Kazimir Malevich Woman torso 1932
Cutting through the mountains and valley, Guizhou Lu'an Expressway, where roads pierce mountains and the world's tallest bridgepic.twitter.com/ExqnrLGRBV
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 29, 2025
サッカーしましたっ☆ちぃたん☆ですっ☆
I play soccer with my friends. pic.twitter.com/bEB1njaSTM
— ちぃたん☆／Chiitan (@chiitan7407) October 30, 2022
“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency”
• US Trade Court Blocks Trump Tariffs, Saying President ‘Exceeded Any Authority’ (BBC)
A US federal court blocks President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, in a major blow to his economic policies Three judges rule that Trump overstepped his authority when he used an emergency law to impose tariffs on nearly every country – here’s what we know so far. Businesses and trade experts are scrambling to understand what this latest twist means, our business editor Simon Jack writes
Moments after the ruling, the Trump administration appealed, saying: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency”. The US is currently negotiating individual trade deals with dozens of countries – those talks have now been thrown into chaos, our North America editor Sarah Smith writes
Obviously.
• Trump Getting ‘Filtered’ Information On Ukraine Conflict – Moscow (RT)
US President Donald Trump is being misled about the Ukraine conflict by those pushing Washington toward supporting the Kiev regime and taking a more aggressive stance on Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Lavrov’s remark on Wednesday followed in response to Trump’s latest criticism of Moscow. The US president rebuked Russia twice this week over strikes on Ukraine, claiming that President Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely crazy” and was launching “missiles and drones into cities in Ukraine for no reason whatsoever.” Trump later warned that the Russian leader was “playing with fire.” Responding to a question from journalist Pavel Zarubin, Lavrov said: “One thing is clear – Donald Trump and those who actually make decisions regarding the Ukraine conflict in particular, are not being told everything.”
“The information he [Trump] is given is filtered through a sieve, which is prepared by those who want to draw America into more aggressive action against Russia, in support of the Kiev regime,” Lavrov added.According to Russia’s top diplomat, Moscow will try “to correct” the problem of information not reaching Trump. Ukraine has drastically ramped up drone strikes deep into Russia in recent weeks in what Moscow says is an effort to derail the ongoing peace process. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 2,300 Ukrainian drones have been intercepted over the past week, mostly away from the front line. On Wednesday, Ukraine also launched a drone raid on Moscow and its suburbs, with a total of 42 UAVs taken down. The assault resulted in damage to residential buildings but no casualties were reported.
In retaliation, Moscow carried out a series of high-precision strikes across Ukraine, targeting drone production sites, warehouses, airfields, radar stations and ammunition depots. Russian officials have consistently stated that such attacks never target civilians. In recent days, Trump has increasingly criticized the Kremlin over what he perceives as a lack of progress in peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Last week, Trump and Putin held a telephone conversation during which they discussed the prospects of a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict. Both leaders characterized the call as productive.
Should have been done off the bat?
• After Backlash, White House Prepares Rescissions Bill To Codify Some DOGE Cuts (RT)
The big question in recent weeks: Why are House Republicans hesitating to codify the waste and fraud identified by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) into law? Musk’s CBS News interview on Tuesday, where he called the “Big, Beautiful Bill” (BBB) a “disappointment,” appears to have kicked off a broader information campaign aimed at pressuring the White House to push House Republicans toward formally codifying some DOGE-related spending cuts. By Wednesday afternoon, Politico reported, citing two anonymous Republican sources, that the White House plans to send a rescissions bill (appropriations bill) to Congress next week to formally propose the spending cuts.< The package is expected to target funding for NPR, PBS, and certain foreign aid agencies previously reduced under President Trump. Here's more from the report: The package set to land on Capitol Hill is expected to reflect only a fraction of the DOGE cuts, which have already fallen far short of Musk's multi-trillion-dollar aspirations. The two Republicans said it will target NPR and PBS, as well as foreign aid agencies that have already been gutted by President Donald Trump's administration. House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that the House is "eager and ready" to act on the DOGE findings, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune and others voiced frustration over the delay. A growing online campaign, led by supporters of Musk, including Sen. Mike Lee and Gov. Ron DeSantis, is pressuring the administration to codify more of the DOGE cuts.Sen. Ron Johnson blasted House Republicans. However, the path forward remains uncertain due to the opposition of 26 Senate Republicans. An online pressure campaign aimed at "codifying" the DOGE cuts is taking shape. The number of X posts mentioning "codifying" has jumped from around 1,000 five days ago to 25,000 on Tuesday. All DOGE cuts must be codified. Musk is not alone. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has stated, "We're not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight. We're putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg." There is brewing dissent among other Republican senators who follow Musk... Musk must be furious with Congress. Recall what he said last week, "The ability of Doge to operate is a function of whether the government, and this includes the Congress, is willing to take our advice."
