I do not want to be talking about tariffs but to utterly ignore this is rather like trying to ignore the elephant in the room. I discussed the concept in the March 20, 2025 blog.
“The expression “the elephant in the room” (or “the elephant in the living room”)[2][3] is a metaphoricalidiom in English for an important or enormous topic, question, or controversial issue that is obvious or that everyone knows about but no one mentions or wants to discuss because it makes at least some of them uncomfortable and is personally, socially, or politically embarrassing, controversial, inflammatory, or dangerous. The metaphorical elephant represents an obvious problem or difficult situation that people do not want to talk about.
“How should one respond to the elephant? Google advises:
“It is essential to be straightforward about all of the information, even if it is unpleasant. Tiptoeing around even small aspects of the issue will only perpetuate the tension surrounding the elephant. Being direct enables you to manage others’ perceptions and prevent the elephant from becoming distorted by rumors.”
That is what I will do, but first of all I shall throw in a little humor Thank Goodness for the Borowitz Report, as tariffs are great fodder for satire.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump stunned Wall Street on Friday by revealing that the spate of tariffs roiling global markets were his son Eric’s “dumb idea.” “When Eric first pitched the idea of tariffs, I thought the whole concept sounded kind of out there,” he said. “But he was begging me like a dog, so I said yes.”Trump said that it was important for Eric to know that his tariff scheme was “a disaster,” adding, “When you make a mistake this huge, you’ve got to own it.” “Maybe I shouldn’t have let him do the tariffs, but I felt bad because the poor guy has nothing going for him,” he said. “It’s been tough growing up in the shadow of a superstar like Don, Jr.”
Of course what makes this hilarious is Trump saying the tariff scheme was a disaster, it was Eric’s fault, and when the mistake is huge, you gotta own it. Of course, Trump ain’t owning it.
I am now going to be straightforward and direct, aided and abetted by an article in the New Yorker, written by John Cassidy on April 11, 2025.
“When I caught up with Elizabeth Warren, the senior Democratic senator from Massachusetts, by telephone on Wednesday evening, it seemed like she didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. Hours earlier, Donald Trump had caved to pressure from the financial markets and announced, via social media, a ninety-day pause on many of his tariffs. On Wall Street, stocks shot up. Later in the afternoon, Warren, who sits on the Senate finance and banking committees, had spoken from the floor of the upper chamber, where she demanded an independent investigation into whether Trump had manipulated the markets to benefit Wall Street donors. (Anybody who had known about the policy pivot in advance could have made a fortune buying stocks or stock futures.) But while, in her floor speech, Warren had bristled with righteous anger at the idea of Trump, or anyone else at the White House, tipping off rich friends, during our conversation she couldn’t stop herself from chortling at the Administration’s claim that the President’s reversal had been the product of an artful negotiation strategy. “No serious person believes that, and I can’t even find an unserious person who believes it,” she joked. “The tariffs are on; the tariffs are off. The tariffs are on; the tariffs are off. Donald Trump is playing the biggest game of Red Light Green Light since ‘Squid Game.’ ”
Do you not totally love and laugh when Warren says that no serious person would ever think that Trump is capable of artful negotiation strategy – she cannot even find an unserious person who believes in it. Trump is playing a huge game of Red Light Green Light. Even Elizabeth Warren is finding laughter in the midst of Trump’s utter buffoonery. ( Buffoonery is behavior that is ridiculous but amusing)
Cassidy goes on to discuss Warren’s modus operandi.
Since Trump’s return to the White House, his chaotic style of governing has often seemed to catch Democrats off balance, and deprived them of a stationary target. Warren, however, has been on the offensive throughout. Unlike Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have joined forces for a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, she hasn’t been barnstorming around the country. (Although, as part of the mass “Hands Off!” protests last weekend, she did speak to a large crowd in Nashville.) But Warren has been busy in Washington. In February, when a team from Elon Musk’s doge gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (C.F.P.B.), which she was the primary figure in founding, she denounced the attack as illegal and joined a street protest by the agency’s staff. More recently, Warren has broadened her critique of Trump’s policies to encompass other areas, including trade, taxes, financial regulation, and the debilitating effect of his over-all blitzkrieg. “Chaos is its own tax on the economy,” she said to me. “No business wants to plunk down the millions of dollars it takes to build something, or assemble a team, if they don’t know what the rules will be next week, much less next year. The only consistent theme is chaos, and no one can plan against chaos.”
I am definitely on target here. Fazil, poss Instagram Stories under the name of Fazilitos. One story announced that Malaysia has stopped its shipments to the USA. I wisely responded: “Good idea on their part. Shipping to chaos is chaotic.” That earned me a laughing emoji.
Back to Cassidy’s article, speaking of Warren’s knowledge and qualifications.
“Warren, who has long been a leading voice on the progressive left, is part firebrand and part policy wonk. During the run-up to the great financial crisis of 2008, when she was a professor at Harvard Law School, she cautioned, in speeches and blog posts, about the dangers of financial deregulation and Wall Street greed. After becoming a senator, in 2012, she focused on soaring inequality, and, in 2020, when she ran for President, she proposed an annual wealth tax on the top 0.01 per cent. Even before last week, when Trump announced his blanket tariffs and brought the United States to the brink of another financial crisis, Warren was warning about the dangers that Trumponomics posed, including the likelihood that it would plunge the U.S. economy into a recession. “Look, this is the dumbest financial crisis in U.S. history,” she told me in an interview on Wednesday morning, shortly before Trump did his about-face. “Unlike earlier crises caused by viruses or subprime mortgages, this is one man who woke up with a crazy idea and imposed it on the world. But the tariff crisis is layered onto other ways in which he is weakening the economy.”
The article ended with this sober analysis.
‘In our conversation, Warren underscored that the Republican desire for tax cuts seems to know no bounds. “Even in the middle of this chaos, they are moving forward on a bill that has trillions of dollars in giveaways to corporations and billionaires, and cuts the underlying investment in working families,” she said. “That’s a terrible idea in the best of economic times, but it will be a complete disaster at a time when more American families are coming under financial stress.”
This conclusion and transition from my March 20, 2025 blog.
“I was straightforward, did not tiptoe but discussing this matter more thoroughly on this blog it is a waste of time, energy and words. MBS could have done something about Gaza, he didn’t; and he is not gonna for reasons we shall never know. It is an absolute blessing to be a Muslim as one knows that Allah (SWT) is in charge and He knows what he is doing as He is All-Knowing and the Great Planner. All I can do is change myself, act in accordance with the Way of Ease, and write about that matters of the faith, trying also to bring cheer in this troubled world. NOT about what MBS is doing or, actually NOT doing. The End.
The March 20 blog went on to discuss matters of the faith – the visit Shamir and I made to the Floating Mosque. At this moment in time I shall discuss briefly my visit to Kuala Lumpur’s Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan on April 7, 2025. The visit was orchestrated for me. I have visited mosques before, this tour is amazingly well organized, complete, much written material. Qurans in all languages. The tour guide an amazing woman. I shall picture her business card. Met many staff members so many wonderful Muslims – some from fellow tourists from China. The visit was cut short. Therefore, in the words of General McArthur; “I shall return.” I am planning a return visit to KL; probably staying a week, sometime in the beginning of May. Incredible photos taken at the mosque shall follow. I do lead a blessed life. There was hardship accompanying the tour to the mosque but on the underside was enormous benefit.”
