

“Nobody in Mr. Trump’s inner circle was more worried about the prospect of war with Iran, or did more to try to stop it, than the vice president,” reported The New York Times’ Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman on Tuesday. “Mr. Vance had built his political career opposing precisely the kind of military adventurism that was now under serious consideration. He had described a war with Iran as ‘a huge distraction of resources’ and massively expensive.’”
The Times elaborated that, although Vance is not a dove, he privately expressed the belief that a regime-change war in Iran would end badly for the United States. Because Trump wished to engage in some military action against Iran, Vance urged limited action rather than a large-scale campaign, even advocating for Trump to use “overwhelming force, in the hope of achieving his objectives quickly.”

Yet the president has reportedly noticed Vance’s reticence to declare war against Iran and is politically penalizing his own vice president accordingly, including through public displays of how he is out of the loop.


So despite Chump's talking up War Crimes and making outrageous threats, he didn't go through with it.  This time.  And this doesn't need to happen again.

Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following ahead of the deadline Chump had imposed for last night:

Warren: “This is Deranged…Congress Must Pull the Emergency Brake Now”

Link to Video

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new video condemning President Trump’s threat to wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran“ and called for Majority Leader Thune to bring the Senate back into session immediately to vote to stop Trump’s war.

“Congress needs to pull the emergency brake now. We should be voting to stop Trump’s war today…Every Republican who refuses to speak out, every Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let this war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is happening in Trump’s war,” said Senator Warren.

Senator Warren highlighted that American families are paying the price for Trump and Hegseth’s war in Iran.

“Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while our service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around the world,” she said.

“We don’t know what will happen tonight…But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to end Trump's war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs,” she concluded.

Transcript: Senator Warren on Trump Threatening to Wipe Out the “Whole Civilization” of Iran

Senator Elizabeth Warren: I want to talk directly to people who are sick with worry that Donald Trump is threatening war crimes in Iran. In his words, if Iran doesn’t do what he says, their “whole civilization will die tonight.”

The President of the United States is threatening to bomb innocent people and civilian infrastructure in Iran. He’s threatening to commit war crimes. And he is threatening to do it in our names.

This is deranged. And it must stop.

Some say that this is just Trump negotiating.

No. Trump is threatening mass death if he doesn’t get his way. And it’s further evidence that Trump’s war and Trump himself have spiralled out of control.

Trump’s guy in charge of the war, Pete Hegseth, is thumping his chest that the United States has “complete control of Iranian skies” while our brave pilots get shot down.

And you are paying the price.

Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while our service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around the world.

And for what? How is your life better because of Trump’s war?

It is the constitutional responsibility of Congress to not only declare war, but to end war.

Instead, when Republicans have been forced to vote, they have voted repeatedly to continue Trump’s war.

Republican Leader John Thunehune must call the Senate back into session immediately. And Congress needs to pull the emergency brake NOW. We should be voting to stop Trump’s war TODAY.

Make no mistake: Every Republican who refuses to speak out, every Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let this war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is happening in Trump’s war.

We don’t know what will happen tonight. Will Trump back down or will he commit war crimes?

But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to end Trump's war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs.

###




Turning to immigration, Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) reports on Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin's appearance on FOX "NEWS" 

"I believe sanctuary cities is (sic) not lawful," Mullin told Fox News' Bret Baier. "Some of these cities have international airports. If they are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city? We need to have a really hard look at that."
"So you are saying that big cities that are sanctuary cities that have a big airport, they might lose their customs?" said Baier.

"I'm going to be forced to make tough decisions," said Mullin, also noting that this could serve as retaliation for cities whose lawmakers have obstructed funding for DHS in the standoff over ICE reforms.
Mullin's threat here was met with instant outrage on social media, with experts pointing out he doesn't actually have the authority to do this.


The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Sacramento was launching a probe Tuesday after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers near San Jose, California.

KNTV reported that the Tuesday morning shooting shut down on- and off-ramps on Interstate 5 and Sperry Avenue in Patterson, California.  Lauren Mascarenhas (CNN) adds, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were involved in a shooting that sent one person to the hospital while they were conducting a targeted traffic stop in California’s Central Valley, the agency said Tuesday."  Uwa Ede-Osifo (GUARDIAN) reports that the man shot was Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez:


Hernandez was hospitalized after the shooting. A spokesperson for the Stanislaus county sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over Patterson, declined to comment on Hernandez’s condition.