No protection.
• Musk Stepping Down As Special Government Employee (RT)
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has announced that he will no longer serve as a government employee. The statement comes amid reports of a growing rift between Musk and President Donald Trump. Trump established DOGE to identify and eliminate wasteful spending as part of his effort to make the federal government more responsive to everyday Americans. Musk’s organization, which is not a federal agency in the traditional sense, has overseen the elimination of grants and programs, as well as the termination of government jobs. Trump has also used DOGE to dismantle the Department of Education and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote on his X platform on Wednesday evening. “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” he added. According to the New York Times, special government employees are appointed to “perform important, but limited, services to the government, with or without compensation, for a period not to exceed 130 days.” An unnamed White House official confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that Musk is leaving the administration and that his “off-boarding will begin tonight.”
Musk recently voiced disappointment over Trump’s tax and spending bill, which he said would increase the deficit and undermine DOGE’s mission. He also said last week that he would like to wind down his involvement in politics because he has “done enough.”Trump defended the bill passed by the House last week, though he admitted on Wednesday that he was “not happy about certain aspects.” According to DOGE’s website, the task force has helped save an estimated $175 billion in taxpayer funds. Democrats have criticized the initiative, and courts have blocked some of its actions.
There’s more than one GOP.
• GOP Rushes To Win Musk Back By Codifying Into Law DOGE Cuts (Whedon)
Elon Musk announced last week that he will be rolling back plans for political spending in the midterm elections. That statement has Republicans who had been banking on him to finance their campaigns now rushing to prove their worth to him. In that announcement, Musk alluded to his disillusionment with Congress. Musk became something of a lightning rod for attacks as he pursued aggressive cuts to foreign aid and sought access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems after fighting obstructionists in court. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York ruled that the four DOGE staffers assigned to Treasury will be allowed to access data they need to study that agency’s efficiency.
His efforts resulted in multiple lawsuits and public protests, as well as some high-profile vandalism incidents at Tesla dealerships. Musk also became a whipping boy for the media, who vilified and grotesquely caricatured him. The Tesla and SpaceX founder was adamant, however, that he would not be cowed and insisted he would work to eliminate fraud in the governmentAmid those efforts, Musk put his own money where his mouth was and helped to finance the campaign of Brad Schimel for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin’s 2025 Supreme Court election held on April 1. Musk’s largess was met with a GOP largely unconcerned with the contest and disinterested in providing support, despite the prospect of flipping the supreme court of a major battleground state.
He will officially depart from government service on May 30. On Wednesday evening, he thanked Trump for the opportunity and said “DOGE’s mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” Hesitance from House and Senate leaders to defend Musk as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fell into Democratic cross-hairs and GOP lawmakers’ unwillingness to codify his efforts into law appears to have the world’s richest man disillusioned with the GOP. Musk also said, “I think I’ve done enough.” He did, however, keep doors open by saying that “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it.” He further said that he “did my best” in response to a post lamenting the disinterest in Congress toward backing the DOGE cuts.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder first entered Republican politics as a backer of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the 2022 primary. Musk later hopped aboard the Trump train after the first assassination attempt against the president in Butler, Pa. While no evidence exists to suggest any personal break with President Donald Trump, Musk recently made his frustrations with lawmakers known and indicated he would not spend anything on them in the midterms.Musk’s frustrations appear to have Republican leaders scrambling to show him some support and offer at least token efforts to codify his work in an apparent bid to bring the party back into his good graces. DeSantis, for his part, has expressed solidarity with his one-time benefactor.
