A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
Power Without Diplomacy: How Trump's Second Term Is Reshaping America
Democracy hangs in the balance as Trump's second term unfolds through executive orders and policy reversals that fundamentally alter America's relationship with education, business, and the world at large.
Harvard University stands at the forefront of resistance, challenging the administration's attempt to ban international students through what the university calls "clear retaliation" for exercising First Amendment rights. While a federal judge has temporarily halted this ban, the case exemplifies growing tensions between academic freedom and executive authority.
Meanwhile, American consumers face mounting challenges as Trump drops lawsuits against companies like Boeing and Capital One that the previous administration had pursued for alleged consumer abuses. "They've never seen a business practice they didn't approve of," notes one advocate, highlighting how protective guardrails are being systematically dismantled.
The economic consequences of "America First" policies become increasingly apparent, with analysts warning that domestically manufactured iPhones could triple in price to $3,500 if Trump forces Apple's production stateside. His threat of a "straight 50% tariff" against the European Union further showcases his preference for economic strong-arming over diplomatic negotiation, proudly declaring "I'm not looking for a deal."
Perhaps most revealing is the record surge of Americans applying for UK citizenship since Trump began his second term – a 12% jump that mirrors a similar spike during his first presidency. While these developments unfold, small acts of community kindness shine through, like the Iranian immigrant dry cleaner offering free services to job seekers, reminding us of the generosity and hope that persists despite political turmoil.
How will these policies reshape America's place in the world and affect your daily life? Listen now to understand what's at stake and why preserving democratic values matters more than ever.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. Yes, another week of A World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolf. I'm back again to give my commentary on the news. Thank you for joining me. Let's jump right in. Here we go.
Speaker 1:So a federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration's ban on Harvard University's ability to enroll international students. Now US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs ruled hours after the nation's oldest and wealthiest college filed suit Friday of its certification in the student and exchange visitor program was clear retaliation for its refusal of the government's ideologically rooted policy demands. Now Burroughs is the same judge considering a separate lawsuit from Harvard challenging the administration's freeze of $2.65 billion in federal funding. Harvard's latest complaint argues the decision Thursday to drop the school from the Department of Homeland Security's SEVP system and that it violates the law. It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government's demands to control Harvard's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students. The complaint states you know, there's only so many things you can say about Donald Trump. This stuff is silly. Only so many things you can say about Donald Trump. This stuff is silly. It literally is an ABC of and I'm sorry to make this analogy, but let's get anybody who's not white and who's not here, you know, totally rallying around Trump and the Republican way of life. Get them the hell out of this country and in this case Harvard. They're not allowed to have international students and in fact Trump even said he went further that any students that are there have to now leave Harvard, relocate, go elsewhere. I know Trump and the minions supporting him want them to go out of our country. Very stupid, very lousy policy. Let's see what the court system rules.
Speaker 1:Trump keeps dropping lawsuits against companies Biden said were cheating Americans. Now the Trump administration is giving businesses a free pass from a wide variety of enforcement actions. Boeing, capital One, southwest Airlines and Coinbase all face legal action from the Biden administration, which accused the companies of cheating their customers, the government or just otherwise acting improperly, but multiple federal agencies under President Donald Trump have dropped those suits. Consumer advocates say the dropping of those legal actions removes protections that customers can't replace on their own, giving businesses the green light to take advantage of customers without fear of penalty. They're basically trying to take consumer financial protection down to zero, not defend people at all when they've been ripped off by banks and other financial service companies, said Chuck Bell, financial policy, advocate of Consumer Reports. They've never seen a business practice they didn't approve of the White House and most of the agencies did not respond to a request for comment. So basically, the handcuffs or shackles, so to speak, on these companies are removed by Trump. The consumer gets screwed. No protection for us, no proper channels to go through. Trump just said to all these companies do what you want to do against the American public. Shameful.