A Jamaican national arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after overstaying a tourist visa is disputing the agency’s account of his case, alleging that his identification documents were taken during detention and not returned.

Carlton Junior Burke, 25, said he was taken into custody on October 1, 2025, by federal agents at his home in Madison, Wisconsin, and transported to a detention facility, where he claims his passport and driver’s licenses were collected and not given back.


ICE has earned a reputation for lying about their actions -- to the public, to the courts.  So I'll give Burke the benefit of the doubt. 





Turning to Chump's old friend Jeffrey Epstein. Daniel Ruetenik (CBS NEWS) reports on Epstein's 2008 sweetheart deal:

After serving fewer than four months in jail, Epstein was granted a special arrangement that allowed him to leave custody for up to 16 hours a day, six days a week, as part of a work release program, allegedly to perform work at a charitable organization he had just established called the Florida Science Foundation. 

This continued for the next nine months until his release to a year of supervised house arrest in July 2009. 

Each day during his work release, Epstein was transported between the jail and an office in downtown West Palm Beach by his bodyguard and driver, Igor Zinoviev. His personal attorney, Darren Indyke, was listed as his official supervisor at the job. Epstein agreed to hire off-duty sheriff's deputies to monitor his movements, log visitors and provide security at his office and home. 

According to documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, his SUV used for these trips was outfitted with a bed. An account given to the FBI by one woman included the claim that Epstein engaged in sexual activity with her in the vehicle — while it was parked in the jail lot. 
The woman told the FBI she was a former model from Slovakia who Epstein had first met when she was a teenager and still in high school. She told agents she was recruited from Slovakia by Epstein's friend and business associate Jean-Luc Brunel during her senior year to move to New York City and pursue a career in modeling. She met Epstein at Brunel's birthday party at the New York City restaurant Cipriani in 2003. 

By the time of Epstein's incarceration, she had been involved sexually with him for several years. She was one of four "assistants" granted immunity in a federal non-prosecution agreement that Epstein received in exchange for his plea.

King Charles will be visiting Donald Chump in the US later this month.  Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already requested that Charles meet with them.  Luke Alsford (METRO) notes:

An Epstein survivor has said she is prepared to wait outside the White House to meet with King Charles during his state visit. Rina Oh is willing to hold a mock tea party with other Epstein victims at the White House gates, with an empty chair reserved for the Monarch to sit down and talk with them. The campaigner, who was groomed and sexually assaulted by Epstein from the age of 21, wants the Royals to prove they care about survivors by funding their therapy costs. Her calls for the King to donate to mental health care for Epstein's victims have been supported by the US's leading anti-trafficking organisation, World Without Exploitation. Charles will visit the US with Queen Camilla at the end of April to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence, where he will meet President Trump and address Congress.
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who spearheaded the release of the Epstein Files, wrote to the King last week asking him to meet the sex offender’s victims. However, it is understood that Charles will not be able to meet survivors during the trip. Oh, who lives in New Jersey, said that would not stop her from visiting Washington DC to see the Monarch. She told Metro: 'If the King and Queen really do support the victims, then it would be a nice gesture to meet with some of them. It would show that he cared. I don't mind gathering a group and going to Washington. We'll just sit in and have afternoon tea in front of the White House gates.'

Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General, is expected to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee on April 14th.  Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) reports another 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify before the House Oversight Committee on May 6 regarding his past association with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.

Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, the panel’s chairman, announced on March 3 that Lutnick had “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily” and applauded his “demonstrated commitment to transparency” but did not at that stage offer a schedule.
[. . .]
The secretary told Pod Force One presenter Miranda Devine in October that he had been a neighbor of Epstein’s in New York and once visited his brownstone in 2005 but was appalled when his host made a creepy comment about receiving “the right kind of massages” during a tour of the property.

“In the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” Lutnick told Devine.

However, the release of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice in late December and January revealed that the men had remained in contact after all.