“[Elon Musk] took massive incoming — including attacks on his companies as well as personal smears — to lead the effort on [DOGE],” DeSantis posted on Tuesday. “He became public enemy #1 of legacy media around the world. To see Republicans in Congress cast aside any meaningful spending reductions (and, in fact, fully fund things like USAID) is demoralizing and represents a betrayal of the voters who elected them.”On Wednesday, however, reports emerged that the White House would move to codify some of the DOGE cuts by sending a rescissions package to Congress. The package appears aimed at solidifying the $9.3 billion in previously approved cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid, according to Politico.
Musk exploded on to the D.C. scene with bold talk of finding $2 trillion in fraud and waste to help balance the budget and his team appeared sincerely determined to upend the political establishment to that end. The $9.3 billion rescission package represents only a small fraction of the estimated $175 billion in savings that DOGE has claimed. That figure comes from what it called a “[c]ombination of asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions.” The $175 billion figure is still well shy of the original $2 trillion goal and the “big, beautiful bill” that aims to codify many of Trump’s policy proposals only aims at $1.5 trillion in cuts over 10 years instead of the $2 trillion in a single year needed to balance the budget.
House leadership evidently received its own talking points on the Musk cuts and Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday joined the chorus of Republicans praising the billionaire and vowing to ensure his work was not in vain. “[Elon Musk] and the entire [DOGE] team have done INCREDIBLE work exposing waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government – from the insanity of USAID’s spending to finding over 12 million people on Social Security who were over 120 years old,” House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on Wednesday. “The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand.
Johnson further indicated that the House would work to pass the rescissions package and use the appropriations process to speedily approve a 2026 budget that would implement the White House’s agenda. Musk has not as of publication time commented on the rescissions package nor has he indicated any plans to resume spending plans for the midterms. The House Republicans maintain a narrow majority at present, but the incumbent party traditionally loses ground in the midterm elections.
Mutual respect.
• Lavrov Briefs Rubio On Ukraine Negotiations (RT)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed Ukraine peace negotiations in a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov briefed Rubio on “concrete proposals for the next round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul.”“Both sides affirmed their intent to maintain constructive and respectful dialogue,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that Rubio “welcomed Russia and Ukraine’s exchange of ‘1,000-for-1,000’ prisoners over the weekend.”“The secretary reiterated President Trump’s calls for constructive, good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path to ending this war,” Bruce added.
The conversation took place as US President Donald Trump intensified his rhetoric toward Russia, accusing his counterpart Vladimir Putin of “playing with fire.”He stopped short, however, of imposing new sanctions – something he suggested could still happen if peace talks stall. “We’re going to find out whether or not [Putin is] tapping us along, and if he is, we’ll respond a little differently,” Trump said on Wednesday.=Russia and Ukraine held their first direct negotiations in three years on May 16 in Istanbul, agreeing to carry out a major prisoner swap and to each draft a memorandum outlining their terms for a potential ceasefire. The exchange was conducted in several phases and concluded last week. While Kiev has said it shared its memorandum with both Moscow and Washington, the Kremlin stated on Wednesday that it is “finalizing” its version of the document.
Lavrov proposed holding the next round of talks in Istanbul on June 2. Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has rejected Ukraine’s claims that Moscow is stalling the process. Kiev has backed Trump’s proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. However, Russia has stated that for a full ceasefire to be achieved, Ukraine must halt mobilization, stop receiving foreign weapons, and withdraw its forces from Russian territory. Moscow also insists that Kiev must abandon its plans to join NATO and formally recognize Crimea and four other regions as part of Russia. The Kremlin has described NATO’s expansion as one of the “root causes” of the conflict – an issue it says must be addressed in the ongoing talks.
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