Speaker 1:Trump signs executive orders that White House says will boost nuclear energy. President Donald Trump signed four nuclear energy related executive orders on Friday that will speed up reactor testing, allow the Departments of Energy and Defense to build nuclear reactors on federally owned land, overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, boost the United States mining enrichment of uranium, a senior White House official said. Now the president also signed an order to restore what the White House called gold standard science, which comes as the administration has cut billions in federal grants that fund scientific research and slash staffing at several science-focused agencies. We're signing tremendous executive orders today that really will make us the real power in this industry, which is a big industry, trump said during an Oval Office signing ceremony. So same methodology, same story Donald removing the safeguards that protect this country. This is Trump's version of that little blue pill that keeps his genitals hard. You know, it's his Viagra. Pure power to Trump with all his executive orders. More Trump madness.
Speaker 1:The iPhone could triple in price to ready. Thirty five hundred dollars for an iPhone if they're made in the US analysis. But wow, can't say that today, right guys? Sorry about that. An analyst warns US President Donald Trump boasted jobs and factories will come roaring back when he unleashed unprecedented tariffs around the world during his Liberation Day address last month. But there's one product the president is particularly eager to produce in the US iPhones. I've long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India or any place else. Trump posted Friday morning on Two Social If that is not the case and Apple doesn't do that, a tariff. Ha, you gotta laugh everyone. A tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the United States.
Speaker 1:But Dan Ives, global Head of Technology Research at financial services firm Wedbush Securities, told CNN's Aaron Burnett in April. That idea is a fictional tale. Us-made iPhones will likely cost more than three times their current price of around $1,000, I've said because of the costs associated with replicating the highly complex production ecosystem that currently exists in Asia. You build that supply chain in the US with a fab in West Virginia and New Jersey. There'll be $3,500 iPhones, referring to fabrication plants or high-tech manufacturing facilities where computer chips that power electronic devices are normally made. Were computer chips that power electronic devices are normally made, even then it would cost Apple about $30 billion and three years to move just 10% of their supply chain to the US. To begin with, ives told Burnett no comment, yet back from Apple. So, trump, I want to laugh listeners, but it's so sad and so dangerous.
Speaker 1:Trump basically telling Apple again, like he does with everything else in his life and now in the presidency you do what I want and if you don't, there's going to be tariffs. And an analyst is saying if Apple does everything in America, the phone will triple plus in cost to us, the consumer. Trump doesn't get it. He never will. His minions lie down, roll over and play dead. Trump says he's not looking for a deal with the EU after threatening here we go. Everyone say it with me a 50% tariff. That's why all of you in the back and to the side, tariff, tariff, tariff. That's what Trump wants. That's the only thing he knows to do is tariffs.
Speaker 1:President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union, citing a lack of progress in current trade negotiations. Their powerful trade barriers VAT taxes, ridiculous corporate penalties, non-monetary trade barriers, monetary manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American companies and more have led to a trade deficit with the US of more than $250 billion a year, a number which is totally unacceptable, he wrote in a true social post Friday morning. Our discussions with them are going nowhere, Trump wrote. Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1st 2025. But later, friday, at an executive order signing in the Oval Office, trump escalated his message to the EU. You know what I'm not looking for? A deal. We've set the deal. It's 50% tariff. Trump opened the door to pushing his June 1st deadline, further saying if somebody comes in and wants to build a plant here in America, I can talk to them about a little bit of a delay. Ah, it taxes my patience, wolfpack listeners.
Speaker 1:Trump has either lost it dementia. He's a lunatic, a little of both, a little of neither but he's one screwed up person in the White House and shouldn't be in charge of anything. And it's terrible what he's doing to Apple and other countries and the consumer and Harvard and just a total waste of DNA and a big mess. This is a broken record with pure, unadulterated power by Donald. Plain and simple Do it my way or else no diplomacy at all. We all know this and we see this on a daily basis. We all know this and we see this on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:A record number of Americans applied for UK citizenship as Trump began his second term. A record number of Americans applied for the British citizenship between January and March, according to the first set of data covering the start of Donald Trump's second presidential term. Now, some 1,931 Americans put in an application, the most since records began in 2004, and a jump of 12% on the previous quarter. Figures from the UK Home Office showed Thursday, applications had already soared during the October-December period which coincided with Trump's re-election. Successful applications by US citizens to settle permanently in the United Kingdom, rather than just move there initially, also hit a record high last year, the latest period for which official data is available Now. Settlement comes with the right to live work study in Britain indefinitely and can be used to apply for citizenship. More than 5,500 Americans were granted settled status in 2024, a fifth more than in 2023. And here's a fact for you listeners the last time American applications for British citizenship spiked guess when? 2020, during Trump's first presidential term and at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, all these people are getting passports and want to have citizenship in UK and elsewhere, because these people think Donald Trump is a fucking lunatic, a power mad freak with no concern for anybody but himself. We know this deeply and a lot of people are acting on the situation with getting these passports slash citizenships.