And there's another person who will be deposed by the committee: Bill Gates.  Dan Mangan (CNBC) reports:

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will sit for an interview about Jeffrey Epstein by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on June 10, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke anonymously because the appearance has not been announced.

Gates is one of several people who have agreed to be interviewed by the oversight panel about their dealings with Epstein, the notorious sex offender who killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Tammy Baldwin's office:

Demand comes after Wisconsinites faced weeks long delays getting mail

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) demanded answers from Postmaster General David Steiner regarding long-term mail delays and staffing shortages at post offices across Wisconsin that are impacting local businesses, newspapers, and Wisconsin families who rely on USPS for prescriptions, bills, voting, and more.

“I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin,” wrote Senator Baldwin. “This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my constituents.”

“Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in touch with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and cast their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties for the people we serve,” Baldwin concluded.

In the letter, Senator Baldwin raised that Wisconsinites across the state have faced significant delays in receiving their mail from USPS. Service delays have been especially pronounced in Brown Deer and Madison, where residents reported weeks-long delays in mail delivery.

These delays follow USPS’ implementation of the Local Transportation Optimization (LTO) policy, an overhaul spearheaded by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that has caused widespread service issues in the years since it was first introduced. A March 2025 report by the USPS Office of Inspector General found a general decrease in service in Wisconsin after LTO was implemented.

Senator Baldwin has repeatedly called on the USPS to address rate hikes and delays Wisconsinites are experiencing. In 2024, Senator Baldwin led a group of her colleagues in calling out USPS leadership for unsustainable price hikes and poor service. Baldwin also called on former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to immediately address costly mail delays suffered by Wisconsin newspapers that rely on the USPS.

In her letter, Senator Baldwin requests written answers to the following questions:

  1. What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
  2. How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
  3. Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
  4. How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
  5. How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
  6. Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current findings?
  7. How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?

A full version of this letter is available here and below.

Dear Postmaster General Steiner,

I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin.

This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my constituents. I frequently urged your predecessor to improve service, emphasizing that USPS’s transition to the Local Transportation Optimization policy (LTO) led to a decline in mail delivery reliability across Wisconsin. This was confirmed by the USPS Office of Inspector General’s March 2025 Report for the Wisconsin region, which found a general decrease in service in the state after this disastrous policy was implemented. The report also found that customers were not notified of the impacts to service in their areas until after an issue arose or they directly asked questions. To make matters worse, the supposed cost savings attributed to the LTO were not even effectively tracked by USPS, making it difficult to verify whether the policy delivered any meaningful financial benefit.

Most recently, I have heard from constituents who have endured long stretches without any mail delivery. In Brown Deer, residents experienced significant delays and inconsistent service from the Post Office on Bradley Road. Some reported going weeks at a time without receiving any mail. I have heard similar stories from my constituents in Madison, who have seen lengthy mail service delays across the entire city.

I appreciate that USPS has addressed staffing shortages in these areas, but the agency must continue to prioritize the hiring and retention of workers across the state in order to prevent future staffing issues that contribute to mail delays. Despite my repeated warnings, it is clear that service issues have not been substantially addressed.

I request that you provide written answers to the following questions by April 30, 2026:

  1. What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
  2. How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
  3. Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
  4. How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
  5. How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
  6. Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current findings?
  7. How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?

Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in touch with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and cast their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties for the people we serve. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

###




The following sites updated:

Posted by at

Tuesday, April 07, 2026

Science grab bag

Science grab bag.  aND OUR FOCUS FOR THIS ONE IS VOLCANOES.  Russell McLendon (SCIENCE ALERT) notes:
 
About 7,300 years ago, a volcano off Japan's Kyushu island unleashed what remains the largest known eruption of the Holocene, our current geological epoch.

In a new study, researchers reveal how this volcano's enormous magma chamber is now slowly refilling, potentially shedding light on the eruption cycles of it and similar volcanoes – and thus supporting humanity's ongoing efforts to predict future eruptions earlier and more precisely.
The Kikai Caldera volcano ejected about 160 cubic kilometers (38 cubic miles) of dense rock equivalent during its Akahoya eruption 7,300 years ago, more than 11 times the volume expelled by Novarupta in 1912 and 32 times that of Pinatubo in 1991.

