Ordinary Times

1 month ago | ordinary-times.com | Andrew Donaldson

With The Court of International Trade temporarily putting most of the Trump tariffs in timeout, the main components of the administration’s economic policy continue to reign supreme: confusion, chaos, uncertainty. Washington Post:Two broad categories of tariffs implemented by the Trump administration have been halted by the court’s decision. Trump’s global tariffs announced on April 2, which affected nearly every country around the world, have been struck down.

1 month ago | ordinary-times.com | Andrew Donaldson

Admittedly, I am far more online than the average person probably is, and probably more so than is healthy. Unavoidable, to do writing and media in the modern world, at least the way I do. Any accusation that my own perception might be a bit skewed accordingly could well have some merit to it. Still, there are some social media and news media trends in the Year of Our Lord 2025 that need to be not only pointed out, but pointed at while mercilessly mocked.

1 month ago | ordinary-times.com | Andrew Donaldson

The news media’s favorite story to cover is how the news media covers a story. This ingrained preference is perfectly fine with the wider media ecosystem whose favorite thing to cover about the news media is how they cover the news media covering the news media. The fancy scientific term for such things is symbiotic — denoting a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups. The harsher term would be incestuous — excessively or improperly intimate or exclusive.

1 month ago | ordinary-times.com | Andrew Donaldson

One would think that 40 years into the “smart munitions” era of American warfare the United States would have learned something. Apparently not. New York Times:American strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets, including multiple command and control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage locations, the Pentagon reported. In addition, more than a dozen senior Houthi leaders had been killed, the military said.

1 month ago | ordinary-times.com | Andrew Donaldson

Bob from Chicago spent a large chunk of his life in Peru to became Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost who became Pope Leo XIV. An all-American story if there ever was one. From the BBC:Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the crowds below were chanting “Viva il Papa” – Long live the Pope. Robert Prevost, 69, will be the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter and he will be known as Leo XIV.