Speaker 1:Supreme Court pauses the attempt to force DOGE to clarify its role. Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday temporarily paused action in an emergency appeal over whether the Department of Government Efficiency, which was run by, if you remember, musk, must turn over public documents like other government agencies, or whether it's shielded from such requests because it is part of the White House. The case raises fundamental questions about the power and transparency of an entity that has slashed agency budgets and government employees with unusual speed and that has inspired a wave of federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, roberts, who handles emergency cases rising from the Federal Appeals Court in Washington DC, issued an administrative stay intended to halt action for a short period to give the justices time to review the written briefing in the case. As is typically the case with such orders, he did not explain his reasoning. The emergency appeal from President Donald Trump had requested that the justices halt a lower court order that would allow a government watchdog group to depose DOGE staff to better understand the entity's role within the federal government. As they argue, it should be covered under the transparency law known as the Freedom of Information Act. The underlying request remains pending. Remains pending.
Speaker 1:So has anyone noticed besides me and I say that with heavy sarcasm that the Supreme Court at least the conservative side of the Supreme Court has become a big bunch of pussies? And finally, the segment that I started a couple of months ago and this is with permission from the Good News Network. Here's a story about the owner of a California dry cleaner and how he's showing those down on their luck that the community wants them to succeed, so he's ensuring they look their best as they get ready for their next big break. After talking to fellow owners of dry cleaners about how they could give something back to the communities. He decided to offer speedy cleaning and pressing of clothes for free to any unemployed customer heading to a job interview At Luxe Cleaning and Alterations on 1610 West Campbell in San Jose.
Speaker 1:Wes Campbell in San Jose owner Ali Sherkhodai says the pro bono work is about fulfilling his long-held ambition to infuse his career with acts of kindness. I think it will definitely give them some hope that the community they live in cares about them. He told San Jose Spotlight. It's not just about getting, it's about giving. That's the part that brings all of us joy Now.
Speaker 1:He immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1986. Ali wasn't sure where he'd find work, even though he possessed a degree in molecular biology. So when no white-collar career opportunities came knocking, he started Lux Cleaners, which became a super successful business in the Silicon Valley area. He says about five to ten people a week arrived to take advantage of his generosity. Spotlight reports that just recently a woman came to him for a shirt pressing en route to a tech company interview, and afterwards she stopped by to tell Sherkhodai that she got the job, all before leaving a five-star Yelp review saying I definitely felt the love of my community, ali said he and his team were more excited than she was.
Speaker 1:Spotlight described him as possessing a typical immigrant work ethic finishing in four days what other tailors will do in four weeks, cleaning complicated items like Indian sarays and wedding dresses. He does it all with a smile, hoping his customers pay forward the kindness elsewhere. That's one of the things that I love about having a small business and dealing with people on a daily basis, he told the spotlight. I see many different faces every day. Believe me, a small smile can change their day. How very cool.
Speaker 1:A former immigrant, no less right, who understands the meaning of citizenship in America, no less right. Who understands the meaning of citizenship in America. Hey, donald, you need to take a lesson from people like these, instead of putting them down and hussing them and deporting them outside the country illegally. I will be back again Monday with another episode of A World Gone Mad. I'm your host, jeff Allen Wolf. I've said it over and over again before Say hello, email, text me, phone call, love to hear from you. Until I hear from you, the listener, I'm sitting in a room talking to myself. Stay hopeful. There is chaos in the world, can't you see? And we need to stand up and preserve our democracy. This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad.