The violent blast spewed material across 4,500 square kilometers, an area many times larger than London, and sent pyroclastic flows up to 150 km (93 miles) from the epicenter. Tephra fell across swaths of Japan and the Korean peninsula.

The volcano hasn't done anything nearly so dramatic since, but it is still active, producing a scattered array of minor eruptions in recent decades.

Previous research has found evidence of new volcanic activity beneath the Kikai Caldera, pointing to the formation of a lava dome and raising concerns about its potential to erupt again.

Despite scant evidence and the absence of written records, the Akahoya eruption is believed to have devastated the Jōmon people, who inhabited what is now Japan between about 14,000 BC and 300 BC.

So is magma filling the chambers for an impending explosion?   

  

Predicting volcanic eruptions before they occur is valuable for obvious reasons. The earlier scientists detect signs of an imminent eruption, the more time people will have to evacuate potentially affected areas. Unfortunately, as volcanologist Einat Lev explains, key limitations and restrictions make early volcanic eruption prediction difficult. Participating in Columbia University's Columbia Climate School "You Asked" series, Lev states that the technology necessary to predict eruptions is available. However, it's not easy to install all the sensors and equipment necessary to facilitate early prediction at major volcanoes across the globe. Luckily, scientists appear to have discovered a new signal indicating subterranean "fracture openings" that could precede an eruption.
Per a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications, a team of engineers and researchers with members from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) and the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences has developed a method for detecting eruptions that could change how scientists, authorities, and citizens monitor these disasters before they happen. The researchers behind the project refer to the technique as the "Jerk." They explain that they arrived at this name because the observed signals aren't based on changes in ground elevation, rather they are "directly related to the dynamics of the source that generates more horizontal displacement." In other words, they're measuring the sideways jerking of the ground.
The study in Nature Communications explains that previous methods for predicting volcanic eruptions required analyzing diverse sets of data to identify statistical relationships that could indicate when eruptions may occur. The Jerk method is different. It uses sensors to detect signals indicating the kind of underground magma movement that precedes an eruption.
Early research suggests the new method offers various critical benefits that could theoretically save lives if implemented on a large scale. The Jerk system was initially installed at IPGP's Piton de la Fournaise volcanological observatory in April 2014. While in operation, it predicted 92% of the recorded eruptions that occurred at the site over the course of about a decade. Although the system sometimes provided only minutes of warning, it also generated alerts as much as 8.5 hours before an eruption occurred.

Well that would have some serious practical implications if they were able to nail it down.  

That could save so many lives.  BIG ISLAND NEWS notes:

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is preparing for the next lava fountaining episode of Kīlauea volcano, increased visitation and potential for winds shifting to a southerly flow.

National Weather Service forecasters in Honolulu issued a special weather statement April 3 reporting that forecasts indicate a shift from northeasterly trade winds to southerly winds by the middle of this week.

If Kīlauea’s Episode 44 of lava fountaining happens during a period of southerly winds, it could cause volcanic gas, or vog, and tephra to blanket the summit similar to March 10 during Episode 43 of the ongoing episodic summit eruption that started Dec. 23, 2024.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is predicting Episode 44 lava fountains to begin between Monday, April 6, and Tuesday, April 14.


Sidebar, binge watched a NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC mini-series on the Incas over the weekend.  It was fascinating.   And they've learned so much.  Like how the Incas kept track of the amounts of things in their cities.  But there are other things that still remain unknown -- including how the Spaniards were able to defeat the Incas which had a huge army.  The Inca civilization was a highly modern one and they knew about aquatics and how to change the path of water to make it run into their cities.  They made bridges by making ropes out of grass.  And they made housing out of mud and stones.  And the way they mastered the flow of water was really something.  There was a place for bathing or baptism or some special water ceremony and the water still trickled in as it needed to for a bath.

It was really something to see.  And they constructed the walls so that the walls were not impacted by earth quakes and some of these were still standing, truly amazing.  

