The tariffs: their origin story

Where did Trump's disastrous tariff policy come from? Rachel Maddow explains.

15 rescue workers

CNN: Video showing final moments of Gaza emergency workers casts doubt on Israeli account of killings

Here's the latest info on this from Emanuel Fabian of The Times of Israel ...

The IDF details the initial findings from its investigation into the killing of 15 rescue workers in southern Gaza's Rafah some two weeks ago, when soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances after mistakenly identifying it as a threat and buried their bodies.

The incident in…

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 5, 2025

Tariffs

Trump in the Rose Garden yesterday, showcaed his tariffs. They seem nonsensical at best.

One of the places upon which he's imposing tariffs is a small island that is populated mainly by penguins. Isn't life hard enough for these little guys without having to now pay tariffs? ...

Penguins are capable of defying the harshest conditions, and they have plenty more secrets to share—as @bertiegregory discovered 🐧#SecretsOfThePenguins premieres April 20 on @natgeotv. Stream next day on @DisneyPlus and @hulu. #ourHOME pic.twitter.com/Iukx8YrXt9

— National Geographic Animals (@NatGeoAnimals) April 2, 2025

But his tariff plan is not just insane, it's also unfair. Take his tariffs on Israel ...

This is...an unwise move, America.

Israel cut tariffs to zero, as asked, and still faces a huge 17% tariff.

Because it's not really a "reciprocal tariff." That's a stupid lie. It's a punishment for our trade deficit.

But here's the thing, America. We literally can't prevent… pic.twitter.com/kRFXd58wJR

— Haviv Rettig Gur (@havivrettiggur) April 3, 2025

Why would anyone continue to support Trump?

Devil's Advocate Unit

There's a story in Bloomberg today about the IDF's Devil's Advocate Unit ...

The October 7 Massacre happened because Israel succumbed to groupthink: we underestimated our enemy Hamas and overestimated our deterrence.

The IDF is now upgrading its "devil's advocate unit" to challenge conventional thinking. https://t.co/MuzIeIfP91

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) April 2, 2025

But I'm not a subscriber so I couldn't read it. Wikipedia has a page on the unit, though.

What made me notice the story was actually a zombie movie. Remember World War Z starring Brad Pitt? I really liked it, enough to buy it, but hated the book.

But anyway, there was a part in the movie where Pitt's character, trying to discover the origins of the zombie apocalypse, visits Israel, the only country that seemed to anticipate the coming nightmare, and speaks with a high ranking member of the Mossad (played by Ludi Boeken). The Israeli tells him about "the 10th man theory". Until I saw the story about the Devil's Advocate Unit today, I thought that was a made-up thing. Apparently not. I think every country could use a unit like that.