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, April 7, 2026.  One of Chump's 'deadlines' looms (though he's already spoken of hw he may change it), he spent a great deal of time yesterday . . . insulting Joe Biden, his call for War Crimes results in a lot of attention, and much more.




President Trump said on Monday that a cease-fire proposal put forth by mediators between the United States and Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal approached.

Iran, for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that any peace plan include a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing, officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what any cessation of hostilities would look like.

If Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could be a gigantic conflagration.

At MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this morning, Ben explains that Iran's response is to mock him.



Ben notes that last night  Chump "was telling AXIOS that he may hold off on tomorrow's strikes against civilian infrastructure in Iran."

Today on MORNING JOE, Mika noted the changing deadline(s) from Chump. 



They touch on War Crimes in the segment above.  THE NEWSHOUR (PBS) did a segment on the War Crimes aspect last night.


Amna Nawaz:

For perspective now on President Trump's talk about bombing all of Iran's bridges and power plants and whether that's legal under international law, we turn to retired Lieutenant Colonel Rachel VanLandingham. She spent 20 years in the Air Force and is now a professor at Southwestern Law School.

Welcome back to the show.

You heard in our reporting there the repeated threats by President Trump to bomb Iranian infrastructure. He said specifically there's a plan to decimate every bridge in Iran, to destroy every power plant. You have heard the concerns, Colonel, about this potentially being a war crime.

Based on your expertise, is it?

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

He's both threatening a war crime and he's engaging in a war crime through that rhetoric itself. And I will explain that.

First of all, the law of war, that's not just international law. It's U.S. law. And our military members are deeply trained and steeped in this law. The law of war prohibits measures of intimidation against a civilian population, including threats of violence whose primary purpose is to sow terror amongst that civilian population.

Those civilians whose electricity ensures that there's refrigeration for their medicine for those that are dependent on refrigerated medicine, that provides electricity to hospitals, where there are lifesaving operations ongoing, where babies are being born, whose electricity is helping ensure that the water is purified and clean, they are terrified.

It's reasonably foreseeable to believe that such rhetoric will sow terror amongst the civilian population, and, therefore, one can infer that that's what President Trump intends. So he's committing a war crime just through that language.

Second of all, he's threatening to make our military engage in war crimes and therefore stain their honor and their soul and come back with moral injury. Why? Because threatening to destroy every bridge and every single power plant in the entire state of Iran is called an indiscriminate attack. That is a war crime.

Why? Because the law of war says we don't engage in total war for anymore. We don't believe that children are the enemy and that civilians are the enemy. The law of war says, look, we're going to divide the battlefield, which in modern days is often a city like Tehran, into civilian objects, and they're protected, and civilian people, they're protected.

And then there's military targets, lawful military objectives that make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction provides a definite military advantage. We divide the world into those two camps. By saying we're just going to bomb everything, bomb every single bridge, every single power plant that serves civilians, that is threatening indiscriminate attack.

And it is one of the most horrible war crimes there are because it brings us back, straight back down the slippery slope to total warfare.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, Colonel, let me ask you, if I may, if the military and their lawyers can argue that, yes, the power plants provide electricity to civilians and they use these bridges, but that the regime also gets electricity from these power plants, that these same bridges are used by members of the Iranian military forces, does that justify making them targets?

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

You have to make an individual case-by-case analysis of each bridge and every power plant that is being considered to be a lawful military objective, because, first of all, just saying, by its use or intended use, has to make an effective contribution to military action, not the regime in general, but to military action.

Second -- and so a bridge, therefore, like the bridge that was destroyed last week, a bridge could make an effective contribution to military action because it's being used as a resupply line. Logistical lines are often a legitimate lawful military objectives in war, despite the fact that they also have a civilian use.

Their destruction at the time has to provide a definite military advantage, but that's not the end of the analysis. The law of war goes even further to say, OK, once you have determined that there's some kind of military connection here, there's a connection to military action, and this destruction or disablement will produce a military advantage, then you have to look at, will civilians be harmed?

And, of course, by taking out power plants that are civilian in nature, civilians will be harmed, because civilian power plants provide civilians electricity to their homes, to water purification plants, to hospitals, you name it, right?

This is why the United States strongly condemned Russia and our State Department concluded that Russia was engaged in war crimes of indiscriminate attacks because it was taking out power plants, electrical infrastructure in Ukraine during the dead of winter, in which Ukrainians were plunged into life-threatening cold without the definite military advantage.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Colonel...

(crosstalk)

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

So, the next step that you -- go ahead.

Amna Nawaz:

If I may, let me just ask you this then. At this point in time -- we have a minute or so left -- what would your advice be to U.S. military commanders if they receive these kinds of orders? What's your message to them?

Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham (ret.):

Follow your oath to the Constitution and to the law. Follow, trust your training. Ensure that there's discrete analysis done on every single power plant that's on a targeting list, on every single bridge to ensure that, not only it's a lawful military objective, but that proportionality, that the harm to civilians, right, is not excessive compared to the direct and concrete military advantage to be gained.

And that means that most of these indeed will not pass that test. And that's what our military professionals are trained on. And I really hope they go back to that training and that they're taking these threats of war crimes given by the commander in chief and filtering them through their own training and their own conscience and their own legal obligation to follow the law of war.

Because these are war crimes that they don't follow those steps. And those war crimes do not have a statute of limitations. And many of our -- and it has universal jurisdiction. And so many of our allies could -- if you want to travel to Europe, ensure you don't get engaged in a war crime.





Chump is no longer merely a convicted felon, he's now someone who is  a lame duck with fading power.   Michael Tomasky (THE NEW REPUBLIC) observes:


The presidency of Donald Trump is now officially in collapse. His war is not exactly a disaster, but it sure isn't the cakewalk he envisioned when he sprang it on the American people and the world with no notice on February 28. His firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi because she wasn't sycophantic enough indicates a man who is utterly incapable of understanding anything about how democracy is supposed to work. His economy is a wreck and may well get worse. His proposed budget, especially the half-trillion-dollar increase to the Pentagon, is wildly out of whack with the priorities of the public.
I could go on—and on. But on top of all that, Trump’s purchase on reality, tenuous at the best of times, is slipping fast. Think about what it takes for the “leader of the free world” (a phrase we are now obliged to tuck inside irony quotes) to wake up on Easter morning—the day of the resurrection of the same Jesus Christ in whose name “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth says we are killing Iranians—and post this unhinged and inflammatory comment on social media: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F[**]ckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell -- JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The sentence with the three expletives will catch the notice of most Western eyes, but I have a feeling it’s the next one, and its schoolyard-level sarcastic mockery, that will get the lion’s share of the attention in Iran and across the Muslim world. And that wasn’t even his low point of the past week. His speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday was an embarrassment, rife with conspiracies, self-pitying grievance riffs, tasteless “jokes,” and bile spewed at the usual targets—again, on a venerated day on the Christian calendar, Maundy Thursday, the last full day of Jesus Christs’s mortal life. Trump rendered a supposedly solemn occasion profane in the way only he can do.

A rickety house often stands longer than we imagine it will. The support structures are surprisingly sturdy. But finally one day, something comes along—a hard rain, a mighty wind—against which the beams and foundation are no match.

Donald Chump is losing it.  He is disgracing himself (and this country) on the world stage.  In response to his remarks on Sunday, CAIR issued the following:


“President Trump’s deranged mocking of Islam and his threats to attack civilian infrastructure in Iran are reckless, dangerous, and indicative of a mindset that shows indifference to human life and contempt for religious beliefs. 

“These statements are not made in a vacuum. They follow a long pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that have dehumanized Muslims at home and abroad. The casual use of ‘Praise be to Allah’ in the context of violent threats reflects a disturbing willingness to weaponize religious language while simultaneously denigrating Islam and its followers.

“Congress must not remain on vacation while the President openly promises to commit war crimes that could trigger even more regional and global conflict. Lawmakers have a duty to reconvene and to reassert their authority over matters of war and peace, and to ensure that no president can unilaterally drag our nation into war.”

Last week, CAIR said President Trump’s Threat to bomb Iran “Back to the stone ages” was “anti-Muslim, racist, and dehumanizing.”

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.       

Chump is disgusting and is disgusting in public.  Hazel Gandhi (THE MIRROR) reports:


Donald Trump said Kim Jong Un referred to former President Joe Biden as a "mentally re------ person," repeating a disturbing slur by the North Korean dictator.

The president was speaking to reporters to provide an update on the U.S. and Israel's war on Iran today. During this address, he was heard talking about how several allies like South Korea and Japan failed to help the U.S. during the war.

Trump said that Kim, whom he got along with "very well," referred to Biden in a conversation as "mentally re-----." Trump added that Kim said "very nice things" about him.



“Do you notice, he said very nice things about me. He used to call Joe Biden a mentally re{***]ded person, OK? So, don’t tell me about your stuff,” the president said. “[Of] Joe Biden, he said, ‘He’s a mentally retarded person.’ He was so nasty to Joe Biden, it was terrible. But to me -- he likes Trump.”


He's a butcher to his people.  Kim Jong Un liking you is nothing to brag about.  And repeating his real or imagined (who knows with Chump's dementia whether it was said or not) insults about another US president?

Whose side are you on, Donald Chump?

It sure isn't America's side.  America first was the lie you told to get back in the White House.  America first is not "Let me have Netanyahu's back as he attacks Iran."  

Donald has lost it.  The 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.  Paul Krugman called for it to be invoked over the weekend.





Sarah Ewall-Wice (THE DAILY BEAST) reports that he also attacked Joe in front of children at Monday's Easter Egg Roll:

The president, 79, was participating in activities at the annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, but he couldn’t keep his mind on the holiday spirit and resorted to political attacks while mingling with children.

Trump was sitting at a table with a group of young children and started signing autographs.

“Biden would use the autopen,” he told the kids.
“What?” one confused kid could be heard responding. It wasn’t clear whether he was too young to know about the former president or didn’t know what an autopen was.

“He’d have an autopen follow him, Joe Biden,” Trump told the group. “He didn’t sign. He was incapable of signing things, so they’d follow him around with a big machine. You know what it was called? An autopen.”
But the president was not done talking about the autopen as the children continued with their activities.

“And he’d have the autopen sign for him. He’d take the paper, hand it to his guys. Sign it with an autopen. Give it back,” Trump told the confused children. “Not too good, right?”

As he spoke, some of the children looked around, as if they were no longer interested in hearing what the president had to say.


His vile Sunday comments -- on Easter Sunday, no less -- were beneath the office of the President.  Pablo O'Hana (METRO) observes:


Trump’s Republican Party is dead. Not only in its soul, but in the essential qualities that once defined it. While it may still win seats in the Midterms and retain the loyalty of millions, what truly matters has been lost. The capacity for independent judgment, for institutional self-respect, for the basic reflex of saying ‘No, not this’, is gone. Donald Trump’s Easter Sunday post, in which he threatened to bomb Iranian power plants, dropped the f-word into the public record, and signed off with ‘Praise be to Allah’, is not an opportunity to wake up Republican Party officials, members and voters. It is simply more evidence that they may be breathing, but in reality they’re dead inside. We have been here so many times before that Trump reaction commentary has become its own genre, with its own predictable arc. Something happens. Jaws drop. A Republican or two issue carefully worded statements expressing concern. The news cycle moves on. Nothing changes.


The words are not just shocking. They are unhinged.

“Power Plant Day… Bridge Day… Open the f***in’ Strait… you crazy b*******… or you’ll be living in Hell.” Posted in a frenzy, laced with threats, profanity and mockery, it reads less like the considered voice of the leader of the free world and more like the rant of a barroom bully spoiling for a fight.

And yet this is Donald Trump, the President of the United States, broadcasting to the world. This is what American leadership looks like now. The post lays bare something far more dangerous than bluster. It shows a man losing control of events, of strategy, and increasingly of himself.

 

There is no telling how bad the war and the economy will get, but one thing is starting to become certain: The war in Iran and the escalating economic damage from it is getting in the way of Trump’s true love, which is waging culture wars that stir up the ugliest impulses within the MAGA base. The president desperately wants everyone to stop talking about oil prices, bombed schools and the Strait of Hormuz, and get back to stoking racist hysteria and leading revenge campaigns against his perceived enemies.

Trump’s desperation to refocus attention on his obsessions and grievances was on full display over the weekend. For nearly two days, the White House avoided press questions about the downed fighter jet, presumably to shut down any discussion of the rescue mission that was underway. Instead, the president bellowed a few of his incoherent threats at Iran on Truth Social, but largely focused on his usual obsessions: complaining about ABC News and the New York Times, posting misleading polls to convince himself he’s popular and repeating white nationalist slogans about non-white immigrants. It was only after both Air Force servicemen were recovered that Trump deigned to acknowledge the situation — and of course, to take credit for their rescue.

Trump and his allies are working in tandem to redirect attention away from the war and onto their culture war fixations. On Wednesday, as the Supreme Court was hearing arguments about birthright citizenship, White House staffers and some of the more odious members of Congress fanned out on X, cheerleading for the justices to strip children born to immigrants of their citizenship. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the 14th Amendment ” the gravest and most preposterous of all constitutional abominations.” On Truth Social, Trump tailored the sentiment to his vocabulary level, calling the constitutional guarantee “STUPID.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the most compulsive MAGA social media users in Congress, tweeted, “The Constitution isn’t a national suicide pact.” The following day, Trump kept whining after realizing the Supreme Court looks likely to rule against him. “Kangaroo Court!!!,” he posted on Truth Social, along with a Fox News video claiming birthright citizenship is a “constitutional wrong.” 

Despite the administration’s hyperbolic efforts to portray a 158-year-old amendment as an immediate threat to civilization itself, Trump and his allies could not turn media attention away from the very real disaster that is the Iran war. Thursday’s headlines were dominated by the surge in oil prices that followed Trump’s failure of a speech. It’s not that the press ignored the birthright citizenship case, but most coverage outside of Fox News focused on how skeptical the justices were of the president’s position.




Turning to Chump's Mini-Me Pete Hegseth, Steve Mollman (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Retired Army Major General Randy Manner warned that the Pentagon is heading into a “very dangerous” moment after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired senior Army officers, arguing the move risks silencing honest military advice during the Iran war.

Manner made the remarks during an appearance on Alex Witt Reports on Sunday, as the decision continues to draw criticism from former senior military leaders and Republican lawmakers with deep defense credentials.
The firings have raised alarm about civil‑military relations at a time when the United States is engaged in conflict and facing high‑stakes decisions that rely heavily on experienced military judgment. Critics say abruptly removing senior officers without clear public explanations risks undermining morale, discouraging a breadth of views, and weakening confidence among troops.

Manner warned that the consequences could be immediate and severe.

“That is an extremely dangerous situation to be in,” he said on Alex Witt Reports. “Only two other leaders in the world have seen that, and that was Stalin and Hitler, who purged the best officers that they had before each of the wars they engaged in."


Let's wind down with this from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's office:


Read NBC’s Story Here

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), demanded more information following reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked or delayed promotions for over a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military. 

Gillibrand’s letter to SASC Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) requests a closed hearing concerning Secretary Hegseth’s actions to examine whether they may have been motivated by politics or inappropriate bias.

The full letter can be found here or below:

Dear Chairman Wicker,

I am writing to request a closed hearing concerning the Secretary of Defense’s decision to withhold promotions for officers selected for promotion to general officer. Public reports allege that these holds may have been motivated by political ideology, inappropriate bias, or immutable and constitutionally protected characteristics rather than merit. Military advancement must remain strictly meritocratic and based on performance.

As a former Chair of the Personnel Subcommittee, I know that there are many appropriate reasons for withholding promotions, and examining the basis of the holds often involves sensitive or adverse information that warrants certain privacy safeguards for the officers in question. It is critical that we both assert the constitutional oversight role of the Senate and ensure that our military is selecting the best candidates for promotion to general officer based solely on merit, free of unlawful bias or prejudice. A closed hearing will ensure that we can protect the privacy of these officers while gathering information to understand the justification for withholding their promotions, with the goal of demonstrating to our colleagues in the Senate and to the American people that they can remain confident in a military promotion system based on individual merit and demonstrated performance.

Sincerely,

###


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